Jun 09

Thailand government orders man jailed for 35 years for insulting the monarchy

Every government ultimately comes for all freedom, all property, all money, and to kill all who resist.

Statistically, the average person in the world is more likely to be killed by his own government than by any foreign government, any terrorist, or any criminal.

Now a man in Thailand has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for posting 10 messages on Facebook that supposedly insulted the monarchy.

(The Defendant was initially sentenced to 70 years, but he groveled and pled guilty to several counts to get his sentence reduced to just 35 years.) See here.

Jun 08

Police search and pat down EVERY STUDENT at one “public school” in drug search

America’s government youth concentration camps (er, . . . ‘public schools’) have become prisons for both the body and mind. Metal detectors are found at many entrances and students are subjected to a steady stream of pro-government indoctrination.

Now there is news that police in one Georgia public “school” patted down and searched EVERY SINGLE STUDENT without warrant in a search for . . . ‘drugs.’ See here.

Jun 06

Hartford, Connecticut government approaches bankruptcy despite extracting some to the nation’s highest property, income and sales tax rates

Hartford, Connecticut is typical of eastern cities in that its voters have placed great trust in government management.

Connecticut is a wealthy state with thousands of high-earners who work in the insurance industry, and in the greater New York City area. But the State’s tax rates are among the nation’s highest.

Hartford, the capitol city, has the highest property tax rates in the state, but the city government cannot pay its bills and is approaching bankruptcy. See here.

The Wall Street Journal reports that “Half of the city’s properties are excluded from paying tax because they are government entities, hospitals and universities.”

Jun 03

After years of overtaxing the rich, Connecticut tax receipts decrease and Connecticut’s richest citizens flee to other states

Connecticut income-tax collections declined last year for the first time since the recession due to lower earnings of wealthy residents. Many of Connecticut’s millionaires have fled for lower-tax states.

In the past five years 27,400 Connecticut residents have moved to no-income-tax Florida.

According to the Wall Street Journal, one of Connecticut’s largest companies, Aetna Insurance, is preparing to leave the state. Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini says that Connecticut Governor Malloy “has spent two terms treating business as a bottomless well of cash to redistribute to public unions.” See here.

Jun 02

Socialist Venezuela is a paradise for government: officials live like kings among the starving

Wherever socialism takes hold, society spirals downward into poverty, dependence, sickness and weakness while elitists in government prosper.

In modern Venezuela, the people dive through trash for food, eat pigeons, cats and dogs for food, and die in knife fights on the streets over dollar bills.

Meanwhile the elitists and government officials in the socialist state travel in private jets and shop in luxurious jewelry stores in Europe and Asia. See here.

The billionaire daughter of Hugo Chavez is reportedly the wealthiest person in Venezuela (although she spends most of her time outside the country). Meanwhile thousands starve on the streets and go without lifesaving medicines.

Jun 02

Police now pulling over vehicles for “firewood checks”

The police state expands.

Police in a number of jurisdictions are reportedly pulling over vehicles for “firewood checks.”

The stated reason is to prevent cars from transporting firewood containing improper weeds, seeds, insects or invasive species. See here.

Jun 02

Almost half of Americans die broke in response to government policies

Years of government policies which punish saving, investing and working have taken their toll.

USA Today reports that 69% of adults have less than $1,000 in the bank, and 34% said they actually don’t have any savings at all.

And a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that almost half of Americans die nearly broke. That number climbs to 57% among retirees who are single.

Only 37% of seniors 65 and older claimed to have $1,000 or more in the bank. See here.

May 30

Portland mayor calls for cancellation of free-speech rally

Too dangerous and controversial, the mayor says. See here.

May 28

Government school monopoly slowly losing out to charter schools and home schoolers

Steven Greenhut of Reason Magazine is out with an interesting article about the gradual increase of homeschooling and other market responses to government school monopolies. See here.

Greenhut writes that “Supporters of charter schools, homeschooling and other forms of school choice are so used to fighting in the trenches against the state’s muscular teachers unions that they often forget how much progress they’ve made in the last decade or so. Recent events have shown the degree of progress.”

Greenhut describes a recent school district election where trusters of government schooling spent massive amounts to campaign to retain government control of “education.” (Charter school advocates also spent massively.)

The result: advocates of government schooling lost. And trends indicate the future looks bright for education freedom.

May 21

Obamacare’s devastation continues

Obamacare has:

(1) Increased, rather than decreased death rates.

(2) Caused numerous health insurers to got out of business or abandon markets. Aetna has pulled out of the Exchanges. Blue Cross in Maryland, Virginia and D.C. has already requested a 52%, 35% and 29% increase for 2018 respectively. Aetna has already lost $500 million since 2014.

(3) Crushed the competitive marketplace for insurance and driven up its costs and out-of-pocket expenses.

See here.