Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-06A: stupid and tyrannical cops

Posted on 2014-02-03 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning to all, and I hope this finds you at home or work safe and out of the clutches of our “nation’s guardians” ™, the Law Enforcement Corps of America, whether  we are talking town marshals or county sheriffs or city police or state patrols or the federal alphabet soup agencies (‘specially BATFE, TSA, FBI, DEA, and ICE).  Sadly, many of your fellow inhabitants of these formerly united States are not so lucky.

In the Atlanta, Georgia area we have a rash of local police forces doing strip searches (or fondling) of people stopped for the most routine of traffic offenses, such as “following too closely,” obscured license plate stickers, and driving in the left lane (of a 4-lane highway).  Many who have their private parts searched inside their clothing are filing lawsuits.  While not as bad as the rectal searches done in a county in New Mexico, this is both disgusting and at best an abuse of authority.  There is a simple word for it: tyranny.  At least in this case, we have mainstream media station at least reporting it.

Mama’s Note: What the media is not reporting, of course, is that these stops have nothing to do with any actual “offense” against a person or their property, but merely official excuses for revenue enhancement. Since the “war on drugs” gives these cretins the best excuse to confiscate everything in sight, they have no reason not to go fishing for drugs,  and some are perfectly happy to manufacture such “evidence.” And then, of course, they get the thrill of sexually abusing people as a bonus.

It appears to be a good idea to stay away from Jeffersonville, Indiana, where they just released a woman who had been serving a “two day” jail sentence, after 154 days in the slammer.  Not only that, but a guy in jail for a thirty-day sentence got out after only 214 days.  Stupid cops, stupid courts, and more!

But those two people fared better than the 77-year-old man who had a heart-attack across from a DC fire station.  Firefighters refused to help and it took 30 minutes or more to get paramedics to him: he died later because of the delay.  It is increasingly obvious that more and more people who work for government just don’t care about anything except their pay and their union benefits.  (Readers know I constantly urge people to stay away from DC, but I’ll repeat the warning.)  Ironically, the elderly man worked for the DC parks department, and it was the prosecutor, of all people, who blew the whistle and got the woman out of jail finally.  How long are we going to put up with government treating people like this?

Mama’s Note: And then there’s the Armed and dangerous’ killer on the run after jailbreak from Michigan. Hundreds of officers from multiple agencies are hunting for Michael David Elliot, who broke out from a “secure area” at the Ionia Correctional Facility and then carjacked an older woman using either a knife or box cutter, said Michigan State Police Lt. Mardella Horhn, who described him as “armed and dangerous.”  Wonder how that happened… no hint in the news story.

The difference between government and God is perhaps seen best in completing this sentence:  “I saw you naked and…”  Government, in the form of TSA thugs, answers thus: “… and we laughed.” Of course, in Matthew 25:36, we find that the correct ending to this phrase is “… and I clothed you.”   So much for government service or protection, right?  Funny how their abuse and disregard for common decency is accompanied by a big serving of contempt.

Of course, laughing at us does not keep them from fearing us, and we have more and more examples of cops killing people for no apparent reason, only to have their leaders lie to defend them.  One of the most recent was in Pinal County Arizona, on 14 JAN 2014, when a man with his hands up was executed by a sheriff’s deputy in direct disobedience to his superior’s order.  The video tape clearly shows that the sheriff’s officers and police officer’s had nothing to fear from the man. And the stand off was clearly long enough to let their “car chase” highs relax IF they had been properly trained and understood that their job is not to kill people.  Ironically, this happened on the same day a California court acquitted deputies of beating a man to death.

Of course, some cops are more stupid than others: like those US-trained cops in Afghanistan.  Apparently, in Kabul, police are slashing tires on cars to supposedly keep the cars from being stolen.  Yes, really.  They cause hundreds of dollars of damage to prevent vehicles parked on the streets at night from being stolen.  Stupid is as stupid does.  Allahu akbar, anyone?

In Oregon, last October, a nineteen-year-old woman struck and killed two girls (11 and 6) with her SUV, and kept on going.  Her boy-friend tried to hide the evidence by washing the vehicle.  On Friday, the mothers of the two dead girls forgave her: she got 250 hours of “useful public service” and 36 months probation, in part due to the request of the families of the dead girls not to give her prison time.  Her boy-friend got 13 months in prison.  The woman apologized and apparently repented of what she had done, which is one reason I’m commenting on this story: forgiveness is not, CAN not be automatic and godly if there is not repentance on the part of the wrong doer.  The other reason is that the jail sentence of the boy-friend is both insult and further injury to the families: how much better if there had been some restorative justice: that the two could have paid for some of the cost.  Of course, I guess that they should be grateful that when they were tracked down, the police just didn’t execute them on the spot.

Mama’s Note: Furthermore, “forgiveness” does not necessarily include condoning the act, nor remove the need for serious consequences. Nothing can restore life to those little girls, obviously, and their families have a lifetime “sentence” to deal with the grief. Prison is obviously not a rational answer here, but the consequences need to be far more meaningful than some silly “community service” or “probation” – one of the more sadistic and useless parts of the US injustice system.

Back in Alabama, the spread of outlawry from the urban areas to rural fringe areas continues, but a group of neighbors responded to a three-person gang breaking into a home when no one was at home.  This is NOT self-defense, but it is community defense, and an example of being good neighbors.  No shots fired, by the way.  The cops?  Oh, they arrived after the hullabaloo was over, but they did arrest two of the three thugs before they went someplace else to threaten and rob and steal.

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What is government?

Posted on 2014-02-01 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

It helps, now and then, to sit back and ask, just what is this institution?  What is “government?”

We here in the formerly united States, from Maine to Hawaii, Alaska to Florida, are afflicted and infected with more governments than any other people in history.  Let’s choose (just at random, wink) a nice location in a nice state in the Black Hills.  There is “local-local” government: a sanitation district that is a water provider and a regulatory agency, with taxes disguised as fees.  And local government: the nearby city government exercises significant authority over the three-mile zone OUTside its official boundaries. There is the county government with its agencies.  And the school district.  And the fire protection district.  And the water protection district. There is a state government, and even in South Dakota, a whole bunch of agencies.  And there is the FedGov, with its myriad agencies and overlapping authority.  Here, right on the edge of National Forest Lands, with a large military installation nearby, there is LOTS of FedGov around.

Or how about another place, in Southwestern Colorado.  Again, you find local districts and companies that are really just disguised local “special services” districts for water and health and libraries and drainage. And fire and hospital service districts.  And irrigation (or water conservation) districts.  And natural resource (soil) conservation districts. And – get this – a television translator district.  And county government, and exercising some powers that reach outside their boundaries, National Park Lands and a tribal government and its supervisory BIA agency, and state agencies out the kazoo, and of course, more Federal agencies than you can find in the phonebook.

We Americans must LOVE government; we’ve created so many.  In some places, even the city governments have multiplied and created internal, somewhat separate districts, like the boroughs of New York City.  And there are “recreation districts” and “cultural and scientific facilities districts.” And more.  Some counties especially in the Midwest and Great Plains have townships: not a 6×6 mile surveying convenience, but a township government for roads and ditches and recreation.   And some areas have not just school districts but community college districts and educational services districts.

And sometimes, it is pretty obvious that some supposedly private companies are governments in all but name.  Like big utilities companies (Xcel in many states, CenturyLink in others, or BNSF).

And each and every one of them with a governing board (elected or appointed), a “chief executive officer” (or committee or board or manager), elections, taxes (even if sometimes they are called “fees”), and… ultimately, the power of the gun to enforce their laws and collect their taxes and make sure that you don’t stray from their definition of the straight and narrow.

But how do we define them?  The dictionaries are FULL of definitions, each one different. I’m not going to waste your time or mine (or the electrons) to quote the several dozen I found by typing “Definition Government” in Google.  You can do that yourself and see it is just about “anything goes.”  And usually, the definitions have some sort of propaganda built into them.  Here is just one, from “dictionary.reference.com”: “the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc.; political administration: Government  is  necessary to the existence of civilized society.”

See the propaganda?  Government is not necessary to the existence of civilized society, as has been shown more often than we realize in the past.  Indeed, it is sometimes the thing that PREVENTS society from being civilized.

Definitions aside, we can all say, “we know one when we see one.”  At least usually: remember those companies.  To say nothing of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Dutch East Indies Company, or the Chartered Zarathustra Company.

But we can cobble up something that makes general sense.  Government is an institution (organization) that CONTROLS things.  It can control A thing (like a water system or sewer system or library) or a LOT of things (your imagination is not limited).  It normally has a geographical jurisdiction (defined in some way, but literally “to the stars and beyond” in some cases), AND it can use force (directly or indirectly, including both “legalized” fraud and theft) to enforce its control over those things.  And being under control of a government or having government in control of things that you supposedly own and control is INVOLUNTARY.  With a single big exception (moving – assuming you are allowed to – out of the jurisdiction) and a very few limited small exemptions (usually becoming some sort of an innocuous street bum living on handouts at the food bank and soup kitchen), you can’t get out.  (And no, you can’t break even, either.)

So, here is my own definition for “government.”  “Control that is involuntary on the part of the owners of what is being controlled, backed up by the threat and use of force.”  And yes, “things” includes YOU and ME:  our bodies, our time, and as much as possible, our very thoughts and each and every action are just THINGS to be controlled by government.

At this point, does it really matter that government is “democratic” or a “republic” or a “monarchy” or straight dictatorship or kleptocracy?  Not really.  Whether it is the thugs who are loyal to the king (or duke or count or knight or squire) or loyal to “THE PEOPLE”  or the “Senate and People” or “the town council” or the “annual town assembly” or “township board” or “school board” or “library board” or whatever, it is still a relatively small group of people with power (however they gained that power) who head up a hierarchy or bureaucracy or “volunteers” who do THEIR bidding and control your things – and you.   Which is why, at almost any level from a local homeowners’ association (whoops, didn’t list that one up there) to the General Assembly of the United Nations and All the Stars and Planets and Pieces of Rock in the Universe, it is really hard for a rational man or woman (after they overcome their environment (childhood teachings and all)) to see any difference between a “government” and a “criminal organization.”  (Indeed, one popular definition states that “criminal organizations” engage in “illicit activities.”  But who defines “illicit activities?” Well, … governments!  Which is why governments almost NEVER engage in illicit activities, since they can define things as they please.)

Well, shucks!  I’ve run out of space (remember, I’m a self-governor: _I_ decide what controls apply), so I’ll have to pick up this chain of thought later.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-05E:

Posted on 2014-02-01 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning, and the end of the week is upon us.  But rest assured, the stupidity of government officials does not flag.  Nor does that of the usual crop of statists, Tranzis, government-worshipers and nannies.

Alan Korwin of JPFO sent me info about a Fox News story “20 children hospitalized for gun injuries each day in US” that reports on a Pediatrics journal release about a Yale study, that as Alan suggested, is the latest Bloomberg effort to use bogus science to get more and more gun control.  While I may comment in a separate rant on this, I want to get my two cents in now.  First, although I haven’t seen the “study” yet, I can assume just from the short description that it makes all the usual wild accusations and produces the data in a way that maximizes their already shaky numbers:  for example, one common practice in gun violence studies is to define “children” as being under age 21.  Another is to classify intentional shootings by cops and other gangbangers and those fired in self defense as “accidents,” and according to the blurb, this count of 7,000+ a year includes broken bones and other injuries that are not directly inflicted by a gun.  (Maybe too excited about getting out of a house or yard that has been targeted for a drive-by shooting and injuring themselves and others?  I’ve seen it happen.)

