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“A suicide bomber killed 12 people and wounded a Pakistani opposition politician on Monday in the latest attack to underscore the threat posed by Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants. The attacker blew himself up in a crowd of people at the house of Rashid Akbar Nowani, an MP from the party of former premier Nawaz Sharif, in the town of Bhakkar in Punjab province, police and hospital officials said.” (10/06/08) http://tinyurl.com/4xtqak | | Report Bad Link |
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“A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber triggered a blast inside offices of the main opposition party in Sri Lanka on Monday, killing at least 27 people, including a retired senior general, officials said. The attack in the northern town of Anuradhapura came as the Sri Lankan military appeared on the verge of capturing the Tigers’ key headquarters as part of a major offensive in the drawn-out ethnic conflict. … The blast killed the provincial head of the United National Party, retired army general Janaka Perera, who was about to speak at a ceremony to open the offices when the attack occurred.” (10/06/08) http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8iN-rMeJiro7MadBDHQIEIVohyg | | Report Bad Link |
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“Seven aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have reversed course and agreed to testify in an investigation into whether the Republican vice presidential nominee abused her power by firing a commissioner who refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law. … Lawmakers subpoenaed the seven state employees, but they challenged the summons. After a judge rejected the challenge last week, they decided to testify, Alaska Atty. Gen. Talis J. Colberg said Sunday. Democratic state Sen. Hollis French, who is managing the probe, said he again asked Palin and her husband, Todd, whether they would testify. ‘We’ve had no response,’ French said.” (10/06/08) http://tinyurl.com/3j24wt | | Report Bad Link |
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“Half the world’s mammals are declining in population and more than a third probably face extinction, said an update Monday of the ‘Red List,’ the most respected inventory of biodiversity. A comprehensive survey of mammals included in the annual report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which covers more than 44,000 animal and plant species, shows that a quarter of the planet’s 5,487 known mammals are clearly at risk of disappearing forever. But the actual situation may be even grimmer because researchers have been unable to classify the threat level for another 836 mammals due to lack of data.” (10/06/08) http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h6MwVCB5a6RL5JaXJLsq5iC2T7ug | | Report Bad Link |
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“Prostitutes in the Dutch city of Eindhoven are to be awarded ‘credits’ in return for good behaviour under a new scheme to encourage them to abandon the oldest profession. The prostitutes will receive so-called ’street miles’ that they can use to acquire free designer clothes or furniture, provided they take up an offer by the city council to take steps leading to a career change and a safer lifestyle. ‘We needed to come up with incentives that these women might latch on to,’ said Veronique Beurskens of Eindhoven council, who is leading a drive to rid the city of street prostitution. Eindhoven’s designated sex work zone is due to close by 2011. Amsterdam and other Dutch cities are slowly shutting down their red light districts.” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/4q4eds | | Report Bad Link |
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“Attorneys for Sen. Ted Stevens on Sunday renewed their effort to get a federal corruption case against the veteran Alaska lawmaker thrown out, saying prosecutors manipulated the story of their star witness to undermine the defense. ‘Until today, defense counsel have refrained from alleging intentional misconduct by the government,’ the lawyers wrote in court papers. ‘We can no longer do so in good conscience.’” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/3tdsuz | | Report Bad Link |
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“In their new term beginning Monday, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will be asked to decide how much authority state courts should have in granting big damage awards against the makers of prescription drugs and cigarettes. They also face questions over swear words blurted out on broadcast television, access to city parks for putting up public monuments, and the welfare of whales off the Southern California coast.” (10/05/08) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27035562/ | | Report Bad Link |
