Oakland, CA, is the latest on the list of municipalities to abuse excercise its power of Eminent Domain. Set aside, for a second, the glaring inconsistency – that Revelli Tire, which has been in existence for 56 years is being evicted in order to make room for a Sears Tire store. This is the politics of pull. Said City development director Dan Vederpriem, “[W]e offered far and away more than what the land value was.” . . . Well, er. No, not actually. Oakland offered more than what it thinks the land value was. If I offered you $100 for your Honus Wagner baseball card, using as justification, “I think $100 is more than a good deal, who would want that old piece of … Read entire article »

I’ve previously established my position with regards to the war on drugs. In any case, I mentioned prostitution a few days ago, and promised that I would address it. So I’ve been mulling it over, and I think that prostitution is even more defensible than drug legalization (which I believe is ultimately, constitutionally defensible, anyways.) I say this merely because the underlying elements to drug use/sale are currently illegal, whereas the underlying elements of prostitution are not. Explicit costs aside, I’m going to borrow the argument that I made regarding drugs: There is something seriously awry with a state that allows and/or encourages its peace officers to engage in “criminal behavior,” using as justification, the promise of bringing down more arbitrarily defined criminals. … Read entire article »