I was switching through the channels last night and noticed that PJ O’Rourke was on Bill Maher’s show. I definitely had to watch it. Ben Affleck was also on, so the wife was happy too. Towards the end of the show, Bill had Ron Paul on, talking about the spat with Giuliani and his reading [...]

While most of us learn from the words of those who we admire, it is also possible to learn from those we detest. Here is a collection of quotes from some of the vilest despots in human history. From these quotes, perhaps we can gain some insights from their thought processes. You may also find [...]

The Governor of New Hampshire has signed a bill granting civil unions to gay and lesbian couples into law: Gay couples in New Hampshire will able to join in civil unions starting next year under a bill Gov. John Lynch signed into law Thursday. “We in New Hampshire have had a long and proud tradition [...]

In Georgia, a holier than thou Christian by the name of Laura Malloy has tried, and failed, for the 5th time to remove Harry Potter from Gwinnett County government school library shelves. Malloy says the books cause children to embrace witchcraft: A judge gave Laura Mallory 64 minutes Tuesday to argue why the Harry Potter [...]

This is the best news I’ve seen in a long time. In a comment to Doug’s post about Presidential candidates, Steve Dasbach brought up a site called gambling911.com, which has been laying odds on Ron Paul and has continuously lowered his odds, meaning there’s enough action behind him that people think he’s got a shot. [...]

John Stossel, who very well may be the best advocate for free markets since Adam Smith, has a great column at RealClearPolitics explaining just why the free market may be the greatest invention in human history: How many times have you paid $1 for a cup of coffee and after the clerk said, “thank you,” [...]

It’s days like today that I’m glad the UN has very little real power. WHO urges smoking ban in public places The U.N. health agency on Tuesday issued its strongest policy recommendations yet for controlling tobacco use, urging all countries to ban smoking at indoor workplaces and in public buildings. “The evidence is clear. There [...]

Reason’s June issue has an article looking over the major and minor contenders for the White House in 2008. And it’s not a pretty picture: If the 2008 presidential election is a baseball season, we’re still in that early, delusional phase when even Tampa Bay Devil Rays fans can dream of a World Series ring. [...]

Ahh, the Chavez apologists said it was just RCTV, it was only because of their participation in the coup… But now he’s got Globovision in his sights: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez resurfaced on Tuesday, two days after the end of broadcasts of private television station RCTV and, in a mandatory nationwide radio and TV broadcast, [...]

In today’s New York Daily News, the Cato Institute’s David Boaz points out the many reasons those who value liberty should be wary of Rudy Giuliani: Throughout his career, Giuliani has displayed an authoritarian streak that would be all the more problematic in a man who would assume executive powers vastly expanded by President Bush. [...]

By one number, they had a $248B deficit. If you start applying the accounting standards normal companies use, though… It’s a different story: The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The [...]

Now that Hugo Chavez has closed yet another independent source of news in Venezuela, the true nature of his regime is being revealed: CARACAS (AFP) – President Hugo Chavez’s clampdown on opposition television stations widened Monday as police used rubber bullets and tear gas on demonstrators protesting what they called an attack on free speech. [...]

Hillary Clinton is promoting a new idea called “shared responsibility”: MANCHESTER, N.H. — Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it’s time to replace an “on your own” society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity. The Democratic senator said what the Bush administration touts as an “ownership society” [...]

In Friday’s Miami Herald, U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California) had a column about Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez’s closing of RTCV, the last private and opposition TV station in Venezuela. I bring up Congressman Lantos’s thoughts for several reasons. First, he’s the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and his column gives an insight into [...]

In the United States, today is Memorial Day. On this day, we remember all those who have fallen in defense of this country; its constitution, its principles, its people, and its sacred freedoms. They have given their lives so that we may remain free; so that we may pursue life, liberty, property, and happiness. Let [...]

From the article Last Words: I have spoken hitherto of the possibility that democracy may be a self-limiting disease, like measles. It is, perhaps, something more: it is self-devouring. One cannot observe it objectively without being impressed by its curious distrust of itself—its apparently ineradicable tendency to abandon its whole philosophy at the first sign [...]

Today is the end for Venezuelan media company RCTV. Chavez’ stated reason for shutting them down is due to the involvement of the station in the failed coup attempt of 2002. At the same time, though, the station has been a reliable opposition station ever since, and failing to renew their broadcast license now is [...]

For all of Ron Paul’s supposed online support, he’s not gaining support where it matters; among Republican voters: This morning we have a new national poll, though it’s a small one: the Diageo/Hotline Poll, conducted by Financial Dynamics, May 16-20, 2007, 196 Republican primary voters nationwide. The results? After the jump… Rudy Giuliani shows up [...]

The surge of US troops into Iraq is showing some benefits. Apparently, it is now safe for anti-American gang leader and Iranian agent Muqtada Sadr to return to Iraq and preach an anti-American sermon Influential cleric Muqtada Sadr resurfaced today after months in hiding and delivered a fiery sermon in this Shiite Muslim holy city [...]

The bill to continue funding the Iraq War until September with no timelines has passed Congress. Congress voted tonight to meet President Bush’s demand for almost $100 billion to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September, providing a momentary truce in a bitter struggle over war policy. Even before the House and [...]