Next week, the Senate could be meeting to vote on the Protect IP Act (PIPA), the bill that many people are warning could damage the Internet. It’s a horrible prospect — but this isn’t the first time that Congress has tried to sacrifice a technology at the behest of corporate lobbyists.

Here are 10 other technologies that Congress tried, at one time or another, to legislate out of existence.

Top image: Neal Sanche/Flickr.

1. Video Cassette Recorders (VCRs)

Who Wanted it Killed: The movie studios, mainly. The MPAA’s Jack Valenti famouslytestified before Congress that “the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.”
How it Worked Out: No fewer than six bills were introduced in Congress to control the VCR. The MPAA finally dropped its demands that VCRs be outlawed, but instead supported bills that would require licensing of VCRs, royalties on the sale of blank videocassettes, and a copyright owner’s permission before renting out video tapes. In the end, Congress decided to wait and see what the Supreme Court decided in the famous Sony Vs. Universal case. And then, in 2002, the Digital Millennium Copyright Actrequired all VCRs to include “automatic gain control,” thus making Macrovision copy protection an integral part of all VCRs.

2. The Phonograph

Who Wanted it Killed: John Philip Sousa, the guy who wrote “Stars and Stripes Forever.” He testified before Congress that both the gramophone and the player piano would put musicians out of business. And that they would stifle composers from writing new music by removing “all incentive to further creative work.” In marathon hearings, Sousa and the American Copyright League argued in favor of a bill which would have given copyright owners control over all sales (including resale) of their work.
How it Worked Out: In the end, Congress passed a milder bill, which simply assured musicicans and composers royalties from recordings. Sousa was satisfied, and in 1923, he told Thomas Edison, “You have made the art of the musician immortal, Mr. Edison.”

3. Genetically modified food

Who Wanted it Killed: Environmentalists and food safety advocates. Congress has tried many times over the years to regulate or ban certain types of genetically modified foods, and manybills have been introduced over the years. Most recently, as the Food and Drug Administration has been deciding whether to allow the sale of AquaBounty Technologies’ genetically modified salmon in the U.S., the House of Representativesvoted to block FDA approval of the “AquAdvantage” salmon.
How it Worked Out: In general, U.S. laws remain laxer than those in most other countries. Regarding the salmon issue, it doesn’t look as though the House provision has passed the Senate, or gotten President Obama’s signature. Meanwhile, the FDA still hasn’t made a decision about the “franken-salmon.”

4. Internet gambling

Who Wanted it Killed: The Feds themselves. The Justice Department was very alarmed by the rise of online gambling, especially as run by offshore operators, and concerned that this gambling could serve as a cover for money-laundering.
How it Worked Out: Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which didn’t outlaw online gambling, but did bar U.S. banks and credit card companies from processing payments to gambling sites. Since then, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has been trying to restore the legality of online gambling, arguing that we could tax it and generate a lot of revenue, at a time when budgets are under strain.

5. The Whizzinator

Who Wanted it Killed: Pretty much everybody. After Minnesota Vikings running back Onterrio Smith was caught at an airport with one of these devices, which is basically a fake penis that allows you to fool drug urine tests, Congressheld hearings on May 17, 2005. Rep. Bart Stupakheld up Whizzinator advertising and spoke against the national scandal of simulated urination. “How will we stop the flow?” demanded Stupak, as the room exploded in unintended giggles.
How it Worked Out: There was no Federal law against manufacturing such devices, so states were powerless to go after the makers. In the end, the feds never managed to pass an anti-Whizzinator law, but federal prosecutors were able to go after the manufacturers for selling drug paraphernalia.

6. Mp3 players

Who Wanted it Killed: Actually, this is more like a random casualty of a reckless shooter. Congress has tried to pass a few laws to protect copyright owners in the past, which were so broadly written that they would have banned a wide range of technologies, including mp3 players. There was the Induce Act, which would have banned any technology that induces people to violate copyright. Earlier, there was the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, which banned any devices that could be used to read digital content that didn’t have Digital Rights Management (DRM) built in.
How it Worked Out: So far, none of these bills has passed, so your iPod is safe.

7. Margarine

Who Wanted it Killed: The dairy farmers. Margarine was introduced in 1874, after a French chemist named Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès figured out a way to make a cheap butter substitute from beef fat. The dairy industry freaked out, because the much cheaper margarine threatened to drive smaller dairies out of business. They tried passing various state laws, but some of those were shot down in court.
How it Worked Out: The dairy farmers went to Congress, and there were hearings that culminated in the Margarine Act of 1886, which imposed a tax of two cents per pound on margarine — although the original bill called for a ten cent tax instead. This was followed by the Margarine Act of 1906, in which the federal government raised that tax for margarine that was dyed yellow to look like real butter. (Some state laws required margarine to be dyed weird colors, like pink or black.) The state and federal anti-margarine laws were on the books for decades. (For more about the margarine saga, clickhere or here.)

8. Embryonic stem cells

Who Wanted it Killed: Pro-life advocates, mainly. In 1996, Congress passed the Dickey-Wicker amendment, which bans any federal research in which human embryos are created, destroyed or put at risk of harm. This law, which remains on the books, essentially prevented most embryonic stem cell research.
How it Worked Out: In 2001, then-President George W. Bush announced a new policy in which 61 cell lines of existing embryonic stem cells would be allowed for federally-funded research. Congress tried to pass a bill expanding this policy, but Bush vetoed it. Since then, President Obama has tried to abolish the Bush policy, but Obama’s executive order has been tied up in federal courts. (In a related issue, Congress has repeatedly voted to ban human cloning.)

9. DAT (Digital Audio Tape) recorders

Who Wanted it Killed: The music industry, yet again. Congress held hearings throughout the late 1980s over whether to stop this digital technology from coming to consumers. Music industry lobbyists demanded that DAT players be fitted with technology that would degrade the sound quality of any music copied on them, or that sales of DAT tapes include a royalty payment to the music industry.
How it Worked Out: As Stanford’s Mark Lemley puts it, “Digital audio tapes were then subject to a compulsory licensing scheme and were never heard from again by mass-market consumers. The technology flopped once it was put under the control of the content industry.”

10. Assault weapons

Who Wanted it Killed: Gun control advocates. The ban on semi-automatic weapons in 1994 was a major achievement of the Clinton Administration’s first two years — and probably a huge reason why the Democrats lost control over both houses of Congress that year.
How it Worked Out: The federal assault weapons ban was scheduled to sunset after ten years, and it did. The ban expired in 2004, and attempts to renew it were unsuccessful. Image via 2DayBlog.

Additional reporting by Gordon Jackson and Marykate Jasper. Thanks also to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Wendy Seltzer for the suggestions.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

There are too many debates this month. This is the second of three and that’s not counting the Palmetto Freedom Forum that occurred just over a week ago. The candidates must be worn out and I can’t imagine how they’ll be feeling come the next debate, which is just a week away! All this hard work is paying off however, at least for my candidate Ron Paul. After the last two debates and the forum, his support has doubled: in less than two weeks! Is liberty shining through all the bullshit? Man, I fucking hope so!

Being the second CNN debate, I was a little worrisome, as last time I was assaulted by the throat gargling of John King. I was pretty hard on homeboy but that shit did get extremely annoying. Lucky for me, John King was a no show and we were treated to the the legendary prowess of Wolf Blitzer, who can be a douche at times but is still a much better choice to head this debate up than what I am assuming is Larry King’s little brother or son or possibly daughter.

Kicking off the debate is a video introduction that looks like they are introducing the Avengers. This summer blockbuster trailer is kind of cool, well until they get to Ron Paul. Everyone else looked powerful and badass but for Dr. Paul they picked a clip of him looking frail, leaning against a shelf. What the fuck man, can the the media hate for the libertarian guy be any more obvious? Fucking dickholes. Anyway, moving on.

So after the intro video of Earth’s mightiest heroes, Wolf Blitzer called them out one by one in what felt like wrestlers running to the ring at the Royal Rumble. However, none of them had any badass theme music. If I was producing this show, they’d all come out to some generic death metal. I do have to say, love him or hate him (I hate him), even without cool theme music, Rick Perry does look like a fucking president walking across that stage. Too bad he’s an evil bastard, then again most presidents have had a twinge of evil bastard in them.

Wolf introduces some chick to sing the national anthem. No offense but shouldn’t this have been done before the show? There hasn’t been a national anthem televised on any other debate, including the first CNN one, so why is it suddenly necessary? I’d rather have more times for questions. Also, this chick singing is pretty atrocious, not to say that I wouldn’t hit it though. Bachmann looks enthralled with her however. I can almost read Michele’s thoughts. She’s saying to herself, “I hope she ate the cheese platter I left her.” I bet Michele did leave her a cheese platter, she is a really nice motherly lady. Enough with this singer though, I’ve heard better from my drunk uncle Titus down at the Winghole on Karaoke Wednesdays.

Next up are the time-wasting introductions.. yawn. Can’t we just get to it already?! We’re thirteen minutes deep at this point! All I got from this was that Ron Paul promises to obey the Constitution and Newt gave a shout out to his homies in 9/12. Odd, considering it is actually 9/12.

Holy shit! Whoa! Stop the press! Wolf Blitzer didn’t start with Rick Perry or Mitt Romney! Are we seeing a change of the guard in the Golden Boy Club? The first question goes to golden girl Michele Bachmann, who isn’t as funny as Bea Arthur, at least not intentionally. The first subject is Social Security.

Michele basically says that she is down with Social Security because it was a promise made decades ago. Basically this pro-constitution fiscally responsible Tea Party darling is cool with socialism as long as it was delivered with a promise. Good job sticking to your guns lady.

Darth Perry who called Social Security a Ponzi scheme last debate, less than a week ago, is now backtracking on that statement. Homie must own more flip flops than Mitt. Perry goes as far as to say that it is “slam dunk guaranteed” that social security will be there for everyone if he is elected president. Romney and Perry then immediately start slapping each other like a couple of old ladies in the Jello line at the nursing home. I tune out mentally and take a big swig of my Stella Artois.

The only people offering real solutions to the Social Security problem are Herman Cain and Ron Paul. Last debate Cain mentioned that we should adopt the Chilean model for reforming Social Security but this debate, he actually has time to break it down for us. Cain’s already off to a great start this debate.

Holy shit, now Newt is on the bandwagon and pimping the Chilean model as well. As he speaks, he gets both cheers and boos and both very loudly. People either love or hate this guy. I’m not a fan policy-wise but I do enjoy his presence in these debates.

Somewhere in the middle of all this Social Security talk, Jon Huntsman refers to Mitt Romney as Kurt Cobain. His pop culture references are twenty years old. He tries to be funny but he fails. He should be on a bad CW buddy sitcom with Rick Santorum called “Just Dicks”.

Santorum speaks, no one cares. Where’s Gary Johnson?

The next part of the debate goes into the budget and general economics. As we face economic peril, these questions are some of the most important of the night. However, most of the answers given were shit.

Newt steps up first and talks about how there is too much waste in government and that by eliminating it we can come closer to balancing the budget. Yeah dude, that’s pretty much common sense and we all already know that. Those of you who aren’t aware of this should probably just go back to bed. Newt goes on to bash the Super Congress, which shouldn’t even exist and he calls for a modernization of the federal government.

Rick Santorum between fixing his racquets says that we need to adopt the Paul Ryan Plan. Most conservatives are on this bandwagon but the truth is, it doesn’t do much to alleviate the problem. Santorum doesn’t live in reality however and neither does anyone else pimping this plan.

Rick Perry is asked if he would cut drug prescription benefits and he says “no”. He obviously likes government spending the way it is. Rick Perry says whatever he needs to say to stay afloat. He is a professional panderer.

Romney promises to cut and cap spending and even wants a balanced budget amendment. Without an amendment the government can’t be fiscally responsible. I’m going to quit paying my bills and just use the excuse that I personally need an amendment to force me to stop buying whiskey, ties and pipe tobacco. Mittens also promises to completely restructure the economy and create jobs in the process. Sounds like sorcery!

Ron Paul says that he is looking for a lot of places to cut. He then goes on to pimp out his anti-war message and receives loud pops from the crowd. He talks about cutting funding to education, national security and energy. All these areas need to be looked at and seriously analyzed, as they suck up a huge portion of our budget. Bringing our damn troops home would also help the budget immensely.

Rick Perry starts regurgitating Tea Party talking points that he stole from a pamphlet he found lying next to the Port-O-Lets at the Tampa Fairgrounds. Huntsman promises to reform the tax code within his first 100 days. Bachmann pats herself on the back per usual and promises to repeal everything. Can we repeal ‘Avatar’ from being made? Can we at least repeal funding going to the production of any sequels? Herman Cain tells the world to go check his 999 Plan but he doesn’t mention the FairTax. I wonder if that is a part of his 999 Plan; I will have to give it a quick read over.

Mitt Romney then comes out and says that, “We are an energy rich nation living like an energy poor nation.” He also says that we’re in a smartphone world and not a payphone world and that Obama is still putting quarters in the payphone or something like that. All I can say is, “Fuck payphones!” Those things are dirty, grimy, germy and stinky. They also smell like hobo nut sweat. All this does though is lead to another spat between Romney and Perry and this one is full of weird poker references and extreme awkwardness by both candidates. Wolf Blitzer blushes when Rick Perry winks at him. Maybe I imagined that part. In any event, Wolf has some obvious man-love for the Texas Gub’ner.

Ron Paul destroys the man-love by pointing out the reality of Rick Perry’s record (I wrote about his record here). Dr. Paul points out that Perry has implemented higher taxes and created more debt in the process. Ron Paul peels back the layers and Perry, looking visibly uncomfortable, just makes wise cracks about Ron Paul. Truth is, the record Perry touts is bullshit. The media doesn’t care though, he’s dreamy!

The next subject to come up is the Federal Reserve. Oddly, not a single fucking question about the Fed or Ben Bernanke went to Ron Paul, who is the chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy. Basically, Ron Paul deals with Bernanke and the Fed on a daily basis! Yet, not a single fucking question went to the expert on the subject.

Former Federal Reserve employee Herman Cain was asked a question however. He was asked if the Fed should be audited. Cain who used to be against auditing the Federal Reserve now says that we should. He says that he doesn’t want to end the Fed but he does want to fix it. That’s not good enough for me, sorry homie.

Michele Bachmann says she would fire Ben Bernanke. Of course she would and so would everyone else up there because to say that you would keep him would be career suicide at this point. Everyone else pretty much says the same thing. Romney insists he will look into the Fed: no he won’t. Rick Perry does backtrack on his remark from two debates back where he called Ben Bernanke “treasonous”. Perry is backtracking and flippin’ the script like a little bitch this round. Starting to see a trend yet?

A young Tea Partier in the crowd asks “How much of my paycheck should I be allowed to keep?” It is a great question that should be asked to every single candidate on that stage, however Wolf Blitzer just asks Jon Huntsman: what a waste. Huntsman, the living embodiment of the politician stereotype, beats around the bush and never truly answers the question. One of the best questions of the night is thrown away like a used condom after sex with a Carson City hooker under an overpass.

A Tea Partier on the giant TV then asks about the FairTax and the question is given to Mitt Romney who doesn’t support it and tries to explain why. The problem is that Mitt obviously doesn’t understand the FairTax and how it works. He claims that it punishes the middle class. Nope dude.. it doesn’t. Go read one of the Boortz books or read any of the countless FairTax articles that are posted on FairTax.org and TheSwash.com. Wolf Blitzer is really good at picking the wrong people to ask specific questions. The audience members that got to participate in the debate were cheated.

