Earlier this year I wrote about the nascent Arab Spring and how I was hopeful that this movement, and this desire for freedom, would continue to spread. Stories like this one today continue to fuel my hope that this is true. The tangled web of government (in every country) has become so heavy, so onerous, […]
As a kid I remember collecting Susan B. Anthony dollar coins when they first came out in 1979. This attempt to resurrect dollar coinage in the United States was an unqualified failure — for a number of reasons. The most important being that it was something new and people are resistant to change (no pun […]
In January 1920, the 18th Amendment became the law of the land in the United States, banning the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol. It took almost fourteen years for us to realize and acknowledge what a huge mistake that had been, but the 21st Amendment finally repealed Prohibition. But not before a huge and […]
I’ve written before about the Law of Unintended Consequences, and I never have to go far to find another example of it in action. With a scenario that is right out of Atlas Shrugged, Oregon lawmakers are scratching their heads wondering where all of the state’s millionaires are disappearing to after they targeted the rich […]
Today’s story on CNN about protests in Egypt describes them as “an unprecedented display of anti-government rage.” It further ascribes the rage to similar anti-government tumult in nearby Tunisia. I would also offer the influence of last week’s referendum in neighboring Sudan, which had roughly 99% of southern residents of that nation demanding independence from […]
There are those who would argue that we need government to act as a watchdog for no other reason than people need to be watched or they will do bad things. But the fact that people are imperfect is not an argument *for* government, it is an argument against it. For these same dishonest, greedy, […]
I came across this article by author Henry A. Giroux recently, and I found myself drawn in by the first paragraph or so, strongly agreeing with his words, and then the cracks began to show. He rails against the invective of the talking heads on television, and the mindless jingoism of the current Tea Party […]
I am hereby starting the national dialog on reforming our nation’s Appetite Care laws. Your appetite cannot be ignored, after all. If you cannot afford to address your appetite issues, then you will surely die. So, clearly, you have a basic human right to appetite care. But not everyone sees it this way. There are […]
Having spent a few weeks on the road this year, I’ve had more exposure to the TSA recently than I really care to. This, coupled with the announcement that the current theater that passes for airport security will be enhanced with random hand-swabbing, is enough to bring into sharp relief the myriad reasons that I […]
Ignoring for the moment the complete absurdity of giving a third-grader detention for eating a Jolly Rancher, let’s explore this story a little deeper. In other words, follow the money. Because the real story here doesn’t appear until the tenth paragraph, when the school district superintendent, Jack Ellis, says, “failing to adhere to the state’s […]
Thought to be a curse of ancient Chinese origin, the title of this essay is appropriate for life in America today. A new report by the Pew Research Center is in the news today — just the latest data showing that most believe our government is broken, echoing results from a similar CNN poll conducted […]
…in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. — Luke 2, KJV I guess the connection between taxation and the census is as old as the human race. But for roughly 150 […]