Andrew Cohen over at Bleeding Heart Libertarians argued earlier this week that the partial U.S. government shutdown is immoral on libertarian grounds. Cohen’s opening analogy is confusingly opaque, but if you can get past the first paragraph, he does bring up some interesting points. First, Cohen avers that even though the government does a lot of things libertarians dislike, … [Read more…]
Earlier today, I was debating whether to write a post about 9/11 or whether to leave that to the many others who are already writing, talking and remembering about that day. Instead, I was going to write about something more mundane, a personal goal reached. As I got in my car after work and was … [Read more…]
A couple weeks ago independent investigative journalist Ben Swann posted one of his signature “Reality Check” segments on the topic of NSA copyright claims being used to chill speech. The segment focused on an event in which Zazzle, the online marketplace where people can sell merchandise based on their own custom designs, removed some NSA-related T-shirts and … [Read more…]
Today, President Obama signed 23 executive orders in a step to help prevent future massacres like the Sandy Hook shooting, along with gun violence in general. The orders are not yet up on Whitehouse.gov, but a list of order summaries is available at The Atlantic. Predictably, there are predictable reactions from various predictable people and … [Read more…]
In the past week, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued unanimous decisions in two cases. The thing I like about both of these decisions is that the government makes clear, common sensible arguments admonishing various parts of the federal government for its nonsensibility. The first was for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States, … [Read more…]
While looking up some info for a new project I’m working on with my friend Dave, I ran across an unexpectedly funny (in a “oh no he didn’t just write that” kind of way) treatise by King James VI of Scotland and I of England — that is, the guy who authorized the creation of … [Read more…]
As the Supreme Court gears up to hear oral arguments about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) – pejoratively referred to by some as “Obamacare” – I’ve been reading up various commentaries and blog posts about the potential constitutionality. For example, NPR has a good, uncharged guide to the questions involved. However, my favorite … [Read more…]
So, many fellow libertarians probably will be upset with me when they hear that I don’t give a rabbit’s left toenail about the whole “net neutrality” regulations being considered by the FCC. Even the ever-stunning Shelly Roche hasn’t managed to convince me that I should care – and her video updates typically convince me plenty. … [Read more…]
Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy has some problems with a recent U.S. District Court decision that ruled a teacher’s comments about creationism violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I am not a lawyer, but it seems that the problem has less to do with the fact that public … [Read more…]