By Nathan Barton
Death Penalty?
Tranzis, liberals, and even a few libertarians constantly harp on how barbaric the Fifty States are as we still have the death penalty, and still allow people to defend themselves with lethal force – that is, sometimes a felon is killed by his (or her) intended victim in the act of committing the felony. It is often claimed that the US is the most evil society on the planet because we execute so many people for crimes. Really? Continue reading
The New Union Jack?
by Susan Callaway and Nathan Barton
This week, on Thursday the 18th, up to 4.3 of 5.3 million Scots subjects of Her Majesty will vote on whether or not to secede from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This could end one of the longest federations in modern world history. The news is full of the changes in pre-election polls, as witness this story. Continue reading
By Nathan Barton
In the first installment, I compared politicians and engineers, explaining why I believe that few engineers are involved in politics – at least in elective politics.
To help non-engineers understand engineers better, and how we view politics, consider testing. Let me explain why so many engineering qualification exams and general tests for selecting and instructing (training) engineers are written the way they are. Continue reading
By Nathan Barton
This year we note the 200th Anniversary of the Battles of Baltimore and Fort McHenry, and of Washington, all part of the British invasion of the States in the War of 1812.
Although there were legitimate reasons (in my opinion) to go to war, Congress decided (with significant opposition) that this was an opportunity for imperialism: to conquer and annex Canada. The British saw it as a chance to reverse the disaster of 1783, and invaded, again in the name of imperialism. A lot of AmerInd nations got caught in the middle, as did ordinary Americans and Canadians (who fought courageously in defense of their own homes). Continue reading
By Nathan Barton
…too long to list, and keep to under 1,000 words. But good morning, anyway, and here is a few stories and quotes that attracted my attention today.
Anyway, Good morning! I haven’t commented on quotes much recently, but here are two that struck my interest. “In framing a government, which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” James Madison (1751-1836), is called the Father of the Constitution for the USA, and was 4th US President. Continue reading
By Nathan Barton
On Wednesday night, interfering (supposedly) with the Wednesday night Bible class or prayer meeting of millions of Americans, the Fuehrer gave a grand speech about fighting the Caliphate (which he insists on calling ISIL – which is NOT the “International Society for Individual Liberty” (I think)). But even liberal and conservative media seemed to agree on a few things, at least, some of which are several things I think are clear: Continue reading
By Nathan Barton
Good morning. Yesterday, the Fuehrer gave the orders for dealing with the Caliphate – or so it was claimed. Frankly, for such a speech and order on the night before the anniversary of Bloody Tuesday (9-11), the message made no sense. More on that later: here is a short commentary for this Thursday, 11 SEP 2014. Continue reading
By Nathan Barton
Good morning. We all WISH we had a horse and ice cream (and could eat it without feeling guilty or triggering nasty things in our bodies). But most of us are adults and realize that some things are fantasies. But not politicians and others of their ilk.
Mama’s Note: Not sure what you mean here Nathan… I do have a horse and I eat ice cream whenever I darn well want to. 🙂 Neither the horse nor the ice cream are essential for life, naturally, but I enjoy them both very much.
Nathan: “If wishes were horses…” and “I scream, you scream…” when we are adults we realize that sometimes things cannot be as neat as we thought when we were children: we’ve grown up and realize that unlimited ice cream for us to eat personally is not realistic: our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and we know it. And horses are living creatures that come with responsibilities and costs and are not something on the shelf to take down as needed… Both are things to wish for and have, but reality has “strings.” Continue reading
By Nathan Barton
Good morning. When it comes to economics, the economy, and markets, government EXCELS in making stupid mistakes and then making MORE stupid mistakes to “fix” the first one(s). After doing this for a century-plus, it is no wonder things are so badly messed up. Continue reading
Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-37A: World wars, Islamic and other
By Nathan Barton
Good morning. World war?
The Pope declared last week that the various conflicts around the globe are effectively a “piecemeal” Third World War, as he condemned both the arms trade and ‘plotters of terrorism.’ What? The amount of violence and wars around the world is little changed in the nearly seventy years since the end of WW2. If we just lump them into decades, surely we must be up to World War Eleven by now, right? Wars WILL continue as long as we have governments and bogus religions and anyone else who thinks that THEY can and should have power over OTHER people. The Pope seems to be slowly realizing the truth of things, doesn’t he? The problem is, he (and his organization) will NOT see the real cause and the real solutions to this violence. Continue reading →