• Note: A new, more concise, curated Barnes Brief to focus attention on a more selective exploration of substantial subjects.

Schedule: Past & Prospective

• What Are The Odds:
  
• Friday LIVE: https://sportspicks.locals.com/post/6081769/betting-w-barnes-friday-september-6-2024
• Saturday Movie: TBD
• Sunday: Law for the People w/ Viva
• Closing Argument: The Right to Privacy Doesn’t End at Courthouse

Art of the Day: What we need to be in embrace of V for Vendetta’s message of the power of the individual to bespeak a revolution. “Everybody is special. Everybody. Everybody is a hero.” That is when “people shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”

Wisdom of the Day: “Our masters have not heard the people’s voice for generations and it is much, much louder than they care to remember.” V for Vendetta.

Book Recommendation: My Deep State book list (in progress). https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/130921670-robert-barnes?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=deep-state

The Merits: Top Five Curated Articles from The Barnes Library

1. Economy: Americans lose out in jobs. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/great-replacement-job-shock-13-million-native-born-americans-just-lost-their-jobs-replaced
2. Politics: Kennedy Trump alliance. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-can-make-america-healthy-again-rfk-jr-reforms-chronic-disease-crisis-a9b4b8c0?st=4w601dlfq6vln1d
3. Geopolitics: Macron’s gamble fails. https://www.courthousenews.com/france-braces-for-right-wing-government-in-spite-of-election-results/
4. History: Hitler’s need for war.
5. Culture: Hope in Hollywood.

Homework: Top 5 Cases TBD on Sunday

1. As forecast: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-sentencing-delay-hush-money-case-new-york/
2. They forget: the last Russiagate hoax. https://www.axios.com/2020/03/16/justice-department-russian-trolls-internet-research-agency
3. FARA too far. https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol96/iss2/11/
4. Musk vs. Media Matters. https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/mopaqagdapa/X%20v%20Media%20Matters%2020240829.pdf
5. Inalienability of Publicity. https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3443&context=faculty_scholarship

Closing Argument: The Right to Privacy Doesn’t End at Courthouse

From a recent brief in federal court of mine.

Americans do not forfeit their Constitutional rights to protected activity and all privacy merely because they also assert their Constitutional right to petition the court for redress of grievances. An employer does not get to use their own prior religious discrimination to again discriminate against their ex-employee in the very case seeking remedy for the past religious discrimination. A case of religious discrimination does not authorize federal courts to conduct heresy trials as the new Inquisitor of Appellant’s life history, invasively scrolling through Appellant’s sexual history, psychological counseling, medical records, religious affiliations, political activities, and intimate conversations throughout their life to see if the court approves.

“Inviolability of privacy in group association" is "indispensable to preservation of freedom of association, particularly where a group espouses dissident beliefs." Id. Indeed, “it is hardly a novel perception that compelled disclosure of affiliation with groups engaged in advocacy may constitute as effective a restraint on freedom of association as the forms of governmental action” NAACP v. Ala., 357 U.S. 449, 462 (1958). Revealing such information exposes her associates to risk of “economic reprisal, loss of employment, threat of physical coercion, and other manifestations of public hostility.” NAACP, 357 U.S. at 462.

Federal Courts recognize a constitutionally based right of privacy that can be raised in response to discovery requests. See Breed v. United States Dist. Ct. for Northern District, 542 F.2d 1114, 1116 (9th Cir.1976) (balancing the invasion of minor's privacy rights against the court's need for ward files); Johnson by Johnson v. Thompson, 971 F.2d 1487, 1497 (10th Cir.1992), cert. den. 507 U.S. 910, 113 S.Ct. 1255, 122 L.Ed.2d 654 (1993) (denying discovery of names of participants in a medical study due to privacy interests of the individual participants). Guthrey v. California Dep't of Corr. & Rehab., 1:10-cv-02177-AWI-BAM, 14 (E.D. Cal. Jun. 27, 2012) ("the initiation of a lawsuit does not, by itself, grant plaintiffs the right to rummage unnecessarily and unchecked through the private affairs of anyone they choose. A balance must be struck.") Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 64, 96 S.Ct. 612 (1976) ("[W]e have repeatedly found that compelled disclosure, in itself, can seriously infringe on privacy of association and belief guaranteed by the First Amendment").

"A party who objects to a discovery request as an infringement of the party's First Amendment rights is in essence asserting a First Amendment privilege." Perry v. Schwarzenegger, 591 F3d 1126, 1140 (9th Cir. 2009); See also, Black Panther Party v. Smith, 661 F.2d 1243, 1264 (D.C. Cir.1981), cert. granted and vacated as moot, 458 U.S. 1118, 102 S.Ct. 3505, 73 L.Ed.2d 1381 (1982); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1) ("Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party's claim or defense[.]") (emphasis added). "Importantly, the party seeking the discovery must show that the information sought is highly relevant to the claims or defenses in the litigation—a more demanding standard of relevance than that under FRCP 26(b)(1).("The request must also be carefully tailored to avoid unnecessary interference with protected activities, and the information must be otherwise unavailable.") Guthrey v. California Dep't of Corr. & Rehab., 1:10-cv-02177-AWI-BAM, 14-15 (E.D. Cal. Jun. 27, 2012) (“substantial privacy interest in his subjective religious views, as well as the identity of the individuals he shares those views with - whether in a place of worship or in casual conservation.”). Critically, discovery cannot be “used to gain access to unfettered inquisitions into an individual's most private and intimate religious views” because” a "chilling impact on religious associational rights would result.” Guthrey v. California Dep't of Corr. & Rehab., 1:10-cv-02177-AWI-BAM, 16 (E.D. Cal. Jun. 27, 2012).

Under the Pennsylvania constitution, the right to privacy is an “inherent right of mankind” enshrined in “Article 1, Section 1.” Pennsylvania State Educ. Ass'n v. Commonwealth Dep't of Cmty. & Econ. Dev., 148 A.3d 142, 150 (Pa. 2016). “Article 1, Section 8 [of the Pennsylvania constitution], . . . is meant to embody a strong notion of privacy, carefully safeguarded in this Commonwealth for the past two centuries.”Com. v. Edmunds, 586 A.2d 887, 897 (Pa. 1991). “[C]itizens (as persons, unrelated to any subjective expectations) have the ‘right to immunity of the person,’ the ‘right to be let alone,’ and the ‘right to one's personality.’” Pennsylvania State Educ. Ass'n, 148 A.3d at 150. The right to privacy is “‘[t]he greatest joy that can be experienced by mortal man . . .in small as well as in big things. Of all the precious privileges and prerogatives in the crown of happiness which every American citizen has the right to wear, none shines with greater luster and imparts more innate satisfaction and soulful contentment.’” Id. at 151 (quoting Com. v. Murray, 223 A.2d 102, 109 (Pa. 1966)).

The broad right of privacy under the Pennsylvania constitution is not even limited only to government actors, for if “private intermeddlers may, without legal responsibility” intrude into the right to privacy, “then all constitutional guarantees become meaningless aggregation of words, as disconnected as a broken necklace whose beads have scattered on the floor.” Com. v. Murray, 223 A.2d at 110.

In examining the scope of the right to privacy under the Pennsylvania constitution, courts “balance the public interest in disclosure of the requested information against the ‘individual's right to privacy and personal security.’” Pennsylvania State Educ. Ass'n, 148 A.3d at 154 (quoting Sapp Roofing Co. v. Sheet Metal Workers' Int'l Ass'n, Loc. Union No. 12, 713 A.2d 627, 630 (199 8)). This right to privacy is not limited to the home, but also to “to the doctor's office, the hospital, the hotel room, or as is otherwise required to safeguard the right to privacy involved in such intimate relationships.” In re "B", 394 A.2d 419, 424 (Pa. 1978). Indeed, one of the objects of the right to privacy is “to protect an individual from revealing matters which could impugn his character and subject him to ridicule or persecution,” such as mental health, sexual history, and HIV diagnoses. Stenger v. Lehigh Valley Hasp. Ctr., 609 A.2d 796, 800 (Pa. 1992). Thus, there is no “general power to inquire into private affairs and to compel disclosures but only with such limited right of inquiry as is pertinent.” Annenberg, 2 A.2d at 617-18. Subpoenas “commanding plaintiffs to produce” “a mass of books and papers in order that there might be a search through them to gather evidence” are “void in that they do not show that the demands therein are germane to the inquiry.” Id. at 618.

