By Nathan Barton
Good morning!
There was both good news and bad news from Mars this week, where one of NASA’s rovers first discovered the first macroscopic life form on the planet, and then in a tragic accident, rolled over it, killing it. The creature appeared to be a fur-covered quadruped with a tail and sharp pointed ears.
That’s right, Curiosity killed the cat.
Seriously, I think, it is claimed (by the Examiner.com) that Curiosity found a carving of human stick figures on what might be a column on Mars, spurring vast conspiracy motions and more. And this is more believable than all the promises and claims made by thousands of politicians spread across America as we race to the last few weeks of the 2014 election.
Or than the stories (all supposedly true) about the antics of the various politicians and spectators, like the spat over a FAN between two candidates for governor of Florida (I refuse to name them: there HAS to be a line drawn somewhere), or the way a lot of people walked out in the middle of the Fuehrer’s stump speech for some candidate, or the way Senator Udall of Colorado, running for reelection, has speechified about abortion and birth control and such so much that even some Democrats are calling him “Senator Uterus.” Gee, ain’t that fun? Maybe we’d do better by putting everyone’s name in a hat and randomly drawing out names to be senators and congressfolks and the like.
But lets get serious again, here. As Molly used to say, “‘Tain’t funny, Fibber.” In France, a town is being terrorized by clowns with knives – evil clowns, I assume. Scary knives, for sure. This follows by just a week a report of clowns terrorizing a California town (maybe in the vineyard region?). But these clowns are “creepy.” And just a month before, the English town of Northhampton was spooked by a clown with a “sinister smile.”
More seriously (I seriously am trying!), here are some other things coming across my desk.
Time for a rant: the so-called “liberty” or “freedom” community is sometimes so incredibly stupid and unable to reason that it makes me sick. Consider Freedom Outpost, which has an article about “Medical Martial Law Begun: Obama Calls for CDC SWAT Teams for Ebola Virus Response.” The article discusses the 30-person military medical team established as a quick-response team to deal with an significant outbreak of Ebola (although that is highly unlikely), calling them “brown-shirts” and claiming that CDC was creating other “SWAT” teams. Someone very incorrectly called the military medical team a “SWAT team” and claimed that it was a violation of Posse Comitatus limits, and now people are panicking because they do not reason things through.
Whether there is a real need for the special military medical team, it is NOT a special weapons and tactics team any more than an Engineer squad sent out to put in a culvert for a park in a civic action project is a SWAT team, or a military helicopter used for medical evacuation in case of traffic accidents (called MAST: Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic) is. Nor are these a violation of Posse Comitatus: which prohibits using military for LAW ENFORCEMENT.
The stupidity of calling military doctors and nurses “brown shirts” will backfire on Freedom Outpost and other sites which share columns. Medical aid, whether really needed or not, is NOT the threat: it is use of federal agencies for movement control, rounding up suspects (or “infected persons”), and things like forced vaccinations and testing that is what should be of concern. “SWAT” thugs are highly unlikely to be military or CDC: they will come from DHS, FBI, possibly DEA and more likely contractors (mercenaries). This reminds me of panics over concrete and plastic caskets and mysterious vehicles with odd markings and identifying old WW2 internment and EPW camps as FEMA concentration camps: stupid, paranoid, and an excuse to brand those who spread such rumors the idiots that they seem to be.
On to other things:
Ferguson, Missouri, is back in the news. After protesters disrupted a symphony concert two weekends ago (in St. Louis, miles from Ferguson), and got into fights with Rams sports fans outside a stadium (again, miles away) this weekend, the Feebs are now reporting that there was a struggle in the police car between the cop and the now-dead teen: blood and autopsy reports indicate the shots were fired at point blank range and blood spray was found inside the passenger compartment.
So again a question that I and others raised 60-70 days ago is being asked: Even if the shooting WAS justified, does that justify the way the cops, the city, the state, and everyone else – INCLUDING THE PROTESTERS and those supporting them and inciting them – have acted SINCE then? Starting with the initial response of the police agencies which still look like an attempt to cover-up? The military response to protests? The growing violence OF the protests? The destruction of private property? My answer? NONE of the actions of the police and other government agencies, and VERY FEW of the actions of the protesters are justified. Even IF this guy Brown was attacking the police officer. Even if the cop was fearful for his life – whether it was because he was poorly trained or a thug or because Brown panicked upon being accosted by him and really was trying to hurt the cop. One thing I know for sure is that the events surrounding Ferguson are FAR from over, and I expect that more will die.
The Pope claims that God is “not afraid of new things,” at the end of a controversial synod. Nice that he (the Pope) knows that, but it is not news. For one thing, Solomon wrote, inspired by God, about 3,000 years ago, that “there is nothing new under the sun.” Of course, since Catholics believe that Francis speaks for God, is this an admission that God is afraid of some things? If so, they aren’t worshiping the right god. None of the sins and “changes” that the world is seeing today are new: abortion, homosexual “marriage,” persecution, tyrannical governments trying to become gods, etc. have been around for millennia. The problem is that the Roman Catholic Church is being hoisted by its own petard: since they claim that tradition is equal to scripture, and since the Pope is “infallible” in defining their faith (established as a basic principle in 1870), then “obviously” he can wave his ring and make “homosexual marriage” and multiple wives and abortion and birth control all “moral.” That kind of thing leads to “anything goes” as many people have pointed out over the years, when a single man, or a small group of a few dozen cardinals can decide what is moral or immoral.
A prominent Missouri democratic black legislator joined the Ferguson protesters in blocking streets and screaming all kinds of threats, and she of course was concerned to protect herself, and then went awry of the cops and got busted. She is well-known for her hoplophobic and hoploclastic stand, having introduced many bills to “tighten up” gun laws and take guns away from people. “Undeserving people,” apparently, as when the cops arrested her, they took away her concealed 9mm pistol and a bunch of “extra” ammo she was carrying. Now isn’t that fine?
Mama’s Note: And some people are now claiming she is a Muslim, which surely complicates the picture.
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About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.
The Price of Liberty 
Libertarian commentary on the news, #14-42E: Space, saps, and more
By Nathan Barton
Good morning!
There was both good news and bad news from Mars this week, where one of NASA’s rovers first discovered the first macroscopic life form on the planet, and then in a tragic accident, rolled over it, killing it. The creature appeared to be a fur-covered quadruped with a tail and sharp pointed ears.
That’s right, Curiosity killed the cat.
Seriously, I think, it is claimed (by the Examiner.com) that Curiosity found a carving of human stick figures on what might be a column on Mars, spurring vast conspiracy motions and more. And this is more believable than all the promises and claims made by thousands of politicians spread across America as we race to the last few weeks of the 2014 election.
Or than the stories (all supposedly true) about the antics of the various politicians and spectators, like the spat over a FAN between two candidates for governor of Florida (I refuse to name them: there HAS to be a line drawn somewhere), or the way a lot of people walked out in the middle of the Fuehrer’s stump speech for some candidate, or the way Senator Udall of Colorado, running for reelection, has speechified about abortion and birth control and such so much that even some Democrats are calling him “Senator Uterus.” Gee, ain’t that fun? Maybe we’d do better by putting everyone’s name in a hat and randomly drawing out names to be senators and congressfolks and the like.
But lets get serious again, here. As Molly used to say, “‘Tain’t funny, Fibber.” In France, a town is being terrorized by clowns with knives – evil clowns, I assume. Scary knives, for sure. This follows by just a week a report of clowns terrorizing a California town (maybe in the vineyard region?). But these clowns are “creepy.” And just a month before, the English town of Northhampton was spooked by a clown with a “sinister smile.”
More seriously (I seriously am trying!), here are some other things coming across my desk.
Time for a rant: the so-called “liberty” or “freedom” community is sometimes so incredibly stupid and unable to reason that it makes me sick. Consider Freedom Outpost, which has an article about “Medical Martial Law Begun: Obama Calls for CDC SWAT Teams for Ebola Virus Response.” The article discusses the 30-person military medical team established as a quick-response team to deal with an significant outbreak of Ebola (although that is highly unlikely), calling them “brown-shirts” and claiming that CDC was creating other “SWAT” teams. Someone very incorrectly called the military medical team a “SWAT team” and claimed that it was a violation of Posse Comitatus limits, and now people are panicking because they do not reason things through.
