Re Randy Barnett’s Proposed “Federalism Amendment”, here’s an amended version that I think would be an improvement:

Section 1: Secession. Any State or Indian tribe may, by an act of its legislature, secede from the United States.

Section 2: Nature of the Union. From the perspective of the United States, the States are sovereign and are the parties to the Constitution, which is a compact among the States.

In Three notes for the critics of the critics of apologists for Wal-Mart, Charles Johnson/”Rad Geek” weighs in on this matter, criticizing, inter alia, Huebert and me. The following is not so much a direct reply to Johnson, but rather my own independent take on the ongoing disagreements between libertarians and soi-disant “left-libertarians.”

New York–Now that carbon dioxide has been declared a pollutant by the EPA, numerous local jurisdictions around the country, whose finances have been badly hammered by the current recession, are considering the imposition of “Exhalation Taxes.”

In a previous post, I argued that empathy is the source of rights. The idea is that any norms that are abided by in society are necessarily norms that are self-undertaken by a community of people who share that value.

With the world economic crisis in full tilt, the US dollar is on the ropes and the clock is ticking. Chinese ministers have accused the United States of “squandering the world’s wealth” and have expressed immense distaste towards the US Government’s daily fiscal decisions. Special Drawing Rights (SDR), issued by the International Monetary Fund, has been proposed as a replacement as the world’s reserve currency.

Randy Barnett has an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, “The Case for a Federalism Amendment,” where he proposes “that states petition for a convention to propose an amendment repealing the 16th Amendment authorizing an income tax,” or, “Alternatively, states could include the repeal of the 16th Amendment in a more comprehensive ‘Federalism Amendment.’”

Well according to this article, Crocs will not live out the year. This means you’ll have to look at fewer people walking around in brightly colored plastic shoes, and only backs up Jeffrey Tucker’s theory that Depressions produce better style (among men at least).

But interestingly, the article also notes 11 other major brands that will die before year’s end. The Chrysler and Saturn line of cars will be gone as will at least one more major Airline.