Slippery Frogs and the US Supreme Court
By Lady Liberty

It's impossible to be around any civil liberties movement for long and not hear the words "slippery slope." The phrase references the fact that, once you start down a slick hillside, it's very difficult not to slide all the rest of the way down. And that, of course, illustrates the historically proved notion that once some small infringement of a right is made, it's all that much easier to continue the process until a right is completely usurped.

Another commonly used adage among those concerned for civil rights involves a frog in a pot of boiling water. The claim is that, if you put a frog in a pot of hot water, he'll immediately jump out. On the other hand, if you put a frog in a pot of cold water and then slowly heat it, he'll sit there calmly until he cooks to death. The relevant idea here is that we become so used to small infringements of our rights that, by the time we notice anything has happened, a right is already well on its way to being gone, perhaps irreversibly so. (Read the rest here.)

The Meltdown of Western Medicine, Part II
The High Cost of Medicine
By Susan Callaway, Editor

Do you think that the doctors, hospital owners, etc. are "greedy", or "filthy rich", without a thought for what people have to pay for medicine or medical care? If so, you have not been paying attention.

Even more than any other industry or business, medicine is bound hand and foot with laws, regulations, requirements, licenses, "permits", and absolutely endless paperwork that serves no purpose but job security for clerks and bureaucrats. Many of these "rules" are contradictory, arbitrary and it all costs a LOT of money. Let me give you just a few examples.

If you know what a business plan is, you have a head start understanding this problem. If not, a business plan is an outline of what you propose to sell or service you will render, how the administration and staff are to be organized, and how you will pay for it, just to mention a few things. It can be as simple as a lemonade stand or as complex as General Motors. The basic, original business plan is vital for a sound and profitable company, but the government has taken it and created a monster of it. With the possible exception of the lemonade stand, all businesses have their plans, policies and procedures buried under the massive load of regulations, taxes and bureaucracy gone mad. In medicine the burden is the size and temperament of Godzilla, and growing daily. (Read the rest here)

Resisting the Occupation (“Liberation”) of Iraq
by Jacob G. Hornberger
The Future of Freedom Foundation

Imagine that Chinese troops have invaded the United States with the stated goal of liberating the American people from the grips of the IRS, DEA, BATF, and the many other departments and agencies that violate the principles of freedom set forth by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence. Imagine that after overthrowing the federal government, Chinese authorities announce that Chinese diplomats and Chinese troops will remain in America for an indefinite time in order to ensure that a new federal government limited by constitutional restrictions will be brought into existence — one designed to protect, not destroy, the freedoms of the American people. Imagine that the Chinese establish a temporary regime, with a Chinese diplomat in charge, to rule over the United States until elections can be held sometime in the distant future and a new government formed, this time with a real Constitution — one that ensures freedom by prohibiting income taxation, drug laws, gun control, and other infringements of individual liberty.

Imagine also that the Chinese occupation (“liberation”) troops embark on a campaign to pacify America, including curfews, surprise searches of homes and businesses, gun confiscation, pat-down searches of men, along with their wives and daughters, and roundups and indefinite detentions without trial of suspected Americans insurgents who, for whatever reason, don’t like Chinese troops in America telling Americans what to do and what not to do. Imagine also that the Chinese occupation (“liberation”) authorities shut down American newspapers that question or criticize the occupation (“liberation”) of America, shoot protestors and demonstrators, and react angrily and indignantly to Americans who fail to appreciate the sacrifices that the Chinese are making in order to liberate the American people. (Read the rest here)

Cartoon by Nathan Barton

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