Preserving Freedom

Going Underground

2014-10-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

"You can't fight markets," says David Shirk, associate professor of international relations and director of the Justice in Mexico project at the University of San Diego. "When a market reaches a certain size, you can't fight it."

Joe Garcia, a deputy special agent with the Department of Homeland Security and head of the San Diego Tunnel Task Force, would beg to differ. He and his colleagues have spent much of their careers doing just that, discovering more than 200 drug tunnels under the California-Mexico border since the inception of the task force in 1990.

"We want to make it so unattractive to do the type of work that they do, that they'll go somewhere else," says Garcia.

Garcia and his team are skilled at discovering tunnels and filling them up and have garnered favorable local press coverage on a number of big drug busts. But despite these high-visibility wins for Garcia's team, a recent report from the California Attorney General's office paints a picture of a California-Mexico border that's leakier than ever and reports that California has surpassed Texas as the nation's top methamphetamine entry point.

"For every mile of fencing we put up, for every extra thousand or ten thousand border patrol agents that we throw into the area, there's always some trafficker or some organization out there who's figuring out how to maneuver around those obstacles," says Shirk, who contributed to the Attorney General's report.

Garcia acknowledges that the team's initial approach felt a lot like "playing whack-a-mole," with a new tunnel popping up every time they shut an old one down. So, the team shifted its strategy and began targeting the heads of the organizations funding the tunnels, which reflects a broader shift in the U.S. war on drugs. Government efforts to systematically eliminate cartel leaders promptly destabilized the region and led to some of the worst bloodshed in the country's history.

"It was when the government decided to take on drug traffickers that the drug war became a literal war," says Shirk.

Decades of experience and improvements in technology have honed the tunnel task force's proficiency at detecting and eliminating tunnels, and Garcia's team has all but stamped out amateurish, unskilled smuggling operations. In this challenging environment, the most sophisticated and well-funded operations have cornered the market and see a bigger and better payout at the end of the proverbial, and literal, tunnel. As a result, the team has discovered numerous so-called "super tunnels" over the past five years: deep, multi-million dollar, professionally constructed tunnels boasting elevator shafts, high-powered ventilation, and even electric trains, possibly making them some of California's first ever profitable rail projects.

The technological arms race between law enforcement and drug traffickers has done little to shake Garcia's faith in the righteousness of his mission. He describes himself as the Dutch boy from the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, holding his finger in the leaky dike to hold back a flood until backup arrives with a more permanent solution.

"We know that's a long, hard road, and we may never be successful in our lifetimes. But we have to continue to lay that foundation down," he says.

That's one way to think about America's 40-year war on drugs. Another is to imagine a tiny tunnel underneath the border. You fill it. But another, bigger and better tunnel appears, so you assemble a special team of professionals to fill up tunnels and keep up with the professionals on the other side. And now, it's just you, and the professionals. You both learn and improve every time. The tunnels are getting bigger and better, but at least you're finding them. You are finding all of them, right?

Different Rules For The Rulers

2014-10-12T08:01:00.000-05:00

It's okay to speed and make dangerous lane changes when your late for a conference.... and a cop.

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An Explanation of Current Events in the Middle East

2014-09-25T19:36:00.000-05:00

Lesson I:

Lesson II:

Three Reasons We Should Not Be Fighting ISIS In The Middle East

2014-09-21T08:53:00.000-05:00

From Reason TV:

President Obama has effectively declared war on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, announcing that "we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIS through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy."

But here are three reasons we should not be fighting ISIS in the Middle East.

1. ISIS isn’t that powerful.

War hawks such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) claim that "the threat ISIS poses cannot be overstated." That is itself an overstatement. The FBI and Homeland Security both say ISIS isn’t a credible threat to the American homeland. The group may be great at using social media to exaggerate its power, but estimates of its troop strength range between 10,000 and 30,000 and most analysts talk about a core group of a few thousand fighters.

2. It’s a regional conflict.

ISIS controls territory inside Iraq and Syria. But even President Obama concedes that ISIS does not currently pose a threat "beyond that region."

