We call it “long-haul COVID” when patients recover from a COVID-19 infection but still experience symptoms weeks and months later. But the world at large could suffer lingering effects from the pandemic for years, as “emergency” measures adopted to (supposedly) fight the virus become part of the permanent landscape. Well after health concerns have been […]
To judge by the tax-policy noise coming out of Washington, D.C., the government is eager to take even more of our stuff. But there’s one area in which our assets and possessions are becoming safer from the sticky fingers of grabby officials: civil asset forfeiture is, ever-so-gradually, being reined-in across the country. One state at […]
With troops finally scheduled for withdrawal by September after two decades of conflict, America’s intervention in Afghanistan seems destined to go down in history as an accidental forever war. Only peripherally part of the country’s policy debates, and never really occupying the attention of members of the public other than the few who had relatives […]
Civil liberties groups are, once again, challenging the federal government’s growing taste for searching travelers’ electronic devices at the border without suspicion or warrants. Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Massachusetts asked the United States Supreme Court to intervene in an ongoing lawsuit and to […]
Among the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic we can probably count Americans’ faith in government-dominated education. Through months of closures, teachers union obstinacy, and simple failure to deliver value to children, public schools have driven many families to look elsewhere for the care and feeding of young minds. The result has been rising support for […]
What good is an AR-15 against an oppressive government armed with tanks and bombers? That’s the question gun owners often get asked, as if the destructive power of the modern state is a mic-drop argument against private weapons ownership. That might be a bit more convincing if resistance fighters didn’t repeatedly go up against well-armed […]
Most Americans now favor legalizing marijuana, including large majorities across the political spectrum. Just this year, New Mexico, New York, and Virginia have eliminated state bans and opened the door to legal markets in the stuff. Even Congress is considering federal legalization (though the White House isn’t necessarily on board). Via the ballot box and […]
The year-plus of the pandemic has been an unpleasant experiment in just how far previously free-ish countries could be subjected to command-and-control systems without exciting rebellion and pushing them past the breaking point. The uncomfortable evidence is that many people willingly suffer massive impositions before resisting, though others chafe and are eager to resume some […]
Happy Tax Day! True, April 15 is a bit less momentous than usual this year, because the IRS and many state revenue agencies extended the deadline for filing tax returns and making payments to accommodate economic troubles caused by the pandemic and lockdowns. Still, those of us accustomed to the usual date can’t help but […]
Just months into President Joe Biden’s tenure, his early calls for “unity” look not only insincere—something we expect of any politician—but positively laughable. Last week, he threatened executive action to tighten restrictions on privately owned firearms in a move bound to infuriate gun owners, including millions of people who purchased tools for self-defense for the […]