Captain Courageous by Chris Floyd
We now know that in the very first weeks of the War on Terror, White House legal lackeys began concocting weasel-worded "findings" to justify a range of Torquemadan techniques while shielding Bush honchos from prosecution for the clear breaches of U.S. and international law they were already planning.
- posted by SARTRE @ 5:07 PM (0) comments

 
War, The American Tsunami by Charles E. Carlson
The single most important goal of American political leaders (or any politician) is to keep job levels up and to create the illusion of rising prosperity. This is done by diluting the currency--the result of spending money on " vitally necessary" causes that are, in fact, usually worthless and destructive, like the occupations of Iraq and Palestine, which are also paid for by American taxpayers. Some call this "inflation," which is the act of paying for jobs that don't produce anything.

- posted by SARTRE @ 4:54 PM (0) comments

 
The Death of a Constitutional Republic by Kurt Nimmo
Bush and his neocon cronies have marshaled in the beginning stages of a neo-feudal future long planned for us by the global elite and the corporatist plutocracy. In order to realize this tyranny, they must first completely emasculate and finally destroy the Constitution and convince the masses—most sufficiently dumbed-down through sub-standard education and anesthetized by an amoral consumerist culture—to accept military occupation and slavery. In a nation no longer anchored to a bedrock of set constitutional principles, it is a relatively small task to convince millions of people the government will protect them from evil terrorists and natural disasters (the former created in large part by the government and the latter at least scientifically possible for the government to unleash). As the horror show of military occupation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (and to a lesser extent, Hurricane Rita) demonstrates, Bush and his global elite masters have decided now is the time to pull out all the stops.


- posted by SARTRE @ 2:15 PM (0) comments

 
Backdoor Price Controls by William Anderson
Yes, if markets were permitted to work — in the absence of what can only be called the imposition of "economic crimes" as was the case in the former communist countries — people would see quick price increases, and no one who remembers paying about $1 per gallon likes to fill up at $3 for the same product. However, if the political classes insist upon levying "price-gouging" legislation, then we have to live with the consequences that always occur when governments interfere with legitimate market processes.
- posted by SARTRE @ 7:12 AM (0) comments

 
The times they are nothing if not risky in the extreme by Michael Murphy
The current intensity of conflict worldwide, as well as at home, means that to advance allegiance to a cause involves a degree of danger that blows a cold breath through life and might well make us all feel more alive.

It is not for no reason that men have always loved war.

Extreme conflict - facing death - presents one with the startling realization of the preciousness of today, a good thing to understand at any moment in one's life.
- posted by SARTRE @ 6:17 PM (0) comments

 
The Danger of Standing Armies by C.T. Rossi
Given that any public discourse about the siccing of military forces on American civilians involves the use of two Latin words, the smart money should not be on the side of liberty. A majority of Americans have grown apathetic and stupid as a result of big government handouts and (mis)education. While some may have been leery to repeal the funny sounding law in the name of terror prevention, there will likely little resistance to "amending" the law so that the government can "help people." Little do they think of past "helps" from "40 acres and a mule" up through the entire bungled Katrina relief effort.


- posted by SARTRE @ 6:18 AM (0) comments

 
Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business
A Reason debate featuring Milton Friedman, Whole Foods’ John Mackey, and Cypress Semiconductor’s T.J. Rodgers


- posted by SARTRE @ 7:54 AM (0) comments

 
A Flood of Red Ink: The fiscal fallout from Hurricane Katrina by Jacob Sullum
Heritage Foundation budget analyst Brian Riedl estimates the federal deficit, which was projected to be $331 billion this year before Katrina hit, will rise to $500 billion in 2008 and $873 billion in 2015, largely due to hurricane relief and reconstruction, together with spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. Riedl cautions that "even these estimates could prove overly optimistic."


- posted by SARTRE @ 8:06 AM (0) comments

 
Bill Would Permit DNA Collection From All Those Arrested by Jonathan Krim
The controversial measure was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and is supported by the White House, but has not gone to the floor for a vote. It goes beyond current law, which allows federal authorities to collect and record samples of DNA only from those convicted of crimes. The data are stored in an FBI-maintained national registry that law enforcement officials use to aid investigations, by comparing DNA from criminals with evidence found at crime scenes.

