statism

France Prohibits Sending Currency, “Coins And Precious Metals” By Mail

"In new legislation which was enacted May 23rd, the French government decreed that it is forbidden to send all forms of currency - coins and cash and all forms of precious metals – coins, bars and jewellery by mail. There were no communications and nobody in the government justified or explained this decision. 3 months ago in March, Fedex began stopping French people from taking delivery of precious metals. At the start of the year, UPS began stopping French people from taking delivery of precious metals. In recent days Fedex have stopped allowing companies and individuals to send or receive precious metal bullion by insured mail in Germany and the UK." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrance Prohibits Sending Currency, “Coins And Precious Metals” By Mail

I’ve Never Been More Outraged at Washington

"If you think there’s been a loss of privacy and liberty since George W. Bush took office 13 years ago, brace yourself ― it’s about to get a lot worse. It’s what happens when governments start to fight for their survival. It happened in Rome. In Byzantium. In the Weimar Republic in Germany. And in countless other countries where governments became desperate for revenue and started losing the confidence of their citizens. They start invading upon citizens’ privacy and liberties. They start regulating everything in sight. And they start taxing just about anything that moves. Why is it about to get a whole lot worse for us Americans? There are several reasons." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingI’ve Never Been More Outraged at Washington

Spying row whistleblower Edward Snowden urged by top official to leave Hong Kong

"A senior Hong Kong politician advised the US spying row whistleblower today to leave the city or face extradition to America. Edward Snowden outed himself last night as the person who leaked details of the US Government’s secret surveillance operations, snooping on the e-mails of non-US citizens around the world and on phone records. Mr Snowden, 29, a former technical assistant for the CIA who was employed as a contractor at the US National Security Agency, revealed that he had been holed up in a hotel room in Hong Kong for the past three weeks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpying row whistleblower Edward Snowden urged by top official to leave Hong Kong

Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks

"'We managed to survive greater threats in our history . . . than a few disorganized terrorist groups and rogue states without resorting to these sorts of programs. It is not that I do not value intelligence, but that I oppose . . . omniscient, automatic, mass surveillance. . . . That seems to me a greater threat to the institutions of free society than missed intelligence reports, and unworthy of the costs. Analysts (and government in general) aren’t bad guys, and they don’t want to think of themselves as such,' he replied. But he said they labored under a false premise that 'if a surveillance program produces information of value, it legitimizes it.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks

Ohio: Mother-Daughter Speed Trap Team Face The Judge

"Between July 2007 and February 2010, Covert and Jarvis used their positions in charge of handling cash, making bank deposits for the village and maintaining traffic court records, to skim $260,000 in revenue collected from drivers into their own pockets. The village, population 742, is a notorious speed trap, as documented by the National Speed Trap Exchange. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters concluded Arlington Heights should not even exist. 'The village council needs to seriously consider dissolving the village of Arlington Heights,' Deters said in a statement. 'The village seems to be nothing more than a speed trap with no checks and balances.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOhio: Mother-Daughter Speed Trap Team Face The Judge

California Elementary School Hosts Toy Gun Buyback, Fingerprinting Fair

"An elementary school in Hayward California held a toy gun exchange Saturday (6/8/13), offering students a book and a chance to win a bicycle if they turned in their play weapons. At Saturday’s event, called Strobridge Elementary Safety Day, a Hayward police officer demonstrated bicycle and gun safety, and the Alameda County Fire Department sent a rig and crew to talk about fire safety. Fingerprinting and photographing of children was offered, with the information put on CDs for parents. All youngsters who attended were given a ticket to exchange for a book." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia Elementary School Hosts Toy Gun Buyback, Fingerprinting Fair

French government minister urges public e-cigarette ban

"French Health Minister Marisol Touraine has called for electronic cigarettes to be banned from public places and their sale to be restricted to over-16s only. In an interview with French radio station France Info on Friday morning, Touraine urged that electronic cigarettes be treated in the same way as normal cigarettes. 'We want the same laws that apply to normal cigarettes to apply to electronic cigarettes,' she said, adding that advertisements for e-cigarettes should also be banned. The pen-sized instruments have grown increasingly popular among the smoking community, especially young bar-goers. 'I want us to rally against smoking,' she said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench government minister urges public e-cigarette ban

Meet the nice-guy lawyers who want $1,000 per worker for using scanners

"Starting late last year, hundreds of US businesses began to receive demand letters from secretive patent-holding companies with six-letter gibberish names: AdzPro, GosNel, and JitNom. The letters state that using basic office equipment, like scanners that can send files to e-mail, infringes a series of patents owned by MPHJ Technologies. Unless the target companies make payments—which start at around $9,000 for the smallest targeted businesses but go up from there—they could face legal action." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMeet the nice-guy lawyers who want $1,000 per worker for using scanners