March 9, 2020

US government’s net worth is now NEGATIVE $75 TRILLION

fromTheDailyBell: Nearly three quarters (73 per cent) added that they were worried about the state of the planet right now, including 22 per cent who say they were “very worried”. 

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Americans continue to vote with their feet towards low-tax states

fromTheHill: Based on the 2019 estimates it is likely that California will actually lose its first congressional seat since 1850 due to residents leaving the state. 

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

2-year-old taken from parents for using medical marijuana, murdered in foster care

fromFreeThoughtProject: The state removed a child from a home with loving parents over marijuana and put her in a home with an abusive woman and her crack addict husband who ran a racket keeping foster children.

The Government is Not Us

States are depriving innocent people of their Second Amendment rights

fromReason: "Red flag" laws leave gun owners defenseless. 

2nd Amendment Assaults

California's government has turned homelessness Into big business

fromReason: The new money will be consumed in a bureaucratic hiring frenzy, used to pay state-level salaries and pensions, and build a bigger "homeless industrial complex." 

The Government is Not Us

Children are losing sleep and having bad dreams over climate change, study says

fromIndependent: Nearly three quarters (73 per cent) added that they were worried about the state of the planet right now, including 22 per cent who say they were “very worried”. 

Indoctrination and Censorship

February 7, 2020

Police have no duty to protect you, federal court affirms yet again

fromMises: “Police can watch someone attack you, refuse to intervene and not violate the Constitution.” The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the government has only a duty to protect persons who are “in custody.”
Police State America

Iowa might have screwed up the whole nomination process

fromFiveThirtyEight.: "There’s a good chance that the candidates who did well in Iowa get screwed, and the candidates who did poorly there get a mulligan." The Iowa vote count was a Hillary Clinton production.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Red flag nation: anti-gun laws, sanctuary cities and the Second Amendment

fromRutherfordInstitute: Even the most well-intentioned government law or program can be—and has been—perverted, corrupted and used to advance illegitimate purposes once profit and power are added to the equation.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Here's the medical marijuana ad CBS Banned From Super Bowl Broadcast

fromTMZ: Though ads pimping booze were in abundance.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

This may be the end of Iowa's political clout

fromNewser: Many predicting the end of the state's first-in-the-nation voting status. Without the usual parade of pandering politicians, ethanol may be in trouble four years from now.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption            Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

BREAKING: Punxsutawney to retire Phil the groundhog, replace him with Greta Thunberg

fromWattsUpWithThat: If globally respected child climate forecaster Greta Thunberg sees her shadow it will be an early and warm spring aided by climate change. If she doesn't, the world will end in 12 years.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

January 23, 2020

Why medical marijuana research can’t get off the ground

fromNJMarijuana: “They can’t conduct cannabis research until they show cannabis has a medical use, but they can’t show cannabis has a medical use until they can conduct research,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo D-Calif.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

How to get a jury to ignore the law and do the right thing

fromAbovetheLaw: The basics of jury nullification.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Why LBJ's Great Society flopped—and what it means for the 2020 election

fromReason: Amity Shlaes's new history of the late 1960s explains the failure of the last time the federal government tried to fix all that was wrong with America.

The Welfare State: Promoting Dependency           Economic Policy: Statism Versus the Free Market

No 'insurrection' or violence at Virginia gun rights rally

fromReason: Plus: Clinton says "nobody likes" Bernie, Biden wants Section 230 revoked, Iran takes responsibility for Jan. 8 plane crash, and more...

2nd Amendment Assaults           Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Capitalism seen doing 'more harm than good' in global survey

fromNJMarijuana: A result of crony capitalism having replace laissez-faire capitalism

Economic Policy: Statism Versus the Free Market

Denver Post columnist fired after arguing there are two sexes

fromFreeBeacon: Truth is the new hate speech.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Jan 4, 2019

The establishment will never say no to a war

fromNYMag: The question before us is a relatively simple one: What would be the criteria for removing our remaining troops from the Iraqi, Syrian, and more general Middle Eastern conflicts?

