Index to the FIRST YEAR of No Force articles appearing on City Pages'

A word of explanation about the number of readers. That number indicates the readers accessing ANY No Force, No Fraud blog on that day. On any given day, there are always readers of past articles, so the number for that day does not neccessarily indicate an attraction to that article. Some articles receive significant readers long after they first appear.
      For the current No Force articles, click here
      For the second year of No Force articles, click here
readersdaily position all-time position all-time readers
234.    05/27/04 Wearing shame like an albatross 334 5 6 75,970
No Force, No Fraud has had more than 75,000 readers over the past year. I can only hope that a few have become convinced that we are a great people saddled with a bloated, corrupt, propagandizing government that is completely unworthy of representing us. That same government, through the anti-competitive machinations of the Democrat and Republican political parties, has made it extremely difficult to effect change through elections.
233.    05/26/04 Controlling our jerky knees 404 4 6 75,636
Understanding that we must examine what we think we know is one of the great lessons of life. Being willing to accept that we might be wrong, and that we should take another truly honest look, isn't comfortable or easy, but it is immensely rewarding. It is, in fact, being honest with yourself... one of the very nicest things one can do for oneself.
232.    05/25/04 The best means is peaceful cooperation
by Chris Basten 		342 6 6 75,232
No matter what party platform a candidate supports, the peaceful man will know that the power of the Presidency is too much for one man to possess regardless of how noble his intentions seem. He will recognize that most of the peaceful cooperation that he has worked so hard for is squashed instantaneously with each and every President that takes office. He must cooperate with his fellow man to these ends, else peace is dead.
231.    05/21/04 Secondhand Bullshit 1,175 5 6 74,890
There are so many oft-repeated lies about smoking and its effects that it has to be the most believed hoax in the history of man. There is no evidence that second-hand smoke has ever killed ONE person, much less the thousands that are claimed by anti-smokers. NO EVIDENCE, period. This whole hullabaloo is junk science... the art of fabricating results to justify another agenda.
230.    05/20/04 The 51st State - by Chris Basten 248 6 6 73,715
Estimates show that the U.S. government spends an annual $6.3 billion on Israel alone. Think of how astronomical and debilitating to our economy this is. Of course, criticizing our ties to Israel or just the Israeli government itself is attacked by apologists as anti-Semitism. Yawn. This name-calling is older than sliced bread.
229.    05/19/04 Clearance sale on white hats 408 4 6 73,467
I'm not sure when we started to glamorize being "baaaaad", or to allow our good guys to operate by bad-guy rules, but it's been increasing for a long time. Somewhere along the way, we decided that it was OK for good guys to abandon their rules to defeat the really bad guys. We seem to have become so intent on winning that we're willing to overlook the means.
228.    05/18/04 Oderint dum metuant 414 5 6 73,059
Oderint dum metuant. That phrase was recently used in a letter of resignation from John Brady Kiesling, the U.S. Political Counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Athens, resigning after 20 years with the U.S. State Department. Here is the context in which he used that phrase:
227.    05/14/04 The roots of torture - how the power of force corrupts 963 6 6 72,645
While military and intelligence leaders claim that individual soldiers, even if poorly-trained and managed, should have known that physical and sexual torture was wrong, it's not only clear that they're mistaken, but it's just as clear that those soldiers have other excuses for their behavior. Much of what our own government presents to our young people is LIKELY to lead to such violations.
226.    05/13/04 Prisoner torture - not an aberration but what we've become 343 6 6 71,682
The glorification of achieving results through force, no matter how benign it may seem when applied by a do-gooder to a specific aim, has the same root fallacy as achieving results through torture and abuse. That fallacy is that initiated force ever works to achieve good results.
225.    05/12/04 The Essence of Society is Peacemaking
By Chris Basten 		286 6 6 71,339
The real astonishment is that further attacks have not occurred on American soil despite our government's idiocy. Security is tighter after 9/11 but how can we truly trust the government to protect us when they couldn't even guard their own Pentagon? No one seems to ask this important question.
224.    05/11/04 Speaking of Liberty - by Chris Basten 254 8 6 71,053
Truth says that war is a perversion of life and causes nothing but pain, poverty, and submissiveness. War is a last resort and should defend the rights and properties of citizens. It is not a necessity that breathes life into the planet as the good-looking, suit-wearing, plastered-smiling newsies tell us on the brainwashed networks like Fox News.
223.    05/07/04 Disaffected Voters take note 841 8 6 70,799
Here are the 3 leading candidates for the Libertarian Party Presidential nomination. Libertarians will make their choice later this month at their national convention in Atlanta. If you want to have an impact on our future, or just want to know who may tip the results, check out the websites of these dedicated Americans. It's very possible that any one of them will appeal to you more than either Bush or Kerry.
222.    05/06/04 Nobody knows how to fix health care? 252 7 6 69,958
reprinted from 7/31//03, because, in their zeal to keep Senior votes, Congress continues to make the problems worse, with such plans such as the Medicare Discount Drug program. Even USAToday, hardly a libertarian stronghold, concludes: "Letting the free market work is a better remedy for making prescription drugs more affordable for all Americans".
221.    05/05/04 Returning to peace and freedom 371 6 6 69,706
The realization that our United States has perpetrated a totally unjustified war, with all the attendant repercussions we have yet to face, should sicken every thinking American. It should anger each of us, and we should be without mercy toward the "leaders" who have wrought this disgraceful state of affairs into being... IN OUR NAMES.
220.    05/04/04 We'll set you free - even if it kills you. 278 6 6 69,335
Most of us would probably agree that if most or all nations were free, peace would be far more likely. Humans have a natural desire to be free. That means free to make our own choices, which means free from being forced by others. Freedom is a desirable goal, but force is a ridiculous means to try to achieve it. Use of force to effect freedom is completely self-contradicting.
219.    04/30/04 The Incredible Inedible checkoff 923 7 6 69,057
Government is great at creating lots of programs, each of which can be beneficial... if you want to twist your life to accommodate them. Farmers, to be successful, must first look for the programs, study them, apply for them, plan their work to adopt them, and then respond with all the paperwork required by them. None of that extensive effort produces any food.
218.    04/29/04 The Iron Chefs won't be using U.S. beef 221 8 6 68,134
USDA veterinarians are being pressured into signing false documents of safety, and agency veterans say it has been going on for 20 years. Inspectors and vets who refuse to sign have been disciplined, harassed or fired. Can't have those honest folks fouling up the system.
217.    04/28/04 How damned typical 268 5 6 67,913
I can only hope that, having clearly been exposed as a two-faced fraud, Michael Moore will quietly disappear from view and that those who have been suckered by him will become more suspicious of other hate-mongers in the future.
216.    04/27/04 Give me therapy or give me death!
By Chris Basten 		228 7 6 67,645
The power of the mind is a wonderful thing if used rationally. As a high-functioning human being, I should be able to choose what kind of treatment I need to work on my relationships. I shouldn't have to be held down and tickled with a feather to consider going back on medication. Force doesn't work, even in a therapist's office.
215.    04/23/04 Is spanking child abuse?
Family Issues Friday - part 8 		1,112 4 6 67,417
If between 70 and 90% of all parents spank occasionally, it seems disingenuous to label it "deviant" or "dangerous" or "abusive" behavior. Nevertheless, there are groups doing their best to force us to stop spanking altogether. They obviously do not trust parents to use their own good sense.
214.    04/22/04 The world's worst election system? 237 6 6 66,305
No matter how bad our representation gets, with our current system, there is very little that voters can do about it. Voters who are dissatisfied with both parties, or with the candidates of those parties, clearly have no way to make their vote count.
213.    04/21/04 Forcing the Hand of the Public Square
By Chris Basten 		216 8 6 66,068
Pavlov's experiment rules in politics. Every time the election campaign bell rings, we salivate and run toward all of the Presidential promises that seek to submit us further into such thinking. In other words, their emotional energy feeds off our feelings about all that is wrong with the world.
212.    04/20/04 Now it's the riders turn to go on strike 264 8 6 65,852
This is a great time to reconsider whether the transit system should play a role in your life. If they forced you to get along without "absolutely critical public transportation" for over 6 weeks, why go back to it just because they're ready to play again? Why not just KEEP the arrangements you made during the strike? They've done it before, and they'll do it again... why put up with something so undependable?
211.    04/16/04 Turning divorce into a war
Family Issues Friday - part 7 		827 8 6 65,588
Our justice system is adversarial... a battle by definition. Divorce attorneys can ethically only serve one party of a divorce, and their job is to advocate for that one person. Pit two divorce attorneys against each other, each trying to achieve the best results for their client, and the formerly amicable couple can quickly find themselves in a legal war against each other.
210.    04/15/04 Separation of Sex and State
By Chris Basten 		264 7 6 64,761
Broad-scope sodomy and obscenity laws are drafted not because they serve a protective function but because they win votes for upcoming campaigns. Old sex laws on the books, though rarely enforced, could convict people for things like fornication, oral and anal sex, adultery, and violations of vague obscenity regulations. George Bush is getting involved in the anti-obscenity drive as well because his Presidential throne is on the line.
209.    04/14/04 Ten months in the "wild, wild west" 252 7 6 64,497
It's been almost a year since the Minnesota concealed-carry law passed, over the shrill objections of fear-mongerers who don't trust ordinary folk to have any sense. "A return to the wild west" became the visualization of choice for those who tried to get publicity and contributions by opposing the Minnesota concealed-carry law. The control freaks claimed that crime would rise... that tens of thousands of new guns would be on our streets.
208.    04/13/04 Reinventing the transportation boondoggle 323 6 6 64,245
Subsidized transportation of any kind lures people into patterns... patterns that probably wouldn't have developed without the subsidization. A subsidy comes from taxes, and taxes are forced upon us. We have no choice, so we are left to accomodate ourselves with what the subsidy provides.
207.    04/09/04 Can't we simply trust ourselves?
Family Issues Friday - part 6 		833 8 6 63,922
Let's look at one of the hardest of the family issues... what to do with orphans, problem children, and those whose home life is dangerous. The government solution is to place them in foster care, monitored by government agencies, and the overall results are clearly terrible.
206.    04/08/04 Support our oops
By Chris Basten 		207 9 6 63,089
Because of the system and the way it is, no President or Presidential-hopeful is enabled to tell the truth. America polices the world and the more it does so, the more it has to cover up its mistakes, disasters, scandals, and outright lies.
