November 20, 2017

The Clintons’ day of reckoning

from LewRockwell.com: When the Harvey Weinstein story broke about a month ago, I offered that the reason (after decades of such behavior) might have something to do with the democrats getting tired of telling Hillary to go away.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Trump brags about his deregulation—and he may be right

from Reason: Pruning back regulation doesn't have to be a partisan issue.
Regulation Nation

The FISA amendments reauthorization act restricts Congress, not surveillance

from EFF: The bill squanders several opportunities for meaningful reform and, astonishingly, manages to push civil liberties backwards, restricting surveillance reforms, not surveillance itself.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

The disappearing right to earn a living

from The Atlantic: Want to become a florist in Louisiana? A home-entertainment installer in Connecticut? Or a barber anywhere? You’re going to need a license for that—and it’s going to cost you.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Why people will happily line up to be microchipped like dogs

from Zero Hedge: First come the sheep voluntarily, then come the holdouts brought in by force.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

What National Review gets wrong about the opioid crisis and the war on drugs

from TheDailyBell: Libertarians understand that drug prohibition itself has been the cause of the widespread use of hard drugs, while many conservatives remain blind.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

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 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 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

October 2, 2017

8 really bad laws that went into effect today

from Reason: From cellphone tracking in Connecticut to gummy bear bans in Colorado and bitcoin surveillance in Japan.
The Government is Not Us

Cops now hiding behind kids on school buses to bust people texting while driving

from The Free Thought Project: In a new revenue generation scheme, police across the country are now using school buses as a vantage point to catch drivers who are texting while driving.
Police State America

🎬  VIDEO: Rush Limbaugh - The Plot to Kill the NFL

from LibertyPen: While some say the NFL protests are about police brutality and free speech, Limbaugh makes a compelling case that the end game is to weaken and destroy the NFL.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Bogus stoned driving arrests highlight dubious methods of 'drug recognition experts'

from Reason: A lawsuit by three sober drivers who were busted for DUI questions the pot-detecting abilities of DREs.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Marijuana drive-thrus and online weed orders are a real possibility in this state

from Motley Fool: The Pine Tree State could have consumers seeing a new form of green, at the drive-thru window and via online checkout, by next year.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Police union complains that public got to see them roughing up Utah nurse

from Reason: Transparency about behavior of government employees is not a violation of due process.
Police State America

September 28, 2017

The campus free-speech crisis deepens

from National Review: Suspending or expelling students who shout-down speakers, disrupt campus events, or take over campus buildings is the single most important step that can be taken to end the free-speech crisis. Yet administrators will not act.
Indoctrination and Censorship

The secret slush funds of asset forfeiture

from Reason: Two investigations published this week reveal how police and prosecutors spend asset forfeiture funds outside the public eye.
Police State America

Patriots and protesters should take a knee for the Constitution

from Rutherford Institute: John Whitehead talks about patriotism and President Trump’s call for “respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem.”
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Florida town booted food truck offering meals to hurricane survivors after nearby restaurant complained

from Reason: Does government exist to serve the people or represent well-connected cronies? You decide.
The Government is Not Us

Illegal immigration cost Americans a record $135 billion last year

from The Washington Examiner: John Whitehead talks about patriotism and President Trump’s call for “respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem.”
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Jeff Sessions just made the chief of the DEA look like a pothead's hero

from Reason: Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg reportedly resigned in part over the Justice Department's obstruction of marijuana research.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

September 23, 2017

The treasonous media hates America

from LibertyCrier: Compelling evidence is presented in an 11-minute video of Trump's words and media coverage.
Media Bias on Parade

Unlawful rental registries: Coming soon to a city near you

from The Free Thought Project: Unlike the federal government, local government cannot print money. In order to grow, they have to mine for new revenue sources.
The Government is Not Us

Cop who threw handcuffed man into lake and watched him drown, gets only 10 days in jail

from The Free Thought Project: To prove once and for all that no one is above the law, the state punishes one of its own.
Police State America

