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Rational Review News Digest
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Volume III, Issue #729
Friday, September 16th, 2005
Email Circulation 2,076
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Today's News:
1) Iraq: Four bombings kill 31 in Baghdad
2) Bush vows aid for storm-struck Gulf Coast
3) Weldon: Atta papers destroyed on orders
4) US threatens to freeze North Korean assets
5) Chicago council urges withdrawal from Iraq
6) Parts of New Orleans to open next week
7) Roberts: High Court no place for ideologue
8) Jailed deaconess, 73, ordered released
9) Official: Afghans helped bin Laden flee to Pakistan
10) Senate turns aside Web gambling ban for now
11) Tijuana imposes prostitution regulations
12) Bush approves base closing plan
13) National Guard retrieves soggy cash
14) Mississippi: Toeing the line
15) Danes provide prostitutes for the disabled
16) UK: Stun guns, leg irons advertised at arms fair
17) UK: Arts world unites for Iraq pullout plea
18) Idaho: Deadly shooting may have been justified
19) Mississippi: Insurers sued over hurricane coverage
20) Massachusetts: Wiretap mosques, Romney suggests
21) Roberts backs eminent domain limits
22) Tennessee: Voters demand fiscal restraint
23) Michigan: Partial-birth ban ruled unconstitutional
24) San Francisco: Off-duty cop under investigation
25) Airline industry poised for shakeout
Today's Commentary:
26) The imperial delusion
27) Adding nuclear teeth to failed US foreign policy
28) Interview: Mike Hoy
29) Natural disasters, education and responsibility
30) Some police chases are necessary evils. Some aren't.
31) A China policy in America's interest
32) Antonin Scalia, judicial activist
33) The market and the state
34) False choices and a bridge
35) By George
36) How much for a half-percent?
37) Bush's second second inaugural address
38) Bad decision, dangerous precedent
39) Circles of hell
40) St. Patrick's Four protesters offer an explanation
41) Brown out
42) The unjust detention of Jose Padilla
43) Everybody loves martial law
44) What tints your cultural lens on racial issues?
45) Wal-Mart to the rescue!
46) High court's relations with Congress
47) Not the Sun King after all
48) One nation (not always), under God (since 1954)
49) The FEMAnist movement in the South
50) Sales tax vote shows Mayor citizens' minds
51) Iraq: No Exit?
52) The bicoastal housing bubble
53) Indonesia's energy policy: A lesson in failure
54) The poverty of the United Nations
55) Corn is king
56) Celebrate Constitution Day
Today's Movement News and Events:
57) Help rattle the cages on gun confiscation
58) Second European Resource Bank Meeting
59) A time for action
60) Bring the Guard home NOW
61) Homes for Katrina victims
62) The economics of fascism
Today in Political History:
63) Sooners roll
News
1) Iraq: Four bombings kill 31 in Baghdad
USA Today
"Two suicide car bombers struck within a minute of each other and a
half-mile apart in southern Baghdad on Thursday, killing seven
policemen and raising the day's death toll from blasts in the capital
to at least 31, police said. Earlier Thursday, the day's first suicide
car bombing killed 16 policemen and five civilians in the same
neighborhood, signaling a new round of violence one day after
residents suffered through Baghdad's bloodiest day since the invasion
that toppled Saddam Hussein -- 160 dead and 570 wounded." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/87vz6
-----
2) Bush vows aid for storm-struck Gulf Coast
Detroit Free Press
"President Bush promised Thursday night the government will pay most
of the costs of rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast in one of
the largest reconstruction projects the world has ever seen. 'There is
no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city
will rise again,' the president said. Standing in Jackson Square in
the heart of the French Quarter, Bush acknowledged his administration
had failed to respond adequately to Hurricane Katrina, which killed
hundreds of people across five states. The government's costs for
rebuilding could reach $200 billion or beyond." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/7cx6d
-----
3) Weldon: Atta papers destroyed on orders
Cincinnati Enquirer
"A Pentagon employee was ordered to destroy documents that identified
Mohamed Atta as a terrorist two years before the 2001 attacks, a
congressman said Thursday. The employee is prepared to testify next
week before the Senate Judiciary Committee and was expected to
identify the person who ordered him to destroy the large volume of
documents, said Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa. Weldon declined to identify
the employee, citing confidentiality matters. Weldon described the
documents as '2.5 terabytes' -- as much as one-fourth of all the
printed materials in the Library of Congress, he added." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/9shb5
-----
4) US threatens to freeze North Korean assets
ABC News
"The United States on Friday held out the threat of freezing North
Korean assets if six-party talks did not make progress in the next
five days in ending the communist state's nuclear weapons capability.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States was
not solely dependent on current negotiations in China to get North
Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions and listed freezing assets as
one punitive option. 'We're not sitting still, you know, we're working
on anti-proliferation measures that help to protect us,' Rice said in
an interview conducted on Thursday with the New York Post, a
transcript of which was released by the State Department. 'The (U.S.)
President signed an executive order, if you remember, that freezes
assets and some entities that we believe that are engaging in
proliferation trade,' she said." (09/16/05)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1131215
-----
5) Chicago council urges withdrawal from Iraq
CNN
"Chicago on Wednesday became the nation's largest city to urge the
Bush administration to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq at once. The
resolution, approved 29-9, seeks an 'immediate and orderly'
withdrawal. The City Council has 50 aldermen. Chicago joins other
cities -- including San Francisco, Santa Cruz, California, 50
communities in Vermont and the Chicago suburb of Evanston -- in
calling for the withdrawal of troops." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/e3v6g
-----
6) Parts of New Orleans to open next week
Tampa Tribune
"In a big step toward restoring the pulse and soul of New Orleans, the
mayor announced plans Thursday to reopen over the next week and a half
some of the Big Easy's most vibrant neighborhoods, including the
once-rollicking French Quarter. The move could bring back more than
180,000 of the city's original half-million residents and speed the
revival of its economy, which relies heavily on the bawdy,
Napoleonic-era enclave that is home to Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras,
jazz and jambalaya." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/at23e
-----
7) Roberts: High Court no place for ideologue
Las Vegas Review-Journal
"Chief Justice nominee John Roberts said Thursday there is no room for
ideologues on the Supreme Court, declaring an 'obligation to the
Constitution' and to no other cause as he concluded three grueling
days of confirmation testimony. 'If the Constitution says that the
little guy should win, the little guy's going to win in court before
me,' Roberts told the Senate Judiciary Committee. 'But if the
Constitution says that the big guy should win, well, then the big
guy's going to win.'" (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/dop4x
-----
8) Jailed deaconess, 73, ordered released
Indianapolis Star
"Merlene Maten undoubtedly stood out in the prison where she has been
held since Hurricane Katrina. The 73-year-old church deaconess, never
before in trouble with the law, spent two weeks among hardened
criminals. Her bail was a stiff $50,000. Her offense? Police say the
grandmother from New Orleans took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli
the day after Katrina struck. Family and eyewitnesses insisted Maten
was an innocent woman who had gone to her car to get some sausage to
eat only to be mistakenly arrested by tired, frustrated white officers
who couldn't catch younger looters at a nearby store." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/cypwx
-----
9) Official: Afghans helped bin Laden flee to Pakistan
Houston Chronicle
"Osama bin Laden was provided safe passage to Pakistan in 2001 by
Afghan commanders who were paid by al-Qaida and sympathetic to its
cause, a senior Afghan official said Wednesday. Lutfullah Mashal,
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman, said commanders helped the
al-Qaida leader escape from the Tora Bora mountains as U.S. warplanes
and Afghan forces attacked his hideout in late 2001. 'The help was
provided because of monetary aid availed by al-Qaida and also partly
because of ideological issues,' Mashal said." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/bn5al
-----
10) Senate turns aside Web gambling ban for now
Houston Chronicle
"The Senate today turned aside an attempt to restrict Internet
gambling in a procedural move, but Sen. Jon Kyl vowed he would try
again and said he expected the legislation would become law
eventually. The Arizona Republican tried to attach language
restricting Internet gambling to an annual spending bill that must be
passed this year, but an unnamed Democrat objected to attaching an
unrelated matter to the spending measure under consideration."
[editor's note: The Republican Liberty Caucus labels Kyl a
"libertarian" with a 2004 "Liberty Index" rating of 85. Of course,
they give Rick Santorum an 86.9. Sounds like maybe their grading
system needs some work - TLK] (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/83kkj
-----
11) Tijuana imposes prostitution regulations
MSNBC
"Tijuana is cracking down on prostitutes by requiring them to pass
monthly exams to detect sexually transmitted diseases, part of new
standards aimed at protecting them and their clients and putting
unsafe brothels out of business. The regulations amount to an open,
official acknowledgment of what has long been a fact of life in this
Mexican border city. Before, the few standards that existed were
unwritten, which authorities say made them difficult to enforce. They
included requiring prostitutes to submit to regular health exams,
including three AIDS tests a year." (09/15/05)
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9358631/
-----
12) Bush approves base closing plan
MSNBC
"President Bush on Thursday endorsed a plan for closing 22 major
military bases and reconfiguring 33 others, leaving their fate to
Congress. Bush had until Sept. 23 to either accept the entire report
from an independent commission and send it to Congress, or return it
to the commission for further work. The report will become final in 45
days unless Congress acts to reject it in full." (09/15/05)
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9357510/
-----
13) National Guard retrieves soggy cash
CNN
"National Guardsmen used armored vehicles to retrieve wads of soggy
cash from a flooded-out vault a few blocks from the Superdome. Loomis,
Fargo & Co., the armored car company, had been unable to reach its
vault in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and had asked officials
for help. 'It was locked up and secured, but we simply couldn't get to
it,' Loomis spokesman Mark Clark said Thursday." [editor's note: I
wonder if "regular people" can get the National Guard to go after the
wallets they left lying on bedside tables in The Big Easy - TLK]
(09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/8aq7j
-----
14) Mississippi: Toeing the line
Biloxi Sun-Herald
"Since Katrina departed, some residents have been faced with confusion
and frustration. To compound the confusion, residents were shocked
Friday to see a work crew laying out double coil rows of razor wire,
also called concertina wire. Lynn Bauer, who is living with her mother
after her Mills Avenue home was damaged, said she also was stopped
from accessing her home. 'I want to get to work taking out the
drywall, insulation and flooring. The longer I wait, the worse it's
going to be,' Bauer said. At a briefing of the Emergency Operations
Center Saturday, Col. Joe Spraggins, chief of emergency services for
Harrison County, said he decided to install the razor wire to secure
the stretches of land between checkpoints. 'I can put 1,000 national
guardsman there (instead), but that's a waste of assets,' Spraggins
said. He said the wire is easy to lay down and remove. 'We are not
trying to put you in a concentration camp or make it look like a war
zone,' he said. A concentration camp is exactly what Bauer thought of
when she first saw the wire." (09/10/05)
http://tinyurl.com/8udh2
-----
15) Danes provide prostitutes for the disabled
Ananova [UK]
"The Danish government is under attack for paying for its disabled
citizens to have sex with prostitutes. The official 'Sex, irrespective
of disability' campaign pays sex workers to provide sex once a month
for disabled people. The legal guidelines advise: 'It could be of
great importance that the carer speaks to the prostitute together with
the person in their care, to help them express their wishes.'" (09/15/05)
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1537366.html
-----
16) UK: Stun guns, leg irons advertised at arms fair
Guardian [UK]
"Leg irons, stun guns, and stun batons -- banned for export under
British law -- are being advertised in catalogues at the international
arms fair in London's Docklands. The instruments feature in the
catalogues of an Israeli company, TAR Ideal, which describes itself as
world leader in supplying riot control gear. The company advertises
batons which it describes as a 'powerful defensive weapon for stunning
and hitting.' When used as a baton it delivers a debilitating 300,000
volt shock. A stun gun on offer is said to deliver a high voltage
shock, immobilising a potential attacker for several minutes. The
company describes its 'leg cuffs' as of 'all-steel construction,' with
a 'rust-resistant nickel finish' and 'sturdy, loadable, foot chain.'