Things really start to heat up in a good way when Ron Paul speaks out against the use of executive orders. Dr. Paul says that executive orders should never be used for legislation and that anyone who uses them to make law is not working within the frame of the Constitution. Ron Paul then points out that it was Rick Perry who abused the executive order power in trying to force teen girls to get vaccinated. Rick Perry once again looks uncomfortable and can’t effectively dig himself out of this hole. How could he? There is no excuse for this even though too many people are turning a blind eye to it or somehow accepting it and forgetting it.

Perry tries to get out of the hole by saying he’d use his executive order powers as president to repeal Obamacare. This fucksack just can’t face the goddamned music. Bachmann gets really pissed and informs the idiot Perry that you can’t just repeal it with an executive order, he needs to learn how this shit works. She then goes on and on about parental rights and how Perry violated them and is pretty much an evil fucking bastard.

Of course Wolf Blitzer continually allows Perry to respond to every criticism, which isn’t a luxury that he has been giving to anyone else on the stage. Bachmann isn’t having any of Perry’s shit and she points out that he has close ties with Merck, the drug company behind the vaccination. I remember when I used to tell people this and they called me a “conspiracy nut”. Bachmann is bouncing back in this debate and showing that she’s not ready to leave the hunt.

Suddenly, Rick Santorum starts ripping Rick Perry a new asshole too! This is great. Santorum is an idiot douche but Darth Perry getting slammed has got me cheering on any and all comers that want to challenge the Sith bastard. Perry is crawling in his skin and it’s awesome to watch. Rick Perry literally pulls a shit sandwich out of his jacket pocket and takes a bite. Nomnomnom!

Health care is the next big issue and Herman Cain starts the discussion by saying that he wants to implement a “loser pays” law, as it would help eliminate bad lawsuits against doctors, thus eliminating the high cost of their liability insurance and thus the high cost of health care in general.

Ron Paul says that, “Freedom is about risk”. When it comes to health care it is a person’s responsibility to take care of themselves, just like anything else. However, he points out that the charitable nature of man wouldn’t just let people die in the streets. Being the only doctor on stage and having practiced medicine before all the medical entitlements, he tells us about how even before Medicare and Medicaid all the hospitals he worked in never turned people away. He also talked about how churches and other organizations would work to help the less fortunate as they do now, except they would be even more charitable if their hands weren’t tied due to the cost of health care and the restraints of the over-regulated system.

Some guy from Cincinnati asks the candidates what we should do ’bout all dem Messicans. The first to get on that is Rick Santorum who literally calls for “Stormtroopers” on the border! No, he really called for “Stormtroopers”! Apparently he also wants a super fence and a Death Star pointed at Mexico. Man, I thought Darth Perry was the Sith.

Rick Perry blames the federal government for slacking in taking care of the border issues. Wait, hold up.. this guy calling for states’ rights is now bitching that the feds haven’t taken care of business. The reality of this is that Perry is a lazy fuck when it comes to dealing with the GOP solution on immigration. Homeboy needs to check his record and then he needs to check his ass. He throws in there that a fence won’t work; he’s right about that.

Rick Santorum doesn’t like Perry’s insight about the fence though and he jumps down his throat. Santorum goes on a tirade about speaking English and how he came from immigrants. Yeah dude, we all did except those of us living on reservations.

Bachmann steps into the immigration debate and, as is the trend, she jacks Ron Paul’s platform. Bachmann believes that the real problem is the welfare state and that it needs to be severely reformed to prevent illegal aliens from benefitting from it. Actually honey, it needs to be abolished.

Rick Perry says that he is against amnesty for illegal aliens but is quickly attacked by Jon Huntsman who calls Perry “treasonous” for saying that the border cannot be physically secured by a fence. Perry is right here and Huntsman is just picking a fight to be relevant in this debate. I sort of like Jon Huntsman, simply for the fact that he is a total dick. Huntsman gets some extra points for dissing Homeland Security.

Herman Cain then tells us that he wants to create a “regulatory reduction commission” to overlook government agencies such as the EPA. I like this idea as long as it doesn’t cost a lot of money. Then again, if used correctly, it could save us tons of money and justify the cost of its existence. Then again, when does government do anything right?

Ron Paul is confronted with his vocal opposition to military spending and explains to Wolf Blitzer and the people watching that there is a difference between military spending and defense spending. Yes, there certainly is. Unfortunately the average American citizen and politician can’t wrap their head around that simple bit of logic. This of course angers pretty much everyone in the room and Ron Paul has to explain that jihadists are pissed about our involvement in their lives and the fact that we occupy their countries. He goes on to explain Osama bin Laden’s reasoning for attacking us on 9/11 by using Osama’s own words. The crowd boos because the crowd can’t accept the fact that we have an imperialistic military that steps on nuts all over the world. No! no! no! They just hate us because we’re white and different! We never did anything to piss them off!

Ron Paul’s insightful lesson is followed up by Huntsman saying that we need to get out of Afghanistan. Rick Perry then steps up to the mic and says that it is important to have a military presence in Afghanistan to help them form a civil freedom-loving society. I guess he believes the myth that warring tribes can be civil.

Wolf Blitzer then asks the final question of the night to all the candidates. He asks what each and every one of them would bring to the White House. Santorum says he’d build a room for his kids.. yawn. Ron Paul says he’s bringing Austrian economics and common sense. Newt says something about ballet. Perry says he’s bringing the best First Lady ever. Huntsman says something lame. Bachmann says something crazy. Romney fixes his hair. Cain says he’s bringing a sense of humor. I’m bringing cotton candy.

This debate ends and we’re all left with just a little bit more of the same. I think the most important thing of the night was Rick Perry getting called out on his bullshit and being exposed as an evil Sith bastard. Bachmann earned some respect for going off on the Texas Governor. I also have to give props to Paul for trying to educate the lesser beings to no avail. Don’t worry Dr. Paul, after their campaign staff explains your talking points to them, they’ll steal some of your platform for the next debate.

In the end, this was one of the better debates. I wish certain parts of the debate were better managed and that Wolf Blitzer used better judgment on who to ask specific questions. Ah well, at least we didn’t have that pervert John King making unsexy throat noises. At the end of the day, this is just one of several debates and the road to 2012 is far from over. In fact, we still have a year before we even find out who wins the primary. There’s also another dozen or so debates on the horizon. It’s going to be a long year but at least it has been entertaining. At this point, anything can happen.

Grading Scale:
Grade A: Ron Paul
Grade B+: Herman Cain
Grade B: Michele Bachmann
Grade C-: Newt Gingrich
Grade D: Mitt Romney
Grade D: Rick Santorum
Grade D-: Rick Perry
Grade D-: Jon Huntsman
Grade I: Gary Johnson
Grade I: Thaddeus McCotter

My Two Cents: Ahh.. it’s okay when the government benefits. End Two Cents.

*Taken from CNBC.

The District of Columbia is not thrilled that its residents are traveling to Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to gamble in casinos. Starved for cash, like states across the country, the district wants some of the millions in revenue that gambling generates each year.

So district officials want residents to gamble closer to home — inside their homes, actually. Or in cafes, restaurants and bars. By year’s end the district hopes to introduce an Internet gambling hub that would allow Washington residents to play blackjack, poker and other casino-style games.

“They can do it from Starbucks, a restaurant, bar or hotel, or from a private residence,” said Buddy Roogow, executive director of the D.C. Lottery, who expects the new games to eventually raise $9 million a year. “That’s real money in D.C.”

CONTINUED..

My Two Cents: Here we go again, the MLB (just like the NBA, NHL and NFL) have to make a shit show circus out of something trivial and ridiculous. Damn nannies. The only difference between A-Rod and most others is that he got caught. I bet there are guys in the MLB offices that have done some gambling at some point. I won’t even get into the fact that anti-gambling laws are f’n dumb. End Two Cents.

*Taken from ESPN. Video at link.

Major League Baseball is taking “very seriously” the allegations that Alex Rodrigueztook part in some illegal, underground poker games, one of which reportedly turned violent, and he could face suspension if his participation in the games is confirmed.

