June 6, 2020

From 9/11 to COVID-19, it’s been a perpetual state of emergency

fromTheRutherfordInstitute: "Freedom from servitude comes not from violent action, but from the refusal to serve. Tyrants fall when the people withdraw their support.” —Étienne De La Boétie, The Politics Of Obedience
Police State America

Joe Biden basically admits libertarians were right all along: cops shouldn't have military gear

fromReason: Biden voted for the 1997 bill that created the Pentagon's 1033 program, which allows surplus military gear to be passed along to local cops. It took 23 years, but he finally changed his opinion.
Police State America           Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Policing for profit: How civil asset forfeiture has perverted American law enforcement

fromAmmo: Asset forfeiture is having devastating consequences: In 2014 alone, law enforcement took more stuff from American citizens than burglars did.
Police State America

The state’s priority is protecting itself, not you

fromLibertarianInstitute: The state is far more punitive against those that threaten the comfort and authority of government institutions and workers than they are against crimes against citizens.
Police State America

The lockdowns are now a scandal

fromNationalReview: Last week, the media, politicians, and many experts decided that every argument they made for destroying the lives of millions of people in America could be deferred to advance a preferred political cause.
The Government is Not Us

Lockdown supporters embraced wildly wrong COVID-19 projections that fit their preconceptions

fromReason: The episode illustrates the perils of confirmation bias on both sides of the debate about disease control measures.
Police State America           Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

March 19, 2020

Panic will end but tyranny will not

fromDailyMail: We saw it with 9/11 and we’re seeing it the covid-19: people will give up their freedom and accept expanding government power when they’re afraid.

The Government is Not Us

Joe Biden’s plan to shut down the firearms industry

fromNationalReview: His political attacks on the industry are why we have a law barring attempts to hold arms manufacturers legally responsible for shootings.

2nd Amendment Assaults

To track virus, governments weigh surveillance tools that push privacy limits

fromWallStreetJournal: Geolocation and facial-recognition systems can locate vectors of infections, but they also gather highly personal data.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Civil asset forfeiture should be eliminated entirely

fromStarTribune: Police and prosecutors should be bound by criminal law, a system where citizens—and their stuff—are innocent until proven guilty.

Police State America

Orange County threatens to jail people who walk outside with others not in household

fromDailyMail: Covid-19 has given authoritarians carte-blanche to run roughshod over the rights of citizens

Regulation Nation                      The Government is Not Us

The plastic bag ban backfires

fromWallStreetJournal: While California's governor is quick to close bars under the pretense of stopping the spread of the virus, they promote reusable bags that are notoriously dirty transmitters.

Regulation Nation                      The Government is Not Us

February 5, 2020

The state owns you: The problem with "national service"

fromMises: Rather than attempt to persuade people that they ought to join the military or sign up for community service, the first instinct of draft supporters is to use coercion.
The Government is Not Us

America's self-inflicted wound: The war on drugs has been a 100 year war on our neighbors

fromMilwaukeeIndependent: For more than a century, the U.S. has worked to build a harsh global drug prohibition regime – grounded in draconian laws, enforced by pervasive policing, and punished with mass incarceration.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

New Jersey is now the 16th state to require convictions for civil forfeiture

fromForbes: But sadly, policing for profit continues to trample rights in the other 34 states.
Police State America

Lindsey Graham wants to use mistrust of big Tech to destroy your right to online privacy

fromFreedomBunker: Online platforms would have to "earn" speech protections by compromising encryption—
all in the name of fighting child porn.
The Government is Not Us

A new backlash to gun control begins in Virginia

fromNewYorker: Activists at a gun-rights rally in Richmond last week called Virginia, a state with a pro-gun tradition now on the brink of passing restrictions, “the canary in the coal mine.”
2nd Amendment Assaults

Mark Levin interviews Walter E Williams

fromFoxNews: From Life, Liberty and Levin, Mark probes the mind of Dr. Williams regarding capitalism and the future of liberty.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle          Economic Policy: Statism Vs The Free Market

August 12, 2019

Overbearing regulations are slowly killing restaurants

fromReason: Running a restaurant is hard enough without government micromanagers trying to stir the pot.

Regulation Nation

TSA drops fine against man who opted not to board a flight rather than be subjected to invasive search

fromRutherfordInstitute: Texas man not punished for opting out of third warrantless search. He refused an invasive pat-down after he had already been through metal detector and whole body scanner.

Police State America       The Government is Not Us

FBI stats show knives kill far more people than rifles In America – it’s not even close

fromDailyCaller: According to the FBI, 1,604 people were killed by “knives and cutting instruments” and 374 were killed by “rifles” in 2016.
2nd Amendment Assaults

How the government can steal your stuff: 6 questions about civil asset forfeiture answered

fromPennsylvaniaCapital-Star: Law professor and criminal justice expert Nora V. Demleitner explains how this procedure works and why it irks conservatives and progressives alike.

Police State America

Cops still not charged after dumping 26 rounds Into truck full of small children, shooting 3 Of them

fromFreeThoughtProject: “How am I supposed to tell my kids that the people who are supposed to protect them are the ones that shot them?” father of the children, Quin Jacobs said.

Police State America

VIDEO: White Supremacy and White Privilege in America

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: The truth about the left's favorite issues.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

May 17, 2019

Judgment day for John Brennan

fromTheUnzReview:   What's ahead for the mastermind of the Russia hoax.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Stung by tariffs, farmers seek bailouts and more protectionism

fromReason:   While Trump prepares another round of aid payments for farmers, Marco Rubio is pushing for tariffs on Mexican fruits and vegetables that will send prices soaring.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

☆ VIDEO: Remy - People will die

fromReason/YouTube:   Remy channels his inner Elizabeth Warren to vilify the other side.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Fear, loathing, intolerance – and worse

fromWattsUpWithThat:   The climate-fearing, capitalism-loathing Left cannot abide questions or differing opinions.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Conviction will soon be required before civil asset forfeiture is initiated

fromTheUnzReview:   New standard may hamstring law enforcement's ability to legally steal.

Police State America

Las Vegas, which just authorized cannabis lounges, aspires to be the 'new Amsterdam'

fromReason:   The tourist mecca will be one of the few U.S. jurisdictions that give visitors a place where they can legally use the marijuana they can legally buy.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Feb 20, 2019

Record high name government as most important problem

fromGallup:  Thirty-five percent of Americans name the government, poor leadership or politicians as the greatest problem facing the U.S. This is the highest percentage Gallup has recorded for this concern.

The Government is Not Us

After innocent couple murdered over cop’s lies, Houston police vow no more no-knock raids

fromFreeThoughtProject:  After a no-knock raid, based on lies, led to the murder of an innocent couple, Houston police chief Art Acevedo vows to no longer use them.

Police State America

Victor Davis Hanson pronounces the coup against Trump dead, then performs an autopsy

fromRedState:  FBI officials, like Andrew McCabe, found that the media was more than willing to oblige. Correspondents would happily publish any “leaks” officials were willing to provide.

Media Bias on Parade         Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

‘Free expression/free speech’ for students being muzzled

fromInsideSources:  Years of Supreme Court decisions have left student expression rights at a crossroads, even as justices have expanded safeguards for nearly every other area of free expression.

Indoctrination and Censorship

How the Feds are using civil asset forfeiture to threaten free speech

fromReason:  Sex, publishing, and quasi-legal theft collide in the Backpage prosecution.

Police State America       

A look into the legal distinction between sex trafficking and prostitution

from1011Now:  Prostitution is a consensual, but illegal, voluntary exchange. Human trafficking, is modern day slavery. Big difference.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Feb 13, 2019

Rights and non-rights: a simple way to distinguish the two

fromFEE:  It’s readily apparent today that Americans are of widely different views on what a right is, how many we have, where rights come from, or why we have any in the first place.

Individual Liberty: America's First Principle 

Some Washington sheriffs refuse to enforce new gun laws

fromABCNews:  Sheriffs in a dozen Washington counties say they won't enforce the state's sweeping new restrictions on semi-automatic rifles until the courts decide whether they are constitutional.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Police can seize cash in the mail. An innocent man found out the hard way.

fromGreenvilleNews:  Not since the days of the Sheriff of Nottingham have cops so openly practiced state-sponsored theft.

Police State America

Senator files '420' marijuana bill to legalize it federally

fromForbes:  The proposal would remove it from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), impose more taxes on sales and create a system of permits for businesses to engage in cannabis commerce.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Study: voter ID laws don’t stop people voting

fromFreeBeacon:  Strict voter ID laws do not suppress turnout, a new paper finds, regardless of sex, race, Hispanic identity, or party affiliation.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Abuse of Force: Body camera video shows man tased 11 times by officers in Arizona

fromKSHBKansasCity:  Multiple independent law enforcement experts, who agreed to review the incident, said the officers’ conduct was unlawful, potentially criminal.

Police State America

Jan 31, 2019

Free speech liberalism is dying in its birthplace

fromTheAmericanConservative: Britain, the home of Swift and Mill, is increasingly clamping down on expression.

Indoctrination and Censorship

TAKEN: How police departments make millions by seizing property

fromGreenvilleOnline: In South Carolina, civil forfeiture targets black people’s money most of all. 

Police State America

The Trump administration’s crackdown on marijuana legalization might end under Bill Barr

fromTheSpokesmanReview: Trump’s nominee to replace Sessions as attorney general confirmed that he won’t be continuing that push to crack down on legal pot if he is confirmed by the Senate. 

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

The 100-mile rule runs contrary to reasonable searches

fromTheSpokesmanReview: Federal agents board buses and perform “show-us-your-papers checks” that are exactly the kind of fishing expedition the Fourth Amendment seems designed to prevent. 

Police State America

Chronic pain patients gather to protest opioid regulations

fromGreeleyTribune: When law enforcement policy, not medical evaluation, decides who gets painkillers, the citizens suffer. 

Police State America      Regulation Nation

Make individualism great again

from71Republic: Across the country, we are witnessing a decline of the influence of individualism in our society with the effects of this being purely negative. 

Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Jan 19, 2019

Congressman slams civil forfeiture as 'a series of government shakedowns'

fromForbes: Under federal law, property owners facing civil forfeiture are essentially guilty until proven innocent and must bear the burden of proof, unlike criminal cases.

Police State America     Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

VIDEO: John Stossel: Government shutdown shows private Is better

fromReason: Shutdown teaches us that much of government is NOT essential.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market       The Government is Not Us

How long can Congress keep pretending marijuana legalization isn’t the norm?

fromCourant: As more states vote to legalize adult recreational use, they are creating a powerful coalition against the federal government, which continues to classify marijuana as an illegal Schedule 1 drug on par with heroin.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

How U.S. surveillance technology is propping up authoritarian regimes

fromWashingtonPost: The sale of technologies such as spyware and facial-recognition systems to human rights abusers enables insidious social control and encroachment on basic civil liberties.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

VIDEO: Why they keep coming - The migrant caravans

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: A look at the incentives that attract migrants and have politicians blocking attempts to secure the border. Also, a look at the political dynamics driving the government shutdown.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Norway readies 'Big Brother' GPS-based taxation per mile-driven

fromZeroHedge: Coming to a tyranny near you. The idea is to transform the public to electric cars, then make up lost fuel tax revenue with a scheme like this.

The Government is Not Us

Jan 14, 2019

Please, TSA workers, don’t come back

fromReason: And take the rest of your federal colleagues with you.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make   Regulation Nation    Police State America

Congressman slams civil forfeiture as 'a series of government shakedowns'

fromForbes: Tim Walberg (R-MI) sharply criticized the federal government’s use of civil forfeiture, which lets law enforcement confiscate property and pocket the proceeds for themselves, all without filing criminal charges.

Police State America

A marijuana "420" bill was just introduced in Congress

fromTheMotleyFool: If passed, cannabis would be removed as a controlled substance at the federal level and treated like alcohol. Could the end of government's reefer madness be in sight?

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Publishers, not Trump, endanger free speech

fromNationalReview: And take the rest of your federal colleagues with you.

Indoctrination and Censorship

Assault weapon bans are all about appearance

fromReason: Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s latest bill classifies firearms not by what they do but based on how much their looks scare her.

2nd Amendment Assaults

LA's battle for Venice Beach: homeless surge puts Hollywood's progressive ideals to the test

fromHollywoodReporter: It finally happened. California's elitist left is now having to deal with the ramifications of their policies.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market        Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Dec 27, 2018

Policing for Profit

fromHPR: A primary incentive to violate citizen's rights. Money is a powerful driving force, an element of abuse, whether based upon good intentions or simply just a failure to reform.

Police State America

Top 10 inbound vs. top 10 outbound US states in 2017

fromAEI: Americans are moving from states with higher tax burdens and unfriendly business climates with fewer economic opportunities to fiscally sound states that are more economically vibrant.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

More Syria Thoughts: The Case for Intervention Was Never Made

fromNationalReview: "Someone needs to explain to me why I should be outraged at Trump, but not outraged that we got into this mess without making sure the public, through Congress, was on board."

Defense Versus The War Machine

John Stossel's New Year's resolution

fromTownhall: My New Year's resolution: Make a careful distinction between speech and violence.

Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Kansas Supreme Court says cops can search your home without a warrant if they claim it smells like pot

fromReason: Cops supposedly smelled 25 grams of pot inside a plastic container inside a safe inside a closet 30 feet from a guy's doorstep.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange     Police State America

Cop gets 15 day vacation for drunken road rage shooting that left Innocent dad paralyzed

fromFreeThoughtProject: For shooting two innocent people in a fit of road rage, leaving one of them paralyzed, a San Antonio cop received just 15 days suspension and is back on the job.

Police State America

Dec 21, 2018

Because a citizen filmed it, cop found guilty for punting handcuffed teen’s head like a football

fromCreators: "In all of FDA's history, I am unable to find a single instance where a congressional committee investigated the failure of FDA to approve a new drug."

Police State America

Congress ramps up war on sex workers and their customers with four new 'protection' laws

fromReason: A national strategy for arresting sex buyers and letting local cops wiretap sex workers are among the approved changes. Government supports anything that empowers them at the individual's expense.

Regulation Nation     Police State America      The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Cops can't ignore New Mexico's ban on civil forfeiture, court rules

fromForbes: "In all of FDA's history, I am unable to find a single instance where a congressional committee investigated the failure of FDA to approve a new drug."

Police State America

Walter E Williams: FDA policies kill

fromCreators: "In all of FDA's history, I am unable to find a single instance where a congressional committee investigated the failure of FDA to approve a new drug."

Regulation Nation

It looks like Trump Is about to pull the U.S. out of Afghanistan too

fromReason: After announcing draw-down from Syria, the president may be seriously contemplating getting out of Afghanistan as well.

Defense Versus The War Machine

Why men support marijuana legalization more than women do

fromWashingtonPost: What best explains the gender gap in marijuana attitudes is the gender gap in marijuana use. Men report using marijuana more often than women.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Nov 30, 2018

Profitable penalties imperil justice

fromReason: Forfeit a $42,000 Land Rover for a minor drug offense? The Supreme Court is now looking at law enforcement's shameless policing for profit scheme.
Police State America     Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

What government scientists are doing to make their insane extreme climate forecasts

fromEconomicJournal: Dr. Patrick Michaels, director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute, discusses the parameterization of the models, the cherry-picking that goes on and the skewed incentives.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Man who bit off cops finger free after jail beating video is revealed

fromDailyMail: Registered sex offender who chomped off piece of cop's finger and swallowed it is ACQUITTED after jail surveillance footage shows officers pinning him down and beating him.
Police State America     Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

VIDEO: This Stupid F*king Caravan

fromDailyMail: That stupid migrant caravan that Obama and the Left contended was "a lie" is now arriving.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

8 Shocking demographic trends which will greatly shape America’s future

fromEndofAmericanDream: We are witnessing a fundamental transformation of America.  Some welcome the changes that are happening, while others are greatly resisting them.  But one thing is very clear – the United States is a very different place than it was 40 or 50 years ago.

Mueller’s RussiaGate probe: Conflicts, presuppositions and special interests

fromDisobedientMedia: Rep Louie Gohmert: “Mueller has a long and sordid history of illicitly targeting innocent people that is a stain upon the legacy of American jurisprudence.”
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Nov 28, 2018

George Will: Civil forfeiture makes law enforcement lawless

fromAVPress: "Such laws are incentives for abusive governments, because the entity that seizes the property frequently is allowed to profit by keeping or selling it. Lucrative law enforcement will become lawless."
Police State America        The Government is Not Us

Grade school rolls out fingerprint ID lunch system, parents don’t approve

fromNYPost: A Nebraska public school system is failing kids by forcing them to get their fingers scanned to pay for lunch, according to irate parents.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

