The Falklands And Other Dangerous Disputed Territories -- A Market Solution | Steve H. Hanke | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Falklands And Other Dangerous Disputed Territories -- A Market Solution | Steve H. Hanke | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'For the Falklands, the governments of the United Kingdom and Argentina would agree that those Falklanders who were qualified to vote would be allowed to do so in a referendum. The referendum would allow the settlers — who are English-speaking and English by custom, institutions and loyalties — to vote on whether they prefer the status quo, or whether they would agree ("yes") to an Argentine take-over. A super-majority "yes" vote, of say 80%, would be required by the Falklanders to allow Argentina to claim sovereignty.

This is where markets come in. The Falklanders would have to be compensated by Argentina. The referendum would be designed so that Argentina could offer a cash incentive. Before the referendum, Argentina would deposit an amount (let's say USD $500,000) in escrow, in Swiss bank accounts for every man, woman and child who had proven their Falklands residence prior to the referendum.

If the referendum went in Argentina's favor (over 80% of eligible voters casting a "yes" vote), then the funds in escrow would be transferred and Argentina's unambiguous sovereignty over the Falklands would be established. Argentina's cost, in this hypothetical, would be about USD $1.6 billion.'

The Great Renewable Energy Scam: Is There A Change in the Wind? | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Great Renewable Energy Scam: Is There A Change in the Wind? | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Nor do RPSs allow for natural gas. There are massive quantities in shale formations around the country, and new horizontal drilling techniques are releasing so much of it that it is now the cheapest source of electrical power. If our environmentalist friends were at all serious about climate change, they would enthuse over it becaus. it produces significantly less carbon dioxide than an equivalent quantity of coal when used for power generation. Instead, they are horrified that cheap gas will destroy solar and wind.'

'One needs to look no further than ethanol as a motor fuel, mandated by the feds. Sold as “renewable” and reducing pernicious carbon dioxide emissions, it actually produces more in its life cycle than simply burning an equivalent amount of gasoline. It also—unconscionably—consumes 40% of U.S. corn production, and we are the by far the world’s largest producer of this important basic food.'

American, Dane rescued by US commandos inside Somalia - CSMonitor.com

American, Dane rescued by US commandos inside Somalia - CSMonitor.com: 'Obama’s warning that abductions of Americans abroad “would not be tolerated” sent a strong signal of future missions targeting Somali pirates should they seize more US citizens.'

That sounds like something our forces should be doing but it doesn't seem like that has happened very often so it seems weird to proclaim that.

CNN Poll: Obama tied with Romney & Paul in November showdowns – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

CNN Poll: Obama tied with Romney & Paul in November showdowns – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs: 'The poll also indicates Paul statistically tied with Obama, with the president at 48% and the longtime congressman at 46%. But according to the poll, the president is doing better against two other Republican presidential candidates. If Rick Santorum were the GOP nominee, Obama would hold a 51%-45% advantage over the former senator from Pennsylvania. And if Newt Gingrich faced off against the president, Obama would lead the former House speaker 52%-43%.'

Only Paul and Romney are close to beating Obama.

Spending Can Be Cut Our Way, Or Europe's | Jagadeesh Gokhale | Cato Institute: Commentary

Spending Can Be Cut Our Way, Or Europe's | Jagadeesh Gokhale | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'A recent International Monetary Fund analysis shows that closing deficits by raising more revenue tends to lead to deeper recessions and slower growth. It's far better to follow the example of Canada's mid-1990s reforms, which involved just $1 in tax increases for every $7 in cuts, and which resulted in strong economic performance over the next decade.'

Libertarianism, Rightly Conceived | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary

Libertarianism, Rightly Conceived | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary: '"Libertarians," Sachs writes, "hold that individual liberty should never be sacrificed in the pursuit of other values or causes. Compassion, justice, civic responsibility, honesty, decency, humility, respect and even survival of the poor, weak and vulnerable — are to take a back seat."'

'the government's track record in promoting Sachs' "other values or causes" is not stellar, to say the least.'

'In short, redistribution should only come after the government stops hurting those who need the most help.'

'while they believe that the problem with government is that the right people aren't in power, we believe that the problem with government is intrinsic to government itself, and that no theory of "throw the bums out" will ever give state officials the incentives and knowledge they need to do a good job. This is true despite the fact that the vast majority of government representatives and employees are good, hard-working people.'

Does Airport Security Really Make Us Safer? | Culture | Vanity Fair

Does Airport Security Really Make Us Safer? | Culture | Vanity Fair: 'Since 9/11, the U.S. has spent more than $1.1 trillion on homeland security.

