Fidel in Haiku Mode NELSON P. VALDES Recently a number of journalists and commentators have wandered whether Fidel Castro has lost his marbles [or as… Obamacare Wins, We Lose JOHN STAUBER It was a brilliant move by far Right (but oh so likable) Chief Justice Roberts to side with… Why the ObamaCare Ruling Stinks DAVE LINDORFF Looking on the bright side, the Supreme Court has ruled that something that President Obama has done is… American Freefall PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS Washington has been at war since October, 2001. This war took a back seat when Bush concocted another… The Spreading Crisis MIKE WHITNEY  ”The Greek economy is truly broken. The circuits of credit are so badly damaged that even efficient, profitable…

The Price of Screwing With America WILLIAM BLUM I’m sure most Americans are mighty proud of the fact that Julian Assange is so frightened of falling… Biggest Financial Scandal in Britain’s History, Yet Not a Single Occupy Sign; What Happened? ALEXANDER COCKBURN Since what is now going is being described as “the greatest financial scandal in the history of Britain” … The Great Pretender Throws His Base a Bone MIKE WHITNEY Barack Obama has the worst record on immigration of any president in US history. No one else comes close…. If the Greek Left Can Terrify the Eurocrats, What’s with the US Left and Obama? ALEXANDER COCKBURN Regard the Greek political landscape and how dramatically it has changed from last November. On November 2, 2011,…

THE FREE SOCIETY The Two Little Cities Who Can’t by Wendy McElroy Future of Freedom FoundationWe Are at a Turning Point by Andrew P. Napolitano Creators.com LIBERTARIANISM Libertarian Does Not Mean Libertine by Randy England freeisbeautiful.net DEMOCRACY Lords Reform, Hayek-Style  by Eamonn Butler Conservative Home CONSTITUTION The Obama-Holder War on the Constitution  by Nat Hentoff Aspen Daily News FREE TRADE Outsourcing’s Bad Rap  by Michael Kinsley Los Angeles Times IRAN Sanctions at the Genius Bar by Jamal Abdi New York TimesLiving Under Siege in Iran  by Mohammad Ali Shabani Aljazeera WORLD WAR II An Internment Camp, Exploring Choices of the Past  by Norimitsu Onishi New York Times WAR ON TERRORISM Bravery and Drone Pilots  by Glenn Greenwald Salon.com

Government Shows Itself Impotent on Economy by Sheldon Richman Why the War on Drugs Should Be Ended by Laurence M. Vance The Jacob Hornberger Show: July 8, 2012 (video) by Jacob G. Hornberger Big Pharma and Crony Capitalism by Wendy McElroy The United States in Talks to Return the 17 Afghan Prisoners in Guantanamo by Andy Worthington The Greatest Threat to Our Freedom, Part 3 by Jacob G. Hornberger Socialized Medicine Is Here to Stay by Laurence M. Vance Supreme Court’s Word Game Saves Obamacare by Sheldon Richman What Part of “Illegal” Really Matters? by Scott McPherson The Jacob Hornberger Show: July 1, 2012 (video) by Jacob G. Hornberger

1) Health Contract with AmericaLast week’s Lighthouse reported about a proposal to make tax fairness—the idea that health insurance purchased in the private market should receive the same tax credits as insurance obtained through an employer—a component of legislation aimed at replacing the Affordable Care Act. Independent Institute Research Fellow John C. Goodman includes four additional pillars in the new Health Contract with America. Let’s briefly explain two of them: portability and real insurance. READ MORE

A Health Care Contract with America, by John C. Goodman and Peter J. Ferrara (7/7/12)

Health Contract with America, by John C. Goodman (Townhall, 7/7/12)

Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis, by John C. Goodman

Event Alert: John Goodman, Anthony Gregory and Robert Murphy to Speak at FreedomFest! (Las Vegas, July 11-14, 2012)

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2) Holding Attorneys General in Contempt

Fallout from “Fast and Furious”—the federal effort to track the flow of firearms from the United States to the Mexican drug cartels—has exposed hypocrisy in Congress. Accused of lying about his knowledge of the bungled program, Eric Holder is the first sitting U.S. attorney general to be held in criminal contempt by the House of Representatives, even though many of his predecessors—Alberto Gonzales, Janet Reno, Edwin Meese, John Mitchell, Robert F. Kennedy, and others—behaved badly while acting as the nation’s top law-enforcement official, according to Anthony Gregory, research editor at the Independent Institute, in his latest piece at the Huffington Post. READ MORE

Holding Attorneys General in Contempt, by Anthony Gregory (The Huffington Post, 7/5/12)

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3) Will Mexico Abandon the Drug War?

Although the jury is still out, the election of Enrique Peña Nieto to the Mexican presidency may signal a new beginning. More than 50,000 civilians have been killed in recent years by drug violence, and the mayhem helps explain why voters were willing to bring back rule by PRI—the Institutional Revolutionary Party—after a twelve-year hiatus. Some in Washington fear that Peña Nieto will undermine the U.S.-supported drug war by making a secret and unofficial truce with the drug cartels—just as PRI had done during its earlier reign, but such a move would be preferable to the deadly status quo of the drug war, according to Independent Institute Senior Fellow Ivan Eland. READ MORE

The Drug War in Mexico: Corruption Is Better than Slaughter, by Ivan Eland (7/2/12)

No War for Oil: U.S. Dependency and the Middle East, by Ivan Eland

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4) Bullying in Academia

Although the quality of K-12 schooling in the United States suffers poorly compared to education in other developed nations, many of the world’s best universities call the U.S. home. One reason is that the faculty in America are more autonomous than counterparts in Europe, who increasingly labor under the yoke of educational central planners and an authoritarian mindset. Philosopher Aviezer Tucker puts forth this provocative thesis in his article, “Bully U: Central Planning and Higher Education,” published in the summer issue of The Independent Review. Reports of pending legal action against Tucker by the university where he used to work help support his claim.READ MORE

Bully U: Central Planning and Higher Education, by Aviezer Tucker (The Independent Review, Summer 2012)

The Independent Review (Summer 2012)

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5) New Blog Posts

From The Beacon:

From MyGovCost News & Blog:

HOUSE REPEALS OBAMACARE 244-185

Atheist Files Suit Over Restaurant’s Discount For Church Goers

DHS CONTINUES TARGETING CONSERVATIVES & LIBERTY LOVERS AS TERRORISTS