Bush and the Religious Right

This morning, the New York Times headlines a scoop on how the Justice Department has shifted its energy from prosecuting race-oriented civil rights cases to religious-oriented civil rights case. I was prepared to think: here we go again with unjust laws being used to privilege groups based on their political affiliations. The story seemed to be a easy pitch for any libertarian to hit out of the park.

Tales of Titans and Hobbits

Both Rand and Tolkien passionately tell their tales about freedom, but they resort to completely different aesthetics, and, in consequence, paint two entirely different pictures of the world, with different heroes and different challenges. Are those differences important? How do they affect the “moral” of the respective tales? Given that it is of utmost importance just what kind of story one tells, it is perhaps worthwhile to reflect upon the different world images depicted in Atlas Shrugged and The Lord of the Rings, comparing the characters of both narratives along with the predicaments they face.

Gouging you and me

In May, the House of Representatives passed a bill that could lead to fines as high as $3 million per day for gasoline price gouging, which it defined as charging a price that “grossly exceeds the average price offered for sale by that person during the 30 days prior” or “grossly exceeds the price at which the same or similar gasoline was readily obtainable in the same area from other competing sellers.” It now stands a good chance of passing as part of broader energy legislation.

Congress Could End the Organ Shortage Now

There are things you can do to help mitigate the shortage of transplantable organs such as kidneys. For example, you can identify yourself as an organ donor on your drivers license. You can join LifeSharers. And if you’re really generous, you can give your organs away.

But Congress could end the shortage of transplantable organs entirely right now by repealing the ban on organ sales. Until it does, it will have the blood on its hands of the 6,000 people who die each year on the transplant waiting list.

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