February 11, 2020

Red flag laws and the consequences of good intentions

fromSalon: The consequences of disarming the uncooperative.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Louisiana prosecutors say they can't be sued over the fake subpoenas they used to pressure witnesses

fromReason: In several cases, victims received higher bonds than criminal defendants and were forced to go to jail.
The Government is Not Us              Police State America

The death of federalism: Lincoln’s real legacy

fromTenthAmendmentCenter: Are you certain that Lincoln's birthday is a day you should celebrate?
The Government is Not Us

Philosophy on one foot

fromAtlasSociety: Ayn Rand was once asked if she could present the basics of her philosophy, in short form, while standing on one foot. Here’s what she said: 
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

How Big Tech reshapes politics by censoring conservative ideas

fromWashingtonExaminer: The forces driving Big Tech’s online censorship are market pressures, de-platforming campaigns by liberal activists and journalists, and the fact that Silicon Valley is staggeringly one-sided politically.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Alabama bill would bar enforcement of any federal red-flag laws

fromTenthAmendmentCenter: The federal government relies heavily on state cooperation to enforce almost all of its laws. By simply withdrawing this necessary cooperation, states and localities can nullify most federal programs.
2nd Amendment Assaults

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

February 5, 2020

The state owns you: The problem with "national service"

fromMises: Rather than attempt to persuade people that they ought to join the military or sign up for community service, the first instinct of draft supporters is to use coercion.
The Government is Not Us

America's self-inflicted wound: The war on drugs has been a 100 year war on our neighbors

fromMilwaukeeIndependent: For more than a century, the U.S. has worked to build a harsh global drug prohibition regime – grounded in draconian laws, enforced by pervasive policing, and punished with mass incarceration.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

New Jersey is now the 16th state to require convictions for civil forfeiture

fromForbes: But sadly, policing for profit continues to trample rights in the other 34 states.
Police State America

Lindsey Graham wants to use mistrust of big Tech to destroy your right to online privacy

fromFreedomBunker: Online platforms would have to "earn" speech protections by compromising encryption—
all in the name of fighting child porn.
The Government is Not Us

A new backlash to gun control begins in Virginia

fromNewYorker: Activists at a gun-rights rally in Richmond last week called Virginia, a state with a pro-gun tradition now on the brink of passing restrictions, “the canary in the coal mine.”
2nd Amendment Assaults

Mark Levin interviews Walter E Williams

fromFoxNews: From Life, Liberty and Levin, Mark probes the mind of Dr. Williams regarding capitalism and the future of liberty.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle          Economic Policy: Statism Vs The Free Market

January 21, 2020

Fiscal analysis of Colorado's 'red flag' law assumes gun confiscation orders will be granted 95% of the time

fromReason: Such a high approval rate reflects the threat these laws pose to due process and the Second Amendment.

2nd Amendment Assaults

Tulsi Gabbard endorses legalizing drugs

fromForbes: The Democratic candidate joins Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, Carl Sagan, William F. Buckley and others in their understanding that the war on drugs is a war on you.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Virginia gun sales soar as Dems consider draconian "assault weapons" ban

fromZeroHedge: Ever since Virginia's Democrats retook the state assembly and Senate in November, Democratic Gov. Ralph "blackface" Northam and the legislature have been gearing up to pass a draconian gun control bill.

2nd Amendment Assaults

California energy policies are fueling the housing crisis and homelessness

fromWattsUpWithThat: Prices for electricity in California are already fifty percent higher than the national average for residents, and double the national average for commercial, and are projected to go even higher. 

Economic Policy: Statism Versus the Free Market                 Regulation Nation

Senators propose limits on police use of facial recognition

fromReason: Some privacy activists say the bill still falls short.

Police State America          Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Warren and Sanders and the wealth tax folly

fromCreators: You don't need to be the sort of person whose weeping could fill a mug to have strong doubts about a wealth tax. It has scant support among economists on either the right or the left.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus the Free Market            Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption