"Special interests argue that occupational licensing somehow protects people, yet we have real-world examples for all 102 professions of states that have zero licensing restrictions and we don’t have examples of people dying or being harmed because of unregulated florists or rogue cosmetologists."
"It is this licensing which, in some cases, forced students to rack up student debt in the first place to satisfy these barriers to entry. Now, these roadblocks are contributing to unemployment."
"Joseph Stiglitz said that he favours making the digital currency illegal because it does not have a 'socially useful function'. 'Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight,' the renowned economist said."
"President Obama first approved U.S. support for the Saudi war effort. President Trump has continued the Obama policy. The war in Yemen has now become his war and his human rights catastrophe. Yemen today is arguably the worst humanitarian crisis on earth, and America’s role in it is undeniable and indispensable."
"The judge’s departure from the rules, which require learned counsel at every part of a capital prosecution, is inexplicable. Even beyond the binding military commission rules, the American Bar Association’s guidelines for capital cases have long explained that the unique and complex labyrinth of capital trial preparation and investigation requires qualified death penalty counsel represent the defendant at every stage of the proceedings. Nonetheless, Judge Spath suggested that the junior defense counsel should, alone, stand in the place of learned counsel and a team with deep knowledge of the voluminous issues that the case raises."
"Coast Guard officials say they can do this because the drug smugglers aren't under arrest until they reach U.S. shores, but some of the worst cases are drawing criticism even from Coast Guard officials. Many families, in fact, believe that their loved ones — husbands, fathers, sons — had disappeared."
"The Pentagon tried to block an independent assessment of child sex abuse crimes committed by Afghan soldiers and police, instead insisting on the creation of its own report offering a far less authoritative review of human rights violations perpetrated by U.S. allies, according to an aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Afghan security personnel have been known to recruit young boys as servants, sometimes to use for sex. There is a broader practice in Afghan society to dress some boys as women and have them dance at gatherings. Known as bacha bazi, it was banned under the Taliban but revived after the U.S. invasion in 2001."
"Alfred McCoy was a young rebel academic who waded into the war zone in Southeast Asia to investigate the relationship between the CIA, crime syndicates, and local drug lords. The result, which the Agency tried unsuccessfully to suppress, was his classic The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. In the 45 years since, McCoy has consistently probed the underside of American global power, analyzing how the United States uses covert interventions, local proxies, torture, and worldwide surveillance to maintain its global empire."
"Edward Cramer returned home in the midst of the raid, only to be met by leveled police guns, removed from his car, arrested, and placed in the police car with his wife for the next two hours. According to the lawsuit, Cramer repeatedly asked to show police that the plants were hibiscus, with the flowers clearly in bloom, to no avail."
"Each Worth County High School student will receive between $1,000 and $6,000, but students who attorneys say suffered more invasive violations will receive higher amounts. Hobby's attorney, Raleigh Rollins, said the settlement will be paid through the county's insurance policy rather than directly from public funds."