RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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Monday, February 3rd, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

0) A brief note from the publisher

1)  Blast rocks Pakistani oil HQ
2)  Forty dead in Nigeria explosion
3)  Key systems focus of Columbia probe
4)  Britain is confident of second resolution
5)  Germany: Schroeder's party takes losses in election
6)  Official had warned of NASA safety issues
7)  "Guru of Ganja" found guilty of federal marijuana charges
8)  Environmentalists want salmon preservation program restored
9)  Protestors denounce Ivory Coast peace deal
10) Teacher put on leave after bringing in BB gun
11) Leaving Nevada
12) Fund launching for shuttle families
13) Bush's budget to favor military, education
14) Illegal residents pour into Colorado
15) Varying views on ERA anniversary

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) Freedom, immortality and the stars!
17) The incident
18) The parlous State of the Union
19) Introducing Liberty Action of the Week
20) Hail Columbia, farewell
21) God on our side?
22) The FCC’s local competition report: Surprise!
23) The tax cuts -- a philosophical argument
24) The drug war refugees
25) Mr. President, whatever happened to Osama bin Laden?
26) Flying the regulated skies
27) An interview with Hunter S. Thompson
28) The American way of torture
29) Hispanics will bring change to politics of race
30) Strong delusion


NEWS
---------------

0) A brief note from the publisher

The thoughts of all of us at Rational Review are with the families and loved
ones of those lost in the destruction of the shuttle Columbia. For obvious
reasons, a good deal of attention will be paid to these events in the near
future by the "general media;" the mission of RRND being as broad as it is,
we will probably carry a proportionally smaller amount of news relating to
the tragedy than that "general media." We hope that our readers will
understand the reasons for this.

Regards,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest

--

1)  Blast rocks Pakistani oil HQ
     BBC News

"A powerful explosion has rocked Pakistan's southern port of Karachi,
killing at least one person and injuring two slightly. A bomb, apparently
hidden on a motorcycle, exploded near the headquarters of Pakistan State
Oil, shattering windows. It is not clear if the PSO was the target of the
attack. Police said no-one had yet claimed responsibility for the blast."
(02/03/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2719629.stm

--

2)  Forty dead in Nigerian explosion
     Ireland Online

"An investigation was under way today into the cause of a powerful
explosion that tore apart a bank and dozens of apartments above it in
Nigeria's crowded commercial capital, killing at least 40 people and
trapping many others. Police were investigating a range of motives --
including that the blast was part of a bank robbery plot." (02/03/03)

http://www.online.ie/news/viewer.adp?article=1941072


--

3)  Key systems focus of Columbia probe
     Washington Post

"Investigators looking into Saturday's high-altitude disintegration of the
shuttle Columbia are starting to focus on a handful of critical systems
within the spacecraft whose failure could most easily have led to the
catastrophe, NASA officials and aeronautical engineers said yesterday.
Those systems range in complexity from some with no moving parts, such
as the heat-protecting tiles, to the highly sophisticated computer, sensor
and rocket-control systems that comprise the brains and ‘inner ear’ of the
spacecraft, detecting and at times compensating for changes in
gravitational or inertial pull." (02/03/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16270-2003Feb2.html

--

4)  Britain is confident of second resolution
     Washington Post

"A senior British official said yesterday the British government is ‘confident
there will be a second resolution’ by the United Nations Security Council
authorizing a military strike if Iraq fails to cooperate with weapons
inspectors, indicating the United States and its closest ally have not
resolved differences over how strongly to push for a new resolution.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Wednesday will present the U.S.
case against Iraq in a critical briefing at the Security Council, and U.S.
officials are scrambling to declassify as much information as possible on
Iraq's weapons programs to bolster Powell's presentation." (02/03/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16288-2003Feb2.html

--

5)  Germany: Schroeder's party takes losses in election
     ABC News

"Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party suffered a crushing defeat in two
German state elections Sunday, reflecting a loss of confidence in his
government's economic course despite broad support for his anti-war stand
on Iraq." (02/02/03)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030202_1545.html

--

6)  Official had warned of NASA safety issues
     Boston Globe

"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is a troubled agency
whose own leaders have joined federal and congressional investigators in
warning that a catastrophic accident, such as the one yesterday, could be
expected if the technical expertise and the shuttle fleet continued to
deteriorate ... [A]nalysts in and out of government say that NASA has lost
vital personnel to downsizing and retirement, with a commensurate loss of
technical expertise and crucial skills." (02/02/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/033/nation/Official_had_warned_of_NASA_safety_\
issues+.shtml

--

7)  "Guru of Ganja" found guilty of federal marijuana charges
     LA Times

"Ed Rosenthal, the author of books on how to grow marijuana and avoid the
law, was found guilty Friday of federal marijuana cultivation and conspiracy
charges. Deliberating for a day, the 12-member jury concluded that
Rosenthal, the self-described 'Guru of Ganja,' was growing more than 1,000
plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana and maintaining a warehouse for a
growing operation. He faces 10 years to life when sentenced June 4."
(02/01/03}

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pot1feb01.story

--

8)  Environmentalists want salmon preservation program restored
     Sierra Times/AP

"Environmentalists warned the federal government on Thursday that they
are going to court to restore water to salmon in the Klamath Basin that is
now pumped over the Cascade Range to irrigate valuable pear orchards in
the Rogue Valley. The move represents an escalation in the legal battles
over sharing water between fish and farms in the Basin, with
environmentalists sympathetic to Indian tribes and fishing downstream ..."
(02/02/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/02/02/arpubkf020203.htm

--

9)  Protestors denounce Ivory Coast peace deal
     Independent

"More than 100,000 protesters flooded Abidjan yesterday to denounce a
French-brokered peace deal for Ivory Coast as West African leaders began
a last-ditch rescue mission for the tottering accord .... The peace deal
agreed in France a week ago was meant to end a conflict that threatens the
region. It gave key government positions to rebels and Mr Gbagbo's political
opponents, who dispute his victory in 2000 elections." (02/02/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=374777

--

10) Teacher put on leave after bringing in BB gun
     AP/Ann Arbor News

"A veteran teacher was placed on leave after bringing a BB gun into a high
school for a physics experiment. Plymouth High School was placed on
lockdown status shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday after a concerned parent
called police, saying someone had carried what looked like a rifle into the
building ... The teacher had used a BB gun to demonstrate the physics of
velocity for 20 years at Canton High School but recently was assigned to a
new building at Plymouth High." (01/31/03)

http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/bas\
e/news-3/1044027841302790.xml

--

11) Leaving Nevada
     News Review

"Joe and Julie Silvestri aren't packing their bags just yet, but their party is
on the move. Literally. The Libertarian Party, for which Joe Silvestri serves
as Clark County chairman, has helped launch the Free State Project, an
ambitious campaign that's recruiting 20,000 freedom-loving folks to pull up
stakes and relocate to a small U.S. state. The goal: Invade the body politic
and transform it into a Libertarian (or at least libertarian) stronghold."
(01/30/03)

http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/2003-01-30/news.asp

--

12) Fund launching for shuttle families
     MSNBC/AP

"A fund that raised about $1 million to assist the children of the Challenger
disaster in 1986 will launch an effort to do the same for survivors of the
Columbia crash, the board chairman said Sunday. With non-profit status
and volunteer administrators, the Space Shuttle Children’s Trust Fund was
established with the support of NASA to provide for the health, education
and related support of the young Challenger survivors." (02/02/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/867873.asp?0cv=CB10

--

13) Bush's budget to favor military, education
     Washington Post

"President Bush plans to squeeze many domestic programs but lavishly
fund the military and other showcase proposals in the budget he will
release today along with his projection of a record deficit, administration
officials said this weekend. Among the previously undisclosed spending
plans in Bush's 2004 budget are $100 million for the State Department to
advance democracy, literacy and economic opportunity in the Middle East,
and $756 million for school choice programs, including a plan for a pilot
school voucher program in the District, according to sources briefed on the
budget." (02/03/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16529-2003Feb2.html

--

14) Illegal residents pour into Colorado
     Denver Post

"The number of undocumented immigrants living in the United States
doubled to nearly 7 million during the 1990s, with Colorado experiencing the
third-largest percentage growth of illegal immigrants, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service reported Friday. Those figures are still lower than
many estimates, including a 2000 Census Bureau count that put the
number of illegal immigrants nationwide at 8 million, following a record wave
of newcomers drawn by the country's decade-long economic boom."
(02/02/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1150705%257E,00.html

--

15) Varying views on ERA anniversary
     Fox News

"Disaster was averted when the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution was finally defeated two decades ago, said supporters at the
30th annual Conservative Political Action Committee conference ... [I]f not
for Schlafly’s successful efforts to prevent 38 states from ratifying the
constitutional amendment, the United States might be sending mothers off
to combat in Iraq today ... Meanwhile, Eleanor Smeal, president of the
Feminist Majority, [had a different take] ..." (02/02/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77231,00.html



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) Freedom, immortality and the stars!
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by William Stone III

"As I peruse the news, I am deeply troubled by the reaction to the
Columbia's destruction. While these individuals didn't make it home and
their families have my sympathy, the horrible occasion of their deaths isn't
cause for national mourning. I'm sorry, but it's not .... National mourning
needs to be reserved for a country's dictatorial ambitions depriving us of our
true birthright: Freedom, immortality, and the stars!" (02/03/03)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe209-20030203-03.html

--

17) The incident
     HarryBrowne.Org
     by Harry Browne

"The problem isn't George Bush. The problem is that American Presidents
have too much power and not enough hobbies to keep their minds
occupied. We will always be in fear of being dragged into war so long as
American Presidents have the power to do whatever they want. ... The
power has been abused by Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy,
Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush. And it will
be abused by the next President as well." (02/03/03)

http://www.harrybrowne.org/articles/Incident.htm

--

18) The parlous State of the Union
     Town Hall
     by William F. Buckley, Jr.

"President Bush spoke convincingly of the great historic mandate of the
hour, but offered scant advice on how to defend the liberators on the scene
from the terminal fury of Saddam; and no explanation for the torpor of 12
years. ... Bush revealed himself to be a fit leader in this crisis. He showed a
mastery of the relevant questions, and the self-confidence to tell the world
that the United States is prepared to 'lead a coalition to disarm him.'"
(02/03/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/wfbuckley/wfb20030203.shtml

--

19) Introducing Liberty Action of the Week
     Rational Review
     by Mary Lou Seymour

"One of my favorite saying has always been, 'what we can't do alone, we
can do together.' I'm a firm believer in the cumulative value of individuals
doing little actions for freedom, every day, or every week. Libertarians are
usually very good at this type of activity. We are individualists, after all,
and
taking individual actions, when we want to, the way we want to, is right up
our alley. But all too often, unless we have a 'group' to work with, to offer
mutual support and encouragement, the days and weeks and even months
go by, and if there's no one to appreciate what we're doing for a free world,
it naturally tends to slip to the back burner." (02/01/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/mls/mls020103.html

--

20) Hail Columbia, farewell
     Sierra Times
     by Susan Callaway

"We are all very sad for the families and friends of those who were lost this
morning on the Columbia Shuttle ... So, what does it mean? It means that
life is not 'safe', or 'fair' or anything like easy for anyone in the long run.
Humans like to be safe, want things to be fair, and the easy way out is the
choice of most of humanity, but those are the exceptions, not the rule in
real life." (02/01/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/02/01/arsc020103.htm

--

21) God on our side?
     Slate
     by William Saletan

"It's reassuring to think that God will protect us from tragedy or defeat. But
that belief has two dangerous implications. One is that courage is
unnecessary and unreal. The crews of Challenger and Columbia weren't
actually taking risks or showing bravery, as Reagan and Bush supposed,
because their fate was in God's hands. The other implication is that
tragedies are God's will. That's what Bush rebuked Pat Robertson and Jerry
Falwell for suggesting when they speculated that Sept. 11 had happened
because God had removed his protection from the United States."
(02/01/03)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2078011/

--

22) The FCC’s local competition report: Surprise!
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by James L. Gattuso

"Like a snail in a sprint, the Federal Communications Commission is
rushing towards a decision on its local competition rules. Michael Powell
announced this week that he expects the Commission to meet its February
20 court deadline for its revised rules, in fact to beat it by a week. That’s
welcome news. How much reform there will be, however, is still a question
mark." (01/31/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/016,03346.cfm

--

23) The tax cuts -- a philosophical argument
     Liberty For All
     by Jason A. Junge

"When it comes to taxes, turning to philosophy might be of help. After all,
the main raison d'etre of philosophy is to structure and categorize
knowledge. There are so many reasons and arguments against taxes that
using them specifically and individually makes them seem arbitrary and
unsubstantiated. What we need is a structured argument against taxes to
make the case against them clear, concise, and principled." (02/02/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/feb2/tax-cuts.html

--

24) The drug war refugees
     LA Times Magazine
     by Eric Bailey

"A new breed of American refugee has arrived, seeking asylum from a
different kind of war -- the fight over medical marijuana. By some counts,
they number more than 100 expatriate U.S. citizens, many of them from
California, the fiercest battleground in America's medpot fight. They are
patients and activists who share an uneasy distrust of the U.S. government
and dismay over its intolerance of their brand of medicine. And they often
arrive scarred by schizophrenic drug policies that now pit the Golden
State's lenient laws governing the use of medical marijuana against the
federal government's zero-tolerance approach." (02/02/03)

http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-pot05feb02.story

--

25) Mr. President, whatever happened to Osama bin Laden?
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Tony Swindell

"So far, not a single shred of evidence has been offered to show that Iraq
has a nuclear weapons program of any kind, just cloud after thick cloud of
pettifoggery. Why doesn’t the government open its books -- right this
minute -- and show us the goods? For one thing, the ‘evidence’ is coming
on faith from a foreign government in the region, and the relationship would
be exposed and compromised, and for the Muslims, this scenario would be
the proverbial straw (and painful pun) that broke the camel’s back."
(02/01/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/swindell1.html

--

26) Flying the regulated skies
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"If ever there was cause to believe that the government is not competent to
dictate airport and airline security, the recent arrest of a pilot for trying to
carry a pistol onto his flight should confirm that suspicion. It also shows
again why security ought to be left to individual airlines and airports -- in
short, to the free market -- rather than to government bureaucracies."
(01/27/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301u.asp

--

27) An interview with Hunter S. Thompson
     Salon
     by John Glassie

"The godfather of gonzo believes America has suffered a 'nationwide
nervous breakdown' since 9/11, and as a result is compromising civil
liberties for what he calls 'the illusion of security.' The compromise, he
says, is 'a disaster of unthinkable proportions' and 'part of the downward
spiral of dumbness' he believes is plaguing the country. While the country's
spinning out of control, Thompson says his own lifestyle has been a model
of consistency. He still does whatever the hell he wants." (02/03/03)
[Subscription or ad view required for full article]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/02/03/thompson/index.html

--

28) The American way of torture
     Village Voice
     by Nat Hentoff

"I have been collecting fragments of press reports of torture by American
intelligence agencies over the past year, but the Washington Post story
was the first extensive, detailed account of what is going on at CIA facilities
in the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan." (01/31/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0306/hentoff.php

--

29) Hispanics will bring change to politics of race
     Tennessean
     by Tim Chavez

"Write down Jan. 21, 2003. It's a key date for the ongoing recognition of
Black History Month. That's when the U.S. Census Bureau announced that
Hispanics passed blacks as the largest minority group in the nation."
(02/02/03)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/equaltime/archives/03/02/28414621.shtml?Element_ID\
=28414621

--

30) Strong delusion
     News with Views
     by Chuck Baldwin

"When people demonstrate a perpetual pattern of gullibility and even willful
compliance with evil, one must wonder what is really the root cause of it all.
Is it ignorance? Is it indifference? Maybe it is personal ambition or the love
of comfort. There is another possibility: it could be divine delusion."
(01/30/03)

http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin82.htm



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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday except on
holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers

   To donate by credit card or electronic check, use our Paypal link:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=leisuregambler@yahoo.com&item_name=RRND_D\
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, January 31st, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Afghan blast leaves "many dead"
2)  Pentagon plan seeks annual budget boost of $20 billion
3)  Congressional test: border security fails
4)  Report: al Q'aeda has "dirty bomb" capability
5)  "Shoe bomber" sentenced to life
6)  Hunger strike -- lite
7)  White House cancels poetry forum, fears anti-war protests
8)  Ireland to ban smoking in pubs
9)  Iraqi spies in US?
10) Big spending on AIDS seen as go-it-alone plan
11) Cities pay big in faulty lawsuits
12) Energy Department denounces firings
13) Biology prof sued for "discrimination"
14) Blix: "Nothing to prompt a war"
15) Insurance policy: Troops freezing sperm
16) Pension agency suffers worst year ever

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

17) Our Reds, and theirs
18) Defective arguments
19) Democrats and the right to choose -- what?
20) Liberty towns
21) Pro sports is an expenditure, not an investment
22) My unfriendly skies
23) The empire strikes back
24) Economic idiotarianism
25) The truth we can't face: America as a third rate nation
26) The classical economists on gold
27) Broken trust
28) Anarchist law: Some hard questions
29) Statist gets noble, but not that "Nobel"
30) Two courtroom wins for the Second Amendment
31) Union knows its state: lousy
32) College admissions should consider more than race
33) Empowering employees with health care accounts


NEWS
---------------

1)  Afghan blast leaves "many dead"
     BBC News

"A powerful explosion has killed at least 16 people near the
southern Afghan city of Kandahar, local police say. The victims
were travelling on a bus which was crossing a bridge when a bomb
was detonated, according to reports. Deputy police chief Ustad
Nazir Jan blamed the explosion on Taleban and al Q'aeda fighters
or their allies, although no one has claimed responsibility."
(01/31/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2712081.stm

--

2)  Pentagon plan seeks annual budget boost of $20 billion
     Washington Post

"The Pentagon has prepared a $399.1 billion defense budget for
fiscal 2004 as part of a spending plan that grows by about $20
billion annually over the next five years and surpasses half a trillion
dollars by the end of the decade, according to Defense Department
documents. The plan, which could change slightly between now
and President Bush's formal budget submission Monday, calls for
a $16.9 billion increase in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, a 4.4
percent increase over the Pentagon's current $382.2 billion
budget." (01/31/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3417-2003Jan30.html

--

3)  Congressional test: border security fails
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Federal investigators armed with fake IDs and fictitious names
were able to breeze past U.S. border guards at some of the
nation's busiest crossings, including Peace Arch Park in Blaine
and Port Angeles, the General Accounting Office said yesterday.
Testing border security at the request of two U.S. senators, the
investigative arm of Congress found the Immigration and
Naturalization Service and U.S. Customs Service never questioned
the authenticity of the counterfeit documents the investigators
carried." (01/31/03)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/106573_border31.shtml

--

4)  Report: al Q'aeda has "dirty bomb" capability
     UPI

"British officials have reportedly revealed evidence they claim
shows al Q'aeda sought to assemble radioactive material to build a
so-called dirty bomb. The British Broadcasting Corp. says it's been
shown 'previously undisclosed material,' including secret
intelligence from agents sent by Britain into al Q'aeda training
camps in Afghanistan. It says the agents posed as recruits,
blended in and reported back 'that Osama bin Laden's weapons
program was further on than anyone thought.'" (01/31/03)

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030131-021832-1548r

--

5)  "Shoe bomber" sentenced to life
     Fox News

"The shoe bomber who tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic airliner with
197 people on board will spend the rest of his life cooling his heels
in prison. Confessed Al Q'aeda terrorist Richard Reid received the
maximum sentence Thursday for trying to ignite his explosives-
filled sneakers while flying over the Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 22,
2001. The 29-year-old British citizen cried, 'You will be judged by
Allah!' before being dragged from the courtroom in handcuffs."
(01/30/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77119,00.html

--

6)  Hunger strike -- lite
     Boston Globe

"Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but for a
cause like peace Felix Arroyo was prepared to forgo it -- once
every other week. At least that was until after yesterday's Boston
City Council meeting, when the councilor pledged his 'hunger'
strike would also include lunch. As part of his fast-for-peace
program, Arroyo said he'll consume only coffee and other liquids
from sunrise to sunset (when he gets to have dinner) on the second
and fourth Fridays of each month." (01/30/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/030/metro/Councilor_to_skip_some_meals_for_pea\
ce+.shtml

--

7)  White House cancels poetry forum, fears anti-war protests
     BBC News

"The White House has cancelled a poetry forum over fears it would
be taken over by ant-war protests. The discussion was to be
hosted by US First Lady Laura Bush on the works of Emily
Dickinson, Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman. But some poets
indicated they wanted to protest about proposed military action
against Iraq during the meeting on 12 February." (01/30/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2708651.stm

--

8)  Ireland to ban smoking in pubs
     Guardian

"Smoke gets in your eyes? Not for much longer, it seems, if you
drink in any pub in the Irish Republic, where the health minister,
Micheal Martin, wants to stub out cigarettes, from January 1 next
year. ... Martin announced plans to outlaw tobacco in bars,
restaurants, hotels, and all other workplaces, after a report on
passive smoking." (01/30/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,885996,00.htm
l

--

9)  Iraqi spies in US?
     New York Daily News

"Iraq sent spies from Canada to New York and Washington this
month to snoop and stir up anti-war demonstrations, according to a
government report obtained by the Daily News. The classified
document also reveals a plot by al Q'aeda-linked militants in
Zimbabwe to attack American targets in that country and
elsewhere if the U.S. declares war on Iraq." (01/30/03)

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/55766p-52218c.html

--

10) Big spending on AIDS seen as go-it-alone plan
     Boston Globe

"President Bush's new $15 billion initiative to fight AIDS globally
includes the largest amount ever, American or otherwise, devoted
to treatment of those infected with the disease in the poor world,
US officials said yesterday. But activists said the proposal also
suggests that the United States wants to act unilaterally and does
not trust global coalitions." (01/30/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/030/nation/Big_spending_on_AIDS_seen_as_go_it_\
alone_plan+.shtml

--

11) Cities pay big in faulty lawsuits
     Fox News

"People who get injured while committing a crime, or while failing to
commit suicide, and then sue their cities for damages are reaping
financial benefits at the public's expense. And legal critics say the
practice has got to stop. 'You have to wonder, what message does
this send on individual responsibility,' asks Walter Olson, a senior
fellow at the Manhattan Institute, 'if money is going not just to the
innocent bystanders but to the people who caused the accidents or
injuries in the first place?'" (01/30/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77111,00.html

--

12) Energy Department denounces firings
     MSNBC

"Officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory failed to address
problems in managing lab property and discouraged employees
from voicing their concerns, according to a report the Energy
Department’s inspector general released Thursday. The report
corroborated many of the claims about weak internal control and
property management at the lab made by investigators Glenn Walp
and Steve Doran and said the lab’s firing of the two men after they
blew the whistle on the problems was ‘incomprehensible.’"
(01/30/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/866574.asp?0cv=CB10

--

13) Biology prof sued for "discrimination"
     Fox News

"A biology professor who refuses to write letters of
recommendation for his students if they don't believe in evolution is
being accused of religious discrimination, and federal officials are
investigating. The legal complaint was filed against Texas Tech
University and professor Michael Dini, by a student and the Liberty
Legal Institute, a religious freedom group that calls Dini's policy
'open religious bigotry.'" (01/30/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77075,00.html

--

14) Blix: "Nothing to prompt a war"
     New York Times

"Days after delivering a broadly negative report on Iraq's
cooperation with international inspectors, Hans Blix on Wednesday
challenged several of the Bush administration's assertions about
Iraqi cheating .... Blix took issue with what he said were Secretary
of State Colin L. Powell's claims that the inspectors had found that
Iraqi officials were hiding and moving illicit materials within and
outside of Iraq to prevent their discovery. He said that the
inspectors had reported no such incidents." (01/31/03)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/international/middleeast/31BLIX.html

--

15) Insurance policy: Troops freezing sperm
     CNN

"Deploying troops have always squared away their wills and other
legal and financial affairs before going into harm's way. But now, a
small number of servicemen are choosing to make a stop at a
sperm bank before heading out. Troops say having their sperm
frozen gives them peace of mind in case of death or infertility."
(01/30/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/01/30/military.fertility/index.html

--

16) Pension agency suffers worst year ever
     Sierra Times/Yahoo! News

"The federal agency that stands behind U.S. corporate pension
funds said on Thursday its own finances slumped to a record $3.64
billion deficit in 2002 as the number of company bankruptcies grew.
The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures the
pensions of approximately 44 million Americans, said the fiscal
year ending Sept. 30 was its worst ever, with the steel industry
accounting for most of the losses. The agency began the year with
a $7.73 billion surplus." (01/30/03)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/030130/financial_pensions_5.html



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COMMENTARY
---------------

17) Our Reds, and theirs
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"Smearing anyone who stands up to oppose them is the one and
only tactic of the War Party, but it's somewhat heartening to note
how bad they are at it. Susan Sarandon an Iraqi agent? Good luck
trying to pull off that one. But they can always fall back on the old
red-baiting gambit, a tried-and-true technique that worked well in
the cold war era." (01/31/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j013103.html

--

18) Defective arguments
     Reason
     by Jacob Sullum

"At a time when juries hand down multibillion-dollar awards as if
they were "Employee of the Month" plaques, the real news may be
the seemingly rare occasions when courts take the side of
common sense. Three such cases in the last month or so offer
hope that sanity can be restored to product liability litigation."
(01/31/03)

http://www.reason.com/sullum/013103.shtml

--

19) Democrats and the right to choose -- what?
     Cato Institute
     by David Boaz

"Abortion sure brings out the libertarian rhetoric in Democrats. The
six Democratic presidential candidates shared a stage for the first
time at a gala dinner put on by NARAL Pro-Choice America, the
new name of the National Abortion Rights Action League. The
candidates fell over themselves to make the most ringing defense
of abortion rights .... It's unfortunate that abortion apparently is the
only individual 'choice' the Democrats support." (01/31/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-31-03-2.html

--

20) Liberty towns
     Liberty For All
     by George Phillies

"In the last column, I discussed the Free State Project-Libertarians
moving to a specific state to enhance the local activist density --
and then broached the notion of the Liberty Town. In a sense, the
Liberty Town is the Free State Project on a smaller scale.
However, the Liberty Town project requires _no_ commitment from
any Libertarian to pick up stakes and move ... wherever. Instead,
the Liberty Town project proposes to advance Liberty by taking
advantage of ongoing natural processes." (01/19/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan19/towns.html

--

21) Pro sports is an expenditure, not an investment
     Tennessean
     by Tim Chavez

"It's hard to reconcile, but the largest building projects in Charlotte,
Pittsburgh, Chicago, Houston and Cincinnati have not been in
neighborhoods or new public schools. The largest municipal activity
across the nation has been in constructing stadia and arenas for
pro sports teams." (01/30/03)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/equaltime/archives/03/01/28093293.shtml?Element_ID\
=28093293

--

22) My unfriendly skies
     Strike the Root
     by Joe Bommarito

"Here are the real threats to aviation. More people are driving
instead of flying. More businesses are teleconferencing in lieu of
travel. More people are staying home. Fewer airliners are flying.
The failure is occurring on an industry-wide basis, with a few
notable exceptions, and largely because people don't want to be
treated like dirt. Businesses whose customers are treated like dirt,
even by third parties, will fail." (01/29/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/bommarito/bommarito15.html

--

23) The empire strikes back
     Village Voice
     by Ian Urbina

"This Saturday, more than a thousand of America's top military and
government leaders and their guests are scheduled to gather at the
Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., for a secretive tribal
rite called the 103rd Annual Wallow of the Military Order of the
Carabao. And they won't be singing 'Kumbaya.' In fact, on what
these days feels like the eve of war, nothing says 'imperialism'
better than the annual Wallow, which celebrates the bloody
conquest of the nascent Philippine Republic a century ago in the
aftermath of the Spanish-American War." (01/31/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0305/urbina.php

--

24) Economic idiotarianism
     TechCentralStation
     by Arnold Kling

"Roughly speaking, an idiotarian is someone whose response to
September 11 was to issue a moral condemnation of the United
States. But the concept of idiotarianism can usefully be extended
to the field of economics. Economic idiotarians are people who
implicitly reject market logic and instead see economic
arrangements as an either-or choice between idealistic sharing and
evil exploitation." (01/30/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-013\
003A

--

25) The truth we can't face: America as a third rate nation
     Sierra Times
     by Dorothy Anne Seese

"It's taken for granted. We're America, the United States of
America, the world's only superpower, and we are the leaders of
the free world. We are US ... The world is supposed to fear us,
obey us, and allow us to lead, our military might is second to none.
Our citizens are the world's free people. Now, can we get down to
reality? The show is over, the stage is dark and the curtain is
down. We have to go back outside and face the day, or the night."
(01/30/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/31/dorothy.htm

--

26) The classical economists on gold
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Nikolay Gertchev

"With the dollar down and gold up, both trends obviously related to
growing fear of economic troubles ahead, the question again
arises: why shouldn't the dollar itself be defined as a fixed quantity
of gold? It would be if the views of the classical liberal tradition held
sway. This tradition stands solidly behind a commodity money
standard, like silver or gold, as the very embodiment of sound
money." (01/30/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1152

--

27) Broken trust
     The New Republic
     by Jacob T. Levy

"The shameful mishandling by the federal government of the
Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust fund -- created to manage the
proceeds from leases of Indian land -- encompasses 300,000
accounts and 56 million acres, spans more than 100 years, and
involves amounts of money estimated at between 10 and 100 billion
dollars. ... Robert Rubin, Bruce Babbitt, and Gale Norton, along
with assorted deputies, have all been held in contempt of court ....
And yet, thanks to a combination of convoluted detail, media bias,
and ideological blindness, most Americans have never even heard
about it." (01/29/03)

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=express&s=levy012903

--

28) Anarchist law: Some hard questions
     anti-state.com
     by Keith Preston

"Many would no doubt find the idea of ‘anarchist law’ to be an
oxymoron. One of the most common objections to anarchism
raised by lay people involves the misperception that ‘anarchy’
would be no more than a free-for-all on the part of brigands and
criminals. Informed people know better, although some anarchists
do profess opposition to ‘law’ rhetorically. However, this is simply a
matter of semantics. With the possible exception of certain
extreme Stirnerites, nearly all anarchists believe that such acts as
robbery, rape and murder should be socially disallowed." (01/29/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=379

--

29) Statist gets noble, but not that "Nobel"
     Liberty For All
     by Kevin Joseph Tull

"In this age of government attempting to solve all the problems of
the common person, a proven bureaucrat, a real reduce taxes, but
borrow and spend 'conservative' politician, has done something
remarkable. He admitted that no matter what the government does
it couldn't be proven competent enough to rightfully execute
prisoners on death row. Of course the politician I'm talking about is
the exiting governor of Illinois George Ryan." (01/19/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan19/noble.html

--

30) Two courtroom wins for the Second Amendment
     Wall Street Journal
     by Colin Levey

"This week, two unlikely judges shared a small moment of justice
on behalf of the Second Amendment .... Why are these judicial
straws in the wind significant? They mark a trend that began to
emerge last year. As Americans have begun to think differently
about their personal safety, courts have begun looking at the gun
question in a more sober light." (01/29/03)

http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/clevey/?id=110002984

--

31) Union knows its state: lousy
     The Nation
     by Robert Scheer

"Let me tell you about the state of the union: It's lousy. The only
real question is whether the President doesn't know it or just
doesn't care. You also have to wonder why the Democrats offer
only token opposition to an Administration run amok. And you
might also be curious as to why the mass media have allowed this
'what, me worry?' President to charm his way through the worst
humbling of the U.S. economy since the Depression." (01/28/03)

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030210&s=scheer20030128

--

32) College admissions should consider more than race
     Nashville City Paper
     by Mary Mitchell

"I have the perfect solution to the affirmative action debate. Instead
of limiting the use of race in college admissions ... expand the pool
of persons getting special consideration. How about an admissions
policy that takes everyone's race, heritage, ethnicity, background
and disability into consideration ... Under my system, 'legacy'
points would be awarded to the offspring of every janitor, cook and
gardener who has worked at the university. That would compensate
for all the mediocre students who slip in because Daddy or
Mommy is an alum." (01/30/03)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=9&screen=news&news_id=19880

--

33) Empowering employees with health care accounts
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by Michael F. Cannon

"The federal government does not tax employer-paid health
insurance premiums paid, but does tax health care paid for by
individual employees. Three exceptions to this rule are medical
savings accounts (MSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and
health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Each gives medical
savings tax advantages similar to health insurance. However,
legislation is needed to make them more widely available, more
flexible and more portable." (01/30/03)

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/2003/pd013003a.html



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Thursday, January 30th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Plutonium for 25 bombs missing in Japan
2)  Israeli tanks raid Hebron
3)  Bush begins "final phase" on Iraq
4)  Florida judge closes "Baby Eve" case
5)  Unlikely allies influenced Bush to shift course on AIDS relief
6)  Venezuela strike begins to crumble
7)  Patient's patience earns Guinness record
8)  US special forces in northern Iraq
9)  CBO: Federal deficit to soar to $199 billion
10) Senate nears showdown over Bush judges
11) Comcast says no to anti-war ads
12) Group takes new approach to organ donation
13) Gay men and lesbians to be counted by Canadian census
14) Surgeon defends hysterectomy branding as "standard procedure"
15) Teen fights ban of pot project

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) No exit strategy
17) Power lust
18) The Libertarian Party's multiple personality disorder
19) In the arms of the State
20) Jesus sells
21) The false promise of fiscal stimulus
22) Bush’s new antiterror database plan
23) Morally unserious
24) State of the Union: the Libertarian Party's response
25) America, on the road to oblivion
26) How will Iraq strike back?
27) American Taliban
28) Helping you help me help you
29) Health care reform: government subsidy or restoring subsidiarity?
30) Time bomb in the Middle East: A long time ticking
31) Drugging Medicare
32) A presidency at the brink


NEWS
---------------

1)  Plutonium for 25 bombs missing in Japan
     Sierra Times/International News-Pakistan

"Enough plutonium to produce 25 nuclear bombs is unaccounted
for at a Japanese nuclear facility, but the deficit is [alleged to be]
mostly due to measuring shortcomings and miscalculations. The
nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Tokaimura (north of Tokyo) has
extracted 6,890 kilograms of plutonium from spent nuclear fuel
since it began operating in 1977. But the total was 206 kilos short
of the plutonium initially estimated to have been produced by
reprocessing spent nuclear fuel from power plants." (01/29/03)

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2003-daily/29-01-2003/world/w1.htm
--

2)  Israeli tanks raid Hebron
     Al Bawaba

"Israeli tanks streamed into the Palestinian city of Hebron
Thursday and soldiers started searching for activists, witnesses
said. The city was placed under curfew. ... The Israeli army said its
forces detained 19 activists overnight in the West Bank, including
four in the Hebron area. The others were taken into custody in the
cities of Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem." (01/30/03)

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=240745&lang=e&dir=news

--

3)  Bush begins "final phase" on Iraq
     Washington Post

"The Bush administration began yesterday what officials said was
a final effort to persuade reluctant allies to adopt a unified position
on Iraq, but made clear that President Bush's decision on whether
to launch a military attack, with or without them, is only weeks
away. Bush said he is ‘convinced that this still can be done
peacefully,’ and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the United
States would be willing to help facilitate Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein's exile." (01/30/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63492-2003Jan29.html

--

4)  Florida judge closes "Baby Eve" case
     Miami Herald

"A judge in Fort Lauderdale closed his inquiry into the well-being of
Baby Eve on Wednesday after it was announced in court that the
alleged baby clone is in Israel, not Broward. ... [Clonaid president
Brigitte] Boisselier explained that a lawsuit to determine the welfare
of the child, filed by Coral Gables attorney Bernard Siegel and
assigned to Frusciante, had scared the parents into hiding. They
feared the state would try to take the baby away." (01/30/03)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/5061637.htm

--

5)  Unlikely allies influenced Bush to shift course on AIDS relief
     Washington Post

"An unlikely coalition of Christian evangelicals and liberal activists
joined forces to help persuade President Bush to announce a
remarkable turnabout this week in his administration's approach to
the international AIDS crisis -- a tripling of U.S. spending on AIDS
relief. Bush surprised even many Republicans when he used his
State of the Union address on Tuesday to call on Congress to
spend $15 billion over the next five years to help countries in Africa
and the Caribbean fight the pandemic." (01/30/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63428-2003Jan29.html

--

6)  Venezuela strike begins to crumble
     BBC News

"Leading newspapers in Venezuela, all of which support the
opposition against the government of President Hugo Chavez, have
started to question the wisdom of continuing the general strike.
Widely read by the middle class, many professionals and the
wealthier sectors of society, the dailies argue that the strike has
run its course and is now doing more harm than good."
Venezuela's banks dropped from the strike yesterday in the face of
threats from embattled president Chavez. (01/30/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/not_in_website/syndication/monitoring/media_reports/2\
706703.stm

--

7)  Patient's patience earns Guinness record
     Ananova

"An NHS patient has become the holder of the new world record for
the longest wait on a hospital trolley. Tony Collins spent 77 hours
and 30 minutes waiting for treatment. He said he did not know
whether to laugh or cry: 'Unfortunately, it will probably be the sort of
record that gets broken every day in the NHS.'" (01/29/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_744839.html?menu=news.quirkies

--

8)  US special forces in northern Iraq
     CNN

"Pentagon officials said Wednesday that U.S. military personnel
are working with CIA teams conducting ‘liaison’ missions with
Kurds in northern Iraq. They said those people are who Joint Chiefs
Chairman Gen. Richard Myers was referring to when he used the
term ‘not significant forces’ in a Pentagon briefing earlier
Wednesday." (1/29/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/29/sprj.irq.us.troops/index.html

--

9)  CBO: Federal deficit to soar to $199 billion
     Denver Post/AP

"This year's federal deficit will soar to $199 billion even without
President Bush's new tax cut plan or war against Iraq, the
Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday in a report that cast
doubt on chances for balancing the budget anytime soon. The
nonpartisan budget office projected that without action on any tax
or spending initiatives -- which no one considers realistic -- small
annual surpluses would not return until 2007, a year later than the
office predicted in August." (01/29/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUDGET?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=HOME

--

10) Senate nears showdown over Bush judges
     MSNBC

"Majority Republicans flexed their muscles in the Senate and sped
ahead Wednesday with hearings on six of President Bush’s judicial
nominees, setting the stage for the Judiciary Committee to vote
Thursday on one of the president’s most controversial would-be
judges, a Hispanic immigrant touted as a potential candidate for
the Supreme Court." (01/29/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/865945.asp?0cv=CB10

--

11) Comcast says no to anti-war ads
     Washington Times

"The Comcast cable television company rejected ads that an anti-
war group wanted to air during President Bush's State of the Union
speech, saying they included unsubstantiated claims. Peace
Action Education Fund had spent $5,000 to have six 30-second
ads aired on CNN by Philadelphia-based Comcast beginning last
night." (01/29/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030129-30490733.htm

--

12) Group takes new approach to organ donation
     Channel 9 News

"A grass-roots group out of Nashville says it can save your life.
Lifesharers is a non-profit organ donation group, with a controversial
caveat. Lifesharers gives 'first dibs' to its members who've agreed to
donate. Organizers say its an innovative way to fight organ
shortages. But established donor groups raise one ethical
objection." (01/28/03)

http://www.newschannel9.com/vnews//1043796726/?keywords=lifesharers

--

13) Gay men and lesbians to be counted by Canadian census
     Ottawa Citizen

"The federal agency is asking Canadians to declare their sexual
orientation in a national survey, building on the last census, which
for the first time asked how many common-law couples were of the
same gender. 'This is a touchy subject that could raise fears in
individuals about their private lives,' acknowledged Pierre Turcotte,
Statistics Canada's chief of social reporting." (01/29/03)

http://www.canada.com/toronto/news/story.asp?id=26C6678B-FAA1-49CB-A3DE-C22565E8\
3B0D

--

14) Surgeon defends hysterectomy branding as "standard procedure"
     Fox News

"A surgeon being sued for branding a patient's uterus with the
initials of his alma mater (the University of Kentucky) defended his
actions Tuesday as a routine part of performing a hysterectomy.
Dr. Michael Guiler said that marking the uterus gives doctors a
point of reference before it is removed, especially in procedures
with limited visibility. Guiler, who used a cauterizing instrument to
brand 'UK' on Stephanie Means' uterus, said the letters were
chosen because they mark the organ's midline and distinguish its
left and right side." (01/29/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76950,00.html

--

15) Teen fights ban of pot project
     MAPINC/Mercury News

"A Belmont teenager refused to back down Tuesday on her fight to
get her project on medicinal marijuana entered in the school
science fair this week. The Belmont Redwood Shores School
District offered a written apology for waiting so long to ban her
project and full credit for her work. But 13-year-old Veronica
Mouser would have none of it.' I don't agree with them at all,' she
said. 'It seems like bribery to me. They just want to give me the
letter of apology and a grade, so this won't get out and so they can
keep it closed out.'" (01/29/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n144/a08.html?397



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) No exit strategy
     Cato Institute
     by William Niskanen

"There now seems to be no plausible action by Saddam Hussein or
discovery by the U.N. inspectors that would lead to broad support
by the American public and other governments for a new war
against Iraq. ... On the other hand, there seems to be no plausible
development short of a new war against Iraq that would placate the
small band of neo-conservatives that have beat the drums for this
war for some years and now have an unusual influence on the Bush
administration." (01/30/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-30-03-2.html

--

17) Power lust
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"The most irritating thing about the State of the Union is that we
are a captive audience -- in every way. This guy taxes us, spends
our money on stuff he likes, sends our kids to war on his decision,
lies to us, dares to believe that his personal will is somehow more
important than yours or mine or anyone else's solely because he
managed to eke out a few more electoral votes than Gore two
years ago, and to top it off, expects that we will watch for more
than an hour as he prattles, while his minions interrupt him only to
stand and applaud." (01/29/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/powerlust.html

--

18) The Libertarian Party's multiple personality disorder
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"If the LP was a much larger organization, it might be possible for it
to split its forces in the face of the enemy, like Robert E. Lee at
Chancellorsville, and get away with it. However, it is not a large
organization and will not become a large organization in the near
term so long as it retains its bent toward ideological purity. ... the
LP suffers from a severe case of multiple personality disorder. It is
attempting to be both an ideological party and an electoral party,
and the two are not compatible." (01/30/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp013003.html

--

19) In the arms of the State
     Laissez Faire Times
     by Russell Madden

"There are any number of transgressions someone might commit
that would not induce me to shed tears if the perpetrator were to
die while in the custody of the State: Murder. Rape. Serious
assault. Imagine for a moment, however, what we should think
about an older person who is imprisoned for a nonviolent federal
offense; who spends a number of years behind bars; and whose life
ends with his 'debt to society' yet unpaid." (01/30/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/arms_tax_state.htm

--

20) Jesus sells
     Reason
     by Jeremy Lott

"[E]vangelicals are using the market to fashion and refashion
themselves, and to project the resulting identity to others, in just
the way that all consumers do. Therein lies the real significance of
the Christian cultural industry. It is fixed enough to support a
religious group identity for millions of people but fluid enough to
accommodate myriad arguments and interpretations. And it gives
this minority religious group the ability to make the wider culture
take it seriously -- to punch above its weight in the market contest
it has entered." (01/30/03)

http://www.reason.com/0302/fe.jl.jesus.shtml

--

21) The false promise of fiscal stimulus
     Town Hall
     by Steve Chapman

"Democrats know how to do fiscal stimulus and Republicans know
how to do fiscal stimulus, and both parties are eager to do it right
now, their way. But they sound like the character in Shakespeare's
'Henry IV' who brags that he 'can call spirits from the vasty deep.'
Replies a skeptic, 'Why, so can I, or so can any man; but will they
come when you do call for them?'" (01/30/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/stevechapman/sc20030130.shtml

--

22) Bush’s new antiterror database plan
     MSNBC/CNet
     by Declan McCullagh

"Bush used his State of the Union address to announce the
Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), a mammoth data-
collection project intended to fuse information collected
domestically by police and internationally by spy agencies .... The
White House offered few details about how TTIC will evolve, but
critics of an existing data-mining program under development by
the U.S. government were quick to draw comparisons to the
controversial Total Information Awareness (TIA) project." (01/29/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/866064.asp?0cv=CB20

--

23) Morally unserious
     Slate
     by Michael Kinsley

"[B]ush listed practices of Saddam Hussein such as destroying
whole villages with chemical weapons and torturing children ....
This is a fine, noble reason to wage war against Iraq. It would have
been a fine reason two decades ago, which is when Saddam
destroyed those villages and the United States looked the other
way .... Is the Bush administration prepared to enforce the no-
torturing-children rule by force everywhere? And what happens if
Saddam decides to meet all our demands regarding weapons and
inspections? Is he then free to torture children and pour acid on
innocent citizens without fear of the United States?" (01/29/03)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2077856/

--

24) State of the Union: the Libertarian Party's response
     Libertarian Party
     by staff

"During his hour-long State of the Union address on Tuesday night,
Bush unveiled plans for approximately a half-trillion dollars in new
or expanded social programs; said Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
had missed his 'final chance' to avoid a U.S.-led attack by
continuing to thwart U.N. weapons inspectors; and cited threats
posed by Iran and North Korea. But Libertarians say more
government spending and more war is the exact opposite of what
America needs." (01/29/03)

http://www.lp.org/press/archive.php?function=view&record=626

--

25) America, on the road to oblivion
     Liberty For All
     by Ed Lewis

"What he understands -- and all that he understands -- is that if he
spouts out whatever his handlers tell him, he, his family, and his
good corporate/defense/drug buddies will make tons of money
while they sit back in safety laughing at all the human beings being
killed, maimed, tortured, and brought to their knees. He is a vile
traitor to all America once stood for." (01/19/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan19/oblivion.html

--

26) How will Iraq strike back?
     The American Conservative
     by Richard K. Betts

"Most Americans take for granted that if the war proves bloodier
than the optimists expect, the price will be paid by the military or
people in the region. If an invasion succeeds, however, Saddam
Hussein will have no reason to withhold his best parting shot --
which could be the release of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
inside the United States. Such a counterattack against civilians
could make the death toll of Sept. 11 look small. Washington has
done little to prepare the country for this possibility." (01/27/03)

http://www.amconmag.com/01_27_03/cover.html

--

27) American Taliban
     Strike the Root
     by Daniel Patrick Welch

"The main lesson of Vietnam for the war complex seems to be that
keeping American casualties low gives a green light for action. The
result has been an enormous increase in the disproportionality of
deaths in later conflicts bordering on madness." (01/28/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/welch/welch1.html

--

28) Helping you help me help you
     US Term Limits
     Paul Jacob

"Of course you don't encourage self-reliance by encouraging people
to get handouts simply because they can get handouts. The
disaster here is not the misfortune of being somewhere in the
radius of somebody else's misfortune. The disaster is the policy of
looking for trouble where none exists." (01/28/03)


http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs771.html

--

29) Health care reform: government subsidy or restoring
subsidiarity?
     Acton Institute
     by Phillip W. De Vous

"Often absent from many of the policy debates in Washington is a
reference to the first principles that animate, or should animate, the
discussions surrounding important issues. No contemporary issue
illustrates this more clearly than the looming debate over health
care reform in the United States. While policy wonks debate the
merits of various proposals making their way through Congress, a
fundamental question looms: Will the attitude of government
subsidy or the restoration of communal subsidiarity ultimately form
the foundation of this debate?" (01/29/03)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=123

--

30) Time bomb in the Middle East: A long time ticking
     Hawaii Reporter
     by Ken Schoolland

"The primary function of the U.S. government is to provide security.
Yet most officials in Washington D.C. will acknowledge that there
have been severe shortcomings in performance. Government
intelligence and security agencies, with the abundance of wealth,
personnel, and technology at their disposal, came up short in a
decades-long effort to root out a terrorist network with global
tentacles that probably originated in some of the poorest nations of
the world." (01/29/03)

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?7015c2cc-6e48-4455-902f-8ef1dd156916

--

31) Drugging Medicare
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Chris Kinnan

"The new political reality is that, very soon, taxpayers are going to
start paying for medical drugs for senior citizens. The idea of a drug
benefit has a full steam of head in Washington, D.C., after passing
the House of Representatives last Congress. That bill was a
disaster, and in one stroke would have increased the federal
government’s unfunded obligations by a staggering $4 trillion or so.
Thankfully, that plan died in the Senate, but the idea has arrived."
(01/29/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1243.htm

--

32) A presidency at the brink
     Boston Globe
     by Robert Kuttner

"Will a war once again bail out a faltering presidency? Or will it
crystalize for voters all of the contradictions of the Bush regime?
Bush's stock was not particularly high on the morning of Sept. 11,
2001 ... Then terrorists struck, and the Bush presidency was
transformed. It has taken 20 months for Bush's slide to resume,
yet he has an uncanny ability to step around blunders and
deceptions that would sink an ordinary president. Will he do it
again with another national security crisis, this time of his own
invention?" (01/29/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/029/oped/A_presidency_at_the_brink+.shtml



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Wednesday, January 29th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  State of the Union: Bush takes nation to edge of war
2)  State of the Union: speech transcript
3)  Sharon, Likud Party win Israeli elections
4)  Slammer: Microsoft ignores its own advice
5)  Drug czar defies Nevada election officials
6)  Massachusetts court: jurors must reveal race and ethnicity
7)  Battle set over firearms in schools
8)  United flight held at airport after box cutter found
9)  Iraq to chair U.N. disarmament conference
10) Pot project yanked from science fair
11) Sentence upheld for killing unborn baby with cocaine
12) States struggle to pay for homeland security
13) Vegetarians sink their teeth into settlement
14) "Clean Urine" bill passes
15) Cyber-security chief leaving White House
16) Powell to brief UN panel on weapons data
17) British MPs call for ban on spanking

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

18) The State of the Union: frightened
19) Dumb and dirty neocon artists
20) Affirmative action or racism
21) Beware the Ides of March
22) Prohibition=violence
23) Social contract
24) You say you want a resolution
25) Iraq: the last Republican hurrah
26) Ninth Circuit ditches anti-gun "History" professor
27) War as entertainment
28) Law and liberty in America
29) Bush's call for quotas
30) Anarchy: A judeo-christian legacy
31) The Bushopranos
32) Expelled, and it wasn't even a real phaser
33) Bush makes Slick Willie ... look like an amateur
34) Health care: put people before government
35) Wild on Washington: free food and exotic vacations


NEWS
---------------

1)  State of the Union: Bush takes nation to edge of war
     Washington Post

"President Bush took the nation to the edge of war with Iraq last
night, declaring in his annual State of the Union message that
Saddam Hussein had missed his 'final chance' by showing
contempt for U.N. weapons inspections. The president, addressing
a joint session of Congress and a nationwide television audience of
tens of millions, stopped short of committing to war. But he
provided a long list of allegations of the Iraqi president's efforts to
thwart the inspections and left no doubt that he is ready to part
ways with allies who want to give inspectors more time." (01/29/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57869-2003Jan28.html

--

2)  State of the Union: speech transcript
     CNN

Complete transcript of George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union
address. (01/29/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/28/sotu.transcript/index.html

--

3)  Sharon, Likud Party win Israeli elections
     Newsday

"The Likud Party of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won yesterday's
election, and left-wing parties were crushed, amid Israel's lowest
voter turnout ever. But Sharon's victory was less decisive than the
one he sought in holding the vote. It appeared likely that he would
be forced to govern with a fragile, right-wing coalition. ... According
to results from 99 percent of polling places, Likud will have 37 of
120 seats in parliament, the Knesset, and Labor will have 19. The
secular, centrist Shinui party became the third-largest party,
gaining 10 seats for a total of 15 seats." (01/29/03)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-woisra293107439jan29,0,5176286.\
story?coll=ny-worldnews-print

--

4)  Slammer: Microsoft ignores its own advice
     The Star Online

"Software giant Microsoft Corp fell victim to the weekend’s rampant
Web virus when its own system administrators failed to install a
simple patch that the company has urged users around the world
to download. The SQL Slammer worm infected servers at company
headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and flooded Microsoft’s
network with traffic late last Friday and Saturday morning,
Microsoft spokesmen said Tuesday." (01/29/03)

http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2003/1/29/technology/29worm&sec\
=technology

--

5)  Drug czar defies Nevada election officials
     Marijuana Policy Project

"White House 'Drug Czar' John Walters today refused to report how
much money he spent campaigning against question 9, Nevada's
November 2002 marijuana initiative. Walters' refusal came in
response to a written request from Nevada Secretary of State Dean
Heller that he explain his failure to file campaign finance reports as
required by Nevada law. In a Jan. 27 letter to Heller, Walters' office
claimed he was 'immune' from Nevada's campaign finance law 'as a
federal officer acting within the scope of duties, including speaking
out about the dangers of illegal drugs.'" (01/28/03)

http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr012803.html

--

6)  Massachusetts court: jurors must reveal race and ethnicity
     Boston Globe

"Ruling that courts must fight harder against discrimination, the
Supreme Judicial Court yesterday ordered potential jurors to reveal
their race and ethnic background. The demographic data will help
measure whether jury pools represent a fair cross-section of the
communities from which they're drawn." (01/28/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/028/metro/Jurors_must_reveal_race_ethnicity_SJ\
C_rules+.shtml

--

7)  Battle set over firearms in schools
     Salt Lake Tribune

"Utah's concealed-weapon permit holders will be free to carry guns
into public schools if a state senator has his way. Senate Majority
Leader Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, is sponsoring a bill at
the behest of the Statewide Prosecutors Association that he says
will 'clean up' two muddy statutes on concealed weapons .... But
the measure has rekindled a controversy in Utah over whether
legally concealed weapons have a place on Utah school grounds."
(01/28/03)

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01282003/utah/24071.asp

--

8)  United flight held at airport after box cutter found
     Fox News

"A United Airlines flight bound for San Francisco from Logan
International Airport was grounded Tuesday after a passenger found
a box cutter in the magazine pouch in the seat in front of her. The
woman traveling in first class discovered the blade as passengers
were boarding, authorities said. The Boeing 757 was kept on the
ground and the pilot ordered all passengers removed." (01/28/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76896,00.html

--

9)  Iraq to chair U.N. disarmament conference
     CNN

"Iraq will chair the United Nations' most important disarmament
negotiating forum during the panel's May session. At the rules-
minded United Nations, it's not a country's status with international
weapons inspectors, but the letters in its name which determine
which member state chairs the Conference on Disarmament. ‘The
irony is overwhelming,’ a U.S. diplomat said." (01/28/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/28/sprj.irq.disarmament.conference/index.\
html

--

10) Pot project yanked from science fair
     AP/WHO-TV

"A project on the possible medical benefits of marijuana has been
tossed out of the science fair at a California school. Veronica
Mouser, a 13-year-old student at Ralston Intermediate School in
Belmont has been told she can't present her science project at the
fair, which opens today. She says she had permission from her
science teacher to do the project and spent months working on it."
(01/28/03)

http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1102502

--

11) Sentence upheld for killing unborn baby with cocaine
     The Repository

"The [S.C.]state Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a woman
accused of killing her fetus by taking crack cocaine. The court
ruled Monday that Regina McKnight’s 12-year sentence was not
too harsh because she should have known taking cocaine could
result in a stillbirth. McKnight was convicted under South
Carolina’s homicide by child abuse law." (01/28/03)

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=23&ID=82365&r=2

--

12) States struggle to pay for homeland security
     Fox News

"Governments around the country are scrambling to reorganize
state agencies in preparation for possible terrorist attacks, but with
budget crises taking hold and federal assistance stalled in
Congress, reform efforts have added up to a financial nightmare.
State homeland security offices have been popping up since the
Sept. 11 attacks, and all states now have some sort of security
and preparedness effort. But funding remains hard to come by."
(01/28/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76829,00.html

--

13) Vegetarians sink their teeth into settlement
     Chicago Sun Times

"Vegetarians packed a courtroom Monday at the Daley Center to
show their outrage about groups that might share in a $10 million
settlement by McDonald's Corp. The fast-food chain agreed to the
settlement after it apologized for misrepresenting animal-fat content
in its french fries and hash browns.Six of the case's seven original
plaintiffs are protesting some of the groups scheduled to share in
the $10 million because they claim the groups violate the
vegetarian and Hindu values the settlement was meant to honor."
(01/28/03)

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-mac28.html

--

14) "Clean Urine" bill passes
     Yahoo!/Reuters

"Something smells funny in the Arkansas drug-testing business,
and a state legislator thinks it might be the urine. Jay Martin, a
freshman state representative, won passage through the Arkansas
House of Representatives last week of his measure that will make
it illegal to sell or use urine to falsify a drug or alcohol screening
test ... [there was] only one dissenting vote, which came from a
lawmaker who complained the bill was an invasion of privacy."
(01/28/03)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20030128/od_nm\
/odd_urine_dc

--

15) Cyber-security chief leaving White House
     Fox News

"President Bush's cyber-security adviser is expected to resign from
his post ... Confusion still reigns over whether Richard Clarke, the
quick-tongued White House adviser who moved from the FBI to the
White House after the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, has already
submitted his resignation letter to the president." (01/28/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76874,00.html

--

16) Powell to brief UN panel on weapons data
     Washington Post

"President Bush said last night that Secretary of State Colin L.
Powell will brief members of the U.N. Security Council next week
on evidence showing that Iraq possesses, and is still engaged in
producing, weapons of mass destruction, signaling the start of an
intensive campaign to win over international and domestic opinion.
In his address to the nation, Bush said he will ask the Security
Council to convene a special meeting next Wednesday so that
Powell could ‘present information and intelligence about Iraq's
illegal weapons programs, its attempts to hide those weapons from
inspectors and its links to terrorist groups.’" (01/29/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57592-2003Jan28.html

--

17) British MPs call for ban on spanking
     Independent

"MPs led renewed calls for the Government to impose a full ban on
smacking yesterday, warning that loopholes in the law were
allowing child abusers to escape justice .... Britain was chastised
by the United Nations last year for failing to introduce a ban on
smacking. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child criticised
the Government for 'taking no significant action' to introduce a ban
and criticised its failure to modernise English law, which is based
on a statute from 1860 allowing 'reasonable chastisement' of
children." (01/28/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=373341



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COMMENTARY
---------------

18) The State of the Union: frightened
     Salon
     by Jake Tapper

"President Bush did his best to scare the bejesus out of his
audience Tuesday to make his case for war. And afterward, he was
probably the only person to get a good night's sleep. The speech
was two-thirds finished and President Bush had yet to even say the
word 'Iraq.' Finally, 47 minutes into it, Bush began laying out the
argument that the electorate and the rest of the world had been
waiting for -- why he seems to be about to send Americans'
parents, children, spouses, siblings and friends into harm's way to
unseat Saddam Hussein." (01/29/03)

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/01/29/sotu/index_np.html

--

19) Dumb and dirty neocon artists
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"Predictably, and given their not-so-distant pedigree,
neoconservatives easily slip into Marxoid consciousness-raising
talk. Iraqis, even when they express a wish to be left to their
devices, don't really know their minds and ... must be led to the
truth -- to American-style democracy -- even if it's delivered with
daisy cutters. ... Like any leftist, neocons support the meddlesome
expansion of the 'Managerial State' at home. Somewhat at odds
with many liberals, the neocons want to take the same intrusive
crusade abroad. " (01/29/03)

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30735

--

20) Affirmative action or racism
     Town Hall
     by Walter Williams

"For black politicians, civil rights organizations and white liberals to
support the racist practices of the University of Michigan amounts
to no less than a gross betrayal of the civil rights principles of our
historic struggle from slavery to the final guarantee of constitutional
rights to all Americans. Indeed, it was practices like those of the
University of Michigan, but against blacks, that were the focal point
of much of the civil rights movement." (01/29/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20030129.shtml

--

21) Beware the Ides of March
     Antiwar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"No sooner did Hans Blix open his mouth then the Dow started
tanking; our war birds had hardly begun their latest chorus of
banshee-like screeching when speculation began as to how
Saddam would strike back. So we're going to hear about how some
until now totally unknown Al Q'aeda 'affiliate,' Ansar al-Islam, is
supposedly backed by the Iraqis -- in the U.S.-protected quasi-
independent statelet of Kurdistan. I might as well go to Debka.com
and get the latest Israeli propaganda straight from the horse's
mouth." (01/29/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j012903.html

--

22) Prohibition=violence
     Reason
     by Ronald Bailey

"The low, dishonest -- and expensive -- Drug War advertising
campaign being waged by the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP) in all the major newspapers, television networks,
and leading magazines is -- let's be as honest as they are not -- full
of crap. The most horrific lie the campaign peddles is the tortured
claim that recreational drug users in America are supporting
terrorism. " (01/29/03)

http://www.reason.com/rb/rb012903.shtml

--

23) Social contract
     Liberty For All
     edited by Richard B. Boddie

"Between, YOU, an individual and The Omnipotent United States
Government: WHEREAS, I wish to reside on the North American
continent, and WHEREAS, the United States of America's
Government controls the geographical area of the continent on
which I wish to reside, and WHEREAS, tacit or implied contracts
are vague and therefore unenforceable, I hereby agree to the
following specific terms and conditions: ..." (01/19/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan19/contract.html

--

24) You say you want a resolution
     EducationalFreedom.Com
     by Cathy D. Henderson

"I know and understand the temptation to view these resolutions as
‘good signs’, signs of ‘mainstream acceptance’. It is tempting even
to those who have experienced the government's increasing
attempts to bring us back into the government-school fold either by
intrusion or seduction -- those who realize fully that what these
resolutions actually signal is that most politicians are
schizophrenic and need serious help. But for those of us with our
heart, soul and mind set on true educational freedom, not
government-issued privilege, it is important that we examine
carefully the ramifications of finding hope in the language of these
resolutions." (01/03)

http://educationalfreedom.com/pages/editorials/chenderson_01172003.html

--

25) Iraq: the last Republican hurrah
     Town Hall
     by Paul Craig Robers

"The Republican Party will not survive its invasion of Iraq, its
commitment to open borders and its pandering to preferred
minorities. An invasion of Iraq is likely the most thoughtless action
in modern history. It has the support of only two overlapping small
groups: neoconservatives infused with the spirit of 18th century
French Jacobins who want to impose American 'exceptionalism' on
the rest of the world, and foreign policy advisers who believe that
the primary aim of U.S. foreign policy is to make the Middle East
safe for Israel." (01/29/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/paulcraigroberts/pcr20030129.shtml

--

26) Ninth Circuit ditches anti-gun "History" professor
     KeepAndBearArms.Com
     by Angel Shamaya

"When the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (incorrectly) in the
Silveira v. Lockyer Second Amendment case, they opined that 'it is
this collective rights model which provides the best interpretation of
the Second Amendment.' In doing so, they cited debunked Emory
University 'history' professor Michael Bellesiles as justification for
their historically unsound ruling." (01/28/03)

http://keepandbeararms.com/information/Item.asp?ID=3557

--

27) War as entertainment
     CounterPunch
     by Pierre Tristam

"Most Americans know war as an entertainment on par with the
thrills of a Jerry Burkheimer flick or the artificial mush of 'Saving
Private Ryan.' Whether or not GIs are involved in a war somewhere
around the globe, cities may be razed, whole populations
decimated, American bodies may be dragged down a bedraggled
street. But as long as the mall keeps its regular hours and cheap
gas is keeping the SUV happy, the off-shore mayhem is all part of
the day's mass of information ... None of it is real." (01/28/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/tristam01282003.html

--

28) Law and liberty in America
     Strike the Root
     by Jacob Halbrooks

"The United States of America was born, not so that one privileged
class could better rule over other people, but in order that people
could be free of such unjust government control. Unfortunately, the
spirit of the revolution was never brought to its logical end and has
thus waned in America , to the point that now the list of grievances
in the Declaration of Independence pales in comparison to the
tyranny people face today." (01/28/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Halbrooks/halbrooks13.html

--

29) Bush's call for quotas
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Ilana Mercer

"When the man who unleashed Colin Powell to preach affirmative
action to the traditionally opposed Republicans takes a stand
ostensibly against race quotas, skepticism is in order. The
president's filing of a legal brief challenging racial preferences in
student admissions at the University of Michigan warrants even
more suspicion considering his conduct in the Trent Lott affair --
personal loyalties didn't prevent Mr. Bush from stabbing Lott in the
back and deftly using the fracas to curry electoral favor with
minorities." (01/28/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1149

--

30) Anarchy: A judeo-christian legacy
     anti-state.com
     by Michael Miles

"This is one reason why, at a fundamental level, we find no real
difference between the Democrats and Republicans (and a whole
host of seemingly diverse groups), because they share the same
set of indutibles, i.e. their vision of society can be imposed with the
right political order. The details differ but the mechanism is the
same. Thus we have warfare courtesy of the Republicans and
welfare courtesy of the Democrats. It is two sides of the same
coin. The war on drugs and the war on poverty are simply two very
prominent examples." (01/27/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=377

--

31) The Bushopranos
     Village Voice
     by Ward Sutton

Cartoon: First family redefined. (01/27/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0305/sutton.php

--

32) Expelled, and it wasn't even a real phaser
     Independence Institute
     by Jon Caldara

"Meet 13-year-old Mitch Muller ... Mitch is a good kid. He works
hard for his grades in his seventh-grade classes. He's not what
you'd call a discipline problem. But in today's zero-tolerance world
of public education, Mitch is a danger." (01/26/03)

http://www.i2i.org/Caldara/camera/2003/012603.htm

--

33) Bush makes Slick Willie ... look like an amateur
     EtherZone
     by Joe Sansone

"As the nation prepares for Tuesday’s State Of The Union address,
the president is making ready for another sales pitch for his war on
Iraq. Americans will be told that Iraq is building up weapons of
mass destruction parallels will be drawn to Adolph Hitler and
history’s lessons of appeasement etc, all in the name of an
abstract and never ending war against terrorism. In a nutshell,
Tuesday night will be a con job on the public at large." (01/28/03)

http://etherzone.com/2003/sans012803.shtml

--

34) Health care: put people before government
     Mackinac Center for Public Policy
     by Lawrence W. Reed and Kevin C. Waycaster

"In times of crisis, Americans are sometimes more inclined to trust
in government solutions to their problems than in private or self-
reliant solutions. Most politicians are more than willing to empower
themselves. But as most citizens understand, what government
gives it can also take away. And when the crisis subsides,
government almost never retreats fully to its role before the problem
occurred." (01/28/03)

http://www.mackinac.org/5001

--

35) Wild on Washington: free food and exotic vacations
     Nashville City Paper
     by Arianna Huffington

"Assume the position. It just got a little easier for special interests
to screw the public -- courtesy of the public’s own representatives
in Washington ... Thanks to Denny Hastert and his pals in the
House Republican leadership, lobbyists will now be able to pick up
the tab for House members whenever the lawmakers attend
charitable events, including golf outings and those all-important
policy retreats held at lavish resorts." (01/28/03)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=9&screen=news&news_id=19791



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           Supported by the generous donations of our readers

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Tuesday, January 28th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  US, Afghan forces fight mountain rebel force
2)  Inspectors report to UN, US claims non-compliance
3)  Sixteen injured in Philippines blast
4)  China executes Tibetan; US condemns
5)  Surreal torture in modern art cells
6)  Charges filed in union scandal
7)  Gun company wins teacher slaying ruling
8)  As Net attack eases, blame game surges
9)  Hollings backs draft bill
10) Family sues to reclaim ancestral land from Forest Service
11) The CIA's secret army
12) War opposition edges higher
13) High court faults FCC over licenses
14) Alleged Air Force spy goes on trial for his life
15) Librarians see "Big Brother" in PATRIOT Act monitoring
16) Army endorses mixed-sex training
17) Tennessee town to train police in animal handling
18) Canadian government hires Wiccan priests

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

19) There ought NOT to be a law
20) On some rhetorical devices of the war party
21) Crank hypocrisy
22) "Bounty" funding pushes more kids into special ed
23) Our troops, our Constitution: can we support both?
24) Guns in Britain despite ban
25) A matter of extremes
26) Campus radical
27) Bush to Chavez: Just ignore your Constitution
28) Internet tax unconstitutional?
29) The wartime deceptions: Saddam is Hitler and it's not about oil
30) Occasion for inspiration
31) Spending tobacco settlement on almost anything but health
32) Fighting for freedom while losing our freedom
33) The politics of a touchdown
34) America, from ally to "World's Biggest Terrorist State"
35) Acute rehash syndrome
36) Coalition letter urges Bush to drop greenhouse gas emissions plan


NEWS
---------------

1)  US, Afghan forces fight mountain rebel force
     Reuters

"U.S. and Afghan forces are fighting about 80 rebels in the
mountains of southern Afghanistan, close to the Pakistani border,
in the biggest battle for nearly a year, officials said Tuesday. U.S.
military spokesman Colonel Roger King said 18 rebels loyal to
renegade commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar had been killed in the
fighting, describing it as the largest concentration of enemy forces
since Operation Anaconda last March." (01/28/03)

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2121328

--

2)  Inspectors report to UN, US claims non-compliance
     BBC News

"Just before weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed
ElBaradei addressed the UN Security Council, the White House
very pointedly noted it was looking for a 'yes' or 'no' on whether or
not Iraq was complying and disarming. Anything less than full co-
operation would be treated as a 'no.' So, having set the stage, the
Bush administration quickly seized on the inspectors' reports as a
clear 'no.'" (01/28/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2700251.stm

--

3)  Sixteen injured in Philippines blast
     Newsday

"A bomb exploded Tuesday in the southern Philippines as a police
disposal expert tried to defuse it, injuring at least 16 people and
sparking a fire in a three-story commercial building, officials said.
... 'It was a powerful blast,' Police Chief Casimiro Medes said,
describing the bomb as an 81mm mortar attached to a timer. 'We
don't know yet who did this.' ... Moro Islamic Liberation Front
guerrillas and communist rebels have a presence in North Cotabato
province." (01/28/03)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-philippines-bombing012\
8jan28,0,66810.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

--

4)  China executes Tibetan; US condemns
     BBC News

"The United States has condemned the execution of a Tibetan man
accused of a series of bomb attacks in south-west China. ...
Lobsang Dhondup, 28, was executed on Sunday, after being
convicted in a closed trial in December of bomb attacks in Sichuan
province between 1998 and 2002." (01/28/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2700841.stm

--

5)  Surreal torture in modern art cells
     Sydney Morning Herald

"A Spanish art historian has uncovered what was alleged to be the
first use of modern art as a deliberate form of torture, with the
discovery that mind-bending prison cells were built by anarchist
artists 65 years ago during the country's bloody civil war ... Most
were the work of an enthusiastic French anarchist, Alphonse
Laurencic, who invented a form of 'psychotechnic' torture,
according to the research of the historian Jose Milicua." (01/28/03)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/27/1043534004548.html

--

6)  Charges filed in union scandal
     Washington Post

"Federal prosecutors filed the first criminal charges in the
Washington Teachers' Union scandal yesterday, accusing the
union's chauffeur of participating in a scheme to divert more than $1
million to himself and others for personal benefit. The U.S. attorney
for the District of Columbia filed court papers charging Leroy
Holmes with conspiracy to launder proceeds of an unlawful
activity." (01/28/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52328-2003Jan27.html

--

7)  Gun company wins teacher slaying ruling
     Las Vegas Sun

"A judge threw out a $1.2 million verdict Monday against the
company that distributed the gun 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill used
to kill his teacher 2 1/2 years ago. Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga
ruled that the Nov. 14 award for the teacher's widow was
inconsistent because the jury also determined the gun used to kill
Lake Worth Middle School teacher Barry Grunow was not
defective." (01/27/03)

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2003/jan/27/012701663.html

--

8)  As Net attack eases, blame game surges
     CNN

"Microsoft's critics also pointed fingers at the software giant, urging
that the company take greater steps to increase software security.
Others blamed network administrators who failed to install a
Microsoft patch that would have prevented the worm from
spreading. And still others blamed at the lack of security of the
Internet itself, questioning whether businesses and consumers
have been too quick to risk security for the sake of convenience."
(01/27/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/01/27/worm.why/index.html

--

9)  Hollings backs draft bill
     Fox News

"Sen. Ernest Hollings said Monday a return of military conscription
is necessary to strengthen a military spread thin by its global
duties and would show that the people stand behind any decision
by the president to make war. 'It's not the Army going to war. It's
the country going to war,' Hollings (D-SC) said at a news
conference with Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Congress' most vocal
supporter of a return of the draft. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld has rejected the idea outright." (01/27/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76737,00.html

--

10) Family sues to reclaim ancestral land from Forest Service
     Tennessean

"The Scarboroughs of Stewart County, TN were facing a losing
battle, but they did not seem to know it. At the least, it was not
their immediate concern last week. The government took their
ancestral land -- 252 acres, including the family cemeteries -- after
damming the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers and leaving the
massive inland peninsula Land Between the Lakes. In particular,
they say, the arrangement makes it hard to tend to their family
cemeteries within the confines of the U.S. Forest Service land."
(01/28/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/28131003.shtml?Element_ID=28131003

--

11) The CIA's secret army
     Time

"The U.S. is not yet at war with Saddam Hussein. Not officially.
But quietly, over the past few months, some of its savviest warriors
have sneaked into his country. ... the biggest surprise of all is that
they are not even soldiers; they are spies, part of the CIA's rough
and ready, supersecret Special Operations Group (SOG)." (to be
published 02/03/03)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030203-411370,00.html

--

12) War opposition edges higher
     USA Today

"A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll indicates that public opposition to
using U.S. ground troops to depose Saddam Hussein is at its
highest level since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. ... Opposition to an
invasion with U.S. ground troops is at 43%, up from 38% in a poll
taken Jan. 10-12 and 20% in a poll taken in November 2001.
Support for an invasion is at 52%, down from 56% in January and
74% in November. But half of those polled said support would
depend upon the outcome of inspections. " (01/27/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-01-26-poll-usat_x.htm

--

13) High court faults FCC over licenses
     MSNBC/AP

"The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the government wrongly
seized more than 200 lucrative wireless licenses from a bankrupt
telecommunications company. The ruling was a victory for
NextWave Telecom Inc., a young company that won the licenses
at a 1996 auction but filed for bankruptcy protection before paying
for them. The airwaves slices have been unused during the
protracted fight between NextWave and the Federal
Communications Commission, which confiscated the licenses and
resold them at a huge profit to larger telecommunications
companies." (01/27/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/864871.asp?0cv=CB10

--

14) Alleged Air Force spy goes on trial for his life
     MSNBC/AP

"A U.S. intelligence analyst on trial for espionage was said by
prosecutors Monday to have been trying to sell secrets to Iraq,
Libya and China, but his lawyer said he may have been stupidly
acting out a spy fantasy with no intention of harming the United
States. Lawyers for Brian Patrick Regan, 40, a retired Air Force
enlisted man, argued at the first day of his espionage trial that he
had no information that could harm his country." (01/27/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/707469.asp?0cv=CB10

--

15) Librarians see "Big Brother" in PATRIOT Act monitoring
     Common Dreams

"A federal law aimed at catching terrorists has raised the hackles
of many of the nation's librarians, who say it goes too far by
allowing law enforcement agencies to watch what some people are
reading. The USA Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11 attacks,
gave the FBI new powers to investigate terrorism, including the
ability to look at library records and computer hard drives to see
what books patrons have checked out, what Web pages they've
visited, and where they've sent e-mails." (01/26/03)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0126-05.htm

--

16) Army endorses mixed-sex training
     Washington Times

"The Army's top brass has concluded that mixed-sex recruit
training is 'not efficient' but nevertheless is a policy worth keeping,
according to an internal study [which] concedes that mixed-sex
boot camp leads to a 'disproportionate' number of injuries to
women, and that the system also is 'not efficient' in producing new
soldiers. But overall, the system of putting male and female
recruits in the same squads and companies from the start is
working." (01/27/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030127-28311668.htm

--

17) Tennessee town to train police in animal handling
     Boston Globe

"A police officer's shooting of a family dog has prompted the
department to train its officers in handling aggressive animals. ...
Police and state troopers pulled over and handcuffed James and
Pamela Smoak and their 17-year-old son, mistakenly suspecting
they had been involved in a robbery. The tape shows an officer
shooting the dog, named Patton, after the bulldog-boxer mix
jumped from the car and ran toward him, wagging its tail. ... The
Humane Society of the United States will conduct the training in
March, said Sgt. David Dukes, who oversees training for the
department." (01/26/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/026/nation/Tenn_town_to_train_police_offi:.shtml

--

18) Canadian government hires Wiccan priests
     National Post

"The Correctional Service of Canada pays for priests of the Wiccan
faith to visit inmates and sets aside space for Wiccan ceremonies
in penitentiaries. As many as 200 inmates across the country
profess to follow Wicca, a pagan religion whose members often call
themselves witches, belong to covens and wear the pentagram as
their symbol." (01/25/03)

http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=B900892E-1A83-4156-8AB3-810060E9C\
10E



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COMMENTARY
---------------

19) There ought NOT to be a law
     Fox News
     by Wendy McElroy

"'There ought to be a law' is the unspoken message underlying
much of public discourse. And that message makes people
reluctant to listen impartially because agreement might lead to yet
another regulation. ... Personal ethics involve moral decisions
concerning the use of your own body and property -- that is, virtue
and vice. Public policy involves those actions that threaten or
violate the rights of others -- that is, crime." (01/28/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76760,00.html

--

20) On some rhetorical devices of the war party
     Antiwar.Com
     by Joseph R. Stromberg

"This Tuesday, all will be revealed and all our lingering doubts
stilled. We shall stand in wonder at whatever New Doctrines the
Great Man, who holds the Great Office, has for us. It is very likely
that the new doctrines will grow out of, and represent bolder
statements of existing doctrines. I can hardly wait. In every election
cycle of recent memory I have heard some idiot say that, ‘the
President is our commander in chief.’ One certainly hopes not; it is
bad enough that he commands anyone at all." (01/27/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/stromberg/s012703.html

--

21) Crank hypocrisy
     Reason
     by Joel Miller

"From the Drug Enforcement Agency we hear that speed can lead
to 'addiction, psychotic behavior, and brain damage ... Chronic use
can cause violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, auditory
hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions, and paranoia.'
Sounds like terrible stuff, right? Not if you listen to the U.S. Air
Force." (01/27/03)

http://www.reason.com/hod/jm012703.shtml

--

22) "Bounty" funding pushes more kids into special ed
     Heartland Institute
     by George A. Clowes

"Does the prospect of getting more money -- a ‘bounty’ -- for each
extra special education student persuade some educators to
identify more children as disabled? Apparently so, according to a
new study from the Manhattan Institute, which finds states with
‘bounty’ systems for special education have significantly higher
growth rates for special education enrollment than states with no
such incentives." (to be published on 02/01/03)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=11483

--

23) Our troops, our Constitution: can we support both?
     Sierra Times
     by Michael Gaddy

"I find myself in the throes of a conundrum. I have read the articles,
several here at Sierra Times, contending we must present a 'unified
front' for the entire world to see, as our leaders plunge us into an
unconstitutional war with Iraq. While my heart agrees with support
for the brave men and women of our military, my brain is screaming
an emphatic, NO! The ultimate support for our military would be to
insure they are never put into the position of being used as the
instruments with which to prosecute an unconstitutional war."
(01/26/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/27/gaddy.htm

--

24) Guns in Britain despite ban
     National Post
     by Theodore Dalrymple

"When ... a crazed gunman in Scotland massacred 15 children and
their teacher at the junior school in Dunblane in 1996, the British
government enacted gun control legislation in response to the
natural public emotion and revulsion against this terrible act. Well,
the evidence concerning gun control is unequivocal and conclusive:
It hasn't worked, just as its critics always said it wouldn't. The
reason for this is obvious: law-abiding people don't use guns to
commit crimes, while criminals are not likely to take any notice of
licensing restrictions and regulations." (01/24/03)

http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?id={A3FA0B41-2E74-46E7-9DFA-39\
BC9480A047}

--

25) A matter of extremes
     Boston Globe
     by Cathy Young

"On the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court
decision that made abortion legal in the United States, political
rhetoric on abortion remains as polarizing as ever on both sides of
the divide -- even though both sides acknowledge that much of the
public is somewhere in the middle. On one side are the right-to-life
activists for whom abortion is fully equivalent to the murder of a
human being ... On the [other], there are those who refuse to
recognize that the abortion issue is fraught with any moral
ambivalence." (01/27/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/027/oped/A_matter_of_extremes+.shtml

--

26) Campus radical
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"On Saturday and Sunday, radicals of various stripes descended
on the campus of DC’s American University for a 'National
Conference on Organized Resistance.' In addition to the usual
gaggle of anti-American, anti-capitalist, radical feminist, and other
'social change' activists, the conference [featured] a presentation
by Rodney Coronado, a convicted arsonist who spent 57 months in
prison for burning down a research lab at Michigan State
University." (01/27/03)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=1758

--

27) Bush to Chavez: Just ignore your Constitution
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"President Bush’s recent advice to embattled Venezuelan
president Hugo Chavez reflects Bush’s cavalier attitude toward
constitutional restraints. In the midst of all the political turmoil in
Venezuela, Bush, who apparently despises Chavez, aligned
himself with his political opponents and called for early presidential
elections, with the aim of ousting Chavez from power prior to the
end of his six-year term in 2006. The problem, which Bush
apparently didn’t think was any big deal, is that the Venezuelan
constitution does not allow for the calling of such early elections."
(01/22/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301t.asp

--

28) Internet tax unconstitutional?
     Liberty For All
     by Clint E. Lacy

"The taxation itself is what is hurting local businesses. You do not
fix this problem by increasing existing taxes or through the addition
of new taxes. Americans pay nearly 50% of their yearly income in
taxes. (This includes all taxes, state, federal, income, sales,
property etc.) Our founding fathers never intended to fund vast
social programs through taxation." (01/19/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan19/internet-tax.html

--

29) The wartime deceptions: Saddam is Hitler and it's not about oil
     Independent
     by Robert Fisk

"[A]re we prepared to pay the price of so promiscuous a war?
Arabs who admire Saddam -- and there are plenty in Jordan --
believe Iraq cannot hold out for more than a week. Some are
convinced the US 3rd Infantry Division will be in Baghdad in three
days, the British with them. It's a fair bet that hundreds, if not
thousands, of Iraqis will die. But in the civil unrest that follows,
what are we going to do? Are American and British troops to
defend the homes of Ba'ath party officials whom the mobs want to
hang?" (01/27/03)

http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=373102

--

30) Occasion for inspiration
     Washington Times
     by Linda Chavez

"With the nation on the brink of war with Iraq, and the economy
sluggishly recovering from a recession and an abysmal bear
market, many Americans have lost confidence in the president --
and themselves. Given this gloomy scenario, is there anything the
president might do to re-instill a sense of unity among Americans?"
(01/27/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030127-32800788.htm

--

31) Spending tobacco settlement on almost anything but health
     Tallahassee Democrat
     by Conrad F. Meier

"Anti-smoking activists once claimed the landmark $246 billion
settlement was 'a major victory' for public health. Today they and
the rest of us are reaping what they sued. A recent study from Yale
University, published in the Oct. 3, 2002, issue of The New
England Journal of Medicine, reveals that almost none of the
tobacco settlement money has been spent for health care or
prevention-cessation programs." (01/26/03)

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/5016434.htm

--

32) Fighting for freedom while losing our freedom
     CNS News
     by Alan Caruba

"There is a terrible irony that Americans are getting ready to
liberate Iraqis from the despotic control of Saddam Hussein at the
same time we continue to lose many of the freedoms we take for
granted." (01/27/03)

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=\Commentary\archive\200301\COM200\
30127e.html

--

33) The politics of a touchdown
     America's Future Foundation
     by Todd J. Weiner

"Professional athletes are filthy rich, are always in the public eye,
and are an object of worship for millions of fans. Hollywood stars
are also filthy rich, are always in the public eye, and are objects of
worship for millions of fans. Why then do the latter become
mouthpieces for the most tiresome liberal causes while the former
quietly do their jobs and vote for the G.O.P on the first Tuesday in
November?" (01/27/03)

http://www.americasfuture.org/viewBrainwash.cfm?pubid=208

--

34) America, from ally to "World's Biggest Terrorist State"
     Village Voice
     by Raffi Khatchadourian

"Under the watchful gaze of police in riot gear, roughly 1500 antiwar
protesters marched in zigzag formation across central Ankara on
Saturday, chanting 'No war!' and carrying signs that denounced
'American aggression' and labeled the United States a terrorist
state." (01/25/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0305/khatchadourian.php

--

35) Acute rehash syndrome
     Washington Times
     by Donald Lambro

"That rumble echoing from the South is the collective sound of
worried Democratic leaders who fear their party will lose again in
2004 if it nominates another Michael Dukakis liberal for president.
The six, mostly Northern liberal Democratic presidential contenders
are getting a lot of favorable attention in the national news media
lately. But in the more conservative South and Southwest, party
leaders are complaining." (01/27/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030127-6881494.htm

--

36) Coalition letter urges Bush to drop greenhouse gas emissions
plan
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by staff

"The Competitive Enterprise Institute and 13 other public policy
groups are urging President Bush to drop a scheme to award
credits for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases in favor of
supply-side tax reforms that will both stimulate economic growth
and increase energy efficiency. It has been reported that the
President may include the issue in tomorrow evening’s State of the
Union Address." (01/27/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/003,03340.cfm



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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
except on holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe,
visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers

   To donate by credit card or electronic check, use our Paypal link:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=leisuregambler@yahoo.com&item_name=RRND_D\
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, January 27th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  FBI seeks missing Iraqis
2)  Israelis seal off West Bank, Gaza
3)  US spy plane crashes in South Korea
4)  "Slammer" worm could pick up steam Monday
5)  China, Taiwan end 50-year aviation freeze
6)  No Iraq ultimatum in State of the Union
7)  Spain holds 16 in antiterror sweep
8)  Woman freed in shooting case
9)  Cuba declares referendum effort dead
10) Gearing up for Iraq
11) Hillary assails Bush on readiness "myth"
12) Under-nine football team's logo is "violent and offensive"
13) Reubens seeks dismissal of child porn charges
14) US tightens security rules for aviation workers
15) Comment on federal regulations online

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) USA oui! Bush non!
17) If you're not Atlas, are you still allowed to shrug?
18) Growing up
19) Impeach the president
20) Whither Colin Powell?
21) On the backs of children
22) Democracy and the religious experience
23) What went wrong with affirmative action
24) Marijuana as a "gateway drug"
25) Liberty's court of last resort
26) Spinning it green
27) Anarcho-capitalism as a metasystem
28) Keynes rules from the grave
29) A deadly pretense
30) America -- overthrown -- or at least in the process


NEWS
---------------

1)  FBI seeks missing Iraqis
     Washington Post

"The FBI has launched a concerted search for several thousand
illegal Iraqi immigrants who have gone missing while visiting the
United States and are among those being sought for voluntary
interviews in advance of a possible war with Iraq, officials said.
Although the majority of Iraqi immigrants are viewed as being
opposed to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and sympathetic to
the United States, federal authorities are concerned that others
who have disappeared from the government's view are more likely
to be agents of the Iraqi regime or to be allied with terrorist groups,
officials said." (01/27/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47193-2003Jan26.html

--

2)  Israelis seal off West Bank, Gaza
     Salt Lake Tribune

"Two days before the national election, Israel sealed off the West
Bank and Gaza Strip on Sunday to prevent Palestinian attacks
aimed at derailing the vote. The blanket closure, imposed after the
largest Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip since the intifada began in
September 2000, bans all Palestinians from entering Israel until
Wednesday and tightens strict travel restrictions that have been in
place for much of the past 28 months of bloodshed." (01/27/03)

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01272003/nation_w/23809.asp

--

3)  US spy plane crashes in South Korea
     CNN

"A U.S. U-2 spy plane crashed near the South Korean capital
Seoul on Sunday after its pilot ejected, a U.S. military spokesman
said. The pilot's condition had not been disclosed, the Pentagon's
Maj. Ted Wadsworth said. The reconnaissance plane went down
near Camp Humphries, a U.S. base about 35 miles (50 km) south
of Seoul near the town of Hwasong, the spokesman said."
(01/26/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/01/26/skorea.crash/index.html

--

4)  "Slammer" worm could pick up steam Monday
     CNN

"Experts fear Monday could bring new outbreaks of the fast-moving
computer worm that snarled business and government computers
Saturday, slowing some corporate systems to the point of
inaccessibility. The worm, dubbed ‘SQL Slammer,’ attacked via a
vulnerability discovered six months ago in SQL Server 2000
software from Microsoft Corp., according to Oliver Friedrichs, a
senior manager with Internet security firm Symantec Corp.
Microsoft has offered a free patch to fix the trouble spot, but not all
users of the server software installed the patch." (01/26/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/01/26/internet.attack/index.html

--

5)  China, Taiwan end 50-year aviation freeze
     International Herald Tribune

"A China Airlines Boeing 747-400 picked up passengers at
Shanghai's international airport Sunday and flew to Taiwan, a step
toward restoring transportation links between the two bitter political
rivals. The flight by Taiwan's flag carrier was the first of 16 charter
flights to help Taiwanese living in mainland China return home for
the Lunar New Year, and it broke a 50-year freeze on commercial
aviation across the Taiwan Strait." (01/27/03)

http://www.iht.com/articles/84670.html

--

6)  No Iraq ultimatum in State of the Union
     Washington Post

"President Bush's State of the Union address tomorrow will include
neither a final ultimatum for Iraq nor a timetable for deciding on war,
but will try to convince skeptics around the world that Saddam
Hussein is an imminent danger to peace, officials said yesterday.
A senior administration official said Bush's discussion of Iraq in the
9 p.m. address to a joint session of Congress ‘will not be eye-
popping revelatory.’" (01/27/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47040-2003Jan26.html

--

7)  Spain holds 16 in antiterror sweep
     Boston Globe

"Spanish police, in the third major strike against Al Q'aeda by
European investigators since November, arrested 16 suspected
members of Islamic extremist groups with links to the terrorist
organization during raids yesterday in and around Barcelona. The
predawn strikes, which began around 3:30 a.m. local time, also
yielded a large, but unspecified, amount of explosives, electronic
devices, documents, and communications equipment." (01/25/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/025/nation/Spain_holds_16_in_antiterror_sweep+\
.shtml

--

8)  Woman freed in shooting case
     Bay Area News

"Police have released a San Ramon woman who said she shot her
boyfriend in self-defense. [She said her boyfriend] had been holding
her inside the house against her will. She told police that he
taunted her with a gun before handing it to her, egging her on and
daring her to shoot it .... When officers arrived, they found the
boyfriend dead from a gunshot wound." (01/24/03)

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/5021594.htm

--

9)  Cuba declares referendum effort dead
     Washington Times

"Cuba's National Assembly yesterday officially quashed a
proposed referendum on political and economic reforms that had
been hailed as the boldest dissident challenge to President Fidel
Castro's communist government in more than 40 years. 'The case
was reviewed by the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee,
which decided not to proceed, and to inform its sponsors of that
verdict,' said Miguel Alvarez, an aide to National Assembly
Speaker Ricardo Alarcon." (01/25/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20030125-99926059.htm

--

10) Gearing up for Iraq
     Denver Post

"Since Friday, joined by companies of mechanized, artillery and
combat-engineering soldiers in a task force of about 700, the 1-30
Infantry of the 3rd Infantry Division, known in the U.S. Army as the
Battle Boars, has been at work in the empty desert of northern
Kuwait, attacking defensive minefields and trench systems like the
ones known to exist across the Iraqi border." (01/26/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E6439%257E1136986%257E,00.html

--

11) Hillary assails Bush on readiness "myth"
     Washington Times

"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last night said President Bush's
homeland security plan is a 'myth' and the nation is only marginally
safer than it was before the September 11 terrorist attacks. 'Our
people remain vulnerable, nearly as vulnerable as we were before
8:56 a.m. on September 11,' she said of the Bush administration's
domestic anti-terror efforts ..." (01/25/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030125-16777220.htm

--

12) Under-nine football team's logo is "violent and offensive"
     Ananova

"A children's football team have been ordered to change their logo
because their local football association says it's violent and
offensive. Sedgley Scorpions' under-nines have a badge saying
'Stuffem, tankem, 'ammerem', which is a well-known expression in
the West Midlands." (01/25/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_743416.html?menu=news.quirkies

--

13) Reubens seeks dismissal of child porn charges
     Monterey Herald

"A child pornography charge filed against actor Paul Reubens
should be dismissed because his 'vast and valuable historical
collection' of erotica was produced long before state law prohibited
possession of child pornography, his lawyer argued. 'The alleged
contraband in this case was produced decades before the 1989
enactment of section 311.11 and the statute does not apply to
materials produced before its effective date,' attorney Blair Berk
said in a motion filed in Superior Court." (01/24/03)

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/5026234.htm

--

14) US tightens security rules for aviation workers
     Yahoo! News

"U.S. regulators issued a rule on Friday giving them the authority to
immediately revoke, suspend or deny licenses to pilots or
professional credentials to other aviation workers deemed a
security risk by the government. The rule ... was issued without
prior public notice or comment and took effect immediately. "
(01/24/03)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030125/ts_nm/attack_pilots_d\
c_1

--

15) Comment on federal regulations online
     PC World

"A one-stop online shop has opened for citizens who want to
research and comment on any of the thousands of regulatory
actions considered yearly by the federal government. The Bush
administration has launched http://www.Regulations.gov, a Web
site designed to streamline and increase public participation in the
federal regulatory process." (01/23/03)

http://pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,108932,00.asp



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) USA oui! Bush non!
     The Nation
     by Eric Alterman

"To be genuinely anti-American, as the Italian political scientist
Robert Toscano points out, is to disapprove of the United States
'for what it is, rather than what it does.' Bush Administration
officials and their supporters in the media would like to confuse this
point in order to dismiss or delegitimize widespread concern and
anger about the course of US foreign policy. To listen to their
words, Europe has become a smoldering caldron of anti-
Americanism, in which even our best qualities are held against us
by a jealous, frustrated and xenophobic population led by cowardly,
pacifistic politicians. The picture painted in the US media is one of
almost relentless resentment." (to be published 02/10/03)

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030210&s=alterman1

--

17) If you're not Atlas, are you still allowed to shrug?
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by Joel Simon

"One of the things I fear is my tendency to knuckle under rather
than stand up to intimidation or pressure. Someday I'll have to
unambiguously fight or crawl, and I'm terribly afraid that I'll crawl.
That would end any reason for life I might ever have had. I fear it. I
can't afford to turn down work for principle. I'm getting big in the
belly and gray in the beard. I've got child support payments. I've got
credit card companies mad at me .... For just a moment I tried to
work out how to shave without a mirror for the rest of my life. And
then I told him no." (01/27/03)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe208-20030127-04.html

--

18) Growing up
     Antiwar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"As the antiwar movement gains momentum, it is fast leaving
behind the eccentric pro-Stalinist cult that has been the driving
force behind the recent mobilizations. The Workers World Party
was founded in 1957 by followers of Sam Marcy, a former leader of
the Socialist Workers Party: Marcy and his small band of followers
were expelled for supporting the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary."
(01/27/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j012703.html

--

19) Impeach the president
     Laissez Faire Times
     by T. E. Ruppenthal

"After painful consideration, I have decided it is time to bring out
my Impeach the President placard, dust it off and display it yet
again. It has been an oft-used sign, first waved during the LBJ
regime and utilized for every president since. Now it is time to
confront this latest in our long line of executive branch losers."
(01/27/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/impeach_president.htm

--

20) Whither Colin Powell?
     Town Hall
     by Robert Novak

"Since Colin Powell has been relied upon to impede the nation's
march to war in Iraq, apprehensive Republicans were startled last
week by his suddenly bellicose rhetoric. So were investors, and
they sent the Dow Jones average into a 238-point swoon Friday.
.... Beneath the surface, however, Powell remains the voice of
restraint against unilateral military action." (01/27/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20030127.shtml

--

21) On the backs of children
     Las Vegas Review Journal
     by staff

"Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn now proposes $1 billion in new
taxes and fees -- higher taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, real property
and employees; new taxes on movie tickets, VCR rentals, and
admission to baseball, football and basketball games; indirect
levies on virtually every retail product available. He is doing this
because -- according to his Jan. 20 State of the State speech -- he
refuses 'to balance the budget on the backs of our children, senior
citizens and the poor.'" (01/26/03)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Jan-26-Sun-2003/opinion/20541369.htm\
l

--

22) Democracy and the religious experience
     Boston Globe
     by Bernard Avishai

"One hundred years after William James published 'Varieties of
Religious Experience,' perhaps our most poignant tribute to
religious tolerance, educated people in Western democracies are
being stirred to something like religious war. 'It wasn't Methodists
flying into those buildings, it wasn't Lutherans,' Franklin Graham
insisted in the wake of Sept. 11. 'The Koran,' he later clarified,
'provides ample evidence that Islam encourages violence in order to
win converts and to reach the ultimate goal of an Islamic world.'"
(01/26/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/026/oped/Democracy_and_the_religious_experienc\
e+.shtml

--

23) What went wrong with affirmative action
     LewRockwell.com
     by Steven Yates

"What is affirmative action? That is the first problem. No one, at the
outset, ever defined it. To its supporters, it meant racial and social
justice, a compensation for past and present discrimination. To its
critics, it has only perpetuated the problem of discrimination while
creating a host of new problems." (01/25/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/yates/yates70.html

--

24) Marijuana as a "gateway drug"
     Reason
     by Jacob Sullum

"By the 1950s, Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry
Anslinger had backed away from his claim that marijuana turns
people into murderers. Instead he began arguing that it turns them
into heroin addicts. ... Half a century later, this idea, known as the
'gateway' or 'stepping stone' theory, remains a bulwark of marijuana
prohibition. Its durability is largely due to its ambiguity: Because
it's rarely clear what people mean when they say that pot smoking
leads to the use of 'harder' drugs, the claim is difficult to disprove."
(01/24/03)

http://www.reason.com/links/links012403.shtml

--

25) Liberty's court of last resort
     Village Voice
     by Nat Hentoff

"According to the Bush administration, an American citizen can be
held indefinitely, incommunicado, on its say-so that the
government's facts are actually factual. This is due process? This
is America? Yet the Fourth Circuit stated in the same decision that
stripping any citizen of his or her constitutional protections 'is not a
step that any court would casually take.'" (01/24/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0305/hentoff.php

--

26) Spinning it green
     SunniMaravillosa.Com
     by Sunni Maravillosa

"Some people are apparently willing to go to any lengths to create
a looming environmental problem where none exists. And,
apparently, there will be media outlets ready and eager to help
them accomplish the spin, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. A
case in point: this CNN story on golden eagles in Alaska."
(01/16/03)

http://www.sunnimaravillosa.com/env/spingreen.html

--

27) Anarcho-capitalism as a metasystem
     anti-state.com
     by Joe Dunsmore

"Libertarianism and anarchism are unique amongst political
ideologies in that they don't specify how a society is going to run,
they only lay boundary conditions specifying what can't happen. In
its purest form, anarcho-capitalism is not a system, but a meta-
system of society. A group of socialists, conservatives, or any
other group would be able to start their own community without
interference from others, as long as the property was their own and
everyone who was in this community voluntarily agreed to be part
of it." (01/24/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=376

--

28) Keynes rules from the grave
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"Everyone is at work on a ‘stimulus plan’ for doing something about
the recession. But the much-publicized disagreement between the
Republicans and Democrats is not about economic theory as
such. There has been no critical thinking applied to the subject of
why the recession, the longest in the postwar period, continues.
Rather, the disagreement is about which levers to pull when, and
who should get the benefits." (01/24/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1147

--

29) A deadly pretense
     Washington Times
     by Thomas Sowell

"Angelo Marinda was a cute little baby but he never lived to see his
first birthday because he was another victim of a widespread
pretense of knowledge that has produced many tragedies. Twelve
days after he was born last April, little Angelo was in a hospital
being treated for broken ankles and ribs. Although no one admitted
abusing him, ankles and ribs don't break themselves, so he was
removed from the home where his unmarried parents lived with
relatives. Then came the pretense of knowledge." (01/25/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030125-11657293.htm

--

30) America -- overthrown -- or at least in the process
     Liberty For All
     by Ed Lewis

"Folks, you better wake up and try waking up your slumbering
friends and family -- 'enemy combatant' is a term that will be used
to describe any man or woman who disagrees with the actions of
any level of government, but most especially the gang leader -- the
unlawful US Federal Government Corporation -- in forcibly
preventing the exercising of inherent rights. You see, it is not the
constitutional centralized government we are speaking of."
(01/19/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan19/overthrown.html



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Friday, January 24th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Senate kills Total Information Awareness funding
2)  Bush plan would redefine Medicare
3)  Four Marines killed in south Texas helicopter crash
4)  Moderate Powell turns hawkish
5)  Lawmakers, officials at odds over Mexican immigration policy
6)  Man arrested over police chief sex call
7)  Koreas seek peaceful end to standoff
8)  Senate OKs $390 billion spending bill
9)  Sources: Senior al Q'aeda official may have been in Iraq
10) SEC requires mutal-fund proxy disclosure
11) Federal judge lets Kentucky Ten Commandments display stay
12) UN, Iraq at odds over spy planes
13) Dissident journalist free on parole
14) Anxiety drives increased Florida gun purchases
15) Students suspended for toy guns
16) Neighbors urge Iraq to cooperate
17) NY sufferers plead for medical pot
18) FTC: identity theft nearly doubled in 2002
19) Black Confederate to finish 1500-mile trek on Saturday
20) 9/11 victim fund awards lesbian partner $500,000

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

21) Street legal
22) Death wish
23) In the wake of war
24) A course of action
25) Back in the USSA
26) Pennsylvania offers blueprint for environmental protection
27) The "bug chaser" myth
28) Failure writes pamphlet, changes American history
29) Deadly pretense
30) Styles of political piety
31) Mickey D's hollow victory
32) Hang up and get a clue
33) "The Boston anarchists"
34) Take on the street?
35) The importance of testing
36) Following the money
37) Government spending or taxpayer relief?
38) Lawsuit reform: a class (in)act(ion)
39) State of disunion
40) The contrast in expectations


NEWS
---------------

1)  Senate kills Total Information Awareness funding
     InternetNews.Com

"The U.S. Senate Thursday decided on a voice vote to stop all
funding for the controversial Defense Department program known
as Total Information Awareness (TIA) until the Pentagon can prove
to Congress the program does not violate the privacy rights of
Americans. Thursday's vote also prohibits the Pentagon from
transferring the program to any other agencies in a back door bid
for funding." (01/24/03)

http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/1574021

--

2)  Bush plan would redefine Medicare
     Washington Post

"The Bush administration is finalizing a proposal that would
fundamentally redefine Medicare ... offering it to patients who are
willing to join a new version of the program that relies on managed
care, sources said yesterday. The plan, the centerpiece of the
president's domestic agenda this year along with a new round of
tax cuts, is aimed at slowing the growth of Medicare costs over the
coming decades by attracting patients into what administration
officials hope will be a less expensive system dominated by health
maintenance organizations and other private health plans."
(01/24/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35396-2003Jan23.html

--

3)  Four Marines killed in south Texas helicopter crash
     Daily Texan

"'There was nobody that could have survived that,' said Larry Sholl,
67, who lives in a state campground near the site where four
Marine Corps reservists died when their AH-1W Super Cobra
helicopters collided Wednesday night in south Texas. ... Officials
said the reservists were helping the U.S. Border Patrol with
surveillance of Falcon Lake, a huge Rio Grande reservoir that
straddles the U.S.-Mexico border and is a known hot spot for drug
trafficking." (01/24/03)

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/24/3e30e24df07e5

--

4)  Moderate Powell turns hawkish
     Washington Post

"Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, long perceived as the Bush
administration's most prominent moderate on Iraq, has turned
hawkish in the past week. Powell's shift, apparent in public
statements and in private conversations with his aides, stems from
his dismay at the French decision to publicly oppose military
action and President Bush's growing belief that neither inspectors
nor Saddam Hussein appear capable of disarming Iraq." (01/24/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35397-2003Jan23.html

--

5)  Lawmakers, officials at odds over Mexican immigration policy
     CNS News

"The Bush administration's coziness with Mexican President
Vicente Fox is causing some members of the Republican Party to
express frustration over immigration policy. 'You've got an
administration and the two parties that recognize a political
advantage to massive immigration and/or economic advantage,'
said Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who chairs the Congressional
Immigration Reform Caucus. 'The Democrats see it as a potential
source of voters; the Republicans see it as a potential source of
cheap labor.'" (01/23/03)

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200301\POL2003012\
3b.html

--

6)  Man arrested over police chief sex call
     Ananova

"An Ohio man accused of dialing a sex chat line says he ended up
talking dirty to a police chief because he misdialled." (01/23/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_742771.html?menu=news.quirkies

--

7)  Koreas seek peaceful end to standoff
     CNN

"South and North Korea have agreed to peacefully resolve the
international standoff over North Korea's alleged nuclear ambitions.
The two sides worked through the night Thursday to hammer out a
joint declaration after cabinet-level talks in Seoul. ... But South
Korea says it has not been able to draw any compromises from the
North." (01/23/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/01/23/koreas.talks/index.html

--

8)  Senate OKs $390 billion spending bill
     Denver Post/AP

"The Senate approved a massive $390 billion measure Thursday
financing most federal agencies, blessing the long-delayed last
chunk of this year's budget that stalled last fall in an election-
season standoff with President Bush over spending. The bill's 69-29
passage ended the first prolonged battle this year in the new
Senate. The winners were the chamber's majority Republicans,
who battled -- and sometimes used budget sleight of hand -- to
keep the price tag within limits Bush demanded." (01/23/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONGRESS_SPENDING?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=\
HOME

--

9)  Sources: Senior al Q'aeda official may have been in Iraq
     CNN

"A senior al Q'aeda leader may provide a link between that terrorist
group and Iraq, according to coalition intelligence sources. Abu
Mussab al Zarqawi -- a Jordanian -- was recently accused by
Jordanian officials of masterminding the assassination of U.S.
diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman in late October." (01/23/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/23/iraq.alqaeda/index.html

--

10) SEC requires mutal-fund proxy disclosure
     Seattle Times

"Over industry objections, the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) acted yesterday to require mutual funds to
disclose to investors how they voted on decisions at the
companies whose shares they hold. ... The SEC action was a
victory for the AFL-CIO, whose pension fund is a major investor.
The labor organization had organized protests last month outside
Fidelity offices nationwide." (01/24/03)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134620984_secproxies24.\
html

--

11) Federal judge lets Kentucky Ten Commandments display stay
     AP/Sierra Times

"A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the American Civil
Liberties Union demanding the removal of the Ten Commandments
from a county courthouse. U.S. District Judge Karl Forester said
the display has a legitimate secular purpose in acknowledging the
historical influence of the Ten Commandments on the development
of law in the United States. He said he saw no evidence of a
religious purpose." (01/23/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/24/arap012303.htm

--

12) UN, Iraq at odds over spy planes
     MSNBC

"Iraq has refused to guarantee the safety of U.S. reconnaissance
planes that U.N. inspectors want to use as part of their
investigation into Baghdad’s weapons program, U.N. officials told
NBC News on Thursday. The dispute, which calls into question
Iraq’s obligation to fully cooperate with the United Nations, is likely
to figure highly in a report that the top inspectors will deliver
Monday to the Security Council." (01/23/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/863239.asp?0cv=CB10

--

13) Dissident journalist free on parole
     Moscow Times

"Military journalist and whistleblower Grigory Pasko was released
on parole Thursday for good behavior after serving more than two-
thirds of his term and he said he would seek a full acquittal. Pasko
was sentenced to four years in prison in December 2001 for
illegally attending a meeting of top military commanders and
making notes there." (01/24/03)

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2003/01/24/002.html

--

14) Anxiety drives increased Florida gun purchases
     Daytona Beach News-Journal

"One month after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, about
40,000 people asked the Florida Department of State for an
application for a concealed weapons permit, roughly 20 times the
norm. And local gun-shop owners say interest spiked last fall
surrounding the type of rifle used in the Washington, D.C.-area
sniper attacks." (01/22/03)

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/areaA3012303.htm

--

15) Students suspended for toy guns
     Canada.Com

"Three Grade 11 students at a Manitoba high school are
suspended for at least six weeks after running through school halls
pretending to fire toy handguns at each other." (01/23/03)

http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=F6FBA0B9-FFA0-4D30-A03E-670F8CD84E16

--

16) Neighbors urge Iraq to cooperate
     MSNBC/AP

"Fearing war could trigger a crisis in the region, Iraq’s neighbors
urged Saddam Hussein on Thursday to cooperate fully with U.N.
arms inspectors. They avoided any public call for the Iraqi leader to
step down. Foreign ministers of six countries urged Iraq to ‘confirm
its commitment under relevant United Nations Security Council
resolutions’ to disarm and ‘embark on the policy that will
unambiguously inspire confidence to Iraq’s neighbors.’" (01/23/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/862181.asp?0cv=CA01

--

17) NY sufferers plead for medical pot
     The Daily Star

"Since his 1988 crash, Dunn has tried an array of powerful
prescribed medications to relieve his pain. Some drugs simply
didn't work. Others left him sick. Finally, he turned to marijuana.
Dunn came to the state Capitol on Wednesday to urge lawmakers
to legalize the medical use of marijuana. He was joined by AIDS
patients, health professionals and activists who testified before an
Assembly Health Committee panel on benefits marijuana can
provide to those suffering from cancer and other terminal illnesses."
(01/23/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n112/a11.html?397

--

18) FTC: identity theft nearly doubled in 2002
     Fox News

"Just because the number of identity theft complaints nearly
doubled in the last year doesn't mean that the crime is being
committed more frequently, said an official at the Federal Trade
Commission, the government agency tasked with tracking the
crime. What data the agency does have raises eyebrows. In just
three years since the commission started collecting information on
identity theft, the number of complaints has risen to 43 percent of
total fraud reported, or 162,000 out of 380,000 total complaints in
2002. That's nearly twice the 86,000 identity fraud complaints in
2001, and 4 percent more of the total number of fraud complaints
from the previous year." (01/23/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76341,00.html

--

19) Black Confederate to finish 1500-mile trek on Saturday
     Sierra Times

"Black Confederate activist and former branch NAACP President,
H.K. Edgerton, will finish his 1500+ mile 'March Across Dixie' at
11:00 AM Saturday, January 25, at a brief ceremony in front of the
Texas Supreme Court Building. Edgerton, who started the trek this
past October in Asheville, North Carolina, to raise awareness of
Confederate issues, will walk the last 5 miles Saturday morning
carrying his Confederate flag and wearing a Confederate uniform."
(01/23/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/23/arst012303.htm

--

20) 9/11 victim fund awards lesbian partner $500,000
     Fox News

"A federal fund created to compensate victims of the Sept. 11
attacks has awarded $500,000 to the lesbian partner of a woman
who died at the Pentagon. Sheila Hein, 51, a civilian Army
management analyst who died when a hijacked American Airlines
jet slammed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., was wearing a
gold band given her by Peggy Neff, her partner of 18 years. Another
ring, an emerald that had been a gift from Neff, was missing from
Hein's remains." (01/23/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76401,00.html



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COMMENTARY
---------------

21) Street legal
     Moscow Times
     by Chris Floyd

"Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in the United
States last weekend to protest the Bush Regime's planned
invasion of Iraq .... Just days earlier, the city council of Chicago,
the nation's third-largest city -- a tough, no-nonsense, big-business
town -- voted 46 to 1 for a declaration opposing the Regime's
'preemptive' aggression .... This was all rousing stuff: mainstream
America stirring at last from its long slumber to confront the
preening usurper in the White House. Unfortunately, these protests
-- and 100 more like them -- won't make a dime's worth of
difference to the Regime's calculations for war on Iraq." (01/24/03)

http://www.tmtmetropolis.ru/stories/2003/01/24/120.htm

--

22) Death wish
     Reason
     by Jacob Sullum

"[John Lee] Malvo, like [John Allen] Muhammad, is charged with
committing more than one murder in a three-year period and
committing murder as an act of terrorism. Both charges carry the
death penalty, but the serial murder statute requires prosecutors to
prove that a particular defendant actually pulled the trigger, which
may be tricky. The terrorism statute has no such requirement. The
problem is that Malvo and Muhammad do not seem to be terrorists,
although just about everyone who wants to see them executed is
pretending that they are." (01/24/03)

http://www.reason.com/sullum/012403.shtml

--

23) In the wake of war
     Cato Institute
     by Leon Hadar

"I have a feeling that in another 10 years, we will recall all this talk
about an American Empire in the same way we are now reminded
of all the nonsense we have read -- and written -- about
globalization and the internet in the1990's. Remember the Collapse
of the Nation State. The Borderless World. The New Economy. The
Coming Great Boom. Dow at 24,000. The American Empire will
prove to be one more intellectual fad that was oversold. And then
over-run by events." (01/24/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-24-03.html

--

24) A course of action
     TechCentralStation
     by various, edited by Nick Shulz

Nobel laureates Milton Friedman, James Buchanan and Vernon
Smith, along with more than 100 noted economists, signed this
"open letter to Congress" on how to get the American economy
going again. (01/23/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-012\
303E

--

25) Back in the USSA
     Liberty For All
     by Roderick T. Beaman

"But no matter under what guise it was elected, our government is
now communist. ... Every plank that Karl Marx recommended to
communize society, has been enacted. Income taxes, inheritance
taxes, land use laws in the form of zoning and environmental
regulations, public schools, regulation of travel, etc., all have
counterparts in the Marxist agenda. With the recent Patriotism and
Homeland Security Acts ... we now have the final mechanisms in
place for the suppression of dissent." (01/19/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan19/ussa.html

--

26) Pennsylvania offers blueprint for environmental protection
     Heartland Institute
     by James M. Taylor

"Can state governments protect the environment without relying on
command-and-control regulation? Do public-private ventures and
voluntary programs really work? Can a Republican governor set a
standard for excellence in environmental protection that other
states can learn from? For the past eight years, Pennsylvania has
delivered a resounding ‘yes’ to all those questions. How it achieved
such impressive results is a blueprint for the chief executive officers
of the country’s 49 other states." (for publication on 02/01/03)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=11427

--

27) The "bug chaser" myth
     Salon
     by Andrew Sullivan

"'MAG: 25% OF NEW HIV-INFECTED GAY MEN SOUGHT OUT
VIRUS, SAYS SAN FRAN HEALTH OFFICIAL.' Drudge was
referring to a four-page story by one Gregory A. Freeman, in Rolling
Stone magazine .... It was quickly picked up by conservative talk-
show host Sean Hannity, who never misses an opportunity to
denigrate gay men. For many who witnessed the media onslaught,
it will soon be accepted as fact. That's a shame, because not long
after hitting the newsstands, the story has completely fallen apart."
(01/24/03)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/sullivan/2003/01/24/rolling/index.html

--

28) Failure writes pamphlet, changes American history
     Strike the Root
     by George F. Smith

"When Common Sense hit the streets, many colonists privately
favored independence, including many members of the Second
Continental Congress, but no one had had the nerve to boldly
advocate it. To break the dam and release the swelling tide of
freedom, it took an Englishman who had recently arrived in the
colonies and had refined his views in tavern debates: Thomas
Paine." (01/23/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Smith/smith37.html

--

29) Deadly pretense
     Jewish World Review
     by Thomas Sowell

"It would of course be wonderful to have some way to get criminals,
drug addicts, abusive parents and others to change their ways and
become better people. It would be great to be able to prevent
crimes or drug addiction before they start. But setting up programs
with such goals in their titles is dangerous make-believe and self-
indulgence, when there is no evidence that these things can be
relied on to do what they say they do." (01/23/03)