Defense Versus The War Machine

Defending a court’s discretion to allow arguments for conscientious acquittal

fromCATOInstitute: Throughout the entire Anglo-American legal tradition, the independence of citizen juries has been understood to be an indispensable structural check on executive and legislative power. Jury nullification!

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

78-Year-Old man in wheelchair evicted to freezing streets for treating pain with legal medical pot

fromFreeThoughtProject: He had to steer his electric wheelchair half a mile in subfreezing temperatures to get to a homeless shelter.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Top 12 debunked climate scares of 2018

fromWaatsUpWithThat: From hurricanes to polar bears, a review of debunked climate change deceptions.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Google’s Earth: how the tech giant is helping the state spy on us

fromTheGuardian: We knew that being connected had a price – our data. But we didn’t care. Then it turned out that Google’s main clients included the military and intelligence agencies.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Feds spend $1,788,748 on virtual reality game for young gay men

fromFreeBeacon: Your tax dollars at work. The study, which began during the Obama administration in 2014, recruited young men over Craigslist and Grindr to practice different ways of disclosing they have HIV. 

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Dec 24, 2018

Chinese-style social credits system a harbinger of US's future?

fromTownhall: With the nation’s increasing embrace of socialism and the rise of the PC snowflake culture, government intrusion into the minutest details of our lives is a commonplace today, it is not implausible.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Name one government agency that doesn’t do the exact opposite of its purpose

fromDailyBell: Case in point: The EPA and their continuing love affair with Monsanto (one of the worst environmental offenders, besides the government itself), producer of the alleged bee killer, Roundup.

Regulation Nation

Court Rules That Medical Marijuana Card Holders Can't Buy Firearms

fromFortune: In review: State agents (cops) are allowed to carry lethal weapons while under the influence of opiates such as hydrocodone but a citizen is stripped of their Constitutional RIGHTS to protect themselves.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange     2nd Amendment Assaults     The Government is Not Us

Voters have high tolerance for politicians who lie, even those caught doing it

fromArcaMax: Even in the face of immediate and authoritative corrections, we humans don't budge easily, or for long, from established opinions about politics, politicians and the coverage they receive.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

'Smart' uniforms track Chinese students in truancy fight

fromFrance24: China today, America tomorrow.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Cops force doctors to sodomize man to look for non-existent drugs, injure him, then make him pay for it

fromFreeThought Project: Cops pulled a man over for failing to signal a turn fast enough and the stop turned into a nightmare in which this man was forced to undergo medical procedures to look for non-existent drugs.

The Government is Not Us       The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange     Police State America

Nov 9, 2018

The West is failing Julian Assange

fromConsortiumNews: Let’s start with the cat. You never would have thought one of these beloved felines would play a crucial role in the Julian Assange case, would you?
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Three Cheers for the Return of Divided Government

fromReason: Democrats will be able to check the worst parts of Trump's presidency in a way Republicans never would, but will otherwise be very limited.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

America goes to war

fromUNZ: Some critics are beginning to recognize that the United States has become a country addicted to war and one need look no farther than the federal budget, where everything is being cut except military spending.
Defense Versus The War Machine

A grave threat to private property: civil asset forfeiture is really policing for profit

fromWestHawaiiToday: In a legal process known as civil asset forfeiture, government allows police to seize, then keep or sell any property as long as they allege it was involved in a crime. 
Police State America       Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Jury nullification ensures liberty

fromBillingsGazette: Before the Declaration of Independence was written jurors in the colonies were refusing to enforce King George's laws that they considered unjust. Today that is called jury nullification.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Marijuana legalization had a pretty good election night: won 3, lost 1.

fromVox: Full legalization won in Michigan, and medical legalization won in Missouri and Utah. Reefer madness still rules in North Dakota.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Nov 2, 2018

If you want political violence to end, make politics less important

fromReason: Even when Americans don't love their political allies, they hate their opponents.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

