RTW Bills Pass! What is Next?

Yesterday was truly an historic day for Michigan. Last night I was at the Capitol as the Senate passed their RTW bill (the House had passed theirs earlier in the day) while Union “activists” chanted “Shame on You”. As a liberty loving UAW retiree I can honestly say I have waited for this day for …

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Letter to Senator Johanns: Will Republicans Just Repeat Debt Limit Mistake?

This letter was sent to Senator Johanns on November 12, 2012. Dear Senator Johanns, As I wrote you earlier, if the Republicans caved on the debt limit issue they would pay a price at election time. Well, the party leadership not only caved, they compounded their foolishness by agreeing to automatic future budget cuts that… more

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Glenn Greenwald: Laptop seizures by US government highlight 9/11-era climate of fear

"A nation in which liberties are systematically abused - in which limitations on state power are ignored without consequence - is one which gives rise to a climate of fear. This climate of fear, in turn, leads citizens to refrain from exercising their political rights, because they know the government can act against them without real constraints. This morning, the New York Times reports on the US government's practice of targeting US dissidents - or those whom it believes to be engaging in dissent - with extremely invasive border searches, including seizing (and sometimes keeping for months) their laptops and other electronic data, all without any warrants." Continue reading

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Ninth Circuit Gives the A-OK For Warrantless Home Video Surveillance

"Can law enforcement enter your house and use a secret video camera to record the intimate details inside? On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unfortunately answered that question with 'yes.' On suspicion of nothing more than the benign misdemeanor of selling eagle feathers, the government got to intrude inside the home and record every intimate detail it could: books on a shelf, letters on a coffee table, pictures on a wall." Continue reading

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Street artist whose mock ads claimed NYPD used spy drones is busted

"A street artist whose mock public service ads around the city claimed the NYPD used spy drones to monitor citizens was busted after outing himself in a website interview, authorities and sources said. Essam Attia, 29, was hit with 56 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, grand larceny possession of stolen property and weapons possession for an unloaded .22-caliber revolver under his bed at his Manhattan apartment. Authorities said Attia planted dozens of ads in display cases around the city between Sept. 14 and 16. Many of them even used his artist signature, 'ESSAM.'" Continue reading

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Anti-drone protesters knocked off course by broad restraining order

"Adams said that he has repeatedly been arrested as he attempted to deliver a letter to the base commander, Colonel Greg Semmel, and others accusing the government of war crimes. The order of protection, issued by Donald Benack, a judge in the Dewitt town court, Onondaga, New York, on 25 October, forbids the 17 activists from contacting Colonel Earl A. Evans. The activists, Adams said, had asked if the order meant they had to stay away from the weekly permitted protest across the road from the base. The response from law enforcement officers: if Evans found it 'irritating' then it did." Continue reading

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Afghan Children Legitimate Targets, Says U.S. Lt. Col., As They Might Have “Hostile Intent”

"When the war gets to this level--whether or not we believe the Army's assertions that the kids it's killing in Afghanistan deserved it--it's time to rethink whether you are winning hearts and minds, nation rebuilding, or just involved in an endless insane game of blowing shit up and making people so mad they give you what you think is a legitimate excuse to keep blowing shit up." Continue reading

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Online sales tax to be added to National Defense Authorization Act

"This may be the last Christmas of online shopping without paying sales tax. A proposed online sales tax has been offered as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, much to the ire of opponents. The Marketplace Fairness Act, and its House counterpart the Marketplace Equity Act, seek to clarify, and arguably overturn, a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that requires retailers to have a physical presence in a state in order to collect sales tax on goods." Continue reading

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