27 Feb 98: Oprah claimed victory in the Texas Cattlemen's case. She made the statement on her television show that American beef could spread mad-cow disease to people, in spite of the fact that no cases had been found in the entire country. Cattlemen blamed her for a drastic drop in beef sales and brought suit under a Texas state law. Oprah proclaimed "Free speech not only lives; it rocks!" when the jury cleared her. What she has failed to realize is that right of free speech never included the right to slander and libel. Words can do harm - especially if they are patently, knowingly false. The jury has not reaffirmed the right to free speech; rather they have affirmed the right of talk-show hosts to pursue any industry or person with complete disregard for the facts.
Campaign finance reform failed in the Senate today. Opponents pointed out that the proposal would have violated free speech by limiting how individuals can spend their money. Meanwhile supporter of the measure, John McCain, R-Ariz, said "There will be more indictments and there will be people going to jail." Like others, including President Clinton, he feels that the scandal endemic to campaign finance (mostly due to the President's own activities) points to the need for reform. What he fails to see is that the prosecution of violators may be evidence that the laws currently on the books are actually working and only need to be enforced.
26 Feb 98: In North Korea food stocks are expected to run out by April and foreign aid is expected to be inadequate to fill the needs - not because of its paucity - because the crumbling infrastructure of North Korea will make distribution of goods problematic. If ever there was a practical argument against socialism it is North Korea.
One of the other final bastions of socialism, Cuba, was inflicted with a SEVEN HOUR tongue-lashing by it's unanimously elected fifth term president, Fidel Castro. Castro declared that Cuba's single party system is untouchable and will remain long after El Presidente has gone from the scene. Those who were not snoring by the end of the speech were praying fervently for the dictator's demise. Cuba is merely another example of the failures wrought by a statist communist ideology that leaves no room for private incentive. The poverty of the country is such that the US sends a constant stream of humanitarian aid. It is interesting that the US, the center of capitalism, must feed and comfort two of the last bastions of communism (see North Korea above) to shield the people from the folly of their own governments.
25 Feb 98: US lags world in Math Scores. US high school seniors, even students who took advanced math and physics courses, scored lower than students elsewhere. Of course, President Clinton has come out and said that these low scores will not be tolerated. So what will he do about it? The best thing he can do is nothing. The one factor that has served most to degrade public education has been interference by the federal government. Imposition of lax standards and an insistence that teaching be done on a level of the lowest common denominator has churned out the most poorly educated mass of humanity ever produced by this country. Let school be controlled on the local level. Each region, each town, each school district will find what works best for them.
The legal/media war continues between Kenneth Starr and the White House. The Whitewater prosecutor has come out with a counter attack. Lanny Breuer, part of the president's defense team, and a private investigator have been called as witnesses by the grand jury investigating the Lewinsky matter to determine whether the White House has been digging dirt on Starr and his staff. Sources indicate that this is likely - It is also illegal.
Democrats in Congress continue attempts to ram through a campaign finance reform bill that would give further advantages to the Democratic Party. The proposed law would give more power to the media by limiting donations from traditionally Republican sources and would mandate a certain amount of media time. This would give more power to the press to color issues rather than allowing the candidates to speak for themselves. A better solution is to allow all contributions from whatever source at unlimited levels, but to mandate public disclosure of contributions so that the public is aware of who supports a specific campaign.
24 Feb 98: The Federal Government is expected on Thursday to announce that Pacific Northwest chinook salmon will be listed as an endangered species. This decision is expected to impact the 3.8 million people who live in the Seattle/Puget Sound region. Bob Turner a representative of the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle declared, "No one should be under the illusion this will be easy." Ron Sims, the King County Executive, went even further by saying that restoration and protection could not be carried out at the convenience of human residents! What is more he added, "The whole thing has to be done from the fish's perspective." All manner of local activities are expected to be affected: water usage, sewage disposal, home building, fishing, logging, recreation and even gardening. This information, gleaned from an Eastside Journal article by Linda Thielke, should ring some alarm bells for anyone interested in preservation of property rights, or even human rights. There is no question that efforts should be made to preserve chinook salmon, but at what price? When the federal government gets to the point when they restrict the number of times you can flush your toilet, they have gone a tad too far.
Bill Clinton has conditionally accepted the UN accord with Iraq. Negotiations have temporarily postponed the looming clouds of war. Clinton has wisely decided to keep a potent military force in the region. The president has said that the consequences of Iraq reneging on the accord would be a serious matter. In exchange for resumption of UN weapons inspections, UN Secretary General Annan promised the Iraqi government that he would attempt to have economic sanctions on Iraq lifted and would also see that the UN respects Iraq's right to self-defense. What is interesting about this accord is that Iraq has, in truth, made no concessions. They were obliged to allow weapons inspections as per the peace signed at the close of the Gulf War. They are only agreeing to a condition that they agreed to previously and had later broken. They have been rewarded for breaking the treaty by having sanctions lifted (most likely) and being allowed more latitude in military operations. When Saddam's bluster and threats are rewarded, aren't we likely to see more of the same?
23 Feb 98: UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has evidently struck a deal with Bagdad. In an agreement that has not yet been made entirely public, Iraq says it will allow weapons inspections of "presidential palaces" by UN officials. US officials are cautious about whether or not this agreement is acceptable to the United States as they have not seen the full agreement. It may be speculated that Secretary General Annan has allowed some flexibility in the current restriction on sale of oil in Iraq in exchange for this "concession". The real question is whether the agreement allows for US inspectors as opposed to UN inspectors (who may not be entirely trustworthy) and whether there is not some other loopholes inserted by Saddam. Further it would seem that any agreement with Saddam is questionable. The whole reason for the most recent furor is because Saddam has not lived up to the last treaty he signed at the end of the Gulf War.
The White House has denied using private investigators to dig dirt on its political enemies (including Kenneth Starr - the special prosecutor in the Whitewater hearings). A story in Time Magazine indicates that President Clinton more than having a mere enemies list, has taken underhanded action to destroy his political opponents using smear tactics. Joseph diGenova a Republican former federal prosecutor has said that the White House undertook the investigations to intimidate Starr and to keep him from digging for the truth in the Whitewater scandal. DiGenova, himself, may have been the subject of some of these investigations. If true, these allegations are serious; attempting to intimidate a prosecutor is a criminal offense. It would not be surprising to find out the White House has engaged in such underhanded dealings. Several years ago they were caught red-handed with over 900 FBI files of political opponents. They were likely violating privacy rights to gain political advantage.
The New York Times is reporting that the number of Americans who own homes has reached record highs. They cite evidence by the Federal Reserve Board and the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. The report showed 71.5 percent of suburbanites owning homes as opposed to 49 percent of people who live in cities. The article seems to blame banks for this disparity, indicating that practices of not loaning money for property in certain neighborhoods (called red-lining) means that lower income people (more likely to be minorities) would be less likely to be loaned money. The NY Times seems to believe that this practice is discriminatory. Conversely, the reason banks have "red-lined" certain areas is because they have found that they have far more loan defaults in them. If banks were forced to loan where they were likely to lose money interest rates would go sky-high - what is the Times thinking?
