How The NSA Hacks Cellphone Networks Worldwide

by Ryan Gallagher.  In March 2011, two weeks before the Western intervention in Libya, a secret message was delivered to the National Security Agency. An intelligence unit within the U.S. military’s Africa Command needed help to hack into Libya’s cellphone networks and monitor text messages. For the NSA, the task was easy.      ... MORE

Andrew Napolitano: Ferguson

Failure in Ferguson is across the board.   The city of Ferguson, Mo., is now burned into our consciousness in a way that few other places are. In my youth, the race riots in Newark, Detroit and Los Angeles marked turning points in my own and in the public's awareness of the problems of a black underclass that perceives itself as being so   ... MORE

VIDEO: Steve Silverman - What To Do If Stopped By A Cop

Autry Pruitt: Civil Forfeiture Is A Civil Rights Violation

Legalized theft criticized.    At the core of the American founding is protecting the civil rights of the people. The list of “repeated injuries and usurpations,” by King George III, as delineated in the Declaration of Independence, were never far from the minds of those who drafted the Constitution—and for good reason. They wanted a         ... MORE

Ann Marie Banfield: Federalism & Common Core Standards

Will children save the Tenth Amendment?     Will federalism get its due in the next generation? Given what's been happening in New Hampshire, one might think so. The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution expresses the principle of federalism: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor      ... MORE

VIDEO: "I Don't Answer Questions" Greatest Hits

We're Number 2! China Tops America As Largest Economy

by Brett Arends.    Another dividend of hope and change. Hang on to your hats, America. And throw away that big, fat styrofoam finger while you’re about it. There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it: We’re no longer No. 1. Today, we’re No. 2. Yes, it’s official. The Chinese economy just overtook the United States economy to become   ... MORE

New York's Plot to Gut the Second Amendment

by Michael Filozof.     On Dec. 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will hear oral arguments in the case of Nojay v. Cuomo.  At stake is nothing less than whether the Second Amendment grants substantive gun rights to American citizens, or is meaningless rhetoric that allows the government total control over what firearms    ... MORE

The Trials of Growing Up in a Police State

by John W. Whitehead.   After a year dominated with news of police shootings of unarmed citizens (including children), SWAT team raids gone awry, photo ops of militarized police shouldering assault rifles while perched on top of armored vehicles, and reports on how the police are using asset forfeiture laws to pad their pockets with luxury cars,  ... MORE

Katie Pavlich: National Debt Hits $18,000,000,000,000

Taxpayers on the hook. As lawmakers on Capitol Hill prepare for a budget battle near the end of the lame-duck session, the United States has officially crossed the $18 trillion national debt threshold and there are no plans in the works to stop it from reaching $19 trillion next year. Under President Obama's tenure, the national debt has increased by 70 percent. 

VIDEO: John Stossel - The Power Of Prosecutors

Rand Paul for President: Can Interesting Be Electable?

by Brian Doherty.        Rand Paul announced today that he’s definitely running for re-election to his Kentucky Senate seat. While he has not made it official, he’s also by all available evidence running for his party’s presidential nomination (even though under Kentucky law he can’t appear on the same ballot in that state for both offices). He’s doing    ... MORE

The Sad, Sick Story Of Immigration In America

by Barry Farber.   “Send the manager over,” stormed the patron in the coffee shop. “How may I help you?” asked the manager. “This is the worst vanilla ice cream I’ve ever had,” the patron complained. “That’s not vanilla,” the manager explained. “That’s butter pecan.” “Oh,” said the patron, suddenly brightening. “For butter pecan it’s great!”  ... MORE

VIDEO: Research On Pot Inconvenient To Drug Warriors

John Stossel: Place Your Bets - Bootleggers and Baptists

Unholy alliance against liberty.  Want to bet on tomorrow’s NFL game between Chicago and Dallas? I do. Newspapers and websites all over America tell their readers that Dallas is favored by three points. That’s the “spread” posted by bookies. Millions will be bet on that game, and billions will be bet on other games this weekend — college     ... MORE

4 Members of Congress Put Their Hands Up in Solidarity With Protesters But 0 Voted to Limit Police Militarization

by Ed Krayewski.   Symbolism without subbstance. Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in August. Protests over the shooting yielded a militarized response from police. Renewed protests continued in October and again after a grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown.  ... MORE

Andrew Giambrone: Will Congress Let D.C. Legalize Pot?

Will national politicians allow liberty?     Imagine your state just passed a law legalizing marijuana in small amounts. If you are at least 21 years old, you can possess up to two ounces, give as much as one ounce to other adults, and grow as many as six marijuana plants at home. Because you enjoy consuming pot recreationally, you plant      ... MORE

Why Did Chris Rock Stop Performing For Students?

by Robby Soave.    Everything offends them. There's plenty to dissect in Frank Rich's comprehensive interview with Chris Rock. The comedian covers everything from Bill Cosby (he hopes the allegations are false) to the federal bailout of the auto industry (he was against it). I found Rock's remarks about why he no longer performs at college campuses   ... MORE

VIDEO: Megyn Kelly - Who Is Teaching Our Kids?

Cops Grab $100K In Warrantless Civil Forfeiture Search

by Robert O'Harrow Jr. The two men in the rented red Nissan Altima were poker players traveling through Iowa on their way to Las Vegas. The police were state troopers on the hunt for criminals, contraband and cash. They intersected last year on a rural stretch of Interstate 80, in a seemingly routine traffic stop that would soon raise new     ... MORE

Ira Stoll: Government-Backed Green Energy Goes Bust

What the Xunlight bankruptcy reveals about cronyism.  The recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidation filing of the Toledo, Ohio-based solar-panel manufacturer Xunlight Corp. has attracted barely any national attention. Maybe it’s gotten to the point—after Solyndra, Evergreen, Abound, and Satcon—that the failure of another    ... MORE

VIDEO: Is Bill Cosby The Real Victim?

Woman Stops At DUI Checkpoint, Gets Raped At Gunpoint

Department announces cop to be fired.      The Officer, Stephen Maiorino, was arrested on Oct. 20, 2014, and charged with allegedly raping the woman five days earlier. Maiorino, an eight-year veteran with the Boynton Beach Police Department, earned an “Officer of the Month” award in 2010, and was featured both on an episode of the   ... MORE

Ed Feulner: Why Gasoline Prices Are Down

And how we can keep them that way.       If you’re like most Americans, you haven’t been questioning the welcome drop in gasoline prices. You just fill ‘er up and feel grateful that you’re spending less. Why has this remarkable drop come about? And what can we do to help keep prices lower? Some of it, unfortunately, is beyond our control.   ... MORE

More Face Life Sentences For Crimes They Didn’t Commit

by Rob Hustle. The fallacy of mass incarceration. We recently reported on the case of Brandon Duncan, a California-based rapper facing a life sentence for writing songs about gang violence. Not to be outdone, in Illinois, Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim, Lake County Sheriff Mark C. Curran and other officials recently announced that:     ... MORE

Mitchell Feinberg: On The Moral Use Of "Smart Drugs"

Smart is good.  Cognitive enhancement drugs (CEDs), such as Ritalin, Adderall, and Provigil, are most commonly known for their use in treating patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). But these drugs, often called “smart drugs,” can profoundly enhance a perfectly healthy person’s ability to sustain concentration and thus     ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Bureaucrats Minding Your Business

Scott G. Bullock: How To Fight Civil Forfeiture

Don't be a victim of legalized extortion.    Attorney Scott Bullock heads up the Institute for Justice (IJ) initiative against civil forfeiture. In September, he told reason about IJ's plans to push back against the overuse of laws that allow unfair confiscation of property by law enforcement. Communication. Most people can't believe that in  ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Can Racial Discrimination Explain Much?

Rationalization is not reason.    In the medical profession, there is the admonition primum non nocere, the Latin expression for "first, do no harm." In order not to do harm, at the minimum, requires accurate diagnostics. Suppose a patient presents with abdominal pains, and the physician diagnoses it as caused by the patient's ingrown      ... MORE

VIDEO: America's 3 Most Fee-Ridden Cities

FDA Nannies Plan To Reduce Food Options For Americans

by Steve Chapman.     Busybodies minding YOUR own business. On Thursday, hundreds of millions of Americans risked obesity, heart disease and indigestion by eating large quantities of food with no precise knowledge of the caloric content. If many of them felt regret on Friday, it was not because they were duped into overeating by the      ... MORE

Michael Brown, Officer Wilson and The Ferguson Riots

by Thomas Sowell. Everyone seems to have an opinion about the tragic events in Ferguson, Missouri. But, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to say, “You’re entitled to your own opinion but you’re not entitled to your own facts.” Soon after the shooting death of Michael Brown, this 285-pound young man was depicted as a “gentle giant.” But, after a   ... MORE

A California Rapper Is Facing Life In Prison Over Lyrics

by Rob Hustle. What ever happened to free speech? San Diego rapper Brandon Duncan, aka ‘Tiny Doo,” is sitting in a San Diego County Jail facing life in prison. Brandon Duncan has no criminal record, and prosecutors in the case “admit he has no direct ties” to the crimes he is accused of. And yet, they are charging him with attempted    ... MORE

Larry Kudlow: Lower Oil Prices Are a Free-Market Victory

And a big tax cut.   Seldom has so much good news been portrayed so negatively. Oil prices continue to fall in the U.S. and around the world, but near everyone in the media is grumpy about it. The headlines today are among the silliest I’ve seen: Energy-company stocks are declining, oil deflation is an economic threat, the Fed might raise rates much  ... MORE

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Knowledge And Decisions

Duh! Texas Warrantless DWI Searches Are Unconstitutional

Court rules Fourth Amendment still applies.  A new rule in Texas will stop a warrantless search of a DWI suspect's blood. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals says the move violates the Fourth Amendment. "We hold that a nonconsensual search of a DWI suspect's blood conducted pursuant to the mandatory-blood draw and implied-consent provisions in  ... MORE

Policing For Profit: Training Videos Suggest Abuses

by Noah Pransky.     A procedure law enforcement agencies use to take cash, cars, and other personal property away from accused criminals continues to create controversy nationally as more stories of potential abuse surface. 10 Investigates has been reporting on civil forfeiture, a process designed to let law enforcement seize tools from      ... MORE

VIDEO: Utah Looks To Shut Down NSA Spying Center

We Are The Enemy: Is This The Lesson Of Ferguson?

by John W. Whitehead.   Should police officer Darren Wilson be held accountable for the shooting death of unarmed citizen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014? Tasked with determining whether Wilson should stand trial for Brown’s shooting, the grand jury ruled that the police officer will not face charges for the fatal shooting.     ... MORE

Government Studies Why Obese Girls Don't Get Much Sex

by Casey Harper. Anyone have a theory? While most Americans put on a few pounds for Thanksgiving, the federal government has been spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars researching why obese girls don’t have sex. The National Institute for Health grant allocated $466,642 to the Magee-Women’s Research Institute to study the sexual  ... MORE