Libertarian Commentary #16-20D By Nathan Barton

Supposedly, we all have the right to be stupid. But I wonder, can freedom and stupidity coexist?

Gasp! Freedom is restored! Or is it not liberty, but license: Colorado residents will now be able to collect rainwater on their property after a new bill was signed Thursday by Governor John Hickenlooper. Rainwater surface runoff in Colorado is protected by strict laws to prevent the flow of rainwater from being significantly reduced for people who hold senior water rights downstream. Colorado residents will be allowed to store up to 110 gallons of rainwater in two 55-gallon barrels.
True Activist did report this honestly. Wow! A whole hundred and TEN gallons. Sounds like a lot: but lets calculate: A 2,000 SF house in a location with 15 inches of precip a year, produces 2500 CF of water per year. That is a whooping 18700 gallons per year (actually, about 80% of that, or about 15,000 gallons, since part of that snow and rain sublimates or evaporates right there on the roof). You can actually HAVE a whole 2/3 of a % of that large amount of water. I understand the law, understand that the idiots back in 1876 decided that the STATE should “own” all the water, but … really?

Mama’s Note: I’m curious to learn just how the state plans to enforce this. Are they going to send someone to measure the water in the barrels? Put a meter on them? I seriously doubt it. But, as with so many other of these stupid “laws,” it will be used to harass targeted people.

Ah, more and more government stupidity: the current levels of TSA “service” (they service us, don’t you know?) have gotten a lot of people riled up. Constitution.com (a commentary site) tries to explain why TSA is causing all these insane wait times. (People are told to come in three hours early for their flight at Chicago’s airport, and some are STILL missing their flights because the lines to get through the TSA fondle-points are literally several hundred people long.) Several alternatives are offered: incompetence coupled with very high employee turnover (therefore problems with training), poor staffing practices, intentionally playing “poor me” to get more funding from Congress, and making the process so painful that more and more people will shell out money AND privacy for the “pre-clearing” process (for which TSA reportedly charges $85). My choice for the reason is “all of the above.” Who says that government employees can’t multi-task?

Mama’s Note: I’m still amazed at the incredible number of people who STILL put up with this insanity. I expected that the airports would be half empty soon after the naked scanners were put in place, but no… it seems people really don’t mind much being sexually molested – even their children and elders! So, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people in these long lines. They don’t have to be there. Alternatives are available to most.

Ah, even Nazgul as nasty as the 9th can’t ALWAYS be totally evil. Freedom Outpost [http://freedomoutpost.com/even-the-liberal-9th-circuit-court-of-appeals-recognizes-the-right-to-sell-and-purchase-guns/] reports that the infamously Tranzi 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Alameda County (in East Bay, including Oakland and Bezerkley) cannot create and enforce rules and regulations that make it nearly impossible for gun shops to open up and sell guns to the public. The highly populated area does not allow gun stores to be within 500 feet of almost everything: schools, church meeting houses, residences, even other gun shops. Sounds like California, doesn’t it? Stupid as always.

Mama’s Note: Indeed stupid. I’ve yet to understand the thinking that the gun being held (or sold) 501 feet from those places is any different. If we were all as crazy and homicidal as these gun prohibitionists believe, I suspect they would all be dead already…

Speaking of stupid, whomever is pulling the Pope’s strings these days is a good example. Pope Francis, in an interview with the French newspaper La Croix, (picked up by World Net Daily) suggested a likeness between ISIS and Jesus by explaining that while “the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam,” it was quite possible to interpret certain passages of the Gospels, particularly in Matthews, as a call for Christians to go forth with this “same idea of conquest” in their discipleship. He also faulted the free market for driving poverty, saying economies need “a state to monitor and balance them;” gun manufacturers for fueling wars; and the failures of Christians in Europe to properly assimilate with Muslims as causing much of the tensions of recent times – ostensibly, to include acts of terror. Anyone who has read the Scriptures, especially the Four Gospels, understands what an incredibly stupid and erroneous statement this is. Indeed, Jesus makes it clear that His followers and His kingdom are NOT of this world and will NOT use force of arms to conquer the world. Unlike what Mohammed (peanut butter und honig) stated over and over. Conquering the world through love is NOT the same as jihad with sword and buckler. It is also clear that these folks in the Vatican have no concept at all of what a free market is. As for assimilation in Europe, maybe they need to get out of their cathedrals: the problem is that the European population IS bending over backwards to accommodate (assimilate with) Muslim migrants (invaders). Of course, the Roman Catholic Church IS a state, IS and always has been a close ally and partner with the state, and so of course fully supports the state: it cannot figure out how to do anything else. Roman Catholicism is NOT the religion of Jesus Christ any more than the “Free Trade Pacts” that we have in the NAFTA and TPP are “free trade.”

Mama’s Note: There is really little confusion if one honestly considers what is right to do and what is naturally wrong. And each individual has that choice constantly. Allowing others to make those choices for them instead is a special kind of evil, especially when they do so in the name of religion, or “the children.”

Let us move to one of the more stupid parts of government these day: the government-run, tax-funded “public” schools.

In Brighton, Colorado, on Monday, a FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl was suspended for bring a bubble gun to school, as Fox 31 reported. The Southeast School said in a Tuesday statement that the suspension was “consistent with our district policy.” Southeast said “real or facsimile” weapons could “not only create a potential safety concern” but also cause distractions. [It was a CLEAR PLASTIC toy gun. If a bubble had hit someone in the eye (as bubble soap is likely to) it might have opened too many eyes? If it had hit in the mouth, would it have been the old (and obviously cruel) punishment of washing the teachers’ mouths out with soap? How stupid can a bunch of educrats get? (No, don’t try to answer: rhetorical question. Her mom said, “I don’t want her to miss out on class. That’s a silly reason not to go to school.” No it is silly to try to send the girl back. It is stupid to KEEP the little girl in this (or any other) government school, to be treated like this.

Sadly, stupidity is not limited to “public” schools.

Well, duh! A website, Liberty Unyielding, reports from the Baraboo (Wisconsin) News that a Lutheran school has been told by a court that they must accept “homosexual” and “transgender” students and are NOT allowed to take action against them if they act in a manner in conformance with their sexual preferences, even if “normal” children can be disciplined for such things as public display of affection or cross-dressing or wearing of “inappropriate” clothing. The reason for this is not surprising: the school accepts federal subsidies for lunch programs, for transportation, and for other “No Child Left Behind” programs. If you accept the tyrant’s gold, you are going to play the tyrant’s tune.

Mama’s Note: As my dear mother used to say, “you simply can’t have it both ways.” If you accept graft… you’d best be prepared to dance to the grafter’s music.

Actually, I’m still wondering just how many people actually claim to be  homosexual and transgender, especially among school age children. I suspect it is a very small number, even in the adult population. In a 30 year nursing career, I only met a few of either – that I knew of. There may well have been more, but they kept their personal situation and feelings private, as it seems to me we all should.