VIDEO: Shake It Off - Just Deny Reality!

How America Can Regain Its Economic Freedom

by A. Barton Hinkle.     If you’ve been wondering why the nation’s so-called economic recovery seems so weak, here’s one partial explanation: The United States has been moving in the wrong direction on measures of economic freedom. The Cato Institute, a Washington think tank, produces an annual report examining economic liberty around the globe.  ... MORE

The Hidden Privacy Threat of … Flashlight Apps?

by Robert McMillian. When I downloaded the Flashlight app to my iPhone, I was in a jam. I was camping, I think. Or maybe a pen had rolled under my couch. I remember that smug sense of self-congratulation after I downloaded the software, which converted the iPhone’s LED flash into a steady and bright beam of light. But I shouldn't have been so   ... MORE

The People Now Realize: America Is Out Of Control

by Wynton Hall.  A devastating new Politico poll reveals voters believe America has spun off its axis and is "out of control." "An overwhelming majority of voters in the most competitive 2014 elections say it feels as if events in the United States are 'out of control' and expressed mounting alarm about terrorism, anxiety about Ebola and harsh skepticism ... MORE

California Cops Become Mind Readers, Seize Your Guns

by Steven Greenhut.  Gun-control efforts often center on hardware, such as limiting or banning the ownership of particular firearms and ammunition. But in California this year, the most significant new gun-related law is less about the guns and more about identifying people who might be too dangerous to own them. A.B. 1014, which goes     ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Our Politically Correct Military

Walter E Williams: Embarrassing Economists

The first fundamental law of demand.      So as to give some perspective, I'm going to ask readers for their guesses about human behavior before explaining my embarrassment by some of my fellow economists. Suppose the prices of ladies jewelry rose by 100 percent. What would you predict would happen to sales? What about a    ... MORE

Son Of Draconian Drug Warrior Fails Drug Test

by Jesse Walker.    Vice President Joe Biden has been one of the most strident drug warriors of my lifetime. Mandatory minimum sentences, the crack/powder disparity, federal asset forfeiture, the RAVE Act—they all have Biden's fingerprints on them. The man may be responsible for the very phrase "drug czar." If the Drug War had its own Mount      ... MORE

VIDEO: 3 Reasons The US Military Should NOT Fight Ebola

Do People Really Hand Out Pot-Laced Halloween Candy?

by Jacob Sullum.     The urban legend continues. Last week the DPD posted a video in which Patrick Johnson, proprietor of Denver's Urban Dispensary, warns that "there's really no way to tell the difference between candy that's infused and candy that's not infused" once the products have been removed from their original packages.      ... MORE

Have Entitlements Become More Attractive Than Work?

A new food stamp pattern. The food stamp program (more formally, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) is intended to help low-income Americans with their food bills. Traditionally, the number of Americans receiving SNAP benefits rises during poor economic times and falls during good ones. But that is not what is       ... MORE

Is the NSA Grabbing All Americans' Phone Call Content?

by Thomas R. Eddiem.        The NSA and the National Director of Intelligence have consistently denied that they listen to the content of Americans' telephone calls, but the history of intelligence agency claims about the scope of its spying on Americans is one of lies and more lies. So the question must be asked: Are they lying again with respect  ... MORE

The High Cost Of Living In A Police State

by John W. Whitehead.     Who pays the price for the police shootings that leave unarmed citizens dead or injured, for the SWAT team raids that leave doors splintered, homes trashed, pets murdered, and family members traumatized and injured, if not dead? I’m not just talking about the price that must be paid in hard-earned dollars, whether    ... MORE

VIDEO: Economic Freedom And The Welfare State

John Stossel: Crumbling Constitution

Does the Constitution still matter?     When it was written, Ben Franklin said the Founders gave us a republic, "if you can keep it." Few people thought the republic would last another 227 years, but it has. The Constitution's limits on government power helped create the most free and prosperous country on earth. But now, some Americans,    ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Officially Killing Americans

Incentives of the drug bureaucrats.         The Food and Drug Administration can make two types of errors. It can approve a drug that has dangerous unanticipated side effects, or it can reject or delay approval of a drug that is safe and effective. Let's look at these errors, because to err on the side of under- or over-caution is costly.   ... MORE

VIDEO: John Oliver - Civil Forfeiture

Thomas Sowell: Local Or National Elections?

The stakes are high.     Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill once said, "All politics is local." That may have been true in Tip O'Neill's day, but some elections are decisively on national issues — and the Congressional elections this year are overwhelmingly national, just as the elections of 1860 were dominated by one national issue, namely slavery.     ... MORE

Andrew Napolitano: The Government And Freedom

Don't trust your freedom to the government.      Earlier this week, FBI Director James Comey gave an interview to "60 Minutes" during which he revealed a flawed understanding of personal freedom. He rightly distinguished what FBI agents do in their investigations of federal crimes from what the NSA does in its intelligence gathering, when the    ... MORE

Eric Peters: Rebalancing The Scales

We are peculiarly at the mercy of police.      Which goes a long way toward explaining why police are increasingly merciless. After all, they can get away with it. Physically. Financially. Legally. Consider: You are walking down the street, minding your business. A citizen accosts you. He physically assaults you. You have every legal right to defend  ... MORE

The Academic Mob Silences Free Speech, Again

A Washington Times editorial. Inconvenient truths not welcomed. Arithmetic continues to be a puzzle in certain precincts of academia. Scripps College, an all-female school in Claremont, Calif., founded on the principle that “the paramount obligation of a college is to develop in its students the ability to think clearly and independently,”    ... MORE