"Disgraced former New York politicians Eliot Spitzer, left, and Anthony Weiner are looking to make their comebacks. Spitzer, the former governor, is now running for the office of New York City comptroller while the former U.S. congressman is running for mayor of New York. These men are only recent examples in a long history of New York politicians who have had to redefine their careers after scandal." Continue reading →
"A Chinese court awarded damages to the mother of a rape victim after she was sent to a labour camp for demanding her daughter’s attackers be punished, a spokesman said on Monday. Tang Hui, who became a figurehead for critics of the 're-education through labour' system after she was condemned to 18 months in a camp, won a total of 2,641 yuan ($430) following an appeal, a court spokesman surnamed Zhang told AFP. The court in Changsha, the capital of the central province of Hunan, awarded compensation on the grounds that local authorities had violated Tang’s personal freedom and caused her 'psychological damage', Zhang said." Continue reading →
"After nearly two months of being told repeatedly by the Mission police that there was no dash-cam video, here it is! It's a MIRACLE we even got it. The officers in the video are Michelle Pierce & Officer Tim Gift. Special appearance by the bald-headed officer who is NOT named nor even mentioned as being on the scene in the police reports. This officer is the one who was threatening my wife with having CPS take our two youngest daughters away." Continue reading →
"The Obama Administration now requires gun dealers in states bordering on Mexico to report anyone who buys two semi-automatic rifles in a week’s time. A panel of three federal judges has upheld this. Gun dealers in these states are affected: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and California. The official explanation? It’s to keep guns from flowing into Mexico. The government has no similar plan for gun dealers in states on the Canadian border. Where is the ACLU on this one? Missing in action. Back when the Department of Justice ran its 'sell guns to drug lords' operation, called 'Fast and Furious,' there was no reporting required." Continue reading →
"Several times in Japanese history, the new ruler sought to ensure his position by calling a Sword hunt (刀狩 katanagari). Armies would scour the entire country, confiscating the weapons of the enemies of the new regime. In this manner, the new ruler sought to ensure that no one could take the country by force as he had just done. The most famous sword hunt was ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1588." Continue reading →
"Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, discusses the background, evidence and reality of the George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin situation." Continue reading →
"There is a disparity of hysteria because in the Treyvon Martin case the outrage is horizontal, toward a citizen, but in the Ibragim Todashev case the outrage must be vertical, toward the State. Ibragim is ignored for the same reason that infants and children killed by US drone strikes are ignored, and the same reason the death of Abdulrahman Al Awlaki is ignored. Because the heartstrings of irrational mobs are loyal instruments in the hands of the media, and the media knows slaves may only criticize other slaves. They must not criticize masters." Continue reading →
"A group that advocates on behalf of medical marijuana patients has asked the nation’s highest court to decide whether marijuana is a dangerous drug with no medical value. Americans for Safe Access on Monday appealed a District of Columbia Circuit Court decision that upheld marijuana’s federal Schedule I status. In their appeal, ASA contends the D.C. Circuit Court was wrong to equate 'currently accepted medical use' with only FDA-approved studies. The D.C. Circuit Court also 'simply ignored that marijuana has an extremely low abuse potential relative to other controlled substances, despite having been presented voluminous evidence,' according to the appeal." Continue reading →
"The social credit crackpottery of the 1930s has returned, wrapped in the robes of Neo-Nazi statism. Those boosting it wrap their rhetoric in anti-banker sentiments, but make no mistake: A meme of this magnitude is a Tavistock-like promotion. These people use the rhetoric of libertarianism to arrive at terrifyingly statist conclusions. The state wiped out some 150 million people in the 20th century, and we would actually think it's a lot more. The upshot of social credit is a fascist society in which only the biggest corporations survive, in league with the government itself. And these ideas are gaining traction." Continue reading →
"Yes, as Krugman says, interest rates are probably an important factor. But I’m not so sure they’re the most important factor — for a few reasons. For starters, a lot of the demand for U.S. currency is coming from abroad. If you’re in another country with high inflation or severe instability, one of your main concerns is going to be preserving your purchasing power. About 70 percent of U.S. currency today – in the form of $100 bills – is abroad, compared to about 50 percent two decades ago. And while the total level of $100 bills outstanding in the United States has a little more than doubled over 20 years, the growth in $100 bills abroad has increased by far more." Continue reading →