LibertyPen

November 1, 2017

Reconsidering surveillance law raises anew issues of privacy

from FoxNews: What Americans need to know about domestic surveillance policy, as Congress considers the privacy implications of Section 702 of the FISA Act.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

One year later, is Trump a blessing or a curse to the deep state?

from Rutherford Institute: The American police state is still alive and well and flourishing. Rather than draining the corrupt swamps as he repeatedly promised, Trump and his brand of reality TV politics have merely redirected our attention.
The Government is Not Us

The fragile generation

from Reason: Bad policy and paranoid parenting are making kids too safe to succeed.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Walter E Williams: Let's help our media friends

from Creators: Williams offers a bit of sympathy to the mainstream media and other Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers one year after their trauma.
Media Bias on Parade

Professor calls reason itself a “white, male construct”

from DownTrend: A kooky college professor argues that nonwhites are all naturally irrational.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Presidents are reckless with soldiers' lives

from Creators: The problem is not that Trump is tactless about soldiers' deaths but that he and his predecessors have been reckless with their lives.
Defense Versus The War Machine

October 28, 2017

The war on standards: illiterate teachers edition

from PowerlineBlog: The New York Board of Regents eliminated a requirement that aspiring teachers in the state pass a literacy test to become certified. Why? Hispanic and black candidates had a harder time passing it than whites.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Feds crack down on new national security threat: unlicensed massages

from Reason: American police are currently obsessed with enforcing exactly which body parts can be massaged and by whom.
Regulation Nation

The myth of natural monopoly

from Mises: The very term "public utility" is an absurd one. Every good is useful to the public, and almost every good may be considered necessary. Any designation of public utility is completely arbitrary and unjustified. — Murray Rothbard
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

🎬 Ayn Rand - How to Rule Mankind

from LibertyPen: The guiding philosophy of the left revealed in one four minute video (excerpt from the Fountainhead).
The Government is Not Us

Chuck Grassley calls for special counsel in Uranium One scandal

from Breitbart: Given that Mueller was the head of the FBI a the time, he really shouldn't be heading an investigation that involves looking into the FBI's actions.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Arrested, cuffed, raped, and Brooklyn DA sees a consent question?

from NY Times: The relationship between security and liberty is often described as a balancing act. This act can’t take place if we’re not informed about the technology used to safeguard our security.
Police State America

October 27, 2017

When it comes to surveillance, watch the watchmen

Hashd al-Sha’abi commander calls for US forces withdrawal from Iraq

from PressTV: "To the US secretary of state, your military forces must prepare now to get out of our homeland Iraq immediately and without delay once the ISIS elimination excuse is over."
Defense Versus The War Machine

Health care is not a right

from Capitalism Magazine: If your mere desire for something, anything, imposes a duty on other people to satisfy you, then they have no choice in their lives, no say in what they do, they have no liberty, they cannot pursue their happiness.
The Pursuit of Happiness

Major study shows legal weed reversed a decade of rising opioid deaths in Colorado

from FreeThoughtProject: The end of cannabis prohibition is paying many dividends for society.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Identitarianism and the Splintering of Democracy

from Quillette: This very good piece looks at how identity politics plays out in a representative democracy.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Sessions continues to push 'gateway drug' myth about marijuana

from Reason: "Much of the addiction starts with marijuana." Jeff Sessions attempts to peddle 20th century propaganda long after the train has left the station.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

October 26, 2017

At long last, Hillary Clinton is the focus of 2 investigations

from USA Today: No pay for play? Funny how once she lost the election, donations to the Clinton Foundation completely dried up. Finally, a serious look into corruption surrounding the Clinton Foundation.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Can the Feds prosecute foreigners if their actions are legal where they are?

from Creators: From Judge Napolitano: "This is all about power and the fiction of universal jurisdiction — a fiction the Framers thought they had buried. It needs to be buried again."
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

John Stossel: A Private Military

from Creators: We've fought in Afghanistan for 16 years now. Are we making progress? After 9/11, we invaded, overthrew the Taliban, killed Osama Bin Laden and — stayed. Afghanistan is now America's longest war, ever. President Trump's solution is to send several thousand more soldiers. Erik Prince says he has a better idea.
Defense Versus The War Machine