Steve sent me an interesting article entitled “Why even failed activism succeeds” by David Swanson.  As Steve told me: ” I don’t claim to agree with the general philosophy of the author or his political leanings, but I wholeheartedly agree with his premise.  I have seen it first hand.” As have I.  And I also agree that I am NOT a supporter of many of the political causes Swanson discusses.  Still, like Steve, I agree with his premise, but he is still living in la-la-land.  Especially what he says here: “The beautiful thing about nonviolent activism is that, while risking no harm, it has the potential to do good in ways small and large that ripple out from it in directions we cannot track or measure.”  Any widespread nonviolent activism, if it starts to make a difference, WILL run serious risk of harm to the activists and those who are attracted to them and follow them.  MLKJr’s supposed “nonviolent activism” did that as did the follow-up to Rosa Parks’ nonviolent actions, and today we see it happening nationally and internationally on all points of the political diamond.

Deputy US Attorney General James Cole told the New York State Bar Association annual meeting on Thursday that the guy in 1600 PA will take “executive action’ to reduce prison populations. Now, given that “executive action” is often an euphemism for assassination, killing individuals or groups, and given the “messiah’s” bloody hands (he has ordered actions which have killed thousands of innocent women and children around the world, directly, and indirectly hundreds of thousands), it does pose a very “simple” solution to prison overpopulation.  Maybe I am thinking of this because of recent news stories about 55 graves at the Dozier School for Boys in Florida, from more than a century ago.  What are a few thousand more dead druggies and white-collar crime perpetrators to the people in DC?

The EPA Administrator has told scientists to ‘Speak the truth’ on Climate Change (aka Manmade Global Warmiing) to meet Obama’s ‘needs’, at a conference in Virginia (inside the Beltway, of course).  This amounts to “be good little political scientists” and I am sure that thousands will obey their massa’s commandments.  Is it not curious how the more evidence is actually found that global warming is NOT real, that the more the Administration and the Tranzis and their minions double down on it?

Doug Lawson, president and CEO of Kingdom Trust, a South Dakota firm, says that the “messiah’s” plan to told CNSNews.com call his new government-sponsored retirement program “MyRA” in Tuesday’s State of the Union address because that’s the same name as his firm’s four-year-old “keynote” investment product.  Doug, like many others, is learning that the government is a criminal organization that will steal ANYTHING.  I am immediately reminded of the story the prophet Nathan told King David about the rich man stealing the poor man’s only sheep.  Of course, perhaps the “messiah” and his minions can come up with a more accurate name: how about “Social Security eXtreme” – since all this piece of garbage that he spewed out on Tuesday IS, is a new version of the same old Ponzi scheme that FDR got passed through a greedy and stupid Congress.

Pope Francis is telling Notre Dame University: defend the freedom of the Roman Catholic Church. So sorry, but the REAL church is NOT amenable to the laws of man, as Christ Jesus told Pontius Pilate so long ago.  What he and other people of faith should be concerned about is the freedom of christians to live and practice their faith.  The pope, the cardinals and other bishops of the RC Church should be working to defend the faith – and therefore the liberties – of every one of their parishioners AGAINST government.  Anything less will just show that the hierarchy of the RC Church is STILL allied WITH the State against God.

Did you see this?  Attorney General Sergeant Schultz – opps! Holder, proclaims ‘I Don’t Know Anything…’ Holder denies knowing that the IRS investigator was an Obama contributor. What a familiar statement from this evil man.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-05D: Sad examples of government goons

Posted on 2014-01-31 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning!  There are always some bizarre things to report in the news.  If the thugs and mentally/morally-challenged people in government didn’t treat us all like serfs and lord it over us, they would be comic relief most of the time.  Today we have some examples of just how sad they can be.

Our beloved HSS (Homeland Security Secretary, emphasis on SS) tells us that all the border jumpers have ‘earned right to be citizens.’ Ignoring the dubious benefits in 2014 of being a citizen, exactly how have their earned it?  By finding their way across an imaginary line in the dirt (and sometimes over or under a fence)?  Even advocates of totally open borders have to view this as proof of the insanity of government and those currently in it.

Just to make it clear, I did NOT watch or listen to the big talk made by the squatter in 1600 Pennsie, but just reading to comments from both sides makes it clear he speak with forked tongue, big time, and that his imperial posturing is just getting more pronounced.  Among other things, apparently he has credited Michelle Obama with lowering childhood obesity and several folks have opined that he was just offering some new handcuffs to try on.  I don’t know why he would bother: plenty of those around already, and if you don’t have one handy, zip-ties work pretty well.  But the real thing to remember is that WE (you know, the American people) GAVE him and the rest of the goons the handcuffs.

Apparently, I was not alone in NOT watching, as it seems that Obama’s State of the Union attracts 33.3 million viewers, fewest since 2000 (or so sayeth the WaPo).  I am glad so many of us are learning not to waste our time.  And I bet stress levels nationwide on Tuesday night were lower than they could have been, too.

Well, “my” representative, Kristy Noem (R, SD) is crowing that she helped get the $956 Billion Farm Bill out of the House on a bipartisan 251-166 vote, It was ONLY 954 pages: what a BARGAIN!  Less than $1 billion per page.  And they DID NOT cut ANY money from SNAP (you know, the PC name for Food Stamps) so we will not see any bodies of people dead from starvation on the highways in South Dakota (just those who froze to death because of manmade global warming).  And as ALWAYS, it was filled with the tastiest kinds of pork to let all the usual participants feast for the next five years.  Congress is so NICE to us, isn’t it?

(By the way, I was reminded that one of the nifty little things hidden in this is a NEW tax of fifteen cents on every living/formerly living Christmas tree (I’m sure it is politically correct and refers to it as a “holiday tree”) sold in the US, to create a slush fund for the national Christmas tree growers association to blast us with advertising to “buy real.”  Since they could not get their growers and members to cough up the money voluntarily, they are using the fists and guns of the IRS and government in general to shake down their own, and therefore everyone of us who buys a tree.  (Not me: went artificial years ago.)

Mama’s Note: I have a potted Norfolk Island Pine tree in the living room. It’s been my “christmas tree” for a long time. I didn’t bother with any decorations this year, but usually it is hung with .22lr rounds as “ornaments,” and a few little bows. Fantastic conversation starter.

