Monthly Archives: May 2012
Rand Paul on Pro Choice — regarding toilets!
This deserves being posted again.
See also, Jeffrey Tucker’s The Relentless Misery of 1.6 Gallons.
Record Six Journalists / Whistle-blowers prosecuted under US Espionage Act
. . . But as the State Department touts its press freedom record in a press release today and encourages other countries to improve their own laws, it’s also important to critically look at the U.S.’s current approach to press freedom, in particular their statement that “the United States honors and supports media freedom at home and abroad.”
Journalists’ sources in the U.S. have been the hardest hit in recent years. The current administration has used the Espionage Act to prosecute a record six whistleblowers for leaking information to the press—more than the rest of the previous administrations combined. Many of these whistleblowers have exposed constitutional violations such as the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program and the CIA’s waterboarding practices—issues clearly in the public interest—and now face years in prison. Meanwhile, the Justice Department has brought no prosecutions for the crimes underlying the exposed allegations.
In addition, a grand jury is reportedly still investigating WikiLeaks for violations of the Espionage Act for publishing classified information—a practice that has traditionally been protected by the First Amendment and which other newspapers engage in regularly.
. . . .
The U.S. also has repeatedly detained Oscar-nominated filmmaker and journalist Laura Poitras at the border. Poitras has received critical acclaim for two films she has produced about the U.S.’ post-9/11 wars, and is in the midst of making her third film on the subject. As Glenn Greenwald reported, “On several occasions, her reporter’s notebooks were seized and their contents copied, even as she objected that doing so would invade her journalist-source relationship,” clearly violating her rights as a reporter.
And while the State Department said today that they “advocate for freedom of expression and raise media freedom issues, including specific cases, in bilateral discussions with other governments and in multilateral bodies,” the administration has come under fire for lobbying the Yemeni government to keep a prominent Yemeni journalist Abd al-Ilah Haydar Al-Sha’i in jail. 
(Read more)
Give Greece What It Deserves: Communism by Bill Frezza
I’m much more optimistic. Once Greek gets off the cocaine of the Euro and defaults on its debt, and works from a local currency, the have a good chance of being free and prosperous.
It must be dawning on all but the most obtuse member of the banking elite that they can’t possibly steal enough money from German taxpayers to save the Greek government from default. Put it off, maybe, but collapse is inevitable.
Once this happens, what is the purpose of casting Greece into some selective temporary financial purgatory where the irrelevant Greek economy can continue embarrassing anyone foolish enough to lend their dysfunctional government a dime? Why not go all the way and give the country what many of its people have been violently demanding for almost a century?
Let them have Communism.
Hard as it is for young people to believe, Communism was once a major historical force holding billions of people in thrall. Outside the halls of elite universities, who still takes it seriously? Sure we have Cuba, where the Castro deathwatch is the last thing standing between that benighted penal colony and an inevitable makeover by Club Med. Then there is Venezuela, though hope is fading that Hugo Chavez will carry the Bolivarian banner much longer now that he’s busy sucking down FOLFOX cocktails while checking for signs that his hair is falling out. And frankly, a psychopathic family dynasty ruling a nation of stunted zombies hardly makes North Korea a proper Communist exemplar.
What the world needs, lest we forget, is a contemporary example of Communism in action. What better candidate than Greece? They’ve been pining for it for years, exhibiting a level of anti-capitalist vitriol unmatched in any developed country. They are temperamentally attuned to it, having driven all hard working Greeks abroad in search of opportunity. They pose no military threat to their neighbors, unless you quake at the sight of soldiers marching around in white skirts. And they have all the trappings of a modern Western nation, making them an uncompromised test bed for Marxist theories. (Read more)
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See also: Greeks apologise with huge horse
Once poster child of crisis, Iceland recovers
While much of Europe wallows in recession, the economy of this volcanic island in the mid Atlantic is growing at a clip that has surprised many people, thanks to a currency fall – in which the crown lost almost half its value to the euro – an export and tourism boom as well as growing consumer confidence.
. . . .
Only a few years ago, a banking boom in which the sector’s assets grew to 10 times the country’s GDP lured many of Iceland’s 320,000 population from traditional industries into the world of finance. Fisherman got into banking and sailors speculated on booming real estate.
Those heady days have gone. Gas-guzzling Land Rovers have been replaced with fuel-efficient Volkswagens, a sign perhaps of a more sober consumer mood in which economic growth is based on a steady expansion of exports rather than flash-in-the-pan speculation.
The wounds that sparked massive street protests against the financial elite are slowly healing. Even the then prime minister has been tried by a special court, closing one chapter.
Granted, there is still a long way to go, but many see Iceland as offering a lesson particularly to European countries such as Greece and Spain, stuck with shrinking economies and lacking the option of devaluing to boost their international competitiveness.
Iceland’s GDP growth estimated at some 2.6 percent this year will outshine even powerhouses like Sweden. (Read more)
What Iceland did, was tell the banks that irresponsibly lent to their irresponsible politicians to shove it. Expect Iceland’s story to be relegated to back pages.
