Category: Uncategorized

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist.Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
– Martin Niemöller
It is natural, maybe even unavoidable, that …read more

Cleveland, OH (RT) — The Cleveland police officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice, told a colleague he had “no choice,” as the boy was reaching for a toy gun. Meanwhile, a witness said the weapon looked “1,000 percent real,” according to a newly released report.
Prosecutors have released the results of an investigation into the shooting of Rice, which also details an FBI special agent’s recollection of the aftermath of the shooting.
The 224-page report compiled over four months by county sheriff’s deputies, details the moments after the shooting of Rice on November 22, 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio. The report includes details …read more

Iowa has always permitted write-in voting in both primaries and general elections, but generally write-in votes are not canvassed. On May 1, Governor Terry Branstad signed SF 415 into law. It requires that precinct boards make a tally of the write-in votes.
That is the only election law bill that passed in Iowa this year, and the legislature adjourned June 12. Bills to abolish the straight ticket device, to require a runoff primary in certain cases, to allow voters to register on-line, to require photo ID for voters at the polls, to eliminate same-day registration, to provide for …read more

“They want to make it a black and white thing, it’s not a black and white thing.”
McKinney, Tx — Protesters in McKinney clashed Friday night when two opposing groups came out to express their opinions on the controversy surrounding the McKinney pool party incident. Police separated “Black Lives Matter” demonstrators from the “Back the Blue” contingent when tensions escalated.
The protest opposing police brutality was organized by Next Generation Action Network and included speakers calling for the arrest of former Officer Eric Casebolt, trying to prevent him from escaping justice for his violent behavior. The father of the young girl attacked …read more

Everywhere, USA: If you think it’s absurd to compare the men and women in blue uniform to terrorists, just read the definition of terrorism.
Terrorism: the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.
The Free Thought Project has compiled a list of 7 examples that shows why comparing police to ISIS is not so crazy. In fact, it proves that police are far more dangerous to Americans, and our freedoms than any terrorist group on earth.
#7 The fact that the US government funded and essentially created ISIS, and the police are powerless to jail those who were responsible.
While …read more

Ralph Nader has this opinion piece soundly recommending the National Popular Vote Plan for presidential elections.
The only National Popular Vote Plan bill that has made any headway this year is Oregon’s HB 3475. It passed the House on May 18 and has been in the Senate Rules Committee since May 21. …read more

At Coinbase we’re working hard to build the world’s best Bitcoin developer platform. Today, we’ve added a Coinbase Exchange gem to our list of supported client libraries. The Coinbase Wallet and Merchant APIs allow developers to securely store, send and receive bitcoin and to accept bitcoin payments. The Coinbase Exchange API allows developers to programmatically trade bitcoin with people around the world.

Customers have given us great feedback about their experiences and what features could make our platform more useful. We’ve learned that too often, people with an interesting trading algorithm in mind turn away because the barriers to …read more

By Jim Babka, President, Downsize DC

Every time we publish an article about ending the Income Tax (or escaping Social Security, etc.) we receive emails, often angry, from well-meaning individuals. They tell us there is no Income Tax, and we should tell people they don’t have to pay it. With the creation of Downsize DC, the number of these kinds of messages increased. A decade later, with the creation of the Zero Aggression Project, we noticed the same phenomenon. Initially, we tried to respond to them individually. This is now our all-purpose, quite comprehensive response.

We’ve stopped directly responding …read more

On June 5, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan signed HB 503. It changes the order of candidate names on presidential primary ballots. The old law listed them in alphabetical order. The new law rotates the names, so that each candidate has an equal chance to appear on the top line. Rotation had already been used for candidates for all other office.
New Hampshire generally has the most candidates on presidential primary ballots of any state. In 2012 there were 30 names on the Republican ballot and 14 on the Democratic ballot. Thanks to Darryl Perry …read more