Sunday, September 29, 2013

Nigeria: Islamic "Militants" kill at least 42 students in college attack | News , International | THE DAILY STAR

Nigeria: Islamic "Militants" kill at least students in college attack | News , International | THE DAILY STAR:

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Guess who did it? Islamic extremists, the Boko Harem -- they gunned down these students -- predominantly Muslim -- while sleeping at their dormitories at this agricultural school.  For what possible reasons could these savages do this? Answer: Their religion, which maintains that all truth is in the Quran, and science is blasphemous.
I found this in the Lebanese Daily Star, before the NY Times chose to cover it (they finally did, 2 minutes ago).....
Criteria Used for Economic Freedom of the World 2013 Report--How Do You Define Freedom?


These criteria are interesting inasmuch as they raise the following questions: 

--How do YOU define Freedom?
--How closely and why does economic freedom correlate to political freedom?

Remember -- THE U.S. has dropped from 2nd to 17th in the world during the past decade.

Source: Economic Freedom of the World: 2013 Annual Report
Fraser Institute ©2013 • www.fraserinstitute.org • www.freetheworld.com

Exhibit 1.1: Areas, Components, and Sub-components of the EFW Index

1. Size of Government
A. Government consumption
B. Transfers and subsidies
C. Government enterprises and investment
D. Top marginal tax rate
(i) Top marginal income tax rate
(ii) Top marginal income and payroll tax rate

2. Legal System and Property Rights
A. Judicial independence
B. Impartial courts
C. Protection of property rights
D. Military interference in rule of law and politics
E. Integrity of the legal system
F. Legal enforcement of contracts
G. Regulatory restrictions on the sale of real property
H. Reliability of police
I. Business costs of crime

3. Sound Money
A. Money growth
B. Standard deviation of inflation
C. Inflation: most recent year
D. Freedom to own foreign currency bank accounts

4. Freedom to Trade Internationally
A. Tariffs
(i) Revenue from trade taxes (% of trade sector)
(ii) Mean tariff rate
(iii) Standard deviation of tariff rates
B. Regulatory trade barriers
(i) Non-tariff trade barriers
(ii) Compliance costs of importing and exporting
C. Black-market exchange rates
D. Controls of the movement of capital and people
(i) Foreign ownership/investment restrictions
(ii) Capital controls
(iii) Freedom of foreigners to visit

5. Regulation
A. Credit market regulations
(i) Ownership of banks
(ii) Private sector credit
(iii) Interest rate controls/negative real interest rates
B. Labor market regulations
(i) Hiring regulations and minimum wage
(ii) Hiring and firing regulations
(iii) Centralized collective bargaining
(iv) Hours regulations
(v) Mandated cost of worker dismissal

(vi) Conscription
Economic Freedom of the World Report: 2013

http://store.cato.org/books/economic-freedom-world-2013-annual-report?utm_source=Cato+Institute+Emails&utm_campaign=a497f650c8-EconomicFreedomoftheWorldReport2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_395878584c-a497f650c8-142434285&mc_cid=a497f650c8&mc_eid=56eb03942b

"The first Economic Freedom of the World Report was published in 1996. This is the 17th edition of the Report - produced by the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think-tank, in cooperation with the Cato Institute and the Economic Freedom Network, a group of independent research and educational institutes in nearly 90 nations and territories worldwide.


Per this year's report, global economic freedom increased modestly though it remains below its peak level of 6.92 in 2007. After a global average drop between 2007 and 2009, the average score rose to 6.87 in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available. In this year's index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 8.97 out of 10. The rest of this year's top scores are Singapore, 8.73; New Zealand, 8.49; Switzerland, 8.30; United Arab Emirates, 8.07; Mauritius, 8.01; Finland, 7.98; Bahrain, 7.93; Canada, 7.93; and Australia, 7.88. Research shows that individuals living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy higher levels of prosperity, greater individual freedoms, and longer life spans.
 
The United States, once considered a bastion of economic freedom, now ranks 17th in the world. Due to overspending, weakening rule of law, and increasing regulations on the part of the U.S. government, the United States has seen its economic freedom score plummet in recent years, compared to 2000 when it ranked second globally [emphasis added]."

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Rouhani’s Holocaust Weasel Words « Commentary Magazine

Rouhani’s Holocaust Weasel Words « Commentary Magazine:
Amazing how much people will fall over themselves to whitewash this guy in order to avoid confrontation, including false translations by CNN. This piece also puts Holocaust denial in the framework of Iran's foreign policy.
Plain and simple, Israel is Czechoslovakia, 1938.

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Monday, September 23, 2013

History Tends to Repeat Itself: Of Presidents and Precedents

Mosaic Magazine - Of Presidents and Precedents:
The eerily strong historical analogy between President Johnson's (in)actions in 1967 and Barack Obama's in 2013, and what it means to Israel.

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Friday, September 06, 2013

Iranian strategic expert warns that one of Obama's daughters will be kidnapped and raped if America attacks Syria after Secret Service intercepts orders to attack US targets | Mail Online

Given the ferocity (and lunacy) of the threats being made explicitly and implicitly by the Iranians over a possible attack of Syria, perhaps we should be planning on attacking Iran instead, and cut out the middle man? When will we tire of attacking proxies like Syria, as the Iranians become ever more brazen, when we know that the Iranians are the kingpins of Shiite terrorism?
Iranian strategic expert warns that one of Obama's daughters will be kidnapped and raped if America attacks Syria after Secret Service intercepts orders to attack US targets | Mail Online:

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In south Egypt, Islamists take over a town | The Times of Israel

We often forget, in our ideological fervor, that everything is relative. I bet these Coptic Christians would give anything to have the Egyptian army ruling their town right now.  Fortunately, the Syrian situation has made the White House and the media forget about the Egyptian military coup, so hopefully their army will get around to liberating this town soon.
In south Egypt, Islamists take over a town | The Times of Israel:

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Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Chris Christie Bent on Including Islamists in Security Forums | #1 News Site on the Threat of Radical Islam

This is not news, that Christie has played politics standing by radical Islamists in his own state. What should be news is that it is not reported on in the mainstream press. He is not a good guy.
Chris Christie Bent on Including Islamists in Security Forums | #1 News Site on the Threat of Radical Islam:

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