by Stephen Dinan. Rand Paul takes on his dad's cause. After years of being blocked by Democratic leader Harry Reid, the Senate will finally get a chance next year to vote on legislation to force a broad audit of the Federal Reserve’s decision-making. Once championed in Congress by former Rep. Ron Paul, the push to force the country’s central ... MORE
21,000 Regulations Under Obama, 2,375 More In 2015
Obama's regulation frenzy. The pace of agencies issuing new rules and regulations has hit a record high under President Obama, whose administration’s rules have filled 468,500 pages in the Federal Register. And, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the president is poised to unleash another 2,375 new rules on American ... MORE
Labels:
bureaucracy,
business,
busybody,
force,
government,
red tape,
regulation,
restrictions,
rules
David Perera: Smart Grid Powers Up Privacy Worries
"Smart" means they are data-mining instruments. The better to monitor us with. The next Big Data threat to our privacy may come from the electricity we consume in our homes. “Smart” online power meters are tracking energy use — and that data may soon be worth more than the electricity they distribute. The Department of Energy ... MORE
Labels:
deception,
electricity,
energy,
government,
monitor,
power grid,
privacy,
smart meters,
spying
Radley Balko: A Drug Informant Lies, An Innocent Man Dies
When home invaders are from the government. Back in July, we looked at the case of Jason Wescott, a Florida man shot and killed by a police SWAT team during a drug raid over an alleged sale of $200 worth of pot to a police informant. The tragedy was exacerbated by the fact that according to friends and relatives, Wescott had been ... MORE
Labels:
cannabis,
death,
drug war,
government,
marijuana,
police state,
pot,
prohibition,
raids,
SWAT
John Stossel: Ignorance
No wonder Cuba wallows in poverty. Last week, the New York Times reported that the Castro brothers opened a special business zone where foreign companies "would be given greater control over setting wages at factories. ... (P)roposals would be approved or rejected within 60 days." What? If I want to give someone a raise, I have to wait up ... MORE
Paul Derienzo: The State Of Pot Today
Clearing the smoke around legalization. Marijuana legalization is on the move as ballot measures to free the weed are spreading like a prairie fire across the American landscape. In November voters legalized marijuana for recreation in Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia. They join voters in Washington State and Colorado who legalized ... MORE
Labels:
California,
cannabis,
Colorado,
drug war,
freedom,
initiative,
legalize,
marijuana,
prohibition
Don't Blame Me - The Year's Highlights In Buck Passing
by Jacob Sullum. For years New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has
insisted that people who pay for sex and the
intermediaries who facilitate that exchange are responsible for
violence against women. Hence his February 26
column celebrating the arrests of men who were guilty of
nothing but negotiating terms with cops posing as ... 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
Labels:
arrest,
crime,
drug war,
government,
harassment,
law enforcement,
police,
politics,
ticketing
Armed Intruders Fail To Heed Warning From Homeowner With Gun To Not Take Another Step, Then Pay The Price
by Dave Urbanski. In the space of five days the city of Memphis, Tennessee, has seen its
second fatal shooting by a homeowner against reported armed home
intruders. TheBlaze reported the
first instance which occurred Tuesday when a woman answered a knock at a
front door. When two men reportedly forced their way in — one of them ... MORE
DUI Checkpoints - Are They Legal & What Are Your Rights?
by Marc Saggese. They go by a number of different names: DUI checkpoints, administrative roadblocks, mobile checkpoints, or as they are referred to by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, sobriety checkpoints. No matter the title, they all have the same effect: to allow the police to stop your vehicle for no articulable reason, ask ... MORE
Labels:
checkpoints,
DUI,
Fourth Amendment,
government,
police state,
roadblocks,
search and seizure
Brian Doherty: Making Colorado Safe For Guns And Pot
Marijuana smokers and the right to carry guns. Two Colorado firearms instructors are planning a ballot initiative in
their state to help smash a huge violation of citizens' rights:
that marijuana smokers, according to the federal government, are
not allowed to own guns. The
1968 Gun Control Act declared in section 922(g)
that unlawful ... MORE
Michelle Malkin: Obamacare's Annus Horribilis
There's no candy coating the truth: Obamacare has had a very terrible, horrible, crappy, none-too-happy year. What it really means is that the victims of Obamacare — taxpayers, health care consumers, health care providers, employers and employees — have had a hellish, nightmarish 2014. Let's start with premiums. President Candy ... MORE
Radley Balko: Horrifying Civil Liberties Predictions - 2015
Sound familiar? Sometimes, real life can be stranger than parody. This can be particularly true when it comes to the beat we cover here at The Watch, civil liberties. With that in mind, I’ve gone out on a limb to make some predictions about what might happen on the civil liberties front in 2015. I realize that some of these prognostications may seem a ... MORE
Jonathan Gruber Knew ObamaCare Will NOT Be Affordable
by Patrick Howley. All of it was a lie. President Obama’s health care adviser Jonathan Gruber said that the Affordable Care Act would definitely not be affordable while he was writing the bill with the White House. As Gruber continues to withhold documents while he awaits a call-back for more testimony before the House Oversight and Government ... MORE
How Bush & Obama Turned America Into Police State
Government takes full advantage of 9-11. Rodney Martin, a former congressional staffer, says that former president George W. Bush and President Barack Obama have transformed the US into a police state following the 9/11 attacks. Martin made the remarks when asked about a report that showed a number of decisions made by American ... MORE
Walter E Williams: Liberals' Use Of Black People
Cover for the liberal agenda. Back in the day, when hunting was the major source of food, hunters often used stalking horses as a means of sneaking up on their quarry. They would walk on the opposite side of the horse until they were close enough to place a good shot on whatever they were hunting. A stalking horse not only concealed them but ... MORE
Labels:
Blacks,
deception,
dishonesty,
education,
incarceration,
liberalism,
NEA,
school choice,
unions
Thomas Sowell: Random Thoughts On The Passing Scene
Pearls of wisdom. Now that Barack Obama is ruling by decree, he seems more like a king than a president. Maybe it is time we change the way we address him. "Your Majesty" may be a little too much, but perhaps "Your Royal Glibness" might be appropriate. It tells us a lot about academia that the president of Smith College quickly ... MORE
Thomas Sowell: 2014 - A Year Of Anniversaries
2014 has been a year of anniversaries. It was the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War — a war which many at the time saw as madness, and predicted that it would be the harbinger of a Second World War a generation later. 2014 was also the 70th anniversary of the fateful landing at Normandy that marked the beginning of ... MORE
Labels:
civil rights,
Constitution,
education,
freedom,
government,
Obama,
politics,
war,
welfare,
WWII
Here Are 10 Outrageous 'Zero Tolerance' Follies of 2014
by Lenore Skenazy. Are your children safe at school? That depends on if you're worried about bullies or administrators. Here are 10 of the most infamous "zero tolerance" punishments handed down to kids—and even some adults—this year. 1. Student, 13, shares lunch, gets
detention A 13-year-old boy at Weaverville Elementary School in ... MORE
Labels:
children,
Facebook,
political correctness,
politics,
schools,
students,
weapons,
zero tolerance
Bernie Sanders's 12-Point Socialist Plan for America
by Pedro Gonzales. Every committed revolutionary needs a plan. Karl Marx had one, and so did Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. Add to that group socialist senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, who is considering running for president (as a Democrat) and has already announced a 12-point plan at the Huffington Post. He writes: As Vermont's ... MORE
Labels:
central planning,
collectivism,
envy,
government,
oligarchy,
redistribution,
socialism,
unions
Police State America: Man Jailed For Recording Cops
Public servants don't want their behavior public. An Orlando man was jailed for recording police as they arrested another individual. The man subsequently sued for taking his phone and for false arrest and won a settlement of $15,000. The Blaze reported: Alberto Troche, who sued Orlando police for wrongfully jailing him and taking ... MORE
Labels:
cameras,
citizens,
government,
law enforcement,
police,
police state,
public,
recording,
rights
Jacob Sullum: The 5 Best Drug Scares of 2014
Drunks, e-cigs, pot and more. The history of drug control in America is a series of panic-propelled policies, most of which have not turned out very well. Those of us who support a calmer, more tolerant approach to psychoactive substances therefore spend much of our time defusing scares aimed at justifying or expanding the ... MORE
Labels:
alcohol,
deception,
dishonesty,
drug war,
drugs,
e-cig,
heroin,
politics,
propaganda,
scare tactics
VIDEO: Nanny Of The Year 2014 - And The Winner Is ....