- posted by SARTRE @ 4:51 PM (0) comments

 
Calvin vs. Hobbes: Billy Graham's final 'decision'? by Curtis Dahlgren
You see, Thomas Hobbes turned out to be a Deist in spite of the Calvinistic environment at Oxford. When a bright young person rebels against his educational Establishment, it can turn out for the better or for the worse. In Hobbes' case, it turned out for the worse, and too many "mainstreamers" in America are more like Hobbesian deists than real Christians.

- posted by SARTRE @ 7:52 AM (0) comments

 
The Backdoor to Military Rule in America by Jacob G. Hornberger
Without any doubt, the most dangerous threat to the freedom of the American people in our lifetime lies with what might be called the Padilla doctrine, an exercise of such raw military power that, if upheld, will totally transform life in America as we know it. Unfortunately most Americans remain blissfully unaware of the ominous implications of this doctrine.
- posted by SARTRE @ 6:26 AM (0) comments

 
FEMA - The Secret Government by Harry V. Martin
FEMA was created in a series of Executive Orders. A Presidential Executive Order, whether Constitutional or not, becomes law simply by its publication in the Federal Registry. Congress is by-passed. Executive Order Number 12148 created the Federal Emergency Management Agency that is to interface with the Department of Defense for civil defense planning and funding. An "emergency czar" was appointed. FEMA has only spent about 6 percent of its budget on national emergencies, the bulk of their funding has been used for the construction of secret underground facilities to assure continuity of government in case of a major emergency, foreign or domestic.

- posted by SARTRE @ 8:45 AM (0) comments

 
American Life Under a National ID Card by Tom DeWeese
“The Real ID bill that has just passed Congress and will establish a national ID card within the next 18 months will transform all state motor vehicle departments into agents of the federal government. They have now been told to install a high tech computer chip into every single drivers license in every single state. That chip will be used to carry either a finger print or voice print. It will be used to track almost every single transaction made by every single American, including buying guns, using credit cards, buying gas, getting on an airplane or a train.”


- posted by SARTRE @ 3:49 PM (0) comments

 
Disaster relief? Call in the Marines by Mark Sappenfield
Posse Comitatus goes even further, giving only National Guard units the authority to act as law enforcement, because they are under the control of governors. Active-duty troops are being used in the Gulf relief efforts but only for humanitarian efforts and logistical support. The move to amend Posse Comitatus would likely give them law-enforcement powers.


- posted by SARTRE @ 8:40 AM (0) comments

 
That Other Statist 'Pledge' by William L. Anderson
The latest "Katrina Pledge," is simply another step in the bait-and-switch direction that Sojourners has taken since its inception. For one, the promise to "build a new America" raises the question of whether (1) spending tax dollars to repair roads and bridges and to help build back the homes, churches, and businesses that were damaged or destroyed amounts to "rebuilding America," or (2) the publication is advocating yet another round of destructive social engineering that helped set up the tragedy of New Orleans in the first place. My guess is that it is pushing for the latter.


- posted by SARTRE @ 6:52 AM (0) comments

 
Cindy Sheehan arrested in Manhattan by Five of Diamonds
I witnessed this with my own eyes. Here is my account.

Cindy Sheehan was arrested moments ago in Union Square, Manhattan for allegedly speaking in the square without the proper permit.

At the conclusion of her speech, from my perspective, a few loud and impassioned boos erupted, then I saw a hand come from behind Cindy and grab her shoulder-strap on her backpack. The arm jerked her backwards, with such force as to snap her head forward, and she fell from my view.


- posted by SARTRE @ 7:10 PM (0) comments

 
We Are Revolutionaries by Charley Reese
The philosophy of the American Revolution contains three basic premises. One is that rights come from God and are unalienable. Two is that men create governments to protect those rights. Three is that when government fails to protect those rights and becomes abusive of those rights, men have a right and even a duty to overthrow that government and create a new one.

Some Americans have so neglected their study of American history that the idea of violently overthrowing a government strikes them as, well, communist or some such. Of course, if the Founding Fathers had not violently overthrown the colonial government of Great Britain in North America, we would not be an independent nation.


- posted by SARTRE @ 7:18 AM (0) comments

 
The St. Patrick's Four to be tied again: Will the First Amendment survive? by Leigh Saavedra
Tomorrow, the rights of all peace activists go on trial. Representing us are four Catholic anti-war activists who have already stood trial for their stand against the invasion of Iraq. Now, more than two years later, cleared of the original charge of criminal mischief, they are being charged with conspiracy and will be tried again.

- posted by SARTRE @ 6:56 PM (0) comments

 
A Tale of Davy Crockett by Edward S. Ellis
I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money.
- posted by George @ 12:49 PM (0) comments

 
Artless Graft by Artless Graft
Into this pit of corruption will now go billions of federal monies. The same pols who wasted or pocketed government money before will get a new gusher to exploit. But in the history of Louisiana corruption it will rank as one of the more crude eras of graft. Even the Long brothers would have winced at William Jefferson's setting up a legal defense fund for his impending graft trial in the midst of a natural disaster.

- posted by SARTRE @ 7:33 AM (0) comments

 
Constitution-shredding in the Jose Padilla case by DOUG IRELAND
Why is the Padilla case so important? Because the right to freedom from arbitrary detention and to a jury trial is one of the fundamental rights for which the American Revolution was fought — it is enshrined in our Bill of Rights. As Thomas Jefferson wrote to Tom Paine in 1789, “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.” Imprisonment without trial is one of the ways in which the U.S. (through its annual State Department reports on human rights around the world) measures a country’s degree of despotism. Bush has asserted his power to keep Padilla in jail “until hostilities are ended” — but since Bush has also proclaimed the struggle against al Qaeda as one without any end in sight, Padilla could rot in prison for 20 years or more.

- posted by SARTRE @ 6:55 AM (0) comments

 
The Enablers by Chris Floyd
Thus, the Sept. 14 resolution was not necessary for the government to respond with "all necessary and appropriate force" to Sept. 11. However, it was necessary -- indeed, indispensable -- for an unpopular, illegitimate regime to put its radical agenda of military aggression, unrestricted corporate predation and elitist rule into practice. No doubt we'll see this Enabling Act invoked more and more as the unpopular Bushist Faction faces a rising tide of public dissent and dissatisfaction. Padilla may soon have plenty of company in his infinite legal limbo.

- posted by SARTRE @ 5:36 PM (0) comments

 
New Orleans: The Crystal Ball for the American Century by Mike Whitney
In any event, paid killers should never be used on American soil.New Orleans is looking more and more like a dress rehearsal for anambitious cross-country strategy. It is unlikely that any plan formilitarizing the country will evolve at a “snail’s pace” of one city at atime. The administration would have to take advantage of massive“casualty-producing” events occurring in many strategically important cities at the same time. (Coordinated terrorist attacks?) This would provide the necessary cover for the same scenario we see presently unfolding in New Orleans.
- posted by SARTRE @ 4:43 PM (0) comments

 
The United Gates of America by Leon Hadar
American society in the early 21st century make it less likely that any U.S. president can succeed in getting the members of the nation's middle class – that is, those who actually vote in elections – to support policies aimed at massive redistribution of wealth at home and costly military crusades abroad.

- posted by SARTRE @ 5:42 AM (0) comments

 
Eugene V. Debs and the Legacy of Dissent by MICKEY Z.
Eighty-seven years ago-on September 14, 1918- Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) was sentenced to ten years in prison for opposing U.S. entry into World War I.

The Espionage and Sedition Act is still on the books today.

- posted by SARTRE @ 2:08 PM (0) comments

 
The Great Society, America�s Ownership Society and Wars by Paul M. Weyrich
I understand some groups of observers must report positively because they have adopted policies in support of the war. I discount those reports. Reliable Taft Republicans, named for the late Senator Robert A. Taft, Sr., not his grandson, Governor Bob Taft of Ohio, have traveled to Iraq. Other trustworthy conservatives have told me that we already have lost the Iraqi War because we made false assumptions when we first went to Iraq. They believe that our failure to secure Iraq has allowed foreign terrorists to take control. When we leave Iraq, even if a constitution were approved, militant Muslims would take control and we would have two Iran-style situations to handle.

- posted by SARTRE @ 11:40 AM (0) comments

 
Reserved Powers by Jacob G. Hornberger
Today there is hardly any part of people’s economic lives that is not subject to control and regulation by government, both federal and state. When asked to cite the constitutional justification for such federal power, federal officials inevitably cite the “general welfare” clause of the Constitution, ignoring that, by setting up a government of enumerated powers, the last thing the Framers intended was to set up a federal government with such general powers over the citizenry.


- posted by SARTRE @ 6:09 AM (0) comments

 
Defenseless On the Bayou: New Orleans gun confiscation is foolish and illegal by Dave Kopel
Last week, we saw an awful truth in New Orleans: A disaster can bring out predators ready to loot, rampage, and pillage the moment that they have the opportunity. Now we are seeing another awful truth: There is no shortage of police officers and National Guardsmen who will obey illegal orders to threaten peaceful citizens at gunpoint and confiscate their firearms.


- posted by SARTRE @ 4:21 PM (1) comments

 
POLICE STATE IN AMERICA: Now Bush can lock up anyone forever without charge by Siddharth Varadarajan
What this means is that unless the Supreme Court overturns this verdict, the U.S. government can keep Mr Padilla, a U.S. citizen, in jail indefinitely, without charge. Worse, the government will be tempted to invoke this power against pretty much anyone it likes since the Appeals Court made no attempt to verify the authenticity of the allegations made against the prisoner. While the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says the judgment "does not authorize the government to designate and detain as an 'enemy combatant' anyone who it claims is associated with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups", the bitter truth is that U.S. citizenship will not protect individuals from being deprived of their liberty if the Administration decides they are a threat to U.S. national security. Its Guantanamo time for everyone. And since the war on terror has been described by U.S. officials as "an endless war", the period of incarceration will also be endless. This is precisely what the Italian scholar, Giorgio Agamben, means when he says the State of Exception -- which in 'democratic' countries is meant to be a 'provisional measure' -- has become a normal , routine, paradigmatic form of rule.


- posted by SARTRE @ 7:18 AM (0) comments

 
From Federal Failure Arises More Federal Power by Paul Craig Roberts
All Americans should be distressed that federal judges increasingly defer to powers, asserted by the executive branch, which nullify constitutional rights in the interest of some "higher" cause, such as the "war on terror." This is a certain path to tyranny. Once gained, unaccountable powers become permanent and can be used against whomever by future administrations. Are Republicans content for such powers to be in the hands of a President Hillary Clinton?


- posted by SARTRE @ 6:52 AM (0) comments

 
U.S. Can Confine Citizens Without Charges, Court Rules by Jerry Markon
A federal appeals court yesterday backed the president's power to indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen captured on U.S. soil without any criminal charges, holding that such authority is vital during wartime to protect the nation from terrorist attacks.

- posted by SARTRE @ 8:44 AM (0) comments

 
Katrina and the Constitution: the Rules Have Changed
New Orleans is “separate from the United States.” It is now a testing ground for the sort of incremental military dictatorship our elitist rulers have in mind for us. In the new New Orleans, parts of the Bill of Rights were hacked off over the last week—first the Fourth Amendment (cops and National Guard kicking in doors) and then the Second Amendment (same bunch confiscating guns) and, as Williams reveals, finally the First Amendment.

Meanwhile, here in Old America, where the Constitution is supposedly inviolable, the Sixth Amendment was shot down today: “A federal appeals court today sided with the Bush administration and reversed a judge’s order that the government either charge or free ‘dirty bomb’ suspect Jose Padilla,” the Associated Press reports.

- posted by SARTRE @ 8:20 AM (0) comments

 
All Out for Unified Mass Anti-War Protest Sept 24! by Dustin Langley
The Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC) applauds the agreement between the National September 24th Coalition (of which it is a part) and United for Peace and Justice to hold a unified anti-war protest in Washington D.C. on September 24. Now all attention and energy can be turned to building the biggest strongest protest possible to Shut Down the War and Bring the Troops Home Now!

- posted by SARTRE @ 7:55 AM (0) comments

 
New Orleans Begins Confiscating Firearms as Water Recedes By ALEX BERENSON and TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other firearms, said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police. "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons," he said.

But that order apparently does not apply to hundreds of security guards hired by businesses and some wealthy individuals to protect property. The guards, employees of private security companies like Blackwater, openly carry M-16's and other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said that he was aware of the private guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their weapons.


- posted by SARTRE @ 6:25 AM (0) comments

 
Defining Anarchy by Mark Davis
The main problem is that in spite of a long history of failure living up to its promises, so many people still see the statist-government system as the only available method of organizing society. When one government fails, statist drones can’t wait to revive it or start another one. The problem is perceived to be that it was the people who ran the system that failed and not the system itself. The blame game gets heated up as the bureaucrats immediately start pointing at each other. The sheep line up behind their “leaders” who “did all they could do” so that when the dust settles and the checks spending taxpayer monies get distributed, their loyalty will be rewarded. But these knaves are but a small band of thieves; it is the dupes who make it all possible.


- posted by SARTRE @ 7:00 AM (0) comments

 
For Iraq - Hang the History Teachers by Michael Scheuer
While our all-seeing neoconservatives, liberal internationalists, and realists argue about democratizing the Muslim world – their argument is not if we should, only how – the real authors of our Muslim-world disaster remain hidden. These wretches are America’s history teachers. They have failed so utterly that no leader in either party appears to understand U.S. history or the basically nontransferable nature of America’s experience. So ineffective have the teachers been that Americans – leaders and led – expect to replicate abroad the republic under which they live but about which they know almost nothing.


- posted by SARTRE @ 6:49 AM (0) comments

 
20 Years of TRUTH! by Gary Benoit
Over the last 20 years, TNA has often been first in reporting important facts and trends that did not appear until much later (and sometimes never appeared) in the major media. But far more important than being first is being right — and our long track record for accuracy is the real key to our subscriber loyalty and our effectiveness.

The mission of TNA is encapsulated by the slogan line on the cover — That freedom shall not perish. The abortion assault, which has claimed the lives of more than 45 million innocent victims since the infamous 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, is one example of where a precious freedom — the right to life — is under attack. Our liberties are also threatened by the incessant growth of the federal government far in excess of its constitutional authority. And they are threatened by the growing multinational network of alphabet soup agencies — the UN, ICC, IMF, EU, NAFTA, CAFTA, and the proposed FTAA — that the global architects intend to coalesce into a world government.


- posted by SARTRE @ 7:22 AM (0) comments

 
Call It By Its True Name by Jeff Knaebel
The true names of what we face are Slavery, Corporate Warfare State, Murder, Wanton Waste, Corruption and Destruction. I am calling things bluntly by their true names in order to help awaken us to the reality of our collective moral degradation.

How is it that we do not call the State by its true name of organized violence and perpetrator of mass murder? Is it because we live in a sea of lies, deceit, manipulation, secrecy and hidden agendas, such that even language is corrupted so far beyond recognition that we are expected to believe heads of State who tell us brazenly that war is peace, that murder is liberation?
- posted by SARTRE @ 6:41 AM (0) comments

 
Government Is Poor Public Sector Management by Michael S. Rozeff
What organization has power as its origin and abuse of power as its product? In the U.S., we answer the Federal, State, county, and local authorities: the State, our governments. Abuse is not restricted to bribery, cronyism, subsidy, favoritism, and so on, but more generally includes all mis-application and mis-management of power. Since States are everywhere, abuse of power is everywhere. Government is poor management. Let us focus on one aspect of it, namely, poor management of civilian enterprises. (The needless carnage during wars by the ineptitude of State-run military organizations is another subject.)


- posted by SARTRE @ 6:14 AM (0) comments

 
Thomas Jefferson, Warmonger? by C.J. Maloney
What Thomas Jefferson wrote, in full, was "the tree of liberty must be refreshed, from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants," and he was speaking approvingly of the men who fought the government during Shays' Rebellion. The patriots he spoke of are We the People, Joe Six-Pack, the masses. He called to "let the people arm themselves." The tyrants are not foreign, but domestic, not in Baghdad and Kabul, but in Washington, D.C.


- posted by SARTRE @ 7:16 AM (0) comments

 
Milking the New Orleans Disaster for All It's Worth by Gary North
There is the naïve belief among political liberals that Washington can save the public from high-risk decisions that we citizens accept voluntarily because the decisions are cheaper – for a while, anyway.

Why was New Orleans vulnerable? Because it was located on the Mississippi River? Of course not. Because the city is six feet below sea level? Perish the thought. It was vulnerable because of the spread of modern technology.


- posted by SARTRE @ 6:55 AM (0) comments

 
The State and the Flood by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
No one can escape the influence of a prevailing ideology," wrote Ludwig von Mises, and Gulf Coast residents know precisely what it means to be trapped — ostensibly by a flood but actually by statist policies and ideological commitments that put the government in charge of crisis management and public infrastructure. For what we are seeing in New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast region is the most egregious example of government failure in the United States since September 11, 2001.
- posted by SARTRE @ 7:37 AM (0) comments