I got a phone call from my old friend John Bartz a few days ago informing me of the sad news that his wife Zdenka had passed away. Zdenka was visiting western Europe at the time the Soviet military crushed the “Prague Spring” in 1968. Rather than return behind the Iron Curtain, she came to […]
Author Archive | Jim
TSA: Tenth Anniversary of a National Nuisance
The Transportation Security Administration is celebrating its tenth anniversary this week. Perhaps they can uncork an extra bottle of champagne to toast the hundreds of thousands of jobs they destroyed by making travel far more onerous for Americans. I have been flogging this agency since 2003. Here is a link to my blog entries on […]
Memorial Day Reflections and Revisionism
from the August issue of Freedom Daily (posted online last week) Memorial Day Reflections and Revisionism by James Bovard, On Memorial Day, the media do their usual sacralizing of war. Instead, it should be a day for the ritualized scourging of politicians. During the last 60 years, their lies have resulted in the unnecessary deaths […]
Veterans Day: Remembering The Nature of War and Politicians
Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day, pegged to the end of the First World War. Unfortunately, almost all the lies that propelled that war have been lost in the Memory Bank. The following 8 minute video is a potent reminder on both the nature of war and the nature of politicians who send men to […]
Christmas Tree Tax: Bum Rap for Obama, Probably
So the Obama administration is trying to destroy Christmas with a new tax on Christmas trees? Bah humbug. I’m pro-Christmas and pro-Christmas tree, but this hubbub looks like a red herring. The 15 cent per tree tax (to fund promotional efforts and industry bureaucrats) is the same type of surtax that USDA-empowered committees have been […]
U.S. Government the Culprit for Rising Poverty
from my interview on Press TV – The best solution to decrease U.S. poverty is to “vastly decrease the power in spending of the federal government,” says James Bovard, Maryland-based policy advisor for The Future of Freedom Foundation. “It’s the U.S. government that is dragging down the American economy and suppressing the productivity and creativity […]
Redefining Extremism: Ron Paul – the Sane Republican Alternative
As Herman Cain’s candidancy melts into absurdity, I hope that reasonable Republicans will take another look at the one principled candidate running for the presidency. It is ironic how extremist has been redefined in American politics. In 1964, Barry Goldwater was considered extremist in part because of his rhetoric implying that he could favor a […]