Who is the most outrageous busybody trying to mind YOUR own business?
Labels:
busybody,
cameras,
children,
government,
nanny state,
regulation,
restrictions,
transparency
Want To Cut Police Brutality? Make Cops Pay The Price
by Bonnie Kristian. It would be good for taxpayers -- and justice. Eric Garner's family plans to sue the New York Police Department for $75 million. Tamir Rice's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Michael Brown's family may likewise launch a civil suit against the St. Louis police. No matter the outcome of these three legal actions, ... MORE
Documents Reveal Encryption That NSA Can't Crack
by Dhananjay Harkare. National Security Agency also known as NSA, the US intelligence agency has been a hot topic of discussion after former member Edward Snowden revealed its dark side. An archive of Snowden’s documents suggests the encryption schemes that NSA can break easily along with those it can’t crack. The reports suggest that by ... MORE
Labels:
Edward Snowden,
encryption,
government,
NSA,
privacy,
snooping,
spying,
surveillance,
tyranny
NSA Reports Detail Decade's Worth Of Privacy Violations
by Jesse Byrnes. The National Security Agency has quietly released more than a decade of reports detailing surveillance activities that potentially violated U.S. citizens' privacy rights. Covering NSA activities from mid-2001 to 2013, the heavily-redacted reports document possible abuses, including instances of employees emailing classified ... MORE
"The Most Important Film Of The 21st Century"
by Joe Williams. Edward Snowden, the computer whiz who blew the whistle on widespread surveillance against American citizens, speaks for himself in a real-life spy thriller. From a Hong Kong hideout to a temporary Russian haven, documentarian Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald uncover the story in virtual real time. ... MORE
The Year The Crusade Against 'Rape Culture' Stumbled
by Cathy Young. December has not been a good month for the feminist crusade against the "rape culture." The Rolling Stone account of a horrific fraternity gang rape at the University of Virginia, which many advocates saw as a possible "tipping point"—a shocking wake-up call demonstrating that even the most brutal sexual assaults on ... MORE
Even Small Towns Are Loading Up On Grenade Launchers
Cities are gearing up for war. Custer is a nice little town in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Not quite the tourist center of the area—that’s really more up toward Keystone and Mount Rushmore—it still get its share of summer visitors’ traffic. Enough, anyway, to support just over 2,000 people, out of a county population somewhere around ... MORE
Labels:
cities,
government,
law enforcement,
paramilitary,
police,
police state,
politics,
war,
weapons
Kevin D. Williamson: Tinker, Tailor, Stalker, Spy
The NSA uses powers to spy on wives and girl friends. A private investigator once explained to me why he always turned down husband-and-wife cases: If your marriage has gone so sour that the best course of action you can think of is hiring a guy to spy on your spouse, then you don’t need an investigator — you need a minister, a ... MORE
Labels:
government,
monitor,
NSA,
privacy,
snooping,
spying,
surveillance,
tracking,
warrantless search
The World's 10 Most Responsible Governments
by Kenneth Rapoza. Want a limited government that’s held accountable by society? Then start packing. With all this talk about fiscal responsibility in the U.S. and Europe, the World Justice Project’s latest rule of law index gives civil society a sense of which governments are fair and accountable. And the U.S. is not even in the top 15. ... MORE
Labels:
corruption,
free press,
government,
justice,
law,
limitations,
research,
responsibility,
society
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