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“The Army on Monday will unveil an unprecedented doctrine that declares nation-building missions will probably become more important than conventional warfare and defines ‘fragile states’ that breed crime, terrorism and religious and ethnic strife as the greatest threat to U.S. national security. The doctrine, which has generated intense debate in the U.S. military establishment and government, holds that in coming years, American troops are not likely to engage in major ground combat against hostile states as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan, but instead will frequently be called upon to operate in lawless areas to safeguard populations and rebuild countries.” (10/05/08) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27033424/ | | Report Bad Link |
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“Hurricane Ike’s winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage only now is becoming apparent: At least a half million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/3w7wsj | | Report Bad Link |
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“Russian troops on Sunday began dismantling positions in the so-called security zones inside Georgia that they have occupied since August’s war, Georgian and EU officials said, a sign Russia will fulfill its pledged pullback. Moscow faces a Friday deadline for pulling back its troops under the terms of a deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on behalf of the European Union. Hundreds of EU observers began monitoring Russia’s compliance last week.” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/48cqlz | | Report Bad Link |
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“The Republican National Committee plans to file a fundraising complaint against Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential campaign Monday, alleging it has accepted donations that exceed federal limits as well as illegal contributions from foreigners. RNC officials acknowledged Sunday that they do not have a list of foreign donors to Obama’s campaign. Instead, the complaint is based largely on media reports, including one from the conservative Web site Newsmax.” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/5xng49 | | Report Bad Link |
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“In a groundbreaking meeting, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia recently hosted talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban militant group, according to a source familiar with the talks. The historic four-day meeting took place during the last week of September in the Saudi city of Mecca, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/4nbn2q | | Report Bad Link |
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“Turkey staged retaliatory airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Sunday, as thousands of Turks attended funerals for 15 soldiers who were killed by the rebels in a cross-border attack from Iraq. Public anger mounted in Turkey at the inability of civilian leaders to stop attacks by the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). From bases in southeastern Turkey and in northern Iraq, the group has waged a 24-year guerrilla war for greater autonomy for Turkey’s minority Kurds.” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/4x5pda | | Report Bad Link |
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“Signed and sealed, the $700 billion bailout now must be delivered. After 14 days, three votes and billions of dollars in stock market losses to get the massive financial rescue through Congress, the government is rushing to develop a plan for spending the money.” (10/05/08) http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=240406&src=110 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Despite explaining how the financial crisis will impact everyone, beyond just Wall Street, there are many people who still insist that it will have no impact on them. That’s simply untrue. While the impacts may seem small and remote, when added up, they’ll be noticeable. Richard Ahlquist writes in to show us a perfect example of this. AT&T has discovered that the commercial paper it relies on is now a lot more difficult to get, causing a bit of a cash crunch for the company. So how is it dealing with it? By pushing that cash crunch to you. Rather than its usual habit of billing you for the month that just past, AT&T is telling customers it’s now billing them for the month ahead — meaning that your latest bill may be double (paying for last month and next month). Effectively, AT&T is changing the credit terms on its customers, from net 30 to prepay.” (10/03/08) http://techdirt.com/articles/20081003/1659112452.shtml | | Report Bad Link |
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“New regulations at U.S. supermarkets are giving consumers the knowledge they have been asking for — where the fresh food they buy originates. Recent food contaminations have made headlines across the globe causing deaths, illness and overall unease. Most recently melamine has tainted dairy from China, salmonella was found in peppers in Mexico, there were cases of E. coli infected spinach from California and beef originating in Omaha.” (10/05/08) http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5959494&page=1 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Ed Forst, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive Paulson hired to head the transition team, started work last week and is charged with helping establish the new Office of Financial Stability.” (10/04/08) http://tinyurl.com/4feq3r | | Report Bad Link |
