It's been a rough week for liberty.To begin with, we had two terrorist style attacks, the moderately successful Boston Marathon bombing, and the failed ricin poisoning. I doubt either attack was because "they hate our freedom" (few attacks are) but the attacks themselves are attacks on our freedom. As is often the case, just as the human body's immune system sometimes … [Read more...] about A Bad Week For Liberty
No Comps For the Homeless in Vegas
In an earlier post, I pointed out that not even the most heartless Ayn Rand disciple would go as far as some city governments and make it a crime to feed homeless people. I singled out Las Vegas as an example, citing a report by the ACLU: In 2006, the City of Las Vegas became locked in a bizarre war with homeless advocates, and decided that no one should be engaging in charity … [Read more...] about No Comps For the Homeless in Vegas
More About Talking To a Lawyer When Arrested
A few weeks ago, I wrote about an organization called First Defense Legal Aid that provides legal advice to people arrested or detained by the Chicago Police, just by calling 1-800-LAW-REP-4. Criminal defense lawyer Matt Haiduk (whose blog I quoted in the original post) adds this note in a comment: ...don’t ever think it’s as easy as mentioning you want a lawyer and thinking … [Read more...] about More About Talking To a Lawyer When Arrested
“I’ve got mine, Jack!” Is a Lie
I've heard Stephen Colbert summarize the Objectivist mindset -- and by extension, libertarian mindset -- as "I've got mine, Jack!" This is true as far as it goes, but it is also a lie by omission.Consider this story in the Wall Street Journal: There’s no free lunch, goes the old saying. The IRS may take that literally.The Internal Revenue Service is looking into the … [Read more...] about “I’ve got mine, Jack!” Is a Lie
Yet Another Tale of the Awful, Awful People at DHS
[Update: An earlier version of this story blamed ICE, but since it happened at a border crossing, I assume it's actually Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and I have revised the story accordingly. I regret the error, but they both suck.]I have long maintained that the U.S. immigration authorities in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have some of the … [Read more...] about Yet Another Tale of the Awful, Awful People at DHS