The Wall Street Journal’s NDAA Cheerleading Editorial Scares Me
I wasn’t going to address this, but since it is an editorial published in The Wall Street Journal — and not on some dude’s WordPress blog — I will do so.
On April 29, the newspaper published an opinion piece mocking those who are opposed to the NDAA’s imprisonment without trial of American citizens provisions. The editorial is so loony that it would actually be funny, if it were not in fact real. It’d be hilarious if it were penned by someone like Stephen Colbert, in jest.
First paragraph: “The tea party movement has generally been constructive, but every so often it runs off the road. A case in point is its emerging condominium with the anti-antiterror left to block terrorist detentions.”
Yes, The Wall Street Journal just used the phrase “anti-antiterror left.” That’s inspired Orwellian creativity. It really is.
Moving downward: “This modest law has sprouted a burst of political delusion in several states and Congress. A tea party outfit called the Tenth Amendment Center calls the law ‘an unconstitutional and dangerous federal power grab’—though the statute merely codifies existing practice under Presidents Bush and Obama.”
Modest law? Modest?!
Here’s how the ACLU has characterized the NDAA: “On December 31, 2011, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), codifying indefinite military detention without charge or trial into law for the first time in American history. The NDAA’s dangerous detention provisions would authorize the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and indefinitely imprison people captured anywhere in the world, far from any battlefield.”
Yeah, sounds modest to me. (Read more)
Holder 1995: WE MUST ‘BRAINWASH’ PEOPLE ON GUNS
Breitbart.com has uncovered video from 1995 of then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder announcing a public campaign to “really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.”
Holder was addressing the Woman’s National Democratic Club. In his remarks, broadcast by CSPAN 2, he explained that he intended to use anti-smoking campaigns as his model to “change the hearts and minds of people in Washington, DC” about guns. (Read more)
Guns used in Mexico lawyer’s murder traced to Operation Fast and Furious
Firearms connected to Operation Fast and Furious were used in the 2010 slaying of the brother of the former Chihuahua state attorney general, according to a U.S. congressional report.
The report said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traced two of the weapons suspected in the murder of lawyer Mario González RodrÃguez, but did not report this fact to the Mexican government until eight months after the tracing.
The joint congressional staff report “The Department of Justice’s Operation Fast and Furious: Fueling Cartel Violence” was prepared for U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., two lawmakers who are spearheading an ongoing investigation into the ATF’s controversial operation. (Read more)
Statists Argue AGAINST food inspection when free market wants more
These people, are insane. Sadly, it’s fairly typical.
Check out some of the comments in THIS reddit thread. I don’t know where to begin with such people. They defy all logic.
[–]repmack 531 points 24 days ago
Scientifically yes random testing is fine, but to say no you can’t have higher standards just shows you what a crappy organization the USDA is.
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[–]PENISCHEERIOS 627 points 24 days ago
I disagree. I think they are trying to prevent this company from using as a marketing ploy “trust our meat, we test every single cow” and creating a false panic among consumers when random testing is effective.
Kind of like the whole bottled water, don’t trust your tap water smear campaign.
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[–]BangkokPadang 308 points 24 days ago
If they want to spend millions of dollars to test every cow, and use that as a marketing device then what is wrong with that?
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[–]inner-peace 374 points 24 days ago*
Because if it becomes the industry standard, the cost gets passed to the customer, end of the day everyone is paying more for meat and we’re not any safer. Its an inefficient use of resources. EDIT: The prevalence of human disease from mad cow is incredibly low in this country, with a total of 3 confirmed human cases ever. MORE EDITS: consumers are stupid and don’t know whats best for them, the fear of mad cow is disproportional to the danger it poses
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[–]aggregarrett 82 points 24 days ago
the cost gets passed to the consumer…it’s an inefficient use of resources
See, some people would argue that factory farming and meat subsidies already leave the cost of meat in the United States in complete disproportion to its actual value. It’s too cheap. So this leads to increasingly cut costs (and corners) on the producer side, and over consumption on the consumer side.
Jim Rogers on expatriation: “JFK is a third world airport”
NY Times goes full socialist
“THERE is an ongoing debate in this country about the rich: who they are, what their social role may be, whether they are good or bad.
. . . .
MOST important, neither entrepreneurs nor the rich have a monopoly on brains, sweat or risk. There are scientists — and artists and scholars — who are just as smart as any entrepreneur, only they are interested in different rewards. A single mother holding down a job and putting herself through community college works just as hard as any hedge fund manager. A person who takes out a mortgage — or a student loan, or who conceives a child — on the strength of a job she knows she could lose at any moment (thanks, perhaps, to one of those job creators) assumes as much risk as someone who starts a business.” (More of this crap)
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In other words, you don’t want consumers choosing what they like. Consumers are too stupid to appreciate the contribution of many people, especially Humanities scholars.
Therefore, we need guns and batons and prisons to take money away from the people consumers choose and give it to people chosen by a benevolent panel of appointed experts.
