“Carrying Concealed” is NOT a right guaranteed by the US Constitution, but…

Posted on 2016-06-12 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

The infamous Ninth Nazgul, that FedGov collection of terrorists and thugs and autocrats (by appointment of His Grace the Tyrant) has struck again. As reported by JPFO and PrisonPlanet which seems to have the most interesting take on it, including the scream of protest from yet ANOTHER elected chief thug (the Governor of the once free nation of Texas), Seven of the Eleven of the Ninth have declared that the Second Amendment to the US Constitution does not allow concealed carry as a right. “The right of a member of the general public to carry a concealed firearm in public is not, and never has been, protected by the Second Amendment,” their ruling says. Continue reading →

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The arrogance and overreach of human government

Posted on 2016-06-10 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

How much power do human governments have? And specifically, how much power do SOME human governments have? I think that it is clear that too many people, not just those IN these various governments, think that government has a lot more power than it really does, and even more than any government should have.

Consider this article in Raw Story. It seems that a private company, Moon Express, wants clearance by the FedGov to fly to the moon in 2017. “U.S. government agencies are working on temporary rules to allow Moon Express to land a spacecraft on the moon next year, while Congress weighs a more permanent legal framework to govern future commercial missions to the moon, Mars and other destinations beyond Earth’s orbit, officials said. Plans by private companies to land spacecraft on the moon or launch them out of Earth’s orbit face legal obstacles because the United States has not put in place regulations to govern space activities, industry and government officials said. … The issue is coming to a head in part because of a request by Florida-based Moon Express for permission from the U.S. government to land a spacecraft on the moon in 2017. So far, only government agencies have flown satellites beyond Earth’s orbit.” Continue reading →

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Baker’s Dozen ™ Human Rights

Posted on 2016-06-08 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan A Barton

Please think about this. Here is a list of thirteen groups, thirteen “kinds” of people who do NOT have rights.

1. Women do not have rights. Nor do men.
2. Christians and Muslims do not have rights.
3. Students do not have rights.
4. Labor union members, and workers/employees, do not have rights.
5. Soldiers do not have rights.
6. Immigrants do not have rights.
7. Welfare recipients do not have rights.
8. Voters do not have rights.
9. Homosexuals (male or female) do not have rights.
10.Consumers do not have rights.
11.Transgender and cross-dressers do not have rights.
12.Workers/Employees do not have rights.
13.Business owners do not have rights. Continue reading →

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Defining national government

Posted on 2016-06-07 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton,

The following quote was part of the daily e-mail newsletter from Liberty Quotes, and caught my attention. “A national government is a government of the people of a single state or nation, united as a community by what is termed the ‘social compact,’ and possessing complete and perfect supremacy over persons and things, so far as they can be made the lawful objects of civil government. A federal government is distinguished from a national government by its being the government of a community of independent and sovereign states, united by compact.” — Black’s Law Dictionary, Source: Piqua Branch Bank v. Knoup, 6 Ohio St. 393. [Black’s Law Dictionary, Revised Fourth Edition, 1968, p. 1176]

As a christian and as a person who seeks to be a self-governor and loves liberty, I have a number of points of contention with this, as well as a number of positive comments about the definition. Moreover, I believe that this definition should be helpful in understanding what we can do to reestablish and preserve liberty as a people and a society. Continue reading →

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Guns and media: Who do we believe?

Posted on 2016-06-06 by TPOL Nathan

by Nathan Barton

(Or, “Guns and the Power of the Media”)

According to Newsweek and a blogger from the London School of Economics, the reason that gun sales have soared in the past decade or so is because of – get this – Fox News! Them and the rest of the television networks – the media. Americans are so propagandized that every time Fox News (or NBC or ABC or whatever) runs a news story about a White House initiative to “control gun violence” or “limit guns on the streets;” about some new Congresscrittur or wannabe Congresscrittur with gun control on their agenda, about some mayors or moms or monks against guns protest, more and more people rush out and buy guns, therefore doing exactly the opposite of what all those people are against: further arming Americans. Continue reading →

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Government and… (Examples of Why “Government is Bad”)

Posted on 2016-06-04 by TPOL Nathan

Nathan’s Rants: Living Free

Government (and by that I mean mandated, nonvoluntary, “monopoly (or near-monopoly) of force” government), is bad for people. History demonstrates that government and its actions have violently killed and caused directly or indirectly more premature deaths of humans in the six thousand or so years of recorded history than ANY other cause. From Nimrod and the various kings of Mesopotamian and Canaanite cities through Pharaoh and Assyrian and Babylonian and Persian kings right down to the present regimes in places like DC and Kiev and Peking, governments are bad. Bad for people and society and other institutions and technology and health and everything else. Even for the people who RUN government and supposedly benefit from it, from absolute monarchs and tribal chiefs and elders to “we, the people.” It is NOT “government gone bad,” it is “government IS bad.” Continue reading →

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Libertarian [sic] Commentary #16-22Z – The Finale

Posted on 2016-05-31 by TPOL Nathan

by Nathan Barton

This weekend was the last straw. Enough is enough.

I first heard about it from my wife. It turned my stomach. As it had hers.

When her normal news feeds reported from Florida the LP meeting this weekend, she saw a year’s worth of slowly introducing concepts of individual liberty and responsibility, of teaching people in her new home region about free markets and reducing government (not eliminating it, yet: one step at a time) crash into ruins. And YEARS of work dealing with family and long-time friends and business associates. And e-mails soon confirmed it. Libertarian equals Libertine. You want THESE people in charge? What next? (I’ll explain more about her situation in a side note.)

But we actually saw a quarter-century of work on our part, in both electoral and non-electoral political efforts, finally and completely washed away. Years of teaching (yes, and preaching) and paying in time and money to promote people and issues that would, even a wee bit, increase liberty and restore freedom in our regions: in South Dakota, Colorado, and surrounding areas. Trashed. Continue reading →

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A Possible Miracle for MamaLiberty

Posted on 2016-05-28 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

I’ve been told since 1949 that my hearing loss was permanent, and that nothing could be done for it. Each time my hearing has been tested since then, the message was the same: hearing aids will not help you hear better. Live with it.

I had speech therapy as a child, learned to read lips and have become very practiced at every form of situational awareness. I could hear sound fairly well at times, but could not differentiate between sounds much, especially the human voice.

As I’ve gotten older, my hearing got worse and worse, to the point where I have not been able to understand what was being said in videos, TV and so forth for a long time. About three years ago I quit trying to listen to my classical music, since it was fuzzy and strange, regardless of the volume. More recently, I have not been able to use the telephone much at all.

So, I had a new test and the audiologist insisted that the new digital hearing aids WOULD help me hear better, even if not perfectly. The problem was that he wanted $6,000. for the new hearing aids. YIKES And they would only be “good” for five or six years! YIKES again! Oh, and all the consumer reports comments indicate that this is not “settled science,” and these aides have some real problems yet… But OK, we have dealt with that with our computers and other devices for a long time. Nothing starts out perfect. And, wonderfully, new technology comes along frequently. Continue reading →

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Libertarian commentary: this and that

Posted on 2016-05-28 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-21D by Nathan Barton

Before getting to other news, I find myself commenting on the “bathroom crisis” – a manufactured issue that nevertheless seems to be dominating political thinking right now. And distracting us from more critical issues. And actually, my comments are on comments about it, and a theme I increasingly am drawn to: the hypocrisy of some who claim to be lovers of liberty and adhere to the non-aggression principle.

Who is the pervert? Who defines that? What am I missing? This news “commentary headline” appears in Freedom Net Daily: “Pols from 11 states sue: Feds can’t take away our welfare checks just because we’re creepy gropy pervs” It headlines a story from the WaPo which states in part, “Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. The lawsuit announced Wednesday includes Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. The challenge, which asks a judge to declare the directive unlawful, follows a federal directive to U.S. schools this month to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.” Continue reading →

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Whose side are you on?

Posted on 2016-05-27 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian commentary #16-21C by Nathan Barton

Oh, come on! Just how stupid are we? Or is it really more sinister, and this isn’t a stupid mistake but a plain attempt to support the state and the tyranny of the do-gooders?

As readers of this commentary know, one of the news-aggregating sites I use is Freedom’s Phoenix, produced by Ernest Haycock and his family. They have a wide range of sources, some regular contributors, and some original material, and they do a pretty good job.

But… yeah, you know it’s coming. Sometimes, they do something really, really stupid. And they just did.

I’m going to name names, and rub noses into the mess. Continue reading →

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