Mistakes in American history?

Posted on 2017-12-01 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

In a recent article in the FFF website, Mr. Jacob Hornberger identifies the creation of the “national-security-state” as being the worst mistake in US history.  He then goes on a rather wide-ranging diatribe against the last dozen US presidents and the impacts of their actions, their lies, and how the letter of law (actually many laws) violate the spirit of the law and of liberty.  He describes how the concept of a national-security state warps and destroys people and their character.

I really don’t disagree much with what Jacob writes.

It is just his basic (headline) premise that bothers me.

Yes, the transformation of the FedGov – and supposedly, then, of the entire society and economy I call the “Fifty States” – into a national-security state is a very bad mistake.  But it is hardly the first – and arguably NOT the worse – that this nation (or at least those who claim to run this nation) has made in nearly 250 years. Continue reading →

Posted in Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is it right?

Posted on 2017-12-01 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Can we not learn how to defend ourselves AND be kind and inclusive?  Can we not show respect and tolerance for others by understanding how not to offend?  Can we not exercise free speech without being condemned as haters and bigots? Without being attacked for being racists, supremists, and worse?  Is it wrong to say you love your nation?  Your family?  Your people?  Or just for SOME nations and families and people? Are we wrong to say that there is nothing wrong with OUR skin color or OUR religion or OUR political views?  Why is “black pride” and “red pride” praised but “white pride” trashed?

In the views of many, both right and left politically (and religiously), these things are incompatible with each other. Consider the recent attacks on a small religious college in Missouri, after a story in Ozark First about a newly required course for freshmen entering the college. Continue reading →

Posted in Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Second amendment – prohibited by law?

Posted on 2017-11-30 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Bloomberg tells us that the Supreme Court has decided that the Second Amendment doesn’t apply in Maryland or Florida, based on two very recent decisions. “The U.S. Supreme Court steered clear of the intensifying [sic-NAB] gun debate after the mass shootings in Nevada and Texas, turning away two appeals from firearms advocates, including one that sought a constitutional right to own a semiautomatic assault rifle. The justices, without comment Monday, left intact a ruling that upheld Maryland’s ban on assault weapons [sic]. In a separate case, the high court refused to require Florida to let handguns be carried openly in public.”

In other words, state law trumps both the freedom given us by God AND the freedoms supposedly guaranteed by the US Constitution.  According to the FedGov judicial system. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sex Predators, or Just Dirty Old Men?

Posted on 2017-11-29 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

I get so sick of reading all of the nonsense about supposed sexual harassment and “inappropriate” touching, etc… much of it after many years of silence.

What’s the big deal? I see lots of virtue signaling now, by people who didn’t seem to care enough before it was suddenly fashionable to pile on unprovable accusations and claims.

I was raped by a high school classmate, on an date, and I couldn’t tell you his name now if my life depended on it. I lived through a dark period, went to some counseling, and then got on with my life.

My mother made very sure that I knew how to protect myself from such things from that point on. And it is pretty simple. Don’t put yourself into a position to be molested by anyone, male or female. And if it happens anyway, don’t tolerate it! That can mean reporting it to family or officials, or slapping his silly face. Continue reading →

Posted in Mama's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Count your blessings

Posted on 2017-11-26 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

It is appropriate that this happened on Thanksgiving Day here in the Fifty States.  As reported by the Daily Telegraph, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sweden has called on its clergy to stop calling “God” (we presume, like other Lutherans, that they are still referring to YHWH, the Creator) “Lord” or referring to Him as “He.”  Instead, to promote “gender inclusivity” the Swedish priests are just to call the Creator “God” and not use pronouns.

There was nothing to indicate whether or not the priests were encouraged to find different words to address Jesus, since it seems that both “Lord” and “Son of God” are very exclusionary.

Now, none of this would be particularly of interest to most readers, except for one fact.  The “Evangelical Lutheran Church” of Sweden is actually the State Church of Sweden.  Even though it officially stopped being the “State Church” in 2000, after 474 years, it in effect still is. For in Sweden, there was indeed a union of State and Church.  The Archbishop of Sweden did not report to God, but instead to the Monarch.  (No word on whether the priests are still speaking of the Swedish Monarch as “kong” (king) or “drottning” (queen) or something else.) And since it was officially made separate from the State, in 2000, the church STILL does not report to God but to the members of the church – it is “democratic.” Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Holiday Debt Bomb

Posted on 2017-11-25 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Martha Stewart on the Amazon Effect: Need to get people into stores, they are really suffering According to Stewart, Black Friday sales help get consumers into the stores, but shoppers often end up buying more than they plan on.They’re not going to buy just the things that are sale, they’re going to buy other things too, that’s what the merchants need.”

The rich and famous Martha seems to understand that people buy more than they plan to… but is obviously more concerned with the fate of the stores than the budgets of the customers. Both are equally important, of course, but too few are looking at the truth of the whole thing: heavy handed government manipulation of the economy instead of a free market where both business and customers benefit.

An alarming number of shoppers are still paying off debt from last Christmas
And holiday-induced debt is a growing problem. Although survey respondents say they plan to spend roughly the same amount as they spent last year, 24 percent of shoppers say they overspent in 2016, while 27 percent admit to not making a budget at all. And holiday-induced debt is a growing problem. Continue reading →

Posted in Mama's Rants | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on 2017-11-23 by MamaLiberty

From MamaLiberty and Nathan Barton

Now, don’t eat TOO much, and hug someone at least once an hour all day.

Posted in Mama's Rants, Nathan's Rants | Tagged | 2 Comments

Military obligation

Posted on 2017-11-23 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Warning: this is a commentary on a commentary on a commentary!

A guy (gal?) Finian Cunningham published a commentary on OpEdNews, asking, “Is a military coup against Trump in the cards?”  In part this reads: “In an extraordinary US Senate hearing this week, lawmakers and military officials rounded on President Trump as being a danger to world peace due to his Commander-in-Chief powers for launching nuclear weapons. The highlight came when the hearing was told military officers have the constitutional right to disobey the president. This was, in effect, an open call to mutiny against the president’s authority.”

In Freedom Net Daily, Tom Knapp provides a very good note (commentary): “The president does not have any authority to give unconstitutional orders. Military personnel are under no obligation to obey unconstitutional orders, and indeed are obligated not to…”

Tom is absolutely right, but I want to add my two cents as a military officer who undertook that obligation and still accepts (and tries to carry out) that commitment. Telling a military officer we have the constitutional (and God-given) right to disobey the president is NOT mutiny.  And it is NOT a coup.  And it is NOT news to anyone with two brain cells to rub together, who has served as a military officer.

The solemn promise the military take (and are supposed to live by) is to obey the LAWFUL orders of those appointed over them. What is and is not lawful is not decided by courts or superiors or popular vote.  It is, and can only be, decided by the individual who must make the choice to obey or not. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In with the new, same as the old

Posted on 2017-11-22 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Dictator of Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia) Robert Mugabe, after more than a week of crisis, has resigned after ruling the southern African nation with an iron fist for 37 years, according to the Guardian.

Large numbers of people celebrated his resignation, effective immediately.  Although at one time Zimbabwe had a significant minority of European-descended people, today it is 99%+ black. Despite Mugabe’s stature as their liberator from white colonialism, they had had enough. Mugabe has (officially, at least) won every election ever held (and they’ve had a lot in 37 years). Everyone dutifully voted for Massa, time and again.  But ultimately, he ran out of things (and people) to loot to keep the people happy, and especially to keep his bully boys happy.

No doubt, now that he has been forced to “resign” (or “retire”) he will quickly leave the country and enjoy the ill-gotten gains he has surely squirreled away in Switzerland or even just South Africa, against this rainy day.  It is hard to feel sorry for the “father of his country” who has been rejected by his country. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Thanksgiving 2017

Posted on 2017-11-21 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Day after tomorrow (as I write this) is Thanksgiving Day in the Fifty States.  Other nations have such a festival or ceremony or holiday.  (For example, Canada has, since the 1930s, observed Thanksgiving on a Monday in October. Since 1957, that has been the 2nd Monday – many people associate it with Columbus Day in the Fifty States, but there is no such official tie.)  But the American celebration is … different. In many ways.

My family has always considered Thanksgiving to be the major family holiday, as we do not celebrate holidays for religious reasons, and so neither Easter nor Christmas is that significant.  This year, for various reasons, my family will not be able to get together physically for the holiday, but will still remember and observe it, enjoying the technology that makes it possible to get together without being in one place physically.

We do not see “thanksgiving” as some generic, vague “be thankful” for what we have, as schools and government and media have pushed for decades.  We are politically incorrect and give thanks always to God our Creator, and to family and friends and neighbors (whether friends or not!) for what they have done for us. Continue reading →

Posted in Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment