LibertyPen

The Likely Cause Of Addiction Has Been Discovered

by Johann Hari. And, it is not what you think. It is now one hundred years since drugs were first banned -- and all through this long century of waging war on drugs, we have been told a story about addiction by our teachers and by our governments. This story is so deeply ingrained in our minds that we take it for granted. It seems obvious. It seems ... MORE

David Hansnyi: The Trans Fat Ban Is Worse Than You Think

Why stop there? The Food and Drug Administration issued a final decision this week, giving the food industry three years to phase out bad trans fats, still used in a wide variety of products, such as Pillsbury's Ready To Bake cookies and cake frosting. Now, if you're ingesting large quantities of either, perhaps partially hydrogenated oils aren't your biggest ... MORE

Michael Suede: Cop Shoots And Kills 17-Year-Old Unarmed Boy For Flashing His High Beams And Flexing His Rights

The killer cop keeps his job. video included. This is pretty much how things go with all aspects of government. The most mundane and trivial of infractions can always result in a dead human being because ultimately all laws are enforced at the point of a gun. Any failure to comply with a state functionary ALWAYS results in the escalation ... MORE

VIDEO: Charles Murray - Who Killed The Constitution?

The Perfect Woman For The $10 Bill: Ayn Rand

She understood the root of money is you. Perhaps my favorite character in all of literature is Ayn Rand’s Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastián d’Anconia from her novel Atlas Shrugged. The descendant of long line of industrialists and sole heir to his family’s fortune, Francisco flouts the idea that money destroys by working to be worthy of his ... MORE

Andrew Napolitano: What If They Are Hiding The Truth?

The hard questions need to be answered. What if President Obama secretly agreed with others in the government in 2011 to provide arms to rebels in Libya and Syria? What if the scheme called for American arms merchants to sell serious American military hardware to the government of Qatar, which would and did transfer it to rebel ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Gun Control Laws Protect Criminals

Criminals like their victims disarmed. The gun control controversy is only the latest of many issues to be debated almost solely in terms of fixed preconceptions, with little or no examination of hard facts. Media discussions of gun control are dominated by two factors: the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment. But the over-riding ... MORE

VIDEO: Tom Sowell - Imperfections Of The Market

Rand Paul Wants To "Blow Up the Tax Code and Start Over"

by Nick Gillespie. Stop providing the details of your life to IRS. Libertarianish Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has announced the outlines of an income tax plan that will, in his words, "blow up the tax code and start over." In the Wall Street Journal, Paul writes:I am announcing an over $2 trillion tax cut that would repeal the ... MORE

The 'Simple' Rules For Fighting Federal Asset Forfeiture

by Scott Shackford. Why most don't bother to try. The Heritage Foundation, as part of a multipartisan effort to help educate Americans about our abuse-prone police civil asset forfeiture system, has produced a lovely pamphlet explaining how the whole racket works, complete with an illustrated story. Reason, along with the American Civil Liberties ... MORE

VIDEO: Should Prostitution Be Legal?

California Property Values Fall As Water Shut-offs Begin

by Mike Adams. Water shut-offs have now begun in California, where government-ordered restrictions are starting to leave large communities high and dry. As CBS News is now reporting, the Mountain House community of 15,000 residents will run out of water in just a matter of days. "The community's sole source of water, the Byron-Bethany ... MORE

F.D.A. Sets 2018 Deadline To Rid Foods Of Trans Fats

by Sabrina Tavernise. The option reducers are at work again. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday gave the food industry three years to eliminate artery-clogging artificial trans fats from the food supply, a long-awaited step that capped years of effort by consumer groups and is expected to save thousands of lives a year. Trans fats — ... MORE

25 Things We Did As Kids That Now Get Someone Arrested

by Daisy Luther. With all of the ridiculous new regulations, coddling, and societal mores that seem to be the norm these days, it’s a miracle those of us over 30 survived our childhoods. Here’s the problem with all of this babying: it creates a society of weenies. There won’t be more more rebels because this generation has been frightened into ... MORE

Keith Weiner: They’re Coming To Take Away Your Cash

Do banks serve you or politicians? The stories are all over the Internet. Governments are forcing us into a cashless society. Supposedly the pretext is terrorism, and the real reason is to take more control. No doubt more power appeals to politicians, and banning cash seems like the next step after mandatory reporting of cash transactions. ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Regulated To Death

Giving Government 'Backdoor' Access To Encrypted Data Threatens Both Personal Privacy And National Security

How domestic spying makes us less safe. The "Crypto Wars" are here again, which means federal officials are doing all they can to limit the technological tools that keep our personal data secure. President Obama and leaders from the National Security Agency (NSA), FBI, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been pressuring ... MORE

Obama's Next ‘Executive Actions’ On Global Warming

by Michael Bastasch. IRS to be deployed. President Barack Obama is preparing to unleash a series of “executive actions” aimed at boosting the green energy industry as part of the president’s global warming agenda. Obama is launching a “Clean Energy Impact Investment Center” at the Energy Department to “make information about energy and ... MORE