Libertarian commentary on the news, #14-14C: Free speech bans, secession

Posted on 2014-04-09 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Midweek good morning!

The Quebec Liberal party sailed to an astonishing victory, getting a majority provincial government by the defeat Parti Quebecois, the party on track for its worse election since 1970, six years before they first took power in Quebec.  This will no doubt be viewed by most as a defeat for secession, running contrary to elections and expectations in Europe, but I suspect that the far-left economic and social policies of the PQ are more to blame.  To be blunt, an independent Quebec would see massive flight of Anglophiles and would soon resemble Haiti or French Guiana more than the rest of Canada, at least in the eyes of many people tired of the French-only policies and growing socialism.

Mozilla firing of their two-week-old CEO because he donated to the campaign for California Prop 8 has resulted in significant blowback, with many of the “Mozillans” (94%) being unhappy.  So unhappy, apparently, that Firefox has turned off its feedback system (as of Monday).  This reverse-boycott probably won’t result in Mozilla rehiring the man who DARED to exercise his free speech rights, because donating $1000 six years ago to support “traditional” marriage is a hate-crime in the eyes of people who promote Astro-turf “grassroots” opposition and boycotts.

Mama’s Note: My ONLY problem with his donation is the fact that it was done to promote a political goal, to further enable the state to limit the liberty and free choice of some people. Whether or not their choices are good or bad (and no person has any right to decide that for another) is immaterial to the fact that some people wish to control their private lives. Nobody has any legitimate authority to do that.

American service members are joining Australian Forces in growing numbers, according to The Last Resistance.  I find this quite baffling, for Americans (no matter how frustrated and angry and hurt by the continuing decay of US military forces and their abuse by Congress and White House) to switch allegiance, and swear an oath to the Queen.  Certainly isn’t like Brit or Aussie or Kiwi governments really have much better records about liberty and freedom than DC does.

Mama’s Note: Now that IS strange. I hadn’t heard about this before. What are they thinking?

Of course, the track record of the regime in DC grows more stained all the time. Miriam Carey, the woman gunned down in front of the US Capitol by police, was shot five times, including one shot to the back of the head.  It was, indeed, an execution, by cops protecting the “leaders of the Free World” from a distraught woman, killed with her infant child in the car with her.  Of course, the Capitol Police had no response to the autopsy.  NO one has adequately explained why deadly force should have been used.  No one.

The Nazgul have turned down an appeal from the New Mexico photographer convicted of refusing to take pictures for a homosexual couple.  Thus, one more nail is driven into the coffin of the First Amendment: there is no free speech for photographers, cake bakers, or anyone else who does not affirm the wonders of “homosexual marriage.”  Including me. I guess the photographer should be “grateful” that the Albuquerque or other NM police didn’t decide to just kill them to avoid the court case, as they have done to so many other people.  Sure, they are trying to train their police cadets better: but what about the tens of thousands of uniformed thugs who won’t be in the academy?

Mama’s Note: Just what makes you think that anyone is actually even interested in “training” the cadets better? Better in what? Lying, covering up and protecting their masters better? Yep, I’ll buy that one.

As for business owners and the homosexual mess, my guess is that there will be far fewer photographers, wedding cake bakers, etc. as time goes on. Add this trampling of the right of association to all of the other injustice, taxes, stupid regulations and outright violence at the drop of a hat… why would anyone stay in business? Why would anyone start a new one? They’ll have to bake their own damned cakes and take selfies for photos, I guess.

Sometimes I just HAVE to report good news. With the enactment of Senate Bill 38, Alabama law now expressly recognizes home instruction by someone other than a state-certified private tutor as an option for complying with the compulsory school attendance requirements.  Government should have NO say on how parents decide to teach their children, but the current reality is that children and families can be destroyed by ‘public schools” and Alabama was a strong enemy of homeschooling.  This changes a lot.

Of course, the reasons for getting children OUT of “public” (government-run, tax-funded) schools grow almost daily.  The latest is a 13-year-old New Jersey boy accused by a classmate of “making gun motions” when twirling a traditional pencil in his hands: to be subjected to a strip search, blood and urine testing, and four hours of interrogation before being suspended from school.  The justification of the school superintendent for the abuse would sound right coming from a Nazi or Communist apparatchik: Tranzi to the core.

A bill that passed the Vermont House without controversy is now in doubt after gun-rights advocates exposed provisions allowing police to take guns during domestic disputes. People have a hard time waking up to the reality: even in the HOME of “Vermont Carry” there are many, MANY politicians and people who want everyone disarmed and are willing to go to great lengths to disarm a few here and a few there.  Good for the Vermont activists.

Mama’s Note: This is the next serious and very dangerous battleground. Just as with the soviets, the US government is working hard to use the hysteria about “mental illness” to include absolutely anyone and everyone they wish to disarm. And beyond disarming us, of course. They want control, total control, total compliance. Anyone at all, including politicians who have freedom leanings, will be marginalized and targeted with the mental illness label as much as possible. What remains to be seen is how widely this nonsense is accepted. There is hope…

On the other hand, thanks to Steve, I’ve heard good news from Tennessee where open carry (without permit) may again be recognized as the right of every citizen.  As a border state, Tennessee is often very schizophrenic about liberty, but has been gradually swinging more towards freedom in the last few years, bucking the national trend.  Good for the Volunteer State workers.

That sort of situation is needed, if evil incidents like the white man being beaten beyond recognition by a Detroit mob after getting out to help a child who had run out into the street and he had struck.  As the article points out, the beating is racist; except that the FedGov and Nazgul don’t recognize black on white violence as racist.  Far better to have a weapon with which to defend yourself than this.

Of course that gang of thugs may have learned (or not learned) from the example of one of the most powerful men of their race and the way he behaves in formal public hearings.  The man should have been called to account long ago, but instead, puts on public displays of temper and sly digs.

The Spanish Parliament has rejected Catalonia’s request to conduct a referendum on secession.  They claim that since this affects “all of Spain” that all of Spain should vote on it, except that it is prohibited by the constitution.  Like many observers, I believe this will just lead to more of a desire on the part of the Catlans to leave Spain.  Especially since Spain’s central government refuses to allow much internal autonomy, except in lip service.  I also expect Spain to emulate Italy and declare those in  favor of secession to be terrorists and criminals.

Which brings us full circle to the ever more obvious death of the First Amendment here in the Fifty States.  When you are punished by government, or by private entities with the support of government, for having politically incorrect opinions on what is sin, what is defined as marriage, what team names are used, and all the other things that are now, not illegal, but “unforgivable,” there is no real free speech left.  Every person must look over their shoulder for the ubiquitous spy or informer or block warden when they say anything that someone might take offense at.  It will take a long time to heal that wound to our society, if indeed it can be healed at all.

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Libertarian commentary on the news, #14-14B: sliding downhill

Posted on 2014-04-08 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning.  After a few days break, I am running and finding that a speeding  train has nothing on events right now.  Things are sliding downhill rapidly, across the world.  It is time to be prepared, and time is running out.

Looking at all Pell Grant and federal loan money that went to undergraduates at U.S. colleges, the median congressional district received more than $167 million in aid in the 2011-2012 year…Figures! My, oh, my, but does that not explain a lot?  These people in Congress know what side their bread is buttered on: their colleges and universities are bigger welfare recipients than the sum of every individual on welfare in their entire district (not more than the bureaucrats who leech off the system).  Forbes points out correctly that until this evil connection is ended, the vicious cycle of higher education decay AND massive inflation will NOT end.

The Washington Times sounds more like the WaPo in this story: The greatest danger to turning around an economy like Greece’s is the political threat: with so many unemployed and underemployed citizens, frustration is taken out on politicians…  Exactly how is that a danger?  Politicians and their clients and supporters and puppetmasters ARE the greatest cause of economic collapse and troubles, so why should it be more dangerous to take after them for being the cause? Greece’s economy is a shambles, and nothing is being done to make it better: every political action just makes it worse.  When will the REAL cause, the politicians, be removed from the equation?  And when will Americans realize the same thing?

Under the most realistic assumptions, the U.S. fiscal imbalance is about seven times the total national debt held by the public.  As Cato Institute correctly points out, the government debt is an iceberg (or even a whole covey or pod of icebergs) with the huge hidden bulk being the true threat.  As with so much else, we have been lied to and fooled (even if willingly fooled) for decades. We are NOT that far off from the disaster that is Greece, and no one really is paying any attention.

Mama’s Note: Well, not “no one.” I’m reading more and more from and about people who ARE paying attention, and doing what they can to insulate themselves and their families from the consequences coming down the rails.

Reason Magazine points out that by making e-cigarettes more expensive, additional taxes would discourage smokers from switching from tobacco cigarettes and undermine any economic incentive for smokers to quit…  Which means that these governments which are quickly jumping on the tax e-cig bandwagon really show that they do not CARE a bit about the health of customers, but simply the revenue generated.  IF there really are drops in smoking rates (and who do we have to hear this from and believe, except government) then they are running scared: billions of dollars of taxes are being lost.  E-cigs might offset a tiny bit of this.

Mama’s Note: Revenue is important, of course, but the bottom line is always control. The lust to control others is always at the base of every action and thought, even if it results in less revenue.

North Korea has been flexing its little muscles for the last few weeks, but now Japan is ready to step in. The island nation has announced that they will shoot down any North Korean missiles that could possibly threaten Japan or her allies from here on out.  Of course, even though he hates the military, the Fuehrer is swift to send them into harm’s way if there is any political advantage to it, so two US warships have been ordered to the Sea of Japan to help “protect” the Republic of Korea and Japan from this latest temper tantrum of the Kim dynasty.

Is it actually healthier to be fat than being skinny?  Yes, according to another (YET another) study.  Who are we to believe?  People are NOT all alike.  We do NOT respond the same way to what we eat, what we drink or what we breath.  Yes, we all need oxygen, and there is a certain general range of what we can eat and touch and drink… But people ARE DIFFERENT.  We are impacted by our heritage, our environment, and our heredity.  But governments do indeed wish we all had but one neck to chop off…

Mama’s Note: And health is not tied to diet alone in any case. Environment, personality, stress level, genetics, lots of other things are seriously involved.

Mickey Rooney died at age 93.  While “iconic” (hey, everyone says so), this man who was an actor since the age of 15 months or so, is an example of what is wrong with and HAS been wrong with Hollywood and American “mainstream” culture for his entire life.

Billy Graham: The Fuehrer and Holder ‘have turned their backs on God’ except that Graham would not call the squatter in 1600 Pennsy the Fuehrer because Graham has refused to call a spade a spade his entire career.  Perhaps if Graham had been more willing to preach the Gospel and call people to a true and complete repentance (together with tens of thousands of so-called evangelists), the situation for the Manchurian officeholder might never have developed.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK? Who said this?  “Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values. Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation.”  I’ll mention it in a few days.  You WILL be shocked.

Well, well, as it turns out, the “Rev.” Al Sharpton, with long greasy hair and looking fat and scummy, was an FBI informant, back in the 1980s, turning in his mobster pals, or so The Smoking Gun claims.  What fun!  He is so trustworthy, isn’t he?  I suppose he may have apologized and repented, and asked forgiveness, but… since he is still above ground, you have to wonder.

A Colorado judge singlehandedly gutted the state’s open meeting law by tossing out a citizen’s lawsuit against the Arvada city council, ruling that the citizen who brought it didn’t have legal standing to complain.  The citizens of Colorado are nothing more than peons: subjects who have no recourse to court if their betters and masters don’t follow their own law.

 

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Libertarian commentary on the news, #14-14A: massas or farmers?

Posted on 2014-04-07 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning in an April spring.  As fields start to green up and leaves start to bud, many folks’ thoughts turn to farming and gardening.  Apparently, those who claim to rule over us, seem to be treating us “ordinary folks” more like livestock than just slaves, and as their attention is to the seasons, it appears to be about harvesting us, not just harvesting our labor.

Point to consider: the way the “City Fathers” of Albuquerque, New Mexico seem to issue their cops an unlimited hunting license for humans: twenty-three killed, at least fourteen seriously wounded, in the last three years.  Two dead, one seriously wounded in the last two weeks.  Protesters condemned as lawless and violent people who need to be done away with. This is NOT liberty, this is NOT American freedom: this is a police state: farming its people for power and profit.

It may be a surprise to many U.S. taxpayers (but not to readers of The Price of Liberty and other websites), but a whole bunch of Federal agencies — some whose responsibilities seem to have little to do with combating crime — carry active law enforcement operations. Here’s a partial list worth looking at: .Watchdog And be prepared when you see these agencies’ vehicles roar by like they “owned the road.”  According to them, they DO.  And you are just a servant or a crop to be harvested.

Mama’s Note: Or unnoticed roadkill if you get in the way.

As time goes on, more and more people find that the police are less and less trustworthy.  Sometimes, this is recognized and “corrected” long after the fact. Case in point:

Ronald Jones, a Dallas man caught between a malicious police officer and his destination one December night in 2009, went to jail for more than a year after Dallas cop Matthew Antkowiak fabricated a story that seemed to support an aggravated assault charge. Now Jones is free and $1.1 million richer. Again, farming people for the cops’ benefit.

South Dakotans, even our legislators, are showing more distrust of cops and local government, and are willing to extend that distrust to other states, especially Iowa.  Thanks to a law going into effect quickly, those with South Dakota license plates will be somewhat immune to red-light camera tickets issued in other states, and the stupid cameras are illegal in South Dakota.  There are still ways that other states can get us, especially if we travel in their state frequently, but at least South Dakota state and local governments will not be accessories to their police-state tactics, to their farming South Dakotans for their own profit.

