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Jacob Sullum (Dec 12, 2003)
David Groh, who drives a taxi while impersonating Elvis, seems to have struck the fancy of Seattleites. After a taxi inspector fined him for failing to live up to the city's... more
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Jacob Sullum (Nov 28, 2003)
This is what the Bush administration has reduced me to: The other day, I was rooting for a Ted Kennedy filibuster.
Of course, the Massachusetts senator and I had different... more
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Jacob Sullum (Nov 08, 2003)
During a cross-country drive in July 1989, my car broke down in the Arizona desert sometime around noon. My cat, Miles, who had long, black fur, was not pleased. I managed to... more
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Jacob Sullum (Oct 31, 2003)
When my daughter's attention span developed to the point where she would sit and watch TV or a videotape for more than a few minutes, I was delighted. It meant that she could... more
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Jacob Sullum (Oct 24, 2003)
On the same day The New York Times reported that the Senate had approved a federal ban on "partial birth" abortions, the paper carried a full-page ad in support of the... more
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Jacob Sullum (Oct 10, 2003)
In November 1988, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study that noted Seattle's homicide rate was higher than Vancouver's and attributed the difference to... more
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Jacob Sullum (Oct 03, 2003)
The guy says he's calling on behalf of a police organization, mainly to tell me and my family to buckle up and not to drink and drive. Having reminded me of the legal... more
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Jacob Sullum (Sep 26, 2003)
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., promises that his bill giving the Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco products will "save lives." But it could kill people... more
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Jacob Sullum (Sep 12, 2003)
The Federal Trade Commission recently exonerated the alcohol industry from the charge that it's trying to seduce underage drinkers with flavored malt beverages such as... more
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Jacob Sullum (Sep 05, 2003)
When Frank Bird, a local abortion protester, crashed his van through the glass doors of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston last March, he was not exercising his First... more
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Jacob Sullum (Aug 29, 2003)
In the 1980s, not many people could plausibly claim stronger anti-drug credentials than Nancy Reagan. But Forest Tennant could.
"It's great for the Reagans to get up and say,... more
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Jacob Sullum (Aug 22, 2003)
Attorney General John Ashcroft is on a publicity tour, promoting the USA PATRIOT Act and preparing the public for a sequel. But just as you can't always believe an actor who... more
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Jacob Sullum (Aug 15, 2003)
Testifying before Congress in April, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy tried to explain why it's important for judges to have discretion in sentencing. He cited the case... more
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Jacob Sullum (Aug 08, 2003)
Years ago I was handing out place cards at a banquet sponsored by the Reason Foundation when I was approached by a square-jawed man with bushy eyebrows and a prominent... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jul 27, 2003)
Ernie and Pat Bechler, who testified at the recent congressional hearings on ephedra, blame the herbal stimulant for the death of their son, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jul 18, 2003)
Karen Tandy, expected to be confirmed soon as the new head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), did not face many tough questions when her nomination was considered... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jul 11, 2003)
For those who wondered how Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., could sponsor a "campaign finance reform" law that restricts political speech, the answer became clear during a hearing... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jun 20, 2003)
Josh Wexler and Anne Jordan Blanton, twentysomething graduates of New York University who hope to own a neighborhood bookstore in New Orleans one day, tried to start small by... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jun 13, 2003)
The fattest speaker at a recent conference on obesity was the anti-fat campaigner Kelly Brownell, who never tires of comparing Ronald McDonald to Joe Camel. If pointing to... more
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Jacob Sullum (May 31, 2003)
"I have a new e-mail address," my 10-year-old daughter wrote in a recent message to friends and relatives. "My mom changed it from my old one because I was getting weird and... more
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Jacob Sullum (May 23, 2003)
"At first blush," wrote Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Robert Kaye in a November 2000 court order, a $145 billion punitive damage award "seems so far outside the comprehension of... more
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Jacob Sullum (May 16, 2003)
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says his ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, which took effect last month, will save "literally tens of thousands of lives." Anti-tobacco... more
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Jacob Sullum (May 12, 2003)
"The most critical improvement" to the federal "assault weapon" ban, according to the Violence Policy Center, "is to ensure that the term 'assault weapon' includes all guns... more
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Jacob Sullum (Apr 25, 2003)
Imagine you're an affluent Iraqi living in a ritzy neighborhood of Baghdad before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. One of Saddam's friends stops by your house for a... more
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Jacob Sullum (Apr 18, 2003)
The gun control movement, which pushes national restrictions on firearms at every opportunity, has discovered the virtues of federalism. Testifying before a House... more
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Jacob Sullum (Apr 11, 2003)
In 1981, a 63-year-old retiree named Curtis Campbell was driving with his wife on a two-lane highway in Cache County, Utah, when he switched lanes to pass a slow-moving... more
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Jacob Sullum (Apr 04, 2003)
Cut heart attacks in half! Ban smoking in bars and restaurants!
This is the latest come-on from the busybodies who want to banish smoking from private businesses. The... more
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Jacob Sullum (Mar 28, 2003)
When President Bush sent the first bill for the war with Iraq to Congress, he warned that "business as usual on Capitol Hill can't go on." He said legislators should not... more
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Jacob Sullum (Mar 21, 2003)
As American soldiers go to war in Iraq, their lives will depend on the weapons they carry. Meanwhile, the industry that makes those weapons is under attack here at home.
In... more
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Jacob Sullum (Mar 14, 2003)
"We're finally here debating the most difficult, contentious social issue of our day," Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said shortly before he and 63 of his colleagues voted to... more
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Jacob Sullum (Mar 07, 2003)
It was more than a decade ago that wineries first tried to inform their customers about the health benefits of moderate drinking. Since then the evidence has only gotten... more
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Jacob Sullum (Feb 28, 2003)
According to New York Gov. George Pataki, observant Jews in his
state are caught in "suspended animation," unsure about which foods comport
with their dietary rules. He says... more
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Jacob Sullum (Feb 21, 2003)
The New York Times reports that Robert Matsui was "surprised by
(the) fine print" in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. Matsui, the
California representative who... more
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Jacob Sullum (Feb 14, 2003)
As a reluctant warrior, Secretary of State Colin Powell is
supposed to have special credibility in pressing the case for invading Iraq.
But he squandered that credibility... more
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Jacob Sullum (Feb 07, 2003)
During Ed Rosenthal's trial, a defense witness mentioned that he
had met the marijuana cultivation expert "in the context of Proposition
215." U.S. District Judge Charles... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jan 31, 2003)
At a time when juries hand down multibillion-dollar awards as if
they were "Employee of the Month" plaques, the real news may be the
seemingly rare occasions when courts... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jan 24, 2003)
If John Lee Malvo and John Allen Muhammad deserve to die, does
it matter how they get the death penalty? I think it does, and so should
anyone who values the rule of law.
... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jan 17, 2003)
Arianna Huffington says her anti-SUV commercials have been
misunderstood, and I think she's right. To really understand these ads, you
have to know something that's not... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jan 10, 2003)
It looks like the Raelians' cloning claims, like their founder's
revelatory 1973 encounter with extraterrestrials, will have to be taken on
faith. After initially promising... more
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Jacob Sullum (Jan 03, 2003)
"Everything people used to say about marijuana is true of angel
dust." So claimed Robert DuPont, director of the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, in 1977.
... more