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

Posted on June 6, 2013 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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Libertarian Commentary on the News #13-22B: True conversion? The “messiah” and his minions

Posted on June 5, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

Hoploclasts
Prof Who Accused NRA of Treason Apologizes; Says: ‘Freedom Best Served with an Armed Populace’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Do we have a true conversion here?  Taking his words at face value, we very well may indeed have one.  If so, it should be an encouragement that a man who took such a strong stand AGAINST gun ownership and defense of American freedoms was convinced by reasoned arguments by people who responded to his outrageous accusations and threats.  And publicly changed his stance.  If the conversion is true.  Now, we only have a few more million to go.

The “messiah’s” minions – Stupid people
Michael Eric Dyson on Holder: ‘He’s the Moses of Our Time and At Least for This Administration’
(CNSNews.com) “I think the attorney general should step down too, off of that plateau where he resides in high principle and whip some head, but he shouldn’t give up his office. What he should understand is that he is the chief law giver of the United States of America, so to speak. He’s the Moses of our time, and at least for this administration,”

Nathan: Oh dear, anytime the Tranzi start pulling out biblical allusions, you know it is going to be nasty.  No difference here.  The Attorney General is “the chief law giver” of the nation?  In what warped twisted universe?  Putting aside the fact that GOD is the lawgiver identified in the Old Testament (See Isaiah 33:22), under the (now-dead, admittedly) constitution, the “lawgivers” are the Legislative Branch: Congress.  The AG is nothing but an assistant to the chief executive to apply that law, and maybe propose some.  If Dyson is looking for a biblical allusion, Holder at best is one of Korah’s lieutenants in his rebellion against Moses (Numbers 16).  Or perhaps Balaam, urging rebellion against liberty and freedom.

The “messiah’s” minions – Home tyranny
Justice Dep’t Using ADA to Get Psychotic and ‘Intellectually Disabled’ Prisoners Out of Solitary Confinement
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: They need the room – for us.

Theft by government – Tyranny – Congress in action
Issa: ‘My Gut Tells Me That Too Many People Knew That This (IRS) Wrongdoing Was Going On’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Do we need to remember the irrelevance of Congress?  This should help.  I have no doubt that a LOT of people knew about this – including a lot of members of Congress – including some Republican members of Congress.  Why didn’t they say anything?  Fear.  Fear and sometimes a bit of “we’ll get ours back when we are back in power, but that won’t happen if we blow the whistle now.”   End the Fed, End the IRS.  It is time to fight for freedom.

Congress in action – Politics 2014
Schumer Warns Republicans That Scandals Alone Won’t Help Them in 2014
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Well, maybe I agree with him for once.  For one thing, the GOP will botch it, as usual.  For a second, more and more voters realize that the GOP will simply have their own version of these scandals.  What is needed is a reduction in power of government and these officials so that the constant scandals and abuse of power don’t really matter.  End the Fed.  End the IRS.  End taxes.  Restore liberty.

Islamic wars: Ottoman front
Turkish PM, Protesters Accuse Each Other of Undermining Democracy
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Implementing Democracy, maybe. They ARE the end result of democracy, that ancient evil:  the “Street Senate” on the one side and the Demogogic dictator on the other side of the coin. Of course, it is important that we remember too that for decades, Turkey has been touted as the “proof” that a predominantly Islamic nation can be democratic and have freedom.  Wrong!  Their PM is accused of being more a sultan or pharaoh than Morsi or Putin have been, and the liberties of peaceful protest and assembly are obviously not to be found.