After losing $1 billion to tariffs, General Motors announces 14,000 layoffs

fromReason: Trump's rally promises won't happen because of his trade policies.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Proposed New York gun law violates five Constitutional amendments

fromIndependentSentinel: In New York, they want to allow law enforcement to peruse your social media history going back three years to decide if you are fit to exercise your Second Amendment right to own firearms.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Drug-sniffing dogs facing early retirements due to legalization of marijuana

fromFoxNews: Snitch dogs are free to become man's best friend again. 
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Red flag gun laws: Yet another government weapon for compliance and control

fromRutherfordInstitute: We never learn. In the right (or wrong) hands, benevolent plans can easily be put to malevolent purposes.
2nd Amendment Assaults

October 15, 2018

The $15 minimum wage Is turning hard workers Into black market lawbreakers

fromReason: An in-depth look at New York's car wash industry, and the real world consequences of politicians interfering with a complex industry they don’t understand.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Civil forfeiture may be over In Philly, but abuses abound across America

fromForbes: For more than a decade Philadelphia police and prosecutors ran a civil forfeiture machine that ruthlessly deprived citizens of their property as well as their constitutional rights.
Police State America

Political correctness is widely unpopular with Americans of all ages and races, a study finds

fromInsider: 80% of Americans think that political correctness is a problem. A majority of Americans in all race and age categories felt this way.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Libertarian and police accountability pages deleted in Facebook purge

fromReason: Hundreds of pages and accounts have been purged over accusations that they were "inauthentic." The page operators disagree.
Indoctrination and Censorship

How one privacy-first search engine Is benefiting from Google's mistakes

fromForbes: DuckDuckGo is a pro-privacy company taking an aggressive stance on not tracking people across all corners of the internet. One has to wonder if its product practically markets itself in 2018.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Jury nullification key to justice reform

fromQConLine: The courts and law enforcement have an incentive to arrest victims for nonviolent crimes. Here is a strategy to help focus law enforcement on their actual charge: protect society, not threaten it.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process      The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

September 20, 2018

Bone chilling footage shows the horrific tyranny Google is now secretly fostering in China

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Based on the history of how China treats its dissidents, Google could soon be complicit in the state-sponsored torture and murder of people for their political and religious views. 
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

VIDEO: Colion Noir - The State of Discourse in America

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: From the Rubin Report, Colion Noir joins Dave to discuss the divisive nature of discourse in America, the image of black men and self-empowerment that comes with responsible gun ownership. 
2nd Amendment Assaults     Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Capitalism makes us more humane

fromMises: There is a reason Venezuelans are eating dogs while Americans are saving them from hurricanes. 
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Deep State unmasked: State Department on hidden cam, “resist everything,” “I have nothing to lose”

fromProjectVeritas: Today, Project Veritas released the first installment in an undercover video investigation series unmasking the deep state. 
The Government is Not Us

Philadelphia will dismantle Its asset forfeiture program and pay $3 million to victims

fromReason: Government's favorite legalized theft program gets shit-canned in Philly. Let's hope justice is a concept that catches on. 
Police State America     Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Three cheers for price gouging during Hurricane Florence

fromReason: So called "price-gouging" is really supply and demand. High prices attract much needed resources to the area and improve the lives of the suffering. Would you rather pay $3 for a bottle of water or have none at all? 
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

August 9, 2018

The unbelievable rise of single motherhood in America over the last 50 years

fromWashingtonPost: Research has also begun to confirm fears that children of unmarried moms face more obstacles in life. They're far more likely to live in poverty than children of married parents.
The Welfare State: Promoting Dependency

The Justice Department didn't charge him with a crime. It's going to take $39,000 from him anyway.

fromFoxNews: And why did the government take his rightful property? Because they can.
Police State America

Are tech giants working together to censor conservatives?

fromTheGatewayPundit: Apple, YouTube and Facebook BAN Infowars on the same day.
Indoctrination and Censorship     Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

VIDEO: The Paul Manafort Trial - Prosecution or Persecution?

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: From Tucker Carlson Tonight, is the FBI being deployed as tool of political persecution or to simply serve the cause of justice? Alan Dershowitz and Joe DiGenova weigh in.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Lawmaker proposes implanting microchips in people to track non-violent offenders like “pets”

fromFreeThoughtProject: A local councilman proposed the idea of implanting microchips in criminals on house arrest—even if they are nonviolent offenders.
Police State America

Barry Farber: Everyday realities of life under communism

fromWND: Barry offers examples of control progressives prefer to ignore.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market     Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption