October 11, 2018

Why your vote hasn’t mattered since 1913

fromTheDailyBell: “No taxation without representation!” That was a popular phrase during the decades leading up to the Revolutionary War. Colonists thought it was unfair to be taxed and subjected to English rule without consent.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption         The Government is Not Us

Greedy hand of government guarantees cannabis black market will continue to flourish

fromMotleyFool: In California, a tax of $9.25 an ounce is levied on marijuana flower, along with $2.75 an ounce on cannabis leaves. There's also a 15% excise tax on the price of the product, along with state and local taxes.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Cops breaking Facebook rules, creating fake accounts to watch you—here’s how to spot them

fromActivistPost: A scathing new report shows that Facebook is teeming with fake accounts—created by police officers to track their adversaries. They are against the rules, but cops seemingly couldn’t care less.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make         Police State America

ACLU's opposition to Kavanaugh sounds its death knell

fromGatestoneInstitute: So why did the American Civil Liberties Union oppose a Republican nominee to the Supreme Court and argue for a presumption of guilt regarding sexual allegations directed against that judicial nominee? The answer is as clear as it is simple. It is all about pleasing the donors.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption         Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Why nobody trusts the FBI… and that’s a good thing

fromTheDailyBell: When the FBI came out with a report on Hillary Clinton weeks before the 2016 election, Democrats were livid. But so were Republicans… 
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption         

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Ted Metz proposes lower tax rates, legalized marijuana and more

fromTheRedandBlack: More liberty on the ballot in Georgia.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption         Individual Liberty:America's First Principle

August 7, 2018

Kamala Harris is Martin Luther King's worst nightmare, choosing identity politics over individual liberty

fromFoxNews: A California politician advocates that people be judged as members of groups, not as individuals.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle     Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

The ACLU appears to endorse a ban on catcalling, despite huge free speech concerns

fromReason: The ACLU has been proven to not give a damn about civil liberties unless it forwards a leftwing cause.
Indoctrination and Censorship            Individual Liberty: America's First Principle 

Walter E Williams: Colleges, a force for evil

fromCreators: The threat to our future lies in the fact that today's college students are tomorrow's teachers, professors, judges, attorneys, legislators and policymakers.
Indoctrination and Censorship      Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

US Senators to introduce a bill regulating e-liquid flavors

fromVapingPost: Busybodies minding YOUR own business. 
Regulation Nation

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell: Legacy of the Welfare State

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Thomas Sowell explains the damage done by the welfare state mechanism.
The Welfare State: Promoting Dependency

Senate Democrats are circulating plans for government takeover of the Internet

fromReason: The end game of the Russian hoax is taking shape.  Plus: Testing telemedicine abortion and 3D printed guns.
The Government is Not Us          Regulation Nation

August 3, 2018

Federal Judge Breaks Up Albuquerque’s Car Theft Ring

fromSpiked: A new ruling says the city’s civil forfeiture program violates the right to due process. Car theft becomes more difficult for the police department.
Police State America

The ACLU is turning its back on free speech

fromCreators: Once a civil liberties champion, the ACLU has exposed itself as just a leftwing front group, explicitly endorsing the view that free speech can harm ‘marginalized’ groups by undermining their civil rights.  
Indoctrination and Censorship

Keeping cops hands out of your pocket

fromAmericanConservative: The Supreme Court recently agreed to rule on a case that could have a major impact on whether civil asset forfeiture can continue to serve as low hanging fruit for bureaucratic interests run amok.  
Police State America     The Government is Not Us

VIDEO: How Trump Transformed the Democratic Party Into the World's Dumbest Religion

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: A once principled political party has devolved into a kooky religion where all things Trump are satanic. Tammy Bruce breaks down the situation with Tucker Carlson.   
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption     Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

John Stossel: Working for tips

fromCreators: As usual, those who want the government to decide that workers must be paid more insist that "women and minorities" are hurt by the market. But waitress Alcieli Felipe says the politicians should butt out.  
Regulation Nation

Facebook blocks searches for pages that reference marijuana—even those of government agencies

fromReason: The platform is struggling to handle contradictory laws about legal and illegal use of pot.  
Indoctrination and Censorship      The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

