The Libertarian Party of America issued the following press release about the Transportation Security Administration’s excessive security policies — WASHINGTON – Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle commented today on the Transportation Security Administration’s use of strip-search machines at airports. Hinkle said, “The TSA should end the strip-search machine program immediately. “We’ve reached a point where…
Laws/Regulations
Laws/Regulations
Reason.tv – Nanny of the Month for October 2010: San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar
by JOHN ADAMS •
Perhaps you can market carrots, but should government force private businesses into a choice between abandoning toys or hawking carrots? More to the point — will a government mandate produce behavorial change that will be lasting and meaningful? No. These kinds of dietary changes require more than a municipal ordinance. Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waOdmBdcS8w. Here’s the…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Laws/Regulations, Politics
CNN Money: The Absurdity of Campaign Finance Reform
by JOHN ADAMS •
Nina Easton writes about so-called reform that’s both anti-speech, and deeply hypocritical: One narrative of election year 2010 was shaped long before any votes were tabulated. President Barack Obama penned the first chapter with his January condemnation of a Supreme Court ruling that lifted government prohibitions on spending by corporations in elections. The 5-to-4 decision…
Laws/Regulations
Milwaukee seeks delay on sign upgrade – JSOnline
by JOHN ADAMS •
Another unfunded mandate at the worst possible time — Milwaukee city officials are asking the federal government to give them more time to comply with rules that require replacing signs and traffic signals, at a cost of $5.3 million to local taxpayers. See, City seeks delay on sign upgrade – JSOnline.
Crime, Laws/Regulations
Citations and Drinking
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last week, police in Whitewater broke up a large drinking party at a house on Highland Street. They issued one-hundred thirty-two citations. See, Police issue 132 citations at Whitewater party. I am a supporter of neither a drinking nor a drug culture; they hold no allure for me. Drinking in a house with a hundred-fifty…
Laws/Regulations
Feds consider limiting potatoes offered to kids – Yahoo! News
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets, Laws/Regulations
Reason.tv: Discussing Fees for Fire Protection
by JOHN ADAMS •
America and places beyond have heard the story about how firefighters in Obion County, Tennessee let a house burn down because the homeowners, the Cranicks, had not paid the $75 annual firefighters’ fee. (The department is from South Fulton, but serves areas in the county beyond the South Fulton city limits.) At Reason.tv, there’s a…
Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Lou Dobbs, American Hypocrite | The Nation
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Nation has a fine story exposing the hypocrisy of Lou Dobbs, an immigrant-bashing television commentator and former CNN anchor: In Lou Dobbs’s heyday at CNN, when he commanded more than 800,000 viewers and a reported $6 million a year for “his fearless reporting and commentary” in the words of former CNN president Jonathan Klein,…
Freedom of Speech, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Politics
Camp Politics: Training the Next Generation of Censors Since 1974!
by JOHN ADAMS •
Laws/Regulations
Reason.tv: Nanny of the Month for September 2010 – Busted for Growing Veggies!
by JOHN ADAMS •
Reason presents the Nanny of the Month for September 2010. While America thinks of new ways to live a truly green lifestyle, including eating locally-grown produce, in DeKalb County, Georgia officials want to fine a man for growing too many vegetables. Here’s the description accompanying the video: Nanny of the Month turns one-year-old this month,…
Law, Laws/Regulations
Ieshuh Griffin on The Daily Show: Slogan’s Hero
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve written before about Ieshuh Griffin, the Wisconsin candidate who wanted to use “NOT the whiteman’s bitch” as her description of candidacy on the November ballot. She’s now hit the big time — a mention on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Government Accountability Board denied Griffin’s request to use that description, and a…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
From the Institute for Justice: Defending the Right to Ordinary Speech
by JOHN ADAMS •
Is it possible, in America, that government will not allow citizens to make a living describing national landmarks without holding a license from the state? A license, literally, to speak about our democratic heritage. Not a business license — no, a second license from government — by which government claims to permit a person to…
Government Spending, Law, Laws/Regulations
Wisconsin: State Journal: Shame those who hide state contracts
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Government Accountability Board deserves credit for trying to put some teeth into the law that requires state agencies to post online the details of any contracts that involve more than $10,000 in state money…. Problem is, that website [to post details] has been mostly blank, as agencies have routinely ignored the requirement for online…