Category: Uncategorized

Larry Lessig’s web page says here that he has qualified for primary season matching funds. That will help him get on Democratic presidential primary ballots in Delaware, Montana, and Ohio. Most mainstream presidential candidates no longer filing for primary season matching funds, because recipients are then subject to spending limits that apply state-by-state.
The Federal Election Commission is not permitted to award primary season matching funds until January 1 of the election year. …read more

On October 8, two Socialist Party candidates for the California legislature filed a federal lawsuit against the California law that forces them to have “party preference: none” on the ballot, if they run for Congress or partisan state office. Soltysik v Padilla, c.d., 2:15cv-7916-AB. They want to have “party preference: Socialist” on the ballot.
Because California no longer has party nominees for Congress or partisan state office, there is no purpose for the party labels shown on California ballots except to give information to the voters about that candidate’s principles. California only permits candidates who are …read more

For many, their first car is their first real taste of freedom. The ability to just hit the (mostly) open road and go wherever you’d like–as long as you have the gas–whenever you’d like, the first chance to get away from home, the ability to go to the next town over and try your luck at new social circles…there are so many reasons that, particularly in the United States, a motor vehicle is an embodiment of personal freedom. My (more or less) first car certainly was for me.
I had gotten a 1999 Ford Expedition (and only in recent years had …read more

On October 5, the New Jersey Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State, so as to be able to replace one of its nominees for Assembly, 38th district. New Jersey elects all its legislators on November 3, 2015. See this story. The party will choose a replacement for the candidate who dropped out on October 8. But unless it wins the lawsuit, that candidate won’t be on the ballot. New Jersey permits substitution but the deadline had already passed. …read more

In May, The Free Thought Project reported that calling the cops in domestic disputes can be hazardous to the victim’s health. “Mandatory arrest” laws can intimidate victims from calling, can result in the victim being arrested, and have even been linked to early death in victims and greater numbers of intimate partner homicides.
A new survey conducted by the National Domestic Violence Hotline has provided more evidence that, in many cases, the police provide no help to victims of domestic violence and actually worsen the situation.
They interviewed 637 women with experiences of partner abuse. About half had previously interacted with police, …read more

In an ostensible attempt to combat the increasing welfare state in America, the conservatives moved to begin drug testing applicants to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The program was hailed by the right as the be all end all to those “lazy welfare recipients sitting at home and smoking their drugs all day. ”
Advocates of the legislation claim that they will save money by getting those “evil drug users off of the government teet, thereby reducing the expense of the welfare system. Sounds great doesn’t it?
Taxpayers should most assuredly not be shelling out money for people to sit …read more

Gallup, one of the oldest polling companies in the U.S., will not do any polling for presidential primaries this year. And Gallup may not poll for the general election either. See this story. …read more

If you get all of your news from mainstream media and cable TV infotainment, then you’re probably unaware that glyphosate (the active ingredient in RoundUp herbicide) has been linked to cancer. The World Health Organization stated in March that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen, and California will soon label it as such.
The MSM addict will also be unaware that long-term exposure to glyphosate—even tiny amounts deemed “safe” by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—can lead to liver and kidney damage.
The “safe” level of glyphosate for U.S. drinking water was set at 0.7 ug/L in 1994, and this has not been revised, …read more

Unlike average Americans and small businesses, U.S.-based multinational corporations armed with legions of lobbyists have manipulated the law into allowing their Fortune 500 companies to operate under a completely different set of rules. With Congress allowing these corporations to set up offshore tax havens, a new study found that nearly 75% of the Fortune 500 avoid an estimated $90 billion in federal income taxes each year.
On Tuesday, the U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) Education Fund and Citizens for Tax Justice released a scathing report accusing Fortune 500 companies of holding over $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to evade …read more

On Saturday, October 3, Saturday Night Live carried a skit in which Hillary Clinton appeared as a bartender named “Val”. She served an actress who was playing Hillary Clinton. The skit lasted for 3 minutes and 12 seconds.
Now, NBC has notified its stations who carry Saturday Night Live that they should notify the FCC that they gave Clinton free air time. The Equal Time rule still applies to broadcast television, but it has been interpreted over the years to exclude bona fide news events, including interviews.
It is somewhat plausible that other candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination …read more