Tag: testimony

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Vaping Madness at the FDA

“For the children.” That is a go-to justification for politicians and bureaucrats seeking to infringe on individual rights. It was on display last week in the final minutes of the testimony of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary before a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Makary was exaggerating the extent of vaping among high school students and saying that the addiction to vaping among “kids in America” is “something that we have to address” and a “top priority” for Donald Trump’s presidential administration.

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Julian Assange Describes a Dangerous Tendency in Government

On Thursday, I wrote about the testimony of Julian Assange of WikiLeaks at a Tuesday meeting of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Assange’s testimony provided an informative overview of his persecution for helping expose disturbing government secrets.

In his testimony, Assange stepped back at times from the particulars of his story to address broader issues related to government that are important for proponents of freedom of speech and press, and opponents of warmongering, to understand. Then, in his answering of questions after his testimony, Assange provided some insightful description of a dangerous government tendency that it is important for people to understand.

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Julian Assange Speaks

It was wonderful news to many people last week when word came that Julian Assange would speak publicly this week. For a long time it seemed that such a day would never come as Assange suffered in harsh conditions in a British prison under the threat of extradition to the United Sates where he would likely remain captive in similar harsh conditions until death.

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Julian Assange to Speak Publicly Next Week

In late June, Julian Assange returned to Australia a free man after years of suffering in harsh conditions in a Britain prison with the threat of extradition to the United States hanging over him. Since then, the WikiLeaks founder, who the US government sought to prosecute for exposing US dirty secrets including related to US military actions, has not spoken publicly. That will change by October 1.

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Jonathan Turley Versus the Impeachment Steamroller

Following up on his previous call for caution in the effort in the United States House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump, George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley on Wednesday presented to the House Judiciary Committee oral testimony and an extensive written statement regarding the case as it now stands for impeaching the president. Unlike other witnesses at the hearing, Turley did not give the deed his blessing.

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Libra: Advancing the Cryptocurrencies Crackdown and the War on Cash

United States Department of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in a Monday press conference, attacked cryptocurrencies, including Facebook’s planned Libra. Mnuchin charged that Libra and other cryptocurrencies “could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers” and are a “national security issue.” Further stated Mnuchin: “Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity like cybercrime, tax evasion, extortion, ransomware, illicit drugs and human trafficking.”

Mnuchin, however, likely has no real reason for such concerns about Libra. It looks like backers of Libra are prepared to help the US government crack down on cryptocurrencies and financial privacy.

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