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell.html

--

30) Styles of political piety
     Slate
     by Michael Kinsley

"[E]ven among the self-promoters of Washington, Lieberman and
McCain stand out for their enthusiasm and their skill. An important
part of that skill, of course, is making enthusiasm look like
reluctance. Both are fond of the conceit that they are saddened or
alarmed or deeply disturbed by whatever matter impelled them
toward the microphones that particular day. The image in your
mind, though ... is of Joe or John perusing the newspaper over
breakfast coffee as if it were a shopping catalog, looking for
something to be saddened by today." (01/23/03)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2077483/

--

31) Mickey D's hollow victory
     New York Post
     by staff

"Federal Court Judge Robert Sweet has scored what appears -- at
first glance, anyway -- to be a much-needed victory for common
sense in dismissing a lawsuit that blamed McDonald's for a
nationwide epidemic of obesity in children. In his 65-page ruling,
Sweet correctly ruled that 'it is not the place of the law to protect
[people] from their own excesses,' noting that 'nobody is forced to
eat at McDonald's.' Unfortunately, however, McDonald's isn't out of
the legal woods yet -- not even in Judge Sweet's court. Make no
mistake: This case is not about fat kids. It's about fat paydays. For
lawyers." (01/23/03)

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/67276.htm

--

32) Hang up and get a clue
     Independence Institute
     by Jon Caldera

"The Boulder City Council is doing what it does best -- finding more
things to outlaw. This time it's cell-phone use in your car.
(Somebody really needs to buy these guys some toys so they
stop playing with our stuff.) Unfortunately, they are not alone on
this one. In 1999, Brooklyn, Ohio, became the first city in the
United States to ban hand-held cell-phone use in cars. Today
many cities and several state legislatures, including Colorado's, are
looking at the idea." (01/19/03)

http://www.i2i.org/Caldara/camera/2003/011903.htm

--

33) "The Boston anarchists"
     Against Politics/Liberty
     by Henry Appleton

"While, therefore, the Boston Anarchists are ready to denounce the
savage Communists of Chicago, who, falsely sailing under
Anarchistic colors, commit murder, arson, and mob violence, they
yet wish to press most emphatically the fact that the so-called
government is committing these very crimes every day; has always
committed them, and always intends to commit them. And not
only this, but this same so-called government legalizes these
crimes when committed by itself ... and even commits the
blasphemy of maintaining that Almighty God ordered the machine
which commits them." (published 05/26/1886 in Liberty and posted
01/22/03 by Against Politics)

http://www.againstpolitics.com/individualist_anarchism/appleton_boston.html

--

34) Take on the street?
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Gregory Bresiger

"Even by his own admission, Levitt, who held the chairmanship of
the SEC longer than anyone else, wasn't able to catch many of the
so-called bad guys that regulators are supposed to nab. Maybe
there's another reason for the regulatory problems. Levitt, whose
book entertainingly rampages through most of the securities
industry, never considers if the system of regulation, that he has
been a part of for so many years, should be on trial." (01/23/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1145

--

35) The importance of testing
     Sierra Times
     by Denise Thompson

"In society, the end result of education is the ability to retain what
we have learned. This is accomplished in the form of a succession
of questions called a test. Some are short quizzes designed to test
your memory retention, while some take the form of a jury to test
the student's comprehension level such as in music. Most of us
are all too familiar with the term "finals" used in college. This was
the one word that would send shivers down a student's back and
give them nightmares of impending doom. In the end most passed
their finals and went on to become graduates and secure a position
in the world market." (01/23/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/18/homeschool.htm

--

36) Following the money
     Washington Times
     by Richard W. Rahn

"If you want to catch a criminal or terrorist, does it make sense to
'follow the money'? A YES answer makes sense if you can identify
at least one of the individuals or institutions connected with the
suspected wrongdoer. However, if you are trying to follow money
flows in general or all money flows, it is not likely your work will be
very productive, and it will also involve massive violations of civil
liberties ... Most terrorists' money comes from legal sources and is
used for illegal acts." (01/23/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030123-47294490.htm

--

37) Government spending or taxpayer relief?
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Wayne T. Brough

"Faced with the daunting task of approving the spending bills for
the fiscal year that began last October as well as beginning work
on the president’s tax package, the Senate remains locked in
debates over federal spending. The President has urged the new
majority to pass an omnibus spending bill swiftly for the 2003
budget, but Democrats (and many Republicans) continue to seek
opportunities to expand federal spending, which explains some of
the hostility towards tax relief." (01/22/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1235.htm

--

38) Lawsuit reform: a class (in)act(ion)
     Acton Institute
     by Phillip W. De Vous

"[I]t seems that trial lawyers are pocketing millions showing
partiality to, as the senior trial lawyer from the state of North
Carolina very often reminds us, the ‘regular people’. Much of
modern tort cases are, however, based precisely on a lawyer’s
ability to ‘take the side of the greater number in the cause of wrong
doing’ and impose the costs of such wrong doing on the rest of
society. As a result, out of control litigation is undermining the rule
law, thwarting real justice for those who require it, and imposing a
steep ‘tort premium’ on economic activity." (01/22/03)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=122

--

39) State of disunion
     The Nation
     by Eric Alterman

"These are dangerous times. George W. Bush is set to make
another State of the Union address. The last one was a doozy.
Few speeches in political history have caused so much damage
based on so little forethought by so many wise guys ... As former
Bush aide John DiIulio admitted before he was forced to make his
show trial-style confession, we are living in 'the reign of the
Mayberry Machiavellis,' in which everything -- and I mean
everything -- [is] being run by the political arm ..." (01/23/03)

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030210&s=alterman

--

40) The contrast in expectations
     Boston Globe
     by Joan Vennochi

"Skin color still colors expectations in this country ... Blackness is
hip -- up to a point. Unfortunately, Darnell L. Williams, president
and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Eastern
Massachusetts, still gets mistaken for a waiter. It happened when
the two of us met recently at a restaurant in downtown Boston ... a
wineglass fell over, and Williams got to his feet. That's when the
man who had just sat down at the table next to us told Williams he
was waiting for two more people to arrive. It was clear as could be
that the patron did not see a businessman in a well-cut suit,
starched white shirt, and elegant tie. He saw someone he
expected to be waiting on him: a black man." (01/23/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/023/oped/The_contrast_in_expectations+.shtml



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Thursday, January 23rd, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  NATO blocked on Iraq decision
2)  Arrest made in ambush, Saudis say
3)  AIDS panel choice wrote of a "gay plague"
4)  RIAA can't touch UK ISPs, lawyer says
5)  Rumsfeld: France, Germany are 'problems' in Iraqi conflict
6)  Judge dismisses obesity suit
7)  Prosecutor: officers thought they were above law
8)  Ridge approved as homeland security head
9)  Utah gun restriction plan advances
10) Nurses wary on smallpox vaccine
11) JFK on tape: Economy, election, Vietnam
12) More kids caught with guns at school
13) NBC-WSJ Poll: Bush support drops
14) Nation to get bio-monitors
15) Disabled man spared jail over self-defence knifing
16) Medical marijuana groups posting roadside billboards

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

17) Kabuki theater, Iraq style
18) The life of the Party
19) Will tax cuts shrink government?
20) Wrecking property rights
21) The pursuit of the truth
22) Hey women, take that ha ha ha
23) Spin no more
24) Destination: Mars
25) Judge dismisses frivolous McLawsuit
26) Can we get along?
27) Regulation roulette: E-commerce and terrorism
28) Into a legal black hole
29) The educational minutemen advance
30) Tax cuts and class wars
31) America's _other_ rocket program
32) Firefly: its weird death and potential rebirth


NEWS
---------------

1)  NATO blocked on Iraq decision
     Washington Post

"Several European members of NATO today blocked the alliance
from making a decision on a U.S. request for help in an attack
against Iraq, as the leaders of France and Germany issued a joint
statement condemning what they portrayed as a rush toward
hostilities. ‘War is not inevitable,’ French President Jacques Chirac
said at a meeting of German and French legislators at the Palace
of Versailles." (01/23/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30326-2003Jan22.html

--

2)  Arrest made in ambush, Saudis say
     MSNBC

"Saudi border guards arrested a Kuwaiti suspected of killing an
American and critically wounding another in an ambush in Kuwait,
the official Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday. The agency
quoted a Saudi Interior Ministry official as saying the Kuwaiti was
arrested Wednesday ‘sneaking into Saudi Arabia from Kuwait.’ A
Kuwaiti government spokesman said he would not comment on the
report until Thursday." (01/22/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/862115.asp?0cv=CB10

--

3)  AIDS panel choice wrote of a "gay plague"
     Washington Post

"The Bush administration has chosen Jerry Thacker, a
Pennsylvania marketing consultant who has characterized AIDS as
the ‘gay plague,’ to serve on the Presidential Advisory Commission
on HIV and AIDS. Next week, Health and Human Services
Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is scheduled to swear in several
new commission members. They include Thacker, a former Bob
Jones University employee, who says he contracted the AIDS virus
after his wife was infected through a blood transfusion." (01/23/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30410-2003Jan22.html

--

4)  RIAA can't touch UK ISPs, lawyer says
     VNUNet

"The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is unlikely
to be able to hold UK internet service providers (ISPs) accountable
for customers downloading illegal music files, according to a
lawyer. ... according to Stuart Nuttall, of solicitors Fladgate Fielder,
the grounds on which the music industry intends to 'fine' ISPs are
flawed. The move is simply an attempt to look for someone else to
blame for falling CD sales, he said." (01/23/03)

http://www.vnunet.com/News/1138202

--

5)  Rumsfeld: France, Germany are 'problems' in Iraqi conflict
     CNN

"U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Wednesday dismissed
French and German insistence that ‘everything must be done to
avoid war’ with Iraq, saying most European countries stand with the
United States in its campaign to force Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein to disarm. ‘Germany has been a problem, and France has
been a problem,’ said Rumsfeld, a former NATO ambassador. ‘But
you look at vast numbers of other countries in Europe. They're not
with France and Germany on this, they're with the United States.’"
(01/22/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/22/sprj.irq.wrap/index.html

--

6)  Judge dismisses obesity suit
     Fox News

"McDonald's Corp. won a major victory for the fast-food industry
Wednesday when a federal judge threw out a widely watched
lawsuit that blamed Big Macs, fries and Chicken McNuggets for
obesity in children. U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet said the
plaintiffs -- including a 400-pound teenager who said he eats at
McDonald's every day -- failed to show that customers of the
world's largest fast-food chain were unaware that eating too much
McDonald's fare could be unhealthy." (01/22/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76290,00.html

--

7)  Prosecutor: officers thought they were above law
     AP/TcPalm.Com

"Eleven Miami police officers who saw themselves as 'untouchable'
planted guns at four police shootings or lied about it, a prosecutor
said Tuesday at their trial on federal corruption charges. Prosecutor
Curtis Miner said the defendants saw themselves 'as being above
the law' when they covered up their involvement in the shootings
that left three men dead and a fourth wounded in the 1990s."
(01/22/03)

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/state_news/article/0,1651,TCP_1021_1689581,00.html

--

8)  Ridge approved as homeland security head
     Denver Post/AP

"The Senate confirmed Tom Ridge as homeland security chief
Wednesday with a unanimous vote -- and a strong message that it
would be watching carefully as he molds a makeshift operation into
one of government's largest agencies. ‘With today's historic vote,
the Senate has demonstrated our shared commitment to doing
everything we can to secure our homeland,’ President Bush said
after the 94-0 vote to make Ridge, former Pennsylvania governor
and the president's top adviser on domestic terrorism, the first
secretary of the new Homeland Security Department." (01/22/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOMELAND_SECURITY_RIDGE?SITE=CODEN&SE\
CTION=HOME

--

9)  Utah gun restriction plan advances
     Salt Lake Tribune

"A bill paving the way for police to slap convicted violent criminals
with a second-degree felony if they so much as offer to purchase or
sell firearms moved swiftly through committee Tuesday. It already
is illegal in Utah for violent criminals, including parolees, to
purchase, transfer, own or use a gun. Surprisingly, as House
Judiciary Chairman Rep. Ben Ferry noted, the bill encountered no
opposition from gun rights activists in the audience." (01/22/03)

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01222003/utah/22333.asp

--

10) Nurses wary on smallpox vaccine
     Boston Globe

"The 20,000-member Massachusetts Nurses Association
yesterday urged the state's nurses not to volunteer for smallpox
shots until the state resolves important safety and legal liability
issues, representing the largest group so far to rebel against
President Bush's campaign to prepare for a possible bioterrorism
attack." (01/22/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/022/metro/Nurses_wary_on_smallpox_vaccine+.sht\
ml

--

11) JFK on tape: Economy, election, Vietnam
     CNN

"President Kennedy was concerned that a downturn in the
economy could cost him the 1964 election, according to tapes
released Wednesday by the Kennedy Library. ‘I don't think the
country can take another recession,’ Kennedy said. ‘Otherwise we
are liable to get all the blame for the deficit and none of the
advantage of the stimulus in the economy.’" (01/22/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/22/kennedy.tapes/index.html

--

12) More kids caught with guns at school
     Chicago Sun Times

"A student was accused of carrying a gun inside Gage Park High
School Tuesday, bringing the total number of guns confiscated on
Chicago public school property so far this school year to 13 -- as
many as in all of last school year. The seizure raised renewed
fears about high school security and came more than a week after
Chicago Schools CEO Arne Duncan ordered a security inspection
of all of the city's public high schools." (01/22/03)

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gun22.html

--

13) NBC-WSJ Poll: Bush support drops
     MSNBC

"President Bush’s popularity ratings -- once among the highest of
any president in the past 60 years -- are eroding across the board,
according to a new NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll. Bush is
losing ground in several key areas, including foreign policy, the
economy and his handling of the war on terrorism. And as the
escalation of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf continues, the poll
finds a growing number of Americans oppose military action to
remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power." (01/22/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/862957.asp?0cv=CA01

--

14) Nation to get bio-monitors
     NY Post

"Environmental monitoring devices will be deployed nationwide to
help warn against silent bioterror attacks, an administration official
said yesterday. The plan is to retrofit existing environmental
monitoring stations with new filters to detect biological agents, the
official said." (01/22/03)

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/67192.htm

--

15) Disabled man spared jail over self-defence knifing
     Coventry Evening Telegraph

"A disabled man has been spared jail after stabbing a man who
smashed his car windows. Instead, Dean Kilworth, aged 21, of
Franklin Court, Nuneaton, was given a two-year community
rehabilitation order after pleading guilty to a charge of unlawful
wounding." (01/20/03)

http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0125nwarksnews/page.cfm?objectid=1255\
2489&method=full&siteid=50003

--

16) Medical marijuana groups posting roadside billboards
     San Francisco Chronicle

"Along with roadside advertisements for beer, liquor and fast-food,
California motorists will now see billboards promoting medical
marijuana. The 30 billboards, which began appearing Wednesday
in San Francisco and across the state, feature an 8-year-old Chico
girl whose father, Bryan Epis, is serving 10 years on federal
marijuana cultivation charges." (01/22/03)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/01/22/state181\
6EST0139.DTL



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COMMENTARY
---------------

17) Kabuki theater, Iraq style
     Cato Institute
     by Doug Bandow

"The U.N. arms inspectors in Iraq have suddenly taken front stage.
But the process is a sideshow. The real issue is whether an
invasion is necessary to protect the United States. ... War is not
inevitable because George W. Bush still can say no. And he
should say no, because war does not serve America's national
interest." (01/23/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-23-03-2.html

--

18) The life of the Party
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"There is an extent to which the Libertarian Party proposes, and
must propose, a whole new way of doing things. Our history as a
party suggests, however, that we've allowed our penchant for
making such proposals to run far ahead of our ability to follow
through and turn propositions into real accomplishments."
(01/23/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp012303.html

--

19) Will tax cuts shrink government?
     Strike the Root
     by Lee McCracken

"There’s nothing wrong with tax cuts. Anything that allows people
to keep more of their own money is a good thing in my book. But
tax cuts are no substitute for the drastic rethinking about the role of
government in a free society that will have to take place if we really
want to shrink the State." (01/23/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/mccracken/mccracken10.html

--

20) Wrecking property rights
     Reason
     by Sam Staley

"Eminent domain has a long history, and it isn’t likely to go away.
After all, it’s enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, not to mention the
constitutions of all 50 states. What distinguishes the current era is
the degree to which local governments are willing to use this power
to achieve all manner of public policy goals. Sometimes they
succeed, and sometimes they’re driven back by public protest or
the courts. But they’re unquestionably pushing the boundaries."
(01/23/03)

http://www.reason.com/0302/fe.ss.wrecking.shtml

--

21) The pursuit of the truth
     KeepAndBearArms.com
     by Nicki Fellenzer

"This is the man whom disgraced former history professor Michael
Bellesiles -- in a bout of acerbic hypocrisy -- called 'an ideologically
driven polemicist.' This is the man who became a hero to many
Second Amendment rights activists and something resembling the
anti-Christ to the anti-gunners. Why? Because Clayton E. Cramer
had the courage and tenacity to delve deeper into the fantastic
claims of Michael Bellesiles and to uncover one of the biggest
frauds perpetrated on the scholarly community ever!" (01/22/03)

http://keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=3551

--

22) Hey women, take that ha ha ha
     San Francisco Chronicle
     by Mark Morford

"Let us, right here and now, get this very straight. No one wants
abortion ... But it is, as it has always been, her choice, and no one
else's. Oh yes it is .... It is not yours, not mine, not your God's, not
Dubya's, not a lawyer's, not an old misogynist Republican
senator's ... And certainly, the choice does not belong to Bible-
waving antisex 'pro-family' clusters of self-righteous, two-minute-
missionary-position Christians." (01/22/03)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/01/22/notes012\
203.DTL

--

23) Spin no more
     National Review
     by Kathryn Jean Lopez

"Dead babies aside -- they've already made clear those lives are
not a compelling interest as far as they are concerned -- for more
than 30 years, abortion advocates (among whom feminists are the
most vocal) have ignored the dangers of abortion. They have, in
fact, often gone out of their way to ensure that questions are not
raised, and information is nowhere to be found when women
approach their 'choice.'" (01/22/03)

http://www.nationalreview.com/lopez/lopez012203.asp

--

24) Destination: Mars
     TechCentralStation
     by Glenn Harlan Reynolds

"The administration's Mars proposal is at least a step in the right
direction, and its adoption of nuclear space propulsion indicates
more realism than the flags-and-footprints approach favored by the
previous Bush administrations. What's more, the use of nuclear
propulsion, which makes interplanetary travel both cheaper and
faster, greatly increases the likelihood of going beyond flags and
footprints to true space settlement. It's about time." (01/22/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-012\
203A

--

25) Judge dismisses frivolous McLawsuit
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"Opportunistic trial lawyer John Banzhaf admitted in Men’s Health
magazine last summer that suing restaurants for their customers’
obesity would be a stretch" 'The biggest problem is what lawyers
call causation ... it’s hard to tell what caused a heart attack. What
percentage is obesity, versus other factors? And was McDonald’s
4 percent, versus 2 percent for Häagen-Dazs?' More recently,
Banzhaf told MSNBC’s Dan Abrams, 'Everybody knows that, if you
want to lose weight, you eat less, less calorie input, and more
exercise. You don't have to learn that ...' Banzhaf and his colleague
Samuel Hirsch were dealt a huge setback today as U.S. District
Court Judge Robert Sweet dismissed their lawsuit against
McDonald’s, affirming that the restaurant chain is not responsible
for the eating habits of its overweight customers." (01/22/03)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=1753

--

26) Can we get along?
     anti-state.com
     by Gene Callahan

"All anarchists have in common the desire to eliminate the initiation
of aggression as a legitimate form of social interaction. The
difference between private-property anarchists and anarcho-
socialists most often lies in what each group considers to be
aggression. I will attempt to demonstrate that, from a market
anarchist point of view, there are two distinct types of anarcho-
socialists: the ‘good’ ones, who are willing to live in peace with
market anarchist communities, and the ‘bad’ ones, who are not."
(01/22/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=375

--

27) Regulation roulette: E-commerce and terrorism
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Braden Cox

"Casual references to an activity’s potential link to terrorism are the
latest vogue amongst advocates of regulation, whether the target is
sport utility vehicles, illegal drugs, or internet gambling. Certain
industries are more at risk than others to regulation in the name of
preventing terrorism. Carried to its logical conclusion, though, the
areas of technology and e-commerce are especially vulnerable to
regulation in the name of terrorism." (01/22/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/016,03334.cfm

--

28) Into a legal black hole
     CounterPunch
     by Joanne Mariner

"The cases of 'enemy combatants' detained in naval brigs in
Virginia and South Carolina, and on the U.S. naval base on
Guantanamo, are gradually making their way up to the Supreme
Court. One thing about these cases is certain: the courts that rule
on them will fill their opinions with inspiring language about liberty,
justice, and individual rights .... It comes as no surprise to find the
Fourth Circuit invoking the Bill of Rights, due process, and
individual freedoms in its opinion in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, issued
earlier this month. Like the court's prior ruling in the case, the
January 8 opinion pays abundant lip service to the very rights that it
fails to protect." (01/22/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/mariner01222003.html

--

29) The educational minutemen advance
     Independence Institute
     by Benjamin Todd DeGrow

"America's education revolution is under way. The bureaucratic
redcoats are beginning to tremble at their imminent loss of
tyrannical power. The swelling ranks of the movement's minutemen
-- parents, grandparents, concerned citizens and legislators --
fighting for the best interests of this nation's upcoming generations
have already begun winning crucial battles. The halcyon days of
America's mighty educational monopoly are fading fast into the
stuff of lore and history books." (01/21/03)

http://www.i2i.org/Publications/Op-Eds/Education/edcoatscoming12103.htm

--

30) Tax cuts and class wars
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Ron Paul

"President Bush unveiled a very modest tax cut plan last week that
calls for the elimination of double taxation on dividends. Democrats
immediately attacked the plan using class warfare tactics,
clamoring that only the rich will benefit from a dividends tax
reduction. This tired argument ignores the millions of middle class
American investors who receive dividend checks and presumably
don’t consider themselves wealthy. It also ignores the stimulative
effect that any form of tax cut has on the economy." (01/22/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul74.html

--

31) America's _other_ rocket program
     TechCentralStation
     by Edward B. Driscoll, Jr.

"Baby, it's cold out! And it's 6:30 in the &#*@%# morning! Oh, and
did I mention we're in the middle of nowhere -- the Mojave Desert in
California? But, on this bleary winter Saturday, we're here for a
good reason. We're here to watch rockets launch. We're at
America's 'other' rocket launch facility, the Reaction Research
Society's (RRS) test site, used by its 350 or so members."
(01/22/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/defensewrapper.jsp?PID=1051-350&CID=1051-\
012203B

--

32) Firefly: its weird death and potential rebirth
     Independent Reviews
     by Victor D. Infante

"Firefly has had one of the weirdest shutdowns in television history,
and almost instantly garnered one of the most professional and
organized fan efforts to save it of any television show in memory ...
to understand the passion a small group of fans hold for this
beleaguered show, one needs to look at the show itself. And, in the
case of this writer, it helps to have a feel for 19th Century anarchist
literature." (01/03)

http://www.theindependentreviewssite.org/v3_i3_tv_hell.html



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Wednesday, January 22nd, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Germany rules out Iraq war support
2)  FBI raids Florida home in terror probe
3)  Israel razes 62 Palestinian shops
4)  Microsoft ordered to install Sun's Java
5)  Poll: Americans have doubts about Iraqi war
6)  US attorney seeks "gun control for criminals"
7)  Northwest Airlines pilot arrested at LaGuardia
8)  Carter's Venezuela solution
9)  China cracks down on North Korean refugees
10) Few researchers look at men's reactions to abortion
11) Judge orders Verizon to reveal Internet song swapper
12) War reported possible within month
13) Colorado county asserts rights over roads on public lands
14) EU bureaucrats ban village's swings
15) School perv alert
16) Naked defendant outrages judge

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

17) Target: Scott Ritter
18) Bush's affirmative action ambush
19) The guilt-free soldier
20) An absurd nostalgia
21) Governments lose stuff
22) A matter of influence
23) Kamikaze McCain
24) The simplicity of criticizing tax cuts
25) Misguided drug plan
26) The bogey man of "anti-Americanism"
27) SOCOM:The new Waffen-SS?
28) Gambling with race and gender cards
29) "Replicant" theory emerges in US Astroturf scandal
30) McDonald's stock slides as consumers turn to food
31) Sex, drugs, and consenting adults
32) The sin tax: Economic and moral considerations


NEWS
---------------

1)  Germany rules out Iraq war support
     BBC News

"Germany has declared that it will not back war against Iraq,
adding its concerns to the mounting reservations about military
action within the United Nations Security Council. Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder made his remarks at a public meeting of his
SPD party, shortly after US President George Bush told Iraq that
time was running out." (01/22/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2682313.stm

--

2) FBI raids Florida home in terror probe
    CNN

"Federal agents Tuesday raided a home here in what law
enforcement sources said is an ongoing terrorism investigation.
Officially, the FBI was saying little about the search. ‘We have no
comment. The search warrant is under seal,’ FBI spokeswoman
Judy Orihuela said. ‘The warrant could be sealed for some time.’"
(01/21/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/21/fbi.raid/index.html

--

3)  Israel razes 62 Palestinian shops
     Ha'aretz

"The [Israeli] army yesterday demolished 62 shops in the
Palestinian village of Nazlat Issa, in the seam area beside the
Green Line east of Baka al Sharkia, where the separation fence is
due to pass. Seven bulldozers, guarded by some 300 troops,
demolished the shops and market stalls in a morning operation
that was confronted by dozens of protesters, including foreigners
from the International Solidarity Movement." (01/22/03)

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=254654&contrassID=2&s\
ubContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

--

4)  Microsoft ordered to install Sun's Java
     Boston Globe

"A federal judge yesterday ordered Microsoft Corp. to get ready to
install Java software made by rival Sun Microsystems Inc. as the
default platform in new copies of Microsoft's Windows XP operating
system software for personal computers. The order, however, will
be on hold to allow an appeal. ... Under the order, Microsoft would
have 120 days to put Sun's Java Plug-In into the preferred place as
platform software instead of Microsoft's .Net." (01/22/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/022/business/Microsoft_ordered_to_install_Sun_\
s_Java+.shtml

--

5)  Poll: Americans have doubts about Iraqi war
     Washington Post

"Seven in 10 Americans would give U.N. weapons inspectors
months more to pursue their arms search in Iraq, according to a
new Washington Post-ABC News poll that found growing doubts
about an attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. In addition to
the public's skepticism about military action against Iraq, the poll
found that a majority of Americans disapproved of President Bush's
handling of the economy for the first time in his presidency."
(01/22/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23564-2003Jan21.html

--

6)  US attorney seeks "gun control for criminals"
     Tennessean

"The Nashville U.S. attorney's office wants to zero in on people like
Tyrice Sawyers, whose record included convictions for aggravated
burglary, statutory rape and forgery when Metro police were called
to another altercation that pointed to Sawyers as a culprit. Officers
tracked him to his house where after a brief foot chase, he threw
his pistol over a fence. A jury convicted him in February as a felon
in possession of a firearm. The U.S. attorney's office intends to
crack down on gun-related crime by wielding the hammer of stiff
federal time." (01/22/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27928288.shtml?Element_ID=27928288

--

7)  Northwest Airlines pilot arrested at LaGuardia
     AP/Sierra Times

"A Northwest Airlines pilot scheduled to work a Detroit-bound flight
was arrested Tuesday morning at LaGuardia Airport after a loaded
handgun was found in his carry-on luggage, authorities said. Robert
Donaldson, 43, was charged with three state counts of criminal
possession of a weapon, and could face up to 15 years in prison.
Donaldson was scheduled as co-pilot on Flight 1191 from New
York to Detroit [and] had a permit to carry the gun in Michigan."
(01/21/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/21/arpubap1_012103.htm

--

8)  Carter's Venezuela solution
   Guardian

"Former President Jimmy Carter has proposed as a solution to the
crisis in Venezuela a binding referendum on Hugo Chavez's
presidency and a shortened presidential term, in exchange for his
opponents ending their strike, which has now lasted 52 days."
(01/22/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,12716,879761,00.html

--

9)  China cracks down on North Korean refugees
     Washington Post

"Cracking down on North Korean refugees, Chinese authorities
have forcibly returned thousands of destitute people to their
isolated homeland and forced those who remain to risk their lives
scratching out a meager existence in wintry mountains to escape
Chinese police raids, according to witnesses and refugees. The
crackdown was on display over the weekend in the checkpoints
and patrols here on China's border with North Korea, and in eastern
Shandong province, where 58 refugees seeking food and freedom
were caught trying to board fishing boats headed for South Korea
and Japan." (01/22/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24532-2003Jan21.html

--

10)  Few researchers look at men's reactions to abortion
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Very little research is available on the topic of men and how they
emotionally deal with abortion. However, there are experts who
assert some men may experience many of the symptoms that
women endure in the days and years that follow an abortion."
(01/21/03)

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/tuesday/features_e3c25e1b9257c0\
7b1010.html

--

11) Judge orders Verizon to reveal Internet song swapper
     CNN

"Recording companies won a victory in their fight against online
piracy on Tuesday, when a U.S. court ordered Verizon
Communications to turn over the name of a customer suspected of
downloading more than 600 songs in one day over the Internet. The
decision could set an important precedent as the recording
industry asks schools, businesses and Internet providers to help
them track down the online song swappers that they believe are
cutting into their sales." (01/21/03)

http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/21/technology/verizon_songswapper.reut/

--

12) War reported possible within month
     MSNBC

"Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered two additional
aircraft carriers to deploy to the Persian Gulf region in preparation
for possible war with Iraq, which defense officials told NBC News
on Tuesday could begin with a full-scale invasion within a month.
The buildup disclosed Tuesday includes every branch of the armed
forces, including 37,000 Army troops who were told to be ready to
move out at any moment, defense officials said." (01/21/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/852248.asp?0cv=CA00

--

13) Colorado county asserts rights over roads on public lands
     Associated Press

"A century-old mining law could reopen roads in Moffat County that
have been closed to drivers for years under federal mandates.
County commissioners have voted unanimously to invoke the law,
asserting rights to manage more than 1,000 acres of routes on
public lands currently managed by the U.S. government." (01/21/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/21/arpubap2_012103.htm

--

14) EU bureaucrats ban village's swings
     Ananova

"A village's children have had their playground swings taken away
because EU bureaucrats say they are too high. Children have
played on the three swings in Great Somerfield, Wiltshire for more
than 25 years. But despite no-one having suffered anything more
serious than a grazed knee, the swings have had to be removed to
conform with European Union regulations." (01/21/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_742090.html

--

15) School perv alert
     New York Post

"The number of school employees arrested for sex crimes jumped
30 percent last year, even as overall arrests were dropping.
According to new statistics obtained by The Post, 1,340 school
workers -- 344 teachers, 198 janitors, 149 teaching assistants, 114
school aides, 43 bus drivers and even 25 school safety staffers --
were arrested for a range of crimes in 2002." (01/21/03)

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/67096.htm

--

16) Naked defendant outrages judge
     BBC News

"A naturist arrested for walking down a busy street with no clothes
on has turned up at court naked .... The judge refused to let the 43-
year-old into the dock and police arrested him for an alleged breach
of the peace." (01/17/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2668951.stm



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COMMENTARY
---------------

17) Target: Scott Ritter
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"[T]he former UN weapons inspector who quit in 1998 and now
says the U.S. is intent on manufacturing phony 'evidence' of arms
violations as a pretext for war, is the victim of what may be the
sleaziest set-up job in recent history .... The police just happened
to conduct a 'sex sting' operation against the one man who had
exposed the lies of our war-mad rulers from the inside. On the eve
of war, as hundreds of thousands protest in the streets, this
staunch Republican and solid family man who has become one of
the War Party's most formidable enemies is suddenly 'exposed' as
a child molester." (01/22/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j012203.html

--

18) Bush's affirmative action ambush
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"Politicking aside, a closer look at the Bush brief should quell
denunciations from Democrats and minorities. ... The president
infers the prevalence of deep-seated racism from the fact that
African-Americans lag behind whites in academic and socio-
economic achievements. This, of course, is a post hoc error, one
that most Americans reject, root and branch. Upheld by Mr. Bush,
this error is the central tenet of affirmative action." (01/22/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30610

--

19) The guilt-free soldier
     Village Voice
     by Eric Baard

"[T]he prospect of a soul absolved by meds remains very real.
Feelings of guilt and regret travel neural pathways in a manner that
mimics the tracings of ingrained fear, so a prophylactic against one
could guard against the other. Several current lines of research,
some federally funded, show strong promise for this." (01/22/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0304/baard.php

--

20) An absurd nostalgia
     Reason
     by Tim Cavanaugh

"When George W. Bush selected mummified diplomat Henry
Kissinger to head his investigation into pre-9/11 intelligence
failures, he outraged everyone. The left blames Kissinger for
extending the Vietnam War and instituting lethal realpolitik; the
right blames him for losing the war and turning Nixon red. But
there’s a deeper message in seeing a bureaucrat three decades
past his sell-by date get a new job -- even one he resigned from
almost immediately. All over the world, the keys of government are
held by people for whom the world clock stopped sometime around
1973." (01/22/03)

http://www.reason.com/0302/co.tc.rant.shtml

--

21) Governments lose stuff
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Bill Stearns

"Here in the United States, yet another scandal has hit Los
Alamos National Laboratory, where computer and other equipment
worth $2.7 million has come up unaccounted for. ‘We are not a
bunch of crooks -- the problem is, I can’t prove it,’ new interim
director Pete Nanos said, unable to account for the whereabouts of
the equipment. The Pentagon is famous for misplacing stuff. And
the Bureau of Indian Affairs has lost the net national worth of
several small countries combined during its existence." (01/21/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/stearns1.html

--

22) A matter of influence
     UPI
     by Chuck Muth

"It's time for rational libertarians to abandon the Libertarian Party in
favor of a much more prominent role in the GOP, especially in the
primary season. If they really want to have an impact on the
direction of public policy as a result of the outcome of elections,
they need to come and play in the big leagues with the big boys."
(01/21/03)

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030120-121244-8779r

--

23) Kamikaze McCain
     WorldNetDaily
     by Pat Buchanan

"Is the War Party setting up President Bush for a charge of having
carried off an Asian Munich? So it would appear. ... For a
Republican senator to accuse a Republican president of adopting a
policy softer than Clinton's is an affront and insult that comes close
to a political declaration of war." (01/22/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30611

--

24) The simplicity of criticizing tax cuts
     Sierra Times
     by Paul Walfield

"Michael Kinsley, famed journalist and self-proclaimed 'Lefty,' has
determined in his article, 'Dividend Folly,' that the Bush tax cuts
are just too complicated. You see, cutting taxes in their entirety
and qualifying the cuts, are just too confusing for the Left's psyche.
[He] just can't make heads or tails how adding value to the stock
market and putting extra cash into consumers hands helps the
American economy. Plain English, it seems, mystifies the
intellectual sensibilities of the Left's intelligentsia ... or at very
least, Mr. Kinsley." (01/21/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/21/edpw012103.htm

--

25) Misguided drug plan
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Donald Lambro

"Faced with a state budget crisis, deepened by rising Medicaid
costs, Mr. Wise blames higher drug prices for West Virginia's
fiscal woes and wants drug-makers to charge the same prices set
by the Canadian government, not by the marketplace. But
Canada's rigid price-control system isn't the answer. Because of its
price-fixing, many of the newer and more effective pharmaceuticals
for illnesses like cancer and hypertension are unavailable there."
(01/20/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1231.htm

--

26) The bogey man of "anti-Americanism"
     Yellow Times
     by Matthew Riemer

"[T]o criticize the actions of elite politicians in Washington is to
criticize the American people and their way of life. If you have a
problem with the U.S.' policy in the Middle East, you must hate
baseball and apple pie. If you don't support war with Iraq, you must
not 'appreciate your freedom.' If you say the U.S. has no right to
threaten non-nuclear countries with pre-emptive nuclear war, then
you must be jealous of America's greatness. The keepers of the
status quo and enshriners of America as the holier-than-thou
empire are determined to have all such criticism deflected in this
manner." (01/20/03)

http://www.yellowtimes.com/article.php?sid=1005&mode=thread&order=0

--

27) SOCOM:The new Waffen-SS?
     Strike the Root
     by Joe Blow

"For anyone who reads the news, the parallels are obvious and
ominous. SOCOM isn’t quite there yet, but who knows what the
future holds for this nation? Much like the Waffen-SS, SOCOM is
already the national special operations force, it is growing, it must
be prepared for any and all special tasks that may be required, and
now the War on Terror is causing massive changes in its structure
and purpose." (01/20/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/blow/blow8.html

--

28) Gambling with race and gender cards
     Fox News
     by Wendy McElroy

"It is a dangerous game to slap the race card down as though it
were a counter argument. Too many people now believe the card is
being dealt off the bottom of the deck. People are beginning to view
all accusations of racism, even legitimate ones, with an increased
cynicism because the accusation is too often used as a smear to
choke off real discussion. ... Skepticism about the gender card --
the accusation of sexual discrimination -- runs no less deep."
(01/20/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76078,00.html

--

29) "Replicant" theory emerges in US Astroturf scandal
     The Register

"A week ago a weblogger who calls himself Atrios discovered that
identical letters praising 'the leadership of President Bush' had
appeared in dozens of local American newspapers. ... The identical
letters appeared in 29 publications ... and clearly suggested that a
co-ordinated but entirely phony 'grassroots' expression of support
was swelling behind the President. However Declan McCullagh has
a brillant alternative, and surely satirical explanation." (01/21/03)

http://212.100.234.54/content/28/28945.html

--

30) McDonald's stock slides as consumers turn to food
     The Onion
     by staff

"The McDonald's Corporation announced Tuesday that it will close
175 restaurants and cut nearly 600 corporate jobs, responding to a
plunge in stock prices blamed on a depressed economy and rising
consumer interest in actual food .... 'This whole non-reconstituted-
food craze will pass,' Cantalupo said. 'People have enjoyed our
meat-flavored pseudo-patties for decades, and we're not going to be
scared by consumers' passing interest in burgers that actually
taste like an animal, served on bread that's less than a week old
and garnished with ve-ge ... ve-ge ... ve-ge-tables.'" (01/15/03)

http://www.theonion.com/onion3901/mcdonalds_stock_slides.html

--

31) Sex, drugs, and consenting adults
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"The Georgia Supreme Court has struck down a 170-year-old law
forbidding sexual acts between unmarried people. The ruling, which
came on Monday, January 13, was the result of a case of a 16-
year-old boy caught having sex with his girlfriend in her home. ...
Libertarians should most assuredly applaud the decision of the
court to overturn a bad law. Still, the opinion expressed by Justice
Fletcher, though fairly sound, deserves considerable criticism."
(01/20/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301q.asp

--

32) The sin tax: Economic and moral considerations
     Acton Institute
     by Robert A. Sirico

"The search for government revenue in fiscally tight times tempts
legislators to raise revenue by imposing unusually high excise
taxes on cigarettes, liquor, gambling, and so on. This type of
charge, often called a ‘sin tax,’ appeals to voters who view it as a
way of discouraging consumption of certain objectionable products.
Yet the temptation to impose sin taxes is one that should be
resisted for economic and moral reasons. The consequences of the
sin tax are often the very opposite of those intended by its
designers." (01/03)

http://www.acton.org/publicat/occasionalpapers/sintax.html



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Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
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Tuesday, January 21th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

0) FLASH -- Two Americans shot in Kuwait

1)  Raid on London mosque nets seven terror suspects
2)  France vows to block Iraq war resolution
3)  Retrial for "DVD-Jon"
4)  FEC may greenlight political party list sales
5)  US acts to stem a Gulf War legacy
6)  A new opposition front in the drug war
7)  Guinn announces plan for biggest tax hike in Nevada history
8)  US deploying armored force
9)  Canada's PM willing to risk his government to push campaign finance reform
10) Is Uncle Sam still welcome in Seoul?
11) Google deletes controversial sites
12) Powell, Rice address affirmative action
13) House GOP erodes its gift ban
14) Churches square off on anti-bias bill
15) Man acquitted in shooting death
16) Chilean porn politician promises to flash breasts

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

17) Apocalypse not
18) Pentagon warlord
19) Many are cold but few are frozen
20) Selling liberty
21) When is it rape?
22) US "tough love" needed toward Israel
23) Servicing the herd!
24) Large scale defense: Punching fog
25) Closer to nuclear MADness
26) The greatest threat in America
27) "Scorched earth, baby"
28) How the press downplayed the protests
29) Saying "no" to red-light cameras
30) Comments on the draft strategic plan for the climate change science program
31) Oh, to be in England
32) Why the draft won't fly


NEWS
---------------

0)  FLASH -- Two Americans shot in Kuwait
     BBC News

This story arrived as RRND was in prep for mailing:

"A US national has been shot dead and another wounded in
Kuwait, local officials say.  The victims -- both men -- were civilian
contractors working for the US military in Kuwait, John Moran, a
spokesman for the US Embassy, told the Associated Press news
agency." (01/21/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2679093.stm

--


1)  Raid on London mosque nets seven terror suspects
     Dispatch Online

"Police arrested seven terror suspects early yesterday after raiding
a north London mosque in an operation linked to the recent
discovery of the deadly poison ricin. Armed with battering rams,
dozens of officers raided the North London Central Mosque and two
neighbouring houses in Finsbury Park .... Police did not find any
ricin during the raid, although the operation was linked to the
January 5 arrest of four north African men who had the deadly
poison in their London apartment, police said." (01/21/03)

http://www.dispatch.co.za/2003/01/21/foreign/IARRESTE.HTM

--

2)  France vows to block Iraq war resolution
     Washington Post

"France suggested today it would wage a major diplomatic fight,
including possible use of its veto power, to prevent the U.N.
Security Council from passing a resolution authorizing military
action against Iraq. France's opposition to a war, emphatically
delivered here by Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, is a major
blow for the Bush administration, which has begun pouring tens of
thousands of troops into the Persian Gulf in preparation for a
military conflict this spring." (01/21/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19221-2003Jan20.html

--

3)  Retrial for "DVD-Jon"
     Norway Post

"'DVD Jon,' who earlier this month was acquitted on all counts by
an Oslo court, now faces a re-trial, after the National Authority for
Investigation and Prosecution of Economic Crime in Norway
(OKOKRIM) has decided to appeal the verdict. Johansen, who
cracked the code which was designed to protect the contents of
DVD recordings, was among other things charged with illegally
acquiring encrypted data. The Oslo court ruled that Johansen did
nothing wrong when he cracked the code on a DVD that was his
personal property." (01/21/03)

http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?cluster_id=21753&folder_id=1

--

4)  FEC may greenlight political party list sales
     DM News

"Though it appears that national political parties will get the OK to
rent their mailing lists even under the new campaign finance law, it
is unclear whether they actually would do so or whether marketers
would see the names as valuable. The issue was taken up by the
Federal Election Commission in a meeting Jan. 16 based on a
question from the Libertarian National Party about renting its list."
(01/21/03)

http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=22753

--

5)  US acts to stem a Gulf War legacy
     Washington Post

"As it lays the groundwork for another war with Iraq, the U.S
military is engaged in a massive effort to prevent the reappearance
of Gulf War syndrome. Over the decade that followed the 1991
Persian Gulf conflict, the chronic illnesses that tens of thousands
of veterans described ultimately marred the U.S. victory. The
agonizing investigation of what came to be known as Gulf War
syndrome eroded trust in the military, cost hundreds of millions of
dollars and consumed thousands of years of human labor."
(01/21/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19112-2003Jan20.html

--

6)  A new opposition front in the drug war
     Chicago Tribune/CCLE

"A new front has opened in opposition to the war on drugs -- a
religious front. Several newly formed groups are contesting our
prohibitionist, anti-drug strategies because they restrict religious
freedom and 'cognitive liberty.' Drugs alter consciousness and 'the
right to control one's own consciousness is the quintessence of
freedom,' reads part of a manifesto of the Journal of Cognitive
Liberties." (01/20/03)

http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/news/salim1.htm

--

7)  Guinn announces plan for biggest tax hike in Nevada history
     San Francisco Chronicle

"Gov. Kenny Guinn announced Monday he would seek nearly $1
billion in new taxes in the biggest increase in Nevada's history. The
plan revealed in the Republican governor's State of the State
address will likely face stiff opposition in the legislature, but Guinn
said trying to block it would amount to 'political cowardice.'"
(01/20/03)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/01/20/national223\
0EST0693.DTL

--

8)  US deploying armored force
     CNN

"Thousands of U.S. Army troops were preparing Monday to leave
Fort Hood, Texas, after receiving deployment orders likely to take
them to the Persian Gulf region for possible military action against
Iraq. More than 12,000 soldiers from elements of the mechanized
4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood are expected to deploy for the
Central Command region, a fort spokesman said. The deployment
date is unknown." (01/20/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/20/sprj.irq.army.deployment/index.html

--

9)  Canada's PM willing to risk his government to push campaign finance reform
     Ottawa Citizen

"Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is determined to radically reduce the
influence of money on the political system and will force
recalcitrant Liberal backbenchers to fall in line by declaring
imminent reforms to political financing laws a matter of confidence
in his government. In an exclusive interview at his official residence,
Mr. Chrétien made it clear he won't let backbench objections stop
him from banning all trade union and most corporate donations to
political parties." (01/20/03)

http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id={FFA09F54-0C8E-40ED-B309-6453EC66EC1\
D}

--

10) Is Uncle Sam still welcome in Seoul?
     MSNBC

"For the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, rising tensions over
North Korea’s nuclear programs coincide with outbursts of the
most severe anti-American sentiments in the nearly half a century
since the end of the Korean War. To the shock of an older
generation that vividly recalls the U.S. role in fighting North Korean
troops, younger Koreans have displayed rising anger against the
U.S. military presence." (01/20/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/859187.asp

--

11) Google deletes controversial sites
     DiscoverRochester.com

"The popular Google search engine has begun deleting
controversial sites from its international search engine services
serving France and Germany. Originally uncovered by Harvard
University's Berkman Center, Google's former listings for pro-Nazi,
anti-Semitic, and conservative Christian web sites have been
removed ... Representatives from Google confirmed the deletions,
indicating that the Mountain View, California company is
attempting to comply with laws passed in the two countries that
pertain to "hate speech" or Holocaust revisionism." (01/19/03)

http://www.discoverrochester.com/articles/internet_watch/view.cfm?id=433]

--

12) Powell, Rice address affirmative action
     Washington Times

"Two high-ranking Bush administration officials said yesterday it is
appropriate for universities to take race into account in achieving
student diversity. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and National
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said a public university isn't
doing its job if there is any segment of the public not adequately
represented." (01/20/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030120-43344178.htm

--

13) House GOP erodes its gift ban
     Washington Post

"House Republicans -- who instituted a total ban on gifts in 1995
with great fanfare after capturing Congress -- have incrementally
relaxed the ethics rules so that members and their staffs can
accept $100 in meals each year from each lobbyist and watch
Washington Wizards basketball games and rock concerts from
luxury skyboxes valued to fit just under their $50-per-event limit on
tickets. A new rule passed by House Republicans this month on a
party line vote might stretch the loophole considerably farther."
(01/21/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19150-2003Jan20.html

--

14) Churches square off on anti-bias bill
     Tennessean

"The [Nashville] Metro Council's proposed change to its anti-
discrimination employment and housing law, which is scheduled to
come up for a third and final vote at 7 p.m. tomorrow, has stirred
emotions among many in Nashville's religious community,
including strong opposition from leadership at the Southern Baptist
Convention. Many supporters, though, think that the bill adds a
needed civil rights protection for members of the Nashville
community. The bill would make it illegal to discriminate against
gays and lesbians in hiring and housing in Davidson County."
(01/20/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27887963.shtml?Element_ID=27887963

--

15) Man acquitted in shooting death
     Tampa Tribune

"When a man came to Arthur Adkins' home, threatened to kill him
and then attacked, Adkins shot him dead. For that, Adkins lost his
job and his wife and faced spending the rest of his life in prison.
But Thursday, a jury acquitted Adkins of second-degree murder
and a judge set him free." (01/17/03)

http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGAGIQNP1BD.html

--

16) Chilean porn politician promises to flash breasts
     Ananova

"A Chilean porn star has promised to flash her fellow MPs if her
election campaign is successful. Reichel says if elected she will
flash her breasts every time rival politicians begin to argue over
legislation." (01/19/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_741384.html?menu=news.quirkies



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COMMENTARY
---------------

17) Apocalypse not
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"As each election cycle wraps up, there's a distinct group ... which
dons mourning and announces the death -- or impending death -- of
the libertarian movement. ... At times, I've been caught up in this
grief cycle myself, temporizing over whether to hold a funeral or a
wake. That temporizing is inevitably broken by the urgent need to
jump back into a thriving and busy movement. The corpse, it
walks." (01/21/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp012103.html

--

18) Pentagon warlord
     Time
     by Mark Thompson and Michael Duffy

"As America prepares for a war that would require 25 times the
number of troops deployed to fight the Taliban, Rumsfeld, 70, is on
the line as never before in a long and storied career. Afghanistan
was a highly unconventional war that relied in part on CIA agents
carrying bags of cash to buy the loyalty of anti-Taliban fighters. But
taking out Saddam would mean an old-fashioned kind of conflict,
with thousands of Marines and G.I.s carrying rifles and grenades. A
war, if it comes, would be Rumsfeld's legacy. Win or lose, this
would be Rumsfeld's war." (to be published 01/27/03)

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030127/nrummy.html

--

19) Many are cold but few are frozen
     Laissez Faire Times
     by Bill Walker

"Out-of-control government is certainly still a problem, but one
reason government is so annoying is that there are so many more
cool technologies for them to prohibit. In the 20th century, it didn't
really matter if cloning was banned -- now it does. So be realistic:
your life may suck right now, but your ancestors' problems were
more painful than yours. And there is the distinct possibility that
human life may get a lot more interesting, and free, in the near
future." (to be published 01/27/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/cold_frozen.htm

--

20) Selling liberty
     Strike the Root
     by Jacob Halbrooks

"The problem is that liberty is not something that Michael Cloud
keeps in his basement. There is no 'Freedom Store,' with
Libertarians behind the counter dishing out a little gun rights here
and some tax cuts there. When LP candidates write direct mail
sales letters for their 'high-profile' campaigns, they are only serving
to do two things. One, part money from gullible libertarians who
think that anyone who calls himself a Libertarian can be trusted
without question, and two, anger people who believed the sales
pitch." (01/21/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Halbrooks/halbrooks12.html

--

21) When is it rape?
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by Wendy McElroy

"Rape is an abomination no civilized society can tolerate. But
precisely because rape is such a serious crime, it is important to
establish explicit and reasonable standards by which to judge the
guilt or innocence of those accused." (01/20/03)

http://webleyweb.com/tle/libe207-20030120-03.html

--

22) US "tough love" needed toward Israel
     Boston Globe
     by Edmund R. Hanauer

"President George W. Bush's double standard on the cycle of
Palestinian and Israeli violence and terror is clear: He says that
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is a 'man of peace,' while
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat should be replaced by a
'Palestinian leadership not compromised by terror.' [But] while
Bush denounces Palestinian terrorism and Saddam Hussein for
violating the rights of Iraqis, his silence on Israeli violations of
Palestinian rights is deafening." (01/20/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/020/oped/US_tough_love_needed_toward_Israel+.s\
html

--

23) Servicing the herd!
     Sierra Times
     by Martin and Bart Siegel, CPA, CFP

"The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) was another stupid idea
created by politicians. This really is a good one. A lot of our tax
loopholes were created as tax incentives to solve social, or
economic problems, that were caused by government. Our
politicians then convoluted our tax code with a number of tax
credits, tax exemptions and accelerated deductions in order to
manipulate investors into investing in certain ways. Using tax laws
to stimulate the economy did create a lot of jobs for tax
accountants and tax lawyers." (01/20/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/20/money.htm

--

24) Large scale defense: Punching fog
     anti-state.com
     by Julian Morrison

"[W]hy think in terms of geographical borders at all? That's in my
opinion a mistake, a holdover from being raised as a statist. I'd
suggest that a better way of thinking is in terms of individuals, and
interactions between individuals. The minimum size of a free
market is two people. The minimum size of an anarchy is one. Any
anarchist you meet, there's already a free market in-between you."
(01/20/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=373

--

25) Closer to nuclear MADness
     Antiwar.com
     by Praful Bidwai

"As nuclear taboos of various kinds get weakened and violated the
world over, India and Pakistan are drawing each other into the
vortex of a potentially ruinous nuclear and missile arms race. They
are transiting from a posture of demonstrating an assured
capability to cause mass destruction, to one of deterring each
other with nuclear weapons that are deployed and ready to go at
short notice." (01/20/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/bidwai/bi012003.html

--

26) The greatest threat in America
     Frontiers of Freedom
     by Chad Allen

"What is the greatest threat to America and its people? Ask this
question and most individuals would likely say that Osama bin
Laden or terrorism is the greatest threat, while others might state
that continued economic weakness is the greatest threat to
America. Apparently, none of these answers are correct, as
according to a growing number of thinkers and government officials,
the greatest threat to America is the wicked and malevolent Sport
Utility Vehicle (SUV)." (01/17/03)

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/contributors/allen_20030117.html

--

27) "Scorched earth, baby"
     Doing Freedom
     by Sunni Maravillosa

"Many people seem to think that the fight for freedom is
necessarily in conflict with earning a living. And so it becomes
easy to rationalize not doing more in defense of liberty. But without
freedom, is life worth living? Are you content to consign the rest of
your life, your children's lives, and so on, to the thrall of the state
because a comfortable middle-class lifestyle was worth more effort
than resisting USA Patriot and Homeland Security?" (01/03)

http://www.doingfreedom.com/gen/0103/scorchedearth.html

--

28) How the press downplayed the protests
     CounterPunch
     by Wayne Madsen

"The Park Police cleverly fenced off a large portion of the Mall
closest to the Washington Monument, forcing large numbers of
protestors on to Jefferson and Madison Drives. If one were to count
the numbers solely on the grassy area of the Mall it would appear
that 30,000 or, as the news media is now reporting, 'tens of
thousands,' were present. However, if the count were to include
those forced on to the periphery of the Mall, the number was well
over 100,000." (01/18/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen01182003.html

--

29) Saying "no" to red-light cameras
     Colorado Freedom Report
     by Brian T. Schwartz

"For sake of argument, suppose Boulder's photo-red light program
more effective and cost efficient than any other method. Even if this
were the case, traffic cameras are still dangerous .... It is often
said that getting a citizenry to accept tyranny is like getting a frog
to accept being boiled alive: You can't drop the frog into boiling
water, as it will jump out. You have to put the frog in room
temperature water, and slowly turn up the heat. The water is
already simmering." (01/17/03)

http://www.co-freedom.com/2003/01/redlight.html

--

30) Comments on the draft strategic plan for the climate change science program
     Heartland Institute
     by Joseph L. Bast

"The Plan does not recognize or address the misrepresentation of
government-funded science by government-funded advocacy groups
in the past, which has confused the public and led to adoption of
expensive and ineffective public policies in the name of ‘stopping
global warming.’ Grants to groups that have distorted and
exaggerated the potential threat of climate change should not be
renewed." (01/15/03)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=11477

--

31) Oh, to be in England
     TechCentralStation
     by Iain Murray

"Many suggest guns as the reason that the American murder rate
is so much greater than the UK’s. The difference in murder rates
has held true for over a hundred years, going back to when the gun
laws in both countries were virtually identical. Americans have
always been more likely to murder each other than the British,
whatever the state of weapons availability." (01/20/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.be/2051/wrapper.jsp?PID=2051-100&CID=2051-012003M

--

32) Why the draft won't fly
     WorldNetDaily
     by Kyle Williams

"Even if looked at reasonably with serious consideration, the draft
will not happen again. First of all, when thousands of young
servicemen die in war, it's bad. It's bad for politicians' popularity. It's
bad for the parents. And it's just plain bad when people die. Bottom
line: Modern political feelings and ideas will not allow a draft ... A
serious proposition of a draft would be shot down before it saw the
light of day -- it is simply ludicrous." (01/18/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30565



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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
except on holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe,
visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers

   To donate by credit card or electronic check, use our Paypal link:
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, January 20, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Anti-war protests sweep the world
2)  US reports "progress" with North Korea
3)  Cubans "vote" in general elections
4)  No-shows register immigrants' fears
5)  Officials support exile for Hussein
6)  FBI: Washington governor may have been target
7)  Powell backs UMich affirmative action
8)  Protesters met by war supporters
9)  Gun that killed King, other newly unsealed evidence on display
10) Newsweek poll: Bush loses ground
11) UN: Iraq reveals more warheads
12) Medicaid may restrict emergency care
13) Man refused parole as 'danger to burglars'
14) Nuclear evidence discovered in Iraq
15) Tennessee seeks to limit liability for unsafe roads
16) Speak Irish before you build here

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

17) The happy days ahead
18) Listen up, soldier
19) Restore the Second Amendment
20) The battle for your brain
21) Freedom
22) Nevada governor can find nowhere to cut
23) Postmodern government budgets
24) Hartfelt
25) Our struggle is neither moral nor intellectual, but physical
26) Beware of Total Information Awareness
27) What is seen and not seen in the federal budget deficits
28) Just say no to easy answers
29) Secession in Michigan
30) Why is Washington freezing out the Kurds?
31) Demand peace
32) Identity cards: some brief objections
33) Conscientious objectors abused by the Israeli military
34) A special note to poor starving college students


NEWS
---------------

1)  Anti-war protests sweep the world
     CNN

"Thousands of protesters around the world took to the streets to
demonstrate against a possible war in Iraq. Some of the biggest
demonstrations took place in Japan, Russia, Pakistan, Germany
and London, all protesting the buildup of U.S. military hardware and
personnel in the Gulf region. A volley of protests opened in
Washington, where thousands of people converged on the Mall,
which lies between the Capitol and the Washington Monument."
(01/19/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/19/sproject.irq.protests/index.html

