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Virginia Taxes Skyrocket

Over the past decade, property taxes in Northern Virginia have skyrocketed along with assessments. Taxes have increased to the point that taxes in Northern…

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Carbon: Do call it life

Monday’s episode of The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels” focuses on that most essential of elements, without which not even life is possible: carbon. The show kicks off…

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Inconsistency on Guns

The American Bar Association has never been reluctant to urge the Supreme Court to overturn existing precedent, if the precedent at issue offends politically correct…

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Dimming Consumer Choice

I never knew there were so many shades to a light bulb! But since Congress has basically banned incandescent light bulbs in favor of “energy-efficient”…

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Clean Energy Iniative: Paved Roads

The Netherlands is officially on my list of countries with cool research and development of alternative energy sources. I have previously written about nightclubs…

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Wrong reason, right decision

Climate change is used to justify the most insane political decisions, but for once it is used for a sensible decision. Although there is no…

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Horse Meat Regulations Backfire

State legislatures recently banned the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The net result, according to The New York Times, is that rather than…

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Tobacco Settlement: Fraud on the Public?

USA Today hammers state governments for using money from the 1998 multistate tobacco settlement on everything but tobacco-related illnesses and smoking prevention: “With news…

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Notes from the (Virtual) Trail

I couldn’t resist posting this gem from a Radar magazine article speculating that Ron Paul has Asperger’s syndrome (a mild form of autism):…

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China Reds Go Green

The Chinese have allegedly decided to “clean up their act” environmentally speaking. Their solution: ban plastic bags at supermarkets and make shopping less convenient.

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The National Nannies Just Won’t Quit

Let’s see. The U.S. Constitution gives the Congress the power to raise armies, regulate interstate commerce, and … control snack machines in local schools. Apparently…

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Soothing the Employment Panic

Last week John did an excellent job of putting recent unemployment numbers in historical perspective. Some market observers seem to be freaking out because…

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Russia Makes an Energy Power Play

European governments are paying close attention to negotiations in Abuja, Nigeria, where Russian officials are trying to access the host country’s sizable natural gas…

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Change of Tune

There has been a subtle yet important shift in the rhetoric of some global warming alarmists, whose industry has thrived for years on a disciplined…

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Open Markets and Eric Cartman

I appeared on CNBC earlier today arguing in favor of sovereign wealth funds. (Which are foreign government-owned investment companies.) For whatever it’s worth, you can…

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The Quotable Kazman

CEI’s general counsel Sam Kazman was quoted in the new edition of Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Calendar. If you’ve picked one up from Freedom Forum,…

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Show Me the Pork

In his weekly DC Examiner column, Tim Carney highlights a specific example of the “the conflicts of interest, ulterior motives and opportunities for corruption…