🎬 Cop caught on video breaking into elderly man's home, stealing cash & prescription drugs

from TheFreeThoughtProject: In America, police can legally break into your home and steal your property even if you are innocent, a practice is known as civil asset forfeiture. However, in the video below, a cop was arrested because he did not receive approval from his superiors before stealing from an innocent person.
Police State America

Big data meets Big Brother as China moves to rate its citizens

from Wired: The Chinese government plans to launch its Social Credit System in 2020. The aim? To judge the trustworthiness – or otherwise – of its 1.3 billion residents. Could this be coming to country near you?
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

🎬 Trey Gowdy - Comey's Testimony Does Not Add Up

from LibertyPen: The FBI confirms that James Comey drafted his public statement about the results of the Hillary Clinton investigation months before it was completed. Dozens of witnesses had not yet been questioned, including Hillary herself.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

October 25, 2017

Britain says no the term "pregnant woman" as it excludes transgender people

from FoxNews: For those suffering from gender dysphoria, it is apparently considered unkind to suggest a womb is necessary
in order to be pregnant.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

California's six-figure pension club has 62,000 members

from Reason: And seven retirees in Los Angeles pulled down more than $1 million each in retirement benefits last year. "Public service" has its privileges.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

Lies and manipulation: The sorry state of global climate alarmism

from WattsUpWithThat?: While practitioners of environmental religion fret about one-tenth of one degree, India has real concerns: food and water.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Europe: journalists against free speech

from GatestoneInstitute: Gone is all pretense that journalism is about reporting the facts.
Media Bias on Parade

Sens. Rand Paul and Ron Wyden unveil privacy-protecting surveillance reform bill

from Reason: Two senators fight back against the surveillance society and the police state to protect individual from their government.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Don’t call the cops if you’re autistic, deaf, mentally ill, disabled or old

from Rutherford Institute: Sometimes it’s dangerous enough calling the cops when you’re not contending with a disability. Unfortunately, the risks just skyrocket when a disability is involved.
Police State America

October 24, 2017

New York Magazine: Democrats commit suicide by favoring migrants

from Breitbart: As well as the DNC purge, the ongoing Hillary hysterics, the obstructionism, the split between the mainstream and Sanders people, the alienation of black youth and white males...
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Walter E Williams: Undermining America

from Creators: Though typical Democrats and Republicans do not have this leftist hate for our nation, they have been willing accomplices in undermining the most basic value the Founding Fathers sought to promote — limited government.
Indoctrination and Censorship

🎬 ⭐️ Tucker Carlson - Chilling Free Speech on College Campuses

from LibertyPen: From censoring speakers to squads of thought police: a look at the many tactics used to chill speech on campus. Excerpts from Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Eye-opening survey shows top fear of US citizens is government, not terrorism

from The FreeThoughtProject: An extensive survey of hundreds of adults across the United States has just revealed that the thing most Americans fear—more than anything else—is their own government.
The Government is Not Us

Trump, Rand Paul come to the rescue in new health care executive order

from Townhall: At last, a step in the right direction.
Regulation Nation

What liberals need to learn about free speech

from The Panther: Excellent article from a Chapman college student, who campaigned for Hillary, making the case for free speech to his fellow liberals.
Indoctrination and Censorship

October 23, 2017

America has built the most comfortable civilization in the world

from PJMedia: Human civilization can be described as a long crawl away from a life that was nasty, brutal and short.
America is winning that race.
The Pursuit of Happiness

3 stories that show Big Brother is alive and well

from The Daily Bell: 1. Getting Clever with Fear to Restrict the Internet. 2. Prosecutors pick a target, THEN find a crime.
3. Fitbit and pacemaker info used to catch criminals.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Why you may need a passport next year to fly from city to city within the United States

from Reason: A passport to fly within the country, but no ID to vote. Government serves the politician not the people.
Regulation Nation

U.S. ran $666 billion deficit in fiscal 2017, sixth highest on record

from Wall Street Journal: "U.S. revenue and spending both hit record highs in fiscal 2017.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

Alabama police use asset forfeiture to ruin an innocent small business owner

from Reason: How government has set things up so police departments can take anything they want with impunity.
Police State America The Government is Not Us

Former NFL players say league should allow players to use marijuana to treat pain, injuries

from Reason: Former player: If there's any sport or league that should be leading the way in experiments with cannibis,
of course it's the NFL.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

October 21, 2017

Federal court ponders Constitutionality of prostitution ban

from Reason: "Why should it be illegal to sell something that you can give away for free?"
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

USA Liberty Act won’t fix what’s most broken with NSA internet surveillance

from EFF: The bill doesn’t end the practice of “backdoor searching,” when government agents — including domestic law enforcement — search through the NSA-gathered communications of Americans without any form of warrant from a judge.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Republicans officially give up trying to cut spending

from Reason: After all that fuss from 2009 onward, Rand Paul is the last Republican left objecting to the continued growth of government.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

DHS pays police millions to ticket and prosecute motorists

from MassPrivatei: Police pull over more than 50,000 drivers on a typical day, more than 20 million motorists every year. So why do they need more money still?
Police State America

50 state study shows that more requirements lead to less jobs

from Will-Law: States with more burdensome licensure requirements (fees, training hours, exams, and age requirements) had significantly lower employment in the ten professional occupations.
Regulation Nation

The media blackout of Clinton-uranium scandal senate probe

from CNS News: Media bias is currently “on full display,” Media Research Center President Brent Bozell warned Thursday as network news continued to ignore the Senate probe into the Clinton-Uranium scandal.
Media Bias on Parade

October 20, 2017

Cambridge University students given trigger warnings for Shakespeare plays

from Independent: Underdeveloped children protected from using their minds. Ideas and emotions should be challenged, not protected -- particularly in institutions of learning.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

US health care system: A patchwork that no one likes

from Washington's Top News: Overpriced and underperforming, almost all parties agree that the health care system in the U.S., which is responsible for about 17 percent of our GDP, is badly broken.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

Jeff Sessions announces new scheme to strengthen and expand legalized theft

from CBS News: Civil asset forfeiture. Question: If we have a government of consent, why does this practice exist? After all, citizens have no right to simply take the rightful property of others and therefore cannot delegate such powers to politicians.
Police State America

New Orleans D.A. sued for using fake subpoenas to coerce witnesses and crime victims

from Reason: After the media revealed the threatening, fraudulent notices, a lawsuit has targeted the practice. Public servants or public masters?
The Government is Not Us

U.S. judge orders taxpayers to pay for illegal alien abortion

from Washington Post: These politicians -- and make no mistake, judges are politicians -- are very generous and compassionate with other people's money. Are they imposing their agenda or administering justice? You decide.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

FBI informant "threatened" after offering details linking Clinton Foundation to Russian bribery case

from ZeroHedge: A whistleblower with knowledge of scandal is silenced by the FBI and the Obama Administration.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

October 19, 2017

This is how tyranny rises and freedom falls: The experiment in freedom is failing

from Rutherford Institute: We are being ruled by a government of scoundrels, spies, thugs, thieves, gangsters, extortionists, bounty hunters, battle-ready warriors and cold-blooded killers who communicate using a language of force and oppression.
The Government is Not Us

Government may ‘seize’ citizens’ fingerprints to unlock Apple devices, federal court rules

from ShadowProof: How a robe-draped tyrant made cops warm and fuzzy for Apple's iTouch technology.
Police State America

Chicago politician pushes ban on businesses banning cash

from ZeroHedge: Politicians fights back against VISA push for merchants to stop taking cash. A cashless society is a slave society. What do you do in cashless society when the power goes out?
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Cities are getting paid to turn street lights into spying SmartNodes

from MassPrivatei: The future of privacy in big cities is bleak, cities are now getting paid to convert street lights into spying SmartNodes (cameras, microphones, speakers etc., all-in-one light pole).
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

John Stossel: A CNN Smear

from Creators: Stossel finds Anderson Cooper's claims that Donald Trump's EPA director had conspired with the CEO of a mining company to "withdraw environmental restrictions so the company could dig "the largest open pit mine in the world in an extremely sensitive watershed in wild Alaska" has a big problem.
Media Bias on Parade

Cannabis credit union sues the creature from Jekyll Island

from Gov'tSlaves: A credit union serving the marijuana industry has sued the Federal Reserve, asking a federal judge to enforce the 10th Circuit’s order to grant the credit union a master account despite its ties to pot.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

October 18, 2017

Free markets make the world a better place

from Reason: Economic growth, capitalism, improves standards of living, health, life expectancy.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

8 out of 10 will only read this headline

from MoonOfAlabama: Headlines lie to catch attention and only a few read beyond them. What was once identified as tabloid has now become mainstream.
Media Bias on Parade

Ahead of Halloween, universities nationwide tell students what not to wear

from the College Fix: Universities scramble to protect snowflakes from the sight of sombreros, headdresses or other symbols that may trigger the need for a safe space.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

If you live in one of these nine states, you'll soon need a passport to fly domestically

from Circa: In just over three months, residents from nine states will be required to show a U.S. passport to board any flight, including domestic travel, according to new TSA guidelines.
Regulation Nation

There are no shortcuts on the path to success and happiness

from Liberty.Me: Success and happiness are possible to anyone willing to do what is required to achieve that kind of life, but it takes a lifetime of effort and dedication to the most important thing in life, making one’s life the best it can possibly be.
The Pursuit of Happiness

Florida's governor declared a state of emergency ahead of a Richard Spencer speech

from the Circa: Or, thought police declare war on free speech. Only good ideas need be feared in the arena of debate and white supremacy is not one.
Indoctrination and Censorship

October 17, 2017

Survey find Americans’ views on free speech is a whole bunch of crazy

from the Daily Bell: Why a whole bunch of crazy?
"There are no contradictions. If you see a contradiction, check your premises. One of them is wrong" -- Ayn Rand
Indoctrination and Censorship

Who's the Harvey Weinstein of sex work? The police

from Reason: This week has a lot of people wondering "who's the Harvey Weinstein?" of their industry. For sex workers, the answer is all too often a local cop.
Police State America

Chicago's soda tax fizzles

from Reason: Everybody realized it was about bringing in money, not improving public health.
Regulation Nation

⭐️ Walter E Williams: Who pays what in taxes?

from Creators: Today, some politicians argue that the rich must pay their fair share and label the proposed changes in tax law as tax cuts for the rich. Let's look at who pays what.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

Rand Paul: The insurance companies are extorting us, Trump stopped that

from RealClearPolitics: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) discusses the president's executive order on the Affordable Care Act, why he says the plan is an attempt to empower consumers and why this could be a bipartisan issue.
Regulation Nation

ICE’s civil forfeiture guidelines leaked, and they’re not good

from RealClearPolitics: A government handbook reveals details of its legalized theft program. The concern is strictly about the value of property with no consideration of justice.
The Government is Not Us

October 16, 2017

California politicians demand pet stores must sell rescue animals only

from LATimes: The option destroyers never sleep. Now they are dictating to pet store owners what they must sell.
Regulation Nation

In a cashless world, you'd better pray the power never goes out

from Mises: Consider how screwed you would be if you were in Puerto Rico with no cash.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

NFL protests: Anthem controversy forgets who we are, and strive to be

from Detroit Free Press: Kneeling, or sitting, or otherwise protesting during the anthem may be seen as distasteful or even disrespectful. But it’s permissible expression. And nothing about it is actually infringing on anyone else’s rights.
Indoctrination and Censorship

⭐️ Video: Ayn Rand - How to Rule Mankind

from LibertyPen: Straight from the playbook of socialists and the politically-correct left.
The Government is Not Us

Amazon & Walmart's in-home and car delivery service will let police conduct warrantless searches

from MassPrivatel: Recently, Walmart shocked privacy conscious Americans by announcing they wanted customers to let Walmart employees inside their homes.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

A culture of compliance breeds despots and predators

from Rutherford Institute: It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about a politician, an entertainment mogul, a corporate CEO or a police officer: give any one person (or government agency) too much power and allow him or her or it to believe that they are entitled, untouchable and will not be held accountable for their actions, and those powers will eventually be abused.
The Government is Not Us

October 14, 2017

A nigger and an Uncle Tom

from SlowtoWrite: Samuel Sey: The term Uncle Tom is a racial slur for Black men perceived as submissive to White people—Black men like me. I am perceived as submissive to White people because I do not submit to Black people.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

