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Kudlow: Margaret Thatcher, Freedom and Free Markets

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(Read More: UK's 'Iron Lady' Margaret Thatcher Dies of Stroke)

Margaret Thatcher, who governed the U.K. from 1979 to 1990, fought socialism in England and unyieldingly promoted the free-market views of Nobelists Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. She stopped the destructive British labor unions dead in their tracks. With every bone in her body she attempted to limit government by lowering spending and taxation. She opted for big-bang financial deregulation. And she put London back on the map as a world banking center.

"Freedom" was always her watchword.

She also adored former President Ronald Reagan. And the two of them formed an extraordinary partnership for freedom and free markets. Working together, they helped bring down the Soviet communist system. And it was a peaceful bring-down at that.

(Read More: Margaret Thatcher's Greatest Moments)

Thatcher saw Gorbachev first, and she reported to Reagan, "We can do business with him." Reagan did, although he refused to back down on SDI. And as the American economy roared in response to Reagan's own free-market supply-side policies, the Soviets were out-produced and eventually folded.

Thatcher famously said, "The trouble with socialists is that they always run out of other people's money." That dictum really stands the test of time, doesn't it? Running out of other people's money? Today?

The age of big government has once again, at least temporarily, reared its ugly head. It's a great battle for all the economies around the world. That's one of many reasons why we will miss Margaret Thatcher. She did not go wobbly.

By CNBC's Larry Kudlow; Follow him on Twitter @larry_kudlow

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Kudlow: Margaret Thatcher, Freedom and Free Markets

Kudlow: Thatcher, Freedom, Free Markets

Posted on by

(Read More: UK's 'Iron Lady' Margaret Thatcher Dies of Stroke)

Margaret Thatcher, who governed the U.K. from 1979 to 1990, fought socialism in England and unyieldingly promoted the free-market views of Nobelists Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. She stopped the destructive British labor unions dead in their tracks. With every bone in her body she attempted to limit government by lowering spending and taxation. She opted for big-bang financial deregulation. And she put London back on the map as a world banking center.

"Freedom" was always her watchword.

She also adored former President Ronald Reagan. And the two of them formed an extraordinary partnership for freedom and free markets. Working together, they helped bring down the Soviet communist system. And it was a peaceful bring-down at that.

(Read More: Margaret Thatcher's Greatest Moments)

Thatcher saw Gorbachev first, and she reported to Reagan, "We can do business with him." Reagan did, although he refused to back down on SDI. And as the American economy roared in response to Reagan's own free-market supply-side policies, the Soviets were out-produced and eventually folded.

Thatcher famously said, "The trouble with socialists is that they always run out of other people's money." That dictum really stands the test of time, doesn't it? Running out of other people's money? Today?

The age of big government has once again, at least temporarily, reared its ugly head. It's a great battle for all the economies around the world. That's one of many reasons why we will miss Margaret Thatcher. She did not go wobbly.

By CNBC's Larry Kudlow; Follow him on Twitter @larry_kudlow

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Kudlow: Thatcher, Freedom, Free Markets

Freedom from Thought: how to ceace identifying with our mind – "Resting As the I Am" Meditation – Video

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Freedom from Thought: how to ceace identifying with our mind - "Resting As the I Am" Meditation
Often many of experience ourselves as victims of our thoughts, unable to get away from them and unable to be at peace in their presence. We can lose sleep, b...

By: Boris Kerjner

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Freedom from Thought: how to ceace identifying with our mind - "Resting As the I Am" Meditation - Video

Freedom of expression threatened post-Arab Spring

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More journalists, bloggers, musicians and other public figures are increasingly being summoned to court in an apparent crackdown on freedom of expression in Egypt and Tunisia. But they're not going without a fight.

Egyptian TV satirist Bassem Youssef, who has been compared with United States news parody show host Jon Stewart, this past week had to answer to Egyptian prosecutors over charges of insulting Islam and President Morsi. Although an Egyptian administrative court threw out a lawsuit filed by a Muslim Brotherhood lawyer seeking to ban Youssef and his satirical political show, Youssef still faces other, similar charges.

Meanwhile in Tunisia, rapper Weld El 15 was recently sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for insulting the police. The two cases point to ongoing efforts by Islamist forces to use the courts to muzzle criticism of North African governments.

The fall of dictatorial regimes after the Arab Spring apparently hasn't brought about any durable guarantees for freedom of expression. On the contrary, there seems to be an offensive against free speech in North Africa - yet this is being met with resistance, and the world is looking on.

'Judicial harassment'

Human rights groups note an increase in court cases charging religious defamation. Amnesty International researcher Diana Eltahawy cited an offensive targeting 33 activists, bloggers and politicians over the past few weeks. This represents increasing "judicial harassment" of those leveling political or societal critique, Eltahawy told DW.

