Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-28B: Magician’s rabbit, practical jokes, homicide

Posted on 2013-07-18 by TPOL Nathan

Stupid government
Missouri:  One-Rabbit Magician regulated by USDA needs “rabbit emergency plan”
(Washington Post) The Agriculture Department requires it, citing a decades-old law that was intended to regulate zoos and circuses. Today, the USDA also uses it to regulate much smaller “animal exhibitors,” even the humble one-bunny magician. That was what the letter was about. The government had a new rule. To keep his rabbit license, Hahne needed to write a rabbit disaster plan. “Fire. Flood. Tornado. Air conditioning going out. Ice storm. Power failures,” Hahne said, listing a few of the calamities for which he needed a plan to save the rabbit.

Nathan: Yes, incredibly, that is what we are paying USDA inspectors $100K/year to do: make sure that Marty and all his magician brothers and sisters have emergency plans for their rabbits, hats, and such.  Folks, we did this to ourselves: WE sold ourselves down the river for a bowl of (pretty bad-tasting) porridge. (We as in “Americans” who can’t or won’t see the incredible stupidity of believing in government – dragging the rest of us along for their self-destructive ride, usually at gunpoint.

Congress in action
Republicans Blame Obama Funding-Cuts for 3rd Failure of U.S. Missile Defense Test
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Gee, politicians are sure stupid, aren’t they?  (As if we couldn’t tell from the first story.)  WHAT “spending cuts”? The reduction in the increase which leaves an increase that is STILL much greater than the official inflation estimate?  For crying out loud, people, drop it!

Congress in action
Rep. Steve King: Why Pass Border Security Bill When Obama Will Ignore It?
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Why indeed?  Better yet, shut Congress down – take a couple months recess and go home and talk to people and get ready for the REAL collapse.
The “messiah’s” consort

Michelle Obama Gives a Nod to ‘Walking School Buses’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Every time you think you have figured out just how STUPID this woman and the other Tranzis who guide and fawn over her are, you discover that it is IMPOSSIBLE to overstate the stupidity.

Home front: “justice system”
Liberal Law Prof: Zimmerman Case ‘Should Never Have Been Brought in the First Place’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: I assume he just wanted a straight forward lynching.

Mama’s Note: I certainly didn’t get that from reading the article. In this case, and many others of course, “racial profiling” was absolutely appropriate. Since most of the crime being experienced in that neighborhood was actually perpetrated by young, black males, it makes perfect sense that a “watchman” would follow and question such people.

So many people get off the track here. If Martin had simply answered George, regardless of his attitude, nothing more would have happened unless the police arrived. As it was, Martin chose to attack and the rest is history. Martin made the seriously wrong choice.

The “messiah” – Lies and more lies
Obama: ‘Jury Has Spoken’: Obama’s Justice Department: It’s Not Over Yet
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Heap big chief speak with forked tongue – as always.  “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?”  “I’m not trying to take away your guns.”  “I won’t raise taxes on anyone making less than 250 thou a year.”

Mama’s Note: And I ask again: By What Legitimate Authority does this man, or any other, control our lives and economy in any way?

Home front – Crime
Murder? Homicide Rate Hits 30-Year Low Among 10-24 Yr Olds
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: But as JPFO points out this age group accounts for A THIRD of gun homicides a year, so it doesn’t matter to the Hoplophobes and Hoploclasts if it is a 50-year low: they will still claim it is a war on children.

Mama’s Note: And it is my understanding that the same age group is responsible for a great deal of the shooting as well. Clearly more involved here than just the presence of guns. Wouldn’t have anything to do with the breakdown of the family, or society in general, would it? And, of course, most people older than 15 or 16 can’t logically be called “children” either.

The “messiah” – Theft by government – Killing babies
Obama: U.S. Needs More Taxpayers; Calls for Fewer Babies But ‘More Immigrants’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: But you see, immigrants are BETTER than babies (unless they are immigrant babies).  You know, babies cry a lot, and they get dirty a lot, and they don’t take orders very well, and they look so cute.  We don’t need more taxpayers – we need LESS taxes, LESS spending, and less government-sanctioned killing of babies.

Congress in action
Sen. Reid ‘Happy’ That Washington Has the ‘Mets’ for a Baseball Team
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: A sad bunch of losers for a sadder bunch of losers: Congress.  Especially the Senate.

The “messiah’s” minions
Krauthammer: Napolitano’s Record ‘Was the Underwear Didn’t Explode’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Quite cute.  And an overstatement: she HAS no real record – nothing anyone will admit to, at least.  No one has dug deep enough in the files yet.

Mama’s Note: She has a clear record of mind numbing arrogance and dedication to every kind of tyranny. She will make a fine companion for Janet Reno in hell. I can only begin to imagine the sort of damage she will do to the university system in California, but I don’t look for that to last long. Just a sneaking hunch, but she may run for governor there.

Theft by government
Poll: 85% of Americans Dissatisfied with Government’s Handling of Nation’s Finances
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Gee, they still manage to fool 15%?  So how do we account for all those incumbents getting reelected?  Cheating?

Politics 2013 – Culture wars
Planned Parenthood Ohio Protests Pro-Life Law With Ad Featuring Rape Victim
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Turn about is NOT fair play?

Politics 2013 – Culture wars
Bishop: Catholic Mom Murdered by Gay Man ‘Died a Martyr for Her Faith’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Seems a pretty accurate statement, based on the generally suppressed facts.  Kind of a reverse Matthew Shepherd case, it seems.

Stupid people – Can’t take a joke
Asiana to Sue San Francisco TV Station Over Racially Offensive Pilots’ Names
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Seems that no one can take a joke: the TV station fired the poor idiot who couldn’t GET the joke.  Seems like she needs a break: she is just a poor news reader, who can barely get pronunciation right.  It was FUNNY, people, and no one could look at it for more than 6 to 10 seconds and not get it.  But the mainstream media really has to scrape the bottom of the barrel these days.  Not that Asiana OR SFO seem to be any more able to avoid hiring stupid people: pilots who don’t know their own limits and fire truck drivers who drive over and kill victims.

Theft by government – Broken government
Treasury: Debt Has Been Exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 Days
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Someone needs to go kick the clock, apparently?

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-28A: Clothing and global warming, dog food

Posted on 2013-07-17 by TPOL Nathan

Stupid government studies – New religions: Manmade global warming
$487K Study of Viking Textiles During Little Ice Age To ‘Mitigate Climate Change’(CNSnews.com)

Nathan: Well, if all it takes to “mitigate” climate change is wearing different clothing, maybe if people all dress a bit more modestly, the planet will stop heating up so much.  Sort of the opposite of common sense, I suppose:  too many bikinis makes the summer season warmer, and too many idiots out in shorts in winters makes them warmer too?  I guess I shouldn’t say too much until another government study or three are able to correlate the popularity of nude and topless sunbathing and swimming with oceanic temperatures and number of degree-days on land.

State Department to Spend $95,000 Teaching Haitian Inmates How to Sew
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This is obviously part of the US FedGov’s attempt to combat global warming: considering how Haitians normally dress.  If they sew and wear enough clothing, maybe Haiti can go from tropical to, I dunno, equal to New England maybe?

The “messiah’s” minions – Home front
Will DOJ Charge Zimmerman? ‘Not Something the President Involves Himself In’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Of course not.  Aren’t the emperor’s new robes VERY tasteful and expensive?

The “messiah’s” minions – Home front
Holder: DOJ ‘Resolved’ to Combat Violence ‘Involving or Directed at Young People’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: When?  NEXT century maybe?

Home front: stupid politicians
Jesse Jackson Urges U.N. Human Rights Council to Investigate Trayvon Martin Shooting
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This is the same council that wants to charge the current governor of South Dakota, who has spent most of his adult life running children’s homes and trying to protect children from drunken, drug- and child-abusing parents and families, with genocide for that very work, because he can’t find enough AmerInd families to place abused and special-needs Lakota and Dakota and Nakota children in?  What about Chicago, Jesse?

Home front: stupid politicians
Four Children Gunned Down in Chicago During Zimmerman Trial
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Along with other big urban centers, Chicago accepts the murder (not just death) of children all the time: it just “happens” – even while they try to force their stupidity (which is what leads to most of these deaths) on the rest of the nation, like the Florida town where the young thug Martin was killed in self-defense.

Mama’s Note: Not to mention the fact that most murders and assaults in the country are perpetrated by young black males, and that blacks of all ages are primarily the victims. If Zimmerman had been black, we’d never have heard a word about it.

Home front: stupid people
L.A. Protesters, Furious About Zimmerman Verdict, Raid Store, Block Freeway
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: I find it interesting that this took several hours if not a whole day or more to happen after the verdict was announced.  Was this due to all these protesters/rioters not getting the word very fast?  Or was it because the instigators believed their own propaganda and really thought the uprising would be “spontaneous” so that when it didn’t happen, they had to go out and cause it to happen?

Congress in action – Crash of 2009
Rep. Wilson: Some Seniors ‘Eat Dog Food When Their Food Stamps Run Out’
(CNSnews.com)

Nathan: And whose fault is this?  Government, of course, and NOT because the government doesn’t produce enough food stamps (or food) but because the government has so destroyed the economy.  And some seniors don’t GET food stamps – and don’t NEED food stamps because (a) they prepared for their own retirement, (b) they have families that love them and care for them, (c) they have church families that love them and care for them, or (d) they are too proud to either take food stamps OR eat dog food, and WORK.

Mama’s Note: I suppose there might be one or two incidents of this in a year (used to be “cat food”), but I never saw any signs of it in 30 years of nursing, and I saw a lot of VERY poor seniors over that time. One of the big problems is the fact that most people want the “convenience” type stuff and are either too lazy or don’t really know how to cook real, fresh foods. And yes, there are some seniors who are simply not able to cook much… that’s what family and neighbors are for.

I belonged to a neighborhood group that took food to needy seniors, and most turned down the fresh things that required preparation and cooking. They really wanted frozen dinners and ready made sandwiches the most. Or pudding cups and ice cream. And yes, government “programs” have caused an awful lot of this, along with “public education” and broken homes where children never learn any domestic skills like cooking. It’s a complex problem, and most certainly won’t be solved with more “food stamps.

Many children and adults are seriously malnourished these days, no matter how much money is thrown at it. A diet almost completely lacking in fresh fruits and vegetables or whole grain products is the norm, and the “fast food” or white bread sandwiches washed down with 2 liters of soda pop is the cause of a great deal of the illness, obesity and lethargy in this country.

Stupid Tranzi tricks
NAACP, MoveOn: ‘Right to Life’ Violated in Trayvon Martin Killing
(CNSnews.com)

Nathan: Obviously younger (but not a “child”) Hispanic males such as Zimmerman are not allowed to enjoy THEIR right to life.  This sort of effort by the Tranzis is so pathetic.  But too many people suck it up.