205.    04/07/04 THIS COLUMN IS RATED R
by Andrew Seffrood 		334 7 6 62,882
In addition to freeing the film industry to produce films containing content never previously addressed, the ratings system promotes freedom by preventing government interference. Since the movie industry regulates itself, the government sees no need to decide which films it does or doesn't want Americans to see.
204.    04/05/04 Are you paying attention? 1,034 9 6 62,548
Ask yourself what value your career, your home, and your lifestyle will be if libertarians are right? What good will all that do you if we allow government to expand until we are all helpless slaves? Is that the heritage you want to leave to the next generation?
203.    04/02/04 Something simply MUST be done
Family Issues Friday - part 5 		280 6 6 61,514
The development of the computer industry cost us no tax dollars. It wasn't done through government grants, or licenses, or subsidies. No legislation forced suppliers to improve products, or increase reliability, or protect users. Nobody forced us to buy PC's. No government public service commercials urged us to get on the bandwagon.
202.    04/01/04 Walk a mile in their boots 332 5 6 61,234
The psychological damage to soldiers has always been serious. It's impossible to kill others and to watch friends being killed without being psychologically harmed. Many veterans simply won't talk about their experiences. Many have nightmares for the rest of their lives, while they fight to act normal to those around them.
201.    03/31/04 The fundamentals of fundamentalism
by Chris Basten 		275 7 6 60,902
Studying the news and siphoning out the trendy from the truthful is no idle task. What I have found has paid dividends, however. Individual responsibility aside, I have gleaned that there are two abundantly powerful forces that continue to destroy humanity and they often have their hands down each other's pants: government and religious fundamentalism.
200.    03/30/04 Having their Pledge and eating it, too
by Chris Basten 		211 10 7 60,627
The Pledge is no more than a relic of the State-worshipers and religious zealots who cannot bear the thought of anyone else not revering what they insist is so important. They are submissive to the point that they have to beg the government to force it on everyone else.
199.    03/26/04 Foster Care - Solution or Scandal?
Family Issues Friday - part 4 		346 7 7 59,780
As I've so often written about government programs, good intentions do not lead to good results, for so many reasons that are unique to government. Child Protective Services is not oriented to assist families, but to judge them and use force on them. Certainly it's true that children sometimes need protection, but CPS is a truly miserable means to provide it.
198.    03/25/04 We the (guilty) people 420 6 7 59,245
How does a free society transform into a police state? Americans have been watching it happen for a long time now; lawmakers at all levels continue to add laws and penalties. Enforcement agencies are called on to enforce whatever is declared illegal. The rest of us must traverse our daily activities, often completely unaware that we are breaking some law or another.
197.    03/24/04 Wasting Away - by Chris Basten 247 7 8 59,014
The American economy may suffer a $194 billion setback just so that people can take time to comply with tax laws. It takes an estimated 5.1 billion hours of our time to fill out all of these obnoxious forms. The Federal Registry reports that all of the federal regulations imposed on businesses are about 75,000 pages long.
196.    03/23/04 Hot button issues - By Chris Basten 285 6 8 58,767
A hot button issue during an election year is never about reducing government. At the most, it is mentioned in passing to tickle our ears. Minimizing government is scoffed at and ridiculed because very few think it is possible or have near heart attacks thinking about what an anarchist caldron of death our society would become.
195.    03/19/04 Protecting children from parents
Family Issues Friday - part 3 		251 6 8 58,124
Most of us would agree that, when abuse or neglect of children is detected, someone should take immediate action to prevent further harm. Child Protective Services agencies, governmental agencies, are established to do just that, and we can all sleep a little easier knowing that children are being protected. Or can we?
194.    03/18/04 It's the economy, stupid ! 394 6 8 57,873
The only way politicians can help the U.S. economy is to stop what they've been doing and to undo what they've already done. They can help the economy by repealing regulations, repealing laws, repealing existing programs, reducing government expenditures, and reducing taxes. If you want to give them credit for doing less... fine, but that's like thanking someone for loosening their stranglehold on your neck.
193.    03/17/04 Food, Folks, and Guns - part 2
By Chris Basten 		369 6 8 57,479
The government may have the best of intentions in creating an anti-obesity campaign for the health and betterment of America. However, as Ben Moreell professed, "originally well-intentioned schemes for 'doing good for the people' rapidly deteriorate into vote-buying or purse-lining activities."
192.    03/16/04 Food, Folks, and Guns - part 1 of 2
By Chris Basten 		267 6 8 57,110
You cannot force a person to get into shape or eat healthy if they don't want to. It doesn't work with children and it sure won't work with adults. The government thinks otherwise. If Tommy Thompson says we are eating ourselves to death, something must be done about it. So government gets involved to the detriment of individuals and businesses that harm no one.
191.    03/12/04 The pressure to be perfect parents 489 5 8 55,918
The unmentioned, unwritten threat of government action against a family is a terrible pressure. Just realizing that a "Child Protective Services" agency exists, and has the power to remove some children from their homes, has upset the whole dynamic of family life.
190.    03/11/04 For they know not what they do
By Chris Basten 		254 7 8 55,429
In short, the government can’t sit still when they subsidize anything and education is no exception. They attach endless piles of bureaucracy and State-enforced programs to their subsidies and it only gets worse with each new administration.
189.    03/10/04 It's all about FORCE 265 7 8 55,175
We are a nation of extremely cooperative individuals who work together to accomplish so much, entering into voluntary agreements and contracts, and spending a lot of time and money helping each other. Yet, when government is involved, many of us are guilty of violating all the rules we live by privately... by supporting the use of force through government. It's wrong and it doesn't work.
188.    03/09/04 The ultimate protest vote 528 5 8 54,059
For all of you who are greatly dissatisfied with the limited choices you have, but cannot bring yourself to vote for a Libertarian President, I have another choice for you to consider.
187.    03/05/04 What should be Family Issues Friday 398 6 8 53,531
I suspect that those who create viruses have no idea of the impact they can have, nor who they're most likely to harm. If one has sufficient resources, viruses are very little problem, but for the many who may happen to be financially challenged, or don't have the expertise to remain fully protected, the results can be extremely destructive.
186.    03/04/04 Our heavy reliance on bullying - by Chris Basten 398 6 8 53,133
A careful look at any so-called progressive ideologies will reveal a strong reliance on the use of government force as an alleged means of doing good. Their philosophy is founded on and exists by coercion. The means through which the coercion will be administered is the only difference worth noting.
185.    03/03/04 Securing our insecurity - by Chris Basten 362 6 8 52,735
The incredible amount of waste aimed at a Homeland Security Department is futile to the core. The government refused to protect us and take action when signs of terrorism were evident long before 9/11. What makes us think that things have changed just because another pointless department with a fancy name and a bloated budget has been created?
184.    03/02/04 Save the Sightseeing Flights! 314 6 8 57,373
Have you ever taken a ride in an old airplane, perhaps a biplane or some other antique? It's a tradition, often called "barnstorming", that's almost a century old, and it's introduced millions to the excitement of flying in small planes... an excitement you simply can't get from airline flights. The FAA is about to destroy such excitement forever.
183.    02/27/04 Family Issues Friday - part 1 186 6 8 57,059
The grief caused in relation to divorce, child support, child custody and related issues is enormous... far beyond the comprehension of anyone who has not experienced it firsthand. It can turn strong men into helpless shells, and it can also turn them into angry animals.
182.    02/26/04 Death be not proud - by Chris Basten 231 6 8 56,873
Our country is engrossed in the government deciding for us what marriage is and what it is not. This is a despicable encroachment on the separation of Individual and State. The government should not even heed to the distinctions within private relationships.
181.    02/25/04 The brighter side of Congress 275 7 8 56,642
In 1999, a typical year, there were 5,514 bills introduced in Congress. Almost 2,000 bills were introduced in the Senate and about 3,500 bills were introduced in the House. That's an enormous amount of proposed legislation... if the House worked a normal 5-day week, 50 weeks/year, that would be 14 bills/day.
180.    02/24/04 Child’s Play - by Chris Basten 245 7 8 56,367
What does it say about America when we copy the rest of the world in having one man rule over us? Why have we strayed from our roots of self-sufficiency and independence from the King of England and adopted the despicable monarchy that now beseeches us in the President of the United States of America?
179.    02/20/04 The corporate effect on our nation 285 8 8 55,910
Over my lifetime, I've watched big changes in the American workforce. I've watched with amazement, and with some dismay, as an ever-increasing number of people went to work for large corporations for what they viewed as practical, career-building reasons.
178.    02/19/04 It all begins at home - by Chris Basten 321 6 8 55,625
If we are to preserve private property ownership, the foundation of liberty, it is imperative that we find out what our city council members are proposing for our homes and communities. Stopping state and federal intrusion begins at home. If you want to learn how to maintain your liberty, go to a city council meeting.
177.    02/18/04 Child support system is unfair to good dads
by Mary Eckholm, columnist 		212 7 8 55,304
the system is not fair to fathers who are NOT “dead beat dads.” It is simply not necessary for the child support system to be involved in the lives of parents who do financially support their children. Why is taxpayer money used to finance a system that enforces child support payments of non-custodial parents who are already in compliance in financially supporting their children?
176.    02/17/04 Speed Trap Relativity - by Chris Basten 232 7 8 55,093
One of the more questionable ideals incorporated by the State is the strictly-enforced concept of speed limits. The intention is to reduce traffic accidents and the vehicular injuries and casualties that can accompany them. It all sounds like a good idea and a safe, noble concept-in theory, anyway.
175.    02/13/04 Throwing money away - part 2 of 2 422 6 8 54,861
Earmarked funds have to be among the most corrupt and cynical waste of taxpayer dollars possible. Based on flimsy justification, determined by political favoritism, and flung around with no oversight. Everything about earmarks is wrong, and nobody even knows just how wrong it might be.
174.    02/12/04 Throwing money away - part 1 of 2 319 7 8 54,439
Suppose I went to a busy part of a local shopping mall, and starting flinging thousand-dollar bills into the air. Do you think a crowd might gather? Do you think that people might scramble to catch those bills? Do you think they might get a little rowdy, maybe even a bit vicious in their retrieval efforts?

