Video: Thomas Sowell - Welfare

"Scores of family planning clinics in at least 12 states have received letters containing anthrax threats, according to officials of feminist and abortion-rights organizations.

Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said more than 200 clinics and advocacy organizations received letters Thursday delivered in Federal Express envelopes. Envelopes that were opened...

"In 2010, about 92 percent of those cases involved criminals trying to steal money over the internet, but this year everything changed.

The first signs emerged in December 2010, when activists with the online collective Anonymous called for digital sit-ins — known as distributed denial of service attacks — on the websites of companies that had refused to process payments for Wikileaks....

"Experts say that concentrated cyber-attacks have the ability to cripple a nation's ability to defend itself and destroy its economy and national wealth. Here is a list of some large recent cyber attacks."

"They emerged from 1960s radical chic to become America's most wanted fugitives. John Patterson on the Weather Underground, urban terrorists who never killed anyone - except themselves."

"While the Beltway’s budget debate hits a bump in the road, Main Street is looking more cracked, chipped and decrepit than ever. America’s 4 million miles of open roads and highways— which would wrap more than 160 times the around the world -- is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers' 2009 infrastructure study gave America’s roads a 'D-' grade.

And with state and local...

"In Q2 2009, total debt outstanding in the United States — financial plus nonfinancial debt — amounted to 373.4% of GDP. At the start of 1952, the debt-to-GDP ratio stood at only 130%. In fact, in the last decades the rise in total debt has increasingly outpaced nominal income — a development which gained momentum after the erosion of the last vestiges of the...

"New documentary 'We Are Legion' puts an actual human face on Anonymous, the hacktivist group whose members usually are seen wearing Guy Fawkes masks — if they are seen at all.

Considering Anonymous’ retaliatory acts against websites run by the Department of Justice and the entertainment industry just last week in response to the government takedown of file-sharing site Megaupload, 'We...

"The old Echo Theater on the courthouse square in Laurens, S.C., is now dubbed the World Famous Redneck Shoppe. It's crammed with racist memorabilia, from cheap Confederate flag flip-flops and bikinis, to T-shirts that announce, 'Ain't Racist, Just Never Met a Nigger I Liked.' The shop's operator, John Howard, boasts that he's been a 'member of the Ku Klux Klan for 40-some years.'

On...

In this piece, Jennifer Roback Morse extends the idea of the welfare state to areas such as social security. Morse contends that the rise of social security has caused parents to neglect the raising of their children, which in turn causes their children to neglect them in their old age. This pattern results in the breakdown of the family by furthering reliance on...

"Many window-making companies struggle because of the recession's effect on home building. But one little window company, Serious Materials, is 'booming,' says Fortune. 'On a roll,' according to Inc. magazine, which put Serious' CEO on its cover, with a story titled: 'How to Build a Great Company'.

The Minnesota Freedom Foundation tells me that this same little window company also gets...

"Big banks are bad for free markets. Far from being engines of free enterprise, they are conducive to what might be called 'crony capitalism,' 'corporatism,' or, in Jonah Goldberg’s provocative phrase, 'liberal fascism.' There is a free-market case for breaking up large financial institutions: that our big banks are the product, not of economics, but of politics.

There’s a long debate...

"When it comes to infrastructure, President Obama faces a tricky balancing act. On one side he needs to invest in the kind of infrastructure that the nation needs to remain competitive and put us on the path to a low-carbon future. On the other he has to operate in a constrained fiscal environment with programs that are in fundamental need of reform.

With that as a backdrop the...

This article discusses the possibility of the resurrection of the ancient muslim Caliphate, whose aim would be to bring the world under Islamic dominion. Raymond Ibrahim states clearly that if the West desires to avoid this possibility it must act now, while it has the upper hand and before it is too late to act. While he says this is the only option, he also realizes the West has no way to...

"The office of Senator Jeff Sessions, ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, sends along this chart, showing that 'America’s Per Capita Government Debt Worse Than Greece,' as well as Ireland, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain."

"High profile bankruptcies, plunging sales, and canceled acquisitions are raising questions of whether alternative energy can fulfill its promise as the next great growth industry for Massachusetts and the nation.

Struggling with dwindling subsidies, a weak economy, and fierce competition from China, the US alternative energy industry appears to be entering a period of consolidation...

"Insider trading is illegal — except for members of Congress. A Wall Street executive who buys or sells stock based on insider information would face a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and quite possibly a federal prosecutor. But senators and congressmen are free to legally trade stock based on nonpublic information they have obtained through their official positions as elected...

"Would a farmer who put out a trough of slop be surprised if it attracted a bunch of pigs? Then why are activists who promote enlarging the size and scope of government shocked when one program after another is hijacked by corporations that find it easier to seek favors in Washington than customers in the marketplace? And, knowing that such corruption is inevitable, why do mainstream media...

"As Congress debates how to meet the nation’s long-term transportation needs, decaying roads, bridges, railroads and transit systems are costing the United States $129 billion a year, according to a report issued Wednesday by a professional group whose members are responsible for designing and building such infrastructure.

Complex calculations done for the American Society of Civil...

"Why is Islamism a threat to democracy? Because, according to its interpretations, sharia regulates every aspect of an individual’s life; moreover, because it is considered God’s law, no compromises are possible. The holistic nature of Islamist ideology makes it fundamentally incompatible with the self-criticism and exercise of free will necessary for human beings to form truly liberal and...

"As the fastest growing global super-power, China commands attention by all the super-powers and especially by the middle powers all over the world. Pundits ask whether Islamic Banking, which China looks upon favorably, will be a new challenge to Wall Street. Islamic banking will not pose a quantitative challenge in terms of nominal assets during our lifetime, but it has the potential to...

Jim Harper examines the H.R. 6975 Bill which passed before Congress and declares his belief that it is completely unnecessary. He writes, "It’s embarassing that a strong, free country like ours would even consider an idea like this," in regards to its requirements that an alien must declare he/she will not attempt to establish Sharia Law in the United States.

