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He knows just what to do with those dastardly lobbyists! From the AP:

The assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian announced that he was running for Congress as an independent. If elected, he said his main priority would be promoting the Ninth Amendment, which protects rights not explicitly specified elsewhere in the Constitution. Mr. Kevorkian, 79, says he interprets it as protecting a person’s choice to die through assisted suicide or to avoid wearing a seat belt. The Congressional seat in Detroit’s suburbs is now held by Representative Joe Knollenberg, a Republican who is seeking re-election.

Emphasis added. The campaign slogans abound. Leave yours in the comments. [via Jerry Taylor]

Libertarian blogger and Worldnetdaily columnist Vox Day points out this disturbing stance taken by the Bush administration:

Since “unrestricted’ private ownership of guns clearly threatens the public safety, the 2nd Amendment can be interpreted to allow a variety of gun restrictions, according to the Bush administration.

The argument was delivered by U.S. Solicitor General Paul D. Clement in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the ongoing arguments over the legality of a District of Columbia ban on handguns in homes, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. Clement suggested that gun rights are limited and subject to “reasonable regulation” and said all federal limits on guns should be upheld.

“Given the unquestionable threat to public safety that unrestricted private firearm possession would entail, various categories of firearm-related regulation are permitted by the 2nd Amendment,” he wrote in the brief, the Times reported.

Reason.tv talked with Anthony Bourdain about foie gras bans, smoking bans, and other nanny state interventions.

The Cato Institute has revamped its Web site.

The Reason Foundation is hosting Reason in DC, a fascinating conference to discuss various public policy issues. Here’s a snapshot of Vernon Smith chatting about his work:

C-SPAN is currently asking trivia of its callers. They’re not doing too well, but I have noticed the calls are far more consistently civil, so there probably is a kind of prophylactic effect.