Ari Armstrong's Articles
Philosophy
In Attacking Malala Yousafzai, Taliban Assault the Mind
Ari Armstrong October 10, 2013
After shooting schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in the head last year but failing to kill her, Pakistan’s Taliban have sworn to assault her again—in case anyone needed another reminder of the evil of which Islamic terrorists are capable. Malala’s alleged crime? She advocates girls attending school—a practice that’s contrary to the…
Science & Technology
ObamaCare Supporter: “I Didn’t Realize I Would Pay for It Personally”
Ari Armstrong October 8, 2013
Cindy Vinson is among the “big believers in the Affordable Care Act” (aka ObamaCare), and she is “proud to say [she] helped elect and re-elect President Barack Obama,” reports the San Jose Mercury News (in an article publicized by Michelle Malkin and Instapundit). Unfortunately for Vinson, her health insurance policy…
Politics & Rights
Feds Intentionally Inflict Pain in Park Shutdowns; Solution is to Privatize Parks
Ari Armstrong October 7, 2013
An October 6 email from the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) points out, “This week more than 1,000 privately operated parks were required to close during the government shutdown—even though they receive no federal funding.” A PERC report gives an example: [T]he U.S. Forest Service owns Crescent Moon Ranch…
Politics & Rights
Kenneth Buck Admirably Protects Rights Despite Colorado Law
Ari Armstrong October 6, 2013
It’s bad enough that thousands of Colorado families were displaced by recent flooding; now they have to fear prosecution under rights-violating gun laws, too. Thankfully, Kenneth Buck, the district attorney for Weld County (northeast of Denver), has publicly declared that he will not prosecute rights-respecting flood victims under capricious gun…
Politics & Rights
Colorado “Personhood” Measure Would Outlaw All Abortions and More
Ari Armstrong October 5, 2013
Suppose a criminal brutally raped your daughter or friend and impregnated her, she got an abortion, and then the government subjected her to first-degree murder charges (for killing the fetus) and handed her life imprisonment or the death penalty. A proposal likely to appear on the Colorado ballot in 2014…
Politics & Rights
Institute for Justice Wins Battles for Free Speech
Ari Armstrong October 4, 2013
In 2011, Dina Galassini of Fountain Hills, Arizona opposed a $44 million bond measure for roads. She emailed 23 friends and asked them to make signs and join her in a street-corner protest, as an Institute for Justice (IJ) media release relates. Under Arizona’s campaign finance laws, her actions were…
Politics & Rights
Toward a Shutdown to Celebrate
Ari Armstrong October 1, 2013
Because of political wrangling over ObamaCare, the federal government has shut down all so-called “non-essential” functions involving national parks, the National Zoo, NASA, and the like. But no politician at the national level has, to my knowledge, defined the standard by which a government function is properly deemed essential or…
Science & Technology
Under ObamaCare, “The Doctor Can’t See You Now”
Ari Armstrong September 30, 2013
What? The government can’t systematically violate the rights of patients, doctors, and insurers without wreaking havoc on health care? The Los Angeles Times reports: The doctor can't see you now. Consumers may hear that a lot more often after getting health insurance under President Obama's Affordable Care Act. To hold…
Philosophy
To Find “False Religion,” E. W. Jackson Should Look in the Mirror
Ari Armstrong September 29, 2013
E. W. Jackson—a candidate for lieutenant governor in North Virginia—recently said: There is no other means of salvation but through Jesus Christ, and if you don’t know him and you don’t follow him and you don’t go through him, you are engaged in some sort of false religion. Jackson miraculously…
Science & Technology
Tiny Tile Promises to Find Your Lost Keys or Lost Child for You
Ari Armstrong September 28, 2013
Suppose your lost keys could send you a signal to tell you where they are. An innovative new product called Tile promises to enable your keys to do just that by communicating with your digital phone via Bluetooth technology. And the Tile works not only with keys but with purses,…
Philosophy
The Devil Is in the Mysticism
Ari Armstrong September 27, 2013
When someone does something evil, does the devil make him do it? Most Americans believe that’s possible, as the Washington Examiner reports. According to a poll recently conducted by YouGov, 57 percent of Americans believe the devil exists. For some groups, the percentage is even higher: 72 percent of blacks…
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Science & Technology
Ted Cruz and Atlas Shrugged Against ObamaCare
Ari Armstrong September 25, 2013
Although some of Ted Cruz’s views and positions are contrary to the principle of individual rights and thus wrong, he deserves great credit for his stand on defunding ObamaCare—and high praise for speaking all night last night, urging both Democrat and Republican senators to do the right thing and defund…
Economics, Science & Technology
No, Mariana, There Is No (State) Santa Claus Driving Technology
Ari Armstrong September 24, 2013
Leftist media including PBS and Slate are jumping all over themselves to publish or review the work of Mariana Mazzucato, who claims (writing for Slate) that “the state, not the private sector, [is] the most decisive player” in developing “pioneering technologies.” It’s easy to see why leftists want to promote…
Politics & Rights
IRS Targeted Groups over “Anti-Obama Rhetoric”—As Enabled by Bad Laws
Ari Armstrong September 20, 2013
The Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups for “special treatment”—this we already know. But newly discovered details about the case show that the IRS’s assault is even more shocking. USA Today reports: Newly uncovered IRS documents [from 2011] show the agency flagged political groups based on the content of their…
Politics & Rights
In Response to Navy Yard Massacre, Government Should Focus Exclusively on Protecting Rights
Ari Armstrong September 19, 2013
Within hours of the September 16 massacre at the Washington Navy Yard, various commentators and politicians were calling for more restrictive gun laws—on the theory that the government should respond to murders committed by a psychotic man by further restricting the liberties of rights-respecting Americans. How absurd. There is a…