173.    02/11/04 All in the family - part 2 of 2 - by Chris Basten 231 7 8 54,120
The government thinks that it has the duty to protect families and so it does the only thing it knows how to do: it invades them. It tells them how to build their homes. It takes one-third to one-half of their income away so that it can help everyone else out and keep government large and in charge. It controls what flows through our newspapers and television sets and then disclaims responsibility by blaming the sources themselves if family well-being is harmed.

172.    02/10/04 All in the family - part 1 of 2 - by Chris Basten 184 7 8 53,889
Even a casual consumer of current events should be able to identify the fact that our country has deep-rooted problems with the well-being of families, especially those who are one-parent and of lower incomes. The automatic response to all of these overwhelming problems is to blame society itself.

171.    02/06/04 Never tire of freedom - by Chris Basten 244 6 7 53,705
Like most writers, I am a fussy sort that wants instant gratification and a little recognition to go with it. Read me and like me, in other words. While this isn't an entirely bad approach to building a message worth paying attention to, it will not last if it continues to be my only guiding principle as a young writer.

170.    02/05/04 Tit for tat - by Chris Basten 418 6 7 53,461
Janet Jackson's "revelation," whether planned or unplanned, does not concern me in the least, however. What concerns me the most about the Super Bowl halftime show is the vast amount of support for its investigation by (who else?) the moral authority themselves-our federal government.

169.    02/04/04 Can another depression be far away? 463 5 7 53,043
It's a tribute to the energy and productivity of American workers that we can carry that enormous governmental financial load. I hope it's obvious to you that it cannot continue indefinitely... obvious that it will inevitably come crashing down around us. When it does, none of us will be immune. Ask someone who lived through the early 30's.

168.    02/03/04 Getting to it before the Boomers 250 7 7 52,580
I abhor the Social Security system. It may well be the government system that breaks our national financial back as the bloated baby-boomers begin retiring. Having been forced to pay into it all my working life, I feel no guilt in applying for benefits that I've more than earned.

167.    01/30/04 Who makes this stuff up?! - by Chris Basten 271 8 7 52,330
The media and the government often work together without even realizing it and their feeding-frenzy is making a lot of us paranoid, tired, and distraught about our choices (which is perfect because they want to confuse you and make choices for you). Is it any wonder that American workers are not competitive with workers in other nations?

166.    01/29/04 formerly Made in America - part 2 466 5 7 52,059
Each American worker helps support the most massive and wasteful government this planet has ever seen... the most expensive education system, that still doesn't work well, massive welfare programs that trap poor people in relative poverty, and on and on and on. There are about 181 million American workers, and the total cost attributable to "National Defense"... military, anti-terrorism, etc. calculates out to $4,168 for each of those workers. Is it any wonder that American workers are not competitive with workers in other nations?

165.    01/28/04 formerly Made in America - part 1 505 4 7 51,159
Companies outsource jobs to save money. They can get the work done cheaper abroad than they can here. Why is it cheaper abroad? The old liberal bugaboo about "slave labor" abroad doesn't apply to outsourcing... workers in Ireland, India, and Canada just don't conveniently fall into that old category.

164.    01/27/04 One-Stop Shopping - by Chris Basten 274 8 7 51,088
Depending on the U.S. government to solve all of our problems has made us all worse off. The Senate and Congress masturbate with our money and spend in areas they have no business associating with. A government, should it exist at all, is meant to protect our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness-nothing more, nothing less.

163.    01/26/04 It ain't rocket surgery 450 4 7 50,814
Take a few minutes out to consider how much simpler your life would be without government... from simple little things like buying something advertised at $1 for a dollar bill instead of $1.07... to something like setting up a business and not having to spend half your time being sure you comply with regulations.

162.    01/23/04 Why do we need a President? -by Chris Basten 373 3 7 50,364
One man has been given access to trillions and trillions of dollars that don't belong to him so that he can do what he thinks is best (mostly for his own ego). Back in the days, kings did not have the kind of power that a President of the United States currently has.

161.    01/22/04 Traders and Traitors -by Chris Basten 509 3 8 49,430
Maybe it was the end of the Reagan era. Maybe it was the S&L Scandal. Maybe it was the death of Atari. Whatever it was, it hasn't gone away. Somewhere in America's history, capitalism was raped and accused of dressing too scantily-it deserved what it had coming to it, in other words.

160.    01/21/04 The appearance of corruption -by Paul Jacob 238 7 8 48,258
So, there you have it: A Congress run by career politicians who wield the power of the federal government to thwart competition so they can enrich themselves and their special-interest cronies. If this doesn’t appear to be corruption, I don’t know what does.

159.    01/20/04 You CAN (and must) fight City Hall 424 11 8 48,682
You may think that protection from our own government should be unnecessary, but the simple, disturbing fact is that we are in far more danger from our own governments than from burglars, thieves, terrorists, radical tyrants, nature, and all the other forces you may worry about.

158.    01/16/04 Higher than a kite 382 7 7 47,769
What is easy to forget are the bonuses we all receive from products that successfully "do more with less". Products that are innovative in either doing more or doing the same thing with fewer resources are indeed likely to increase profits, but they eventually benefit all of us. The profit motive is a powerful incentive, a driving force that is the major source of productivity. Such progress is all around us.

157.    01/15/04 One nation, divisible 354 5 7 47,387
When are Americans going to tire of being jerked around by false political rhetoric... when are we going to tire of being pushed into extreme positions by polarizing legislation? When are we going to tell them to just shut up and get out of our lives, and let us live in peace?

156.    01/14/04 Peace IS possible 366 5 7 47,033
Peace on Earth. An ideal never to be reached? Naive? Unrealistic? Many think so, even though they wish otherwise. Libertarians have a plan for worldwide peace that can bring about one of those "thump-yourself-on-the-head-damn-that-actually-makes-sense" reactions.

155.    01/13/04 Guns and roses - by Chris Basten 293 7 7 46,667
If all of the manpower in the CIA can't diagnose or protect us from bombings in Oklahoma City, New York City, and Washington, what keeps all of the security departments and government guns in place? Terrorism is an overused excuse to keep all of us in the government's sites like deer on opening day of the hunting season. In short, the government fears us more than it fears terrorism any day.

154.    01/09/04 A good offense - by Chris Basten 371 7 7 45,933
Government is meant to defend and protect all individuals, not extol one group while outlawing others who can't afford to lobby and support reelection campaigns. If groups with certain agendas, no matter how narrow they may be, want to change things in America, they must learn the fragile art of persuasion instead of running to a "Daddy Big Bucks" government to bail out their particular cause with force.

153.    01/08/04 How much justice can you afford? 359 8 7 45,562
I cannot repeat it too often: Our justice system is being seriously corrupted by the War on Drugs. Let me try to explain why and how, in simple terms. The War on Drugs is essentially a war on the citizens of the U.S., because it is designed to apprehend and punish people doing something they want to do... something that harms nobody else directly. It's activity that should simply be legal.

152.    01/07/04 Picking one's party or one's nose?
Why the two look much the same
By Chris Basten 		359 8 7 45,562
Here it comes. 2004 is a momentous voting year and the special interest groups are already chirping for Mama Bird's juicy worm. As I've read the commentaries and news stories since the new year began, the "us-vs.-them" mentality is gaining full steam.

151.    01/06/04 Death on the Boondoggle Express 224 7 7 45,203
The great Hiawatha Light Rail Project is rapidly becoming reality. Trains have begun making frequent test runs. Everybody I know is getting keyed up, studying the map of the line, trying to find something of interest to go check out.