... The government last year extended controls over the export of
banned products by saying they applied to any Briton anywhere in the
world." (09/16/05)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/0,10674,1571455,00.html
-----
17) UK: Arts world unites for Iraq pullout plea
Independent [UK]
"A coalition of artists, musicians and writers have joined anti-war
campaigners to make a collective appeal to Tony Blair to pull British
troops out of Iraq by the end of the year. The diverse group,
including the musician Brian Eno, the actor and film director Mark
Rylance and the guitar player John Williams, as well as 100 academics,
MPs and activists, signed an open letter of protest condemning the
continued occupation of Iraq as 'an unmitigated disaster.'" (09/16/05)
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article313057.ece
-----
18) Idaho: Deadly shooting may have been justified
Bonner County Daily Bee
"The shooting death of a Clark Fork man on Tuesday night appears to be
a case of self-defense, Bonner County Sheriff's officials said on
Wednesday. The identity of the shooting victim and the woman who
pulled the trigger were not released on Wednesday. 'She's claiming she
was physically attacked and had to defend herself,' Sheriff's Det.
John Valdez said, declining to elaborate. ... Valdez said the
34-year-old woman was an acquaintance and former co-worker of the man.
'She was giving him a ride home, ostensibly because he had a broken
down vehicle,' said Valdez. The man died of a single gunshot wound to
his torso." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/9b2sk
-----
19) Mississippi: Insurers sued over hurricane coverage
San Francisco Chronicle
"Mississippi's attorney general on Thursday sued insurers to force
them to pay flood damage from Hurricane Katrina, saying standard
insurance polices have led homeowners to believe they are covered for
all hurricane damage, whether from wind or flooding. Attorney General
Jim Hood asked the Hines County Chancery Court to void provisions in
the policies that attempt to exclude from coverage losses or damages
directly or indirectly caused by water, whether wind-driven or not.
Those losses could reach into the billions of dollars. Only about 3 in
10 houses in disaster-struck portions of Mississippi and Alabama had
flood insurance, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency
estimates." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/7o3fl
-----
20) Massachusetts: Wiretap mosques, Romney suggests
Boston Globe
"Governor Mitt Romney raised the prospect of wiretapping mosques and
conducting surveillance of foreign students in Massachusetts, as he
issued a broad call yesterday for the federal government to devote far
more money and attention to domestic intelligence gathering. In
remarks that caused alarm among civil libertarians and advocates for
immigrants rights, he said in a speech to the Heritage Foundation that
the United States needs to radically rethink how it guards itself
against terrorism. 'How many individuals are coming to our state and
going to those institutions who have come from terrorist-sponsored
states?' he said. 'Do we know where they are? Are we tracking them?'
'How about people in settings -- mosques, for instance -- that may be
teaching doctrines of hate and terror -- Are we monitoring that? Are
we wiretapping?'" [editor's note: Good Lord! And to think, I used to
think the Democrats in that state were the craziest ones! - SAT]
(09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/cxkpd
-----
21) Roberts backs eminent domain limits
Washington Times
"Federal Judge John G. Roberts Jr. told senators yesterday that laws
restricting the government's power of eminent domain are legitimate,
despite a landmark Supreme Court decision earlier this year that
broadly expanded that authority. 'The court was not saying, 'You have
to have this power, you have to exercise this power,'' Judge Roberts
told the Senate Judiciary Committee. 'That leaves the ball in the
court of the legislature.' Judge Roberts, nominated to be the next
chief justice of the Supreme Court, finished a second day of testimony
yesterday with a few flare-ups, but no major upsets. The hearings have
been so devoid of fireworks that Senate staffers are having a hard
time keeping the limited public seating area filled." (09/15/05)
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050914-115908-8234r.htm
-----
22) Tennessee: Voters demand fiscal restraint
Tennessean
"Metro [Nashville] agencies could face cuts this time next year, now
that voters have trounced a proposed sales tax increase -- and some
officials yesterday did not rule out the possibility of another
property tax increase next year. Questions of how to come up with more
money for schools -- and whether to take that money away from other
Metro departments -- were the talk of the town yesterday, the day
after voters gave a strong thumbs-down to a proposal to raise the
Davidson County sales tax rate by a half-cent. If money is moved
around in the city budget to fund schools, then every single
department will have to 'tighten their belts,' said Councilwoman
Brenda Gilmore of Bordeaux. The mssage from the voters was 'Use what
you have, do a better job using what you have, before we give you any
more,' she said." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/7llxl
-----
23) Michigan: Partial-birth ban ruled unconstitutional
Fox News
"A federal judge has declared unconstitutional Michigan's law aimed at
banning partial-birth abortion. In a ruling dated Monday, U.S.
District Court Judge Denise Page Hood in Detroit ruled the law places
an 'undue burden' on women's right to choose an abortion. The parties
in the lawsuit learned of the ruling Wednesday. Hood also said the law
is confusing and vague, and its exceptions for the health or life of
the mother are meaningless and unconstitutional. 'The act does not
describe any specific procedure to be banned,' Hood wrote. 'The act
also does not distinguish between induced abortion and pregnancy
loss.' Previous attempts by state lawmakers to stop the abortion
procedure were struck down by federal courts in 1997 and 2001." (09/15/05)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169415,00.html
-----
24) San Francisco: Off-duty cop under investigation
San Francisco Chronicle
"A San Francisco police officer was accused of misconduct Wednesday
stemming from an off-duty incident in which he allegedly pulled his
weapon on a crowd of people outside a nightclub, yelled obscenities at
them, and later lied about it to investigators. Officer DeMarco
Foster, 25, improperly drew his weapon outside Kelly's Mission Rock
nightclub on Terry Francois Boulevard in August 2004, according to
disciplinary charges presented Wednesday night to the Police
Commission by Chief Heather Fong. Foster, a four-year veteran assigned
to the department's planning division, is on leave and could not be
reached for comment." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/cqblx
-----
25) Airline industry poised for shakeout
Christian Science Monitor
"With Northwest and Delta airlines both in bankruptcy court this week,
four of the nation's 'Big 7' airlines are now in Chapter 11, which
raises the question: Why don't they just raise their prices more, as
other industries struggling with high fuel prices have done? The
answer is a complex mix of tight competition, not only with low-cost
carriers, but with buses, trains, and automobiles as well. There's
also the already-battered state of the traditional carriers' balance
sheets. They didn't have the cash to hedge cheap fuel, the way flush
low-cost carriers like Southwest did. So the majors will just keep
racking up losses, which could mean a very different aviation industry
in years to come." (09/16/05)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0916/p03s01-usec.html
Commentary
26) The imperial delusion
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"A lot has been written about the neoconservatives: their storied
history starting out as acolytes of Leon Trotsky conferring in Alcove
One in the lunchroom at City College in New York City; their rise to
literary fame as the so-called 'New York Intellectuals;' their odyssey
from the left-liberal Bohemian beret-wearing coffeehouse set to the
wood-paneled boardrooms and lecture halls of the right-leaning
American Enterprise Institute -- and the topic is a fascinating one.
But I just want to focus here, for a moment, on Hersh's description of
them as a cult. Now, one of the chief characteristics of a classic
cult organization is that there are two sets of ideas that hold the
cultists in thrall, two entirely separate and often contradictory
ideologies that are held simultaneously by members of the group."
(09/16/05)
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7294
-----
27) Adding nuclear teeth to failed US foreign policy
Rational Review
by Stephen Gordon
"According to the Washington Post, Pentagon planners have drafted a
revised policy doctrine which allows for pre-emptive nuclear strikes
against non-nuclear states or terrorist groups as an integral part of
its global military strategy. While clearly opposed to the war in
Iraq, I am not a pacifist. I've never supported unilateral nuclear
disarmament, as I believe there may be some (albeit unlikely)
scenarios when nuclear weapons might be required for valid
self-defense measures. However, this policy proposal scares me, and
I'll tell you why." (09/15/05)
http://www.rationalreview.com/content/1017
-----
28) Interview: Mike Hoy
Sunni's Salon
by Sunni Maravillosa
Loompanics publisher Mike Hoy holds forth: "[D]oesn't it strike you as
odd that the bunch of people who proclaim themselves as knowing more
about economics and business and the market than everybody else on
earth avoid the marketplace like poison? They have all gone to the
government and asked to be granted non-profit status -- i.e., they
have asked the government to protect them from the very economic
forces they claim to advocate. Why don't the 'libertarians' quit
running their mouths and show us by example how much they love the
marketplace?" (09/05)
http://endervidualism.com/salon/intvw/hoy3.htm
-----
29) Natural disasters, education and responsibility
from Reason to Freedom
by M.J. Taylor
"The aftermath of Hurricane Andrew and the New Orleans levee breach
are truly horrific, but if we don't know why they happed, how will we
even know where to start to stop them from happening again? What was
the root cause? It would be simple to blame Bush for cutting the levee
budget for the last three years, but it isn't truly the root cause of
the problem. [from Reason to Freedom is still for impeaching Bush, or
anything at this point to see him put in jail. -Ed.] These situations
are just manifestations of possibly the major contributing factor for
these disasters. Well, at least a huge contributing factor. Education,
or more succinctly [sic] the Mass Forced Education System." (09/16/05)
http://www.ReasonToFreedom.com/Hurricane_Katrina_Aftermath.html
-----
30) Some police chases are necessary evils. Some aren't.
Liberty For All
by Kurt St. Angelo
"Critics of current police-chase policies say high-speed chases bring
out the worst adrenal instincts in police officers, and often get
out-of-hand. Policy defenders say that if the public expects the
police to do their jobs, then some innocent people will occasionally
be hurt and killed. Given these valid sides -- one that says police
chases are necessary evils and the other that says this evil isn't
worth the community's risks -- let me offer a compromise plan that
ensures police their authority to apprehend violent criminals, yet
reduces harm to the unsuspecting public." (09/16/05)
http://www.libertyforall.net/2005/sept11/chases.html
-----
31) A China policy in America's interest
Cato Institute
by Daniel T. Griswold
"China's government is certainly no ally in the mold of Japan or South
Korea. The administration should take steps necessary to protect our
national security from any potential military threat from China.