Home front – Culture wars
Alabama: Native American [sic - Creek Indian girl] denied high school diploma for wearing tribal feather
(Raw Story)  “A high school graduate in Alabama is being denied her diploma after being fined $1,000 for wearing a feather reflecting her Native American heritage. ‘I don’t think it’s fair at all,’ 17-year-old Chelsey Ramer told WPMI-TV. ‘I feel like its discrimination.’ Ramer, a member of the Poarch Creek Band of Indians, wore the feather while taking part in the graduation ceremony at Escambia Academy High School in defiance of school policy forbidding ‘extraneous items’ from being worn without school permission.” [editor's note: The story doesn't mention that Escambia Academy is a private Christian school with an extensive, explicit and self-described "conservative" dress and appearance code. This is not a school that Ramer was forced by law to go to or that her family was forced by law to pay for - TLK] (06/03/13)

Nathan: Like Tom, this missing information (in every story I read, not just Raw Story) is key to the story, and changes the conditions greatly.  An honor feather is an important cultural item in many tribes, and I assume it is with the Creek as well as tribes I know better.  Unlike a similar situation where the Chamberlain (SD) Public Schools refused to allow a Lakota honor song to be sung at graduation (apparently because they considered it “religious” in nature) when a third of the class were AmerInd, and where it was a government-run, tax-funded school, this was a choice of the girl to reject conditions imposed by the administration to which she voluntarily submitted.  Lack of planning on her part (to either get the policy changed or withdraw from the ceremony) does not justify the Academy being forced to comply with her demands.  At the same time, the fine seems to be a wee bit harsh, as does the complete refusal to issue her diploma:

Mainstream media – Corruption
Tom Brokaw on Holder: If It Was John Ashcroft, ‘The Left Would Be Going Very Hard After Them’
(CNSNews.c0m)

Nathan: Of course, because Ashcroft was not part of the proper and acceptable ruling elite, but Holder IS.  Look, black people, whatever their nationality or ethnic claims and background, have been enslaving other black people for millennia, as well as white people and anyone else weak enough or stupid enough to entrap.  (As have whites and Anglos and Arabs and…)  Holder’s skin color no more keeps him from being a murderous, thuggish tyrant (or minion of one) than the nice suits he wears, or than their skin color kept Baby Doc, Idi Amin, or Robert Mugabe from being murdering, thuggish dictators.  He might take more pleasure in enslaving a white-skinned or red-skinned person than one with “color” but that doesn’t mean he won’t get ANY kick out of it.

The “messiah’s” minions
Next Scandal? Sebelius, Other Top Political Appointees Using Secret Email Accounts
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Must not be too secret if CNS knows about it.  Still, what difference do secret e-mails make?  There are enough high  crimes and misdemeanors around to warrant a whole host of show trials, and that doesn’t do anything to sway the fans, the masses.  I just heard again today about all the wonderful things that the “messiah” is doing and how wonderful his people are.  Even e-mails ordering out the death squads with pictures of him joining Gosnel there in Philadelphia in cutting off baby’s feet and of him clubbing baby seals in the Arctic wouldn’t get him brought to justice (Well, actually, the baby seal pix might come closer).

East Asian front
China Spurns U.N. Criticism After Sending N. Korean Refugees Back to Uncertain Fate
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Of course.  Not because the UN is sincere, but because the various UN factions must balance their reaction to actions by any of the major powers who hold permanent Security Council seats.  China has a hard row to hoe with North Korea, since even Kim’s silly little missiles can just as easily be pointed west as they can east to Japan or the US bases, and of course, because China was North Korea’s sponsor for such a long time.  And, they have to consider that at least SOME of these refugees are sleepers, planted by North Korea for “der Tag.”

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-22A: This and that

Posted on June 5, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

Theft by government – Government-run, tax-funded schools
$1.3M Grant for Newtown Schools Includes Funds for Creative Expression, Wellness Activities
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: So now we know, at least from the federal government, how much a child’s or teacher’s life is worth.  Why don’t the close associates of EVERYONE killed by a criminal (or a cop) get this kind of federal money?

Stupid people
Protests Grow Amid Discovery of Genetically Modified U.S. Wheat
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: I’ve been warned by several people that this could turn out to be as bad a situation as the Russian wheat deal collapses back three or four decades.  To me, the panic over genie food is irrational and insane:  but it doesn’t stop the panic and the uproar from not being real.  Frankly, if Korea or Japan does not want to buy genie food (or food that “might” be genie or “might have” been NEAR genie food) from the US, I suggest that they go somewhere else to buy their food.  Oh, dear, no one produces it?  My, I guess they better start growing their own again, eh?  Maybe the First Consort can go teach them how, as she did the kids in the next story.

The “messiah’s” consort – Stupid government
Kids Who Planted Michelle’s Garden Rewarded with Snap-Pea Salad
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Guess they should have been students at Newtown.  Or “Palestinian” students in Canaan.  Cash, not snap peas, eh?

The mainstream media – The “messiah”
Brokaw: Obama Scandals Not Comparable to Watergate
(CNSNew.com)

Nathan: Of course not.  To Tom Brokow, Watergate was a direct attack on the organs of the rightful rulers and elite of this country by an upstart, middle-class-mud politician and his lame excuse for a political party: a bunch of jealous wannabe democrats.  The Triple-Dunce (IRS, DOS-Benghazi, DOJ-thuggery) scandals are preventative strikes by the rightful rulers (the Democrats) against scheming, conspiratorial would-be rebels and un-indicted enemies of the state.  No comparison at ALL.  My way of thinking right now?  Any DOS employee (“diplomat”) deserves however much lead his or her body can be ballasted with.  The tea-partiers and liberty-light “patriots” deserve what their naive actions led them to – bait and food for the fishes.  And the media is getting a very poetic punishment for their worship of the state.  Some lovers of liberty are calling for Holder to resign, some even think that the “messiah” might have to resign:  I want to know how much good hemp rope costs.

Mama’s Note: Resignation is anything but a punishment, let alone a deterrent to further criminal behavior – either of those who resign or their successors. They need to be arrested, charged with their actual crimes, tried by a jury and given whatever sentence would be given to any of us under similar circumstances. But, of course, that’s never going to happen. You might not be able to find good hemp rope, but I suspect that a coil of plain old nylon would do the job.

Border jumpers – Tranzis
Liberal Prof on Amnesty of 11 Million Illegal Aliens: ‘They’ll Be Supporting All of Us In Our Retirement Age’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Right.  Just like Europe’s guest workers are supporting all the native-born Europeans in THEIR dotage?  Sure: we can count on some of them to support the old-age pensioners: as they push them up into the cars of the trains to take them to the death camps.  Look across the Rio Grande to see what kind of future America will have with 20 million or more border jumpers who have NOT assimilated and vote for the Tranzis:  death camps would almost be a blessing.

Home front – Hoploclasts and hoplophobes
Caffeine Withdrawal is Now a Mental disorder
(Godfather Politics) something as insignificant as caffeine withdrawal being used as a pretense for gun confiscation. Since it’s now classified as a mental illness, all a mental health expert or doctor has to do is diagnose someone’s headaches or fatigue as caffeine withdrawal syndrome. That person would have a mental illness, and if he has any guns, they could be taken away. If he doesn’t have any guns, he could be barred from ever owning them.

Nathan: Brave New World indeed.  Soviet-style mental health treatment will not be far behind, as the disarmament allows more and more overt tyranny.

Mama’s Note: I’m afraid I’m starting to think of people who actually share such things with “mental health professionals” as just plain stupid. If you can’t even handle your coffee on your own…. good grief.

Politics 2013
Poll: Democrats Flip Flop on Gitmo to Support Obama
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: One trait common to GOP and Dem alike is this hypocrisy:  it is not WHAT is being done but WHO is doing it that is important. Gitmo, the “war on some terrorism,” the “war on some drugs,” the USA Patriot Act, the Medicare drug coverage, you name it.

Islamic wars: Arab street revolt
Turkey finds Sarin gas in homes of suspected Syrian Islamists – reports
(Russia Today) May 30, 2013 16:56 Turkish security forces found a 2kg cylinder with Sarin gas after searching the homes of Syrian militants from the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front who were previously detained, Turkish media reports. The gas was reportedly going to be used in a bomb. The Sarin gas was found in the homes of suspected Syrian Islamists detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersia following Turkish police’ search on Wednesday, reports say. The gas was allegedly going to be used to carry out an attack in the southern Turkish city of Adana.