Culture wars: worldwide
Catholic Bishop in Dominican Republic: Obama’s Gay Ambassadorial Nominee ‘Will Have to Leave’
(CNSnews.com)

Nathan: Ugly.  Merging of church and state: the ‘messiah’s” administration will need to immediately cut all funding to the Republic until they make the Catholic bishop leave.  Of course, it is not just Catholic prelates that do this:  I learned that an Anglican bishop in Dominica kicked out an Anglican missionary a few years ago because she supported Episcopalian moves to encourage same-sex “marriages” and ordain homosexual “bishops.”

Home front: New York – Crime
NY data show crime increase last year statewide
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – New York’s violent crimes increased 2.3% statewide to more than 79,000 last year despite a drop in New York City murders. State data on serious property and violent crimes still show an overall 13% decade-long decline to about 450,000 last year. That reflects fewer crimes in all categories, led by a 62% drop in stolen vehicles. While the city’s murders declined almost 19% to 419 in 2012, the fewest recorded in decades, aggravated assaults, robberies and forcible rapes all rose to nearly 53,000 violent crimes, up 3.5% from 2011. For the rest of the state, violent crimes were nearly flat at about 26,000 last year, with declines in forcible rapes and robberies, an uptick in aggravated assaults and 265 murders, a 4% increase.

Mama’s Note: No real surprise here. “Gun control” works so good, don’t you know.

Nathan: This is contrary to the national trend, of course.  But notice that the headline is really bogus: murders are down and except in NYC, other violent crimes are also down.  I am sure that Bloomberg and his ilk are torn, because they want to use increased crime as the excuse for more laws and more tyranny (as if there is a difference) but want to crow about how their tough laws and enforcement “caused” the NYC murder rate to drop.  (Of course, the increase in non-homicide violent crimes in NYC puts the lie to that claim.  We should also remember that aggravated and forcible rapes often do not require the perp to have a gun, but if potential victims are armed, these sorts of crimes usually fail.

Mama’s Note: Yes, armed potential victims do mess up their utopia badly, and don’t get reported either, except when arrested as “gun criminals,” of course.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-27D: SPECIAL – Zimmerman “not guilty”

Posted on 2013-07-14 by TPOL Nathan

Zimmerman Not Guilty
(The Blaze) and about every other media outlet in the US.

Nathan:  Sniff, sniff… yeah, sitting here in Cortez, CO, I can smell smoke: not just our ordinary, everyday, forests-are-burning smoke, but an odd tang, like old socks and cigarette butts with wood smoke.  Not quite like burning trash (in a landfill – know what THAT smells like, as recently as last week when some idiot threw away something that set a mattress on fire in the landfill).

I guess it must be America burning, and no doubt mixed with gunsmoke as the rioters in Florida blame the six-woman jury for not sending the “racist” and “baby-killer” Zimmerman to the electric chair – or more preferably to be drawn and quarters and have his head put on a pike in front of the State Capitol.

Justice is done – for once.  But the evil stench of injustice is really probably what I’m smelling, despite the warnings of riots and unrest and all the like spouted the last few days by the media, and taken seriously by a fair number of law-enforcement types in Florida and many inner cities.  “Remember Rodney King,” and “Remember O.J.” and “Remember …”  A seventeen-year-old who died in the act of being abused as a “child?”  Please, people, give me a break.

The stench of that woman on the bench, who apparently thinks her job isn’t to work for the jury but for the prosecution.

The stench of the prosecution who ALL deserve to be sitting at the other table in a court room as soon as possible: they break the law and lie and cheat and are probably mentally deranged to even try the “child abuse” caper.

The stench of the media who started this entire mess, costing Florida taxpayers millions, for the same of a story about a thug attacking a neighborhood protector and getting killed for his trouble.

The stench of all the REAL racists and gangsters and thugs who threatened mayhem for the nation if the women acquitted Zimmerman.

Who will be the next Zimmerman?  That’s actually the wrong question:  there are DOZENS of Zimmermans every day in court, in jail, being pilloried in the media for defending themselves or using the wrong word (at least for people of certain colors) three or four decades ago or any of a thousand crimes that are not really “crimes” except in a corrupt and crooked and wicked court system which serves justice the way a rude and ticked-off waiter serves dessert.  Maybe what I’m smelling is not the nation burning to punish the jury for acquitting Zimmerman: maybe it is the stench of a nation burning for its sins.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-27C: Exporting government

Posted on 2013-07-14 by TPOL Nathan

Don’t you wish, now and then, that you had a teleporter or perhaps one of the Han’s “dis rays” (from the old Buck Rogers stories)?  To conveniently disappear certain relics of the barbarous eras of human history, like the ancient Egyptians, the massive Mongol invasions and empires, and the current (and last three or five) US Administrations?  Let’s look at some stories and see how that would help – and how that wonderful idea is twisted around.

Home front: Chicagoland tyranny plus
Illinois Lawmaker Welcomes Police State
(Personal Liberty.com)

Nathan: This foolish, fearful woman (why on earth would someone elect this woman to be ANYTHING except maybe towel girl for the cheerleading squad) wants to turn Chicago into a fully-militarized occupation zone (Chicago Police are not FULLY militarized, and clearly do not have that good a track record on occupation – since the death count and violence toll is higher than most Afghani cities have).  Isn’t this just bringing MORE guns onto the streets?  And what happens when the Chicago gangs ambush and wipe out a whole fire team of National Guard infantry?  Do you realize how much firepower a modern infantry squad – even dismounted and light – has? The insanity of using combat troops just doesn’t seem to be understandable to your normal “legislator.”  Is this ANOTHER reason to require prior military service to be eligible to run for office?

