Category Archives: Freedom and liberty

Google Latitude privacy

Google has taken steps to address the privacy concerns over their Latitude service, and most people seem to be satisfied.  One thing I’m slightly surprised about is that no one seems to be particularly suspicious of what their statement Google … Continue reading

Posted in Blog/website/news comments, Freedom and liberty, National Security, Privacy | Leave a comment

World Peace out of stock

My friend Sellam Ismail is going to visit this weekend, and I might sell him a computer. I also might have a coin-op video game for him. In an email exchange to make plans, he asked: Do you need anything … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom and liberty, Humor, War | Leave a comment

Petition to End Women’s Suffrage

I wish I could say that I was surprised at how many female students at Padua Academy were willing to sign a petition to end women’s suffrage. The issue seems to be controversial at UVM. Personally, I’m in favor of … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom and liberty, School & Education | Leave a comment

Indoctrinate children from an early age to expect their First Amendment rights to be violated

A friend tells me that at his son’s school, it would be a violation of school policy for a student to give valentines only to other students of his or her choice. If any are given, they must be given … Continue reading

Posted in Blog/website/news comments, Freedom and liberty | 3 Comments

Unintended consequences of energy-saving legislation

The U.S. Congress has enacted various legislation and regulations intended to encourage energy savings. Some of the better known programs are the EPA’s Energy Star program, and the DoE’s Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products. In some cases, though, poorly … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Freedom and liberty | 2 Comments

Employees no longer need to fill out I-9 forms!

The DHS I-9 form, used by employers to report verification of employment elgibility, has expired as of 31 March 2007, and the DHS not issued a replacement. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., the government cannot … Continue reading

Posted in Blog/website/news comments, Freedom and liberty | Leave a comment

Commitment or confiscation?

As the gun powder was clearing on the Virginia Tech massacre a few months ago, the gun law lobby was citing the tragedy as evidence for greater gun control. On our side we were pointing out that draconian gun laws … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom and liberty, Right to Keep and Bear Arms | 2 Comments

Oppressive government

Last night I dreamt that I lived in a place where the government was gradually taking away many of the people’s freedoms, in the supposed interest of protecting them. It started with relatively minor things, like losing the right to … Continue reading

Posted in Dreams, Freedom and liberty | 2 Comments

TSA confiscates Congressman Tim Ryan’s next few meals

I have a lot of respect for Congressman Tim Ryan for taking the Food Stamp Challenge. Recently as he was taking a commercial flight the TSA confiscated his peanut butter and jelly, depriving him of meals for two days. I … Continue reading

Posted in Blog/website/news comments, Freedom and liberty | Leave a comment

Taking the “No Fly List” one step further

Now, in addition to the ridiculous, ineffective “No Fly List,” the U.S. government also has a “No Buy List,” officially called the “Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN).”  If you do business with anyone on the list, you can be subject … Continue reading

Posted in Blog/website/news comments, Freedom and liberty | Leave a comment