Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-14A: Bombings and other murders

Posted on 2013-04-16 by TPOL Nathan

The terrorist bombing of the Boston Marathon on the “official” observance of Patriot’s Day is a horrific act and most likely involved multiple people of unknown affiliations.  Indeed, in any unprovoked and evil attack like this, it is very likely that the real perpetrators are attempting to hide their true allegiance (other than their clear allegiance to evil).  My heart goes out to those who are wounded and to the families of those killed, but even more to those whose lives will almost certainly be destroyed by misguided and panicked responses to this attack. My prayers and that of my family on their behalf are heartfelt and we include those who inevitably will have their names and their words and motives attacked and blackened.

Death is in the news this week.  Too much, and for reasons often still unknown.

Home front – Urban gang warfare
Gunfire in Pomona: Two teens killed, third person wounded
(NBC News)  A makeshift memorial continued to grow Saturday evening for the slain boys, who friends said were “always together” and not in a gang.

Mama’s Note: I used to have to see patients in Pomona, along with much of the rest of eastern Los Angeles, and it was always a bad area. I was always very cautious once I got off the freeway- anywhere down there. It’s surprising we don’t hear about much, much more murder and mayhem from that part of the state… twenty years ago it was wall to wall gangs, deteriorating buildings and infrastructure, homelessness, poverty and all the rest. I can only imagine what a hell hole it must be now downtown. Of course, there are the ritzy homes in the hills, but even that area was already deteriorating when I worked there. Pasadena is the same way now, along with Whittier and a lot of other sub-sets of Los Angeles on the eastern edge. We’re only starting to hear about it, I think.

And yeah, sure… these poor innocent boys were not in a gang… I guess. It’s a remote possibility, but I wouldn’t want to bet my life on it.

Nathan: Like Mama Liberty, I find it hard to believe that teens in Pomona, especially the “bad parts of town” are not affiliated in some way with a gang, out of self-defense if for no other reason.  And because that is the way teenage boys think and act: peer groups and running in packs is part of the way humans behave: the reason for Boy Scouts and 4-H and other organizations to exist.

Congress in action – Hoplophobes and hoploclasts
Broadening background checks may be bonanza for gun stores
(NBC News) A Senate proposal to expand criminal background checks to people who buy firearms at gun shows and online would increase sales at traditional gunstores, many retailers agree — and perhaps even hand licensed dealers a “sweetheart” boon that amounts to “an Obama tax,” according to one industry leader.

Mama’s Note: Gun and ammo manufacturers are not the only ones who will merit boycotts at some point, it would seem. I hadn’t even thought about this angle. The hard part might be how to tell friend from foe…

Nathan: We must remember that like ALL licensing schemes, BATFE federal firearms licenses (FFL) are by their very nature a form of trade restraint, just like NYC taxi medallions, PE licenses, medical licensing, admission to the Bar, and requiring certification of hairdressers and barbers.  This would be perhaps compared to passing a law saying that no one can cut or wash anyone else’s hair, whether they charge anything for it or not.  Or that no one in NYC can give a ride to anyone else in their automobile.

Mama’s Note: After reading other things and talking with people about this, it would seem this is a serious two edged sword for the gun dealers… Remember how very eager the BATFE goons are to jump on any microscopic mistake or misunderstanding in the paperwork… and how much more easily some could be targeted with this large increase in the paper shuffle. I don’t think the dealers could possibly charge enough more to make THAT worth their while.

Home front – Stupid government
Louisiana Disabled Vet denied gun purchase for bogus reasons
(Freedom Outpost) Disabled Vietnam Veteran, award winning author and contributor to Freedom Outpost Leon Puissegur was turned down for the purchase of a weapon he was going to use for hog hunting by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The peculiar thing about the denial was that it was based on an incident that never happened, but since the denial more fabricated charges have come up in the NICS system against Mr. Puissegur.

Nathan: Those who think that background checks are either moral or constitutional or will do anything to keep criminals from owning guns while NOT preventing people from getting the means of self defense they need are sure to try to ignore incidents like this.  The reality is that government is incompetent in virtually EVERYTHING that it tries to do, and that includes any kind of effort to restrict purchase of guns: a power that the Founding Fathers never gave the FedGov.

Mama’s Note: And thank GOD that government is incompetent, really! A truly “competent” and efficient government would be a terror indeed.

The fact is that these background checks could not stop criminals from obtaining weapons, no matter how competent or thorough government was or who was in charge of the system.

No self-defense – Home front
Virginia: 2 victims in Christiansburg mall shootings in stable condition
(Times-Dispatch) Neil Allan MacInnis, an 18-year-old student at the college, has been charged with two counts each of malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Authorities said Friday that they do not know what motivated the shootings and have not said what type of gun was used.

Mama’s Note: I can’t remember one of these incidents where there was not at least speculation on the type of gun used. And if it had been a rifle of any kind, every paragraph would be shouting “assault rifle,” of course.  Some reports said he left a social media post telling about his plans, and that he was taking a shotgun – with which he was not familiar. I suspect the injuries would be much, much more serious if he’d used a shotgun… and very obvious. So, I wonder what really happened here.

Nathan: Mama Liberty asks if they may have overmedicated him into incompetence.  Reports are it was a shotgun, and that the would-be killer sent text messages saying what he was doing…  Who knows?  This will drop off the radar with the Boston bombing, except as yet another reason to disarm potential victims in the future.

Home front – Murderers and more
Grand Jury: Abortionist Murdered ‘Hundreds’ of Children; M.E.: Adam Lanza Murdered 20
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: (And the killers in the Boston Marathon bombings killed just three and wounded just a hundred or so.)

I read a detailed story on this just minutes before the bombings in Boston.  This bloody-handed killer of innocents was allowed by the city, state, and federal agencies that supposedly exist to prevent such things.  Hundreds of people – including dozens of employees – were involved and knew what was going on.  Nazi Germany has NOTHING on Philadelphia, the “city of brotherly love.”  It now stinks as badly as Dachau or Bergen-Belsen and  should for all of time.

Hoploclasts
Bloomberg: If You Sell a Gun to Your Son, ‘There’s Something Wrong in Your Family’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Ah, the attitude of the elite:  to him, a hundred bucks is something to use like toilet paper, so of course a family of HIS rarified rank and class wouldn’t worry about a measly $100 for a son to pay his father for a pistol or rifle.

New religions: global warming – Stupid government
‘Anthropogenic’ Climate Change Is Kerry’s Priority in Asia
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Forget North Korea, forget China’s buying gold and more gold, forget bird flu, forget that little dust-up between China and Japan over some islands, or the simmering-for-decades China-Vietnam land claims, forget the again growing Islamist menace in the Philippines, or the tug of war between “democracy” and “dictatorship” in Burma and Thailand.  Our priority is dealing with myths and legends and fiction.

