statism

Cops Nab 5-Year-Old for Wearing Wrong Color Shoes to School

"In Mississippi, if kindergarteners violates the dress code or act out in class, they may end up in the back of a police car. A story about one five-year-old particularly stands out. The little boy was required to wear black shoes to school. Because he didn’t have black shoes, his mom used a marker to cover up his white and red sneakers. A bit of red and white were still noticeable, so the child was taken home by the cops. The child was escorted out of school so he and his mother would be taught a lesson. Ridiculous? Perhaps. But incidents such as this are happening across Mississippi." Continue reading →

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Yes, You Are A Criminal… You Just Don’t Know It Yet

"How many felonies have you committed today? If you’re like most Americans, you probably violate federal or state law several times each day, without even knowing it. Anyone can inadvertently run afoul of America’s metastasizing network of criminal laws. Spilling a drink in a nightclub is hardly what anyone would consider a criminal offense. Neither is purchasing medication over-the-counter. Once you have a criminal record, especially a felony conviction, you’ll find it much more difficult to live outside the United States, or to acquire a second citizenship and passport." Continue reading →

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New police advice to schools: Confront shooter (unarmed)

"Law enforcement authorities are increasingly advising school officials - and even young students - to physically confront suspects in future campus attacks as a final line of defense. The advisories, now included in training videos and documents prepared by police, represent a major shift in tactics for law enforcement officials who have traditionally counseled potential victims to flee and hide while waiting for authorities to answer calls for help." Continue reading →

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WA Dems Sponsor Bill Allowing Police To Search Gunowners’ Homes Once Per Year

"A Washington state bill sponsored by liberal Democrats contained a little-noticed provision that would have called for the police to have the right to search private citizens’ home once per year if they own certain types of guns. In other words, kiss the Fourth Amendment goodbye. Liberal lawmakers behind the bill claim they have no knowledge of the provision – which, of course, begs the question as to how the provision got into the bill in the first place." Continue reading →

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City spends $585,000 on study of how to save money

"Why did Baltimore need to pay outside consultants half a million dollars for a report that says the city's financial future is grim? Public Financial Management Inc. of Philadelphia won the contract in 2011 with a proposal to charge the city $460,000, beating two other finalists whose work would have cost taxpayers $500,000 and $507,000, respectively. But the scope of the needed work grew over the past year, and city officials added another $125,000 to the deal — meaning the consultants were paid $585,000 in all." Continue reading →

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1954 U.S. Comic Book Moral Panic Was Based On Fraudulent Data

"Behavioral problems among teenagers and preteens can be blamed on the media marketed to them – that was the topic of televised public hearings held by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1954. The hearings, which resulted in the decimation of what was an enormous comic book industry, had been inspired by the book 'Seduction of the Innocent,' by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, based on his own case studies. Wertham’s personal archives, however, show that the doctor revised children’s ages, distorted their quotes, omitted other causal factors and in general “played fast and loose with the data he gathered on comics.'” Continue reading →

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Thirty-five Percent of Major U.S. Regulations Were Issued Without Public Notice

"Federal law generally requires that regulations, both major and minor, be opened for public comment, allowing interested parties to read the rules and remark on them, potentially enacting changes to the proposed rules. The GAO report notes that the majority of the regulations published without a notice-and-comment period were done so because the government claimed to have 'good cause' to do so. The federal government invokes 'good cause' when it believes a comment period or comments are contrary to the public interest or if public notice may be deemed unnecessary or impractical." Continue reading →

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Iraq demands U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil end deal with Kurdistan

"Nuri al-Maliki also appeared to once again rule out production-sharing deals that Exxon has signed with Kurdistan, arguing that Iraq’s substantial oil reserves 'belong to all Iraqis,' an oft-cited phrase in Iraq’s constitution that central government officials see as justifying per-barrel service fees. The meeting was the first between Maliki and Exxon chief Rex Tillerson since the firm signed an agreement in October 2011 for oil exploration with Kurdistan, angering the central government in Baghdad, which regards deals signed without the expressed approval of the federal oil ministry as illegal." Continue reading →

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Iraq finds extra billion barrels of oil

"Iraq said on Sunday it has discovered deposits of crude equivalent to one billion barrels of oil after the first exploration work by state-owned firms in almost 30 years. The deposits were found after exploration in Maysan province, in southern Iraq near the border with Iran, and could potentially make a significant addition to Baghdad’s already substantial reserves. Iraq, which is highly dependent on oil sales for government revenue, has sought in recent years to dramatically ramp up production and exploration in order to help rebuild its conflict-battered economy and infrastructure." Continue reading →

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Ecuadorean Tribal Leaders Fight Government, Gold-Hungry Chinese

"The most famous case of Shuar 'insolence' occurred in 1599, when the Spanish governor of Maca demanded a gold tax from local Indians to fund a celebration of the coronation of Philip III. The night before the tax was due, Shuar armies slaughtered every adult male in the Spanish hamlets and surrounded the governor’s home. They tied the governor to his bed and used a bone to push freshly melted gold down his throat, laughing and demanding to know if he had finally sated his thirst. For the next 250 years, the Spanish mostly stayed away. Occasional attempts by Jesuit missionaries to reestablish contact were met with a welcome basket of skulls." Continue reading →

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