I am told this morning that Michael Badnarik died in his sleep of heart failure last night. Michael was a great believer in and defender of freedom and the United States of America and its Constitution. He represented the Libertarian Party as presidential candidate against George W. Bush and John Kerry in 2004. I am proud to have served as his foreign policy adviser during his campaign. He spent his life inspiring other people's interest in liberty, winning numerous people over to our cause. He leaves a proud legacy and will not be...
The United States
VP Harris Announces Moratorium on ‘Destructive’ Anti-Satellite Weapons Tests
The US will enter a self-imposed moratorium on anti-satellite missile tests. Vice President Kamala Harris called out other countries to follow the US lead while making the announcement.
Scott Horton: The Role of the United States in Ukraine’s 2014 Coup
https://youtu.be/pzxD4LOvcLE Odysee
Breaking: Putin Attacks, Ukraine Declares Martial Law
Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine, with reports of blasts erupting in several cities across the country. "Circumstances require us to take decisive and immediate action," Putin announced in a national address on Thursday morning, saying the military action came at the behest of separatist leaders in the Donbass region bordering Russia. "The People's Republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help. In this regard, in accordance with Article 51, part 7 of the UN Charter, with the sanction of the Federation Council and in...
The Cult Of Masked School Children
As we enter the third year of the pandemic, every child age 5 and up is eligible to receive a COVID vaccine in the United States. Oddly, this development has been accompanied by increased pressure on kids to wear masks in school. Some private schools have gone beyond cloth-masking and mandated N95 (or equivalent) masks for children as young as 4. The Berkeley Unified School District in California recently began transitioning students to N95-level masking. This isn’t a matter of protecting children, their teachers, or their grandparents; it’s delusional and dangerous cultlike behavior. The...
TGIF: Pursue Your Happiness and Forget the Rest
How about we do something novel in the new year? Let's stop worrying about the stuff most politicians, pundits, and activists want us to worry about and instead think about ourselves, our families, our friends, and whatever communities we choose to be part of. Let's forget about "the country" and the rest of the world. Let's individually pursue happiness. All I'm saying is that it's finally time for the politicians, bureaucrats, and know-it-all intelligentsia, left or right, to get out of the way and let us set our own agendas. Too self-centered? Well, too bad. Much evil results from...
The Human Under the Numbers
The story of Anne Frank is tragic. If not for the words that she wrote in her diary, she would be a digit of history. Her diary is relatable, and the thoughts that collected inside her being during a horrible time in history gives the reader an idea of who she was. She is immortalized because of the little things that she wrote, not because of any great deeds recorded by others. As a victim of tyranny she is remembered as an innocent murdered. She is a story found inside the numbers. Thanks to her diary, we have a human figure to know and mourn, despite the mechanized bureaucratic...
Vaccines, Autonomy, and Mandates: A Libertarian Analysis
Prefatory Note Given the subject matter discussed below, I believe it prudent to state at the outset that I am not at all opposed to vaccinations themselves: indeed, I have received a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as all other normal-course vaccinations recommended for someone my age. Yet there are, it seems to me, interesting, difficult questions surrounding the state’s role in promoting or mandating vaccines. The goal here is to start a conversation not about the effectiveness of vaccines, but about the individual’s sphere of autonomy and what kinds of medical decisions are within it, and...
Salafis Throwing Bombs: How American and British Planners Partnered With Al-Qaeda Affiliated Groups At the Start of the Syrian Civil War
Introduction In the mainstream view, al-Qaeda did not play a role in the Syria conflict until Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, to Syria in August 2011 to establish a wing of the group there, called Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front. Additionally, al-Qaeda allegedly did not carry out any military operations until December 2011 and did not announce its establishment until January 2012. However, there is evidence that al-Qaeda affiliated militants were involved in the Syrian conflict much earlier. Saudi intelligence...
The War In Afghanistan Is Over, But Its Economy Is Collapsing
While the Washington D.C. ruling class lectures the world about morality and human rights. "They're witnessing a sharp rise in cases of malnutrition here and across the country, with both mothers and young infants in particular unable to get enough food. The UN has warned that one million children are at risk of dying due to starvation over the coming months. International support, which propped up the previous government, was withdrawn after the Taliban takeover in August, whilst the country's foreign reserves, totaling around $10bn, have been frozen - chiefly by the United States."...