December 28, 2017

Federal agents can still seize marijuana at California checkpoints despite legalization

fromLATimes: California legalizes marijuana for recreational use Monday, but that won't stop the greedy hand of federal agents from seizing the drug — even in tiny amounts — on busy freeways and backcountry highways.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange    The Government is Not Us    Police State America

Time to defund the U.N.

fromCreators: Ben Shapiro column. The U.N. has always been a foolish fantasy, a League of Nations knockoff that's been about as productive and twice as irritating. It's an outmoded organization that's outlived whatever small usefulness it once had.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Study: Most ticketed pedestrians are innocent, only cited because cops don’t know the law

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: A recent study found that hundreds of innocent pedestrians are paying the price after they were issued erroneous tickets for crossing the street improperly.

Police State America

Congress Kicks Surveillance Debate into 2018

fromReason: Short extension of FISA snooping powers shoved into temporary spending bill.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

VIDEO: Karen Straughan - In Defense of Men

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: From the Tom Woods Show, writer-commentator Karen Straughan comments on feminism, sexual misconduct, the evolution of the boy scouts and the role of men in today’s society.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

New stricter California gun laws to take effect in 2018

fromKRON4: The California option destroyers never sleep. Now, California residents are restricted from buying ammo online among other freedom-reducing measures.

2nd Amendment Assaults    Regulation Nation

The Brute Force Of Government Spending On Autopilot

by Debra J. Saunders.   My car was towed from an area near a train station in San Francisco last month. I had parked in front of a small "No Parking" sign that I had not seen. I spent an hour looking for my car and calling an attendant who didn't answer the phone. When someone finally answered, she told me my car had been towed. It cost me $350.  ... MORE

City Of Buffalo Is Raking In Big Bucks From Auto Drivers After Wildly Expanding Their Traffic Citation Industry

by Matthew Spina.    Throughout last year, Buffalo police pulled over more drivers and handed more tickets to each. But the flood began in July – after City Hall created its new “traffic violations agency” to grab more money than ever from traffic fines. The traffic agency flung open its doors July 1. From that day through December, police issued 30,000    ... MORE

A Missouri Town Demands Substantive Due Process

by George Will.   Is this the future? If Pagedale, Mo., is a glimpse of the future, the future is going to be annoying. Pagedale might represent the future of governance unless some of its residents succeed in their lawsuit against their government. If they do, it will be because they successfully invoked the principle of substantive due process. Pagedale is  ... MORE

USA Today Editorial: Policing For Profit Perverts Justice

Ferguson, Mo., is not the only guilty municipality.  Most people have never heard the term "policing for profit," but they've certainly seen it in action. Speed traps on roads that run through small towns have long generated money for the local governments. Big cities also police for profit. Washington, D.C., raked in $92 million in ticket revenue   ... MORE

An Innocent Woman Extorted, Kidnapped And Jailed As Part Of Louisiana Town’s Revenue Collection Scheme

Caught driving while black.   The town of Woodworth, Louisiana is in hot water. Police officers were caught on dashcam video shaking down innocent motorists during a traffic stop, and the state’s second highest court wants the city to pay for it. On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals in favor of Patricia Parker’s lawsuit against the town. At 6am on   ... MORE

NYPD Punishes City by Citing, Arresting Fewer Citizens

by Scott Shackford.   That'll teach em! Right now in New York City, guys selling black market cigarettes are much, much less likely to be harassed and arrested (or worse) by the New York Police Department. Apparently, or at least in the eyes of the New York Post, we’re supposed to see this as a bad thing (people not getting arrested is    ... MORE

Texas To Set Precedent For Another Shakedown By Cops?

by Wendy McElroy. To “serve and protect" = to “ticket and collect." A bill before the Texas legislature is being widely misreported by the alternative media. That's a shame because H.B. 121 could set a dangerous precedent by giving law enforcement a procedure that invites corruption and could quickly expand in scope. H.B. 121 dramatically     ... MORE

VIDEO: America's 3 Most Fee-Ridden Cities

New Police State Tools Detects Texting While Driving

by Jonathan O'Callaghan.      A new revenue-producer for local for politicians. Texting while driving can be incredibly dangerous and in most countries it is completely outlawed. That doesn’t stop some thoughtless motorists from trying to compose a message while flying along a motorway, though, increasing the chance of a fatal accident.    ... MORE

Ex-Policeman Balks At "Indiscriminate Revenue Gathering"

Tells how to beat the rap on speeding tickets.      My name is Stan. I am a retired Sergeant of the Police force for 14 years. I was also a police prosecutor at times, so I know what I am talking about. I spent half my life in Magistrates Court during my time in the Force. I was only ever a very fair copper, and I am proud of my time in the job,    ... MORE

VIDEO: Don't Cops Have Better Things To Do?

Devices Give Locations Of Red-Light Cameras

by John R. Quain.          Banished by voters in Houston, facing legal challenges in Missouri and working undercover in New York City, traffic-monitoring cameras, promoted as accident-reducing tools by safety advocates and decried as intrusive revenue-generators by opponents, are nothing if not controversial. The battlefront of photographic        ... MORE

Washington Times: Revenue Camera Shakedown In D.C.

Gimmicky traps are about money, not safety.       Officials in the District of Columbia waited until Friday to bury the announcement that 130 new revenue-enhancement cameras are being deployed on the streets of the nation’s capital. Locals have learned a speed camera lurks hidden behind the “Welcome to Washington” sign, and they’re jamming  ... MORE

Bryan Hyde: Are Speed Limits For Safety Or Revenue

Red, white and blue are supposedly the colors of freedom. But that’s not what most of us feel when we see them strobing in our rear-view mirror. Most drivers, no matter how conscientious, experience a type of anxiety when they spot a police car while driving. This is particularly true when a police car is following us. It’s not that  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Police Ticket Quotas

Warnings About Speed Traps Can Get You In Trouble

Government's reacts as moneymaker is threatened.        The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is using the case of a Missouri man to challenge a municipal law — one of dozens, if not hundreds of similar laws throughout the United States — that punishes motorists who flash their headlights at oncoming drivers to alert them to a police   ... MORE

Dirty Little Secret About Holiday Traffic Ticketing

by Gary Biller.     One of the most cherished traditions of the American family is the summer vacation. Packing up the car and heading cross-country for a weeklong camping trip, a visit with those distant cousins or an extended stay near a popular theme park is generally the recipe for a refreshing break from the dog days of summer. Little do most   ... MORE