• George Mason University's economics department (known for its unquantifiable love of freedom) is losing the very smart Peter T. Leeson to the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory at the University of Chicago, where he'll join the likes of Steve Levitt and Kevin Murphy. Leeson is the author of the sure-to-be-funny  Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates. [H/t to Tom at Fr33 Agents]

• Pete Eyre of Bureaucrash observed the anniversary of Ruby Ridge yesterday, and finished up his eulogy quite nicely: "This post touches on lots of factors but they all come down to one thing: That we, as individuals, should be free to act so long as we don’t initiate force against another. If we continue to stand idly by as our freedoms are usurped it’ll soon be too late. Because, as Thomas Jefferson noted, 'When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.'"

• Speaking of speaking up: This year's March on the Pentagon takes place on March 21 (which also happens to be the day that Rita's will be giving out free 10 oz. Italian ices!). Participants are meeting up at noon at 23rd St. & Constitution Ave. The theme is the same as last year: "Occupation is a crime!" Dress accordingly.

• In local news, Michael Perkins of Greater Greater Washington has an insanely thorough breakdown of proposed Metro service cuts. Here's just a taste of the proposed bus cuts: "Eliminate the 60 (Ft. Totten-Petworth) while keeping the 64; the L4 (Connecticut Ave) while keeping the L1 and L2; the N3 (Massachusetts Ave) while keeping the N2, N4, and N6; and the P2 (Anacostia-Eckington) while keeping the P1 and P6. Shorten the 42 bus between McPherson and Metro Center, and the 80 between McPherson and the Kennedy Center."

Have a good weekend, City Desk readers.

Good morning, City Desk readers! Not only is it Freedom Friday (again)–it's also pay day for yours truly, which means I'm going to blow a wad on Listerine and Slim Jims later tonight. And now, the news:

• I know, I know: podcasts are so 2006. But the good folks at Bureaucrash have posted one containing an interview with Robert R. Arthur, during which he discusses his book You Will Die: The Burden of Modern Taboos. If you only listen to one podcast today, let it be this one. It's that good.
• Not Larry Sabato, blogging wunderkind and nancy-pantsed nanny-stater, is covering the forthcoming Virginia restaurant smoking ban with a bloodhound's nose. Yesterday he posted an update from Sen. Ralph S. Northam, who said, "I just wanted to jump on and update you on the progress of the restaurant smoking ban bill that I am sponsoring. We had a major breakthrough yesterday evening, and this morning Governor Kaine and I, along with a number of other Democrats and Republicans, announced compromise that would allow a version of the bill to pass the House General Laws Committee." The only exceptions to the law will be private clubs and cigar bars, which says that Virginia lawmakers "don't care about [rich old white] people['s health]." It also means I will have to drive that much further to patronize a restaurant where I can take puffs from a cigarette in between bites of bbq.
• Greater Greater Washington has the rundown on the residents of C St. NE, who are tired of drivers speeding through their neighborhood: "Instead of waiting for a streetscape project from DDOT, residents are proactively designing a better C Street. Resident Ken Granata created a blog for the street that explores potential redesigns. Granata, who also maintains the Rosedale Citizens' Alliance neighborhood site, advocates removing one lane between 16th and 22nd Streets. On this stretch, C is a divided highway of three lanes in each direction. Heading west on C, the road divides at 16th, with C continuing west as a narrower road and North Carolina Avenue heading southwest to Lincoln Park. This creates a bottleneck around 16th."
• Lastly, I'm thinking about buying one of these shirts. Is it too edgy? Too post-ironic? What do y'all think?

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Leonid Mamchenkov

Good morning, City Desk readers. It's Libertarian Friday, are you ready to rage against the system? Great! Here's some news:

• Culture11, the conservative/libertarian Web magazine started by Conor Friedersdorf, Peter Suderman, Joe Carter, David Kuo, and James Poulos and based in Arlington, laid off its entire staff on Wednesday. According to Kuo: "We raised a certain amount of money last year predicated on the assumption we would raise more money...Then the fall’s fall occurred and we stretched money as long and far as we could without incurring any debts. With no new money in the door the board decided the most prudent thing to do was suspend business operations." Andrew Sullivan's eulogy for the magazine is especially touching.

• Pete Eyre, founder of the anti-statist social networking site Bureaucrash, has been trying to schedule a meeting with someone from the Arlington Police Department after he was intimidated by an Arlington police officer. (Background: Eyre called the APD after he found an officer had parked his cruiser in a no-parking zone while he went to the gym. The officer who responded to Eyre's call politely refused to write a ticket and left the scene. The officer who had been working out, however, decided to exercise his authority by following Eyre around the neighborhood in his gym clothes, sometimes right up close, sometimes from a distance. Eyre walked nearly a mile away from his home and found the officer was still following him. Always ready to fight the system, Eyre recorded the incident on video.)
• But a little hassle is nothing compared to death by police shooting, the subject of Dave McKenna's Cheap Seats story "Death by Wager." McKenna's lead says it all: "Sal Culosi was shot and killed by a Fairfax County cop three years ago last Saturday. He was about to be arrested for taking football bets, the quarry of a dubious sting operation that seemed timed to make a news splash ahead of the upcoming Super Bowl. (Why dubious? Well, the only major bettor was an undercover police officer, and the alleged bookie, Culosi, covered all the bets himself.)"
• WMATA is trying to cut $103 million from its 2009 budget. Michael Perkins at InfoSnack Headquarters breaks down the numbers. According to Perkins, "the largest increases in costs ($44 million) come from wage increases for unionized employees, which WMATA budgeting treats as sacrosanct." And while union employees will get a pay raise, hundreds of non-union employees will lose their jobs. UPDATE: WMATA will trim the ranks of union employees as welll.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user fdecomite.