TGIF: What an Honest Conversation about Race Would Look Like by Sheldon Richman July 19, 2013 Ever since George Zimmerman’s fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin hit the national headlines last year, calls for an “honest conversation about race” have been heard throughout America. (Up until then, apparently, we’ve had only conversations about having a conversation about race.) However, one need not believe that the Zimmerman shooting and verdict were about race — I watched the ...
The Schizophrenic in Guantánamo Whose Lawyers Are Seeking to Have Him Sent Home by Andy Worthington July 19, 2013 The prison at Guantánamo is such an extraordinarily lawless and unjust place that 86 prisoners who have been cleared for release by an interagency task force (established by President Obama when he took office in 2009) are still being held there. Many other prisoners who have been recommended for trials languish, year after year, with no hope of ...
The Calling: Public and Private Risk by Steven Horwitz July 18, 2013 There’s nothing like a good Facebook debate to provide fodder for explaining core ideas in political economy. I recently expressed concern about the risks of a proposal in Oregon to allow students to pay for their education at state schools by having their postgraduation wages garnished by 3 percent for 24 years. In response, a friend asked ...
Zimmerman Case Is No Grounds for Gun Control by Sheldon Richman July 16, 2013 From the beginning, people who would ban all private guns if they could have used the George Zimmerman case to push their agenda. They push on two fronts: First, they argue that Zimmerman’s 2012 fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, who had no gun, demonstrates that guns are an unmitigated evil. Second, the antigun lobby is ...
The Libertarian Angle: The George Zimmerman Trial by Future of Freedom Foundation July 15, 2013 Jacob Hornberger and Sheldon Richman discuss the George Zimmerman trial. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly.
Ending Medicare by Laurence M. Vance July 12, 2013 Medicare is government-funded health care for Americans aged 65 and over and/or those who are permanently disabled. Like Social Security, it is funded by payroll tax deductions from both employers and employees, but only partially. Unlike Social Security, which has its roots in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Medicare began in 1966 as part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Initial enrollment ...
What the Immigration Bill Overlooks by Sheldon Richman July 9, 2013 In passing the monstrosity known as immigration “reform,” the Senate overlooked a few things of importance. This is unsurprising. A bill on immigration that is backed by leading Republicans and Democrats, big business, and government-co-opted unions is bound to have missed some things. The bill, whose fate in the House is uncertain, would appropriate $40 billion over the next decade ...
The AF1 Tapes and Subsequent Events at Andrews AFB on November 22, 1963 by Douglas Horne July 8, 2013 At my request, a friend of mine, psychologist Steven Kossor of Pennsylvania, recently used the sophisticated audio equipment he employs in his hobby as an audiophile to create an enhanced excerpt for me of the key passages in the Clifton version of the “Air Force One Tapes” (the GPO/NARA version released to the public in 2012, based on the ...
TGIF: Airbrushing Barbarity by Sheldon Richman July 5, 2013 “As the base rhetorician uses language to increase his own power, to produce converts to his own cause, and to create loyal followers of his own person – so the noble rhetorician uses language to wean men away from their inclination to depend on authority, to encourage them to think and speak clearly, and to teach them to be ...
Creating a Culture of Denunciation by Wendy McElroy July 2, 2013 On June 10, the Guardian featured an article entitled “Edward Snowden: Saving Us from the United Stasi of America” by Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame. He stated, The NSA, FBI, and CIA have, with the new digital technology, surveillance powers over our own citizens that the Stasi — the secret police in the former “democratic republic” of ...
FFF Webinar: The Illusion of Recovery (audio) by Sheldon Richman July 2, 2013 On April 9, 2013, FFF vice president and editor Sheldon Richman hosted a free, interactive online webinar entitled “The Illusion of Recovery.” The webinar was an interactive experience with Sheldon and particiapants. Download the audio. Subscribe to FFF podcasts.
The Libertarian Angle: The Latest Immigration Crisis (video) by Future of Freedom Foundation July 1, 2013 Jacob Hornberger and Sheldon Richman discuss immigration policy and the immigration bill currently before Congress. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly.