November 6, 2017

Should you put tape over your webcam?

from CircuitBreaker: Thinking about privacy.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Woman told her 90 acres now public after anonymous claim of grave

from WorldNewsDaily: Local government invents new means to steal land. Legal team questions where 'warrantless searches,' 'unbridled trespassing' are in Constitution.
The Government is Not Us

6 companies that are the most reliant on government contracts

from MotleyFool: In a $3.7 trillion federal government budget, there are going to be a lot of companies reaping a windfall.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

🎬   Edgar, the exploiter

from Bitbutter/YouTube: Understanding the economic dynamics put into place by minimum wage.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Republicans' tax plan crashes Jerry Brown's electric car fantasies

from Reason: Citizens in Kansas will no longer have to subsidize California's nitwittery.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Over a few bullets, man loses truck to civil asset forfeiture

from National Review: A Kentucky man recently reclaimed his Ford F-250 pickup truck after it had been seized and kept for two years by the Customs and Border Patrol. The justification? Agents had found a few stray bullets in the center console.
Police State America

November 2, 2017

Civil forfeiture: The ransacking of the American people 

from The  Villanovan: Civil forfeiture may be one of the most sordid rackets of the last couple of decades, a scheme so devious, so heinous, that it would make swine like Bernie Madoff and Charles Ponzi blush.
Police State America   The Government is Not Us

Is federal government flooding of Houston homes a taking?

from Washington Post: A "controlled flooding" inflicted extensive damage on thousands of homes and businesses that might otherwise have been spared the effects of the storm. Government argues that is not a taking.
The Government is Not Us

AG Jeff Sessions suggests prosecutions for marijuana growers, sellers and users in legalized states 

from ActivistPost: Sounds like bluster. Any serious move in this direction would be the end of Trump. Two thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

John Stossel: Communism Turns 100

from Creators: This year marks the hundredth anniversary of one of the worst mistakes ever made: the Communist revolution in Russia.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Halloween is over — but surveillance state boosters still want to scare us

from Salon: Senate Intelligence Committee hopes to pass off major expansion of NSA’s spy powers as “reform.” No thanks.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

🎬  New from Remy: Trigger (Thriller parody)

from Reason: A very scary Halloween video for fragile snowflakes, since we now know triggers cause meltdowns.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Eminent Domain: A Million Homes Taken Since Kelo

by Mark A. Calabria, CATO.    It has been just over a decade since the Supreme Court decided in Kelo v. New London that local governments can take private property by eminent domain under a very broad reading of “public use”.  Cato held an event earlier this year to examine the legal impact of Kelo, featuring remarks from George Mason Law     ... MORE

VIDEO: Eminent Domain Abuse - The Story Of Susette Kelo

And You Thought Civil Asset Forfeiture Was Bad Enough…

by Trevor Burrus.    Remember Megaupload.com? It was once the 13th most popular website on the internet, with more than 82 million unique visitors and a billion total page views during its seven-year operation. The site allowed people to store files on the cloud for later use — and some users inevitably stored copyrighted TV shows, films, songs,   ... MORE

Raisins, The Supreme Court, And Food Freedom

by Baylen Linnekin.   High Court enforces Fifth Amendment! This was, to put it mildly, a big week for legal news. Given the decisions on Obamacare and gay marriage that were handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court during the latter half of the week, it would be easy to forget that the week started off with a key Supreme Court decision striking   ... MORE

Damon Root: Property Rights Vs. USDA Crop Seizures

Gov't takes without paying just compensation. According to the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the government must pay just compensation when it takes private property for a public use. Three years ago, in the case of Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that command, declaring that    ... MORE

Federal Lawsuit Highlights Powerful Civil Forfeiture Tool

by Christine M. Prokopick and Erin C. Dougherty.     In a federal complaint filed on Monday, three Philadelphia homeowners whose homes have been targeted for state civil forfeiture have sued the city of Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter, the Philadelphia Police Department, District Attorney Seth Williams, and the Philadelphia District   ... MORE