TMR: Woman Sues Parents for College Tuition...and Wins!?, US Military "Considers" Combat Troops in Iraq, and Americans' Cell Phones Targeted with Airplanes
It's Friday and I'm in love...with The Morning Roar! And today we start off with a doozy...New Jersey Woman Sues Parents for College Tuition...and Wins?!There's an inflated sense of entitlement...and then there's this. 21 year old Caitlyn Ricci is suing her parents for the crime of not paying her college tuition. It can be argued whether or not a parent should pay all or a portion of a college student's tuition - or even if the child should attend college at all - but most reasonable people would agree that this should not be a matter of law, but rather a personal decision made by parents based on their situation.Luckily for Caitlyn Ricci, she lives in the State of New Jersey, a place not exactly known for having a reasonable legal system. Ricci was actually successful in suing her parents for college tuition, who have been ordered by a judge to pay $16,000 of her college tuition at Temple this year. ABC7 of Los Angeles reports on the circumstances surrounding this wacky ruling:
Caitlyn's parents were young loves. Their marriage only lasted two-and-a-half years, but the two say they amicably parented to give their daughter the best life they could.Caitlyn's parents describe their daughter as a typical rebellious teen."Instead of following our rules, she decided she is going to leave her mother's house, where she was living, and move in with her grandparents," said Michael Ricci.And that's where the trouble started.
Ok, so Caitlyn didn't have the best relationship with her parents. Fair enough. But how did a judge justify forcing the parents to pay Caitlyn - now an adult - for her out of state college tuition?
judge turned to a New Jersey legal precedent known as "Newburgh" that says divorced parents may be required to contribute to their children's education, no matter their age.The judge ruled in Caitlyn's case, ordering her parents to pay $16,000 this year."The law in New Jersey is so clear. It is cut and dry. The law says parents are supposed to contribute to their children's post-secondary expenses," said Rochester.Maura and Michael say they were willing to pay for her education in state, in New Jersey, if she followed rules and lived at home.
I'd like to repeat the fact that Caitlyn Ricci is twenty-one years old. She is not a child. Not to sound like a curmudgeon, but when my father was her age he was putting himself through college through ROTC and part-time work. I got through college through a combination of parental assistance, working summers, savings, and student loans. Yet the "cut and dry" laws of the State of New Jersey seem to indicate that, if necessary, the hidden gun of the state should be brought out to force parents to pay for their child's education - even if that child has essentially renounced her own parents!This is a clear indication of a system run amok, and further the manifestation of the bad ideas of the citizenry. When individuals believe in a system of imposing man-made laws on their fellow citizens, absurdities such as this, along with their deranged justifications from state officials, will surely continue.Read the full story here.U.S. Military Considers Combat Troops in IraqDo you see anything wrong with that headline that sticks out right off the bat? You're reading it correctly - the U.S. military - not Congress, not the President, and surely not the American people - are considering sending ground troops into Iraq to combat ISIS forces.The UK's Guardian reports:
The top-ranking officer in the American military said on Thursday that the US is actively considering the direct use of troops in the toughest upcoming fights against the Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq, less than a week after Barack Obama doubled troop levels there.General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, indicated to the House of Representatives armed services committee that the strength of Isis relative to the Iraqi army may be such that he would recommend abandoning Obama’s oft-repeated pledge against returning US ground troops to combat in Iraq.
Now look, I'm no fan of President Obama, nor am I a fan of the way our government is currently structured and funded. But if we're going to play along here and accept current system as it is, isn't the President the Commander-in-Chief, who should be handling decisions regarding troops during operations? And while we're at it, isn't it Congress who is supposed to declare war in the first place?Well, that's all just pillow talk to General Martin Dempsey, who seems to feel that he can just up and decide to engage American troops in direct combat in foreign countries, POTUS and Congress be damned. Now I'm pretty sure there's a word they use for when the military defies the wishes of the civilian leadership...isn't it a "coup?"PLUG TIME! Tune in to next week's episode of the Lions of Liberty Podcast, when I will speak with the great Scott Horton about ISIS and just what the whole deal is with these wacky beheading-crazy bad guys.Americans' Cell Phones Targeted by Airplanes in Secret Spy ProgramAnother day, another secret spy program revealed! This time it comes from the Wall Street Journal, which is reporting on a secret spy program which utilizes fake cell phone towers on airplanes in order to target cell phones. The program is intended to target criminals, but as these things tend to go, they are also able to sift through thousands of other cell phones at the same time."Say what?!", you say?WSJ goes on to explain the theory behind the program:
The Justice Department is scooping up data from thousands of cellphones through fake communications towers deployed on airplanes, a high-tech hunt for criminal suspects that is snagging a large number of innocent Americans, according to people familiar with the operations.The U.S. Marshals Service program, which became fully functional around 2007, operates Cessna aircraft from at least five metropolitan-area airports, with a flying range covering most of the U.S. population, according to people familiar with the program.Planes are equipped with devices—some known as “dirtboxes” to law-enforcement officials because of the initials of the Boeing Co. unit that produces them—which mimic cell towers of large telecommunications firms and trick cellphones into reporting their unique registration information.The technology in the two-foot-square device enables investigators to scoop data from tens of thousands of cellphones in a single flight, collecting their identifying information and general location, these people said.
"Say WHAT?!?", you say!Well this spiffy infographic shows just how it works.
It seems more and more true every day that the police state is indeed here, and only a populace that better understands and defends individual rights can stop it.Help us create one and don't forget to read - and share with friends! - The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday right here at Lions of Liberty!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
