College of William & Mary Professor Lawrence Wilkerson, a member of the Ron Paul Institute’s Academic Board since the institute’s 2013 founding, has provided some advice to the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, according to an article by Michael Crowley in Politico on Thursday. read on...
Over at We Meant Well, always-interesting writer Peter Van Buren provides a funny rundown of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s blunders he suggests prevented it from accessing information on an iPhone connected to the December 2 San Bernardino, California killings. The FBI sure does look like the Keystone Cops with Van Buren’s tale of mistakes that put the FBI into a situation where, to uncover encrypted information from the iPhone, it has to depend on a US magistrate judge ordering Apple, the phone’s manufacturer, to create a means to breach the phone’s information security.
But, is there something more sinister taking place behind the scenes? Governments are renowned for incompetence, so you cannot rule out, barring more information, that a series of blunders did occur. At the same time, blunders in this instance would create a situation that sure is convenient for a US government intent on ensuring it can obtain access to everyone’s encrypted information. The blunders, after all, provided the FBI with a reason to seek the court order in a case where the facts are quite advantageous for the government. read on...
In the fall of 2015, American privacy supporters were relieved that draconian legislation requiring companies to create backdoors for the US government to overcome encryption of individuals’ private information did not make its way through Congress. In fact, the Obama administration then represented that it would both stop seeking such legislation and refrain from otherwise pressuring companies to provide the government with backdoor access to customers’ encryption-secured information
However, everything is not as the Obama administration desired the public to believe. It appears that the Tuesday court order demanding that Apple breach an iPhone’s built-in privacy protections so the government can access the secured information is a materialization of the executive branch’s stealth "plan B" effort to obtain its anti-privacy objectives via other means. read on...
Prominent libertarian communicator and former United States presidential candidate Ron Paul presented on Wednesday a short explanation of libertarianism in response to a question from host Anand Naidoo on the CCTV show The Heat.
Asked by Naidoo “What is a libertarian?” Paul responds with an examination of the principles that individuals should fulfill their contractual obligations and refrain from aggressing against others... read on...
Judge Andrew Napolitano, in a new Fox Business interview with host Stuart Varney, said he applauds Apple CEO Tim Cook for “defending the Constitution” by resisting a United States magistrate judge’s order that Apple aid the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in breaching Apple encryption that protects the company's customers.
Napolitano, a Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board member, backs up Apple’s challenging of the order, noting that the order defies the US legal prohibition on breaking into people’s computers. Even if that law were changed, says Napolitano, the order would face a constitutional barrier. read on...
The violence in Syria has been devastating for years. New military actions in the country by the Turkish government threaten to escalate the situation into a much larger war.
Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Executive Director Daniel McAdams wrote about the most recent developments in the RPI Weekly Update sent out via email early this morning. Because of the great importance of sharing McAdams’ Syria comments with the largest audience possible, those comments from this morning’s email are posted below as well. read on...
Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Andrew Napolitano said in a Thursday Fox News interview that the United States Department of Justice will likely seek to make deals with individuals who were top aides to Hillary Clinton so those aides will testify against her if there is a prosecution of Clinton for failure to adequately protect government secrets while she was US Secretary of State. read on...
Ron Paul, the prominent libertarian communicator, has said many times that the great interest in the ideas of liberty he finds among young people on university campuses gives him reason for optimism. In fact, Paul has made it a priority to speak at universities often, seeking to help build a greater understanding of liberty among both students and people from the surrounding communities. read on...
In a new video report at Fox News, former New Jersey Judge Andrew Napolitano predicts that the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will “very soon” recommend the prosecution of Hillary Clinton for espionage based on her alleged reckless handling of US government secrets while she was secretary of state. That indictment recommendation, Napolitano explains, will bring the matter into the “political sphere” in which President Barack Obama will have the power either to allow or prevent a prosecution. read on...
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), speaking Tuesday at a hearing of the US House Armed Services Committee, returned to a subject he has addressed many times — the US government’s incredible waste of money and lives in Afghanistan. Providing one example to illustrate the “boondoggles” that permeate US activity in Afghanistan, Jones shed light on the six million dollars the US spent on a program involving importing “rare blonde Italian goats” to Afghanistan. The pricey goats, Jones relates, may have then just been eaten instead of being used to boost the cashmere industry in Afghanistan. read on...
