The Morning Roar: U.S. Gov Caught Using Humanitarian HIV Program As Front, Highway Deaths Down In CO Since Marijuana Legalization, How The Market Delivers Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck
Here’s your Thursday edition of The Morning Roar!U.S. Gov Caught Using Humanitarian HIV Program As FrontLongtime readers of The Morning Roar, will probably remember fellow writer Brian McWilliam’s coverage of a story that revealed that the U.S. government created a “Cuban Twitter” to overthrow the ruling Communist regime.The “Cuban Twitter” story was bizarre and embarrassing for the U.S. government, but a new story that has been revealed this week is downright evil. The U.S. government was using a Humanitarian HIV program as a front for a covert operation where political activists were recruited and used to foster dissent among Cuban youth. The new revelations show that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was sending youth from Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Peru to stir-up political unrest in Cuba, under the guise of HIV outreach.From the Washington Post:
Their assignment was to recruit young Cubans to anti-government activism, which they did under the guise of civic programs, including an HIV prevention workshop. Murillo was instructed to check in every 48 hours and was provided with a set of security codes. “I have a headache,” for instance, meant the Costa Rican thought the Cubans were watching him and the mission should be suspended.Over at least two years, the U.S. Agency for International Development — best known for overseeing billions of dollars in U.S. humanitarian aid — sent nearly a dozen neophytes from Venezuela, Costa Rica and Peru to gin up opposition in Cuba. The danger was apparent to USAID, if not to the young operatives: A USAID contractor, American Alan Gross, had just been hauled away to a Cuban jail for smuggling in sensitive technology. He remains there still.USAID hired Creative Associates International, a Washington-based company, as part of a civil society program against Cuba’s communist government. The same company was central to the creation of a “Cuban Twitter” — a messaging network revealed in April by The Associated Press, designed to reach hundreds of thousands of Cubans.
The obvious common thread between the U.S. government’s “Cuban Twitter” and USAID scandal is the presence of Creative Associate International. This organization’s ideas might be creative, but they have most likely caused more harm than good to relations between the United States and Cuba.It is incredible that the U.S. government still has an embargo against Cuba. We live in amazing times where information is shared openly on the internet and commerce between nations thousands of miles apart can occur with the click of a mouse. Yet a nation that sits about 90 miles from the Florida coast is prohibited from trading because their style of government is not approved of by those in charge.The Cuban embargo has been in place for more than 50 years and neither country has benefited. If the U.S government truly wants to incite revolution in Cuba, then they should end the embargo and allow free trade and travel to the country. It will be much easier to influence the Cuban people by showing them the benefits of capitalism (or at least Crony Capitalist, which is still better than Communism.)Highway Deaths Down In CO Since Marijuana LegalizationRecord low highway fatalities have coincided with the time period that marijuana has been legalized in the state. This is certainly not to be interpreted as evidence that legal marijuana makes life safer, but the numbers reported and charts produced by the Washington Post sure are interesting to examine.
It seems to me that the best way to gauge the effect legalization has had on the roadways is to look at what has happened on the roads since legalization took effect. Here’s a month-by-month comparison of highway fatalities in Colorado through the first seven months of this year and last year. For a more thorough comparison, I’ve also included the highest fatality figures for each month since 2002, the lowest for each month since 2002 and the average for each month since 2002.
In statistical analysis the above graph is referred to as a small sample size. We don’t have multiple years of legal marijuana traffic statistics to contrast with the years prior to marijuana legalization. Therefore, we are very limited in what can be ascertained from the analysis.There could be many other factors that have contributed to this drop in highway deaths or it could be a fluke that will show as an outlier once more data is gathered. The main takeaway from this analysis is that traffic deaths did not spike when legal marijuana was introduced to society. This observation alone, discredits many anti-legalization advocates who claimed “high” drivers would be wreaking havoc on the state’s roadways.Of course, the libertarian view should be that it is a violation of an individual’s rights to prohibit any type of drugs, unless of course someone is violating the individual rights on another person in some fashion while using, buying/selling, or making the drugs.How The Market Delivers Trader Joe's Two Buck ChuckI’ve never had Two Buck Chuck and I probably never will. The state where I reside, Pennsylvania, has archaic liquor laws where all liquor is distributed by the state. Therefore, stores like Trader Joe’s are unable to sell alcohol in their stores, like they are allowed to in almost every other state. If I do get the chance to try Two Buck Chuck I can assure you my expectations will be very low. This is mostly due to the fact that I don’t expect to buy anything of quality for $2. It is also the result of a recent article that I read in the Huffington Post written by Wine Shop Manager and Wine Buyer Chris Knox. The article oozes with pretentiousness and makes Two Buck Chuck sound like the hot dog of wines.Here’s an excerpt from the article describing the wine making process for Two Buck Chuck.
A few things to keep in mind about his vineyards: one is that they are located in what is known as the Central Valley in the California wine world which is notoriously flat and quite hot producing massive yields of overripe grapes. The other thing is that Fred Franzia is no dummy - he planted those vineyards in such a way as the rows run north-south, giving the vines maximum sun exposure and he made the rows as long as he possibly could, minimizing the number of turns his tractors would need to make. And third, these aren't hand-picked vineyards...they are all machine harvested. And that means these large tractors with huge claws go down the rows of vineyards grabbing the grapes and depositing them in its huge receptacle. And it not only grabs ripe grapes, but unripe and down right rotten ones as well and throws them all together. Add to that leaves, stems and any rodents, birds, or insects that may have made those vines their home - they all get thrown into the bin as well. And guess what? You think there's going to be any sorting when that truck arrives at the winery (or should I say processing facility)? Nope. Everything, and I do mean everything (including all those unripe grapes, rotten grapes, leaves, stems, birds, rodents, and insects) gets tossed into the crusher and transferred to large tanks to ferment. So think about all the animal blood and parts that may have made their way into your wine next time you crack open that bottle of Two Buck Chuck! Hardly even seems worth the $2 does it?
You may be asking yourself why I included, in The Morning Roar, an article describing the disgusting process used to make a wine. I included the article because I think the process used to make Two Buck Chuck demonstrates perfectly how markets work.One aspect of the market is demand. There are a heck of a lot of people out there that will drink two dollar wine. And I’m not only talking about the homeless guy under the bridge. I’m talking about your neighbors across the street. There is sufficient enough demand for cheap wine. The demand is so strong that a man like Fred Franzia is able to get rich making it!Franzia is the owner of the winery that makes Two Buck Chuck. Wine snobs hate Franzia, but he’s only exploiting a niche in the wine market. If anything, wine elitists should hate the consumers that lap up this lowly product (and I’m sure pretentious wine snobs do look down upon Two Buck Chuck drinkers.)Regardless of how people feel about Frank Franzia, Two Buck Chuck, or the snob that wrote that article for the Huffington Post, the market will continue to deliver what the consumers wants. Really, the supply and demand dynamics of such a low quality product are pretty amazing. I’m sure the process is mirrored in the low quality food so many Americans eat and the watered-down light beer so many drink.Read The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
