June 14, 2019

Cuba rations food as its socialist economy enters crisis mode

fromMises: You probably know what is going on in Venezuela. You probably don't know what is going on in Cuba.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Great lakes reveal a fatal flaw in climate change ‘science’

fromIssues&Insights: "if nothing can disprove a theory, and every event, no matter how contradictory, is proof that the theory is valid, is that really science? Sounds more like a religion."

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

New cars to be equipped with breathalyzers, drivers given mental health assessments

fromActivistPosts: Seeking to emulate China, Rep. Kathleen Rice’s H.R. 3374 bill, otherwise known as the End Drunk Driving Act, would put breathalyzers and ignition interlock devices in every new car.

Regulation Nation

The city of Vallejo, California, has a police problem—and it's all being caught on camera

fromReason: A small city in California has been plagued by police shootings, costly civil rights lawsuits, and incidents of excessive force.

Police State America

From 2015 to ’18, Contra Costa cops seized $1.1 million from people not charged with a crime

fromMises: Marijuana made up $1.2 million, the largest single source of cash. If we are governed by consent of the people, the people must have been demanding this. Or, perhaps we should check our premises.

The Government is Not Us          Police State America

Rising conservatives are as hostile to freedom as the Leftists they disdain

fromReason: Republicans, who have gleefully warned the public about Democratic flirtations with socialism, shouldn't be quick to gloat given the emergence of an anti-freedom movement on the Right.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

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

Daniel Gelernter: Liberals Want Your Car Keys

Can computerized cars drive better than we can?  The cover story of Time’s March 7 issue makes “the increasingly compelling case for why you shouldn’t be allowed to drive,” claiming that computerized cars are (or, it is hoped, will be) safer drivers than humans, and so the logical thing is to ban humans from driving altogether. The plan is    ... MORE

John Stossel: Robot Cars

A safer way to travel.     The Tesla S is the closest thing to a totally driverless car available now. I had to leave my state to test-drive it. New York's archaic laws forbid taking both hands off the wheel. Once outside New York, the Tesla representative in the passenger seat had me turn on the autopilot. Suddenly, I was doing nothing. The car drove    ... MORE

Feds Want To Lower Legal Driving Limit To One Drink

by Elizabeth Harrington.       More restrictions, less freedom. The National Transportation Safety Board wants to decrease the legal driving limit to one drink, lowering the legal limit on blood-alcohol content to 0.05 “or even lower.” The agency released its “most wanted list” on Wednesday, a laundry list of policies it would like implemented   ... MORE

Justin Gardner: Colorado Juries Keep Letting People Go for Driving on Weed; The Prosecutors And Cops Are Furious

When the state is arbitrary and capricious. Colorado prosecutors are getting frustrated at jurors for daring to exercise rationality instead of blindly following the will of the State. A growing number of juries are acquitting people of driving under the influence of cannabis, even when tests show they are over the state’s legal blood-THC limit.   ... MORE

Government Study Confirms Marijuana Impairs Drivers Less Than Alcohol, Casts Doubt on Stoned Driving Definitions

by Jacob Sullum.   A new study by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) confirms that marijuana has a less dramatic effect on driving than alcohol does and casts further doubt on the standard that Colorado and Washington use for determining when someone is too stoned to drive. In the double-blind study, 18 occasional cannabis   ... MORE

VIDEO: 5 Stupid Alcohol Laws In Virginia

Texas Knows Sobriety Checkpoints Are Unconstitutional

by Lily Dane.        Sobriety checkpoints (or "DUI checkpoints") are roadblocks that law enforcement officers set up on roads for the purpose of catching people driving under the influence of alcohol. Some of us also think they are used to generate revenue for police departments and the State, since the stops often result in citizens being slapped     ... MORE

VIDEO: What Should You Be Scared Of?

In Nevada, Applying Lip Balm While Driving Gets You A Fine

Distracted driving laws are great revenue scheme.    A Nevada woman received a $200 ticket after she was pulled over for putting on makeup while she was behind the wheel as part of a statewide crackdown on distracted drivers. So what sort of beauty product was she applying while stopped at a red light?  Lip balm. Stephanie Fragoso was    ...  MORE

Arkansas Drivers May Be Taxed Based On Odometer

by Mallory Jordan.  Gov't seeks new way to sheer the sheep. Drivers in Arkansas could be seeing a big change if House Bill 1716 passes the Arkansas legislature. A bill to tax Arkansas drivers per mile they drive passed committees and now moves to the House. For drivers who drive to work every day or drive anywhere, the state may begin to look  ... MORE

California Begins Issuing Drivers' Licenses To Illegal Aliens

by Jazz Shaw.    Welcome to 2015, with the usual hopes for new beginnings and fresh starts. Along with that, there is the expected flood of new laws going into effect all across the nation as proof of the various legislative bodies getting the work of the people done. The people of California in particular will see the fruits of their elected  ... MORE

New Cop-Detection Device Warns When They Are Lurking

by John Vibes.     The Blu Eye system works by monitoring frequencies that are used by emergency vehicles and then alerts the driver when those frequencies are nearby. It does not allow the driver to listen in on the encrypted communications, but will simply give a signal when those frequencies are nearby. This is far more advanced and accurate  ... MORE

VIDEO: Public Servants Conduct Safety Checkpoint

VIDEO: John Stossel - Reefer Madness

What Happens When Libertarian Fantasies Become Reality?

by Daniel J. Mitchell. No, this post is not about that kind of fantasy. Instead, we’re dealing strictly with public policy and specifically addressing whether the libertarian agenda is unrealistic. This is because when I talk to people about libertarianism, they often will say something mildly supportive such as: “I like the idea of getting         ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Stoned Drivers - The Case Against Panic

The prohibitionist and his sketchy numbers.     If marijuana is legalized, John Mica warned at a recent congressional hearing, there will be blood. "In the last dozen years," the Florida Republican said, "we've had [half] a million Americans slaughtered on the highways…and half of those fatalities are related to people who are impaired through   ... MORE

California Cell Phone Ban Fails To Reduce Accidents

But it does raise revenue for politicians to spend.     Six years ago, California began enforcing a ban on the use of cell phones behind the wheel. In the latest edition of the journal Transportation Research, a study found that issuing tens of thousands of $170 tickets each year for this new offense failed to yield measurable safety benefits.    ... MORE