Author: The Freedom Watch Staff

This author has written 11091 articles

“You Know How to Leave”: Scenes from a Police Riot in Idaho Falls

"The initial police contact – to investigate a noise complaint, recall – occurred at around 10:49 PM. Within about twenty minutes, the air was thick with shouting and screaming, and a fleet of about a dozen police cars had converged on the address. Lund’s attack on Dindo left the living room floor filled with shattered furniture. So in the interests of preserving the 'peace,' Lund and his costumed buddies assaulted two unresisting men, committed felonious battery on a 79-year-old woman and a pregnant mother, destroyed property, terrorized a completely innocent next-door neighbor, and disrupted an entire city block. The Madrigals were able to post unedited video of most of the episode on-line." Continue reading →

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SF Police shut down chess games on Market Street

"For more than 30 years, chess games have been a staple in the Mid-Market neighborhood. But earlier this month, the San Francisco Police Department confiscated the playing equipment, chairs and tables where dozens of people, mostly homeless, would gather every day to play between Fifth and Sixth streets. 'It’s turned into a big public nuisance,' said Capt. Michael Redmond. Redmond said the players’ property will eventually be released back to them and he hopes to help work out a plan for chess in the future — but that may involve convincing a business to pay for a permit so games can be played on the sidewalk." Continue reading →

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Why is California Jailing Landscapers? Don’t Cops Have Better Things to Do?!

"California suffers from one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation and the state is under court order to release 10,000 inmates, yet state agents are jailing people who manage to find home-improvement work. After placing ads on Craigslist, California State License Board investigators go undercover posing as homeowners, when landscapers, painters, and other contractors show up, the agents give them the 'To Catch a Predator' treatment. CSLB recently announced that agents from the Statewide Investigative Fraud Team had completed operation 'California Blitz.' SWIFTers busted 79 perps for contracting without a license; they face $5,000 in fines and up to six months in jail." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy is California Jailing Landscapers? Don’t Cops Have Better Things to Do?!

Detroit Bus Company Helps Detroiters Get Around

"When it appeared in 2012 that plans to put even a 4-mile streetcar line through downtown Detroit were dead, Andy Didorosi was fed up. Only 25 at the time, he was already a serial entrepreneur in Detroit, launching a co-working space called Paper Street, a local racing event called the Thunderdrome and numerous other projects. So he bought a bus, hired graffiti artist Kobie Salomon to paint it, and named it Bettis. That old school bus became the Detroit Bus Company, Didorosi's first experiment to show how mass transit could be improved in Detroit." Continue reading →

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Poverty Just Ain’t What It Used To Be

"A newly released report by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that most Americans living below the bureaucratically designated 'poverty line' enjoy most modern conveniences. For example more than 80 percent of U.S. households below the poverty line have a: refrigerator (97.8%); stove (96.6%); television (96.1%); microwave oven (93.1%); air conditioner (83.4%); VCR/DVD player (83.2%); and cell phone (80.9%). In addition, more than half of households beneath the poverty level also have a: clothes washer (68.7%); clothes dryer (65.3%); computer (58.2%); and landline telephone (54.9)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPoverty Just Ain’t What It Used To Be

US poverty rate steady at 15 percent, but ‘lower class’ is booming

"The share of those who identify themselves as 'lower class' – at 8.4 percent – now stands at its highest level in four decades, according to separate data released this week from the long-running General Social Survey (GSS). Just as surprising, the share of college graduates who describe themselves as lower class has jumped from 2.6 percent in 2002 to 5.8 percent in 2012. According to the GSS, only 55 percent of Americans these days believe things will get better for themselves and their kids – a rather paltry number for a country built on the notion that everyone has an equal chance to get ahead." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS poverty rate steady at 15 percent, but ‘lower class’ is booming

With the end of Fed’s QE in sight, U.S. public says ‘Huh?’

"The Fed's $2.8 trillion 'quantitative easing' program has, among other things, lifted stock prices to record highs, driven interest rates to record lows and put a floor under what had been a reeling housing market. Yet barely a quarter of Americans even know what it is. A poll leading up to the Fed's pivotal decision, expected Wednesday afternoon, found just 27 percent of U.S. adults could pick the correct definition of quantitative easing from among five possible answers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith the end of Fed’s QE in sight, U.S. public says ‘Huh?’

Median Household Income Is Flat

"In 2012, median household income in the USA was flat. Adjusted for price inflation, it was down 9% since 1999: the Clinton era. It is where it was in the late 1980s: early Bush I. All this has happened under Keynesianism. The engine of economic development has gone flat for 80% of Americans. According to Keynesian economic theory, none of this should have happened. The federal government is supposed to be able to manage the economy, so that recessions are short and mild. But that theory was blasted by the recession of 2008-9. The recovery has not done anything for the vast majority of Americans." Continue reading →

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Government-Run Bridges: Guaranteed Erosion

"Many fracture critical bridges were erected in the 1950s to 1970s during construction of the interstate highway system because they were relatively cheap and easy to build. Now they have exceeded their designed life expectancy but are still carrying traffic — often more cars and trucks than they were originally expected to handle. The Interstate 5 bridge in Washington state that collapsed in May was fracture critical. Cities and states would like to replace the aging and vulnerable bridges, but few have the money; nationally, it is a multi-billion-dollar problem. As a result, highway engineers are juggling repairs and retrofits in an effort to stay ahead of the deterioration." Continue reading →

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Moon Shining At Sunset: Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore

"This sunset shot at the Marina Bay Sands was one in a million. The sky lit up just right as the moon was rising behind the resort. Many people don’t know but the resort is an actual complex complete with a shopping mall, casino, and a Venice Gondola ride. One of the cool things about the Marina Bay Sands Resort besides the amazing infinity rooftop pool is the fact that you can use your hotel Wi-Fi throughout the entire shopping complex. The picture was taken from the famous Merlion statue just across the water from the resort. This also happens to be where the cars zip by in the only night time Formula 1 race." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMoon Shining At Sunset: Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore