Nathan: Civilization, we are told, has something to do with the rule of law and with people behaving in a “civilized” manner.  Egypt has been “civilized” for four or so millennia. America has been civilized for 300 or 400 years – some parts much longer.  Right.  Here are some of the benefits of that “civilization.”

Islamic war: Arab street front – TORTURING AND KILLING
Egypt: Vigilantes lynch two alleged thieves
(The Blaze) Egyptian vigilantes beat two men accused of stealing a motorized rickshaw, stripped them half-naked and hung them by their feet in a crowded bus station roughly 55 miles north of Cairo on Sunday, according to security officials. Both men died. A witness said some in the crowd of about 3,000 people who watched the lynchings egged them on with chants of “kill them!”

Nathan: More fruits (pun intended) of the Arab Street Uprising and the supposed new democracy in Egypt.  No wonder many of the Founding Fathers considered democracy to be little more than mob rule.  Is this coming here, next?  The photos (except for the modern clothing) could have been from a movie about the evils of ancient Rome – or Egypt itself, where a favorite pastime through the ages is killing each other.

Of course, much as I condemn the Ummah and Muslims, are we seeing any better in the formerly-united States?  The next two stories might reveal something.

Home front – Mainstream media stupidity – RAPING
Ohio: CNN Sympathizing with rapists?
(The Blaze) News that two high school football players from Steubenville, Ohio, were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl quickly spread on Sunday, with the troubling case coming to a close — at least for now. And while many reacting, there are a few capturing the most attention — the ones by a CNN journalist and a few guests on air. Students Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond were sentenced to at least one year in juvenile jail (the former could be detained until age 24 and the latter until 21). The state will soon be launching a grand jury to explore the possibility of additional charges. But a report anchored by CNN’s Candy Crowley and convey by reporter Poppy Harlow in the wake of the decision has quickly gone viral, with numerous outlets lambasting the news network for what appeared to be a sympathetic discussion about the teenage offenders.

Nathan and Debby: These two “young” (17 and 16) thugs deserve a LOT more than a year in jail: letting their victim execute them – or her father execute them, would be FAR more appropriate.  Better yet, if she’d been armed or one of the MANY other people present had been respectful enough of human liberty and respect to have done something and been armed to stop the evil actions of these two pieces of work.  But Ohio worships football – even (or  especially) high school football – so the girl isn’t a victim, she is the “cause” of the destruction of their “promising careers.”  And although the schools seem to be able to get through the thick skulls of teens the dangers of drinking and driving (even when they are drinking illegally), they don’t seem to be able to communicate that a girl being raped deserves to be something other than the object of recording videos on their phones.  According to mainstream media stories on the news on Monday morning, at least sixty people witnessed the multiple rape, and many refused to testify; the news reader seemed (again) to be sympathetic to the two felons.  How like Egypt this is:  humans exhibiting the morals of dogs.

Of course, why should these two felons care about human dignity? Or law? Or morals?  Or other humans?  They have such fine examples in their older fellow students, as the next story tells.

Home Front – VANDALISM and LOOTING
Ohio:  Dayton University St Patrick’s Day Riot
(The Blaze) St. Patrick’s Day festivities at the University of Dayton in Ohio Saturday night evolved into a full-scale, out-of-control riot involving more than 1,000 people, the Dayton Daily News reports.  Police from 10 jurisdictions were forced to to head to the institution of higher learning to tackle the issue, finding students dancing on cars and throwing an inordinate number of beer bottles.

Nathan: Exactly HOW MANY bottles thrown is an “inordinate number?”  The videos show thousands.  The university claimed the “vast majority of students” were not involved, but the university only has 7,500 full-time undergraduate students: does “just ” 1 in 7 or 1 in 8 justify claiming the “vast majority” or the school itself is not to blame?  Eleven cars destroyed or severely damaged, acres of land trashed.  Hundreds of police from all over called in, leaving (supposedly) their home communities unprotected.  Once more, Ohio sounds and looks like Egypt – although it might not smell like it: the mobs in Egypt don’t have the excuse of getting drunk like the two rapists and these mob participants do.

Of course, why should these 1,000 students have any respect for property – private or anything else?  Or for life?

Congress in action – Culture wars: KILLING babies and BEATING people up
Paul introduces “fetal personhood” bill
(The Raw Story) “Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Friday introduced so-called ‘fetal personhood’ legislation that would completely outlaw abortion in the United States. The Life at Conception Act would declare that human life began at conception, providing fertilized eggs with the same legal status as born persons. ‘The Life at Conception Act legislatively declares what most Americans believe and what science has long known: that human life begins at the moment of conception, and therefore is entitled to legal protection from that point forward,’ Paul said in a statement.” [editor’s note: Okay, the next a******* who claims this guy’s a libertarian is gonna get smacked – SAT] [additional editor’s note: I agree, although this particular bill has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not he’s a libertarian – TLK] (03/17/13)

Nathan: I assume (and hope) that Tom is JUST agreeing with Steve that Rand Paul is not a libertarian, and NOT agreeing that anyone who says so should be smacked.  This statement by Steve is PROOF that whatever Steve is, he is NOT a libertarian:  even to threaten violence against someone because he says or does something that you do not like or agree with is to deny the No Aggression Principle that Steve claims he values so highly.  Of course, to those of us lovers of liberty who believe (with strong scientific evidence) that life begins at conception, Steve’s support of the “right” of a woman to kill the child within – with or without the aid of the state – is very much the attitude of someone who is NOT a lover of liberty and does NOT subscribe to the No Aggression (or Zero Aggression) Principle when it comes to the least and most helpless of all humans.

Is Rand Paul a libertarian?  Perhaps in the minarchist sense, and certainly a whole lot better than the other 99 members of the Senate.  He is certainly no anarchist, no self-governor, or his voting pattern would be MUCH different.  But to most Americans, in comparison to Reid and Johnson and Bennett and all the rest, Paul is about as close to a “Libertarian” as you have in the GOP since Gary Johnson left.

Of course, the chance of this bill passing Congress and being signed by the thug at the other end of Pennsylvania Ave is NIL – NADA – ZIP.  Because they don’t care about life or people, just power and money.  And the big money is in the abortion racket.  The Congress is little more than a mob itself: “democracy in action.”

Nathan: A parting note.  If THIS is civilization, I’ll take “barbarism” and liberty any time.