“Political philosophy” on The Daily Caller

I have to admit, for a while I enjoyed watching MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow humiliate and embarrass Rand Paul when he tried to explain why he did not support the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the seminal legislation that forbade racial and other discrimination in restaurants and other businesses and facilities that were open to the public. (more)

I’ll admit, maybe the flat-screen TV’s and minifridges are a bit much, but, as far as socialist-leaning countries go, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Scandinavia. While for many libertarians and conservatives the “taxation is theft” debate immediately comes to mind when speaking of such countries, I’d rather point to the rationale behind Norway building the world’s “most humane prison”—to attempt to give people who are imprisoned a real chance at reintegrating into society upon release. In other words, a real, tangible concern for the welfare of people other than one’s self. Time writes: (more)

WASHINGTON — Amid mounting frustration over taxation and banking problems, small but growing numbers of overseas Americans are taking the weighty step of renouncing their citizenship. (more)

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Scattered among the hundreds of Tea Party activists rallying in Washington Thursday was a small but vocal group of young people. Though a recent poll by CBS News and the New York Times says young activists make up less than 25 percent of the movement, they are by no means a quiet minority. (more)

From county courthouses and city halls to Supreme Court buildings, state capitols, and the halls of Congress you’ll find images of Lady Justice. Her eyes are adorned with a blindfold and stately robes drape her elegant figure. Lady Justice wields a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. The scales are where she weighs the merits of a case’s prosecution and defense. The sword is her power to convey reason and justice, for or against any in her presence. Lady Justice stands as a symbol of the fair and equal dispensation of the law, without partiality or corruption, but in truth and with candor. (more)

While America has been battered by the ObamaCare Putsch, other events of interest have gone a bit under-reported. One such was an e-mail written by François Houle, Provost of the University of Ottawa, to Ann Coulter in anticipation of her giving a speech on his campus. Its content was publicized by FiveFeetofFury.com and others, including columnist Mark Steyn. The e-mail threatened criminal prosecution under Canada’s hate speech laws or suits for defamation if she promoted “hatred.” More than a few observers believe Houle’s e-mail directly encouraged students at his university to violently prevent Coulter from delivering her speech, thereby violating the hate laws with which he threatened her. Coulter has filed a complaint with Canada’s Human Rights Commission and seems to be enjoying her ironic counterattack immensely. I’d like to send an open letter to Provost Houle in reply to his e-mail. (more)

The male body is different from the female body. (more)

A British Airways computer expert charged with terror offences planned to take advantage of a strike by BA staff to become a temporary member of the cabin crew, a court heard today. (more)

Over the course of good years and bad, the countries of Latin America have recently been taking diverging paths to very different futures. (more)

American foreign policy is handicapped by a narrow, ill-informed and “uncompromising Western secularism” that feeds religious extremism, threatens traditional cultures and fails to encourage religious groups that promote peace and human rights, according to a two-year study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. (more)

South Korea has opened what officials say is the world’s first purpose-built prison for foreign convicts. (more)

This should provide some ammo for industry groups pushing the White House to allow wider drilling: A new report says U.S. oil-and-gas drilling bans will increase consumer energy costs and decrease cumulative U.S. GDP by $2.36 trillion over the next two decades (more)

Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was a welcome victory for free speech and the First Amendment. (more)

Why are professors liberal? That question has led to many heated debates, particularly in recent years, over charges from some on the right that faculty members somehow discriminate against those who don’t share a common political agenda with the left. A new paper attempts to shift the debate in a new direction. This study argues that certain characteristics of professors — related to education and religion, among other factors — explain a significant portion of the liberalism of faculty members relative to the American public at large. (more)

In 1804, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Abigail Adams on the free exercise of individual conscience in America, and its indispensability to our freedoms. We may disagree, wrote the Founder, but that disagreement is to be welcomed, not crushed: “I tolerate with utmost latitude the right of others to differ with me in opinion without imputing to them criminality. I know too well all the weaknesses and uncertainty of human reason to wonder at its different results.” (more)

Alan Wolfe Argues that Behavioral Economics is the Real Threat to Liberalism  (more)