Police State Update: Cops Caught On Video Denying Teens Access To Attorney In Investigation Of Kid Killed By Police

by Jay Syrmopoulous.  Government assaults the 6th Amendment. Video footage shows family members and attorneys being denied access to the two roommates of Tony Robinson, by a Madison police officer and a Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation agent after they were taken into police custody. Robinson’s roommates Anthony and Javier   ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Poli-"ticks"

Alex Marthews: Mass Government Surveillance Is No Joke

A government of limitless power.   Mass surveillance is becoming a punchline. John Kerry jokes with the press that it’s “so nice to put faces to the metadata.” Former National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander appears on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight and cheerfully describes the NSA as “the only agency in government that really listens.”   ... MORE

Americans Get It: Record Low Confidence In Government

by Emily Swanson.     Is the sleeping giant waking up? Americans' confidence in all three branches of government is at or near record lows, according to a major survey that has measured attitudes on the subject for 40 years. The 2014 General Social Survey finds only 23 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme     ... MORE

LA County To Pay Photographers Over Police Harassment

by Jillian Steinhauer.  A move toward respecting citizen rights. In the resolution of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, Los Angeles County will pay three photographers who were harassed by members of the LA County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) a total of $50,000 in damages. The LASD has  ... MORE

VIDEO: FOX NEWS - Hillary's E-Mail Explanation

Lawrence W. Reed: Internet at the Speed of Government

Government always quick to fix what is not broken.      Last month, the Federal Communications Commission launched a historic power grab over the Internet, euphemistically known as “net neutrality,” based on a Great Depression-era law to regulate public utilities. While entrepreneurs are pursuing cutting-edge business models and    ... MORE

6 Ridiculous Myths About Legal Internet Gambling Busted

by Michelle Minton.   Should the United States government ban online poker? One billionaire casino owner thinks so. In the quest to convince Americans that they shouldn't be able to do what they want with their own money in their own homes, proponents of the ban have spent big bucks and spread big lies. Below are some of the biggest whoppers.      ... MORE

VIDEO: How Portugal Won Its War On Drugs

Robby Soave: Frat Brothers Make Execrable Racist Statements, America Forgets The First Amendment

Intolerance is all the rage at college campuses.    Outrage over racist chanting at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon event at the University of Oklahoma is spilling over to other campuses, prompting concerns about systemic racism at that fraternal organization and within college Greek life as a whole. At the same time, lots of people who should know   ... MORE

Andrew Napolitano: Obama And The Clinton Emails

A violation of national trust.      Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady, U.S. senator from New York and secretary of state, used a private email server for all of her emails when she was President Obama's secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. During that time, she enjoyed a security clearance identical to that of the president, the       ... MORE

California Gas Prices Almost A Dollar A Gallon More Than National Average Due To Needless Taxes And Regulation

by Gregg Laskoski.    What is "middle-class economics"? We’ll probably be hearing a lot of answers to that question in the coming months as politicians vie for position in the 2016 presidential election. The New York Times took a close look at America’s middle class after President Barack Obama discussed it in aspirational terms during his State of    ... MORE

The CIA Campaign To Steal Apple’s Secrets

by Jeremy Scahill and Josh Begley.   Researchers working with the Central Intelligence Agency have conducted a multi-year, sustained effort to break the security of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, according to top-secret documents obtained by The Intercept. The security researchers presented their latest tactics and achievements at a secret annual     ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Education Parasites

New Water Heater Regulations Put Homeowners In A Bind

The option reducers are at it again.  New federal hot water heater regulations that go into effect next month could be problematic when it comes time to replace your current one. The U.S. Department of Energy will start enforcing new energy efficiency standards for hot water heaters April 16. The updates to the National Appliance Energy      ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Darren Wilson's Friendly Trial

The need for independent prosecutors in police shootings. A Justice Department report released last week makes a strong case that Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, last August. The report suggests that Robert McCulloch, the much-maligned   ... MORE

VIDEO: Why Politicians Don't Cut Spending

John Stossel: What's Fair?

More gov't power seems the answer to all questions. Donald Trump's kids and Paris Hilton's siblings were born rich. That gave them a big advantage in life. Unfair! Inequality in wealth has grown. Today the richest 1 percent of Americans own a third of the assets. That's not fair! But wherever people are free, that's what happens. Some   ... MORE

Stanley Kurtz: When Hillary's Server Meets Obama's Pen

The next level of tyranny.    Would a Hillary Clinton presidency rerun the corruption, secrecy, and paranoia of the 1990s?  Sure, but that’s not the half of it.  The larger problem would be a marriage of Hillary’s “Go to hell” attitude with Obama’s dangerous expansion of executive authority. What happens when someone who thinks “the rules don’t apply   ... MORE

How DNA Is Turning Us Into A Nation Of Suspects

by John W. Whitehead.    Every dystopian sci-fi film we’ve ever seen is suddenly converging into this present moment in a dangerous trifecta between science, technology and a government that wants to be all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful. By tapping into your phone lines and cell phone communications, the government knows what you    ... MORE

Radley Balko: Prosecutors Looking Out For Number One

Government lying becoming accepted practice.  Tennessee law professor and Instapundit Glenn Reynolds takes on prosecutor misconduct in a column for USA Today.   He begins with a case from California in which Kern County prosecutor Robert Murray appended a confession to a suspect’s statement without the suspect’s knowledge.    ... MORE

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Rent Control

Suzy Lee Weiss: I Was Recruited By The Thought Police

Political correctness has reached the level of crazy.    In the liberal ghetto of Ann Arbor, several University of Michigan administrators recently gathered for a passionate brainstorm. The head of student affairs declared he was simply “going to die” if he heard about one more so-called micro-aggression on campus. When a colleague told   ... MORE

H A Goodman: Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon Have A Point: Why Not Ask the NSA To Produce Hillary Clinton's Emails?

Big Brother has every one of them. Political attacks against Hillary Clinton often times make for good comedy, which is why during this Daily Show segment, Jon Stewart asks the following questions: "Don't we have a facility in Utah that collects all of our emails, anyway, solving the whole archive problem?" he asked. "Can't you just ask them, or they   ... MORE

VIDEO: Do You Really Have The Right To Remain Silent?

Katie Pavlich: More Than 50 Senators Condemn The ATF Proposal To Ban Use Of AR-15 "Green Tip" Ammunition

ATF shoots self in foot.      Late Monday afternoon, 52 Republican Senators sent a letter to ATF Director B. Todd Jones condemning the agency's latest proposal to ban commonly used AR-15 "green tip" ammunition and slammed the justification being used to do so, saying the legal framework under the Law Enforcement Officers Protection   ... MORE

Marijuana Federalism Is Principled And Popular

by Jacob Sullum.      At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month, Ted Cruz responded to a question about marijuana legalization in Colorado by endorsing a federalist approach to the issue. "I actually think this is a great embodiment of what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called 'the laboratories of democracy,'" the Texas  ... MORE

Stephen Moore: Freedom Not To Choose

The right-to-work proliferates.     My first job as a teenager back in 1976 was working as a blue-suited Andy Frain usher at sporting events at places like Wrigley Field in Chicago. When I took the job, I was required to join the local union and pay dues. My co-workers and I used to endlessly complain that the union was snatching money from our paychecks ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Global Warming

A most anti-science idea.  "But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact," said President Barack Obama in his 2014 State of the Union address. Saying the debate is settled is nonsense, but the president is right about climate change. GlobalChange.gov gives the definition of climate change: "Changes in average weather conditions that persist over  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - No Insurance For Flood Foolishness

Historic Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuana Introduced

by Niraj Chokshi.     Rand Paul is a co-sponsor. The historic medical marijuana bill a trio of senators plan to unveil on Tuesday has a bit of something for everyone. The bill, which activists describe as a first for the Senate, would end the federal prohibition on medical marijuana and implement a number of critical reforms that advocates of      ... MORE

Eric Nicholson: Texas Lawmakers Want To Make It Harder (or Even Impossible) For Police To Seize Citizen Property

Cutting incentives for theft.     Texas has some of the worst civil forfeiture laws in the country. In 2010, the Institute for Justice gave the state a grade of D- in terms of how easy it is for police to take property allegedly linked to criminal activity, and how hard it is for the property owner to get it back. It's not everywhere that a petty thief can    ... MORE

VIDEO: Too Damn Big! Cutting Government Down To Size

Thomas Sowell: The 'Disparate Impact' Racket

Group disparities are common.     The U.S. Department of Justice issued two reports last week, both growing out of the Ferguson, Missouri shooting of Michael Brown. The first report, about "the shooting death of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson" ought to be read by every American. It says in plain English what facts  ... 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

Radley Balko: Another Day, Another Drug War Fatality

Pot suspect shot in the face by cops in his own home.   Meet Derek Cruice, your latest collateral damage in the drug war:A deputy shot and killed an unarmed man while attempting to serve a narcotics search warrant in Deltona, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said deputies were entering the home on Maybrook  ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Random Thoughts On The Passing Scene

The musings of a genius.      When President Obama keeps talking about "violent extremists" in the abstract, you might wonder whether Presbyterians are running amok. The mainstream media seem desperate to try to find something to undermine Republican governor Scott Walker's rise in the polls. The worst they have come up with is that he     ... MORE

VIDEO: Walter Williams: A Political Solution For Blacks

NY Times Editorial: The President's Weak Privacy Proposal

Codifying bad behavior.    President Obama has said that the country needs a strong privacy law so consumers can protect personal information from advertisers, Internet firms, employers and other businesses. But the country is not going to get it from Mr. Obama. The bill his administration recently offered will do little to help individuals while giving   ... MORE

Ali Meyer: 92,898,000 Americans Are Not Working

Labor force participation hovers near 37-year low.  The labor force participation rate hovered between 62.9 percent and 62.7 percent in the eleven months from April 2014 through February, and has been 62.9 percent or lower in 13 of the 17 months since October 2013.  Prior to that, the last time the rate was below 63 percent was 37 years ago,  ... MORE

VIDEO: Does The U.S. Need A Dept. Of Homeland Security?

France Dishonors Charlie Hebdo By Policing Hate Speech

by Brendan O'Neill.  Two months after the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, the French state has just taken a massive merde on the graves of those who were killed. It has decided to honor their memory, or dishonor it, by instituting what promise to be the most stringent anti-hate speech laws in Europe.  It has declared an “unmerciful battle”—the Justice   ... MORE

Google Works To Rank Sites Based On ‘Truthfulness’

by Maxim Lott.  In a step that critics worry will inject political bias into search results, a Google research team released a report this month on ranking search results based on how factual websites are. They propose eventually using that to change Google rankings, which are currently based on website popularity. The Google researchers give, as an     ... MORE

VIDEO: FOX NEWS - Law Enforcement Practices & Racism

Ted Cruz & The Political Prudence of Marijuana Federalism

Principles matter.    At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week, Ted Cruz responded to a question about marijuana legalization in Colorado by endorsing a federalist approach to the issue. “I actually think this is a great embodiment of what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called ‘the laboratories of democracy,’” the    ... MORE

Mark Cuban Says Tech Bubble Is ‘Far Worse’ Than In 2000

Launching "into the giddy phase.  "What a week for Mark Cuban. Fresh off being tapped for the role of the president alongside Ann Coulter in the upcoming blockbuster “Sharknado 3,” the brash billionaire’s bearish forecast has landed him a spot in MarketWatch’s call of the day. “If we thought it was stupid to invest in public Internet websites that   ... MORE