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 […]
You’ve no doubt seen the story by now of this Seattle police officer caught on videotape. The headline reads “Seattle officer punches girl in face during jaywalking stop,” which is a bit sensationalist, but does sum up the salient points. Watch the entire clip on YouTube, however, and you’re provided with some context for the […]
I’ve written about how rights are digital, but there is another quality that I’d like to explore a bit. While all of our rights may be equal, they may not always be symmetrical. We all have the right to do whatever we want unless or until it infringes upon the rights of another to do […]
As long as the government is going to regulate every aspect of marriage (who can get married, who pays for the kids, etc.), I think Congress should go ahead and eliminate the moral ambiguity of adultery. Sen John Ensign’s comments about his extramarital affair last year highlighted the fact that adultery isn’t technically illegal. Why […]
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 1906, the Supreme Court case of Hale vs Henkel was decided. The case centered around whether or not the defendant, serving in his capacity as an officer of a corporation, had a right to claim 4th and 5th amendment protection from the court’s subpoenas for the corporation’s records. In the majority opinion, they attempted […]
Friends, neighbors, and relatives, lend me your ears. This is a supposedly free country, where we subscribe to various notions of personal liberty, privacy, and periodically reaffirm our commitment to things like the Castle Doctrine, which states that a man’s home is his castle. In other words, what goes on within the walls of our […]
When discussing individual rights, I like to borrow a concept from software engineering and say that human rights are digital in the sense that one either possesses them or they do not. All humans possess a right to property, a right to self-defense, and the right to freely contract, for example, while they do not […]
I’m currently reading Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail. It’s a very interesting book concerning how the internet has changed everything. Not just the number of books or CDs that you can order online, but all of retail economics. Its influence extends to all entertainment media, and, eventually, politics and government. I was struck by this […]
During an election year, people who would otherwise not be involved are suddenly more in tune with politics. Their thoughts turn to the candidates, and the coverage of their campaigns. They may even engage in debate about the issues of the day. But one issue is seldom ever discussed, and since it forms a foundation […]
Live free or die, indeed. Is that the best you can do, New Hampshire? With fourty-four percent of you claiming to be independents, with thousands of free-staters now living there, with your state’s heritage as the birthplace of the Revolution, and you hand over your delegates to a statist like John McCain, while delivering only […]
While watching the customary fireworks this year, my mother-in-law said someone on the radio had asked why we all call it the Fourth of July instead of Independence Day. It occurred to me that the powers that be might prefer that nomenclature because it prevents We The People from pondering the true meaning of independence. […]