Free Republic

Highways to Hell Investing in our safety. By Wendell Cox New Orleans and Houston have raised serious questions about the nation's ability to evacuate effectively major urban areas in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. The more recent Houston evacuation is rightly viewed as the more successful, as 2.5 million people managed to get out of the area by car. Things could have been better. In the future, freeways need to be made one-way much earlier, and there should be preexisting fuel-contingency plans. The biggest tragedy was in New Orleans where many households were without cars, and...

If You Think Life Without Cars Is Easy, Remember the Big Easy News Release by Jody Clarke September 22, 2005 Washington, DC, September 22, 2005 -- Organizers of today's 'World Car-Free Day' are promoting supposedly more sustainable transportation systems. But according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, lack of access to cars can be deadly -- as demonstrated by the experience of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, where cars, rather than mass transit, were the key to evacuating hundreds of thousands of people. "It was a lack of access to cars that led tens of thousands of people to remain in...

War enters 5th year: Why not victory? (John Andrews in the Denver Post, Sept. 18) Why not victory? The question haunted me all day on Sept. 11, the fourth anniversary of Islamofascist military attacks against America's seat of self-government, Washington, and our crown jewel of liberty, New York. We are a nation supposedly at war, yet the enemy is not identified, the definition of winning is vague, the national will is weak. The war itself is misnamed and undeclared. In my town, Centennial, which firmly supports President Bush and the Republican Congress, not one house in 20 flew the flag...

Vanishing Automobile update #55 Lack of Automobility Key to New Orleans Tragedy 4 September 2005 Those who fervently wish for car-free cities should take a closer look at New Orleans. The tragedy of New Orleans isn't primarily due to racism or government incompetence, though both played a role. The real cause is automobility -- or more precisely to the lack of it. "The white people got out," declared the New York Times today. But, as a chart in the Times article makes clear, the people who got out were those with automobiles. Those who stayed, regardless of color, were those...

Hollywood and large U.S. software companies chalked up another crucial yet little-noticed victory last week with the final approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. You wouldn't know it from a political debate veering between labor standards in Nicaragua and the evils of protectionism, but one major section of CAFTA will export some of the more controversial sections of U.S. copyright law. Once it takes effect, CAFTA will require Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to mirror the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's broad prohibition on bypassing copy-protection technology.

The Supreme Court and the End of Limited Government6/24/05by Sheldon RichmanSheldon Richman is the editor of The Freeman. Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling permitting governments forcibly to transfer property through eminent domain from one private party to another for the sake economic development did not come out of the blue. Although the "takings" clause in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifies "nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation," the "Court long ago rejected any literal requirement that condemned property be put into use for the general public" (Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 1984, cited...

COULD this be the same Republican Party that was on such triumphant display after President Bush's re-election just four months ago? Republicans and conservatives are quarreling over Congress's intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, and the rising influence of Christian conservatives. Some Republicans in Washington and statehouses are balking at federal tax cuts in the face of deficits or spending cuts, while a few are worried that the war in Iraq will lead to more foreign entanglements. Republicans are beginning to whisper in the past tense as they discuss Mr. Bush's signature second-term measure, the revamping of Social Security. Conservative...

Rule of Law Damaged by Schiavo Billby Sheldon Richman, March 23, 2005 The events surrounding the life of Terri Schiavo are tragic enough. Now congressional Republicans and President Bush have made things worse. In one weekend they disabled federalism, the separation of powers, and the rule of law. These principles were embraced by the Founding Fathers because they tend to protect individual liberty. By tearing them down, the Republican leadership jeopardizes our freedom. How ironic that this comes at the hands of the self-proclaimed party of limited government. It is beyond dispute that the legal issues involved in the Schiavo...

Boulder voters to fill City Council seat today Special election reignites business and greenbelt issues BOULDER - This city is defined by the enormous greenbelt that surrounds it and the strict growth limits within. Now some candidates in a special election today say years of neglecting business have left the city unable to pay the bills - including the cost of maintaining a greenbelt larger than Boulder itself. The city has cut more than $13 million from its budget over the past three years amid declining sales tax revenues. "The city just doesn't get it," says former University of Colorado...

In 1988, Brent J. Brents raped a 6-year-old boy by luring him into a secluded spot with a tale about a lost cat. Eight days later, Brents raped a 9-year-old girl at knifepoint, while threatening to kill her if she cried out. Brents, who already had a long criminal record, was sent to prison, where he served 15 years of a 20-year term. Last summer, state sentencing laws required him to be released, even though he had dropped out of a sex offender rehabilitation program. Now he is accused of molesting an 8-year-old boy, and raping two grade-school girls and...

You've seen the horrific images of walls of water rushing up beaches, sweeping away everything – and everyone – in its path. You've seen the dead piled up like cordwood, wounded survivors, and persons collapsing upon hearing their entire family has vanished. Alas, you may not have seen the worst. Dr. David Nabarro, head of crisis operations for the U.N. World Health Organization, warned that disease could take more lives than the waves. "The initial terror associated with the tsunamis and the earthquake itself may be dwarfed by the longer term suffering of the affected communities,'' he said. The main...

Taunting the Libertarian Bull There's an old saying my dad taught me as a kid: Don't fool with the bull or you'll get the horns. It appears Washington state GOP chairman Chris Vance missed that day in Life's Lessons 101. And a Republican candidate is now paying the price. Of course, I'm talking about Dino Rossi, who now appears to have LOST the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election by just 130 votes out of darn-near 3 million cast. The Fat Lady hasn't finished her aria on this one yet, but she's choking out the final chorus. Rossi will need to...

But it's not on purely economic issues that the Democrats fail to reach such voters. Suburban dwellers in states from Maryland to New Jersey to New Mexico increasingly see liberal politicians criticizing precisely the places where they are moving. Democrats want to attack suburban sprawl with policies that often drive housing prices out of reach. Look at Portland, Ore., where highly touted "urban growth boundaries" have by many accounts raised housing prices so high that people are fleeing across the Columbia River to Washington state. In Albuquerque, some city leaders, chiefly Democrats , recently proposed discouraging front garages and backyards...

To: "logician2u" <logician2u@myisp.com> From: service Subject: Confirm Your Information! Reminder: Confirm Your Information Dear Customer, This is a reminder that we need you to confirm your information. This is a recent measure to protect our customers. How To Confirm Your Information PayPal always keep in touch with it's customers. Please use instructions below. Step 1:  Follow this link located at PayPal server to fill needed information. Step 2:  Log in to your PayPal account. Click on the "Profile" link in the "My Account" menu and check information that you submitted. Why Confirm Your Information? It increases security Keeping your information up...

Perils of Outsourcing by Cecil E. Bohanon and T. Norman Van Cott [Posted February 11, 2004] The Chinese "yellow peril" was the late nineteenth century menace. And today, horrors, the Chinese and Indians are selling Americans things like computer software at bargain basement prices. In fact, when it comes to overall U.S. living standards, there is nothing special about outsourcing software technology. All that matters in this case is whether the Chinese and Indians sell for less than what current American software producers could earn in their next most lucrative employment. If so, outsourcing enhances U.S. living standards. The...

<p>Conservatives grow restless with big-spending Republicans.</p> <p>Monday, January 26, 2004 12:01 a.m.</p> <p>WASHINGTON--For 30 years, the foot soldiers of the conservative movement have gathered here for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. It is the only major conclave in which all elements of the conservative movement--from home-schoolers to antitax crusaders to missile-defense advocates--are represented.</p>

Article Published: Friday, December 12, 2003 reggie riversRidge at last redeems himselfBy Reggie Rivers I never expected to like Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Ever since the position was created, I've been suspicious about the organization's mission. The advent of color-coded terror alerts and duct-tape-and-plastic panics just cemented my view that Ridge and his staff were part of a shock-and-awe campaign designed to scare us into surrendering our rights. But this week, I was pleasantly surprised to read that Ridge thought that millions of illegal immigrants in the United States should be granted some form of legal status short...

Are You an Austrian? Take the following quiz of 25 questions on economic issues (or go to truncated 10-question version). Click on the answer that most describes your view. You must answer all 25. Submit your quiz, and get your score emailed to you. There will be no follow up emails. (Q&A prepared with the assistance of Randall Holcombe, Peter G. Klein, Robert Murphy, D.W. MacKenzie, Joseph Stromberg, and Mark Thornton&?none of whom bear final responsibility for the answers.) The method and scoring of the quiz will be revealed once you submit your answers. Essential sources for understanding the Austrian...

RIAA Says Future of Music is Suing File Sharers By Brian Briggs Los Angeles, CA - The RIAA announced that they would begin a strategy of profits by lawsuit, which should keep them a viable business indefinitely. "It's really a bold new idea that really gets back to the roots of the RIAA," said new RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol. "We'll no longer be worried about distributing music. The file sharers will do that for us, but now we'll just make our money from suing them and that's really what we're all about." According to a report by...

This announcement greeted me as I went to Amazon.com this morning: Amazon has done what most public libraries would like to if they only had unlimited tax funds, more books and perhaps a larger customer base. Now there's a tool to find the books with a mention of your favorite (or most hated, either way) politician, or an issue such as global warming or assisted suicide. Try it, you'll like it! [DISCLAIMER: I have no personal or monetary interest in Amazon, other than I like to buy books from them.]