If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?
On February 2, 1887, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania celebrated the first Groundhog Day. On the same day in 1976, the Groundhog Day gale hit the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
In 2009, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe officially devalued the Zimbabwean dollar for the third and final time, making Z$1 trillion now only Z$1 of the new currency, equivalent to Z$10 septillion before the first devaluation. Politicians in Zimbabwe looked up, saw their shadow, and realized that they had only a couple months more of their inflation binge. Indeed, the legalization of trading currencies, the previous month, had sealed the fate of Zimbabwe’s independent dollar. The Zimbabwean dollar was abandoned officially on the 9th of April, 2009.
The latest database on U.S. citizens, prying into our private lives, and it wasn’t perpetrated by the NSA!
Click on over to Townhall.* Then back here. For, we’ve got some links for you. But hey: First things first: Read the Townhall piece. It’s short! (And easy to share. If you weren’t aware of this chunk of our Surveillance State, sharing links is more than in order.)
For the Doris Day reference, see The Man Who Knew Too Much, by Alfred Hitchcock.
For the King of Siam reference, see The King and I, with that great starring role by Yul Brenner.
For more on the new database, see
* The column was published Monday, February 4, one day later than intended. Sorry for any confusion.
“If I am a traitor, who did I betray? I gave all of my information to the American public, to American journalists, who are reporting on American issues. If they see that as treason, I think people really need to consider who do they think they’re working for.”
This interview has not appeared in America’s media, other than online — which, come to think of it, is now the world’s media.
On January 31, 1849, the Corn Laws were abolished in the United Kingdom, one of the most impressive and far-reaching anti-protectionist moves of all time. “Corn” stood for all grains, including wheat, oats, barley, etc., and the free-trade agitation by John Bright and Richard Cobden (pictured) was one of the main impetuses for the reform.
“Supreme Court says Boulder City cannot sue citizens over ballot initiatives,” read the Las Vegas Sun headline.
An important legal victory . . . a long time coming.
Three years ago, I caught an online story about a citizens group that had petitioned three measures onto their local ballot: (1) require voter approval before the city council could incur $1 million or more in debt, (2) term limits for members on city commissions and committees, and (3) restrict the city to just one publicly-owned golf course.
Their public spirit was promptly rewarded by being sued, personally, and dragged into court by the city attorney of Boulder City.
I called the citizens’ attorney quoted in the news story, Linda Strickland, and we talked for over an hour. This case, as the Nevada Supreme Court has now agreed, is a classic violation of the state’s Anti-SLAPP statute (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation).
Citizens in Charge Foundation gave Linda and Terry, her husband and law partner, the John Lilburne Award, affording this small town legal scuffle some national recognition and sparking news coverage across Nevada.
On a later trip, I sat in Linda’s living room with a dozen local citizens who recounted the good feeling of participating in the petition campaign and then their unease of being sued by their own city government. I couldn’t be more pleased to now relate that Linda’s efforts have paid off in a state Supreme Court win, protecting the rights of all Nevadans to petition their government.
Freedom is regularly attacked and must be defended. Thanks to Linda and others, it shall be.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Men are not fed on money. They do not clothe themselves with gold, or warm themselves with silver. What does it matter whether there is more or less money in the country if there is more bread on our sideboards, more meat in our larders, more linen in our wardrobes, more firewood in our cellars?
On January 30, 1835, Richard Lawrence attempted to shoot President Andrew Jackson, but failed, subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen. That was the first attempt on the life of a sitting U.S. president.
Sadly, January 30, 1948, was the date upon which Indian pacificist leader Mohandes K. Gandhi was shot and killed.
A famous poem ends “‘You lie,’ he cried, And ran on.” One of the better moments of modern televised State of the Union addresses was when a lowly member of Congress had the audacity to shout “You lie!” after a controversial immigration point.
Last night, Representative Steve Stockman (R-Tex.) did not run or shout, but merely walked out of the room.
Months ago, Stockman had handed out a book to each member of the august two-branched body he serves in, a book entitled Impeachable Offenses: The Case for Removing Barack Obama from Office.
What’s his beef with the president?
Tonight I left early after hearing how the President is further abusing his Constitutional powers. I could not bear to watch as he continued to cross the clearly-defined boundaries of the Constitutional separation of powers.
Even worse, Obama has openly vowed to break his oath of office and begin enacting his own brand of law through executive decree. This is a wholesale violation of his oath of office and a disqualifying offense.
Stockman is not alleging that all executive orders are dangerous or unlawful — just that some are indeed unconstitutionally usurping legislative powers.
The Prez certainly did imply that he was going to use them beyond their place in the Executive Branch, that is, instead of legislation from the Legislative Branch. Every Congressman should be concerned.
On the bright side, President Obama may be just blowing smoke. He’s just puttin’ on a show to appear more powerful.
On the dark side, a lot of people applauded. The idea of a leader with unilateral power, the culture of dictatorship, is never far enough away. . . .
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
To level and equalize the conditions of labor is not simply to cramp exchanges in certain branches of trade; it is to attack exchange in its principle, for its principle rests upon that very diversity, upon those very inequalities of fertility, aptitude, climate and temperature, that you desire to efface.