This comes despite the new Egyptian constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression. Clauses about defamation opened a legal grey area that certain forces are trying to exploit to muzzle criticism, also in the form of satire.

Eltahawy pointed out that many of the legal challenges are filed by regular individuals or Islamist lawyers. Slander of political figures and denigration of religious values are the primary charges.

But the state prosecution has ultimate say in the matter, Eltahawy added. "They can make the decision not to press charges, not to refer the matters to court," she said. Though it should be defending free speech, instead "the public prosecutor is increasingly charging individuals for freely expressing themselves," Eltahawy said.

Creative expression targeted

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Freedom of expression threatened post-Arab Spring

Freedom Singers perform in Vulcan 0

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A musical group that has experienced trials and tribulations in their steadfast devotion to their faith performed in Vulcan on Saturday.

Simon Ivascu and his brother Stefan fled Romania as teenagers in the late 1990s, when they faced, upon completing high school, mandatory military service.

But freedom of worship was restricted in the army, and the boys, being conscientious Christians, refused to serve. However, this would mean several years of imprisonment and persecution, so they made the difficult decision to flee their home country, facing many dangers and hardships along the way.

Simon left Romania in 1997 while his brother had fled a few years prior. Wesley Pop, a close friend and also a member of the Freedom Singers, left about a year after Simon.

He found his way to Italy, where he stayed until 1999. During his time in Italy, Simon met up with Pop, and the two decided to leave the country together. Stefan was able to stay in Italy until 2006.

Simon and Pop paid cash to gain access to a shipping container, and their handler warned them about the trip ahead and suggested they bring certain items, including several tools that would later prove to be life saving.

Once in the container, they were locked up.

We didnt even know where it was heading, Simon told the Advocate during a phone interview on Friday. We ended up in Montreal.

But it wasnt as easy as that. Before their container was even loaded on a ship, they spent four days at a port, said Simon.

They coped with roasting temperatures inside the container, and eventually, water and food ran out. Oxygen was also running out. In order to breathe, they had to drill holes in the container and used juice box straws to get some air, he said.

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Freedom Singers perform in Vulcan 0

Freedom moving forward with primary center

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NEW SEWICKLEY TWP. The Freedom Area School District has vaulted the initial challenge to its plan to add a primary center onto the middle school building.

District Superintendent Jeffrey Fuller said geological studies show the property between the middle school and the stadium is stable. The district had concerns because of mine subsidence problems, mostly near the high school, in the past.

We can move forward with the planning and construction phases now, Fuller said.

The primary center, for pupils in kindergarten to fourth grade, will allow the district to close Conway and Big Knob elementary schools, probably at the end of the 2014-15 school year. All Freedom Area students will then be housed on the New Sewickley Township campus.

The district is waiting for its architect to complete his drawings for the expanded middle school building. Fuller said the architects deadline is as soon as possible.

In March, the school board decided not to relocate the stadium and track to the land between the high school and the middle school, which caused some alterations to the original vision. Fuller said the primary center can still fit in the envisioned space.

Fuller said eliminating the stadium from the plan will reduce costs by $3 million, dropping the project estimate to $10 million.

The savings will likely be applied to air conditioning, electrical and efficiency needs in the high school building, according to Fuller. Those needs will be addressed after the primary center is completed.

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Freedom moving forward with primary center

Freedom i-Connex Bluetooth keyboard folds up, keeps typing

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For those of us who cling defiantly to our physical keyboards and find tapping away on a touchscreen a chore, a Bluetooth keyboard is a necessity. I went hands-on with a new one that crossed my desk today.

Clocking in at just 250g, the Freedom i-Connex keyboard is a cheaply constructed Bluetooth accessory that won't weigh you down. It'll hook up to your iPhone, iPad or Android device, BlackBerry PlayBook or even your PlayStation 3.

In our tests, the i-Connex worked fine with iOS gadgets, but had some difficulty connecting to an Android tablet. The included plastic tablet stand also proved too flimsy to support the weight of a Kindle Fire HD 8.9.

Typing on the chiclet-style keys -- or "chocolate style" according to the documentation -- feels unnatural at times and the split space key seems to be in the wrong place for your thumbs.

These are just the start of the problems. Leave the i-Connex keyboard connected to your device and you'll find the hinge mechanism stubbornly holds the Y key down, resulting in an infinite string of consonants. It's like unwanted ASCII art.

The pull-out smart phone stand is no more reliable, offering a construction akin to a toy you might find in a cracker. It's held up by a thin black wire barely fit to support the weight of the stand itself, and that's before you even attempt sticking your phone to it.

All in all, the Freedom i-Connex offers little benefit other than its relatively low price of 35 -- Apple's shiny aluminium alternative will set you back 57, and is less portable. Click through the photos above to see it in 'action', and let me know what you think down in the comments, or on our sturdily built Facebook page.

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Freedom i-Connex Bluetooth keyboard folds up, keeps typing


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