Adam Kredo on NSA's widespread data collection. The National Security Agency recorded information about more than 124 billion phone calls during a 30-day period earlier this year, including around 3 billion calls from U.S. sources, according to a tally from top-secret documents released by multiple news outlets. ... MORE
Taxpayers get not-so-sweet deal. Ever notice how some government programs draw the ire of almost everyone? Conservatives, liberals, environmentalists, libertarians, business, labor, consumers and grouchy taxpayers are all opposed. Yet these programs go on as though directed by an unstoppable particle beam from a neighboring ... MORE
Avoiding the heartbreak of being offended. The political correctness crowd has been working overtime lately, which I guess they can do considering they don’t really actually work anywhere but instead spend all their time trying to figure out a new way to be offended. They now claim great offense at the Washington Redskins ... MORE
Scaremongering sells. Health activists, nutrition nannies, medical paternalists, and just plain old quacks regularly conjure up menaces that are supposedly damaging the health of Americans. Their scares range from the decades-long campaign against fluoridation to worries that saccharin causes cancer to the ongoing hysteria ... MORE
Suffocated by gov't spending, subsidies and debt. A word of caution for kids heading off to college this year: Your degree may be worth less and cost more than you think. Your job prospects will likely be grim, whether or not you get that sheepskin. Oh, and you're on the hook for trillions in federal debt racked up by your parents and ... MORE
by Gary North. What if ObamaCare were fire insurance? It would be very special. You could buy a policy after a smoke detector in your home started blaring. When you hear “pre-existing condition,” think “blaring smoke detector.” The insurance company has a sales offer: “We insure you AFTER your home catches on fire!” It’s a great offer . . . to ... MORE
by Ryan Gallagher. Yet another American Internet privacy service has bitten the dust,
prompted by fears about broad government surveillance demands. San Francisco-based CryptoSeal,
a provider of virtual private networks that can be used to browse the
Internet anonymously, has closed its doors to users of its private VPN ... MORE
by Adam Wollner. A record number of Americans are in favor of legalizing marijuana, according to a new released Tuesday. The
poll, which was conducted Oct. 3-6, reports that 58 percent of the
public supports the legalization of marijuana, while 39 percent opposes
it. The tide of public opinion appears to be rapidly turning in favor of ... MORE
Don't expect gov't court to curb gov't powers. On Wednesday October 16, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Kaley v. United States. This case will undoubtedly be a landmark decision on the legality of civil asset forfeiture, a “government seizure of property and cash, even when the owner isn’t charged [with] a crime.” ... MORE