RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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Thursday, January 22, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,182


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Retraction/Correction, and an apology


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Ten injured in Mosul blast
2)  Shelby reportedly under investigation in leak probe
3)  Cleric, occupiers signal flexibility on election dispute
4)  Panorama prompts war probe calls
5)  Guantanamo lawyer renews attack
6)  Ron Crickenberger, 1955-2004
7)  Scientists surprised by mud found on Mars
8)  North Korea evidence called uncertain
9)  Town uses website list to shame scofflaws
10) UK pol promises return to marijuana witch hunts
11) Supreme Court says EPA can overrule state in clean air case
12) Mayoral victim disarmament cabal meets
13) Magazine blunder directs walkers over cliff
14) Pakistan intensifies nuclear investigation
15) Pentagon's online voting program deemed too risky
16) Anderson: Schools "deep green" and anti-farmer
17) Parsley, sage, rosemary and weed
18) Man linked to al Qaeda indicted
19) New invasions of privacy weighed for federal workers
20) 532 John Does accused of sharing songs
21) Brazil disarms victims as deaths soar
22) Iranian leader: US not ready for dialogue
23) ACLU: State "anti-terror" database threatens privacy
24) Council OKs pay for school board
25) Chicago's alternative to locking up youth
26) Congressman: Iraqi WMD details "years away"
27) Proposals push spending beyond budget
28) Gephardt hanging up the gloves

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

29) No need for voting machines
30) Liberty Action of the Week
31) We see that now
32) A Bush-Clinton ticket would be unbeatable
33) Stretching the poor
34) Albanian tragedy
35) Bush leaves no bride behind
36) Ideology isn't enough
37) Beware the Iraq election blowback
38) George Bush's America
39) Today Baghdad, tomorrow Barsoom?
40) US manufacturing is quite healthy
41) An apple a day
42) Energy conservation zealots 1, consumers 0
43) Evasions, half-truths and the state of the union
44) Deconstructing the Bill of Rights
45) North Koreans starved by political classification
46) Warnings during wartime
47) Bush's missed opportunity
48) Scientists abandon AI project after seeing The Matrix
49) Why Dean and Gephardt lost
50) Burke vs. Reason
51) Getting the message?
52) The Bush immigration plan: A step in the right direction
53) Traders and traitors
54) Fissures in the House of Saud
55) Gathering forces of historic reform
56) Priceless image-making has high-priced aftermath


TODAY'S MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS:

57) Tamara Millay policy speech


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

58) Gapon's march, Blackmun's folly, Kaczynski's plea


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Retraction/Correction, and an apology

What can I say? I screwed up. Yesterday's top "news" story
("Treasury reneges on 30-year bond holders") turned out not to be
"news" at all, and I heard about it from a number of our vigilant
readers about it almost immediately. Right up front, I'd like to thank
those readers for calling this to my attention.

I'm not going to ask you for any slack, but I would like to explain how
something like this can happen. One of our editors picked up the
story. I browsed the story. It didn't arouse any suspicions with me
(what's new about government breaking promises?), so I ran it. This
is the way things work at RRND. The other editors know to pick up
anything that looks interesting, and to leave the separation of wheat
from chaff to me. So, when bad scoop turns up in this publication --
something that doesn't happen very often -- there's only one person
to blame, and that person is yours truly.

As it turns out, bonds with a provision for early payoff are not
unusual. Sure, the bondholders don't see some of the interest they
expected to see -- but they were offered a preferential rate to begin
with, as compensation for the risk that the bond issuer would decide
to buy them out early.

Not being either a participant or expert in the bond market, there's
no particular reason that I should have known that. I doubt that the
editor in question had any reason to, either.

However, what I _should_ have done -- and what I usually do if a
story involves matters of finance comes across my desktop -- is
check other, and especially more mainstream, news sources. If this
bond buyout had actually been a significant event, a quick Google
search on "bonds" would have brought up screaming headlines from
Forbes, Financial Times, et al. I've done this in the past when I've
seen stories about the Euro beating up on the dollar and such.

Why didn't I do it this time? I wish I could tell you that there was
some really nice, exculpatory explanation -- "the black helicopter
hovered in front of my window; I could see the troopers descending
on rappel, and knew that I absolutely must get RRND out before they
could batter down the door" -- but there isn't. For whatever reason, I
and my bullshit alarm were asleep at the switch (it may have had to
do with the fact that I was still working on a Rational Review article
two hours after I should have been proofing RRND) and you got bad
scoop from us.

I don't like that. I'll attempt to be more vigilant in the future. And I
apologize to our readers for this lapse.

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Ten injured in Mosul blast
     Borneo Bulletin [Brunei]

"Six Iraqis, three US soldiers and a Turkish driver were wounded
Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded in the northern city of
Mosul, police and the US military said. ... A spokesman for the US
military in Baghdad said, 'We have reports of an IED (improvised
explosive device) explosion near Mosul, three soldiers have been
wounded according to the reports. None have received life
threatening injuries.'" (01/22/04)

http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/thu/jan22w18.htm

-----

2)  Shelby reportedly under investigation in leak probe
     Charlotte Observer

"The Justice Department's 18-month investigation into the leak of
classified intercepted messages is focusing on Sen. Richard
Shelby, R-Ala., who was chairman of the Senate Select Committee
on Intelligence at the time of the disclosure, according to a law-
enforcement official and congressional sources. A grand jury has
been hearing information and has taken the testimony of at least two
witnesses, including Shelby's former press secretary, sources said.
The investigation centers on the disclosure in 2002 that the National
Security Agency had intercepted two messages on the eve of the
Sept. 11 attacks signaling that something was to happen the next
day. The cryptic messages were not translated until Sept. 12."
(01/22/04)

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/7767347.htm

-----

3)  Cleric, occupiers signal flexibility on election dispute
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric and coalition officials signaled
flexibility on holding early elections, with both sides suggesting they'll
follow any U.N. recommendation on whether a direct vote is feasible,
Iraqi and Western officials said Wednesday. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-
Husseini al-Sistani's insistence that Iraqi voters choose a transitional
legislature has jeopardized a U.S. plan to transfer power to Iraqis
and end the U.S. occupation of Iraq by July 1." (01/21/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040121/1822848.shtml

-----

4)  Panorama prompts war probe calls
     BBC News [UK]

"The government is facing renewed calls for a full judicial inquiry
into its decision to go to war with Iraq. It follows Wednesday night's
Panorama programme, on BBC One, which contained a previously
unseen interview with late weapons expert Dr David Kelly. Dr Kelly
said Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within days or
weeks, rather than the 45 minutes mentioned in a government
dossier. The Conservatives said the interview reinforced the case
for a full inquiry. Tory defence spokesman Michael Ancram said Dr
Kelly's comments in the interview 'do place his views at odds with
those presented in the government's September dossier.'" (01/22/04)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3418817.stm

-----

5)  Guantanamo lawyer renews attack
     BBC News [UK]

"The US military lawyer assigned to defend the man dubbed the
'Australian Taleban' has complained that his client will not receive a
full and fair trial. Major Michael Mori represents 'enemy combatant'
David Hicks, one of six Guantanamo Bay inmates deemed eligible
for trial by a US military commission. Major Mori said those who had
created the tribunals process had a 'vested interest' in securing
convictions." (01/22/04)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3418905.stm

-----

6)  Ron Crickenberger, 1955-2004
     LP News

"Ron Crickenberger, who served as the Libertarian Party's political
director from 1997 to 2003, died Jan. 20 from cancer. He was 48.
... During Crickenberger's tenure as Libertarian Party political
director, the number of Libertarians in office more than tripled, from
180 to about 600. In 2000 and 2002, the party also set new records
for the number of candidates on the ballot. ... Crickenberger is
survived by his longtime partner, Noelle Stettner, of Falls Church,
VA; a son, Jason; daughter, Anna; and newborn grandchild,
Sabrina; all of the Atlanta, Georgia area." (01/21/04)

http://www.lp.org/lpnews/0403/crickenberger_dies.html

-----

7)  Scientists surprised by mud found on Mars
     ITV [UK]

"Pictures from Nasa's roving Mars buggy have astonished scientists
by indicating that it may have landed in mud. Strange marks near
the Spirit rover's landing site suggest that against all the odds there
be might liquid water on or just beneath the surface of Mars. The
water would have to be very salty to avoid freezing or evaporating in
the harsh Martian conditions. If the scientists' suspicions are
confirmed it would be the clearest sign yet that lakes and oceans
once existed on Mars, and greatly increase the chances of life."
(01/22/04)

http://www.itv.com/news/1547631.html

-----

8)  North Korea evidence called uncertain
     Washington Post

"North Korea's willingness to show off its Yongbyon nuclear facility --
  and eagerness to show it can produce plutonium -- was intended to
demonstrate Pyongyang is serious about breaking the stalemate
with Washington over its nuclear programs, members of an
unofficial U.S. delegation say. But the delegation's observations
have alarmed U.S. officials because the trip two weeks ago appears
to confirm that North Korea has processed all 8,000 spent fuel rods -
- giving them enough weapons-grade plutonium for as many as half
a dozen nuclear weapons." (01/22/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36874-2004Jan21.html

-----

9)  Town uses website list to shame scofflaws
     Boston Globe

"Sabina Maziarz knew she would pay a penalty when a $400 check
she wrote in November to the Sharon [MA] School Department
bounced, but did not realize her name and address would be posted
on the Internet for all to see. 'It's so embarrassing,' Maziarz said of
the 'roster of bad checks' on the town's website. 'What is the
purpose of this? To let people know that this person is a big, fat
loser?' Not exactly, said Robert J. Uyttebroek, the town treasurer,
who started listing bounced checks online last year. Sharon's
website, www.townofsharon.net, has a link to public notices. From
there, the list is just a click away." (01/21/04)

http://tinyurl.com/3yows

-----

10) UK pol promises return to marijuana witch hunts
     Independent [UK]

"A future Conservative government will reverse Labour's decision to
downgrade cannabis to a Class C drug, Michael Howard will
announce today. In an interview with The Independent, the Tory
leader attacked the Government's move as 'absurd' and 'without
logic,' warning that it would send a signal to young people that
cannabis was safe and legal even though it was not. Mr Howard said
the reclassification of cannabis from a Class B drug, which takes
effect a week today, will create a 'massive muddle in the middle'
between the only two realistic policies -- the current position and
legalisation." (01/22/04)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=483527

-----

11) Supreme Court says EPA can overrule state in clean air case
     USA Today

"The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the federal
Environmental Protection Agency can override state officials and
order some anti-pollution measures that may be more costly. The 5-
4 decision, a victory for environmentalists, found the EPA did not go
too far when it overruled a decision by Alaska regulators, who
wanted to let the operators of a zinc and lead mine use cheaper anti-
pollution technology for power generation." (01/21/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-01-21-scotus-pollution_x.htm

-----

12) Mayoral victim disarmament cabal meets
     WBBM News

"[Chicago] Mayor Daley will be in Washington. D.C. today to meet
with other big city mayors. Gun control and other urban issues are
on the agenda. While he's in Washington, Mayor Daley, Gary,
Indiana Mayor Scott King and others will likely lobby against
legislation that would exempt gun manufacturers and dealers from
most liability lawsuits. Chicago and Gary and pursuing such cases
now. Daley fears some members of Congress will be hesitant to take
on tough issues during an election year. But, he says, working
people can't wait a year for anything to get done. Officials should
compromise, and not let legislation get bogged down by partisan
politics." (01/21/04)

http://www.wbbm780.com/asp/ViewMoreDetails.asp?ID=33156

-----

13) Magazine blunder directs walkers over cliff
     Ananova [UK]

"Britain's biggest-selling hillwalking magazine has apologised after
the latest issue contained a route that would have led climbers off
the edge of a cliff.The February edition of Trail gave advice to
walkers caught in foul weather and poor visibility on how to get off
Britain's tallest peak safely.If readers had followed the magazine's
directions they would have plunged from Ben Nevis' north face,
which has claimed a number of lives." (01/21/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_858065.html

-----

14) Pakistan intensifies nuclear investigation
     MSNBC

"Pakistan’s decision to detain and question some of its leading
nuclear scientists came after it dispatched top-secret investigative
teams to Iran and Libya to check allegations that greed led the men
to cash in on nuclear know-how, a senior Pakistani official told The
Associated Press. Disclosure of the investigative missions indicates
the seriousness with which the government is taking allegations of
nuclear proliferation after months of public denials." (01/21/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4019932/

-----

15) Pentagon's online voting program deemed too risky
     Washington Post

"A Pentagon program for Internet voting in this year's presidential
election is so insecure that it could undercut the integrity of
American democracy and should be stopped immediately,
according to computer-security specialists who were asked to
review the $22 million pilot plan intended for about 100,000 overseas
voters. The critical report released yesterday is intended to halt the
momentum building for national Internet voting as the least expensive
and most convenient way to upgrade election technology that was
exposed as unreliable in 2000." (01/22/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36875-2004Jan21.html

-----

16) Anderson: Schools "deep green" and anti-farmer
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"Some material taught in NSW [Australia] public schools was anti-
farmer and 'blatantly deep green,' Acting Prime Minister John
Anderson said today. Prime Minister John Howard this week
sparked a political debate on education when he said government
schools were too politically correct. Mr Anderson welcomed the
debate on public schools, saying teachers' unions and government
school curriculums were sometimes too ideological. He said some
lessons on sustainable development given in NSW schools were
biased against farmers." (01/22/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/22/1074360872780.html

-----

17) Parsley, sage, rosemary and weed
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Art Garfunkel, part of the folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel, was
charged with having marijuana after police pulled over his limousine
for speeding in upstate New York. Garfunkel, 62, of Manhattan, was
caught with a small amount of marijuana in his jacket pocket and
was charged with possession of marijuana, a violation, reported the
Daily Freeman of Kingston." (01/21/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040121/1822845.shtml

-----

18) Man linked to al Qaeda indicted
     CNN

"A Minnesota man has been indicted on charges he provided
material support to al Qaeda for more than three years, the Justice
Department said Wednesday. Authorities say Mohammed Abdullah
Warsame, 30, attended an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan at
which Osama bin Laden was present." (01/21/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/21/terror.suspect.arrest/

-----

19) New invasions of privacy weighed for federal workers
     MAPINC

"Federal workers who submit to drug screening soon may have their
saliva, sweat or hair tested as the Bush administration increases
efforts to deter and detect illegal drug use among 1.6 million civilian
employees. Officials have relied on urine samples alone in the
federal government's nearly two-decade-old drug-testing program,
begun in 1986 when President Ronald Reagan issued an executive
order declaring that the federal workplace be drug-free. Bush
administration officials want to give agencies the option of using the
alternative tests to catch drug use that urine tests may miss because
of masking agents or because an employee took the drugs weeks
earlier." (01/21/04)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n134/a10.html

-----

20) 532 John Does accused of sharing songs
     USA Today

"The music industry Wednesday filed lawsuits against 532 nameless
alleged song-swappers -- continuing a controversial tactic to stem
music piracy despite new legal hurdles. The four lawsuits name the
defendants as John Doe. They are intended to crack down on rabid
file-swappers, the Recording Industry Association of America says,
and send a message that it is not OK to share music online."
(01/21/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-01-21-music-suits_x.htm

-----

21) Brazil disarms victims as deaths soar
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"[I]n what gun control advocates describe as a bold but risky social
experiment, Brazil has virtually outlawed possession of handguns.
Since just before Christmas, no one in this nation of 175 million
except police officers, soldiers, and prison and security guards has
been authorized to carry a pistol. The sale and trade of weapons
has been similarly limited: The illegal purchase, possession or
furnishing of arms has become a criminal offense with no bail and
long prison terms. Most gun owners must hand over their weapons
within six months. 'This is an expression of the unanimous will of
society to cut the spiral of violence that unsettles us and
embarrasses us before humanity,' President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva said when he signed the bill." (01/21/04)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/157382_brazil21.html

-----

22) Iranian leader: US not ready for dialogue
     MSNBC

"Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called for dialogue
Wednesday as a solution to global conflicts but said he felt there
was no chance for political talks with the United States because of a
lack of respect for Tehran’s Islamic government. 'Partnership and
security will only come about as a result of dialogue,' Khatami said
in his keynote speech at the World Economic Forum, which drew
warm applause." (01/21/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4019455/

-----

23) ACLU: State "anti-terror" database threatens privacy
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"A seven-state crime database launched with $12 million in federal
funds is a more powerful threat to privacy than its organizers
acknowledge, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged
Wednesday after obtaining documents relating to the program. The
law enforcement officials and private database company behind the
Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, or Matrix, contend it
is merely an investigative tool that helps police quickly gather
already-available information on suspects." (01/21/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040121/1822910.shtml

-----

24) Council OKs pay for school board
     Tennessean

"The [Nashville, TN] Metro Council last night voted to give the city's
nine school board members a $14,000 annual salary, following
through on a voter referendum on the issue last year. It will be a first
for members who had gotten only expense-account compensation
previously. It is expected to begin early this year. A resolution
authorizing the salary passed unanimously on voice vote, but before
the vote some council members expressed concern about the timing
of a pay initiative." (01/21/04)

http://tennessean.com/government/archives/04/01/45789266.shtml

-----

25) Chicago's alternative to locking up youth
     Christian Science Monitor

"D. is a high school freshman who admits he helped steal two cars.
Instead of being locked up in a juvenile detention facility, however,
the teenager is spending the evening at a youth-services center,
engaged in a spirited discussion on the recent US Supreme Court
decision on police searches. This is Chicago's approach to juvenile
delinquency: an experiment that emphasizes alternatives to detention
for pretrial youths not considered dangerous. Some juvenile-justice
advocates cite it as the premier example of a major city bucking the
trend of locking kids up." (01/21/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0121/p01s03-usju.html

-----

26) Congressman: Iraqi WMD details "years away"
     CNN

"It could take years before investigators are able to uncover the
details of Iraq's unconventional weapons programs under Saddam
Hussein, according to the chairman of the House Intelligence
Committee. 'Every day is a new day for the intelligence people. I
would say that we are probably a couple of years away from getting
through all the material ...'" (01/21/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/21/sprj.nirq.main/

-----

27) Proposals push spending beyond budget
     Washington Times

"President Bush last night proposed an ambitious package of
domestic spending that will drive up discretionary expenditures far
more rapidly than his recent predecessors. The State of the Union
initiatives that he wants passed this year include more spending for
the Department of Education, a new assistance fund to help
manufacturers recover from their recession and funding for a major,
long-term expansion of NASA's space budget." (01/21/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040121-120324-4002r.htm

-----

28) Gephardt hanging up the gloves
     Boston Globe

"Returning to the hometown that he so often said shaped his
character, an emotional Representative Richard A. Gephardt
yesterday announced he will retire from public life when his term
expires at the end of the year. Only hours after a crushing defeat in
the Iowa caucuses drove him from the Democratic presidential
contest, the former House Democratic leader said he had not even
thought about endorsing any of his rivals, or what his next career will
be. ... [He] spoke to reporters and a group of about 50 staff
members and friends, most of whom wept, at America's Center, a
convention and sports complex. 'I haven't had a chance to do
anything but what I'm doing and I'm having a little trouble with that,'
he said. 'We'll figure out the rest at a later date.'" (01/21/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2yo2r

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COMMENTARY

29) No need for voting machines
     Liberty For All
     by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

"Good News: Voter fraud can be handled easily and without voting
machines. Better News: We can also inject some backbone and
ethics into the body politic. Best News: The truth really can set you
free. The model that our Founders had in mind when they were
working out the forms for America's elections were clear and simple.
Stand up and be counted. Literally. Most of them came from towns
that used the yearly meeting to settle issues." (01/22/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/machines.html

-----

30) Liberty Action of the Week
     Health care and dying, freedom and responsibility
     Rational Review
     by Mary Lou Seymour

"Thirty or forty years ago, no one had "health insurance;" now,
people hold grimly on to jobs they despise lest they lose their health
insurance and are thrown on the mercy of the state. For libertarians,
too proud and too moral to willingly take a government check or
government health care, the thought of being forced to accept state
paid 'charity' is especially abominable. But sometimes the choice
really becomes 'live free or die,' and although that might be an
acceptable choice for an individual to make for himself, what if it's
your sick baby or elderly parent or beloved spouse, hmmm?"
(01/22/04)

http://www.rationalreview.com/mlseymour/012204.shtml

-----

31) We see that now
     The American Prospect
     by Tony Hendra

"A heartfelt -- no -- abject -- no -- craven apology to the right from
the left for our campaign of hate, anger and malice against God's
own president. ... We confess. It's all true. Everything you say. We
trafficked in hate. We did it in anger. ... We attacked a sitting
president, impugned his integrity, smeared his family, invaded his
privacy, tried desperately to drag him down to our own filthy, rock-
bottom, sewer-dwelling level. ... George W. Bush cannot be, as
we've screamed till we're blue in the face, the cretinous finger
puppet of an incalculably cynical and malevolent cabal AND a
ruthless neo-Confederate, bent on creating a plutocratic ruling class
at home and a rapacious corporate imperium abroad. He's one or
the other. We cannot have it both ways. We see that now."
(01/21/04)

http://www.prospect.org/print/V15/2/hendra-t.html

-----

32) A Bush-Clinton ticket would be unbeatable
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"Think about it: Bush and Clinton share the exact same philosophical
vision for the role of government in society. For example, not only do
both of them favor such things as Social Security, Medicare,
Medicaid and the Department of Education, Department of
Commerce, and National Endowment for the Arts, they both actually
favor expanding the funding for these bureaucratic departments and
the socialist and interventionist programs they sponsor." (01/21/04)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0401g.asp

-----

33) Stretching the poor
    Town Hall
    by Thomas Sowell

What do you do when you don't have as much of something as you
need? One of the things you can do is stretch it out to make it last
as long as it can. That is what the political left is doing with the poor.
A lot of noise is made about how we are 'running out' of this or that
natural resource -- almost always falsely -- but the real problem of
the left is that they are running out of the poor, who serve as a
justification of the left's drive to extend their power over all the rest of
us. ... What is the left to do when they find themselves running out
of the poor? They must stretch the poor to make them last -- even if
that requires stretching the truth." (01/22/04)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20040122.shtml

-----

34) Albanian tragedy
     exterritorial.net
     by Kozeta Cuadari

"At 5.00 p.m., on Friday 9 January, more than 30 people from
Shkodra district, Northern Albania, one of the poorest in the
country, set off to follow their dream that would be the last: their
impossible dream for a better life that brought those people to death.
Among them were 6 women. They were all refused to be given a
visa from the Italian Embassy to join their families and relatives in
Italy. They had paid 1500 EUROS each to cross the sea illegally ....
By the next morning one of the ships of the Italian Naval Forces
found the boat. Only 11 people had survived, 21 were found dead
and it is thought that there were more than 5 other people missing."
(01/04)

http://www.exterritorial.net/albania.htm

-----

35) Bush leaves no bride behind
     AlterNet
     by Arianna Huffington

"Now I'm not saying that helping married couples stay together is a
bad thing. I'm just saying that it's not a job for the Federal
government. At least not a government that is faced with far more
pressing problems than what to do when he wants to watch football
and she wants to cuddle. We have 9% unemployment, 12 million
uninsured children, record-breaking $500 billion deficits, unfinished
business in Afghanistan and Iraq, porous ports and vulnerable
airports, and every state in the union cutting back on vital social
programs, and the president wants to spend precious resources
convincing young people that marriage is better than shacking up?
Just whom is he protecting here? Aside from his own electoral
backside." (01/21/04)

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17624

-----

36) Ideology isn't enough
     Boston Globe
     by Eileen McNamara

"Fickle voters are not the only ones who sometimes choose a
candidate for personal rather than ideological reasons. Consider
Dennis J. Kucinich, the most vociferously liberal, antiwar candidate
for the Democratic presidential nomination. On Monday, when it was
clear that the Ohio representative could not win enough votes to be
viable in the Iowa caucuses, Kucinich asked his supporters to throw
their votes behind North Carolina Senator John Edwards. It was a
curious choice, given Edwards's votes in support of the
congressional resolution authorizing President George W. Bush to
invade Iraq and in favor of the Patriot Act of 2001, a measure
Kucinich regularly denounces as an assault on fundamental civil
liberties." (01/21/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2bvok

-----

37) Beware the Iraq election blowback
     CounterPunch
     by Dave Lindorff

"With Iowa just having dramatically demonstrated to us the
unpredictability of the democratic process, you start to understand
what's motivating all those Shiite demonstrators in Iraq. They see
how Bush and his viceroy, L. Paul Bremer, and their handpicked
quisling officials in the provisional authority, are trying to rig the
summer 'sovereignty' exercise by running elections through open
ballot caucuses, and are demanding instead an election by universal
suffrage." (01/21/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff01212004.html

-----

38) George Bush's America
     Ether Zone
     by Murray Sabrin

"President Bush is presiding over a GOP version of the New Deal
and Great Society. In fact, Bill Clinton could have given Bush's State
of the Union speech, and Republicans would have been up in arms
over Slick Willie's use of the federal treasury to buy votes.
Remember, it was Bill Clinton in his 1996 State of the Union Speech
who said the 'era of big government is over' to thunderous GOP
applause. This year, GOP members of Congress gave the president
thunderous applause when he announced more government
initiatives and spending. How times have changed." (01/22/04)

http://www.etherzone.com/2004/sabr012204.shtml

-----

39) Today Baghdad, tomorrow Barsoom?
     Strike the Root
     by Roderick Long

"Now I'm as big a fan of space exploration as anyone .... Indeed,
the need to renounce NASA was probably the biggest hurdle for me
in becoming a libertarian originally. But I cannot endorse a space
exploration program led by an institution both inept and criminal, and
funded by extortion." (01/21/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/long/long2.html

-----

40) US manufacturing is quite healthy
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by Bruce Bartlett

"Back when people first started complaining about the imminent
disappearance of manufacturing, the proposed solution -- especially
popular among Democrats -- was an 'industrial policy.' The idea was
that some government agency, modeled after Japan's Ministry of
International Trade and Industry, would pick industrial winners and
losers, nurturing the former with subsidies and trade protection,
while humanely killing off the latter." (01/21/04)

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/eco/2004/pd012104a.html

-----

41) An apple a day
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Neil Hrab

"If the NRDC's coup was made into a movie, it might be called The
Great Alar Caper -- Alar being the trade name of a chemical then
used by apple growers to delay ripening. Turns out, the longer
apples stay on the tree, the better chance they have of developing a
nice, shiny look, which fetches top dollar in stores. Alar prevented
apples from rotting prematurely during this natural process."
(01/19/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03821.cfm

-----

42) Energy conservation zealots 1, consumers 0
     Cato Institute
     by Jerry Taylor

"On Jan. 13, a federal appeals court overturned a Bush
administration rule that would increase energy efficiency standards
for central air conditioners and heat pumps by 20 percent. The
court ordered that the Bush rule be replaced by a proposal from the
Clinton administration that would require a 30 percent increase in
energy efficiency. Environmentalists and energy conservation
obsessives declared it 'a big victory for consumers.' They also
declared that up is down, black is white, night is day, and that pigs
really do fly. Well, actually they didn't. But they might as well have."
(01/22/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-22-04.html

-----

43) Evasions, half-truths and the state of the union
     Slate
     by Fred Kaplan

"This time, at least, there were no blatant lies in the national-security
section of the State of the Union address. The speechwriters, no
doubt watched over by a hyperalert Condoleezza Rice, made sure
to avoid a reprise of last year's scandal over false claims of an Iraqi
hunt for yellowcake. Instead, however, the scribes piled on so many
half-truths and evasions, often in disingenuous phrasings, as to
erase the customary distinction between mere deceit and sheer
falsehood. Let's take them one by one." (01/21/04)

http://slate.msn.com//?id=2094214&

-----

44) Deconstructing the Bill of Rights
     Intellectual Conservative
     by Alan Caruba

"During the last century, governments given totalitarian powers killed
an estimated 169,000,000 people. If you don't think it can't happen
here, I would remind you of the flames that destroyed the Waco,
Texas compound of a religious cult that, by most accounts, didn't
represent a threat to anyone, wasn't engaged in any illegal acts,
and, in which, more than 90 men, women and children were gassed
and incinerated. This would suggest that no one is safe from a
government intent on serving a subpoena, even if it has to kill you to
do it. It was our introduction to the Clinton administration, but no one
would have guessed that a conservative, Republican-controlled
government would serve up The Patriot Act that became law on
October 25, 2001." (01/21/04)

http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article3063.html

-----

45) North Koreans starved by political classification
     Asia Times
     by Jim Lobe

"North Korea has been using food as an instrument of political and
economic control, says a major new report by Amnesty
International. While the country has been unable to produce enough
food for all of its citizens since the collapse of the Soviet Union more
than 10 years ago, food supplies -- both from domestic sources and
from foreign aid -- have been distributed primarily according to
citizens' membership in three 'classes,' apparently based on loyalty
to the state. The three categories -- also said to determine who
receives other benefits, such as access to education and residence
permits -- are 'core,' 'wavering,' and 'hostile.' The last class of hostile
citizens represents about one-quarter of the country's 23 million
people." (01/22/04)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FA22Dg01.html

-----

46) Warnings during wartime
     Village Voice
     by James Ridgeway

"Bush set the agenda for his re-election campaign last night to a
cheering Congress, promising to improve the economic health of the
nation by paying pharmaceutical and insurance companies more
money to run Medicare, a program already bloated by administrative
costs. He also vowed to bring democracy to the Middle East. He's
sticking with the war on terror, which means, for the president, a
renewal of the Patriot Act." (01/21/04)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0404/mondo4.php

-----

47) Bush's missed opportunity
     Reason
     by John Hood

"Many Republican politicians believe that President Bush, who in
some polls has the highest approval rating of any president
beginning his re-election campaign since Dwight D. Eisenhower in
1956, is headed for an inevitable victory in November. With Saddam
Hussein in custody, a resurgent economy, and a muddled and
perhaps longer-than-expected Democratic primary, these partisans
see little on the horizon to threaten the president's political
prospects. They wonder only how big his margins will be, and
whether they will translate into coattails in key GOP races for
Senate, House, governor, and state legislatures. This is a premature
conclusion, to put it gingerly." (01/21/04)

http://www.reason.com/hod/jh012104.shtml

-----

48) Scientists abandon AI project after seeing The Matrix
     The Onion
     by staff

"Scientists at MIT's Advanced Machine Cognizance Project
announced Tuesday that, after seeing the final installment of the
Matrix trilogy, they will cease all further work in the field of artificial
intelligence. 'As scientists of conscience, we must consider the
ethical ramifications of AI development,' said Dr. Gregory Jameson,
director of machine epistemology and ontology at MIT. 'The Matrix
taught us that we cannot ignore our obligation to the future of
mankind. We must free our minds to this fact, or we will accidentally
unleash a nightmarish army of sentient machines.' Added Jameson:
'Some may call the extinction of humankind inevitable, but I, for one,
will still resist.'" [satire] (01/21/04)

http://www.theonion.com/4003/top_story.html

-----

49) Why Dean and Gephardt lost
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Max Pappas

"Professional pundits, after spending fabulous amounts of time
being completely wrong about what would happen in the Iowa
Caucuses, are now spending more time being wrong about why
Dean and Gephardt lost and Kerry and Edwards won. ... These
pundits should take themselves out of their D.C. mindset for a
minute and try to remember what it is like to be a regular American,
an American who does something productive with his or her days,
rather than repeatedly, erroneously predict political events."
(01/21/04)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php?issue_id=1663

-----

50) Burke vs. Reason
     America's Future Foundation
     by Kevin Michael Grace

"Reason believes that the world has become 'groovier' since 1968,
the year of that magazine’s founding. Not merely 'groovier,' mind
you, but 'groovier and groovier.' In celebration, it has nominated '35
heroes of freedom,' freedom apparently being synonymous with
grooviness. This list, and the reasons given for the selection of the
'heroes' therein is sufficient to persuade me that modern
libertarianism, at least as exemplified by Reason magazine, is not a
philosophy suitable for adults." (01/16/04)

http://www.affbrainwash.com/archives/010004.php

-----

51) Getting the message?
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Karen Kwiatkowski

"I listened to President's 2004 State of the Union, and read the
speech on-line. Deconstructed, it reveals a great deal about the
state of our union. The word 'war' was used 12 times. Security was
used six times. Twice the war, half the security. Bush's state of the
union appears to be in sync with Howard Dean's platform. Is Karl
Rove making a play for the anti-war vote?" (01/22/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski61.html

-----

52) The Bush immigration plan: A step in the right direction
     Acton Institute
     by Anthony B. Bradley

"After the colossal failure of the 1986 Immigration Reform and
Control Act, something had to be done. Eight million undocumented
immigrants later, President Bush has proposed a radical change to
the federal government’s immigration policy. His plan is not perfect,
but it is a positive step toward helping people find jobs and fill
employment gaps in our economy." (01/21/04)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=175

-----

53) Traders and traitors
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Chris Basten

"I used to think that capitalism was what made evil corporations and
monopolies so prevalent in America. I used to think that wanting
things and desiring prosperity was the embodiment of sin and
depravity in the world. Humans are greedy enough to begin with and
capitalism was advertised to me in my teen years as the echelon of
rampant corruption. ... Why is capitalism such a smelly sock to
several great historians and economists ...?" (01/22/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/22

-----

54) Fissures in the House of Saud
     Washington Times
     by Arnaud de Borchgrave

"The Saudi royal family's once limitless capacity for self-delusion is
now running on empty. The most abrupt wake-up call came in recent
weeks with the discovery of al Qaeda training camps in the desert
near several major Saudi cities. Camouflaged as seminaries, the
pseudo-clerics doubled in brass as instructors for training in both
weapons and insurgency attacks." (01/21/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040120-085115-5893r.htm

-----

55) Gathering forces of historic reform
     Washington Times
     by Peter Ferrara

"President Bush last night put personal accounts for Social Security
on the top shelf of the national agenda. Few people now recognize
how enormous this initiative can be, with powerfully beneficial
effects reverberating throughout our economy and society. But the
incredible historic opportunity now on the horizon is recognized by
a new coalition of conservative and progressive leaders to be
announced today. The president in his speech made clear he
believes the looming problems of Social Security must be addressed
now, not put off to just get worse and worse." (01/21/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040120-085116-9091r.htm

-----

56) Priceless image-making has high-priced aftermath
     Nashville City Paper
     by John Leo

"Are you excited about going to the moon and Mars? Neither am I.
With the nation drowning in debt and facing great peril from the
Islamofascists, calling for billions to put a man on Mars can't
possibly be on any plausible list of the top 500 government priorities.
But politics now is mostly a matter of managing impressions. And in
this game, cost-free impressions are the most highly prized. (Cost-
free to the impression-maker, not to the future voters, Congresses
and presidents who would have to come up with the money.)"
(01/21/04)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=30042


MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS

57) Tamara Millay policy speech
     Jackson and Cass County, MO LPs
     01/24/04

Tamara Millay, contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice
presidential nomination, will give the first policy speech of her
campaign (topic TBA) at Trails West Library, Independence, MO.
2:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, w/Q&A period following. For
more information, contact michaelaferguson at yahoo.com.

http://cass.molp.org


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

58) Gapon's march, Blackmun's folly, Kaczynski's plea

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  RRND is published every weekday except on holidays. Forward freely.
                   To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
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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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,181


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) In memory of Ron Crickenberger


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Treasury reneges on 30-year bond holders
2)  US set for Iraq election retreat
3)  State of the Union address
4)  Missile hits Iraq "green zone"
5)  Israeli charged with bribing Sharon
6)  Ron Paul runs unopposed
7)  UK cannabis law "a threat to health"
8)  Rabbi invents prayer for porn surfers
9)  "Not guilty," Stewart says
10) Dems delay Senate OK of big spending bill
11) New doubts dog Iran's nuclear pledge
12) Thou shalt not violate city rule on monuments
13) Chess champ to challenge Putin
14) Potential 20th hijacker turned away at Orlando airport prior to 9/11
15) Dean's NH lead shrivels
16) Bush meets with Iraqis in election dispute
17) Iran council lifts ban on 200 MPs
18) Russian army joins struggle to save beer
19) Shiite marchers demand Hussein be tried in Iraq
20) Incumbents displease Montanans
21) Resistance to Patriot Act gaining ground
22) Former Green Beret guides GIs in thicket of Iraq
23) Gephardt ends White House bid after poor Iowa showing
24) Details of Army's abuse investigation surface
25) Beards may be outlawed with ban on veils
26) Fathers no longer required
27) Bush warns of "work unfinished"
28) Reilly pushes to end profiling in police stops
29) Affirmative action battle brews anew in Michigan

-----ADVERTISEMENT----------------------------------------------------
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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

30) Bush loses in Iowa
31) Rat Race, part 2
32) The last days of the First Amendment
33) Bush loses his aura of invincibility
34) Malcolm X in the middle
35) A man's (and woman's) home is a castle
36) O'Neill's book forces Bush to lie ... again
37) For truth in journalism
38) Why do Iowans like to caucus but Iraqis don't?
39) Concerns about gun stores misguided
40) Iowa's decision huge, until maybe tomorrow
41) France launches global culture war
42) The Declaration of Independence: A look at the meaning
43) Clark is no Ike
44) A world recreated
45) Bridging the labor-environment gap
46) Broader, not Broder
47) Unhinged reality
48) The high cost of Rubinomics
49) Too much Dick
50) The defense budget is bigger than you think
51) The spontaneous redistribution of wealth, part 2
52) Al-Sistani's Next Move
53) SSA admits private plans will work
54) How does money acquire its value?
55) Another embittered rant by a former soldier
56) The obligatory post-airport Homeland Security rant
57) For the sake of hard-working immigrants
58) Truth in spending overdue


TODAY'S MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS:

59) TODAY! Tamara Millay on "Straight Talk with Jerry Hughes"
60) Tamara Millay policy speech
61) Free Hunter!
62) Petition for a Boortz-Free LP national convention


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

63) Spoiled politicians; "I did not have sex with that woman"


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) In memory of Ron Crickenberger

I'm saddened to report that the freedom movement has lost one of its
most active soldiers, Ron Crickenberger. Ron was recently
diagnosed with cancer, and passed away yesterday. RRND will
carry such memorial articles as come to our attention as the week
goes on.

Bonnie Scott of the New York LP has created a web site at which
those who knew and loved Ron can post their remarks, and those
who didn't can read them:

http://ny.lp.org/cgi-bin/condolences.cgi?Ron

On behalf of the staff of RRND, our deepest and most heartfelt
sympathies go out to Ron's partner, Noelle, and to his family and
loved ones.

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Treasury reneges on 30-year bond holders
     Uncle Scam

"The U.S. Treasury will default on contracts with investors, mostly
individuals, who loaned the government money in 1979 on the
agreement that they would receive 9.125 percent interest every year
until their bonds mature in the year 2009. No longer will politicians
and appointed bureaucrats be able to brag that the United States
has never failed to live up to its obligation as the safest investment in
the world. Investment is no longer guaranteed. The Bureau of Public
Debt announcement claims that this recall applies to about $4.6
billion in 30 year bonds issued on May 15, 1979 and calls for their
redemption by May 15, 2004. Of course, investors holding these
bonds are not forced to cash them in and can hold them until 2009 if
they want, but they will no longer receive the interest promised, the
main reason for investing their money in the first place." (01/04)

http://www.uncle-scam.com/Breaking/jan-04/br-7.html

-----

2)  US set for Iraq election retreat
     Guardian [UK]

"The US-led coalition in Iraq is on the verge of bowing to Shia
Muslim pressure for direct elections before the handover of power
on June 30, the Guardian has learned. According to British officials,
the Blair government has been swayed by Shia arguments and the
US is also shifting ground. They believe that Paul Bremer, the US
head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) running Iraq, has
been persuaded of the need for direct elections, provided it can be
shown that they are practicable." (01/21/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1127690,00.html

-----

3)  State of the Union address
     White House

Full text of George W. Bush's 2004 State of the Union address.
(01/20/04)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-7.html

-----

4)  Missile hits Iraq "green zone"
     Seattle Times

"A missile landed in the sprawling U.S. compound in central
Baghdad last night, causing little damage, a U.S. spokesman said.
The projectile, believed to be a rocket, hit near the Al-Rasheed
Hotel, said the spokesman, who said there was an unconfirmed
report of one person being injured, but no significant damage."
(01/21/04)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001840719_iraqdig21.html

-----

5)  Israeli charged with bribing Sharon
     Bradenton Herald

"An Israeli businessman was indicted Wednesday on charges of
bribing Ariel Sharon with hundreds of thousands of dollars, further
complicating the prime minister's clouded legal situation. Analysts
said the indictment against real-estate developer David Appel
increases the chances that Sharon himself may face charges,
which would compel him to leave office. Sharon was not charged
Wednesday, but opposition lawmakers urged him to resign. Appel
was indicted in the Tel Aviv Magistrates court for giving Sharon
hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote an ambitious real-estate
project in Greece when Sharon was foreign minister in 1999 and to
help rezone urban land near Tel Aviv before and during Sharon's
term as prime minister." (01/21/04)

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7759515.htm

-----

6)  Ron Paul runs unopposed
     WorldNetDaily

"Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas -- known as 'Mr. Constitution' on Capitol
Hill for his strict adherence to the document when voting on
legislation -- won't face any challengers for his House seat this year
since he was the only person to file for the race. The deadline to file
in his 14th Congressional District was Friday." (01/21/04)

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36694

-----

7)  UK cannabis law "a threat to health"
     MAPINC

"A city drugs expert has warned of a mental health time bomb set to
go off, following the re-classification of cannabis. Verina McEwen,
Peterborough Drug Action Team co-ordinator, said young people
may mistakenly think cannabis is harmless following the change in
law, which will take place on Thursday, January 29. But she claimed
the drug was a factor in 80 per cent of inner-city mental health
cases in the UK." (01/20/04)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n128/a09.html

-----

8)  Rabbi invents prayer for porn surfers
     Ananova [UK]

"An Israeli rabbi has invented a prayer to help Jews overcome the
guilt of visiting pornographic websites. The benediction by Shlomo
Eliahu says: 'Please God, help me cleanse the computer of viruses
and evil photographs which disturb and ruin my work ... so that I
shall be able to cleanse myself (of sin)." (01/20/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_857733.html

-----

9)  "Not guilty," Stewart says
     Tallahassee Democrat

"Martha Stewart waved to her supporters, strode into a Manhattan
courthouse and repeated a plea of innocent at the formal start of her
stock-trading trial Tuesday. The 62-year-old millionaire gracious-
living guru stood in court and nodded at the first batch of jurors, who
were interviewed one by one in a judge's private robing room. 'Not
guilty,' Stewart said five times, speaking almost inaudibly and
nodding as she re-entered her plea to five criminal counts related to
her 2001 sale of nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems."
(01/21/04)

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/7755273.htm

-----

10) Dems delay Senate OK of big spending bill
     USA Today

"Democrats angry with delayed food-labeling rules and other issues
blocked the Senate on Tuesday from finishing a long-overdue $373
billion spending bill but predicted Congress would approve the
measure by next week. The vote to halt delaying tactics against the
wide-ranging package was 48-45, 12 votes short of the 60 needed.
It was Congress' first roll call of its election-year session and came
just hours before President Bush was to deliver his State of the
Union address." (01/20/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-01-20-spending_x.htm

-----

11) New doubts dog Iran's nuclear pledge
     MSNBC

"Western diplomats and nuclear experts voiced growing concern
Tuesday that Iran has reneged on its promise to fully suspend
uranium enrichment -- a process that can be used to make nuclear
weapons. The most recent developments threaten to put Iran at
center stage at the next top-level meeting of the International Atomic
Energy agency in March." (01/20/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4011455/

-----

12) Thou shalt not violate city rule on monuments
     Charlotte Observer

"A day after it was placed in front of Winston-Salem's [NC] City Hall,
a one-ton granite monument to the Ten Commandments was
removed Tuesday by city officials who called it a safety hazard. ...
City Council member Vernon Robinson, who said he was inspired
by Alabama's ousted Chief Justice Roy Moore, placed the 4-foot-
tall, blue-granite block in front of City Hall early Monday while it was
closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The monument is
inscribed on one side with the Ten Commandments and on the other
side with the Bill of Rights." (01/21/04)

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/7758141.htm

-----

13) Chess champ to challenge Putin
     BBC News [UK]


"A group of top Russian liberals is joining forces to keep Vladimir
Putin from staying in the Kremlin after 2008. They concede that they
cannot stop the popular president from being re-elected this March,
but have vowed to scotch any efforts to extend his term. The group
is led by chess champion Gary Kasparov, a leading critic of Mr
Putin. ... His group, called '2008: Free Choice,' also includes liberal
politician Boris Nemtsov, Soviet-era dissident Vladimir Bukovsky and
TV political satirist Viktor Shenderovich .... They issued a statement
on Monday accusing President Putin of trying to consolidate his
'tsar-like' power at all costs. They criticised his control over the
parliament and the media, and what they called the 'flat-out
falsification of the last election's results.'" (01/21/04)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3413161.stm

-----

14) Potential 20th hijacker turned away at Orlando airport prior to 9/11
     USA Today

"A Saudi man who was prevented from entering the United States a
few weeks before the Sept. 11 terror attacks may have been the
plot's intended 20th hijacker, federal officials say. The man,
identified only as al-Qahtani, was turned away by a U.S. immigration
agent at Orlando International Airport in late August 2001, according
to two senior law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of
anonymity Tuesday." (01/20/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-20-hijacker_x.htm

-----

15) Dean's NH lead shrivels
     MSNBC

"Howard Dean, who once held a 30-point lead over Sen. John Kerry
in New Hampshire, is now locked in a statistical tie with the Iowa
caucus winner one week before the state's presidential primary,
according to a Reuters/MSNBC Zogby poll released Tuesday. Dean
led Kerry 25 percent to 23 percent in the three-day tracking poll,
which began Sunday, the day before Kerry’s stunning win in Iowa in
the first contest in the Democratic race to pick a challenger to
President Bush." (01/20/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4012326/

-----

16) Bush meets with Iraqis in election dispute
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"President Bush met Tuesday with a leader who acts as a go-
between for the Shiite cleric who is demanding direct elections in
Iraq. The administration also enlisted the United Nations to help
resolve the growing dispute over Iraqi self-rule. Bush met with
visiting Iraqis on the day of his State of the Union speech,
underscoring his commitment to end the U.S. occupation by July 1
though U.S. peacekeeping troops would stay on after that date."
(01/20/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040120/1819467.shtml

-----

17) Iran council lifts ban on 200 MPs
     Guardian [UK]

"Iran's hardline guardian council said yesterday that it had lifted a
ban on 200 candidates for next month's parliamentary elections, but
reformist MPs said they wanted to see the full reinstatement of all
those barred from the poll. ... following a request from the supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the council was reviewing its
decision to disqualify more than 3,000 prospective candidates.
Protesting MPs said the move was insufficient, and vowed to
continue their daily sit-ins in the parliament building until free
elections were assured." (01/21/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1127615,00.html

-----

18) Russian army joins struggle to save beer
     ABC News

"Russia has sent in the army to bolster a week-long struggle to
rescue 10 tons of beer trapped under Siberian ice, Itar-Tass news
agency said Tuesday. A lorry carrying the beer sank when trying to
cross the frozen Irtysh river, and a rescue team of six divers, 10
workers and a modified T-72 tank from the emergencies ministry
have so far failed to save the load. 'The situation hasn't developed
according to our ideal scenario,' the deputy head of the Cherlaksky
region, told the agency. Temperatures were around minus 27
degrees Celsius (minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit) in the region, near
the Siberian city of Omsk and around 1,400 miles from Moscow."
(01/20/04)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/BackPage/reuters20040120_225.html

-----

19) Shiite marchers demand Hussein be tried in Iraq
     Washington Post

"For the second day in a row, Shiite Muslim demonstrators took to
the streets here Tuesday, this time demanding that U.S. officials
allow ousted president Saddam Hussein to be tried and executed in
Iraq rather than treated as a prisoner of war. About 5,000
protesters, mostly followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, staged a
peaceful rally in central Baghdad. They also called on U.S. officials
to resist efforts by Iraqi Kurds to divide the country under an
ethnically oriented federal system." (01/21/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33401-2004Jan20.html

-----

20) Incumbents displease Montanans
     Billings Gazette

"Montana voters are pessimistic about the direction of state
government and would prefer to vote against incumbent legislators, a
Montana Chamber of Commerce poll shows. Both major political
parties lost ground with voters, as did advocacy groups, poll results
showed. More Montana voters identify themselves as Republicans
than Democrats in the polls, but the percentage of voters calling
themselves Republicans dropped slightly more than those saying
they are Democrats in a similar 2001 poll. 'We see a real strong
sense of dissatisfaction about all segments of state leadership,' said
Webb Brown, president of the Montana Chamber of Commerce. 'It's
pretty much across the board.'" (01/20/04)

http://billingsgazette.com/index.php?display=rednews/2004/01/20/build/state/40-i\
ncumbents.inc

-----

21) Resistance to Patriot Act gaining ground
     Boston Globe

"More than two centuries ago, the patriots of Brewster [MA] shut
down the Colonial courts on Cape Cod in one of the first acts of
resistance against the tyrannical rule of King George III. Now,
deliberately evoking its Revolutionary history, Brewster Town
Meeting has formally condemned the antiterrorist USA Patriot Act,
united against the laws of a different leader named George. While
the act is largely symbolic ... the grass-roots opposition has forged
an unlikely alliance of people angry at Washington's domestic
handling of the war on terror. In Brewster, anger at the Patriot Act
has drawn together libertarians, an antitax group, and a Unitarian
congregation, as well as a more traditional coalition of civil
libertarians and antiwar activists." (01/20/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2k6hb

-----

22) Former Green Beret guides GIs in thicket of Iraq
     Washington Post

"Knight carries no weapon, though he mightily wishes he could.
Instead, tucked in his rucksack is a book covered in camouflage
canvas that says 'Army of the Lord.' Knight is the regimental
chaplain, a soldier's soldier who switched gears in mid-career, spent
two years at a Louisiana seminary and reappeared in Afghanistan
and Iraq carrying a military-issue Bible." (01/21/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33504-2004Jan20.html

-----

23) Gephardt ends White House bid after poor Iowa showing
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Democrat Dick Gephardt abandoned his second bid for the
presidency Tuesday, delivering a political valedictory after some
three decades of public service while putting his home state of
Missouri up for grabs in the competitive primary race. After a poor,
fourth-place showing in Iowa Monday, Gephardt exited the race for
the nomination, leaving a field of seven candidates." (01/20/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040120/1819919.shtml

-----

24) Details of Army's abuse investigation surface
     CNN

"Sources have revealed new details from the Army's criminal
investigation into reports of abuse of Iraqi detainees, including the
location of the suspected crimes and evidence that is being sought.
U.S. soldiers reportedly posed for photographs with partially
unclothed Iraqi prisoners, a Pentagon official told CNN on Tuesday."
(01/20/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/20/sprj.nirq.abuse/

-----

25) Beards may be outlawed with ban on veils
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"France's plan to bar religious symbols from state schools slid into
confusion today after the education minister said a looming ban on
Muslim veils could also outlaw beards if they were judged to be a
sign of faith. Opposition politicians derided the government plan as
misguided and some of President Jacques Chirac's conservative
allies said they would abstain or vote against the law meant to stem
growing Islamist influence among some of France's five million
Muslims." (01/21/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/21/1074360805810.html

-----

26) Fathers no longer required
     Independent [UK]

"A revolution in the law that governs IVF treatment -- which would
end the requirement for women to find a man to act as father to their
child -- will be called for today by the head of Britain's fertility
regulator. Suzi Leather, chairman of the Human Fertilisation and
Embryology Authority (HFEA), says the law should be changed to
remove the clause requiring doctors who assess infertile women to
take account of the 'need of the child for a father' before offering
treatment. It would give the green light to single women and lesbians
to seek treatment on equal terms with heterosexual couples. But the
downgrading of the father's role in child rearing is likely to be
portrayed as an attack on the traditional family." (01/21/04)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health/story.jsp?story=483234

-----

27) Bush warns of "work unfinished"
     CNN

"Ten months before facing voters, President Bush delivered an
upbeat State of the Union address Tuesday night that defended his
stewardship of the nation at home and abroad, as he called on
Americans to stay the course. Addressing a joint session of
Congress in the House chamber, Bush cited progress in the war on
terrorism and in turning the U.S. economy around. But much work
remained, he said." (01/20/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/20/sotu.speech/

-----

28) Reilly pushes to end profiling in police stops
     Boston Globe

"In an effort to eliminate racial profiling of drivers, Boston and Lowell
police officials have agreed to work with state law enforcement
authorities to track all traffic stops, and not just those that result in
citations or written warnings, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly
announced yesterday. ... The US Supreme Court has held that to
justify a stop, police must show they had 'reasonable, articulable
suspicion' to pull the car over. However, studies in Massachusetts
and elsewhere have found that blacks are more likely than whites to
not only be stopped but also given a ticket rather than a written
warning." (01/20/04)

http://tinyurl.com/39vjq

-----

29) Affirmative action battle brews anew in Michigan
     Christian Science Monitor

"It's a cold time of year to be out collecting signatures. But as
Michigan's affirmative action debate heats up once again, that's
exactly what opponents of racial preferences in hiring and school
admissions are doing. Last week, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative
(MCRI) launched a petition drive to let voters decide whether to ban
such preferences by state institutions. If the group gathers 317,757
signatures by July 6, its proposed amendment to the state
constitution will appear on November's ballot." (01/20/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0120/p18s01-legn.html

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COMMENTARY

30) Bush loses in Iowa
     WorldNetDaily
     by Joseph Farah

"The big loser in the Democratic presidential caucuses in Iowa
wasn't Howard Dean. It wasn't Dick Gephardt. It wasn't even Al
Sharpton who managed to attract about .5 percent of the vote. The
big loser was George W. Bush. ... If Bush were deliberately
throwing this election, he couldn't do a more masterful job of losing
votes, breaking bonds with his constituency and losing touch with
his base. If ever there was a time for a third party to emerge with
some alternative ideas, 2004 is it." (01/21/04)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36701

-----

31) Rat Race, part 2
     Lies, damn lies and Republican rhetoric revisited
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"The Busheviks have finally awakened to the fact that their man is
cruisin' for an electoral bruisin', and they're not a bit happy about it.
But, having turned their cannon loose on deck for three years, they
seem at a loss as to how to get him chained the hell down and
pointed in the right direction. No matter which way the ship of state
turns, and no matter how it orients itself to the waves, that
NapoleBush 12-pounder always seems to end up aimed at the
Republican Party's own feet instead of at the Democrats. Last
night's salvo cost Karl Rove some toes." (01/21/04)

http://www.rationalreview.com/tlknapp/012104.shtml

-----

32) The last days of the First Amendment
     Liberty For All
     by Jonathan David Morris

"I laugh sometimes when I hear Republicans and Democrats fighting
over appointments to the Supreme Court. Both parties rally their
bases by pledging to appoint judges who'll fight for their pet issues.
Both promise to oppose judges who'll fight for the opposite side. The
reason I laugh is because I'm not sure it matters anymore. No
matter who wins, we all get screwed. Case in point: The Court's
recent decision to uphold the McCain-Feingold campaign finance
reform law." (01/21/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/last-days.html

-----

33) Bush loses his aura of invincibility
     Salon
     by Gary Kamiya

"As they prepared for Tuesday night's State of the Union speech,
President Bush, Karl Rove and Bush's speechwriters were faced
with a choice. The latest poll showed that Americans still supported
Bush on national security and the war on Iraq, but were increasingly
worried about his economic policies. Which way should they play
it? ... In fact, it was a no-brainer. Following the venerable football
philosophy that you dance with the one that brung you, Team Bush
decided to keep the focus on the war on terror -- and keep the
terror alert coded red." [subscription or ad view required] (01/21/04)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/01/21/state_of_union/

-----

34) Malcolm X in the middle
     Ether Zone
     by Roderick T. Beaman

"True to form, since [Malcolm X's] death, the vogue Left has focused
on his revolutionary rhetoric and not his message of independence
and self-reliance. What is interesting about his revolutionary
rhetoric, is that it wasn't that revolutionary when you looked at it
more closely. He advocated violence only as a response to violence
not as the primary action. This is something that any libertarian can
accept." (01/21/04)

http://www.etherzone.com/2004/beam012104.shtml

-----

35) A man's (and woman's) home is a castle
     Fox News
     by Wendy McElroy

"The story of Anthony Bars (the 4-year-old boy who was starved
and beaten to death in Indiana by foster parents with a criminal
record of child abuse) continues. Due to media and public outrage,
the caseworker who recommended removing Anthony from an
earlier, loving foster parent is facing charges. Denise Moore is
accused of official misconduct and of falsifying reports in an
adoption proceeding: misdemeanor offenses. Sadly, Anthony is just
one in a long list of children neglected or abused by Child Protective
Services in state after state. In his case, the press is still pounding
on why child welfare officials never disciplined Moore for her
actions and cited state confidentiality laws at almost every question
asked." (01/20/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108888,00.html

-----

36) O'Neill's book forces Bush to lie ... again
     Yellow Times
     by Firas Al-Atraqchi

"Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's book has slapped the
Bush administration with an explosive set of embarrassing charges,
not the least of which is the claim that George Bush came to the
U.S. presidency with one objective in mind -- the removal of Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein. O'Neill's book, The Price of Loyalty,
written by Ron Suskind, claims that the first national security
meeting of the new Bush administration in January 2001 focused on
how to find a way to remove Saddam from Iraq." (01/20/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1745

-----

37) For truth in journalism
     WorldNetDaily
     by Pat Buchanan

"For generations, our media elite has fed the people the party line
that journalists are objective and neutral observers who call it as they
see it, concerned only with fairness, truth and accuracy, and who
are ever on guard to keep their opinions our of their copy. The
media have a vested interest in perpetuating this myth. But it is not
the truth. In many cases, it is wholesale consumer fraud. Almost
everyone in journalism, and much of the public, knows it." (01/21/04)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36705

-----

38) Why do Iowans like to caucus but Iraqis don't?
     AntiWar.Com
     by Ivan Eland

"Iowans seem pretty happy with their quadrennial caucuses. The
results are now in and the 2004 presidential election season has
been kicked off. Half a world away, however, Iraqi Shiites have
launched massive demonstrations against the Bush administration's
plan for caucuses to elect an interim national assembly. Why do
Iowans love what Iraqi Shiites hate? It's simple: Iowa's version of
caucuses is true grassroots democracy in action, whereas the U.S.
occupation authority's version in Iraq is a sham." (01/21/04)

http://antiwar.com/eland/index.php?articleid=1743

-----

39) Concerns about gun stores misguided
     Houston Chronicle
     by Doug Pike

"A Washington-based non-profit group called Americans for Gun
Safety claims to take the middle ground on gun ownership. I
question its neutrality. As a hunter, target-shooter and gun owner,
I've been courted in the past by groups that claimed common-sense
positions on firearms. These champions of 'responsible use' recruit
membership and money from both sides but typically lean hard to
one side." (01/19/04)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2361320

-----

40) Iowa's decision huge, until maybe tomorrow
     Miami Herald
     by Dave Barry

"It's caucus day, the day when hundreds of thousands of Iowa
voters, finally getting their chance to respond to months and months
of campaign rhetoric, will stay home. I'm not kidding. Officials here
are predicting a 'record turnout,' but it turns out that 'record turnout'
means 'at least 75 percent of the voters will not be turning out.'"
(01/19/04)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/7743514.htm

-----

41) France launches global culture war
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Neil Hrab

"Global cultural snobs take the popularity of American music and
movies as a personal affront. They have quietly devised a scheme to
cut back the worldwide flow of U.S. cultural exports. There is still
time for the Bush administration to stop this effort dead in its tracks,
but only if the President acts decisively." (01/20/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03819.cfm

-----

42) The Declaration of Independence: A look at the meaning
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Max Pappas

"Any discussion about the proper role of government can be
improved by an appeal back to the ideas upon which our nation was
founded. In the Declaration of Independence, we find perhaps the
most concise expression of those very ideas and beliefs. The
Declaration is clear: the Founders believed in individual liberty,
defined by the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
secured by a government created for that purpose, gaining its
legitimate power from the consent of the governed." (01/19/04)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php?issue_id=1660

-----

43) Clark is no Ike
     Cato Institute
     by Doug Bandow

"Clark is presenting himself as the anti-Bush with military
experience. Alas, Clark is no Dwight D. Eisenhower. Whatever
Clark's virtues as a military leader, his experience in Kosovo did not
exhibit them. In that conflict Clark led the world's most powerful
military alliance against a small, impoverished country beset by a
messy guerrilla war. It didn't take the least bit of talent to win. In fact,
only a genius could have found a way to lose. As Clark almost did."
(01/21/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-21-04.html

-----

44) A world recreated
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"Americans are famously ignorant about the affairs of other
countries, and this wouldn't matter in the slightest but for the ongoing
political pressure to demonize foreign nations and deny their value
to the world economy. This is a problem for the present. In the
future, however, as the world becomes ever more integrated, and
emigration becomes a more viable option for American workers,
there will be a growing consciousness that the US is not a country
divinely appointed to rule the world, but a wholly normal country that
has much to offer the world via its commerce and culture."
(01/21/04)

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

-----

45) Bridging the labor-environment gap
     In These Times
     by Adam Werbach

"A vote for exploration of Alaska’s National Wildlife Reserve is a vote
for environmental responsibility, Jerry Hood, Local Alaska
Teamsters leader, said on July 31, 2001. When the Teamsters
announced support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
to create jobs, many commentators claimed that the nadir of the
relationship between environmentalists and the labor movement was
reached. Halting drilling in ANWR is the No. 1 defensive priority of
the largest environmental organizations in the country, and creating
new jobs is the top priority for many labor unions. This public rift
was exactly what the Bush administration sought." (01/20/04)

http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=564_0_1_0_C

-----

46) Broader, not Broder
     Tom Paine
     by Russ Baker

"As the campaign season heats up, one can't help but wonder: do
we really need David Broder to referee events? Recently, the
Washington Post reporter and muller, covering what must be his
7,865th presidential primary, did what he so often does: he got in an
ever-so-polite tizzy about someone not following protocol. His target:
none other than Howard Dean, who of course worries a lot of
conventional people. Broder filed a dispatch that read like a warning
to the Democrats: that this particular grey sheep was straying too
far from the flock. ... Well, so too can a pattern be evinced in the
coverage provided by Broder -- and, for that matter, so many of his
jaundiced colleagues on the campaign bus. Instead of celebrating
candor, they censure it." (01/20/04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9795

-----

47) Unhinged reality
     Center For Individual Freedom
     by staff

"The sobering thought about the Dean phenomenon is not about the
diminutive candidate himself, but about the minions of citizens good
and true who believe in their minds and feel in their hearts that there
fulminates someone qualified to be President of the United States.
That, friends, represents unhinged reality as epidemic." (01/16/04)

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/howard_dean.htm

-----

48) The high cost of Rubinomics
     The American Prospect
     by Jeff Faux

"If a Democratic president gets to replace Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan when the latter's term is up in 2006, Bob
Rubin is the odds-on favorite. He has the financial credentials:
Goldman-Sachs, U.S. Treasury, CitiGroup. He raises money for
Democrats. And he is credited with the one accomplishment of the
Clinton era that all Democrats are proud of: eight years of
peacetime economic growth that, by 2000, had produced something
pretty close to full employment. As Rubin tells the story in his new
memoirs, he persuaded Clinton early on to make financial-market
'confidence' the administration's chief economic priority." (01/20/04)

http://www.prospect.org/print/V15/2/faux-j.html

-----

49) Too much Dick
     Reason
     by Tim Cavanaugh

"I come not to bury Gephardt (tempting as that is) but to praise the
Iowa voters, and to admit that there may be some value yet in an
arcane primary system that lets secondary states set the course for
the nation. Any system that performs early triage on a Gephardt
can't be all bad. ... It's frequently objected that the baroque
caucus/primary patchwork points up the crabbed idiosyncrasies of
the political system, rather than smoothing them over. This is in fact
the best feature of the primary system. By courting chaos, the
primaries provide little guidance about who the strong candidates or
potential winners will be. But they're ruthlessly efficient when it
comes to weeding out the jokers." (01/20/04)

http://www.reason.com/links/links012004.shtml

-----

50) The defense budget is bigger than you think
     Independent Institute
     by Robert Higgs

"When President Bush signed the defense authorization bill for
fiscal year 2004 on November 24, 2003, the event received
considerable attention in the news media. At $401.3 billion, the
public's visible cost of funding the nation's defense seemed to be
reaching astronomical heights, and the president took pains to
justify that enormous cost by linking it to the horrors of 9/11 and to
the 'war on terror.' ... Although the public may appreciate that
$401.3 billion is a great deal of money, few citizens realize that it is
only part of the total bill for defense." (01/18/04)

http://www.independent.org/tii/news/031222Higgs.html

-----

51) The spontaneous redistribution of wealth, part 2
     Strike the Root
     by Per Bylund

"The left blames the market for causing inequalities because in times
of radical change, there seems to be growing differences between
the wealthy and the poor. But they fail to see this is only a result of
wealth not being created everywhere at once and at equal speed.
Wealth is created only where entrepreneurs seize the moment to
provide those in need with what is needed. The conclusion about the
rhetoric of the left is they are ignorant. Blaming the market for
causing inequality is like blaming the sun for causing darkness."
(01/21/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/bylund/bylund2.html

-----

52) Al-Sistani's Next Move
     Power and Interest News Report
     by Erich Marquardt

"Shi'a leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has been flexing his
political might in Iraq, urging his loyal followers to take to the streets
to peacefully protest the current U.S. power transfer plan. Al-Sistani
is worried that the current plan will marginalize the country's Shi'a
population and is demanding that the U.S. allow direct elections to
decide who will sit on the soon-to-be-formed national assembly; the
current plan calls for local caucuses to choose members of the
body. Al-Sistani's actions represent perhaps the most significant
political challenge thus far encountered by the U.S.-led coalition."
(01/20/04)

http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=136

-----

53) SSA admits private plans will work
     Heartland Institute
     by Jay Lehr

"The memo from SSA Chief Actuary Steve Gross to Institute for
Policy Innovation (IPI) tax expert Peter Ferrara admits that, 'Under
the plan specifications described [by Ferrara] the Social Security
program would be expected to be solvent and to meet its benefit
obligations throughout the long range period 2003 through 2077 and
beyond.' That statement contrasts with SSA figures that place the
current Social Security system in bankruptcy within the forecast
horizon." (01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14122

-----

54) How does money acquire its value?
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Frank Shostak

"To say that the value of money is on account of social convention is
to say very little. In fact, what Varian has told us is that money has
value because it is accepted, and why is it accepted? ... because it
is accepted! Obviously this is not a good explanation of why money
has value." (01/20/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1430

-----

55) Another embittered rant by a former soldier
     CounterPunch
     by Stan Goff

"[A]s George W. Bush, who was just denounced by Black leaders
across the United States for his latest shameless publicity stunt at
the tomb of Dr. King ... as this arrogant piece of sh-- called the
President of the United States prepares to give the 2004 State of the
Union address, I invite readers to click onto this link [DEAD LINK
ELIDED] where you can see video footage of the multiple murder of
three Iraqis that the United States armed forces and thousands of its
apologists will inevitably claim is justified. ... Enjoy this video, like
good pornography. That's what it is ... a snuff film." (01/20/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/goff01202004.html

-----

56) The obligatory post-airport Homeland Security rant
     Liberty For All
     by Rachel Mills

"When you infuse the land with too much 'security' antibiotics, you
slow everything down and you end up disabling the function of the
REAL protection, which comes from 280 million white blood cells
called citizens, many of whom are armed, many of whom are
trained in self-defense, and many who would die to defend the lives
of others, and I'm not just talking about the military. That bravado in
our citizenry is our real strength, our real protection." (01/21/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/rant.html

-----

57) For the sake of hard-working immigrants
     Tennessean
     by Mario Ramos

"President Bush's immigration reform proposal is a call to allow an
estimated 8-10 million people to come out of the shadows to freely
participate in our democracy. The president's proposal is not an
amnesty which would allow automatic citizenship. Rather it is a good
start by granting work authorization to those already here working to
support our economy. The proposal has been attacked from all
sides. All the immigrants I have spoken to who need to apply have
indicated that they will apply under the terms being proposed by the
president. They and their families want to be law-abiding, tax-paying
workers. Without this new immigration road map they could not
apply." (01/18/04)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/nashville-eye/archives/04/01/45574740.shtml

-----

58) Truth in spending overdue
     Washington Times
     by Ed Feulner

"Americans shell out more than $2 trillion each year to keep our
federal government running. The least we should expect in return is
honesty. Alas, Washington officials aren't telling the truth about how
much they've spent, are currently spending or plan to spend.
Consider the omnibus spending bill the Senate will consider later this
month. The House of Representatives has already passed this
measure. Lawmakers claim it would increase federal discretionary
spending -- what Congress spends above and beyond what it must
spend on mandatory programs such as Social Security and
Medicare -- by 'only' 3 percent." (01/20/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040119-082935-8641r.htm


MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS

59) Tamara Millay on "Straight Talk with Jerry Hughes"
     Accent Radio Network
     01/21/04

Tamara Millay, contender for the Libertarian Party's vice presidential
nomination, will appear on Accent Radio Network's "Straight Talk
with Jerry Hughes." 3-4 p.m. eastern time. See URL for affiliate
stations or webcast information.

http://www.accentradionetwork.com

-----

60) Tamara Millay policy speech
     Jackson and Cass County, MO LPs
     01/24/04

Tamara Millay, contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice
presidential nomination, will give the first policy speech of her
campaign (topic TBA) at Trails West Library, Independence, MO.
2:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, w/Q&A period following. For
more information, contact michaelaferguson at yahoo.com.

http://cass.molp.org

-----

61) Free Hunter!
     Liberty Round Table
     until the thugs give it up

Defense fund information for Jeff Jordan, a/k/a "Hunter." Arrested
in Ohio for exercising his inalienable human and constitutionally
guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. Help us convince Ohio's
jackbooted thugs that this time they're messing with the wrong
freedom-lover!

http://www.libertyroundtable.org/projects/freehunter/

-----

62) Petition for a Boortz-Free LP national convention
     PetitionOnline.Com
     ongoing

"We, members and supporters of the Libertarian Party, object to the
scheduled appearance of talk radio host Neal Boortz as a speaker at
the Libertarian Party's 2004 National Convention. We further
request that said appearance be cancelled."

http://www.petitiononline.com/noboortz/petition.html


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

63) Spoiled politicians; "I did not have sex with that woman"

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

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

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,181


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Afghan officials: US air raid kills 11 villagers
2)  Kerry wins Iowa; Gephardt exit expected
3)  Shiites march to demand early elections
4)  Japanese troops arrive in Iraq
5)  Couple charged in girl's death; exorcism suspected
6)  Team to mayors: Steal us money for a stadium
7)  Witnesses: Israelis bulldoze 13 Gaza homes
8)  Questions cloud medical pot law
9)  Microsoft lawyers threaten Mike Rowe, 17
10) Oregon becomes battleground in national tax debate
11) Bush to unveil workforce training program
12) UN help sought on Iraq vote
13) Case could boost funding for private schools
14) India buys Russian aircraft carrier
15) Bell Labs sets sights on location privacy
16) Domestic issues hurt Bush in poll
17) King's widow calls for reconciliation of conservatives, liberals
18) Colorado Senator attacks university bias
19) Bush's rhetoric rebound?
20) New ad highlights Presidential candidates' medical marijuana positions
21) Germany arrests 86-year-old suspect in Nazi massacres
22) Another tight race looms in NH
23) Moore inspires NC official
24) New health savings accounts help pay soaring medical costs
25) Scottish banks at risk from terror scam
26) Boom in Internet ads may be about to pop
27) Stun guns sold on eBay UK
28) Anti-war protester cleared of condom protest

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

29) The gold that does not glitter
30) Booting Boortz redux
31) What it means to be an anarcho-capitalist
32) Faking democracy
33) You can't do that (without a license)!
34) A pyrrhic victory?
35) Inside America's prisons
36) The spontaneous distribution of wealth, part 1
37) Homeless vets
38) What's wrong with national service
39) A Republican Nader?
40) Bush may be thoroughly GOP, but he's no conservative
41) Just the facts, please
42) Better them than us
43) The case for market liberalism
44) Organ donations: Socialism or laissez-faire?
45) A fair trade on immigration
46) Just say no again
47) Latin America: Washington's near abroad
48) Roving justice in Pakistan
49) Iraq: A military critique
50) The fee conspiracy
51) Ford: Sugar daddy of the greens
52) You CAN (and must) fight city hall
53) Warning-label clutter -- Where will it end?
54) Dr. King knew we could do better than this
55) Note to self
56) Unfinished business


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

57) Uncommon Commons; Home again, home again; her mother was not a fish


NEWS

1)  Afghan officials: US air raid kills 11 villagers
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"A U.S. air raid in southern Afghanistan killed 11 villagers, including
four children, Afghan officials said Monday. The U.S. military said it
killed five militants in the weekend raid in insurgency-plagued
Uruzgan province. Sunday's incident came as American
commanders and Afghan officials hunt for Taliban and al-Qaida
suspects and try to improve security in the lawless south and east
ahead of planned summer elections." (01/19/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040119/1813756.shtml

-----

2)  Kerry wins Iowa; Gephardt exit expected
     CNN

"Iowa Democrats upended the Democratic presidential race Monday
night, giving Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts a strong victory and
dealing an apparently fatal blow to Rep. Dick Gephardt's run for the
White House. Howard Dean, widely viewed as the national front-
runner going into the caucuses, was in third place, a finish that
drains him of momentum going into next week's New Hampshire
primary." (01/19/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/19/elec04.prez.main/

-----

3)  Shiites march to demand early elections
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims marched in Baghdad on
Monday to demand early elections, the biggest public display of
Shiite political power here since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's
Sunni-dominated regime. The protest aimed to send a message to
the United Nations and the White House that Shiites will not accept a
U.S. formula for transferring power by July 1 to a legislature
selected in regional caucuses instead of by a direct vote as the
Shiite clergy demands." (01/19/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040119/1813961.shtml

-----

4)  Japanese troops arrive in Iraq
     ABC News

"Japanese soldiers entered a conflict zone Monday for first time
since World War II, crossing into Iraq on a humanitarian mission
that has stirred controversy at home while raising great expectations
among Iraqis. ... The mission has met with widespread opposition in
Japan, where the memories of the nation's World War II defeat still
linger. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki serve as a
horrifying reminders of the devastation wrought by war. Recent polls
show most Japanese oppose the deployment, but Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi made the mission a centerpiece of a speech to
parliament Monday." [N.B. Actually, President Harry Truman put
17,000 Japanese POWs back under arms in Vietnam after V-J Day
to fight the Viet Minh] (01/19/04)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040119_877.html

-----

5)  Couple charged in girl's death; exorcism suspected
     Las Vegas Sun

"A husband and wife have been charged with murdering a 6-year-
old girl whose back was broken in what police said may have been
an exorcism gone wrong. The couple was arrested Monday after
being spotted on the street naked in the freezing cold along with two
other children. Police said the dead girl, whose body was
discovered in a motel room, had been strangled and stabbed, and
her back was broken. An autopsy was planned. Based on what the
adults told authorities, investigators believe 'they were involved
possibly in a ritual of some sort,' [Atlanta, GA] police spokesman
John Quigley said. 'It may have had something to do with
undemonizing the child in some manner.'" (01/20/04)

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2004/jan/20/012002897.html

-----

6)  Team to mayors: Steal us money for a stadium
     Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"In February and March, the Cowboys and Dallas County [TX]
officials are expected to begin hammering out a financing deal and
addressing other unknowns about the 100,000-seat, retractable-roof
stadium that would be surrounded by retail, recreational and hotel
development. Dallas County voters will be asked to raise hotel and
car-rental taxes to help finance the $650 million stadium. The
Cowboys are negotiating a financing deal with county
commissioners, who are their public partners and will levy the tax."
(01/18/04)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/7740137.htm

-----

7)  Witnesses: Israelis bulldoze 13 Gaza homes
     ABC News

"Israeli army bulldozers flattened 13 homes and the remains of a
mosque in a frequently targeted Gaza Strip refugee camp on the
Egyptian border, Palestinian witnesses said Tuesday. The Israeli
army had no comment on the raid in the Rafah camp. Israel has
demolished hundreds of houses there during three years of fighting
with the Palestinians, saying the buildings provide cover to gunmen
and weapons smugglers. ... In Tuesday's raid, three bulldozers and
several tanks rumbled into the camp before dawn, and Israeli troops
started shooting, witnesses said. Those in the targeted homes hastily
gathered their belongings, with some raising white flags to avoid
being hit by tank fire, witnesses said." (01/20/04)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040120_249.html

-----

8)  Questions cloud medical pot law
     MAPINC

"Monica Ginn, a 53-year-old Olympia [WA] woman, believed she
had her doctor's blessing to legally use marijuana to relieve chronic
back pain. But last week, a Thurston County judge barred her from
presenting a jury with evidence that she qualified under the medical-
marijuana law passed by voters in 1998. She went to trial essentially
without a defense and was convicted of possession and distribution
of marijuana. Now, she faces up to five years in prison." (01/18/04)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n121/a04.html?397

-----

9)  Microsoft lawyers threaten Mike Rowe, 17
     The Register [UK]

"In what could easily be mistaken for an Onion story, Microsoft has
unleashed the full fury of its lawyers on 17-year-old Canadian high-
school student, Mike Rowe, demanding the handover of his Internet
domain. The domain? MikeRoweSoft.com. No, seriously. Victoria-
based Mike is currently studying maths and chemistry and plans to
study computer science at Victoria University next year. He
registered the domain in August because he thought it would be cool
to have a site that sounded like the famous company to show his
Web designing skills. The Beast of Redmond however reckons that
the phonetic domain infringes its copyright and insists Mike hand it
over or face the consequences." (01/19/04)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34955.html

-----

10) Oregon becomes battleground in national tax debate
     Billings Gazette

"Now that the Republican-controlled Congress has endorsed
President Bush's tax cuts, former U.S. House majority leader Dick
Armey and other national anti-tax leaders are zeroing in on Oregon.
On Feb. 3, Oregonians will vote on an $800 million tax increase that
legislators passed last August in their latest attempt to patch holes in
the state budget. Armey's Citizens for a Sound Economy, which was
instrumental in putting the Oregon tax increase before voters by
collecting 118,000 petition signatures, argues that state government
needs to reduce spending rather than raise taxes." (01/19/04)

http://billingsgazette.com/index.php?display=rednews/2004/01/19/build/nation/55-\
oregon-taxes.inc

-----

11) Bush to unveil workforce training program
     MSNBC

"In his State of the Union address, President Bush is expected to
propose new job-training grants for community colleges to help
prepare American workers for today's economy -- a key issue in
November's presidential election. In his address to Congress and
the nation Tuesday night, Bush plans to announce at least $120
million in grants, administered by the Labor Department, to enhance
work force training programs at community colleges, education
officials said Sunday." (01/19/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4000590/

-----

12) UN help sought on Iraq vote
     CNN

"Facing protests by tens of thousands of Muslims in Baghdad, top
U.S. and Iraqi officials have asked the United Nations to weigh in on
whether early direct elections could be held for a provisional
government. Leaders of the U.S.-backed coalition and its
handpicked Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) asked U.N. Secretary-
General Kofi Annan Monday to send a 'technical mission' to Iraq to
look into the possibility of early elections or other alternatives."
(01/19/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/19/sprj.nitop.iraq.intl/

-----

13) Case could boost funding for private schools
     Christian Science Monitor

"Tuesday the US Supreme Court takes up a case that could provide
the most significant boost to those supporting public funding for
parochial schools since the high court's school-voucher decision
two years ago. The central issue in Hibbs v. Winn isn't the
constitutionality of a tax-credit system in Arizona that helps fund
parochial school tuition. Rather, the issue is more technical: whether
the federal courts can review determinations already made by state
judges about whether such tax-credit systems violate the separation
of church and state." (01/20/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0120/p02s01-usju.html

-----

14) India buys Russian aircraft carrier
     CNN

"India and Russia expect to close a long-discussed deal on the
purchase of a Soviet-era aircraft carrier this week, Russian Defense
Minister Sergei Ivanov has said. India will pay Russia about $1.5
billion for the carrier Admiral Gorshkov and 28 MiG-29K fighter jets
capable of being launched from the ship, Ivanov said during a visit
to the Indian capital New Delhi." (01/19/04)

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/01/19/india.warship/

-----

15) Bell Labs sets sights on location privacy
     InfoSync [Norway]

"A paper to be presented by Bell Labs offers a solution to the
potential problem of location-based services enabling 24/7 tracking
of users. Researchers from Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs have
developed new software technologies that would enable users to
tightly control how their location information is shared when using
location-enabled mobile devices such as cell phones and personal
digital assistants (PDAs). In a paper to be presented at the 2004
IEEE International Conference on Mobile Data Management, Bell
Labs researchers will describe a method for users to specify what
location information is shared, and when, with whom, how and under
what circumstances." (01/20/04)

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/4506.html

-----

16) Domestic issues hurt Bush in poll
     Washington Post

"President Bush delivers his State of the Union address tonight to an
American public that has become broadly dissatisfied with his
domestic agenda, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News
poll. The survey found that, on the eve of his annual address to
Congress, Bush continues to enjoy a huge advantage over
Democrats on matters of national security, besting them by two to
one in the fight against terrorism and by nearly as broad a margin
on his handling of the conflict in Iraq." (01/20/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29858-2004Jan19.html

-----

17) King's widow calls for reconciliation of conservatives, liberals
     USA Today

"The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow called Monday for an end
to acrimony in politics as Americans paused to remember the slain
civil rights leader. Coretta Scott King talked last year about avoiding
war in Iraq, and her plea for nonviolence returned this year.
'Peaceful ends can only be reached through peaceful means,' she
said in her annual King Day address." (01/19/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-19-mlk-day_x.htm

-----

18) Colorado Senator attacks university bias
     Fox News

"A well-known conservative is reaching out to state lawmakers to
beat back what he claims is rampant political bias against students
and faculty who do not agree with a pervasive liberal orthodoxy in
state schools across the country. As a result, leaders in several
states are reportedly working on anti-bias legislation, including
Colorado state Sen. John Andrews. Andrews told Foxnews.com that
lawmakers in the state General Assembly plan to introduce a bill in
coming weeks that would require state college and university
officials to educate students and faculty better about their rights
against political and ideological bias by other professors and
administrators." (01/19/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108788,00.html

-----

19) Bush's rhetoric rebound?
     Christian Science Monitor

"During his State of the Union address in January 2003, President
Bush claimed that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had enough
anthrax to 'kill several million people,' enough botulinum toxin to
'subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure' and
enough chemical agents to 'kill untold thousands' ... adding that Mr.
Hussein 'has given no evidence that he has destroyed' any of the
chemical weapons. As [he] prepares to deliver this year's State of
the Union address Tuesday, the Washington Post reports that long-
term consequences of the administration's rhetoric regarding
weapons of mass destruction could be severe overseas, 'particularly
because the war was waged without the backing of the United
Nations and was opposed by large majorities, even in countries run
by leaders that supported the invasion.'" (01/20/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0119/dailyUpdate.html

-----

20) New ad highlights Presidential candidates' medical marijuana positions
Marijuana Policy Project

"Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana has announced that it will air
a dramatic political spot highlighting four Democratic presidential
contenders' refusal to stop federal arrests of cancer and AIDS
patients who use medical marijuana. The ad will begin airing on New
Hampshire stations [Tuesday]. The commercial features stark,
grainy images of U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), U.S. Rep.
Richard Gephardt (D-MO), U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), and
former Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT), while a narrator states, 'There
was a time when the federal government was arresting very sick
people. And some Democrats running for president refused to say
they would stop it.'" (01/19/04)

http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr011904GSMMtv.html

-----

21) Germany arrests 86-year-old suspect in Nazi massacres
     USA Today

"German authorities said Monday they have arrested an 86-year-old
man who allegedly led a Nazi-backed unit involved in the World War
II massacres of civilians in Slovakia and the capture of U.S. and
British intelligence agents, as well as an American journalist.
Ladislav Niznansky is being investigated for possible charges of 164
counts of murder relating to killings of civilians in three Slovak
villages in early 1945, Munich prosecutors said." (01/19/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-01-19-nazi_x.htm

-----

22) Another tight race looms in NH
     MSNBC

"The political spotlight is switching to New Hampshire. And the race
here is tightening, just as it had in Iowa. While Monday’s Iowa
caucuses provided the first Democratic contest of the year, New
Hampshire holds the first primary election, on Jan. 27. Wesley
Clark and Joe Lieberman, who skipped the caucuses, have pretty
much had New Hampshire to themselves as their major rivals
campaigned in Iowa." (01/19/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4002256/

-----

23) Moore inspires NC official
     Fox News

"A city council member who said he was inspired by Alabama's
ousted chief justice placed a one-ton granite monument to the Ten
Commandments in front of City Hall on Monday while it was closed
for the King Day holiday. Vernon Robinson said he and four others
acted on the holiday because the empty parking lot allowed room for
a truck and crane, which they used to position the monument at
dawn. The 4-foot-tall, blue-granite block is inscribed on one side
with the Ten Commandments and on the other side with the Bill of
Rights. 'This display is intended to acknowledge the undeniable role
that the Ten Commandments and Bill of Rights have played in
developing the American legal tradition,' said Robinson.'" (01/19/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108876,00.html

-----

24) New health savings accounts help pay soaring medical costs
     Washington Times

"As medical-insurance premiums skyrocket, more companies are
looking for ways to pass on costs to their workers. At the same time,
self-employed people and other individuals who don't have corporate
plans are seeking health care policies that are affordable. Enter the
government, with a new tax-free health savings account aimed at
doing for health care what individual retirement accounts have done
for retirement savings. The HSAs, part of the Medicare reform bill
passed by Congress last month, can be set up starting this year."
(01/19/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/business/20040118-103456-9935r.htm

-----

25) Scottish banks at risk from terror scam
     The Scotsman [UK]

"Al-Qaeda is targeting blue-chip companies in Scotland as part of
an audacious attempt to defraud the financial sector of millions of
pounds, police officers have warned. Sources suggest that every
single bank has an account that is linked in some way to a terrorist
group, while experts have said Scotland is particularly vulnerable
because security is not as rigorous as in London and New York.
Terrorist groups including al-Qaeda have been linked to a range of
scams including money laundering, and internet and credit card
fraud. Inspector Brian Connel, the assistant director of the Scottish
Business Crime Centre, said companies were under a daily threat
of 'electronic terrorism' and Special Branch was working closely with
business leaders to tackle the problem." (01/19/04)

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=65172004

-----

26) Boom in Internet ads may be about to pop
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"The advertisements that flash in separate windows above or below
web sites are among the most intrusive, and to many people, most
obnoxious features on the internet.However, the pop-up format is
also among the most effective for advertisers and the most profitable
for web site publishers. But even Yahoo and Microsoft, which
receive significant revenue from advertising, have decided to bow to
complaints, following the lead of Time Warner's AOL; Yahoo; and
Google. 'We are adding a pop-up blocker based on feedback from
customers,' said Matthew Pilla, a senior product manger for
Windows at Microsoft." (01/20/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/19/1074360699870.html

-----

27) Stun guns sold on eBay UK
     Register [UK]

"Ebay UK is being used to sell illegal weapons such as vicious stun
guns which can temporarily disable victims by delivering massive
electric shocks. Although the online auction service prohibits the
sale of firearms on its site -- including the sale of 'high voltage
electric stunning devices' -- stun guns are still openly available on
eBay UK. The availability of illegal weapons online is causing such
concern that one prominent MP has warned that sites such as eBay
'cannot be allowed to be the Internet equivalent of a dodgy car boot
sale.'" (01/19/04)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34956.html

-----

28) Anti-war protester cleared of condom protest
     Ananova [UK]

"An anti-war protester convicted of desecration after he put multi-
coloured condoms on a statue of Jesus has been cleared on
appeal. Fedja Stukan was fined £170 last year for putting three
condoms on the statue's fingers with a note saying: 'Make love not
war.' The actor's stunt, at the Sarajevo monument in front of
Sarajevo Cathedral, was a protest at the US-led invasion of Iraq. ...
Catholic Church officials had condemned the protest as 'deeply
offensive.'" (01/19/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_857343.html

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COMMENTARY

29) The gold that does not glitter
     The Price of Liberty
     by the Hunter

"Liberty does not 'glitter;' it often appears far less valuable to many
than it really is. All too often, the unthinking trade freedom for the
seductive illusion of security and stability. Just as Franklin warned
us, in the end they are left with neither." (01/19/04)

http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/04/01/19/hunter.htm

-----

30) Booting Boortz redux
     The Life of the Party, part 14
     Rational Review
     by Thomas L. Knapp

"Last month, this column called to its readers' attention the
unfortunate matter of the Libertarian Party's ill-considered decision
to schedule radio shock jock Neal Boortz as a speaker at the LP's
2004 national convention. A good deal of water has passed under
the bridge since then; it's time for an update, and it's time to address
some questions that the effort to avoid this train wreck has raised."
(01/20/04)

http://www.rationalreview.com/tlknapp/012004.shtml

-----

31) What it means to be an anarcho-capitalist
     LewRockwell.Com
     by N. Stephan Kinsella

"Libertarian opponents of anarchy are attacking a straw man. Their
arguments are usually utilitarian in nature and amount to 'but
anarchy won't work' or 'we need the (things provided by the) state.'
But these attacks are confused at best, if not disingenuous. To be
an anarchist does not mean you think anarchy will 'work' (whatever
that means); nor that you predict it will or 'can' be achieved. It is
possible to be a pessimistic anarchist, after all. To be an anarchist
only means that you believe that aggression is not justified, and that
states necessarily employ aggression. And, therefore, that states,
and the aggression they necessarily employ, are unjustified. It's
quite simple, really. It's an ethical view, so no surprise it confuses
utilitarians." (01/20/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/kinsella/kinsella15.html

-----

32) Faking democracy
     Fred On Everything
     by Fred Reed

"While the United States is freer and more democratic than many
countries, it is not, I think, either as free or as democratic as we are
expected to believe, and becomes rapidly less so. Indeed we seem
to be specialists in maintaining the appearance without having the
substance. Regarding the techniques of which, a few thoughts: (1)
Free speech does not exist in America. We all know what we can't
say and about whom we can't say it. (2) A democracy run by two
barely distinguishable parties is not in fact a democracy." (01/19/04)

http://fredoneverything.net/DemocracyText.shtml

-----

33) You can't do that (without a license)!
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by Charles Stone, Jr.

"The land of the free and the home of the brave, eh? That's what
they say, but try to do any one of hundreds of things without a
government license and you'll find out just how unfree we really are.
Want to cut someone's hair, trim someone's nails, build a house, fill
somebody's teeth, practice law, treat a cold, spray for bugs, bury a
corpse, watch somebody's kids or give a massage? You need the
government's permission." (01/19/04)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/tle255-20040118-06.html

-----

34) A pyrrhic victory?
     Liberty For All
     by Stephen Burr

"With this ruling, the same political issue ad that takes a candidate
to task for his record in office is protected speech if broadcast 61
days before a general election, but it becomes a criminal act if aired
just one day later. That, along with the ban on soft money
contributions to political parties, is the reason why I personally
consider the BCRA to be the most egregious assault on the First
Amendment since the Alien and Sedition Acts." (01/20/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/pyrrhic.html

-----

35) Inside America's prisons
     CounterPunch
     by Justin E.H. Smith

"Since the 1970s, in any case, the humanistic veneer has been
scraped off, and we have returned to what Foucault, and Nietzsche
before him, might consider a much more forthright reckoning of how
we really feel about all those ne'er-do-wells: the rapists and the
murderers and the bank robbers; and the petty drug dealers and the
petty drug users and the poor. And in the United States we now
have a penal system undergoing rapid growth, whose primary
mission is to separate ne'er-do-wells from the rest of society and, to
the extent possible under vestigial humanistic laws, to make this
experience unpleasant." (01/19/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/smith01192004.html

-----

36) The spontaneous distribution of wealth, part 1
     Strike the Root
     by Per Bylund

"The Left claims the market needs to be regulated, by the State of
course, because it generates so many problems of inequality. Some
people seem to get very rich while others are poor; it just isn't fair.
Libertarians usually respond by saying, 'How can it not be fair, it is
a result of free people acting voluntarily.' Very well, it may be so. But
the discussion seems to end here .... Actually, libertarians are better
at playing the game of promising equality than the Left. And the
libertarian equalizing system is voluntary and spontaneous, thus
moral. It is called the market." (01/20/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/bylund/bylund1.html

-----

37) Homeless vets
     Liberty For All
     by Jessi Winchester

"Our nation is experiencing uncertain times. Our economy is based
on plastic with most people living far beyond their means. Most jobs
pay wages that don't begin to keep up with inflation. Companies are
going belly-up in droves. Jobs are lost. New jobs are difficult to find.
Homes go into foreclosure. A myriad of circumstances in today's
unstable society makes us realize that any one of us can become
homeless." (01/20/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/vets.html

-----

38) What's wrong with national service
     LP News
     by Bill Winter

"Who owns you? That simple question is at the core of any
discussion about the morality of national service programs. If you
own yourself, then politicians have no right to force you to perform
so-called 'public service' jobs or to serve in the military. On the other
hand, if the government owns you, then politicians have every right
to tell you what to do. If they decide your country needs you to fight
a war, tutor poor children, or plant trees, then you have no right to
refuse -- since your labor belongs to them." (01/19/04)

http://www.lp.org/lpnews/0402/libsolutions.html

-----

39) A Republican Nader?
     Slate
     by Timothy Noah

"Democrats fret too much about who among their various candidates
should get the presidential nomination. Any one of the contenders
who now enjoy significant financial support would be an
improvement on the Republican incumbent, and, honest to God,
there isn't all that much in the way of policy differences among
them. A much better expenditure of Democrats' mental energies
right now would be to figure out who should wage a third-party
candidacy in the general election. ... It's time to begin the search for
the Republican Ralph Nader." (01/19/04)

http://www.slate.com/id/2094118/

-----

40) Bush may be thoroughly GOP, but he's no conservative
     Illinois Leader
     by Jerry Kohn

"Until the rise of William Jennings Bryan in the late 19th century, it
was the Democratic Party that defended America's conservative
traditions of free trade, limited government, sound money, and low
taxes. Today, both major political machines champion the cause of
bigger government. Government expands no matter which party is in
power. ... If true conservatives are looking for a new home, they can
find it in the Libertarian Party. Republicans try and portray
Libertarians as radically new, but we are what the Democratic Party
was before 1896 ..." (01/19/04)

http://www.illinoisleader.com/letters/lettersview.asp?c=11446

-----

41) Just the facts, please
     Center For Individual Freedom
     by Erin Murphy

"Last week's change-of-venue proceedings in Scott Peterson's
double-murder trial beg the question. Who is less concerned with
legitimate evidence: the college students who falsified survey data
used to demonstrate juror bias, or the judge who cited a college
class's survey in his ruling? ... Apparently plagued with guilt or
incredulity at seeing Judge Girolami seemingly rely upon their
survey, at least nine students have come forward and admitted
fabricating some or all of the data they submitted." (01/16/04)

http://tinyurl.com/24np2

-----

42) Better them than us
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"In response to soaring violent crime, Brazil has passed what some
are considering one of the strongest anti-gun laws in Latin America,
and Brazil’s pro-gun lobby, backed up by the powerful National Rifle
Association, was powerless to stop it. Rather than mourn, however,
Americans who fight against 'gun control' should see this as a
blessing in disguise." (01/19/04)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0401f.asp

-----

43) The case for market liberalism
     Cato Institute
     by James A. Dorn

"The failure of central planning has left the market economy as the
only viable alternative in today's global economy. Emerging market
economies, if they are to survive and prosper, must make a credible
commitment to economic freedom and limited government. The
problem is how to establish and maintain an institutional framework
that protects private property rights and freedom of contract. The
challenge is to create a constitutional order of freedom in which self-
interest is in harmony with the general welfare. The market order
and the political order will then be compatible." (01/20/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-20-04.html

-----

44) Organ donations: Socialism or laissez-faire?
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Adam Young

"The problem is that in Canada only the spouse or another family
member could successfully donate organs. The government defends
this rationing policy by arguing that donors face health and
psychological problems and the uncertainty regarding the
motivations of organ donors/sellers would place an ethical burden on
the standards of health professionals." (01/19/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1414

-----

45) A fair trade on immigration
     America's Future Foundation
     by Jerry Brito

"President Bush’s proposed immigration reform is a good start, but
not the final answer to what many Americans perceive as an
immigration problem. But there is a conservative solution that the
administration might be overlooking: real free trade. The problem of
immigration is that more foreigners want to come live and work in
this country than Americans seem willing to allow." (01/18/04)

http://www.affbrainwash.com/archives/010003.php

-----

46) Just say no again
     Reason
     by Renee Moilanen

"That three-word mantra 'Just Say No' became a national punch line
for a reason: It didn't keep kids away from drugs. Drug use among
teenagers dropped steadily from the early 1980s until 1992,
mirroring a decline in drug use among adults. But this downward
trend began before the anti-drug curricula developed in the 1980s,
exemplified by Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), could
have had any impact. The drop was detected in surveys of students
who had never heard of DARE or Just Say No. And by the early
1990s, when students who were exposed to DARE and similar
programs in grade school and middle school reached their late
teens, drug use among teenagers was going up again." (01/19/04)

http://www.reason.com/0401/fe.rm.just.shtml

-----

47) Latin America: Washington's near abroad
     Power and Interest News Report
     by Matthew Riemer

"South America is where the true resistance to U.S. policy ultimately
resides and will be dealt with. It is also the region with the largest
economies and populations in Latin America. In fact, globally
speaking, Brazil has the 11th largest economy in the world with a
GDP of about $1.4 trillion and is the sixth most populous country.
Brazil represents a vast, developing market that the United States is
eager to become an integral part of. The recent election of what
Washington considers a leftist candidate, Lula Ignacio da Silva, only
heightens the U.S.' desire to become intimately involved there so
that economic opportunities are not lost or taken advantage of by
others." (01/19/04)

http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=135

-----

48) Roving justice in Pakistan
     Asia Times
     by Pepe Escobar

"Khawar Mehdi Rizvi is a Pakistani journalist. For almost a month he
has been languishing -- and most probably being tortured -- in a
Pakistani jail or safehouse somewhere in Pakistan. Nobody knows
where he is. The co-director of the Federal Investigation Agency --
which deals with white-collar crimes and passport and visa matters --
  has told Karachi's High Court that he has no idea about Khawar
Mehdi's fate. Sources tell Asia Times Online that Khawar Mehdi may
in fact be in the clutches of hardline sectors of the Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), the Pakistani intelligence services." (01/17/04)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FA17Df02.html

-----

49) Iraq: A military critique
     AntiWar.Com
     by Alan Bock

"The invasion of Iraq was a distraction from the main strategic goal
that has consumed and continues to consume resources that could
have been used to go after al Qaida more aggressively or to beef up
domestic security. It has alienated potential foreign allies and
sympathizers unnecessarily at a time when cooperation against an
international but stateless foe is more important than ever. It has
already stretched the military to the breaking point, and unless more
realistic or achievable goals are set, continuing on the current path
is likely to cause serious problems for the United States and give
terrorists opportunities to reemerge." (01/20/04)

http://antiwar.com/bock/?articleid=1742

-----

50) The fee conspiracy
     US Term Limits
     by Paul Jacob

"Regulators have a way of going after the minnows whenever a
shark enters the water. New York State Attorney General Elliot
Spitzer sees a conspiracy to hide the truth about mutual fund fees.
... Gary Pilgrim, manager of PHGB Growth Fund, invested in a
hedge fund that, in effect, bet against PHGB -- allowing Pilgrim to
collect profits when the value of his own fund was collapsing. An
apparent conflict of interest investors didn't know about. But if
investors are defrauded in such cases, that's a separate question
from how fees are displayed in a brochure graph. Investors care
about honest management. And returns." (01/16/04)

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs1025.html

-----

51) Ford: Sugar daddy of the greens
     FrontPageMag
     by John Perazzo

"Contrary to the public image of an everyman's movement,
environmentalism is in fact big business, raking in more than $8.5
billion per year. ... Environmentalist group income is larger than the
Gross National Product (GNP) of about five-dozen nations
worldwide. ... Only a small portion of these immense revenues
comes from the checkbooks of concerned individual donors. ...
Each year, hundreds of foundations earmark thousands of grants
totaling hundreds of millions of dollars for environmentalist groups.
Many of these foundations are part of an informal coalition called
the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) .... Occupying a
prominent place at the EGA meetings is the Ford Foundation, which
has a long history of donating enormous sums to environmentalist
causes." (01/19/04)

http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11803

-----

52) You CAN (and must) fight city hall
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Bob Smith

"About a month ago, I wrote [an article] describing a battle going on
in Crystal, Minnesota by homeowners trying to stop the city of
Crystal from forcing them to sell their 78 homes and several
businesses in favor of a redevelopment project of the kind that are
becoming notorious in many cities and towns. I have good news to
report: Last Thursday, the Crystal city council voted unanimously to
accept a recommendation from their subcommittee to not proceed
with the project. The reason given was a 'financial gap' because of
reduced state aid. The 'financial gap' is a plausible explanation, but it
sounded more to me like an excuse to avoid admitting that the
council ran up against a buzzsaw citizens group that it couldn't bully
or scare into submission." (01/20/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/20

-----

53) Warning-label clutter -- Where will it end?
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"Remember when John 'Sue the Bastards' Banzhaf announced that
he would sue restaurants if they didn't post warning labels about the
supposedly addictive nature of their foods? Or when the Center for
Science in the Public Interest asked for warning labels on any food
that contained the chemical acrylamide (including, we presume,
acrylamide-heavy spinach, beets, jam, and breakfast cereal)?
We've been spared such inanities -- so far. However, as a group
called Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch (MLAW) points out: 'lawsuits,
and fear of lawsuits, have prompted many manufacturers to issue
warnings against even obvious misuses of consumer products.'
MLAW has announced the winners of their 'Wacky Warning Label
Contest' -- and the results remind us why ambulance chasers are
increasingly viewed with disdain." (01/19/04)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=2318

-----

54) Dr. King knew we could do better than this
     Tennessean
     by Michael Grant

"All over America today, millions will honor the life of a true
American patriot, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And while it is fitting
that we honor one whose life glorified America's highest ideal, a love
for freedom, we trivialize Dr. King's transcendent and transforming
message if we don't frame all our speeches and laudatory words in
the broader context of history's lessons. Honoring Dr. King's legacy
means asking probing questions about how far we have come as a
nation since his death. ... Dr. King did what all historically significant
reformers did: He advanced an agenda or constructed a vision that
appealed to the best -- not the worst -- in others." (01/19/04)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/nashville-eye/archives/04/01/45657701.shtml

-----

55) Note to self
     ESPN
     by Hunter S. Thompson

"Both games sucked in a very deep way. It looked like a Hells
Angels riot at the infamous Altamont rock festival, or even the first
wild days of our latest war against Muslims in Iraq, when our finely-
trained U.S. combat troops were mopping up on the bloody road to
Baghdad. But so what? Violence and brutality are no strangers out
here at the Owl Farm. We have known both for many years; and on
some days, I almost enjoy them -- if only because I am a fifth-
generation American, and that is the way I was raised. I own
property and I frequently shoot sporting guns, just for the practice.
Practice is absolutely necessary for the expert shootist, just as it is
for the U.S. Special forces and the hard-hitting New England
Patriots. Winning is a full-time job." (01/19/04)

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/thompson/040119.html

-----

56) Unfinished business
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Wayne T. Brough

"The Democratic primaries are shaping the policy debate
surrounding the upcoming presidential election. When it comes to
tax policy, all the candidates seemed unified in their determination to
repeal some, if not all, of President Bush’s tax cuts. These efforts to
take resources away from taxpayers in favor of a larger federal
budget are often grounded in class warfare or concerns over deficit
spending." (01/19/04)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php?issue_id=1659


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

57) Uncommon Commons; Home again, home again; her mother was not a fish

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  RRND is published every weekday 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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Holiday Edition: Monday, January 19, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,177


FROM THE PUBLISHER:

0) I have a dream, too


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Suicide bomber kills 23 near heart of Iraq occupation
2)  Democrats hit it hard in final day of Iowa campaigning
3)  Haitians march against Aristide; three shot
4)  Israelis may redraw barrier
5)  US finds Annan ready to help salvage Iraq transition
6)  Wisconsin Libertarian pushes for real RKBA
7)  Sierra Club faces intense leadership fight
8)  Bartender shoots, hospitalizes patron
9)  Pornstar firefighter is too hot for colleagues
10) Seattle man sues federal office over fine for visiting Iraq
11) Ad rejections raise policy questions
12) Plane diverted to Ireland after bomb threat
13) Northwest Airlines: Exec, spokesman didn't know about study
14) Muslim French minister's car bombed
15) Conservatives to draw charter for Episcopalians
16) Arms issue seen as hurting US credibility abroad
17) Doctors act against malpractice premiums
18) Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Pakistan
19) Two guards held hostage by inmates at Arizona prison
20) Critics: Illinois tests dumb down math
21) NPR won't stop begging
22) AARP loses members over support for Medicare law
23) Secrecy suddenly a campaign issue
24) Access on the run
25) US sugar barons "block global war on obesity"
26) Ballpark opponents outnumbered by corporate welfare supporters
27) NYC inflates taxi fleet, fares
28) Bush now meddling in college tuition hikes
29) Oh wait, that should have read "NO WMDs found"
30) Feds seek input on spammer sentencing

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

31) Martin Luther King Day
32) Hopping hall: Switching political providers
33) The vanishing
34) Let's all wear yellow stars
35) Goodbye, Barry Goldwater
36) The appearance of corruption
37) The neoconservative personality
38) Ashcroft, Bovard, the Patriot Act ... and the Truth
39) Eco-socialism: Threat to liberty around the world
40) Putting the bottom line above the law
41) _Terrorism and Tyranny_ reviewed
42) Can't they shut these people up?
43) Supremes sanction secret arrests
44) Unmitigated gall: North Korea's "bold concession"
45) Unions seek to revive labor's fortunes
46) America as a one-party state
47) The case for impeachment
48) Mad activist disease
49) Moral bankruptcy and the RAC
50) Karl Rove: Renaissance Man
51) Health savings accounts empower consumers
52) Repudiating the national debt
53) Reason's heroes and zeroes of freedom
54) How do we honor Dr. King?
55) More about votes for Bush than help for immigrants
56) A lynching, or justice for a sexual predator?
57) Self-reliance vs. self-esteem
58) Channeled blame
59) State Budget problems lead to renewed interest in TELs
60) About those neocons: Thinking again, or just wondering?


TODAY'S MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS:

61) Remove Ashcroft Now!


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

62) Zwingli v. the Pope; Jefferson, Madison v. the establishment


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) I have a dream, too

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I'm going to use this
special holiday edition of RRND, and the memory of an iconic
American figure, as the basis of a fundraising spiel. But I'm not that
quite low. I'll say what I have to say about MLK, holidays and
dreams and THEN hit you up for a contribution.

Regardless of what you think about Martin Luther King, Jr. -- and
evaluations run the gamut, from proto-libertarian forefather of a free
society to muddled socialist womanizer -- his speech on the Mall is
one of the great moments of American history. A society where
people are judged by the content of their characters rather than the
color of their skins is a worthy goal to aspire to, however much that
goal may have been mauled since he articulated it.

I'm no Martin Luther King, Jr. I doubt that I'll ever even play him on
TV. But, like him -- and, I think, like all of us -- I have a dream, too.
That dream is of a society where the judgment that King referred to
is exercised on an individual basis and acted upon only to the extent
that individuals choose to deal, or not to deal, with one another. A
society which does not empower the state and its functionaries to
impose its prejudices. A FREE society ... which, as it happens, is
inherently the least racist kind of society possible.

What a lot of people fail to remember is that the state was (as it is
now) the chief instrument of racism in American society. Jim Crow
wasn't just a bad idea -- it was the law.

Around the globe, increased personal and economic freedom have
always been the harbingers of cosmopolitanism. If I had to say why,
my best guess is that the power of the state is a natural attractant for
those with really, really bad ideas -- including the idea that ancestry
is a valid criterion upon which to judge others. A close second would
be the power of the market. When people trade for mutual benefit,
that benefit is simply more important than ignorant prejudices about
the color of the hand that holds what one desires to trade for.

We've come a long way -- often in the wrong direction -- since King
and his comrades marched on Washington, but we can't afford to
forget the enduring lessons of that day: The dream, and the
willingness to act upon that dream, must never be forsaken.

Happy Martin Luther King Day.

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review

PS: I almost forgot the fundraising message. Yes, we need your
support. As a matter of fact, we need it as much or more now as we
ever have. As we approach our 300th consecutive issue, I have to
remind our readers that this publication can only continue if its
readers cough up. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free RRND, but
There Is Such A Thing As An RRND That Is A Damn Good Deal.
Check out our various premiums and subscribing donor programs at:

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


NEWS

1)  Suicide bomber kills 23 near heart of Iraq occupation
     CNN

"A suicide bombing outside the compound of the U.S.-led
occupation authority in Baghdad killed at least 23 people, most of
them Iraqi civilians trapped in their cars as they were waiting to pass
through security checks. The blast shook buildings miles away from
the Green Zone, the heavily fortified area that is home to the
Coalition Provisional Authority. More than 60 were wounded."
(01/18/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/18/sprj.nitop.baghdad.blast/

-----

2)  Democrats hit it hard in final day of Iowa campaigning
     USA Today

"On the eve of Iowa's caucuses, Howard Dean's rivals questioned
his policies and presidential qualifications Sunday as former
President Carter praised the candidate as a 'strong and open
advocate of peace.' Emerging from church in Plains, Ga., Carter
stopped short of endorsing the former Vermont governor and made
a passing reference to a trait that has hurt Dean's candidacy ..."
(01/18/04)

http://tinyurl.com/22ud9

-----

3)  Haitians march against Aristide; three shot
     Topeka Capital-Journal

"About 4,000 protesters marched through Port-au-Prince on Sunday
to demand the resignation of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, defying government supporters who hurled rocks at them
and set up a flaming barricade. One man was shot in the abdomen
when a carload of people opened fire on the demonstrators. ...
Later, hooded men fired on students with a shotgun as they left the
demonstration, wounding two .... Pressure has been building on
Aristide's administration since his party swept 2000 legislative
elections that observers said were flawed. Poverty has deepened
and unrest has risen. In the past four months, at least 46 people
have been killed in demonstrations." (01/19/04)

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/011904/pag_haiti.shtml

-----

4)  Israelis may redraw barrier
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday he may change the
route for the 150-mile barrier under construction across the West
Bank that he says is a needed defense against suicide bombers but
that Palestinians decry as an 'Apartheid Wall.' The announcement
comes amid growing concern in his government that Israel could
lose two court tests on the barrier next month, one in Israel and the
other at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The prime
minister on Sunday acknowledged concerns among some Cabinet
members, telling his ministers in a regularly scheduled meeting that
a review is necessary." (01/19/04)

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0104/19israel.html

-----

5)  US finds Annan ready to help salvage Iraq transition
     Washington Post

"U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is prepared to try to help the
United States salvage its Iraq strategy, despite more than a year of
rancorous relations over the country, largely due to his deep
concern about the potential for a political implosion in Iraq,
according to senior U.S. and U.N. officials. But Annan, who is also
wary of U.S. motives, intends to ask some tough and specific
questions in talks with L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. governor of Iraq,
and the Iraqi Governing Council at their meeting today in New York
..." (01/19/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28147-2004Jan18.html

-----

6)  Wisconsin Libertarian pushes for real RKBA
     Stevens Point Journal

"James Maas would like to be able to carry a concealed weapon.
He's just not sure the bill vetoed last year by Gov. Jim Doyle, which
is the subject of an upcoming Senate override vote, is the right
answer. ... Maas, 60, who is secretary of the Libertarian Party of
Wisconsin, said he has mixed feelings about a veto override. ... 'It's
terrible legislation, so is vetoing terrible legislation better than making
a small step towards giving the citizens a little more freedom to bear
arms?' Maas asked." (01/18/04)

http://www.wisinfo.com/journal/spjlocal/295200242613474.shtml

-----

7)  Sierra Club faces intense leadership fight
     Fresno Bee

"An unusual alliance of immigration foes and animal-rights activists
is attempting to take over the leadership of the Sierra Club,
America's oldest national environmental group, in what is emerging
as a bitter fight over the future of the 112-year-old organization
founded by Scottish immigrant John Muir. Leaders of a faction that
failed to force the club to take a stand against immigration in 1998
are seeking to win majority control of the group's 15-member
governing board in a spring election -- this time, as part of a
broader coalition that includes vegetarians, who want the club to
denounce hunting, fishing and raising animals for human
consumption." (01/18/04)

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/8024388p-8887844c.html

-----

8)  Bartender shoots, hospitalizes patron
     Indianapolis Star

"An Indianapolis man remained in serious condition Friday after a
bartender shot him in a case that police say was self-defense.
Police say Cecil D. Sanders, 29, and another person had an
altercation with a patron at the Sports Bench Tavern, 2023
Southeastern Ave., on Wednesday night. Police say Sanders then
threatened to harm the bartender, John E. Hansen. As Sanders was
coming over the bar, Hansen, 31, shot Sanders once in the chest.
Depending on his medical prognosis, police intend to arrest
Sanders on a preliminary battery charge." (01/17/04)

http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/112258-8096-009.html

-----

9)  Pornstar firefighter is too hot for colleagues
     Ananova [UK]

"Seventeen firefighters have quit their jobs because a female
colleague discussed her pornography career while at work in the
fire station. It happened in Keyes, a town of 4,500 people south of
Modesto in California, which is served by a small volunteer fire
service. The irate firefighters walked out claiming that Alexa Jones
had talked about pornography while at work with her husband --
Assistant Fire Chief Roger Jones. Captain Herb Collier, one of
those who resigned, said: 'We feel pretty strongly that there needs
to be a separation between the pornography and the fire service.'"
(01/18/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_856550.html

-----

10) Seattle man sues federal office over fine for visiting Iraq
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"A retired engineer is suing the U.S. government after being fined
$10,000 for making a humanitarian trip to take medical supplies to
Iraq. Bertram Sacks, a 61-year-old Seattle resident who has made
nine such trips since 1996, filed a 40-page lawsuit in U.S. District
Court yesterday, alleging that the federal Office of Foreign Assets
Control overstepped its authority, violated the U.S. Constitution and
flouted international law when it penalized him for humanitarian
missions." (01/15/04)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/156696_sacks15.html

-----

11) Ad rejections raise policy questions
     New York Times

"CBS has rejected Super Bowl advertisements from two groups,
saying the ads violated its advocacy rules. At the same time, the
network has in the past and could again accept spots from the
White House's antidrug office, raising questions about what is
acceptable and what is not, and why. Last week, The Associated
Press reported that CBS rejected an ad from the Democratic
political group MoveOn.org. The ad uses images of children working
at adult jobs to criticize the federal budget deficit. The network also
rejected an ad prepared by People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals that asserts that eating meat causes impotence."
[registration required, or use login "rationalreview/rationalreview"]
(01/19/04)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/business/media/19super.html

-----

12) Plane diverted to Ireland after bomb threat
     MSNBC

"A Delta Airlines jet traveling from Germany to the United States
made an emergency landing Sunday in Ireland because of a bomb
threat. Frankfurt-to-Atlanta flight number 27 landed at Shannon
airport in western Ireland after the crew discovered a note in a toilet
suggesting there could be a bomb aboard the plane, said Siobhan
Moore, spokeswoman for airport operating company Aer Rianta."
(01/18/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3993764/

-----

13) Northwest Airlines: Exec, spokesman didn't know about study
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Northwest Airlines said Sunday that an executive and a company
spokesman were not aware of the company's role in a secret
government study when they denied that the airline gave away
passenger information. Northwest acknowledged Saturday that it
gave information to the federal government for an air-security
project after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The airline said it
participated in the NASA program to help the government's search
for technology to improve aviation security." (01/18/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040118/1811292.shtml

-----

14) Muslim French minister's car bombed
     Miami Herald

"A bomb destroyed the car of a regional administrator in eastern
France on Sunday, and there were fears he was targeted because
he is the first foreign-born and Muslim person to hold the post. No
one was injured in the blast. ... newly named Prefect Aissa
Dermouche, was at home when the blast occurred. The car was
parked nearby, authorities from the Loire-Atlantique region said.
Dermouche, 57, the director of a business school in Nantes, was
named Wednesday to the post of prefect for France's eastern Jura
region. ... Dermouche was born in Algeria." (01/18/04)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7742954.htm

-----

15) Conservatives to draw charter for Episcopalians
     Washington Times

"Episcopal conservatives, making good on their threats to form an
ecclesiastical and legal shelter for theologically orthodox believers,
meet today and tomorrow in a Dallas suburb to hammer out the
details. ... The AAC is the lead group opposing the November
consecration of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the denomination's
first openly homosexual bishop." (01/19/04)

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040118-114336-2771r.htm

-----

16) Arms issue seen as hurting US credibility abroad
     Washington Post

"The Bush administration's inability to find weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq -- after public statements declaring an imminent
threat posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein -- has begun to
harm the credibility abroad of the United States and of American
intelligence, according to foreign policy experts in both parties. In
last year's State of the Union address, President Bush used stark
imagery to make the case that military action was necessary."
(01/19/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27978-2004Jan18.html

-----

17) Doctors act against malpractice premiums
     USA Today

"Though a smattering of doctors around the country charge for
phone calls and other formerly free services to help cover
administrative costs, the 'office user fee' appears to be the first
example of a surcharge designed specifically to defray recent hikes
in malpractice insurance." (01/18/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-01-19-doctors-premiums-usat_x.htm

-----

18) Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Pakistan
     MSNBC

"Pakistani agents arrested seven al-Qaida suspects and confiscated
some weaponry in a raid early Sunday in the southern city of
Karachi, officials said. Intelligence officers conducted the raid in an
eastern district of Karachi at around 3 a.m., arresting five men and
two women, said an intelligence officer, who requested anonymity."
(01/18/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3992214/

-----

19) Two guards held hostage by inmates at Arizona prison
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Two state prison guards were taken hostage by inmates early
Sunday, and negotiators were called in to try to defuse the situation.
One inmate attacked a guard shortly after 5 a.m. during breakfast
preparations, then met up with another inmate in the prison yard and
the two gained access to the officers' tower, said Jim Robideau, a
spokesman for the Arizona Department of Corrections." (01/18/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040118/1811248.shtml

-----

20) Critics: Illinois tests dumb down math
     Chicago Tribune

"As the state completes plans to expand its standardized testing
program, prominent math educators are criticizing the proposed
design, arguing that it will dumb down math instruction by focusing
disproportionately on basic skills at the expense of analytical
thinking. 'The message they will send out to teachers is: 'Pay
attention to this because this is what you're going to be tested on,''
said Philip Wagreich, director of the Institute for Mathematics and
Science Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 'It's not
uniformly horrible, but the main thrust is back-to-basics -- multiple-
choice questions emphasizing routine tasks, rote memorization and
computational skills.'" (01/04/04)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0401040332jan04,0,3930912.sto\
ry

-----

21) NPR won't stop begging
     Christian Science Monitor

"Los Angeles resident Oliver Kendall admits that he hasn't renewed
his subscription to his local National Public Radio affiliate, KCRW.
... So one can imagine the rejoicing of Kendall and other KCRW
listeners when their hometown newspaper, the Los Angeles Times,
declared that the 'days when National Public Radio is forced to ask
member stations to hold fundraising drives just so it can stay on the
air are over.' ... The truth is that the Kroc gift will have no effect on
the financial needs or the fundraising efforts of NPR's 750 member
stations." (01/16/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0116/p13s01-wmgn.html

-----

22) AARP loses members over support for Medicare law
     Fox News

"At least 45,000 people have quit the AARP over its support for
Medicare legislation last year, association president William Novelli
said Friday. The nation's largest seniors' organization provided a
key boost to Republicans who led the effort to revamp the Medicare
program for older and disabled Americans and provide insurance
coverage for prescription drugs. AARP's endorsement unleashed a
torrent of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and seniors across
the nation accusing AARP of allowing its business relationship with
insurers to drive its decision." (01/18/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108701,00.html

-----

23) Secrecy suddenly a campaign issue
     Wired News

"Normally, presidential candidates spend the days leading up to the
Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary sucking up to hog
farmers and singing the praises of those oh-so-flinty New
Englanders. But in the last week, on the eve of the formal start of the
2004 elections, two Democratic contenders took time to talk about a
topic that's usually reserved for spooks, conspiracy theorists and a
couple of policy geeks: how the government keeps its secrets.
There's a faint, but real, possibility that this most opaque of subjects
could become a full-blown issue in the presidential campaign."
(01/17/04)

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61952,00.html

-----

24) Access on the run
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"Forget the clubs and pubs, a tour of the city's latest hotspots will
take you into a wireless world, where you can get connected without
touching a plug -- although you may have to buy a coffee or two.
Wireless internet access is on the menu at a growing list of cafes
and public spaces. This means you can bring along a wireless-
enabled laptop or PDA and get online before the espresso's ready."
(01/17/04)

http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/16/1073878020251.html

-----

25) US sugar barons "block global war on obesity"
     Guardian [UK]

"Leading scientists accused the Bush administration last night of
putting the interests of powerful American sugar barons ahead of
the global fight against obesity. Professor Kaare Norum, leader of
the World Health Organisation's fight to prevent millions developing
diet-related diseases, has sparked an international war of words with
a highly critical letter to US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson. In it
he tells of his grave concern over American opposition to the WHO's
blueprint to combat obesity. He accuses the US of making the health
of millions of young Americans 'a hostage to fortune' because it has
failed to take action over the fat epidemic as a result of its business
interests, particularly the sugar lobby." (01/18/04)

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1125730,00.html

-----

26) Ballpark opponents outnumbered by corporate welfare supporters
     Tennessean

"Amid an outpouring of support for a proposed $38.5 million minor
league ballpark, a handful of opponents argued that the city should
not invest in a huge sporting venue with cutbacks looming in Metro
schools and every Metro department. It was standing room only at
the Howard School Auditorium as about 150 people turned out for
the hearing -- 10 times the number of people at last month's hearing
on the proposal. 'It's important to consider the recent budget shortfall
in Nashville and the 15% cutbacks planned,' said James Stanley of
Nashville. 'And The Coliseum and arena (Gaylord Entertainment
Center) have not proven to be the economic stimulus we hoped
they'd be.'" (01/18/04)

http://tennessean.com/growth/archives/04/01/45662535.shtml

-----

27) NYC inflates taxi fleet, fares
     Washington Times

"The number of yellow cabs here -- a lifeline for residents and
visitors alike -- may soon increase and with it the cost of a ride. The
proposal, which has the backing of the mayor, the City Council and
the state, is all but a foregone conclusion, especially since they
believe that adding 900 cabs to the fleet could bring in about $190
million in revenue from the sale of taxi licenses. The only catch is
that officials also favor a fare increase of anywhere between 25
percent to 33 percent, plus a possible $1 surcharge for taxi rides
during the morning and evening rush hours. The base fare of a cab
ride is $2; each additional one-fifth of a mile costs 30 cents. There
is a 50-cent surcharge between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m."
(01/18/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040117-115057-7118r.htm

-----

28) Bush now meddling in college tuition hikes
     Boston Globe

"With spiraling college costs in the cross hairs of Congress and of
Democratic presidential candidates, President Bush will soon use
his own bully pulpit and reelection campaign to try to relieve growing
tuition anxieties among middle-class voters, advisers to the president
say. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Bush is
expected to exhort college administrators to rein in tuition, which
rose last year by an average of 14 percent at public schools, to
$4,694, and 6 percent at private ones, to $19,710. He may unveil a
budget proposal for funding a $3.2 billion shortfall in federal Pell
Grants for low- and moderate-income students." (01/18/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2seue

-----

29) Oh wait, that should have read "NO WMDs found"
     Fox News

"An Idaho lab has released conclusive results showing 36 mortar
shells recently unearthed in southern Iraq contained no chemical
warfare agent, the Danish army said Sunday. Initial examinations by
Danish and British troops had indicated a blister agent (search) was
in the shells, which apparently date to the Iran-Iraq war of the
1980s. The shells were found north of Basra on Jan. 9. But tests by
the U.S. Department of Energy's National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory in Idaho came back negative, the Danish
Army Operational Command said in a statement." (01/18/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108785,00.html

-----

30) Feds seek input on spammer sentencing
     The Register [UK]

"A formula that would sentence deceptive spammers to more time in
prison for each e-mail address spammed is among the proposals
under consideration by the presidentially-appointed commission
responsible for setting federal sentencing rules, which this week
sought the public's input on how to punish violators of the newly-
enacted CAN-SPAM Act. 'Arguably the more e-mails you've sent
out, the greater the social harm -- just like arguably distributing more
drugs is worse that distributing fewer drugs,' says Michael O'Neill, a
law professor at George Mason University Law School, and a
member of the seven-member United States Sentencing
Commission (USSC)." (01/17/04)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/34951.html

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COMMENTARY

31) Martin Luther King Day
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Paul Craig Roberts

"As time passes, the controversy once associated with Martin Luther
King Day fades. People who remember the controversy die, and
new generations are only thankful for the three-day holiday.
Eventually, people may forget why the holiday is celebrated. King
was a brave and courageous person. I agree with him that a person
should be judged by the content of his character and not by the
color of his skin. To those who stress King's loose sexual morals, I
reply that sin is that for which we ask God's forgiveness. My problem
with Martin Luther King Day is that it celebrates a civil rights
revolution that achieved the opposite of King's intention. Today we
are judged by the color of our skin." (01/19/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts26.html

-----

32) Hopping hall: Switching political providers
     Liberty For All
     by Rachel Mills

"As more and more politicians discover the career jolt switching can
provide, and as Americans struggle to differentiate between the
major parties, or find a single hard and fast principle (a noble one, I
mean) among them, beware the rise of the third party. Don't expect
Rush to report on it though. The Republican Conference gets
taxpayer money for Congressional 'offices and staff' to do things like
'coordinate talk radio.' No wonder he thinks Libertarians are crazy."
(01/19/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/Providers.html

-----

33) The vanishing
     Slate
     by William Saletan

"The vote will take place in Iowa Monday night. More than 100,000
Democrats will go to precinct caucuses to select a nominee for
president. Which candidate will get the most votes that night? If the
race remains close, you'll never know. If you like the Electoral
College, you'll love the Iowa Democratic caucuses. Here's how they
work." (01/16/04)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2094034/

-----

34) Let's all wear yellow stars
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by Caleb Paul

"On occasion, I do catch snippets of the news (despite generally
trying to avoid it) where I live, and I heard yesterday that the US
government is now photographing and fingerprinting people as they
enter the US. ... This whole latest move by the US government is
scary beyond belief and it really surprises me that it's happening so
easily, although it actually doesn't surprise me at all. Little does
these days." (01/19/04)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/tle255-20040118-03.html

-----

35) Goodbye, Barry Goldwater
     WorldNetDaily
     by Pat Buchanan

"Where in the Constitution is the U.S. government empowered to
take money from citizens to teach other citizens how to have
'healthy marriages?' Why is the White House dreaming up new
social programs when we're running a $500 billion deficit? What,
exactly, is the difference between the compassionate conservatism
of George W. Bush and the Great Society liberalism of Lyndon
Johnson, against which Mr. Conservative, Barry Goldwater, broke
his lance in 1964? What do the Beltway conservatives stand for
anymore, other than getting their snouts in the trough, too?"
(01/19/04)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36665

-----

36) The appearance of corruption
     Town Hall
     by Paul Jacob

"After the defeat of the pork-laden energy bill, Robert Novak wrote:
'More now than at any time since I started covering Capitol Hill in
1957, Congress is a giant, bipartisan, bicameral marketplace.' How
did we get here? The Ted Stevens story is illustrative of the systemic
problems. Stevens has spent the last 35 years in the U.S. Senate,
but has never won an election to the U.S. Senate except as an
incumbent. Twice he ran for the office and was defeated. Then, in
1968, Stevens was appointed to the Senate and has stayed there
ever since." (01/18/04)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/pauljacob/pj20040118.shtml

-----

37) The neoconservative personality
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"Greed, gluttony, and outright avarice, along with an exaggerated
sense of self-importance, go hand in hand with the kind of vaunting
triumphalism that is energizing the neoconservative imagination. It's
'the end of ideology!' Oh, no, wait, it's 'the end of history!' The U.S.
must achieve 'benevolent world hegemony!' We must 'democratize'
the entire Middle East at gunpoint! Grandiose schemes,
grandiloquent words, gargantuan appetites -- it's all part of the same
mindset, the warmongering mentality of would-be world-conquerors,
who heedlessly pursue their ruthless pleasures without regard for
cost or consequences." (01/19/04)

http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=1736

-----

38) Ashcroft, Bovard, the Patriot Act ... and the Truth
     Backwoods Home
     by Claire Wolfe

"To bust the winter blahs, Hardyville has at least one fancy civic-
betterment 'do' every year. One winter, a Genuine Expert came from
California and talked about 'Weapons for the Generic Catastrophe.'
Another time, the mysterious Tom Spooner taught us all how to
make and use thermite -- and I can tell you that did brighten up our
winter more than a bit. Some folks might wonder how such things
qualify as 'civic betterment.' But trust me, they definitely make
Hardyville a better place than most to live. This year we got more
uppity and la-de-dah. Attorney General John Ashcroft and James
Bovard, who wrote 'Terrorism and Tyranny: Trampling Freedom,
Justice and Peace to Rid the World of Evil,' came to Hardyville to
debate the Patriot Act." (01/18/04)

http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/wolfe040115.html

-----

39) Eco-socialism: Threat to liberty around the world
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Fred L. Smith, Jr.

"The environment values deserve as much -- but no more --
protection than other values. Nature cannot protect itself. Trees
cannot have standing as legal actors, but behind every tree can
stand an owner who, by protecting his property, protects it for all.
The classical liberal approach is not to seek more efficient ways to
advance some politically determined goal, but rather to create an
institutional framework to facilitate exchanges and trade offs
between individuals, empowering them to make their own choices."
(01/15/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/027,03818.cfm

-----

40) Putting the bottom line above the law
     Center For Individual Freedom
     by staff

"One of those laws makes it illegal to re-import prescription drugs
across the border unless and until the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services certifies their safety. But never mind that legal
technicality, says a growing chorus of governors, mayors, and state
and local officials, who are not only seeking permission, but also
aggressively forging ahead with plans to buy prescription drugs from
Canada -- even though it violates federal law." (01/16/04)

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/mayor_menino.htm

-----

41) _Terrorism and Tyranny_ reviewed
     Take Your Life Back
     by Jim Davies

Davies' review of James Bovard's new book. "Bovard has produced
a real tour de force; a magnificent and timely catalog of misdeeds
by the US government since 2001, an amazingly detailed
description of how our basic liberties have been savaged; and that
catalog is on its own well worth the price of the book. ...Bovard's
detail is magnificent; but his big picture was missing." (01/04)

http://takelifeback.com/TnTreview.htm

-----

42) Can't they shut these people up?
     Las Vegas Review-Journal
     by Vin Suprynowicz

"In what was promoted as a 'unique chance to rewrite the law of the
land,' listeners to the government-controlled British Broadcasting
Company's Radio 4 'Today' program were asked to suggest a piece
of legislation to improve life in Great Britain, with the promise that a
Member of Parliament would then actually attempt to get the
proposed change onto the statute books. 'But yesterday, 26,000
votes later, the winning proposal was denounced as a 'ludicrous,
brutal, unworkable blood-stained piece of legislation' -- by Stephen
Pound, the very MP whose job it is to try to push it through
Parliament.' ... Mr. Pound's reaction was provoked by the news that
the winner of Today's 'Listeners' Law' poll was a plan to allow
homeowners 'to use any means to defend their home from intruders'
-- a prospect that could see householders free to kill burglars,
without question." (01/18/04)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jan-18-Sun-2004/opinion/23009427.htm\
l

-----

43) Supremes sanction secret arrests
     Civil Liberties Watch
     by Elaine Cassel

"The Supreme Court last week granted the appeal of American
citizen Yaser Hamdi, held as an 'enemy combatant' without charge
or legal counsel. But the Court is picking and choosing its battles. It
is not going to go head-to-head with the Bush Administration on
every attack on civil liberties. For civil libertarians, the cases the
Court does not take may say as much, or more, than the cases they
do take and decide. Though we never know the reasons for the
decisions not to grant appeals, the message this denial sends to the
Bush administration is to proceed with the practice of secret arrests,
imprisonments, and deportations." (01/16/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/ecassel/2004/01/16

-----

44) Unmitigated gall: North Korea's "bold concession"
     Cato Institute
     by Ted Galen Carpenter

"With much fanfare, North Korea has announced that it is willing to
halt its nuclear program .... Pyongyang called its offer 'one more
bold concession' .... That description is accurate only if 'bold' is a
synonym for cynically brazen. ... Pyongyang proposes to freeze its
program if the [US]: 1) takes North Korea off its list of terrorist
states; 2) supplies fuel oil and resumes construction on proliferation
resistant light-water nuclear reactors to alleviate North Korea's
energy shortages; and 3) lifts all political, military and economic
sanctions against North Korea. Such a tradeoff would merely revive
the 1994 Agreed Framework that Pyongyang has been violating.
Indeed, Kim Jong Il's regime wants to receive even more
concessions than the United States offered in that agreement."
(01/19/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-19-04.html

-----

45) Unions seek to revive labor's fortunes
     In These Times
     by David Moberg

"The years of denial are over. For several decades, as union
membership declined as a share of the workforce, top union leaders
refused to acknowledge the problem. Now, every labor leader, from
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney down, agrees that rebuilding
labor's numbers will require unions to devote more resources to
organizing. But the same leaders also agree that increasing
membership alone isn't enough. The central issue is how to organize
to increase the power of workers. 'People are frustrated. Giant
corporations are winning, workers losing, unions losing,' one union
president, speaking off the record, lamented. 'The question is what
we do about it?'" (01/16/04)

http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=557_0_1_0_C

-----

46) America as a one-party state
     The American Prospect
     by Robert Kuttner

"America has had periods of single-party dominance before. It
happened under FDR's New Deal, in the Republican 1920s and in
the early 19th-century 'Era of Good Feeling.' But if President Bush
is re-elected, we will be close to a tipping point of fundamental
change in the political system itself. The United States could become
a nation in which the dominant party rules for a prolonged period,
marginalizes a token opposition and is extremely difficult to dislodge
because democracy itself is rigged. ... Today the electorate remains
closely divided, and actually prefers more Democratic policy
positions than Republican ones. Yet the drift toward an engineered
one-party Republican state has aroused little press scrutiny or
widespread popular protest." (01/16/04)

http://www.prospect.org/print/V15/2/kuttner-r.html

-----

47) The case for impeachment
     Ether Zone
     by Ted Lang

"[Ann] Coulter, in what is obviously a heavily partisan effort to pile
on to the Clinton Impeachment process, sought to inform and
educate the public, and the first chapter of her book does so in
spades. But it also provides some solid comparisons, comparisons
that now cry for the immediate impeachment of our current
president, George W. Bush." (01/19/04)

http://www.etherzone.com/2004/lang011904.shtml

-----

48) Mad activist disease
     US Term Limits
     by Paul Jacob

"I've talked to you before about the food police. The more I hear
about them the more I'm convinced going after cake and candy is
just a new excuse for attacking corporations and capitalism. Like
many radical environmentalists, the anti-food-itarians want to pick up
where Karl Marx fell flat on his face. Either Karl or Groucho. These
days we have presidential candidates worrying that snacks are
being marketed to kids -- you know, the species of human that most
enjoys snacks." (01/15/04)

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs1024.html

-----

49) Moral bankruptcy and the RAC
     Jews for Preservation of Firearms Ownership
     by staff

"Wearing a mask of religious wisdom, the Religious Action Center of
Reform Judaism takes a position against firearms ownership that is
morally despicable. The RAC's official position favoring 'gun control'
rests on this foundation: 'Jewish tradition emphasizes the sanctity
and primary value of human life. The Bible commands us 'Thou shalt
not murder.' The Talmud teaches us that 'he who takes one life it is
as though he has destroyed the universe and he who saves one life
it is as though he has saved the universe.' ...' The RAC does not
mention, however, that the Bible and the Talmud both condone and
sometimes encourage killing -- when the killing is in self-defense or
to defend innocents. If saving one life is the moral equivalent of
saving the universe, then using a firearm to stop a killer is morally
beautiful." (01/18/04)

http://www.jpfo.org/alert20040116.htm

-----

50) Karl Rove: Renaissance Man
     Salon
     by Tom Tomorrow

Cartoon. [subscription or ad view required] (01/19/04)

http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2004/01/19/tomo/

-----

51) Health savings accounts empower consumers
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by John C. Goodman

"As of January 1, 2004, nonelderly Americans now have access to
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). According to health economist
John Goodman, HSAs empower individuals to make their own health
care decisions. With HSAs physicians will be free to act as the
agents of their patients rather than third-party payers." (01/15/04)

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/2004/pd011504a.html

-----

52) Repudiating the national debt
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Murray N. Rothbard

"In the spring of 1981, conservative Republicans in the House of
Representatives cried. They cried because, in the first flush of the
Reagan Revolution that was supposed to bring drastic cuts in taxes
and government spending, as well as a balanced budget, they were
being asked by the White House and their own leadership to vote for
an increase in the statutory limit on the federal public debt ..."
(01/16/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1423

-----

53) Reason's heroes and zeroes of freedom
     Liberty For All
     by Kevin Joseph Tull

"Ashcroft's inclusion in the motley crew was a sure sign that this list
was going to be wayward at best. They didn't praise Ashcroft on his
personal accomplishments for freedom (are there any?), but instead
they praised him for being so despotic that he had brought together
an 'unprecedented coalition of conservatives, liberals, and
libertarians around a single noble cause: the protection of civil
liberties.'" (01/19/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/heroes.html

-----

54) How do we honor Dr. King?
     Information Clearinghouse
     by Rabbi Arthur Waskow

"Just as Dr. King drew on the long tradition of nonviolence that
reaches back to the midwives Shifra and Puah, so every one of
these forms of protest against violence stands in the tradition of Dr.
King. He struggled not only for racial justice but also for the end of
the Vietnam War. In a major speech exactly one year before he was
killed, he called 'racism, militarism, and materialism' the major
dangers to American society. Why was he harrassed by the US
government, why was he finally murdered? Why is the Israeli
government cracking down on its own citizens who oppose its
occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza and who
are trying to prevent the human rights violations that go with the
occupation?" (01/15/03)

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5536.htm

-----

55) More about votes for Bush than help for immigrants
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Dante Chinni

"Last week, President Bush stepped forward and announced, 'We
should have immigration laws that work and make us proud.' He
proposed a new program and struck a mighty blow -- for his own
reelection chances. ... What this proposal means in terms of
national policy is not yet completely clear. ... What it means
politically is a bit more obvious. First, when the plan is named, it will
probably contain at least one of the words: 'compassion,' 'freedom'
or 'hope' -- and maybe all three. And second, we can be sure that
the president will take to the campaign trail trumpeting the new
'Compassionate Initiative for Hope and Freedom,' particularly in
states with a lot of Latino voters." (01/14/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0113/p09s01-codc.html

-----

56) A lynching, or justice for a sexual predator?
     Tennessean
     by Dwight Lewis

"It's the case of Marcus Dixon. His supporters say he got a 'raw
deal' ... a 'judicial lynching.' That it's a case of the 'old racial
bugaboo that black men are not supposed to touch white women.'
The district attorney general in the case ... says Dixon's supporters
are all wrong. Floyd County, GA, D.A. Leigh Patterson says the
case is not about the fact that Marcus Dixon is black and his victim
is a white female but the fact that the sex he had with her was 'not
consensual.' She also says she thinks Dixon was given preferential
treatment over the years because of his star athlete status and he
had a 'pattern' of sexual misbehavior." (01/18/04)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/columnists/lewis/archives/04/01/45657664.shtml

-----

57) Self-reliance vs. self-esteem
     City Journal
     by Michael Knox Beran

"Last year's Ralph Waldo Emerson bicentennial was a melancholy
anniversary: though a few of Emerson's verses are still read, and
one or two of his essays still cherished, he has been largely
forgotten. Worse, education theorists have hijacked and debased
what is most useful and attractive in his philosophy of self-reliance.
... Though his ghost is implicated in a mass of unintelligent policy,
Emerson is at the same time necessary to any renovation we can
conceive. America's first great public intellectual, he breathed new
life into methods of educating young people. ... More important, his
vision of the goal of education -- the nurturing of independent and
sturdily self-reliant individuals -- is a particularly American, and a
particularly valuable, ideal." (01/18/04)

http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_self_reliance.html

-----

58) Channeled blame
     Washington Times
     by Larry Elder

"Accusing his cable company of 'addicting' him, his wife and his
kids to TV, a Wisconsin man threatened to sue Charter
Communications. Tim Dumouchel of Fond du Lac said his family's
viewing habits -- forced on him by cable TV -- caused his wife to
become overweight and his children to grow lazy. But wait, Mr.
Dumouchel later said that, no, he finds his cable company liable
because the company continued providing service when the man
requested its cancellation. How long did the company continue
providing service? For four years after the request for service
termination. Why not simply disconnect the box or cut the cord? ...
[H]e thought such an act illegal and did not wish to face prosecution.
Why not simply refuse to watch? He said his remote control exerted
a power so irresistible he could not force himself to stop watching."
(01/18/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040117-075435-9907r.htm

-----

59) State Budget problems lead to renewed interest in TELs
     Heartland Institute
     by Lew Uhler and Barry Poulson

"Thoughtful leaders in many states are fed up with the fiscal roller
coaster they have experienced during the past decade and want to
smooth out the ride. The result in many states is new interest in
constitutional tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) and efforts to
improve limits where they currently exist." (01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14146

-----

60) About those neocons: Thinking again, or just wondering?
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Karen Kwiatkowski

"The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace just published
WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications. To paraphrase that lovable
old Don Rumsfeld, the report summarizes what we knew, what we
said about what we knew, what we imagined, what we said about
what we imagined, and most significantly, what we didn't say but
strongly insinuated to the Congress and the American people about
what we knew not and only hopefully imagined." (01/17/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski60.html


MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS

61) Remove Ashcroft Now!
     ongoing

A campaign to remove the Attorney General who accomplished the
impossible -- making us long for the good old days of Janet Reno.

http://www.removeashcroft.com


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

62) Zwingli v. the Pope; Jefferson, Madison v. the establishment

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

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

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RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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Friday, January 16, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,178


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) The briefest meow


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Basra Shiites protest US-backed election fraud
2)  Robed illiterate upholds DC victim disarmament scheme
3)  Blair faces crucial 48 hours
4)  Gartner: Cyberwar by 2005
5)  Pentagon auditors extend Halliburton probe
6)  Midwest may be key to election
7)  Sports welfare queens contemplate land theft
8)  US to buy $50 million worth of OJ
9)  Moseley Braun ends campaign, endorses Dean
10) Japanese ships attack Chinese boats near disputed isles
11) As hundreds protest, Bush puts wreath on King's tomb
12) Credit card firm at center of child porn ring
13) Georgian Defense minister fired on in Iraq
14) China holds top official as "British spy"
15) Recovery trickles down very slowly
16) Poll finds Kerry, Edwards surging in Iowa
17) McGuinty: Marijuana a "serious issue"
18) Stage set for firearms fight
19) Koreans condemn land theft
20) Iraqi women decry move to cut rights
21) UK to approve commercial growth of GM crops next month
22) Faithful dog pays respects at funeral home
23) Pedophile banned from Internet
24) US rushes to review Iraq transition plan
25) Study: Little or no value to flu vaccine
26) Cafe culture braces for Frappuccinos to go
27) Woman sues college in football party rape case
28) Nashville mayor seeks 10-15 percent budget cuts
29) No lions and tigers ... Oh my!
30) Kenya study suggests fewer may have AIDS

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

31) A giant awakens
32) Space triumphs -- marred
33) The not so Supreme Court
34) Playing their game
35) Border invasion abroad, border betrayal at home
36) Fascism: 21st century Americanism
37) Resistance is Silly
38) Court won't deliver goods in scholarship case
39) The rovers
40) Canada's gun legislation is a double-barrelled disaster
41) Tantrums on the tarmac
42) Being poor doesn't mean giving up modern goods
43) The Martin Luther King Jr. America has ignored
44) Flying high
45) Don't sue Gephardt
46) Bandits and loopholes
47) Iraq to receive flat tax in 2004
48) Old Farmer's Almanac
49) When clients serve lawyers
50) Guns vs. teddy bears
51) What now?
52) Cybergreen
53) Iraqis killed by "accidental" gunfire
54) Taking liberties ... and properties
55) Court upholds costly air conditioner regulation
56) Code pinkish orange
57) The dry hole in the Oval Office
58) The race to place
59) Jobs Americans won't do
60) Massive extinction of logic


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

61) Say "Liliukoalani" three times fast; now try it without a drink


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) The briefest meow

Do you hear that? Means it's time to feed the kitty:

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

Have a great weekend!

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Basra Shiites protest US-backed election fraud
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Shouting 'no to America!' tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims took
to the streets to protest a U.S.-backed formula for choosing Iraq's
new legislature. The protest came Thursday as an aide to Iraq's
foremost Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani,
warned that he might issue a fatwa, or religious edict, rejecting a
U.S.-backed government if his demands for direct elections are
ignored." (01/15/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040115/1804956.shtml

-----

2)  Robed illiterate upholds DC victim disarmament scheme
     Washington Times

"A federal judge upheld the District's 28-year-old gun-control law
yesterday, rejecting a legal challenge from a group of citizens
backed by the National Rifle Association. U.S. District Judge Reggie
B. Walton dismissed a lawsuit in which the plaintiffs had contended
that the law violated their Second Amendment right to own guns. The
D.C. law prohibits ownership or possession of handguns and
requires that other arms, such as shotguns, be kept unloaded,
disassembled or equipped with trigger locks. In a 64-page opinion,
Judge Walton ruled that the Second Amendment is not a broad-
based right of gun ownership." (01/15/04)

http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20040114-112126-4507r.htm

-----

3)  Blair faces crucial 48 hours
     Scotsman [UK]

"[Warmonger and UK Prime Minister] Tony Blair is facing a make-
or-break 48 hours, after it was confirmed last night that Lord
Hutton's explosive report will be published the day after the crucial
vote on university top-up fees. ... The timing of the Hutton Report
has thrown into sharp relief just how much danger Mr Blair is in if
his rebellious back-bench MPs follow through with their threatened
rebellion on university funding in England on 27 January. ... If he
loses the vote and Lord Hutton goes against him, there may rapidly
be a new occupant in Downing Street -- probably Gordon Brown."
(01/16/04)

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=54992004

-----

4)  Gartner: Cyberwar by 2005
     Information Week

"Dependence on the Internet for voice communications and data
distribution will increase the likelihood of cyberwarfare, a high-tech
research firm said Thursday. Much like the nuclear threat during the
Cold War, cyberwarfare is a potential catastrophe that the United
States and other nations must be prepared to combat, Gartner said.
Given the rate of adoption of Internet-based technology, nations will
have the ability to conduct cyberwarfare by 2005." (01/15/04)

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17301666

-----

5)  Pentagon auditors extend Halliburton probe
     USA Today

"Pentagon auditors say Vice President Dick Cheney's former
company should be investigated for possibly overcharging the
military for gasoline delivered to Iraqi civilians. The Defense
Contract Audit Agency this week asked the department's inspector
general to investigate Halliburton, Pentagon officials said. DCAA
auditors determined last month that Halliburton subsidiary KBR may
have overcharged by more than $61 million for fuel it bought in
Kuwait and delivered in Iraq." (01/15/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-01-15-halliburton_x.htm

-----

6)  Midwest may be key to election
     Mankato Free Press

"If the 2004 presidential campaign is as close as many predict, the
world’s focus late on Nov. 2 probably won't be on Florida this time,
according to former southwestern Minnesota Congressman Vin
Weber. Instead, a much more frigid part of America is a better bet
as the place where each precinct's results are scrutinized as the
presidency hangs in the balance. ... a Libertarian Party candidate,
who would be more likely to draw votes away from Bush, has the
potential to win enough support in Wisconsin to trip up Bush there."
(01/15/04)

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/story.php?storyid=63980

-----

7)  Sports welfare queens contemplate land theft
     Anoka County Union

"Anoka County [MN] officials hand delivered the county's
comprehensive Minnesota Vikings stadium plan to a state screening
committee this afternoon (Thursday). Earlier in the day Jan. 15, the
Anoka County Board took action to approve the major facility
development plan on 740 acres in the city of Blaine that includes a
Vikings stadium complex. ... The county proposal also includes a
financing plan. This includes a commitment of up to $240 million
from the county and the city of Blaine. ... Over and above that, the
proposal calls for the city of Blaine to exercise its eminent domain
powers, if necessary, to assemble the land for the project."
(01/15/04)

http://www.anokacountyunion.com/2004/January/15compplan.html

-----

8)  US to buy $50 million worth of OJ
     NewsDay

"The federal government has agreed to bail out the struggling citrus
industry by buying up to $50 million worth of orange juice. The news
was welcomed by Florida orange growers who are facing shrinking
prices caused by their largest crop ever. Florida is the source of
most of the nation's orange juice and is the world's second-largest
orange producer behind Brazil." (01/15/04)

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-citrus-bailout,0,1491734.story

-----

9)  Moseley Braun ends campaign, endorses Dean
     MSNBC

"Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun dropped out of the
presidential race Thursday and endorsed Howard Dean as 'a
Democrat we can all be proud to support.' 'Gov. Dean has the
energy to inspire the American people, to break the cocoon of fear
that envelopes us and empowers President Bush and his entourage
from the extreme right-wing,' she said at a joint appearance with the
former Vermont governor." (01/15/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3962175/

-----

10) Japanese ships attack Chinese boats near disputed isles
     Channel News Asia [Singapore]

"A festering dispute over an East China Sea island chain flared with
Chinese activists claiming 10 Japanese ships and a plane attacked
two Chinese fishing boats with high-powered water cannon. The
Chinese government condemned the Japanese move and called on
Tokyo to rein in its actions around the Diaoyu islands, claimed by
Japan, China and Taiwan. ... A Japan Coast Guard spokesman said
only one Japanese vessel sprayed a boat after a passenger had
hurled a rock." (01/16/04)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/66593/1/.html

-----

11) As hundreds protest, Bush puts wreath on King's tomb
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Looking for election-year support from black voters in the South,
President Bush was greeted at Martin Luther King's grave here
Thursday by noisy demonstrators who chanted 'Go home, Bush!'
after receiving a warmer reception at a run-down church in New
Orleans. As Bush placed a wreath on King's crypt, a low chorus of
boos could be heard from across the street where 700 to 800
protesters beat drums and waved signs bearing slogans such as
'War is not the answer' and 'It's not a photo-op, George.'" (01/15/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040115/1805174.shtml

-----

12) Credit card firm at center of child porn ring
     CNN

"Federal officials on Thursday announced they had cracked an
international child pornography ring with arrests in New Jersey,
France, Spain and Belarus. The cases stem from an Internet
processor of Web site subscriptions in Minsk, Belarus, which
collected fees for memberships to child pornography Web sites that
brought in millions of dollars, the U.S. Attorney's Office said."
(01/15/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/15/child.porn.arrests.ap/

-----

13) Georgian Defense minister fired on in Iraq
     ITAR-TASS [Russia]

"The plane carrying Georgian Defence Minister David Tevzadze
came under fire after taking off from Baghdad overnight, Georgian
national guard commander Koba Kobaladze told reporters in Tbilisi.
Kobaladze accompanied the minister on the trip to Iraq. The fire was
directed towards the plane that had to manoeuvre to escape to a
safe zone, the official said. The U.S. officer who also accompanied
Tevzadze said in Tbilisi that U.S. Air Force helicopters fired back at
the points from where the fire had been opened." (01/16/04)

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=313882

-----

14) China holds top official as "British spy"
     Reuters

"China has detained one of its top officials in Hong Kong for spying
for Britain, the territory's former colonial master, sources say, in the
biggest espionage scandal between the countries since the 1997
handover. Cai Xiaohong, secretary general of the Liaison Office of
the Central Government in Hong Kong, faces the death penalty if
convicted, said two Chinese sources with knowledge of the case. ...
Details of Cai's case emerged as China announced the detention of
eight Taiwan residents accused of spying for the island which
Beijing regards as a breakaway province that must be returned to
the fold, by force if necessary. The British Embassy in Beijing
declined to comment. China's cabinet had no immediate comment."
(01/16/04)

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=440069

-----

15) Recovery trickles down very slowly
     Washington Post

"The contrast between the pulse Canton's economy is starting to feel
on the high end and the stagnation painfully evident in the lower tiers
points out a significant national trend: After three years of fits and
starts, the economy is revving back to life, but at least so far, its
fruits have gone mainly to those who least need them. 'If you have
investments already, and if you have a job already, the last 12 to 18
months have been very nice to you,' said Gary Burtless, a labor
economist at the Brookings Institution." (01/16/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21204-2004Jan15.html

-----

16) Poll finds Kerry, Edwards surging in Iowa
     USA Today

"John Kerry and John Edwards are surging close to Howard Dean
and Dick Gephardt to create an electoral free-for-all going in to the
state's Democratic presidential caucuses on Monday. Polls in the
state suggest all four are competing for the lead within the margins
of error. A Research 2000 poll released Thursday showed Dean at
22%, Kerry at 21%, Gephardt at 18% and Edwards at 18%. The
undecided vote was at 13% and other candidates were in single
digits." (01/15/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2jhek

-----

17) McGuinty: Marijuana a "serious issue"
     MAPINC

"There's nothing funny about the province going to pot, [Ontario]
Premier Dalton McGuinty says. Unlike regular citizens who are
allegedly provoked to giggles by the massive marijuana bust at a
Barrie beer plant, McGuinty said the proliferation of illegal grow
operations is no laughing matter. 'I think it's a very serious issue,'
McGuinty said yesterday. 'It's becoming a too commonplace
practice in Ontario. It has all kinds of problems connected with it.'
Randall Barrs, the lawyer for six of the men charged in the pot bust,
has said that the public is 'amused' by the police discovery."
(01/15/04)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n096/a10.html?397

-----

18) Stage set for firearms fight
     Chicago Tribune

"Top gun rights advocates charged Tuesday that Gov. Rod
Blagojevich is two-timing them now that he has renewed his strong
support for gun-control measures, and they pledged to fight him if
he pushes anti-gun legislation this session. Senate Republican
leader Frank Watson said the Democratic governor has
backtracked since he campaigned Downstate, talking about the
importance of the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and giving
assurances that he would not infringe upon gun owner rights."
[registration required, or use login "rationalreview/rationalreview"]
(01/15/04)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0401140148jan14,1,4692065.s\
tory

-----

19) Koreans condemn land theft
     Everett Herald

"Korean community leaders Thursday night blasted the Housing
Authority of Snohomish County [WA] for trying to take over a
Mukilteo couple's motel by eminent domain. ... and convert it into
housing and social services offices for homeless families. Jong Gil
Kim said he plans to fight the housing authority in court, but said it's
unfair that he has to spend thousands of dollars in legal costs to
defend himself. 'The government can't do whatever it wants,' said
Kim, who emigrated from South Korea 22 years ago and said the
housing authority is acting like communist North Korea. 'We're not
living in a communist country,' he said. 'Private property should be
protected.'" [Yes, Kim, it should; vote Libertarian] (01/16/04)

http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/04/1/16/18042234.cfm

-----

20) Iraqi women decry move to cut rights
     Washington Post

"For the past four decades, Iraqi women have enjoyed some of the
most modern legal protections in the Muslim world, under a civil
code that prohibits marriage below the age of 18, arbitrary divorce
and male favoritism in child custody and property inheritance
disputes. Saddam Hussein's dictatorship did not touch those rights.
But the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council has voted to wipe them
out ..." (01/16/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21321-2004Jan15.html

-----

21) UK to approve commercial growth of GM crops next month
     Independent [UK]

"The Government will next month approve the commercial growing of
genetically modified (GM) crops in Britain for the first time. But
ministers will impose strict conditions on the cultivation of GM maize
and ban commercial GM sugar beet and oilseed rape after trials
showed that they could be more damaging to the environment than
conventional crops .... Opponents furiously attacked the prospect of
GM plants entering mainstream farming last night but said that
supporters of the technology still faced a long battle before the first
crops could be planted. They criticised farm-scale tests as flawed
and said more research was needed before GM varieties were
licensed for widespread use." (01/16/04)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=481740

-----

22) Faithful dog pays respects at funeral home
     Ananova [UK]

"The family of a man who died went to a funeral home to make
arrangements for the service and found his missing dog outside the
building. Polo, a three-year-old Labrador and German Shepherd
mix, bolted from home after the death of his 73-year-old master, Ed
Crossan. Mr Crossan's daughter, Donna, said: 'He got out and we
went to look for him but couldn't find him. We finally had to just go to
make the arrangements.' They pulled up in front of the Wade
Funeral Home on Radcliffe Street about a mile away from the
Crosnan family home, and immediately spotted Polo, pacing back
and forth." (01/15/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_855943.html

-----

23) Pedophile banned from Internet
     BBC News [UK]

"A 'predatory paedophile' who groomed young girls on the internet
and had sex with a 14-year-old has been banned from using the
internet or mobile phones. A Mold Crown Court judge imposed the
five-year restraining order -- thought to be one of the first in the UK -
- against Gary Geoffrey Thomas, 37. He also jailed the railway
guard from Swadlincote, Derbyshire, for 18 months." (01/15/04)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3401161.stm

-----

24) US rushes to review Iraq transition plan
     MSNBC

"Trying to salvage a timetable for Iraqi self-rule, U.S. administrator
L. Paul Bremer was recalled from Baghdad on Thursday for
brainstorming consultations at the White House and the United
Nations amid an American scramble to overcome growing Shiite
resistance to the U.S. plan. While the Bush administration said it
intended to hold to its July 1 deadline for handing over control in
Baghdad, large anti-American protests broke out in Basra."
(01/15/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3947836/

-----

25) Study: Little or no value to flu vaccine
     CNN

"This year's flu vaccine had little or no effectiveness against
influenza-like illnesses, according to a preliminary study released
Thursday. The study, published by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, looked at
workers at Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado." (01/15/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/01/15/flu.vaccine/

-----

26) Cafe culture braces for Frappuccinos to go
     Boston Globe

"Two words in the modern French vocabulary are almost invariably
spoken here with an air of disgust: mondialisation (globalization) and
McDonaldisation (no translation necessary). Tomorrow, in what
some would see as the next step toward American homogenization
and a gastronomic faux pas, Starbucks Coffee Company opens its
first retail store in the heart of the City of Light." (01/15/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2hn8m

-----

27) Woman sues college in football party rape case
     Fox News

"A third woman has sued the University of Colorado in connection
with a football recruiting party at which two women say they were
raped. Monique Gillaspie, a former student-athlete who agreed to
have her name used in news reports, said she was sexually
assaulted after the party by two football players. She said she did
not report the attack to police because she feared the players and
thought it would worsen her problems at the school." (01/15/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108562,00.html

-----

28) Nashville mayor seeks 10-15 percent budget cuts
Nashville City Paper

"All Metro [Nashville] departments will be required to identify 10-15
percent in potential cuts for fiscal year 2005 as the city prepares to
meet challenges in preparing this year’s budget, which includes an
estimated $85 million-$100 million gap. Metro Council members
gathered early Thursday morning in Mayor Bill Purcell’s conference
room in the old Ben West Library for the administration’s mid-year
financial update. Metro Finance Director David Manning told the
crowd that, overall, the city is in good financial standing and a
budget gap is much better than a budget deficit." (01/15/04)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29917

-----

29) No lions and tigers ... Oh my!
     Christian Science Monitor

"High school freshman Heather Herman is a lifelong animal lover.
She also loves circus acts. But, she says, the two don't belong in the
same ring. Now Ms. Herman is the force behind a Denver ballot
initiative that seeks a municipal ban on circus-animal acts citywide.
If approved by voters, Denver would be the first major US city to
adopt such a ban and would join a growing roster of communities,
from Stamford, CT, to Pasadena, CA, that already prohibit wild or
exotic animal displays." (01/16/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0116/p03s01-ussc.html

-----

30) Kenya study suggests fewer may have AIDS
     Boston Globe

"A health survey in Kenya suggests that substantially fewer people
there are infected with HIV or AIDS than previously estimated,
raising questions among some specialists about whether the
extraordinary global infection rates are accurate. The Kenya survey
of 8,561 households in eight provinces, completed in September last
year, concluded that an estimated 6.7 percent of adults were
infected with HIV, compared to an estimate of 15 percent released
by UNAIDS at a Barcelona conference in July 2002." (01/15/04)

http://tinyurl.com/26p6y

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                Check out our donor premium program at:

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COMMENTARY

31) A giant awakens
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"Sistani scotched an earlier move for a made-in-the-USA
Constitution, and the Americans, for all their firepower, can't stop
him from sabotaging this one. Their neat plan to hand over fake
'sovereignty' to their favored collaborators on July 1, all the while
settling comfortably into permanent military bases on Iraqi soil, is
running into some serious problems, even as the insurgency
reaches into the previously peaceful Shi'ite south. Short of
pulverizing the country, or sending all the Ayatollahs off to
Guantanamo -- neither of which is an option -- Bremer is stymied,
and that's why he's counting on the United Nations and the Arab
League to give the American plan at least a modicum of legitimacy."
(01/16/04)

http://antiwar.com/justin/index.php?articleid=1708

-----

32) Space triumphs -- marred
     Rational Review
     by Tibor R. Machan

"[P]erhaps I am odd. When I run across the so called marvels of
past civilizations in Europe and elsewhere, such as the palaces,
cathedrals, pyramids, great walls, and magnificent monuments, I
find it difficult not to reflect on the deliberate, utterly avoidable
human devastation that it took to get many of these artifacts
produced. I always ask myself how things would have gone had all
those people who were conscripted to labor on all these wondrous
creations had the chance to choose their own projects. I realize, of
course, that they would probably have squandered a good deal of
their lives and resources but, then, I recall that their conscripted
labor and resources also went to waste a good deal of the time -- in
the service of wars of conquest, subjugation or confiscation, or of
idolatry and frivolity." (01/16/04)

http://www.rationalreview.com/guest/011604.shtml

-----

33) The not so Supreme Court
     Loose Cannon Libertarian
     by Garry Reed

"Yes, Marbury established the Supreme Court as the Constitution's
final arbiter, in much the same way as a pretender to the throne
establishes himself as king by cramming the crown on his cranium
and declaring, 'I'm king!' As long as the other pretenders -- or
branches of government -- stand around and shuffle their feet and
mutter, 'Uh, well, okay then' he's king. In other words, the Supreme
Court declared itself supreme. ... But the Supreme Court is not the
final arbiter of all things Constitutional. We are." (01/15/04)

http://www.freecannon.com/NotSoSupreme.htm

-----

34) Playing their game
     Liberty For All
     by Joey B. King

In 1776, our country fought a revolution to gain its freedom from
what was considered an oppressive government that had an
excessive and unfair taxation. The level of taxation for the average
colonial citizen in 1776 was 5 percent or less of what they earned.
Today the average American family's tax bill-including all
government taxes along with excise taxes and fees-is well over 50
percent of what they earn!" (01/16/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/game.html

-----

35) Border invasion abroad, border betrayal at home
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"It is good that some conservatives go so far as to call for the
impeachment of the president because of this backdoor amnesty.
Now they need to edge closer to the truth by denouncing not only
Bush's border betrayal at home, but his border invasion abroad.
Inviting an invasion by foreigners and instigating one against them
are two sides of the same neoconservative coin. There's no
contradiction in these policies. Bush, ostensibly in the employ of the
American people, makes it clear that he's obligated to help Mexicans
in 'their search for a better life.' Ditto for Iraqis, Latin Americans ...
you name them, he'll help them, even if he has to invade them."
(01/16/04)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36630

-----

36) Fascism: 21st century Americanism
     New York Press
     by Matt Taibbi

"There are only two ways to appear strong. One is to stand for
something. The other is to kick ass. Today's Democrats most
emphatically are not equipped to do either. On the standing-for-
something front, that question was settled long ago. Nothing can be
more obvious than that the current Democratic leadership considers
actual principle a laughable electoral weakness. ... Democrats
consider strength to be the skillful capture of swing votes via the
tactically precise execution of a fuzzy policy of standing for nothing
at all, as in the case of Bill Clinton." (01/04)

http://www.nypress.com/17/2/news&columns/feature.cfm

-----

37) Resistance is Silly
     AlternaPress
     by Ailill Farraideach

"Downloading music is not going away. With that in mind, it seems
silly in the extreme for people to continue putting as much effort into
trying to make it go away as they now insist on doing. The struggle
merely makes the problem larger and does nothing to alleviate it."
(01/15/04)

http://pub15.ezboard.com/falternapressfrm14.showMessage?topicID=17.topic

-----

38) Court won't deliver goods in scholarship case
     Cato Institute
     by Marie Gryphon

"The federal appeals court that heard Joshua Davey's case last year
was not impressed with Washington's argument. It decided that a
Blaine Amendment is no excuse for discrimination. Critically, it stuck
down the part of the scholarship law that excludes religious study,
not the Blaine Amendment itself. This is a critical distinction for
those who hope to bring choices to the masses. ... Choice
advocates regard any decision in favor of Davey as a stocking
stuffer. But this small present may prove to be a lump of coal for
states with strict Blaine Amendments." (01/16/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-16-04.html

-----

39) The rovers
     Village Voice
     by Mark Fiore

Let the race begin! Cartoon. (01/15/04)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0402/fiore.php

-----

40) Canada's gun legislation is a double-barrelled disaster
     Globe and Mail
     by George Gruenefeld

"Prime Minister Paul Martin says he'll revisit Canada's gun
legislation. As a gun owner and taxpayer, I applaud this unexpected
clarity of thought. A billion-dollar tab for convoluted legislation that
fails to achieve its mandate is a galling misuse of taxes. But the tab
comes as no surprise. In 1997, as editor for Western Sportsman
magazine, I predicted that the registry would cost Canadians some
$1.76-billion, far more than the 85-million promised by Allan Rock,
then minister of justice." (01/14/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2qqd5

-----

41) Tantrums on the tarmac
     Reason
     by Jesse Walker

"The programming execs at the Arts & Entertainment channel seem
to think the public's appetite for reality shows is so voracious that
we're even willing to watch ordinary documentaries. The new series
Airline contains no celebrities, no courtships, no game-show rules --
just a bunch of cameras recording the everyday Fear Factor of
American airports. If there's an underlying message, it's that the
only thing that might be less pleasant than traveling on an airline is
having a job that forces you to deal regularly with air travelers."
(01/15/04)

http://www.reason.com/links/links011504.shtml

-----

42) Being poor doesn't mean giving up modern goods
     Nashville City Paper
     by Walter Williams

"It might have been Ross Perot who first used the expression that
America is turning into a nation of 'hamburger flippers,' in reference
to the decline in good paying manufacturing jobs replaced by low-
pay service sector jobs. Here's my question: If millions of high-
paying jobs are leaving the country only to be replaced by millions
of low-paying jobs, what prediction would you make about the trend
in our standard of living? It would have to be in steep decline, but the
facts don't square with that." (01/15/04)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29882

-----

43) The Martin Luther King Jr. America has ignored
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Patrick W. Gavin

"On Monday, the United States will celebrate the life of Martin Luther
King Jr. with a federal holiday [but] ... America's commemoration of
King's vision is only partial. King's life encompassed more than
simply his moving rhetoric and desegregated lunch counters. The
politics King espoused toward the end of his life -- and the part that
America has effectively ignored -- may provide some invaluable
lessons, given the current international climate. King became a vocal
critic of US foreign policy, denouncing America's 'giant triplets of
racism, materialism and militarism,' and calling the US 'the greatest
purveyor of violence in the world today.' Across the globe, from
Vietnam to Asia to Latin America, King believed the US was 'on the
wrong side of a world revolution.'" (01/16/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0116/p11s01-coop.html

-----

44) Flying high
     US Term Limits
     by Paul Jacob

"These days, few promising technological advances fail to trigger
platoons of politicians whooping up the benefits of government
subsidies. Of course, what can get lost in the shuffle are the
advances that seem promising only to the innovators themselves.
Innovators who may not be plugged into the political network."
(01/14/04)

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs1023.html

-----

45) Don't sue Gephardt
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Marcus Epstein

"The Washington insider magazine, The Hill, reports that the
American Conservative Union recently filed a lawsuit against Rep
Dick Gephardt (D-MO) for not showing up to work. It seems that
Rep. Gephardt was so busy campaigning for president that he
missed over 90% of all House votes. The ACU cited an old law from
the 1850s .... Technically, it seems that Rep. Gephardt is in violation
of the law, and I would lose little sleep if he had his pay garnished.
But it got me thinking, do we really want to discourage our
lawmakers from not showing up to work?" (01/16/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/epstein/epstein13.html

-----

46) Bandits and loopholes
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"The Bush administration credits its tax bill for spurring economic
recovery, though if you include the debt these big spenders have
racked up, the net cost of government to the American taxpayer has
vastly increased during the Bush presidency. And like all previous
cases of GOP tax reductions, the same administration is sneakily
doing what it otherwise says it opposes in principle: increasing taxes
-- some $45 billion over ten years." (01/15/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1422

-----

47) Iraq to receive flat tax in 2004
     Heartland Institute
     by John Skorburg

"The citizens of Iraq will receive a tax reform gift in 2004,
compliments of the U.S. government. 'That's because the Iraqis will
enjoy something we don't -- a simple and fair tax system,' said
Daniel J. Mitchell, the McKenna Fellow in political economy at The
Heritage Foundation. 'Beginning in January, all Iraqis will pay a flat
tax of 15 percent.'" (01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14126

-----

48) Old Farmer's Almanac
     Hawaii Reporter
     by Bob Barr

"Until recently, one of my greatest fears was that, as a board
member for the National Rifle Association, some overzealous airport
security person would spy a copy of the American Rifleman in my
briefcase as I was attempting to board a flight, and conclude I must
be subversive because of the literature I elect to read. Well, my
fears have been greatly magnified." (01/15/04)

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?13d47998-9480-470e-95ed-f2a01919e634

-----

49) When clients serve lawyers
     Town Hall
     by Jacob Sullum

"I did not realize I had sued Citibank until I received my latest Visa
bill. The statement includes a credit of 73 cents labeled 'SCHWARTZ
SETTLEMENT REFUND.' It turns out the money is my share of the
$18 million that Citibank put up to settle a class action lawsuit
arguing that the bank had violated the Truth in Lending Act by
counting its customers' payments as late if they arrived after 10 a.m.
on the due date. In theory, the 73 cents I got compensates for late
fees I should not have been charged. ... the typical refund was less
than a dollar. The lawyers got $9 million, later reduced to a mere
$7.2 million." (01/16/04)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jacobsullum/js20040116.shtml

-----

50) Guns vs. teddy bears
     National Review
     by Dave Kopel

"Should unelected officials be allowed to order the confiscation of
some or all guns and ammunition in the United States? This is the
question posed by Sen. Jon Corzine (D., N.J.) and Rep. Patrick
Kennedy (D., R.I.), in their proposed Firearms Safety and
Consumer Protection Act. As one might suspect, the bill is about
neither firearm safety nor consumer protection, but is an especially
clever stratagem by the gun-prohibition lobby. The Kennedy-Corzine
bill would give the Treasury Department and the courts nearly
unlimited powers to restrict firearms manufacture and sales, and to
confiscate guns." (01/13/04)

http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/wheeler-kopel200401130846.asp

-----

51) What now?
     Tom Paine
     by Joanne Landy

"In February 2003, millions of people in America and abroad
protested the impending United States-led war on Iraq. But today,
even among opponents of the war, there is widespread confusion
surrounding the military occupation and re-creation of Iraq's political
and economic systems. Many who opposed the war now argue:
Yes, it was a mistake to go into Iraq, but now that we're there, we
have to stay. ... But this reasoning is flawed and has already led to
disastrous consequences because it ignores the destructive,
reactionary and inhumane character of the American role in Iraq --
supporting Saddam Hussein when Iraq was at war with Iran, and
now creating a new Iraqi economic and political system that again
puts the U.S. government's agenda and interests ahead of the Iraqis'
in rebuilding their country." (01/15/04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9764

-----

52) Cybergreen
     Reason
     by Mike Godwin (interview with Bruce Sterling)

"In the 1980s, Bruce Sterling became a leader of the 'cyberpunk'
revolution -- a literary movement that combined the artistic ambition
of science fiction's 1960s New Wave with the hard-core speculation
associated with Verne, Wells, Heinlein, and Clarke. Cyberpunk's
chief theme was the way technologies evolve us even as we evolve
them, and its influence can be seen in almost every science fiction
writer of note today, from Ken MacLeod to Alastair Reynolds to Cory
Doctorow." (01/15/04)

http://www.reason.com/0401/fe.mg.cybergreen.shtml

-----

53) Iraqis killed by "accidental" gunfire
     Yellow Times
     by Firas al-Atraqchi

"Innocent Iraqi civilians are being shot at, bombed, and killed at a
quickening pace in recent weeks, but not by Saddam or 'terrorist'
forces. U.S. soldiers, increasingly nervous and afraid of imminent
attack, have systematically followed a 'shoot first, investigate later'
policy. ... Human rights organizations have blamed U.S. forces, as
the occupying power, for the high number of civilian deaths. In most
cases, Iraqi eyewitnesses have told this writer that soldiers just
scream at confused Iraqi drivers in English. The Iraqis, who know of
the deaths at checkpoints, panic and often do something wrong in
their bid to avoid being shot or beaten." (01/14/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1738

-----

54) Taking liberties ... and properties
     Foundation for Economic Education
     by Sheldon Richman

"It's happened again. A local government is condemning a group of
homes so the land can be turned over to the developer of a
shopping center. Why? The shopping center will rake in more tax
revenue than the homes do. The use of eminent domain to raise
money for government is catching on." (01/04)

http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=5716

-----

55) Court upholds costly air conditioner regulation
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by staff

"A federal appeals court this week reversed a Bush administration
change to federal energy efficiency rules, marking a small but
unfortunate setback for regulatory reform. The proposed change
was a modification of a last-minute Clinton administration rule on
central air conditioner efficiency." (01/14/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/003,03815.cfm

-----

56) Code pinkish orange
     Liberty For All
     by Della Croft

"So, here we are in Code Yellow status. If you even know what that
means, you are one up on me. With predictable verbosity and
confusing mumbo-jumbo, our friends in Washington have purposely
made this Homeland Security Advisory System incomprehensible so
that we are always in a state of panic -- which may be their sole
objective. People are more easily led if they are confused and
terrified. ... For those of you who are not familiar with the warning
system, I have broken it down for you." (01/16/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/orange.html

-----

57) The dry hole in the Oval Office
     CounterPunch
     by John Chuckman

"As to the moral portion of Bush's substance, it is an interesting
phenomenon that a President who claims Jesus as mentor thinks
nothing of lying, enjoys bloody revenge, and shows little tolerance
for those who disagree. Not that any of that matters to his spiritual
advisors, all CEOs of major fundamentalist conversion-operations:
their bond to him is not one respecting truth but knowing what's good
for business. You can only stage profitable theatrics like tears
running down your cheeks for the boys battling damned heathens
with a man of Bush's caliber in office. He is good for collection-plate
take." (01/15/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/chuckman01152004.html

-----

58) The race to place
     Boston Globe
     by Ellen Goodman

"In every election season there is that electric moment when many
candidates start jockeying for second place. This is celebrated by
the media as a victory nearly as important as that amorphous goal of
doing 'better than expected.' So we approach the hour when an
estimated 100,000 citizens will arrive at 1,993 rooms in Iowa to
huddle and count. Pollsters say that Dick Gephardt and Howard
Dean are vying for first place, John Kerry and John Edwards for
third. But the Democrats already seem well on their way to winning
second place. In November. This has been the season of attacks
and counterattacks of the sort that make Karl Rove smile. It got so
bad at the final candidate's forum that I surfed from Demolition in
Des Moines to 'Sex and the City.'" (01/15/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2swkm

-----

59) Jobs Americans won't do
     Sierra Times
     by Keith Allison, D.Dn

"I keep hearing and reading about how politicians and the liberal
elite tell us that because low paying American jobs are going
begging, we should open our borders to illegal aliens, give them
drivers licenses, let them pay college tuition under resident status
and pay social security benefits to those who have never paid into
the fund. In short, all they really want to do is justify legitimizing
these illegal aliens presence in the U.S. The proponents of this give
away program to those who have broken our immigration laws never
mention the drain these illegal aliens place on our courts, hospitals,
schools and other public services. Is giving them the right to vote as
non-citizens, the next step in destroying our national sovereignty
and the quality of life American citizens have grown to expect?"
(01/15/04)

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/01/15/keithallison.htm

-----

60) Massive extinction of logic
     Washington Times
     by Patrick J. Michaels

"Much has been made of a paper published on Jan. 8 in the journal
Nature by Chris Thomas and 18 co-authors, claiming global
warming will cause a massive extinction of the Earth's biota. Mr.
Thomas told The Washington Post: 'We're talking about 1.25 million
species. It's a massive number.' It turns out that there is a massive
number of glaring problems with their study that clearly eluded the
peer review process. This is evinced by the rapid turnaround for the
manuscript, with acceptance in final form a mere five weeks after
original submission." (01/15/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040114-083322-9283r.htm


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

61) Say "Liliukoalani" three times fast; now try it without a drink

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  RRND is published every weekday 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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, January 15, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,176


FROM THE PUBLISHER:

0) A few words about "balance"


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Bush: Back to the moon, on to Mars
2)  FBI chief: More kangaroos for kangaroo courts
3)  Group charges US with war crimes
4)  Judge colludes with tax thugs, gags Banister
5)  Gaza sealed after suicide bomber kills four
6)  Libertarian hopefuls outline ideas
7)  Lunch meetings "shouldn't be held at lunchtime"
8)  White House seeks control on health, safety
9)  TV ads push medical marijuana bill
10) UK activist loses Mugabe arrest warrant bid
11) Police shooting prompts protests
12) Enron wizard admits conspiracy
13) Per top drug thug, schools eye more illegal searches
14) Barely half say Bush should be re-elected
15) Federal government prepares to overhaul drug testing of its employees
16) Claimants seek $3 billion in NYC ferry crash
17) Japanese firm offers "dream machine"
18) Military: Illegal hostage-taking "may reduce anti-coalition attacks"
19) CAPPS II stands alone, feds say
20) Brazil arrests US pilot for "bird" gesture
21) Bush to propose $1.5 billion to "boost marriage"
22) Cuba detainees seek right to appeal
23) No more orange, yellow and red?
24) US soldiers' suicide rate in Iraq unusually high
25) FCC Chairman wants to overturn decision on Bono's expletive
26) US Anglicans plot to break up church
27) Democrats under the gun
28) Education act won't be open to change
29) White House's "rush to war was reckless"

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

30) The Axis of war
31) Liberty Action of the Week
32) Mars: The red-tape planet?
33) Nostalgia for Caligula
34) Vote Dean, light GOP fire
35) One nation, divisible
36) The power of Babel
37) They will cheer louder when we depart
38) A successful war is being waged on the Bill of Rights
39) A clear mistake
40) Back to the Balkans?
41) Amputating the Bill of Rights
42) It has happened here
43) Picking and choosing on license plates
44) Hard-headed Howard
45) Let free market capitalism do the rest
46) Homeowners banned from protecting their families
47) The ultimate insider
48) Peace has broken out in Africa
49) Last copter out of Baghdad
50) Making enemies
51) Coercion vs. freedom: Baby boomers likely to challenge Medicare rules
52) Free trade: Moral questions and partisan politics
53) A Democratic cliffhanger?
54) Fake food scares
55) Lost in space
56) Light rail costly and ineffective at easing traffic
57) High price for bad advice
58) Immigration policy flaws threaten adverse results
59) Powell's shrinking credibility on Iraq


TODAY'S MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS:

60) TODAY! Debate on the US occupation of Iraq, Dallas
61) Free Hunter!
62) Political pinups -- 2004 Ladies of Liberty calendar
63) Petition for a Boortz-Free LP national convention


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

64) He had a dream; they had excess rads; rats!