Were you shocked?  I sure was, to learn that the “chief minion” of the “messiah” (Vice President Joe Biden) thinks he’d make a good president starting in 2017.   At least, that is what his heart tells him! I was kind of hoping his heart would be like that guy in “Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy,” the worst poet in all of history, time and space, whose heart leaped out through his throat and strangled him to save the galaxy.  Of course, that would have been hard, with that foot in the way.  And I guess he IS of that branch of Tranzis or liberals or democrats whose hearts are Sooo big that they had to sublet space in the skull, which doesn’t leave room for any brains.

Reports come from the Philippines that dozens were killed after a “peace” agreement was reached in Mindanao apparently because cops tried to arrest some of the Muslim rebel leaders.  Mama Liberty pointed out that she can’t seem to get over how violent these people seem to be, Muslim or otherwise.  The Philippines’ history is in so many ways a continuation of 1300 years of Iberian history, and this is not the first (or even the tenth) “peace agreement” and is not much more likely to succeed than the previous ones.  Spain’s centuries of military government warring against Muslims continues halfway around the world for the same reasons: fear, hatred, revenge, and people unwilling to take responsibility for their own actions.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the shoe is on the other foot – or the other body.  Boko Haram, an Islamist terror organization, killed at least 85 people and injured 40 more in the latest Sunday attack against christian villages.  Islam continues to be a religion of peace – in death, at least.  It is this sort of thing that can make us more sympathetic to the attitude of the people in the Philippines, even though I condemn their aggression against the Moros.

A new study claims that humans can’t live in space, or so the mainstream media is slanting it.  The body isn’t prepared for space because we didn’t “evolve” in space, or so they say.  Putting aside the obvious error about “evolving,” this seems to be a typical Luddite/Tranzi reaction.  Folks, we are NOT getting out of this life alive!  We are all going to die, and even if our lifespans were cut decades short because we live in micro-gee in space, will it be any different than in the bad old days (you know, the 17th or 18th century, or the 20th century on most of the planet) where the average life expectancy was 50 or so?

Mama’s Note: The silly part of this sort of ludditism is the idea that humans can’t adapt and invent machines, etc. to compensate for the problems. Humans have had to adapt their machines and technology to survive in a great many hostile environments, and will continue to do so. Space is a very large challenge, on many levels, but it is not insurmountable in the long run.

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The government WILL disarm us, IF we let them

Posted on 2014-01-30 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Usually, the columnists over at FreedomOutpost.com are thoughtful, make pretty good analyses, and understand the world we live in.

Sadly, Tim Brown fails to meet that mark, when he writes, “Our government isn’t going to disarm us.” Although the headline is to the effect that government “can’t convincingly justify disarming” the people, he states baldly and wrongly a different proposition.  When I started reading the column, I thought he would point out how many millions of us are armed, how many millions of firearms and other weapons are out there, and how much ammunition and training and practice many Americans have.  I was wrong.

Here is part of what Tim Brown wrote.

“It can’t. Let me explain why. We currently live in a constitutional republic. Because of that, our elected and appointed leaders are legally obligated to defend and uphold the Constitution. Our Constitution currently protects our citizens’ right to keep and bear arms. There are really only two ways our government could disarm us: They could abandon the Republican principles upon which this country was founded, or the people themselves could willfully disarm.

“One way our government could disarm us would be to label us all enemies of the state. Historically, governments have disarmed people because they perceive them to be a threat.”

Tim, oh Tim, what on earth are you thinking?  This is pathetic.  I cannot believe that Freedom Outpost would even publish such a piece without extensive editing.

First, ONCE UPON A TIME we were a “constitutional republic.”  But no more: daily, in virtually every state and a hundred times in DC itself, the principles AND the letter of the Constitution are violated with impunity by government employees, from the very members of Congress and the occupants/employees of the White House down to meter maids and dog catchers and low-level bureaucrats in cities and towns and villages.

It has been decades since “elected and appointed leaders” (itself a poor phrase to use) have been held to their freely-taken oaths to “defend and uphold the Constitution.”  As L. Neil Smith and many others have pointed out, the Constitution protects NO rights, as it is toothless and ignored: not just the Second Amendment but EVERY one of the ten of the Bill of Rights.

The Federal government and state governments have long ago abandoned the republican (NOT “Republican”) principles upon which this country was founded, just as they have abandoned the basic and essential concepts or principles of liberty, moderation, and personal responsibility.  LONG AGO.  And much of the population of this country HAS willfully disarmed, desiring security more than liberty, allowing fear to rule their lives and lead them to try and rule the lives of others.

And Tim, virtually all Americans HAVE already been labeled as “enemies of the state,” including the very soldiers that Congress and the imperial White House send out to “police the world.”  Certainly anyone who actually believes that the Constitution has ANY authority in 2014 is such an “enemy of the state.”  But that is understandable, because we ARE a threat.  Indeed, the government officials and their minions have made us a threat, by treating us like slaves, stealing our liberties and our money and our self-respect, in ways that only a few great tyrants of history have dared to do.

Later in his article, Tim Brown goes on to caveat his initial words, but STILL refuses to admit the fact that the government of these formerly united States in 2014 is unconstitutional, illegal, immoral AND seeks and works actively, daily, to take away the liberties of its own people and people around the world.  This government HAS ceased to be representative, and it does not matter WHAT ideals it was founded on, those ideals have been abandoned.

The people in charge, not just in DC but in most state capitals, not just CAN disarm us, they are working actively to disarm everyone they possibly can.  And they WILL succeed if we let them.  And if we believe that all these things Tim claims that are so, we will let them.

The hollow, un-dead shell with its pretense to following the procedural elements of the Constitution is fooling Tim, I guess.  Let us try not to let it fool us.

Mama’s Note: Unfortunately, the “constitution” was a hollow shell as well – right from the start. “Representation” only works if the people so “represented” actually agree to it, and are free to repudiate that agreement whenever they wish. The difference is obvious if you compare any level of civil “government” and a person’s relationship with an attorney. You can hire and fire the attorney at will… can you opt out of the US Government?

