Radley Balko: Horrifying Civil Liberties Predictions - 2015

Sound familiar? Sometimes, real life can be stranger than parody. This can be particularly true when it comes to the beat we cover here at The Watch, civil liberties. With that in mind, I’ve gone out on a limb to make some predictions about what might happen on the civil liberties front in 2015. I realize that some of these prognostications may seem a   ... MORE

Jonathan Gruber Knew ObamaCare Will NOT Be Affordable

by Patrick Howley.   All of it was a lie. President Obama’s health care adviser Jonathan Gruber said that the Affordable Care Act would definitely not be affordable while he was writing the bill with the White House. As Gruber continues to withhold documents while he awaits a call-back for more testimony before the House Oversight and Government ... MORE

VIDEO: Jeff Berwick - End The Drug War

How Bush & Obama Turned America Into Police State

Government takes full advantage of 9-11.      Rodney Martin, a former congressional staffer, says that former president George W. Bush and President Barack Obama have transformed the US into a police state following the 9/11 attacks. Martin made the remarks when asked about a report that showed a number of decisions made by American    ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Liberals' Use Of Black People

Cover for the liberal agenda. Back in the day, when hunting was the major source of food, hunters often used stalking horses as a means of sneaking up on their quarry. They would walk on the opposite side of the horse until they were close enough to place a good shot on whatever they were hunting. A stalking horse not only concealed them but    ... MORE

VIDEO: Should College Football Players Be Paid?

Thomas Sowell: Random Thoughts On The Passing Scene

Pearls of wisdom.      Now that Barack Obama is ruling by decree, he seems more like a king than a president. Maybe it is time we change the way we address him. "Your Majesty" may be a little too much, but perhaps "Your Royal Glibness" might be appropriate. It tells us a lot about academia that the president of Smith College quickly       ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: 2014 - A Year Of Anniversaries

2014 has been a year of anniversaries.        It was the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War — a war which many at the time saw as madness, and predicted that it would be the harbinger of a Second World War a generation later. 2014 was also the 70th anniversary of the fateful landing at Normandy that marked the beginning of  ... MORE

Here Are 10 Outrageous 'Zero Tolerance' Follies of 2014

by Lenore Skenazy.    Are your children safe at school? That depends on if you're worried about bullies or administrators.  Here are 10 of the most infamous "zero tolerance" punishments handed down to kids—and even some adults—this year. 1. Student, 13, shares lunch, gets detention   A 13-year-old boy at Weaverville Elementary School in         ... MORE

Bernie Sanders's 12-Point Socialist Plan for America

by Pedro Gonzales.  Every committed revolutionary needs a plan. Karl Marx had one, and so did Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong.  Add to that group socialist senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, who is considering running for president (as a Democrat) and has already announced a 12-point plan at the Huffington Post.  He writes: As Vermont's   ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Gambling Nannies

Police State America: Man Jailed For Recording Cops

Public servants don't want their behavior public.   An Orlando man was jailed for recording police as they arrested another individual. The man subsequently sued for taking his phone and for false arrest and won a settlement of $15,000. The Blaze reported: Alberto Troche, who sued Orlando police for wrongfully jailing him and taking     ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: The 5 Best Drug Scares of 2014

Drunks, e-cigs, pot and more.        The history of drug control in America is a series of panic-propelled policies, most of which have not turned out very well. Those of us who support a calmer, more tolerant approach to psychoactive substances therefore spend much of our time defusing scares aimed at justifying or expanding the         ... MORE

VIDEO: Nanny Of The Year 2014 - And The Winner Is ....


Who is the most outrageous busybody trying to mind YOUR own business?

Want To Cut Police Brutality? Make Cops Pay The Price

by Bonnie Kristian. It would be good for taxpayers -- and justice. Eric Garner's family plans to sue the New York Police Department for $75 million. Tamir Rice's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Michael Brown's family may likewise launch a civil suit against the St. Louis police. No matter the outcome of these three legal actions,    ... MORE

Documents Reveal Encryption That NSA Can't Crack

by Dhananjay Harkare.   National Security Agency also known as NSA, the US intelligence agency has been a hot topic of discussion after former member Edward Snowden revealed its dark side. An archive of Snowden’s documents suggests the encryption schemes that NSA can break easily along with those it can’t crack. The reports suggest that by      ... MORE

NSA Reports Detail Decade's Worth Of Privacy Violations

by Jesse Byrnes.    The National Security Agency has quietly released more than a decade of reports detailing surveillance activities that potentially violated U.S. citizens' privacy rights. Covering NSA activities from mid-2001 to 2013, the heavily-redacted reports document possible abuses, including instances of employees emailing classified   ... MORE

"The Most Important Film Of The 21st Century"

by Joe Williams.    Edward Snowden, the computer whiz who blew the whistle on widespread surveillance against American citizens, speaks for himself in a real-life spy thriller. From a Hong Kong hideout to a temporary Russian haven, documentarian Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald uncover the story in virtual real time.        ... MORE

VIDEO: Wendy McElroy - Fallacy Of The Rape Culture

The Year The Crusade Against 'Rape Culture' Stumbled

by Cathy Young.     December has not been a good month for the feminist crusade against the "rape culture." The Rolling Stone account of a horrific fraternity gang rape at the University of Virginia, which many advocates saw as a possible "tipping point"—a shocking wake-up call demonstrating that even the most brutal sexual assaults on   ... MORE

Even Small Towns Are Loading Up On Grenade Launchers

Cities are gearing up for war.   Custer is a nice little town in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Not quite the tourist center of the area—that’s really more up toward Keystone and Mount Rushmore—it still get its share of summer visitors’ traffic. Enough, anyway, to support just over 2,000 people, out of a county population somewhere around   ... MORE

VIDEO: Save A Drowning Baby?


Should individuals be required to save drowning babies?

Kevin D. Williamson: Tinker, Tailor, Stalker, Spy

The NSA uses powers to spy on wives and girl friends.     A private investigator once explained to me why he always turned down husband-and-wife cases: If your marriage has gone so sour that the best course of action you can think of is hiring a guy to spy on your spouse, then you don’t need an investigator — you need a minister, a    ... MORE

The World's 10 Most Responsible Governments

by Kenneth Rapoza.           Want a limited government that’s held accountable by society? Then start packing. With all this talk about fiscal responsibility in the U.S. and Europe, the World Justice Project’s latest rule of law index gives civil society a sense of which governments are fair and accountable. And the U.S. is not even in the top 15.      ... MORE

Body Cameras For Police Officers And Ordinary Citizens

by Steve Mann and Brian D. Wassom.      In the wake of the fatal encounters between police and citizens in Ferguson, New York and Cleveland, President Obama recently announced millions of dollars in funding to equip police officers with body-worn video cameras. The concept is not new; scores of police departments across the     ... MORE

Cuban Communism: Its Days Are Numbered

by Barry Farber.  It was already doomed. Over 99 percent of 3-year-olds believe the glass screen on a television set is to keep the people from falling out. And that’s smarter than what their parents are saying to each other and hearing from the media about Cuba, Obama the Castro brothers and this over-hyped, totally misunderstood, non-    ... MORE

VIDEO: Milton Friedman - The Road To A Collectivist State

Let Your Kids Play Outside And We Will Take Them Away

by Lenore Skenazy. CPS's threat to a dad.     I received an update from the Maryland mom of two who was contacted by Montgomery Country Child Welfare Service in November after she let her kids, ages 6 and 10, play at the park two blocks from home by themselves. She was cited for allowing a child under age 8 "to be locked or confined  ... MORE

We Should Know How Many People Die In Police Custody

by the Washington Post editorial board. The leaders of a protest movement against excessive police force are weighing their next steps, The Post’s Wesley Lowery reported this week. The assessment follows both greater success than anticipated in triggering rallies across the nation and some backlash that blamed the protests       ... MORE

VIDEO: Gov't Moves To Ban Body Armor For Citizens

IRS Probe Will Carry Into 2015 With Unresolved Questions

by Stephen Dinan.  Internal Revenue Service employees charged with scrutinizing tea party groups’ nonprofit status applications showed a marked antipathy to the organizations, with one examiner calling a group “icky” and others saying they were searching for ways to deny the requests, according to a congressional oversight report Tuesday. ... MORE

Chris Cassidy: The High Cost Of Drug War Mistakes

Wrongful death suit results from botched SWAT raid.      A federal wrongful death suit against a Framingham police officer who accidentally shot to death an unarmed elderly man during a SWAT raid in 2011 was allowed to continue by a judge yesterday. U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV ruled that the constitutional rights of Eurie     ... MORE

The Christmas Hope: A To-Do List for a Better World

by John W. Whitehead.     As a child, my Christmas wish list came right out of the Sears and Roebuck catalogue—toys, board games, bikes, action figures, etc. My parents, like so many in their day, belonged to the working-class poor, so while I never lacked for the necessities of life, many of the items on my wish list never came to be. Even so,    ... MORE

Daniel Kish: Santa Comes Early Bearing Gift of $2 Gas

Are oil companies less greedy or what?  For most Americans, the annual Christmas journey to grandma’s house will be less expensive this year. Gas prices are at their lowest levels in five years, thanks largely to booming domestic oil production on state and private lands. That surge promises to put more money in our pockets—and perhaps more  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Operation Choke Point

Yes, Of Course We Should Lift The Cuban Embargo

by Scott Lincicome.  President Obama’s announcement last week that his administration will seek to normalize relations with Cuba elicited strong opposition from many freedom-loving conservatives. Several aspects of the deal—the prisoner swaps, the president’s unilateralism and rhetoric, the timing, and so on—probably warrant scrutiny and,   ... MORE

Robert W. Wood: Who Shares In Marijuana Taxes?

