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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Perfect, The Enemy Of The Good

Posted on 2015-01-28 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Or… who in heck gets to determine the “perfect” or the “good?” I mean, for anyone else…

Ever hear gun owners, for instance, spend inordinate amounts of time and effort arguing about what gun, ammunition, accessories or practices are “best” and, all too often, sneering at any who don’t share their preferences? Sure you do… and even though the 9mm vs .45 wars are mostly funny these days, when taken to extreme this type of argument probably serves to discourage more than a few new shooters, people tempted to leap off the fence between “gun control” and freedom. When these new people visit our fora and blogs, do they get mostly courteous answers to their questions, or blistering ridicule for their questions and initial choices? You know that the latter is all too common. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #15-04C: Dumb predictions, dumber government

Posted on 2015-01-28 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

This was the news yesterday and overnight: Northeast coast of America on unprecedented lockdown: Shutdown hits 60 million people, bringing roads, tunnels, trains, bridges and businesses to standstill, and 3′ of snow threatens country’s most densely-populated areas. There were driving bans, threats of arrest, canceled planes, closed railways and metro systems and tunnels froze giant cities in five states. People are effectively banned from going outside as states of emergency were declared. A storm threatening to dump 3′ of snow from New Jersey to Massachusetts prompted states of emergency to be declared, with metro systems in New York City and Boston shut, and threats of $500 fines for drivers on roads barred in the evening to all but emergency vehicles. A 1/5 of the population of the U.S. was advised to shelter from the storm, with driving bans forcing a large swath of New York state, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts from the roads to make room for plows, police and ambulances. Governors and mayors told people to stay for all but the most vital reasons, while panicked residents cleaned out stores in anticipation of days trapped behind huge drifts of snow before the rigorous emergency measures kick in. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #15-04B: Stupid enough to gag me

Posted on 2015-01-27 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

I get so very sick and disgusted at the way cities and states beg Congress for more and more “aid” (read “stolen money”) for various things: especially transportation.  As with education and medical care and care for the ‘indigent,” all federal money does is mean MORE waste and MORE corruption, and in reality, the more money Congress “gives” the less useful it is, and the more problems develop.  Nevertheless, with the new Congress, all the beggars in their $1200 suits are there, hands out. Continue reading →

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