By John Seiler

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is supposed to be the most liberal in the country.

And liberalism is supposed to defend personal privacy. For example, the 1973 Roe vs. Wade abortion decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was based on the “right to privacy.” Here’s an exact quote from the decision: “…the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects against state action the right to privacy….”

Now this report from Salon:

“Today, amidst all the other news about the government’s vast surveillance network, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California dismissed a case brought seven years ago against the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program. The dismissal essentially affirms the “big catch-22″ that makes it nearly impossible for American citizens to sue their government for spying on them.

“Among other things, the Center for Constitutional Rights coordinates the legel defense of the hundreds of detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. After the New York Times revealed the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program in late 2005, CCR had reason to believe that the agency had intercepted its attorneys calls and emails with people outside the U.S., including clients, clients’ families, outside attorneys, potential witnesses, and others.

“So in 2006 they sued, asking a federal court for an injunction to stop the program and naming George W. Bush, the head of the NSA, and the heads of other intelligence agencies as defendants. The government eventually ended that program, so CCR now wanted the court to force the government to destroy any records of surveillance that the intelligence agencies may still have retained from its old illegal wiretapping program.”

Here’s the key: The Ninth Circuit, however “liberal,” is part of the government. So it’s the government letting the government do whatever the government wants.

There really is no “right of privacy.” Only the “right” of the government, including the “liberal” Ninth Circuit, to interpret the Bill of Rights and the rest of the Constitution however it wishes, meaning in favor of the government.

Which means, logically, that this government is not a government of free people, meaning that the government itself is entirely illegitimate.

By John Seiler

It’s a statistical fact that 99 percent of the nuttiness in America originates in California. But that leaves 1 percent from elsewhere. A lot of that 1 percent starts in Minnesota. Look at the joke senator named Al Franken, whose career as a comedy writer made fun of just the kind of hack politician he turned out to be.

But the latest Minnesota madness is that the state has banned its residents from taking free on-line courses without the state government’s OK.

What?

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports:

“Coursera offers free, online courses to people around the world, but if you live in Minnesota, company officials are urging you to log off or head for the border.

“The state’s Office of Higher Education has informed the popular provider of massive open online courses, or MOOC’s, that Coursera is unwelcome in the state because it never got permission to operate there.”

At first I thought this was a spoof out of the Onion. But Coursera, which is located in Mountain View, published this on its Web site under “Terms of Service“:

“Notice for Minnesota Users

“Coursera has been informed by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education that under Minnesota Statutes (136A.61 to 136A.71), a university cannot offer online courses to Minnesota residents unless the university has received authorization from the State of Minnesota to do so. If you are a resident of Minnesota, you agree that either (1) you will not take courses on Coursera, or (2) for each class that you take, the majority of work you do for the class will be done from outside the State of Minnesota.”

So, will the Minnesota government spy on Minnesotans to find out who’s taking free Coursera courses? Will Minnesota invade California to shut down Coursera?

Maybe the answers will come in a Coursera class beginning next March: “A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior.”