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) A few words about "balance"

I'm getting pretty good at predicting when certain emails will show
up: the emails asking how I choose the stories that run in RRND --
or, occasionally, tell me that we're not a libertarian (or conservative --
  some people think that the two are the same) publication, and
please, please, unsubscribe the sender.

I get the feeling that this edition is one of those that will bring those
emails in ... and instead of responding to them piecemeal (I will, if
necessary, do so anyway, but ...) I'd rather take a moment to
explain RRND's ever-evolving editorial policy to our readers.

We are libertarians. Not conservatives (except, perhaps, in some
quasi-Burkean sense). Not liberals (except in the "classical" sense).
Libertarians. And RRND is published for the purpose of informing a
primarily libertarian audience.

There's a sense in which I'm speaking about two different kinds of
libertarians, of course. Over here at Rational Review, we're what you
might call "hardcore" or "purist." A couple of us are even anarchists.
We don't necessarily expect our readers to go all the way with us on
that, though. If you're in favor or less government and more freedom
-- or intrigued by the idea and wanting to know more -- we hope
you'll hang with us. Maybe we'll teach you something. Heck, maybe
you'll teach us something!

Having said that we're libertarians, and then defined that term strictly
(for us) and loosely (for you) ... and having said that RRND is
intended to be read by libertarians ... it doesn't follow from that that
the material in RRND will itself always be particularly libertarian.

Whazzat?

We look for material that will be OF INTEREST to libertarians, not
material that is necessarily libertarian itself. You'll find a lot of pro-
freedom commentary and a lot of freedom-related news in RRND.
You'll also find some that simply discusses questions relating to
freedom, but that may not itself be libertarian. You may find content
from sources that seem, well, suspect.

When you find that kind of content, pause for a moment and realize
that that is when I start getting those emails I mentioned. Which, of
course, is why I'm writing this.

Today's top news item is a link to the unedited text of President
Bush's announcement yesterday on his plan to take mankind back
to the moon and on to Mars. I went with the speech itself, instead of
a related article, because I felt that the speech IS news. And rest
assured that while (like most libertarians) I'm a bit of a space bug,
I'm not trying to tell you that using tax money to build spaceships is
libertarian. We all know it's not. But we all also know that most of us
here are probably interested in the subject. So, it's news.

Today's top commentary is a link to a leftist magazine's reproduction
of the text of a speech by none other than Ted Kennedy. That, more
than the Bush speech, is why I'm expecting to get some email in the
morning. But, once again, I'm not trying to tell you that Ted Kennedy
is a libertarian, or that his speech is even particularly libertarian. I
don't think that either is true. What I think is that Kennedy's speech
hit some topics and points that will probably be of particular interest
to libertarians, whether we agree with him or not. One bizarre side
effect of the Bush administration is that it has managed, by example
and contrast, to rehabilitate Kennedy to the point of elder
statesmanship! That's both mind-boggling and, to my mind, an
indication of the danger that American society is in.

RRND does not aspire to "objectivity." That term seems to me to be
an invention and a fetish of the 20th century American press. Once
upon a time, American papers wore their politics on their sleeves,
which is why so many papers had (and still have) "Republican" and
"Democrat" in their very names. In Europe, the papers are still
unabashedly political and biased, and don't pretend otherwise ... but
in America, the press now postures as "neutral" or "objective." We
all know better. To the extent that RRND editorializes, we will
editorialize as libertarians. To the extent that we "cover the news" ...
well, we don't stop being libertarians when we select the stories we
run.

So it isn't about "objectivity." It is, however, somewhat about
"balance." We don't present "the other side" because we agree with
it or because we're "neutral." We present the other side because
_we think you need to know_ what the other guys are up to. When
they're pitching nominally libertarian ideas at their audiences, we
have opportunities among those audiences. When they're floating
another statist proposal or meme, you need to know about that, too.

What is the "balance" that RRND seeks? Well, we do our best to
cover libertarian news and commentary sources. You'll always find
the latest from the libertarian think tanks, magazines and blogs in
our links. We won't sacrifice that coverage. We will, however, _add_
to it with commentaries from the left (Salon, AlterNet, Mother Jones,
CounterPunch, et al), the right (The American Spectator, The
American Conservative, Town Hall, et al) and so forth.

We could just hand you the libertarian stuff and leave the rest out. It
would be easy. It would be less work. But easy isn't what we're
about. What we're about is keeping you informed. So, before you
rush off that email to me about our departure from the One True
Path, I hope you'll take a look at the breadth of content we provide,
and consider _why_ we provide it the way we do. This rationale has
served us -- and, more importantly, you -- for more than a year and
through nearly 300 editions of RRND.

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Bush: Back to the moon, on to Mars
     White House

Full text of George W. Bush's speech before NASA, outlining his
proposed program to take the US back into the business of space
exploration. (01/14/04)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040114-3.html

-----

2)  FBI chief: More kangaroos for kangaroo courts
     Washington Post

"The director of the FBI said yesterday that he expects the accused
conspirators in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, including alleged
mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, to be tried by military
tribunals rather than by criminal courts. An aide to FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller III said later in the day that Mueller 'did not intend
to imply' that decisions had been made about Mohammed or the
other accused al Qaeda conspirators." (01/15/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18261-2004Jan14.html

-----

3)  Group charges US with war crimes
     Boston Globe

"A top human rights group yesterday accused the US military of
committing war crimes by demolishing homes of suspected
insurgents and arresting the relatives of Iraqi fugitives. The military
denied the charges by Human Rights Watch, saying it only
destroyed homes that were being used to store weapons or as
fighting positions, adding that all Iraqis detained were suspected of
taking part in attacks on coalition forces. 'Assertions that the
coalition is intentionally attacking homes as a matter of collective
punishment are false,' said Colonel William Darley, a military
spokesman." (01/14/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2yvas

-----

4)  Judge colludes with tax thugs, gags Banister
     San Francisco Chronicle

"Joseph Banister was a gun-toting Internal Revenue Service special
agent who investigated tax cheats for six years. Now, the San Jose
certified public accountant is in hot water for telling clients that they
don't have to pay taxes. An administrative law judge has ordered
Banister not to represent clients appealing their tax bills before the
IRS, where he was a criminal investigator from 1993 until he
resigned in 1999 because he felt that he was breaking the law by
investigating alleged scofflaw taxpayers. ... His theory: Those who
owe income tax are Americans who have foreign- earned income or
foreign investments and nonresident aliens who come to the United
States to work." (01/13/04)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/01/13/BAGOU48RML1.DTL

-----

5)  Gaza sealed after suicide bomber kills four
     Scotsman [UK]

"Israel shut down the Gaza Strip today after a Palestinian bomber
killed four Israelis at a Gaza crossing -- the first time the Islamic
Hamas group had sent a woman on a suicide mission. The bomber,
Reem Raiyshi, 22, a mother of two small children, was escorted into
a room to be checked after telling soldiers she had a metal plate in
her leg that set off the metal detector. Once inside, she blew herself
up." (01/15/04)

http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2411303

-----

6)  Libertarian hopefuls outline ideas
     San Jose Mercury News

"Protecting gun rights and keeping more American troops at home
were described by two Libertarian candidates for president during
an appearance at the Wisconsin Capitol as key ways to prevent
future terrorist attacks. 'Giving up your guns puts you in more risk to
be threatened,' Michael Badnarik, a computer consultant from
Texas, said Tuesday while campaigning for the Feb. 17 Wisconsin
presidential primary. 'We could just have everybody carry their guns
on airplanes.' ... Gary Nolan, a radio show host from Ohio who is
also seeking the Libertarian presidential nomination, said America
has created its enemies, including Osama bin Laden, by spreading
troops throughout the world. 'You simply have to quit creating
enemies and keep lines open for trade,' Nolan said. 'Nobody wants
to kill their customer.'" (01/14/03)

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7708396.htm

-----

7)  Lunch meetings "shouldn't be held at lunchtime"
     Ananova [UK]

"Australian civil servants have been warned they could face
disciplinary action if they hold lunch meetings between noon and
2pm. An Education Department circular to all staff implies lunch
meetings are permissible -- as long they're not at lunchtime. The
bizarre edict is one of six changes to hospitality expenditure policy."
(01/14/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_855742.html

-----

8)  White House seeks control on health, safety
     St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Under a new proposal, the White House would decide what and
when the public would be told about an outbreak of mad cow
disease, an anthrax release, a nuclear plant accident or any other
crisis. The White House Office of Management and Budget is trying
to gain final control over release of emergency declarations from the
federal agencies responsible for public health, safety and the
environment." (01/11/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2wvcr

-----

9)  TV ads push medical marijuana bill
     Marijuana Policy Project

"A new television commercial debuting this week will alert
Vermonters that now is the time to let lawmakers know they want the
pending medical marijuana bill to become law. The commercial,
sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project, features Debbie
Ramsdell of Charlotte, VT, discussing how medical marijuana helped
her late husband Bob during his battle with the cancer that finally
killed him in May 1999. 'How can you be against this when it helps
people who are ill, who are dying?' Ramsdell asks in the ad, which
will air widely in Vermont starting this week. The commercial urges
viewers to call Gov. James Douglas (R), who has expressed
opposition to the bill." (01/09/04)

http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr010904.html

-----

10) UK activist loses Mugabe arrest warrant bid
     Independent On Line [South Africa]

"A British rights activist has lost his court bid to obtain an arrest
order for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, whom he
compared to international pariahs like Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam
Hussein and Augusto Pinochet. Peter Tatchell had asked Bow Street
magistrates' court in central London to issue an arrest warrant and
extradition order for Mugabe on the grounds of torture. But Judge
Timothy Workman rejected his request on Wednesday." (01/15/04)

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=qw1074082142611B216

-----

11) Police shooting prompts protests
     Raleigh News & Observer

"Days after being sworn in as the first black police chief in
[Louisville, KY's] history, Robert White met with activists protesting
the deadly police shooting weeks earlier of a handcuffed black man.
That was a year ago. Now White is facing tough questions about a
fatal shooting that happened on his watch. ... Civil rights leaders and
black community members, along with some whites, are demanding
answers after Michael Newby was shot in the back Jan. 3 by an
undercover officer." (01/14/04)

http://newsobserver.com/24hour/nation/story/1120099p-7790978c.html

-----

12) Enron wizard admits conspiracy
     Washington Post

"The mastermind behind secretive partnerships that led to the
collapse of Enron Corp. pleaded guilty yesterday to two conspiracy
charges and agreed to help investigators learn what the company's
top executives knew about its crumbling finances. Andrew S.
Fastow, 42, is the highest-ranking Enron executive to admit
wrongdoing and cooperate with prosecutors, who continue to
investigate widespread earnings manipulation at the Houston energy
company." (01/15/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18236-2004Jan14.html

-----

13) Per top drug thug, schools eye more illegal searches
     Newhouse News

"With strong encouragement from the nation's drug czar, public
school officials are taking a closer look at the merits of drug testing
for students in extracurricular activities. John Walters, director of
the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, has touted
student testing in recent speeches as a 'silver bullet' that can deter
youths at risk for taking drugs as well as bring about treatment for
current drug users. ... The Bush administration has budgeted $8
million in the current fiscal year for school drug-testing programs.
Walters also has told public school officials that they can use the
Education Department's Safe and Drug-Free Schools and
Communities grant program for testing." (01/14/04)

http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/mccutcheon011404.html

-----

14) Barely half say Bush should be re-elected
     MSNBC

"Barely half of Americans say President Bush deserves to be re-
elected, but they are even less enthusiastic about his Democratic
challengers, any one of whom he would overwhelm if the election
were held today, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal
poll. The poll found that 42 percent believe the president does not
deserve to return to office, compared with 51 percent who think he
does." (01/14/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3960306/

-----

15) Federal government prepares to overhaul drug testing of its employees
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"The federal government is planning to overhaul its employee drug
testing program to include scrutiny of workers' hair, saliva and
sweat, a shift that could spur more businesses to revise screening
for millions of their own workers. The planned changes, long awaited
by the testing industry, reflect government efforts to be more precise
in its drug screening and to outmaneuver a small but growing subset
of workers who try to cheat on urine-based tests." (01/14/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040114/1801938.shtml

-----

16) Claimants seek $3 billion in NYC ferry crash
     Miami Herald

"At least 175 claims totaling more than $3 billion have been filed
against the city for the Staten Island ferry crash that killed 11
people, the city comptroller's office said Wednesday. About a dozen
of the claims did not specify the amount of damages being sought,
and the number of claims could rise further, said Jeff Simmons, a
spokesman for the city comptroller." (01/15/04)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/7711412.htm

-----

17) Japanese firm offers "dream machine"
     Washington Times

"A Japanese company has invented a device it claims will allow
users to create their own dreams, the BBC reported Wednesday.
Prospective dreamers are asked to look at a photo of what they
would like to dream about and then record a story line into the
Yumemi Kobo, or 'dream workshop,' manufactured by the Takara
Company." (01/14/04)

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040114-075523-6459r.htm

-----

18) Military: Illegal hostage-taking "may reduce anti-coalition attacks"
     CNN

"Coalition forces Wednesday seized four nephews of Iraqi fugitive
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who is the highest-ranking member of
Saddam Hussein's deposed regime still at large. Al-Douri is believed
to be behind many of the insurgent attacks in Iraq. 'The four men
are suspected of providing hiding places and transportation for their
uncle,' U.S. Central Command said in a news release." (01/14/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/14/sprj.nirq.main/

-----

19) CAPPS II stands alone, feds say
     Wired News

"A Homeland Security official denied on Monday that a proposed
airline security system designed to color-code domestic passengers
based on their risk of committing acts of terrorism will be merged
with another program that fingerprints and photographs visitors to
the United States. The Transportation Security Administration's
communications director, Mark Hatfield, held a last-minute
conference call with reporters Monday afternoon in response to a
Washington Post story (registration required) that reported the
department was considering consolidating the domestic passenger-
screening program, called CAPPS II, with the one used for foreign
visitors and workers, known as US-VISIT (United States Visitor and
Immigrant Status Indicator Technology)." (01/13/04)

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61891,00.html

-----

20) Brazil arrests US pilot for "bird" gesture
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"An American Airlines pilot was arrested by federal police today
after making an obscene gesture when being photographed at the
airport as part of a newly imposed entry requirement for US
citizens, federal police said. The pilot, Dale Robbin Hirsh, lifted his
middle finger while undergoing a new fingerprinting and
photographing process put in place by Brazil for US citizens on
January 1, said Francisco Baltazar da Silva, chief of Sao Paulo's
federal police. Hirsh, 52, was taken to a federal courthouse, where
he could be charged by a judge with disrespecting authorities, a
crime in Brazil punishable by between six months and two years in
jail or a fine." (01/15/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/15/1073877934819.html

-----

21) Bush to propose $1.5 billion to "boost marriage"
     Guardian [UK]

"President George Bush plans to announce a $1.5bn programme to
promote heterosexual marriage before the next election in an attempt
to shore up his conservative base against the legal advances of gay
rights campaigners. The plan, which may be included in his State of
the Union address next week, is to help low-income couples with
their interpersonal skills and publicise the value of marriage. 'This is
a way for the president to address the concerns of conservatives
and to solidify his conservative base,' a presidential adviser told the
New York Times." (01/15/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gayrights/story/0,12592,1123456,00.html

-----

22) Cuba detainees seek right to appeal
     USA Today

"The Bush administration's plan to use military tribunals to try foreign
terrorism suspects should allow appeals to civilian courts, five
military lawyers assigned to suspects held at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, said Wednesday in papers filed with the Supreme Court. 'The
Constitution cannot countenance an open-ended presidential power,
with no civilian review whatsoever, to try anyone the president
deems is subject to a military tribunal,' the five officers argued."
(01/14/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-01-15-terror-cases_x.htm

-----

23) No more orange, yellow and red?
     MSNBC/Newsweek

"U.S. Homeland Security officials are coming under increasing
political pressure to overhaul, if not eliminate, their color-coded
terror alerts as concern mounts that the current system has become
so dysfunctional that it may actually be increasing the country's
vulnerability to attack. Describing last month's Code Orange alert as
a 'useless' warning for the public, Rep. Chris Cox ... told
NEWSWEEK that he now wants extensive changes in the system
..." (01/14/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3959828/

-----

24) US soldiers' suicide rate in Iraq unusually high
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"U.S. soldiers in Iraq are killing themselves at a high rate despite the
work of special teams sent to help troops deal with combat stress,
the Pentagon's top doctor said Wednesday. Meanwhile, about 2,500
soldiers who have returned from the war on terrorism are having to
wait for medical care at bases in the United States, said Dr. William
Winkenwerder ..." (01/14/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040114/1802112.shtml

-----

25) FCC Chairman wants to overturn decision on Bono's expletive
     CNN

"Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell
has asked his fellow commissioners to overturn a much-criticized
decision that an expletive uttered by the musician Bono on a network
program was not obscene. ... The FCC's enforcement bureau ruled
in October that the comment was not indecent or obscene because
Bono used the word as an adjective, not to describe a sexual act."
(01/14/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/14/fcc.obscenity.ap/

-----

26) US Anglicans plot to break up church
     Guardian [UK]

"American Anglican traditionalists are plotting the break-up of their
national church and the creation of a new fundamentalist church in
the wake of its consecration of the openly gay bishop Gene
Robinson. In spite of public assurances that they only wish to
secure oversight by sympathetic conservative bishops, rebel
parishes are being secretly told to prepare for the ultimate goal of
breaking up the US Episcopal church -- the American equivalent of
the Church of England." (01/15/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1123414,00.html

-----

27) Democrats under the gun
     Las Vegas Review-Journal

"Republicans seized control of Congress in November 1994 in part
by harping on the perception that the Democratic Party had
abandoned gun owners and that the party's lawmakers were poised
to enact a series of new restrictions on firearms possession ....
similar proposals were echoed by Al Gore and Bill Bradley in the
2000 presidential campaign. And yet, as post-election polls
revealed, Mr. Gore hemorrhaged support from Democrats in state
after state throughout the nation's heartland, because voters feared
a Gore administration would conduct house-to-house searches of
gun owners, seizing firearms from law-abiding citizens." (01/14/04)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jan-14-Wed-2004/opinion/22980879.htm\
l

-----

28) Education act won't be open to change
     Washington Times

"The Bush administration will not bow to liberal or conservative
pressure to reopen the federal No Child Left Behind Act for
congressional changes, but will use the regulatory process to
improve implementation, Education Secretary Rod Paige said in an
interview. 'We don't think that any part of the law yet that we've
identified that we need to go back to get legislative remedies. We
think that inside the regulatory system that we have the flexibility that
we need in order to make the changes that we need,' Mr. Paige
said." (01/14/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040113-105758-5380r.htm

-----

29) White House's "rush to war was reckless"
     Christian Science Monitor

"It's the latest in a string of books, reports and articles that call into
question the way the Bush administration presented pre-war
evidence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Kenneth
Pollack, a Clinton-era National Security Council member and strong
supporter of regime change in Iraq ... now says that he and many
others were wrong about the nature of the threat Iraq posed. In an
interview with the Atlantic Monthly ... Pollack says that, while the war
was not a 'strategic mistake,' as the removal of Saddam Hussein's
malignant influence from the region provided some good, the Bush
administration's 'justifications and explanations for war were at best
faulty, at worst deliberately misleading.'" (01/14/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0114/dailyUpdate.html?s=entt

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COMMENTARY

30) The Axis of war
     Salon
     by Senator Edward Kennedy

Full text of Kennedy's speech of 01/14/04 to the Center for
American Progress. "In an Op-Ed article in the New York Times last
month, [Lucian Truscott] wrote that Army officers spoke of feeling
that 'every order they receive is delivered with next November's
election in mind, so there is little doubt at and near the top about
who is really being used for what over here.' There is little doubt as
well that the administration's plan to transfer sovereignty to the Iraqi
people by this summer -- and the pressure to hold elections in
Afghanistan at that time -- are intended to build momentum for the
November elections in this country as well." [subscription or ad view
required] (01/15/04)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/01/14/kennedy_speech/

-----

31) Liberty Action of the Week
     Almanacs for Ashcroft
     Rational Review
     by Mary Lou Seymour

"Whenever a meme sweeps the public consciousness that gives an
opportunity to poke fun at Leviathan, or otherwise question authority,
that's when we liberty activists have the golden opportunity to use
humor and satire to fan the flames, and find some like minded folks
who may be out there in sheeple land. Not only is it fun to do, and
offers a way to reach a broader spectrum of people than we usually
reach, but it's also a very potent weapon. No one likes to be laughed
at, not even our statist rulers. If we can get enough folks laughing at
the increasingly tortured efforts of the statists to raise the
temperature a degree at a time without letting us froggies know
what's happening, our battle is half won." (01/15/04)

http://www.rationalreview.com/mlseymour/011504.shtml

-----

32) Mars: The red-tape planet?
     Reason
     by Ronald Bailey

"I do believe that humanity's destiny is to explore and colonize outer
space. I was thrilled as a teenager lying on the floor in front of my
grandparents' television, watching Neil Armstrong take that first giant
leap for mankind. Nothing, much less the sky, seemed to be a limit
for human aspirations that July evening in 1969. I fully expected that
before the year 2000 I would be vacationing on the moon. Reality
eventually hit -- it's way too expensive and government
bureaucracies are the wrong way to go." (01/14/04)

http://www.reason.com/rb/rb011404.shtml

-----

33) Nostalgia for Caligula
     WorldNetDaily
     by Doug Casey

"It almost makes me nostalgic for the Clintonistas. As readers know,
I despised the Clinton administration. It was hard to imagine how
things could get much worse than the cabal Bill surrounded himself
with -- the scary Hillary, the robotic Algore, the warlike Madeleine
Halfbright, the ridiculous ODonnanah Shalalala, and the murderous
Janet Reno (who I always suspected of being Chelsea's actual
father). How could it get much worse? ... Baby Bush -- actually
aided by his low IQ -- is what might be called a sincere liar. Perhaps
because he actually thinks Jesus wants him to be president, and
talks to him, he's an even more dangerous liar than Bill." (01/15/04)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36613

-----

34) Vote Dean, light GOP fire
     Fox News
     by Radley Balko

"Federal spending is out of control. Federal regulation continues its
creep, weighing ever heavier on private enterprise. We have a new
Cabinet department, the largest one ever established, and we were
just handed the largest federal entitlement in 40 years. A few of us
had our taxes cut, but that hardly matters when government keeps
spending the way it is. Sooner or later, the waiter will come by with
the check, and it's those of us under 30 who will be reaching for our
wallets. As election 2004 nears, what's a good limited-government
soldier to do? Vote for Howard Dean." (01/15/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108422,00.html

-----

35) One nation, divisible
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Bob Smith

"What has happened to our 'one nation, indivisible?' Politically, the
U.S. is looking very much like two separate nations, divided on
many issues, such as abortion, gay marriage, tax cuts, the War in
Iraq, and the role of religion in national affairs. The 2000
presidential election was extremely close, and 38% of the public still
believes that Bush 'stole' the election. Sure, Americans disagree on
many issues. They always have. What has changed, though, is that
American politicians have, with their inane rhetoric, driven the
citizenry into opposite corners." (01/15/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/15

-----

36) The power of Babel
     Liberty For All
     by Garry Reed

"Oh those kooky, cut-up Founding Fathers of ours. They had their
fingers crossed, chuckling and winking all the while dipping quill
pens made from endangered species' feathers into inkwells and
scribbling graffiti like 'Congress shall make no law ... abridging the
freedom of speech ...' That, according to an AP story, is the way
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer apparently pictures the
merry ol' Constitution writing party." (01/15/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/Babel.html

-----

37) They will cheer louder when we depart
     Cato Institute
     by Christopher Preble

"The U.S. military finally has in custody one of the most brutal
dictators in modern memory. His humiliating demise is a welcome
relief, both for the American soldiers who have been hunting him
and, more importantly, for the Iraqi people, many of whom feared he
would somehow return to power even after his statues were toppled.
But capturing Saddam is only one phase of 'regime change' in Iraq.
... Notwithstanding Saddam's capture, the obvious futility of
continued resistance, and the likelihood that life under a new
government would be far better than that under Saddam, many
Iraqis hate the United States and what we have done to their
country. And many Iraqis will not be satisfied until American troops --
  all American troops -- are gone." (01/15/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-15-04.html

-----

38) A successful war is being waged on the Bill of Rights
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Don Cooper

"Two years after launching of the 'War on Terrorism' and the
invasion and occupation of Iraq, the most successful war being
waged by the United States seems to be against the U.S.
Constitution, not terrorists. Although the war in Afghanistan removed
the Taliban from power and damaged Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida
network, international terrorism experts contend the organization is
still dangerous and its sympathizers may be growing in number."
(01/14/04)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0401e.asp

-----

39) A clear mistake
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Kay H. Jones and Ben Lieberman

"The Clear Skies Initiative, President Bush's big environmental bill
targeting power plant emissions, appears to be stalled in Congress.
In an effort to get around this impasse, the administration now plans
to implement similar provisions via EPA regulations rather than
legislation. Either way, this Republican attempt to go green will prove
to be both bad policy and bad politics." (01/14/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03814.cfm

-----

40) Back to the Balkans?
     AntiWar.Com
     by Nebojsa Malic

"Is the Balkans back in Washington vogue? After a couple of
seemingly isolationist years (that were, of course, nothing of the
sort) when the limelight was on the Middle East, there's been a
renewed push by the forces of punditry to get the peninsula back on
the Imperial agenda. Underneath dire warnings and venomous
denunciations lies a hunger to revisit the scene of Clintonian
triumphs as the Great Bush Adventure keeps foundering in the sand.
Triumph of the Radicals in the recent Serbian parliamentary election
may have provided the opportunity, but it is unlikely the renewed
interest in the south-eastern corner of Europe is unrelated to the
politics of the upcoming American election." (01/15/04)

http://www.antiwar.com/malic/?articleid=1700

-----

41) Amputating the Bill of Rights
     CounterPunch
     by Kurt Nimmo

"The Sixth Amendment was lopped off the Constitution earlier this
week. AG Ashcroft can now have you arrested -- more accurately,
abducted and detained -- and thrown in a military brig or sent to the
Guantanamo concentration camp. Like military dictators in Chile or
Guatemala, or the Gestapo in Nazi Germany, the Bushites don't
have tell your family where you are, or even acknowledge your
detention. .... All of this is now perfectly legal -- or so the Supreme
Court ruled the other day when it refused to consider whether the
government properly withheld names and other details of hundreds
of people detained after 9/11. In other words, Bush may continue
abducting people and throwing them in secret prisons without
charge." (01/14/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/nimmo01142004.html

-----

42) It has happened here
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

"The neocon cabal is beginning to make the case for imprisoning --
or possibly executing -- members of Congress who oppose the war
in Iraq. An example of this development is a December 23 Insight
magazine article by senior editor J. Michael Waller entitled 'When
Does Politics Become Treason?' (Insight is an appendage of the
Washington Times, the voice of the Washington, D.C. neocon
establishment. [)] ... Naturally, the totalitarian/neocon case for
imprisoning or executing the Bush administration’s political
opponents is based on precedents established by Abraham
Lincoln." (01/15/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo57.html

-----

43) Picking and choosing on license plates
     Tennessean
     by staff

"License plates are not bumper stickers. They are not innocuous
fund-raising tools. They are state-required, state-manufactured and
state-issued instruments of vehicle identification. ... The legislature
last year approved the Tennessee Right to Life's application for a
specialty 'Choose Life' license plate. ... Some lawmakers tried to
amend the measure to add the option of a 'Pro Choice' specialty
plate, but that amendment was rejected in the Senate. ... The legal
problem isn't with the right-to-life group: It's with the legislature.
When it approved an anti-abortion plate at the same time denying a
pro-choice plate, it crossed the line of political neutrality." (01/14/04)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/archives/04/01/45474573.shtml

-----

44) Hard-headed Howard
     Slate
     by William Saletan

"Is Howard Dean electable? Should you vote for him? My answers,
after watching him for a year, are: 1) theoretically, yes; and 2)
tentatively, no. I'm not one of those pundits who thinks Dean is too
liberal or too Yankee, that he's another George McGovern or
Michael Dukakis. The reason pundits analyze elections in such
simple terms is that we can't handle the complexity of real life. To us,
liberalism is a set of policies. To most voters, it's an attitude. Liberals
are condescending. Liberals are naive. Liberals have no moral
anchor. Liberals are weak in the face of evil. Dean doesn't fit that
mold." (01/13/04)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2093858/

-----

45) Let free market capitalism do the rest
     The Onion
     by staff

"At a Monday press conference, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld announced a 'change of plans' for the $87.5 billion aid
package Congress approved in October: Instead of being used to
fund an array of military and reconstruction operations in the Middle
East, the money will be divided equally among Iraq's 24,683,313
citizens. 'Yes, we had planned to do all sorts of things with that
money, like repair Iraq's power grid and construct new sewers and
roads,' Rumsfeld said. 'But then we realized that, really, there's no
reason for us to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure when the forces of free-
market capitalism can do it with greater efficiency.' [Republicans
advocating laissez faire? Quite obviously satire] (01/14/04)

http://www.theonion.com/4002/top_story.html

-----

46) Homeowners banned from protecting their families
     National Review
     by Timothy Wheeler

"The good citizens of Wilmette, Ill., have a problem. Just before
Christmas in this leafy, upscale Chicago suburb, homeowner Hale
DeMar used his handgun to shoot a burglar. Trouble is, Wilmette
years ago outlawed the ownership of handguns. The career
hoodlum who invaded DeMar's home was treated at a local hospital
for a bad case of faulty-victim selection, and now awaits trial. Police
are investigating whether he committed a string of robberies in the
area. But instead of heaping honors on the brave homeowner who
defended his family as any good father would do, the city of
Wilmette has decided to prosecute him under the town's gun-ban
ordinance. DeMar also faces the charge of failing to have a current
firearm-owner's identification card." (01/14/04)

http://tinyurl.com/3cnld

-----

47) The ultimate insider
     AlterNet
     by Arianna Huffington

"[O]ne word of advice to the White House attack dogs now
unleashed on O'Neill: If you want to belittle his bona fides, you've got
to come up with something better than saying 'We didn't listen to him
when he was here. Why should we now?' Let's get real. Is there
anyone more central to developing economic policy than the
Treasury Secretary? To be any more inside, O'Neill would have to
have been George Bush's proctologist. Now, of course, they're
painting him out to be a cross between Jerry Garcia, Karl Marx and
the disgruntled former employee who just shot up your local post
office. Yeah, what an anti-establishment wackjob: former CEO of
Alcoa, and a friend of Don Rumsfeld's since the sixties." (01/14/04)

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17559

-----

48) Peace has broken out in Africa
     Yellow Times
     by Paul Harris

"The mainstream news sources generally don’t pay much attention
to Africa unless an American president or the Queen of England is
visiting, or there is some horrendous natural disaster, or a group of
rock stars gets together to raise funds for famine or war relief and to
exercise more social conscience than the collective governments of
the world. So, naturally, those same mainstream news sources will
have failed to notice that peace has broken out in Africa. Oh, it is far
from a safe place for many people and there are many miles still to
tread before Africans can begin to breathe a little easier. But barring
any major negative setbacks, Africa appears ready to embrace its
potential and march to a peaceful drum." (01/14/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1739

-----

49) Last copter out of Baghdad
     Village Voice
     by Rick Perlstein

"George Bush is selling out Iraq. Gone are his hard-liners' dreams
of setting up a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic republic, a
light unto the Middle Eastern nations. The decision makers in the
administration now realize these goals are unreachable. So they've
set a new goal: to end the occupation by July 1, whether that
occupation has accomplished anything valuable and lasting or not.
Just declare victory and go home. The tyranny of Saddam Hussein
will be over. But a new tyranny will likely take its place: the tyranny
of civil war, as rival factions rush into the void. Such is the mess this
president seems willing to leave behind in order to save his
campaign." (01/14/04)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0402/perlstein.php

-----

50) Making enemies
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by N. Joseph Potts

"Some of the worst attacks on our personal freedom come in the
form of edicts as to whom we can trade with, and whom we must
make war on. This is referred to by the famous dictum attributed to
Bastiat: 'When goods are not allowed to cross borders, armies will.'
The truth of the dictum has been demonstrated in history, both
ancient and recent, time and again." (01/14/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1413

-----

51) Coercion vs. freedom: Baby boomers likely to challenge Medicare rules
     Institute for Health Freedom
     by staff

"With the expansion of taxpayer-financed health care in the United
States, citizens are inevitably losing their freedom and are being
coerced into programs they'd rather not join. Medicare is a prime
example. Currently, a woman from the New England area is refusing
to accept her 'entitlement' to Medicare Part A. Her penalty for
declining to enroll? The federal government is withholding the Social
Security benefits that she would otherwise receive." (01/14/04)

http://www.forhealthfreedom.org/Publications/MedicareMedicaid/Boomers.html

-----

52) Free trade: Moral questions and partisan politics
     Acton Institute
     by Jordan J. Ballor

"In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 19, trade policy has
been one of the hottest issues. But the debate among Democratic
candidates seems to revolve around who is more opposed to free
trade. Voters should beware, however, that trade involves not just
presidential politics but profound moral questions." (01/14/04)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=174

-----

53) A Democratic cliffhanger?
     Boston Globe
     by Robert Kuttner

"This could be the first year since 1960 that the Democratic
nomination contest goes all the way to the convention. In that year,
John Kennedy eked out a first ballot win, but the roll call of the states
went all the way to the letter W -- Wyoming -- before Kennedy went
over the top. You have to go back to 1952 for a convention that went
more than one ballot (Adlai Stevenson won it on the third). Most
knowledgeable observers think I'm inhaling something. The usual
view is that after a few primaries, the race must narrow to the top
two contenders because everyone else's money dries up. But
consider these unusual factors, which have all converged this year."
(01/14/04)

http://tinyurl.com/25jmo

-----

54) Fake food scares
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"In this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, organic-farming
cheerleader Michael Pollan declared: 'For several years now, an
alternative, postindustrial food chain has been taking shape, its
growth fueled by one 'food scare' after another: Alar, G.M.O.'s [sic],
rBGH, E. coli 0157:H7; now B.S.E.' This, for Pollan, is a good thing.
Never mind that the Alar scare, which devastated apple farmers, was
an utter fabrication staged to raise money for the Natural Resources
Defense Council. Forget that biotech crops pose zero risk to human
health, that milk from cows given the 'recombinant Bovine Growth
Hormone' is indistinguishable from conventional milk, that Americans
are more likely to get E. coli food poisoning from eating organic
produce, and that -- as Pollan himself admits -- the risk of getting
mad cow disease 'may be vanishingly small.'" (01/14/04)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=2312

-----

55) Lost in space
     The Nation
     by Katrina vanden Heuvel

"So, we're destroying our own way of life on earth but Bush wants to
establish a permanent base on the moon as a prelude to sending
humans to Mars? Isn't this just another sign ... that we have a space
cadet as President? And don't these neocons have enough bases
ringing the earth? Or is their desire for world domination so
unquenchable that they're using this new initiative, as some believe,
as a stealth program to speed up the militarization of space? And,
not to be too visionless, but at a time of record budget deficits and
massive tax cuts for the rich, where's the money going to come from
for these adventures in outer space?" (01/14/04)

http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7

-----

56) Light rail costly and ineffective at easing traffic
     Liberty For All
     by Danny Brooks

"The real data regarding light rail tend to show it is not only slower
compared to automobiles but a lot less cost effective, because the
ridership is only a fraction of the maximum capacity. ... The
common sense or Libertarian solution would be to simply rein back
the power that government has slowly taken over the years. When
elected officials continue to pervert the Constitution in order to take
from those who have worked to obtain something and then hand it
over to someone else, everyone should pay attention." (01/15/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/rail.html

-----

57) High price for bad advice
     Tom Paine
     by William D. Hartung

"As he roams the airwaves plugging his new book, giving aggressive
prescriptions for American policy at every stop, we would all be well
advised to take a closer look at Richard Perle's recent counsel. If
you want bad advice at a high price, Perle is your man. Perle's last
big moment in the spotlight was in the spring of 2003, when he
stepped down as chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board
amidst charges that he had abused his position as a top adviser to
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for personal gain. Perle's
self-imposed 'punishment' came in the wake of not one, not two, but
three questionable business deals." (01/14/04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9753

-----

58) Immigration policy flaws threaten adverse results
     Nashville City Paper
     by John Leo

"Politicians from both parties think President Bush’s immigration
plan is unusually deft, mostly because nearly every constituency
seems to get something. Big business is assured an unending
supply of cheap labor. Unions get the bonanza of millions more
workers to organize. Bush’s credentials as a compassionate
conservative are more plausible than ever, and Republican plans to
put forward more Latino candidates for political office will now look
much less cynical." (01/14/04)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29842

-----

59) Powell's shrinking credibility on Iraq
     Boston Globe
     by Derrick Z. Jackson

"Secretary of State Colin Powell was a huge loser in last week's
report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that said
Saddam Hussein's weapons program was not an immediate threat to
the United States or even his neighbors. The report said Saddam's
nuclear program had been dismantled, his large-scale chemical
weapons capabilities had been destroyed, and 'there was no solid
evidence of a cooperative relationship between Saddam's
government and Al Qaeda.' Powell was asked about the report at a
news conference last week. He was forced to cough up: 'I have not
seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection, but I
think the possibility of such connections did exist and it was prudent
to consider them at the time that we did.'" (01/14/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2k648


MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS

60) Debate on the US occupation of Iraq
     Dallas Libertarian Post
     January 15, 2004

"'The U.S.-led occupation of Iraq serves the best interests of the
peoples of both countries: agree or disagree.' Bob Ray Sanders,
columnist with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Lance Flores, editor of
The Dallas Libertarian Post will disagree with Mark Davis, WBAP
talk show radio host, and Dr. Matthew Wilson, Professor of Political
Science at Southern Methodist University, who will argue the
affirmative side. KERA 90.1’s Marla Crockett will serve as
moderator. The event will be held at Unity Church of Dallas, 6525
Forest Lane. It is free and open to the public." (01/14/04)

http://lpdallas.org/post/index.html

-----

61) Free Hunter!
     Liberty Round Table
     until the thugs give it up

Defense fund information for Jeff Jordan, a/k/a "Hunter." Arrested
in Ohio for exercising his inalienable human and constitutionally
guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. Help us convince Ohio's
jackbooted thugs that this time they're messing with the wrong
freedom-lover!

http://www.libertyroundtable.org/projects/freehunter/
-----

62) Political pinups -- 2004 Ladies of Liberty calendar
     Liberty For All

"The Libertarians are laying bare their principles again in the 2004
Ladies of Liberty Calendar. And this time, it's national. The Ladies of
Liberty, that is: 16 beautiful Libertarian women who display their
charms and promote their ideology in the new 2004 edition of the
Ladies of Liberty calendar. The calendar is produced by North
Carolina Libertarian Rachel Mills, who created the original 2003
edition of the calendar." (12/24/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/pinups.html
-----

63) Petition for a Boortz-Free LP national convention
     PetitionOnline.Com
     ongoing

"We, members and supporters of the Libertarian Party, object to the
scheduled appearance of talk radio host Neal Boortz as a speaker at
the Libertarian Party's 2004 National Convention. We further
request that said appearance be cancelled."

http://www.petitiononline.com/noboortz/petition.html


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

64) He had a dream; they had excess rads; rats!

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

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

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R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,174


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Brief notes


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Blast rocks Iraq police station; US forces take more hostages
2)  Supreme Court: Cops can do whatever they damn well please
3)  DC primary wraps up
4)  Coalition troops kill three Iraqis
5)  State ordered to surrender Limbaugh's records
6)  Bush: Canada eligible in Iraq reconstruction contracts
7)  Rubin warns of a deficit's ripples
8)  US may modify Iraq transition plan
10) Topless passenger declared flight "next 9/11"
11) Victim disarmers take aim at guns in bars
12) O'Neill: "Frenzy" distorted war plans account
13) Beware false medicine men
14) "Choose Life" lives
15) Indiana gun shop owners criticize study
16) Toxic concerns over Free Willy burial
17) Deal expected in Enron cases
18) Muslim groups' IRS files sought
19) USDA killing more Washington state cows
20) Clashes rise in southern Iraq
21) Bush seeks 5% boost to NASA budget for moon-Mars missions
22) Everglades cleanup at stake in court case
23) Delay eyed on marriage amendment
24) Ehrlich seeks jackpot from slots
25) Calling Barney Fife: Arizona deputy loses gun

-----ADVERTISEMENT----------------------------------------------------
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            In print at last -- just in time for Christmas!
                       $5.95 from BigHead Press

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) War's preachers
27) George W. Bush, pod person
28) Homeschoolers vs. Big Brother
29) What makes a terrorist?
30) Democrats aren't the only hypocrites
31) Politics like it oughta be
32) Don George Bush: A problem you can't defuse
33) A captive Saddam won't set Iraq free
34) Wanna go where everybody knows your name?
35) Fly, fly away
36) Do Iraqis have a right to resist?
37) Democrats, poverty and rich bashing
38) Howard Reagan?
39) Peace IS possible
40) There is no central plan for winning liberty
41) Economics of insurance: The case of New Jersey
42) Who is Republican Blake Ashby?
43) Bin Laden's losing bet
44) Big Brother Britain, 2004
45) Your propaganda on drugs
46) Being a betting man
47) Thou shalt not kill?
48) President signs "budget-busting" Medicare reform
49) The green machine
50) Tennessee waltz could become jitterbug for Democrats


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) We'll always have Paris; Huddled masses? Sure -- unless they're Haitian


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Brief notes

The flu seems to be hitting Rational Review's staff hard this winter ...
but we're going to get through it. Liberty Action of the Week was
delayed first from Mary Lou's desk, and now from my own, but it will
be up for tomorrow night. Expect more articles by the end of the
week!

Recently, I received a check for RRND from a donor whose email
address I now cannot find to acknowledge it. I'll identify this donor
by one initial -- "F." "F," I owe you some premiums. Please contact
me at thomaslknapp at earthlink.net, so I can get you taken care of!

This is RRND's 286th consecutive edition. We've been publishing
without interruption since December 23, 2002 ... and we're coming
up on our 300th issue. Sounds like a reason to celebrate, so we will,
with a prize drawing and other goodies. Stand by for news on that!

As always, your financial support makes it possible for this
publication to survive and continue. I've been trying to give the
fundraising schtick as long a break as possible, but it has to be said
occasionally: I hope you'll pony up so that we can keep bringing you
the best daily news and commentary update on the Internet. Here's
the URL:

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

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Blast rocks Iraq police station; US forces take more hostages
     BBC News [UK]

"At least two people have been killed in a suspected car bomb blast
outside a police station in Iraq. A number of people were injured in
the explosion in the central town of Baquba, witnesses said. It
comes less than a week after at least six people were killed in a blast
outside a mosque in the same town. Hours before the latest blast,
US forces in Iraq detained four relatives of former vice-president
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the military said." (01/14/04)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3394963.stm

-----

2)  Supreme Court: Cops can do whatever they damn well please
     Fox News

"The Supreme Court, in a case watched anxiously by law
enforcement agencies across America, held Tuesday that police
may set up roadblocks to collect tips about unsolved crimes. In a 6-3
decision, the justices found roadblocks seeking such information do
not violate the privacy rights of motorists. The court overturned a
decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, which ruled that officers may
solicit information from motorists only in an emergency. The case
involved a man arrested for drunken driving at a Lombard, IL,
checkpoint set up to get information about an unrelated fatal hit-and-
run accident." (01/13/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108238,00.html

-----

3)  DC primary wraps up
     Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Howard Dean was leading Tuesday in the non-binding District of
Columbia primary that was as much about protesting the city's lack
of congressional voting rights as it was about electing the next
president. With 87 per cent of precincts reporting, the former
Vermont governor was leading the Rev. Al Sharpton by 42 percent
to 35 percent. Trailing at some distance were former Illinois Sen.
Carol Moseley Braun and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. They were
the only four of the nine major Democratic candidates on the ballot.
The vote had no direct effect on the city's contribution of delegates
to the Democratic National Convention in August." (01/14/04)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4317761.html

-----

4)  Coalition troops kill three Iraqis
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Hostile fire brought down a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter
Tuesday, the third aircraft lost this month west of Baghdad. Coalition
troops killed three Iraqis in restive cities outside the capital, relatives
and police said. And in Fallujah, also west of Baghdad, hundreds of
Iraqis protested, shouting 'Bush, you coward!' after American troops
detained a woman while searching for a Saddam Hussein loyalist."
(01/13/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040113/1797977.shtml

-----

5)  State ordered to surrender Limbaugh's records
     CNN

"An appeals court on Tuesday ordered prosecutors to turn Rush
Limbaugh's medical records over to the courts and keep them
sealed until further review. The court also ruled that the American
Civil Liberties Union can join the conservative talk show host in
fighting to keep the documents private, creating an unlikely alliance
in the case." (01/13/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/13/imbaugh.painkillers.ap/

-----

6)  Bush: Canada eligible in Iraq reconstruction contracts
     USA Today

"President Bush moved to ease tensions with Canada Tuesday by
reversing course and declaring Canadian companies eligible to bid
on a second round of U.S.-financed prime reconstruction contracts
in Iraq. The reversal was seen as a goodwill gesture toward
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, who took office last month."
(01/13/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-01-13-bush-canada_x.htm

-----

7)  Rubin warns of a deficit's ripples
     MSNBC

"As one former Treasury secretary made waves Tuesday with his
critical account of life in the Bush administration, another warned of
a potentially disastrous financial crisis brought on by rising federal
budget deficits. Robert Rubin, Treasury secretary under President
Clinton, warned of a 'very substantial' risk that continued high budget
deficits could bring on a cascading series of economic and political
problems ..." (01/13/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3948923/

-----

8)  US may modify Iraq transition plan
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"It's back to the drawing board for the Bush administration as it looks
for an acceptable way to turn over power to Iraqis by the end of
June. A powerful Shiite leader's objections to parts of the current
plan are prompting administration officials to confer both inside the
U.S. government and with Iraqi leaders. The plan may have to
altered, administration officials said Tuesday, on condition of
anonymity, after Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani
demanded that any agreement to let U.S. forces remain in postwar
Iraq must be approved by directly elected representatives."
(01/13/04)

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V9595.AP-US-Iraq.h\
tml

-----

9)  No consensus on Kurds' role
     Yellow Times

"Last week's meetings between Iraqi Kurds and Arab leaders failed
to resolve the issue of what kind of authority the Kurds can expect to
hold in a sovereign Iraq. Kurdish members of the interim Iraqi
Governing Council have sought to maintain their autonomy in
northern Iraq, where ruthlessly persecuted Kurds established a mini-
democracy at the end of the Gulf War, protected by U.S. air patrols
of the no-flight zone." (01/13/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1736

-----

10) Topless passenger declared flight "next 9/11"
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"Passengers on a Virgin Blue flight last week from Hobart to
Melbourne endured a 50-minute tirade by a woman who stripped
topless and ranted the flight was the next September 11, according
to a witness. A passenger on board the flight, known only as Ellie,
told Melbourne radio station 3AW the woman 'absolutely went
psycho' as flight DJ 145 taxied onto the runway last Thursday night.
... Virgin Blue spokeswoman Amanda Bolger confirmed an
'unsettled' guest disrupted passengers on the flight, but the cabin
crew had determined she was not a safety risk." (01/14/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/14/1073877887570.html

-----

11) Victim disarmers take aim at guns in bars
     Pilot Online

"Gun-control advocates, heartened by Democratic gains in the [VA]
House last fall, will push to keep guns worn in plain sight out of bars
just as concealed guns are, and to give local school divisions the
option of enacting their own firearms bans. Other bills would require
vendors at gun shows to conduct the same sort of criminal
background checks on gun purchasers that firearms retailers
already do and to require that people receive training in use of
firearms before they are granted concealed weapons permits. All of
the bills face a difficult path in a General Assembly that been
friendly toward the National Rifle Association and other gun rights
groups in recent years." (01/13/04)

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=64612&ran=7249

-----

12) O'Neill: "Frenzy" distorted war plans account
     CNN

"Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said Tuesday his account
of the Bush administration's early discussions about a possible
invasion of Iraq has been distorted by a 'red meat frenzy.' The
controversy began last week when excerpts were released from a
book on the administration published Tuesday in which O'Neill
suggests Iraq was the focus of President Bush's first National
Security Council meeting." (01/13/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/13/oneill.bush/

-----

13) Beware false medicine men
     Sierra Times

"Native American watchdogs are warning people about an increase
in spiritual frauds and phony medicine men -- which are leading to
anything from financial scams to rapes and even murder. Darren
McCathern, a spokesman for Comanche Lodge in Oklahoma, says
the problem of false medicine men and Native American teachers
isn’t limited to just the west: 'One case recently resulted in the
conviction of a man in New Mexico that was guilty of hurting a
pregnant woman with child, where he then left her for dead in the
desert. This was done as a result of convincing the poor woman to
undergo some type of fake nude healing ceremony that ultimately
led to his conviction for rape,' he said." (01/13/04)

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/01/13/ar_tn_blanton.htm

-----

14) "Choose Life" lives
     Nashville City Paper

"Tennessee Right to Life representatives celebrated collecting more
than 1,000 applications for the 'Choose Life' specialty plates
Monday, but a lawsuit stands between consumers and the
manufacture of the plates. Advocates for the plates pre-sold 1,265
'Choose Life' tags to residents in all 95 counties, according to Brian
Harris, president of Tennessee Right to Life." (01/13/04)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29817

-----

15) Indiana gun shop owners criticize study
     Northwest Indiana Times

"Lake County gun shop owners reacted sharply but with resignation
to the latest assault on so-called 'high crime dealers' by a
Washington, D.C.-based gun safety advocacy group. Looking over
the list prepared by the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation that
places Westforth Sporting Goods of Calumet Township as one of 13
such dealers in Indiana, shop owner Earl Westforth said the
statistics were misleading at best. 'It looks like I sold a bad guy a
gun when I had nothing to do with it,' he said. 'Where we're located,
yeah, some bad guys are going to get guns, but we do everything
by the law, and if we go out of business, the bad guys are just going
to move to the next store. I don't want to do anything wrong. I'm an
age where I don't want to start all over again.'" (01/13/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2psju

-----

16) Toxic concerns over Free Willy burial
     Ananova [UK]

"Norwegian authorities are reviewing the burial of Free Willy star
Keiko over fears the killer whale may be full of toxic substances. ...
Keiko lived off fatty fish and marine mammals such as seals, which
are known for carrying poisons known as PCBs.Now there are
concerns over the decision to bury Keiko on land instead of towing
his remains out to sea." (01/13/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_855263.html

-----

17) Deal expected in Enron cases
     Washington Post

"Andrew S. Fastow is expected to plead guilty today in federal court
in Houston under a deal that would put him behind bars for 10
years. Fastow would also agree to cooperate with federal
prosecutors investigating the collapse of the Houston energy firm,
which filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2001." (01/14/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14192-2004Jan13.html

-----

18) Muslim groups' IRS files sought
     MSNBC

"The Senate Finance Committee has asked the Internal Revenue
Service to turn over confidential tax and financial records, including
donor lists, on dozens of Muslim charities and foundations as part of
a widening congressional investigation into alleged ties between tax-
exempt organizations and terrorist groups, according to documents
and officials. The request marks a rare and unusually broad use of
the Finance Committee's power to obtain private financial records
..." (01/13/04)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3951227/

-----

19) USDA killing more Washington state cows
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman broke ground Tuesday on the
government's new animal disease complex and said President Bush
would ask for the final $178 million to complete it in his 2005 budget.
Veneman said the upgrade of the lab in Ames, where tests on brain
tissue from a Washington state Holstein found it was infected with
mad cow disease, is critical." (01/13/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040113/1798152.shtml

-----

20) Clashes rise in southern Iraq
     Washington Post

"Angry demonstrators confronted Ukrainian army tanks and Iraqi
police at City Hall plaza for the second day in a row. A block away,
Ali Aziz, 35, a stocky, out-of-work laborer, watched the battle from
behind a schoolyard wall, red-eyed and shaking with anguish."
(01/14/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14292-2004Jan13.html

-----

21) Bush seeks 5% boost to NASA budget for moon-Mars missions
     USA Today

"President Bush will seek to boost NASA's budget by 5% annually
for the next three years to help pay for his plan to put a base on the
moon and to mount a manned expedition to Mars later in the
century, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The plan calls
for establishing a permanent presence on the moon within two
decades and to put astronauts on Mars sometime after 2030, the
official said." (01/13/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-01-13-bush-nasa_x.htm

-----

22) Everglades cleanup at stake in court case
     Christian Science Monitor

"A four-foot alligator basks in the bright sunshine on the steep bank
of a canal, as five plump cormorants leisurely digest their lunch
while perched on a string of orange floats. Aside from the steady din
of a nearby flood-control pump and the man-made configuration of
the waterway, the scene appears a slice of idyllic Florida. Indeed,
from the east side of the S-9 pumping station at the edge of the
Everglades, it is hard to imagine this as the grounds for a major
environmental case before the US Supreme Court. But appearances
can be deceiving." (01/14/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0114/p02s01-usju.html

-----

23) Delay eyed on marriage amendment
     Boston Globe

"[MA] State Senate President Robert E. Travaglini will delay next
month's momentous vote on a proposed constitutional amendment
banning same-sex marriages if the state's high court has not already
issued its opinion on the constitutionality of a civil unions bill, top
legislative officials said yesterday. Travaglini has told several aides
and colleagues that it would be premature to push forward until the
Legislature learns whether the bill establishing civil unions for gay
couples would satisfy the Supreme Judicial Court ruling of Nov. 18
on gay marriage." (01/13/04)

http://tinyurl.com/yql3l

-----

24) Ehrlich seeks jackpot from slots
     Washington Times

"Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich wants slots. House Speaker Michael E.
Busch wants a statewide tax increase. That stalemate is how the last
session of the Maryland General Assembly ended and it's how the
new one begins tomorrow. That standoff and how it plays out -- Will
the two men compromise on new revenue? Or will Maryland end up
cutting away at state spending like Virginia did last year? -- will
impact almost every issue facing lawmakers, including the deficit,
education reform, the Chesapeake Bay, crime and a proposed new
state agency." (01/13/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040113-120223-9362r.htm

-----

25) Calling Barney Fife: Arizona deputy loses gun
     Arizona Republic

"One of Yavapai County Sheriff's Office detectives is missing a
service revolver. A detective reported she lost her weapon Sunday
night while at the Kid Chillen's Restaurant. The detective removed
her weapon while visiting the restroom and unintentionally left the
weapon behind, according to sheriff's officials. The detective later
realized the weapon was missing and called the manager, who was
unable to find the gun." (01/13/04)

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0113azroundup13.html

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COMMENTARY

26) War's preachers
     Tom Paine
     by Robert Dreyfuss

"In An End to Evil, Richard Perle and David Frum present us with a
long To-Do List. And they seem like they're in a hurry. Iraq, of
course -- in their view at least -- has already been checked off. ...
They don't give us a timetable for all this, but -- since they consider
the reelection of President Bush as the sine qua non of a
neoconservative foreign policy -- it's fair to say that it's a rough
outline of what they'd like Bush's second term to look like. ... But
underneath it all is this: Perle and Frum are running scared. Despite
their bravado, the Iraqi adventure is turning out to be an utter failure.
Everything that Perle and Frum told us before the war turned out to
be wrong." (01/13/04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9755

-----

27) George W. Bush, pod person
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"This President is like 'a blind man in a room full of deaf people,'
says former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, and the phrase
has reverberated around the current news cycle with such velocity
because it rings so true. ... No wonder the Bushies went ballistic and
savaged him, issuing threats of an 'investigation' into his supposed
theft of 'secret' government documents -- here was a Republican
saying what many in his party didn't dare utter out loud. But in their
hearts, they've always known their President is clueless. Now their
fear is confirmed by one of his own top appointees." (01/14/04)

http://antiwar.com/justin/index.php?articleid=1691

-----

28) Homeschoolers vs. Big Brother
     Town Hall
     by Michelle Malkin

"New Jersey's child welfare system, like most state child welfare
systems, is a corrupt and deadly mess. Children are lost in the
shuffle, shipped to abusive foster homes, returned to rapists and
child molesters, and left to die in closets while paperwork piles up.
So whom does the government decide to punish for the
bureaucracy's abysmal failure to protect these innocents?
Homeschoolers. And what does the government think will solve its
ills? More power and paperwork." (01/14/04)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/mm20040114.shtml

-----

29) What makes a terrorist?
     FrontPageMag
     by James Q. Wilson

"Given its long history, one must wonder whether terrorism
accomplishes its goals. For some ideological terrorists, of course,
there are scarcely any clear goals that can be accomplished. But
for many assassins and religious terrorists, there are important
goals, such as ending tyranny, spreading a religious doctrine, or
defeating a national enemy. By these standards, terrorism does not
work." (01/13/04)

http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11720

-----

30) Democrats aren't the only hypocrites
     Sierra Times
     by Jack Rhodes

"It wasn't too long ago that Republicans were all waxing eloquent
about the rule of law and the importance of maintaining a society
based on the rule of law. Talk radio was awash with hosts and
guests pontificating about respect for the rule of law being one of
the major differences between Republicans and Democrats.
Republican columnists were congratulating the Republican masses
for respecting the rule of law that the Democrats had abandoned.
Talking heads were on television and rank and file Republicans were
in Internet chat rooms bemoaning fact that a majority of Americans
didn’t care about the importance of the rule of law." (01/13/04)

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/01/13/jackrhodes.htm

-----

31) Politics like it oughta be
     America's Future Foundation
     by Timothy P. Carney

"New Hampshire is cold and windy, it gets dark early, the drivers are
horrible, the people give the world’s worst directions, and everything
closes down early. If you get past those negatives (plus those
unbelievable accents) you can see something heartwarming and
beautiful: American politics the way it was meant to be. Sure the
airwaves are saturated with the Democratic presidential candidates’
ads, but the commercials are so ubiquitous that they almost amount
to white noise." (01/11/04)

http://www.affbrainwash.com/archives/009767.php

-----

32) Don George Bush: A problem you can't defuse
     Liberty For All
     by Roderick T. Beaman

"I doubt whether 10% of our citizens would even recognize the
Constitution and if 5% have ever even read it through. I doubt
whether more than 1% of our government officials understand it let
alone have any commitment to it. The vast majority of our citizens
have been reduced to viewing government as some huge cow with a
teat large enough to suckle them forever. But the teat is going to run
out of milk soon." (01/14/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/defuse.html

-----

33) A captive Saddam won't set Iraq free
     Cato Institute
     by Patrick Basham

"Saddam Hussein's capture is an enormous seasonal gift to
President Bush's reelection effort. But don't expect the acquisition of
this single piece of the Iraq puzzle to transform that country into a
democracy anytime soon. The uninspiring, but inescapable, fact is
that Saddam Hussein never stood between the Iraqi people and
Western-style democracy. ... yes, a Saddam-free Iraq may have
been a little wealthier; it may even have been a little freer. But it
would not have been a liberal democracy without Saddam, and it will
not be a democracy significantly faster once the Iraqi people learn
of Saddam's ignominious end." (01/14/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-14-04.html

-----

34) Wanna go where everybody knows your name?
     Reason
     by Brian Doherty

"Human technologies are more or less unstoppable, if they help lots
of people meet a perceived need in an economical fashion.
Manufacturers and marketers think they need to know the sort of
things that RFIDs can tell them; governments think they need to
know the kind of things that CAPPS II systems, traffic cameras
(however untrustworthy), and voice over internet protocol wiretaps,
provide. More and more it seems inarguable that David Brin is right
about privacy as we've come to understand it in bourgeois
modernity: It's gone, and we will just have to learn to see that a fully
transparent society where everyone can know everything about
everyone else -- provided citizens can know as much about the state
as the state knows about them -- might be for the best." (01/13/04)

http://www.reason.com/links/links011304.shtml

-----

35) Fly, fly away
     Civil Liberties Watch
     by Elaine Cassel

"Now that Big Brother has a way to create a dossier on each and
every one of us, flying a commercial airliner puts us at risk of being
'persons of interest.' Buy a ticket and there is a file with your name
on it, to be used by our government, we are assured, only to 'track
terrorists.' The information soon to be demanded of airlines will allow
Big Brother to aggregate all other computer-based information about
us." (01/13/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/ecassel/2004/01/13

-----

36) Do Iraqis have a right to resist?
     CounterPunch
     by M. Junaid Alam

"Waging war is a peculiar American pastime: its appeal does not
diminish as corpses multiply. Quite the contrary -- each new round
of this gruesome spectacle is greeted with the greatest fervor by the
elites, the loudest applause from the intellectuals, and the proudest
swagger of the patriots. No effort is spared in hammering into the
public consciousness two absolute Truths about the contenders in
this sordid spectacle: America is absolutely good, and the Enemy
absolutely evil." (01/13/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/alam01132004.html

-----

37) Democrats, poverty and rich bashing
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Tibor R. Machan

"Now the Democrats and their reactionary academic gurus are
peddling the notion that what will make people rich is, once again,
raiding the wealth of those who are already rich. More taxation, they
scream, not more production and free trade. These pathetic people
are counting on voters to be motivated not from an honest desire to
become prosperous -- one that would incline a person to work
harder, to invest wisely, and to save prudently. No, they hope that
voters are motivated from rank envy, the desire to bring down those
who have it better than they do. And to fuel this envy good and hard,
these vile politicians are preaching class warfare and zero-sum
political economy." (01/14/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/machan/machan18.html

-----

38) Howard Reagan?
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Jonathan Zimmerman

"Facing an uphill battle against an incumbent president, party
leaders resolve to pick a 'middle-of-the-road' challenger. But a fiery
populist thwarts them, calling the rank-and-file back to their
ideological roots -- and capturing the nomination. Howard Dean in
2004? No, Ronald Reagan in 1980. By now, we've all heard the rap
on Dr. Dean from Democratic moderates: He's 'unelectable.' ... But
Mr. Reagan faced precisely the same charges from the mainstream
of his own party in 1980." (01/14/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0114/p09s02-coop.html

-----

39) Peace IS possible
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Bob Smith

"One of the strong reasons we have for interacting peacefully with
each other is that we work together, or play together, and trade with
many others. It is self-serving to avoid conflict, because even
personal conflict is time-consuming and costly. We learn to work
together in ways that prevent conflict, because it is to each of our
advantages. ... Powerful governments are the major destroyers of
peace. How can we keep our government from being warlike?"
(01/14/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/14

-----

40) There is no central plan for winning liberty
     Foundation for Economic Education
     by Richard M. Ebeling

"People who become enthusiastic supporters of the freedom
philosophy often ask how the case for individual liberty, free
markets, and constitutionally limited government can be successfully
spread across the land. How can it triumph over the prevailing
system of governmental paternalism?" (01/04)

http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=5718

-----

41) Economics of insurance: The case of New Jersey
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by D.W. MacKenzie

"The New Jersey legislature recently responded to calls for
reforming state automobile laws. Some claim that these laws will
increase competition. Given the track record of this legislature in
regulating auto insurance, there are good reasons to be wary of this
legislation. Does it really improve this situation overall, or is it just
another payoff to special interests?" (01/13/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1410

-----

42) Who is Republican Blake Ashby?
     The American Spectator
     by Shawn Macomber

"Covering the primary up here in this subzero battleground state
[NH], I've done a fair number of radio interviews. Callers ask if the
primary race is really as absurd as it looks on television. I relay
funny stories from the campaign trail, and we all have a good laugh
at the expense of the Dems. That was the routine until late last week,
anyway, when lighthearted ribbing of liberals gave way to white-hot
anger at President Bush .... At a weekend college politics
conference, forlorn-looking young Republicans with 'Bush-Cheney'
buttons on asked me who else was on the Republican ballot? Enter
Blake Ashby ..." (01/14/04)

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=6015

-----

43) Bin Laden's losing bet
     Asia Times
     by Stephen Blank

"The United States' global 'war on terrorism' has clearly entered a
new phase. Regardless of how one feels about the US-led war in
Iraq, the results of that war, and especially the increased capability
that US forces have shown in fighting terrorism, capturing Saddam
Hussein and gaining valuable intelligence thereby, have had a
decisive effect. Even if there has never been any connection
between Saddam's government and al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden
placed a strong wager in terms of resources and men on Iraq, and
he appears to be in great danger of losing his bet." (01/14/04)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FA14Df05.html

-----

44) Big Brother Britain, 2004
     Independent [UK]
     by Maxine Frith

"More than four million surveillance cameras monitor our every
move, making Britain the most-watched nation in the world, research
has revealed.The number of closed circuit television (CCTV)
cameras has quadrupled in the past three years, and there is now
one for every 14 people in the UK. The increase is happening at
twice the predicted rate, and it is believed that Britain accounts for
one-fifth of all CCTV cameras worldwide." (01/12/04)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=480364

-----

45) Your propaganda on drugs
     US Term Limits
     by Paul Jacob

"Have there ever been ads more insulting to our intelligence? You
may remember these somber, grainy 'public announcements' --
claiming, in effect, that if you consume marijuana because of your
cancer, you're helping terrorists. If there's any possibility of debate
over the relationship between drugs and terrorism, you couldn't tell
from these commercials." (01/08/04)

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs1019.html

-----

46) Being a betting man
     ESPN
     by Hunter S. Thompson

"The Colts have been good to me against Denver and Kansas City,
so I am not about to dump them now. That would generate bad mojo
and worse karma. So I will bet them again on Sunday, along with
five or six points -- and nevermind what I said yesterday about the
folly of betting your heart instead of your head. Somebody's hot
streak is going to end Sunday. The winners will go on to the Super
Bowl, and the losers will feel suicidal, as always. Hell, I might even
lose, myself, but why worry? Not even a super-gambler can win all
the time. ... I am also betting that Howard Dean will win both Iowa
and New Hampshire, and that Pete Rose will NEVER be voted into
baseball's Hall of Fame. That truthless swine should have been put to
sleep a long time ago." (01/13/04)

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/thompson/040113.html

-----

47) Thou shalt not kill?
     Strike the Root
     by David Wiggins

"Being guided by conscience has certain implications. If such a
man, in good faith, violates his conscience to follow the dictates of a
certain government official or preacher, to be a good soldier or
citizen or disciple, he acts as if there is no final authority. The final
authority is not this man’s conscience, but sometimes it is one thing,
sometimes another. For this man, there is no God save, perhaps,
that of convenience." (01/13/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/wiggins/wiggins1.html

-----

48) President signs "budget-busting" Medicare reform
     Heartland Institute
     by John Skorburg

"As National Taxpayers Union President John Berthoud observed,
'the nation is in a deep Medicare hole. Instead of stopping the
digging, Congress and President Bush have just dug the hole a lot
deeper. That’s why conservative, free market, and taxpayer groups
were just about unanimous in strongly opposing this legislation.' The
Medicare measure provides for a prescription drug program that will
be implemented beginning in 2006." (01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14119

-----

49) The green machine
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Christopher C. Horner

"Twenty EU member and accession states labour under a cadre of
panels collectively known as the European Environmental Advisory
Council (EEAC). Styling itself as a body 'to provide independent,
scientifically based advice on the environment and sustainable
development,' this so-called 'network' is actually a series of org-
anisations funded by the European Commission to lobby for their
interests locally." (01/13/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03810.cfm

-----

50) Tennessee waltz could become jitterbug for Democrats
     Tennessean
     by Larry Daughtrey

"Like the comedian said, Tennessee's presidential primary -- the
state's slim window for making a difference in the national
nominating processes -- can't get no respect. At various times, it
has embarrassed Democrats by providing a platform for George
Wallace and disappointed Republicans by falling too late on the
calendar to help favorite son Howard Baker. More often, it has just
been an expensive exercise in irrelevancy. Few but the professional
politicians have yet noticed, but it is almost upon us -- Feb. 10, to be
exact, with early voting starting just 10 days from now on Jan. 21.
It's no contest for George Bush on the Republican side, but the
Democratic competition is showing signs of becoming very
entertaining." (01/11/04)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/columnists/daughtrey/index.shtml


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) We'll always have Paris; Huddled masses? Sure -- unless they're Haitian

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

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

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Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,180


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Baghdad bomb kills US soldier
2)  Afghanistan: US death toll reaches 100
3)  Supreme Court defecates on Constitution (again)
4)  Cheney target of criminal investigation
5)  US to cleric: Yes, we were lying about democracy, too
6)  Libertarian candidate leads conscription fight
7)  Court to hear pledge case on March 24
8)  Italy indicts alleged Nazis in 1944 massacre
9)  Fox seeks to open US borders
10) Middle East studies under scrutiny in US
11) Errant email shames RFID backer
12) Treasury Dept. seeks probe into O'Neill TV interview
13) Dean, Clark top Democratic choices, poll says
14) US wants Australia to share cost of missile system
15) Publisher found guilty of being agent for Saddam Hussein
16) TSA defends new passenger screening system
17) Army War College report: Iraq invasion a "strategic error"
18) Thai soldiers search Islamic schools for terrorism suspects
19) Seniors packing heat
20) Man bites dog: "WMDs" found in Iraq
21) Songwriter busted by gun grabbers
22) Gun stores' crime data tracked in study
23) On-duty policeman refused sausage roll
24) NIH will defend its controversial studies
25) A "stop loss" family copes with deployment
26) No smoke: Nashville activists push ban
27) Court considers reach of US disability law
28) The state of the unions

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

29) What is anarchy?
30) History foretold
31) NASA caught lying
32) Worshipping war
33) A golden opportunity for Libertarians
34) Mars mission wastes millions
35) Guns and roses
36) Unemployment
37) Enola Gay, just war, and mass murder
38) Silent running
39) Will anyone hold Bush accountable?
40) Snow criminalization
41) The crumbling case for war
42) Want to limit lobbying? Cut government
43) Tax cut politics ... and pirouettes
44) The Warner tax plan: Better on marketing than economics
45) The threat of gun control
46) Worrying about deficits
47) Resolved: To tell the truth
48) The media vs. Howard Dean
49) Paul O'Neill captured
50) Free trade but ...
51) Food cops? Public health officials? Who can tell?
52) African-American pioneer passes amid few headlines
53) Not the 70s any more
54) Neo-conservatism, hardcore
55) The air gets cleaner, while environmental politics gets dirtier
56) Tax revolt!


