Lethal force against law enforcement OK’d in Indiana

By William R. Toler

A new law in Indiana has liberty activists cheering and law enforcement cringing.

A recent addition to the state’s Castle Doctrine bill gives residents the greenlight to use lethal force to protect their homes and vehicles from someone barging in, even if that person is a “public servant,” according to Bloomberg News.

The addition stems from a state Supreme Court decision last year that ruled residents had “no right to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police officers.” Yes, you read that right. The court ruled that you have no right to resist UNLAWFUL entry by police officers.

Now, with the state’s new law, you can…at least if you’re in Indiana.

There goes the Judge

By William R. Toler

Shortly after 4 pm, FOX Business Network announced a reshuffling of programming which included cancelling Freedom Watch hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano.

Photo Courtesy FOX News

And Libertarians across the country are pissed.

In a press release, the network announced that encore presentations of “the channel’s top post-market programs” would be aired, and three programs would get the ax. That’s right…they’re cancelling the Judge for reruns!

“We look forward to Judge Napolitano…continuing to make significant contributions to both FOX Business and FOX News,” said Kevin Magee, executive vice-president of the network. “In addition to daily branded segments, each of them will be showcased throughout future programming on both networks.”

The ‘Nanny State’ of North Carolina

By William R. Toler

My home state was recently the recipient of an award that’s not so honor-worthy. North Carolina was named Reason.tv’s “Nanny State of the Month” for May 2011.

The reason for Reason’s choice: a 1993 ban on rare hamburgers. According to AOL Weird News, the state has prohibited rare and medium rare burgers served in restaurants across the state “thanks to a state restriction that requires restaurants to cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit.” However, steaks aren’t included in the ban.

“I don’t believe in a nanny state when it comes to food,” said Steven Elliot, a rare burger lover. “I don’t like the government telling us what we can and cannot eat.” Elliot is the founder of RareBurger.com, a website that currently lists two restaurants in the Triangle area where you can order a juicy, red hamburger.

Is Sowell free speech friend or foe?

By Corey Friedman

I can sympathize with Thomas Sowell, the syndicated National Review columnist who was incensed to discover that an essay posted to a blog was erroneously credited to him.

I can’t, however, defend his haughty rampage.

The writer sicced his lawyers on Google, which owns the Blogger application with which the offending blog was created and hosted. He demanded that Google take down the offending post.

An auto-response from Blogger concluded, “We strongly believe in freedom of expression, even if a blog contains unappealing or distasteful content or presents unpopular viewpoints.”

Sowell countered that it wasn’t the content of the post that made it objectionable, but the fact that it fraudulently used his name to disseminate a work that wasn’t his.