I recently blogged about the scary government warnings that will start to appear on cigarette packs to “inform” the consumer of the dangers of the product they choose to buy. Many readers questioned why similar warnings aren’t found on all items that pose some sort of safety or health hazard in the short or long [...]

Too many self-absorbed people are just way too fucking bored. (Vajazzling and Va-Ttooing.) Charles Burris writes this to me: “This brings narcissistic self-absorption and conspicuous decadence to a whole new level.” As the thought goes, one must be a prude if ya can’t fathom the culture.

What would a cowboy or bull rider look like after a series of laws were passed to keep him safe? See here.

Our nation’s Sergeant at Arms on all things health-related, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is going to make us ascared of smoking cigarettes with the new mandate forcing tobacco companies to print spooky pictures on cigarette packs. Announcing the first change to cigarette pack health warnings in 25 years, the US Food and Drug [...]

Another safety nazi crusade from the save-you-from-yourself nannies, this time in King County, Washington. People who hope to beat the summer heat by swimming, floating or boating on rivers in King County must wear a life vest or face an $86  fine. This new ordinance applies to kids 12 and under when on a boat [...]

Here are a couple of gems from Bill Bonner on the Mises Blog (via the Christian Science Monitor). The market is fixed. The SEC is in on it. It’s all part of the zombie system of finance. The dollar pretends to be real money. Debt pretends to be capital. And regulators pretend to be smarter than [...]

When danger threatens American businesses, the Fed has their backs. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece, “The Fed is Your Friend: Posters From the 1920s.” As the piece notes, “The posters, archived by the San Francisco Fed, aimed to get the message out that Federal Reserve system was keeping the world safe for [...]

Ban the unhealthy. Except who decides what is “unhealthy” for you, me, or anyone? Why, the government and its assorted cadre of experts who are source of truth for what is or isn’t “healthy.” Here’s a scientist who is an editor for RealClearScience in an article he published for CNN: Consuming a diet loaded with fat [...]

My mother’s side of the family (the Laurencelle family; how is that for a great French name?) hails from Quebec City (after earlier family had migrated from Alsace-Lorraine). My father’s side (De Coster) – they are Flemish and come from Lichtervelde, West Flanders. I am secessionist, by birth, on both sides. I hated the state even [...]

Since the Krispy Kreme delusions have floundered here in the US, the Brits have captured the euphoria. What is more astonishing is the way each new store is received. When Krispy Kreme opened its most recent outlet in Cardiff in April, its 46th in the UK, more than 1,000 people queued for two hours for [...]