The Freedom Report

Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast takes at six ideas for how police officers can regain the public trust. 

The article from Return of Kings, outlines 6 ideas for how officers can get rid of the bad public image cultivate from events such as the killing of Eric Garner, and the riots in Ferguson. Whether fairly or unfairly, police have to put up with the bad PR that results from having to enforce bad laws. As more and more people are waking up to the corruption in government, police are on the front lines and will be the first to suffer from public rage. 

Listen to today's show for these six helpful tips on how cops can reclaim their image as public protectors. 

 

Officers of the NYPD have been ordered to write summonses, with the government of NYC now denying all vacation or sick days until the police get back to their revenue collection schemes.

From the NY Post: 

The lieutenant ordered sector cars from throughout the precinct to converge at Springfield Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue for a driver checkpoint, the officer said.

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No one was to return to the precinct or even take a meal break until two summonses were logged, the officer said.

“To have all the manpower utilized for the sole purpose of writing summonses is a very dangerous way to utilize manpower,” he said. “This is not what we’re out here for.”

Back at the station house, memos were posted (top) alerting cops that no new days off would be approved beyond already approved vacation days. And there were to be no sick days without a doctor’s note.

The Freedom Report podcast takes a look at the general work stoppage by the NYPD in recent weeks. Ticket writing is down 90% according to the New York Post, and officers are complaining that the brass is demanding that they write tickets. We thought that they weren't there to enforce quotas?

And of course, conservatives are freaking out over the idea that Islamist terrorists might attack NY and ONLY THE GOVERNMENT CAN KEEP US SAFE! You think we're joking?

From Michael Goodwin: 

The enforcement slowdown that grew out of the police feud with Mayor de Blasio must be set aside. This is an emergency. New Yorkers are in the cross hairs of Islamist mad dogs, and only the NYPD can keep us safe.

Holy horsesh*t Batman! Looks like we've got a lot of fearmongers to kill today. That, and I explain what I meant when I said we should privatize the duties of the NYPD. Listen in and enjoy this special episode of the Freedom Report podcast!

 

Editor Austin Petersen returns from exile after a three day Facebook ban silenced his ability to communicate with his followers.

While people were dying in France because over free speech, Petersen sat silently watching, waiting for the three day ban to be lifted so he could speak out against Islamic extremism. Are there more things than government that are dangerous to freedom of expression? 

Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast is a freewheeling tour de force of the problems with the current power structure in today's media. Islamic terrorism and corporate political correctness can have a chilling effect on speech that can be just as authoritarian as actual bans. So what's to be done? 

This podcast discusses why Petersen was banned, what the impact was on his small business, and why it's dangerous to silence a member of the media while events such as the crisis in France are occurring. Listen in and share on your social network of choice... if they'll let you. 

The Freedom Report podcast today takes a look at the upcoming 2016 presidential election and asks if some Republicans might support Hillary Clinton. 

A Politico article from 2014 foreshadowed the fact that many establishment Republicans fear the rising populist sentiment in the GOP. Candidates like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are shunned over more moderate conservatives such as Jeb Bush by Wall Street Republicans. But if it became a battle between Paul and Clinton, would many Republicans choose to support her over their own candidate? 

Sadly, yes.

Today's podcast takes a look at just why so many Republicans would prefer Clinton over a Paul or Cruz. We dissect the thinking behind big government GOPers, and analyze what it would take for the true limited government movement to gain ground, avoiding an internal civil war, as we fight the larger battle with the establishment.

As FreedomWorks CEO Matt Kibbe says, "Sometimes you have to beat the Republicans before you beat the Democrats." 

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...

Editor of The Libertarian Republic Austin Petersen generated enormous controversy (AKA butthurt) over the Christmas holidays when he posted a series of memes attacking blind statism. Conservatives and liberals exploded with rage, and threatened to publish Petersen's personal information, as well as made actual physical threats. But, when this aggression met with an immediate response from the libertarian community, these bully's threats turned to whimpers and cries of "I'll call my lawyers!"

Not so tough now are you tough guys?

The pictures in question were meant to debunk the idea that you should "always follow the law," even if that law is unjust. They were inspired by those who said that if Eric Garner didn't want to be choked to death then he should have "just followed the law." But wouldn't that also apply to Cliven Bundy in his standoff with the feds at his ranch? Should he have "just followed the law"? Should the 3%'ers who pointed guns at federal agents have "just followed the law"?

No. Martin Luther King Jr said that it is our moral duty to disobey an unjust law. And guess what? Police officers actually do NOT get a free pass for enforcing bad laws. Do you think the officers enforcing segregation should have just followed the law? Do you think that people enforcing the fugitive slave act should just follow the law? Do you think everyone forced to buy insurance due to Obamacare should just follow the law?

No. There is often a distinction between law and morality. Frederic Bastiat, a classical liberal economist once said "When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law."

“Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.” — attributed to Mark Twain

This famous quote by Mark Twain has been said by many other famous people in different ways. The idea behind it is that you shouldn't get into an argument with a journalist, writer, or anyone who has a platform to speak to a large audience. How many politicians have been sunk because they just couldn't resist flapping their gums at a reporter, who then had plenty of rope to use to hang them with?

The Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia teaches classes for political leaders on how to manage damage control. The number one rule for how to deal with negative press? Ignore it. This bully apparently never took that class.

But he's about to get a real-life lesson.

Our story today focuses on the tale of one Joshua "Samuel" Flashman, a retired US Marine and Internet tough guy who claims to have a penis the size of a Ken doll. But... don't Ken Dolls have NO penis?

Flashman came to our attention after contributing to comments at our Facebook page, where he wanted to fight our editor Petersen because he believed that we were disrespecting the military. The self-reportedly dickless former Marine was upset at the following exchange:

Click to see the post and read comments

That didn't sit will with Lance Corporal Dickless, who flew into a rage, and started taunting Petersen, inviting an altercation.

And here:

Luckily, as it turns out, there are quite a few active duty and retired members of the US military who are libertarians. And apparently they don't take too kindly to someone making them look bad. The Libertarian Republic began receiving a flood of information about Joshua, namely that his name isn't Samuel. His name was really Joshua Flashman. He's from Newtown, Connecticut, and he reportedly retired from the Marines on a PTSD disability claim, although that is as of yet uncorroborated.

Dickless here is threatening a journalist because he doesn't care for much for the freedoms that he was charged with upholding. But it's funny that he'd be so upset... consideri

The Freedom Report podcast today takes on the news that Sony Pictures and major theatre chains have caved to demands made by hackers and decided not to show the Seth Rogen and James Rogen film The Interview. Despite the news that the film would not appear in theatres, footage of the scene which depicts the death of Kim Jong Un appeared online, and sparked a firestorm debate over free speech, liberty and security. It also got us to wondering: when will someone actually kill Kim Jong Un?

Celebrities took to Twitter to complain over the film's cancellation. Today's show will read some of these outraged tweets from stars such as Rob Lowe, Jimmy Kimmel, Judd Apatow and Michael Moore. Bill Maher gets credit for the title of this piece, calling America a #PussyNation. Is that the case? Or do theatre owners have to look after their own economic self interest?

Finally, if you have been enjoying the Freedom Report podcast this year, please do us a favor and tip us some Bitcoin on the right side of this site. Or, if you prefer to give Federal Reserve notes, you can donate them here at this link. http://thelibertarianrepublic.podbean.com/

America is the world's 2nd largest welfare state! Did people really not know that? Or is everyone as stupid as Jonathan Gruber said we are? Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast features Austrian economist and professor Steve Horwitz to break down the numbers.

 

Today's show takes a look at this article titled: "Which country has 2nd largest social welfare system in the world? Surely not the US of 'F*ck the Poor' A? Actually, yes." So, is it true? 

Professor Horwitz goes into detail about people in the United States who are below the poverty line. Did you know that the poor in America have cell phones, cars and TVs? Not bad right? Well that is only not bad if you consider owning property as a good thing, which I suspect a lot of people might. But, what if someone has more stuff than you? What if someone has A LOT more stuff than you? If you're poorer than the next guy, then maybe you have a reason to be angry? Horwitz gets his econ-on to explain why this is a bit fallacious. 

Also, are we better off than we've been in years past? Everyone keeps talking about this Great Stagnation of the last 30 years. So are we better off than we were, or worse? Tell us professor! We stupid voters can only understand so much about our own lives and happiness! We don't want to be the slaves of some defunct economist! 

Plus, haven't Austrian economists been on gloom and doom rants about the economy and inflation for a while now? So, if everything is going to go to crap because of the Federal Reserve's money printing, and the dollar will crash, then why hasn't it happened yet? I hold Steve's feet to the fire to ask him why the predictions of so many Austrians haven't come to fruition. 

And finally, what about the minimum wage? If poor people keep advocating for a higher minimum wage, does that mean that low skilled workers are going to have less employment? 

Find out if Americans really are as stupid as Jonathan Gruber says we are in this very special episode of the Freedom Report podcast! 

“This is something that is deeply rooted in our society, it’s deeply rooted in our history,” said President Obama in an interview with BET. “When you’re dealing with something as deeply rooted as racism or bias … you’ve got to have vigilance but you have to recognize that it’s going to take some time, and you just have to be steady so you don’t give up when we don’t get all the way there.”

The Freedom Report podcast today looks at the state of race relations in the United States. A recent poll from Bloomberg politics shows that racial tensions have only been exacerbated since the election of Americas first black president (second if you count Bill Clinton). 53 percent of respondents to the poll said that interactions between black and white communities have deteriorated since he took office. 

On today's show, editor Austin Petersen examines the history of racism in the United States, examining the President and his supporter's behavior when it comes to hustling of the race issue. Is the president a racist in the conventional sense? What about pushing for policies such as affirmative action? Would that be considered racist? The Democratic Party has had no qualms using the race issue to stir up their electorate and gain political power. So what does that mean in context of the current events? [RELATED: A Brief History of Racist Democrats]

Also, can white people really solve the problems in the black community? Steve Chapman at Reason writes that white people are blaming the problems in the black community on problems they themselves have created. But is that truly the case? Chapman cites statistics that black crime is at a historic low, while arguing that blacks deaths caused by police are at an all time high. The problem with that logic is that some people might correlate that police killing black men directly correlates to the drop in crime. Probably not a wise comparison to make. [RELATED: Are Democrats Hypocrites About The Racists In Their Own Ranks?] 

All that, as well as a little history about the history of racism in the Democratic Party on this special episode of the Freedom Report podcast. 

The Freedom Report podcast today takes on the case of the killing of Eric Garner who was killed by NYPD after they put him in an illegal chokehold. Officer Daniel Pantaleo was not indicted by a grand jury, although he still faces a federal civil rights suit by the DOJ, an internal NYPD investigation and a civil suit of $75 million from Garner's family. Today's show takes a look at potential outcomes of all of these cases, as well as the problem of police brutality and race in America. 

The Freedom Report podcast today asks: Why do so many Americans believe in conspiracy theories? Special guest today is author Joseph Usckinski, whose new book "American Conspiracy Theories" takes a look at the psychology of the issue, tackling questions like: Are conspiracy theorists potentially dangerous?