June 17th, 2010
“When I walk around busy midtown Manhattan, I often smell marijuana. Despite the crowds, some people smoke weed in public. Usually the police leave them alone, and yet other times they act like a military force engaged in urban combat. This February, cops stormed a Columbia, Mo., home, killed the family dog and terrorized a 7-year-old boy—for what? A tiny quantity of marijuana.”
“Two years ago, in Prince George’s County, Md., cops raided Cheye Calvo’s home—all because a box of marijuana was randomly shipped to his wife as part of a smuggling operation. Only later did the police learn that Calvo was innocent—and the mayor of that town.”
Full column on the Drug War vs Freedom by John Stossel @ http://reason.com/archives/2010/06/17/end-the-drug-war
Posted in New Prohibition | No Comments »
June 16th, 2010
“The U.S. government is using threats and intimidation to coerce tiny Switzerland into changing its laws and handing over the names of Americans suspected of avoiding U.S. taxes using Swiss banks.”
“Under an agreement organized between the two governments last year, the neutral alpine nation famous for its banking secrecy was supposed to divulge the names associated with about 4,500 accounts suspected of sheltering money from the Internal Revenue Service. But a Swiss judge blocked the disclosure because it violated national banking laws.”
Full column on Swiss Banks vs the IRS by Alex Newman @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/europe-mainmenu-35/3798-us-terrorizes-switzerland-over-taxes-banking
Posted in Economic & Financial, International | No Comments »
June 9th, 2010
“In 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Kelo v. City of New London, ruled that governments in the United States have the right to steal their citizens’ property and transfer it to private developers as long as it serves a “public purpose,” namely bringing in more tax revenue. Thus, according to the court, the city of New London, Connecticut, was within its rights to evict Susette Kelo and others from their property in order to hand the property over to Pfizer for development — development that, in fact, never materialized. ”
“In 2010 China, one man is not taking a similar situation lying down. Yang Youde, reports Reuters, “has declared war on property developers who want his land, building a cannon out of a wheelbarrow and pipes and firing rockets at would-be eviction teams.” Yang “says he has fended off two eviction attempts with his improvised weapon, which uses ammunition made from locally sold fireworks,” the report continues. Yang also says he has been careful not to hurt anyone, firing the shots over the heads of the erstwhile thieves.”
Full story by Michael Tennant @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/asia-mainmenu-33/3749-chinese-man-fights-eminent-domain-with-fireworks
Posted in International, Property Rights | No Comments »
May 26th, 2010
“This headline is not from The Onion:
US appoints first cyber warfare general: Pentagon creates specialist online unit to counter cyber attack amid growing fears of militarisation of the internet.
“On Friday, newly-created U.S. Cyber Command—that’s USCYBERCOM to those in the know—got itself a general. One small problem: It’s not clear that anyone, even four-star general and National Security Agency head Keith Alexander, knows what U.S. Cyber Command is supposed to do now that it exists. The commerical Internet has been around since about 1995, but in recent years folks at the Pentagon and White House seem to have been struck with a similar thought: “Hey, we should do something about those Internets, huh?” ”
Full column by Katherine Mangu-Ward @ http://reason.com/archives/2010/05/26/meet-your-new-commander-in-gee
Posted in Big Government | No Comments »
May 26th, 2010
“A new Rasmussen poll has found that “Support for repeal of the new national health care plan has jumped to its highest level ever.” Sixty-three percent of likely voters now want a repeal of the Obamacare law, according to the poll conducted May 22–23. “Prior to today,” Rasmussen announced that “weekly polling had shown support for repeal ranging from 54% to 58%.”
“The Rasmussen poll appeared to conflict with a CBS News poll that found opposition to Obama’s health care law strong but waning. “Public support for President Obama’s health care reforms has increased since they were signed into law in March, a new CBS News poll shows — 43 percent of Americans now support the measures, up from 32 percent.” While last weekend’s CBS poll found the numbers closer than Rassmussen, it too found that more oppose Obama’s health care law (47 percent) than support it (43 percent).”
“Both polls may be right, however, because they surveyed different audiences. The CBS poll surveyed 1,054 “adults,” while Rasmussen surveyed 1,000 “likely voters.” A survey of adults is a raw opinion poll, but surveying “likely voters” has traditionally been a much more accurate predictor of how the American people have registered their views at the voting booth.”
full column by Thomas Eddlem @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/health-care/3627-opposition-to-obamacare-strengthens-among-voters
Posted in Health Care & Medicine | No Comments »
May 17th, 2010
“DECLASSIFIED American government documents show that the US intelligence community ran a campaign in the Fifties and Sixties to build momentum for a united Europe. It funded and directed the European federalist movement.”
“The documents confirm suspicions voiced at the time that America was working aggressively behind the scenes to push Britain into a European state. One memorandum, dated July 26, 1950, gives instructions for a campaign to promote a fully fledged European parliament. It is signed by Gen William J Donovan, head of the American wartime Office of Strategic Services, precursor of the CIA.”
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard exposes the origins of European Union @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/1356047/Euro-federalists-financed-by-US-spy-chiefs.html
Posted in International | No Comments »
May 15th, 2010
MEXICO CITY — After 40 years, the United States’ war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.
Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn’t worked.
“In the grand scheme, it has not been successful,” Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. “Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified.”
Full story from Associated Press @ http://tinyurl.com/29esxgb
Posted in New Prohibition | No Comments »
May 11th, 2010
“America’s financial situation is unsustainable. In 2009 the federal government spent $3.5 trillion but collected only $2.1 trillion in revenue. The result was a $1.4 trillion deficit, up from $458 billion in 2008. That’s 10 percent of gross domestic product, a level unseen since World War II. Worse, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that we’ll be drowning in red ink for the foreseeable future, with annual deficits averaging $1 trillion during the next decade.”
“While these figures are dramatic, they pale in comparison to what the federal government owes foreign and domestic investors….”
Full column on our pending doom by Veronique de Rugy @ http://reason.com/archives/2010/05/11/our-unsustainable-debt
Posted in Economic & Financial | 1 Comment »
May 7th, 2010
“To celebrate the American heritage of growing industrial hemp, the Hemp Industries Association, Vote Hemp, several American manufacturers, and allied companies and organizations have declared May 17 to May 23 to be Hemp History Week. Throughout the week, people will recognize America’s legacy of industrial hemp farming and call for reinstating respect for farmers’ basic right to grow industrial hemp. ”
“Industrial hemp was legally grown throughout our country for many years. In fact, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew industrial hemp and used it to make cloth. During World War II, the federal government encouraged American farmers to grow hemp to help the war effort.”
“Despite industrial hemp farming being an important part of American history, the federal government has banned cultivation of this crop. In every other industrialized country, industrial hemp, defined to contain less than 0.3 percent THC–the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, may be legally grown….”
Full Statement by Rep Ron Paul on Hemp History Week @ http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/tx14_paul/HempFarmingWeek.shtml
Posted in Anti-Prohibition, Economic Freedom | No Comments »
May 5th, 2010
“If universal health coverage was part of the longstanding liberal agenda to implement a European-style welfare state in America, Arizona’s tough new anti-immigrant law represents the conservative agenda to install a European-style surveillance state. Indeed, the very same conservatives who could not find words strong enough to condemn the Europeanization of America under ObamaCare are now greeting the Arizona law—which will require residents to prove their lawful status to authorities on demand—with a cheerful smile and a shrug.”
“The two efforts together will nix any notion of American exceptionalism—the idea that America has a special relationship with Lady Liberty that no other country enjoys. Therefore some things that are permissible in other countries are simply not kosher here. (Is kosher still a permissible word for the English-only crowd?)”
Shikha Dalmia looks at the Arizona’s new law and its implications @ http://reason.com/archives/2010/05/05/arizonas-immigration-law-end-o
Posted in Immigration Issues | No Comments »