Daily Articles

The Nanny State and Baby Cribs

by Laurence M. Vance January 19, 2011

The federal government is routinely condemned for being cruel, inept, paternalistic, evil, inefficient, and intrusive — except when it comes to the subject of child safety. Indeed, in the name of child safety the most flagrant violations of civil liberties, private property, and the Constitution are routinely accepted by those who might ordinarily have nothing but condemnation for the ...

Pentagon Propaganda on Gitmo Prisoners Releases

by Andy Worthington January 18, 2011

For several years now, one organization in the U.S. government has persistently undermined attempts to have a grown-up debate about the perceived dangerousness of prisoners at Guantánamo, and the need to bear security concerns in mind whilst also trying to empty the prison and to bring to an end this particularly malign icon of the Bush administration's ill-conceived response ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: The Evils of the Drug War

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 15, 2011

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Government Spies on Americans

by Sheldon Richman January 13, 2011

Most Americans seem detached from the U.S. governments military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere. U.S. forces not only engage in wanton killing and harsh treatment of prisoners, but also surveillance and other intelligence activities that might appall the American people if they were used at home. Well, guess what: Technologies and techniques honed for use on ...

The Banality of Killing

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 12, 2011

The standard explanations for the Arizona killings are now being set forth, such as widespread violence in America and right-wing extremism. I’d like to weigh in with another possible factor, one that I can’t prove but one that I think Americans ought to at least consider: the fact that killing has now become an accepted, essential, normal, and permanent ...

Noah’s Ark and the Sanctity of Private Property

by Laurence M. Vance January 11, 2011

The subject of a proposed religious theme park in Kentucky brings up an issue near and dear to the heart of libertarians: the sanctity of private property. There is some controversy over the proposed construction of a $150 million Noah’s Ark theme park on 800 acres near Interstate 75 in Kentucky. The theme park — to be called

Guantánamo Forever?

by Andy Worthington January 10, 2011

On the 9th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, it may sound uncharitable to President Obama to be asking whether all plans to close the prison have failed, and to be asking whether it might remain in operation for as long as anyone can foresee. After all, the president may have failed to close it within a year ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: Empire, Death, and Destruction

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 8, 2011

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Afghanistan: War of Choice Not Necessity

by Sheldon Richman January 7, 2011

In December President Barack Obama received his annual assessment of the war in Afghanistan, then reported to the American people that the mission is “on track” and troops would begin to withdraw next July. But the semi-upbeat assessment was less than persuasive because, as the Washington Post reported, “The overview of the long-awaited report contained no specifics or data ...

US Invasion of Panama: Just Another American Imperialist Enterprise (Video)

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 4, 2011

Jacob Hornberger and Jeff Cohen with Dina Gusovsky RT Russia Today //

Can U.S. Foreign Policy Be Fixed?

by Laurence M. Vance January 3, 2011

The WikiLeaks revelations have shined a light on the dark nature of U.S. foreign policy. As Eric Margolis recently described it: “Washington’s heavy-handed treatment of friends and foes alike, its bullying, use of diplomats as junior-grade spies, narrow-minded views, and snide remarks about world leaders.” As much as I, an American, hate to say it, U.S. foreign policy ...

Why WikiLeaks Leaks Matter

by Sheldon Richman January 3, 2011

Why should anyone care about the secret diplomatic cables WikiLeaks has disclosed? So what if State Department bureaucrats say unflattering things about other world “leaders”? Some people may be asking those questions in response to WikiLeaks’s latest disclosures. Okay, they say, leaks about atrocities on the battlefield (such as the first WikiLeaks disclosure, the “Collateral Murder” video) tell us ...