Rather than force heresy trials on those discriminated against petitioning the court for redress of greivance, it is time to restore the right of privacy from the prying, spying eyes of the judiciary. 

Schedule: Past & Prospective

• What Are The Odds:
  
• Friday LIVE: https://sportspicks.locals.com/post/6029351/live-betting-w-barnes-ama
• Saturday Movie: TBD
• Sunday: Law for the People w/ Viva
• Monday: What Are The Odds w/ Baris
• Closing Argument: The RFK Effect

Book Recommendation: My co-favorite book as a kid. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1976848.To_Seek_a_Newer_World

Art of the Day: The kaleidoscope of colliding colors in this Hindu temple so expressive that locals believe its waters inside heal chronic illness. The celebratory style of the temple manifests in more than its yoga style elephants and happy bellies, but best felt in the brilliance and brightness of its colors. Feeling more like a circus of joy than the more austere architecture of a later age. Indeed, it hard to look at this, and not smile, and in that, it reflects the divinity of the art’s center of attention, a healing power of its own.

Wisdom of the Day: “Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly.” Robert Kennedy.

Introduction: Top 10 Headlines of the Week

1. Fed reverses
2. DNC ends with a whisper
3. Beyonce no-show
4. Behind the DNC curtains
5. DNC shenanigans lead RFK to consider Trump
6. Something that never happens to Amos Miller: food recalls
7. Literally cremating the evidence
8. Gabbard spying inquiry
9. Rising global risk
10. Housing problems  

*Bonus: Aliens?

The Evidence: Top Twenty Articles from The Barnes Library

1. DNC Bore. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/protests-pandering-past-presidents-no-policies-summing-2024-dnc-2-words-not-trump
2. DNC fails to reach working class. https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/democrats-are-super-happy-working
3. RFK impact. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/frihow-rfk-jrs-campaign-could-end-and-who-benefits
4. The Washington exemplar. https://www.realclearpolling.com/stories/analysis/the-washington-primary-points-toward-another-nailbiter
5. DC: the mafia of the mentally ill & morally corrupt. https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/end-of-hoaxes/
6. Harris’ unconstitutional tax plan. https://www.heritage.org/taxes/commentary/another-unconstitutional-wealth-tax
7. Ukranian insanity. https://korybko.substack.com/p/kievs-plan-to-ban-the-ukrainian-orthodox
8. Global inflation. https://www.cfr.org/tracker/global-inflation-tracker
9. Supply shock, price shock.
10. Lockdown inflation. https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2024/supply-shocks-were-most-important-source-inflation-2021-23-raising

*Bonus: Alien life. https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/Interstellar_Expedition.pdf

Homework: Cases TBD on Sunday

1. Trump New York. https://media.aflegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/22164831/Filed-Motion-and-Brief-Combined.pdf
2. Kennedy censorship case proceeds.
3. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.lawd.198699/gov.uscourts.lawd.198699.56.0.pdf
4. Elections at SCOTUS. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A164/322427/20240814124312919_24A164%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf
5. Alaska elections. https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-08-22-Order.pdf
6. Vaccine coercion. https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/sites/default/files/documents/op23-237.pdf
7. Amazon antitrust. https://www.dccourts.gov/sites/default/files/2024-08/DC%20v.%20Amazon%2022-CV-657.pdf
8. Twitter v. Jack Smith. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-1264/311993/20240530144316325_23-xxxx%20-%20X%20Corp.%20v.%20United%20States%20-%20cert.%20petition.pdf
9. IBM Employment. https://media.aflegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20173246/ECF001_Dill-v.-IBM_Complaint.pdf
10. DEI Insurance. https://media.aflegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20100458/download-2.pdf
11. Machine gun dismissal. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25060041-ruling-in-machine-gun-case
12. Baby food autism. https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/23/23-40197-CV0.pdf

Closing Argument: RFK Effect

• If RFK drops out, the effect is three-fold: first, RFK’s voters other choices in the election; second, messaging impact on the campaigns; and third, down-ballot impact of turnout impacted thereby.
• My analysis if RFK stays in as follows on the 2024 Presidential vote:

                                 Trump 75 million

                                 Harris 72 million

                                 Kennedy 6 million

                                Other 2 million

• My analysis if RFK drops out and either supports Trump, attacks Harris and/or Trump takes up issues important to RFK voters.

