Good morning! This week is filled with examples of how stupid government, and the people IN government can be. More and more cutting off their own noses to spite their faces, they are driving people towards rebellion at an ever faster rate.
Nanny state laws and regulations do NOT exist “to protect the public” as is generally claimed, but instead to protect a variety of monopolies and cartels and the political power of legislatures and the appointed boards which control who may and who may not provide services, ranging from taxi cabs in virtually every city to hairdressers and barbers to medical personnel.
Some states are considering interstate compacts that would allow participating states’ doctors to practice across borders, and would provide both doctors and patients legal protections, unlike architects and engineers and surveyors who must obtain licenses – government permission – from each state in which they work. This would allow telemedicine which is now illegal, even for veterinarians. Of course, NO one considers the simple solution of letting patients choose the doctors (or other persons) that they wish to have treat them (or their animals): the political influence MUST be kept at all costs.
In the same way, government agencies must be able to dictate everything possible. For example, U.S. Food and Drug Administration procedures are incredibly time-intensive, and new drugs take 10 to 15 years to finally reach the market at a cost of $800 million, on average, so even a website like the Daily Beast is calling to kill the FDA before it kills again…
One of the problems with letting government do all this is that too many people in government are so incredibly stupid, or appear that way. An aide of the ‘messiah’ blames his massa’s slide in political polls on Gov’t shutdown and Healthcare.gov rollout because everyone knows that the stupidity in Libya, Syria, and now Ukraine makes him beloved of ALL Americans. Politically, one of the biggest factors in the squatter at 1600 Pennsy not having a lower approval rating is the hard work of the GOP to appear more stupid, more disconnected, and more tyrannical than the DP.
It is this sort of government employee stupidity that worries me about the announcement that the Navy is deploying its first laser-armed warship this summer. With the poor track record, and quality of the modern sailor in serious doubt, I hope that they have safeguards against burning a hole in their own hull, or crisping the wrong ships or the wrong city or port.
That stupidity starts at the top, of course, as the next story illustrates.
For the past 20+ years, American military personnel and their families have enjoyed a benefit which cost the taxpayer nada: having traditional fast food restaurants on base. This has been great since many bases are rather remote from suburbia, and because of various regulations. Now, that is changing, because the Imperial Decree about raising minimum wage for federal employees and contractors is driving various fast food outlets on base out of business, and at the same time, eliminating employment opportunities for military family members. Unintended consequences? Really? I see it as yet another sly way that the ‘messiah’ can dis the military; an added benefit to the economic damage minimum wages cause. Again, stupid when it is more and more likely that the ‘messiah’s’ regime will have to rely on the guns and bodies of military and police to survive.
HHS: medical insurance plans offering spousal coverage must include legally married “gays” expanding the government-mandated slavery of more and more businesses, just as they have done to Hobby Lobby and hundreds of other businesses, and without ANY legal or constitutional authority to do so. The hypocrisy of the so-called liberals who support the right to free speech, free association, and self-determination and all the rest grows exponentially.
Karzai says Afghanistan doesn’t need US troops and I for one think we should take him at his word and bring EVERYone home. Now. Including every private contractor.
In Fayetteville, North Carolina, A pizza delivery woman thwarted an armed robbery attempt at a house by producing a weapon of her own, while the would-be robber had his gun’s muzzle in the back of her head. As Mama Liberty pointed out, it was a brave act and is sure to have a definite influence on other would-be armed robbers in the state, even if no shots were fired. Hoploclastic activists will ignore it, of course: they are more stupid than the average independent thug.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.” — C. S. Lewis
The Price of Liberty 
Libertarian commentary on the news, #14-11C: Crimea, Police State, ObummerCare
Good morning! Lots of “nothing happening” in the Crimea, apparently, and the missiles haven’t flown (except that North Korea fired a bunch into the ocean for “training”). So it is a good day!
Now that the Crimea’s people have “illegally” voted 95.5% in a turnout of 83% to secede from Ukraine and apply to Russia for annexation, we read in the Washington Times that Russia is to embrace Crimea ‘swiftly’; and that a poll shows Putin’s popularity soaring. At the same time mockery greets the ‘messiah’s’ new sanctions against Russian officials after Crimea action. No, really? His sanctions basically consist of yanking the visas of a few dozen wealthy or politically-influential Russians, who won’t be able to go to New York City to buy out the big Spring season sales. (And just who will THAT hurt?) Oh, and maybe not selling Pepsi to Russians (again, whose bottom line gets hurt?) Wimp is not a harsh enough word, even if I think that truly taking any REAL action against Russia would be incredibly stupid. Face it, even a few die-hard ‘messiah’ lovers are having second thoughts about the man, much less his vaunted advisors.
Despite this, some of the “lawmakers” in DC praise sanctions, say Obama must go further to curb Russian aggression. Never mind the argument over whether what is going on in the Crimea is “Russian aggression” or self-defense by Crimean Russians, this sort of “America, right or wrong” reaction again illustrates how worthless Congress has become.
Worse, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) urged the ‘messiah’ on Monday to install anti-ballistic missiles in Eastern Europe as a counter to Russian actions in Ukraine, calling the administration’s newly announced sanctions an insufficient response to the crisis. Of course, the WaPo and others crowed about this “support” for the insane excuse for foreign policy. Cruz just proves he would be no different than any of the last half-dozen or so presidents, if elected: the problem and NOT a solution. (I wonder, did Cruz ever stop to contemplate the similarities between Texas and the Crimea, and between 2014 and 1836?)
On to some local, stateside news:
Are cops getting even MORE arrogant and desperate? It would seem so, based on an incident in Maryland a few days ago, when heavily armed police stalked down the highway between hundreds of cars in a roadblock on I-270, looking for bank robbers. They found them, but only by again proving that more and more of the Fifty States are pure and simple police states. Sadly, I fear too many people are willing to support the cops in this sort of terrorism because they were successful. Mama’s thoughts: Of course, the ideal solution would have been for the bank folks to pull a gun on the robber, and have half a dozen or more customers backing them up. Don’t think there’d be too many bank robberies if that were the norm -or even happened occasionally. [Referring to another story: Pizza delivery woman thwarts armed robbery by pulling her own gun] How many other pizza delivery people in that part of NC will be held up any time soon? I wonder. And no, the “end” does not justify the means.
The administration announced Monday that more than 5 million people have signed up for new ObummerCare insurance plans under the health-care law, suggesting new momentum for the program as the deadline to get covered this year approaches, or so the WaPo says. Right. Five out of thirty, while millions have LOST coverage due to this criminal Abominable Act. When will we totally reject this unconstitutional, immoral, and illegal “act” as the piece of garbage that it is?
Mama’s Note: The sad part is that so much damage has already been done to what was even minimally functional in the medical and insurance industry that a repeal tomorrow would not solve the problems. It would take years to straighten out the mess, even if everyone involved had the best intentions and no further government nonsense was introduced.
No, whatever happens to “Obummercare,” legislatively, there is no going back. People will be forced to rely more and more on themselves and their families, communities. The free lunch is about over, and some are already suffering from the food poisoning that came with it.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Monday that the missing Malaysia Airlines plane could be parked somewhere unknown and potentially used as a giant bomb. Gee, you might think that this guy was smart, but this idea was first floated midway last week, so all he is doing is copying someone else’s ideas. (Of course, that DOES demonstrate above average intelligence for a Texan politician.) I just get a kick out of reading all the conspiracy theories about what REALLY happened, knowing that there are so many political factions and so many groups of nutcases out there and knowing how many holes there are on this planet. And I am not even talking about the really far-out theories. I don’t mean to sound flippant about the lives of 200+ people, but their fate is almost certainly already decided, and like the people who died in the last few weeks in avalanches, recovery of the cast-offs (bodies) is about all we can hope for.
According to Eagle Rising, a group of New Yorkers gathered this weekend and burned about a thousand gun registration forms, or gun registration cards: the article is not clear, nor are the photos. I applaud their courage to do so publicly, and to take a stand. But I wonder if this really is an effective protest? And I wish that alternative media would not confuse accuracy for enthusiasm.