Walter E Williams: Africa - The Tragic Continent

And why it is no surprise.     Here's how my Aug. 11, 2003, column began: "Anyone who believes President Bush's Africa initiative, including sending U.S. troops to Liberia, will amount to more than a hill of beans is whistling Dixie. Maybe it's overly pessimistic, but most of Africa is a continent without much hope for its people." More than a   ... MORE

New Cop-Detection Device Warns When They Are Lurking

by John Vibes.     The Blu Eye system works by monitoring frequencies that are used by emergency vehicles and then alerts the driver when those frequencies are nearby. It does not allow the driver to listen in on the encrypted communications, but will simply give a signal when those frequencies are nearby. This is far more advanced and accurate  ... MORE

Disapproving Judge Argues Against Warrantless Searches

by Mary Ellen Godin Record.   City police in Meridian, Connecticut would not comment on remarks made by a Superior Court judge Wednesday who called a police report about a warrantless drug raid “unbelievable” before adding, “I don’t want to live in this police state.” In open court, Judge Philip Scarpellino questioned why city     ... MORE

Democracy Is Neither Freedom Nor Prosperity

by Jacob Hornberger.    Consider this excerpt from a New York Times article on the recent success that Tunisia has had in adopting a democratic system: Many young Tunisians say that the new freedoms and elections have done little to improve the daily life, create jobs, or rein in a brutal police force that many here still refer to as “the ruler,    ... MORE

VIDEO: Milton Friedman - The Future of Freedom

Flashback: When Presidents Respected the Constitution

by Jeffrey Folks.     “I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves.  I want them to have the rewards of their own industry.  That is the chief meaning of freedom.” Those words are taken from Calvin Coolidge’s Inaugural Address of March 4, 1925.  Even then, conservatives like Coolidge were battling   ... MORE

One More Unwarranted, No-Knock Raid Ends In Murder

by Stirling Watts.      Cop gets a pass on killing of 7-year-old. The frequency of civil rights violations carried out daily across this nation by out-of-control police departments is as alarming as is their sickening and shocking natures, but unwarranted no knock raids are the worst kind. Just over four years ago, an innocent seven year old girl was shot in  ... MORE

VIDEO: Citizenfour - The Official Documentary Trailer

The Messy Politics of California's Overcrowded Prison Crisis

by Zach Weissmueller. "A prison that deprives prisoners of basic sustenance, including adequate medical care, is incompatible with the concept of human dignity and has no place in civilized society," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority in a Supreme Court ruling against Governor Jerry Brown and the state of California in the   ... MORE

J D Tucille: NH Supreme Court Guts Jury Nullification Law

The judges want more law enforcement, less justice.    State snatches more power from the people. Insisting "It is well established that jury nullification is neither a right of the defendant nor a defense recognized by law," the New Hampshire Supreme Court this morning eviscerated a law that was openly intended and widely     ... MORE

Hollow Justice In Age Of Government-Sanctioned Tyranny

by John W. Whitehead.     “The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of the people.”—Justice William O. Douglas   With every passing day, it becomes more apparent that we live in an age of hollow justice, with government courts, largely lacking in vision and scope, rendering narrow rulings focused on  ... MORE

From ListVerse: Top 25 Ayn Rand Quotes

Insights of a philosophic genius.     Ayn Rand, was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher. She is widely known for her best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism. She was an uncompromising advocate of rational individualism and laissez-faire capitalism,    ... MORE

VIDEO: Thomas DiLorenzo - The Real Abe Lincoln

Should NFL Players Be Allowed To Treat Pain With Pot?

Moralists clash with medicine. While Colorado is the first state to fully legalize marijuana, Denver Broncos players are banned from using the drug. However, as CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports, a former NFL player said the hits he took on the field made him, and others like him, turn to pot. "Pain is constant when you play       ... MORE

How Asset Forfeiture Allows Cops To Steal From Citizens

by A. Barton Hinkle.   It probably seemed like a bright idea at the time: Let the police seize the ill-gotten gains of alleged drug dealers and other suspected criminals and sell it, using the proceeds to buy much-needed crime-fighting gear. Unfortunately, the process—civil asset forfeiture—did not require convicting anybody of a crime.       ... MORE

VIDEO: Citizen Pulls Washington Cop Over, Gives Warning


A citizen schools a cop on the state law regarding unmarked police vehicles.

No Freedom: Inside The 'Darkest Place In The World'

by Deborah Weitzman.   A hell hole called North Korea. At 21 years old, a girl robbed of her youth, innocence and freedom has finally spoken out against her native North Korea - the 'unimaginable country' she was fortunate enough to have escaped from. In an emotionally charged speech, Yeonmi Park tells a harrowing tale about what life was   ... MORE

Ebola and the CDC's Dangerous Mission Drift

by Jacob Sullum.    Before Tom Frieden became director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009, his two main nemeses were tuberculosis and smoking. Although both are commonly described as threats to "public health," they differ in ways that may help explain the CDC's stumbling, alarmingly amateurish response to Ebola in the   ... MORE

Doctors Go To Court To Fight Government's Marijuana Lies

by David Downs.      The U.S. government claims marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug with no medical benefits. But that claim will be up for debate Monday in California when a federal judge is scheduled to hear testimony from doctors that conclude the opposite. Doctors Carl Hart, Associate Professor of Psychology at Columbia University   ... MORE