**************************************************
* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
*
* Volume IV, Issue #1,044
* Tuesday, December 12th, 2006
* Email Circulation 2,061
*
* Published every non-holiday weekday
* by the staff of Rational Review
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* On the Web: http://www.rationalreview.com/news
* In cooperation with ISIL: htp://www.isil.org
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In The News:

0) Opening notes
1) US has most prisoners due to "tough" laws
2) Kucinich to launch 2008 bid
3) Iraq: Two bombs kill 57
4) In farewell, Annan scolds Bush administration
5) Israel: Nuclear slip brings fallout for Olmert
6) NC: Student shot by police in PS3 theft case
7) NY: Nets get key approval for land theft
8) FDA may ease access to new drugs
9) USA more pessimistic on Iraq war
10) TX: Legislator introduces blind hunting bill
11) Clerics urge Muslims to back Iraq Sunnis
12) Bush reviews options on Iraq policy
13) DC to China: Open markets or face sanctions
14) Discovery docks with space station
15) TX: Buy a house, get free gun
16) VA: League to boycott gun shop
17) AZ: Car burglar shot at outside bar
18) Sheehan among four convicted for trespassing
19) Firefly reborn as online universe
20) TX: Young tax protestor holds up store
21) SCOTUS: No button bias in trial
22) Seeking Iran intelligence, US tries Google
23) Frist says he would have focused more on health care
24) What's driving Obama-mania?
25) Iraqi exodus could test Bush policy

Everybody Has An Opinion:

26) A well-meaning end to discrimination
27) The other war we can't win
28) The strategic libertarian
29) Is any war civil?
30) America's injustice system is criminal
31) Another virtue of liberty
32) A Christmas gift of love
33) Counternarratives and the grunt
34) Corruption in tapping the oil rent
35) 42 months of gains and losses
36) Who makes foreign policy?
37) A grand anti-worker bargain
38) Farewell to a torturer in chief
39) A healthy dose of anarchy
40) Transatlantic economics
41) Barack star
42) More cheer for the holiday travel season
43) Opposing view: Thank foreign investors
44) Hate crime to hate speech: Road to perdition
45) Government spying goes global
46) How the global boom might end
47) Why governments can't handle risk
48) Love global warming
49) Blood on Doyle's hands
50) Ninth, 10th don't cite specific rights
51) My pet scapegoat
52) Never give up your rights!
53) Three years too late
54) The disappeared of Oaxaca
55) Worst. Meeting. Ever!
56) What we leave behind
57) The corporate occupation of Iraq
58) Bush still in denial about Iraq
59) Reforms help Africa's diamonds sparkle again
60) 9/11: The roots of paranoia

See No Evil, Hear No Evil:

61) Libertarian Party turns 35
62) Free Talk Live, 12/11/06
63) FMNN eRadio: Commodities update
64) Interview: Aaron Russo
65) America: Freedom To Fascism

What's Up In The Freedom Movement:

66) Today's events

WaYbAcK:

67) The Supreme Court appoints a president

***************
* In The News
***************

0) Opening notes

Fundraiser Update, 12/12/06: Still not much action, ladies and
gentlemen. As of December 23rd, we'll have published non-stop for four
years ... and with the financial support of less than 300 of our 7,500
subscribers. Another 300 of you contributing a mere $10 each would
make our goal.

Is RRND/FND worth $2.50 a year? If you think so, show it at:

http://www.rationalreview.com/content/21914

Don't forget this week's symposium on "documenting the libertarian
social order," at:

http://www.rationalreview.com/content/21996

-----

1) US has most prisoners due to "tough" laws
Reuters

"Tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high
crime rates have contributed to the United States having the largest
prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world,
according to criminal justice experts. A U.S. Justice Department
report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people
-- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on
probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2
million were in prison or jail. According to the International Center
for Prison Studies at King's College in London, more people are behind
bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks
second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000. "
(12/09/06)

http://tinyurl.com/vqgye

-----

2) Kucinich to launch 2008 bid
Forbes

"Fed up with what he says is his party's failure to end the war in
Iraq, Democratic U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is entering the race for
president -- again. It's the second bid for the nation's top office
for Kucinich, a six-term, liberal congressman from Cleveland whose
long-shot presidential candidacy in 2004 made headlines more for
Kucinich's bachelorhood than his policies. This time around Kucinich
has a wife." [editor's note: I don't recall Kucinich's "bachelorhood"
being an issue in 2004. Matter of fact, I don't recall Kucinich
himself being an issue in 2004. Maybe his party's continued hemming
and hawing on the war will change that this time around - TLK] (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/wocwk

-----

3) Iraq: Two bombs kill 57
Pensacola News Journal

"Suspected insurgents set off two bombs in a main square of central
Baghdad where scores of Iraqis were waiting for jobs as day laborers
on Tuesday, killing at least 57 people and wounding 151, police said.
The carefully coordinated attack in Tayaran Square at 7 a.m. involved
a parked car bomb and a suicide attacker who drove up in a minibus,
pretended to hire day laborers, then set off his explosive as they got
into his vehicle, said police Lt. Bilal Ali." (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/yay9d6

-----

4) In farewell, Annan scolds Bush administration
MSNBC

"U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his farewell address, urged the
United States not to abandon its democratic ideals while waging war
against terrorism. In remarks Monday at the Truman Presidential Museum
and Library, Annan also said the Security Council should be expanded.
'Human rights and the rule of law are vital to global security and
prosperity,' Annan told a packed crowd that included international
media." (12/11/06)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16153753/

-----

5) Israel: Nuclear slip brings fallout for Olmert
International Herald Tribune [France]

"A slip of the tongue by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about Israel's
nuclear policy ballooned into a domestic crisis Tuesday for the
already embattled Israeli leader. In an interview with a German
television station broadcast Monday, Olmert appeared to list Israel
among the world's nuclear powers, violating the country's
long-standing policy of not officially acknowledging that it has
atomic weapons. ... Mordechai Vanunu, the whistleblower who gave
Israeli nuclear secrets to the British paper The Sunday Times and
served an 18-year sentence for his disclosures, said he hoped Olmert's
comment wasn't a mistake, but rather 'the beginning of a policy
change' that would see Israel openly acknowledge its nuclear weapons."
[editor's note: Kind of ridiculous, isn't it? Israel wants nukes, but
wants to be treated as if it doesn't have nukes - TLK] (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/ufkk3

-----

6) NC: Student shot by police in PS3 theft case
Pierce County Herald

"Deputies shot and killed an alleged PlayStation 3 thief, after his
roommate said he went to the door holding a PS3 controller. Peyton
Strickland, 18, was killed Friday at a house he shared with three
roommates, Sheriff Sid Causey said. Roommate Mike Rhoton said
Strickland was unarmed when he got up from playing a Tiger Woods golf
game but may have been holding a controller when he went to the door
as officers bashed it in. Strickland's dog, a German shepherd, also
was shot to death." (12/05/06)

http://tinyurl.com/y4kyff

-----

7) NY: Nets get key approval for land theft
New York Daily News

"The Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn got a key approval yesterday
from the Empire State Development Corp., authorizing the use of
eminent domain to build an arena for the Nets, a hotel and 16
residential and office towers. Now the ball bounces to Assembly
Speaker Sheldon Silver's court. The three-member Public Authorities
Control Board gets the project next. In recent years, Silver
(D-Manhattan) has used his influence on the panel to kill the proposed
West Side Stadium and delay the Moynihan Penn Station proposal."
(12/12/06)

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/478546p-402639c.html

-----

8) FDA may ease access to new drugs
Chicago Tribune

"The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it is proposing to
expand access to experimental drugs for seriously sick patients, and
would allow drug companies to charge for as yet unapproved therapies.
For decades the FDA has allowed some patients to take drugs that are
still under investigation and awaiting government approval. But the
guidelines for when those drugs could be used were not explicit or
broad enough, the FDA said, nor was there enough awareness among
doctors and patients of what options were available. The new rules are
intended to give physicians clear directives on when to grant access
to medications, even perhaps at the very earliest stage of
development, in cases in which the potential benefit is deemed to
outweigh the risks." [editor's note: Only in bureaucratese can "new
directives" be described as "expanding access" - TLK] (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/y5bg8f

-----

9) USA more pessimistic on Iraq war
USA Today

"As President Bush weighs changing course in Iraq, Americans are
increasingly pessimistic about the war and want most U.S. troops
withdrawn within a year, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through
Sunday says. Three of four support the major recommendations unveiled
by the Iraq Study Group last week. Most predict the administration
won't implement the bipartisan commission's proposals, however. And
fewer than 1 in 5 have 'a great deal' of trust in Bush to 'recommend
the right thing' for the United States to do in Iraq." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/t66a5

-----

10) TX: Legislator introduces blind hunting bill
MSNBC

"The blind would be able to go hunting if a Texas bill becomes law.
The bill would allow legally blind hunters to use a laser sight, or
lighted pointing instrument, which is forbidden for sighted hunters,
according to State Rep. Edmund Kuempel, who introduced it. 'This opens
up the fun of hunting to additional people, and I think that's great,'
Kuempel said." (12/11/06)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16157202/

-----

11) Clerics urge Muslims to back Iraq Sunnis
Wichita Eagle

"More than 30 prominent Islamic clerics from Saudi Arabia on Monday
called on Sunni Muslims around the Middle East to support their
brethren in Iraq against Shiites and praised the insurgency. The
clerics said jihad, or holy war, 'is one of the most important tenets
of religion, and what has been taken by force can only be regained by
force.'" (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/yac5ws

-----

12) Bush reviews options on Iraq policy
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"President Bush, eager to show he can take advice on Iraq, embarked on
a round of public outreach Monday and promised Americans the unpopular
war eventually would make their lives safer. Preparing for a major
speech on the war's future, Bush took the short trip to the State
Department to review options with advisers there, then hosted a
handful of experts on Iraq policy in the Oval Office." (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/ykj385

-----

13) DC to China: Open markets or face sanctions
CNN

"The Bush administration Monday criticized China's record on opening
its markets and said the U.S. would not hesitate to seek economic
sanctions if that record does not improve. Calling China's record
'decidedly mixed,' U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab released a
100-page report that accused the Chinese of failing to live up to
commitments it made five years ago when it joined the World Trade
Organization." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/ygtr96

-----

14) Discovery docks with space station
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Astronauts used the international space station's robotic arm to
examine a spot on the shuttle Discovery's left wing Monday where
sensors detected a 'very low' impact, NASA officials said. The shuttle
crew traveled two days to reach the space station, where, during a
weeklong stay, they will continue construction on the orbiting lab and
replace one station crew member with another." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/y48722

-----

15) TX: Buy a house, get free gun
WorldNetDaily

"While other real estate agents are responding to the current buyers'
market by offering extras like free appliances, televisions, or a
weekend in a luxury hotel, one Texas agent is drumming up business by
offering a free Glock pistol with any home purchase of at least
$150,000 -- if you're a police officer. And Julie Upton, a
Houston-area real estate agent, says her idea is working well. With
the median single-family home in Houston selling for $146,000, Upton
is targeting the center of the market." (12/10/06)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53308

-----

16) VA: League to boycott gun shop
Roanoke Times

"At a time of unprecedented scrutiny, Virginia gun dealers look to at
least one group for support: gun buyers. But now that a South Boston
dealer has signed a settlement agreement in a New York City lawsuit,
he might find his customers in the parking lot instead of at the
counter. The Virginia Citizens Defense League is gearing up to boycott
and perhaps picket Cole's Gun Shop, saying owner Mark Cole put their
privacy in jeopardy when he agreed to let a court-appointed officer
scrutinize his gun sales for the next three years." (12/10/06)

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/95177

-----

17) AZ: Car burglar shot at outside bar
AZ Central

"Police are searching for a burglary suspect who prompted a shooting
outside a Scottsdale bar. A security guard at the Club Tropicana, 7043
E. McDowell Road, fired at least one round at the man after spotting
him breaking into a black Chevy Suburban at 2:20 a.m. Sunday, police
said.It was unclear if the man or the stolen vehicle were struck by
the guard's gunshot. The vehicle has not been located." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/y5obkr

-----

18) Sheehan among four convicted for trespassing
My Way News

"Peace activist Cindy Sheehan and three other women were convicted of
trespassing Monday for trying to delivery an anti-Iraq war petition to
the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and refusing to leave. A
Manhattan Criminal Court judge sentenced them immediately to
conditional discharge, which means they could face some form of
penalty if they are arrested in the next six months, and ordered them
to pay $95 in court surcharges. Sheehan and about 100 other members of
a group called Global Exchange were rebuffed last March when they
attempted to take a petition with some 72,000 signatures to the U.S.
Mission's headquarters across a street from the United Nations.
Prosecutors said they were arrested after ignoring police orders to
disperse." (12/11/06)

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061211/D8LUOV081.html

-----

19) Firefly reborn as online universe
Wired News

"Like Capt. Mal Reynolds stumbling in after a bar fight, the
short-lived but much beloved sci-fi series Firefly will soon make an
unexpected return, not as a TV show, but as a massively multiplayer
online game.Now that's shiny." (12/07/06)

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72263-0.html?tw=rss.index

-----

20) TX: Young tax protestor holds up store
Dallas News

"A boy believed to be about 12 held up a Pleasant Grove convenience
store at gunpoint before school Wednesday after a girl he was with got
mad at the clerk for charging her tax for candy. At 7:40 a.m., six
youths entered the Heba Mini-Mart in the 9500 block of Scyene Road
near St. Augustine Drive. A girl, whose age was not reported, tried to
buy $1 worth of candy but did not 'want to pay the tax on the item,'
according to a police report. The clerk insisted that she would be
charged the tax. 'What is your problem?' asked the boy, pulling a
chrome, semiautomatic pistol on the clerk. As the boy and girl left
the store, one of them took the dollar's worth of candy. The other
four kids followed them out." (12/08/06)

http://tinyurl.com/ydnln7

-----

21) SCOTUS: No button bias in trial
Los Angeles Times

"The Supreme Court reversed the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
today and restored a California murder conviction that had been thrown
out because a small photo of the victim had been worn by his family
during the trial. In a 9-0 decision, the justices said the appeals
court had overstepped its bounds when it held that this display
violated the defendant's right to a fair trial. But the court's
opinion dealt more with the powers of federal judges than with what
spectators can say and do in the courtroom. Under a 10-year-old law
adopted by Congress, U.S. judges are authorized to reverse state
criminal convictions only if they spot a violation of 'clearly
established federal law' as set by the high court." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/ukbwr

-----

22) Seeking Iran intelligence, US tries Google
Washington Post

"When the State Department recently asked the CIA for names of
Iranians who could be sanctioned for their involvement in a
clandestine nuclear weapons program, the agency refused, citing a
large workload and a desire to protect its sources and tradecraft.
Frustrated, the State Department assigned a junior Foreign Service
officer to find the names another way -- by using Google. Those with
the most hits under search terms such as 'Iran and nuclear,' three
officials said, became targets for international rebuke Friday when a
sanctions resolution circulated at the United Nations." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/yf6kom

-----

23) Frist says he would have focused more on health care
Tennessean

"Fixing the coming crisis in funding government health care programs
would have been pursued more aggressively by Sen. Bill Frist had he
not been majority leader, the Tennessee Republican said today. 'We
have a demographic tsunami that is going to hit us,' Frist said of the
growing number of elderly people in the country and the financial
strain that will create. Frist often has said that he has subjugated
some of his own priorities to run the Senate but not provided
specifics. Frist, in his final Capitol Hill briefing with Tennessee
reporters, touted his accomplishments for Tennesseans in his 12 years
in the Senate, four as majority leader." [editor's note: So does this
mean Bush managed to sabotage the one thing that might have been
positive about having a doctor in the Senate? - SAT] (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/ybqsk2

-----

24) What's driving Obama-mania?
Christian Science Monitor

"With standing room crowds chanting for the star to show, Sunday's
Democratic fundraiser could have been a rock concert. But it was only
Sen. Barack Obama's first visit to the nation's first primary state.
If Senator Obama should jump into the Democratic presidential primary,
where he is now ranked just behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New
York in recent polls, Democrats in the land of retail politics wonder
if there's a living room big enough to hold the throngs who'd come to
hear him. 'Right now, he's a rock star. Getting 1,500 people out on a
Sunday afternoon ... says something different is going on here,' says
Jim Craig, former Democratic leader in the New Hampshire House. So
what's driving Obama-mania? It isn't a single set of issues such as
the war or the economy. Rather, the attraction seems to be a mix of
Obama's own compelling personal narrative and many voters' desire for
a less caustic brand of politics." (12/11/06)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1212/p01s01-uspo.html

-----

25) Iraqi exodus could test Bush policy
Boston Globe

"Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have fled their homeland are
likely to seek refugee status in the United States, humanitarian
groups said, putting intense pressure on the Bush administration to
reexamine a policy that authorizes only 500 Iraqis to be resettled
here next year. The official US policy has been that the refugee
situation is temporary and that most of the estimated 1.5 million who
have fled to Jordan, Syria, and elsewhere will eventually return to
Iraq. But US and international officials now acknowledge that the
instability in Iraq has made it too dangerous for many refugees,
especially Iraqi Christians, to return any time soon. Ellen Sauerbrey,
assistant secretary of state for refugees and migration, said that
while the Bush administration does not think resettlement is needed
for most refugees, its policy could rapidly change." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/yam3um

*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/12/06
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 50,291 ... Max - 55,774
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 2,931
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************

****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************

26) A well-meaning end to discrimination
Boston Globe
by Cathy Young

"Depending on who you talk to, the passage of Proposal 2 in Michigan
last month was either a great victory for freedom and equal rights or
a disastrous setback for minorities and women. The ballot measure,
known as the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, attracted little
national attention after 58 percent of voters approved it Nov. 7. Its
language is simple: 'The state shall not discriminate against, or
grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis
of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of
public employment, public education, or public contracting.' The
initiative grew out of two Supreme Court cases challenging affirmative
action programs at the University of Michigan." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/y25wgx

-----

27) The other war we can't win
Seattle Times
by Neil Peirce

"Pick your week or month, the evidence keeps rolling in to show this
country's vaunted 'war on drugs' is as destructively misguided as our
cataclysmic error in invading Iraq. There are 2.2 million Americans
behind bars, another 5 million on probation or parole, the Justice
Department reported on Nov. 30. We exceed Russia and Cuba in
incarcerations per 100,000 people; in fact, no other nation comes
close. The biggest single reason for the expanding numbers? Our war on
drugs -- a quarter of all sentences are for drug offenses, mostly
nonviolent." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/y3hde8

-----

28) The strategic libertarian
America's Future Foundation
by James N. Markels

"Former colleague Brink Lindsey stirred up something of a tempest
among libertarians last week with his article in The New Republic
suggesting that libertarians might be better off leaving the
Republicans and looking to the political left for an alliance.
Certainly he has a point -- the libertarian-friendly Reagan-style GOP
is now long gone, replaced by a more religion-based party that is
addicted to big-government spending and intrusion. Aside from tax cuts
and a flirtation with Social Security privatization, libertarians have
seen next to nothing to cheer for in the last six years." (12/11/06)

http://www.affbrainwash.com/archives/021695.php

-----

29) Is any war civil?
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Sheldon Richman

"Whether Iraq is embroiled in a civil war is a matter of some
controversy. News organizations such as NBC have dramatically
announced that, indeed, it is. Pundits solemnly the debate the
question on cable news talk shows. Former Secretary of State Colin
Powell says yes. Present Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says no.
Of course, the president of the United States agrees with Rice."
(12/04/06)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0612c.asp

-----

30) America's injustice system is criminal
LewRockwell.Com
by Paul Craig Roberts

"According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King's
College in London, the US has 700,000 more of its citizens
incarcerated than China, a country with a population four to five
times larger than that of the US, and 1,330,000 more people in prison
than crime-ridden Russia. The US has 5% of the world's population and
25% of the world's prisoners. The American incarceration rate is seven
times higher than that of European countries. Either America is the
land of criminals, or something is seriously wrong with the criminal
justice (sic) system in 'the land of the free.'" (12/12/06)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts187.html

-----

31) Another virtue of liberty
Free Market News Network
by Tibor R. Machan

"When men and women are free to make mistakes or act from ignorance,
they are also free to correct themselves promptly. This is one reason
why involving government in such policies as banning trans fats or
mandating the use of helmets by bicycle riders is a bad idea. The
trans fats policy was just cast into stone in New York City -- as of
the summer of 2008, no eating establishment may cook with the stuff.
And the ban on going without a helmet while riding bikes on public
roads is nearly ubiquitous now in America and quite a few other
countries." (12/11/06)

http://www.fmnn.com/Analysis/117/6545/tibor.asp?nid=6545&wid=117

-----

32) A Christmas gift of love
The Price of Liberty
by Nathan A. Barton

"Although Mike Adams is not really a libertarian (but he gets closer
with each month), his recent column is worth sharing with Libertarians
and those you want to see move in the direction of liberty, as we near
Bill of Rights Day and Christmas. He does indeed point out one of the
best ways to convert someone from liberalism (that is, the modern poor
excuse for liberalism that is really authoritarian but claims to be
politically correct) to at least middle-of-the-road (Nolan Chart) if
not much closer to the top: give them a gift of love and life -- a
gift that may indeed save their life or that of a friend or loved one,
and that will show them that the hoploclasts and hoplophobes are wrong
in every way. And your gift will be a gift that produces not just a
better person, but a better society, one person at a time." (12/06)

http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/06/12/11/nathan.htm

-----

33) Counternarratives and the grunt
TCS Daily
by Josh Manchester

"The Standard Narrative goes something like this: There is a massive
deployment of US forces to the far side of the world. This action is
more or less just and warranted. The troops charge into battle,
sometimes many battles. All the while, there's an understanding
everywhere of an end-state -- a point at which the war's goals will
have been accomplished and then, most importantly, everyone can come
home. Throughout all of this there is a standard typecast character:
the American enlisted infantryman." (12/12/06)

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=121006A

-----

34) Corruption in tapping the oil rent
The Free Liberal
by Fred E. Foldvary

"Land rent is recognized by enlightened economists as the supremely
equitable and efficient source of public revenue. Rent is a social
surplus, and tapping it involves no excess burden, unlike taxing
productive activity. One type of land commonly tapped for government
revenue is the economic rent of material natural resources such as
minerals and oil. Oil royalties from extraction, referred to as
severance taxes, are important in petroleum-producing economies,
including some states such as Alaska in the USA. There are also
federal royalty revenues on oil via leasing rents in federal
territory. Some 2600 companies paid federal royalties of $12.8 billion
on 27,800 leases in 2005." (12/12/06)

http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/002477.html

-----

35) 42 months of gains and losses
No Force, No Fraud
by Bob Smith

"When I started No Force, I decided that there were already enough
people writing and reporting on the War in Iraq, and I didn't want the
war to obliterate attention to other relevant issues. An update is,
however, appropriate in looking back. As of today, 2,931 Americans
have lost their lives in Iraq, another 21,778 are wounded, and the
conflict is still escalating. The latest surveys now show that less
than 30% of Americans approve of the way Bush is handling the war.
Nearly 2/3 of us do not think Iraq will end up with a stable,
democratic government, and only 9% think we will exit with a clear-cut
victory." (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/wceyt

-----

36) Who makes foreign policy?
AntiWar.Com
by US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

"The media, Congress, and the American public all seem to have
accepted something that is patently untrue: namely, that foreign
policy is the domain of the president and not Congress. This is
absolutely not the case and directly contrary to what our Founding
Fathers wanted. The role of the president as commander in chief is to
direct our armed forces in carrying out policies established by the
American people through their representatives in Congress. He is not
authorized to make those policies. He is an administrator, not a
policy maker. Foreign policy, like all federal policy, must be made by
Congress. To allow otherwise is to act in contravention of the
Constitution." (12/12/06)

http://www.antiwar.com/paul/?articleid=10147

-----

37) A grand anti-worker bargain
National Review
by Phil Kerpen

"President Bush's commitment to establish a Social Security legacy may
be on a collision course with the Democratic Congress. The contours of
a deal are starting to appear around a payroll-tax increase and cuts
in promised future benefits for higher income workers -- both of which
spell major collateral damage for American workers. Meanwhile,
personal accounts may not be included in any compromise deal. Taken
together, these measures are entirely about what's best for
government: They are about finding a way to make the books balance on
paper so that the feds can keep spending our Social Security dollars
on unrelated, wasteful programs." (12/08/06)

http://tinyurl.com/vq95h

-----

38) Farewell to a torturer in chief
Salon
by Marc Cooper

"His very name, his surname alone, has entered our common lexicon as a
stand-alone synonym for all the brutal inhumanity that comes with
arbitrary and repressive military dictatorship. In some ways, it has
been an unusually quick historical transition for Pinochet. Just a few
decades ago, in the Reagan-Thatcher era, he was celebrated as the
sometimes excessively tough but equally determined prophet of the free
market. With economic populists, leftists and even socialists now in
power in virtually every Latin American capital, who even remembers
those days? What is remembered, however, is the sheer horror. The
soulless barbarity imposed by the Pinochet regime traumatized the
Chilean nation in a way that it is still struggling to assimilate.
There's an old political slogan in Spanish: 'The Color of Blood Is
Never Forgotten.'" (12/12/06)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/12/11/pinochet/

-----

39) A healthy dose of anarchy
Reason
by Neille Ilel

"Two giant spray-painted signs point to the Common Ground Collective's
headquarters in a church parking lot in the now infamous Ninth Ward,
where the group houses its volunteers, takes names for house gutting,
and gives away bleach, buckets, respirators, canned food, and other
supplies. The collective was founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
by a former Black Panther and some street medics trained at mass
protests. Like most residents I talked to, the Singletarys had seen
little of the Red Cross aside from an occasional food truck, and they
evinced nothing but frustration when I mentioned the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). It was a major coup that seven men from the
city had actually arrived to pick up debris from their house on the
day I visited. Of the seven, four were dedicated solely to detouring
nonexistent traffic." (12/06)

http://www.reason.com/news/show/116789.html

-----

40) Transatlantic economics
The Weekly Standard
by Irwin M. Stelzer

"Ben Bernanke thinks the economy is strong and that inflation remains
a danger. The equities market believes the Federal Reserve Board
chairman, so share prices hover around record levels. The bond market
doesn't, and expects that he will soon have to recognize the economy's
underlying weakness by lowering interest rates -- not this week when
the monetary policy committee meets, but almost certainly by the
spring. The currency market is siding with the bond market, its
players guessing that the Fed will indeed have to lower interest
rates, making the dollar less attractive, relative to the euro and
sterling. So the dollar is weak, which should add to inflationary
pressures by making imported goods more expensive and giving domestic
manufacturers room to raise prices, thereby forcing Bernanke to raise
interest rates even if the economy is slowing. We used to call that
stagflation. Confused? With good reason. So is the Fed and so are the
markets. But be kind -- the economic situation is characterized by
cross currents that are difficult for even the most experienced
economist to navigate." (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/vdysf

-----

41) Barack star
Slate
by John Dickerson

"It's easy to see why New Hampshire Democrats were in a frenzy over
Obama. He is a winning presence in a room. He is stylish in his
uniform of white shirt, no tie, and dark blazer. He carries himself
with the weightless self-possession men's magazines achieve only by
employing a team of stylists and wardrobe artists. Even his
left-handed signature is elegant -- a B and an O connected by
confident slashes. If he really were a rock star, he'd have it etched
into the side of his private plane. 'I didn't know about the charisma
factor,' said Jessica Hayes leaving Portsmouth. 'Now I know. I'm in
love.' (In Portsmouth, people waited in line for over an hour to have
him sign a copy of his latest book.) But coolness doesn't get you
elected, and coolness wasn't what had the New Hampshire audiences even
more excited after they heard Obama speak. " (12/11/06)

http://www.slate.com/id/2155121

-----

42) More cheer for the holiday travel season
Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

"This holiday travel season, Santa Claus is not the only one who is
checking to see whether you've been naughty or nice. For the last four
years, the U.S. government has been snooping by computer into people's
travel records and assigning them a risk score for being terrorists or
criminals. Of all the government's violations of civil liberties since
9/11, the Department of Homeland Security's Automated Targeting System
(ATS) is probably one of the worst in terms of numbers of people
affected." (12/11/06)

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1867

-----

43) Opposing view: Thank foreign investors
Cato Institute
by William A. Niskanen

"Foreign ownership of long-term U.S. Treasury securities increased
from 19% in December 1994 to 52% of the larger total outstanding in
June 2005. The large continued purchase of treasury securities abroad
has had broadly beneficial effects on the U.S. economy, so we should
clearly welcome the willingness of foreign central banks to invest in
U.S. debt. Without this increase in foreign ownership of U.S. debt,
interest rates and inflation would have been higher; real private
investment, and the growth of real GDP and employment, would have been
lower." (12/12/06)

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6836

-----

44) Hate crime to hate speech: Road to perdition
Intellectual Conservative
by Selwyn Duke

"The effect of hate crime law is that it empowers the authorities to
administer harsher punishment when hateful motives are discerned. For
example, let's say that two identical violent acts are committed. The
first act is deemed a regular (I suppose, politically correct) crime,
and the perpetrator is sent to prison for ten years. The second crime,
however, is labeled a hate crime, so the perpetrator receives twenty
years. Now, this begs the question: What are the extra ten years
imposed for in the second crime? Well, we know that ten years were all
the act itself warranted because that's what was handed down when only
the act was considered. Thus, I would assert the following: The
additional punishment is for the ideas or thoughts expressed through
the act." (12/12/06)

http://tinyurl.com/y8hxak

-----

45) Government spying goes global
AlterNet
by Maureen Webb

"The story which broke last week about a traveler risk scoring system
called the Automated Targeting System, or "ATS," evokes an image of an
Orwellian world in which the State compiles a secret dossier on every
individual and sorts the population according to secret criteria,
assigning each person a "risk score." The individual has no recourse
to challenge his risk rating, and he has no way of correcting any
false or incomplete information about him. In fact, he will never know
what information is being used against him, or even the criteria on
which he has been judged a risk to the State. It is a disturbing
image, and the fact that the government has been conducting the ATS
program in secret for four years has shocked many people. However, the
ATS is hardly a surprise to those who have been keeping track of
similar programs." (12/12/06)

http://www.alternet.org/rights/45285/

-----

46) How the global boom might end
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Sean Corrigan

"Currently, the wider world is undergoing an upswing of a kind perhaps
unprecedented, but certainly not enjoyed since the golden age of hard
money and classical liberal politics at the end of the nineteenth
century. Not only are teeming millions heading for the expanding
cities of Asia, but industrial renovation is taking place all across
the vast, former wasteland that lies to the east of the rubble that
was the Berlin Wall." (12/11/06)

http://www.mises.org/story/2411

-----

47) Why governments can't handle risk
Foundation for Economic Education
by Randy T. Simmons

"Public opinion surveys indicate that mainstream America is worried
about environmental risks. In 1990, for the first time since pollsters
began asking the questions, a plurality (46 percent) of American
voters believed that the quality of life where they live was worse
than it was five years previous, and the number who were pessimistic
about the future of the environment (46 percent) exceeded the number
who were optimistic (32 percent)." (written 03/95; posted 12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/ylrsoj

-----

48) Love global warming
Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Myron Ebell

"What's wrong with mild winters, anyway? When talk turns to global
warming, there are only three socially acceptable opinions that may be
expressed. It's going to be bad, terrible or catastrophic. As our
leading alarmist, former Vice President Al Gore, makes clear in his
book and movie, An Inconvenient Truth, 'the negative impact of climate
change vastly outweighs any local benefits.'" (12/08/06)

http://www.cei.org/gencon/019,05650.cfm

-----

49) Blood on Doyle's hands
Liberty For All
by CCRKBA staff

"This week's report in TIME magazine offering reasons for the sharp
rise in violent crime in Milwaukee, Wisconsin overlooks one
significant factor, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and
Bear Arms said today. 'Twice in the past three years,' said CCRKBA
Executive Director Joe Waldron, 'anti-gun Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle has
vetoed the single piece of legislation that would put victims on equal
footing with criminals, and instead he has left citizens at their
mercy.'" (12/11/06)

http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=418

-----

50) Ninth, 10th don't cite specific rights
Arizona Daily Star
by Martin Rosales

"The Ninth and 10th amendments to the U.S. Constitution don't receive
as much attention as their siblings in the Bill of Rights, but they
are no less important in the day-to-day lives of citizens in our
community. The two amendments are similar in that they don't
specifically spell out rights available to Americans. Rather they
address rights and powers that had not been previously addressed by
the Constitution or the earlier amendments. ... Another example of how
the Ninth Amendment affects daily life is in the right to bear arms.
Peter Goudinoff, a former UA political-science professor and former
state legislator, said most people cite the Second Amendment, which
specifically grants the right to bear arms, as the reason gun
ownership is legal. But Goudinoff said the right of self-defense,
which is protected by the Ninth Amendment, is what actually gives
[sic] people the right to have a means of self-defense, meaning they
can possess a gun." (12/10/06)

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/159556

-----

51) My pet scapegoat
Unknown News
by Kevin Good

"We may have come full circle. Bush is reading My Pet Scapegoat (The
Iraq Study Group Report) as the Tower of Babble burns. The text of the
seventy-nine recommendations was delivered to the White House with a
carry out order of 'Burrito Supreme Grumblers' from Taco Hell. The
entire White House staff was up all night trying to digest it." (12/11/06)

http://www.unknownnews.org/061211a-KevinGood.html

-----

52) Never give up your rights!
The Libertarian Enterprise
by Doug Newman

"What will you do when your government assumes unlimited power? (Isn't
this the kind of government we are supposedly fighting against in this
War on Terror?) What rights will you have then? The prospect of an
out-of-control, all-powerful FEDGOV is far more frightening than
terrorists. The enemy within can do far more damage than the enemy
without. And this is why you must never give up your rights!" (12/10/06)

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2006/tle397-20061210-06.html

-----

53) Three years too late
Truthout
by William Fisher

"While the Washington press corps chased the nine wise men (and one
wise woman) of the Iraq Study Group as they scampered from the White
House to Capitol Hill to press conferences to a multitude of talk show
appearances in their efforts to pull Dubya's chestnuts from the Iraq
fire, some journalists seem to have missed some of its most important
findings. One of the more alarming was that, of the 1,000 employees of
the massive new US Embassy inside the Green Zone bubble in Baghdad,
there are -- wait for it -- SIX who are fluent in Arabic." [editor's
note: Nothing surprises me about the US 'foreign policy' anymore -
MLS] (12/11/06)

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121106A.shtml

-----

54) The disappeared of Oaxaca
CounterPunch
by Bernard Diaz

"My name is Bernardo Ruiz and in this movie, Apocalypto, I play the
part of Drunkards Four. My Oaxaca friends Emiliana and Hilaria, who
now live in Austin, agreed to pass on to you my message. Apocalypto is
about some of the amazing ancient history of our country and its
indigenous people. But as you probably know, our struggles continue
even to this day. In recent weeks, our beautiful city, Oaxaca, has
been occupied by federal troops. It came at a time when many of our
people were beginning to stand up for our civil rights with sit-ins
and other kinds of non-violent protest. Now the troops have started
tracking down and arresting not only our leaders, but also many people
from our artistic community here. One of them is my good friend the
painter Gerardo Bonilla. Another is the artist Dionisio Martinez."
(12/11/06)

http://www.counterpunch.org/diaz12112006.html

-----

55) Worst. Meeting. Ever!
Strike the Root
by Stefan Molyneux

"'Well,' I asked, 'do you have something against democracy then?' Of
course not, they all cried, but what does any of that have to do with
this presentation? 'Well,' I said, 'that's the beauty of it! If you're
a Republican or a Democrat, you already agree that this 'six step'
solution is the perfect answer to incredibly complex problems like
educating children, providing health care, alleviating poverty and
eliminating drug use -- and tons of other problems far more complex
than the one you want me to solve! So -- given that you already
approve of this 'six step' program for the most complicated and
challenging social problems, surely it should be perfectly applicable
to your much less complicated business issue! Heck, it might even be
overkill!'" (12/11/06)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/62/molyneux/molyneux3.html

-----

56) What we leave behind
In These Times
by Frida Berrigan

"In just one week in October, a series of bomb scares swept across
Germany. Outside of Hannover, 22,000 people were evacuated when three
bombs were discovered. A few days later in the same city, a weapons
removal squad defused a 500-pound bomb found near the highway.
Finally, a highway worker was killed when his cutting machine hit a
buried bomb on the main highway into Frankfurt. The bombs hadn't been
planted by terrorists, and they weren't the opening salvos of the next
war. The culprit was unexploded ordnance left over from a war fought
more than 60 years ago. 'We'll have enough work to keep us busy for
the next 100 to 120 years,' the owner of a bomb-defusing company told
the New York Times." (12/11/06)

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2934/

-----

57) The corporate occupation of Iraq
Tom Paine
by Antonia Juhasz

"The Iraq Study Group Report offers a few important recommendations
that will help address problems with the U.S. reconstruction debacle
in Iraq. However, the Report thoroughly misses the mark on identifying
the sources of failure -- U.S. corporations and the Bush
administration, and therefore the best way to solve the situation,
which is to end the U.S. corporate invasion of Iraq. The Report
correctly notes that basic services in Iraq are still provided below
or just hovering around prewar levels and that in Baghdad and other
particularly war-ravaged areas, the situation is far worse. ...
However, the Report attributes the bulk of the blame to Iraqi
government corruption and sectarian bias in the distribution of
services and a failed Iraqi judiciary. While each of these critiques
may be accurate, they are beyond the purview of the United States to
correct. Well within our purview, however, are the past and future
actions of our corporations and our government." (12/11/06)

http://tinyurl.com/yao5ks

-----

58) Bush still in denial about Iraq
Fox News
by Susan Estrich

"'Hold the melon, please!' my daughter always asks when she orders
fruit salad. The problem, as only some waiters and waitresses bother
to explain, is that most fruit salads are pre-made, and melon is
usually the primary ingredient. Take out the melon and what's left?
The White House should not treat the Study Group Report 'like a fruit
salad,' James Baker told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Wishful
thinking. Until the president accepts the basic premise of the report,
its recommendations are almost beside the point. The basic premise is
that we're failing. The president doesn't see it that way. The
president is in denial. He has posed for the pictures, accepted the
report, thanked the co-chairs. There might even be a few
recommendations in there somewhere with which he agrees. But he
refuses to face reality. He rejects the fundamental diagnosis. He
still wants to win." (12/10/06)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235767,00.html

-----

59) Reforms help Africa's diamonds sparkle again
Christian Science Monitor
by Marcus Noland & J. Brooks Spector

"The depiction of diamonds and disaster in the new film 'Blood
Diamond,' is the latest horrific tale about Africa. The cinematic
history lesson about the now-ended civil war in Sierra Leone may be
compelling -- but don't start boycotting diamonds. Today's mundane
reality is that a worldwide coalition of governments, businesses and
NGOs has built a self-policing regimen that is cutting off the
'conflict-diamond' pipeline. How diamonds are mined matters. Primary,
'deep-shaft' diamonds are expensive to mine. Multinational firms,
employing highly unionized workforces dominate production. African
nations tax these mines for society's benefit. Southern Africa
accounts for more than 40 percent of world output by value, virtually
all produced under these conditions." (12/11/06)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1211/p09s02-coop.html

-----

60) 9/11: The roots of paranoia
The Nation
by Christopher Hayes

"According to a July poll conducted by Scripps News Service, one-third
of Americans think the government either carried out the 9/11 attacks
or intentionally allowed them to happen in order to provide a pretext
for war in the Middle East. This is at once alarming and unsurprising.
Alarming, because if tens of millions of Americans really believe
their government was complicit in the murder of 3,000 of their fellow
citizens, they seem remarkably sanguine about this fact. By and large,
life continues as before, even though tens of millions of people
apparently believe they are being governed by mass murderers.
Unsurprising, because the government these Americans suspect of
complicity in 9/11 has acquired a justified reputation for deception:
weapons of mass destruction, secret prisons, illegal wiretapping. What
else are they hiding?" (10/08/06)

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061225/hayes

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61) Libertarian Party turns 35
Libertarian Party

Historical montage video of the Libertarian Party's history since its
founding on December 11th, 1971. [Flash video] (12/11/06)

http://www.lp.org/35th.shtml

-----

62) Free Talk Live, 12/11/06
Free Talk Live

"Update on woman brutalized by police / Drunk Drivers: Should they be
punished more than other irresponsible drivers? / Borat Lawsuit
Decided / Number One Date Rape Drug / Parents are at fault for
clueless college kids / Legalize prostitution to reduce rape / Death
of the Dollar? / Knife Ban Challenge / The Gun in the Room." [MP3]
(12/11/06)

http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2006-12-11.mp3

-----

63) FMNN eRadio: Commodities update
Free Market News Network

"Rising oil prices, housing slowdown, falling dollar and the latest
Ethanol news. Commodities Analyst David Hightower gives his analysis
for the coming week." [MP3 or stream] (12/11/06)

http://www.fmnn.com/eRadioLaunch.asp?rid=825

-----

64) Interview: Aaron Russo
Google Video

"WE MUST SHUT DOWN THE FEDERAL RESERVE to prevent global dictatorship!
Director Aaron Russo discusses his documentary America: Freedom to
Fascism 9/27/06 in Denver. Federal Reserve was never ratified; income
tax is constitutionally illegal. Jekyll Island, IRS, New World Order,
secret government, FEMA camps, RFID spy chips, communist manifesto.
Russo's previous films: Trading Places, The Rose." Interview conducted
by Peter Boyles. [Google Video]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1123506780042777258

-----

65) America: Freedom To Fascism
Google Video

"[T]he 'Director's Final Cut' authorized version of Aaron Russo's
documentary, America: Freedom To Fascism (AFTF). ... Aaron has
listened to everyone's feedback -- volunteers, students, lovers of
freedom & liberty, young and old alike -- and, true to his word, he is
putting this up 'for free' on Google Video knowing that the hour has
come for Americans to either be awakened to restore the Republic or be
swept aside by the dark global forces of fascism that seeks to enslave
mankind." [Google Video]

http://tinyurl.com/ykoclz

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* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
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66) Today's events

Check our sidebar calendar for this week's freedom movement events.
Don't see your event? Drop us a line at info@....

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=info%40rationalreview.com

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* WaYbAcK
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67) The Supreme Court appoints a president

Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:

http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi

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