VICE.  

Says Libya war was worst mistake of his presidency, but then goes on to say that the mistake lay in the fact that he did not intervene more. CNN

$150 million for private villas in Afghanistan, $50 grand to investigate an elephant’s bomb-detecting prowess, etc.  The Warfare State counts on us not paying attention. LA Times

Socialism in practice means waiting in long, long lines.  One thing I’ve always noticed though, is that the Brits sure know how to queue. PRNTLY

Venezuelan society is tearing itself apart while its government attempts to enforce Total Prohibition, euphemistically known as “social-ism”. Zero Hedge 

French winemakers hated the foreign competition so much that they resorted to force to prevent it, dumping the equivalent of 90,000 bottles of wine.  This is the essence of protectionism, the only difference is private citizens are committing the crime, rather than the State. National Review

The no-knock raid is probably the most reckless, dangerous, police tactic in use today.  Barreling through a door in the middle of the night to catch someone supposedly before they flush their drugs down the toilet is a recipe for a dead body or two.  And death is very probable for both the unwitting inhabitants of the raided house as well as the cops participating in the dangerously stupid scheme.  When someone breaks into your home, it’s natural to want to unload your shotgun on them, especially if you have a family.  If the cops don’t announce themselves, how are you supposed to know otherwise?  Several instances of a cop being shot to death by a homeowner who thought it was a criminal home invasion (well, these no-knock raids are criminal) have resulted in the homeowner being charged with murder, and the prosecutors bizarrely seeking the death penalty.  Some relevant stories here, here, and here.  The details are important, but questions of wisdom over the use of the no-knock, 3am raid should be front and center.  First, what should cops expect a sane gun owner to do in that situation?  Second, why in God’s name should the homeowner be charged with anything?  It’s clearly the police acting in a criminal manner, by bursting in unannounced in the wee hours of the morning.  Why do cops get a pass for these raids on the part of the public and the legal system?

Surveillance State is expanding at a cancerous rate, so no surprise that it would further entangle itself with the academic Establishment to amass a legion of willing snoops. Reason

Buzzfeed has a nice, time-lapse map depicting where all those surveillance flights were taking place between August and December of last year, along with the frequency of flights in the same location.  Both DHS and the FBI defended the flights as necessary to track “serious criminals” and “terrorists”.  Buzzfeed noticed, however, that the flights dropped by 70% on weekends and holidays, indicating that something else afoot.

The “Sea Hunter” is a 132 feet long, remotely-controlled ship that will supposedly hunt enemy submarines.  The cost of the project stands at $20 million.  The ship is currently unarmed, I wonder how long that will last? Reuters