The Freedom Watch

Raising Millionaires’ Taxes Will Drive Them Away

"If New Jersey and Massachusetts approve new millionaires’ taxes, it is difficult to predict how much will be raised and where these funds will ultimately wind up. But if New York and California are any guide, income surtaxes will be destructive. When it comes to higher taxation, interstate migration is just the tip of the iceberg. Higher-tax states, for instance, see less innovative activity and scientific research according to an analysis by economists at the Federal Reserve and UC Berkeley. Any benefits of millionaires’ taxes do not make up for the economic and social toll caused by fewer innovative activities and correspondingly lower job creation."

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Ridiculous licensing rules are holding back people who want to work

"Occupational licensing is corrupt and idiotic. It’s idiotic because no one needs a license to braid hair, arrange flowers, or do interior decorating, or 300 hours of training to shampoo hair, all real examples of occupations subject to licensure. And it’s corrupt because although it’s couched in language about protecting the consumer, it’s actually about fleecing consumers and protecting existing players from competition via government power."

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Feds’ misconduct in Cliven Bundy case stems from Ruby Ridge

"Many of the heavily-armed activists who flocked to the scene feared that the FBI snipers had a license to kill the Bundys. Their reaction cannot be understood without considering a landmark 1990s case that continues to shape millions of Americans’ attitude towards Washington: the federal killings and coverups at Ruby Ridge."

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Police are using embedded code in 50,000 apps to influence public sentiment

"ELUCD uses location (tracking) technology to ask citizens questions like "do you feel safe in your neighborhood? Do you trust the police? Are you confident in the New York Police Department? 24 hours a day 7 days a week. One should assume that law enforcement is using ELUCD's data to identify individual cell phone users. As Tech Crunch revealed, the NYPD is keeping all the data they collect a secret. ELUCD hopes that police departments across the country will use ELUCD to gauge people's sentiments."

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I Paid To See A Movie About Singing. I Got 90 Minutes Of Pentagon Propaganda.

"Retired Army lieutenant colonel Thomas Lesnieski, who was involved with the production of the film, says that in order to 'make sure that the way the military is portrayed is done right,' changes were made to the script of Pitch Perfect 3 after the film enlisted 'DoD support'."

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Middle Eastern Christians in dire straits – but the West doesn’t want to know

" In Iraq, a population that numbered more than a million in the 1990s dwindled to less than a third of that in the wake of the US-led invasion and removal of the secular government of Saddam Hussein. In Syria, under threat since 2011 by Salafist groups armed and funded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and other countries – the US shamefully included – Christians seemed to be facing a similar fate."

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Tillerson Pledges Open-Ended Military Presence In Syria To Counter Iran

"Tillerson once again reiterated the US desire to eventually see President Bashar al Assad removed from power while also pledging US commitment to staying in Syria in order to counter Iran's influence in the region. Ultimately, according to Tillerson, 'the United States will remain in Syria' until certain conditions are met which include the complete destruction of ISIS, Assad's removal from power, and the return of refugees to a stabilized country."

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US Ally Turkey Attacks US-Backed Forces In Syria

"Contradiction has become the norm for US foreign policy over the past many years - an observation that is clear to anyone even remotely paying attention. On Tuesday the US State Department spokesperson was asked during the daily press briefing about the obvious contradiction inherent in US ally and NATO member Turkey shelling US-backed Kurdish forces in Afrin - the Kurdish held zone in northwest Syria near the Turkish border."

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