TEA PARTY ECONOMIST

The TEA PARTY ECONOMIST
Ron Paul's original staff economist, Dr. Gary North!

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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

How to Help a Teenager Start a Business
Here is a great idea. It’s from Marsha Friedman, a very savvy lady in the field of public relations. But this isn’t about public relations. It’s about helping teenagers. Do You Know a Child Who Wants to Start a Business? ‘Chicken Soup’ Author Talks to ‘Kidpreneurs’ Last week, I offered tips in honor of National... READ MORE


Will Boehner Buckle?
Pat Buchanan thinks that Boehner should have rejected Timothy Geithner’s demand of $1.6 trillion in tax increases. Buchanan did not mention that Boehner responded with an offer of $800 billion in tax increases. Buchanan thinks Boehner is worried about what voters will do if the Republicans refuse to go along, and the economy tanks. He... READ MORE

Suckers Line Up to Lend to the U.S. Government at 0.1%
People and institutions still lend money for 90 days to the U.S. government in order to earn a tenth of one percent per year interest. They trust the government. Yet the fiscal cliff charade goes on. The U.S. government cannot pay its bills without borrowing more money. The whole world knows this. But the “smart... READ MORE


Jim Sinclair’s Bladder-Challenged Subscribers
I always know when gold has fallen by $20 or more. Jim Sinclair sends out an email that says: “Don’t panic.” He predicted $1,650 gold years ago. Now he predicts $3,000 gold. (Why didn’t he predict $3,000 gold years ago? What changed his opinion? Why didn’t he tell people to sell half their gold at... READ MORE

Personal Liberty Digest

Latest From John Myers December 5, 2012 America’s Economy Is Stuck » Upon his re-election, President Barack Obama pledged to get America’s economy moving again. It is troubling that the President made this same promise four years ago, yet America’s economy is still stuck. More » Freedom Watch 1st Amendment Does Not Guarantee Freedom From Religion » A North Carolina first grader was asked to write a poem for her school’s Veteran’s Day program. About her grandfather, she wrote: “He prayed to God for peace, he prayed to God for strength.” A parent objected to the use of the word “God,” so administrators banned the girl from reading her poem in the program. More » Personal Liberty News The Government Has Your Emails, All Of Them » A National Security Administration whistle-blower said in a recent interview that the U.S. government collects massive troves of data about American citizens, which it could use against anyone it chooses. More » Disability Insurance Overwhelmed, Increasingly Scammed » Politicians use one word endlessly throughout campaign seasons: jobs. But they don’t often talk about the millions of Americans who seemingly don’t want them, including the millions opting to go on disability. More » TSA On The Highway » If you thought you could avoid intrusive encounters with the Transportation Security Administration by simply avoiding the airport, you’re wrong. The agency is seeking permission to expand its reach to highways and other transportation hubs throughout the Nation. More » Good Doctors Listen Carefully » New research suggests that a doctor can better the health of a patient simply by ensuring that a relationship is built upon trust and empathy. More » Political Cartoon Staying Focused Nate Beeler, The Columbus Dispatch

Clash Daily

Hey Co-Dependent Dork: True Men Are Independent So, what are the traditional elements of the masculine spirit? Well Dinky, there are three primary traits that men, if properly raised and allowed to express their biology, will and should naturally exhibit. They are the ... READ MORE

BS Alert: “Too Much Manliness” Caused Football Player’s Murder/Suicide On Saturday, a rich 25-year-old man, Jovan Belcher, murdered his 22-year-old girlfriend, the mother of his child. First, columnist Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports suggested that this “25-year-old kid” wasn’t responsible for his ... READ MORE

HOT OPINIONS Now We Know What is Required to be Elected Today … Jerry Sandusky Laws: Sick and Twisted Gun Rights Collision Course UN Vote Proves: Time To Toss This Carcass Preparing for Worst Case Scenario: Free Base Jumping off the Fiscal Cliff Gohmert: Paying Our Fair Share? Howsabout A Flat Tax? NEWS CLASH Al Sharpton Alert: Bloody Pics of Zimmerman Leaked Shameful: Pope Benedict XVI joins Twitter, vile hate starts before his first tweet Just Say Hell No: Shocking Before and After Meth Pictures! Massachusetts city announces: turn in your guns, get a free flu shot! Thinned-Skin President Taunts Kid Rock For Supporting Romney, Tells Him “I’m Still Here”… Bob Costas hijacks Sunday Night Football to give anti-gun lecture

MUST-SEE VIDEOS Al Sharpton Alert: Bloody Pics of Zimmerman Leaked Massachusetts city announces: turn in your guns, get a free flu shot! ABOUT CLASHDAILY.COM ClashDaily.com is a mosh pit of breaking news, edgy opinion, lots of attitude, and a call to action for God- and country-loving patriots. Yes, ClashDaily.com loves America's founding documents and its Judeo-Christian worldview, and we will defend the aforementioned with an unapologetic zeal and an irreverent sense of humor. Enjoy.

WND News Alerts

Christian's letter to newspaper gets her fired

You won't believe the battle underway after a university teacher happened to express her personal, Christian opinion in a letter to a local newspaper. Is the First Amendment officially dead?

Read the latest now on WND.com

Plus!

You already know Barack Obama is a one-man wrecking crew when it comes to the economy. Now he's linked to a plan that could devastate these stores you know very well and at which you probably even shop.

Click here for details

Must Read News Iran aims biological warheads at Israel Special-ops vets demand Benghazi answers America's Vietnam 'victory' media won't talk about Hamas literally put icing on its own cake Can you guess this week's 'famous atheist'? Dec. 25, the most important pagan birthday Judge blocks 'gay-conversion therapy' ban Bozell warns GOP just strategizing surrender Documents: Al-Qaida wielding power in Libya Burma accused of pursuing nuclear weapons 'History has given John Lennon a bad rap' 'When animals are afraid, they don't pray' THE AMERICAN TRIBULATION This day in WND History: Dec. 5 Other Highlights Girl, 10, in school play to become Hollywood star N-word ruled a 'term of endearment' Cop shoots puppy, writes owner parking ticket

Daily Blessing Your daily dose of spiritual inspiration Today's Scripture reading from the Holy Bible Joke Of The Day Cliffhanger Today's Poll Shooting his mouth off

Cowboy Byte

December 5, 2012
7 things that scare your doctor with ObamaCare on the horizon As the Affordable Care Act is in full swing, there’s a lot of apprehension and perhaps, sometimes, enthusiasm about what is truly in store for the medical profession. The last time you visited your doctor you may have noticed that … Continue reading → Top Cowboy Headlines Contractors say sequester will ‘shatter’ security plans Energy group responds to fracking and livestock story Obstacle course planned on Florida cattle ranch Anatomy of a Flop: GOP “Cliff” Counter-Offer Fizzles Key Fast and Furious Official Leaves Justice Department Confirmed: Obamacare is an Unpopular, Shoddy Trainwreck Conservative coalition puts pressure on GOP to embrace immigration reform Hoyer: Entitlement benefit cuts on the table in ‘fiscal cliff’ talks Reid says Boehner debt plan would raise taxes on middle class Low Mississippi threatens barge traffic again News You May Have Missed Obama Slaps States That Don’t Comply With Obamacare Year later, MF Global scandal still smolders EPA and agriculture engage in civil exchange The health care debate is coming to state capitals

Shocking: Man Pushed in Front of Subway Train in NYC

America's mindless killer robots must be stopped

An unmanned Northrop Grumman X-47B on a test flight at Edwards air force base in California. Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images

 

The rational approach to the inhumanity of automating death by machines beyond the control of human handlers is to prohibit it

 

by Noel Sharkey

Are we losing our humanity by automating death? Human Rights Watch (HRW) thinks so. In a new report, co-published with Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic, they argue the "case against killer robots". This is not the stuff of science fiction. The killer robots they refer to are not Terminator-style cyborgs hellbent on destroying the human race. There is not even a whiff of Skynet.

These are the mindless robots I first warned Guardian readers about in 2007 – robots programmed to independently select targets and kill them. Five years on from that call for legislation, there is still no international discussion among state actors, and the proliferation of precursor technologies continues unchecked.

Now HRW has stepped up to recommend that all states: prohibit the development, production and use of fully autonomous weapons through an international legally binding instrument; and adopt national laws and policies to prohibit the development, production, and use of fully autonomous weapons.

At the same time the Nobel peace prize winner Jody Williams has stressed the need for a pre-emptive civil society campaign to prevent these inhumane new weapons from creating unjustifiable harm to civilian populations.

By coincidence, three days after the HRW report was published, the US department of defence issued a directive on "autonomy in weapons systems" that "once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator". It "establishes … policy and assigns responsibilities for the development and use of autonomous and semi-autonomous functions in weapon systems". But this offers no comfort.

The US forces and policymakers have been discussing the development of autonomous weapon systems in their roadmaps since 2004, and the directive gives developers the green light. It boils down to saying that the defence department will test everything thoroughly from development to employment, train their operators, make sure that all applicable laws are followed; and have human computer interfaces to abort missions. It also repeatedly stresses the establishment of guidelines to minimise the probability of failures that could lead to unintended engagements or loss of control.
The reason for the repeated stress on failure becomes alarmingly clear in the definitions section, where we are told that failures "can result from a number of causes, including, but not limited to, human error, human-machine interaction failures, malfunctions, communications degradation, software coding errors, enemy cyber attacks or infiltration into the industrial supply chain, jamming, spoofing, decoys, other enemy countermeasures or actions, or unanticipated situations on the battlefield".

These possible failures show the weakness of the whole enterprise, because they are mostly outside the control of the developers. Guidance about human operators being able to terminate engagements is meaningless if communication is lost, not to mention that the types of supersonic and hypersonic robot craft the US are developing are far beyond human response times.

There are other technical naiveties. Testing, verification and validation are stressed without acknowledging the virtual impossibility of validating that mobile autonomous weapons will "function as anticipated in realistic operational environments against adaptive adversaries". How can a system be fully tested against adaptive unpredictable enemies?

The directive presents a blinkered US-centric outlook. It lacks understanding that proliferation of the technology means US robots are likely to encounter equal technology from other sophisticated powers. As anyone with a computing background knows, if two or more machines with unknown programs encounter one another, the outcome is unpredictable and could create the unforeseeable harm to civilians that HRW is talking about.

The directive tells us nothing about how these devices will lower the bar against initiating wars, taking actions short of war or violating human rights by sending killing machines abroad, where no US personnel can be injured or killed, to terrify local populations with uncertainty. Autonomous killers can hover for days waiting to execute someone.

It is clear that the rational approach to the inhumanity of automating death by machine is to prohibit it. We are on the brink of a revolution in military affairs that should and must be stopped.

OUTRAGE: Cops Shoot at UNARMED couple 137 times!! Murdered Both! SHARE T...

Freedom Outpost

Today's Feature: December 04, 2012 Feinstein's Indefinite Detention Amendment May Actually Expand Executive Power

House Republicans Offer Obama What He Wants & Get Nothing In Return Obama Begins Building Cap And Trade Deal Amidst Fiscal Cliff Talks Secession Petition Response Deadline Draws Near For White House Keystone Pipeline: Another Big Mistake By Obama Ashley Judd for Senate: Another Feminist to 'Represent Women' Classical Progressivism Vs American Exceptionalism Should NBC fire Bob Costas for 2nd Amendment rights attack during football game?

Veterans Rights To Own Guns Under Fire From Congress