Libertarian Commentary on the News, 25 October 2015, #15-43A: Medical and other foolishness

Posted on 2015-10-26 by TPOL Nathan

by Nathan Barton

First we have this rather fatuous article from Australia, featured in PJ Media. Should Fevers Accompanying Infections Always Be Treated With Analgesics? It discusses what seems, from the brief discussion in the article, to be a very poor “experiment” on real-life people in very bad medical condition.

Mama’s Note: I have a good, simple partial answer. First, do no harm. Some really stupid stuff here… but sadly, more and more typical of much medical “research” these days. The question is stupid to start with. Analgesics are for treating pain, not fever. SOME analgesics also reduce fever. The real question should be something like: ‘when is fever detrimental to the patient, worse than the immune response required for healing… and then, what measures are truly helpful to reduce that dangerous fever without hampering the immune process unnecessarily. Clue…” there is no one size fits all answer to that question. It depends… and there are a good many better ways to control high temps than NSAIDs. Continue reading →

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Vaccines for pregnancy – Pro and con – The battle for humanity’s future

Posted on 2015-10-25 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

A “vaccine against pregnancy” which supposedly makes muscle cells block a hormone (GnRH), is supposed to work on multiple species (“all vertebrates”) by preventing sperm and eggs from developing and maturing. It is administered by injection, and called “vectored contraception.”

This story comes from TrueActivist.com, but because I do not trust that site, I vetted it carefully. The actual publication is found here at Cell.com [pdf]. True Activist waxes poetically over how this will reduce the 70,000 cats and dogs born each day, and reduce the need to put 3,000 unwanted cats and dogs down each day. That is, of course, a very good thing. But there is, as always, a dark side to this. Remember, ANY thing can be used for good or for evil: such things are not evil in and of themselves. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #15-42C: Guns and Politics

Posted on 2015-10-24 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

It has been a bad, busy week, and so here are a few more comments about news of the week.

First off, more on gun and self-defense issues. In the last commentary, I discussed migrants, the homeless, and barbarian invasions, all of which should make us aware of the need for defending ourselves.  Yes, even against the homeless, who often are mentally ill and support themselves by petty theft.  Not all, any more than all immigrants are of concern, but whatever the threat, the ANSWER is being properly prepared and trained. And often that means being armed and knowing how to defend ourselves and others WITH those arms. Continue reading →

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What Would You Do?

Posted on 2015-10-22 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Had a hair raising close call here last week. One of my neighbors has two very large German Shepherd dogs. He lets them run loose when he is with them – actually allows them to chase him when he’s on an ATV – and they never seemed to be a problem until last week.

I carried my 9mm carbine down to the fence along the road that day because those two dogs were chasing one of the horses just across the road from me. The pony was kicking at the dogs, and darn near nailed one too. The dogs didn’t seem to be trying to bring the pony down, but they were all running fast and at any time the pony could have stepped into a hole and broken its leg or gotten hurt running into the barbed wire. The field where the horses graze is rough, with rabbit and other holes evident. I’ve had horses, and know they can be panicked into a bad place or a fence. They don’t know the dogs are only playing. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, 21 Oct 2015, #15-42B: Self-defense and Jack-booted Thugs

Posted on 2015-10-21 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Self-defense? Is it a right? A natural, or God-given right of humans? Is it something that can be, should be, must be, limited? How? By what authority? There are many “christians” who believe that self-defense is something that can be waived: given up for the sake of their faith. But many of those who claim to have given up this right seem to think that the state can protect them… hmmm.

So let us talk of self-defense in some recent circumstances: Mama Liberty noted: “Somehow, this didn’t make the MSM headlines… but did finally show up in Fox News.” She says, “It should have been a defensive handgun situation.”  An Illinois Army vet, 75, saved 16 kids (and some moms) from knife-wielding teen who stated in public and to the cops that he was planning mass murder, of the children in the library for a home school chess class, taught by the vet who used fifty-year-old military training to fight off the psychopath with the knives. This man, in a rational society, would NOT have had to face the severe injuries he received in protecting his charges. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #15-42A: Homeless and Migrants and Barbarian Invasions

Posted on 2015-10-20 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Mama Liberty notes that “Of course there is not one word proposing to eliminate all the taxes and other government barriers in place preventing people who wish to do so from taking any real responsibility for themselves.” She is commenting on the Fox News story that Los Angeles officials propose to declare state of emergency over homelessness. Mayor Eric Garcetti and several other elected officials stood outside City Hall — a few feet from several homeless people dozing on a lawn — to announce they plan to declare a state of emergency on homelessness and spend $100 million to eradicate it. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, 15 October 2015, #15-41D: Media and Getting It Wrong Again and Again – On Purpose

Posted on 2015-10-15 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

When it comes to politics, what is worse than a celebrity?  (No, it is NOT a “casino capitalist,” fun as that is.)  It is a celebrity scientist, whether it is Carl Sagan or Albert Einstein… or a Stephen Hawkings, as reported by CNet. This man is obviously a prodigy who MAY know a lot about a very specific and extremely limited field.  Hawkings has long demonstrated his total lack of understanding of many other fields of science and engineering, even though he is worshiped as a demigod.  Now he shows he knows nothing about either economics or history. He claims that we should be more frightened of capitalism than robots (or apparently, government). Yes, the man is an idiot and epitomizes the worst of the American “elite,” who believe that prominence in one field – or just plain notoriety, makes them expert in all areas of life. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, 14 October 2015, #15-41C: Lies and Stupidity of All Kinds

Posted on 2015-10-14 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

How’s this for a twist: the Sierra Club and the rest of the environists are fond of throwing data in our faces, but NOW, according to CNS News, the Sierra Club is saying that the satellite data they’ve been citing for decades for their religious myth of manmade global warming is WRONG – and that the world is “cooking.” Apparently, the government satellites are lying. Or the Sierra Club is. Ah, don’t bother me with the facts, I guess. Oh, and no free speech that doesn’t agree with the party line. Funny how Senator Ted Cruz can keep a straight face while he is being told these obvious falsehoods. I suppose he has a lot of practice. Continue reading →

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Comments at The Price of Liberty

Posted on 2015-10-13 by MamaLiberty

Dear Readers,

I’ve just changed some of the permissions for comments. Those who have previously been approved will no longer have to wait for any moderation. I will still moderate any new folks and comments that contain links. Please do let me know by email if you are having any problems with the comment feature or would like to write to me privately. mamaliberty at rtconnect dot net. Just replace the “at” and “dot” with appropriate symbols and eliminate the spaces.

MamaLiberty

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, 13 October 2015, #15-40C: Hypocrisy in action

Posted on 2015-10-13 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Hypocrisy is, of course, always with us. Especially in government and big business. Consider some of the following.

Do as I say, NOT as I do.  Of course, she has now “resigned,” no doubt for the good of the squatter.  Freedom Outpost reports that a female White House “Special Assistant” got into an argument with her boy-friend after complaining that he was also having sex with another of his girl-friends (you have to specify whose, these days), and grabbed his pistol and shot at him. Her boy-friend was a Capitol Police officer, but apparently survived the attack.  Of course, this reminds me of a point a number of folks have made about hoplophobes and hoploclasts, they are so afraid that THEY cannot control their tempers and resist the temptation to use firearms to kill people without justification that they just naturally assume that NO body can control their temper and resist temptation. Continue reading →

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