There’s plenty wealth to criticize. It’s the wealth gathers with help from government violence. But this socialist reproach against all wealth is not only wrong, it is downright dangerous.
God help us if this Marxist crap becomes the norm.
Biggest Lotto Jackpot ever would fund gov’t for 80 minutes
The sad story of a defector TO North Korea
I wish more leftists tried this.
The agents offered him an important job working as an economist for the North Korean government and promised to provide free treatment for his wife’s hepatitis.
Oh took the offer seriously. He had just completed his PhD in Germany on a Marxist economist. Back at home in South Korea, he had been active in left-wing groups opposed to the country’s authoritarian regime.
. . . .
So at the end of November 1985, Oh, his wife and two young daughters travelled via East Berlin and Moscow to Pyongyang.
When they arrived at Pyongyang airport, Oh began to see he had made a mistake in coming. Communist party officials and children clutching flowers were there to meet them. But despite the cold of a North Korean December, the children were not wearing socks and their traditional clothes were so thin that they shivered. “When I saw this I was really surprised and my wife even started to cry.”
Communist party officials drove Oh and his family to what they described as a guest house. The building was inside a camp in the mountains and guarded by soldiers. There was no treatment for Shin’s hepatitis and no job for Oh as an economist. Instead, for several months, North Koreans indoctrinated them in the teachings of The Great Leader Kim Il-sung, the founder of the current regime.
Oh and his wife began working for a North Korean radio station. “My wife began as a broadcaster but she was not able to carry on for long. Her health had deteriorated and at the same time she was quite critical of the North.”
Oh was less independent. “I began to read scripts based on party directives – in the end, I was like a parrot.”
While he was there he came across South Koreans who had been abducted, including two air stewardesses and two passengers from a Korean Air Lines flight that had been hijacked by North Koreans in 1969.
Oh was approached to go on a mission abroad. He was to be based in the North Korean embassy in Copenhagen, from where he could do what had been done to him – lure South Korean students in Germany to the North Korean embassy.
When Shin heard about the plan she was furious. “I remember the two of us talking about it softly under the blanket. I told my wife that by fulfilling this mission, we would preserve our livelihood in North Korea. But she slapped me in the face.”
Shin said they would have to pay the price for his mistakes – he could not entrap others.
“She told me I had to find a way to escape when I got to Europe, that there would be a way to rescue the family.”
On arriving at Copenhagen airport, Oh managed to escape from North Korean control. “I approached the immigration desk. I had a little piece of paper on which I had written: HELP ME. I explained that the passport they were seeing was not my real passport, that my real name was Oh Kil-nam, and that my real passport had been confiscated in North Korea.”
After two months in jail in Denmark, the Danish authorities sent Oh to Germany. There he tried to free his family, but with no luck. “My biggest mistake was not to approach the German Foreign Ministry directly.”
For Shin and her two daughters, Oh’s defection was catastrophic. They were taken to Yodok concentration camp, where the North Korean government imprisons its enemies. The conditions in this slave labour camp are reportedly as bad as anything in Nazi Germany or Stalin’s Gulag. (Read more)
“Why Marxism?” An Evening at FEE with C. Bradley Thompson
The President’s justification for his crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries has to be heard to be believed
Here’s part of the President’s answer:
I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana – and the reason is, because it’s against federal law. I can’t nullify congressional law. I can’t ask the Justice Department to say, “Ignore completely a federal law that’s on the books” . . . .
The only tension that’s come up – and this gets hyped up a lot – is a murky area where you have large-scale, commercial operations that may supply medical marijuana users, but in some cases may also be supplying recreational users. In that situation, we put the Justice Department in a very difficult place if we’re telling them, “This is supposed to be against the law, but we want you to turn the other way.” That’s not something we’re going to do.
Aside from the fact that Obama’s claim about the law is outright false — as Jon Walker conclusively documents, the law vests the Executive Branch with precisely the discretion he falsely claims he does not have to decide how drugs are classified — it’s just extraordinary that Obama is affirming the “principle” that he can’t have the DOJ “turn the othe way” in the face of lawbreaking. As an emailer just put it to me: “Interesting how this principle holds for prosecuting [medical] marijuana producers in the war on drugs, but not for prosecuting US officials in the war on terror. Or telecommunications companies for illegal spying. Or Wall Street banks for mortgage fraud.”
That’s about as vivid an expression of the President’s agenda, and his sense of justice, and the state of the Rule of Law in America, as one can imagine. The same person who directed the DOJ to shield torturers and illegal government eavesdroppers from criminal investigation, and who voted to retroactively immunize the nation’s largest telecom giants when they got caught enabling criminal spying on Americans, and whose DOJ has failed to indict a single Wall Street executive in connection with the 2008 financial crisis or mortgage fraud scandal, suddenly discovers the imperatives of The Rule of Law when it comes to those, in accordance with state law, providing medical marijuana to sick people with a prescription. (Read more)