November 21, 2017

Don’t just give thanks, pay it forward one act of kindness at a time

from Rutherford Institute: It’s been a hard, heart-wrenching, stomach-churning kind of year filled with violence and ill will. It’s been a year of too much hate and too little kindness.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Top NSA whistleblower claims "Russiagate" a fake to increase war-spending

from Zero Hedge: Basically, he is saying that the keepers of the keys are blocking the public from the truth, because they know that the truth will expose the fact that they’ve been lying to the public, all along.
Defense Versus The War Machine

Asset forfeiture: inherently abusive, and awful in Alabama

from YellowHammer: Outright thievery unmasked. One town uses a “speed trap” not just to generate outlandish fines but also to seize property.
Police State America    The Government is Not Us

VIDEO: Milton Friedman - The Expanding Nature of Government

from LibertyPen/YouTube: Friedman explains why the philosophy of government has become that of the cancer cell: growth for the sake of growth.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Sex, jobs and smoking: What's legal for teens in your state?

from Reason: In California, you can work and get an abortion without parental consent at 12, but you must be 21 to buy a vaping device.
Regulation Nation

Venezuela's default disaster

from Mises: Socialism always promises heaven and gives hell.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

November 20, 2017

The Clintons’ day of reckoning

from LewRockwell.com: When the Harvey Weinstein story broke about a month ago, I offered that the reason (after decades of such behavior) might have something to do with the democrats getting tired of telling Hillary to go away.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Trump brags about his deregulation—and he may be right

from Reason: Pruning back regulation doesn't have to be a partisan issue.
Regulation Nation

The FISA amendments reauthorization act restricts Congress, not surveillance

from EFF: The bill squanders several opportunities for meaningful reform and, astonishingly, manages to push civil liberties backwards, restricting surveillance reforms, not surveillance itself.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

The disappearing right to earn a living

from The Atlantic: Want to become a florist in Louisiana? A home-entertainment installer in Connecticut? Or a barber anywhere? You’re going to need a license for that—and it’s going to cost you.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Why people will happily line up to be microchipped like dogs

from Zero Hedge: First come the sheep voluntarily, then come the holdouts brought in by force.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

What National Review gets wrong about the opioid crisis and the war on drugs

from TheDailyBell: Libertarians understand that drug prohibition itself has been the cause of the widespread use of hard drugs, while many conservatives remain blind.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

November 18, 2017

The spurious move to stifle speech on campus because it is 'dehumanizing'

from Reason: The latest tactics for intolerant leftists to silence opinions academics and like-minded students disagree with.
Indoctrination and Censorship

FCC approves TV technology that gives better pictures but less privacy

from Reuters: Of course they approved the technology, government likely subsidized it. It allows third parties to tap into television recording devices (cameras, voice activation), a fundamental piece of the puzzle if 1984 is the instruction manual.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

New rules with hefty fees set for growing, selling marijuana in California

from KTLA5: An array of licenses, permits and fees insure the black market will flourish in the Golden State for the foreseeable future.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

FDA loyalty to Big Pharma exposed in move to ban plant that’s CURING opioid addiction

from The Free Thought Project: Sometimes the goals of crony capitalism and the drug war clash.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange   The Government is Not Us

VIDEO: Tucker Carlson - Can Government Force Speech Against Your Beliefs? 

from LibertyPen/YouTube: Can state politicians demand a Catholic pregnancy center to pimp pro-abortion propaganda. The state of California says yes. Attorney Thomas Glessner is filing a lawsuit that says no.
Indoctrination and Censorship

High schoolers win $3 million against sheriff for warrantless drug search molestation

from NY Daily News: The molesting cops continue on the job, ever vigilant in their quest to rid drugs from bras everywhere.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange   Police State America

November 16, 2017

VIDEO: Why I Hate The Left, by Owen Benjamin

from Owen Benjamin/YouTube: In the video, Benjamin explains what he means by "the Left." He also talks about political debate, and the idea that if debate isn’t centered around common goals, it’s fruitless.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Gov't approves first-ever med with digital tracking system

from Newser: The stated pretense for this tracking pill is to remind mentally challenged patients to take their meds.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

VIDEO: Hillary's Deception - The Trump-Russia Dossier

from LibertyPen/YouTube: A collection of news clips that explain the issues surrounding the Trump-Russia dossier, a phony document fabricated by British intelligent agent Christopher Steele and funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

John Stossel - Legalize Sex Work

from Creators: If you owned yourself, you would be free to rent yourself out. But you are not. That begs the question,
who owns you?
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

