Category: Uncategorized

Los Angeles, California – Police from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office were recently accused of physically and verbally abusing children. The alleged abuse took place at a camp they were operating at Camp San Luis Obispo, a California Army National Guard Military Base.
The children, ages 12 to 16, were participating in a 20-week-long program that aimed to teach discipline and leadership as well as reduce family conflict, according to a news release from Owen’s law firm. The program included the weeklong camp in San Luis Obispo.
At least seven children who were enrolled in the Leadership Empowerment and Discipline …read more

May 2015 Ballot Access News …read more

Political scientist professor Alan I. Abramowitz and PhD student Steven Webster have published this essay about partisanship in the United States. The main point is to show that over half of Americans have strong hostility and dislike toward one major party. The dislike of one major party among these voters is stronger than their liking for the other major party. Increasingly, the United States is divided into two camps of voters who not only dislike one of the major parties, but dislikes their members as well.
The essay also asserts that only 10% of the electorate is truly …read more

MEDIA NOTE: An interview of Downsize DC President, Jim Babka, will broadcast tonight. Details in the P.S.
ACTION ITEM…
Based on a national average, almost 30% of your income and productivity is stolen. This harms you. This hurts your industry.

Worse, you can’t see most of these taxes, because they’re hidden. And…

These taxes are unconstitutionally levied by unelected bureaucrats. They might call them “regulations,” but they’re effectively making LAWS that are binding upon you and your neighbors. And they’re doing so WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT.
That’s why I told Congress to pass DownsizeDC.org’s “Write the Laws Act.”

Please …read more

London, U.K. – Sir Nicholas George Winton is a true hero of humanity, whose name you may have never heard before. On the eve of World War II, in an operation known as Czech Kindertransport, Winston organized the rescue and passage to Britain of more than 650, mostly Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.
The British humanitarian arranged for the safe passage of the children to Britain and found homes for the children, many of whose parents ultimately perished in Auschwitz . The British press has dubbed him the “British Schindler.”
On May 19, Winton celebrated his 106th birthday.
For most of his life, …read more

Twitter picture of Natalie Erlich
New York City, NY — A teenager from the Bronx was recently paid $45,000 after she was wrongfully arrested and sexually harassed by a police officer. The officer was also assisted by a number of other NYPD cops who helped him take her into custody.
The incident occurred on November 4th of 2013 when a young girl named Natalie Erlich, who was 17-years-old at the time, was walking home from school. During her walk, she was approached by Officer José Peinan and another cop who were not in uniform and did not identify themselves as police officers.
According …read more

June 2 was the petition deadline for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, to file petitions in New Jersey for the November 3, 2015 election. There are 80 Assembly seats. There are seven Green Party nominees, three Libertarian nominees, and one Socialist Party nominee, according to the unofficial list on the state’s election web page. See the list here. At the very end of the list is a summary of all the parties and also the slogans chosen by various independent candidates. The state’s tally at the end of the list does not …read more

On March 2, the Arkansas Libertarian Party turned in more than 15,000 signatures to restore its party status. The law requires 10,000 valid signatures. This is the first petition drive the Libertarian Party has completed since the 2014 election. Assuming the petition is valid, the party will be on for President in 2016 in 31 states. See this story.
The Arkansas law on how a party remains on the ballot is irrational. Minor parties almost never get 3% for President. The only minor parties that have polled 3% nationally for President since World War II …read more

The USA Freedom Act, as passed by the House of Representatives, includes three reforms that were designed to make the Patriot Act “nicer.”
Replace federal data collection with data retention by communication companies
Provide an amicus (friend of the court) counterposition to FISA Court cases, including reports about why amicus briefers were or were NOT used
Makes some FISA court opinions available for you and the public to read

But as weak as these reforms are, they are still too strong for Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell. Now, he’s stubbornly insisting on three Amendments that would gut these modest improvements, …read more

On June 1, Nevada SB 421 failed to pass the Assembly. It was repeatedly delayed, because the bill’s supporters knew it would lose if they did bring it up. See this Politico story, which says that most political observers Rand Paul will do better in a caucus than in a primary. Also see this Frontloading HQ story, which says that the bill might have passed anyway except that U.S. Senator Harry Reid used his influence to persuade Democrats in the Assembly to oppose the bill. …read more