"A widespread and unusually resilient computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of several government agencies, including some that are responsible for fighting cyber crime, The Associated Press has learned.

The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend...

"You’ve heard it from government officials high and low, from your local municipality to the president of the United States: America’s infrastructure needs a reboot.

But while the nation is captivated by smart power grids and improved water mains and larger airports and wider highways and deeper sewers and more efficient waste management — all vital systems to modern living, no doubt...

"The price of gasoline is expected to hit a record high of around NIS 7.99 per liter at midnight on Thursday, on the back of a sharp rise in global oil prices amid tensions over Iran.

Politicians, business leaders and consumer groups all weighed in on the debate Tuesday on how to reduce prices, ahead of the Energy and Water Ministry’s announcement of the maximum price gasoline stations...

"During the American wind industry's annual convention this week, two of the boldest proposals for the future of renewable industry didn’t involve bigger or better turbines. They're instead focusing on the comparatively unsexy issue of America’s creaking electricity grid. The Internet giant Google and an upstart New Mexico-based company called Tres Amigas want to transform the way power gets...

"The 'partnership of government and business' is a new term for an old, old condition. We often fail to realize that the point of much of Big Government is precisely to set up such 'partnerships,' for the benefit of both government and business, or rather, of certain business firms and groups that happen to be in political favor.

We all know, for example, that 'mercantilism,' the...

"Mark Twain famously wrote, 'There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.' Peter Schweizer's new book, 'Throw Them All Out,' reveals this permanent political class in all its arrogant glory. (Full disclosure: Mr. Schweizer is employed by my political action committee as a foreign-policy adviser.)

Mr. Schweizer answers the questions so many of us have asked. I...

Commenting on statistics from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy survey, George Leef notes how low literacy standards actually are. According to Leef, the basic literacy skills of high school students are falling and even college fails to help much in...

Allan Meltzer is widely considered to be one of the world's foremost experts on the development and applications of monetary policy. He served on the Council of Economic Advisors for both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan. Mr. Meltzer is currently working at Carnegie Mellon University's...

"The recent flow of funds data released by the Fed shows that a level of private debt continues to soar. For instance, home mortgages as a percentage of disposable income rose to 97.9% in Q2 from 97% in the quarter before. The non-financial debt-to-nominal-GDP ratio stood at a record 2.1 in Q2 the same figure as in the previous quarter.

"We have no financial reserve for such an inevitability. California, among the likeliest of locations for the blow, is effectively bankrupt with little capacity for shared sacrifice or any sort of rebuilding effort of the sort that would be required if the luck that has held off the 'Big One' runs out in the next decade.

This is a sobering reality, but one that Congress and state...

"The chairman of the Jewish Defense League and a member of the extremist organization are accused of a bombing scheme aimed at the office of an Arab-American congressman and a prominent Los Angeles mosque."

"'Beltway Earnings Make U.S. Capital Richer Than Silicon Valley.' According to the latest Census figures, Washington, D.C. is now the wealthiest metropolitan area in the United States.

That's good news for local property values, but I can't say it fills me with hometown pride. After all, Silicon Valley's wealth was earned -- just rewards voluntarily given for producing innovations that...

"Main Street remains suspicious of government plans to buy distressed mortgage assets. Leading politicians and newspaper editorials are struggling to explain how the financial bailout will help Main Street. They see that the challenge is to get the American people to come around.

In fact, it is the elites who are badly misguided. The reality is that the Paulson plan is nothing more than...

"Green energy investments are coming from every direction. Whether it is the stimulus package or the cap and trade bills proposed in Congress, the government is eager to invest taxpayer dollars in renewable energy technology. As Americans become desensitized to the copious amounts of money the government is spending, clean energy investments are growing from millions to billions. And companies...

"Taking a step back from the emotional response of environmental devastation, let’s take a look at offshore drilling more broadly: How much oil do we currently produce from offshore drilling, and how much might we potentially recover? What’s the status of the moratorium banning offshore drilling in various areas? What are the environmental risks? And perhaps most importantly, what is the...

"As 'Occupy Wall Street' continues to grow globally, many wonder what is causing the movement in the first place and what the outcome will be. The naming of the movement, related to Wall Street where it all started, does not do justice to the real issues. Yes, the original protests started with dissatisfaction at lavish bonuses and salaries in the financial sector, when seemingly little...

"The Kaloko dam in Hawaii stood 116 years – until last year when it collapsed after heavy rains, killing seven.

Potential disaster was averted in April in Hollis, N.H., when a dozen families were evacuated and engineers made a controlled breach of an old pond dam to keep it from failing.

Such incidents are warning signs that many of the nation's more than 87,000 dams are in need...

"Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) has pledged to block a Bush administration proposal being steamrolled through Congress to grant the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve sweeping new powers. Slowing things down would allow Congress to debate the issue fully before approving measures that could put taxpayers on the hook for billions in debt incurred by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government...

"A secret FBI report, obtained by ABC News, identifies 22 domestic terror organizations as the current subjects of 338 active FBI field investigations.

The Aryan Nations, and other white supremacist groups, are cited in the report for hate crimes, fire bombings, threats via mail, as well as robberies and murders. The National Alliance, one of the largest neo-Nazi organizations in the...

"When some American pundits call sharia, 'a growing threat to the United States,' Muslim Americans wonder what in the world are they talking about. [S]haria is overwhelmingly concerned with personal religious observance, not with constitutions and laws. All observant Muslims practice sharia. Defining sharia as a threat, therefore, is the same thing as saying that all observant Muslims are a...

Volokh, a UCLA law professor, argues that it is acceptable for private contracts to require sharia-based dispute resolution. He states that the United States law has long provided for parties to turn to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration, including on the basis of secular or religious laws that some might consider unfair.

Cinnamon Stillwell describes the recent trend towards marginalizing radical Islamists. She mentions the growing trend by leading radical Islamist apologist John Esposito towards calling these radicals, merely "moderates." She concludes by saying, "Britain can serve as a cautionary tale for the West. Scholars who downplay the threats to democratic societies posed by the encroachments of Sharia...

In the eyes of Mitch Pearlstein, social welfare programs have done a lot of good, but they are also responsible for tearing down families. Pearlstein continues by declaring that when welfare programs break up the family, they also further the level of crime in our nation. The article infers that states could save tax money on crime by reducing tax spending on...

"This Wednesday, there will be a new reference point for the state of infrastructure in the United States—the American Society of Civil Engineers will release a report card, grading America's dams, bridges, roads and schools. The previous ASCE report card, issued in 2005, gave the country a grade of D, and called for $1.6 trillion over five years to fix the country. This year, expect the...

As the title suggests, an alarming amount of the D.C. population struggles with literacy skills. The article notes that "[a]dults are considered functionally illiterate if they have trouble doing such things as comprehending bus schedules, reading maps and filling out...

"Fears of an April Fools' Day attack by the so-called 'Conficker' worm – fears that were confirmed this week when 700 computers at the University of Utah were attacked – raised the profile of the potential for cyber-criminals to enter networks and siphon off private information."

"The Obama administration’s game plan for passing their financial regulatory reform plan is clear: ignore the details of their bill, demonize Wall Street, and cast conservatives as the pawns of big bankers. But as Politico reports today, there’s a complication in their battle plan: 'The Democratic Party is closer to corporate...

"The landscape of America, at last count, is dotted with 79,272 large dams. Most of them safely deliver bountiful benefits - trillions of gallons of water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use, plus flood control, recreation, hydroelectric power, and navigation.

That's the good news.

Here, in my opinion, is the bad news: Disaster lurks in thousands of those dams.

At...

"With the recent rate hike, the mainstream press obediently parrots the macroeconomic analysis offered by our friendly central planners at the Federal Reserve. The average citizen knows that he or she is not nearly smart enough to understand the complex interrelationships of various price indices, yield curves, consumer confidence, and so forth—that’s Greenspan’s...

"The American electric grid is an engineering marvel, arguably the single largest and most complex machine in the world. It's also 40 years old and so rickety that power interruptions and blackouts cost the economy some $150 billion a year. The idea of building a connected 'smart' grid that can route power intelligently is beyond daunting, no matter how much stimulus money gets thrown at it....

"Milton Friedman once said that there is 'nothing so permanent as a temporary government program.' I would add to this: there is nothing so permanent as a war on terror. Ask the British or the Israelis or any other government which has decided to wage a similar war.

The 2001 signing of the PATRIOT Act marked the beginning of a 'temporary' and unofficial state of emergency for the...

"I've just gotten around to reading Orin Kerr's fine paper 'Applying the Fourth Amendment to the Internet: A General Approach.' Like most everything he writes on the topic of technology and privacy, it is thoughtful and worth reading. Here, from the abstract, are the main conclusions:

'First, the traditional physical distinction...

In this piece, James Payne extends the negative effects of the welfare state to government's role in the realm of adoption. According to Payne, government management of the adoption system not only inhibits loving families from adopting children, it also encourages unloving families to adopt through the offer of welfare subsidies. Payne believes that offering...

"An American citizen from an upscale suburb here was convicted on Tuesday of conspiring to support Al Qaeda and of other terrorism charges.

Federal prosecutors told the jury that Tarek Mehanna, 29, of Sudbury, traveled to Yemen in 2004 to train as a terrorist with the goal of attacking American soldiers in Iraq. Mr. Mehanna, a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and...

"One of the more extreme government abuses of the post-9/11 era targets U.S. citizens re-entering their own country, and it has received far too little attention. With no oversight or legal framework whatsoever, the Department of Homeland Security routinely singles out individuals who are suspected of no crimes, detains them and questions them at the airport, often for hours, when they return...

"We now have an extraordinary situation that reveals the impunity with which political elites commit the most egregious crimes, as well as the special privileges to which they explicitly believe they — and they alone — are entitled. That a large bipartisan cast of Washington officials got caught being paid substantial sums of money by an Iranian dissident group that is legally designated by...

"When complicated issues like the debt suddenly become national news controversies, sometimes the tendency is to emphasize the drama of the story rather than explain the basics of the issue. What is the debt? Why is it growing? Should we be terribly concerned about it? And how would we fix it if we had to? Martin Baily answers those questions in the interview...

"America's power grid today resembles the country's canal system of the 19th Century. A marvel of engineering for its time, the canal system eventually could not keep pace with the growing demands of transcontinental transportation.

More than 150 years later, America's infrastructure is again changing in ways that its designers never anticipated. Distributed and intermittent electricity...

"This chart by Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow, Veronique de Rugy, compiles data from the United States Treasury to illustrate our nation’s total commitments – even if no new participants ever enroll in Medicare or Social Security. This amount represents $14.124 trillion in balance sheet liabilities plus $52.145 trillion in net present value of the scheduled...

This "graphic illustrates how serious the issue is and how influential the targets. Major credit cards, gaming platforms, governments, banks and news organizations have all been the victims of cyber attacks. It’s a dangerous problem that seems to be getting worse."

"The compensation policies of the Federal Reserve System also deserve scrutiny. The chart compares average wages of workers in the U.S. private sector and workers in the 12 Federal Reserve Banks. In recent years, the average wage in the Fed’s regional banks has soared, reaching $84,054 in 2009, or 67 percent greater than the private sector average wage of $50,462....

Here you can see the nearly exponential rise in the number of cyber-attacks in recent years. The rapid growth in technology coupled with the expanding amount of information on the Internet has opened the floodgates for cyber-criminals.

