October 31, 2019

The futility of the drug war

fromFFF:  When someone brings into existence or supports a government program that produces drug cartels that kill people, he is morally responsible for the natural and predictable consequences of that program.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Canadian court won't force beauticians to wax the customer's balls

fromStrategicCulture:  A major setback for champions of gender dysphoria who demand that males who identify as women can force beauticians to give them a bikini wax.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Democratic wealth tax proposals demonstrate economic ignorance

fromReason:  Bashing the rich may be good politics, but it’s terrible economics.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus the Free Market

California’s electric vehicle dream is turning into a nightmare

fromOilPrice.com:  California might be blazing a trail with getting a large number of electric vehicles on the road, but the only trail California is currently blazing is the wildfire/PG&E fiasco that could plunge millions into blackouts.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus the Free Market

VIDEO: Tucker Carlson, Piers Morgan - Hating Trump More Than Loving America

fromLibertyPen/YouTube:  A major setback for champions of gender dysphoria.Media narrative: Trump is bad. Trump killed al-Baghdadi. Killing al-Baghdadi was bad. 

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Police blew up an innocent man’s house in search of an armed shoplifter. Too bad, court rules.

fromMSN:  When they were finished, it looked as though the Greenwood Village, Colo., police had blasted rockets through the house.

Police State America

November 17, 2017

Asset forfeiture gone wild: after pot raids, cops legally steal 7 houses

from High Times: Michigan cops seize the homes of seven medical marijuana patients. In practice, asset forfeiture (legalized theft) has become an irreplaceable (even though immoral) revenue stream for American law enforcement officers.
Police State America

Supreme Court abortion case could promote free speech by both sides

from USA Today: California idiocy goes to trial. Red states might have to stop requiring advice some consider propaganda. And pro or con, both sides could end up having to trust women more.
Indoctrination and Censorship   The Government is Not Us

The state of street-level surveillance

from EFF: EFF’s “Street-Level Surveillance” project shines light on the advanced surveillance technologies that law enforcement agencies routinely deploy in our communities.
Police State America   Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Tighter gun laws will leave libertarians better-armed than everybody else

from Reason: In a politically polarized America, gun control is destined to be obeyed primarily by its advocates.
2nd Amendment Assaults

California mandates send electricity prices skyrocketing, but Texas free market policies keeps prices low

from Fox News: In 2017, Californians paid almost double – 86 percent more – to keep the lights on and run manufacturing than did Texans.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Jury acquits ‘nice guy’ who admitted selling cannabis to a cop

from Leafly: The Declaration of Independence states that America exists to produce a government that will protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness implies self-determination so long as it does not intrude on the rights of others. Gambling, drugs and prostitution are all pursuits of happiness and should be nullified by a jury.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange   Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

VIDEO: Finally It's Lights Out For The Stupid CFL Lightbulbs

VIDEO: Are Electric Cars Really Green?

How Long Could The U.S. Go Without Electricity?

by A. Barton Hinkle.      The power is still out, and things are getting scary. The house is so cold you can see your own breath. Some of the food in the refrigerator is good, but there's no way to cook it. The water is still running, barely, but it smells bad and tastes worse. The grocery store is open, but it's only taking cash—which you can't get, because the   ... MORE

Paris Agreement: Another False ‘Turning Point’ On Climate

by George Will.     History, on the “right side” of which Barack Obama endeavors to keep us, has a sense of whimsy. Proof of which is something happening this week: Britain’s last deep-pit coal mine is closing, a small event pertinent to an enormous event, the Industrial Revolution, which was ignited by British coal. The mine closure should not,       ... MORE

Katie Kieffer: Santa Baby, Bring Me Coal

Solar on the naughty list. I want coal for Christmas, and not because I’ve been a naughty girl. I want coal so I can affordably power up the high-tech toys Santa is bringing me, including an electronic butler who cleans and cooks and a modern, coal-fired steam locomotive that will allow me to bypass the TSA Snooper Troopers when I travel       ... MORE