Stupidity seems to concentrate in some states more than in others.  I am constantly comparing South Dakota and Colorado.  South Dakota is FAR from perfect, but Colorado just slides downhill more and more rapidly.  The General Assembly has gone one more step: a ban on “water-wasting plumbing” will almost certainly become a burden to ALL Coloradoans this year.

A report out from the Government Accountability Office this week reveals that the Federal government’s number of “information security incidents” wherein Americans’ sensitive personal information was breached has more than doubled in recent years.  This is, I think, a mixture of intent (with malice) and incompetence.  Of course, FedGov incompetence is nothing new.

Mama’s Note: I am convinced that none of this invasion of privacy is new either… it’s been going on for a very long time. They’re just getting caught at it more often now.

Americans, or I should say, the FedGov, have a well-earned reputation for incredible ineptitude for covert operations.  It appears we have a new example: a three year attempt by the FedGov to create an ersatz “Twitter” movement to spark revolution in Cuba, which spent a lot of taxpayer money and apparently failed with a tiny whisper.

Mama’s Note: “Failed?” Depends on what the original goal was, of course. It was a success funneling taxpayer dollars into the pockets of those involved. I’m sure they didn’t object to that, no matter what the actual goal of the program.

USA Today says that American consumers are less likely to shop and bank on-line thanks to NSA. You and I blame NSA. The FedGov (especially but not just DP Tranzis) blame Snowden and the tea party for ratting out the NSA. Attitude IS important.

On to other news, around the world:

Oddly enough, the media seems to have quieted down regarding Ukraine and the Crimea.  I don’t know if this is a good thing or not.  Conditions are NOT settled.  Among other things, NATO allies pledged to beef up eastern defenses out of “fear” of Russia.  American allies better take Kerry’s proclamation (of “US commitment to their security” as “unwavering”) with a grain of salt about a meter on a side.  What triggered Russian actions in the past two months was CONTINUED FedGov and NATO meddling in Ukraine.  The situation has calmed down, but it appears that a lot of effort is continuing to rile people up. Things happen behind the scenes, and then.. wham, bam, look at what is happening!

Secession continues to be in the news in several places as votes in Catalonia and Scotland loom ahead:

The Italian government is running scared: they have decided that the recent “unofficial” referendum, 83% in support of restoring the independent Republic of Venice, has created a terrorist threat to the “nation.” As a result, they are cracking down. For 130+ years, Venice (and the rest of the north) has been farmed for the benefit of Rome and the south.  People are sick of it.

Alaska has had an independence movement for decades, but now it seems that at least a few Alaskans are interested not in independence but in returning to Mother Russia.  I think this is unlikely to go anywhere: there are too few Alaskans with any real ties to Russia to be able to put up with the much different culture and concept of liberty.  Unless, the choice becomes “either or.”

Mama’s Note: The “independence” of Scotland is a sad, sick joke. Scotland has been socialist for a long time now, even worse than England, and that’s not apt to change any time soon. They may, however, find that their socialist leanings can’t be financed when they don’t have anywhere near as many other people to rob. So, in the end, they’ll either change their philosophy or go crawling back to the UK. I don’t hold out much hope for them either way.

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Libertarian commentary on the news, #14-13E: Governments: lazy AND stupid

Posted on 2014-04-04 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning from the future lands of the free people of the State of North Colorado (or Pawnee, hopefully).

A Katy, Texas arrest of a man on terrorism charges is an example (maybe, for once) of someone who seriously was into the idea of going out and bushwacking people in a politically motivated homicidal rampage.  IF we can believe the FBI.  Can you? I have a harder time every day, with ANY federal agency.  As the next story illustrates.

For once I’m using Prison Planet (a disreputable site) because their data is backed up by local news sources in Albuquerque.  This is three shootings BY cops, and two dead, in about a week.  TWENTY-THREE DEAD and FOURTEEN SERIOUSLY WOUNDED in THREE years!  This last is FedGov, compounding what seems to be a needless shooting by trying to steal phones/cameras from witnesses.  Albuquerque is NOT some drug- and alcohol-sodden Mexican ciudad.  If El Paso can avoid this kind of murderous “law enforcement” then why can’t the largest city in New Mexico?  The protests this last weekend turned violent, and many people say it was the storm troopers – excuse me, police – riding MRAP vehicles into “battle” that caused it.  New Mexico’s hispanic culture, society, and government do NOT justify this.

Not that they won’t try, just as Turkey is trying.

The Turkish government is trying to justify invading and occupying parts of northern Syria, which proves that you cannot EVER trust government.  They have every right, under the 1921 treaty, to defend this tomb and the land immediately around it, but they want to use it as an excuse to invade a much larger area because they are tired of the fighting.  That may or may NOT be a good thing.  But coupled with duplicity and outright lying, it is a BAD thing.  An idiotic thing to do. And THEY compound the stupidity by declaring that the people who leaked this information have declared war on Turkey.

Back to the US, the FedGov is cracking down on all sorts of nasty, nasty things, like having a memorial table in a dining facility (“mess hall” for all us ground-pounder types) with (Gasp!!!!) a Bible on it.  Obviously, we must get rid of such an evil thing, lest our airmen become either religious fanatics OR are traumatized into uselessness by their extreme offense at such an object.  Of course, we need to traumatize them and their families some more.

Once more, we see a “gun-free zone” in an idiotic location like a military installation, and a man flips his lid and starts shooting others, then himself.  The terror and stupidity is once again compounded, this time by idiotic instructions broadcast in the housing areas. This shows how cowed the powers that be want everyone, even the families of military personnel, to be.  Imagine if this sort of instruction had been given to the families of officers and NCOs in frontier forts like Fort Phil Kearney or Fort Fetterman in the late 1800s?  (Of course, the hoploclasts and hoplophobes use this as an excuse to urge outlawing guns.  I assume this mad, dead suicide-victim soldier used his own personal gun, but he could just as easily have flipped out on the firing range and shot up even more using a government-issued weapon: even (gasp!) a fully-automatic assault rifle.  Isn’t it time to take ALL weapons away from our troops and issue them ONLY when we load them up (well, no, when we UNload them from) the airplanes in some foreign country where they are to go out and kill people?  Will THAT make Pelosi and Boxer and Reid and Ellison and all the other pieces of garbage happy?

I’m sure some Irish politicians (and not even the ones in Boston and NYC) are happy about this next event.  A bomber blew himself up, apparently because he forgot to set his clock back, in Dublin on Sunday (unlike our enlightened and compassionate politicians on this side of the pond, Ireland still uses the traditional changeover date for daylight savings.) This shows that it is NOT only government personnel who are incredibly lazy and stupid (assuming he wasn’t actually a government agent). By the way, don’t think this means I think that daylight savings is anything but a stupid idea.  Of course, I support using GMT everywhere on the planet, and ending this foolishness of time zones once and for all.

A bizarre tale of the efficiency and bias of our wonderful State Department (apparently under both the old mastership of Miz Clinton AND the new overseer, Massa Kerry):  twenty Nigerian state governors were invited to the US, and only ONE had visa problems: the one “christian”: the other nineteen were muslims.  From a land where the major news item each Sunday is how many non-muslims were killed by muslim attackers and bombers that Lord’s day. Are we not blessed that our benevolent Fuehrer protects us from the evil of those wicked, hateful people who claim to follow Christ Jesus?

The FedGov protects us from so many other terrors and horrors, like air pollution.  That is why the EPA used humans as guinea pigs. Up to 81 people, were exposed to air pollution levels 50 times what the EPA claims is healthy, without being told.  Were an industrial or commercial site to do such a thing to their employees, let alone the public, the EPA would be coming down on them like a ton of bricks.  It seems the solution is obvious: outlaw the EPA and ANY agency that abuses the public trust (and people) like this.  I know, I know: the few must die (or be exposed to nasty stuff) for the good of the many; that is fiction, and bad fiction at that. (/sarc)

More people are getting targeted because they drive in cars with Colorado plates, it seems.  The first story was about a 70-year-old Coloradoan stopped on his way back from Washington, by Idaho State Police.  Now it turns out at least Nevada, Illinois, and probably other states are “profiling by license plate” and using any excuse to harass travelers.  Police state, indeed.  (And that explains why the last few times I’ve had to rent a car in Colorado, they’ve had California or Texas plates: to keep me from getting busted in New Mexico or Utah or where ever!)

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-13D: Prayer, ObummerCare, and Sanctions

Posted on 2014-04-03 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good afternoon. In what may be a short week due to weather, travel, and work, I will be traveling into the Wild West, the wilderness of the Eastern Plains of Colorado, heartland of the still not-yet-born “State of North Colorado” (I vote to call it Pawnee and not Colorado: the soil really isn’t even that red in the area) and worry a little about raids by savage mobsters, in marked and unmarked cars of silver and gray.  Seriously, on to the news.

From various sources, we learn that a five-year-old girl has been told (by a teacher) that she could not pray for her meal at school (kindergarten) and that it is not good to pray.  (Which is one reason that I guess Congress can ignore petitions, as I talked about in my last commentary.  Prayer is bad, even if the prayers are addressed to our betters in Congress.)  Her parents were smart and have taken her out of public school permanently. Yes, there is some reason (always) to doubt a five-year-old is remembering something like this accurately, and the school denies it.  But because things like this are happening more and more, it is very hard to just wave this off.

Mama’s Note: Good for them, but there are at least three thousand excellent reasons to remove all children from the state indoctrination centers. Then there is the obvious fact that a five year old is far less apt to lie about such a thing than is any government employee who ever lived. Get real.

Back to the Fuehrer’s “victory lap” about the Abominable Act (ObummerCare): it amounts to “Shut up and soldier on.” The situation reminds me of the same thing that has been said about global warming: the debate is over, shut up or face the consequences of your unbelief.  Same thing, now that I think about it, as the so-called scientists and their political masters have said about evolution, also.  THEY are the masters, and WE are their slaves.  Once more, we have lies and more lies coming from the Fuehrer, his minions, and his controllers.  Why do we believe ANYthing they say?

Insurers fear backlash over new Obummercare rate increases, according to Reuters: prices will be going up in 2015 and the insurance companies think they will get blamed, NOT the Fuehrer and his henchmen.

Which may be just the point on the latest Mother Jones’ “stunner” that Hobby Lobby’s employee retirement plan has invested in drug companies that make abortion drugs.  HuffPost and the rest of the mainstream media present this as proof that Hobby Lobby’s owners are nothing but “typical” christian hypocrites.  (It is the same accusation made of the CJCLDS (“Mormons”) for saying it was sinful to drink caffeinated beverages and yet own Coca-Cola shares.)  But what proof do we have this accusation is even true?  The media lies constantly about gun owners, about gun deaths, about schools, about everything else that they want to.  We know that there are few (if any) FedGov officials at the senior level that are not serial liars.  We don’t know why or even if the owners or managers of Hobby Lobby even knew where the retirement funds were invested.  I own a tiny (TINY) bit of several mutual shares, and I certainly don’t pour over the annual reports to see if some company that the mutual fund is invested in some dastardly company that does something I believe is wrong.  Of course, this is the other side of the coin of the Tranzi’s favorite public political tactics: the boycott and “sanctions.”

Of which the latest is a vicious attack on Firefox and its parent, Mozilla.  The company which operates the popular browser has had the gall and evil intent to hire a CEO who exercised his rights a few years ago and GASP donated money to the Prop 8 campaign in 2008 (that’s SIX years ago, folks) to support traditional marriage.   He is too evil to be allowed to be in charge of a company that gives out free software, and in fact, the company must be punished for it, by boycotting it.

I touched base yesterday about the Supreme Court decision on aggregate campaign donation limits.  I am NOT a fan of the Nazgul, especially not these nine, but the things that bother me most about this decision is not that it was made, but (1) that it was only a 5-4 decision, and (2) that we still live in a land which has “free speech zones” during VIP visits and on college campuses.  What the Tranzis and their progressive and populist toadies and shills refuse to admit is that MONEY is free speech!  If they want clean campaigns, then LIMIT the power of the scumbags that the campaign money is going to.  Yes, the system IS corrupt, but the cause of the corruption is NOT how much money one person can give, but rather because of the POWER given to the politicians when in office.

“Beer brewers are objecting to a proposed federal rule that would make it harder for breweries to sell leftover grains as animal feed instead of throwing them away.  Surprise, surprise: the Fuehrer and his Tranzi buddies want to make eating meat a thing only for the elite: the 1 or 2 or 3%, while the rest of us are vegetarians by force:  the more that they can drive up the costs of feed and therefore drive the cost of meat up.  AND restrict the supply.  And this year, with the loss of 40,000 to 100,000 cattle in the October storms in SD, ND, MT, WY, and NE, prices are already soaring.  Watch the cost of beer continue to climb: if they can’t sell the leftover grains, not only will they NOT get revenue, but they will have to pay landfills to take them, even if the landfills compost them.  Oh, and can we talk about SMELL?

Mama’s Note: I’m all for feeding them to livestock, any kind. Even chickens love that stuff. More flatulent cows, of course… and that smell beats the stink coming out of any “government” office hands down.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-13C: Alternate Universes

Posted on 2014-04-03 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning! The weather that missed us for the first three days this week come home to roost today:  six inches of snow already, more to come.  Not uncommon, but you’d think with all we pay the NWS and all the weather folks, we’d get better estimates, right?

Ever feel out of touch?  Like the planet changed when you weren’t looking?  Like the laws of physics shifted?  Ah, this  universe may be an alternate.  Read on and see what I mean.

Somewhere in an alternate universe agents tasked with running checkpoints go out of their way to uphold the Constitution. For April Fool’s Day, Reason shows us what that would be like. This is NOT real. (Wish it were.  (But checkpoints aren’t constitutional, at least not at any federal or state level, unless I’m missing something somewhere.  Still, wouldn’t this be neat?) Thanks to Reason for this great video.  Share it with a lot of folks, please.

Speaking of alternate universes, ObummerCare (the Abominable Act) is so rotten that HHS Secretary Sebelius is speechless, and more than one person points out that she is in some alternate universe where ObummerCare is wildly successful.  Supposedly 9.5 million people now have insurance as a result, and supposedly (according to the Fuehrer) 7.1 million people have signed up on that phishing site called “HealthCare.Gov.” I DO NOT BELIEVE IT.  Of course, it is not only Sebelius that lives in Oz or where ever: there are many in Congress, as we see on almost every newscast or newspaper.

Women Now 33% More Likely Than Men to Earn College Degrees, or so it is claimed, in contrast to all these claims that women earn 30-40-50% less than men.  So, what is the problem?  First, college degrees continue to drop in value.  Second, women do not tend to stay constantly in the work force (outside the home) the way men have.  Third, the more the welfare state and government meddling in the economy increases, the more we get a warped economy and society.  Without going into a diatribe, western society (especially government) has so perverted the natural role of men and women is so many ways, that this is going to get worse.

Dick Durbin criticizes free enterprise, claiming it ‘created unfairness and injustice’ and of course ignoring the fact that British and then American free enterprise put an end to slavery and serfdom as valid economic models by providing an opportunity and an environment in which technology could develop and replace human and animal labor. Maybe in some alternate universe socialism did all these wonderful things, but not in the real world, whether it is 4,000 BC or AD 2000.

Sen. Jeff Sessions tell us that ‘DHS Is a department in crisis’ but then ALL of the FedGov is in crisis: a downward spiral of tyranny and destruction of itself, the Fifty States, and the world.

A Historian claims that college athletes ‘are literally serfs.’ That may be the truth, but folks, they are doing it voluntarily and can stop being serfs by simply walking away.  (I realize that they may have college debt that they have been stupid enough to accept, but they still do not have to be enslaved to some team.)

Thousands have petitioned Congress to ban Internet access taxes: by Monday 43,646 had signed the online petition to ban Internet access taxes on Change.org, sponsored by MyWireless.org.  That is, of course, a total waste of time for this nonpartisan nonprofit wireless advocacy organization (except, I suspect) to aid their fundraising. When did a SINGLE Fuehrer-petition do ANYthing?  When did a letter-writing campaign to Congress do ANYthing except to give them an opportunity to solicit votes and contributions?

Although they frequently accuse the GOP of being out of touch, and Libertarians as being hopeless or the worst of “conservative” or “reactionary” or “crazy, Democrats are the real “Rich Man’s Politicians” according to a review of Census data:  Dems are wealthy, “more educated” and obviously excel in almost everything.  Right.  At least in their alternate universe homes.  Which are DEFINITELY not in the states/districts that they claim to represent.

A White House report claims that chronic marijuana users have increased 84% in 10 years (from 2000 to 2010).  Given CNS News’ conservative point of view, the article is surprisingly neutral,  pointing out the serious problems with the data and its analysis, as well as all the reasons to not trust the White House (or any other government agency) about this (or anything else).  The raw data is suspect and almost certainly inaccurate: no one can honestly claim to estimate quantities OR costs of marijuana purchases: in 2010, it was still illegal to some degree EVERYWHERE in the US.  People do not tell the truth, there are no valid, provable ways to collect the data.  Given the rise in use of medical cannabis and the need for daily doses, this should not be a surprise OR a worry that 12.5 million Americans admit to being “chronic” users (4 or more times a month) in 2010, up from 7.5 million in 2000.  This is NOT moral decay, this is NOT total societal collapse. Just today, a Pew survey shows that 54% of “Americans” think cannabis should be legalized, 42% are opposed.  Lots of people think that treatment rather than prison is the solution to most drug use…

Mama’s Note: “Treatment” is very valuable IF the person believes they have a problem and IF they want any treatment. Otherwise, just another waste of time and effort, and nobody else’s business in the first place.

The Fuehrer wants 33% more for U.N., other international groups in FY 2015.  All of these are of course more important than providing ANYthing for taxpayers, whether it is tax or debt relief, or providing services.  They must steal ever more money which enters their circle of preferred buddies (internationally, especially).

Mama’s Note: Of course, there’s at least one little problem with that idea. The counterfeit every government calls “money” is rapidly losing any purchasing power, and people all over the world are starting to see the scam for what it is. I suspect it won’t be long before the dollar (and other fiat currencies) have zero value, and the meltdown will begin.

The Supreme Court today handed down their decision in McCutcheon v. FEC, and the 5-4 decision carried by the Court’s conservative justices has overturned the aggregate limits on campaign contributions to political candidates.  According to the idiots in and running for Congress, this decision is horrible, nasty, and downright evil.  Indeed, one idiot running for Congress in South Dakota said this was WORSE than the Dred Scott decision before the War Between the States.  Once more, what universe does this man (and his staff, and all these other nuts in Congress) LIVE in?  More on this tomorrow.

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A Baker’s Dozen: The Fuehrer’s Accomplishments

Posted on 2014-04-02 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

This idea came from a Leno-style countdown written by someone using “English as a second language” (and Queen’s English, to boot) with lots of grammar errors and few mis-concepts and misunderstandings.  But it is too good to pass up the opportunity.

Much as we dislike the man and hate his actions, can we be honest and say he HAS done something good?  The story is told of the rabbi who has made his political opinion on a local race very well known, who is approached by the candidate he has most often attacked.  That candidate (a Republican, as it happens) is willing to donate $100,000 to the synagogue rebuilding campaign, if the rabbi will just say something nice about him.  “You don’t have to tell them I’m a saint,” he tells the rabbi, “but that would be nice.”  The rabbi thinks it over and finally agrees.  The candidate donates the money and next Sabbat, the Rabbi stands up and blesses the congregation and then introduces the candidate sitting in the back.  “This is Mr. Smith, running for Mayor here in our fair city, and I want to let you know about him.  He is a corrupt, lying, thieving, backstabbing, abusive son of a sea serpent, but… compared to the members of his and the other parties representing our city and state in DC, he is an angel.”

So:

A Baker’s Dozen: The “Fuehrer’s” Greatest Achievements to Date

  1. He strengthened international friendship and cooperation between patriots who cling to their guns, religion and integrity.
  2. He increased international awareness of government spying, as a result of the gross violation of human rights and privacy laws committed by the Obama administration.
  3. He made people around the world realize how much we care for our faith and traditions, by constantly insulting our values and stealing our liberties. The threats to our lifestyle force us to become more determined and forceful.
  4. He helped the world become aware of the devaluation of the Nobel Peace Prize: what a joke!
  5. Thanks to the overdose of homosexual propaganda, he established a solid base on which to build “gay-bashing” by showing the nation what the goal of the homosexual propagandists (including him) is: not acceptance but endorsement and embracing the life style.  (By gushing over the openly gay people and couples, yet refusing comments on his own ambiguous past, he facilitated the spread of rumors about his own sexuality.  As a result, he makes Vladimir Putin look even more macho.
  6. His perpetual boasting and phantasms of omnipotence have created a very strong public awareness of the dangers of malignant narcissism. Obama helped to persuade not only mental health professionals but ordinary citizens that Narcissistic Personality Disorder should not disappear from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
  7. By bowing to foreign leaders, making confusing and exceedingly arrogant statements, and use of Arabic and Muslim references, he managed to convince millions around the world to have a more suspicious and hostile attitude to Islam.
  8. He single-handedly revived the concept of the “Manchurian Candidate” and “Manchurian President:” so we will think twice before electing officials who act like servants of a foreign supremacy.
  9. He proved that wussy bureaucrats make bad military leaders and are harmful to our security. The Commander in Chief should both earn and deserve this honorable title. By appointing lapdogs to senior leadership, purging other officers, neglecting veterans, and persecuting soldiers he made us aware how much we respect them and how much we owe them.  Even while he turned them even more into legions of tyranny to the world.
  10. He revived dangerous ideologies; reminding us why and how they proved harmful to humanity and made us want to eradicate them. He brought to light the grotesque features of political correctness, so we are less likely to fall into the trap of laxity and permissiveness.
  11. His disastrous leadership has made us realize that an incompetent and socially irresponsible president should be dismissed like any bad manager. He reminded us that we have the right to demand accountability from our leaders, and that it is essential to limit their power.  He twisted the prime duty of government to serve and protect into a license to abuse and harm.
  12. His actions meant his association with them brought his European allies record unpopularity and riots, and may have made Europeans realize what they have slid into.
  13. He has proved himself to be the best gun salesman in history.
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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-13B: Slippery and slimy

Posted on 2014-04-01 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good afternoon: for us, at least, on the southeastern side of the Pahasapa (Black Hills), this last storm was a bust: less than 2 inches, too much wind, and most all melted or blew away before sunset on Monday: far from the “9 inches of very wet snow” that we really could have used.

But the rest of the world ticked on.  Here’s some things that caught my eye.

When you are unable to keep control of your police force, and keep them from doing stupid things to innocent OR guilty people, it is time to take the next step, and some in the Kansas Legislature are doing just that: they want a law to allow people who complain about the police to be tried and punished for their “scofflaw” attitude.  After all, police are second only to military to protecting our rights and liberties and must not ever be questioned, even if they “sometimes” make a mistake. One more state becoming a police state.

An Australian University has upped the ante for the nasty fight we’ve been waging over global warming for most of a decade, by making the public, official claim that global warming (if not stopped) will lead to the extinction of humanity.  Honestly, who invents these things?  And who hires idiots like this to teach students and do research?  (The answer to both questions is of course government, because this is at least one way to encourage people to surrender MORE of their freedoms.)

In front of the Supreme Court, the Fuehrer’s lawyers are arguing that corporations may be forced to violate the moral, religious standards of their owners, their employees, and even their customers in order to have “equal protection under the law” and to prevent “establishment of religion.” This is nothing less than the perversion of law and of morality, using “religious freeedom” to deny freedom of religion.  (Well, some religions.) It is an attempt to turn the First Amendment into “freedom of worship” instead of freedom to exercise religion, and the Fuehrer’s minions are anxious to further steal our liberties.

A Michigan school has torn out the seating in their baseball stadium because a FedGov agency said it wasn’t equal to the girls’ softball seating. Even though the seats were paid for through donations from parents and even installed by the parents, the thugs in DC ruled they were evil.  Well, we know at least some of the evil in this incident, and it is found in DC.  But the decision of the school board and the parents to give in to tyranny is JUST as evil, and demands as much or more condemnation.

The US Civil Rights Commission, a “nonpartisan” government agency is urging Congress to make the birthdays of Caesar Chavez and Fred Korematsu national holidays, apparently forcing millions of employers to pay for days off to honor the farm labor activist and a man who argued against the roundup and internment of Japanese-Americans in WW2 – and of course, making taxpayers pay for yet another day off from work for millions of federal, state, and local workers.  I think it is time to get rid of both MLK and Presidents’ Day, and think seriously about moving Labor Day and Memorial Day to Sundays permanently. Yeah, proves I’m bigoted and racist and anti-government.  So?

Mama’s Note: Well, I don’t know about that… Seems to me that ANYTHING that would keep the government employees from showing up and “doing” anything would be a big bonus. If we have to be robbed to pay them, I’d a whole lot rather they get paid for nothing as for what they actually do. But then, of course, I’d even more like to see the end to all the theft even more.

I’d have to look into it, but I don’t think there is actually any federal requirement for people in the private sector (what’s left of it) to be given any of these “holidays.” Many are included in various union (or gov.) contracts, and many are traditional, of course, but I don’t think they are required by law as a whole. I might be wrong. I certainly didn’t get many paid “holidays” in all the years I worked for various companies.

The government’s much-vaunted and ridiculous Health Care website stumbles on deadline day and once more, the Fuehrer and his supporters (especially those in Congress) ignore this while praising the Fuehrer and his insanely stupid law and regulations and coding.  The lies grow by the day, the stupidity is more and more obvious, and yet… nothing really changes.

Mama’s Note: The thing I think most people are not emphasizing – or even talking about – is the fact that this abomination “law” is totally evil, and the mechanics or failings of the website are totally immaterial. It would not be a good thing even if it seemed to function perfectly.

Reid, that piece of garbage that the idiots in Nevada keep in DC, forgot that he called Americans liars on ObummerCare, and has made statements that are only “normal” if compared to the even more wild statements of people like Boxer, Pelosi, and Jackson-Lee (of Texas), has spurred a response. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) went on the Mike Gallagher Show and mocked Reid’s remarks, saying “I didn’t think Mormons used drugs.” “I think the longer you stay in Congress, the more detached you come from reality,” Rep. Gowdy said.  Well, it has been obvious for most of his life that Reid is as good a Latter-day Saint as Pelosi is a Catholic, or the Fuehrer is a… whatever he is. Gowdy puts his finger on some of the truth, but the reality is that 99% of these people who go to DC were detached from reality, morals, and sanity before they ever got there.

As more an more people reject gun control laws, the DP may find it a serious problem in the 2014 elections.  That, coupled with ObummerCare, could poison the election for them.  Sadly, the GOP is really not better on these than the DP: just say nicer words.  And while a lot of folks see major losses for the DP this year, they’ve said that before, and the GOP has thrown away victory, and when they HAVE victory, are just as bad as the Dems: another form of Tranzi.  BOTH the old parties need to have all power removed, if we want our children and grandchildren to live free.

