Some Truth About Narcotics and “Addiction”

Posted on 2014-03-11 by MamaLiberty

By Susan Callaway, RN

To paraphrase what I’m told is an old American Indian saying: Don’t judge someone unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.

I’ve walked in those shoes. Both as a nurse and as someone who has lived with chronic pain most of my life, I’ve seen this thing from both sides. I’ve worked with “addicts” who were dying of AIDS, and many others. I took high doses of prescribed narcotic analgesia for years, though I did learn how to eliminate the medications.

In my case there was no “addiction,” and the physical dependence was easily overcome with a logical program of tapering off over a few days. It was not always completely comfortable, but it was manageable because I understood what was going on and was in control of both my body and mind. Ignorance and fear make the process painful and frightening, not necessarily the drug.

The whole notion of some uncontrollable, overwhelming “addiction” is mostly nonsense, but very few people – including doctors – have any real understanding of it at all. The incidence of true addiction is very low, and it takes real time and work for most people to become even physically dependent on a drug, let alone “addicted.”It doesn’t happen overnight, or after a few doses. The usual “addict” is addicted to the sensations, the euphoria itself, and the fact that they no longer remember their actual situation or feel responsible for themselves. They want only to crawl into a hole and pull it in after them. Some do it with drugs, some with alcohol and some with a whole host of other things. Many choose even more destructive combinations.

Addiction is of the mind and spirit, not just the body, and it is most certainly within the control of the person involved in most cases. Taking charge of our minds and bodies, and taking full responsibility for what we choose is not always easy, but it is almost always possible. That the mistaken idea of involuntary addiction is commonly used as an excuse for self destructive behavior does not change this fact.

Is it not, then, incredibly hypocritical to throw some drug users into jail, yet maintain others in their habit, both at taxpayer expense? Neither approach solves anything and both are destructive to “society” in general and to the individuals involved. Why do either one? Why not rather leave each other alone to abide by the consequences of our choices? Who is really better qualified than YOU to decide what you will do with your own life? If you choose destruction, how is it anybody else’s business?

Many people – even some who call themselves libertarians – voice the fear that uncontrolled drug availability would lead to increased crime, child abuse and general indolence by an increasing population of users. But these fears completely ignore the reality of economics and human nature. They also often ignore the reality of the police state response to these things, and the increasing death and destruction resulting from them. And there are certainly non “state” solutions to the problem of children and other family members caught in this tangle.

Generally speaking, those who choose to take drugs, or indulge in any other destructive habit indiscriminately, tend to become ineffective and unhealthy, unable to support themselves or their families. Instead of letting nature take its course, with the individual bearing full responsibility – therefore being faced with the choice of reform or starvation and death. All too often that reform is not actually an option because they are murdered in street action or midnight police raids, or incarcerated and actively prevented from having any kind of normal life afterwards.

There should be no barrier to helping those who are willing to receive it, either through private charity or the usual fee for services on a voluntary basis. There is no need to abandon people to fight this thing without recourse if they truly want help. In reality, the voluntary approach gives us the only honest chance to help them. Those who do not choose to seek help usually can’t BE helped anyway. They simply must not be enabled to continue destructive behavior at someone else’s expense.

Supply is determined by demand. The “war on drugs” has been a signal failure in reducing either the supply or the demand. Instead, it increases the price by increasing the risks associated with production and distribution. The high price simply encourages those who are willing to take the risks. Since they operate outside “the law,” they have every incentive to settle disputes violently, and their customers have no recourse if they are sold impure or false products.

The only appropriate response to aggression, real crime, is for the intended victims to be vigilant and defend themselves. The reason the criminal chooses aggression does not alter the required response. Locks on our doors, and tools to defend ourselves make a lot more sense than prison cells and SWAT teams.

Utopia is not an option. There will always be people who insist on making poor choices and imposing on their neighbors. Some will choose to damage their lives and families this way, no matter what anyone else says or does. It seems obvious that it isn’t possible to prevent anyone from making such choices or to remove every dangerous object and substance from our world. The only world of perfect safety lies in the graveyard.

Far too many people weigh in with opinions (and vote accordingly) without having the slightest understanding how drugs (any kind) affect the human body and mind, or the realities of economics. They have been told that all “illegal drugs” are evil, always bad, and the CAUSE of crime and poverty. So, the only logical thing to do, they believe, is to ever ramp up the efforts to eliminate the drugs and punish those who use or do business with them.

We can see that this approach is really improving all of our lives…

No? Well, perhaps it is time to learn the truth and try something else. As has been stated many times; the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. The results of the current “war on drugs” are always the same: more crime, more corruption of government, more people – users and innocent bystanders – with their lives and property destroyed, and lost liberty for everyone. When are we going to face the fact that this war on drugs “cure” is many magnitudes worse than even the most inaccurate estimation of the disease?

There are many good and learned articles and books on this subject, and I’m not qualified to rewrite any of it. I’ve included a good list of references below, and urge everyone who has questions to read as much as they can – until they get the answers.

The Other War By Thomas DiLorenzo

The Egregiously Destructive War on Drugs By Gennady Stolyarov II

Lies and Myths About Opiates by Randal Cousins

Meth Mouth and Other Meth Myths by

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Addiction and Dependence

Posted on 2014-03-09 by MamaLiberty

By Susan Callaway, RN

First, define “addiction” as you understand it. Then do a search on that word. I’ll wait.

Ok, that was a trick question. But I hope you did a search anyway. In case you didn’t, here are just a few of the definitions available:

addiction
Dictionary.com Unabridged

the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

Origin:
1595–1605;  < Latin addictiōn-  (stem of addictiō ) a giving over, surrender.

 

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
addiction (ə-dĭk’shən) Pronunciation Key

  1. A physical or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, such as a drug or alcohol. In physical addiction, the body adapts to the substance being used and gradually requires increased amounts to reproduce the effects originally produced by smaller doses. See more at withdrawal.
  2. A habitual or compulsive involvement in an activity, such as gambling.

The American Heritage® Stedman’s Medical Dictionary
addiction ad·dic·tion (ə-dĭk’shən)
n.
Habitual psychological and physiological dependence on a substance or practice beyond one’s voluntary control.

