by Ed Krayewski. Symbolism without subbstance. Michael
Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson,
Missouri, in August. Protests over the shooting yielded a
militarized response from police. Renewed protests continued in
October and again after a grand jury declined to indict Darren
Wilson, the officer who shot Brown. ... MORE
Will national politicians allow liberty? Imagine your state just passed a law legalizing marijuana in small amounts. If you are at least 21 years old, you can possess up to two ounces, give as much as one ounce to other adults, and grow as many as six marijuana plants at home. Because you enjoy consuming pot recreationally, you plant ... MORE
by Robby Soave. Everything offends them. There's plenty to dissect in Frank Rich's comprehensive interview with Chris Rock. The comedian covers everything from Bill Cosby (he hopes the allegations are false) to the federal bailout of the auto industry (he was against it). I found Rock's remarks about why he no longer performs at college campuses ... MORE
by Robert O'Harrow Jr. The two men in the rented red Nissan Altima were poker players traveling through Iowa on their way to Las Vegas. The police were state troopers on the hunt for criminals, contraband and cash. They intersected last year on a rural stretch of Interstate 80, in a seemingly routine traffic stop that would soon raise new ... MORE
And how we can keep them that way. If you’re like most Americans, you haven’t been questioning the welcome drop in gasoline prices. You just fill ‘er up and feel grateful that you’re spending less. Why has this remarkable drop come about? And what can we do to help keep prices lower? Some of it, unfortunately, is beyond our control. ... MORE
by Rob Hustle. The fallacy of mass incarceration. We recently reported on the case of Brandon Duncan, a California-based rapper facing a life sentence for writing songs about gang violence. Not to be outdone, in Illinois, Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim, Lake County Sheriff Mark C. Curran and other officials recently announced that: ... MORE
Rationalization is not reason. In the medical profession, there is the admonition primum non nocere, the Latin expression for "first, do no harm." In order not to do harm, at the minimum, requires accurate diagnostics. Suppose a patient presents with abdominal pains, and the physician diagnoses it as caused by the patient's ingrown ... MORE
by Steve Chapman. Busybodies minding YOUR own business. On Thursday, hundreds of millions of Americans risked obesity, heart disease and indigestion by eating large quantities of food with no precise knowledge of the caloric content. If many of them felt regret on Friday, it was not because they were duped into overeating by the ... MORE
And a big tax cut. Seldom has so much good news been portrayed so
negatively. Oil prices continue to fall in the U.S. and around the
world, but near everyone in the media is grumpy about it. The headlines
today are among the silliest I’ve seen: Energy-company stocks are
declining, oil deflation is an economic threat, the Fed might raise
rates much ... MORE