https://youtu.be/lNYVQ14SHiM ...[I]mports of infant formula are subject to tariff-rate quotas of 17.5 percent after certain thresholds are met. As the name suggests, tariff-rate quotas are meant to be set high enough that they effectively block additional imports by making it unprofitable to pay the tariff. - Boehm, Eric. "America's Trade and Regulatory Policies Have Contributed to the Baby Formula Shortage" (May 9th, 2022) Reason.com Eric Boehm is a reporter at Reason and was a national regulatory reporter for Watchdog.org. Find his article archive at Reason here and follow him on...
NPR
Vaccines, Autonomy, and Mandates: A Libertarian Analysis
Prefatory Note Given the subject matter discussed below, I believe it prudent to state at the outset that I am not at all opposed to vaccinations themselves: indeed, I have received a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as all other normal-course vaccinations recommended for someone my age. Yet there are, it seems to me, interesting, difficult questions surrounding the state’s role in promoting or mandating vaccines. The goal here is to start a conversation not about the effectiveness of vaccines, but about the individual’s sphere of autonomy and what kinds of medical decisions are within it, and...
Salafis Throwing Bombs: How American and British Planners Partnered With Al-Qaeda Affiliated Groups At the Start of the Syrian Civil War
Introduction In the mainstream view, al-Qaeda did not play a role in the Syria conflict until Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, to Syria in August 2011 to establish a wing of the group there, called Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front. Additionally, al-Qaeda allegedly did not carry out any military operations until December 2011 and did not announce its establishment until January 2012. However, there is evidence that al-Qaeda affiliated militants were involved in the Syrian conflict much earlier. Saudi intelligence...
In World’s View, Palestinians Are The Weaker Side’: Inside Israel’s PR War
Israel is losing the PR war. From The Times Of Israel A new ‘bridge’ Last Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry’s Public Diplomacy Division created an initiative called Gesher – Bridge in Hebrew – to bring the IDF Spokesperson, Israel Police, Prime Minister’s Office, Strategic Affairs Ministry, and Government Press Office together in the same room. Gesher is “creating the messages, coordinating the media appearances, coordinating digital activity, and giving answers to our embassies and consulates abroad,” Lior Hayat, Foreign Ministry spokesman, told The Times of Israel. PMO senior adviser Mark...
As Much As They Might Want To, They Just Can’t Steal Their Way To Paradise
Jeff Snider at Real Clear Markets makes the case for capitalism Capitalism sure is messy, unpredictable, and, most of all, lumpy. It doesn’t go in a straight line, can cause tremendous stress and pain, and there are times when it gets caught up, for prolonged periods, in the bureaucratic messes of interfering morons. But once it is eventually set free, stable money, the world’s workers end up united if only in having no interest in the deplorable Marxist revolution - Trotsky, Lenin, or Mao - and its authoritarian Hotel...
NPR Report on Florida’s Record Infections Misleads Its Audience
This Monday, NPR consumers woke up to this alarming report on the coronavirus: Florida Smashes U.S. State Record Of Daily New Cases: More Than 15,200 Not content to scare readers in the headline, the dire framing continues in body of the report, which was discussed on the Up First podcast. Some illustrative quotes below: Florida reported 15,299 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, marking the largest single-day increase of any state since the start of the pandemic. Sunday's number exceeds New York's peak of more than 12,200 new cases in one day back in April, when it was the epicenter of the...
Jobless claims soar again in early April as coronavirus layoffs swell to nearly 17 million
From Marketwatch The coronavirus has turned life upside down in the blink of an eye. Just a month ago, new claims were in the low 200,000s and sat near a half-century low. Already, the ranks of the unemployed appear to have exceeded the prior record of 15.3 million during the 2007-2009 Great Recession. What’s more, the number of Americans collecting benefits has quickly topped the prior all-time high of 6.6 million. Some 7.5 million people were receiving benefits at the end of March, according to delayed government data on continuing claims. They are reported with a one-week lag. The big...
Deputy Faked Being Shot by Sniper
Cops lie all the time. Because they're criminals. Also: The [apartment] building, which overlooks the sheriff’s station parking lot and is used by a nonprofit organization to house people with mental illness, is a safety hazard, [Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris] said. He said he expected the building’s landlord would “work with us” either to install bulletproof windows that could not open or to erect a barrier blocking the view of the station. Jesus Christ, these...
2/27/17 Conn Hallinan on the Trump administration’s belligerent and unpredictable foreign policy
Conn Hallinan, a writer for Foreign Policy in Focus, discusses Trump's bombastic rhetoric and ever-changing policy pronouncements on Iran, Yemen, and North Korea; and how he could blunder into war with China if he follows through on threats to blockade China from islands it controls in the South China Sea.
2/1/17 Trevor Aaronson on The Intercept’s cache of secret FBI documents showing their vast powers and operating rules
Trevor Aaronson, a contributing writer at The Intercept and executive director of the nonprofit Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, discusses the classified FBI documents obtained by The Intercept showing that the FBI has expanded its role far beyond federal law enforcement after 9/11, and that it is now a domestic and foreign intelligence agency with "extraordinary secret powers." Some of the notable articles include: The FBI Gives Itself Lots of Rope to Pull in Informants The FBI Has Quietly Investigated White Supremacist Infiltration of Law...
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