Government pit bulls tethered by court. Today a federal appeals court rebuked police in Orange County, Florida, for mounting a warrantless, SWAT-style raid on a barbershop under the pretense of assisting state inspectors. "We have twice held, on facts disturbingly similar to those presented here, that a criminal raid executed ... MORE
Guess who built this country? Conservatives rightly point out that America is a nation of laws. No one should be exempt. That's why many oppose amnesty and other paths to citizenship for illegal immigrants who are here now. "If they want to be in America," the argument goes, "they ought to return to their own countries and apply for a visa ... MORE
A heads up on asset forfeiture schemes. On its official website, the Canadian government informs its citizens that “there is no limit to the amount of money that you may legally take into or out of the United States.” Nonetheless, it adds, banking in the U.S. can be difficult for non-residents, so Canadians shouldn’t carry large amounts of cash. ... MORE
The incandescent ignorance of a Hollywood star. In the runup to the Sept. 23 UN Climate Summit in New York, Leonardo DiCaprio is releasing a series of films about the “climate crisis.” The first is “Carbon,” which tells us the world is threatened by a “carbon monster.” Coal, oil, natural gas and other carbon-based forms of energy are causing ... MORE
by John Twelve Hawks. Going untracked in the digital dystopia. The continuing revelations by Edward Snowden have convinced many of us that we are living in a modern surveillance state. And the problem isn’t just the activities of the National Security Agency and Great Britain’s GCHQ. “Trickle Down Surveillance” has provided spy technology ... MORE
Mice trying to become rats through body building. Emails between top Environmental Protection Agency officials reveal
they saw their fight against global warming as putting them at
“forefront of progressive national policy.” “You are at the forefront of progressive national policy on one of the critical issues of our time. ... MORE
It’s harvest time! But oil shipments out of the Bakken are causing dangerous and costly rail delays for farmers. The oil boom in the Northern Plains is a boon to the U.S. economy, creating thousands of jobs and increasing our supply of American energy. With nearly 3 million Americans out of work, the Bakken is like a pool of cool water in an arid ... MORE
Supreme Court helps cops trolling for loot. One afternoon in August 2012, Mandrel Stuart was driving with his girlfriend into Washington, D.C., when a Fairfax County cop pulled him over on Interstate 66, ostensibly because the windows of his SUV were too dark. Lacking the device necessary to check whether the tinting of the ... MORE
The War Powers Resolution is a two-edged sword. James Madison is commonly referred to as the Father of the Constitution in large measure because, in the secrecy of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, he kept the most complete set of notes. He also had a very keen mind and a modest demeanor and an uncanny ... MORE
State wants to kill him for protecting his home. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man charged in the shooting death of a veteran Killeen police officer. Marvin Louis Guy, 49, has been indicted for capital murder in the shooting death of police Detective Charles “Chuck” Dinwiddie, 47, and is named in indictments charging ... MORE
Who is the public servant? The cops or the citizen who recorded them. You decide. Police officers in West Virginia brutally arrested a 39-year-old father of two who they say appeared intoxicated and was handling his kids roughly while walking them to the park. But his outraged family denies that 39-year-old Jeffrey Bane was under the ... MORE