Export controls already exist to deny China certain goods and
technologies with direct military applications. But neither should we
jeopardize our own economic interests nor needlessly alienate a
regional power that can help us contain North Korea by picking a trade
fight with China. The challenge for the Bush administration in the
months ahead will be to keep the pressure on the Chinese government to
continue its economic and trade reforms while fending off -- with a
veto if necessary -- any legislation in Congress that would disrupt
normal and growing trade and investment ties between our two
countries." (09/16/05)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4777
-----
32) Antonin Scalia, judicial activist
Reason
by Cathy Young
"Scalia's liberal critics have a point: His moral views have a habit
of grafting themselves onto his constitutional philosophy. No one
expects him to be a libertarian; he has stressed that his opposition
to expanded federal power applies only to instances in which it is
explicitly limited by the Constitution. But you might at least expect
him to be oppose federal intervention within the parameters of his
originalist vision. Or rather, you might have expected that until
Gonzales v. Raich, this year's medical marijuana case." (for
publication 10/05)
http://www.reason.com/0510/co.cy.antonin.shtml
-----
33) The market and the state
LewRockwell.Com
by Butler Shaffer
"Mankind has long suffered from the consequences of assumptions that
have received far too little intelligent questioning. In considering
how human society is to be organized, the premise has long been
accepted that 'responsible' and 'caring' behavior consists of men and
women subordinating themselves to the authority of the state.
Collective activity is presumed to be orderly, while individual action
raises the specter of social turbulence. Adherents to such a point of
view often end up contrasting 'altruistic' politicians and government
functionaries with 'greedy' businessmen. I would have thought that
such simplistic thinking might have evaporated in the historic
awareness of how corporate interests have been the principal promoters
of government regulatory schemes to accomplish, through political
coercion, ends they were unable to achieve in a free market." (09/16/05)
http://lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer119.html
-----
34) False choices and a bridge
Free Market News Network
by Jim Babka
"In all-too-many circles, the gap between God and science has been
widened. Creationists seek a static world where every discovery is a
potential threat to their literal interpretation of Genesis 1.
Atheists, on the other hand, find reassurance in 'blind chance' and
'randomness' that is, in their opinion, so purposeless that there just
can't be a Deity. Like Coke and Pepsi, Republicans and Democrats, this
is a false choice. Each side wants you to believe that you only have
two choices and you must choose, even if you believe the alternatives
are bad and worse. But there aren't only two choices." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/dfbeh
-----
35) By George
Salon
by Kerry Lauerman
"Who would have expected the most compelling argument for a smarter,
more aggressive news media to come from one of our few true movie
stars, a man who could stay secluded from the press -- the world
really -- in his Italian villa for as long as he liked, only to
reappear for the occasional prestige project or 'Ocean's Eleven'
sequel? But George Clooney's 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' a stirring
examination of CBS News legend Edward R. Murrow's historic showdown
with Sen. Joseph McCarthy, is a passionate argument for a revitalized
press, one that's willing to operate in pursuit of larger truths, and
not just larger profits." [subscription or ad view required] (09/16/05)
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2005/09/16/george_clooney/
-----
36) How much for a half-percent?
The Weekly Standard
by Victorino Matus
"Critics of Germany's Free Democratic Party have derisively joked that
the 'F' in FDP stands for 'fun' and that the 'Fun Party' only tells
voters what they want to hear. But what if it turned out the party
really did know how to have a good time? The only way to find out was
by attending their last official rally before Sunday's national
elections." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/bpnvc
-----
37) Bush's second second inaugural address
Slate
by John Dickerson
"We've become accustomed to these fraught addresses from President
Bush: the cadences of loss and resolve, the biblical echoes, and the
strain of a voice trying to whip up hope. We heard them over and over
after 9/11 and before the Iraq war. But tonight was different.
President Bush has never spoken from a position of such weakness. The
country is as uncertain about his leadership as it has ever been. He
created the very Department of Homeland Security that failed to
prepare itself or citizens for Hurricane Katrina or manage its
aftermath. Bush has spoken at length about compassion for the least
among us and yet their condition has not improved. Second terms
usually start on the steps of the Capitol. George Bush hopes that his
starts in Jackson Square." (09/15/05)
http://www.slate.com/id/2126384/
-----
38) Bad decision, dangerous precedent
Conservative Voice
by Alan Burkhart
"Gun owners and gun owner rights groups across America are rightfully
outraged at the recent decision by New Orleans law enforcement
officials to confiscate the firearms of law-abiding citizens.
According to city officials, while the crisis spawned by Katrina
exists, no one but law enforcement will have guns in New Orleans.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a little something in the
United States Constitution that specifically prohibits this sort of
thing?" (09/14/05)
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?id=8295
-----
39) Circles of hell
Common Wonders
by Bob Koehler
"Something far more sinister than incompetence has been at work in
post-Katrina New Orleans. While there was plenty of that -- 'racism
and incompetence seemed to merge to create a sluggish response,'
Christian Parenti wrote in The Nation -- the fumbling cluelessness of
FEMA under George Bush is a minor aspect of the vision of America,
armed and gated, he and his cohorts have bestowed on us. In this
virulent, militarized vision, disaster relief is an afterthought. What
this administration does enthusiastically is wage war, or at least
take potshots at fear. Thus the commander of the Louisiana National
Guard's Joint Task Force told Army Times, as quoted by Rebecca Solnit
in Harper's, 'This will be a combat operation to get this city under
control.' If it's a combat operation, you need an enemy -- and the
poor and destitute of New Orleans got conscripted into this role."
(09/15/05)
http://www.commonwonders.com/archives/col311.htm
-----
40) St. Patrick's Four protesters offer an explanation
Common Dreams
by Peter Demott, Clare Grady, Danny Burns and Teresa Grady
"On Sept. 19, the four of us will go on trial a second time for trying
to prevent the Iraq war. We are charged with conspiracy to impede 'by
force, intimidation and threat' an officer of the United States and
three lesser charges. If convicted of federal conspiracy, we face up
to six years in prison, a period of probation and $275,000 in fines.
... In April 2004 we were tried in state court, where nine of twelve
jurors voted, after listening to our defense, that we were not guilty.
The judge declared a mistrial after 20 hours of deliberations. ...
Now, with an ever worsening situation in Iraq, the United States
government wants to retry us for conspiracy. We believe our actions
were moral, legal and necessary. As with our first trial, if the jury
is allowed to hear about the illegality of the war, our country's
history of nonviolent resistance to injustice, and how our faith in
God calls us to work for a world unified by love, solidarity and
mutual cooperation, we expect our peers will vote to acquit." (09/15/05)
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0915-34.htm
-----
41) Brown out
CounterPunch
by Jeffrey St. Clair
"Perhaps Mike Brown's fatal mistake was that he flinched on camera and
dared to show a little sadness and empathy for those who went down in
the flood. That humane slip may have signed his bureaucratic death
warrant. George W. Bush is often praised by the press for his loyalty.
One wonders why. It's obvious that the Bush family code goes precisely
the other way. Bush demands absolute fealty, while he's willing to
sacrifice almost anyone (except his foul-minded mother) to protect his
own ass." (09/15/05)
http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair09152005.html
-----
42) The unjust detention of Jose Padilla
FindLaw
by Joanne Mariner
"Padilla is, in short, an alleged criminal, not a soldier. He is not
being held as a consequence of the war in Afghanistan, but instead as
part of the government's ill-defined and open-ended 'war on terror.'
And if the government's terrorism allegations are true, he should be
prosecuted, not released. But, of course, the only way to ascertain
the truth of the government's allegations is to subject them to a fair
judicial proceeding -- precisely what the Fourth Circuit has now said
is unnecessary." [editor's note: Given that Padilla's defense
stipulated to the government's allegations -- that Padilla was
affiliated with al Qaeda, that he bore arms in Afghanistan, and that
he returned to the US under orders from al Qaeda operations chief
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for the purpose of conducting terror attacks --
the court doesn't seem to have had much room to rule differently than
it did - TLK] (09/14/05)
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/mariner/20050914.html
-----
43) Everybody loves martial law
Strike the Root
by Joe Plummer
"At some point the propaganda we're subjected to becomes so utterly
ridiculous, you've just got to ask yourself: 'Is this really being
said?' Chris Matthews (MSNBC -- HardBall) nonchalantly informed his
viewers today that EVERYONE just LOVES the military occupation in New
Orleans. ... Is ANYBODY so ignorant as to not see through this 'in our
face' whitewash of yet ANOTHER power grab; this precedent-setting
violation of our country's founding principles? Who do they think
they're kidding? What will they tell us next? Will they claim people
are dancing in the streets because they've been forcibly disarmed? ...
Or maybe that they're thrilled to be getting shipped off to the
'safety' of a concentration camp?" (09/15/05)
http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/plummer/plummer2.html
-----
44) What tints your cultural lens on racial issues?
Christian Science Monitor
by Linda S. Wallace
"Many white Americans sincerely believe that skin color no longer
matters. They have shut their eyes to the facts that: this nation's
churches remain heavily segregated, research shows children perform
better in school when they are taught by members of their own race,
and in the singles ads, many whites still seek white partners.
Meanwhile, in the black community -- which I'm a part of -- we find
people believing the other extreme: that racism is at the root of
nearly every problem. They have shut their eyes to the facts that:
minorities are this nation's new and fastest growing group of
entrepreneurs, black public officials are found in the highest levels
of government, and parental involvement is a key component of academic
success. Think of it this way: When race is involved, most of us are
wearing cultural shades." (09/16/05)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0916/p09s01-coop.html
-----
45) Wal-Mart to the rescue!
The Nation
by Liza Featherstone
"In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, among the statesmen
touring the Houston Astrodome to boost victims' spirits were former
Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush -- and Wal-Mart CEO Lee
Scott. This image didn't seem as odd as it might have. When Hurricane
Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, most of us were stunned by the
poverty of government response at all levels -- from the failure to
rescue grandmothers stranded on their rooftops to the babies and
diabetics languishing without food and water at designated emergency
'shelters.' Thank goodness, then, for Wal-Mart, which immediately sent
1,900 truckloads of water and other emergency supplies to the
afflicted. The company has also contributed $17 million to the
hurricane relief effort, and more than $3 million in merchandise."
[editor's note: Warning: This is a setup; she goes on to use this
mega-corporate 'straw man' to take potshots at free markets and
voluntarism, and claim 'starving the government' is to blame - SAT]
(09/15/05)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050926/featherstone
-----
46) High court's relations with Congress
Washington Times
by Adam B. Schiff
"Apart from his success ushering in a quiet conservative revolution on
the court, one remarkable facet of William Rehnquist's legacy is found
in a more understated role of the chief justice -- that of the
judiciary's chief advocate and ambassador. The hallmark of his style,
no matter how volatile the issue or context -- from abortion to
impeachment -- was one of respectful debate, a quality that garnered
enormous loyalty and respect among his fellow justices, litigants and
court watchers. But the chief justice not only worked to foster
respect and collegiality within the walls of the court, he did more:
For the last two years of his tenure, Rehnquist turned his focus to a
matter of growing concern for many -- the deterioration in relations
between the Congress and the courts." (09/15/05)
http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050914-091903-8072r.htm
-----
47) Not the Sun King after all
Boston Globe
by Andrew J. Bacevich
"On three occasions in the past four years the United States has
suffered catastrophic failure. Since each of these disasters -- 9/11,
the Iraq quagmire, and now Hurricane Katrina -- occurred on George W.