Nobody in the world is actually free to opt out of the control and chains, regardless of the political system that claims the place where they live. Those with the means to do so may choose a lesser evil, a more benevolent master, or one that just doesn’t pay as much attention… but none of us are free. And none of us ever will be free unless we can eliminate the idea that any person or group of persons has any legitimate authority to control our lives – or even to “protect” them – without our full consent, and subject to our withdrawal at any time. There is no such provision in the “constitution” or the “republican” form of government.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-05C: Mexico and DC – partners in crime?

Posted on 2014-01-30 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

The Mexican government said on Monday it had caught a leader of the Knights Templar, one of the many violent drug cartels waging war against the Federales.  At the same time, Mexico City is co-opting the so-called vigilantes in the war against the drug cartels.  Why “so-called?”  Because most of them are NOT taking the law into their own hands:  vigilantes as in San Francisco in gold rush days acted as police, assault troops, judge and jury, and usually executioner.  These people are simply defending their communities and themselves against both the drug lords AND the thuggish state and federale police.  If they are co-opted (and if the Federales are telling the truth, I must add), that means that they have failed in their mission: now it is again Ciudad Mexico and Hermasillo or Monterrey or Ciudad Juarez calling the shots, not the local volunteers and their freely elected leaders.  Too bad.

The Pacific Research Institute point out what any real observer already knew: Health Insurance Was Not a Free Market Prior to ObummerCare. Comparing what we had in 2009 and what we have today is NOT comparing apples and oranges, but two different varieties (Jonathan and Delicious, maybe?) of rotten, stinking apples which have been pulled from the bottom of the dumpster after sitting in there the whole month of August.  Indeed, anyone who has studied the history of the decline of the medical profession and health care in this country can trace ALL of it back to government interference in the system, starting with the medical schools and licensing back in the early 1900s and continuing through the tax system messing with the insurance and all the rest, including ALL the parts of Medicare and Medicaid.  Which is WHY the Abominable Act is just causing the system to crash sooner than later: it is solving NONE of the problems, just making them worse.

Well, well, it seems 35.5% of disability beneficiaries Have ‘mental disorder’; 43.2% in D.C. and I would assume that many of them are ex-federal employees (and maybe not “ex” for that matter) or ex-elected officials.  No, it isn’t DC that drives them to distraction (I’m trying to be nice and not say “mad.”) but that they are ATTRACTED to it.  Like flies to… well, you get it. Which reminds me, did I tell you about that new “Bait-n-Blast” for coyotes?  It smells like long-dead cow, which is kinda what I figure the mental scent of DC is like.

The State of the Union (or is that “Stench of the Onion?”) speech last night once again featured the august, imperial presence and dominant personality of the “messiah” in a setting which is not quite as Romanesque as I am sure he would want, but which seems to have set all kinds of fireworks off on the GOP side of things, even the RINOS.  We have nasty things said by Cruz and King and Fleming, Gohmert and even McCain about the “messiah.”  Of course, we can always get a rise from reading what Ed Schultz (North Dakota’s revenge on the lower 47) has to say about how he worships the feet that the “messiah” walks on, and how he welcomes the dictatorship of The One.

You, like me, are hearing a lot about how evil “income inequality” is and how the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.  (It is really hard for the pollsters to pull the poor away from their cell phones and 50-inch wide televisions and monitors with their Tweets and latest downfeeds of Beiber’s latest piece of “musical” madness to tell the pollsters how bad off they are.)  But even the New York TImes admitted today that “upward mobility” has not declined in the past decade, when 20 percent of children born “middle income” found their way to the top.  I am not saying the poor are not “poor” in comparison to the rich and even what is left of the middle class, just that they are getting rich, too, just much slower than the rich are getting richer.  I suppose it IS harder to break into the upper class today, but people also have a much stronger incentive to do so, so it kinda balances out.  Thanks to a couple hundred years of limited government and relatively high individual personal and economic liberty, the United States advanced to prosperity that not only had never existed before (except maybe pre-Flood) but beyond that of the rest of the world.  Then we threw it away so we could “be like all the other nations.”  So today, even the poorest of the poor Americans are still living far FAR better than the average African or Asian – even in China.

Science Magazine is a brown-noser when it comes to government, and its latest story “Will Expanding Health Insurance Strain Emergency Rooms?” shows that they are just that, with a big “YES.”  Of course, I suppose it depends on what you consider “health insurance.”  Real people with real insurance are going to understand that their costs, out-of-pocket AND indirect, are going to go up if they run to the ER with a sniffle or a cut finger, and use urgent care clinics or their doctor’s office – or even just deal with it themselves. It is the government-faked insurance and especially that evil piece of stinky DC dripping “ObummerCare” that will keep the same number of people going to the ER, except that NOW they won’t be “uninsured” (maybe), just sucking off the taxpayer’s bottle.

Bill Janklow of South Dakota was famous for the sort of State Budget Gimmicks that one story reminds us of:  some of the most popular “tricks” used by legislators (and governors and state budget folks) to hide the true cost of government spending include underfunding pensions, inflating revenue projections, shifting funds and using one-time asset sales…  As it gets harder and harder to live in champagne style on a beer-drinker’s pocket lint after he’s been mugged, the legislators get more and more creative.  (A friend, not a libertarian even of the minarchist style, asked me a few days ago, how those we elect – who SEEM to be good and rational people – turn into tyrannical idiots?  ALL the time?  I didn’t and don’t have an answer, except to say that the only real solution is to take the power away from government.)

Common Core teaching/education standard have been around for five years now, but only in 2013 did the fight over them seem to heat up.  Some states (like South Dakota) adopted them in 2010 and 2011, but they didn’t become controversial until much later.  This controversy seems to be causing SOME changes: some states have dumped the Common Core Tests and take other actions.  Again, the fuss is NOT going to solve the problem, any more than the Common Core was going to solve the problems. Schools are poor at what they do because they are government controlled, and we know that government can do NOTHING well.  It has been proven for about 6,000 years, and we see more proof each day.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-05B

Posted on 2014-01-29 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning! Slow news days, apparently: a lot of folks are rehashing old stories, and no one seems to know what to do about the growing crises in many parts of the nation. And Matt Drudge has cryptically told his audience “Have an Exit Plan.” So even MORE people are panicking.

