for life and liberty

Declassified intelligence reveals U.S.-India Cold War cooperation on U2 spy missions

"A declassified American intelligence report on the use of U-2 spy planes has shed new light on cooperation between the United States and India during the Cold War. The document traced the role of the US in monitoring Chinese incursions into India, at the request of New Delhi, which enjoyed a close relationship with the Soviet Union. Following the Sino-Indian conflict of October 1962, when China launched surprise attacks against Indian frontier forces, 'the Indian government appealed to the United States for military aid,' according to CIA historians who traced the events. India allowed the United States to build a base in India for the secret spy planes." Continue reading →

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What Gun Owners must learn from George Zimmerman

"I am certainly not a lawyer or legal expert. Nor do I have every state’s carry and defensive gun use (DGU) laws memorized. Chances are you don’t either, so I think one big take away from the Zimmerman case is the first thing — and I mean the very first thing — you should do before taking your defensive handgun out of the house is to look up and understand any state laws governing where and how to carry as well as any self defense laws that may come to bear in the aftermath of a self-defense shooting. In 2013, this is as important to self-defense as knowing how to shoot accurately." Continue reading →

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A Nation Unhinged: The Grim Realities of “The Real American War”

"Turse’s book reminds us that the primary 'tragedy of Vietnam' was not that America somehow 'lost its way' in fighting an ill-advised war but rather that the war itself was a series of criminal acts perpetrated by the US government on the Vietnamese people. My characterization may sound strident to many today. Most Americans at the time certainly would have disagreed with it. Yet as the war dragged on, the number who recognized the war’s criminality grew inexorably. If you don’t already know the reason, Kill Anything That Moves will show you. And if you already do, this book will remind you why we must never forget what our country did to Vietnam." Continue reading →

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How Old Were the Founding Fathers?

"While famous paintings of our America’s Founding Fathers typically portray them as middle-aged or older, most were actually much younger than we tend to think during the founding of the nation. Todd Andrlik, in a post for the Journal of the American Revolution, compiled the ages of the Founding Fathers on July 4, 1776, and the results may surprise you. For instance, Benjamin Franklin, at 70 years old, was more than twice as old as Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson, at 33 years old. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, who would later go on to write the Federalist Papers, were just 21, 25, and 30 respectively." Continue reading →

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Interview With Tom Woods On Nullification

"There were popular referenda that amount to nullification, we’re not going obey this particular law and people vote and agree not to do it. It can be the legislature. You have a special convention you call. Then the issue is we’ve nullified but what does that actually mean? What it would have to mean is the people of the state would be willing to stand by what they’ve done. I rather suspect that when we’re dealing with issues like the Second Amendment, which, even more than the Obamacare issue, the Second Amendment and the perception that Washington is hostile to the Second Amendment has done more to alert people to nullification than anything else." Continue reading →

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The Arbitrary Diktats of Generalissimo Obama

"The type of quandary that catches my attention is when the Obama Administration delays big parts of Obamacare (hooray!), but does so by cavalierly deciding to disregard the law (boo!). Unfortunately, this isn’t a joke. I wrote about this topic last month and asserted that one of 'the defining characteristics of a civilized government is adherence to the rule of law.' Why is this important?" Continue reading →

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A Powerful Legal Tool, and Its Potential for Abuse: Material Witness Orders

"The orders are meant to help prosecutors compel testimony from problematic witnesses in criminal cases. But the orders are supposed to be used only in extraordinary circumstances, often when prosecutors fear a potential witness might flee instead of testifying. Controversy arose around federal prosecutors’ deployment of material witness orders after 9/11, when it came to light that they had used the warrants to detain large numbers of people to provide information about terror cases. But the use of these orders at the state-level remains largely unexamined." Continue reading →

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US and Germany to enter no-spying agreement, German government says

"The no-spying agreement talks were announced as part of a progress report on an eight-point program proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in July with measures to better protect the privacy of German citizens. Despite the criticism of government surveillance programs, Merkel said people should not forget that intelligence agencies do important work to protect people in Germany as well as abroad. German information, for instance, can prevent attacks on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, while American data in turn can be used to protect the lives of German soldiers, she said." Continue reading →

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Doctors Without Borders closes all operations in Somalia after 22 years

"Somalia’s embattled government, selected in November in a UN-backed process, was hailed at the time by the international community as offering the best chance for peace in Somalia since the collapse of central government in 1991. A 17,700-strong African Union force fighting alongside the national army has forced Shebab fighters from a string of towns in the past two years. But Somalia’s often rag-tag security forces, incorporating multiple militia forces into its ranks, has also been repeatedly accused by rights groups of a string of abuses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoctors Without Borders closes all operations in Somalia after 22 years