Cops and ALL Lives

Posted on 2016-03-02 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-09C By Nathan Barton

How much is a black life worth? Especially that of a 50-something business owner? Seems to me that the race-baiters who supposedly “support” black liberty would scream at this decision. Four white men are ordered by a court to pay restitution for killing of a black man. The defendants were teenagers in Mississippi in 2011 when they screamed “White power!” and beat James Craig Anderson before running him over with a truck. The WaPo reports this, five years after the atrocity. Putting aside issues of how an ARMED black man is a lot harder to torture and kill, consider that the attitude of courts and Tranzis is to let perpetrators of atrocities like this off with very little punishment. I am very much a believer in restorative justice, but this payment of $840,000 (before taxes) seems to be a poor penalty for torture and murder. Which leads to problems like the next incident. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Peace

Posted on 2016-03-01 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-09B by Nathan Barton

Today, there is very little peace around the world, with dozens of nations and regions involved in violence at all levels: Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia, Nigeria, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Philippines, Venezuela, Mexico, and on and on. Even where there is  actually no sustained combat, we have violence marring society, here in the US, Germany, Sweden, Greece, etc. Too much of this must be laid solely at the feet of governments, aiding, encouraging, and actually doing it themselves.

The track record of government is very bad on preventing violence and violent disagreement among themselves and among those whom government supposedly protects against violence and other aggression. Stories this week point that out, directly and indirectly.

Peace in Syria?  Don’t hold your breath.  Zero Hedge offers a very pessimistic view of the two-day-old “ceasefire,” as Russia bides its time.  Russia at least has a dog in the fight, the US does not. Its only possible ally might have been the Kurds, but the FedGov is clearly NOT supporting them (and should not).  Yes, Turkey is an ally, but if it attacks (instead of really being attacked) then the US has no excuse for intervening more.  The US and NATO need to go home, peace or not. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My “Every Day Carry” (EDC)

Posted on 2016-02-29 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Over at The Truth About Guns, many people have posted pictures of the things they carry every day, and some good commentary on why they do so. But, so far, it’s all been about men and what they carry in their pockets!

So, I thought it might be fun to show what I carry and how, as well as why.

Here is the belt I wear each time I leave my back door, whether to go to town or just out to the burn barrels, tend to the horses or anything else. Because you just never know when an emergency might overtake you. Not too many criminals around here, but quite a few large, wild animals.

Continue reading →

Posted in Mama's Rants | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Better Ideas with Liberty

Posted on 2016-02-29 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-09A, by Nathan Barton

Truth in Media reports that a currently-serving Colorado State Assemblyman, who survived the Columbine attack in 1999 when he was a student there, has introduced a bill to allow teachers in public (government-run, tax-funded) schools in Colorado to be armed to defend themselves, other staff, and students, instead of relying on “too-little, too-late” police defense. “The only thing that is going to stop murderers intent on doing harm is to give good people the legal authority to carry a gun to protect themselves and our children,” saidRep. Neville of Castle Rock.

He had introduced a similar bill last year; I don’t expect this one to go any further: almost certainly the guy in the office on the main floor under the gold dome in Denver, cowering behind the armed guards that now infest the statehouse, will veto it even if the General Assembly passes it. Better solution? Get your children OUT of these places, even in states which DO allow teachers to be armed. Teach your children how to be free. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Socialism: the nature of government

Posted on 2016-02-26 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-08E by Nathan Barton

As I discussed in a recent commentary, government’s nature is both evil and secretive, not because it necessarily wants to be, but because that is how government functions, for many reasons. The nature of its power, the people who are attracted to work in it (especially those who run for office), and the attitudes of those who live under its rule (voluntary and involuntary).

The British-born, American commentator John Derbyshire has written this. “Ultimately, however, as the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter pointed out, a powerful bureaucratic class is in the same relation to commerce as was the scorpion in Aesop to the dog on whose back he crossed the river. They will destroy commerce and establish socialism, even if it kills them, because that is their nature.” Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Government Secrets – Secret Police

Posted on 2016-02-25 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-08D by Nathan Barton

Government is virtually synonymous with “secret” – no, not necessarily some “secret government” or (current term) “deep state” or “shadow government.” But secrets. Every “freedom of information” act has its loopholes, carefully crafted to allow officials and bureaucrats to hide a lot. Files (and e-mails) and documents disappear or get “misfiled” and information on their activities is just not available. Raw data is “lost” and often “routinely” destroyed. It isn’t just a FedGov thing: state and local and tribal governments are as bad. Here are some examples from recent news.

That is WHY they are called “secret police.” The WaPo reports that the Virginia Dominion Senate has passed a bill to make the names of police officers secret. That the heirs of the legacy of the House of Burgesses should become agents of tyranny and embrace a police state like this, so blatantly, should make you violently ill. Not that an organization called the “Virginia State Police” should EVER be considered as anything but evidence that it serves anything BUT a tyranny, a police state. (And yes, I apply that to ANY of the Fifty States that has a “State Police” and many of those where broad powers have been given to so-called “State Patrol” and “Highway Patrol” organizations.) This evil bill stinks so much that even the WaPo is opposed to it (although their opposition is pretty self-serving). Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Peace and Lies

Posted on 2016-02-24 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-08C  by Nathan Barton

Peace in our time? The Epoch Times tells us, “The United States and Russia have agreed on a new ceasefire for Syria that will take effect Saturday, even as major questions over enforcing and responding to violations of the truce were left unresolved. Syria’s warring government and rebels still need to accept the deal.” But according to some reports, the Russians are reinforcing combat aviation assets in Syria, close to the Turkish border (not that ANYplace in Syrian isn’t far from Turkey by US and Russian standards), and the implication is that Turkey and Russia may soon engage in a shooting war, not just bumping off an aircraft here and there. That would mean NATO intervention on the side of Turkey (unless the Turks were stupid enough to make it obvious that THEY are the aggressors. Of course, no matter what Amis and Ruskies agree on, the other six or eight sides in the Syrian Front of the Islamic Wars may not: we are also still told that Saudi forces are massing in a position to be able to strike Syria, but on whose side? Physically-militant religious-political conflicts are nasty family fights much of the time, especially in the Muslim and Arab worlds.

Mama’s Note: We are told to “follow the money” to discover the reason for things, but so far I can’t see anything but loss for everyone in this. The ordinary people are definitely losing big time, as always in war. Such utter insanity. And utter insanity for Americans to become involved, of course. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Personal Liberty and Security, a rant

Posted on 2016-02-23 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-08B by Nathan Barton

While we understand (as too few do) that liberty is a greater good and priority than security, the two ARE connected. Overall, in the long term, security for individuals and families is ONLY possible in the context of liberty. Otherwise, it is a false sense of security for all but a few powerful people. News this week points that out.

The Freedom-Busting Idiots continue to try to force Apple to surrender and give them the backdoor they lust after so badly. From Freedom Outpost comes this report. “Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote an open letter to the American public about the FBI’s attempts to compel the company to crack the iPhone of the San Bernadino Jihad attackers, saying that such a tool for the government is too dangerous to create, as reported elsewhere. Google, Facebook and Twitter have now joined Apple in the phone encryption battle.” Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Liberty? Liberty is missing: government and economies

Posted on 2016-02-22 by TPOL Nathan

Libertarian Commentary #16-08A  by Nathan Barton

Liberty?  Fat chance. US News reports from Denver that a large roadside sign marks the entrance of longtime strip club Shotgun Willie’s, and Smoking Gun Apothecary, the new marijuana dispensary in Glendale, Colo. Smokin Gun Apothecary is on a site formerly occupied by the Denver area’s best known strip club, Shotgun Willie’s. The strip club hasn’t gone away, it’s moved just across the parking lot. Both businesses have the same owner, Deborah Dunafon, who envisions pot shoppers getting discounted drinks at the strip club and is outfitting the roof of the pot shop for a future lounge in case Colorado changes its law banning on-site marijuana consumption.

Deborah Dunafon’s husband, Mike Dunafon, is mayor of this tiny enclave of 4,500 surrounded on all sides by Denver. This story is in contrast to this week’s Anarchapolco where, somehow, a relatively peaceful society seems to exist without the sort of nonsense that businesses AND their customers have to put up with in Glendale, Colorado.  This is an area I’m very familiar with; Glendale was originally established (as I recall from long ago history classes) as a wet town in otherwise dry Denver, filled with saloons and bars.  It is no surprise that both strip bars and cannabis shops would find a place here, and that the nannies and the controllers would want it to be done away with. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Love My Guns

Posted on 2016-02-21 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Some recent comments on various message boards frequented by shooters indicate that a few people are either changing their minds or are bowing to the politically correct pressure of the day. They have begun to assert that they do NOT “love their guns” and only view them as necessary tools.

While I couldn’t agree more that guns are simply tools, pretty much like any others, I don’t know why that would make them unlovable. Most men love their tools, all different kinds, and men have always loved their guns. I’m certainly not ashamed to join those men.

But, you might ask, just what is it that we (who still profess it anyway) actually love about guns? Aren’t they killing machines, good only for harming others? We hear that a lot.

So, why do I love my guns? Let me count the ways. Continue reading →

Posted in Mama's Rants | Tagged , , | 5 Comments