Friday, May 5, 2017

In the news, Monday, April 17, 2017


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APR 16      INDEX      APR 18
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Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

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from Big Think

What Machiavelli Can Teach You About Leadership
The Italian Renaissance thinker Niccolò Machiavelli is considered one of the seminal figures in modern political science, even though his most important text The Prince was written in 1513. In the book he described a certain kind of behavior that’s come to be regarded as a manual for powerful rulers. The book has been so influential that the word “Machiavellian” became an adjective synonymous with immoral, brutal politicians.

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from Business Insider

The racist history of minimum wage laws you might not know about
Minimum wage laws can be traced back to the 19th century, and they continue to have a disproportionately deleterious effect on African-Americans. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, unable to block railroad companies from hiring the non-unionized black workers, called for regulations preventing the employment of blacks. In 1909, a compromise was offered: a minimum wage, which was to be imposed equally on all races. To the pro-minimum wage advocate, this may superficially seem like an anti-racist policy. During this time, with racism still rampant throughout the United States, blacks were only able to enjoy such high levels of employment by accepting lower wages than their white counterparts. These wage-gaps at the time genuinely were the product of racist sentiment.

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from Conservative Review
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Sanctuary cities? That's a constitutional 'hell no'
You may not have heard of the “Nullification Crisis” that President Andrew Jackson faced in 1832. But there are many unfortunate similarities between it and what is happening today on immigration. From the unjustified obstruction of immigration law by some activist federal judges to the defiance of the federal government on sanctuary policies by governors and city mayors such as Ed Murray of Seattle, there are some interesting parallels — and lessons. When it comes to sanctuary cities, the Justice Department isn’t threatening the cutoff of any major entitlement funds such as Medicaid or even state highway funds. What’s at stake are discretionary grants that the states may or may not decide to apply for, and which the Justice Department may or may not choose to grant.

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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Why It Matters That Some Rights Are "Inalienable"
“Alienate” is a term from property law. It means to transfer something. We alienate rights over property all the time by selling or given the property away. Inalienable rights constrain the holder of those rights in a way that alienable rights do not. Inalienable rights are rights that cannot be given away. When rights are inalienable, it does not matter what the paper trail says, whether people purported to transfer their rights to the despot in the past. The despotism is perforce wrong because the people never had the ability to transfer the rights in the first place. They were inalienable rights.

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from The Heritage Foundation
[Information from this site may be unreliable.]

How the UN Helps Implement China’s Two-Child Policy, and What Should Be Done
The State Department announced that it will stop funding to the United Nations Population Fund—on the grounds that it supports China’s unethical family planning policies, which include the practices of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization.

Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go?
The almost $3.3 trillion in money that the federal government taxes out of the economy each year isn't enough to satiate its spending.

Sessions Gives Federal Prosecutors Marching Orders on Border Security
Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it clear that he will carry out the mandate he was given by President Trump: to vigorously enforce our immigration laws—and go after the human smugglers and traffickers who work for the Mexican cartels that have caused many of our border security problems. Sessions directed each of the 94 offices of U.S. Attorneys to appoint a “Border Security Coordinator” by April 18.

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from LifeZette (& PoliZette)

Where Trump Stands on Campaign Promises
Delivered, broken and endangered pledges from the president two weeks before his 100-day mark

Megachurch in Alabama May Soon Form Its Own Police Force
'Churches have a right to be safe' — but local ACLU pushes back, claiming government oversight is required

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from Mises Institute
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

The Federal Reserve Is, and Always Has Been, Politicized
Audit the Fed recently took a step closer to becoming law, when it was favorably reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. This means the House could vote on the bill at any time. The Fed has long claimed it is independent of politics. This, however, has always been a claim based on pure fantasy.

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from New Economic Perspectives

William Cohan’s April 14, 2017 column in the New York Times discusses Daniel Tarullo’s swan song talk on bank regulation.

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from New Statesman
"The leading voice of the British left, since 1913."

How one woman’s murder made Argentina rethink the idea of “crimes of passion”
On average, one woman is killed every 30 hours, by a partner, former partner or some other close figure, because of her gender. Campaigners are now using the word “femicide”. 

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from Space.com (& CollectSpace)

How Doctor Who's TARDIS Measures Up with Real Instruments of Space & Time
Whether nature actually allows such solutions to exist is still an open debate among theoretical physicists, and even if time travel could happen we certainly don't know how to build a time machine.

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from The Spokesman-Review

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from Sputnik
(Russian government-supported propaganda channel)

'Grave Digger of the Turkish Republic': What Germany Thinks About Erdogan Win
The victory of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's constitutional reforms in Sunday's referendum is being seen in Germany as the death of the modern Turkish Republic, Sputnik Germany reported.

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from USA Today

How '13 Reasons Why' gets suicide wrong: Voices
People who don't want to live need professional help. You can't save them with kindness.

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