150.    01/02/04 This is for your own good!
by Chris Basten 		336 6 7 44,599
Each choice that a human makes carries a certain level of risk with it. This is what we call life. When we are well-informed of the risks involved in partaking of our choices, we can more readily decide what is best for our own person and property.

149.    01/01/04 My holiday strike from all the B.S.
by Chris Basten 		137 8 7 44,263
I did a rather wonderful thing for myself over my Christmas holiday: I consumed virtually no news sources. I may have peeked here and there but, overall, I greatly diminished my intake of any political events. I may have to do this more often. I felt quite happy for the most part during my news strike.

148.    12/31/03 Howard Dean wants a Gimme 229 6 7 44,126
Yesterday, Howard Dean suggested that he has locked up the Democratic nomination, and that the Democratic National Committee should tell the other candidates to back off. That got a lot of chuckles from all quarters. I suppose you can't blame the guy for giving it a shot, but the fat lady isn't even in the theatre yet.

147.    12/30/03 and I didn't speak up 273 6 7 43,897
I've worked with many people whose plans and dreams have been smashed by government actions. They frequently say that they didn't know it could happen to them. It had happened to many others before, but not to them. They assumed that bad things only happen to bad people

146.    12/26/03 Ballot or the bullet?
By Chris Basten 		258 5 7 42,800
The government has done a brilliant job of marketing the idea that we should all vote. In a democracy, this requires voting for self-sufficiency and self-governing principles. Politicians don't think this way and almost never promote government shrinkage so that we can learn how to take care of ourselves and reap what we sow in life.

145.    12/25/03 Some Holiday Glad Tidings 187 5 7 42,542
I think we could all use some good news, especially during a celebration holiday, so I pulled together three items that are reversals of previous bad news.
   1. A landmark reversal in favor of medical marijuana
   2. A reversed ruling about the state of the environment
   3. A 71-year-old hero will not, after all, be charged

144.    12/24/03 Our sham economic recovery 319 3 7 42,355
Our government has been squeezing us for a long time, putting the majority of us in ever-increasing jeopardy of personal collapse. I call it our "brittle economy", because there is little "bend" left. Too many of us have serious debt, too many are in jobs that could disappear, and too many are working 2 jobs or extra hours to get by.

143.    12/23/03 This Land is Your Land, This Land Is My Land
By Chris Basten 		273 7 7 42,036
As a libertarian, I don't support any military occupation of foreign soil. These lands belong to the citizens who work to obtain them. A military is supposed to defend and protect its own nation from foreign invaders. It is not supposed to police the globe based on theories and good intentions.

142.    12/20/03 We're a bit safer today 147 8 7 41,280
Yesterday, as reported in the StarTribune and other news outlets, the MJNO has been shut down completely because of privacy concerns.

141.    12/19/03 The false gods of politics 294 7 7 41,133
It's an idea that is so very mistaken, yet is widely prevalent. So many Americans seem to believe that because the Republican and Democratic parties are powerful, that their candidates are knowledgeable and wise, and will serve honorably.

140.    12/18/03 Martha Stewart's Boob - by Andrew Seffrood 399 3 7 40,839
The Justice Department's case against Stewart is so weak that she is not being charged with insider trading, or the profitable trading of shares based on knowledge available to her and not the rest of the public. Instead, she is being charged with lying about not doing something that the Justice Department cannot prove. Got that?

139.    12/17/03 NIMBY, but yours is fair game 330 5 7 40,440
There is an insidious sickness permeating many city governments; the idea that, in the name of "redevelopment" or "revitalization" that those governments have a right to decide what should be built, and where, within their boundaries. They take it upon themselves to simply decide that an area should be razed and rebuilt in a different way, and anyone currently in the targeted area is simply out of luck.

138.    12/16/03 Grandma Got Run Over by a Reform
by Chris Basten 		280 7 7 40,110
Medicare is no more than a fancy word for aggression. Government dictators, in a feeble attempt to make it look like they care about the welfare of others, are literally robbing us at gunpoint to "help" the disabled and elderly with their medical bills.

137.    12/12/03 A lesson not yet learned 408 3 7 39,242
Although it has been published many times, and is lengthy, I'm reproducing here a story about Davey Crockett, American hero. He served in Congress from 1827 to 1835 and then retired due to his disgust with the refusal of members of Congress to heed the Constitution. He hoped to start over with a new country (Texas) when he died fighting for its independence from Mexico, at the Alamo, in 1836.

136.    12/11/03 Our bloodsucking Congress (Part 2) 262 6 7 38,834
It isn't that these projects are without value. I value and promote good ideas, but these projects have taken a sneaky back road to success... they've sought and received our money without asking us for it... they've stolen money from each of us by bribing ONE person... their congressman. That congressman has purchased the good will, and probably the votes, and probably significant campaign contributions, with money taken from citizens all over the nation. It makes no damned difference whether the cause is good or not... the way it happened was corrupt and wrong, and together, these projects have harmed millions of people.

135.    12/10/03 Our bloodsucking Congress 302 6 7 38.572
I'm angry as I write... my jaw is clenched, I have a headache, and I hope this will leave you in the same condition. What I'm going to present here isn't new. It's been going on for a long time, but it gets worse every year. It needs to reach as many people as possible as many times as possible until we all get absolutely enraged about it. It's called "federal pork", but that gentle term just doesn't begin to label it properly.

134.    12/09/03 Service with a smile? - by Chris Basten 182 8 7 38,270
What it boils down to is bullying. Because several corporations find it easier to lobby on behalf of Big Government to keep competition to a minimum, Big Business gets addicted to it and starts cutting corners elsewhere or feels desperate trying to make up the difference for the increasing costs of regulation. In trying to regulate the little guy out of the picture, Big Business is forced by Big Government to stay more and more up to snuff. It backfires, in other words.

133.    12/05/03 70 years - have we forgotten? 274 6 7 38,088
Exactly seventy years ago today, December 5th, 1933, in bars and taverns all over the nation, Americans celebrated the end of the temporary insanity called Prohibition. The idea was that government would simply FORCE people to be good.

132.    12/04/03 The corrupting influence of government money 408 5 8 37,230
I have little doubt that Save the Children performs valuable services and saves lives, but part of their humanitarian cause is, as the UK branch did, to speak out publicly when something inhumane is taking place. In this case, they've been silenced by the threat of loss of government funding. They've been reminded on which side their bread is buttered, and will never again be as effective as they were.

131.    12/03/03 Slick lies or clumsy lies - which do you prefer? (Part 2) 363 5 8 36,822
If every person who is fed up with government will move his or her loyalties and support to the Libertarian Party, we can become a serious force to regain control. If every person joined us who agreed with Libertarians more than they do with R's & D's, we could put an end to this insanity. I don't know how long it will take for that to become reality, but I do know that the longer you put it off, the more painful the recovery will be.

130.    12/02/03 Slick lies or clumsy lies - which do you prefer? (Part 1) 315 6 8 36,459
We have mammoth government on both the federal and state levels. It got that way because we allowed it to, by listening to bullshit and accepting it as truth... by not thinking about it. We've bought the "free lunch" pitch decade after decade... we've bought blatant lies by refusing to question them. We've fallen for the "keep the worse guys out of office" pitch.

129.    12/01/03 The Missing Link - by Chris Basten 203 7 8 36,144
When other countries are asked to cite how they feel about America, they usually think admirably of our fondness for freedom and opportunity but frown at our greedy misgivings and intrusiveness in foreign affairs. Ironically, Americans tend to feel the same way. We know that America is something special but we're not quite sure why.

128.    11/28/03 Seek and ye shall find 186 6 8 35,626
More accurately these days... SEARCH and ye shall find... almost anything you can think of. Today's web search engines, most notably Google's, are truly remarkable in the amount of information indexed and the speed with which all that information can be searched and retrieved. Google now has more than 3 billion web pages in it's index.

127.    11/27/03 L-tryptohan and American Indifference 163 6 8 35,440
Like moist Butterballs bent over to take plenty of stuffing, Americans get bloated with a lot of empty "filler." When our lives are hectic, exhausting escapades that keep a roof over our heads and food on the table, we tend to easily dismiss a larger turkey: Big Government.

126.    11/26/03 UPSIDE DOWN criminal justice (Part 2) 276 6 8 35,277
What has happened to our governmental criminal justice system is what happens to all governmental systems... they don't work, they become corrupted, and they become oppressive toward those they're supposed to serve. For any libertarian who hasn't yet been willing to remove criminal justice from their short list of proper governmental roles, that choice is getting easier every day. Our government is making complete anarchism look more like a preferred solution every day.

125.    11/25/03 UPSIDE DOWN criminal justice (Part 1) 266 6 8 35,001
What I'm going to suggest to you is close to being unthinkable; it's a monstrous thought that, at first consideration, "feels" like a ridiculous exaggeration, or maybe satire. What I want you to consider carefully, though, is the possibility that our criminal justice system, federal and state, does more harm than good. Might we actually be better off if we had no law enforcement, no prosecutors, no criminal courts, and no jails?

124.    11/24/03 Fearing Fear Itself - by Chris Basten 294 5 8 34,735
The biggest fear of all, though, is one most commoners don't recognize. A fear of macroscopic proportion is the one that the government has of its citizens. Why else would the government have to be so intrusive, so nasty, so nosy, so regulatory, so large, and so out of control? It fears the power of the people, that is why. If they can regulate and squelch and tax the fiber out of everyone, it weakens us to think we can make a difference.

123.    11/21/03 Registered under the name, 'Fido'
by Chris Basten 		264 6 8 34,158
Medicare is government force and force never works. It only drains precious resources and ends up killing more people than it saves. Hospitals must treat anyone who comes through the door with Medicare coverage. If Medicare patients cannot afford what they need, you, the taxpayer, are given the bill to make up the enormous difference.

122.    11/20/03 Hate Crime Hatred by Andrew Seffrood 334 5 8 33,894
Hate crime laws raise numerous issues. For starters, these laws punish beliefs and speech. While prejudice and bigotry are appalling and wrong, regulation of any type of thought is constitutionally perilous and sets a precedent in which we could all become criminals. In addition, victims of crimes who do not belong to specified groups have a legitimate claim that their perpetrators are subject to lesser punishment. Should the penalty for an assault be less because it was perpetrated by a member of the victim's same demographic group?

121.    11/19/03 The Truth (about smoking) is Out There (Part 2) 429 5 8 33,560
Our societal norms have been completely off-base many, many times in the past, and they're off again in relation to cigarette smoking. When so many people have to tell so many bald-faced lies about it, it should make all of us suspicious. While cigarette taxes have raised prices enormously... while public condemnation has become so offensive, and millions of people still continue to smoke, only an idiot would not be suspicious that there is something here that we just don't understand.

120.    11/18/03 The Truth (about smoking) is Out There (Part 1) 366 5 8 33,131
The health benefits of smoking cigarettes are not unknown or imaginary. They are supported by scientific research... research that has often gotten no publicity, or has gotten enormous adverse publicity by those groups who have built giant organizations by fleecing donations from gullible followers who believe they're fighting a health hazard.

119.    11/17/03 So simple, so universal these rights are
By Chris Basten 		232 7 8 32,765
What government can do with trillions of dollars, we, the people, can do for next to nothing with five times the efficiency. If government were to fall off the face of the earth tomorrow (I keep crossing my fingers on this one), we would see the same old problems and debacles. However, we, the people, would now be completely responsible for our conduct. There would be no paternalistic "eye in the sky" to keep us safe from our own irresponsibility. We would be free to conduct our lives as our own without the state's intervention.

118.    11/14/03 How the Clergy Understands Business
by Rev. Gerald Zandstra		 218 7 8 32,290
In every walk of life, there are those who abuse the power they have been given or act in unethical and destructive ways. Despite the presence of immoral people in corporations, however, I do not believe that such people are the norm. Unfortunately, a high percentage of my colleagues among the clergy hold a different view and choose the caricature over the reality.

117.    11/13/03 NRDC toxic emissions in your mailbox 287 5 8 32,072
I'm no environmental expert, but I do know how to spot spin and deception when I see it, and this mailing, like others I've received, only requires about an 8th-grade suspicion level to label it as pure bullshit (or maybe bison shit in this case). With a little suspicion and internet access, it was simple to confirm my suspicions.

116.    11/12/03 Ash Holes! - by Chris Basten 146 9 8 31,785
Concealed ashtrays might become the wave of the future. An ashtray could be considered for the next addition to a long list of illegal paraphernalia in recreational drug use. No more bongs. No more pot pipes. No more...ashtrays?! If you think it is absurd or something from a '1984' novel, look no further than a recent report in the New York Post.

115.    11/11/03 Go West North, young man? 194 9 8 31,639
In case you haven't heard, our government is cranking up DRAFT BOARDS again. Oh, it's "just in case" it's needed, you know... they have no plans on returning to conscription. Do you think it might just have anything to do with the fact that a recent poll showed that half the soldiers in Iraq say they are "not likely" or are "very unlikely" to reenlist?

114.    11/08/03 Laws and Sausages - by Dick A. Cheatham 146 6 8 31,253
For six years I was a television reporter. I covered the Virginia General Assembly and the Governor’s office. Though I’m no fan of Otto von Bismark, I came to understand the wisdom of his statement above. For six years I watched sausages, oops…laws, being made. Here’s what I observed.

113.    11/07/03 Election 2004 and another fatal alternative 290 6 8 31,107
Do you think the American people could effectively overthrow our government by revolution? Libertarians ponder that question... because if we cannot... through legitimate means such as elections... stop the growth of government, it will continue to expand, becoming ever more destructive and oppressive. At some point, resistance will become futile. I really hope we don't wait that long.

112.    11/06/03 Let's hear it for Drunk Driving! 324 5 8 30,817
This push for a .08 blood alcohol limit is NOT about saving lives. For politicians, it's a sound-good political message. For MADD, it's a way for them to stay in business... another program to raise membership and funding. They'll be back in several years pushing for .06 limits... otherwise they would have to fold their organization. For federal and state safety departments, and enforcement people... it's increased budgets and job security. Oh, yeah... lawyers will certainly benefit.

111.    11/05/03 Be scared... be very scared 325 7 8 30,493
Mandatory Minimum sentences are a major part of the problem. They remove judges' ability to consider the facts and circumstances in sentencing. Many judges have either refused to hear drug cases, or have retired early to avoid being party to such insanity. Many high-level judges have spoken out against mandatory minimums, including Supreme Court Justice Kennedy.

110.    11/04/03 We'll keep your information secure...
yeah, that's it!		 196 7 8 30,168
Security is an illusion. When government agencies promise us that our information will be secure and protected, and not misused... they deserve to have a bird flipped at them. If they believe it themselves, they're ignorant of reality, and don't deserve to be in a position of authority.

109.    10/31/03 The monopoly that isn't 180 10 8 29,647
For the 2004 campaign, every Democratic candidate is trying to deflect our attention away from their lack of courage about the War in Iraq, the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty, and a thousand other critical issues, by each promising some form of socialized health care… mostly "for the children" (they think we can't resist anything "for the children").

108.    10/30/03 Elitist grand schemes by force 260 7 8 29,467
Government programs are elitist by nature... created by "experts" who believe they can produce grand schemes that will work if they can just get everyone to participate. Since they're sure their proposal is grand, they're willing to force full participation... and they can. Because they're not based on voluntary participation, they will always have a large number of "customers" who will do almost anything except cooperate nicely.

107.    10/29/03 Who is John Fink? 224 6 8 29,207
Most of us are like John Fink. We don't make progress in giant strides; we may not even think much about progress. We simply do what we can, and try to expand on that when it makes sense. It is the combination of millions of us, playing our undramatic roles in conjunction with each other, acting in our own self-interest, that creates a marvelous free market.

106.    10/28/03 If you don't own your own existence, what good is life? - by Chris Basten 183 7 8 28,983
At the risk of sounding politically correct, the Constitution should have admonished that individuals are endowed by their existence, not their Creator, the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Existence is indisputable to a debate about inalienable rights. If you don't exist separate from others, how can rights apply to you? If a cosmic God has control over my mind and functions, I am far from free. I may be able to do what I want in theory but a God who gives me my rights can easily take them away.

105.    10/24/03 Hate speech for everyone! - by Chris Basten 344 6 8 28,456
“Hate speech” is nothing more than the result of lazy thinking by people who refuse to take responsibility for being offended. Being offended is human; tolerating it takes practice. Instead of questioning themselves, they question the speech itself. Banning certain speech is like trying to ban anything else like guns, drugs, prostitution, or religion. It is not the object or speech in itself that causes harm but rather one’s relationship to these things.

104.    10/23/03 Damn our irresponsible politicians 402 6 8 28,112
As we watch Bush empire-building... as we watch former allies shun us... as we watch our civil liberties under attack, as we watch Americans citizens again being tainted by our bullying government, and as we watch young Americans being killed and maimed in Iraq... we must not fail to understand that it is this 108th Congress and it's members that together had the power and the constitutional responsibility, to prevent this malignancy... and they didn't have the political courage to do it.

103.    10/22/03 Boobs and Drugs - by Chris Basten 405 6 8 27,710
If the government wants to make sure that our breast implants and drugs are produced safely, the federal powers that be may investigate and report their findings to the public with evidence in hand. However, this does not entitle the regulatory boards to swoop in like vultures over a free market and peck away.

102.    10/21/03 Lashing driving to school attendance 149 10 8 27,305
We try to force kids to attend school... they resist and skip out, so we tell them they can't have a license to drive a car. Kids who have already demonstrated resistance to force... should we be surprised if they resist again? I think not. I think they would be likely to just drive without a license, don't you?

101.    10/17/03 What Liberals Can Learn from the War
by Harry Browne (part 3 of 3)		 122 9 8 26,921
If liberals want to stop tyrannical adventures like the invasion of Iraq, they must do everything possible to whittle big government down to a small, limited, constitutional government. Not the "limited government" the Republicans pay homage to in campaign speeches and ignore in practice, but the constitutional straight-jacket envisioned by the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

100.    10/16/03 What Liberals Can Learn from the War
by Harry Browne (part 2 of 3)		 139 8 8 26,799
It may seem that force is necessary to bring about worthy social objectives. But using force always sets in motion a series of events that you're bound to regret. Again, it is easier to recognize when war is the issue.

99.    10/15/03 What Liberals Can Learn from the War
by Harry Browne (part 1 of 3)		 176 9 8 26,660
When our government mandates what kind of government every country of the world should have, it's no different from the federal government mandating what kind of education system every American state should have - or what every health insurance policy must cover - or what products a company may offer - or how much corn a farmer can plant.

98.    10/14/03 God’vernment - by Chris Basten 215 6 8 26,484
Sometimes I honestly wish the Constitution never existed. Maybe then I would be able to sleep peacefully at night knowing that my individual rights are inferior to the rights of the State and the majority. Maybe then I wouldn’t know what I was missing. I could go about my life oblivious to the intrusiveness and ridiculous demands of the Church and State.

97.    10/11/03 Libertarian voices? 112 9 8 26,097
Either there are an enormous number of libertarian readers, or an awful lot of non-libertarians are checking us out. I really don't think we have to worry about people not knowing the meaning of the word libertarian... do you?

96.    10/10/03 A rescue line into the swamp 210 7 8 25,973
The Clinic on Entrepreneurship is a magnificent example of a libertarian solution to problems caused by overreaching government... government trying to regulate every aspect of our lives... trying to protect us from ourselves. The fact that starting a small business should even require a specialized lawyer is the real problem, and the real solution is to get rid of all those laws and regulations.

95.    10/09/03 The small business regulatory swamp 176 7 8 25,763
A free market is so simple... you and I make a deal that satisfies both of us. You have work and I need work. You pay me, I do the work, and we both profit from the exchange. You don't like my work, you boot me. I don't like my part of the deal, I quit. You find a better worker, you dump me and hire her. I find a better position, I quit and cut another deal. It ain't brain surgery... until gove

94.    10/08/03 Tear down that wall, Mr. Bush
I think that my current view of immigration was formed when I realized that I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my immigrating ancestors. I could have just as easily been born a German boy, and been one of millions killed during WWII bombing. If they hadn't come to America, my ancestors might have been active enemies of the Allies in WWII. Those are sobering thoughts.

93.    10/07/03 Invasion of the workers
There is a huge group of people invading my America. They're taking jobs that used to be available to me, and making it very difficult for me to find "good" work. Some of those people are pretty shady. Some are on welfare programs. Most of them are just so very different... they dress strangely, and are difficult to understand.

92.    10/06/03 Sleepy Hollow - by Chris Basten
Maggie’s Law assures us that you could be charged with vehicular homicide, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, if there is evidence that a deadly crash was caused by lack of sleep. In other words, if you have the audacity to drive while feeling sleepy and the unthinkable occurs, you will be punished severely, assuming you live through such an accident yourself.

91.    10/03/03 Liar, Liar, Bush on Fire - by Chris Basten
Lies and betrayals are so run-of-the-mill in Washington that no one seems to care anymore (assuming that anyone ever did in the first place). Quite frankly, the general public seems more interested in catching “Must See TV,” maxing out their credit cards, and refinancing their mortgages. Few Americans pay attention to the soap opera that is our government on a day-to-day basis.

90.    10/02/03 United Synchronized Supply Regimen (Bob’s Deal)
I began by trying to convince you of the value of my program, but the truth is that I don’t need your individual support. It will be far easier and less expensive for me to just convince enough of your elected representatives that this program is clearly for the benefit of society.

89.    10/01/03 The Deadly Legacy and what it will take to change it
Don't think you can just watch and wait for the libertarian movement to become powerful and then join us. That's what far too many people are doing now. Only the most enlightened, dedicated people have joined us to this point, and we cannot do it by ourselves. We are like David fighting Goliath, but our Goliath has made slings into illegal weapons, while he's packin' heavy.

88.    9/30/03 Social Security - the Deadly Legacy
If you listen to the current rhetoric on Social Security, you'll hear Republicans insisting that action be taken to fix the problem, and you'll hear Democrats insisting that we keep the system intact to "protect" our senior citizens. Don't think for a minute that means that Republicans are any more apt to solve the problem than are Democrats. It's the "opposition game" both parties play for our benefit... facing off so that they can stalemate each other, avoid facing the problem, with each side claiming they tried.

87.    9/29/03 Microsoft: A lesson in Self-Regulation - by Chris Basten
Corporate decisions, when freely made, benefit capitalism immensely. Whenever a company makes a move, others must be proactive to stay competitive. This awards consumers and allows them to have an abundance of choices. If you detest Microsoft's self-prescribed regulations on chatroom freedom, you're open to take your business elsewhere. Perhaps life is better with the butterfly.

86.    9/26/03 Politics versus Justice: the battle escalates - Part 2
As I asked in To hell with Congress, say federal judges: Should Congress or judges have the final say on criminal punishment? There is no doubt in my own mind about the answer to that question, and I doubt that there is much doubt in the minds of most citizens either, because polls have consistently shown that politicians are not trusted.

85.    9/25/03 Politics versus Justice: the battle escalates - Part 1
There's a new acronym on the political horizon - now circulating in Congress, but not yet introduced, is the VICTORY Act - Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act (yeah, they couldn't come up with a Y). There is also the granddaddy of acronyms, USA PATRIOT Act - Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act.

84.    9/24/03 Zero tolerance = zero intelligence
The idea of zero tolerance is ridiculous in the extreme. It is a means of avoiding judgment by replacing it with words to be interpreted as anyone sees fit. It is the resort of completely gutless, unthinking bureaucrats. It is a refusal to think... a refusal to consider... a refusal to reason.

83.    9/23/03 "The government tightened the reigns…" - by Chris Basten
Freedom of the press, the right to private ownership of property, and even the right to live are in the hands of governments worldwide. 15, 000 people dying in France over the summer due to the unbearable heat wave was no accident. The fact that France's socialistic ideals and the high European Union trade barriers raise the prices of cheap, imported air conditioners is no hot air:

82.    9/20/03 Marry, Marry, Quite Contrary - by Chris Basten
Marriage is private whether it is between a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or throw-back polygamists in Utah. The government has no right to influence your personal decisions about whom or what you will commit your life to unless you infringe upon the rights of others in the process.

81.    9/19/03 Scratch one air traveler
[T]hanks to lists prepared in the name of security by our invasive government, all airline passengers are going to be classified by a color scheme. Those coded green will face normal security, while those coded yellow will face additional screening. Travelers coded red will not be traveling at all, and may be arrested. For me, that's the last straw. I'm not going to fly again.

80.    9/18/03 Welcome to the latecomers
Liberals and conservatives... we welcome you, at last, to the fight to protect our Constitutional rights. While you're fighting the plentiful civil liberty violations of the Bush administration, please leave your political self-righteousness at home. Every single time we grant more power to government, for whatever reason, we are inviting government to stretch their "power envelope" further.

79.    9/17/03 Smile, you're on Targetcam ! - by Andrew Seffrood
On July 11th, the Minneapolis City Council voted to accept $250,000 from Target Corp to install surveillance cameras downtown. The cameras, which have not yet been installed, will be monitored by Minneapolis police from the first precinct. Is Target a generous, crime-fighting corporate citizen?

78.    9/16/03 Please, Brer Fox, don't fling me in that briar patch
Notice that government "services" offer none of that... no choices, no alternatives... TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT. NO better price available. NO better service to be found. NO more convenient location. Even worse, most government "services" are not even one choice - they're required. If you don't like the service, or the price, or the inconvenience, you can't even stop and do without. Your choice is not take it or leave it, it's... shut up and take what you get.

77.    9/15/03 Happy Anniversary - by Chris Basten
What, then, does 9/11 and its aftermath mean to you? Is it a chance to become more cynical with the world or an opportunity to realize that human beings are vulnerable creatures with the potential for much good? The world will continue to erupt in predictable regions and this will not change if 9/11 is remembered as just another violent episode in history.

76.    9/12/03 Short, but certainly not sweet
While much of the citizenry is hurting, Congress is digging deep in our pockets again. Officially, the U.S. has 8.9 million unemployed. According to the liberal National Jobs for All Coalition, another 4.4 million are part-time because they can't find a full-time job, and another 4.8 million want jobs but are not counted in official statistics, for a grand total of 18.1 million (12.0% of the labor force).

75.    9/11/03 Anything but Peachy - by Chris Basten
The dawning of a new $20 bill, soon to be released by the U.S. Treasury, will be ripe with color instead of gloomy grays and greens. Starting Oct. 9, $20 bills will sport yellow, blue, and peach hues in attempts to slow down the circulation of counterfeit bills. $50 and $100 bills will soon follow in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

74.    9/10/03 Who owns your life?
If our society, and our laws, fully accepted each individuals right to die as they choose, it would take an enormous burden from all of us. We have so many taboos about death that we transform an inevitable occurrence into a grievous tragedy. We often condemn aging people to lingering, unfulfilling existence by refusing to confront the truth. We often force individuals we love to face death alone because we are afraid to face it with them.

73.    9/9/03 Sprawling Deception
The "Smart Growth" movement is really an industry, comprised of a great many people making a great deal of money by deliberately trying to scare people into believing that only massive planning efforts can save us from our stupid selves.. and naturally, they are the experts who can consult to help save us.

72.    9/8/03 Predictions from 1950
A good example of future expectations appeared in a 1950 Popular Mechanics article, by Waldemar Kaempfert. It's been referred to many times, but has all but disappeared from the Internet, so here's a reprint I've gathered from several sources.

71.    9/5/03 Vote for Sale, Best Offer, As Is
I took proud possession of this rare and precious model in 1960. It can only be used once every other year, so it has extremely low mileage. Came with a lifetime unconditional guarantee, but the guarantee has been "redefined" and "updated" often, and the manufacturer has long since stopped responding, so buy it "as is".

70.    9/4/03 I still want to go into space
What happened to our dreams of space flight? The honest answer is also simple... government took charge of it. I've certainly enjoyed watching NASA's progress over the years, but it's abundantly clear to any informed watcher that government programs, despite their enormous cost, may never result in space flight for ordinary people.

69.    9/3/03 The Freedom to Achieve
A man's spirituality, which is only his dignity as a man, rests on his own efforts. Dignity and worth are not automatically conferred by aristocratic birth; we have only to look at history to see that. Dignity and worth are not automatically conferred by inherited wealth.

68.    9/2/03 Who do you trust?
A poll within the past year showed that just 65% of Americans trust the President to tell the truth... the same percentage who feel that they can trust "ordinary men or women" to tell the truth. That doesn't speak well for our trust of our Chief Executive, and the Commander in Chief of our military forces. You might think that most Americans counter that lack of trust with more trust for Congressional leaders. Very much the opposite is true; only 35% trust members of Congress to tell the truth.

67.    8/29/03 To hell with Congress, say federal judges
Should Congress or judges have the final say on criminal punishment? I find it very hard to understand how anyone can take that question seriously. Judges are justice specialists who hear the details of each case, while legislators are distant political beings, trying to impose generalized rules on judges.

66.    8/28/03 Renunciation of War
Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the * people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

65.    8/27/03 The Banishment of the Working Poor
We once had great working-class neighborhoods in our cities. Most of them have been obliterated by forceful planning, and the current "nanny" attitude is keeping them from naturally reoccurring. If we can reverse that attitude, the working poor can again have REAL neighborhoods.

64.    8/26/03 The simple unplanned marvel of the free market
The free market makes what we need to prosper, while government takes, and wastes, half of what is made. It's a testament to the power of the free market, and the ingenuity of the American people, that it can even survive under such a load... but only an economic fool could believe that we can throw away so much and without eventually withering under the load.

63.    8/22/03 Even national treasures are being neglected
How bad is the government's accounting? In March 2002, we reported that—for the fifth consecutive year—we were unable to express an opinion on the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2001.

62.    8/21/03 Federal waste and lack of maintenance
Restoration, repair, and maintenance backlogs in federal facilities are significant and reflect the federal government’s ineffective stewardship over its valuable and historic portfolio of real property assets. The backlog is alarming because of its magnitude—current estimates show that tens of billions of dollars will be needed to restore these assets and make them fully functional.

61.    8/20/03 Compassion by using Force?
I want to address an idea that is widespread in our nation. The idea is -that it's an act of compassion to favor a government program intended to help others.

60.    8/17/03 Meanwhile, over in the BIG house...
Within one generation, people who used to live, work, and play side-by-side became the Haves righteously doling out favors to the Have-Nots, with a hug, while patting themselves on the back... and they're still doing it... with renewed righteousness... while trying to blame the problems on someone else.

59.    8/16/03 Welfare - adding psychological damage to injury
We had divided the nation with veteran's benefits, psychologically crushed the left-behinds with destructive welfare, and then insisted that they had a RIGHT to be "kept". Think about how similar that is to the treatment of slaves... except that the new slaves didn't have to work.

58.    8/15/03 Government and the godawful greatest generation
"Greatest generation" indeed... "privileged generation", in fact. Returning vets were adored, and benefits heaped upon them. Within a short time, being elected to any political office was almost impossible for anyone but a veteran.

57.    8/14/03 Being poor ain't what it used to be
How can being poor be a happy experience? It took me a lot of years to really understand why it's easier to be happy when you're poor than when you're not. People were forced to plan, to save, to skimp, and to be creative... to strive. Those are all creative, energetic challenges, and not one of them is at all demeaning.

56.    8/13/03 Is Justice Kennedy a libertarian hope?
Last week, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, speaking to the American Bar Association, said that he believes some federal sentences should be shortened, and specifically criticized federal mandatory minimum sentences.

55.    8/12/03 Just what IS a liberal?
The word "liberal" used to mean what libertarianism means now, and still does in some parts of the world. Libertarians are often called "classical liberals" for that reason. The word "liberal" became co-opted during the FDR reign by socialists who became a controlling factor in the Democratic party.

54.    8/08/03 WHY government programs don't work (part 4)
I've described why government programs don't work. I've shown you WHY they are the least productive, easily corrupted, and inherently destructive of all human endeavors. Understand that it is in their nature; the result is inevitable.

53.    8/07/03 WHY government programs don't work (part 3)
In addition to all these tendencies, government organizations have four more characteristics that almost guarantee their failure: political pressure, immunity from prosecution, job security, and the power of force

52.    8/06/03 WHY government programs don't work (part 2)
Large organizations have advantages, but they have disadvantages as well.

51.    8/05/03 WHY government programs don't work (part 1)
Many of the problems that plague government programs are not unique to government; they can occur in private institutions as well. In fact, they occur in virtually all large institutions, but there are a couple of reasons why we don't often hear about great failures outside of government:

50.    8/02/03 Straddling the fence with a mouthful of mush
Straddling the fence with a mouthful of mush The issue of gay marriage has politicians wrapping their tongues around their eye teeth these days. President Bush took a firm position but nobody could understand it, so... to the "Bush List of Missing Items" we can add Gay Marriage Position right after Osama bin Laden, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Saddam Hussein.

49.    8/01/03 You may wish you were uninsured
This IS the way health care used to be provided... back when it worked well. It's also the sensible way to use insurance; to insure only those risks you just can't cover out of current income. Doctors treating patients, no paperwork, no claims, no rejections, no billing... just health care. How's that for radical and sensible?

48.    7/31/03 Nobody knows how to fix health care?
I can tell you, without the slightest doubt or hesitation, that it was government tinkering and government force that ruined our health care system. It was government that decided what should be done, how it should be done, and then forced everyone involved into doing it that way... and it hasn't worked. Big damned surprise.

47.    7/30/03 The one-day life of PAM
I knew it was too good to be true... I finally found a government agency that was planning on doing something that made sense. I wrote a little left-handed praise, but they saw me coming and killed the program.

46.    7/29/03 Meet Scrooge McCzar
I can get shivers up my back when I come across influential results produced by a small group of people working hard and with enormous persistance to "make a difference". It takes great courage, committment, and rock-solid belief to make such an effort.

45.    7/26/03 Running the uphill playing field
We no longer have vigorous and active third parties because Democratic and Republican state legislatures passed restrictive laws that make it exceedingly difficult for third parties to get on the ballot in many states.

44.    7/25/03 The third-party Catch-22
As long as voters treat party selection like choosing a football team to root for, they're stuck with the "big two", and nothing will ever improve. The desire to "pick a winner" rather than supporting the party or candidate that will do what you think is right, is keeping alternative parties from making progress. It's an attitude that helps limit your own choices to the major parties.

43.    7/24/03 Why I re-engaged in politics
In the summer of '96, a chance came up to become a delegate to the LP national convention, in Washington, DC. I hadn't even met any Minnesota libertarians by then... they were just invisible people behind emails. They didn't seem to have an office, nor were there any regular meetings I knew about. I was intrigued enough to grab the chance to attend the national convention.

42.    7/23/03 Recapturing our stolen nation
The independent spirit and work ethic that built the U.S. is slowly being ground into submission. Taking, through government, rather than earning, through individual effort, is becoming the new American way, and the cancerous growth feeding off that is two power-mongering political monstrosities.

41.    7/22/03 Tough on Crime - even for children
Two thirds of the world's known executions of child offenders in the past decade occurred in the USA, including the only four in the past 18 months

40.    7/21/03 No Force, No Fraud RECAP
What this blog tries to do is show how No Force, No Fraud applies to current issues. It's a lot of coverage, and you may have missed several that might interest you, so here's a recap.

39.    7/18/03 Crime is down. Was it worth it? (Part 5 of 5)
I'm reminded of a trap that I, like most parents, fell into at least once. Ever ground your child and then realize that you just grounded yourself too? Our criminal justice system is very much like that; it's an angry reaction to hurt... it's a system built around an emotional response, and naturally, that just doesn't solve any problems... it creates more.

38.    7/17/03 Crime is down. Was it worth it? (Part 4)
We're spending at least $50 billion each year on consensual crime. We're losing an estimated $150 billion in lost taxes. $200 billion would cut the income tax load by one-third... just by decriminalizing consensual crimes.

37.    7/16/03 Crime is down. Was it worth it? (Part 3)
What both "three-strike" and mandatory minimums do is take away the ability of a judge to do what they are supposed to do... to JUDGE each case on it's merit... to consider the circumstances of each case, and render a verdict appropriate for that case.

36.    7/15/03 Crime is down. Was it worth it? (Part 2)
The U.S. jail and prison population has been growing steadily at a rate of 6.5% annually since 1980. I decided to project that rate into the future: At that rate of growth, we'll have a prison population of 3 million in 5 more years, 4 million ten years from now, and 5 million in 15 years. By the year 2087, we will have more people imprisoned than the whole 2003 U.S. population. That's within one lifetime... the lifetime of babies being born now.