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

57) From the halls of Montezuma to the post at Jalalabad; Trippin' Monica


NEWS

1)  Baghdad bomb kills US soldier
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Ukrainian soldiers fired into the air Monday to disperse hundreds of
Iraqis who rioted for jobs and food as a second southern Shiite
Muslim city was rocked by unrest -- a barometer of rising frustration
with the U.S. led-occupation in a region of Iraq considered friendly
to the Americans. Also Monday, a roadside bomb in the capital killed
one American soldier and wounded two, bringing the U.S. death toll
in the Iraqi conflict to 495." (01/12/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040112/1795539.shtml

-----

2)  Afghanistan: US death toll reaches 100
     Helena Independent Record

"An American soldier returning from a patrol became the 100th
fatality in the U.S. military's two-year Afghan campaign when his
vehicle collided with a truck, highlighting the dangers facing U.S.
forces in a nation roiled by a stubborn Taliban insurgency. The toll
pales in comparison to the tally of American dead in Iraq, which is
approaching 500. But it is still a striking number in a force that is a
small fraction of the size of the 130,000-strong U.S. contingent in
Iraq. The U.S. military did not identify the soldier in a brief statement
issued Monday. It said he was involved in an accident southwest of
the Afghan capital Friday night and died of his injuries the next
morning." (01/13/04)

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/01/13/national/a02011304_01.txt

-----

3)  Supreme Court defecates on Constitution (again)
     MSNBC

"The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider whether the
government properly withheld names and other details about
hundreds of foreigners detained in the months after the Sept. 11
terror attacks. The high court turned down a request to review the
secrecy surrounding detainees, nearly all Arabs or Muslims, who
were picked up in the United States immediately following the
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon." (01/12/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3937711/

-----

4)  Cheney target of criminal investigation
     AlterNet

"Though neglected by major media in the United States, international
news sources report that French law enforcement authorities have
made Vice President Dick Cheney the target of a criminal
investigation for his role in a massive bribery scandal during his time
as CEO of Halliburton. ... The London Financial Times reports the
investigation specifically focuses on the criminal charges of 'misuse
of corporate funds' and 'corruption of foreign public agents.' The
Sydney Australia Morning Herald reports the investigative judge is
specifically targeting Cheney for his 'alleged complicity in the abuse
of corporate assets.'" (01/12/04)

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17521

-----

5)  US to cleric: Yes, we were lying about democracy, too
     Washington Post

"L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator of Iraq, on Monday
rebuffed a demand from the country's most influential Shiite Muslim
cleric for early elections that many analysts say would put power
into the hands of the country's large and impoverished Shiite
majority. Bremer said that a plan devised last November for a
transitional assembly created through a system of regional
caucuses would proceed despite the opposition of Grand Ayatollah
Ali Sistani." (01/13/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11368-2004Jan12.html

-----

6)  Libertarian candidate leads conscription fight
     WorldNetDaily

"A Libertarian candidate for president is spearheading a petition
drive on his website to put a stop to legislation that would re-institute
the draft in the U.S. -- for both men and women. Aaron Russo
began his effort against S.89 and H.R.163 last month ..." (01/13/04)

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36562

-----

7)  Court to hear pledge case on March 24
     Fox News

"The Supreme Court's most-watched case of the year will be argued
March 24, when a California father tries to convince the justices that
the regular morning public school salute to the American flag is
unconstitutional because of the reference to God. Justices
scheduled the one-hour argument on Monday, and also agreed to
accept written arguments from other people and groups, including
the mother of the girl in the case." (01/12/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108177,00.html

-----

8)  Italy indicts alleged Nazis in 1944 massacre
     Scotsman [UK]

"A court has charged three alleged ex-SS members with carrying
out a 1944 massacre of 560 people in the Italian village of Sant'Anna
di Stazzema. Italy's ANSA news agency said indictments were
issued against Gerhard Sommer, 83, Alfred Schonenberg, 83, and
Ludwig Sonntag, 80, all said to be former members of an SS
Panzergrenadier Division. ... In August 1944, some 300 of Hitler's
elite and ideologically fanatical SS troops surrounded the Tuscan
village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema, which had been flooded with
refugees, in what was supposed to be a hunt for partisans. Instead,
they rounded up all villagers they could find -- 80% of whom were
women, children and elderly -- and began shooting them, according
to witnesses." (01/13/04)

http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2401874

-----

9)  Fox seeks to open US borders
     Washington Times

"Mexican President Vicente Fox yesterday said he favors open
borders across North America, not amnesty for his countrymen
illegally residing in the United States. The alien work program
announced last week by President Bush would not encourage aliens
to remain in the United States, because they love their home
country, the Mexican president told the 'Fox News Sunday' program.
'We are not looking for an amnesty [for] Mexico. It's not that we're
looking for these Mexicans working productively in the United States
to become U.S. citizens. ... Unfortunately, they don't have the
opportunities that they would like to have as persons, so that's why
they move,' Mr. Fox said." (01/12/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040112-123619-8557r.htm

-----

10) Middle East studies under scrutiny in US
     Washington Post

"[A]cademics who specialize in the region complain that they are
under siege from conservative think tanks and self-appointed
campus watchdog organizations. They say these efforts have
resulted in a flood of abusive e-mail and calls for tightening
congressional control over the funding of Middle East studies
programs, which, they contend, could undermine academic
freedoms." (01/13/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11400-2004Jan12.html

-----

11) Errant email shames RFID backer
     Wired News

"The companies and organizations behind radio-frequency
identification tags are scrambling to improve their image by
promising to protect the privacy rights of consumers, after they were
caught trying to dig up dirt about one of their most effective critics.
The companies also said they are developing devices to disable
RFID tags, which they are placing on everything from shampoo
bottles to suit jackets in the United States and Europe .... And now
the GMA says it wants [CASPIAN founder Katherine] Albrecht's
advice. This represents an about-face by many RFID backers, who
have often played down their plans to tag individual items and
accused Albrecht of exaggerating the threat the tags pose to
consumer privacy." (01/12/04)

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61868,00.html

-----

12) Treasury Dept. seeks probe into O'Neill TV interview
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"The Treasury Department is seeking an investigation into whether a
classified document might have been shown during a TV show in
which former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill spoke out against the
Bush administration. Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols said Monday
that the department has asked the Office of Inspector General to
look into the matter." (01/12/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040112/1795355.shtml

-----

13) Dean, Clark top Democratic choices, poll says
     CNN

"Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean still leads retired Army Gen.
Wesley Clark in the race for the Democratic presidential
nomination, according to a recent national poll, and two-thirds of
Democrats say either man would be good for the party as the
nominee. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll interviewed 1,003 adult
Americans last weekend, including 410 registered voters who
described themselves as Democrats ..." (01/12/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/12/elec04.poll.prez/

-----

14) US wants Australia to share cost of missile system
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"The United States' first reason for enlisting Australian support in its
missile defence system was cost sharing, a former US defence
official said today. Phillip Coyle, assistant defence secretary in the
Clinton administration, said the US always tried to sell interest in
defence systems, as it had with the Joint Strike Fighter. 'The cost is
the first motivation,' Mr Coyle told ABC radio. 'Obviously, the US also
wants to have as many coalition partners as it can. But depending
on who you think the enemy is -- for example, if you think the
enemy is North Korea, a missile coming from North Korea to the US
would go in the general direction of Alaska, which is in quite a
different direction than Australia.'" (01/13/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/13/1073877800669.html

-----

15) Publisher found guilty of being agent for Saddam Hussein
     USA Today

"A community newspaper publisher accused of spying on Iraqi
dissidents in the United States was found guilty Monday of serving
as an unregistered agent of Saddam Hussein. The jury took less
than two hours to convict Khaled Dumeisi after the weeklong trial.
Dumeisi, 61, was accused of spying on critics of the Baghdad
regime living in the United States and passing the information along
to the Iraqi intelligence service." (01/12/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-12-saddam-aide_x.htm

-----

16) TSA defends new passenger screening system
     MSNBC

"The Transportation Security Administration Monday rebuffed
published reports that it will compel airlines to turn over passenger
data records for use in a new computerized system intended to rank
travelers for their terrorist potential based on a sweeping check of
commercial and government databases. Airlines have been reluctant
to turn over passenger data in the aftermath of the public relations
disaster that followed the revelation in September that Jet Blue
Airways had voluntarily turned over passenger data to a
controversial aviation program sponsored by the military." (01/12/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3941260/

-----

17) Army War College report: Iraq invasion a "strategic error"
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"A report published by the Army War College calls the Bush
administration's war on terrorism unfocused and says the invasion
of Iraq was 'a strategic error.' The research paper by Jeffrey
Record, a professor at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force
Base in Montgomery, said the president's strategy 'promises much
more than it can deliver' and threatens to spread U.S. military
resources too thin." (01/12/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040112/1795362.shtml

-----

18) Thai soldiers search Islamic schools for terrorism suspects
     Independent [UK]

"Thai soldiers searching for suspected Muslim militants with links to
terrorism have raided Islamic schools in the three provinces
bordering Malaysia. ... Dozens of suspects have been held for
questioning and local media reports say at least six arrests were
made. Security at Thailand's border with Malaysia has been
tightened. Thailand's Justice Minister, Pongthep Thepkanjana,
requested that Thai students studying at Indonesian religious
schools be closely monitored." (01/13/04)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=480702

-----

19) Seniors packing heat
     Boston Channel

"People over the age of 65 are most likely to own a gun, according
to a new report published by the University of Illinois. The study
shows a change in gun ownership trends over the past two years. In
2000 and 2002, research showed middle-aged Americans the most
likely group to own firearms. 'Even at my youngest, I was never
strong enough to overcome anyone who had bad intentions,'
explained Rosalie, a grandmother who practices shooting at H and H
Gun Range in Oklahoma City." (01/12/04)

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/2758398/detail.html

-----

20) Man bites dog: "WMDs" found in Iraq
     Talon News

"Danish troops Friday discovered what is believed to be Mustard
Gas or some other form of blistering agent inside a cache of 36
aging warheads near the town of Al Quarnah, just north of Basra,
where some 400 Danish soldiers are stationed. Lt. Nikolaj Groen,
spokesman for the Danish Defense Command, told Talon News, 'I
can confirm that 36 mortar shells, with what is believed to be a
blister gas, have been found by Danish forces in Iraq.' 'They had
been there a long time,' said Major Wolf, the Duty Officer for the
Danish Army Operations Command in Iraq. ... When asked whether
the Iraqi army showed any interest in trying to 'resurrect' any of
these WMDs, Maj. Wolf said, 'No, I don't think so. I think they may
have been forgotten.'" (01/12/04)

http://www.talonnews.com/news/2004/january/0112_danish_wmd.shtml

-----

21) Songwriter busted by gun grabbers
     Newsday

"A Grammy-nominated songwriter was released on $50,000 bail
Monday following his arrest for allegedly carrying a loaded handgun
in his carry-on luggage at Long Island MacArthur Airport. Hugh
Prestwood, 61, a staff songwriter for BMG Music who lives in
Greenport, N.Y., was on his way to Nashville at about 11 a.m.
Saturday when an X-ray screener spotted the Smith & Wesson .38-
caliber revolver and two medicines for which he did not have
prescriptions, police said. Authorities arrested Prestwood at the
airport and charged him with one weapon possession count and two
drug possession counts." (01/12/04)

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-ligun0113,0,5545410.story

-----

22) Gun stores' crime data tracked in study
     NewsDay

"About one of every seven guns linked to American crimes or
considered suspicious from 1996 through 2000 can be traced back
to the same 120 gun stores, a gun safety group said Monday,
urging the government to set up a watch list of irresponsible or
corrupt gun dealers. Of the 373,006 guns traced from crimes during
the five-year period, 54,694 came from the 120 stores, according to
data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives.
The data, which surfaced in a lawsuit by the NAACP against gun
manufacturers, was made public by the Washington-based
Americans for Gun Safety Foundation. The 120 stores -- located in
22 states -- made up less than 1 percent of the 80,000 individuals
and stores licensed to sell guns during that period, said Jim Kessler,
the group's policy director." (01/12/04)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-gun-stores,0,6820825.story

-----

23) On-duty policeman refused sausage roll
     Ananova [UK]

"The Government has announced it is to scrap an obscure law after
shop staff refused to serve a police officer a sausage roll. Constable
Dougie Brown was on duty in the village of Nettleham, near Lincoln,
last month when he tried to buy the snack in his local Co-op store. It
turned out that the staff had acted according to the letter of the law
which bans the sale of 'any liquor or refreshment' to an on-duty
policeman without the permission of a senior officer." (01/12/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_855055.html

-----

24) NIH will defend its controversial studies
     USA Today

"The director of the National Institutes of Health plans this week to
issue a letter resolutely defending dozens of AIDS, sexual behavior
and addiction studies challenged by conservative critics as a waste
of taxpayers' money, officials said Monday. After ordering his staff
to review about 190 studies that were under fire, NIH director Elias
Zerhouni says he has concluded that they address 'major' public
health issues that deserve scientific attention." (01/12/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-01-13-nih-usat_x.htm

-----

25) A "stop loss" family copes with deployment
     CNN

"Army 1st Sgt. Jeffrey Butz looked forward to retirement in June
after 20 years in the service. ... Butz is one of thousands of service
members whose retirements or separations from the military have
been delayed over the past two years by so-called Pentagon 'stop
loss' orders. The orders result from the stress of global deployments
on the military since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001."
(01/12/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/12/stop.loss.family/

-----

26) No smoke: Nashville activists push ban
     Nashville City Paper

"Anti-smoking activists will visit Capitol Hill today, in what marks the
40th anniversary of the first U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on
Smoking and Health, to continue their push for a smoke-free
Nashville. Currently 10 of the state’s largest cities and counties have
adopted resolutions asking the state legislature to empower local
governments to regulate tobacco laws, according to Government
Relations Director Chastity Mitchell of the American Cancer
Society. 'Local governments lost control over tobacco policies in
1994,' she said." (01/12/04)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29774

-----

27) Court considers reach of US disability law
     Christian Science Monitor

"The US Constitution mandates that every American is entitled to
access to the courts. But for George Lane, that constitutional
guarantee got a little murky once he actually arrived at the
courthouse steps. That's because Mr. Lane arrived in a wheelchair.
In 1996, Lane crawled up two flights of stairs after being ordered to
appear at his local courthouse in Tennessee to face charges of
driving on a suspended license. The courtroom was on the second
floor, and there were no elevators or ramps. The second time he
was summoned to the same courthouse on the same charges,
however, he refused to crawl." (01/12/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0113/p02s01-usju.html

-----

28) The state of the unions
     Boston Globe

"For maximum effect, the drama of modern-day labor strife requires
a stage, which is exactly what a bunch of city unions will receive
outside John Hancock Hall tomorrow night when Mayor Thomas M.
Menino delivers his annual State of the City speech. It won't be the
first time unions have lined up to greet the mayor and the
dignitaries, subordinates, and cronies who constitute most of the live
props for the televised speech. But the ranks of protesters are
certain to swell this year, in lockstep with Menino's growing labor
woes." (01/12/04)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/01/12/the_state_of_the_unions/

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COMMENTARY

29) What is anarchy?
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Butler Shaffer

"'Anarchy' is an expression of social behavior that reflects the
individualized nature of life. Only as living beings are free to pursue
their particular interests in the unique circumstances in which they
find themselves, can conditions for the well-being of all be attained.
Anarchy presumes decentralized and cooperative systems that
serve the mutual interests of the individuals comprising them, without
the systems ever becoming their own reasons for being. It is this
thinking, and the practices that result therefrom, that is alone
responsible for whatever peace and order exists in society."
(01/13/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer60.html

-----

30) History foretold
     Yellow Times
     by Ramzy Baroud

"What hostile regimes and cruel invaders fail to realize is that the
lessons of history don't weaken when its symbols are turned into
heaps of rubble. It is the spirit that is carried on by successive
generations that ultimately matters. Those who admire the Buddha's
teachings have not grown less faithful even with the destruction of
his colossal status; Iraqis are embarking on a new chapter of an
almost foretold future, just another interval in the existence of ever-
resilient Mesopotamia; Conversely, the people of Nablus will
persevere, despite the unbearable dust, mounting bodies and
malicious bulldozers." (01/12/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1733

-----

31) NASA caught lying
     Fred On Everything
     by Fred Reed

"Being the rabidly nationalistic patriot that I am, I heard with delight
that NASA had landed an $820 million dollar golf cart on Mars.
Always get the best, I say. The planet has always seemed to me a
reasonable place to play golf. I bow to no one in my mindless
enthusiasm for technotrinkets. And I quietly gloated a bit that
America had done it and not, say, Vanuatu or Papua-New Guinea.
Then I thought: Wait a minute. Mars is a gazillion miles away,
probably whole whoppaparsecs or gigawhatsises. Mostly you can't
even see the place. NASA says it shot a golf cart all that way and hit
the right crater? After the thing bounced all over the place wrapped
in inner tubes? The federal government did this -- who couldn't make
a functioning doorstop?" (01/12/04)

http://fredoneverything.net/ImaginarySolarSystem.shtml

-----

32) Worshipping war
     Strike the Root
     by Bob Murphy

"It really is scary when people go beyond the argument that a
specific war is an unavoidable evil, and start claiming that an
occasional war is a noble, uplifting experience. It’s even scarier
when someone as bright as Michael Novak makes the argument, as
he did in his December 30 National Review Online editorial, 'A
Spartan Athens.'" (01/12/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/murphy/murphy2.html

-----

33) A golden opportunity for Libertarians
     Ether Zone
     by Ted Lang

"A third party is needed, not only to offer a real alternative to the
Democrat-Republican Party monopoly of ideological bankruptcy, but
to also preclude the possible armed rebellion that may become
necessary to put our nation back on the right track if we cannot do
so peaceably. And the strongest possible third party contender is
the Libertarian Party. Green, Constitution, America First and the
like, just won't cut it -- they will never recruit a standard bearer of
note to attract a sufficient following to make a difference. This is the
greatest opportunity for the Libertarian Party in memory." (01/13/04)

http://www.etherzone.com/2004/lang011304.shtml

-----

34) Mars mission wastes millions
     Liberty For All
     by Kevin Gividen

"What cost $820 million dollars and goes thud? Answer: NASA's six-
wheeled roving robot. When the taxpayer funded rover landed safely
on Mars late Friday, it sent a tone transmission back to the good ol'
USA. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory celebrated
their achievement with bear hugs and whoops that would do a hyena
proud. But is the project worth a near-billion dollars? Bearing in
mind that our tax dollars are funding such government projects, I
have some questions to ask." (01/13/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/mars.html

-----

35) Guns and roses
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Chris Basten

"Terrorism is an overused excuse to keep all of us in the
government's sites like deer on opening day of the hunting season.
In short, the government fears us more than it fears terrorism any
day. A lot of us know that the government is full of it and the
government knows that a good portion of us don't trust it. The
government will go to great lengths to protect itself but will distract us
from this objective by advertising how much it is securing our
safety." (01/13/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/13

-----

36) Unemployment
     Hawaii Reporter
     by Tracy Ryan

"Chronic unemployment is only and can only be caused by one
thing. That is the resistance of the unemployed worker to accept
employment at a rate or in an area that reflects his current market
value. Remember as long as any human desire remains unfilled
there is work that can be done. This means there is always work."
(01/12/04)

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?a0b69c1b-aba6-4b00-80c6-7bd632acf211

-----

37) Enola Gay, just war, and mass murder
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"The duty of government to protect individual rights also extends to
protecting citizens from foreign governments. Should one nation-
state decide to attack another, the government of the defending
nation has an equally important moral responsibility to shield its
citizens from the aggressor, by deploying its military in their
defense." (01/12/04)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0401d.asp

-----

38) Silent running
     Reason
     by Charles Paul Freund

"Tomorrow [01/13/04], the nation's first presidential primary will
finally take place, and the chances are pretty good that you've heard
nothing whatsoever about it. This distinctly unheralded event is
happening here in the District of Columbia .... D.C.'s activists
expected at least some national media attention to be focused on the
contest, and planned to use it to highlight the District's lack of voting
rights. (The city has no voting representation on Capitol Hill.)
Instead, their plan has backfired catastrophically. All that has been
highlighted is that the city is more politically marginalized than ever,
and that its activist politics are delusional." (01/12/04)

http://www.reason.com/links/links011204.shtml

-----

39) Will anyone hold Bush accountable?
     CounterPunch
     by Jason Leopold

"You'd think that President Bush would be facing, to quote Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, a long, hard slog in his bid to
recapture the White House for a second term what with all the
information trickling out of the president's administration the past few
months showing that senior administration officials knowingly
mislead the American public about the reasons for launching a
preemptive attack against Iraq." (01/12/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/leopold01122004.html

-----

40) Snow criminalization
     Seattle Times
     by Leslie Fulbright

"As the snow blanketing the region turned to slush, police were
considering arresting a sledding scofflaw on suspicion of reckless
endangerment, and school officials were on the lookout for illicit
snowball tossers. It brings up an interesting idea: snow
criminalization." (01/09/04)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001833102_snowcrime09e.html

-----

41) The crumbling case for war
     AntiWar.Com
     by Alan Bock

"It is a little frustrating to write that the main hope is that the
American people will be more vigilant the next time a president and
his administration put on a full court press on behalf of a dubious
war. At this time, however, it is probably the best we can hope for. It
is fine to entertain the distant hope that various scandals and
evidence of untruths will lead to the downfall or even the widespread
discrediting of the Bush administration and its decision to invade
Iraq. It is more likely, however, that the effect will be more subtle and
cumulative -- and it might not happen at all." (01/13/04)

http://antiwar.com/bock/index.php?articleid=1583

-----

42) Want to limit lobbying? Cut government
     Fox News
     by Daniel J. Mitchell

"Presidential candidates John Kerry and John Edwards have been
trying to breathe life into their moribund campaigns by attacking
lobbyists. In their view, the traditional Washington career path -- a
stint in government followed by a lucrative job lobbying former
colleagues -- is inherently corrupt. Both candidates propose
restrictions, including limits on the ability of former government
officials to function as lobbyists. ... But even if every lobbyist was
amoral ... that doesn’t mean regulatory restrictions on the profession
would be effective or desirable. ... The real problem is that
government is too big and has too much power -- and this attracts
lobbyists for the same reason that rotten meat attracts flies."
(01/12/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108118,00.html

-----

43) Tax cut politics ... and pirouettes
     Washington Times
     by Donald Lambro

"Here's a surprise: Four Democratic presidential candidates are
making the case for George W. Bush's middle-class tax cuts. Until
the presidential election cycle began rolling, the Democrats'
campaign mantra was to denounce the Bush tax cuts, without any
caveats for key provisions aimed at low- to middle-income workers:
dropping the bottom 15 percent marginal income tax rate to 10
percent, eliminating the marriage penalty against two-income
couples, doubling the child tax credit to lower tax liabilities that
disproportionately helps those on the lower end of the income
scale." (01/12/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040111-104446-7438r.htm

-----

44) The Warner tax plan: Better on marketing than economics
     Cato Institute
     by Chris Edwards

"Gov. Mark Warner has proposed a major overhaul of Virginia's tax
structure promising 'modernization,' 'fairness' and a tax cut for most
families. Unfortunately, Warner appears to have spent more time
designing the marketing of the plan than thinking about the actual
economics of tax reform. Indeed, it seems that the main goal is
simply to raise another $1 billion from Virginians with the minimum
of political pain." (01/13/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-13-04.html

-----

45) The threat of gun control
     Frontiers of Freedom
     by Doug Hagin

"Freedom of speech? Freedom of religion? How about Freedom
against unreasonable searches and seizures? Yes these are all
hallmarks of a free society. Yet there is one freedom which protects
these and all our other rights in America. That right is found in our
Constitution in the form of the Second Amendment." (01/12/04)

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/hagin_20040112.html

-----

46) Worrying about deficits
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by Bruce Bartlett

"If there is a stock market crash, like those in 1987 and 1989, some
time before the election, the deficit could indeed become a hot
political issue that the Democratic candidate might be able to exploit.
... If history is a guide, whatever the true reasons for the market
break, policymakers inevitably will focus on the budget deficit as the
underlying cause. That is what happened in both 1987 and 1989 ..."
(01/12/04)

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/bud/2004/pd011204a.html

-----

47) Resolved: To tell the truth
     Heartland Institute
     by Conrad F. Meier

"Color me conflicted. Early in the Medicare reform debate I wrote in
favor of the emerging plan, citing its potential to inject free
enterprise, self-reliance, and individual initiative into an overly
centralized and bureaucratic entitlement program, not to mention a
prescription drug benefit for those who really need it. I was a little
skeptical when it appeared Republicans and Democrats agreed on
something, but I figured stranger things have happened before and
we have dealt with them." (01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14086

-----

48) The media vs. Howard Dean
     Salon
     by Eric Boehlert

"When the Washington Post introduced readers to Howard Dean in
a long Page 1 feature July 6, part of a series of 'meet the
Democrats' candidate profiles, the paper went for the jugular,
literally, with a cartoonish, unflattering description to open the article
.... Six months later, an extended version of that campaign narrative,
polished by Republican talking-points memos and echoed day after
day by the mainstream media, remains a constant of the campaign
trail: Dean is a sarcastic smart aleck with foot-in-the mouth disease,
a political ticking time bomb." [subscription or ad view required]
(01/13/04)

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/01/13/dean_media/

-----

49) Paul O'Neill captured
     The Borowitz Report
     by Andy Borowitz

"Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was captured Sunday night
in a surprise raid on the CBS studios in New York, the Pentagon
confirmed today. 'We got him,' a coolly confident Vice President
Dick Cheney announced to the press moments after Mr. O'Neill was
apprehended. ... Special Forces operatives swarmed over the 'Sixty
Minutes' set shortly after 7 PM (EST), accidentally grabbing Andy
Rooney before releasing him and nabbing Mr. O'Neill. ... Mr.
Rumsfeld said that the Patriot Act permits former Cabinet members
who make insulting remarks about the White House to be arrested
and detained forever. 'Maybe Mr. Jerky should've thought twice
before shooting his mouth off, eh?' Mr. Rumsfeld chuckled." [satire --
  barely] (01/12/04)

http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=777

-----

50) Free trade but ...
     Washington Post
     by Michael Kinsley

"One of the tiresome conceits of political debate is that when
opponents agree on something, it is more likely to be true. Another
is that an assertion is more credible if it comes from someone who
used to assert the opposite. The joint byline on the New York Times
op-ed page Jan. 6 -- 'By Charles Schumer and Paul Craig Roberts' -
- certainly was a shocker. Schumer is a liberal Democratic senator
from New York; Roberts is one of the wildest of the bug-eyed supply-
side conservative economists. Schumer's connections to the
financial establishment and Roberts's free-market ranting make their
message surprising as well: They have turned against free trade.
But two people can be just as wrong as one." (01/09/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1985-2004Jan8.html

-----

51) Food cops? Public health officials? Who can tell?
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"The American Public Health Association (APHA), fresh from an
annual conference held to promote government policies that threaten
to control your day-to-day activities, issued a whopping 27 new
policy statements today. APHA now considers its mission so broad
that it even took a position on defense policy. Our only surprise was
that food garnered a mere two statements. Those two items on
APHA's wish list? A ban on food ads aimed at children, and a
moratorium on new large-scale animal farms." (01/12/04)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=2306

-----

52) African-American pioneer passes amid few headlines
     Nashville City Paper
     by Ron Wynn

"The passing of Etta Moten Barnett Jan. 2 in Chicago hasn’t
received nearly as much attention in various publications as Britney
Spears’ marital misadventures or Pete Rose’s gambling admissions,
but it’s certainly one of the New Year’s biggest cultural stories.
Barnett was a pioneer as a performer and philanthropist, and she
excelled decades before the breakthroughs that accompanied the
civil rights movement of the '60s. She lived to be 102, and many of
Barnett’s considerable achievements were highlighted in Useni
Eugene Parks’ 2001 Chicago play Papa’s Child: The Story of Etta
Moten Barnett." (01/12/04)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29779

-----

53) Not the 70s any more
     US Term Limits
     by Paul Jacob

"Columnist Archie Richards had some nice things to say recently
about term limits. That's not the only reason I'm giving him air time,
but it helps. The other is his optimism about the coming decade. Of
course we've had some pretty bad news in recent years, some of it
horrific. One of Archie's readers is so pessimistic that he says
America is about to get a re-run of the 1970s. In reply, Mr. Richards
rattles off a bunch of ways things have changed for the better since
then." (01/07/04)

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs1018.html

-----

54) Neo-conservatism, hardcore
     Asia Times
     by Jim Lobe

"If hardcore neo-conservatives Richard Perle and David Frum had
their way, the Bush administration would be issuing ultimatums on
virtually a daily basis. In their new book, An End to Evil: How to Win
the War on Terror, Perle, the well-connected former chairman of the
Defense Policy Board, and Frum, a former White House
speechwriter .... both resident fellows at the American Enterprise
Institute, describe an extremely dangerous world in which the
greatest current evil, 'militant Islam,' can be found everywhere --
from 'Indonesia to Indiana' (not to mention 'in some remoter areas of
Venezuela,' Paraguay, Brazil and northern Nigeria) ..." (01/12/04)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FA13Aa05.html

-----

55) The air gets cleaner, while environmental politics gets dirtier
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Ben Lieberman

"The way the administration's environmental critics tell it, you can't
see your hand in front of your face anymore because of all the
pollution Bush has allowed his big business buddies to emit. That's
certainly the theme of every green activist group, Democratic
presidential hopeful, and far too many environmental journalists. But
there is one big problem with this scenario -- it's the exact opposite
of reality, according to a 2003 report by the Environmental
Protection Agency." (01/12/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03807.cfm

-----

56) Tax revolt!
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Max Pappas

"A tax revolt is sweeping the nation, but Democratic candidates for
president have failed to notice. With first primaries of the 2004
election season just days away, they are still proposing tax hikes.
While President Bush has put forth his fourth tax cut in four years,
candidate Wesley Clark recently revealed a plan dredged from the
Democratic sewer of bad ideas past, reeking of class warfare: he
would raise taxes on the rich and cut taxes for the poor and middle
class to make the system more 'progressive' or rather,
discriminatory." (01/08/04)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1654.htm


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

57) From the halls of Montezuma to the post at Jalalabad; Trippin' Monica

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

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

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

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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           Supported by the generous donations of our readers

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
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Monday, January 12, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,179


FROM THE PUBLISHER:

0) In memory of Lux Lucre


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Six Iraqis killed in clash with UK troops
2)  Iranian election authorities emulate US counterparts
3)  Israeli settlers protest evacuation plan
4)  Top Shiite cleric hardens call for early Iraqi vote
5)  Judge: Sell Kaczynski's property or return it
6)  Libertarian contests position in recall election
7)  Friend defends man facing gun charges
8)  School's proposed land theft upsets intended victims
9)  Seeking secession
10) US seeks passenger records to rate risk
11) Study: Teens who hurry love less likely to use birth control
12) Minus peace, Palestinians assert right to declare state
13) Shooting for the moon and beyond
14) Feingold reconsiders victim disarmament advocacy
15) Mother charged with driving "pole dancing car"
16) With NH, Iowa looming, Democrats diverge on taxes
17) Romney eyes spending increases
18) Officials: Bush space plan won't overtax US budget
19) Wife of ex-Enron CFO seeks deal that judge will approve
20) US using Turkish air base in massive Iraq troop rotation
21) Former Molson site gone to pot
22) Iraq's oil assets seen less attractive
23) Online addicts abandon real world
24) Homeowner will not be tried for killing intruder
25) Military trying to determine fate of Navy pilot shot down in first Gulf War

-----ADVERTISEMENT----------------------------------------------------
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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Lux Lucre, RIP
27) Open the borders, close the schools
28) Who's winning the war on civil liberties?
29) The unlocked box
30) Blind justice?
31) The "War on Poverty" turns 40
32) Republic or democracy?
33) Smoking Property Rights
34) Bush worker plan betrays American ideals
35) Disarmed victims
36) Dangerous books
37) War-gate
38) Inside the black box
39) A pretty business
40) Democrats, we are begging you
41) A good offense
42) "I killed people. I did it for my country."
43) Marriages gay and throwaway
44) How to lose your job in talk radio
45) Restoring a bogus legacy
46) A year all out of lies, lies and more lies
47) Dishonest replies to any criticism of the "neocons"
48) The great equalizer
49) Bush immigration plan's three flaws
50) Free trade and factor mobility
51) Virtually extinct
52) There is hope


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

53) Ophelia goes to Washington; previous non-declarations; Bob goes Asiatic


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) In memory of Lux Lucre

Last Friday, liberty lost another of its most staunch defenders: Kerry
Pearson, better known to most of his friends as Lux Lucre. Kerry
died at home, in his sleep, apparently from complications of
diabetes.

Lux was a hardcore, radical libertarian and a long-time participant
on the Smith2004-discuss email list. He was also an enthusiastic
participant in science fiction fandom.

We at Rational Review were improved by Lux's friendship and
association, and are diminished by his loss. For what little it may be
worth, this issue of RRND is dedicated to his memory.

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Six Iraqis killed in clash with UK troops
     Independent [UK]

"Up to six people were killed and 11 wounded during clashes in Iraq
between protesters demanding jobs and British soldiers and Iraqi
police. The crowd, demanding jobs yesterday in the south-eastern
town of Amarah, were reported to have lobbed homemade bombs
and stones before they were fired on. As crowds gathered again
today, a dozen British soldiers with riot shields and batons guarded
the mayor's office, which had its windows shattered yesterday. No
Iraqi police were visible at the compound that also houses the US-
led coalition and the 1st Battalion of Britain's Light Infantry."
(01/11/04)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=480097

-----

2)  Iranian election authorities emulate US counterparts
     Washington Post

"Reformist legislators in Iran held angry protests Sunday after a
conservative oversight body barred almost a third of them from
seeking reelection next month. ... In addition to the incumbents,
thousands of other candidates were barred from running for the 290-
seat parliament, according to the official Islamic Republic News
Agency. The Associated Press cited parliament members as saying
that about 900 of the 1,700 hopefuls for seats in Tehran alone had
been disqualified." (01/11/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8317-2004Jan11.html

-----

3)  Israeli settlers protest evacuation plan
     Guardian [UK]

"More than 100,000 settlers and their backers protested plans by
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, once their greatest champion, to
evacuate settlements in a peace agreement with the Palestinians or
even in unilateral moves. But during the demonstration in Tel Aviv on
Sunday night, Sharon was 75 miles away in Jerusalem, telling
foreign reporters that in a peace deal, Israel would not be able to
retain all of its settlements. ... The settlers and their supporters say
they have a God-given right to live wherever they want within the
biblical Land of Israel, which includes the West Bank. However,
Palestinians say the settlements are an encroachment on land they
claim for a future state." (01/12/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3614496,00.html

-----

4)  Top Shiite cleric hardens call for early Iraqi vote
     Washington Post

"Iraq's most influential Shiite Muslim cleric hardened his opposition
on Sunday to U.S. plans for ceding control of Iraq to a transitional
government, repeating his call for early elections and raising the
specter of violence if his demand was not met. The cleric, Grand
Ayatollah Ali Sistani, rebuffed delegates from the U.S.-appointed
Governing Council who visited the holy city of Najaf in an effort to
convince him that regional caucuses should choose a new
assembly." (01/12/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8436-2004Jan11.html

-----

5)  Judge: Sell Kaczynski's property or return it
     Sacramento Bee

"The government should be forced to sell the writings and personal
photographs of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski and give the
proceeds to the victims of his mayhem, or return the material to him
for donation to the University of Michigan, a federal magistrate judge
said Thursday in Sacramento. ... When he was sentenced in May
1998 after pleading guilty, Kaczynski was ordered by Burrell to pay
his victims $15 million in restitution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana
Maria Martel now argues that the restitution order gives the
government a lien on all of his property. However, Hollows found that
a lien does not confer possession forever. The government must sell
the property and apply the proceeds to restitution, or give it back, he
wrote." (01/09/04)

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/8067765p-9000393c.html

-----

6)  Libertarian contests position in recall election
     Denver Post

"[I]t now appears that Feb. 24, the scheduled date for an election to
recall [Arapahoe County, CO official Tracy] Baker, will look like a
replay. The Democratic candidate, Kathleen Conway, failed to
collect enough signatures to get her name on the ballot. Only a
Republican, Nancy Doty, and a Libertarian, Travis Nicks, will face
off for clerk and recorder if voters decide to oust Baker." (01/12/04)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~64~1885441,00.html

-----

7)  Friend defends man facing gun charges
     Mansfield News Journal

"Jeffrey Jordan may have been driving through Ohio just a few
months too late [sic]. 'It would be ironic if Jeff becomes one of the
last casualties in Ohio of the kind of gun laws responsible Ohioans
have been working against so hard for so long,' Sunni Maravillosa, a
long-time friend of Jordan, said. Jordan, 42, was arrested Dec. 31
by a trooper of the Ashland post of the Ohio Highway Patrol after a
traffic stop. He faces charges of carrying a concealed weapon after
troopers said they found two handguns on him. The resident of New
Hampshire, where it is already legal to carry a concealed weapon if
properly licensed, was released on bond." (01/11/04)

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20040111/localnews/206236.html

-----

8)  School's proposed land theft upsets intended victims
     Biloxi Sun Herald

"Jackson State [MS] University's plan to expand its campus and
improve the surrounding neighborhood has drawn fire from some
whose properties stand in the way. Jackson State is trying to take
10-15 pieces of property on Lunch, Dalton and Pearl streets through
eminent domain. ... Eminent domain is the right [sic] of a
government to take a private property for public use .... Milton
Chambliss will appear in court on Jan. 27 to fight for his property.
Chambliss' grandfather opened the Chambliss Shoe Hospital in the
1930s on Lynch Street ..." (01/11/04)

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/7686677.htm

-----

9)  Seeking secession
     Boston Globe

"When Michael Miller bought Mountain Meadows, a cross-country
ski outfit beneath Killington Mountain, 15 years ago, he and his wife
were attracted by three things: a good school, the pleasure of
operating a small Vermont business, and low taxes. But now he says
the state he loved has turned on him, saddling him with taxes he
cannot afford. And he wants out. 'I've been proud to be a
Vermonter,' said Miller, a Killington selectman. 'But pride doesn't pay
the bills.' Rather than packing up and leaving the state, Miller and the
other two Killington selectmen, along with Town Manager David
Lewis, are leading a move to secede from Vermont and join their
town with New Hampshire, some 25 miles to the east." (01/11/04)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/01/11/seeking_secession/

-----

10) US seeks passenger records to rate risk
     Washington Post

"Despite stiff resistance from airlines and privacy advocates, the
U.S. government plans to push ahead this year with a vast
computerized system to probe the backgrounds of all passengers
boarding flights in the United States. The government will compel
airlines and airline reservations companies to hand over all
passenger records for scrutiny by U.S. officials, after failing to win
cooperation in the program's testing phase." (01/12/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8504-2004Jan11.html

-----

11) Study: Teens who hurry love less likely to use birth control
     USA Today

"When teens have intercourse for the first time, it's usually within
three months of the start of a relationship. But the longer they wait,
the more likely they are to use contraception, a new report says. If
first sex occurs within one month, just 58% of teens say they
'always' use contraception. After four or more months together, 71%
do, the study of sexually active teens says. The study was done by
the non-profit Child Trends research center." (01/11/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-01-12-birth-control-usat_x.htm

-----

12) Minus peace, Palestinians assert right to declare state
     Washington Times

"Palestinian leaders yesterday reasserted the right to unilaterally
declare an independent state in the absence of a peace deal with
Israel, responding to Israel's own threats of one-sided action. The
go-it-alone declarations reflect both sides' frustrations with more
than three years of fighting and stalled peace talks." (01/11/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040110-113511-4406r.htm

-----

13) Shooting for the moon and beyond
     Christian Science Monitor

"Even before Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, it seemed
obvious that Mars would be next. Wernher von Braun, the great
architect of the American space program, had envisioned it as the
next logical step after landing on the Moon. Less than two months
after Apollo 11, a presidential task force convened to chart the
future of human spaceflight came to the same conclusion. When
that idea died on Richard Nixon's desk a year later, it was not for
lack of American know-how, but for lack of money. Later this week,
when President Bush is expected to announce his plan to build a
lunar base and send an astronaut to Mars, it will again be as much
an issue of dollars as of science." (01/11/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0112/p01s02-usgn.html

-----

14) Feingold reconsiders victim disarmament advocacy
     Green Bay News Chronicle

"Feingold commented on being the lone U.S. Senator who opposed
legislation known as the 'Patriot Act,' which was enacted by
Congress following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the East
Coast. While he has received both praise and criticism for voting
against a bill intended to combat terrorism, Feingold said he wants to
change what he believes is flawed with the legislation. 'A lot of gun
owners are upset about some of the powers that have been given to
the federal government,' he said. 'We're going to try to change that.'
When asked about the right to bear arms, Feingold acknowledged
he originally voted in favor of banning so-called semi-automatic
'assault weapons.' But he said he hasn't sponsored legislation to
continue the ban and is now 'leaning against' renewing it." (01/09/04)

http://www.greenbaynewschron.com/page.html?article=123810

-----

15) Mother charged with driving "pole dancing car"
     Ananova [UK]

"A mother-of-two has been arrested for allegedly driving a car with a
pole dancer painted on it. Erica Meredith, 25, from Indianapolis, has
been charged with disseminating matter harmful to minors. The 1976
Buick belongs to her boyfriend. Patrol officer Kevin Kerns pulled
over Meredith after spotting a broken tail light. He wrote in his report:
'Applying contemporary standards, displays a theme which appeals
to the prurient interest of sex.' The painting shows a naked dancer
being watched by two men." (01/11/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_854668.html

-----

16) With NH, Iowa looming, Democrats diverge on taxes
     Washington Times

"As the caucus and primary season nears, the Democratic
presidential candidates have been bickering over tax cuts, with
Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Kerry arguing that their opponents'
plan to repeal all of President Bush's tax cuts amounts to a tax
increase. 'I strongly disagree with anyone who would raise taxes on
the middle class,' said Mr. Kerry on Wednesday. '[Former Vermont
Gov.] Howard Dean and [Rep.] Dick Gephardt want to increase their
taxes. Their plan would raise taxes $2,000 for a typical family with
two kids.' Mr. Kerry is running a television ad in Iowa highlighting
this position." (01/11/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040111-122003-5353r.htm

-----

17) Romney eyes spending increases
     Boston Globe

"[MA] Governor Mitt Romney will declare in his upcoming State of
the State address that a surge in tax revenue and savings from his
reforms will allow him to propose a modest expansion of some
government programs, drawing a sharp contrast to the budget
cutting of the last three years and the somber mood of legislative
Democrats. Romney ... said he will not propose cuts in aid to cities
and towns, or drastic cuts in other state programs, but instead will
declare that the state has enough money to spend more on
education, housing and the environment. He will not advocate tax
increases." (01/11/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2atxv

-----

18) Officials: Bush space plan won't overtax US budget
     USA Today

"Space-exploration proposals that President Bush is preparing to put
into his next budget will not undermine his administration's goal of
cutting the federal deficit in half within five years, Treasury
Secretary John Snow said Sunday. Snow said the new space
proposals, which include a permanent settlement on the moon and
setting a goal of sending Americans to Mars, will be undertaken
'within a framework of fiscal responsibility.'" (01/11/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-01-11-bush-space_x.htm

-----

19) Wife of ex-Enron CFO seeks deal that judge will approve
     MSNBC

"Lawyers for the wife of former Enron Corp. finance chief Andrew
Fastow kept working Sunday on a plea deal that would clear the path
for a separate agreement for him, possibly leading to more
prosecutions of top executives of the collapsed energy giant. 'They
are ongoing,' Mike DeGeurin, Lea Fastow’s lead lawyer, said
Sunday about plea negotiations. He declined to elaborate."
(01/11/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3932303/

-----

20) US using Turkish air base in massive Iraq troop rotation
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"The American military has begun using an air base in southern
Turkey for a massive rotation of troops in and out of Iraq, a U.S.
official told The Associated Press on Sunday, in a sign of improved
U.S.-Turkish relations. Turkish permission to use its Incirlik air base
marks a sharp contrast to last year, when the country -- opposed to
the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein -- refused to allow U.S. troops
on its territory for the war against its southern neighbor." (01/11/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040111/1793093.shtml

-----

21) Former Molson site gone to pot
     MAPINC

"Police tactical units and K-9 dog teams are searching the inside of
the former giant Molson's brewery for bombs and booby-traps. The
search comes after police uncovered what they say is the largest
and most elaborate indoor marijuana growing operation in Ontario.
... Throughout the day and into the night, officers continually
entered and exited the large building, carrying special equipment,
while officers blocked off the area from the public. 'This place is
huge -- there are a lot of good hiding places,' said OPP
Superintendent Bill Crate. 'We don't know if there are other suspects
hiding inside.'" (01/11/04)


http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n063/a03.html

-----

22) Iraq's oil assets seen less attractive
     MSNBC

"Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, global oil companies were
eagerly competing to win lucrative contracts to develop the country’s
undeveloped reserves -- the second largest in the world, behind
Saudi Arabia. But as U.S. and Iraqi officials begin to draw the
outlines of the country’s post-Saddam oil industry, the treasure has
lost some of its luster." (01/11/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3908685/

-----

23) Online addicts abandon real world
     The Age [Australia]

"Gabriele Farke celebrated her 40th birthday in a chat room. Her
real-life friends had long since given up on her. For two-and-a-half
years, she spent every spare minute logging on under the screen
name 'HexenKuss' (witches' kiss). Her compulsive internet surfing
cost her job. Her online addiction left her no time or energy for other
activities. When things got really out of hand, the media specialist
trainee from Buxtehude, Germany, had just enough strength to take
action. She founded the first self-help group for online addiction in
Germany." (01/12/04)

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/12/1073769485753.html

-----

24) Homeowner will not be tried for killing intruder
     Austin American-Statesman

"Stanley Hughson will not face prosecution for the fatal shooting of a
North Carolina man who entered his house uninvited and later fought
with authorities. A grand jury decided Wednesday not to indict
Hughson for the Nov. 23 shooting .... Lufuma, who was unarmed,
entered Hughson's house on Old Stagecoach Road, about five miles
south of Kyle [TX], and refused to leave. Hughson called 911, and
two deputies from the Hays County sheriff's office went to the
house. They tried to arrest Lufuma, but he attacked them, according
to the sheriff's office. Police in Raleigh told Lufuma's family that he
reached for an officer's gun before he was shot, family members
have said. Hughson shot Lufuma once as he tangled with the
deputies." (01/09/04)

http://tinyurl.com/27u7q

-----

25) Military trying to determine fate of Navy pilot shot down in first Gulf War
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Military search crews have returned to the site where Navy pilot
Michael Scott Speicher's fighter jet crashed 13 years ago, while
captured Iraqi officials, including Saddam Hussein, are being
questioned about the fate of the missing flier. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson,
D-Fla., who has worked to get answers for Speicher's family and
friends, said crews are actively looking for the Jacksonville man,
whose plane went down Jan. 17, 1991, about 100 miles north of the
Saudi Arabian border." (01/11/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040111/1793143.shtml

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                Check out our donor premium program at:

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COMMENTARY

26) Lux Lucre, RIP
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by staff

Kerry Pearson, a/k/a Lux Lucre, died on Friday January 9. This
edition of TLE is a memorial to Lux. Lux contributed a number of his
excellent graphics and animations to grace the "covers" of TLE over
the years, and we were much the better for it. Lux was the creator of
numerous Macromedia Flash movies, including one on The Atlanta
Declaration, one on the Zero Aggression Principle, and the hilarious
"Girls are Evil" (he, of course, was kidding). (01/11/04)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/

-----

27) Open the borders, close the schools
     Las Vegas Review-Journal
     by Vin Suprynowicz

"The Libertarian solution is the only moral, practical, ethically
consistent remedy. The solution comes in two parts. The second
part is open immigration. Anyone who wants to come here can
come here. They can even bring their guns. Open the borders. If
you blow things up, we'll shoot you on the spot. Otherwise, welcome
to the land of freedom. And when you get here, we'll hand you ...
nothing. Such a plan would bankrupt any social welfare state inside
a decade. That's why that has to be 'part two.' The first part is: Shut
down the social welfare state." (01/11/04)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jan-11-Sun-2004/opinion/22959742.htm\
l

-----

28) Who's winning the war on civil liberties?
     Civil Liberties Watch
     by Elaine Cassel

"Like the war on terror, the Bush Administration’s war on civil
liberties was undertaken in the name of national security and in
defense of 'freedom.' The individual victims are diverse --
Americans, legal aliens, illegal. Institutional victims include Muslim
charities, organizations that support Palestinians, and activist
mosques. The greater victim, however, is the Constitution and the
rule of law. It can no longer be said that we have three strong,
independent branches of government -- the executive, the legislative,
and the judicial. The founding fathers, of whom much is written
these days, planned three co-equal branches of government
precisely to deter the power of a despotic President. But rather than
protect us from an over-zealous executive branch, the Congress and
the courts are providing Bush important ammunition by way of
legislation." (01/09/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/ecassel/2004/01/09

-----

29) The unlocked box
     Slate
     by Daniel Gross

"The accounting for Social Security surpluses has always been
dishonest. But in the past few years, the Bush administration has
made this shady accounting a central pillar of its fiscal strategy. The
unprecedented reliance on these funds hides the failure of the
administration to ensure that there is some reasonable correlation
between the resources it has at its disposal and the spending
commitments it makes. Bush & Co. have redesigned the tax system
so that collections of the progressive taxes that are supposed to fund
government operations -- like individual income taxes -- have
plummeted. Instead, with each passing year we rely for our current
needs more on the regressive payroll taxes that are supposed to
fund our collective retirement." (01/09/04)

http://slate.msn.com//?id=2093707&

-----

30) Blind justice?
     Center for Individual Freedom
     by staff

"Forget the fight to allow cameras in federal courtrooms. In this post-
9/11 world, the battle for open judicial proceedings is being fought
over whether the public is allowed to know certain cases exist at all.
Case in point: a petition currently pending at the U.S. Supreme
Court known to the public only as M.K.B. v. Warden, No. 03-6747.
The petitioner is known by his initials alone, and the High Court’s
docket reflects neither what court decided the case below nor when
that decision was issued ..." (01/09/04)

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/cameras_courtrooms\
.htm

-----

31) The "War on Poverty" turns 40
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Dick Armey

In his State of the Union address forty years ago this week,
President Lyndon B. Johnson declared an 'unconditional war on
poverty in America.' Since then, the federal government has created
vast new bureaucracies and raised taxes to a staggering level not
seen since World War Two. L.B.J. helped create welfare (Aid to
Families with Dependent Children), Medicare, Head Start, the Job
Corps, and Medicaid. Worst of all, most of L.B.J.’s War on Poverty
was a failure." (01/09/04)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1657.htm

-----

32) Republic or democracy?
     Liberty For All
     by Ed Lewis

"To help assure that Rights were not violated ... the founders
eventually ratified the 'Constitution for the united States of America.'
It is noteworthy that the Constitution does not establish rights but
instead limits government against the infringement upon Rights. To
help insure the protection of Rights, and to assure no mistake in
their intent, the founders also wrote and the states ratified
unanimously the Bill of Rights, taken as being the first ten
amendments to the Constitution." (01/12/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan25/republic.html

-----

33) Smoking Property Rights
     AlternaPress
     by Ailill Farraideach

"In most cases, this debate is expressed as being about the rights of
smokers versus the rights of non smokers, but this is a false
dichotomy. Both of these groups have the exact same rights. They
only appear to be in conflict because another group is being
completely ignored." (01/10/04)

http://pub15.ezboard.com/falternapressfrm14.showMessage?topicID=16.topic

-----

34) Bush worker plan betrays American ideals
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Sheldon Richman

"This may appear to be a blow for freedom, which is certainly an
American ideal that once shaped our history, but it really has
nothing to do with freedom. Instead, Bush’s plan is consistent with
government control of the labor market and therefore of free
enterprise and individual liberty." (01/09/04)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0401c.asp

-----

35) Disarmed victims
     Common Voice
     by Joe Lolli

"Dear Ms Cosby, Please note that there are just over five million law
abiding citizens across U.S.A. that are allowed to carry a concealed
weapon with them while traveling around in public. I know of several
avid bicycle enthusiasts that normally are armed with a concealed
firearm while riding their bikes, as South Carolina is one of the 38
states that is allowed to issue their law abiding citizens a concealed
weapon permit. The problem is that this attack occurred in a state
that did not allow any of these victims of that cougar attack ... or
their rescuers ... to legally carry a firearm. As a result, as one man
on your show said he resorted to throwing rocks." (01/11/04)

http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?ColId=1233&poll=up

-----

36) Dangerous books
     CounterPunch
     by Susan Davis

"Forever, people in power have been afraid of fiction. Wild
imaginings threaten to undermine the view of the world as
unchangeable, the easy idea that history is set in its course like
footprints in cement. Novels, poetry, plays, and even pornography
have been confiscated, burned and banned in both dangerous and
safe, settled times. Maybe late 2003, when United States
government alerted us to beware of people carrying books of facts,
was a turning point." (01/10/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/davis01102004.html

-----

37) War-gate
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"In the run-up to war the sheer volume of lies produced by this
administration was meant to overwhelm Congress, the media, and
the people with its inventiveness. In a veritable frenzy of
prevarication, the War Party came up with some real whoppers --
and one howler that has not only come back to haunt them, but
which very well may prove to be their undoing." (01/12/04)

http://antiwar.com/justin/index.php?articleid=1579

-----

38) Inside the black box
     Tom Paine
     by Henry Norr

"Fueled by a seemingly unending series of damaging revelations
about the insecurity of electronic voting systems and the practices
of the companies that make them, the burgeoning movement
demanding that new election equipment generate a voter-verifiable
paper ballots enters 2004 with growing legitimacy and surprising
momentum. The grassroots activists and computer scientists leading
the effort to put the brakes on the nation's headlong rush toward
paperless voting ... scored a stunning, if incomplete, victory just
before Thanksgiving, when California Secretary of State Kevin
Shelley ordered that counties purchasing new touchscreen voting
terminals must provide a 'voter-verified paper audit trail,' starting in
July 2005, and that the four California counties already using the
high-tech systems must retrofit them with printers by July 2006."
(01/11/04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9712

-----

39) A pretty business
     The American Prospect
     by Mark Greif

"Virginia Postrel's The Substance of Style joins David Brooks' Bobos
in Paradise in a new kind of conservative cultural criticism. The
recipe is simple: Charmingly describe a new cluster of minor
phenomena in American life, defend tastes that other critics might
disapprove of and present yourself as the people's champion. It's a
takeover of the style ... [of] Vance Packard and William H. Whyte.
Those writers performed pop sociology from a progressive
standpoint, upholding the rights of citizens and consumers and
questioning commercial practices. The new cultural critics celebrate
consumption and the free market as the truest ways to establish
democratic self-expression. Postrel, a libertarian, is an economics
columnist at The New York Times and the former editor of Reason
magazine. ... She's definitely on to something." (01/09/04)

http://www.prospect.org/print/V15/1/greif-m.html

-----

40) Democrats, we are begging you
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"Is a GOP agent secretly running the Democratic party? Not likely.
What's really at work is ideological bankruptcy. The Democrats have
no ideas worthy of national attention. Their only use is as an
opposition party, and that's exactly what they are going to remain
after the next election." (01/10/04)

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

-----

41) A good offense
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Chris Basten

"One of the barometers I use for free speech is the level of offense
that is taken by a group or groups of people in reaction to it. If a
country truly allows free speech to reign, people should be offended
all of the time. In trying to find an unseen benefit within the scores of
media rants and raves, I see a lot of offended people in this country.
People are apparently saying things they shouldn't be (quite often,
in fact), which signals to me that we can generally say or express
ourselves as we see fit. I fear that freedom of speech and
expression is in trouble, however." (01/09/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/09

-----

42) "I killed people. I did it for my country."
     Salon
     by Christopher Farah (interview with Saadi Yacef)

"Fifty years ago, Saadi Yacef was an Algerian revolutionary fighting
France for his country's independence, planting bombs to kill
French occupiers, including civilians, and hiding in the raw sewage
of Turkish toilets when the authorities came looking for him. The
French government went so far as to ban 'The Battle of Algiers' -- a
movie Yacef produced and starred in ... due to its subversive
nature. How times have changed. Today, Yacef is an Algerian
senator. 'The Battle of Algiers' ... is recommended viewing for
officials at the Pentagon, which held a private screening of the film
in August. Officials described it as an illustration of 'how to win a
battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas.'" [subscription or
ad view required] (01/12/04)

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2004/01/09/yacef/

-----

43) Marriages gay and throwaway
     Boston Globe
     by Ellen Goodman

"Who would have believed that Britney Spears would end up striking
a blow for gay marriage? I'm not talking about the pop star's fleeting
moments with Madonna. I'm talking about her fleeting hours with
Jason Allen Alexander. ... Early one Vegas morn, after watching that
romantic classic, 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' these hometown
friends looked at each other and, according to Jason, said, 'Let's do
something wild, crazy. Let's go get married, just for the hell of it.' ...
After 55 hours, the 'I dos' became 'I don'ts,' the vows were annulled,
and assorted folks chimed in with the same thought: Hey, a man and
woman can get married on a lark, but when a committed gay couple
wants to make it legal, they're accused of wrecking the institution?"
(01/11/04)

http://tinyurl.com/yrfdg

-----

44) How to lose your job in talk radio
     The American Conservative
     by Charles Goyette

"So I’m a talk-show war casualty. My contract expires in a few more
months and -- my iconoclasm being noted -- it is not likely it will be
renewed. Among the survivors at my station: one host who wanted to
nuke Afghanistan (he bills himself as 'your voice of reason and
moderation') and another who upon learning that 23-year-old
Mideast peace activist Rachel Corrie had been run over by an
Israeli bulldozer shouted, 'Back up and run over her again!' .... I’ve
seen how war fever infects a people. ... I knew there would be a
personal price for opposing the war, and I was prepared to pay it.
But as a lover of the rough and tumble of public debate and the
contest of ideas, I am disappointed at what is happening in my
industry." (for publication 02/04)

http://www.amconmag.com/1_19_04/article3.html

-----

45) Restoring a bogus legacy
     Washington Times
     by Trevor Bothwell

"As we exit 2003 and find ourselves merely one more year away
from the 2004 presidential election, it will be interesting, if somewhat
nauseating, to watch the machinations Sen. Hillary Clinton of New
York employs to position herself for the 2008 (or perhaps 2004?)
election. Questioning the time and money needed to rebuild Iraq,
Mrs. Clinton has already accused the Bush administration of 'not
[leveling] with the American people.' Considering how willing her
husband once was to 'level' with us as he perjured himself on the
Lewinsky matter, this jab should hold about as much water as a
thimble." (01/11/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040110-115056-1583r.htm

-----

46) A year all out of lies, lies and more lies
     Gulf News
     by Luc Debieuvre

"The year 2003 started with a hoax about weapons of mass
destruction (WMDs) in Iraq. It ended with a bogeyman in Libya. But
still, both the US and the world are not any safer because of it.
Indeed, 2003 will be remembered as a year of lies, not only
because the motives for the war in Iraq were dubious and the facts
distorted, but also because the prime minister of the oldest western
democracy bluntly lied in Parliament about Iraq's capability to
launch deadly missile attacks in 45 minutes." (01/09/04)

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/Opinion.asp?ArticleID=107537

-----

47) Dishonest replies to any criticism of the "neocons"
     Minneapolis Star Tribune
     by Josh Marshall

"One of the greatest rhetorical and moral challenges of opinion
writing is how to respond to or critique aggressively dishonest or
tendentious arguments. One part of you wants to discuss the
underlying issue with its complexities and ambiguities intact -- and
every issue has complexities and ambiguities. But the niceties of
conflict resolution are hardly appropriate or sensible if you're
trapped in a dark alley with a couple of Mafia goons. A case in point
is the increasingly brazen tendency for conservative columnists to
label any critical discussion of neoconservatism as a form of anti-
Semitic diatribe." (01/09/04)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4308758.html

-----

48) The great equalizer
     Liberty For All
     by Kevin Tuma

Cartoon. (01/12/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/images/toons/equalizer.jpg

-----

49) Bush immigration plan's three flaws
     Boston Globe
     by Janice Fine

"Undocumented workers are the dirty little secret of the American
economy. It is a great step forward that President Bush is
acknowledging their plight with clarity and compassion with his
immigration proposal. But his solution falls short of the mark. In
essence, the proposal is a guest worker program: Employers, after
alleging that they have tried to fill their available positions with US
nationals with no success, would be empowered to hire temporary
foreign workers. These workers would be issued three-year work
permits that might be renewable for another three years. This
temporary worker program is not linked to normal permanent
residency and citizenship immigration tracks, and participants would
have no greater advantage in applying for a green card." (01/11/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2wp67

-----

50) Free trade and factor mobility
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Robert P. Murphy

"Before getting into the heart of the matter, let us remind ourselves
of a basic but important fact: Tariffs are taxes. No matter how
sophisticated the argument, when someone opposes free trade,
what that really means is that he favors the placement of taxes (or
similar restrictions) on consumers." (01/11/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1416

-----

51) Virtually extinct
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Iain Murray

"It seems that virtually every news organ in the English language has
carried the story of new scientific claims published in Nature
magazine that by 2050 over a million species will be doomed to
extinction owing to the effects of global warming. Yet few of them
realized how flimsy the story actually is." (01/09/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03797.cfm

-----

53) There is hope
     US Term Limits
     by Paul Jacob

"Fifteen years into the modern term limits movement, we already
have term limits on 16 state legislatures. Even though legislators
there connive constantly to undo them. Term-limiting the Congress is
tougher in some ways, but also doesn't require a top-to-bottom
change. It merely requires a more consistent implementation of
democratic ideas Americans already believe." (01/06/04)

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs1017.html


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

53) Ophelia goes to Washington; previous non-declarations; Bob goes Asiatic

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

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

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RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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           Supported by the generous donations of our readers

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Friday, January 9, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,187


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Iraq: US helicopter down, nine dead
2)  Simkanin railroad rolls on second try
3)  Think tank: US "systematically misrepresented" Iraq threat
4)  Madonna endorses Clark
5)  Drug thugs got bilked on disinformation campaign
6)  Man sues cable TV for "fat wife and lazy kids"
7)  Grandfather shoots intruders
8)  Powell admits: "No concrete evidence"
9)  Bush to announce new missions to moon
10) US health care costs reach $1.6 trillion
11) FBI offers $100,000 reward in ricin case
12) Silicone breast implant ban to continue
13) Levi Strauss closes last two US plants
14) Tax thugs want to track "Free File" victims
15) Dollar struggles against euro
16) Kurds' stance risks split government
17) Deal for Camp Delta Britons
18) Victim charged for defending self
19) Dean's 2000 caucus remarks may haunt him
20) Child porn law debated in court
21) Delaware tax resister convicted
22) On gun control, Dean aims for the center
23) Clark catching on with voters as contests near
24) National Zoo admits mistakes in treatment of animals
25) Ohio passes concealed carry

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Conservatism is dead
27) The criminal's theoretical enablers
28) Homeland insecurity
29) Appetite for destruction
30) Drug warriors try to censor their opponents
31) Paving the way for broadband communications
32) Why should we rush to Rush’s defense?
33) Dark skies
34) A surprising threat to freedom
35) "Or don't you care?"
36) Everything you've always wanted to know about neocons
37) Words in defense of Liberty
38) Russia may doom Kyoto protocol
39) Is plain democracy so important?
40) Flower power
41) Journalists under fire
42) Practicing dissent
43) The Brian Finkel case
44) Trolling for government programs
45) The new protectionism
46) Police state or free America: Stories from jail
47) Dennis the (little) Menace
48) Giving up the search for mythical WMD
49) Running on empty
50) Saddam's capture offers no reprieve


TODAY'S MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS:

51) Free Hunter!


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

52) "Temporary" taxes; the late unpleasantness; Gapon's day out


NEWS

1)  Iraq: US helicopter down, nine dead
     Springfield News-Leader

"A Blackhawk medivac helicopter, clearly marked with a red cross
signifying its medical mission, crashed Thursday after a witness
said it was hit by a rocket, killing all nine U.S. soldiers aboard. ...
The military said the cause of the crash was not known, but a
witness, Mohammed Ahmed al-Jamali, said he heard the distinctive
whoosh of a rocket and saw the helicopter struck in the tail. The
helicopter was a medical evacuation aircraft clearly marked with red
crosses, but it was unclear whether it was carrying patients. ... In
Baghdad, a C-5 transport plane with 63 passengers and crew
limped back to the airport after being struck by fire ..." (01/09/04)

http://www.news-leader.com/today/0109-USmedivach-263424.html

-----

2)  Simkanin railroad rolls on second try
     Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"A Bedford [TX] businessman and tax protester was convicted on 29
counts of violating U.S. income tax laws. After deliberating more
than 13 hours over two days, jurors reached a verdict after 8 p.m.
Wednesday. They remained deadlocked on two counts within the
indictment, and U.S. District Judge John McBryde declared a
mistrial on those charges. Richard Simkanin, 59, is to be sentenced
in April and faces up to five years on each of the 25 felony counts
and up to a year on each of the four misdemeanor charges,
assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis said. ... During the trial, the
judge told jurors they could not question the constitutionality of the
tax code." (01/08/04)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/7662147.htm

-----

3)  Think tank: US "systematically misrepresented" Iraq threat
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"Iraq posed no imminent threat to the United States and there was
no solid evidence that President Saddam Hussein was cooperating
with the al-Qaeda terror network, a private think tank maintained.
The administration systematically misrepresented a weapons threat
from Iraq, and US strategy should be revised to eliminate the policy
of unilateral preventive war, said Jessica Mathews, Joseph
Cirincione and George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace." (01/09/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/09/1073437447020.html

-----

4)  Madonna endorses Clark
     Yahoo! Launch

"Madonna has posted a letter in support of Democratic presidential
candidate Wesley Clark on her official website .... The letter marks
the first time the music icon has publicly thrown her support behind
a candidate for president. In the letter Madonna includes a link to
Clark's Website clark04.com for people to contribute to the retired
general's campaign. The singer, who currently resides in London, is
also planning to hold a fundraiser for Clark at her Los Angeles
residence later this year." (01/08/04)

http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=216313

-----

5)  Drug thugs got bilked on disinformation campaign
     AccountingWeb

"Not even the government's war on drugs is immune from the
scandals gripping corporate America. The Associated Press
reported yesterday that the government is charging two ad industry
executives with conspiracy for supposedly overcharging the
government for an anti-drug campaign. The Ogilvy & Mather
advertising agency was hired in 1998 by the Office of the National
Drug Control Policy, part of the Executive Office of the President, to
oversee a print and broadcast campaign on the dangers of drugs,
designed to discourage drug use among young people. The
campaign concluded last week." (01/08/04)

http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=98539

-----

6)  Man sues cable TV for "fat wife and lazy kids"
     Ananova [UK]

"A US man is suing a cable television company for making his wife
fat and turning his children into 'lazy channel surfers.' Timothy
Dumouchel, from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is demanding nearly
£3,000 and a life-time supply of free internet service from Charter
Communication. He claims he asked the company to disconnect the
service four years ago but they never did." (01/08/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_853567.html

-----

7)  Grandfather shoots intruders
     KCRAC News

"Sacramento police are investigating a fatal shooting involving a
homeowner and a pair of alleged intruders in his home. ... the
homeowner, whose name has not been released, told officers that
he and his wife .... found two Hispanic teenage boys at the door
who said they were looking for the man's grandson. After being told
the grandson was not at home, police said the two came back a
second time .... [and] forced their way into the residence. One of
them was armed with a handgun. The [homeowner] retreated and
took cover behind a chair .... The shooting continued as the
homeowner ran down a hallway to a bedroom, where police said he
shot and killed one of the intruders." (01/08/04)

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/2747895/detail.html

-----

8)  Powell admits: "No concrete evidence"
     Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged Thursday that he
had seen no 'smoking gun, concrete evidence' of ties between
Saddam Hussein and the Al-Qaida terror network, but he reiterated
[sic] that Iraq had had dangerous weapons and needed to be
disarmed by force." (01/09/04)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4309169.html

-----

9)  Bush to announce new missions to moon
     USA Today

"President Bush will announce plans next week to send Americans
to Mars and establish a permanent human presence on the moon,
senior administration officials said Thursday night. Bush won't
propose sending Americans to Mars anytime soon; rather, he
envisions preparing for the mission more than a decade from now,
one official said." (01/08/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-09-bush-moon_x.htm

-----

10) US health care costs reach $1.6 trillion
     MSNBC

"Health care spending in the United States reached $1.6 trillion in
2002, an annual increase of 9.3 percent fueled by rising hospital
spending and prescription drugs costs, the federal government
reported Thursday. The increase outstripped growth in the economy
for the fourth consecutive year, according to the federal Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services." (01/08/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3908645/

-----

11) FBI offers $100,000 reward in ricin case
     CNN

"The FBI and other federal agencies Thursday offered a reward of
up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of the author or
authors of a letter found in a South Carolina post office containing
the deadly poison ricin. The letter included a sealed metal container
with a small amount of ricin inside. It was discovered by a
processing clerk at a postal facility October 15 in Greenville, South
Carolina, but no one was exposed to the poison. The typewritten
letter was addressed to the Department of Transportation and
demanded that changes in truckers' sleep/work schedules not be
implemented." (01/09/04)

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/01/08/fbi.ricin.letter/

-----

12) Silicone breast implant ban to continue
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"The government will continue its decade-plus ban on most silicone
gel breast implants for now, health officials announced Thursday,
saying they still have serious questions about how often the devices
break apart and the damage that can result. The Food and Drug
Administration rejected Inamed Corp.'s bid to bring back silicone
implants, and outlined new guidelines for all manufacturers on the
scientific issues that must be settled if the devices ever are to return
to the market." (01/08/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040108/1784370.shtml

-----

13) Levi Strauss closes last two US plants
     CNN

"Levi Strauss & Co., the California Gold Rush outfitter whose blue
jeans are a globally recognized symbol of America, closed its last
two U.S. sewing plants Thursday. About 800 workers at the 26-year-
old San Antonio plants lost their jobs in the move, which was
announced last September." (01/08/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Southwest/01/08/levi.s.closing.ap/

-----

14) Tax thugs want to track "Free File" victims
     USA Today

"The IRS this year will flag taxpayers who use its free electronic
filing program, a change that has touched off a privacy firestorm.
Industry leader Intuit says it simply won't comply with an IRS
directive to identify by electronic code free e-filers who use its
TurboTax software. And TaxBrain, which last year offered free e-
filing to taxpayers older than 50, will withdraw from the IRS program.
... The IRS insists it is seeking routine information that will help it
expand electronic filing. [TaxBrain CEO Leroy] Petz and others in
the tax software industry view it as unnecessary government
intrusion that could lead to selective tax enforcement." (01/09/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2004-01-09-efile_x.htm

-----

15) Dollar struggles against euro
     Reuters

"The dollar struggled within sight of record lows against the euro on
Friday, after the European Central Bank (ECB) chief said an
improving global economy should help European exporters bear the
burden of a strong euro. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet
acknowledged on Thursday that the euro's recent record-busting
rally against the dollar was hurting exports from the euro zone. But
he added that growing global demand should mitigate the impact of
the euro's rise, which makes European exports more expensive."
(01/09/04)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=4098263

-----

16) Kurds' stance risks split government
     MSNBC

"The United States faces the prospect of two governments inside
Iraq -- one for Kurds and one for Arabs -- after so far failing to win
a compromise from the Kurds on a formula to distribute political
power when the U.S. occupation ends, according to U.S. and Iraqi
officials. L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, twice
met with the two main Kurdish leaders over the past week to urge
them to back down from their demands to retain autonomy,
according to U.S. officials." (01/08/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3910703/

-----

17) Deal for Camp Delta Britons
     Guardian [UK]

"Some of the British detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba could
be sent back to Britain without a guarantee they will face trial, it
emerged yesterday. Seven of the nine detainees -- those deemed
medium-risk by the US authorities -- could be repatriated if the US
is satisfied they would be managed in such a way that the
Americans could be certain they posed no threat .... US officials
suggested that this could include constant monitoring or surveillance
by law enforcement agencies." (01/09/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1119346,00.html

-----

18) Victim charged for defending self
     WBBM News

"A 55-year-old Wilmette [IL] man was charged Thursday with
weapons violations after he shot and wounded a burglar in his home
more than a week ago. Hale DeMar ... was charged with a
misdemeanor for violating a state law that required firearm owners to
have a valid Firearm Owner's Identification card, Wilmette police
Officer Roger Ockrim said in a news release. DeMar was also cited
for violating a village code that prohibits possession of handguns in
Wilmette .... At about 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 29, DeMar fired four shots
when he confronted the masked burglar on the first floor of his
home, police said. Billings was struck by two of the shots."
(01/08/04)

http://www.wbbm780.com/asp/ViewMoreDetails.asp?ID=32752

-----

19) Dean's 2000 caucus remarks may haunt him
     ABC News

"Democrat Howard Dean, engaged in a fierce fight to win Iowa's
presidential caucuses, said four years ago that caucuses are
dominated by special interests, words that could haunt him with less
than two weeks before the Jan. 19 contest. 'If you look at the
caucuses system, they are dominated by the special interests, in
both sides, in both parties,' Dean said on a Canadian television
show in 2000. 'The special interests don't represent the centrist
tendencies of the American people. They represent the
extremes.'Dean quickly sought to stem the damage Thursday night,
saying, 'I support the Iowa caucus' and will continue to press for its
first-in-the-nation status." (01/08/04)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040108_2427.html

-----

20) Child porn law debated in court
     Wired News

"Blocking access to websites doesn't interfere with free speech
because Internet addresses aren't real, according to the
Pennsylvania attorney general's office. State attorneys opposing a
challenge to the Pennsylvania law that requires ISPs to block access
to websites containing child pornography argued to a Philadelphia
federal court this week that 'a URL is neither a person, nor a real
forum, nor a limited commodity.' ... During three days of sometimes
heated arguments in response to a lawsuit filed by the American
Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Democracy and
Technology, the attorney general's procedure for identifying and
blocking offending sites was attacked." (01/08/04)

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61840,00.html

-----

21) Delaware tax resister convicted
     News Journal

"A Sussex County [DE] man who argued that federal law exempted
him from paying income taxes was convicted of eight tax charges
Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington. Donald L. Donovan,
53, of Seaford, owed [sic] more than $95,000 in income taxes over
four years. The jury deliberated about three hours before convicting
him on four counts each of failing to file a tax return and tax evasion.
The charges carry a combined maximum penalty of 24 years in
prison and a $1.4 million fine." (01/09/04)

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/01/09seafordtaxresis.html

-----

22) On gun control, Dean aims for the center
     Washington Post

"As governor of Vermont -- a small, rural state whose gun laws are
among the least restrictive in the country -- Dean earned a national
reputation as an opponent of gun control and worked closely with
the NRA, a requirement for survival in this state's politics. But he
also feuded with some of Vermont's most ardent gun rights
advocates, who saw him as unwilling to take strong stands on
firearms issues ..." (01/09/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1483-2004Jan8.html

-----

23) Clark catching on with voters as contests near
     USA Today

"After a late start that was so rocky it led many pundits to write off
NATO's former supreme allied commander as a hapless political
rookie, Clark has emerged as the 2004 campaign's January
surprise. His poll numbers, nationally and in New Hampshire, have
spiked sharply upward. From October through December, he raised
more money than any rival but Dean." (01/08/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-01-09-clark-climb_x.h\
tm

-----

24) National Zoo admits mistakes in treatment of animals
     Washington Post

"The National Zoo has filed a formal response that disputes the
claims of a former staff pathologist who said he uncovered a pattern
of poor animal care, but the zoo acknowledges making numerous
mistakes in treatment and record-keeping. In a 63-page rebuttal ...
Director Lucy H. Spelman challenged the assertions of Donald K.
Nichols, the associate pathologist who resigned in November and
then gave the academy a packet of materials accusing the zoo of
poor veterinary care, mismanagement and attempting to hide its
mistakes." (01/09/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1747-2004Jan8.html

-----

25) Ohio passes concealed carry
     NewsDay

"Lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday to allow [sic] Ohioans to carry
concealed guns, and Gov. Bob Taft said he will sign it. Those who
apply for the permits would have to pay a fee, undergo background
checks and be trained in the use of a weapon. The bill also makes
the names of permit holders available to reporters. Taft's insistence
on this provision had derailed the bill late last year. The Senate vote
was 25-8, and the House vote was 69-24." (01/07/04)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-brf-concealed-weapons-ohio,0\
,4930668.story

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COMMENTARY

26) Conservatism is dead
     Liberty For All
     by George Phillies

"Republican Conservatism is dead on the Federal level. It may be a
while before real conservatives find out. Nonetheless, look at what
neoconservative Republicans are doing: George Bush and his
Congressional Republicans are running the largest budget deficits in
history. The expected deficit this year is a half-trillion dollars. That's
a bit different from the traditional conservative objectives: a balanced
budget and a debt-free Republic." (01/09/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/conservatism.html

-----

27) The criminal's theoretical enablers
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"Anti-incarceration theorists, among whom are assorted liberals and
libertarian anarchists, point out quite correctly that crimes are
committed against individuals and not against the amorphous entity
called 'society.' Solutions, they say, should thus focus on making
criminals pay restitution to their victims. It used to be that the cause
du jour among libertarians was to reduce prison population by
freeing innocent people whose activities, lawful by natural-law
standards, the state had criminalized. Now their aim, it seems, is to
reduce the involvement of the state at any costs, even if it means
freeing guilty offenders." (01/09/04)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36524

-----

28) Homeland insecurity
     Salon
     by Bruce Schneier

"Canceling a few flights here and there seems like a good tradeoff
because the results of missing a real threat are so severe. But
repeatedly sounding false alarms entails security problems, too.
False alarms are expensive -- in money, time, and the privacy of the
passengers affected -- and they demonstrate that the 'credible
threats' aren't credible at all. Like the boy who cried wolf, everyone
from airport security officials to foreign governments will stop taking
these warnings seriously. ... demonstrating that we can't tell
terrorists from children isn't the way to inspire confidence."
[subscription or ad view required] (01/09/04)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/01/09/security/

-----

29) Appetite for destruction
     The American Conservative
     by Claes G. Ryn

"The new Jacobins differ from the old in that they have appointed
the United States rather than France as the savior nation, but, like
the old Jacobins, they have no deep attachment to the actual,
historically formed nation in which they live. That America, which is
indivisible from the original U.S. Constitution, is an offshoot of
ancient Western and especially English traditions. What the new
Jacobins defend is America as they choose to understand it: a
fresh start for humanity, an enlightened 'idea' rather than a nation
with a past. The America of which they approve is an instrument for
enacting their cherished universally applicable principles. The new
Jacobins are, as it were, nationalists without a nation." (for
publication 01/19/04)

http://www.amconmag.com/1_19_04/article.html

-----

30) Drug warriors try to censor their opponents
     Cato Institute
     by Ted Galen Carpenter

"The most ominous proposal for repressing pro-drug reform speech
comes (not surprisingly) from the United Nations. The UN's
International Narcotics Control Board has issued a report implicitly
calling on member states to criminalize opposition to the war on
drugs. Citing the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Trafficking in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, the INCB asserts that
all governments are obligated to enact laws that prohibit 'inciting' or
'inducing' people to use illegal drugs and to punish such violations as
criminal offenses." (01/09/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-09-04.html

-----

31) Paving the way for broadband communications
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Wayne T. Brough

"Indeed, the array of products now available is staggering.
Technology is truly pushing the frontiers of a wired nation.
Unfortunately, regulators have a hard time keeping pace, and
regulations created at a time when many of today’s products did not
even exist continue to hinder access to these new technologies."
(01/08/04)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1653.htm

-----

32) Why should we rush to Rush’s defense?
     Center For Individual Freedom
     by staff

"Could it be, as Mr. Limbaugh’s counsel claims, that Rush Limbaugh
has been singled out for special prosecution because of who he is?
Or, could it be that most patients comply with the law and disclose to
their practitioners that they have received a prescription for a
controlled substance of like therapeutic use from another
practitioner within the previous 30 days? The latter is doubtful, as
most patients probably don’t even know that such a law exists."
(01/08/04)

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/rush_limbaugh.htm

-----

33) Dark skies
     Moscow Times
     by Chris Floyd

"The raid kills 35,000 people or more; no one knows for sure,
because the city is completely pulverized -- and is bombed again
immediately afterward, with special high explosives, in an attempt to
kill any survivors hiding in the ruins. A portrait of Saddam Hussein,
at the height of the murderous Iran-Iraq war? No, it's Winston
Churchill, whose shadow looms so large over the carnage being
conducted by his historically ignorant successors in the Anglo-
American 'coalition.' Churchill has long been anointed a secular
saint by the chewed cud of received wisdom, especially in America,
although those who knew him best seemed to like him least -- he
was booted out of office by his own people not once but twice: the
first time before the end of World War II (which we are now told he
won almost single-handedly)." (01/09/04)

http://www.tmtmetropolis.ru/stories/2004/01/09/120.html

-----

34) A surprising threat to freedom
     Capitol Hill Blue
     by Jay Ambrose

"If American democracy is finally done in, the perpetrators will
unlikely be Hitlerian figures whose strutting authoritarianism is plain
to see, but a collection of well-meaning, schoolmarm-like activists
who aim to restrict our freedoms for our own supposed good. They
may well be members of Common Cause. You never figure an outfit
like Common Cause to be a danger to the republic's must crucial
principles, do you? But be vigilant: Common Cause is in the
forefront of those cutting the First Amendment down to an
imperceptible size. The group does not want anything blocking the
way as government squelches free speech." (01/08/04)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3857.shtml

-----

35) "Or don't you care?"
     Reason
     by Peter Bagge

Cartoon. (01/08/04)

http://www.reason.com/0401/bagge.shtml

-----

36) Everything you've always wanted to know about neocons
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"Even much of the leftist vocabulary has survived the neocons'
migration to the right. When you conquer and subjugate a country,
call it 'liberation.' David Horowitz continually refers to the antiwar
movement as a 'fifth column' -- as if he were fighting the Spanish
Civil War on the Commie 'Loyalist' side. The loyalists invented the
phrase as a rationale to slaughter priests and purge other
'bourgeois' elements. Whether or not Horowitz has in mind a similar
fate for antiwar activists, his tone certainly suggests they would
deserve it. We are told that critics of the war are 'anti-American' in
the same tone of voice as the Kremlin once denounced 'anti-Soviet
elements.'" (01/09/04)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j010904.html

-----

37) Words in defense of Liberty
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"Why should anyone care about the message of one book as
compared with its many millions of competitors? It comes down to
this. Though there is an astounding proliferation of words in our
time, there is a drastic shortage of something that is essential to the
survival of civilization: defenses of liberty against its ubiquitous
enemies and its main enemy, the state." (01/08/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1412

-----

38) Russia may doom Kyoto protocol
     Heartland Institute
     by Diane Carol Bast

"Putin is not the only top government official to have such qualms
about Kyoto. President George W. Bush rejected the Protocol in
2001 on similar grounds. And on December 2, Australian Prime
Minister John Howard was asked by Labor Leader Mark Latham
why the government failed to ratify the Protocol. According to
reports in The Age, Melbourne’s daily newspaper, Howard said 'I’m
not going to a be party to something that destroys jobs and destroys
the competitiveness of Australian industry.'" (01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14019

-----

39) Is plain democracy so important?
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Tibor R. Machan

"This democracy crusade is not new, of course. Woodrow Wilson
was the president who made such a great deal about America
'making the world safe for democracy.' This was a big turning point
in how the American government saw itself in the world. The earlier
ideal, laid out in President George Washington's farewell address,
was for the country not to get entangled in foreign affairs. ... It isn't
all that clear, anyway, that democracy is an idea that is all that
great, in and of itself." (01/09/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/machan/machan16.html

-----

40) Flower power
     Town Hall
     by Jacob Sullum

"Last year Sandy Meadows, who supervises the floral department at
an Albertson's supermarket in Baton Rouge, was filling in at another
Albertson's store that had lost its florist when she was visited by an
inspector from the Louisiana Horticulture Commission. He told her
she'd have to throw out the seven arrangements she had produced
that morning if she wanted to avoid a $250 citation for practicing
floristry without a license. Louisiana appears to be the only state in
the nation that treats unlicensed florists making unauthorized
arrangements as a public menace. If Meadows gets her way, it will
no longer have that distinction." (01/09/08)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jacobsullum/js20040109.shtml

-----

41) Journalists under fire
     CounterPunch
     by James Hollander

"In a public statement, the family of José Couso ask a question that
not only exposes the masters of war, but also poses a challenge to
us all: 'If they're capable of murdering a journalist with credentials
like our brother in the very center of Baghdad in full view of the
international community, what won't they do to civilians or supposed
enemies who get in their way?'" (01/08/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/hollander01082004.html

-----

42) Practicing dissent
     Village Voice
     by Nat Hentoff

"In previous columns on the media's often belated and fragmentary
coverage of the Bush-Ashcroft-Mueller-Rumsfeld war on the Bill of
Rights, I've noted a weakening of the journalistic standard of
following up on vital stories. Caught on the treadmill of the 24-hour
news cycle, much of television, radio, and even the print press, tells
us more about Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson than about the
administration's expanding plans to shred our privacy, along with
many other liberties, in the sanctified name of national security."
(01/08/04)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0402/hentoff.php

-----

43) The Brian Finkel case
     Strike the Root
     by Joe Blow

"He legally killed over 30,000 unborn babies, but he is now headed
to prison for touching women inappropriately in the process.
Violently killing an unborn child is a State-approved medical
procedure, but woe unto the State-approved killer who touches a
woman inappropriately in the process, for that is a serious crime.
This case exhibits the classical traits of State involvement in human
affairs ..." (01/09/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/blow/blow3.html

-----

44) Trolling for government programs
     Sierra Times
     by Lady Liberty

"There are many libertarian-leaning e-mail groups and news groups
on the Internet, a few of which I personally frequent. It doesn't
matter which specific group I'm talking about here, because it could
be happening on any of them. And what's happening is this: there's
a troll who insists that libertarian ideas aren't good ideas because
some people aren't smart enough, responsible enough, or motivated
enough to make it through life otherwise. Cutting to the chase, we
may as well just admit right here and now that the troll has a point.
And it doesn't take much more of a stretch to think that there needs
to be something -- some program, some group, some something --
to save these people from themselves." (01/08/04)

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/01/08/ladyliberty.htm

-----

45) The new protectionism
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Neil Hrab

"One proposed solution for this alleged American cultural onslaught
has emerged through an inter-governmental body called the
International Network for Cultural Policy. This alliance wants to pass
a global treaty that would declare 'cultural goods and services' to be
'distinct' from 'ordinary goods and services,' with a 'specific nature'
that must be 'respected.' That doesn’t sound very threatening, but
such a treaty could hurt America’s ability to export its cultural
products." (01/07/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/016,03796.cfm

-----

46) Police state or free America: Stories from jail
     Liberty For All
     by Rick Stanley

"I have to ask if America is a 'Police State' or a 'free state?' I am in
jail, for exercising my constitutionally protected and guaranteed,
God given right, to openly carry a weapon anywhere in Colorado. I
face two new felony charges for filing a 'pleading' with two judges in
Adams County, Rose and Marshall, giving notice that by not
overturning my conviction from an unconstitutional ruling, they were
committing treason, failing to uphold their oath of office to defend
the Constitution ..." (01/09/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/jail.html

-----

47) Dennis the (little) Menace
     The American Spectator
     by Shawn Macomb

"Dennis Kucinich stood in front of a crowd of 500 college and high
school students, running a hand through his oil black hair. The
congressman from Ohio may be floundering at around two percent
in most statewide polls, but if you dropped in on him at the New
England College Convention Wednesday night, you'd think he had
the nomination in the bag. ... The air that night was so charged that
if Kucinich had asked for volunteers to storm the White House,
they'd have made it as least as far as Connecticut. But it's hard to
know what -- other than self-aggrandizement -- propels his
campaign along." (01/09/04)

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=6000

-----

48) Giving up the search for mythical WMD
     Ether Zone
     by David T. Pyne

"[T]hat the Bush Administration's claims of supposed Iraqi
possession of weapons of mass destruction and with it the very
rationale upon which President Bush took the country into this latest
no-war and mini-Vietnam have since proved to be entirely bogus is
a fact that the Bush Administration would have America's citizens
forget. In pursuit of this objective, the Administration is continually
trying to change the subject .... Saddam's capture in particular has
provided the President a temporary five to ten-point bump in the
polls effectively serving to masque the severe medium to long-term
damage that the Administration's policies have done to US national
security interests ..." (01/09/04)

http://www.etherzone.com/2004/pyne010904.shtml

-----

49) Running on empty
     Dissident Voice
     by Norman Solomon

"Eight years ago, I spoke at a news conference in California
supporting the launch of Nader's presidential campaign. Four years
ago, in venues including national TV and radio, I criticized the
sparse quantity and defamatory quality of mainstream media
coverage of his 2000 presidential campaign. This year, I have no
intention of supporting Nader if he runs." (01/08/04)

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan04/Solomon0108.htm

-----

50) Saddam's capture offers no reprieve
     Power and Interest News Report
     by Erich Marquardt

"The capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on
December 13 offered a glimmer of hope for the U.S.-led coalition
that the insurgency [sic] against their occupation would soon begin
to crumble and possibly even spontaneously implode. Now, three
weeks later, it is clear that the insurgency [sic] is plowing ahead,
apparently unaffected by the capture of Iraq's former strongman."
(01/07/04)

http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=129


MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS

51) Free Hunter!
     Liberty Round Table
     until the thugs give it up

Defense fund information for Jeff Jordan, a/k/a "Hunter." Arrested
in Ohio for exercising his inalienable human and constitutionally
guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. Help us convince Ohio's
jackbooted thugs that this time they're messing with the wrong
freedom-lover!

http://www.libertyroundtable.org/projects/freehunter/


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

52) "Temporary" taxes; the late unpleasantness; Gapon's day out

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

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

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R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
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Thursday, January 8, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,185

TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  One US soldier killed, 34 wounded in mortar attack
2)  Aides: Bush immigration proposal could pass
3)  US frees Iraqis after British protest
4)  Bonuses to re-enlist get few takers
5)  Alaskans can vote to decriminalize marijuana
6)  Kucinich calls NPR "biased"
7)  Victim disarmer targets illegal aliens
8)  Suspect confesses in slaying of Swedish official
9)  Judge lifts ban on Pentagon anthrax shots
10) European friction on US security demands
11) Activist seeks arrest warrant for Mugabe
12) For many Iraqis, US-backed TV echoes the voice of its sponsor
13) Powell: Prospects for formal talks with North Korea improving
14) Gates pushes PC-TV connection
15) Hunger strike ends in response to aid: refugee group
16) Ohio Concealed weapons bill under the gun
17) Enough is enough
18) Enron figures in plea-bargain talks
19) Imprint shows Mars craft landed in "weird stuff"
20) Rowland apologizes for gifts, lies
21) Wheeler dealer
22) Fake base closing lists add to scare factor
23) Medical marijuana group issues final report card
24) When doing the right thing leads to arrest
25) Dean may support middle-class tax cut

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Go ahead, burglar, make my day
27) How much justice can you afford?
28) Congress to jump-start the IRS?
29) Crony capitalism
30) Gott mit uns
31) Extinction study on shaky scientific ground
32) Give public broadcasting its freedom -- now
33) Who will reap the whirlwind?
34) NAFTA continues to pay dividends
35) With friends like these ...
36) Sick puppies
37) Word of the year for 2003
38) Classical music: Killed by the state
39) Why Dean needs to win big now
40) A US librarian defends Castro
41) Measuring unemployment
42) Citing security concerns, US cancels "Yes, Dear"
43) A choice, not an echo
44) Mad socialism disease
45) The international terror-and-drug cop is on the beat
46) And the stupidity of Americans rages on
47) Ghosts of landslides past
48) Bedeviled by Lord Devlin
49) A people-to-people defense against terrorism
50) Foiling aircraft attacks isn't rocket science


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) Jackson ends one war; Johnson declares another


NEWS

1)  One US soldier killed, 34 wounded in mortar attack
     Washington Post

"Anti-American insurgents [sic] fired mortar rounds at a military camp,
killing one American soldier and wounding 34 others, the U.S.
command said. Six mortar rounds exploded about 6:45 p.m.
Wednesday at Logistical Base Seitz west of Baghdad, in the so-
called Sunni Muslim triangle that is a stronghold of resistance to the
U.S. occupation of Iraq, a spokesman said. ... Earlier Wednesday,
U.S. troops said they destroyed a home in Fallujah, the center of the
anti-American insurgency west of Baghdad, where enraged
neighbors said a married couple was killed and their five children
were orphaned. The neighbors insisted the couple was innocent in
an attack on the troops that led them to shell the house." (01/08/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64142-2004Jan8.html

-----

2)  Aides: Bush immigration proposal could pass
     CNN

"Despite vocal criticism from conservative and liberal lawmakers on
Capitol Hill, congressional leadership aides predicted that President
Bush might be able to pass his immigration reform proposals this
year if he pushes hard for support from moderate lawmakers in both
parties. 'It could split our base,' cautioned a House Republican
leadership aide." (01/07/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/07/immigration.congress

-----

3)  US frees Iraqis after British protest
     Guardian [UK]

"The most senior US official in Iraq, Paul Bremer, announced that
more than 500 Iraqi prisoners held without charge would be
released from prison today in what he described as a gesture of
goodwill. The move follows pressure behind the scenes from British
officials in Baghdad who have been alarmed at the large numbers of
Iraqis scooped up by the American military during routine
operations. In a move apparently designed to deflect growing
criticism of America's human rights record in Iraq, Mr Bremer said
today's release of prisoners was in the interests of 'reconciliation.'"
(01/08/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1118284,00.html

-----

4)  Bonuses to re-enlist get few takers
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"[S]oldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division preparing to ship out to
Iraq from North Carolina on Wednesday seemed evenly split over
the U.S. Army's new plan to pay soldiers up to $10,000 to re-enlist.
... For several of the troops already in Iraq, word of the new
bonuses evoked laughter. A 23-year-old infantryman, speaking at a
checkpoint he was manning with Iraqi police near Baqouba, said the
Army couldn't pay him enough to stay. ... Staff Sgt. Julian Guerrero,
38, who runs a re-enlistment program for a battalion in the 4th
Infantry Division based in Tikrit, said only 10 of the battalion's 80
eligible soldiers have taken the deal so far." (01/08/04)

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0104/08bonuses.html

-----

5)  Alaskans can vote to decriminalize marijuana
     Capitol Hill Blue

"Alaska voters will decide this fall whether to allow adults to possess
and use marijuana in private, according to an initiative that was
cleared on Tuesday for November's statewide ballot. ... In 1998,
Alaska voters approved an initiative that legalized medical use of
marijuana. However, two years later, they rejected an initiative that
would have legalized the drug entirely, along with granting legal
amnesty and compensation to people convicted of past marijuana
offenses." (01/07/04)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3850.shtml

-----

6)  Kucinich calls NPR "biased"
     Talon News

"Republicans and conservative groups such as the National Rifle
Association have long held that National Public Radio had a bias
against them. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, the self-
proclaimed 'progressive's choice,' has added his own voice to those
critical of NPR's coverage. NPR hosted a debate among the
Democrat field of candidates on Tuesday, and Kucinich's camp sent
out a statement to supporters calling into question the objectivity of
NPR's senior reporter Mara Liasson ... [noting that] ... 'Liasson's
report on 'Morning Edition' today covered all the campaigns active in
Iowa and some that are not active in Iowa, but completely omitted
mention of Dennis Kucinich ...'" (01/07/04)

http://www.talonnews.com/news/2004/january/0107_kucinich_npr.shtml

-----

7)  Victim disarmer targets illegal aliens
     Washington Times

"A Virginia lawmaker is drafting a bill that would prohibit illegal
immigrants from carrying a gun, a move that toughens a law that he
says allows potential terrorists and drug dealers to roam free.
Delegate Thomas C. Wright, Jr., a Victoria Republican, said current
law allows illegal aliens to carry any guns except assault weapons.
He said his bill will give police new authority when trying to crack
down on terrorism and drug trafficking. 'If it's only used one time, it's
worthwhile,' Mr. Wright said. 'I'm not approaching this from a gun-
control standpoint. If someone is in this country illegally, there is no
basis for granting them rights to a firearm,' said Mr. Wright, who
describes himself as a 'strong Second Amendment supporter.'"
(01/07/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040106-101057-1008r.htm

-----

8)  Suspect confesses in slaying of Swedish official
     Washington Post

"After months of denials, the lone suspect in the slaying of Swedish
Foreign Minister Anna Lindh has confessed, a surprise to
prosecutors eager to resolve a case that shocked and grieved the
nation. His attorney said yesterday the crime was random. Mijailo
Mijailovic confessed to the Sept. 10 fatal stabbing during questioning
Tuesday night, chief prosecutor Agneta Blidberg said. His attorney,
Peter Althin, didn't disclose the nature of the confession, but said
there was no political motivation behind Mrs. Lindh's stabbing, which
happened four days before a bitter referendum on the euro."
(01/08/04)

http://washingtontimes.com/world/20040107-095431-6102r.htm

-----

9)  Judge lifts ban on Pentagon anthrax shots
     MSNBC

"A federal judge Wednesday allowed the military to resume anthrax
inoculations, although he questioned the timing of a government
announcement declaring the vaccine safe. U.S. District Judge
Emmit Sullivan announced his decision from the bench and then
issued a two-page order, which ended the injunction he imposed
Dec. 22 to halt the vaccinations." (01/07/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3900339/

-----

10) European friction on US security demands
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Fears of a new airborne terrorist attack have brought heightened
tensions, grounded flights -- and created turbulence for U.S.-
European relations. Some European nations have balked at the
United States' tough new aviation security measures, which include
armed guards on aircraft and preflight scrutiny of passenger lists.
Airlines, hit by rising security demands, want governments to handle
part of the cost." (01/07/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040107/1782383.shtml

-----

11) Activist seeks arrest warrant for Mugabe
     Guardian [UK]

"A British court yesterday began considering whether to issue an
arrest and extradition warrant for the Zimbabwean president, Robert
Mugabe, on charges of torture. Peter Tatchell, a human rights
campaigner who has twice tried to carry out a citizen's arrest of Mr
Mugabe in Europe, lodged the application at Bow Street magistrates
court in London. He alleged that Mr Mugabe had 'intentionally
authorised, condoned and acquiesced in' torture, breaching the
Criminal Justice Act 1988, which incorporates the UN convention
against torture into British law. He said he had brought the case in
the UK because the president's repressive regime protected him
from prosecution in Zimbabwe." (01/08/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1118440,00.html

-----

12) For many Iraqis, US-backed TV echoes the voice of its sponsor
     Washington Post

"Nine months after U.S. forces closed Iraq's state-run television
stations and subsequently launched the new channel with promises
of a democratic dawn for the country's news media, the Pentagon-
sponsored station has not won the trust of many Iraqis. By seeking
to cast the U.S. occupation in the most favorable light, al-Iraqiya
may actually be losing the war for viewers' hearts and minds."
(01/08/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63166-2004Jan7.html

-----

13) Powell: Prospects for formal talks with North Korea improving
     USA Today

"Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that North Korea's
offer to its nuclear weapons program was a 'positive step forward'
and that prospects for resuming negotiations had improved. In fact,
Powell said discussions have not stopped since the first round of
talks in August in Beijing." (01/07/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-01-07-us-nkorea_x.htm

-----

14) Gates pushes PC-TV connection
     MSNBC

"Kicking off the Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft Chairman
Bill Gates demonstrated new technology for connecting digital
content on Windows PCs to home entertainment centers, TVs and
portable devices. Touting what he called 'seamless computing,'
Gates said in his keynote speech that Microsoft wants 'to make it
easy to have the same information on the devices you have at work
and the devices you have at home.'" (01/07/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3902549/

-----

15) Hunger strike ends in response to aid: refugee group
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"Asylum seekers on Nauru staging a month-long hunger strike have
suspended their protest, refugee group A Just Australia said today.
The hunger strike, which began on December 10, ended at 2pm
(AEDT) or 5pm Central Pacific Time. A Just Australia said it was in
response to the Nauruan government's invitation to allow Australian
medical team to travel to the Pacific nation to provide medical
assistance to the 33 men refusing food and water." (01/08/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/08/1073437396490.html

-----

16) Ohio Concealed weapons bill under the gun
     Wilmington News Journal

"A concealed weapons bill is under the gun at the Statehouse. The
House Tuesday rescinded its earlier approval of a concealed-carry
bill that is snagged over Gov. Taft's concerns about the release of
public records. A conference committee compromise is expected to
receive approval today. House Bill 12, recently approved by the
House and Senate, would allow the news media to request of county
sheriff's offices information about concealed-carry permit holders
on a name-by-name basis. But Taft said he will veto the bill unless it
expands the scope of access to give reporters county lists of
individuals who have permits to carry concealed weapons."
(01/07/04)

http://tinyurl.com/3c7ce

-----

17) Enough is enough
     Ananova [UK]

"A 91-year-old Austrian man has been called up for National
Service. The pensioner, from Bad Ischl, was told he had to show up
at the Wals army barracks to start his eight month military service.
But the man, who served in Hitler's Wehrmacht during World War II,
said: 'I refuse to join the army again as I have already partaken
once.'" (01/07/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_853111.html

-----

18) Enron figures in plea-bargain talks
     Washington Post

"The former chief financial officer of Enron Corp. and his wife are
in advanced negotiations with the government on a deal under which
he would plead guilty, agree to a 10-year prison sentence and help
investigators find out what other top Enron executives knew about a
scheme to manipulate the company's earnings, according to
sources familiar with the investigation." (01/08/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63424-2004Jan7.html

-----

19) Imprint shows Mars craft landed in "weird stuff"
     USA Today

"As Mars rover Spirit slid to a stop on the Red Planet, it mashed the
soil, leaving a mess like nothing seen before. Eyeing the most
detailed pictures ever sent to Earth from the planet, the NASA team
said Tuesday that the malleable substance could be a sign of water's
work on Mars." (01/07/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-01-06-mars-rover_x.htm

-----

20) Rowland apologizes for gifts, lies
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Gov. John G. Rowland asked Connecticut's citizens for the chance
'to earn back your trust' Wednesday as he delivered a televised
address that came amid growing pressure to resign for accepting
gifts at his summer cottage and lying about it. Rowland again
apologized for his actions, saying 'I lied and there are no excuses,'
but he insisted he never provided any favors or took any actions in
exchange for the gifts." (01/07/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040107/1782476.shtml

-----

21) Wheeler dealer
     MAPINC

"How Minnesota cops and The War On Drugs made a successful
entrepreneur out of a small-time hustler and snitch." (01/07/04)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n040/a10.html?397

-----

22) Fake base closing lists add to scare factor
     Capitol Hill Blue

"Each week or so, defense analyst Ken Beeks gets a new fake
'2005 Base Closure List' forwarded to his e-mail. Shortly after that,
the nervous phone calls start ringing in. 'They say, 'Have you seen
this? Is it really right?'' said Beeks, who works for the Business
Executives for National Security, a pro-base-closure policy group in
Washington. There are dozens of fake lists floating on the Internet,
each claiming to know which bases will get the ax in the Pentagon's
2005 base-closure round. ... The Pentagon can't say it enough:
There is no real list yet, and there won't be until 2005." (01/07/04)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3851.shtml

-----

23) Medical marijuana group issues final report card
     Marijuana Policy Project

"For the first time in any presidential campaign, a majority of
contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination have said
they would end the Drug Enforcement Administration's raids on
medical marijuana patients and caregivers. Four candidates,
though, received failing grades for refusing to end the raids: In
addition to President George W. Bush, U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt
(D-MO), U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), and U.S. Sen. John
Edwards (D-NC) earned failing grades. The highest grade ('A+')
went to U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who said last May that
he supports medical marijuana 'without reservation.'" (01/07/04)

http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr010704gsmm.html

-----

24) When doing the right thing leads to arrest
     Christian Science Monitor

"Danny Sigui saw a murder unfold. He called 911 and testified as
the key witness during the trial. In the process, he unwittingly alerted
officials to his immigration status, and days later was arrested and
jailed. 'For doing a good thing, this is what I get,' says Mr. Sigui,
who came to the US illegally in 1989 from Guatemala. He was
deported back there in late October. The episode has turned a
spotlight on the tension between local officials and federal
immigration authorities when it comes to deciding how best to keep
the public safe." (01/07/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0107/p15s01-usju.html

-----

25) Dean may support middle-class tax cut
     Boston Globe

"After months of touting his plan to repeal all of President Bush's tax
cut, former Vermont governor Howard Dean is moving toward
embracing a tax relief package for middle-income Americans, which
would amount to a major revamping of a centerpiece of his
Democratic presidential campaign. Dean's action comes after his
team of economic advisers privately gave him a 'unanimous'
recommendation to back a middle-income tax cut to offset the
increases that would come with repealing Bush's plan, a top
campaign official said." (01/07/04)

http://tinyurl.com/3e5rv

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COMMENTARY

26) Go ahead, burglar, make my day
     Telegraph [UK]
     by Mark Steyn

"I don't have laser alarms, or window locks, or, indeed, a front-door
key. Like most of my neighbours, I leave my home unlocked and,
when I park the car, I leave the key in the ignition because then you
always know where to find it. I'm able to do this because ... I live in a
state with very high rates of gun ownership. In other words, if you're
some teen punk and you want to steal my $70 television set, they're
likely to be picking bits of your skull out of my wainscoting. But the
beauty of this system is that I'm highly unlikely ever to have to blow
your head off. The fact that most homeowners are believed to be
armed reduces crime, in my neighbourhood, to statistically
insignificant levels. Hence, my laconic approach to home security."
(01/06/04)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/01/06/do0602.xml

-----

27) How much justice can you afford?
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Bob Smith

"Private businesses fail all the time, and close their doors, but the
pressure to keep public employees on payroll is immense. Public
employee unions have great political power, and government
organizations are almost impossible to bring a successful lawsuit
against, so they manage to find ways to continue in operation, even
long after they've been shown to be ineffective, or even corrupt.
Most Americans suspect, or know, that those with enough money
get a different sort of justice than do the poorer citizens. That
inequality has reached a new peak because of the War on Drugs
and the effect it has on government employees who deal with drug
laws." (01/08/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/08

-----

28) Congress to jump-start the IRS?
     Strike the Root
     by Joe Blow

"Maybe 2004 will be the year when the slaves figure out that they
can control their futures and finally choose liberty over slavery by
withdrawing their support of the State and the agency that is uses to
enslave them -- the IRS. If you want peace and freedom, stop
paying for war and tyranny." (01/06/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/blow/blow2.html

-----

29) Crony capitalism
     The Last Ditch
     by Nicholas Strakon

"Amid their critiques of Little Bush's War and indictments of the
Bushies' monster deficits, you may expect over the next ten months
to hear the Democrats bleat some denunciations of something they
call 'crony capitalism.' They'd have us believe, of course, that it's a
form of corruption practiced only by Republicans in power and most
characteristically by Republicans at war. And the introit warbled by
the Demo choir will, of course, consist of 'Halliburton, Halliburton,
Halliburton.' ... Those of us with a little historical awareness will
recognize that Democrats, too, wade hip deep into individual 'crony
capitalism' and war profiteering whenever they're given half a
chance." (01/06/04)

http://www.thornwalker.com:16080/ditch/lights129.htm

-----

30) Gott mit uns
     Reason
     by Julian Sanchez

"It's a commonplace that you can't win the presidency of the United
States without God. Whether or not he really uses your product, the
celebrity endorsement is a must have. It was not always so. In his
classic examination of the fledgling United States, Democracy in
America, Alexis de Tocqueville argued that religion both flourished
and acted to cement democracy in the early republic precisely
because religion remained at a certain distance from partisan
politics." (01/07/04)

http://www.reason.com/links/links010704.shtml

-----

31) Extinction study on shaky scientific ground
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by staff

"Alarming predictions of mass extinctions due to future global
warming, forthcoming in this week’s edition of the journal Nature,
represent yet another salvo in the ideological battle to frighten the
public into believing in a future of catastrophic climate change. ...
'Not only are the conclusions outlandish, but the theory upon which
the entire article rests has been itself thoroughly disproved,' said
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Iain Murray."
(01/08/04)

http://cei.org/gencon/003,03795.cfm

-----

32) Give public broadcasting its freedom -- now
     Acton Institute
     by Bruce Walker

"Philanthropist Joan Kroc’s recent gift of $200 million to National
Public Radio adds to the millions of dollars in tax-deductible
donations from corporate underwriters and private citizens that pour
into public broadcasting coffers each year. In light of the Kroc gift,
and with growing evidence that public broadcasting has been almost
totally commercialized, isn’t it time to wean public radio and
television from the millions of dollars it receives from national, state
and local governments?" (01/07/04)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=173

-----

33) Who will reap the whirlwind?
     Liberty For All
     by Clint E. Lacy

"The news reports that came in via satellite from Iraq after Baghdad
fell showed jubilant Iraqis celebrating the fall of Saddam. I believe
the people of Iraq were happy that Saddam was toppled. It is my
belief however, that, the people of Iraq soon discovered that the
United States' mission in Iraq was not liberation but an occupation."
(01/08/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/whirlwind.html

-----

34) NAFTA continues to pay dividends
     Cato Institute
     by Daniel T. Griswold

"January 1 marked the 10th anniversary of the controversial North
American Free Trade Agreement. And by any objective measure,
NAFTA has been a great public-policy success. ... ill-informed
domestic critics continue to assert that NAFTA has cost hundreds of
thousands of American jobs and, further, is somehow responsible
for the lingering recession in U.S. manufacturing. They use NAFTA
as an argument against proposed trade agreements with Central
American and other Latin American countries. But an objective look
at the record shows that none of the dire warnings about the
agreement have come true." (01/08/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-08-04.html

-----

35) With friends like these ...
     Independent Institute
     by Ivan Eland

"The media made much of President Bush's 'axis of evil' -- much as
administration 'spinners' had hoped. The excessive demonization of
the admittedly autocratic Iran, North Korea, and Iraq allowed the
administration to build public support for an aggressive invasion of
Iraq as well as hard-line policies toward these 'rogue' states. But a
more appropriate moniker might be 'axis of exaggeration.' ...
Perhaps as shocking as the administration's exaggeration of the
threat from these three 'rogues,' is the unacknowledged real danger
posed by snuggling up to 'friendly' despotic countries -- Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- the Bush administration's 'axis of
expediency.'" (01/07/04)

http://www.independent.org/tii/antiwar/e040107.html

-----

36) Sick puppies
     Yellow Times
     by John Chuckman

"Have you ever noticed how many of those odd people, the
American neo-cons, use the rhetoric of nineteenth century
European radicals? You'd be hard put to count all the references to
'revolutionary,' 'radical,' and 'manifesto' in the American Right's
industrial-scale output of pamphlets and tracts. This practice may
have started as a marketing gimmick, the catchy application of a
term from an unexpected context, but this kind of language is far
more revealing than its authors realize. Hitler was partial to just this
kind of language. That lover of fire engine-sized roadsters, cane and
cape at the opera, and tea with elegant pastries always used such
terms to describe his political movement when he strutted in public
with whip and jackboots." (01/07/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1726

-----

37) Word of the year for 2003
     CounterPunch
     by Ben Tripp

"The word for the year 2003, ladies and others, is 'clusterf--k.' I
leave it to you to embellish to taste, appending 'complete and utter'
or 'unmitigated,' for example. ... It is a military term invented
especially to describe the first Vietnam war. It means 'a bungled or
confused undertaking.' There's been much undertaking of late. Say
it with me people: 2003 was a clusterf--k." (01/07/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/tripp01072004.html

-----

38) Classical music: Killed by the state
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Gary North

"Why should classical music lovers, opera lovers, or ballet lovers
have the legal right to force other taxpayers to fund something these
taxpayers neither enjoy nor want to support? Why should the words
'classical music' become a talisman that persuades politicians to
allocate funds? Most conservatives know better than to promote the
state funding of art. The result of such funding is the mess that
modern art has become. Atonal music is to music what subsidized
art is to art." (01/08/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north240.html

-----

39) Why Dean needs to win big now
     Salon
     by Josh Benson

"With the first contest of the Democratic primary season just 10
days away, Howard Dean is in a commanding position. He appears
to be the front-runner in Iowa, though perhaps by a narrow margin,
and he's all but certain to win the New Hampshire primary on Jan.
27. He's raised the most money, has the most volunteers, and has
won a string of big-name and big-union endorsements. But
concealed in this optimistic picture is a doomsday scenario that is
shaping every serious Democratic campaign: If Dean does not win
the January contests with a show of force, by decisive margins,
then even a victory could count as a loss." [subscription or ad view
required] (01/08/04)

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/01/08/iowa/

-----

40) A US librarian defends Castro
     Village Voice
     by Nat Hentoff

"Ann Sparanese, a member of the governing Council of the
American Library Association, has written a letter to the Voice
criticizing my columns about Fidel Castro's prison sentences of 20
and more years for 75 Cuban dissenters, including 10 independent
librarians. ... At an upcoming midwinter meeting in San Diego, from
January 9 to 14, the ALA plans to decide whether it will indeed live
up to its principles and finally support the locked-up independent
librarians in Cuba. It has refused so far." (01/04/04)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0401/hentoff.php

-----

41) Measuring unemployment
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by Bruce Bartlett

"On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announces the
employment report for December. It likely will show a further decline
in the unemployment rate -- the most politically potent of all
economic statistics -- since initial claims for unemployment
compensation have dropped sharply in the last several weeks ..."
(01/07/04)

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/eco/2004/pd010704a.html

-----

42) Citing security concerns, US cancels "Yes, Dear"
     The Borowitz Report
     by Andy Borowitz

"Americans got another reminder that the nation remains at Code
Orange today when Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, citing
'security concerns,' announced that the U.S. was canceling the CBS
sitcom 'Yes, Dear.' 'We are taking this action based on credible
information that 'Yes, Dear' poses a serious threat to civilization as
we know it,' Mr. Ridge said. Mr. Ridge added that, effective Monday,
CBS would replace 'Yes, Dear' with repeated airings of Ed Bradley's
'60 Minutes' interview with Michael Jackson 'until the end of time.'"
[satire] (01/07/04)

http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=773

-----

43) A choice, not an echo
     The Weekly Standard
     by William Kristol

"Dean could, of course, still lose the nomination. But he's in an
awfully strong position. He leads in the polls, in money, in
organization, and in proven ability to generate enthusiastic and
committed supporters. He is opposed by a fragmented field. Still, he
could falter, and if he did, Wesley Clark would seem to have the
best chance to overtake him. ... In either case, it seems almost
certain that the Democratic nominee will be comprehensively anti-
Bush: anti-Bush on domestic policy, of course, but also anti-Bush
on foreign policy. So we will have a choice, not an echo. This is
perhaps as it should be." (for publication 01/12/04)

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/561bvmne.asp

-----

44) Mad socialism disease
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Christopher Westley

"There are roughly 35 million cattle slaughtered each year in the
United States. This means that, in 2003, one in 35 million U.S. cattle
were confirmed to have mad cow disease. Infected cattle comprised
three millionths of one percent of all cattle, or 0.000003%. So why
the mad cow scare?" (01/07/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1411

-----

45) The international terror-and-drug cop is on the beat
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"Those who favor the U.S. government’s role as international
policeman must be ecstatic that the feds are now expanding their
jurisdiction in their decades-long war on drugs to include the entire
world. How so? Well, despite the fact that U.S. drug laws apply only
in the United States, U.S. military forces are now using their 'war on
terror' and their invasion and occupation of Iraq to search and seize
ships in the Persian Gulf and the North Arabian Sea alleged to be
carrying illicit drugs ..." (01/07/04)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0401b.asp

-----

46) And the stupidity of Americans rages on
     Liberty For All
     by Ed Lewis

"The fact is the most effective means to combat 'true' crime is to arm
every man, woman, and child that can carry and learn to use a
firearms safely and effectively. This has been proved not only here
in this union of states but around the world (read about Kennesaw,
Georgia and Vermont), or the huge increases in crime in England
and Australia following increased firearm limitations. Compare the
crime facts of Washington, DC, with the most stringent gun controls
to Vermont ..." (01/08/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/stupidity.html

-----

47) Ghosts of landslides past
     Tom Paine
     by Arianna Huffington

"I swear, if I hear one more Democratic honcho say that Howard
Dean is not electable, I'm going to do something crazy. ... The
contention is nothing short of idiotic. Consider the source: the folks
besmirching the Good Doctor's Election Day viability are the very
people who have driven the Democratic Party into irrelevance. ...
Dean is electable precisely because he's making a decisive break
with the spinelessness and pussyfooting that have become the
hallmark of the Democratic Party. ... There is a historical parallel to
Dean's candidacy. But it's not McGovern in 1972, as the DLC-
paranoiacs would like us to believe -- it's Bobby Kennedy in 1968."
(01/07/04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9703

-----

48) Bedeviled by Lord Devlin
     Washington Times
     by Arnold Beichman

"Many years ago, Lord Patrick Devlin, the eminent British jurist and
political philosopher, raised three questions about society's
relationship to moral standards and their enforcement, questions
which have become quite relevant with the same-sex marriage issue
high on the agenda of American legislatures and courts. Lord
Devlin's famous and much debated 1965 book, titled, 'The
Enforcement of Morals,' has been described as an 'anti-gay'
manifesto, which it undoubtedly is. But it also is more than that
because it deals with the most fundamental problems of any
democratic secular society." (01/07/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040106-093956-1160r.htm

-----

49) A people-to-people defense against terrorism
     Christian Science Monitor
     by John Hughes

"Digging through an accumulation of holiday mail after a few days
off, I found a handsome calendar for 2004 showcasing the work of
photographers for The Christian Science Monitor. As I leafed
through it, I came upon two arresting photos. One was of two little
African boys, submerged up to their necks and shoulders in a slimy
swamp in Zambia. The swamp is the lair of crocodiles and snakes.
But despite the danger, the boys dive in the shallows to haul up the
sodden mankata root. It is what they and the local villagers survive
on in time of crisis when the rains do not come and the corn crop
fails. It is a symbolic picture of the despair and poverty that
continues to assail too much of the world." (01/07/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0107/p09s01-cojh.html

-----

50) Foiling aircraft attacks isn't rocket science
     Boston Globe
     by Geoffrey Forden & Theodore Postol

"More than two years after the horrifying airplane suicide attacks on
the World Trade Center, there continues to be a depressing lack of
focus on the possibility that thousands more could die in future
attacks. Commercial airplanes can be used to target nuclear power
plants, chemical plants that produce large volumes of hazardous
materials, liquid natural gas tankers, and skyscrapers. In spite of
this threat, the Bush administration has succeeded only in changing
the nation's air transport security system from one that was mostly
dysfunctional to one that is largely dysfunctional. It is time for the
Bush administration to abandon its look-good feel-good approach to
air transport security. Its failure to do so leaves the country in grave
danger." (01/07/04)

http://tinyurl.com/3hmu8


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) Jackson ends one war; Johnson declares another

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

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

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Wednesday, January 7, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,182


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Afghanistan blast leaves 13 dead
2)  Gun-toter has "Liberty" on his side
3)  Two French nationals killed in Iraq
4)  Arkansas executes mentally ill man
5)  Poll shows Democratic race tightening
6)  Alaska Libertarians put anti-draft initiative on ballot
7)  Michigan Libertarians back anti-discrimination bill
8)  Businessman jailed for doughtnut fraud
9)  Victim disarmament hasn't helped Chicago
10) Chinese not convinced of North Korean uranium effort
11) Ads compare Bush to Hitler
12) Why more senior citizens are carrying guns
13) Iraq's arsenal of ambitions
14) Schwarzenegger lays out priorities
15) How the Army used tech to nab Saddam
16) Aussie passports to comply with US conditions by deadline
17) US delegation travels to North Korea
18) India, Pakistan to begin peace talks in February
19) Bush to outline immigration proposals
20) Democrats broaden attack on school law
21) Towing company wants price caps raised
22) Genetic tests: Mad cow was Canuck
23) Smithsonian suffers from terror fears
24) Bush grabs new power for FBI
25) Still no vetoes from Bush

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Bush whacking
27) Suddenly Rush is concerned about conspiracies
28) Social Security ... "unmasked"
29) The neoconning of America
30) They pry them from our cold dead fingers
31) Love it or leave it ... or not
32) The Gore-Dean endorsement: Campaign finance loophole?
33) Bum lobster rap
34) Retention deficit
35) Feeling their oats
36) Picking one's party or one's nose?
37) Like slaves
38) Anarchism as Constitutionalism, Part 2
39) Ads that scare Karl Rove
40) Pilots still not armed
41) Tax-favored savings accounts: Who gains? Who loses?
42) Experimental economics, indeed
43) Election year is here -- check out third parties
44) Suspects most dangerous when running away?
45) NPR spreads misinformation about renewable energy
46) Where do the 10 Commandments belong?
47) Over 10,000 sign on to defend the First Amendment
48) A visit to Brudnoy
49) Intoxicated with power
50) Is the US ready for democracy?


TODAY'S MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS:

51) Action opportunity: Free Hunter!


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

52) Indian givers; a regulatory holocaust; Iacoca's golden ticket


NEWS

1)  Afghanistan blast leaves 13 dead
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"A bomb strapped to a bicycle killed 13 people yesterday in this
southern Afghan city, most of them children who halted a soccer
game and rushed to the site after an initial explosion. The
treacherous double blast, blamed on Taliban militants, may have
been intended to lure U.S. troops or hit the provincial governor. But
it was innocents who died -- another bloody reminder of the violence
sweeping Afghanistan two years after the Taliban's fall [sic]."
(01/07/04)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/155531_afghan07.html

-----

2)  Gun-toter has "Liberty" on his side
     Mansfied News Journal

"A New Hampshire man arrested last week in Ashland County on
weapons charges appears to be gearing up to take on Ohio's
concealed weapons law. And he might have plenty of help. A Web
site seeking donations to help fund legal costs by attorneys for
Jeffrey L. Jordan, 42, of Lyndeborough, N.H., is under
construction. Web sites and chatrooms are being inundated with
pleas for financial help.On Dec. 29, troopers from the Ashland post
of the Ohio Highway Patrol stopped Jordan on Interstate 71 in
Ashland County for speeding. During the traffic stop, troopers
seized several weapons. Jordan was arrested and faces multiple
charges, including two counts of carrying a concealed weapon,
fourth-degree felonies [sic] which could result in jail terms of up to
18 months. A group calling itself the Liberty Round Table has
embarked on a mission to help Jordan fight the charges in Ohio."
(01/06/04)

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20040106/localnews/173866.html

-----

3)  Two French nationals killed in Iraq
     BBC News [UK]

"Two French nationals have been shot dead in northern Iraq, the
French foreign ministry has said. The pair were killed in the town of
Falluja .... A third French national was wounded in the drive-by
shooting, spokesman Herve Ladsous said, quoted by AFP. The
killings mark the first French deaths in Iraq since the US-led war
was launched in March last year. The three were reported to be
working for a US company involved in rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure
following the war." (01/06/04)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3372465.stm

-----

4)  Arkansas executes mentally ill man
     MSNBC

"A mentally ill man whose lawyers had argued the state couldn’t
legally execute him was put to death Tuesday night for the 1979
murder of a grocer who befriended him. Charles Singleton, 44, was
pronounced dead after receiving an injection of drugs in what was
scheduled to be a back-to-back, double execution until a federal
judge ruled that a second Arkansas inmate could appeal." (01/06/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3890365/

-----

5)  Poll shows Democratic race tightening
     CNN

"Less than two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, former Vermont
Gov. Howard Dean remains on top of the Democratic heap, with
retired Gen. Wesley Clark picking up ground, according to a recent
national poll. But whoever wins the Democratic presidential
nomination will then have to contend with President Bush, who is
enjoying healthy approval ratings." (01/06/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/06/elec04.prez.poll/

-----

6)  Alaska Libertarians put anti-draft initiative on ballot
     Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

"Enough signatures have been collected so that voters in April will be
asked whether Anchorage men should be excused from registering
for the military draft. Scott Kohlhaas, Alaska Libertarian Party
chairman, and supporters collected about 10,000 petition signatures
to get the question on the April 6 ballot. The minimum necessary
was 6,352. ... Kohlhaas hopes a local anti-draft message will start in
Anchorage and spread. The Libertarians hope Anchorage's election
will kick off a national anti-draft movement." (01/06/04)

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~26794~1873893,00.html

-----

7)  Michigan Libertarians back anti-discrimination bill
     Michigan Daily

"Ward Connerly ... is spearheading a petition drive for an initiative
on November's [Michigan] ballot. The referendum regards whether
state institutions can give 'preferential treatment' based on race,
ethnicity and other characteristics. If passed, an amendment
effectively banning affirmative action in the public sphere will be
added to the state constitution. ... 'It's going to in effect put into the
Michigan Constitution what everybody thinks the Equal Protection
Clause (of the 14th Amendment) already says,' said Tim O'Brien,
operations director for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. ... MCRI
has received staunch support from the Michigan Libertarian Party.
O'Brien said that the Democratic and Republican parties have not
provided any formal support ..." (01/07/04)

http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/07/3ffbb2f96e74f

-----

8)  Businessman jailed for doughtnut fraud
     Ananova [UK]

"A 68-year-old US health food executive is set to begin a 15 month
sentence for labelling a 530-calorie doughnut as low-fat. The label
on Robert Ligon's company's 'carob-coated' doughnut said it had
three grams of fat and 135 calories. But an analysis by the US Food
and Drug Administration showed the doughnut, glazed with
chocolate, contained 18 grams of fat and 530 calories. Investigators
discovered Ligon bought full-fat doughnuts from Cloverhill Bakery, a
Chicago company, and repackaged them as diet doughnuts. Ligon's
three-year-long nationwide doughnut fraud -- which involved selling
mislabelled doughnuts, cinnamon rolls and cookies to diet centres --
crumbled when customers complained about gaining weight."
(01/06/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_852792.html

-----

9)  Victim disarmament hasn't helped Chicago
     CNS News

"Second Amendment supporters say strict gun control has made
Chicago the most murderous city in the nation for the year just
ended. 'Chicago finished off the year with more murders than New
York or Los Angeles,' said Second Amendment Foundation founder
Alan Gottlieb. 'During the past 12 months, 599 people were
murdered in Chicago, three more than in New York, where 596
people were slain, and about 100 more than in Los Angeles.' Gottlieb
called it 'remarkable' that Chicago, New York and Los Angeles have
some of the nation's strictest gun laws, but even so, they still lead the
nation when it comes to the number of homicides." (01/05/04)

http://tinyurl.com/25zh6

-----

10) Chinese not convinced of North Korean uranium effort
     Washington Post

"China told Asian diplomats last week it is not convinced of U.S.
claims that North Korea has a clandestine program to enrich
uranium for use in nuclear weapons, according to U.S. officials who
have been briefed on the discussions. The previously unreported
conversation -- raising doubts about the central element in the Bush
administration's case against Pyongyang -- underscores how
Chinese and U.S. aims appear to be diverging in the diplomatic
effort to restrain North Korea's nuclear ambitions." (01/07/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60332-2004Jan6.html

-----

11) Ads compare Bush to Hitler
     Washington Times

"Jewish advocacy groups led an avalanche of sharp criticism
yesterday against two potential television ads that compare
President Bush to Adolf Hitler and were posted on a Web site run by
MoveOn.org. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Anti-Defamation
League and the American Jewish Congress said the ads were
beyond the pale of political discussion. Rep. Eric Cantor, Virginia
Republican, called them 'hate-mongering ... Certainly myself, as an
American and as a Jew, I'm disgusted by the casual use of Hitler by
liberal Democrats and groups such as MoveOn.org,' said Cantor,
the House chief deputy majority whip." (01/06/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040105-114507-1007r.htm

-----

12) Why more senior citizens are carrying guns
     Christian Science Monitor

"A pistol's sharp report pierces the morning calm, as Charles Van
Vibber lowers his Glock automatic. He scans a bullet-stopping berm
among dusty cactuses at the Desert Trails Gun Club, as a breeze
ruffles his white hair. 'You need to be able to protect yourself,
because the police are not always able to protect you at any
moment,' he says. Mr. Van Vibber, a retired auto-parts worker, and
other older Americans account for more than a third of the 700
members regularly honing their marksmanship at this no-nonsense
range on Tucson's fringes. Some practice simply for pleasure. But a
growing number, including Van Vibber, are serious about protecting
themselves." (01/06/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0106/p02s01-ussc.html

-----

13) Iraq's arsenal of ambitions
     Washington Post

"[I]nvestigators have found no support for the two main fears
expressed in London and Washington before the war: that Iraq had
a hidden arsenal of old weapons and built advanced programs for
new ones. In public statements and unauthorized interviews,
investigators said they have discovered no work on former germ-
warfare agents such as anthrax, and no work on a new designer
pathogen -- combining pox virus and snake venom -- that led U.S.
scientists on a highly classified hunt for several months." (01/07/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60340-2004Jan6.html

-----

14) Schwarzenegger lays out priorities
     USA Today

"In his first speech to California's Legislature, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger on Tuesday touted March ballot measures aimed
at solving the state's budget problems and demanded an overhaul of
worker compensation laws to cut employers' costs and create more
jobs. Schwarzenegger warned that painful spending cuts are coming
as he outlined his agenda for 2004 in the annual 'state of the state'
speech in Sacramento." (01/06/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-07-arnold-state-state_x.htm

-----

15) How the Army used tech to nab Saddam
     CNN

"When American troops conducted a night raid that led to the
capture of Saddam Hussein in December, digital technology allowed
Army commanders miles away to watch virtually every move. Some
call the 4th Infantry Division the 'digital division' because its vehicles
are equipped with a system called 'Force 21 Base and Command
Brigade and Below,' or FBCB2." (01/06/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/01/06/sprj.nirq.troop.tech/

-----

16) Aussie passports to comply with US conditions by deadline
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) today
expressed confidence new passport requirements for entry to the
United States would be accepted before the October deadline. A
media report quoting US Department of Homeland Security officials
suggested several so-called waiver countries were likely to miss the
October 26 deadline to include extra security data on passports. ...
A DFAT spokeswoman said Australian authorities such as DFAT
and Customs have been working on the newly required facial
biometrics feature. She said the $6 million project was well
advanced and DFAT was confident of meeting the deadline."
(01/07/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/07/1073268078105.html

-----

17) US delegation travels to North Korea
     USA Today

"North Korea made an unusually conciliatory offer Tuesday to shut
down its nuclear program, and the Bush administration responded
with unusual warmth, terming the proposal 'interesting' and 'positive.'
After months of hostile exchanges over efforts to pressure the
reclusive nation to end its nuclear-bomb-making program ..."
(01/06/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-01-06-koreas-nuclear_x.htm

-----

18) India, Pakistan to begin peace talks in February
     MSNBC

"India and Pakistan took a giant leap to put more than a half-century
of bloodshed behind them, agreeing Tuesday to start talks next
month on core disputes of nationalism and religion that have taken
the nuclear-armed nations into three wars. The talks will touch on all
topics, including the flashpoint issue of Kashmir, foreign ministers
from both countries said in a joint statement." (01/06/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3852964/

-----

19) Bush to outline immigration proposals
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"A plan being proposed by President Bush would give legal status to
foreign workers, including millions already toiling in America's
underground economy, removing the fear of deportation but not
putting them on a fast track toward permanent U.S. residency. In a
speech Wednesday at the White House, Bush will ask Congress to
approve changes to immigration policy ..." (01/06/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040106/1778624.shtml

-----

20) Democrats broaden attack on school law
     Boston Globe

"Democratic presidential candidates, encouraged by teachers'
unions and growing public doubts about a bipartisan education law,
are widening their attacks on what President Bush has touted as a
major domestic accomplishment and calling for fundamental
changes in its provisions. For months, the Democratic mantra has
been that the Bush administration shortchanged states by billions of
dollars for implementing the federal education law known as the No
Child Left Behind Act ... But as the first nominating contests
approach, the leading Democratic candidates -- most of whom voted
for the legislation -- also have begun to criticize the accountability
requirements as too burdensome on school districts. Some say they
would undo pieces of the sweeping law." (01/06/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2yx2b

-----

21) Towing company wants price caps raised
     Washington Times

"A towing company in Arlington [VA] that has been fined for
overcharging said yesterday county officials should increase towing
prices as they seek to change a federal law to allow localities to
prevent towing companies from taking advantage of drivers. George
King, owner of Frank's Towing, said the county should increase the
towing-price cap to $140 from $95 per car so companies can cover
inflation and rising business costs. ... 'It's costing me more to tow a
car today than it was 10 years ago,' [he] said. 'We're just trying to
make a living." (01/06/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040105-093658-6398r.htm

-----

22) Genetic tests: Mad cow was Canuck
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Genetic testing confirms that the cow diagnosed with the first U.S.
case of mad cow disease was born in Canada, agriculture officials
said Tuesday. The finding puts new emphasis above the border in
the investigation of the North American outbreak of the brain-wasting
disease." (01/06/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040106/1778623.shtml

-----

23) Smithsonian suffers from terror fears
     Capitol Hill Blue

"Attendance at the Smithsonian Institution's museums and galleries
has yet to recover from the blow of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks, a situation blamed on a weak economy, harsh weather and
worries about more threats to Washington. ... The Smithsonian
reported a decline in large private donations -- saying that because
of economic troubles, it received no gifts of over $5 million each in
the 2004 budget year, which ends in October. But it received more
money from the government. Federal appropriations this year are
rising to $600 million, up $41 million from last year." (01/06/04)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3847.shtml

-----

24) Bush grabs new power for FBI
     Wired News

"While the nation was distracted last month by images of Saddam
Hussein's spider hole and dental exam, President George W. Bush
quietly signed into law a new bill that gives the FBI increased
surveillance powers and dramatically expands the reach of the USA
Patriot Act. The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004
grants the FBI unprecedented power to obtain records from
financial institutions without requiring permission from a judge."
(01/06/04)

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61792,00.html/wn_ascii

-----

25) Still no vetoes from Bush
     Fox News

"Aided by a Republican-controlled Congress, President Bush is on
track to become the first chief executive since John Quincy Adams
in the 1820s to complete a full term without vetoing one bill. He has,
however, made frequent use of the veto threat, and so far that's
been enough to get what he wants. By comparison, President
Clinton issued 37 vetoes during his eight years in office. Bush's
father had 44 during his single term." (01/06/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107541,00.html

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COMMENTARY

26) Bush whacking
     Liberty For All
     by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

"In politics as usual the sides routinely compromise the rights of
some groups to pursue the interests of other groups. ... Our fight is
about individual freedom. We needed to make sure that everyone
understood that we meant all individuals. Where the motives were
good but the means was wrong we should have commended the
goals and provided better means. Where the goals were bad but the
means were good we should have commended the means and
redirected the goals." (01/07/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/whacking.html

-----

27) Suddenly Rush is concerned about conspiracies
     Too Good Reports
     by Chuck Baldwin

"Nationally syndicated radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has seen
the light, or maybe felt the heat. In either case, he suddenly realizes
the consequences of living in a society where government agencies
have unfettered access to personal information and where
individuals have little or no constitutional protections. Welcome back,
Rush. For years, Limbaugh has impugned, denigrated and
chastised any caller who dared bring up the subject of federal
encroachment on individual liberties, calling them 'conspiracy nuts'
or worse. ... Suddenly, however, he is screaming that he is the
victim of a (eeh-gads) 'conspiracy.'" (01/06/04)

http://toogoodreports.com/column/general/baldwin/20040106.htm

-----

28) Social Security ... "unmasked"
     Sierra Times
     by Robert Greenslade

"I recently watched, in disbelief, as two friends engaged in a
screaming match in my kitchen over Social Security. One individual
asserted there would not be any money left in his Social Security
retirement account because President Bush was stealing the funds
to pay for the war in Iraq. ... The other individual countered that the
President could not spend all his money because it is 'locked away
in the Social Security Trust Fund.' ... After five minutes of listening
to the yelling and political barbs, I decided it was time to sit my
friends down and attempt to interject some facts into their debate.
When I told them that there is no 'retirement trust fund,' because ...
Social Security is nothing but a federal welfare scheme disguised as
a retirement program, you could have heard a pin drop." (01/06/04)

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/01/06/greenslade.htm

-----

29) The neoconning of America
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"The War Party, in accordance with their doctrine of 'preemptive'
war, is launching a preemptive strike against the idea that anyone
ought to answer for our failed Iraq policy. To call for the resignation
of Wolfowitz, to call for an investigation into the financial
shenanigans surrounding Richard Perle's relations with Western
governments and private industry, to call for Douglas Feith's head,
as many are doing, to purge the government of operatives who won't
hesitate to commit a crime -- exposing an agent of the CIA -- in
pursuit of a political agenda: these are 'anti-Semitic' acts, one and
all, or so we're about to be told." (01/07/04)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j010704.html

-----

30) They pry them from our cold dead fingers
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Sharon Harris

"Libertarians and most conservatives boldly and nobly take a stand
for our right to keep and bear arms. Not so we can go duck hunting,
but so we can defend ourselves and our families from invasion. And
so we can, if necessary, defend our liberty from the possibility of a
tyrannical state. But what if the tyranny we fear comes to pass --
grown and nurtured in our very homes?" (01/07/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/harris-sharon1.html

-----

31) Love it or leave it ... or not
     AlternaPress
     by Ailill Farraideach

"The right to disagree, even on fundamental issues, is a foundational
cornerstone of freedom. Without one, the other simply does not
exist. Why, then, do so many people profess a love of freedom while
screaming against its very foundation?" (01/06/04)

http://pub15.ezboard.com/falternapressfrm14.showMessage?topicID=14.topic

-----

32) The Gore-Dean endorsement: Campaign finance loophole?
     Cato Institute
     by Robert A. Levy

"Whether the voter pledges a single vote, a public endorsement,
payment for an ad, or a contribution of money so the candidate can
pay for his own ad, each of those acts has the same end: getting
the candidate elected. And each act operates through the same
means: political speech. The exchange of speech for promised
conduct by the candidate if he's elected is not corrupt. It is
democracy at work. What, then, should be illegal?" (01/07/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-07-04.html

-----

33) Bum lobster rap
     Washington Times
     by Ellen S. Podgor & Paul Rosenzweig

"Is the war on terrorism over? Have we stopped drug trafficking?
Has corruption in corporate America ended? We must have cured
these problems. Why else would federal officials spend their time
prosecuting people for importing lobster tails in plastic bags instead
of cardboard boxes? And why else would our government prosecute
individuals because a small percentage of the lobsters in a particular
shipment were less than 51/2 inches and therefore violated
Honduran law?" (01/06/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040105-083723-4783r.htm

-----

34) Retention deficit
     Reason
     by Tim Cavanaugh

"One of the arguments against maintaining a large standing military
is that this creates an incentive to put the military to use. But lack of
a standing army didn't prevent the United States from a disastrous
folly like the War of 1812 or an imperial misdeed like the Spanish-
American War. In the former case, at least, the government was
under extraordinary pressure to keep up its war effort without
burdening the citizens. The problem today is that the priorities are
reversed: When a free nation can't maintain its foreign adventures
with willing volunteers, the rational solution should be to cut down on
the adventures, not to fudge the definition of 'willing.'" (01/06/04)

http://www.reason.com/links/links010604.shtml

-----

35) Feeling their oats
     Foundation for Economic Education
     by Sheldon Richman

"How inspiring it was to see nearly two dozen representatives of the
poorest nations’ governments walk out of September’s World Trade
Organization meeting to protest the rich countries’ subsidies to
farmers. I don’t say this lightly. Governments rarely inspire anything
in me. But here was a group of governments that finally put
diplomatic niceties aside and identified the Western governments’
hypocrisy for what it is." (12/03)

http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=5695

-----

36) Picking one's party or one's nose?
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Chris Basten

"Racy political campaigns and the choosing of one platform over the
other make for good drama. The more involved we get, the more
addicted we are to how right our side is. Even third-parties get
involved to simmer the juices some more. If the straight couples and
not-so-straight couples get to plead to Big Government for exclusive
privileges, why not singles as well? Oddly, few seem to identify with
the notion that the government has no right or authority to be
involved in the marriage business." (01/07/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/07

-----

37) Like slaves
     CounterPunch
     by David Price

"The current occupation of Iraq leads many critics to evoke
comparisons with other military occupations -- these comparisons
typically run the range of the occupations of the Nazis, Soviets,
Israelis, Cardassians and so forth. While none of these
comparisons are perfect fits, they can add an anthropological angle
of abstraction that help us view the present dangers through a
distant lens that can help us understand the nature of occupation."
(01/06/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/price01062004.html

-----

38) Anarchism as Constitutionalism, Part 2
     Strike the Root
     by Roderick Long

"So for Market Anarchists, any person has the moral right to engage
in legislative, executive, and judicial services, just as any person has
the moral right to run a factory. It does not follow, however, that
anyone has the right to conduct her legislative, executive, or
adjudicative activities in a rights-violating way, any more than a
factory owner has the right to run her factory in a rights-violating
way." (01/06/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/long/long1.html

-----

39) Ads that scare Karl Rove
     Salon
     by Charles Taylor

"For all the Republican ire any of these spots would raise if they
made their way onto TV, the Democrats would be unwise to ignore
their effectiveness. If the candidates collectively, or the nominee
after he is chosen in July, cannot match the bluntness of these ads,
if he decides to take the high road (that is, wuss out), then the party
is going to find itself alienating the very people who constitute one of
the strongest forces that might gather to defeat Bush. If I were
Howard Dean or Wesley Clark, the impact and economy of these
ads would make me think twice before I shelled out big bucks to
some media professionals." [subscription or ad view required]
(01/07/04)

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2004/01/07/30_seconds/

-----

40) Pilots still not armed
     New York Post
     by John R. Lott Jr

"They fly by the Capitol, but the bureaucrats won't trust pilots with
guns: A plane in final approach to Washington's Reagan National
Airport.AP MORE than two years since 9/11, news headlines still
warn 'Al Qaeda May Be Planning More Hijack Attacks.' In less than
two weeks, hijacking fears cancelled six Air France flights, four
British Airways flights and two Aero Mexico flights. Intelligence
reports indicated that at least one would-be hijacker was trained to
fly a plane. U.S. fighter jets are accompanying some flights with
orders to shoot them down if they're hijacked. Yet, while much of the
attention has focused on international flights, there are still serious
problems with our own security arrangements." (01/06/04)

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/44510.htm

-----

41) Tax-favored savings accounts: Who gains? Who loses?
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by Jagadeesh Gokhale and Laurence J. Kotlikoff

"The premises behind tax deferral are the beliefs that people (a) will
be in a lower tax bracket during their retirement years than during
their working years and (b) will in effect have an interest-free loan
on tax payments. Therefore, tax deferral represents an opportunity
to avoid taxes when the rate of taxation is high and pay them when
the rate is low. Twenty-five years ago this assumption was probably
valid. But for millions ... the assumption is no longer true." (01/04)

http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st249/

-----

42) Experimental economics, indeed
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Joseph R. Stromberg

"In the December 27th Wall Street Journal online, Economics Nobel
laureate Vernon L. Smith lays out a program to jumpstart the Iraqi
economy and give Iraq a set of institutions fitted to the needs of a
free and prosperous commonwealth. He spies 'a historic opportunity'
for W 'to craft a new geopolitical-economic paradigm that could --
and should -- become a world model for the movement of assets
from governments to citizens.'" (01/06/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1409

-----

43) Election year is here -- check out third parties
     Green Bay News Chronicle
     by Warren Bluhm

"As we move into the presidential election year of 2004, it has been
a long, dark winter for someone whose political philosophy came
into focus when I sat in the bleachers and heard Lee S. Dreyfus say
those immortal words, 'The government should defend our shores
and deliver the mail and stay the hell out of my life.' We have an
incumbent whose response to an attack on our shores was to create
a new federal department, ostensibly to consolidate the efforts of
numerous security agencies, which of course will end up spending
more money than the various agencies combined." (01/06/04)

http://www.gogreenbay.com/page.html?article=123802

-----

44) Suspects most dangerous when running away?
     Sierra Times
     by JJ Johnson

"The 'score' was to go down near the liquor store near 46th and
Market streets. It's 11:45 pm. According to police, the deal just 'went
bad.' We'd like to get the other side of the story, but you know how
that goes. Therefore, Police Chief Robert White could tell everyone,
'There was a tussle for the (officer's) service weapon, a shot was
fired, the subject fled and in the course of that, the subject was shot
three times in the back,' with a strait face. Our hero Mattingly landed
60% of his total round fired. Let's go over that again ... slowly: The
deal goes bad, there's a struggle, a shot goes off, then the suspect
flees ... Question: So when is getting off four more rounds at a
fleeing suspect justified in this case?" (01/06/04)

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/01/06/whackstack.htm

-----

45) NPR spreads misinformation about renewable energy
     Heartland Institute
     by Jay Lehr

"It is one thing to lean left politically. It is quite another to look the
other way in the face of out-and-out lies, fraud, and misinformation
in the arena of environmental science. The other day, I listened as
my local National Public Radio (NPR) station gave a complete pass
to a crackpot telling everyone in the listening audience that wind,
waves, photovoltaic cells, and solar energy could easily replace
fossil fuel." (01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14018

-----

46) Where do the 10 Commandments belong?
     Hawaii Reporter
     by Tracy Ryan

"Faith, by definition, does not depend for its existence on reason,
logic, or evidence. Unfortunately, many people of faith cannot seem
to keep these two distinct ways of thinking separate. Hence we have
a seemingly never ending series of public controversies over the
meaning of the establishment of religion clause in the First
Amendment of our Constitution." (01/06/04)

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?5e9cf0dc-1410-4c9c-854f-a536964bceb6

-----

47) Over 10,000 sign on to defend the First Amendment
     Liberty For All
     by staff

"Over 10,000 organizations and individuals have already signed the
following statement in support of the First Amendment and in
opposition to the FBI's targeting of the antiwar movement (over
6,000 on the first day that A.N.S.W.E.R., VoteNoWar.org and
others began circulating this statement). ... We want to get tens of
thousands more signers and publicize this campaign to support the
First Amendment which is under attack." (01/07/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/defend.html

-----

48) A visit to Brudnoy
     Boston Globe
     by Brian McGrory

"David Brudnoy has melted away. Already thin, he has lost 50
pounds over the past few months. ... But worse than any of that is
his voice. His voice has filled the airwaves of Boston three hours a
night, five nights a week, for nearly all of the last 27 years. ... And
now this voice has been reduced to little more than a whisper and,
even then, it hurts him to try. ... Brudnoy, the city's most elegant and
enduring talk radio host, has been gravely ill ... with a rare form of
skin cancer ... [H]e has undergone a devastating regimen of
radiation and chemotherapy that has left him hospitalized in dire
pain for 31 days in the last two months. ... He's a self-proclaimed
libertarian, a thoughtful conservative, a dreamy pragmatist. In an
age when right-wing hosts seethe and sports hosts act like twits and
liberal hosts talk as if they have a mouth full of marbles, Brudnoy
rises above it all." (01/06/04)

http://tinyurl.com/384yx

-----

49) Intoxicated with power
     Tom Paine
     by Ray McGovern

"It came at the very end of a long New York Times report of Jan. 2
regarding the havoc caused at Dulles airport in Washington, D.C.
because of heightened concern there of a terrorist attack. 'In a
footnote, the director of security at Dulles airport was arrested
Thursday on suspicion of drunk driving.' Dulles airport's director of
security, former Secret Service agent Charles Brady, was pulled
over on suspicion of being drunk at the wheel at the very height of
the emergency! What a telling metaphor for malfeasance at a more
senior level, I thought to myself. While President George W. Bush
may no longer be drinking, the year 2003 showed him to be DWI in
a far more dangerous sense -- driving while intoxicated with power."
(01/06/04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9693

-----

50) Is the US ready for democracy?
     Christian Science Monitor
     by David Newsom

"Today's debate over bringing democracy to the Muslim Middle East
often centers on whether the region is 'ready for democracy.'
Another question is equally valid: 'Is the United States ready to
tolerate democracy?' Systems based on guaranteed freedoms, the
rule of law, and peaceful electoral transitions are obviously desirable
for all. But democratic systems are often unpredictable. In a recent
discussion of democracy with Egyptian journalists, the US
ambassador to Cairo, David Welch, was asked: 'If we eventually end
up with democracy and the regimes to be elected are not compliant
with US interests, what would the US do?'" (01/07/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0107/p09s02-coop.html


MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS

51) Action opportunity: Free Hunter!
     Liberty Round Table
     until the thugs give it up

Defense fund information for Jeff Jordan, a/k/a "Hunter." Arrested
in Ohio for exercising his inalienable human and constitutionally
guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. Help us convince Ohio's
jackbooted thugs that this time they're messing with the wrong
freedom-lover!

http://www.libertyroundtable.org/projects/freehunter/


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

52) Indian givers; a regulatory holocaust; Iacoca's golden ticket

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  RRND is published every weekday 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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, January 6, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,182


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Needed: Hunter (and other kinds of) green

TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  US soldier dies of Iraq wounds
2)  Principal at drug-thug-raid high school resigns
3)  High court may broaden terror war review
4)  Italian anarchists continue anti-EU attentats
5)  Sharon booed for settlement remarks
6)  "Paper trail" of votes omitted
7)  Gunmen free 22 from Mexican jail
8)  Bush to propose immigration law changes
9)  US keeps Libya sanctions for now
10) Texas pol deserts sinking ship for other sinking ship
11) Stricter security measures enforced
12) Police union blasts gun registry
13) USDA to kill 450 calves in mad cow scare
14) Egypt muzzles calls for democracy
15) Conservatives simmer as spending mushrooms under Bush
16) Stressed out at the front
17) Suspected burglar shot by homeowner
18) Army to troops: You ain't leaving
19) American Baptist group hopes to convert Iraqi Muslims
20) Zoo serves brandy to bears
21) CIA plans new secret police to fight Iraq terrorism
22) Hong Kong protesters diversify
23) Cop shooting claimed as "suicide plan"
24) Puppet "governing council" eyes federal system
25) Weld, 2 ex-AGs urge passage of gay marriage law

-----ADVERTISEMENT----------------------------------------------------
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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Is the Supreme Court all thumbs?
27) Liberty Action of the Week
28) Two-faced power
29) Don't let them catch you reading!
30) Stupid Vogue
31) Socialist inSecurity
32) Fortress America
33) Postconstitutional America
34) TABOR bill would provide important new protections
35) Harm's a two-way street
36) Time to think about decriminalising marijuana
37) Lies about guns
38) Death on the Boondoggle Express
39) Avenging angel of the religious right
40) Enough is too much
41) The decline of English
42) North Korea for dummies
43) Tax simplification
44) What has government done to our families?
45) The trials of trying Saddam
46) Advice for the Free Staters
47) Dean's statements disappointing, troubling
48) The next war
49) Electoral vote advantage
50) Music musings: Part II


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) If at first you don't succeed, invoke the Interstate Commerce Clause


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Needed: Hunter (and other kinds of) green

Over the holidays, I decided to give our readers the longest break
possible from the constant fundraising refrain -- and, unless I'm
mistaken, you've not seen a solicitation for financial support in this
publication since before Christmas.

Now, I'm going to ask you to get out your checkbook. For RRND,
yes, but first for Jeff Jordan, known to his friends and admirers as
"the Hunter."

RRND has carried the news accounts and such updates as we've
come across on Hunter's story. Pulled over for speeding in Ohio on
his way through, he found himself in jail, his car impounded, and
threatened with a lengthy sentence ... for -- nothing more and
nothing less -- exercising his inalienable human and constitutionally
protected right to keep and bear arms.

KeepAndBearArms.Com has graciously agreed to host a defense
fund for Hunter; Liberty Round Table and other publications,
including this one, will do their best to get the word out. Mary Lou
Seymour's "Liberty Action of the Week" column for today is chock
full of relevant links:

http://www.rationalreview.com/mlseymour/010604.shtml

Asking for your support for a legal defense fund is not something I
do lightly, but the facts are clear and indisputable in this case.
Hunter is a rock-solid freedom lover. He's not a criminal. He's not a
nut. And your support may not only be the only thing standing
between him and an undeserved stay in a very bad place, but, just
possibly, a chance to have a POSITIVE effect in the fight for gun
rights by bringing the state of Ohio's jack-booted thugs up short in
court.

If you can help out, I hope you will.

Apart from that, of course, all of us here at RRND appreciate, and
require, your help to keep this publication going. I've been through
the numbers, and I've been through the fact that There Ain't No
Such Thing As A Free RRND, so I won't belabor the point. As we
move toward our 300th edition, published every non-holiday
weekday (and some weekends) without interruption for more than a
year, I hope that you'll think about what RRND is worth to you ... and
commit that amount to its perpetuation. Here's the link:

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

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  US soldier dies of Iraq wounds
     WSBT News 22

"An Army Reservist from the Lafayette [IN] area who was serving in
Iraq has died after suffering burns over 95 percent of his body. 20-
year-old Specialist Luke Frist was pronounced dead after being
airlifted to Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. His sister
said the military informed the family of the death Monday afternoon.
Frist was injured when the fuel-laden truck in which he was riding
came under attack in Iraq early Friday. He was airlifted to the San
Antonio hospital Sunday after being treated in Germany. His parents
flew to Germany on Saturday and accompanied him home."
(01/05/04)

http://www.wsbt.com/showStory.php?id=13547

-----

2)  Principal at drug-thug-raid high school resigns
     HDTV 47

"South Carolina high school principal has resigned in the aftermath
of a controversial drug raid. Police in November raided Stratford
High School with guns drawn and ordered students to the floor.
School officials had asked police to come to the school after hearing
of marijuana sales on campus. Police say drug dogs sniffed out
drug residue on 12 book bags -- but recovered no drugs. The raid
led to allegations of excessive force and racism. Many of the
students are black. The principal says in a statement that it's 'in the
best interest' of the school and his students for him to step aside."
(01/05/04)

http://www.wtev.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=27F1E7AE-0626-4E2F-B0A2-\
6F688B923024

-----

3)  High court may broaden terror war review
     San Jose Mercury News

"The Supreme Court will announce this month whether it will broaden
a review of the Bush administration's imprisonment of terror
suspects. The court already overrode the objections of the
administration in November to take an appeal that asks whether
foreigners held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
may contest their captivity in American courts. Now justices will
decide whether to hear the appeal of U.S.-born terrorism suspect
Yaser Esam Hamdi. The government won its argument in a lower
court that Hamdi may be kept incommunicado and without access to
a lawyer or U.S. courts, even though he is a citizen." (01/05/04)

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7635365.htm

-----

4)  Italian anarchists continue anti-EU attentats
     Topeka Capital-Journal

"Two more letter bombs addressed to senior members of the
European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, burst into flames and
another was intercepted Monday, leading to a review of security at
the European Union. The latest bombings scorched furniture,
leaving the letter-openers frightened but unharmed. Investigators
suspect an Italian anarchist group -- the 'Informal Anarchic
Federation' -- as the likely source for the string of bombs, which
have caused no injuries." (01/06/04)

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/010604/pag_letterbombs.shtml

-----

5)  Sharon booed for settlement remarks
     iAfrica [South Africa]

"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was given a bruising ride by
members of his own party on Monday when he reiterated his
support for a Palestinian state, warning it would mean dismantling
Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. ... He was roundly
booed at several stages during his speech, with one delegate
unfurling a banner which read: 'Sharon's plan is a prize for terror.'
Sharon responded by saying: 'You keep waving your banners and I
will keep my responsibility of bringing about peace and security to
this land.'" (01/06/04)

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/294651.htm

-----

6)  "Paper trail" of votes omitted
     Washington Times

"A request that Maryland's new touch-screen voting network include
printouts might have come too late because state officials already
have signed a $55.6 million contract that includes no such backup
system. 'That was not part of the contract price we negotiated with
Maryland,' said Mark Radke, director of marketing for Diebold
Election Systems Inc., a Diebold subsidiary. 'The voter verification
[paper trail] was not discussed.'" (01/05/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040104-105438-5443r.htm

-----

7)  Gunmen free 22 from Mexican jail
     CNN

"Gunmen dressed in military fatigues burst into a jail in western
Mexico on Monday and freed 22 inmates, some of whom are
believed to be linked to one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels,
police said. One person was killed in the breakout at Apatzingan
prison, about 200 miles (330 km) northwest of Mexico City, officials
from the state Attorney General's Office said. ... The jailbreak may
have been organized by the powerful Gulf drug cartel, based in the
northern border state of Tamaulipas and headed by Osiel Cardenas
who was arrested last March, a Michoacan state official told
Reuters." (01/05/04)

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/01/05/mexico.jailbreak.reut/

-----

8)  Bush to propose immigration law changes
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"President Bush will propose immigration law changes to allow
workers from Mexico to enter the United States if they have jobs
waiting for them, officials said Monday in previewing an election-
year measure intended to bolster support among Hispanic voters.
Advocacy groups were invited to the White House on Wednesday to
hear details of the program." (01/05/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040105/1772914.shtml

-----

9)  US keeps Libya sanctions for now
     CNN

"President Bush signed an order Monday that keeps in place
sanctions on Libya first enacted during the Reagan administration in
January 1986. But Bush noted 'positive developments' such as
Libya's decision to take responsibility for the Pan Am 103 bombing
and its recent promise to verifiably dismantle its weapons of mass
destruction program." (01/05/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/05/libya.sanctions/

-----

10) Texas pol deserts sinking ship for other sinking ship
     Talon News

"Rep. Ralph Hall (D-TX), a longtime representative of his state's 4th
Congressional District, announced on Friday that he would run as a
Republican in his reelection bid. In a statement Hall said: 'This
decision will not affect my representation of the 4th District and will
not change my voting record. I will continue to vote my district as I
always have, and I believe I will be in a better position to influence
policy in the Republican Congress. This decision is in the best
interest of my district.'" (01/05/04)

http://www.talonnews.com/news/2004/january/0105_hall_switch.shtml

-----

11) Stricter security measures enforced
     Washington Post

"The United States began fingerprinting and photographing
foreigners arriving at U.S. airports and ports yesterday in an effort
to track down wanted criminals and suspected terrorists and identify
visitors who overstay visas. The U.S. Visit program, which debuted
at 115 airports and 14 seaports yesterday, aims to keep records on
more than 24 million foreigners who enter the United States each
year largely from Central and South America, Africa, and Asia."
(01/06/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57313-2004Jan5.html

-----

12) Police union blasts gun registry
     CBC News [Canada]

"The union head of Calgary's front-line police officers is calling for
the federal government to scrap the billion-dollar gun registry
because it has been a colossal failure in reducing violent crime in
the country. Al Koenig, president of the Calgary Police Association,
said the vast amount of money spent on the firearms program could
have been much better put to use for front-line police officers in
Canada." (01/05/04)

http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=63B6040C-8D8A-48B0-A098-BB6F9450F3A7

-----

13) USDA to kill 450 calves in mad cow scare
     USA Today

"U.S. agriculture officials have decided to kill 450 calves in a
Washington state herd that includes an offspring of the cow
diagnosed with mad cow disease. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture
Department's chief veterinarian, said Monday that the month-old
calves would be slaughtered this week at an undisclosed facility that
is not being used." (01/05/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-05-mad-cow-calves_x.htm

-----

14) Egypt muzzles calls for democracy
     Washington Post

"Once the most influential Arab nation, Egypt has struggled in recent
decades with a stagnant economy, political violence from Islamic
militants and the vicissitudes of highly centralized one-man rule. Its
president, Hosni Mubarak, is 75 and has showed signs of ill health
recently, and he is grooming his son to succeed him. Opponents
are hoping the succession will be an opportunity to transform the
government and the economy, and some critics agree that the
government has eased its grip on dissent. But state power is quick
to assert itself when challenged." (01/06/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57219-2004Jan5.html

-----

15) Conservatives simmer as spending mushrooms under Bush
     USA Today

"Conservatives wait warily as President Bush makes final decisions
about his election-year budget, three years into an administration on
whose watch spending has mushroomed by 23.7%, the fastest pace
in a decade. While Bush has emphasized repeatedly the need to
rein in spending, overall federal expenditures have grown to an
estimated $2.31 trillion for the budget year that started Oct. 1."
(01/05/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-01-05-bush-spending_x.htm

-----

16) Stressed out at the front
     MSNBC/Newsweek

"Sgt. Kim Eimers understands now why her father never talked
about his time as a soldier in Vietnam. When she gets back from
Iraq, where she's stationed with the Fourth Infantry Division in
Baqubah, she doesn't think she'll talk about her wartime experience
much, either." (for publication 01/12/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3868907/

-----

17) Suspected burglar shot by homeowner
     KRQE News

"Police say an Albuquerque [NM] resident apparently interrupted a
burglary and ended up shooting the intruder. ... A man was visiting
his neighbor when he thought he heard something at his home next
door. He investigated and found his door unlocked. Apodaca says
the intruder opened the door and that's when a fight began. The
intruder had a pipe and struck the resident, but the neighbor
intervened. That allowed the victim to get a gun he had in the house
and fire two shots, hitting the intruder at least once." (01/05/04)

http://www.krqe.com/crime/expanded.asp?RECORD_KEY[Crime]=ID&ID[Crime]=2629

-----

18) Army to troops: You ain't leaving
     Capitol Hill Blue

"You're in the Army now and that's where you're going to stay -- at
least for the next 90 days. The Army is preparing to inform soldiers
due to return from Iraq and Afghanistan over the next several
months that they will not be allowed to retire or otherwise leave the
service for 90 days after they return to their home base, defense
officials said Monday. The order, known as 'stop loss,' is a
personnel management tool whose use reflects the difficulty the
Army is having in keeping enough soldiers available to meet the
Army's worldwide commitments." (01/05/04)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3842.shtml

-----

19) American Baptist group hopes to convert Iraqi Muslims
     Yellow Times

"While coalition forces need to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis,
an American Southern Baptist group plans to win Iraqi souls. To that
effect, the Baptists' International Mission Board (IMB) is mobilizing
missionaries to convert Muslims from a 'false' religion based on the
teachings of a 'demon-obsessed pedophile,' as a former IMB leader
once called the Prophet Mohammad. ... Under the pretense of
providing humanitarian aid, the Baptists come to Iraq with food,
medical services and Bibles; IMB holds that the first two items are 'a
conduit' for the latter." (01/05/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1720&mode=thread&order=0

-----

20) Zoo serves brandy to bears
     Ananova [UK]

"A zoo in India is serving brandy to bears to keep them warm in
winter. Authorities in state-run Chatbir zoo, in Punjab state, are
offering the alcoholic drink to keep the animals warm. 'In this
freezing cold, we have made the best possible arrangements to keep
the bears warm,' Director of the zoo Mahender Chaudhary said."
(01/05/04)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_852602.html

-----

21) CIA plans new secret police to fight Iraq terrorism
     Telegraph [UK]

"Nine months after the demise of Saddam Hussein's regime and his
feared mukhabarat (intelligence) operatives, Iraq is to get a secret
police force again -- courtesy of Washington. The Bush
administration is to fund the new agency in the latest initiative to root
out Ba'athist regime loyalists behind the continuing insurgency in
parts of Iraq." (01/04/04)

http://tinyurl.com/2464w

-----

22) Hong Kong protesters diversify
     Christian Science Monitor

"An annual speech by Hong Kong's chief is rarely cause for note.
But after another surprisingly sizable and diverse 'people power'
march here -- some 100,000 residents on Jan. 1 called for greater
political rights -- the embattled Tung Che-hwa will be in the hot seat
Wednesday when he gives his New Year policy address. The
peaceful Jan. 1 march, festooned with anti-Tung banners and
winding through the city all afternoon on a day better known for
lounging on the couch, is yet another indication that the democracy
drama in Hong Kong that began last July is still quite alive."
(01/05/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0105/p01s03-woap.html

-----

23) Cop shooting claimed as "suicide plan"
     Huntsville Times

"Murder suspect Farron Barksdale has been diagnosed with
paranoid schizophrenia and told investigators he had thoughts of
suicide before killing two [Athens, AL] city police officers on Friday,
Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely said Saturday. Barksdale
told investigators he thought about committing 'suicide by cops,' by
provoking police into shooting him. 'He said that he had made up his
mind to shoot whoever drove into the yard,' Blakely said." (01/04/04)

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1073211505212620.xml

-----

24) Puppet "governing council" eyes federal system
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"The Governing Council is close to agreeing on a federal system for
Iraq and will defer until next year the explosive issue of whether to
give greater autonomy to the northern Kurdish region, two council
members said Monday. Dividing Iraq into federal states along ethnic
and religious lines is a sensitive matter for Iraqis as well as for
others in the region who fear such separations will lead to the
disintegration of the country." (01/05/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040105/1772925.shtml

-----

25) Weld, 2 ex-AGs urge passage of gay marriage law
     Boston Globe

"Saying [that] the 'rule of law and the legitimacy of the courts' are at
stake, former governor William Weld, two former state attorneys
general and two top lawyers will deliver a letter to all 200 legislators
today, urging them to enact into law the Supreme Judicial Court's
ruling allowing gays to marry. The letter, signed by Scott
Harshbarger, attorney general from 1991 to 1999, and James M.
Shannon, his predecessor, says that efforts by opponents of same-
sex marriage to create an alternate civil union system have 'no legal
justification.'" (01/05/04)

http://tinyurl.com/39yv4

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                Check out our donor premium program at:

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----------------------------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT-----

COMMENTARY

26) Is the Supreme Court all thumbs?
     Liberty For All
     by Garry Reed

"Silly me. Somehow I thought the purpose of the Supreme Court
was to decide if the laws concocted by our law concoctors are
constitutional. ... Maybe I'd watched too many old pompous black-
and-white movies about old pompous men in pompous robes. I
pictured these nine wise and wizened men (and now women)
reading a new law, consulting their well-thumbed copies of the
Constitution and then giving the law thumbs up or thumbs down. If
that's not what they do, what do they do?" (01/06/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/thumbs.html

-----

27) Liberty Action of the Week
     Free the Hunter
     Rational Review
     by Mary Lou Seymour

"On January 29, Jeff Jordan, a/k/a 'The Hunter,' was returning to
his home in New Hampshire after visiting relatives for Christmas in
Kansas. Unfortunately, his road home led through the state of Ohio.
Hunter was in a hurry to get home, as were so many of us over the
holidays, and got stopped in Ohio for speeding. The trooper claims
he saw one of Hunter's magazine pouches on his belt and searched
Hunter and his vehicle, finding 'multiple weapons.' This would have
been a little-noticed story, one of hundreds like it, of the 'another
gun nut caught' variety, except for one thing. Jeff Jordan, a/k/a 'The
Hunter,' is a right well-known and well-loved liberty activist ..."
(01/06/04)

http://www.rationalreview.com/mlseymour/010604.shtml

-----

28) Two-faced power
     Reason
     by Jeff Taylor

"[I]n the name of fighting terrorism, the U.S. itself resorts to a form
of low-grade terrorism, certainly purposeful intimidation. Threatening
to blow plane-loads of innocents out of the skies unless your
demands are met is insane, not to mention incredibly rewarding for
your enemies. Just imagine what a chuckle Osama and crew get
from the knowledge that they can depend on the Pentagon to put
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Americans and Europeans under
threat of violent death merely by ramping up al Qaida telecom traffic.
Talk about force multiplication." (01/05/03)

http://www.reason.com/links/links010504.shtml

-----

29) Don't let them catch you reading!
     AntiWar.Com
     by Christopher Deliso

"As al Qaeda threatens a new round of spectacular mayhem, and
America steps up requests for armed marshals on incoming flights,
the latest warning from the FBI cuts straight to the heart of the
terrorist threat in America today. No, we're not talking about lethal
chemical weapons owned by disgruntled militiamen -- we're talking
about something so dangerous it could only be possessed by a
farmer, or perhaps even your grandmother. We're talking about an
almanac." (01/06/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/deliso98.html

-----

30) Stupid Vogue
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Jeffrey A. Tucker

"The gym has Fox television on, and perhaps I should be grateful,
because otherwise it would not have dawned on me just how popular
and widely embraced stupid is. By stupid, I don't really intend insult.
Stupid is a mental outlook that affirms the crude and base while
eschewing the noble and thoughtful. It is an attitude of mind that can
be adopted by both low lights and bright lights. That low lights be can
be stupid is not a surprise. It is typified by posters on FreeRepublic,
callers to talk radio, the O'Reilly Factor, and College Republicans.
Among this crowd, not only is reading in history and libraries not
undertaken; it is not encouraged and is even actively discouraged.
The thinking goes: Rush doesn't bother with footnotes so why should
I?" (01/06/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker42.html

-----

31) Socialist inSecurity
     Sierra Times
     by Lee Robinson

"An inevitable consequence of socialism is the division of society
into two groups; those who are consuming government 'services'
and those who are paying for them. As the waning and collapse of
socialist countries around the globe has clearly demonstrated, those
who consume eventually overwhelm those who provide. ... Every
entitlement program the government ever instituted has or soon will
metastasize into an open ended endowment that politicians can
incrementally expand to buy votes; 'vote for me and we’ll take care
of you, too.' The best illustration of this point is the history of Social
Security." (01/04/04)

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/01/05/robinson.htm

-----

32) Fortress America
     AlterNet
     by Farai Chideya

"[L]ast week Brazil began fingerprinting and photographing
American visitors as a tit-for-tat. 'At first, most of the Americans
were angered at having to go through all this,' said Wagner Castilho,
a press officer for the Brazilian federal police. 'But they were usually
more understanding once they learned that Brazilians are subjected
to the same treatment in the U.S.' We can't expect special treatment
on the global stage. If we restrict access to the United States, others
will restrict our access to the world. And that would be a devastating
shame." (01/05/03)

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17484

-----

33) Postconstitutional America
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Sheldon Richman

"It’s a truism today that in this time of 'war,' we must shift the
balance between liberty and security, sacrificing some freedom in
order to protect our society from assault. Leave aside that this
ignores Benjamin Franklin’s famous statement about freedom and
security. Funny how we blithely forget those oft-quoted adages
when they become inconvenient." (01/05/04)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0301a.asp

-----

34) TABOR bill would provide important new protections
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Cameron Sholty

"Sometimes it seems like the foxes are running the henhouse --
especially when it comes to state government spending. That's why
Wisconsin State Assembly Joint Resolution 55 (Taxpayer’s Bill of
Rights, or TABOR) is a good idea. This bill, which is now before the
Assembly and will soon be before the state Senate, would provide a
mechanism to return control of our tax dollars to us, the taxpayers."
(01/05/04)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1652.htm

-----

35) Harm's a two-way street
     Cato Institute
     by Walter Williams

"The totalitarian method to resolve the conflict is through political
power and guns. In other words, the group with the greatest power
to organize government's brute force decides whether there'll be
smoking or no smoking in restaurants. Totalitarians might justify their
actions by claiming that bars, restaurants and workplaces deal with
the public, and thus the public should decide how they'll be used.
That's nonsense. Just because an establishment deals with the
public doesn't make it public property." (01/06/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-06-04.html

-----

36) Time to think about decriminalising marijuana
     The Age [Australia]
     by Trish Bolton

"You can start drinking at the lunchtime barbie or picnic, down at
the beach or while you're watching the cricket; you can do it in front
of your parents and kids and with neighbours and friends. But if you
want to roll one, have a choof or take a toke, you won't find the
same warm reception at home, in your workplace or anywhere else.
Unless you're in Nimbin, you'll have to sneak away and do the deed
in private. ... In the end is there really so much difference between
lighting up and pouring a drink, or between chilling a wine cask in
the fridge and cultivating a plant in the backyard?" (01/05/04)

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/04/1073151208185.html

-----

37) Lies about guns
     Opinion Editorials
     by Doug Hagin

"Take a look at this number and see if it means anything to you,
2,452,643. ... if you are thinking these numbers represent a lotto
winner's purse or the number of times Democratic candidates have
attacked President Bush in the last month you are mistaken ....this
very large number represents the number of times Americans have
used firearms to thwart crimes and defend themselves over the past
year." (01/05/04)

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/hagin_20040105.html

-----

38) Death on the Boondoggle Express
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Bob Smith

"The great Hiawatha Light Rail Project is rapidly becoming reality.
Trains have begun making frequent test runs. Everybody I know is
getting keyed up, studying the map of the line, trying to find
something of interest to go check out. ... the most sickening aspect
of the Hiawatha Light Rail Project is that there has been a far
superior solution available for a long time ... right here in the Twin
Cities area, but our politicians insisted on ignoring the obvious and
instead going for an overblown, antiquated brute force system."
(01/06/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/06

-----

39) Avenging angel of the religious right
     Salon
     by Max Blumenthal

"[Howard F. Ahmanson]'s money has made possible some of the
most pivotal conservative movements in America's recent history,
including the 1994 GOP takeover of the California Legislature, a ban
on gay marriage and affirmative action in California, and the
mounting nationwide campaign to prove Darwin wrong about
evolution. His financial influence also helped propel the recent
campaign to recall California Gov. Gray Davis. And besides
contributing cash to George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign,
Ahmanson has played a subtle but crucial role in driving Bush's
domestic agenda." [subscription or ad view required] (01/06/03)

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/01/06/ahmanson/

-----

40) Enough is too much
     Strike the Root
     by Adam Engel

"So while the sheep are bahhing about the 'dems' and the 'repubs,'
THE MAN who controls both of those groups of boated, pocket-
stuffing windbags, THE MAN who controls most of the world with
amazing violence and relentless pursuit of death and fear, is
cooking up new ways to beat us down, to mold us into the pathetic
model barnyard creatures of HIS psychotic vision." (01/05/04)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/engel/engel1.html

-----

41) The decline of English
     Fred On Everything
     by Fred Reed

"Being as I am a shade-tree writer, tinkering with these essays as
with a '54 Merc on blocks behind the garage, I find myself grieving
for what was once quite a language. English grows ugly and lapses
into deformity. My mail creaks under the weight of misused
pronouns and homeless participles. People seem to spell by ear:
'Your' and 'you're,' 'it's' and 'its' are mixed like salads. The young
assert that 'me and him was talking,' and really don’t know better.
Perhaps three people in the United States know what a contraction
is. Many believe that a verb agrees with the object of the nearest
preposition. ... We have allowed the schools to fall into the hands of
fools and charlatans, and we pay the price." (01/05/04)

http://fredoneverything.net/DeclineOfEnglish.shtml

-----

42) North Korea for dummies
     CounterPunch
     by Gary Leupp

"Now, I'm no big fan of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il, and the
regime he heads. But neither am I a fan of selective vilification and
simplistic thinking. If the Bush administration is in fact planning for
war with North Korea (madness, but the neocon faction at least
seems to think it's doable), it will continue to depict Pyongyang in
the worst possible light. Just as it cherry-picked information to build
a case for war with Iraq, it will distort the historical record on North
Korea. So what follows is a very brief presentation of what I think
are the points about that history most relevant to the current crisis."
(01/05/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp01052004.html

-----

43) Tax simplification
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by Bruce Bartlett

"Complexity has plagued the federal income tax since its beginning
in 1913. As early as 1928, Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation
(JCT) issued a report containing many familiar complaints.
However, it concluded that there was a severe limit to tax
simplification, because the complexity of modern business
operations necessitated a high degree of complexity in the tax
system." (01/05/04)

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/tax/2003/pd010504b.html

-----

44) What has government done to our families?
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Allan Carlson

"The rise of the welfare state can be written as the steady transfer of
the 'dependency' function from the family to the state; from persons
tied together by blood, marriage or adoption to persons tied to public
employees. The process began in Sweden in the mid-19th century,
through bureaucratic projects that began dismantling the bonds
between parents and their children." (01/06/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1406

-----

45) The trials of trying Saddam
     America's Future Foundation
     by James N. Markels

"We’ve got him! Now, what are we going to do with him? That seems
to be the problem these days, as the euphoria of capturing Saddam
Hussein and dealing a serious, if not fatal, blow to the Iraqi
resistance gives way to the practical question of where to go from
here." (01/04/04)

http://www.affbrainwash.com/archives/009686.php

-----

46) Advice for the Free Staters
     Liberty For All
     by Michael Gilson De Lemos

"In this article are some suggestions based on feedback I have
received from FSP members -- with broad applicability for any State
Party or local Libertarian group thinking about what to do when we
actually have quite a few Libertarians pining for action. The question
I was asked was this: what would be some key things to focus on
daily in bringing Libertarian ideas to a locality that the average
person can address?" (01/06/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/advice.html

-----

47) Dean's statements disappointing, troubling
     Nashville City Paper
     by Ron Wynn

"Everyone on the left who has previously hailed Howard Dean’s
willingness to take tough positions against the Bush administration
should be disappointed and bewildered by his latest public stance in
the ongoing battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. Dean
last week asked Democratic Party National Chairman Terry
McAuliffe to stop rivals from criticizing him, a request that (at best)
makes Dean look reluctant to debate and at worst implies he’s not up
to the rigors of campaigning." (01/05/05)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29560

-----

48) The next war
     Tom Paine
     by Doug Ireland

"It’s a helluva New Year’s present: a new neocon manifesto which
wants to put the United States on a course for war with three
countries. Published the day before 2004 by Random House, An
End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror bears the signature of
two of Washington’s most influential ideologues. Richard Perle,
known as the 'Prince of Darkness,' helped put together the now-
famous 1999 neocon manifesto (signed by Donald Rumsfeld and
Dick Cheney, among others) calling for war on Iraq. David Frum is
Dubya’s former speechwriter, the man who coined 'axis of evil' and
put it in the president’s mouth. The book proposes harsh action
against France -- which Perle and Frum say should be treated as an
'enemy' -- and thunders that 'We should force European
governments to choose between Paris and Washington.'" (01/05/04)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9688

-----

49) Electoral vote advantage
     Washington Times
     by Donald Lambro

"It's not too early to begin counting electoral votes -- especially with
only 11 months to go before we elect a president. By my reckoning,
if President Bush simply carries the same 30 states he won in 2000
against Al Gore, that would give him 278 electoral votes -- eight
more than he needs to win a second term." (01/05/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040104-102916-6547r.htm

-----

50) Music musings: Part II
     Nashville City Paper
     by Tom Neff

"Well, my recent column regarding music certainly seemed to hit a
chord, if you will pardon the pun. Responses fell into two general
camps, broadly speaking: 1. 'It’s about time someone has finally
spoken up,' and 2. 'You naive, ignorant fool.' The first camp
generally was comprised of consumers, with many writing they do
not have the disposable income to purchase what they feel is an
overly priced item. The second camp came generally from people
related to the music industry. ... The principal point of my article was
that great changes are racking the music industry [and] I am
somewhat amazed that a suggestion of letting the market determine
the cost has not been previously raised." (01/05/04)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29577


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) If at first you don't succeed, invoke the Interstate Commerce Clause

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

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

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R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, January 5, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,182


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Iraq: Three US soldiers dead in attacks
2)  Clark rules out joining Dean ticket
3)  E-voting hackers
4)  Israel jails five for refusing to serve in army
5)  Colorado legislators fight land theft for corporate welfare
6)  Courts weigh libel cases against legislators
7)  Georgia elects US-educated lawyer president
8)  Clerk shoots would-be robber
9)  Bomb defused in Saudi capital
10) Military split on how to use special forces in terror war
11) Bank robber admits threat to Sen. Clinton
12) Program to fingerprint US visitors starts
13) Hunt for UK terror cell
14) Thailand money laundering linked to drugs
15) Blair in Iraq: "Test case" in fight against terror
16) UK flight delayed again over security concerns
17) Afghanistan's new constitution offers basis for fragile peace
18) Purported bin Laden tape aired
19) NRA, Brady Campaign have dueling lists
20) US rover wakes up to new day on Mars
21) Rivals target front-runner Howard Dean in first debate of the election year
22) Libyan nuke closer than IAEA believed
23) Sunday alcohol sales ban ending

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

24) George W. Bush justifies Libertarian vote
25) Welcome to Ohio
26) Classless warfare escalates
27) Novak agonistes
28) Capitalism and job security
29) "A great country is being propelled by the wrong forces"
30) Domination fantasies
31) Liars! The whole lot
32) Coming thaw with Tehran?
33) Knocking down red herrings
34) Promises
35) Haters, haters everywhere
36) Why people fear guns
37) Forced out of Canada?
38) Bolivia's drug crisis
39) Seeing no evil doesn't mean there is no evil
40) Government and the flu: A short history
41) Consumer choice matters: Backlash from the left
42) Howard Dean's convenient religion
43) Getting through the terrible TELR ICs
44) Marx in America
45) So, is orange the new color of safety?
46) Things they don't teach you in school make the difference
47) Willie Nelson sings for peace, Kucinich
48) Hope dies last


TODAY'S MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS:

49) Action opportunity: Free Hunter!


