by Matt Agorist. Government cockroaches prefer darkness to light. In March of this year the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s eavesdropping law, and rightfully so, as it was touted as the most unconstitutional law of its kind in the country. But Illinois, being the the corrupt and violent police state that it is, couldn’t let their ... MORE
Nat Hentoff: How Government Tricks Us Into Being Its Spies
Not just the night has a thousand eyes. I’ve long been annoyed and increasingly angered by a message from our government on radio, TV and other forms of communication in and around New York City, where I live and work: “If you see something, say something. If it doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t.” The message often ends: “Be careful, ... MORE
Labels:
citizens,
government,
police state,
privacy,
Rand Paul,
reporting,
snooping,
spying,
surveillance
Matthew Hurtt: The Republican Plan To Cripple IRS
GOP attempt to reel in lawless thugs. Imagine a world where there were not enough IRS agents to threaten your livelihood by pouring over years of receipts and tax filings. With the Republican takeover of the Senate, the Republican-controlled Congress is looking to severely de-fund the IRS in the wake of the ongoing scandal that revealed the ... MORE
Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide Introduced In California
Notion that people own themselves is forwarded. California ProLife Council,
working in conjunction with a coalition of life-affirming groups, has
defeated California Assisted Suicide proposals in the past. But euthanasia advocates have promised to be particularly aggressive this coming year. State Sen. Bill Monning intends to introduce ... MORE
Labels:
freedom,
government,
individual liberty,
legislation,
self-interest,
self-ownership,
suicide
Andy Fiala: Time To Reconnect With Liberterian Ideals
A libertarian wave is sweeping parts of the country. The rising tide of liberty includes the legalization of gay marriage, marijuana, and physician assisted suicide. Libertarians think that freedom should only be restricted in order to secure more extensive liberty or to prevent harm to others. Apart from obvious harms such as rape or ... MORE
Labels:
drug war,
freedom,
gay rights,
individual liberty,
libertarian,
politics,
self-interest,
suicide
N.Y. Legislature Passed Bill To Protect Bad Cops
by E.J. McMahon. Who should ultimately control police discipline in New York: elected officials through their appointed police commissioners, or unelected labor arbitrators chosen in part by labor unions? The question has plainly picked up added resonance in recent days. Gov. Cuomo will soon have a chance to answer it. Sometime before ... MORE
DC Council Moves To Protect Citizens From Cops
Passes asset forfeiture overhaul bill. Federal guidelines on asset forfeiture say law enforcement agencies "may
not commit" to spending figures in advance, but that hasn't stopped the
Washington, DC police department from doing exactly that.
As we covered here recently, the DC police have penciled in expected
seizure amounts all the way ... MORE
Medical Doctors, Organizing To Restrict Your Freedom
by Mike Sweeney. Going back over the last two to three years we have often encountered groups of medical doctors who are organizing, crafting a message, and implementing protocols which will enable them to strip a law abiding citizen of their Second Amendment rights. We first encountered the doctors at public forums, which were ... MORE
Labels:
2nd Amendment,
deception,
doctors,
freedom,
gun control,
gun rights,
protection,
self-defense
Jacob Sullum: Catching Cops On Camera Can Be Crucial
A powerful weapon against police brutality. Last week, in response to the shooting of Michael Brown and
other controversial uses of deadly force by police, President Obama
proposed federal funding for body cameras to record
interactions between cops and members of the public. Two days
later, a Staten Island grand jury cast doubt ... MORE
Labels:
authority,
behavior,
