Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-48B: To be continued…

Posted on 2014-11-25 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning.  A short commentary today, but some fun!

Culture wars: A “mother” has been arrested for attempted murder for abandoning newborn in sewer for up to five days.  Found by a father and daughter biking in the area, who heard the horrifying sound of an infant crying in a storm sewer.  Is this an example of the sickness of Society?  In Australia, yet? Surely someone will come forward and say the mother had the right to perform a fourth-trimester (post-birth) abortion, since the child was obviously not sentient, and that the people who heard and reported the child were interfering with the mother’s “right to choose,” regardless of the time involved.  To be continued… Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-48A: Irrigation season approaching? Or already here?

Posted on 2014-11-24 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning.  The tree of liberty must be watered at frequent intervals by the blood of patriots and tyrants.  It is the duty of every lover of liberty to make the tyrants (and their minions) provide the bulk of that nourishing blood.  Without doubt, it is virtually NEVER just tyrants (and their minions) that pay that awful price.

This is no less true in the 21st century than in the six or so millennia past of human history.  For every foe of liberty which is made to pay the price for their wickedness, a new crop arises, like the heads of the Hydra (or sometimes, the dragon’s teeth of Cadmus) which must again be dissuaded from repeating the mistakes of their predecessors. Continue reading →

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Stupidity?

Posted on 2014-11-23 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Last week, I commented on a couple of stories regarding stupidity, especially here in the Fifty States.  I want to elaborate on those, and think about stupidity and government and their relationship.

First, according to British news reports, a virus has been discovered that may affect up to 50% of all humans, survives in the body for years, and makes us stupid.  Really!  A chlorovirus, ATCV-1, was discovered 30 years ago but now seems to be in a major part of the populace, at least in the Fifty States.  The story says that the drop in intelligence is measurable and statistically significant. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-47E: Idle Hands are the Devil’s Workshop

Posted on 2014-11-23 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning!  Today, for the end of the week, a long commentary on a bunch of stories!

Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, or so says Proverbs 16:27.  Better believe it: look at the FedGov! Government always seems to be finding new things that it just HAS to do, and the Census Bureau is incredibly good at that.  The only legitimate authority it has is to count how many people each state has, so that Congress can have the House of Representatives properly apportioned.  In fact, after they no long had to distinguish between “other persons” and “Indians” and “other persons” with the passage of the post-War between the States’ amendments, their job got EASIER.  But instead of saving money, they add new “responsibilities,” and then do a poor job of it. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-47D: It is a cold day!

Posted on 2014-11-22 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning! It is a cold, cold day! It is cold outside. All 50 U.S. states feel freezing temperatures this week as another “polar vortex” brings winter home.  Sorry, but this HAS happened before and WILL happen again, no matter how much the FedGov claims otherwise.

It is cold in the hearts and pockets of those who would benefit from building a way to get Alberta oil to consumers. Despite support from several Democrats, the Fuehrer will not have to use that precious veto power, as Senate narrowly rejected the Keystone XL energy pipeline.  In a victory for environmental activists (and the Fuehrer), Democrats blocked legislation by ONE vote: 59 to 41, to compel [a decision by the Executive Branch] on construction of the oil pipeline, but the vote leaves Republicans itching to return to the fight when they take over next year. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-47C: A disarmed society is a mean and rude society

Posted on 2014-11-21 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning!

The crudity and violence of modern urban “society” is more obvious each day.  Consider this McDonalds in Philadelphia, the vaunted “City of Brotherly Love” once upon a time. Two middle-aged women customers got upset because they were too late for breakfast and a McGriddle sandwich, so they took it out on the store, employees, and other customers: most of whom were as dark of skin tone as the two attacking women: they shouted curses and obscenities, threw food and chairs, and hit people to demonstrate their anger at not having the food of their choice to stuff in their faces.  The staff – and other customers – seemed to be very restrained in their response.  Too bad: a sound beating or even wounding in response to this vicious and unprovoked attack would send a lesson to other people like these two women.  I can’t call them barbarians: that would give barbarism a bad name. Continue reading →

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Five NEVERs of Self-Defense

Posted on 2014-11-20 by MamaLiberty

From an email forward, no attribution. It is, however, so important that I thought I’d post it anyway. If you know who wrote this, please let me know in comments. MamaLiberty

Five NEVERs of Self-Defense

There are some things you must *never *do when confronted with an armed assailant. We mean *never, *ever, not because these events *never *end well, but because they *usually *don’t, and because violating these hard and fast rules takes the agency of your survival out of your own hands. You owe it to Adam and Eve and all the rest of your bloodline to preserve your life. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #14-47B: Criminals in uniform and other home front problems

Posted on 2014-11-18 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning.  My first subject today is one I seem to go back to a lot: Criminals in uniform: America is occupied and terrorized more and more by cops.

The latest example of the perfidity and greed of America’s police forces comes from a location where a cop dressed as Donald Duck was part of a trap for drivers to get them to drive through a marked crosswalk, resulting in tickets with more than $30,000 in fines in one day.  This is not the first time such a stunt has been pulled, and it goes along with a lot of other actions that have little to do with serving the public (except figuratively with an apple in their mouth). Continue reading →

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Airguns, BB guns, and Airsoft

Posted on 2014-11-17 by MamaLiberty

By Kevin Wilmeth – Rifleman Savant

Airguns, BB guns, and Airsoft guns are each very different things.  The three types can sometimes use the same “powerplant” for propelling their ammunition (e.g., CO2, spring-piston) but the ammunition is fundamentally different in a non-trivial way.  To wit:

“Airgun” is sometimes used as an enveloping term, but what is usually meant is a smallbore “pellet gun”, which fires a lead diabolo-shaped pellet out of a (usually) rifled barrel.  Smallbore pellets come in .177, .20, .22, and .25 calibers, and can range in power from nearly nothing to almost 100 foot-pounds.  When people talk about airgun hunting, they are referring only to this type of piece;  most folks consider the minimum power for small-game hunting to be about 12 foot pounds of kinetic energy at the muzzle, and a range of no more than 30 yards or so.  Guns for these pellets often have their own unique designs that do not resemble firearms at all, but occasionally they do borrow design ideas. Continue reading →

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #14-47A: Priorities

Posted on 2014-11-17 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning.  What passes for news is sometimes a bit, well, weird. Among other things, we have to wonder just what the priorities are, both for society and government.

Society’s priorities? Consider this story: in the middle of the grand achievement of landing an (sadly unmanned) spacecraft on a comet, and the lander’s 57-hour survival despite some problems with its landing (2 bounces and ending up on its side wedged between rocks), idiots are concerned because one of the mission scientists is wearing a “sexist” shirt that features pictures of women showing a lot less skin than you will see exposed by women (VOLUNTARILY) on a summer afternoon street in Duesseldorf or Amsterdam or London!  (And to say NOTHING of what they wear on a Belgian or Italian beach!  (Or don’t wear, really.)) Continue reading →

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