Guantánamo and Habeas Corpus: Wins and Losses, Part 2 by Andy Worthington July 26, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 Last week, in the first part of this two-part series, I began looking at how the conservative-dominated D.C. Circuit Court has responded to the rulings in the District Court regarding the habeas petitions of the prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, where, to date, 38 out of 53 cases have been won ...
Declaring Independence from the Federal Government by Ken Sturzenacker July 20, 2010 The thousands of 4th of July celebrations did not focus much on our 1776 Declaration of Independence from England. Listening to the list of complaints against England’s King George would sound too much like the complaints against our own Congress and presidents over the past five decades or so. Instead, the official part of the festivities focused on our supposed status as 50 united ...
Guantánamo and Habeas Corpus: Wins and Losses, Part 1 by Andy Worthington July 19, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 For the last two years, the prisoners held in the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have been challenging the basis of their detention through habeas corpus petitions filed with the District Court in Washington, D.C., where they have met with a notable degree of success. Of the 51 cases decided,
The GOP Chairman Was Right about Afghanistan by Sheldon Richman July 14, 2010 They used to say the truth shall set you free. These days it might get you fired. Apparently, stumbling onto the truth is a grave offense in the Republican Party. Ask Michael Steele, its chairman. Steele provoked the wrath of Republican neoconservatives William Kristol, Liz Cheney (the former vice president’s daughter), and Sen. John McCain by saying that “the one thing ...
Freeing the Innocent from Guantánamo by Andy Worthington July 13, 2010 On Thursday, in the District Court in Washington, D.C., Judge Paul Friedman took the tally of victories by the Guantánamo prisoners to 37, out of 51 cases decided, when he granted the habeas corpus petition of Hussein Almerfedi, a 33-year old Yemeni, and instructed the Obama administration to “take all necessary and appropriate steps to facilitate the release of ...
Freedom and the War on Terrorism by James Bovard July 9, 2010 On June 4, 2010, FFF policy advisor James Bovard gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundations Restoring Liberty and the Constitution supper seminar in Bernville, Pennsylvania. The speech can be viewed below in its entirety.
Who Are the Three Ex-Guantánamo Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Slovakia? by Andy Worthington July 6, 2010 A week ago Thursday, three former Guantánamo prisoners who were released in Slovakia in January this year, after the U.S. government concluded that it was unsafe for them to be returned to their home countries, which all have poor human rights records, embarked on a hunger strike to protest the conditions in which they are ...
Desacralizing Democracy to Save Liberty by James Bovard July 1, 2010 In the 1770s, the British colonists living in America won their freedom from British rule thanks to the “de-sacralizing” of the British monarch. The mists before the colonists’ eyes dissipated and they recognized that King George III was a mere mortal and often a dangerous buffoon. Rather than being awed by the titles of the king’s ministers and appointees, ...
Leading Humanity Out of the Darkness, Part 2 by Jacob G. Hornberger July 1, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Ever since it was established, the income tax has constituted an ever-growing assault on income, savings, and capital, which are the keys to a prospering nation, one in which the real standard of living is growing generation after generation. Here is how this corrupt and sordid process ...
The Distortions Wrought by the Corporatist State by Sheldon Richman July 1, 2010 “What kind of society gives that kind of money to people who create ... nothing?” That was Chris Matthews’s comment on his MSNBC program Hardball after reporting that “the top 25 hedge fund managers made $25 billion last year.” Most libertarians will have a natural reflex against a statement like that. Indeed, Matthews packs lots of fallacies into a few ...
Public Schools and Social Conflicts by Jim Powell July 1, 2010 Government is widely perceived as a foundation of social order, yet it is the single greatest source of disorder. Political power constantly tempts those who control it to enforce conformity with their religion, education, lifestyle, or other preferences. Naturally, other people tend to have their own preferences. They don’t want anybody else telling them what to do. They evade ...
The Libertarian Legacy of R.C. Hoiles, Part 2 by Wendy McElroy July 1, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 Hoiles began his newspaper career by working for the Alliance Review (Ohio), a daily owned by his brother Frank. In 1919, he and Frank bought the Lorain Times Herald, (Ohio), of which R.C. owned two-thirds. In 1921, they each purchased a one-third share in the Mansfield News (Ohio), ...