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Liberty and Power

  • May 16, 2006

    IQ and Voting

    by Liberty and Power

    Do you remember when Bush was elected to his second term that the claim was made by lots and lots of people that the average IQ of residents of the red states--that is, those that went for Bush--were lower than the average IQ of residents of the blue states? That claim was repeated all over the place, including in respectable venues like The Economist (although The Economist
  • May 16, 2006

    NSA to ABC News, "We know who you call"

    by Liberty and Power

    By now everyone knows that some phone giants, like AT&T, have given the NSA access to their voice and data networks and to their customer databases without notifying customers. Those who defend the practice often use the following argument:"We are not listening in on content. We are merely recording the phone numbers in order to establish patterns that could indicate terrorist activity." Of course, it is trivial for the NSA to use the phone numbers to also get the names and addresses of whomever
  • May 15, 2006

    The New Original Sin: "Unconscious Bias" and the Courts

    by Liberty and Power

    Glenn Singeton, who has built a thriving financial empire as a race"expert" via lucrative contracts at Bellevue Community College (secured with the unwitting help of Michelle Malkin), the Cherry Creek, Colorado school district, and many others, is not the only successful diversity entrepreneur.

    Many academics are creatively using the courts for similar goals by testifying as legal

  • May 14, 2006

    Republic versus Empire

    by Liberty and Power

    Here is my favorite single line on how empire changes the domestic population:
    [T]he difference between republic and empire might be restated as the difference between taking the girl next door to the Sadie Hawkins Dance and paying a Saigon whore in chocolate bars and the Yankee dollar.
    It's from Bill Kauffman's "My America vs. the Empire."

    Cross-posted at
  • May 14, 2006

    Another Psychiatric Political Prisoner

    by Liberty and Power

    Anyone who values liberty should read about this travesty of justice over at Rad Geek People's Daily. Here's a taste:
    Cleveland antiwar activist Carol Fischer is being held incommunicado in the psychiatric [section] of the Cuyahoga County jail in on the orders of Judge Timothy McGinty. Fischer, who at 53 years old stands 5'4" and weighs 130 pounds, was convicted of a"felonious assault" she allegedly c
  • May 14, 2006

    Nothing Unlawful

    by Liberty and Power

    George II defended whatever eavesdropping he might be doing (he wouldn't say), by stating:"The intelligence activities I authorized are lawful."

    In other words, in his view,"no controlling legal authority" has said otherwise. (Of course, he doesn't recognize that the courts have any role in overseeing his Unitary Executive.)

    Cross-posted at Free Association.
  • May 14, 2006

    Rush to Fallacy

    by Liberty and Power

    Rush"Jail All Drug Users But Me" Limbaugh did it again the other day. His Blowhardedness, ever striving to be George II's No. 1 brownnoser, condemned the Democratic critics of the NSA's mass collection of our telephone records and showed he is either a demagogue or is actually unable to tell a sound argument from a fallacy. (I guess he could be both.) Here's his standard pitch: The Democrats oppose something George II's men are doing even though they have done or approved of the same thing in th
  • May 14, 2006

    Things are Getting Better III: Global Good News

    by Liberty and Power

    This morning's LA Times has a story of the astounding rates of economic growth being produced in the developing world and attributes this growth to the expansion of free trade. Shocking, I know, from the LA Times, but perhaps the facts are finally the facts. A brief excerpt:
    The global economy is on a growth streak that is shaping up to be the broadest and strongest expansion in m
  • May 12, 2006

    Hillary versus McCain? I'll Take Hillary

    by Liberty and Power

    George Will reported yesterday that Sen. John McCain, a presidential aspirant, recently told radio guy Don Imus:
    I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government.
    In other words, his conception of" clean" government
  • May 11, 2006

    Cato Blogstorm

    by Liberty and Power

    Also, L&P readers may want to check out the Cato Institute's new blog Cato@Liberty today. A ton of new material on the newly revealed NSA database, the Hayden nomination, endangered flies, British dentistry, and more.
  • May 11, 2006

    War, Health, State

    by Liberty and Power

    Bleg: I recall reading a few years ago an interview from Bill Clinton in the waning days of his presidency where he complained that he never really got the chance to be great because he didn't have a major war. I found that perverse. Can any of the fine historians and scholars at L&P/HNN point me to that quote? The closest I've come is the following:

    “I envy Kennedy having an enemy,” Clinton said, thinking it must have been a good deal easier to sell programs and ideas negative
  • May 10, 2006

    Imperialists and Anti-Imperialists in History

    by Liberty and Power

    Geoffrey Wheatcroft reminds his readers that many progressives and leftists, including Karl Marx, have long supported imperialism.

    And just as the left was split, so were (and are) classical liberals. Consider, for example, Alexis de Tocqueville who supported French colonization of Algeria. For more see Jennifer Pitts' edition of Tocqueville
  • May 10, 2006

    Simon Jenkins Points a Way Out for Bush and Blair

    by Liberty and Power

    Simon Jenkins calls for the U.S. to respond to this week's letter from Tehran. He concludes:

    "There is, of course, one thing that Britain and America could do that would wholly disorientate Ahmadinejad and have him rushing troops to his borders. It would be a sudden end to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Such a decision would remove at a stroke the running theme of Iranian militancy. It would saddle
  • May 9, 2006

    Drug Tourism and the A.P.

    by Liberty and Power

    One of the most consistent supporters of the war on people who use certain kinds of drugs has been the Associated Press (AP). A good example of this can be found in the recent AP story on Mexico's federal bill to codify the legalization of drugs for personal use by Alicia A, Caldwell. She opens her article with the following paragraph; "Police and business owners from Mexico's beaches to borde
  • May 9, 2006

    Extropy Institute closing doors

    by Liberty and Power

    I am sorry to report that one of the most intriguing and unique libertarian organizations is declaring 'victory' and closing its doors. The Extropy Institute,"was formed in 1990 by Max More and Tom Bell with a mission to bring great minds together to incubate ideas about emerging technologies, life extension and the future." Fellow travellers and fans are assured that ExI is now "opening a window for a proactiv