WendyMcElroy.com

From NBC News: Feds: Can't Keep Poor People Unable to Pay Bail in Jail [Ed: DOJ says it is unconstitutional. But I am such a cynic that I wonder why the DOJ worries about the constitution on this point and not on so many others. Could it be that poor people are more likely to vote Democrat?]

From Reuters: Venezuela crushes 2,000 guns in public, plans registry of bullets [Ed: bullet registry complete with tagging each bullet. As Brad comments, So, they have money for that, but not for hospital supplies?]

From the Desert Lynx: Civil Disobedience for Entrepreneurship? Interview With Christopher David [Ed: a must read.]

From Bearing Arms: Here’s How “President Hillary” Will Destroy Your Gun Rights Without Repealing The Second Amendment [Ed: by driving the gun industry itself out of business.]

From the Sun: "Kyrgyzstan president says women in mini-skirts don’t become suicide bombers -- Almazbek Atambayev has tried to dissuade women in the country from dressing in hijabs, niqabs and burkas" [Ed: hat tip to Han Sherrer who emails, I love this story because it expresses a basic truth: The more Westernized Muslims become the more they stray from the Koran's totalitarian teachings. Also, if you'll recall, a defense of the four "Muslim" men in Detroit who were charged with providing “material support” for terrorism right after 9/11 was that they were too Westernized to be involved with a terrorist group: they were described as "lazy pot-smoking drunks." Two of the men were acquitted after their trial, and the convictions of the other two men were overturned on appeal. See, "Federal Prosecutor Indicted For Frame-up Of Four Men Innocent Of Terrorism," (.pdf) By Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied, Issue 32 (Spring 2006)]

From Alternet:How the War on Drugs Makes People Eat Other People’s Faces After Stabbing Them to Death [Ed: I just like the title]

From WorldNetDaily: EPA's 'impossible' clean-air demand a land-use power grab. Calls for 90% reduction in pollution from California's Central Valley [Ed: hints that state will take over land use if the standards are not met.]

From CNBC: 1/3 won't have choice between Obamacare plans in 2017 55% of country may end up having 2 or fewer insurers to choose from [Ed: the conspiracy theory that Obamacare was meant to collapse and lead to a single-payer system starts to look more realistic.] And a related story from Market Watch: Aetna, Obamacare and health insurers’ 10 dirty secrets

From Public Integrity: Koch brothers’ plight likened to that of civil rights workers in the 1950s. [Ed: very interesting piece.]

From YouTube: "DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION" — A Bad Lip Reading [Ed: hat tip to Brad who says "Hilarious!"]

From the Washington Post: Hillary Clinton’s ‘Colin Powell did it’ defense of her email practices is just plain wrong [Ed: interesting thing is that the author is pro-Hillary and this may be an indication of how much support is eroding.]

Brad here. I'm surprised that, in the coverage I'm reading of this, no one has picked up on the obvious consequence. The New York Times reports, regarding dubious Clinton Foundation donors, that the Clintons are trying this for damage control:


Now, first, that's a campaign promise, which means the odds of it being carried out are practically nil. Once she's elected, she'll do whatever she wants.

But what if the offer is legit? The first thing it said to me was: Foreign donors, if you want to buy White House influence, you've only got eleven weeks left. Hurry up and get those donations in while you still can!

If Clinton were serious about this, she'd stop taking foreign donations now. She's not serious.

From the Associated Press: Judge Orders Clinton to Answer Questions on Email Use. [Ed: she is allowed to do so in writing. Gee, will all others under investigation be afforded the same opportunity...or is this a case of "It's good to be Clinton!"] And a related item from U.S. World & News Report: Sailor denied 'Clinton Deal', gets 1 year in prison

From Reuters: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give money to taxis [Ed: and that's how the state thwarts the free market. The real losers are the customers.]

From TechDirt: Woman Sues After Police Destroy Her Home During 10-Hour Standoff With The Family Dog. [Ed: amazing, must-read story.]

From Reason: Are Attitudes About Discrimination and Guns More Important Than Policy About Spending? [Ed: Round 4: now Brian Doherty at Reason responds to Robert Tracinski.]

From Alternet: 'Dangerous Precedent for Free Speech': NJ Gov. Chris Christie Signs Law Punishing Boycotts of Israel [Ed: punishes companies for their beliefs by withholding tax dollars and gov. contracts. But how is this different from what the left does in terms of a company's gender or racial beliefs?]

From Reuters: Trump Tours Flood-Ravaged LA; Clinton, Obama Stay Away [Ed: Obama plays golf; Hillary probably cannot withstand the physical demands of such a tour.] And in a related item from the Washington Times: Obama irks flood victims with warning not to discriminate. [Ed: he takes the human disaster as another opportunity to demand social justice rather than simply help human beings.]

From Newser: The 5 craziest crimes of the week.

From the Washington Post: Here's Why Anarchists Erected Naked Trump Statues. Artist says he'd make one of Clinton, too [Ed: a more repulsive naked statue I've rarely seen. Good. The message should be: run for office, become a object of ridicule.]

From the Advocate: Louisiana paper to Obama: Cut vacation short... [Ed: he is golfing while natural disaster hits the state. Bush got roasted over Katrina despite a fairly prompt response. Where's the criticism of Obama?]

From Boombox: Who said it - Trump or Clinton? Why compare Trump's bigot to Hitler when we can use someone so much closer

From Reuters: Turkey seizes assets as post-coup crackdown turns to business [Ed: I'm glad Brad and I visited Turkey years ago because i would not go there now]

From the Washington Post: Hillary Clinton hasn’t held a press conference in 257 days. That’s ridiculous. [Ed; not ridiculous if she has severe health problems that could become visible.]

From NPR: Aetna CEO To Justice Department: Block Our Deal And We'll Drop Out Of Obamacare [Ed: aha. In yesterday's newsfeed I commented that Aetna's announcement might be a ploy to secure advantages from gov.]

From DNA Info: Man Arrested for Refusing to Pay for 'Stale' 7-Eleven Doughnut, Police Say [Ed: the teenager took one bite, found it was stale and refused to pay. He was willing to pay for the drink. Instead of replacing the donut, the business called the police. I hope they lose a flood of customers.]

From antiwar.com: Back to the Future. A new book by Murray Rothbard evokes the present via the past

From General Strike USA: Minnesota officer arrested for DWI goes on anti-police rant: ‘I f---ing hate the cops and I hate that I’m a cop!’ [Ed: a self-hating cop? Not a bad development]

From the Sun: Fears of all-out conflict in Ukraine as sabre-rattling Vladimir Putin places 40,000 troops and armoured vehicles along the border. And a related item from InfoWars: Report: US Moving Nukes Closer to Ukraine. Pentagon denies, but evidence suggests otherwise

From the Orlando Sentinel: Small business owner: FDA rules threaten Florida heritage of hand-rolled cigars [Ed: the author left Cuba because Castro took his business. Now Obama is doing the same.]

From CBS News: Drugmaker Has Jacked EpiPen's Cost by Nearly 500% [Ed: This will seem modest if the Big Pharma TPP agreement goes through.]

From Heat St.: Could Gab Finally Be the Free Speech Twitter Alternative? [Ed: a friend of mine has developed a similar network called Jawbuck which is also well worth checking out.]

From the Omaha World-Herald: Tripping Nebraska Dad Insults Family Cat. He accidentally ate his kids' pot brownies [Ed: I do not know why I find this so funny -- probably the rant against the cat.]

From the Washington Examiner: One in six Obamacare customers could lose plans. [Ed: due to the exit of Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana and the like from most of their exchanges. This could be an election changer. Or the very public pre-announcement could be a ploy by Aetna to acquire privileges such as funding or permission for a merger.]

From EFF: Rock Against the TPP heads to Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco. [Ed: of course, that's the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement which is a global gift to the elites.]

From Worldnetdaily: Trump pulls back curtain on 'urban plantations' [Ed: people need to be reminded that the Democrats were the Southern pro-slavery party and the Republicans were anti-slavery. The Democrats have always been more racist but they dress it up in paternalistic illusion.]

From Heat Street: Photos: Hillary propped up on pillows. Speech demands included 'cushions backstage' to provide 'additional back support' [Ed: this woman is seriously ill or disabled and unfit for office. And, no, I'm not advocating for Trump. He is unfit on entirely different grounds.]

From Twitchy: She said WHAT? Hillary flack Jennifer Palmieri just face-planted into a steaming pile of irony [Ed: funny stuff, if you have the stomach for it.]

From the Washington Post: Powerful NSA hacking tools revealed online. Development could threaten security of government, corporate computers

From Buzzfeed: D.A. charged two policemen with murder and she lost everything, including her family's safety. [Ed: a district attorney scared of her city’s police department]

From CNN: Louisiana flooding: 'Cajun Navy' answers call for volunteers. [Ed: the power of community. People at their best.]

From the Week: Trolls Target Amy Schumer's New Book [Ed: it happens to everyone. You just have to use it as energy to double down on marketing. You cannot let the bullies win.]

From Chris Sciabarra's Notablog: Ayn Rand, David Cross, and Hypocrisy. [Ed: if Chris did not exist, I would have to invent him.]

From the Intercept: NPR Host Demands That Assange Do Something Its Own Reporters Are Told Never to Do [Ed: reveal sources]

From Motherboard: From Now On You'll Be Able to Access NASA Research for Free [Ed: if gov. agencies must exist -- and here's a hint....they don't have to -- at least they should be transparent and public.]

From Union Watch: Average “Full Career” CalPERS Retirement Package Worth $70,000 Per Year [Ed: taxpayers cannot sustain over a million retired civil servants receiving this pension.]

From the New York Times: Report: Roger Ailes Is Prepping Trump for Debates [Ed: if true, it would explain the improvement in Trump's last few performances.]

From Reason: Conservatives Are From Mars, Libertarians Are From...Woodstock? [Ed: Nick Gillespie, rebutting Robert Tracinski]

From Cato: Free Ebooks from Cato Institute

From the National Review: The Myth of the Big Bad Gun Lobby And a related item from American GG: Family becomes firing squad as intruder is shot by almost every member of the household

From the Washington Examiner: Clinton comes after the rich: 'We're going where the money is' [Ed: you can't make this stuff up. The famous bank robber Willie Sutton was once asked, "Why do you rob banks?" He answered "because that's where the money is."

From the Daily Caller: All Hillary emails recovered by FBI to go public [Ed: I am more interested in the ones recovered by Wikileaks, which are rumored to be a complete set.]

From Zero Hedge: Mysterious group hacks NSA. [Ed: this is a first.] And a related item from the Freedom Hut: Edward Snowden Explains The Historic NSA Hack: “This Escalation Could Get Messy Fast”

From Reuters: U.S. prosecutors dealt setback in medical marijuana cases. [Ed: feds cannot prosecute growers/sellers who comply with state law.]

From American Lookout: If You Criticize Hillary Online Be Prepared to Confront One of Her Paid Trolls [Ed: many people have suspected as much. It happens with too much predictability]

From Worldnetdaily: Is Hillary medically unfit to become President? [Ed: Interesting commentary from a surgeon. Personally, I believe she is unfit and that the VP might become President in short order.]

Voting according to your conscience is ridiculed as an irresponsible act of facilitating a police state. Yet another reason NOT TO VOTE AT ALL.

[Editor's Note: thought provoking even though I have disagreements.]

Corporatist Lobbying Replaced a Free Market
by Sartre

The practice of a pure free market is so rare that a plausible argument can be made that a free market economy never existed. However, as the saying goes, Once Upon A Time, economic commerce did reflect a voluntary basis for business transactions. The fortunes of trade rested upon the mutual benefit of all parties, since repeated satisfaction built sustaining economies. Competition was the norm and the quality of goods and services developed that propelled expanding growth and prosperity for the largest numbers of participating producers and consumers. In the corporatist economic model, the goal is to create and protect monopolies, while stamping out any enterprises that challenge the Plutocrat system.

Corporate economies are dependent upon connection and favoritism by government policy. The essay, Corporatism Is Not the Free Market states a fundamental point. "Too many people are willing to accept government-set goals (such as energy independence) so long as the "private sector" is induced to achieve them. Regardless of how the goals are achieved, if government sets them, that’s statism."

[ Read the rest ... ]

The Smart Set has published my article "Try a Little Tenderness
The unterrible part of being a homeless teen." The article offers some details of my time on the street and some of the positives I took away from that experience.

From Chris Sciabarra's Notablog: U.S. Foreign Policy: The Boomerang Effect or How the Chickens Come Home to Roost [Ed: a very valuable listing of Chris' foreign policy writings.]

From PennLive: Pennsylvania’s Top Prosecutor Is Now a Convict Kathleen Kane faces prison time in grand-jury leak scandal [Ed: the judge's instructions to Kane are remarkable.]

From the National Review: Watch Donald Trump Take Every Side of Every Issue [Ed: hat tip to Amy Alkon. A must-watch video]

From the Federalist: Libertarians Are Blowing The Opportunity Of The Century [Ed: by Brad's fav Federalist writer, Robert Tracinski]

From the Daily Mail: Farmers' Almanac predicts 'ice cold' winter [Ed: it will be ascribed to global warming, no doubt.]

From the Toronto Star: Accepting Tamils 30 years ago changed Canada [Ed: heartwarming. The fishing ships that rescued them dumped their catches in order to make room]

From Fort Dodge Messenger: Army vet arrested for upside down U.S. flag Man protesting construction of oil pipeline.

From the New York Times: Desperate Venezuelans Turn to Mines, Find Malaria [Ed: The World Health Org recognized the nation as the first one to eliminate malaria years ago. But people are returning to old mines in the jungle in order to feed their families and DDT is now illegal.]

From the Dodo: Flight Attendant Adopts Dog Who Never Stopped Waiting For Her Outside Hotel [Ed: hat tip Claire Wolfe.]

From Newser: Aetna May Deliver Blow to ObamaCare [Ed: a stunning blow right before the election.]

From WorldNetDaily: Hillary slips after 'creepy' hug from Biden [Ed: there is something medically wrong with Hillary, and severely so. Probably neurological.]

From Buzzfeed: How Roomba Caused a ‘Pooptastrophe’ [Ed: oops. I was considering buying one.]