Review: “The Testament of James”

Posted on 2015-02-13 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Imagination, story telling, tall tales and sharing of ideas, adventures and speculation of every kind must have been among the earliest attributes of human beings. The ability to think like this, to attempt to analyze and explain one’s environment and self, is the difference between sapient and other beings. Spirituality is an essential part of all life, however it is expressed.

Nobody knows just when the first organized religions developed, but I suspect it was about the same time that humans began to record their experiences and ideas, dreams and aspirations. Many of the most ancient cave paintings have spiritual overtones, as well as recording daily living. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #15-06A: Overcoming! (This and That)

Posted on 2015-02-12 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

[Mama’s Note: So glad to see Nathan posting again! He’s been quite ill, and is not 100% yet, but I’m sure he’ll be well soon. Welcome back, my friend. ]

Well, we are half through the winter, but some common sense has somehow gotten into the most dense of heads, and the New Great War may not be upon us… yet.  The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have agreed a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine, participants at the summit talks said on Thursday. The deal reached after all-night negotiations. Continue reading →

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Nathan under the weather…

Posted on 2015-02-10 by MamaLiberty

Dear Readers,

Nathan has been fighting a flu bug of some kind this last week, and is unable to contribute here until he can recover. If you are the praying sort, please include him in yours.

In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy Brad’s rants as much as I do.

MamaLiberty

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Impaired Self Defense

Posted on 2015-02-08 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

First, of course, it helps to define “impaired.” Perfectly alert, with perfect judgment, perfect physical ability, and perfect training/experience describes nobody on earth, which makes every single human being “impaired” to some extent, if compared to perfection. If not perfection, to what is it compared? Who decides? And why? A person’s physical abilities and judgment is relative to so many things, and the perception of those things is subjective and individual.

Don’t think so? Try this: You say you are hungry, thirsty, or tired… Even if you can begin to articulate any measurable criteria that would apply to everyone (go ahead and try… I’ll wait…), are you really willing for someone else to define hunger or thirst, etc. for YOU – and dictate what you must or must not do in that case? Continue reading →

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Libertarian commentary on the News, #14-05C: Freedom or ???

Posted on 2015-02-05 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

There are many threats to liberty, to freedom, today: and I shall write about some of them.  But NONE of these public threats; the state (government), Islam, war, dishonest business, or our snoopy and “well-meaning” neighbors, are the danger that we ourselves pose to our own freedom – refusal to take a stand, to accept personal responsibility, to defend ourselves, our families, and our communities. And just plain a refusal to understand what freedom really is.

“Freedom lies in being bold.” — Robert Frost Continue reading →

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Libertarian commentary on the news, #15-05B: Giving versus taking, Freedom

Posted on 2015-02-04 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning!  Politicians love to equate giving with taking:  they take and take and then give (some of it) to others.

This is the sort of thing you expect more from Democrats than from Republicans, but they are all statists.  John Kasich, a GOP governor, claims that the Bible, specifically Matthew 25:42-43, supports that Abomination called ObummerCare: that it is government’s “duty” to steal from people to pay for other people’s health care.  Sorry, it is not there: there is NOTHING in the New Testament that says that it is right for government to force people to care for or feed other people, nothing that says that government can force “sharing.”  But Kasich, like so many other politicians desperately wants to have religious justification for his power-grabbing habits. Continue reading →

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States, United States: America’s James Bond Complex

Posted on 2015-02-04 by MamaLiberty

by Sheldon Richman

Today, American politicians of both major parties — conservatives, “moderates,” and so-called liberals alike — insist that the United States is an “exceptional,” even “indispensable” nation. In practice, this means that for the United States alone the rules are different. Particularly in international affairs, it — the government and its personnel — can do whatever deemed necessary to carry out its objectives, including things that would get any other government or person branded a criminal.

This is nothing new. “American exceptionalism” goes back to the founding. When American politicians set their sights on Spain’s North American possessions, they were driven by the same attitude. In their view the new “Empire of Liberty,” as Jefferson called it, was destined to replace the old, worn-out empires of Europe in its hemisphere. They had no doubt that the Old World’s colonial possessions would eventually fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government, either formally or informally. Continue reading →

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Libertarian commentary on the news, #15-05A: This and that

Posted on 2015-02-03 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning: work and weather and travel kept me from posting anything yesterday, but here are a few stories of interest today.

In Kermit, Texas, in the Permian Basin, which used to be a nice place to live, the schools have gone as stupid and crazy as in the rest of the world.  A 9-year-old has again run afoul of the authorities and gotten a three-day suspension.  The first time was for calling a classmate “black,” although the young man WAS “black” – African-American or “Negro.”  The second time was when he took his copy of the “Big Book of Knowledge” to show his classmates the pictures of the Solar System, and the teacher saw that the BBK had a picture of a PREGNANT woman – clothed mind you, but PG!  This time he took a toy ring to school claiming it was the Ring to Rule the Rings and telling a classmate that if he wore the ring, he would become invisible. Of course, that was viewed as a terrorist threat.  Insanity is almost certainly catching: you get it from teachers.  At least teachers in government-run, theft-funded schools like the one in Kermit. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-04E: Decline and Collapse

Posted on 2015-01-30 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning: the theme of many stories today is “Decline and Collapse.”  How quickly is the system, the society, the civilization collapsing?  Here are some examples.

Educational system collapse:  The schools continue to decline ever more rapidly.  Back in the 1950s and 1960s, chewing gum on the floor (and under the desks) used to be the most serious problem.  Today, 50+ years later, it seems it is students supposedly dumping poop on the floor, or at least in one Texas school, where the teachers initiated “poop inspections” to see who did it. Yes, to put it mildly, that DOES violate the privacy of students, and so no surprise that some are complaining.  People, get your children OUT of these places!  Now! Please!  (I just thought that perhaps the quality of these government-run, tax-funded schools is even worse than we thought!  This small town in Comanche County, Texas, is apparently teaching its students how to become EPA bureaucrats.  (Remember the story from EPA Region VIII in Denver about employees smearing feces on the walls and floors?)) Continue reading →

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Human Basics: Liberty in Action (was: Libertarian Commentary on the News, #15-04D)

Posted on 2015-01-29 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning.  Let us look at two basics of human life today, to start.  Marriage and health care.

Judge Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court is back in the news, telling his governor and legislature that the federal judge has NO AUTHORITY to strike down the state’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as a single man and a single woman (regardless of sexual orientation). Now, a Nazgul is a Nazgul, but still… Given the decision of the SCOTUS to take up the issue, this may have significant impact.  But this pushes to the heart of the entire issue as to whether the FedGov is a NATIONAL government or the servant of the Fifty States: whether the FedGov and a very few judges (5, to be precise) can dictate basic English definitions and moral issues to the Fifty States or to the people.  (The issue of whether ANY government can dictate such things to the people is a separate issue.)  Moore is very controversial, and was removed from office only to be reelected in 2012; he seems to be supported by 81 percent of the State of Alabama’s voters, at a minimum. And even attorneys can sometimes be right! Continue reading →

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