Guess What Marijuana Is Being Blamed For Now

by Sean Willliams.       We're less than three weeks away from the calendar ticking over to a new year -- a year that very well could be the most important for the marijuana industry to date. We can certainly look back on some of the milestone events within the marijuana industry over the past two decades and argue that they've been pivotal        ... MORE

Home Appliances Could Soon Be Controlled By Government

by Daniel Barker.        Increasingly, our freedom and autonomy are threatened by those who seek to monitor and control every aspect of our daily lives. George Orwell’s “Big Brother” from the novel 1984 is a pale threat in comparison to the dystopian reality our leaders which have created for us since that book was published more than six      ... MORE

David Perera: Smart Grid Powers Up Privacy Worries

"Smart" means they are data-mining instruments.  The better to monitor us with. The next Big Data threat to our privacy may come from the electricity we consume in our homes. “Smart” online power meters are tracking energy use — and that data may soon be worth more than the electricity they distribute. The Department of Energy ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Saved By Green Tech?

Curbing Carbon Vs Rational Recklessness

by Steve Chapman.     Rousing the public to do something about the growing federal debt is not easy. The dangers it poses are distant and vague. The immediate effects are not apparent. Any measure to cut deficits looks trivial next to the scale of the problem. Doing nothing is the easiest option. But responsible adults understand the need to    ... MORE

Tesla Motors And The Folly Of Government Intervention

by A. Barton Hinkle.     Anyone searching for a case study to explain what is wrong with capitalism in America today can stop looking. We have the perfect specimen: Tesla Motors. Federal and state programs have conferred huge advantages to help the electric-vehicle company sell its cars — which state laws then make almost impossible to sell.     ... MORE

Eric Peters: Assault And GM's $30,000 Battery

You might be allotted 200 miles between rechargings.     The economy must be doing a lot better than all the wretched indexes (number of people no longer even trying to find work, number of people on the dole, etc.) indicate. Otherwise, GM would not have announced it is committed to developing a new electric car battery capable   ... MORE

John Ransom: Chevy Volt Heads For Fiery Crash

Another failure of central planning.        The good news for GM these days is that no one has been consumed in a fiery death due to engine compartment fires since the Chevy Volt was discovered to spontaneous combust after accidents shortly after production began. The bad news for the company is that while Chevy Volt sales in       ... MORE

The Health, Security & Privacy Concerns Of Smart Meters

by Alyssa Edes.    Utilities across the country are installing so-called smart meters in homes and businesses to allow them to better track and manage energy use by their customers, aiming to increase efficiency, lower costs, and reduce pollution. But the advanced meters, which use wireless and digital technologies to send frequent consumption  ... MORE

NCPA Research: Green Cars Are Not So Clean After All

Green vehicles are polluting and wasteful. Electric and hybrid cars were lauded as a cure for climate change and carbon emissions. Though electric vehicles are zero emissions, only 50,000 were sold in 2012 -- well short of the number needed to achieve President Obama's goal of 1 million green cars on the road by 2015. While    ... MORE

David Deming: What If Atlas Shrugged?

Dark ages revisited. Atlas Shrugged is the title of Ayn Rand's 1957 novel in which the world grinds to a halt after the productive segment of society goes on strike. Tired of being demonized and exploited, the world's innovators and entrepreneurs simply walk away. What would happen to the US today if the fossil fuel industry went on a strike ... MORE

Ronald Bailey: The Promised Land Of Fracking

Environmental and economic benefits outweigh the costs. Matt Damon’s new film Promised Land is stoking the controversy over fracking, the shorthand for natural gas production using hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The film pits a big natural gas production company against economically stressed farmers in a Pennsylvania ... MORE

James Valvo: Disinherit The Wind

It's time to end the wind-energy tax preference.   The federal wind production tax credit (PTC) is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, offering the country a real chance to end the failed 20-year experiment of propping up a favored industry. Not surprisingly, proponents of the special tax break are working mightily to have it renewed.  ... MORE