Iraq and Syria—and their neighbors, including Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Kurds—are the ones that must deal with this problem. Iraq’s army has more than one-quarter of a million U.S.-trained troops, the Peshmerga almost as many. Iran’s active forces number over half a million.

3. What counts as victory?

In announcing bombing runs and sending more American soliders to the Middle East, President Obama not only failed to call for congressional authorization, he neglected to discuss any sort of exit strategy. That’s a prerequisite for any responsible war plan. As important, his definition of success—we will "ultimately destroy" ISIS—is a goal nobody has ever achieved against any terrorist group.

Let’s be clear: The U.S. should do everything it can to defend its citizens and its interests.

But if the past dozen years have taught us anything—in Iraq and elsehwere—it’s that war is more complicated than our leaders ever want to admit. And it’s a lot easier to start wars than to win them—or even know when they’re over.

Another Attempt to Explain Why There is No Global Warming

2014-08-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

Even though it is "settled science", the "Global Warming" models are not working. The models say the earth should be warming, but the earth hasn't been warming for the last 15 years. But "Global Warming" is "settled science" and we must take action based on the models. So the advocates of "Global Warming" keep on coming up with theories why the models are not working. Yet we must make massive changes based on these not working models. Yeah right.

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/atlantic-holds-key-to-global-warming-hiatus-17930

Heather Johnson: Libertarian Mom Running for US Senate in Minnesota

2014-08-06T17:00:00.000-05:00

Heather Johnson may not have much experience as a government official. But as the mother of two daughters and the Secretary of the Minnesota Libertarian Party, she has plenty of experience battling government officials. Johnson declared her candidacy for US Senate and she’s already showing what an energized and active campaign looks like. She’ll need to work extra hard, as the odds are always against honest, sincere citizen-candidates. But don’t forget - it’s Minnesota, where anything can happen on Election Day.

If you think it’s difficult being a mother of two young girls, working, volunteering, and going back to college all at the same time, try adding a run for US Senate to the list. While that massive burden might cripple most people, the Libertarian Party’s Heather Johnson only seems to get more energized from the challenge.

Read rest of article here:

Libertarian Mom running for US Senate in Minnesota

What Happened to the Malaysian Airlines Flight?

2014-07-21T11:30:00.000-05:00

From the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity:

What the Media Won’t Report About Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17

Written by Ron Paul

Sunday July 20, 2014

Just days after the tragic crash of a Malaysian Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine, Western politicians and media joined together to gain the maximum propaganda value from the disaster. It had to be Russia; it had to be Putin, they said. President Obama held a press conference to claim – even before an investigation – that it was pro-Russian rebels in the region who were responsible. His ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, did the same at the UN Security Council – just one day after the crash!

While western media outlets rush to repeat government propaganda on the event, there are a few things they will not report.

They will not report that the crisis in Ukraine started late last year, when EU and US-supported protesters plotted the overthrow of the elected Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych. Without US-sponsored “regime change,” it is unlikely that hundreds would have been killed in the unrest that followed. Nor would the Malaysian Airlines crash have happened.

The media has reported that the plane must have been shot down by Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists, because the missile that reportedly brought down the plane was Russian made. But they will not report that the Ukrainian government also uses the exact same Russian-made weapons.

They will not report that the post-coup government in Kiev has, according to OSCE monitors, killed 250 people in the breakaway Lugansk region since June, including 20 killed as government forces bombed the city center the day after the plane crash! Most of these are civilians and together they roughly equal the number killed in the plane crash. By contrast, Russia has killed no one in Ukraine, and the separatists have struck largely military, not civilian, targets.

They will not report that the US has strongly backed the Ukrainian government in these attacks on civilians, which a State Department spokeswoman called “measured and moderate.”

They will not report that neither Russia nor the separatists in eastern Ukraine have anything to gain but everything to lose by shooting down a passenger liner full of civilians.

They will not report that the Ukrainian government has much to gain by pinning the attack on Russia, and that the Ukrainian prime minister has already expressed his pleasure that Russia is being blamed for the attack.

They will not report that the missile that apparently shot down the plane was from a sophisticated surface-to-air missile system that requires a good deal of training that the separatists do not have.

They will not report that the separatists in eastern Ukraine have inflicted considerable losses on the Ukrainian government in the week before the plane was downed.

They will not report how similar this is to last summer’s US claim that the Assad government in Syria had used poison gas against civilians in Ghouta. Assad was also gaining the upper hand in his struggle with US-backed rebels and the US claimed that the attack came from Syrian government positions. Then, US claims led us to the brink of another war in the Middle East. At the last minute public opposition forced Obama to back down – and we have learned since then that US claims about the gas attack were false.

Of course it is entirely possible that the Obama administration and the US media has it right this time, and Russia or the separatists in eastern Ukraine either purposely or inadvertently shot down this aircraft. The real point is, it's very difficult to get accurate information so everybody engages in propaganda. At this point it would be unwise to say the Russians did it, the Ukrainian government did it, or the rebels did it. Is it so hard to simply demand a real investigation?

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Copyright © 2014 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.

How the Global Warming Scare Began

2014-07-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

From KUSITV9:

A great scientist named Roger Revelle had Al Gore in his class at Harvard and the Global Warming campaign was born. Revelle tried to calm things down years later, but Gore said Revelle was Senile and refused to debate. John Coleman documents the entire story and shows how our tax dollars are perpetuating the Global Warming alarmist campaign even though temperatures have not risen in years and years.

Hardy Macia - Samuel Adams Award

2014-07-07T17:30:00.000-05:00

The late Hardy Macia, whose soft whisper boldly asked New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan to allow cancer patients in need of relief to grow their own marijuana plants, was awarded the Samuel Adams Award for Activism at the Libertarian Party 2014 National Convention.

Harry Browne - Hall of Liberty

2014-07-06T18:00:00.000-05:00

From the Libertarian Party:

Congratulations to the late Harry Browne, two-time LP presidential candidate, who was inducted into the Hall of Liberty at the 2014 Libertarian Party National Convention.

The “Hall of Liberty” program is to honor lifetime or significant achievement that has made a lasting affect on the Libertarian Party and/or libertarian movement.

Those honored will be featured on the LP web site and on a “Wall of Liberty” in the LP national office.

Richard Winger - Hall of Liberty

2014-07-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

From the Libertarian Party:

Congratulations to Richard Winger, longtime editor of Ballot Access News, who was inducted into the Hall of Liberty at the 2014 Libertarian Party National Convention. Richard is a walking encyclopedia of ballot access laws.

The “Hall of Liberty” program is to honor lifetime or significant achievement that has made a lasting affect on the Libertarian Party and/or libertarian movement.

Those honored will be featured on the LP web site and on a “Wall of Liberty” in the LP national office.

Surf Without Surveillance?

2014-07-06T10:39:00.002-05:00

From Reason TV:

"People are under the impression that the Internet is sort of anonymous by default," says Karen Reilly, development director of the Tor Project. "They don't know how many digital trails they're leaving behind."

As the latest NSA scandal has alerted the public to the threat of widespread government surveillance, Reilly shows us how to restore our privacy in the digital world. Reason TV editor Nick Gillespie spoke with Riley about Tor, a set of software encryption tools that empowers people to use email and surf the web anonymously.

"There's a lot of everyday reasons why people would use Tor," Reilly says. "You don't necessarily have to be somebody who's under a particular threat to want privacy." Among the half million people who use Tor include victims of violence, people with medical conditions, people who don't trust their Internet service provider, and those who object to government surveillance on principle.

Wars Are Not Good For The Economy (Paul Krugman's Space Aliens Included)

2014-06-18T19:24:00.000-05:00

From James Corbett, BoilingFrogsPost.com:

The idea that the Great Depression was finally brought to an end by the onset of WWII has been a staple of history textbooks, documentaries and various war propaganda for decades. This myth continues to be perpetuated to the present day.

The idea that war is good for the economy is, needless to say, a fallacious argument which itself is based on incorrect economic data.

The idea that the economic activity surrounding militarization represents a net economic gain is called the “broken window fallacy.” This fallacy was named and identified by French economist Frédéric Bastiat in his 1850 essay, “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen,” in which he imagines the case of a shopkeeper whose careless son breaks a pane of glass in his shop window. In Bastiat’s example, ‘that which is seen’ is that the glazier comes, performs the task of fixing the window, and receives six francs for his effort. Onlookers to the scene believe that the economy has actually been bolstered by this act of destruction, since six francs have been spent into it that otherwise would not have been.

But Bastiat notes that what is important is not what is seen, but what is not seen: “It is not seen that as our shopkeeper has spent six francs upon one thing, he cannot spend them upon another. It is not seen that if he had not had a window to replace, he would, perhaps, have replaced his old shoes, or added another book to his library. In short, he would have employed his six francs in some way, which this accident has prevented.”

Similarly, production for war is the broken window fallacy writ large. Economic “gains” produced by government spending on munitions and vehicle manufacture and supplying and equipping the troops are not gains at all; money has merely been diverted to the pockets of the defense contractors via the political cronies in their back pocket.

So why is this important? Because sadly, this myth is being played on by the warmongering class to once again push the idea that war is good and even necessary for economic progress. This time it is not just manufacture of supplies or munitions that are being touted, but war’s ability to justify government spending on investment. No matter how unlikely the threat, or whether it is indeed completely made up, this warped thinking holds that such lies and exaggerations are the answer to our current economic problems.

Sadly, it is not just intellectual deficients like Paul Krugman making this case. In a new op-ed in the New York Times, Tyler Cowen of George Mason University argues that technological advances from nuclear research to rocketry to internet and robotics have all been spurred by defense spending, and thus war or threats of war are necessary to continue the advance of civilization.

Why these technologies are ends in themselves, or more valuable than the tens of millions of lives lost in the previous “great wars” is a question left unexamined. Perhaps more to the point, Cowen never addresses why such advances could not take place in the absence of war or without the motivation of advancing the methods of killing as their impetus.

What is most fundamentally upsetting about the mindset that justifies carnage in the name of “economic gain” is that economic gain is usually measured in abstract concepts like GDP growth or increasing equities markets that have no or even negative correlation with the livelihood of the poorest members of society. Income actually shrank by 0.7% for 99% of Americans during the supposed “recovery” of 2009-2011. For the top 1%, income grew 11.5%. This is the type of “help” that massive government spending on bank bailouts and other stimulus measures invariably creates. In times of war, the situation is even more perverse: money is created as debt owed to the banks, backed up by the average working taxpayer, to pay politically-connected defense contractors to create bombs to kill poor brown people on the other side of the planet. This is called economic progress.

Taken to its logical conclusion, there is only one more effective way of solving the problem of poverty. After all, if we are willing to believe the lie that sacrificing lives is good for the economy, why not go that one step further…

No to Iraq War III

2014-06-17T19:50:00.000-05:00

Haven’t We Already Done Enough Damage in Iraq?

By Ron Paul

Ron Paul Institute

June 17, 2014

In 2006, I invited the late General Bill Odom to address my Thursday Congressional luncheon group. Gen. Odom, a former NSA director, called the Iraq war “the greatest strategic disaster in American history,” and told the surprised audience that he could not understand why Congress had not impeached the president for pushing this disaster on the United States. History continues to prove the General’s assessment absolutely correct.

In September, 2002, arguing against a US attack on Iraq, I said the following on the House Floor:

No credible evidence has been produced that Iraq has or is close to having nuclear weapons. No evidence exists to show that Iraq harbors al Qaeda terrorists. Quite to the contrary, experts on this region recognize Hussein as an enemy of the al Qaeda and a foe to Islamic fundamentalism.

Unfortunately, Congress did not listen.

As we know, last week the second largest city in Iraq, Mosul, fell to the al-Qaeda allied Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Last week an al-Qaeda that had not been in Iraq before our 2003 invasion threatened to move on the capitol, Baghdad, after it easily over-ran tens of thousands of Iraqi military troops.

The same foreign policy “experts” who lied us into the Iraq war are now telling us we must re-invade Iraq to deal with the disaster caused by their invasion! They cannot admit they were wrong about the invasion being a “cakewalk” that would pay for itself, so they want to blame last week’s events on the 2011 US withdrawal from Iraq. But the trouble started with the 2003 invasion itself, not the 2011 troop withdrawal. Anyone who understands cause and effect should understand this.

The Obama administration has said no option except for ground troops is off the table to help the Iraqi government in this crisis. We should not forget, however, that the administration does not consider Special Forces or the CIA to be “boots on the ground.” So we may well see Americans fighting in Iraq again.

It is also likely that the administration will begin shipping more weapons and other military equipment to the Iraqi army, in the hopes that they might be able to address the ISIS invasion themselves. After years of US training, costing as much as $20 billion, it is unlikely the Iraqi army is up to the task. Judging from the performance of the Iraqi military as the ISIS attacked, much of that money was wasted or stolen.

A big US government weapons transfer to Iraq will no doubt be favored by the US military-industrial complex, which stands to profit further from the Iraq meltdown. This move will also be favored by those in Washington who realize how politically unpopular a third US invasion of Iraq would be at home, but who want to “do something” in the face of the crisis. Shipping weapons may be an action short of war, but it usually leads to war. And as we have already seen in Iraq and Syria, very often these weapons fall into the hands of the al-Qaeda we are supposed to be fighting!

Because of the government’s foolish policy of foreign interventionism, the U.S.is faced with two equally stupid choices: either pour in resources to prop up an Iraqi government that is a close ally with Iran, or throw our support in with al-Qaida in Iraq (as we have done in Syria). I say we must follow a third choice: ally with the American people and spend not one more dollar or one more life attempting to re-make the Middle East. Haven’t we have already done enough damage?

Copyright © 2014 by Ron Paul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given

What Can Happen In A Society That Is Conditioned To Obey Authority

2014-06-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

What can happen in a society that is conditioned to obey authority. A society that willingly consents to security theater at the airport and elsewhere.

Dayton's Libertarian Challenge

2014-06-04T06:30:00.000-05:00

An Open Letter from Chris Holbrook, Libertarian Candidate for MN Governor:

Dear Mark,

After a hard day of collecting signatures and talking to voters about my upcoming campaign, I was rather excited to see the piece that Baird Helgeson penned for the Star Tribune about your ‘strong libertarian impulses.’ The fact that you vacillate between Libertarian and Liberal on a daily basis is one of the many reasons I’ve stepped forward to run, as an option for Minnesotans who want someone who doesn’t waver on liberty. Over 50% of the voters polled have stated they want more choices on the ballot, which is an inherently libertarian position. Furthermore, when asked to identify themselves, a growing population of people state they are “fiscally conservative, and socially liberal” a.k.a. Libertarian.

Among these people are Millennials, who are disenfranchised with the status quo of present day politics. Politicians often misrepresent themselves to gain favor with specific groups or simply to get votes, and both major parties have been guilty of this in the past. Again people want more choices. And while your fiscal actions have rarely been Libertarian – read the massive Vikings Stadium subsidy, $2.1 Billion dollar tax increase, your move to unionize the daycare workers by executive edict or the abdication of the marijuana bill to special interests – I’m glad that you are adopting freedom and liberty, taking our platform and criticisms seriously, and rethinking some of your old beliefs.

Here’s the thing: my party, the Libertarian Party of Minnesota and my friends, family and co-workers have been collecting thousands of signatures to gain our candidates access to the ballot in November. Despite the obstruction of your government, from timelines to arrests, we’ve met our goal and will be turning them into the SOS today (along with our other independent comrades in the Green Party, etc.)!! This is grassroots politics in action!

Unfortunately, even though we have talked with literally thousands of Minnesotans (and will talk to many thousands more by November), and they want to hear from MORE candidates like me, at this time I and the other Libertarian candidates will not be allowed to participate in any of the televised debates. Honestly Mark, that’s not very libertarian.

What I’m asking from you, my Libertarian Brother, is that you advocate for the libertarian idea of free speech and transparency in government by supporting the inclusion of me and the other minor parties in all candidate debates this year. I know you’re only one man, but you’re the man in charge. Someone of your stature protesting the exclusion of debate and refusing to participate until free and open (more libertarian) electoral practices are followed would be a great step towards A BETTER MINNESOTA and the causes of free speech and electoral transparency.

I look forward to hearing from you and discussing the issues this election cycle.

Your friend in Liberty,

Chris Holbrook
Libertarian Candidate for Governor

A Full Slate: Minnesota Libertarians Will Have a Full Slate of Candidates for Statewide Office

2014-06-03T12:26:00.004-05:00

From the Libertarian Party of Minnesota:

SUCCESS!!!!!!!
Libertarian Party of Minnesota Runs Full Slate of Candidates in Statewide Election
The Libertarian Party of Minnesota announces we are successful in our petitioning efforts to field five statewide candidates for the 2014 statewide election. This is the first time the LPMN has fielded a full slate since 1998.

Candidates of minor political parties in Minnesota need to gather 2000 signatures during a two week period that ends June 3rd to be listed on the ballot for state-wide races. All candidates have the required number of a signatures, plus a comfortable margin. The petitions are scheduled to be handed in to the Secretary of State's office today (Tuesday) at 2pm for verification. On June 12, the signatures will be certified and the candidates will appear on the ballot in November. LPMN candidates will also be on hand to file their affidavit of candidacy.

LPMN Executive Director, Andy Burns, spearheaded the petitioning effort. “Throughout this crucial week, Andy's never stopped working to make sure our candidates have everything they need to get ballot access. I've never met a person who works harder than Andy,” LPMN volunteer RJ Penny.

The over 10,000 signatures were gathered despite losing an afternoon of petitioning when the LPMN Gubernatorial candidate, Chris Holbrook, was unlawfully arrested and other volunteers were told they had to stop petitioning last Thursday while gathering signatures at Lake Calhoun. This action by Park police and City of Minneapolis police cost the LPMN an estimated 600 signatures.

The recent days of rain added an additional challenge to gathering the signatures.

The LPMN made up lost time from their booth at Grand Old Days. Just under 30 volunteers helped gather signatures at the event. At one point during the day, attendees were lined up to sign the candidate petitions. “While I was petitioning, I had people walk up to me and ask me if I was with the Libertarian Party and we were the group that had our candidate falsely arrested. When I said yes, they said they were looking specifically for us so they could sign our petition. Minnesotans are very fair minded and like clean elections,” said LPMN board member Cara Schulz.

LPMN candidates:
Governor, Chris Holbrook - Lt. Governor, Chris Dock
https://www.facebook.com/chris4gov
Chris Holbrook, “I am thrilled that the will of the people of Minnesota has been delivered today with our ballot access petition, despite the obstacles put in front of us, we did it. I am honored to be the Gubernatorial Candidate for the Libertarian Party. I look forward to continuing the battle to legalize your freedoms and minimize your restrictions. “

US Senate, Heather Johnson
https://sites.google.com/site/hjohnsonformnsenator
Libertarian U. S. Senator Candidate Heather Johnson, “Obtaining the Libertarian nomination to run has been a wonderful and humbling experience. I have a great deal of respect for my fellow citizens and look forward to running as their representative in liberty.”

State Auditor, Keegan Iverson
https://www.facebook.com/KeeganIversen4MinnesotaAuditor

The other two candidate are Secretary of State, Bob Odden and Attorney General, Mary O'Connor.

