Just going to show that for all the recent hyperventilating about the NSA, there is no more intrusive snooper and violator of privacy than the free market.  Websites are now proliferating that enable third parties to post their neighbors' criminal arrests, expunged convictions, mug shots, bankruptcies, and the like.  To be removed from such a site, a monetary fee is required; if you refuse to pay, and naively believe that the website's proprietors should do the right thing anyway, you are greeted with this cheery mission statement of the website: "(it) strongly believes in freedom of speech and nothing will ever be censored on our service for any reason. If you don't like freedom of speech, we encourage you to either contact lawmakers and voice your opinion or move to a communist state."

Ah, the liberty of the private sector....

Triumph of the Will

Triumph of the Will: As yet another nightmare pleasure cruise comes to a bleak end, now is probably as good a time as ever to revisit my 2011 post, much-beloved by libertarians, on the stupidity of the current federal laws and regulations regarding the cruising industry.  Although much has been noted about how foreign-flagged ships do not have to obey American labor and safety practices, the significant barrier to any cruiseship flying the Stars and Stripes is the requirement under American maritime law that it be built domestically, a sop to a non-existent American cruiseship building industry.  Since cruiselines have no capability of complying with that requirement, they have no incentive to obey any other American laws as well....