The Law of the Sea and stateless vessels

Posted on 2025-12-12 by TPOL Nathan

A guest commentary by Mark Hayward. Your reaction and serious thoughts are solicited. The recent nonsense about war crimes and accusations of naval forces engaging in piracy themselves is seriously flawed. The claims are made even by people who should know better. The problem, it appears, is not least in the hypocrisy and projection demonstrated by both sides (both old parties and the Trumpista/Never-Trumper conflict). How to deal with those branded as “narco-terrorists” is something that must be properly and thoughtfully addressed in courts, elections, and debates and discourse. This includes precisely why there is an international trade in illegal drugs and why those drugs are illegal. But in the meantime, unfounded accusations of crimes and a misunderstanding of the actual situation on the water just confuse the issues and delay their resolution.

We note that in pointing this out, and providing this guest editorial, The Price of Liberty is in no way endorsing the “War on Some Drugs” or accepting that governments have any legitimate claim to aggression against others, stateless or not.

A boat in international waters that is not running a national flag is categorized in international law the same way a pirate is. Such boats have absolutely no national or international protections, and you cannot commit a war crime against them.

A vessel in international waters is required under UNCLOS [UN Convention on the Law of the Sea] to sail under the flag of a specific nation. If it does not, it is legally considered a stateless vessel. A stateless vessel has no right to the protections normally afforded to ships under a national flag, including immunity from interference by other states.

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Minnesota failing – what next?

Posted on 2025-12-11 by TPOL Nathan

For many people, the State of Minnesota is a whole stewpot full of “lessons that need to be learned.” In recent days, a whole lot of scandalous information is leaking out. Since often this is being put out by various political factions, we are trying to sort things out, and share with our readers.

First off, understand, there are a lot of fraud cases being claimed involving Minnesota, the State’s political leaders (including elected officials), the bureaucracy, and especially (but not only) the immigrant community (especially the Somali one).

Tim’s Walz’s national standing, and his less than stellar reputation (in the eyes of many) is also a factor.

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Orange man bad. Really, really bad.

Posted on 2025-12-10 by TPOL Nathan

The Donald is not (in our opinion) a particularly likeable person. He has significant personal faults, can be very irritating, and does not appear (to us) to be a strong advocate for liberty and freedom. He has compromised on many things. So we here at The Price of Liberty are no great fans of The Donald. He is boastful and arrogant, has many other character faults, and (like others who have held his office) he fails to understand the nature of human liberty and the proper role of human government. He has made a lot of mistakes, not just in his first term.

But we recognize that while he is bad, relative to those people who were the alternatives? He is definitely the least of two evils. (We are talking Obama, Clinton, Biden, and especially Harris.)

But we can all learn from them. And from Orange Man.

We recognize that there are many libertarians who are strongly never-Trumpers. We recognize that there are many, many Americans who see him as evil incarnate. Far more than those alternatives. Far more than the usual run of presidents. And we admit that there are quite a few people who would cheerfully unload a full tube of 12-gauge shotgun rounds into his head.

You can see this every day – indeed, every hour – online and on the cable and broadcast television and radio stations. Sometimes it is merely the tone, or a particular turn of phrase. Other times it is the most raw and virulent of rhetoric blasted at The Donald.

We find much of that obnoxious, and deeply offensive to us. Of course, we support the right of people to say that about him. People have the right to be stupid and say stupid things – even lies – even if what they say is hurtful and triggering.

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Trashing presidents (well, their statues)

Posted on 2025-12-09 by TPOL Nathan

The City of Rapid City, the eastern gateway to the beautiful Black Hills, likes to style itself the “City of Presidents.” For years, private donations have been paying for statues of US Presidents (you know, POTUS) to be put on street corners in downtown Rapid City.

This is, of course, tied to the fact that Rapid is the major city nearest Mount Rushmore with its giant carvings (in living stone) of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. It adds yet another tourist attraction to give tourists a bit of pleasure (and no admission or parking fee!) as they visit the Black Hills. And Rapid City mostly considers itself a patriotic sort of place. Among other things, Ellsworth Air Force Base is nearby and both a source of pride and of massive employment, and income for the region.

