Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-11C: America is not free

Posted on 2013-03-25 by TPOL Nathan

Due to travel and work, the last half of this week has kept me from getting a lot of things done.  Here are some news stories. The conclusion I have to reach is that we are in a police state, harsher in some places than in others, but nevertheless, we are NOT free.

Stupid government tyranny – Hoplophobes and hoploclasts
New Jersey: ad says Facebook photo of son with gun brought cops to house
(CNet News) “A New Jersey man says that, on the basis of mere hearsay about a Facebook photo of his 11-year-old son with a .22 rifle, police and child protection arrive at his door and demand entry. He says the authorities demanded to enter the house in Carneys Point, N.J., and check his guns. His lawyer, on a cell phone speakerphone, was privy to all the discussions. Moore insisted that he wouldn’t open the safe where his guns are kept– as no warrant was allegedly presented to him — and that a lady from the Department of Youth and Family Services refused to identify herself.” (03/19/13)

Nathan: The police state in action – and supported by too many people.  Expect more and more, more and more rapidly.

Congress in action – Lies and more lies
Nevada: Seven Marines killed when mortar explodes
(NBC News) “Seven U.S. Marines were killed and at least seven wounded when a mortar exploded during a live-fire training exercise overnight at an Army munitions depot in the Nevada desert, military officials told NBC News. There were conflicting reports about what happened. According to one account, a 60-millimeter mortar shell exploded in a tube as Marines were preparing to fire it. Another account said that the shell exploded as Marines were picking it up to load it. (03/19/13)

Nathan: The problem here is not that troops die in training: that is a very sad but basic fact of life, even though American military and civilian politicians often refuse to admit it.  The problem is that a scumbag member of Congress used this to claim that the Sequester was keeping troops from being trained properly, delivering unsafe ammunition to their use, and implying that national defense was threatened by a 1-2% decrease in the increase in the profligate spending of the federal government.  Lies.

Our right of self-defense
Oregon: Boyfriend tackles burglar while girlfriend holds shotgun, calls cops
(KBOI News) “After he tackled a man in his front driveway, LeBlanc said he began calling to his girlfriend for help. Eugene Police later identified the man LeBlanc tackled to be Shawn Daniel Johnson. Heidi Lusk, LeBlanc’s girlfriend, said she came outside with a shotgun and a phone. She said she pointed the shotgun at Johnson with one hand and called police with the other. ‘He said shoot me. He must have heard me tell dispatch that I had a shot gun pointed at him,’ said Lusk. ‘He asked me to shoot him, and I told him he wasn’t worth shooting.'” (03/15/13)

Nathan: Reminds me of a story I wrote a few years back. Self defense requires teamwork and practice – and even (gasp!) some training.  I don’t know if these folks had that, or just luck, but don’t count on luck.

Theft by government – Abominable Act
ObamaCare: Drastic Payment Cuts or Ballooning Deficit
(The American) The Affordable Care Act is projected to add $6.2 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 75 years…

Nathan: Government theft on steroids – this is, of course, totally unsustainable.  The only question is WHEN it all collapses – and who gets hurt worst.

Mama’s Note: Consider one of the health “alternatives” that far too many people just don’t even think about these days… taking charge of one’s own health and wellness. Most modern illnesses are the result of stress, poor diet, lifestyle, substance abuse, and the ingestion of massive amounts of chemical “medicine” that almost invariably does more harm than good.

I almost died (long story) before I realized that all that was completely within my own control. I stopped taking the pills, stopped going to the doctors (going on 8 years now), pursue a much healthier (no, not perfect) lifestyle and diet… and I am much happier and in better health than I’ve been since I was a teen. Now, at 66, I’ll go to a doctor if I break something, or spring a major leak, but not for much else. And there are/will always be doctors who are willing to work outside the system. American Physicians and Surgeons – Surgery Center of Oklahoma

As a FORMER western medicine health care provider… an RN for 30 years, I have an excellent idea what “medicine” was in the past, and a crystal clear picture of where it’s going. The trick is simply not to go along. The doctors and nurses (and many others) who understand that are leaving the sinking ship as fast as they can. They know they can’t save the dying monster, no matter what they do. Soon, the only ones left will be the helplessly debt ridden cowards who can’t see a way out, and the incompetent or downright evil ones who glory in their CONTROL. Control your own health. It works. It’s possible. And it may soon be the only rational option, no matter what your health problems might be. Sad, but there it is…

American Economic Front|
The Death of Physician-Owned Private Practices|
(Wall Street Journal) By next year, an estimated 50 percent of U.S. doctors will be working in hospitals — a nearly 75 percent increase in the number of doctors employed by hospitals since 2000…

Nathan: We’ve seen this happen in profession after profession: engineering, architecture, brokering, retail trade, and more.  It is a symptom of government control and regulations and taxation:  small, ‘mom-and-pop’ outfits just can’t make it, and so get gobbled up – often ‘voluntarily.’  It will get worse.

Theft by government – American Economic Front|
Farm Subsidies: Inexcusable Waste|
(Reason Magazine) The Department of Agriculture spent $22 billion on subsidy programs in 2012, though only 2 percent of Americans are directly engaged in farming…

Nathan: Reason does discuss this in more detail: the issue is NOT how many Americans are doing this or farming, but what makes more sense.  Subsidies are government interference with the market: if the government were to really WANT to have more food grown at home and sold at home and abroad, the government would END subsidies AND all the taxes and regulations that keep farmers in trouble and let the big agri-biz corps come in and control the markets.  (Not just federal and state, but local regs as well.)  Whether it is two percent or one percent or one-tenth percent, free markets and free agriculture done the (formerly) American way will feed us and much of the world.  It isn’t about “save farmers” – it is about control.

Two stories:  Border jumpers – Stupid government
ICE Director: ‘We Have Released Many Individuals Who Have DUI Offenses’

Conyers: Many Imprisoned Illegals Let Go by ICE ‘Had One or Two Misdemeanors Only’

Nathan: So who is telling the truth?  My guess is NEITHER.  If they really were misdemeanors, why were they just not sent home?  We don’t need to pay for incarcerating them.  And as for DUI’s – well, once more we see a two-tier standard: many border jumpers don’t even bother with drivers licenses, and DUIs for citizens are increasingly treated as felonies – except for drunk border jumpers, apparently.  Why weren’t they working off their sentences?  Americans have to.

Lies and more lies – Congress in action – Theft by government
Pelosi: ‘Very Little’ Gov’t Left If Spending Cuts are Matched with Debt-Limit Increase
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Like her comrades in Congress, she lies and lies and lies some more.  What is proposed will only reduce the growth of government – it will not even cause it to shrink.  How stupid she thinks the people are!

Mama’s Note: And, of course, there are a few of us who think that “very little” government would be an excellent thing… with NO involuntary government being even better.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-11B: Guns and Government

Posted on 2013-03-20 by TPOL Nathan

Mainstream media – Crash of 2009
News Industry ‘More Undermanned and Unprepared to Cover Stories’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Are they a dying breed?  Could be, and it is hard to shed too many tears.  They are stupid and follow a stupid business model, and now hope for the FedGov to rescue them.  But instead, the FedGov (or at least the USPS) kick them in the teeth.  I see this happening locally in one of my communities: the Cortez Journal is part of a media group that owns the daily Durango Herald and two weeklies, in Mancos and Dolores.  The Journal has been published three times a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and delivered mostly by mail and in curbside boxes. Well, the Saturday paper is toast: starting the 1st of April, the Journal will publish only Tuesdays and Fridays, and concentrate on “local news” while their two weeklies will publish on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Not only that, but they cut 8 jobs out of 20 or so:  4 news jobs and 4 advertising jobs, and they are consolidating the editorial jobs for the three papers.  So you lose a local viewpoint in the two towns, and with just two publications a week, there will be fewer advertisements and less room for news – even if they give up reporting state and national news and leave that to the Herald and the internet.  They CLAIM that they will have more content on line, but I’m not holding my breath.  What it means is that their sly, cautious liberal viewpoint in both opinion-editors AND news stories will be less present, and less influential.  But local events will fade from view, as well.

Mama’s Note: When I was much younger, only the worst gossips in town thought they had to know all about everyone else’s business, and only the largest of the state and national events were well known. Seems to me that people spend entirely too much time and effort now looking at the excruciating details of other people’s lives, especially when it has nothing whatsoever to do with them. Information overload.

Congress in action – The “messiah”
Boehner Says He ‘Absolutely’ Trusts Obama
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Have I called this idiot a man recently?  I guess I should.  Only another politician could say a straight-faced lie like this, but Boehner is the equal of Reid and Pelosi in the “lying scumbag” department contest.

Religion – World wars
Pope Francis Warns Against ‘Demonic Worldliness’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Doing what preachers are supposed to do!  His opponents think he has a demon himself, according to what is smearing down my laptop screen in the last few days. One of the “dangers” of free enterprise is that there are some people who just will not discipline themselves, either as consumers or as providers of goods and services, and become aggressors against others.

Theft by government
+30.5B: Federal Spending Up, Not Down, in First 5 Months of FY13
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Lies and more lies:  the entire pack of lies grows far faster than Pinocchio’s nose.   Compare this to Pelosi’s claims.

Stupid government – The “messiah”
Obama Says Gov’t. Must Subsidize Green Energy That’s ‘Too Risky’ for Private Sector
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: WHAT Free Market?  WHAT Private Sector?  As far as this man is concerned, we are nothing but branches of the government – or just plain slaves, individually or in groups: companies, families, students, soldiers, etc.

Politics 2013
West: Nothing a ‘Liberal Progressive Fears More’ Than a Black Conservative
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: LTC West talks a good talk, but his walk (his voting record, and those he seems to be supporting) is not in keeping with even a true conservative.

Congress in action
Rep. Jackson Lee: Sequester is Like Japanese ‘Tsunami’–‘It May Come When We’re Away in Work Recess’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Oh, dear, we can’t survive even having Congress NOT meeting for a few days?  And the sequester is a natural, unpredictable event – shucks, why don’t they make the sequester a godling, and erect a shrine to it in front of the Capitol.  Then some staffer can be detailed to make sacrifices to it during congressional recesses – even weekends – to keep it satiated and away.

Mama’s Note: They’re actually terrified to think any of us might discover that we could manage our own lives just fine – and much better – if they never “met” at all. Can’t have that.

Politics 2013
Romney at CPAC: ‘Learn From Our Mistakes and My Mistakes’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan:  Fat chance.  REALLY fat chance.

Politics 2013
Santorum: ‘We Have to Fight for the Principles That Made This Country Great’(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Oh, you gave up on that a LONG time ago.  Liberty?  Responsibility?  Protection of Life?  Protection of Property (Pursuit of Happiness)?  All gone, or at least gone as far as the Fed Gov and the states are able to throw them.  What’s left to fight for?  An imperial military presence around the globe and expanding into space?  More perks and power for Congress?  A more aloof, elite, and untruthful presidency?  Nazgul (judges) that are more disdainful and arrogant? Another 10,000 pages of laws and 20,000 pages of regulations and 30,000 pages of judicial decisions each year?

Mama’s Note: I have a really hard time believing that Santorum EVER had the least idea what American principles were.

Theft by government
Cyprus’ Plan to Tax People’s Bank Accounts Produces Shivers in USA
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This “little” surprise is growing by the hour, as finally (belatedly) the people of Cyprus decide that they are not going to put up with it.

Mama’s Note: The latest news indicates that this insane plan has been scrapped, at least for now, but other countries continue to contemplate the possibility. And no, I don’t think this will go over well anywhere, but it also seems obvious that people should be taking their money OUT of these banks as fast as they can now, while it is still possible. Far too many people seem to think that there really are no viable alternatives to banks. I can think of several.

Theft by government – hoplophobes and hoploclasts (2 stories)
New York:  Jewish Woman Has Guns Confiscated
(Algemeiner, NYC)

California Woman Has Guns Seized for Getting Medication from Hospital on Weekend
(The Blaze)

Nathan: I meant to comment on these stories last week.  The news may be a bit stale, but my comments aren’t (in my opinion).  To be blunt, WHERE were all the people in these states (NY and CA) that CLAIM to resist the government and keep guns from being seized by the thugs and goons?  THEY ARE AWOL.  And this will happen again and again: 20,000 or so in California alone are PLANNED.  Many are going to be like this woman.  And do not even felons have a right to self-defense?  They don’t give up their right to free speech, their right to a trial, their right to not incriminate themselves: how do they lose their right to defend themselves?  Even the mentally ill, these days especially, don’t lose their liberties – they don’t even lose their right to vote!

Mama’s Note: Actual “rights” have zero to do with the confiscations, of course.

Practice for more?
Warning Signs?  Obama Poised for Hostile Military Takeover?
(Godfather Politics)

Nathan: The stories above and below make this warning something to take more seriously, although it is NOT a “military” takeover and likely will not involve actual “military” (USArmy, USN, USAF, USMC) but instead militarized federal agencies.

Culture wars: killing children – Our right to self-defense
South Dakota: Protecting Children in School AND in the Womb
(Godfather Politics)

Debby: If we have to have three days for gun checks, why shouldn’t we have to have three days before we actually KILL someone?

Nathan: Obviously, too many “libertarians” are condemning the state for restrictions on abortions, and too many admirers of the school system and haters of guns are bemoaning allowing schools to arm teachers or staff.  And this is a bandaid approach: until we get government down to size (microscopic, or in a nice cage to show students why it is so bad), we won’t solve either of these problems.

Stupid government tricks
US: Daylight Savings Time start costs almost a half-billion dollars
(Russia Today)

Nathan: Just one more reason for those of us who hate this quaint little custom (now rammed down our throats by government) to hate it more!  Especially the extended version courtesy of those idiots under the dome.

Home front – Government stupidity – Crash of 2009
Many counties in US “dying off”
(The Blaze) New Census data shows “natural decreases” in population in about 1/3 of America’s counties as the total number of deaths now exceed births.  Currently, 1,135 of the nation’s 3,143 counties are experiencing these declines — a significant increase from 880 U.S. counties in 2009. The new data provides an interesting glimpse at the state of our union: A record number of U.S. counties — more than 1 in 3 — are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere. New 2012 census estimates released Thursday highlight the population shifts as the U.S. encounters its most sluggish growth levels since the Great Depression.

Nathan: Thanks to Meredith for this one.  I drive through a LOT of those counties regularly; probably close to a hundred of them:  Colorado’s Eastern Plains, the western counties of Kansas, the Nebraska Sand Hills and Panhandle, South Dakota and North Dakota, even Montana and Wyoming.  The question is, WHAT is causing the population to age, and WHAT is causing the local economy to weaken?

The major reason for the local economy to weaken, which in turn causes the population to age (and decline) is GOVERNMENT.  It is not just taxation and regulation that drive farmers and ranchers and the businesses (retail and wholesale and small, light industry) to dry up and go away, it is the subsidies given by government which weaken businesses and economic sectors and which go to big urban areas and OFFSHORE to compete with rural and frontier Americans with a very tilted playing field.  At a time when technology makes cities less and less competitive in EVERY area that really matters to a civilization, the government continues to subsidize the urban areas and their parasites more and more.  Of course, this depopulation of rural areas is nothing new: it happened in the Roman Empire, it has happened time and time again in China, even in places like Persia and India and France.  Each time, it was one of the stages of the collapse of a civilization, caused and preceded by governmental collapse.  We ARE next.

Hoploclasts and hoplophobes
Cop:  Gun defensive use “a myth”
(The Blaze) A California police chief recently opined that a gun “is not a defensive weapon” but rather “an offensive weapon used to intimidate and show power.”“One issue that always boggles my mind is that the idea that a gun is a defensive weapon,” Emeryville Police Chief Ken James said at a news conference.

Nathan: Of course, this is EXACTLY how too many cops use THEIR guns: to intimidate and show power – especially when their victims are not armed.  And sometimes even when they are, as the next story relates.

Mama’s Note: And yet, I don’t think there is a cop anywhere who isn’t convinced that they need their guns to defend themselves. “In fear of my life” is the primary excuse given for all cop shootings of innocent people. Me thinks he speaks with forked tongue.

Federal tyranny
New Mexico: DHS Raid to steal nearly 1500 guns
(Freedom Outpost) …Department of Homeland Security, along with a SWAT team and Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies raided the home of Robert Adams in Albuquerque, New Mexico and, according to a federal search warrant affidavit the raid seized nearly 1,500 firearms from the man’s home and business. However, no charges have been filed against him, despite the fact that court documents reveal that agents had been watching Adams for years.

Nathan: I’ve not heard anything further on this, but the justification still seems doubtful.  And this is now sort of the gust front for the growing storm of armed robbery of guns by people across the nation.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-11A: Civilization?

Posted on 2013-03-19 by TPOL Nathan

Nathan: Civilization, we are told, has something to do with the rule of law and with people behaving in a “civilized” manner.  Egypt has been “civilized” for four or so millennia. America has been civilized for 300 or 400 years – some parts much longer.  Right.  Here are some of the benefits of that “civilization.”

Islamic war: Arab street front – TORTURING AND KILLING
Egypt: Vigilantes lynch two alleged thieves
(The Blaze) Egyptian vigilantes beat two men accused of stealing a motorized rickshaw, stripped them half-naked and hung them by their feet in a crowded bus station roughly 55 miles north of Cairo on Sunday, according to security officials. Both men died. A witness said some in the crowd of about 3,000 people who watched the lynchings egged them on with chants of “kill them!”

Nathan: More fruits (pun intended) of the Arab Street Uprising and the supposed new democracy in Egypt.  No wonder many of the Founding Fathers considered democracy to be little more than mob rule.  Is this coming here, next?  The photos (except for the modern clothing) could have been from a movie about the evils of ancient Rome – or Egypt itself, where a favorite pastime through the ages is killing each other.

Of course, much as I condemn the Ummah and Muslims, are we seeing any better in the formerly-united States?  The next two stories might reveal something.

Home front – Mainstream media stupidity – RAPING
Ohio: CNN Sympathizing with rapists?
(The Blaze) News that two high school football players from Steubenville, Ohio, were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl quickly spread on Sunday, with the troubling case coming to a close — at least for now. And while many reacting, there are a few capturing the most attention — the ones by a CNN journalist and a few guests on air. Students Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond were sentenced to at least one year in juvenile jail (the former could be detained until age 24 and the latter until 21). The state will soon be launching a grand jury to explore the possibility of additional charges. But a report anchored by CNN’s Candy Crowley and convey by reporter Poppy Harlow in the wake of the decision has quickly gone viral, with numerous outlets lambasting the news network for what appeared to be a sympathetic discussion about the teenage offenders.

Nathan and Debby: These two “young” (17 and 16) thugs deserve a LOT more than a year in jail: letting their victim execute them – or her father execute them, would be FAR more appropriate.  Better yet, if she’d been armed or one of the MANY other people present had been respectful enough of human liberty and respect to have done something and been armed to stop the evil actions of these two pieces of work.  But Ohio worships football – even (or  especially) high school football – so the girl isn’t a victim, she is the “cause” of the destruction of their “promising careers.”  And although the schools seem to be able to get through the thick skulls of teens the dangers of drinking and driving (even when they are drinking illegally), they don’t seem to be able to communicate that a girl being raped deserves to be something other than the object of recording videos on their phones.  According to mainstream media stories on the news on Monday morning, at least sixty people witnessed the multiple rape, and many refused to testify; the news reader seemed (again) to be sympathetic to the two felons.  How like Egypt this is:  humans exhibiting the morals of dogs.

Of course, why should these two felons care about human dignity? Or law? Or morals?  Or other humans?  They have such fine examples in their older fellow students, as the next story tells.

Home Front – VANDALISM and LOOTING
Ohio:  Dayton University St Patrick’s Day Riot
(The Blaze) St. Patrick’s Day festivities at the University of Dayton in Ohio Saturday night evolved into a full-scale, out-of-control riot involving more than 1,000 people, the Dayton Daily News reports.  Police from 10 jurisdictions were forced to to head to the institution of higher learning to tackle the issue, finding students dancing on cars and throwing an inordinate number of beer bottles.

Nathan: Exactly HOW MANY bottles thrown is an “inordinate number?”  The videos show thousands.  The university claimed the “vast majority of students” were not involved, but the university only has 7,500 full-time undergraduate students: does “just ” 1 in 7 or 1 in 8 justify claiming the “vast majority” or the school itself is not to blame?  Eleven cars destroyed or severely damaged, acres of land trashed.  Hundreds of police from all over called in, leaving (supposedly) their home communities unprotected.  Once more, Ohio sounds and looks like Egypt – although it might not smell like it: the mobs in Egypt don’t have the excuse of getting drunk like the two rapists and these mob participants do.

Of course, why should these 1,000 students have any respect for property – private or anything else?  Or for life?

Congress in action – Culture wars: KILLING babies and BEATING people up
Paul introduces “fetal personhood” bill
(The Raw Story) “Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Friday introduced so-called ‘fetal personhood’ legislation that would completely outlaw abortion in the United States. The Life at Conception Act would declare that human life began at conception, providing fertilized eggs with the same legal status as born persons. ‘The Life at Conception Act legislatively declares what most Americans believe and what science has long known: that human life begins at the moment of conception, and therefore is entitled to legal protection from that point forward,’ Paul said in a statement.” [editor’s note: Okay, the next a******* who claims this guy’s a libertarian is gonna get smacked – SAT] [additional editor’s note: I agree, although this particular bill has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not he’s a libertarian – TLK] (03/17/13)

Nathan: I assume (and hope) that Tom is JUST agreeing with Steve that Rand Paul is not a libertarian, and NOT agreeing that anyone who says so should be smacked.  This statement by Steve is PROOF that whatever Steve is, he is NOT a libertarian:  even to threaten violence against someone because he says or does something that you do not like or agree with is to deny the No Aggression Principle that Steve claims he values so highly.  Of course, to those of us lovers of liberty who believe (with strong scientific evidence) that life begins at conception, Steve’s support of the “right” of a woman to kill the child within – with or without the aid of the state – is very much the attitude of someone who is NOT a lover of liberty and does NOT subscribe to the No Aggression (or Zero Aggression) Principle when it comes to the least and most helpless of all humans.

Is Rand Paul a libertarian?  Perhaps in the minarchist sense, and certainly a whole lot better than the other 99 members of the Senate.  He is certainly no anarchist, no self-governor, or his voting pattern would be MUCH different.  But to most Americans, in comparison to Reid and Johnson and Bennett and all the rest, Paul is about as close to a “Libertarian” as you have in the GOP since Gary Johnson left.

Of course, the chance of this bill passing Congress and being signed by the thug at the other end of Pennsylvania Ave is NIL – NADA – ZIP.  Because they don’t care about life or people, just power and money.  And the big money is in the abortion racket.  The Congress is little more than a mob itself: “democracy in action.”

Nathan: A parting note.  If THIS is civilization, I’ll take “barbarism” and liberty any time.

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Guest Commentary: Dusty Pence on the Tenth Amendment

Posted on 2013-03-18 by TPOL Nathan

Nathan: Dusty Pence is the publisher and editor of the Fall River Reader and Fall River Forum in Hot Springs, Fall River County, South Dakota.  A lengthy topic discussion has been going on regarding the federal government and steroids in sports (we KNOW government is on ’em) and this is her response to a liberal essentially saying “if there is a problem, government needs to fix it.”  Her response is able to stand on its own for those who believe that the US Constitution is important and at least a bit of an attempt to keep our liberties.

The tenth amendment IS the limitation on Congress: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

If Madison said “as far as executing its duties…” then I would suppose he meant the duties/powers delegated in the Constitution, not anything and everything they wish to do. (But no, I am not a constitutional scholar.) Congress is limited by the personal rights of the individual and limited to those powers delegated to the federal government in the constitution. As for the military, that is, of course, one of the powers delegated to the federal government.

Here is a Madison quote: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”

Of course, I can also find some Madison quotes that suggest some comfort with expansion of those powers. Nonetheless, I believe the limitations have long been understood:

“The Constitution was, from its very origin, contemplated to be the frame of a national government, of special and enumerated powers, and not of general and unlimited powers.”
—Justice Joseph Story (1833)

Then we have:

The Tenth Amendment was intended to confirm the understanding of the people at the time the Constitution was adopted, that powers not granted to the United States were reserved to the states or to the people. It added nothing to the instrument as originally ratified…
—Justice Owen Roberts (1931)[2]

Not that the courts stuck to this, nor, for that matter, the founders. I believe George Washington was the first president to overreach his powers (at least, arguably). And I believe Jefferson himself violated his own strong convictions when he bypassed Congress to make the Louisiana purchase. (But I confess that I have not studied that, only read one interpretation—I assume the issue was spending the money, not negotiating the treaty, but I am not sure!)

Nathan: Thanks, Dusty.  The failure to abide by the US Constitution is a very strong argument that there is little if anything that can be done to control government, and that we are best without such a dangerous tool.  The fact that people (like the man to whom you were responding) seem to be intelligent but cannot understand or accept basic concepts in the Constitution is yet another argument against government: we can’t trust people at all to use it wisely. Unlike guns and automobiles, government may be too dangerous to even have in our toolbox.

Credit: Dusty Pence, editor and publisher of fallriverforum.com

Posted in Friends of Liberty | 1 Comment

Guns and Safety

Posted on 2013-03-17 by MamaLiberty

Americans seem to be obsessed with guns and “safety,” so I have a few questions…

Many thousands of Americans are killed or injured in automobile crashes of one kind or another. Many are deliberately murdered using vehicles of some kind. A few use a vehicle to commit suicide as well.

So, in the interest of saving those lives and making everyone safer… shall we talk about banning all the automobiles and trucks commonly involved, with ever greater restrictions on who owns and drives the few left?

Why not?

Thousands of people, including children, are murdered, injured and commit suicide using a vast array of tools and substances each day. The tools and substances are, of course, inanimate and can do nothing on their own, but it seems most people find it easier to blame the inanimate object than the people involved.

How many people drown each year? How many are injured? How many people are murdered or commit suicide with water, one way or another?

Shall we, as a people, then seek to eliminate all the tools and water on the planet, just to keep those folks “safe?” You say, “that’s impossible”! And besides, water and tools play a much larger role in our lives than just murder and suicide, don’t they?

Yes indeed. All tools serve multiple purposes, and only the action of the person using them determines whether they are used for good or evil. Accidents are not caused by the material things involved, but by the people who hold and use them.

So, why do you suppose that so much effort and emotion is concentrated on the demonization and elimination of guns in private hands? Guns are used in only a small number (compared to the overall number of deaths and injury by any other means) of suicides, murders and deliberate evil – if you don’t count all of the wars, murder and maiming done with them by the government itself, of course.

The dirty little secret that the government overlords want badly to hide from as many of you as possible is the fact that the gun, properly used, is the most effective means of protecting yourself and your loved ones, your community, from those who would use ANY tool or method to harm you.

And those who want very much to be able to render you helpless to defend yourself, from them or anyone else, do not want you to even think about the fact that it is as impossible to eliminate guns as it would be to eliminate water or every other dangerous tool. The best they can do is to make such ownership or use so difficult and dangerous that only those who have an overriding desire to harm others – the criminals – will continue to have guns. And yes, I include the armed government agents and employees among those criminals.

Just how can anyone see the government as being the least concerned with their safety when that very government is perfectly willing to injure and murder any number of them for a vast and growing array of reasons, let alone having the most effective tools available to defend themselves?

Who owns your life? Who or what is actually in control of that life? Who or what actually has legitimate authority over your life and choices?

The ONLY reason anyone wants to prevent you from owning guns, the most effective tool for self defense, is that they have every intention of doing things to you that you would not allow if you were able to resist them. All criminals prefer helpless victims.

Think about that.

Posted in Mama's Rants | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-10D: Enemy of the state?

Posted on 2013-03-16 by TPOL Nathan

WARNING:  According to a law school professor, pursuant to the Military Commissions Act, “Anyone who … speaks out against the governments policies could be declared an unlawful enemy combatant and imprisoned indefinitely.” That includes American citizens.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU MAY BE CONSIDERED AN ENEMY OF THE STATE because you are “conspiring” with someone (the guy writing this) who is an ‘unlawful enemy combatant.’ (I’m not wearing my uniform while I write this.)

Mama’s Note: The publisher/editor will gladly take a piece of that action as well. 🙂 I have no interest in harming anyone, or in starting any fight… but I’m going to do whatever it takes to defend myself. Count on it.

The “messiah” – Congress in action
Obama Couldn’t Eat at Hill Meeting without Taster
(Daily Caller)  According to Maine Republican Senator Collins, he couldn’t eat with the Republicans he was trying to convince to support his plan to end the sequester.

Nathan: King or emperor or fuehrer or god incarnate?  He needs a taster because GOP senators might poison him with the same food that they are eating?  Perhaps he needs to check and see if there are any briefcases under the tables where he sits.  What gives?

Mama’s Note: It wasn’t clear from the article whether or not this is something new. I’ve not taken the time to look into it any more than that.

Old religions – Congress in action
Boehner on Pope Francis: ‘Thanks be to God’
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the nation’s most senior Catholic Republican, expressed relief to reporters Wednesday that the College of Cardinals selected a new pope so quickly — and one from the Western Hemisphere.

Nathan: Of course, now that the anti-Catholics and all the rest of the nihilists have “outed” Francis I by declaring him to be an active participant in the Dirty Wars of Argentina right back to when (Peron took power, and apparently making him the Cardinal Richelieu of Argentina -<grin>), Boehner seems to have again stuck his foot in his mouth, according to the Dems and other Tranzis.  Of course, Boehner is incompetent and often incredibly stupid, but he is probably right for once.  I dismiss much of the name-calling against Francis as exactly the kind of thing that ANYone elected will face.  The man has a potential to be a great enemy or a great friend to liberty, and to change the Catholic Church in the same way: let’s wait and see.

Home Front – Theft by government
Record 18.7 Million Students in FY 2012 Got ‘Free’ Lunch
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Can’t afford to buy steak once in a while or go out for a meal?  Never fear, the money stolen from you is feeding some school kid a “free” or “reduced-cost” lunch in some government-run, tax-funded school near you.  It is more than just the continued Crash of 2009 that is driving this trend upward, the fed gov is seeking and convincing more and more parents and more and more schools to get children on the dole, and the fact that their meals are coming from the government is carefully taught to them.

Theft by government – Congress in action
After Passing CR That Funds Obamacare, GOP Presents Budget Symbolically Repealing It
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: The GOP is no different than their opponents:  appearances are more important than substance, and they treat ALL taxpayers as stupid dupes and marks to be fleeced over and over.  The GOP has rolled over on ObummerCare, on spending, on borrowing, and will roll over on guns and EVERYTHING else that matters.

Theft by government – Nanny state
$1.8M Federal Grant Helped D.C. Make Fruits and Vegetables Available at Work
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Don’t you wish the government gave YOU free fruits and vegetables, when you are having to pay $2+ a pound for apples and $8+ a pound for blueberries!

Mama’s Note: And plain old cabbage and carrots are usually about a dollar a pound as well.

Extraordinarily stupid politicians
Biden: ‘I’d Rather Have an Ex-Felon Have Access to a Weapon’ Than a ‘Fugitive’ (CNSNews.com) “For example, a fugitive from justice can still buy a gun legally unless they cross a state line,” Biden said. “The one person I don’t want to have a weapon is a fugitive from justice. “I rather have an ex-felon have access to a weapon than someone fleeing the justice system,” Biden said.

Nathan: Does this even make sense?  Only if you are crazy Uncle Joe and probably feel that most of us are fugitives from justice.  By the way, what is an “ex-felon” anyway?  A felon is someone who has been convicted of a crime – is an “ex-felon” someone who has been pardoned?  Stupid, crazy Uncle Joe.

Mama’s Note: It all depends on the definition of  “felony.” You can gain that distinction by almost anything these days. Biden, of course, wouldn’t know a real criminal from a hole in the ground, any more than he knows anything about safe gun handling. Actually, he probably needs help with buttons and zippers.

Theft by government
Woman Buried Mother in Backyard–Then Collected Her Social Security for 14 Yrs
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: The woman is 65, and will probably get to spend the rest of her life in prison, and won’t pay back either the $141K she stole from the SSA or the $250K fine levied – and of course the taxpayers will foot her bill in prison.  Sounds like a win-win situation for her.

Mama’s Note: I’d not read this story, but there might be more to it than meets the eye. When my husband died, the checks continued to come, even though I’d called, written and even faxed the death certificate to the SS office. I kept returning the checks, but did so by registered mail. I’m so glad I did that!!! After six months, I got a really nasty, threatening letter accusing me of fraud. I sent them a copy of the post office receipts for the returned checks and they finally quit sending them!!!

New Religions: Environism  and Global warming
Eco-terror advocate bashes climate ‘deniers’ on film
(Conservative Action Alerts) Last month a Pew Research Center/USA Today poll confirmed what poll-watchers knew during last year’s campaign season: Climate change was the lowest-ranked priority on President Obama’s second-term agenda. Last Friday, Big Green’s entertainment division churned out yet another attempt to turn that around with a panicky new global-warming documentary. It opened on 51 screens with a weekend gross of $45,000 (that’s $882.25 per screen, according to the Internet Movie Database). It was produced at an estimated cost of $1.5 million and comes with a screaming title: “Greedy Lying Bastards.”

Nathan: If this were private money funding this movie, I’d say great.  But you can be sure that this flop was funded by various grants – we pay for propaganda aimed at ourselves.  This “documentary” is just the latest brainwashing to convince us of global warming.

Mama’s Note: Well, I WANT some of that darn “warming” right now… it’s snowing outside and cold today, after reaching a very pleasant 70 degrees yesterday. It’s just not FAIRRRRRR…

Home front – Islamic wars
Sanctimony city
(San Francisco Chronicle – by Debra J. Saunders) “Pamela Geller, most famous for fighting what she called the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ in New York, bought ads on the sides of 10 Muni buses that feature hateful quotes from Osama bin Laden, accused Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan and failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad — under the headline, ‘My Jihad: Jihad, holy fighting in Allah’s cause, with full force and weaponry is … an obligation and duty in Islam to every Muslim,’ reads the Shahzad quote. And underneath: ‘That’s my Jihad. What’s yours?’ San Francisco City Hall responded in knee-jerk fashion: holding a news conference drenched in sanctimony.” (03/14/13)

Nathan: Free speech does not apply to libertarians or conservatives, who “abuse” their privilege of speaking out.  I am sure these were all vandalized within hours, seeing how law-abiding and loving the denizens of San Francisco are.

Margaret Figert: Quote of the Week: “Sane and reasonable people, including heartland conservatives, do NOT want or need government intrusion in their personal lives.  Most of us are perfectly capable of feeding, dressing, educating and medicating ourselves – at least we were until government began responding to the whines of those folks who want government to throw other people’s tax money at them to save them from their sins.”

Congress in Action
Boehner: House Will Fund Obamacare in CR; Won’t Risk ‘Shutting Down the Government’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Stinking coward, betrayer, scumbag, – words fail me.  Why, if they really HAD any principles other than greed and self-aggrandizement, would they do anything but rejoice at shutting down Uncle Sam for a few weeks?  Why, if they weren’t already bought and paid for and dependent on “free” government money themselves, would they not be prepared to go it on their own for a while.  Filthy dirty traitors and blackguards.

Theft by government – Abominable Act (ObummerCare)
CBO: Obamacare May Boost Disability Insurance Rolls
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: It seems likely:  when all is said and done, it is pretty easy to get on disability, and stay there keep upping the ante to get more and more:  I have seen people do it, and I’ve seen what it would take: not much.  If you can use this to avoid the ObummerCare “not-taxes” and “not-penalties”  the temptation grows to take an easy way out to retire with.

Congress in Action – Theft by government
Pelosi: ‘I Want Us to be on a Path to Balance the Budget in a Number of Decades’
(CNSNews.com) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Thursday that she would like to see a balanced budget, “in a number of decades.” During her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill, CNSNews.com asked Pelosi if she agreed with President Barack Obama’s recent remarks that America does not have an “immediate” debt crisis. The U.S. debt as of Wednesday stands at $16.7 trillion.

Nathan: Imagine if I told my bank that.  I’m only spending twice what I’m making now, but don’t worry, I’ll increase my income about five percent each year or stop spending about five percent each year.  Don’t worry, it will ALL work out…”

Culture wars: killing babies
Rubio: ‘Absolute Fact that Science Has Proven Life Begins at Conception’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Yes, but as with all the other “inconvenient facts,” this one will be ignored; not just by Tranzi and Demcocratic  leaders and minions, but by millions of GOP types also.  Actually, as with ancient Canaan and the Levant and Carthage, it is the BABY that is “inconvenient.”  The only good thing is that eventually this twisted genetic trait (killing your own babies) will be bred out of the population.

Congress in action
Rand Paul: ‘Not One Penny More to Countries That Are Burning Our Flag’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: A lone voice, crying in the wilderness.  (Or the pitiful excuse for wilderness found in the Senate chambers. Diogenes would die of old age.

Mama’s Note: What in heck does the “flag” have to do with it? He’s happy to send taxpayer loot to anyone who sucks up and at least pretends to enjoy the rape by Uncle Sam? Not one penny of stolen money to ANYONE, for any reason is more like it.

Congress in action
Cruz: ‘Constitution is Particularly Important when the Bill of Rights is Unpopular’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: An excellent point, to think of it.  I wonder if anyone has done any polling on people’s opinion of the Bill of Rights.  Lovers of liberty take it for granted as a starting point and wish for some kind of enforcement, if we have to have a government at all.  We know that elements of society hate the first (the press, Muslim jihadists, many black liberals), and the second (all the hoploclasts and hoplophobes), but what about the rest?

Islamic wars: Arab Street revolt
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood: Expanding Women’s Rights Would Be A ‘Cultural Invasion of Muslim Countries’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Just like doing something about the way they kill each other, and enslave people of other faiths, and the way Aztec harvesting hearts on pyramids and Carthage sacrificing children to Moloch and all the rest of the evils were “cultural invasions.”

The “messiah” – Liberty
Deadline Approaches for Obama Administration to Name Russian Human Rights Abusers
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Seems pretty simple to me: a Moscow phone book would work, right?  In the US, you’d have to find a phone book that included DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia

American front – The “messiah’s) minions
ICE Admits It Released More Than 2,000 Illegal Aliens, Including Serious Offenders
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Typical for the minions of the “messiah” who never found a law that they couldn’t break or twist around.  Obeying laws is for suckers and slaves.

Politics 2013
Conservative Leader to Karl Rove: ‘Get Out of the Way’ and Let Us Lead
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Incredible, isn’t it?  There are people who believe – REALLY believe -that Rove is the Gray Eminence who really “rules America,” and that even the “messiah” dances to his tune.  The man is an embarrassment to Americans, and is dedicated, if anything, to speeding up the collapse.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-11C: Korea and Congress and Colorado

Posted on 2013-03-14 by TPOL Nathan

Today, I’ve got a brief commentary on various interesting news items.  But I also note that more and more people are talking about the potential for violent confrontations right here in the US, and that violence is rising in Europe and Asia.  This means that the Korean revival of a 60-year-old war isn’t too much out of line with what is going on worldwide.

What next?

East Asian front
North Korea: Regime nullifies 1953 armistice
(New York Times)  “North Korea declared the 1953 Korean War armistice nullified on Monday, following through on a longstanding threat that it renewed last week amid rising tensions with South Korea. … However, there were no signs of hostility along the border between the two Koreas. South Korean officials said they were increasing their vigilance amid fears that North Korea might use the United States-South Korean military drills and a fresh round of United Nations sanctions as an excuse to create an armed skirmish against the South.” (03/11/13)

Nathan: Legally (and even morally), Korea and the US have every right to immediately resume hostilities: air strikes, naval strikes, round-up of PRK government officials everywhere, and a demand for immediate surrender under threat of annihilation of every government office and base and civilian and military personnel.  They won’t, of course, because if they can’t whip up enough support to attack and/or invade Iran, who is going to do that to North Korea?  And as I have pointed out before, Seoul learned from the German reunification and don’t want to be beggared.

Mama’s Note: How in the world could there be any moral “right” to attack these people? If, by some wild chance, the pudgy dictator managed to fire a rocket toward the US, THEN there would be some justification for a defensive strike, but I don’t see any otherwise.

Congress in action
Political Elite: Swallow This
(LFB.org) Simon Black:  in just a week’s time, the political elite in the Land of the Free gave us bills that:

1) Ensure the government cannot assassinate its own citizens with drones
2) Impose price controls with insurance premiums
3) Award the government with more power to initiate biosurveillance operations
4) Create a quota system in the labor market

Nathan: Simon points out that NONE of these bills are a good idea, and that NONE should be needed in a free, constitutional government – even from a statist point of view. Of course, from a free-market, liberty-loving point of view, there is NO justification for “giving” anyone the power to pass laws like this.  By what authority?

Stupid politics 2013 – Hoplophobes and hoploclasts
Colorado Democrats Ready to Spark a Revolution?
(Examiner, via Freedom Outpost) Anthony Martin reports, Democrats who run the state government in Colorado, however, have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the warnings and protests of citizens. On Monday, the state Senate passed a gun control package

Nathan: I’m seeing this first hand.  It isn’t “revolution” of course, but counter-counter-revolution.  In Colorado, MOST Democrats and SOME Republicans are trying to steal the liberties and properties of five million people (and millions of visitors and “guest workers”) and accomplish what they failed to do after Columbine, by using the twin excuses of two nut-jobs who took advantage of laws that created target-rich, low-threat environments (“hunting preserves”) in a theatre and a school.  Not only are they doing this without majority public support (not that stealing liberty and guns are matters subject to popular vote), but they are doing so in a way that not just ignores the protests and appeals of people and local officials and their own colleagues, but destroys the very concepts of “democratic” government that these people claim to value.

I do not think that they are trying to spark a rebellion; I think that they have decided that Coloradoans will submit to these evil so-called laws the way the people of states like New York and Massachusetts and Maryland and Illinois have submitted, and that this will open the gates to a full-blown nanny state in Colorado.  I think (and pray) that they are wrong.

American Socialist State
The Myth of America’s Cowboy Capitalism
(The American, via Daily Policy Digest) The Federal Register, which contains all proposed rules and regulations, has grown more than 2,848 percent since its first volume…

Nathan: the synopsis of the article makes it clear to me that there is no reason NOT to call what we have now what it is: socialism and fascism in the clearly defined sense of the words and not simply as pejoratives.  Indeed, the federal and state governments regulate and micromanage and tax business and industry to a degree NOT found in either the Third Reich or Fascist Italy or Spain or Argentina.  Or in most of the world today.  We are a sick society and economy, and the blame rests squarely on the government and the idea that “We, the People” are so inept and incompetent that we cannot be trusted to run ANYone else’s life.

Mama’s Note: And again, by WHAT legitimate authority?

No “government” can control the lives of the people without their consent, which doesn’t at all require their actual agreement, but only the willingness to avoid personal responsibility and accept the myth that they can live by theft and coercion as long as it is through the proxy of “government.”

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-11B: Nanny government and more

Posted on 2013-03-12 by TPOL Nathan

Government-run, tax-funded schools – Nanny government
National “Core” Curriculum Rotten to the Core
(Michelle Malkin)  COMMENTARY  A new national database of all students is up and running collecting data on K-Grad level students in all of two states and part of nine more, including information on religion, hair and eye color, health and dental “status,” type of phones, type of house, and much more.

Nathan: Just what we need to deal with:  available for whomever can find a suitably competent hacker, or whenever someone leaves a hard drive in an airport bathroom.  And it applies not just to public school students, but to home school and private school students.

Mama’s Note: It would not matter in the least what sort of security features were used. The  (especially involuntary) collection of this data – in any form, for any purpose – is immoral and WILL be used by the government for all sorts of insanity.

Nanny state – Local tyranny
Judge Invalidates New York City’s Ban on Big Sugary Drinks
(NY Times) A judge invalidated New York City’s ban on large sugary drinks on Monday, one day before it was to go into effect, dealing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg a major blow. The decision by Justice Milton A. Tingling Jr. of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan blocks the city from putting the rules into effect or enforcing them. Justice Tingling said the rule banning the drinks was “arbitrary and capricious.”

Nathan: Thanks to Margaret for this one.  Too bad the judge didn’t just say, “no authority exists to do so.”  And that is the truth: by WHAT authority did Bloomberg enact this?  I know, I know, the Bill of Rights doesn’t apply to New York City.

Mama’s Note: That’s the question we must keep asking! BY WHAT AUTHORITY?

Nathan: Ah, but WHICH American interests?  And how?  I guess this is just as the Sicarii in ancient Judea served Rome’s interests by giving the Princips an excuse to keep several legions garrisoning the place?

Islamic wars: Afghan front
Karzai: Taliban Suicide Bombings Serve American Interests
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Ah, but WHICH American interests?  And how?  I guess this is just as the Sicarii in ancient Judea served Rome’s interests by giving the Princips an excuse to keep several legions garrisoning the place?

Stupid people tricks
Al Gore: Al Jazeera Is ‘Honest-to-Goodness News’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Would he know “honest” news if he saw it?

Congress in action – Theft by government
Ryan’s Budget Assumes the Repeal of Obamacare
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Well, THAT is a good thing. I don’t think that the GOP leaders will support Ryan on this any more than they supported Rand Paul’s filibuster.

The “messiah’s” woman – Tripping
First Lady: ‘Imagine’ an America Where Kids Beg for ‘More Fruits, Vegetables’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Imagine an America where politicians don’t lie – it is just as likely.  She lives in a dream world.

Mama’s Note: That could easily happen. If people were truly free to work, earn, save, spend as they please and choose for themselves – free to live with the consequences of their choices without the nanny state… we might all be very surprised at how many people of all ages chose health and wellness.

The “messiah’s” minions – Theft by government
Krugman: ‘Spending Growth Has Been Exceptionally Low Under Obama’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Only as compared to what the “messiah” and his minions WANT to spend.  But it sounds good.

Congress in action – New religions: environism
GOP Lawmakers Charge EPA Lacks Transparency, Seek DOJ Probe
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Gee, what gave them the first clue?

Mama’s Note: Lacks not only transparency, but any legitimate justification for existence.

Congress in action – Stupid people
Pelosi: In Washington, ‘It’s All About Courage’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Hummm.  I agree – courage that is completely lacking anywhere in DC, on both sides of the aisle and all sides of the Mall.

Mama’s Note: Well, maybe not “completely.” There are a handful of lonesome souls that reflect the courage of Ron Paul, but not many and their lives must be hell in that cesspool.

Theft by government
FDA Won’t Say if Mobile Apps will be Taxed Under Obamacare|
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: I figure that they are wanting it to try and sneak by.  With 40,000 apps available, assuming an average cost of $20/app and 100,000 buyers, the 2.4% tax would pay $1,920,000,000 – pretty cool, eh?  2 BILLION bucks.  Pay for a little bit of ObummerCare.

Mama’s Note: I’m going to assume you are being sarcastic here…

Stupid cops
Australia: Police address media after shootings in western Sydney
(Digital Journal) Police (AK): “Look, as we all know that there were four shootings over the course of the weekend. For us that’s four shootings too many. What I can say is the first shooting occurred at Tucks Road, Seven Hills and what I can tell you is a forty year old man has been arrested and charged with a number of firearms offences in respect of that particular shooting. Also police have seized two firearms, which we believe were involved in the shooting. Those firearms have been taken into police custody and are currently undergoing forensic procedure.

Mama’s Note: Now wait just a darn minute. I was led to believe that the gun bans and confiscations had cured this problem for Australia! What the heck? (/sarcasm)

Nathan: Since only the cops have guns anymore (we all know that most Aussies are VERY law-abiding), then this must all be related to the cops.  Time to disarm them, too.  Military personnel should be issued weapons only when leaving Australia, of course – since all Australian “defense operations” are done outside the country for Crown and Allies.

Mama’s Note: The actual number of firearms in private hands is usually woefully underestimated. This is an old, old article, but serves to demonstrate that Australia is no gun control utopia, even with such stringent “laws” and decades of efforts to eliminate private ownership.

Stupid government tricks
Feds Spend $1.5 Million to Study Why Lesbians Are Fat
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This and the next story make me wonder if I tripped and fell through Alice’s mirror.  What, this isn’t stereotyping and therefore government discrimination?

Mama’s Note: As with anything like this, my first question is: Why should I care?

Stupid government tricks
State Department Will Issue ‘Female’ Passports to Anatomical Males
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: So, what will DHS (TSA and their ilk)do when those scanners show that the bod don’t match the paper?  And those strip searches?  What sex is used to do the actual search?  And is not this a suspicious action in and of itself?  And what if the transgendered anatomical male is a fat lesbian?

Mama’s Note: You’re right… Alice in Wonderland time here.

Theft by government – Congress in action
Cruz Will Use ‘Any Procedural Means Necessary’ to Force Vote on Defunding Obamacare
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Necessary?  Possible?  And what difference will it make?  Defunding, unlike the original appropriations (which the GOP rolled over on) requires the White House to sign off on it.  Ain’t gonna happen.

Mama’s Note: Oh, but they could then posture righteously and say, “Well, we TRIED.” They will never have the guts and intelligence to simply repeal it altogether.

Stupid people – The “messiah”
Ed Begley Jr.: Obama ‘Should Die With His Boots’ on’ Fighting Climate Change
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: We can only hope.  I picture the Greasy Grass (Little Big Horn) and just hope.

Islamic wars: Arab Street revolt – Stupid US government tricks
Is U.S. Training Syrian Rebels in Jordan? State Dept. Won’t Say
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: But the US are sending tons and millions of $$ worth of weapons and supplies.

Stupid people – Hoplophobes and hoploclasts
Pro-Gun Control Senator Asks NASCAR to Change Name of the ‘NRA 500’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: While I suspect this ain’t gonna happen, I believe that this senator is your typical progressive (Tranzi or not) who thinks that government rules.  If they wanted NASCAR to change, all they need to do is find a sponsor to outbid the NRA for the sponsorship of the race.  NASCAR is about money.

Stupid Mainstream Media – New religions: environists
NYT to Obama: Prohibit Pipeline to Choke-Off Oil Supply
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: I have an even better idea: let the “messiah” order the US Navy to mine the approaches to New York and New Jersey ports to prevent oil from being brought into the ports, and choke off NYC’s and the Northeast’s oil supplies.

Mama’s Note: I have an even BETTER, better idea. All of the people who want to ‘choke off’ the oil supply should be required to live without electricity, heating oil, or any other product made with oil or a derivative… permanently. Or until they can honestly articulate how totally stupid this anti-oil nonsense truly is.

Stupid Tranzis – Hoplophobes and hoploclasts
Feinstein: ‘It’s Legal to Hunt Humans With 15-Round, 30-Round, Even 150-Round Magazines’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Ah, if it were, someone would already have HER head mounted on their den wall.

Mama’s Note: Feinstein must be spending entirely too much time with Biden these days. She’s sounding even more nutso than he is.

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Should the government regulate steriods in sports?

Posted on 2013-03-12 by TPOL Nathan

A forum on which I usually lurk had a liberal-type person (at least as defined in South Dakota) ask why on earth the federal government was messing around with steroids in sports, including congressional hearing and “policy” decisions.  Here’s my response, at least to start.  I’ll share any further thoughts and comments with both fora!  It is quite an interesting topic!  Let me see if I can muddle the waters more!

What a lot of people don’t know is that before the Continental Congress could get around to writing and approving the Declaration of Independence, they had to resolve a dispute involving the game and playoff schedule for the Colonial Rugby League in 1775 and 1776, approve drastic changes needed to the rules for Indian league lacrosse, and enact a new law regulating military sports athletes and prohibiting joint teams with other British military teams.  After all, they had to make priorities for what was important.  Sadly, that is no longer the case…

Seriously…

The basic question is, “Why is the government (Federal Government) involved in dealing with steroids in sports?”  This in turn triggered two questions, “Why is government involved in sports?” and “Why is government involved in steroids?”  More specifically, why is Congress messing with this?

As Alexander and Dusty indicate, you can’t find “sports” or “steroids” in the Constitution. Indeed, you can’t find medicine or food in the Constitution.  Setting aside the “general welfare” clause in the Preamble, the enumerated powers of Congress do not have anything close to any of this.

Just so you know, my position is that government shouldn’t have ANYthing to do with sports OR with medicine.  There is no authority in the Federal (or any State) constitution that I can find that says that sports are under any control of government.  Or that government is authorized to spend a DIME for sports or anything to do with it.  So why does Congress do this?

1. Me too ism “All the nations around us do this.” European and Latin American and even British Commonwealth countries not only interfere with and control sports, they usually have a “minister of sports” which regulates, subsidizes, prohibits, or otherwise mess with sports.  Many Americans want us to be like them; more than just taxpayer-subsidized stadiums, government-funded Olympic contenders and preparation, and high school/college sports (virtually 100% government funded).  They want the various Major League teams and management and organizations all to be absorbed into the government, so that the Baseball Commissioner, just like the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.  And funded by tax money (stolen money).

2.  Popular Sports are popular, and sports figures are popular.  Congressmen and other politicians want this popularity to rub off on them, so they get involved, directly and indirectly, with current sports questions and issues.

3.  “Circus” As with Rome (and other empires), sports serve as a distraction (and non-drug soporific) for the masses, either to keep them unaware of politics and public affairs or to sway them to one political faction or another.  While ALL sports serve this purpose to some degree, the BIG sports (baseball, football, basketball, NASCAR, maybe hockey)  that can be partnered and to some or greater degree controlled by government are best for this ongoing distraction.

4.  Money Sports in America are incredibly wealthy and flush with cash.  Not only do the salaries and awards given sports heroes help the “Circuses” aspect, but they and the money paid for tickets, endorsements, sponsorships and more provide multiple VERY lucrative points at which taxes, fees, and other revenue can be almost painlessly extracted from the population.

5.  Control (Microcontrol).  It s no longer enough for Congress or unnamed bureaucrats to dictate how much water our toilets use to flush, what kind of light bulbs we use, or the gas consumption of our cars and trucks.  Every, and I mean EVERY aspect of life must be controlled and regulated by Congress so we will not just elect them but pay the billions for their election campaigns and lavish offices and travel and lifestyle, and give an opportunity to bureaucrats to show us how they care about us and serve us.  Since sports are so popular and important to so many of us, it is one of the best areas in which government control and spending can be expanded.

6.  Promotion of immorality Sports players, especially the mega-heroes, are almost as worshipped as the Kardashians or Oprah or Justin Bieber, so it should come as no surprise that they are the modern-day equal of the Gods of Olympus – and about as immoral.  Children and young adults fawn on and worship all these “heroes” for their sports skills, so their dress, their lifestyle, and their morals are imitated with great joy and cost.  If Hussein Shabib XXIII can run the 100-meter in 6 seconds flat, and beds a half-dozen of his groupies of both sexes under the bleachers before and after his race, then his fans will imitate him. They might not do so hot on the running part, but the sex part they can do.  The more immoral a people, the more control they “need” and the more laws to be enacted and broken and punished.

Steroids are of course a “win-win” situation for government.  Not only are they intimately tied to sports (see above) but they are also a great spin-off (or sequel) to the “War on Some Drugs.”  Like the current push to fight the “War on Some Prescription Drugs,” this is perfect for our valiant drug-warriors in Congress, the thugs in DEA and all the other alphabet agencies, and all of those “fah the chillun” types to get money and power.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-11A: Congress, guns, and laptops

Posted on 2013-03-11 by TPOL Nathan

Congress in action – Federal collapse
New problem for House GOP leaders: Rank-and-file may vote against rules
(The Hill) House Republican leaders have a new problem. They can’t count on their members to support them on procedural votes. Sixteen Republicans defected Wednesday in a vote on the rule governing consideration of a government-funding bill meant to prevent a government shutdown. The defections could have caused the rule to fail since most Democrats voted also voted against it.

Nathan: Thanks to Steve for this one.  This isn’t a “new problem” for the GOP “leadership” (I cannot repeat what they REALLY are.)  And they should not be surprised, seeing how this “leadership” treats their rank and file members when it comes to issues like immigration, Obummercare, and everything else. This indication of the dysfunctional nature of the GOP is just one more: the only reason it still exists is that the Dems (Tranzis) find it advantageous to have an “opposition.”  The Hill talks about the House, but the Senate is no better.

Stupid government – Hoplophobes and hoploclasts
Colorado Sheriff talks about threats for opposition to gun control bills
(The Blaze) One Colorado sheriff is claiming that Democrats are pressuring pro-gun sheriffs in the state with tactics he think border on extortion. In a radio interview with KVOR on Saturday, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said he received an email last week with a threat to stop or stall pay raises to the state’s elected sheriffs if they don’t support Colorado’s pending gun control legislation.

Thanks to Debby and Scott. Scott’s comments: What “2nd Amendment”? It’s Section 13 [of the Colorado State Constitution]:Section 13. Right to bear arms. The right of no person to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall be called in question; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to justify the practice of carrying concealed weapons.

Nathan: Although most of Colorado now permits concealed weapons (with a lot of rather fatuous requirements), the original logic for this statement in 1876 was that carrying concealed was a low-life, weasel-like, Eastern sort of deception that wasn’t honorable.  It did not, apparently, apply to women carrying in a purse, according to some claims.  But Scott’s point is VERY important: it is NOT so much the FEDERAL Second Amendment that these dirty, lowdown, rotten and stinking excuses for humans in the General Assembly is violating: it is their own sovereign state’s constitution and bill of rights.

As for the sheriffs, it appears that MOST of Colorado’s sheriffs are opposing almost all of the gun control bills that are being rammed through the General Assembly – now in the House and expected to go to the governor for his cheerful signature within days.  The laws are staggering: a friend from Florida called to ask me why even a state that voted as it did last year is creating laws that make hundreds of thousands of people criminals, drive businesses out of state, destroy other businesses, and open themselves wide for a wave of violence.  The Sheriffs, many (mostly small-town) police, and tens of thousands of people have protested, written, testified, and made it clear that these laws are not needed.  So why are both Chambers of the General Assembly doing this?  Here are my thoughts:

a. After the 2010 Census, the Democratic Secretary of State subtly gerrymandered the state to create a lot of safe Democratic districts and more than a few liberal Republican districts, which skewed the 2012 elections to give dominance across the board.

b. Not content with that, the power-hungry, greedy, and somewhat liberal GOP establishment alienated hundreds of thousands of conservative, tea-party-movement type Republicans and fractured the party.  Paulistas fared very badly, and a lot of people stayed home.

c. Biden came to Colorado last month and lobbied the General Assembly on the gun laws (an illegal action in my opinion), and I suspect he promised a lot of bribe – excuse me, campaign funds – to keep Dems loyal.  There have been one or two “conservative” Democrats who are opposing the gun bills, but not nearly as many as were boldly claiming they would stand up for self-defense rights in 2012.

d. Denver Police Department and a good many other departments in the Denver Metro area and Front Range have become even more thuggish in the last decade, want their citizens disarmed, and are willing to use gang tactics on anyone opposed to them.

e. Oddly enough, I think in the more rural and remote areas of the state: the Eastern Plains, the northern tier of the West Slope counties, and other spots like the San Luis Valley and Four Corners, have started ignoring the laws passed by the legislature, as much as they can.  They figure that they can’t win in the General Assembly because of the huge population of the Front Range, and don’t care if a six-round-capacity shotgun or an AR-15 or a HiPoint carbine are illegal or not; they’ll do what they want and are reasonably confident that the local sheriff will ignore the law, too.

f. People are on edge about more radical work or action, as my friend has seen used successfully in Tennessee and Florida, because they are fearful that someone will push or be pushed too much and something really, really nasty will be triggered:  shooting and worse.

Mama’s Note: This last, of course, is a growing concern. With enough provocation, something has to give somewhere. Who will fire the first shot? I don’t know, but I’m starting to think it really doesn’t matter as much as we used to think. There has been ample ethical and rational reason to begin for a very long time. Much as we wish they’d just leave us alone, that’s not going to happen.

Home front – TSA/BP thuggery
Court curbs laptop searches at U.S. border
(Washington Times) A federal appeals court said the Border Patrol cannot confiscate or download every laptop or electronic device brought into the U.S., ruling people have an expectation their data are private and the government must have “reasonable suspicion”

Nathan: I would LIKE to think that this is good, and that it will make life more normal again for those who travel back and forth.  But “reasonable suspicion” is a LONG way from what the Constitution supposedly required:  a warrant detailing the items.  All this does is slow things down, especially taking into consideration the war on some drugs and the ‘long war” against “terrorism.”  The courts have already made it clear that the government’s fears (“suspicions”) are reasonable against EVERY air traveler, or we’d no longer be strip-searching Anglo grannies and 3-year-old girl-children at major American airports.  To me, this is little more than an attempt to lull people into stupidity.

Mama’s Note: Stupid indeed, but there it is. Several good work-around ideas could help most travelers. First, back up your entire computer to an encrypted thumb drive before you leave on a trip. Mail it to your destination, preferably to a good friend or other secure location. Partition a portion of your hard drive and sequester your encrypted data there. A casual “inspection” won’t locate it, and the data won’t be available to snoops even if they confiscate the machine and discover the partition. Just don’t forget your passwords! I don’t know anything about the mobile phones or other devices, but I wouldn’t travel with one carrying sensitive data that could not be encrypted.

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