--

2)  US reports "progress" with North Korea
     BBC

"US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said 'some progress' has
been made towards resolving the crisis over North Korea's nuclear
programme .... The US said on Sunday it was prepared to offer
economic co-operation to North Korea if it abandoned its nuclear
drive, which Pyongyang has recently intensified, triggering the
crisis." (01/20/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2675291.stm

--

3)  Cubans "vote" in general elections
     Globe and Mail

"President Fidel Castro and millions of other Cubans voted Sunday
in parliamentary elections where all 609 candidates ran
uncontested. Many Cuban dissidents labelled the vote a farce and
refused to participate .... 'We are perfecting our revolutionary and
socialist democracy,' Mr. Castro told hundreds of cheering
supporters during a lengthy address outside the voting station."
(01/19/03)

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20030119/wcuba2/Fron\
t/homeBN/breakingnews

--

4)  No-shows register immigrants' fears
     Washington Post

"Finally, about 2 a.m., with the sun just hours from rising on the
deadline day for Moroccans, Mohammed announced his
conclusion: ‘I'm not going to register.’ Immigration lawyers estimate
that hundreds of immigrants across the nation have reached the
same decision, consigning themselves and their families to an
uncertain fate and substantially undermining a national security
program whose aim is to account for tens of thousands of visitors
in the United States from 25 nations, including much of the Middle
East and South Asia." (01/20/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15535-2003Jan19.html

--

5)  Officials support exile for Hussein
     Washington Post

"Three top Bush administration officials said today they would
welcome exile for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and one,
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, signaled the United States
might allow Hussein to escape war crimes prosecution if he
voluntarily steps down. The remarks came as the administration
increasingly faces resistance from other members of the U.N.
Security Council for a quick decision on military action." (01/20/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15542-2003Jan19.html

--

6)  FBI: Washington governor may have been target
     ABC News

"Federal agents say the one-time leader of an anti-government
group, arrested for alleged firearms violations, may have been
plotting to assassinate Gov. Gary Locke. The FBI was tipped about
an alleged plot nearly two years ago, according to court papers ...
James D. Brailey Jr., 43, was charged with federal weapons
violations Thursday, a day after authorities converged on a home
near Olympia and arrested him after learning he had acquired a
weapon, according to the complaint filed against him. Brailey has
not been charged in the alleged plot to kill the governor." (01/19/03)

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030119_276.html

--

7)  Powell backs UMich affirmative action
     Denver Post/AP

"Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday he disagrees with
President Bush's position on an affirmative action case before the
Supreme Court, as the White House called for more money for
historically black colleges. Powell, one of two black members of
Bush's Cabinet, said he supports methods the University of
Michigan uses to bolster minority enrollments in its undergraduate
and law school programs." (01/19/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFFIRMATIVE_ACTION?SITE=CODEN&SECTION\
=HOME

--

8)  Protesters met by war supporters
     Washington Times

"Counterdemonstrators were few compared with anti-war protesters
[Saturday], but they made their sentiments known at the U.S.
Marine barracks. By midafternoon, anti-war protesters ... met 80
counter-demonstrators outside the barracks at Eighth and I streets
SE. The counterdemonstrators waved American flags and signs,
some of which read 'If you must burn our flag, wrap yourself in it
first' and 'What Would You Have Done on Flight 93? Free Iraq Now.'
Earlier in the day, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa told the
group, 'You are the core of America. Most Americans are sitting
home like couch potatoes and watching this.'..." (01/19/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030119-9622206.htm

--

9)  Gun that killed King, other newly unsealed evidence on display
     Tennessean

"[T]he rifle that prosecutors say James Earl Ray fired on April 4,
1968, sending a single devastating slug into the Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr.'s lower right cheek ... is among 200 pieces of freshly
unsealed evidence from the assassination on public display for the
first time ..." (01/19/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27859371.shtml?Element_ID=27859371

--

10) Newsweek poll: Bush loses ground
     MSNBC/Newsweek

"President Bush has broad support for his position in the affirmative
action debate, according to a new NEWSWEEK poll. But Bush’s
approval rating has dropped to 56 percent -- a decline from 60
percent in November and from a high of 88 percent in the months
after the September 11 terror attacks." (01/18/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/861124.asp?0cv=CB10

--

11) UN: Iraq reveals more warheads
     MSNBC

"Top U.N. officials said Iraq disclosed it found four more empty
chemical warheads like a dozen others found last week. The
director of the United Nations nuclear agency said after a Sunday
meeting with Iraqi officials -- the meeting at which Iraq revealed the
additional warheads -- that ‘constructive’ disarmament talks were
‘making progress.’ Meanwhile, allied jet fighters struck Iraqi
communications sites in the southern ‘no-fly zone.’" (01/19/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/842500.asp?0cv=CA01

--

12) Medicaid may restrict emergency care
     CBS News

"A new Bush administration policy gives states the right to restrict
emergency room access for poor people enrolled in managed care
Medicaid programs. The administration says the proposal is
designed to give cash-strapped states more flexibility ....
Emergency room care is particularly expensive, and some health
care experts feel people tend to use the ER for problems that a
less expensive doctor's appointment could solve." (01/17/03)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/17/national/main536916.shtml

--

13) Man refused parole as 'danger to burglars'
     Telegraph

"Tony Martin, the farmer jailed for shooting dead a teenage burglar,
had his application for parole rejected yesterday ... A friend of
Martin's claimed that it was because a probation report branded the
58-year-old 'a danger to burglars'." (01/17/03)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F01%2F17%2Fnmart1\
7.xml

--

14) Nuclear evidence discovered in Iraq
     Washington Times

"Documents found by U.N. weapons inspectors at the home of an
Iraqi scientist last week indicate Baghdad may be trying to develop
nuclear weapons, U.N. officials and Western diplomats said
yesterday. The head of the U.N. nuclear agency said the
documents appear to outline high-tech attempts to enrich uranium
in the 1980s. Other senior agency experts, however, said the
method -- which could be used to make nuclear weapons -- proved
too sophisticated for the Iraqis to exploit at the time, indicating that
the documents might be related to current or recent work."
(01/19/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20030119-13729997.htm

--

15) Tennessee seeks to limit liability for unsafe roads
     Tennessean

"Quietly, through a series of legal motions in several obscure
cases, the state is seeking to drastically limit its liability for failing
to fix dangerous roads. If the state succeeds, this would eliminate
an important check of the Tennessee Department of
Transportation's obligation to maintain safe roads, according to
several law professors, lawyers for injured motorists and former
state officials who follow the issue closely." (01/19/03)

http://tennessean.com/government/archives/03/01/27859380.shtml?Element_ID=278593\
80

--

16) Speak Irish before you build here
     Times Online

"Britons living on one of Ireland’s most scenic stretches of
coastline have condemned as racist a proposed law that would ban
non-Gaelic speakers from building new homes in the area ...
Tucked away in a seemingly innocuous 126-page development plan
for the region is the controversial proposal that all applicants for
planning permission, including those for single houses, must be
able to speak Irish to a standard to be determined by Galway
County Council." (01/18/03)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-546365,00.html



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COMMENTARY
---------------

17) The happy days ahead
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by William Stone III

"From time to time, I'm asked what kind of world I'm fighting for.
Usually the question is accompanied by a disbelieving stare from
the questioner, a Statist who can't believe that ANYONE would
truly want government utterly and completely out of his life. The
answer is simple: Freedom, immortality, and the stars!" (01/20/03)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe207-20030120-02.html

--

18) Listen up, soldier
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"The grunts, as usual, are just following orders. They accept what
they hear in the news media about the antiwar movement as a
bunch of nutjob lefties and feel-good pacifists. But what about their
own officers .... Are they pacifists? I don't think so. So listen up,
soldier. Forget the antiwar movement, and listen to General
Anthony Zinni ... who says: 'Attacking Iraq now will cause a lot of
problems .... It might be interesting to wonder why all the generals
see it the same way, and all those that never fired a shot in anger
and really hell-bent to go to war see it a different way ...'" (01/20/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j012003.html

--

19) Restore the Second Amendment
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Ron Paul

"Thomas Jefferson said ‘The constitutions of most of our States
assert that all power is inherent in the people ... that it is their right
and duty to be at all times armed.’ Jefferson, and all of the
Founders, would be horrified by the proliferation of unconstitutional
legislation that prevents law-abiding Americans from exercising
their right and duty to keep and bear arms. I hope my colleagues
will join me in upholding the Founders' vision for a free society by
cosponsoring the Second Amendment Restoration Act." (01/19/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul73.html

--

20) The battle for your brain
     Reason
     by Ronald Bailey

"[M]ost of the debate over neuroethics has not centered around
patients’ or citizens’ autonomy, perhaps because so many of the
field’s critics themselves hope to restrict that autonomy in various
ways. The issue that most vexes _them_ is the possibility that
neuroscience might enhance previously 'normal' human brains."
(01/20/03)

http://www.reason.com/0302/fe.rb.the.shtml

--

21) Freedom
     Liberty For All
     by Ed Lewis

"Freedom -- does it rest in a document or documents written by
Man? I think not. I think it rests in our hearts and that we are under
no obligation to our fellow Man other that to not interfere in his life,
property, and person. Documents written by men are just that --
documents written by men." (01/19/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan19/freedom.html

--

22) Nevada governor can find nowhere to cut
     Las Vegas Review Journal
     by Vin Suprynowicz

"Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn says he has no choice but to raise
state taxes in order to meet the 'demand' for public services -- with
government schooling and free (socialist) health care among his
costliest and most untouchable sacred cows .... At the same time
Gov. Guinn claims to have been asking anyone -- anyone -- to help
him find ways to cut state spending, why on earth have state
bureaucrats been out beating the bushes looking for more people
to drag in, kicking and screaming, to be converted into welfare
dependents?" (01/19/03)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Jan-19-Sun-2003/opinion/20494372.htm\
l

--

23) Postmodern government budgets
     Sierra Times
     by Sheldon Richman

"If President Bush's bureaucracy were as capable as the
bureaucracy in George Orwell's great novel, 'Nineteen Eighty-Four,'
Lawrence Lindsey, the president's former economic advisor, would
have been airbrushed out of every photograph he appeared in while
holding that post, and every reference to his estimate of the cost of
the coming Iraq war would be wiped from every archive in the
country. Today no one would know who Lawrence Lindsey is, or
that he once said that the war would cost $100 billion to $200
billion." (01/18/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/19/fffoundation.htm

--

24) Hartfelt
     The New Republic
     by Jonathan Cohn

"[I]f today's interview is any indication, Hart's improbable bid for the
White House is slightly less ludicrous than it seems. First, Hart
capably demonstrated how he might just neutralize the infidelity
issue. Then he showed flashes of the qualities that made him such
an appealing candidate back in the 1980s .... Hart didn't come out
and say it, but his point was crystal-clear: _I didn't lie to the
American people and duck responsibility like Bill Clinton did. I
came clean when I got caught, then deprived myself of the thing I
wanted most -- a chance at the presidency. And then I did my
penance_." (01/19/03)

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=spin&s=cohn011903

--

25) Our struggle is neither moral nor intellectual, but physical
     Against Politics
     by Keith Preston

"Some anti-statists, such as the disciples of Murray Rothbard or
Ayn Rand, attempt to justify their beliefs with some sort of ‘natural
rights’ theory. This is largely a more consistent and well-developed
version of the Lockean philosophy employed by the American
revolutionaries. According to this view, the inalienable right of
individuals to life, liberty, property, pursuit of happiness, or
whatever, has somehow been decreed by nature." (01/03)

http://www.againstpolitics.com/market_anarchism/preston_struggle.htm

--

26) Beware of Total Information Awareness
     Cato Institute
     by Gene Healy

"Some have suggested that [Office of Information Awareness head
John] Poindexter's record as a former Iran-Contra defendant
convicted of five felony counts of lying to Congress disqualify him
from his position. But the question isn't whether Poindexter's the
right man for the job; it's whether that job should exist in the first
place." (01/20/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-20-03.html

--

27) What is seen and not seen in the federal budget deficits
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Richard M. Ebeling

"In spite of the administration’s rhetoric and rationales, however,
everything has its cost, and this is as true for budget deficits as for
anything else. More than 150 years ago, the French economist
Frédéric Bastiat wrote an essay entitled ‘What Is Seen and What
Is Not Seen’ in which he pointed out that when government taxes
or borrows, we all see what the spending produces: new
government buildings, increased subsidies for selected groups of
farmers, additional government expenditures on health care, or
expanded arsenals of the weapons of war." (01/17/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301o.asp

--

28) Just say no to easy answers
     San Jose Mercury News
     by staff

"Marijuana isn't a gateway drug to heroin or cocaine. But neither is
it a relatively harmless recreational drug, as many Americans
believe. And telling youngsters to 'just say no' to drugs without
examining the facts behind marijuana use in the United States
does no one any good. These facts speak out loud and clear in a
series of research reports published in the British journal Addiction.
Policy makers in Washington should review them carefully before
they decide where money should best be spent on the 'war on
drugs' ..." (01/15/03)

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/4950886.htm

--

29) Secession in Michigan
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Adam Young

"However, the concern for libertarians should be the waste in time,
money and lost opportunities entailed by having your income and
other property perpetually at the mercy of the vote of your
neighbors. Consequently we should see this as yet another reason
to not only fight City Hall, but to abolish it, because even if
conservatives would herald it a success, it would only be because
she won, but what if she lost?" (01/17/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1136

--

30) Why is Washington freezing out the Kurds?
     Slate
     by Patrick Cockburn

"If the Kurds are so important and so anti-Saddam, why doesn't the
United States like them more? Aside from Turkish objections, there
is the fact that they are difficult to control and a fear that they might
take the oil city of Kirkuk (long claimed by the Kurds). Having them
on board also gives real muscle to the Iraqi opposition, making it
difficult for the civilian wing at the Pentagon to promote its own
chosen Iraqis to dominate the post-Saddam Iraqi political scene."
(01/17/03)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2077135/

--

31) Demand peace
     Working for Change
     by Molly Ivins

"Conservatives are fond of pointing out that there are problems in
this world that can't be solved by throwing money at them. There
are even more that can't be solved by dropping bombs on them."
(01/16/03)

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14366

--

32) Identity cards: some brief objections
     Free Life Commentary
     by Sean Gabb

"So far, all moves to a national identity card scheme have been
successfully blocked. But only for the moment - not in the long
term. On present trends, identity cards must come. That we do not
yet have them is an aberration. It is like an area of the beach still
dry long after the incoming tide has soaked all around it. The
central database exists, and it is rapidly filling with new
information. The full evil of surveillance will require identity cards, so
that we and the information held on us can be conveniently
matched. But there is evil enough now without them; and more will
inevitably follow." (01/16/03)

http://www.seangabb.co.uk/flcomm/flc087.htm
--

33) Conscientious objectors abused by the Israeli military
     CounterPunch
     by Yigal Bronner

"Yoni is a pacifist and has been one ever since he was twelve. He
simply opposes wars. He cannot picture himself bearing arms ...
Yoni was one of the organizers of a seniors' letter addressed to
Prime Minister Sharon and signed by some three hundred high
school graduates, which announced their refusal to be drafted. The
group's entire leadership is now behind bars." (01/17/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/bronner01172003.html

--

34) A special note to poor starving college students
     Strike the Root
     by Jack Rain

"If anything should give hope to the poor child born with next to
nothing, to the single parent with mounting debt and yes, to the
poor college student and the starving writer, it is this paragraph by
Kirzner. It means that you may be a starving writer or a poor
college student or someone up to your eyeballs in unpaid bills, but
you are in that predicament not because of your current place in
life, but because you have not developed the alertness to pick up
money that is just sitting there for the taking." (01/15/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Rain/rain32.html



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Friday, January 17th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

0)  Situation Report
1)  Russia offers new Korea plan
2)  Court stalls Bush plan to let Mexican trucks on US highways
3)  US hastens to assess pair of Iraq findings
4)  Busted
5)  Chavez digs in
6)  Lawyer challenges terrorist training video claim
7)  US plans interim military rule in postwar Iraq
8)  Chicago city council votes against war
9)  Police hunting tall, white suspect jail short, black man
10) ACLU fears door open to Big Brother
11) Killing stirs hostility to UK asylum policy
12) Liability for death of dog is limited
13) US fails to achieve anti-drug goal in Colombia
14) Personal info fills junked hard drives
15) Use of secret evidence rejected
16) Iraqi warheads and tougher talk
17) Bush pushes for medical malpractice caps
18) Student loan program open to scam

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

19) Toward the restoration of law
20) Hijacking a movement
21) Robbing Peter to "prime the pump"
22) Ghettoer than thou
23) For Pete's sake
24) Women in the draft?
25) Mutual defense and the free rider
26) Don't bail out the states
27) The right not to be in pain: The Feds vs. Ed Rosenthal
28) Ryan's courage went beyond the measure of mere politics
29) Arbitrary abuse of political power?
30) Boycott the Hummer
31) Foul Language of the gun debate
32) Why do we regulate insurance?
33) The shirt off our backs


NEWS
---------------

0)  Situation Report
     Rational Review

"A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in the email edition of
Rational Review News Digest that its continued publication was not
a matter of certainty, and that I'd be conferencing with my fellow
editors on or about January 15th to decide whether or not the
project was sustainable. Over the course of the last two days,
we've discussed that question, and now it's time to come back to
our readership with the answer. The envelope, please ..." (01/17/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp011703a.html

--

1)  Russia offers new Korea plan
     BBC News

"A senior Russian envoy has arrived in Beijing to discuss North
Korea's nuclear programme with the Chinese authorities. Deputy
Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov is expected to present a plan
to revive the 1994 agreement that froze the programme in return for
aid." (01/17/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2667245.stm

--

2)  Court stalls Bush plan to let Mexican trucks on US highways
     Environmental Network News

"A federal appeals court ordered the U.S. government to study the
potential environmental effects of reopening U.S. highways to
Mexican trucks for the first time in two decades. The decision
Thursday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came after
environmental, labor, and trucking industry groups challenged a
November order by President George W. Bush opening the roads."
(01/17/03)

http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2003/01/01172003/ap_49376.asp

--

3)  US hastens to assess pair of Iraq findings
     Washington Post

"The Bush administration mobilized yesterday to assess two
discoveries by U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq, trying to determine
if either held the seeds of a serious violation of November's Security
Council resolution. Officials reacted cautiously to the
announcement in Baghdad that inspectors had uncovered 12
artillery rockets, empty but outfitted to carry chemical weapons.
Until more is known about the discovery, administration officials
would not comment on its importance.' (01/17/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3737-2003Jan16.html

--

4)  Busted
     Reason

"Derided by the White House as 'nothing more than a cheap
political stunt,' marijuana advocates' attempt to hold Office of
National Drug Control Policy head John P. Walters' feet to the fire
for his overt, taxpayer-funded political campaigning against drug-
reform state ballot initiatives bore some small fruit this week.
Responding to a formal complaint from backers of the Nevada
marijuana legalization measure that received 39 percent of the vote
in November, Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller formally
charged the nation's drug czar to issue 'a written response to the
complaint' by January 27th." (01/16/03)

http://www.reason.com/hod/df011603.shtml

--

5)  Chavez digs in
     CBS News

"Embattled Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is vowing not to
hold a referendum next month that could end his rule. ... The
opposition is demanding Chavez agree to a plebiscite in February
on his presidency. Although the referendum would be nonbinding,
strike leaders believe Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and re-
elected in 2000, would be so embarrassed by its outcome he
would step down." (01/17/03)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/17/world/main536866.shtml

--

6)  Lawyer challenges terrorist training video claim
     Sydney Morning Herald

"Claims Jack Thomas -- the Australian detained in Pakistan --
attended an al Q'aeda terrorist camp and was filmed were 'highly
dubious' and had only been made to justify his detention in
Pakistan, his family's lawyer said today ... Thomas, 29, a former
taxi driver from Williamstown, in Melbourne's west, who changed
his name to Jihad, was arrested in Pakistan on January 4. He is
being held without charge at Pakistan's military intelligence
complex in Karachi." (01/17/03)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/17/1042520762170.html

--

7)  US plans interim military rule in postwar Iraq
     Washington Post

"U.S. military commanders will likely rule Iraq for at least several
months in the aftermath of a U.S.-led ouster of President Saddam
Hussein, according to Bush administration blueprints for Iraq's
future that outline a broad and protracted American role in
managing the reconstruction of the country. The administration's
plans, which are nearing completion, envision installing a civilian
administration within months of a change of government, U.S.
officials said." (01/17/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3610-2003Jan16.html

--

8)  Chicago city council votes against war
     CNN

"The City Council voted 46-1 Thursday against a unilateral military
attack on Iraq unless it is shown to be a real threat to the United
States. The resolution said military action against Iraq would cost
billions of dollars, and during the debate, council members
discussed how federal budget cuts could affect programs that
benefit Chicago residents." (01/16/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/16/antiwar.vote.ap/index.html

--

9)  Police hunting tall, white suspect jail short, black man
     Ananova

"Brazilian authorities jailed a man for 18 days, even though he
looked nothing like the police suspect. Short, black man, Jurandir
Xavier da Cruz, had the same name as the tall, white suspect
police were hunting. Police in Sao Paulo arrested Mr Cruz, despite
proving his innocence through a fingerprint test and having pictures
of the real offender ... Officials only agreed to release Mr Cruz after
a new chief was put in charge of the police station." (01/16/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_740387.html?menu=news.quirkies

--

10) ACLU fears door open to Big Brother
     Washington Times

"... 'The United States is at risk of turning into a full-fledged
surveillance society where "Big Brother is watching you," says a
report from the American Civil Liberties Union .... Sophisticated
technology makes advanced surveillance simple, but the erosion of
constitutional protections in the wake of September 11 threatens
the legal safeguards protecting Americans from excessive
government snooping, the report concludes." (01/16/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030116-12697785.htm

--

11) Killing stirs hostility to UK asylum policy
     International Herald Tribune

"Along the wide streets of Crumpsall, a suburb of northern
Manchester that is considered a multiracial success story, there
was general agreement Thursday about who was really to blame for
the stabbing death Tuesday of a local detective in a botched anti-
terrorism operation. The culprit was the government, the residents
said, and its habit of harboring and even cosseting terrorists who
come to Britain in the guise of asylum-seekers." (01/17/03)

http://www.iht.com/articles/83611.html

--

12) Liability for death of dog is limited
     Tennessean

"The death of a beloved family dog may have been a tragedy to the
James Smoak family, but Tennessee law considers a lost pet to be
-- like livestock -- property. The Smoaks, whose dog was shot by a
Cookeville, Tenn., police officer on New Year's Day, have said they
are shopping for lawyers. The family may not be entitled to much
money in damages if they sue, legal experts say. But if a federal
civil rights violation can be shown ..." (01/16/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27714830.shtml?Element_ID=27714830

--

13) US fails to achieve anti-drug goal in Colombia
     Washington Times

"The State Department has failed to meet its 2002 goal of
eradicating more than 11,000 acres of Colombian opium poppy
fields at a time when heroin from that South American country is
flooding into cities all along the East Coast. According to
information sent by Colombian police officials to the House
Committee on International Relations, only about 7,400 acres of
Colombian opium poppy fields identified by authorities were
eradicated last year -- continuing a steady decline in the U.S.
program to cut Colombian poppy production." (01/16/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030116-29688044.htm

--

14) Personal info fills junked hard drives
     News Day

"So, you think you cleaned all your personal files from that old
computer you got rid of? Two MIT graduate students suggest you
think again. Over two years, Simson Garfinkel and Abhi Shelat
bought 158 used hard drives at secondhand computer stores and
on eBay. Of the 129 drives that functioned, 69 still had recoverable
files on them and 49 contained 'significant personal information' --
medical correspondence, love letters, pornography and 5,000 credit
card numbers. One even had a year's worth of transactions with
account numbers from a cash machine in Illinois." (01/16/03)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-unerased-hard-drives0116jan1\
6,0,627911.story

--

15) Use of secret evidence rejected
     Washington Post

"A state appellate court has ruled that a local judge ‘lacked
adequate basis’ to allow prosecutors to present secret evidence
against an Arab American man who was accused of selling phony
identification documents to two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers.
The ruling came late Tuesday in the case of Mohamed Atriss. It
has attracted national attention because of his apparently
coincidental link to the hijackers, but more recently for prosecutors'
use of secret evidence." (01/16/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63259-2003Jan15.html

--

16) Iraqi warheads and tougher talk
     CNN

"As U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq entered a new level
Thursday, one team discovered empty chemical warheads and
international officials began talking tougher about Iraq's
responsibility to be more forthcoming about its disarmament efforts
in order to avoid a possible military confrontation. In another
milestone Thursday, U.N. inspectors paid their first-ever visit to the
private homes of Iraqi scientists as part of the hunt for evidence of
weapons of mass destruction." (01/16/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/16/sproject.irq.wrap/index.html

--

17) Bush pushes for medical malpractice caps
     Denver Post/AP

"President Bush said Thursday his proposed nationwide ceilings on
medical malpractice awards would drive down health care costs,
but critics said he was siding with mismanaged insurance
companies that pass inflated costs to patients. Bush dusted off a
proposal he made in July to cap the pain and suffering portions of
malpractice awards at $250,000." (01/16/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=HOME

--

18) Student loan program open to scam
     MSNBC

"It’s a stark example of stealing from America’s huge student loan
program. The program has long been a target for fraud, and the
hundreds of millions of dollars available for students studying
overseas may be especially attractive for con artists. ... A
Department of Education official says its own procedures weren’t
followed and that the scam eventually would have been caught."
(01/16/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/860502.asp?0cv=CB10



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COMMENTARY
---------------

19) Toward the restoration of law
     Cato Institute
     by Roger Pilon

"At the margins, at least, the Rehnquist Court has begun at last to
depoliticize the law, most fundamentally in its federalism
jurisprudence. That of course is what exercises Schumer -- the
idea that the Constitution might constrain congressional power. To
the Framers, however, limited government was hardly a novel idea.
Thus, in Federalist 45 Madison promised that the powers of the
new government would be 'few and defined.' Yet so far has modern
law-as-politics allowed federal power to expand that a Court that
seeks to restore law, however modestly, is called 'activist' by many
Democrats." (01/17/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-17-03.html

--

20) Hijacking a movement
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"The last 'anti-war' event I attended was in November. We were all
of thirty seconds into things when the first speaker piously
informed us that this 'isn't just about war, but about justice for the
workers' (with 'justice' tacitly defined as the Green agenda on
'economic democracy'). Although I don't endorse that agenda, the
fact that my warm body was present allowed the speaker to co-opt
my presence as an endorsement of something other than the
rally's purported purpose." (01/17/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp011703.html

--

21) Robbing Peter to "prime the pump"
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"The only way out of our current financial woes is through
economic freedom and the free market. Real jobs can be created
only as a result of the accumulation of wealth -- not its dissipation --
  which requires that it be put to use for remunerative purposes, not
dumped into the bottomless pit of tax-funded programs. The
government is absolutely incapable of creating new jobs." (01/16/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301n.asp

--

22) Ghettoer than thou
     Sierra Times
     by L. Neil Smith

Smith notes, with his usual arched eyebrows, the current craze
among American youth to "out-ghetto" each other: "[C]onsidering
what I do for a living, it's probably good for me to get out into what
passes for the world occasionally. I've always maintained that it's
idiotic to try to change a culture you don't know anything about ..."
(01/16/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/16/lneilsmith.htm

--

23) For Pete's sake
     Salon
     by Joey Sweeney

"Like many who heard Townshend's 'research defense' -- that he
did indeed browse child porn on the Web a few times but that it
was in the service of something he was writing -- I scoffed. Does
one really need to see atrocities to be convinced of their
existence? Wasn't there any other way he could have commented
on the subject without diving headlong into the pedophiliac fray? I
suppose it's possible, but then again, maybe not." (01/17/03)

http://www.salon.com/ent/music/feature/2003/01/17/pete/index.html

--

24) Women in the draft?
     Boston Globe
     by Ellen Goodman

"Harvey Schwartz hasn't had this much media attention since he
won the case striking down a Massachusetts ban on tattooing on
the grounds that tattoos were a form of free expression ... There
hasn't been a draft in 30 years. But every male is required to
register with the Selective Service when he turns 18. Females, on
the other hand, aren't allowed to register. This difference prompted
a dinner conversation in the home of this civil rights lawyer."
(01/16/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/016/oped/Women_in_the_draft_+.shtml

--

25) Mutual defense and the free rider
     anti-state.com
     by John W. Goes

"It's tough being an anarchist. People roll their eyes at us, shake
their heads in disbelief, and -- possibly worst of all -- they
occasionally ask tough questions. In my opinion, the toughest of
tough questions is undoubtedly the issue of national defense in
anarchy. What's the incentive for people to pay for national defense
without a state?" (01/16/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=372

--

26) Don't bail out the states
     New York Post/American Legislative Exchange Council
     by Michael Flynn

"Amazingly, states kept right on hiking spending in fiscal years
2001 and 2002, despite several obvious economic warning signs,
such as the slumping stock market. The inescapable result:
massive deficits, as nosediving revenues couldn't keep pace with
soaring outlays. This behavior should not be rewarded. In the first
place, not every state went on a spending binge. Why should
taxpayers in relatively frugal Colorado pay to bail out profligate
California?" (01/16/03)

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/66748.htm

--

27) The right not to be in pain: The Feds vs. Ed Rosenthal
     CounterPunch
     by Alexander Cockburn

"Since the bottom line here is terrible physical pain, let's start with
someone who has spent most of her life in that condition. There are
millions like her ... She was one of the earliest beneficiaries of the
Compassionate Use Act, passed by the body politic of California in
1996. Later this month, on January 22 in US District Court in San
Francisco, the competing desires of the body politic of California
and the US federal government will meet before a jury, in a clash
that could plunge Patricia and all the millions of others in chronic
pain back into all the agonies they once endured. It could send
also send a legendary figure, Ed Rosenthal, to prison for twenty
years." (01/16/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn01162003.html

--

28) Ryan's courage went beyond the measure of mere politics
     Tennessean
     Dwight Lewis

"Since outgoing Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan pardoned four
condemned men and commuted the death sentences of 167 others
last weekend, he has come under much criticism. In the end
though, it will surely be said of Ryan that he was a man of courage,
and he absolutely did the right thing ..." (01/16/03)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/columnists/lewis/index.shtml

--

29) Arbitrary abuse of political power?
     Washington Times
     by David Limbaugh

"In commuting the sentences of all of his state's 167 death-row
inmates Saturday, Illinois Gov. George Ryan committed an
extraordinary and monumental injustice, betraying most of the
principles he claimed to be vindicating. The governor ... has been
on a death penalty crusade since it was discovered a few years
ago that 13 innocent people were on Illinois' death row. He
immediately called a moratorium on the death penalty and
established a commission to conduct a comprehensive review of it.
When the legislature declined to adopt any of the commission's
recommendations, the governor [acted] on his own ..." (01/16/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030116-3407923.htm

--

30) Boycott the Hummer
     Strike the Root
     by Jack Rain

"So there are no Hummers in my future. I’m not buying one,
leasing one, and I will even refuse to ride in one. It is a child of the
war machine. Its parent the Humvee -- short for 'High Mobility
Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle' -- is everything I don’t want this
government to be: highly mobile, multipurposed with wheels."
(01/14/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Rain/rain31.html

--

31) Foul Language of the gun debate
     Sierra Times
     by Jennifer Freeman

"The current debate on personal firearms ownership has been
skillfully orchestrated through the inappropriate use of customized
jargon .... Sadly, many well meaning Americans have found
themselves in a defensive position by adopting the deceitful catch
phrases introduced by organizations whose intent is not to keep
people safe, but to remove or greatly impair Americans' ability to
defend themselves." Freeman offers a glossary of gun grabber
terms, and the real meaning behind each. (01/16/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/16/arlb011603.htm

--

32) Why do we regulate insurance?
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Wayne T. Brough

"Where allowed, competition has generated the results that would
be expected in any competitive market -- lower prices, a wider
variety of goods and services, and more fully informed producers
and consumers who can make more knowledgeable decisions
about the insurance products they need. Nonetheless, insurance
markets in most states remain heavily regulated, which raises
costs for consumers." (01/15/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1230.htm

--

33) The shirt off our backs
     Liberty For All
     by Joey King

"The current group of politicians views the citizens as a money
tree. Simply, go to the tree, and pick some fruit. Give that fruit to
someone 'needy' who can be counted on to vote. The tree's
capacity to bear fruit has been maxed out. The founding generation
believed that the ability to govern rests with the consent of the
people. We need to reassert that old American concept. Nowhere
is that more apparent than in the government's ability to tax."
(01/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan5/shirt.html



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Thursday, January 16th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Commander: pilots ignored rules in deadly attack
2)  Researcher arrested in plague case
3)  UK: suspected cop killer a "key terrorist"
4)  US fights late March report on Iraq arms
5)  Teen "sniper" suspect faces adult trial
6)  Spending bill to test Senate GOP
7)  Anti-war group resurrects "Daisy" ad
8)  UN: Rebels guilty of torture, murder, cannibalism
9)  Sex shop beside church under fire
10) North Korea rejects possible US aid
11) Oakland schools hold anti-war teach-in
12) EU begins asylum fingerprinting
13) Bush rating slips under 60 percent
14) UK: Cabinet big guns to drum up support for war
15) High court upholds copyright term: life plus 70

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) Consequences of the Forever War
17) Intervention and the anti-war left
18) Is Michael Moore a bigot?
19) Mises on conscription
20) One cheer for the Bush tax plan
21) The parable of the empty holster: civil rights and social change
22) Bring'em home
23) The battle For rural America
24) The United States of America has gone mad
25) Northern exposure
26) A wink and a nod to India's weapons of mass destruction
27) It's easy being Green
28) Atlas shrugs in Venezuela
29) Congress battles itself over affordable energy
30) Meet the Republicrats


NEWS
---------------

1)  Commander: pilots ignored rules in deadly attack
     New York Times

"An Air Force commander who supervised air combat in
Afghanistan testified today that two F-16 pilots had ignored a
series of standing orders intended to prevent innocent deaths when
they dropped a 500-pound bomb on a squad of Canadian soldiers,
killing four and wounding eight." (01/16/03)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/16/national/16PILO.html

--

2)  Researcher arrested in plague case
     MSNBC

"A university professor was arrested Wednesday for allegedly
telling authorities that 30 vials of plague were missing when he
knew they had been destroyed, the U.S. attorney’s office said. ...
Dr. Thomas C. Butler, chief of the infectious diseases division of
the department of internal medicine, was arrested late Wednesday
on a complaint of making a false statement to a federal agent."
(01/15/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/859757.asp?0cv=CB10

--

3)  UK: suspected cop killer a "key terrorist"
     iAfrica South African News

"A North African man arrested on suspicion of stabbing to death a
British policeman is a key figure in a terror network linked to the
recent discovery of the deadly poison ricin, newspapers reported on
Thursday. The Independent said the man was an alleged al-Q'aeda
member wanted by Britain's domestic intelligence service MI5 for
plotting to carry out chemical attacks on the country." (01/16/03)

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/201671.htm

--

4)  US fights late March report on Iraq arms
     Washington Post

"The Bush administration is seeking to derail plans by the chief
U.N. weapons inspector to issue another report on Iraqi
disarmament to the Security Council in late March, fearing it could
delay the U.S. timeline for forcing an early confrontation over Iraq's
banned weapons programs. In a move that diplomats predicted
would touch off a potentially divisive battle in the Security Council,
the administration plans to press the 15-nation body Thursday to
suspend plans for the March 27 report by Swedish diplomat Hans
Blix ..." (01/16/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63336-2003Jan15.html

--

5)  Teen "sniper" suspect faces adult trial
     ABC News

"Two days of testimony convinced a judge there is strong
circumstantial evidence linking teenager John Lee Malvo to four
sniper attacks during a deadly shooting spree in October. ...
Juvenile Court Judge Charles Maxfield ruled Wednesday there is
enough circumstantial evidence to try the 17-year-old as an adult,
making him eligible for the death penalty." (01/16/03)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030116_173.html

--

6)  Spending bill to test Senate GOP
     Washington Post

"Republican senators, who hope to use their new majority status to
enact the president's agenda, yesterday began trying to clear a
major obstacle: a mammoth, more than $400 billion spending
package left over from last fall's partisan impasse. The spending
bill, among the largest in memory, will determine this year's funding
levels for homeland security, education, drought relief for farmers,
Medicare payments to doctors and the budgets of scores of federal
agencies." (01/16/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63422-2003Jan15.html

--

7)  Anti-war group resurrects "Daisy" ad
     Salon/AP

"Revisiting a jarring television commercial from the Cold War era, a
grass-roots anti-war group [RRND editor's note: Actually, it's a
Democratic Party front group] has remade the 1964 'Daisy' ad,
warning that a war against Iraq could spark nuclear Armageddon.
Like the original, the 30-second ad by the Internet-based group
MoveOn.org depicts a girl plucking petals from a daisy -- along with
a missile launch countdown and a nuclear mushroom cloud."
(01/15/03)

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/01/15/daisy/index.html

--

8)  UN: Rebels guilty of torture, murder, cannibalism
     CNN

"A U.N. investigation confirmed systematic cannibalism, rape,
torture and killing by rebels in a horrifying campaign of atrocities
against civilians in the forests of northeast Congo, with children
among the victims, U.N. authorities said Wednesday. Accused
rebel groups include the Congolese Liberation Movement of Jean-
Pierra Bemba, one of two key insurgent movements now promised
a leading role in Congo's government under a hard-won power-
sharing agreement to end the central African nation's war."
(01/15/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/01/15/congo.cannibalism.ap/index.html

--

9)  Sex shop beside church under fire
     Ananova

"A sex shop in Minnesota which is beside a church is being
criticised for putting up a sign offering a 'clergy discount.' The
double-sided sign stands outside Pure Pleasure in Stewartville so
people going to and from the neighbouring Midwest Baptist Church
can see it." (01/15/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_740036.html?menu=news.quirkies

--

10) North Korea rejects possible US aid
     Denver Post/AP

"North Korea rejected as ‘pie in the sky’ U.S. offers of talks and
possible aid in exchange for abandoning its nuclear ambitions,
accusing Washington on Wednesday of staging a ‘deceptive
drama’ to mislead world opinion. Keeping up a stream of anti-
American invective -- even as it agreed to more high-level meetings
with South Korea next week -- Pyongyang declared it would accept
no U.S. offer of dialogue with conditions attached." (01/15/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KOREAS_NUCLEAR?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=HOM\
E

--

11) Oakland schools hold anti-war teach-in
     Fox News

"Public school students from kindergarten through high school held
a 1960s-style teach-in in Oakland, CA, dedicating a school day to
a discussion of a possible U.S. war with Iraq. Oakland educators
said the activities were designed to be educational. But some
critics said the day's lessons were nothing short of indoctrination.
'Unless students are organized and clearly stating that "hell no,
we're not going to fight this war," it's more likely the government will
reconsider reinstating the draft,' said Jeff Patterson, a former U.S.
Marine who spoke to high school students at the teach-in.
Patterson refused to fight in the Gulf War and is now an anti-war
crusader." (01/15/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,75625,00.html

--

12) EU begins asylum fingerprinting
     BBC News

"The European Union has launched its first centralised fingerprint
database aimed at preventing abuses of the asylum system. From
Wednesday, all asylum seekers over the age of 14 will be
fingerprinted to check that they have not already made an asylum
application in another EU country ... The asylum seekers'
fingerprints will be stored for up to 10 years in Eurodac." (01/15/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2659403.stm

--

13) Bush rating slips under 60 percent
     Washington Times

"President Bush's overall job-approval rating has fallen below 60
percent for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks,
a new Gallup poll found. But the survey also showed the public
favoring, 49 percent to 44 percent, the Bush proposal to eliminate
taxing stock dividends. His overall economic plan also was favored
by the public, 42 percent to 37 percent." (01/15/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030115-81871082.htm

--

14) UK: Cabinet big guns to drum up support for war
     Independent

"Cabinet ministers are being sent around the country to try to win
over Labour activists angry over the prospect of Britain going to war
in Iraq ... Party chiefs have been alarmed by surveys setting out
the strength of grassroots opposition to military action." (01/15/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=369301

--

15) High court upholds copyright term: life plus 70
     Tennessean

"Nashville songwriters are cheering today's Supreme Court ruling
that upholds the length of copyrights to the life of the author plus
70 years. The 7-2 decision affirmed a 1998 congressional decision
to extend copyrights by 20 years and keeps large numbers of
songs, movies and other written works from being released into the
public domain for free use. A different decision could have affected
the value of songwriting catalogs by hundreds of millions of dollars
..." (01/15/03)

http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/03/01/27692118.shtml



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) Consequences of the Forever War
     WorldNetDaily
     by Doug Casey

"One of many, many consequences of The Forever War on terror is
likely to be an exodus of Arab and Islamic funds from the U.S. This
is true for several reasons. The major one is a fear those funds
could be frozen in a dragnet to round up the usual suspects.
Another is the possibility of lawsuits like the class action suit for
$1 trillion filed in August by the families of 9-11 victims, naming the
Saudi government, various Islamic interests and the kitchen sink."
(01/16/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30519

--

17) Intervention and the anti-war left
     Strike the Root
     by Lee McCracken

"The quasi-pacifist Left of today still seems to harbor many of
these impulses to remake the world. The fact that much of it is
queasy about the use of military force doesn’t do much to check
the warmongering of those with less restraint. Once you concede
that justice is on the side of intervention, you’ll have a hard time
objecting when the hawks point out that diplomacy has failed and
war is the only remaining option. Accept Donald Rumsfeld’s ends
and you’ll soon find yourself accepting his means." (01/14/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/mccracken/mccracken9.html

--

18) Is Michael Moore a bigot?
     Town Hall
     by Larry Elder

"Moore, on the one hand, criticizes the Oprah audience for their
alleged unfair and irrational fear of blacks. But then he flips, and
celebrates this alleged perception of black aggressiveness .... Not
that Moore cares, but it was America's gun-control movement that
sprouted from racist soil. Infamous Chief Justice Roger Taney, of
Dred Scott fame, wrote that if blacks were 'entitled to the privileges
and immunities of citizens ... (i)t would give persons of the (N)egro
race, who were recognized as citizens in any one state of the
union, the right . . . to keep and carry arms wherever they went ...'"
(01/16/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/le20030116.shtml

--

19) Mises on conscription
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Jeffrey Tucker

"The libertarian tradition stands solidly against conscription, a form
of public enslavement imposed mostly for the purposes of ‘public
service’ or waging war. Aside from the known waste and
inefficiency of these programs, no government can be trusted with
such a power, which is inherently contrary to individual rights. For
that reason, we can expect every libertarian to resist all new efforts
towards the reimposition of conscription, whether they come from
the right or left." (01/15/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1139

--

20) One cheer for the Bush tax plan
     Town Hall
     by Steve Chapman

"For conservatives to be enthusiastic about what Bush offers
suggests they are settling for too little. It's a measure of the puny
expectations prevailing now that The Washington Post said Bush
had 'stunned the capital' with his 'audacity.' If this is audacity, I'm
Jennifer Lopez. The economy and individual taxpayers would be
better off if the tax code were simpler and marginal tax rates were
lower. It's a matter of basic fairness, and a bedrock requirement of
democracy, that the rules under which we are taxed should be brief
and clear enough for anyone to understand." (01/16/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/stevechapman/sc20030116.shtml

--

21) The parable of the empty holster: civil rights and social change
     KeepAndBearArms.Com
     by David Rostcheck

"Gun owners are fond of saying, correctly, that gun rights are civil
rights. But if we are a civil rights movement, we are not a very good
one. The favored tools of the civil rights movement -- those effective
tools that have allowed minorities to change the hearts and minds
of the majority around them -- are tools that the gun rights
movement does not now know how to use ..." (01/15/03)

http://keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=2695

--

22) Bring'em home
     TechCentralStation
     by Ken Adelman

"Both North and South Korea are successfully spinning the North's
nuclear crisis -- both kicking out the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) inspectors and withdrawing from the NPT -- as a
face-off between America and North Korea. Everyone else can just
relax as spectators. Even a leak that the Bush administration was
considering U.S. troop withdrawals would jolt their stance of 'what,
me worry?'" (01/15/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/defensewrapper.jsp?PID=1051-350&CID=1051-\
011503D

--

23) The battle For rural America
     Sierra Times
     by Sheriff Michael E. Cook

"It looks like the battle in America between the urban and rural
dweller is still in full swing. The fight to move the rural people from
the land into an urban area is going on strong all over the west, at
least. I just wonder why people can't leave others alone when they
see that they are happy and living well. I guess they want to drive
through the rural areas and never see any people or signs of people
on the landscape." (01/15/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/15/sheriff.htm

--

24) The United States of America has gone mad
     Times Online
     by John LeCarré

"America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but
this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCarthyism, worse
than the Bay of Pigs and in the long term potentially more
disastrous than the Vietnam War. The reaction to 9/11 is beyond
anything Osama bin Laden could have hoped for in his nastiest
dreams. As in McCarthy times, the freedoms that have made
America the envy of the world are being systematically eroded."
(01/15/03)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,482-543296,00.html

--

25) Northern exposure
     ConsumerFreedom.Com
     by staff

"Michael Jacobson, worrier-in-chief of the Center for Science in the
Public Interest, is back on the acrylamide bandwagon. Jacobson
told the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Market Place show
yesterday that acrylamide in French fries kills 'several hundred
people a year,' in Canada, 'and tens of thousands of people over
the life time of Canadians.' CBC host Wendy Mesley noted that
CSPI had no proof of any actual cancer deaths from acrylamide; it
just 'did a rough calculation' by 'applying animal data to the
Canadian population ...' Dr. Jim Lawrence, an administrator with
Health Canada, noted soberly that there is a 'lack of evidence that
[acrylamide] is of any health concern at all right now.' Besides, he
says, 'What we do know is that people are not dying in the streets
from eating French fries.'" (01/15/03)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=1745

--

26) A wink and a nod to India's weapons of mass destruction
     Yellow Times
     by Ullas Sharma

"Here in the Indian subcontinent, there are two nuclear weapon
states, Pakistan and India. Pakistan's nuclear capabilities are
rather limited and their technology, too, seems to be borrowed from
their time-honored friend, China. India, on the other hand, is a
nuclear weapon state in its own right." (01/15/03)

http://www.yellowtimes.com/article.php?sid=991&mode=thread&order=0

--

27) It's easy being Green
     Colorado Freedom Report
     by Ralph Shnelvar

"It's easy being Green. Promise them health care. Promise them
education. Promise them affordable housing. Promise them
elections free of big money. Promise them everything but be
prepared to make excuses when nothing can be delivered. They
ran that experiment once in the Soviet Union." (01/13/03)

http://www.co-freedom.com/2003/01/easygreen.html

--

28) Atlas shrugs in Venezuela
     Capitalism Magazine
     by Robert W. Tracinski

"A recent news article described the nationwide strike in
Venezuela, in protest against the nascent dictatorship of Hugo
Chavez, as seeming 'like something from fiction.' Well, yes, it
seems very similar to one work of fiction in particular: Ayn Rand's
prophetic 1957 novel, 'Atlas Shrugged.'" (01/15/03)

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2393

--

29) Congress battles itself over affordable energy
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Ben Lieberman

"Two congressional events held last Wednesday -- a news
conference supporting more federal funding to help the poor pay
their winter energy bills and a Senate hearing on a bill to fight
global warming -- may at first blush appear completely unrelated.
But in reality, the two are at cross purposes, as one seeks to help
make energy more affordable while the other would send energy
costs through the roof." (01/13/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03326.cfm

--

30) Meet the Republicrats
     CounterPunch
     by Mark Hand

"The time is right for a merger of the Republican and Democratic
parties. Philosophical differences separating the two parties have
diminished over the past 20 years to the point where it would be in
the best interests of the two parties and the U.S. public for the
Republicans and Democrats to pool their resources. The creation
of a super-party, perhaps called the Republicratic Party, would
produce sizeable efficiencies through the integration of the offices
and operations of each political party into a single entity."
(01/15/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/hand01152003.html



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Wednesday, January 15th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Airstrikes in southern Iraq "no-fly zone" mount
2)  Canadians defy stereotype, ignore victim disarmament laws
3)  Human Rights Watch: US terror policy "dangerously counter-productive"
4)  Bush to oppose race-based admissions
5)  Couple held in terror plot on word of discredited witness
6)  IRS offers deal to financial expats
7)  Panel finds FBI hiding the truth
8)  Dog-shooting fiasco apparently effect of "telephone game"
9)  Arms deals criticized as corporate US welfare
10) Homosexuals, gypsies angry at Holocaust Day snub
11) Couple released in "fake bomb" case
12) White House defends plan for "faith-based" environmental grants
13) City pupils to be taught how to resist "gun culture"
14) Effort grows to enact state smoking curbs
15) India bans ancient sandpit sport
16) Californians cross border to duck sales tax

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

17) Tuned-out, turned-on and hot for war
18) Government against its citizens
19) Turning the tables on Mr. Supersnoop
20) Non-corporate misinformation
21) Is the world going crazy?
22) Conscription is collectivism
23) Let's put Bellesiles in the basement
24) "Regime change" -- from evasion to invasion
25) Freedom works
26) The act of murder in a stateless society
27) My pre-invasion predictions
28) Feeding the hand that bites you
29) The best things in life aren't really free
30) Establish a beachhead for liberty
31) Doomed to failure
32) And vindictiveness for all


NEWS
---------------

1)  Airstrikes in southern Iraq "no-fly zone" mount
     Washington Post

"U.S. and British warplanes have bombed more than 80 targets in
Iraq's southern ‘no-fly’ zone over the past five months, conducting
an escalating air war even as U.N. weapons inspections proceed
and diplomats look for ways to head off a full-scale war. The
airstrikes have increased not only in number but in sophistication,
with pilots using precision-guided bombs to strike what defense
officials describe as mobile surface-to-air missiles, air defense
radars, command centers, communications facilities and fiber-optic
cable repeater stations." (01/15/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57054-2003Jan14.html

--

2)  Canadians defy stereotype, ignore victim disarmament laws
     Christian Science Monitor

"Estimates about the number of gun lawbreakers in Canada vary
wildly. According to the Canadian Firearms Center, which
administers the new program, 5.9 million guns have been
registered. That's out of the total 7.9 million guns that an
independent panel estimated were in Canada two years ago.
Center officials figure that 'tens of thousands' of Canada's roughly
2.3 million gun owners are ignoring the law. But Mr. Breitkreuz --
using older estimates the government now rejects -- pegged the
number of lawbreakers at up to 500,000." (01/15/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0115/p07s01-woam.html

--

3)  Human Rights Watch: US terror policy "dangerously counter-productive"
     Minneapolis Star Tribune

"In its annual survey of human rights, [Human Rights Watch said
the U.S. government's] 'tendency to ignore human rights in fighting
terrorism is not only disturbing in its own right. It is dangerously
counterproductive.'... Human Rights Watch also said the United
States' reading of the 1949 Geneva Convention 'effectively placed
those captured abroad and detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in
a type of legal black hole -- a form of long-term arbitrary detention
at odds with international requirements.'" (01/15/03)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/3592409.html

--

4)  Bush to oppose race-based admissions
     Washington Post

"President Bush plans to declare his opposition to University of
Michigan admissions policies that give preference to black and
Hispanic students, injecting the White House into the Supreme
Court's most far-reaching affirmative action case in a generation,
administration officials said yesterday. The officials said Bush, who
faces a deadline tomorrow for registering opposition with the high
court, plans to pay tribute to the value of racial diversity in higher
education. But he plans to argue that Michigan's approach is
flawed." (01/15/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56976-2003Jan14.html

--

5)  Couple held in terror plot on word of discredited witness
     CNN

"An American woman and her fiance arrested this past September
on suspicion of plotting to blow up a U.S. Army base in Germany
are still being held in prison, largely on the word of a witness
discredited by others who knew her. Astrid Eyzaguirre, a U.S.
citizen, and her German-born Turkish fiance, Osman Pekmezci,
were arrested September 5, 2002 after the witness, herself a young
American woman, told authorities the two were making explosives
in their suburban apartment and planning an attack on the military
base -- headquarters for the U.S. Army in Europe -- on the
anniversary of September 11." (01/14/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/14/army.base.plot.case/index.html

--

6)  IRS offers deal to financial expats
     CNN

"The Internal Revenue Service, hoping to recapture tax money lost
through the use of off-shore financial dodges, is offering violators a
chance to escape prosecution if they come clean -- and give the
IRS information on people who promote the illegal practices. To
qualify under the program, taxpayers who have used offshore
payment cards or other offshore financial arrangements to hide
taxable income must first report the income; second, pay any back
taxes, interest, and some ‘accuracy or delinquency’ penalties; and,
finally, give the IRS complete information about promoters of the
suspect arrangements." (01/14/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/14/tax.cheats/index.html

--

7)  Panel finds FBI hiding the truth
     Boston Globe

"As a congressional committee was exposing the FBI's recruitment
and protection of murderous informants in Boston, the Justice
Department was frustrating the committee's efforts by trying to
keep a lid on a key witness .... Last April, Justice Department
officials insisted they needed more information before they could
identify a witness, Robert Daddieco, being sought for questioning
by the Committee on Government Reform. At the same time, a
Justice Department official warned Daddieco -- who had been
relocated under the federal witness protection program 30 years
ago -- that the committee wanted to talk to him ..." (01/14/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/014/nation/Panel_finds_shielding_of_FBI_wrongs\
+.shtml

--

8)  Dog-shooting fiasco apparently effect of "telephone game"
     Tennessean

"Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatchers appear to have
exaggerated details of a cell-phone caller's report and, in doing so,
played a key role in the Jan. 1 traffic stop during which a Cookeville
police officer shot an innocent family's pet dog. Discrepancies
between what the caller said to a THP dispatcher in Nashville and
what other THP dispatchers in Cookeville were later told have come
to light ..." (01/14/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27642451.shtml?Element_ID=27642451
--

9)  Arms deals criticized as corporate US welfare
     Boston Globe

"After Lockheed Martin clinched one of its largest deals ever in
Europe, Prime Minister Leszek Miller of Poland was taken for a
spin last week in the same kind of F-16 fighter jet that his country
is purchasing. He watched from the cockpit while a second F-16
performed rolls and tactical maneuvers for his benefit. Consider this
private air show a kind of customer perk, which the Pentagon
confirmed was paid for by the US government at the end of a long
marketing campaign by Lockheed." (01/14/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/014/nation/Arms_deals_criticized_as_corporate_\
US_welfare+.shtml

--

10) Homosexuals, gypsies angry at Holocaust Day snub
     The Scotsman

"Minority groups today complained they felt excluded from the
programme of events being organised for Holocaust Memorial Day.
Exhibitions, a candlelit vigil, film screenings and lectures are being
staged in Edinburgh around January 27 to commemorate the
estimated 11 million people who died as a result of Nazi
persecution before and during the Second World War.Hundreds of
thousands of gays, disabled people and gypsy travellers were killed
along with six million Jews." (01/14/03)

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=48802003

--

11) Couple released in "fake bomb" case
     Foster's/Citizen Online

"A Machias man who was arrested last week with his wife at a
California airport following the discovery of what officials thought
was a fake bomb denies that he arranged the contents of his bags
to provoke federal screeners. Paul Donahue, 50, and his wife,
Theresa Wood, 46, spent three days in jail before a prosecutor said
no charges would be filed against them because there was no fake
bomb in the luggage. .... the item that raised suspicions at the San
Jose airport was an electric surge protection strip that he jammed
into a small space in the back of a bag that his wife had packed for
their return trip to Machias." (01/13/03)

http://www4.fosters.com/News2003/January2003/Jan_13/News/reg_me_0113a.asp

--

12) White House defends plan for "faith-based" environmental grants
     CNS News

"Already under attack from the Left and increasingly from the Right,
the White House is defending a plan to expand its Faith Based
Initiative in order to fund religious groups dedicated to
environmental causes like 'global warming.' Jerry Lawson, director
of the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program,
recently advocated the expansion of President Bush's program
while speaking to a group of environmentalists in Washington."
(01/13/03)

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200301/NAT20030113b.h\
tml

--

13) City pupils to be taught how to resist "gun culture"
     Guardian

"Thousands of schoolchildren in cities across Britain are to be
given anti-gun lessons and be taught about the problems of gang
culture as the Government struggles to contain the spiralling
problem of armed crime among the young." (01/12/03)

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,873358,00.html

--

14) Effort grows to enact state smoking curbs
     Boston Globe

"Buoyed by last month's unanimous vote in Boston to ban smoking
in bars, restaurants, and nightclubs, antitobacco forces on Beacon
Hill are moving swiftly to extend the prohibition across the
Commonwealth, a move that would make Massachusetts the third
state in the nation to banish smokers from some of their last indoor
public haunts. Tobacco and restaurant industry lobbyists have
thwarted similar campaigns in past years, but the 1,850-member
Massachusetts Restaurant Association is abandoning its
opposition, dramatic evidence of a shift in political climate."
(01/14/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/014/metro/Effort_grows_to_enact_state_smoking_\
curbs+.shtml

--

15) India bans ancient sandpit sport
     Ananova

"India's wrestling authorities have banned the ancient sport of
sandpit wrestling in an attempt to help its wrestlers keep pace with
the rest of the world. The popular spectator sport has been
abolished so athletes will train on mats according to world
standards." (01/14/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_739575.html?menu=news.quirkies

--

16) Californians cross border to duck sales tax
     San Francisco Chronicle

"If you want to see a place where California's sales tax is
embraced, even celebrated, visit this southern Oregon city -- where
buying anything means getting a deal. In Medford, as in all of
Oregon, sales tax is a concept as foreign to the locals as a self-
serve gas pump. Oregonians who buy a $4.99 sandwich with a $5
bill get change, albeit a penny, and the state gets squat. And
Californians, who pay some of the highest sales taxes in the nation
and who are no dummies, invade the place every weekend to
shop." (01/14/03)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/01/14/MN2\
22850.DTL



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COMMENTARY
---------------

17) Tuned-out, turned-on and hot for war
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"Come to think of it, there's a discrepancy between Washington's
treatment of North Korea and its treatment of Iraq only if one is
searching for a just principle behind the actions. Abandon principle
and settle for an abiding pattern, and it becomes clear that
animating the administration's assault on Baghdad is what also
puts the spring in the step of every schoolyard bully: the smell of
vulnerability." (01/15/03)

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30501

--

18) Government against its citizens
     Town Hall
     by Walter Williams

"[T]he sugar lobby gives millions of dollars to both parties of the
House of Representatives and the Senate. Why? .... Both
Louisiana candidates criticized the rumored Bush administration
trade agreement that would allow for greater imports of Mexican
sugar. ... A report by the U.S. General Accounting Office estimated
that Americans pay an extra $2 billion dollars a year because of
the sugar program. Plus, taxpayers will pay $2 billion over the next
10 years to buy and store excess sugar." (01/15/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20030115.shtml

--

19) Turning the tables on Mr. Supersnoop
     Cato Institute
     by Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.