And the definition has changed, seriously:

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
addiction

c.1600, of habits, pursuits, etc., from L. addictionem (nom. addictio) “an awarding, a devoting,” noun of action from addicere (see addict). Earliest sense was less severe: “inclination, penchant,” but this has become obsolete. In main modern sense it is first attested 1906,

So, we learn that “addiction” is anything from a mere inclination, through “habit forming” and physical and psychological compulsion, to “slavery” which is beyond voluntary control. So which is it? All of them? None of them? Who has legitimate authority to define this or anything else for YOU… especially at the point of a gun?

You can call any of those conditions “addiction” if you want, and you can obviously seek help with any of them – IF YOU want it. You can even urge friends and family members, seemingly caught in this dilemma, to seek help – if THEY want help.

If they don’t want it, at some level and at least some of the time, the efforts to “help” are a serious waste of time, effort and money, even when police state control freaks are not involved. And that fact should have been common knowledge long before this.

So, one must conclude that all the effort and expense is not actually geared to helping the “addict” – or even “society” – but uses “addiction” as one more excuse to control the lives and property of other people. And this is just as true of the “do-good” citizens who truly believe in that forced “help,” as it is of the jack booted thugs who do it, more or less, for pleasure and profit. And I’ve yet to see anyone explain how being beaten, shot, robbed, incarcerated – with the subsequent systematic and deliberate destruction of a person’s ability to get a job, a loan, start a business or even find a place to live – can possibly help anyone overcome an addiction anyway. Why should they bother?

Then, the fact that so many of the people affected are black, poor and often marginally educated to start with should raise a seriously large red flag as to the intentions and benevolence of the enforcers, er… “helpers.” No, the only obvious reason for any of it is the lust for control, ownership, extended to almost every facet of all our lives. And those already living on the margins are most easily controlled – or eliminated.

So many people with this fantasy of owning others, from Bloomberg in New York, to the folks next door who simper that YOU shouldn’t be allowed to eat meat, or smoke cannabis, or drive a car, or whatever, demand to control YOUR life simply because SHE/HE doesn’t like whatever and doesn’t “believe” in it. They want to control you, which is the same as owning you… except they aren’t even good pet owners because they are certainly not prepared to take any real responsibility for you… Oh no, only the control part.

We can get sidetracked into discussions of the actual, violent or aggressive crimes committed by those who have addictions, but those crimes are no different than those committed by anyone else. If drug users, or compulsive gamblers, choose to commit aggression, then that is the real problem – the only real crime – and the only thing that others in society can address. Theft, assault, murder and rape are ALWAYS wrong, no matter who does them. Real crime must be addressed with awareness and self defense, not attempts to predict and prevent those crimes – simply because nobody has that ability, let alone that authority over others.

So, we come back to the real question. Who owns your life and body? Who besides you has any legitimate authority to decide how you will live, what you will eat, drink, smoke, or anything else? If you own yourself, does it matter if someone else thinks what you do is harmful to YOU? If you have not committed aggression against anyone else, why would what you do be anyone else’s business?

Who owns your life? If it is you, then YOU must bear full responsibility for your actions and choices, including any “addictions.” If you won’t do that, then you really should just be quiet and leave everything to your masters… whoever is currently running the plantation.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-09E: Nanny state and culture warfare

Posted on 2014-03-07 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning!  Having talked about stupidity for several days, let me move on (or back) to the nanny state and all the culture war type evils we find today.

Our beloved nanny of nanny agencies, the Department of Health and Human Services, says that there will be 60,000 unaccompanied illegal alien children caught in 2014; up 815% in three years, which is a good indicator that bad as things are here, they are worse in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.  It also is an indicator that though we treat anyone under age 24 as a child in too much of the USA, many countries still send children out on their own at a ripe young age.

Newly-renominated Representative Sessions talked about the “messiah’s” budget: ‘This is the way a nation goes broke’,  which means that Sessions is NOT telling the truth or is an idiot: the nation is already broke and has been for decades.  We are in the grave, the “messiah” is just digging it deeper.  Reelecting people like Sessions is NOT part of the solution.

The Dalai Lama opens Thursday’s Senate session with prayer to ‘Budda and All Other Gods’, and we notice that the usual suspects screaming about separation of church and state are nowhere to be heard.  Nor do we hear anything about people who are offended at this eastern potentate’s causal disregard for OUR faith.

Mama’s Note: Actually, I couldn’t care less what the Senate wants to do for an opening prayer, or if they have one. People in this geographical area called America have dozens of different “faiths,” and a great many people have none at all. The people who occupy Washington D.C. do not actually “represent” any of us to start with, and certainly not in matters of faith.

The LA Times reports that almost 1 in 5 American soldiers had a “common mental illness,” such as depression, panic disorder or ADHD, before they enlist in the Army, according to a new study that raises questions about the military’s assessment and screening of recruits.  Now, how about a study of those running for Congress and getting appointed to high political office?

There is a greater divide in income between the rich and the poor (the so-called income Inequality) in the nation’s biggest cities than in the United States as a whole… A claim (or fact) which does not boggle the mind: cities – especially the big urban complexes around the world – are BAD for you.  Physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, economically, and spiritually.  They are crowded cages filled with two-legged rats (and four-legged ones, too, one of the reasons they are physically bad for you).  We’ve known for decades that if you take the ten largest cities in the US out of the calculations, the murder rate in the US drops to near the bottom of the world list – better than the UK (although I’ve never seen data from the UK that takes London, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool out; I wonder).  Of course, the other reason for this inequality is that (a) the megawealthy (Buffet, Gates, Bloomberg and the like) AND the big-shot governmental thugs live in the big cities – including DC.  You don’t suppose government has anything to do with it, do you?

And squeaking of the big shots, apparently, some of the big shots under the iron dome of the Capitol are upset that the NSA would have the gall to spy on them and their staff, and are suddenly claiming constitutional violations.  After all, they aren’t peons like the rest of us: they are the 1/10 of 1%, and “how DARE the NSA.”  Hmmm, just reminded me of StateSec in the Republic of Haven and the People’s Republic of Haven: you don’t suppose…

Assad Likely to Flout a 3rd Deadline for Destroying Its Chemical Weapons Stock , but we just got to give him a chance: he is hoping and praying that the FedGov will collapse first, see?

