Explore Freedom

The Kennedy Autopsy, Part 10

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 13, 2011

The Kennedy Assassination Series: The Kennedy Casket Conspiracy, by Jacob G. Hornberger The Shot That Killed Kennedy, by Jacob G. Hornberger The Kennedy Autopsy, Part 1, by Jacob G. Hornberger The Kennedy Autopsy, Part 2, by Jacob G. Hornberger The Kennedy Autopsy, Part 3, by Jacob G. Hornberger The Kennedy Autopsy, Part 4, by Jacob G. Hornberger The Kennedy ... [click for more]

The EEOC’s Forgotten Racial Racketeering

by James Bovard November 21, 2011

Few federal agencies have a more brazen history of trampling due process and basic fairness than the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. From the time the EEOC was created in 1965, it has continually stretched its power and sought to win by legal intimidation. Its latest shenanigans need to be judged in light of its early bureaucratic racketeering. The 1964 Civil ... [click for more]

Nanny State Disapproval: Manipulating Your Diet through Taxation

by Fergus Hodgson November 15, 2011

Twenty-six states intrude on our nutritional decisions by taxing soda at a higher rate than other groceries, and seventeen states do the same for candy. As if that were not bad enough in the land of the free, legislators continue to push for new and heftier taxes in this realm, with new soda taxes pending in fourteen states. A new ... [click for more]

Handicapped Parking and a Free Society

by Laurence M. Vance October 4, 2011

Special parking permits that allow disabled motorists to park in spaces reserved for the handicapped are commonly issued in every state. But in the nation’s most populous state — California — where more than two million of such permits have been issued, it was recently reported by the Los Angeles Times that 56,000 people that had a ... [click for more]

Antitrust Is Central Planning

by Laurence M. Vance September 13, 2011

Child safety, national security, national defense, counterterrorism, and consumer protection — by invoking one of these terms, the federal government can do almost anything and the public will not just go along with it, but accept it as good and necessary. Under the guise of consumer protection, the U.S. government is seeking to block the merger of two companies — ... [click for more]

Surviving the Inanity

by Rich Schwartzman August 8, 2011

It’s easy to be skeptical. Sometimes, though, you have to either laugh at the lunacy or go running into the ocean screaming, “Get me out of here.” The United States is just few hundred billion dollars short of the national debt being 100 percent of GDP and is waging illegal wars in a handful of different countries. The 40-year-long war ... [click for more]

Viva La Lemonista Revolución!

by Wendy McElroy August 3, 2011

August 20 is Lemonade Freedom Day and everyone who can do so is asked to set up a stand; everyone else is urged to imbibe. The reason? Authorities across America are closing down kids’ lemonade stands because, in many states and localities, they violate health codes, licensing laws, and other permit requirements. A recent headline in Reason ... [click for more]

Liberty and License

by Laurence M. Vance July 26, 2011

Same-sex couples in New York City can now apply for marriage licenses using online forms that feature gender-neutral terminology. This follows the passage of the Marriage Equality Act, the New York law that legalized same-sex marriage. The bill became law on June 24, 2011, and took effect thirty days later. Marriage licenses in New York City cost $35. The state ... [click for more]

Sinking Entrepreneurship

by Rich Schwartzman July 7, 2011

It happens every spring. Umpires shout out to grown men, “Play ball,” and bureaucrats shout out to kids, “Shut down that lemonade stand.” While the latter might not happen every year, it happens often enough. Sometimes a mayor will trot out, tell the bullying code-enforcement officers to go away and then he buys a glass of lemonade to show what ... [click for more]

Whither U. S. Energy Policy?

by Laurence M. Vance July 6, 2011

President Obama has authorized the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The oil reserve is currently at a historically high level of 727 million barrels. “We are taking this action in response to the ongoing loss of crude oil due to supply disruptions in Libya and other countries and their impact on ... [click for more]

Red-Light Camera Feud Reveals Ulterior Motives

by Fergus Hodgson June 29, 2011

By their very name, public servants claim to work for their fellow community members. The recent stand-offs over red-light cameras, however, indicate that many such officials have, to put it gently, conflicting interests. Twenty-five states and Washington, D.C., use red-light cameras, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors last week agreed to a resolution (p188) ... [click for more]

Paternalism and the Drug War

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 28, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court has declared a California law banning the sale of violent videos unconstitutional. That’s fine, but how about going further and declaring laws banning the possession and distribution of illicit drugs by adults to be unconstitutional too? After all, if we’re going to treat minors like adults, what would be wrong with treating adults as adults ... [click for more]