Hope: Food and Medicine

Posted on 2016-08-19 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Anyone remember Soylent Green? SF story and movie? Well, apparently a company in California (where else?) is now producing a “super milkshake” called Soylent. Pricey stuff, too! (At least for us frontier Westerners.) Their website doesn’t seem to have a picture of the actual product, and it comes in two flavors: white and coffee (half-black, half-white), but the site DOES show all the leafy green veggies that supposedly go into it… I bet the stuff IS green. The site does say it is “engineered food” that is “intelligently designed.” Mmm, see any missing person lists lately? Or … shall we hum a few bars of “the cat’s in the kettle at the Peking Moon…” (FYI: not everyone is enamored of this stuff, whatever the source, as you can read here.

And speaking of green, did you hear of a tree called the Drumstick Tree, or the moringa? A couple of teenagers in South America have found that the seeds from the tree can purify polluted water naturally, including removing some metals like arsenic. The plant is indeed both green and some sort of superfood, with high levels of Vitamin C, and many other good things. 9 times the protein of yogurt, 10 times the vitamin A of carrots, 17 times the calcium of milk, 25 times the iron of spinach, and 12 times the vitamin C of oranges. Continue reading →

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Hope: Medical improvements on the way

Posted on 2016-08-18 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Whenever we hear of medical progress and improvements these days, we hear about new technology and new drugs or nutrients, at least 99.9% of the time: new tests, new sensors, new treatments, new antibiotics, new natural substances to do great things to the body. New this and that: many of which pan out to be fads or even outright hoaxes: modern equivalents of snake-oil salesmen.

Very rarely do we think about improvements in the WAY that medical care is delivered. Oh, there have been some: the development of emergency medical services, with technicians and the rolling hospital trauma rooms we still call ambulances (compare to a M*A*S*H rerun and remember) is one. Even the development of emergency rooms in hospitals. Perhaps the most recent (now at least 30 years old) is the widespread development of “urgent care clinics,” to replace (or at least supplement) emergency rooms and departments. But now as the supposedly rapid place of medical technology is unable to keep up with the calcification of the arteries of the medical ECONOMY, we may be seeing a new breakthrough. Continue reading →

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Downward spiral into what?

Posted on 2016-08-18 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

These days, it is easy to be pessimistic. When you see how some of the more dire predictions of various observers seem to be coming to pass, it doesn’t take much to decide that we are rapidly plunging into the chasm. It isn’t just the attacks and “mass murders,” and not just the current political campaign. There is a sense of malaise. Things seem to be breaking down.

But we’ve been here, as a people, as the Fifty States (or some part of them) before: the 1850s and the 1960s both come readily to mind, but so do a few other eras:

– 1850s: the growing sectionalism and the rise of the abolitionists and breakdown of consensus leading to the War for Southron Independence.
– 1890s: The rise of unions and the often-bloody fighting over the industrial workplace, together with the impact of “closing” of the Frontier.
– 1930s: The Great Depression and the insane response of government.
– 1960s: The combination of the ending of segregation, the war in Southeast Asia, and the “maturity” (in physical age, at least) of the generation traumatized by growing up during WW2 Continue reading →

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Racism in Geography – A Case Study and Speculations

Posted on 2016-08-17 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Warning: Massive rant ahead! Maybe even a tirade.

Government destroys everything it touches: makes it worse and worse until at last, there is nothing (worthwhile) left.

Last week, in the news in South Dakota, we found that the FedGov has arbitrarily (but with “due process”) again renamed an important geographic feature. Harney Peak, the highest mountain in the Black Hills (which are really mountains) and South Dakota, named for a prominent Union General who was an important military commander in the Indian Wars, has been renamed. Its new name is “Black Elk,” a well-known Lakota spiritual leader revered by both many Lakota and by New Age types for his visions and his writings. The wilderness area inside Black Hills National Forest around Harney Peak also honors Black Elk, and is located within the Peter Norbeck Wildlife Preserve (named for a South Dakota governor who established Custer State Park and created the Black Hills tourist industry). The reason given for the renaming is that Harney was a murdering racist who massacred Lakota and other AmerInd people, a warmonger, and just a dirty old dead white guy, and naming the peak for a traditional Lakota mystic would “heal” Lakota people. Continue reading →

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Good Morning America!

Posted on 2016-08-14 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

I LOVE the smell of cordite and the sound of gunfire in the morning!

Have you ever been to an Appleseed shoot? I’ve been to four of them, three as a participant, and the last one at my own gun club as “the nurse” covering the first aid station.

The weather was sunny and hot here the end of July, but the twelve shooters and eight instructors were not to be discouraged. Even though there was a covered area, they chose to set up in the full sun.

Ready! Aim! Fire!

Continue reading →

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A rebuttal: Christians and Law Enforcement

Posted on 2016-08-13 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Author’s Note: As we see the uptick in cops getting killed, cops killing others, terrorism, and the associated screams and panic, it is important to look at some basic principles regarding justice, law enforcement, and related matters. As always, I view matters from both a christian and an anarchist’s point of view. Be warned: This is a very religious commentary. I think it is of interest to both non-Christians (especially those trying to explain liberty to Christians) and to not-religious people who want to better understand religion and liberty. As always, feel free to pass on.

A rebuttal: Christians and Law Enforcement

The website “GotQuestions.Org” asked the Question: “What does the Bible say about law enforcement / the police?”

Their Answer: It’s fairly well known that God gave a set of laws and with it guidelines for the enforcement of those laws. Not only did the Mosaic Law define sin, but it specified penalties for those who broke the Law. Any law is essentially meaningless without enforcement. The people in Bible times may not have had a police force as we think of one today, but they definitely had those who promoted justice by enforcing the law. The Bible’s references to watchmen (Ezekiel 33:6), armed guards (Nehemiah 4:13), and judges (Ezekiel 44:24 and the whole book of Judges) could be seen as examples of law enforcement. Continue reading →

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Election SIT-Out

Posted on 2016-08-12 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Two good posts at LRC blog today by Michael S. Rozeff:
#Election Sitout

Sit-ins used to be popular. I recommend a SIT-OUT. I recommend an ELECTION SIT-OUT.

And Effects of #VotingSitout

A #VotingSitout is partly symbolic, partly motivational, partly a warning to leaders, and partly stirring the ground so that other seeds will take root. #VotingSitout has more of a long-term orientation and less of a right now view. It is less based on fear and more on transformation.

I’ve never seen too much benefit in most protests, marches, demonstrations or such group activities. Most of the time it seems like begging the “masters” for their kind benevolence – especially things like petitions and voting. Continue reading →

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The net is being gathered – Do you know where YOUR liberty is?

Posted on 2016-08-12 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Watch them circle around the drain and go down. Despite many claims to the contrary, our liberties are vanishing like moths consumed by a torch. One of the latest regards the Gadsden Flag.

The Volokh Conspiracy reports how that bastion of protection of our “rights,” the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has found that free speech is a violation of your fellow employees’ rights, at least if you wear something that is “offensive” to them.

http://www.gadsden.info/Yes, the Gadsden Flag, that stalwart banner of American Independence and Liberty, beloved by millions for 200+ years, is now RACIST. After all, snakes – even rattlesnakes – are people too. Continue reading →

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“Libertarian” Party Joins the Old Parties?

Posted on 2016-08-11 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Thanks to the folks over at JPFO for this: Bullets First bluntly reports VP candidate William Weld’s interview on REVOLT TV: Libertarian VP Wants to Ban Guns; Rifles are “Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

Except that Bullets First is WRONG: With these positions, William Weld has violated any claim to be ANY kind of Libertarian or libertarian. I don’t know if the LP still requires even their nominees to sign the “Pledge” any more, but ANY person who says that accused people should be stripped of fundamental, God-given rights is committing an act of aggression and calling for tens of thousands, even millions, of acts of aggression. Continue reading →

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Mike Vanderboegh – Rest in Peace

Posted on 2016-08-10 by MamaLiberty

We heard the sad news this morning from Claire Wolfe, and David Codrea, that Mike Vanderboegh has died. He fought a long and difficult battle with cancer for the last year or so, but never gave up his fight for the right to keep and bear arms.

Mike and I had several very interesting conversations (email). I didn’t agreed with him about a number of things, including the authority of the “constitution,” of course, but always respected his integrity and consistency. The basis for the 3% non-organization was one of the best strategies for individual liberty I’ve ever seen, and I hope many will continue in that as his greatest legacy. I know that I will.

Rest in peace, Mike. Indeed.

What Does It Mean To Be A “Three Percenter”?

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