Daily Articles

Thank You for Your Service

by Rich Schwartzman November 16, 2011

It was another Veterans Day without me wearing the display cap with my old chevrons and campaign ribbons. I put that cap together in the mid-1980s to help me deal with survivors guilt. I had spent 16 months in Southeast Asia, but I was at U-Tapao in Thailand, not a base in Vietnam. U-Tapao was a major B-52 base where ...

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 ...

Drug Testing for Welfare Benefits

by Laurence M. Vance November 15, 2011

Lawmakers in dozens of states are considering proposals to require drug testing of welfare recipients. In these days of budget tightening, states are looking for ways to balance their budgets without raising taxes. The drug-testing requirements are supposed to save the states money, since they will cause some families to be prohibited from receiving welfare benefits. The proposed measures seem ...

The Road to the Permanent Warfare State, Part 7

by Gregory Bresiger November 15, 2011

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 |Part 12 |Part 13 In later years, NSC-68 would be held up by revisionist historians as the inevitable ...

Veterans Day: Thanks but No Thanks

by Tim Kelly November 11, 2011

Veterans Day honors those citizens who fought in the U.S. governments wars wars supposedly waged to preserve Americans liberty. Most Americans uncritically accept this last part, and believe they owe the U.S. military a debt of gratitude for their freedom and independence. This belief is so widely held that it has become a tenet of the country's civic faith. However, ...

Trial at Guantánamo: What Shall We Do With the Torture Victim?

by Andy Worthington November 11, 2011

At Guantánamo this past Wednesday, one of the most notorious torture victims of the Bush administration Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was arraigned for his trial by military commission. He was charged with masterminding the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 off the coast of Yemen, which killed 17 U.S. sailors and wounded 39 others. Al-Nashiri is also one of three ...

What Immigration Problem?

by Sheldon Richman November 11, 2011

Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia have each enacted stringent laws aimed at curbing illegal immigration. Before saying more, lets be clear about the alleged problem. What is an illegal immigrant? Its simply a person possessing natural rights, mind you who comes to the United States without the permission of the U.S. government. Now isn't it curious that in this country, ...

Why Double Jeopardy May Not Protect You

by Wendy McElroy November 8, 2011

The legal doctrine of double jeopardy may be in flux (again), this time in a murder case being reviewed by the United States Supreme Court. An October 11 CNN report opens, “The justices on Tuesday accepted the appeal of Alex Blueford, accused of killing his girlfriend's infant son. At issue is whether a criminal defendant can be retried on ...

Gambling, Freedom, and Federalism

by Laurence M. Vance November 8, 2011

The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, better known as the supercommittee, was created back in August by the Budget Control Act of 2011, which raised the debt limit. The committee consists of twelve members of Congress, evenly divided between the House and the Senate and between Democrats and Republicans. By the day before Thanksgiving, the committee ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: November 5, 2011

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 7, 2011

The Jacob Hornberger Show broadcasts live Saturday nights at 7pm EST. Visit FFF's Ustream Channel to watch the show live.

Liberty and the State: A Virginia Political Economy Perspective (video)

by Charles K. Rowley November 7, 2011

Charles K. Rowley is Professor of Economics at George Mason University and General Director of The Locke Institute in Fairfax, Virginia. Editor (Joint) of Public Choice since May 1990. Member of the Mont Pelerin Society. Listed in Mark Blaug's Who's Who in Economics (since 1986). Honorary Lifetime President of The European Public Choice Society. Founding Editor of ...

Eliminate Medicine Shortages with Imports

by Fergus Hodgson November 4, 2011

Pharmaceutical drugs are in scant supply in the United States relative to their demand — a “serious and growing threat to public health,” says President Obama’s latest executive order. The number of prescription-drug shortages, the order continues, has almost tripled in the past five years, and half of pharmacists and purchasing agents are utilizing “gray-market” dealers. According to ...