We are losing the vital American value of tolerance

fromTheFederalist: Tolerance is one of the most important and enduring American values. If we lose it, we lose almost everything.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Victor Davis Hanson: Wolves in Wolves Clothing

fromAmericanGreatness: The result of a progressive wolf baying proudly as a left-winger is that as we head to the 2018 midterm, progressives may soon blow what should be a big win for the out party in any president’s first term.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Dad at McDonald's with kids shoots and kills masked gunman who opened fire

fromCBSNews: Why smart shooters choose gun-free zones.
2nd Amendment Assaults

4 more states could legalize medical or recreational marijuana next week

fromReason: Ballot initiatives in Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, and Utah will give voters a chance to loosen their cannabis laws.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

VIDEO: Tom Woods - The Tale of the Slave

fromStatelessLiberty/YouTube: Are you brave enough to answer the question posed by this video? "The Tale of the Slave" features in Robert Nozick's book, "Anarchy, State and Utopia"
The Government is Not Us

September 21, 2018

2 hours in jail for cop who killed Botham Jean. 2 nights for people protesting His Death.

fromReason: The state serves and protects its own agents. The public, not so much. 
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process       Police State America        The Government is Not Us

FBI, DOJ plan redactions despite Trump’s document order

fromBloomberg: So where is Jeff Sessions in all of this? The little rat-faced tyrant is probably too busy spreading lies about medical cannabis to do his job. 
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process     The Government is Not Us

Walter E Williams: Reasoning about race

fromCreators: In ordinary, as well as professional, conversation, we use terms such as discrimination, prejudice, racial preferences and racism interchangeably, as if they referred to the same behavior. 
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

New e-cigarette restrictions could be lethal

fromReason: The state serves and protects its own agents. The public, not so much. 
Regulation Nation

Medical marijuana patients decry state crackdown on pot purchases

fromOregonLive: The shameless government in Oregon, angry that citizens went over their heads with a cannabis-legalizing proposition, refuses to stop harassing medical users by pretending to fight the black market. 
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange        The Government is Not Us

Why the elites prefer a centralized legal system

fromMises: In America's beginning, the vast majority of legal matters were extremely localized. And it stayed that way up until the ruling class decided they wanted the power dictate. 
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process        The Government is Not Us

July 9, 2016

Government calls it forfeiture, but it’s theft

fromBloomberg: If America is a Christian nation, why is stealing okay?
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Smart technology sees through walls to track and identify people

fromNBCNews: A group of researchers and students at MIT have developed an intelligent radar-like technology that makes it possible to see through walls to track people as they move around.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Defying Congress, Jeff Sessions keeps blocking medical marijuana research

fromReason: Two years after accepting applications, the DEA has yet to grant licenses to growers.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

If civility is out of style, where do we end up next?

fromReason: Yearning for the days when interrupting your debate opponent was considered the height of incivility.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Caribbean nations agree to consider marijuana legalization

fromMarijuanaMoment: Caribbean nations agreed to consider marijuana reclassification, noting “human and religious rights” issues as well as “the economic benefits to be derived” from legalization.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

The next Supreme Court Justice must uphold the principles of individual liberty

fromDailyTorch: There is always an adversary looking to limit freedom, and our surest line of defense is the Constitution.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle      The Pursuit of Happiness

November 24, 2017

Good Samaritans shutdown, ticketed for feeding homeless during Thanksgiving holiday

from TheFreeThoughtProject: Feeding the homeless is now illegal in Atlanta and you will be ticketed and extorted unless you pay the state for permission beforehand.
Regulation Nation

VIDEO: Libertarian Car Talk

from LibertyPen/YouTube: From the Tom Woods Show, Eric Peters on the latest libertarian car issues.
Regulation Nation

NSA Internet surveillance under Section 702 violates the First Amendment

from EFF: It’s not just our Fourth Amendment rights to privacy that are in the crosshairs, but also our First Amendment rights. These rights to anonymously speak, associate, access information, and engage in political activism are the bedrock of our democracy, and they’re endangered by the NSA’s pervasive surveillance.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

