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August
24, 2004
It is warm
and windy in the northern Great Plains today, as gusts come from the campaigns
across the nation, and as those campaigns heat up! The news and views
expressed herein are also likely to heat up folks, as recent feedback
indicates. They are NOT necessarily those of TPoL, FMN, FND, RRND, or
anyone else but the author! Please support and read FND -
click here -- AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!!
1- Army's
JetBlue data-mining didn't violate privacy law
Wired
I can't fault the IG's logic - the problem is that the so-called privacy
laws are so full of loopholes that they are effectively meaningless. With
our current government (no, not just our current administration) we will
see no better!
2- Data-mining
consumer information for votes
Wired
Wired (and Sunni) are on a roll - no matter what you want to do with it,
data is out there to help you spend money, save money, and target your
best potential customers (and worst enemies). Is monkey-wrenching the
only solution - trash and destroy the data, and corrupt what's left?
3- More
no-fly follies
Washington Post
The more we learn about the so-called security measures instituted in
the panic after Bloody Tuesday (9-11), the more we see they can do nothing
to stop similar such terrorist acts, and exist only to give more power
and control over travelers and society as a whole. If Joseph Smith, Junior
is on the no-fly list, Joe Smith, Jr. might not be - or Junior Joe Smith,
or Smith, Junior Joe. Neat!
4- Dismantling
CIA proposed
Boston.com
This proposal shows that the 'onoruble Congrus-crittur believes no more
than I do that there will be any significant reform of the intelligence
system - otherwise he'd never propose this, any more than Tom Delay would
propose ending the income tax if he seriously thought it could happen
in his lifetime. Sigh - but it would be nice. Even a world in which federal
agencies and military units could go to a GSA catalog and pick out a commercial
intelligence package, complete with statistics on past performance and
capabilities, would be a nice change from the mess we have.
5- U.S.
voting machine certifiers keep tests, results mum
Arizona Daily Star
The entire idea behind gambling machines is to part the sucker from his
money as quickly as possible, while giving a little (as little as possible,
it seems to be) pleasure and hope of "free money" to the sucker,
so that she does it over and over again. Yet states (themselves outright
partners in this sick enterprise) bend over backwards to "keep the
games honest" and spend millions (of their ill-gotten gains) to do
so. Yet they don't even make a pretense of taking the exact same measures
to "ensure an honest vote."
So, as far as guvmint goons are concerned (as if we didn't know it already),
our voting IS NOT important enough to worry about government dictates
on trade secrets for voting - but since the gambling funnels money into
their pockets, the gambling IS IMPORTANT to them!
6- Human
RFID implants provoke wide negative reaction
c|net news
It is great that companies are listening to people - but it isn't surprising
that people are spooked by this idea. Not just premillenialists with their
fear of "666" but anyone familiar with science fiction and the
use of tatoos, bugs, and electronic devices should not just reject implants
but work to get other people to do so as well.
7- Moving
to create a truly free state
Washington Times
Not really a bad article at all, but notice it is the Times and not the
Post - which I am sure views the FSP much more negatively. (BTW - lest
anyone wonder - I support the Free State Project in New Hampshire for
anyone EAST of the Mississippi who wants to; but as a westerner - thanks
but no thanks.)
8- U.S.
Defense Dept office caught in contracting scam
GovExec.com
The temptations placed in front of DoD KOs are so great because of the
vast funds, the bizarre requirements, and other problems; that it is no
surprise when someone like this guy gives in. Unless we can reduce the
money available and the power of government in general, this kind of this
is just going to get more common AND ever larger in scale.
9- Federal
judge rules Defense of Marriage Act constitutional
Washington Times
I don't know whether this will cool the ardor of those so bent on getting
the FMA sent to the states or not, but I hope it will. We don't need any
more federal interference in marriage than we have now.
Mama's
Note: How is it we need what we've got? We don't need any government involved
with marriage or anything else.
10- Seattle
medicrats to jail man for not taking medication?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Oh,
my! If this poor guy doesn't get his shots, we are going to see the entire
city shut down and the dead lying in the street! Or so the health texts
(and nannies) would tell us. And too many people believe the scare-tactics,
and see this guy as an exception to individual rights to decide how to
medicate ourselves.
Here we
find an area where we, as libertarians, really have to examine our principles
and carefully make sure we are on the right side. This guy has TB, and
one thing we KNOW about TB is that it can spread like wildfire, and that
a single carrier can almost single-handedly start an epidemic. By refusing
to take his medicine, which would at least end his danger to others, is
this guy committing a criminal act of aggression (by libertarian standards)
against everyone he comes in contact with, direct or indirect? Or is he
simply a victim of medicrats who are nannying him and everyone else? Is
there some alternative to him having to take medicine (which he obviously
doesn't want to take) to protect others, and let him die from the nasty
if he wants to? Jailing him might reduce the threat he poses to others
- exile or coventry would do the same, but better. Just shooting him might
work, too. But would even voluntary government see him as a threat to
life, liberty and property? It could be!
Seriously,
is there a way that this guy COULD be a threat to citizens and neighbors?
Well, I suppose if he went around spitting on food being served at cafes,
or perhaps starting licking people, some action might need to be taken
- but just because he won't take his shots? Please!"
11-
Fear-mongering
surrounds new alcohol delivery device in New York
Boston.com
In the words of Zephod's shrink, the nannies are obviously well-adjusted
and reacting just as expected - a situation common since someone brought
coffee to Europe from America - "it's new, it's different, it MUST
be bad - let's ban it!" Of course, such a knee-jerk reaction serves
the nannies well - they stake out their negotiating position early, and
sure enough we compromise.
12- California
cemetery offers green twist to burial plans
San Francisco Chronicle
An interesting idea - actually a bunch of good ideas together, typically
Marin, and yet a bit macabre - 500 people on a "waiting list"
for grave sites is a bit weird, no? Notice they still have to go through
the same permitting and regulatory route, even though they've eliminated
virtually all of the negatives about burying bodies.
13- Florida's
socmed law doesn't allow cheaper treatment for woman
Sun-Sentinel
One of the MANY hidden negatives about socialized medicine is the fact,
in a system governed by rules where everything allowed is compulsory and
everything not authorized is forbidden is this - anything newer, cheaper,
or different, is likely to be prohibited.
14- Alabama
judicrats bungle drunk driver cases
Montgomery Advertiser
"20 or more DUIs" and yet see how much time is wasted on lowering
DUI levels from 0.1 to 0.08! With private roads and a private judicial
system, I think most of these guys would be permanently on-foot.
15- Kiwi
socialized medicine brings predictable result
New Zealand Herald
Here we see two more bad aspects of socialized medicine: a complete ignorance
of the market system, which continues to work regardless of whether people
believe in it or not; and the drag of government regulation (typified
by the paperwork) on accomplishment.
16- Russian
oil companies capitalize on price jumps
Moscow Times
Oh dear - price gouging! No, Virginia, what you see is a free market responding
to demand and supply - a system not totally dead in the world, even if
the US has killed it in the oil business. By artificially pricing new
refineries out of existence (through permitting and environmental costs),
we suffer, but someone will earn good profits from our suffering!
17- Taiwan
gov to pass downsizing bill?
eTaiwanNews
Unfortunately all this does is reduce the SIZE of the legislature, and
NOT reduce the cost of guvmint, the number of other employees (the buro-rats),
or other things. Still, it is a good start!
18- Fat-reducing
microwave oven unveiled
Reuters
I venture it is a fad that won't last - that fat tastes too good, and
this is just one more way of getting rid of something that no one wants
to get rid of!
19- Kenyan
police kill Maasai tribesman in clash over land
BBC
There was no doubt someone would get hurt by this government grab - and
now we have the first dead, and no sign that the Kenyan government can
even pretend to admit it is sorry.
20- Canadian
police push for greater snooping powers
Globe and Mail
I gather that the various LEO-types aren't reading their own local newspapers
or listening to their communities - more and more Canadians distrust their
own cops, from the tiny hamlet marshall to the chief Mountie himself.
2- Hunter
wins round 2
TPoL by The Hunter
I normally don't comment on the commentary, but this is really a piece
of news that won't show up in the Times, on Fox, or even WND, and it is,
like Hunter says, a mixed piece of news to boot: it is a holding action,
and the wounded comrade has been removed from immediate danger, but the
battle is not even over, much less the war. It is a hard compromise to
accept, as I know from bitter personal experience. Thanks to Hunter for
fighting in there as long as he has.
Nathan Barton is an environmental engineer and libertarian working in
the western US.
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