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

50) Seoul men; Huac (Gesundheit); What Reagan meant when he said "cut"


NEWS

1)  Iraq: Three US soldiers dead in attacks
     Salt Lake Tribune

"Insurgents [sic] firing mortar shells into an American base about 60
miles north of Baghdad killed one American soldier Saturday and
wounded two others, a U.S. military spokesman said. In a separate
attack in the capital, insurgents opened fire on an American convoy,
killing two soldiers, the military said. The shooting quickly followed a
bomb explosion in the al-Rashid district." (01/04/03)

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jan/01042004/nation_w/126075.asp

-----

2)  Clark rules out joining Dean ticket
     Washington Post

"Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark said yesterday Democratic
presidential front-runner Howard Dean lacks foreign policy expertise
and 'absolutely' ruled out becoming the former governor's running
mate if Clark fails to win the nomination. Clark told NBC's 'Meet the
Press' that he had no interest in playing second fiddle to the
Democratic nominee to strengthen the ticket with his extensive
national security résumé." (01/04/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54559-2004Jan4.html

-----

3)  E-voting hackers
     Wired News

"A company developing security technology for electronic voting
suffered an embarrassing hacker break-in that executives think was
tied to the rancorous debate over the safety of casting ballots online.
VoteHere of Bellevue, Wash., confirmed Monday that U.S.
authorities are investigating a break-in of its computers months ago,
when someone roamed its internal computer network." (12/29/03)

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61764,00.html

-----

4)  Israel jails five for refusing to serve in army
     Financial Times [UK]

"Five Israeli conscripts were yesterday sentenced to one year in
prison for refusing to serve in what they call an 'army of occupation'
in the Palestinian territories. The five have already served about 14
months in prison. The sentence illustrates the government's tough
stance towards the growing minority of conscientious objectors. In
their ruling, the three military court judges wrote that the sentence
was intended to serve as a warning to deter others from refusing to
serve in the army for political reasons." (01/05/04)

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&cid=1\
073280779902

-----

5)  Colorado legislators fight land theft for corporate welfare
     Denver Post

"Saying Colorado's cities are selling out to the highest bidder,
several state lawmakers plan to introduce a measure this week
designed to curtail the authority of municipalities to condemn private
property. Rep. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, will sponsor a bill to
allow condemnation, also called eminent domain, only when it is
used for public, not private, gain. Eminent domain allows cities to
label private land as blighted, then acquire it at fair market value."
(01/04/04)

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~61~1867937,00.html

-----

6)  Courts weigh libel cases against legislators
     Fox News

"Libel cases against lawmakers are not uncommon -- as Rep. Cass
Ballenger [R-NC] learned this month -- but in many cases the
immunity lawmakers receive as elected public officials goes a long
way in protecting them. ... The Council on American-Islamic
Relations is going to try. The group announced in early December
that it has filed a defamation suit against Ballenger for his claims that
CAIR is 'the fund-raising arm of Hezbollah.' Ballenger made the
claim in an interview for his hometown paper, The Charlotte
Observer. He also claimed that the stress of living across the street
from CAIR's Washington, DC, office 'bugged the hell' out of his wife
and led to the breakup of their marriage." (01/04/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107252,00.html

-----

7)  Georgia elects US-educated lawyer president
     ABC Online [Australia]

"Georgia appears to have elected a new president, with exit polls
showing it is likely to be a 36-year-old American-educated lawyer,
Mikhail Saakashvili. Mr Saakashvili led the velvet revolution in
November, ousting Eduard Shevardnadze from the Georgian
leadership. He has pledged his Government would clean up
corruption in Georgia, make the nation investor friendly and reduce
unemployment and foreign debt, as well as to restore political
stability." (01/05/04)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1020614.htm

-----

8)  Clerk shoots would-be robber
     Pittsburgh Tribune

"A Hill District [Pittsburgh, PA] man was shot and wounded by a
clerk while trying to rob a Webster Avenue grocery store, police
reported. A clerk at Ann's Market shot Joshua McKenzie, 18, after
he pulled a silver handgun Friday night while he and another man
were trying to rob the store, police said. Police said McKenzie is
expected to survive his injuries. He was to be arraigned yesterday at
UPMC Presbyterian hospital, Oakland, on robbery and firearms
violation charges." (01/04/04)

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/pittsburgh/s_172999.html

-----

9)  Bomb defused in Saudi capital
     Bradenton Herald

"Saudi security forces have defused a bomb placed in a telephone
booth in the capital Riyadh, a security official said Monday. A bomb
squad defused the bomb on Sunday night, the official said,
speaking on condition of anonymity. The bomb was found by a
Saudi man in the telephone booth next to a gas station in Sultana
Street in eastern Riyadh. Saudi authorities have been on a
heightened state of alert following four suicide bombings last year
that killed 52 people, including the assailants." (01/05/04)

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7635707.htm

-----

10) Military split on how to use special forces in terror war
     Washington Post

"With Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld pressuring the
Pentagon to take a more aggressive role in tracking down terrorists,
military and intelligence officials are engaged in a fierce debate over
when and how elite military units should be deployed for maximum
effectiveness. Under Rumsfeld's direction, secret commando units
known as hunter-killer teams have been ordered to 'kick down the
doors,' as the generals put it, all over the world in search of al
Qaeda members and their sympathizers." (01/04/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54655-2004Jan4.html

-----

11) Bank robber admits threat to Sen. Clinton
     USA Today

"A convicted bank robber who told a prison psychologist he wanted
to 'spice up' his life by shooting a famous person has admitted
threatening to kill U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, officials said.
Edward Falvey, 51, pleaded guilty in the last week to a charge of
threatening to kill an immediate family member of a former
president, a federal crime that carries a penalty of up to five years
in prison and a $250,000 fine." (01/04/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-04-clinton-threats_x.htm

-----

12) Program to fingerprint US visitors starts
     CNN

"Visitors to the United States with visas will be greeted with a
demand for fingerprints and photographs Monday as a government
program intended to fight terrorism takes effect. The U.S.
Department of Homeland Security says the goal of the US VISIT
program is to track the millions of people who come to the United
States every year ..." (01/04/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/04/visit.program/

-----

13) Hunt for UK terror cell
     Guardian [UK]

"Intelligence officials hunting Islamist terrorists suspected of
planning attacks on British Airways flights believe they may be
carrying legitimate American, UK or other European passports to try
to beat airport security. According to US sources, last week's
cancellation of the BA flights to Washington and Riyadh in Saudi
Arabia was triggered by fear that terrorists with legitimate 'clean
aliases' were planning attacks over the New Year holiday. The alert
comes amid compelling new evidence of determined efforts by
jihadist groups to recruit suicide bombers in the UK and Europe
both for operations against the American-led coalition in Iraq and
against domestic targets." (01/04/04)

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,1115906,00.html

-----

14) Thailand money laundering linked to drugs
     MAPINC

"More than 95 per cent of money-laundering cases filed with courts
in 2003 involved drug trafficking, according to a senior official at the
Attorney General's Office. ... Most of the suspects had transferred
assets to other people or turned the money earned from drugs into
land, vehicles, stocks or insurance policies. Surasak said that some
suspects had transferred money to foreign bank accounts."
(01/04/04)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n021/a12.html

-----

15) Blair in Iraq: "Test case" in fight against terror
     USA Today

"British Prime Minister Tony Blair, making a surprise visit Sunday to
Iraq, said the invasion would be a test case in the global fight
against terror, while his top envoy in the country warned of bigger,
more sophisticated resistance attacks. Blair, who faced strong
opposition at home for supporting the U.S.-led effort to oust Saddam
Hussein, visited the southern city of Basra, the base for some
10,000 British troops, to thank the soldiers and meet with military
commanders." (01/04/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-01-04-blair-iraq_x.htm

-----

16) UK flight delayed again over security concerns
     MSNBC

"A British Airways flight from London to Washington, canceled twice
this week because of security fears, was delayed by more than
three hours Sunday for security checks requested by the United
States. The airline canceled Flight BA223 from Heathrow to
Washington’s Dulles airport on Thursday and Friday on government
advice." (01/04/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3827789/

-----

17) Afghanistan's new constitution offers basis for fragile peace
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Afghans approved a new constitution Sunday, embracing a deal
shaped by three weeks of rancorous debate as a chance to cement
a fragile peace and push ahead with reconstruction two years after
a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban regime. The charter, ratified
after a last-minute deal to recognize minority languages, creates a
strong presidential system that the country's U.S.-backed interim
leader, Hamid Karzai, says is critical to uniting a country torn by two
decades of war." (01/04/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040104/1770673.shtml

-----

18) Purported bin Laden tape aired
     CNN

"The Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera aired an audiotape
Sunday in which a man purporting to be al Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden referred to recent events, including the December 13 capture
of Saddam Hussein. CNN could not confirm that the speaker was
bin Laden. U.S. officials are analyzing the recording." (01/04/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/04/binladen.tape/

-----

19) NRA, Brady Campaign have dueling lists
     Daily Press

"What do the actor Matt Damon, the United Methodist Church and
the St. Louis Rams have in common? They're among hundreds of
celebrities, organizations and companies on the National Rifle
Association's roster of entities that the group says are hostile to gun-
ownership rights. The Fairfax-based NRA compiled a 15-page list of
groups, individuals and corporations who have supported the Brady
law which requires federally licensed gun dealers to do background
checks before selling a firearm -- and have lent their support to
other gun-control measures." (01/04/04)

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--nraenemieslist0104jan04,0,7\
083915.story

-----

20) US rover wakes up to new day on Mars
     MSNBC

"Mars' newest resident awoke to its first Red Planet dawn on
Sunday, as NASA scientists back on Earth pored over scores of
photos the Spirit rover sent back shortly after landing. The craft
landed Saturday night -- mid-afternoon Mars time -- almost exactly
on target, at Gusev Crater, a massive basin the size of Connecticut
that scientists believe may be the site of dry lake bed once fed by a
long, deep martian river." (01/04/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3855168/

-----

21) Rivals target front-runner Howard Dean in first debate of the election year
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"In a feisty, first debate of the election year, Howard Dean drew fire
from fellow Democrats on Sunday over trade, terror, taxes and
more, then calmly dismissed his rivals as 'co-opted by the agenda of
George Bush.' 'I opposed the Iraq war when everyone else up here
was for it,' said the former Vermont governor, invoking the issue that
helped fuel his 2003 transformation from asterisk in the polls to front-
runner." (01/04/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040104/1770761.shtml

-----

22) Libyan nuke closer than IAEA believed
     Washington Times

"Libya was much closer to developing a nuclear bomb than was
detected by United Nations inspection teams allowed into the
country last week, said British officials who have visited the
country's secret weapons laboratories. They also believe that Libya
has stockpiles of the ingredients for chemical weapons and the
shells and bombs to deliver them. Though Col. Moammar Gadhafi,
the Libyan leader, does not have biological weapons, Libya does
have dual-use technologies to make them, British and American
officials have concluded. Libya has declared it will halt these
weapons programs." (01/01/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040103-111007-1377r.htm

-----

23) Sunday alcohol sales ban ending
     Boston Globe

"[Massachusetts] lift[ed] its ban on Sunday alcohol sales [Sunday],
discarding a centuries-old Puritan policy and abolishing the only
certain day off for many liquor-store workers statewide. Starting at
noon, liquor store owners from West Springfield to Plymouth [were]
allowed to sell beer, wine and liquor, defying the wishes of the
state's founders, who hoped to enforce public morality and protect
the sanctity of the Christian Sabbath. The change in state law was
approved in November. ... Previously, Sunday liquor sales were
allowed only from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day and in cities and
towns within 10 miles of neighboring states that permit Sunday
sales." (01/01/04)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/01/04/sunday_alcohol_sales_ban_en\
ding/
TInyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/33nd6

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COMMENTARY

24) George W. Bush justifies Libertarian vote
     Liberty For All
     by R. Lee Wrights

"In less than one hundred days after his inauguration President
Bush managed to justify the Libertarian platform and changed his
party's moniker from the Party of Smaller Government to the Party
of Limited Government. Republicans slid further into the cesspool of
compromise in the early sessions of Congress. Immediately
ignoring their years of rhetoric about less spending and smaller
government after achieving the White House, the GOP has become
the biggest spender of all time." (01/05/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/justifies.html

-----

25) Welcome to Ohio
     Rational Review
     by Scott Bieser

Cartoon. (01/05/04)

http://www.rationalreview.com/sbieser/010504.shtml

-----

26) Classless warfare escalates
     Cato Institute
     by Alan Reynolds

"It is a familiar complaint that newspapers only report the bad news.
But that applies to economic news, too -- particularly with a
presidential year coming up. By all objective indicators, the news
about the American economy has been remarkably good since the
summer. But what is good news for ordinary people can be bad
news for politicians .... For some strange reason, recent Democratic
candidates have been looking for the dark cloud behind every silver
lining. They seem to think voters always want to hear the U.S.
economy is fundamentally rotten and brutally unfair, creating
conditions that can only be remedied by making even more people
even more dependent on taxes extracted from someone else."
(01/05/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-05-04.html

-----

27) Novak agonistes
     Slate
     by Michael Kinsley

"[P]ut it all together and you get: 1) the anonymity of Novak's
sources must be protected at all costs for the sake of the First
Amendment; and 2) the White House leakers must be exposed and
punished at all costs for the sake of national security. Unfortunately
for the striking of heroic postures, these two groups are the same
people. Either we think they should be named, or we think they
should not be named. Which is it? It is no solution to say, as some
do, that it is journalist's job to protect the identity of his or her
sources and it is the government's job to expose them. This isn't a
game." (01/02/04)

http://slate.msn.com//?id=2093375&

-----

28) Capitalism and job security
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Tibor R. Machan

"Whether Marx had anything really important to say about the future
of capitalism isn’t something we can deal with here but there is one
point that he clearly had right. He noted that in capitalism many
workers would get fed up with the system because of its volatility.
This is especially so when it comes to how capitalism affects job
security. In a capitalist economy, which libertarians fiercely
champion, there is what Marx called economic anarchy. By this he
meant that what is sold and bought, where, for how much, and so
forth are all unplanned and unpredictable. It all depends on supply
and demand, and that goes especially for labor." (01/05/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/machan/machan15.html

-----

29) "A great country is being propelled by the wrong forces"
     Salon
     by Laura Miller (interview with John le Carre)

Le Carre: "I love America and see America as, historically
speaking, the great shining light of liberal thought and opinion and
many liberal actions -- from Jefferson to Kennedy and beyond. But
what with what is happening now, my views are not anti-American
but they are profoundly anti-neocon ideologue. I think that a great
country is being propelled by the wrong forces and my own country
mistook the current. I'm told that Blair could practically run for
president in the United States. The comedy is that his position here
is anything but stable." [subscription or ad view required] (01/05/04)

http://www.salon.com/books/int/2004/01/05/le_carre/

-----

30) Domination fantasies
     Reason
     by Ben Compaine

"A college president once told me, 'I've never seen a pancake so
thin it didn't have two sides.' The hype and noise surrounding the
Federal Communications Commission's proposed relaxation of
broadcast outlet ownership rules have made the perennial debate
over media concentration seem like a one-sided pancake: No right-
thinking person is in favor of more media consolidation. Yet the FCC
has research, technology, and economics on its side, while its
critics rely on emotion, utopian visions, and anecdotes.
Unfortunately for sound policy making, the hysteria has swept along
many lawmakers, who are either pandering to uninformed voters or
being poorly advised by their own staffs." (01/05/04)

http://www.reason.com/0401/fe.bc.domination.shtml

-----

31) Liars! The whole lot
     Sierra Times
     by Dorothy Anne Seese

"What we really want is a government that will give us enough
freedom to be ourselves, without a tax burden, enough protection to
keep the streets safe but not enough to have the city or state or
nation run by crooks. ... We the people are the very ones who begin
by crying 'there oughtta be a law' and then come to realize that laws
are being made of which we know nothing until they affect us. Such
is the consequence of large government, and some gravitational
force appears to draw nations into large centralized government as
the population grows. ... When we say we want liberty and allow
government leadership to begin making whatever laws they wish, we
are deceived. When it happens and we still say we're a free people,
we're liars." (01/02/04)

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/01/02/dorothy.htm

-----

32) Coming thaw with Tehran?
     AntiWar.Com
     by Pat Buchanan

"Can the Great Satan find common ground with a charter member of
the Axis of Evil, the Iran of the ayatollahs? Stranger things have
happened in our own lifetimes. In 1972, Nixon, who built a career on
anti-communism, was walking on the Great Wall of China, the
honored guest of a Maoist regime responsible for the deaths of
thousands of U.S. soldiers in Korea. In 1985, Reagan, a Cold
Warrior who branded the Soviet Union an evil empire whose leaders
reserved to themselves a right to 'lie, cheat and steal,' was charming
Gorbachev in Geneva. ... Several events suggest the real possibility
of a thaw between Tehran and Washington." (01/05/04)

http://www.antiwar.com/pat/pat5.html

-----

33) Knocking down red herrings
     CounterPunch
     by Brian Cloughley

"In his Christmas message to British occupation troops in Iraq, Tony
Blair, Britain's leader of the governing Labour Party assured them
that there was 'massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine
laboratories' in Iraq. Blair again made a fool of himself, and it is
interesting to examine the vulgar, shoddy affair of the phantom
laboratories in the context of what politicians and officials imagine
they can get away with in misleading their unfortunate public."
(01/03/04)

http://www.counterpunch.org/cloughley01032004.html

-----

34) Promises
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by Dennis Kabaczy

"Traditionally, the New Year is a time for resolutions, promises, and
good intentions. People promise to quit smoking, loose weight, be
kinder, and all the other meaningless, emotional trivia that tends to
plague American society today. But there is another kind of promise
that is often made. Specifically it is made be those who are elected
to federal office, appointed to office, and enlisted in our military.
Though they may vary in detail, all contain a phrase similar to 'I do
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and
domestic ...'" (01/04/04)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/tle253-20040104-06.html

-----

35) Haters, haters everywhere
     WorldNetDaily
     by Vox Day

"It seems that to some deluded minds, straightforward capitalism,
classical conservativism and libertarianism are all anti-Semitic.
Movies about the Gospel, of course, are also anti-Semitic,
according to the Anti-Defamation League, so is the New Testament
itself. We are still somewhat in the dark as to the status of the
National Football League, the Linux operating system and Winnie
the Pooh, although I understand that 'halfback,' 'grep' and 'Roo' are
all code words for Jew as well." (01/05/04)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36447

-----

36) Why people fear guns
     Fox News
     by John R. Lott, Jr.

"People fear guns. Yet, while guns make it easier for bad things to
happen, they also make it easier for people to protect themselves.
With the avalanche of horrific news stories about guns over the
years, it's no wonder people find it hard to believe that ... there are
about two million defensive gun uses each year; guns are used
defensively four times more frequently than they are to commit
crimes. ... Just take some of the 18 defensive gun uses that I found
covered by newspapers around the country during the first 10 days
of December." (01/03/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107274,00.html

-----

37) Forced out of Canada?
     Las Vegas Review-Journal
     by Vin Suprynowicz

"Canadian sources say it's Kubby's continuing high profile in the pot
legalization movement -- founded the American Medical Marijuana
Association; he and Michele host Canada's Vancouver-based
Internet-based Pot-TV news -- that has led to pressure on Canadian
authorities from 'south of the border' to crack down on the Kubbys,
after they invited press photographers to tour their home last year,
resulting in the publication of photos of the medical marijuana they
grow there." (01/04/04)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jan-04-Sun-2004/opinion/22903892.htm\
l

-----

38) Bolivia's drug crisis
     Town Hall
     by Robert Novak

"While the Bush White House publicly brags about reduced coca
production in South America's Andean region, there is dismay
behind the scenes in the U.S. intelligence community. A recent
classified National Intelligence summary reported there is not any
scenario under current conditions that will continue aggressive
eradication in Bolivia of coca, the crop used to produce cocaine.
That threatens the unraveling of the long-standing U.S. anti-drug
program based in Colombia." (01/05/04)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20040105.shtml

-----

39) Seeing no evil doesn't mean there is no evil
     Yellow Times
     by Firas Al-Atraqchi

"The capture of Saddam, which is meaningless at this point, has not
helped Iraqis come together in a spirit of reconciliation. Rather, it
has propagated and hastened Iraq's decline into a violent,
inhospitable battleground between various ethnicities. While Iraqis
butcher one another in the ungovernable environment systematically
created by the U.S. presence in Iraq, U.S. media continues to tout
the White House line that there are 'good stories' coming out of
Iraq." (01/02/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1718&mode=thread&order=0

-----

40) Government and the flu: A short history
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by William Anderson

"Indeed, the fiasco that is the government's current flu program is
nothing more than a small picture of the larger fiasco that is
government health care in general. The threat of influenza each
year is real; about 36,000 people on average die yearly from the flu -
- and being that it is a disease, no one in the government has
figured a way to ban it or make the flu illegal (at least without being
an even bigger laughing stock than Washington, D.C., already has
become)." (01/02/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1407

-----

41) Consumer choice matters: Backlash from the left
     Heartland Institute
     by Greg Scandlen

"Sure enough, like a jack-in-the-box, Senator Tom Daschle (D-
South Dakota) immediately popped up with a proposal to repeal the
HSA provision. That might be worrisome if the arguments from
PNHP had any merit. They don’t. They are just window-dressing for
their real concern, which is that HSAs and patient empowerment will
be the death of their long-cherished hopes for a nationalized health
insurance scheme." (01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14076

-----

42) Howard Dean's convenient religion
     Hawaii Reporter
     by Christopher G. Adamo

"Suddenly, after steadfastly espousing a liberal party-line philosophy
worthy of the worst elements of America's counterculture, Democrat
presidential aspirant Howard Dean is professing his faith and
respect for Jesus Christ. But Dean is no progressive Jerry Falwell
or Pat Robertson. Rather, he is an icon of God-hating liberals who
love abortion and same-sex 'marriage,' and who firmly believe
society would be better off if guided by the religion of secularism ..."
(01/02/04)

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?fbc6ba14-3b27-40da-9a0b-d394f9f45b1e

-----

43) Getting through the terrible TELR ICs
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Solveig Singleton

"Like the hapless daycare provider to a hyperactive toddler, the
FCC is grappling with the complexities of price regulation in
telecommunications. Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act,
incumbent local phone companies (the ILECs) are under a mandate
to share their networks with new entrants (competing local exchange
carriers, or CLECs). The perennial question is, if negotiations and
arbitrations fail, at what price?" (12/31/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/016,03793.cfm

-----

44) Marx in America
     Liberty For All
     by Rachel Mills

"Whatever happened to freedom of association? ... The 13th
Amendment states that any time an employment situation is not
satisfactory, we can leave and find a new job. We are not slaves to
our employers anymore. Why is that same freedom not given to
employers? When they are being raped by the union and driven out
of business because economic realities don't always conform to
worker demands, why are they forced to deal with unions in the land
of the free and the home of the brave?" (01/05/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/marx.html

-----

45) So, is orange the new color of safety?
     Boston Globe
     by Ellen Goodman

"Could we rerun the videotape back to Dec. 15 when Howard Dean
qualified his pleasure at the capture of Saddam Hussein by saying
that it 'has not made America safer?' Dean was instantly lambasted
by his opponents, especially Joe Lieberman, who said the doctor
was climbing 'into his own spider hole of denial.' Well, six days later,
after the sort of terrorist 'chatter' designed to make your teeth
chatter, the country was put on orange alert for a 'spectacular'
attack rivaling 9/11. Then six Air France flights destined to fly into
the homeland were grounded. And finally, under 'emergency rules,'
our government has required armed guards on foreign flights. Are
we safer yet?" (01/01/04)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/01/04/so_i\
s_orange_the_new_color_of_safety/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/37bp2

-----

46) Things they don't teach you in school make the difference
     San Diego Tribune
     by Ozzie Roberts

"Robert Peritz is no jingoist, despite how he sounds at times ...
Neither is the ex-New Yorker ... some storming anti-government
extremist -- despite his rants against politicians and bureaucrats:
'There is too much big government and a lot of bad policy right here
in this state. The politicians and bureaucrats are making and
passing regulations that are actually running businesses out of town.
We need less government intrusion into our lives.' Peritz, in truth, is
an inherently humble guy who knows what's what. He's clear that in
business, as in life, if you do good things, good things will come
back to you." (01/04/04)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/roberts/20031223-9999_1c23ozzie.html

-----

47) Willie Nelson sings for peace, Kucinich
     The Nation
     by John Nichols

"Dennis Kucinich still faces an uphill climb in his campaign to win
the Democratic presidential nomination. But his anti-Iraq war
candidacy has already inspired better music than those of
contenders who are garnering far more attention and campaign
money. The New Year's weekend benefit for Kucinich at the Austin
Music Hall was one of the finest campaign concerts in recent
memory, and the sentiments of the stellar cast of performers was
well summed up by singer Bonnie Raitt, who introduced a bluesy
version of the Buffalo Springfield hit 'For What It's Worth,' be
declaring, 'Here's to free speech. Here's to fair elections. Here's to
the possibility that Dennis Kucinich could win.' The Texas concert,
which was expected to raise more than $80,000 for the Kucinich
campaign, showcased the success the Congressional Progressive
Caucus co-chair has had in appealing to some of the country's most
inspired and independent-minded musicians." (01/04/04)

http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=1161

-----

48) Hope dies last
     In These Times
     by Studs Terkel

"Hope appears to be an American attribute that has vanished for
many, no matter what their class or condition of life. The official
word has never been more arrogantly imposed. Passivity, in the
face of such a bold, unabashed show of power from above, appears
to be the order of the day. But it ain’t necessarily so. It would be
manifestly unfair to blame the troubles wholly on one administration.
It has been the dark dividend of all our adventures since the cold
war. But now, with the world’s hope, the United Nations, being
constantly humiliated by our public servants, we are seeing enemies
everywhere, even among our former allies. Thomas Paine’s vision of
the American is being profaned." (01/01/04)

http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=512_0_1_0_C


MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS

49) Action opportunity: Free Hunter!
Liberty Round Table
until the thugs give it up

Defense fund information for Jeff Jordan, a/k/a "Hunter." Arrested
in Ohio for exercising his inalienable human and constitutionally
guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. Help us convince Ohio's
jackbooted thugs that this time they're messing with the wrong
freedom-lover!

http://www.libertyroundtable.org/projects/freehunter/


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

50) Seoul men; Huac (Gesundheit); What Reagan meant when he said "cut"

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  RRND is published every weekday 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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, January 2, 2004
Email Circulation: 2,178

TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Ohio charges man with exercising rights
2)  Air travellers face chaos in US crackdown
3)  Hong Kong democracy activists rally
4)  "Saddam loyalists" suspected in Baghdad blast
5)  Ethnic divisions delay voting on Afghan constitution
6)  Skydivers trust Homer over President
7)  Pol skips Times Square
8)  Clark to get most matching funds
9)  US has big plans for embassy in Iraq
10) Bush urges US to eat beef despite concerns
11) British flight canceled due to security worries
12) Schwarzenegger expected to swing big ax in 2004-05 state budget
13) The trial of Hussein: Choosing the evidence
14) Unions seeing new benefits in "smart growth"
15) Chicago is US murder capital
16) UK's Yorkshire to get RFID transport ticketing
17) Guns stolen from cruiser
18) Ban on "downers" could change way cattle are raised
19) Bush appeals to pro-democracy forces in Iran
20) Seattle HIV program enlists barbershops
21) Drug thugs destroy victims' guns
22) Brits warned of Nixon plans to invade Arab states
23) Cuban leader sees US invasion risk as "real and present danger"
24) Suit filed on DYS strip searches
25) TennCare "scam factor" maybe lower than expected

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Bury the hatchet -- or lock and load
27) Herb curb
28) Smearing General Zinni
29) Liberty's last legs?
30) Hollywood's hateful hooey about the South
31) Ending the year on a political low note
32) How far will the dollar fall?
33) The Good Samaritan: Model of effective compassion
34) This is for your own good!
35) Nothing Up My Sleeve ...
36) Mad pork disease strikes all members of Congress
37) Junk politics and the new reactionaries
38) Libertarian heroes of 2003
39) Doors close on free press in southeast Asia
40) Is war about oil or bad ideas?
41) MSAs unleashed!
42) The War on Drugs hurts
43) Kay leaving empty handed
44) Patent nonsense on GMOs should be debunked
45) A resolution for freedom
46) Sir, drop that almanac and nobody gets hurt!
47) Minor parties are effective
48) Wham Bam: Nothing "natural" about quake disaster
49) The outlook for 2004
50) Earth-friendly resolution No. 1: Reduce campaign hot-air emission


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) The Dominican Effect; John Ashcroft's spiritual ancestor


NEWS

1)  Ohio charges man with exercising rights
     Mansfied News Journal

"The Ashland Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol reported Wednesday
troopers seized multiple loaded weapons during a Monday traffic stop
on Interstate 71 in Ashland County. Troopers stopped Jeffrey Jordan,
42, who said he is from New Hampshire, for speeding in a 1995 Nissan
Pathfinder on I-71 north, according to Ashland County Jail records.
Jordan was charged with two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, a
fourth-degree felony, and was incarcerated at the Ashland County
Jail. If convicted, he could face up to three years in prison and a
$10,000 fine." [Note: The victim is an active and honorable member of
the freedom movement; Rational Review will cover this story as it
develops and inform our readers of legal defense funds and other
opportunities to support him in his fight against this particularly
low instance of tyranny.] (01/01/04)

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20040101/localnews/147169.html
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2ttwk

-----

2)  Air travellers face chaos in US crackdown
     Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

"An aggressive new approach to security is threatening chaos in
international flights to the US -- with planes being refused
permission to land or diverted for rescreening of passengers and
cargo. The US, which is on the second-highest security alert status
after warnings of planned terrorist attacks, has already shown its
determination to enforce new airline security rules. These include
ordering a Mexican passenger jet to turn around mid-flight and
imposing landing restrictions on at least six other incoming flights
in the past week. The airline security crackdown was part of an
unprecedented security operation in which sharpshooters, warplanes
and thousands of police were mobilised to thwart any attack on
celebrations from New York to Las Vegas." (01/02/04)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/01/1072908856759.html

-----

3)  Hong Kong democracy activists rally
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Tens of thousands of shouting, sign-waving protesters marched from
Hong Kong's Victoria Park to the city's main government building on
New Year's Day, the latest demonstration aimed at persuading China's
Communist leaders to allow full democracy in the former British
colony. The march, which organizers said drew 100,000, five times
more than expected, was the largest in Hong Kong since half a million
people filled the streets July 1, embarrassing the city's government
and forcing it to abandon a stringent anti-subversion bill Beijing
favored." (01/02/04)

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0104/hongkong.html

-----

4)  "Saddam loyalists" suspected in Baghdad blast
     CNN

"A U.S. military commander said Thursday that supporters of Saddam
Hussein most likely carried out a New Year's Eve attack on a Baghdad
restaurant. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told CNN eight people were killed
in the car bomb attack on the Nabil restaurant in central Baghdad,
which took place at 9:22 p.m. (1:22 p.m. ET), as patrons celebrated
the imminent arrival of a new year." (01/01/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/01/sprj.irq.main/

-----

5)  Ethnic divisions delay voting on Afghan constitution
     Washington Post

"Afghan delegates called off voting Thursday on parts of a new post-
Taliban constitution after opponents of President Hamid Karzai
boycotted the process, deepening the paralysis that ethnic divisions
have caused at the country's marathon convention. After convention
leaders pleaded in vain with boycotting delegates to join the voting,
the session was suspended until Saturday in an effort to reach a
consensus." (01/02/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48077-2004Jan1.html

-----

6)  Skydivers trust Homer over President
     Ananova [UK]

"People considering a tandem skydive would trust cartoon character
Homer Simpson over US President George Bush, according to research.
The public voted the daft dad of hit TV show The Simpsons as their
number one choice if they were participating in the daredevil stunt.
Homer got 20% of the overall vote in the survey carried out on behalf
of disability charity Leonard Cheshire, while President Bush got just
8%. More than 1,000 adults were asked to rank personalities in order
of who they felt was most trustworthy." (12/28/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_850988.html

-----

7)  Pol skips Times Square
     New York Post

"Count on one less out-of-towner at tonight's New Year's Eve
celebration in Times Square. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) offered
his regrets yesterday, telling The Post that he'd avoid the Times
Square crowd because it's a 'tempting target' for terrorists. ...
'When I heard someone say, 'There is a Code Orange, there is a high
alert, but keep doing everything you are doing,' then why do you
bother to tell us?' Shays said." (12/31/03)

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/14858.htm

-----

8)  Clark to get most matching funds
     Fox News

"Although he's been in the race only a few months, Wesley Clark will
get the largest amount of federal matching funds of any of the
presidential candidates. The Federal Election Commission on Wednesday
certified the first checks -- totaling $15.4 million -- that it will
pay out Friday to each of the six candidates participating in the
presidential public financing system in 2004. That's less than half
of the amount of matching funds -- $34 million -- the government gave
to eight candidates in 2000." (01/01/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107119,00.html

-----

9)  US has big plans for embassy in Iraq
     Washington Post

"In preparation for ending its occupation of Iraq, the United States
is making plans to create the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in the
world in Baghdad, complete with a staff of over 3,000 personnel,
according to U.S. officials. The transition will mark the hand-over
of responsibility for dealing with Iraq from the Pentagon to the
State Department, which will then help oversee the two definitive
steps in creating Iraq's first freely elected democratic government."
(01/02/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48082-2004Jan1.html

-----

10) Bush urges US to eat beef despite concerns
     MSNBC

"President Bush shot quail on a hunting trip Thursday but ate beef,
and encouraged Americans to do the same despite concern over mad cow
disease. 'I think I shot 5,' Bush told reporters at Brooks County
Airport after returning from the hunt with his father on a dusty and
desolate stretch of land in southern Texas." (01/01/04)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3855362/

-----

11) British flight canceled due to security worries
     MSNBC

"Security concerns prompted the cancellation Thursday of the same
British Airways flight from London that U.S. authorities had boarded
the night before when it landed at Washington Dulles International
Airport. U.S. officials were acting on intelligence information --
and not just suspicious passenger names -- when they boarded a
British Airways jet on New Year's Eve at Dulles, a national security
official said." (01/01/04)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3827789/

-----

12) Schwarzenegger expected to swing big ax in 2004-05 state budget
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Saddled with a shortfall of at least $14 billion and a promise not
to raise taxes, [CA] Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is likely to release
a budget next week with few surprises -- it will contain cuts, cuts
and more cuts. While the administration has released no details of
the 2004-2005 spending plan, lawmakers and lobbyists engaged in
budget negotiations with the governor say they expect to see a
painful list of spending reductions that reach every corner of the
state bureaucracy." (01/01/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040101/1765306.shtml

-----

13) The trial of Hussein: Choosing the evidence
     Washington Post

"Now that Hussein is in custody, Iraqi and U.S. leaders are debating
how to prove their belief that he was personally responsible -- and
should perhaps pay with his own life -- for the carnage committed in
his name. A trial is seen not only as a chance to bring Hussein to
justice but also as an opportunity for Iraqis to confront their
past." (01/02/04)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48220-2004Jan1.html

-----

14) Unions seeing new benefits in "smart growth"
     USA Today

"A battle to curtail suburban sprawl around California's second-
largest city feels like déjà vu. The same powerful interests that
shot down protections for rural land six years ago are poised to
torpedo a new ballot measure in March. Except for a key difference.
Organized labor, once opposed to any development curbs for fear of
losing jobs, avidly supports the recycled voter initiative."
(01/01/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-02-smartgrowth-usat_x.htm

-----

15) Chicago is US murder capital
     CNN

"Despite a sharp drop in homicides, Chicago has regained a title it
didn't want: America's murder capital. The city finished 2003 with
599 homicides, police said Thursday. That was down from 648 a year
earlier and the first time since 1967 that the total dipped below
600." (01/01/04)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/01/city.murders.ap/

-----

16) UK's Yorkshire to get RFID transport ticketing
     Using RFID News

"The UK government's Department of Transport has announced a £1.9
billion boost for regional transport operators in order to bring
improvements to public transport and bus services, as well as relief
to congested roads. As a small part of the 2004 initiative, an RFID-
based contactless smart card ticketing scheme is to be implemented in
South and West Yorkshire. The new Yorcard pre-pay stored-value
ticketing system will allow passengers to travel on all modes of
public transport in the region." (01/01/04)

http://www.usingrfid.com/briefs/archive.asp?action=read&bid=61

-----

17) Guns stolen from cruiser
     Parkersburg Sentinel

"A [Parkersburg, WV] police captain is being investigated and may
face disciplinary action after leaving several guns that were police
property in his cruiser Monday night, making them an easy target for
the thieves who stole them. Five handguns and two BB guns were
removed from Capt. Roger Echard's unmarked police cruiser while it
was parked at his Selmar Lane residence off Blennerhassett Heights
Road. ... The guns were property of the Parkersburg Police
Department, but they weren't weapons used by officers. Newell said
the guns weren't evidence of any kind, either. The guns were
confiscated by the department in the 1980s."(12/31/03)

http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/story/1231202003_new04_GunsStolen.asp
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/23zcd

-----

18) Ban on "downers" could change way cattle are raised
     USA Today

"The government's ban on the use of so-called downer cattle in the
nation's food supply may force changes in the way cattle --
especially dairy cows -- are treated, animal experts say. In an
effort to safeguard the beef supply against mad cow disease, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture on Tuesday announced an immediate halt to
the practice of slaughtering for human consumption any sick or
injured cows that cannot walk." (01/01/04)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2004-01-02-madcow-usat_x.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3eamv

-----

19) Bush appeals to pro-democracy forces in Iran
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Appealing directly to pro-democracy forces in Iran, President Bush
on Thursday said that U.S. humanitarian aid to earthquake victims
there should prove that America is compassionate even though it lists
Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. Speaking to reporters in
southern Texas where he and his father went quail hunting on New
Year's Day, Bush didn't change the U.S. public stance toward Iran --
a nation he has labeled, along with Iraq and North Korea, as an 'axis
of evil.'" (01/01/04)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20040101/1765453.shtml

-----

20) Seattle HIV program enlists barbershops
     Boston Globe

"Dwight Scott, known around the barbershop as 'Butch,' has a favorite
technique to get his clientele talking about a touchy subject: AIDS.
Clippers in hand, Scott steers his customers, most of whom are black,
toward discussing their love lives -- not hard to do in this
boisterous barbershop known for its no-holds-barred conversation.
Then he asks: 'Are you protecting yourself? Do you know what AIDS is?
Do you know that it's fastest growing in the African-American
community?' Scott, 50, is one in a platoon of black barbers in this
city who have been enlisted in the fight against rising HIV infection
rates among Seattle-area African-Americans." (01/01/04)

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/01/seattle_hiv_program_enlist\
s_barbershops/
TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/24cl9

-----

21) Drug thugs destroy victims' guns
     Billings Gazette

"Firearms seized in several federal drug cases met their end in a
Billings [MT] recycling yard Wednesday morning as metal shears turned
the weapons into scrap. U.S. Marshal Dwight MacKay helped insert the
long guns into a large, metal claw at Golden Recycling and Salvage
... then stood back as the shears snapped them like sticks. The
machine kept crunching the guns until they were reduced to a pile of
metal and wood chunks. A smaller machine chopped up several handguns.
In all, the Marshals Service destroyed 17 firearms seized in three
Montana drug cases. MacKay said it was the biggest batch of guns
destroyed in Billings in recent years." (01/01/04)

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/01/01/build/l\
ocal/45-destroyedguns.inc
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3xzha

-----

22) Brits warned of Nixon plans to invade Arab states
     Fox News

"British spy chiefs warned after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war that they
believed the United States might invade Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Abu
Dhabi to seize their oil fields, according to records released
Thursday. A British intelligence committee report from December 1973
said America was so angry over Arab nations' earlier decision to cut
oil production and impose an embargo on the United States that
seizing oil-producing areas in the region was 'the possibility
uppermost in American thinking.'" (01/01/04)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107161,00.html

-----

23) Cuban leader sees US invasion risk as "real and present danger"
     Washington Times

"Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, dismissing U.S.
charges that Cuba is developing weapons of mass destruction as the
words of a 'liar,' says Bush administration policies have made the
risk of U.S. invasion 'a real, present danger for us.' Alarcon ...
took strong exception to remarks by Undersecretary of State John R.
Bolton [who] named Cuba along with Iran, North Korea, Syria and Libya
as rogue states 'whose pursuit of weapons of mass destruction makes
them hostile to U.S. interests [and who] will learn that their covert
programs will not escape either detection or consequences.' 'He's a
liar,' Alarcon said during a recent interview in Geneva." (01/01/04)

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20031231-111715-9034r.htm

-----

24) Suit filed on DYS strip searches
     Boston Globe

"A lawsuit is challenging the legality of a [MA] state Department of
Youth Services policy that allows routine strip searches of minors in
the custody of the agency whenever they leave a secure facility to go
to court, see a doctor, or visit with a family member. The policy
requires 'a visual body cavity inspection of a juvenile's genitals
and anus,' the lawsuit states, 'and these searches are conducted
routinely, without any reason to suspect or probable cause to believe
that the juvenile possesses drugs, weapons, or other contraband.' ...
Named as defendants are Ronald Preston, secretary of the state
Executive Office of Health and Human Services; DYS Commissioner
Michael Bolden; and 'certain unknown employees of DYS.'" (01/01/04)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/01/01/suit_filed_on_strip_searche\
s_by_dys/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3dapt

-----

25) TennCare "scam factor" maybe lower than expected
     Tennessean

"TennCare's rolls aren't filled with dead people and non-Tennesseans
scamming the health-insurance program, an independent report released
yesterday says. Among the 1.3 million TennCare enrollees, the report
found about 18,000, or about 1.4%, with possible inconsistencies that
may make them ineligible. They may include: 206 dead people, 1,358
people with addresses possibly outside Tennessee, 16,452 people with
addresses that don't match TennCare records, and eight people with
problems with their Social Security numbers. The potential problems
identified in the report are minimal and don't indicate fraud and
abuse problems, TennCare Director Manny Martins said." (01/01/04)

http://tennessean.com/government/archives/04/01/44938029.shtml

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COMMENTARY

26) Bury the hatchet -- or lock and load
     Liberty For All
     by George Squyres

"The point is that ideology has not been what motivated either of the
dominant political parties for some time now. Nor has any allegiance
to ideology been that which determines the policies either will
pursue. Rather the policies they pursue reflect the constituencies
that they have whored themselves to for the funds necessary to pursue
power. It is entirely a question of maintaining the hold that each
has on the levers of power, and whose pockets they have to line if
they are ... to continue." (01/02/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/hatchet.html

-----

27) Herb curb
     Reason
     by Jacob Sullum

"Last February, Mark McClellan, the head of the Food and Drug
Administration, conceded that 'serious adverse events from ephedra
appear to be infrequent.' Yet at the end of December, he announced
that the FDA planned to ban all dietary supplements containing the
herbal stimulant, saying they pose 'an unreasonable risk.' Casual
observers could be forgiven for assuming that McClellan had changed
his mind in light of new evidence. But nothing has happened during
the last 10 months to indicate that his initial assessment of
ephedra's hazards was off the mark." (01/02/04)

http://www.reason.com/sullum/010204.shtml

-----

28) Smearing General Zinni
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"The War Party was never all that worried about opposition coming
from the Left, which is all too easy to mock and marginalize. Antiwar
conservatives posed a more complex but less immediate problem, since
these amounted to a small if vocal minority on the Right. But when
American military leaders began to speak out against their imperial
adventure, the neocons had a major conniption. Claiming that the
sacred principle of civilian control of the military was being
violated, the neocons ordered the soldiers to go back to their
barracks and never return to the public square. Yet they have
returned, to wonder aloud why they were not listened to." (01/02/04)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j010204.html

-----

29) Liberty's last legs?
     Loose Cannon Libertarian
     by Garry Reed

"Miss Beers, my sixth-grade teacher at Willard Elementary School, has
finally been sanctified by none other than the US Supreme Court.
Having been whacked on the back of her head by a wayward spitball,
Miss Beers demanded the culprit fess up. When nobody breathed, she
angrily decreed the bureaucrat's standard punishment: 'Nobody gets
recess!' Innocent and guilty alike. It was our introduction to the
injustice of guilt by association." (01/01/04)

http://www.freecannon.com/LibertysLastLegs.htm

-----

30) Hollywood's hateful hooey about the South
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"While I don't often visit the surreal cinema, I do make an exception
for films about the South. The reason is simply this: The road to
national sanity leads through the South. The republic, RIP, can only
be revived once the central government -- which voided the
Constitution to invade the South and, by legal extension, the rest of
the once-sovereign states -- is driven back. If Hollywood -- hugely
influential in shaping American lore -- begins to get its ducks in a
row about Dixie, then there's some hope." (01/02/04)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36413

-----

31) Ending the year on a political low note
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Tibor R. Machan

"Why protest the ban, you might wonder? The main reason is that in a
free society defective products must be dealt with via tort -- and,
on rare occasions, the criminal -- law. Shutting down an entire
business community on the grounds that some people have been harmed
by its products is plainly unjust." (01/01/04)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/machan/machan14.html

-----

32) How far will the dollar fall?
     Cato Institute
     by Richard W. Rahn

"How far will the dollar fall, and should we care? We should be
concerned, but if the administration, the Federal Reserve and the
Congress act responsibly, the dollar should be near its bottom and
begin to rise against most foreign currencies." (01/02/04)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-02-04.html

-----

33) The Good Samaritan: Model of effective compassion
     Acton Institute
     by Jordan J. Ballor

"[T]he welfare state tends to treat the poor as a problem, a set of
faceless names on a list. The solution to such problems is often seen
in purely economic terms, a case of the 'haves' versus the 'have-
nots.' This attitude is counter-productive in numerous ways, not the
least of which is that it tends to create a cycle of dependency. When
a person is in need of assistance, the solution is not to give them
material assistance without empowering them to begin to provide for
themselves, all the while ignoring their spiritual needs." (12/31/03)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=172

-----

34) This is for your own good!
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Chris Basten

"[T]he next time government absolutists tell us they are doing
something for our own good, consider all of the individual persons,
properties, and rights that will be destroyed to obtain this 'common
good.' Government aggression that protects us from ourselves for our
own good is a deplorable oxymoron." (01/02/04)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/01/02

-----

35) Nothing Up My Sleeve ...
     Apotheon
     by Charles Sage

"I'm sure by now that most of you living in or around America have
heard about Saddam Hussein's capture -- it made headlines world wide,
after all. What didn't get reported, or at least get the coverage it
deserved, was the signing into law parts of the Domestic Security
Enhancement Act of 2003 by our esteemed leader President George W.
Bush. ... I'll tell you why: because the Patriot Act and the DSEA do
not make us safer." (01/01/04)

http://www.apotheon.com/index.php?1073005936

-----

36) Mad pork disease strikes all members of Congress
     Nashville City Paper
     by Whitney Kemper

"The heck with mad cow disease. Whom has it affected so far, one cow?
This year we should be more worried about mad pork disease. It has
infected most of our 535 Congressional representatives. In an inside-
the-Beltway frenzy, not unlike the medieval Saint Vitus dance, most
lawmakers wanting a piece of the fiscal pie to take home to the
voters are spending as if there is no tomorrow. Republican Sen. John
McCain has stated that Congress is acting like a bunch of drunken
sailors when it comes to the budget. I say they are acting like drug
addicts whose only concern is getting the fix now, with no care about
the future." (12/31/03)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29521

-----

37) Junk politics and the new reactionaries
     Colorado Freedom Report
     by Ari Armstrong

"'Reactionary' is a relative term. In the broad sense, every social
movement is reacting against something. The Founders were reacting
against English tyranny. The civil rights movements were reacting
against racism and other forms of bigotry. Often right-wingers are
described as 'reactionary,' but it's unclear what views characterize
the 'right wing.' If we say reactionaries oppose progress, then we
must define what counts as 'progress.' ... those who would use the
force of the police state, and the fiat of politicians and
bureaucrats, to control what we put into our own bodies, are the
Nanny State Reactionaries who have converged from both left and
right." (12/31/03)

http://www.freecolorado.com/2003/12/junkpolitics.html

-----

38) Libertarian heroes of 2003
     Fox News
     by Radley Balko

"We spent a good deal of 2003 haranguing politicians in this space,
most of the time for putting self-interest and re-election above
preserving and defending freedom. ... In a fit of misguided optimism,
then, I’ve decided to start the New Year on a more upbeat note. I’ve
managed to find a few politicians who did a thing or two right in
2003. The elected officials below aren’t perfect; on the whole, some
of them probably deserve more scrutiny than praise. But each in some
way took a stand (or several) to limit the size of government, defend
our civil liberties or otherwise uphold the freedom of Americans at
the expense of the state." (12/31/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107014,00.html

-----

39) Doors close on free press in southeast Asia
     Guardian [UK]
     by John Aglionby

"A former Vietnamese journalist, Nguyen Vu Binh, who used the
internet to criticise his country's government is sentenced to seven
years in a trial closed to foreigners. Zaw Thet Htwe, the editor-in-
chief of Burma's First Eleven Sports Journal is sentenced to death
for alleged treason after he published a story about the reported
misuse of an international donation to promote football in the
military-run nation." (01/01/04)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1114609,00.html
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3cghx

-----

40) Is war about oil or bad ideas?
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Morgan O. Reynolds

"Name a war and the alleged causes are numerous: man's innate
aggression, vainglorious princes, stupid tyrants, imbalances of
power, preserving the union, the military industrial complex, ties to
al-Qaeda, WMDs, democracy, freedom, and a hundred other reasons. And
what about access to natural resources like, say, black gold? Such
issues are rarely mentioned." (01/01/04)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1403

-----

41) MSAs unleashed!
     Heartland Institute
     by Greg Scandlen

"The Medicare reform measure passed by Congress in November included
a Health Savings Account (HSA) provision that renames--and
dramatically expands and improves--the Medical Savings Account
(Archer MSA) pilot program launched in 1996. Unlike some other
provisions of the new bill, MSA expansion will go into effect
quickly. On January 1, 2004, all 250 million non-elderly Americans
will be permitted to choose a Health Savings Account." (01/01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14075

-----

42) The War on Drugs hurts
     MAPINC
     by Philip Terzian

"Physicians who prescribe painkillers, especially such effective
morphine-based nostrums as OxyContin and Lortab, to suffering
patients are now treated with suspicion by agents of the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration. Undercover 'patients' are sent to
doctors' offices with fraudulent complaints, and pharmacists are
directed to report 'suspicious' patterns of pain relief. Some
physicians who specialize in pain relief have been arrested, some
indicted and tried, and a few have been imprisoned. Many have lost
their licenses to practice medicine, and all have incurred
mountainous legal bills." (12/31/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n2012/a07.html?397

-----

43) Kay leaving empty handed
     Yellow Times
     by Matthew Riemer

"The man the Bush administration put in charge of finding Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction, David Kay, announced this week that he
is stepping down from his post sometime early in 2004. Kay heads the
Iraq Survey Group (ISG), which is currently scouring Iraq for signs
of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The former U.N.
weapons inspector cited the duration of the inspections as one of his
reasons for leaving; Kay had originally believed that the entire
procedure would be completed in six months time, putting the
completion date around the first of the year." (01/01/04)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1717&mode=thread&order=0

-----

44) Patent nonsense on GMOs should be debunked
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Gregory Conko

"The debate over GMOs usually focuses on their safety. However, as
study after scientific study continues to find that no unique or
inherent risks arise from biotechnology, people will slowly but
increasingly come to accept GM foods. Earlier this month, for
example, the European Food Safety Authority announced that a
particular variety of GM maize was perfectly safe for human
consumption." (12/30/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/029,03792.cfm

-----

45) A resolution for freedom
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Dick Armey

"This past year had its ups and downs, but I firmly believe that
America is a better place going into 2004 than it was this time a
year ago. One reason is because CSE worked hard to help pass a major
tax cut package in May. Hundreds of CSE members held a huge rally
with President Bush, and tens of thousands more contacted their
representatives in support of the tax cut plan." (12/31/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1651.htm

-----

46) Sir, drop that almanac and nobody gets hurt!
     Capitol Hill Blue
     by Dale McFeatters

"The FBI has alerted 18,000 local police departments to be on the
alert for people carrying almanacs because these fact-filled
compendiums could be an aid in terrorist planning. The alert reminded
me that I was overdue in getting my 2004 almanacs, which I did,
leaving my new 'The Old Farmer's Almanac' openly displayed on the
seat of my car -- police were warned to be especially vigilant about
the presence of almanacs in vehicles -- and carrying my new bright
red 'The World Almanac' about town on my various errands. This is way
too early in the column to be saying this, but the fact is, nothing
happened. It is, however, noteworthy in being a heartening display of
official common sense." (01/01/04)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3818.shtml

-----

47) Minor parties are effective
     Liberty For All
     by Richard Winger

"[T]he Republicans decided they were sick of losing votes to the
Prohibition Party. They passed the 18th amendment in early 1917. It
had been languishing in congress since it had first been introduced
in 1875. The Republican platform had never endorsed the idea of
prohibition. But, they joined with southern Democrats (who had been
for it all along) in 1917." (01/02/04)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/effective.html

-----

48) Wham Bam: Nothing "natural" about quake disaster
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Brendan O'Neill

"What is the lesson of the terrible earthquake that struck southern
Iran last week, which leveled much of the city of Bam and left tens
of thousands dead? For many, it is that man should more closely
observe the 'rule of nature.' ... This is a strange way to make sense
of what happened in Bam. It wasn't man's folly, or the Bam residents'
ignorance of the 'rule of nature' that allowed the quake to have such
devastating consequences. Rather, it is the fact that the people of
Bam are forced to live at nature's mercy that leaves them open to
such terror. It is the developing world's reliance on nature, rather
than its ignorance of [it], that makes it potential prey for this
thing we call 'Mother Nature's fury.'" (01/02/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0102/p11s01-coop.html

-----

49) The outlook for 2004
     Boston Globe
     by Robert Kuttner

"What a year it has been! But what will 2004 bring? You can be a
pundit, too. Here are some scenarios for the New Year. I'll reveal my
own guesses at the bottom of the column, and this time next year we
can see who was the best prognosticator." (12/31/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/12/31/the_\
outlook_for_2004/
TInyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2kq8o

-----

50) Earth-friendly resolution No. 1: Reduce campaign hot-air emission
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Jeffrey Shaffer

"Another year of daily wear and tear begins for planet Earth. It's
hard to say what role environmental issues will play in the upcoming
presidential race. Iraq and the economy will probably generate most
of the campaign noise. So here are a few low-key suggestions that
will enable every American to make an individual contribution toward
easing the strain on our global habitat during the next 12 months.
It's my ecological version of quiet diplomacy." (01/02/04)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0102/p11s03-cojs.html


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) The Dominican Effect; John Ashcroft's spiritual ancestor

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  RRND is published every weekday except on holidays. Forward freely.
                   To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

--

"With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for
projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here
to help them."
  -- Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, USA, on the Iraq occupation.

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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Email Circulation: 2,184

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

0) Happy New Year from RRND!


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Baghdad blast kills Iraqi shopkeeper
2)  Italian anarchists suspected in anti-EU bomb campaign
3)  FDA: Anthrax vaccine "safe and effective"
4)  Dollar hits fresh record low against euro
5)  Pentagon appoints chief for kangaroo courts
6)  Halliburton loses Iraq gasoline franchise
7)  Gun rights group touts new word
8)  Interest groups press issues with campaigning presidential candidates
9)  Tape confirms Iraqis tried to save US POWs
10) Was it really the US that "got him?"
11) States continue push for Canadian drugs
12) Iran downplays talk that earthquake help will thaw frosty relations
13) Burglar slayer busted
14) US takes stronger steps vs. mad cow
15) Government bans ephedra sales in US next year
16) Police book cyberspace pin-up
17) Caution to color New Year’s celebrations
18) Ashcroft recuses himself from CIA leak probe
19) Iraqi council member: Saddam hid $40 billion
20) Rumbling on the hard-line right
21) Surprise! Medicaid drugs finding way to street
22) Hampton Roads to open court for the mentally ill
23) Murfreesboro man tells why he froze 114 cats
24) Pentagon IG: Research project was too intrusive
25) "T" restricts sale of subway tokens

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Libertarians battle the corporate state
27) Liberty Action of the Week
28) In such manner ...
29) Year of the Liars
30) What's wrong with buying votes?
31) Why the state is different
32) Self-reinforcing ideas
33) I have a dream
34) Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism
35) Does God want Bush reelected?
36) Howard Dean wants a gimme
37) Some things I wonder about
38) Who really calls the shots on terrorism alerts?
39) There are no neocons in foxholes
40) An improved climate
41) No good deed -- on US foreign policy
42) George W. Bush: Man of the Year
43) Election matters: Fleeing the Greens
44) French kiss-off
45) Not a career
46) Robert Bartley
47) Why the Medicare Reform Bill Is bad legislation
48) DDT saves lives!
49) Ninety years of monetary central planning in the United States
50) Mad cow news update: Day seven


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) How do you spell relief? A golden moment; Nunya


0) Happy New Year from RRND!

Well, folks, that about wraps it up for 2003; this 277th edition of
RRND (which, of course, I will mention is the 277th _consecutive_
edition, without interruption) is the final one of the year. We'll be
back on Friday morning, January 2nd, 2004 (after consideration of the
meaning and usage of the word -- and the quantities of alcohol
potentially involved in tonight's revels -- we've designated January
1st a "holiday").

Speaking of holidays, all of us here at Rational Review hope that our
readers have had, and continue to have, an enjoyable and safe holiday
season. It's been a very good year for us in most ways, largely
thanks to all of you.

See you on Friday!

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Baghdad blast kills Iraqi shopkeeper
     Arizona Republic

"A roadside bomb apparently intended for a passing U.S. military
convoy missed its target Tuesday, exploding in a densely populated
Baghdad neighborhood and killing an Iraqi civilian. The attack in the
Karrada neighborhood shattered windows on the busy street and
destroyed a concrete road median, but did not wound any U.S. troops."
(12/31/03)

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1231iraq31.html

-----

2)  Italian anarchists suspected in anti-EU bomb campaign
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Investigators zeroed in on an Italian anarchist group yesterday as
the likely source of four small bombs mailed to prominent European
organizations in recent days. ... The letter bombs have caused no
injuries but they revived memories of Europe before Sept. 11, when
political radicals were more feared than Islamic militants. The
latest package was intercepted in The Hague yesterday at Eurojust, a
European law enforcement group. ... On Saturday, European Union
Commission President Romano Prodi opened a package in Bologna, Italy,
that burst into flames. ... An Italian group calling itself the
'Informal Anarchic Federation' took credit for setting two more time
bombs that exploded outside Prodi's house on Dec. 21, causing a small
fire." (12/31/03)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/154666_letterbombs31.html

-----

3)  FDA: Anthrax vaccine "safe and effective"
     CNN

"The Food and Drug Administration Tuesday declared the anthrax
vaccine 'safe and effective' in response to a federal judge's
injunction against mandatory vaccinations of what he said was an
experimental drug. ... U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled
December 22 that the Department of Defense must stop forcing soldiers
and civilian employees to get the anthrax vaccine, saying the vaccine
is an experimental drug not licensed by the FDA. ... Lawyers for the
plaintiffs in the lawsuit issued a statement saying that the FDA's
ruling is nothing more than 'after-the-fact gamesmanship to overrule
the Court's findings.'" (12/31/03)

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/12/30/fda.anthrax/

-----

4)  Dollar hits fresh record low against euro
     Reuters

"The U.S. dollar has slipped to fresh record lows against the euro,
on concerns over possible attacks on U.S. targets during New Year
holidays and a weak outlook for the greenback next year. The euro was
trading at 0705 GMT on Wednesday at around $1.2567, after hitting a
record high of $1.2596, dealers said. The U.S. dollar also fell to
its lowest in six years against the Australian dollar and the New
Zealand dollar. 'At New Year's eve, security concerns will drive the
market,' said a dealer in Singapore. The dealer said some major
players were building positions in anticipation of a further decline
in the U.S. dollar in the new year." (12/31/03)

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=4307\
96
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/ys4mp

-----

5)  Pentagon appoints chief for kangaroo courts
     Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"A retired Army general will oversee military tribunals for suspected
terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including approving charges,
the Pentagon said Tuesday. Chosen for the job was John D. Altenburg
Jr., who retired as a two-star general in 2002. ... None of the 660
suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay has been charged, and
although the Pentagon has not said when it expects to begin military
trials, the first is expected soon." (12/31/03)

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1203/31military.html

-----

6)  Halliburton loses Iraq gasoline franchise
     Washington Post

"The Pentagon said yesterday that it will end an arrangement with
Halliburton Corp. to import fuel to Iraq, a contract that had been
criticized by government auditors and Democratic members of Congress.
A military unit that already supplies fuel to the armed forces in
Iraq will assume control of the import and distribution of gasoline,
kerosene and cooking gas into the country and will find new private
contractors through competitive bidding, the Defense Energy Support
Center announced." (12/31/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43073-2003Dec30.html

-----

7)  Gun rights group touts new word
     Deseret News

"A Utah gun-rights group has an eye out for hoplophobes. Never heard
of hoplophobia? Most people haven't. The made-up word to describe
people who fear guns hasn't caught on. Not even longtime gun
enthusiasts are familiar with the term. 'We lead the state in sales,
but we've never heard that,' said Norman Van Wagenen, whose family
has been in the firearms business in Provo since 1958. The Utah
Shooting Sports Council is trying to get hoplophobia into the local
vernacular as well as the often bitter gun rights debate. 'There is
such a thing as hoplophobia,' said David Nelson, founder of Stonewall
Shooting Sports of Utah. 'It is driving many of the people engaged in
the (gun rights) debate.'" (12/29/03)

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,575039935,00.html

-----

8)  Interest groups press issues with campaigning presidential candidates
     Washington Post

"An uninitiated observer could be forgiven for thinking a full-blown
marijuana movement had sprung up in famously conservative New
Hampshire. And that, said activist Aaron Houston of the Washington-
based Marijuana Policy Project, was the point. 'Everyone is paying
attention now, and it gives us the opportunity to get our message
out,' he said. As the Jan. 27 presidential primary here nears,
Houston's crew has plenty of company along New Hampshire's other
campaign trail." (12/31/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42925-2003Dec30.html

-----

9)  Tape confirms Iraqis tried to save US POWs
     MSNBC

"Iraqi doctors took good care of captured Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch and
labored hard but unsuccessfully to save her best friend, according to
Iraqi television videotape shot during the soldiers’ captivity in
Iraq last spring. The tape, which was never aired in Iraq but has
been obtained by NBC News, provides a new look at the treatment the
Iraqis gave Lynch and other members of the Army's 507th Maintenance
Co. after they were ambushed March 23." (12/30/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3842398/

-----

10) Was it really the US that "got him?"
     Christian Science Monitor

"It's become a world famous phrase: 'Ladies and gentlemen, we got
him.' More than two weeks after the US civil administrator in Iraq,
Paul Bremer, uttered those words at a press conference in Baghdad,
reports continue to circulate that Saddam Hussein was first captured
by a Kurdish-led intelligence unit, drugged, then put into the
'spider hole' to be taken by the US military. The Sydney Morning
Herald reports that US forces took Mr. Hussein into custody Saturday,
Dec. 13 around 8.30 p.m. local time, but 'sat on the news' until 3
p.m. the next day. However, the Herald points out that in the early
hours of Sunday, Dec. 14 a Kurdish language wire service reported
explicitly: 'Saddam Hussein was captured by the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK).'" (12/30/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1230/dailyUpdate.html?s=entt

-----

11) States continue push for Canadian drugs
     USA Today

"States leading the drive for legal purchases of lower-cost medicines
from Canada are not backing down despite threats by federal
regulators. One state health official accuses the Bush administration
of raising 'bogus' safety concerns to protect drugmakers' profits."
(12/30/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-12-31-canada-drugs_x.htm

-----

12) Iran downplays talk that earthquake help will thaw frosty
relations
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"As survivors of Iran's earthquake scavenged for clothes and jostled
for handouts Tuesday, President Mohammad Khatami thanked the United
States for aid but played down talk that Washington's contribution
would thaw frosty relations. 'Humanitarian issues should not be
intertwined with deep and chronic political problems,' Khatami said."
(12/30/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031230/1761645.shtml

-----

13) Burglar slayer busted
     New York Post

"A Brooklyn man celebrated his 34th birthday in a jail cell after he
used an illegal [sic] gun to blow away an intruder he said was trying
to rob his apartment -- where cops found a pound of pot, authorities
said. Sheldon Barrow used the .40-caliber gun to kill Fisher Canton,
29, inside his apartment at 600 East 18th St. in Flatbush, the
Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said yesterday. Prosecutors said
they were continuing their investigation into the Sunday-evening
shooting to determine if the slaying was self-defense or whether
Barrow should face more serious charges." (12/30/03)

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/14794.htm

-----

14) US takes stronger steps vs. mad cow
     USA Today

"The government on Tuesday announced the strongest measures yet to
safeguard the USA's beef supply, including an immediate ban on using
sick or lame cattle like one discovered last week in Washington state
with mad cow disease. Seeking to boost consumer confidence,
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the ban will cover about
130,000 sick or 'downer' cattle each year ..." (12/30/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-12-30-madcow-beef_x.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2oazq

-----

15) Government bans ephedra sales in US next year
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"The Bush administration is banning the sale of ephedra early next
year, and urged consumers Tuesday to immediately stop using the
herbal stimulant that has been linked to 155 deaths and dozens of
heart attacks and strokes. It was the government's first-ever ban on
a dietary supplement, one that comes eight years after the Food and
Drug Administration first began receiving reports that ephedra could
be dangerous." (12/30/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031230/1761545.shtml

-----

16) Police book cyberspace pin-up
     Ananova [UK]

"Police in a Nebraska town have arrested a woman for posting nude
pictures of herself on the web that were taken in a local bar.
Melissa Harrington was charged with violating Lincoln's public nudity
ordinance by posting pictures on her web site." (12/30/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_851148.html

-----

17) Caution to color New Year’s celebrations
     MSNBC

"With federal authorities warning that the risk of a terrorist attack
remains high, New Year’s celebrations around the nation will be
seasoned with equal parts of caution and revelry. Public partygoers
in some cities can expect to encounter security measures like bomb-
sniffing dogs, video surveillance equipment, police snipers on
rooftops and skies devoid of all private aircraft as they ring in
2004." (12/30/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3839809/

-----

18) Ashcroft recuses himself from CIA leak probe
     CNN

"Attorney General John Ashcroft removed himself Tuesday from a
Justice Department investigation into who may have revealed the name
of a CIA operative to the media and a special prosecutor was named to
head up the probe. Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Comey said
Ashcroft reached the decision to recuse himself on his own after long
consideration." (12/30/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/30/ashcroft.cia.leaks/

-----

19) Iraqi council member: Saddam hid $40 billion
     CNN

"Saddam Hussein withdrew $2 billion from Iraqi banks last spring,
including a sizable withdrawal a week after the fall of Baghdad,
according to a member of the Iraq Governing Council. Dr. Iyad Allawi -
- in an interview with CNN Tuesday -- elaborated on reports published
Monday in two Arabic newspapers on what he says interrogators are
learning from Saddam since his capture earlier this month."
(12/30/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/30/sprj.irq.main/

-----

20) Rumbling on the hard-line right
     Washington Times

"President Bush is beginning to anger certain hard-line
conservatives, particularly over fiscal issues, the way his father
did in the year before he lost to Bill Clinton in 1992. It's not
clear how deep the dissatisfaction goes, and whether it will
translate to damage at the polls in November. 'I'm hearing a lot of
anger,' says Richard Viguerie, the guru of conservative political
direct mail. 'I'm beginning, for the first time, [to hear] people
talk about 'it would not be the worst thing in the world if Howard
Dean were president,' because the size of government would stay still
rather than increase 50 percent under a second Bush administration.'"
(12/30/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031229-113614-7963r.htm

-----

21) Surprise! Medicaid drugs finding way to street
     Louisville Courier-Journal

"Some Medicaid recipients in Kentucky are using their benefits to
sell prescription drugs illegally for profit or to supply their own
addictions, authorities say. Police and prosecutors in rural Kentucky
say the state- and federally funded program that helps more than
670,000 of the state's elderly, poor and disabled is a significant
source of drugs that have ravaged the region. 'It's just no question
the Medicaid system, which is strapped for funds, is financing a
large degree of this stuff,' said Larry Rogers, commonwealth's
attorney for Wayne and Russell counties. It's impossible to estimate
the degree to which Medicaid is used to funnel prescription drugs
into Kentucky's black market." (12/29/03)

http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/12/29ky/met-4-medicaid12290-5383.h\
tml
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/34ajc

-----

22) Hampton Roads to open court for the mentally ill
     Washington Times

"Circuit Judge Charles E. Poston calls them 'frequent fliers' --
mentally ill people charged again and again with nuisance crimes such
as trespassing, stealing or public disturbance. Most need medical
help for their diseases, but Judge Poston's options are limited to
jail or release. He soon will have another choice. Hampton Roads'
[VA] first mental health court is scheduled to open in January."
(12/30/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20031229-092819-9632r.htm

-----

23) Murfreesboro man tells why he froze 114 cats
     Tennessean

"A Murfreesboro [TN] widower who stored 114 dead cats in his condo
freezers says he's a devoted animal lover who rescues dozens of sick
and abandoned cats. William 'Terry' Davis, 72, said he was keeping
the departed pets until he could properly bury them. He hopes to
build a house and pet cemetery after settling a family estate court
case. 'To charge me with cruelty to animals is totally, totally out
of context,' said Davis, in a phone interview last night. 'I love my
animals.'" (12/30/03)

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/04/01/44765425.shtml

-----

24) Pentagon IG: Research project was too intrusive
     Fox News

"The Defense Department should have been more sensitive to concerns
about potential government abuses of privacy from its highly
criticized research project to predict terrorist attacks, the
agency's inspector general has concluded. In an oversight report, the
inspector general's office said the Pentagon's research showed some
promise. But the lack of a formal assessment on the privacy
implications for U.S. citizens means the Pentagon 'risks spending
funds to develop systems that may be neither deployable nor used to
their fullest potential without costly revisions and retrofits,' the
report said." (12/30/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106992,00.html

-----

25) "T" restricts sale of subway tokens
     Boston Globe

"Five days before the MBTA's fare increase takes effect, 'T'
officials yesterday limited the purchase of subway tokens as
commuters apparently were buying in bulk to avoid the higher prices.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials could not say
yesterday how many tokens have been sold during the last weeks of the
year. But they said a number of purchases of 100 or more tokens were
made at the current rate of $1 each. The cost of a subway token
increases to $1.25 Saturday, but tokens purchased before then at the
lower price will be honored." (12/30/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/12/30/t_restricts_the_sale_of_sub\
way_tokens/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/267fz

-----ADVERTISEMENT----------------------------------------------------
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                Check out our donor premium program at:

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COMMENTARY

26) Libertarians battle the corporate state
     LewRockwell.Com
     by James Ostrowski

"The only true opponent of the corporate state is the hardcore
libertarian movement, by which term I mean to exclude the beltway
types, the liberventionists, and people who think the label
'libertarian' is fashionable, but don't really know what it means.
This means that we are the only movement or philosophy which
consistently stands up for the interests of the little guy, the
minority of one, the individual. ... To return to the question we
libertarians are so often asked -- what are libertarians going to do
about the poor -- I hope you can see by now that this is the wrong
question. The better question is, why do you support a system that is
designed to benefit the wealthy and powerful and which necessarily
produces so many poor and economically marginalized people? In other
words, why are you producing so many poor people right now?"
(12/31/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/ostrowski/ostrowski51.html

-----

27) Liberty Action of the Week
     An activist review of 2003
     Rational Review
     by Mary Lou Seymour

"Looking back over the past year, well, it hasn't been that bad a
year for liberty activism, after all. We've won a few, and held the
line on others, and made new friends and new converts to the cause of
liberty. And, we're all still here, none of us, to my knowledge, has
been 'disappeared,' and we're ready to move forward, to 2004."
(12/31/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/mlseymour/123103.shtml

-----

28) In such manner ...
     Liberty For All
     by Ray Ledford

"Once again, we are faced with the same question liberty-minded
people have asked all throughout the history ... 'who will guard the
guardians?' Who will protect our rights and liberties from those in
government who would usurp them? Who will defend Liberty from this
three-headed Hydra that calls itself 'government?' Who will watch
those who now watch us? Granted, the Libertarian Party is the
Defender of Liberty, but ultimately, it will take all of us -- We,
the People -- to guard the guardians." (12/31/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/manner.html

-----

29) Year of the Liars
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"The liars who rule us have taken their art to a whole new level.
Truth, falsehood, it's all the same to this White House. Denying
everything, conceding nothing, when caught in a lie they brush it off
as irrelevant. This kind of brazen arrogance, combined with such
power, has no real precedent in world history: not even the maddest
of the Roman emperors, who claimed to be divine, exhibited such a
lordly disdain for truth. The Greeks had a word for the illness that
afflicts the warlords of Washington: they called it hubris."
(12/31/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j123103.html

-----

30) What's wrong with buying votes?
     Cato Institute
     by John Samples

"Washington is once again buzzing with charges of bribery. Rep. Nick
Smith, (R-Mich.), asserted recently that unnamed individuals offered
$100,000 for his son's congressional campaign if the elderly Smith
would vote for the Medicare bill backed by President Bush. Smith is
retiring, and his son is seeking his seat. Smith now says he was
offered 'substantial and aggressive campaign support' for his son and
not money per se. Nonetheless, some congressional Democrats have
called for an investigation of Smith's charges by the House ethics
committee. If that investigation starts, where will it end? Big
government itself is based on bribery." (12/31/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-31-03.html

-----

31) Why the state is different
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"A common accusation against libertarianism is that we are
unnaturally obsessed with tracing social and economic problems to the
state, and, in doing so, we oversimplify the world. If you let the
people who say this keep talking, they will explain to you why the
state is not all bad, that some of its actions yield positive results
and, in any case, the state should not always be singled out as some
sort of grave evil." (12/30/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1408

-----

32) Self-reinforcing ideas
     Solo HQ
     by Joseph Rowlands

"We're in a war of ideas. If we intend to change the sick elements of
the culture, we have to attack the ideas that are behind them. And to
do that, we need to understand why people hold on to bad ideas. It's
not enough to understand why these ideas are wrong, and it's not
enough to understand what the correct alternative is. If we don't
understand what motivate people to accept them, we'll be stuck in an
impotent framework of screaming 'evasion' every time someone
disagrees." (12/30/03)

http://www.solohq.com/Articles/Rowlands/Self-Reinforcing_Ideas.shtml

-----

33) I have a dream
     Sierra Times
     by Lady Liberty

"I have dreamed of a modern day Thomas Jefferson who embodies the
leadership qualities combined with the intelligence and integrity we
need to cut back on the powers of what has become a virtually all
powerful state. I have wished for a new Sam (or Samantha!) Adams who
would incite the more apathetic members of the public to take
constructive political action, again toward dismantling (or at least
delaying) the predations of an all powerful state. ... But there's no
record-breaking movie in America today that depicts Jefferson, Adams
and Franklin as heroes who fought against the tyranny of the English
King. Instead, there's a fantasy movie that shows Frodo, Aragon and
Gandalf the Wizard working to stop the evil machinations of a dark
wizard and his minions." (12/29/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/12/29/ar_ladyliberty.htm

-----

34) Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism
     CounterPunch
     by Michael Neumann

"In short, you can't have it both ways. You can, if you like, inflate
the definition of 'anti-Semitism' to capture even Jewish political
opponents of Israel. But you can't do this and keep 'anti-Semitism'
as a term of intense moral condemnation. Nor will the inflationary
gambit successfully isolate the truly reprehensible anti-Semites."
(12/30/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/neumann12302003.html

-----

35) Does God want Bush reelected?
     Fount of Truth
     by Doug Newman

"Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this earth. (John 18:36) Yet, so many
Christians are so obsessed with the kingdoms of this earth and
putting the 'right people' in charge, that they forget what the Bible
teaches. ... Don't expect God to endorse GWB in this election. Don't
expect God to buy any ad time endorsing him this fall. Don't think
you are doing God's work by voting and campaigning for GWB this year.
To do so borders on blasphemy. If Christians really want to influence
America and build a nation pleasing to God, they need to end their
worldly love affair with the modern megastate. They need to place far
less emphasis on power, politics and policies and far more on their
Real King." (12/26/03)

http://www.geocities.com/fountoftruth/doesgod.html

-----

36) Howard Dean wants a gimme
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Bob Smith

"Yesterday, Howard Dean suggested that he has locked up the
Democratic nomination, and that the Democratic National Committee
should tell the other candidates to back off. That got a lot of
chuckles from all quarters. I suppose you can't blame the guy for
giving it a shot, but the fat lady isn't even in the theatre yet.
Would Dean cheat us of our usual treat of watching Democrats whup up
on each other? I suppose I shouldn't joke about our presidential
campaigns, but they are a tragic joke." (12/31/03)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2003/12/31

-----

37) Some things I wonder about
     Town Hall
     by Walter Williams

"Early in our marriage, 40-some years ago, Mrs. Williams would return
from shopping complaining about the unreasonable prices. Having aired
her complaints, she'd then ask me to unload her car laden with
purchases. After the unloading, I'd ask her: 'I thought you said the
prices were unreasonable. Why did you buy them? Are you unreasonable?
Only an unreasonable person would pay unreasonable prices.' The
discussion always headed downhill after such an observation."
(12/31/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20031231.shtml

-----

38) Who really calls the shots on terrorism alerts?
     Capitol Hill Blue
     by John C.K. Daly

"As the United States ponders the significance behind the Bush
administration's decision the weekend before Christmas to elevate its
color-coded threat assessment to orange, few know the decision was
made by a little-known new federal entity, the Terrorist Threat
Integration Center. ... Like the TSC, TTIC was created by executive
order rather than congressional legislation; its director, John O.
Brennan, reports directly to CIA Director George Tenet." (12/30/03)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3807.shtml

-----

39) There are no neocons in foxholes
     AntiWar.Com
     by Amir Butler

"It is said that there are no atheists in foxholes. It is also clear
from the collective wartime contribution of the War Party that there
are no neoconservatives in foxholes either. Fighting the wars they
agitate for is a task for the 'great unwashed,' not the Philosopher-
Kings of neoconservatism. Perhaps this is why the neoconservatives
are more concerned about the porous borders in Iraq than in the
United States. Perpetual wars need perpetual sources of men, and is
there any better source of cannon fodder for America's wars than her
own porous borders?" (12/31/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/butler2.html

-----

40) An improved climate
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Iain Murray

"Every year, environmental alarmists claim we have taken another step
on the road to ruin. This year, they claim 2003 was the third-hottest
year ever, and that its heat waves, floods, and tornadoes are
evidence of global warming that will bring global catastrophe. But,
despite their claims, statist environmentalists will remember 2003 as
a very bad year for their credibility." (12/30/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03790.cfm

-----

41) No good deed -- on US foreign policy
     Liberty For All
     by Rachel Mills

"Americans have a very limited and rose-colored perspective of the
world, though. We don't understand true upheaval and crisis. We
haven't lived through the type of runaway inflation and scarcity they
are going through there. We can't remember ever being hungry.
Typically we don't have friends and relatives who have disappeared
because of how they voted in the last election, or neighbors who will
turn you into authorities for a seditious opinion." (12/31/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/policy.html

-----

42) George W. Bush: Man of the Year
     WorldNetDaily
     by Pat Buchanan

"By year's end, Bush was on course for the re-election his father was
denied. His approval numbers were in the 60s, he faced no primary
opponent, and he could anticipate a fall election against an angry
liberal who was being daily carved up by his Democratic rivals. Yet,
like Richard Nixon, George Bush appears to have positioned himself
for re-election -- by shucking off conservative principle."
(12/31/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36390

-----

43) Election matters: Fleeing the Greens
     John Nichols
     by The Nation

"Ralph Nader has finally figured out how to unite Democrats and
Greens. After Nader notified Green officials that he would not seek
the party's presidential nomination in 2004 and let it be known that
he might stand as an independent, it can safely be said that a number
of Green activists were every bit as upset with Nader as those
Democrats who believe the votes he won in key states cost Al Gore the
presidency in 2000. In a sense, however, both the Democrats and the
Greens are wrong to worry. A Nader candidacy in 2004, either as a
Green or as an unaffiliated independent, was never likely to win as
many votes as the 2.9 million the consumer activist secured in 2000."
(for publication 01/12/04)

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040112&s=nichols

-----

44) French kiss-off
     Reason
     by Michael Young

"With respect to idealism, it made little sense for France to engage
in a quixotic effort to derail a war that was by then certain to
happen. Far more usefully, France could have abstained at the
Security Council, preserved a friendly rapport with the US and used
this to help ensure that the humanitarian interests of Iraqis would
be protected. When it came to pragmatism, French combativeness merely
guaranteed that once the war ended, Paris would be viewed with
hostility, marginalizing it in post-war bargaining over
reconstruction contracts and the debt owed to it by Iraq." (12/30/03)

http://www.reason.com/hod/my123003.shtml

-----

45) Not a career
     US Term Limits
     by Paul Jacob

"[M]any of the Founders were men of strong ambition, who wanted to
make a mark on the world stage. Nor were they above somewhat petty in-
fighting at times. John Adams, our third [sic] President, wrote
prolifically in his journals about his own somewhat self-conscious
ambitiousness. But, for sure, none of these guys were seat-warmers
intent on monopolizing a particular perch of power. They wanted to
start new political traditions, not continue the ones they were
seeking to escape." (12/25/03)

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs1010.html

-----

46) Robert Bartley
     National Center for Policy Analysis
     by Bruce Bartlett

"The recent death of Wall Street Journal editor Robert Bartley
inspired a lot of commentary. His friends and admirers mostly wrote
about him in personal terms. His enemies generally used the
opportunity to settle old scores now that he is unable to respond.
However, no one that I read really put Bartley's work into historical
context." (12/24/03)

http://www.ncpa.org/edo/bb/2003/20031224bb.htm

-----

47) Why the Medicare Reform Bill Is bad legislation
     Heartland Institute
     by John C. Goodman

"Just how bad is the recently passed Medicare reform bill? At the
risk of ruining your day, allow me to draw your attention to some
fairly depressing new research from the National Center for Policy
Analysis (NCPA). Even without the bill, we have made promises we can
never keep." (for publication 01/01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14074

-----

48) DDT saves lives!
     Frontiers of Freedom
     by Helen and Peter Evans

"Even if you haven't got the faintest idea what the initials 'DDT'
stand for, you probably 'know' that it is one of the most deadly
inventions of mankind. Yes, the environmentalists' spin has taken
hold and, in the conventional wisdom, DDT is associated with the
death of Nature, if not the end of the world. It's use has been
banned in North America and Europe. However, if this stuff was so bad
and we basically dumped tons of it on our farms up until the 1970's,
then why haven't we all dropped dead in the streets?" (12/30/03)

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/contributors/evans_20031230.html

-----

49) Ninety years of monetary central planning in the United States
     Foundation for Economic Education
     by Richard M. Ebeling

"Ninety years ago this month, on December 23, 1913, the Congress
passed the Federal Reserve Act, establishing a national central-
banking system in the United States. The governing board of the
Federal Reserve was organized on August 12, 1914, and the Federal
Reserve banks opened for operation on November 16, 1914. ... [W]hat
this meant was the start of the monopolization of monetary matters in
the hands of a single politically appointed authority within the
boundaries of the United States." (12/03)

http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=5694

-----

50) Mad cow news update: Day seven
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"As the news unfolds, we're staying on top of mad-cow hysteria and
activist hype. Here's a sampling of what's on our radar screen today.
Don't forget to visit our evolving 'Mad Cow Scare' page, for
information on the animal-rights, organic-food and anti-capitalist
activists who are trying to make Americans fear their food: [For just
one example] PETA's quasi-medical front group, the Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine, has purchased a sponsored link
that appears when you type 'mad cow' into the Google search engine.
Unsuspecting Google users simply see a page called 'mad cow facts,'
but they may quickly find themselves bombarded with unabashed anti-
meat propaganda." (12/30/03)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=2288


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) How do you spell relief? A golden moment; Nunya

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

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

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Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
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--

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projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here
to help them."
  -- Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, USA, on the Iraq occupation.

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Email Circulation: 2,181


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Everybody down! He's got ... an almanac?
2)  15 Republicans contest NH primary
3)  Simon Jester visits Cuba
4)  Philippines arrests two Americans on terror suspicions
5)  Judge sanctions act of war by tax thugs
6)  Judge declares NH parental notice law unconstitutional
7)  Delaware tops US in victim disarmament "gotcha" rate
8)  Vatican ambassador assassinated in Burundi
9)  Electronic voting firm acknowledges hacker break-in
10) Cabinet clash over plan to end schools' local funding
11) US warms to prospect of new talks with Iran
12) UN nuclear chief says Libyans were in early stages of program
13) US to require security officers on some flights
14) Federal appeals court dismisses copyright lawsuit targeting Barbie lampooner
15) Ruling won't end gun victim disarmers' evil schemes
16) Flaws showing in new Iraqi forces
17) From boathouse robber to "terrorist"
18) St. Patrick's parade organizers win suit
19) Infected cow's age suggests lower risk
20) Judge bars new Martha Stewart evidence
21) Busheviks claim drugs fuel Al Qaeda
22) Gun law a dud
23) Saddam revealing information on guns, money
24) Some sound alarm over Medicare law fine print
25) Canadian drugs being urged for TennCare

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) ... and I didn't speak up
27) Ride the death spiral
28) The War Party vs. global capitalism
29) Government will be abolished
30) The silver lining of outsourcing overseas
31) Is Science behind the times?
32) Making a bad train wreck worse
33) Saddam's in the slammer ... so why are we on orange?
34) Bearing Arms
35) Money and Hollywood
36) Bush signs Medicare reform
37) Inflation: The grand illusion
38) More than an invention
39) Funding local government
40) Human smuggling is morally good
41) Will Orwell's 1984 become a reality in 2004?
42) Is phone "Competition at the Crossroads?"
43) Hillary -- the entitled
44) Holiday roadblocks
45) Keep Internet control limited, non-political
46) ACLU targets Navy
47) Drug issue calls for slow approach
48) The capture of Saddam: Is it really over?
49) The politics of fear and blood
50) A Democrat turns neocon


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) Apsastrology; Happy Birthday to You (Ess Ess Ar)


NEWS

1)  Everybody down! He's got ... an almanac?
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying
almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering
everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for
terrorist planning. In a bulletin sent Christmas Eve to about 18,000
police organizations, the FBI said terrorists may use almanacs 'to
assist with target selection and pre-operational planning.'"
(12/29/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031229/1758838.shtml

-----

2)  15 Republicans contest NH primary
     Washington Post

"There will be 14 Republicans listed on the New Hampshire
presidential primary ballot besides the one who currently holds the
office. Among them are Bosa, the former mayor of Berlin, in northern
New Hampshire; Michael Callis, a bricklayer from Conway; and Robert
Haines, who could safely be described as a colorful character
familiar to patrons of the coffee shop Breaking New Grounds in
Portsmouth." (12/30/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39919-2003Dec29.html

-----

3)  Simon Jester visits Cuba
     Guardian [UK]

"Cuban authorities have launched an inquiry into how the official
newspaper of the Communist party ran a front page photograph of Fidel
Castro which appeared to have been doctored to make him look like
Adolf Hitler. ... The picture appeared above a story which reported
President Fidel Castro's meeting with North American students. Close
examination of the photograph shows that the image of the Cuban
leader has been subtly altered to make him look like the Nazi leader.
... Although details of what happened remain unclear, what is known
is that someone or some group at the newspaper appears to have risked
all in the name of political satire." (12/30/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cuba/story/0,11983,1113857,00.html

-----

4)  Philippines arrests two Americans on terror suspicions
     Topeka Capital-Journal

"Philippine authorities said Monday that they have arrested two
Americans for suspected links to terrorism, as the country remained
on alert over the reported presence of foreign Muslim militants in
the south. Michael Ray Stubbs and his brother, James, a convert to
Islam, have been in custody at an undisclosed location since they
were arrested earlier this month in Tanza, in Cavite province, 21
miles southwest of Manila, an immigration official said on condition
of anonymity." (12/30/03)

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/123003/pag_americans.shtml

-----

5)  Judge sanctions act of war by tax thugs
     Westerly Sun

"A federal judge ruled Monday that [Rhode Island] acted properly in
shutting down Narragansett Indian tribe's tax-free smoke shop. U.S.
District Judge William Smith said the state has the right to tax
cigarettes sold at the shop on the tribe's settlement lands in
Charlestown. Smith's ruling comes in answer to lawsuits filed by the
state and tribe after a July raid by the state police, which ended
with several arrests and injuries. The tribe had sought a declaration
that as a sovereign nation it has a right to sell tobacco tax-free.
The state argued that according to the terms of the 1978 settlement
agreement that gave the tribe its lands, the tribe is bound by state
law." (12/29/03)

http://www.thewesterlysun.com/articles/2003/12/29/news/news2.txt

-----

6)  Judge declares NH parental notice law unconstitutional
     AP

"A federal judge on Monday declared unconstitutional a state law that
would have required parental notice before a minor could get an
abortion. The ruling came two days before the law was to have taken
effect. The law's supporters said they would either appeal or rewrite
the law to make it constitutional. The law would have required
abortion providers to notify at least one parent at least 48 hours
before performing an abortion on a minor. The parent would not have
had to approve the abortion." (12/29/03)

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NH_PARENTAL_NOTICE_4TH_LDWRITETHRU
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2cdot

-----

7)  Delaware tops US in victim disarmament "gotcha" rate
     Delaware Online

"When customers enter a Delaware gun shop, they stand a higher chance
of failing the mandatory background checks than would-be buyers in
any other state, according to figures released this fall by the
federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. Of the 9,464 checks run in
Delaware in 2002, 407 purchases were rejected -- a rejection rate of
4.3 percent. The national rate was 1.7 percent, and the second-
highest ranking was a 3.8 percent rate in Colorado." (12/29/03)

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2003/12/29delawareno1ingu.html
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/395eh

-----

8)  Vatican ambassador assassinated in Burundi
     ABC News

"Gunmen killed the pope's ambassador in Burundi on Monday, firing on
his car as he was returning from a funeral, and the country's
president said the envoy was deliberately targeted. Archbishop
Michael Courtney was shot in the head, shoulder and a limb and died
during surgery at Prince Louis Rwagasore Hospital, a hospital
official said. ... The shooting took place in an area about 30 miles
south of the capital, Bujumbura, on Lake Tanganyika that is a
stronghold of rebels of the National Liberation Forces, or FLN, the
only group that has not signed a peace deal with the transitional
government. The FLN denied responsibility in the killing." (12/29/03)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20031229_1849.html

-----

9)  Electronic voting firm acknowledges hacker break-in
     USA Today

"A Bellevue, Wash., company developing security technology for
electronic voting suffered an embarrassing hacker break-in that
executives think was tied to the rancorous debate over the safety of
casting ballots online. VoteHere confirmed Monday that U.S.
authorities are investigating a break-in of its computers months ago,
when someone roamed its internal computer network." (12/29/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-12-29-wash-vote-hack_x.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/25mro

-----

10) Cabinet clash over plan to end schools' local funding
     Independent [UK]

"Downing Street advisers are pressing for the Government to take over
direct funding of schools, which could spell the end of local
education authorities. Two of Tony Blair's senior aides want him to
'nationalise' school spending, channelling money to headteachers and
governors through a central agency that would 'cut out the middle
man.'" (12/30/03)

http://education.independent.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=476930

-----

11) US warms to prospect of new talks with Iran
     Washington Post

"The United States is open to restoring a dialogue with Iran after
'encouraging' moves by the Islamic republic in recent months,
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday. Iranian leaders
have agreed to allow surprise inspections of the country's nuclear
energy program, have made overtures to moderate Arab governments ..."
(12/30/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39886-2003Dec29.html

-----

12) UN nuclear chief says Libyans were in early stages of program
     USA Today

"The U.N. nuclear chief said Monday that his visits to four once-
secret nuclear sites proved that Libya was in the early stages of a
weapons program before it dismantled its efforts. Mohammed ElBaradei
and a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency
found equipment had been taken apart and boxed up at the sites in the
capital, Tripoli." (12/29/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-12-29-libya-nuclear_x.htm

-----

13) US to require security officers on some flights
     MSNBC

"The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it was
requiring foreign governments to place armed law enforcement
personnel on high-risk flights entering the country to thwart
terrorist incidents. The move is unrelated to any new threats, said
Tom Ridge, the department's secretary, but other U.S. officials told
NBC News that there was great concern that terrorists could take
advantage of lax security at secondary airports in Europe and Latin
America ..." (12/29/03)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3827789

-----

14) Federal appeals court dismisses copyright lawsuit targeting Barbie lampooner
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"A federal appeals court on Monday dismissed a copyright lawsuit
Mattel Inc. brought against a Utah artist who shot a photographic
series depicting Barbie dolls naked in a blender, wrapped in a
tortilla and sizzling on a wok. Mattel sued Tom Forsythe, a self-
described 'artsurdist' from Kanab, Utah, who used the fashion dolls
in a work entitled 'Food Chain Barbie' to criticize 'America's
culture of consumption and conformism.'" (12/29/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031229/1759017.shtml

-----

15) Ruling won't end gun victim disarmers' evil schemes
     Decatur Daily Democrat

"In 32 pages, the Indiana Supreme Court weighed in on a legal dispute
over guns that is being waged in similar fashion in several
jurisdictions across the country. That Indiana's justices allowed the
city of Gary to proceed with its lawsuit against the gun industry was
hailed as a victory by the city and gun-control advocates, and
dismissed by the gun business as a minor setback. Both sides
acknowledge that the biggest fight going on now is before the U.S.
Congress. A bill passed by the House and now before the Senate would
immunize the industry from such lawsuits." (12/29/03)

http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/articles/2003/12/29/news/news/news03.txt
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2nxz5

-----

16) Flaws showing in new Iraqi forces
     Washington Post

"The interview for aspiring police officers lasts two minutes and
goes something like this: Col. Hussein Mehdi, the dean of the
training academy, scans the candidate from head to toe for signs that
he is shifty. He asks a question to verify his résumé. If the
applicant says he studied electrical engineering, for instance, Mehdi
inquires about the properties of a light bulb." (12/30/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39885-2003Dec29.html

-----

17) From boathouse robber to "terrorist"
     Boston Globe

"Denise Collier doesn't dispute her teenage son's guilt. He was
ready, she said, to plead guilty in juvenile court to a [Kennebunk,
ME] boathouse robbery that went terribly awry when he and a friend
saw a surveillance camera and set fire to the building to cover up
their crime. The arrival of Secret Service agents at her High Street
home a few days after the fire on July 7, 2002, signaled this was no
ordinary case. Collier said the investigators said her 14-year-old
son had perpetrated a 'terrorist act' that threatened national
security. Then, she said, they told her that personal property
belonging to former President Bush had burned in the fire. 'They said
he had blown up the president's boat,' Collier said." (12/29/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/12/29/maine_couple_view_penalty_f\
or_sons_crime_as_excessive/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/34v9y

-----

18) St. Patrick's parade organizers win suit
     Fox News

"Organizers of Boston's main St. Patrick's Day parade won a court
victory Monday in a dispute over whether an anti-war group should
have been allowed to march at the end of this year's parade. The
South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, which hosts the event, sued
the city in October after police allowed the anti-war group to walk
behind the main procession. Federal Magistrate Robert B. Collings
ruled that allowing such unauthorized groups to march so close to the
actual parade was a violation of the organizers' free-speech rights.
He said unauthorized groups now must march at least a mile behind the
parade." (12/29/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106904,00.html

-----

19) Infected cow's age suggests lower risk
     USA Today

"The Washington state cow infected with mad cow disease was born four
months before the United States and Canada instituted bans on feed
containing potentially infectious material, U.S. Department of
Agriculture officials said Monday. The determination that the cow was
more than 6 years old -- not 4, as originally thought -- is good news
for the U.S. meat industry." (12/29/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-12-29-mad-cow-age_x.htm
TInyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2ua8u

-----

20) Judge bars new Martha Stewart evidence
     MSNBC

"A federal judge on Monday denied a request by U.S. prosecutors to
collect a broad range of documents from lawyers for Martha Stewart
and her former stockbroker just weeks before the obstruction of
justice case against the lifestyle trend-setter goes to trial. U.S.
District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum said in a ruling filed in
federal court in Manhattan that the request to subpoena documents by
federal prosecutors was too sweeping ..." (12/29/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3833957/

-----

21) Busheviks claim drugs fuel Al Qaeda
     Washington Times

"Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has become deeply involved in
international drug trafficking, using the money to buy arms and,
possibly, radioactive material for use in a so-called 'dirty' nuclear
bomb, senior U.S. officials say. The seizure earlier this month of
boats carrying heroin and hashish, and operated by al Qaeda-linked
persons, has brought to light an al Qaeda drug operation that has
grown tremendously since the September 11 attacks, the sources say.
'Bin Laden does not mind trafficking in drugs, even though it's
against the teaching of Islam, because it's being used to kill
Westerners,' said a defense official who asked not to be named."
(12/29/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031229-120302-2009r.htm

-----

22) Gun law a dud
     Calgary Sun [Canada]

"Ron Cunningham signed the forms to register his guns last year, but
wasn't optimistic sweeping changes to firearms safety would result. A
year later, he says he was right. 'As far as I'm concerned, the whole
thing is a joke -- it's a billion-dollar waste that's not doing
anything for us,' said Cunningham, a 25-year member of the Calgary
and District Target Shooter Association. Last Jan. 1, the feds made
it mandatory to register firearms under the controversial gun control
program, which will realize a billion-dollar price-tag next fall. But
the program has evolved over the past year, and there's been change
for the better, said Canada Firearms Centre spokesman David Austin."
(12/29/03)

http://www.canoe.ca/CalgaryNews/cs.cs-12-29-0014.html

-----

23) Saddam revealing information on guns, money
     CNN

"A member of the Iraqi Governing Council told two Arabic newspapers
that Saddam Hussein has given interrogators information about where
he has hidden money and how to find weapons arsenals used by those
attacking coalition forces. The Arab dailies Asharq Al-Awsat and Al-
Hayat reported Monday that Dr. Iyad Allawi told them in interviews
the former Iraqi leader admitted he invested stolen Iraqi money --
which the Iraqi Governing Council estimates at $40 billion ..."
(12/29/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/29/sprj.irq.main/

-----

24) Some sound alarm over Medicare law fine print
     Boston Globe

"The 1,045-page Medicare bill, passed with only one day of debate in
the House and four in the Senate, is yielding some surprises to
seniors as they read the fine print, according to lawmakers and
advocates for senior citizens. Among the concerns: Patients will not
be guaranteed their desired medications -- only drugs treating their
general ailments. Insurers can opt to drop a drug even after the
patient is locked into a plan, and need only alert seniors by posting
the change on the Internet. Some patients may have a choice only
between one free-standing drug plan and an HMO, and the costs could
vary widely." (12/29/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/12/29/some_sound_alarm_over_drug\
_laws_fine_print/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2ulz9

-----

25) Canadian drugs being urged for TennCare
     Tennessean

"A coalition of statewide organizations representing the poor, people
with disabilities and the elderly is urging [TN] Gov. Phil Bredesen
to look into buying drugs from Canada as a means of saving the
TennCare health-care program. In a letter to Bredesen, the groups
said a series of changes in the program that began four years ago
during the administration of Gov. Don Sundquist -- what the groups
called 'management missteps' -- have had drastic financial results.
The letter also said that TennCare should pursue innovative ways to
buy prescription medications, perhaps from abroad or in collaboration
with other states." (12/29/03)

http://tennessean.com/government/archives/03/12/44714544.shtml

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COMMENTARY

26) ... and I didn't speak up
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Bob Smith

"[W]hen the Allies discovered the concentration camps filled with
starving prisoners (including Niemoller, a Dachau survivor),
cremation ovens, and gassing rooms, General Eisenhower ordered local
citizens in to view what had been going on near them. Did all those
citizens KNOW what had been going on? I can't tell you what was in
their minds, but there is no doubt that they could have known, and
should have known, and that's the important point. If they claimed to
not know, it's only because they chose not to see, and that very same
attitude permeates American society today. Ask someone who supports
the War in Iraq how many American military have died there. Ask them
how many Iraqi civilians have been killed. You're not likely to get a
real answer of any kind, because they don't want to know the cost of
the position they support." (12/30/03)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2003/12/30

-----

27) Ride the death spiral
     Reason
     by Julian Sanchez

"The Long-Term Budget Outlook, released last week merely puts the
Congressional Budget Office's imprimatur on what taxpayers under the
age of 40 have known for years: We're f***ed. The CBO's projections
indicate that our current spending policies will become unsustainable
over the next half century. We face a choice between unprecedented
rates of taxation, steep (and politically unpalatable) cuts in
government benefits, or simply racking up debt until we've crippled
the economy while nevertheless requiring some combination of tax
hikes and benefit cuts. The last, most insane option is also the most
politically probable." (12/29/03)

http://www.reason.com/links/links122903.shtml

-----

28) The War Party vs. global capitalism
     AntiWar.Com
     by Jim Lobe

"If anti-globalization radicals really want to tear down the world
capitalist system they might want to go door-to-door next year on
behalf of incumbent U.S. president, George W. Bush. ... a
continuation of the policies he has pursued since Sept. 11, 2001
threatens not only the US economy, whose ballooning defense-driven
federal deficit risks a potentially disastrous collapse of the
dollar. But his insistence on effectively exempting the United States
from the rule of international law -- commercial as well as human
rights law -- also threatens the very foundation of the multilateral
economic system under which global corporate capitalism has prospered
for more than 50 years ..." (12/30/03

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/lobe123003.html

-----

29) Government will be abolished
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Brad Edmonds

"Right now, 279.something out of 280 million Americans believe it is
in their best interest to allow government to exist -- to follow its
orders, pay whatever taxes it demands, and cheer it on when it kills
foreigners or when it kills those of our countrymen it decides to
kill. Americans will change their minds about all that. History,
ancient and current, establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt that
anything government can do, markets can do better -- except mass
murder, which markets are only better able to prevent -- and history
is better disseminated with each day that passes." (12/30/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/edmonds/edmonds169.html

-----

30) The silver lining of outsourcing overseas
     Town Hall
     by Bruce Bartlett

"Ironically, much of the move toward offshoring is the result of ill-
considered efforts to keep software jobs in the United States.
Previously, companies had brought Indian programmers to this country
.... with H-1B visas that allowed them to work here temporarily. But
under pressure to save such jobs for the native-born, the number of
visas allowed under this program was reduced from 195,000 to 65,000
in October. So now, instead of having Indian workers come here, where
they spent much of their earnings, companies are contracting with
them to work in India, which is where they now spend their earnings.
Rather than admit that they were wrong in the first place, the same
people who demanded restrictions on foreign workers are trying to get
new limits placed on outsourcing, as well." (12/30/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/brucebartlett/bb20031230.shtml

-----

31) Is Science behind the times?
     Cato Institute
     by Patrick J. Michaels

"Everyone who reads Science -- the journal of the lobbying
organization the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS) -- knows that it only accepts one side of the global warming
story in its 'Compass' and 'Perspectives' sections, and in its more
opinionated, mainline articles. Anyone who writes otherwise for those
sections gets a quick rejection. That's understandable because global
warming is scheduled to pay U.S. scientists about $4.2 billion next
year, and the AAAS is just doing its job keeping the customers happy.
But sometimes they go a little overboard ..." (12/30/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-30-03.html

-----

32) Making a bad train wreck worse
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Patrick Chisholm

"For years, economists, special commissions, blue-ribbon panels,
think tanks, and scores of other observers have been sounding the
alarm bells about the United States' looming entitlement crisis. The
great wave of retiring baby boomers is going to push Medicare and
Social Security into insolvency. Taxes will have to skyrocket to pay
for the tens of trillions of dollars in promised benefits. Without
major changes, just a handful of entitlement programs are on course
to eventually consume all federal spending. ... Well aware of the
train wreck ahead, what course of action do our nation's fearless
leaders in Washington take? They create a new entitlement program!"
(12/30/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1230/p25s01-coop.html

-----

33) Saddam's in the slammer ... so why are we on orange?
     WorldNetDaily
     by Col. David Hackworth

"Even I -- and I deal with that beleaguered land seven days a week --
was staggered when a Pentagon source gave me a copy of a Nov. 30
dispatch showing that since George W. Bush unleashed the dogs of war,
our armed forces have taken 14,000 casualties in Iraq -- about the
number of warriors in a line tank division. We have the equivalent of
five combat divisions plus support for a total of about 135,000
troops deployed in the Iraqi theater of operations, which means we've
lost the equivalent of a fighting division since March. At least 10
percent of the total number of Joes and Jills available to the
theater commander to fight or support the occupation effort has been
evacuated back to the USA!" (12/30/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36375

-----

34) Bearing Arms
     Federal Oberserver
     by Patrick B. Yancey

"To me, incompetence is manifest in the dogma of the socialist, that
'enlightened' one whose solution to all ills is a new law, and a lost
right. Truthfully, rights are never 'lost,' merely usurped. No better
example of this can exist than the current push to disarm the
elements of society most in need of the protection of arms. Men who
employ arms responsibly in the defense of themselves and their homes
embody competence. Those who fear them fall short." (12/28/03)

http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=6696

-----

35) Money and Hollywood
     Yuma Sun
     by Tibor R. Machan

"Back when Johnny Carson was the star of The Tonight Show, I used to
cringe whenever he had one of the earnest movie actors or actresses
scheduled because I was sure to hear once again how money didn't
matter to them, only art did. Given how attractive some of the
actresses were I wish my name had been Art -- but alas, barring such
good fortune, I was simply left irritated or with my TV shut off.
What's worse is that often the same actors or actresses ... who were
earnestly dissing money also expressed deep feeling for the ordinary
people of the world. Yet, these are the very same ordinary people who
are ... paying the tickets to generate the fat checks ... all of them
take to the bank to cash in for, you guessed it, money!" (12/27/03)

http://yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_8855.shtml

-----

36) Bush signs Medicare reform
     Heartland Institute
     by Conrad F. Meier

"For advocates of consumer-driven health care, the most positive part
of the new law has little to do with Medicare. It is the section that
expands medical savings accounts, renamed Health Savings Accounts
(HSAs). Such accounts empower consumers by allowing them and their
employers to choose higher-deductible insurance plans, with the
savings from lower premiums going into tax-sheltered savings accounts
that are the property of the consumer." (for publication 01/01/04)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14072

-----

37) Inflation: The grand illusion
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Sean Corrigan

"Being politically cynical enough to presume that reducing labor
rates in money terms is more problematic than making the money in
which they are paid worth less, the recipe for any business setback
is thus the application of a little judicious inflation. This
doctrine is now so well ingrained that the Norges Bank of Norway
recently stated proudly that its policy aim was 'higher inflation'
because the prevailing rate was 'too low.'" (12/29/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1405

-----

38) More than an invention
     TechCentralStation
     by Russell Roberts

"Time Magazine has chosen the iTunes Music Store as the Invention of
the Year. Invention of the Year? When you think of an invention, you
think of the light bulb, the cotton gin, the airplane, the
television, the transistor, the cell phone. But an online Music
Store? That's not a 'real' invention, is it? For the pessimists,
honoring a software program that does nothing more than transfer
music from place to place is just another sign of America's decline,
another step on the road to an all-service .... where all we do is
sell cosmetics or french fries to each other or try to sustain our
standard of living by doing each other's laundry. I'm a little more
optimistic about the future. OK, a lot more optimistic." (12/29/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/122903B.html

-----

39) Funding local government
     Hawaii Reporter
     by Tracy Ryan

"When the money runs thin you stop; period. Fund the police, the
fire, the sewers and trash pick up, make your debt service payments
and screw the rest of it. Core functions not fluff. I seem to have
made some impression. Since then I have heard most everyone in
Government use the same 'core' function argument at one point or
another." (12/29/03)

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?f42309cf-f86f-4953-acd4-7c955e8a9a5d
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2c2fh

-----

40) Human smuggling is morally good
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Scott McPherson

"A great deal of moral criticism is leveled worldwide at the often
brutal and unsavory business of human smuggling. Western leaders such
as President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair regularly
condemn the practice, especially when the deplorable conditions
suffered by illegal immigrants in transit are exposed." (12/19/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0312h.asp

-----

41) Will Orwell's 1984 become a reality in 2004?
     Too Good Reports
     by Chuck Baldwin

"The current edition of Insight magazine features an article in which
the former commander of the military's Central Command, Gen. Tommy
Franks, warns that constitutional government could be subject to a
sudden demise if another major terrorist attack took place in
America. ... General Frank's [sic] warning should be taken to heart
by all Americans. President G.W. Bush, Attorney General John
Ashcroft, and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, in concert with a
Republican majority in Congress, have put in place a massive police
state apparatus capable of enforcing martial law in a moment's
notice. Furthermore, it appears that these leaders are more than
willing to actually enact such a move." (12/30/03)

http://toogoodreports.com/column/general/baldwin/20031230.htm

-----

42) Is phone "Competition at the Crossroads?"
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Stephen B. Pociask and Solveig Singleton

"The study found that local telephone company arguments for higher
wholesale prices for leasing parts of their networks and for reduced
access to these so-called unbundled network elements (UNEs) would
spell the 'end of local phone competition' and 'the real savings
being enjoyed by consumers across the country.' To support its
findings, the CFA study disputed three arguments it said are used by
the Regional Bell Operating Companies for raising UNE wholesale
prices and for restricting the availability of UNEs." (12/24/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/025,03770.cfm

-----

43) Hillary -- the entitled
     Liberty For All
     by Jessi Winchester

"Decency and principle have disappeared from our political system.
American democracy has been flushed down the toilet by the 'new
morality' which is practiced by both sides of the aisle to quench
their unbridled lust for power, privilege, and fortune. Democracy
resides in the intensive care unit of our faltering system of
government and its prognosis appears to be terminal." (12/30/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/Hillary.html

-----

44) Holiday roadblocks
     The American Spectator
     by Eric Peters

"It's one thing to object to the idiots who put their own and others'
lives at risk by operating a motor vehicle when they're impaired by
alcohol. Clearly, those people should feel the weight of the state
descend upon them. But we're now at the point of 'defining
drunkenness down' by lowering legal standards for impairment to the
point of absurdity -- and of employing random tactics such as
'sobriety checkpoints' that subject people who have done nothing to
even warrant suspicion to a once-over by armed agents of the state."
(12/30/03)

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=5962

-----

45) Keep Internet control limited, non-political
     Tennessean
     by staff

"The Internet is largely a free-market operation. Someone, however,
has to be its gatekeeper. Internet users and future users would be
much better served if that gatekeeper, whoever it may be, is non-
political, provides only the barest of regulation and does not
attempt to limit content. The issue of Internet control was one of
the topics of a recent meeting of the World Summit of the Information
Society, a United Nations-sponsored meeting of 200 national
representatives in Geneva. ... Today, the role of gatekeeper is
played by a small U.S.-based organization, the Internet Corporation
of Assigning Names and Numbers. ICANN ... was created by the Commerce
Department, but it operates as a nonprofit." (12/29/03)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/archives/03/12/44636084.shtml

-----

46) ACLU targets Navy
     Washington Times
     by Terence P. Jeffrey

"While many graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy have spent 2003
defending our nation in Iraq, in Afghanistan or on ships at sea,
lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union have been plotting an
act of cultural terrorism against the Navy here at home. The ACLU is
targeting the voluntary lunchtime prayer that has been a tradition at
the Naval Academy since its founding. In the ACLU's view, consenting
adults have a right to do just about anything they want except say
grace in a government cafeteria." (12/29/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20031228-104220-9622r.htm

-----

47) Drug issue calls for slow approach
     MAPINC
     by Susan Duncan

"There is work to be done on drug laws, but lowering the permitted
amount of pot doesn't accomplish anything significant. There is
nothing beneficial in asking police to spend time in court over small
amounts of possession or in tacking a criminal record on to young
people caught with the weed." (12/29/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n2000/a06.html

-----

48) The capture of Saddam: Is it really over?
     Yellow Times
     by Ramzy Baroud

"If the capture by American forces of former Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein on December 13 is of any contribution to the Iraq quagmire,
it is a further inflection of an already augmented array of
paradoxes. Saddam remains a symbol of the vicious dictator who
brutally crushed any hint or suggestion of dissent. The survivors and
the descendants of these victims are now dancing in the streets of
Iraq, celebrating the end of an era, but they are hardly celebrating
the dawning of a new one." (12/29/03)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1713&mode=thread&order=0

-----

49) The politics of fear and blood
     CounterPunch
     by David Lindorff

"The broad outlines of the Bush re-election campaign strategy have
begun to appear, and they present an ugly picture. From now until
next November, we can expect to have a series of dramatically named
military actions in Iraq -- and occasionally in Afghanistan perhaps --
  which will each be described as striking a 'crippling blow' against
the enemy (how many times can you cripple someone?). We will have a
raising and lowering of the color-coded terror alerts, designed to
keep voters on edge. And we will perhaps even have a conveniently
spaced out series of arrests of key leaders of the terrorist
movement, who will be trotted out (or whose dead bodies will be laid
out) for the cameras." (12/29/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff12292003.html

-----

50) A Democrat turns neocon
     Christian Science Monitor
     by P. Amy MacKinnon

"When I was growing up, the family dinner was a tradition. Above the
clatter of plates, my parents discussed the world around us from
their perspectives at either end of the great oak table. Together,
we'd review the news of the day put into context by the events of
yesterday, and always we'd think about tomorrow. Politics was a main
course, and being a working-class family from Massachusetts, we were
fed a healthy serving of Democratic Party principles. ... But I
expect to break with that tradition. Come November, I'll be casting
my vote for George Bush." (12/30/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1230/p09s02-coop.html


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) Apsastrology; Happy Birthday to You (Ess Ess Ar)

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

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

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Mary Lou Seymour .... Editor
Steve Trinward ...... Editor
R. Lee Wrights ...... Editor

--

"With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for
projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here
to help them."
  -- Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, USA, on the Iraq occupation.

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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, December 29, 2003
Email Circulation: 2,182

TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Iraq: More attacks, more deaths
2)  Alaska ties "dividend" to slavery submission
3)  Car bomber kills four Afghan agents
4)  Police murder victim of prostitution sting
5)  Milosevic allies triumph in Serbian elections
6)  Libertarians to Shelley: Decertify voting machines
7)  Fresnans join plan for Free State
8)  No apologies
9)  Safety concerns cut down treated lumber used by millions
10) More states allow felons to regain vote
11) Shooting of activist spurs Israeli scrutiny
12) Worried pain doctors decry prosecutions
13) US teams cut back Iran rescue missions
14) Dean criticizes Cheney task force, but Democrat had his own secret energy
group
15) Army stops many soldiers from quitting
16) Anthrax drill shows weaknesses, officials say
17) IRS speeds corporate tax audits
18) Pot supporter unfazed by Canadian Supreme Court ruling
19) Saudis foil attack on jet, MP claims
20) Football tourney under fire for team names
21) US Attorney's press release raises eyebrows
22) PETA pushes "blasphemy" button -- hard!
23) Meat from US mad cow traced to 8 states, Guam
24) Straining the system
25) Terror threats at home often overlooked

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Bush shows that politics is theater
27) Draft the Congress and leave my kid alone
28) The Dean of all media
29) Pope John Paul II: Man of the Year
30) Rush Limbaugh's selective outrage
31) 2003's biggest story
32) The laughter of Carthage
33) Hate speech of the left
34) The Iraq model for retaking America
35) Snuff treatment
36) Realism vs fanatacism
37) "Trying to restore constitutional government"
38) How FDR's New Deal harmed millions of poor people
39) CEI critiques federal telecom price controls
40) With a whisper, not a bang
41) Hellfire and Howard Dean
42) 2003: Year in review
43) Government silence in tax case speaks volumes
44) An improved climate
45) Principle before party
46) Abusing the cause of human rights
47) The games economists play
48) New coalition fights to end tax discrimination against self-employed
49) Two children missing from DC elementary school
50) Bush's Medicare scam


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) Trails of Tears, Wounded Knees, wounded workers -- Czech, please


NEWS

1)  Iraq: More attacks, more deaths
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Roadside bombs in separate guerrilla attacks killed two U.S.
soldiers and two Iraqi children on Sunday, including one explosion
that went off in a densely populated part of Baghdad. Hundreds of
weeping and wailing mourners buried victims of an attack the day
before in the holy Shiite city of Karbala -- the biggest since the
Dec. 13 capture of Saddam Hussein -- as the death toll rose to 19.
... ... Six coalition soldiers, six Iraqi police officers and a
civilian died Saturday. Four of the soldiers were Bulgarian and two
were Thai. On Sunday, a Bulgarian lieutenant and five Iraqis wounded
in the attacks died in the hospital, the Polish news agency PAP
reported." (12/28/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031228/1756646.shtml

-----

2)  Alaska ties "dividend" to slavery submission
     Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

"To qualify for a permanent fund dividend check, Alaska men between
18 and 25 will have to sign up with the federal draft registry, under
a new state law effective Jan. 1. The state plans to forward
information from the dividend applications to the federal government,
which will automatically register the eligible Alaska males who
haven't already signed up. Practically every Alaskan gets a yearly
dividend check from the state's oil-royalty fund." (12/28/03)

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~1857426,00.html

-----

3)  Car bomber kills four Afghan agents
     USA Today

"An apparent suicide bomber killed four intelligence agents, their
driver and himself in the Afghan capital Sunday, the latest violent
incident during a closely guarded convention drawing up the country's
first post-Taliban constitution. The suspect detonated explosives
concealed under his clothing moments after the agents bundled him
into a sports utility vehicle near the airport, Kabul police chief
Baba Jan said." (12/28/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-12-28-afghan-blast_x.htm

-----

4)  Police murder victim of prostitution sting
     Aurora Sentinel

"A 20-year-old man shot and killed by an Aurora [CO] police officer
during a Dec. 3 prostitution sting was not stung by a non-lethal
Taser weapon during the fray, according to a coroner's report. Police
said just after the shooting that one officer attempted to subdue
Jamaal Bonner with the Taser weapon when he refused to show his hands
and made an aggressive move toward an undercover female officer
working as a decoy, but the attempt failed. Another officer involved
in the sting -- police have yet to identify him -- shot Bonner three
times in the back, killing him." (12/22/03)

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10701585&BRD=1947&PAG=461&dept_id=1686\
57&rfi=6
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/254mv

-----

5)  Milosevic allies triumph in Serbian elections
     Scotsman [UK]

"A strong election success by right-wing nationalists allied to
former president Slobodan Milosevic is leaving fractured pro-
democracy groups with little choice but to unite or see Serbia slide
into renewed authoritarianism. Preliminary results showed the Serbian
Radical party winning yesterday’s parliamentary elections, ahead of
more moderate nationalists. The outgoing pro-democratic government
was in third place. The independent Centre for Free Elections and
Democracy said exit polls had the Radicals with 82 seats, compared
with 53 for the Democratic Party of Serbia and 37 for the Democratic
Party." (12/29/03)

http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2348034

-----

6)  Libertarians to Shelley: Decertify voting machines
     eMediaWire

"Concerned over the recent revelation that 17 California counties
were using voting machines with uncertified software, the Libertarian
Political Action Alliance (LPAA) is today calling on Secretary of
State Kevin Shelley to decertify all voting machines in each of the
tainted 17 counties. 'Decertification is the first step toward
establishing a trustworthy electronic voting system in California,'
said Gene Trosper, founder of the LPAA. On Tuesday, December 16, at a
meeting of the state’s Voting Systems Panel, Diebold admitted
wrongdoing by installing machines that did not meet basic scrutiny."
(12/28/03)

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2003/12/emw96035.htm

-----

7)  Fresnans join plan for Free State
     Fresno Bee

"For 27 of his 29 years, Varrin Swearingen has called Fresno [CA]
home. The World Airways pilot lives in a nice house near Chestnut and
Nees avenues. He's a member of Northwest Church. His parents are
here, as is his wife's stepmother. His two children were born here.
Next year, however, Swearingen will take his family, leave behind a
lifetime of memories and head east to New Hampshire, all for a
political movement based on his libertarian beliefs." (12/28/03)

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7946665p-8821894c.html

-----

8)  No apologies
     Washington Post

"Longtime community activist and D.C. Taxi Cab Commission member
Sandra Seegars has never made a secret of her position on handguns in
the city: She's all for legalizing them, saying that banning them
nearly 30 years ago has left law-abiding residents defenseless. Last
year, Seegars suggested that D.C. taxi drivers take up arms to
protect themselves from dangerous, sometimes gun-wielding,
passengers. Tony Bullock, spokesman for Mayor Anthony A. Williams
(D), at the time called Seegars's idea 'nutty.'" (12/25/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27935-2003Dec24.html

-----

9)  Safety concerns cut down treated lumber used by millions
     USA Today

"In three days, the pressure-treated lumber used for millions of
backyard decks, fences and play sets will head into extinction, its
production halted because its arsenic-laced preservatives are
considered a cancer risk. No one is ready for what comes next.
Federal officials have little advice for the 50 million homeowners
who have pressure-treated wood structures." (12/28/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-12-29-treated-lumber_x.htm

-----

10) More states allow felons to regain vote
     Washington Times

"A growing number of states, nine in the past several years, are
allowing convicted felons to regain their voting rights. Since 1996,
nine states, including Maryland and Virginia, have eliminated some
voting barriers for people with felony convictions, according to a
report by the Sentencing Project, a think tank that advocates
alternatives to imprisonment. Three states -- Utah, Massachusetts and
Kansas -- have toughened voting policies for felons in that same
seven-year period, researchers for the report found. Kansas has
limited voting to felons on probation; Massachusetts and Utah have
disenfranchised felons in prison." (12/28/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031227-102836-6814r.htm

-----

11) Shooting of activist spurs Israeli scrutiny
     Christian Science Monitor

"With more than 2,200 Palestinians killed in the West Bank and Gaza
and a great many more injured by army gunfire during three years of
fighting, the wounding of a young man during a demonstration would
not be expected to make headlines in Israel. But Sunday, hardly a
newscast went by without mention of the man's condition, and his
shooting ignited calls for an independent inquiry. This time, the
soldiers had shot an Israeli, a kibbutznik who himself was wearing an
army uniform until a few weeks ago. Human rights groups argue that
the shooting of Gil Naamati Friday ... confirms what they have been
charging for three years: that the army regularly shoots, and often
kills Palestinians, when soldiers' lives are not endangered."
(12/29/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1229/p06s03-wome.html

-----

12) Worried pain doctors decry prosecutions
     Washington Post

"In recent years, similar charges of illegally prescribing
prescription narcotics, criminal conspiracy, racketeering and even
murder have been brought in dozens of states against scores of
doctors who treat chronic pain with prescription narcotics. At least
two have been imprisoned, one committed suicide, several are awaiting
sentencing, many are preparing for trial, and more have lost their
licenses to practice medicine and accumulated huge legal bills."
(12/29/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37015-2003Dec28.html

-----

13) US teams cut back Iran rescue missions
     MSNBC

"About half the members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue
team dispatched to help recover victims of the Iranian earthquake
will not be needed and a California team also will not be going, U.S.
officials said Sunday. Instead, 32 members of the Virginia Task Force
One -- which was on the ground in Spain late Sunday -- will return
home immediately." (12/28/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3818202/

-----

14) Dean criticizes Cheney task force, but Democrat had his own secret energy
group
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean has demanded release
of secret deliberations of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task
force. But as Vermont governor, Dean had an energy task force that
met in secret and angered state lawmakers. Dean's group held one
public hearing and after-the-fact volunteered the names of industry
executives and liberal advocates it consulted in private, but the
Vermont governor refused to open the task force's closed-door
deliberations." (12/28/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031228/1756496.shtml

-----

15) Army stops many soldiers from quitting
     Washington Post

"By prohibiting soldiers and officers from leaving the service at
retirement or the expiration of their contracts, military leaders
have breached the Army's manpower limit of 480,000 troops, a ceiling
set by Congress. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services
Committee last month, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff,
disclosed that the number of active-duty soldiers has crept over the
congressionally authorized maximum by 20,000 and now registered
500,000 as a result of stop-loss orders." (12/29/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36979-2003Dec28.html

-----

16) Anthrax drill shows weaknesses, officials say
     CNN

"A drill testing U.S. agencies' ability to distribute and administer
antibiotics in the event of an anthrax attack found the federal
government unable to respond quickly enough to prevent large numbers
of deaths, officials said Sunday. The simulation -- held in mid-
November and dubbed Scarlet Cloud -- demonstrated that perhaps
thousands of fatalities might have occurred had such a widespread
attack been real ..." (12/28/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/28/anthrax.drill/

-----

17) IRS speeds corporate tax audits
     Washington Post

"With corporate tax receipts at record lows, IRS Commissioner Mark W.
Everson recently declared that corporate audits, which now take an
average of 38 months, should be completed in less than half that
time. Everson believes that by hastening the audits, the IRS will
collect more taxes because more companies will fear that audits are
coming. But others say faster audits will miss major tax fraud and
would only embolden corporate tax cheats." (12/29/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37109-2003Dec28.html

-----

18) Pot supporter unfazed by Canadian Supreme Court ruling
     MAPINC

"A Supreme Court of Canada decision upholding a federal law
prohibiting possession of small amounts of marijuana doesn't faze
Victor (Randy) Caine, the former South Surrey resident whose arrest
10 years ago in White Rock went all the way to the highest court in
the land. 'I'm not surprised by it, or disturbed by it,' Caine said
of the 6-3 ruling Dec. 23 that the federal law does not violate the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canada's top judges ruled it's up to
Parliament to change that law. Caine takes comfort from the fact
three judges agreed the ban violates Canadian rights. ... 'I'm not
waiting for any government or any judge to tell me that I'm free. If
I'm waiting for that, I will remain a slave to them forever.'"
(12/26/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1995/a09.html

-----

19) Saudis foil attack on jet, MP claims
     The Age [Australia]

"Saudi security forces have seized two light planes packed with
explosives, foiling a plot by suicide pilots to blow up a Western
airliner on the runway, a British Conservative MP has claimed. The
arrests took place in the past few weeks after the pilots were found
red-handed with explosive-laden aircraft near Saudi Arabia's main
airport in the capital, Riyadh, The Mail on Sunday reported
yesterday. ... Mr Mercer claimed, according to the same source, that
the Saudi authorities tried to cover up the incident near King Khalid
International Airport and withheld information from authorities
abroad." (12/28/03)

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/28/1072546409337.html

-----

20) Football tourney under fire for team names
     CNN

"The idea was innocent enough: A group of young men organize a
holiday football tournament and give their teams such innocuous names
as '4th and Goal' and '1988'ers.' It was some of the other team names
that raised eyebrows: Intifada, Soldiers of Allah and Mujahideen. The
furor that followed has forced some teams to change their names and a
handful of players to quit." (12/28/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/12/28/football.furor.ap/

-----

21) US Attorney's press release raises eyebrows
     Sunday Gazette-Mail

"Kasey Warner, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West
Virginia, sent a press release to news media and state political
officials earlier this month, urging them to read a column in The
Wall Street Journal defending the Patriot Act. Warner's release
criticizes 'the 'hysterics' advanced by detractors of the act' and
'claims that the act is a power grab.' ... In earlier press releases
and speeches, Warner called West Virginia an ideal place for
terrorists to raise funds, and to prepare and launch terrorist
attacks. Warner pointed to the state's illegal [sic] drug and gun
networks, its central location in the eastern United States, its
remote mountain hollows, chemical plants and interstate system.
Warner also mentioned the presence of Middle Eastern students in the
state's colleges and universities." (12/28/03)

http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/Valley%20&%20State/2003122710
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3fuxg

-----

22) PETA pushes "blasphemy" button -- hard!
     Talon News

"One day before the world's Christian community celebrate[d] the
birth of their savior, the group People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals rolled out its new advertising campaign equating the saving
of chickens with the significance of Christ's birth. On Tuesday, the
first billboard went up in Toronto depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary
cradling a chicken with the tagline 'Go Vegetarian -- It's an
Immaculate Conception.' PETA's ad [was] expected to raise protests
from the city's 1 million Roman Catholics." (12/24/03)

http://www.talonnews.com/news/2003/december/1224_peta.shtml

-----

23) Meat from US mad cow traced to 8 states, Guam
     CNN

"U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have traced beef from a cow
diagnosed with mad cow disease to four more states and Guam in
addition to the four states already announced, the department said
Sunday. Meat was sent to Alaska, Montana, Hawaii, Idaho and the U.S.
territory of Guam in the Pacific, said Kenneth Petersen, a spokesman
for the department's Food Safety Inspection Service, on Sunday."
(12/28/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/28/mad.cow/

-----

24) Straining the system
     Daily Home

"Although drug abuse puts a strain on virtually every aspect of civil
society, it probably places no greater burden anywhere than on the
justice system. And, according to local prosecutors, at least one of
the major factors in creating this strain is a lack of resources to
punish those who break drug laws. [Talladega County, AL, District
Attorney] Steve Giddens estimates that about half of the criminal
cases set to go to trial every month are pure drug cases, either
possession of marijuana or other controlled substances, distribution,
trafficking, manufacturing and others." (12/27/03)

http://www.dailyhome.com/news/2003/dh-localnews-1227-cnorwood-3l26o3614.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2mfdc

-----

25) Terror threats at home often overlooked
     Christian Science Monitor

"It began as a misdelivered envelope and developed into the most
extensive domestic terrorism investigation since the Oklahoma City
bombing. Last month, an east Texas man pleaded guilty to possession
of a weapon of mass destruction. Inside the home and storage
facilities of William Krar, investigators found a sodium-cyanide bomb
capable of killing thousands, more than a hundred explosives, half a
million rounds of ammunition, dozens of illegal weapons, and a mound
of white-supremacist and antigovernment literature." (12/29/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1229/p02s01-usju.html

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COMMENTARY

26) Bush shows that politics is theater
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Sheldon Richman

"Politics is corrupt theater. Actors set the mood, and some members
of the audience have their pockets picked. Exhibit A is President
Bush’s surprise trip to Baghdad on Thanksgiving. What’s important is
not the secrecy or the collusion by anointed members of the news
media. It’s the use of soldiers as props to amplify the big lie,
namely, that the mission in Iraq is relevant to the security of
Americans. This is a president whose administration is always looking
for footage for campaign commercials." (12/28/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0312l.asp

-----

27) Draft the Congress and leave my kid alone
     Town Hall
     by Paul Jacob

"Of course, the real idea behind Charlie Rangel's call for
conscription, for suspending the rights of some American citizens, is
not to strengthen the military. Not at all. Rangel's design is for
the draft to help stop the intervention in Iraq and other potential
interventions in troubled spots throughout the world. Ironically,
Charlie is wrong yet again. Conscription allowed America's political
leaders to continue to slog away in Vietnam even with a homefront
badly split on the war. Neither common sense nor history suggest that
allowing military policymakers to force young people into the armed
services, rather than persuade them, will somehow miraculously tie
the hands of those policymakers." (12/29/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/pauljacob/pj20031228.shtml

-----

28) The Dean of all media
     Liberty For All
     by Jonathan David Morris

"In mid-November, for instance, he said he'd re-regulate utilities,
telecommunications, and media companies, if elected (and if you
compare this to Bush's steel and underoos tariffs, next November's a
regular pick-your-poison picnic for those in favor of free trade).
But this is what politicians do. They use bogeymen to prove that we,
the people, need protection -- and more importantly, to prove that we
need them to tinker with our lives." (12/29/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/media.html

-----

29) Pope John Paul II: Man of the Year
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"All the bad guys, no matter what branch of evil they adhere to, hate
the Holy Father because he represents the one force with
international stature that stands against them. On the eve of the
Iraq invasion, the Vatican carried out a full-scale diplomatic,
political, and theological assault on the War Party. The Pope sent
his representative to Baghdad, and tried to arrange a peaceful
settlement: the Iraqis, as we now know, were amenable. But this
effort was disdainfully rejected by Washington -- and viciously
attacked by the neoconservatives, who initiated a round of anti-
Papist demagoguery not seen since the 1880s, when the Republican
party rallied the nation against 'rum, Romanism, and rebellion.'"
(12/29/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j122903.html

-----

30) Rush Limbaugh's selective outrage
     Ether Zone
     by Ted Lang

"Limbaugh expressed the greatest outrage when the prosecutor seized
his medical records. 'This is a fishing expedition!' he boomed. Sound
familiar? 'They're going to go through my personal medical records to
see if they can find something I did wrong!' Limbaugh did do
something wrong within an hour of this bombast; he continued to shill
for Bush and Ashcroft's USA Patriot Act, which unleashes such very
same 'fishing expeditions' upon others by suspending the Fourth
Amendment. And most Patriot victims have nowhere near the money or
status to defend themselves on a level comparable to his!" (12/29/03)

http://www.etherzone.com/2003/lang122903.shtml

-----

31) 2003's biggest story
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Tibor R. Machan

"What was the biggest story of 2003? The US Government's decision to
go to war with Iraq, that's what. Why? Because, all in all, despite
the desirable result of bringing down a vicious dictatorship, it was
an unjustified military action taken by our government. What
justifies going to war?" (12/27/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/machan/machan13.html

-----

32) The laughter of Carthage
     The Early Days of a Better Nation
     by Ken MacLeod

"Is regime change in itself a justification for the war? I don't
think so, for the following (and other, but already repeated)
reasons. In the first place, it's always wrong to lie to the
soldiers. People who went to war to defend (as they thought) their
own country, in the absence of a real threat to their own country,
are not subsequently vindicated in what they have suffered and
inflicted by the liberation of another country. I can't begin to
express how wrong I think this is. Actually, I can: it's murder to
send someone to their death or disability for a lie; it's theft to
take taxes paid for national defence and spend them on (someone
else's) national liberation." (12/29/03)

http://kenmacleod.blogspot.com/2003_12_01_kenmacleod_archive.html

-----

33) Hate speech of the left
     Boston Globe
     by Jeff Jacoby

"In December I wrote the first of what would become a yearly series
of columns on the subject of liberal hate speech. ... What was true
in 1994 remains largely true today. MSNBC fired right-wing talk host
Michael Savage in July, and rightly so, when he told a gay caller to
'get AIDS and die, you pig.' The liberal Nina Totenberg, on the other
hand, suffered no ill effects for saying, during the flap over
General Jerry Boykin's views of Islam and the war on terrorism, 'I
hope he's not long for this world.' When the startled host asked if
she were 'putting a hit out on this guy,' Totenberg backtracked and
said she only wanted to see him expire 'in his job.'" (12/28/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/12/28/hate\
_speech_of_the_left/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/yqqud

-----

34) The Iraq model for retaking America
     Sierra Times
     by Carl F. Worden

"... [A] curious news reporter from back east contacted me to ask if
I really thought it possible that a raggedy group of American
citizens could band together, overthrow the existing government and
return America to the constitutional rule the Founding Fathers
envisioned. I asked, 'Are you asking me if we could win?' 'Yes', he
replied. I told him, 'Yes, we would win, but the real issue is what
would we win?' That is the only rational reason we citizens haven’t
descended on Washington D.C. already. We know that a major upheaval
in American civil rule would lead to a splintering of differing
interest groups that would in turn lead to a shattering of a once
great nation." (12/27/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/12/27/ar_carlworden.htm

-----

35) Snuff treatment
     Reason
     by Jacob Sullum

"No one claims smokeless tobacco is completely safe, but it is
indisputably safer than cigarettes -- by a very wide margin.
Obscuring this fact, as the public health establishment routinely
does, leaves smokers with the impression that they have nothing to
gain by switching to snuff, when the truth is that they can
dramatically reduce their risks, as University of Alabama oral
pathologist Brad Rodu has been pointing out for years." (12/26/03)

http://www.reason.com/sullum/122603.shtml

-----

36) Realism vs fanatacism
     CounterPunch
     by Saul Landau

"Capturing the big, bad witch and grabbing a turkey photo op presents
a flimsy façade for Bush's failure to define policies that will
prevent Iraq from turning into a Vietnam style scenario. Each week,
US troops get picked off -- killed or wounded -- by guerrillas, not
directed by Saddam, who then merge into the general population."
(12/28/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/landau12272003.html

-----

37) "Trying to restore constitutional government"
     Las Vegas Review Journal
     by Vin Suprynowicz

"Nevada's high court has balked at every other attempt to discover
who influenced them to issue such a ruling -- a ruling which offered
a form of relief so extreme that even Gov. Kenny Guinn and state
Attorney General Brian Sandoval say it went beyond anything they
asked for or expected. Would the federal courts really order them to
finally answer Dr. Eastman's questions? What if they refused?"
(12/28/03)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Dec-28-Sun-2003/opinion/22836014.htm\
l
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2xj83

-----

38) How FDR's New Deal harmed millions of poor people
     Cato Institute
     by Jim Powell

"For defenders of the New Deal, perhaps the most embarrassing
revelation about New Deal spending programs is they channeled money
AWAY from the South, the poorest region in the United States. The
largest share of New Deal spending and loan programs went to
political 'swing' states in the West and East - where incomes were at
least 60% higher than in the South. As an incumbent, FDR didn't see
any point giving much money to the South where voters were already
overwhelmingly on his side." (12/29/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-29-03.html

-----

39) CEI critiques federal telecom price controls
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by staff

"Problems with the current regulatory structure include the
assumption that the costs of hypothetical future network are a good
guide for today’s investment decisions, a problem the FCC’s Notice of
Rulemaking recognizes. Also, CEI’s comments draw the FCC’s attention
to the tendency of the TELRIC regime to undermine voluntary
negotiations as a foundation to the creation of a wholesale market in
leasing network capacity." (12/26/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/003,03789.cfm

-----

40) With a whisper, not a bang
     San Antonio Current
     by David Martin

"By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush
effectively consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to
a mere footnote. Consequently, while most Americans watched as
Hussein was probed for head lice, few were aware that the FBI had
just obtained the power to probe their financial records, even if the
feds don't suspect their involvement in crime or terrorism."
(12/24/03)

http://www.sacurrent.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10705756&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=\
482778&rfi=6
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2ycuj

-----

41) Hellfire and Howard Dean
     WorldNetDaily
     by Vox Day

"Based on recent comments by Howard Dean, it's pretty clear that one
of the more astute members of the Dean campaign has read Rod Dreher's
brilliant article in Touchstone magazine, titled 'The Godless Party.'
The article is profound, explaining why Christians in general, and
evangelicals in particular, have been leaving the Democratic Party in
droves." (12/29/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36354

-----

42) 2003: Year in review
     Miami Herald
     by Dave Barry

"It was the Year of the Troubling Question. The most troubling one
was: What the heck happened to all those weapons of mass destruction
that were supposed to be in Iraq? Apparently there was an
intelligence mix-up. As CIA director George Tenet noted recently,
'Our thinking now is that the weapons of mass destruction might
actually be in that other one, whaddycallit, Iran. Or Michigan. We're
pretty sure the letter 'i' is involved.'" [satire] (12/28/03)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/7579165.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/29vnv

-----

43) Government silence in tax case speaks volumes
     Liberty For All
     by uncredited

"[T]he court rejected Evans' motion without any opposing argument
from the government as to why the motion should be denied. This is a
growing and disturbing pattern for the Department of Justice and the
court. Earlier in this case, the DOJ failed to provide any response
to Evans' motion for summary judgment or to Evans' interrogatories,
which, during a hearing for oral arguments held on August 22, 2003,
the court verbally instructed the DOJ to answer." (12/29/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/silence.html

-----

44) An improved climate
     Washington Times
     by Iain Murray

"Every year, environmental alarmists claim we have taken another step
on the road to ruin. This year, they claim 2003 was the third-hottest
year ever, and that its heat waves, floods, and tornadoes are
evidence of global warming that will bring global catastrophe. But,
despite their claims, statist environmentalists will remember 2003 as
a very bad year for their credibility. Above all, we should remember
2003 as the year that saw the death of the most economically damaging
idea ever to come out of the United Nations, the Kyoto Protocol on
climate change." (12/28/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20031226-114728-6336r.htm

-----

45) Principle before party
     Sierra Times
     by Tom DeWeese

"Fifty years ago the modern movement to defend the principles of
liberty, outlined in the United States Constitution, began. That was
when conservatives and libertarians began to stand up to those who
advocated government as the answer to the basic questions of life, as
opposed to individual responsibility. The new conservatives advocated
individual freedom, free markets, entrepreneurship and limited
government intervention into the everyday lives of American families.
At the time, the Republican Party was the best vehicle for promoting
the ideals of the new movement. ... The problem was the Republican
Party was also the home of Nelson Rockefeller and the Eastern
Establishment elite, who advocated their own plans for a welfare
state -- much like that of the Democrats, only on a slower, smaller
basis." (12/27/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/12/27/ar_tomdeweese.htm

-----

46) Abusing the cause of human rights
     FrontPageMag
     by Michael Radu

"Communism may have collapsed over a decade ago, but its adherents
have not gone quietly into the good night. Rather, the intellectual
remnants of the Marxist Utopia have reinvented themselves as staunch
defenders of 'human rights.' In Argentina, Chile, Peru, Guatemala,
South Africa, and even Spain, radical Marxists are attempting, with
great success, to rewrite the history of the violent Left's defeat at
the hands of anti-communist forces. The major root cause of these
reassessment campaigns are their promoters: embittered die-hards
still clinging to the destructive credos of the defeated totalitarian
Left." (12/26/03)

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11426

-----

47) The games economists play
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Robert P. Murphy

"The trouble is, in experimental settings real players consistently
fail to conform to the unique equilibrium strategies. What is worse,
in many games the choices of actual players yield higher payoffs than
what would happen if everyone followed the orthodox game theorist's
advice, making it seem as if the human players aren't so 'irrational'
after all." (12/26/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1404

-----

48) New coalition fights to end tax discrimination against self-employed
     Heartland Institute
     by staff of American Farm Bureau Federation

"The Self-Employed Health Care Affordability Act, H.R. 1873, would
allow the self-employed to fully deduct their health coverage costs.
H.R. 1873 comes at a time when small business owners face
uncertainties in how they will fare in the current economic
conditions and are anxious to recover cash for the day-to-day
operations of their businesses. For self-employed individuals like
Christine Krupinski, it is time for the federal government to step up
to help 'Main Street' businesses." (12/03)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=13783

-----

49) Two children missing from DC elementary school
     The Spoof
     by JJ Jogolo

"Two Washington D.C. 3rd grade elementary children mysteriously
disappeared from their school today. The incidents occured at
separate times and both amidst very high security at their school due
to a visit by Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Attorney General
was at the school speaking to the 3rd graders about the how the
Patriot Act is going to keep them all safe from evil terrorists and
those governments that support them. ... Thomas 'Tommy' Trueheart ...
who was first noticed missing after recess, was the first child to
raise his hand. He stood up and said 'I have four questions Mr.
Ashcroft, sir.'" [satire?] (12/28/03)

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i1506

-----

50) Bush's Medicare scam
     Boston Globe
     by Thomas Oliphant

"It is such a simple word -- discount -- and therefore such a simple
word to manipulate to the harm of consumers. For most Americans,
however, it is the essence of retailing, the way people actually
shop, especially for the most basic of the commodities they use all
the time. ... That is why the use -- or abuse -- of this word by
President Bush is about to become a major element in the growing
controversy over what exactly was in the Medicare legislation that
Republicans rammed through the House and Senate this month on Bush's
behalf and that got his enthusiastic signature in a White House
ceremony that had Reelection Campaign stamped all over it."
(12/28/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/12/28/bush\
s_medicare_scam/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/ywxwv


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) Trails of Tears, Wounded Knees, wounded workers -- Czech, please

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

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

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--

"With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for
projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here
to help them."
  -- Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, USA, on the Iraq occupation.

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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Friday, December 26, 2003
Email Circulation: 2,178


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Iraq: Mortar attacks kill two US soldiers
2)  Pakistani dictator escapes new assassination attempts
3)  Nation's first "faith-based" prison opens
4)  Judge reverses ruling, "reseals" Limbaugh records
5)  Mars landing may have failed
6)  Refugee ordered to return to US to be murdered by government
7)  Conservatives dispute GOP budget claims
8)  Odds on finding Martians slashed to 100/1
9)  US appeals court blocks changes to Clean Air Act
10) Man found dead in wheel well of airplane
11) Suicide bombing at Tel Aviv bus stop kills 4
12) Study: Federal system unfair to diverse schools
13) Buddhist monk dies in act of self-immolation
14) Democrats fight for veterans' votes
15) Son tells stunned parents he's not the person they just buried
16) States face "hurry up and wait" on election reforms
17) Prosecutor is added to leaks probe
18) Virginia on verge of raising cigarette taxes
19) Comcast refuses airtime sale to medical marijuana group
20) Origin of sick cow sought
21) Terror alert undermines administration's safety claims
22) Coaching cited in MCAS probe
23) Hunting Hussein led US to insurgent hub
24) Peru's latest tool in the war on drugs: land ownership
25) American Medical Marijuana Awards 2003

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) A fair trial for Saddam Hussein?
27) Outsourcing American lives, part 3
28) School reform options: Rock or hard place
29) Searching for al-Boogeyman
30) The Internet and mobocracy
31) Christmas in a war zone
32) How "real" are the Free State Project numbers?
33) The virtue of tolerance
34) Shimmering chimeras
35) Mad cow scaremongers
36) GOP hypocrisy
37) Bah, humbug: Blame uninformed voters
38) War profiteering
39) Saddam's capture violates US Constitution
40) The infection of science by public choice
41) Tyranny of the minority
42) Ballot or the bullet?
43) Big oh brother
44) The semantics of empire
45) The world is too much with us
46) The martial plan
47) Fight terrorism with intelligence, not might
48) Commercialism makes for a pretty wonderful life
49) Is peace on earth too boring?
50) Bethlehem's economic lessons


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) Two invasions and 39 hangings


NEWS

1)  Iraq: Mortar attacks kill two US soldiers
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Rebels unleashed a string of grenade, rocket and mortar attacks in Baghdad on
Christmas Day, hitting a hotel housing foreigners for the second time in two
days and targeting two banks, several embassies and a U.S. Army base. At a base
northeast of Baghdad, a mortar attack killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded four,
the military said today. ... The Christmas violence came after assailants
conducted the deadliest attacks since the Dec. 13 capture of Saddam Hussein,
triggering a series of explosions Wednesday that killed four U.S. soldiers, six
civilians and a suicide bomber." (12/26/03)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/154106_iraq26.html

-----

2)  Pakistani dictator escapes new assassination attempts
     MSNBC

"Suicide attackers detonated two massive bombs as President Pervez Musharraf's
convoy passed on a congested road Thursday, killing 14 people and getting close
enough to crack the windshield on his limousine in the second attempt on his
life in 11 days. Musharraf, 60, was unhurt, but the attack -- just a few hundred
yards from the site of the previous bombing -- raised troubling questions about
the Pakistani leader's ability to hold on to power and keep an Islamic radical
movement at bay." (12/25/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3800883/

-----

3)  Nation's first "faith-based" prison opens
     Fox News

"Gov. Jeb Bush dedicated what he called the nation's first faith-based prison
Wednesday, telling its nearly 800 inmates that religion can help keep them from
landing in jail again. In addition to regular prayer sessions, the Lawtey [FL]
Correctional Institution will offer religious studies, choir practice, religious
counseling and other spiritual activities seven days a week. Participation is
voluntary and inmates are free to transfer out. Bush lauded the inmates from 26
faiths for committing themselves 'to a higher authority.'" (12/25/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106682,00.html

-----

4)  Judge reverses ruling, "reseals" Limbaugh records
     The Ledger

"A judge resealed Rush Limbaugh's medical records Wednesday, giving the
conservative radio commentator's lawyers time to appeal his earlier decision
allowing prosecutors to examine the files for evidence Limbaugh illegally
purchased painkillers. Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jeffrey A. Winikoff ruled that
the records should remain sealed for 15 days while Limbaugh's lawyers pursue
their appeal to keep the records private. Winikoff had ruled Tuesday that
prosecutors could examine the records, but could not make them public."
(12/25/03)

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20031225/NEWS/312250400/1004
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/yuqof

-----

5)  Mars landing may have failed
     USA Today

"An attempt to detect signs of life on Mars produced only silence late Thursday
when a spacecraft that had been due to land on the Red Planet on Christmas Eve
failed to send a signal confirming that it was there. British scientists who
monitored a giant radio telescope reported that they were unable to detect a
transmission from the Beagle 2, a disappointing development that may indicate
that the probe did not survive the landing." (12/25/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2003-12-25-mars-mission_x.htm

-----

6)  Refugee ordered to return to US to be murdered by government
     Liberty For All

"The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this week denied refugee status to
American Steve Kubby and his family, and ordered their return to California
where Kubby is expected to be sentenced to four months in jail for drug-related
charges. Kubby has said he will appeal the ruling. He and his wife Michelle and
two children will be allowed to remain in the country while awaiting their
appeal. Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail ..."
(12/26/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/asylum.html

-----

7)  Conservatives dispute GOP budget claims
     Washington Post

"After three straight years of double-digit increases in federal spending,
President Bush and the Republican Congress say they have the situation under
control. But a number of conservatives say actual spending this year will be
triple the figures cited by the White House. The two camps have simply chosen
different kinds of budget numbers to bolster their positions. Bush enumerates
the amount of spending that Congress authorizes each year. His critics cite the
actual amount the government is spending." (12/26/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30791-2003Dec25.html

-----

8)  Odds on finding Martians slashed to 100/1
     Ananova [UK]

"The possibility of aliens being found on Mars is now 100 times more likely than
Wolves winning the Premiership, according to odds from a leading bookmaker.
Space probe Beagle 2's attempted landing on Mars has sparked a rush of interest
in extraterrestrial life bets, William Hill confirms. The company has cut the
odds that proof of the current existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life
will be confirmed  before the end of 2004 from 500-1 to 100-1. Meanwhile,
Wolves, who lie stranded at the bottom of football's top flight, are 10,000-1 to
launch an unlikely fightback to win the title." (12/25/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_850048.htm

-----

9)  US appeals court blocks changes to Clean Air Act
     Washington Times

"A federal appeals court [Wednesday] blocked a Bush administration change to the
Clean Air Act from going into effect, in a challenge from state attorneys
general and cities that argued the new rule would harm the environment and
public health. The Environmental Protection Agency rule would have made it
easier for utilities, refineries and other industrial facilities to make repairs
in the name of routine maintenance without installing additional pollution
controls." (12/25/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031224-095801-5297r.htm

-----

10) Man found dead in wheel well of airplane
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"A man was found dead inside the wheel well of a passenger jet that arrived in
New York on Christmas Eve from Jamaica, officials said. Maintenance crews
discovered the body late Wednesday, several hours after American Airlines flight
1190 landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, said Dan Maynard, a
spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The flight had
originated in Montego Bay, Jamaica." (12/25/03)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?
category=1110&slug=Airport%20Body%20Found
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/253f7

-----

11) Suicide bombing at Tel Aviv bus stop kills 4
     MSNBC

"A Palestinian suicide bombing at a bus stop outside Tel Aviv killed four people
Thursday just minutes after an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a car in
Gaza, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and four others. The attacks were
the first of their kind in more than two months and were likely to lead to a
wave of retaliatory violence and damage new efforts to restart the
Israel-Palestinian peace process." (12/25/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3782687/

-----

12) Study: Federal system unfair to diverse schools
     CNN

"Schools with diverse student bodies face higher hurdles in clearing Bush
administration rules on education standards than schools with homogeneous
populations, according to a new study. The University of California, Berkeley
study probed why some California schools that were found to be successful by
state standards were marked as failing under federal rules." (12/25/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/12/25/diverse.schools.ap/

-----

13) Buddhist monk dies in act of self-immolation
     Raleigh News & Observer

"A Vietnamese Buddhist monk died after setting himself on fire Wednesday at an
altar outside his temple [in Charlotte, NC]. Temple members believe Thich Chan
Hy, 74, took his own life to protest the persecution of Vietnamese Buddhists.
... Self-immolation is a traditional Vietnamese form of protest that gained
international attention in 1963, when a famous photograph was taken of a
Buddhist monk setting himself on fire in what was then Saigon." (12/24/03)

http://newsobserver.com/nc24hour/ncnews/story/3151663p-2848304c.htm

-----

14) Democrats fight for veterans' votes
     Washington Post

"For years, veterans were seen as solidly in the Republican camp. But Democrats,
especially those in Congress, are fighting hard for veterans' votes in 2004. ...
From health care to disability benefits, the two parties are sparring on issues
important to veterans. Some observers say these retired military personnel,
often impatient with Bush administration domestic and foreign policies, are
listening. 'Democrats for the first time are really courting the military vote,'
said Joe Barnes, national executive secretary of the Fleet Reserve Association.
... According to Peter Feaver, a Duke University political scientist, veterans
constitute 19 percent of the American public." (12/26/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30793-2003Dec25.html

-----

15) Son tells stunned parents he's not the person they just buried
     USA Today

"Charles Wyckoff and his wife had returned home after a funeral for their son
when the phone rang. 'Hey, Dad,' Kevin Wyckoff said. 'Huh. Well, damn boy. We
just had your funeral today,' his father said Monday, according to a transcript
of the call provided Wednesday by the Oklahoma Corrections Department. 'Yeah, I
know. I heard,' Kevin Wyckoff said." (12/25/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-12-25-son-not-dead_x.htm

-----

16) States face "hurry up and wait" on election reforms
     Fox News

"States racing the clock to complete election reforms in time for the 2004
presidential election may find themselves short-changed, waiting for the federal
government to deliver the billions of dollars promised to them to update their
voting procedures. But other states, too impatient to wait for the glacial
speeds of bureaucracy in Washington, have taken it upon themselves and already
put reforms into action without a federal mandate. 'We've been doing the best we
can with the situation we have and we feel confident that we are on schedule in
this process. In fact, we've been ahead of the curve in many ways,' said Spence
Jackson, spokesman for Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt." (12/25/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106655,00.html

-----

17) Prosecutor is added to leaks probe
     Washington Post

"The Justice Department has added a fourth prosecutor to the team investigating
the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity, while the FBI has said a grand
jury may be called to take testimony from administration officials, sources
close to the case said. Administration and CIA officials said they have seen
signs in the past few weeks that the investigation continues intensively behind
closed doors, even though little about the investigation has been publicly said
or seen for months." (12/26/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30842-2003Dec25.html

-----

18) Virginia on verge of raising cigarette taxes
     Fox News

"Plans to raise Virginia's cigarette tax have always wound up in the legislative
ash heap, snuffed out by the politically muscular tobacco industry and lawmakers
keenly aware of state's 400-year history of reliance on the golden leaf. As
other states have raised cigarette taxes as high as $1.51 per pack to replenish
depleted state treasuries and discourage teen smoking, Virginia held fast at 2.5
cents -- the nation's lowest tax on a pack of smokes -- even when faced with
unprecedented budget shortfalls. Now, legislators say 2004 is likely to be the
year Virginia takes aim at tobacco." (12/25/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106693,00.html

-----

19) Comcast refuses airtime sale to medical marijuana group
     Marijuana Policy Project

"Comcast Cable has censored [sic] Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana (GSMM),
prohibiting the group from purchasing airtime on the company's cable system in
New Hampshire, according to GSMM Campaign Coordinator Aaron Houston. Houston
approached Comcast last month, asking to buy airtime for a television
commercial, but he was  denied without receiving any written material detailing
the company's  reasoning. ... After receiving a written request from Houston
seeking an explanation, the representative said reasons for the denial would
be sent to GSMM in writing." (12/23/03)

http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr122203gsmm.html

-----

20) Origin of sick cow sought
     Washington Post

"A Washington state Holstein cow found infected with mad cow disease may have
brought in the disease from outside the state, even outside the country, a
veterinarian familiar with the investigation said yesterday. In tracking records
from the Sunny Dene Ranch in Mabton, which acquired the cow in October 2001,
Agriculture Department officials had initially said that one of two herds in
Washington state was the birth herd." (12/26/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30300-2003Dec25.html

-----

21) Terror alert undermines administration's safety claims
     Christian Science Monitor

"Reuters reports many analysts and lawmakers believe that by putting the nation
on high alert for terrorist attacks that could be bigger than those of 9/11, the
Bush administration has undermined many of its recent claims of success against
Al Qaeda: 'It is tacit admission that al Qaeda remains as capable as it was on
Sept. 11th, which means we may not have caused as much damage to the network as
our military operation in Afghanistan had led us to believe,' said Charles Pena,
an analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute." (12/24/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1224/dailyUpdate.html?s=entt

-----

22) Coaching cited in MCAS probe
     Boston Globe

"An elementary school principal violated state policy by distributing state
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exams to teachers days
before the spring testing began, and a special-education teacher later helped
pupils choose correct answers, a source in the school department said
[Wednesday]. The principal and teacher at Chandler Elementary Community School
[in Worcester, MA] were placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday, and the
school department source said yesterday that other teachers at the school might
also be involved. ... Pupils at Chandler scored sharply higher on the spring
MCAS tests after a string of mediocre performances." (12/25/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/mcas/articles/2003/12/25/mca
s_coaching_cited_in_worcester_probe/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/23999

-----

23) Hunting Hussein led US to insurgent hub
     Washington Post

"As U.S. forces tracked Saddam Hussein to his subterranean hiding place, they
unearthed a trove of intelligence about five families running the Iraqi
insurgency, according to U.S. military commanders, who said the information is
being used to uproot remaining resistance forces. Senior U.S. officers said they
were surprised to discover -- clue by clue over six months -- that the upper and
middle ranks of the resistance were filled by members of five extended families
from a few villages ..." (12/26/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30843-2003Dec25.html

-----

24) Peru's latest tool in the war on drugs: land ownership
     Christian Science Monitor

"Despite torrential rains, Alfredo Flores has no qualms about dashing into his
fields to show off his palm-oil trees. A few years ago, Mr. Flores and many of
the other 400 farmers in Shambillo, in the deep jungle some 300 miles northeast
of Lima, Peru's capital, had no interest in letting anyone see their crops.
That's because they were growing coca, the raw material from which cocaine is
extracted. ... But in September 2002, Flores was one of the first farmers to opt
for a plan financed by the United States Agency for International Development to
get coca growers to pull up their illicit crops in favor of palm-oil trees and
pineapples. ... More than 80 percent of Shambillo's farmers have eradicated
their coca." (12/26/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1226/p07s01-woam.html

-----

25) American Medical Marijuana Awards 2003
     Sierra Times

"What strain of marijuana is best for medical use? What fertilizer grows the
best pot? What's the best way to consume cannabis? These are some of the
questions that have been researched for the past year by The American Medical
Marijuana Association. 'We've tried every fertilizer around and nearly every
strain available,' said AMMA National Director Steve Kubby, from his licensed
medical cannabis garden in British Columbia. 'Many strains we've tested at the
local Toker's Bowls and some strains we've grown ourselves. Along the way, we've
talked to lots of patients and growers to see what's popular.'" (12/23/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/12/23/ar_med_mal.htm

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COMMENTARY

26) A fair trial for Saddam Hussein?
     AntiWar.Com
     by Praful Bidwai

"Under international law, Hussein is prima facie guilty of invading Iran in
1980, and Kuwait in 1990. He was arrested by Iraq's occupation powers, which
themselves committed aggression against the country. They lack moral authority
or legitimacy to order and organise his trial, whether through the CPA, which is
illegal, or the IGC, which is its puppet and lacks even the semblance of a
representative or autonomous status. A tribunal nominated by the CPA/IGC for a
trial designed and framed by them can only be a kangaroo court. Such a court
will only compound injustice and tyranny in Iraq. The only way to do justice is
to put Hussein on public trial in a United Nations-sponsored international
tribunal composed of a multilateral, credible and impartial bench of judges."
(12/26/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/bidwai/bi122603.html

-----

27) Outsourcing American lives, part 3
     WorldNetDaily
     by Ilana Mercer

"Clearly, government and the market today are inextricably enmeshed, and for
this reason, trade is not free. Trade is regulated to the hilt, so that many
corporations are now incorrigibly corrupt rent seekers. In this mixed-economy
milieu, trends like exporting jobs, and importing cheap labor with visas that do
not require employers to give hiring preference to Americans, do not epitomize
the classical liberal idea of laissez faire. Those who say they champion laissez
faire must understand this, and stop confusing current reality with their
proclaimed ideal. Rather than endorse the mixed-economy mess in our labor
markets, they must uphold a principled alternative." (12/26/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36322

-----

28) School reform options: Rock or hard place
     Cato Institute
     by Neal McCluskey

"The United States is sliding toward dictatorship in what many regard as the
bulwark of American democracy: our public schools. It's not a jackbooted-thug
dictatorship; rather, a massive concentration of power in a few hands. For
instance, in Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, D.C., debates are brewing over
stripping control of schools from boards of education and consolidating it in
the hands of mayors. In cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago, it's already
been done." (12/26/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-26-03.html

-----

29) Searching for al-Boogeyman
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Kent van Cleave

"I'm reminded of an example we used in a university course on scientific
reasoning I taught. A psychic conveniently named 'Mrs. Prophet' warned of an
imminent threat of nuclear war -- which might be averted by the prayers of her
followers. It was the perfect scam, bringing her credit whether or not nukes
started flying. Either she predicted the tragedy or her followers saved us from
it! Why should we believe an essentially identical kind of claim from Ashcroft
or Ridge?" (12/24/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig2/vancleave4.html

-----

30) The Internet and mobocracy
     TechCentralStation
     by Arnold Kling

"Everett Ehrlich garnered fifteen minutes of blogosphere fame by mentioning
Howard Dean, the Internet, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coase
together in the same article. It drew reactions from Clay Shirky, William
Abraham Blaze, and others. Professor Bainbridge is correct that the Coase theory
of the firm is not a good analogy for Internet politics. I want to propose
another analogy: Germany from 1928-1932." (12/23/03)

http://www.techcentralstation.com/122303B.html

-----

31) Christmas in a war zone
     iFeminists.Com
     by Wendy McElroy

"What does Christmas look like in a war zone? Not in Iraq, but in North America
-- where a cultural war is being waged between the right and the left over
issues ranging from grade-school curricula to the definition of marriage. I want
to be a conscientious objector and allow people to make their own choices about
their own lives, even if I disagree. But too often those choices get translated
into laws or policies that govern my life and my family. This makes political
pacifism impossible." (12/23/03)

http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2003/1223.html

-----

32) How "real" are the Free State Project numbers?
     Liberty For All
     by Joey B. King

"Being somewhat of a skeptic, I always question any numbers I see. In the
interest of fair disclosure I must confess that I am not a member of the FSP,
but I am a supporter. The concept of the FSP might be best summed up with a
quote from Ben Franklin, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing
over and over and expecting different results.' We have had limited success thus
far in the Liberty Movement. Perhaps the FSP is the next thing we should try."
(12/26/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/numbers.html

-----

33) The virtue of tolerance
     Acton Institute
     by Robert A. Sirico

"The holiday season is a time for love of children, compassion for the poor, and
good will toward all—and a good deal of religious acrimony. Every year we hear
stories of lawsuits and bitter fights over which religious symbols can be
displayed in public. This year the big issue concerns cases in New York City,
and Palm Beach, Florida, where symbols of the Islamic and Jewish faiths are
freely displayed but Christian ones are not permitted." (12/24/03)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=170

-----

34) Shimmering chimeras
     Reason
     by Ronald Bailey

"Growing human tissues and organs in human/animal chimeras avoids the
contentious ethical debate over creating transplantable stem cells using human
embryos. Of course, animal rights activists will object, but surely if one can
kill a sheep for lamb chops or a pig for a ham, such animals can be sacrificed
to obtain organs that could keep a human being healthy and alive. One would
think, then, that only radical animal-rights ideologues could object to research
into chimera organs. Alas, the frontiers of biotech research are never so
peaceful." (12/24/03)

http://www.reason.com/rb/rb122403.shtml

-----

35) Mad cow scaremongers
     Center for Consumer Freedom
     by staff

"Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman says that 'beef is absolutely safe to
eat.' Harvard University experts note that the risk of Americans contracting mad
cow disease is 'as close to zero as you can get.' Harvard's in-depth
investigation reveals that even if ten cows were infected, there is almost no
chance of a wider outbreak. Every reputable expert tells us that the American
meat supply is still safe, and that there is no cause for panic. And yet a cabal
of animal-rights activists and radical opponents of modern farming are already
hitting the airwaves for one purpose: to spread fear and needless alarm."
(12/24/03)

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=2282

-----

36) GOP hypocrisy
     The Nation
     by Rep. George Miller

"Like a lot of other people's feelings toward Cuba, mine have been mixed in the
past decades. Apart from press reports, I had learned from film people who had
worked there that the Batista society was hopelessly corrupt, a Mafia
playground, a bordello for Americans and other foreigners. So Castro storming
his way to power seemed like a clean wind blowing away the degradation and
subservience to the Yankee dollar. ... At the same time, the relentless US
blockade at the behest, so it appeared, of a defeated class of exploiters who
had never had a problem with the previous dictatorship seemed to be something
other than a principled democratic resistance." (12/23/03)

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040105&s=miller

-----

37) Bah, humbug: Blame uninformed voters
     Town Hall
     by Jonah Goldberg

"Americans have a tendency to think the problem with politics lies with their
candidates and not themselves. The truth is Americans deserve the blame for the
state of our politics and the state of our media. I know it's not savvy to
criticize the customers, but perhaps especially at Christmastime, we should
still have a few scrooges left. First of all, if you only get your news from
television, I can speak freely because that means you're probably not reading
this. Second, you're an idiot." (12/26/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/jg20031226.shtml

-----

38) War profiteering
     Salon
     by Ruben Bolling

Cartoon. [Subscription or ad view required] (12/25/03)

http://www.salon.com/comics/boll/2003/12/25/boll/

-----

39) Saddam's capture violates US Constitution
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Sheldon Richman

"The capture of Saddam and his impending trial and punishment cannot be
separated from the manner in which he was deposed and apprehended. It was the
result of an improper and unconstitutional exercise of U.S. government power by
a president convinced that the rule of law, including international law, is made
of elastic. Contrary to what some may think, this is not the time to forget the
illegal conduct of the Bush administration." (12/19/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0312g.asp

-----

40) The infection of science by public choice
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Patrick Michaels and Tereza Urbanova

"Most everyone who cares about the environment in general and global warming in
particular has heard of Danish statistician Bjørn Lomborg and his book, The
Skeptical Environmentalist, which argues that environmental threats,
particularly those from global warming, are largely overblown. ... Lomborg was
even kangaroo-courted by something called the Danish 'Committees [sic] on
Scientific Dishonesty,' which accused him of (surprise!) 'scientific
dishonesty.'" (12/22/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/025,03786.cfm

-----

41) Tyranny of the minority
     Center For Individual Freedom
     by Erin Murphy

"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit drew criticism from both ends of
the spectrum last year when it ruled that the words 'under God' in the Pledge of
Allegiance are unconstitutional. Even Congress managed to unite on the issue.
... But more troubling than the possibility of the High Court declaring us a
Godless nation is the legitimacy such a ruling would grant to the Rev. Dr.
Michael Newdow, who brought the case." (12/18/03)

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/guest_commentary/newdow
_pledge.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3ad7v

-----

42) Ballot or the bullet?
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Chris Basten

"'You have no right to complain if you don't vote,' is passé and an illogical
argument. If this truly is a self-governing country, I should be able to
complain all I want. Choosing to vote or not vote is irrelevant. In fact,
choosing not to vote could signify that I don't want any bureaucrats in office
destroying my individual rights and taxing the tar out of me. By choosing to
forego my right to vote, the message would ultimately be, 'I don't need no
stinkin' government!'" (12/26/03)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2003/12/26

-----

43) Big oh brother
     US Term Limits
     by Paul Jacob

"I want companies I do business with to be socially irresponsible. What I mean
is, I want them to satisfy me, the customer. Not bureaucrats who want to force
everybody to obey the latest five-year social readjustment plan. The
profit-mongers treat me better." (12/24/03)

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/cs1008.html

-----

44) The semantics of empire
     CounterPunch
     by M. Shahid Alam

"We might glean a few insights about the semantics of the global order -- and
the reality it tries to mask -- from the way in which the United States has
framed the moral case against Saddam. Saddam's unspeakable crime is that he has
'tortured his own people.' He has 'killed his own people.' He has 'gassed his
own people.' He has 'poison-gassed his own people." In all the accusations,
Saddam stands inseparable from his own people. ... It would appear that the
indictment of Saddam gathers power, conviction, irrefutability, by adding the
possessive, proprietary, emphatic 'own' to the people tortured, gassed or
killed. What does the grammar of accusations say about the metrics of American
values?" (12/24/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/alam12242003.html

-----

45) The world is too much with us
     Civil Liberties Watch
     by Elaine Cassel

"I think of the constant mantra that Bush and our 'leaders' spout about this
being a great Christian nation. How Christianity is woven into the very fabric
of what it means to be American. Yet, I defy you to name one example from the
past year when Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove, Ashcroft, DeLay, Frist, or anyone in
a seat of power in this allegedly great nation, has done one act demanded by
Jesus in his Gospels. 'Love your enemies, do good to them that wish you evil.'
'Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone.' I could recite
maxims from the teachings of Jesus for hours and find no hint of the living of
it by anyone in the Bush administration." (12/25/03)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/ecassel/2003/12/25

-----

46) The martial plan
     Village Voice
     by James Ridgeway

"Every day, Ashcroft and Bush work the country toward something like martial
law, though the administration has suffered setbacks, like last week's rulings
by two federal appellate courts in Padilla v. Rumsfeld and Gherebi v. Bush. Both
of those decisions, for now at least, hamper the government's ability to simply
lock up suspects indefinitely. But the government has other targets and other
ways of dealing with them. The most recent crackdown seems to be on the foreign
press -- the source of much of the substantial critique of its policies."
(12/24/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0352/mondo1.php

-----

47) Fight terrorism with intelligence, not might
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Sara Daly

"In this season of code-orange alert, good intelligence rather than military
might is the best way to protect our homeland. Information gathering is the most
powerful weapon in the struggle to dismantle terrorist networks and prevent
attacks. ... We have come to expect that planes, tanks, helicopters, and heavily
armed soldiers will be used to protect America and defeat our enemies. But
calling out the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines in full battle gear to combat
terrorism on a day-to-day basis is rarely a successful strategy at home or
abroad. ... [I]n fighting terrorism, the primary challenge is finding the enemy
on a battlefield that has no boundaries." (12/26/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1226/p13s01-coop.html

-----

48) Commercialism makes for a pretty wonderful life
     Wayne Dunn
     by Tennessean

"Whenever I hear that familiar Yuletide condemnation 'Christmas is too
commercial,' I recall George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life wishing he'd never
been born. For just as he didn't realize the positive impact he'd had on others,
the anti-commercial brigade doesn't realize the positive impact commerce has on
Christmas. In the movie classic, an angel shows Bailey how badly the people and
places he loves would've fared without him. If we could similarly grant the
commercialism-bashers their wish, that is, if we show them a world 'free' of
commercial endeavors, they'd instantly repent and start topping Christmas trees
with dollar signs." (12/25/03)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/nashville-
eye/archives/03/12/44515658.shtml
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/333h6

-----

49) Is peace on earth too boring?
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by David Gordon

"The capture of Saddam unleashed so much euphoria that many people have
forgotten that the original justification for the war was not merely the
overthrow of Saddam but the dismantling of weapons programs that the US has yet
to show exist at all. The war's promoters are not deterred. Despite the tens of
thousands of dead and enormous destruction, and the loss of the original
justification and goal, the war on Iraq  garners mass support." (12/25/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1402

-----

50) Bethlehem's economic lessons
     LewRockwell.com
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"At the heart of the Christmas story rests some important lessons concerning
free enterprise, government, and the role of wealth in society. Let's begin with
one of the most famous phrases: 'There's no room at the inn.' This phrase is
often invoked as if it were a cruel and heartless dismissal of the tired
travelers Joseph and Mary." (12/22/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/bethlehem2.html


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) Two invasions and 39 hangings

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

--

"With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for
projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here
to help them."
-- Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, USA, on the Iraq occupation.

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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Email Circulation: 2,188


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Merry Christmas from RRND!


