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Category Archives: Law
Jan
23
Why states may legalize drugs
I believe that states have the constitutional right to legalize drugs. For, the Constitution is silent on the federal government’s ability to regulate or ban substances that adults choose to digest at their own peril—or medical relief.
The Constitution is so silent on this matter of individual liberty (choosing to digest or use drugs) that in order to ban the sale of alcohol during the Prohibition era, we passed the 18th Amendment. When we wised up and realized that banning alcohol doesn’t work, we repealed the 18th Amendment via the 21st Amendment. I contest that federal drug laws are unconstitutional because they do not stem from a constitutional amendment.
Posted in Law, National Security
10 Comments
Dec
12
Santa Baby, bring me coal
I want a coal plant for Christmas, and not because I’m a naughty girl. I want lots of coal so I can power up the high-tech toys Santa is bringing me, including an electronic robot maid that cooks and cleans, a 32-meter-wide TV and a modern, coal-fired steam locomotive that allows me to bypass the TSA Grope Squad when I travel cross-country.
OK, so Santa probably won’t be sending a full-size, coal-fired train down my chimney. But, like many of you, I may be getting small electronics for Christmas (or Hanukkah). As millions of us ring in the New Year by adding new gadgets to the power grid, we need to make sure we have ample electricity to fire up our cutting-edge iPads, TVs, sound systems and smartphones.
Americans get almost half of their electricity from coal. I think coal is a wonderful source of energy and we need to continue producing it.
Posted in Economy, Law, Sustainability
3 Comments
Dec
05
Frack, baby, frack!
I have a slam-dunk plan for creating jobs: Frack, baby, frack. Move like Shaq. Let’s beat the buzzer, Shaq-style, and score points for the U.S. economy. Frack Attack!
Like basketball referees, ratings agencies Moody’s and Fitch Ratings are signaling they may join Standard and Poor’s in calling a foul on the U.S. economy. The good news is that we can move toward recovery by fracking shale for gas and oil—producing energy and creating jobs simultaneously.
Posted in Economy, Law, Sustainability
5 Comments
Nov
28
Dump the EPA
Like a bad lover, the EPA is a nagging, beguiling mooch. The EPA unconstitutionally barged into our lives and we need to break free from this destructive relationship; let’s give the EPA a two-letter title beginning with ‘E’ and ending with ‘X.’
President Nixon formed a group called the President’s Advisory Council on Executive Organization to help him sidestep Congress and mold public policy. On April 29, 1970, the Council wrote a memo advising Nixon to establish: “an Environmental Protection Administration, a new independent agency of the Executive Branch. … [and the] Executive Branch should be so structured that a high order of public interest is served in making policy, rather than a narrower advocacy position.”
Posted in Economy, Law, Sustainability
3 Comments
Nov
07
Flipping students the bird
Steve Jobs was suspended from high school for playing a salacious prank on the graduating senior class. Biographer Walter Isaacson says Jobs and his friends tie-dyed a bedsheet with the school colors and enlisted one of their mothers to paint a large hand extending its middle finger across the sheet. Jobs hung the homespun banner from a school balcony and flipped off the seniors during their commencement procession.
It was as if the eventual college dropout and entrepreneurial billionaire wanted to say: “Eff formal education. I will learn and earn on my own terms.”
Today, President Obama is effectively giving college students and their parents his middle finger. Whereas Jobs’ prank was harmless and symbolic, the President’s plan to bail out student loans will derail the entrepreneurial dreams and financial security of countless young people.
Posted in Education, Law
3 Comments
Oct
31
Tax ethics for smarties
I have tax reform guidelines, and they’re not for dummies. My guidelines are for smart people who think rationally. Irrational folks like Warren Buffet may need to eat a bag of Halloween candy before they’re alert enough to understand my conception of ethical taxation.
I think we need to ask ourselves a fundamental question: “Under what circumstances may our government rightfully seize and spend our money?”
Posted in Economy, Law
4 Comments
Oct
24
How sex sells socialism
When all else fails, sex sells. The only way to sell the American public on socialism is to use sex appeal because socialism does not appeal to reason or justice. And watching handsome high rollers head to prison is no doubt an Occupy Wall Streeter’s notion of ultimate bondage sex appeal.
The Department of Justice is not in the sales industry. Yet the DOJ appears hell-bent on prosecuting provocative cases that deflect responsibility for the financial crisis away from the government and onto the private sector.
Posted in Economy, Law, National Security
2 Comments
Oct
17
Why Capitalism Glorifies God
I contend that if you profess to believe in God, you must also embrace capitalism.
Lately, many religious shepherds are abandoning reason in favor of sentiment. Catholic nuns are joining Occupy Wall Street revelers, like zombies witnessing to rapturous fans. Meanwhile, Jewish activist and commentator Jake Goodman is hailing the Manhattan demonstration (which includes numerous blatantly anti-Semitic protesters) as a group of people “philanthropizing with their feet.”
Posted in Economy, Law
11 Comments
Oct
10
The duty of selfish disobedience
When a majority of progressive slugs call for thievery, I believe that a minority of “selfish” job creators may exercise Thoreau-style civil disobedience.
The Occupy Wall Street protestors setting up camp in Manhattan’s Financial District are not exercising civil disobedience. Rather, they are rousing hatred against an unprotected minority: The rich.
Posted in Economy, Law
13 Comments
Oct
05
Toasting 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey
Let me introduce you to Kieran Folliard, the Minneapolis entrepreneur behind 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey. As some of you know, last summer, I had a chance to visit Ireland and her pubs. Since my trip to Ireland I’ve become impressed with Folliard’s ability to bring authentic Irish spirit to the United States. So, when I heard that Folliard was selling his successful Twin Cities pubs (Kieran’s, The Liffey, The Local and Cooper) and developing a brand-new Irish Whiskey, I had to learn more.
In this video, Folliard talks to me about entrepreneurship, developing new liquor products, overcoming challenging regulations and working with the last independent distillery in Ireland, Cooley Distillery. Folliard’s positive attitude and can-do spirit are inspirational to entrepreneurs of all ages.
Posted in Economy, Law
3 Comments