Whether there is a real need for the special military medical team, it is NOT a special weapons and tactics team any more than an Engineer squad sent out to put in a culvert for a park in a civic action project is a SWAT team, or a military helicopter used for medical evacuation in case of traffic accidents (called MAST: Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic) is. Nor are these a violation of Posse Comitatus: which prohibits using military for LAW ENFORCEMENT.
The stupidity of calling military doctors and nurses “brown shirts” will backfire on Freedom Outpost and other sites which share columns. Medical aid, whether really needed or not, is NOT the threat: it is use of federal agencies for movement control, rounding up suspects (or “infected persons”), and things like forced vaccinations and testing that is what should be of concern. “SWAT” thugs are highly unlikely to be military or CDC: they will come from DHS, FBI, possibly DEA and more likely contractors (mercenaries). This reminds me of panics over concrete and plastic caskets and mysterious vehicles with odd markings and identifying old WW2 internment and EPW camps as FEMA concentration camps: stupid, paranoid, and an excuse to brand those who spread such rumors the idiots that they seem to be.
On to other things:
Ferguson, Missouri, is back in the news. After protesters disrupted a symphony concert two weekends ago (in St. Louis, miles from Ferguson), and got into fights with Rams sports fans outside a stadium (again, miles away) this weekend, the Feebs are now reporting that there was a struggle in the police car between the cop and the now-dead teen: blood and autopsy reports indicate the shots were fired at point blank range and blood spray was found inside the passenger compartment.
So again a question that I and others raised 60-70 days ago is being asked: Even if the shooting WAS justified, does that justify the way the cops, the city, the state, and everyone else – INCLUDING THE PROTESTERS and those supporting them and inciting them – have acted SINCE then? Starting with the initial response of the police agencies which still look like an attempt to cover-up? The military response to protests? The growing violence OF the protests? The destruction of private property? My answer? NONE of the actions of the police and other government agencies, and VERY FEW of the actions of the protesters are justified. Even IF this guy Brown was attacking the police officer. Even if the cop was fearful for his life – whether it was because he was poorly trained or a thug or because Brown panicked upon being accosted by him and really was trying to hurt the cop. One thing I know for sure is that the events surrounding Ferguson are FAR from over, and I expect that more will die.
The Pope claims that God is “not afraid of new things,” at the end of a controversial synod. Nice that he (the Pope) knows that, but it is not news. For one thing, Solomon wrote, inspired by God, about 3,000 years ago, that “there is nothing new under the sun.” Of course, since Catholics believe that Francis speaks for God, is this an admission that God is afraid of some things? If so, they aren’t worshiping the right god. None of the sins and “changes” that the world is seeing today are new: abortion, homosexual “marriage,” persecution, tyrannical governments trying to become gods, etc. have been around for millennia. The problem is that the Roman Catholic Church is being hoisted by its own petard: since they claim that tradition is equal to scripture, and since the Pope is “infallible” in defining their faith (established as a basic principle in 1870), then “obviously” he can wave his ring and make “homosexual marriage” and multiple wives and abortion and birth control all “moral.” That kind of thing leads to “anything goes” as many people have pointed out over the years, when a single man, or a small group of a few dozen cardinals can decide what is moral or immoral.
A prominent Missouri democratic black legislator joined the Ferguson protesters in blocking streets and screaming all kinds of threats, and she of course was concerned to protect herself, and then went awry of the cops and got busted. She is well-known for her hoplophobic and hoploclastic stand, having introduced many bills to “tighten up” gun laws and take guns away from people. “Undeserving people,” apparently, as when the cops arrested her, they took away her concealed 9mm pistol and a bunch of “extra” ammo she was carrying. Now isn’t that fine?
Mama’s Note: And some people are now claiming she is a Muslim, which surely complicates the picture.
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About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.