December 28, 2017

Federal agents can still seize marijuana at California checkpoints despite legalization

fromLATimes: California legalizes marijuana for recreational use Monday, but that won't stop the greedy hand of federal agents from seizing the drug — even in tiny amounts — on busy freeways and backcountry highways.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange    The Government is Not Us    Police State America

Time to defund the U.N.

fromCreators: Ben Shapiro column. The U.N. has always been a foolish fantasy, a League of Nations knockoff that's been about as productive and twice as irritating. It's an outmoded organization that's outlived whatever small usefulness it once had.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Study: Most ticketed pedestrians are innocent, only cited because cops don’t know the law

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: A recent study found that hundreds of innocent pedestrians are paying the price after they were issued erroneous tickets for crossing the street improperly.

Police State America

Congress Kicks Surveillance Debate into 2018

fromReason: Short extension of FISA snooping powers shoved into temporary spending bill.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

VIDEO: Karen Straughan - In Defense of Men

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: From the Tom Woods Show, writer-commentator Karen Straughan comments on feminism, sexual misconduct, the evolution of the boy scouts and the role of men in today’s society.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

New stricter California gun laws to take effect in 2018

fromKRON4: The California option destroyers never sleep. Now, California residents are restricted from buying ammo online among other freedom-reducing measures.

2nd Amendment Assaults    Regulation Nation

December 15, 2017

Government is the cause of—not the solution to—online censorship

from Reason: As people worry about the net neutrality vote, public officials threaten our rights to free speech.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Bogus wiretap charges brought against man who recorded cops costs NH taxpayers $275,000

from TechDirt: Even though courts have found use of wiretap statutes in this fashion unconstitutional, in the Live Free or Die state, the statute lives freely and dies even harder.
Police State America

Bill O'Reilly: Secret tape exists of woman offered $200K to file sexual harassment charges against Trump

from ZeroHedge: The tactic of shaming, a favorite of the political left, seems to be kicked up a notch.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules

from The Hill: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to repeal its landmark net neutrality protections, capping off a months-long campaign by the agency’s Republicans to deregulate the broadband industry.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Scared Cops Are Scary

from Reason: The acquittal of the officer who killed Daniel Shaver illustrates a double standard in judging self-defense claims.
Police State America

California Brags It Will End Gun Violence With Sudden Enforcement Of 50-Year-Old Law

from DownTrend: Significant as an admission by the state that instead of enforcing existing laws, they have been passing gun control laws that only restrict the rights of law abiding people.
2nd Amendment Assaults

December 2, 2017

We live in a police state, and our legal system is the cause 

from InsiderSources: Things have gotten so ridiculous in the search for victimless criminals that police have even taken to setting each other up, if only inadvertently. Recently, Detroit officers posing as drug buyers brawled with officers posing as dealers.
Police State America   The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

A non-political strategy for freedom

from LibertarianRepublic: You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. -- R. Buckminster Fuller
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle   Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

It's too easy for the government to invade privacy in name of security

from LibertarianRepublic: The use of the cellphone as a surveillance tool is at the heart of a major privacy case heard by the Supreme Court this week in Carpenter v. United States. At issue may be the very future of privacy in America.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Bill expanding concealed-carry gun rights advances in House

from NY Times: Gun rights legislation that would allow concealed-carry permit holders from one state to legally carry their guns to any other state passed a key House panel and appeared to be headed for a vote on the floor of the House.
2nd Amendment Assaults

When legal drugs harm and illegal drugs help

from ScientificAmerican: The frequently arbitrary nature of our drug classification schemes is causing more and more confusion.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Libertarians: Our rulers are wearing no clothes

from the Libertarian Institute: Libertarians have always said that our rulers are wearing no clothes.  Now it’s turning out that this figure of speech is the literal truth.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

December 1, 2017

‘Surrender your firearms’ – gov’t now confiscating guns from medical cannabis users

from TheFreeThoughtProject: Gun owners in Hawaii who legally use medical cannabis have been told they have 30 days to “voluntarily surrender” their firearms to the police.
2nd Amendment Assaults   The Government is Not Us   The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Supreme Court justices voice support for digital privacy

from USA Today: A majority of Supreme Court justices voiced concerns Wednesday that the government's ability to monitor people through their cellphones violates their privacy.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Records show these prosecutors gave themselves huge bonuses using asset forfeiture funds

from Rare: The district attorney’s office in Suffolk County on Long Island, N.Y., has been caught funneling enormous sums of criminal asset forfeiture funds straight into employees’ pockets with huge bonuses as high as $108,886.
The Government is Not Us   Police State America  Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

A bipartisan tradition of enabling spendaholics

from Creators: Our national debt is $20.5 trillion and heading to $30 trillion by 2030. But rather than a wake-up call for Republicans, they want to get rid of the spending caps meant to constrain lawmakers' uncontrollable appetite to spend.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Macy’s parade security used to promote surveillance and police state

from TheDailyBell: The authorities make sure to push the idea that agents see you without you seeing them. They want everyone to know that embedded amongst the crowds are government spies. This is just getting people used to the idea of being watched.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

John Stossel: The Evil Rich

from Creators: As Republicans struggle to agree on a tax plan, Democrats and much of the media label each attempt at reform a "gift" to rich people. They are right in that any tax cut disproportionately favors rich people since the rich pay much more tax.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

October 13, 2017

Scalias all the way down

from the Wall Street Journal: The primary value of Trump is revealed. While the press goes wild over tweets, Donald is remaking the federal judiciary.
Justice is a Result, Not a Process

Smart devices are snitching on owners and rewriting the criminal justice system

from Activist Post: A new type of court case is slowly but steadily emerging within the American legal system: alleged crimes being detected from data supplied by smart devices.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Is taking a knee protected speech?

from Creators: From the great Andrew Napolitiano. Some jurisdictions — such as California, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York — give more protection to employees for expressive conduct in the workplace than others do.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Bump stock ban retroactively criminalizes possession of legally acquired products

from Reason: Government looks to turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals as current owners of newly prohibited devices can now go to prison for keeping them.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Not-so-Great Britain to criminalize reading extremist content online

from StephenLendman: 15 years for illegal reading. Will Americans resist this final nail in the coffin of free speech?
Indoctrination and Censorship

If 'no one wants to take our guns,' stop saying the opposite

from Creators: A column by Larry Elder. he "common sense" goal of many "gun control activists" is not a ban on this or that feature but a ban on civilian ownership of guns.
2nd Amendment Assaults

September 18, 2017

Should you tell the cops you have a gun?

from Reason: Some gun owners argue that disclosure is considerate and prudent, while others worry it will escalate a routine traffic stop into a tense, unpleasant, and possibly life-threatening encounter.
2nd Amendment Assaults

25 most commonly used recreational drugs in America

from St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The drugs Americans prefer most. Of course, all of them are either illegal or severely restricted and heavily taxed. Government reverence for the pursuit of happiness is not exactly that of the founders.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Irma watch: How likely are prohibitions on ‘price gouging’ to help the poor?

from The American Spectator: Some gun owners argue that disclosure is considerate and prudent, while others worry it will escalate a routine traffic stop into a tense, unpleasant, and possibly life-threatening encounter.
Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

Gun rights top media poll

from The Daily Caller: Lost in the storm of hurricane coverage, a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll demonstrates Americans’ growing support for gun rights. 

2nd Amendment Assaults

John Stossel: The best part of the Constitution

from Reason: Stossel shares his thoughts about Constitution Day (September 17).
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Will Las Vegas be ‘Amsterdam on steroids’? Door opens for pot lounges

from NBC News: What happens in Vegas will still stay in Vegas — but perhaps no longer behind closed doors, at least when it comes to pot.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

September 7, 2017

National Guard Authorized to Seize Guns Ahead of Hurricane Irma

from The Daily Bell: Is this a testing ground to see what the U.S. National Guard can get away with?
2nd Amendment Assaults

Laws against 'gouging' are simplistic and wrong

from Reason: So-called price gouging helps send important signals to buyers and sellers. It is a necessary function to attract resources to where they are most needed.
Economic Policy - Statism vs The Free Market

Berkeley wimps out on free speech

from the NY Post: You really didn't think a leopard could change its spots, did you?
Indoctrination and censorship

CNN gets embarrassed again trying to tie Trump to Russia

from The New York Times:  CNN's elite reporting team has been exposed again. Story retracted.
Media Bias on Parade

Government barriers to private solutions hinder hurricane relief efforts

from Creators: "Raising prices of goods and services to the highest level the market will bear is not only what entrepreneurs do on a daily basis but also the mechanism that gives people access to a supply of goods they wouldn't otherwise have access to."
Economic Policy - Statism vs The Free Market

2nd Amendment Assaults

Latest Update: August 10, 2017

John Stossel: Regulating Guns
NRA scores two victories against California gun-control laws
Why California gun owners may be breaking the law on July 1

The NRA shuns a Second Amendment martyr

Bullet-proof posters to hide behind in case the "gun-free zone" sign isn't working

A resounding vote against Due Process and the Second Amendment

Thought police order psych exam for student who made anti-gun control video

VIDEO: This message could save your life! (30 seconds)

2nd Amendment Assaults

Latest Update: July 7, 2017

NRA scores two victories against California gun-control laws
Why California gun owners may be breaking the law on July 1

The NRA shuns a Second Amendment martyr

Bullet-proof posters to hide behind in case the "gun-free zone" sign isn't working

Trump quietly overturns Obama-Era rule on gun control

A resounding vote against Due Process and the Second Amendment

Thought police order psych exam for student who made anti-gun control video

VIDEO: This message could save your life! (30 seconds)

VIDEO: VA Strips 250,000 Vets Of 2nd Amendment Rights

When government no longer protects individual rights, but instead threatens them.

VIDEO: Obama's Anti-Gun History

How The Politics Of The Next Nomination Will Play Out

by Tom Goldstein.   Excellent analysis!  This post substantially revises and supersedes my earlier one on how the political parties will likely approach the Scalia vacancy, in which I had concluded that Ninth Circuit Judge Paul Watford was the most likely nominee.  On reflection, I think that Attorney General Loretta Lynch is more likely.  I also   ... MORE

VIDEO: Ron Paul On The 2nd Amendment

The Constitution, The President And Guns

by Andrew Napolitano. "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." — Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution In 2008, the Supreme Court laid to rest the once-simmering dispute over the meaning of the Second Amendment. In an opinion written by     ... MORE

2015 Gun Politics: Murders With Guns Are Used To Drive Gun Policy, Even Though Gun Policy Can't Prevent Them

by Brian Doherty.   The politics of guns in 2015 was largely shaped by a series of newsmaking horrible multiple-casualty murders in public places. Each one inspired Democratic Party politicians, including President Obama and frontrunning 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, to call for a similar set of what they now call “common sense gun safety”  ... MORE

VIDEO: Mike Huckabee - The Bill Of Rights

VIDEO: Trey Gowdy - Infringement Of The 2nd Amendment

VIDEO: Rand Paul On Mass Shootings & Concealed Carry

Pew Research: Homicide Rates Have Been Cut In Half Over The Past 20 Years (While New Gun Ownership Soared)

"An armed society is a polite society" - R A Heinlein. The Pew Research Center reported last week that the murder rate was cut nearly in half from 7 per 100,000 in 1993 to 3.6 per 100,000 in 2013. Over the same period, overall gun deaths (including accidents and suicides) have fallen by one-third from 15.2 to 10.6 per 100,000. In spite of this, Pew   ... MORE

VIDEO: FOX NEWS: Hillary Clinton and Gun Confiscation