In England, polygamous husbands can claim extra state benefits for their harem, even though bigamy is illegal: Polygamous husbands settling in Britain with multiple wives can claim extra benefits for their “harems” even though bigamy is a crime in the UK, it has emerged. Opposition MPs are demanding an urgent change in the law, claiming [...]

Yes, you heard this right. He actually says “I’m the only one in this room professional enough to carry a Glock”, a matter of seconds before he shoots himself in the foot with an “empty” weapon. Your tax dollars at work. Hat Tip: Reason

I’ve written before, here and here, about the massive challenge that Ron Paul faces in running for the Republican Presidential nomination. The extent of the challenge is made emphatically clear in this graphic from the Washington Post detailing the fundraising status of each of the Presidential campaigns. It’s not pretty. On one end of the [...]

Really? Really?! I mean really, are you kidding me? I just paid my taxes, and I have to say, I always take pride when I do so. I don’t like having less money to spend, of course, and the complexity of the process is really upsetting. But I am proud to pay for democracy, and [...]

Proving that it’s not just American political pundits who are capable of saying incredibly stupid things in reaction to a tragedy, newspapers all over Europe are blaming America’s gun laws for the murder of 32 innocent people: With a view to Monday’s deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, European newspapers are blaming the lack of [...]

Courtesy of George Harrison: Let me tell you how it will be; There’s one for you, nineteen for me. ‘Cause I’m the taxman, Yeah, I’m the taxman. Should five per cent appear too small, Be thankful I don’t take it all. ‘Cause I’m the taxman, Yeah, I’m the taxman. (if you drive a car, car;) [...]

No, not the soon-to-be regular feature of this site, where one of us debates another one; this one is in response to some of the responses to yesterdays events. Yesterday, a horrendous attack was carried out by a lone, crazed individual at Virgina Tech. 33 people (including the mass murderer) are dead, with dozens more [...]

A new study shows that the abstinence-based sex education programs championed by the Bush Administration and social conservatives don’t work after all: A long-awaited national study has concluded that abstinence-only sex education, a cornerstone of the Bush administration’s social agenda, does not keep teenagers from having sex. Neither does it increase or decrease the likelihood [...]

For those of you who would like to contribute and help out the people whose lives were devastated yesterday, please head over to find donation info here. While many of us want to abstract this situation into something political, as a way to not have to deal with the human cost of such a tragedy, [...]

Well, this is one way to improve compliance. I should point out that it’s not, not, NOT a way that I would like to see, of course: Other experts are considering more creative ways to improve tax compliance. One idea is to take advantage of people’s desire to get a refund at the end of [...]

I realize that the news today will be all about the Virginia Tech shooting. And gun laws. And so forth. But, I think it is valuable, given much of the recent conversation (past 3 months, give or take), to put a stake in the ground on what The Liberty Papers stands for around the war [...]

With not even twenty-four hours passed since the tragedy at Virginia Tech, and already the New York Times has taken the lead in turning it into a political issue: Yesterday’s mass shooting at Virginia Tech — the worst in American history — is another horrifying reminder that some of the gravest dangers Americans face come [...]

Obviously, such a question doesn’t have a definite answer. After all, the fact that people might be free to carry a firearm doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone in the building would have (although, with a 2 hour lag between the two shootings, I think quite a few people with CCW might have decided to carry [...]

There is a back story to the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech that hasn’t made its way into the public domain yet. Virginia, as you may or may not know, allows it’s citizens to carry concealed weapons after obtaining a permit. However, Virginia Tech, along with many other college campuses, forbids anyone other than law [...]

There is no point in engaging in comparisons. Today’s tragedy at Virginia Tech will make it’s own mark on history (although I can’t help but wonder what the future might have been like if those 32 innocent people had not been murdered today). Nonetheless, today is also Israel’s official acknowledgment of an act that will [...]

Because they’re riding this housing armageddon all the way down… Mortgage defaults in California near decade high The number of mortgage default notices sent to California homeowners last quarter rose to its highest in nearly 10 years as home prices stagnated and rates on adjustable loans pushed higher, a report released on Monday said. Mortgage [...]

This pisses me off beyond belief: “WBC will preach at the funerals of the Virginia Tech students killed on campus during a shooting rampage April 16, 2007. You describe this as monumental horror, but you know nothing of horror — yet. “They shall also gird themselves with sackloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame [...]

By now it’s all over the news, and the news just keeps getting worse: Thirty-two people have reportedly been killed and more than two dozen others injured during a shooting rampage this morning at Virginia Tech, making it the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history, according to law enforcement sources. This is all that will [...]

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money. — Alexis de Tocqueville I found this to be particularly appropriate given what I discuss in this post.

It certainly seems like it might be when you read stuff like this: Slightly over half of all Americans – 52.6 percent – now receive significant income from government programs, according to an analysis by Gary Shilling, an economist in Springfield, N.J. That’s up from 49.4 percent in 2000 and far above the 28.3 percent [...]