How we learned not to care about America's wars

from Common Dreams: Sixteen years of autopilot wars, but who’s counting?
Defense vs. The War Machine

⭐️ John Stossel: Let Them Leave

from Creators: America was founded on an act of secession from England. So why do so many people now see secession as a terrible thing?
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

How the minimum wage entrenches inequality and economic privilege

from the Federalist: Early minimum wage proponents knew what they were doing, by pricing “undesirable” workers out of the labor force to perpetuate minority poverty. Let’s not finish their work for them.
Regulation Nation

New TSA screening means airport security hell is about to get worse

from The Manual: “Well, at least it can’t get any worse.” These days, that seems to be the mantra for most air travelers just before the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) enacts some new program that does just that.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

The federal government never lets a serious crisis go to waste

from Reason: "The expansion of federal power has not been steady and inexorable; it has grown through sudden, quantum leaps in times of emergency, most especially war. The crises eventually subside, but many of the powers remain—to be built upon later when the next crisis unfolds."
The Government is Not Us

October 13, 2017

Scalias all the way down

from the Wall Street Journal: The primary value of Trump is revealed. While the press goes wild over tweets, Donald is remaking the federal judiciary.
Justice is a Result, Not a Process

Smart devices are snitching on owners and rewriting the criminal justice system

from Activist Post: A new type of court case is slowly but steadily emerging within the American legal system: alleged crimes being detected from data supplied by smart devices.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Is taking a knee protected speech?

from Creators: From the great Andrew Napolitiano. Some jurisdictions — such as California, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York — give more protection to employees for expressive conduct in the workplace than others do.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Bump stock ban retroactively criminalizes possession of legally acquired products

from Reason: Government looks to turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals as current owners of newly prohibited devices can now go to prison for keeping them.
2nd Amendment Assaults

Not-so-Great Britain to criminalize reading extremist content online

from StephenLendman: 15 years for illegal reading. Will Americans resist this final nail in the coffin of free speech?
Indoctrination and Censorship

If 'no one wants to take our guns,' stop saying the opposite

from Creators: A column by Larry Elder. he "common sense" goal of many "gun control activists" is not a ban on this or that feature but a ban on civilian ownership of guns.
2nd Amendment Assaults

October 4, 2017

Feds Give Americans the frog treatment

from Reason: A plan by the Department of Homeland Security to collect social media information on American citizens,
including their "handles" and even their search results.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

CNN continues to solidify its place atop the fake news dung heap

from American Spectator: 24/7 party politics disguised as news.
Media Bias on Parade

Studies confirm, free people are happier

from TheDailyBell: Even people who think that the government should be less involved in daily life are happier than
people who think society needs more rules.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

⭐️ The deep theory behind stifling speech

from The Savvy Street: A brilliant, but long, piece on how philosophy is responsible for the rise in political correctness and
how philosophy can also fix it.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Stop manipulating the worst shooting in U.S. history to support your political views

from LongRoom: Those eager to make this tragedy about gun control are going to run into a lot of factual difficulties,
not just political ones.
2nd Amendment Assaults

John Stossel: Disabled by Government

from Creators: After government nitwittery removes 20,000 university lectures from access, an entrepreneur comes
to the rescue.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

October 3, 2017

Freedom of conscience is the foundation of all freedom

from Liberty.me: The essence of freedom is the ability to be true to oneself.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

⭐️ Flip-flopping on free speech

from NewYorker: Great piece on the fight for the First Amendment, on campuses and football fields, from the sixties to today.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Marijuana prohibition turns 80

from NORML: The government propaganda that has dictated marijuana policy for the past eight decades is withering, but still prevails in some of the union's most backward states.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

California seeks ban on fossil fuel cars, laying the groundwork to ban human driven cars

from Activist Post: Looks like the nitwits who make up California's ruling class would have out-of-state drivers check their cars at the border since no fuel will be sold. That should be great for tourism.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Smart billboards target individual motorists and spy on license plates and cellphones

from MassPrivatel: A new age of "advertised spying" is dawning.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

PC Stalinism: the EU bans cartoons critical of the EU

from Spiked!: In a move totally unsurprising to anyone who has been paying attention, the EU has shown its authoritarian colors by banning cartoons from one of its own exhibitions.
Indoctrination and Censorship