The “messiah” – Theft by government
Charity ‘Loophole’ Lowers Obama’s Effective Tax Rate to 18.4%
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: When “charity” is a loophole, you know that the government is desperate to steal EVERYTHING.  Confiscation of not just 2% or 5% or 10% of bank accounts and land and other property is a growing possibility – and not just at the federal level.  I was pleasantly surprised that the family living at 1600 PA gave 20-25% of their fabulous income to charity, though I suspect I might not be so pleasantly surprised to see WHICH charities they gave to.  Compared to a few years ago, clearly they’ve learned something.  Of course, this isn’t really their total income, since they get so many “employee expenses” and normal household expenses paid for.  If your company or your employer provided you a palatal residence rent-free, YOU would be paying income tax on that “income in-kind” – ditto for company cars, free helicopter rides, and everything else.  To say nothing of the money you would pay to hire the chef when you ARE NOT holding business dinners.  I suspect that when you put all those perks together, only people like Bloomberg and Buffett and Gates get paid anything close to what the “messiah” actually gets paid; and that therefore, the effective tax rate is probably nearer 1% than 18%.

Home front – Persecution
Amish prosecuted because scissors ‘crossed state lines’
(WND ) What does the federal hate crimes law inspired by the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. have to do with an internal dispute among the Amish in which the beards of men and the hair of women were forcibly sheared? “The scissors used to cut the hair were manufactured in one state and used in another,” explained Edward Bryan, defense lawyer for Amish bishop Samuel Mullet Sr., who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Nathan: So why isn’t GOSNELL being charged with federal hate crimes?  You KNOW Pennsylvania didn’t manufacture all (if ANY) of the knives and scapels and scissors he used to kill hundreds (more likely thousands) of innocent babies.  I agree that what these people did was wrong, but the sentence does NOT fit the crime, and the involvement of the FedGov in this prosecution/persecution is not just immoral and unconstitutional, but a warning that increasingly, faith of ANY sort (except that espoused by Islamists and the radical atheists) is a target of the government.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-13D: Congress and Such Stuff

Posted on 2013-04-14 by TPOL Nathan

End of the week – several more nails in the coffin of the old Republic and our last, residual freedoms and liberty.

Congress in action – Self-defense rights dead
Senate Filibuster Dead; Gun Law Debates to Begin
(CNN) Because of the bipartisan [Manchin-Toomey] deal, Senate Democrats backing the legislation received support from enough Republicans to approve the cloture motion, 68-31, setting up debate on the proposals and amendments expected to last for two weeks. …A new national survey showed that 86% of Americans support some expansion of background checks. At the same time, the CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday also showed a majority of respondents fear that increased background checks would lead to a federal registry of gun owners that could allow the government to take away legally owned weapons.

Nathan: Here are the 16 Republicans that voted to bring yet another unconstitutional gun control bill to the senate floor for a vote without even reading what was in it:

I’m sure they’d also love to hear from you. (sarcasm)

These sixteen people have once again betrayed not only their supposed “principles” and the supposed principles of their party, but have betrayed their oaths to the Constitution and betrayed their states to even more federal tyranny than we have had to this point.  With people like these, the Democrats do not need to have a majority or super-majority in the Senate:  these people are all “honorary” liberals and transnational progressives no matter how they proclaim their “conservatism” or how much they claim to defend freedom.

While theoretically, it is impossible to recall any of these “Conscript Fathers” and “Conscript Mothers,”  symbolic efforts to do so would perhaps publicize their betrayal and their hatred of liberty and fear of ordinary Americans.  Nor, of course, are they subject to anything so crass and mundane as impeachment and trial.  And with the tremendous advantage of incumbency and the ability to raise millions and millions of dollars to buy votes, they are virtually invulnerable to anything except death, or some sort of hideous revelation of personal wrongdoing that would boggle the mind.  (And even then, considering John McCain’s personal history, you wonder.)

PS:  CNN – that paragon of objective and truthful reporting – has reportedly stated that they will conduct a campaign for several days next week to support the Congressional passage of these criminal “laws.”  I can hardly wait.

The “messiah” – Islamic wars: Arab street revolt
Sean Smith’s Mom: Obama Didn’t Follow-Up on Personal Promise; Asks Congress: ‘Please, Please Help Me Find Out Who is Responsible’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This woman needs to understand who she is dealing with:  a “world leader” whose death count, while not at the rarified (or sewer) levels of a Stalin or Hitler or Mao, is certainly counted in the hundreds of thousands – directly.  What is one more, or four more, Americans’ blood on his hands?  And of course, this “personal promise” comes from a man who seems to be vying with Satan to become “Prince of Lies.”  A lawyer, a politician, a “community organizer,” a Tranzi (socialist/communist), and a man who is a co-conspirator of the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Raum Emmanuel, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton.  Ma’am, deep in your heart, you KNOW who is responsible: you were TALKING to him.

East Asian front
North Korea states ‘nuclear war is unavoidable’ as it declares first target will be Japan
(Freedom’s Phoenix) In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the communist country lashed out at Tokyo’s standing orders to destroy any missile heading toward Japan, threatening such actions will result in a nuclear attack against the island.

Nathan: Of course, people like Lendman will accuse Japan as taunting North Korea and trying to provoke them into an attack.  The truth is, this is the childish behavior of a nation of immature leaders and followers who are constantly bought off by the West, and who are treated seriously instead of as a toddler (as the next story helps explain).

East Asian front – Stupid US government
U.S. Intelligence Sends Mixed Messages on North Korea’s Nuclear, Missile Capabilities
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Normal SOP for our intelligence agencies, of course.  But I’d rather that they send mixed messages than all of them agree that North Korea poses no danger to anyone with their nukes and their missiles.  A child having a temper tantrum cannot be left alone, even if ignored: they are too likely to grab or do something that is really stupid and might kill themselves or harm others as well.

Abominable Act (ObummerCare) – Mainstream Media
Bozell: ABC, CBS, NBC ‘Deliberately Censoring’ Bad News on Obamacare
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan:  No, really?  I cannot imagine WHY – after all, don’t all news and television folks and their retirees have health care anyway?

Stupid government tricks – Attack on the family
Obama’s Budget Orders States to Promote Parental Engagement in Children’s Lives
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Well, parental engagement is important, and good (to a point: helicopter parenting is as bad as the real thing was in Vietnam).  But it is NOT something (a) that is the fedgov’s business, (b) that the fedgov can order states to promote, or (c) that we could trust government to do, anyway.  For this administration, I am sure it is another wedge to promote so-called “homosexual marriage.”

Mama’s Note: And, actually, that’s quite a switch – if he really meant what the words say, of course. Government policy and government “schools” have been working diligently for nearly 100 years to destroy the family and, therefore, any real involvement by parents in the lives and upbringing of their children.

This is just further meddling in the lives of broken families, creating more false “rights” without doing anything to promote individual responsibility or parental authority to care for their children as they thing best (or actually damaging it more). More and more government control over every aspect of people’s lives.

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The American Media and Killing Babies

Posted on 2013-04-13 by TPOL Nathan

The killing of babies is one major area in which I strongly disagree with far too many who are (or claim to be) lovers of liberty, and who subscribe to the “non-aggression principle.”  But most (not all, of course) of those who disagree with me on when a child is a human, and whether abortion is an immoral action which DOES constitute aggression against another and innocent human, DO agree with me that infanticide IS immoral aggression, and that what this murdering thug did was evil.  But the “liberals” and Tranzis of the world, especially the vicious kind in control here in North America, do not see any problem.  So when Mama Liberty brought this to my attention, it is indeed suitable for a rant.

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (Thomas Jefferson)

Culture wars: Killing babies
Philadelphia Abortion Clinic Horror – What Belongs on the Front Page
(USA Today)

Mama’s Note:  Unbelievable: I don’t usually look at USAToday, but I might start doing so.

(Note: On Saturday, apparently the Washington Post had a front-page news story – I’ve not read it, but doubt if it will change my conclusions discussed below.  Still…)

Nathan: This USAToday article is, of course, opinion, but you should read it – if you can stomach the horror of it.  This is no slasher movie – this is a politically powerful and connected mass murderer in the heart of one of America’s formerly-greatest cities.  My first response was like that of MamaLiberty:  why on earth would the Tranzi thugs that own and operate USA Today publish something like this?  Then I realized the term to remember is “scapegoat.”  THIS is the natural progression of abortion-on-demand and the amorality growing today, but unless the pro-abortionists (forGET “pro-choice” – they’ve made it obvious that the ONLY acceptable choice 9 out of 10 times is the kill the baby – inside or out of the womb) can show that somehow this sort of “in your face” murder of CHILDREN is both hidden but  “punished” then the backlash will see the killers of children themselves AND their supporters destroyed politically and probably financially.  And perhaps personally.

By hiding it from the front pages, the truth of this evil Gosnell and his power will be far less likely to come out: that municipal and state – and probably even federal “law enforcement” and other agencies KNEW what was going on – KNEW that thousands of children were killed IN and OUTSIDE the womb, and the killing was both premeditated AND in a way more cruel than is allowed for pets or food animals. By burying it in the opinion section, the USA Today cabal can have its baby and eat it too: claim that “abuses have been punished and prevented.”  Of course, that is bogus – pure lies, even while at state and national level the abortionists and pro-abortionists promote and fund their religion with money stolen from taxpayers by government and speak openly about allowing women and their “caregivers” to quickly decide whether a baby born by accident is to live or be killed.

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Gold and the Dollar

Posted on 2013-04-13 by TPOL Nathan

In the past day, the price of gold has dropped about 120 an ounce, to under $1500 (now just above $1500).

But the real news is NOT that gold is now at its lowest price in dollars in two years, or has dropped nearly 400 dollars in just 18 months from a high of $1895 in September 2011.  The real news for the future, as seen in the table at the URL above, is that in 10 years, the price of gold is five times what it was in 2003.

The chart is the inverse of the final destruction of the American dollar, and with it, the American economy.  Something will, MAY, rise from the ashes, but it is obvious that the dollar and the economy is as dead as liberty and the Republic.

We can worry all we want about Islam and Korea and border jumpers, but the truth is, liberty and American society and prosperity are dead, and if we do not recognize that, we will likely join them.

The causes are many, and the death of the Republic and much of our freedom and liberty can be traced back a century and beyond.  But the process accelerated in the past ten years.  We are not just in decline, but in the final stages of decline.  The consequences are and will be severe – and many of us will not survive long enough to see what rises to replace these losses.

The results are staggering.  In my childhood, the dollar was already in decline: it had been 30 years before that FDR committed one of the biggest thefts in known history: forcing most Americans to sell their ounces of gold for twenty dollars in silver, and then reducing the value of their silver and paper dollars by 40% or so in one fell swoop: from $20 to $35 per ounce.  That one ounce of silver (then worth just 1/35 of an ounce of gold) in 1965 bought 10 10-ounce Cokes or 10 12-ounce Pepsis in a vending machine, and generally 20 of each in a grocery store.  Or ten Superman or Spiderman or Archie comic books at the drug store.  It also bought four to five gallons of gasoline (including state and federal excise tax).  Five-six hundred of them bought a low-end NEW automobile.  (That would have been about 14-18 ounces of gold: $500-$600 1965 dollars.)

Today, that same silver dollar (valued in current US dollars at about $28), will actually buy about 12 or 14 of the current 16-ounce Cokes or Pepsi in a vending machine.  For 500 of them (2013 $14-$17,000), you can’t FIND a new car, no matter how low end you want.  But for 18 ounces of gold ($27,000 in 2013 dollars) you can still probably get a pretty good automobile better than “low-end.”  The problem is that salaries and wages haven’t kept up, as the economy has finally crashed and burned under the weight of government.

In 1969, I made $1.10 an hour as a newspaper typesetter and printer.  That was 1.1 ounces of silver or 0.03 ounces of gold: today that would be $30.80/hour if paid in silver, $47.14/hour if paid in gold, for a subprofessional, if skilled job.  Today, as a licensed and experienced professional, I didn’t even make that wage in gold OR silver.  By standards of four decades ago, we are a poor nation.  Only the fact that technology and productivity have exploded in that forty years makes it possible to live today.

What can we do?  Not much to change the value of the dollar.  Or restore gold or silver as real money.  What we CAN do is prepare for the point in time when a lot of people wake up to the fact that the dollar and economy are simply corpses that haven’t stopped twitching, and prepare to make it on our own and survive.  To that end, don’t waste your time writing to your Congressman or Senator or even your local legislator: buy ammo and guns and seeds and tools that will survive the inevitable collapse of infrastructure and networks of all kinds  that follows the collapse of fantasies that still linger on after the collapse of money and economies.

It is time to cut bait or fish – if you want to survive.

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Risk

Posted on 2013-04-12 by MamaLiberty

How do you determine what level of risk is acceptable, and what can you do about it? Good question?

Think about lightning. Do you normally spend a lot of time thinking about the risk of being struck by lightning? Looking at the statistics, I was actually quite surprised at the number of people killed and injured by lightning over the years. But even if it was as unlikely as one in a million, most people wouldn’t think about it too much unless they hear and see a thunderstorm, in which case most folks go indoors or find a safe place to wait until the lightning stops.

Most people I know understand, from early childhood, that hearing thunder in the distance means that the picnic is over, it’s time to get out of the swimming pool, and Daddy will be home early from his golf game. I used to ride my horses long distances in the woods and canyons, and when thunder began I looked right away for a rock overhang on the trail or a sheltered spot off the skyline and away from trees.

The key to avoiding injury is to recognize the threat, have a good understanding of what is needed to avoid or deal with it, and the proper tools to work with.

The people who are injured or killed by lightning are, by and large, those who don’t know or ignore the warning signs, and/or don’t know what to do to increase their safety. Seems to me that not staying in a swimming pool or out in the open would be almost instinctive, but I guess there really are people that dumb – or arrogant. But hey, if they are willing to take the risk… it’s none of my business.

Even more rare are the incidents where people were injured by lightning after taking all reasonable precautions. I used to laugh at those who said you should stay off the telephone (land line) during a thunderstorm, but I’m not laughing anymore.

Myth: If you are in a house, you are 100% safe from lightning.
Fact: A house is a safe place to be during a thunderstorm as long as you avoid anything that conducts electricity. This means staying off corded phones, electrical appliances, wires, TV cables, computers, plumbing, metal doors and windows. Windows are hazardous for two reasons: wind generated during a thunderstorm can blow objects into the window, breaking it and causing glass to shatter and second, in older homes, in rare instances, lightning can come in cracks in the sides of windows.

So, where am I going with all this? Glad you asked…

First, we can all agree that thunderstorms and lightning are seriously dangerous to some of us, no matter where we live. They can be dangerous to us even if we take all reasonable precautions to protect children and avoid injury.

Second, there will always be some people who ignore the warnings and neglect or refuse to take even minimal precautions. And sometimes, rarely but inevitably, some will be injured anyway.

That is simply a given of life! Life itself is risky. At any moment, a very large number of things MIGHT harm us one way or another. Just look around you and think about the things nearby or in your home that would injure or kill you if used carelessly or in the wrong way, left within reach of those not competent to handle them, or just because they exist!

I can name at least a dozen or more such things in my kitchen alone. Did you ever have a glass break in the dishwater? Did you think about that glass as a deadly danger before it shattered? Did you handle all the glasses more carefully ever after that? Most likely.

Did you know that one of the most potentially lethal things you can leave around for toddlers to find is water?

Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 1 to 4. The majority of drownings and near-drownings occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites.  However, children can drown in as little as one inch of water.

So, what can we do about it? Pass laws against lightning or drinking glasses? Send out armed guards to round up people off the golf course or out of swimming pools? Confiscate all of the steak and kitchen knives in the country and melt them down to make ugly “art” for the UN building? Require a “license” and training courses for people who wish to mop their floors? Must we throw everyone in a cage if they show the slightest tendency to misuse a tool?

Or do we go on living our individual lives, taking stock of our surroundings and assessing the risks we face for ourselves? Wouldn’t it be better if we prepare, the best we can, to defend ourselves against every sort of danger?

Might not people learn better and faster how to provide for their own safety and comfort if they must face the consequences of their every action and choice? Treated as rational human beings, might not more folks tend to grow into that in every area of their lives?

Will that bring perfect safety to everyone? Will no more children die? Don’t we wish…

That is an impossible expectation, and the false promise of it can only result in ever more injury and death, regardless of the intentions or desires of those who insist that one more “law, ” one more restriction, device, “permit,” or list will finally give us that nirvana.

Life is dangerous. Risk is a part of living. Utopia is not an option.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-13C: More Police State Blues

Posted on 2013-04-12 by TPOL Nathan

Hoplophobes & Hoploclasts
Chris Matthews: NRA Wants ‘Guns on Demand Like You’re Buying a Hershey Bar’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Not quite, Chris.  Handguns, like prescription drugs and computer games and gasoline and other items that are easily shoplifted and high-value items, need to be properly secured.  But otherwise, yes, I should be able – ANY American, or for that matter, ANY human, ought to be able to walk into a convenience store or other retail store and buy a gun – no different than a chocolate bar or a bottle of milk.  And for those who don’t want to buy a full box of ammo, little containers right there at the checkout stand right next to the candy bars and gum and those stupid celebrity magazines should be available.  What don’t you understand about freedom?

Lawful gun use
Burger King diner defeats would-be robber by shooting him
(Washington Times)  A father who was trying to eat with his family at Burger King was able to defeat an armed robber by pulling his own weapon and shooting at him, Miami police said. It was at the height of lunch time, about 1 p.m., when a would-be robber walked into a Burger King, flashed his gun at one of the family diners, and demanded the diner fork over money and valuables, police said in a CBS report. The robber was exiting when the father, who feared for his and his family’s life, CBSsaid, took out his own gun and shot the suspect in the leg.

Nathan: Not exactly “self defense” but certainly a justified shooting – but bad form, too: shooting in the leg isn’t going to keep a thug from turning and shooting other people anyway.

Mama’s Note: Bad form, and bad timing. Shooting someone while they walk (or run) away is counterproductive to say the least. This guy needs a good self defense class and a bit more range time.

Theft by government
OMB: Obama Will Become First President to Spend $4T in One Year
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Look, it is fine to blame the man in the White House, but this is only what is allowed BY CONGRESS.  Legally, the “messiah” could not spend a single thin dime without Congress appropriating the money and authorizing its theft from the people and businesses of the world.  Until we face reality, NOTHING will change.

Stupid government tricks
Postal Service bows to pressure, won’t end Saturday delivery
(Washington Post) The U.S. Postal Service backed away Wednesday from its plan to end Saturday mail delivery in August, bowing to bipartisan congressional opposition that the postmaster general said two months ago he had the authority to bypass.

Nathan: Once more, government stupidity strikes again.  I know of several companies (and there must be thousands nationwide) who have already spent tens of thousands of dollars and made irrevocable decisions based on no Saturday delivery, and now are stuck – and may be driven into bankruptcy – because of this off-again, on-again nonsense.  Of course, it makes many of us more than ever convinced that, like government schools, government postal service is something we have to further divorce ourselves from it.

Mama’s Note: I had to send some money to a friend last week. It was the very first thing I’d put in the “mail” all year. And probably the last. There simply is no rational future for the USPS, and it does need to die – indeed, just as government “school” and a thousand other such things need to die.

Hoplophobes & Hoploclasts
Video: Firearms Company Relocating From Connecticut To North Texas
(Daily Paul.com) A firearms company that makes AR-15 style rifles for the iconic brand Colt, will open a plant in Breckenridge in Stephens County. Oregon company Bold Ideas confirmed the development Friday.

Nathan: I know, Daily Paul is sometimes not too trustworthy, but this is apparently the case.  Hopefully, as in Colorado (which Magpul and other companies are leaving) many more people and firms will pull out of the Connecticut Police State.  This is of particular interest to me as I had family living in Breckenridge (west of Fort Worth, and a location with a history of clashes between ranchers, farmers, and Comanche) for many years.  It is a nice town and the company will do well there, I think.

Mama’s Note: Well, an improvement over the east coast, anyway. Texas is not without its own problems.

Government-run, Tax-funded schools NOT
Ron Paul: Hey Teachers, Leave Those Kids Alone
(PersonalLiberty.com) A quick overview of some of the materials provided on the Paul Curriculum website makes clear that students will be enlightened by the ideas of great Austrian economists and encouraged to be self-made citizens as well as vocal defenders of liberty. Alongside reading, writing and arithmetic are lessons on starting a home-based business and creating a successful social media presence. Historian and Economist Gary North, the program’s director of curriculum, put it simply that the educational track is designed to “teach the Biblical principle of self-government and personal responsibility” and give students the tools to recognize threats to their rights.

Nathan: Good for Dr. Paul.  I’ve not had a chance to go through the new curriculum yet, but it looks at first glance to be excellent.  One problem with many homeschool curricula (including both K12.com and several of the religious-oriented ones) is that there is too much government and state-worship in them. But it now becomes much easier to GET YOUR CHILDREN OUT OF THESE INSTITUTIONS.

The “messiah” – Growing government (4 stories)
Obama: ‘Prohibit’ Americans from Saving More Than $3M in Retirement Accounts
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Funny, can’t find that anywhere in the dead-letter Constitution or anything else.  First step to STEALING everything over $3 million too.  And makes the Social Security theoretically look better in comparison.

Obama’s Budget Asks $30 Million in New Funding for ‘Gun Violence Prevention
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Seed money for the “enhanced” registration and background check system.  This is primarily prevention of gun violence in self-defense against government agents.

Obama: Put Nation’s 4-Year-Olds in ‘Public Preschool;’ Will Save on ‘Child-Care Costs’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: “Brave New World” – crèches mean more subservient and controlled populations.

Mama’s Note: And, of course, will cost far, far more than any ordinary day care.

Obama’s Budget Includes Funding for U.N. Agency That Recognized ‘Palestine’(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Never mind what Congress says or has said.  Never mind that there is NO constitutional authority to fund UN Agencies (or for that matter, foreign aid for either Israel or Egypt or “Palestineans” – we will see our stolen money wasted in this way.

Police States
Colorado Sheriffs Planning to Fight New Gun Laws
(Denver Post) Thirty-seven of the state’s 62 elected sheriffs are prepared to sue to overturn laws that now prohibit the sale of ammunition magazines holding more than 15 rounds and require background checks for all private gun sales, Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said Tuesday. …San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters said he doesn’t think the new laws will be effective, but he won’t join in the legal action. “I’m not going to sue anybody for anything. I understand the frustration but I wouldn’t do that.”

Nathan: This is almost two-thirds of the sheriffs.  This is a surprise and a refreshing one at that – though it doesn’t mean that these sheriffs are truly lovers of liberty or even very constitutionally-minded.  Still, it is good to see that even those who are in “law enforcement” are trying to tear down the Colorado Police State.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-13B: Police State Blues

Posted on 2013-04-11 by TPOL Nathan

Self-defense – Stupid government thugs
Massachusetts man facing charges for killing bear in his own backyard
(CBS) – A 76-year-old Auburn man is facing charges after killing a bear in his backyard. Richard Ahlstrand told WBZ-TV he was stocking his bird feeder Friday night when a bear about seven feet tall and 300-to-400 pounds started chasing him. That’s when he turned his shotgun on the bear….Ahlstrand is now charged with illegally killing a bear, illegally baiting a bear, illegal possession of a firearm and failing to secure a weapon. … “They got me set up now like I’m some kind of murderer.  And then the environmental guy told me ‘You should have called me instead of shooting it.’  What was I going to do, say ‘Mister Bear would excuse me please while I go make a phone call?’” Police don’t believe the bear was a threat to people.

Nathan: These scumbags should be fed to the bears.  To even be charged with ANYthing in this case shows how seriously fouled-up Massachusetts and local laws must be.  No indication that Joe Biden has come to his defense, either.  A police state where bears have more rights than humans.

Our right to self defense – Local tyranny
New York man loses pistol license after son makes school water gun “threat”
(Hauppage Patch) …That following Monday [after the school complained about his son and two others], Mayer received a call from the pistol licensing office, stating that police would be at his house to remove his guns and suspend his license. “I attempted to explain that this must be a mistake, no wrong doing occurred on my part. My son has no access to any of my guns. The officer that came to my residence saw that all my guns were secured. Pistol Licensing was not interested in my side of the story. They were only interested in what happened with my 10-year-old son in school,” he said. When Mayer asked police when his license would be restored, he said that police told him he would have to wait until his son is 18 years old and moves out of the home. According to police, if Mayer wants his handguns back sooner, he could pursue an administrative hearing or other legal recourse. However, those are pricey endeavors.

Nathan: Others have reported this, but once more it is worth noting that registration led DIRECTLY to confiscation, given the slightest excuse.  This is not liberty, this is not freedom, this is again, a police state.  And this is important because it was the gust front of what JPFO and others are now reporting, as of Tuesday 9th April 2013:

(JPFO) …It seems those that tried desperately to warn of such an insidious plot had hit the bullseye with their warnings after all. News came from multiple NY State based firearms enthusiast websites late Friday that confiscations of Pistol Owner ID Cards, as well as firearms and accessories has commenced in NY under the provisions of the horribly flawed, draconian and blatantly unconstitutional NY SAFE Act.

Those folks having their weapons and FID cards confiscated have been discovered to have been prescribed multiple different types of psychotropic drugs, such as those for Depression or Anxiety. These are known as SSRI ( Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) class drugs and have the potential to cause serious and adverse side effects, something I wrote about extensively last week in an article that went viral in days and caused multiple Anti Gun and Progressive News Groups to initiate a concentrated denial of service hacker attack against Ammoland Shooting Sports News (see Daily KOS “Keeping Track Of The RKBA Crowd “), in an effort to keep the information from the public.

From: NYS Police Departments Revoking Pistol Permits because of Anti-Anxiety Meds

Nathan: The conflict is continuing to build.  Sometime, soon, somewhere, someone is going to defend their right to keep and bear arms by using those arms, with other friends and family and comrades to help and support them. And then…

State tyranny – Government-run, tax-funded schools
Wyoming State Superintendent Speaks in Albany County
(Laramie Boomerang)  At Monday’s Albany County Tea Party Roundup meeting, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill told a story about her son. Hill, who used to be a principal, said one of her son’s professors told him he was surprised his mom hadn’t “folded” after the passing of Senate File 104 — a bill signed by Gov. Matt Mead in January that transferred many of her duties as head of the Wyoming Department of Education to a director appointed by the governor. “Do you know what my son said?” Hill asked. “He said, ‘You don’t know my mom. … She’s used to dealing with bullies, but they’re usually just seventh-graders.’”

Nathan: This story reminds us that things are still in a row in Wyoming, where the supposedly conservative Legislature and Governor conspired to destroy the power of an elected official and replace her with an appointed educrat.  Cindy Hill is no libertarian, but a better option than the stuff floating on top of the cistern in Cheyenne.  And she obviously isn’t giving up.

Tranzis
Rejoicing in Streets when Thatcher Dies
(Daily Mail via The Last Resistance) “Baroness Thatcher’s death unleashed a wave of vitriol and hatred from the Left…The first of several planned ‘Thatcher death parties’ across the country began last night with more than 200 revellers gathering in Brixton, south London…They danced the conga, drank champagne and chanted: ‘Maggie, Maggie, Maggie – Dead, Dead, Dead.’ Banners were held stating ‘Rejoice Thatcher is dead’ by drunken crowds, many of whom were too young to remember her as prime minister…Sickening messages also began flooding the internet minutes after the official announcement…And at a National Union of Students conference in Sheffield some delegates cheered and applauded when informed of the former prime minister’s death.”

Nathan: Ah, the love and peaceful nature of the Tranzis and about anyone on the Left, not just in the UK but here.  There was a little of this when Reagan died; I can only imagine the glee when George W. Bush dies.  but never fear, the cops will be there to protect the partiers.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-13A: This and that

Posted on 2013-04-10 by TPOL Nathan

East Asian front – Tranzis and Communists
Chen Guangcheng: China Can’t Expect a ‘Savior,’ Reform Must Come From Grassroots
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: The “people” led by the cadre of the Communist Party, no doubt.

Home front – Crash of 2009
3.6 Percent Unemployment–for Government Workers
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: I don’t know why they keep separate stats for government workers, but I am glad that they do.  Frankly, I would LOVE to see unemployment for them in double-digit numbers: 25%, 50%, 75% percent.  It would show that we are throwing off the shackles of this evil institution.

Home front – Crash of 2009
Black, Latino Unemployment Falls as Thousands of Minorities Leave Labor Force
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: In other words (as the next story also relates), the unemployment is dropping because people are GIVING UP.  Or going underground to find work.

Home front – Crash of 2009
Record 89,967,000 Not in Labor Force; 663,000 Drop Out In March
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Some people do just give up:  they cannot find work in their own area of expertise or living, and they cannot or will not accept working in a lower-paying or less prestigious field:  they have too much (or not enough) pride.  And no understanding of personal responsibility.  For many of these people, why would they bother to keep looking for work?  Or at least, work that they have to pay social security or income taxes on?  They obviously have lots to do, and get enough grants and subsidies and freebies to keep on doing whatever it is that they are doing.  And that situation is certainly to the advantage of government, as the social services offices gain new clients by the basketful, and need higher budgets to pay out all the services, and promotions and more hires.  (You see why government employees have so low a jobless rate – you can ALWAYS find a new government job working in the welfare office.)

Stupid government tricks – Bogus rights
HUD Launches ‘Fair Housing’ Ads, Cites ‘Religious Discrimination,’ ‘Neighborhoods With Mosques’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: From what I’ve seen, neighborhoods with mosques are about as fun to live in as neighborhoods with crack and whore houses.  It certainly is a way to keep property values low, and then to promote gun sales from people who can’t move out.  Seems to me like the religious discrimination is mostly against the landlords too: you cannot practice your religion if you believe it is wrong for unmarried people to cohabit, or for people to cut up chickens and look at their entrails, or to have peace and quiet instead of calls to prayer five times a day.

Guess I’m getting old, but once upon a time people tried to have government stop this sort of thing, not promote it.  “Fair housing” laws with their bogus “rights” are a violation of REAL human rights, like the right to associate and assemble, and the right to control your own property.  The insult added to injury is the advertising campaigns to tell people about “their rights.”

Mama’s Note: There is no such thing as a “right” to do or have something at someone else’s expense. The universal obligation is not to initiate force. Therefore, if my neighbor wants to sacrifice chickens or pray five times a day, I must negotiate with him about the things that actually affect my property, or even my peace (like disturbed sleep), but I have no more right to prevent his non aggressive actions than he does to prevent mine.

Theft by government – Tyranny and thuggery (EPA)
New EPA Rules Won’t Help Environment, May Raise Gas Prices, Industry Says
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: So what else is new after almost 40 years of EPA tyranny?  EPA survives and grows in power by NOT getting the environment cleaned up, and by terrorizing everyone about how horrible things are getting, and then rape the productive class with new taxes, direct and indirect, that steal money from everyone and drive prices up.

Government-run, theft-funded schools – Responsibility
Parents outraged that Mass. kids were denied lunch
(Yahoo) As many as 25 students at a Massachusetts school were denied lunch this week — with at least some forced to dump their food in the garbage — because they couldn’t pay, school officials and parents said.

Nathan: How HORRIBLE.  How GHASTLY.  How EVIL.  How stupid the people whining about this are, and how incredibly stupid the parents are.  I know, I must be a cruel and evil man to say that children should not be allowed to eat just because they have no money.  Strange, when I was in elementary school back in the 1960s, if MY parents did not pay for a lunch and if I did not bring a lunch with me to school – I DID NOT GET TO EAT.  Same for everyone else – even those whose parents were surely well under the “poverty line” – in those days before the Great Society and Compassionate Conservatism and all the rest of the garbage provided free lunch programs and free breakfast programs, and all the rest.  But MY parents accepted the responsibility and made sure that I ate – I was, after all, THEIR child.  These parents are incredibly stupid and greedy and without ANY responsibility for their own actions.

Mama’s Note: True, but I’m wondering why the payment thing wasn’t settled before the lunch was served. Dumping it AFTER the fact seems unnecessary. Of course, just being sent to that government school was child abuse, so it is obvious the parents don’t have a clue.

Hoplophobes and Hoploclasts – Politics (3 stories)
Gun legislation’s prospects improve
(Washington Post) Prospects for a bipartisan deal to expand federal background checks for gun purchases are improving with the emergence of fresh Republican support, according to top Senate aides.The possibility that after weeks of stalled negotiations senators might be on the cusp of a breakthrough comes as President Obama and his top surrogates will begin on Monday their most aggressive push yet to rally Americans around his gun-control agenda.

Nathan: The GOP is betraying its constituency, as usual; the WaPo crows about one backstabbing piece of GOP work.  The WaPo is right about the aggressiveness, also:  the White House is screaming more and more.

Toomey possible GOP partner for Democrats in background check bill
(Washington Post) A Democratic senator seeking to expand the national gun background check system has found a new Republican partner, likely boosting the prospects for a new bipartisan agreement that senators could vote on in the coming weeks, according to several senior Senate aides familiar with the talks.

Nathan: The media is supporting the “messiah” of course:  I’ve noticed an increase in stories about accidental deaths and other odd-ball situations. Meanwhile, others are using the “messiah’s” tactics and being idiots.

Mama’s Note: Indeed… so much for Toomey as a friend of liberty. Just another traitor.
Toomey bucks gun owners in background check deal
(Gun Rights Examiner) Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania joined today at a U.S. Capitol press conference with Democrat Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia to announce their agreement to extend background checks to end private sales at gun shows and via private transfers arranged online, an announcement posted on Toomey’s website revealed.

Conn. Gov. Dan Malloy: NRA’s LaPierre like ‘clowns at the circus’
(Washington Post) Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy (D) on Sunday compared National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre to “clowns at the circus.”  “Wayne reminds me of the clowns at the circus. They get the most attention, and that’s what he’s paid to do,” said Malloy on CNN’s “State of The Union.”

Nathan: The clowns I see are Malloy and the other progressives trying to disarm Americans and still claim they are “constitutional.”  CNN and WaPo and the rest make it clear who is showcasing the circus.

Mama’s Note: Unfortunately, the NRA is not friend of liberty either. They are working hard to sell everyone down the river in the name of “mental health.” That is every bit as much a danger to our lives and liberty as any sort of “background checks.” And for the same reasons.

East Asian front – Congress in action
Senators call on China to step up pressure on North Korea
(Washington Post) A trio of senators on Sunday called for China to apply more pressure on North Korea, which has recently adopted an increasingly hostile posture toward the United States. “China does hold the key to this problem,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on CBS News’s “Face The Nation.”

Nathan: I don’t trust McCain farther than he can run or I can spit, and his idea that China will do anything except watch is a joke for everyone.  The problem is, North Korea is like a two-year-old; if you want them to stop having tantrums, a good tactic is usually to just ignore them.  YES, be prepared in case they DO do something stupid (just like the two-year-old who gets the matches from the fireplace) but don’t egg them on or try to get someone else to intervene.

Congress in action – Border jumpers
Schumer: ‘Gang of Eight’ on track for immigration agreement by week’s end
(Washington Post) The Senate’s third-ranking Democrat expressed hope Sunday that a bipartisan group he belongs to will come to an agreement on a proposal to revamp the nation’s immigration laws by the end of the week. “I think we’re doing very well. I think that we hope that we can have a bipartisan agreement among the eight of us on comprehensive immigration reform by the end of this week,” New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said on CBS News’s “Face The Nation.”

Nathan: Once more, the GOP betrays its constituents and its “principles” – they are so worthless. Schumer’s idiocy is as sure as the sun rising; the man is a menace to free people.

Self-defense
Texas: Serial robber shot by victim
(Gun Watch)  “Police say Willis, along with the help of 22-year-old Malik Washington and 21-year-old Ariel Malveaux, first abducted a woman in the 200 block of Village Creek Parkway. They drove her to an ATM and made her withdraw money before releasing her. Then they attempted to rob two women at their home in the 100 block of Dennis Drive. However, one of the women had the chance to grab a handgun from inside the home and shoot Willis in the abdomen.” (04/08/13)

Nathan: Would-be victim, I think.  If the first woman had been armed, she would not have been a victim either – but at least someone took this thug out.  Would we could do this to all of those who are robbing us.

Mama’s Note: Indeed… I don’t ever anticipate being attacked again, but I’m ready if it happens. I refuse to be any sort of victim – at least not because of free lance criminals.

Home front – Not-so-stupid people
Growing worry over “zero TV” homes
(Bennington Banner) “Some people have had it with TV. They’ve had enough of the 100-plus channel universe. They don’t like timing their lives around network
show schedules. They’re tired of $100-plus monthly bills. A growing number of them have stopped paying for cable and satellite TV service, and don’t even use an antenna to get free signals over the air. These people are watching shows and movies on the Internet, sometimes via cellphone connections.” (04/08/13)

Nathan: Duh.  My family and I have NEVER had cable television, and haven’t had broadcast television since the new standard came in, so I could not resist commenting on this.  The MSM are dead, just haven’t stopped moving yet.  The cable companies are bloated government-loving parasites (who finance a LOT of local government with franchise fees).  The waste of time for television – something I grew up with – may be nearing an end.  Yes, that “united culture” that TV gave America supposedly had some good points, but frankly, as a human culture of any value, it was (and is) worthless: good riddance.

Mama’s Note: I’ve never watched much TV, simply because I’m so deaf I can’t make out what they are saying (and no, I don’t like the “captions” either) – so I really have no idea what the programming has been at least since my boys left home. They used to watch it a little, but we had far too much work and too many other things to do to make it much of a habit. Sadly, the young people I see around me have replaced TV with things just as mindless. Facebook and nonstop “texting” is no improvement that I can see.

Self-defense – Hoplophobes and hoploclasts
DC: Man arrested, charged with exercising inalienable rights on Capitol grounds
(Uniontown Herald-Standard)”A Florida man is under arrest after police say he brought unregistered guns and ammunition onto the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building. U.S. Capitol Police say 59-year-old Ty Carroll Mitchum of Clearwater, Fla., was arrested after officers encountered him outside the building Sunday afternoon and searched his car.” (04/08/13)

Nathan: The headline is from the folks at Freedom News Daily.  DC law, of course, STILL (all these years after the SCOTUS decision) requires registering of guns, but I still don’t see how his car was “on Capitol grounds” – as far as I know, there are no longer any parking places on the streets around the Capitol and the massive office buildings that are monuments to our filthy, corrupt, and permanently-criminal members of Congress.  In the past, tourists used to be able to park nearby – but in the past, tourists could be clothed properly in public (that is, armed).  No more, of course.  If he is like me, he might remember the good old days, though: when a young man, dressed nicely and properly armed, was able to walk in any of several dozen entrances to the Capitol and those other buildings and go visit his Congressman and Senators, ride the little subways, and listen to the past and present of what he still thought was mostly a free nation.

Mama’s Note: My question, as always, is why he’d want to go there at all, let alone armed. Doesn’t he read the news?

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Colorado, the Police State

Posted on 2013-04-09 by TPOL Nathan

As readers may recall, Colorado is a second home for me and my family.  We spend a lot of time there, and have close relatives that live in various parts of the state.  We frequently have to travel through all the major urban areas of the state, including the Front Range (Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, Longmont, Metro Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs), Pueblo, Grand Junction,  and many smaller-population areas of the state, including the Western Slope (Craig, Rifle, Meeker, Cortez, Durango, etc.), the San Luis Valley (Alamosa), North and South Parks, and the Eastern Plains (Sterling, Brush, Limon, La Junta, Lamar, Walsenburg, etc.).  I have many friends and clients throughout the state.

Colorado WAS once a Western State:  where people believed in “live and let live” and going the second mile, where people understood that “my freedom ends at your nose” and where government was limited.

In the past 30 years, that has changed:  the “quasi-full-time” General Assembly (Legislature) has become a cabal of sneak-thieves and elected hegemons, the governor has become an elected dictator, the state’s administrative agencies have become bureaucratic overseers of the slaves of the state: the citizens, residents, and voters of the state including their businesses: farms, ranches, stores, factories, mines, schools and more.

The Colorado State Patrol, once known as the “Courtesy Patrol” and established to help motorists in trouble in Colorado’s mountains and plains, has become as tyrannical and corrupt as all the rest. The first response of most travelers on Colorado roads when seeing a CSP trooper’s car is fear and worry.  Although many sheriffs are honorable and dedicated men and women, training and leading their deputies and posses to keep the peace and help their citizens, some are the corrupt and tyrannical products of elections stolen by political machines.  Sheriff’s officers all too often harass the people that they are “serving” and are often known for their laziness and partiality.  The same is true for police forces: there are many honorable and true men and women in many forces, but other forces (especially but not only in large municipalities) are venal and often brutal enforcers of the law and repress and often kill those they are supposed to be serving.

The state is now dominated by Democrats, their base of power in the large urban areas filled with Tranzis (Trans-national progressives) encouraged by such nexi as Boulder and the University of Colorado, Denver and the various universities there, and even liberal institutions of higher education in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Fort Collins, Greeley, Gunnison, Durango, and Grand Junction.  The urban areas are filled with the clients of corrupt politicians: not just the college-propagandized liberals, but the underclasses: ghetto blacks in fatherless families (third- and fourth-generation welfare clients), Hispanic families both native to Colorado and legal immigrants and border-jumpers (again many multi-generational welfare recipients), urban Anglos and AmerInds who find that being parasites is a better living than working, sports “heroes,”  industrial and commercial and intellectual Defense and other government contract welfare bums, and the “trust babies:” those whose parents or grandparents struggled and succeeded and then bequeathed the wealth but not their values to their sons and daughters.  And the Democrats are aided by the GOP establishment in the state, which spends more time browbeating and disenfranchising their “Tea Party” members and conservatives than trying to win elections against Democrats.

Colorado’s contribution to the nation, politically, are now a litany of progressives:  Gary Hart, Frederico Pena, parts of the Udall political dynasty, and of course, the Salazars.  The General Assembly (and not just Democrats, by any means) conspires daily to steal more money and more liberties from every class of people, but especially those who live in the rural and frontier parts of the state, not just with the state’s own agencies but with the federal agencies (many with major presences in Denver, second only to DC as the location of the federal bureaucracy).

Last week, the latest crime and evil was revealed in Colorado. A Colorado State Patrol trainer, in his last days before joining the wonderful folks at the US Department of Homeland Security, told local and state law enforcement officers that a large majority of Coloradoans – including christians and those who believe in human rights and the US Constitution – are threats to the state and the peace, and include in their number terrorists who must be monitored and controlled.  Or so an Undersheriff of Prowers County states:

This has been verified by several sources, but I am still seeking more confirmation.

Colorado State Patrol – Christians Need to be Watched, Treated with Caution

Army training material lists evangelical Christians, Catholics as extremists

Colo. sheriff: CSP should suspend course that calls for monitoring of Christians

Those who have confirmed it are the Examiner, Glenn Beck’s program, and apparently Undersheriff Trowbridge’s boss, Prowers County Sheriff Jim Faull.  Prowers County is in the southeast part of Colorado (county seat Lamar) in the Eastern Plains.  Faull seems to be one of many sheriffs in Colorado who have denounced the recent gun control laws passed by the Colorado General Assembly, together with sheriffs from Weld County (Greeley), Elbert County (Kiowa), Dolores County (Dove Creek), Montezuma County (Cortez) and El Paso County (Colorado Springs).  Apparently at least ONE officer of the Colorado State Patrol has decided to join the tyrants.

How much lower will Colorado fall?  The state steals even from its own jurisdictional governments: counties and cities and special districts.  It destroys businesses and lives daily by obscure and punitive laws and enforcement which is based on constantly changing “interpretations” by unelected boards and political appointees and bureaucrats at all levels.  Its schools are places of brutal hazing and bullying – while children are punished for the most ridiculous of “offenses” like bringing unapproved food to school, playing games on the playground, or drawing pictures that include soldiers and guns.

The major thing left is to take off the masks and the velvet gloves and the hoods to show the naked force of government and that seems now to be happening.  If you can, get out of Colorado, or at least have a place to run to and be prepared in, in Wyoming or Utah or Kansas or even Nebraska or New Mexico.  It is time – and past time.

Mama’s Note: I have no doubt all of this is true, though I think most “christians” have no problem supporting the state for all intents and purposes… But if they are ALSO gun owners, preppers, homeschoolers, individualists of any kind… then they’ve got a potential problem. And folks like that will be in danger no matter what their religion or lack of it. Seems to me that the answer either way is OPSEC, keeping mouths shut and not being an obvious target. Seems to me that the time for evangelization and protests/demonstration is over.

Nathan: Most “christians” and non-christians support the state.  But more and more are significantly cutting back their support, at least in some (even many) areas, just for the reason you point out.  Every time someone like this CSP trooper states something like this, the state loses a few more supporters, and many supporters of the state cut back their support and loyalty to the regimes.

I think that those who claim to be believers/followers of the Christ have MORE reason to re-examine the assumptions that they grew up with or were taught based on hundreds of years of “mainstream” thinking.  The more tyrannical the state becomes, the less they can reconcile the teaching and example of the Christ with government.  And the easier it is to make the arguments that we have been making for decades:

  • no group of people, whether they claim to be a “government” or not, can be allowed to commit acts that are immoral for individuals;
  • in the long run, no government, no matter what they claim, is a friend to ANY religion which puts God ahead of the state;
  • no justification for or support of the state or government can be moral unless that state or government meets the criteria established by the Author of Liberty;
  • that in the long term, any resistance to government will be condemned and attacked by government; and
  • that all who claim to be religious must ultimately either agree with Peter, the apostle, who told his people’s government “We must obey God rather than men,” or reject this AND God for the state.
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Guest-guest commentary: The Gun IS Civilization

Posted on 2013-04-08 by TPOL Nathan

This is from a friend, Margaret Figert, retired publisher and editor of the Todd County Tribune, Mission, South Dakota, being published on Wednesday, 10th April 2013.

Most of it is actually written by a retired Jarhead (and yes, I know SEVERAL USMC officers, both active duty and retired, who can both read and write!).  It is very much worth pondering and sharing.  It is followed by some quotes that Margaret selected, mostly from dead folks that can’t complain if they are quoted, and some after-thoughts of my own.

SMOKE SIGNALS: The Gun IS Civilization

The following essay was shared with this column by TRIBUNE readers for your consideration and discussion.  It was written by Maj. L. Caudill, US Marine Corps (Ret.).

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force.  If you want me to do something for you, you have the choice of either convincing me via persuasion, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force.  Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion.

Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force.  You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or use of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a lone guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations.

These are the people who think that we’d be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for an armed mugger to do his job.  That, of course, is true only if the mugger’s potential victims are disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat.  It has no validity when a mugger’s potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many. That’s the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a monopoly on the use of force.

Then there’s the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would result in only injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the physically inferior.

People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don’t constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst.

The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker.  If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that’s as lethal in the hands of a weaker octogenarian as it is in the hands of a stronger weight lifter.  It simply wouldn’t work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn’t both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force.

It removes force from the equation… and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.  The greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.

Written by Maj. L. Caudill, USMC (Ret.)

— — —

Here are several quotes that seem to fit today’s political, economic and social scenes in the United States:

“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each person’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.”  – Senator Daniel Webster, 1851

“We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”- Ronald Reagan

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” – G.K. Chesterton

Schools and prisons are both government institutions.  One prohibits reading The Bible within its walls. The other encourages reading The Bible within its walls.  Did anyone ever think that allowing Bible study in schools may well lower future U. S. prison population numbers?

What have we learned in 2,068 years?  “The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.  People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.” – Cicero, ancient Roman writer and chronicler, 55 BC

What have we learned by now?  Evidently, nothing.

My (Nathan’s) after-thoughts:

Indeed, we ignore the lessons that our ancestors DID learn.  We have forgotten more than we know. 

The recent issue over the funding for the new (Rosebud Sioux Tribal) jail (“Adult Correctional Facility”) on Bristow Ranch (west of Mission, SD)  is what I immediately thought of.  Of course, Lakota schools ARE allowed to teach religion in school – just not the religion of the Bible.  The point about teaching in prisons and jails is hard-hitting, also.  I know many people who have or work with jail ministries, but meanwhile, souls are lost in elementary and middle and high schools.  By the time they reach college level (those that do), it is too late.  This applies to both Christianity and to Liberty.

The second quote that struck me is the one by Tom Jefferson.  People, we have indeed reached the point of injustice where our duty (to ourselves, our family, our community, and our God) is resistance.  In every way.

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