The main plotline of the Star Wars prequel trilogy concerns an apparent conflict between the central government (the Senate) on the one hand and a coalition of mercantile interests (the Trade Federation, the Commerce Guild, etc.) on the other. As events unfold, however, it quickly becomes obvious to the audience (though much less quickly to the protagonists)…

For a very long time, Miley Cyrus embodied everything I hated about contemporary pop music. Meticulously groomed as a picture-perfect Disney sponsored pop starlet she seemed indistinguishable from the legions of similar cookie-cutter manufactured singers who came before her except for being the daughter of one-hit wonder Billy Rae Cyrus, which added bizarreness and nepotism…

I am now prepared to state without reservation that the ongoing NSA/surveillance story ranks among the more momentous and nauseating charades perpetrated on a frighteningly gullible public. Any remaining doubt I had on this question — and, in truth, no substantial doubt remained in my own mind — has been obliterated by this story concerning the remarks…

Review 8 time is here! Let’s get started. James Bovard discusses the glut of police shootings. Sheldon Richman explains why government is the problem. Pepe Escobar discusses Erik Prince’s new book. Binoy Kampark discusses the creeping fascism in Europe. Uri Avnery discusses land theft in the Jordan Valley. Patrick Cockburn discusses the complicity of Saudi…

After the meaningless theater of the March 2013 “sequester” and October’s anti-climactic two-week “shutdown,” you knew the third act was coming. US congressional leaders of both parties have announced a two-year budget deal which “would avoid tax increases, shrink the sequester by $63 billion over the next two years and modestly lower the long-term deficit”…

Todo ano, nesta época, alguém do mundo libertário de direita, repetindo ritual obrigatório de Ação de Graças, faz voltar à tona a velha ladainha acerca de os Peregrinos, em Plymouth, quase morrerem de fome por causa do  “comunismo,” até direitos privados de propriedade e capitalismo os salvarem. Este ano, John Stossel (“Deveríamos Estar Agradecidos pela…

As the White House struggles to rouse itself from its self-induced ObamaCare public relations nightmare, the primary excuse — at least regarding the canceled health insurance portion of the fiasco — has been to claim that the relevant policies were “substandard” and, therefore, harmful to individual consumers. Ergo, the “substandard” plans needed to be abolished…

On the November 10 episode of the Stossel Show, libertarian commentator John Stossel had an exchange with anarcho-capitalist writer David Friedman on the possibility of “privatizing everything” (i.e. all government functions). When they got to military functions, their discussion shed considerable light on what “privatization” means to a lot of the libertarian Right. “Much of…

Welcome to my 6th review! Time to begin. Graham Peebles discusses the oppression of Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia. Alexander Cockburn discusses the parallels between JFK and Obama. Ivan Eland examines JFK’s actual record. Jonathan Carp proposes a revolutionary alternative to raising the minimum wage. Jacob Hornberger discusses the post-911 dilution of civil liberties. Sarah…

Novo livro (Escalada: Mudança de Jogo em 2012, por Mark Halperin e John Heilemann) afirma que o presidente dos Estados Unidos Barack Obama afirmou a seus assessores, durante sua última eleição, ser “realmente eficaz em matar pessoas.” Ele está certo. Por exemplo, na última sexta-feira um ataque de drone [avião não tripulado] visando Hakimullah Mehsud, do…

Each year at this time somebody in the right-libertarian world, reenacting an obligatory Thanksgiving ritual, drags out the old chestnut about the Pilgrims at Plymouth almost starving from “communism” until private property rights and capitalism saved them. This year John Stossel (“We Should Be Thankful for Private Property,” Reason, Nov. 27) gets the honors. In…

The Lawrence, Kansas Journal-World‘s Peter Hancock writes that US Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) finds Bitcoin “a difficult subject” (“Senator says ‘Bitcoins’ are challenge for regulators,” November 25th). And in certain respects Moran is correct. Encrypted digital currencies do imply a technical learning curve for users (and presumably for creators). It seems pretty obvious, though, that what…

A friend of mine recently shared a blog post by a friend of his on liberty and guns in the Republic of Georgia. In the post, the author, Neal Zupancic, argues that people who need to be armed in order to feel safe cannot be said to be free or safe, and by implication that…

Review number five is upon us! Let’s begin. Ashley Smith discusses the imperial roots of sectarian violence in Iraq. Horace G. Campbell discusses counter-terrorism and imperial hypocrisy. Daniel White offers us some notes on the American Empire. Sheldon Richman discusses the urgency of stopping war with Iran. Dave Lindorff discusses the question of whether security…

The JFK administration’s public image has often been compared to that of Camelot, a mythical royal court. What’s more disturbing is that the people who apply such terms to this 20th century gang are almost always applying it in a positive sense. “What could be better,” say these waxing nostalgic imperialists, “than an administration which commands…

In the airport-turned-town of Seatac, Washington, a ballot proposal to institute a $15/hour minimum wage clings to a narrow lead and faces a certain recount, while in Seattle a state socialist candidate has won election to the city council on a platform including a $15/hour minimum wage for the entire city. Across the United States,…

Nothing like starting out your day with a laugh — and today I have Matthew Lynch (“12 Reasons Why Obama is One of the Greatest Presidents Ever,” Huffington Post, November 15) to thank for it. About half of Lynch’s points boil down to, “Obama is for x, because he makes speeches talking about x all…

Naomi Klein, to a casual reader, might seem to hate the free market. Or at least she hates what most people think of as the free market, based on the conventional use of that term by mainstream politicians and journalists. And the usual vulgar libertarian suspects (see here and here and here) have reacted with exactly the kind of by-the-numbers polemics you’d…

Welcome to the fourth review! Let’s get started. First up are the usual pieces on foreign policy and militarism: Daniel R. Mahanty discusses how realists can also champion human rights. David Swanson discusses the visit to the White House of a Taliban victim and drone strikes. Patrick Cockburn discusses the victims of war in Iraq….

Today I am a somewhat overweight, bearded suburban dad entering a comfortable middle age, but it was not always thus. Seven short years ago I was a lean, clean-shaven, heavily armored combat medic in Iraq, and today, November 11th, everyone is apparently required by law to remind me of the things I did in my…