"What George Orwell never anticipated ... was that total
surveillance technology cuts both ways. The TIA's unpopular
director now finds himself the direct target of the 'John Poindexter
Awareness Office:' a Web page, verging on harassment, that
documents his phone number, home address and other personal
information, complete with satellite photos and open invitations to
the public to keep the site abreast of Poindexter's every move."
(01/15/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-15-03.html

--

20) Non-corporate misinformation
     Reason
     by Ronald Bailey

"'Follow the money' is probably the hoariest maxim of journalism,
but it's still very good advice. ... Reporters need to remember that
however sincere, environmental activists make a living by scaring
people -- if there's no scare, there's no livelihood. And media
attention to the causes they're pushing is just another way to raise
money." (01/15/03)

http://www.reason.com/rb/rb011503.shtml

--

21) Is the world going crazy?
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"Those who claim a draft will deter the mandarins of power from
pursuing foreign military adventures are astonishingly naïve. What
makes them think that our elites _wouldn't_ sacrifice their own
sons and daughters on the altar of their own hubris? What gets me
is that this is supposed to be somehow ennobling, instead of just
plain monstrous." (01/15/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j011503.html

--

22) Conscription is collectivism
     LewRockwell.com
     by Ron Paul

"Neither the Pentagon nor our military leaders want a draft. In fact,
a Department of Defense report stated that draft registration could
be eliminated ‘with no effect on military mobilization and no
measurable effect on military recruitment.’ Today’s military is more
high tech and specialized than ever before, and an educated
volunteer force is required to operate our modern Army, Navy, and
Air Force. Most military experts believe a draft would actually
impair military readiness, despite the increase in raw manpower,
because of training and morale problems." (01/14/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul72.html

--

23) Let's put Bellesiles in the basement
     Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
     by the Liberty Crew

Jews for Preservation of Firearms Ownership offers a strategy for
furthering the "burial" of the now clearly discredited pseudo-history
by Michael Bellesiles, _Arming America_: "Just print out the
bottom section of this alert, take it to your local library, and ask the
librarians to move [the book] into their special collections ..."
(01/14/03)

http://www.jpfo.org/alert20030114a.htm

--

24) "Regime change" -- from evasion to invasion
     Slate
     by Christopher Hitchens

"Of all the terms in the contemporary argument about war with
Saddam Hussein, perhaps the most protean and slippery is 'regime
change.' This is not all that surprising when you reflect that it had
its origins in those heavily parsed years that we can never quite
bring ourselves to call the Clinton era." (01/14/03)

http://slate.msn.com/?id=2076712

--

25) Freedom works
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Dick Armey

"I came to Washington at the height of the Reagan Era. The
Republican Party was just beginning what has turned out to be an
historic ascension. We talked about freedom and peace through
strength. We talked about empowering the individual and returning
to the nation’s constitutional roots. But what we meant, what really
grounded us, and what was truly dear to us, was the absolute faith
that freedom works." (01/14/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1221.htm

--

26) The act of murder in a stateless society
     Strike the Root
     by Donald Mills

"As the reputation of the private investigating firm, and ultimately
the private court, depends upon the expeditious handling of the
matter, your case will in any event be processed in due order. Note
that it is reputations which are on the line here, which means
you’ve got a much better chance of justice being administered, and
adhered to, than you would ever have with the current justice
system. " (01/14/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/mills/mills1.html

--

27) My pre-invasion predictions
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"[T]he U.S. government will claim that the post-Saddam terrorist
attacks have nothing to do with the U.S. government’s invasion of
Iraq and the resulting deaths of thousands of Iraqi people but
instead are due to the hatred Middle-Easterners have for America’s
‘freedom and values.’ (Question: Why is it ‘war’ when our
government conducts an unprovoked attack on another nation but
‘terrorism’ when that nation strikes back?)" (10/13/02)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301l.asp

--

28) Feeding the hand that bites you
     Lost Horizons
     by Peter Hendrickson

"Having been terrorized into a submissive posture by the IRS over
the years, the participants in this process are persuaded by fear
and a sly disinformation campaign to disregard the evidence of their
own eyes; to abandon their natural respect for the rule of law; and
to let themselves be made the dupes of a cheap legal trick. "
(01/14/03)

http://www.losthorizons.com/comment/todays_editorial.htm

--

29) The best things in life aren't really free
     Sierra Times
     by Lee Robinson

"They are often inexpensive and are always a good bargain, but
somewhere there are costs and someone must pay them. Just
what these best things are is subjective, but I think most people
would certainly list liberty among them ... It took mankind
thousands of years and millions upon millions of lives, but at last
the price of liberty has come down to where most anyone can pay
it. But it is not free." (01/14/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/14/robinson.htm

--

30) Establish a beachhead for liberty
     The Patriotist
     by Jason Sorens

"Hayek's beachhead strategy has therefore not yet succeeded. If
we were able to create an academy fundamentally oriented toward
classical liberalism, we would be in a position to influence the
majority American culture dramatically. Hayek's idea remains a
sound one: we just haven't been able to execute it fully." (01/13/03)

http://www.patriotist.com/guest.htm

--

31) Doomed to failure
     Boston Globe
     by Thomas Oliphant

"The people most qualified to explain the farcical fiasco that the
death penalty has become in the United States are strangely
silent. That would be conservatives. Perhaps ideology has got their
tongues. Think about it. For 25 years this mess of a system has
'run' on whim, cheating, elaborate procedure, delay and more whim.
There's no coherent explanation available of why a given person is
charged with a capital crime, why he is convicted of it as opposed
to a lesser offense, why he is or isn't sentenced to die, and why he
ends up being part of the tiny percentage who actually are
executed." (01/14/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/014/oped/Doomed_to_failure+.shtml

--

32) And vindictiveness for all
     Fred on Everything
     by Fred Reed

"This isn't discipline. It's sadism -- sexless, boring, mean-spirited
bureaucratic sadism. The school's officials are seeking to hurt the
child because they enjoy doing it. This Stalinism of the inadequate
isn't a fluke ... The schools are in the hands of sodden prisses,
intellectual offal, who don't like male children. Mediocrity loves
revenge, revenge on others for one's own mediocrity." (01/13/03)

http://fredoneverything.net/Laser.shtml



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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
except on holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe,
visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers

   To donate by credit card or electronic check, use our Paypal link:
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, January 14th, 2003

For even more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Activists bring war protests to Baghdad
2)  Bali bombing suspects arrested
3)  More kids receiving psychiatric drugs
4)  Blair: act now or pay the price
5)  Voter News Service ends after failures
6)  Anthrax as a cancer treatment?
7)  Budget figures show states falling deeper into deficit
8)  Lieberman announces he'll seek presidency
9)  Oregon town to ban stinky bus passengers
10) US: Pyongyang must move first
11) Japanese Prime Minister visits shrine to war criminals
12) Law could label half of Massachusetts schools deficient
13) Iranian cyclist's peace tour stopped by INS
14) Virginia quietly lifts ban on handguns at parks
15) Court says state not required to restore TennCare benefits
16) City councils ban Jesus from prayer
17) Frist blasts Democrats for race politics
18) Supreme Court blocks massive tire lawsuit

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

19) We were almost free
20) Economics vs politics
21) In the spirit of compromise ...
22) Is the worst yet to come?
23) Democracy and virtue
24) Terrorist sanctuary
25) Content is crap
26) Pete Townshend's thoughts on pedophilia
27) Drugs and terrorism and insulting ads
28) The real class war: Democrats vs us
29) State must tighten its belt
30) The fig leaf of "diversity"
31) Happy imbeciles at war
32) Beating a dead horse
33) Listen to the words of a madman
34) An indispensable gay man
35) Affirmative casualties
36) A travesty without a remedy
37) We were soldiers once? The Bush war record


NEWS
---------------

1)  Activists bring war protests to Baghdad
     Washington Post

"With tens of thousands of U.S. troops mobilizing for a possible
invasion, waves of anti-war activists have descended on Baghdad in
recent days to plead for a peaceful solution to the showdown
between the Bush administration and President Saddam Hussein's
government. They include Italian legislators, South African
Muslims, German musicians and a flurry of Americans, from
church leaders and professors to four women who lost relatives in
the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks." (01/14/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51883-2003Jan13.html

--

2)  Bali bombing suspects arrested
     BBC

"Police in Indonesia have arrested two more suspects in the
bombing of the resort island of Bali last year. The younger brother
of key suspect Amrozi, who was arrested last November, was
among those held, police said. Their arrests bring the number of
people detained in connection with the attack to 17." (01/14/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2655911.stm

--

3)  More kids receiving psychiatric drugs
     Washington Post

"The number of American children being treated with psychiatric
drugs has grown sharply in the past 15 years, tripling from 1987 to
1996 and showing no sign of slowing, researchers said yesterday.
A newly published study, the most comprehensive to date, found
that by 1996, more than 6 percent of children were taking drugs
such as Prozac, Ritalin and Risperdal, and the researchers said
the trajectory continued to rise through 2000." (01/14/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51843-2003Jan13.html

--

4)  Blair: act now or pay the price
     Guardian

"Tony Blair raised the stakes in the campaign to disarm Saddam
Hussein by warning British voters that they face a direct threat from
weapons of mass destruction which will find their way into the
hands of terrorist groups unless firm action is taken now. ... That
formula appeared to be a fresh attempt to persuade critics that --
despite no evidence of a direct link between Saddam Hussein and
al Q'aeda -- the fight against global terrorism is an indivisible one
as he warned President George Bush long before the attacks on
September 11 2001." (01/14/03)

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,874245,00.html

--

5)  Voter News Service ends after failures
     Denver Post/AP

"Six major news organizations announced Monday the breakup of
Voter News Service, the consortium they had built to count votes
and conduct surveys on Election Day. The decision follows two
major election-night failures in a row by VNS. Given the expense of
mounting such operations on their own, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN,
Fox News Channel and The Associated Press said they were
considering other options for sharing vote counts and exit poll
surveys." (01/13/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VOTER_NEWS_SERVICE?SITE=CODEN&SECTION\
=HOME

--

6)  Anthrax as a cancer treatment?
     BBC

"Scientists have used a version of the anthrax toxin to kill tumours
in mice. The toxin was so effective that after just one treatment
tumours were reduced in size by up to 92%. The technique has
been developed by researchers from the US National Institutes of
Health." (01/13/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2643223.stm

--

7)  Budget figures show states falling deeper into deficit
     American Legislative Exchange Council

"Latest budget figures released today by the American Legislative
Exchange Council (ALEC) show state budget deficits deepening
with California’s alarming $34.8 billion deficit leading as the worst in
the nation. Texas, which recently surpassed troubled New York, is
third worst with a $9.9 billion budget deficit. Total state budget
deficits for fiscal years 2003-04 now approach $90 billion
nationwide." (01/13/03)

http://www.alec.org/viewpage.cfm?pgname=3.1111

--

8)  Lieberman announces he'll seek presidency
     Washington Post

"Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), who made history in 2000 as
the country's first Jewish vice presidential nominee, today declared
his candidacy for president in 2004, pledging to ‘rise above partisan
politics’ to fight terrorism, fix the economy and bring civility to
public life. Surrounded by friends, family and classmates,
Lieberman made his announcement in a small, crowded auditorium
at his old high school in this suburb of New York." (01/13/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51842-2003Jan13.html

--

9)  Oregon town to ban stinky bus passengers
     Anchorage Daily News

"You better hit the shower before you board the bus in Bend.
Proposed new city rules would ban spitting, smoking,
skateboarding, and stinking on city buses.The regulations ban
anyone who 'emanates a grossly repulsive odor that is unavoidable
by other Bend Extended Area Transit customers' from being in the
bus station or on a bus." (01/13/03)

http://www.adn.com/24hour/nation/story/715610p-5256647c.html

--

10) US: Pyongyang must move first
     CNN

"The United States is willing to help North Korea meet its energy
needs if it gives up its pursuit of nuclear weapons, but Pyongyang
first must take ‘verifiable’ and ‘irreversible’ steps to meet
international commitments, Washington says. White House Press
Secretary Ari Fleischer said Monday the United States is not
offering any deals to end the diplomatic standoff over North Korea's
nuclear program and downplayed comments by Assistant
Secretary of State James Kelly as ‘nothing new.’" (01/13/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/01/13/nkorea.nuclear/index.html

--

11) Japanese Prime Minister visits shrine to war criminals
     Mainichi Daily News

"Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a controversial surprise
visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday, saying he intended to 'think
deeply about the significance of peace.' This is his third visit to the
shrine that enshrines Class-A war criminals since he took power in
the spring of 2001." (01/14/03)

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20030114p2a00m0fp012001c.html

--

12) Law could label half of Massachusetts schools deficient
     Boston Globe

"When Massachusetts begins judging schools in 2004 based on
test scores broken down by subgroups including race, low-income,
limited English, and disabled -- as required by President Bush's No
Child Left Behind Act -- up to half of the state's 1,900 schools
could be deemed 'needing improvement,' state education officials
said last week. That's a sharp increase from the 10 percent that
landed on the list this school year when state officials used overall
test scores to evaluate schools' progress." (01/13/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/013/metro/Law_could_label_half_Mass_schools_de\
ficient+.shtml

--

13) Iranian cyclist's peace tour stopped by INS
     Arizona Republic

"Iranian bicyclist Reza Khoshvravesh Baluchi traveled through six
continents on a world tour for peace, but now he runs in circles at
an INS detention center ... In broken English, he tells of pedaling
46,000 miles before his travels came to an abrupt halt two months
ago at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol agents." (01/13/03)

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0113reza13.html

--

14) Virginia quietly lifts ban on handguns at parks
     Richmond Times Dispatch

"Signs at state parks say 'firearms are prohibited,' but people can
pack now if they have concealed-weapons permits. In addition, the
state is considering allowing people to carry loaded shotguns and
rifles in parks. The Department of Conservation and Recreation,
which runs parks, had banned guns for decades under the theory
that it made people safer. With little fanfare, state officials in late
September began allowing people with permits to carry concealed
guns into parks." (01/11/03)

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/more/MGBY6ICZSAD.html

--

15) Court says state not required to restore TennCare benefits
     Tennessean

"Up to 200,000 former TennCare enrollees will not get their benefits
back while they fight their removal from the managed-care program
for the poor, disabled and uninsured. A three-judge panel of the 6th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the state would be
'irreparably harmed' if it had to reinstate the enrollees." (01/13/03)

http://www.tennessean.com/government/archives/03/01/27628698.shtml

--

16) City councils ban Jesus from prayer
     Orange County Register

"Orange County city councils are accepting a new reality for the
new year -- God is welcome at their meetings, but Jesus isn't.
That's the result of a California appellate court ruling that the
Supreme Court let stand last month. ... Referring to God in opening
prayers is all right, but referring to Jesus or any other specific
religious figure promotes a particular religion and is therefore
unconstitutional, the court ruled." (01/12/03)

http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=20274&section=LOCAL&year=200\
3&month=1&day=12

--

17) Frist blasts Democrats for race politics
     Washington Times

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist yesterday accused Democrats of
playing politics with race, citing their threats to filibuster President
Bush's renomination of a judge to the federal appeals court. Mr.
Frist, Tennessee Republican, blasted the Democrats' charges last
week that the Mississippi judge's nomination shows that 'the
Southern strategy' is still alive in the White House. He also said he
planned to support Judge Charles W. Pickering Sr.'s nomination to
the federal appeals court based on his qualifications." (01/13/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030113-10600494.htm

--

18) Supreme Court blocks massive tire lawsuit
     Nashville City Paper

"Bridgestone’s Nashville-based North American division and Ford
Motor Co. won’t face a $1 billion nationwide class-action lawsuit.
The U.S. Supreme Court today decided not to hear the case, which
a federal appeals court earlier ruled did not show enough
similarities to merit a consolidated lawsuit on behalf of 60 million
tire purchasers. The plaintiffs had sought at least $1 billion for
consumers who owned either a 1991-2001 Ford Explorer or another
vehicle equipped with one of six Firestone tire models." (01/13/03)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=33&screen=news&news_id=19351

--



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COMMENTARY
---------------

19) We were almost free
     Rational Review
     by L. Neil Smith

"It must have been a shock to maintainers of the Superstate when
the Vietnam war was ended, for all practical purposes, by millions
of everyday Americans disgusted by it and by the lies that had
supported it. When the latterday Lincolnians were sure that sort of
thing would no longer work, the War on Drugs was engineered. And
when that finally began to grow tiresome, the War on Terrorism --
beginning with the Persian Gulf War -- was brought in like a
wrestler at a tag-team match, ..." (01/14/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/lneilsmith/lneilsmith011403.html

--

20) Economics vs politics
     Town Hall
     by Thomas Sowell

"The only people whose taxes can be cut are people who are
paying taxes. This simple and obvious fact gets overlooked by
those who are busy crying 'tax cuts for the rich.' Tax rates are so
skewed that a relatively small percentage of the population pays a
huge proportion of the taxes at any given time. That ensures that
any serious tax cut will qualify as 'tax cuts for the rich' -- as defined
by liberals." (01/14/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20030114.shtml

--

21) In the spirit of compromise ...
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"The administration wants to enhance its sorry package of income
tax cuts and do away with double taxation of stock dividends ....
The Democrats want to take a 'holiday' from the payroll taxes that
are theoretically linked to Social Security and Medicare ... Two
packages, and a libertarian alternative -- an alternative which is in
the pure spirit of practical political compromise. Let's do _both_."
(01/14/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp011403.html

--

22) Is the worst yet to come?
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by William Anderson

"As the economic downturn moves into its third year, making it the
longest in the postwar period, the White House announces yet
another economic ‘stimulus’ package. Now, this set of proposals is
not to be confused with ‘Stimulus I’ or ‘Stimulus II,’ or even the
ongoing ‘stimulus’ actions taken by Alan Greenspan and the
Federal Reserve System. No, this proposal is based upon the
same foolishness as the other legislative packages emanating from
Washington ..." (01/13/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1138

--

23) Democracy and virtue
     Strike the Root
     by John deLaubenfels

"Democracy has nothing to do with how to live one's life, or how to
act toward others. I shop at the grocery store I choose, not one
that a majority has imposed upon everyone. I earn money by
offering my services to a willing employer, not by being elected by
a majority to a position where my salary is assured. I ponder the
question of what to put into my own body without asking a majority
of my neighbors for permission. And I expect that my neighbors will
make their own decisions on these and thousands of other
questions relevant to their own lives." (01/13/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/deLaubenfels/delaubenfels38.html

--

24) Terrorist sanctuary
     Cato Institute
     by Doug Bandow

"Although the Bush administration is focused on planning an
entirely new war against Iraq, the battle against al Qaeda and its
Taliban allies is far from over. Unfortunately, it isn't likely to end
until the U.S. stops allowing western Pakistan to act as a
sanctuary for terrorists." (01/14/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-14-03.html

--

25) Content is crap
     TechCentralStation
     by Arnold Kling

"[I]t is important to recognize that publishers perform a valid
economic function of filtering content and effectively distributing and
selling it to consumers. Today's media companies deserve plenty
of contempt, as I have argued many times .... However, although
we can get along without today's publishers, we cannot get along
without the function that they perform." (01/13/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-011\
303A

--

26) Pete Townshend's thoughts on pedophilia
     Fox News
     by Roger Friedman

"The Who's Pete Townshend has been arrested in Britain for
suspicion of making and possessing indecent images of children
and of incitement to distribute indecent images of children, relating
to research he claims to have been doing on the subject via the
Internet. The Fox 411 has obtained an impassioned letter
Townshend wrote and posted to his own Web site a year ago --
and since deleted -- which may or may not demonstrate that he
was doing what he said he was doing." (01/13/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,75414,00.html

--

27) Drugs and terrorism and insulting ads
     Boston Globe
     by Cathy Young

"A new television ad campaign suggests that if you drive a sport-
utility vehicle, you are helping terrorism by putting money in the
pockets of oil-producing, terrorism-sponsoring countries like Saudi
Arabia and Iraq. The commercials, which started to air on Sunday,
are already causing controversy ... In one sense, however, the ads
are most welcome -- as a parody of the even more ludicrous
commercials from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which
assert that anyone who uses drugs is helping support terrorism."
(01/13/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/013/oped/Drugs_and_terrorism_and_insulting_ads\
+.shtml

--

28) The real class war: Democrats vs us
     Frontiers of Freedom
     by John R. Averyt

"The Democrats have declared class war ... on us. Their blaring
assertion is once more of special privilege for the wealthy. It
continues to be reported and repeated as if worthy of consideration.
There can be only one conclusion. They want you to stay broke.
According to Tom Daschle, we are giving money to, ‘the wrong
people.’ Ridiculous. First, the Bush Economic package gives
nothing to anyone, it merely does not take what someone already
owns, their tax dollars." (01/13/03)

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcontributors/averyt_20030113.html

--

29) State must tighten its belt
     Mackinac Center/Lansing State Journal
     by Michael D. LaFaive

"Michigan state government is facing a substantial shortfall in
revenue that will require many tough decisions. But state
government is not the only entity in Michigan that's having a difficult
time. Hundreds of thousands of Michigan families and businesses
are too. ... The state's first priority ought to be the fiscal health of
the hard-working people who, as taxpayers, have to pay the state's
bills before they pay their own." (01/12/03)

http://www.lsj.com/opinions/letters/030112_lafaptv_(forum).html

--

30) The fig leaf of "diversity"
     Boston Globe
     by Jeff Jacoby

"As a justification for racial preferences, 'diversity' is one of the
great fig leaves of modern American academia. It first appeared in
1978, well after affirmative action had degenerated into the practice
of admitting students on the basis of color ... Now the issue is
back before the Supreme Court, which will soon hear arguments in
a pair of cases challenging the University of Michigan's use of
racial preferences. The justices will be asked to decide ... Is the
goal of diversity enough of a 'compelling interest' to override the
Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment?" (01/12/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/012/oped/The_fig_leaf_of_diversity_+.shtml

--

31) Happy imbeciles at war
     San Francisco Chronicle
     by Mark Morford

"Let's be perfectly clear. You cannot have a war when the so-called
enemy has done nothing to provoke you and is absolutely no threat
to your national safety and has no significant military force and has
negligible chance of even setting off a firecracker near your own
overwhelming death machines, and whose only weapons of
minimal destruction are the rusty short-range warheads and
biochemical agents we sold him 20 years ago, and kept selling to
him, even after we knew he was gassing his own people."
(01/10/03)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/01/10/notes011\
003.DTL

--

32) Beating a dead horse
     Center For Individual Freedom
     by staff

"While the ability of consumers to seek damages when ‘real’ harm
is done constitutes a fundamental safeguard against corporate
wrongdoing, trial lawyers have highjacked the judiciary with filings
based on trial-and-error, obscure legal theories and frivolous
lawsuits in search of a big payday. Reasonable protections against
such lawsuits will certainly help to alleviate the burgeoning
caseload in the courts." (01/09/03)

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/confirmation_proce\
ss.htm

--

33) Listen to the words of a madman
     Liberty For All
     by Todd Andrew Barnett

"He wants us to believe that an incoming attack by Hussein and
his allies will ‘cripple our economy.’ But the truth of the matter is
that the federal government has already accomplished that via
massive, invasive federal programs, regulations, and taxes on the
economy -- without the help of Saddam Hussein and his cohorts --
and that federal spending on the War on Terrorism and the War
with Iraq has already hiked significantly." (01/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan5/madman.html

--

34) An indispensable gay man
     Village Voice
     by Nat Hentoff

"Three weeks before the March on Washington, Strom Thurmond
denounced Bayard on the Senate floor as a homosexual, draft
evader, and former member of the Communist Party. It didn't work."
(01/10/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0303/hentoff.php

--

35) Affirmative casualties
     TechCentralStation
     by Radley Balko

"Rep. Charlie Rangel (D- NY) took his 'fairness in the military'
proposal a step further this week. The congressman is now calling
for what he calls 'affirmative casualties' in war, a move he says will
'ensure that the dead and maimed statistics coming back from the
battlefields of any future U.S. military engagements look more like
America.'" (01/13/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/defensewrapper.jsp?PID=1051-350&CID=1051-\
011303B

--

36) A travesty without a remedy
     America's Future Foundation
     by Tim Carney

"Liberalism has at its core the human instinct that problems ought
to be solved and wrongs ought to be righted. In most cases this is
a good reaction. But often, this instinct to ‘do something’ -- about
the unemployment rate, bad CEOs, etc. -- leads to terrible abuses
of power where the remedy is worse than the problem." (01/03)

http://www.americasfuture.org/viewBrainwash.cfm?pubid=203

--

37) We were soldiers once? The Bush war record
     Mother Jones
     by staff

A graphical timeline of George W. Bush's ... sort of ... military
career. (01/03)

http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2003/02/ma_217_01.html

--



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Monday, January 13th, 2003

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Pentagon begins spam offensive
2)  Clonaid VP summoned to court
3)  Townshend, two Labour MPs embroiled in child porn inquiry
4)  Rules on environment concern Pentagon
5)  US ships eye eastern Mediterranean for war role
6)  Illinois governor empties death row
7)  North Korea blames US for nuclear crisis
8)  USDA aims to beef up scrutiny
9)  Protests counter neo-Nazi rally
10) US espionage suspect heads to court
11) Frist makes deal to cut protection for Eli Lilly
12) 62,000 US troops headed to gulf
13) Elderly man on walker fatally shoots robber
14) Pakistan protests US anti-terror policy
15) Malaysian Islamist calls for stonings
16) Baptists apply pressure to gay rights proposal
17) US threatens lawsuit over 'immoral' GM food stance
18) Supreme Court to decide Holocaust Insurance Law

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

19) Let him who desires peace
20) Drugs and violence and the ONDCP
21) Turning point
22) Hazard pay for freedom fighters
23) Rational Review smackdown -- The Free State Project
24) Try economic plans without the political labels
25) We are not coming to Tennessee
26) Some tax cut!
27) The 'Ring' and the remnants of the West
28) Burn this, Charlie!
29) Subject or citizen?
30) Washington's education establishment
31) Technology and freedom: The virtuous circle
32) Guns save lives
33) Nick and Norm: How The Drug War Commercial Should Read


NEWS
---------------

1)  Pentagon begins spam offensive
     Sydney Morning Herald

"The US military had begun an email campaign urging military and
civilian leaders in Iraq to turn away from President Saddam
Hussein, a Pentagon official speaking on condition of anonymity
said today. Iraqis began to receive the emails last week ... The
state-controlled email service is available only to a small number of
Iraqis, mainly government officials, senior public servants,
academics and scientists." (01/12/03)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/12/1041990171711.html
--

2)  Clonaid VP summoned to court
     Reuters

"An executive of a company claiming to have cloned babies has
been summoned to a Florida court to answer questions on the
whereabouts of a cloned infant it said was born last month, a
lawyer said Sunday. ... The company has refused to identify the
parents of the children and has backed away from an initial
promise to allow DNA testing to verify the girl known as Eve was
cloned, saying the American mother and her husband wanted
guarantees the child would not be taken from them." (01/13/03)

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=2031750
--

3)  Townshend, two Labour MPs embroiled in child porn inquiry
     Guardian

"Two MPs are under investigation for accessing child pornography
websites as part of a huge police operation that this weekend
embroiled the rock star Pete Townshend. ... The MPs, who are
both reported to be former Labour ministers, are the latest public
figures to become caught up in Operation Ore, the largest inquiry
into child pornography undertaken in the UK. More than 1,300
people have already been arrested as part of the police
investigation ..." (01/13/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,873536,00.html
--

4)  Rules on environment concern Pentagon
     Washington Post

"The Pentagon plans to ask Congress next month for relief from
environmental regulations that protect endangered species and
critical habitats on millions of acres of military training ranges
across the country, saying those controls impede crucial exercises
and combat readiness. Defense officials said last week in
interviews that their plan is designed to strike a ‘common sense’
balance between environmental stewardship and wartime
readiness." (01/13/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47531-2003Jan12.html
--

5)  US ships eye eastern Mediterranean for war role
     Washington Post

"The renewed Navy presence is significant because it comes as
U.S. war planners are eyeing the eastern end of the Mediterranean,
off the coasts of Israel and Lebanon, for a possible role in any new
war with Iraq. None of the six carriers that fought in the 1991
Persian Gulf War operated in the Mediterranean, but that is likely
to be different if another war occurs. During the last war, U.S.
aircraft couldn't use Jordanian airspace, but they might receive
permission this time." (01/13/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47392-2003Jan12.html
--

6)  Illinois governor empties death row
     Boston Globe

"Governor George Ryan of Illinois said he would clear the state's
death row of all 156 inmates yesterday, commuting sentences
imposed by an 'arbitrary and capricious' system. He asked the rest
of the nation to reconsider the practice of putting some killers to
death." (01/12/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/012/nation/Illinois_governor_empties_death_row\
+.shtml
--

7)  North Korea blames US for nuclear crisis
     CNN

"North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations is placing the
blame for escalating tensions over the country's nuclear program
squarely with what it says is the open hostility of the United
States. The comments came as Pyongyang continued with its
hardline stance, warning in a newspaper commentary Sunday that
any military confrontation would be met with what it called ‘a sea of
fire.’" (01/12/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/01/12/nkorea.nuclear/index.html
--

8)  USDA aims to beef up scrutiny
     Denver Post

"Had inspectors known how to piece together dozens of E. coli
findings at the Greeley slaughterhouse, they could have seen that
a bigger problem was building and taken action, Elsa Murano told
The Denver Post. Murano is the food-safety division chief in the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a result, the USDA is allocating
$5 million in its upcoming budget to train 7,600 inspectors to look
beyond individual contamination problems and detect lurking
threats." (01/12/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1104776%257E,00.html
--

9)  Protests counter neo-Nazi rally
     Boston Globe

"As white supremacists in Lewiston, Maine preached their doctrine
to a few dozen of the faithful yesterday, their message was
countered by an outpouring of about 4,500 people who converged
on this city to promote tolerance. From outside the National Guard
armory, where the World Church of the Creator held its meeting, to
the Bates College gymnasium, where an overflow crowd gathered
for a pro-diversity rally, the presence of the neo-Nazis prompted a
passionate demonstration that spanned generations and a broad
range of interest groups." (01/12/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/012/metro/Protests_counter_neo_Nazi_rally+.sht\
ml
--

10) US espionage suspect heads to court
     MSNBC

"As Washington faces a possible showdown with Iraq, the trial
begins this week for a former U.S. intelligence analyst who faces
the death penalty for allegedly trying to sell top secret defense
information to Iraq and Libya. Brian Regan, 40, has been charged
with attempted espionage for writing nearly identical letters to Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein and Libyan President Muammar
Gaddafi offering top-secret satellite surveillance and other defense
material in return for $13 million." (01/12/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/858316.asp?0cv=CB20
--

11) Frist makes deal to cut protection for Eli Lilly
     Tennessean

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., announced a deal
yesterday to repeal controversial measures tacked onto the law
creating the new Homeland Security Department, including an
amendment granting vaccine-makers liability protection. The
provisions were inserted into the legislation at the 11th hour last
fall. Critics had denounced the maneuver, saying the provisions
were unrelated to the main bill and were inserted to benefit special
interests." (01/11/03)

http://tennessean.com/nation-world/archives/03/01/27564522.shtml?Element_ID=2756\
4522
--

12) 62,000 US troops headed to gulf
     MSNBC

"The Pentagon ordered 62,000 troops to the Persian Gulf over the
weekend, part of a rapidly growing buildup for possible war with Iraq
that aims to have more than 100,000 soldiers in place by the end of
the month. Defense officials said the United States could be ready
for war by mid- to late-February with a force exceeding 150,000
soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen." (01/12/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/852248.asp?0cv=CA00
--

13) Elderly man on walker fatally shoots robber
     Savannah Morning News

"When 74-year-old J.C. Adams saw three would-be robbers walk
into his convenience store, he grabbed his shotgun with one hand
and balanced himself on his walker with the other... He pushed the
walker to the front of the store and confronted the armed suspects,
firing a blast that killed one man and wounded the other." (01/11/03)

http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/011103/LOCElderlyCrimestopper.shtml
--

14) Pakistan protests US anti-terror policy
     CNN

"Pakistan's ruling party has passed a resolution demanding that
the United States not mistreat Pakistani citizens and voicing
concern over America's anti-terror policy requiring Pakistanis and
others to register with the government. During the Pakistani Muslim
League general council meeting Saturday, newly-elected party
president Chaudary Shaujaat Hussain affirmed that Pakistan and
the United States remained partners in the war against terrorism."
(01/12/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/01/11/pakistan.us/index.html
--

15) Malaysian Islamist calls for stonings
     BBC News

"The spiritual leader of Malaysia's main Islamist opposition party,
Pas, has called for people convicted of sex crimes to be stoned to
death in public ... On Friday Malaysia announced that it would not
bring in the death penalty for those convicted of rape and incest
involving children, as had originally been proposed. Instead those
found guilty of rape or incest will face whipping and up to 30 years
in jail." (01/11/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2648569.stm
--

16) Baptists apply pressure to gay rights proposal
     Washington Times

"Southern Baptists are threatening to cancel a massive convention
in Nashville, Tenn., if the City Council passes legislation giving
more rights to homosexuals. The Southern Baptist Convention, a
denomination of 16 million members headquartered in Nashville,
opposes the homosexual rights measure, which has survived two
readings and is set for a vote Jan. 21." (01/11/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030111-2162777.htm
--

17) US threatens lawsuit over 'immoral' GM food stance
     Sydney Morning Herald

"The Bush Administration's top trade official has announced that he
wants to file a case against the European Union for its ban on
genetically modified food, saying the European position was
'Luddite' and 'immoral' and was leading to starvation in the
developing world." (01/10/03)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/10/1041990095759.html
--

18) Supreme Court to decide Holocaust Insurance Law
     FindLaw

"The U.S. Supreme Court said on Friday it would decide whether
California can force insurers to disclose information about their
Holocaust-era policies under a law the U.S., German and Swiss
governments all oppose. The justices agreed to review a U.S.
appeals court ruling that upheld as constitutional California's
Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief Act of 1999, which revokes the
license of any company that fails to comply with the law."
(01/10/03)

http://news.findlaw.com/news/s/20030110/courtholocaustdc.html
--



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COMMENTARY
---------------

19) Let him who desires peace
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by L. Neil Smith

"[I]f the peace you seek consists of not letting your own country
pursue military adventures aimed creating an empire, consolidating
dictatorial power at home, cornering the market on an energy
source that will be obsolete by the middle of this century, or turning
the drooling idiots and moral cripples that our electoral system
selects for into War Presidents, a different approach is called for,
one that requires more intelligence and courage than most people
seem capable of mustering today." (01/13/03)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe206-20030113-02.html
--

20) Drugs and violence and the ONDCP
     Town Hall
     by Rich Lowry

"ONDCP, showing some residual good taste, spares viewers the
splattered brains, but we are supposed to learn that smoking pot
will kill you. ... get you raped or make you a rapist, prompt you to
run over children on bikes, and otherwise transform you into a
rampaging beast. Thus is the sensationalistic dishonesty of the
War on Drugs broadcast for all to see .... No kid will be dissuaded
by these ads from trying marijuana, since the ads are so at odds
with nearly everyone's experience with the drug. But ONDCP can't
produce more tempered and truthful ads about pot -- because it
simply isn't that scary." (01/13/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/richlowry/rl20030113.shtml
--

21) Turning point
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"In order to start reaching and educating the American people --
who still, for example, somehow connect Saddam Hussein with
9/11 -- the antiwar movement must divorce itself from the ritualistic
incantations of the contemporary Left and adopt a single-issue
perspective. While there are a few problems with WWW -- what are
we 'winning' without war? The 'right' to disarm any and all nations
on earth? -- this new coalition, funded by Hollywood celebrities, is
a giant step in the right direction." (01/13/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j011303.html
--

22) Hazard pay for freedom fighters
     Laissez Faire Times
     by Russell Madden

"What should be the inconceivable -- that the State has the right to
do any of the many wrongs it commits -- when that profoundly
warped and distorted idea becomes, first, the commonplace, then
the accepted, and finally the unquestioned, a writer promoting
liberty may one day soon be taking his life into his own hands by
pointing out what should be the obvious but has instead been
transformed into the unthinkable." (01/13/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/its_unbelievable.htm
--

23) Rational Review smackdown -- The Free State Project
     Rational Review
     by Steve Trinward and Thomas L. Knapp

Pro-con on a project which aims to bring 20,000 libertarians to the
same location and create freedom. "The Free State project: good
idea or libertopian fantasy?" by Steve Trinward; "Contra Trinward:
the secret virtue of the Hail Mary" by Thomas L. Knapp.

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/stevetrinward/stevetrinward011203.html
http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp011203.html
--

24) Try economic plans without the political labels
     Tennessean
     by Tim Chavez

"Take the economic stimulus plan taste test. The political labels
have been taken off, so you won't be able to tell which is from
President Bush or congressional Democrats. Your challenge today
is to pick which plan fits your needs and those of your family more
closely ..." (01/12/03)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/equaltime/archives/03/01/27572951.shtml?Element_ID\
=27572951
--

25) We are not coming to Tennessee
     Sierra Times
     by Mark and Diane Wilson

"We are Texas residents. Mark, a retired Army first sergeant, is
mayor pro tem of our small town; Diane is a disabled Army veteran
and a telecommunications professional. We have two teenage
children. We are making plans for our summer vacation; we want
you to know why those plans will absolutely and completely omit
Tennessee." (01/11/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/12/edmw011203.htm
--

26) Some tax cut!
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"One learns over the years not to get too excited about any
proposal coming from Washington that seems like a good thing.
One must wait for the dust to settle, read the text, examine the fine
print, and generally look past the sloganeering. The Bush tax cut is
a good example. The more we know, the more suspicious we
become." (01/11/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/taxcut.html
--

27) The 'Ring' and the remnants of the West
     Asia Times
     by Spengler

"The most important cultural event of the past decade is the
ongoing release of the film version of J R R Tolkien's The Lord of
the Rings. No better guide exists to the mood and morals of the
United States. The rapturous response among popular audiences
to the first two installments of the trilogy should alert us that
something important is at work. Richard Wagner's 19th-century
tetralogy of music dramas, The Ring of the Nibelungs, gave
resonance to National Socialism during the inter-war years of the
last century. Tolkien does the same for Anglo-Saxon democracy."
(01/11/03)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EA11Aa02.html
--

28) Burn this, Charlie!
     anti-state.com
     by Rett Peaden

"The world is completely upside down and I'm waiting for Rod
Sterling to come on camera and tell everybody that it's only a
dream. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. The latest episode of life
imitating small screen art is the Draft Warp. In this installment of
the series, government scientists resurrect the once thought
extinct Draft Monster, who eats the country's young men."
(01/10/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=370
--

29) Subject or citizen?
     Liberty For All
     by R. Lee Wrights

"County and city governments have been controlling the choices of
their citizens for years and doing it in the name of the ‘greater
good’ or the ‘common good.’ All the while, year after year,
Democrats and Republicans add links to the chains that already
enslave us by further legislating our decisions for us. They do not
trust us to take care of ourselves. Like benevolent masters they
look down upon the pitiful slaves and mercifully relieve them of their
choices and rob them of their personal responsibility." (01/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan5/subject.html
--

30) Washington's education establishment
     Jewish World Review
     by Walter Williams

"It's a no-brainer that everyone benefits if we can get children out of
high-cost, low quality schools into lower-cost, higher-quality
schools. The only losers I see are teacher unions and the board of
education." (01/09/03)

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/williams1.asp
--

31) Technology and freedom: The virtuous circle
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by James K. Glassman

"Without freedom, technologies that enhance human welfare would
be scarce rather than abundant. Technology and freedom are
symbiotic, forming a virtuous circle. By examining the relationship
between them, we can find ways to preserve the circle and to
accelerate activity within it." (01/08/03)

http://www.ncpa.org/pub/bg/bg158/
--

32) Guns save lives
     Backwoods Home Magazine
     book review by John Silveira

"In case after case you read about real people: women who wake
up in the middle of the night to find strangers on top of them while
their children sleep in the next room, elderly who wind up in hand-
to-hand combat with crack addicts, or store owners who find the
business end of a gun jammed in their faces. And there is no John
Wayne, there is no cop waiting in the wings to save them. And all
would have been lost, except for the moment when the citizen --
make that average citizen -- grabs a personal firearm, and in a
turning-of-the-tables that rarely happens in the movies, he or she
pulls the trigger and sends the miscreant on a well-deserved, one-
way trip straight to hell." (01/03)

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/bookreview79.html
--

33) Nick and Norm: How The Drug War Commercial Should Read
     Sierra Times
     by J.J. Johnson

"With the onslaught of television commercials now running on the
airwaves staring 'Nick and Norm' at the dinner table, I wonder why
no one has really challenged the notion that the 'war on drugs'
causes terrorism. Yet it continues unchallenged. A script written to
counter it might sound something like this ..." (01/09/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/10/arjj011003.htm
--


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Friday, January 10th, 2003

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TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Iraq guilty regardless of UN findings, says US
2)  Luggage bomb hoax lands couple in jail
3)  New Mexico governor meets with North Korean envoys in Santa Fe
4)  Nitschke suicide machine confiscated
5)  US readies initiative in Venezuela impasse
6)  Beleaguered Sharon cut off in mid-broadcast
7)  Source: Illinois governor to pardon death row inmates
8)  Execs say war could worsen airline woes
9)  Knopf halts publication of "history" book
10) Killing of family dog unfolds on videotape
11) Eighth grader punished for not saluting flag
12) University police help the FBI in terror fight
13) UK school to use retina scanner
14) Gun law hunger strike
15) Crackdown on abusive traffic fine cheques

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) The great global Social Security giveaway?
17) Plundering "for the children"
18) Big Brother wants YOU
19) The paper chase
20) Still burning
21) Payroll tax cuts create jobs
22) In the INS line
23) US voices needed to aid Arab reformer
24) Education: the political curse
25) The American Indian And The "Great Emancipator"
26) Twin fears
27) Ending the war on drugs
28) Property rights vs. "will of majority"
29) Defining a new "anarchist" language
30) Prohibition's last gasp
31) Israeli restraint makes terrorism more likely
32) Lott jeopardizes individual liberty
33) DNA databases will be national ID card


NEWS
---------------

1)  Iraq guilty regardless of UN findings, says US
     Independent Online

"The White House has insisted that it knows 'for a fact' that Iraq
has weapons of mass destruction but provided no evidence, saying
it will wait to see where UN inspections lead. ... The US, keeping
with past practice, did not reveal what evidence it possesses
proving Iraq has weapons of mass destruction." (01/10/03)

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=22&art_id=vn20030110054033847C469950&set\
_id=1
--

2)  Luggage bomb hoax lands couple in jail
     CNN

"When their bags were put through a bomb detection machine,
federal screeners found what turned out to be a snow boot with
batteries, wires and an electrical power strip arranged in a
suspicious way. Screeners also found a note that read, ‘To the
uniformed puppet opening this bag -- congratulations. You've just
brought this once free nation one step closer to becoming a fascist
police state,’ according to Transportation Security Administration
spokesman Robert Johnson." (01/09/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/01/09/luggage.hoax/index.html
--

3)  New Mexico governor meets with North Korean envoys in Santa Fe
     Kansas City Star

"New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador,
became a surprise intermediary Thursday night between the United
States and North Korea. Richardson met in New Mexico with two
envoys from the communist country. He had visited North Korea on
two diplomatic missions while he was a member of Congress in the
1990s." (01/10/03)

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/4912288.htm
--

4)  Nitschke suicide machine confiscated
     Sydney Morning Herald

"Euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke was stopped by customs
officers at Sydney airport today as he prepared to board a flight to
the United States to unveil his death machine. Dr Nitschke said
customs officers opened his bags and confiscated the machine ...
the officers told him the machine contravened new federal
legislation which prevented the export of items relating to suicide."
(01/10/03)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/10/1041990085855.html
--

5)  US readies initiative in Venezuela impasse
     Washington Post

"Increasingly concerned about an oil shortage as a possible war
with Iraq approaches, the Bush administration has overcome its
reluctance to become involved in Venezuela's escalating political
conflict and is preparing a major initiative it hopes will lead to a
breakthrough in deadlocked talks between the government and
opposition there, according to U.S. and foreign diplomatic sources.
The U.S. initiative is centered on the formation of a group of
‘Friends of Venezuela,’ trusted by one or both sides to the conflict,
that would develop and guarantee a compromise proposal ..."
(01/10/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35622-2003Jan9.html
--

6)  Beleaguered Sharon cut off in mid-broadcast
     Los Angeles Daily News

"[Israelie Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, his once almost certain re-
election thrown into the balance by corruption charges, went on the
counterattack Thursday night, but his feisty, nationally televised
news conference was abruptly yanked off the air. ... he was cut off
after it was determined he was using the broadcast time illegally to
spread 'election propaganda' in the month before the vote."
(01/09/03)

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E1099842,00.html
--

7)  Source: Illinois governor to pardon death row inmates
     Chicago Sun-Times

"[Illinois] Gov. George Ryan will pardon four death row inmates
Friday in the first of two highly anticipated speeches capping his
three-year campaign to highlight flaws in the state's capital
punishment system .... A source close to the clemency process,
who spoke Thursday only on condition of anonymity, said Ryan
would pardon four men [who] have alleged that Chicago police
tortured them into making confessions." (01/09/03)

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/09ryan.html
--

8)  Execs say war could worsen airline woes
     Denver Post/AP

"Airline executives told Congress on Thursday that their companies
still face major financial problems that probably will worsen if
America goes to war with Iraq. Air travel has yet to return to pre-
Sept. 11 levels. The number of people flying in November was down
almost 18 percent from November 2000, according to the
Transportation Department. Since the attacks, the major airlines
have laid off more than 80,000 employees, cut wages for others
and reduced the number of flights, but they still expect to lose $9
billion last year." (01/09/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONGRESS_AIRLINES?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=\
HOME
--

9)  Knopf halts publication of "history" book
     Austin American-Statesman

"Publication has been halted on a disputed book about the history
of guns in the United States. Questions about Michael Bellesiles'
'Arming America' had already led Columbia University to rescind
the prestigious Bancroft Prize for history. When Columbia made
the announcement last month, publisher Alfred A. Knopf said the
book would remain in print. But Jane Garrett, Bellesiles' editor, told
The Associated Press that the publisher would no longer sell it. "
(01/09/03)

http://www.austin360.com/aas/life/ap/ap_story.html/Entertainment/AP.V8380.AP-His\
tory-Book-Ca.html
--

10) Killing of family dog unfolds on videotape
     Tennessean

"Three minutes and seven seconds tells the story of a dog named
Patton, shot at close range Jan. 1 by a Cookeville [TN] policeman
during a felony traffic stop, belonged to the James Smoak family of
Saluda, N.C. At the time, the Tennessee Highway Patrol
suspected the Smoaks (James, his wife, Pamela, and his stepson,
Brandon Hayden) were involved in a Nashville-area robbery.
Yesterday, the THP acknowledged there was no robbery, just a
calamitous mix-up in communications between dispatchers
working for two separate patrol offices." (01/09/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27473390.shtml?Element_ID=27473390
--

11) Eighth grader punished for not saluting flag
     The Press Democrat

"Woodburg [was told] to stand outside the classroom when he
wouldn't say the Pledge of Allegiance in his U.S. history and
constitution class last semester. 'I believe the flag is a symbol of
the government, and I think it's corrupt and I don't agree with some
of the choices it made,' he said." (01/08/03)

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/08pledge.html
--

12) University police help the FBI in terror fight
     Boston Globe

"Largely unnoticed by students and faculty, university police
departments across the country have begun collaborating with the
FBI in recent months, committing campus police officers to work
on antiterrorism task forces anywhere from a few hours to several
days per month. At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a
campus police detective reports to the Springfield office of the FBI
nearly full time. Other large public universities across the country
report similar relationships, although most involve a smaller time
commitment." (01/09/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/009/metro/University_police_help_the_FBI_in_te\
rror_fight+.shtml
--

13) UK school to use retina scanner
     News Day

"A new high school said Wednesday its students will be charged
for their lunches with a retina scanning device to prevent poor
children who eat for free from being ridiculed in the cafeteria ... The
retina scanning device also will be used in the library when
students take out and return books." (01/08/03)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-britain-retina-check0109jan0\
8,0,5163676.story
--

14) Gun law hunger strike
     Winnepeg News

"The Manitoba director for the National Firearms Association said
yesterday he's going on a hunger strike as a way to protest the
Canadian Firearms Act. Drader said he won't eat again until either
his health begins to fail or Prime Minister Jean Chretien calls an
election." (01/08/03)

http://www.canoe.ca/WinnipegNews/ws.ws-01-08-0011.html
--

15) Crackdown on abusive traffic fine cheques
     Ananova

"Michigan Judge John Pikkarainen has sentenced one man to two
days of community service for writing profanities on the memo line
of a cheque ... 'The issue as I see it is if someone came into the
court and used that language in front of me it would be
contemptuous,' said Judge Pikkarainen." (01/09/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_737847.html?menu=
--



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) The great global Social Security giveaway?
     LewRockwell.com
     by Ron Paul

"The proposed agreement is nothing more than a financial reward
to those who have willingly and knowingly violated our own
immigration laws. Talk about an incentive for illegal immigration!
How many more would break the law to come to this country if
promised U.S. government paychecks for life? Is creating a global
welfare state on the back of the American taxpayer a good idea?
The program also establishes a very disturbing precedent of U.S.
foreign aid to individual citizens rather than to states." (01/09/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul70.html
--

17) Plundering "for the children"
     Town Hall
     by Michelle Malkin

"When corporate moguls get nabbed for ripping off shareholders,
the media go ape-wild. Last year's front-page headlines were filled
with Big Business scandals and barrels of op-ed indignation about
capitalist greed. But when teachers' union officials plunder their
members' coffers in Enronic proportions, the media go ... AWOL."
(01/10/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/mm20030110.shtml
--

18) Big Brother wants YOU
     Laissez Faire Times
     by George F. Smith

"No libertarian should be without a draft card. Torching one in
public is one of the greatest affronts to state tyranny ever devised."
(To be published 01/13/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/bigbrother_wants_you.htm
--

19) The paper chase
     Cato Institute
     by Timothy Lynch

"Every day businesses across America get subpoenas from law
enforcement agencies. The police are trying to uncover illegal
activity, and they want business records -- a Visa chit, a printout of
200 phone calls, a copy of every check a bank customer has
written. Most businesses want to be helpful. But who should bear
the costs of collecting the information?" (01/10/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-10-03.html
--

20) Still burning
     Salon
     by Joe Conason

"Now that we have revisited Mississippi in 1948 with Trent Lott,
perhaps America will take another look at the Magnolia State
during the '60s and '70s with Lott's judicial protégé, Charles W.
Pickering Sr. ... Pickering's résumé displays many of the most
unappetizing characteristics of the segregationist milieu from which
he and so many other white Mississippi politicians have emerged."
(01/09/03)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2003/01/09/bush/index.html
--

21) Payroll tax cuts create jobs
     USA Today
     by Robert Walker

"Despite the White House's notable omission of payroll tax relief
from the economic stimulus proposal it made Tuesday, support is
growing for a Democratic counterproposal that would use short-
term payroll tax cuts to put more cash into consumers' hands. The
far more important reason for reducing payroll taxes, however,
remains job creation: Cutting payroll taxes (now 15.3% in Social
Security, disability and Medicare taxes, paid by employers and
workers alike) would reduce labor costs, pre-empting further layoffs
while encouraging new hires." (01/09/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030109/4764648s.htm
--

22) In the INS line
     Village Voice
     by Alisa Solomon

"Since December, when new laws requiring men from particular
Middle Eastern, South Asian, and other Muslim countries to
register with the INS went into effect, the gridlock has only
intensified... The next registration deadline hits this week --
January 10 -- and affects non-citizen men from such countries as
Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Somalia,
Tunisia, and Yemen. But it's not until February 21, the date by
which Pakistani and Saudi nationals must register, that New York
offices will face their biggest influx. The Pakistani community in
Midwood, Brooklyn, alone is estimated to be upwards of 150,000."
(01/08/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0302/solomon.php
--

23) US voices needed to aid Arab reformer
     Boston Globe
     by Ahmed H. Al-Rahim

"A Muslim-American recently won an important legal victory. On
Dec. 3, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Egypt's leading human rights activist
and a US citizen, was released from Egyptian prison. Several
months ago, Ibrahim was convicted and imprisoned on charges of
fraud, bribery and spreading false information. After condemnations
from Western observers and a threat from President George W.
Bush to withhold additional foreign aid, Egypt finally released
Ibrahim." (01/09/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/009/oped/US_voices_needed_to_aid_Arab_reformer\
+.shtml
--

24) Education: the political curse
     Yellow Times
     by Lance Broughton

"Like it or lump it, education in Godzone is the bane of politicians.
The last thing they want is a highly educated public with the ability
to ruminate. It runs against the grain of political thinking to have
common Joe Bloggs able to see through their tantrums and
foolhardy edicts." (01/09/03)

http://www.yellowtimes.com/article.php?sid=980&mode=thread&order=0
--

25) The American Indian And The "Great Emancipator"
     Sierra Times
     by Michael Gaddy

"Perhaps the veneer of lies and historical distortions that surround
Abraham Lincoln are beginning to crack. In the movie, 'Gangs of
New York,' we finally have a historically correct representation of
the real Abraham Lincoln and his policies ... The false sainthood
and adulation afforded Lincoln has its basis in the incorrect
assumption he fought the war to free an enslaved people. To
believe this propaganda one must ignore most everything Lincoln
said about the Black race and his continued efforts at colonization.
Lincoln's treatment of the American Indian has been very much
ignored, though not exactly misrepresented." (01/09/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/09/gaddy.htm
--

26) Twin fears
     Reason
     by Jacob Sullum

"The fact that someone else has the same genes as you does not
give you a right to treat him as a means to an end, as a tool in your
quest for immortality or an empty vessel for your consciousness.
Identical twins do not have license to enslave each other or use
each other for spare parts, so there is no reason to suppose that
anyone would ever be permitted to treat his clone that way."
(01/10/03)

http://www.reason.com/sullum/011003.shtml
--

27) Ending the war on drugs
     Laissez Faire Books
     by Dyanne Petersen

"The ‘War on Drugs’ began as a clever metaphor for the U.S.
Government's zero-tolerance for Americans to buy, sell and use the
substances legislators have made illegal. But the metaphor quickly
became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and a real war is being waged
inside U.S. borders and around the globe. ... The hypocrisies and
atrocities of this nation's War on Drugs, however, are being met by
a growing movement of protest and resistance, similar to the
glorious anti-war movements of our immediate and past history."
(01/03)

http://laissezfairebooks.com/index.cfm?tid=66
--

28) Property rights vs. "will of majority"
     Orange County Register
     by Tibor Machan

"The basis of virtually all freedom is the right to private property. If I
am to be free to publish, I must be free to own printing presses;
otherwise my freedom has no meaning. If the government owns the
presses, it has the power to revoke my liberty by simply denying
permission to use them. Just ask the journalists at Pravda in the
old Soviet Union!" (01/06/03)

http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=19025&section=COMMENTARY&yea\
r=2003&month=1&day=9
--

29) Defining a new "anarchist" language
     anti-state.com
     by Mark Gillespie

"Instead of saying anarchist, which has become a lazy habit by
people who may not even understand nor accept what it means,
say what you stand for. For example, saying that I espouse the
idea of an environment where the individual's choice is the highest
and only form of rule, is much different than saying that I espouse
the idea of an environment where the individual's choice is the
highest form of rule. One excludes everything but individual choice
where the other statement is more inclusive and open to
discussion or debate." (01/08/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=367
--

30) Prohibition's last gasp
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Ben Lieberman

"It isn't exactly the Untouchables v. Al Capone, but there is a legal
battle raging over the availability of alcoholic beverages. Internet
wine sales have grown substantially in recent years, offering
consumers both lower prices and improved product choice. But not
everyone has welcomed wine electronic commerce, especially the
old-economy liquor distributors. They have prevailed upon many
state governments to outlaw this new form of competition."
(01/06/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03318.cfm
--

31) Israeli restraint makes terrorism more likely
     Boston Globe
     by Jeff Jacoby

"Even by the grim standards of recent years, the suicide bombings
in Tel Aviv this week were horrific ... It was the third worst terror
attack in Israel in the past quarter-century, and Arafat's spokesman
issued a statement in English expressing 'total condemnation of
these terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians ...' But mere
gestures are not going to wipe out terrorism, nor are they going to
turn Palestinian hearts and minds against the terrorists. Mere
gestures can only feed Palestinian contempt for Israeli weakness
and reinforce the conviction that violence pays." (01/09/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/009/oped/Israeli_restraint_makes_terrorism_mor\
e_likely+.shtml
--

32) Lott jeopardizes individual liberty
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Sheldon Richman

"One of the problems with a politician like Trent Lott is that he
discredits perfectly legitimate policy positions by associating them
with racism. To make matters worse, now that he has again gotten
caught with his foot in his mouth, he will probably support bad laws
in order to prove he is no racist. A fine fix we are in. The American
people have been handed a bad package deal." (01/08/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301j.asp
--

33) DNA databases will be national ID card
     Strike the Root
     by Joe Blow

"Your DNA profile will be digitized, stored, and uploaded onto a
smart card that will be required for almost everything you buy, use,
or consume: alcohol, books, groceries, drugs, sex toys, cigarettes,
ammo, birth control pills, and medical services. You will need your
smart card for welfare benefits, traffic stops, buying a home,
cashing a check, or buying a gun. The system will be sold as part
of the Total Information Awareness program and federal law will
require it in the name of national security." (01/08/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/blow/blow6.html
--



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Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

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----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
                        Visit Rational Review at
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Thursday, January 9th, 2003

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Court upholds holding citizens as "combatants"
2)  India tests ballistic missile
3)  Bush defends federal intervention in education
4)  US is sharing Iraq data with Blix
5)  South Africa: CNN vs. Al Jazeera
6)  Scandals jolt Sharon campaign
7)  Con indicted in Matsch death plot
8)  US ramps up preparations at Qatar
9)  Smallpox shots spur fears
10) Will Metro law protect gays from discrimination or promote lifestyle?
11) Quaker refuses to pay tax "for the military"
12) It's "go" again for red-light camera bill
13) State senators vote to give up a pay increase
14) German faces jail for "ironic" remark
15) Small business fights for right to free speech

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) Voting as a self-defense strategy
17) Does oil require blood?
18) Lessons from Reagan
19) Pro-growth agenda vs. class warfare politics
20) Prevention and pre-emption
21) A tale of two tax plans
22) A smear continues
23) Politicians: limited to do good, boundless to do bad
24) More than a lifeboat: an interview with John D. Merrifield
25) The "new" economy
26) The danger of stimulating WMD proliferation
27) The state fiscal calamity and competitive sourcing
28) Iraq and the first war casualty
29) Target: Martin Luther King
30) The real problem with national defense


NEWS
---------------

1)  Court upholds holding citizens as "combatants"
     MSNBC

"A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the government
could hold U.S. citizens as enemy combatants during wartime
without the constitutional protections afforded Americans in
criminal prosecutions. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., overturned a lower court in
ruling that a captive’s status as a U.S. citizen did not change the
fact he was captured in Afghanistan while fighting alongside Taliban
and al-Qaida fighters." (01/08/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/856687.asp?0cv=CB10
--

2)  India tests ballistic missile
     BBC

"India has tested a nuclear-capable missile with a range of up to
800 kilometres. ... The latest Indian test comes a day after
Pakistan said a new intermediate-range missile system capable of
carrying nuclear warheads had been handed over to the army's
recently created strategic force command." (01/09/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2641157.stm
--

3)  Bush defends federal intervention in education
     Seattle Times

"President Bush marked the anniversary of last year's education
law yesterday by announcing that government was beginning
oversight of efforts to hold schools accountable. ... unions and
Democratic lawmakers have complained that the president's
budgets have failed to allot enough money ..." (01/09/03)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134612134_education09.html
--

4)  US is sharing Iraq data with Blix
     Washington Post

"After weeks of delay, the United States within the past several
days has begun providing United Nations inspectors with
‘significant’ intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs that has
enabled inspectors to become ‘more aggressive and to be more
comprehensive in the work they're doing,’ Secretary of State Colin
L. Powell said yesterday. But Powell said in an interview that the
Bush administration was still holding back some of its most
sensitive information ..." (01/09/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30349-2003Jan8.html
--

5)  South Africa: CNN vs. Al Jazeera
     Christian Science Monitor

"When South Africa's state-run news station ends its programming
day, it switches over to CNN to offer something for the country's
insomniacs. ... But last week, the South African Broadcasting
Corporation (SABC) said it was considering replacing CNN with Al
Jazeera, the Qatar-based news service." (01/09/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0109/p01s04-woaf.html
--

6)  Scandals jolt Sharon campaign
     Washington Post

"The uproar started three weeks ago with allegations of vote buying
by low-level functionaries in Israel's ruling Likud Party primaries last
month. Then came accusations of influence peddling and ties to
individuals with criminal backgrounds. This week, following
published reports of alleged bribery and coverup by Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and his family, the affair snowballed into every
politician's nightmare: a full-blown scandal less than three weeks
before elections." (01/09/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30310-2003Jan8.html
--

7)  Con indicted in Matsch death plot
     Denver Post/AP

"A federal grand jury in Amarillo has indicted a Texas prison inmate
on two felony counts of plotting to kill the Denver judge who
presided over the bombing trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry
Nichols. Christopher Lee Bennett, 28, is accused of soliciting two
men in January 2001 to kill U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch,
according to the indictment." (01/08/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1096879%257E,00.html
--

8)  US ramps up preparations at Qatar
     CNN

"Military personnel are rapidly preparing this military base for the
arrival of top brass from U.S. Central Command who are coming to
Qatar to direct a possible conflict with Iraq. This week, military
officials told CNN that senior U.S. military planners will go to Camp
As Sayliyah in Qatar in the coming days, to staff the headquarters.
If there is a war with Iraq, Gen. Tommy Franks would run it from
this base." (01/08/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/08/sproject.irq.qatar/index.html
--

9)  Smallpox shots spur fears
     Denver Post

"Colorado initially planned to vaccinate 1,400 health workers as
part of a federal program meant to get the nation ready in case of a
bioterrorism attack involving smallpox. But just two weeks before
the vaccine should arrive in Colorado, hospitals of all sizes,
including the 10-hospital Centura chain, Children's Hospital, St.
Joseph, Presbyterian St. Luke's in Denver and St. Mary's in Grand
Junction, say they still are not sure they will send anyone to be
vaccinated." (01/08/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1095433,00.html
--

10) Will Metro law protect gays from discrimination or promote lifestyle?
     Tennessean

"An effort to put Nashville in line with a nationwide move to prevent
homosexuals from being fired or denied housing because of their
lifestyle is on track, but not without a fight. Metro Councilman Chris
Ferrell, one of the sponsors of the anti-discrimination measure,
said he will make sure religious institutions are exempt from the
proposal. They represent the largest body of opponents." (01/08/03)

http://tennessean.com/government/archives/03/01/27416869.shtml?Element_ID=274168\
69
--

11) Quaker refuses to pay tax "for the military"
     Ananova

"A Quaker has appeared in court after refusing to pay part of his
taxes in case the money was used to pay for military purposes.
The accountant was summonsed to appear for refusing to pay £150
income tax, the sum the Inland Revenue calculated he owed after
he filled out a self-assessment form. He had sent a cheque made
out to the non-existent UK Government Non-Military Conflict
Resolution Fund, which could not be processed by the Inland
Revenue." (01/07/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_737245.html?menu=news.quirkies
--

12) It's "go" again for red-light camera bill
     Austin Statesman

"In a replay of one of the tightest legislative battles of 2001, Texas
lawmakers this year again will decide whether to let cities set up
automated cameras to nab red-light runners. The 2001 version of
the bill, a reincarnation of similar measures that failed in previous
sessions, twice fell one vote short of House approval that would
have sent it to the Senate, which approved a similar measure in
1995." (01/08/03)

http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/thursday/news_1.html
--

13) State senators vote to give up a pay increase
     Boston Globe

"All but one of Massachusetts' 40 state senators agreed yesterday
to decline pay raises they were guaranteed under the Constitution,
saying that in a time of economic crisis, they could not ask the
public to withstand sacrifices without making some themselves."
(01/08/03)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/008/metro/State_senators_vote_to_give_up_a_pay\
_increase+.shtml
--

14) German faces jail for "ironic" remark
     BBC

"A German man could be jailed for three years over a comment
posted on the internet in which he is accused of approving of the
events of 11 September ... 'The court will decide whether he did
indeed mean them ironically, and if so, whether or not that makes
any difference,' [said] court spokesman Juergen Wrobel." (01/07/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2636211.stm
--

15) Small business fights for right to free speech
     Institute for Justice

"Winchell’s Donut House franchisee Edward Salib today filed a
lawsuit seeking to vindicate his free speech rights, asking the court
to declare as unconstitutional the City of Mesa sign ordinance that
prevents Salib from advertising doughnuts and coffee in his shop
windows ... Salib fears that the City’s actions are about more than
just signs, and that the City may actually have other plans for his
land. His doughnut shop is located on the southwest corner of
Country Club Drive and Main Street, a corner that Mesa has
declared a 'gateway' into the downtown." (01/08/03)

http://www.ij.org/media/1ammend
--



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) Voting as a self-defense strategy
     Rational Review
     by Scott Bieser

Cartoon. (01/09/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/scottbieser/scottbieser010903.html
--

17) Does oil require blood?
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"It's obvious Iraq doesn't want war and the Bush administration
does. The administration claims war would be a preemptive strike,
but more honest commentators freely admit, as does Thomas
Friedman of the New York Times, that oil plays a huge role in the
continuing drama, even the decisive role." (01/08/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1134
--

18) Lessons from Reagan
     Cato Institute
     by Richard W. Rahn

"Mr. Reagan was the only modern president who researched and
wrote by himself more than a thousand commentaries of the public
issues of the day. He was thought to be lazy and uninterested in
policy yet, in fact, he was a voracious reader of books and policy
papers." (01/09/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-09-03.html
--

19) Pro-growth agenda vs. class warfare politics
     Acton Institute
     by Phillip W. De Vous

"In fine Washington style, the announcement of President Bush’s
economic growth plan has sparked another round of inside the
beltway class warfare. Typically, the anti-growth crowd has issued
the now stale cry that this plan ‘benefits the wealthy’, while leaving
little for low and middle- income Americans. ... Such a clarion call,
however, greatly misunderstands economic reality and the
developing dynamics of the American economy." (01/08/03)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=120
--

20) Prevention and pre-emption
     Slate
     by Christopher Hitchens

"In the present case of Iraq, a pre-emptive war is justified by its
advocates on the grounds of past Iraqi aggressions and the logical
presumption of future ones -- which would make it partly retaliatory
and partly preventive. This is fraught with the danger of casuistry
since if no sinister weaponry is found before the war begins, then
the war is re-justified on the grounds that it prevented such
weapons from being developed. (And if the weapons are found, as
one suspects they will be, after the intervention has taken place,
then they could be retrospectively justified as needful for defense
against an attack that was obviously coming.)" (01/08/03)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2076478/
--

21) A tale of two tax plans
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Wayne T. Brough

"Monday, Democrats unveiled a ten-year, $136 billion stimulus plan
to pre-empt the administration’s more aggressive $674 billion plan
to bolster economic growth. While both plans aim to improve
economic performance, they take decidedly different approaches.
Democrats continue to believe the government can spend its way
out of recession, calling for more spending and temporary
manipulations of the tax code." (01/08/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1220.htm
--

22) A smear continues
     TechCentralStation
     by Nick Schulz

"In a little over a year, a global smear campaign has attempted to
discredit the Danish academic [Bjorn Lomborg] who had the
audacity to question the hysterics and distortions of the modern
day environmental movement. ... The smear has now reached a
new low, with the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty
(DCSD) playing the 17th Century Catholic Church to Lomborg's
heretical Galileo." (01/08/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/envirowrapper.jsp?PID=1051-450&CID=1051-0\
10803F
--

23) Politicians: limited to do good, boundless to do bad
     Nashville City Paper
     by Walter Williams

"Whenever there's a World Trade Organization, Monetary Fund or
World Bank meeting, crowds of idealistic, useful idiots show up to
riot and protest against what they call globalization and capitalistic
exploitation of Third World poor people. They charge Western
multinational corporations with exploiting the poor through 'slave'
wages and child labor. Let's examine this nonsense." (01/08/03)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=9&screen=news&news_id=19230
--

24) More than a lifeboat: an interview with John D. Merrifield
     Heartland Institute
     by George A. Clowes

"[W]hat distinguishes Merrifield's contribution to the direction of the
school choice debate has been his willingness to question
enthusiastic school choice advocates about whether voucher
experiments like the one in Milwaukee can really tell anyone
anything about the marketplace and market forces, since those
features are largely absent from the program. That rigorous
questioning of whether market features are present in most school
choice experiments led Merrifield to Education Policy Institute
Chairman Myron Lieberman, who encouraged him to write a book
on the matter." (01/03)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=11291
--

25) The "new" economy
     AlterNet
     by D.A. Barber

"As the economy tanks and unemployment jumps to 6 percent
nationwide ... the 'underground economy' option is looking pretty
good to many Americans. Forget the get-rich-quick 'Work at Home'
ads .... There is an entire realm of underground economy activities
alive and well keeping many individuals and families above water by
dealing in cash payments or services under-the-table and off the
books." (01/08/03)

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14909
--

26) The danger of stimulating WMD proliferation
     Empower America
     by Jack Kemp

"[T]hreatening war against Iraq while simultaneously dealing with
the North Korean crisis through diplomacy may have the
unintended effect of encouraging small, weak nations to obtain
nukes and chemical-biological weapons as fast as they possibly
can in order to gain leverage." (01/07/03)

http://www.empoweramerica.org/stories/storyReader$669
--

27) The state fiscal calamity and competitive sourcing
     Hawaii Reporter
     by Geoffrey F. Segal

"Essentially, these policy makers are addressing the budget
crunch as a revenue issue. They know that tax revenue collected
by state government has more than doubled over the last 10 years,
and that expenditures have more than doubled in the same time
period. With coffers full, policy makers couldn't help themselves.
Rather than return the money, they funded every pet project they
could while giving generous pay raises to state employees."
(01/08/03)

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?2e9ba428-6797-40a0-a261-c4f7b311a4da
--

28) Iraq and the first war casualty
     Independent Institute
     by staff

"More than a decade after the Persian Gulf War, most Americans
still seem unaware of the deceptions that had emanated from the
White House, suggests Independent Institute research fellow Victor
Marshall in a new op-ed for the Los Angeles Times." (01/07/03)

http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/archive/CurrentLighthouse.html#story_1
--

29) Target: Martin Luther King
     Village Voice
     by Richard Goldstein

"If you were active in the '60s (or plan to be today), it will horrify you
to hear Pepper's account of the military's plans for dealing with
domestic disturbances: the sharpshooters who traveled through the
country with 'mug books' of alleged subversives; the maniacal
surveillance machine that churned out data on millions of
Americans; the links between right-wing racists, J. Edgar Hoover
(who was known to be obsessed with King), and top military
commanders." (01/08/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0302/goldstein.php
--

30) The real problem with national defense
     Strike the Root
     by Jack Rain

"The real problem is that almost everyone thinks that the threat of
nuclear attack should be dealt with by the government. In my view,
government is the damned problem. The great big government
public relations machine has lulled nearly the entire country into a
trance. We are out here basically naked against an attack and
Dick 'Oilman' Cheney is already hiding in an underground bunker.
What the hell ever happened to going down with the ship?"
(01/08/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Rain/rain30.html
--



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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
except on
holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
                        Visit Rational Review at
                     http://www.rationalreview.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, January 8th, 2003

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Ricin raid: suspects detained, Britain on terror alert
2)  US military planners to move to Qatar
3)  Bush renominates Mississippi judge, 29 others
4)  Sharon linked to bribe allegations
5)  UK signals push to secure Iraqi oilfields
6)  Senate extends jobless benefits, House kills ethics rules
7)  US willing to talk to North Korea
8)  Georgia county takes ax to government
9)  Indian accounts gap grows into a chasm
10) Detroit officer severs woman's finger
11) War could trigger police shortage
12) Bush: Urgent need for "bold" economic plan
13) California computer law has national reach
14) Jesus "healed using cannabis"
15) UK: Green agency invests millions in polluting firms

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) Left and right get behind an American empire
17) How government turns vice into votes
18) The war against life
19) Democratic folklore
20) Lying to God
21) War's cost may dwarf stimulus effect
22) A "moderate" prohibition
23) Recasting the Constitution
24) Come fly with me
25) Strapped of your liberties
26) Struggle is the only way
27) Jackbooted Teetotalers: "Don't Drink in the Bar"
28) Grand larceny -- with benchmarks
29) Children of the government
30) A Lott of nonsense


NEWS
---------------

1)  Ricin raid: suspects detained, Britain on terror alert
     Guardian

"Anti-terrorist police are desperately searching for a quantity of the
lethal poison ricin following the arrest in London of a potential al
Q'aeda cell that is suspected of plotting some form of chemical
attack in the UK. The national health service was put on alert
yesterday after tests at the defence, science and technology
laboratories at Porton Down showed that residue found in the
bedroom of a flat in High Road, Wood Green, north London, was
ricin, a toxin with no known antidote whose manufacture has been
linked to supporters of Osama bin Laden." (01/08/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,870467,00.html
--

2)  US military planners to move to Qatar
     CNN

"Senior U.S. military planners will move to Qatar as early as this
week to prepare for a possible conflict with Iraq, military officials
told CNN Tuesday. The contingent from the U.S. Central Command
will go to Camp As Sayliyah in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar to
staff the headquarters for a possible conflict. Eventually, about
1,000 U.S. troops will be stationed at that base." (01/07/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/07/sproject.irq.us.planners/index.html
--

3) Bush renominates Mississippi judge, 29 others
Washington Post

"Charles W. Pickering Sr. of Mississippi, who was rejected for a
federal appellate judgeship last year by Democrats who questioned
his commitment to civil rights, was renominated by President Bush
yesterday just hours after Republicans took control of the Senate.
Bush asked the Senate to consider 29 other candidates for federal
judgeships who had been blocked or defeated when Democrats
controlled the Senate." (01/08/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24888-2003Jan7.html
--

4)  Sharon linked to bribe allegations
     Independent

"Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, was linked yesterday for
the first time to corruption allegations, deepening a scandal
undermining support for his Likud party .... Sharon and his son
Gilad are suspected of deception, fraud, breach of trust and
receiving bribes, according to the daily newspaper Haaretz, which
cited a document obtained from the Israeli justice ministry."
(01/07/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=367306
--

5)  UK signals push to secure Iraqi oilfields
     Sydney Morning Herald

"As United States and British forces accelerate their build-up for
war against Saddam Hussein, control of Iraq's huge oil reserves
after any conflict has emerged explicitly as an issue in the
campaign. In London, the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw,
told a meeting of 150 British ambassadors that security of energy
sources was a key priority of current British foreign policy."
(01/08/03)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/07/1041566411879.html
--

6)  Senate extends jobless benefits, House kills ethics rules
     MSNBC

"The Senate returned to work Tuesday ... and immediately passed
a $7 billion jobless assistance package that would extend
emergency federal unemployment benefits by five months ....
Republicans imposed the stricter ethics rules after taking over the
House in 1995 .... But they voted Tuesday not only to kill the rules,
which applied only to House members and their staffs, but also to
defeat a Democratic effort to keep the rules in place." (01/07/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/855889.asp?pne=msntv
--

7)  US willing to talk to North Korea
     MSNBC

"In an apparent policy shift, the United States said Tuesday that it
was willing to hold talks with North Korea. The offer was made in a
statement issued at the end of talks involving U.S., Japanese and
South Korean diplomats on the communist regime’s move to revive
its nuclear weapons program." (01/07/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/850567.asp?0cv=CB10
--

8)  Georgia county takes ax to government
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"A good way to get government totally off the people's backs, a
majority of the Habersham County Commission decided, would be
to eliminate the government. The commission passed a motion last
week abolishing the county's planning commission, its land-use
plan and its building inspection program. It was a test of the basic
necessity of government, according to Commissioner Jerry
Tanksley, who said. 'We're going to see if people truly need to be
regulated.'..." (01/07/03)

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/1202/23habersham.html
--

9)  Indian accounts gap grows into a chasm
     Denver Post

"The gulf between American Indians and the U.S. government over
disputed Indian trust accounts widened Monday, with the Indians
saying they may be owed as much as $137 billion and the
government cutting its estimate of the balances to $335 million.
Lawyers for Indians who are challenging the government's handling
of the estimated 300,000 accounts, cited private accounting
records in saying they could be owed as much as $137 billion -- up
from previous estimates of $10 billion." (01/07/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1093237%257E,00.html
--

10) Detroit officer severs woman's finger
     Detroit Free Press

"A Detroit police officer with a knife cut off the finger of a 45-year-
old woman he was trying to handcuff in a parking lot on 8 Mile. The
police, who were in plainclothes, said she was resisting arrest. The
woman, Joni Gullas of Detroit, said Monday that she thought she
was being carjacked." (01/07/03)

http://www.freep.com/news/locway/knife7_20030107.htm
--

11) War could trigger police shortage
     AP/Sierra Times

"When a Tennessee man sped through all three tollbooths on the
West Virginia Turnpike, he drove more than 75 miles before any
state troopers were available to pursue him. The delay
demonstrates the severe shortage of troopers in West Virginia's
State Police force. It's a shortfall that could get much worse if 51
troopers who also are Army, Coast Guard and National Guard
reserves get called for duty in a war against Iraq, State Police
Superintendent Howard Hill said Monday." (01/07/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/07/arpubap2-010703.htm
--

12) Bush: Urgent need for "bold" economic plan
     CNN

"President Bush on Tuesday announced a new economic plan that
would cost roughly $670 billion over 10 years, offer 92 million
taxpayers an average tax cut of $1,083 and create 2.1 million jobs
over the next three years. 'The jobs and growth proposals I've
outlined today are a focused plan to encourage consumer
spending, to promote small business growth, to boost confidence
in our markets and to give critical help to unemployed citizens,'
Bush said in a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago."
(01/07/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/07/economic.stimulus/index.html
--

13) California computer law has national reach
     Register

"A new California law requiring companies to notify their customers
of computer security breaches applies to any online business that
counts Californians as customers, even if the company isn't based
in the Golden State." (01/07/03)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/28760.html
--

14) Jesus "healed using cannabis"
     Guardian

"Jesus was almost certainly a cannabis user and an early
proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a
study of scriptural texts published this month. ... The anointing oil
used by Jesus and his disciples contained an ingredient called
kaneh-bosem which has since been identified as cannabis extract
.... The incense used by Jesus in ceremonies also contained a
cannabis extract .... 'There can be little doubt about a role for
cannabis in Judaic religion,' Carl Ruck, professor of classical
mythology at Boston University said." (01/06/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,869359,00.html
--

15) UK: Green agency invests millions in polluting firms
     Independent

"The [British] Government's environment watchdog has been
investing tens of millions of pounds in oil companies and firms
which have been sharply criticised for their records on green
issues. ... Last year [The Environment Agency]'s pension fund
invested £46m in BP Amoco -- its largest holding -- and £18m in
Shell. Both firms have been fined large sums by the agency for
polluting water with petrol or oil products." (01/07/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=367027
--



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) Left and right get behind an American empire
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"The prospect of a war to subdue and occupy Iraq has brought the
neo-imperialists out of the closet, so to speak, and inaugurated a
new honesty among political commentators on the left as well as
the right. As Americans wake up to the brutal reality ... the fiction
that this has anything to do with 'weapons of mass destruction' is
swept away as by a cold bracing wind. This will be a war of
conquest, as its supporters are now beginning to acknowledge,
and the rush is on to rationalize it -- and what comes after."
(01/08/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j010803.html
--

17) How government turns vice into votes
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"Recommending the best income tax is like selecting a preferred
malignancy. Nevertheless, the least toxic tax is probably a poll or
head tax, where all are taxed equally. Let the poor set the rate.
This will sever the blood supply to the metastasizing state like
nothing else." (01/08/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30371
--

18) The war against life
     LewRockwell.com
     by Butler Shaffer

"It is interesting to observe so many Americans trying to find
'meaning' in the Bush administration’s war against an endless
parade of 'enemies.' From Afghanistan to Iraq to North Korea, the
state continues to concoct 'threats' for the consumption of a public
that is neither empirically nor analytically demanding. The media
are quick to play their assigned roles, providing state-generated
'information' and self-styled 'experts' to convince the rest of us that
everything the White House tells us is 'just so ...'" (01/07/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer34.html
--

19) Democratic folklore
     Town Hall
     by William F. Buckley, Jr.

"The price of tax cuts isn't reductions in federal revenues. The price
of tax cuts is having to sit around listening for weeks and months
to the Democrats' Pavlovian wails about 'the rich' -- if not 'the very
rich' -- if not, forsooth, 'the wealthiest 1 percent.'" (01/08/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/wfbuckley/wfb20030108.shtml
--

20) Lying to God
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by William Stone III

"Since Bloody Tuesday, the President has been engaged in
activities that are directly in violation of the Constitution, thereby
putting him in violation of his Oath of Office. This makes him guilty
of a mortal sin, having lied to God. He swore a sacred oath to God
that he knowingly and willfully violates every waking minute. In fact,
virtually all of his activities presently involve violating his promise
made to God." (01/06/03)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe205-20030106-03.html
--

21) War's cost may dwarf stimulus effect
     Washington Post
     by Jonathan Weisman

"Mindful of his pending reelection bid and his father's political
mistakes, President Bush is plowing ahead with an ambitious 10-
year, $674 billion economic stimulus plan even as U.S troops pour
into the Persian Gulf region preparing for war. The president's
determination to push more tax cuts as the nation prepares for war
has struck some economists as folly, since the economic shock of
war is likely to dwarf the impact of Bush's stimulus plan." (01/08/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24681-2003Jan7.html
--

22) A "moderate" prohibition
     Reason
     by Ronald Bailey

"The important point here is that scientific inquiry has no obvious
endpoint. There are always more questions that can be asked. ...
Activist lawyers are masters at ginning up endless interrogatories
designed to jam up the regulatory process." (01/08/03)

http://www.reason.com/rb/rb010803.shtml
--

23) Recasting the Constitution
     The American Conservative
     by Doug Bandow

"War with Iraq likely approaches, and it may be only the first of
many if the Bush administration follows seriously its new doctrine
of preemption. At least Congress voted on the record. Alas, if Iraq
is any guide, Congress will only wave on this president or his
successors in a future case, leaving them with plenary authority to
go to war. And conservatives who now speak of remaking the
judiciary to respect the Constitution will be leading the parade to
abdicate Congress’ responsibility." (01/08/03)

http://www.amconmag.com/01_13_03/bandow7.html
--

24) Come fly with me
     CounterPunch
     by Anthony Gancarski

"After finally being permitted to walk out of the timeout box, we
were asked to step aside for further inspection. An unspoken part
of the bargain air travelers have with the TSA is to pretend that the
process is justifiable and is not intended to strip one's dignity in
any way. I failed to fulfill my part of that bargain; I walked out of the
box with my hands high in the air, as if at gunpoint on popular Fox
sitcom COPS. I was informed that such behavior was construed as
'mockery' and that I must stop making light of Jim Loy's attempts
to 'safeguard our nation's aviation transportation system'".
(01/06/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/gancarski01062003.html
--

25) Strapped of your liberties
     Frontiers of Freedom
     by Nedd Kareiva

"However, our liberties should not be thought of solely in terms of
protecting the citizenry from the evildoers who would destroy this
great nation. There are those here in America - government
officials, bureaucrats, police officers and so-called safety advocates
who would restrict the freedom we have to travel. Such individuals,
however well meaning, want drivers and passengers wearing seat
belts under the threat of hefty fines." (01/07/03)

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/kareiva_20030107.html
--

26) Struggle is the only way
     anti-state.com
     by Keith Preston

"Local governments do not have the technological resources or the
surveillance powers that the feds do. In fact, much local oppression
is often carried out at the behest of the federal government and with
federal funds. Local paramilitary police forces are often trained by
federal police or military agents. As Americans, we are in the
unique position of living under the most powerful state in history.
This state is the greatest threat to the peace and security of the
contemporary world." (01/07/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=364
--

27) Jackbooted Teetotalers: "Don't Drink in the Bar"
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"Talk about shooting fish in a barrel! Officers in 'SWAT-like garb'
are now bursting into Northern Virginia bars in search of intoxicated
patrons. Anyone registering over 0.08 percent Blood Alcohol
Concentration -- the legal limit for driving -- is subject to arrest.
Anyone who looks drunk can be written up. Police justify the
arrests by saying that they want to ensure customers aren’t being
'overserved.' Bar-goers with that unlucky fate 'would be transported
to an adult detention center until they sobered up.' Perhaps the
police haven’t heard of getting a ride from a friend and sobering up
at home." (01/07/03)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=1735
--

28) Grand larceny -- with benchmarks
     Washington Times
     by Bruce Fein

"Grand larceny without judicial robes is felonious. But with judicial
trappings, at least in the Ohio Supreme Court, grand larceny is de
rigueur. What its 4-to-3 ruling in Dardinger vs. Anthem Blue Cross
& Blue Shield (Dec. 20, 2002) lacked in legality was more than
compensated by its ... audacity. The decision filched $20 million of
a $30 million punitive damage award from a grieving widower to
make a votive offering to a cancer research fund at Ohio State
University (OSU) adored by the four justice majority. At least Robin
Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor." (01/07/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030107-98640038.htm
--

29) Children of the government
     Sierra Times
     by Lee Robinson

"When I was a boy, the great scare was Communism. [They]
wanted to take us over by force and make us all slaves of the
state. They would dictate the parameters of our lives. They would
control the schools and only teach the young what they wanted
them to know. Their secret police would be everywhere, watching
everyone... Resistance would be impossible since all citizens had
been disarmed and were totally dependent upon the state for all
their basic needs. Such a fate was unthinkable for a free people:
'Better dead than red' we would say. How things have changed."
(01/06/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/07/robinson.htm
--

30) A Lott of nonsense
     Liberty For All
     by Todd Andrew Barnett

"While I am not a fan of Trent Lott and never have been for as long
as I have been on this planet and while I have always taken serious
issue with his politics, I do believe that the call for his resignation
from his post or even in the Senate on that ground was ridiculous
and irresponsible. While his statements were, in fact, stupid and
irresponsible, how are they stupider and more irresponsible than
the statements made by many Democratic congressmen and
senators over the years?" (01/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan5/lott.html
--


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Tuesday, January 7th, 2003

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

HOT SITE ALERT! A Drug War Carol
http://www.adrugwarcarol.com/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Nuclear chief: No "smoking gun" in Iraq
2)  Hussein says Iraq is ready for war
3)  Democrats propose economic stimulus package
4)  North Korea allowed "one more chance"
5)  DC disputes insurance study raising rates for terrorism
6)  Iraq war could cause Afghanistan terror
7)  FBI sources: informant's story about US infiltrators is false
8)  Judge asked to end war on Sunshine Coast cannabis patients
9)  Land rule change fuels roads battle
10)  Feds mull broadband market shakeup
11) Haitian parents say Florida laws won't let them discipline children
12) Bush: cut dividend tax
13) Petrol station employs robber as head of security
14) Study: online polls display skew to the right
15) Clerk mistook officer for robber
16) The G'days are over as Australians mount Bali terror hunt

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

17) You're invited to the War Party
18) Edwards flunks econ
19) Silence on war crimes
20) Federal nannies' new year's binge
21) The stalker state
22) Attention, Clone-Mart shoppers
23) Leave Iraq alone
24) Rangel's affirmative-action theory of involuntary servitude
25) "Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff"
26) Calling a tyrant a tyrant
27) If the South really won the war, then how come ... ?
28) Jailed for speaking her mind
29) Father of our country wouldn't recognize it
30) Among these dark satanic malls
31) Bush's Armageddon obsession
32) Extending jobless benefits may prolong unemployment


NEWS
---------------

1)  Nuclear chief: No "smoking gun" in Iraq
     CNN

"The U.N. agency searching for evidence of a nuclear weapons
program in Iraq said Monday that so far it has not found evidence of
one. Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, said inspectors have found no proof that
Iraq lied about nuclear weapons in its declaration on weapons of
mass destruction presented to the United Nations." (01/06/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/06/sproject.irq.inspections/index.html
--

2)  Hussein says Iraq is ready for war
     Washington Post

"President Saddam Hussein accused U.N. weapons inspectors of
espionage today and pronounced his nation ready for war, casting
doubt on diplomatic efforts to avoid a U.S. invasion and insisting it
is up to the Bush administration to 'seek a way out of what is
regarded as a mess.' In a televised address, the Iraqi leader stayed
away from the conciliatory themes that were featured prominently
in his speeches of only several weeks ago, including calls for a
peaceful solution to the confrontation over banned weapons and
acceptance by Iraqis of intrusive U.N. inspections." (01/07/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19373-2003Jan6.html
--

3)  Democrats propose economic stimulus package
     Fox News

"Congressional Democrats unveiled their economic stimulus plan
Monday, a day before President Bush was to offer his proposal for
getting the economy rolling, an effort that Democrats already
declared irresponsible and a break that benefits only the wealthy.
'We believe we have a package that has clarity, that has credibility,
and has consensus within our caucus,' said House Democratic
Leader Nancy Pelosi of California." (01/07/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,74752,00.html
--

4)  North Korea allowed "one more chance"
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"A week after its nuclear inspectors were expelled from North
Korea, the International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday that
it would give the North Korean government 'one more chance' to
readmit them before referring the dispute to the U.N. Security
Council." (01/07/03)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/103083_korea07.shtml
--

5)  DC disputes insurance study raising rates for terrorism
     Washington Post

"The DC commissioner's objections offer a first glimpse at how
insurers nationwide are setting about the difficult task of defining
the risk of terrorist threats in dollars and cents. A new federal
terrorism insurance law signed late last year by President Bush
requires companies to begin offering coverage for potentially
catastrophic losses by Feb. 24. The federal government agreed to
cover 90 percent of damages in excess of $10 billion, up to $100
billion." (01/07/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19429-2003Jan6.html
--

6)  Iraq war could cause Afghanistan terror
     Washington Post

"The commander of the international security force for Kabul said
today he fears an upsurge in terrorist attacks here if the United
States attacks Iraq, leading him to order extra security precautions
and intelligence work. 'If there is a war in Iraq, there might be many
sympathizers throughout Afghanistan,' said Gen. Hilmi Akin Zorlu
of Turkey, the commander of the 4,300-soldier International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF)." (01/07/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19384-2003Jan6.html
--

7)  FBI sources: informant's story about US infiltrators is false
     CNN

"Some FBI officials now believe an account of five men infiltrating
the United States from Canada -- leading to a nationwide manhunt
for the men for questioning -- was fabricated, sources inside the
FBI said Monday. The alert, based on an account by Michael John
Hamdani, prompted widespread news coverage and fears of
possible terrorism around the holiday season. The FBI and 18,000
state and local law enforcement agencies made finding the quintet
a top priority." (01/06/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/06/hamdani.extradition/index.html
--

8)  Judge asked to end war on Sunshine Coast cannabis patients
     Liberty For All

"All charges have been dropped against him, but Steve Kubby still
doesn't have his marijuana or grow equipment. Despite a ruling
from Judge Moon of Sechelt Provincial Court, the RCMP have
refused to return equipment and marijuana to Mr. Kubby -- unless
he picks it up himself. Mr. Kubby, who is currently recovering from
high level radiation therapy, said he is disappointed the RCMP
won't return the equipment to his home, especially since he was
arrested illegally in the first place." (01/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan5/judge.html
--

9)  Land rule change fuels roads battle
     MSNBC

"A quiet battle over thousands of old miners’ trails and wagon roads
on federal lands across the West is about to escalate. Rule
changes published Monday by the Bush administration have
angered environmentalists, who fear those paths will open
undeveloped areas to offroaders, mining, logging and oil wells.
Lobbying for the change, however, were state and local
governments trying to retain rights first granted them back in 1866."
(01/06/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/854067.asp?0cv=CB10
--

10)  Feds mull broadband market shakeup
     News.Com

"U.S. regulators plan to unveil a major overhaul in
telecommunications policy in the coming weeks that could
strengthen the hand of local phone monopolies in a number of key
areas, including high-speed Internet access." (01/06/03)

http://news.com.com/2100-1033-979356.html
--

11) Haitian parents say Florida laws won't let them discipline children
     South Florida Sun-Sentinel

"Colas is angry and frustrated, but he feels his hands are tied. If he
disciplines his daughter, he's afraid he'll end up in jail. It happened
once already when he was arrested after he hit both his teenage
daughters with a belt because they skipped school. He pleaded
guilty to child abuse charges and was put on probation." (01/06/03)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dyouthjan06,0,7777408.st\
ory?coll=sfla%2Dhome%2Dheadlines
--

12) Bush: cut dividend tax
     Denver Post/AP

"As the centerpiece of his economic growth package, President
Bush will propose wiping out the taxes shareholders pay on
dividends, a step that would cost the Treasury more than $300
billion over a decade, a senior administration official said today.
The White House struck back at Democratic charges that the plan
Bush unveils Tuesday is skewed to the rich, with spokesman Ari
Fleischer rolling out statistics suggesting it is 'focused on the
majority of the American people who are the middle class.'"
(01/06/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E33%257E1092607%257E,00.html
--

13) Petrol station employs robber as head of security
     Ananova

"An armed robber who repeatedly raided an Argentinian petrol
station has been hired as its head of security.Andrés Pietro, owner
of the Buenos Aires filling station, says the man has robbed the
place more than 100 times ... He said he had decided to offer the
man a job as he was tired with being robbed by him." (01/06/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_736621.html?menu=news.quirkies
--

14) Study: online polls display skew to the right
     Yahoo! News/Reuters

"Democrats and Republicans alike turned to the Internet for news
during last fall's elections, but conservatives were more likely to
weigh in on online polls, according to a study released on Sunday."
(01/05/03)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030105/pl_nm/tech_elections_\
dc_1
--

15) Clerk mistook officer for robber
     Dallas-Ft. Worth Star Telegram

" Police have acknowledged that an undercover officer was masked
and brandishing a gun when she was shot by a store clerk who
believed that he was about to be robbed. Officials initially disputed
witness accounts about the mask, a knit ski-type mask called a
balaclava, and said the officer was shot Thursday evening as she
and other police went into the E-Z Food Store to arrest a man
suspected of selling drugs." (01/04/03)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/4873541.htm
--

16) The G'days are over as Australians mount Bali terror hunt
     The Scotsman

"Last week Australians awoke from their post-Christmas slumber
to find themselves subjected to a frenzied anti-terrorist propaganda
campaign. The launch coincided with the jailing of the first person
in Australia under tough new anti-terrorism laws: Thomas James
Lilico, a British holidaymaker who threatened to hijack a passenger
jet." (01/05/03)

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=12742003
--


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COMMENTARY
---------------

17) You're invited to the War Party
     The American Conservative
     by Georgie Anne Geyer

"The principle behind the Bush thinking, [Bob Woodward's new
book] says, is, 'this is a new world.' As a matter of fact, the world
that we face today is an exceedingly old world: terrorism as a
substitute for armed strength, violence against 'the other,' the
arrogance of the affluent, the careless expectations of the powerful,
and the ambitions of the zealous are all as old as the Bible to
which George W. Bush so passionately ascribes." (01/07/03)

http://amconmag.com/01_13_03/geyer7.html
--

18) Edwards flunks econ
     Carolina Journal/John Locke Foundation
     by John Hood

"Here we go again: another North Carolina Democrat, running for
yet another office, and repeating the same discredited Keynesian
nonsense about stimulating the economy. Sen. John Edwards is
running for president. ... He unloaded yesterday on ABC’s 'This
Week' program on President Bush’s impending proposal for tax
cuts, making the same old foolish argument that Erskine Bowles
made last year about how lowering taxes on rich people doesn’t
stimulate the economy because they will save rather than spend
it." (01/06/03)

http://www.carolinajournal.com/dailyjournal/010603.html
--

19) Silence on war crimes
     Reason
     by Cathy Young

"If you have never heard of the case of Colonel Vladimir Budanov,
the Russian military officer tried recently for the murder of a
Chechen civilian, that's hardly surprising. ... Budanov's acquittal on
New Year's Eve received only cursory coverage, well off the front
pages of most Western newspapers." (01/07/03)

http://www.reason.com/cy/cy010703.shtml
--

20) Federal nannies' new year's binge
     Cato Institute
     by Steven Millory

"Genuine binge drinking isn't a healthy activity and can lead to
tragic consequences. Scarier, though, are the power-drunk
government lifestyle nannies who think nothing of using junk
science to advance their temperance, if not prohibitionist, agenda."
(01/07/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-07-03.html
--

21) The stalker state
     Strike the Root
     by Cat Farmer

"At least, it is possible to escape a traditional stalker, if not easy.
Even if a Restraining Order ever did any good, who is going to
issue one against the government? There are no shelters for those
who flee from abuse of government power." (01/06/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Farmer/farmer11.html
--

22) Attention, Clone-Mart shoppers
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"Cloning may or may not be here yet, but it is coming. It's not a
genie that can be, or ought to be, put back in the bottle. Acts of
Congress decide nothing with respect to human progress. At most
(and at worst) they may impede it slightly and push it into a black
market where abuses are more, not less, likely to take place."
(01/07/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp010703.html
--

23) Leave Iraq alone
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"Despite the fact that he is amassing an impressive display of
military armament in the areas near Iraq, President Bush says that
he still hasn’t made up his mind on whether to order an invasion of
Iraq. That would imply that despite the array of intelligence and
information that the president has in his possession, none of it so
far has been sufficiently convincing for him to make up his mind. Of
course, there’s always another possibility: that the president isn’t
telling the truth and that he secretly made the decision to invade
Iraq long ago." (01/06/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301c.asp
--

24) Rangel's affirmative-action theory of involuntary servitude
     Orlando Sentinel
     by Kathleen Parker

"New York Democratic Rep. Charles B. Rangel's illogical proposal
that we reinstate a military draft to force the "shared sacrifice" of
war plays the race card at its immoral worst. It is otherwise a
pluperfectly bad idea ... Rangel's Argument, defined as 'sounds
good, smells bad,' is based on an underlying assumption of moral
bankruptcy -- that members of Congress only vote in favor of war
when no one they know personally is likely to suffer or die."
(01/06/03)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edpparker05010503jan05,0,3166497\
.column?coll=orl%2Dopinion%2Dheadlines
--

25) "Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff"
     Salon
     by Steven Hart

"Most of the arguments against bootlegging have a way of self-
destructing. The recording industry says bootlegs are bad because
they cheat the artist and his label of revenue, then says it cannot
release the material because it wouldn't sell in sufficient quantity.
... If there is no market for this stuff, how can the bootleggers be
endangering the industry?" (01/07/03)

http://www.salon.com/ent/music/feature/2003/01/07/dylan_boots/
--

26) Calling a tyrant a tyrant
     Laissez Faire Times
     by Pierre Lemieux

"When it is proper to call the state 'the tyrant'? When should we
start using the dirty word? Many objections can be raised against
identifying the states under which we live under in the Western
world as tyrants. But potent counterarguments also exist."
(01/06/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/cats_tyrants.htm
--

27) If the South really won the war, then how come ... ?
     Sierra Times
     by Al Benson, Jr.

"After reading the article by Andrew Greeley in the Chicago Sun-
Times about why the South really won the War of Northern
Aggression, I have just a comment or two and a couple questions.
Mr. Greeley's contention that, ultimately, the South won the war is
probably, if he is serious, bolstered by the faulty version of history
he has picked up as part of his education (if such it can be
called)." (01/05/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/05/albenson.htm
--

28) Jailed for speaking her mind
     Las Vegas Review Journal
     by Vin Suprynowicz

"[T]he question here is whether our Constitution guarantees Mrs.
Barton's right to say stupid and hateful things ... and most
particularly, whether we want government agents with monopoly
access to guns and jail cells to decide when we're being stupid and
hateful." (01/05/03)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Jan-05-Sun-2003/opinion/20403027.htm\
l
--

29) Father of our country wouldn't recognize it
     LA Times
     by Sally Stewart

On our way back to California, Jordan writes a list of the things we
saw that are different from our regular life. The snow. The Potomac
River. No electricity at Mount Vernon when Washington lived there.
The search at the airport doesn't make Jordan's list. And then it
strikes me. Mount Vernon is foreign territory to him, with its lack of
CD players and even tape decks. But an army of airport employees
who search a 6-year-old boy -- while momentarily frightening -- is
so normal that it's nothing to write home about." (01/04/03)

http://www.latimes.com/la-vo-stewart4jan04,0,5363219.story
--

30) Among these dark satanic malls
     Laissez Faire Books
     by Julian Sanchez

"I imagine that some of the appeal of hating markets ties in to
precisely this fact: if some nebulous reified 'market' is at fault, we
get to think better of our fellow human beings. Or, less self-
flatteringly, we get to imagine that their tastes more nearly mirror
our own--or would, if not for 'false consciousness.' Like most ugly
truths, though, the truth about malls is worth facing." (01/02/03)

http://laissezfairebooks.com/index.cfm?eid=563
--

31) Bush's Armageddon obsession
     CounterPunch
     by Michael Ortiz Hill

"George W. Bush is certainly the plaything of such forces as the
geopolitics of oil but it seems that he is susceptible to other even
darker archetypal concerns. Let me be blunt. The man is
delusional and the shape of his delusion is specifically apocalyptic
in belief and intent." (01/04/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/hill01042003.html
--

32) Extending jobless benefits may prolong unemployment
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by staff

"The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) says that
extending unemployment benefits may actually prolong
joblessness for an estimated 800,000 Americans whose already-
extended benefits expired Sunday. ... President Bush and leaders
from both political parties have promised to provide up to three
months of additional jobless benefits, bringing the workers' total
coverage to 52 weeks, one full year, of unemployment." (01/06/03)

http://www.ncpa.org/prs/rel/2003/nr03jan06.html
--


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           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
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Monday, January 6th, 2003

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Reserve units alerted for Iraq duty
2)  US deploys hospital ship to Persian Gulf
3)  Dozens killed in Algeria attacks
4)  INS to collect data on all travelers
5)  Germany: man steals plane, threatens bank building
6)  "Felony stop" leaves family traumatized
7)  Terror suspects agree to extradition
8)  Russia to pressure North Korea on nukes
9)  Ivory Coast peace talks set
10) Little deters tide of illegal immigrants
11) Phone alerts will warn residents of danger
12) Ten million to march to stop war
13) State given list of patient prescriptions, but "not for law enforcement"
14) Teenagers caught with chocolate face drug charges
15) Two shot after fleeing head-on collision
16) Seattle: no more tickets for headlights left on
17) 200,000 are off TennCare -- again

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

18) Dangers ahead -- from the right
19) Korean ghosts
20) A tax cut, not a whimper
21) George Bush's Constitution
22) A Republican revolution? Not likely
23) America's new war is really the same old war
24) Cellular connection
25) Long live the tyrants
26) Drugging our children to death
27) Bush's master plan for the Internet
28) Cutting corporate welfare could fund a Bush Social Security Plan
29) Terrorism alerts based more on political need than fact
30) Forget diversity
31) The True Reasons for The "Nursing Shortage"
32) Behind enemy lines II
33) "No exit" statistics
34) Don't feel sorry for states


NEWS
---------------

1)  Reserve units alerted for Iraq duty
     USA Today

"In the latest sign of escalating war preparations for Iraq, the
Pentagon has alerted at least 275 Army Reserve units throughout
the nation to be ready to move overseas as early as this week ....
The notifications, known as alert orders, instruct unit commanders
to be ready to move out between Jan. 10 and Feb. 15, Defense
Department sources say." (01/06/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-01-05-army-reserves_x.htm
--

2)  US deploys hospital ship to Persian Gulf
     Washington Times

"Family and loved ones said goodbye yesterday to the estimated
200 Navy sailors and medical crew of the USNS Comfort, which
could depart as early as today to join American military forces in
the Persian Gulf. ... The Comfort is one of the military's two floating
hospitals and has received orders to prepare to support U.S. forces
in Iraq with a 1,000-bed trauma center -- the vessel's maximum
capacity." (01/06/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20030106-18096328.htm
--

3)  Dozens killed in Algeria attacks
     BBC

"Suspected militants have killed more than 40 soldiers and local
militiamen in Algeria's remote Aures mountains, local press reports
say. ... The country's two main hardline Islamist groups have been
blamed for the attacks." (01/06/02)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2628741.stm
--

4)  INS to collect data on all travelers
     Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Americans traveling abroad would have to give the government
detailed personal information before leaving or reentering the
country under an antiterrorism rule proposed Friday by the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)." (01/04/03)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1631/3571435.html
--

5)  Germany: man steals plane, threatens bank building
     Guardian

"A man who stole a plane and threatened to crash it into the
headquarters of the European central bank yesterday terrorised the
inhabitants of Frankfurt for more than two hours before giving
himself up to police." (01/06/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,869225,00.html
--

6)  "Felony stop" leaves family traumatized
     Cookeville Herald-Citizen

"It was the most traumatic experience the Smoak family of North
Carolina has ever had, as they traveled through Cookeville, TN, on
their way home from a vacation in Nashville. Before their ordeal was
over, three members of the family had been yanked out of their car
and handcuffed, and their beloved dog, Patton, had been shot to
death by a police officer as they watched. What was their crime?
There was no crime. But a passerby with a cell phone apparently
assumed a crime had occurred when a wallet flew from a car on
Interstate 40 near Nashville." (01/02/03)

http://www.herald-citizen.com/NF/omf.wnm/herald/news_story.html?[rkey=0024251+[c\
r=gdn
--

7)  Terror suspects agree to extradition
     USA Today

"Two Pakistanis and an Indian-born U.S. citizen told a Hong Kong
court Monday that they agreed to be extradited to the United
States on charges that they plotted to swap drugs for anti-aircraft
missiles to sell to the al Q'aeda terror network." (01/06/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-01-06-terror-extradition_x.htm
--

8)  Russia to pressure North Korea on nukes
     MSNBC.com

"South Korea won a promise from Russia on Sunday to press
North Korea over its nuclear program, as Seoul prepared to present
the United States with new proposals aimed at defusing the crisis
with its communist neighbor. As the South launched a diplomatic
blitz, the North opened the door to possible mediation -- though
Pyongyang, denouncing the United States, said it would increase
its combat readiness." (01/05/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/850567.asp?0cv=CB10
--

9)  Ivory Coast peace talks set
     Washington Post

"Responding to pressure from France's top diplomat to end what he
called an 'urgent and dangerous civil war,' Ivory Coast's main rebel
group and the government agreed today to obey an often-ignored
cease-fire and to meet in Paris for peace talks." (01/05/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11620-2003Jan4.html
--

10) Little deters tide of illegal immigrants
     Denver Post

"Efforts by authorities in the United States and Mexico to stem the
flow of illegal immigrants crossing their borders have done little to
alter the determination -- or desperation -- of men such as Maurilio
and Jose. The war on terrorism, a slumping U.S. economy and
tighter border controls have not deterred the pursuit of better lives
than what can be found here and across Central America."
(01/05/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1089878%257E,00.html
--


11) Phone alerts will warn residents of danger
     Arizona Republic

"Sometime in the near future, you may get an important phone call
telling you your neighborhood is in danger... Think of it as the 911
system in reverse. Instead of residents calling the authorities for
help, the system calls residents when there's a public health
emergency." (01/03/03)

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0103callme03.html
--

12) Ten million to march to stop war
     Common Dreams

"Ten million people are expected to join a worldwide protest next
month against war on Iraq. Peace activists are organizing marches
across Europe, America and the Middle East in what could be the
biggest demo ever staged. The day of action is planned for
Saturday, February 15, and is described by campaigners as 'the
last chance to stop the war.'" (01/03/03)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0103-07.htm
--

13) State given list of patient prescriptions, but "not for law enforcement"
     Las Vegas Sun

"Every month Nevada pharmacists transmit to the state the names
of people who have purchased painkillers and other potentially
addictive drugs prescribed by doctors -- and that information is
available to law enforcement officials. ... Nevada authorities say
their system is different from those of other states where the
information is routinely funneled to police agencies. 'This is not
used as a law enforcement tool,' said Louis Ling, attorney for
Nevada's Prescription Controlled Substance Abuse Prevention
Task Force." (01/02/03)

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-gov/2003/jan/02/514462823.html
--

14) Teenagers caught with chocolate face drug charges
     Ananova

"Four German teenagers are facing drug charges despite the fact
they were ripped off and paid £450 for two blocks of chocolate
[which they were] told were two blocks of marijuana ... the fact it
wasn't actually marijuana would not save the teenagers from being
charged." (01/03/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_735698.html
--

15) Two shot after fleeing head-on collision
     Fayetteville News

"A Fayetteville [NC] man shot two people who tried to run after the
car they were in crossed the road and slammed head-on into his
pickup ... he fired a warning shot before shooting Jose Segura Jr.
and Richard Reyes-Rodriguez with a 12-gauge shotgun. No
charges have been filed against Moore, but Segura has been
charged with drunken driving." (01/03/03)

http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=region&Story=5386256
--

16) Seattle: no more tickets for headlights left on
     Seattle Times

Last week, Rational Review News Digest brought you the story of a
Seattle motorist cited because he left his lights on in a parking lot.
"It turns out that leaving the headlights on while a vehicle is parked
is perfectly legal under Seattle's code, the commander of the
Seattle Police Department's parking-enforcement unit
acknowledged yesterday. He also promised to cancel the $28
ticket Seth received last month." (01/02/03)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134608632_parking03m.html
--

17) 200,000 are off TennCare -- again
     Tennessean.com

"Nearly 200,000 TennCare enrollees who were removed from the
program by the state, only to be ordered back in by a federal judge,
are out again. A federal appeals court yesterday said the state
does not have to return benefits to the ousted enrollees before a
hearing on Wednesday. That gives the state at least a temporary
reprieve from the $300 million-a-year cost of complying with a
judge's order that it restore benefits to everyone removed from
TennCare during a massive eligibility check last year." (01/03/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27213020.shtml?Element_ID=27213020
--


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COMMENTARY
---------------

18) Dangers ahead -- from the right
     Town Hall
     by Thomas Sowell

"While the left has done enormous damage to the security of the
United States, the political right is not without its problems. Those
neoconservatives, especially, who were pushing an activist 'national
greatness' foreign policy, even before September 11th, have seized
upon that event as a reason for the United States to 'use American
might to promote American ideals' around the world." (01/06/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20030106.shtml
--

19) Korean ghosts
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"A 'tragic accident' say U.S. diplomats and military officers; an
example of the heedless arrogance of American troops who have
long since worn out their welcome, say growing numbers of South
Koreans. Under the terms of the agreement between South Korea
and the U.S. -- which mandates that American soldiers charged
with crimes on Korean soil are subject to U.S. law -- Sgt. Fernando
Nino and Sgt. Mark Walker were tried in a military court and
acquitted of negligent homicide charges." (01/06/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j010603.html
--

20) A tax cut, not a whimper
     Weekly Standard
     by Fred Barnes

"Somebody tell the Bush White House that Republicans now
control the Senate. And while you're at it, remind the president's
men and women ... Bush has only one shot -- now -- at stimulating
the economy. Anything done next year will be too late to affect
economic conditions before the 2004 election. ... it takes only 50
senators, plus Vice President Cheney, to pass a tax cut."
(01/06/03)

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/070pqkto.asp
--

21) George Bush's Constitution
     Village Voice
     by Nat Hentoff

"The imprisonment of 'enemy combatant' Yaser Esam Hamdi in a
naval brig in the United States is not a matter of concern to most
Americans, since they do not know of Mr. Hamdi's isolation from
the Bill of Rights, and might not care if they did. But the Supreme
Court will ultimately decide whether George W. Bush's Constitution
will replace -- in significant parts -- the Constitution that most
Americans are also not familiar with." (01/03/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0302/hentoff.php
--

22) A Republican revolution? Not likely
     Washington Post
     by Helen Dewar and Juliet Eilperin

"The 108th Congress convenes Tuesday in what seems like a
flashback to two years ago, with Republicans again controlling both
houses and vowing to fulfill the president's promises. But the
similarities are more illusory than real. The buoyant optimism that
surrounded the inauguration of President Bush has eroded, given
the grim realities of terrorism, war, a sluggish economy and a
return to budget deficits. The task ahead appears far more
complicated, difficult and dangerous than it was in January 2001."
(01/05/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10074-2003Jan4.html
--

23) America's new war is really the same old war
     Liberty For All
     by George Squyres

"No one questions that September 11 changed our lives are forever,
but what do those changes amount to, and what must we
genuinely accept as forever different in our lives? Benjamin Franklin
was confronted with the same dilemma we face today: war with a
foreign power, Americans dying, and some of his countrymen
saying that national security would have to take precedence over
civil liberty." (01/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/jan5/oldwar.html
--

24) Cellular connection
     Reason
     by Jonathan Rauch

"Breaking the hundred-year monopoly of the internal combustion
engine is as vast a project as capitalism has ever undertaken.
Given the immensity of the risks involved and the uncountable
billions of dollars of capital investment required, the project is
nothing short of planetary in scale. Simultaneous competition and
collaboration across national borders -- also known as globalization
-- provides the only hope of success." (01/06/03)

http://www.reason.com/rauch/010603.shtml
--

25) Long live the tyrants
     Strike the Root
     by John deLaubenfels

"The fact that invading Iraq (or North Korea, or any other country) is
certain to multiply the terrorist threat against U.S. citizens, bothers
Bush not at all. We may have no protection, but he and his friends
do, paid for by us, so he has no worries. Isn't that a wonderful
irony? We pay for Bush's platoons of bodyguards so that he can
act with impunity and put OUR lives in danger. What a system!"
(01/03/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/deLaubenfels/delaubenfels37.html
--

26) Drugging our children to death
     American Policy Center
     by Tom DeWeese

"The new year calls to us to save the many children in our nation's
schools who will be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD) and prescribed mind-altering drugs. This evil
grows exponentially and, with it, the tragedies whose stories are
rising to the surface of public notice." (01/02/03)

http://www.americanpolicy.org/more/main.htm
--

27) Bush's master plan for the Internet
     CounterPunch
     by Kurt Nimmo

"Bush and his Machiavellian minions will no longer put up with you
roaming free into dangerous territory on the internet. You need to
be corralled, electronically tethered, kept away from sites
promoting conspiracy theories -- in other words, information the
corporate media, the official US Ministry of Disinformation, does
not want you to read or see." (01/02/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/nimmo01022003.html
--

28) Cutting corporate welfare could fund a Bush Social Security Plan
     Cato Institute
     by Andrew G. Biggs and Maya MacGuineas

"Reformers had targeted budget surpluses to fund the transition of
Social Security from government collections and disbursements to
personally directed investment accounts. But the war on terrorism
and the recession-induced decline in tax revenue have produced a
fiscal noose that threatens reform. A potential solution is to take an
ax to corporate welfare." (01/06/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-06-03.html
--

29) Terrorism alerts based more on political need than fact
     Capitol Hill Blue
     by Doug Thompson

"Intelligence professionals say privately the Bush administration is
engaging in 'hysterics' with multiple terrorism alerts that have little
or no basis in fact. The alerts, instead, are part of a carefully
scripted White House campaign to keep terrorism on the minds of
American voters along with public approval ratings of administration
handling of the stalled war on terrorism." (01/02/03)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_1445.shtml
--

30) Forget diversity
     Washington Times
     by James Metcalf

"Sometime in the coming year, the U. S. Supreme Court will
reconsider the constitutionality of racial discrimination in college
admissions, a matter addressed in the Bakke decision but not
resolved... In the meantime, opinions and editorials from each side
will be heard. On the one hand will be rational arguments of
constitutional principle: On the other will be emotional pleas for
judicial deference to social justice. Get ready for some
preposterous and wholly gratuitous twaddle." (01/03/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030103-1081433.htm
--

31) The True Reasons for The "Nursing Shortage"
     Sierra Times
     by Susan Callaway, RN

"The greatest part of the problem in nursing is the same as it is in
every other aspect of our lives, including all professional and skilled
occupations. Our lives and property have been hijacked by
government bureaucrats and unconstitutional 'laws.' There is no
aspect of our lives that has not been damaged by government
micro management, mismanagement and interference, but in the
medical field those insidious problems costs lives and contributes
to the suffering of countless Americans in too many ways to
describe." (01/03/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/01/04/health.htm
--

32) Behind enemy lines II
     anti-state.com
     by Bob Murphy

"Unless I am sorely mistaken, a pacifist society would satisfy the
requirements of justice for both anarcho-capitalists and anarcho-
socialists. Now this is rather surprising, since most an-socs and
an-caps presumably think that their two ideologies are mutually
incompatible. I claim that this is false. It is logically possible
(though perhaps wildly unrealistic) for a particular society --
namely, a pacifist one -- to satisfy the different criteria for individual
freedom (or that which is the same thing: absence of coercion) so
cherished by the two groups." (01/03/03)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=365
--

33) "No exit" statistics
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Linda Schrock Taylor

"At this point, attempts to find answers to the black hole of special
education only serve to highlight more questions and further areas
of concern. We must not be put off by this swirl of confusion and
obfuscation. Rather, we must pose further questions to, and place
greater demands upon, the educational establishment. For the
present and future choices for our children -- all children, not only
those with special labels -- we must force the schools to become
accountable to we-the-taxpayers; to we-the-parents." (01/04/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/taylor4.html
--

34) Don't feel sorry for states
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Jason M. Thomas

"Until states start addressing these problems in a serious fashion,
and stand up to the demands of the bureaucratic power centers of
health care and education, the federal government should not take
the cries of state lawmakers seriously. And state voters should
remember well when lawmakers hike taxes and sacrifice their take-
home pay at the altar of public employee unions." (01/03/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1218.htm
--



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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
except on holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe,
visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
                        Visit Rational Review at
                     http://www.rationalreview.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, January 3, 2003

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

31) A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE RRND TEAM

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Four Democratic hats in the 2004 ring
2)  Two key members of black caucus support military draft
3)  US asks Israel to end arms exports to China
4)  Police abuse suits cost Prince George's $7.9 million
5)  Baghdad: Inspections show Iraq is credible
6)  President to seek dividend tax cut
7)  Foes defy Pueblo smoking ban
8)  Bush: Iraq’s ‘day of reckoning’ nears
9)  Researchers worry about terrorism fear
10) Moeser upholds Christian group's status -- UNC-CH club OK to continue
11) Drug seen effective in treating MS, Crohn's disease
12) School shooting law ruled invalid
13) Man parks, leaves his headlights on, gets a $28 ticket
14) New cigarette taxes, bans take effect
15)  Peace rally runs into war veterans

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) Who's watching the White House?
17) Do neocons exist?
18) Stalked by Fears of Dividend Tax Cuts
19) Is PCP guilty of homicide?
20) Time for a new Dallas Accord?
21) Battle of the bulge
22) Muzzling toy guns
23) Musharraf's speech raises the nuclear danger
24) Let Edwards be Clinton
25) Rowland isn't being tough enough on unions
26) Have drunk driving laws gone too far?
27) What New York didn't need
28) Treasure trove found!
29)  PETA calls the kettle black
30) Moronic explanations of history


NEWS
---------------

1)  Four Democratic hats in the 2004 ring
     Sarasota Herald-Tribune

"The Democratic field grew to four Thursday with the North Carolina
senator, John Edwards, and departing House Democratic leader
Dick Gephardt, a seasoned lawmaker who is forming an
exploratory committee in the next few days. They joined
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a Vietnam war hero with
significant experience in international affairs, and Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean." (01/03/03)

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030103&Category=APP&Ar\
tNo=301030594&Ref=AR
--

2)  Two key members of black caucus support military draft
     Washington Post

"Two prominent members of the Congressional Black Caucus have
voiced support for a nationwide military draft, saying that children of
the rich should serve alongside less privileged Americans in the
war on terrorism. Reps. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) and John
Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), both armed services veterans, said this
week they would ask the House to consider legislation to
reinstitute the draft, perhaps as early as next week, at the start of
the 108th Congress. The United States has not drafted troops
since 1973." (01/03/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3398-2003Jan2.html
--

3)  US asks Israel to end arms exports to China
     Fox News

"The United States has asked Israel to suspend sales of military
equipment to China over concerns that the technology could be
used to threaten Taiwan, officials and the media said Thursday.
Israeli government officials were surprised by the U.S. request but
had to comply in order not to jeopardize Washington's massive
defense assistance program to Israel, the Haaretz daily said."
(01/02/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,74433,00.html
--

4)  Police abuse suits cost Prince George's $7.9 million
     Washington Post

"Prince George's County has paid $7.9,million in jury awards and
out-of-court settlements since July 2000 in lawsuits alleging
excessive force and other misconduct by police officers, County
Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) said yesterday. In announcing the
figure, Johnson went beyond the requirements of a new Maryland
law that forces Prince George's to disclose each year's total cost
of out-of-court settlements in police misconduct lawsuits."
(01/03/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3626-2003Jan2.html
--

5)  Baghdad: Inspections show Iraq is credible
     CNN

"The director of Iraq's monitoring agency said Thursday that five
weeks of U.N. inspections have proved Iraq to be credible in its
declaration that it no longer has weapons of mass destruction. The
inspections have been 'intrusive and surprising,' said Gen. Hossam
Mohammed Amin, who heads Iraq's National Monitoring
Directorate, the agency that cooperates with the United Nations in
assessing the country's inventory of weapons programs." (01/02/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/02/sproject.irq.inspections/index.html
--

6)  President to seek dividend tax cut
     Washington Post

"President Bush plans to announce an economic package Tuesday
that will emphasize cuts in the tax on stock dividends while
including tax breaks for personal income and capital investments,
administration officials said today. In a speech before the
Economic Club of Chicago, Bush plans to propose excluding a
large chunk of individuals' dividend income from taxation, the
officials said. That is the bulk of an economic stimulus package
expected to total about $300 billion over 10 years." (01/03/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3465-2003Jan2.html
--

7)  Foes defy Pueblo smoking ban
     Denver Post

"People were lighting up and speaking out Wednesday on the first
day of Pueblo's new smoking ban, one of the most restrictive in the
state ... Opponents are circulating two petitions -- one for a
referendum to overturn the ordinance and another to force a recall
election for the four council members who favored it." (01/02/03)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1084609%257E,00.html
--

8)  Bush: Iraq’s ‘day of reckoning’ nears
     MSNBC

"U.S. President Bush issued a tough new warning to Iraq on
Thursday, saying President Saddam Hussein’s 'day of reckoning'
was approaching. The comments by Bush, who dismissed
Baghdad’s criticism of U.S. 'hegemony,' came amid a major new
deployment of U.S. forces -- with even larger deployments under
consideration. Meanwhile, Western warplanes dumped leaflets over
Iraq, urging citizens to tune in to U.S. radio." (01/02/03)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/842500.asp?0cv=CA01
--

9)  Researchers worry about terrorism fear
     Denver Post/AP

"The Massachusetts Institute of Technology walked away from a
$404,000 study because the government wanted to restrict
participation by foreign students. Other universities are balking at
demands that the government check research in the name of
national security before scientists can publish or even talk about it.
While most federal financing still comes free from such strings,
attempts to impose restrictions on research have increased since
Sept. 11, 2001, out of fear that some information could help
terrorists." (01/02/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TERRORISM_SCIENCE?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=\
US
--

10) Moeser upholds Christian group's status -- UNC-CH club OK to continue
     FIRE/Raleigh News and Observer

"UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser on Tuesday ordered
the university to allow the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship to
continue as an officially recognized student organization, despite a
letter last month that threatened the group's status on campus.
Moeser said that the university had been trying to uphold anti-
discrimination laws during a recent review of the charters of all
student groups. InterVarsity is open to all students, but its charter
requires its leaders to uphold the doctrines of the Christian faith,
which raised a concern among university administrators." (01/02/03)

http://www.thefire.org/offsite/newsob_010203.html
--

11) Drug seen effective in treating MS, Crohn's disease
     Washington Times

"An experimental drug shows promise as an effective new
approach for treating multiple sclerosis and the intestinal ailment
Crohn's disease, researchers say. In preliminary tests, Antegren
dramatically reduced the number of new brain lesions in patients
with MS and cut the number of relapses in half. In Crohn's patients,
it increased the rate of remission and improved the patients' quality
of life." (01/02/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030102-16113726.htm
--

12) School shooting law ruled invalid
     AP/NewsOK.com

"The law used to charge a Moore, OK teenager with planning a
school shooting is unconstitutionally vague, a Cleveland County
judge ruled Tuesday. The finding stops prosecutors from putting
Brian Derrick Robertson, 19, on trial. Robertson was charged in the
spring after a plan was found on a computer that he had used.
Prosecutors said the plan called for 'an armed invasion' of Moore
High School." (01/02/03)

http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=967796&TP=getarticle
--

13) Man parks, leaves his headlights on, gets a $28 ticket
     Seattle Times

"'You left your lights on,' Seth recalled the parking officer saying.
'We can cite for it, so we do.'" (01/01/03)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134606626_ticket01m0.html
--

14) New cigarette taxes, bans take effect
     CNS

"For anti-smoking advocates, 2002 was a year to celebrate. With
budget deficits looming and public health concerns rising, several
states hiked cigarette taxes and two major cities implemented
widespread smoking bans...Twenty states, the District of Columbia
and Puerto Rico approved new cigarette taxes in 2002, according
to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids." (01/02/03)

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200301\CUL20030102a\
.html
--

15) Peace rally runs into war veterans
     Charlotte Observer

"About 50 people who marched to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
in Charlotte on Wednesday to protest a possible war with Iraq were
confronted by angry veterans who said their presence was an insult
to fallen comrades ... To the veterans it was not the protesters'
message that was upsetting. The veterans said they were angered
by the protesters' attempt to use the memorial as way to make
their point." (01/02/03)

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/4856745.htm
--



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         R.J. Tavel's Online Law Center  http://freedomlaw.com/
----------------------------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT-----




COMMENTARY
---------------

16) Who's watching the White House?
     Town Hall
     by Michelle Malkin

"If you thought the New Year's Eve FBI manhunt ... was a
disturbing sign of homeland insecurity, wait until you hear about
who's been working on President George W. Bush's front lawn.
While the Secret Service has now instituted criminal and
citizenship screening procedures for all tourists (including children)
who visit the White House, federal agents failed to detect an illegal
alien who used a false identity and fraudulent documents and was
employed for at least two years as a supervisor of tent installation
for White House social events." (01/03/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/mm20030103.shtml
--

17) Do neocons exist?
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"The neocons may have wavered and waffled on domestic policy
issues, arguing among themselves over how many cheers to give
capitalism (one, or two?), but on the war question they have always
spoken with a single hoarse voice, howling for war at the slightest
provocation. Not only that, but they positively delight in the
prospect of bloodshed, which they perversely find ennobling ..."
(01/03/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j010303.html
--

18) Stalked by Fears of Dividend Tax Cuts
     Cato Institute
     by Alan Reynolds

"Of all the tax proposals the White House has floated for next year,
the one that frightens Democrats the most is cutting the individual
tax on dividends to 20 percent or zero. Although objections are
obscured with economic gobbledygook, the real worry is political.
Some 85 million investors ... are likely to express their gratitude by
voting Republican for years to come." (01/03/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-03-03.html
--

19) Is PCP guilty of homicide?
     Reason
     by Jacob Sullum

"'Everything people used to say about marijuana is true of angel
dust' .... Robert DuPont's 1977 warning about PCP suggests one
reason to be skeptical of this theory: Back in the 1920s and '30s,
police spoke just as confidently about a link between marijuana
and violence. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics portrayed marijuana
as 'the killer drug,' giving men 'the lust to kill, unreasonably and
without motive.'" (01/03/03)

http://www.reason.com/sullum/010303.shtml
--

20) Time for a new Dallas Accord?
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"I understand that a political party is a dynamic institution,
continually re-shaped by the people who comprise both its active
membership and its electoral base. Reforming and reshaping,
however, require an understanding not only of where one wants to
go, but of where one has been. While it would be incorrect to say
that the LP is an anarchist organization, it would be equally
incorrect to portray it as inherently opposed to anarchism."
(01/03/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp010303.html
--

21) Battle of the bulge
     TechCentralStation
     by Duane D. Freese

"On the heels of their anti-smoking success, trial lawyers and
health advocates are locking and loading again, this time taking
aim at fast food restaurants for the 'obesity epidemic.' ... The trial
lawyers never expected to win the early tobacco suits, but they
used them as part of a decade long campaign to make smoking
appear an absolute evil. And as anti-smoking and now anti-fat
advocate John Banzhaf says, if they can get just one in 10 juries to
go along, they will have laid the foundation for a whole array of
costly class-action suits." (01/02/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-010\
203C
--

22) Muzzling toy guns
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Ashley Chapman

"Baltimore just passed a law that makes it a misdemeanor to sell a
BB gun to a minor; Chicago has introduced a bill to ban toy-pellet
guns; Wal-Mart recently raised its age restriction for air-powered
paint guns to 18; and Carrollton, Texas, has banned the public use
of replica guns. And in New York, the site of many toy-gun
fatalities, City Council members have introduced a bill to ban the
sale of all toy guns -- a ban that has not yet passed anywhere in
the US." (01/02/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0102/p01s03-usgn.html
--

23) Musharraf's speech raises the nuclear danger
     Antiwar.com
     by Praful Bidwai

"If Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, wanted to send
a shiver down the spine of the international community, and remind
it that South Asia still remains the world's most dangerous place,
he could not have done so more effectively than he did last Monday
while addressing Air Force veterans in Karachi. Gen Musharraf said
he last year 'personally' conveyed a clear 'message' to Prime
Minister Vajpayee, 'through every international leader who came to
Pakistan', namely, that Indian troops 'should not expect a
conventional war from Pakistan' if they 'moved a single step across
the international border or the Line of Control'." (01/02/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/bidwai/bi010203.html
--

24) Let Edwards be Clinton
     Slate
     by William Saletan

"You don't have to like the lawyer. You only have to like his client.
In fact, you only have to like his client better than the corporate
sleazeball on the other side -- which isn't hard to do when the
client, in the Clinton-Edwards formulation, is you. If you don't think
this trick can work for Edwards, remember that it worked for Clinton
even after he messed around with an intern and lied about it under
oath." (01/02/03)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2076280/
--

25) Rowland isn't being tough enough on unions
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Jason M. Thomas

"When Connecticut's tax receipts were booming, it was easy to
ignore the stranglehold that state employee unions have on the
state budget process. Now that revenues have fallen dramatically,
this is no longer the case. Given the state's $1.5 billion shortfall
next fiscal year, the legislature can no longer shirk its
responsibility to address out-of-control spending, particularly on
government salaries, health care and pensions." (01/02/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1217.htm
--

26) Have drunk driving laws gone too far?
     Sacramento Bee
     by staff

"In California a driver is presumed drunk if his blood alcohol level is
0.08 percent. California adopted the new, tougher standard in 1990.
It coincided with a rash of tougher penalties for drunken drivers
pushed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other anti-drunk
driving crusaders. Now the federal government wants all states to
adopt the 0.08 blood alcohol standard. Those that resist have been
threatened with a loss of federal traffic safety funds." (01/02/03)

http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/5771876p-6742070c.html
--

27) What New York didn't need
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Gregory Bresiger

"What the terrorists didn't do to New York, the politicians will.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently signed an 18 percent real
estate tax increase into law. This was designed to close the city's
$5 billion dollar budget gap, a remarkable amount of red ink given
that the city's bloated budget is some $42 billion. The Republican
mayor was determined not to cut government jobs or programs.
The taxpayers would have to bear just about the entire burden,
even though the city finances were already mismanaged."
(01/01/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1127
--

28) Treasure trove found!
     Privacy Alert Online
     by staff

"Bill Branon's first novel, Let Us Prey, is something of a legend in
book-publishing circles. ... Taking high-powered aim at one of our
favorite targets, the IRS, Let Us Prey is a convincing thriller.
Branon infuses every page with exquisite realism, from how to sight
in a sniper rifle to the kind of cufflinks a Vegas pit boss wears -- a
reader senses that the author didn't just do research, he did the
work." (12/02)

http://www.privacyalert.us/Samples/Breaking-News.htm
--

29) PETA calls the kettle black
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"On Tuesday People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
attracted the media’s attention by dredging up a 25-year-old animal
cruelty claim against incoming Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-
TN). But curiously enough, no one seems to be talking about
PETA’s own history of killing defenseless animals ..." (01/02/03)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=1730
--

30) Moronic explanations of history
     Laissez Faire Times
     by George F. Smith

"[T]he state prefers the curtains drawn rather than open. That's one
reason it wants education controlled through its monopoly. The
biggest threat to its survival is an informed populace." (01/06/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/history_struggle.htm
--

31) A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE RRND TEAM

On December 23rd, 2002, four individuals launched Rational Review
News Digest. In one way or another, you found out about it and
subscribed. And we're glad you did. Now it's time to tell you why
we are doing this and what must happen for it to continue.

The four of us formerly worked with a web site/organization called
the Henry Hazlitt Foundation, which operated Free-Market.Net,
iFeminists.Com and several other freedom-oriented web sites. Free-
Market.Net also operated Freedom News Daily, a morning news
and commentary digest, which went out to thousands of
subscribers.

On December 20th, 2002, the board of the Henry Hazlitt
Foundation voted to dissolve the organization. Over the course of
2002, the foundation had gone into debt to the tune of about
$100,000, part of that representing significant amounts of back pay
owed to its editors. I've written in more detail about this in other
places, as have some other individuals involved.

The four of us (myself, Mary Lou Seymour, Steve Trinward and R.
Lee Wrights) put RRND together because we perceived that the
demise of Freedom News Daily would leave a gap in the freedom
movement. A daily news and commentary digest served a need,
and that's a need we want to meet.

Nobody made a lot of money working for the Henry Hazlitt
Foundation. That wasn't what it was about. Everyone associated
with that organization worked hard, for less money than they could
have made elsewhere.

But people do have to eat. It's a fact of life.

RRND is an experiment that _can_ fail. It represents a significant
time commitment for its editors and publisher -- several hours a
day. We can't do it, day after day and month after month, for free.
Think of it as the reverse of the U.S. Navy: it's not just an
adventure, it's a job.

Here's the bottom line: RRND has to bring in $50,000 a year or a
little more in order to support a staff of four individuals, pay the
hosting fees for the site, etc. That number would also allow us to
improve our systems and expand our offerings.

$50,000 sounds like a lot of money. It isn't. We hope to reach
5,000 subscribers over the next few months and move up from
there. At that level, an average donation of $10 per subscriber per
year would keep us in bread and butter. Is a daily newsletter,
Monday thru Friday, with content that you use and like to receive,
worth four cents per issue?

Of course, some readers cannot or will not donate. That's another
fact of life. All we can ask is that those of you who can and will,
please do, with the most that you can afford to give. The free
market can, and must, live with its free riders.

We're going to keep RRND going for as long as we can. Without
your support, that won't be for very long. In our first week, when
each of the editors put in 20 hours or so and I put in more than 40
hours, they made about $40 and I made about $80. Our second
week is nearly done ... and it looks like we aren't doing as well this
week as we did last week.

On January 15th, I am going to conference with the other three
editors.At that point, we are going to ask ourselves two questions:

1) Is RRND bringing in sufficient revenues to allow us to continue it?
2) If not, is it visibly ramping up toward doing so?

If the answer to both of those questions is no, then it is likely that
we will have to cease, or at least greatly curtail, publication by the
end of January. We've all worked for a living, and if we have to flip
burgers instead of publish a worthwhile newsletter in order to feed
our families, then that's what we'll do.

If the answer to either question is yes, then we'll keep at it. We
believe that we are making an important contribution to the freedom
movement with our work, and we're willing to make sacrifices of our
own in order to continue.

Donation links for E-Gold, PayPal and Amazon Honor System are
located at:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

We prefer the first two, as Amazon takes a fairly large commission
cut of donations made through its system.

If you are a person with the wherewithal and desire to become a
"major donor" in an amount exceeding a few hundred dollars, and
are uncomfortable using those systems, please contact me
privately at thomaslknapp@... or by phone at 314-721-
3960. I'll be glad to discuss exactly what your money would be
used for, and I believe that you'll agree that it's a worthwhile
investment.

Regards,
Thomas L. Knapp
Publisher

Mary Lou Seymour
Editor

Steve Trinward
Editor

R. Lee Wrights
Editor

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
except on holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe,
visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
                        Visit Rational Review at
                     http://www.rationalreview.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, January 2, 2003

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  China plans manned space flight in 2003
2)  Change in UN may affect Bush's war plans
3)  Lawyers: Air Force gave pilots "go pills"
4)  Families defend pilots in bombing of Canadians
5)  South Korea dispatches diplomat to Beijing
6)  Whitehall drew up plan to segregate Northern Ireland
7)  Oregon considers mileage tax using GPS tech
8)  States worry new law sets schools up to fail
9)  Coalition aircraft bomb Iraqi defense site
10) Pakistani says he's man in FBI wanted photo
11) Battle rages over Chancellorsville
12) Man allegedly uses GPS to stalk ex-girlfriend
13) Religious groups sue over mandatory contraceptive coverage
14) Two armed robbers pose as DEA agents
15) Nude gymnasts to get key to the city

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) Civil rights pandemonium
17) Happy new year? I doubt it
18) A capitalist war?
19) A new year: Time for hope and determination
20) Celebs don't do jail
21) What is the LNC's real job?
22) The real trouble with liberals
23) Why we need evil
24) Remaking the world in our image
25) Bush's antsy jog with North Korea
26) The ethical challenge for business
27) Government-mandated cell phone etiquette?
28) War on drugs can't be won
29) Blacklist grounds American passengers
30) Spending habits slow to change


NEWS
---------------

1)  China plans manned space flight in 2003
     BBC News

"China hopes to launch its first manned spacecraft later this year,
a senior official has said.
This would make it only the third country to put humans into
space. Shanghai aerospace centre director Yuan Jie said the
project had already entered the overall assembly and testing
phase." (01/02/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2620915.stm
--

2)  Change in UN may affect Bush's war plans
     The Scotsman

"A reshuffle of the United Nations security council has thrown into
doubt hopes that the US president, George Bush, would continue
to use the UN as the primary means of disarming Saddam
Hussein. In a major shift of power within the UN hierarchy,
Germany -- one of the leading opponents of military action against
Iraq -- was handed one of the ten non-permanent seats on the
Security Council." (01/02/03)

http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=2492003
--

3)  Lawyers: Air Force gave pilots "go pills"
     Denver Post/AP

"A lawyer for one of two U.S. pilots who released a bomb over
southern Afghanistan in April, accidentally killing four Canadian
soldiers, says the Air Force had pressured the pilots to take
amphetamines that may have impaired their judgment during the
mission." (01/02/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISTAKEN_BOMBING?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=H\
OME
--

4)  Families defend pilots in bombing of Canadians
     Washington Post

"Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach have been charged
with involuntary manslaughter in last April's incident that also
wounded eight other Canadians during the Afghan campaign. The
Air Force says the two pilots recklessly fired upon the soldiers,
who they thought were hostile forces, and failed to follow
instructions from superiors on the ground -- with Schmidt declaring
'bombs away' only seconds before an air controller cautioned him
that friendly troops were below him." (01/02/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64056-2003Jan1.html
--

5)  South Korea dispatches diplomat to Beijing
     Washington Post

"South Korea dispatched an envoy to Beijing today in a bid to
persuade China to increase pressure on North Korea to pull back
from restarting a nuclear reactor capable of producing weapons-
grade plutonium. Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae Shik arrived in
Beijing and declared his confidence that escalating tensions on the
Korean peninsula can be eased through peaceful means, saying in
an interview with Reuters television that he had been sent 'to
exchange our views with Chinese officials on how to find a
constructive way out of this nuclear stalemate.'" (01/02/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64117-2003Jan1.html
--

6)  Whitehall drew up plan to segregate Northern Ireland
     Independent

"Whitehall drew up secret plans to pacify Northern Ireland by
redrawing the border and shipping 500,000 Catholics to the Irish
Republic as anarchy threatened the province after Bloody
Sunday... {T]he plan, which is among 3,500 declassified
documents from 1972 released by the Public Record Office today,
demonstrates the apocalyptic options the Government was
considering as violence spiralled after Bloody Sunday." (01/01/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=365640
--

7)  Oregon considers mileage tax using GPS tech
     Salem Statesman Journal

"Oregon was the first state to adopt a gas tax, in 1919, and could
become the first to collect road fees via space technology. ...
Oregon relies on the gas tax to pay for its road system and gas tax
revenues are expected to flatten as gas mileage improves and
more hybrid cars come on line. ...The [enabling] device, in a car,
would be linked to the Global Positioning Satellite or GPS system,
which allows pinpoint navigation by bouncing signals off satellites."
(12/31/02)

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=54184
--

8)  States worry new law sets schools up to fail
     Washington Post

"State education officials are warning that a new federal education
law's requirement that each racial and demographic subgroup in a
school show annual improvement on standardized tests will result
in the majority of the nation's schools being deemed failing. The
likelihood that the law would force them to label the majority of their
schools 'low performing' is complicating efforts by state educational
officials to meet a Jan. 31 deadline for submitting plans for
implementing key parts of the federal 'No Child Left Behind' law."
(01/02/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64246-2003Jan1.html
--

9)  Coalition aircraft bomb Iraqi defense site
     CNN

"Operation Southern Watch aircraft struck an Iraqi air defense radar
site southeast of Baghdad early Wednesday, the US Central
Command said. The Iraqi military, however, said the coalition
planes hit a civilian site, killing one civilian and wounding two
others, according to the Iraqi News Agency. ... There was no
immediate US response to the Iraqi claim, but US military officials
have repeatedly denied targeting civilian facilities." (01/01/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/01/sproject.irq.iraq.airstrike/index.html
--

10) Pakistani says he's man in FBI wanted photo
     Denver Post/AP

"A Pakistani jeweler said Wednesday his picture is among those of
five foreign-born men the FBI says may have entered the United
States on falsified passports. He said he has never visited the
United States. An Associated Press photograph of Mohammed
Asghar taken at his shop in Lahore on Wednesday was a near-
perfect match for the one included on the FBI list under the name
Mustafa Khan Owasi, down to the prominent mole on Asghar's left
cheek." (01/01/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PAKISTAN_US_WANTED_MEN?SITE=CODEN&SEC\
TION=HOME
--

11) Battle rages over Chancellorsville
     Washington Times

"Skirmishes between developers and Civil War buffs seeking to
preserve battlefields are common in rapidly growing Northern
Virginia, which also was the epicenter of the Civil War. But now a
full-fledged national battle has erupted over a proposal to build a
new town called Chancellorsville on the land that gave Confederate
Gen. Robert E. Lee his greatest victory." (01/01/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20030101-44672692.htm
--

12) Man allegedly uses GPS to stalk ex-girlfriend
     Milwaukee Channel

"A Kenosha [WI] man was charged Monday for allegedly stalking
his former girlfriend with help from a tracking device attached under
the hood of her car. Paul Seidler, 42, was charged with stalking,
burglary, second-degree reckless endangerment and disorderly
conduct. The woman told the Kenosha Police Department her ex-
boyfriend would just show up no matter where she was. He often
found her in random places like at bars or on the highway.
(01/01/03)

http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/1860135/detail.html
--

13) Religious groups sue over mandatory contraceptive coverage
     CNS

"A New York State law, taking effect Jan. 1, requiring Catholic
schools and other religious institutions to provide their employees
with insurance coverage for contraceptives, is being challenged in
the state Supreme Court on grounds that it violates the U.S.
Constitution." (01/01/03)

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200301\CUL20030101a\
.html
--

14) Two armed robbers pose as DEA agents
     Anchorage Daily News

"Two armed men posing as federal drug enforcement agents
pushed their way into a South Anchorage home Monday, bound
three people with duct tape and demanded the combination to a
gun safe. About 1:45 p.m., someone knocked on the door. The two
were armed with guns and knives and dressed in black and blue."
(12/30/02)

http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/2396640p-2448402c.html
--

15) Nude gymnasts to get key to the city
     Ananova

"Three former Romanian gymnasts who were banned for their nude
appearances in a Japanese magazine and adult movie are to be
offered the key to the city in Bucharest. Mayor Traian Basescu
says he wants to show his support for the girls' gesture of having
the courage to do what they want with their lives." (12/31/02)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_734742.html
--



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) Civil rights pandemonium
     Town Hall
     by William F. Buckley, Jr.

"It is a historical opportunity lost that Trent Lott didn't pause while
going down in flames. He might have made a point worth thinking
about .... What he might have said was that he acknowledged his
faults, but thought it correct that his critics should examine their
own thinking, specifically that every bill or petition or declaration
that has the words 'civil rights' in it is to be venerated as a
reiteration of the Emancipation Proclamation." (01/02/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/wfbuckley/wfb20030102.shtml
--

17) Happy new year? I doubt it
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"As the Korean crisis pushes its way to the front of the queue,
overshadowing the Middle East in the severity of its possible
consequences, my October prediction that Iraq would have to be
put on the back burner is coming true. When Pyongyang raised the
specter of nuclear annihilation -- not only of South Korea, where
37,000 American troops are stationed, but also of Japan, another
U.S. military redoubt and a close ally -- alarm bells went off in
Washington, awakening even George W. Bush from his Iraqi-
centric trance." (01/01/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j010103.html
--

18) A capitalist war?
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"Some people dispute the claim that the US attack on Iraq is
motivated -- at least in part -- by the desire for Iraq’s oil. What can
we say about them? They may be hopelessly naïve about the
public sector in general. Some of the same people who are pleased
to finger greed and avarice as the root cause of all accounting
problems on Wall Street are loath to consider that similar impulses
might inspire politicians and bureaucrats as well." (01/01/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/capitalistwar.html
--

19) A new year: Time for hope and determination
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"As we enter this New Year, it is easy to surrender to thoughts of
despair and despondency, given the prospect of perpetual war,
perpetual terrorism against Americans, and perpetual governmental
infringements on the civil liberties of the people. We need to resist
that temptation. Regardless of what happens in the near future, the
course on which our nation has embarked is not a fixed and
immutable one." (01/01/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0212q.asp
--

20) Celebs don't do jail
     Loose Cannon Libertarian
     by Garry Reed

"When Florida Gov Jeb Bush’s darling daughter Noelle got busted
yet again for pigging out at the governmentally disapproved
substances buffet she ... certainly did not go directly to jail. Noelle
went to rehab. This brought howls of indignation from law-and-order
pushers .... While libertarians agree with the equal treatment
concept, they know the howlers have gotten it all wrong. Equal
injustice for all is still injustice. Nobody’s kid deserves to be jailed
for drug use. Or forcibly rehabbed." (01/01/03)

http://www.freecannon.com/CelebsDon'tDoJail.htm
--

21) What is the LNC's real job?
     Rational Review
     by Steve Trinward

"For many years -- throughout my early days as a Massachusetts
Libertarian, and even more recent times in Tennessee -- I labored
under the misconception that the LNC should be some sort of
advocacy and policy group, whose primary job was to represent
"the Libertarian position" on domestic and world affairs, and to
speak out on behalf of the Party whenever it deemed it
appropriate." (01/01/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/stevetrinward/stevetrinward010103.html
--

22) The real trouble with liberals
     WorldNetDaily
     by Marilyn Lois Polak

"Liberal has never been a label I've claimed for myself. Anarcho-
Trotskyite, perhaps. Neo-Rosa Luxemburgian, maybe. Zen Radical,
sometimes. Performance artist and novelist and screenwriter,
certainly. Satirist-humorist, sure. But never a liberal. I don't make
enough money to be a liberal." (01/01/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30277
--

23) Why we need evil
     Slate
     by Christopher Hitchens

"There is probably no easier way to beckon a smirk to the lips of a
liberal intellectual than to mention President Bush's invocation of
the notion of 'evil.' ... at election times the same liberal intellectual
will, after much agonizing, usually cast his vote for whichever
shabby nominee the Democratic Party throws up. ... because this
is 'the lesser evil.' So, it seems that we cannot quite do without the
word, even ... some people only employ it in an ironic or relativist
sense, as a quality that must be negotiated with, accommodated,
or assimilated." (12/31/02)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2076195/
--

24) Remaking the world in our image
     Strike the Root
     by Lee McCracken

"[T]he folly of trying to remake the world in our image will inevitably
result in the further erosion of liberties here at home. The link
between local freedom and self-determination at home and non-
intervention abroad should be clear from the massive leaps in state
socialism and control that always accompany war. Such crusades
are usually led by those Thomas Sowell has called 'the anointed'--
those who believe in the absolute superiority of their own social
vision and their right (and duty) to impose it on others." (12/31/02)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/mccracken/mccracken8.html
--

25) Bush's antsy jog with North Korea
     Village Voice
     by James Ridgeway

"Viewed from the cynical pit of capital politics, North Korea is no
distraction from Iraq, but instead another big plus for Bush
domestic policy. Fears of missiles sailing in from Asia can only
underscore Bush's arguments for a 'Little Star Wars' missile shield
plan ... while the White House may be willing to weather armed
conflict on two fronts, the administration is less prepared to plunge
two regions into economic chaos." (01/01/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0301/ridgeway.php
--

26) The ethical challenge for business
     Acton Institute
     by Robert A. Sirico

"Aside from the fact that bringing someone from Ralph Nader’s
organization in to lecture is not likely to do much for the personal
ethics of managers, the language of such programs show that they
are not really about ethics and morality at all. They are not virtue-
based programs, and thus will not prevent fraud, deception, or any
other kind of dishonesty in business. Instead, this language is all
about politics of a certain bent, the kind that favors curbing free
enterprise through regulation and pressure-group agitation."
(12/31/02)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=119
--

27) Government-mandated cell phone etiquette?
     Liberty for All
     by Geoffrey Neale

"If cell phone chattering is a big enough problem, consumers could
encourage businesses to post their own cell phone policies.
Americans who find cell phone conversations annoying could
patronize phone-free theaters, stores, and restaurants. Meanwhile,
cell phone junkies would seek out phone-friendly environments.
That way everyone would be satisfied - everyone except pandering
politicians. Let's hope the crusade to hire cell phone cops that
started in New York ends in New York as well. Civilized people can
deal with minor annoyances without government intervention."
(12/02)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2002/archive/dec22/cellphone.html
--

28) War on drugs can't be won
     El Defensor Chieftain
     by James Baca

"I am 19 years old. I just completed a four-year tour of duty on a
battleground in the so-called 'war on drugs,' Socorro High School. I
am not a drug user of any sort. I am not a drinker or a smoker ...
While I disagree with the lifestyle that recreational drug users have,
I am in favor of the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs. I do
believe that this 'war' on drugs is a huge waste of our time. WE
LOST. Plain and simple." (12/31/02)

http://www.dchieftain.com/opinion/opinion3_12312002.html
--

29) Blacklist grounds American passengers
     Intervention magazine
     by Frederick Sweet

"Secret security procedures that single out political activists and
others with vague connections to unpopular ethnic groups are
clearly putting some American citizens at greater risk now than
they had been before the TSA started 'protecting' us. The right to
freely travel is being abridged, free-speech rights are threatened
and the liberty of people vaguely tagged as 'suspected of posing a
risk' is curtailed." (12/29/02)

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article\
&sid=278
--

30) Spending habits slow to change
     Washington Times
     by Cal Thomas

"Just as some of us are resolving to lose weight in the New Year,
so, too, should the Bush administration and the states concentrate
on putting bloated government on a diet. According to Citizens
Against Government Waste, the 107th Congress promiscuously
spent $20.1 billion on pork-barrel projects. 'Fiscally conservative'
Republicans joined in the spending spree ..." (01/01/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030101-99623072.htm
--


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except on
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RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, January 1, 2003

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  U.S. reports clash with Pakistani border unit
2)  Infantry division ordered to Persian Gulf
3)  Dollar struggles with economy, war fears
4)  Wall Street ends worst run in decades
5)  Connecticut medical marijuana bill ready for session
6)  Briton tells of ordeal in Bush's torture jail
7)  Anti-gun message expansion planned
8)  Bush: attack could cripple economy
9)  Firearms registry won't stop killings
10) Powerball winner makes good on vow to church
11) Kim: U.S. policy on North Korea will fail
12) Americans volunteer at rate of 28 percent
13) New pollution standards prompt suit
14) Federal judge rules 'Choose Life' license plates unconstitutional
15) Ray of hope in Tulia cases

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) The dead remember
17) A bear market for freedom?
18) Hopes for 2003
19) Free radical
20) How the INS is killing music
21) Looking ahead
22) A retrospective on Johnson's poverty war
23) What I would like to see in 2003
24) The terrible twos
25) In search of a peace culture
26) Dangerous democracy
27) Bridge-building: 21 talking points for discussions with anarcho-socialists
28) The real state of the union
29) A citizen shorn of all rights
30) Anything but California


NEWS
---------------

1)  U.S. reports clash with Pakistani border unit
     Washington Post

"U.S. military authorities announced today that a brief shootout
erupted between U.S. and Pakistani troops along the Afghan
border Sunday, prompting the U.S. forces to call in an F-16
warplane that dropped a 500-pound bomb on the Pakistanis to end
the clash. One U.S. soldier was shot and wounded as the
encounter began, the U.S. military said in a statement at Bagram,
just north of Kabul, the capital." (01/01/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60833-2002Dec31.html
--

2)  Infantry division ordered to Persian Gulf
     Denver Post/AP

"An infantry division from Georgia has been ordered to the Persian
Gulf region as a part of the military's preparations for war with Iraq,
military officials said Tuesday. ... It is the largest single ground
force sent to the region since the Bush administration indicated its
willingness to go to war against the regime of Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein more than a year ago." (12/31/02)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ_DEPLOYMENT?SITE=CODEN&SECTION\
=HOME
--

3)  Dollar struggles with economy, war fears
     Yahoo! News/Reuters

"The dollar slipped to a three-year low against the euro and a four-
year low versus the Swiss franc on Tuesday, as investors sought
haven from risks associated with a possible war with Iraq and
mounting tensions with North Korea." (12/31/02)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021231/bs_nm/markets_forex_d\
c_13
--

4)  Wall Street ends worst run in decades
     USA Today

"The market has lost a whopping $2.9 trillion of value this year, as
measured by the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index. Wall Street
wrapped up its first three-year losing streak since the period
between 1939 and 1941, capped by the worst December
performance by the blue-chip Dow since 1931." (12/31/02)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2002-12-31-wall-street-year-end_x.htm
--

5)  Connecticut medical marijuana bill ready for session
     News Day

"The debate over the issue of medical marijuana is expected to
again come up before the Connecticut legislature this coming
session ... State Rep. James Abrams, D-Meriden, said he will
again propose legislation that would allow doctors to issue
certificates recommending marijuana for their patients' medical
conditions." (12/30/02)

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--medicalmarijuana1230dec30.story
--

6)  Briton tells of ordeal in Bush's torture jail
     Guardian

"Begg, 35, was writing from Bagram military base just outside
Kabul. He is the only British prisoner inside a cluster of metal
shipping containers at the heart of the United States army part of
the base, which serves as a 'jail' for al-Qaeda suspects ... The
letter contained only hints of what Moazzam Begg's interrogators
may have done to him. He wrote of hunger and being kept awake
by bright lights." (12/29/02)

http://www.observer.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,866168,00.html
--

7)  Anti-gun message expansion planned
     Delaware News Journal

"After more than a year of increasing federal gun prosecutions, an
anti-gun violence program will move into a new phase in 2003 with
a public-relations campaign aimed at convincing probationers, ex-
convicts and teenagers to avoid guns. Under Operation Disarm, 48
people have either pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury of gun
violations ... Since the program began in September 2001, more
than three times as many gun cases have been indicted in federal
court than in the two years leading up to Operation Disarm."
(12/31/02)

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2002/12/30antigunmessaget.html
--

8)  Bush: attack could cripple economy
     Reuters

"President Bush delivered a New Year's Eve warning on Tuesday
that any attack on the United States by Iraq or a group working on
its behalf could cripple the U.S. economy." (12/31/02)

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1979380
--

9)  Firearms registry won't stop killings
     Canada.Com

"The problem-plagued federal gun registry that aims to have all
firearms in Canada registered by tomorrow won't significantly cut
the supply because 'the bulk of our guns are smuggled into this
country illegally and I don't expect those to be registered,' Staff-
Insp. Gauthier said." (12/31/02)

http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=F7A2BCCD-2930-4197-9264-324651C0566E
--

10) Powerball winner makes good on vow to church
     AP/Boston Globe

"At the beginning of yesterday's service at the Tabernacle of
Praise, Senior Pastor C.T. Mathews asked his parishioners for
donations to the church's food pantry. Afterward, one member of
his congregation -- record Powerball lottery winner Andrew 'Jack'
Whittaker -- said he was making good on a promise [and] would
give Mathews a $334,000 check, the first installment on the
church's share -- the traditional 10 percent tithe -- of Whittaker's
$170 million gross winnings." (12/31/02)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/364/nation/Powerball_winner_makes_good_on_vow+\
.shtml
--

11) Kim: U.S. policy on North Korea will fail
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"South Korean President Kim Dae-jung warned Monday that
Washington's new policy of 'tailored containment' to halt North
Korea's development of nuclear weapons is doomed. Revealing a
widening gap with the Bush administration, Kim said dialogue and
diplomacy -- rather than enforced isolation -- were the only way to
reverse the deepening crisis on the Korean peninsula and prevent
North Korea from expanding its nuclear arsenal." (12/31/02)

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/1202/31nkoreakim.html
--

12) Americans volunteer at rate of 28 percent
     AP/Washington Times

"The Labor Department estimates that 59 million Americans like
Miss Taylor have performed volunteer work between September
2001 and September 2002. They tutor, mentor, build affordable
housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, and help
communities respond to disasters. In its first such study of
volunteerism in more than a decade, the agency found 27.6 percent
of the civilian population 16 and older volunteered." (12/31/02)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20021231-81846456.htm
--

13) New pollution standards prompt suit
     Washington Post

"Nine northeastern states ranging from Maine to Maryland filed suit
yesterday challenging the Bush administration's decision to relax
national industrial pollution restrictions for the first time since
enactment of the Clean Air Act in 1970. The attorneys general of
those states say the administration's rule-making far exceeded its
legislative authority under the Clean Air Act and would undermine
state efforts to adopt stricter protections." (01/01/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60934-2002Dec31.html
--

14) Federal judge rules 'Choose Life' license plates unconstitutional
     TheState.Com/AP

"A federal court judge has ruled South Carolina's anti-abortion
license plates are unconstitutional. The plates, which include the
slogan 'Choose Life,' violate the First Amendment [by giving] anti-
abortion advocates a forum to express their beliefs, while abortion
rights supports have no license plate of their own, Senior U.S.
District Judge William Bertelsman ruled last week. A spokesman
for the attorney general's office said the state plans to appeal the
decision to 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals." (12/31/02)

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/4848495.htm
--

15) Ray of hope in Tulia cases
     MAPINC/State Register Journal

"Some tentative, very preliminary steps are being taken to address
one of the great miscarriages of justice in the country -- the
roundup and prosecution of dozens of black men and women on
specious drug trafficking charges in the Texas Panhandle town of
Tulia." (12/31/02)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2345/a07.html?397
--



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COMMENTARY
---------------

16) The dead remember
     TruthOut
     by William R. Pitt

"Here is your bottom line. This country is headed to war with a
nation we armed in the first place for a tidy corporate profit, despite
the fact that there is no evidence that nation is a threat anymore ...
[B]eyond the vastly increased threat of stateside terrorism this will
cause, yet another tidy corporate profit will be made." (01/01/03)

http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/010103A.wrp.dead.htm
--

17) A bear market for freedom?
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"The sky is not falling, but the post-9/11 bellicosity of the state and
Americans' preoccupation with economic recession brought us up
short this year. Some libertarian institutions failed entirely. Others
cut back operations. Still others found themselves facing political
defeats that ended a string of victories on issues like medical
marijuana. This is the milieu into which Rational Review was born
one year ago today." (01/01/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/tlknapp/tlknapp010103.html
--

18) Hopes for 2003
     Mackinac Center for Public Policy
     by Lawrence W. Reed

"I hope that the media will finally understand that the Mackinac
Center, if it must be labeled, is best described as a 'free market'
organization. We are not Republican or Democratic. We are not
conservative. ... but there are still some in the media who prefer
unthinking and inaccurate labels to describe us." (01/01/03)

http://www.mackinac.org/4943
--

19) Free radical
     Cato Institute
     by Richard Morin

"In love as in life, Ed Crane has taken the different path, a single-
minded free thinker whose life has been lived largely out of step
with his times -- or perhaps a step or two ahead of them."
(01/01/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-01-03.html
--

20) How the INS is killing music
     CounterPunch
     by Susan Martinez

"These days, the biggest hurdle for international artists who want to
perform in the U.S. is getting their passport stamped. Even
Grammy-award winning musicians have become prime victims of
America's post-9/11 Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry
Reform Act. The U.S. now routinely denies artists visas based on
their ethnicity. Visa applications have become a long-form for
censorship, and an expensive fee is pocketed by Uncle Sam in the
process." (12/31/02)

http://www.counterpunch.org/martinez1231.html
--

21) Looking ahead
     TechCentralStation.Com
     by Glenn Harlan Reynolds

"As we pass from 2002 into 2003, the new millennium doesn't look
especially bright. ... But don't despair, either. The bad guys have
indeed gotten more powerful. But so have the rest of us." (12/31/02)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/defensewrapper.jsp?PID=1051-350&CID=1051-\
123102A
--

22) A retrospective on Johnson's poverty war
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Adam Young

"Boldly declaring 'an unconditional war on poverty,' President
Johnson rolled out a laundry list of programs that he claimed would
end poverty in America. Meanwhile, the government's own
statistical police and bureaucracy were saying that poverty was
already in decline from the highs of the (Hoover-FDR prolonged)
Great Depression, as the New Deal and war-time price controls
and rationing expired and industrial production and competition
were permitted by Washington, D.C." (12/31/02)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1126
--

23) What I would like to see in 2003
     Strike the Root
     by Jack Rain

"I am an optimist, so here is what I would really like to see ... I'm
hoping that early on in the year that President Bush starts planning
on making some key personnel changes in his administration. And
I am hoping that in the middle of his planning the country goes on
Major League Super Neon Red Alert and that the president is
whisked away to a secure facility where he will remain
incommunicado for at least a week." (12/31/02)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Rain/rain28.html
--

24) The terrible twos
     Reason
     by Cathy Young

"As we face uncertain prospects in 2003, it's time to look back on
some highlights (or lowlights) of 2002. ... A New Year's resolution
to give up such cheap and insulting political rhetoric would be nice.
But it would be broken even sooner than the ones about diet and
exercise. " (12/31/02)

http://www.reason.com/cy/cy123102.shtml
--

25) In search of a peace culture
     AntiWar.Com
     by Alan Bock

"Peacemakers, it seems to me, would do well to recognize this
disparity between the cultures of war and the culture of peace, and
do more to create a respectable and pervasive popular culture of
peace. It is a daunting prospect. ... In some ways peace and
prosperity, while most people claim to desire them, can be viewed
as boring." (12/31/02)

http://www.antiwar.com/bock/b123102.html
--

26) Dangerous democracy
     Washington Times
     by Thomas Sowell

"One of the cornerstones of the war on terrorism is the premise
that promoting democracy is a long-run goal for creating a better
world, one which will not breed so many terrorists. But a new book,
'World on Fire' by Professor Amy Chua of the Yale law school,
argues persuasively that democracy can be positively dangerous
for some non-Western countries, especially when combined with a
free market economy." (12/31/02)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20021231-6973468.htm
--

27) Bridge-building: 21 talking points for discussions with anarcho-socialists
     anti-state.com
     by Nexus X Humectress

"Building a bridge to the anarcho-socialists is probably a doomed
endeavor, given that they tend to be so dogmatic, vicious, and
unwilling to listen. But not entirely doomed. You see, despite
significant values and theoretical differences, a lot of the conflict is
due to misunderstanding. This is because both ansocs and market
anarchists use the same terms to mean different things. Hence,
the two groups talk past one another. To get on the same page,
you must learn to communicate so that they will understand you."
(12/31/02)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=360
--

28) The real state of the union
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"In late January, President Bush will speak to the nation from the
House of Representatives in his annual state of the Union address.
By the tens of millions Americans will tune in to hear the president
outline his legislative agenda for the coming year and congratulate
himself on his past year’s accomplishments -- both of which are
increasingly defined by greater and greater expansions of
government power." (12/27/02)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0212p.asp
--

29) A citizen shorn of all rights
     Village Voice
     by Nat Hentoff

"If unchecked by the courts -- and Congress -- Bush's parallel legal
system will push the Constitution aside and realize James
Madison's prediction that when all power is commanded by only
one of the three branches of government, those ensnared in that
rogue system are powerless." (12/27/02)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0301/hentoff.php
--

30) Anything but California
     San Francisco Chronicle
     by Mark Sandalow

"Take a look at who will be running the show next year in
Washington. At the White House, you've got a Texan and a
Wyomingite. In the Senate, the majority's leaders hail from
Tennessee and Kentucky. In the House, it's Illinois, Texas and
Missouri ... When it comes to governing the world's most powerful
nation, there is a notable absence from the its most populous state
... No matter what your political leanings, it is not a happy
coincidence that California is at its Democratic zenith at precisely
the moment when the federal government has reached a
Republican peak." (12/30/02)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/12/30/ED65366.DTL
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
except on
holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/

Forward freely.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
                        Visit Rational Review at
                     http://www.rationalreview.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, December 31st, 2002

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Nuclear monitors leave North Korea
2)  UN tightens embargo on Iraq
3)  Freighters believed to be linked to al Q'aeda
4)  Bush exempts "Area 51" from environmental laws
5)  Maryland gun dealers despair
6)  Required screening of all bags to begin at airports
7)  Israeli court: refuseniks must serve
8)  Tiny war victims crowd orphanage
9)  State database to keep tabs on prescriptions
10) "Terror cordon" planned for UK cities
11) "Code Pink" White House vigil continues
12) Peyote case pits religious freedom against concerns for child's safety
13) Court rejects attempts to ban bin Laden book
14) US turns to torture to crack prisoners of war

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

15) The future of fatherhood
16) A skeptic worth remembering
17) The president's new troupe
18) Power and vulnerability
19) What are we being driven to?
20) Fuel efficient -- but dead
21) Clicked into submission?
22) Campus assault on religious freedom
23) Christmas Day 1776: victory or death
24) Arming for Armageddon
25) Color-coded diversity
26) Ethnic cleansing: Past, present and future
27) The CBC lectures Lott
28) When the governors come calling



NEWS
---------------

1)  Nuclear Monitors leave North Korea
     MSNBC

"Two UN nuclear inspectors expelled by North Korea’s hardline
regime arrived in China on Tuesday morning, leaving behind a
nuclear program increasingly isolated from international scrutiny.
The two ... refused to discuss the North Korean situation, saying
they were on their way to the International Atomic Energy
Agency’s headquarters in Vienna as soon as possible." (12/31/02)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/850567.asp?0cv=CB10
--

2)  UN tightens embargo on Iraq
     ABC News

"The [UN] Security Council approved tighter controls on Iraqi
imports Monday, including limits on purchases of certain
communications equipment, speed boats and antibiotics which the
United States and Britain said could be used by the Iraqi military in
a war." (12/31/02)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20021231_158.html
--

3)  Freighters believed to be linked to al Q'aeda
     Washington Post

"U.S. intelligence officials have identified approximately 15 cargo
freighters around the world that they believe are controlled by al
Qaeda or could be used by the terrorist network to ferry operatives,
bombs, money or commodities over the high seas, government
officials said. American spy agencies track some of the suspicious
ships by satellites or surveillance planes and with the help of allied
navies or informants in overseas ports." (12/31/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56442-2002Dec30.html
--

4)  Bush exempts "Area 51" from environmental laws
     Space.Com

"[The] super-secret Air Force base near Groom Lake, Nevada --
purported site of everything from captured aliens to the highest of
high-tech aircraft -- has been exempted by President Bush from
environmental laws that would disclose classified information
regarding base operations." (12/30/02)

http://www.space.com/news/area51_exempt_021230.html
--

5)  Maryland gun dealers despair
     Washington Post

"The nation's first state law requiring all new handguns to be
outfitted with built-in trigger locks will take effect in Maryland
tomorrow, a measure gun control advocates predict will save lives
but one that has gun dealers fearing for their livelihoods. Only six
models of handguns and integrated trigger locks now on the market
would meet the law's standards, and manufacturers of other
models have started cutting back their distribution in Maryland,
several dealers said yesterday." (12/31/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56389-2002Dec30.html
--

6)  Required screening of all bags to begin at airports
      Dallas Star-Telegram

"The latest and most anticipated change in airport security goes
into effect Tuesday, as every piece of checked luggage must be
screened for explosives. Most of the nation's 426 airports will
screen the baggage with bomb-detection machines. But a handful
of airports, including Dallas/Fort Worth, have been given another
year to install the machines." (12/31/02)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/4839308.htm
--

7)  Israeli court: refuseniks must serve
     Austin American Statesman/AP

"Israel's Supreme Court ruled Monday that army reservists cannot
refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip .... In its ruling,
the high court sidestepped a decision on whether Israel's 35-year
occupation of the disputed territories violates international law.
Eight reservists contended that Israel's occupation is illegal, and
therefore they have the right to refuse duty there. The court ruled
that reservists cannot choose their assignments." (12/30/02)

http://www.austin360.com/aas/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V1813.AP-Israel-Pales\
tin.html
--

8)  Tiny war victims crowd orphanage
     CNN/AP

"Every day, more children arrive at the Allauddin Center Orphanage
in Afghanistan's war-ravaged capital, living reminders of what
poverty can do to families. Many of the 950 children, most between
3 and 14 years old, are not orphans in the traditional sense. They
still have a parent living -- but one who is not financially capable of
caring for the child." (12/30/02)

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/12/30/afghan.orphans.ap/index.html
--

9)  State database to keep tabs on prescriptions
     Tennessean

"A database to allow the state to keep track of all controlled
substance prescriptions filled in Tennessee goes into effect
Wednesday. Doctors and pharmacists have known for some time
that people abuse prescriptions, either to feed their own drug habit
or to get drugs to sell on the street. However, there never has been
any way to keep track of it. But on Wednesday the Controlled
Substances Monitoring Act kicks in, and that could change."
(12/29/02)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/02/12/27063249.shtml?Element_ID=27063249
--

10) "Terror cordon" planned for UK cities
     BBC

"New laws allowing police to enforce 'emergency cordons' in major
British cities in the event of a terrorist attack are being considered
by ministers ... The new laws are expected to form part of a new
'civil contingencies' bill to be published shortly." (12/29/02)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2612319.stm
--

11) "Code Pink" White House vigil continues
     Womens ENews

"Women from across the country have united in protest against an
impending war with Iraq. Dubbed 'Code Pink' -- a play on the
President's 'Code Red' terrorist alert system -- the Women's Peace
Vigil began in November, and continues daily, to culminate on
International Women's Day in March with a massive women's
peace rally." (12/29/02)

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1162/context/cover/
--

12) Peyote case pits religious freedom against concerns for child's safety
      Hoosier Times/AP

"Jon Fowler wants his 4-year-old son to have the right to take
peyote with him. It's a matter of religious freedom, he says. A
member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians, Jon Fowler belongs to the Native American Church of the
Morning Star, where the hallucinogen is taken as a sacrament ...
But a judge may bar Fowler from doing so, in a case that pits the
Constitution's guarantee of religious freedom against a mother's
wish to protect her child." (12/28/02)

http://www.hoosiertimes.com/stories/2002/12/28/religion.021228_HT_B2_CCP07469.st\
o
--

13) Court rejects attempts to ban bin Laden book
     Australian Broadcast Company

"Switzerland's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by one of
Osama bin Laden's half brothers to ban a controversial book on the
head of Al Q'aeda." (12/27/02)

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s754681.htm
--

14) US turns to torture to crack prisoners of war
     Sydney Morning Herald

"Those who refuse to co-operate inside the secret CIA interrogation
centre are sometimes kept standing or kneeling for hours, in black
hoods or spray-painted goggles, intelligence specialists familiar
with CIA interrogation methods say... The off-limits patch of ground
at Bagram is one of a number of secret overseas detention centres
where US due process does not apply. Another is Diego Garcia, an
island in the Indian Ocean that the US leases from Britain."
(12/27/02)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/26/1040511135568.html
--


COMMENTARY
---------------

15) The future of fatherhood
      Fox News
      by Wendy McElroy

"We can expect the cry for 'fathers' rights' to ring loudly throughout
2003, as men demand that society reconsiders such issues as
child support and child custody. It will not necessarily be women
who men oppose in this fight. Men are confronting a governmental
Goliath that has been called 'the child abuse industry.' In doing so,
they defend not only fathers' rights but also those of mothers and
children." (12/31/02)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,74215,00.html
--

16) A skeptic worth remembering
      Town Hall
      by Bill Murchison

"Taking Old Man Mencken's measure is an ongoing job, so varied
was his career, so many were its dimensions, both intellectual and
personal. ... As smasher-upper of post-Victorian assumptions, as
professional bad boy, Mencken wrote from the heart." (12/31/02)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/billmurchison/wm20021231.shtml
--

17) The president's new troupe
     Cato Institute
     by Alan Reynolds

"The end of 2002 will mark the third year in a row of falling stock
prices, which is the ultimate vote of no confidence in the
opportunities facing American business. But the year also ends
with a potentially revitalizing shake-up in the president's economic
team." (12/31/02)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-31-02.html
--

18) Power and vulnerability
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"Worrying about centralized power is the job of all libertarians
everywhere. But not everyone shares this fear of despotism. Sam
Tanenhaus, writing in the Wall Street Journal, seeks to
demonstrate that Bush is no Imperial President, and neither were
his predecessors Nixon, Kennedy, and FDR. They were not
imperial or powerful, says Tanenhaus; they were just presidential."
(12/30/02)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/imperialbush.html
--

19) What are we being driven to?
     Liberty for All
     by Ed Lewis

"The people in government break the laws of God and man with
apparent impunity, exercising authority they don't have under color
of law. They infringe not only on the rights of the American people
but the very common decency and respect we for the most part
have towards and for all people. Some may disagree but how many
of you actually believe that butchering people around the globe is
the answer to creating world peace?" (12/02)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2002/archive/dec22/driven.html
--

20) Fuel efficient -- but dead
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Sam Kazman

"According to a 2001 National Academy of Sciences report, CAFE-
induced downsizing contributes to 1,300 to 2,600 vehicle deaths a
year. Any move to make CAFE standards even more stringent
probably would raise this death toll. Advocates of higher CAFE
standards for sport utility vehicles argue that this would reduce the
hazard that SUVs pose in collisions with cars. The evidence for
this is far from clear, because assessing the overall safety effects
of reducing one vehicle's mass in a multi-car collision is complex."
(12/27/02)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03313.cfm
--

21) Clicked into submission?
     Center for Individual Freedom
     by staff

"A decision issued by seven judges sitting half a world away,
interpreting another country’s law, may have a greater effect on
Internet publishing in the United States than our own First
Amendment. According to a ruling from the High Court of Australia,
individuals and media that post material online available in Australia
must answer for their electronic speech in the courts 'down under.'"
(12/19/02)

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/australian_high_co\
urt.htm
--

22) Campus assault on religious freedom
     Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
     by staff

"[A]Christian Group at Rutgers University has been banned from
using campus facilities and stripped of university funding because it
selected its leadership on the basis of religious belief. In an
identical situation, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
(UNC) has threatened similar punishment for the InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship." (12/20/02)

http://www.thefire.org/issues/rutgers_123002.php3
--

23) Christmas Day 1776: victory or death
     Strike the Root
     by George F. Smith

"On Christmas Day, 1776, a few Americans gave us the first
installment of a gift we have all but lost ... They also won a critical
victory for independence and liberty. While no war is good,
defensive wars are sometimes necessary. Our forefathers knew
this. That's why some of them went marching, 226 years ago."
(12/30/02)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Smith/smith33.html
--

24) Arming for Armageddon
     CounterPunch
     by John Stanton

"[I]t's no surprise that in 2003, the weapons industry will be busy
lobbying the US Congress and the American public for more
subsidies ... The weapons industry storyline will include appeals to
9-11 and patriotism, free markets, job creation and level-playing
fields, and global democracy -- US style. But the reality behind the
phony proclamations is, of course, profits and free-rides." (12/30/02)

http://www.counterpunch.org/stanton1230.html
--

25) Color-coded diversity
     Washington Times
     by Nat Hentoff

"As the Supreme Court returns this term to the embattled national
debate on affirmative action in college admissions, the president
can, in a legal brief, tell the Supreme Court that his administration
opposes the University of Michigan's affirmative action policies
based on racial preferences instead of an inclusionary
constitutional method. Justice William O. Douglas -- the most
liberal and libertarian jurist in the history of the high court -- said
that there are students of all races and ethnic backgrounds who
grow up in poverty and have other disadvantages, but who
demonstrate determination to overcome these obstacles."
(12/30/02)

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20021230-17064038.htm
--

26) Ethnic cleansing: Past, present and future
     AntiWar.Com
     by Ran HaCohen

"There is a puzzling paradox about Holocaust denial: those who
deny it are precisely the ones who would have supported it. I
couldn’t help thinking of this paradox when I heard that American
university professors have recently been accused of anti-Semitism
(!) for signing a document warning against Israeli intentions to drive
out masses of Palestinians, possibly during a American attack on
Iraq. It seems that those likely to support such a crime are
precisely the ones who so vehemently deny that Israel might be
contemplating it." (12/30/02)

http://www.antiwar.com/hacohen/h123002.html
--

27) The CBC lectures Lott
     Strike the Root
     by John deLaubenfels

"Martin Luther King Jr. had it exactly right when he called upon us
to judge each other on the basis of character, not skin hue. For
decades, the CBC, and other supposed 'followers,' have betrayed
his dream completely ... It would be less hypocritical, and less
harmful, to disavow Dr. King altogether, rather than pretend to be
his torch-bearer while marching relentlessly in the opposite
direction." (12/30/02)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/deLaubenfels/delaubenfels36.html
--

28) When the governors come calling
     Washington Times
     by staff

"When Jack Whittaker won the $314.9 million Powerball jackpot,
there were two other unmentioned winners: the sponsoring states
of Missouri and Kansas. Missouri picked up an extra $12 million
from increased ticket sales, while Kansas picked up a little less ...
Pity the poor governors who have the politically unenviable task of
cutting popular spending programs and increasing taxes ..."
(12/30/02)

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20021230-7635108.htm
--


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rational Review News Digest is published Monday thru Friday
except on holidays. Forward freely. To subscribe or unsubscribe,
visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rrnd/

Forward freely.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
                        Visit Rational Review at
                     http://www.rationalreview.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, December 30th, 2002

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Three Americans dead, one wounded in Yemen
2)  Arms at airport -- baggage handler arrested
3)  FBI seeks five foreign suspects
4)  Chinese test capsule for manned space flight
5)  Non-U.S.students jailed over class load
6)  Police confiscate bail money, claim it smells like marijuana
7)  Group says it cloned human
8)  Attempted Carjacking Turns Deadly
9)  US played key role in Iraq buildup
10) Rangel calls for mandatory military service
11) UN, Afghans to investigate reports of mass graves
12) AFL-CIO blasts Fed accounting demands
13) Terror fight tops Bush campaign agenda
14) Countdown to Canadian gun registration
15) Shifting tactics in Chechnya

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

16) Osama's puppet boy
17) The unresolved problem of the United Nations
18) The founding fathers understood
19) Closing America's shelter
20) Call Hussein's bluff
21) Second thoughts on the Ashcroft doctrine
22) For wary White House, a conflict not a crisis
23) What's this business about "restoring" rights?
24) The vanguard idea
25) Sic the IRS on Saddam
26) Put the liberty cap back on
27) In Defense of Non-Interventionism
28) The double standard on political hate speech
29) Injured pitcher sues metal bat company
30) Medieval Iceland and the absence of government


NEWS
---------------

1)  Three Americans dead, one wounded in Yemen
     Financial Times

"A Yemeni has shot dead three American doctors and wounded a
fourth U.S. national at a missionary hospital in the south of the
country, a Yemeni official says." (12/30/02)

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=Sto\
ryFT&cid=1039524029942
--

2)  Arms at airport -- baggage handler arrested
     New York Times

"Police have arrested a baggage handler at Paris' Charles de
Gaulle airport, after two automatic weapons, plastic explosives and
a detonator were found in his car." Authorities believe that a plot to
attack the Russian embassy may be at the bottom of the matter.
(12/30/02)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2613779.stm
--

3)  FBI seeks five foreign suspects
     Washington Post

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation said yesterday it was hunting
five men in its war on terrorism and asked the public to be on the
lookout for them. ... [T]he men were thought to have entered the
United States illegally on or about Dec. 24." (12/30/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52056-2002Dec29.html
--

4)  Chinese test capsule for manned space flight
     Houston Chronicle

"China's fourth unmanned space capsule blasted into orbit early
today in a test launch that soon could lead to a manned flight, the
official Xinhua News Agency said." (12/29/02)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/space/1718896
--

5)  Non-U.S.students jailed over class load
     CNN

"At least six Middle Eastern students studying in Colorado have
been jailed in the past 10 days for failing to take enough college
classes as required by their student visas. The students ran into
trouble when they showed up to register with U.S. immigration
officials, as required by new rules to track foreign students."
(12/27/02)

http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/12/27/foreign.students.ap/index.html
--

6)  Police confiscate bail money, claim it smells like marijuana
     Boston Globe

"Police confiscated $50,000 in cash from a Vermont couple who
had come to bail their daughter out of jail, because the money
smelled like marijuana and was thought to be the proceeds of drug
deals." (12/27/02)

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/361/region/Police_confiscate_bail_money_c:.shtml
--

7)  Group says it cloned human
     Boston Globe

"Scientists affiliated with a religious group that believes mankind
descended from extraterrestrials said yesterday that they have
spawned the first human clone in history -- a girl named Eve -- and
promised to provide genetic proof of their discovery in eight or nine
days." (12/28/02)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/362/metro/Group_says_it_cloned_human+.shtml
--

8)  Attempted Carjacking Turns Deadly
     NewsChannel5.Com

"[Nashville, TN] Metro Police say an attempted carjacking turned
deadly when the man being robbed turned his gun on the suspects.
It happened early Sunday morning at the Golden Gallon on
Haywood Lane in South Nashville. Police say two men tried to
carjack the driver of a Ford Explorer. But the driver of the Explorer
pulled out a gun and shot the suspect, who died at the scene."
(12/29/02)

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/0212/29/carjack.htm
--

9)  US played key role in Iraq buildup
     Washington Post

"Among the people instrumental in tilting US policy toward
Baghdad during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war was Donald H. Rumsfeld,
now defense secretary .... Declassified documents show that
Rumsfeld traveled to Baghdad at a time when Iraq was using
chemical weapons on an 'almost daily' basis in defiance of
international conventions." (12/30/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52241-2002Dec29.html
--

10) Rangel calls for mandatory military service
     CNN

"Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) said Sunday he will introduce a bill in
the next session of Congress to make military service mandatory
[and that] such legislation could make members of Congress more
reluctant to authorize military action. 'I'm going to introduce
legislation to have universal military service to let everyone have an
opportunity to defend the Free World against the threats coming to
us,' Rangel said." (12/29/02)

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/29/mandatory.military/index.html
--

11) UN, Afghans to investigate reports of mass graves
     Common Dreams NewsCenter/Los Angeles Times

"[T]he United Nations said Saturday that it will help investigate
several mass graves in northern Afghanistan this spring but will
leave it up to Afghans whether and how to proceed with any
evidence that is uncovered. ... excavations at three or more sites
around Sheberghan and Mazar-i-Sharif may begin as early as April,
a UN source said Saturday on condition of anonymity." (12/29/02)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1229-04.htm
--

12) AFL-CIO blasts Fed accounting demands
     CNSNews.Com

"Rank-and-file members of America's labor unions may soon be
able to see first-hand how their monthly dues are being spent by
union officials. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently
announced that the nation's largest labor unions would have to
explain their spending activities to dues paying members and
Uncle Sam." (12/24/02)

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\\Nation\\archive\\200212\\NAT2002122\
4a.html
--

13) Terror fight tops Bush campaign agenda
     CNN

"An internal White House document outlining President Bush's re-
election agenda starts with 'War on terrorism (Con't)' and homeland
security. It's the latest sign, critics say, that presidential advisers
are seeking political gain from the September 11 attacks. The
single-page, sparsely worded document titled 'Possible '04
Signature Issues' was discussed this month in a White House
meeting chaired by chief of staff Andrew Card to fine tune Bush's
2003 legislative agenda, several senior White House officials told
The Associated Press." (12/28/02)

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/28/bush.2004.ap/index.html
--

14) Countdown to Canadian gun registration
     Canada.Com

"The difference between being a registered gun owner or a criminal
is a mere seven days away. As of Jan. 1, 2003, every gun in
Canada is supposed to be registered. The federal government is
anticipating 'a last-minute rush' as thousands of gun owners aim for
the target date." (12/27/02)

http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=7FCD0179-884E-489F-A7D6-92DD88A96CB3
--

15) Shifting tactics in Chechnya
     Christian Science Monitor

"The suicide bombing attack on the headquarters of the Kremlin-
backed government in Chechnya has cast doubt on Russia's
claims that peace and normalcy are returning to the war-torn
republic." (12/30/02)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1230/p01s04-woeu.html
--



COMMENTARY
---------------

16) Osama's puppet boy
     TripZine
     by James Kent

"Just why is Osama tickled? Because this is exactly what he
wanted all along. The terror attacks themselves were just a prod, a
flaming stick thrown on the anthill to get the ants running scared,
too frightened and confused to realize they were trampling over and
destroying the very things they hold most dear. And our queen ant,
the mighty George W. Bush, may be the most confused and
frightened of them all." (12/28/02)

http://www.tripzine.com/articles.asp?id=puppet
--

17) The unresolved problem of the United Nations
     AntiWar.Com
     by Joseph Stromberg

"[I]f the UN can contribute to slowing or stopping the current drive
to war, that would be a good thing. It would not, however, show that
the UN is a good idea as such, or that the world would be a better
place if the UN worked as planned. On the contrary, the world
might be a worse place if the UN worked as planned." (12/28/02)

http://www.antiwar.com/stromberg/s122802.html
--

18) The founding fathers understood
     Bay Area News
     by Charles Wood

"Many years ago, my family helped to settle a small town in a
foreign country to escape religious persecution. Although distant,
the government continued persecution and suppression of dissent --
  an activity in which my family was directly involved. Eventually,
uniformed soldiers invaded my family's house, demanded quarters,
and searched for guns that were hidden in the house... The town
was Concord, Mass., the soldiers British, the year 1775."
(12/26/02)

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/4815727.htm
--

19) Closing America's shelter
     Town Hall
     by Robert Novak

"If midnight strikes Tuesday night without the American tax shelter
being shut down, a temporary victory for financial privacy will have
been struck to the discomfiture of tax collectors on both sides of
the Atlantic. Nevertheless, uncomfortable questions persist as to
how the Bush administration functions. The regulation could have
been withdrawn any time during the last two years with a stroke of
the presidential pen. That it was not suggests an offhand treatment
of basic philosophy." (12/30/02)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20021230.shtml
--

20) Call Hussein's bluff
     Empower America
     by Jack Kemp

"Invading Iraq will have reverberations around the globe, and we
should not go to war based upon the reports of Iraqi defectors or
other indirect evidence. I believe by sending our intelligence agents
into Iraq, we have an opportunity to call Saddam's bluff and see
firsthand whether or not our suspicions are true." (12/28/02)

http://www.empoweramerica.org/stories/storyReader$665
--

21) Second thoughts on the Ashcroft doctrine
     Independent Institute
     by staff

"Supporters of Ashcroft argue that immigration crack downs and
'pre-emptive' law enforcement are necessary because drastic
measures are needed during wartime. But not everyone agrees with
the premises of the Ashcroft Doctrine, as it has come to be
known." (12/02)

http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/archive/CurrentLighthouse.html#story_2
--

22) For wary White House, a conflict not a crisis
     Washington Post
     by Michael Dobbs

"The deliberately low-key handling of the Korean drama seems out
of sync with President Bush's own rhetoric about the potentially
'catastrophic' dangers posed by rogue states seeking weapons of
mass destruction ... The absence of warlike rhetoric is also in stark
contrast with the administration's 'zero tolerance' approach toward
Iraq, whose weapons programs are generally considered to be
much less advanced than those of North Korea." (12/28/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48863-2002Dec28.html
--

23) What's this business about "restoring" rights?
     Las Vegas Review Journal
     by Vin Suprynowicz

"Bean -- and every other 'ex-convict' and 'ex-felon' in America who
is no longer in prison -- has a right to keep and bear arms, right
now. No government agency -- federal, state or local -- is allowed to
'make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities' of such citizens -- including their 'immunity' from any
'infringement' of 'the people's ... right ... to keep and bear arms' --
regardless of race, color, 'or previous condition of servitude.' All that
is required is a Supreme Court that is willing to read the
Constitution." (12/29/02)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/Dec-29-Sun-2002/opinion/20321667.htm\
l
--

24) The vanguard idea
     anti-state.com
     by Mark Gillespie

"The fact is that, under anarchy, all of these different groups may
'have it their way.' If the an-caps want a completely free market
economy for themselves and the an-socs want to combine in
communes, they can do this better under anarchy than they can
now. If the Homo-an-syn-fem (hell of a moniker, yes?) wants to
separate from the Neo-con-con-pat or vice versa, they can and do it
more peaceably than they can under statism." (12/26/02)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=359
--

25) Sic the IRS on Saddam
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"Since the UN weapons inspectors have failed as of yet to discover
any weapons of mass destruction, Bush is relegated to going to
war on the basis that Saddam has committed a 'material breach' of
a UN resolution for filing what Bush claims is a false UN weapons
report. That sounds a lot like breach of contract, which is usually a
civil, rather than a criminal, offense. That wouldn’t be the case with
a fraudulent federal income-tax return -- everyone knows that that’s
a criminal offense!" (12/23/02)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0212k.asp
--

26) Put the liberty cap back on
     Liberty for All
     by Todd Andrew Barnett

"During the eighteenth century, at the height of the French and
American Revolutionary Wars, the 'liberty cap' was reintroduced as
a symbol to fight tyranny and return the people to a classical liberal
model of government. This meant that the people believed that the
powers granted to government came from the people, and not by
God. This would eliminate the Divine Right order, thus granting the
power to its citizenry and limited power to the government." (12/02)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2002/archive/dec22/cap.html
--

27) In Defense of Non-Interventionism
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Gil Guillory

"It is well known that the canonical libertarian position regarding a
state’s foreign policy is non-interventionism, no foreign aid, and free
trade ... Brink Lindsey, a Cato Institute scholar, has had
reservations about this libertarian combination, most notably the
non-interventionism. He thinks that state intervention for the
purpose of liberation [humanitarian intervention] can be justified in
some cases. I intend to show a principled case for state non-
interventionism and non-aid ..." (12/28/02)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/guillory1.html
--

28) The double standard on political hate speech
     Boston Globe
     by Jeff Jacoby

"... 'Bobby Ehrlich is a Nazi .... He should be running in Germany
in 1942, not Maryland in 2002. We'll define him as the Nazi he is.
Once we do that, I think people will vote for Kathleen Kennedy
Townsend.' Thus spake Democratic political consultant Julius
Henson about congressman Robert Ehrlich, the Republican
candidate in Maryland's gubernatorial election this year ... It was a
classic example of liberal hate speech, the poisonous political
rhetoric to which I devote a column at the end of each year."
(12/29/02)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/363/oped/The_double_standard_on_political_hate\
_speech+.shtml
--

29) Injured pitcher sues metal bat company
     SportsByBrooks.Com
     by Brooks

"[A] former college pitcher has gotten the go-ahead from a Los
Angeles court to sue an aluminum bat company after he was hit
while on the mound by a line drive during a game. Robert Sanchez,
a former pitcher for Cal-St. Northridge, who was struck by a batted
ball in a 1999 game against USC, claims he had to quit college
after losing his scholarship because of the accident. ... So does
that mean now that every player that gets injured on the field can
sue? I suppose if Sanchez loses his case against the bat company
he can always sue the baseball manufacturer. Or the guy that
dragged the field that day." (12/29/02)

http://sportsbybrooks.com/aluminumbat.html
--

30) Medieval Iceland and the absence of government
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Thomas Whiston

"Those who claim that government is the source of social order say
that in its absence there would be violence, chaos, and a low
standard of living. They cite civil wars in Africa, drug wars in South
America, or even Gengis Khan in Mongolia. They claim that these
things, which are actually examples of competing governments, are
what life without government will produce." (12/25/02)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1121
--


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visit:

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
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Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
Supported by the generous donations of our readers
Visit Rational Review at
http://www.rationalreview.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, December 27th, 2002

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/


TODAY'S NEWS

1)  U.S. defends al Q'aeda interrogations
2)  Israel reoccupies Bethlehem after Christmas respite
3)  Defendant fights forced medication
4)  China closes thousands of cybercafes
5)  Nixon ordered secret worldwide nuclear alert
6)  Atheist to challenge daily BBC religious slot
7)  Boxing Day hunts and protests draw thousands
8)  States rethinking mandatory minimum drug-crime sentences
9)  India to train killer dolphins?
10) Israel, U.S. to develop missile defense for airliners

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

11) Keeping libertarians inside the tent
12) More power to the people for making a public stink
13) Don't look for sense where there is none
14) Fiddling whilst Rome burns
15) The Drug War according to Dr. Mengele
16) Bush and smallpox -- beware the "hidden agenda"
17) The 12 months of Christmas
18) Being libertarian -- I only seek the truth
19) Boo-hoo, moo-moo
20) Potential cost of war with Iraq

NEWS
---------------

1)  U.S. defends al Q'aeda interrogations
     MSNBC.com/Washington Post

"Those who refuse to cooperate inside this secret CIA
interrogation center are sometimes kept standing or kneeling for
hours, in black hoods or spray-painted goggles, according to
intelligence specialists familiar with CIA interrogation methods.
At times they are held in awkward, painful positions and deprived
of sleep with a 24-hour bombardment of lights -- subject to what
are known as 'stress and duress' techniques." (12/26/02)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/851762.asp?0dm=C17KN
--

2)  Israel reoccupies Bethlehem after Christmas respite
     Ha'aretz

"IDF troops reoccupied Bethlehem the day after Christmas,
imposing a curfew that sent residents rushing back to their
homes after a two-day break without soldiers in the West Bank
city." (12/27/02)

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=2
45853&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
--

3)  Defendant fights forced medication
     Orange County Register

"Dr. Charles T. Sell, a St. Louis dentist, once spat in the face of a
federal magistrate who was deciding whether to revoke his bail
on charges of Medicaid fraud. That helped to land him behind
bars, and five years later, facing more charges and after a
diagnosis of mental illness, Sell is still locked up awaiting trial.
His situation has posed a question that the Supreme Court has
agreed to answer: Can the government forcibly medicate a
person charged with a nonviolent crime to make him mentally
competent to stand trial?" (12/26/02)

http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=17833&sec
tion=NATION_WORLD&year=2002&month=12&day=26
--

4)  China closes thousands of cybercafes
     Times of India

"China has closed down over 3,300 Internet cafes nation-wide
during the past six months for safety reasons, a senior Chinese
official has said." (12/27/02)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articlesh
ow?artid=32544198
--

5)  Nixon ordered secret worldwide nuclear alert
     Star-Telegram

"President Nixon ordered a worldwide secret nuclear alert in
October 1969, calling his wartime tactic a 'madman strategy'
aimed at scaring the Soviets into forcing concessions from North
Vietnam, declassified documents show. It didn't work, as
Moscow displayed no concern. The reason is unclear. The
Soviets may not have cared, may not have been as influential as
Nixon believed, or, like the rest of the world, might not have
noticed the alert." (12/26/02)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/4815956.htm
--

6)  Atheist to challenge daily BBC religious slot
     CNSNews.Com

A veteran British atheist campaigner is planning to mount a court
challenge against the exclusion of non-religious speakers in a
daily segment aired on the BBC's popular morning news
program." (12/25/02)

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archiv
e\200212\CUL20021225a.html
--

7)  Boxing Day hunts and protests draw thousands
     Guardian

"Up to a quarter of a million people gathered today for traditional
Boxing Day hunts, possibly the last meetings in the present form
if the government bans or restricts hunts over the next year.
Anti-hunt protestors were also expected to turn out in force at
hunts across the country."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hunt/Story/0,2763,865197,00.html
--

8)  States rethinking mandatory minimum drug-crime sentences
     New York Times

"Faced with bulging prisons and budget deficits, a handful of
states are repealing mandatory minimum prison sentences for
drug-related crimes. They would grantjudges greater leeway in
imposing sentences and, in some cases, release convicts
already serving time. New sentencing policies could result in
significant savings to taxpayers, say some proponents."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/26/national/26MICH.html
--

9)  India to train killer dolphins?
     News Telegraph

"Animal rights activists have condemned the Indian Navy's
proposal to use dolphins to plant mines on enemy ships and
submarines. 'All nations must reject such use of animals,
whether for warfare or for chemical and biological tests,' Poorva
Joshipura of the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals in
Bombay said. Dolphins will become victims in a war they did not
choose, he added." (12/26/02)

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/1
2/26/wdolph26.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/12/26/ixworld.html&sec
ureRefresh=true
--

10) Israel, U.S. to develop missile defense for airliners
     Minneapolis Star Tribune/AP

"Israel and the United States will develop a system to protect
civilian airplanes from missile attacks, Israeli radio stations
reported Wednesday. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided on the
joint project in a meeting Wednesday with Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz, the reports said. They did not describe the U.S.
position on the issue." (12/26/02)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3555418.html
--


COMMENTARY
---------------

11) Keeping libertarians inside the tent
     Cato Institute
     by Randy Barnett

"What conservative Republicans often fail to realize is that
libertarians are an important constituency that should not be
ignored or taken for granted lest their votes be driven to the
Libertarian party or even to the Democrats. Telling libertarians
they should vote Republican despite their serious reservations
about Republican policies is futile. These concerns need to be
addressed rather than ignored." (12/27/02)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-27-02.html
--

12) More power to the people for making a public stink
     NashvilleCityPaper.Com
     By Arianna Huffington

"The battle between the public interest and the special interests
can be a demoralizing one... But then along comes a week like
the last one... Score five for the power of the people. Because
none of these things would have happened if it weren't for the
torrent of public outrage directed at each of those targets."
(12/26/02)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=9&screen=
news&news_id=18939
--

13) Don't look for sense where there is none
     Future of Freedom Foundation
    by Sheldon Richman

"The Bush administration is setting records for both disrespect
and abuse of the language. It's getting tiresome. We're not all
idiots. The coming intensification of the decade-long war with
Iraq has been the occasion for obfuscation that almost defies
belief. What exactly is the administration's policy? That depends
on who is speaking and to whom." (12/18/02)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0212g.asp
--

14) Fiddling whilst Rome burns
     WorldNetDaily
     by Walter E. Williams

"[E]ducation reform must be more than simply spending more
money to prop up schools that are little more than holding pens.
Washington politicians must create a climate where education
entrepreneurs can flourish and thereby produce education
competition. Parents must have control over the education of
their children .... [But] The attachment of black politicians and
civil-rights groups to spending resources on symbolism rather
than substance is equivalent to Nero's fiddling while Rome
burns." (12/26/02)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30
190
--

15) The Drug War according to Dr. Mengele
     CounterPunch
     by Jeffrey St. Clair

"Hostile intentions toward the people of another country.
Deployment of chemical weapons and biological agents. Pursuit
of a scorched earth policy. Sound like Saddam's Iraq? Think
again. This neatly capsulizes the Bush administration's ongoing
depredations in Colombia, all under the shady banner of the war
on drugs." (12/24/02)

http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair1224.html
--

16) Bush and smallpox -- beware the "hidden agenda"
     Liberty for All
     by Ed Lewis

"So, why the devil would any American accept any edict by Bush
concerning a disease that essentially died out, that is NOT highly
contagious, and that is NOT nearly as deadly as the government
and its vaccines. Besides, we know that 'voluntary' used by the
government means 'mandatory,' if not immediately, then soon
after. The frauds of income tax, property tax, and all regulations
concerning our autos, trucks, licensing, and travel bear this out
as truth." (12/02)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2002/archive/dec22/smallpox.html
--

17) The 12 months of Christmas
     AntiWar.Com
     by Nebojsa Malic

"The year that is about to end has again left the Balkans a bit
worse for wear. Of course, the entire world is substantially worse
for wear since the shocking attacks of September 2001, and the
Empire's resulting announcement of its quest for global
domination. However, the War on Terror has had remarkably
little impact on Balkans affairs. Faced with the prospect of
embarrassing revelations that it nurtured its present mortal
enemies as valuable allies during the wars in former
Yugoslavia, the Empire has gone out of its way to demonstrate
that its Balkans agenda has not changed." (12/26/02)

http://www.antiwar.com/malic/m122602.html
--

18) Being libertarian -- I only seek the truth
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Ernest Hancock

"As will most libertarian activists, I had personal experiences
with government that made it clear that they were not the
defenders of freedom but its enemy. I was young and naive and
wanted to help my father's company help himself and the USA by
exporting his already domestically successful product overseas.
What I was exposed to at every level of government made it very
clear to me that the world was not as it was being reported on
the nightly news." (12/26/02)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/hancock1.html
--

19) Boo-hoo, moo-moo
     Center for Individual Freedom
     by staff

"Most would agree that cows are by and large pretty happy
creatures, slightly less jovial than the common tree squirrel, but
seemingly content with their lot in life. ... Au contraire, say the
activists cum circus freaks at PETA, who have whipped
themselves into a froth (sorry, couldn't resist) and are suing the
San Francisco-based Milk Advisory Board over television ads
that depict dairy cows in a blissful state. According to PETA, our
bovine friends are not happy at all. They're actually, well, very
sad." (12/19/02)

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/cali
fornia_dairy_industry.htm
--

20) Potential cost of war with Iraq
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by staff

"In September National Economic Council Director Lawrence
Lindsey estimated that war with Iraq would cost $100 billion to
$200 billion. Although Lindsey has not offered any supporting
evidence, it appears he may have speculated that war would
cost 1 percent to 2 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product of
about $10 trillion. Based on comparable wars, such as the Gulf
War or the Spanish-American War, Lindsey's estimate is
reasonable." (12/26/02)

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/ter/2002/pd122602a.html
--


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Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
Supported by the generous donations of our readers
Visit Rational Review at
http://www.rationalreview.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, December 26, 2002

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/


TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Christmas worshipers attacked in Pakistan and India
2)  Afghan chieftain joins al Q'aeda, Taliban
3)  Beware of shoe, coat bombers, FBI warns
4)  Microsoft to appeal Java ruling
5)  America tore out 8000 pages of Iraq dossier
6)  Retailers may post worst holiday sales in decades
7)  Caught in the Web
8)  Education chief cracking down on home school loophole
9)  Argentine publisher freed, case continues
10) Baltimore outlaws BB guns for minors

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

11) Christmas carnage: a toy for our times
12) Big Brother at your (car) door
13) Battlefield Earth
14) The trial of Lott
15) The right not to ignore the state
16) Lancing the Lott
17) Don't talk to me about principles
18) Where is our Bill of Rights defense committee?
19) From baby killers to wife beaters
20) The costly world of litigation


NEWS
---------------

1)  Christmas worshipers attacked in Pakistan and India
     Washington Post

"Two assailants covered in burqas, a traditional women's veil, tossed
a grenade at a small church during Christmas services in a Pakistani
village today, killing three people and wounding 11 others, police
said." (12/26/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37969-2002Dec25.html
--

2)  Afghan chieftain joins al Q'aeda, Taliban
     NewsMax.Com/UPI

"A prominent Afghan guerrilla commander announced Wednesday that he
has formed an alliance with Taliban and al Qaida forces hiding in
Afghanistan. Gulbadin Hekmatyar played a key role in the war against
Soviet occupation forces in the 1980s and is still believed to have
many supporters in Afghanistan's majority Pashtun ethnic group. A
message distributed among Afghan refugees in Peshawar says, 'The
three forces will now jointly fight the American occupation forces in
Afghanistan.'" (12/26/02)

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/25/184441.shtml
--

3)  Beware of shoe, coat bombers, FBI warns
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"A year after a passenger failed to blow up an airliner with a shoe
bomb, the FBI is warning that terrorists remain interested in
carrying out such an attack and that winter coats and shoes could be
used to conceal explosives. In an advisory sent out Monday night to
law enforcement nationwide, the FBI said it had no information of any
specific threats or plots for a holiday terrorist bombing, according
to officials familiar with the advisory." (12/24/02)

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/1202/24shoebomb.html
--

4)  Microsoft to appeal Java ruling
     Wired News/AP

"Microsoft plans to appeal a federal court ruling requiring it to
include its rival's updated Java programming language in its Windows
operating system. The ruling Monday gave Sun Microsystems a victory
as it pursues its private antitrust suit against the software
giant. ... Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the company needs to
review the details of the decision, but initially plans to appeal the
decision to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit."
(12/23/02)

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,56985,00.html?tw=wn_ascii
--

5)  America tore out 8000 pages of Iraq dossier
     Common Dreams/The Sunday Herald

"The United States edited out more than 8000 crucial pages of Iraq's
11,800-page dossier on weapons, before passing on a sanitized version
to the 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations security
council. The full extent of Washington's complete control over who
sees what in the crucial Iraqi dossier calls into question the
allegations made by US Secretary of State Colin Powell
that 'omissions' in the document constituted a 'material breach' of
the latest UN resolution on Iraq." (12/22/02)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1222-02.htm
--

6)  Retailers may post worst holiday sales in decades
     FoxNews.Com

"With the busiest shopping weekend of the year over, retailers are
bracing for a holiday-season ledger that may be the weakest in more
than 30 years -- and investors are getting ready for lowered profit
forecasts for 2003. Shoppers flocked to malls Tuesday night to take
advantage of deep discounts in the last hours before Christmas, but
merchants had little hope that last-minute buying would rescue the
unfolding disaster." (12/25/02)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,73851,00.html
--

7)  Caught in the web
     Weekly Standard

"Amnesty International recently released a report compiling records
of 33 'prisoners of conscience who have been detained for using the
Internet to circulate or download information.'" (12/19/02)

http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/0
40yffaq.asp
--

8)  Education chief cracking down on home school loophole
     LA Daily News

"Under California law, students who do not attend public schools can
only be educated three ways: by enrolling in a private school,
learning at home from parents guided by a credentialed teacher, or
being taught by a credentialed tutor ... Knowing that private schools
do not require their teachers to be credentialed, some parents have
declared their homes to be private schools." (12/23/02)

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%
257E1068690,00.html
--

9)  Argentine publisher freed, case continues
     Washington Times

"The president of Argentina's largest media group was released from
house arrest Tuesday, though an investigation continues into whether
she illegally adopted children whose parents 'disappeared' during the
1976-83 military dictatorship." (12/24/02)

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20021224-023755-9394r.htm
--

10) Baltimore outlaws BB guns for minors
     Boston Globe

"The BB gun, like the classic Red Ryder celebrated in a popular
holiday film, is a traditional Christmas gift that has always come
wrapped in a certain risk. Now the toy carries a threat that has
nothing to do with putting an eye out: a $500 fine and two months in
jail. It is a misdemeanor in Baltimore to sell or give a BB gun to
anyone younger than 18, under an ordinance adopted by the City
Council this month." (12/23/02)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/357/nation/Baltimore_outlaws_BB_guns
_for_minors+.shtml
--





COMMENTARY
---------------

11) Christmas carnage: a toy for our times
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"There is something awfully weird about J.C. Penney's 'Forward
Command Post,' a toy for kids age five and up. It's not apparent, at
first sight, exactly where the weirdness is coming from. Sure, it's a
battle scene, and the house is shattered, cratered with bullet holes
and looking kind of charred. But what else would you expect from a
war toy built around this concept, right? Yes, but look closer…"
(12/25/02)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j122502.html
--

12) Big Brother at your (car) door
     Federal Observer
     by Terrence Bressi

"[W]hile travelling back to Tucson ... I was detained/arrested at a
police check point ..." Bressi's chronicle of the abuse of police
power is a chilling reminder of what we are now facing in this
country. (12/25/02)

http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=483
--

13) Battlefield Earth
     Counterpunch
     by Chris Floyd

To be successful, Bush says, to be a 'great power,' you must squander
your nation's treasury on technologies of death and dominance; you
must scorn law, embrace corruption, operate in secret; you must
demonize your adversaries, strike first, kill their civilians -- and
subjegate your own people to the arbitrary will of the leader."
(12/23/02)

http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd1223.html
--

14) The trial of Lott
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
     Ludwig von Mises Institute

"Following the media campaign against Lott, many people were
astonished by the Senator's willingness to jettison all political
principle for the sake of saving his status as Majority Leader. Why
would a conservative Republican suddenly find himself embracing the
full panoply of the left-wing racial agenda and flog himself so
mercilessly?" (12/24/02)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1123
--

15) The right not to ignore the state
     anti-state.com
     by Lee McCracken

"Just because no state can legitimately demand our obedience, it
doesn't follow that we should just throw our hands in the air and let
the world go to hell in a hand basket. Abolition of the state may not
be in the cards (at least not in the near future), but a mugger is
still preferable to a murderer." (12/23/02)

http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=358
--

16) Lancing the Lott
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"It's all over now: Lott fleetingly looked back in time and turned to
salt, much like the wife of the biblical Lot, who gazed behind her at
Sodom and Gomorrah as "the Lord rained down burning sulfur" on the
sinful cities, and was terminated for her disobedience." (12/25/02)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30184
--

17) Don't talk to me about principles
     Doing Freedom
     by Sunni Maravillosa

"And now that organization -- one of the brightest beacons of freedom
worldwide -- has been snuffed. It died primarily because the people
who claimed to value it -- those self-proclaimed adherents to
principles -- never followed through on promises to send in a
donation, or sent in much less than they committed to." (12/23/02)

http://www.doingfreedom.com/gen/1202/principles.html
--

18) Where is our Bill of Rights defense committee?
     Village Voice
     by Nat Hentoff

"I've been asked whether the growing number of Bill of Rights defense
committees defying the Bush-Ashcroft-Rumsfeld attacks on our
Constitutional liberties aren't really only symbolic. What can town
and city councils across the country actually do to rein in the FBI,
the CIA, and all the other intelligence agencies now interconnected
through the homeland security act?" (12/20/02)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0252/hentoff.php
--

19) From baby killers to wife beaters
     Laissez Faire Times
     by Michael Gilson De Lemos

"America, face it: By using numbskull government self-righteousness,
you have created a nightmare in plain sight of encouraged and
sanctioned female violence -- on boyfriends, husbands, children that
make the most hair-raising feminist allegations against men pale."
(12/23/02)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/baby_killers_wife_beaters.htm
--

20) The costly world of litigation
     Cato Institute
     by Doug Bandow

"The big guns are being dusted off for the coming congressional
battle to rein in runaway lawsuits. Any reform will have to blast
past the American Trial Lawyers Association, which donated $2.4
million to candidates this last election. But a new study on asbestos
shows why reform is desperately needed." (12/26/02)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-26-02.html






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RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, December 24th, 2002

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

... RRND will return on December 26th. Merry Christmas!

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  Frist steps up
2)  North Korea "repairing" nuclear reactor
3)  New Jersey court declares state's civil forfeiture funding scheme
unconstitutional
4)  Bombs away: Airport security hole
5)  NATO commander may enter presidential rac
6)  Dallas suburb's firearmslLaw takes aim at toy guns
7)  Mother sues for suicide barrier on Golden Gate
8)  Montenegro poll invalid after just 46% turn out to vote
9)  Smallpox plan will be costly
10) Cities say no to federal snooping

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

11) 2003: a year of wars?
12) Yes Virginia, there is individual liberty
13) When the government owns the environment
14) Party purge
15) Politicians snooker us again with the Lott affair
16) Two thousand days of nothing very much
17) The GOP's race problem
18) My digital strategy to fill in the memory hole
19) NAFTA at 10
20) Attack of the neos


NEWS
---------------

1)  Frist steps up
     Washington Post

"It was an unusual way for Senate Republicans to elect a majority
leader: a quickly arranged telephone conference call during
congressional recess. But then, the manner in which Sen. Trent
Lott vacated the majority leader's post was equally unusual."
(12/24/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31718-2002Dec23.html
--

2)  North Korea "repairing" nuclear reactor
     BBC

"North Korea has indicated it is taking concrete steps to produce
weapons-grade plutonium, following its recent decision to resume
its nuclear programme." (12/24/02)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2602995.stm
--

3)  New Jersey court declares state's civil forfeiture funding scheme
unconstitutional
     Liberty for All

"New Jersey's method of financing police and prosecutors through
civil forfeiture is unconstitutional, Superior Court Judge G. Thomas
Bowen of Salem County ruled in a December 11 opinion. Under
New Jersey's civil forfeiture law (N.J.S.A 2C:64-6a) prosecutors and
police had been entitled to keep the money and property
confiscated from individuals through the state's civil forfeiture law,
thus giving them a direct financial stake in the outcome of forfeiture
efforts." (12/02)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2002/archive/dec22/forfeiture.html
--

4)  Bombs away: Airport security hole
     Wired News

"Bad news for airline passengers this holiday season: Despite
heightened security measures implemented since Sept. 11,
airports still do not systematically screen luggage or passengers
for explosives. A terrorist carrying a cup of coffee laced with a liquid
explosive or a bulky winter jacket or briefcase lined with sheet
explosives could just as easily board a plane today as before the
attack, critics say."

http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,56949,00.html
--

5)  NATO commander may enter presidential race
     CNS News

"If former NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark chooses to
run for president on the Democratic Party ticket, he already
possesses strong defense and foreign policy credentials, but
skeptics say his lack of experience in elected office and his as-yet-
unknown position on core Democratic issues would be his weak
points. The 57-year-old Clark, now an investment banker in
Arkansas, has been exploring the possibility of launching a
campaign for the 2004 presidential election..." (12/23/02)

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200212\POL2002122\
3a.html
--

6)  Dallas suburb's firearmslLaw takes aim at toy guns
     Washington Post/KeepAndBearArms.Com

"If youngsters in Carrollton, Tex., have visions of shiny spurs,
fringed chaps and convincing six-shooters this Christmas, they
may be out of luck. That is, at least as far as guns go. The city, a
suburb of Dallas, recently beefed up its firearms ordinance to ban
minors from brandishing toy guns that look too real." (12/22/02)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24069-2002Dec21.html
--

7)  Mother sues for suicide barrier on Golden Gate
     AP/KeepAndBearArms.Com

The mother of a 14-year-old girl who jumped off the Golden Gate
Bridge is suing district officials because she believes they should
have erected a suicide barrier against such actions.

http://www.napanews.com/templates/index.cfm?template=story_full&id=1C606AD5-341E\
-4E82-9EBC-62189401DFF1
--

8)  Montenegro poll invalid after just 46% turn out to vote
     Independent

"Less than half of Montenegro's voters turned out to vote in
presidential elections yesterday, invalidating the poll -- something
that has not happened since the end of Communist rule in 1990 ...
Hundreds of thousands of voters stayed away from the polling
booths, angry at the state of the economy and recent claims of an
unnamed Moldovan woman that she was enslaved for years and
forced to have sex with powerful Montenegrin business and political
leaders." (12/23/02)

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=363992
--

9)  Smallpox plan will be costly
     MSNBC/Washington Post

"The Bush administration's plan to vaccinate as many as 10.5
million medical personnel and emergency responders against
smallpox will cost between $600 million and $1 billion and is likely
to siphon money from other bioterrorism and public health efforts,
local and state officials warn." (12/24/02)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/851278.asp?0sl=-11
--

10) Cities say no to federal snooping
     Wired News

"Fearing that the Patriot Act will curtail Americans' civil rights,
municipalities across the country are passing resolutions to
repudiate the legislation and protect their residents from a
perceived abuse of authority by the federal government. On
Tuesday, Oakland became the 20th municipality to pass a
resolution barring its employees -- from police officer to librarian --
from collaborating with federal officials who may try to use their
new power to investigate city residents." (12/19/02)

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56922,00.html
--


COMMENTARY
---------------

11) 2003: a year of wars?
     WorldNetDaily
     by Patrick J. Buchanan

"Sixty percent of the American people do not believe President
Bush has yet made the case for war on Iraq. Have they any idea
that the War Party,which has the president's ear, is planning even
more wars in the years ahead in their name? Happy New Year."
(12/23/02)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30137
--

12) Yes Virginia, there is individual liberty
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by William Stone III

"Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by
the socialism of a socialist age. They do not believe except what
they have been told to believe by socialists who wish to control
them ... Yes, Virginia, there is individual liberty." (12/23/02)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe204-20021223-03.html
--

13) When the government owns the environment
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"But can the government be trusted to protect its possessions? It
certainly doesn't take a semester at one of our nation's many left-
wing universities to figure out that, as a Hungarian university
professor noted after the fall of communism, 'nobody is responsible
for protecting and maintaining state property.' And when the
government owns the environment, well, you get the idea."
(12/19/02)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0212j.asp
--

14) Party purge
     Reason magazine
     by Cathy Young

"One may say that anti-Lott conservatives were driven only by the
desire to minimize the political damage to the Republican Party (or
even, some charge, to cover up the party's history of pandering to
racism). As with Lott, his critics' true motives are known only to
themselves. The fact is that the Republican and conservative
mainstream has forcefully repudiated racial bigotry." (12/24/02)

http://www.reason.com/cy/cy122402.shtml
--

15) Politicians snooker us again with the Lott affair
     WorldNetDaily
     by Harry Browne

"If the Trent Lott fiasco were a movie or a play, it would be panned
as an unrealistic farce. But it has a purpose. It has allowed the
politicians to once more divert attention from anything important --
getting us to focus on irrelevancies .... The truth is, however, that
Trent Lott had nothing to apologize for. Rather than grovel, all he
had to say was something like this: 'I preferred Strom Thurmond to
Harry Truman because Thurmond was for smaller government,
lower taxes and respect for the Constitution -- especially the 10th
Amendment which limits the powers of the federal government.'"
(12/19/02)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30070
--

16) Two thousand days of nothing very much
     Adam Smith Institute
     by Dr. Madsen Pirie

"In her first 2,000 days Margaret Thatcher changed the world.
… Has Tony Blair done as much? It would be hard to
suggest that New Labour, which passed its 2,000th day in office on
October 23rd, has as much to be proud of. Indeed, for a
government which came in promising so much, the delivery has
been small." (12/02)

http://www.adamsmith.org/cissues/government-administration/twothousanddays.htm
--

17) The GOP's race problem
     Empower America
     by William J. Bennett

"We saw it in Trent Lott's comments lamenting Strom Thurmond's
defeat for president in 1948 (even though Lott is not a racist) and
we see it in race-based admissions programs at places like the
University of Michigan where there are differing standards of
admission for white and black applicants (even though admissions
officers are not racists)." (12/23/02)

http://www.empoweramerica.org/stories/storyReader$663
--

18) My digital strategy to fill in the memory hole
     LewRockwell.com
     by Gary North

"If the lies are uncovered and then believed, not only is the regime's
ability to deliver the future called into question, the legitimacy of the
regime's eschatological vision may be called into question. Political
survival therefore depends on the ability of the regime to keep the
de-legitimizing truth from the public." (12/23/02)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north147.html
--

19) NAFTA at 10
     Cato Institute
     by Daniel T. Griswold

"Although NAFTA remains a lightning rod for critics of free trade,
and will be debated anew as Congress soon considers a free trade
agreement with Chile, by any measure it has been a public policy
success." (12/23/02)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-23-02-2.html
--

20) Attack of the neos
     Antiwar.com
     by Justin Raimondo

"So, you thought the Trent Lott episode had nothing to do with the
war and foreign policy, especially all you politically correct antiwar
liberals out there, who just hooted and hollered at the downfall of
the 'racist' Senator. But David Frum begs to differ ….
Recently ousted from his perch as the President's speechwriter --
for his wife's unseemly boasting about his role in articulating the
'axis of evil' phrase that decorated Bush 43's warmongering rhetoric
-- Frum has taken up literary residence at National Review ..."
(12/23/02)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j122302.html
--



----------------------------------------------------------------------
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to donate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
              Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
           Supported by the generous donations of our readers
                        Visit Rational Review at
                     http://www.rationalreview.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, December 23rd, 2002

For more news and commentary, visit:

http://www.rationalreview.com/news/

TODAY'S NEWS

1)  White House plans Internet monitoring
2)  GOP Prepares to Anoint Frist New Senate Leader
3)  Jury refuses to indict man who shot car burglar
4)  Jailed midwife free on bond
5)  Marine shoots carjacker
6)  Pentagon chief: We're ready to attack
7)  U.S. to correct "Southern bias" at Civil War site
8)  Hunting terrorists, INS bags taxpayer
9)  Many Guantanamo Bay prisoners not al Q’aeda
10) US soldier killed in Afghan firefight
11) Pakistan arrests suspects in suicide attack plot

TODAY'S COMMENTARY

12) Coffee, tea, or should we feel your pregnant wife’s breasts?
13) The axis and the bully
14) Controlling tax increases
15) Alternative minimum monster
16) "Colorblind" -- except for some
17) Martha Burk can BITE ME! or "Kiss my 3-iron!"
18) Jackbooted Thug of the Month for December, 2002
19) The blessings of liberty and law
20) Federal smokescreen
21) The huge cost of harsh sentences
22) It's the end of the church as we know it


NEWS
---------------

1)  White House plans Internet monitoring
     Internet Week

"The Bush administration plans to propose requiring Internet
service providers to help build a centralized system for monitoring
the Internet .... The proposal is part of a final version of a report ...
to be released early next year, prepared by the President's Critical
Infrastructure Protection Board ..."

http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/INW20021220S0007
--

2)  GOP Prepares to Anoint Frist New Senate Leader
     FoxNews.com

"Republicans were spending the weekend before Christmas
preparing for a Monday conference call that would likely anoint Bill
Frist of Tennessee as the new incoming Senate majority leader."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,73693,00.html
--

3)  Jury refuses to indict man who shot car burglar
     Herald Tribune

"A grand jury declined to indict a New Orleans man who stood on
his third-floor balcony last August and fatally shot a man who was
breaking into his car."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021219&Category=APN&Ar\
tNo=212190907&Ref=AR
--

4)  Jailed midwife free on bond
     Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Holmes County Common Pleas Judge Thomas White jailed Miller
because the lay midwife refused to disclose who gave her
prescription drugs that she illegally injected into a new mother to
stop bleeding after a birth."

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1040207458208810.\
xml
--

5)  Marine shoots carjacker
     Charlotte News Observer

"A Marine sergeant based in North Carolina who served in
Afghanistan earlier this year shot and killed a would-be carjacker.
Police said Lowery got out of his Chevrolet Suburban when
approached by a gunman in the drive-thru lane of a McDonald's
restaurant Tuesday night. The gunman shot Lowery, who was then
able to get his .45-caliber pistol from the car and shoot his
assailant multiple times."

http://newsobserver.com/nc24hour/ncnews/story/2032463p-1962107c.html
--

6)  Pentagon chief: We're ready to attack
     Independent

"The United States' most senior military official, General Richard
Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared yesterday
that his troops are ready to attack Iraq the moment they get the
green light from President George Bush."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=363677&dir=75&ho\
st=3
--

7)  U.S. to correct "Southern bias" at Civil War sites
     Yahoo/Reuters

"The U.S. National Park Service has embarked on an effort to
change its interpretive materials at major Civil War battlefields to
get rid of a Southern bias and emphasize the horrors of slavery."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=9&cid=578&u=/nm/20021222/\
ts_nm/life_battlefields_dc
--

8)  Hunting terrorists, INS bags taxpayer
     LA Times

"The war on terrorism reached Woodland Hills last week. The
federales threw a net over a 39-year-old construction worker, a
working Joe with a Christmas tree in the living room and two
American cars in the driveway."

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-lopez20dec20,0,3338349.column
--

9)  Many Guantanamo Bay prisoners not al Q’aeda
     Reuters

"The United States is holding dozens of prisoners at the U.S. Naval
Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who have no 'meaningful
connection' to al Q’aeda or the Taliban, the Los Angeles Times
reported on Sunday."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=1949250
--


10) US soldier killed in Afghan firefight
     New York Times

"A U.S. soldier was killed in a firefight with enemy forces in eastern
Afghanistan on Saturday, and two other American soldiers were
wounded in separate incidents, the U.S. military said."

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Afghanistan-Soldier-Killed.html
--


11) Pakistan arrests suspects in suicide attack plot
     BBC News

"Four Pakistani militants alleged to have been planning suicide
attacks have been arrested in the city of Karachi following a tip-off,
police have said."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2596391.stm
--


COMMENTARY
---------------

12) Coffee, tea, or should we feel your pregnant wife’s breasts?
     LewRockwell.com
     by Nicholas Monahan

"My anger increased when I realized that the newly knighted
federal employees weren’t just examining me, but my 7½ months
pregnant wife as well. I’d originally thought that I’d simply been
randomly selected for the more excessive than normal search. You
know, Number 50 or whatever. Apparently not though -- it was both
of us. These are your new threats, America: pregnant accountants
and their sleepy husbands flying to weddings."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/monahan1.html
--

13) The axis and the bully
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"Hoping to rally the country and the world around his 'war on
terrorism,' President Bush previously identified an 'axis of evil' of
rogue states that he claimed help to train, fund, support, or provide
safe haven to terrorists, states that he hinted could easily find
themselves in the sights of the U.S. war machine. These nations,
which he identified as Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, were effectively
being put on notice."

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0212f.asp
--

14) Controlling tax increases
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by Bruce Bartlett

"It's a mystery to liberals why conservatives are so adamant about
cutting taxes, says Bruce Bartlett. To them, the conservative fervor
for tax cuts -- anytime, anywhere -- is irrational; it's almost a
religious belief that is accepted on faith without any supporting
evidence. In fact, tax cuts make perfect sense even if one does not
think they will have any impact on growth whatsoever."

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/tax/2002/pd121602a.html
--

15) Alternative minimum monster
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Chris Kinnan

"Taxes targeting the rich eventually end up hitting the average guy.
For example. when the modern federal income tax became law in
1913, Congress intended to only tap the wealthiest Americans.
Rates ranged from 1 percent to 7 percent, and well over 90 percent
of the population was exempt from filing. Of course, today, income
tax rates range from 10 percent to nearly 40 percent, and the
income tax takes from all but the poorest workers."

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1214.htm
--

16) "Colorblind" -- except for some
     Antiwar.com
     by Justin Raimondo

"'We're all Israelis now!' This was the cry that went up from the War
Party in the wake of 9/11, and as a prophecy regarding our
treatment of Middle Easterners in America, it is certainly coming
true. Amid reports that Israel has as many as 5,000 Palestinians in
custody comes the news that hundreds of Middle Easterners have
been rounded up in California and detained. Are certain sections of
Southern California coming to resemble the occupied territories?"

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j122002.html
--

17) Martha Burk can BITE ME! or "Kiss my 3-iron!"
     Liberty For All
     by Michael Bragg

"Once again we see the leftist spin and victim mentality turning the
freedom to assemble into a discrimination issue. Again, never mind
the fact that no court cases were cited much less any background
on those cases. All that matters is that the NCWO and Burk want
their way and they want it NOW -- or else!"

http://www.libertyforall.net/2002/archive/dec22/biteme.html
--

18) Jackbooted Thug of the Month for December, 2002
     North American Samizdat
     by Carl Bussjaeger

"North American Samizdat has selected Detective Mike O'Neil,
Louisville Police Department, as its Jackbooted Thug of the Month
for December, 2002. This award is in recognition of Detective
O'Neil's accomplishments in crime control: Forgetting to search a
knife suspect for his weapon, and shooting rear-handcuffed man to
death."

http://members.surfbest.net/samizdat@surfbest.net/jbt7.htm
--

19) The blessings of liberty and law
     Cato Institute
     By Roger Pilon

"Those two principles, liberty and limited government, have inspired
countless millions around the world for over two centuries, people
clamoring to be free and to live under free governments. They have
seen especially what the American experiment has taught, that the
principles of liberty must be secured in law, in a constitution that
protects them through the rule of law."

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-23-02.html
--

20) Federal smokescreen
     Eye Magazine
     by staff

"Before you fire up an extra joint or two to celebrate federal Justice
Minister Martin Cauchon's plans to decriminalize the simple
possession of marijuana, take a minute to consider what's really
being proposed."

http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_12.19.02/news/editorial.html
--

21) The huge cost of harsh sentences
     St. Petersburg Times
     by staff

"Sometimes the right things happen for the wrong reasons. With
state after state facing looming budget deficits, legislatures are
starting to look anew at the harsh sentencing laws passed during
the era when being 'tough on crime' was a ticket to political office."

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/12/22/Perspective/The_huge_cost_of_hars.shtml
--

22) It's the end of the church as we know it
     Fountain of truth
     by Douglas Newman

"Future generations will look back on December 12, 2002 as a
bleak day in the history of Christianity in America. On this day,
President Bush signed an executive order allowing churches and
other religious organizations to compete for federal funds for
charitable purposes."

http://www.geocities.com/fountoftruth/theend.html
--


----------------------------------------------------------------------
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to donate. Direct advertising inquiries to:

thomaslknapp@...
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas L. Knapp ..... Publisher
Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor