Author: The Freedom Watch Staff

This author has written 11091 articles

Anarchist Defeats Minarchist in New Hampshire Election

"When Ward 5 of Manchester, New Hampshire, elected a delegate to the state legislature this month, its voters rejected a Republican from the Free State Project who favors a minimal government. Instead they picked Tim O'Flaherty, a Democrat from the Free State Project who favors the abolition of government altogether. In the words of the Manchester Union-Leader: 'O'Flaherty ran against a fellow Free Stater, housemate Dan Garthwaite, whom O'Flaherty called a statist.' Meanwhile, in Vermont, voters in the town of Randolph have just made my left-anarchist friend Jessamyn West a justice of the peace." Continue reading →

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New England Marijuana Legalization Bills Coming

"In the wake of this month's marijuana legalization victories in Colorado and Washington, legislators in New England are ramping up efforts to be the next state to legalize. Solons in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont have all signaled they will be filing legalization bills next year. The legislative process is frustratingly slow, often taking several years to get a measure through, but in the wake of the Colorado and Washington votes, we could see a sudden collapse in support for pot prohibition, even at the state house." Continue reading →

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Uruguay Marijuana Legalization Bill Allows Home Grows and Sales

"The bill introduced Wednesday says only that the government will manage and regulate commercial cultivation and sales. Whether it will actually open state-run pot farms or marijuana retail outlets is yet to be decided, but in either case, a National Cannabis Institute will be in charge. Under the pending legislation, each household could grow up to six plants or possess up to 480 grams, or slightly more than a pound. People could also join 'smoking clubs' with up to 15 members and grow six plants per member, up to an annual production of 15.8 pounds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUruguay Marijuana Legalization Bill Allows Home Grows and Sales

Singapore Eases Death Penalty in Some Drug Cases

"The parliament of Singapore has approved legislation abolishing mandatory death sentences in some drug trafficking cases. The action came last Wednesday, according to a press release from the Singapore Attorney-General's Chambers. Under the reform, judges will be able to commute some death sentences to sentences of life in prison. Before, judges were forced to impose the death penalty on persons trafficking drugs above certain specified quantities." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSingapore Eases Death Penalty in Some Drug Cases

Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants

"Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge. CNET obtained a draft of the proposed amendments from one of the people involved in the negotiations with Leahy." Continue reading →

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Virginia’s ‘21-day rule’ needs to go

"Jonathan Montgomery was convicted in 2008 of sexual assault on the strength of testimony from a teenage girl who has now recanted. The accuser, charged with perjury, is free while she awaits trial. Mr. Montgomery, sentenced to 7 1 / 2 years, is innocent but can’t get out of prison. This month, the judge who sentenced Mr. Montgomery to prison in 2008 was presented with new evidence that his accuser, Elizabeth Paige Coast, had admitted lying about her accusation. But the evidence came to light only in recent weeks, when Ms. Coast came clean about her deception. New evidence or not, the 21-day rule applies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVirginia’s ‘21-day rule’ needs to go

Legal logjam lets troubled cops keep their badges

"Police officers punished for serious misconduct by the state may continue to draw their pay and even carry a badge for years if they appeal the sanctions. Some appeals languish for more than a decade after arriving at the state attorney general’s office. Rank and file officers and even chiefs of police have continued to work — for their original agency or a different one — after being sanctioned for violations as serious as killing a recruit during training, waving a gun at random in a bar, falsifying official records and DUI. Some officers were accused of new offenses while they appealed their first cases." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLegal logjam lets troubled cops keep their badges

Tax bills prompt Chinese to ditch US passports

"For many wealthy mainland Chinese who immigrated to the US, an American passport is a genie that cannot be put back in the bottle. More and more of them are thinking about renouncing their US citizenship, something that would have been almost unimaginable a decade ago, when getting a US passport was the ultimate status symbol in China. In March 2010, Washington stepped up its tax collection efforts by enacting FATCA. Americans and green card holders face onerous US reporting requirements, often have trouble opening bank accounts outside the US and frequently find it hard to form business ventures overseas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTax bills prompt Chinese to ditch US passports

Portuguese Residency For Non-EU Citizens

"On October 9 2012 the Portuguese government passed a new law that will enable investors from non-EU countries to gain residency if they either transfer one million or more euros in capital into Portugal, form a business that creates a minimum of 30 jobs, or purchase a property to the value of a minimum of €500,000. Dubbed the 'Golden Passport,' this new visa will allow non-EU citizens to receive a Portugal visa, permitting them to enter and stay in Portugal assuming at least one form of investment is undertaken for a minimum period of five years." Continue reading →

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Downgrade the Long-Term Debt of the United States Before It’s Too Late

"Dear S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch: You are the world’s three dominant rating agencies, largely controlling the ratings of bonds and debts issued by thousands of corporations, municipalities, and sovereign governments. I am the chairman of Weiss Ratings, an independent rating agency. And today, I challenge you to promptly take the bold action that you have so far avoided — to downgrade the long-term credit rating of the U.S. government in order to help protect investors and prod Washington to fix its finances. The necessary first step toward solving our nation’s financial problems is to recognize and confront them honestly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDowngrade the Long-Term Debt of the United States Before It’s Too Late