Snowden has disclosed that US and British spies “get personal data from Angry Birds” Well, I have never played the silly game, so I guess I am safe. Now if it were some of the three-in-a-row games… Seriously, we need a lot more imagination to fight off NSA and the several thousand agencies worldwide seeking to collect (steal) information about us. And if you believe NSA when it says, it ” was not interested in data beyond ‘valid foreign intelligence targets.'” then please call me, or better yest, just e-mail Mama Liberty your credit card numbers (don’t forget the three numbers on the back of the card) and your birthdate and place of birth, so that we can protect you from NSA. We’ll do a great job, we promise! (Mama’s Note: sarcasm alert! Please don’t send me that stuff!)

It turns out that all these wonderful, caring Congress types who are pushing to raise the minimum wage don’t even bother to pay their interns, but instead get free labor. Of course, they ARE Senators and Congressmen: the rules and fairness don’t apply to the “servants of the people.” Any more than they did to Party members in the old Soviet Union.

New week, new stories of killer cops. In South Carolina, a patient brought to a mental health facility was shot dead by a probation agent or officer (a cop). Another cop, doing what he was hired to, apparently: kill people. And in North Carolina, a grand jury finally decided to indict a police officer who shot and killed former FAMU football player Jonathan Ferrell in September. Still, after the business with the killing of a mentally handicapped man ending with “not guilty” for the cop despite video and other evidence, I’m sure this killer cop will not be punished.

Speaking of cops, William Grigg has a good column on the recent arrest and “resisting arrest” of a pop star in Florida. It isn’t just pop stars that are charged with “resisting arrest without violence” for responding the way anyone not sedated out of their mind would normally respond when you are grabbed by a thug in uniform.

Apparently, our massa-in-chief will bypass U.S. Congress to order a 39% hike in minimum wage for federal contractors. This is garbage piled high and deep for several reasons. First, there are few IF ANY federal contractors who pay their workers only the minimum wage: most are required to use Davis-Bacon Act rates which are incredibly higher than minimum wage. Second, he is telling agencies to spend more money on their contracts to allow this, even though Congress has not appropriated money based on this: so he is stepping on the toes of Congress. Third, if (as usual) the “minimum wage increase” is an excuse to raise ALL salaries and wages for the contracts by this insane 39%, at least SOME of the work the taxpayers are theoretically paying for in these contracts won’t get done because the money won’t be there. Which is (for the supporters of the “messiah” like labor unions) GREAT news: more excuses to raise taxes and borrowing.

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FINAL COLLAPSE (Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-05A)

Posted on 2014-01-26 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning to all.  As we near the end of the first month of 2014, the news seems even gloomier than last year, but the sun is still shining (yes, even above those snow clouds) and the wind is still blowing (and HOW) and the grass is still growing (at least some places).  So we have to be upbeat, right?  And take the news with at least a pinch of optimism and skepticism.

When I was still in high school, enamored of Asimov’s and Heinlein’s future histories, and looking at what was happening there in the early 1970s, I figured that the US was going to fall more quickly than Greece or Rome, if not quite as fast as Israel (the old one, not the current one) or the second Babylonian empire.  I figured that the collapse would be nasty, brutal, bloody, and would be very different in different places: no disruption which could not be dealt with in some places, and virtually total depopulation in others.

I figured (for story writing and planning purposes) that the early to mid-1990s would be the right time range for the “Final Collapse” of not just these united States, but of Euro-American civilization.  Later, older and wiser, for my storytelling purposes I moved it up to the 2020s or even as late as 2030.  Now, with that time just a few years ahead, and much older and a wee bit wiser, I may have moved it too far into the future.

I am not the only one to think so, apparently.  Casey Research frequently has some thought-provoking studies, including this one on a Collapse (by Jeff Thomas) which Lew Rockwell’s website picked up on.  Their “glimpse” talks about six likely actions or events in case of a financial (or political) collapse here in North America, and I can’t find much to fault: at least as a starter list.  This article should again make us review our own situation, and prepare better, because the collapse is coming: it may not be in 2014 or 2016, but it will come, because so many people are pushing it.

Jeff’s deadly six are: (1) Travel restrictions, (2) confiscation of wealth (3) food shortages, (4) squatter’s rebellions, (5) riots, and (6) martial law.  Again, these make sense, but these are NOT one-size-fits-all-FIFTY type things.  And some of these are already happening in SOME states (even when it is the feds doing them).  Most of these can be taken into account and planned for, IF we think about it.  Some may just not be possible to avoid without relocating or drastically changing our lifestyle.  But I still think that staying EAST of the Sierras (and certain nasty places like Reno, Vegas, and the Quad-Cities in Washington State) and WEST of the Mississippi; staying at least 150 miles from major urban areas (Denver-Front Range, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, the Wasatch Front, Omaha-Lincoln, Kansas City, and ANY of the big Texan megalopoli) removes MOST of these problems.

Govgoons are lazy, for one thing: they will go after the lowhanging fruit.  And while you may not LIKE eating pinto beans or wheat sprouts, if they are locally grown and available, it beats trying to get something to eat off empty Safeway or Krogers shelves in the big (or small) cities.  Riots are likely in the big cities: unlikely that MOST small towns will have those – except maybe towns with high ethnic tensions or large federal populations.

Anyway, on to stories, not just speculations about the future.

Need another excuse NOT to go back East to the OTHER Left Coast? According to several stories, DoD will deploy high-altitude  surveillence blimps over DC that will be able to identify everything from people’s faces on the ground to those bombs or missiles screaming out of space and aimed at the houses of power and wealth and corruption in the District of Criminals.

There is a need for more technology in Texas Public Schools according to various public policy folks.  They say that more than 50 percent of school districts interviewed indicated that the most difficult part of technology integration has been getting teachers to buy into the programs…  Wow.  First off, the real root of the problem is “public schools” (government-ruined, theft-funded).  Second, teachers (well, specifically students in normal schools (teacher’s colleges) are among the lowest in high-tech (information systems) skills.  They can use a phone, even a cell-phone, to take “selfies” and they can sext and text and even twitter.  But integrated database applications and presentation software?  Developing and deploying personalized training and testing systems with self-correcting multimedia feedback and response analysis?  You get the picture: I suppose we should be grateful that they can read.

Invester’s Business Daily, a publication that I don’t browse as much as I’d like, tells us there is ALSO a need for more nuclear power in the US, because the United States needs a mix of energy sources to keep the country from relying too much on a single power source…  (It strikes me that this is also a powerful argument against a strong central government.)  I think IBD is right, but as long as the fedgov drives decision making on energy sources in the US, it isn’t going to happen.  Top-down decision on things like energy, transportation, protection/conservation of land and other resources, has ALWAYS resulting in the wrong decisions being made.  A free market in ALL these areas is essential for efficiency, sustainability, growth, and meeting the needs of tomorrow’s people, families, and businesses.

CNN says that Michigan’s Governor wants visas for immigrants who’ll ‘stay for five years’ in Detroit.  Most of us see that one of Detroit’s BIG problems is immigrants, period, especially those who love the ghetto, third-world conditions (corruption, lawlessness, crumbling infrastructure, etc.) of Detroit and its suburbs and stay instead of adapting to American society and getting out into the real world.  This of course will no doubt be one of the dumping places of all the Syrian Islamist rebels.

Apparently, Ruger is pushing its series of Mini-14 rifles for 2014, which makes sense, because they are built on a good model and are dependable weapons.  But does THIS really make that much sense?  They now have a “Mini-Thirty” rifle which is on a similar scale and weight as the “traditional” Mini-Fourteen (which uses .223 Remington (essentially 5.56mm NATO), but which apparently is chambered for .308-cal (7.62mm x 39mm): the original round which the M-14 uses.  Of course, the reason it is a “mini-14” is because it is a scaled down version of the M-14 to use the now-more standard round.  But (not having tried one) I have my doubts as to whether a smaller, lighter weapon can really do a good job of sending that 75-cent (or more) 7.62 round down range.  I would LOVE the stopping power and range of a .30-cal, which proved itself in WW2 and a bunch of other fights over the years.  But with a smaller rifle, will it just waste the potential of a good round? (Thanks to John for this story.)

Mama’s Note: I’m in no position to judge the Mini-14 or compare it to the M-14, since I’ve never handled either one, but I do own and shoot an old fashioned M1 .30 cal carbine and it places those bullets very neatly, with considerable power. It is not a long range gun, and was never intended to be, but it can be carried and fired by almost anyone, to good effect in many different situations. No one gun can do it all, which is no doubt one of the many reasons so many different guns are made. The more the merrier, I say.

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Stressed Out

Posted on 2014-01-26 by MamaLiberty

By Susan Callaway, RN

Toby heard a bell ringing, but could not determine the direction the sound was coming from. Then he saw a light above him, which demonstrated the absolute dark he’d been in before. Reaching up to the light, he was horrified to find he could not move a muscle. Suddenly he couldn’t even breathe and his panic built until his eyes opened and he realized it had all been a dream.

Sitting up he turned off the alarm clock, waited for the adrenalin rush to recede, and then stumbled toward the bathroom. Stubbing his toe on the leg of the bed sent waves of pain up his leg, and he limped the rest of the way, once again awash in adrenalin.

He could see by the bathroom clock that he was already late, and knew he didn’t have time to sit on the commode to wait for nature to take its course. Maybe he could relax a little at lunch time?

Showered, shaved – with only one small nick – he dressed rapidly, stewing with regret at having to wear the three piece suit and remembering how good life had been when all he needed to wear were jeans and sports shirts. The fancy dress shoes were an irritation and he was sorry that he could not possibly dare to wear his soft boots.

Downstairs, he looked into the kitchen and saw the mess he’d left the night before – well, actually, several nights in a row now. The half-eaten fast food, overflowing ashtray and empty whiskey bottle demonstrated a lifestyle light years away from everything he’d known before he came to this cursed city. He realized simultaneously that his gut was too knotted to eat anything and that if he didn’t leave immediately he’d be late for an important meeting with the partners.

Toby drove away from the miniature kennel he now called his dwelling – the word or concept of “home” had not been a part of his vocabulary since Alice had taken their son to live with her parents in Idaho after the divorce. His stomach churned because he was going to be late to work with all this traffic, but he didn’t dare hurry. Watching carefully in every direction, and obsessively obeying every traffic rule, he nonetheless felt another spike of panic as a police car cruised past him and he clenched his teeth as the gumball lights began to flash, pulling over someone in front of him. He absolutely could not afford another ticket, even if they let him keep his license.

Then, since he was late, he had an awful time finding a parking spot and had to settle for a public lot two blocks from the office building. Sprinting that far was out of the question with his aching gut and the pinching shoes; the effort left him breathless and shaking after only a hundred yards. He’d just have to be late, and endure the looks of his employers while groveling and apologizing again. He would have given anything to be able to say, “I quit,” but he could not afford the spousal and child support without this job. The sheer unfairness and pain of it all nearly overwhelmed him as he climbed into the elevator.

Deep in the darkness of his consciousness, however, was a growing rebellion. Something had to give and he had no intention of living this way forever. It was a thought that had attempted to rise many times and he pushed it down ruthlessly again in his haste.

******

What hope does Toby have for health, wellness, peace or joy as long as he is continually bathed in the toxic adrenalin rushes, fear, frustration, anger, disappointment and hopelessness?

What would it take to spark that rebellion; for him to get out of the toxic environment and relationships he endures every day? What does health mean for people like Toby?

Not everyone is this bad off, of course. And many who have worse situations don’t live in them constantly or for long, but every one of those negative emotions and dilemmas tear down one’s physical and mental health, destroying the joy and good in life and may even bring about killers such as cancer, heart attack and suicide.

So, as important as diet and exercise truly is . . . I think it is probably secondary to facing the stress we live with; finding ways to reduce it and deal productively with what we can’t avoid.

Doctors want to dispense pills, and there are always any number of fad diets that promise health and peace, but there is just so much more to life and health than either of those. If you would like to explore the core of health and wellness, take a look at EFT.  Prepare to spend a little time at this website and keep an open mind. Real health, wellness and stress management are available to anyone who is willing to accept it.

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Keystone XL and America’s business climate (Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-04E)

Posted on 2014-01-24 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

A good day to everyone reading this.  Let me know what you think both on these and other stories.  Many of the stories I comment on are suggested by other people.  There have been some interesting things happening this week.

My oh my.  The first US leg of Keystone XL pipeline open on Wednesday in Oklahoma and Texas.  Funny, no mass protests, no Earth First terrorist attacks, and no sudden uptick in greenhouse gas emissions OR jump in global temperatures.  Guess we will have to wait for Spring for that.  So I guess you better make that trip to Oklahoma or Texas you’ve been putting off, before this evil 2.3 billion dollar, 487 mile long nightmare come true destroys the ecology, climate, society, and governments of the two states.  Of course, the important thing here is that the FedGov has REFUSED to take any action on the rest of the project, which has to be approved by DC because it crosses into Canada.  We were idiots to give DC the power over things like this, and see where it has gotten us.  And we didn’t learn, as the next stories help us see.

Fox News reports that A new study by the World Bank and the International Finance Corp. found that the U.S. ranks well behind countries like Rwanda, Belarus and Azerbaijan in terms of how easy it is for an entrepreneur to start a new business (but narrowly beat Uzbekistan, yeah!!!).  Of course, the World Bank refuses to recognize that we are not “A nation” but 54 DIFFERENT nations (counting DC and all the territories), and that difficulty in starting a new business varies horrifically from say, Wyoming or South Dakota, to New York or California.  To say nothing of the difficulties in STAYING in business.

You see, apparently the apparachiks in DC have proposed new federal rules to boost better bolstered booster seats in cars which would require that they protect children against side crashes and prevent deaths of about five children and injuries to 64 others each year.  Of course, since these improvements would raise the cost of these seats significantly, many families might not be able to afford them, and thus INCREASE deaths and injuries that would otherwise have been prevented by any kind of child restraint system.  Of course, to the fedgov thugs, these rules would be a win-win, since it gives cops another excuse to search the cars of anyone they want – for the chilluns, of course. But that is not the only transportation-related problem on my desk today.

Are you ready for still HIGHER prices?  A study of the impact of the 2013 changes to the insane FedGov rules for truckers to drive their rigs, the “reform” of the Hours of Service (HOS) rule warns us what is coming.  Those changes reduce the hours that they can drive (or do other things) and the study shows that shippers can expect to see carriers increase rates.  Which means business and other consumers will see prices go up like mad.  This is for two reasons: first, trucking firms are running out of people willing and able to get CDLs and drive trucks, so they are short of drivers AND have a high turnover rate.  And what drivers they DO have and keep, can’t drive as far or work as long. Or so says the The Global Supply Chain Institute of the University of Tennessee’s [UT] College of Business Administration.  And it makes sense to me.

And of course, we can figure out what is happening to employment as a result of more regs like this.

A writer for the Independent Institute asks the pedantic question “Are our unemployment statistics broken?” and quickly demonstrates that they are not just broken, but intentionally and deliberately, malice aforethought broken.  To increase the power of government and the wealth of a select “elite” who could not be so rich and powerful if they did not suck everything they can from others via the straw of government.  Not only do the current statistics exist seemingly only for the purposes of lying about a “recovering economy,” but hide the fact that individuals in large portions of the country and in large groups recognized by ethnic and other factors are in such dire straits as to threaten a massive economic shutdown.  Today, TheBlaze tried to “factcheck” the claim that the actual unemployment is really 37%. The government claims that it is 6.7% and lower in December than in the past. They try to tap dance around it, and I’m just an engineer, but it seems to me that the statement that it is 37% IS valid.  Just because someone isn’t looking for or does not want a job, does NOT mean that they are not unemployed.  Same thing for college students and people in training and volunteer (non-paying: REAL volunteers) are not EMPLOYED for a wage or salary, no matter how much they are spending their time productively, and no matter how much they are enjoying it, or who is paying for them to live.  Equally so for those who are disabled.  Claims that we have only 6.7 percent unemployed, as the government and too many mainstream AND alternative media claim, are bogus and dangerous.

On to some other items:

The FedGov (White House minions apparently) have decided that waiting more than 30 minutes to vote is unacceptable.  Really? Our ancestors – shoot, you and ME, would find this hard to believe.  When I COULD vote in my own precinct stateside, I waited more than 30 minutes a LOT of the time.  Of course, I was there with friends and neighbors and teachers and classmates and family, and I guess it just didn’t bother me.  After all, I didn’t have to worry about going outside in the dark and getting mugged, because in those days I COULD go armed in the polling place and the other issues raised were questions about which caliber and whether a revolver really made sense to carry, and when were we all going to go out to the edge of town for some more opportunity to shoot rats and rabbits.  Not like today, really.

Project Syndicate tells us that the world is better off today than people realize, because the amount of extremely poor people has been cut in half over the last three decades, down to only 17 percent of the global population in 2010, compared to 42 percent of the population in 1981.  That makes sense, I guess, but it is one size fits all.  Looking back the 33 years to 1981, before the fall of the Soviet Union and even the Berlin Wall, it makes sense that much of the world IS in better shape.  But there are places, like much of the former Soviet Union, and the former Yugoslavia, and places like Lebanon and Detroit, where that is NOT true.  And the real noticeable problems are of much more recent origin.  Yes, most of us in the West are probably better off than in ’81, but NOT than we were in ’91 or ’01, and NOT just economically, but in terms of liberty and local society.

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