June 20, 2020

Op-Ed: Those who exercise free speech should also defend it — even when it’s offensive

fromLATimes: As we rise up to remake America, free speech must be not only something we rely upon, but also part of what we fight for.
Indoctrination and Censorship

How Federal courts gave us qualified immunity and forced it on all 50 states

fromActivistPost: A legal doctrine first created out of thin air by judicial fiat went unchallenged – and the court did what it does so well, it eventually forced that same doctrine on all 50 states.
Police State America

Police violence, COVID-19 lies, and the end of legitimate authority

fromReason: Our leaders and institutions are failing us spectacularly. It's up to us to reboot society.
The Government is Not Us

San Francisco police were ordered to turn off body cameras in raid on journalist's home

fromReason: Their illegal search was not recorded. If police were actually public servants, and not merely state agents, this would not happen.
Police State America

PG&E pleads guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter tied to deadliest wildfire In California history

fromZeroHedge: An investigation eventually found that PG&E inadvertently started the fire when a transmission line broke from a nearly-100-year-old Pacific Gas & Electric Tower after years of neglect.
Regulation Nation                      The Government is Not Us

Business licensing makes it too easy for politicians to punish people they don't like

fromReason: Making a living is a right, not a privilege, and should be respected as such.
Regulation Nation

April 15, 2020

COVID-19 and the war on cash: What is behind the push for a cashless society?

fromTheDailyBell: The war on cash is a concerted campaign to shift consumers towards a digital mode of commerce that can be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle                 Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Congress extends recess until at least May 4

fromPolitico: The longer tyrants are socially distanced, the better off freedom-loving Americans are.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

The surveillance state thrives during the pandemic

fromReason: Can we take government officials at their word that they'll eventually abandon their new powers?
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

The real cost of anti-price-gouging laws

fromMises: Given that the rationale for anti-gouging laws is to benefit consumers, we ought to check whether consumers are actually made better off.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Tyrants never let a crisis go to waste

fromTheDailyBell: Here’s a roundup of what’s happening around the world in the name of protecting the people:
The Government is Not Us

Some shirts hide you from cameras—but will anyone wear them?

fromArsTechnica: It's theoretically possible to become invisible to cameras. But can it catch on?
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

April 9, 2020

The crackdown on ‘price gouging’ helps no one, except politicians and the media

fromTownhall: Governments can’t alter the laws of economics any easier than they can the laws of physics. Yet, they seemingly never cease trying, either under some private or public pressure to skew economic outcomes.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Congress proposes 50% tax on guns and ammunition in the US

fromDailyBell: Congress is considering a bill to require citizens to apply for a federal license before being able to purchase a firearm. And the government would have the authority to deny a license without demonstrable cause.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Thermal imaging cameras are still dangerous dragnet surveillance cameras

fromActivistPost: Surveillance cameras in public places can chill free expression, movement, and association; aid in the targeted harassment and over-policing of vulnerable populations.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Feds classifying all coronavirus patient deaths as ‘COVID-19’ deaths, regardless of cause

fromNYPost: Obviously, it is in someone's self-interest to inflate the numbers.
Indoctrination and Censorship

HuffPost’s clickbait headline claims Trump invested in coronavirus cure

fromAccuracyInMedia: The amount of Trump’s investment was estimated between $100 and $1,500, which is far from a vested and significant financial investment in the drug.
Media Bias on Parade

To enforce social distancing rules, cops fined a Pennsylvania woman who was driving alone

fromReason: Not every apparent violation of a quarantine order is a risk to other people, and not all need to be 
(or can be) enforced equally. To a mindless hammer, everything is a nail.
Police State America

Dec 15, 2018

Truth and free speech are being taken away from us

fromForeignPolicyJournal: "Moreover, as the claim is that government was harmed by Wikileaks publishing the truth, Assange’s secret indictment sets the precedent that truth is harmful to government."

Indoctrination and Censorship

DEA spy cameras In vacuum cleaners: surveillance state

fromZeroHedge: The government website USASpending.gov reports that "the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) awarded a contract to an American defense company to build a vacuum cleaner for surveillance purposes."
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

The media incentives to align themselves with the state at the expense of truth

fromCaitlinJohnstone: Insightful explanation of the why the mainstream media becomes a statist propaganda tool. 

Media Bias on Parade

Walter E Williams: Acceptable racism

fromCreators: Muhammad Ali had it right when he said: "Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong."
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

It’s in America’s best interests to stop overspending on our military

fromtheFederalist: We spend gobs of money on our military, so what do we get in return? A lot of foreign intervention that has little clear benefit to Americans.
Defense Versus The War Machine

Trump's cluelessness is his best defense against charges that he 'knowingly and willfully' violated law

fromCreators: If Trump did not recognize hush payments to his (alleged) former mistresses as illegal campaign contributions, he is not criminally culpable.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Nov 13, 2018

The real winner of the 2018 midterms: individual liberty

fromTheHill: The most important takeaway is that we will have a divided federal government, with the executive branch and Senate controlled by the Republicans and the House controlled by the Democrats.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Civil forfeiture is worse than its proponents proclaim

fromSaltLakeTribune: For the uninitiated, this is a law that allows the government to legally take possession of your property without even having to charge you with commission of a crime, let alone secure a conviction.
Police State America

Pot proponents claim victory, set sights on national legalization

fromNBCNews: "Marijuana has now been legalized for adult use in one out of every five states, so I think it's safe to say federal laws are in need of an update," he said.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

VIDEO: Tucker Carlson - Racism as a Political Tactic

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: From Tucker Carlson Tonight, a look at how racism has been reduced to virtually a meaningless political tactic. Christopher Harris.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery     Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Gov’t denies homeless people food by raiding charity, pouring bleach on food to destroy it

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: Earlier this month, the kind folks over at Free Hot Soup Kansas City hosted a picnic at their local park and invited hundreds of homeless people to partake in the food. 
Regulation Nation     The Government is Not Us

DEA and ICE 'are hiding secret cameras inside streetlights and traffic barrels across the country'

fromDailyMail: The US Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agencies have hidden a number of covert surveillance cameras inside street lights, according to federal contracting documents.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

April 23, 2016

14 Years Ago Today, Pat Tillman was killed and gov’t covered up the truth to his death to sell war

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: On this day 14 years ago, former NFL player Pat Tillman was shot and killed by his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, and the events surrounding his death still remain a mystery.
Defense Versus The War Machine

The rapid rise of San Francisco's surveillance camera network

fromSFGate: What started out as a pilot program with six privately-owned cameras around Union Square has morphed into a highly coordinated surveillance network of 350 cameras that share footage with police.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

In defense of cash

fromReason: Around the world, governments are trying to kill paper money. It's a terrible idea.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Bipartisan coalition emerges to support jury nullification appeal

fromTheLibertyConservative: First Amendment: Congress can make no law abridging free speech. They don't have to. The courts do it for them.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle       Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Andrew Napolitano: President Trump and the Attorney-Client Privilege

fromCreators: Records of whatever work Michael Cohen has been doing for him in the past 10 years will soon be in the custody of federal prosecutors who expect it to be evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the president himself.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Media war on Trump continues around the clock, and other proof of media bias

fromCreators: Every hour of every day, somewhere a major media outlet is attacking the president. It might be with a news show. It might be on an entertainment program.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption      Media Bias on Parade

February 27, 2018

The federal government's finances are a total wreck

fromReason: And the biggest liabilities don’t even appear on the official balance sheet.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

State takes child from parents because they refused to allow her to become transgender

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: Because they wanted their daughter to speak to a therapist instead of undergoing hormone treatment to become transgender, a couple has had their parental rights taken away.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery      Police State America

CNN town hall evidence of media bias

fromTheMorningCall: The propaganda machine never sleeps.
Media Bias on Parade

Shooting Survivor: ‘CNN gave me a scripted question’ after denying question of armed guards

fromSHTFPlan: Anyone believing CNN has an agenda other than that of the anti-gun global elites is not paying attention.
Media Bias on Parade

Man removes feds’ spy cam, they demand it back, he refuses and sues

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: A cycle of CBP agents making incursions onto the ranch and Palacios telling them to leave continued for years—that is, until he found the camera, believed to be part of an effort to monitor the border.
The Government is Not Us        

CNN’s Chris Cuomo melts down after spreading fake news about AR-15 purchase

fromBreitbart: CNN’s Chris Cuomo, the anti-Trump pundit who hosts CNN’s failing morning show, spread fake news about a gun purchase and then melted down after he was called out for it.
Media Bias on Parade    2nd Amendment Assaults

January 27, 2018

Businesses are being forced to pay the police to let them spy on customers

fromMassPrivateI: In Michigan, politicians are mandating businesses install surveillance equipment connected to the police department.
Police State America     Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Why no gadget can prove how stoned you are

fromReason: The truth contained within this article is for your consumption only. Don't expect it to influence authorities to who are vested in the prevailing wisdom being otherwise.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange   Regulation Nation    Police State America

Venezuela's economy circles the drain, inflation jumps 1000 % in just one day

fromEconomicPolicyJournal: Prof Steve Hanke reports: Yesterday, Venezuelan inflation surpassed 6,000% for the first time. Today, it has surpassed 7,000%, sitting at 7,155%. #Venezuela is in an economic free fall.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

New York governor wants taxpayers to fund college education for illegals

fromReason: Andrew Cuomo refuses to take a back seat to Jerry Brown in the crazy car.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption      Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Tyrannical Law will throw waiters in jail who offer customers unsolicited plastic straws

fromReason: Busybodies minding your own business. Lawmakers will use the barrel of a gun to enforce a tyrannical state laws to reduce customer service.
Regulation Nation

The plan is for driverless police cars to patrol freeways to insure zero speeders

fromDigitalTrends: The filings explain Ford’s autonomous patrol car would primarily rely on a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. 
Regulation Nation    Police State America    Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Red Light Cams Linked To Rear-End Collisions In Chicago

by Dan Kedmey.   New study casts doubts on the claims that cameras improve road safety. A new Chicago-focused study links red light cameras to a coinciding rise in rear-end collisions, casting doubts on claims that the mounted cameras improve safety at intersections. The study’s findings, published by the Chicago Tribune Friday, found that while   ... MORE

VIDEO: Edward Snowden - Accountability In Government

Matt Agorist: “Please Don’t Shoot Me” Body Cam Shows Innocent Unarmed Dad Killed By A Cop Begging For His Life

A simple execution.     Mesa Police Officer Philip Brailsford has been charged with the second-degree murder of Daniel Shaver, an innocent father of two. The shooting was captured on his body cam. On January 18, Brailsford, along with several other officers, responded to a call about a suspect with a rifle in a hotel room. The ‘rifle’ was nothing more  ... MORE

Samuel Gibbs: If FBI Wins Case Against Apple, Feds Could Force Apple To Turn iPhones Into Surveillance Devices

Turning our property against us.  If the FBI wins in its case against Apple to help it unlock the San Bernardino killer’s iPhone 5C, it won’t be long before the government forces Apple to turn on users’ iPhone cameras and microphones to spy on them, according to the company’s head of services Eddy Cue. The FBI has demanded that Apple creates   ... MORE

Woman Arrested For Protecting Dog From Cop Acquitted

by Jacob Sullum. Last week a West Virginia woman who stood between her dog and a state trooper intent on killing him was acquitted of obstructing an officer by a jury in Wood County. It took jurors just half an hour to acquit 23-year-old Tiffanie Hupp after they watched the video of the incident that Hupp's husband, Ryan, shot with his cellphone.  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Racial Tensions 2015

VIDEO: Andrew Napolitano - The Need For Encryption

New Way For Cops To Surveil You: Your Threat ‘Score’

by Justin Jouvenal.    While officers raced to a recent 911 call about a man threatening his ex-girlfriend, a police operator in headquarters consulted software that scored the suspect’s potential for violence the way a bank might run a credit report. The program scoured billions of data points, including arrest reports, property records, commercial    ... MORE

Police State Update: 5 Stories That Speak Volumes

Austin Police Beat Up Men For Jaywalking (with video)

SD Cops Keep Forgetting To Turn Cameras On Before Killing People

Video Of Cop Executing Man Lying Face Down & Complying

Louisiana Cops Shoot Into Car, Kill 6-Year-Old Autistic Boy

Cops Call Rancher for Help. When He Shows Up, They Killed Him

VIDEO: How One Group Of Tyrants Banned Gun Sales

John W. Whitehead: ‘Minority Report’ Is 40 Years Ahead Of Schedule: The Fictional World Has Become Today's Reality

Examples abound.     We are a scant 40 years away from the futuristic world that science fiction author Philip K. Dick envisioned for Minority Report in which the government is all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful, and if you dare to step out of line, dark-clad police SWAT teams will crack a few skulls to bring the populace under control. Unfortunately,  ... MORE

Asher-Schapiro & Owen: The People Who Police The Police

Requiring adherence to the law as well as enforcement. Jose LaSalle always told his stepson Alvin: "Watch the cops." So when three undercover NYPD officers stopped Alvin on the street, grabbed his book bag, and twisted his arm, the 16 year old didn't fight back. Instead, he hit Record on his phone and asked the police why they were giving   ... MORE