New Religions: Global warming and more
GLOBAL DIMMING
(GeoEngineeringWatch.org)

Nathan: Thanks to Scott for this one.  This lengthy piece of pseudo science tries to reconcile both the Global Freezing Scare of the 1970s and the Global Warming Scare of the last two decades, while coming up with the last digit of PI and explaining where all those socks that disappear from the clothes drier go. (I’m only joking on the last two.  The writer of this tall tale already published the answer to those some time ago, when he was merely human and not a demigod.)  It ALSO tries to explain just why the data for the last decade or so shows no increase in global warming:  it is (again) OUR fault: we pollute the air with contrails and chemtrails and cigarette smoke and cow gas and everything else and we are “masking” the real warming because we are causing cooling – and this, of course, is not seen as a natural balance, but as a DOUBLY-bad thing by the nut jobs that wrote this and all the rest.  The entire argument boils down to this: Technology is evil, people are evil, a decent standard of living is evil, and liberty is evil incarnate. Which is why we have the next nut job introducing his legislation.

Congress in Action – Stupid Congress (1)
Bill in Congress for National Park on Luna
(Raw Story)

Nathan: There is just something about those parts of the Lone Star Republic that elect Democrats to Congress (see the next story, also);  I figure there must be an IQ test for the candidates:  “IF YOUR IQ IS GREATER THAN 90, YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS RIDE.”  Except that being Democrats, someone x’ed out the “0” on the sign.  He wants to make the six landing sites on Luna into a national historic park, under the control of those glorious defenders of nature and history, the National Park Service.  (Perhaps, a little voice who must remain nameless tells me), he considers the NPS of 2013 to be more competent than NASA of 2013.)  Never mind that the surface (and everything else) of Luna is NOT US territory, because the FedGov VOLUNTARILY gave up “right of discovery” – a basic part of international law for a millenium, and deeded the whole ball of dirt to the UN!  Never mind that there is no way those ranger hats are going to fit in a Neil Armstrong style spacesuit helmet.  Never mind that the standard NPS housing will infest the entire surface of Luna with rats, mice, cockroaches and silverfish.  Never mind that they would have to rent a Russian junker to even get part of the way there.  WHAT ABOUT THE STINKING BUDGET?  Do you realize what kind of hazardous duty pay NPS maintenance personnel could get for being assigned up there?

HOWEVER, I do like the idea of requiring Congress to hold a least a week of each session on the Sea of Tranquility (although at a suitably safe and respectful distance from Tranquility Base).  I am sure that they would welcome the excuse not to go back to their home district.

Congress in action – Theft by government
Rep. Jackson Lee: Farm Bill ‘Will Again Put Starving Children in the Abyss’(CNSNews.com) “It will again put starving children in the abyss of the uncaring attitude of my friends, who for the first time in decades are separating the heart line of the Farm bill, the nutrition program, the Supplemental nutrition program, the food stamps program.”

Mama’s Note: But I thought all American children were obese, overweight… how can they be starving? And this little lady doesn’t seem to have missed too many meals herself. The “food stamps” won’t be eliminated, by any means of course. But any family feeling a “pinch” might consider canceling the cable TV, not buying cigarettes or booze, and the mommies might forgo their fake fingernails, salon hairdos, bar hopping, or whatever. Could feed a lot of children with that money…

Nathan: Like  Ah said, Texas shore has a lot tae answer fur…  The “heart line?”  Right.  Sounds like my aunt’s renters, who can pay for new vehicles, the cable, and all the liquids from the empty containers that fill my aunt’s trash bin, but can’t afford to pay their rent.  I don’t agree with farm subsidies any more than I do with food subsidies, but this was a good move on the part of Congress to split these:  they were lumped together for 50+ years to get enough votes for both programs.  But we are all getting tired of this.  “Starving Children?”  Ha.  What a joke.  There probably ARE children starving in America but it is more BECAUSE of government action than inaction.  Sheila Jackson Lee is a scummy weasely Tranzi who had her entire political career based on lies and screaming emotion, of which “fa da chilluns” is the greatest part.  Starving children today are a result of the stupidity or evil of the parents and relatives, and sometimes of the children themselves (ever met a 5-2 80-pound 13-year-old girl who thought she was “fat”? I have).  And there is the occasional sex slave, but that is certainly not going to be helped by food stamps.  Never fear, though, we will be inundated by screams of “children are dying in America.”

As for this Congress-cow; well, she could have paid for a FEW children’s meals with that $24,000 around-the-world trip a couple of months ago.  And she sure looks like she could afford to miss a meal or two or ten – and remember, ALL her meals are on the taxpayer, because we pay her salary.

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Libertarian commentary on the news, #13-27B: Idiots in charge of a decaying regime

Posted on 2013-07-12 by TPOL Nathan

Busy week – for me and a lot of other folks.  But apparently the government is incredibly busy destroying everything it can – and itself.  We can see that in the very LOWEST of venue:

Stupid government – Demogogues
Obama: The Government Is Us, And We’re Doing Things Right
(Personal Liberty.com) President Barack Obama wants Americans to focus less on government failings and more on where it makes things better. The government is us, according to the President, and we’re doing things right.

Nathan: I am so totally disgusted at this man and his stupid comment that I’ve tried to write commentary on this five or six times and not been able to really start.  I want to pick this to pieces, but at the same time, I want to cover my ears and run screaming from this government and the idiots who claim to be in charge.  We are seeing this nation, and most states of it, deteriorating into stinking slime, in front of us, day-by-day.

Mama’s Note: Of course it’s a silly statement. There is absolutely nothing that can be “done right” with theft, coercion, lies, fraud and murder. Fortunately, more and more people are noticing that very thing.

Home front – War against some religion
Rep. Pitts: ‘First Amendment Does Not Restrict Religion to Places of Worship’(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: And why not?  Why do all the people have to be bothered by these street preachers and people being disgusting by worshipping in parks or stores or wearing crosses or funny hats or all that gross stuff?  Well, because the First Amendment does not CREATE a right to worship God (or gods or elephants or even science): it “merely” recognizes it and supposedly prohibits government from interfering with it.  The right to practice a religion is inherent: built into every human being, whether by nature or by nature’s God.  Too bad MORE politicians and bureaucrats don’t understand this.  Sadly, the FedGov has been attacking SOME religions for 180 years, (as some states have been since the 1600s, just in different ways) and there is little hope that it will do anything but get worse.

Stupid government tricks – Africa’s collapse
New Duties for Holder and Kerry: Combat Wildlife Trafficking in Africa
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: I am SO GLAD that they are finally tackling what tens of millions of Americans view as the most critical issue on which the Federal government must take action today.  Americans have been demanding for decades that hundreds of billions of dollars must be spent to keep this from happening, and that if the choice is between this and letting Mexico take over the US, then Mexico is welcome to it.

Government spying and the end of liberty – Europe’s fall
Belgium:  Government to Spy on Emails “Legally”
(De Standaard via PresEurop) The Belgian government has requested that the country’s parliament hold an urgent vote on a bill presented at the end of June, which will oblige telecoms operators to keep a record of emails that transit their networks for a period of one year, reports De Standaard. The daily points out that in compliance with the European directive of 2006, which is currently being reviewed by the European Commission, state security services and the courts will have access to the records, but that these will not include information about the content of emails.

Nathan: Certainly the Belgian government (or ONE of the Belgian governments, or all of them) has been doing this – perhaps subcontracting to NSA’s contractors to gather them.  But now, suddenly, they want to be legal, fearing the sort of feedback the NSA is getting in the US.  (Which is NOT, after all, the kind of feedback that the NSA needs to get in the US:  large mobs with torches, pitchforks, tar, feathers, rails and hemp nooses, for the NSA and ANYONE who stands up for the NSA doing this.)

World trade
Bern and Beijing sign free-trade deal
(Le Temps, via PressEurop)

Nathan: This could be pretty neat IF either the Swiss or the Chinese really know what constitutes “free trade.”  I’d like to think that the Swiss do understand, but indications are that it is as much a joke as NAFTA.

Self defense
Pennsylvania: Trespass leads to assault, gunfight
(WNEP News) “Robert Drust punched 75-year-old Larry Papach in the face, which lead to a violent shootout. ‘Before the police even got there, that’s when the fight started,’ said Franks. ‘There was an argument, there was a pushing, shoving, fist-fight type thing, and then there was the shooting.’ Detectives said Nicholas Drust fired 14 rounds from a semi-automatic handgun at Papach in the shoulder and hand. The criminal complaint said Papach was able to return fire, shooting six rounds from a pistol. The bullets from Papach’s gun hit Robert Drust in the thigh, as well as the alleged trespasser’s sedan. Franks said both men are expected to recover from their injuries, and that Papach fired in self-defense of the trespassers.” (07/04/13)

Nathan: Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that NONE of these people were armed, but that Robert and Nicholas were intent on beating up or even beating to death Mr. Papach, 75 years old.  WITHOUT a firearm, Mr. Papach would probably be dead, with NO opportunity to defend himself.  Apparently, Papach was more accurate than the teenaged Nicholas Drust.  AND the cops even in PA once in a while recognize self-defense!!

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Consent of The Governed

Posted on 2013-07-11 by MamaLiberty

Would you consider it reasonable if one of your neighbors went down to the local car dealer and signed a contract to buy a car, using your credit and name, obligating you to pay for it while he drove it around? Would you think it reasonable if he were able to force you to pay for all of the gas, maintenance, insurance and even repairs when he wrecked it? And, of course, when he wanted another new car, would you cheerfully agree to a repeat performance of the above, again and again, forever? Would it help if he let you drive the car for a block or two now and then?

Furthermore, would you think it acceptable for him to put you in a cage or kill you if you refused to pay for any of this, or even seriously objected to it?

I didn’t think so.

Would it be more reasonable and acceptable if two people did this to you? Ten? A hundred? I can’t imagine it would, and yet that’s exactly what is happening all over the country right now. It’s just set up a little different and called something else.

Every single level of the present non-voluntary government does exactly this. Every penny they spend is stolen from me and you. They steal it from us in a thousand ways, and use our name and credit to sign the bogus contracts that will steal from us and our children for long years to come. They pretend that they have some legitimate “authority” to do this, and that being a “citizen” means that you consent to it all.

Did you consent?

Some people seem to think that you consent to these things by voting, and by being a part of electoral politics in any way. Some people think you consent merely by not objecting, not finding some way to fight them or avoid the theft.

Some people may be right. What do you think? Do you consent?

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-27A: Crash of 2009 continues

Posted on 2013-07-09 by TPOL Nathan

Crash of 2009 – Economic disaster Home front (3 stories)
101M Americans Get Food Aid from Federal Gov’t; More Than the Number of Private Sector Workers
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: It has been headed this way for a long time.  Continued “depression-level” unemployment (real, not just reported as the next story talks about) is part of the reason for this.  Of course, the administration is working on boosting the number of private sector workers by getting employers to convert fulltime to part time jobs (see the story after next).  But we also have to remember that for several years, the administration has been actively promoting food stamps (SNAP) and other federal food aid (such as to schools and other institutions) to boost numbers dependent on the fedgov for food and a lot more.

Mama’s Note: Yes, and all the while doing everything they can think of to make natural, wholesome food more and more expensive and harder to find. The absolute avalanche of regulations, taxes, land use and “environmental” restrictions and so forth make it a real miracle that anyone still wants to farm or ranch.

54 Months: Record Stretch of 7.5%+ Unemployment Continues
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This is of course the “official” unemployment – the REAL unemployment rate is insanely higher than this, and even the OLD “official” unemployment rate (which the government used to calculate) is a lot higher: the country’s economy may not be in a RAPID death spiral, but is still spiraling down.

Mama’s Note: And the “real” unemployment rate, by any measure, does not take into consideration all of the people who have joined the black and gray market, offering their goods and services outside the definition of employment altogether. This is actually a good thing, as people are pressed to find ways to trade that do not involve government “permission” and, while certainly subject to heavy handed punishment when detected, gives rise to the old entrepreneurial spirit that actually built the best of civilization down through the ages. Rather than honoring and emulating the “statesman,” we need to respect the smugglers and blockade runners.

Number of ‘Involuntary’ Part-Time Workers Jumps 332K in June
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: What a boon to the Administration:  Full part-time employment can increase steadily, and they can continue to fool too many people.  The hours can get cut from “just under 30” to 25 to 20 to 15, and maybe at 8 hours a week, EVERYONE can be “employed” and STILL collect all the wonderful government benefits like “free” food and cell phones and all the rest.  So that all the businesses will work (directly or indirectly) for the government. Then the Crash of 2009 can be a PERMANENT depression but not have to be called one.

Mama’s Note: Ah, but nothing is truly permanent, no matter how hard they try to make it so. The only thing in life that never, ever changes is the fact that all things change.

Theft by government – Broken promises
Social Security Personal Accounts: Prosperity for All
(Heartland Institute) To pay for all of the promised Social Security and Medicare benefits would require almost doubling the current total payroll tax of 15.3 percent to nearly 30 percent, says Peter Ferrara, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis…

Nathan: We ALL can pretty much figure than anyone under the age of 55 or so today AIN’T gonna collect stinkin’ Social Security ‘lessn they’s got privileges and know someone.  It is broke, it just is still wiggling around a little bit.  But personal accounts?  Only so that when the time comes the government can steal them, too, as is already being discussed about 401k and IRAs.

Home Front: Chicago War
67 72 Shot in Chicago in Wave of Holiday Weekend Violence
(NBC Chicago) The survivors were not cooperating with detectives, authorities said. …Twelve men were killed and at least 60 other people were wounded in shootings throughout Chicago during the holiday weekend, including eight people who were shot in a West Side attack Saturday.

Mama’s Note: Now, wait a minute! It’s illegal to carry a gun in Chicago. I guess they’ll just have to make it MORE “illegal.” Funny thing, though. It IS legal a lot of other places where NOBODY was shot over the holiday…

Nathan: The numbers went up even after Mama Liberty sent me this story this morning.  This is almost as bad as Egypt this weekend!  Sadly, this is just a drop in the bucket of Chicago’s population.  Although a lot of people don’t understand, there is a definite correlation between severity of gun control laws which keep normal people from having guns for self-defense, and the number of gun crimes committed.

Theft in general – Broken free market
Rethinking Which Accounts Qualify for Deposit Insurance
(Mercatus) Uninsured brokered deposits reaffirm market discipline and increase stability, making banks rely on a stable deposit base to finance their lending activities…

Nathan: Sounds pretty good.  But what sounds even better is REAL insurance, where private firms have to determine what the risk of loss is, and the premium is really affiliated with the cost and risk for a particular bank, so that it is not a license to do stupid things.

Mama’s Note: The banker (and everyone else) needs to be personally liable for their decisions and business practice. If you can play games with other people’s money, then walk off when things go bad, lots of things can go bad quickly. I’m sure the idea of tar and feathers, or outright hanging, kept many a banker in line in years gone by.

Islamic wars: Arab street revolt
Muslim Brotherhood Claims Early-Morning ‘Massacre’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This “massacre” was as much the fault of the Muslim Brotherhood as it was of the Army, but that is what the MB wants: blood in the streets to fling into the news screens and front pages of European and American papers to get them to restore Morsi (or some other MB stooge) to power.  The MB cares no more for the Arab in the Street than the Army does: they see the normal people as pawns and tokens to be spent for power.  Yes, the Army pulled a coup – with some good reason to do so, and apparently in compliance with at least some “constitutional provisions” – of a constitution that had already been rendered null and void.

A pox on BOTH (or ALL) their houses: let the Egyptians continue to kill themselves as they have done for six or seven thousand years.  Stop wasting Western treasure and lives trying to stop it, or to “establish democracy.”  Indeed, this is where the West came in: when French and British troops intervened in an Egyptian mess because the leaders were killing the people and the people were trying to kill the leaders – and EVERYONE was killing the “christians” and the “foreigners.

Posted in Commentary on the News | 2 Comments

Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-26C: Arab street revolt and US stupidity

Posted on 2013-07-08 by TPOL Nathan

Islamic wars: Arab street revolt – American interference and stupidity (2 stories)
Egypt: Chief justice sworn in as interim president
(AP) “The youth had the initiative and the noblest thing about this glorious event is that it was an expression of the nation’s conscience and an embodiment of its hopes and ambitions.” The revolution must continue, …”

Nathan: It is my way of thinking that there is little to desire between the Egyptian military and the new Supreme-Court-Justice-turned-temporary-President and the Morsi cabal, for the people of Egypt or the world.  The one exception to that (although contested by the likes of Stephen Lendman, who thinks that ANYthing the US is involved in is automatically evil, and that the US is involved in everything, including the overthrow of Morsi) is that deposing the Pharaoh Morsi is a slap in the “messiah’s” face and the opposite of what DC wants; as the next story relates.

Arab journalist reports US Ambassador pressuring Egypt
(RaymondIbraham.com via Freedom Outpost) …Anne Patterson is turning up the heat and vowing to apply pressure: Evidence that the Obama administration is unhappy with the Egyptian people’s liberation from Muslim Brotherhood rule continues to emerge.  As reported today by Youm 7, according to Muhammad Heikal — “the Arab world’s most respected political commentator” and for some 50 years a political insider — soon after the overthrow of Morsi, U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson assured Hisham Qandil, who hours ago was Egypt’s Prime Minister, that “there are many forms of pressure, and America holds the keys to the Gulf.”

Such blatantly pro-Muslim Brotherhood assurances by Patterson are consistent with many of her other actions in Egypt, which have led most Egyptians, including politicians and activists, to refer to her as a Brotherhood stooge.  Among other things, in the days leading to June 30, she called on Egyptians not to protest — including by meeting with the Coptic Pope and asking him to urge the nation’s Christian minority not to oppose the Brotherhood, even though Christians have naturally been the most to suffer under Morsi, especially in the context of “blasphemy” accusations. Thus, and once again, the Obama administration makes indubitably clear that its primary interest in Egypt is to see the Muslim Brotherhood stay in power, the Egyptian people’s will — the will of tens of millions of secularists, liberals, moderates, and Christians — be damned.

Nathan: Of course, the “messiah” and his minions have no problem with ignoring the will of millions of Egyptian voters and citizens: they have had lots of practice ignoring the will of the American people on issues across the board.  Supposedly, Ms. Patterson is hated by Egyptians third only to Morsi and the “messiah” himself.  There are rumors floating that she is not a “stooge” of the MB, but that she is herself a member of MB and part of a sleeper cell.

Read more: http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/07/us-ambassador-to-egypt-vows-to-apply-pressure-to-support-muslim-brotherhood/#ixzz2YMjewJOe

Home front – Hoplophiles
Toy Gun March On Washington Draws 2nd Amendment Supporters
(Personal Liberty) While there’s no sign that remnant supporters of the dubious, now-cancelled July 4th armed march on Washington, D.C. are coalescing near the capitol with loaded weapons, 2nd Amendment supporters did turn out Wednesday to stage a legal demonstration – using toy guns.

Nathan: Actually, according to some reports, Adam Kokesh DID show up in DC and commit a number of felonies by loading and unloading a shotgun, but without being arrested.  The toy gun protest drew virtually NO media, of course.  I hope that they had fun, because otherwise they wasted the day.  As did the people who tried to “Restore the Fourth” and other political actions.  Guy Fawkes Day seems to mean more today than Independence Day does.

Home front – Tyranny and spying
The Feds Are Spying On Your Snail Mail Too
(Personal Liberty) Amid reports of the National Security Agency’s sweeping surveillance efforts centered on collecting electronic communications data, many Americans have expressed concern about their privacy on the technological front. A new report indicates that the government is spying on snail mail too. Read More…

Nathan: I don’t know how long it will take for this to sink into the public consciousness, but this is definitely 1984 and Brave New World level police state actions.  Every piece of mail (don’t know if it specifically includes the junk mail – photos of every bogus “this key may fit the car you can win” promotion flyer  or just the bills and birthday cards and the like) every day?  Even in small local post offices?  The sheer volume of data is insanely high, which makes me wonder if this is a fake claim.  But I don’t know enough about the modern workings inside post offices to support or deny it.  But even if it is only 10% of the mail, is it not one more proof that the Constitution is dead and the FedGov is a police state tyranny to be ranked with the Third Reich and Soviet Russia?

Home front – Media madness
MSNBC Analyst: Paula Deen Should Apologize Until Media Approves
(Personal Liberty) Food Network star Paula Deen has been attacked for a racial slur that she admitted to using 30 years ago. She has been rebuked by the media and lost $12.5 million in sponsorship deals. But still, MSNBC pundits believe that she should suffer further. Watch…

Nathan: This Deen controversy is seemingly another dog-days-of-summer type story, but it is obvious that the viciousness of the mainstream media is growing as their overall power wanes.  Like the dying snake that strikes out and poisons its attacker – or whatever is closest, the media cannot help but do so: it is its nature.

Home front – Local tyranny/stupid cop tricks
Police Chief Tries To Shoot Dog; Shoots Owner Instead; Ignores Victim; Gets Sworn In
(Personal Liberty) A North Carolina woman was hit by a ricocheting bullet meant for her dog, after Winston-Salem police chief in-waiting Barry Rountree got scared of the dog last week and tried to shoot it.

