December 15, 2017

Government is the cause of—not the solution to—online censorship

from Reason: As people worry about the net neutrality vote, public officials threaten our rights to free speech.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Bogus wiretap charges brought against man who recorded cops costs NH taxpayers $275,000

from TechDirt: Even though courts have found use of wiretap statutes in this fashion unconstitutional, in the Live Free or Die state, the statute lives freely and dies even harder.
Police State America

Bill O'Reilly: Secret tape exists of woman offered $200K to file sexual harassment charges against Trump

from ZeroHedge: The tactic of shaming, a favorite of the political left, seems to be kicked up a notch.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules

from The Hill: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to repeal its landmark net neutrality protections, capping off a months-long campaign by the agency’s Republicans to deregulate the broadband industry.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Scared Cops Are Scary

from Reason: The acquittal of the officer who killed Daniel Shaver illustrates a double standard in judging self-defense claims.
Police State America

California Brags It Will End Gun Violence With Sudden Enforcement Of 50-Year-Old Law

from DownTrend: Significant as an admission by the state that instead of enforcing existing laws, they have been passing gun control laws that only restrict the rights of law abiding people.
2nd Amendment Assaults

December 8, 2017

Police in two states use hospitals to take motorists’ blood without a warrant 

from Activist Post: Some police chose to not enforce the law, but to get around the law. "Trooper Dunlap did not need to get a warrant, because he knew that the hospital would take motorists’ blood without a warrant and give it to them."
Police State America   The Government is Not Us

Legislators dust off medieval methods to address the opioid crisis

from Reason: Mandatory minimums are a favorite scheme of knee-jerk authoritarians dealing with victimless crimes.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

VIDEO: Harry Browne: How to Make Decisions 

from LibertyPen/YouTube: From Harry Browne's brilliant work, "Rule Your World, an empowering message of morality and individualism. http://www.LibertyPen.com

The Pursuit of Happiness

Wall Street Journal calls for deep state dirty cop Mueller to step down

from DownTrend: The jackleg scoundrel appointed to be the Trump slayer is having a few public relations problems this week after the triumphant news that he had flipped General Michael Flynn against President Trump had the left jumping for joy.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Another ugly civil asset forfeiture tactic -- highway stop 'waivers'

from Forbes: The national revulsion against abusive civil asset forfeiture has not kept police from trying to pocket as much as they can from people who are innocent of any wrongdoing.
Police State America   The Government is Not Us

Wealth creation is not a zero sum game

from CapitalismMagazine: Freedom, and not income equality, should be our goal—if we want human flourishing and prosperity.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

December 4, 2017

Cops steal $91,800 from a musician, claiming he gave it to them

from Reason: Wyoming's roadside waivers are a thin disguise for highway robbery.
Police State America

Activists arrested in Atlanta for feeding homeless without a permit before Thanksgiving

from ActivistPost: Feeding the hungry without paying politicians for the privilege.
The Government is Not Us   Regulation Nation

Supreme Court could legalize sports betting nationwide

from DailyCaller: As a result of a challenge from New Jersey — home of gambling Mecca Atlantic City — the court could overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and allow sports betting in most states.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Four camera surveillance PODS coming to a city near you

from MassPrivatei: Welcome to Police State America, where one camera surveillance system is never enough.
Police State America   Government is Watching Every Move You Make

CNN calls for banning the term ‘fake news’

from DownTrend: In a related story, medicine show operators are calling to ban the term "snake oil salesman".
Media Bias on Parade

VIDEO: William F Buckley Jr - Newt Gingrich: A Debate on the Legalization of Drugs

from LibertyPen/YouTube: (1990) Excerpts from: A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That Drugs Should Be Legalized. Also in the debate: Richard Dennis, Ira Glasser, Robert W. Sweet, Pat Schroeder, Charles B. Rangel, and, William von Raab.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

December 2, 2017

We live in a police state, and our legal system is the cause 

from InsiderSources: Things have gotten so ridiculous in the search for victimless criminals that police have even taken to setting each other up, if only inadvertently. Recently, Detroit officers posing as drug buyers brawled with officers posing as dealers.
Police State America   The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

A non-political strategy for freedom

from LibertarianRepublic: You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. -- R. Buckminster Fuller
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle   Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

It's too easy for the government to invade privacy in name of security

from LibertarianRepublic: The use of the cellphone as a surveillance tool is at the heart of a major privacy case heard by the Supreme Court this week in Carpenter v. United States. At issue may be the very future of privacy in America.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Bill expanding concealed-carry gun rights advances in House

from NY Times: Gun rights legislation that would allow concealed-carry permit holders from one state to legally carry their guns to any other state passed a key House panel and appeared to be headed for a vote on the floor of the House.
2nd Amendment Assaults

When legal drugs harm and illegal drugs help

from ScientificAmerican: The frequently arbitrary nature of our drug classification schemes is causing more and more confusion.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Libertarians: Our rulers are wearing no clothes

from the Libertarian Institute: Libertarians have always said that our rulers are wearing no clothes.  Now it’s turning out that this figure of speech is the literal truth.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

December 1, 2017

‘Surrender your firearms’ – gov’t now confiscating guns from medical cannabis users

from TheFreeThoughtProject: Gun owners in Hawaii who legally use medical cannabis have been told they have 30 days to “voluntarily surrender” their firearms to the police.
2nd Amendment Assaults   The Government is Not Us   The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Supreme Court justices voice support for digital privacy

from USA Today: A majority of Supreme Court justices voiced concerns Wednesday that the government's ability to monitor people through their cellphones violates their privacy.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Records show these prosecutors gave themselves huge bonuses using asset forfeiture funds

from Rare: The district attorney’s office in Suffolk County on Long Island, N.Y., has been caught funneling enormous sums of criminal asset forfeiture funds straight into employees’ pockets with huge bonuses as high as $108,886.
The Government is Not Us   Police State America  Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

A bipartisan tradition of enabling spendaholics

from Creators: Our national debt is $20.5 trillion and heading to $30 trillion by 2030. But rather than a wake-up call for Republicans, they want to get rid of the spending caps meant to constrain lawmakers' uncontrollable appetite to spend.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Macy’s parade security used to promote surveillance and police state

from TheDailyBell: The authorities make sure to push the idea that agents see you without you seeing them. They want everyone to know that embedded amongst the crowds are government spies. This is just getting people used to the idea of being watched.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

John Stossel: The Evil Rich

from Creators: As Republicans struggle to agree on a tax plan, Democrats and much of the media label each attempt at reform a "gift" to rich people. They are right in that any tax cut disproportionately favors rich people since the rich pay much more tax.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

November 29, 2017

Supreme court cellphone case puts free speech – not just privacy – at risk 

from Guardian: Carpenter v United States has rightly prompted concerns over surveillance. But it could also have drastic implications for personal freedom in the digital age.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

This awful SCOTUS decision helped create today's civil asset forfeiture racket

from Reason: Bennis v. Michigan should be overruled.
Police State America   Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Teachers attend 'LGGBDTTTIQQAAP' sensitivity training (WTF?)

from PJMedia: The alphabet soup of PC gender nitwittery in Canada.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Nervous about traffic stops? I am. You should be too 

from Rutherford Institute: We’ve all been there before. You’re driving along and you see a pair of flashing blue lights in your rearview mirror. Whether or not you’ve done anything wrong, you get a sinking feeling in your stomach.
Police State America 

The real reason the media pushes “sexual liberation”

from The Daily Bell: When you pursue personal liberation, individual freedom, your life will only improve, right up until your last moments on this Earth. When you pursue so-called sexual liberation, your prospects of happiness decay day by day.
The Pursuit of Happiness

State courts say early-morning pot raids were gratuitous and illegal

from Reason: These cases show how blithely drug warriors resort to terrifying and potentially deadly tactics in response to "crimes" that violate no one's rights, even when safer alternatives are readily available.
Police State America   The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

November 28, 2017

These laws are eroding public trust with police. And they are hurting good officers too

from Sacramento Bee: Here is the point that always gets lost in discussions about police brutality: The system is rigged in favor of the police every time it is alleged.
Police State America

The Motherboard guide to avoiding state surveillance

from Motherboard: A straightforward guide to privacy, messaging, and keeping yourself safe from passive and active surveillance.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Mother, Air Force vet kidnapped, sent to Rikers for traveling in NY with her legal Texas handgun

from TheFreeThoughtProject: For carrying her legally purchased and licensed handgun in her vehicle as she traveled through New York, a mother of two and honorably discharged veteran was arrested and charged with a felony.
Police State America    2nd Amendment Assaults

Walter E Williams: Black Self-Sabotage

from Creators: How long will black people accept the educational destruction of black youngsters — something that only benefits the education establishment?
Indoctrination and Censorship

Trump calls for media competition to win FAKE NEWS trophy

from DownTrend: The smart money is on CNN.
Media Bias on Parade

Legalization a boon to more than just marijuana markets

from the Las Vegas Sun: “Let’s put it like this: A rising tide takes all ships,” said Stuart Titus, CEO of San Diego-based General Hemp. “It’s incredible to see the growth in the industry.”
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

November 27, 2017

Warning: one of these monopolies is going to control you

from TheDailyBell: It is time to break up the only true monopoly in the United States, the federal government.
The Government is Not Us

VIDEO: Milton Friedman - Social Security Lies and Deception

from LibertyPen/YouTube: Milton explains how Social Security, which was sold to the American people as an insurance scheme, is in reality a bad tax and a bad welfare distribution system.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

On Roy Moore: When did 'proof' become immaterial?

from WND: Most definitely a man in his 30s who tries to make out with a 14-year-old girl deserves 30 days in the electric chair. But have you ever forced yourself to face up to the other side of things? A Barry Farber column.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Freedom for Television and Radio

from Mises: There is one important area of American life where no effective freedom of speech or the press does or can exist under the present system. That is the entire field of radio and television.
Regulation Nation

Bay Area takes police-state approach to tobacco

from Spectator: San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities have banned vaping and flavored tobacco, thus exposing their progressive hypocrisy.
Regulation Nation

Facebook removed this small town business’s ads for American flags because it sell guns

from TheDailyCaller: Facebook unmasked. The Sportsman’s Shop says it can no longer advertise products like American flags on Facebook because its Facebook page promotes the sales of guns, and includes links that lead to the same.
Indoctrination and Censorship

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

October 28, 2017

The war on standards: illiterate teachers edition

from PowerlineBlog: The New York Board of Regents eliminated a requirement that aspiring teachers in the state pass a literacy test to become certified. Why? Hispanic and black candidates had a harder time passing it than whites.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Feds crack down on new national security threat: unlicensed massages

from Reason: American police are currently obsessed with enforcing exactly which body parts can be massaged and by whom.
Regulation Nation

The myth of natural monopoly

from Mises: The very term "public utility" is an absurd one. Every good is useful to the public, and almost every good may be considered necessary. Any designation of public utility is completely arbitrary and unjustified. — Murray Rothbard
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

🎬  Ayn Rand - How to Rule Mankind

from LibertyPen: The guiding philosophy of the left revealed in one four minute video (excerpt from the Fountainhead).
The Government is Not Us

Chuck Grassley calls for special counsel in Uranium One scandal

from Breitbart: Given that Mueller was the head of the FBI a the time, he really shouldn't be heading an investigation that involves looking into the FBI's actions.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Arrested, cuffed, raped, and Brooklyn DA sees a consent question?

from NY Times: The relationship between security and liberty is often described as a balancing act. This act can’t take place if we’re not informed about the technology used to safeguard our security.
Police State America

October 23, 2017

America has built the most comfortable civilization in the world

from PJMedia: Human civilization can be described as a long crawl away from a life that was nasty, brutal and short.
America is winning that race.
The Pursuit of Happiness

3 stories that show Big Brother is alive and well

from The Daily Bell: 1. Getting Clever with Fear to Restrict the Internet. 2. Prosecutors pick a target, THEN find a crime.
3. Fitbit and pacemaker info used to catch criminals.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Why you may need a passport next year to fly from city to city within the United States 

from Reason: A passport to fly within the country, but no ID to vote. Government serves the politician not the people.
Regulation Nation