                               Trump 78 million

                               Harris 73 million

                               Other 2 million

• The electoral impact moves Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania into Trump likely states, and moves New Mexico, Maine and Minnesota into tossups. The down-ballot effect moves the Senate into 85% chance of going Republican and the same with the House, as the drop-out voters were those leaning heavily Democratic down-ballot.
• The key for Trump to capitalize on RFK dropping out is to target RFK voters on issues of importance to them. We polled this precise set of questions for 1776 Law Center in the summer. A recap may be helpful.
• 29% of voters told us there were seriously considering voting for Kennedy for President. Amongst voters under 40, this number rose to 40%. Amongst black voters, this rose to 35% and amongst Hispanic voters, this rose to 40%. Amongst true Independents (no lean toward either party), this number rose to 36%. Amongst those who scored high on populism, this rose to 39%. Amongst high school voters, this rose to 35%. Amongst students, this rose to 39%. Amongst union members, this rose to 38%. Amongst parents with school-age kids, this rose to 37%. Amongst urban voters, this rose to 37%. Amongst New England voters, this rose to 36%. Amongst likely, but not certain, to vote, this rose to 40%. Amongst voters that skipped recent elections or were new voters, this rose to 42%. Of note, of those prior voters considering Kennedy, more voted for Biden than Trump.
• We dug down into what issues drove these Kennedy-considering voters. Two of the top issues were Medical Freedom, Food Freedom and opposition to foreign war. They reported the highest rates of voters who believed “Americans should be allowed to buy food directly from farmers without getting government permission” and considered corporate-produced processed industrialized, commercialized, monopolized food laced with chemicals and made like Soylent Green to be deeply unhealthy and undesired compared to their favorite local farmers market and neighborhood food vendor. They also reported the highest rate of voters who believed “Drug companies should not be immune from suit if their vaccines cause injury” because they also reported the highest rates of discrimination, disability and death to they or their loved ones from the Covid19 vaccine. They also reported deep levels of dissatisfaction with the current conditions of the economy and their own prospects in it. Lastly, they strongly opposed funding foreign wars like Ukraine with American tax dollars.
• RFK dropping out would free these voters to back Trump, but their Democratic ancestry and GOP skepticism mean it is up to Trump to persuade them why they should embrace his candidacy. For that, the easiest ticket is to embrace the two biggest issues of distinct impact for them: restore the family farmer to the heart of the American food supply and remedy the vaccine discrimination and disabilities with real reform of our Big Pharma protection racket laws. Food freedom and medical freedom are the ticket to a Trump 2024 election outside the margin of fraud.

Schedule: Past & Prospective

• What Are the Odds:
  
• On Alex Jones: https://banned.video/watch?id=66be76c782cb560a8a1f2268
• Friday LIVE: https://sportspicks.locals.com/post/6003691/live-betting-w-barnes-friday-august-16-2024
• Saturday Movie: TBD
• Sunday: Law for the People w/ Viva

Closing Argument: Economic Tea Leaves

Book Recommendation: The Saga of Uncle Earl https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1150991.Earl_K_Long

Art of the Day: Fascinated with art and photography capturing water, bridges, windows, and doors, as expressing the possibility of life, the paths yet to pursue, the mysteries to be uncovered and the truths to be discovered, Monet’s water lilies and Japanese bridges always drew me in. A favorite museum of mine – like Frida’s house in Mexico City and Rodin’s in Paris – Monet’s in the French countryside attracted to visit the nearby lily pond he made famous and stand on that same bridge he spent so much time making immemorial. A place to get lost in thought as the archives of nature invite us into that window into our own soul, explore the water of the spirit, walk through that door into our inner world, bridging the nature around us to the soul inside, and it’s shared architect.

Wisdom of the Day: "The time is always right to do what is right." Earl Long. 

Introduction: Top 10 Headlines of the Week

1. Trump team
2. Housing woes
3. Horrid current economy conditions
4. Harris new plan
5. Disney abuse
6. Ukraine invades
7. Perry death arrests
8. Massive hack
9. Biden crime admissions
10. DNC tries to stop RFK on ballot

The Evidence: Top Ten Articles from The Barnes Library

1. The promise of JD
2. CRE troubles
3. War on small business
4. Price control debate
5. Price control advocates
6. Price control skepticism
7. Price control criticism
8. Price control doubts
9. Price control queues
10. Price control efficacy & equity

*Bonus: Aesthetic revolution

Homework: Cases TBD on Sunday

1. Voter registration lawsuit https://mcusercontent.com/08cb3e52aa1308600f84d49ea/files/8827e8ea-0eb8-123c-23b9-5d39b2e8c0e4/1_2024_08_13_Complaint.pdf
2. UAW charges Trump for Musk interview https://www.reuters.com/world/us/uaw-files-labor-charges-against-trump-musk-2024-08-13/
3. EU threatens Musk https://x.com/lindayaX/status/1823052643733823640
4. Pepsi class action https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ian-mccausland-v-pepsico-ruling-mtd.pdf
5. Fourth Amendment victory https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/23/23-60321-CR0.pdf
6. Scott Peterson innocence claim https://www.courthousenews.com/scott-peterson-makes-bid-to-clear-his-name-by-dna-testing-evidence-from-pregnant-wifes-murder/
7. AI fake nudes https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/nudify-websites-lawsuit.pdf
8. Big Tech battle https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/08/16/23-2969.pdf
9. Facebook censorship https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/08/09/21-16210.pdf
10. Bank seizure https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/010111094414.pdf
11. Legality of price controls https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2373&context=dlj
12. Tik Tok ban https://sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com/obj/eden-va2/hkluhazhjeh7jr/2024.06.20%20-%20TT%20v.%20Garland%20-%20%5B2060743%5D%20Brief%20of%20Petitioners%20TikTok%20Inc%20and%20ByteDance%20Ltd.pdf

*Bonus: Arbitration abuse, ex. Disney

Closing Argument: Economic Tea Leaves

• The Boston Tea Party manifested a political revolution rooted in an economic revolt. The economic tea leaves ever since signaled political change. 2024 tells a very interesting tale in the tea leaves of the economy.
• Since its inception in the 1950’s, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment studies only dipped below 70 for extended time periods in the run-up to the 1980, 1992 and 2008 Presidential elections. In all three cases, the incumbent party lost the electoral college by 100+ vote landslides.
• The current confidence index continues to trail in the sub-70s in the run-up to 2024. Amongst the working class, the current sub-60s confidence index only matches 2008 and 1980, two elections that didn’t end up competitive at any level come election day. The working-class negativity over the current economic conditions in the past year set a record low since the inception of the survey. Gallup’s aggregate economic confidence index follows the same path, with the lowest levels recorded since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the recession of 1992.
• A related concern focuses on the physical manifestation of the American dream: the family homestead. American’s confidence in their ability to buy a home currently sits at the lowest level ever in the history of the survey. Of note, similar data mirrors in American’s confidence to buy a car or significant household items.
• This translates into other tangible ways beyond skipping vacations, meals out, a family night at the movies, that special gift on that special occasion, or a personal item of special interest – skipping meals and skipping medical appointments. A majority of working-class Americans report skipping on meals and medicine, as well as utilities like hot water, heat or air conditioning, in the last six months due to the inability of their income to keep with the cost of living in essential goods and services.
• This is often compounded by a diminishing sense of security in their ability to retire, savings for emergencies, and rising debt levels, often borrowing from friends and family, loan sharks and payday lenders, high interest credit cards or high interest vehicle or furnishing providers. For younger Americans outside the affluent classes, this took on a double whammy as eviction delays ended, student loans came due, and stimulation checks disappeared.
• This economic perception reflects their economic reality: food prices spiked 25% since Biden’s election, housing prices doubled in many markets, gas prices jumped 50%, and utility costs fled up, while access to credit shrunk, small businesses struggled and real wages and incomes fell. It’s a recipe no incumbent party has ever survived. Those that ignore it usually get their tea tossed.