Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-48D: Self defense and cops and teachers

Posted on 2013-12-19 by TPOL Nathan

Self-defense – Cops
Armed suspect shot while attempting to rob off-duty D.C. cop
(Guns.com)

Mama’s Note: But of course, if the intended victim had not been a cop “only one,” they would probably be dead or at least robbed because they could NOT carry a gun. The aggressor is a lovely specimen of humanity, for sure – that pouty look of outraged entitlement. What I want to know is why it makes any difference at all if the cop used his “service pistol,” or if the criminal got  his gun “legally.”  The latter certainly doesn’t seem likely.

Nathan: True, some animals are more equal than other animals.

Until police are recognized either for what they are (a military occupation force) or forced to become what they should be (armed civilians like the rest of us, whose job is to investigate and solve crimes and in some circumstances provide limited security), they will be treated as if they are above the law, or have some special sort of limited submission to it.

In the eyes of the media, the status of the cop’s gun and the robber’s gun is important, because they can imply that most all other guns are gotten “illegally.”  And even hint that cops themselves shouldn’t have anything but their “service pistol” (as they publish more stories about magic devices that keep anyone but the registered owner from firing the weapon and which NEVER fail to work).  For Guns.com, this is probably important because (a)it again lets them point out the wrongful special status of cops, and (b) that limits on gun purchases do not prevent robbers from getting weapons, any more than they prohibit the first-time killer from getting a gun.

Indeed, it is this aspect that demonstrates the foolishness of limits on buying guns, and is seldom discussed.  Supposedly, waiting periods for buying guns (you have to wait 48 or 72 hours after buying the gun to get possession) is supposed to reduce the likelihood that the gun will be used in a “crime of passion.”  This is based on some very dubious psychology and there are many ways around it.  But the idea that we can prevent crimes by preventing people who have criminal records or have been determined (however dubiously) to be a risk is crazy on the face of it.  It is based on two false assumptions: one, that a person who will commit a crime with a gun has already not just committed a crime, and two, has been tried and convicted of that crime.  Of course, it also assumes that a person who committed any sort of crime (there are some restrictions) will use a gun to commit a crime: again, an assumption that has been proven false time and time again.  And of course, it also takes away the God-given right of self-defense (or certainly limits it significantly).  We do not steal their rights of free speech, or religious freedom, or right to trial and counsel and all the rest; how can we justify taking away the right of self-defense?  The answer is that we cannot.  We do so only at peril to our souls.

One final thought: given the extremely high quality of police officers these days, how do we know this guy actually tried to rob the cop?

Mama’s Note: I hadn’t thought of that last, but I suspect if the cop did the attacking that the “perp” would be very dead. Why in the world leave him alive to tell a different story?

Self defense NOT – Government-run, tax-funded schools
Missouri: Senator Says Teachers Should Defend Against Shooters With Pepper Spray
(Fox 4 News, Kansas City) “Teachers are human beings, there’s a chance that a loaded firearm could end up in the hands of a student and then you have catastrophic consequences,” Senator Holsman told Fox 4 News. Holsman, whose wife teaches at a local elementary school, argued that teachers can protect children from a shooter by spraying multiple cans of bear mace into school hallways simultaneously, creating a hazardous barrier outside classrooms. “These six-ounce canisters of bear spray shoot 30-feet in a ten-foot wide radius. It is conceivable that you could blast the hallway, if it was on lockdown and if the perpetrator was to run into that mist, it would disable him,” Holsman said.

Nathan: This man either has an effective IQ approaching single digits, or is laughing up his sleeve.  As the story and other commenters point out, the “bear mace” can be as easily stolen and used to harm (or even kill) students, there is no consideration of the impact of filling rooms and corridors with the nasty stuff on the health of students, much less the impact on first responders.  I suspect that training the teachers would be a real bear, and that it is relatively easy to defend yourself against the spray if you know what to expect.  This is even more stupid than Biden’s shotgun remark.

And I am reminded by the old hoary story about rangers advising hikers to wear bells and carry pepper spray to protect against bears, and to be able to recognize bear scat, to distinguish between relatively safe brown bears and grizzly bears.  When asked how to tell the difference, the rangers tell them that the grizzly scat contains bells and smells like pepper spray.

Mama’s Note: I always get a laugh out of that story, but the people who think bear “spray” is effective have never encountered a real bear, as I have. And those who think nobody needs a gun has never actually encountered someone who intended to kill them… as I have.

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My Perfect Christmas

Posted on 2013-12-18 by MamaLiberty

By Susan Callaway (AKA MamaLiberty)

1950 was a hard year. My father died and my mother was left with two small children. She was a “housewife” and had no particular marketable skills. She also didn’t have any family who could help her much. She was a recovering alcoholic and suffered from severe depression. Not a pretty picture.

This, of course, was long before the social workers, welfare, food stamps, WIC, or any of the alphabet soup government offices and “programs.” All she had was her faith in God and her children, the few friends who stood with her, and the understanding that it was her responsibility to raise her children and get on with life the best she could.

So, the winter of 1950 found us all staying with a friend’s family in a small Southern California desert town. Not the rich and beautiful part, but the dirt road, snowed in, wood stove outback of the Morongo Valley. There was no telephone or reliable transportation.

I was only four years old, so I have no idea why Mother moved there with no jobs available within fifty miles, any direction – and she never told us. The people we stayed with were living on a small pension and he was dying of lung cancer. Mother had $138. a month in Social Security Survivor’s benefit. Everybody had big troubles, make no mistake.

Some of this I remember myself, and much is remembered because we talked about this period so often, but I didn’t really understand any of it at the time, of course. I knew we were cold much of the time and seldom had enough to eat, but I don’t feel “damaged” or “traumatized” by any of it. Much the opposite is true. I know what it is to be cold, hungry and homeless. I remember that sometimes and thank God for all my blessings. We had each other and lots of love. We didn’t know poverty was supposed to scar us for life.

Christmas Eve came and we put up what decorations we had. (People didn’t ordinarily start to decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving dinner in those days.) We had a branch of creosote bush for a “tree,” and there was one, small, handmade gift for each child under it. Soon wonderful smells came from the kitchen, and when we gathered for supper we were all surprised to learn that the only thing on the table was a large bowl of bread pudding.

In later years my mother often told us how she and Virginia mixed together the last remaining bread, milk, eggs and sugar with a few raisins and some cinnamon. They put it into the oven with a prayer, and we said our usual prayer of thanks before we ate it. Only the adults knew that those were the last morsels of food left in the house and that none of them had any idea when or how they would be able to get anything else until the next pension check came in on the first. I can only imagine their agony – and their faith.

Christmas morning broke clear and very cold. The snow wasn’t deep, but it stretched unbroken for many miles in every direction. We certainly didn’t anticipate company, but up the road came the county snowplow with a lone blue car behind it. The county never plowed the road by our house, so it was a mystery until the car pulled into our driveway.

Out popped Virginia’s mother! She had shamed the plowman into making a path for her, and he helped her unload boxes of groceries and other things. The children were too busy to notice, however, because we each had a wonderful felt stocking full of nuts, candy and a few small toys. Then, at the very bottom in the toe, was a huge shining orange! Those were worth their weight in gold then and had been very rare in our lives to that point. I can’t begin to tell you what it meant to us as we jealously watched our orange peeled and then savored each drop of the golden fruit.

From that date, Christmas has been a most blessed day. Mother went on to work hard, earning a living for her family. She made sure, by what magic I’ll never know, to have at least one big and beautiful orange in our stockings each year from then on. She told us it was to remind us of the past so that we would appreciate our lives and all the blessings we had. She made sure we never forgot to plan our Holy Day with others in mind.

There was always another place at our table, a few warm clothes to “spare,” a bed on the couch, or just the human touch of hugs and clasped hands for someone in need. She remained active in AA, and sponsored many a man and woman to health and life. Nobody ever left our home hungry, unclothed, uncomforted or unloved unless they wanted it that way.

I have spent my adult life trying to walk in that path. No Christmas passes without oranges, though it’s been years since I made bread pudding. I thank God there was no welfare, food stamps, etc. I would never have had the privilege of that “perfect Christmas.”

God bless and keep you all.

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Crony Capitalism, the State, and Environists: Blowing in the Wind

Posted on 2013-12-17 by TPOL Nathan

Nathan: Behind a large resort complex on the South Dakota side of the Nebraska border, ten miles from the pretty town of Valentine and twenty-five miles from its namesake town and capital of the Burnt Thigh People (better known by their Lakota name, Sicangu, or their location: Rosebud), on a small mound, there rests a giant tower with the now-familiar three huge blades of a power turbine.  Rests is the correct word, for this turbine, unlike its thousands of sisters from the waters of Long Island sound to the top of Tehachapi Pass between Middle and Southern California, does not kill hundreds of birds a year.  Because, no matter how long you wait, those blades do not turn.  Why?  Because the transmission which converts the spinning of the great blades into the whirring of an electrical generator is shoddy: it wore out long before it was supposed to, and can be replaced only at great cost, not affordable by a tribe, a nation, that is in essence bankrupt.  The crony capitalists, aided by environists (environmentalists is what they call themselves, but they are all too often brainless – thus, take out “mental” and you have environists), have their profit and don’t care:  the people who wrote and administered the grants which funded the construction have made their salaries and gone on to other grants and schemes.  But no one gets an erg of power, no one gets a dime of payment for power produced.  It is not uncommon.

This story by Ms. Noon is what my wife and I have been telling many people for many years.  Now, it seems that SOME of the environists are understanding, and the crony capitalists are once more demonstrating that the environists are, at best, their cats-paw and  convenient cover for the plutocrats to continue to dominate the rest of society.

Death by Renewables
Marita Noon

“Even green projects have an impact on their surrounding environment.” Green energy, specifically so-called renewables, has been sold to the American public as the answer to a host of crimes against the planet. But, as Lex Berko points out in her post on Motherboard, “even green” has its downside. Biomass may be “renewable,” but burning it releases CO2. Then, it’s expensive: “A 100% renewable-energy mix from in-state sources could cost up to five times more,” reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). And, energy from wind and solar sources kills birds.

Wind turbines chop up bald and golden eagles, and other endangered species, like a Cuisinart–the taller turbines with longer blades (which produce more energy, and, therefore, is where the trend is heading) have a predicted annual ten-fold mortality increase. The authors of  a new study on bird collision mortality at wind facilities concludes: “Given that we found evidence for increased bird mortality with increasing height of monopole turbines along with a move toward increasing turbine size, we argue that wildlife collision risk should be incorporated with energy efficiency considerations when evaluating the ‘greenness’ of alternative wind energy development options.” If the Department of Energy were to meet its 2030 goal of having 20 percent of the nation’s electricity generated from wind, they project: “a mean annual mortality estimate of roughly 1.4 million birds.
[Read the rest of this excellent article here, and bookmark the site for other great articles.]

Nathan: This article shows both the vision and the blindness of the writer, and shows that both the Democratic Party and the GOP have collaborated with  the environists AND their buddies, the crony-capitalists, to once more profit, in terms of power and money, while claiming to do one thing (“protect the environment”) when in reality doing just the opposite.

These two groups: the politicians and the crony-capitalists – the industrial complex – are parasitic on each other AND especially on the body politic: individuals and families and the rest of the businesses and producers in the community and society.  These companies use the power of government to steal money paid to them to buy products that the government defines and accepts, plus enough skimmed off the top (and sides) to fund government from DC to Pierre to Rosebud to Antelope Community (in the case of the wind turbine I started talking about at the beginning).  Probably, if the equipment were NOT shoddy in the first place, it would not have been purchased and used.

Government buying is so complex because it is trying to ride a very fine line between maximizing profits by making shoddy products and NOT making shoddy products SO shoddy that they rile enough people to anger and the entire process blows up in everyone’s face.  It has been that way since the Mexican War and the War Between the States (on BOTH sides) and the Indian Ring days.  And it continues today, just fine-tuned and vastly larger. These people, these groups, are parasitic on each other AND on society not because they HAVE to be, but because they WANT to be.  It is not a symbiotic relationship between the State, the Environists, and the Crony Capitalists, because each of them would actually do BETTER in their STATED purposes and objectives if they were not being gnawed on by the others.  But is their NATURE to do so.  So we all suffer, but some suffer more than others.

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Politicians and Brains

Posted on 2013-12-17 by TPOL Nathan

I am sure many of our readers have seen the headline: Scientists take first step towards growing brains in a lab

Nathan: This of course, is the latest example of mad science to threaten the world:  like mad scientists of the past, these men and women are naive and do not understand the threat this invention could pose to the world.  It also raises some SERIOUS questions.  For example, Mama Liberty, our beloved publisher’s first thoughts were:

Mama Liberty: OH GOOD!! And they can start immediately by testing them in politicians. Since they don’t have any brains at all, anything would be an improvement.

Nathan: It will all end in tears.

I have been told by several experts that most politicians are born with normal brains (there are, admittedly, some who inherit that brainless condition, as we all know).  But as they mature and get more involved in politics, their brains atrophy, and as a result, the body fills up the brain cavity by depositing additional bone on the inside of the skull: it calcifies!  I suppose if you can catch and halt the process in time, there might be some room to use to put more brains in, but it will be nowhere close to non-politician human norms.

Even if they find a way to enlarge the cavity (decalcification, or is that denazification, I lose track of the proper technical terms), it really isn’t necessary to GROW new brains.  For several centuries now, the US military has followed an SOP, which supposedly was adopted from the French Army, way back in the Revolutionary War.  Anytime someone is promoted to full Colonel, a large portion of their brain is removed, stabilized and preserved, and filed away.  If they are promoted to flag grade (general – I’m not sure whether it is brigadier or major or lieutenant general), they have the preserved brains put back in – giving them an advantage since the organ has not aged.  The problem is, the various Medical Corps have had a truly horrible filing system, and so a lot of the time, the new general does not get the same brain that was taken out, but someone else’s!  It is a major problem, but still, overall the system worked well – except of course with the political generals…   But since most colonels do NOT get promoted to flag grade, there is a large repository for each of the services, where all these excess brain parts have been stored.  Admittedly, many are probably well past their shelf life, but even so, would be better than what the politicians have – and at a fraction of the cost of growing new brains and then condensing them to fit into the small space left.

As I said, the US took this idea from the French.  It is well known that they used the technique for years, but applied it to the flag officers.  During one of the early battles of the Napoleonic wars, it is sad that Napoleon himself observed the colonel of one of his regiments distinguish himself not just by his bravery but by his wisdom and intelligence on the battlefield.  Napoleon immediately told one of his staff to go and tell this man (Dumont?  I don’t recall the name.) that his performance had been observed and was being rewarded:  he was immediately promoted from Colonel to General de Brigadier.  Unfortunately, Dumont was wounded badly, and before the aide could get to him, the new General had been carted off to surgery.  So the aide rode to the hospital tent, flung himself off the horse and strode into the surgical tent, telling the doctor that he was looking for General Dumont with a dispatch from the Emperor himself.  The doctor (as you can imagine) was in a foul mood, and snapped back.  “I don’t know any General Dumont but Colonel Dumont is the man you see right here on the table.  I am operating because he has been shot in the head and I am trying to put his brains, which are here in this bucket, back in his head.  But you just splattered dust all over them!”  At that, Dumont sat up on the operating table and said, “Doctor, don’t waste your time.  Now that I’m a general, I don’t need them anymore!”

Sam also had some pithy comments:  Politicians, like other zombies, do not HAVE brains, rather they EAT brains.  So there is some potential hope of improvement in world conditions, if we can use these vat-grown brains (a common SF concept, by the way) and bait politicians with them, then trap and humanely put them down in order to make available the carcasses for “useful public service” such as subgrade in roads or soil amendments, or even to improve those coral habitats made with old cars and trucks out under the ocean.  Although some people want each zoo to keep a specimen or two for exhibition (as a warning), I feel that is both inhumane (to the zookeepers and visitors) and potentially dangerous, should they escape.  I suppose that one could surgically remove the tongue or the vocal cords, but then the point of the display in captivity would be lost.  Better to simply rid the world of the potential danger.

Nathan:  Everything you say makes tremendous sense, Sam.  It is especially important to make sure that no wild populations would be left in such a situation.  We’ve seen what happens  when the wild populations of predators like wolves and mountain lions is allowed to rebound.  Because of their chameleon-like abilities, there might be viable populations of the politicians springing up around us without warning, leading to a sad new cycle of overpopulation and predation on normal humans.  I don’t think that a lot of us had thought it through and realized that there are species (or would it be “races”) of zombies which look like normal humans but still crave brains, blood, gold, and other precious things like liberty and peace and prosperity – not to enjoy them but to consume and digest them.  It is indeed horrible to contemplate.

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Bill of [Rights] Restraints Day

Posted on 2013-12-15 by MamaLiberty

By Robert Greenslade – © Nitwit Press

December 15th is the 222nd anniversary of the adoption of the Amendments commonly known as the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, a majority of the American people still do not understand the true intent of the Amendments. They believe the Amendments are the source of their individual rights and the federal government was granted the general power to secure those rights. In reality, the Amendments did not create any individual rights or grant the federal government any general power.

When the “Bill of Rights” was submitted to the individual States for ratification, it contained 12 proposed amendments and was prefaced with a preamble that spelled out the intent of the Amendments. As stated in the preamble, the purpose of the Amendments was to prevent the federal government from “misconstruing or abusing its powers.” To accomplish this, “further declaratory and restrictive clauses” were being recommended. The Amendments, if adopted (2 were rejected 10 were agreed to), would not create any so-called constitutional rights or grant the federal government any general power; they would place additional restraints and/or qualifications on federal power concerning the rights enumerated therein.

The best way to explain the intent of the Amendments was to re-write them through the preamble. This re-write helps explain the original intent of the Amendments, without resorting to the preamble, and makes them easier to understand. Some words have been changed to reflect modern usage and the sentence structure has been slightly altered in a few of the Amendments. The author suggests the reader, after reviewing the preamble, compare the wording of each Amendment to the original.

Article I………… Congress is expressly denied the power to enact any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Article II……….. Because a well-regulated Militia is necessary to the security of a free State, the federal government is expressly denied the power to infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear Arms. (EN 1)

Article III……… The federal government is expressly denied the power to quarter any Soldier in any house, in time of peace, without the consent of the Owner, or in time of war, except in a manner to be prescribed by law. (This Amendment grants the federal government a very narrow lawmaking power to qualify the restraint.)

Article IV………. The federal government is expressly denied the power to infringe the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the federal government is expressly denied the power to issue Warrants, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Article V……….. The federal government is expressly denied the power to hold any person to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall the federal government subject any person to a prosecution for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall the federal government compel any person in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor shall the federal government deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall the federal government take private property for public use, without just compensation.

Article VI………. In all criminal prosecutions, the federal government is expressly denied the power to negate the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law; nor shall the federal government deny the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; or the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him; or the right to have compulsory process for obtaining Witnesses in his favor, or the right to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Article VII…….. In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the federal government is expressly denied the power to negate the people’s right to a trial by jury, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any federal Court, than according to the rules of the common law.

Article VIII……. The federal government is expressly denied the power to impose excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments.

Article IX………. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to grant the federal government the power to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Article X……….. The powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. (No change on this Amendment is needed.)

Even through the Constitution established a government of limited enumerated powers and under this system of government every power not granted was denied, the States decided that “further declaratory and restrictive clauses” were needed to prevent the federal government from “misconstruing or abusing its powers.” Thus, the insertion of phrases like “the federal government is expressly denied the power” is consistent with the intent of the Amendments.

After establishing the original intent of the Amendments, three things are certain. First, the purpose of the Amendments was to place additional restraints and/or qualifications on the powers of the federal government. Second, the Amendments did not grant the people of the individual States any so-called constitutional rights. Third, the Amendments did not grant the federal government the general power to secure the rights enumerated in the “Bill of Rights.”

In the author’s opinion, government and the American public school system are intentionally suppressing the preamble and the original intent of the Amendments because government wants it that way. If government wanted students properly educated on the “Bill of Rights,” it would insist that the civics curriculum incorporate this information into classes and textbooks.

By advancing the myth that the “Bill of Rights” grants the American people individual rights, the federal government has been able to assume the role of “protector” of those rights. This has allowed it to transform restraints on power into grants of power. The federal government now claims it has the power to impose “reasonable restraints” on any right enumerated in the “Bill of Rights.” This is an absurdity because the Amendments were specifically written and adopted to restrain the powers of the federal government. If the federal government is allowed to assume this power, then the Constitution is meaningless as a written document because government can simply modify or remove every restraint on its power.

Now that you know how to properly read the Amendments in a manner that is consistent with original intent, as expressed in the preamble, don’t be a victim of the government’s public school system every December 15th when we celebrate the adoption of the Bill of Rights Restraints.

Endnote 1-The word “because” can used at the beginning of a sentence to introduce a dependent clause. The first part of the Second Amendment is a dependent clause because a well-regulated militia is dependent upon the people’s right to keep and bear arms not visa versa. Therefore, it is, and would have been acceptable to use the word “because” at the beginning of the Amendment This change maintains the intent and sentence structure of the Amendment but makes it read in a manner that is more in tune with modern sentence structure.

[Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, the one thing the constitution granted to the federal government that destroyed any hope of justice or relevance of the amendments was the power to tax. Once that camel had its nose under the tent, the growth of both government and the tyranny they can’t help but produce was a foregone conclusion. If humans ever get another chance to govern themselves in peace, prosperity and justice, the power to tax or confiscate the property of individuals must never be given to any “leader” or body of councelors. It is the inevitable death blow to freedom, no matter what else is said or done.]

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-48C: Stupid people and Congress

Posted on 2013-12-15 by TPOL Nathan

Home front – Congress in action – Stupid people
Professors question enforceability of 3-D printer legislation
(The Daily Pennsylvanian) “While it is now illegal [sic] to use 3-D printers to manufacture firearms without proper licensing, some Penn professors question the significance of that legislation. … ‘Trying to outlaw 3-D-printed guns is basically unenforceable,’ said Wharton professor David Robertson, who teaches about 3-D printing in his class ‘Innovation and Production Development.’ ‘I live in Philadelphia, I have a 3-D printer in my basement, I can download the instructions for printing a gun and I can print it in my basement. It’s extremely unlikely that the police would ever find out about that,’ he said. ‘It was like saying that VCRs could not be used to copy movies from television.'” (12/08/13)

Nathan:  WHY are these professors publicly doing this?  Anyone with two gray cells to knock around in their brain pan KNOWS that this ban is absurd and unenforceable GIVEN CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES.  So are these college folks doing this to make sure that their students are clear on what they can do – or do they want to give Congress an excuse to yet again expand the police state.  Requiring registration of 3-D printers, after all, could be twisted around as NOT a violation of either the 1st or 2nd Amendments, if your mind is twisted and warped that way.  Remember, for years they TRIED to make it illegal to copy movies from TV, and actually DID pass a lot of laws, and put all those FBI and INTERPOL warnings about piracy on the tapes – and YES, they DID prosecute certain people, either because they wanted to make a point or because the were after the guy or gal for something else.

Mama’s Note: I’m not really too worried about this one. Remember that a whole new “3D printer” can actually be – PRINTED! Even with one that is “registered,” you can soon have another that is not. No, this genie is out of the bottle, and isn’t going back in.

But I have little interest in printing guns – I love the ones I have. But just imagine what 3D printing will do for any average household in the long run. Only yesterday an older appliance was made useless because a small plastic part broke. They don’t make that appliance anymore, and there is no hope of finding a replacement for that little plastic part – without which the appliance won’t function. If I could download the file and PRINT a new one, I would not have to buy a new appliance. Nobody would need to stock that part, or any of the billions of other things just like it. And it will happen. There’s nothing in the world, outside of murder, that can prevent it.

Home front – TSA Thuggery
Missouri: TSA agent confiscates sock monkey’s toy pistol
(KVTB News) “‘Rooster Monkburn’ the cowboy sock monkey is without his pistol, thanks to a diligent TSA agent in St. Louis. … May has a small business selling unique sock monkey dolls. She says she and her husband were on their way from St. Louis to Sea-Tac and she had a couple of monkeys and sewing supplies with her in a carry-on bag. ‘His pistol was in there,’ she says of the sock monkey ‘Rooster Monkburn,’ a take-off on John Wayne character ‘Rooster Cogburn’ from the film ‘True Grit.'” (12/08/13)

Nathan: One more MASSIVELY EVIL AND INSANELY THREATENING CONSPIRACY has been thwarted by the brave, loyal, and vigilant agents of TSA:  Episode 10 or 11 of the second season of “TSA: The TRUE Story” as presented by PBS at 0100 on Monday mornings.  We are all saved once more, as the unmasked but nattily uniformed TSA agents ride into the sunset.

Political correctness – Government-run, tax-funded schools
Colorado: Six-year-old suspended for kissing girl on cheek
(San Francisco Chronicle) “A 6-year-old boy has been suspended from a Colorado school for kissing a girl on the cheek. School officials in Canon City are accusing the boy of sexual harassment and they want it on his school record. The boy’s mother told KRDO-TV her son was suspended once before for kissing the girl and had disciplinary problems, but the girl did not object to being kissed. A School District RE-1 official says the repeat offenses meet the school policy definition of sexual harassment and they hope the tough standards will force the boy to change his behavior.” [editor’s note: Gee, that’s pre(co)cious; I didn’t start that until late in fourth grade! – SAT] (12/10/13)

Nathan: This actually showed up a few days ago.  Fortunately the political and other police were there to keep this evil from happening, even though their comrades in arms a hundred miles away let a kid get “deep” into a school with an openly-carried shotgun.  Exactly how is this “sexual harassment” if the girl did not object?  Frankly, two-thirds of my first and second grade classes, deep in the Panhandle, would have been suspended for decades if kissing someone of the opposite sex was treated like this.  (And no, I was in the one-third: didn’t do it, didn’t want to do it. But several of us DID sing that song a lot; you know “Susy and Billy sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…”  Still don’t have a problem spelling THAT word!)  But come to think of it, I remember my 9th grade year – five hundred miles further north – when, GASP! – I was sexually harassed by being ambushed by two older (11th grade) girls in the library, kissed on either side of the face by two of the hussies at the same time!  That was before I turned ugly, of course.  Could be WHY I turned ugly.  Of course, that might today be acceptable because it was NOT the usual and traditional one-on-one public display of affection.  It was, double gasp!, a threesome.  For at least two or three seconds.  Fortunately I remembered to close the book I was reading before my face caught the pages on fire…

Congress in action – Theft by government
US House approves deal to return to even more criminally insane spending levels
(Freedom News Digest) “A compromise federal budget plan that would remove the threat of a government shutdown for two years won easy approval Thursday from the Republican-controlled U.S. House. The deal worked out by House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray passed on a 332-94 vote and now goes to the Democratic-led Senate, which is expected to approve it next week in a very close vote.” (12/12/13)

Nathan: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  Congress is really REALLY good at that, and we will get to see just how insane they are in the next few days.  What a Christmas present!  We have two more years of bubbles and joy rides and digging ourselves still deeper in debt (remember the old song, another day older and deeper in debt.  Saint Peter, don’t ya call me, ’cause I can’t go, I OWE MY SOUL to the government store…).  Howe STUPID can we be!

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-48A/B: Political correctness and other evils

Posted on 2013-12-14 by TPOL Nathan

Many of the stories today are about events that are the result of political correctness, and show that freedom of speech, a basic, God-given right for all people, is not recognized by many people and organizations today, whether it is the Home Office police or a Colorado judge or a lot of people in between.

Stupid government tricks – Tranzis
UK: Man arrested for making jokes about Mandela
(Last Resistance) Remember back when Margaret Thatcher died, and socialist Brits took to the streets to celebrate? They held up vile signs mocking and ridiculing her. “DingDongTheWickedWitchIsDead” was a Twitter group in her honor. No one in authority seemed to care. After all, these people had a right to their opinion, right? We wouldn’t want to stoop down to the level of “thought police,” would we? Not unless the person you joke about is Nelson Mandela. You make one wise crack about him, and there’ll be H*** to pay.

Nathan: Chalk one more up for political correctness and reverse racism.  Lady Margaret is fair game – she’s “upper class” and white (a REAL Anglo!) and she was a conservative.  Mandela was black, a criminal, from a poor and maltreated minority and he smiled…  And he was also NOT in the UK (although at one time, he legally WAS a British subject as part of the Union of South Africa, one of the “old Dominions” which helped the British with the conquest of India and Africa and to win the Great War and that next one.)  But cracking a joke about this dead “superhero” and wonderful man of peace is as bad as joking about bombs on an aircraft.  This will haunt this man the rest of his life.

Stupid people tricks – Technology
MIT: Researchers developing a vaccine for PTSD
(Last Resistance) No one thinks for a moment that maybe the fix for PTSD is a different foreign policy. I doubt there would be anywhere near as much PTSD if we just withdrew our military from unnecessary military conflicts. No. No. Let’s not do that. Instead, let’s just develop a drug that soldiers can take so that they can fight and kill potential terrorists (read: foreign—soon to be domestic!—citizens trying to protect their homeland) without any chance of stress, fear, or depression.  That’s just what researchers at MIT are working on at this very moment.

Nathan: No doubt, no doubt, this will be like the HPV and Ritalin and all the other quack “cures:” everyone will be forced to take it, whether they need it or not.  Need? When we SAY you do!  PTSD is a psychological “illness” or “condition” which means that most likely this drug will be a psychoactive one.  And once drugged, they won’t be allowed to be a soldier again – even more, it will be an excuse to disarm that person in private life.  PTSD is an excuse for behavior modification, and excuse for medical bills and high-priced behavior specialists and medical personnel.  Therefore, it is an excuse for government control, for expanding the nanny state, and for treating people like children all their lives.

Nazgul
Texas: Killer of 4 gets 10 years probation
(Last Resistance) Sixteen year old Ethan Couch went to a Wal-Mart with some friends and stole some beer.  Then they partied and got drunk.  Ethan climbed behind the wheel of his truck and went speeding down the street.  Just 400 yards down the road, Breanna Mitchell’s SUV had broken down.  [Three people]… stopped to help. Ethan was so drunk that he floored his truck and raced down the road, totally oblivious to the world around him or the broken down SUV in front of him.  On a road with a 40mph speed limit, Couch had reached over 70mph when he plowed his truck into the stranded SUV … Breanna Mitchell, Hollie and Shelby Boyles and Brian Jennings were killed. Two teens riding in the back of Couch’s truck were thrown out during the collision and severely injured.  One of the teens sustained brain injuries so severe that he is not able to move or talk.  The other teen ended up with multiple broken bones and internal injuries. Couch’s blood alcohol level was 0.24, three times the legal limit for an adult in Texas… charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter… as a juvenile.  The only defense that Couch’s lawyer could come up with was that he was a victim of affluenza and that his parents were at fault… Instead of being sentenced to 20 years in prison (which still isn’t enough for killing four people), Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to 10 years PROBATION and he had to go to a detox center for his alcohol abuse.  Additionally, the judge said that Ethan was not allowed to have contact with his family for a period of time since they were the enablers.

Nathan: Anger does no good.  I am not certain if the death penalty would do any good in this case, except that IF the attorney was right, then the PARENTS should have been on trial with the son (who SHOULD have been tried as an adult, given that no one forced him to take a sip of booze and that he was by far old enough, parents or not, to know the difference between right and wrong and 40 and 70 mph).  And yes, it would have been moral to whip, brand, and let the relatives of the victims have them as slaves for the rest of their natural lives.  But no, that is “cruel and unusual,” and we can’t do that – but we can allow four people to die in agony and two more suffer – admittedly, probably caused in part by their own stupidity.  At a minimum, the parents AND Ethan should have been forced to assist the mortician in preparing the bodies, attended EVERY funeral, and hand-dig the graves.

Especially when comparing this to the next story, you have to ask if insanity is the rule. Are judges chosen in order to flout the law and constitution and morality?

Tyranny – Culture wars: homosexual “marriage”
Colorado: Man faces Jail for refusing to bake cake for “gay marriage”
(Last Resistance)  A Colorado man, owner of a bakery, refused to bake a cake for a gay couple that requested his services for their wedding. He told them that he would sell them a great many goods, but not a wedding cake, as it violated his religious beliefs. The couple immediately filed a discrimination complaint. … a judge ruled that because of Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, Jack Phillips would either have to provide his services to the couple, or face possible prison time. … Specifically, the act pertains to “public accommodations,” places that provide items or services to the public for a fee. Essentially, businesses are targeted by the act. Churches are protected under religious freedom.

Nathan: Yeah, I know.  According to “most libertarians” the guy is such a homophobic monster that he shouldn’t be sent to jail, he should be killed: put down like the mad dog that he is.  Draw and quarter him, put his head on a spike in front of the Capitol in Denver.  Remember, “homosexual marriage” is still illegal in Colorado; only civil unions are permitted if a homosexual wants to “marry” (contract with) another homosexual of the same sex.  So this baker would have been at best perpetrating a fraud by even doing it.  But the key here is that the baker HAS NO liberty: no freedom of speech or expression: he can be forced to do whatever two people walking in off the street want him to do, regardless of his moral beliefs.  Apply this across the board: there is NO liberty.

Mama’s Note: To take this just a little farther… Any business – I’m assuming in every state – has a perfect right to post a sign prohibiting people from carrying a gun in with them. These businesses can all post signs denying service to anyone not wearing shoes and shirts, or pretty much anything else. I’ve even seen signs prohibiting teens from entering, at least in greater numbers than the owner wants to tolerate. In essence, they can ask anyone to leave if they don’t want to do business with them.

But somehow, the politically correct folks have turned this upside down when their special pet groups are involved – blacks and homosexuals. I think it is unkind in the extreme, and most likely financially stupid to exclude any well behaved customers for any reason, but just as I have every right to decide who comes or stays in my home or on my land, the person who owns the business must always have the same right, whether he owns or rents the premises. Exceptions would have to be clearly indicated in his lease contract.

Islamic war: Arabian front – Government killing
Yemen: US drone terrorists murder 15 wedding guests
(Freedom News Digest) “Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, local security officials said on Thursday. The officials did not identify the plane in the strike in central al-Bayda province, but tribal and local media sources said that it was a drone.” (12/12/13)

Nathan: Mmmm.  The drone pilot didn’t mean to kill these people going to the wedding; he thought that they were terrorists.  They were “collateral damage.”  Does that mean he wasn’t morally responsible, since it was a mistake?  Does that mean it isn’t really murder, but just “negligent homicide?”  How do they KNOW it was a drone?  Because it “always” is? Or did they see it?  How far up was it?  Maybe it was someone else’s drone?  Do we even know if this happened?  Yemen is no friend of America or the West, in part supposedly because we (the West) do things like this.  But maybe… Maybe it was a false flag attack, maybe it is all made up? Maybe it was all play-acting?

Killing, except in self-defense or the defense of others, is wrong.  It is a sin, it is stupid (in part because it sets off an uncontrolled series of events), and it is bad for business and families and communities.  I am willing to extend the idea of “defense of others” to include allies, at least under some conditions.  But is Yemen an ally?  Hardly.  Was there some indication that this convoy was going to go to Saudi Arabia, which is (horrible as it is to think about it) an American ally?  Or was there some indication that this convoy was headed for the United States, or at least the nearest US-owned/operated site, business or community?  Indeed, there is every indication that this killing (murder or not) was NOT for a legitimate reason: it was immoral, it was sinful.  The person who did it, even if mistaken, DOES have moral responsibility for what he (or she) did: and no, “befehl ist befehl” (orders are orders) is NOT a legitimate or moral defense.  It just means that MORE than one person has moral responsibility for these fifteen deaths.  What we might ask ourselves (force ourselves to ask) is how MANY more people are responsible.  Let us assume it goes all the way up the chain from that SSG or GS-7 (probably drone operators are NOT yet Wage Grade employees) or contractor to the DoD or the CIA or whatever, and ultimately to the “POTUS” (or at least the guy who claims that he is).  Is that enough?

Or do we need go one step further and blame the idiots in Congress, not just those who voted to fund and allow this madness, but those who voted against it because they did not take the necessary actions?  Or do we also need to say that it is the fifty states and the people of those fifty states that also should be held accountable for failing to keep Congress and the White House from making this a miserable excuse for a free nation, and turned us into both the “policeman” of the world AND the world’s biggest rogue regime?

Self-defense – Government-run, tax-funded schools
Colorado: Suburban School Shootings leave shooter dead, three wounded
(9 News, Denver)

Nathan: Once again, their much-vaunted security failed.  He was openly carrying a shotgun and penetrated “deep” within the school.  The size of the school is part of the problem: 70 classrooms!  245,000 SF!  (A warehouse for teens!)  He could have played cat and mouse with them for days. Teachers were unable to protect their students and themselves, but the student killed himself.  At least we are saved the cost of a show-trial.  And they treated every student and teacher leaving as a criminal.  But that is okay, they are offering them counseling and a day off school on Monday! But now the legislature will try and get rid of shotguns, also. People, get your children out of these places. And arm your self, and teach your child how to defend themselves, armed or unarmed.

Islamic wars: African front
What Fueled Kenya Mall Attack?
(Wall Street Journal) A parliamentary committee here has blamed lapses among government security agencies for fueling a September attack on an upscale Nairobi mall that killed dozens of people and left Kenyans seething.  Corrupt Kenyan police and border guards may have abetted terrorists slipping into the country from neighboring Somalia, according to a report completed on Dec. 4 and seen this week by The Wall Street Journal.

Nathan: This is one government body saying that ANOTHER government body is the reason that the jehadis were able to successfully attack the mall, killing innocents, and that without the assistance of government, it would not have happened!  Don’t know if I believe it, but that certainly matches what is happening and has happened for a long time.  The solution is simple: get RID of the corruption (which means, mostly, getting rid of government) and allow the people to arm and defend themselves against evildoers no matter WHAT the “cause” or the uniform of the evildoers.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-47C: Long Term Lies and Problems: Congress, Economy

Posted on 2013-12-13 by TPOL Nathan

The first stories today illustrate the long-term problems that government brings to the table.  First we have the corruption and backroom dealing and hypocrisy which is a “system feature” of Congress and legislatures in the nation and around the world.  The second is the lies about, and manipulation of the economy by the media and their allies (and puppets) in government.  These problems (and lies) have been with us for more than a century, and get more pervasive and more damaging each decade.  It will take more than a reset, more than a “version 6.0” or something similar, to overcome these problems.

Congress in action – Politics 2014
House conservative caucus staffer fired for undermining lawmakers
(Washington Post)  The influential House conservative caucus ousted its top staffer Wednesday amid allegations that he undermined the policy position of some GOP lawmakers, the latest shot fired in the ongoing battle between congressional Republicans and a constellation of outside groups.

Nathan: The politicians are eating their own (as always, really) and looking for people to blame – which must mean that things are unraveling still more.  Like the staffer fired for having kiddie porn on his computer, you wonder what the REAL reason for the firing is, and who is next to be gored.  Congressional staff EXISTS to “undermine lawmakers” – the backbenchers who are not in power.  Since the GOP is (by default) controlled by RINOs, this is one way the elite keep control of the valuable party apparatus.  For every Ron or Rand Paul, there are a dozen would-be reformers and fairly true conservatives that are squashed: square pegs trimmed to fit in round holes.  Face it, the GOP will not change:  the rare Goldwaters and Reagans will ALWAYS be outnumbered by the Fords and McCains and Doles:  once good men corrupted and warped by an evil system, until they ARE the evil system perpetuating itself.  (No different in the Democratic Party.)

Crash of 2009 – Economic media garbage
Holiday spending slides as wealthy hold back: CNBC survey
(NBC News) On the one hand, the survey shows expectations for home values and wages increasing, inflation concerns falling and optimism about the stock market rising. On the other hand, the survey of 800 people nationwide (with a margin of error of 3.5 percent) predicts a sharp, 9.4 percent drop in holiday spending this year compared with actual outlays a year ago as measured by the National Retail Federation. Americans plan to spend just $681 this holiday season, about on par with 2009, when the nation was clawing its way out of a deep financial crisis. Behind this drop is a sharp falloff in spending by the wealthy.

Mama’s Note: Of course, any “survey” is suspect, and one with such a small sample is hopeless, but the fact remains that the “wealthy” can’t ever win. If they spend, they are condemned, and if they don’t spend they are still condemned. The bottom line is always that they should be deprived of their wealth so it can be spread around and then EVERYONE can spend like drunken sailors.. sigh  Just like congress…

Nathan: It is as much the way the questions are asked as the sample that makes these polls questionable (pun intended).  This is typical for December “surveys” and is nothing more than an indicator of how optimistic or pessimistic the respondents are.  Supposedly Black Friday and Cyber Monday were glorious increases in spending and created great optimism in businesses… but that too is typical and usually exaggerated.  If there really is a sharp drop-off in spending by “the wealthy” (just how is THAT defined?), it is because the economy is STILL trashed, after six years.

Congress in action – World wars
Rep. McCaul: ‘Drones Alone Are Not Going to Kill an Ideology
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Sigh.  This congressperson is probably right, but it really is too bad.  It would be nice if the major method of launching and waging the revolution we so badly need in this nation to get rid of the evil ideology of statism and government could be drones, either built and launched by freedom lovers against the nexi of government, or hacked by them so that the government drones are the way we strike back to defend ourselves against them.

Environists – New religions (Manmade global climate change)
Ski Season Renews Calls for Federal Government to ‘Combat Climate Change’
(CNSNews.com) With the ski season underway in the United States, a petition that was announced in May asking lawmakers to address “climate change” is again in the spotlight as climate change advocates launched a video campaign on social media last week. The 1-minute, 36-second video shows skiers in dramatic footage linked by messages about the economic benefits of the ski industry and the threat of climate change.

Nathan: Wonderful piece of propaganda, even as the nation has been hit with winter blast after winter blast, starting with the massive snows in October – weeks earlier than “average” and ski areas are booming.  But people will often believe the loudest, best-put-forward voices, and so this campaign could have an impact.  One of the biggest problems with democracy is that the people and the politicians get this bizarre and very wrong belief that EVERYthing is subject to vote:  that natural law can be overcome by a 51-49 percent vote of “The People” or the legislature, or whatever.  As more and more evidence comes that has been there all along, but conveniently ignored by Al-gor and all the rest, that there is NO “manmade” climate change, it becomes more obvious that the entire thing is another bait-and-switch con job by the politicians and their allies in the media, big business (crony capitalism), and the environists.

Islamic wars: South Asian front
Hagel Threatens to Revoke Pakistan Aid Over Anti-Drone Protests
(Antiwar, by Jason Ditz )

Nathan: So, Hagel doesn’t believe in the First Amendment, at least not for Pakistan.  No freedom of speech for brown people?  At least not in nominal allies of the US.

Abominable Act (ObummerCare) – The “messiah’s” minions
Sebelius: ‘I Don’t Know How Many Pages’ of Obamacare Regulations Have Been Written
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Tacky, I know, but can she count that high?

Mama’s Note: Maybe a better question… can she read?

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A Gift For Granny

Posted on 2013-12-13 by MamaLiberty

This is a story based on things I witnessed as a hospice nurse over many years. It is a composite, with elements from several cases, but very true nonetheless. Incidents like this happen all the time, especially in the nursing homes and “assisted living” arrangements.

So, get out your tissues and prepare to think hard about your own choice of gifts for those who need your love more than anything else.

A Gift For Granny
By Susan Callaway, RN

Mrs. B. spent each morning parked in her wheelchair in front of the reception desk, enduring the blasts of either cold or heat, depending on the season, each time the big automatic doors opened with the endless stream of people coming and going. She would not accept food or water, medicine or anything else during this vigil, but each day at noon her cheerful countenance would fall and she would allow the attendant to wheel her back to her room and put her to bed.

Whenever she was asked why she sat at the door each day, she would say only, “My son is coming.” But he never came.

One day a large box was delivered for her. It contained a beautiful and expensive, though obviously commercially made quilt. The card with it was from her son, living in a far state, and only said, “Love, Bill.”

I’m sure he was terribly proud of himself for remembering that she loved quilts, conveniently forgetting that she had spent countless hours crafting them by hand for every family member through the years, with the last ones made for his own children. I wonder how many of those quilts were lovingly preserved or carefully and gratefully used. I’d wager not many.

The next morning she refused to get up, and for the first time in years was missing from her post at the door. She refused to eat or drink anything for the next few days and quickly became unable to swallow or talk. She died shortly after that, alone and miserable.

I do hope that hypocrite son didn’t bother with some fancy funeral, or worse, finally fly out to attend it. What a silly waste of time and money.

The holidays are suddenly upon us, and one of the things I hear a lot in my work with the elderly is the question from family and friends: What would make a good gift?

There is only one real answer, and most people actually know what it is already. The best gift of all, any time of the year, and preferably all through the year, is TIME. The elderly, especially those in “nursing homes” and other diabolical human warehouses, do not need more “things.” They need the presence and love of their families more than anything else on earth… and it is usually what they get the very least.

American society has been in deep trouble for at least the last 50 years, but the roots of that trouble go much farther back and are all part of the plan of the socialists to destroy our society and America. As much as some people would like to think otherwise, the destruction of the basic unit of all civilization, the family, is the goal… and they have almost succeeded.

For many reasons, taxes and other government interference being a large part of it, we warehouse our children in “schools” and “day care”, allowing strangers and heaven knows what kind of perverts and socialists to raise them. We warehouse our elderly and disabled in the same way, abandoning them at the time they have the greatest need for their family and loved ones. This isn’t a theory or a possibility. It is the reality for most of the “families” in this country today.

The destruction of the family is almost complete now, with more and more children each day being born to a “single parent”. Each year there are fewer “extended families” that include the grandparents and their siblings in the raising of the children. These families also care for their elderly and disabled. Surely, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

So think well before you disdain the family or the involvement of your parents in the raising of your children. Someday YOU will be elderly and need to be cared for. Think long and hard about where you wish to be during that time. Do you really want to spend your last days among strangers? Or would you rather have the loving arms of your family around you?

The only way to have the care you need when that time comes is to form and hold together a strong and loving family NOW, with real care and education for your children along with giving care to your own elderly parents and family. You teach the children by doing it. That is the only way it works.

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The Centenary of an Anno Horribulus (Horrible Year)

Posted on 2013-12-13 by TPOL Nathan

The Centenary of an Anno Horribulus (Horrible Year)

Nathan: 2013 is the hundredth anniversary of what many people consider to be the Death of the American Republic.  In one year, in the waning days (three months) of the Taft Administration and the evil beginning of the proto-Tranzi regime of the Wilson Administration, a wicked coalition in both houses of Congress, the White House, the Courts, and too many states put together a series of actions that would damage the American Union for a century.  Less than 50 years after the War between the States, many of the fruits of victory of the Radical Republican (“Red Republican”) regime from 1860 to1910 were realized.  The ones about which we hear the most are:

1.  Passage of the constitutional amendment legalizing the personal and corporate income tax (16th Amendment, ratified in February), which went into effect in March.

2.  The direct election of federal Senators required, rather than their appointment by State Legislatures (or however the individual state wanted to select them), ratified in April.

3.  Creation of the Federal Reserve system, signed into law on 23 December 1913.

All of these have resulted in not just severe damage, but in creating grave dangers to the American people and their society and nation.  These were significant factors in political and legal decisions made over the next 36,500 days which have created the severe problems of America which so trouble us today.  But these were not alone.

Some other significant NEGATIVE events in 1913:

1.  US Post Office (today’s USPS) started parcel post deliveries in January, monopolizing yet another economic activity and removing it from the free market to the political process.

2.  Oregon’s minimum wage law (first in the US) goes into effect (February).

3.  Departments of Labor and Commerce split apart (March)

4.  State of Kansas begins censoring motion pictures (as far as I know, first government in US to do so)

5.  Rockefeller Foundation endowed with $100 million (equal to about $10 billion in 2013).

6.  Inauguration of Woodrow Wilson as 28th President of the United States in March.

7.  Creation of the Federal Trade Commission, a regulatory body.

Each of THESE events has impacts continuing to resonate down through the century:  the unconstitutional nature of federal agencies, the growth of the federal bureaucracy, the anti-liberty actions of state and other government agencies, and the epitome of the progressive/Tranzi non-governmental organization rears their ugly heads.  Far, far worse is yet to come in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries.  Wilson was the leader of the Progressive Movement (transformed today from international to transnational progressives: neoliberals and the new elite of the world), and in less than four years he would prove once again that war is the health of the state, and “improve” on Lincoln’s wartime dictatorship in the insane intervention in the Great War.  The FTC would be the first generation of four generations of ever more powerful regulatory bodies, the ancestor of the EPA and all the myriad agencies of ObummerCare a century later.  But in 1913, these were the seedlings barely poking above the soil, not the mighty oaks of 2013.

It is easy, today, to look back and point this out: in that year, they were viewed individually and not as parts of a whole – a whole effort to take away the liberty of SOME Americans, piece by piece, resulting (but not ending) with the situation in which we survive (barely) today:  hemmed in, controlled, monitored, and often punished by the federal, state, and local governments in a horrific parody of the land of freedom.  We must remember this.

None of these actions appeared full-blown, created out of whole cloth in a single year of madness. Rather, they were the work of decades by many men and women, and many of their actions were NOT caused by a desire to lose liberty, to give up freedom.  In fact, at least some today are hailed still as victories for democracy, for “liberty” and for human freedom.  But many of these were designed to, and DID, let government grow larger and more powerful, and reduce the freedom and liberty of individual persons, families, businesses, and communities.

Can we learn lessons from the past?  Yes, but often we do not.

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