by Wendy Kaminer. Don’t ask me to defend a Confederate flag display by the state. Unlike private individuals and associations, governments don’t have rights: they exercise power. And while hoisting a Confederate flag on state property isn’t an illegal use of power, it is a politically abusive one, for all the reasons so recently recited in the wake ... MORE
Discovering what is important. After my 85th birthday last week, I looked back over my life and was surprised to discover in how many different ways I had been lucky, in addition to some other ways in which I was unlucky. Among the things I did not know at the time was that I was adopted as an infant into a family with four adults, in which I was ... MORE
Police unhappy their license to steal has been revoked. Cops in New Mexico are complaining that a new law requiring them to obtain a conviction before taking residents’ property via civil forfeiture is hurting their ability to perpetuate the government’s long-failed war on drugs. New Mexico House Bill 560, which takes effect this month, effectively ... MORE
Learn the Founder's vision. Constitutional concepts like free speech or the right to bear arms are ingrained in our popular culture, but just 36% of Americans can name all three branches of the federal government. Even fewer understand why and how our Constitution allocates power among the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. As we ... MORE
from CBS New York. The widow of a baseball icon was heartbroken Friday night over a missing jersey that she believes was stolen. Last month, the Yankees gave Soot Zimmer a jersey in honor of her late husband, Don Zimmer, who served as bench coach for the team for several years. But the jersey never made it back to Florida with Soot ... MORE
Land of the heavily taxed, home of the highly regulated. With the United States sinking on several major indices of economic freedom as it celebrates its Independence Day, free-market advocates have reason to ask, “What ever happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave?” A review of several credibly researched global indices ... MORE
by Katherine Mangu-Ward. I disapprove of what you eat, but I'll defend to the death your right to eat it. The story of Flamin' Hot Cheetos is the story of America. The illegitimate offspring of a cheese puff and a Dorito, the snacks are a triumph of food science. With their finger-staining red pigment, infinite shelf life, sui generis squiggly shape, ... MORE
More than the others, but there is room for improvement. Last week about 40 people paid at
least $2,700 each to hear Rand Paul talk about drug policy during the
National Cannabis Industry Association's conference at the Denver
Convention Center. That "private briefing" made the Kentucky senator the
first major-party presidential candidate ... MORE
by Matt Agorist. Between 1991 and 2013, the teen birth rate declined by 57% nationwide. Over this period, teen pregnancy has declined in all 50 states and among all racial/ethnic groups. Washington State is ranked 13 in the country for teen pregnancies with 20.5 births per 1,000 girls ages 15-19. That is a much better rate than Arkansas, which is more ... MORE
by Adam Johnson. Zero for 40 at predicting attacks. On Monday, several mainstream media outlets repeated the latest press release
by the FBI that country was under a new “heightened terror alert” from
“ISIL-inspired attacks” “leading up to the July 4th weekend.” One of the
more sensational outlets, CNN, led with the breathless warning on ... MORE
Having lots of cash is not a crime, it's just treated like one. Imagine a place where the government can seize property from people who have not broken the law. The police, sheriffs and prosecutors can auction their property off and use the proceeds to pay their own salaries. But this isn’t a Third World dictatorship. It’s California. ... MORE