February 10, 2020

Background checks and bump stock bans: 2020 Democrats on gun control

fromNYTimes: Democratic presidential candidates have a variety of measures aimed at making self-protection more difficult for American citizens. Related article: Police have no duty to protect you, federal court affirms
2nd Amendment Assaults

A brief history of the traffic stop (or how the car created the police state)

fromObserver.: The story of the traffic stop shows the way the automobile fundamentally changed the relationship between the police and the citizenry.
Police State America

New York court says daily fantasy sports betting law Is unconstitutional

fromReason: Lawmakers legalized DFS betting. The state’s top justices say that’s not allowed. Such liberty is unconstitutional in New York state.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

A war over sex work is raging inside the nation’s biggest feminist group

fromTheDailyBeast: There’s a growing divide within the feminist movement on whether the sale and purchase of consensual, adult sex should be decriminalized.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Slapstick suicide

fromKunstler: With Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler cast as Laurel and Hardy, the Democratic Party entered the slapstick phase of its self-destruction.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Identity politics is really for rich (dumb) white people

fromSpiked: These women are paying up to $2,500 to attend dinner parties aimed at confronting their ‘racism’.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery           Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

July 16, 2016

The Constitution is not neutral: courts of justice should not act like courts of order

fromTheRutherfordInstitute: We no longer have a representative government, a rule of law, or justice. Liberty has fallen to legalism. Freedom has fallen to fascism. Justice has become jaded, jaundiced and just plain unjust. 
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process     The Government is Not Us

Why a Democratic City council is working with a Republican congress to overturn a minimum wage bill

fromReason:Restaurant workers and bartenders generally opposed the minimum wage ballot initiative, which passed despite their opposition.
Regulation Nation       Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

VIDEO: Walter E Williams - The Collective Value of Individual Self Interest

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Economics professor Walter E Williams delivers another powerful lesson about intentions and incentives.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Jury nullifies Georgia weed law, finds man not guilty despite admittedly growing marijuana

fromFreeThoughtProject: A marijuana user was found not guilty of drug charges—not because he didn't do what he was accused of, but because the jury disagreed with the law.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange        Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

After the dog told the cops it was ok to perform a warrantless search, they find some pot and toss the guy in jail for contempt charges because he won't unlock his phones and give cops evidence of drug possession

fromTechDirt: There's a Fifth Amendment case developing in Tampa, Florida revolving around cellphones, passcodes, and contempt charges.
Police State America      The Government is Not Us

Place your bets: legal sports gambling is coming to these six states in 2018

fromForbes: Before this year, you could only place legal wagers on single sporting events in the United States in one place: Nevada.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

July 6, 2016

Why I'm teaching my son to break the law

fromReason: Making the world freer is always right, especially when the law is wrong.
The Government is Not Us

Police union calls for banning of books in high school because they mention police brutality

fromFreeThoughtProject: Making the world freer is always right, especially when the law is wrong.
Police State America

School strip-searches 22 sixth-grade girls because a cop thought they were hiding $50 in their underwear

fromReason: It seems government schools are acclimating students to a police state in which they will be treated like human livestock.
The Government is Not Us       Police State America

Trump's case for tariffs is unraveling

fromReason: Automakers, motorcycle manufacturers, the stock market, and even the White House's own analyses are telling Trump to change course.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Sports world fought gambling but now wants money from it

fromReason: Sports has the same relationship with gambling that government has with marijuana. It is immoral and dangerous to the integrity of the sport/nation until an angle for obscene profits is discovered.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Free speech means a free internet — even if Democrats don't like it

fromTheHill: It’s up to Americans to decide which ideas to support or oppose. Political advertising only brings them more ideas to consider — and broadens the parameters of our political debates.
Indoctrination and Censorship      Media Bias on Parade

June 7, 2016

DHS plans to compile a list of all bloggers, journalists and “social media influencers”

fromTheMostImportantNews: If LibertyPen's flame is extinguished, you will know why.
The Government is Not Us

Trump has broken the spell of climate change mania

fromGlobalWarmingPolicyForum: Since Mr Trump walked out of the Paris agreement one year ago, it has been fascinating to watch the decline of media interest in “saving the planet”.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Politicizing the FBI: How James Comey succeeded where Richard Nixon failed

fromTheDailyCaller: If there was any doubt about the political motivation of Comey, it was removed by his rhetoric following his ouster, clothed in talk of FBI independence and ethics, but revealing raging anti-Trump animus.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Donald Trump’s Tariffs get pushback from Koch Brothers

fromTheInquisitr: The Koch campaign might force other Republicans to reconsider their fiscal positions and publicly denounce Trump tariffs in an effort to connect with voters.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Hallmark of an economic ponzi scheme

fromHussmanFunds: The constant creation of low-grade debt in order to finance consumption and income shortfalls among some members of the economy, using the massive surpluses earned by other members of the economy.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Six sports betting legalization myths

fromARSTecnica: Thanks to the Supreme Court doing its job, the federal ban on sports betting has been overturned. Individuals can now command their assets. Now, let's dispel the popular myths.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

May 17, 2016

Supreme Court strikes down federal law that prohibited states from legalizing sports gambling

fromReason: “A more direct affront to state sovereignty is not easy to imagine.”
The War Against Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Seattle plans to punish the productive in order to subsidize bums

fromDailyMail: Democrats take care of their constituency. Seattle will tax companies including Amazon and Starbucks $275 per employee to provide shelter for the homeless in $48million scheme.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

The issue is liberty, not gambling

fromTheWallStreetJournal: The high court takes a rare stand in defense of the Tenth Amendment.
The War Against Unapproved Voluntary Exchange     Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

The University of New Hampshire earns FIRE’s top rating for free speech

fromFosters: The free exchange of ideas continues to survive in some quarters.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Stop asking what happened before someone started filming police brutality

fromTheIntercept: Most folks don't wear camcorders and only start filming when things start turning ugly.
Police State America

Justices Thomas and Gorsuch just hinted they would end privacy as we know it

fromTheDailyBeast: The rights of the individual continue to shrink as the authority of the government continues to expand, as Thomas and Gorsuch seem to have joined the parade.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

January 1, 2018

Worst media moments of 2017

fromPowerlineBlog: Video features the media's lowest moments of 2017 in a little under eight minutes.
Media Bias on Parade

Legalize sports betting

fromReason: If Americans want to bet on sports, the wise course for the government is to let them. Prohibitionists think gamblers squander precious time and money on a foolish fantasy they will never achieve. Well, look who's talking.
Regulation Nation     The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Six insane California laws that go into effect today

fromDailyWire: Six new California laws (from the Democrat-controlled legislature) sure to  make our lives just a little (or a lot) more frustrating.
Regulation Nation    Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

5 of the worst university policies restricting free speech in 2017

fromTheWashingtonExaminer: To promote one point of view and censor another is infringing on the freedom of speech for those of the opposite view – the exact oppression that our founders wished to prevent when they wrote the Constitution.
Indoctrination and Censorship

VIDEO: The Wisdom of Carl Sagan

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Short excerpts of sterling insights from the brilliant and beloved American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist and author Carl Sagan.
The Pursuit of Happiness

6 signs that say you are truly unfuckwithable

fromYouCan'tBreakMe: Excellent advice for a fulfilling life.
The Pursuit of Happiness