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The Voluntary Voice (Book Review #4)
Column by Alex R. Knight III. Exclusive to STR Most of us are familiar with scores of libertarian books written by movement luminaries or anthologies containing scores of them, both past and present. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so refreshing to see a volume go into print straight from the grassroots. The Voluntary Voice: A Book by Individuals (Volume One, 2013), is a compendium of writings from a variety of libertarian perspectives that all exude what the title in part...
U.S. Military ‘Power Grab’ Goes Into Effect
Original article By making a few subtle changes to a regulation in the U.S. Code titled “Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies” the military has quietly granted itself the ability to police the streets without obtaining prior local or state consent, upending a precedent that has been in place for more than two centuries.
Australian Government Initiates Covert Internet Censorship
Original article The country's financial regulator, has quietly started issuing legal notices to ISPs requesting them to block certain types of websites deemed illegal. There's no oversight or appeals process, and already a false positive event has resulted in some 1,200 innocent websites being blocked from Australians viewing them.
Lawsuit Says IRS Illegally Seized 60 Million Health Records
Original article The suit said the 15 IRS agents involved in the raid did not have a search warrant or subpoena for the medical records which “may concern the intimate medical records of every state judge in California, every state court employee in California, leading and politically controversial members of the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild, and prominent citizens in the world of entertainment, business and government, from all walks of life."
Argentina's Modest Proposal: Buy Bonds Or Go To Jail
Original article Argentina's president Kirchner, a keen observer of recent events in Cyprus, has figured out a way to kill two birds with one stone, namely attempt to put an end to tax evasion, and fund the capex of the recently nationalized state oil company YPF (now that its former owner, Spainish Repsol, is less than keen to keep investing in its former Argentine subsidiary). To do that she will present the local tax-evading population (pretty much anyone with any disposable income and savings) with a...
Florida Quietly Shortened Yellow Light Standards & Lengths, Resulting in More Red Light Camera Tickets for You
Original article The 10 News Investigators discovered the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) quietly changed the state's policy on yellow intervals in 2011, reducing the minimum below federal recommendations. The rule change was followed by engineers, both from FDOT and local municipalities, collaborating to shorten the length of yellow lights at key intersections, specifically those with red light cameras (RLCs).
Desensitization Training: Police Practice Fighting 'Angry Parents'
Original article Puyallup, Washington police ran a SWAT-based training exercise to prepare for the possibility of angry, armed parents attempting to take over a school.
Apple Deluged by Police Demands to Decrypt iPhones
Original article ATF says no law enforcement agency could unlock a defendant's iPhone, but Apple can "bypass the security software" if it chooses. Apple has created a police waiting list because of high demand.
The Free State Project Grows Up
Original article Excellent article by Reason magazine about the history and some of the successes - so far - of the Free State Project.
Restaurant Owners Blast Proposal to Tax Employees' Tips as Business' Income
Original article Help us save New Hampshire, and the business and people in it. Join the Free State Project.
"Give people a second chance" -- George Zimmer, founder, Men's Wearhouse
Original article One more contrarian thing: It is Zimmer's policy that no employee or interviewee will ever undergo a criminal background check. Conventional retail wisdom says this guarantees petty larceny on a grand scale. In fact, the company loses a mere 0.4 percent of revenue to theft, way less than the typical 1.5 percent loss suffered by big retailers.
Amateur Beats Gov't at Digitizing Newspapers: Tom Tryniski’s Weird, Wonderful Website
Original article One computer expert working alone has built a historic newspaper site that's orders of magnitude bigger and more popular than one created by a federal bureaucracy with millions of dollars to spend. Armed only with a few PCs and a cheap microfilm scanner, Tom Tryniski has played David to the Library of Congress’ Goliath.
Music: Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson
Original article
Photo Gallery: Lightning
Original article Awesome !
Given A Choice, Would I Choose To Live In A World With No Gun Control, Or With ‘Reasonable’ Gun Controls”
Original article
Given A Choice, Would I Choose To Live In A World With No Gun Control, Or With ‘Reasonable’ Gun Controls”
Original article
Given A Choice, Would I Choose To Live In A World With No Gun Control, Or With ‘Reasonable’ Gun Controls”
Original article
Given A Choice, Would I Choose To Live In A World With No Gun Control, Or With ‘Reasonable’ Gun Controls”
Original article
Given A Choice, Would I Choose To Live In A World With No Gun Control, Or With ‘Reasonable’ Gun Controls”
Original article
Given A Choice, Would I Choose To Live In A World With No Gun Control, Or With ‘Reasonable’ Gun Controls”
Original article
Given A Choice, Would I Choose To Live In A World With No Gun Control, Or With ‘Reasonable’ Gun Controls”
Original article
Given A Choice, Would I Choose To Live In A World With No Gun Control, Or With ‘Reasonable’ Gun Controls”
Original article
Taxes on Some Wealthy French Top 100 Percent of Income
Original article "More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data."
