statism

How has this not led to outright revolution yet?

"These days, you could put ‘safety and security’ in front of just about anything and get people to readily comply. After all, who is against ‘safety and security’? Only criminal terrorists, apparently. This is now the easiest way for governments to exact their agendas… whether it’s invading new countries, monitoring all Internet activity worldwide, or bailing out the big banks at taxpayer expense. Apparently the citizenry has become so scared that we collectively lay down and let governments walk all over us. This NSA debacle, which is only getting worse and worse, shows beyond all doubt how brazen and unabashed their tactics will be. And not a single utterance of remorse or reform." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow has this not led to outright revolution yet?

Court: School Officials Accountable for Strip-Searching 10-Year-Old Over $20

"A federal court has agreed to hold school officials accountable for stripping a 10-year-old boy down to his underwear in an aggressive strip-search that included rimming the edge of his underwear, allegedly in an attempt to find another student’s missing $20 bill (which was later found on the cafeteria floor). The Rutherford Institute had challenged the school’s attempt to have the lawsuit against it dismissed, insisting that there is no justification for the school’s decision to so egregiously violate the fifth-grader’s Fourth Amendment rights or for the alleged failure to train school employees in how to appropriately deal with such matters." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCourt: School Officials Accountable for Strip-Searching 10-Year-Old Over $20

NSA encryption, Latin American fallout and US/UK attacks on press freedoms

"In Europe this week, President Obama has been making similar claims when asked about NSA spying, repeatedly assuring people that NSA surveillance is overwhelmingly devoted to stopping terrorism threats. One big problem the NSA and US government generally have had since our reporting began is that their defenses offered in response to each individual story are quickly proven to be false by the next story, which just further undermines their credibility around the world. That NSA denial I just excerpted above has already been disproven by several reports, but after Sunday, I think it will prove to be perhaps the NSA's most misleading statement yet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA encryption, Latin American fallout and US/UK attacks on press freedoms

NSA slides: Steve Jobs Is ‘Big Brother’ And Smartphone Users Are ‘Zombies’

"A private individual referring to iPhone customers as 'zombies' is one thing. The NSA doing it is quite another. People who don't take an active effort to protect their information are being labeled as sub-human by a government agency. If these smartphones users don't care about the data they're leaking, then they really don't have an 'expectation of privacy' to be steamrolled. That's the argument. As Der Spiegel puts it, the agency is arguing that the smartphone-buying public is 'complicit in its own surveillance.' But they aren't, as one recent decision on acquiring cell phone location data without a warrant pointed out." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA slides: Steve Jobs Is ‘Big Brother’ And Smartphone Users Are ‘Zombies’

California poised to implement first electronic license plates

"The idea is that rather than have a static piece of printed metal adorned with stickers to display proper registration, the plate would be a screen that could wirelessly (likely over a mobile data network) receive updates from a central server to display that same information. In an example shown by a South Carolina vendor, messages such as 'STOLEN,' 'EXPIRED,' or something similar could also be displayed on a license plate. A South Carolina company, Compliance Innovations, did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment. Smart Plate Mobile’s founder, Michael Jordan, declined to speak to Ars." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia poised to implement first electronic license plates

Slovenia Liquidates, Backstops Two Banks to Stave Off Cyprus Fate

"Slovenia liquidated two of its smaller banks, Probanka d.d. and Factor Banka d.d., in a move described by Central Bank Governor Bostjan Jazbec as a preemptive action to avoid the fate of Cyprus. The cost of liquidation of Probanka and Factor Banka will be borne first by owners, followed by holders of subordinated debt, Finance Minister Uros Cufer said at the joint press conference with Jazbec yesterday. Even so, Slovenia will issue state guarantees of 490 million euros for Probanka and 540 million euros for Factor Banka 'that will ensure an unhindered liquidity and normal fulfillment of obligations of both banks to ordinary creditors,' Banka Slovenije said in an e-mailed statement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSlovenia Liquidates, Backstops Two Banks to Stave Off Cyprus Fate

Personal Retirement Accounts Are Great only if You Can Stop Confiscation

"Most Western nations have huge long-run fiscal problems because of unfavorable demographics and misguided entitlement programs. That’s the bad news. The good news is that dozens of nations have fully or partially shifted to mandatory private savings as a pro-growth way of modernizing bankrupt tax-and-transfer Social Security systems. But good news in the short run doesn’t mean good news in the long run if greedy politicians decide to loot the wealth accumulated in personal retirement accounts. That’s already happened in Argentina and Hungary, and now it’s happened in Poland." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPersonal Retirement Accounts Are Great only if You Can Stop Confiscation

S&P calls US lawsuit retaliation for stripping AAA rating

"Standard & Poor's on Tuesday blasted a $5 billion fraud lawsuit by the U.S. government as retaliation for its 2011 decision to strip the country of its AAA credit rating. The McGraw Hill Financial unit was the only major credit rating agency to take away the United States' top rating and the only one sued by the Department of Justice for allegedly misleading banks and credit unions about the credibility of its ratings before the 2008 financial crisis. In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., S&P said the lawsuit attempts to punish it for exercising its First Amendment free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution but also seeks 'excessive fines' in violation of the Eighth Amendment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingS&P calls US lawsuit retaliation for stripping AAA rating

Detroit Stopped Issuing Death Certificates After It Ran Out Of Paper

"The city of Detroit was temporarily unable to issue death certificates in July because it had run out of the special embossed paper on which the certificates are printed -- and it didn't have any money left to buy more. After the city declared bankruptcy on July 18, its vendor for embossed death certificate paper demanded to be paid in cash, not credit. The city's funeral directors received this text message from Michigan Select Funeral Directors Association president Wallace Williams in late July, according to the Detroit News: 'FYI, city of Detroit can’t process death certificates because they have no paper and don’t have money to buy any.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit Stopped Issuing Death Certificates After It Ran Out Of Paper

Is College A Scam?

"The system is broken, the middle class is disappearing, being carved through the middle by a trillion dollars in student loan debt, and everyone is still raising tuition faster than inflation. And 50% of kids with college degrees now are underemployed. And that one statistic that 'if you go to college you make a million dollars more' is totally flawed and I explained why using basic Statistics 101 knowledge. I talked about the girl who was practically naked while hula hooping so she could make debt payments from a tip jar. I spoke about the two kids who were now clerks in an eyeglass store getting paid by the hour, and they felt they were 'lucky' because their other friends did not have jobs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs College A Scam?