Thoughts On a Possible Newspaper Bailout

Thought this was a great quote from Radley Balko of Reason:

Speaking as an investigative journalist, I find the idea of a “national endowment for investigative journalism” fairly preposterous. And doling out the money according to circulation figures relies on the badly mistaken assumption that the best reporting is done by the publications with the most readers. Something also tells me that when the government starts funding investigative journalism, investigative journalists will be reluctant to go after the government. And government watchdog is the primary responsibility of a free press.

Real Change We Can Believe In

Great read from Radley Balko of Reason on how the Republicrats and Demicans are making it more and more difficult for a third party to have any chance in government. This part really blew my mind about Libertarian candidate Bob Barr not appearing on the Texas ballot:

Meanwhile, in Texas, the tables were turned. Both the Republican and Democratic parties somehow missed that state's deadline to include Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on the Texas ballot. Barr's campaign sued, noting the equal protection problems with allowing the two major parties to skirt campaign rules while holding third party candidates to the letter of the law. Barr was right—Obama and McCain should have been kept off the Texas ballot. But Barr's suit was dismissed by the Texas Supreme Court without comment. Apparently, the Democratic and Republican parties are, to borrow a now-tired phrase, "too big to fail." They're allowed to break the rules.

Also, don't get me started on Prop 8.

Charlie Lynch Found Guilty

One of the saddest injustices I've seen in a long time has occurred. Charlie Lynch has been found guilty of

distributing marijuana, conspiring to distribute marijuana and providing marijuana to people under the age of 21

I first heard of this story on Reason where I learned that in San Francisco it is legal to sell medicinal marijuana. Mr. Lynch opened a business that sold this marijuana to individuals for medicinal purposes. One of these individuals was Owen Beck, a high schooler that noticed it hurt while running when playing soccer. He went in to have an x-ray and a medium sized tumor was discovered in his leg. After many treatments of chemo and feeling nauseated therefore not eating, his parents suggested to him the use of medical marijuana. They spoke to a doctor, received the prescription, and went and visited Mr. Lynch's office. Because Owen was a minor Charlie Lynch was arrested for distributing.

Just a sad day when a man who is not pushing drugs on the corner but providing it to individuals so that they can eat is now going to jail for a long time.

Make sure to check out the entire video and story at Reason.

I Needed Alderman Approval to Post this

A recent op-ed in the Chicago Tribune from Reason editor Radley Balko states that of all major cities in the US, Chicago is the worst for individual freedoms. From the article:

At Reason Magazine, we recently took a look at how the 35 most-populous cities in the United States balance individual freedom with government paternalism. We ranked the cities on how much freedom they afford their residents to indulge in alcohol, tobacco, drugs, sex, gambling and food. And, for good measure, we also looked at the cities' gun laws, use of traffic and surveillance cameras, and tossed in an "other" category to catch weird laws such as New York's ban on unlicensed dancing, or Chicago's tax on bottled water.

The sad news, Chicagoans, is that your town came in dead last. And it wasn't even close.

So not only am I limited on what I can put on my hot dog, the cost has gone up to?

I wonder what comes up if Dick Trickle wins a race?

HILARIOUS post about a filter used by the American Family Association's news gathering website. Also via Reason.

Celebrate Your Nation's Freedom by Blowing up a Piece of It

Great piece from Reason magazine on what's the big deal with fireworks and the history of how they came to be both used and then pretty much banned.