Category: Uncategorized

Glen Ellyn, IL — Slammed to the ground and manhandled on video, a former student filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court Thursday against two campus police officers for using excessive force and threatening to fire a Taser at another student recording the arrest. Warned for smoking a cigarette outside, the student was followed into the class and arrested for trespassing after showing the cops her student ID.
On December 7, 2014, Jaclyn Pazera stepped outside during a break between classes with several of her classmates from the College of DuPage to smoke cigarettes. According to Pazera’s lawsuit, Officer Vallardes …read more

Louisville, KY — Caught on surveillance video pushing a 13-year-old student and punching him in the face, a fired school resource officer will have his charges dropped if he completes anger management classes instead. Five days after the incident, the cop was captured again on video choking another student unconscious, causing a brain injury.
On January 22, Louisville Metro police officer Jonathan Hardin was caught on surveillance video speaking with a 13-year-old student in the Olmsted Academy North lunchroom. While accusing the student of cutting in line, Hardin pushed the teen before immediately punching him in the face. After knocking the …read more

Mississippi elected statewide executive positions and a new legislature on November 3, 2015. This article has the statewide vote totals. The Reform Party had a complete slate of statewide nominees, and the Libertarian Party had two statewide nominees. …read more

Ontario, CA — Among the many examples of state power run amok is when armed law enforcers descend on small farms to carry out a war on food freedom.
Last month, 20 officials from the ministries of agriculture, natural resources and finance in Ontario, Canada raided Michael Schmidt’s milk farm with the help of local police. They began removing equipment and computers, intending to confiscate them for the crime of providing raw milk to people who freely choose to drink it.
But then something awesome happened. Up to 50 members of Schmidt’s farming collective showed up and blocked the path of the …read more

New York, NY — Karim Baker, 26, a former Fed Ex Driver from Queens, is suing the city of New York for $10 million because he was ruthlessly assaulted by a gang of police after he unwittingly gave the wrong person directions.
According to the lawsuit, on December 20, 2014, Baker was working for Fed-Ex delivering packages when a random man asked him for directions, he gave the man directions as he usually would if someone would ask him, and then he went about his day. Coincidentally, the person who asked him for directions was Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a man who later …read more

Ten California Green Party members won elections for non-partisan local office on November 3. See the list here. Thanks to IndependentPolitical Report for the link. …read more

Well, here’s an exciting bit of Android news. After having been available for some time on iOS in this configuration, Open Whisper Systems‘ TextSecure and RedPhone communication encryption apps are now bundled into one, simple, efficient app: Signal.
In brief, while you won’t find TextSecure and RedPhone in the Google Play Store any longer, that’s okay, they both exist just as they did before, only now more unified as a part of the Signal app. TextSecure–the most trusted open-source secure and encrypted messaging app–and RedPhone–the most trusted secure and encrypted open-source voice call app–are still incredibly easy to setup, and now …read more

If minimum wage doesn’t kill jobs, then “sin” taxes don’t cut smoking and drinking.

———-

Tonight, Downsize DC President, Jim Babka, will appear in Fort Myers, Florida. Tomorrow, he’ll be in Tampa. Specific times and places can be found HERE.
———-

Politicians pass “sin” taxes to discourage the use of things like tobacco and alcohol. They know that higher prices cause lower consumption. But then the politicians contradict themselves. They act like the logic behind “sin” taxes does NOT apply to the minimum wage law.

Here’s a brand new way to think about this issue…
Raising the cost of employing people must reduce the supply of …read more

Refusing to back down against false accusations, Academy Award-winning film director Quentin Tarantino continues to stand by his statements condemning police brutality. After Tarantino spoke out against several police killings at a recent protest, police unions responsible for defending corrupt cops have called for a boycott against his latest movie.
The day after FBI Director James Comey falsely accused police brutality videos of increasing violent crime, Tarantino spoke at a rally called Rise Up October in New York City along with roughly 40 families affected by police violence.
“Tamir Rice.” Tarantino repeated, “Tamir Rice. A 12-year-old black male child. Cleveland, Ohio. On …read more

As the fake “war on cops” continues, we are seeing the dangerous lengths to which some officers will go to perpetuate this falsehood.
England, AR — Shot in the chest during a recent traffic stop, an Arkansas police sergeant reported bravely returning fire at the fleeing suspect who shot him, igniting a statewide manhunt. Initially hailed as a hero for taking a bullet in the line of duty, the police sergeant was fired this week after admitting that he shot himself and lied about the entire incident.
Around 2 a.m. on October 24, England Police Department Sgt. David Houser reported pulling …read more