July 27, 2016

Can border agents search your phone without a warrant?

fromReason: Court waters down the Fourth Amendment again. So what happens when an American citizen is returning home from abroad and U.S. border officials want to search the contents of that person's phone?  
Government is Watching Every Move You Make    Police State America

VIDEO: Shelby Steel - White Guilt and the Identity of Innocence

fromYouTube: “White guilt is black power.” From Life, Liberty and Levin, Shelby Steele explains how “white guilt” is a tactic of the Left to disarm whites of moral authority.  
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

San Francisco bans straws, cocktail swords

fromReason: With homelessness rampant, streets littered with needles and feces, murders at BART and tourism tanking, SF politicians spring into action.  
Regulation Nation

Court: Hawaii's restrictions on handguns in public unconstitutional

fromHawaiiNewsNow: It is always notable when a U.S. court upholds the Constitution.  
2nd Amendment Assaults

San Francisco straphangers on edge after third BART murder

fromNYPost: The third homicide on Bay Area Rapid Transit in less than a week. Like more and more of California, politicians have allowed it to become a ghetto.  
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Liberty makes us unfree, says the ACLU

fromReason: The government wouldn’t abuse us if we’d stop making it upset, according to the one-time civil liberties advocacy group. The ACLU is a joke.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

June 25, 2016

Congress wants to give Jeff Sessions unprecedented new drug war powers

fromReason: The SITSA Act would turn the attorney general into the chief arbiter of what substances Americans can buy, sell, and put in their bodies. 
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

The ACLU abandons its free-speech absolutism

fromNationalReview: Free speech for me but not for thee. Leftwing causes now trump free speech.
Indoctrination and Censorship      Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Government court rules in favor of more government revenue: Tax the Internet!

fromAP: The Supreme Court seldom misses an opportunity to enrich their legislative cousins. 
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Fighting the high minimum wage: first "robot created burger" restaurant opening in San Francisco

fromEconomicPolicyJournal: On June 27, the world’s first robot-crafted burger will roll off a conveyor belt in San Francisco and into the hands of the public. Creator is located at 680 Folsom St., South of Market. 
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market       Regulation Nation

5 times Child Protective Services separated kids from parents for no good reason

fromReason: No illegal aliens, no foul -- according to American media.
The Government is Not Us        Media Bias on Parade

Iraqi murderer of German girl bragged: Everything is for free here, no working and a salary from the state

fromAP: Let's hope Merkel got several boatloads of money from Soros for wrecking her own country. 
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption       Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

March 20, 2018

Why our world needs digital currency

fromMedium: A very easily understood explanation of cryptocurrency and why it should matter to you.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle   

Trump to unveil opioid plan seeking death penalty for drug dealers

fromReuters: Authoritarian president advocates murder for those involved in approved voluntary exchange.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange   

Amazon deletes reviews of conservative authors with no explanation

fromPJMedia: Every authoritarian worth his salt knows that good ideas can be rebutted, but great ones must be censored.
Indoctrination and Censorship     Media Bias on Parade   

San Francisco is suffering from the excesses of its own liberalism

fromTheFederalist: The astounding level of mismanagement and general deterioration of public decency will continue to plague the city until reasonable measures are taken to combat vagrancy.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption     Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery  

ACLU asks in lawsuit: Why is the TSA searching digital devices on domestic flights?

fromLATimes: Government's contempt of the Constitution, in general, and the Fourth Amendment, in particular, is beyond depressing.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make 

In gambling battle, both sides are wrong

fromReason: Neither supporters nor opponents want to consider personal liberty.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange
  

March 16, 2018

Facebook's war on 'conservative' sites

fromWND: The king of social media has been making algorithm changes seemingly intended to marginalize the traffic of right-of-center online news operations, and they have been effective. 
Media Bias on Parade

President Trump and the freedom of speech

fromCreators: The limits of power. Freedom of speech trumps Trump -- as it should. 
Indoctrination and Censorship

VIDEO: Walter E Williams - No Skin in the Game

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Professor Williams contends that spending constraints will never occur so long as half of the citizens have no skin in the game. 
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

ACLU is suing the government for info about TSA device searches

fromMotherboard: The TSA won't release information about its warrantless searches of electronic devices carried by US citizens on domestic flights. 
Government is Watching Every Move You Make      Police State America

John Stossel: Lies about Trade

fromCreators: All a trade deficit shows is that a country sells us more than we sell them. We get the better of that deal. They get excess dollar bills, but we get stuff.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Say no to “hardening” the schools with zero tolerance policies and gun-toting cops

fromRutherfordInstitute: Just what we don’t need: more gun-toting, taser-wielding cops in government-run schools that bear an uncomfortable resemblance to prisons.
Police State America

Is The ACLU Going Soft On The First Amendment?

by Damon Root.    That's the troubling question raised by University of Washington law professor Ronald Collins, who notes that the ACLU just began its annual fundraising campaign and released an accompanying "National ACLU Workplan," which, in the organization's own words, "lays out [the ACLU's] plans for the year ahead [and] always addresses  ... MORE

VIDEO: Fighting ACLU's Attempt To Destroy School Choice

Local Gov'ts Are Increasingly Poking Through Your Garbage

by Jenna McLaughlin.     "Nothing is safe, not even our trash."     Civil libertarians are worried about an increasingly common form of domestic surveillance that has nothing to do with listening to your phone calls or reading your emails; it has to do with looking through your garbage. Municipalities across the United States are implementing    ... MORE

Robby Soave: The ACLU Now Opposes Religious Freedom

Because Christians need it.     The American Civil Liberties Union has formally reversed its support for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signaling that the organization is no longer interested in mounting an ideologically consistent defense of all people of faith. It’s a disappointing retreat on principles for the ACLU, and the organization’s   ... MORE

VIDEO: Fox News - Intercepting Cell Phone Signals

VIDEO: Should Revenge Porn Be A Crime?

Cop Pulls Car Over for Nonexistent Traffic Violation, Then Tows It To Search For Evidence Of Nonexistent Crime

by Jacob Sullum.   Drug war incentives strike Vermont. Last March, according to a lawsuit filed this month by the ACLU of Vermont, a state trooper pulled Gregory Zullo over for a nonexistent traffic infraction, then towed his car away so it could be searched for evidence of a nonexistent crime. Trooper Lewis Hatch stopped Zullo, a 21-year-old resident ... MORE

2/3 Of US population Lives In “Constitution-free” Zone

by John Stokes.     "Your papers, please." In 2003, the Seattle Times reported on random "spot checks" of cars and luggage that border patrol agents were performing on US citizens who were taking the ferry between Washington State and the San Juan islands. Because most of the passengers on these ferries had not actually crossed an        ... MORE

U.S. Marshals Seize Local Cops’ Cell Phone Tracking Files in Extraordinary Attempt to Keep Information From Public

by Nathan Freed Wessler.      A run-of-the-mill public records request about cell phone surveillance submitted to a local police department in Florida has unearthed blatant violations of open government laws, including an incredible seizure of state records by the U.S. Marshals Service, which is part of the Justice Department.   ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Real Rights Vs. Fake Rights

Free birth control and unfree photographers.      According to The New York Times, a case the Supreme Court heard on Tuesday, involving a challenge to Obamacare's requirement that businesses pay for their employees' contraceptives, "pits religious liberty against women's rights." Similarly, last month's controversy over an Arizona bill    ... MORE

Is Flashing Your Headlights Protected Free Expression?

by Robert Patrick.         But what if it inconveniences the state? The American Civil Liberties Union is hoping that a federal judge’s ruling Monday that temporarily barred Ellisville from punishing drivers for using their headlights to warn others of speed traps will itself serve as a warning to other cities who try to do the same. ACLU Legal Director      ... MORE

FBI Spooks: Infiltrating and Informing

by J.D. Tuccille.     The National Security Agency isn't the only arm of the government in the surveillance business. According to a September report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), "every 90 days for the past seven years the FBI has obtained secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders compelling telecommunications        ... MORE

A. Barton Hinkle: More Contraception, Less Conscription

Birth control should be over-the-counter.      In a rational world, women in the U.S. would be able to buy birth control over the counter — something that is perfectly safe to do, and that women in other countries do as a matter of routine. But because American women cannot, the country is now embroiled in an unnecessary debate — one that,   ... MORE