 

Ron Paul explains why aid to Ukraine (last week Congress gave the thugs there a billion dollars, as well as passing more meaningless, ineffective sanctions against Russia) is a bad deal for everyone, and points out it won’t be the last time by any means.  It is as if the FedGov – the Fuehrer – WANTS a war there, and WANTS to make Russia an enemy.

 

A columnist for Freedom Outpost headlined his article, “It’s Time to Hang the Elected Traitors in Washington with Their Own Legislation.”  I think he was too wordy, and should have used four fewer words, though his actual article comes closer to the ideal, suggesting that DC, like Rome, should have its main approaches lined with crosses.  This is, you have to admit, getting pretty radical for “mainstream” today. His main beef is the US vs. Castleman case remanded by the Supreme Court, 9-0, which says that ANY state domestic assault misdemeanor, even for pushing someone or giving them the finger, is an excuse for stealing that person’s right to self-defense, to keep and bare arms.  The columnist says that negates the Bill of Rights: but I’ve got news for him, the Bill of Rights was negated a long time ago.  The 1968 Gun Control Act in essence made the Second Amendment a privilege, no matter what Heller and other recent cases have done, and no matter how many states allow “shall-issue” concealed carry or open carry.  Every OTHER aspect of the Bill of Rights is either ignored, overturned, or tap-danced around.  And the ONLY way the Constitution is upheld is in the matter of procedure: elections every two and four years, term limits for presidents, and so forth:  the rest was and is nullified: there is nothing but a hollow shell.

 

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Libertarian commentary on the News, #14-13A: Good news, bad news: violence around the globe

Posted on 2014-04-01 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning, welcome to a new week and the end of March, as Mama Liberty and I both get another blast of winter!  Yeah!

Government stupidity and hypocrisy are (as always) in the news.  What would we do without ’em?

First off, it seems 63% of Federal workers earning $100K+ are men.  There are lots of reasons for this, including time off for families and the “good ole boy” network, but THESE are the people trying to force private business and individuals to address “sexual income inequality.”  The word is hypocrite, but we can also talk about abuse of the public trust, and the fact that we have too many government workers.

At the same time, it is hard to feel THAT sorry for ANY FedGov worker.  According to the American Enterprise Institute, the typical full-career government employee has a retirement income higher than 72 percent of full-time employees working in that state, nationwide.  Of course, in DC, the “local government workers” are federal workers, and you can bet that they all do better than the poor slob working for the private sector (except, of course, for the Beltway Bandits and the lobbying firms and other “private sector” parasites.

The Fuehrer’s and Democratic Congressmembers’ propaganda attack in support of the Abominable Act (ObummerCare) continues, with these two items of note: Reid says: Obamacare has ‘dropped way down in significance’, I guess in comparison with them getting reelected and controlling the Senate, as well as whether or not we are going to go to war in Ukraine and Syria, and how much the Fuehrer’s hangers-on enjoyed their luxury trip to China (and the ones to Africa and Hawaii, which cost $15.8 million in stolen money).  Of course, that idiot Schumer claims that middle-class concerns ‘trump the Republican attacks on the Affordable Care Act’ (ObummerCare/Abominable Act), which unfortunately is NOT an appeal for an actual revolt against the ever-heavier hand of government BY the middle class, but just an attempt to make them stooges of the DP.

Ukraine Crisis: Fuehrer’s Poll Numbers Drop, Putin’s Climb which is pretty much what has been happening for the past several months.  It isn’t just the Fuehrer’s limp-wristed and wrong-headed response to Russia’s response to the Fuehrer’s meddling in the Ukraine, it is his total attitude towards the truth and the people and States he supposedly serves. Of course, this isn’t going to change, as we see that the Fuehrer ducks opportunity to support NATO membership for Ukraine, Georgia. I’d like to think that this means some of his manipulators have decided NOT to push for World War III, but I can’t count on that: chalk it up to their proven ability to mess up anything and everything, even when it is something that they want very much.

Speaking of a certain lack of “macho” at 1600 Pennsy, the Fuehrer gives Pope vegetable seeds, Francis gives Feuhrer writings on morality. Too bad his comprehension level in reading is so low. (I state this because he claims both to have read the Bible and the Constitution many times, and yet clearly applies nothing from either one of them to his life and actions.)  Brownie points to Francis for trying, at least.

As the cigarette tax rate in New York has risen 190 percent since 2006, the smuggling rate has increased 59 percent, according to the Tax Foundation.  This is surprising how?  Just that the rate has not increased as much as you would expect. Now, here is an interesting thought:  supposedly the smoking rate has been dropping in these places as the tax has gone up.  But are those people who are buying and smoking smuggled cigarettes really replying honestly to these health surveys about their smoking?  Smuggling started here in America about the time that the first colonists made it across the Bering land bridge (yeah, RED colonists not Europeans), and has just gotten better. Internal smuggling? Well, supposedly the Constitution did away with that, but then states came up with excise taxes and lots of other stupid things (try taking an apple you bought in Las Vegas into California some time – remember the Mediterranean fruit fly?).  I am surprised that some states don’t try to make you pay the extra tax on that tank of fuel you bought in South Dakota with a ten-cent state fuel tax, when you immediately drive across the line into Nebraska (with a fifteen-cent state fuel tax).  Twenty gallons, that’s a buck!  Might keep some bureaucrat in Lincoln from getting laid off!

Good news, and way to go: US oil production is more than 10% of the world total, according to numerous sources.  Despite the best efforts of the Fuehrer and too many state governments.

Bad news, and we can expect more:  an Ebola outbreak is spreading through Africa and is just hours away from the rest of the world.  The story is third or fourth page on most news sites/papers and not fully reported, for whatever reason.

Mama’s Note: Yes, the low level of hype about this is a bit of a surprise, but there is no more danger for Americans in this supposed Ebola infection than there was in any of the previous variations of the “flu” that the media was so hysterical about earlier.

Oh, no, not again!  North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire along the disputed western border waters on Monday, while North Korea promised new and different nuclear tests.  While this is behavior as usual, given anger over foreign aid, the Malaysian airliner disaster, and the tensions between Japan and China over some islands, it could heat things up in the region.

Meanwhile, the US and Ukraine ARE trying to heat things up in the southeast European area, with claims that 100,000 Russian troops are massing on Ukraine’s borders.  This smells like propaganda, but we’ll see.

In the last few days, the Albuquerque Police have killed two people under very suspicious circumstances, on video which has been made public.  So it is no surprise that this weekend, protesters swarmed the streets, protesting. The WaPo says the mayor claims the protests turned to “mayhem,” and that ‘hacktivists’ reportedly sparked the protests, participating on the other side of the mayhem and teargas.”  According to local reports, the rioting was in the yuppified traditional downtown, around Central and University: an area I was in just two weeks ago, and there are reports that a THIRD person has been killed by Albuquerque Police.  New Mexico, especially Albuquerque (largest city in the state: Santa Fe is the capital), is known for its hispanic institutions and traditions, which include police forces and often sheriff’s offices that resemble those of Francisco Franco or Juan Peron or Augustine Iturbide (first emperor of Mexico) more than traditional American institutions.  This is far from over.

