statism

Prescription Drug Overdoses Killed 23,000 Americans in 2010; Cannabis – 0

"Drug overdose deaths rose for the eleventh straight year in America, fueled by legal prescriptions for OxyContin and Valium. Medical cannabis, meanwhile, continued its 10,000 year-long streak of not killing anyone by overdose. There is no physical way to overdose on smoked or ingested cannabis, making it one of the safest, most non-toxic painkillers, sleeping aids, and stress relievers on the planet. It’s also a Schedule One narcotic that the U.S. government says has no medical use and a high potential for abuse. Drugs that the U.S. government considers safer caused about 60 percent of the 38,329 drug overdose deaths nationwide in 2010." Continue reading →

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Columbine Gunshot Survivor To Obama On Gun Control: ‘WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?’

"'It was during this time that I personally witnessed two fellow students murder twelve of my classmates and one teacher,' he writes. 'The assault weapons ban did not deter these two murderers, nor did the other thirty-something laws that they broke.' Of particular note in the letter is the survivor’s insistence that Obama’s proposed regulations impede the rights of Americans and endanger them by capping magazine sizes and restricting the types of guns that are available to law-abiding citizens. 'Why would you prefer criminals to have the ability to out-gun law-abiding citizens?,' he asks the president in the text. 'Whose side are you on?'" Continue reading →

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India plans $70 million mission to Mars in 2013

"India said on Thursday it will send a $70 million space mission to Mars this year to study the red planet’s atmosphere. The unmanned Mars orbiter mission, to be launched in October by the Indian Space Research Organisation, will undertake a 300-day journey to the planet to collect data about its climate and geology. India says the Mars mission will mark a significant step in its space programme, which has already placed a probe on the moon and envisages its first manned mission in 2016." Continue reading →

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Obama’s Washington Monument Syndrome

"The game is this: Whenever a politician is 'threatened' with a minor slowdown in spending, the first thing to do is to eliminate police, firefighters, ambulance services, school buses, etc. -- everything that inflicts the maximum discomfort on the victims of the government monopoly (a.k.a., taxpayers). The booboisie then wake up from their American Idol stupor for a moment to raise a fuss. But it may not work for the Obammunists, for their biggest threat so far is to furlough 'civilian defense employees.' Unlike ambulance or school bus drivers, these bureaucrats provide no useful service to anyone. They will be the only ones complaining." Continue reading →

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NYC’s Plan To Round Up Mentally Ill People Who Are Not Taking Court-Ordered Medication

"The NYPD is taking a more proactive approach to trying to prevent future crimes by people who are not receiving court-ordered mental health treatment. The city has come up with a list of 25 such individuals and, if found, they will be forced to receive treatment. Judge Andrew Napolitano weighed in on the city’s plan this morning on Fox and Friends, arguing that it is not the job of police to try to predict who might commit a crime based on how they are acting." Continue reading →

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The World Goes to Monetary War

"What does it all mean? Essentially that, just as in the 1930s during the Great Depression, everybody is in open protectionist confrontation against everybody else. Back then the 'beggar-thy-neighbor' policies started with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. This time responsibility for triggering the devaluation race in the developed world is more widespread but the objective is similar to that of tariff policy in the 1930s." Continue reading →

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Foreign asset reporting before FBAR and FATCA: “loyalty questionnaires” for World War II Japanese American internees

"Most of us are familiar only with modern-day attempts to get Americans to report non-US accounts and investments: the controlled foreign corporation laws of the 1960s, followed by the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, and today’s FATCA. But three decades before TD F 90-22.1 and seven decades before Form 8938, there was WRA 126, 'Application for Leave Clearance', which had to be filed by any Japanese American seeking to leave a War Relocation Authority internment camp." Continue reading →

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G20 vows to combat corporate tax avoidance

"G20 finance ministers meeting in Moscow have pledged to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies. The final communique said members were determined to develop measures to stop firms shifting profits from a home country to pay less tax elsewhere. The UK, France and Germany were the main movers behind the drive. The communique also said members would refrain from devaluing their currencies to gain economic advantage, amid fears of a new 'currency war'." Continue reading →

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You Should Be Able to “Dear John” The State

"Meet Ray. We'll call Ray a conscientious objector, because he acts out of conscience. People confine this term to those who object to military service. But why do those persons object? A conscientious objector is someone who wants the right to divorce a service provider or institution. He is disgusted by what is done in his name under the rubric of democracy, appalled at what is done with the money extracted from him in taxes. He wants to terminate his support. You may think Ray is noble until I tell you to what he objected: State schooling, otherwise known as 'public schools.'" Continue reading →

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India mulling further efforts to curb gold imports

"The world's biggest gold importer has been trying to get its population to buy less of the metal. Late January, the government hiked the import duty on gold and platinum to 6% from 4% to curb imports of the precious metal. However, realising that an import duty hike was in the offing, bullion retailers purchased 23% more gold in January this year, ahead of the duty hike. 'The shipment was the highest in 18 months and clearly undermined the government's efforts to cap imports. A purchase of 100 tonne in one month is 40% more than the monthly average. This has got the government worried once again,' said Baijal Pushpesh, bullion retailer." Continue reading →

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