“We take this very seriously and have been investigating this matter since the initial allegation,” MLB said in a statement. “As part of the investigation, the commissioner’s office will interview Mr. Rodriguez.”

An MLB executive, speaking to ESPNNewYork.com on condition of anonymity, indicated that Rodriguez could miss games if the investigation proves he was at the poker games.

CONTINUED..

*Taken from Radar.

Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire is among more than a dozen high-profile Hollywoodcelebrities being sued in connection with a mega-millions illegal gambling ring that ran high-stakes underground poker games, Star magazine is reporting exclusively.

Maguire, 35, won more than $300,000 from a Beverly Hills hedge fund manager who embezzled investor funds and orchestrated a Ponzi scheme in a desperate bid to pay off his monster debt to the star and others, it’s alleged.

An FBI investigation into Brad Ruderman, the CEO of Ruderman Capital Partners, uncovered how he lost $25 million of investor money in clandestine poker games held on a twice weekly basis in suites at the luxury Beverly Hills hotel, Four Seasons, and the Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard.

Tinsel town A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon also played in the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em games which had a buy-in of $100,000, multiple members of the ring told Star.

CONTINUED..

*Taken from Reason.

May’s biggest busybodies are taking it to poker players and teen tanners, but the nation’s top nag has lovers of pink-in-the-middle burgers seeing red.

In a stunning blow to all that is juicy and delicious, the Tar Heel state actually prohibits restaurants from serving rare or medium-rare hamburgers.

And if this crime against meat freedom seems especially un-American, keep in mind that it comes from the same state that once banned Old Glory at public rallies.

Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for May 2011: Terry Pierce of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources!

*Taken from LP.org.

In the wake of the much-discussed release of President Obama’s long-form birth certificate, Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle had this to say:

“Instead of wasting so much ink on this birther story, the press should be giving a lot more attention to the many real disasters of the Obama administration. The Libertarian Party recently released a list of ’20 Obama problems, 20 Libertarian solutions.’

“Of course, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress are only part of the problem equation. The Republicans deserve an equal share of the blame, for their unwillingness to cut military spending or entitlements, their addiction to government programs like farm subsidies, and their big-spending compromise bills of December 2010 and April 2011.

“I wonder if Obama and the Republicans might just be conspiring to keep this birther stuff alive, to distract everyone from all the real problems they’re causing. The president might have been worried that the birther talk was about to die down.

“When you consider that we’re involved in three foreign wars, our entitlement state is crumbling, we have record-level spending and deficits, unemployment is high, and inflation is growing, the president’s birth certificate seems less significant somehow.

“We need to be more focused on the fact that massive debt is driving our government toward bankruptcy — something Republican birther Donald Trump would know a lot about.

“Nearly two years ago, one of our junior staffers mocked this very issue:

Socialized healthcare is on the horizon. The DHS, NSA, TSA police state is expanding, the Drug War is still being pursued by an arrogant, ignorant government and Obama is expanding the war in Afghanistan! Frankly we have got bigger problems to pursue than blogging endlessly about where the President was born.

“Hopefully Americans will worry less about long-form birth certificates, and more about thousand-page spending bills.”

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

HERE’S THE LIST:

1. Cash for Clunkers
The government should not try to dictate what vehicles people drive, or what mileage they get. This program paid people to destroy their cars and buy new higher-mileage cars. It wasted both money and natural resources. Libertarians would never have done this.

2. War escalation in Afghanistan
We would withdraw American forces from Afghanistan. President Obama has escalated the war.

3. Giant government health care expansion bill
Libertarians would return health care to the private sector and the free market, instead of repeatedly increasing the amount of government interference.

4. Post office loses money hand over fist
Libertarians would end the post office’s monopoly, and allow competition and the free market to provide the mail services people demand.

5. Stimulus package
The key to a robust economy is shrinking government, not growing it. Libertarians don’t believe in stimulus packages.

6. Expansion of “state secrets” doctrine
The president is not a dictator. Libertarians would not allow presidential actions to avoid judicial scrutiny.

7. Big increase in unemployment
High unemployment is mostly caused by government interference. Libertarians would let the free market work.

8. “Bailout” Geithner as Treasury Secretary
Libertarians would appoint someone who understands economics and the importance of free markets.

9. Skyrocketing federal spending
Libertarians would would make huge cuts, not increases, in government spending.

10. Huge federal deficits
Libertarians would cut government spending so much that deficits would disappear.

And here are ten new ones:

11. War in Libya
Libertarians want to end America’s foreign wars, not start new ones.

12. Assassination doctrine
Libertarians would never claim that the president can assassinate American citizens just because he personally believes them to be terrorists.

13. Big-spending deals with Republicans
Last December, and again this month, President Obama and Republicans came together to keep federal spending huge this year. Massive defense spending, unemployment extensions, ethanol subsidies, etc. Libertarians would demand cuts in the current year, and we’d be happy to let the government shut down if our opponents refused.

14. Keeping Guantanamo open
Before he was elected, Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay. He hasn’t done it. Libertarians would shut it down.

15. Fed massively inflates fiat currency
With the support of President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner, the Federal Reserve has continued its massive inflation of the money supply. Libertarians wouldn’t allow it — in fact, we would end the Fed.

16. War on Poker
Less than two weeks ago, Obama’s Justice Department decided to trample on the rights of millions of Americans by shutting down several online poker websites and indicting their executives. Libertarians believe that Americans have the right to gamble.

17. Patriot Act extensions
Obama has signed bills to extend the life of the Patriot Act, which violates the civil rights of Americans. Libertarians would refuse to renew it.

18. Sustaining warrantless wiretaps
As a candidate, Obama said he would end these violations started during the Bush administration. But apparently he lied. Warrantless wiretaps are still being used today. Libertarians would end them immediately.

19. Sustaining War in Iraq
As a candidate, Obama promised the Iraq War would be over by now. But there are still upwards of 50,000 American troops in Iraq. Libertarians would end that war and withdraw all of the troops.

20. Medical Marijuana raids
In October 2009, we sent a press release commending the Obama administration’s new policy to end raids on medical marijuana providers. Unfortunately, they were lying. The feds have continued to raid medical marijuana providers. Libertarians would completely end the tragic and destructive War on Drugs.

*Taken from LA Times.

The founders of the three largest online poker sites were indicted by the FBI on Friday in what could serve as a death blow to the thriving industry.

Eleven executives at PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were charged with bank fraud and money laundering in an indictment unsealed in a Manhattan court. Two of the executives were arrested on Friday morning in Utah and Nevada. Federal agents are searching for the others.

Prosecutors are seeking to immediately shut down the sites and to eventually send the executives to jail and to recover $3 billion from the companies. By Friday afternoon Full Tilt Poker’s site displayed a message explaining that “this domain name has been seized by the F.B.I. pursuant to an Arrest Warrant.”

The online gambling industry has taken off over the last decade, drawing an estimated 15 million Americans to bet online.

In 2006 Congress passed a law prohibiting online gambling. Most of the leading sites found ways to work around the law using foreign banks, but prosecutors allege that in doing so they broke the law.

“These defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,” Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement.

Poker fans took to Twitter in droves, worried about the money in their online gaming accounts, fretting that online poker’s days were at an end.

“Well the good news is I think I only had about $300 left on the online poker sites overall,” tweeted Jimi Schindler of Madison, Wis. “Maybe I’ll see that money?!!?”

*Taken from Reason.

Just a few years out of college and David “Doc” Sands has already racked up nearly $2.5 million winning poker tournaments, and this January he became the world’s top-ranked online tournament player.

Sands sat down with Reason.tv’s Ted Balaker to discuss Sand’s love of poker and individual liberty, the parallels between marijuana and gambling policy, and the hypocrisy embedded in America’s gambling laws. Says Sands, “At the same time they’re facilitating lotteries, they’re telling us that online poker is a game of chance that we shouldn’t be allowed to play.”

Approximately 9.12 minutes.

Interview by Ted Balaker. Shot by Alex Manning, Adam Jensen, and Paul Detrick. Edited by Manning.