This chart graphs total welfare spending from 1950 to 2008. Welfare spending began a drastic ascent after the beginning of the 1964 War on Poverty, and although various reforms have caused the increases to level off at certain times, government welfare spending has still climbed to over $700 billion dollars per year.

This infographic offers a look at some of the most startling facts and numbers on the problem of identity theft.

This chart shows the monthly total borrowed by the government from the Fed from 1989 to 2008 in light of several bailout efforts.

"Overall, Muslim Americans are fairly traditional in their religious beliefs. For example, 86% say that the Koran is 'the word of God' and half (50%) say that the Koran is to be read literally, word for word. Fewer than one-in-10 U.S. Muslims (8%) say the Koran is a book written by men. In this regard, Muslims in this country are more likely to adopt a strict literal view of the Koran than...

"While office theft by employees has been a problem since the invention of the office, it seems during times of economic uncertainty office theft rises substantially. Just how bad is it? How about 994 billion dollars being attributed to employees stealing? The infographic below clearly shows that employee theft is on the rise; and more startling is the fact that no one is immune to the lure of...

Each year, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors issues the Economic Report of the President, which details the nation's economic progress using text and data appendices. It reviews last year's economic activity, makes projections, and, based on the President's economic agenda, outlines goals for the coming year. Table 1.1 from the 2009 report records data on GDP,...

These charts show the reactions and opinions of Moms and Gen-Y individuals on the compatibility of Islamic Sharia law with the American court system.

Survey participants were asked the following question:

"Thinking now about the Muslim Brotherhood in respect to the United States. Do you agree or disagree that the Muslim Brotherhood should be permitted to operate or set up a branch for their organization within the United States?"

Here's another look at the number of terror incidents on U.S. soil over a 5 year period.

There were 318 terrorist incidents in the United States between 1980 and 2005, including 24 after 2001.

“Despite TANF’s emphasis on persuasion and changing the culture of welfare, there has been very little information about whether welfare reforms have begun to change how people think about desirable family formation outcomes. Here, we present new information on this question from two recent surveys. Abt Associates conducted the surveys from 1999-2000 in Delaware...

"The Fourth Amendment famously provides that:

'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be...

In order to assess the behavioral and cognitive differences between children on welfare and children off welfare, this study examined families in both categories. The researchers discovered a few interesting surprises, but overall, their original assumptions were proved correct. One of their findings showed that children growing up on welfare are more likely to be...

"Americans are gloomy about their economy’s ability to produce. Are they right to be? We look at two areas of concern, transport infrastructure and innovation."

"As the smoke clears in New York and Kabul, one blind spot still blocks the Western lens in the war against terror. There remains no official definition of 'terrorism.' The need for such a definition was affirmed by representatives of over 150 countries at a UN conference held in October 2001 on 'What is Terrorism?' They came armed with prior resolutions that ban terrorism in any context, no...

"The Western legal system bases it[s] value system upon Judo-Christian values which emphasi[ze] the individual while Islam strongly advocates community. The very topic of this paper must attempt to deal with two completely different systems. Most from the West are familiar with their system, thus this paper will first attempt to help the reader understand Shariah."

"This article presents a composite price index covering the period since 1750 which can be used for analyses of consumer price inflation, or the purchasing power of the pound, over long periods of time. The index is based on both official and unofficial sources and replaces previous long-run inflation indices produced by the ONS, the Bank of England and the House of Commons Library. It shows...

"Assorted 'cyber attacks' have attracted much attention in the past few months. One headline in this genre recently proclaimed 'Anonymous Declares War on Orlando.' This is wrong on so many levels that it almost defies analysis. A more precise accounting would show that there have been no cyber wars and perhaps two or three cyber attacks since the Internet first appeared.

The most ironic...

This report looks at the impact of the Federal Reserve's money supply increases on the price of oil.

Rapidly rising energy prices are imposing a significant burden on American families and businesses. Since the end of 2008, the price of oil (West Texas intermediate, Cushing) has increased by 150 percent from $42.40...

Daniel Solove addresses the issue of privacy in the Information Age. He claims the court has reverted to the discredited Olmstead Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. The Olmestead court lacked "responsiveness to new technology, unwarranted formalism… and failure to see the larger purposes of the Fourth Amendment." The modern Court's insistence on not...

"Homegrown terrorists are making headlines — most recently in Bandera County, where the sheriff’s office issued a warning to citizens last month after the shooting death of an officer and in Hempstead, where a man awaits trial after attempting to aid al-Qaeda. These incidents — two of many in the past months — are acts that are individualistic and were spurred by dramatically different beliefs...

This piece features a debate between two legal scholars on the issue of whether or not such laws as the "Protect America Act of 2007" violate the Fourth Amendment rights of individuals. Their debate centers around the eavesdropping restrictions provided in FISA. According to Chemerinsky, "The Fourth Amendment generally requires that searches, including...

"Although piracy of software on personal computers (PC) declined in many countries in 2007, fast growing PC markets in some of the world’s highest piracy nations caused overall numbers to worsen—a trend that is expected to continue. Moreover, dollar losses from piracy rose by $8 billion to nearly $48 billion.

These are among the findings of the Fifth Annual BSA and IDC Global Software...

"Leading authorities in the United States, including the Congressional Budget Office, use the term 'unsustainable' to describe the long-term fiscal outlook. By the year 2080, spending on entitlements alone could exceed total federal tax revenues. In the very long run (meaning from the year 2035 through 2080), the problem is primarily one of 'excess costs' in health...

After beginning her paper with various statistics on American literacy rates, Jeanne Allen discusses several ways in which literacy problems are dealt with. Allen advises the public to avoid increasing school spending and federal involvement, while also encouraging a...

This piece provides an interesting look into a decade in which the welfare state was growing, but was definitely not as massive as it is today. Mary Jo Bane examines whether or not the increasing influence of welfare was detrimental to society and the family. Her analysis suggests that the welfare state was not overly damaging, but could grow to be a problem in the...

John L. Esposito and John. O. Voll discuss the various opinions and viewpoints about Islam and democracy from a Muslim perspective.  They point out different facets to be considered and ultimately conclude that there can be such a thing as Islamic democracy.

"Sharia, or Islamic law, influences the legal code in most Muslim countries. A movement to allow sharia to govern personal status law, a set of regulations that pertain to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and custody, is even expanding into the West. 'There are so many varying interpretations of what sharia actually means that in some places it can be...

"In Mayfield v. United States, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken (District of Oregon) held that parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978, which were altered by the USA Patriot Act in 2001, are unconstitutional. The case was brought by Brandon Mayfield, a who was put under extensive surveillance and then detained for two weeks because the FBI suspected him of...

"The first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans finds them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world.

The Pew Research Center conducted more than 55,000 interviews to obtain a national sample of 1,050 Muslims living in the United States. Interviews...

"The recent Supreme Court decision in Marshall V. Barlow offers businesses a Fourth Amendment shield against warrantless inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Although hailed by some business spokesmen as a great victory, the decision is unlikely to have much effect on OSHA enforcement.

At...

"So what is this ideology we label Islamic-Fascism? What are its sources, theories, aims, and who are its proponents? The answers to many of these questions can be found in a collection of violent Islamic thought called Qutbism. (8) Qutbism refers to the writings of Sayyid Qutb and other islamic theoreticians, e.g., Abul Ala Maududi and Hassan al Banna, that provide the intellectual rationale...

"Our nation’s economy and our quality of life require a highway and roadway system that provides a safe, reliable, efficient, and comfortable driving environment. Although highway fatalities and traffic-related injuries declined in 2007, the drop is most likely attributable to people driving less. Still, in 2007, 41,059 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes and 2,491,000 were injured. 4...

"Extremist and potentially terroristic groups have, to some extent, infiltrated and negatively impacted on the morale and cohesiveness of individual military personnel and units. Racial, religious and political ideological differences will continue to exist within and among active duty military personnel, primarily as a reflection of the same issues in the civilian society. Fair and effective...

"This study evaluates published appellate legal cases that involved 'conflict of law' issues between Shariah (Islamic law) and American state law. For every case in this sample drawn from published appellate legal cases, there are innumerable cases at the trial level that remain unnoticed except by the participants. Thus, this report is a only a sample of possible cases—a 'tip of the iceberg'—...

"This question is popping up more and more. The idea of canceling the debt seems to gain support in direct proportion to the increase in the debt itself. Should we or shouldn’t we? At present levels, the national debt is about $5 trillion. It grows by hundreds of billions each year. Current levels of federal spending will add about $1 trillion more in debt over the...

Were the individuals involved in the Boston Tea Party activists? Extremists? Terrorists? Todd Alan Kreamer gives his opinion and puts their actions into 21st century perspective.

"With terrorism still prominent on the U.S. national agenda, whether the country’s prevention efforts match the threat it faces continues to be central in policy debate. One element of this debate is questioning whether the United States, like some other countries, needs a dedicated domestic intelligence agency. To examine this question, Congress directed that the U.S. Department of Homeland...

Combining the opinions of a variety of panelists, this piece discusses the issue of healthy marriage and its relation to the welfare state, especially amongst low-income communities. This piece recognizes that the promotion of marriage is a good thing, and also brings up several statistics showing the direct correlation between the growth of welfare and the...

In a very entertaining and thorough portrait of the environmental activist movement, Robert Sullivan describes some of the main figures behind the extreme Environmental Liberation Front.

"Abstract: Since John Roberts Jr. became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, there has been a measurable decline in the number of cases addressing Fourth Amendment questions. This article examines the reasons for that decline and predicts the substantial elimination of Fourth Amendment litigation in the Roberts Court. The prediction is based on several premises,...

"The Austrian economists—Mises, Rothbard, and Hayek most prominently—were not alone in predicting the baneful effects of central banking and paper money. More than 25 years ago, former US central bank chairman Arthur Burns (who was also Murray Rothbard’s faculty adviser until he took a position at the Fed) gave a shocking speech at the meeting of the International...

"The specter of a credit downgrade looms, and it is frightful. A downgrade threatens to push interest rates higher, making it more difficult for consumers to borrow, for businesses to hire, and for the economy to grow. But even more frightening is the cause of the potential downgrade: unsustainable deficits fueled by government spending. There is, however, a way to exorcise this threat. The...

"Americans should only expect the federal government to do what they are willing to pay for it to do. During the last 50 years, we’ve balanced the federal budget only six times. Given our strong economy, lenders, both domestic and foreign, have thus far been willing to finance our national debt. However, in light of projected deficit and debt burdens, this may...

In this piece, the author uses the Patriot Act to explore how the Courts have frequently minimized the institutional protections offered by the Fourth Amendment. First, she examines how the Patriot Act has expanded executive power while further diminishing the Court's power. Secondly, she explores the public's reaction to four controversial Patriot Act provisions....

"Over the last 35 years, the U.S. government has embarked on several major projects to spur the commercial development of energy technologies intended to substitute for conventional energy resources, especially fossil fuels. Those efforts began with the 1973 energy crisis when President Nixon became the first U.S. leader to announce a plan for energy autarky. Presidents Ford and Carter...

"With more than 1 billion adherents, Islam is the world’s second-largest religion after Christianity. Within its mainstream traditions, Islam teaches piety, virtue and tolerance. Ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, however, many Americans have associated Islam with the fundamentalist groups that preach violence against the West and regard 'moderate' Muslims...

"Under the Obama administration, the influence and involvement of trade unions in government policy decisions has surged to unprecedented levels. Some of the more egregious examples include the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, which abolishes the secret ballot among workers deciding on union representation and imposes forced interest arbitration of contract disputes; the selective protection...

This research brief seeks to assess the impacts of welfare reform on personal affairs such as family, marriage, and childbearing. The researchers imply that many welfare reform programs do not have a positive effect on marriage and out-of-wedlock birth rates. However, as the report goes on, the researchers do admit that several state welfare reform programs have...

"H.R. 3523, a piece of legislation dubbed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (or CISPA for short), has been created under the guise of being a necessary implement in America’s war against cyberattacks. But the vague verbiage contained within the pages of the paper could allow Congress to circumvent existing exemptions to online privacy laws and essentially monitor, censor and...

Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Gerald Corrigan discussed the purpose of the Federal Reserve and its role in economic crises, including the 2008 recession.

"In Pennsylvania, there are nearly 6,000 bridges in disrepair – the most in the nation. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 39 percent of bridges in the state are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. In the first segment of a five part series on infrastructure in the U.S., PBS NewsHour Senior Correspondent Ray Suarez reports with Blueprint America on Pennsylvania’s...

"In a stunning move that has civil libertarians stuttering with disbelief, the U.S. Senate has just passed a bill that effectively ends the Bill of Rights in America.

The National Defense Authorization Act is being called the most traitorous act ever witnessed in the Senate, and the language of the bill is cleverly designed to make you think it doesn't apply to Americans, but toward the...

"Washington Post's Dana Priest reports on the sprawling post-9/11 terrorism-industrial complex — and its growing reach into the lives of ordinary Americans." Here is the transcript.

From the General Motors bailout to subsidies for Solyndra, crony capitalism is as serious a threat to liberty, free markets and civil society as ever. Cato Institute Senior Fellow Tom G. Palmer recently discussed The Morality of Capitalism (...

"The U.S. government is about to declare a new war, but this time the enemy is a virtual one. A string of attacks on government websites by hackers has driven American policy-makers into a state of high-alert over a so-called terrorist threat. But some doubt the danger even exists, as RT's Lucy Kafanov reports."

Attorney General Eric Holder addresses the questions of due process, judicial process and the 4th Amendment. Since the Obama administration ordered the killing of American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, there has been substantial debate surrounding the constitutionality of such a power. Does every citizen deserve due process?

After offering a variety of statistics on the types of illiteracy in America, this news clip goes on to introduce several adults who struggled with functional illiteracy and the effects that the inability to read had on their lives. For many people, illiteracy causes fear and discourages mobility, and for others the inability to read has long term health...

"Rep. Michele Bachmann, (R-Minn.) discusses how the U.S. is not fiscally prepared to handle an event on the scale of that which rocked Japan."

"Step inside the eye of a solar storm and the measures scientists take to predict them."

What might it be able to do to Earth and is the U.S. prepared?

"Watch Congressman Pete Stark blow up when Jan Helfeld asks him why Stark believes, 'the more we owe, the wealthier we are.'"

Ron Paul lays out his argument against the NDAA, particularly the martial law provision.

"In what some have described as police enforcement of Sharia law at the annual Dearborn Arab International Festival, last Friday night Dearborn Police Officers arrested four Christian missionaries... [and] confiscated their video cameras which were recording the events surrounding their arrests...Arrested on charges of Breach of the Peace are: Negeen Mayel, Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, Paul Rezkalla,...

What can the Stuxnet worm accomplish? Who can use it? Does it threaten Americans?

"Dr. Steve Horwitz explains the cause and costs of inflation."

In this clip, Thomas Sowell debates Pennsylvania's welfare secretary Helen Bohen O'Bannion. The former adamantly argues that the welfare state is at fault for the decided decline of the black family through the years. Sowell's debate opponent implies that it is the responsibility of the government to try to lift up the lower class' standard of living....

"This book is the first attempt at writing Islamic laws For Muslims who have settled in non-Muslim Countries. Muslims who were compelled to leave their countries, and the places where they grew up, and had to migrate to non-Muslim countries in which they now live under different laws and systems, dissimilar values and rules, and unfamiliar customs and habits. The modes of conduct and manners...

"During the meetings on inflation, I listened carefully to many valuable suggestions. Since the summit, I have evaluated literally hundreds of ideas, day and night.

My conclusions are very simply stated. There is only one point on which all advisers have agreed: We must whip inflation right now.

"This book contains an account of our present knowledge of the history and of the outlines of the system of Islamic law. It is intended for two groups of readers: students of history, social sciences, and comparative law on the one hand, and on the other, students of Arabic who might wish to embark upon this particularly important and attractive branch of Islamic studies. Islamic law provides...

This document explains the basics of Sharia and shows its roots. It also shows its importance in Islam and its basis within the Qur'an.

"A well-functioning transportation system is critical to America’s economic future. Whether it is by road, transit, aviation, rail, pipeline, or waterway, we rely on our transportation system to move people and goods safely, facilitate commerce, attract and retain businesses, and support jobs. The President’s 2013 Budget provides a total of $74 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding...

This proposed piece of legislation would allow the federal government to take away U.S. citizenship without the individual necessarily being convicted of a crime.

"The Internet allows businesses of all sizes and from any location to reach new and larger markets and provides opportunities to work more efficiently by using computer-based tools. Whether a business is thinking of adopting cloud computing or just using email and maintaining a website, cybersecurity should be a part of the plan. Theft of digital information has become the most commonly...

"An Act To provide for the establishment of Federal reserve banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper, to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States, and for other purposes."

The most current version of the Act is available at the Federal Reserve's...

"To require aliens to attest that they will not advocate installing a Sharia law system in the United States as a condition for admission, and for other purposes."

"To establish a fee on transactions which would eliminate the national debt and replace the income tax on individuals."

"Nearly a quarter of the nation’s major urban roads are rated in substandard or poor condition, providing motorists with a rough ride and increasing the cost of operating a vehicle. While the share of the nation’s major urban roads in poor condition decreased from 2007 to 2008, potential deficits in state budgets, the completion of federal transportation stimulus projects and the failure of...

Renewed every year, this act (2011) allocates money to certain areas of the Department of Homeland Security.

"Is the United States bankrupt? Many would scoff at this notion. Others would argue that financial implosion is just around the corner. This paper explores these views from both partial and general equilibrium perspectives. It concludes that countries can go broke, that the United States is going broke, that remaining open to foreign investment can help stave off...

"If peace, harmony and equality are to prevail we should start by learning to better communicate with each other based on mutual respect, understanding and empathy of each other. Using such terms as 'Islamic fascists', 'Muslim terrorists' and 'Islamist fundamentalist extremists' do not help in fighting the so called 'war on terrorism'.

On the contrary, such offensive, irresponsible and...

"The nation's roads and highways are the backbone of the U.S. transportation system, allowing Americans to travel approximately 3 trillion miles annually. But conditions on the system are deteriorating, as the need for transportation improvements far outpaces the amount of funding available. As the nation looks to rebound from the current economic downturn, making needed improvements to roads...

"Mankind today is on the brink of a precipice, not because of the danger of complete annihilation which is hanging over its head-this being just a symptom and not the real disease -but because humanity is devoid of those vital values which are necessary not only for its healthy development but also for its real progress. Even the Western world realises that...

"Islamic law, known as the shari 'ah, is the framework of ultimate reality and the ethical guidance that Muslim scholars have derived from the direct Revelation of Allah to man. Although Allah reveals the pattern of ultimate truth indirectly through the workings of the physical universe and in the observable nature of man, the ultimate source of knowledge about both physical and metaphysical...

This piece of legislation is cited as "AN ACT To promote the national security by providing for a Secretary of Defense; for a National Military Establishment; for a Department of the Army, a Department of the Navy, and a Department of the Air Force; and for the coordination of the activities of the National Military Establishment with other departments and agencies...

This act was passed on the heels of the Oklahoma City bombing, making transactions with terrorists illegal. Moreover, the act sought federal jurisdiction over matters of international terrorism, foreshadowing the Patriot Act which would come 6 years later.

This is the sister bill of SOPA.

According to Joe Weisenthal, this speech finds "Dallas Fed Chief Richard Fisher...warning of the impact of cash that's not being lent out, and what he sees is debt monetiziation -- the Federal Reserve financing the government's spending directly.
...

"Our responsibility is to acknowledge this new environment and adapt our security instruments to it. That is the purpose of the DoD Cyber Strategy. We must prepare. We must recognize the interconnectedness of cyber. And we must be mindful of the many ways cyberspace is used–as a peaceful instrument of global communications, as a tool for economic growth–and, also, as an instrument to threaten...

The SAFE Act was a propsed piece of legislation to serve as an alternative for the Patriot Act. It did not pass.

The given intention of this act was to protect intellectual property through increased governmental regulation of the Internet. It has not yet passed in law.

"The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 precipitated what, in retrospect, is likely to be judged the most virulent global financial crisis ever. To be sure, the contraction in economic activity that followed in its wake has fallen far short of the depression of the 1930s. But the virtual withdrawal, on so global a scale, of private short term credit,...

"During the Carter administration, Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which created a new federal court to approve electronic surveillance of citizens and resident aliens alleged to be acting on behalf of a foreign power. Until now, the FISA court granted surveillance authority if foreign intelligence was the primary purpose of an...

"Throughout our nation’s history, Americans have found the courage to do right by our children’s future. Deep down, every American knows we face a moment of truth once again. We cannot play games or...

Ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in a series of cases in 1957, this act makes it illegal to advocate overthrowing the federal government. The act was mainly used to crack down on vocal communists. Though it has not been used for arrest since the Supreme Court decisions, the Smith Act is still on the books.

"Most political writers have concluded, that a republican government, over a very large territory, cannot exist; and as this opinion is sustained by alarming proofs, and weighty authorities, it is entitled to much respect, and serious consideration. All extensive territories in past times, and all in the present age, except those of the United States, have been, or...

"Rather than issuing the summons required by Virginia law, police arrested respondent Moore for the misdemeanor of driving on a suspended license. A search incident to the arrest yielded crack cocaine, and Moore was tried on drug charges. The trial court declined to suppress the evidence on Fourth Amendment grounds. Moore was convicted. Ultimately, the Virginia...

"As a governor of the Federal Reserve Board from 1996 to 2002, Laurence H. Meyer helped make the economic policies that steered the United States through some of the wildest and most tumultuous times in its recent history. Now, in A Term at...

"An engaging look at what led to the financial turmoil we now find ourselves in.

Bailout Nation offers one of the clearest looks at the financial lenders, regulators, and politicians responsible for the financial crisis of 2008. Written by Barry Ritholtz, one of today's most popular economic bloggers and a well-established industry pundit, this book skillfully explores how the United...

"In this first comprehensive comparison of left-wing violence in the United States and West Germany, Jeremy Varon focuses on America's Weather Underground and Germany's Red Army Faction to consider how and why young, middle-class radicals in prosperous democratic societies turned to armed struggle in efforts to overthrow their states. Based on a wealth of primary material, ranging from...

"Richard A. Clarke warned America once before about the havoc terrorism would wreak on our national security -- and he was right. Now he warns us of another threat, silent but equally dangerous. Cyber War is a powerful book about technology, government, and military strategy; about criminals, spies, soldiers, and hackers. This is the first book about the war of the future -- cyber war -- and a...

"Cyber Warfare explores the battlefields, participants and the tools and techniques used during today's digital conflicts. The concepts discussed in this book will give those involved in information security at all levels a better idea of how cyber conflicts are carried out now, how they will change in the future and how to detect and defend against espionage, hacktivism, insider threats and...

"An investigation into the 2001 US anthrax attacks leads to the realization that a new and terrible arms race may soon be upon us, one that spans the globe and is driven by an array of forces working with deadly microorganisms. Penetrating what they regard as an international 'bioweapons mafia,' Bob Coen and Eric Nadler encounter scientists, capitalists, politicians, and assassins - all...

"Emergency Response to Domestic Terrorism analyzes the emergency response to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. Terrorism is a complex threat, and the American government is expected to deter or intervene in every attack. For that reason, the government must be better prepared to respond to acts of terror. One critical element is to...

"Very high rates of family fragmentation in the United States are subtracting from what very large numbers of students are learning in school and forever holding them back in many other ways. This in turn is damaging the country economically by making us less primed for innovation while also making millions of Americans less competitive in an increasingly demanding worldwide marketplace. All...

"Inside Cyber Warfare provides fascinating and disturbing details on how nations, groups, and individuals throughout the world use the Internet as an attack platform to gain military, political, and economic advantages over their adversaries. You'll discover how sophisticated hackers working on behalf of states or organized crime patiently play a high-stakes game that could target anyone,...

"Hailed in The New York Times Book Review as 'the doyen of Middle Eastern studies,' Bernard Lewis has been for half a century one of the West's foremost scholars of Islamic history and culture, the author of over two dozen books, most notably The Arabs in History, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, The Political Language of Islam, and The Muslim Discovery of Europe. Eminent French historian...

"A behind-the-scenes exposure why our electricity system is headed for a state of emergency-and what can be done to head it off.

Most people don't realize that skyrocketing global energy demand and economic growth severely affect the supply of electricity. Between production (power plants) and delivery is an antiquated, 'third-world' transmission grid that is in desperate need of...

"Long before September 11, 2001, Daniel Pipes publicly warned Americans that militant Islam had declared war on America--yet sadly, Americans failed to take heed. The publication of Militant Islam Reaches America finally brought Pipes the attention he deserves. Dividing his work into two parts, Pipes first defines militant Islam, stressing the large and crucial difference between Islam, the...

Timothy McVeigh's lawyer recounts meeting McVeigh, the trial and offers his fascinating take on the entire tragic affair.

"The threats of economic espionage and intellectual property (IP) theft are global, stealthy, insidious, and increasingly common. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, IP theft is estimated to top $250 billion annually and also costs the United States approximately 750,000 jobs. The International Chamber of Commerce puts the global fiscal loss at more than $600 billion a year. Secrets...

"'Terror in the Name of God' examines terrorist violence and, particularly, how religion is used as its motivation and justification. Based on her vast scholarship and extensive personal interviews, she provides unprecedented insight into the organisations that are essential to terrorist action, and into the most effective ways to counter them. Jessica Stern lucidly explains the components of...

"Using extensive records from federal district courts, national archives, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Administration Office of U.S. Courts, Brent Smith examines the activities of persons investigated for acts of terrorism during the 1980s. He traces the lives of the men and women who turned to terrorism in America, the goals that motivated their behavior, and the crimes they...

"This book examines the history of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, and its interpretation by the U.S. Supreme Court. It concentrates on the changes in interpretation that have taken place since the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1961, decided in Mapp v. Ohio to apply the exclusionary rule--which...

"Can a man be content with a piece of bread and some change tossed his way from a passerby? Today's modern welfare state expects he can. Those who control the money in our society think that giving a dollar at the train station and then appropriating a billion dollars for federal housing can cure the ails of the homeless and the poor. But the crisis of the modern welfare state is more than a...

"Throughout history, rich and poor countries alike have been lending, borrowing, crashing--and recovering--their way through an extraordinary range of financial crises. Each time, the experts have chimed, 'this time is different'--claiming that the old rules of valuation no longer apply and that the new situation bears little similarity to past disasters. This book...

"After one hundred years in which increasing urbanization dominated U.S. settlement patterns, many large cities and even whole metropolitan areas have begun to lose population. If this dramatic turnaround continues, it will greatly affect the future quality of life in the United States. The growth of extensive urban settlements around big cities during the past century immensely influences...

A common concern of anyone with a personal computer is that of viruses. Viruses can cause harm to the computer and steal information. But, are government and military systems vulnerable as well? What might be...

Alpha 66 is largely made up of Cuban nationals who seek to overthrow the communist regime in Cuba.

Aryan Nations basic tenet is that "until the White race realizes that there is only one source from which we can ascertain lasting truths, there will never be peace or stability on this earth. In the immutable Laws of Nature are the keys to life, order, and understanding." This philosophy pervades all ideas behind their 88 precepts.

"The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization — a think tank — dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent, nonpartisan research on a wide range of policy issues."

"CAIR's mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding."

PBS provides this comprehensive page on the National Security Agency (NSA) and other measures the government is taking to "pre-emptively" fight terrorism.

"Ikhwanweb is the Muslim Brotherhood"s only official English web site. The Main office is located in London, although Ikhwanweb has correspondents in most countries. Our staff is exclusively made of volunteers and stretched over the five continents. ...

Our main misson is to present the Muslim Brotherhood vision right from the source and rebut misonceptions about the movement in western...

This radical group states: "The Jewish Defense League is the most controversial, yet the most effective, of all Jewish organizations. Never Again, the JDL motto, opposes the mainstream opinion that Jews shouldn't fight back when they are attacked."

The site has a good deal of information quantifying the national debt into terms that can relate to everyday people such as the information below:

"As of December 22, 2011, the official debt of the United States government is $15.1 trillion ($15,123,728,427,980). This amounts to:

 • $48,380 for every person living in the U.S.

 • $...

"The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 requires the creation of 'a website on the Internet to be named Recovery.gov, to foster greater accountability and transparency in the use of funds made available in this Act.' Recovery.gov went live on February 17, 2009, the day President Obama signed the...

Working with the Department of Homeland Security, "The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism - better known as START - is a university-based research center committed to the scientific study of the causes and human consequences of terrorism in the United States and around the world."

A copy of the Qu'ran online.

Wired gives regular updates on the cyber-world, I.P. espionage, and cyber-warfare.