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“A 22-year-old Normal man who was shot during an alleged break-in at a Bloomington apartment was charged Wednesday with one count of residential burglary. McGuire was shot three times in the legs after allegedly breaking into a lower-level unit in an apartment house in the 400 block of West Chestnut Street about 10 p.m. Monday, police said. The shooting happened after a 51-year-old resident of an upstairs unit in the building heard loud noises, apparently someone kicking in a door to the downstairs apartment, said police spokesman Duane Moss. Moss said the 51-year-old, carrying a .22 caliber rifle, told police he demanded McGuire lay down on the ground after he saw him exiting the lower-level unit into a building common area. Maguire reportedly refused and reached for his waistband, prompting the man holding the gun to fear he was in danger of being shot, Moss said. Moss said McGuire was shot twice in the left knee and once in the right, but he allegedly fled the scene.” (10/02/08) http://tinyurl.com/3mqkjv | | Report Bad Link |
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“Sheriff’s deputies got a call around lunchtime Tuesday that Cathy Slade was begging for help, frightened by a man who was breaking into her home. That man was her brother. ‘Upon arrival, they found Thomas Kirkwood laying in the entryway of the kitchen,’ said Captain Mick Sears with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Kirkwood had been shot in the stomach. Captain Mick Sears with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said the entire ordeal was caught on tape in a 911 call. ‘According to Miss Slade, while she was on the phone with us, he broke out a window in the garage and made entry into the home,’ said Sears. Sears says she warned her brother to stay away. When he refused, Slade shot him with a 38-caliber handgun. So, why was Slade afraid of her own brother? Sears says the two had a history of domestic problems. He says their mother just passed away, and Slade is executor of the will which is something that’s been a source of contention. ‘I think he wanted to circumvent the will and unfortunately made illegal entry into the home at the time and got shot for his effort,’ said Sears. Kirkwood is recovering at Singing River Hospital. So far, Sears believes the shooting was self-defense.” (10/01/08) http://tinyurl.com/4lla6r | | Report Bad Link |
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Update, 10/03/08 – As advertised yesterday, today’s edition is a wee bit late. Sorry about that — I was out last night at the VP debate protests and didn’t get home and to bed until 1ish. Since I was running late anyway, I figured I’d wait a bit to see if the House acted quickly one way or the other on the “bailout.” No dice — they’re messing around, so I’m pushing today’s edition out the door now. HUGE THANKS to NEW subscribing contributor B, and to long-time subscribers DFD and MB. Their combined payments of $17.50 bring our running total to $2662.13 against our goal of $5,000. “Mini-goal” for Monday morning: $3,000. Bonus to all contributors during this fundraiser: A free subscription to my new publication, KN@PPSTER: The Newsletter. Normal price, $17.73 per year. Your price, nada. Check out the first issue — it’s a free download Reminder: This week only, Laissez Faire Books is letting go of copies of Henry Hazlitt’s classic Economics in One Lesson for only $14.95 — shipping and handling included! If you’d like a case of 22, it’s only $210, shipped anywhere in the US at no extra charge! This “moving special” (ISIL and LFB are “re-headquartering to Arizona) is good only through Sunday. Place your order (specify single copies or case) by email to laissezfairebooks at gmail dot com - TLK —– Dear readers, Earlier this year, I told you that RRND/FND would be moving to a “twice-a-year” fundraising schedule — and we’re keeping our word. We’ve even waited almost a month past mid-year to start our first 2008 drive. But now it’s time. The goal is $5,000, and we’ll keep plugging until we reach it (even if that means extending into our year-end fundraiser, which we’d certainly prefer not to do!). You can support “the freedom movement’s daily newspaper” (and our offshoot publications — 2nd Amendment News Digest, Liberty Action News Digest and Progressive News Digest) in any of several ways: One-Time Payments Online
Become a Subscribing Contributor! [Note: All subscription payments received during the fundraiser will be credited toward its total]
Other Options If you prefer to support RRND/FND through the International Society for Individual Liberty, to target your contribution to this project. Please drop me a line so that I can thank you and add your contribution to our total (ISIL doesn’t send us a daily report). If you’d like to send a check, money order, cash or other valuable thing via US Snail, again, write me so I can send you the address and instructions.
And Now For Something Completely Different Would you like to see NO MORE RRND/FND fundraisers for nearly a year? So would we … so here’s a “side bet.” Up-front disclaimer: This mid-year fundraiser WILL continue until the goal is met, even if that’s some time next year (hopefully it will be some time next month!). But, we’re running a simultaneous “contingent pledge drive” through Fundable.Com to raise ANOTHER $5k … and if we make it, our next fundraiser won’t be until at least mid-2009. It’s a simple concept: You pledge the amount of money you’re willing to contribute to that second $5k. If we raise $5k in pledges like yours, you pay. If we don’t, you don’t. That simple. Click here to make your pledge. We didn’t make the Fundable.Com goal … but we’ll set a new project of this type up Real Soon Now. Yours in liberty, | | Report Bad Link |
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“The House of Representatives is preparing to vote Friday on a high-stakes proposal to prop up strapped financial markets as uncertainty lingers about the bill’s passage following its rejection by members just four days ago. A final vote appears likely Friday afternoon, after the lawmakers work through procedural votes and debate.” (10/03/08) http://tinyurl.com/52kac8 | | Report Bad Link |
Commentary
News | Audio and Video | Events and Movement News
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“To hear Al Gore and the Union of Concerned Scientists talk, global warming is one of the worst catastrophes ever to befall humankind. But for Betchart and a growing number of other companies worldwide, climate change is more of a mixed bag. It may be bad for the planet, but it’s giving rise to windfalls unimaginable during cooler times. Tourist jaunts to Warming Island are just the tip of the iceberg (literally!), as the Arctic thaw has attracted a vast range of profit seekers, including real-estate investors, shipping firms and oil magnates. Take Pat Broe, a businessman from Denver, who bought the Canadian Hudson Bay port town of Churchill for $7 in 1997, back when it was nothing more than a chunk of tundra suspended in ice. Over the past decade, Broe has seen his investment appreciate in ways less cynical observers never dreamed it would.” (10/06/08) http://tinyurl.com/4rl8q3 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Barr has earned the respect of the Left and Right as a man willing to stand up for his beliefs. He has demonstrated in office and out that he works for change. His willingness to work with everyone on a variety of issues and try to broker agreements that move the ball in the right direction demonstrates the experience — the principled experience — that is lacking in other choices. If you approve of the status quo, vote for one of the two major party candidates. They are the candidates of the status quo. But if you want real change based on a new framework, vote for Bob Barr. Only a vote for Barr is a vote for smaller government and respect for individual rights, privacy, and civil liberties.” (for publication 11/08) http://libertyunbound.com/article.php?id=23 | | Report Bad Link |
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Metaphors reveal the economic ignorance of politicians and journalists
Liberty & Power by Robert Higgs “The past few weeks have been a difficult time for economic educators. Never has it been more obvious that all their efforts have been in vain. Neither the politicians nor the journalists, who have been spewing out words at a rapid rate with regard to the so-called financial crisis and the proposed financial bailout, have a clue about the economy. It’s not simply that these nincompoops use metaphors, rather than more precise terms and ideas, in speaking about the economy. We all use metaphors to some extent; we can’t talk without them. But the journalists’ metaphors are routinely so mixed that one wonders what is going on in their minds.” (10/05/08) http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/55308.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“The history of this immediate fiasco goes back to FDR in 1938, when Fannie Mae (the Federal National Mortgage Association) was created to finance home loans. In 1970, Richard Nixon created Freddie Mac (the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Company) to buy mortgages from local lenders, which were packaged into bundles and sold to big investors with an implicit federal guarantee. These ‘companies’ are actually ‘government-sponsored enterprises’ or GSE. … [Bill] Clinton ordered these two GSE to expand loans to low-income borrowers, and created the ’sub-prime’ market. Government guaranteed loans were give to millions who couldn’t qualify for mortgages in the real world of the free market: this is socialism, pure and simple. Companies that didn’t play ball and make the loans to bundle and sell to the GSEs were actually sued to force them to do so, claiming that they were being racially bigoted.” (10/06/08) http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/08/10/06/nathan.htm | | Report Bad Link |
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“Congress tends to write legislation that is about a ‘big’ subject and then the D.C. crowd hide other measures into the legislation. So a bill that is about one topic is used to hide laws about entirely different topics, totally unrelated. The secondary topics don’t get any debate at all. Everyone is focusing on the ‘big issue’ so the little issues slip by unnoticed. Democrats do it. Republicans do it. Once against it is the bipartisan effort by the two big parties to screw over the American people. Did you know the bail out bill, while picking you pocket for the benefit of Wall Street is picking your pocket for other special interests as well?” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/48bjfx | | Report Bad Link |
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Maher: “There’s a section in the film where I go into Hyde Park in London. There’s a section called Speakers Corner, where what I would consider nuts stand on little soap boxes and rave and rant and people can do it about anything, but a fair number of them are religious. So they put me into a disguise. I looked like a homeless nut, and I went into Hyde Park and I ranted and raved the tenets of Scientology, and Mormonism, and I believe it was Jehovah’s Witness. Which most people are not familiar with, and they do sound like the rantings of a complete maniac. We were trying to make the point that when you take the tenets of religion and put them in mouth of street barker, you see how crazy they are. And then that they are not that different, certainly not that much crazier, than Christianity, mainstream Christianity. It’s just that we’re used to mainstream Christianity. We are used to the story of a man living inside of a well for three days, we’re used to the idea that a space god impregnated a virgin and had a child who was really him, and sent him on a suicide mission to earth, which he survived. If Christianity were the new religion, we would consider it just as crazy as Scientology.” (09/08) http://tinyurl.com/4ub2nb | | Report Bad Link |
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“Throughout the years, Fannie and Freddie have come to play a dominant role in the housing market by buying up mortgages and reselling them to investors. With approximately 5 trillion dollars of investment portfolios, Freddie and Fannie owned or guaranteed about 70% of the U.S. mortgage market — these banks have simply become too large to fail.” (10/04/08) http://tinyurl.com/4e6l48 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Today in church I was ready to walk out. During the petitions, they didn’t simply say ‘We pray for our troops in harm’s way.’ I certainly do pray for people in harm’s way, because however much I may take issue with the policies, however much I may wish a person would see through certain lies, none of that justifies even a single drop of blood. So I certainly do pray for them. Still, the petitioner had to go further: ‘We pray for our troops, who have bravely volunteered to defend our freedom.’ Look, I’m in a building devoted to the Prince of Peace, the long-haired hippie who preached peace and love, and I do not want smoke blown up my ass about how a pointless war is making me free. It isn’t. The people in the war are decent people and I want peace and freedom and safety for them (and everybody else in the war zone) but I am not going to stand there and gush about things that just aren’t so. There is indeed a Biblical figure who would gush about how war is freedom, but it isn’t the guy who wound up on the cross.” (10/05/08) http://highclearing.com/index.php/archives/2008/10/05/8780 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Almost no one in national political life, and almost no writer of prominence, will acknowledge the full meaning of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq: because Iraq never constituted a serious threat to the U.S., and because that fact was readily apparent in the winter and spring of 2002-2003 (even to an honest citizen with no ‘expert’ specialized knowledge), the U.S. invasion was a criminal act of aggression, identical in principle to Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland. This foundational fact has many further implications, and one of them is critical in evaluating the two major presidential candidates: since the invasion was a criminal act of aggression, the U.S. occupation of Iraq is similarly an ongoing series of monstrous war crimes. To vote to fund the continuing occupation is to be an accomplice to genocide and to the destruction of an entire nation and its peoples, and thus to be a war criminal. Most Americans who vote this November, and probably many of you reading this, will vote for one of these war criminals.” (10/05/08) http://tinyurl.com/4vh4u3 | | Report Bad Link |
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“The ancient Greek myth of Procrustes’ bed has it that the bed had the attribute of being exactly as long as anyone who lay down on it. Procrustes didn’t disclose to his guests his scheme that those who lay down on this extraordinary bed got manipulated so that if they were too short for the bed they had their legs chopped off and if too long, the legs got forcibly stretched. This, it appears, is where the expression ‘one size fits all’ originated. Egalitarianism is the political view whereby everyone must be subject to equal benefits and burdens, as a matter of public policy.” (10/04/08) http://tibikem.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B2FD693F4B9A5746!427.entry | | Report Bad Link |
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“Whatever one expected from the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian war, surely a car bomb was not among the first choices — yet that is precisely what has occurred. As Russian forces prepared to leave security zones in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the wake of Georgia’s humiliating defeat, they stopped a car with Georgian license plates in which the occupants were armed. The car was taken to a Russian checkpoint, where it promptly exploded. Nine Russian soldiers, including a Russian general in the nearby headquarters, were killed, and seven others were wounded. A car bomb in the Caucasus? This is a weapon, and a method of terrorism, with a very familiar signature. It points to the introduction of a rather sinister aspect to the Russia-Georgia conflict — the entrance of radical Islamic elements on the field of battle, and clearly on the side of the Georgians.” (10/06/08) http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13555 | | Report Bad Link |
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“There is more to being green than the fight to stop global warming. All of our natural resources are in peril because of what we do and what that does to our planet. Yet, to hear the battle cry of environmentalists these days you’d think there’s only one war to be fought — over our energy supply and its consequences. We are facing a fresh water crisis. We are facing a food crisis. We are facing a crisis over deforestation. And we are facing crises in our oceans. While carbon emissions from fossil fuels pollute the air, so does a lot of other stuff. Now is the time to press for leadership in the protection of all our natural resources.” (10/03/08) http://tinyurl.com/3q6gmg | | Report Bad Link |
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“The 1929 crisis was a stock-market disaster. The 2008 crisis is a bond-market disaster. Yet they have important elements in common. Through much of the 1920s, the Federal Reserve made easy credit available to the nation’s banks, which lent money to masses of people to buy stocks on margin. As long as the stock was worth more than the loan to buy it, all was well. The more people got into the market, the higher the prices of stocks went and the easier it was to use the stocks they had borrowed money to buy as collateral to borrow more money to buy more stocks that they did not pay for. Stock prices rose for so long that people came to believe that in the new, modern economy of the 1920s, prices could only go one way. Substitute the word ‘house’ for the word ’stock,’ and you see what the great grandchildren of 1929 did in the 2000s.” (10/06/08) http://www.amconmag.com/article/2008/oct/06/00006/ | | Report Bad Link |
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Graphic. (10/04/08) http://tinyurl.com/45jt8o | | Report Bad Link |
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“The Securities and Exchange Commission has long been the target of complaints that the regulations it promulgates in an effort to keep financial experts honest have the effect of stifling free speech. Fortune columnist Adam Lashinsky told NPR that these rules have morphed from guidelines on the provision of financial advice into strict dictates as to what people can say and how those experts and even broadcast and print media can present information.” (10/03/08) http://tinyurl.com/46cn2a | | Report Bad Link |
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“As a rule, we may assume that any statute containing the word ‘emergency’ in its title, preamble, or statement of purposes is a bad law. If you want an apt example, consider the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which the president signed into law on Friday, October 3, 2008, soon after its approval by the House of Representatives. Back in 1828, opponents of the tariff bill enacted in that year felt such outrage that they dubbed the law the Tariff of Abominations. With this precedent in mind, we might well refer to the bill just enacted as the Bailout of Abominations.” (10/06/08) http://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs89.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“[W]hile it is easy (and entertaining) to poke fun at Palin’s ‘I’ve only been at this, like, five weeks,’ working-mom routine, let’s not forget that Biden too employs a particularly noxious form of populism. It’s worth reminding debate viewers that Scranton is not in Delaware, and that the senator is more likely to be found at Morton’s than at ‘Katie’s restaurant,’ a greasy spoon referenced during last night’s debate — and which, according to his hometown paper, closed in the 1980s. In one of his many pro-regulation, pro-big government paeans, Biden blustered that ‘they’ don’t call it ‘wealth redistribution in my neighborhood.’ Of course, in his hardscrabble yet hyper-bourgeois neighborhood of Greenville, Delaware, he owns a $2.5 million waterfront estate, according to the News-Journal.” (10/03/08) http://www.reason.com/news/show/129266.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“Although the ’surge’ has failed as policy, it appears to be succeeding as propaganda. It seems to be the only thing that supporters of the war have to point to, and so they point, and they point, and they point. Allow me to point out that while there has been a reduction in violence in Iraq — now down to a level that virtually any other society in the world would find horrible and intolerable, including Iraqi society before the US invasion and occupation — we must keep in mind that thanks to this lovely little war more than half the population of Iraq is either dead, crippled, traumatized, confined in overflowing American and Iraqi prisons, internally displaced, or in foreign exile.Thus, the number of people available for being killers or victims is markedly reduced.” (10/05/08) http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20943.htm | | Report Bad Link |