How Jeff Sessions plans to end medical marijuana before the year is over

from Newsweek: Sessions is known for being one of the nation's toughest critics of legal pot. He once said the KKK was "OK until I found out they smoked pot."
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai: Killing Net Neutrality will set the Internet free

from Reason: Promises that "we're going to see an explosion in the kinds of connectivity and the depth of that connectivity" like never before.
Regulation Nation

Pro–net neutrality graphic makes argument against net neutrality

from Reason: Do net neutrality advocates fear consumer choice?
Regulation Nation

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

Medical Marijuana Miracle: Watch This Mom Stop Her Daughter’s Violent Seizure in Its Tracks With Cannabis Oil

by Justin Garner.  Last week we reported on a historic study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology in April. 10,000 neurologists from around the world will have a chance to see the remarkable effectiveness of using a cannabis extract called cannabidiol (CBD) to treat seizures. As medical science explores this pathway  ... MORE

Australia About To Legalize Growing Marijuana Nationwide

by Steve Mollman.      Australia appears set to legalize the growing of marijuana for medical use nationwide. A bill introduced to parliament Wednesday (Feb. 10) by the Liberal Party would amend the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967. It looks guaranteed to become law, as the main opposition party immediately pledged support for it. Under the proposal a national ... MORE

California Town Goes Podunk; Seeks To Stymie Medical Pot

by Thaddeus Miller.    As state pot policy moves forward, one city goes backwards. Medical marijuana cardholders will not be allowed to grow cannabis for their own consumption after a vote Monday while the Merced City Council figures out what cultivation and dispensaries should be permitted in the city. The council unanimously passed the    ... MORE

The Federal Ban On Medical Marijuana Was Not Lifted

by Jacob Sullum.   Contrary to what you may have read or heard, Congress did not quietly lift the federal ban on medical marijuana. Nor did it lift the ban loudly. It did not lift the ban at all. Here is what actually happened. In December 2014, Congress approved an omnibus spending bill that included a rider prohibiting the Justice Department   ... MORE

Poll Says Marijuana Legalization Support Nears 60%

by Trevor Hughes.   More Americans than ever are smoking, eating and drinking marijuana, and they now overwhelmingly support full legalization of the long-banned plant, a new study and poll show. A Gallup poll released Wednesday shows 58% of American adults think marijuana should be legal, up from 51% a year ago, with just 40% believing it     ... MORE

Federal Court Orders The DEA To Stop Harassing Medical Marijuana Providers And Instead Start Obeying The Law

Enforcement zealots must learn to obey the law. In a scathing decision, a federal court in California has ruled that the Drug Enforcement Administration's interpretation of a recent medical marijuana bill "defies language and logic," "tortures the plain meaning of the statute" and is "at odds with fundamental notions of the rule of law." The ruling     ... MORE

Learn About Jury Nullification: Medical Marijuana Patient Could Spend Close To 100 Years In Prison For Pot Charges

by Maria Ines Taracena.    The thought of possibly spending close to 100 years in prison terrifies Kyle Catlin. But he's mostly concerned about his mom. She's not in the best of health. If something were to happen to her, "I may not even be allowed to leave prison to go to my mom's funeral, and that's super fucked up," he says. "I'm probably not gonna   ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Suspended Cops Say Video Of Them Eating Marijuana Edibles During a Raid Violated Their Privacy

A classic cop-out. Remember the Santa Ana, California, cops who were caught on video munching on what seem to be cannabis-infused chocolate bars after raiding an unlicensed medical marijuana dispensary in May? The Orange County Register reports that three officers who were suspended after the incident are trying to stop the Santa Ana Police    ... MORE

NatGeo: Science Seeks To Unlock Marijuana’s Secrets

by Hampton Sides. As the once-vilified drug becomes more accepted, researchers around the world are trying to understand how it works and how it might fight disease. There’s nothing new about cannabis, of course. It’s been around humankind pretty much forever. In Siberia charred seeds have been found inside burial mounds dating back to 3000 B.C.  ... MORE