Blog Archives

Supreme Court rules that police-placed GPS tracking devices require warrants

February 1, 2012
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In a clear victory for privacy advocates, the Supreme Court ruled in late January that the use of GPS tracking devices on an individual’s vehicle by an American government entity constituted a search and, therefore, required a search warrant. The case, United States v. Antoine Jones, was decided unanimously, with all Supreme Court justices...

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Lifestyle: Small Business in New York City, Part I

April 25, 2010
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Lifestyle: Small Business in New York City, Part I

While the prestige and glamor surrounding Wall Street and New York’s financial district presents to the world at large the image of a city dominated by multinational corporations and other gargantuan businesses, it is small business that is truly the beating heart of the city itself. With media focus drawn to Downtown Manhattan’s Financial...

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Lifestyle: The Cigar Lounges of New York, Part I

February 13, 2010
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Groucho Marx famously opined, “A woman is a temporary pleasure, while a good cigar is a smoke.” He was certainly not the first (and won’t likely be the last) to attest to the timeless treasure of enjoying a fine cigar. New York City’s cigar culture is one of the most vibrant, if not the...

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Notes from SFL New York 2009

November 7, 2009
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                Held at Columbia University’s Alfred Learner Hall, the 2009 New York Students For Liberty Conference brought together such groups as libertarians, classical liberals, free-market capitalists, moderates, conservatives, and the occasional anarchist for a day of political discourse and debate regarding the merits of liberty-oriented governance.                 The SFL Conference, jointly held with the...

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A Trouble of the Modern Age: The Kessler Syndrome

April 12, 2009
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The Kessler Syndrome: What is it? How could it threaten our political stability and human rights? How could it threaten humanity?

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The Death of a Newspaper, the Tumult of an Industry

February 28, 2009
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The world of print journalism will never be the same again. After 150 years of service to the Denver community, the Rocky Mountain News announced Thursday that their final issue would be Friday (February 27, 2009). Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the newspaper had been in financial trouble for months due to...

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The Downs File: Comments on IHOP’s Celebration of National Pancake Day

February 24, 2009
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Today, IHOP was nice enough to give away free stacks of pancakes in celebration of National Pancake Day. Those individuals who visited IHOP between 7AM and 10PM could receive three free buttermilk pancakes topped with a dollop of butter. IHOP was also hosting a fundraising drive for the Children’s Miracle Network, which raises money...

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You must never say the N-word!

February 20, 2009
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It was with incredible shock that I heard Senator Dodd casually mention the n-word while appearing as a guest on “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” a Bloomberg Television talk show that airs on Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. That a man could so audaciously use such a powerful, aggressive word in seemingly polite discourse...

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Vote Early and Vote Often: The Genius of the Obama Campaign’s use of Text Messaging and Other Forms of Mass Communication

August 31, 2008
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The origin of the phrase “Vote Early and Vote Often” is usually attributed to Chicago mayor William Hale Thompson, a highly corrupt Republican politician who ruled the city from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1931 to 1935. The phrase itself described how political partisans could easily game the democratic voting process. As verifying...

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Collectivism: The Root of all Prejudice

June 5, 2008
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I remember the exact moment I realized, with some mild bemusement, just how prevalent collectivist attitudes are in modern-day society. It was an average Perspectives meeting. This week?s topic of discussion was about the then-current crop of frontrunners in the race for the White House. The meeting started spectacularly, with a group of female...

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