statism

Community organizers train to enroll the masses in Obamacare

"Their work is key to the success of the new law in its first year, when the Obama administration seeks to enroll as many as 7 million people, including 2.7 million young and healthy people who are cheaper to insure, for 2014. Oregon and Vermont have already begun training their enrollment advisers, while Connecticut and Washington are just starting up and other states, including Illinois and New York, will commence later this summer. The playbook for these ambassadors focuses on two main points: First, tell people how they will benefit from Obamacare; second, stay away from divisive political talk." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCommunity organizers train to enroll the masses in Obamacare

Manchester officials nab five illegal taxis in sting operation

"With most taxis grounded over maintenance issues, city police and licensing officials nabbed five gypsy or otherwise illegal cabs Friday in a sting operation, officials said. The culprits included an airport limousine service and a young woman who used her personal car as a taxi, said Kevin Kincaid, director of licensing and enforcement for the city Clerk's Office. As part of the sting, police used websites such as Craigslist and telephone searches to find a cab. But the owner of Amoskeag Airport Service said he was doing nothing wrong and has hired a lawyer to fight the $200 citation he received, as well as regain the Honda Accord that authorities confiscated." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingManchester officials nab five illegal taxis in sting operation

Colombia Illegal Gold Mines Prosper in Global Rout

"Investments by companies are being held back as ambiguous local regulations exacerbate the effects of the global gold slump. In contrast, informal operations in remote rivers and jungle areas are flourishing. The government acknowledges that the number of producers without licenses probably has risen from the last census in 2010-2011, when they accounted for 87 percent of all gold mines. While authorities are shutting down unregulated producers at an unprecedented rate, the growth of new operations shielded from environmental and labor restrictions is even faster, police say. Armed groups can reap more profit from illegal gold mining than cocaine." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingColombia Illegal Gold Mines Prosper in Global Rout

Blind Man’s Bluff: Why the Surveillance State Is Doomed

"The bureaucrats' quest for omniscience and omnipotence will come to a well-deserved end, just as it did in the Soviet Union, and for the same reason. The state is inherently myopic: short-sighted. Computers make it blind. The state focuses on the short run. Computers overwhelm bureaucrats with short-run information. Let us not forget that the Internet was invented by DARPA: the military's research branch. It invented the Internet to protect the military's communications network from a nuclear attack by the USSR. Today, there is no USSR. There is the World Wide Web: the greatest technological enemy of the state since Gutenberg's printing press." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBlind Man’s Bluff: Why the Surveillance State Is Doomed

Holder promises not to pursue death penalty against Snowden

"Former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden would not face the death penalty or be tortured and would have all the protections of the U.S. civilian court system if he were sent home, the chief U.S. prosecutor wrote in a letter to his Russian counterpart this week. In the letter dated July 23 and released on Friday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder wrote that he sought to dispel claims about what would happen to Snowden if Russia handed him over to face charges of illegally disclosing government secrets about surveillance programs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHolder promises not to pursue death penalty against Snowden

Egypt’s wheat problem: how Morsi jeopardized the bread supply

"Lack of money and a quixotic attempt at making Egypt self-sufficient spurred the decline, say officials familiar with the matter. Mursi dreamt of making Egypt grow all its own wheat and allowed imported stocks to fall to precariously low levels. It hurt both the country’s wheat stocks and Mursi’s government. With a quarter of Egypt’s 84 million people living below the poverty line of $1.65 a day, millions depend on subsidized bread that sells for less than 1 U.S. cent per loaf. That supply relies on foreign wheat. The country is the world’s largest wheat importer, bringing in about 10 million tonnes a year, around half its annual consumption." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgypt’s wheat problem: how Morsi jeopardized the bread supply

Army plans switch to ‘green’ bullets containing copper

"The Army has been looking to 'green' small caliber ammo for some time now. In 2010, the Army switched to the greener 5.56 mm M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round. 'The EPR replaces the lead slug with a copper slug,' said Lt. Col. Phil Clark, product manager for small caliber ammunition in the Program Executive Officer Ammunition. 'This makes the projectile environmentally-friendly, while still giving soldiers the performance capabilities they need on the battlefield. So far we have eliminated 1,994 metric tons of lead from 5.56 ammunition production.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArmy plans switch to ‘green’ bullets containing copper

Bush Presidential Library Misleads Visitors On WMDs In Iraq

"If you go to war based on what’s later shown to be a lie, how does a museum dedicated to your legacy address it? That’s the overarching question as you set foot into the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which opened last month on Southern Methodist University’s campus. The answer: uncomfortably. In at least eight separate instances, the library offers displays, audio, or video designed to give the impression that Saddam Hussein either possessed weapons of mass destruction, or was on the verge of getting them. It’s the Beetlejuice approach: say 'weapons of mass destruction' enough times and they will appear." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBush Presidential Library Misleads Visitors On WMDs In Iraq

Feds vs. Raisins: Small Farmers Stand Up to the USDA

"It's called an agriculture marketing order. Depression-era regulations meant to stabilize crop prices endanger the livelihoods of small farmers across the country, but the raisin marketing order is particularly egregious. An elected board of bureaucrats known as the Raisin Administrative Committee decides what the proper yield should be in any given year in order to meet a previously decided-upon price. Once they can estimate the size of the year's harvest, they force every farmer to surrender a percentage of their crop to raisin packers like Sun-Maid." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds vs. Raisins: Small Farmers Stand Up to the USDA

Military estimates 500 sexual assaults per week

"Recent congressional hearings featured generals promising change and outlining programs created to fix the issues, but those in this military community say that's not enough to solve the problem. For the past 20 years, the military has confronted periodic sexual harassment and assault scandals, and reports show the problems have gotten worse. Ten years ago, 12% of the Air Force Academy's female graduating class said they had been sexually assaulted, and 70% said they had been sexually harassed. Last year, the Pentagon estimated that about 500 men and women were assaulted each week." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary estimates 500 sexual assaults per week