California Libertarian Alliance

“The news that Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize for literature has gratified me beyond words. The award is a huge boost for liberty in Latin America. Through his literary genius, prolific essays, and ceaseless activism, Vargas Llosa long established himself as perhaps Latin America’s most well-known public intellectual, and certainly its most well-known classical liberal. For decades, he has used his ability to reach a mass audience to promote the principles of the free society, becoming the region’s foremost advocate of democratic capitalism.”

Full commentary by Ian Vasquez of The Cato Institute @ http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/mario-vargas-llosas-nobel-prize/

“Anti-Semitism based on the notion of a Jewish world conspiracy is not rooted in Islamic tradition but, rather, in European ideological models. Its main early promoters in the Arab world were supported financially and ideologically by agencies of the German National Socialist government.1″

Communalism:A Social Ecology Journal has posted an important background article on current trends in the Arab World promoting anti-semitism @ http://tinyurl.com/32vhm9z

“The Duma (the lower house of Russia’s legislature) on July 9 passed a bill that will allow the Federal Security Service (FSB) to issue warnings to people “whose acts create the conditions for the committing of a crime,” the Moscow News reported three days later.”

“The bill was opposed by all of Russia’s political parties except the pro-Kremlin United Russia, which has 315 seats in the 450-seat Duma. United Russia’s chairman is Vladimir Putin. The report said the measures were proposed by the government in the wake of the March 29 Metro bombings by Chechen separatists.”

“A Reuters report cited Kremlin critics who say the FSB, “formerly headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, could use its additional powers to target and intimidate opposition groups.” The report also noted: “The FSB was formed from the remains of the KGB, which was broken up in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed. Its influence grew greatly after Putin became president in 2000 and ordered it to lead the fight against Islamist rebels.”

Full report on Russia’s emerging police state by Warren Mass @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/europe-mainmenu-35/4020-russia-gives-new-powers-to-kgb-successor

“Today’s conservatives have conjured a mythic Reagan who never compromised with America’s enemies and never shrank from a fight. But the real Reagan did both those things, often. In fact, they were a big part of his success.”

“Sure, Reagan spent boatloads — some $2.8 trillion all told — on the military. And yes, he funneled money and guns to anti-communist rebels like the Nicaraguan Contras and Afghan mujahideen, while lecturing Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down that wall. But on the ultimate test of hawkdom — the willingness to send U.S. troops into harm’s way — Reagan was no bird of prey. He launched exactly one land war, against Grenada, whose army totaled 600 men. It lasted two days. And his only air war — the 1986 bombing of Libya — was even briefer.”

Peter Beinart takes a second look @ Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/07/think_again_ronald_reagan

“DECLASSIFIED American government documents show that the US intelligence community ran a campaign in the Fifties and Sixties to build momentum for a united Europe. It funded and directed the European federalist movement.”

“The documents confirm suspicions voiced at the time that America was working aggressively behind the scenes to push Britain into a European state. One memorandum, dated July 26, 1950, gives instructions for a campaign to promote a fully fledged European parliament. It is signed by Gen William J Donovan, head of the American wartime Office of Strategic Services, precursor of the CIA.”

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard exposes the  origins of European Union @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/1356047/Euro-federalists-financed-by-US-spy-chiefs.html

“Her Majesty’s subjects in the United Kingdom are now subject to the prying eyes and ears of a European intelligence agency with powers that rival Hitler’s infamous Gestapo, the Cold War-era KGB, and its progeny the East German Stasi.”

“Europol (a portmanteau of the European Police Office) was formally instituted in 1993 under a provision of the Maastricht Treaty and it became fully functional as of July 1, 1999. The agency is the European Union’s intelligence agency and as such conducts investigations across the 27 member states of the European Union.”

“…As of this year, the Hague has endowed Europol with the plenary powers of a full EU agency, with all the attendant rights and privileges.”

Joe Wolverton II looks at the  European Police Agency @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/europe-mainmenu-35/3221-europol-granted-frightening-investigative-power

“A Federal Bureau of Investigation video was released over the weekend that exposed an American defense official with one of the nation’s top security clearances passing classified secrets to a spy for the communist Chinese regime. And according to U.S. officials, the case is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.”

“The explosive FBI surveillance tape, obtained using hidden cameras, was made public on Sunday for the first time by CBS’ 60 Minutes. It showed Pentagon analyst Gregg Bergersen with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency traveling in a rental car with a spy for the People’s Republic of China, Tai Shen Kuo.”

Alex Newman reports on a new China spy scandal @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/crime/3073-communists-caught-spying-on-us-again