Nathan: Thanks to Scott for this.  Scott’s comments: [Sarin capitalized because it's a German noun. And it's not a "gas". It's a liquid with volatility comparable to water.] This may be a plant, but it shows that as usual in the Ummah (Dar Al-Islam: Lands of Submission or “Peace”) Muslims have no qualms about killing other Muslims or anyone that might happen to get in the way.  An evil and foreign religious and cultural mindset that is dangerous to everyone.

Home front: Stupid people – Collapsing society
Hispanic Guy Denied Job Because He is Not Bilingual
(The Last Resistance) Imagine being a fifth generation—born and bred—Hispanic American citizen and not getting the job because English is your primary language. Juan is a college student seeking employment. He applied for a position as a warehouse worker with a local company. He thought he possessed all the skills required, but his prospective employer did not agree. He was turned down for the job because he did not speak Spanish. Juan is furious and disgusted.

Nathan: So am I.  Imagine if this was a SPANISH-speaking Hispanic jobseeker who couldn’t speak English?  NO PROBLEM: we’ll hire you and accommodate you.  Upside down world, eh?  I believe that (despite the law) people should be able to hire people OR NOT hire people for any reason:  wrong color hair, doesn’t speak Russian, DOES speak Russian, too many kids, not enough kids, whatever.  But the law does NOT allow this – provided that you are of the “right” kind of group as established by Congress, the White House, or the bureaucrats.  Society: individual people and businesses and organizations, live in fear of lawsuits and enforcement actions by an evil multitude of federal and state (and local) alphabet agencies.  And we have this.  Society is decaying.

Hoplophobes and hoploclasts – The “messiah’s” minions
DOJ Memo:  Outlaw and Confiscate All Guns?
(Red Flag News) The National Rifle Association has obtained a Department of Justice memo calling for national gun registration and confiscation. The 9 page “cursory summary” on current gun control initiatives was not officially released by the Obama administration.

Nathan: Thanks to Scott for this one.  I haven’t been able to read the whole thing, but at first glance it may be a case of getting into a panic over an analysis paper that is NOT a policy paper – a series of “what if” type discussions.  It isn’t like it has Holder’s signature on it, or even one of his policy-makers.  I’m not discounting the idea that the “messiah” and his minions want to disarm EVERYONE that they possibly can (including, if they can, local police), just that this is not a smoking gun. Indeed, it may be just another distraction.  We need to ensure that we are NOT distracted from properly preparing for what they want to do.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-21D: Killer cops, stupid government, terrorism

Posted on June 3, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

Home front: killer cops – Local tyranny
Texas: Jerry Waller killed by cops in his own home without warning
(CBS) Jerry Waller, 73 years young, and his wife Kathy had gone to bed Monday night like they always did.  Shortly after midnight, they were woken by a neighbor’s burglar alarm and bright light.  Like a good neighbor, Waller grabbed his handgun and went to his garage to investigate the alarm.  Waller lives across the street from the where the alarm was sounding.  He was still behind his own house when the next thing he knew, two rookie police officers had opened fire on him, shooting him 6 times in the chest.  Waller was instantly killed.

Nathan: Thanks to Godfather Politics for this one.  This is more than rogue police, this is direct and unforgivable aggression against a private citizen on his own property with NO excuse.  Indeed, the two murderers were trespassing and Waller could have shot and killed THEM under both God’s law and Texas law.  This is terrorism, pure and simple. These men should be tried, and if convicted, EXECUTED as a warning to others of their types.  And Fort Worth should outlaw every member of this gang. I don’t care if one of the murderers broke down and cried when he realized what he had done.  He and his fellow killer cop, and no one else, is responsible for murdering an innocent, elderly man.  The police have taken over the natural functions of society: of people looking out for each other, and use natural and godly response as excuse to kill, steal, terrorize, and abuse citizens.  It is time to end this evil organization.  And not just in Fort Worth.

