YAL at St. Cloud State hosted the Rags to Riches activism event this May, gathering 55 potential new members. Students had to figure out what nations were the most free.  Unsurprisingly, many people thought that the United States was #1, and were quite shocked to find out this wasn't the case.  Several students wanted to learn more about economic policy after this piqued their interest.  Thankfully, we could provide all of them with a copy of After the Welfare State.

This was right before finals week, so we didn't have any meetings left in the school year, but we did go out to Texas Roadhouse for diner with anybody who wanted to come.  Several of the sign-ups seemed very interested, and will likely hit the ground running with us this August when the next school year begins.  We will continue educating young minds on economic matters, as the economy is clearly not improving, even with a 0% interest rate and a constant flood of money.  Instead of driving growth, these policies only lead to inflation — a lesson felt when my new york strip  at the Roadhouse was priced at $22.99.

Over the course of three days from April 15 through 17, Young Americans for Liberty at the University of Michigan tabled in Mason Hall. Over the three days, we were able to hand out all of the literature we had, and fill up two sign in sheets with potential new members. Furthermore, many more individuals participated in playing the "Pin the Drone on the Warzone" game, and were able to learn a lot more about the ongoing drone wars, and military intervention abroad. 

Members Devan and Conrad handing out literature to an interested student:

YAL member, Derek, launching a preeminent strike on Iran:

This is the second in a series of public forums KU-YAL members participated in during April Activism month.

On April 15^th, a day marked by what the government has traditionally taken away from citizens across the country, University of Kansas students hosted a man who had his life taken by the state.  KU-YAL in cooperation with other campus groups and the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty were host to Kirk Noble Bloodsworth: An Innocent Man, the 1st death row exoneree who had been falsely convicted of the murder and rape of nine year-old girl Dawn Hamilton.

Students were encouraged to contact their local representatives and express their thoughts on the current death penalty in Kansas.

Kirk detailed step by step how in 1985 investigators failed to use key evidence, covered up inconvenient truths about his whereabouts, believed questionable eye witness accounts, didn't present a suspect (who turned out to be the actual murder) and would later hide material evidence effectively convicting a honorably discharged Marine to death by gas.

WATCH HIS STORY, SOON TO BE A FEATURE FILM:

Last month, the Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC), in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, released a report evaluating intellectual property (IP) laws in eleven different countries. The report used five general categories—patent law, copyright law, trademark law, enforcement thereof, and participation in international treaties—as a basis for evaluation. The United States was ranked the highest of those studied, meaning its IP protection is the strongest in the world; worst among the eleven were Russia, Brazil, China, and India.

Brazil, Russia, China, and India have something else in common, however. Despite weak IP protection, these four countries have the fastest-growing emerging economies. In a February 2012 report by Price Waterhouse Coopers, these four countries—the “BRIC” nations—had average annual growth rates between five and nine percent in terms of GDP, up to three times the growth rate of the U.S.

Another recent report issued by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) indicates a shift in—or, at the very least, a questioning of—the general milieu surrounding IP protection. The paper, entitled “Three Myths about Copyright Law and Where to Start to Fix It” was authored by Derek S. Khanna, who was later removed from the RSC amidst intense backlash from the entertainment industry. Before being retracted, Khanna’s analysis concluded that overzealous copyright law was responsible for “retard[ing] the creation of a robust DJ/remix industry,…hampering scientific inquiry, [and] penalizing legitimate journalism and oversight.” He also offered different ideas for IP reforms, including limiting the length of time a work can remain under copyright.