On the Right Side of the Bullet | Clayton E. Cramer | Cato Institute: Commentary

On the Right Side of the Bullet | Clayton E. Cramer | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'How often do [defensive gun] incidents happen? While the results from studies vary, the numbers are large. The National Crime Victimization Survey, for various procedural reasons, is at the low end, showing 108,000 such cases a year (although this was some years back, when crime rates were higher than now). The widely reported Kleck/Gertz study, which has its own set of problems, showed a range of 830,000 to 2.45 million defensive gun uses per year. Other studies have fallen solidly in the middle, with hundreds of thousands of defensive gun uses per year.'

'Over a period of more than seven years, we compiled almost 5,000 such accounts. Most ended happily, with a burglar, carjacker or robber held for police. Some ended in bloodshed, as in the case of Sarah McKinley. Very few ended with the victim injured or killed.'

'Do law-abiding adults responsibly use guns in self-defense? The evidence we have amassed says yes, and frequently.'

The Pagan View - Henry Grady Weaver - Mises Daily

The Pagan View - Henry Grady Weaver - Mises Daily: 'From the pagan viewpoint, man is not self-controlling, not responsible for his own acts. The pagan universe is timeless, changeless, static. There is no such thing as progress. Any apparent change is merely a human illusion. Man is passive. His place is fixed. He has no freedom of will. His fate is decreed. If he tries to resist, his efforts will be futile.'

'most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who were obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind-in-the-mass through some pet formula of their own. "It is at this point," she says, "that the humanitarian sets up the guillotine."'

Why Does President Obama Dislike Freedom of Conscience? | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

Why Does President Obama Dislike Freedom of Conscience? | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Insurance is supposed to counter the risk of unlikely but potentially catastrophic events, such as having an accident or contracting cancer. Using birth control, a voluntary, routine and inexpensive decision, obviously is not such an occurrence. “Insuring” against something over which one has full control makes no sense.'

'Imagine if auto “insurance” covered routine maintenance and even gasoline fill-ups. Yet this perversion of “health insurance” already is far advanced, and has contributed to the dramatic rise in health care costs in recent years.'

'But what makes contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients more important than life-saving treatment for cancer and other deadly diseases, which receive less complete coverage? And contraception still will not be free, since women will be paying increased premiums—for something a number of them would not freely choose.'

'As government takes over ever more private responsibilities, it imposes the beliefs of those who have seized control of the state. In practice today that usually means a secularist and paternalist orientation.'

Will Currency Devaluation Fix the Eurozone? - Frank Shostak - Mises Daily

Will Currency Devaluation Fix the Eurozone? - Frank Shostak - Mises Daily: 'The so-called improved competitiveness resulting from currency depreciation in fact amounts to economic impoverishment. The "improved competitiveness" means that the citizens of a country are now getting fewer real imports for a given amount of real exports. While the country is getting rich in terms of foreign currency, it is getting poor in terms of real wealth — i.e., in terms of the goods and services required for maintaining people's lives and well-being.'