The Almighty Multinational Corporation
A giant, ominous, sensationalizing headline on Drudge (shocking, I know) inadvertently punches a few well-deserved holes in a few long-running but fallacious/deflective narratives. For that, we might actually thank the repressive Saudis, who forced Netflix to...
Crimes Not Impeached
Impeachment is in the air. The Democrats, as they prepare to take up the House, promise a "cannon of subpoenas." I've discussed the impeachment possibilities in President Trump's many imbroglios here. Today, let's take a look at other instances of Presidential...
The Right To Steal
In further validation of the notion that "there are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them," Christopher Rufo at City Journal informs us of the latest whiz-bang idea coming out of the homeless-advocacy camp is that of "survival crime."...
Your Money And Your Rights
The oh-so-serious folks at NPR were kind enough to assemble a list of policy ideas being offered up by the ever-growing crop of Democratic presidential hopefuls. While it would be presumptuous to call this comprehensive (indeed, it doesn't even touch upon some of the...
Where Are The Aliens?
I used to be a nuclear rocket engineer. Really, I was. Department of Defense, NASA, missions to Mars and other planets... for a span of about 7 years during the Reagan-Bush era, I was eyeballs deep in it. My octogenarian aunt, who has lived her whole life on an...
Dreaming of Walls
While we libertarians revel in the government shut-down, we know that all good things will eventually come to an end (and, whatever money didn't get spent will be made up retroactively, sad to say). From a popcorn-munching, pox-upon-both-their-houses perceptive, it's...
A Libertarian’s View of Elizabeth Warren
A couple months after Trump's inauguration, a friend and I quibbled over the notion of Rand Paul as President. In that exchange he puzzled as to why I, as a libertarian, am not a fan of Elizabeth Warren. My response was that she was a textbook big-government...
Blaming Things
When a drunk driver kills someone, we blame and punish the driver. When a drug dealer kills someone, we blame and punish the dealer. When a husband attacks his wife, we blame the husband. When a bomb explodes, we blame the bomber. When someone gets stabbed with a...
Carte Blanche and the General Welfare
The Constitution is a remarkable document, in conception, in purpose, in brevity, and in clarity. It is one of the great achievements in the entirety of human history. Unfortunately, since it is written in words, it is subject to the meanings assigned to those words....
Swift-Kick Amnesia
At work one day (I'm a paramedic in New York City), I was called to a Subway sandwich shop by a manager concerned over a customer. He met us outside and said it was about a lady who had been there all day, and whom he found unreceptive when he went over to talk to...
Government and Prices
As the Left continues to press for ever-more government control of the economy, in areas such as health care, college, prescription medicines, and even fundamental economic behavior in the private sector, it's worth reviewing the government's track record in...
Not Yours To Give
A year or two ago, as a friend and I were having a couple beers at a bar, another barfly asked us if she could take one of the unoccupied chairs near us. My friend, by way of assent, replied "It's not mine to give." I found that to be a more "fun" reply than my...
Better Citizens
I had a discussion with a friend the other day, about the safety net and the conflation of society with government. It was prompted by my recent blog post Capitalism Needs Poverty, wherein I refuted the title's premise and asserted instead that "socialism breeds...
We Are All Isolationists
A few years ago, I read a pithy observation in one of the on-line libertarian-leaning forums (perhaps Cato.org, perhaps Mises.org, perhaps another). To this day, I regret not bookmarking it, and I've been unable to find it via search. Paraphrased, it read: An...
A Quote For Every Occasion
Conservative hawks were aghast at Trump's sudden announcement that he's ordering American troops out of Syria. Libertarians and others weary of America's endless militarism, on the other hand, were gladdened, and some even cheered. While some Republicans feel betrayed...
Trump’s Gun Rights Giveaway
This week, President Trump banned bump stocks, devices used to enable a semi-automatic rifle such as an AR-15 to simulate full-automatic operation. Not Congress. Not a passel of anti-gun Democrats and/or a cohort of squishy Republicans. President Trump, who has long...
Deficit Hawks and Sacred Cows
Trump's tax cuts were widely praised by his supporters, and widely panned by the Left. No surprise in either case. The tax cuts were also panned by another, less obvious group: conservative deficit hawks. Many in this crowd purport to be the "true" Republicans, and...
Carbon Delusion
Over in Poland, a passel of the world's elite have gathered for the 24th annual Conference of Parties (COP24), to discuss climate change and hammer out an agreement on carbon emission tracking and mitigation. The word coming out of Poland is that the situation remains...
The Only Difference That Matters
"Identity Politics." Depending on your political and philosophical leanings, this phrase evokes either a nod of approval or an eye-roll of frustration. Progressives tend to believe that to understand someone, you must recognize and grant deference to that person's...
Separation of Powers and the Deep State
The Supreme Court, earlier this week, announced its docket of upcoming cases. Among those to which it granted certiorari is Kisor v Wilkie, a "boring" case that could have massive implications for the administrative state. The case, about a Marine seeking retroactive...
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