February 2009

(view high-resolution version)

Editor's Note

• Schwarzenegger's Failure

  Matt Welch

  If the California governor is the face of "moderate" Republicanism, the party is even more doomed than the 2008 elections suggest.

Contributors

• Contributors

Letters

• Letters

  Divided in Nevada, fear of a unified government, Idiocracy now!

Citings

• Follow-Up: The Stakes Get Bigger

  Katherine Mangu-Ward

• Czar Wars

  David Weigel

  Intellectual property watchdog

• Pot Holders Rejoice

  Jacob Sullum

  Drug decriminalization

• I Want a New Drug

  Ronald Bailey

  Pharmaceutical spending

• Rain Delay

  Radley Balko

  $720 million stadium, 10-cent roof

• Daylight Spending

  Katherine Mangu-Ward

  Spring forward, fall back

• A Newer Deal?

  Nick Gillespie

  Recession to depression

• Checkpoint Diego

  Radley Balko

  Don't go near the border

• E.R. Crowding

  Ronald Bailey

  Are the uninsured to blame?

• Product Displacement

  Brian Doherty

  FCC vs. free broadcasting

• How Big Is Small?

  David Weigel

  Federal contracting scam

• Eyes on the U.K.

  Jacob Sullum

  Britain's surveillance state

Soundbites

• Let My Students Drink

  Radley Balko

  College presidents say it's time to lower the drinking age

Years Ago

• 30 Years Ago in Reason

Brickbats

• Brickbats

  Charles Oliver

Quotes

• Quotes

Lists

• List: The Immediate Future

  RU Sirius

Columns

• The Reversals of Market Wisdom

  Jacob Sullum

  And vice versa

• Bush's Midnight Regulations

  Veronique de Rugy

  The 43rd president may set yet another dubious record.

• The Successories President

  Greg Beato

  The posterized secret of Obama's success?

• Where Did It All Go Wrong?

  David Weigel

  A thrilling and dispiriting year for libertarian politics

• In Search of Lost Principle

  Tim Cavanaugh

  The Republicans could benefit from rereading their two-page masterpiece.

Features

• You Can Put Your Weed in There

  Jacob Sullum

  What to do after the last head shop closes

• Who's Your Daddy?

  Cheryl Miller

  Children of sperm donors are seeking more information about their once-anonymous fathers, sometimes at the risk of the fertility industry itself.

• Bongs Away!

  How the crusade against drug paraphernalia punishes controversial speech

• The Next Catastrophe

  Jon Entine

  Think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a politicized financial disaster? Just wait until pension funds implode.

• Shopping for Fertility Markets

  Guillemette Faure

  When it comes to reproductive technology, Americans are more tolerant than the French.

Interviews

• 'Chiefs, Thieves, and Priests'

  Ronald Bailey

  Science writer Matt Ridley on the causes of poverty and prosperity

Culture & Reviews

• Briefly Noted: The Amazing Ditko

  Brian Doherty

• Briefly Noted: The Bonzo Years

  Nick Gillespie

• Briefly Noted: Bureaucracies at War

  Radley Balko

• Briefly Noted: Frontier Greens

  Jesse Walker

• Scion of Frankenstein

  Ronald Bailey

  Michael Crichton, novelist and policy provocateur

• Alien World

  Alexander Zaitchik

  How treacherous border crossing became a theme park

Book Reviews

• Speak Softly and Carry a Concealed Handgun

  Jacob Sullum

  Would a nicer NRA be more effective?

Artifact

• We, Robots

  Katherine Mangu-Ward

  A song evolves.