brutality,
cameras,
government,
police,
police state,
recording,
tactics
Katie Kieffer: Next Time, Try Rogaine
How to not share the hair. “Desperate” is not disguising a bald spot with spray paint or treating a thinning scalp with Rogaine; desperate is murdering over a lock of human hair—and unemployed Americans are growing desperate. Despite Michelle Obama’s claim that her hubby unleashed a “huge recovery,” the only visible recovery is on ... MORE
John Stossel: Climate Catastrophe
The real world effects of fossil fuel. People argue about whether the "consensus" of scientists is that we face disaster because of global warming. Instead of debating whether man's greenhouse gasses will raise temperatures, we should argue about how we gauge disasters. If you take most environmentalists and climate scientists at their word, ... MORE
Labels:
benefits,
climate,
energy,
environment,
fossil fuels,
politics,
scare tactics,
science,
weather
65% of Children Live in Federally Aided Households
by Terence P Jeffrey. The Census Bureau reported in a study released this week that 65 percent of American children lived in households taking aid from one or more federal program as of the fall of 2011. "Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of children," said the Census Bureau, "lived in households that participated in at least one or more of the ... MORE
David Kravets: NSA Warrantless Bulk Phone Metadata Spying Continues Unabated Despite Obama's Pledge
Snooping against Americans reauthorized. The NSA's bulk phone metadata spying program was renewed for another 90 days, the fourth time the warrantless snooping has been reauthorized following President Barack Obama promising reform last January, the government said Monday. That means the nation's telecoms will continue ... MORE
Labels:
data,
government,
metadata,
NSA,
privacy,
snooping,
spying,
surveillance,
warrantless search
Every American Needs To Learn About Jury Nullification
by Kevin Mathews. Did you know that, no matter the evidence, if a jury feels a law is
unjust, it is permitted to “nullify” the law rather than finding someone
guilty? Basically, jury nullification is
a jury’s way of saying, “By the letter of the law, the defendant is
guilty, but we also disagree with that law, so we vote to not punish the
accused.” ... MORE
Labels:
drug war,
guilt,
juror,
jury nullification,
justice,
law,
power,
rights,
trial,
victimless crimes
Thomas Sowell: Is Law Optional?
Punishment based on preconceptions. The fiasco of "Rolling Stone" magazine's apology for an unsubstantiated claim of gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house — and the instant rush to judgment of the university administration in shutting down all fraternities, when those charges were made — should warn us about the dangers ... MORE
14 Ways Americans Can Avoid Paying The Obamacare Tax
by Omar Hamada. Tax season is just around the corner, and the majority of Americans are still completely puzzled when it comes to how Obamacare will affect their taxes. Unbeknownst to most, 14 ways, in total, to avoid paying the Obamacare tax penalty for not complying with the federal insurance mandate exist. In fact, one of them is so ... MORE
Dumb Policies Frustrate Benefits Of Falling Oil Prices
by Peter Morici. Falling gas prices add to holiday cheer, but those are not an unvarnished good for the U.S. economy—thanks to bad economic policy. Oil selling at about $65 a barrel oil prices gives consumers and many businesses a lot of additional buying power, but it also puts a damper on the U.S. oil and gas boom. For now, U.S. oil ... MORE
Measure To Tax Internet Sales Is Dead For A Year
by Sean Higgins. Legislation to tax Internet sales is dead for the year, a key Senate aide said. No bill allowing the taxation will be taken up before Congress' lame-duck session ends, meaning that purchases made through online merchants such as Amazon will continue to be tax-free for the foreseeable future. A coalition made up of state and ... MORE
Walter E Williams: What Is Rule Of Law?
Contemplating fairness. President Barack Obama said just before the recent Ferguson, Missouri, riots, "First and foremost, we are a nation built on the rule of law." Most Americans have little or no inkling of what "rule of law" means. Many think it means obedience to whatever laws legislatures enact. That's a vision that has led to human tragedy ... MORE
Labels:
baseball,
equality,
fairness,
government,
justice,
law,
politicians,
principles,
rules,
society
Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Goes Mainstream
by Jordan Richardson. Long overdue moves toward justice. Civil asset forfeiture enables law enforcement agencies to seize money and property that they suspect is being used to commit a crime or represents profits from criminal activity. Law enforcement agencies do not need to convict or even charge the property owner to make these ... MORE
Bruce Walker: The IRS Scandal Is Not Going Away
Just wait until Republicans control Congress. The IRS scandal is not much in the news these days, but it is not going away. The more Obama’s minions stonewall this scandal, the more congressional Democrats discount the scandal, the more the leftist establishment media ignores this scandal, the more toxic it will be for the left. ... MORE
Hundreds Of Police Killings Are Uncounted In Federal Stats
by Rob Barry and Coulter Jones. When 24-year-old Albert Jermaine Payton wielded a knife in front of the police in this city’s southeast corner, officers opened fire and killed him. Yet according to national statistics intended to track police killings, Mr. Payton’s death in August 2012 never happened. It is one of hundreds of homicides ... MORE
Labels:
authority,
death,
government,
kill,
law enforcement,
police,
police state,
statistics,
violence
Ed Adamczyk: Cost Of Renouncing U.S. Citizenship Goes Up
Govt's shrewed scheme to reduce the debt. The cost of renouncing U.S. citizenship will increase Sept. 12, from $450 to $2,350 per person, the U.S. State Department said. The new fee reflects what a U.S. Federal Register notice calls the "full cost" of the paperwork involved. "Documenting a U.S. citizen's renunciation of citizenship is ... MORE
Labels:
citizens,
citizenship,
economics,
fees,
government,
incentives,
penalties,
politics,
revenue
Jacob Sullum: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead
How prohibition drives users to more dangerous drugs. Last week CNN ran a report called
"Deadly High: How Synthetic Drugs Are Killing Kids." The story
highlights the threat posed by "deadly new drugs on America's
streets designed to evade the law." In case you are not sure how
you should react to this menace, correspondent Drew Griffin ... MORE
Labels:
drug war,
drugs,
government,
incentives,
LSD,
politics,
prohibition,
regulation,
restrictions
Appeals Court Rips California DNA-Collection Law
by William Dotinga. An arrest is not a conviction. For the second time in three years, a state appeals court in San Francisco found that a voter-approved mandate authorizing police to collect DNA from arrestees is unconstitutional. The 3-0 ruling by a panel of the First Appellate District stems from the arson conviction of Mark Buza, whom a jury ... MORE
Garner's Death Shows How Stupid Laws Get People Killed
by David Harsanyi. Killed for failure to pay a cigarette tax. After news of the baffling decision by the New York grand jury not to indict a police officer in the killing of Eric Garner, I sent out a (slightly) hyperbolic tweet that wondered why Americans would want to entrust their free speech and health care to an institution that will kill you over ... MORE
Incentives To Police For Profit Reduced In Nation's Capital
by Andrew Loposser. Over the past few months, civil asset forfeiture has made national headlines. Thanks to hard work by folks at the Heritage Foundation, Washington Post, and journalists like Radley Balko, this corrupt police practice has been brought to the forefront of the debate on how the government erodes our civil liberties. Thankfully ... MORE
Ronald Bailey: How Low Can Gas Prices Go?
Peak oil? What peak oil? The price of oil in global markets has plunged by
nearly 40 percent over the past six months. As a result, the price
of a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. has dropped from an
average of $3.68
in June to $2.74 this week. In June, the U.S. Energy
Information Administration had projected that a gallon of gas ... MORE
Labels:
consumer,
drilling,
economics,
energy,
fossil fuels,
fuel,
gas prices,
incentives,
oil,
production
Jeffrey Tucker: 50 Shades Of Government
Time to let go of dependency. Every politically active group wants something from government, and government is happy to oblige. It’s even more obvious in the election season. Another way to put it: Government has lots to give in the way of laws, loot, privileges, protections and punishments. Every pressure group and political ... MORE
Labels:
cronyism,
dependency,
government,
individual liberty,
nanny state,
slavery,
special interest
John Vibes: Police Kill Unarmed Black Man By Mistake
"The officer was doing exactly what we want him to do” Tuesday night, 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon was shot and killed by a police officer, because the officer mistakenly thought that he was carrying a gun. The Phoenix Police Department has not yet revealed the name of the officer responsible for the murder, but the smear campaign, ... MORE
Labels:
abuse,
brutality,
drug war,
law enforcement,
murder,
police,
police state,
suspicion,
violence
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