Bush's watch, many Americans hold the president personally
responsible. But hammering Bush amounts to an exercise in scapegoating
that lets others -- starting with ourselves -- off the hook. In fact,
the underlying explanation for these calamities lies in the delusions
to which Americans in recent years have readily subscribed. The
defining 'truths' of the age have turned out to be anything but true."
(09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/b77b2
-----
48) One nation (not always), under God (since 1954)
Arizona Republic
by E. J. Montini
"We get so fixated on which version of the Pledge of Allegiance that
we want to strong-arm children into reciting that every time the
argument over its wording winds up in court, we blow our chance to
teach kids everything they need to know about America. We're about to
do it again. A California judge put the pledge back in the news and
back on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling the words 'under
God' are unconstitutional. ... We could start by pointing out to
school kids how the 'one nation' part of the pledge becomes
meaningless every time we talk about the 'under God' part, which
causes all kinds of divisions. Mostly among people who have no idea
where the pledge came from or who wrote it." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/d9kq2
-----
49) The FEMAnist movement in the South
Sierra Times
by Al Benson Jr.
"FEMA Director Michael Brown has departed. At one point George W. told
him 'Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.' What exactly he was doing
such a great job at was never clearly explained, and maybe just as
well. Whatever it was, helping the people in need didn't really seem
to be a major part of it -- perhaps projecting a 'positive image'
regarding the state as deity was. According to Congressman Ron Paul,
our menagerie of Congress-critters has recently approved a relief
package of $52 billion -- most of which will go to FEMA. He noted of
FEMA that: '... there is every indication that FEMA is nothing but a
bureaucratic black hole that spends money without the slightest
accountability.'" (09/15/05)
http://www.sierratimes.com/05/09/15/64_12_116_12_86581.htm
-----
50) Sales tax vote shows Mayor citizens? minds
Nashville City Paper
by staff
"The voters spoke convincingly Tuesday about a half-cent sales tax
increase that would have supported Metro schools and tax relief for
senior citizens. The measure wasn?t just rejected; it was pummeled. So
what does this now say about the future of Metro schools and, indeed,
the future of Mayor Bill Purcell? It was clear from the vote that
Davidson County residents feel that the schools are not in dire
straits. A half-cent tax increase would seem a pittance to fix an
ailing school system. But perhaps because voters are already
experiencing a property tax increase, the sales tax hike was the straw
that broke the camel's back." [editor's note: Once again, the people
in the Volunteer State, even in its capitol city, show their mettle
and reject the whine for more "public" funding - SAT] (09/15/05)
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=44381
-----
51) Iraq: No Exit?
Tom Paine
by Robert Dreyfuss
"Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D-CA] leads rump Democratic hearings today on the
quagmire in Iraq and whether or not the United States can extricate
itself. Testifying will be luminaries such as Gen. Joe Hoar, a former
commander of the U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for
the region; David Mack, a retired U.S. ambassador with wide service in
the Middle East and Iraq; ex-Senator Max Cleland; and others. Woolsey
hopes that the hearings will help prompt the Bush administration to
start thinking about how to get out of Iraq and to 'discuss strategies
to achieve military disengagement while still playing a constructive
role in the rebuilding of Iraqi society.' So far, surprisingly, very
little concrete thinking has emerged from Washington, D.C., think
tanks on anything related to getting out: not for a negotiated
settlement of the war in Iraq, not for how to implement a unilateral
withdrawal, not for how to set a date and get out -- in other words,
not for much." (09/15/05)
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050915/iraq_no_exit.php
-----
52) The bicoastal housing bubble
National Center for Policy Analysis
by Bruce Bartlett
"Speculative 'bubbles' can appear in various sectors of the economy
when the Federal Reserve eases monetary policy by lowering interest
rates. Generally speaking, when the Federal Reserve tightens monetary
policy, the sectors of the economy that went up the most during the
easing phase will fall the hardest as the bubble bursts. For instance,
stocks went up the most from 1995 to 1998, when the Federal Reserve
eased the money supply; stocks fell the most after the Federal Reserve
tightened the money supply in 1999 and 2000." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/a8xpr
-----
53) Indonesia's energy policy: A lesson in failure
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by K.Y. Leong
"Disruption, high prices, and dislocations of all sorts have led to
call for a new 'energy policy.' Let us consider the case of Indonesia,
which has an energy policy of an unusual sort. As the Sunday Times of
Singapore reported on September 4, 2005: 'Jakarta subsidizes heavily
the cost of fuel for ordinary Indonesians and faces a subsidy bill of
as much as 138.6 trillion rupiah this year because of high crude oil
prices.'" (09/06/05)
http://www.mises.org/story/1906
-----
54) The poverty of the United Nations
Foundation for Economic Education
by Lawrence W. Reed
"Twenty years ago, a United Nations report listed the United States as
consuming 115,540 kilowatt-hours of energy per person per year. At the
same time, each person in the tiny central African nation of Burundi
was using up just 120 kilowatt-hours. My guess is that today, the
average American is still consuming about a thousand times as much
energy as the average Burundian. It's also a safe bet that the
'experts' at the United Nations want Americans to feel just as guilty
about the disparity today as 20 years ago." (written 1999; posted
09/15/05)
http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=4211
-----
55) Corn is king
Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Marlo Lewis, Jr.
"Four years in the making and 1,700-pages long, the energy bill
Congress recently presented might well be called the 'No Energy
Lobbyist Left Behind Act.' An energy bill worthy of the name would
remove political barriers to the production and distribution of
affordable energy. There are some bona fide market-liberalizing
measures in the bill. For example, the bill repeals depression-era
Public Utility Holding Company Act restrictions on energy company
mergers, repeals the Clean Air Act motor-fuel oxygenate requirement
made obsolete by today?s clean-burning computer- controlled engines,
and authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to overcome
NIMBY (not-in-mybackyard) opposition to the siting and licensing of
liquefied natural gas import terminals." (09/15/05)
http://www.cei.org/gencon/019,04830.cfm
-----
56) Celebrate Constitution Day
Center For Individual Freedom
by staff
"The United States Constitution is an extraordinary document. It
protects our rights and freedoms. It outlines the blueprint of our
government. And it limits the government's power through a marvelous
system of checks and balances. But even though its provisions affect
our lives every day, most Americans have never read it. Saturday,
September 17 is Constitution Day." (09/15/05)
http://tinyurl.com/b7cw8
Movement News and Events
57) Help rattle the cages on gun confiscation
Gun Owners of America
"Last week, GOA alerted you to the fact that officials were illegally
confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens in New Orleans.
National Guard troops and police were going door-to-door and seizing
guns from honest residents, without any constitutional or legal power
to do so. Despite a few initial reports in the New York Times, the
Associated Press and ABC News, there has been nothing said in the
mainstream news since then. Not surprisingly, GOA has found that many
offices on Capitol Hill are completely unaware that gun confiscations
were occurring! To help overcome this appalling lack of information,
GOA has constructed a special section at
http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm on the GOA website, so that gun
owners, media pundits and congressmen can see for themselves what has
been happening in New Orleans. " (09/15/05)
http://www.gunowners.org/a091505.htm
-----
58) Second European Resource Bank Meeting
Lithuanian Free Market Institute
10/14/05--10/15/05
"The European Resource Bank Meeting draws on the Heritage Foundation's
similar Resource Bank Meeting event and the Atlas Foundation's Asian
Resource Bank Meeting, the forums which gather outstanding
free-marketeers to discuss how free market principles can be applied
in addressing economic and social concerns and conducting reforms. The
topics of this year's ERBM are the future of the European social
policy and economic security." Vilnius, Lithuania, October 14-15.
Speakers include Jose Pinera, Richard Rahn and John Blundell. Online
registration available.
http://www.rbeurope.org/
-----
59) A time for action
AntiWar.Com/United For Peace and Justice
09/24/05-09/26/05
"There is a time to talk the talk, and a time to walk the walk ? a
time for analysis, and a time for action -- and now is the time for
the latter. We need immediate action to stop the war -- before it
spreads beyond Iraq, before it bankrupts our country, before all the
blood needlessly shed leaves an indelible moral stain that will shame
us for generations to come. I read and write about this rotten war
practically every day, and I'm beginning to wonder: when will it ever
end? We've talked, and written, and discussed among ourselves until
we're blue in the face: now it is time to act. Thanks to United for
Peace and Justice, a national coalition of hundreds of groups opposed
to our interventionist foreign policy, a golden opportunity presents
itself on the weekend of Sept. 24-26, when a great coming together of
the antiwar movement is planned." (09/09/05)
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7202
-----
60) Bring the Guard home NOW
The People's Email Network
ongoing
"After 5 years of laughing off or suppressing sound policy advice, the
criminal neglect of our REAL homeland security by the Bush
administration has now resulted in the total loss of a major American
city. And where is our National Guard and all their equipment that are
supposed to be here to protect and save us? They are being ground up
in the sand half a planet away for absolutely nothing but the
arrogant, uncaring and obstinate pride of our chief executive, who is
mentally incapable of admitting or correcting any mistake ever. We
must DEMAND that our National Guard come home now. The form above will
send your personal message to all your members of Congress, and now
you can send a letter also to the editor of your nearest daily
newspaper at the SAME time, all with one click. Our troops in Iraq
need to come home immediately. Not a year from now, not a month from
now, NOW now." (09/01/05)
http://www.usalone.net/nationalguard.htm
-----
61) Homes for Katrina victims
Homes for Katrina
"Purpose: Find safe temporary housing for those displaced by Hurricane
Katrina, Connect local organizations trying to help these efforts
Protect those that need or offer help. What you can do: If you have
room -- register below and enter a comment that you would be
interested in providing room. A local organization will be in contact
with you to make sure that you can offer a safe place for those
needing it. If you have ties to an established organization --
register below or contact us directly to become part of the Network Of
Trust to help connect those offering help with those needing it If you
have a voice -- please spread the word of this site to your friends
and on your blogs and publications. There is power in numbers and
there is power in compassion. We are blessed to have an abundance of
both in this country." (09/01/05)
http://www.homesforkatrina.org/index.html
-----
62) The economics of fascism
Ludwig von Mises Institute
10/07/05-10/08/05
"Join us at the Mises Institute Supporters Summit 2005, October 7-8,
Auburn, Alabama. The senior and adjunct faculty will discuss the
history, theory, and contemporary meaning of the fascist temptation,
and what the Austrian economists are doing to combat it. Sessions
begin at 1:00pm Central Time on Friday, continue all day Saturday, and
conclude with dinner on Saturday." Online registration.
http://www.mises.org/upcomingstory.aspx?control=75
Today in Political History
63) Sooners roll
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
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