“As Venezuela’s economy sinks deeper into depression with a fourth consecutive year of recession to go along with hyperinflation, some ruling socialist party members are raising their voices to call for reforms.”
“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.”
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/occupational-licensing-is-just-another-form-of-cronyism/
“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.”
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/the-states-war-on-student-debtors-is-heating-up/
“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.”
“The embargo is a failed foreign policy that’s only served to punish the Cuban people and isolate the United States internationally. And rolling back Obama’s opening there is a major blow for diplomacy, people-to-people ties, and — most of all — Cuba’s new private businesses.”
Read more: https://www.alternet.org/world/cubans-are-starting-small-businesses-us-hurting-them
“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.”
Read more: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-u-s-saudi-starvation-blockade/
“Surrounding himself with generals and giving the national-security establishment carte blanche to do anything it wants to protect ‘national security,’ Trump, for all practical purposes, has been absorbed by the national-security establishment, even permitting the CIA to continue keeping its long-secret, 50-year-old JFK-assassination records secret from the American people. It is safe to say that for the balance of Trump’s term in office, his actions in foreign affairs will be no different than anything that Hillary Clinton, who undoubtedly would have been a loyal servant of the national-security establishment, would have done with respect to foreign affairs. What gives? Why the dramatic shift in Trump?”
Read more: https://www.fff.org/2017/11/30/pentagon-cia-nsa-charge/
“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.”
“Over McCoy’s express objection, the trial court permitted his attorney, Larry English, to tell the jury that McCoy was guilty of murder. With the court’s approval, English even purported to relieve the state of its burden to prove McCoy guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Following this brazen violation of McCoy’s autonomy, the jury returned a unanimous verdict for first-degree murder and sentenced McCoy to death.”
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/defendants-not-their-attorneys-should-decide-whether-to-admit-guilt/
“The City of Calhoun, Georgia, adopted a scheme by which bail was set to a pre-determined amount, resulting in Maurice Walker being held in jail for nearly 2 weeks on misdemeanor public drunkenness charges. Walker challenged detention on behalf of himself and those similarly situated, including persons held for traffic offenses.”
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/this-unfair-money-bail-scheme-gets-the-challenge-it-deserves/