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July 05
, 2004
The following
comments are those of the author, not necessarily those of anyone else,
and he has no official standing with FMN or FND. Fortunately, TPoL is
willing to put up with him, and he thinks that's pretty neat! For lots
of news and commentary, go sign up for FND at http://free-market.net/news/
1- TSA
busybodies tweak federal code to give their snooping privacy
Just as was intended by the way the Congress-critturs wrote the Privacy
Act - privacy for them, not for us (except from family and small business,
of course). But this is a good example of how intolerable our system has
become, and a brief refresher/primer for those not familiar with with
what the CFR and other things are, and how the system works (or fails
to). The mess is complicated. I'll quote freely from the Government Printing
Office, but won't worry about showing everything in quotes.
(Click here to read Nathan's article on this subject)
2- Army
study confirms high mental toll on Iraq troops
Not unexpected, and if this 20% rate is higher than in other wars such
as WW2, Korea, or even Vietnam, it is because of the nature of the occupation,
and the overall tempo not just in Iraq but around the world. Any good
commander would/could predict this based on general morale and re-enlistment
problems.
3- Microsoft
antitrust settlement upheld
One reason big business seems to be growing more dominant - anyone but
Microsoft would probably have given up long ago and just disappeared.
4- So
much for the Medicare discount-card welfare plan
Certainly we need to take anything from the AARSP (Am. Assn of Retired
Socialist Persons) with a large grain of salt, but this does point to
the fact that the President and Congress are just treating symptoms, and
ignoring the true problems with health care costs, foremost of which are
the myriad interventions of government at all levels, from building inspectors
to congressional tinkering with "privacy" and other issues.
5- U.S.
taxpayers to fund Amtrak expansion in Wisconsin?
More pork and more pork and more debt and more debt...
6- The
Fed finally hikes interest rates
It has just been a matter of time: but this will hit some people very
hard. Of course, it would be interesting to see what a negative interest
rate would have done to the economy, wouldn't it?
7-
After 25 years, feds say island's name will stay Rhode Island
Is anyone else just a bit peeved by this kind of nonsense? Why should
two government boards, one of ten appointed busybodies and one of one
elected and six nonelected "leaders" override thousands of people?
To say nothing of confusing all the rest of us. I've gotten tired of explaining
that Rhode Island (the state) ISN'T an island, and this just makes things
worse. Of course, this will be a great question for next year's National
Geographic Bee, no?
8- Bye-bye
email privacy, thanks to Mass. appeals court
I may be stupid, but I can't understand the logic in this: a phone conversation
can be recorded, and a telegraph or telex message written or printed out
and saved, and how is that different from storage on a server while being
transmitted? If you don't know how to use PGP, learn NOW. (Click
here for free encryption downloads from PGP)
9- U.S.
gov drops all charges against Idaho student, if he leaves
It must be my day for being dense, but if they are dropping the charges,
how can they justify a deportation order?
10- Ohio
professor sues college over censorship
This case has been going on for 16 months now. The professor in question
is a Catholic, and he is teaching Philosophy - surely a suitable topic
in which to discuss his own religious background and basis, just as my
engineering philosophy professor did (in a state-run school) twenty-five
years ago. The continuing discrimination against certain religions in
schools and colleges grows. Even if he wins dozens of others, including
his students, lose. Colleges claim to support diversity, but certain things
are obviously beyond the pale.
11- South
Dakota cops stopped Janklow lots, but gave no tickets
This is absolutely NOT news in South Dakota, where Janklow was infamous
for his speeding, and for the fear he created in hundreds of state employees
and thousands and thousands of state citizens. His speed-for-free, despite
his implied claims in the interview, was not limited to when he was governor
- he was stopped at least twice without getting tickets when NOT governor,
when he was running against me for the empty governor's seat in 1994,
once (by his own word) for 90+ on I-29. Of course, I would believe him
when he says he never asked for special treatment: he didn't - he just
expected and demanded it. The various state highway patrol superintendents'
statements are also well-crafted: I am sure that they did not say "go
easy" but rather, something to the effect of "ignore his violations."
(One of them, by the way, is now a well-known anti-gun legislator.) Many
state patrol troopers are reputed to have been in Uncle Bill's legendary
"goon squad" to take care of lower-profile but troublesome political
opponents.
12- Tucson
boy-killing cop gets 40-hour suspension as punishment
Does anyone remember the scene (was it in Ben Hur?) where the Roman soldier
kills a woman by running her down in his chariot, and throws a few coins
to her parents? Sound familiar? To tyrants, "nits make lice."
13-
New Jersey Gov. signs record budget, hikes taxes
Government by deception, again, eh? What will it take to get a real tax
revolt going in even the worst states?
14- South
Carolina drug guild joins national busybodying
Of course, this will be sold as a "service" to their customers
and proof of their "professionalism," ignoring the corruption
in their own ranks and the harm the "improved controls" will
cause for thousands.
15- Nevada
county voters to decide if brothels stay?
While no doubt touted as a victory for "democratic government,"
we have to wonder just how many other moral decisions are supposed to
be decided by popular vote. Of course, this just adds to the already horrendous
list.
(Editor's
note: Morals and behavior are strictly personal. Government has no business
being involved at all and "voting" only imposes the will of
some on everyone. The only way we can hope to get other people to honor
our right to live by our beliefs and standards is to respect the equal
right of others to their own lives, even if we seriously disagree with
them. It just doesn't work any other way. MamaLiberty)
16- Indiana
gov outs tax resisters, hides tax-funded pension info
Hopefully someone has the storage space and bandwidth to at least publish
the data that was taken away and hidden. The tax-resister list should
be treated like a "hometown-do business with these folks" list,
instead. I think a lot of people would rather do business with a tax-resister
than with a tax-slave.
17- Illinois
starts new fiscal year without budget
Illinois, like California (see below) is one of the pacesetter states.
Of course, Illinois is better known than most for slavishly following
the Fedgov's lead, and how many times in the past decade has the Congrus-herd
failed to pass a budget on time?
Perhaps
if it did make lights go out and state workers not get paid, they'd quit
and go into free enterprise. We sometimes do not realize what a huge brain-drain
local, state, and federal governments are on the national economy, especially
on a local scale.
18- California
gov fails to reach budget deal before new fiscal year
Of course, this is the first time in that decade that there has been a
serious attempt to create a balanced budget and at least cut the rate
of increase of spending. But as with Illinois, I'd like to suggest to
the Terminator that there are a lot of things state buro-rats could do
in the free-enterprise sector...
19- Detroit
joins other cities in mandating slavery disclosures
Pandering to special interests, and on such an important issue! Perhaps
it is time to have Detroit disclose how much of it was built on land stolen
from Indians? And how many Michigander regiments burned out the Shenandoah
Valley and Georgia in 1864 and 1865?
20-
North Korea attempts extortion with U.S. over nuclear program
Once again, Kim Ill Junk is playing his best card: terrorizing the rest
of the world to get them to support his regime while he bleeds the Korean
people dry. He (and his father) have done this dozens of times, and it
seems the US and our allies never learn.
21- South
African gun owners to suffer more checks
The current socialist, racist masters of South Africa are also blind,
not having paid any attention at all to what is happening in Australia,
Canada, and the UK itself.
22-
"Fertility tourism" a consequence of EU enlargement?
And the problem with this is? Money and control lost to the moribund economies
of western Europe, for one, which is (of course) not really a problem
to people who can't have the children they want.
23- Japan
city police fake reports "to look good"
Showing that it is a worldwide problem, and that Japanese society is crumbling
as fast as the rest of the West.
24- Belarusian
KGB to get Soviet-era powers back?
Unfortunately, the translation on this article (not FMN's work, but the
newspaper's) is sadly lacking but it appears that the politicians are
giving in to the thug-bureaucrats in a big way, and the future is dim.
25- Ontario's
sex-registry law ruled unconstitutional
Canada's courts share our English tradition, and our modern deterioration
into madness and uselessness.
Editor's
note: (Once again, it is important to realize that government has no business
being involved in the personal lives of people this way. Societies have
always found ways to deal with predators of all kinds in voluntary cooperation
with each other. Governments tend to use such things for political purposes
and are terribly inefficient besides, making a simple mistake cost innocent
people their reputations and livelihood all too often. MamaLiberty)
26- Saddam
refuses to sign charges, declares Bush the real criminal
It would indeed set a very good (from a libertarian point of view, at
least) precedent if a head of state and head of government can be held
personally responsible for official acts he did. But Saddam is an excellent
politician (not a compliment in my book) and at least he will be entertaining
right up to the time they treat him for excessive height.
Click
here for Page two
Nathan
Barton is a christian and libertarian who is a libertarian BECAUSE he
is a Christian, and lives in and between South Dakota and Colorado.
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