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“Nine years after the World Trade Organization came to Seattle, a new feature film sets out to dramatize the historic protests that the institution’s meetings provoked. The issue that Battle in Seattle filmmaker Stuart Townsend seeks to raise, as he recently stated, is ‘[what it takes] to create real and meaningful change.’ … Generally speaking, the response of many Americans is to dismiss protests out of hand-arguing that demonstrators are just blowing off steam and won’t make a difference. But if any case can be held as a counter-example, Seattle is it.” (10/05/08) http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/04-2 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Eleven days ago, the entire government of the United States — OK, no one invited the Supreme Court — sat in the White House in front of the gathered cameras and played used car salesman. From Bernanke of the Fed to Paulson of the Treasury; from Harry Reid to Nancy Pelosi; from Chris Dodd to John McCain to Barack Obama to their earnest front man George W. Bush, the government sat there stern-faced and swore in all earnestness that the nation was in an economic crisis — a liquidity crisis (despite the fact the Fed has been printing up and handing free money to the big bankers all year, by the billions.)” (10/05/08) http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/30483009.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“The lesson is clear. No grassroots rebellion that focuses on Congress as its battleground, or that counts Republican or Democratic elected officials as its troops, will go anywhere. The government party will hew to the people with the money. A wiser course of action would be the wholesale rejection this Election Day of all incumbents who voted for the bailout bill in both House and Senate. Do that once, and watch how much better Congress responds to citizen pressure the next time around. ” [editor’s note: I admit that even I, who certainly should know better after all these years, lobbied (ie emailed and called) my congresscritter (who actually voted no the first vote but caved on the second). Was I surprised he caved? Well, no. However, I think staying home election day is a more effective ‘protest’ than voting against the incumbents. And it sure feels cleaner - MLS] (10/04/08) http://counterpunch.org/lindorff10032008.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“The vote was 263 to 171, with the bulk of the opposition coming from Republicans. Because the Senate already approved the measure, it immediately went to President Bush, who signed it into law. On the theory that this would be a way to convince previously skeptical Democrats to approve the measure, one large chunk of the bailout bill is devoted to renewable energy, energy-efficient appliances, and so on (the ‘Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008′). The authors lured Republicans with protections from the alternative minimum tax (via the ‘Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008′). That includes, as the New York Post pointed out, millions in tax breaks and related pork for kids’ wooden arrows, Puerto Rican rum producers, auto race tracks, and corporations operating in American Samoa. (The likely explanation for the latter: StarKist has a large tuna-canning operation in American Samoa. And StarKist’s parent company happens to be located in the district of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.) The bill has become, in other words, something almost unrelated to the business of bailing out Wall Street. The Beltway term for this is a ‘Christmas tree bill,’ meaning everyone gets to hang their favorite spending projects on it — though by the time Congress gets it through, it more closely resembles a slop bucket.” (10/03/08) http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10057618-54.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“So, last week, the stock market fell 777 points on news of the failure of Congress to pass the Wall Street Fat Cat Bailout Bill of 2008. Why did the market crash? Pundits claimed because the bill failed. Why did the bill fail? I think because Americans were against it 9 to 1 and contacted their Congress critters. So, this week, the Senate added another $150 billion of sleaze and ‘incentives’ and various kinds of pork, and Congress ate it up. The president signed the bill, and the stock market crashed. Huh?” (10/05/08) http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2008/tle487-20081005-05.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“I’ve stated in at least one previous article that tyranny leads to arrogance and stupidity. As tyrants exercise and become used to power they reach a point where their will to power can only be satisfied by abusing power. Consider Speaker Pelosi’s recent performance. ” (10/05/08) http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2008/tle487-20081005-03.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“The only way to abolish the slavery passed onto you by your government is to recognize how you are being exploited and what you can do to bring it to an end. James Bovard said it best in the preface of his 1994 book on government abuse entitled Lost Rights when he wrote, ‘Americans need to remember their constitutional birthright and stand up to arrogant government officials who treat them like subjects rather than citizens.’” (10/05/08) http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=1449 | | Report Bad Link |
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“This past month has been an eye-opening experience for many Americans. We have seen the beginning and are still very much in the middle of the greatest economic disaster this nation has ever experienced. Many of us still don’t understand how or why this has happened. The simple explanation is that the Federal Reserve (our central bank), led by Alan Greenspan, continuously inflated the currency from the early ‘90’s until 2006, when Ben Bernanke replaced him.” (10/05/08) http://www.nolanchart.com/article5128.html | | Report Bad Link |
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“Many believe that wild greed and market failure led us into this sorry mess. What’s missing is the role politicians and policy makers played in creating artificially high housing prices, and artificially reducing the danger of extremely risky assets, says Russell Roberts, a professor of economics at George Mason University and a scholar at the Mercatus Center.” (10/03/08) http://tinyurl.com/3rcmm3 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Today, money supply figures pervade the financial press. Every Friday, investors breathlessly watch for the latest money figures, and Wall Street often reacts at the opening on the following Monday. If the money supply has gone up sharply, interest rates may or may not move upward. The press is filled with ominous forecasts of Federal Reserve actions, or of regulations of banks and other financial institutions.” (10/04/08) http://mises.org/story/3122 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Every August, there are two things you can count on in the Atlantic and Gulf coasts: high humidity and hurricane warnings. Along with the scenic beauty and abundance of tranquil, sandy beaches comes the risk of hurricanes. Numerous catastrophic storms have hit the Atlantic coast since record-keeping began. The year 1667 has been dubbed the ‘Year of the Hurricane’ for the number of powerful storms to hit the Caribbean and mid-Atlantic, and the ‘Great Miami Hurricane’ of 1926 caused what would today be the equivalent of $90 billion in damage to south Florida.” (10/03/08) http://www.heartland.org/full.html?articleid=23839 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Advocates of the free market are sometimes parodied for their seemingly all-purpose answer to any problem: Let the market handle it. What may sound like a simplistic answer, however, is actually the most complex prescription imaginable. In the modern world, the workings of any particular market are so complicated, they are beyond the grasp of mere mortals. Moment by moment, day by day, so many subtly interrelated decisions are made by so many people worldwide that no individual or group could possibly understand the big picture in any detailed way. So there is nothing simplistic about proposing the market as a solution to an economic problem.” (10/03/08) http://www.fee.org/in_brief/default.asp?id=2381 | | Report Bad Link |
Audio and Video
jump to News | jump to Commentary | jump to Events and Movement News
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Dan Proft joins host Kenneth John to discuss the Illinois constitutional convention ballot measure. 9-10am Central on WRMN 1410 AM, Elgin, IL or live on the web. [live radio or stream] (10/13/08) http://www.freedomrings.net/ | | Report Bad Link |
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Jennifer Daskal and Sheldon Richman join host Scott Horton Show Daskal will discuss renditions being conducted in the Horn of Africa at 12:15pm Eastern and Richman will discuss NATO at 1:15pm Eastern. KAOS 92.7 FM, Austin, TX or live on the web. [live radio or stream] (10/03/08) http://www.kaosradioaustin.org/ | | Report Bad Link |
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“Biden vs. McCain on health care,” featuring Michael F. Cannon. [MP3] (10/03/08) http://tinyurl.com/cato100308 | | Report Bad Link |
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“Parents Surrendering Bratty Teens / Top Cop Busted / Taking Offense and Public Property / Paula’s Election Prediction / Cops Blow up Hot Dogs / Hothead Cop / Near Useless Protection / Marijuana Lies / Hemp / Cynthia Going to Court over Civil Disobedience / Activist Wiki? / Hypocrisy.” [MP3] (10/02/08) http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2008-10-02.mp3 | | Report Bad Link |
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Lew Rockwell interviews Tom DiLorenzo. [MP3] (10/02/08) http://tinyurl.com/lew100208 | | Report Bad Link |
Movement News & Events
News | Commentary |Audio and Video
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Check our sidebar calendar for this week’s freedom movement events. Don’t see your event? Drop us a line at info@rationalreview.com … or see: www.rationalreview.com/add-your-event-to-our-calendar … for instructions on adding your events directly! http://upcoming.yahoo.com/group/4042/ | | Report Bad Link |