Libertarian Candidate Arrested While Petitioning

2014-05-31T13:56:00.001-05:00

It is bad enough that the powers that be make it difficult for parties other than Republicans and Democrats to get on the ballot, but it is outrageous when they illegally interfere with candidates working to get on the ballot. In Minnesota major party candidates just have to fill out a form and pay a minor fee to get on the ballot. For everyone else it requires getting thousands of signatures in two weeks.

Libertarian Party of Minnesota candidate for governor Chris Holbrook was manhandled and arrested while petitioning:

The Minneapolis Park Police later dropped the charge and issued this apology:

This afternoon, the Minneapolis Park Police issued a citation to Christopher Holbrook, Libertarian candidate for governor, for violation of Park Board Ordinance PB2-15: Use of Parks, Parkways and Waters for Financial Gain. The incident and citation were reviewed this evening by Park Police Chief Jason Ohotto who determined that the officer erred and misapplied the ordinance. Park Police Chief Ohotto has dismissed the citation. Chief Ohotto directly contacted Mr. Holbrook this evening and apologized on behalf of the Minneapolis Park Police Department for the error in issuing the citation.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the Park Police Department understands and upholds First Amendment and freedom of speech in the parks.

However, scare petitioning time was lost and cannot be made up. it is inexcusable that the police have such a poor understanding of the law, but are so enthusiastic to enforce what they do not understand.

Liberty is Always Taken in the Name of Righteousness

2014-05-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

From

Walter E. Williams is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. He is an expert on discrimination, labor policy, regulation, and South Africa as well as a well-known columnist and the author of South Africa's War Against Capitalism (1989), The State Against Blacks (1982), and More Liberty Means Less Government (1999).

In this lecture given at a Libertarian Party of Georgia event on March 23, 1991, Williams talks about libertarianism generally and relates his own moral arguments against state coercion. Williams also briefly suggests a few things he thinks libertarians should be doing if they want the libertarian movement to grow.

Federal Government Steals $35,000 from a Small Grocery Store

2014-05-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

From :

Can the government use civil forfeiture to take your money when you have done nothing wrong—and then pocket the proceeds? The IRS thinks so.
For over 30 years, Terry Dehko has successfully run a grocery store in Fraser, Mich., with his daughter Sandy. In January 2013, without warning, the federal government used civil forfeiture to seize all of the money from the Dehkos’ store bank account (more than $35,000) even though they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. Their American Dream is now a nightmare.

Federal agents in Michigan struck again in March and April of 2013, when they seized the bank account of Mark Zaniewski’s independently owned gas station (more than $70,000). Neither the Dehkos nor Zaniewski were charged with any crime—the Government merely believed without any real investigation that the deposits of the lawfully earned money from their legitimate businesses were suspicious.

But federal civil forfeiture law features an appalling lack of due process: It empowers the government to seize private property from Americans without ever charging, let alone convicting, them of a crime. Perversely, the government then pockets the proceeds while providing no prompt way to get a court to review the seizure.

The Dehkos and Mark Zaniewski teamed up with the Institute for Justice to fight back in federal court last year and, after nearly a year of expensive litigation, the Government returned their money. The Dehkos and Zaniewski are continuing the fight, however, to ensure that the Government respects due process whenever it seizes money in the future. A victory will vindicate not just their right to be free from abusive forfeiture tactics, but the right of every American not to have their property wrongfully seized by government.

Mark Dayton Lets 33,000 People Suffer

2014-05-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

From HongPong:

Sen. Branden Petersen (R-Andover) calls out Gov. Mark Dayton (DFL) for screwing over roughly 30,000 patients who would have gotten access to medical cannabis via Senate bill & were blocked by Dayton-led political maneuvering, excluding chronic intractable pain sufferers, PTSD veterans & others. Video May 16, 2014 MN Senate floor.

SOURCE http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/media/http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/med...

The day before, top law enforcement lobbyist Dennis Flaherty ran away from me fearing basic questions - seehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_uA1...

