Libertarian Commentary on the News, 15 June 2015, #15-24A: Government Incompetence At All Time Highs

Posted on 2015-06-16 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

How incompetent IS government?  Gee, that is hard to quantify:  100%?  99%? 90%?  Every day in the news we see examples of it.  Here are a few.

The incompetence of government is revealed in high tech and energy applications. The Wall Street Journal explains how taxpayers are footing costs for solar-thermal technology failures. High-tech solar power projects are not living up to promises their backers made about how much electricity they could generate…  Note that this is despite claims by a lot of people that solar power is “finally” maturing and is now better than coal, even natural gas and other petroleum fuels.  Continue reading →

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Do we really want to do this?

Posted on 2015-06-14 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Get Rid of Special Operations Units and Troops?

Sheldon Richman, in his blog Free Association, calls for the abolition of Special Operations forces (Spec-Ops) stating, “if we didn’t have these units, we wouldn’t need them.” He points out, correctly, that SEAL Team 6 and other units have a hideous track record of needless killing and blurring the “traditional lines between soldier and spy.” He concludes saying, “The existence of secretive military units conducting private [sic] lethal operations should bother anyone who aspires to live in a free society.”  He talks about the obvious, but little-admitted impact of US intervention in the Muslim world, and ends with, “For our own safety, we must disband these squads of killers.” Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, 12 June 2015, #15-22C: Liberty is DEAD in Many or Most Places

Posted on 2015-06-12 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Our Liberty to Defend Ourselves is Gone – Liberty is DEAD – in Many (or Most) Places. Here are some examples from recent news of how our “Second Amendment” freedoms are sliding OR HAVE GONE to extinction.

Government kills: in Political Outcast, we read about a woman, threatened by a stalker, being stabbed to death while waiting for her gun permit. More than six weeks, because of a delay in the fingerprint report? Yes, a sickening situation made possible by stupid politicians who think that court orders and police can and will protect you.  The woman had asked why there was such a delay, just two days before her ex-boy-friend killed her.  You wanna bet that they won’t even refund her application and background check fee to her heirs?  The state and locality in which this woman lived and died is NOT a free state: it is a police state. Continue reading →

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I stand corrected…

Posted on 2015-06-11 by MamaLiberty

Last week I was grousing about not being able to “opt out” of seeing a doctor in order to get a needed blood test. Turns out I was wrong. (It happens!)

Yesterday I discovered that there is a new program at the local hospital which will allow me to get the test without a doctor’s order. Now these are bundled, not individual tests, but one combination available isn’t too much more expensive than I expected for the single test I actually need, so it is doable.

And, miracle number two, they will send the results directly to me. No doctor need be involved. In fact, they are clear that taking the results to your doctor is your responsibility. They won’t do that, even if you want them to. I have to tell you I was shocked. But pleased! And even better, they don’t take Medicare or any kind of insurance… cash on the barrel.

So, if you have a problem and think you may be able to figure it out on your own if you have a test or two done, look for a “wellness” program at your local hospital. Someone may have snuck a little free market medicine in while nobody was looking.

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Libertarian News and Comments for 11 JUN 2015, #15-23B: Abuse by Government-Affiliated Institutions

Posted on 2015-06-11 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

The world is filled with abuse, and too much of that is allowed, encouraged, and perpetrated by a wide variety of institutions.  Many of these ARE government institutions, and many more are enabled by governments, including government rules and regulations that create opportunity for exploitation of all sorts of people, including financial and actual physical abuse.  Here are some examples from recent news stories. Continue reading →

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Libertarian News and Comments for 10 JUN 2015, #15-23A: Nazgul & Disabilities & More

Posted on 2015-06-10 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Today, I have the commentary in two parts. Enjoy!

Nazgul (Judges) especially in committees

What power does Congress have?  According to a Washington Post article, not much: the Nazgul ruled Monday that the president alone has the power to recognize foreign nations, and it struck down as unconstitutional a congressional attempt to allow Americans born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their birthplace on passports. Now, I don’t see how whether or not Israel, as a nation, has any bearing on whether or not a city in Israel is considered part of Israel or not, but that is the Supremes for you – proof of the IQ of a committee, even if it is only a “majority” of a committee making these things up. Continue reading →

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Libertarian News and Comments for 5 JUN 2015, #15-22B: Religious liberty versus other liberties?

Posted on 2015-06-07 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

The Nazgul decided, 8-1, (as reported by Minnesota Public Radio and elsewhere) that Abercrombie & Fitch violated a woman’s First Amendment rights by refusing to hire her because she wore a headscarf for sincerely held religious reasons, even though she didn’t specifically state that is why she wore it.

Many have pointed out that the SCOTUS is therefore demonstrating its strong support of religious liberty.  According to many “soft” libertarian websites and comments, this both demonstrates the Nazgul hypocrisy on Second Amendment (which 4 of the 8 who voted for 1st Amendment rights constantly vote against) AND sets a precedent for similar upholding of constitutionally-guaranteed rights even in contradiction to upholding other rights.  Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, 2 June 2015, #15-22A: Real versus Dream Worlds

Posted on 2015-06-03 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Wired (and many other sources) report and are outraged that Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life, “On Friday [Ross] Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in creating and running Silk Road’s billion-dollar, anonymous black market for drugs. Judge Katherine Forrest gave Ulbricht the most severe sentence possible. The minimum he could have served was 20 years.” Gee, what a shocker!  The war on some drugs was so over-rated by all these people, obviously.  The deep desire of the FedGov and other authorities to strike back meant no other result was really likely, no matter what the various states do with cannabis, yet all these people were content to live in a dream world. Continue reading →

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You Can’t Opt Out

Posted on 2015-06-02 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Ten years ago I moved to rural Wyoming. So many things were different, of course, but there were some strange things that still defy understanding.

One of those was the delivery of six different telephone books. Some were sent to me in the mail, and some were dropped in my driveway. I have a very large circular driveway around the house, so I usually got two of them. Since the population of the entire county doesn’t go above 5,000 people, that didn’t make any sense at all. We even got a telephone book for a large area in the next state!

Since most entries in the various “yellow pages” require the business to pay for the “ad,” it was even more puzzling, but the bottom line was that most of the small “mom and pop” businesses I would use were not even listed. Put that together with the fact that more and more people use cell phones, not included in the white pages, and even one telephone book was pretty much useless. We won’t even consider that I’m mostly deaf, don’t have a cell phone, and don’t use a telephone much at all. Continue reading →

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Hate and Discrimination

Posted on 2015-05-31 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Do you like anchovies? How about girdles, tight neckties, a leak in your shoe? Personally, I hate them, and quite a few other things.

Or is “hate” too harsh a word? Maybe so. What does the word “hate” mean to you?

Hate means different things to individuals, but there is a widespread campaign to impose ever changing and increasingly destructive political correctness on everyone, both with and without the force of law.

So, it seems important to start with definitions. Continue reading →

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