It is astonishing to me that New Zealand’s parliament,by a vote of 107-10,today increased the powers of the SIS,or Security Intelligence Service. They used the World Rugby Cup as a catalyst for this. The powers include improved ability to deal with high-tech communications like computers and mobile phones. In short,they have [...]
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It's so easy to resist infringements on our rights from the safety of a cushy chair and a laptop,eh? I ran into this story on Wired today and was encouraged by 21-year-old Aaron Tobey’s sense of resolve. Honestly,I am encouraged by any ordinary person in the U.S. who does not appear to [...] Another silly piece of legislation that our favorite silly Senator has up her sleeve: I want to let you know about the Taxpayer Fairness Act (S.2994),which Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) and I recently introduced in the Senate. Our bill would impose a tax on large bonuses paid by Wall Street banks and other firms [...] It’s astonishing to watch Barack Obama’s presidency flame out so loudly and so quickly. With his contemptible health-care reform evaporating like a glass of water in the desert,all eyes are on what he’s done in the last year,and what he plans to do in this critical mid-term election year. [...] From Barbara to my junk-mail folder: I am pleased to let you know about Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s recent announcement of a new rule to protect airline passengers’ rights. The new rule includes much of the Boxer-Snowe legislation,the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights,which addresses limits on tarmac delays. I first introduced the [...] I participate in political discussions at a handful of online communities,dedicated to economics,individual rights,and other libertarian concerns. Although I had hoped to stake in the heart my impulse to write further about gay marriage,it just keeps coming back to bug me. The following is an interesting exchange I had with a [...] “I hope we shall take warning from the example and crush in it’s birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country.” Thomas Jefferson I’ve already written about the wrongheadedness of gay-marriage activism (here,here,and especially here) and of its morally inconsequential and ideologically indefensible hollowness. I’ve even suggested that a much larger battle could be won —the removal of government from the characterization and enforcement of marriage —if only those who are so near-sighted and [...] I’m sitting in my grandmother’s living room in Branson,MO,trying to stay awake during my usual mid-afternoon nap slump. Grandma is napping in stereo;she’s directing people to do her bidding,something to do with shoes,I’m trying not to listen lest I hear something scandalous from her 85 years of memories. [...] Anybody reading this blog knows I’m a left-leaning libertarian and that,despite my contributions to and primary-election support for Barack Obama,I’ve now abandoned him because of his post-primary decisions to support FISA and conditionally embrace Bush’s faith-based initiatives. And because —as much as I like and admire him —he is a textbook [...] |    | ||||
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