The Senate Intelligence Committee really wants to secretly snoop on Americans

from Reason: Every attempt to restrain and reform unwarranted domestic surveillance batted away.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make    The Government is Not Us

James O’Keefe: A truth seeker in an age of media bias

from The Epoch Times: Founder of Project Veritas on undercover journalism and holding the press accountable.
Media Bias on Parade

November 15, 2017

Financial tyranny: ‘we the people’ are the new permanent underclass in America

from Rutherford Institute: Americans can no longer afford to get sick. That’s because they are struggling to stretch their dollars far enough to pay their bills, get out of debt and ensure that if and when an illness arises, it doesn’t bankrupt them.
The Government is Not Us

Feminization of America is bad for the world

from Creators: Last week, The New York Times published an article, "Sweeping Away Gender-Specific Toys and Labels," that contained three sentences that explain one of the most important phenomena in American life.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Detroit cops posing as drug dealers brawl with colleagues posing as customers

from Reason: Maybe this is how the war on drugs should be fought from now on.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

How the left uses blacks like stalking horses

from Creators: Professor Walter E Williams provides his customary dose of wisdom.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Rand Paul says he will propose individual-mandate repeal

from Breitbart: Rand Paul Tuesday took up President Donald Trump’s challenge to Republicans to include the repeal of the Obamacare individual-mandate in their tax overhaul legislation.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

12-year-old sues Attorney General Jeff Sessions to legalize medical marijuana

from NBC News: A young girl files a lawsuit attempting to educate an old fart.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

November 14, 2017

The death of individualism in America

from Liberty Nation: Historically America has been characterized as a civil society which has always elevated individualism. That is, personal independence and self-reliance were seen as virtuous and fundamental to who we are as a people.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

The fragile generation

from Reason: Bad policy and paranoid parenting are making kids too safe to succeed.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Justice department bizarrely uses Madoff to defend taking people's stuff without convicting them first

from Reason: Twisted incentives? What are those? Rod Rosenstein doesn't seem to have heard of them.
Police State America

Three kinds of theft

from The Daily Bell: Taxation is theft. But I’ve seen some people defend taxes with typical arguments like, “It’s not theft because you get something for your money.” Perhaps the confusion lies in the fact that not all thieves act the same.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

The Boston Globe wants the government to confiscate your firearms

from DownTrend: The Boston Globe has had enough of this Constitutionally protected freedom and is actually calling on the government to confiscate firearms from law-abiding citizens.
2nd Amendment Assaults

The surveillance state: an inexorable march toward totalitarianism

from Zero Hedge: The Surveillance State has slowed down its rate of growth since Trump took office, however, it lies festering below the veneer of daily events, inexorably growing its tentacles and extending their reach.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

November 10, 2017

TSA fails most tests in latest undercover operation at US airports

from ABC News: Procedures that are highly effective in eroding individual rights are not so effective at detecting contraband.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Marijuana Legalization 2017: States and cities where weed won this November

from Inverse: Pot remains illegal at a federal level and is still seen as a “life-wrecking” substance by the country’s Attorney General. But cannabis advocates made enormous strides in elections across the country this week.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Could giving property rights to the world's poor unlock trillions?

from BBC: Some of the most important parts of our modern economy can't be seen - but they can be heard. That's what one Peruvian economist concluded while walking through the idyllic rice fields of Bali, Indonesia, in the 1990s.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Congress is blowing its shot at real NSA reform

from The Verge: This year’s 702 reauthorization is the best chance in years to rein in the NSA.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Senate pushes to eliminate Jeff Sessions' civil asset forfeiture program

from Civilized: A bipartisan group of senators released a letter yesterday in which they called on the legislative body to pass a law to restrict the ability of the Department of Justice to enact civil asset forfeiture programs.
Police State America

Founder of web browser Opera says worried about online privacy

from Reuters: People should worry about online data collection by technology companies because it gives them unparalleled insight into users lives, the creator of one of the biggest web browsers, Opera, said on Thursday.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

November 9, 2017

Venezuela teeters on brink of default

from Yahoo: End stage socialism is to about to economically crush Venezuela.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Mozilla's Privacy Not Included guide reveals if holiday gifts will spy on you

from CSO Online: Black Friday ads are leaking left and right, but do you know if that holiday gift can spy on you or be hacked?

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

WATCH: Liberals gather to scream at the sky

from PJ Media: Anguished snowflakes emerged from their safe spaces last night and gathered in approximately 25 cities to "scream helplessly at the sky" in protest of President Trump's election.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

What if government steals liberty and fails to deliver safety?

from Creators: Judge Andrew Napolitano challenges you to ask yourself some vital questions.

The Government is Not Us

Victim blame: media suggests Rand Paul deserved to be attacked

from The Daily Bell: For the second time this year, Rand Paul has been literally attacked by a Democrat.
Media Bias on Parade

Simpler tax simplification

from Creators: John Stossel contends the Trump tax cut is better than nothing.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

November 8, 2017

Opioid commission mistakenly blames pain treatment for drug deaths

from Reason: The panel wants to make prescription analgesics even harder to obtain.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

CNN caught editing video to make Trump look like a feckless boor in Japan 

from TheGatewayPundit: This is CNN. Compare the story to the video.
Media Bias on Parade

'Something has happened and it's very bad' - Democrats throwing Hillary Clinton under the bus

from AllNewsPipeline: Pundits are asking about what is coming.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Good guy with a gun: Stephen Willeford named as man who stopped Texas shooter

from Breitbart: Since criminals, by definition, do not obey laws. Gun control only disarms the good guys. This is why
we don't want good guys disarmed.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Walter E Williams: Ignorance Versus Stupidity

from Creators: The beauty of market allocation of goods and services, compared with government fiat, is no one person needs to know all that's necessary to get apples to your supermarket.
Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

The anatomy of a national nervous breakdown

from Rutherford Institute: How do you keep a nation safe when not even seemingly “safe places” like churches and rock
concerts and shopping malls are immune from violence?
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

November 6, 2017

Should you put tape over your webcam?

from CircuitBreaker: Thinking about privacy.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Woman told her 90 acres now public after anonymous claim of grave

from WorldNewsDaily: Local government invents new means to steal land. Legal team questions where 'warrantless searches,' 'unbridled trespassing' are in Constitution.
The Government is Not Us

6 companies that are the most reliant on government contracts

from MotleyFool: In a $3.7 trillion federal government budget, there are going to be a lot of companies reaping a windfall.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

🎬   Edgar, the exploiter

from Bitbutter/YouTube: Understanding the economic dynamics put into place by minimum wage.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Republicans' tax plan crashes Jerry Brown's electric car fantasies

from Reason: Citizens in Kansas will no longer have to subsidize California's nitwittery.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Over a few bullets, man loses truck to civil asset forfeiture

from National Review: A Kentucky man recently reclaimed his Ford F-250 pickup truck after it had been seized and kept for two years by the Customs and Border Patrol. The justification? Agents had found a few stray bullets in the center console.
Police State America

November 2, 2017

Civil forfeiture: The ransacking of the American people 

from The  Villanovan: Civil forfeiture may be one of the most sordid rackets of the last couple of decades, a scheme so devious, so heinous, that it would make swine like Bernie Madoff and Charles Ponzi blush.
Police State America   The Government is Not Us

Is federal government flooding of Houston homes a taking?

from Washington Post: A "controlled flooding" inflicted extensive damage on thousands of homes and businesses that might otherwise have been spared the effects of the storm. Government argues that is not a taking.
The Government is Not Us

AG Jeff Sessions suggests prosecutions for marijuana growers, sellers and users in legalized states 

from ActivistPost: Sounds like bluster. Any serious move in this direction would be the end of Trump. Two thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

John Stossel: Communism Turns 100

from Creators: This year marks the hundredth anniversary of one of the worst mistakes ever made: the Communist revolution in Russia.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Halloween is over — but surveillance state boosters still want to scare us

from Salon: Senate Intelligence Committee hopes to pass off major expansion of NSA’s spy powers as “reform.” No thanks.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

🎬  New from Remy: Trigger (Thriller parody)

from Reason: A very scary Halloween video for fragile snowflakes, since we now know triggers cause meltdowns.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

November 1, 2017

Reconsidering surveillance law raises anew issues of privacy

from FoxNews: What Americans need to know about domestic surveillance policy, as Congress considers the privacy implications of Section 702 of the FISA Act.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

One year later, is Trump a blessing or a curse to the deep state?

from Rutherford Institute: The American police state is still alive and well and flourishing. Rather than draining the corrupt swamps as he repeatedly promised, Trump and his brand of reality TV politics have merely redirected our attention.
The Government is Not Us

The fragile generation

from Reason: Bad policy and paranoid parenting are making kids too safe to succeed.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Walter E Williams: Let's help our media friends

from Creators: Williams offers a bit of sympathy to the mainstream media and other Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers one year after their trauma.
Media Bias on Parade

Professor calls reason itself a “white, male construct”

from DownTrend: A kooky college professor argues that nonwhites are all naturally irrational.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Presidents are reckless with soldiers' lives

from Creators: The problem is not that Trump is tactless about soldiers' deaths but that he and his predecessors have been reckless with their lives.
Defense Versus The War Machine