Dit is zo’n tijd geweest waarin een reeks willekeurige, schijnbaar losstaande gebeurtenissen allemaal een algemene les voor mij hebben versterkt. Allereerst werd op 21 januari gemeld dat Canadese en Amerikaanse veiligheidsdiensten—Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), de Mounties, de FBI, Homeland Security, en provinciale, staats- en lokale politie—nauw hebben samengewerkt met Enbridge, TransCanada en andere energieleveranciers…

Shamus Cooke discusses Obama’s far right foreign policy. Cory Massimino discusses the relationship between liberalism and libertarianism. Patrick Cockburn discusses how war has changed. Brian J. Trautman discusses endless war. Casey Given discusses how the anti-gay bills are not libertarian. Dave Lindorff discusses the U.S. lecturing of Russia about international law. John Bew discusses the…

Big changes are often terribly disruptive, even among those who favor the changes. For an example, one need look no further than the libertarian movement’s struggles to address itself to recent social, legal and political developments on what I’ll call, for brevity’s sake, “the same-sex marriage front.” Libertarian opinions on that issue run across a…

Com a falência do banco de Bitcoin Mt. Gox, mais de 400 de seus clientes expressaram interesse em entrar com um processo coletivo contra a empresa-mãe e seu dono, Mark Karpeles. A Mt. Gox era o maior mercado de Bitcoins do mundo e, embora o funcionamento da criptomoeda ainda seja incompreensível para várias pessoas, seu…

C4SS Media presents Thomas L. Knapp‘s “Depends On What “Corruption” Is,” read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford. “We don’t need the politicians or their cronies. We don’t have to put up with them. And we should stop doing so.”  

Julia Angwin (“Has Privacy Become a Luxury Good?”, The New York Times, 4 de março) relata as dificuldades enfrentadas pelas pessoas que tentam manter a privacidade de seus dados. Embora os indivíduos possam comprar bens e serviços para esse fim, seu alto custo diminui sua utilidade e disponibilidade. Não são produtos caros apenas no sentido…

Dahr Jamail discusses the civilian deaths caused by the Iraqi government siege of Fallujah. John B. Judis reviews Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama. Brittney Wheeler discusses why liberty doesn’t need politics. The LA Times editorial board discusses why the embargo on Cuba should be ended. Karen J. Greenberg discusses 5 issues…

Julia Angwin (“Has Privacy Become a Luxury Good?” New York Times, March 4),  describes the difficulties faced by people trying to maintain the privacy of their personal data. Although an individual can purchase goods and services for the purpose, high cost mitigates their usefulness and availability, not only in the monetary sense but in the amount of…

In the wake of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy filing, more than four hundred of its customers have expressed interest in filing a class action lawsuit against the parent company and its chief, Mark Karpeles. Mt. Gox was the cryptocurrency’s largest marketplace. Although Bitcoin’s functioning is still incomprehensible to many its value is real. Mt.Gox’s…

California is in its third year of a severe drought. Some scientists believe this will be the driest year in the last five hundred. Among other measures for dealing with the water shortage, the state has announced it will not provide subsidized irrigation water from dams this year. The large-scale capitalist agriculture model touted by…

Justin Raimondo discusses the censoring of Twitter by the Venezuelean government. Greg Grandian discusses slavery. Kelly B. Vlahos discusses the Afghan election. Lenni Brenner discusses Zionist outreach to Nazi Germany. Jacob Sullum discusses myths surrounding meth. Jim Naureckas discusses media coverage of Venezuela. Patrick Cockburn discusses the long war in Syria. Mariame Kaba and Erica…

The Libertarian Alliance blog posted my piece on why libertarians are not conservatives. It wasn’t received very well. The poster of the article argued thusly: Note: In my view, this is a silly article. The author does to conservatism just what the more brain dead conservatives do to libertarianism – that is, to pick out…

Charles R. Larson discusses the grotesqueries of Iraq. David Swanson discusses the use of Nazi scientists by the U.S. Franklin Lamb discusses getting aid into Homs. Laurence M. Vance discusses ending the American empire. Matt Welch discusses the drug war. Shihka Dalmia discusses closed border policies. William D. Hartung discusses arm sales. Robert Fisk discusses…

US Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) is far from the first, and is unlikely to be the last, politician to equate libertarianism and conservatism (“Rep. Justin Amash: Conservative and libertarian ‘basically the same philosophy,’” by Jack Hunter, Rare, February 16). But the comparison is not only just plain wrong: It benefits supporters of statism on both…

“Mentre si prepara a difendersi contro una causa da molti miliardi per violazione di brevetti in Europa,” dice Apple Insider, “la Apple si è allineata alle posizioni della rivale Google nel chiedere alla corte suprema americana pene più severe per i patent troll responsabili di cause frivole.” Era ora. Il problema della Apple, però, è…

A trailer for the sequel to last year’s low-budget dystopian thriller, “The Purge,” was released on Thursday,  February 13, to fanfare about as modest as for the first film. If this trailer is any indication, the plot for “The Purge 2: Anarchy” looks almost note-for-note the same as its predecessor. The setting for both films…

This has been one of those times that a series of random, seemingly unrelated events have all reinforced a common lesson for me. First, it was reported on January 21 (“Opposed to Fracking? You Might Be a Terrorist,” PopularResistance.org) that Canadian and U.S. law enforcement agencies — Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Mounties, the…

Ahmad Barqawi discusses American imperialism. William Sheppard discusses state violence and rape. Sheldon Richman discusses how Obama and Kerry are jeopardizing peace with Iran. Max Border discusses the rise of the new libertarians. Murray Dobbin discusses Stephen Harper’s loyalty to Israel. Michael Munger discusses what positive vision libertarians can offer. Laurence M. Vance discusses hard…

“As Apple prepares to defend itself against a multi-billion dollar patent infringement claim in Europe,” reports Apple Insider, “the company has aligned with rival Google in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow stiffer penalties for patent trolls who bring frivolous lawsuits.” Well, it’s about time. But the problem with Apple’s position is that there’s…

In an interview with Fox News curmudgeon Bill O’Reilly, US president Barack Obama insists that the Internal Revenue Service’s “flagging” and harassment of Tea Party and other dissident political groups was the result of “boneheaded decisions” but “not even a smidgen of corruption.” While the American political right is having a good guffaw about that,…