Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) yesterday called for the denaturalization of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after a controversial speech was uncovered in which she pledged to put Somalia first in Congress and her work. While I have been a long critic of Omar, her views expressed in this speech are not only protected speech, but […]
No, Omar Cannot be Denaturalized on the Basis of her “Somalians First” Speech
No, Omar Cannot be Denaturalized on the Basis of her “Somalians First” Speech
31 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA
MICHAEL BASSETT: Shane Jones deserves support about the Waitangi Tribunal
31 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law
Michael Bassett writes – Shane Jones deserves full support for his round-arm swing at the Waitangi Tribunal which is now fiddling about with a constitutional inquiry and deciding who can take part in it. A clause in New Zealand First’s coalition agreement with the National Party commits the government to amending the Waitangi Tribunal’s legislation […]
MICHAEL BASSETT: Shane Jones deserves support about the Waitangi Tribunal
MICHAEL BASSETT: SHANE JONES DESERVES SUPPORT ABOUT THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL
31 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law
Shane Jones deserves full support for his round-arm swing at the Waitangi Tribunal which is now fiddling about with a constitutional inquiry and deciding who can take part in it. A clause in New Zealand First’s coalition agreement with the National Party commits the government to amending the Waitangi Tribunal’s legislation so that the body…
MICHAEL BASSETT: SHANE JONES DESERVES SUPPORT ABOUT THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL
January 30, 1649: King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland is executed in Whitehall, London.
31 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, law and economics Tags: British history
King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland was the second son of King James VI of Scotland and Princess Anne of Denmark, the second daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark and Princess Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. Prince Charles was born in Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on November 19, 1600. At a Protestant ceremony in the […]
January 30, 1649: King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland is executed in Whitehall, London.
Some Thoughts On The Dissolution And Calling Of Parliament Bill
30 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, law and economics Tags: British constitutional law
The House of Lords is now considering the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill that was passed by the Commons back in September. It would repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 and restore the pre-2011 status quo whereby the Sovereign dissolved Parliament at the request of the Prime Minister. Regular readers of my blog will […]
Some Thoughts On The Dissolution And Calling Of Parliament Bill
Royal Incapacity and Medical Procedures
30 Jan 2024 1 Comment
in economic history, law and economics Tags: British politics, constitutional law
The King returned from the hospital today after undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate on Friday. According to the BBC, there was no delegation of royal authority during his stay in the hospital. This approach is in marked contrast to that of the United States where Presidents have temporarily transferred their powers to the Vice-President […]
Royal Incapacity and Medical Procedures
Treaty principles?
30 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
When ACT’s leader said they wanted legislation to state what the Treaty Principles mean, my first thought was this will controversial and divisive. Clearly it is. The first reference to the Principles of the Treaty were contained in the 1975 Act establishing the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal. But the Principles were not defined by Parliament, then or […]
Treaty principles?
Seymour raises tax and Treaty issues in his “state of the nation” speech (which has not been posted on the Beehive site)
29 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, discrimination, economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
Buzz from the Beehive Just one statement has been posted on the government’s official website since Attorney-General Judith Collins announced the appointment of a new High Court Judge late last week. It deals with education and the government’s aims to get better results from school students.
Seymour raises tax and Treaty issues in his “state of the nation” speech (which has not been posted on the Beehive site)
On new and old civil disobedience
29 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, law and economics Tags: civil disobedience
According to my go-to source, the Oxford English Dictionary, “civil disobedience is defined this way: Rebellion of the populace against a governing power; (in later use) spec. refusal to obey the laws, commands, etc., of a government or authority as part of an organized, non-violent political protest or campaign. The three key aspects here involve deliberately breaking…
On new and old civil disobedience
Holocaust reviews
27 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, The Holocaust, World War II
Memoirs The Pianist by Władysław Szpilman (1946) If This Is a Man by Primo Levi (1948) This Way For the Gas, Ladies and Gentleman by Tadeusz Borowski (1948) Night by Elie Wiesel (1960) The Truce by Primo Levi (1965) The Periodic Table by Primo Levi (1975) Moments of Reprieve by Primo Levi (1981) If Not […]
Holocaust reviews
Trudeau and the Trucker Terrorists: Court Declares Trudeau’s Crackdown on the Truckers to be Unlawful
26 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics Tags: Canada, constitutional law
Two years ago, I wrote a column denouncing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of a counter-terrorism law to shut down the Freedom Convoy trucker protests as an authoritarian attack on free speech. Now, a Canadian court has agreed and ruled that the use of the Emergencies Act was unlawful and “unreasonable.” Despite Trudeau’s attacks […]
Trudeau and the Trucker Terrorists: Court Declares Trudeau’s Crackdown on the Truckers to be Unlawful
Legal Blow: Hunter’s Defense Hammered by Discovery of Cocaine on Gun Pouch
26 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the New York Post on discovery of cocaine on the pouch holding Hunter Biden’s gun. Biden’s team is likely to move to keep the tests out of the trial due to the breaks in custody (it was first thrown into a dumpster and then discovered by a man rummaging through […]
Legal Blow: Hunter’s Defense Hammered by Discovery of Cocaine on Gun Pouch
Water metering – a small piece of silver buckshot
25 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, environmental economics, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle Tags: economics of networks, privatization
Chris Parker at Treasury sometimes quips that there are no silver bullets for solving housing in NZ, only pieces of silver buckshot. Basically you’ve got to do a lot of things to solve the problem; any one of them on their own won’t do it. I was on RNZ’s The Panel yesterday afternoon (here, from around…
Water metering – a small piece of silver buckshot
My letter to the Chicago Maroon about Students for Justice in Palestine
25 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
Over the last several months, I’ve seen and read about demonstrations on our campus by the pro-Palestinian group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which apparently has roughly 200 campus branches in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. SJP has been particularly active since last year’s October 7 massacre of Israelis and others, which they […]
My letter to the Chicago Maroon about Students for Justice in Palestine
The danger of the Treaty debate wearing us down
25 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Screeds have been written about the Treaty of Waitangi. And there’s more to come as division over race and rights ramps up.Its content and meaning are getting lost in the crossfire and the danger of ‘contestants’ talking past each other looms, if not already happening.When matters get murky, and misunderstandings abound, there is also a…
The danger of the Treaty debate wearing us down
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