They started of course with the “big four” and then working their way up: Adams, Madison, etc. Now they are commissioning statues during the actual term of office of recent POTUS: Clinton, George W Bush, Obama (Obummer he shall always be to us here at TPOL), and…

Recently, the statue of The Donald was completed: it had been commissioned (and paid for by private donations) during his first term, before Uncle Joe. The statue was installed a few weeks back.

A lot of people predicted that statue (on a public street corner) would absolutely be an irresistible temptation to all sorts of people.

They were right.

Someone (still to be identified, though apparently there were cameras in use) spray painted the statue’s face blue a couple of days ago.

We can assume that it is someone who was never-Trumper did this. As you can imagine, even in a “red state” like South Dakota (and especially West River where Rapid City is), there are a great many cries of outrage but a lot justifying the vandalism.

So let’s have open house:

Those who are “LandBack” types and related can trash the statues of Abe Lincoln (remember who was in charge during the Dakota War of 1862 and hung all those warriors), and of course, US Grant (president during the Black Hills War and Little Big Horn).

Of course, they will have to work it out with those who sympathize with the Confederacy and the South, who also will want to vandalize Abe’s and US’s statues.

Those who are in support of southern AmerInd tribes can go for Andy Jackson’s statue.

Those in support of northern tribes can go after Willie Harrison’s. (Remember Tippicanoe!)

Those who are upset about the WW2 internment camps for Nisei can do FDR’s.

Those who think Spain and Cuba got a raw deal can go after McKinley’s and Teddy Roosevelt’s.

Those who hate the Federal Reserve, the Income Tax, and helping France and England in the Great War can vandalize Woody Wilson’s.

Those who think that Tricky Dick was nasty can get his statue.

Those who think that LBJ was part of the conspiracy that killed JFK can spray-paint his statue. (LBJ’s not JFK’s)

Those who think Barry wasn’t a US citizen and/or hate ObummerCare can get his statue.

Those who think we should never have broken up with the UK will get to “have fun” with any or all of George Washington’s, the elder (John) Adams, Tommy Jefferson’s, Jimmy Madison, that other Jimmy (Monroe), and maybe even Johnny Q (Adams’) statues.

If you don’t like Texas or Texans, then defacing Tyler’s statue is for you (he was in office when Texas joined the Union).

Those who don’t like Hillary can settle for Bill’s mug.

Gee! Who’s left?

Guys and gals, this is supposed to be satire! Smile, laugh, get a life!

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When push comes to shove…

Posted on 2025-12-08 by TPOL Nathan

Peace is preferable.

In Europe, new drums are beating, joining those drums of war already present in Eastern Europe. The Russo-Ukrainian War drags on, despite efforts by The Donald and a few others to negotiate at least a longer-lasting ceasefire. To believe the news stories on mainstream media sources, both Russia and Ukraine are bleeding themselves dry. According to many (whom we once viewed as rational, neutral, and observant commentators), Russia has failed, is doomed, and Putin and his entire regime are toast.

Now, it is possible that the character of the Russian people has changed in 80 years. It could be that decades of Communism destroyed their spirit. It could be that the Ukrainian people have taken on that mantle of the Russia that Kievan Rus birthed, and now have the dogged determination that was such a dominant feature of the Russian community: White, Red, Czarist, and even in the expatriate community across Europe and America.

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Religious conflict spreads in North America

Posted on 2025-12-07 by TPOL Nathan

An interesting piece of news passed our desktop recently.

According to various mainstream media newspapers and a video blogger, the Premier of Quebec’s “Minister for secularism” (how’s that?) has introduced Bill 9 in the Quebecois National Assembly (Parliament). The bill, entitled “Act respecting the reinforcement of laicity,” is supposed to encourage secularism in public life.

To do so, it would make praying in public a crime for which anyone in the Province of Quebec could be arrested, fined, and even imprisoned. Building on the 2019 law that bans teachers (and other public service employees) from wearing religious symbols, including crosses and crucifixes.

The blogger accurately describes the bill as an attack, a form of persecution, on religion in general, including Islam, Judaism, and virtually all versions of christianity. The bill was introduced as a government bill, meaning that it has the backing of the current majority party (81 of 124 seats), the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ). (Quebec using the British-style parliamentary system but has no upper house: no Senate or House of Lords or Legislative Council). The Lieutenant Governor, who represents the King, has no veto power. Thus the bill is fairly certain to pass and become law. Note this applies only to Quebec and not the other provinces and territories of the Dominion of Canada.

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Guest commentary: The Ukraine situation by Ron Paul

Posted on 2025-12-06 by TPOL Nathan

Editor’s note: Ron Paul published this during Thanksgiving week (25 NOV 2025), and succinctly explains both Ukraine’s problems and the only logical solution from the point of view of Americans.

We urge all our readers to think about what Dr. Paul suggests. And what makes more sense. The Donald is clearly torn and not being straight forward in dealing the US out. Too many lovers of liberty buy the Kool-Aid of Russia bad, Ukraine good, Europe in danger, US must help. We need to encourage preventing an even worse war than the last three years. We hope and pray that Dr. Paul is right about the end of the fighting.

We actually believe that the change in demographics (of not just Ukraine but Russia) is not “may” but a sad fact of life.

Read on, dear reader. See out thoughts at the end of Dr. Ron’s thoughts.

Last week’s surprise release of a draft Ukraine war peace plan has raised hopes that the nearly three-year bloody conflict may finally come to an end. Ukraine has suffered horrible losses that may change the demographics of that country for decades to come.

If this peace plan can be negotiated in a way that satisfies all sides and the guns finally go silent, I will be the first to cheer. However, the continued failure to understand the nature and origin of the current conflict leaves me skeptical that a real peace can be reached this way.

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Home schooling – enemy of government?

Posted on 2025-12-05 by TPOL Nathan

Fifty-sixty years ago, no one had ever heard of home schooling here in the States. It wasn’t necessarily nonexistent, but incredibly rare. You might find the occasional rancher or forest ranger or other remote family teaching their own children, but truancy (mandatory attendance) laws, tradition, and above all, public perception looked upon such things as horrible and totally unacceptable. Even parochial (Catholic) and other private (religious or not) schools were seen by the mainstream and general public as tolerated but weird. And rare. Many State constitutions enshrined the idea of “free tuition” – that is, public schools.

Then came a combination of measures and events which started gradually to change that. Indeed, to create the modern-day homeschooling movement. There was what was viewed as the “prohibition of prayer” in public (government-run, tax-funded) schools by the Supreme Court decision (Engel v Vitale, June 1962).

But that was just the start. A whole bunch of things happened in the next 20 years. Without worrying about exactly when, we can see the impact. The push for “special education” and integration of those students with other students in classrooms. The growing power of the teacher’s unions, together with the “new math” and new styles (fads) of teaching reading and writing, the mandated “must have a 4-year degree” program for teachers, and many other actions rapidly deteriorated the “public schools” (and seeped into the private schools as well). The consolidation of school districts and the rising power of administrators (and exploding staff) all reduced the power of elected school district boards of education. New State laws and especially the creation of the US Department of [UN]Education sped up the collapse. Many teachers were fired, others driven out of the schools by a combination of unionism, failure in discipline (and danger to teachers and staff from the students!), and growing bureaucracy and regulations.

The so-called “reforms” (supposedly driven by the competition with the Soviet Union and the need to educate American children in science and technology and “good citizenship”) were anything but. The decay of quality and standards has continued to this day.

Some States did better than others, but even the relatively good States are a travesty. Homeschooling was sought by parents (many of them actually teachers!) as an alternative to the decayed public and private schools. Other alternatives were also presented, such as the Montessori schools and unschooling. But it took time and often major pushes to change laws, regulations, and public understanding.

In the last quarter century, the development and deployment of online schooling (not just virtual academies but independent teachers and “tutors” together with ready availability of good resources) has made a significant impact. Parents (and grandparents) began organizing locally, in their States, and nationally to promote and provide for homeschooling. But the real impetus was the Beer Flu Panic and the mass closing of schools – brick-and-mortar schools – in every State in 2020. Even while legislatures and Congress and local boards threw ever more money at the public schools. And invented ideas like charter schools to try and coopt private and home-schoolers.

Instead, more and more people opted out, angry over the growing tax burden of public education and the continued deterioration of standards and the results on people.

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First, do no harm…

Posted on 2025-12-04 by TPOL Nathan

People get hurt. People get sick. The medical profession is supposed to help those people. But then, anyone able to do so should help others, like the woman in the picture. But doctors are expected to do more. Supposedly, doctors take the headline as part of their oath as a medical doctor.

Considering how many MDs participate in such activities as induced abortions, vaccine injections of dubious merit (or proven dangerous), and many other highly suspect actions, prescriptions, and recommendations, we wonder about the entire profession. (We know that there are many doctors who do value life and health. We are not condemning them all.)

But government officials, who need to understand and apply the oaths of office they take, really need to add this phrase to their solemn promises and their practice. We submit that overall, governments increasingly do harm to many people, starting with their own citizens.

Regarding those things, Rob Morse makes some very good points in his brief discussion, which we present here:

Lots of us live in large cities. Those cities have police chiefs who are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by a city council. Those chiefs tell us to be a good witness if we see a crime. The thought is that a criminal might take someone’s property and property can be replaced. Recently, we’ve seen young women stabbed, beaten, and set on fire by repeat criminals. In one case, the criminal in Chicago had been arrested 72 times before he set a female train passenger on fire. Another man in Chicago has a habit of knockout-punching random women on the street. He has been arrested over 20 times and is still on the streets. That means that witnesses don’t matter since judges put criminals back on the street.

So, if you see this happen in front of you, then what do you do? In most cases, you are as stuck as the victim.

I’m almost 70 years old. I’m not going to go hand to hand with a crazy young man. Many of these horrible crimes occur in gun free zones in Democrat controlled cities. I have taken quite a few first-aid classes, and the first thing we are always told is to make sure the scene is safe for you before you give aid to someone else. If the attacker is standing there, what are you going to do? You could give the attacker verbal orders to leave. If he doesn’t leave, it is a tough legal case for you to claim the right to use lethal force so you could render aid to an innocent victim. You might take that legal risk for a family member, but would you take it for a stranger?

We are talking about at least a half-million dollars to defend yourself in court in a democrat controlled city. In New York City, a 67 year old man was given four years in prison for defending himself from a habitual criminal. The defender’s crime was that he didn’t get a carry permit in New York City. Let us point out that it is still a fiction that he might get a concealed carry permit in New York City.

Politics is real and that is why you must care about it. We have to pass through blue states even if we don’t live there. God help you if you do.

Rob’s point is very well taken: we need to be concerned about how we must prepare to help others.

Imagine if the good Samaritan of Jesus’ parable had tried to help the man while his attackers were still present. And imagine if he ran the risk of the priest or the Levite ratting him out to Herod’s (or Roman) bully-boys.

At the same time, we believe that the example Jesus gave to answer the question, “who is my neighbor” would be a man willing to take risks to help. Not just a family member or fellow member of his synagogue, but a stranger who needed help badly.

Courage is virtue. And yes, (for those who believe in God), cowardice is a sin. We must be bold and confront evil when the stakes are high – whether the evil is a madman on his own or a madman in a government uniform or “a suit” in business or government.

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The South Africa mess

Posted on 2025-12-03 by TPOL Nathan

Once again, the Republic of South Africa is in the news headlines. This time courtesy of that exclusive club, the G20, and The Donald in one of his infamous on-line postings:

Of course, for libertarians, the first question we ask is “why is the American FedGov paying and subsidizing anything and anyone in South Africa?

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