In Nick Gillespie Discusses the “Death of Decency” On CNBC’S Powerlunch, Reason’s Gillespie contends that although popular entertainment has grown coarser, there are many positive social trends that are moving in the right direction. I agree on both counts, and I’d suggest that if pop culture has grown coarser, the answer is change in private…

They only look cute to dupe humanity into a false sense of complacency: The truth is far more sinister: A recent story in the New York Times, entitled, Chimps, Too, Wage War and Annex Rival Territory, describes accurately how dangerous chimpanzees can be. It’s about time someone wrote honestly and forthrightly about the chimp menace.…

David Weigel of the Washington Post‘s “Right Now” blog (covering conservatives more than libertarians) writes about press coverage of Wayne Allyn Root, former vice presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in 2008. Root has never been popular — that’s a kind understatement — with left-leaning libertarians. (They see him as a crypto-Republican. He is, however,…

Over at the La Crosse Tribune there’s a story about the National Pork Board’s cease and desist letter over a parody that described unicorn meat as the “new white meat.” The Pork Board complained over the parody that the website ThinkGeek issued. (The website previously teased about bacon with an imaginary toy called “My First…

An embattled public official will resort to a few quick — but increasingly ineffective — techniques to distract the public from official incompetence, mistakes, abuses, and injuries inflicted on ordinary citizens. One is to demonize anyone who questions official conduct, including courageous and honest public officials. The second is to produce — right from a…

Over at the The Daily Caller, libertarian-oriented Republican Ron Paul is quoted contending that “Republicans will be more open than they were in 2008 to nominating a libertarian-minded candidate. “I think there’s no doubt about it,” Paul said in an interview with The Daily Caller.” See, Ron Paul says GOP will be more open to…

Steve Schultze of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has more on the disrepair at the Milwaukee Mental health Complex, in a story entitled, Milwaukee County Hopes to Keep Repair Cost Low for Mental Facility. Milwaukee County officials hope to keep down the cost and scope of repairs to the Mental Health Complex needed to resolve citations…

The Wisconsin State Journal has a story about dozens of naked cyclists riding through Madison, Wisconsin as part of the World Naked Bike Ride to protest dependence on oil. Their effort was attention-getting. The protest itself was peaceful, but ten cyclists were cited for disorderly conduct for failing to put their clothes back on, following…

There’s an update to a story about which I posted earlier this week, about a Wisconsin State Journal story entitled, “DOT Official’s Company Rings Up Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in State Business.” The story described how a “company co-owned by a state transportation official has done hundreds of thousands of dollars in business with…

The La Crosse Tribune has a wire photo and caption entitled, “Pet Waste Removal Worker Finds $58 in Dog Poop.” The story tells of Steve Wilson, an employee of DoodyCalls Pet Waste Removal, who found $58 in bills in a client’s dog’s poop. Wilson retrieved, cleaned, and return the money to the dog’s owner. One…

In the La Crosse Tribune, there’s a story about a police dog who found a parole violator after only two hours’ time on the job. After the unfortunate injuries from a police dog in Edgerton, Wisconsin, it’s reassuring to see that the combination of a good dog and a competent handler will produce good results.…

The hypocrisy of men who call themselves public servants and public officials while concealing their misdeeds from the public is nearly boundless. Milwaukee County offers a recent example. Since Lynne De Bruin revealed the immoral utilitarianism of Milwaukee bureaucrat John Chianelli, where he exposed female mental patients to risk of sexual assault in mixed gender…

I posted earlier today about a CNBC discussion of financial reporting requirements for federal legislators. I’d not abandon those disclosure requirements, although some libertarians might contend otherwise. (There’s also a difference, by the way, from a reporting requirement and a requirement that legislators divest assets.) I’m sure of two things. First, legislators and bureaucrats meddle…

Congratulations to John Chianelli, administrator of Milwaukee County’s Behavorial Health Division, who has now earned an entry in Chuck Shepherd’s famous “News of the Weird” column. Here’s the entry (accurately) describing Chianelli’s mental health policy for Milwaukee County: Questionable judgments — Standing firm under severe local criticism, John Chianelli (the chief mental-health administrator of Milwaukee…