35.    7/14/03 Crime is down. Was it worth it? (Part 1)
In spite of the fact that crime is decreasing, the United States needs the equivalent of a new 1000-cell jail or prison every week. The cost of criminal justice has quadrupled over that 20 years, to $156 billion in 1999. Policing up 3.44 times, judicial up 4.14 times and corrections up 5.41 times.

34.    7/11/03 WHO's a libertarian?!
Maybe the best part of finding a libertarian celebrity is what it tells you about the celebrity. A lot of people still don't quite know what a libertarian is, so for a celebrity to declare themselves libertarian indicates that they're well-informed.

33.    7/10/03 The International power of libertarian ideas
I present to you a partial list of libertarian organizations from 32 nations. Some are political parties, but most are not. I've also included several international organizations, such as ISIL, which is a network of individuals and associations in over 80 countries

32.    7/09/03 Ideology, not politics
The key piece of knowledge that seems to escape those who hold to all of the other political ideologies is that no government program ever works out the way it was intended... it never stops where you wanted it to stop, and it always has unintended consequences that eclipse any good it might accomplish.

31.    7/08/03 Responsibility for War's Consequences
War teems with "unintended" consequences... but more precisely of ignored consequences, because there can be no doubt that aggressive leaders know of such consequences; they refer to them euphemistically as "collateral damage" to disguise the horror.

30.    7/07/03 Yes, the gods MUST be crazy
War teems with "unintended" consequences... but more precisely of ignored consequences, because there can be no doubt that aggressive leaders know of such consequences; they refer to them euphemistically as "collateral damage" to disguise the horror.

29.    7/05/03 Notes from a public school survivor (Part 4)
We need to stop falling for the lies that schools will improve if we sacrifice more money on them. More money is clearly not the answer. Reform is also NOT the answer. Government is the problem in education, and there is no solution short of simply removing government control from it.

28.    7/04/03 Notes from a public school survivor (Part 3)
In 1922, the state of Oregon passed a law outlawing private schools and compelling all children to attend public school. The law was later decared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, but the instructive part of that episode is... WHO spearheaded the effort to get private schools banned?

27.    7/03/03 Notes from a public school survivor (Part 2)
When a child discovers these facts of life... that he is being force-fed... discovers that he is not free to explore and discover, but must instead settle down into a groove and accept what is being offered, the joy and excitement of learning disipates.

26.    7/02/03 Notes from a public school survivor (Part 1)
I now had personal proof that learning could be fun and exciting, even in a classroom. It was great, BUT... it spoiled me. Once I found that I could engage and excite 25 people in a classroom, I could never again have any patience for what normally passes itself off as "education".

25.    6/30/03 Once you're in custody
Once you're in custody, suspected of something, you are not presumed innocent by the police, agents, troopers, etc. It's their job to be suspicious... it's their job to "build a case" if they can, and to do it as quickly as possible. One of the quickest ways is to get a confession.

24.    6/27/03 I'm law-abiding... I'll be safe
A Georgia survey found that 53% of the public agrees that most people arrested for a crime are guilty. Only 41% of the public disagree. 59% of whites believe that most people arrested are guilty, as compared with only 44% of blacks. You don't suppose that's because 56% of blacks KNOW someone who was falsely arrested?

23.    6/25/03 Reach into your own pocket
The U.S. government and state governments are in the middle of their worst financial crisis in 60 years. A USNews study says it's bad management that's caused it, not the economy. Probably so, but I want to put the blame where it really belongs.

22.    6/24/03 Farts and Belches IN THE NEWS
New Zealand is proposing a tax on livestock farts and belches, to the tune of about $4.9 million/year, which would be used to fund research to find a way to solve the "problem".

21.    6/23/03 Another knock on your door
Federal and state officials now have the power to seize your business, home, bank account, records, and personal property, all without indictment, hearing or trial. Everything you have can be taken away at the whim of one or two federal or state officials operating in secret.

20.    6/20/03 A National Disgrace: Not Smoking Kills
This year in the U.S., THREE TIMES as many non-smokers will die as smokers! Over 1 MILLION non-smokers!

19.    6/19/03 Force, Fraud, and strategies for success (Part 4)
Among animals, it is often the higher-ranked (more dominant) individuals that make a career out of deceiving others, while lower-ranked (more subordinate) individuals, including many females, become skilled at discerning the true motives of others so that they are not deceived.

18.    6/18/03 Force, Fraud, and strategies for success (Part 3)
The amazing thing is that Tit for Tat can never win in a direct battle against any other strategy... because it is never the first to defect, and it forgives after only one round. When aggressive strategies meet, they get locked in a cycle of snitching, and destroy each other. The power of Tit for Tat is that it eventually forces competitive strategies to cooperate.

17.    6/17/03 Force, Fraud, and strategies for success (Part 2)
We last left our readers dangling precipitously on the sharp horns of a several dilemmas... should we trust or mistrust others... should we do unto others before they do it to us? Once attacked by evil forces, what should we do? Will we be left to pary with random guesses? Unbeknown to our perilously-perched protagonists AND to their cagey competitors, benevolent behaviorists were huddled nearby, seeking sensible solutions.

16.    6/16/03 Force, Fraud, and strategies for success (Part 1)
It's important to clarify that libertarianism deals with getting along successfully in a world filled with others... within our society and with other societies around the world. It is a STRATEGY that strives for success through cooperation.

15.    6/15/03 Street smarts
"Gun control? It's the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I'm a bad guy, I'm always gonna have a gun. Safety locks? You will pull the trigger with a lock on, and I'll pull the trigger. We'll see who wins."

14.    6/13/03 The stolen right of juries
A jury has the right to decide whether the accused is guilty, and to decide whether the involved law is just. Does that surprise you, as it did me?

13.    6/12/03 This is NOT about the war
How can 41% of Americans not know that WMD have NOT been found? Are many people so confident in the administration's assurances that WMD will be found that they don't bother to pay any more attention? Have they tuned out?

12.    6/11/03 The libertarians are going... the libertarians are going?
Yesterday, the Star Tribune contained a political news article Libertarians aim to take over a state...but where? by Bob von Sternberg, about the Free State Project. I'm a member and volunteer for FSP, so I naturally have a few comments about the article.

11.    6/10/03 Corporate Welfare. Who is to blame? How to stop it?
Are the corporations to blame for seeking welfare? Of course they are... they're looking for preferential treatment at the expense of others. However, the serious blame must be placed at the feet of those who introduce legislation for such programs, and those who vote for such programs.

10.    6/08/03 We have not forgotten, Peter.
When I remember his death, I am always taken by a series of emotional reactions. First sadness... a feeling of personal loss. My loss is that I never met Peter, nor will I ever have another chance.

9.    6/07/03 How much do YOU pay in taxes?
If you're a typical American family, you pay more in total taxes than you spend on food, clothing, and shelter combined. That's over 38 percent for total taxes vs. 28 percent for food, clothing and housing.

8.    6/06/03 On a MUCH brighter note... Stan Pike whups the Nannies
When his town's "preservation panel" rejected his planned front stoop revision, Stan Pike responded with paint (below), and many of his neighbors helped.

7.    6/05/03 Welfare? There's a much better solution.
For the first 150 years of our nation's history, there was nothing like government welfare. Private voluntary charities took care of those most in need, and everyone tried their damndest to take care of themselves. It worked like no other society on earth had ever worked.

6.    6/04/03 Another private solution to a government problem - Ending the shortage of organ donors
Fact is, about 80% of organ donations go to somebody who hasn't agreed to donate their own organs when they die. EIGHTY PERCENT! Doesn't give you much incentive to become a donor, does it?

6.    6/04/03 Ed Rosenthal is free!
The Ed Rosenthal (aka Guru of Ganga) case just took a surprising and wonderful turn, as the same federal judge who kept so much information from being presented during trial, sentenced Rosenthal to just one day in prison, which he had already served... instead of the 6 1/2 years the prosecutor wanted, or the up to 60 years he could have meted out.

5.    6/03/03 Government problem, private solution
Private schools often produce superior results at half the cost, and it isn't because they start with brighter students. Government schools don't work as well for a lot of reasons, but over the past few decades, the major reason has become increasing federal and state control over education... a top-down, bureaucratic, paper-bound, political, one-size-fits-all system that strangles all who enter.

4.    6/02/03 A delightful solution to a problem that gets worse every day
Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a different way of providing transportation, and one that is superior to light rail in every single respect... lower capital requirements, lower maintenance, immensely greater flexibility, takes almost no space, cause very little disruption, and is infinitely more convenient for users. It's so good that it really COULD get a LOT of us out of our cars.

3.    5/31/03 The Protection Racket
If you're a fan of old gangster movies, that phrase should evoke clear images of mobsters making their weekly rounds of stores in their "territory", extorting cash payments in return for not being beat up, blown up, or burned out.

2.    5/29/03 Much ado about nothing
Guns are potentially dangerous. So are screwdrivers, knives, power tools, lawnmowers, and automobiles, each of which I've wounded myself with. Isn't it funny that I've never been injured, much less killed, by any of the many guns I've been around? (The Navy even FORCED me to shoot guns)

1.    5/28/03 Is your home your castle?
Governmental units have constitutional power to use eminent domain for "public use", but that power has been expanded enormously to include just about anything a city or town council "wants" to do, including taking property, BY FORCE, to provide to other private parties.