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. […]
This essay began as a manifesto of sorts. Inspired by National Public Radio‘s series This I Believe, I thought it might be worthwhile and instructive to actually try to record my beliefs in writing. I’m not sure that I will actually submit this to the radio show, since I don’t think this can be trimmed […]
Yesterday the Post Dispatch reported on ten St. Louis cops who are under investigation for… well, no one seems to be sure what they did wrong. Except for me, of course. They allegedly used World Series tickets last fall that had been confiscated as evidence from so-called scalpers, and then returned the tickets to evidence […]
It’s been almost four years since I first wrote about why cops suck, and you know what? Nothing has changed. In fact, it seems these stories are only becoming more prevalent. We have hundreds of examples in our story archive, and I don’t really go out of my way looking for them. Some sites have […]
I already knew that, and that’s why I usually avoid his missives. In the past, he has drawn attention (and ratings) by making controversial (and xenophobic) statements about the so-called immigration problem. Which, in my experience, is only a “problem” for those who don’t like people whose skin is a different color from their own. […]
This is the third in a series of three essays. Thomas Jefferson said, “Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plentitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. […]
This is the second in a series of three essays. The notion of laws and the rule of law are an attempt by humans to codify what each of us is born knowing to be true. Our behavior towards one another is governed by something called natural law. Natural law is a product of who […]
This is the first in a series of three essays. Who among us, besides the most xenophobic and bigoted, would deny that this truth is self-evident? Regardless of your own personal beliefs on the origins of the universe, there can be little doubt that all human beings on this planet exist in a state of […]
In answer to the response to my last post, I thought I would elaborate a bit on copyright law. My first assumption is that justice is served only when the victim of an injury is made whole. That is, the purpose of a justice system is to restore the victim to the point (or as […]
In the war over copyright law a new front has opened. After being fired upon by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (and, presumably, the RIAA), the Russian government has agreed to shut down “websites that permit illegal distribution of music and other copyright works.” Russia has agreed to modify its laws by […]
Three cheers for Wisconsin state representative Frank Lasee for having the courage to suggest a real solution to the problem of school shootings: arm the teachers. The same people who recoil in horror at this proposition also object to allowing armed people on planes, but the simple fact is that guns prevent crime. Within the […]
I wish there existed an organization (and there probably does, I just haven’t looked) dedicated to commemorating September 10. Dedicated to remembering what life in this country was like before September 11, 2001. Before this country lost its collective mind, and embarked on what The Onion aptly called “Operation Piss Off the Planet.” When you […]