Look around! Common law works. government statute doesn’t.

from The Daily Bell: Wouldn’t that be great if you could simply base your actions on common sense and respect for the standards of a community?
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Rand Paul: ‘I won’t be bribed or bullied’ on repeal vote

from The Hill: Rand Paul is one of the few politicians who was actually committed to repealing Obamacare. He has voted to do so each time. But he will not rubber stamp Obamacare Lite.
Regulation Nation

California demands money from Gatorade to protect water from slander

from Reason: California politicians take nitwittery to the next level in order to shakedown a productive corporation.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

September 21, 2017

Who truly imperils our free society? 

from Creators Syndicate: A revealing and insightful look into the barbarians destroying America from within.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Hours after Hurricane Irma, Miami-Dade county tickets residents for code violations 

from New York Post: Government wasted no time identifying Hurricane Irma not just as a storm but a windfall.
The Government is Not Us

John Stossel: Detoured by Government

from Creators Syndicate: More and more Americans are learning that licensing is about revenue collection and restricting competition for incumbent businesses. It is not about consumer protection but rather cronyism.
Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

Police in Oklahoma City fatally shoot man who was holding a stick

from New York Post: 2 cops see a man accused of no crimes holding a stick. One tasers him and the other shoots. The man dies. Cops get a vacation, man gets a funeral.
Police State America

France set to make wolf-whistling at women illegal

from Milo: Governments are relentless in their efforts control every facet of human behavior. Even the most benign expressions of unapproved thought are to be criminalized. France takes the lead.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

DHS pays police millions to ticket and prosecute motorists

from MassPrivatei: The odds of being ticketed by police are increasing at an alarming rate, as politicians and law enforcement invent new ways to take money from the public.
Police State America

September 13, 2017

Slash government regulations, cut red tape, and prosper 

from Forbes: Georgia’s path shows that a country can unlock a huge potential for increasing productivity, prosperity, and health just by adjusting its rules and regulations to allow its private sector to thrive.
Regulation Nation

🎬  Police ‘protect’ society by stealing man’s money for improperly selling hot dogs 

from The Free Thought Project: UC Berkeley Police were filmed taking the money out of a hot dog vendor's wallet as they gave him a ticket for not having a permit.
Police State America

Study: the liberal media’s summer of pummeling Trump

from MRC Newsbusters: It's official, Trump coverage was 91 percent negative. Fortunately for Trumpster, the mainstream media is correctly perceived as players, not refs.
Media Bias on Parade

Clinton already working on follow-up book casting blame for failures of first 

from The Onion: Breaking: Amazon slashes Hillary’s book price 40% before it even hit the shelves .
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

🎬  Flex your JURY NULLIFICATION rights

from LibertyPen: A short, but enlightening discussion of jury nullification. Steve Silverman, Thomas Woods Jr.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

September 6, 2017

The maximum price of the minimum wage

from The Washington Times:  When the bill for feel-good economics comes due, only the ignorant scream.
Regulation Nation

When cowards give in to looters, the American people are the losers

from The American Spectator:  Republicans wave the white flag on Obamacare as RINO senators and governors move toward a blueprint for surrender. When they ran for election, the GOP put on their masks. When they failed to act, they took them off.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Wisconsin moves to be first state ever to nullify federal cannabis prohibition through legislation

from The Free Thought Project:  State nullification of federal marijuana prohibition is completely constitutional, with the feds having little, if any, recourse to stop the process. Until now, cannabis has been legalized ONLY through direct initiative of the people, not by our so-called representatives.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Internet censorship bill would spell disaster for speech and innovation

from Electronic Frontier Foundation:  The bill, named the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, would not stop sex traffickers (its stated pretense), but it would chill free expression.
Indoctrination and Censorship

A 2020 Democratic agenda is emerging

from The Washington Post:  Intolerant and unrealistic, the party ditches pretended moderation and will openly fight for their left-wing agenda.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

September 2, 2017

Hollywood & New Yorkers Agree: We should aspire to be more like starving Venezuelans

from Squawker:  The Bernie Sanders' mentality of imposing universal poverty as a means to achieve equality.
Leftists would be wise to grasp the wisdom of Milton Friedman: “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither.
A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.”

Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

Ohio’s Campus Free Speech Act helps build free minds, free people

from The Hill:  Free speech is the best antidote for poisonous ideas. That is why the intolerant left is so scared of it.
Students need to explore their ideas, not constrain them. Education is about learning how to think, not being told what to think.

Indoctrination and Censorship

FDA pushing forward with terrible menu-labeling rules

from The Hill:  Unless this idiotic provision of ObamaCare is repealed, menu labeling will continue to be abnormally costly and ineffective (since costly and ineffective is the normal state of government). 

Regulation Nation

Regulation Nation

Latest Update: August 9, 2017

Innovation drives the small manufacturing boom—if it can survive regulatory meddling
Face first into bureaucratic madness – opening a hot dog stand in California
NYC law that makes dog-sitting illegal without a license
Trump is quietly stacking the labor board with union busters

County sued for requiring 10 page permit application to play Pokemon Go in s public park

Why Is Insider Trading Illegal? It shouldn't be.

California extends water restrictions despite abundant rainfall

Adult women can't consent to sex in Louisiana

Licensing Laws Shut Young People Out Of The Job Market

by Ben Casselman.  Young people entering the job market have always faced challenges: a lack of skills and experience, limited professional networks, unfamiliarity with workplace culture and expectations. But increasingly, they are also facing another obstacle: legal requirements that can shut off avenues to jobs before they even get the chance  ... MORE

Raising Minimum Wage Is Perfect Way To Kill Summer Jobs

by Jonah Goldberg.   Expect more teenagers on the streets. I had a lot of summer jobs. I was a foot messenger in New York for a couple of summers. I worked as a receptionist and mail-room flunky. Before my junior year of high school, I briefly sold ice-cream snacks — sort of yuppie bonbons — on the street for a company called Love Bites.     ... MORE

Hyprocrisy On Steroids: California Labor Union That Fought To Impose $15 Minimum Wage Now Wants An Exemption

The point is to drive up the costs of their competition.  The labor union that led the charge for a $15 minimum wage hike in cities across California is now moving to secure an exemption for employers under union contracts. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor buried the exemption on the eighth page of its 12-page proposal for the  ... MORE

Ed Spillane: Many Judges Continue To Jail Defendants Without Money To Pay Fines. Here Are The Alternatives.

Why one judge refuses to send such folks to jail.   Melissa J. showed up in my court last year with four kids in tow. Her children quietly watched from a nearby table while I spoke with her. The charges against her — driving with an invalid license, driving without insurance, not wearing a seat belt, failure to use a child safety seat properly  ... MORE

When Did The U.S. Repeal The Laws Of Supply & Demand?

by A. Barton Hinkle. Of soda taxes & minimum wage. Back in October, The New York Times reported that the law of supply and demand still works. "Yes, Soda Taxes Seem to Cut Soda Drinking," the newspaper told its readers, relating the results of Mexico's new tax on sugary beverages. Mexico's measure imposed a 10 percent tax on soft drinks, and so  ... MORE

Federal Drug Warriors Push For Pill-Tracking Databases

Gov't wedging itself between doctors and patients.     The nation's top health officials are stepping up calls to require doctors to log in to pill-tracking databases before prescribing painkillers and other high-risk drugs. The move is part of a multi-pronged strategy by the Obama administration to tame an epidemic of abuse and death tied to   ... MORE

Higher Minimum Wage Equals Higher Prices, More Taxes

by John Seiler.     I have dinner once a week with some friends here in Orange County. I set a limit of $20 for beer and food, or $80 a month. When the state minimum wage jumped to $10 an hour from $8 a couple years back, the restaurants increased their prices. So I cut back from a full meal to appetizers. It’s less enjoyment, but, as President John F. ... MORE