Nathan: I haven’t had a chance to talk with any trained or retired law enforcement professionals about this, but suspect that they would NOT agree with hiring this idiot as police chief: even a chief requires a bit of courage, some common sense, and some pretense of gun skills.  The problem here is NOT with the police department or even Rountree himself as much as with the city fathers of Winston-Salem who collectively are brain dead, and the idea that government at any level can be trusted with anything more deadly than a peashooter or a wrist-rocket with a really CHEAP rubber band.

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What Goes Up, Must Come Down

Posted on 2013-07-07 by MamaLiberty

Boy killed by stray bullet fired in celebration of July 4
(The Raw Story)

Police in Chesterfield County Virginia are seeking information that could lead to the arrest of whoever fired a shot into the air that struck and killed 7-year-old Brendon Mackey on July 4. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the boy was walking with his father in a parking lot when he abruptly fell to the ground lifeless.

Every year we read about such tragic events, and while gun owners and even some experts don’t always agree on the details, this is a very even handed description of what happens when a bullet is fired straight up into the air.

It seems obvious, however, that most bullets fired into the air, for whatever reason, are NOT aimed straight up. I would imagine that most people shooting this way take at least some care to aim away from people and buildings they can SEE, but they quite obviously do not understand the speed and trajectory of the bullet. They are obviously not thinking about the person or object that may be on the other end of that trajectory. Most importantly, however, they have chosen to ignore one of the absolutely imperative rules for safe gun handling.

ALWAYS point the gun in a safe direction. KNOW your target, and what is behind it.

You are always responsible for every single bullet that fires from your gun. Every bullet fired has to go somewhere. It WILL hit something. You are responsible for what it hits. You remain responsible if you “didn’t know,” or if you did not intend to fire the gun at all. So, firing a gun into the air, with zero idea where the bullet will land or what it will hit is not an “accident” in any rational sense of the word. An accident is an event that happens without intention, and without any reasonable warning. It is something unforeseen and, often, unavoidable. A great many things that are called “accidents” are truly incidents of negligence, by one or more people.

So, while the actual chance of killing someone is probably very low, the very act of firing a gun into the air, without a clear target and knowledge of where that bullet will land, is simply criminal negligence whether you hit the side of a building or kill someone’s prize bull. If your bullet kills a person, you are guilty of at least manslaughter. I can’t imagine any “celebration” being worth taking that chance.

Those who truly care about safety, and their reputation as responsible, rational people, need to take the one step necessary to avoid this negligence. Don’t shoot your guns into the air.

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Independence Day

Posted on 2013-07-05 by TPOL Nathan

It is the fourth of July – commonly celebrated as “Independence Day;” the day that the Declaration of Independence was publicly proclaimed, although it had been adopted on the second of July.  237 years ago, about a million Englishmen (or so they were considered, although they were Scots and Irish and even Dutch and German and even some Manxmen and Frenchmen), one in three of the three million who had settled in thirteen small colonies along the Atlantic seaboard, decided that enough was enough and tried to take another step forward to claim the liberty that is God’s gift to EVERY man and woman.

For years, I celebrated it, with my family, my friends, my fellow soldiers and fellow lovers of liberty and fellow children of God – and not just Americans (either born or by choice) but with friends from other places not blessed directly by those distant events.

But I just can’t this year.  Just cannot, for it is now just another historic event in time and place that (though it shaped our world) has no more meaning than celebrating the day that the Maccabees liberated the temple, that Octavius defeated Marc Anthony, that the Pueblo revolted against the Spanish, or any other of the thousand events that people have commemorated over the centuries and millennia.

That act of disobedience to tyrants (and therefore, obedience to God) did not fail; the War of Independence already under way did not fail; and although the Articles of Confederation DID fail it is hard to say that the Constitution, deeply flawed though it was, failed immediately.  No, the successes were ultimately compromised and destroyed by actions that on their face are contrary to the spirit and words of the Declaration, and indeed, contrary to the spirit of the Lord which in part motivated the actions so long ago.

Today, people place undue emphasis on that day in 1776; it did not start or stop a war, it did not restore liberty or freedoms or sustain them, it did not make a nation where there had been none before.  It was merely a convenient symbol and an arbitrary assignment in time and place of those events.  To remind us, and therefore celebrate what we had.

But in this Year of Our Lord 2013, this Anno Libertalis 237, I do not have the heart to celebrate any more.  The liberty for which my spiritual and physical and social ancestors gave so much, including lives, is gone: wasted by those who benefited most from it.  My chosen professions are tainted and corrupted by the tyranny which has replaced it in great and small things.  My friends and clients are constantly harassed and weakened and punished and made poor(er) by those who hide in the red, white, and blue and now meaningless words, cloaking their evil in them to prey upon us.  My brothers and sisters in Christ are subject to growing persecution, all too often not realizing what they have lost in their liberty to worship God, and instead worship (in effect) the state, which has usurped God’s place.  But we allowed it to be done:  we wasted our liberty and traded it for security and safety. Or what we were convinced was security and safety.

Weep for what once was, and is no more. Don’t celebrate it, mourn its absence.

The best thing we can do in this time of evil is to pray and plan and prepare for what is necessary to once again “Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land and unto All the Inhabitants thereof.”  And prepare to pledge and give our “lives and fortunes and sacred honor” for that: blood and sweat and tears to be shed.  It won’t be the people of all of these formerly united States who will ever again enjoy liberty, but we can pray that as many of our families and friends and coreligionists and neighbors CAN eventually regain the liberty which is our right as humans.  And when that is done, THEN we can again have something to celebrate.

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