Government-run, Tax-funded schools
ACLU and School Wrangle over letting children think for themselves
(Godfather Politics)

Nathan: They are all nuts?

Mama’s Note: We both know this well: Perfect solution, for all those parents and others who truly care about the children: Withdraw from the sick and dying government “school.” Those who want can set up a network of private schools and homeschool support groups.

To all those who continue to think they can and must “reform” the public schools: Why waste time, effort and money fighting for something that can never actually serve the needs of free individuals? A government controlled “education” system will always serve the government first and foremost.

Stupid government – Islamic wars: Arab street revolt
State Dep’t.: Al-Qaeda Headed for ‘Defeat’, But Arab Turmoil Helping Other Terrorists
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This is the same sort of Pollyana thinking that apparently helped cause the Benghazi massacre: incredibly stupid and out of touch with reality.  The more the US and the West fail to deal with the root cause of terrorism in the Muslim world: ISLAM ITSELF, the more terrorists will arise, whether there is “turmoil” or not.  Of course, the turmoil is a result of the evil teaching and practice of a religion which belongs on the ash heap of history along with the Aztec, the Carthaginian, and the Canaanite religions, which it more and more resembles.  Of course, this is NOT a responsibility of governments, but of individuals and churches.  So of course the State Department is incompetent and ineffectual in dealing with it.

Mama’s Note: So, how would that work? I’m just trying to understand how individuals and churches can “deal with” Islam without violating the non aggression principle. Seems to me that leaving them alone, and preparing to defend ourselves at need, is a far better plan.

Islamic wars: Persian front/actions
U.S. Finds ‘Marked Resurgence’ of Iranian Sponsorship of Terrorism
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: The terrorism and turmoil I discussed above is NOT limited just to Arab portions of the Ummah (the Muslim “world”):  the johnny-come-latelies in Persia who want to take over leadership of the Ummah are just one of several groups who are willing to kill and torture and threaten and destroy to force people to follow their way of political and religious thinking.  Of course, in this, they aren’t much different from the western governments they are fighting.

Stupid people – War on some religions
Ohio State President: ‘You Just Can’t Trust Those D**n Catholics’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Sounds like the kind of thing said back in the early 1800s, when the Pope was considered an evil foreign potentate.  But you wanna bet that the OSU administration, faculty, and student senate want to get the UK out of Northern Ireland?  And would never ever think of making a comment like this about Muslims?

Culture wars: homosexual activism
ExxonMobil Shareholders Again Refuse Special Protection for Homosexual Employees
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Oy veh!  What a bunch of redneck haters!  Never mind that these people, as private persons, have a God-given (and constitutionally-recognized) right to associate and NOT associate with whomever.  They are, in the eyes of an unholy alliance of homosexuals, environists, and various socialists, an evil corporation that must be destroyed – or at the least forced to do what others demand.  Funny, I am not aware of ANYone FORCED to buy from ExxonMobil, much less WORK for them or own their shares, but that no longer matters in our decaying society.

Hoploclasts and Hoplophobes
California Senate Approves Background Checks, Permits and Fees for Ammunition Purchases
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: WOW, what a tremendous business opportunity for hundreds or thousands of people:  not just street gangs and biker gangs (though I expect the biker gangs will really profit from this) but for everyday people.  Got relatives in California?  Ask them to work with you to visit back and forth and set up transportation.  I am sure small ads posted on bulletin boards in bars and truckstops will work:  “Hunter?  We can help keep you supplied.  Call (555)555-5555 today.  Best prices for great Wyoming and South Dakota products”  Talk to the folks that do this already with fireworks.

Culture wars: killing babies? – The Nanny State
Sebelius to Class of ’13: Good News, Obamacare Gives You Free Birth Control
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: What a charming thing to tell the graduates.  And how vital!  No jobs – thanks to government.  No freedom of speech or self defense – thanks to government.  No privacy or medical choice – thanks to government.  But free birth control (and free abortion, as soon as they can slide it under the table) – thanks to government.

