by John W. Whitehead. “The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of the people.”—Justice William O. Douglas With every passing day, it becomes more apparent that we live in an age of hollow justice, with government courts, largely lacking in vision and scope, rendering narrow rulings focused on ... MORE
From ListVerse: Top 25 Ayn Rand Quotes
Insights of a philosophic genius. Ayn Rand, was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher. She is widely known for her best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism. She was an uncompromising advocate of rational individualism and laissez-faire capitalism, ... MORE
Should NFL Players Be Allowed To Treat Pain With Pot?
Moralists clash with medicine. While Colorado is the first state to fully legalize marijuana, Denver Broncos players are banned from using the drug. However, as CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports, a former NFL player said the hits he took on the field made him, and others like him, turn to pot. "Pain is constant when you play ... MORE
How Asset Forfeiture Allows Cops To Steal From Citizens
by A. Barton Hinkle. It probably seemed like a bright idea at the time: Let the police seize the ill-gotten gains of alleged drug dealers and other suspected criminals and sell it, using the proceeds to buy much-needed crime-fighting gear. Unfortunately, the process—civil asset forfeiture—did not require convicting anybody of a crime. ... MORE
VIDEO: Citizen Pulls Washington Cop Over, Gives Warning
A citizen schools a cop on the state law regarding unmarked police vehicles.
No Freedom: Inside The 'Darkest Place In The World'
by Deborah Weitzman. A hell hole called North Korea. At 21 years old, a girl robbed of her youth, innocence and freedom has finally spoken out against her native North Korea - the 'unimaginable country' she was fortunate enough to have escaped from. In an emotionally charged speech, Yeonmi Park tells a harrowing tale about what life was ... MORE
Labels:
abuse,
brutality,
civil rights,
evil,
freedom,
North Korea,
rights,
slavery,
totalitarian,
tyranny
Ebola and the CDC's Dangerous Mission Drift
by Jacob Sullum. Before Tom Frieden became director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009, his two main nemeses were tuberculosis and smoking. Although both are commonly described as threats to "public health," they differ in ways that may help explain the CDC's stumbling, alarmingly amateurish response to Ebola in the ... MORE
Labels:
bureaucracy,
busybody,
CDC,
disease,
Ebola,
government,
health,
medicine,
regulation,
smoking
Doctors Go To Court To Fight Government's Marijuana Lies
by David Downs. The U.S. government claims marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug with no medical benefits. But that claim will be up for debate Monday in California when a federal judge is scheduled to hear testimony from doctors that conclude the opposite. Doctors Carl Hart, Associate Professor of Psychology at Columbia University ... MORE
Labels:
authority,
cannabis,
deception,
dishonesty,
government,
marijuana,
medical marijuana,
science
Justices To Rule On Warrantless Searches Of Hotel Records
Police demand arbitrary access to hotel records. The Supreme Court agreed Monday to referee a dispute over police access to hotels' guest information without first getting a search warrant. The justices said they will hear an appeal by the city of Los Angeles of a lower court ruling that struck down an ordinance that requires hotel operators to ... MORE
Labels:
due process,
justice,
police state,
privacy,
probable cause,
records,
rights,
warrantless search
John Stossel - Federal Persecutors
A group of Washington overlords — federal prosecutors — sometimes break rules and wreck people's lives. President Obama may soon appoint one of them to be America's next Attorney General. The prosecutorial bullying is detailed in a new book by Sidney Powell, "Licensed to Lie." She reports that the Department of Justice's ... MORE
Minimum Wage Backfire: McDonald's Move To Automate
from the Wall Street Journal. If there’s a silver lining for
McDonald’s
in Tuesday’s dreadful earnings report, it is that perhaps union
activists will begin to understand that the fast-food chain cannot solve
the problems of the
Obama
economy. The world’s largest restaurant company reported a 30%
decline in quarterly profits on a 5% ... MORE
Andrew Napolitano: Chilling Free Speech
What's going on here? Earlier this week, the federal government's National Science Foundation, an entity created to encourage the study of science — encouragement that it achieves by awarding grants to scholars and universities — announced that it had awarded a grant to study what people say about themselves and others in social media. The ... MORE
Federal Forfeiture Program: What Is It Funding?
by Nick Sibilla. Cops are increasingly looking and acting more like soldiers. How are they paying for all this militarized equipment? One source of funding is particularly disconcerting for Americans’ constitutional rights: equitable sharing. Under this federal forfeiture program, local and state law enforcement can seize—and keep ... MORE
Carl Sagan Wanted An Honest Drugs Debate 24 Years Ago
by Matt Ferner. His questions remain spot on. Carl Sagan, a titan of scientific thought and communication, assumed many different roles in his life -- from science's "gatekeeper," to television star on the original "Cosmos," to marijuana user and advocate. Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, recently posted a handful of Sagan's letters ... MORE
Labels:
drug war,
drugs,
freedom,
government,
individual liberty,
prohibition,
reality,
reason,
science
UK Gun Owners Subject To Warrantless Home Searches
Previews of coming attractions? Registered gun owners in the United Kingdom are now subject to unannounced visits to their homes under new guidance that allows police to inspect firearms storage without a warrant. The new policy from the British Home Office went into effect Oct. 15, permitting police and constabularies to conduct surprise ... MORE
Labels:
government,
gun control,
gun rights,
NRA,
search and seizure,
tyranny,
UK,
warrantless search
Marijuana Midterms: 3 states and DC Vote On Legalization
by German Lopez. On November 4, voters in several states could break down restrictions on a drug once known for Reefer Madness. In Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, DC, voters will decide if they want to usher in marijuana legalization. In Florida, voters will decide whether to amend their state constitution to allow medical marijuana.
Here's a ... MORE
Labels:
cannabis,
drug war,
individual liberty,
initiative,
legalize,
marijuana,
prohibition,
self-ownership
Thomas Sowell: Predatory Journalism
Exploiting the ignorant. The New York Times is again on the warpath against what it calls "predatory lending." Just what is predatory lending? It is lending that charges a higher interest rate than people like those at the New York Times approve of. According to such thinking — or lack of thinking — the answer is to have the government set an interest ... MORE
How America Can Regain Its Economic Freedom
by A. Barton Hinkle. If you’ve been wondering why the nation’s so-called economic recovery seems so weak, here’s one partial explanation: The United States has been moving in the wrong direction on measures of economic freedom. The Cato Institute, a Washington think tank, produces an annual report examining economic liberty around the globe. ... MORE
Labels:
economics,
free market,
free trade,
freedom,
morality,
policy,
property rights,
redistribution
The Hidden Privacy Threat of … Flashlight Apps?
by Robert McMillian. When I downloaded the Flashlight app to my iPhone, I was in a jam. I was camping, I think. Or maybe a pen had rolled under my couch. I remember that smug sense of self-congratulation after I downloaded the software, which converted the iPhone’s LED flash into a steady and bright beam of light. But I shouldn't have been so ... MORE
The People Now Realize: America Is Out Of Control
by Wynton Hall. A devastating new Politico poll reveals voters believe America has spun off its axis and is "out of control." "An overwhelming majority of voters in the most competitive 2014 elections say it feels as if events in the United States are 'out of control' and expressed mounting alarm about terrorism, anxiety about Ebola and harsh skepticism ... MORE
California Cops Become Mind Readers, Seize Your Guns
by Steven Greenhut. Gun-control efforts often center on hardware,
such as limiting or banning the ownership of particular firearms
and ammunition. But in California this year, the
most significant new gun-related law is less about the
guns and more about identifying people who might be too dangerous
to own them. A.B. 1014, which goes ... MORE
Walter E Williams: Embarrassing Economists
The first fundamental law of demand. So as to give some perspective, I'm going to ask readers for their guesses about human behavior before explaining my embarrassment by some of my fellow economists. Suppose the prices of ladies jewelry rose by 100 percent. What would you predict would happen to sales? What about a ... MORE
Son Of Draconian Drug Warrior Fails Drug Test
by Jesse Walker. Vice President Joe Biden has been one of the most
strident drug warriors of my lifetime. Mandatory minimum sentences,
the crack/powder disparity, federal asset forfeiture, the RAVE
Act—they all have Biden's fingerprints on them. The man may
be responsible for
the very phrase "drug czar." If the Drug War had its own Mount ... MORE
Do People Really Hand Out Pot-Laced Halloween Candy?
by Jacob Sullum. The urban legend continues. Last week the DPD posted a video in which Patrick Johnson, proprietor of Denver's Urban Dispensary, warns that "there's really no way to tell the difference between candy that's infused and candy that's not infused" once the products have been removed from their original packages. ... MORE
Labels:
children,
drug war,
drugs,
evil,
marijuana,
pot,
propaganda,
sabotage,
scare tactics,
warning
Have Entitlements Become More Attractive Than Work?
A new food stamp pattern. The food stamp program (more formally, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) is intended to help low-income Americans with their food bills. Traditionally, the number of Americans receiving SNAP benefits rises during poor economic times and falls during good ones. But that is not what is ... MORE
Is the NSA Grabbing All Americans' Phone Call Content?
by Thomas R. Eddiem. The NSA and the National Director of Intelligence have consistently denied that they listen to the content of Americans' telephone calls, but the history of intelligence agency claims about the scope of its spying on Americans is one of lies and more lies. So the question must be asked: Are they lying again with respect ... MORE
The High Cost Of Living In A Police State
by John W. Whitehead. Who pays the price for the police shootings that leave unarmed citizens dead or injured, for the SWAT team raids that leave doors splintered, homes trashed, pets murdered, and family members traumatized and injured, if not dead? I’m not just talking about the price that must be paid in hard-earned dollars, whether ... MORE
John Stossel: Crumbling Constitution
Does the Constitution still matter? When it was written, Ben Franklin said the Founders gave us a republic, "if you can keep it." Few people thought the republic would last another 227 years, but it has. The Constitution's limits on government power helped create the most free and prosperous country on earth. But now, some Americans, ... MORE
Walter E Williams: Officially Killing Americans
Incentives of the drug bureaucrats. The Food and Drug Administration can make two types of errors. It can approve a drug that has dangerous unanticipated side effects, or it can reject or delay approval of a drug that is safe and effective. Let's look at these errors, because to err on the side of under- or over-caution is costly. ... MORE
Labels:
choice,
drugs,
FDA,
government,
health,
incentives,
individual liberty,
regulation,
restrictions
Thomas Sowell: Local Or National Elections?
The stakes are high. Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill once said, "All politics is local." That may have been true in Tip O'Neill's day, but some elections are decisively on national issues — and the Congressional elections this year are overwhelmingly national, just as the elections of 1860 were dominated by one national issue, namely slavery. ... MORE
Andrew Napolitano: The Government And Freedom
Don't trust your freedom to the government. Earlier this week, FBI Director James Comey gave an interview to "60 Minutes" during which he revealed a flawed understanding of personal freedom. He rightly distinguished what FBI agents do in their investigations of federal crimes from what the NSA does in its intelligence gathering, when the ... MORE
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