The always thought provoking Cory Doctorow has a new book out, Little Brother.  I highly recommend it, even though I think he is very wrong on numerous points.  You can download it for free at the link above. It is very difficult to write a political novel.  I should know, I’ve started 3 or 4 [...]

The View seems to be an endless source of idiotic commentary, especially in the realm of politics. It appears that Whoopi picked up where Rosie left off when Sen. John McCain appeared on the show. To have “a strict constructionist” philosophy means to return to slavery and other injustices of the era of the founding [...]

In fact, let me say unequivocally, I’m OK with more people dying, so long as we have more freedom; be it with drugs, or guns, or sex, or anything else. Are there limits? Of course there are; at the very least, my fist is limited by your nose… but doing immoral, unethical, and unconstitutional things [...]

Ron Paul spoke in front of a crowd of approximately 10,000 at the “Rally for the Republic” (AKA the “Ron Paul Convention”) across the river from the Republican National Convention. Below are the first 3 parts of his speech, the full text of the speech can be read here. Other speakers on the last day [...]

Sometimes, the wisdom of crowds is as bad as the insanity of a dictator: Nearly half of Americans (47%) believe the government should require all radio and television stations to offer equal amounts of conservative and liberal political commentary, but they draw the line at imposing that same requirement on the Internet. Thirty-nine percent (39%) [...]

From Paul Jacob, always a fan of citizen initiatives and ballot measures*: Lying is objectionable, of course. But only certain kinds of lies — perjury, or lies used to steal from someone — should be punished by force of law. Some people, however, are forever seeking new ways to harass other people. Especially, it seems, [...]

Today is a sad day for comedy. While I can’t say that I always agreed with some of his ideas, the simple fact is that George Carlin, through the vehicle of comedy, did an incredible job of making people question the world around them. That questioning is the first step towards having independent thoughts– a [...]

The British don’t have a Bill of Rights per se, they don’t even really have a written Constitution, which is why it’s possible for nonsense like this to take place:\ This past week, apparently, two ministers found out first-hand that what the Bishop claimed was true: The preachers, both ministers in Birmingham, were handing out [...]

Back in November of last year, I shared the story of Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter. Together, they are sometimes referred to as “the Oklahoma 3.” Their crime, “conspiracy against the state” (what we know as petitioning the government for a redress of grievances) could cost them 10 years in prison and $25,000 [...]

In the rural areas of Northern California, in the shadow of beautiful Mt. Shasta, lies a sleepy small town. In that town, however, lurks a menace. The town itself elicits laughs from degenerate drug users all over the nation. In fact, the town itself is a literal advertisement for drug use. At least that’s what [...]

There’s a reason we have a Bill of Rights: Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don’t give it any value.– Dean Steacy, Canadian Human Rights Commission.

An interesting case-in-point raised by this article in The New York Times: When Xavier Alvarez was asked to say a few words about himself at a meeting of a California water board last summer, he decided on these: “I’m a retired marine of 25 years. I retired in the year 2001. Back in 1987, I [...]

That’s the issue that the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is currently dealing with: Avery Doninger, 17, claims officials at Lewis S. Mills High School violated her free speech rights when they barred her from serving on the student council because of what she wrote from her home computer. In her Internet journal, [...]

Judge Andrew Napolitano gave a speech for Reason Magazine in Washington D.C. in October of last year on the history of Constitutional infidelity. Virtually every president from George Washington to George W. Bush has broken his oath of office to defend the Constitution. President John Adams, the nation’s second president, was the first president who [...]

Or was that the poll tax? Either way, I’m not a big fan of this new Texas law: There is a new price to be paid for looking at naked women in Texas. On January 1st the state’s strip clubs began imposing a $5 surcharge for each visitor. The “pole tax,” as it is commonly [...]

The people who’ve taken a legislative axe to archaic concepts like free speech and made it almost impossible to find a cold medication that works now have a new cause celebre…cracking down on celebrity endorsements for consumer products. The ads in question this time are for the top-selling Pfizer product, Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug that from [...]

Today, an English teacher who went to Sudan to teach was sentenced to jail and deportation for letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammed: KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) — A Sudanese court found a British teacher guilty of inciting religious hatred and sentenced her to 15 days imprisonment Thursday for allowing a teddy bear to [...]

He won’t tell you this, though. In fact, he wants you to believe he’s here to help you, as part of the “other” America. But in fact, when he fights against advertising for drugs that have passed FDA certification on “safety” grounds, he’s implicitly telling you that he doesn’t believe the FDA is certifying drug [...]

Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter could face up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines for “conspiracy against the state” in the State of Oklahoma. Perhaps the three were conspiring to commit an act of terrorism? Or maybe they conspired to commit welfare fraud? Sold counterfeit tickets to a Sooners game? [...]

Back in February, here and here, I wrote about the case of Kareem Amer, 22 year old Egyptian blogger who has been held in prison for nearly a year for the “crime” of allegedly “insulting” Islam and the President of Egypt, one of our supposed allies. In February, Amer was sentenced to four years in [...]