statism

Louisiana Drug Lifer Struggles For Freedom… Someday

"So what did Butler do to get life in 'the Alacatraz of the South'? Possession of small amounts of marijuana and crack cocaine found on him after police stopped and frisked him as he rode away from them on his bicycle. Last October 3, it appeared it had. On that date, the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his conviction, ruling that New Orleans police officers 'illegally searched Butler and seized his drugs without probable cause.' The state Supreme Court then upheld the original life-without-parole sentence -- because he had ridden his bicycle on a sidewalk as he rode away from police!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLouisiana Drug Lifer Struggles For Freedom… Someday

Prison Gang Ran Prison, Sold Drugs, Had Sex With Female Officers And Made A Profit

"Federal prosecutors say 13 female correctional officers, seven inmates and five others with gang ties have been charged with plotting to smuggle drugs, cellphones and other contraband into the Baltimore jail and other corrections facilities. An indictment unsealed Tuesday said the ring also involved sex between inmates and guards that led to four of the officers becoming pregnant by Tavon White, leader of a jailhouse gang called the Black Guerrilla Family. He is held at the Baltimore City Detention Center, awaiting trial on a charge of attempted murder. The indictment claims the gang ran the scheme from inside the detention center." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrison Gang Ran Prison, Sold Drugs, Had Sex With Female Officers And Made A Profit

Kremlin turns back to typewriters to avoid security leaks

"The throwback to the paper-strewn days of Soviet bureaucracy has reportedly been prompted by the publication of secret documents by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and the revelations leaked by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. The Federal Guard Service, which is also in charge of protecting President Vladimir Putin, is looking to spend just over 486,000 rubles ($14,800) to buy a number of electric typewriters. Pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia said the state service was looking to purchase 20 typerwriters because using computers to prepare top-secret documents may no longer be safe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKremlin turns back to typewriters to avoid security leaks

Yes, You Have Something to Fear, Even if You’re a Law-Abiding Person

"Whether we’re talking about NSA spying, cross-border collection and sharing of private financial data by tax-hungry governments, pointlessly intrusive money-laundering laws, or other schemes to give the state more power and authority, we’re often told that 'if you’re a law-abiding person, you have nothing to fear.' But that assumes government is both competent and trustworthy. You don’t have to be a crazed libertarian like me to realize that those two words are not a good description of Washington. If we cross the wrong bureaucrat, our lives may be ruined – particularly since there are very few checks and balances to restrain these petty tyrants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYes, You Have Something to Fear, Even if You’re a Law-Abiding Person

Bill would establish U.S. national park on the Moon

"The site where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first landed on the Moon in July 1969 could receive the same federal protection as Yellowstone. In a press release, Edwards explained the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act would ensure the scientific data and cultural significance of the Apollo artifacts remains unharmed by future lunar landings by endowing the artifacts as a National Historic Park. The bill would also direct the Secretary of the Interior to nominate the Apollo landing site as a UNESCO World Heritage Site." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill would establish U.S. national park on the Moon

Detroit Cancels City Blight Tour for Creditors

"Creditors of the city of Detroit aren't interested in the city blight, they want their money. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's office announced Tuesday afternoon that a bus tour of Detroit planned for 25 creditors who are being asked to forgive the city's debt has been cancelled, reports AllMichigan.com. Orr has been trying to get city creditors, who are owed billions, to accept massive concessions in order to prevent bankruptcy. And don't think Detroit is anomaly, crises are developing in other cities and some states." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit Cancels City Blight Tour for Creditors

Portugal Throws Open Europe’s Them-And-Us Austerity Divide

"Half way through his four-year term, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho is trying to curb popular resentment over what opponents say is a widening gulf between private employees and about 600,000 public workers who have mostly stayed immune to mass job cuts. What’s bothering the Portuguese isn’t just that austerity helped prolong a recession and sent unemployment to a record 18 percent, it’s also that the government used taxation more than those in Greece and Ireland to try to narrow the budget deficit. Some workers on the state payrolls are perceived to have escaped the deterioration in living standards being felt by others." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPortugal Throws Open Europe’s Them-And-Us Austerity Divide

French business leaders lash out at Francois Hollande

"The chief executives of top firms including Peugeot Citroën, EADS, Sanofi and Publicis signed a joint letter to Les Echos, complaining that France is being suffocated by high taxes and an over-regulated system that is no longer fit for purpose. The group called for a radical shake-up of labour markets to let each firm set its own working hours, and a 'coherent' energy policy to bring down costs from current ruinous levels. Gas prices are three times as high as in the US. Christophe de Margerie, head of the energy giant Total, said France’s outdated welfare model is draining the economy’s life-blood." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench business leaders lash out at Francois Hollande

Japan Government To Change Inflation Calculation Ushering In Even More BOJ Liquidity

"The official explanation for this upcoming adoption of core-core-CPI which also excludes energy prices in addition to fresh food costs (as core CPI does everywhere else in the world) is to 'raise the bar' on Abe's inflation goal. In reality, it will simply grant the BOJ unlimited ammo to continue injecting liquidity indefinitely because absent exploding energy costs (as we have discussed), inflation in Japan is quite dormant. But what will really happen is that inflation will merely become just one more governmentally-determined and goalseeked economic indicator and policy tool, as it is in the US and China." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan Government To Change Inflation Calculation Ushering In Even More BOJ Liquidity

Campus ‘smoke-free’ edicts extend to smokeless products and e-cigarettes

"The number of campuses enacting bans has been rapidly increasing. In early 2007, there were about 140 smoke-free campuses. By July 1, 2012, that number rose to about 770, according to the advocacy group. University of Massachusetts-Amherst's tobacco-free policy began July 1. Junior Derek Fisher said it is annoying that the university bans all forms of tobacco, even those that do not cause secondhand smoke, like chewing tobacco or electronic cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes are not currently regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Many schools are including the products in their bans until health risks associated with them are known, Williams said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCampus ‘smoke-free’ edicts extend to smokeless products and e-cigarettes