Mama’s Note: I’m with him on that one… But I’m hoping governments around the world begin to drop like flies. His too.

Catholic Church on Homosexual Acts: ‘Under No Circumstances Can They Be Approved’ which apparently puts paid to rumors that Francis is going to (or has) accepted homosexual “civil unions.”  If you or I filed paperwork to establish a corporation whose mission statement was “perform murders for hire,” then you KNOW that the local sheriff would come a calling.  A civil union exists only because two people, engaged in sin as defined by thousands of years of history and every MAJOR religion, including christianity, want to pretend to be married, and don’t want to “rile the natives” too much.  It is a charade, and has little to do with claims of inheritance and hospital visitation rights and all that: which could just as easily be established though a simple partnership agreement and an exchange of powers of attorney.  But the people who go in for this kind of thing (as well as the “calling a tail a leg” business of “homosexual marriages”) want AFFIRMATION of their actions, of their lifestyle, and they are willing to go to horrific lengths to get that affirmation, or at least the shabby pretense of it.  That is why some people so viciously attack church-owned resorts, bakers of wedding cakes, wedding photographers, and banquet facilities.  Of course, there are heterosexuals who also have this pathetic need for affirmation of their lifestyle and actions, even from the very religious organizations they denigrate and reject.  (I know (unfortunately) a woman who once told me, “The reason that I’ve been married five times is because I respect marriage so much.”  Which shows she does not understand the institution in the least.)

Why do I bring this up in a political, anarchist webzine?  Because the home – and the institution of marriage which is the most stable foundation of the home – is the fundamental building block of society.  Not the neighborhood or the community or the county or state – and absolutely not any “national identity” or similar manmade organization or framework.   The decay of the home and family for the last 80+ years is a key cause for the decay of society and the growth of government.  The more the family and home is damaged, the less stable everything else in society is, and we are reaping the results of many decades of that damage.  Starting with the Great Depression, continuing with WW2 and the Cold War, the troubles of the 1960s and 1970s, and the last 30 years of liberal ascendancy, even while the more extreme forms of “family” are visible in the light and trying to make the mainstream, we see more and more societal decay.  Wonder why?  Perhaps because government, never strong on encouraging good morals, has gone to even MORE strongly actively promoting immoral behavior, starting with stealing and waste, fraud, and abuse?

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-09D: More Stupidity, especially about Russia

Posted on 2014-03-06 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning, as we enjoy a nice clear morning in the Four Corners, and hope that you are warm and safe.  After the last column on stupidity, a whole bunch of interesting stories illustrating more stupidity showed up, so I’m doing a second series of commentaries.

The LA Times has a story about a poll explaining how stupid most Americans are, because they don’t know technical terms for computers and the internet.  It may be the case, or it may be that at least SOME of the people responding to the internet/phone poll-by-invitation decided that they were sick and tired of surveys and decided to have some fun.  I know I’ve been tempted, just as I have been tempted to call into some talk shows with insane comments, just to mess with their minds.  Have you?

Mama’s Note: I’ve answered exactly one “survey,” done by a nurse’s group I joined more than 20 years ago. Other than that, I toss those coming by mail and hang up on those who call. It’s not only a waste of time, it leads to more and more misinformation. The “questions” are always slanted to obtain the answers they want. And any that don’t fit can so conveniently be lost…

A long-scheduled Russian ICBM test was successful and on-schedule.  Despite it being scheduled and announced (notification to the US was given months ago), there are a lot of people who are reacting as though it was launched across the bow of a US warship in the Black Sea, as part of the Russian “escalation” of the Ukraine crisis.

Speaking of paranoia, the nut-web bunch seem to be saying that NATO and the US have been planning the current mess in the Ukraine and Crimea since the end of WW2, if I understand their meandering.  These people are as bad as those who claim that Putin is implementing his grand plan to reestablish the Soviet Union.  This is akin to those who claim that all they need to do is say the right magic words in the right place (often, the US Supreme Court) and all the evil FedGov things, from the Federal Reserve to the Income Tax to the EPA will vanish in a cloud of emerald smoke.

Mama’s Note: Don’t we just WISH? And why, pray tell, have these marvelous words not been spoken already then? Sheech.

Back to Russia and Putin: With full justification, Putin points to U.S. interference in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya in responding to the ham-handed, stupid U.S. threats against Russia for getting involved in Urkraine, and specifically the Crimea.  It is not a bad comparison but the hypocrisy of the U.S. (well, the FedGov) is (as always) massive.  And of course, he won’t make the FedGov and the “messiah” shut up: they are too stupid to understand the risks and to understand that there is a reason that Russians love their strongmen rulers.

American politicians and “foreign experts” are apparently SHOCKED that Russia is playing the same cards that the US frequently does, by pushing back at the FedGov’s threats to isolate and punish Russia for “invading” the Crimea.  News and claims continues to be controversial and conflicting, but it looks more and more like (again) the FedGov is lying about what is going on and what happened.

FLASHBACK: Only Minor Punishment for Russia Last Time It Sent Troops Across the Border, in major part because there was no way that the U.S. could intervene in Georgia, given its location.  Of course, if the US wants to get more enemies in and around the Black Sea, the FedGov could intervene in Crimea and drag Turkey into a shooting war with Russia.  Remember, about 160 years ago, Turks (specifically the Ottoman Turkish Empire) OWNED the Crimea and lost it to Russia despite Brit AND French aid and intervention.  Since Turks are the third largest ethnic group in the Crimea (after Russians and Ukrainians), it is a recipe for trouble.

Not really heard much about this in the mainstream news, but an anti-war activist detained and injured in Cairo says that the U.S. Embassy ‘was missing in action’ just like in Libya (Benghazi) and a good many other places around the world.  Not that ANY of us would expect the State Department to come down on the side of anyone who is Anti-War. Kerry’s main job these days seems to be to anger anyone and everyone he can, perhaps in the hope of getting them so mad that they shoot at us.  Of course, his instructions from the “messiah” (or the Tranzi master council) are to push homosexuality and global warming, which are enough to rile anyone sane or insane.  Doesn’t he do a good job?

Former VP candidate Paul Ryan says ‘I can’t believe we lost to these guys.’ Well, Mr. Ryan, it wasn’t due to lack of trying: the Presidential candidate, what WAS his name, oh yeah, Romney, worked very hard to help keep the bogus incumbent, the “messiah” in the White House, and succeeded very well.

Reid blasts Kochs again: ‘two very wealthy individuals who intend to buy their very own Congress’, which of course upsets him: he and his cronies (including the “messiah”) and their backers/controlers paid VERY good money for Congress, and don’t want to lose their investment in both Democrats and Republicans.  Let the Kochs go out and find their OWN country to buy.

Obamacare’s Disincentives to Work Are a Good Thing, NPR Spins, since it will give them more listeners.  Keep in mind, for NPR to flourish, they need “professional” and “middle/upper class” people with no jobs or fewer jobs.  The lower class and the underclasses don’t listen to NPR, they listen to Top 40 and Hiphop (or whatever garbage is currently in style) and (at least in the West and South) the latest excuse for “Country Western” – which isn’t either.  So if those who were “more gently raised” don’t have jobs, well, NPR’s rating boom!  And all their sponsors will shell out more moolah.

A Long Island New York man is facing a manslaughter charge after he shot and killed a suspected burglar almost seven months ago.  Family surveillance cameras will be used by the family to defend him in court, as police claim that the only weapon carried by four men who apparently assaulted his home was a pellet gun, and that he was not within his rights to use a shotgun to wound and kill one of the attackers.  At night. Typical for New York, no?

Mama’s Note: My understanding is that this man fired at the robbers as they were running away. He would have been within his rights to shoot while they were actually threatening him, but not as they fled. That’s the part that is not being reported or discussed, and makes all the difference.

An Obummercare “expert” claims that health insurance “as we knew it” is toast and won’t exist in a few years.  A friend and correspondent was told that it may not be years, but months, and that BlueCross/BlueShield may totally disappear: ending a massive health insurance provider once and for all.  And perhaps triggering a massive meltdown of much of the economy – offering opportunity for a massive FURTHER government expansion into health care.

Mama’s Note: Or not… It will depend a lot on the response of the medical professionals and their organizations. From what I’ve read, most medical professionals will refuse to have anything to do with any form of Obummercare, and those who do will be simply overwhelmed. Some meeting of the minds, to reinstate true forms of catastrophic insurance or other forms of risk pools, would be ideal. Unfortunately, the entire economy and irrational, non-voluntary government will probably have to collapse first.

Health “insurance” as we know it now is doomed, one way or another. What will take its place is up for grabs. Here is someone with great, free market ideas. And it seems to be catching on. The Oklahoma Surgery Center does not accept Medicare, Medicaid or any other insurance or government subsidy. They post their cash prices on line, a tiny fraction of what even the “not for profit” hospitals charge. Dr. Smith blogs here too, and gives us the best of his great understanding of how current “health care” works, and what it will take to fix it.

Bloomberg and other hoploclasts are now urging Facebook to prohibit guns on their website.  In the form of talk, of course.  Does ANYone know of a single person killed or even wounded by a picture or a discussion of a firearm on-line?  One?  The liberal/progressive panic about guns once more.  Pointing fingers, wearing shirts with gun pictures, having key-chains with tiny miniature guns: all of these are MORE important than people being able to defend themselves.

Mama’s Note: This false panic isn’t about self defense any more than it is about safety. It is ALL about control. They want to do things to us that we won’t allow as long as we have guns.

Global warming is destroying the world, one waterfall at a time.  Niagara Falls has frozen AGAIN this winter, because of the “insane” cold in the Eastern US and Canada.  Right, global warming is going to kill us all.  By the way, the pictures at the link are beautiful!

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-09C: Stupidity high and low

Posted on 2014-03-06 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning, to all my “non-stupid” readers.  It is so easy to get frustrated with the demonstrated lack of competence across the board these days.

DHS tells the Romeike Family “you can stay”, just the day after the U.S. Supreme Court denied their appeal for asylum. HSLDA is glad, but baffled, as we all are.  But maybe the DHS figured that the distraction value had reached its limit.  Or maybe everyone in DHS is as stupid as the TSA thugs in most airports seem to be.

Putin claims that Russia has no plans to annex Crimea as well as stating that the Crimeans should determine their own fate, and pointing out that  Yanukovych was overthrown by a coup and NOT by a revolution or rebellion.  Whether we believe him or not, he is more plausible than the “messiah” or minion Kerry, to say nothing of Uncle Joe.  Picture what it would be like if a French Canadian prime minister were overthrown as the result of a bogus street revolt in Ottawa led by a cabal of Western provincial English speakers, encouraged and aided by Russia.  How would many in the US respond? Or for that matter, France, if the use of French were outlawed by the new “populist” “English-only” regime?

Related to this, an RT (Russia Today) TV newsbabe resigned from the network, on air, claiming she was sick of repeating Putin’s lies.  The woman (an American and “proud” to be one) whose grandparents were Hungarian refugees from the Soviet occupation admitted doesn’t have a good opinion of Russia and Russians, which might be influencing her.  While I suspect that she might be buying into the White House propaganda (as WAY too many conservatives are), I suspect that she will have to find another profession, as whatever other network or “news” outlet she hires on with is very VERY likely to have even MORE troubles with the truth than RT.

Targeting Student Aid, that is, making financial aid dependent on a student’s college readiness could better target taxpayer dollars… according to an article republished in Daily Policy Digest.  Well, that may be, but a FAR better solution is to get the government (at ANY level) OUT of the education financial aid business.  There are multiple advantages, including moving higher education closer to a free market so that prices and demand/supply determine the value, not some legislature or session of Congress, ending government meddling with the content of education, and allowing money to be spent (voluntarily) on those who can benefit from a college education and not just four more years of childhood.  But even THIS modest reform proposal is going to be rejected as elitist and racist, since to sort potential students into sheep and goats is obviously discriminating and sure to harm their delicate little egos.  And show up the public (government-ruined, theft-funded) primary and secondary schools as the worthless institutions that they are.

“In an effort its spokesman has described as ‘outreach to rednecks,’ the Kentucky Baptist Convention is leading ‘Second Amendment Celebrations,’ where churches around the state give away guns as door prizes to lure in the unchurched in hopes of converting them to Christ.  The “social gospel” gone to seed, as Baptists no longer have much faith at all in the REAL Gospel, and must bribe people to come in (not just to win one of the 25 handguns being given away, but for a free steak dinner)!  Fortunately, most Baptists have departed so far from the simple christianity of the New Testament that their stupid actions won’t bring as much reproach on true faith as they might have, say a century ago.

Once again,Quebec’s Free Quebec Party is trying to get a majority in the provincial parliament, leading everyone to think that they will again try to get enough popular votes to be their own nation.  No doubt, once again they will be disappointed: too many Quebecois see too many advantages to staying in the federation.  Too bad: a seventy-state solution for North America would be a big improvement.

“A judge in the US has ruled that lawyers representing Amazonian villagers used bribes to secure compensation worth billions of dollars from oil company Chevron in Ecuador. So the Amazonian villagers can’t use US courts to enforce the ruling.  Tom Knapp noted, “I bet there was some bribery going on. But I wouldn’t be too quick to conclude that bribery only happened in Ecuador …” I note that just because they can’t use the US courts, they could still get a lot in Ecuador and other Latin countries where Chevron operates.  For one thing, who trusts an American judge to tell the truth (or decide truthfully), bribery or not?  Assuming a US judge has ANY jurisdiction, the question is not whether or not there was bribery in Ecuador, but whether or not the damage really happened, and whether or not Chevron is to blame.

“The District of Columbia City Council voted Tuesday to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in the nation’s capital. These people (as we know from other actions) are born stupid.  The Mayor intends to sign the measure, which replaces jail time with civil fines but does not legalize the use, possession, sale or growing of cannabis; they clearly want the revenue and to save space in jail. Apparently no one thinks that Congress will veto the measure, because Congress is divided and both houses must approve a veto.  Of course, it is STILL going to be illegal federally (Schedule 1, remember?) so this could be funny indeed.  How many in all those big fancy buildings will toke up, despite federal law?

DNC members can’t think of a single Hillary achievement, at least not one they are willing to admit to.  Those of us who see her an another poster child for nanny-state and Tranzi tyranny can think of lots – but again, none that SHE would be willing to admit to.  Her record can speak for itself, including the way she lets her hubby run wild.

Mama’s Note: Mr. Clinton is responsible for himself. If she had any integrity or moral compass, of course, she’d have divorced him a long time ago, but it’s not her responsibility to control him. She has enough evil on her own plate without that.

Speaking of wives and husbands, the “messiah’s” consort and his incredible Let’s Move front organization have admitted that 1.6 million paying students have dropped school lunches, as apparently there are ‘challenges with palatability’ thanks to the consort’s efforts to promote “healthy” meals for children.  So, as an”unintended consequence” of this wonderful plan to keep children from getting fat and developing deficiencies, the cost of the federally-subsidized school lunch programs goes up as well.  Of course, there are other consequences to her nanny-thug approach.  A correspondent reports to me that school cafeteria workers “tearfully” refuse to let Lakota children on several reservations have seconds because they are “forbidden to” by federal regulations (and thugs), which is a definite problem (as reported) because too many of the children with boozing or drugging parents and siblings have little or nothing (except for some junk food, maybe) to eat at home, and often the school lunch is the only meal that they get on weekdays.  Seems to me like if they are driven to tears over this, they’d try to work around the feds and the thugs, but perhaps being the descendents of seven (or eight) generations of what are essentially welfare drones courtesy of Honest Abe and Carl Schurz and their ilk back in the 1860s, they literally have had initiative and compassion bred out of them

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-09B: Political Games

Posted on 2014-03-05 by TPOL Nathan

by Nathan Barton

Good morning!  We see a lot of politics games being played here at home this week.  Here are a few.

The folks over at Godfather Politics make a mighty interesting point: if the [putative] President of the United States, US Attorney General and now state Attorney Generals [according to Holder] do not have to enforce laws that they disagree with, does this set the precedent for American citizens to not obey laws they disagree with? All of these elected officials swear an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land, but if they don’t have to live up to their oath, then we as citizens should not be expected to live up to our supposed duty to obey the laws.”  I look at it this way: the powers-that-be have almost NEVER bothered to follow the laws that they enforce so harshly against others.  It doesn’t matter whether they call themselves conservatives or liberals:  they are hypocritical.  But to use THEM as an excuse is likely to make us just as hypocritical.  The best reason to disobey an unjust or immoral or ungodly law is because it IS unjust, immoral, or ungodly: we don’t need to pay attention to the likes of the “messiah” or his minion, Holder.

The writer over at Last Resistance DOES say it is probably the only time he will ever praise the legislature, but he does for the new “slowpoke” law they are passing.  I guess I can see his point, but the real problem is that government agencies set speed limits NOT based on science (although we try and tell ourselves that traffic speed studies are scientific) but based on politics, from the state legislature down to the same little old whinging woman that wants to go 65 in the left lane – unless there is a wet road or a touch of snow or… or…, and then she wants to go 45.

This bit of news from L. Neil Smith should not surprise anyone except that they are getting more bold, and the arrogance is at an all-time high.  This FEMA guy might have been one of Sherman’s foragers, the way he behaved.  And there are tens of thousands out there like him: not just in Connecticut.  People who are preparing for disasters need to remember that no matter how bad a disaster is, government will make it worse.  And worse again.

I may have missed it, but I don’t think this bit of news about Idaho stamping “void” on the First Amendment made it into many “Libertarian” news outlets.  It is a perfect example of “red-state tyranny” as the guys at Political Outcast labeled it.  Is this an example of farmers being almost as sacrosanct as soldiers: they can do no wrong?  Or is this just the normal Republican socialism/fascism mix that has been around since Fremont started the GOP?    Of course, as I’ve noted above, the powers-that-be don’t really care about whether they and their fair-haired children obey the law (even animal cruelty law: look at PETA and all the Humane League euthanasia out there), just whether the cannon-fodder and serfs do.

Information from a reasonably trusted but non-website source. A mother’s womb should be the safest place a child can ever be, yet in 2008 the abortion rate was 4,111 times higher than the overall national murder rate. There were 5.4 murders for every 100,000 people [already born or born that year] in America in 2008. In the same year, 22,200 out of every 100,000 pregnancies were ended by abortion.  Of course, they weren’t really comparing apples and oranges. Now, there were 305 million residents in the US that year (estimate), but only 4.2 million births and 825,000 induced abortions that year, which is “only” 0.27 abortions per 100,000 people, or just 1/20 the number of murders.  But that STILL amounts to 1 OUT OF 5 UNBORN CHILDREN KILLED INTENTIONALLY.  The “Children’s Defense Fund” claims that 2,947 “children” were killed by guns that year.  (The number may be lower, since most hoploclasts claim anyone under the age of 21 to be a “child”)  That is STILL 280 times less than unborn children aborted.  Sodom, Gomorrah, the worshippers of Ba’al and Moloch and Milcom, had NOTHING on the formerly united States.

Kentucky: proposed bill allows Rand Paul to run for Senate and for U.S. President according to Personal Liberty, who says to expect opposition from State Democrats.  They, of course, have a vested interest in that, figuring that they have a little more hope in a border state with no incumbent in the Senate race.  But the GOP types who introduced that show that they STILL believe in men on white horses and other myths, and think that they can counter the current cult of the “messiah” with a personality cult of their own.  Talk about racing to the bottom:  presumably if Rand wins both races, he can nominate his own successor or have a puppet governor do so.  Nero’s horse, anyone?  Why not just save ALL that money by having the winner of the 2016 prez race select replacements (or reappoint) all 33 or 34 senators up for a new term in 2016?

Mark Thornton over at Von Mises had an interesting bit of news and commentary about economic prosperity and medical cannabis in the various states, as shown in a recent poll.  While there is certainly some correlation, there is not necessarily a direct cause and effect.  “Libertarian” is not a good label to apply to ANY state, and economic freedom does have an impact on prosperity, but many of these states with MMJ have very little economic freedom.  We should be asking ourselves how much more prosperous states like North Dakota or California would be if they had more personal AND economic freedom.

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A Pony for Every Child

Posted on 2014-03-04 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

Over and over we hear about things the government proposes (or actually does) to provide things that people need and want. I’m going to ignore, for now, a good many other problems and just deal with the “want and need” part.

In 1959, my family consisted of myself, a younger sister and our mother, a widow. We lived in a rather poor suburb of a relatively poor city in a duplex apartment, one of four sets. Mother earned our living managing a dry cleaning store. We did not suffer serious want, but we lived frugally and peacefully, in good relationship to our equally poor and peaceful neighbors. This was before much of the welfare, Medicare, Medicaid and other so-called poverty programs, of course.

As did many young girls in my generation, I loved horses. I saved my baby sitting money to go riding at a local stable, and spent a great amount of time reading and dreaming about having a horse. Then, one day when I was 12, the dream seemed to come true.

A girl I rode with often offered to give me an old mare, and I was delighted to lead her home.  All I had was a soft rope around her neck, but that was plenty for such a gentle creature. I tied her to the tree in front of the house, brought her carrots from the kitchen, brushed her with my old hair brush and dreamed of long rides and showing off to my friends.

Then Mother came home. She admired “Ginger” very much, petting her soft nose and laughing at her attempts to get more petting. And then began a new phase of my ethical and economic education.

“What will you feed her?” she asked. “How much does it cost, and where do we get it? Oh, and where would we store it? Where will we keep her?”  ”

I thought about the big barn and large stack of hay bales at my friend’s house, then looked around at our small yard, quite naked of any outbuildings. I didn’t want to think of how many things we’d had to do without, simply because we didn’t have the money.

I couldn’t think of any answers to her very reasonable questions, but was not yet willing to give up the dream.

And then, the horse lifted her tail and did what horses do… and mother sighed, asking me how I was going to explain to the landlord the piles of horse manure that were sure to collect. “What will you do with it, Susan?” she asked, reasonably and calmly.

Just then the telephone rang, and when she came back out she told me that my friend’s father was coming to collect the horse because his daughter had not had any authority to give it away. My dream was shattered, but in light of the obvious economic and practical barriers to keeping her, I was actually relieved as well.

I had “wanted” a horse, and convinced myself that I had a great need for one, but had no idea whatsoever what it would take to get and keep one.

Now just suppose that my mother had been a different person altogether, and she had conspired with me to do whatever it took to force other people to pay for the feed, shelter the horse on their private property against their will, and left it for others to deal with the manure, all without any regard to their own needs and wants.

If you think about it, that’s exactly what happens when the “needs” and even the “wants” of some people are provided for by stealing from other people. We can’t morally or rationally give away things that don’t belong to us either.

None of that could be done without force of arms, of course, something not even available to my individual family, but which would soon be implemented on a national scale via “voting,” and political gamesmanship. The people were told they could live on stolen goods, and they had nobody to ask them those difficult questions. Instead,  the politicians assured them that they didn’t need to think about it, so the “war on poverty” came to despoil and impoverish us all.

Nearly twenty years later, when I had earned enough, had a place of my own, and knew that I could take care of it, I bought a horse. An altogether satisfying experience, and one well worth waiting and working for.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #14-09A: Free Americans

Posted on 2014-03-03 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Good morning!  There are still people in this formerly united States that live free, who – while maintaining a low profile – are able to enjoy their liberties in some small ways.  I found a few stories about some, and think you might enjoy the thoughts.

In Washington State, an 11-year-old girl killed a mountain lion and saved her brother from the starving animal, which was tracking him.  She used a rifle to do that.  I am very surprised, given Washington State and its politics, that there has not been an enormous outcry over the fact that this child (a) had a cougar hunting license (b) had a rifle, and (c) had bullets.  Have they no safety locks for weapons in Washington?  Have they no love for small children, to allow them to even see (let alone touch or use) such deadly weapons?  Have they no understanding of how that gun could kill that child or her brother or anyone else?  Have they no common love for any of God’s creatures, like this poor starving female lion, perhaps desperately searching for food for her kittens?  Have they no public school teachers to teach this child about the importance of wildlife and the need to sacrifice over-populated, resource guzzling humans to let the wild animals prosper? (/sarc)

Seriously, once more we see that one size does not fit all, and that even people living in fairly settled country have a great need for the ability to defend themselves, even if just against wild animals.  And that stupid laws which seek to “protect” children by disarming them are evil and must be ignored and eliminated.

There are other brave Americans – in the full sense of that word – as Freedom Outpost tells about here. John Cinque makes his stand in a final statement, “I’m not speaking for anyone else here, but I’m telling you right now: I will not comply.”  When the lawmakers asks Mr. Cinque if he has been fingerprinted before, Cinque answers “Yes, but I also took an oath to protect against all enemies foreign and domestic. I got domestic enemies now that show their hands every day.”

Related to freedom; I suspect that there are more than a few residents of senior homes/assisted living in the United States who might respond the way this fictitious Canadian elder lady did.

At first, I thought it was a true story, that US agents attempted to raid a Candian senior’s home looking for pot, but The Lupine is the Canadian version of The Onion, and this IS a spoof.  And funny enough.  But the agreement between the US and CDN is real and the potential for something like this is high.  We have seen dozens if not hundreds of examples of local, state, and federal agencies attacking the wrong place, so this is only a matter of time.

This also in from Canada, and apparently NOT a spoof:  a famous Toronto barbershop, owned and operated by Muslims since 1925, refused to cut a woman’s hair for religious reasons: she is suing.  She is also a lesbian, which means that their refusal may violate Canada’s non-discrimination laws.  Interesting to watch two dogmatic, intolerant groups face each other.  No doubt we’ll see something like that in the US soon.  I don’t like Muslims overall, although I have been and am friends with some (probably heretics to most of their brethren) but they have just as much right to their beliefs and practices as any other of Her Majesty’s subjects in Ontario.  And I cannot believe that there are not many barber or beauty shops in Toronto who are more than willing to cut the hair of women, lesbian or not – or maybe especially if lesbian.  Clearly, intimidation is the objective here.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the mess worsens.

The ousted Ukrainian president, now fled to Russia, vows to keep fighting, while the West applauds the violent rebels which have seized power.  And while local ethnic Russians are aided by troop movements of the Russian Army to occupy at least most of the Crimea where the Russian Navy is based.  DC seems to be pounding war drums, or else is trying to bluff, or are too stupid to really understand what they are doing.

But my sympathies lie with the Crimea, and with those who at least played by the rules. Neither the old Prez nor the new one are friends of liberty, and I seriously doubt that there are any real lovers of liberty in the Crimean parliament or administration.  But anytime a central government is weakened, and a small but identifiable region or district can win more freedom from its overlords, I see it as a win in the long term.

Mama’s Note: “…played by the rules.” Who’s rules? Who has the authority to make or enforce those rules? The people of the Crimea seem to be welcoming the Russians. I say, let them determine their own future. US politicians have no more legitimate right to decide that than the politicians of Ukraine, OR Russia.

Nathan:  Not so much “who’s rules” but what rules:  not initiating force is the main “rule” – and I guess that is God’s rule.  A second rule is also basic: that people have a right to chose their own destiny and not have one forced on them: but maybe that is just a restatement of the first.

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Connecticut, the “Police State”

Posted on 2014-03-03 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Connecticut is nicknamed the “Constitution State” because it claims to have been the first polity in history with a written constitution (the Fundamental Orders, published in 1638).  Apparently the fifth state to ratify the Constitution, Connecticut has NEVER ratified the Bill of Rights: apparently the state convention and subsequent governments have never felt that these were needed.  However, Article First of the State Constitution, Section 15, states simply:  “Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state.”

Based on the laws passed in the State in recent years, especially the recent hoplophobic laws, its nickname needs to be changed.  But its current actions, as I discuss below, definitely indicate that its nickname appropriately be “The Police State.”

In Connecticut, a woman quested a State Police officer about the 200+ letters which have been sent out to people who did not register their “assault weapon” or “high capacity  magazine” in time.  The National Examiner has video and a transcript, which I am copying partially here.

“I want to know, if it comes down to it, will the police go to my home if my husband refuses to give up a weapon that was formerly legal and now has been made illegal by a corrupt legislature?” she asked. “Will the police actually go to my home and threaten my family, ’cause I’m scared to death?”

“We don’t threaten people, ma’am,” Lt. Vance said. “That doesn’t happen.”

“If you’re going with the force of government, that’s a threat,” she responded.

“Ma’am, it sounds like you’re anti-American, it sounds like you’re anti-law. I can’t answer your question,” Lt. Vance remarked.

Ashley told Lt. Vance in no uncertain terms she is pro-American and took exception to being called anti-American, a charge Lt. Vance tried to walk back.

He also told Ashley she should contact an attorney to learn what her options are under the law.

Later, after Ashley said Lt. Vance works for the people of the state, he informed her that he, in fact, is her master.

“You’re the servant, we’re the master,” she said.

“I’m the master, ma’am. I’m the master,” he said in response.

So, THERE WE HAVE IT.  In the formerly Sovereign and Free State (Commonwealth) of Connecticut, a relatively low-ranking officer in the military occupation force that CLAIMS to be a “law enforcement agency” is the MASTER of the citizens of the state.

This isn’t Darth Vader breathing heavily as he proclaims his tyrannical powers: this is the real world of 21st Century Police States.  The CSP, 111 years old, has about 1,248 “troops” and almost 1,600 employees, is “heavily militaristic” and rules (that’s what masters do) over about 3.5 million residents (subjects?) of Connecticut.   They “protect” the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the state, and their families, which I guess means that even those people are servants.

Not only that, but this “master” of people says that someone objecting to unconstitutional gun control laws is “Anti-American.” It is now about 72 hours since that statement was made, but I hear no official, no senior officer or civilian official, publicly stating that this lieutenant thug was wrong in what he said.  “Silence is consent.”

I am Texian by ancestry, and therefore you should not be surprised to find that I am very much NOT a lover of the concept of a State Police. State Police are an integral part of Police States: or certainly, the germ of such.  In fact, except MAYBE for special, limited-duty, highly specialized, units like Texas Rangers or Colorado Rangers, I am opposed to ANY statewide (much less nationwide) law enforcement OR peace officer OR public safety organization.  Given any justification for government at all, law enforcement/peace-keeping belongs strictly at the COUNTY level, with an elected official (a SHERIFF) directly responsible to the people of the county or township, and his/her deputies.  If there is a need for a state highway or courtesy patrol, it should be HIGHLY limited (as with Rangers) to a very few specific tasks and responsible NOT to the legislature or the executive branch of the state government, but to the Sheriffs – either in general assembly or through a board of directors elected by them. Even then, we know the danger of tyranny is heightened.

(Connecticut does not have viable, functioning counties and no Sheriffs: indeed most of its many municipalities are patrolled by “local” officers that are part of, or report to, the State Police.  Is that messed up, or what?)

Supposedly, there are between 20,000 and 100,000 residents (can’t call ’em citizens, any more) of Connecticut who have not registered or gotten rid of their “assault weapons.”  (JPFO has a good summary article here.) Presumably many more have “sniper weapons” (any long arm from .223 caliber on up).  This occupation army, with only between 1200 and 1700 thugs, could disappear from the face of the earth and have to answer to God for their evil deeds in a matter of minutes.  The Police State COULD end that quickly.  If there are enough people with courage and conviction and love of liberty left in that state.  (There are some, at least, as Freedom Outpost describes.)

It is obvious that the present, intolerable situation cannot remain unresolved.  Was it not Abraham Lincoln who quoted Christ Jesus that “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” and went on to say: “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.  I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided.  It will become all one thing or all the other.”

Though no great fan of Abe Lincoln, he had a point.  Connecticut is no longer free.  Other states may too be in that situation, as certainly are many cities (NYC, Chicago, are two that come to mind).  We must decide NOW that we in the mostly free states (Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Alaska, perhaps Arizona, North Dakota, and Idaho) must aid our brothers in states that are Police States, to regain their freedom.  BUT we can’t do it for them.

Mama’s Note: The idea of “the Union” and all the talk about division creating a fall… have nothing to do with voluntary associations. The “fall” comes about when each faction demands the power to control and plunder the others. I have been a part of a good many voluntary associations, with people of all different background, needs, talents, etc. We were able to work toward a mutual goal, in peace and prosperity, because we did not have any desire to RULE one another. The law of non-aggression, and the desire for peaceful, free trade is all that is required. The most desirable division in society is the individual, freely associating and trading with others on mutually agreeable terms. And, just as important, leaving all others free to associate differently and work toward other goals.

The collectivist standard of  “country” or the “state” as an indivisible, sacred whole – which must be maintained as such by whatever violence is necessary – is the very antithesis of individual liberty and justice.

 

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“Rogue” Cops – Is Enough Enough? (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 2014-03-02 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

In part 1, I talked about the problem we have with cops and police in America today: killer cops, abusive cops, tyrannical cops.  I presented some thoughts on how to deal with that, and recognized that those things are NOT really solutions.

So let me propose a restatement of the problem and what may be the solution.

The model of “policing” we have developed in this country (and before that, in the UK and other Commonwealth countries) is a failure.  We cannot fix it anymore. It is time to accept that and replace it with something else: END the occupation.  NOW.

We MUST replace it with something that might work better.  What would that be?

One that comes to mind is Heinlein’s concept of a public safety proctor roster.

You would have people volunteer and are selected (after some basic screening) almost on rotation or by the lot to serve for a very limited time and a very specific area.  Their duties would be to keep or restore the peace, deal with emergencies, and aid people. This roster would be on a very local level:  a city neighborhood, a township, a small county: probably nothing larger than 25,000 people (and that large only in huge urban areas: in rural areas, I could see that “jurisdiction” to be as small as a few hundred people or a few blocks of businesses).

These would NOT be professionals: we don’t WANT professionals.  We want people who don’t think that they are superheroes or magic workers or the like: but people who know their community and care about it and want to fix things, not make them worse.  Their purpose is to identify, stabilize (keep things from getting worse), and if beyond resolution, to call for help: paramedics, fire service, or citizen emergency response teams, or just other neighbors with various skills to deal with the mess (and if need be, the person(s) causing the mess).

This is related to the old English idea of Frith-guilds: that small groups of people voluntarily enter into agreements to protect them, their families, and their properties, and to mutually pledge to keep the peace and deal with trouble of any sort.

Also related to this is the use of private security and service companies, entering into local, limited, and voluntary contracts with people and businesses, and working “at will” with companies and communities: hired to do a specific job, one of those dozen or so that we lump together in “police” or “law enforcement.”  Tasks like ensuring that traffic flows safely and smoothly, that parking privilege (or rights) on other peoples’ land is not abused, that fraud and corruption and theft are investigated, prevented, or compensated. Like protecting people from violence initiated by others.  L. Neil Smith has come up with, or popularized, many ways of dealing with this sort of thing.  The emphasis is small, local, and limited, and ALWAYS with someone watching to see that they do it right (and take action if they don’t).  Bad as Jenny and Win Bear’s USA was, the thought of a dictatorship run by or supported by Griswolds’ (Brrrr!) is frightening.

With modern communications and equipment and all we have, there is no need for a centralized force to do these things at ANY level, including the federal: at best, someone to maintain communications and databases, and to provide for mutual aid. EVERYTHING (even that) is private:  not “privatized” like BlackWater or contracting out parking metermaids, but PRIVATE:  crime investigation and prevention (security), and even prosecution and serving of warrants and legal papers done by private companies under private contract with private individuals and businesses.  With NO special privileges, written or implied.

The theme of all this is PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY:  taking responsibility and accepting accountability for your own actions, your own body, your own land, your own community.  Our modern, sick system of policing destroys personal accountability and individual responsibility.  We must restore something that creates conditions in which we are expected to be responsible and will have no choice but to accept that; whether it is as spending one day a month as a volunteer public safety proctor or contracting for services and insurance and paying compensation when we do mess up.  The only reason the old system lasted as long as it did was because there were enough people who were still willing to be responsible and behave as they would want others to do.

These are not utopian fixes: there would be lots of problems.  But what we have now is not just not working, it is leading to more and more evil by the day.  Enough is enough.

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