Our right of self-defense
Veteran charged with unlawful gun use for defending himself
(The Last Resistance) (opinion)

Nathan: A great, sarcastic article worth sharing with folks.

Theft by government
Gov’t Spending $32M on Housing for 1,300 AIDS Patients: Average $24,874 Each
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: A month:  apparently, we DO have more than one kind of nobility in this country.  All you have to do (like about 95% of AIDS victims) is indulge in behaviors that are immoral, that you have been warned about for decades, and that are easily preventable.  Then you come up positive and get all this stuff for the rest of your life (admittedly, a shorter life than otherwise unless you were one of the 40,000 Americans who died on the highways, or the 100,000 or so who die in other kinds of accidents, or the “10 million or so” who are killed by guns each year (exaggeration for effect here, folks)).

Mama’s Note: I put that “ten million or so” into quotes there to keep our readers from going into respiratory or cardiac arrest – just in case they might not make it to your disclaimer!

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Libertarian News & Commentary #13-21C: Truth, lies, and government “facts”

Posted on May 31, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

Crash of 2009
Stock Prices: The Fed Is Manipulating the Numbers
(American Enterprise Institute) Three rounds of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve have produced record-high stock prices, but real economic growth still remains below the levels expected in an economic recovery…

Nathan: I have long suspected this, as I watch new records reached by the market almost every day.  This analysis seems to confirm part of my suspicions; I still believe that inflation is the other major factor.  We have a sick economy, and the stock market prices just hide the truth.

Mama’s Note: Trying to gauge the economic health by the stock market numbers is pretty much like trusting your future and fortune to the odds given at a race track. If small businesses can’t hire workers because of tax and regulation burdens, it doesn’t matter a bit what “Wall Street” is doing. Too many people are treating an ever increasing debt and dependency ratio as some kind of “growth.”

The Abominable Act
Will Unions Be the Death of ObamaCare?
(AP) Last month, the union representing roofers issued a statement calling for “repeal or complete reform” of the Affordable Care Act…

Nathan: Really?  I suspect that they want MORE: a full single-payer, single-provider socialist system. Not that we are all that far from such a thing now.  Nice as it would be to believe that even unions are deciding that “enough is enough,” …

Islamic wars: Afghan front
Afghanistan: Suicide bombers’ attack on Red Cross is war’s first
(Columbus Dispatch)  “In a shock to humanitarian aid workers, suicide bombers in eastern Afghanistan yesterday assaulted the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, an organization that has worked in the country for more than 30 years without suffering a concerted attack and has received praise from all sides. Security forces managed to evacuate all seven Western employees working in the Jalalabad compound, with only one injured, the provincial police said. One guard was killed and another wounded when one of the attackers blew himself up at the entrance to the compound, which caught fire after the blast. The other two attackers also died in the assault.” (05/30/13)

Nathan: Why?  A few nutcases?  An excuse for a personal vendetta?  An escalation?  Whatever the reason, it shows that it is likely that Afghanistan is a hopeless case and nothing in the past decade-plus has resulted in any long-term improvement.  It is a beautiful land, wealthy in many ways, and those people who do not try to enslave others (partially or fully, directly or indirectly) and aggress against others, and who try to live in peace, are nice and productive:  unfortunately, most Afghanis are corrupted by their religion and tribalism.  But it seems to be impossible to drain the swamp, given the political limits on the West and the West’s refusal to offer a true alternative to Afghani religion and society.

Mama’s Note: What does “the West” have to do with whatever alternative the Afghan people might make? The only obligation anyone has to them or anyone else is to leave them alone to live as they please – only defending ourselves against aggression. If some folks want to attempt to teach the Afghans about self ownership and personal responsibility…. they can go as missionaries.

Home front – Theft by government
72,600,000: Record Number on Medicaid; Outnumbers Populations of France and UK
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Coupled with the news about disability numbers (which this dwarfs, of course), this shows that we are a “gimme nation” indeed.  300 million of us, so one out of 5 or worse are getting medical care using money stolen by the state.  Meanwhile, the hospitals and other medical care industry members have become lying parasites living off the state: padding bills and then “writing” the padded bills off so that they qualify for more direct payments and show net losses even while their administrators and providers rake in big bucks.

Mama’s Note: If you want a good understanding of the whole issue, this is an excellent source. Dr. Keith Smith truly knows what he’s talking about. He’s showing other doctors and even some hospitals how freedom, the free market and medicine make a wonderful combination.

Islamic wars: Arab street revolt
Sunni Extremists Call for Jihad Against Shi’ites Over Syria
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Forgive me if I am being cruel and judgmental by saying, “Good.”  Let them wage war on and kill each other.  This won’t be the first time, by a millennium and a half or so.  Muslims started killing each other (as well as all those around them) before their Prophet even died.  If they are killing each other, whether in Mesopotamia or Libya or Afghanistan or Pakistan or Syria, they have less time and energy to kill ferengi.

Home front – Border jumpers – Theft on government
Giving Illegals Access to Welfare ‘An Assault on the U.S. Taxpayer,’ Researcher Says
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Giving ANYONE “access to welfare” is an assault on the American taxpayer.  Theft is theft, regardless of what the money is spent for.  If we truly want to have open borders, we need to jettison the entire welfare system.

Mama’s Note: Amen to that, along with all of the things that damage or destroy the free market, and therefore our lives and property.

Islamic wars: South Asian front
Pakistan Complains About U.S. Drone Strike That Killed Terrorist It Had Targeted in 2009
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Of course, this is standard Islamic belief, as seen by the call to jihad in Syria.  “I can kill my brother, but if YOU kill my brother, then that is evil and I will kill you for killing the same person I would have killed if I weren’t so incompetent and stupid.”  Pakistan is, at best, a pretend ally of the West, including the United States. Again, let them fight each other, and stop supporting – or attacking – ANY faction of Muslims.  Enough is enough.

New religions: global warming – Arrogant government
New Energy Secretary on Climate Change: ‘I’m Not Here to Debate What’s Not Debatable’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Tactic #233 of the “Big Lie.”  “The truth was decided already, so shut up.”  This is one reason that the “scientific establishment” is nothing but another form of tyranny, trying to control what we say and write and read and hear.

Theft by government – EPA tyranny
Wal-Mart to Pay $81 Million Settlement for What EPA Calls ‘Environmental Crimes’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Squeezing another golden egg out of the goose, eh?  The EPA smells like the IRS, doesn’t it?  End the IRS.  End the EPA.  End the Fed.

Mama’s Note: I read somewhere (can’t remember now) that the EPA is headed for their own scandal. Just as with the Muslim radicals, it would be nice if all of the alphabet soup gangs got into a big war and eliminated each other…

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Libertarian News & Commentary, #13-21B: Society and its collapse, American style

Posted on May 30, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

Society, at least at this time here in America, is fragile and fragmenting in many different ways.  Even the more stable and (relatively) more free states are showing the signs of decay.  This both due to the ease of travel: a gangbanger from San Diego or Chicago can be in Cody or Lewistown or Minot within a day or two; and due to the corrosive influence of the education system and mainstream media and the trash they serve up on broadcast and cable television and in the classrooms, it isn’t going to get better. Too many parents refused to accept the responsibility of raising their children right, and THEIR children don’t have the foggiest idea of what to do.  So the third (and fourth) generations are feral: no longer civilized except by a vague fear of being caught doing something that will get them in trouble.  As several stories point out today.

Self-Defense – Society
Clark, Wyo., struggles to cope with triple homicide
(Casper Tribune) Stephen Hammer, 18, and Tanner Vanpelt, 19, will be arraigned Wednesday in Park County District Court. The men are charged with 11 felony counts each, including murder. If convicted, they could face the death penalty. Park County did not have a homicide between 2001 and 2012, … the talk recently was of a shattered sense of security. Residents are now locking their doors; they never did before. “Guarantee if they weren’t packing before, they are now,” said Darren Torczon, a volunteer firefighter in Clark.

