Guest Editor

Don Stacy is the guest editor today.

photo courtesy of 1D110
To Govern and Enslave

Column by Jim Davies.

Exclusive to STR 

Given the axiom of self-ownership, there's very little difference between those two verbs. To govern someone is to override his own wishes; he wants to do X, but government commands him to do Y. Likewise, to enslave someone is to override his own plans; he wants to be an Econ Professor and...
A Very Short Q&A on Money, Banking and the Great Recession

Column by Jakub Bozydar Wisniewski.
 
Exclusive to STR
 
Q: Why do states and their clients in the banking sector demand control of the money supply?

A: Because it allows them to:
1. Engage in the inflationary redistribution (taxation without legislation) of the purchasing power of money in their own direction.
2. Monetize (inflate away) their debts.
3. Create credit out of thin air and be paid interest on nothing....
Freedom and Prosperity in Liechtenstein: A Hoppean Analysis
Original article

"Liechtenstein has long been recognized as one of the most free and prosperous countries in the world. However, there has been little analy- sis of Liechtenstein’s development because the scant research that existed was in German and therefore inaccessible to most American scholars. Furthermore, many saw no need to study Liechtenstein, view- ing it as an accident of history with an anachronistic political system. Liechtenstein’s Monarchy, unlike the monarchies in most...
Labor Unionism, Two Views
Original article

"If there was anything that characterized the Old Left it was adulation of labor unions and of the process by which the government has created, maintained, cabined, and confined these unions to its will. Government c o n t r o 1 inevitably follows government privilege, and, as in the Fascist or Communist countries, privileged unionism has become in effect a powerful a r m of the State apparatus for controlling the labor force and the economic system as a whole. Rather than representing...
Doctor Cheating Warnings Expand to Dermatology
Original article

"Doctors studying to become dermatologists have, for years, shared exam questions by memorizing and writing them down after the test to become board certified, CNN has confirmed."
Capitalism, Corporatism, and the Freed Market
Original article

"When a front-running presidential contender tells the country that thanks to Barack Obama, “[w]e are only inches away from ceasing to be a free market economy,” one is left scratching one’s head."
The Worldwide Decline in Conscription: A Victory for Economics?
Original article

"Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of individuals into government service. Historically, however, conscription has referred primarily to the military. While governments since antiquity have conscripted people into their militaries, the conscription of a large segment of a country's citizens to meet military goals is a fairly recent phenomenon. Prior to the French Revolution, conscription occurred but was fairly rare."
Conservatives in Denial: Military Spending and Big Government
Original article

"Political conservatives routinely assert that they favor substantial reductions in government spending, lower tax rates and more individual responsibility. Fine. Yet most talking-head conservatives go ballistic when anyone suggests that U.S. military spending should be reduced or that the nation no longer can afford to be the world’s policeman."
Radiation Meets Food
Original article

"It’s no secret that some people are wary of irradiated food. But radiation levels that effectively control pathogens have no demonstrated harmful effects on humans."
The Seed Emergency: The Threat to Food and Democracy
Original article

"The seed is the first link in the food chain - and seed sovereignty is the foundation of food sovereignty. If farmers do not have their own seeds or access to open pollinated varieties that they can save, improve and exchange, they have no seed sovereignty - and consequently no food sovereignty."
Investing in Arizona: How the Legislature Can Get Arizona's Economy Moving Again by Reducing the Barriers to Investment and Job Creation
Original article

"Recent polling shows that Americans’ number one concern about the economy is unemployment and the future of job growth. With Arizona’s unemployment rate at 9%, the need to set the stage for private sector growth is critical and job number one for policymakers."
The War in Iraq: All Over But the Doubting
Original article

"At the Baghdad International Airport today United States military forces lowered the American flag, and, in a ceremony with a long tradition, “cased” it for the trip home to America.  Just a few thousand U.S. troops were left; the main U.S. base in eastern Baghdad is closed, as are hundreds of others. In a gigantic logistical operation, U.S. troops, support personnel, and equipment and supplies have been departing for months.  And yet, since lead elements of the...
The Well-Deserved Death of California's Redevelopment Scam
Original article

"The California Redevelopment Association’s Web site is still up and running and still features job postings for redevelopment jobs, although the site does report that the association’s annual convention and expo has been cancelled. It’s just a matter of time before the news reaches the CRA web-master that redevelopment in California is dead. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth in redevelopment circles, but other Californians should rejoice."
Mystery Me
Original article

A photo blog.

Videos: Battlefield Detectives (recommended), Flying Wild Alaska (recommended), Nightmare in Jamestown (recommended), Gold Rush: Alaska (recommended), Erasing David (recommended), Brad Meltzer's Decoded (recommended), Flash Forward (pretty good), Pawn Stars (recommended), Nova: The Spy Factory (recommended), Sherman's March (recommended), Client 9 (recommended), Surfwise (recommended), Moving Midway (recommended), Fat Head (highly recommended), The Trials of Henry Kissinger (recommended), Under Our Skin (recommended), Beer Wars (recommended), The Street Stops Here (recommended), The Cartel (MUST SEE), Freakonomics (recommended), A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (recommended), The Tillman Story (highly recommended), Inside Job (a leftish perspective of the financial crisis), Robin Hood (strongly recommended), Gasland (recommended), Friday Night Lights, Seasons 1-5 (highly recommended), The Power of Nightmares (3 parts, MUST SEE), Frontline: The Wounded Platoon (MUST SEE), Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (highly recommended), Sons of Anarchy, Seasons 1-3 (MUST SEE), Hacking Democracy (MUST SEE), For the Bible Tells Me So (recommended), Frontline: The Merchants of Cool (recommended), Green Zone (recommended), Generation Kill (MUST SEE), Shut Up and Sing (recommended), Collapse (recommended), The Singing Revolution (recommended), Jericho, Seasons 1 & 2 (MUST SEE), Frontline: Black Money (recommended), Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa (strongly recommended), Frontline: The Madoff Affair (MUST SEE), Taxi to the Dark Side (MUST-MUST SEE), Frontline: Hand of God (MUST SEE), Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (MUST SEE), Defiance (strongly recommended), Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda (MUST SEE), The Heart of the Game (highly recommended), Downfall (highly recommended), Frontline: Inside the Meltdown (recommended), White Light, Black Rain (strongly recommended), Rendition (highly recommended), The Ground Truth (highly recommended); see recommended movies 

Books: Throw Them All Out, More Money Than God, Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan

Music: Sunshine by Schuyler Fisk

 

To Govern and Enslave
10
Jim Davies 2012-02-07 00:00
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR  Given the axiom of self-ownership, there's very little difference between those two verbs. To govern someone is to override his own wishes; he wants to do X, but government commands him to do Y. Likewise, to enslave someone is to override his own plans; he wants to be an Econ Professor and columnist, but the slave-owner commands him to pick cotton, and...
A Very Short Q&A on Money, Banking and the Great Recession
9
Jakub Bozydar W... 2012-02-07 00:00
Column by Jakub Bozydar Wisniewski.   Exclusive to STR   Q: Why do states and their clients in the banking sector demand control of the money supply? A: Because it allows them to: 1. Engage in the inflationary redistribution (taxation without legislation) of the purchasing power of money in their own direction. 2. Monetize (inflate away) their debts. 3. Create credit out of thin air and...
Panarchy, Subsidiarity and Me
10
Paul Bonneau 2012-02-06 00:00
Column by Paul Bonneau. Exclusive to STR  When I first started writing on this subject (see here, here, and here), I was mostly shooting in the dark. Subsequent reading has yet again proven the old saying, from Ecclesiastes, that there is nothing new under the sun; that what I wrote has been thought of before. This article will attempt to collect and connect these themes.   The first...
Rule by Children
10
Bob Wallace 2012-02-06 00:00
Column by Bob Wallace.   Exclusive to STR   Of the current crop of Republican presidential candidates, all of them, except for Ron Paul, are whores and puppets for international bankers and international corporations (I call them Cosmodemonic Transnational Megacorporations). And Paul doesn’t stand a chance, because he is an adult. It doesn't matter if Obama is re-elected, or...
I Can Do It; You Can't
8
Paul Hein 2012-01-30 00:00
Column by Paul Hein. Exclusive to STR President Obama was served with a subpoena to appear in an Atlanta court on January 26, to offer proof of his eligibility to be on the ballot in Georgia in the upcoming presidential election. Georgia law, as I understand it, requires that all candidates for federal office be qualified to hold the office to which they aspire.   Of course, Obama did not...
1492
9
Jim Davies 2012-01-30 00:00
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR It's a bit difficult to compress a big slice of human history into a few hundred words, so if I omit some of your favorite details, I hope you'll forgive me.   I pick 1492 as being the pivotal year in that immense saga. One could of course choose from other good candidates: 50,000 years ago when mankind migrated out of Africa to populate the rest of the...
Dictates to the Union
8
Emmett Harris 2012-01-27 00:00
Column by Emmett Harris. Exclusive to STR  The other night, President Obama continued the modern tradition whereby the current White House denizen annually assaults the airwaves with a stream of teleprompter words that rival Lunesta in their ability to induce drowsiness. I’m referring, of course, to the State of the Union Address.    It was a long, boring, and typically...
They Stole His Money, Her Money & Mine Too
9.6
Douglas Herman 2012-01-24 00:00
Column by Doug Herman. Exclusive to STR  Just before the holidays, I walked into my local Wells Fargo bank to cash a small birthday check one of my sisters gave to me. Imagine my surprise when the teller informed me my small savings account was closed. I told her she was mistaken, and asked her to please check again; I knew I had about $800 in the account and I never use the ATM and don...
Jesus, Anarchy, and the Golden Rule
9.75
Westernerd 2012-01-23 00:00
Column by Robert Taylor. Exclusive to STR "So in everything, do unto others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." ~ Matthew 7:12 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy...
The Bureaucratization of Airport Security
10
Alex Schroeder 2012-01-18 00:00
Column by Alex Schroeder. Exclusive to STR A recent flight to a sunny Caribbean island unfortunately required interaction with our friends at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). While having my privacy invaded by these inconsiderate bureaucratic underlings, I began to contemplate precisely why airport security is so unpleasant and why it becomes more so subsequent to new security...

 

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