March 7, 2018

How many lives are saved by guns -- and why don't gun controllers care?

fromCreators: If states which did not have right-to-carry concealed gun provisions adopted them in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders and over 60,000 aggravated assaults may have been avoided yearly. 
2nd Amendment Assaults

VIDEO: Walter E Williams - The Morality of Redistribution

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Problems of murder, mayhem and other forms of anti-social behavior will continue until we regain our moral footing.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market    

Just like Vegas, authorities are hiding the surveillance footage of Parkland shooting

fromCreators: Just like officials have done in Las Vegas, authorities in Broward County are now surrounding themselves in secrecy and refusing to released the surveillance footage showing Nikolas Cruz attack the school.
The Government is Not Us     Police State America

Newly released surveillance orders show that even with court oversight, spying powers are misused

fromEFF: More evidence that warrantless surveillance must end. 
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Walter E Williams: Hidden Agenda or Ignorance?

fromCreators: Problems of murder, mayhem and other forms of anti-social behavior will continue until we regain our moral footing.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery     2nd Amendment Assaults

Flippy the burger flipping robot Is now cooking at the CaliBurger fast food chain

fromKTLA5: The $15 an hour minimum wage chickens are coming home to roost.
Regulation Nation       Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

March 5, 2018

Inside the intellectual dark web

fromSpectatorLife: Thanks to the internet, millions now have access to views mainstream media considers ‘forbidden’. Douglas Murray examines the freethinkers leading the charge.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Trump's tariffs will crush the beer industry

fromReason: And they'll make lots of other things more expensive too.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Chuck Schumer votes against South Carolina federal judge nominee because he's white

fromTedxTalks: An ugly self-hating racist seems to believe that whites are incapable of administering justice.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

VIDEO: How real is fake news?

fromTedxTalks: Was the effort to focus America's attention on the idea of “fake news”—itself a propaganda effort? Connect the dots and learn who’s behind it and why. It’s not what you think.
Media Bias on Parade

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Brilliant Economic Insights

fromTedxTalks: Sparkling insights from Professor Sowell captured from various episodes of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Trump: 'take the guns first, go through due process second'

fromReason: This from a guy who bemoaned the lack of due process just weeks ago.
2nd Amendment Assaults

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

February 24, 2018

Should teachers be armed?

fromLewRockwell: Government is the last place one should look for deciding how to protect school children, how to run schools, how to run police and how to produce law enforcement for its citizens.
2nd Amendment Assaults      The Government is Not Us

Police announce program to Illegally stop people for ‘SAFE driving

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: Safe driving is now a reason for police to pull you over, check the inside of your car, demand your papers, and stomp what is left of the 4th Amendment into the ground.
Police State America

Idaho is ignoring Obamacare rules. That could set off a free market chain reaction.

fromVox: Forget Obamacare's tyrannical dictates. Blue Cross of Idaho said it hopes to start selling noncompliant plans by early March.
Regulation Nation      Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

A high school student faces expulsion for noticing the square root symbol looks like a gun

fromReason: No adults seem embarrassed by this reaction. They should be.
2nd Amendment Assaults      Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

VIDEO: Ayn Rand - Johnny Carson Interview 1967

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: From 51 years ago, a classic interview with Objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand.
The Government is Not Us     Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery   Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

“Cash must not be made the scapegoat”

fromWolfStreet: A rare defense of physical money by an ECB Board Member. “Protection of privacy matters to all of us. Privacy protects people from the risk of a surveillance state and thought police,” he said.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market      The Government is Not Us

February 23, 2018

Do you trust federal bureaucrats to decide if you’re sane enough to keep your Second Amendment rights?

fromBreitbart: "The use of minors by Democrats and their news media allies as political human shields in pursuit of agitation against the Second Amendment is exploitative," said Loudon.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Don’t talk to police! Legal behavior justified a search

fromMarketWatch: It doesn't matter that you respect the rights of others, what you say can be held against you.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process     Police State America

What happens when leftist politicians have total control of a city?

fromNBCBayArea: The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit surveyed 153 blocks of downtown San Francisco: 
found 41 blocks dotted with needles and 96 blocks sullied with piles of feces.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery     The Government is Not Us

State bans popular AR-15 accessory, police shocked after only 4 people comply

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: Some evidence now exists that America is NOT a nation of sheep.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Campus political correctness threatens our democracy and prosperity

fromMarketWatch: Colleges teach political correctness, not the critical thinking our economy demands.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery      Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

250 teachers sign up for 50 seats at concealed carry training session

fromBreitbart: How to make the entire school a safe space. Butler County, Ohio, Sheriff Richard K. Jones offered free concealed carry training for 50 teachers and 250 teachers responded within 24 hours.
Second Amendment Assaults

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