Statement from Minnesota State Senator Branden Petersen on Medical Cannabis

2014-05-18T09:22:00.001-05:00

Agreement Leaves Out Thousands of People in Need

An agreement was reached today between the House and Senate Conferees regarding the legalization of medical cannabis in Minnesota. As an advocate for compassionate care from day one, and lead author on the more encompassing legislation originally introduced in the Minnesota State Senate, I am disappointed to announce that I cannot support this agreement.

While this bill potentially brings much needed relief for some patients across the state, it leaves so many more without legal protections for using medical cannabis under a doctor’s order. Specifically, the absence of intractable pain, veteran PTSD, wasting, and severe nausea in the list of qualified medical conditions is unacceptable. Many severe pain patients have been able to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, their use of highly addictive and potentially lethal opioid prescription medications by using cannabis, a substance that has never caused a fatal overdose. Too many Minnesotans will remain in unnecessary agony for the foreseeable future.

Shortcomings of this agreement also include the prohibition on using cannabis in its natural state. Only allowing extracts administered via pills and oils ignores the volumes of research demonstrating the medical benefits of natural cannabis. The severe restrictions placed on the number of medical cannabis access locations will mean that some, if not many, patients will have to travel hundreds of miles to get the treatment they so desperately need.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this limited proposal is that it was completely unnecessary. Over two-thirds of the state, and a majority of my legislative colleagues, support proposals that do not cost the state a cent while more efficiently protecting a greater number of patients. Much of this “compromise” is the direct result of hyperbole, fear, and rigid intransigence from Gov. Mark Dayton.

Ignoring the overwhelming body of evidence that medical cannabis is a viable and highly effective treatment for tens of thousand of Minnesotans, the governor forced the legislature to put forward an inadequate bill that leaves so many patients and families on the outside. Gov. Dayton consistently required language that would treat medical cannabis as a highly toxic and dangerous substance and those who use it as untrustworthy drug addicts. These suggestions were, and are, far from reality. Medical cannabis has been used for thousands of years and is much less toxic and addictive than many legal prescription drugs. The patients who seek to use medical cannabis do so in order to get better, not to get high.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks and deepest appreciation to the legislative leaders who fought so hard on behalf of patients. Sen. Scott Dibble and Rep. Carly Melin did everything they could to put forward a bill that would benefit the greatest number of Minnesotans. Their work, alongside minority members Sen. Michelle Benson and Rep. Pat Garofalo, made this effort possible, along with the overwhelming number of legislators on both sides of the aisle.

I regret having to oppose this bill. We ought not forget that this bill would not have gotten to this point without the broader coalition of advocates. We should not leave them behind.

Sen. Branden Petersen
May 15, 2014

Happiness is the Goal

2014-05-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

From Josie the Outlaw:

While fighting against the negative, there is reason to be positive.
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If you like this video, feel free to check out the website, josietheoutlaw.comfollow Josie on Twitter at @JosietheOutlaw1on Instagram at @josiewalesoutlawand share with anyone and everyone YOU feel needs to hear this message.

Who Owns You - Reprise

2014-05-09T20:25:00.002-05:00

I posted this video about three months ago. I'm reposting in light of this report by Jeff Berwick:

Daily attacks on libertarian sites are not a coincidence. They come just weeks after the mainstream press made much to do about "super flaggers." Yesterday Josie The Outlaw's Facebook page was taken down. And just a few hours ago Adam Kokesh's page was deleted by Fedbook. When will it stop? And what's behind the madness?

Fortunately Josie's Facebook and YouTube sites are back up. Full story here.

More from Josie Outlaw:

Check Your Privilege? Really? How Do You Know?

2014-05-08T19:37:00.000-05:00

Julie Borowski:

"Check your privilege" an insulting and self-righteous phrase.

It's used as a way to shut down discussion. It only creates more division, guilt, and jealously. Stop reducing people to their skin color or body parts. It's not cool.

Time.com article: http://time.com/85933/why-ill-never-a...

Jezebel article: http://groupthink.jezebel.com/to-the-...