U.S. ran $666 billion deficit in fiscal 2017, sixth highest on record

from Wall Street Journal: "U.S. revenue and spending both hit record highs in fiscal 2017.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

Alabama police use asset forfeiture to ruin an innocent small business owner

from Reason: How government has set things up so police departments can take anything they want with impunity.
Police State America    The Government is Not Us

Former NFL players say league should allow players to use marijuana to treat pain, injuries

from Reason: Former player: If there's any sport or league that should be leading the way in experiments with cannibis,
of course it's the NFL.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

October 21, 2017

Federal court ponders Constitutionality of prostitution ban

from Reason: "Why should it be illegal to sell something that you can give away for free?"
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

USA Liberty Act won’t fix what’s most broken with NSA internet surveillance

from EFF: The bill doesn’t end the practice of “backdoor searching,” when government agents — including domestic law enforcement — search through the NSA-gathered communications of Americans without any form of warrant from a judge.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Republicans officially give up trying to cut spending

from Reason: After all that fuss from 2009 onward, Rand Paul is the last Republican left objecting to the continued growth of government.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

DHS pays police millions to ticket and prosecute motorists

from MassPrivatei: Police pull over more than 50,000 drivers on a typical day, more than 20 million motorists every year. So why do they need more money still?
Police State America

50 state study shows that more requirements lead to less jobs

from Will-Law: States with more burdensome licensure requirements (fees, training hours, exams, and age requirements) had significantly lower employment in the ten professional occupations.
Regulation Nation

The media blackout of Clinton-uranium scandal senate probe

from CNS News: Media bias is currently “on full display,” Media Research Center President Brent Bozell warned Thursday as network news continued to ignore the Senate probe into the Clinton-Uranium scandal.
Media Bias on Parade

October 17, 2017

Survey find Americans’ views on free speech is a whole bunch of crazy

from the Daily Bell: Why a whole bunch of crazy?
"There are no contradictions. If you see a contradiction, check your premises. One of them is wrong" -- Ayn Rand
Indoctrination and Censorship

Who's the Harvey Weinstein of sex work? The police

from Reason: This week has a lot of people wondering "who's the Harvey Weinstein?" of their industry. For sex workers, the answer is all too often a local cop.
Police State America

Chicago's soda tax fizzles

from Reason: Everybody realized it was about bringing in money, not improving public health.
Regulation Nation

⭐️  Walter E Williams: Who pays what in taxes?

from Creators: Today, some politicians argue that the rich must pay their fair share and label the proposed changes in tax law as tax cuts for the rich. Let's look at who pays what.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

Rand Paul: The insurance companies are extorting us, Trump stopped that

from RealClearPolitics: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) discusses the president's executive order on the Affordable Care Act, why he says the plan is an attempt to empower consumers and why this could be a bipartisan issue.
Regulation Nation

ICE’s civil forfeiture guidelines leaked, and they’re not good

from RealClearPolitics: A government handbook reveals details of its legalized theft program. The concern is strictly about the value of property with no consideration of justice.
The Government is Not Us

October 16, 2017

California politicians demand pet stores must sell rescue animals only

from LATimes: The option destroyers never sleep. Now they are dictating to pet store owners what they must sell.
Regulation Nation

In a cashless world, you'd better pray the power never goes out 

from Mises: Consider how screwed you would be if you were in Puerto Rico with no cash.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

NFL protests: Anthem controversy forgets who we are, and strive to be

from Detroit Free Press: Kneeling, or sitting, or otherwise protesting during the anthem may be seen as distasteful or even disrespectful. But it’s permissible expression. And nothing about it is actually infringing on anyone else’s rights.
Indoctrination and Censorship

⭐️ Video: Ayn Rand - How to Rule Mankind

from LibertyPen: Straight from the playbook of socialists and the politically-correct left.
The Government is Not Us

Amazon & Walmart's in-home and car delivery service will let police conduct warrantless searches

from MassPrivatel: Recently, Walmart shocked privacy conscious Americans by announcing they wanted customers to let Walmart employees inside their homes.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

A culture of compliance breeds despots and predators

from Rutherford Institute: It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about a politician, an entertainment mogul, a corporate CEO or a police officer: give any one person (or government agency) too much power and allow him or her or it to believe that they are entitled, untouchable and will not be held accountable for their actions, and those powers will eventually be abused.
The Government is Not Us

October 2, 2017

8 really bad laws that went into effect today

from Reason: From cellphone tracking in Connecticut to gummy bear bans in Colorado and bitcoin surveillance in Japan.
The Government is Not Us

Cops now hiding behind kids on school buses to bust people texting while driving

from The Free Thought Project: In a new revenue generation scheme, police across the country are now using school buses as a vantage point to catch drivers who are texting while driving.
Police State America

🎬  VIDEO: Rush Limbaugh - The Plot to Kill the NFL

from LibertyPen: While some say the NFL protests are about police brutality and free speech, Limbaugh makes a compelling case that the end game is to weaken and destroy the NFL.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Bogus stoned driving arrests highlight dubious methods of 'drug recognition experts'

from Reason: A lawsuit by three sober drivers who were busted for DUI questions the pot-detecting abilities of DREs.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Marijuana drive-thrus and online weed orders are a real possibility in this state

from Motley Fool: The Pine Tree State could have consumers seeing a new form of green, at the drive-thru window and via online checkout, by next year.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Police union complains that public got to see them roughing up Utah nurse

from Reason: Transparency about behavior of government employees is not a violation of due process.
Police State America

September 29, 2017

Why we need to shrink the national debt, and fast!

from ReasonTV: It was big news when our national debt passed the $20 trillion mark. What's less understood is exactly why having such a massive debt is a bad thing. The short answer is that too much debt slows economic growth, reducing living standards.
Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

The new electronic police state

from TechCrunch: According to the government, your privacy protections evaporate the moment you set foot in an airport.
Police State America

Poll finds most young people worry about government surveillance ‘tracking their communications’

from Newsweek: As well they should.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make.

U.S. tech giants slowly introduce censorship online

from National Review: Companies adopt communist Chinese censorship ideology. YouTube, the worst offender, is owned by Google who fires employees with unacceptable ideas and strips “offensive” channels of their ad-earnings.
Indoctrination and Censorship

ISIS fanatics show baby-faced child suicide bomber blowing himself up new propaganda video

from The Sun: Stills from a video show a twisted adult jihadi teaching the young teenager how to operate the controls of a suicide car. Americans can hardly contemplate such evil.
Defense vs The War Machine

RIP Hugh “Hef” Hefner, a patriot, hero, and testament to the American dream

from Milo: He was not just the man that created America’s most iconic adult-oriented, sexually-liberated publication, Playboy, as he actively fought against both censorship and discrimination of all stripes.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

September 25, 2017

Has asset forfeiture gone too far? Damn right Skippy!

from FoxNews: How the legalized theft of one man's truck brings the morality of civil asset forfeiture to light.
Police State America

Oklahoma is imprisoning so many people it can’t hire enough guards to keep up

from In These Times: “Prison guard unions often have a strong incentive to push back against reforms, because so much of what we spend on incarceration goes to correctional officers,” explains John Pfaff, a Fordham Law School professor.
Police State America

Scientists go after the media for highlighting a study showing IPCC climate models were wrong

from Watts Up With That!: Sadly, these scientists cannot rejoice that things are not as bad as they thought because the new finding threatens their funding.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

UC Berkeley’s ‘Free Speech Week’ officially canceled, appeared to be set-up from the start

from The Mercury News: Email suggests organizers didn’t intend for the event to happen
Indoctrination and Censorship

Sweden's 'man-free' music festival prompts response from transgender people

from Fox News: The ban on men, it turns out, only applies to what Knyckare described as “cisgender men”—which is a term for men whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. That's not very PC.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Judge approves surveillance on Reno buses

from Mohave Valley Daily News: If you are in public, you are in government's space and will be monitored and recorded. That is what public means these days.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make