Militarized Central State Versus Individual Life and Liberty
Anthony Gregory • Sunday, August 21, 2022 •
August 21 marks 30 years since FBI action in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, against Randy Weaver and his family. To commemorate the occasion, we offer “Lessons from Ruby Ridge,” by former Independent Institute research fellow Anthony Gregory, published in 2012 on the 20th anniversary:
Twenty years ago today, an FBI sniper shot Vicki Weaver in the head as she held her ten-month-old baby at her home in Ruby Ridge, Idaho. The sniper also shot her husband Randy Weaver in the back, trying to kill him. Their son was shot in the back and killed the day before by U.S. Marshals on the family’s property. One of the Marshals also died, as did a Weaver family dog killed by the officials.
Joe Mullin • Thursday, August 18, 2022 •
The UK government has had more than a year to revise its Online Safety Bill into a proposal that wouldn’t harm users’ basic rights. It has failed to do so, and the bill should be scrapped. The current bill is a threat to free expression, and it undermines the encryption that we all rely on for security and privacy online.
The government intended to advance and vote on the Online Safety Bill last month, but the scheduled vote was postponed until a new Prime Minister of the UK can be chosen. Members of Parliament should take this opportunity to insist that the bill be tossed out entirely.
Randall G. Holcombe • Thursday, August 18, 2022 •
Brittney Griner’s conviction in Russia on drug charges has been well-publicized, as has the attempt by the Biden administration to negotiate a deal that would free her. This article says, “Biden himself released a statement calling Griner’s sentence ‘unacceptable’ and promising that his administration would ‘work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible.'”
I am not unsympathetic to Griner’s plight. However, it does appear that she violated Russian law when she was caught bringing cannabis oil into the country. While it may seem harsh, she entered a guilty plea and her sentence of nine years in prison is apparently not out of line with typical sentences in Russia.
Craig Eyermann • Tuesday, August 16, 2022 •
Uncle Sam has a stealthy plan to force Americans to pay higher taxes. The Congressional Budget Office let the cat out of the bag on that plan in its 2022 Long-Term Budget Outlook.
An Annotated Bibliography
Williamson M. Evers • Monday, August 15, 2022 •
The war between Russia and Ukraine is happening on the opposite side of the world and between countries that have different histories and political cultures from our own. Where is there a guide through all this complexity for journalists; policy staff in the U.S. government’s legislative and executive branches; college students at the graduate and undergraduate levels; and civically-minded members of the general public? I’ve sought to provide such a guide in this annotated set of recommended readings. You can read the list here.
The books and articles listed in the bibliography do not take a uniform stance, but they do cluster around the themes of geopolitics, liberty, and state power.
K. Lloyd Billingsley • Monday, August 15, 2022 •
On August 11, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) rescinded and altered key recommendations such as disparate treatment for vaccinated and unvaccinated persons, natural immunity, and six-foot distancing measures.
“The CDC is admitting it was wrong here, although they won’t put it in those words,” Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor of medicine at Stanford University, told The Epoch Times.
“What they’ll say is that, well, ‘the population is more immunized now, has more natural immunity now, and now is the time—the science has changed.’”
John Oliver is right that “corporate greed” and “Putin’s tax hike” are poor answers when it comes to explaining inflation.
Jon Miltimore • Saturday, August 13, 2022 •
Funnyman John Oliver recently offered a confused message on what’s driving rent prices sky high. This week he moved onto inflation, and his analysis was much sounder—though he still made one critical mistake.
The British-American comedian and host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver begins by noting everyone is pointing fingers over inflation. President Joe Biden blames Vladmir Putin. Republicans are blaming Joe Biden and his Build Back Better spending agenda. Democratic lawmakers Sheila Jackson Reid and Elizabeth Warren say it’s “corporate greed,” while other commentators have cited supply chain disruptions.
Raymond J. March • Friday, August 12, 2022 •
Even as Covid-19 infections and deaths decrease globally, the World Health Organization warns that “the pandemic is not over.” The Biden Administration seems to feel the same. Earlier this month, the federal government extended the Covid-19 public health emergency again.
Why the concern? As WHO Director Tedros Ghebreyesus stated, “A new and even more dangerous variant can emerge any time and vast numbers of people remain unprotected.” Covid’s BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants could be an example.
K. Lloyd Billingsley • Thursday, August 11, 2022 •
“All I have ever done—and go back and look at everything I’ve ever done—was to recommend common-sense, good CDC-recommended public health policies that have saved millions of lives.” That was Dr. Anthony Fauci in late July. The declaration will come as a surprise to Drs. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford, Sunetra Gupta of Oxford, and Martin Kulldorff of Harvard University.
As we noted in January, these medical scientists of the Great Barrington Declaration, expressed “our grave concerns over the inadequate protection of the vulnerable and the devastating harms of the lockdown pandemic policy adopted by much of the world.” Instead of engaging in any debate with these scientists, Dr. Fauci sought to shut them down, at the request of Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
Raymond J. March • Wednesday, August 10, 2022 •
The Centers for Disease Control now tracks the confirmed number of monkeypox cases across the country. As of August 3rd, the agency reports about 6,600 cases across the country. The first confirmed monkeypox infection in the US was reported on May 19th. Monkeypox cases have followed a similar trajectory across Europe.
As cases increased, several states declared monkeypox a public health emergency. Most recently, the Biden Administration issued a public health emergency and enlisted the help of public health agencies to address recent outbreaks.
