Thomas Sowell: How Foreign Is Our Policy?

Reducing America's power, security and influence.       Many people are lamenting the bad consequences of Barack Obama's foreign policy, and some are questioning his competence. There is much to lament, and much to fear. Multiple setbacks to American interests have been brought on by Obama's policies in Libya, Egypt, Syria,     ... MORE

Why Milton Friedman's Vision For A Bitcoin Was Accurate

by Victoria Wagner Ross.      Bitcoin has had many supporters and many critics as it exploded in popularity and news over the past year. CoinDesk has featured Milton Friedman’s predictions today about a decentralized currency and how it will be part of the future in a global economy. Consider the numbers of 25,000 merchants now        ... MORE

Barry Farber: An Impudent Putin, A Flaccid Obama

Russia looks to rebuild an empire.    One Hollywood marriage was so disastrous that when she (Ethel Merman) wrote her autobiography, she left the chapter about her marriage to him (Ernest Borgnine) completely blank! Pretend I’m doing that now to President Obama’s speech of Friday, Feb. 28, about Russian troop movements against Ukraine.      ... MORE

Is There Anything More American Than Bob Dylan Doing a Patriotic Super Bowl Ad for a Foreign-Owned Carmaker?

by Nick Gillespie.      Absolutely not. And that's kind of wonderful. Bob Dylan's controversial Super Bowl ad for Chrysler opens with the Maestro himself asking, “Is there anything more American than America?” It’s the sort of koan-like, WTF riddle that defines his most memorable music. Dylan is the master of the rhetorical question, whether       ... MORE

Steve Chapman: Our Wasted Effort In Afghanistan

What the world's only superpower cannot fix.     The United States government and the Taliban don't agree on much, but they have found one point of convergence: Both think someone needs to get a hose and put out the flames engulfing Hamid Karzai's pants. The Afghan president has often criticized the Americans for carrying out     ... MORE

American Taxpayers Blew $7.45 Billion On What?

Fighting global warming in other countries. American taxpayers spent $7.45 billion to help developing countries cope with climate change in fiscal years 2010 through 2012, according to a federal government report submitted to the United Nations on a subject that Secretary of State John Kerry described as “a truly life-and-death challenge.” ... MORE

Barry Farber: Tales Of Top Interpreters

Pretend it had all worked backwards.      Pretend the president is routinely reading his routine briefing papers and everything looks routine – until he gets to one of the more minor details in his upcoming visit to the Nelson Mandela memorial earlier in December in South Africa. And there he reads: “The sign-language interpreter the South      ...  MORE

Ryan Goodman: A Blow Against Big Brother

Edward Snowden brings the world together.       The United Nations General Assembly is expected to approve a resolution recognizing an international “right to privacy in the digital age” — a significant political development in response to the controversy over the surveillance tactics of the United States National Security      ... MORE        

Kofi Annan: Stop The Global War On Drugs

Stop ignoring the evidence.     Each year, hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from preventable drug-related disease and violence. Millions of users are arrested and thrown in jail. Globally, communities are blighted by drug-related crime. Citizens see huge amounts of their taxes spent on harsh policies that are not   ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Loving And Hating America

Check with those voting with their feet.      As I've documented in the past, many leftist teachers teach our youngsters to hate our country. For example, University of Hawaii Professor Haunani-Kay Trask counseled her students, "We need to think very, very clearly about who the enemy is. The enemy is the United States of America and everyone who  ... MORE

The Corruptions Of Being The World's Policeman

Matt Welch on the folly of playing international sheriff.    In making the case for a Syrian war to the Senate on September 3, Secretary of State John Kerry made so many bad arguments-including insisting repeatedly that the proposed bombing campaign would in fact not be a war, at least "in the classic sense"-that most viewers probably   ... MORE

Steve Chapman: The Endless Quest For Credibility

Credibility is overrated.  The United States boasts the most powerful military on Earth. We have 1.4 million active-duty personnel, thousands of tanks, ships and planes, and 5,000 nuclear warheads. We spend more on defense than the next 13 countries combined. Yet we are told we have to bomb Syria to preserve our credibility in world. Really?    ... MORE

Peter Suderman: 8 Reasons Not To Go To War In Syria

Is the U.S. on the march to war in Syria?       Over the past week, the stage has been set for yet another military intervention in the Middle East. Calls for U.S. action in Syria have grown louder following reports of a chemical weapon attack in Damascus said to have been carried out with the knowledge and approval of President Bassar al-Assad’s    ... MORE

John Stossel - Overseas Meddling

You pay taxes?      You contributed to the $2 billion your government gave Egypt this year. And last year. And every year — for 30 years. Most of it went to Egypt's military. How's that worked out? Now our government will "cautiously" support anti-government rebels in Syria, even though some are openly allied with al-Qaida. Years before, we paid to     ... MORE

Former Mexican President Fox Wants Marijuana Legalized

Prohibition creates a violent world.       A former Latin American president has once again said that drugs should be legalized. This time it was Vicente Fox who was the president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. Fox was in Seattle on Thursday, as a guest speaker for Don Pellicer, a new company that wants to set up marijuana stores in Washington    ... MORE

Alyssa Berlin: NYC Cracks Down On Sidewalk Cafes

Just in time for summer.      Forget the great outdoors. The Department of Consumer Affairs has sent notice to 17 New York restaurants, telling them that that they will have to close their sidewalk seating areas unless they are willing to comply with the city’s zoning regulations. “Please be advised you have 100 business days   ... MORE

OAS To Whitehouse: High Time To Consider Legalizing Pot

by Tim Padgett.   On the Latin American street, the Organization of American States has always borne a reputation, often undeserved, as Washington’s lackey. But the OAS, based in Washington, just sent the western hemisphere a message the White House would rather not hear: It’s time to seriously discuss legalizing marijuana as one means   ... MORE

Ira Stoll: Obama's Crony Capitalism

Granting favor to the few. On the Friday before Christmas, President Obama announced that he was appointing Mohamed A. El-Erian, the CEO of Pacific Investment Management Company, as the chairman of his Global Development Council. The announcement didn’t get much attention, but it should. It exemplifies what’s wrong with Obama’s approach to   ... MORE

Ed Krayewski: What You Need To Know About John Kerry

Don't let his reputation as a peacenik fool you.    On Dec. 21, President Obama nominated Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. The move was widely expected after Susan Rice, the only other prominent candidate, dropped out of consideration when the Obama administration’s response to a terror attack on   ... MORE

Jennifer Alexander: Why The Feds Won't Reschedule Pot

International treaty trumps national self-interest.   Activists have been working for years to reform state and local marijuana laws throughout the nation through decriminalization, implementation of medical marijuana laws and, most recently, attempts at legalizing marijuana. Many opponents, and even some activists, argue      ... MORE