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 7, 2018

San Francisco voters smack businesses with new tax to fund more homeless

fromCNBC: As high rents drive out productive citizens, SF seeks to build more homeless shelters to attract more unproductive citizens. 
The Welfare State: Promoting Dependency           Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Federal judge advocates jury nullification in response to overzealous child pornography prosecution

fromReason: It just makes sense to let jurors know about their already established power to exercise discretion over bad laws and ill-considered prosecutions. 
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Walter E Williams: Skin in the game

fromCreators: It turns out that 45 percent of American households, nearly 78 million individuals, have no federal income tax obligation. That poses a serious political problem.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market     Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

It’s not just one bad apple. Little Rock’s police department Is rotten throughout

fromReason: Radley Balko thoroughly documents a culture of misconduct, incompetence, and poor training, and the unnecessary deaths that resulted. 
Police State America

Attorney: School needs lesson on Fourth Amendment

fromNewsNow: A public school district in Indiana has announced it will drug test students participating in extracurricular activities, a policy that is being criticized by a longtime civil liberties attorney. 
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Two NY Dems find brand new way to crap on the Constitution in an effort to regulate guns

fromTwitchy: They are “drafting a bill that would allow authorities to review 3 years of social media history and 1 year of internet search history for anyone who wants to buy a gun” 
2nd Amendment Assaults

September 23, 2018

Trump's latest tariffs are about to hit you where it really hurts

fromBusinessInsider: For the first time, consumer goods are going to be directly hit by the new 10% duty, likely causing an immediate increase in prices for US shoppers.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

China's chilling 'social credit system' is straight out of dystopian sci-fi, and it's already switched on

fromScienceAlert: Coming to a tyranny near you?
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Meet the robot lawyer fighting fines, fees, and red tape

fromReason: DoNotPay is launching a "denial of service attack on the legal system to make it better."
Regulation Nation

State migration increasingly driven by taxes

fromReason: Tax competition between states is alive and well. Taxpayers in California, considered domestic livestock by the ruling class, must choose if living in a beautiful state is worth relentless exploitation.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Why electric vehicles are paper straw dumb

fromEricPetersAuto: Car companies no longer build cars for the market; they build them to satisfy the government.
Regulation Nation

Marine Le Pen furious after being ordered to undergo psychiatric tests

fromReason: The attack on free speech hits another level in France. Psychiatric test ordered in response to politically incorrect truth. Not even an allegation of falsehood. Coming to a police state near you?
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle      Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

July 14, 2016

TSA screeners win immunity from abuse claims: appeals court

fromReuters: Whether it be Lois Lerner, James Clapper, Eric Holder, James Comey, Peter Strzok, the local cop or the TSA screener, we are reminded daily: government is NOT accountable to us.
Police State America      The Government is Not Us

Andrew Napolitano: Filling the swamp

fromCreators:  Trump has given us a nominee to the highest court in the land who typifies the culture he railed against when he claimed he'd drain the swamp.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process     Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Bernie Sanders asks nation to please stop mailing him books on economics

fromBabylonBee: Elderly hack decides to stay stupid despite outpouring of assistance.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Incentives Matter, Intentions Don't

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Economist Thomas Sowell explains what happens to intentions on the road toward results.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

A landmark legal shift opens Pandora’s box for DIY guns

fromWired: Cody Wilson makes digital files that let anyone 3-D print untraceable guns. The government tried to stop him. He sued—and won.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle        2nd Amendment Assaults

Remember when sea-level rise was going to cause Pacific Islands to disappear? Never mind.

fromWattsUpWithThat: Coral atolls getting larger, not sinking according to new study using satellite data.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

March 28, 2016

March madness, Washington-style

fromTheWashingtonTimes: The whole purpose of the Constitution is to restrain the government and to protect personal liberty. FISA and its enablers in both major political parties have done the opposite. 
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

VIDEO: Walter E Williams - The Art of Legalized Theft

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Professor Williams explains what drives the political world. 
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

VIDEO: Rand Paul - An Unholy Alliance Against the People

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Rand Paul identifies why economic malfeasance is routinely delivered to the American people.  http://www.LibertyPen.com

Economic Policy: Statism Versus the Free Market

People are freaking out that Facebook's Android apps collect call and text data

fromBusinessInsider: Apple does not have this problem because they sell directly to customers. Their customers want privacy. Android phones are sold to service providers and service providers like data collection.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Gun country

fromTheNewYorker: A new generation of American kids embraces firearms. 
2nd Amendment Assaults

The psychology of progressive hostility

fromQuillette: Every new point of view we encounter can enrich our understanding even if we don’t embrace it entirely. But this comes with the risk of self-effacement and growing uncertainty. 
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

September 19, 2017

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

from The Conversation: Civil asset forfeiture laws let authorities, such as federal marshals or local sheriffs, seize property – cash, a house, a car, a cellphone – that they suspect is involved in criminal activity.
Police State America

Stop encouraging people to live in dangerous places

from Reason: Make Harvey and Irma our last blank checks, and from here on out, have people pay their own freight for living dangerously.
Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

Walter E Williams: The Welfare State Legacy

from Creators Syndicate: So you think that the problems of today's black Americans are a result of a legacy of slavery, racial discrimination and poverty?
The Welfare State: Promoting Dependence

Internet raises $80k for hot dog vendor mugged by government

from Foundation for Economic Freedom: A cop steals money from a hot dog vendor's wallet. Then, the Internet provides justice.
Police State America

🎬  So you think money is the root of all evil?

from LibertyPen: Excerpts from Atlas Shrugged in response to the comment that money is the root of all evil. From the brilliant Ayn Rand
Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

America does not need socialism, but more laissez-faire capitalism

from Capitalism Magazine: Very often bad ideas do not die. They simply reappear during periods of supposed social and political crisis in slightly different intellectual garb.
Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

Economic Policy: Statism Vs The Free Market

Latest Update: August 8, 2017

End stage socialism: Venezuela descends into predictable dictatorship
Walter E Williams: Minimum Wage Cruelty

Oregon seeks to reduce business flexibility and micromanage private work schedules

This is what socialism looks like: 'doctors flee desperate Venezuela' 

Pirates catcher Francisco Cervilli's compelling message to his fellow citizens of Venezuela

California has glut of electricity but residents still pay 40% more than national average

Walter E Williams: There's Nothing Free

VIDEO: The War on Cash: Your Money or Your Life

VIDEO: Murray Sabrin - Economics & The Federal Reserve

The Cruelty Of The $15 Minimum Wage

by Nick Gillespie & Jim Epstein.   The $15 minimum wage just went from "laughable" to "viable"—as a New York Times headline put it—to the law of the land for millions of New York and California residents. In April 2016, the Empire and Golden states almost simultaneously passed laws that will boost the state-mandated wage floor to $15 over the     ... MORE

Raising Minimum Wage Is Perfect Way To Kill Summer Jobs

by Jonah Goldberg.   Expect more teenagers on the streets. I had a lot of summer jobs. I was a foot messenger in New York for a couple of summers. I worked as a receptionist and mail-room flunky. Before my junior year of high school, I briefly sold ice-cream snacks — sort of yuppie bonbons — on the street for a company called Love Bites.     ... MORE

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

$15 Minimum Wage Follies In California And New York

by Ronald Bailey.   Good intentions, but a near total failure as an anti-poverty policy. Both California and New York have just adopted measures to raise their minimum wages to $15 an hour over the next few years. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti hailed the increase, declaring, "Today California leads the nation once again, passing a historic    ... MORE

When Did The U.S. Repeal The Laws Of Supply & Demand?

by A. Barton Hinkle. Of soda taxes & minimum wage. Back in October, The New York Times reported that the law of supply and demand still works. "Yes, Soda Taxes Seem to Cut Soda Drinking," the newspaper told its readers, relating the results of Mexico's new tax on sugary beverages. Mexico's measure imposed a 10 percent tax on soft drinks, and so  ... MORE

Federal Drug Warriors Push For Pill-Tracking Databases

Gov't wedging itself between doctors and patients.     The nation's top health officials are stepping up calls to require doctors to log in to pill-tracking databases before prescribing painkillers and other high-risk drugs. The move is part of a multi-pronged strategy by the Obama administration to tame an epidemic of abuse and death tied to   ... MORE

Higher Minimum Wage Equals Higher Prices, More Taxes

by John Seiler.     I have dinner once a week with some friends here in Orange County. I set a limit of $20 for beer and food, or $80 a month. When the state minimum wage jumped to $10 an hour from $8 a couple years back, the restaurants increased their prices. So I cut back from a full meal to appetizers. It’s less enjoyment, but, as President John F. ... MORE

Terence P. Jeffrey: Obama Claims Power To Make Illegal Immigrants Eligible For Social Security And Disability

Democrat vote-buying 101.  Does the president of the United States have the power to unilaterally tell millions of individuals who are violating federal law that he will not enforce that law against them now, that they may continue to violate that law in the future and that he will take action that makes them eligible for federal benefit programs for which  ... MORE

What If The Minimum Wage Increase Is A Fraud?

by Andrew Napolitano.      What if the latest craze among the big-government crowd in both major political parties is to use the power of government to force employers to pay some of their employees more than their services are worth to the employers? What if this represents an intrusion by government into the employer-employee       ... MORE

Panama Papers About Gov't Corruption, Not 'Tax Evasion'

by Ed Krayewski.     The "Panama Papers" are the largest leak in world history, revealing millions of documents related to the offshore accounts of politicians, former politicians, and billionaires around the world. Despite much of the media's focus on tax evasion as the primary theme of the Panama Papers story, which embarrassed governments are   ... MORE

Scott Shackford: Jerry Brown Admits $15 Minimum Wage Does Not Make Economic Sense, Approves It Anyway

Smart economics is not a consideration. California Gov. Jerry Brown simply does not care about what will happen to citizens in non-urban parts of the state under a $15 minimum wage. He didn’t literally say that, but what he did say when today was that he understood that there may be some bad outcomes for such a massive, unprecedented mandate. And then he signed it into law anyway. ... MORE

Richmond California Establishes A New Low By Paying Criminals Up To $1000 A Month Not To Shoot People

by Jennifer Cruz.  A San Francisco suburb has taken an unconventional approach to fighting crime by essentially paying a sort of monthly salary to ex-cons in exchange for them staying out of trouble and helping others to do the same. The program, known as Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, targets some of the most violent offenders in Richmond,     ... MORE