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Libertarian commentary on the news, #14-12E: Having fun? (yet?)

Posted on 2014-03-31 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning, readers, and I need to have a little fun.  Not that I don’t take these stories seriously, but sometimes we get in moods, and a little laughter lightens up on the trigger-finger.  Sorry for publishing this late: got tied up on a big project that burned the candles at both ends for two days, coupled with a police invasion where I was working.

Former Secretary of State Condi Rice attacked the Obama administration for its weakness and failure to lead.  Of course, the GOP in Congress defended them, as soon as they got back from their last vacation – or was that “working on the home front.”

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has begun making his move for the White House – he is the first candidate to assemble a ground game in all fifty states! Which he is going to need big time if he keeps supporting establishment GOP and denying he is his father’s son.

The Pope met with the Fuehrer today (there has to be a joke in there) and one of the topics they discussed was the increasing amount of persecution that Christians were facing in America today.  Too bad Benedict retired, or they could have both spoken in the native tongues and understood each other.  For the FedGov to stop persecuting Catholics, all they have to do is agree to pray kneeling and facing Mecca five times a day.  Given the angles, they can pretend that they are facing Rome.

Mama’s Note: Can’t say I’m exactly disappointed with this new pope… heck, we knew he was a socialist like all the rest of them, but I still have to wonder how anyone who professes to love God and people could stay in the same room with Obummer and not vomit. Repeatedly.

Ebony magazine launches into racist attack on African-American conservatives.  Or conservative people who CLAIM to be “African-American,” at least.  Libertarians who claim to be African-American (or even black) are apparently hospitalized until they can be placed in a good, kind zoo.

More than 1 in 4 car crashes involve cell phone use.  Which must mean that overall, traffic safety is getting better and better, since 20 years ago, cell phones were virtually non-existent, and traffic accidents have been dropping pretty steadily in the past 30 years.  I know with all the banged-up cars on the road these days, it doesn’t seem like it.  But that is because most of us can’t afford to get the dents and bangs fixed, and we are keeping our old cars a LOT longer: fearful the “voluntary” junker retirement program might become “mandatory” like everything else has under der Fuehrer.  “If you WANT to keep your old car, of COURSE you can keep your old car.”

Mama’s Note: For an excellent overview of all things automotive, from a truly libertarian perspective, bookmark Eric Peters Autos blog, and visit daily. Great articles, and spirited discussion in the comments sections.

The Fuehrer today claimed that the Anglo-American invasion and occupation of Iceland was worse than anything that happened in Poland or the Low Countries when the Dritte Reich invaded those areas to help their people have self-determination and free them from repressive governments.  Opps, that’s not right.  The Fuehrer today claimed that the Russian occupation of the Crimea after the Crimean people voted for independence and annexation to Russia was worse than the American invasion, occupation, and trashing of the former nation of Iraq. Is it true that the Secret Service and the USMC are having to modify the passenger compartments of the limo and USMC-One to accommodate longer nose measurements?

Mama’s Note: There IS no real difference. Aggression is aggression, and there is no better or “worse” kind. Putin is obviously an evil, aggressive bastard, but no different than any other in the essentials. They both remind me of nasty bullies waiting for their next victim in the grammar school hallway. Some are taller, stronger, or more confident… but they remain equally evil.

Meanwhile, IN Mesopotamia (formerly Iraq), the Maliki-appointed election commission resigned en masse and at the same time, the bloody death toll of muslims killing each other and everyone else continues. You don’t suppose that the election commission assumed (seeing how many election officials have been offed in recent years) that continuing to serve might be mildly dangerous?  Maybe they figured that since elections mean nothing to the Fuehrer and the Fedgov these days (Crimea, Michigan, California, etc.), why bother?

Moving on to other topics:

The government withheld information on the basis of national security 8,496 times last year — that is a record, and it is a 57 percent increase over 2012.  Hmmm, the old saying “if you aren’t paranoid, you aren’t paying attention” applies to these FedGov johnnies as well.  They are starting to really, REALLY be afraid of what we can find out about them.  We need more Snowdens, and MORE Wikileaks.

Mama’s Note: I guess…Nothing Snowdon revealed surprised me in the least. In fact, espionage in one form or another was always a given. It’s been going on since the first water glass was pressed to the wall so some people could listen to conversations of others, whatever their motives.

We already know that those who pretend to have any “authority” to control our lives and property are murderers, thieves, liars and frauds. What more do we need to know? And if people give up the superstition of “rulers,” and that someone else needs to “protect their rights,” they would quickly eliminate this criminal class. Unfortunately, being a slave is just easier and more appealing to far too many people.

Black powder bullets, an expended .270 shell, a misfired 12-ga shotgun shell, an empty holster, resulting in “guilty of possession of unauthorized ammunition” a $50 fine, several days in jail, registration as a “weapons offender” and probably loss of his business license as a financial manager, in the District of Criminals.  I’ve been following this story for some time: beyond the fact that the idiot was willing to live in DC, it was obvious that somehow the police and courts were going to railroad him.  And now they have.  His best hope is to find a way to start his own business in a western state that will view this conviction as a badge of honor and override the morality clause of their licensing laws.

Mama’s Note: Sure, but he needs to pick a profession or start a business that does not require a “license” at all. Why feed that beast?

Last Resistance, a quasi-libertarian news and views site, reports on a woman who claims to be “pro-choice” because she is a “christian” and reads it in the Bible.  This is one really sick, messed-up woman.  Sadly, too many who claim to be followers of the Christ think like her, or don’t know enough about their own religion to understand their evil.

Just how weird is this? Jerusalem Post says that the entire Israeli Foreign Ministry is going on strike and closing all embassies and consulates on Sunday. The hysterical conspiracy fringe says this (together with the Malaysian airliner and a half-dozen other things) is leading to an Israeli attack on Iran and Syria AND the US (false flag attack, it seems) and is either intended to destroy the “American empire” or launch the Second Coming or rebuild the Temple or all of the above.

Mama’s Note: Oooh, oooh, can I vote for the end of the American Empire? The sooner the better, however it comes about.

In New Mexico, the stupidity of attorneys and judges and a major company (COSTCO) caused a million jars of peanut butter to be dumped into a landfill and wasted, literally. The stupidity and bureaucratic mind set of too many companies resembles that of government workers today.  We may be wealthy, but that is so stupid, and a lot of people could have been helped.  Instead, a combination of government and business stupidity and irrational fears and bad publicity wasted millions of dollars of food.

Mama’s Note: Good grief, that is just so sick…

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