Will gov't tax drive pot back to the black market?   Taxes on marijuana are big, and it’s easy to see why. A discussion about legalizing marijuana often segues into one about tax revenues. Marijuana for medical use is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Recreational marijuana is legal in DC and in four states, Colorado,      ... MORE

VIDEO: Copyright - Intellectual Property Or Privilege?

Rick Moran: In The Past Four Years, More Than 500 Vets Have Died In VA Hospitals Because Of Mistakes Or Delays

A hollow commitment to our nation's warriors. Veterans Affairs records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon reveal the startling fact that more than 500 vets have died in VA hospitals due to mistakes since 2010. Delayed treatment for cancer patients due to a failure to diagnose the disease and a failure to screen properly for suicide are      ... MORE

Ebola, Smoking, and Mission Creep at the CDC

 by Jacob Sullum.     Before Tom Frieden became director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2009, his two 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 stumbles in dealing with Ebola. Tuberculosis,  ... MORE

'Twas the Night Raid Before Christmas

by Justin Monticello, Paul Detrick & Alex Manning.  For police departments, Christmas is a time of taking. In the midst of buying your own gifts for family and friends this holiday season, remember that the cops can just as easily seize your property, your rights and even your shark fins.  Enjoy this Christmas classic: 'Twas the Night Raid    ... MORE

Feds Decide Better To Live In Pain Than Risk Drug Abuse

The rescheduling of hydrocodone.  Imagine being wheeled into an operating room for an eye lift. As the anesthesia begins to flow into your vein, you see that instead of small precision scalpels on the instrument tray next to you,  your surgeon will be using a hatchet and an ax. Panic swells as you slide defenselessly out of consciousness…      ... MORE

VIDEO: Andrew Napolitano - Free Speech And Government

Rand Paul Knocks Out Marco Rubio Like Ali Over Foreman

by Bruce Fein.   Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, has delivered a knock out punch against Sen. Marco Rubio to normalization of relations with Cuba to benefit the United States. The punch was as decisive as Muhammad Ali’s knock out of George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle 40 years ago. Mr. Rubio’s presidential ambitions are    ... MORE

Why Does Police Paranoia Trump The First Amendment?

Fearful cops attempt to criminalize Facebook post. A Chicopee man is facing charges after posting “Put Wings on Pigs” to Facebook, police say. Chicopee police said Monday that local residents alerted them to the “very disturbing post” by  27-year-old Charles DiRosa. On Saturday, two New York police officers were killed by a gunman while     ... MORE

VIDEO: Watch The Worst Anti-Gun PSA Of All Time


Don't scare your children about guns.

Thomas Sowell: Who's Responsible?

Playing fast and loose with the race card.     The cold-blooded murder of two New York City policemen as they sat in their car is not only an outrage but also a wake-up call. It shows, in the most painful way, the high cost of having demagogues, politicians, mobs and the media constantly taking cheap shots at the police. Those cheap shots   ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Are E-Cigarettes Displacing the Real Thing?

Technology's healthier choice.  Survey results released last week indicate that use of electronic cigarettes by American teenagers continues to rise, even as their use of conventional cigarettes continues to fall. You might think these diverging trends would give pause to critics who worry that e-cigarettes are "reglamorizing" the old-      ... MORE

Owner Of Pot Dispensaries Gets 21 Years In Prison

by Joe Mozingo.    Why you should know about JURY NULLIFICATION. Noah Kleinman faced his moment of reckoning: Should he tell a federal judge his marijuana dispensaries were just a front to distribute bulk marijuana and make hundreds of thousands of dollars? Or stick to his claim of innocence? Kleinman, a 39-year-old salesman from Studio   ... MORE

Our Fear Of Opioids Leaves The World In Pain

by Helen Redmond.   Healthcare now dictated by DEA. Ever broken a bone? Recovered from a major surgery? Do you live with chronic pain? If so, you understand on a visceral level that access to opioids like morphine to manage pain is critical. Opioids are necessary to perform surgery, make recovery from traumatic injuries possible, and can grant      ... MORE