Rational Review

RRND/FND Spring Fling

2010-03-19T05:01:58Z

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

2010-03-19T04:54:04Z

“[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

2010-03-19T04:53:57Z

“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

2010-03-19T04:53:37Z

“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”

2010-03-19T04:54:37Z

“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”

2010-03-19T04:54:55Z

“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)

Doug Marks on Freedom Rings Radio, 03/22/10

2010-03-19T04:45:19Z

Doug Marks, the Libertarian Party candidate for Congress from Illinois, joins host Kenneth John. 9-10am Central on WRMN 1410 AM, Elgin, IL or live on the web. [live radio or stream] (03/22/10)

Free Talk Live, 03/18/10

2010-03-19T04:44:48Z

“Ian, Mark, and guests live from the 2010 New Hampshire Liberty Forum.” [MP3] (03/18/10)

Cato Daily Podcast, 03/18/10

2010-03-19T04:44:01Z

“Afghanistan and conservatives,” featuring Joe Scarborough. [MP3] (03/18/10)

Jesse Walker on AntiWar Radio

2010-03-19T04:42:47Z

“Jesse Walker, managing editor of Reason magazine, discusses his experience at the recent Left-Right anti-empire/antiwar conference in DC, the large contingent of writers featured at Antiwar.com in attendance, finding an alternative to mundane and ineffective peace marches and the stumbling blocks that prevent broad coalitions from uniting around a common issue.” [Flash audio or MP3] (03/17/10)

Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey, Episode 4

2010-03-19T04:40:49Z

“After World War II, Cleveland was booming, thanks to its leadership role in heavy industry and a business-friendly climate. Today, the city’s high taxes and onerous regulatory demands make it nearly impossible for new businesses to set up shop while choking the life out of existing companies. While relatively laissez-faire cities such as Houston are growing even during the current recession, Cleveland remains stuck in a rut. How can city officials make the city a more welcoming place for entrepreneurs to thrive?” [Flash audio] (03/17/10)

Who needs trials?

2010-03-19T04:38:02Z

“What Goldsmith and Wittes are saying is that the war on terrorism is a real war, just like World War I and World War II. Therefore, since prisoners of war in a real war can be kept incarcerated until the war is over, there’s no problem with holding terrorists until the war on terrorism is over, which isn’t likely to happen for a few decades. … Where does such a power come from? It’s certainly not included in my copy of the Constitution. I wonder what Goldsmith’s and Wittes’ position would be if the feds decided to do the same thing in the war on drugs. After all, as Mexican officials will attest, the alleged drug lords are killing many more people than the alleged terrorists. Would it be acceptable for U.S. officials to suddenly convert drug offenses to acts of war, enabling them to circumvent trials and the Bill of Rights for those crimes too?” (03/18/10)

Greengrass Zone

2010-03-19T04:37:20Z

“Unlike the nonfiction book to which it gives writing credit, Green Zone classifies itself as fiction. There is an unambiguous statement in the movie’s end credits saying that it’s completely fiction. Yet, this movie tells a fictitious story about the origins of a real war.” (03/18/10)

Is the US self-interested?

2010-03-19T04:36:28Z

“It baffles me why so many people are apologetic about the U. S. having a self-interested foreign policy. When President Obama recently declared that the U. S. ‘is not a self-interested empire,’ the part about being self-interested, pace Obama, sounded just right to me. (It is the ‘empire’ portion that would be disturbing since an empire is a country that aims needlessly to lord it over other countries.) Being self-interested could mean no more than being vigilant in the defense of one’s country, making sure it is safe from invasion or attack. Who can dispute that self-defense is self-interested?” (03/18/10)

The Texas textbook wars

2010-03-19T04:35:10Z

“Late last week, the Texas Board of Education, meeting in Austin, the state capitol, made some preliminary decisions about what the next generation of students will learn about subjects like history, economics, and sociology, when they take courses in those subjects in any of the Lone Star State’s public schools. The board decided, for example, to make a fairly significant change in the existing official description of what a successful Texas student should know about the influence of 17th- and 18th-century ideas after completing a required course in world history in a Texas public school.” (03/18/10)

Protecting us from the good things?

2010-03-19T04:34:46Z

“It’s natural to fear freedom. Tell most Americans that we’d be better off if we clear-cut the regulatory jungle and simply let the market decide what products are sold, and you’re likely to be told how dangerous the world would be. Most people think government keeps us safe. It’s why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is regarded as absolutely necessary. It protects us from snake-oil sellers. Who could argue with that?” (written 06/05; posted 03/18/10)

I just couldn’t make myself like the Fair Tax

2010-03-19T04:32:46Z

“When I first heard of the FairTax three or four years ago, I was excited — as excited as one can get about the subject of tax, that is. I went on line and printed out the entire bill, and, from time to time over the next couple of days, I read it. It seems I have time to do this kind of thing because I don’t go to the ballet or play golf. My first reading left me underwhelmed, but reading any kind of tax code will leave you that way. I didn’t like the fact that the FairTax was to be revenue neutral, but I realized that revenue neutrality was required for it to have any chance of passage. I’m not a strict ideologue; I’m willing to achieve goals incrementally. Incrementally is how we became a welfare state, after all. If the FairTax would simplify the tax code, I saw that as an improvement worth supporting. If I have to pay the federal government a bunch of money, I might as well do it as quickly and with as little paperwork as possible. The issue of tax reduction could come later. But, try as I might, I couldn’t make myself become a supporter of the FairTax. I don’t hate it. But neither do I support it.” (03/19/10)

Follow that story!

2010-03-19T04:31:02Z

“Part of the problem in writing a column such as this, where I have to write about events as they unfold and at a very rapid pace, is the danger of going too fast — of failing to follow up on stories that once seemed of such pressing interest that I devoted 2000-word columns to the subject, and often a whole series of pieces, only to leave my readers with a lot of loose ends. So let’s clean up some of those longstanding loose ends, why don’t we?” (03/19/10)

Green crooks

2010-03-19T03:55:02Z

“Gore People who commit their lives to going green are just better people. They’re more moral, more honest. At least, they keep telling us that, and apparently many students believe it, say University of Toronto psychologists. They initially quizzed the students on their impressions of people who buy eco-friendly products, and for the most part, they considered such consumers to be more ‘more cooperative, altruistic and ethical’ than ordinary consumers. Then the researchers took it an extra step: They ran a test to see who would be more likely to cheat and steal: Greens? Or conventional shoppers? They divided the greens and conventional shoppers, and then gave the students a test that tempted them to steal money. The researchers found: The green consumers were more likely to cheat than the conventional purchasers, and they stole more money when asked to withdraw their winnings from envelopes on their desks.” [editor’s note: While I’d question the validity of this particular study overall, given the “entitlement mentality” of many “progressives” regarding “social justice” … the results are hardly surprising - SAT] (03/18/10)

IKEA, Sweden & the inheritance tax: Lessons for the US

2010-03-19T04:09:08Z

“America sits at the same economic crossroads today that Sweden faced five years ago. Sweden’s experience in eliminating the death tax could help the United States save businesses and add jobs at a critical time. Once known as Europe’s socialist paradise, Sweden still has one of the world’s highest top income tax rates (57 percent). But like the US, it no longer has an inheritance tax, or what Americans commonly refer to as the estate or ‘death’ tax. The Swedish Parliament abolished its inheritance tax in late 2004. … The country’s entrepreneurs were moving offshore — and taking their companies with them. The death tax was only making a bad situation worse.” (03/18/10)