Jun 23

Leaked internal ACLU memo indicates wavering on free speech

Reason magazine has a startling report out. A leaked memo indicates that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is wavering on free speech.

Free speech was mostly a movement of “the left” throughout the past 50 years. During the 1940s and ’50s the “establishment” was generally anti-communist, pro-capitalist and somewhat authoritarian.

“Liberalism” was closely related to free-speech movements.

But now several officials within the ACLU are wavering on free speech. Many view the maintenance of massive government programs and institutions of political correctness as more important than principles of free speech.

Jun 23

Because more than half of all Facebook and Twitter accounts are fake, social media ‘influencers’ are losing influence among advertisers

More than half of all Facebook and Twitter accounts are fake. And both Twitter and Facebook make money by selling fake “followers” and “likes.”

Prominent politicians and even musicians and actors purchase fake followers. Hillary Clinton purchased more than 2 million followers during her 2016 campaign.

And both Twitter and Facebook have been repeatedly caught manipulating content to promote pro-government memes and themes.

Now advertisers are spending less and less on ads featuring social media ‘influencers.’

Jun 23

Government scientists whose research disagrees with government must now publish their findings secretly

There has been an unwritten rule among U.S. federal agencies (especially during the Obama years) that no “science” which disagrees with the prevailing message of manmade-global-warming-by-CO2 hysteria is allowed to be published by the government.

So a U.S. Forest Service researcher was forced to publish his countervailing climate research under alias names. He observed that planetary temperature correlates with sunlight and atmospheric pressure, not atmospheric composition.

The Washington Post reported on the story and turned it into a scandal about a government scientist using aliases.

Tony Heller of realclimatescience.com says that climate science has now reverted to 16th-century levels.

Jun 20

Terror in Cyberspace! Israeli prime minister says hackers can bring down air force planes!

Governments routinely try to take over the internet by claiming such things as that internet providers are preparing to charge the poor more than the rich, or slow down the internet access of the poor, or that “terrorists” might soon use the internet to bring down the power grid, shut down the Pentagon, or melt down nuclear reactors. Each of these claims is easily disproven, but governments keep saying them.

Now the prime minister of Israel is claiming that non-government-controlled internet users may soon be able to hack into air force jets and cause them to crash. See here.

A quote from Reuters:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on governments worldwide on Wednesday to join forces to defend against cyber threats that he said could even bring down military and civilian aircraft. . . . we are absolutely vulnerable. Our airlines can be brought down, our fighter planes can be brought down,” he said.

Jun 14

Chicago suburb lays off 40 cops and firefighters to meet pension obligations

Every socialist state will eventually reach a day of reckoning.

For years the government of Harvey, Illinois (an impoverished, high-tax, high-regulation socialist suburb of Chicago) has overpaid cops and firefighters and lavished retired cops and firefighters with extravagant pensions. (Many such retirees take their padded pensions and move to lower-tax, less socialist places.)

But the long-suffering residents of Harvey are now unable to meet the ever-growing tax burden. In April the municipal government was forced to lay off 40 cops and firefighters. See here.

In 2015, the millionaire retired cops of Harvey won a ruling in federal court requiring that their pensions be fully paid. Consequently, the town comptroller has been forced to redirect 1.5 million tax dollars from town budgets to the pension fund.

Harvey remains more than $7 million delinquent in its payments to the millionaire retiree pension fund.

Jun 13

Mainstream newspaper circulation down another 10 percent in 2017

Alternative news is thriving and Americans have access to more information than ever before.

But government-supporting (“mainstream”) newspapers continue to fall in circulation and importance.

The Pew Research Center has found that total US daily newspaper circulation, print and digital combined, was down 11 and 10 percent, respectively, from the previous year.

(Two major papers, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, were excluded from the calculation because their circulation data is computed differently. Both the NYT and WSJ are said to be doing well.)

News ad data is also declining.

And, according to US government data (always suspect), 39,210 people worked as reporters, editors, photographers, or film and video editors in the newspaper industry in 2017, down nearly eight percent in a year and 45 percent from 2004.

See here.

Jun 11

U.S. Air Academy employs undercover informants to build cases on students

Most people who go off to college don’t worry about being shadowed by undercover government informants.

But students at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs must contend with fellow students who are secretly working undercover for the government.

And, of course, the government abuses and burns its snitches just as it does everyone else.

Here is a column about a young man who volunteered to become an undercover rat at the Academy but was later expelled for demerits related to his undercover work.

Jun 09

4th amendment pointers for living with others

When dealing with cops at the door remember these pointers:

(1) The U.S. Supreme Court and every other court in the land have held that an entry or search of a residence requires a warrant. The home–whether rented or owned–is the most protected space in one’s life.

There are very few exceptions to this rule.

(2) One big exception is consent. Cops will do almost anything to claim that a home’s occupants consented to entry or search.

(3) The Supreme Court, and most other courts, have generally held that where more than one adult resides in a home, ANY ONE OF THEM may give consent to the government to enter. This is why it is extremely important to train relatives and choose one’s roommates, friends and associates wisely. Fernandez v. California, 134 S. Ct. 1126, 1132-33 (2014).

(4) However, where A SINGLE OBJECTING resident is present, cops may not enter–even if another resident gives consent to the cops. Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103, 120 (2006).

(5) In the real world, things are often hectic and confusing and many people are intimidated into being overly gracious to cops. Many others falsely assume that cops will comply and obey the Constitution. It is often up to a single very strong and brave individual to firmly tell the government “No.”

(6) Remember that cops and other government agents will always sound reasonable and rational when they sit on the witness stand months or years later. Record them constantly and take note of their demeanor and mannerisms.

(7) There are many 4th amendment questions which are unsettled, such as the effect of posted “House Rules” indicating no resident may ever consent to a government search.

Jun 08

Russian museum discovers a secret government order to destroy files

The Soviet Union crumbled in 1989 under the weight of its own widespread socialist poverty, darkness and misery.

The Guardian is reporting that workers at the Gulag History Museum in Moscow have discovered that certain evidence of the darkest days of government control have disappeared.

Further inspection has uncovered a secret government order–apparently implemented by undercover government agents among the museum curators–directing that case files regarding the evils of mass slave camps be destroyed.

Jun 08

Government university now bans “harsh” text messages

It is mostly forgotten that government colleges were originally launched for three reasons: (1) to provide access for poor people to higher education, (2) to counteract the supposed tendency of private (mostly church-owned) colleges to stifle speech and expression, and (3) to provide for more ‘public interest’ scientific research and education, which supposedly wasn’t being adequately provided by private-religious-owned institutions.

Today it has been shown that government universities fail to achieve–and actively obstruct–all three goals. Government colleges are temples of state worship, promoting a constant stream of elitist, socialist ideology and ‘science’ which exalts the state.

Any American becomes immediately less free upon walking onto a government college campus.

Costs such as parking and meals are often double what is charged elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Now the University of West Alabama–a government university–is imposing a Cyberbullying and Cyber Harassment Policy which outlaws harassment such as “conduct that disrupts the educational environment of the university.” Conduct that the university has defined as harassment includes “harsh text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.”See here.

Of course, the policy conflicts with settled and binding Supreme Court precedent regarding freedom of speech and expression.