Foundering in the Morass
9
tzo 2013-04-30 08:28
Column by tzo. Exclusive to STR <Voluntaryist decides to troll Statist in order to illustrate the contradictions inherent in government:> Guess what? I own a slave now! It's great! He has to do whatever I say! You should get one, too! What! That's completely illegal! No, he voluntarily signed a contract and now I own him. But the 13th Amendment makes slavery illegal. Period. No...
A Reverse Industry Boycott
9
Leonidas 2013-04-30 08:03
Column by G. Asher. Exclusive to STR It is exactly 14 minutes into April 19th, 2013. I am sitting here drinking another homebrewed mead, enduring the ice cold feet of the beautiful female asleep on my couch, considering the unrevealed peril of whatever satanic compromise our “leaders” in Mordor-by-the-Sea have come up with vis-a-vis the “fiscal cliff,” and ruminating on...
Voting With Our Feet
8.2
Paul Bonneau 2013-04-29 07:31
Column by Paul Bonneau. Exclusive to STR I was listening to Stewart Rhodes' stirring speech in Connecticut and finding myself in (reluctant) disagreement. He was talking about all the sacrifices made by men in WWII and other wars, and yet how their efforts were betrayed by the destruction of liberty back home. Now setting aside for the moment the question of what those men were actually...
Divides
9.4
Jim Davies 2013-04-26 08:46
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR Below is a photograph of a happy cop. He's happy because at the end of a trying day, his team accomplished its mission; a suspected murderer had been arrested. He's also happy because behind him, a crowd of local residents, whom he thinks he “protects and serves,” is applauding him and his comrades for a job well done. That doesn...
Feminist Myths: The Pay Gap, Domestic Violence, and Rape Culture
10
carlos_morales 2013-04-26 08:30
Column by new Root Striker Carlos Morales. Exclusive to STR A hint of skepticism may arise when a male, due to the commonly held notion that women are still treated as second-class citizens, makes any criticism of modern feminism. Whether it is the gender wage gap, domestic violence, the “glass ceiling,” rape culture, or a number of other gender-based stratification barriers that are...
The Good Guys Are NOT Coming to Save Us
10
Freeman's Persp... 2013-04-26 07:53
Column by Paul Rosenberg, FreemansPerspective.com A lot of Americans know that the US government is out of control. Anyone who has cared enough to study the US Constitution even a little knows this. Still, very few of these people are taking any significant action, and largely because of one error: They are waiting for “the good guys” to show up and fix things. Some think that certain...
Warrantless Searches and Criminal Government Bureaucrats (But I Repeat Myself)
9.5
Scott Lazarowitz 2013-04-25 07:33
Column by Scott Lazarowitz. Exclusive to STR For months I had been working on a piece for STR on government police, the right of self-defense and the Second Amendment, along the lines of this blog post. But I had been procrastinating and doing other things, mainly because of the difficulty in doing such a “controversial” piece, and I was even considering using a different name (that...
Broken
8.25
tzo 2013-04-24 07:39
Column by tzo. Exclusive to STR Every day there are people starving to death in many parts of the world as I step out from work and go enjoy my lunch. What am I—some kind of monster? Don’t I realize that: No man is an island,
 Entire of itself.
 Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.
 If a clod be washed away by the sea,
 Europe is the less.
 As well as if a promontory...
Dear President Obama: This Is How You Can Solve the Gun Problem
10
Leonidas 2013-04-23 08:21
Column by G. Asher. Exclusive to STR P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { color: rgb(0, 0, 255); }The mass murder committed on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina, the mass murder in Aurora, Colorado, the mass murder in Newtown, Connecticut… They are the stuff of nightmares. They rend the soul. They cry out for righteous action, for a swift and just solution. Senators Feinstein,...
Building Bridges
8.5
Alex R. Knight III 2013-04-19 07:20
Column by Alex R. Knight III. Exclusive to STR Linda Waite-Simpson, an ultra-left, pro-government “state representative” here in Vermont, recently lamented to local press that her rejected bid to impose sweeping gun control measures upon the residents of the most gun-friendly tax farm out of the 50 was shot down (pun intended) because of the “strong libertarian bent in this...
Importing Freedom
10
Stefan Molyneux 2006-09-26 16:00
Exclusive to STR September 27, 2006 One of the truly 'hot button' libertarian issues is immigration. While most libertarians would reject the argument 'we must have taxation to pay for the welfare state,' many do support the position that 'we must control immigration because of the welfare state.'
Twenty Twenty-Two
10
Jim Davies 2007-06-14 16:00
Exclusive to STR June 15, 2007 It's just a year since I wrote to suggest how we can get there from here, so I thought you'd like to know that the project is proceeding nicely. In response to that announcement, about as many as I had hoped joined the Academy it introduced, and that one-time boost will bring forward by several years the day that government evaporates; it's still too early to...
My Son: Klan Reformer
10
Stefan Molyneux 2007-05-29 16:00
Exclusive to STR May 30, 2007 Ah, my son, my son . . . . He's 40 years old, and really needs to change careers. When he was 20, he joined the Ku Klux Klan, because he was concerned that the Klan was getting too big, too aggressive. In those days, they were lynching some poor man every week, which he felt was wrong. He felt that the Klan should limit itself to a lynching every month, and that...
Are You a Pre-Con or a Pre-Lib, and Does It Really Matter?
10
Wilton D. Alston 2007-11-12 17:00
Exclusive to STR November 13, 2007 'We have found the enemy, and he are us!' ~ Pogo
Constitutional Rule
10
Jim Davies 2007-12-04 17:00
Exclusive to STR November 26, 2007 Imagine the Feds were to obey and be limited by the US Constitution. Would that produce a free society? As a stick with which to defend oneself against government people, the Constitution is a lot better than nothing. They invade your privacy without "probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and...
E-Day
10
Jim Davies 2008-05-26 16:00
Exclusive to STR I'll not tell you the date, but based upon a very few simple and well-grounded assumptions, it will fall in the year 2027. "E-Day" is the day that all government in America will evaporate because, having gained a proper understanding of its nature, nobody will be willing any longer to work for it on any terms; tens of millions will have done what a certain DMV...
Justice
10
Jim Davies 2008-01-23 17:00
Exclusive to STR For the first time ever in recorded human history, in 2027 a major society began righting wrongs and restoring damaged rights. True, I'm being a little unfair to the quite enlightened traditions in Somalia, to settlers of mediaeval Iceland, and to villagers throughout Europe in the same era--who resolved social outrages like theft, homicide and assault by arraigning the perp...
I Don't Mind If You Keep Voting, But Do You Mind If I Keep Laughing While You Do?
10
Wilton D. Alston 2008-08-26 17:00
Exclusive to STR "It is the continuing decline in faith in the politicization of society that has, for well over a year, made the 2008 presidential race the preoccupation of the mainstream media. The media must continue to advertise the products and services of the establishment owners, just as it does for the sellers of prescription drugs and other nostrums. Still, the outcome of the 2008...
A Dollar in Peril
10
Jim Davies 2008-11-02 17:00
Exclusive to STR One of the nice things about not voting is that one can enjoy a little sport at the expense of those who do. Let me share with you an example or three. A few days before November 4th, I visited a nearby town, and first called at the government postal monopoly for some stamps so that I could write to an innocent friend incarcerated in a government prison. Standing in line, I said...
Deadliest Catch: One Alaska Fisherman to Another
10
Douglas Herman 2008-09-28 16:00
Exclusive to STR September 29, 2008
Aristophanes' Law MUST READ
10
tzo 2010-09-24 03:00
Column by tzo.   Exclusive to STR   Some 2,400 years ago, the Greek playwright Aristophanes put forth an idea in one of his plays that I would like to codify into a law of human behavior. Here are the pertinent lines from his play "The Frogs":   The course our city runs is the same towards men and money. She has true and worthy sons. She has fine new gold and ancient...
Had Enough Government 'Regulation' Yet? MUST READ
10
Glen Allport 2010-08-19 03:00
By Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR    - 1 - The Blessings of True Regulation in a Civil Society   Many things should be regulated – for health and safety, for protection against fraud, and for other reasons.   Regulation is a normal function of civil society. We don't want to get electrocuted when we touch a toaster or vacuum cleaner, for example, and the makers of...
The Abolitionist Argument in 35 Seconds MUST READ
10
Glen Allport 2010-06-21 03:00
Exclusive to STR   -1- ". . . a power too great and terrible to imagine."   The Lord of the Rings trilogy was released on Blu-Ray in April, which reminded me that I hadn't seen the first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, since its theatrical release in 2001. While watching the film again I was struck anew with its abolitionist message – a message that is clear,...
Please, Sarah, Just Go Away MUST READ
7.8
Roger Young 2010-04-14 03:00
Exclusive to STR Having no television reception, I had never honestly seen and heard Sarah Palin speak. I’ve only read quotes and some text of her speeches. Seeing her words on paper (or rather a web page) is disturbing enough. I’ve only leered at photos showing her dynamite legs--a pleasant contrast to the jagged sequoias Queen Hillary waddles around on. But...
Joe Stack and the Incomprehension of Liberty MUST READ
7.6
B.R. Merrick 2010-04-14 03:00
Exclusive to STR Other people have alreadysurmised the essentials of these tragic deaths quite well. I am assuming that the reader doesn’t need a recap of what transpired on February 18. And make no mistake about it: These are tragic deaths, using the original meaning of “tragic.” A tragedy concerns the downfall of a once great individual. “Hamlet...
Do It. Vote. MUST READ
10
strike 2001-12-31 04:00
The Biased News Media Recommended
0
Scott Lazarowitz 2012-10-08 00:00
Column by Scott Lazarowitz. Exclusive to STR   Recently on the NPR show On the Media, Brooke Gladstone updated their overview on the question, “Does NPR Have a Liberal Bias?” Generally, many people believe that NPR and much of the mainstream news media are biased to the left. Among the findings from some of Gladstone’s analysts were that in some cases NPR was actually...
If You Believe in Right and Wrong, Don't Vote Recommended
10
Angelo Mike 2012-09-20 00:00
Column by Angelo Mike. Exclusive to STR It always strikes me as odd when someone encourages me to vote, but they say they don’t care about who I vote for. They’re just concerned that I participate. Really? These people are that infatuated with the process of voting that they don’t care if you vote for something they believe is wrong?   I can hardly think of any institution...
A Letter to Young Paulians Recommended
10
Jim Davies 2012-09-10 00:00
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR You've just been kicked in the teeth, and this is to convey sympathy and comfort, as well as sincere congratulations for what you've done – along with suggestions about what you might best do next.   The way you have been treated by your own Party is a scandal that will long reverberate – and was so stupid even from the Party's perspective...
Time for Civil Disobedience? Recommended
8.75
Jim Davies 2012-06-05 00:00
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR Underlying approaches to the great problem of how to rid society of government parasites without violence is the insight of Etienne de la Boëtie:   "Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like...
So You Work for a Prosecutor? Recommended
0
Jim Davies 2012-04-30 00:00
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR  [Author's Note: Readers who know someone working in a prosecutor's office might usefully refer him or her to this article. It's adapted from one of a series at the new web site TinyURL.com/QuitGov, which aims to help government employees lead honest lives.] Getting bad guys off the street is surely a good and noble objective, a vital task in a...
Neocons and Progressives: One Big Family of Aggressors and Central Planners, with Delusions of Grandeur Recommended
10
Scott Lazarowitz 2012-04-26 00:00
Column by Scott Lazarowitz. Exclusive to STR Regarding the traditional left-right scheme and modern uses of the terms “conservative” and “liberal,” the neoconservatives are hardly conservative and the liberals and progressives are hardly liberal or progressive. Rather than viewing “left” as liberal or progressive, and “right” as conservative or...
Agencies Ailing America Recommended
10
BrianAnderson 2012-03-20 00:00
Column by Brian Anderson. Exclusive to STR [Author’s note: This column is the third segment in my healthcare-related series. The first segment—“Getting to Medical Freedom”—discusses the many negative effects of the American Medical Association’s government-granted monopoly over the licensure process. The second segment—“Public Confusion in...
Public Confusion in Scientific Research Recommended
10
BrianAnderson 2012-03-06 01:00
Column by Brian Anderson. Exclusive to STR There are two main factors determining our medical treatment: (1) those who are allowed to serve us, and (2) the technological advancements that are created. In a column for The Daily Anarchist, I discuss the former, particularly focusing on the AMA’s state-granted monopoly over the licensure process. A quick excerpt will summarize the stance:...
The Great Stagecoach Robbery Recommended
8.5
David Calderwood 2012-03-02 01:00
Column by new Root Striker David Calderwood.  Exclusive to STR  It’s Political Season and the airwaves are stuffed with Great Plans from Great Men, full of promises to Fix This and Fix That. I guess the goal is, “He who makes the Most Believable Promises Wins.”   Bah.   Does anyone else share my sense that I’m a passenger on a stagecoach that is being...
Freedom Is Not Found on Paper Recommended
9.2
Alex R. Knight III 2012-02-14 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III   Exclusive to STR   One of the good folks at Gun Owners of Vermont (I like spelling that out much more than the acronym – GOVT – for what should be an obvious reason) recently sent me, along with my 2012 membership card, a piece published not long ago in a small freebie newspaper called The Shopper. It hails out of Ludlow, Vermont, and the...

 

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