statism

West Virginia judge arrested for allegedly attempting to frame ex-lover’s husband

"A West Virginia judge was arrested on Thursday and charged in federal court with attempting to plant evidence on a former lover’s husband and having him arrested for a crime he did not commit. Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury, 57, also was accused of appointing a business partner to be foreman of the grand jury investigating the husband, the indictment said. Thornsbury, Mingo County’s only circuit judge since 1997, was arrested on Thursday, according to a federal prosecutor. He was released after paying a $10,000 bond, according to court documents." Continue reading →

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Louisiana Deputies Bust Gays with Unconstitutional Sodomy Law

"Baton Rouge, Louisiana suffers from the eighth highest murder rate in the nation, and yet local law enforcement apparently considers it a top priority to conduct sting operations on gay men seeking consensual sex. According to an investigation by The Advocate, deputies have been going undercover and busting gay men using an anti-sodomy law the Supreme Court had declared unconstitutional ten years ago. (Sheriff Sid Gautreaux says he hadn't heard about the Supreme Court decision.) Meanwhile, the local murder rate has jumped 40 percent over the past decade." Continue reading →

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New “451″ Error Message Would Tell Users When Governments Block Websites

"If you don't think book burning is a fair analogy for blocked websites, may I remind you that the British Library's wi-fi filter recently blocked users from accessing Hamlet due to its 'violent' content. Over the years there's been a steady stream of reports of innocent websites getting swept up in overzealous copyright crackdowns, and free expression activists fear the same will happen under British Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial 'pornwall.' A UK consumer rights organization wants to create a new error message, called '451 unavailable,' to specify that a webpage wasn’t simply not there, it was ordered to be blocked." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew “451″ Error Message Would Tell Users When Governments Block Websites

More Fast and Furious guns surface at crimes in Mexico

"Three more weapons from Fast and Furious have turned up at crime scenes in Mexico, CBS News has learned, as the toll from the controversial federal operation grows. According to Justice Department tracing documents obtained by CBS News, all three guns are WASR-10 762-caliber Romanian rifles. A steady stream of the guns have been recovered at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S. But the Justice Department has refused repeated requests from Congress and CBS News to provide a full accounting. An estimated 1,400 guns are still on the street or unaccounted for." Continue reading →

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‘We can do this without Congress’: Obama to unilaterally impose cell phone tax

"President Barack Obama is looking to unilaterally impose a $5-per-year tax on all cellphone users to avoid asking a recalcitrant Congress for funding. Obama hopes to rake in enough funds for a project called ConnectED that will cost taxpayers billions: expanding high-speed Internet access in classrooms across the country so that 99 percent of public school students can freely access the Internet. Obama administration officials promise that the tax would end in three years after the FCC filled its coffers with $6 billion, but gave no details on how the government would prevent potential cost overruns or measure the program’s progress." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Trust is falling

"Stocks are now as expensive as they were in 2007, says our old friend Mark Hulbert. As for bonds, they are at the top of a 30-year bull market. And gold? The metal bottomed out in 1998. It's gone up ever since, with a textbook correction over the last year or so. What's happening now? Slowly, gradually, like draining a huge lock on a canal, the bond market is dropping. Bonds rise on trust. They fall when trust ebbs away. Why should trust fall now? The simple answer is because it has run its course. Trust is cyclical. As it grows, people become more confident, more sure, and more reckless. Why hold back when there is nothing to fear?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Trust is falling

John Kerry, Organization Man

"Lots of people have lots of complaints about the Internet, and some of those complaints are based in fact. One that I hadn’t heard before, until US Secretary of State John Kerry brought it up, is that the Internet makes it 'much harder to govern, much harder to organize people, much harder to find the common interest …' Kerry’s lamentation isn’t the first such, nor will it be the last: The American and global political classes recognize fast, cheap communication between their subjects as the death knell for their own tenuous grip on power. The bloated, bureaucratic, hierarchal, snail-paced organizations on which states rely are no match." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry, Organization Man

John Kerry, Organization Man

"Lots of people have lots of complaints about the Internet, and some of those complaints are based in fact. One that I hadn’t heard before, until US Secretary of State John Kerry brought it up, is that the Internet makes it 'much harder to govern, much harder to organize people, much harder to find the common interest …' Kerry’s lamentation isn’t the first such, nor will it be the last: The American and global political classes recognize fast, cheap communication between their subjects as the death knell for their own tenuous grip on power. The bloated, bureaucratic, hierarchal, snail-paced organizations on which states rely are no match." Continue reading →

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Egyptian military vows lethal response ahead of nationwide ‘March of Anger’

"Egyptian authorities cited the need to protect state property and ensure people’s security as the reason for authorizing the use of lethal force against protesters. Earlier, US President Barack Obama canceled joint military exercises with Egypt in a sign of displeasure with the Cairo government’s crackdown. However, he made no moves to end or suspend annual US military aid of $1.3 billion to the country. According to the latest figures from the Egyptian Health Ministry, at least 638 people were killed and 3,994 injured after authorities destroyed pro-Morsi protest camps on Wednesday. At least 43 of those killed were security personnel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgyptian military vows lethal response ahead of nationwide ‘March of Anger’

Iranian Electoral Candidate Disqualified for Being Too Attractive

"27-year-old Nina Siahkali Moradi received 10,000 votes during the city's most recent election, placing her 14th out of the 163 candidates, which landed her the title of 'alternate member of council.' However when one of those ranked above her was elected as mayor, Moradi was instead disqualified. A senior office in Qazvin has been quoted as saying, 'We don't want a catwalk model on the council.' Moradi, a graduate student in architecture ran what many consider a successfully forward-leaning and high-profile election campaign, leading many to cite her disqualification as another blatant example of Iran's sexist policy." Continue reading →

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