Tibor Machan: The Libertarian Public Interest

Libertarians understand the public good.   A particularly irksome rhetorical ploy against the free society’s champions is that they refuse to acknowledge that there is such a thing as the public interest (or public good or general welfare or some such goal). Critics of these champions routinely wag their fingers charging that those who insist that the free    ... MORE

VIDEO: FOX NEWS - Here Come The Mini Drones

Thomas Sowell: Economic Mobility

Taking advantage of opportunity.      Most people are not even surprised any more when they hear about someone who came here from Korea or Vietnam with very little money, and very little knowledge of English, who nevertheless persevered and rose in American society. Nor are we surprised when their children excel in school and go on to ... MORE

Mitch McConnell & Rand Paul Join Forces To Legalize Hemp

Push to legalize industrial hemp is gaining steam.  Supporters of industrial hemp gained a powerful ally in Washington several weeks ago when Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) joined fellow Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul and Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) as a co-sponsor of S.359, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act ... MORE

VIDEO: Social Justice and Its Critics

Doug Bandow: Fewer Taxpayers, More Spending

Those who still pay income taxes will pay even more.   Under economic pressure, the Obama administration has pursued an increasingly vigorous class war strategy. At the same time people continue to be dropped from the income tax rolls. This likely expands government and increases what the rest of us will have to pay. Throughout its early   ... MORE

Budget Cuts Could Pull Navy Out Of The War On Drugs

Tail-chasing activities may have to be curbed.  U.S. Navy frigates will stop patrolling for drug runners by April because of forced sequestration budget cuts, a Navy spokesman told USNI News on Monday. On Saturday, U.S. 4th Fleet was informed by Navy leadership it would suspend deployments of two ships—part of the Joint     ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Mandated Wages And Discrimination

Let's work through an example.     Suppose 100 yards of fence could be built using one of two techniques. You could hire three low-skilled workers for $15 each, or you could hire one high-skilled worker for $40. Either way, you get the same 100 yards of fence built. If you sought maximum profits, which production technique would you employ? ... MORE

Why Does Anyone Need A High-Capacity Magazine?

by Mark Almonte.     This article focuses on pistols with high-capacity magazines (a magazine that holds more than ten bullets).  The same arguments in my recent article on assault weapons could apply to high-capacity magazines for rifles. There are several reasons for civilians to own high-capacity magazines: the right to possess the necessary    ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - The Libertarian Way

Can Judges Overrule Free Speech When Criticized?

Conservatives, liberals and media advocates say no.  A group of free-speech advocates is rallying behind an Indiana inmate serving two years for his online rants against a judge who took away his child-custody rights during a divorce case. There’s no disputing that Daniel Brewington’s words were strong and angry -- found in hundreds of emails over ... MORE

Baylen Linnekin: Crony Capitalism Vs. American Food

The deadly duo of big government and big food.    On Thursday this week I took part in a great panel discussion on crony capitalism in food and agriculture at the American Enterprise Institute. Crony capitalism in this area, to me, means that a food business’s success is often wrongly contingent upon the business maintaining a close relationship    ... MORE

VIDEO: Obama's $9/Hour Minimum Wage


Economics Professor Robert P Murphy looks at the proposal.

DHS To Purchase Almost 3,000 Tanks For Use In America

This is getting a little creepy.     According to one estimate, since last year the Department of Homeland Security has stockpiled more than 1.6 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm. DHS also purchased 2,717 Mine Resistant Armor Protected Vehicles (MRAP). Modern Survival Blog reported: The Department of Homeland Security (through ... MORE

Bill Sanderson: TSA Guys Hard On Sex Toys

Airport screeners love rifling through sex toys.    Airport-security screeners apparently get a kink out of rifling through your sexy baggage. “My checked bag is searched almost every time I fly. I guess I’m just lucky, or look suspicious!” said sex blogger Rori Sweet of the DC area. Kitty Stryker, a California sex educator, added, “They always ... MORE

Charles C. W. Cooke: Repeal the 17th Amendment!

Re-empower the states. In our grubby, unhelpful political lexicon, certain words exist solely to end conversations. The most prominent such word is “racist.” Less popular, but by no means less potent, are “democracy” and “rights.” When welded together as “democratic rights,” the pair becomes all-powerful — strong enough to send ... MORE

Harvard Economist: Legalizing Drugs Suits American Ideal

An interview with Professor Jeffrey Miron. Harvard University professor Jeffrey Miron has advocated the legalization of drugs for decades. In a SPIEGEL ONLINE interview, he explains why prohibition is more dangerous than selling drugs in supermarkets. SPIEGEL: Mr. Miron, why should heroin, cocaine and marijuana be legal? Miron: The     ... MORE

VIDEO: Walter E Williams - Theft, Debt And Politics

Capitalism In No Way Created Poverty, It Inherited It

by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins.   The nineteenth century, many people believe, was an era in American history when workers were forced to toil in sweatshops twenty-eight hours a day for starvation wages. It was only when governments intervened, either directly on behalf of workers or indirectly by empowering unions, that conditions improved.      ... MORE

Deportation Case Has Chilling Effect On Homeschooling

by Bryana Johnson.    In 1938, the practice of homeschooling was outlawed in Germany by Adolf Hitler and the infamous Third Reich. It was a rough period in German history, as thousands of young people were being pried from their parents’ direction and authority and drafted into the Hitler Youth program, where they were supposed to be     ... MORE

VIDEO: Nanny of the Month For February


Busybodies minding YOUR own business.