statism

While feds double down on marijuana prohibition, businesses stop bothering

"AutoNation may represent the first wave of a coming trend as marijuana becomes more socially acceptable and companies vie for workers in the tightest labor market in 17 years. As more states legalize -- Vermont will do so in July -- more employees are testing positive on drug tests, according to a Quest Diagnostics report released last year. Positive tests for marijuana rose about 75 percent from 2013 to 2016, the study showed. Results were based on more than 10 million drug tests."

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California to create a state-run bank for pot businesses to ease tax collection

"Store owners, growers and distributors are being forced to use cash because most banks won’t open accounts for them while the federal government still considers marijuana illegal. As revenues inevitably increase, they will be lugging larger stacks of 50s and 100s to the tax collector, a situation that everyone agrees makes businesses vulnerable to thievery, violent crime, money laundering and extortion."

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Libya after US ‘liberation’: Where lives are auctioned for $400

"A recent clampdown by the Libyan coastguard means fewer boats are making it out to sea, leaving the smugglers with a backlog of would-be passengers on their hands. So the smugglers become masters, the migrants and refugees become slaves."

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EU court rules that the UK’s mass surveillance powers are illegal

"DRIPA was passed in 2014 as 'emergency' legislation, with parliamentary debate restricted to just a single day of discussion. The law paved the way for 2016’s Investigatory Powers Act, which authorized even more intrusive powers, and which Edward Snowden dubbed 'the most extreme surveillance in the history of western democracy.' With DRIPA struck down as unlawful, it’s likely that the government will now have to scale back parts of the Investigatory Powers Act, otherwise known as the Snoopers’ Charter. The Act replaced DRIPA in 2016, and, among other measures, legalizes targeted hacking by the UK security services and requires that ISPs keep a record of all citizens’ web browsing habits for at least a year."

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We May Finally See the End of Compulsory Public-Sector Union Dues

"When they insist government employee wages would plummet in the absence of a union, they’re simply confirming the workers are already earning more than their labors are actually worth on the open market. These are the kinds of hard economic truths that will be exposed when Janus is finally heard next month and the injustices that will be righted if the court this summer votes to ban mandatory dues and fees in the public sector."

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The Most Expensive Mile of Subway Track on Earth

"Even though the M.T.A. is paying for its capital construction with taxpayer dollars, the government does not get a seat at the table when labor conditions are determined. Instead, the task of reining in the unions falls to the construction companies — which often try to drive up costs themselves."

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Trump considers nationalizing 5G mobile network to combat China

"Trump national security officials are considering an unprecedented federal takeover of a portion of the nation’s mobile network to guard against China, according to sensitive documents obtained by Axios. In the memo, the Trump administration likens it to 'the 21st century equivalent of the Eisenhower National Highway System' and says it would create a 'new paradigm' for the wireless industry by the end of Trump's current term."

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Guess Why Hundreds of Bus Boys Just Lost Their Jobs

"Earning a small wage is better than earning nothing at all due to unemployment. It’s easy to vilify restaurants and other companies when they respond to higher costs with layoffs. But it’s important to place the blame where it belongs. In this case, it’s bad policy."

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