The Freedom Report

My Quick Take on Ferguson

from the editor:

Ferguson and this president are tearing this country apart.

At issue are two problems, as I see it. 

1. The real problem is with the culture!

The obvious festering race debate that is bubbling underneath the surface. The rising tide of previously silent people have been held down by those whose whips read "political correctness." Serious debate is impeded by the social justice point system of minority favored status obligations. If there's no basic understanding of individualism over collectivism, then the race debate will continue unabated from now until forever. Human beings are so genetically similar that it is almost laughable to even ponder our differences, other than perhaps for purposes of biological health.

Success and opportunity are available to you in this country. I've seen (and been) poor people make something out of nothing. It doesn't matter the color of your skin. It's what's on the inside that counts, and how you express it into the world, positively or negatively. As humans, we should be able to overcome our previous differences as a whole. We should give up on our fear of "the other" (at least unless any non-human species have a hostile intervention of the close encounter kind).

Race should not be an issue. It's only another thing to divide us further. Like flags. 

2. A culture of police violence created by an unjust system.

"The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it!" -Bastiat The Law

Let's not discuss the numbers for now. Statistics prove that you don't care. Let's discuss something. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've seen the videos of police officers engaging in what I will kindly call "controversial" behavior. As someone who may or may not consider themselves a person of law and order, do you believe that it's possible to always 100% perfectly uphold law and order?

No, of course you don't. No one is perfect. 

Nevertheless, a perfect standard is what we must set for our officials, elected and non-elected. It is none other than the standard we would demand for ourselves if we privately purchased the means of self defense, instead of being forced to pay for it through taxation.

We must do this to ensure that there is always a balance of power. A check and a balance. The rights of We the People will not be safeguarded by a warrior class of philosopher cops, who are the only authorized gun users, and who are skilled in self defense. Every single lesson of the American Revolution is intertwined with the self-reliance of individual patriots acting in their own self interests. That is the goal, if we are to be a free society. 

Agents of the police are public servants who are given the authority to initiate force and secure arrests. If we wish to minimize their role in our lives, I'm sure that we all can agree that we would love to need less police, then we must act. We must reform our criminal justice system. We must end the war on drugs. We must stop prosecuting non-violent offenders, and we must rein in the power of our wildly expanded police force of infinitely expanding authority. Criminal terrorism should not be the bogeyman that gets us to give up our freedoms. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Americans should be free to arm and defend themselves when necessary. More individual self reliance breeds a stronger stock. Waiting for the government to save you from real criminals is not always a survivable strategy. The goal is to be a more peaceful society, a more peaceful society should need less police. 

Charles Krauthammer said once that libertarianism wasn't a governing philosophy. He was right. It's a self governing philosophy. 

Listen to more on this subject on my podcast! 

This Is The Net Neutrality Discussion You Were Looking For: 

Readers of the Libertarian Republic have been writing to us requesting to have a discussion about net neutrality. Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast examines the threat to the free market posed by further regulation, as well as examines possible solutions to the mess created by government. 

Is it time to pass Net Neutrality? Take our poll below. 

First we should ask ourselves what Net Neutrality is and isn't. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was widely panned by social democrats for suggesting that it was just "Obamacare for the Internet," which is true and false in many ways. Net Neutrality would effectively regulate the Internet as a Title II utility, which would mandate that all packets of data be treated the same regardless of source, destination or content. 

Under Title II regulation, Internet Service Providers could be required to submit to universal service requirements. Telephone companies are currently forced to wire up homes in such a way. ISPs could be required to bring their infrastructure up to a minimum standard, which is widely seen as a handout to rural customers where the profit margins for such a requirement could necessarily harm the ISP. No one feels bad when government forces big businesses to give something away for free though. 

Also, under net neutrality, the FCC would be able to have the power to set prices, effectively killing all competitive forces that the market could theoretically provide. If that happens then ISPs will fight for the highest prices allowed by law. It would also detract from ISPs motivation to innovate, seeing as how they are guaranteed a certain set amount of profit. 

What's the real solution to the problem that doesn't involve adding more regulations to an already regulated marketplace? Kill the duopoly of the ISPs. The Freedom Report podcast today takes a look at the special protectionist laws around the country which hamper competition by stopping upstarts like Google from introducing competition to the marketplace. Listen to the show, leave your thoughts and comments below and don't forget to take our poll to let us know what you think about Net Neutrality. 

A libertarian feminist came out strongly against our sister site Liberty Viral, with harsh criticism of a story titled: "Uppity White Liberal Upset About Being Catcalled In The Streets Of NYC." Journalist Juliana Perciavalle penned a harsh rebuttal titled "An Open Letter to Libertarians on Street Harassment," where she said it was a "particularly vile piece." So, we invited her on the show!

Today's podcast looks at that now infamous catcalling video, which exploded online and in the media. It's no surprise that many people took offense at a title as incendiary as the one penned by Liberty Viral. The piece was a cleverly designed trap, to collide social justice narratives and cause the social democratic diversity enforcement SWAT actors to eat one another alive.

And eat each other they did.

Several left wing sites almost immediately began denouncing the video as racist. Feminist outlets recoiled at the narrative that the video depicted a weak, white girl who needed saving from the barbaric minorities. Social Justice Warriors began demanding to see more of the tape, due to the fact that there weren't enough white men depicted harassing the woman. They demanded diversity, only this time, there was none to be found. The only white male shown in the video says a very polite, "Have a good evening."

So is the video a feminist video, or a racist video? No one knows! And that's what makes it beautiful, because there's no point system we can all refer to in order to help us rank something on how racist, sexist, transphobic, etc., something is. It's purely subjective. So, when feminist libertarians criticized the Liberty Viral piece, we wondered if maybe they weren't getting the joke. And why are feminists so angry? And that's another good point, can feminism take a joke? And if not, is feminism ruining everything? 

Also, can a shirt be sexist?  All that and more on this special episode of the Freedom Report podcast!

Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast is a variety show extravaganza! Our topics include: Obamacare, Elizabeth Warren, Mia Love and a special report on the Taylor Swift feud on Twitter! Listen in and subscribe on iTunes! Also, don't forget to take our latest poll to tell us whether or not you give to panhandlers.

TOP NEWS: The GOP Vs. Obamacare

Is the Republican Party going to "replace" Obamacare with something worse? Did you know that someone once asked Thomas Sowell what we should replace the Federal Reserve with if we abolished it. Do you know what he said? "When you remove a cancer, what do you replace it with?" That's about how I feel about the GOP's Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan talking about replacing Obamacare. My strategy that I discuss in this show can be summed up in three words: REPEAL! REPEAL! REPEAL!

Democrats Committed To Socialism

Democrats are pushing Senator Elizabeth Warren into roles with more responsibility. I posted on my Facebook page today my thoughts.

Historic First Black Republican Woman In Congress Inspires Democrat Hate

Mia Love from Utah is already making liberal heads spin. One Ph.D. wrote that she doesn't represent her own race, or their cultural oppression. She benefits from "white privilege." Oi yoi, yoi! 

Pop Stars Twitter War!

Taylor Swift, Lorde vs. Diplo & Katy Perry

Gawker has a hilarious piece about a feud that's erupted between pop stars and famous DJ Diplo. Diplo tweeted that someone needed to kickstarter a campaign to get his former girlfriend Taylor Swift a booty. Ouch! That may sound harsh, but Swift did notably create an album called "Bad Blood" to describe their relationship. Maybe she had it coming? 

Oh no! Because Lorde, old soul that she is, fired back at Diplo about his *ahem*, masculinity. 

LISTEN TO THE SHOW:

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Should the GOP try and repeal Obamacare, knowing that the president is just going to veto it anyway? Or should they focus on smaller battles they can actually win? 

Prominent Republicans are bickering over whether the new Republican majority in the Senate should attempt to pass a full repeal of Obamacare, despite the threat of an inevitable presidential veto. Senator Ted Cruz declared his intent to go for a full repeal, while Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky are trying to focus on more substantive measures that actually have a chance at passing.

So what should the Republicans do now that they have a chance to enact a legislative agenda? This episode of the Freedom Report focuses on the struggle in the GOP over where the party should focus their agenda in the next two years. We look at a column by George Will, who writes on a small series of bullet pointed items that he believes would help Republicans push back the progressive agenda, while showing to the American people that they are fit to govern in 2016. 

Don't forget to subscribe to us on iTunes! 

The 2014 midterm elections, which saw Democrats mostly go down in defeat, were widely seen as a referendum on an unpopular president. But now that Republicans have taken control of the legislature, is it just "meet the new boss, same as the old boss?" The Freedom Report podcast today takes on the issues and the candidates of importance to libertarians, breaking down the most important races and initiatives that impact your economic freedoms and personal liberties. 

GMO's, Marijuana, Alcohol prohibition, Libertarian Party "spoilers" and more on this special post-election episode of the Freedom Report: 

Subscribe on iTunes & leave us a good review! 

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The Freedom Report podcast takes on the issue today of a video which campaigns against catcalling. LibertyViral.com reported on the story, which shows a woman claiming to be verbally harassed 100 times on the streets of New York City. The problem is, many, if not most of the men who approach her are actually very polite. Aren't many of these just harmless flirting? Still, there are definitely a few creeps in the segment so as to make the entire experiment a valid one worth discussing

Is there a difference between harmless flirting and harassment?

The conclusions that we should draw from this video are many. The conclusions many feminists will draw from it however, are more than likely to be the desire to create more laws, such as the California bill. Never mind that the new California sexual assault legislation, which creates a preponderance of evidence standard, fosters an environment hostile to due process. No, instead lets focus on trying to demonize an entire gender's flirtatiousness as hostile [RELATED: Does Government Think Women Are Too Weak To Say No To Sex? PODCAST]

Another interesting point in the video, which the creators don't wish to discuss, is the racial aspect of it. While the ethnicity of the girl is somewhat ambigous, the ethnicity of her catcallers definitely is not. Do the producers not wish to discuss the cultural implications of the video? Would her responses to the harassment have been different if she were walking down Wall Street and her catcallers were white and/or wealthy? We may never know. 

True harassment is wrong and it is something that it should be stopped. But how should it be stopped? Should we teach women how to say no? Or should we try and tell men not to talk to women on the street entirely? Is the answer somewhere in the mushy middle? 

All that and more, with a very special guest on this episode of the Freedom Report podcast! 

Author Brian Aitken appears on the Freedom Report podcast to discuss his new book: The Blue Tent Sky: How The Left's War on Guns Cost Me My Son and My Freedom.

Aitken lost his son and many of his freedoms as a convicted felon whose sentence was commuted by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to time served. Although Aitken is free, he's still unable to see his son again, and he's trying to use the proceeds from his new book to mount a legal challenge in order to get close to his loved one.

Aitken's book is a frightening tale of the horror show of modern American gun laws. Citizens can be in violation of the many arcane laws at any time, simply by crossing state lines. Aitken's tale is an important warning to the citizens of these United States that it's time to wake up and take our freedom back. It's time for us to restore true freedom in regards to the right to bear arms.

Watch or listen to this special episode of the Freedom Report podcast, and make sure to grab a copy of Aitken's book after the show.  

WATCH:

 

Katherine Timpf of the National Review Online wrote an incendiary new column about sexual assault titled "Women Are Too Weak to Say No to Sex." Timpf reasons that California's new laws which establish standards of consent are paternalistic and truly misogynist against women.

From the piece...

A lot of laws say that sexual assault is forcing sex on someone who said no or who is unable to say no. But here’s the problem: We need to realize that women are, in general, not able to say no. It’s too hard.

Some people may think that once a woman has been dating someone for a few years, she will be courageous enough to say what she wants sexually. Some men may think that it is okay to go from kissing their girlfriend to more explicit sexual contact without expressly asking for permission, that this is the normal progression of sexual activity, and perhaps even romantic. But it’s not romantic. It’s sexual assault.

Thankfully, California realizes this, too, and the law specifies that having a prior relationship does not change anything. Never again will these women have to deal with their longtime boyfriends’ going from kissing to more — an experience no doubt traumatic to the weak psyche of a woman — without explicitly asking for permission first.

Ouch. Are the new laws just bureaucratic cock blocking? Or does the cult of the sacred vagina truly have a point, and women are too weak to make their own decisions? How about this: Men try asking your girlfriend or wife if you can, pretty please with sugar on top, have permission to kiss her. Ladies, see how long you can stand a man that asks.

Timpf on the Freedom Report to discuss all that and more here below!

 

In 2019, America's Greatest Enemies Can Kiss Our Red, White & Blue Asses! 

Gas prices across the United States are at their lowest point in a year, driven in part by falling oil prices. Retailers have hinted that more dramatic cuts could be on the way. What's causing this sudden drop? 

The Freedom Report podcast today takes a look at the energy market, where Reuters is reporting that Saudi Arabia is slashing prices of crude oil. The country of Venezuela was pressuring Saudi's to hike up the cost, but Riyadh decided to take a different approach, and cut prices to $80 a barrel in some cases.

The Saudi's likely fear the fact that U.S. domestic oil production is booming. 

Russia is currently the largest oil producer now at 10.6 million barrels a day, with Saudi Arabia being the second-largest at 9.7 million a day. The U.S. is the world's largest natural gas producer, and in 2019 domestic crude oil production is expected to surpass 13 million barrels a day. What would happen if America no longer relied so heavily on foreign oil from countries like Venezuela, Russia, and Saudi Arabia? Listen to our show to find out! 

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