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Iraq: US battles resistance with arrests, airstrikes
2)  First Mad Cow case found in US
3)  Judge opens Limbaugh's medical records to prosecutors
4)  Nader won't run on Green ticket
5)  White House faulted on uranium claim
6)  FDA: Too costly to legalize drug imports
7)  Man cleared after calling policeman "a--hole"
8)  Pakistan may have "rogue scientists"
9)  Brothers ran drug operation from prison cell
10) EU travel privacy battle heats up
11) Colombia bus explosion kills four
12) Immigration reform on Bush agenda
13) White House cites progress, admits serious setbacks
14) Court to rule next week on Texas redistricting
15) US expands forest use for development
16) Top drug thug seeks more cash for disinformation campaign
17) Security boosted amid US terror alert
18) Neo-Nazi band convicted under German "organized crime" laws
19) Intelligence: Bin Laden behind new terror threat
20) Alleged mobsters charged with competing with state lottery
21) Lenny Bruce granted posthumous pardon
22) MP fingered for "Net Villain" award
23) Gun crimes on increase in Australia
24) FDA panel ruling deals blow to pro-lifers
25) Fund-raiser for Gore backs Clark

-----ADVERTISEMENT----------------------------------------------------
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      The astounding graphic novel by Susan Wells and Scott Bieser
            In print at last -- just in time for Christmas!
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   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0974381403/rationalrev08-20
----------------------------------------------------ADVERTISEMENT-----

TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Keep politics away from money
27) Liberty Action of the Week
28) Mission impossible -- or just misunderstood?
29) State cons
30) Parting company is an option
31) Our sham economic recovery
32) A fearful Christmas
33) The Cassandra Chronicles
34) Three cheers for holiday lights
35) Pipelineistan revisited
36) The Tom Ridge Coloring Book
37) Food fight
38) Vouchers: Another central plan
39) The American Crisis
40) This Christmas, a red-green split?
41) Orange Alert Follies
42) The village raising your children
43) The Bush Doctrine: Wins and losses
44) Can Dean find success as a liberal's Reagan?
45) False dichotomies
46) 'Twas the night before Christmas
47) God is not a right-wing zealot
48) New Hampshire action team pushes for Social Security reform
49) Be alert, not panicked
50) Chavez faces third ouster attempt


TODAY'S MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS:

51) Political pinups -- 2004 Ladies of Liberty calendar
52) Petition for a Boortz-Free LP national convention


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

53) Ghent on outta here; (Put on a bedsheet and) run, Forrest, run


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Merry Christmas from RRND!

To all of our readers, we wish the happiest of holidays (and please
consider this post- or pre-dated if you celebrate Chanuka, Kwanzaa,
Solstice/Yule or some other winter holiday -- we like'em all)!

RRND will return on Friday, December 26th.

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Iraq: US battles resistance with arrests, airstrikes
     Springfield News-Leader

"U.S. soldiers arrested dozens of rebel suspects including several
associates of a former aide to Saddam Hussein who is believed to have
a leading role in Iraq's insurgency. Early today, explosions rocked
Baghdad as the U.S. military conducted an anti-rebel operation.
American commanders have said they had planned operations over the
Christmas period after receiving intelligence that there might be
rebel attacks. Asked about the repeated explosions south of the city
center, a military spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity that
operations, including 'aerial activity and artillery,' were under
way." (12/24/03)

http://www.news-leader.com/today/1224-USbattlesi-251412.html

-----

2)  First Mad Cow case found in US
     Washington Post

"A Holstein cow slaughtered in Washington state earlier this month
was infected with mad cow disease, marking the first time that the
dreaded illness that devastated the beef industry in Britain has been
detected in the United States, officials announced yesterday. Meat
from the animal, which was slaughtered Dec. 9, traveled through three
processing plants before a test revealed the problem 13 days later,
but officials at the Department of Agriculture insisted that
infectious portions of the animal were removed at the slaughterhouse
and diverted to a rendering plant." (12/24/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25397-2003Dec23.html

-----

3)  Judge opens Limbaugh's medical records to prosecutors
     Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Prosecutors can examine Rush Limbaugh's medical records to determine
whether he should be charged with 'doctor shopping' for prescription
painkillers, a judge ruled Tuesday. Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jeffrey
A. Winikoff denied the conservative commentator's request to keep the
records sealed, but did say prosecutors cannot make the records
public. The judge said the state has a 'compelling' interest in
determining whether Limbaugh broke the law, trumping his right to
keep his medical records private." (12/23/03)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/7557203.htm

-----

4)  Nader won't run on Green ticket
     Fox News

"Ralph Nader, the third-party candidate viewed by many Democrats as
the spoiler of the 2000 election for taking votes away from Al Gore,
has decided not to run on the Green Party ticket next year, a party
spokesman said Tuesday. Nader, who garnered nearly 3 percent of the
national vote in the last presidential election, has not ruled out
running for president as an independent and plans to make a decision
by January. ... Nader has a new Web site and an exploratory
committee, attends small fund-raisers, and has mailed letters to
supporters. He said he has raised more than $100,000, mostly to pay
expenses for the exploratory network, but is noncommittal on whether
the resources are sufficient yet to persuade him to run." (12/23/03)

http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106509,00.html

-----

5)  White House faulted on uranium claim
     Washington Post

"The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board has concluded
that the White House made a questionable claim in January's State of
the Union address about Saddam Hussein's efforts to obtain nuclear
materials because of its desperation to show that Hussein had an
active program to develop nuclear weapons, according to a well-placed
source familiar with the board's findings. ... The findings of the
advisory board do not appear to add many new details about the
uranium episode, but they make it clear that the White House should
share blame with the CIA for allowing the questionable material into
the speech." (12/24/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25935-2003Dec23.html

-----

6)  FDA: Too costly to legalize drug imports
     ABC News

"As millions of Americans turn to Canada for cheaper prescription
drugs, the Food and Drug Administration's top pharmacist said Tuesday
that it would take hundreds of millions of dollars to set up a legal,
safe program to import the medicines. And despite growing pressure
from Congress, he insisted the FDA would never rely on Canada's
safety assurances for the drugs shipped out of that country, many of
them made in the United States." (12/24/03)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/ap20031224_189.html

-----

7)  Man cleared after calling policeman "a--hole'
     Ananova [UK]

"A Norwegian man escaped punishment for calling a policeman an a--
hole after a court ruled the insult was coarse but not illegal. Indre
Sogn county court decided police officers should be able to deal with
such abuse and acquitted the man. The officer at the centre of the
incident said the man terrorised him during a late night call to his
home, reports Nettavisen. The 42-year-old man reportedly told the
officer: 'I think you are an a--hole. Have a nice evening.'"
(12/23/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_849572.html

-----

8)  Pakistan may have "rogue scientists"
     Topeka Capital-Journal

"Pakistan said Tuesday that rogue scientists driven by 'ambition and
greed' may have spread nuclear technology to Iran -- Islamabad's most
explicit acknowledgment of such help, prompted by questioning from
the U.N. atomic watchdog. The admission, after months of denials, is
the latest in a wave of nuclear disclosures, following revelations
from Libya and Iran. Pakistan said it was cooperating with the U.N.
International Atomic Energy Agency after the agency's inspections of
Iranian nuclear facilities showed that international and 'Pakistani-
linked individuals' had acted as 'intermediaries and black
marketeers.'" (12/24/03)

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/122403/pag_pakistan.shtml

-----

9)  Brothers ran drug operation from prison cell
     MAPINC

"From behind bars in Colombia, two brothers who headed the notorious
Cali cartel stayed in business by teaching the next generation how to
export cocaine, launder billions in drug money and buy the loyalty of
witnesses and their families, according to a federal grand jury in
Miami. ... The investigation, dubbed 'Operation Cornerstone,'
unfolded over a dozen years. Already, it has resulted in more than
100 convictions, including those of a former federal prosecutor and
several criminal defense attorneys who allegedly crossed the line
between adviser and accessory." (12/23/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1970/a04.html?397

-----

10) EU travel privacy battle heats up
     Wired News

"Some European politicians are trying to stop an agreement between
Europe and the United States to share travelers' personal information
in an effort to screen for terrorists and drug smugglers, announced
by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday. Two European
Parliament members are already calling for the European Union's
highest court to examine the legality of the announced compromise,
which was negotiated by the European Union's executive branch, known
as the European Commission." (12/22/03)

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61680,00.html

-----

11) Colombia bus explosion kills four
     BBC News [UK]

"Four people have been killed in a bomb explosion on a crowded bus in
north-west Colombia. More than 30 others were injured in the blast,
which happened on a rural road in the province of Antioquia. Police
are investigating whether there was a bomb on the bus or if
explosives went off as the bus drove past. The regional police
commander blamed the attack on the country's largest rebel group, the
leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)." (12/24/03)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3345491.stm

-----

12) Immigration reform on Bush agenda
     Washington Post

"President Bush plans to kick off his reelection year by proposing a
program that would make it easier for immigrants to work legally in
the United States, in what would constitute the most significant
changes to immigration law in 18 years, Republican officials said
yesterday. Lobbyists working with the White House said Bush is
developing a plan that would allow immigrants to cross the border
legally if jobs are waiting for them." (12/24/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25882-2003Dec23.html

-----

13) White House cites progress, admits serious setbacks
     USA Today

"Iraq suffers serious energy and communications shortages and harbors
an increasingly sophisticated insurgency, the White House said in a
report to Congress that emphasizes the successes of the U.S.-backed
coalition in restoring order and security to Iraqis. The report,
obtained by The Associated Press, states that even with a buildup in
Iraqi security forces, 'it is not possible to know at this time
either the duration of the military operations or the scope and
duration of the deployment' of U.S. troops." (12/23/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-12-23-iraq-progress_x.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3foe8

-----

14) Court to rule next week on Texas redistricting
     Houston Chronicle

"After listening to impassioned pleas and hair-splitting legal
arguments, a three-judge federal court Tuesday said it will rule next
week on whether Texas' Republican congressional redistricting plan is
legal. ... The court's ruling is the last major hurdle before the
plan can be used in the 2004 elections. The U.S. Justice Department
last week cleared the map, saying it did not dilute minority voting
strength on a statewide basis. A lawsuit brought by Democrats and
minority groups challenges the plan on the grounds it discriminates
against minority voters in particular congressional districts and
violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution."
(12/24/03)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2317841

-----

15) US expands forest use for development
     MSNBC

"The Bush administration opened 300,000 more acres of Alaska's
Tongass National Forest on Tuesday to possible logging or other
development. The decision allows 3 percent of the forest's 9.3
million acres, which were put off-limits to road-building by the
Clinton administration, to have roads built on them and perhaps to be
opened to use by the timber industry." (12/23/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3796095/

-----

16) Top drug thug seeks more cash for disinformation campaign
     Washington Times

"A decline in illegal drug use as reported by teens is largely due to
the government's antidrug media campaign, which deserves support from
skeptical lawmakers, the nation's drug czar said. ... The ONDCP is
being reauthorized by Congress this year, and the bill that passed
the House proposes more than $1 billion for the media campaign during
the next five years. The Senate has yet to consider the bill."
(12/24/03)

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20031223-102724-9729r.htm

-----

17) Security boosted amid US terror alert
     USA Today

"Tight security was further fortified Tuesday across the nation in
response to government warnings that al-Qaeda could attack this
holiday season, and half way around the world police in Turkey and
the U.S. embassy in Bahrain expressed concerns the terrorist group
also could strike there. 'Terrorists still threaten our country and
we remain engaged in a dangerous -- to be sure -- difficult war and
that it will not be over soon,' Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
said Tuesday." (12/23/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-12-23-terror-threat_x.htm

-----

18) Neo-Nazi band convicted under German "organized crime" laws
     Ha'aretz [Israel]

"A German court made legal history yesterday by ruling that a neo-
Nazi band that belted out racist lyrics to electric guitars was on a
par with organized crime groups like the Mafia. The court jailed
Michael Regener, the song writer of the Landser trio, for 40 months
for sedition, spreading Nazi propaganda and heading a criminal gang.
Andree Moericke, the guitar player, and Christian Wendorff, the
drummer, were given 21 and 22 months, each suspended, and ordered to
do 90 hours community service. Ending a six-month trial, the Berlin
court described the trio as 'self-appointed terrorists with electric
guitars.'" (12/22/03)

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/374817.html

-----

19) Intelligence: Bin Laden behind new terror threat
     MSNBC

"New intelligence information indicates that al-Qaida leader Osama
bin Laden and his top deputy personally approved the suspected
terrorist attack plan that led the government to raise the nation's
terror threat assessment this week, U.S. officials told NBC News on
Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said
U.S. intelligence agencies had gathered detailed information about
the plan ..." (12/23/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3775771/

-----

20) Alleged mobsters charged with competing with state lottery
     1010 Wins

"Nine reputed Bonanno family members were arraigned Tuesday on
racketeering charges for operating a gambling ring with offices in
the Bronx and Costa Rica, authorities said. The defendants were also
charged with various counts of promoting gambling, and they were
ordered held on bail ranging as high as $250,000. If convicted on the
racketeering charge, they could face up to 25 years in prison, said
Suffolk County [NY] District Attorney Thomas Spota." (12/23/03)

http://1010wins.com/topstories/winstopstories_story_357154131.html

-----

21) Lenny Bruce granted posthumous pardon
     CNN

"Comedian Lenny Bruce was granted a posthumous pardon by Gov. George
Pataki Tuesday for a nearly 40-year-old obscenity conviction prompted
by a foul-mouthed political commentary. Pataki called his decision,
the first posthumous pardon in New York state history, 'a declaration
of New York's commitment to upholding the First Amendment.'"
(12/23/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/12/23/bruce.pardon.ap/

-----

22) MP fingered for "Net Villain" award
     Register [UK]

"One of the UK's most Net-savvy MPs is in the running for the tongue-
in-cheek-mixed-with-more-than-a-hint-of-venom 'Internet Villain'
award this year. Anti-spam campaigner Derek Wyatt is on the shortlist
for the Internet Villain award, for 'lowering [the] level of informed
debate on the Internet generally and spam in particular.' But he's up
against some tough competition, with the Recording Industry
Association of America's decision to 'threaten to involve a 12-year-
old girl in a court action.'" (12/23/03)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34641.html

-----

23) Gun crimes on increase in Australia
     ABC News [Australia]

"Drive by shootings, revenge killings, and armed hold-ups. Gun crime
has become an almost daily occurrence in Australia. Yesterday a 17-
year-old girl was shot in the shoulder during a security robbery in
Sydney. As police and state governments try to curb the escalating
violence, anti-gun groups want to know why there appear to be more
guns than ever in Australia just seven years after the Port Arthur
massacre. The Federal Government's gun buy back scheme cost $500
million and yielded more than 600,000 long arm guns, yet gun control
groups estimate there are more than 300,000 hand guns among
Australians, most of them illegal." (12/23/03)

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s1015505.htm

-----

24) FDA panel ruling deals blow to pro-lifers
     Talon News

"A panel of the Food and Drug Administration voted to recommend that
the 'morning after pill' could be sold over the counter. The 23-4
vote was a victory for pro-abortion forces that claimed the high-
dosage of birth control medicine was safe. They also asserted that
the 'emergency contraceptive' when taken within 72 hours of sexual
activity would prevent half the unwanted pregnancies and make fewer
abortions necessary. Abortion foes claim the drug puts teenagers at
risk by allowing them access to powerful drugs without their parents'
knowledge." (12/23/03)

http://www.talonnews.com/news/2003/december/1223_map_loss.shtml

-----

25) Fund-raiser for Gore backs Clark
     Boston Globe

"Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean won Al Gore's
endorsement this month, but one of his opponents, retired general
Wesley K. Clark, has captured a valuable consolation prize: Gore's
chief fund-raiser, Johnny Hayes. Hayes, now a lobbyist and consultant
outside Nashville, chaired Gore's finance committee in the 2000
presidential campaign. Other Democratic candidates, including Dean,
Senators John F. Kerry and Joseph I. Lieberman, and Representative
Richard A. Gephardt, had all made overtures for Hayes's support."
(12/23/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2003/12/23/fund_raiser_fo\
r_gore_backs_clark/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/29buc

-----ADVERTISEMENT----------------------------------------------------
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                Check out our donor premium program at:

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COMMENTARY

26) Keep politics away from money
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Sheldon Richman

"The supporters of campaign-finance regulation, and now a bare
majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, are trying to square the circle.
They want a vast distributive state -- in which politicians dispense
favors at the expense of others -- without the appearance of
corruption. An inherently corrupt system with no appearance of
corruption is about as likely as, well, a square circle." (12/22/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0312j.asp

-----

27) Liberty Action of the Week
     An activist's holiday wish list
     Rational Review
     by Mary Lou Seymour

"Anyway, here it is, the holidays again. I did manage to get the
grandkids' gifts into the hands of UPS, but that's about it. So, I
was hunting for last minute gifts, and ran across a few I'd like to
share with you all." (12/24/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/mlseymour/122403.shtml

-----

28) Mission impossible -- or just misunderstood?
     The Life of the Party, part 13
     Rational Review
     by Steve Trinward

"What is the 'mission' of the Libertarian Party? This is one of the
biggest questions of all those we face as Libertarians, as LP
activists and as fighters for Liberty in this land, and in the world
in general. It overarches every other issue we argue about and battle
over in this party and this movement." (12/24/03)

http://www.rationalreview.com/strinward/122403.shtml

-----

29) State cons
     Strike the Root
     by George F. Smith

"As cons go, withholding ranks as one of the greatest, but it’s not
in the same league with central banking. Withholding can’t hide from
the fact that it’s a form of plunder. Not so with central banking. It
has the reputation of being the backbone of our economy, the engine
of our prosperity. Although Alan Greenspan has his critics, few of
them charge him for what he is -- the head of the state’s monopoly on
counterfeiting." (12/22/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/smith/smith19.html

-----

30) Parting company is an option
     Town Hall
     by Walter Williams

"Every single bit of evidence shows that states have a right to
secede. There's absolutely nothing in the Constitution that prohibits
secession. What stops secession is the brute force of a mighty
federal government, as witnessed by the costly War of 1861. Only one
thing good came out of that war. It eliminated slavery. It's had a
devastating legacy for future generations of Americans, in that since
the issue of secession was brutally settled, the federal government
is free to run roughshod over the safeguards envisioned by the
Framers, namely the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. There's little to
suggest that the same brutality wouldn't be encountered if secession
were tried again ..." (12/24/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20031224.shtml

-----

31) Our sham economic recovery
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Bob Smith

"We've all heard that our economy is recovering, and politicians are
patting themselves on the back while at the same time pointing
fingers at each other in blame for the downturn or the slowness of
the recovery. Economic statistics disguise the real truth.
Politicians assume that we're all like their friends ... that we can
absorb a slowdown ... that we can pay a little more in taxes ... that
if we lose a job we can just find another. Some people don't even
notice such changes because they have enough disposable income that
such problems are miniscule. Many others can tighten their budgetary
belts without giving up any necessities. Not all of us are so
fortunate." (12/24/03)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2003/12/24

-----

32) A fearful Christmas
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"Every time our esteemed Director of Homeland Security opens his
mouth I feel less safe. One wonders if that's intentional: if they
deliberately appointed someone who might make a good principal of the
local high school, but hardly seems the type to be in charge of such
a vitally important and deadly serious agency. Just to scare the
bejesus out of us." (12/24/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j122403.html

-----

33) The Cassandra Chronicles
     Sierra Times
     by Mark & Tina Terry

"We are beginning to seriously identify with poor Cassandra. It’s
been almost four years since we went to the trouble to copy the
Second Amendment positions of Al Gore and George W. Bush from their
respective websites ... noting that there wasn’t much difference
between the two. ... Basically what we revealed -- from their own
words and voting records -- was that the published positions of Bush
and Gore could literally be exchanged, and not much would be
different for Americans and their rights regarding the keeping and
bearing of arms. ... Well, now the propaganda and rhetoric regarding
the 2004 presidential election and the alleged gun-rights
'differences' of Bush and Howard Dean are starting to make us feel
we’re trapped in the same insane situation we found ourselves in back
before the 2000 election." (12/23/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/12/23/tinaterry.htm

-----

34) Three cheers for holiday lights
     Cato Institute
     by Rob Bradley

"Environmental activists usually critical of electrified America must
have mixed emotions this time of the year. Though it is a season of
good cheer and goodwill toward all, it is also a time of conspicuous
energy consumption. To many people, America the Beautiful is at her
best in December when so much of the nation is illuminated by
billions of tiny stringed light bulbs. Holiday lighting is a great
social offering -- a positive externality, in the jargon of economics
-- given by many to all." (12/24/03)

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-24-03.html

-----

35) Pipelineistan revisited
     Asia Times
     by Pepe Escobar

"A key question for the immediate future is the possibility of
moderate Islam -- now in power in Turkey -- also seducing Azerbaijan.
Azeris are fervent Muslims, even if the social facade is Soviet and
somewhat Westernized, and there are fewer veiled women in Baku than
in a Paris suburb. In hotel rooms, arrows pointing to Mecca coexist
with condoms. Azerbaijan is already a member of the Council of Europe
- and dreams of becoming, sooner or later, a full member of the
European Union." (12/24/03)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL24Ag01.html

-----

36) The Tom Ridge Coloring Book
     CounterPunch
     by Brian J. Foley

"Ridge told us to carry on with our holiday celebrations per usual --
but we must be vigilant. Report any suspicious activity or packages.
What does that mean? If a box arrives from LAND'S END tomorrow,
should I call the police? It might not be that sweater I ordered. Is
'Land's End' a message -- the end of our land, our country? You can
never be too sure when it's Code Orange." (12/23/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/foley12232003.html

-----

37) Food fight
     Reason
     by Kelly Jane Torrance

"'Public Health Is Everybody's Business,' read the button a chirping
woman pushed into my hand at November's annual meeting of the
American Public Health Association in San Francisco. A day later I
discovered firsthand that public health is everybody's business but
mine. I was 'escorted' out of the meeting for the crime of
documenting what America's food fascists have planned for our
plates." (12/23/03)

http://www.reason.com/hod/kjt122303.shtml

-----

38) Vouchers: Another central plan
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Laurence M. Vance

"The mantra of 'school choice' is getting louder. The wholesale
failure of the K-12 public school system to adequately educate
children, no matter how much money is spent per pupil, is universally
acknowledged by all but the most diehard teacher union bureaucrat.
Educational reform is a leading topic of governors, state
legislators, members of Congress, teachers, school boards,
presidential administrations, think tanks, and concerned parents."
(12/23/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1399

-----

39) The American Crisis
     Hawaii Reporter
     by Thomas Paine

"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet
sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit
of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of
being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of
custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than
reason." (12/23/1776)

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?cda6ee65-49e8-4b86-a7bc-2f257eae53eb
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3du8a

-----

40) This Christmas, a red-green split?
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Iain Murray

"Europeans often talk about the Red-Green coalition, the coming
together of socialists and environmentalists to save the world and
its people from the rapacity of capitalists. Many conservative
commentators dismiss the alliance as an illusion, arguing that the
reds are green and vice versa. Yet it is a mistake to interpret the
current close alliance as a congruity of interests. In the end, those
who characterize themselves as progressives need to ask themselves
whether they should be allies of those who oppose the idea of
progress." (12/23/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03787.cfm

-----

41) Orange Alert Follies
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Tom White

"Orange Alert, Smorange Alert, it's still not chopped liver. It's
what's called a divertimento in music. Something light for 'the
holidays.' And it occupies headlines and air time that might
otherwise be given over to something that made some sense, like
trenchant criticism of what we are bringing to pass in Afghanistan,
Iraq and an astonishing number of other exotic places around the
globe. There may in fact be a fine and wicked rationale behind this
and other recurring demonstrations of wackiness, but at a certain
point, despite one’s love for conspiracy theories, the old brain
totters, the neurons or whatever they are, tire, the synapses fail to
synap to new messages, and one is up on the junk heap with last
year's computer." (12/24/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/white/white44.html

-----

42) The village raising your children
     Liberty For All
     by Rachel Mills

"I won't be writing on drama ripped from the headlines this week. I
will be writing on the drama silenced under terrifying government
bureaucracy and elaborate funding schemes. It's not in the news. It
should be. Being Libertarian, I feel especially sorry for children
raised by the government I try to avoid. They are helpless, at the
mercy of that heartless maze of red tape. Wouldn't it be great to
help them out?" (12/24/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/village.html

-----

43) The Bush Doctrine: Wins and losses
     WorldNetDaily
     by Pat Buchanan

"'Trust but verify,' was Reagan's motto in negotiating arms deals
with Mikhail Gorbachev. And sound advice, too, on hearing that Col.
Gadhafi has agreed to forswear nuclear and chemical weapons, and
invited in British and U.S. scientists to give them the run of his
laboratories and production facilities. Gadhafi's admission that he
was pursuing nuclear weapons and his agreement to dismantle them is a
triumph for President Bush and the Bush Doctrine. Why did the colonel
accede to U.S. demands?" (12/24/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36295

-----

44) Can Dean find success as a liberal's Reagan?
     Nashville City Paper
     by Susan Estrich

"Anyone who thought Howard Dean's candidacy would collapse with the
capture of Saddam doesn't understand the Vermont governor's appeal to
Democratic primary voters. The only thing that could have hurt Dean
would be his saying that the capture of Saddam changed his view of
the war. Notice that he didn't. Hussein's capture made us no safer,
according to Dean. Dean was still Dean, and then some. That's what
people, or at least hard-core Democratic people, like about him. The
long-term question is whether his greatest strength is also his
greatest weakness." (12/23/03)

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=29354

-----

45) False dichotomies
     Solo HQ
     by Joseph Rowlands

"In studying the ideas of Objectivism, it's hard not to notice how
often the term 'dichotomy' comes up. There's the is/ought dichotomy.
There's the mind/body dichotomy. There's the moral/practical
dichotomy. The list is a long one." (12/23/03)

http://www.solohq.com/Articles/Rowlands/False_Dichotomies.shtml

-----

46) 'Twas the night before Christmas
     Armed Females of America
     by Anonymous

"'Twas the night before Christmas, cold, dark and foreboding
As I sat at the workbench, quite busy reloading ..." (12/23/03)

http://www.armedfemalesofamerica.com/afanews/night_before.htm

-----

47) God is not a right-wing zealot
     Salon
     by Leslie R. Guttman

"In the heart of the Bluegrass, a Bible Belt preacher is rallying
people to political action around what he calls 'basic religious
values.' Think you can describe his politics? Think again. This man
of the cloth wants 'regime change' in Washington. The Rev. Albert
Pennybacker, a Lexington, Ky.-based pastor, is head of the Clergy
Leadership Network, a new, cross-denominational group of liberal and
moderate religious leaders seeking to counter the influence of the
religious right and to mobilize voters to change leadership in
Washington." [subscription or ad view required] (12/24/03)

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/12/24/pastor/

-----

48) New Hampshire action team pushes for Social Security reform
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Chuck McGee

"On a cold winters night, December 9th, at the University of New
Hampshire, 15 old and new members of the NH CSE Action Team came
together for a break out performance to call for Social Security
reform. With thousands of Democratic activists, nine Democratic
presidential candidates and hordes of media on hand, at the last of
six officially sanctioned debates by the Democratic National
Committee, the NH Action Team swept into action." (12/18/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1646.htm

-----

49) Be alert, not panicked
     Tennessean
     by staff

"When a terror alert is issued like the one announced Sunday by
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, the operative word is just
that -- alert. It is a time to be mindful of a potential threat of
terrorism, but it is not a signal to overreact. It is most certainly
not a time to be suspicious of others based on some sort of
stereotype. When the nation goes to a higher level of alert, as the
orange level signifies, citizens should feel assured that most of the
response will be made by law enforcement and emergency management
personnel. All citizens can do their part by keeping their eyes and
ears open for suspicious activity, but it is not a time to become
citizen-sleuths." (12/23/03)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/archives/03/12/44457584.shtml

-----

50) Chavez faces third ouster attempt
     In These Times
     by Steve Ellner

"For the third time in less than three years, Venezuela President
Hugo Chávez faces ouster, this time through a recall election made
possible by the constitution drafted under his administration. The
National Electoral Council will announce in January whether
oppositional forces were successful in collecting the 2 million-plus
signatures needed to hold a recall. The NEC also will report whether
Chavez supporters were successful in gathering the requisite
signatures to hold a recall against 38 opposition congressmen."
(12/23/03)

http://inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=513_0_2_0_C


MOVEMENT NEWS & EVENTS

51) Political pinups -- 2004 Ladies of Liberty calendar
     Liberty For All

"The Libertarians are laying bare their principles again in the 2004
Ladies of Liberty Calendar. And this time, it's national. The Ladies
of Liberty, that is: 16 beautiful Libertarian women who display their
charms and promote their ideology in the new 2004 edition of the
Ladies of Liberty calendar. The calendar is produced by North
Carolina Libertarian Rachel Mills, who created the original 2003
edition of the calendar." (12/24/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/pinups.html

-----

52) Petition for a Boortz-Free LP national convention
     PetitionOnline.Com
     ongoing

"We, members and supporters of the Libertarian Party, object to the
scheduled appearance of talk radio host Neal Boortz as a speaker at
the Libertarian Party's 2004 National Convention. We further request
that said appearance be cancelled."

http://www.petitiononline.com/noboortz/petition.html


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

53) Ghent on outta here; (Put on a bedsheet and) run, Forrest, run

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  RRND is published every weekday except on holidays. Forward freely.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

--

"With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for
projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here
to help them."
  -- Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, USA, on the Iraq occupation.

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

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
                  http://www.rationalreview.com/news/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Email Circulation: 2,187


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Happy Birthday To Us!


TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Two US soldiers killed in Baghdad bombing
2)  Judge halts mandatory anthrax vaccinations
3)  Brazil gets sweeping new victim disarmament law
4)  Lawyer: Limbaugh paid blackmail
5)  Scientists blame soot for global warming
6)  Teen drug surveys contradict each other
7)  Mob attacks Egyptian foreign minister at Jerusalem mosque
8)  Ridge: Planes are still terrorists' weapons of choice
9)  US wants to close fuel economy "loopholes"
10) Afghan warlord's ambivalence reflects uncertainty
11) SCO threatens more Unix, Linux users
12) Bush gets year-end boost in approval
13) Study: High school graduation data exaggerated
14) Court acquits "DVD Jon" for second time
15) Colombian rebels release abducted hikers
16) Under Bush, expanding secrecy
17) Gadhafi: Iraq war may have influenced WMD decision
18) More than 90 percent OK compensation fund
19) Fingers point to Pakistan for sharing nuke secrets
20) Man held after sale of medicine muffins
21) UK plans to pressure Syria on weapons
22) Body armor effectiveness questioned
23) Cologne introduces sex tax
24) Maryland Indian activist contests highway name
25) Alternative energy proves deadly for birds

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            In print at last -- just in time for Christmas!
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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Kantians with cruise missiles
27) Redistricting the Demopublican way
28) Subjective value theory in Iraq
29) How to persuade others to abolish government
30) Profits without honor
31) This land is your land, this land is my land
32) IRS to step up audits and collections
33) The Green Inquisitor
34) Stealth legislation, secret police
35) No ace in the hole
36) Development: Real debate, please
37) Revolution now (and then)!
38) Deficit drawdown?
39) Letters from the troops
40) Garden of the Forking Paths
41) Why Austrians should care about network science
42) Slovakia adopts PRAs
43) The new anti-Semitism
44) Qaddafi to give up smoking
45) Faith-based national parks
46) History lessons
47) Iraq's phantom insurgents
48) The decoded version of Sharon's speech
49) Neoconning us again?
50) The unknown Hussein factor in the 2004 election


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) No Moro War!; Jekyll Island invades; Walking the dog


FROM THE PUBLISHER

0) Happy Birthday To Us!

Welcome to the 272nd edition of Rational Review News Digest --
published every weekday (except holidays), as well as on the
occasional weekend, without a missed edition, for one year today!

I don't want to belabor the moment, folks. I'll be brief.

Thanks to all of you who read RRND, and especially to those of you
who have supported its publication, both financially and with
suggestions and comments. For those who care to pitch in and keep
this thing going, here's the URL:

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

And, to Mary Lou Seymour, Steve Trinward and R. Lee Wrights, my co-
conspirators in the creation of this newsletter, thank you from the
bottom of my heart for filling a sudden and dire need -- and then
building RRND into the single finest publication of its kind. I hope
that you can hear the cork popping on this bottle of (virtual)
champagne I'm opening. Bottoms up -- here's to our first year, and
our second!

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review


NEWS

1)  Two US soldiers killed in Baghdad bombing
     MSNBC

"A roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. military convoy Monday, killing
two U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator, the military said. Word of
the attack came shortly after the military announced that it had
captured a former top officer in Saddam Hussein’s once-feared
security services, the latest of hundreds of reported arrests since
Saddam was taken into custody." (12/22/03)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3708151/

-----

2)  Judge halts mandatory anthrax vaccinations
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"Saying American soldiers should not be used as 'guinea pigs for
experimental drugs,' a federal judge Monday ordered the Pentagon to
stop mandatory anthrax vaccinations started in 1998. U.S. District
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said he was convinced by plaintiffs in a
class action suit that the vaccine is experimental and being 'used
for an unapproved purpose' -- that is, for exposure to airborne
anthrax as well as exposure through the skin." (12/22/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031222/1745196.shtml

-----

3)  Brazil gets sweeping new victim disarmament law
     ABC News

"President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a sweeping gun-control
law Monday in an effort to rein in what he called 'an epidemic of
murder by firearms.' Under the so-called disarmament statute passed
Dec. 9 by Congress, only the armed forces, police, prison guards and
private security personnel can possess firearms in Brazil."
(12/22/03)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20031222_1354.html

-----

4)  Lawyer: Limbaugh paid blackmail
     Springfield News-Leader

"Rush Limbaugh paid 'substantial' blackmail to a former maid before
she told law enforcement and a tabloid newspaper about his addiction
to prescription painkillers, his attorney told a judge Monday.
Attorney Roy Black said Limbaugh could not complain to authorities
about the maid's demand for $4 million because they would use the
information against him, and that the maid and her husband 'bled him
dry' before going public anyway. The claim was made during a court
hearing where Black asked that medical records related to Limbaugh be
kept secret. The seizure of the records from doctors in Florida and
California violated the conservative radio commentator's privacy,
Black argued." (12/23/03)

http://www.news-leader.com/today/1223-Limbaughpa-250085.html

-----

5)  Scientists blame soot for global warming
     Wichita Eagle

"NASA scientists say soot, mostly from diesel engines, is causing as
much as a quarter of all observed global warming by reducing the
ability of snow and ice to reflect sunlight. Their findings on how
soot affects reflective ability, known as albedo, raise new questions
about human-caused climate change from the Arctic to the Alps. ...
The biggest source of soot in developed countries is diesel fuel, but
major sources elsewhere include burning wood, animal dung, vegetable
oil and other biofuels." (12/23/03)

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/7552447.htm

-----

6)  Teen drug surveys contradict each other
     Marijuana Policy Project

"Results from the 2003 Monitoring the Future survey of teen drug use,
released today, show a trend directly opposite to that seen in the
National PRIDE Survey, released in late August. The two annual youth
surveys have been designated by Congress as measures of the success
of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's efforts
to reduce teen drug use. While Monitoring the Future ... indicates a
decrease in teen use of marijuana and other drugs, the privately-
funded PRIDE Survey showed a sharp rise in drug use. ... Despite the
differences, both surveys confirm that ONDCP has failed by a large
margin to meet goals set for it by Congress." (12/19/03)

http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr121903.html

-----

7)  Mob attacks Egyptian foreign minister at Jerusalem mosque
     Ha'aretz [Israel]

"Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher was briefly hospitalized
yesterday after being attacked by Palestinians during a visit to the
Temple Mount. Police last night arrested seven Palestinians from East
Jerusalem in connection with the assault, police spokesman Gil
Kleiman said. ... Palestinian sources said that the hard core of
Maher's assailants were members of the Liberation Party (Hizb a-
Tahrir), a pan-Arab Islamic group whose members in the territories
have generally not been involved in violent activity. They were
joined by members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Israeli Islamic
Movement, all of whom had lain in wait for the minister among the 400
or so innocent worshipers." (12/23/03)

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/374815.html

-----

8)  Ridge: Planes are still terrorists' weapons of choice
     CNN

"Surface-to-air missiles were being deployed around Washington, state
troopers were authorized to ride New York area commuter trains, and
air travelers encountered more delays -- all results of the
heightened terrorism threat alert level. On Sunday, the Department of
Homeland Security raised the level from elevated, or yellow, to high,
or orange, the second-highest level on the department's five-color
warning system." (12/22/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/22/threat.level/

-----

9)  US wants to close fuel economy "loopholes"
     USA Today

"The rules that govern fuel economy may be in for the most sweeping
changes in nearly 30 years as regulators Monday proposed closing
loopholes to force automakers to raise the gas mileage on sport-
utility vehicles and trucks. The proposed revisions to the fuel
economy program, first adopted by Congress in 1975 after the Arab oil
embargo, would impact the regulations on gas mileage of some of the
most popular vehicles ..." (12/22/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2003-12-22-cafe_x.htm

-----

10) Afghan warlord's ambivalence reflects uncertainty
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"One of Afghanistan's most powerful warlords on Monday praised the
work of its historic constitutional convention, even as he disagreed
with President Hamid Karzai's request for a strong presidency. Abdul
Rashid Dostum, who helped U.S. forces drive out the Taliban two years
ago, is one of a number of factional leaders at the grand council, or
loya jirga." (12/22/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031222/1745121.shtml

-----

11) SCO threatens more Unix, Linux users
     Seattle Times

"SCO Group, which is seeking royalties from IBM and other companies
that use Linux software, threatened to sue firms that have so far
ignored its claims. SCO says it owns the copyright to the Unix
operating system and claims Linux, which IBM backs as an alternative
to Microsoft's Windows programs, contains code stolen from its
software. SCO sent letters to some Unix and Linux users saying they
may face legal action for violating its copyright." (12/22/03)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001821246_sco23.html
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3x5ae

-----

12) Bush gets year-end boost in approval
     Washington Post

"Growing optimism about the economy and a spike in support for going
to war in Iraq have given President Bush a sharp year-end boost in
his approval ratings, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News
poll, suggesting that the president is in a strong position
politically as he looks toward his reelection campaign next year."
(12/23/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22493-2003Dec22.html

-----

13) Study: High school graduation data exaggerated
     USA Today

"Many states dramatically overestimate the number of students who
graduate from high school, a study by an education advocacy group
reported Monday. North Carolina topped the list of states that the
Education Trust says overstated graduation rates. The state told the
federal government that more than 92% of its public school students
graduated in 2002." (12/22/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2003-12-23-graduation-usat_x.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3eoov

-----

14) Court acquits "DVD Jon" for second time
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Dealing another blow to the entertainment industry, an appeals court
yesterday upheld the acquittal of a Norwegian man charged with piracy
for releasing a program that could crack DVD security codes.
Prosecutors had appealed Jon Lech Johansen's January acquittal of
charges he violated Norway's data break-in laws with his DeCSS
program. The prosecution wanted a 90-day suspended jail sentence,
confiscation of computer equipment and a $2,940 fine. In her 30-
minute ruling yesterday, Judge Wenche Skjeggestad said Johansen could
freely copy DVDs he bought and hadn't violated laws protecting
intellectual property." (12/23/03)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/153635_dvdkid23.html

-----

15) Colombian rebels release abducted hikers
     Miami Herald

"Five foreign backpackers regained their freedom Monday after
spending more than three months as captives of leftist guerrillas in
the jungle-covered mountains of northern Colombia. One Briton and
four Israelis were released by rebels of the National Liberation
Army, known as the ELN, to a commission headed by Roman Catholic
Church leaders in the Sierra Nevada, where the foreigners were
kidnapped in September along with three other backpackers."
(12/23/03)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7553398.htm

-----

16) Under Bush, expanding secrecy
     Washington Post

"Last Monday, the Supreme Court announced it would consider an effort
by Vice President Cheney to keep private the records of the energy
policy task force he ran. On Friday, the White House announced that
it has known for two weeks about an attack on a convoy carrying Iraq
administrator L. Paul Bremer -- but had decided not to divulge the
information. Later that day, President Bush announced a disarmament
deal with Libya reached during nine months of secret negotiations."
(12/23/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22764-2003Dec22.html

-----

17) Gadhafi: Iraq war may have influenced WMD decision
     CNN

"Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, in an exclusive interview with CNN,
acknowledged Monday that the war in Iraq may have played a role in
his decision to dismantle his country's weapons of mass destruction
programs. He also told CNN's Andrea Koppel that though his country
has certain programs and machines, it has no chemical, biological,
radiological or nuclear arms." (12/22/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/22/gadhafi.interview/

-----

18) More than 90 percent OK compensation fund
     MSNBC

"With the deadline for applications to the Sept. 11 victims’
compensation fund only hours away, more than 90 percent of families
who lost loved ones have filed claims, Kenneth Feinberg, the
program’s special master said Monday. The fund had received claims
from about 92 percent of eligible families as of Monday morning, said
Feinberg." (12/22/03)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3782280/

-----

19) Fingers point to Pakistan for sharing nuke secrets
     Christian Science Monitor

"Has Pakistan sold secret weapons technology to other countries? The
old question is taking on a new life as fresh evidence forces
Islamabad to distance itself from earlier denials that it had ever
been a source for countries eager to acquire fissile material,
according to The New York Times. The Times reports that 'a lengthy
investigation of the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer
Khan, by American and European intelligence agencies and
international nuclear inspectors has forced Pakistani officials to
question his aides and openly confront evidence that the country was
the source of crucial technology to enrich uranium for Iran, North
Korea and possibly other nations.'" (12/22/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1222/dailyUpdate.html?s=entt

-----

20) Man held after sale of medicine muffins
     MAPINC

"A man selling muffins allegedly laced with dagga was arrested in
Philippi [South Africa] during a police anti-crime operation on
trains on Thursday. The man, believed to be a regular Philippi
trader, was apparently carrying about 15 muffins that contained a
mixture including dagga and flour. The man, who swore at the police
claiming that his human rights were being violated, was one of
hundreds of train commuters and vendors on stations in Philippi and
Nolungile who were surprised by the police action on Thursday
morning." (12/18/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1966/a09.html?397

-----

21) UK plans to pressure Syria on weapons
     Guardian [UK]

"Britain is pressing to use the combined weight of the European
Union's 'big three' countries to put pressure on Syria over weapons
of mass destruction, terrorism and Iraq, the Guardian has learned.
The move follows Libya's dramatic agreement to dismantle its WMD
arsenal and is designed to show that Europe, galvanised by Britain,
has the clout to help the US deal peacefully with security issues in
the Middle East." (12/23/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/syria/story/0,13031,1112091,00.html

-----

22) Body armor effectiveness questioned
     NewsDay

"Richard Davis invented a flexible, concealable type of body armor
after taking a bullet while delivering a pizza. He vouched for his
products by donning them and shooting himself with a gun -- nearly
200 times over three decades. The company he founded in 1972, Second
Chance Body Armor Inc., became the nation's biggest supplier of
bulletproof vests to law enforcement agencies. It claims to have
saved more than 920 wearers from death or serious injury. Now, Second
Chance is drawing fire of a different sort: allegations that its
vests are defective." (12/22/03)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-bulletproof-vests,0,1910317.\
story
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2oydo

-----

23) Cologne introduces sex tax
     Ananova [UK]

"The German city of Cologne is to introduce a sex tax on brothels,
erotic sauna clubs and massage salons from next year. For brothels,
the tax will work out at 150 euros per bed per month, a city
spokesperson said. 'I would not be surprised if the costs are passed
on to customers,' she added. The tax will also apply to circuses and
funfairs, but it is the sex business which could help most to help
fill Cologne's coffers." (12/22/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_849303.html

-----

24) Maryland Indian activist contests highway name
     Washington Times

"A Maryland activist who led a campaign two years ago to rid state
schools of Indian mascots and nicknames is looking to the federal
government for help in changing a state highway name he regards as
offensive. Richard Regan ... has filed a federal Title VI complaint
against the Department of Transportation for its sanctioning and
promoting of Route 210, known as Indian Head Highway. 'The name
'Indian Head' is an affront and literal racial slur against American
Indians and Alaska natives who reside in the state of Maryland,' [he]
wrote in his complaint, dated Dec. 1. 'It conjures up a place and
time in the history of this country when it was legal to kill
American Indians and sell their body parts.'" (12/22/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20031221-105947-4852r.htm

-----

25) Alternative energy proves deadly for birds
     Fox News

"The alternative energy movement is ruffling the feathers of animal
rights activists. Wind turbines, lauded for being an environmentally
friendly energy source, are killing thousands of birds that fly into
their propellers in the Altamont Pass just east of Oakland, CA, where
more than 5,000 turbines have helped power the Bay Area for 20 years.
Jeff Miller, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said the latest
research indicates that one to two thousand or more birds are killed
each year in the area." (12/22/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106438,00.html

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COMMENTARY

26) Kantians with cruise missiles
     AntiWar.Com
     by Joseph R. Stromberg

"Just in passing, I will remark one problem with Simpson's
formulation, namely the idea that tolerant governments exist at all,
and that, existing, such governments could usefully be contrasted
with intolerant ones. The proof of the pudding comes when people get
in the way of one of the 'liberal, tolerant' governments, as did the
Branch Davidians or Randy Weaver -- but let us leave that to one
side. We may stipulate -- for purposes of argument -- that, some
governments preside, so to speak, over more tolerant societies than
do other governments." (12/23/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/stromberg/s122303.html

-----

27) Redistricting the Demopublican way
     Liberty For All
     by Sean Haugh

"So all of this legal wrangling isn't about the Constitution, nor is
it about representing the citizens of this state. It's all about who
is going to have better odds at controlling a small handful of seats
that hold the balance of power. Everything else is neatly divided
between Demopublicans who display loyalty not to parties, not to
ideas, and certainly not to the voters, but only to their own power."
(12/23/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/redistricting.html

-----

28) Subjective value theory in Iraq
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"[M]any Americans are ecstatic over the arrest of Saddam Hussein. But
it would be a mistake to permit such ecstasy to cloud the real issue,
which is: How valuable to you is Saddam’s arrest compared to what has
been sacrificed to achieve it, i.e., the lives of American GIs (and
Iraqi citizens) that have been killed (or maimed) in the invasion and
occupation that resulted in the capture of Saddam Hussein?"
(12/22/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0312k.asp

-----

29) How to persuade others to abolish government
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Brad Edmonds

"The facts and reasoning are on the side of the abolition of
government, but statists are emotionally attached to the topic and
they believe many falsehoods, such as that the Civil War was
different from the American Revolution, or that the government should
outlaw certain kinds of drug use. During discussions, words fly
around quickly, people get excited, and anyone can let his persuasion
skills slip." (12/23/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/edmonds/edmonds166.html

-----

30) Profits without honor
     Town Hall
     by Thomas Sowell

"Profits are certainly without honor among the intelligentsia. The
very word produces negative reactions, even from people who cannot
give you a single reason why money carrying that label is worse than
money called by other names." (12/23/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20031223.shtml

-----

31) This land is your land, this land is my land
     No Force, No Fraud
     by Chris Basten

"Civilians are forced to pay exorbitant taxes to support the use of
'good' aggression in far away lands that most know little, if
anything, about. ... We are inundated with the pathetic nature of
these people to the point that we view them as subhuman whether we
realize it or not. In the end, the way these countries and cultures
are represented in the media procures the notion that our force is
warranted. We are there for their liberation and their safety. The
rationalization is that our aggression is much better than what was
in place before we bombed and took over foreign territory. Such is
the history of human empires." (12/23/03)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2003/12/23

-----

32) IRS to step up audits and collections
     Heartland Institute
     by Daniel J. Pilla

"For more than two years, Congress has been asking the Internal
Revenue Service to take off the gloves. 'Go get the money,' is the
clarion call from Washington. There can be little doubt Mark Everson
got the nod as the country's new IRS commissioner because he can and
is willing to lead this charge. And if Bush has his way, Everson will
get the tools he needs to do it." (12/03)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=13796

-----

33) The Green Inquisitor
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by Neil Hrab

"Best-selling author Michael Crichton recently observed that
environmentalism is a kind of pseudo-religion. He's right.
Environmentalists have their own holy days (Earth Day, April 22),
their saints (Rachel Carson, Jacques Cousteau), demons (George W.
Bush), and Gardens of Eden (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). They
also have their own Grand Inquisitor -- the Union of Concerned
Scientists." (12/22/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03784.cfm

-----

34) Stealth legislation, secret police
     Civil Liberties Watch
     by Elaine Cassel

"In January 2003, the Center for Public Integrity posted on its
website a revolting draft piece of legislation that became known as
Patriot II .... But watchers of this Administration knew that the
provisions would somehow become law. I predicted that portions would
be stuck here and there in unrelated laws and spending bills, and
given this Congress's loathing of reading legislation before they
sign it, it would indeed become law without anyone but the stealth
drafters knowing it. I hate to be right about such things, but a
reader brought to my attention the following bad news ..." (12/21/03)

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/ecassel/2003/12/21

-----

35) No ace in the hole
     Yellow Times
     by Ahmed Amr

"When the U.S. military finally located the Bearded Lady of Tikrit,
they must have immediately realized that the Ace of Spades was no ace
in the hole. He was packing a pistol and a few hundred thousand
dollars. He didn't even have a cell phone. Perhaps that explains why
Bush's speech, following the capture of Saddam, did not sound
triumphal. George Bush doesn't have Saddam Hussein to kick around any
more. But the resistance lingers on." (12/22/03)

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1705&mode=thread&order=0

-----

36) Development: Real debate, please
     Orange County Register
     by Tibor R. Machan

"One should always be suspicious of those who resort to the ploy of
dismissing their opponents as incapable of argument. The most famous
Western thinker to use this approach was Karl Marx, who believed that
one's membership in an economic class determines how one thinks, not
reasons and evidence. For more than a century Marx's followers have
deployed this strategy: dismiss your opponents as stuck in a box,
unable to think logically, scientifically; only Marxists can do that.
So then they escape the responsibility to advance any arguments to
their opponents. They can just smear them as thoughtless brutes."
[Registration required, or use login "rationalreview/rationalreview"]
(12/22/03)

http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=72787

-----

37) Revolution now (and then)!
     The American Prospect
     by J. Hoberman

"The Battle of Algiers is back -- along with The Battle of Algiers
scenario. At a time when Gillo Pontecorvo's documentary-style account
of a bloody, anti-colonialist urban uprising has been used by
commentators from Tariq Ali to Zbigniew Brzezinski to describe the
situation in occupied Iraq, and only months after a well-publicized
screening at the Pentagon, the movie itself is poised for re-release
in January. ... Arguably the key political movie of its period,
replete with a reception comparable in tumult to that accorded
Battleship Potemkin, The Battle of Algiers was produced in the mid-
1960s, set a decade earlier and made in the style of a 1940s
newsreel. Which memory has been appropriated in 2004?" (for
publication 01/01/04)

http://www.prospect.org/print/V15/1/hoberman-j.html

-----

38) Deficit drawdown?
     Washington Times
     by Dale McFeatters

"Under President Bush, the federal budget has been driven deep into
the red, thanks to generous spending, successive tax cuts, the war
and a momentarily slowing economy. Now there are the first signs the
record deficits might become a political issue for Mr. Bush. No
problem, the president said this past week. 'Josh Bolton laid out a
plan that will shrink the deficit in half in a five-year period,' he
said, pushing the issue off on the White House budget director. The
White House goal of halving the deficit is more wish than plan."
(12/22/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20031221-100041-6503r.htm

-----

39) Letters from the troops
     AlterNet
     by Michael Moore

"As we approach the holidays, I've been thinking a lot about our kids
who are in the armed forces serving in Iraq. I've received hundreds
of letters from our troops in Iraq -- and they are telling me
something very different from what we are seeing on the evening news.
What they are saying, often eloquently and in heart-wrenching words,
is that they were lied to -- and this war has nothing to do with the
security of the United States of America." (12/22/03)

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17446

-----

40) Garden of the Forking Paths
     Reason
     by Tim Cavanaugh

"The most entertaining piece of forensic data in Saddam revisionism,
if only because it recalls the supposedly anomalous shadows in the
Lee Harvey Oswald backyard photo, concerns the freshness of the
yellow dates on trees in the background of photos taken at the time
of the capture. Inspired by a wave of speculation in the Middle East
and a bumper crop of ambiguous questions (was Samira Shahbander, the
second Mrs. Hussein, a lovelorn dupe or Saddam's betrayer?), I'm
trying to circulate my own counterfactual to explain Saddam's
'drugged' appearance: The Bully of Baghdad was suffering from
poisonous bites from the spiders that had infested his luxuriant
hair." (12/22/03)

http://www.reason.com/links/links122203.shtml

-----

41) Why Austrians should care about network science
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Gene Callahan

"Graph theory, first developed by the brilliant 18th-century
mathematician Leonhard Euler, abstracts, from actual groups of things
that are connected in some way, the idea of a web of links and nodes.
The example that prompted Euler's interest in graph theory hopefully
will illustrate just what the heck the previous sentence means."
(12/22/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1398

-----

42) Slovakia adopts PRAs
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by staff

"Many of the former Soviet republics and nations of Eastern Europe
are taking the notion of PRAs seriously as a way to strengthen their
public pension programs. Jose Pinera, the architect of Chile's
groundbreaking reform, is working to bring PRAs worldwide. American
workers deserve the same security, control, and wealth-building
opportunity as Slovakians." (12/22/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1650.htm

-----

43) The new anti-Semitism
     Boston Globe
     by Cathy Young

"A year ago, Harvard President Lawrence Summers caused a stir with a
speech in which he charged that anti-Semitism was making a comeback
under the guise of criticizing Israel's conduct toward the
Palestinians. Some applauded Summers's message, while others accused
him of equating criticism of Israel with bigotry. Today, the 'new
anti-Semitism' is garnering more and more attention in the United
States and in Europe. In France, which many regard as an epicenter of
this phenomenon, the government has recently stepped up its
condemnation of anti-Semitic hate crimes -- and even the mainstream
press, which is rife with an anti-Israeli animus, has started to
admit that the lines between 'anti-Zionism' and 'anti-Semitism' are
being blurred." (12/22/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/12/22/the_\
new_anti_semitism/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2fa4y

-----

44) Qaddafi to give up smoking
     The Borowitz Report
     by Andy Borowitz

"In what some White House officials are hailing as the successful
result of months of backdoor diplomacy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of
Libya agreed today to give up cigarettes once and for all. 'It's a
filthy, filthy habit,' said Col. Qaddafi, grinding a pack of Lucky
Strikes under his polished jackboot. 'I should have given it up years
ago.' The Libyan madman, whom the White House now refers to as the
former Libyan madman, invited U.N. inspectors to Libya to search his
office for ashtrays. According to close associates, Col. Qadaffi is
also contemplating destroying his stockpile of unconventional hats."
(12/22/03)

http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=765

-----

45) Faith-based national parks
     CounterPunch
     by Jeffrey St. Clair

"The view from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, smogged up as it is
these days, still retains the power to prompt even the most secular
of visitors into transcendentalist reveries as they cast their eyes
toward Shiva's Temple and Wotan's Throne. Now tourists at the federal
park in northern Arizona will be greeted with scriptural passages
affixed to park signs to help interpret the religious experience of
gazing into God's mighty chasm." (12/22/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair12222003.html

-----

46) History lessons
     The Libertarian Enterprise
     by Lady Liberty

"Tom Cruise's latest movie effort was released on December 5. In The
Last Samurai, he plays a Civil War hero whose military career later
came to involve incidents that sicken him. Largely in desperation, he
accepts a job with the Japanese government to train its army in the
use of western weapons. After being captured by the enemy -- a group
of samurai warriors -- Cruise's character learns something about a
willingness to live and to die with honor, and that lesson changes
everything for him. In 'bushido' -- the 'way of the warrior' -- he
finds his own way." (12/21/03)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/tle252-20031221-04.html

-----

47) Iraq's phantom insurgents
     Z
     by Robert Fisk

"Hamed Hussein stands by his brother's bed in a state of suppressed
fury. 'You said you would bring us freedom and democracy but what are
we supposed to think?' he asks. 'My neighbour, the Americans took him
in front of his wife and two children and tied his hands behind his
back and then, a few hours later, after all this humiliation, they
came and said his wife should take all her most expensive things and
they put explosives in their house and blew it up. He is a farmer. He
is innocent. What have we done to deserve this?'" (12/21/03)

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=4737

-----

48) The decoded version of Sharon's speech
     Strike the Root
     by Uri Avnery

"If Sharon succeeds in executing his plan, a new chapter in the 100-
year old Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be opened. The
Palestinians will be crowded into territories that will constitute
about 10% of the original territory of Palestine before 1948. They
will have no chance of enlarging this territory. On the contrary:
they will be afraid of Sharon and his successors trying to remove
them from what is left, completing the ethnic cleansing of Eretz
Israel." (12/22/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/avnery/avnery26.html

-----

49) Neoconning us again?
     The Nation
     by Katrina vanden Heuvel

"More inside the Beltway spinning at work: Libya's coming clean on
WMD is solely the product of Bush's war in Iraq. That's what the Bush
Administration wants us to believe. And the Beltway paper of record
seems awfully accepting of the Administration's spin. ... In the
Beltway narrative, there's no room for how Libya's decision to permit
UN weapons inspectors in confirms that the US can achieve its
strategic international goals using tools other than military force --
  for example, diplomatic, political and economic pressure."
(12/22/03)

http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7

-----

50) The unknown Hussein factor in the 2004 election
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Dante Chinni

"That collective groan you may have heard last week from New
Hampshire, Iowa, and points in between was the Democratic
presidential field congratulating George W. Bush on the capture of
America's favorite bête noire. Not that they didn't want Saddam
Hussein apprehended. They just would rather it had happened in
December 2004. ... It's hard to imagine a better gift to a commander
in chief needing a boost: Hussein looking ragged and weary, with a
tongue depressor in his mouth, in American custody. All that was
missing was a 'kick me' sign on his back." (12/23/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1223/p11s01-codc.html


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY

51) No Moro War!; Jekyll Island invades; Walking the dog

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

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

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--

"With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for
projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here
to help them."
  -- Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, USA, on the Iraq occupation.

RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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           Supported by the generous donations of our readers

   For even more news stories and commentaries, or to donate, visit:
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Monday, December 22, 2003
Email Circulation: 2,189

TODAY'S NEWS:

1)  Time's "Person of the Year:" The US soldier
2)  "Saddam loyalists" blamed for pipeline sabotage
3)  Gore's son busted on pot charges
4)  60 migrants feared lost in sinking
5)  Hell freezes over
6)  Third parties say their time is now
7)  Man freed after judge mishears "guilty" verdict
8)  Border Patrol agent's death ruled accidental
9)  Drug thugs flush after burglaries
10) School choice, limited options
11) Relatives of Lockerbie victims seek probe
12) The harder hunt for bin Laden
13) Nation's threat level rising to orange
14) Clark, Dean camps spar over vice president talk
15) Power blackout snarls San Francisco
16) US launches anti-insurgent operation
17) Weed police on the way
18) US neo-conservatives jubilant over WMD agreement
19) Bradenton man shoots, kills intruder
20) PETA goes to the ballet
21) Pilot is accused of showing up drunk to fly jetliner
22) Drug use by US teens declining
23) Privacy law stalls public praise of good grades
24) Chief denies violating protest-speech rights
25) Schools debate slave-era names

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TODAY'S COMMENTARY:

26) Pot luck
27) Telling Santa Claus to take a hike
28) Neal Boortz is no John Galt
29) Public education fails
30) Dictators R Us
31) A Darwin Award for government
32) Libya: Will the US take "yes" for an answer?
33) The medical marijuana win
34) The year of the liar
35) The bone in Beijing's throat
36) Illusions of power
37) Judicial blows against military tyranny
38) Data debase
39) Vindication improves chances for sound science to be heard
40) George Soros targets 2004 elections
41) Peddling ourselves to death
42) Got rig envy? Try Viagra
43) Bush's big budget double talk
44) Be careful whom you get in a car with
45) Of polliwogs and pork
46) Prejudging the 9/11 report
47) What "guns and butter" means
48) Taxpayers paid dearly, often for outrages of 2003
49) Science behind the times?
50) The G word


TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY:

51) Food aid, then and now


NEWS

1)  Time's "Person of the Year:" The US soldier
     USA Today

"The American soldier, who bears the duty of 'living with and dying
for a country's most fateful decisions,' was named Sunday as Time
magazine's Person of the Year. A soldier from Missouri -- Sgt. Ronald
Buxton of Lake Ozark -- was one of those chosen to personify the
selection on the magazine's cover." (12/21/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-12-21-time-person_x.htm

-----

2)  "Saddam loyalists" blamed for pipeline sabotage
     Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Iraqi officials on Sunday blamed loyalists of the recently captured
Saddam Hussein for sabotaging a vital stretch of oil pipeline and
blowing up a huge gasoline storage tank in Baghdad. The attacks that
set the north-south oil pipeline ablaze in at least four places
threatened to worsen an already dire shortage of gasoline that has
angered Iraqi drivers and fomented criticism that the U.S.-led
coalition is mismanaging postwar reconstruction." (12/22/03)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4281004.html

-----

3)  Gore's son busted on pot charges
     Yahoo! News

"The son of former vice president and 2000 Democratic presidential
candidate Al Gore has been charged with marijuana possession. Albert
A. Gore III, 21, was arrested Friday night after he was stopped for
driving a vehicle without its headlights on. Two passengers were also
arrested and charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. ... A
Montgomery County, MD, police officer stopped the car, a dark-colored
Cadillac, in Bethesda, a Washington suburb, around 11:30 p.m. Friday.
The officer noticed the car's windows and sunroof were open, despite
cold temperatures Friday night. There was also a smell of marijuana
coming from the vehicle, according to a news release from the police
department." (12/20/03)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031221/ap_on_re_us/gore_son_\
arrested
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2agu6

-----

4)  60 migrants feared lost in sinking
     Guardian [UK]

"Turkish rescue teams were searching yesterday for about 60 illegal
immigrants missing in the Mediterranean after their boat sank. The
ship, carrying migrants from Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan, left the
Turkish Mediterranean resort of Marmaris late on Saturday and was
heading to the Greek island of Rhodes when it sank, the local
governor, Huseyin Aksoy, said. Only one survivor has been found so
far. Rescuers picked 13 life vests from the water and some debris."
(12/22/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Refugees_in_Britain/Story/0,2763,1111556,00.html
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/33zbt

-----

5)  Hell freezes over
     ABC News

"Chinese legislators on Monday introduced a proposed constitutional
amendment to guarantee private property rights the first such
protection of the communist era. Lawmakers also proposed an amendment
to enshrine in the constitution the theories of Jiang Zemin, the
former leader who invited capitalists to join the Communist Party,
the official Xinhua News Agency said." (12/22/03)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20031222_168.html

-----

6)  Third parties say their time is now
     Stevens Point Journal

"As the two-party system choices -- donkey or elephant -- dominate
the political scene, Wisconsin's third-party leaders say they may not
have the cash or clout of a major party -- yet -- but they have a
voice. And that voice is growing through voter dissatisfaction.
'We're on the move,' said Ed Thompson, Libertarian Party of Wisconsin
chairman. 'There's a deep, deep, deep need for another voice, and I
think that's what people are looking for and what we're trying to
meet.' The Libertarian Party's state numbers have doubled since last
year's midterm elections to about 600 paying members, he said.
Pulling from both major parties, Thompson received 185,000 votes in
2002's gubernatorial race." (12/21/03)

http://www.wisinfo.com/journal/spjlocal/280093907617755.shtml

-----

7)  Man freed after judge mishears "guilty" verdict
     Ananova [UK]

"Legal experts in Australia admit they don't know what to do after a
judge freed an alleged rapist because he misheard the jury's guilty
verdict. ... The jury returned two not guilty verdicts on the charges
of rape and attempted rape but there is dispute over the verdict on a
third charge of burglary with intent. Justice Trevor Riley says he
heard the verdict as 'not guilty' and set the defendant free."
(12/19/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_848600.html

-----

8)  Border Patrol agent's death ruled accidental
     PHXNews.Com

"A U.S. Border Patrol agent accidentally drowned moments after
rescuing an immigrant from a swift-moving portion of the Colorado
River, authorities said Saturday. The body of James Epling, 24, was
found in the river Friday, three days after he was last seen along a
river trail near Andrade, Calif., just north of the Mexico border.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy
Saturday and found that Epling accidentally drowned, Border Patrol
spokesman Joe Brigman said. Epling had been chasing four suspected
illegal immigrants along the river Tuesday." (12/22/03)

http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=8174

-----

9)  Drug thugs flush after burglaries
     Pensacola News Journal

"Federal agents hauled off an array of items used to snort, weigh and
smoke cocaine, including sifters and scales. They got dozens of
plastic bags containing traces of the drug. ... On Thursday, 10 days
after U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers approved search warrants for
the properties, agents submitted a detailed inventory of what they
seized and where they found it. Not included in those reports are the
suspects' 41 vehicles that remain locked up at the Escambia County
Sheriff's Office, and four properties that the government also is
seeking. ... 'We would not, and have not, walked away from any
forfeitable asset,' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Len Register."
(12/21/03)

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/122103/Local/ST003.shtml

-----

10) School choice, limited options
     Washington Post

"Although the obstacles to school choice may be greater in Weldon
[NC] than elsewhere, the number of students changing schools under
the No Child Left Behind law is minuscule nationwide. In rural areas,
it is often difficult for parents to find more acceptable schools
without traveling great distances. Even in urban areas, good schools
are often crowded and reluctant to accept students from 'failing'
schools." (12/22/03)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20185-2003Dec21.html

-----

11) Relatives of Lockerbie victims seek probe
     USA Today

"Relatives of Britons killed when a Pan Am jet exploded over Scotland
in 1988 renewed calls for an independent inquiry into the bombing on
Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the attack. U.K. Families Flight 103,
a group representing families of British victims, said 'big and
important questions' still needed to be asked about the motive and
planning behind the attack, and the failure to prevent it."
(12/21/03)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-12-21-lockerbie-relatives_x.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/23o3w

-----

12) The harder hunt for bin Laden
     MSNBC

"Outwardly, Osama bin Laden's protectors in the mountains of
Afghanistan and Pakistan affect a haughty unconcern. Taliban fighters
in Pakistan, interviewed last week, laughed at the spectacle of a
disheveled and down-and-out Saddam Hussein getting hoisted out of his
hole, utterly abandoned by aides and bodyguards who once pledged to
die for him." (for publication 12/29/03)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3770221/

-----

13) Nation's threat level rising to orange
     Dodge City Daily Globe

"The government on Sunday raised the national threat level to orange,
indicating a high risk of terrorist attack, and said threat
indicators are 'perhaps greater now than at any point' since Sept.
11, 2001, with strikes possible during the holidays. ... Some of the
intelligence information gathered in the past few days suggests that
'extremists abroad' are anticipating attacks that will rival or
exceed the scope of those of Sept. 11, Homeland Security chief Tom
Ridge said." (12/21/03)

http://ap.dodgeglobe.com/stories/20031221/1743050.shtml

-----

14) Clark, Dean camps spar over vice president talk
     CNN

"A Democratic dust-up pitted the campaigns of retired Gen. Wesley
Clark and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean on Sunday, but the issue
was the vice presidency and not Dean's foreign policy positions,
which have come under regular attack from some other candidates.
Speaking in a taped interview on ABC's 'This Week,' Clark said Dean
had asked him to be his running mate should Dean win the Democratic
nomination in a conversation before Clark entered the race."
(12/21/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/21/elec04.prez.democrats/

-----


15) Power blackout snarls San Francisco
     MSNBC

"Thousands of customers remained without power Sunday following a
massive blackout that disrupted traffic, shut down transit stations
and, at its height, left a third of the city without electricity on
one of the busiest days of the holiday season. The power outage
started just before 6 p.m. Saturday when a fire erupted at a major
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. substation that feeds smaller neighborhood
substations." (12/21/03)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3773194/

-----

16) US launches anti-insurgent operation
     CNN

"U.S. troops overnight launched a new operation targeting anti-
coalition insurgents, the military said Sunday, capturing more than
100 enemy personnel and confiscating arms caches. The U.S. Army's 3rd
Armored Cavalry Regiment launched Operation Rifles Fury on Sunday,
joining the 82nd Airborne's Task Force All American, the 4th Infantry
Division's Operation Iron Horse and other units chasing insurgents, a
military spokeswoman said." (12/21/03)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/21/sprj.irq.main/

-----

17) Weed police on the way
     MAPINC

"Athletes who have taken a page from a 1960s textbook on casual drug
use will be in for a sobering surprise come next year. Beginning Jan.
1, 2004, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport will add marijuana
to their list of banned substances -- and athletes will be randomly
tested for the drug during competitions. ... the CCES decided to
adopt the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list -- which
includes marijuana -- in a continued effort to provide mandatory
international standards for the sport world. The blood drawn by
Scatliff usually to test for steroids in athletes' systems will now
also be tested for levels of cannabis." (12/21/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1959/a02.html?397

-----

18) US neo-conservatives jubilant over WMD agreement
     Independent [UK]

"After months on the defensive because of the deteriorating security
situation in Iraq, the neo-conservative hawks responsible for the
Bush administration's doctrine of pre-emptive warfare were quietly
jubilant over the weekend following Libya's climb down over weapons
of mass destruction (WMD) and other significant gestures by Iran and
Syria. The Libyan leadership's decision to abandon its weapons
programme was a vindication, they said, of the long-standing argument
that invading Iraq would give other countries an unambiguous signal
of what they could expect if they pursued positions of defiance
towards the United States." (12/22/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=475394

-----

19) Bradenton man shoots, kills intruder
     Brandenton News

"About 11 p.m., police said, Richard Bing Jr., 35, forced his way
into the house at 519 21st Ave. W. Inside the home, Bing put a gun to
a female resident's head, the woman told police. Instead of robbing
her, police said, Bing was shot to death. Ronald Cote, who owns the
house according to the Manatee County [FL] Property Appraisers
database, came into the room and shot Bing, killing him instantly."
(12/21/03)

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7541752.htm

-----

20) PETA goes to the ballet
     Christian Science Monitor

"Some of the mothers and children attending 'The Nutcracker' ballet
Monday night at the Lincoln Center may get more than just the Sugar-
Plum Fairy, Mouse King, and an army of toy soldiers. They might get a
protest. People for the Equitable Treatment of Animals is deploying
its activists to distribute a controversial new flier in front of the
New York State Theater before the show. ... The graphic leaflet,
which promotes an antifur message, looks like a comic book and
features an illustration of a knife-wielding woman stabbing a
horrified rabbit. At the top, a message reads, 'Your mommy kills
animals!'" (12/22/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1222/p12s02-ussc.html

-----

21) Pilot is accused of showing up drunk to fly jetliner
     Boston Globe

"A veteran Virgin Atlantic Airways pilot was in a Virginia jail
yesterday facing a charge that he showed up drunk to fly a planeload
of almost 400 passengers to London. The airline said Richard George
Harwell, 55, an American living in England, had a spotless record
during 14 years as a Virgin pilot. 'He was suspended with immediate
effect pending an internal investigation,' said John Riordan, a
Virgin Atlantic spokesman. Police at Washington Dulles International
Airport in suburban Virginia seized Harwell aboard Virgin Atlantic
Flight 22 on Friday night after being summoned by the Transportation
Security Administration, whose screeners had detected alcohol on
Harwell's breath." (12/21/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2003/12/21/pilot_is_accuse\
d_of_showing_up_drunk_to_fly_jetliner/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2fwfx

-----

22) Drug use by US teens declining
     Fox News

"American teenagers are cutting back on their use of illicit drugs
and cigarettes, but alcohol consumption is holding steady, the
government says. An annual survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders
done for the Department of Health and Human Services, found declines
in many kinds of drugs for high school students, especially for
Ecstasy and LSD. Overall, the Bush administration said the annual
survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed an 11
percent drop in illegal drug use in the past two years, slightly
surpassing President Bush's goal of a 10 percent reduction during
that period." (12/19/03)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106256,00.html

-----

23) Privacy law stalls public praise of good grades
     Tennessean

"No more honor roll lists in the school hallway. Nix the newsletters
to parents that applaud students' academic performance. Cancel the
pep rallies where students cheer their peers for good grades. Metro
schools are coping with a legal reminder that no child's academic
information -- even it it's good -- can be publicized in any way
without parental permission. Because most schools don't have that
permission from parents, the time-honored ways of rewarding good
students are on hold." (12/19/03)

http://tennessean.com/education/archives/03/12/44328052.shtml

-----

24) Chief denies violating protest-speech rights
     Washington Times

"Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey yesterday said his
department has made some mistakes in handling large-scale protests,
but he denied trying to limit free-speech rights with a mass arrest
during a demonstration at Pershing Park last year. 'There was no
conspiracy to try to violate anyone's rights in any manner, way,
shape or form,' the chief said during a D.C. Council hearing. 'We're
certainly not saying that we did anything that actually violated
rights. We made mistakes, but no one acted in anything other than
good faith.'" (12/19/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20031218-092617-4189r.htm

-----

25) Schools debate slave-era names
     Washington Times

"In the parking lot of Jefferson Davis Middle School [in Hamptom,
VA], a civil war of words is being waged over a petition drive to
erase the name of the slave-owning Confederate president from the
school. Opinion is mixed, and it's not necessarily along racial
lines. 'What are they going to name it, Allen Iverson Middle School?'
asks a black eighth-grader who says she doesn't pay much attention to
the petition effort, which she and her mother call ridiculous.
Iverson, an NBA player with a knack for attracting trouble, attended
Jeff Davis." (12/21/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20031220-113215-4024r.htm

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COMMENTARY

26) Pot luck
     Reason
     by Jacob Sullum

"This is the third case this year in which the 9th Circuit has tried
to define the boundaries of the Commerce Clause. Each decision has
been narrow: The first involved child pornography that never crossed
state lines and was not intended for distribution; the second dealt
with homemade machine guns that met the same criteria; and the most
recent one is limited to 'the intrastate, noncommercial cultivation
and possession of cannabis for personal medical purposes as
recommended by a patient's physician pursuant to valid California
state law.' But taken together, these rulings help revive the idea
that the Commerce Clause is not a blank check." (12/19/03)

http://www.reason.com/sullum/121903.shtml

-----

27) Telling Santa Claus to take a hike
     Town Hall
     by Paul Jacob

"We need to get rid of Santa Claus. Oh, sure, he does bring us
presents. But, what am I supposed to do with an ethanol subsidy or a
bridge project for Christmas, for heaven's sake?! I can't use stuff
like that and it won't fit under the tree. Did I say Santa Claus? No -
- er, well, you could call him Santa Claus because he plays one on
TV, but that is just an act -- his real name is Uncle Sam."
(12/21/03)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/pauljacob/pj20031221.shtml

-----

28) Neal Boortz is no John Galt
     Creative Loafing
     by John F. Sugg

"The Libertarian Party (libertarians with a big 'L') is holding its
national convention in Atlanta in May, and the party has invited
Boortz to be a speaker. I'm told by Libertarian activists the
decision was rooted in the group's cheapness -- they didn't want to
foot the freight for major talent. Well, you get what you pay for
.... Boortz is no libertarian. He is a sorry shill for the Bush big-
government, interventionist, xenophobic, authoritarian regime.
Imposing our will on the world, looting resources and guaranteeing
Halliburton billions in profits -- that isn't free trade; it's
empire. Gutting the Bill of Rights, spying on law-abiding citizens,
manipulation through agitprop -- that isn't freedom; it's slavery."
(12/18/03)

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2003-12-18/fishwrapper.html

-----

29) Public education fails
     LewRockwell.Com
     by Charley Reese

"We cannot correct what's wrong with public education using mandatory
tests. The main problem with public education is that it is a
political institution controlled by politicians. They have screwed it
up, but as usual, they will not admit their own failings and instead
blame teachers, students and parents." (12/22/03)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese21.html

-----

30) Dictators R Us
     AlterNet
     by Noam Chomsky

"Last December, Jack Straw, Britain's foreign secretary, released a
dossier of Saddam's crimes drawn almost entirely from the period of
firm U.S.-British support of Saddam. With the usual display of moral
integrity, Straw's report and Washington's reaction overlooked that
support. Such practices reflect a trap deeply rooted in the
intellectual culture generally -- a trap sometimes called the
doctrine of change of course, invoked in the United States every two
or three years. The content of the doctrine is: 'Yes, in the past we
did some wrong things because of innocence or inadvertence. But now
that's all over, so let's not waste anymore time on this boring,
stale stuff.'" (12/21/03)

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17435

-----

31) A Darwin Award for government
     Liberty For All
     by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

"If we do a Darwin Award for individuals who manage to kill
themselves through stupidity what do we give to honor those who
manage to destroy lives and opportunities for others through
manipulation of legislation and policy? Muddy thinking is a waste of
time and resources. It hurts individuals and confused the issue. Our
military has been used as a reengineering ground for the idea that
male/female individuals are basically the same. This is like using
your best china for Frisbees." (12/22/03)

http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/jan9/darwin.html

-----

32) Libya: Will the US take "yes" for an answer?
     AntiWar.Com
     by Justin Raimondo

"The decision by Libya's Moammar Qadaffi to come clean, so to speak,
and give up his weapons of mass destruction is being touted, by the
War Party, as proof that their program of 'regime change' in Iraq has
put the fear of God -- or, at least, of Washington and London -- in
the region's bad boys. But to anyone who has been paying the least
bit of attention to Libya and its eccentric leader for the past
decade or so, this contention is utter nonsense." (12/22/03)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j122203.html

-----

33) The medical marijuana win
     Sierra Times
     by Carl F. Worden

"The recent medical marijuana decision issued by the federal Ninth
Circuit Court enforces a state’s right to overrule the federal
Controlled Substances Act of 1970 if certain conditions are met with
regard to marijuana use that is recommended by a physician. Among
others, one of the conditions the judges stipulated is that the
marijuana must not be sold. To a sharp defense attorney, that
stipulation is significant and potentially more far-reaching than the
Ninth Circuit may have intended. I will explain." (12/21/03)

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/12/21/ar_THE_MEDICAL_MARIJUANA_WIN.htm

-----

34) The year of the liar
     Salon
     by Heather Havrilesky

"Stephen Glass is still grilled and second-guessed openly, ImClone
CEO Sam Waksal is pictured leaving the courthouse, looking pale and
fearing his impending stay in prison, President Bush is interrogated
about how he can support a war that was so firmly focused on the
imminent threat of weapons that seem not to have existed at all. But
eventually, these figures are folded back into the realm of the
acceptable, as if lying is not only expected but the lies themselves
are only relevant for a very short time, and once our interest in
those lies (or the prison term) expires, then the liar is returned to
the same position in society -- or an even higher position -- than he
or she held before." [subscription or ad view required] (12/22/03)

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2003/12/22/liar/

-----

35) The bone in Beijing's throat
     WorldNetDaily
     by Pat Buchanan

"During the early Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev referred to West
Berlin, the free city of 2 million surrounded by the Red Army and
East Germany, as 'a bone in our throat.' That bone helped kill the
Soviet Empire. Now, the bone in Beijing's throat is Taiwan."
(12/22/03)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36251

-----

36) Illusions of power
     Ludwig von Mises Institute
     by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"Critics accuse libertarians of reveling in government failures. Yes
and No. No one is pleased to see the destruction caused by government
policies, whether small scale, as when a tighter regulation causes
business failures, or large scale, as when wars destroy life for
millions." (12/19/03)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1396

-----

37) Judicial blows against military tyranny
     Future of Freedom Foundation
     by Jacob G. Hornberger

"Ever since the September 11 attacks, U.S. military officials, led by
their commander in chief, have taken the position that the war on
terrorism effectively granted them the unrestrained power to seize
any American and punish him without due process of law, by simply
labeling him an 'illegal combatant' in the government’s war on
terrorism. That’s exactly what they did with Padilla, an American
citizen." (12/19/03)

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0312i.asp

-----

38) Data debase
     The American Prospect
     by Max Blumenthal

"Steven Spielberg's 2002 film Minority Reportdepicted a futuristic
dystopia in which a 'Department of Pre-Crime' jails people for acts
they haven't yet committed. In an apparent case of life imitating
art, Spielberg's Shoah Foundation -- a nonprofit the film director
established in 1994 to videotape and preserve the testimonies of
Holocaust survivors -- has handed over the words of 51,000 Holocaust
survivors to aid a team of government-funded researchers in
developing a revolutionary technology inspired by elements of the
Pentagon's scuttled domestic-surveillance program, Total Information
Awareness (TIA)." (12/19/03)

http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2003/12/blumenthal-m-12-19.html

-----

39) Vindication improves chances for sound science to be heard
     Competitive Enterprise Institute
     by staff

"The official dismissal of charges of scientific dishonesty against
Bjørn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, is a defeat
for environmental propagandists who are trying to suppress scientific
debate through personal smear attacks. It therefore should encourage
rational public discourse on environmental issues." (12/19/03)

http://cei.org/gencon/019,03783.cfm

-----

40) George Soros targets 2004 elections
     Citizens for a Sound Economy
     by Rob Jordan

"'The 2004 presidential race is a matter of life and death,' Soros
told the Washington Post recently. 'It is the central focus of my
life.' Soros and a partner backed up those words with a gift of $10
million to MoveOn.org, a liberal activist group that is driving the
Howard Dean campaign. Soros has already made $15.5 million in
personal contributions to groups targeting President Bush. Even
worse, he’s pledged to spend a total of $25 million to the 2004
election cycle." (12/19/03)

http://www.cse.org/informed/issues_template.php/1649.htm

-----

41) Peddling ourselves to death
     Fred On Everything
     by Fred Reed

"I've found a socially conscious use for nerve gas. Advertisers. I'm
going to embalm them with it. I've cooked up about a gallon. The
recipe is on the internet: 3,4-diethylbenzopolywannacrackerine. The
feedstock is triphenyldeoxymoron ... but I'm getting technical.
Anyway it's great stuff. If I threw it out the window, it would kill
every fly between here and the Guatemalan border. (Watch. In five
minutes the FBI will have ninja'd-out agents swinging through my
window on ropes, like federal piñatas, to arrest me for Terrorist
Thought. I'll have to replace the screens. The price of liberty is
mosquitoes.)" (12/22/03)

http://fredoneverything.net/Peddling.htm

-----

42) Got rig envy? Try Viagra
     Miami Herald
     by Dave Barry

"By the 15th pickup-truck commercial, you are no longer able to focus
on the pregame show, because you're feeling deeply insecure about the
size of your Camry. You wonder if you could trade it in for a pickup
truck. Of course, you'd have to convince your wife that there were
practical benefits. ('Look, honey! It has a 1,700-pound payload! I
could carry 250 gallons of wonton soup!') But your wife would never
see the need for a truck. Your wife is -- face it -- a woman. And
just then, when you're starting to get really depressed, they finally
stop showing truck commercials. You heave a sigh of relief, only to
realize they are now showing: Viagra commercials." (12/21/03)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/7536760.htm
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/2nq3a

-----

43) Bush's big budget double talk
     Capitol Hill Blue
     by Dale McFeatters

"Under President Bush, the federal budget has been driven deep into
the red thanks to generous spending, successive tax cuts, the war and
a momentarily slowing economy. Now there are the first signs that the
record deficits might become a political issue for Bush." (12/19/03)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3746.shtml

-----

44) Be careful whom you get in a car with
     Christian Science Monitor
     by Warren Richey

"Parents of teenagers now have an additional incentive to really get
to know their children's friends and acquaintances. It is called
Maryland v. Pringle. That's the title of a US Supreme Court decision
announced this week that, for the first time, authorizes a police
officer who discovers contraband in a car to arrest every occupant of
the car when no one admits to ownership of the illicit item."
(12/19/03)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1219/p12s01-usju.html?usaNav

-----

45) Of polliwogs and pork
     San Francisco Chronicle
     by Sheryl Gay Stolberg

"The measure includes $200,000 for the University of Hawaii to
produce a documentary on the Kalahari bushmen, $220,000 to renovate a
blueberry research facility at the University of Maine and, in a
provision Sen. Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, called ‘most
ironic,’ $500,000 for the ‘Exercise in Hard Choices’ program at the
University of Akron, which examines how Congress makes budget
decisions. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the House Majority leader, said
the $820 billion measure was filled with ‘sound, disciplined
policies, funded at reasonable, responsible levels.’"(12/20/03)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/12/20/MNGBL3RJP01.DTL
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/296lq

-----

46) Prejudging the 9/11 report
     Boston Globe
     by Thomas Oliphant

"The problem is not Tom Kean's assertion that the terrorist attack on
the United States two years ago was preventable, it is President
Bush's repeated assurance that it was not. The vaunted Bush attack
machine stirred briefly last week, but paused before ginning up the
conservative establishment for an assault on the moderate Republican
chairman of the commission investigating Sept. 11, 2001. Instead, the
White House decided to lead a fresh burst of weird propaganda on a
nearly two-year-old theme about unconnected dots and intelligence
chatter, designed to create the impression that the attacks were
literally bolts from the blue instead of evidence that the government
had been caught napping." (12/21/03)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/12/21/prej\
udging_the_911_report/
TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/3dwgw

-----

47) What "guns and butter" means
     Washington Times
     by Alan Reynolds

"The old 1960s slogan 'guns and butter' is suddenly everywhere. A
feature story in the New York Times was headlined, 'Bush can have
both guns and butter, at least for now.' ... The TV show 'The West
Wing' once ran an episode called 'Guns Not Butter.' But the fictional
President Bartlett is supposed to be a former economics professor. In
economics, the tradeoff between guns and butter refers to the whole
economy, not just the federal branch of government. And it has
nothing to do with inflation." (12/21/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20031220-101756-4290r.htm

-----

48) Taxpayers paid dearly, often for outrages of 2003
     Tennessean
     by Tim Chavez

"The outrages of 2003 in Tennessee were a columnist's dream and a
taxpayer's nightmare: [For example,] K-12 Education Outrage: The
Tennessee State Board of Education decided that a high school
graduating only 60% of its students should not be labeled as doing a
poor job and thus needing corrective action. Education public policy
in Tennessee is still under the grip of the state teachers' union and
career education bureaucrats -- more concerned with keeping standards
low so they stay in power." (12/21/03)

http://tennessean.com/opinion/equaltime/archives/03/12/44388871.shtml

-----

49) Science behind the times?
     Washington Times
     by Patrick J. Michaels

"Everyone who reads Science -- the journal of the lobbying
organization the American Association for the Advancement of Science -
- knows it only accepts one side of the global warming story in its
'Compass' and 'Perspectives' sections, and in its more opinionated,
mainline articles. Anyone who writes otherwise for those sections
gets a quick rejection. That's understandable because global warming
is scheduled to pay U.S. scientists about $4.2 billion next year, and
the AAAS is just doing its job keeping the customers happy. But
sometimes they go a little overboard in their one-sided zeal ..."
(12/21/03)

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20031220-101740-6862r.htm

-----

50) The G word
     Tom Paine
     by Andrew Korfhage

"Marcus McLaurin has two mothers. For imparting this bit of family
information, in the vernacular of a seven-year-old, to another
student in his Louisiana school, Marcus found himself pulled out of
recess and assigned to an early-morning behavior clinic. School
behavior reports made public by his mother, Sharon Huff, show that
her son’s teacher wrote that Marcus had 'explained to another child
that you are gay and what being gay means.' The teacher, Terry
Bethea, underlined the word gay twice, in case Huff missed the point.
'He told the other child that gay is when a girl likes a girl,' the
teacher wrote. 'This kind of discussion is not aceptable in my
room.'" (12/19/03)

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9655


MOVEMENT