Christians and liberty – the 1984 version

Posted on 2013-06-14 by TPOL Nathan

Mike Huckabee is NOT a stupid man:  he knows history, politics, the Bible, his own faith, and people.  So this is NOT the result of a lack of understanding, but rather, evidence that his worldview is badly warped, that his lust for power (for himself and other politicians) is great, and that he believes that OTHER people are more stupid than he is.  Like too many politicians, too many preachers, too many celebrities, he is unwilling to speak the truth, knowing that people have itching ears.

Theft by government – War on religion

Huckabee: Time For Churches To Give Up Tax-Exempt Status, Embrace Freedom
(Personal Liberty Digest) On Monday, former Arkansas Governor and Presidential aspirant Mike Huckabee brought a huge white elephant to the Southern Baptist Convention. When he got up to address the pastors who’d converged on Houston for the annual event, he forced everyone’s attention on it.

First, here we see a big difference between a conservative and a libertarian,  and between a scumbag “successful” politician and someone who truly believes in freedom.  Instead of wanting to make all of us equally free (from taxes, specifically), he wants us all to be equally under government control – and CALLS it “freedom.”  Thus my reference to 1984 in the title of this commentary.

It may be just fine for SOME Southern Baptists, who don’t really believe in the tenets of their faith, or in the Bible, to supposedly “have freedom” by accepting slavery to the state.  It isn’t fine for those who believe in and practice the “Faith once and for all delivered to the saints” – or anyone who believes in liberty, given by God to man.  It isn’t even fine for those who believe in that dead letter, the US Constitution.

Taxation is theft, and also slavery. It sometimes must be endured, or paid, because of the need to survive, priorities, and circumstances.  But it is not right, and to give up something so important as this is obscene on its face.

Taxation – or ANY regulation of religious institutions by the state (at any level) is unconstitutional and immoral.  It is a direct violation of Jesus’ command to “give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.”  And His warning “A man cannot serve two masters.”  There is no freedom in paying taxes, not for a church, not for a school, not for a charity, nor indeed for an individual – unless you count the negative “freedom” of avoiding persecution and jail and abuse and slavery.

What would any church or religious organization GAIN by paying taxes – regardless of what kind?  Freedom from oppressive laws (even if we call them “regulations”) that steal money constantly and INDIRECTLY from these entities?  Hardly: the 1st Amendment protection of freedom of religion is already a dead letter, and serves only to justify a “separation of church and state” that is a pretext and framework for the war on religion and on practicing believers of virtually all faiths, but especially christianity.  (Indeed, the only religions seemingly exempt from this war are Islam, humanism and its associated evolution, and perhaps some pagan religions that make good news copy.)  By paying taxes, not using what belongs to Caesar but what was given to God, the churches actually help FUND this war against them.

Mr. Huckabee apparently wants us to believe that things like the Johnson Amendment (LBJ’s creation that threatens tax exempt status for religious organizations that speak out in political campaigns and elections) are the result of tax-exempt status, and not a half-century-plus attack on the free exercise of religion.  Instead of fighting to overturn that evil concept, he wants to render it null and void by voluntarily doing what it demands be done to those brave enough to STILL speak the truth and condemn those in office (or wannabe officials) who do wrong.  Perhaps he hopes to capture the mad-atheist vote?

Voluntarily submitting to taxation will open the can of worms in many, many ways:  the church’s books and every use of their property and improvements will be looked at under a microscope so that the tax-gatherers can ensure that every mil is accounted for, and every penny is squeezed from the faithful.  Where ever and whenever possible, the land and buildings and other property will be counted and appraised and registered and stolen.  Money to preach the Word or help the afflicted will instead be wasted by politicians, bureaucrats, and the parasites on the body politic that they encourage and enable.

Time for Arkansas Southern Baptists to find someone else: someone who believes in the Bible and christian liberty and standing up for the truth, not caving into the state.  And time for ALL Americans to be freed from the slavery of taxation – from legalized theft.

Until those who claim to be followers of Christ Jesus learn what He taught and follow those teachings, not just personally but as members of churches and communities, they are going to continue to condemn themselves, and the world, to slavery.

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Resisting Tyranny in the Police State of Colorado

Posted on 2013-06-11 by TPOL Nathan

Colorado is my birthplace, though my heritage is mixed Scots-Irish-English-Texan-Comanche.  It is also where I completed both high school and college, and I was a citizen there for many years.  So I consider it important to me and my family, even though we are all South Dakotan residents and citizens of the Black Hills.  So I have been saddened significantly by Colorado’s steady march to the drums of tyranny, a nanny state in which the velvet glove covers less and less of the steel fist, and the jackboots are hobnailed and at least symbolically made of human skin.  Year by year, month by month, the growth of tyranny has and is destroying the state.  The entire state is dragged down by a perverted desire on the part of the majority of inhabitants of the large (and many small) metropolitan areas to be more like California and Massachusetts and New York.

But at least SOME people are trying to change that.  Here are two stories to talk about their attempts.

Resisting Tyranny – Home front – Politics 2013
Colorado: Eight Counties Consider Secession from State
(Greeley Tribune)  – Weld and eight other counties in Northeastern Colorado have announced plans to start a petition to separate from Colorado and seek admission as “North Colorado,” the 51st State, citing new gun laws and new oil and gas regulations.

Nathan: About time, but my first thought is why these eight counties didn’t ask about 40 more out of the 62 counties in the state to join them – although “North Colorado” wouldn’t work: perhaps “Outer Colorado” would, since the only counties that seem happy with having their citizens’ rights stolen one by one, and having businesses shut down by the thugs in Denver, are a double-handful mostly along the Front Range:  Denver and Boulder of course, and Broomfield, Larimer, probably Adams, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Douglas, Summit, Gilpin, Clear Creek, and Eagle.  That is a dozen, and most of the Tranzis and fellow-travelers in the state.  Probably an even toss-up for El Paso and Pueblo, and the “hispanic” counties in the San Luis Valley and south.  THIS should be pushed, not because I expect it to happen but because it will create a crisis in the state and MIGHT cause a lot of their thuggish acts to get rolled back.  Keep in mind that 80% of the state’s population is in the Front Range, with more than 3 million in Metro Denver (including Boulder and Douglas Counties.  The entire rest of the state, including chunks of the Front Range, is conservative to libertarian (minarchist, not anarchist), with a few dark spots:  Aspen and Vail and Summit County, Durango, parts of the San Luis Valley and the “old” Democrat/Hispanic areas like Trinidad and Pueblo. (But even a Pueblo senate district was able to get enough signatures to get a recall election against their Democratic senator who voted for all the gun laws.)

Mama’s Note: Unfortunately, it’s going to take a lot more than petitions or elections to make any headway. As long as the “majority rules,” and too few make any meaningful moves to take back control of their lives, the tyranny will continue to grow like the malignant cancer it truly is.

Home front: Resisting Tyranny
More Colorado Sheriffs Join Lawsuit Against State
(Liberty Crier)55 of 62 county sheriffs in Colorado have now joined the suit to overturn recently passed “gun control” laws requiring background checks for all transfers and limiting magazine capacity, among others.

Nathan: That is not a bad percentage, especially given that too many of the sheriffs are more interested in their own power than in protecting their citizens (employers).  And given what is happening in Florida, and threats which have been made, directly and indirectly, against sheriffs who do fight against the laws, by the General Assembly and various State Administration officials.  When you add this to the budding secession movement and the turmoil created by the legalization of cannabis, there is excitement indeed in Colorado. Of course, if sheriffs understood their true purpose and reason for existence, predating the Constitution but based on the Magna Carta and the original Bill of Rights, ALL 62 would be on-board (with the possible exception of Bill Masters who agrees with the 55 but says that he has more important uses for the limited funds he has, and won’t enforce the laws that he views as unconstitutional anyway)

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-23C: Tyranny, Tranzis and Free Markets

Posted on 2013-06-11 by TPOL Nathan

The “messiah” – War on free markets
Obama: ‘We Don’t Want to Tax All Businesses Out of Business’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: For once, we know that he is speaking the truth: not ALL, just SOME businesses.  All is not the way Transnational Progressivism/Socialism works:  many of the businesses are owned by multinational corporations, and so stay in business.  The government doesn’t OWN the businesses or take them over DIRECTLY:  instead, the multinationals get to absorb or run the others out of business: mom-and-pop small business, especially, but any business that is a threat to controlled markets or the powers that be.  Independents are fair game to the “messiah” and his group.  Keep in mind that they have redefined “free market” just as they have redefined “republic” and “security.”

Islamic wars
Karzai: US Must ‘Explain’ to Muslims Why Radicalism Is Growing Amid Its War on Terror
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: The short answer, Mr. Karzai, is because the “messiah” and his supporters and backers and bosses WANT radicalism to grow.  It is the best excuse for them holding the power they have and taking more.  It also ultimately gives them excuses for dealing with the Islamic world, once North America joins Europe in their power.

There is more, of course: I believe that at least a part of it is that the powers that be are often very stupid and refuse to understand how people think – especially people with strong religious beliefs/faith.

Tyranny – Tranzi
Opinion: Did you really think Google was on your side?
(CBS MoneyWatch)  When Zuckerberg calls for transparency, we should all be very clear that what he wants is transparency for Facebook, not for its users. When Schmidt talks about the power of individuals, we all need to remember that his company is in the business of aggregating that power and selling it. Who ever imagined otherwise?

Nathan: Keep in mind this is coming from a leftist -Tranzi type writer and publication.  They have a (concealed) agenda of painting ALL business as evil “capitalists” whose only moral compass is the almighty dollar.  This may be true of Google and Microsoft and the rest – although sometimes their calculation of profits is hard to figure out.  But the truth is, in a fascist (or transnational socialist) system, too many companies (regardless of size) are little more than shills or fronts for government, either because they in turn think that they control government or because they have decided to go along to get along.  We can all think of companies like that – or which are little more than governments in form and function: like utilities granted monopolies by government or which had (at one time, at least) “natural monopolies” which result in power and revenue (and usually, losses rather than profits in the long run).

World wars against liberty?
U.S. and China Among 15 Countries Agreeing That the U.N. Charter Applies in Cyberspace
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Indeed?  If the UN Charter were worth anything at all, this might be important.  But it is so badly weasel-worded that it means little or nothing.  However, I have always assumed that the US Constitution (when it was in force) also applied in Cyberspace.  Are they deciding this does NOT apply?  No Bill of Rights in Cyberspace?  That is garbage.

Home front – War on some religions
Catholic Archbishop: Wake Up! Religious Liberty at Risk in USA
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Folks, Mr. Archbishop, you got it wrong: religious liberty in the USA has been so worn away that there is really little TRUE liberty left.  Like every other liberty, it HAS slid away, replaced by the police state and tolerance.  Ultimately, we will find that the freedom of religion is a shell, just as we have recently found that other parts of the 1st and 4th Amendments are no longer in force, not just de jure but de facto.

Home front: Resisting Tyranny
Florida Sheriff Arrested for Doing His Job
(Guardian Express)  State agencies have arrested the Liberty County Sheriff. Finch is being charged with official misconduct. He was released from jail on his own recognizance shortly after being booked in. The charge is related to an incident in March, in which a deputy sheriff arrested a resident of the county for carrying a concealed weapon. Finch made the decision to release the individual shortly afterwards. It is alleged that he then altered or destroyed paperwork relating to the arrest.

Nathan: The name of the county is quite telling, no?  It seems that Florida is joining Colorado in confrontations between local and state government, over essential liberties of the people.

Mama’s Note: IF… and I emphasize the if… this sheriff is truly interested in justice and refuting the power of the state to violate the rights of his constituents, it would be much better if he educated his deputies so that such arrests are not made in the first place. Altering or destroying the paperwork after such an arrest puts him on very shaky ground legally, however morally justified he may be.

Unfortunately, this might actually turn out to be nothing more than an attempt to “fix a ticket” for a friend or someone owed political favors. We’ll probably never know.

Additional Note:
Exclusive Interview With Liberty Co. Sheriff Nick Finch: “I Will Never Back Down!”
(New American) It should be noted at this point, that the man arrested by the deputy — Floyd Eugene Parrish — was never booked. He was merely being detained in a holding cell while the booking documents were being worked up by the jail administrative staff. A sheriff — any sheriff — may choose not to formally charge a detainee. Then, any documents related to that case may be destroyed as they are no longer legally required to be filed. Nothing Sheriff Finch did in this case is corrupt, illegal, unethical, or unheard of. Every single act falls well within the normal course of business for a county sheriff and a county jail.

Home front – Tyranny – Congress in action
Author of USA PATRIOT ACT Suddenly Shocked by Powers He “Created”
(American Vision) Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) is blasting the administration for “excessive and un-American” abuses of the PATRIOT Act. In the meantime, establishment proponents from both parties, including Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) have noted that the practice began under Bush and has been employed for the past seven years…. But it gets better. The now-outspoken critic Sensenbrenner was the original author of the PATRIOT Act, according to Fox News. He’s complaining (in defense of himself, no doubt) that Obama’s “abuse” is a “really big deal” and was “never the intent” of his law.

Nathan: Shocked, I tell you, Shocked!!  We must remember, that this current exposure of the vastly expanded POLICE STATE was and is not JUST the work of the “messiah” and his minions:  it has been done WITH the full agreement of Congress – including BOTH old parties, and the Judicial System, right up to SCOTUS, has GONE ALONG with it.  And Congress can’t use the excuse for betraying their oaths that the Reichstag did: the “messiah” didn’t blackmail any of them, or beat any of them up, or even get them addicted to drugs.  Nope, they did this to US for sake of their own power and wealth, using the excuse of security to do so.  Remember that MANY people warned the likes of Sensenbrenner that it didn’t matter whether they trusted Bush to use these unconstitutional powers wisely or not: sooner or later, some thug would be elected that would use them UNwisely.  It was sooner, you stupid git.

Mama’s Note: All very true, but the various “acts” in response to “terrorism” were never in any way legitimate. And they never had anything to do with either safety or liberty. They have been used for the purposes intended from the beginning, as you said – increasing the power and perks of the politicians and their cronies. The fact that the details can and do get progressively worse doesn’t change that. So, rather than be upset about the current “abuses,” the focus should be on eliminating both the tyranny and the tyrants. There is NO “wise use” of this vicious evil.

Unfortunately, most people don’t seem to want to even talk about that. Do dogs ever actually come to love their fleas and ticks?

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The Police State – The “messiah” and his minions tighten the grip

Posted on 2013-06-11 by TPOL Nathan

If you didn’t think we were in a police state, the last week should have stripped the last of the blinders from your eyes.  And shattered the warm and fuzzy pink eyeglasses, too.  But while enough is enough, we have to remember and understand – this Verizon and PRIZM business is not the first, by any means.

Look at the list:

The “messiah’s” BLACK LIST

That is, the list of things that a majority of Americans (not just libertarians and conservatives) consider evil:

  1. The IRS terrorizing conservative and patriot/Tea Party movement groups: merely an expansion of the vast powers and ability to intimidate people: even Congress, given by Congress and now misused.
  2. The Benghazi Massacre instigation:  whether intentional to justify more intervention or accidental due to incredible bungling, the cover-up of the poor performance is just the latest in a series going back decades.
  3. The DOJ stealing information from the media:  DOJ steals constantly, one way or another: it is just that this time, they gored enough of the mainstream press to get the press to squeal.
  4. The NSA getting cellular records from Verizon (and others):  As several in Congress no doubt truly point out, this (or versions of it) has been going on since Bush signed the USA PATRIOT ACT – if not before.  But that does not make it right except in the case of the GOP types who are more concerned about power and wealth than keeping their principles (or the principles that they claim to have) and their oaths.
  5. The PRIZM e-mail search:  Again, this has been going on for a while, no doubt.  Again, so?  That doesn’t make it right.  The fact is that it has gotten so bad (like the Verizon deal) that someone either finally let their conscience be their guide or saw an advantage to releasing proof.
  6. The EPA conducting drone flights over ranchers in Nebraska and Iowa and giving out information on confined feeder operations to environmental groups.  EPA’s tyranny has been evident since the beginning, and growing steadily, but once again, people were willing to ignore it.  Even state agencies get in on it: using satellite assets if not drones.
  7. Fast and Furious, both the original operation and the cover-up of it.  This smells like the Reichstag Fire, to me.  The government has always been hypocritical, but this probably sets new highs, since the people getting killed are often government agents.
  8. The Abominable Act (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act = ObummerCare) struck a final blow (akin to rolling the body of the executed felon into the Tiber or carrying the body parts to the various counties after drawing and quartering the traitor) against the Constitution, again with the agreement of the Supreme Court, Congress AND White House.  The FedGov had new powers never before taken, over one-sixth the economy, giving more control than ever over our daily lives.

These seven items are more than enough to justify criminal charges against the guy in 1600 Pennsylvania and a whole lot of other political and civil service personnel – including those (in Congress and the White House) who KNEW and didn’t have the guts to say so.

In addition, there are those things that only SOME Americans feel are evil, but are clearly immoral and NOT right:

  1. Drones killing Americans overseas: no court, no jury, no appeal.  Just death.  Of course expanded by the powers granted him (illegally) in the National Defense Appropriations Act to detain any American for any excuse for any length of time.
  2. Drones killing civilians (especially children) overseas.  No real justification for collateral damage except convenience and amoral behavior.
  3. The executive orders giving himself the power to seize retirement accounts, as needed to spend more and more.
  4. The executive orders implementing new gun control measures, when efforts in Congress died; even if not yet enforced.
  5. The massive support provided to Islamist groups including some designated as terrorist organizations, whenever they wanted or found it convenient.
  6. The wars in Libya, Pakistan, and now Syria, including all the actions and a complete lack of anything resembling Congressional approval, all under the cover of a 12-year-old resolution which could (using their logic) be used to wage war against the counties in Colorado seeking secession from their state – or any place else in these formerly United States.

I could list a lot more than this Baker’s Dozen ™, but isn’t this enough?  How much more are we willing to grow the police state?

Dozens of people have pointed out that virtually every one of these has been done in direct contradiction to the promises and statements the “messiah” made in both the 2008 campaign and after taking office.  Yes, I understand that campaign  promises are NOT enforceable.  But lying while in office IS a “high crime and misdemeanor” to most people, especially when the lies result in MORE damage.

But impeachment – even if tried in the Senate and convicted and drummed out of office – is NOT enough.  Getting rid of the entire cabinet isn’t enough: I don’t even think cashiering all of Congress at once would be enough.  I don’t know what would work.  Reinstating the Articles of Confederation?  Amending the Constitution to tell Congress (and the other branches) “NO, you can’t do anything that isn’t listed specifically in here, and this time we really MEAN it?”  Probably not.  The politicians and other parasites would figure out a way around it.

The possibility with the greatest chance of success, AND the greatest risks, is rebellion.  Taking the power away from the politicians and the bureaucrats with as much vigor as possible, scaring anyone in the future (for at least a while) that if they do anything like this again.  Perhaps we need to start from scratch.

Until we do something like that, we DO have and WILL have a police state.  A POLICE STATE.  A POLICE STATE. A POLICE STATE. Get used to it.  Or fight it.  There isn’t any other choice.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-23B: Home front killings and confusion

Posted on 2013-06-10 by TPOL Nathan

The news cycle on the Santa Monica shootings is as strange as that for the Sandy Hook shootings, stranger even than the Aurora theatre shootings.  But there is very interesting news out there.

Suspected Santa Monica gunman had 1,300 rounds: police
(NBC) “Any time someone puts on a vest of some sort, comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines, has an extra receiver, has a handgun and has a semi-automatic rifle, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people, and has to be neutralized at the hands of the police, I would say that that’s premeditated,” Seabrooks said.

Mama’s Note: Well sure… but he could have been stopped at almost any point if the people around him had been armed and able/willing to defend themselves and others. He only got that far because he was unopposed so long. This is exactly what happens when a whole society waits for the cops to defend them.

Nathan: Smells like another staged event, indeed!  Premeditated by WHO?

Mama Liberty and I discussed this a bit over the weekend, but now a wee bit more truth comes out.  The first stories reported that the gunman had been killed in a shoot-out with cops, after killing two relatives, shooting up a bus and some private cars, and entering the campus.  There were lots of photos of occupation troops – excuse me, SWAT teams – on campus and a dead body on the sidewalk with cops smoking and standing around.  Then the stories changed, and the cops had supposedly arrested a “suspect” and no one claimed to know HOW many people had been killed.  NOW, this story comes up and verifies that the original stories were true, and MORE.  The killer (no suspect, he’s DEAD) was “John Zawahri, is of Middle Eastern birth or origin – possibly Lebanese ” and possibly or probably Muslim.  It WAS a campus shooting, and as Mama points out, the people were in essence disarmed: indeed, not just campuses but ALL of urban California is effectively disarmed.  Supposedly the guy is a nutcase, which again bears all the marks of a put-up job, of someone primed to go amok and start killing.  And the conflicting stories for several days again bear the curious marks of being intentional to confuse and conceal the truth: intentional acts carried out by media IN COOPERATION WITH government agencies.

Mama Liberty: Who is setting these things up? Same people who put on the rest of the shows, of course. Only thing is, I suspect they’ve not considered quite ALL of the “unintended consequences.” Sure, the people of Los Angeles and Boston might be cowed and conditioned by this to accept more police state nonsense… maybe not… and the rest of the country gets a dose of bad medicine – at least those who are paying attention. The PTB have not YET really understood that they cannot control the “news” even, let alone how people perceive their filtered, bastard renditions of it.

Woman Shot 4 Times In Santa Monica Rampage Relates Story Of Terror
(CBS) Fine was on her way home to change clothes, and with President Obama in town, she was taking side streets she was unfamiliar with. When she got to Kansas and Yorkshire she saw carjack victim Laura Sisk and the shooter, John Zawahri. … Fine drove up and yelled at Zawahri. “I saw his gaze go straight from her into mine, straight into my eyes, it was the first time I’d ever seen somebody who was so intent and present and cold.” It reminded her of a scene from a “Terminator” movie. “He was just a robot. He’s emotionless. Very intense, very cold and just on a mission. On a mission to kill as many of us as of as he could.”

Mama’s Note: Mind control? The “robot” quality is not normally seen in a person who is on a passionate domestic trouble rampage.

Nathan: No, you don’t.  But this again raises the question as to “who” caused this event to go down.  There is not some monolithic “they” out there: there have to be multiple groups, some allied and some fighting each other.

Stay tuned for more.

Mama’s Note: Indeed… more than one parasitic agency lusting for control. This is a very good thing, actually. I shudder to think what would happen if they actually joined forces and cooperated.

Oh, and the latest story I read on this fiasco has the ammunition cashe in the duffel bag growing by 500 rounds. Did they reproduce in the bag? I’d like to have one of those bags then…

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-23A: Terrorism and Tyranny

Posted on 2013-06-10 by TPOL Nathan

War against some drugs – State tyranny
Colorado: Marijuana “porn law” found [sic] unconstitutional
(San Francisco Chronicle) “Colorado Attorney General John Suthers wrote yesterday that marijuana- related magazines like High Times are not the same as pornography. The statement is a major blow to a law that would have forced cannabis periodicals off newsstands in the state. Recently passed Colorado law HB 13-1317 would have placed High Times next to Penthouse and Hustler, behind the counter in liquor stores. High Times and the American Civil Liberties Union sued, saying the bill violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” (06/06/13)

Nathan: Of course, a state’s AG is not (YET) a jury or judge, but still, the General Assembly deserves a slap across its collective face for this insane bit of business.  It is time to revolt against this kind of stupidity.  But of course, the Attorney General is too stupid to note that the issue is NOT the First Amendment of the US Constitution that regulates here, but Section 10 of the Colorado Bill of Rights: Section 10. Freedom of speech and press. No law shall be passed impairing the freedom of speech; every person shall be free to speak, write or publish whatever he will on any subject, being responsible for all abuse of that liberty; and in all suits and prosecutions for libel the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and the jury, under the direction of the court, shall determine the law and the fact.

The AG and his boss have, of course, together with the Colorado “Unified Court System” already negated the last part of Section 10, since they do NOT allow the jury to determine the law, but that is what it says.  It is, again TIME FOR REVOLT against the arrogant politicians that infest Denver and have ruined a once-great state.

Theft by government – Parasites
Government[s] Employed 92,000 Additional People in May
(CNSNews.com) While federal employment is actually down, and government worker unemployment is up slightly, overall, there are more than 20 MILLION Americans working for government.

Nathan: Is this sick or what?  No wonder our economy can’t recover.  There are only about 160 million people employed in the US: so 1 in EIGHT are government! Yes, I know that many government workers CLAIM to be productive members of society, and a few actually ARE productive, paid for the services that they provide and some even paid VOLUNTARILY by those they provide services to.  But MOST are parasites, and we got almost a hundred thousand more parasites last month.

Congress in action – Theft by government – Abominable Act
Pelosi: ‘You’re Mandated to Have Health Insurance, Yes, You Will Have An Increase’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: To but it properly, she admits that she LIED.  To the American people, and to her constituents, in San Francisco, as I recall.  Of course, the majority of San Franciscans are completely morally bankrupt (just like her) so they don’t care if she lied or not.  Just like they don’t care if government steals.  It is time to revolt against this: just repealing the Abominable Act is not enough: getting rid of the parasites like this woman is also needed, and getting rid of all of Congress not beyond reason.

Tyranny – Terrorism
U.S. Spy Agency Taps Directly Into Google, Facebook, Yahoo, YouTube, Apple, Skype, AOL
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: And you don’t think that they aren’t doing it on your home and business landlines, too, you are very, very stupid indeed.  It is insane to allow this to continue.  It is time to revolt against this.  It is time to end the NSA, the FBI, the CIA, and all the other tools of tyranny and the murdering, abusing, terrorist thugs who man them.  And the Congress that let this happen: no, that MADE this happen.

Mama’s Note: Well, a fair number of people are open to suggestions… how do you think we can put a stop to it?

Congress in action – Tyranny
Boehner: Let Obama Explain Why NSA is Collecting Verizon Phone Records
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Oh, he already has: it is to protect our liberties from the evil terrorists.  We have nothing to worry about, he is the government and he is helping us.  Folks, it is time to revolt, and that includes revolting against Congress and pusillanimous politicos like this idiot Boehner.

Tyranny – Terrorism
Clapper Insists Internet Data Mining Deliberately Targets Only ‘Non-US Persons’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Yes, of course.  It is to help us keep our freedom, our liberty, our lives.  It is the government and they are here to help us.  Clapper lies now like Pelosi did about the Abominable Act.  It is time to revolt.  it is time not just to end the agencies, it is time to revolt against the evil, ugly tyranny that the federal government and state governments have become.  And I’ve got news for Clapper: “non-US persons” are people too – people with rights.   For more lies:

Congress in action – Tyranny
Feinstein and Chambliss on Metadata: ‘It’s Called Protecting America’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: What “America?”  They have killed it – and collecting metadata will not protect its corpse, just the Powers That Be.  And speaking of protecting something that does not exist:

Congress in action – Tyranny/War on religion
House Panel Moves to Protect Religious Liberty for Military
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: There IS no more religious liberty for military personnel and families or anyone else in this country: just privileges that they haven’t taken away from us yet.  But these Congressmen are either too stupid to understand that, or too much liars to speak the truth.

Home front – Self defense NOT
Looters cross country to rob devastated Oklahoma
MOORE, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say looters have come from as far away as New York and Virginia to steal from victims of last month’s tornado in Moore, Okla.

Mama’s Note: I thought the folks of Oklahoma were armed and free to defend themselves and their property. Why aren’t these looters being shot?

Nathan: The Powers That Be no longer allow people to defend their homes ESPECIALLY when they are destroyed:  they are, directly or indirectly even in Oklahoma, disarming them; driving them to fear even to CARRY lest they be arrested and thrown into prison for trying to defend their property and their families.  The federal and state and local governments are enabling the looters: perhaps they recognize kindred spirits, when push comes to shove.

Tyranny and Terrorism
Dirty Bomb Blows Liberty – Commentary by Al Lewis
(Wall Street Journal) Here’s how terrorism really works: Slaughter people on national TV, and watch a nation that prides itself on freedom as it shackles itself.

The feds at airports start patting privates and taking pictures with cameras that can see through clothes. Security cameras go up everywhere. The spooks in Washington set up massive Internet surveillance operations and obtain secret court orders to obtain everyone’s phone records. Once it starts, it can’t be stopped.

Nathan: Thanks to David and Debby for this one.  Terrorism HAS won; the only hope is that there will be pieces of liberty not contaminated with the dirty bomb.  Simply repealing the USA PATRIOT Act, simply impeaching, trying, and executing the man in 1600 Pennsylvania and his minions is NOT going to be enough.  You cannot glue Humpty Dumpty together again.  The corpse of the Republic has now rotted; the spirit is in perdition.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-22E: Tyranny+, Economics and Nanny State News

Posted on 2013-06-07 by TPOL Nathan

Tyranny – Verizon + “Scandal”
NSA Taps Into User Data on Internet Giants
(The Guardian, UK)  The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian. The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says. The Guardian has verified the authenticity of the document, a 41-slide PowerPoint presentation – classified as top secret with no distribution to foreign allies – which was apparently used to train intelligence operatives on the capabilities of the program. The document claims “collection directly from the servers” of major US service providers.

Nathan: This folks, is the icing on the cake; the final application of barbeque sauce to the well-done meat.  Not just metadata (who when where what) but the actual contents of the e-mails and chats and phone calls – Notice that Skype is included.  Yes, I know we can use PGP to hide the actual content, but who is gonna get picked up and charged with “grass too tall,” or “excessive litter” or “obscured license plates” or “missing license plate lamp” and hauled into a nice, well-soundproofed “interview room” to reveal the content of their messages?  Or will the mere USE of PGP or something else be “sufficient evidence” for their Star Chamber to pronounce indefinite detention?  Enemies of the state: those who think that Christmas carols can be sung in school programs?  Those who can quote one of the Bill of Rights?  Those who dare demand a warrant for searching a house or a car?  Those who buy “excessive” amounts of ammunition?  Or food?  Those who move out of a big city and settle in a rural or frontier area?  Or just those who have something that an informant wants and can get as a reward for turning them in?

Now, on to some miscellaneous news, again.

World WARS – EU-CHINA TRADE WAR
Europeans, comply or else…
(China Daily)  Following the European Commission decision to tax imports of Chinese solar panels, Beijing has decided to launch a probe on European wine imports. And if the 27 do not get the message, other retaliatory measures will follow, warns the Chinese official newspaper.

Nathan: World trade just got a LOT more complicated and potentially dangerous, at least to free trade or anything passing as such.  Once more, government’s stupid actions will punish their own people and businesses.  Remember the 1930’s disaster was made much MUCH worse by a series of trade wars and tariffs.

Theft by government  – Stupid people
Christmas Tree Tax: Round 2
(National Tax Union) In 2011, reports surfaced that the Obama administration was seeking to impose a 15-cent federal tax on Christmas trees. It turned out that the tax was actually sought by the Christmas tree industry through a regulatory process established by Republican lawmakers in the 104th Congress. Now this year, there are new headlines that House Republicans have revived the Christmas tree tax in a farm bill (some of the coverage is still attributing the tax to President Obama even though, as noted, it was being sought by the industry through a statutory process).

Nathan: As is too often the case, an industry is willing to encourage and support tyranny and theft by government for what they think is their own benefit.  Stupidity like this enables government to be even worse than it would be.  It is, in reality, aggression against some of the members of their own industry, who don’t want to “play” along.

Nanny State – Killing Their Own
Do No Harm: Doctors Killing Disabled People?
(Conservative Action Alerts) Ah, the beauty of our progressive society. It seems like only yesterday we were marveling at the UK politician who openly proclaims that disabled children should be killed “like deformed lambs… smashed against a wall.” This profile in postmodern courage is simply bringing back the oh-so noble idea of eugenics: a means of uplifting society by killing, er…culling out those lesser-evolved humanoids so the higher beings can flourish. Streamlining our species, really.

Nathan: Why not?  Clear out the land for the Muslims to inherit.  Get rid of all those old Brits, and keep them from having any children – or just get rid of the children if they aren’t perfect and don’t meet the standards of the new order.  That UK poliitician?  Read about him here.

Next?  They’ll have to speed it up: only 24 a week killed out of 50 million?  Hardly enough.

Tyranny – Verizon “Scandal”
Lindsey Graham ‘glad’ NSA tracking phones
(Conservative Action Alerts) “I’m a Verizon customer. I don’t mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States. I don’t think you’re talking to the terrorists. I know you’re not. I know I’m not. So we don’t have anything to worry about.”

Nathan: There are clueless RINOs and then there are CLUELESS RRINOs (REALLY Republicans in Name Only) and then there are the people whom you wonder if they haven’t already had their brain extracted and pickled, like Graham.

Nanny government
Feds put brakes on self-driving cars
(Gasbuddy.com) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was compelled [sic] last week to put its foot down and state that self-driving vehicles are not ready for use by the public.  NHTSA says it does not recommend that states authorize the operation of self-driving vehicles “for purposes other than testing at this time.” And Edmunds reports that it is discouraging states from even setting up rules governing self-driving cars. If a state does permit the “non-testing operation of self-driving vehicles,” the operator should have a special license. Such a separate license should have certain prerequisites, including passage of a test concerning the safe operation of a self-driving vehicle, NHTSA said.

Debby: Am I the only one who has problems with this self-contradicting “recommendation?”  I wonder who bought them off?  Taxi-drivers?

Nathan: The nanny state strikes again.  These are already legal in California and Nevada, but the NHTSA apparently believes that anyone who doesn’t work for the FedGov is too stupid to do this sort of thing. Maybe the unions in CA and NV don’t like the competition and compelled the NHTSA to do this?

Mama’s Note: Yes indeed, Debby… the operator of a self driving car… HUH?

I don’t EVER want anything to do with a “self driving” car. Far as I’m concerned, that’s too much like a “self shooting” gun!!! I don’t even like to drive, but this is just a bit too much for me. If, however, anyone else wants to take that risk, and accept responsibility for the consequences… well then, not my problem.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-22D: Minor Matters in the Mush

Posted on 2013-06-07 by TPOL Nathan

Given the revelations that the United States Government, including its top officials, with the obvious acceptance of Congress, has vacated what was left of the Constitution, anything else politically is a minor matter.

  • Why worry about how many people got killed because of Fast and Furious gunrunning?
  • Why be concerned about whether the IRS targeted “just” Tea Party and “Patriot” and “Liberty” groups or Jewish and Christian and Rastafarian groups?
  • Why be angry about the DOJ demanding that the press turn over phone records (when they are getting the records of millions of Americans from their phone companies)?
  • Why be upset about how the White House and State Department created the situation in which Americans were captured, tortured and killed in Libya?
  • Why get bent out of shape when a serving US Senator has photo ops with Muslim terrorists in a foreign land?
  • Why care that the Espionage Act has been used six times – more than ANY other president – against journalists: in essence criminalizing reporting?

For years, many of us have been lamenting the termination of the US Constitution.  Flawed though it was, it was better than what 99% of the world has had for the last 6,000 years of human history.  But it is a DEAD letter: a fact that this latest arrogant act of tyranny reinforces.  What is left is just details: minor matters.  My phone records, your phone records, can be used to build bogus cases against us for any number of matters of conspiracy in violation of the tens of thousands of pages of laws and regulations:  a suggestion that we “conspired” to help someone pay a little less tax, or avoid triggering environmental regulations, or transport an “illegal” ammo magazine, or give a family member a shotgun, or deposit too much money – or take too much against some imaginary line in the dirt.  “You spoke to a known con-artist on such and such a date,” never mind that the con artist was trying to steal from a family member: you are now linked to a criminal and therefore a criminal yourself.

But it is not the consequences – it is the mere act of DOING this that makes this government in DC a tyranny. I pray and hope strongly that this act will finally get enough of my fellow Americans to see what has happened.  It is time, and I pray that more and more of us will STOP trying to comply with laws promulgated and enforced by an illegitimate government, and when the thugs that work for this criminal organization try to force us to do so, defend ourselves by any and every means.

However, for now, on to some of those minor matters:

Hoplophobes and Hoploclasts
Experts lay out plan for comprehensive gun research
(NBC News)  “There is no question that this is a public health issue,” says Dr. Alan Leshner, who chaired the Institute of Medicine panel that issued the report. “We have no political agenda.” … Any funding for the research has to come from Congress. Obama asked lawmakers to allocate $10 million for studies by the CDC and other agencies, and $20 million to expand the National Violent Death Reporting System to all 50 states. Former Arkansas Rep. Jay Dickey, who sponsored the 1996 legislation cutting CDC’s firearms research budget, has since said he regrets having done so.

Mama’s Note: Of COURSE they have no political agenda….

Nathan: Yeah.  Of course they don’t.  Political scientists, indeed.  ALL they have is a political agenda: they are hirelings, nothing more.

Claire Wolf’s more succinct comments on the Verizon “Scandal”:
We’re all suspects: not just a angry civil libertarian’s claim any more

“…and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Somehow, “everybody who uses Verizon” just doesn’t seem all that “particularly described,” does it? Especially when you have to assume every other phone company is obeying similar secret orders.

Nathan: Read the comments, comment yourself.  I vented for hundreds of words: she is short and sweet in her comments.  Weird, huh, that we both agree (at least somewhat) with the New York Times?

Europe’s fall – Theft by government
Denmark’s Fat Tax Harms Economy
(Institute of Economic Affairs) Denmark’s fat tax had a very limited impact on the consumption of “unhealthy” foods — only 7 percent of the population reduced the amount of butter, cream and cheese they bought…

Nathan: Anyone who has enjoyed Danish butter or cheese understands what a crime this is.  And how stupid it is – it is amazing that anyone has reduced their consumption even a bit.  Not that Danes are particularly fat, anyway!  But this isn’t about food and it isn’t about health, it is about power and money – theft excused by exercise of power for the “good” of Danes.  Enough is enough.

Politics – The “messiah’s” minions
National security team shuffle may signal more activist stance at White House
(Washington Post) President Obama announced a major shuffle of his national security team on Wednesday, ushering out a cautious Washington insider and elevating two long-time proponents of a larger American role in preventing humanitarian crises and protecting human rights.

Nathan: HOW MUCH MORE activist can they get?  They are spying on at least 1 in 3 and probably 99% of Americans (I assume that there are a few Hopi or some Rainbow Nation folks that are avoiding it).  They are engaged in virtually every country in the world including those who are avowed enemies or trying to be neutral (What, you don’t think we have undercover operatives in North Korea and Iran and Switzerland?).  This is just shuffling the chairs in the Politburo and trying to make us think that things are changing:  now, with the FOURTH “scandal” (Verizon+) there are some people who can be used as scapegoats and sent off (like Rahm Emmanuel was) to do their dirty deeds on behalf of the “messiah” and his controllers elsewhere.

Tranzis and Home front
Al Gore calls Obama administration’s collection of phone records ‘obscenely outrageous’
(Washington Post) Former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore on Wednesday night leveled some rare and harsh criticism at the Obama administration, attacking its reported collection of phone records for millions of Americans.

Nathan: If you ever wondered about the status of this hasbeen, now you know:  he has been dumped by anyone with power in DC, or he wouldn’t be saying things like this.

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Obama the Tyrant

Posted on 2013-06-06 by TPOL Nathan

NATIONAL TYRANNY – THE “MESSIAH” REVEALED AS TYRANT
NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily
(Guardian, UK) Exclusive: Top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under Obama

Nathan: Thanks to Debby for this one. Verizon has 120 MILLION customers: more than one out of every three Americans.

Is there ANY reason NOT to condemn this filthy administration, this “Occupy DC and the World” regime as a tyrannical, fascist, rogue and CRIMINAL organization? Is there ANY justification for not tearing this administration and its entire apparatus apart?  Is there ANY reason that ANY thing demanded by this regime NOT be resisted in every way possible, including the use of deadly force?  The Bush White House did the same thing – and deserves (even after the fact) the same condemnation.  Indeed, is there any statute of limitations that means that Bush and his officials cannot be tried for these crimes?  Scumbags like Lindsey Graham claim that if we aren’t talking to terrorists on our phones, we shouldn’t worry.  What sickness allows people to say this without being chased out of town in tar and feathers?  And listen to what the “messiah” has to say:

Obama administration defends NSA collection of Verizon phone records
(Guardian, UK) White House upholds ‘critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats’ as senior politicians condemn practice.

OBAMA THE TYRANT

The White House has sought to justify its surveillance of millions of Americans’ phone records as anger grows over revelations that a secret court order gives the National Security Agency blanket authority to collect call data from a major phone carrier.  Politicians and civil liberties campaigners described the disclosures, revealed by the Guardian on Wednesday, as the most sweeping intrusion into private data they had ever seen by the US government. But the Obama administration, while declining to comment on the specific order, said the practice was “a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States“. The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Fisa) granted the order to the FBI on April 25, giving the government unlimited authority to obtain the data for a specified three-month period ending on July 19. Under the terms of the blanket order, the numbers of both parties on a call are handed over, as is location data, call duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls. The contents of the conversation itself are not covered.

Nathan: Oh, how reassuring!  I guess we can partly blame ourselves: we have allowed this thug to pull the wool over our eyes for five years, so he thinks he and his scumbag minions and his filthy traitorous allies in Congress (Democratic AND Republican) can get away with this shopworn excuse AGAIN.

This is probably only the tip of the iceberg:  Why get Verizon but not AT&T and T-Mobile and even Viaero?  And this pitiful excuse expired a long time ago.  We MUST fight against this, whatever it takes.  THIS is more than just an excuse for impeachment, this is a reason for rebellion.  Any organization which is doing this – even if it is only in Verizon – will ignore EVERY freedom, EVERY right, sooner or later: this way lies the Arbeitslager, the Gulag, the concentration camp, the executions by bullets to the back of the head in front of ditches, to rapes and torture and hard labor not just to “enemies of the state” but to anyone who happens to be in the way.  Graham and the rest see the Tea Party Movement as enemies and threats as much as Al Queda or Hezbollah or Cuban Communists (if not MORE).

Mama’s Note: Yes, of course. And yet, this is no worse than many thousands of acts of previous “administrations,” going clear back to Washington’s tax on whiskey. The abominations of theft, war, murder, slavery, conscription, confiscations, and all the rest are simply not news. And as long as ordinary people are willing to tolerate any of it, nothing will change.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-22C: Politics 2012, Self defense

Posted on 2013-06-06 by TPOL Nathan

Politics 2012
Gallup identifies flaws in 2012 election polls
(USA Today) “Pollsters at Gallup said Tuesday they have identified flawed methods that contributed to their incorrect prediction that Mitt Romney would win the 2012 presidential election, but they are still working to determine how to better identify who is likely to vote. The survey firm undertook a far-reaching review of its operations after its surveys came up short in the election: Gallup’s final pre-election estimate showed Romney with 49% support to Obama’s 48%, with a margin of error of +/-2%.” (06/04/13)

Nathan: Obviously, they didn’t take enough fraud into account, or figured that the GOP would be able to hack the electronic voting more readily than the Dems.

Self defense
NYC-Brooklyn: 10-year-old boy grabs gun from robber, fires shot
(NBC New York) “A 10-year-old boy fought back against two robbers who tried to break into his family’s home in Brooklyn Monday, grabbing a gun dropped by one of the suspects and firing a shot that scared them off, police said.” (06/04/13)

Nathan: Self-defense indeed.  I assume, this being NYC, that the two robbers have also been charged with corrupting a minor, allowing a minor access to a firearm, and all the other crimes that exist in Nanny Bloomberg’s eyes.  How much better if his parents had already had a firearm available to defend their home and their child!

Mama’s Note: How much better also if the teens had been taught NOT to open the door to a stranger. Far, far too many “home invasion” crimes start out with an unlocked door or the criminal being let in by the subsequent victim.

Hoploclasts – Self-defense
Pennsylvania police chief nullifies gun control in his jurisdiction
(Conservative Action Alerts) The remarks made by Police Chief Mark Kessler of Gilberton Borough, PA, were typical of the sentiment of the group. On January 3rd of this year, Kessler drafted a “Second Amendment Protection Resolution” for his Pennsylvania town which, when passed by city officials a few weeks later, nullified every single gun control law in the nation. “If you want to own a firearm,” Chief Kessler said, “the Second Amendment is your concealed carry permit, period. It has nothing to do with self-defense: it has to do with freedom from tyranny.” Police Chief Kessler went on to say: “Nullification is the key. We just have to tell them, ‘that’s it’. I drew my line in the sand back on Jan 3rd. One person can make a difference: you just need to do something about it.”

Nathan: I don’t know enough about Pennsylvania law to know if a Borough police chief has the authority normally part of a Sheriff’s duties, although the borough council certainly should be able to do this. But ANY rebellion against these unconstitutional acts is a good sign.  More and more opposition is necessary if things are not to slide further.  If predominantly “blue” states like this have centers of resistance.

Islamic wars: Arab street revolt
France says it is ‘certain’ that Syrian government has used sarin gas
(Washington Post )  The French government said Tuesday that it has confirmed the use of sarin gas by Syria’s government, and a U.N. panel reported that it has “reasonable grounds” to believe that chemical weapons have been used in the country’s civil war, deepening international suspicions that the red line set by President Obama has been breached.

Nathan: France is hardly a reliable source of such data.  It is as eager (more eager, perhaps?) as the US to strike at Syria, and this pushes matters a lot farther.  At the same time, I cannot agree that Israel is playing the “Serbia” in a rerun of the start-up of World War One, as too many people seem to claim (or hope). It is hardly the first time that an Arab (or Muslim) leader has killed his own people – whether it is with gas or just bullets or swords.

Home front – Economics 2013
YES! Amazon Will Start Delivering Your Groceries
(Business Insider) Amazon has been testing grocery delivery — AmazonFresh — in Seattle for a while, and was working on warehouse/refrigeration capacity logistics to roll it out nationally. (You can get a taste of Amazon’s grocery delivery business here.) Your local supermarket — you know, the one you’re forced to drive to — may be dead in the water, if Amazon gets its way. Bill Bishop, a prominent supermarket analyst and consultant, says everyone up the chain to Walmart is threatened by the plan:

Nathan: Don’t hold your breath.  Most big chains (Kroger, Safeway, etc.) already HAVE delivery services in the big markets, and they don’t do well.  There are always those people who are willing (or have) to do this, but most prefer to shop in a store (and the chains do, too: they know how to market in the stores and get impulse buying purchases).  If anything might help, it is the nostalgia market that might be a worthy target: for those few people who remember the days of home milk (and egg) delivery.

Mama’s Note: The regular home delivery of things like milk, eggs and bread is quite different than the proposed business here. It is easier to anticipate one’s use of milk, etc. and the quality from a given company is apt to be fairly consistent. That way, a regular delivery route can be planned ahead of time. The Schwan’s frozen food delivery routes perform the same service for regular customers. Case lots of all sorts of non perishable groceries can be delivered almost anywhere now, from a number of vendors, though shipping costs make large orders more practical.

But I can’t even imagine wanting someone else to pick out fresh fruits and vegetables for me. It’s hard enough to find anything worth having in the store where I can choose it myself.

Economy 2013 – Energy
Cheap Batteries for Backup Renewable Energy
(Technologyreview.com)  Investors recently chipped in $15 million to fund battery startup EOS Energy Storage, a company that says its batteries could eventually compete with natural-gas power plants to provide power during times of peak demand.  Cheap energy storage is becoming increasingly important as greater numbers of wind turbines and solar panels are added to the grid. If renewable energy is to replace the fossil fuels that dominate power supplies and serve to backup wind turbines and solar panels, very large-scale, inexpensive batteries like the ones EOS is developing will be needed (see “Wind Turbines, Battery Included, Can Keep Power Supplies Stable,” “Battery Could Provide a Cheap Way to Store Solar Power,” and “A Solution to Solar Power Intermittency”).

Nathan: Several friends in the industry tell me this is very important, and very likely to succeed, making a huge difference in the feasibility of economical solar and wind power.  I see it as a great potential to get off the grid and be able to survive any breakup and collapse.

Mama’s Note: Now if someone would just invent a reliable, inexpensive battery for ordinary devices. I’ve spent sooooo much money on batteries, of all kinds, and most of them are dead as a doornail when I really need to use them.

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