Rational Review » RRND News

RRND/FND Spring Fling

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:00:57 +0000

Update, 03/19/10: Tap … tap … is the ChipIn meter broken? Nope. It’s stuck at $310, and we’re stuck at $365 in “Spring Fling” contributions toward our $1,000 goal. We did have a monthly “subscribing contributor” payment from long-time supporter DD, who also kicked in $100 for “Spring Fling” — thanks as always for your support, DD! — but on this short, reasonable-goal fundraiser, we are dead in the water.

Folks, the quicker we get to $1,000, the quicker I can stop hectoring you. We’re coming up on 7 1/2 years of reliably bringing you the freedom movement’s daily newspaper; we need you to support it if you want it to be around for another 7 1/2 years. Please, click the ChipIn meter, or one of the “donate” buttons in the sidebar of most pages at rationalreview.com, and return a little value for value received - TLK

We’ve been avoiding the “in your face” fundraising for awhile (since early last fall, in fact) but it’s time for a bump. For the last few months, our part-time editors have been taking home less than $100 a month; I’ve been working nearly full time for less than $200 a month.

I’ll keep this short, sharp and sweet:

Our goal is $1,000 in two weeks — that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 cents per reader — after which we’ll revert to the more passive fundraising approach again. Please return value for value to the people who bring you the freedom movement’s daily newspaper.

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review

Iraq: Eight killed, ten wounded

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:51:49 +0000

“[A]t least seven Iraqis were killed and 10 more were wounded in the latest violence. Also, one U.S. soldier was killed in combat in Baghdad today.” (03/18/10)

Afghanistan: US launches Kandahar operation

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:50:27 +0000

“Operations to push the Taliban out of their Afghan stronghold of Kandahar are under way and will steadily build in the months ahead, military officials said Thursday, APA reports quoting AFP. The military and political efforts against the Taliban around Kandahar, Afghanistan’s third biggest city and the militia’s spiritual capital, are the next step in the US-led strategy to end a war now in its ninth year. NATO was also planning an anti-Taliban offensive in the north this year, a German general told German ARD public radio from Kabul.” (03/19/10)

Israel: Rocket fired from Gaza kills Thai worker

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:49:23 +0000

“A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip killed a Thai farmworker in southern Israel on Thursday, the first such fatality in the area in more than a year. The blast occurred in a clump of greenhouses in the farming community of Netiv Haasara, just north of Gaza. The 30-year-old victim was not immediately identified. Rocket and mortar fire into southern Israel from Gaza, which once occurred daily, has been dramatically reduced since the Israelis’ 22-day assault on the coastal strip at the end of 2008 and early last year. But in recent days, the number of attacks has increased, including five in a 48-hour period, military officials said.” (03/18/10)

Federal drug thugs launch new anti-tobacco offensive “for the children”

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:48:32 +0000

“Taking aim at the tobacco industry’s youth marketing machinery, the Food and Drug Administration Thursday outlawed free samples of cigarettes and banned the use of tobacco brand names on promotional gear and in the sponsorship of concerts and sporting events. The agency also added a federal ban on the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to people under 18, imposing a uniform standard on varying state restrictions already in place. … The new rules ‘will help our kids stay healthier by making it harder for tobacco companies to target them,’ said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said at a press conference announcing the new marketing rules.” (03/18/10)

Two arrested in White House protest vs. “don’t ask, don’t tell”

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:47:23 +0000

“An Iraq war veteran and vocal opponent of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was arrested by police officers after chaining himself to the front gate of the White House, in apparent protest of that policy. Lt. Dan Choi, a gay Arab linguist whose case for possible discharge from the New York national guard is still under review, has long opposed this policy. A second soldier, James Pietrangelo II, a plaintiff in the case turned down in the Supreme Court last year, also chained himself with Choi to the White House gate and was arrested.” (03/18/10)

TN: Income tax amendment revised, vote delayed

Steve Trinward — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:43:35 +0000

“State Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, made a slight change to his proposed constitutional amendment to ban an income tax this morning, a move that will have the practical effect of delaying the Senate floor vote by about a week. Kelsey added language meant to clarify that the anti-income tax amendment trumps other tax provisions of the constitution and a statement that any taxes on the books as of Jan. 1, 2010, would not be affected by the amendment. The rules for amending the state constitution require three readings of the final version before the Senate can take a vote. The changes to the wording this morning reset the clock, meaning the vote cannot take place until next Wednesday at the earliest.” (03/18/10)

Scott Brown effect: Is Boxer’s seat next?

Steve Trinward — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:42:37 +0000

“The dramatic shift in poll numbers in the California Senate race — a surge for former US Rep. Tom Campbell for the GOP nomination and a double-digit drop for Senator Barbara Boxer (D) since January — has serious national implications, according to political analysts. A California Field Poll released Thursday shows Mr. Campbell running ahead of businesswoman Carly Fiorina by six points and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore by 19 points among likely GOP primary election voters. Perhaps more important, say analysts, is that more voters now have an unfavorable than favorable view of the incumbent Ms. Boxer, and she is essentially tied when matched against Campbell (44 to 43 percent) or Ms. Fiorina (44 to 45 percent). Poll director Mark DiCamillo told the Sacramento Bee that ‘the tenor of political discourse’ has clearly changed in California since Republican Scott Brown registered an upset victory in the Massachusetts Senate race in January. Others agree.” (03/18/10)

WA: Walgreens says no more new Medicaid patients

Steve Trinward — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:41:18 +0000

“Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won’t take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement. The company, which operates 121 stores in the state, will continue filling Medicaid prescriptions for current patients. In a news release, Walgreens said its decision to not take new Medicaid patients stemmed from a ‘continued reduction in reimbursement’ under the state’s Medicaid program, which reimburses it at less than the break-even point for 95 percent of brand-name medications dispensed to Medicaid patents.” (03/18/10)

RI: Fired teacher hangs Obama effigy in classroom

Steve Trinward — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:40:04 +0000

“A teacher at a failing Rhode Island school where he and all his colleagues were fired hung an effigy of President Barack Obama in his classroom, apparently in reaction to Obama’s support of extreme measures to ensure accountability in schools. The teachers union on Thursday condemned the effigy, discovered Monday in the teacher’s third-floor classroom at Central Falls High School, saying it was wrong and cannot be condoned under any circumstances. The effigy was found in the unidentified teacher’s classroom by Superintendent Frances Gallo, Nicole Shaffer of the Rhode Island Department of Education told The Associated Press. Shaffer said the department would not have any further comment.” (03/18/10)

NY: “Bedford Falls” dissolves government

Steve Trinward — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:39:13 +0000

“Voters in the upstate New York birthplace of the women’s rights movement have approved a proposal to dissolve their village government. Tuesday’s ballot proposal to merge the village of Seneca Falls into the surrounding town of the same name passed by a vote of 1,142 to 1,037. Absentee ballots still must be counted, but if the vote stands the nearly 180-year-old Finger Lakes village government will dissolve at the end of 2011. Supporters say dissolution will do away with costly duplication of governmental services and reduce property taxes. The village was the site of the first known women’s rights convention in 1848. It also claims to be the model for Bedford Falls, the mythical community depicted in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life.” [editor’s note: Take that, Mr. Potter! Today Seneca Falls, tomorrow … - SAT] (03/18/10)

Euro researchers close in on invisibility cloak

Steve Trinward — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:38:03 +0000

“European researchers have taken the world a step closer to fictional wizard Harry Potter’s invisibility cape after they made an object disappear using a three-dimensional ‘cloak,’ a study published Thursday in the US-based journal Science showed. Scientists from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and Imperial College London used the cloak, made using photonic crystals with a structure resembling piles of wood, to conceal a small bump on a gold surface, they wrote in Science. ‘It’s kind of like hiding a small object underneath a carpet — except this time the carpet also disappears,’ they said.” (03/18/10)

Getting robots to play together

Steve Trinward — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:36:53 +0000

“Two soccer teammates took the field on a recent Saturday afternoon: one made shot after shot while the other played goalie. The shooter, wearing a distinctive uniform dotted with colorful spots, had just taken a powerful kick when something went wrong. The call went out to stop practice — and to find a hot glue gun. ‘Something is hanging off,’ Svilen Kanev, a Harvard University sophomore and member of Robotic Futbol Club Cambridge, said as fellow students picked up the cylindrical black robot to administer first aid. When most people think about robotics and artificial intelligence what comes to mind are individual robots — whether it is one that vacuums the floor, a rover that explores Mars, or the computer that beats a human chess champion.” (03/18/10)

Warships blasting Somali pirates out of water

R. Lee Wrights — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:17:47 +0000

“An international fleet of warships is attacking and destroying Somali pirate vessels closer to the shores of East Africa and the new strategy, combined with more aggressive confrontations further out to sea, has dealt the brigands a setback, officials and experts said Thursday. The new tactics by the European Union naval force comes after Spain— which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, and whose fishing vessels are frequent pirate targets — encouraged more aggressive pursuit of pirates and the coalition obtained more aircraft and other military assets, said Rear Adm. Peter Hudson, the force commander.” (03/18/10)

Chaos marks Iraq election vote tally

R. Lee Wrights — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:14:53 +0000

“Dozens of Iraqi journalists waited hours for results in Iraq’s election. What they finally got was a single CD containing all the information and instructions to make copies themselves, prompting a mad dash to the nearest Internet cafe where they paid $1.20 each to find out who was ahead in the ballot count. It was the latest example of the ongoing chaos in Iraq’s postelection count, which has fueled uncertainty and allegations of fraud. Questions about the vote’s validity could undermine U.S. ambitions to set a standard for democracy in the Middle East.” (03/18/10)

Marines try to buy good will in Marjah

R. Lee Wrights — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:13:22 +0000

“Crouched on packed earth at a barricaded Marine encampment, the village elders issued their complaint: U.S. troops had killed an innocent 14-year-old boy. Secretly, the Marines didn’t believe them. No matter. They apologized, called the death a tragedy and promised to offer a condolence payment to the boy’s family. It’s all part of a strategy that sometimes involves swallowing their pride in an effort to persuade wavering Afghans to turn away from the Taliban.” (03/18/10)

Multimillion-dollar UN corruption case uncovered

R. Lee Wrights — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:09:46 +0000

“The deal looked simple enough: U.S. military equipment suppliers bribed an African defense minister’s salesmen to secure part of a $15 million gig to outfit a presidential guard. But the salesmen were actually FBI agents. And the operation resulted in what U.S. authorities in January called their biggest foreign bribery sting to date, netting 16 indictments and 22 arrests of small arms and military equipment makers.” (03/18/10)

VT: Man jailed for crossing street

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:04:42 +0000

“A recent increase in border patrol along side streets dividing Derby Line, Vt., and Stanstead, Canada, are causing confusion and animosity between locals and border patrol agents. The situation came to a head recently when a local man was arrested while walking down a street he said that he has walked down for years without a problem. ‘I walked over to Canada on a Saturday night around quarter to nine to get a pizza,’ Buzz Roy explained. Roy lives and works in Derby Line. He walked down Church Street to the nearest pizza shop, which happens to be in Canada, and said that to his surprise he was stopped by state police and told that crossing on Church Street is illegal. … Fed up by what he perceived as hostility from the officer, Roy walked down the street, crossing the border a second time. And then a third.” [editor’s note: The politicians and their enforcers take those imaginary lines on the ground and associated superstitions VERY seriously - TLK] (03/15/10)

Pentagon dismantling CIA-Saudi web site

R. Lee Wrights — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:02:27 +0000

“By early 2008, top U.S. military officials had become convinced that extremists planning attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq were making use of a Web site set up by the Saudi government and the CIA to uncover terrorist plots in the kingdom. ‘We knew we were going to be forced to shut this thing down,’ recalled one former civilian official, describing tense internal discussions in which military commanders argued that the site was putting Americans at risk. ‘CIA resented that,’ the former official said.” (03/18/10)

Chicago man pleads guilty to terror plots

R. Lee Wrights — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:59:41 +0000

“A Chicago man charged in two international terror plots, including the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, pleaded guilty Thursday to a dozen counts against him and now will not face a trial. David Headley, 49, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Chicago to a dozen federal terrorism charges. Authorities said he scouted out targets for the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people and planned an attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.” (03/18/10)