Another reason to love her.

Reason: The NSA has apparently stopped the domestic surveillance program that Snowden exposed

The Intercept: The House Democrat’s “rebuke” of Rep. Ilhan Omar is a fraud for many reasons, including its wild distortions of her comments

The American Conservative: How genetics companies hand over your DNA to the FBI

FEE: Don’t be too quick to write off young “socialists”

AIER: Vaping is saving lives

In an age of rampant police and DA abuse, here is some priceless, and simple, advice from two lawyers:

As strange as it may sound, I like lawyers. They can be very empowering, and their very simple advice is basically what the above attorneys are giving: “Do not let yourself be intimidated into speaking to the cops, or anyone else, without my presence.” Lawyers on TV, when walking into an interrogation, immediately tell their client to stop talking. I’ve asked one of the most successful attorneys in Oklahoma if this really happens, and yes, it does. They want you to stop talking yourself into a cell.  Many cops will act like your buddy while coaxing damning information out of you, the DA will try to intimidate you into settling out of court. Don’t! Crooked cops, crooked DAs, vengeful idiots who might be using the legal system to harass you, are afraid of court.  The courtroom is a sobering environment, and if you’ve shut your trap all the way up until you get into court, you’ll be amazed at how quickly the other side falls to pieces. Cases that are forced to go to court get thrown out all the time. Unfortunately, many people, usually poor or uninformed people, take plea deals just to get the circus over with, but end up walking away with a criminal record. Take to heart the above advice, and when some agent of the State is pretending to be your buddy, shut the f— up!

High Times: Medical marijuana sales in Oklahoma exceeded $7 million in February

Reason: The lingering stench of marijuana prohibition

FAIR: Facebook wants you to know if you’re getting your news from the wrong government

TAC: Arlington should deny Amazon $51 million in HQ2 subsidies

The Intercept: Google employees uncover ongoing work on censored China search engine

Techdirt: The tyranny of copyright: How a once-humble legal issue has tormented a generation of speech

RON PAUL: ISIS defeated in Syria, so why drop white phosphorus?

DANIEL LARISON: The many hawkish abuses of the Monroe Doctrine

PETER VAN BUREN: Michael Cohen’s flip was a flop

DON BOUDREAUX: The stupidest eight words that I’ve ever read

KELLEY VLAHOS: Israel boycott exposes serious rift within the Democratic Party     

JUSTIN RAIMONDO: Boycott Israel

While many rightly cheered the rise of the internet in the 90’s, seeing it as the herald of the end of the one-viewpoint corporate news of the 20th century, ‘Big Media’ has returned in a big way to the internet itself. The “internet ghettos”, as Matt Drudge aptly christened the gargantuan digital empires of Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, YouTube, Instagram, Microsoft, and Google, have roped most people in, and, having done that, can now funnel whichever viewpoint it desires to its users. And these companies aren’t private in the least, but up to their necks in government contracts, willingly doing the bidding of the government lest those contracts and favors dry up.  Amazon, another digital behemoth, is in the final stages of sealing the deal on a $10-billion ‘JEDI’ cloud contract with the Pentagon, making the federal government its number one customer. And let’s not forget Microsoft, who is a shoo-in for an $8 billion contract with the Department of Defense. The 20th century gatekeepers of acceptable opinion have been reincarnated in the form of these internet giants, and they are seeking to rein in the miracle of the internet, and “de-platform” anyone with opinions they happen to disagree with. One such viewpoint is that of vaccine skepticism, which has found a thriving home on social media. Families with vaccine-injured members can network, organize, share research, and educate themselves on the subject. They are very persuasive, and, in response, the government-protected Gargantuas of the web have begun a slow purge. Pinterest has censored vaccine-skeptical content, Amazon has removed vaccine-skeptical documentaries from Prime, and now Facebook will almost certainly be the next internet giant to succumb to the pressure to censor the growing, organized movement of concerned citizens over the current vaccine policy. What are they afraid of? Well, they’re afraid of the persuasiveness of the vaccine skeptics. They’re afraid of people like Del Bigtree, producer of Vaxxed, host of the weekly podcast The High Wire, and founder of the Informed Consent Action Network.  For an example of why they wish to de-platform people like Bigtree, listen to his comments at the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices meeting on February 27th of this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuz5kWPXfnQ

Futurism: China’s ‘social credit’ system barred millions from traveling in 2018

The Hill: Amazon reportedly pulls anti-vaccine documentaries

SHIKHA DALMIA: If America can launch military strikes in Pakistan, why can’t India? Her point: our government has set a dangerous precedent.

Truthdig: Jared Kushner’s multi-billion-dollar plot to give Saudis nukes

The Intercept: Google hedges on promise to end military drone AI contract

FEE: The government’s anti-opioid crusade is getting people killed

Ars Technica: Forget growing weed; make yeast spit out THC and CBD instead

DAVID FRENCH: The social media censorship dumpster fire

Zero Hedge: U.S. takes 50 tons of gold from Syria in alleged deal with ISIS

BONNIE KRISTIAN: Military intervention in Venezuela would be a reckless, dangerous option

Antiwar.com: Do members of Congress take too many private trips to Israel with AIPAC?

Weaponized bird flu: The U.S. is funding dangerous experiments it doesn’t want you to know about

Motherboard: Police in Canada are tracking people’s ‘negative’ behavior in a ‘risk’ database

EFF: Massive database leak gives us a window into China’s digital Surveillance State

JOHN KIRIAKOU: Yes, even the Post Office is spying on you

RYAN MCMAKEN: No, you don’t need a $200,000 degree

News 9: ‘Unity bill’ regulating medical marijuana passes in Oklahoma State House

Healio: Medical marijuana relieves symptoms of chronic disease in older adults

Philly: A long way from ‘I didn’t inhale’: Cory Booker pushes marijuana legalization and Presidential run

The Vaccine Reaction: Dr. Fauci, it’s not nice to fool Congress about vaccine reactions

The Hill: Officials deny lack of vaccinations caused whooping cough outbreak in Los Angeles

FEE: NYC experienced worst decline in restaurant jobs since 9/11 after $15 minimum wage win

Reuters: How much does your government spy on you? U.N. may rank the snoopers

Zero Hedge: Did CNN ambush Bernie Sanders with political operatives disguised as everyday people?

TomDispatch: U.S. counter-terror missions across the planet

Hmm, I wonder who creates and distributes the fake Red Cross gear? Red Cross denounces use of its emblem to smuggle US aid to Venezuela