Obamacare – Because It’s Cool
August 27th, 2013DOJ Sues Those Who Challenge the Authority of NSL Warrant-less Data Collection
July 19th, 2012From: EFF
… Not only does this briefing show that the Department of Justice continues to strongly protect the FBI’s NSL authority, it highlights a startlingly aggressive new tactic used by the Department of Justice: suing NSL recipients who challenge the FBI’s authority, arguing that court challenges to such authority themselves amount to breaking the law.
Freedom in Egypt, but only for Muslims
October 9th, 2011http://www.iwatw.com/2011/10/09/christians-fear-islamist-pressure-in-egypt/
CAIRO — “On her first day to school, 15-year-old Christian student Ferial Habib was stopped at the doorstep of her new high school with clear instructions: either put on a headscarf or no school this year.
Habib refused. While most Muslim women in Egypt wear the headscarf, Christians do not, and the move by administrators to force a Christian student to don it was unprecedented. For the next two weeks, Habib reported to school in the southern Egyptian village of Sheik Fadl every day in her uniform, without the head covering, only to be turned back by teachers.
One day, Habib heard the school loudspeakers echoing her name and teachers with megaphones leading a number of students in chants of “We don’t want Ferial here,†the teenager told The Associated Press.â€
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2011/10/08/8224222-christians-fear-islamist-pre…
The Effects of 40 years of Drug Prohibition
June 24th, 2011From: CATO
Microsoft Tries to Quash Innovation in Battle Over Xbox Memory Cards
June 20th, 2011EFF urged a federal court to block Microsoft Corporation’s attempt to misuse copyright law to thwart a competitor offering memory cards for the Xbox gaming system. Microsoft claims that Xbox users violate U.S. federal law — the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) — if they use third-party cards memory cards, such as those produced by Datel Holdings. If Microsoft were to prevail on this point, it could give the software giant the ability to use the DMCA to prevent competitors from selling Xbox-compatible accessories, like memory cards, controllers, and headsets. Such a ruling would have wide-ranging ramifications for hundreds of other consumer products.
Political Rhetoric is no Substitute for Competence
June 13th, 2011“In the course of any given year, Congress votes on taxes, medical care, military spending, foreign aid, agriculture, labor, international trade, airlines, housing, insurance, courts, natural resources, and much more. There are professionals who have spent their entire adult lives specializing in just one of these fields. The idea that Congress can be competent in all these areas simultaneously is staggering. Yet, far from pulling back — as banks or other private enterprises must, if they don’t want to be ruined financially by operating beyond the range of their competence — Congress is constantly expanding further into more fields. Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it, politicians have now moved on into micro-managing automobile companies and medical care. They are not going to stop unless they get stopped. And that is not going to happen until the voters recognize the fact that political rhetoric is no substitute for competence.” –economist Thomas Sowell
Google – Why you can’t trust them
May 11th, 2011http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/9/e-totalitarianism-at-google/
…It all comes back to Google’s uber-ambitious mission “to organize the world’s information.†That may sound like a good thing, but do we really want one unethical, unaccountable entity organizing all of the world’s information? Google’s unprecedented centralization of power over the world’s information is corrupting the Internet. It is leading us to a future in which there is little competition, privacy and incentive for creativity and innovation. Allowing one company to organize the world’s information is a terrible idea that can only lead to a soft totalitarianism.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/9/e-totalitarianism-at-google/
Should the state be able to take your kids, or does it have too much power?
May 10th, 2011From: WXYZ and Parental Rights.org
A few days ago, WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan, ran this video about the power of Michigan to take kids away from their parents without any claim of danger to the child. Michigan is one of only two states that allow state workers to take children into custody without charging the parents with any crime, and without even a claim – let alone a showing – of imminent danger to the child.
The lead story in the article is from a couple of years ago, when Christopher Ratte bought his son a lemonade at a Detroit Tigers baseball game. Ratte had no idea the drink was actually alcoholic – a “hard lemonade” – and no one at the stadium warned him, either. But near the end of the game, stadium security called in a Detroit police officer, who handed the child over to the Department of Human Services (DHS). A test performed at the hospital shortly later showed no alcohol in the boy’s blood, but he was already taken from his parents, and subsequently placed into foster care.
Fortunately for the Ratte family, their 7-year-old was returned after only three days. But doesn’t the state have too much power if they can whisk a child away from his parents over an honest mistake, when he was not negatively affected and there was no evidence that he would be in danger if he stayed with his parents?
Not according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), an international treaty that would essentially apply Michigan’s standard to the other 49 states and not the other way around.
That’s because, if the CRC is ratified, the government will become responsible for every parenting decision you make, and the state – not the parents – will be ultimately responsible for the provision and protection of every child. One vote by two-thirds of the U.S. Senate is all that is needed to make the CRC supreme over the contrary laws of any state in America, turning the police-state nightmare faced by the Ratte family into the reality for every one of us.
What’s more, America’s standard is already drifting that way on its own. Read the rest of this entry »
Mike Huckabee Answers McCain’s FairTax Question
April 24th, 2011Why We need the Fair Tax
April 23rd, 2011Tell Congress: It’s Time for Some Sanity when it comes to Security
April 16th, 2011Tell Congress: It’s Time for Some Sanity when it comes to Security
Posted by Gary in Law, News, Opinion, Threat Watch on 16/Apr/2011 12:44
It’s not often that the ACLU and I are on the same side of an issue.
From: ACLU
A 6-year old getting patted down at the airport — leaving her confused and in tears because she thought she did something wrong — is an example of the out-of-control searches and security measures in our airports.
Aviation security requires striking a delicate balance between the personal safety of passengers and their right to privacy. Unfortunately, TSA has developed increasingly invasive methods of searching passengers that are encroaching upon their rights. The TSA has subjected passengers to “enhanced†pat-downs, which have resulted in reports of people feeling humiliated and traumatized, and, in some cases, reports comparing their psychological impact to sexual assaults.
Tell Congress to support the bipartisan Aircraft Passenger Whole-Body Imaging Limitations Act of 2011. Read more.
via WarriorTimes
Obama/Boehner’s Phony Spending Cuts
April 14th, 2011From: CATO
National Right to Work Committee
April 14th, 2011From: Rand Paul
Dear Concerned American,
You have an historic opportunity to break the cycle of tax-and-spend, political corruption and out of control budgets caused by Big Labor’s compulsory union power.
But you must strike now to make Congressmen and Senators choose between standing with the 80% of Americans who oppose forced unionism and Big Labor’s multi-billion dollar political machine.
You see, President Barack Obama and Big Labor allies in the Senate are now feverishly scheming to bury the National Right to Work Act without a vote.
So I have a question for you.
Will you be the sledgehammer?
Your signature on the petition to your Congressman and Senators is what is needed to bust through the opposition and force a vote on the National Right to Work Act.
This is an opportunity you and I cannot afford to miss.
Without your support for the National Right to Work Committee, they have little chance against Big Labor’s money and power in Congress.
It will be an epic, historic battle and your support is critical.
Please sign the petition below right away.
Sincerely,
Rand Paul
U.S. Senator, (R-KY)
Financial Doom?
April 13th, 2011I saw today where the Japanese government has downgraded again its economic forecast due to its huge disaster. Also, all sides in the U.S. agree that if there is no increase in the U.S. debt limit then the U.S. is in danger of default on its debt. This means that everyone, dems and reps, agree that we need more debt to service the debt that we have. Therefore, we do NOT HAVE THE WILL to tackle our spending problems, which are primarily driven by programs benefiting the white middle class (mostly in the form of government funded jobs (see Wisconsin) and post-retirement medical benefits). Only, a relatively small percentage of our federal budget goes to “giveaways to the minorities” that we all like to vilify. I.e., to responsibly tackle the debt we need to cut ALL government programs by enough to:
1) balance the current budget and not add to the debt (this means by 0.8-1.5 trillion per year – the current deficit), and then
2) begin to repay our current mountain of existing debt (probably another 1.0-1.5 trillion per year). This means that the federal government would have to go on an extreme diet, if we ever hope to address this issue. Of course, it will not do that as no one wants to really tighten their belt by firing a bunch of white voters.
So we are destined to spiral into a hyper-inflationary period that will resemble Germany after WWII (when the world piled a mountain of war debt on Germany that everyone knew it could not pay – the result was Hitler!). So, whether or not the U.S. (and therefore the world) is headed for an extreme depression is not even in question – the only question is when – i.e., how long can our “skillful” politicians be able to pacify our greed and put off the enevitable! Have a nice day. (:-{
The Most Perilous National Security Crisis Since 1860
April 7th, 2011From: The Patriot Post
The Most Perilous National Security Crisis Since 1860
· Thursday, April 7, 2011
A Time to Choose: Prosperity or Poverty
“To preserve independence…we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and Liberty, or profusion and servitude. … The fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follow that, and in its turn wretchedness and oppression.” –Thomas Jefferson
In the news this week, Barack Hussein Obama announced his 2012 re-election bid.
Plus…
The Treasury Department quietly mentioned that last month the government spent 8.2 times its net revenue.
Plus…
The Continuing Resolution authorizing additional borrowing for federal spending, a source of much political pretentiousness, expires on Friday. If there is no renewed CR, the result will be a partial government shutdown (read: “debt accumulation slowdown”), with dire consequences such as the suspension of IRS audits. Of course, the shutdown showdown is just the opening salvo in a war over how to fund the remaining five months of FY2011, which ends on 30 September, and, moreover, government budgets for 2012 and beyond.
Plus…
The price of oil, amid the Middle East meltdown precipitated by Obama’s leadership vacuum, is on the fast track back to its record high of $147/barrel. Indeed, it may be headed to more than $2-300/barrel if the Saudi government is the next to fall. Despite what the Obama administration would have us believe, oil is the lifeblood of the U.S. and world economy, and we have a critical national interest in sustaining that supply. However, because of Leftist energy policies, we do not have energy hedges including domestic oil and nuclear power alternatives.
Plus…
Consequently, gold bullion — the world’s primary barometer of concern about inflation, national debt, securities and real estate price declines, fiat currency failures, and warfare and social unrest — hit a nominal record high of $1,457 per troy ounce.
However, the most significant news this week, in light of the aforementioned reports, is the big Beltway budget brawl between those who are advocating the right path to economic prosperity and Liberty, and those who would stay the course toward economic catastrophe and tyranny.
The raucous political rhetoric over the federal budget sounds much like the perennial hyperbole between Right and Left over the constitutional authority of the central government and its spending priorities. However, the outcome of the current debate is much more than a budget agreement for next year and the next decade: It will determine whether our nation will avert systemic economic collapse or collide with it head-on, plunging us into the most significant National Security Crisis since 1860, and condemning our posterity to the inevitable institution of socialism and the abject tyranny that accompanies it.
If a majority of our countrymen are not able to distinguish between the veracity of this grave assertion and political playbook hyperbole, the consequences for the next generation of Americans will be grim as the light of Liberty fades.
The danger of public debt was of great concern to our nation’s Founders.
As George Washington wrote, “No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable.” James Madison declared, “Having never been a proselyte to the doctrine, that public debts are public benefits … I consider them, on the contrary, as evils which ought to be removed as fast as honor and justice will permit.” Thomas Jefferson warned, “To preserve independence … we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and Liberty, or profusion and servitude. … The fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follow that, and in its turn wretchedness and oppression.”
Regrettably, few today attach much reverence to the words of such men. Fewer still — especially those who lived through the last Great Depression — remain among us to attest in first person to its tragic consequences for our nation, for its people, and for our legacy of Liberty.
To paraphrase philosopher George Santayana, “Ignorance of historical tragedy begets its replication.”
Make no mistake: We are at a tipping point.
Bureaucrats Tear Down Basketball Hoops
March 30th, 2011The Philosophy of Liberty: Property
March 27th, 2011
Rein in PATRIOT and Restore JUSTICE
March 21st, 2011From: EFF
Tell Congress to Rein in PATRIOT and Restore JUSTICE!
Congress voted at the end of February to extend the expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, but only for three months — giving liberty-loving citizens a new opportunity to continue to protest this dangerous law and demand reforms before the end of May. A message from you, opposing PATRIOT extension and demanding that Congress pass the important reforms contained in the JUSTICE Act, could make a critical difference. Help EFF defend civil liberties and stop Congress from rubber-stamping the PATRIOT Act!
There’s new hope in the PATRIOT debate. Thanks to bipartisan opposition from Democratic leaders and an insurgent movement of conservative Republicans, PATRIOT provisions that were scheduled to expire at the end of February were only temporarily renewed for three months. That means we have three more months to fight against permanent renewal and demand meaningful reform to the government’s broad surveillance powers under that law. With debate over PATRIOT dominating Twitter and the blogosphere, and with both Democrats and Republicans demanding meaningful oversight and reform, this is our best chance in years to convince Congress to investigate how PATRIOT is being used and establish new checks and balances to protect against abuse.That’s why Congress needs to hear from you now, as it begins the three-month process of conducting hearings and considering proposals for PATRIOT renewal and reform. Congress needs to know now that you oppose PATRIOT extension and support meaningful reforms, like the powerful new PATRIOT oversight and accountability measures found in the JUSTICE Act bills that were introduced in the House (H.R. 4005) and Senate (S.1686) in 2009 during the last PATRIOT reauthorization debate.
The JUSTICE Act not only contained critically important new checks and balances to prevent abuse of the three expiring PATRIOT provisions, but also proposed many meaningful reforms to a wide range of other, permanent PATRIOT powers. The JUSTICE Act also began to address some of the serious civil liberties problems with the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which broadly enhanced the government’s authority to spy on your international phone calls and emails without warrants and may ultimately be more dangerous to civil liberties than anything in PATRIOT.
Congressional leaders have promised they won’t waste the next three months but instead will spend that time giving PATRIOT reform the attention it deserves. It’s our job to make sure they keep that promise, and to demand that Congress rein in PATRIOT and restore JUSTICE. So, please contact your Representative and Senators today!
White House wants Wiretaps to Enforce Copyright
March 15th, 2011From: Cnet
Under federal law, wiretaps may only be conducted in investigations of serious crimes, a list that was expanded by the 2001 Patriot Act to include offenses such as material support of terrorism and use of weapons of mass destruction. The administration is proposing to add copyright and trademark infringement, arguing that move “would assist U.S. law enforcement agencies to effectively investigate those offenses.”
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20043421-281.html#ixzz1GjUNNWr9