Tag Archives: Sudden Outbreak of Common Sense

Latin America Says ‘Adiós’ to the Populist Left

Posted on by

“The defeat of the Kirchner government in Argentina was the first strong sign of the new Latin American zeitgeist. Next Sunday Venezuelan voters, the polls tell us, will strongly repudiate the Hugo Chávez legacy, although widespread election fraud is likely. Chavisimo won’t go quietly.  Similar stories are emerging elsewhere. Barely 10 percent of Brazilians support President Rousseff, and legal proceedings began this week that could lead to her impeachment. Ecuador’s Correa had to suspend his attempt to change the election rules so he could seek permanent reelection. The recent elections and polls are a clear shift toward free markets and transparent government.”

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=8608

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Actor Edward Norton raises $425,000 for Syrian refugee featured on website

Posted on by

“The Syrian, a scientist who lost seven members of his family in a bombing two years ago – including his wife and a daughter – was featured on the website Humans of New York earlier this month.  The blog, created in 2010 by US photographer Brandon Stanton, began by featuring everyday New Yorkers and sharing small snippets of their life stories but has now expanded to include individuals from other countries.  The Syrian, whom the website simply refers to as ‘the scientist’, is living in Istanbul but will soon move to Troy, Michigan.  Norton, who has starred in films including The Incredible Hulk, Fight Club and the Oscar-winning dark comedy Birdman, had raised $426,987 as of mid-Tuesday.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/15/syrian-refugee-humans-of-new-york-edward-norton-fundraiser

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

“Snowden Effect” in Action: NSA Authority to Collect Bulk Phone Metadata Expires

Posted on by

“The government is ‘prohibited from collecting telephone metadata records in bulk’ starting November 29. The executive branch will now be able to obtain phone metadata by asking the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to order telecommunications companies to turn over specific records. The end of the bulk collection program is a modest but real victory for former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, who provided documents concerning the program to Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald. The first article by Greenwald based on the documents leaked by Snowden, published on June 6, 2013, was about the bulk collection program.”

https://theintercept.com/2015/11/28/snowden-effect-in-action-nsa-authority-to-collect-bulk-phone-metadata-expires/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Even its Creators Want to Shut Down the Asset-Forfeiture Racket [2014]

Posted on by

“If you need more evidence that asset forfeiture should be eliminated, John Yoder and Brad Cates, the first two directors of the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Office, have a column in today’s Washington Post, and they unambiguously disown the bureaucracy they created and the evils it has spawned. I’m especially glad they include the government’s foolish and costly anti-money laundering laws as they discuss government run amok. A big problem is that these laws create perverse incentives for abusive behavior by bureaucracies.  Our presumption of innocence shouldn’t be eroded just because some bureaucrats are greedy to steal private property.”

https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/even-its-creators-want-to-shut-down-the-governments-asset-forfeiture-racket/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Police Agencies Fold in St. Louis Area as Ticket Blitzes Stop

Posted on by

“The new law says traffic citations in St. Louis County municipalities can’t exceed 12.5 percent of annual operating revenue, down from 30 percent. Policing in Charlack and in nearby Wellston, which dissolved its 23-officer force in May, is now handled by a recently created cooperative of local departments. Tense relations between the majority-black residents of Ferguson and the city’s mostly white police force grew in part from the excessive issuance of tickets. Some area municipalities were generating more than half their annual operating revenue from citations.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-10-22/police-agencies-fold-in-st-louis-area-as-ticket-blitzes-stop

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Canada to end airstrikes in Syria and Iraq: new prime minister Trudeau

Posted on by

“Canadian Liberal prime minister designate Justin Trudeau has confirmed that Canada will withdraw its fighter jets from the US-led mission against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.  In his first news conference following the sweeping majority Liberal victory in Canada’s federal election, the visibly fatigued leader said he had spoken with US president Barack Obama in a phone call during which he discussed his intention to pull Canada’s fighter jets out of the anti-Isis campaign.  He did not set out a timeline for the withdrawal. Canada has also deployed around 70 special forces troops to train Kurds in northern Iraq, although Trudeau has previously indicated that this mission would continue.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/21/canada-end-airstrikes-syria-iraq-new-prime-minister-trudeau

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Millennials Don’t Trust Uncle Sam, and That’s Good

Posted on by

“The millennials’ low confidence in every branch of government reflects the fact that public policies not only fail to achieve their stated objectives, but directly undermine what matters to them most.  Perhaps millennials are more skeptical of government surveillance and other programs than previous generations because reports and data like that are so readily available. Maybe it’s because they are a generation of digital natives. Growing up immersed in technology, they seem more immune than their elders to cyber scare tactics.  Whatever the reason, one thing is clear. Millennials won’t let people—in the government or otherwise—step on their toes without justification.”

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=8542

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

UN denies Richard Branson’s claim it will call for drug decriminalisation

Posted on by

“Branson said he and his colleagues on the drugs policy commission could not be more delighted at the move, given that he had argued for years that drug use should be treated as a health issue rather than a crime.  Within hours of his claim, however, UNODC made it clear that no such change in policy was imminent and said it regretted an ‘unfortunate misunderstanding’. Branson appears to have anticipated that the UN body would not back a global decriminalisation call. ‘As I’m writing this I am hearing that at least one government is putting an inordinate amount of pressure on the UNODC.'”

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/19/un-call-decriminalisation-drugs-richard-branson

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Texas repeals regulations on hair braiding

Posted on by

“Three decades into her career as a hair braider, Isis Brantley has struggled with lawsuits and regulatory hurdles. Once, she was even arrested, she says.  But on Monday she moved over to the right side of the law. Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill lifting regulations on hair braiding in Texas. And Brantley was honored at the signing ceremony as a key reason for the change.  The legislation, House Bill 2717, would exempt hair braiders like Brantley from obtaining a cosmetology license to run a braiding business. Prior to its passage, state law required that braiders meet the same training and facilities requirements as barbers and cosmetologists — even though braiders don’t use any chemicals or tools.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/texas-repeals-regulations-on-hair-braiding/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Kerry Calls for Democracy as US Flag Is Raised in Cuba

Posted on by

“Jubilant crowds waved American flags and chanted “Long live the United States!” as the Stars and Stripes rose over the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in Cuba on Friday after a half-century of often-hostile relations. Secretary of State John Kerry celebrated the day but also made an extraordinary, nationally broadcast call for democratic change on the island.  Kerry and Rodriguez said their nations would continue to disagree over issues such as democracy and human rights. But they also said they hoped to make progress on issues ranging from maritime security and public health to the billions of dollars in dueling claims over confiscation of U.S. property and the U.S. economic embargo on the island.”

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/top-us-diplomat-flies-cuba-policy-victory-lap-33076435?singlePage=true

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet