Saint Nick argues that the right to accept risk, and to fall spectacularly, is essential to the surfing life A Stand Against the Safety State SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Santa Claus has emerged as an unlikely defender of the freedom to wipe out this week, opposing a proposal by safety-minded officials to mandate surf helmets […]

Saint Nick raises a flag, abolishes the income tax, and invites every freedom-loving soul to a polar republic with great waves A Republic Born on the Ice NORTH POLE — In an act of breathtaking audacity that has thrilled freedom-lovers across the surfing world, Santa Claus has declared the North Pole an independent sovereign state, […]

Five Years of $15 and Above Minimum Wages Show Employment Effects Smaller Than Opponents Predicted and Wage Gains Smaller Than Proponents Promised California’s Minimum Wage Experiment Is Producing Data That Contradicts Both Sides Five years of California’s $15 minimum wage implementation — now $16.50 statewide and $20 for fast food workers under AB

Why the Surfer’s Relationship to the Sea Represents the Best Argument for Individual Liberty in a Bureaucratic Age The Ocean Does Not Care About Your Permit The wave arrives at the same time regardless of whether you have completed the appropriate forms, paid the applicable fee, and received the laminated card that authorises your presence [&hellip

1978 Property Tax Cap Has Protected Homeowners, Distorted the Housing Market, and Transferred Wealth Upward for Forty-Seven Years While Nobody Admits What It Actually Does Prop 13 Is America’s Most Successful Tax Limit — And California Is Still Paying for It California’s Proposition 13, passed in 1978 by a coalition of homeowners outraged by rapid

State Audit Documents Three-Year Pattern of Enforcement-First Policy That Moves People From One Location to Another Without Addressing Any Underlying Condition California Spent $240M Clearing Homeless Encampments That Created No New Housing A state audit released Thursday found that California spent approximately $240 million between 2022 and 2025

Zoning Reform Is the Single Most Cost-Effective Housing Policy Available and California Has Been Blocking It Since 1978 The Free Market Would Solve California’s Housing Crisis If California Would Let It California has a housing shortage of approximately 3.5 million units, according to the McKinsey Global Institute’s most recent analysis — a number

The US Lifesaving Association’s Regulatory Capture of Competitive Ocean Sports Has Produced Bureaucracy Without Safety Improvement What Happens When Government Runs the Surf Contest The United States Lifesaving Association’s role in certifying and regulating ocean sports competitions has expanded significantly over the past decade, producing a regu

Bullet Train to Nowhere Has Consumed $12 Billion, Produced No Operational Track, and Revised Its Completion Date Seven Times Since 2008 California High-Speed Rail Illustrates Everything Wrong With Government Infrastructure California’s High-Speed Rail Authority released its annual report Thursday showing that the Central Valley construction segment

Ocean Plastic Pollution Results From Public Good Problems That Markets Cannot Solve Alone But That Governments Have Failed to Address Through Available Regulatory Tools The Pacific Garbage Patch Is Government Failure as Much as Market Failure The Great Pacific Garbage Patch — an area of concentrated plastic debris estimated at twice the size of Tex

How the Coalition to Save Trestles Used Public Land Doctrine to Defeat a Government Infrastructure Project That Would Have Damaged a Public Resource Trestles Was Saved by Surfers Who Understood Property Rights Better Than the State The 2008 defeat of the Transportation Corridor Agencies’ proposed toll road extension through San Onofre State Beach —

Surfers, Fishermen, and Fire-Ringers Document Expanding Regulatory Footprint That Treats Access to Public Beaches as a Privilege Requiring Permission California Coastal Commission Makes It Illegal to Enjoy the Coast in 12 New Ways Since March The California Coastal Commission, the twelve-member appointed body that governs land use and coastal acces

Bans on overnight vehicle dwelling, anti-camping ordinances, and vehicle habitation restrictions are effectively outlawing a surf lifestyle that has existed on California’s coast for generations Van Life Under Attack: How California Is Criminalising the Surf Nomad There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak. The ocean is

Remote surf spots present genuine safety challenges; the regulatory barriers to carrying for self-defence in coastal areas are inconsistent with the constitutional right Surfing and the Second Amendment: Beach Security and the Right of Self-Defence There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak. The ocean is not owned by any

A positive programme for surf culture based on maximum beach access, minimum regulatory burden, strong property rights, and community rather than government management of shared resources The Future of Surfing Is Freedom: What the Libertarian Vision for California’s Coast Looks Like There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious st

Surf localism — the practice of intimidating outsiders away from local breaks — is private enforcement of a property claim that doesn’t exist; it should be rejected on libertarian grounds The Libertarian Case Against Surf Localism: Your Wave Is Not Your Property There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak. […]

Despite decades of environmental regulation, storm drain runoff continues to close California beaches; the regulatory framework has failed to solve the problem it was designed to address Ocean Water Quality and the Regulatory Failure: Why California’s Beaches Are Still Polluted There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak.

What was once an independent, community-run event now requires multiple permits from multiple agencies; the story is a case study in regulatory mission creep The Government That Ate Mavericks: How Federal and State Agencies Bureaucratised an Iconic Big Wave Contest There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak. The ocean [&

How the California Coastal Commission’s permitting regime has made it harder to build surf infrastructure, access beaches, and maintain the economic ecosystem surfers depend on California’s Coastal Commission Is Killing Surf Culture; Here’s the Evidence There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak. The ocean is not owned b

Limited parking, permit systems, and access restrictions have made Malibu’s public beaches effectively private for anyone who can’t afford to live on PCH The Malibu Parking Apocalypse: How Government-Restricted Access Is Gentrifying the Waves There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak. The ocean is not owned by anyone. T

The public trust doctrine guarantees access to California’s coastline; enforcement is inconsistent and private encroachment is systematically underpoliced Free the Beach: The Legal Case for Unrestricted Coastal Access in California There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak. The ocean is not owned by anyone. The waves ar

From wetsuit disposal requirements to van dwelling bans to single-use plastics restrictions on competition sponsors, the regulatory burden on surf culture businesses is accelerating California’s Surf Industry Is Being Regulated Out of Existence There is a reason that surf culture has always had a rebellious streak. The ocean is not owned by anyone.

Restrictive zoning restricts supply; surf culture geography collides with housing market reality Satire from Bohiney.com and prat.uk. COASTAL CALIFORNIA — The paradox of coastal California surf culture is geographical: the surf is best near the coast, the housing near the coast is among the most expensive in the world, and the people who most ident

UV filters approved in Europe, Australia, Japan remain unavailable in US pending decades-long FDA process Satire from Bohiney.com and prat.uk. WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration continues to process applications for several sunscreen active ingredients that are approved and widely used in Europe, Australia, Japan, and other developed cou

68 cents per gallon state tax funds transportation; outcomes assessment produces familiar result Satire from Bohiney.com and prat.uk. CALIFORNIA — California’s gasoline tax, approximately 68 cents per gallon including state excise tax and various fees, was increased this week as part of the automatic inflation adjustment built into the state’s fuel

LP candidate receives more votes than expected, fewer than required; ideas outperform electoral performance Satire from Bohiney.com and prat.uk. CALIFORNIA — A Libertarian Party candidate ran for a California state legislative office in the most recent election cycle, receiving 3.2 percent of the vote in a race won by the Democratic incumbent with

Pacific swell production continues without permit requirement; Cato, Reason note this as remaining free space Satire from Bohiney.com and prat.uk. PACIFIC OCEAN — The Pacific Ocean, which covers approximately one-third of the Earth’s surface and which produces the swells that reach California’s beaches from storm systems near Antarctica, New Zealan

Legislature adds to regulatory catalogue; surfing community’s antiauthoritarian ethos meets environmental pragmatism Satire from Bohiney.com and prat.uk. CALIFORNIA — The California Legislature this week passed another regulatory measure addressing a product, behaviour, or substance that the Legislature has determined poses sufficient risk to publi