April 29, 2019

Key body camera footage missing after Chicago police officers raid wrong homes, point guns at children

fromCBSChicago:  While every patrol officer is required to wear a body camera – 8,200 have been issued to officers, including tactical teams. Still, it is amazing how often the cameras fail during unflattering events.

Police State America

The Immorality of student loan forgiveness and free college

fromReason:  If college students have skin in their own game, they'll think more seriously about going to college in the first place and be more motivated to be serious and to finish. 

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery       Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

New bill will force owners of hybrid & electric cars to pay fees to offset gas they don’t buy

fromFreeThoughtProject:  If ever you thought the government cares about possible solutions to environmental problems — like electric cars — the following case out of North Carolina proves just how much of a farce their “caring” is.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption         Regulation Nation

Walter E Williams: Discrimination and disparities

fromLibertyPen:  If historical injustices and persecution were useful explanations of group disadvantage, Jews would be some of the poorest and least-educated people in the world today.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

VIDEO: Paul Harvey - Bad News in America

fromLibertyPen:  From Landon Lecture Series (2003), Legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey shares his insights about all of the bad news in America.

Media Bias on Parade

San Francisco's war between the rich and homeless Is at "boiling point"

fromZeroHedge:  With 7,500 people homeless, affluent sections of SF have become borderline dangerous with open-air drug use, tens of thousands of discarded needles, and, sadly, overflowing human excrement.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

September 23, 2018

Trump's latest tariffs are about to hit you where it really hurts

fromBusinessInsider: For the first time, consumer goods are going to be directly hit by the new 10% duty, likely causing an immediate increase in prices for US shoppers.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

China's chilling 'social credit system' is straight out of dystopian sci-fi, and it's already switched on

fromScienceAlert: Coming to a tyranny near you?
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Meet the robot lawyer fighting fines, fees, and red tape

fromReason: DoNotPay is launching a "denial of service attack on the legal system to make it better."
Regulation Nation

State migration increasingly driven by taxes

fromReason: Tax competition between states is alive and well. Taxpayers in California, considered domestic livestock by the ruling class, must choose if living in a beautiful state is worth relentless exploitation.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Why electric vehicles are paper straw dumb

fromEricPetersAuto: Car companies no longer build cars for the market; they build them to satisfy the government.
Regulation Nation

Marine Le Pen furious after being ordered to undergo psychiatric tests

fromReason: The attack on free speech hits another level in France. Psychiatric test ordered in response to politically incorrect truth. Not even an allegation of falsehood. Coming to a police state near you?
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle      Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

June 15, 2016

How to drain the swamp: end the failed war on drugs

fromFFF: While the taxpayers of Flyover America were being shackled with what is now $20 trillion of public debt, the boondogglers and busybodies of the Imperial City were chopping up harmless cannabis plants.
The Government is Not Us       The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Radical plan to split California into three states earns spot on November ballot

fromLATimes: California’s 168-year run as a single entity, hugging the continent’s edge for hundreds of miles and sprawling east across mountains and desert, could come to an end next year.
The Pursuit of Happiness

Fact-checking the “fact-checkers”: Snopes & Politifact have a political agenda

fromOrganicPrepper: I never expected a hub-bub. I did my research, came to some conclusions, and titled my article, “Now It’s Illegal to Have a Shower and Do Laundry on the Same Day.”
Indoctrination and Censorship

Walter E Williams: Diversity and inclusion harm

fromCreators: The National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health are two federal agencies that fund university research and are consumed by diversity and inclusion ideology.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Chopping down own trees nets man $22,500 in fines

fromCBSNewYork: Cutting down the trees made his property safer however he failed to pay the Sheriff of Nottingham for the privilege. The notion of private property in America has become meaningless.
Regulation Nation

Disaster arrives for climate alarmists

fromRealClimateScience: Arctic sea ice volume is above normal, highest in thirteen years, and melting at the slowest rate on record
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

April 9, 2016

Cops kill innocent 84yo woman while trying to kill her mentally ill son in a hail of bullets

fromTheDailyLiberator: Police fired a hail of bullets at a covered window in an attempt to kill a mentally ill man—but they killed his elderly mother instead and blamed it on the fact that they were both wearing red shirts. 
Police State America

John Stossel: Poisonous taxes

fromCreators: Philadelphia gave $4 million of its new soda tax funds to a bureaucracy that spent the money on things like "hip-hop dance...to teach youth empowerment and social issues." 
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market   

Columbia Student offended by professor who said negro was correct term in the '60s

fromReason: It doesn't take much to melt a snowflake. History will do the trick. 
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Walter E Williams: Black political power means zilch

fromCreators: The challenge for blacks is to take advantage of existing opportunities, and that involves addressing the anti-social, self-defeating behaviors and habits and attitudes endemic to the black underclass. 
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery      Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

New photos reveal Robert Mueller and Paul Manafort both worked with former Ukraine president in 2013

fromTheDuran: Robert Mueller is investigating Paul Manafort for working with Viktor Yanukovych in 2013. 
Mueller also worked with Yanukovych in 2013. 
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption    

My family's peashooter is now an illegal 'assault weapon' in this Illinois town

fromReason: Legalizing extortion does not change the morality of the act. 
2nd Amendment Assaults      Regulation Nation

March 2, 2018

No jail sentence for woman who falsely claimed rape by three unidentified black men

fromReason: What should the proper punishment be in such cases?
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Brilliant Economic Insights

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Professor Hanson looks at how the Obama administration deployed tribal affiliations to divide the American people by creation of a majority grievance culture.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Andrew Napolitano: In Defense of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

fromCreators: The Second Amendment was written to protect the right to self-defense — whether against bad guys, crazy people or a tyrannical government bent on destroying personal liberty.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Police unions defend bad cops who do awful things. Why won't they defend Broward County deputy?

fromReason: "Why bad cops need to pay their union dues" or "Get-out-of-jail-free cards aren't free."
Police State America

Dick’s Sporting Goods announces end to ‘assault rifle’ sales — again

fromBreitbart: The operative word is "again". Dick's made the same grandstanding claim on December 18, 2012.
2nd Amendment Assaults

From the land of fruits and nuts: California city ban distracted walking

fromCBSLosAngeles: The greedy hand of government hopes to pluck $500 from the wallets of any pedestrian listening to headphones or talking on an iPhone.
The Government is Not Us     Regulation Nation

February 26, 2018

The gun control debate isn’t really about guns. It’s about human rights.

fromTheFederalist: This isn’t just about my gun. It’s about every single individual’s fundamental right to liberty.
2nd Amendment Assaults

LA has criminalized poverty by making it illegal to sleep In cars

fromZeroHedge: The city of LA looks to feed its coffers by fining people sleeping in their cars. Whether this will be a lucrative source of revenue remains to be seen.
The Government is Not Us       Regulation Nation

8 attacks on freedom, from the Left and the Right

fromReason: Americans are still relatively free.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

VIDEO: Rand Paul - A Different Republican

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Not all members of the GOP are equal. Libertarian Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky weighs in on issues of wealth, poverty, debt, gay marriage, welfare, Iraq, Afghanistan and national defense.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle        Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Second Florida survivor family now alleging CNN scripted narrative to push gun ban

fromFreeThoughtProject: A second Florida man, whose daughter survived the latest school shooting, has come forward alleging CNN was attempting to control the narrative on school violence.
2nd Amendment Assaults    Media Bias on Parade

VIDEO: Charlton Heston - The Right to Bear Arms

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: The 2nd Amendment was established as freedom's guarantee. The legendary Charlton Heston (National Rifle Association President 1998-2003) makes this point with unmatched clarity and power.
2nd Amendment Assaults

December 26, 2017

Jury nullification: A powerful tool for the advancement of liberty

from Capitalism Magazine: You may see no better opportunity to advance liberty on an individual yet highly effective level.

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Classic Thomas Sowell: Trickle Down Ignorance

from Capitalism Magazine: Students can spend years in educational institutions, discussing all sorts of issues, without ever having heard a coherent statement of the other side of those issues that differ from what their politically correct teachers say.

Indoctrination and Censorship    Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Dimming Christmas lights reflect Venezuela's grim crisis

from ABCNews: This season, for the first time in years, no festive lights will bring it to life.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

How fines and fees criminalize poverty: explained

from InJusticeToday: To increase revenue, many states and municipalities impose hefty fines on those charged with minor offenses like traffic violations, jaywalking, or even leaving a trashcan on the street.

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process    The Government is Not Us

UNC takes steps to crack down on heckler’s veto

from LegalInsurrection: The “Campus Free Speech Act” requires a policy on free speech and free expression that guarantees “the fullest degree of intellectual freedom and free expression” on campus.

Indoctrination and Censorship

Why governments treat you like a number, not an individual

fromTheDailyBell: Students can spend years in educational institutions, discussing all sorts of issues, without ever having heard a coherent statement of the other side of those issues that differ from what their politically correct teachers say.

Regulation Nation

Ed Spillane: Many Judges Continue To Jail Defendants Without Money To Pay Fines. Here Are The Alternatives.

Why one judge refuses to send such folks to jail.   Melissa J. showed up in my court last year with four kids in tow. Her children quietly watched from a nearby table while I spoke with her. The charges against her — driving with an invalid license, driving without insurance, not wearing a seat belt, failure to use a child safety seat properly  ... MORE

Coral Davenport: To Help Pimp Alternative Energy Sources, Obama Is Willing To Impose A $10-A-Barrel Fee On Oil

A tax on production, what could go wrong.     President Obama’s budget request to Congress will include a new fee on oil companies, requiring them to pay $10 to the federal government for every barrel of oil they produce, the White House said on Thursday. The money, which could bring in up to $32 billion in new federal revenue annually, would ... MORE

Texas Police Turning Into Mobile Debt Collectors

by John Cassidy.     Reduced to tax collectors with badges. Two new technologies and one failed state program could make highway travel perilous for Texans traveling between San Antonio, Austin and Houston. Law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over I-10 east of San Antonio and I-35 between San Antonio and Austin have signed contracts   ... MORE

A Missouri Town Demands Substantive Due Process

by George Will.   Is this the future? If Pagedale, Mo., is a glimpse of the future, the future is going to be annoying. Pagedale might represent the future of governance unless some of its residents succeed in their lawsuit against their government. If they do, it will be because they successfully invoked the principle of substantive due process. Pagedale is  ... MORE

How To Steal $75,000 From The Poor In One Day’s Work

by Jeffrey A. Tucker. A tax-collecting scheme disguised as justice. The new liberality concerning marijuana possession in the United States is long overdue, but let’s not exaggerate how much progress we’ve made. Users might not be ending up in jail as frequently as they did 10 years ago. But cops, judges, and courts still exercise arbitrary power to ruin    ... MORE

Judge Rules Nobody Owns "Happy Birthday To You"

by Ted Johnson.       A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the lyrics to “Happy Birthday to You” are not protected by copyright, concluding that Warner/Chappell Music does not hold a valid claim to the song. It raises the prospect that royalties will no longer be collected from public performances of the song in movies, TV shows and other         ... MORE

Regulation Nation: New York City's Licensing Scheme Can Rake In Over $200,000 For One Hot Dog Vending Permit

by Kiri Tannenbaum. Greedy gov't policy restricts competition. While the typical New York City hot dog costs about the same ($2-$3) at every street cart, the fees the vendor pays can vary wildly. Some pay just a few thousand a year, while other vendors pay the city more than $200,000 just to have their carts in the right spots. According to the New York  ... MORE

Scott Shackford: Self-Driving Cars Would Limit Human Error And Therefore Could Destroy Fine-Based City Government

So what's the downside?       One of the propelling concepts behind self-driving cars isn't just innovation for the sake of innovation, leading us to our sci-fi Jetsons future. If successfully implemented, it will make ground travel safer, particularly in higher population areas, increase transportation efficiency and ultimately human productivity.   ... MORE

In Nevada, Applying Lip Balm While Driving Gets You A Fine

Distracted driving laws are great revenue scheme.    A Nevada woman received a $200 ticket after she was pulled over for putting on makeup while she was behind the wheel as part of a statewide crackdown on distracted drivers. So what sort of beauty product was she applying while stopped at a red light?  Lip balm. Stephanie Fragoso was    ...  MORE

Study Finds Local Taxes Hit Lower Wage Earners Harder

by Patricia Cohen.   When it comes to the taxes closest to home, the less you earn, the harder you’re hit. That is the conclusion of an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that evaluates the local tax burden in every state, from Washington, labeled the most regressive, to Delaware, ranked as the fairest of them all. According to the  ... MORE

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

VIDEO: America's 3 Most Fee-Ridden Cities

VIDEO: America's 3 Most Fee-Ridden Cities