Government Restricts Potential New Small Business Owners

Great video on how the government prevents new business from being opened by imposing countless restrictions, permits, and red tape.

California City Shuts Down Girl's Lemonade Stand

A bureaucrat and his gang of racketeers from the city of Tulare, CA made certain that an 8-year-old girl could not raise the money to pay for her trip to Disneyland because she didn't pay the extortion money (license fee) to the city.

Shocker: Red Light Cameras Are "About the Money"

Here is a great editorial from the Washington Times dispelling the myth that red light cameras are about safety.

When will the sheeple learn that the government is not the gentle, caring "protector" and "facilitator of justice" that has been propagandized for so long?

Swiss Banks Shun Americans

Here is another example of what happens when the state intervenes. Swiss banks are closing American accounts as the IRS continues its war on privacy.

“The Swiss simply don’t want American customers because it requires so much infrastructure and hassle that they don’t make any money.”

“I was told that I cannot legally be a client because I’m an American.”

And who can blame the Swiss? Why waste effort on a customer when it is not profitable due to the strings attached? Hey, maybe the White House will issue an order to the Swiss prohibiting them from discriminating against Americans. That will teach them. And if that doesn't work, I'm sure the US military could use its persuasive influence.

Marriage License

I have to go down to the county government center so I can beg for permission for my marriage to be honored by the state. And while I’m down there, I guess I might as well kiss the king’s ring and graciously thank him for accepting my humble ransom of $46 and for his blessing of the expression between two consenting adults.

Man Released from Prison After 4 Years...For Littering...

...in his own yard.

UPDATE: Officer Tickets Driver While Rushing to See Dying Relative

UPDATE: The police parasite who stopped Ryan Moats last week has resigned. Given his limited skill set and level of intelligence, his next place of employment should logically be with the FBI or DEA.

Officer Tickets Driver While Rushing to See Dying Relative

Another one of society's parasites has struck again (with dashcam video).

The Dallas Police Department confirmed Thursday that an officer drew a gun on NFL running back Ryan Moats and his wife after he stopped them [in the hospital parking lot] to give them a ticket even as they begged to hurry to the bedside of their dying mother.

Seconds later, Ryan Moats and his wife explained that her mother was dying inside the hospital. "You really want to go through this right now?" Moats pleaded. "My mother-in-law is dying. Right now!"

"I can screw you over," the officer told Moats. "I'd rather not do that."

"Understand what I can do," Powell concluded. "I can tow your truck. I can charge you with fleeing. I can make your night very difficult." Difficult night? He's at the hospital because his mother-in-law is dying.

As Moats signed the ticket, Powell continued his lecture. "Attitude's everything," he said. "All you had to do is stop, tell me what was going on. More than likely, I would have let you go."

Officer Powell had been informed by Moats, Moats' wife, hospital security guards, and a nurse about "what was going on". Powell chose to exercise the power that the state has granted him to prey on the people without any regard for the situation or the use of discretion. This little man is a menace, a pest, society's unproductive growth.

Ryan Moats was the bigger and better man, and used more tact and courtesy than any man in his circumstances. Many of us reading this article would have let the rage get the best of us and Officer Powell would have turned from a despicable jerk into a murdering, despicable jerk.

UPDATE: The police parasite who stopped Ryan Moats last week has resigned. Given his limited skill set and level of intelligence, his next place of employment should logically be with the FBI or DEA.

Despite No Charges, Police Still Keep Cash

A man in Indiana felt the long oppressive arm of the state first-hand when police stole $26,000 from him during a traffic stop, despite having not broken any criminal law or charged with a crime.

Police seized the money because the driver could not give an adequate reason for having that much money.

"If it's way, way over and above what a normal person will carry, and if things don't add up (on how it was acquired), we take the money," said Lt. Art Barile, head of the sheriff department's vice and narcotics unit and the Allen County Drug Task Force.

When quizzed by the government thug for a reason for carrying so much cash, one wonders if an "adequate" response from the driver would be "Because I don't trust your banks."

Caffeine Tax

Utah Representative Craig Frank has stated his intent to begin taxing beverages containing caffeine.

Are the lawmakers reading George Orwell and then proposing legislation based on what they've just learned?

Said Frank, another one of those "limited government" Republicans, "Some feel [the cigarette tax is] a tax on those who are addicted to a substance that frankly they enjoy [but] we say that's a harmful thing to do. At the same time, the government is addicted to the fee revenues, so in light of that, if we're really going to find a revenue stream on something addictive, why not cold caffeine?"

When the general population tightens their belts during this depression, why doesn't the government have to do the same?

Frank continues, "We're going after people who have problems with addiction for a revenue stream, only caffeine would be one that is more broad-based."

Representative Frank is correct about one thing: the American people do have an addiction, and that addiction is government.

Moreover, the politicians' lust for power is an addiction that is enabled only by the people's addiction to government. As is the case with all addictions, an intervention is needed; the last intervention took place in 1776. After more than two centuries of dependency of this drug, it is time for another intervention.

In-Vitro Fertilization Legislation

This is the CNN.com poll from this morning due to legislation proposed (by a Republican state senator) in response to the walking California tax revenue siphon who just gave birth to octuplets. Nearly 3 out of every 4 who voted believe the government should regulate the number of embryos that a woman can be implanted with during in-vitro fertilization. Now I know this isn't a scientific poll but the numbers are staggering regardless. Where are the pro-choicers shouting "keep your laws off my body!"?

The problem isn't a lack of regulation in the embryo fertilization industry. This is the predictable product of a healthcare and welfare system in which irresponsibility is encouraged and rewarded by the transfer of financial liability to the tax payers. The answer is not more legislation but the complete abolishment of the welfare state.

DEAR REPUBLICANS:
STOP MASQUERADING AS THE PARTY OF LIMITED GOVERNMENT. YOU HAVE ABOUT AS MUCH CREDIBILITY AS DEMOCRATS PRETENDING TO BE THE ANTI-WAR PARTY.

"Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions begun at a distinguished period and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematic plan of reducing [a people] to slavery." --Thomas Jefferson

UPDATE: Lesson Learned: Never Help Old Ladies Across The Street

UPDATE: the Colorado State Patrol has withdrawn the ticket undoubtedly because of the media hoopla surrounding the case, which once again proves that a healthy, independent, uncensored system of journalism is one of the best defenses against the overbearing arm of the state.

Red Light Cameras - Revisited

A judge has upheld a red light camera ticket against a driver in California despite its direct confliction with state law.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/26/2699.asp

"Appellate court in Los Angeles, California rules that red light cameras tickets can be issued by companies with illegal contract arrangements.

"The defendant in the case argued that this ticket was invalid because it had been issued by a private company and the city of Lancaster who were operating together under an arrangement specifically forbidden by the state's red light camera statute. The law requires that camera contractors be compensated on a flat-rate basis to remove the financial incentive for the company to issue more tickets. Lancaster is one of dozens of California cities ignoring this mandate by using a "cost neutral" formula that adjusts the rate paid based on whether the number of tickets issued falls within a certain range."

I wonder what would turn up if this judge's financial records were audited. Do you think a connection would be found with the private red light camera company?

Lesson Learned: Never Help Old Ladies Across The Street

I guess there is one silver lining with an overly oppressive arm of the state - it makes my job easier. This one writes itself.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/25/ap/strange/main4829881.shtml

UPDATE: the Colorado State Patrol has withdrawn the ticket undoubtedly because of the media hoopla surrounding the case, which once again proves that a healthy, independent, uncensored system of journalism is one of the best defenses against the overbearing arm of the state.

Have You Registered Your Bicycle?

"Brown was issued citations for failure to drive on the right half of the road, riding a bicycle without lights and riding an unlicensed bicycle, police said."

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/feb/06/police-car-hits-drunken-bicyclist/

Noticeably absent from Brown’s list of citations: drunk biking. That will be next.