Showing posts with label authority. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authority. Show all posts

The Age Of Authoritarianism -- Government Of The Politicians, By The Military, For The Corporations

by John W. Whitehead.   America is at a crossroads. History may show that from this point forward, we will have left behind any semblance of constitutional government and entered into a militaristic state where all citizens are suspects and security trumps freedom. Certainly, this is a time when government officials operate off their own inscrutable,   ... MORE

If You Support Trump, You May Be An Authoritarian

by Scott Shackford.     Reason has not been shy about pointing out Donald Trump's lack of interest in liberty and freedom in what motivates his so-far-extremely-successful campaign for president (check out Damon Root's cover story from our December issue). That Trump would appeal to authoritarians should come as no surprise. His campaign is      ... MORE

Should Used Tea Leaves Be Probable Cause For Drug Raids?

by Justin Monticello.    Former CIA employees Robert and Adlynn Harte, along with their 7- and 13-year-old children, were held at gunpoint by sheriff's deputies for several hours as a search for drugs was conducted in their home. The probable cause that led to the raid? A visit to a hydroponics store for a horticultural project and wet tea     ... MORE

Little-Told Story Of How The U.S. Government Poisoned Alcohol During Prohibition With Deadly Consequences

by Deborah Blum.   A reminder about public servants. It was Christmas Eve 1926, the streets aglitter with snow and lights, when the man afraid of Santa Claus stumbled into the emergency room at New York City's Bellevue Hospital. He was flushed, gasping with fear: Santa Claus, he kept telling the nurses, was just behind him, wielding a baseball bat.    ... MORE

Protection For Cops Who Kill Unarmed Civilians

"We don't second guess police officers."   A grand jury's decision not to indict an officer who killed a 12-year-old holding a toy gun sheds light on a criminal-justice system that gives fairly broad deference to police officers' version of events. As Business Insider's Natasha Bertrand reported, the prosecutor in the case of the 12-year-old said,     ... MORE

John Stossel: Politicians Without Borders

Today's politicians seem to have few limits.     When driving on treacherous roads, guardrails are useful. If you fall asleep or maybe you're just a bad driver, guardrails may prevent you from going off a cliff. Recently, The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley Strassel used the phrase "no political guardrails" to point out how many of today's    ... MORE

Video Of Long Beach Killing By Police Of Suspect Released; Officer Shot His Partner, Then Both Cops Shot The Suspect

by Brian Doherty. So what was the crime for which Noel Aguilar had been apprehended?   Riding a bike wearing headphones.   Petty law enforcement claims another life. When Noel Aguilar was shot and killed by two officers in Long Beach, California, in May 2014, the police initially reported that Aguilar had shot Officer Albert Murad before     ... MORE

FBI Admits Police Violence Tracking System Is A Travesty

by T.C. Sottek.    The Washington Post reported today that the Federal Bureau of Investigation plans to replace its inadequate system for tracking police violence by 2017; an FBI official is calling it a "travesty." "We are responding to a real human outcry," FBI assistant director Stephen L. Morris told the Post. "People want to know what police are doing, and   ... MORE

Anthony L. Fisher: France Cracks Down On Civil Liberties

Warrantless raids, house arrests and more. Last Friday, France's parliament overwhelmingly passed a three-month extension of the national state of emergency, granting broad powers to law enforcement and significantly curtailing civil liberties. The Guardian summarizes some of the new security measures: Expanded powers to immediately     ... MORE

Stephen Lendman: Police State Europe

An opportunity for tyranny.       Churchill once said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”  More recently, former Obama White House chief of staff/current Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel said earlier: “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Post-9/11,     ... MORE

The Unelected Shadow Government Is Here To Stay

by John W. Whitehead.      America’s next president will inherit more than a bitterly divided nation teetering on the brink of financial catastrophe when he or she assumes office. He will also inherit a shadow government, one that is fully operational and staffed by unelected officials who are, in essence, running the country. To be precise,       ... MORE

Video Reveals Motorist Had His Hands Up Before Police Officers Executed His 6-Year-Old Son Strapped In Seat

by Michael Kunzelman.  Good thing the cops were black and victims white.  A police body camera recorded the father of a 6-year-old autistic boy with his hands up and posing no threat as police fired into his car, severely wounding the motorist and killing his son, the man's lawyer said Monday. "This was not a threatening situation for the police," ... MORE

VIDEO: John W Whitehead - Tyranny In America

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

Proof The System Is Broken Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

by Carlos Miller.        Serving the public like Colonel Sanders serves chicken. Juley Harris pulled into a Maryland gas station last December with his family and pumped some gas before stepping into the station’s convenience store and heating up a pizza. When he stepped out, a Charles County sheriff’s deputy was demanding his identification,      ... MORE

M. David: Is It Ever Legal To Shoot Cops?

Badges do not grant special rights.   Is it ever legal to shoot cops? A growing number of states are passing laws that say that yes, in fact, sometimes it is well within a citizen’s rights to shoot a police officer. Other states have already ruled in favor of citizens shooting police officers in self-defense, (even hip-hop legend Tupac walked    ... MORE

North Carolina Teen Prosecuted For Taking Naked Selfie

by Tara Culp-Ressler.  Gov't figures a little prison time should fix him. A 17-year-old in North Carolina struck a plea deal last week to avoid serving jail time on felony sex offender charges. His crime? Taking a nude photo of himself. The photo in question was discovered when the teenager’s cell phone was searched during a wider investigation   ... MORE

Police State America: Video Shows Austin Cop Arbitrarily Arresting A Man For Eating A Hamburger In His Parked Car

by Grant Stern.      Cops making up the law as they go. This recently recorded arrest in Austin, Texas shows the five stages of police deciding to falsely arrest a citizen who contacted PINAC News and wishes to be called “Rick”. The YouTube video’s original caption to the video at the bottom of this story says it all: “Bought a burger and pulled over to have a  ... MORE