To a large number of security analysts, this expenditure makes no sense. The vast cost is not worth the infinitesimal benefit. Not only has the actual threat from terror been exaggerated, they say, but the great bulk of the post-9/11 measures to contain it are little more than what Schneier mocks as “security theater”: actions that accomplish nothing but are designed to make the government look like it is on the job. In fact, the continuing expenditure on security may actually have made the United States less safe.'

'Washington assembled a list of potential terror targets that soon swelled to 80,000 places, including local libraries and miniature-golf courses. Accompanying the target list was a watch list of potential suspects that had grown to 1.1 million names by 2008, the most recent date for which figures are available.'

'“The only useful airport security measures since 9/11,” he says, “were locking and reinforcing the cockpit doors, so terrorists can’t break in, positive baggage matching”—ensuring that people can’t put luggage on planes, and then not board them —“and teaching the passengers to fight back. The rest is security theater.”'

'aking off your shoes is next to useless. “It’s like saying, Last time the terrorists wore red shirts, so now we’re going to ban red shirts,” Schneier says. If the T.S.A. focuses on shoes, terrorists will put their explosives elsewhere. “Focusing on specific threats like shoe bombs or snow-globe bombs simply induces the bad guys to do something else. You end up spending a lot on the screening and you haven’t reduced the total threat.”'

'As I waited at security with my fake boarding pass, a T.S.A. agent had darted out and swabbed my hands with a damp, chemically impregnated cloth: a test for explosives. Schneier said, “Apparently the idea is that al-Qaeda has never heard of latex gloves and wiping down with alcohol.” The uselessness of the swab, in his view, exemplifies why Americans should dismiss the T.S.A.’s frequent claim that it relies on “multiple levels” of security. For the extra levels of protection to be useful, each would have to test some factor that is independent of the others. But anyone with the intelligence and savvy to use a laser printer to forge a boarding pass can also pick up a stash of latex gloves to wear while making a bomb. From the standpoint of security, Schneier said, examining boarding passes and swabbing hands are tantamount to performing the same test twice because the person you miss with one test is the same person you'll miss with the other.'

'The full-body-scanner program—some 1,800 scanners operating in every airport in the country—was launched in response to the “underwear bomber” incident on Christmas Day in 2009, when a Nigerian Muslim hid the plastic explosive petn in his briefs and tried to detonate it on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. It has an annual price tag of $1.2 billion. The scanners cannot detect petn directly; instead they look for suspicious bulges under clothing. Because petn is a Silly Putty–like material, it can be fashioned into a thin pancake. Taped flat to the stomach, the pancake is invisible to scanning machines. Alternatively, attackers could stick gum-size wads of the explosive in their mouths, then go through security enough times to accumulate the desired amount.'

'Terrorists can so easily switch from target to target and weapon to weapon that focusing on preventing any one type of attack is foolish. Even if the T.S.A. were somehow to make airports impregnable, this would simply divert terrorists to other, less heavily defended targets—shopping malls, movie theaters, churches, stadiums, museums. The terrorist’s goal isn’t to attack an airplane specifically; it’s to sow terror generally. “You spend billions of dollars on the airports and force the terrorists to spend an extra $30 on gas to drive to a hotel or casino and attack it,” Schneier says. “Congratulations!”'

Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops | Privacy Inc. - CNET News

Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops | Privacy Inc. - CNET News: 'Public interests will be harmed absent requiring defendants to make available unencrypted contents in circumstances like these. Failing to compel Ms. Fricosu amounts to a concession to her and potential criminals (be it in child exploitation, national security, terrorism, financial crimes or drug trafficking cases) that encrypting all inculpatory digital evidence will serve to defeat the efforts of law enforcement officers to obtain such evidence through judicially authorized search warrants, and thus make their prosecution impossible.'

The same arguments apply exactly to compelling a defendant to testify!

High Court: Warrant Needed For GPS Tracking | Fox News

High Court: Warrant Needed For GPS Tracking | Fox News: 'The Supreme Court says police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects.'

This is some hope for the 4th amendment.

Focus on Innovation Instead | Julian Sanchez | Cato Institute: Commentary

Focus on Innovation Instead | Julian Sanchez | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The government would essentially claim the right to choke off traffic and revenue to entire sites, without ever having to try or convict its owners of any crime. It should be no surprise that similar domestic authority has already led to sites being wrongfully shuttered.'