Mama’s Note: Indeed… it can happen anywhere. Wyoming response? Carry a gun.

Nathan: I don’t think ANY county in Wyoming, not even Albany, would respond much differently.  The reasons behind the killings are what worry and puzzle me (and I’m sure, others). And the age of the killers bothers me: is that generation so bloodthirsty?  Or is society collapsing so rapidly that we can expect more and more?

Mama’s Note: I’ve been saying for at least a year or two that younger and younger children are committing the most heinous of crimes. The 11 year old who murdered a woman three years ago is a chilling example. It’s possible they just didn’t often get into the news before, but I fear you are right and that these youngsters have become feral killers without conscience.

One of the remote, but increasingly real nightmares for those of us who carry a gun for self defense is being confronted with any young person, but especially a child. I would not want to have to shoot anyone, but I can only imagine the horror of being forced to shoot a child for any reason… and many could not do so. Not to mention the media circus and horrible aftermath, no matter how justified.

Government-run, tax-funded schools
Teacher disciplined for telling students of their constitutional rights
(Townhall via “The Last Resistance”)“An Illinois Social Studies teacher faces disciplinary action for reminding his students of their Fifth Amendment rights when filling out a school survey on behavior…John Dryden was collecting the surveys before class when he noticed the students’ names were printed on them. He looked to see what was being asked and noticed questions about alcohol and drug use…Dryden told his students that they had a Constitutional right to not incriminate themselves by answering questions on the survey.”

Nathan: The good news is that this is basically being reported by a religious webzine, which you would expect to have a kneejerk reaction against anything that might involve recreational drugs.  The bad news: that educrats are increasingly taking away the “First Amendment” rights of students AND faculty, just as “Second Amendment” and “Fifth Amendment” rights have been stolen.  These schools are great for teaching all about permissive sex and drugs (including alcohol but NOT tobacco, right?), but forget about teaching about liberty, freedom, and personal responsibility.  Parents, get your children OUT!

Home front
Record 10,978,040 Now on Disability; ‘Disability’ Would Be 8th Most Populous State
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This is not a reason to deny disability compensation to those who are truly disabled: who have been injured in work or on duty or in accidents and who have legitimate problems.  But increasingly, we see the “disability” amounting to some mental diagnosis which could not be supported by true science, or exaggerating a condition which is a natural part of growing old, or which is not truly disabling.  At the same time, we need to be careful to remember that this is only about 3 percent of the nation’s population: so it may be a “crisis” that is NOT one.  Who benefits from such a crisis?  The government bureaucrats who are given power to “benefit” the disabled, of course.  And so they promote MORE disability and greater dependency on the state by the disabled.  No need to worry about getting work – everyone else will take care of them?  Again, how society has fallen.

Mama’s Note: Disability is a potential problem for everyone, and must be provided for by personal savings, insurance and community charity just like anything else. NOTHING justifies the use of stolen goods to support the “disabled,” no matter how genuine their situation. And, without the general theft and climate of dependence, truly disabled people would be rare as hen’s teeth.

The “messiah’s” minions – Border jumpers (2 stories)
Biden Tells Trinidad and Tobago: ’11 Million Undocumented’ in U.S. ‘Required to Constantly Live in Fear’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Fear of what?  Being sent home?  Being denied more benefits?  Not with this administration, not with this Congress.  The “documented” have far more to fear, as do those born and raised in this nation – not just from the government but from too many of these people who figure that everyone owes them a free ride.

DHS Can’t Locate 266 Illegal Overstays that ‘Pose National Security’ Risks
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Not even THESE people seem to live in much fear of – you know – getting caught, maybe?  Instead, the FBI wastes time with sting operations to suck stupid, immature, and emotionally unstable teens into enlisting in Al Queda.  And DHS is more concerned with playing bodyguard for federal officials who have to go talk to people – especially in rural areas that are targets for the Great American Commons.  Biden, on the other hand, is more concerned about the fear that border-jumpers have and obviously does not care about the fear that the people he is supposed to serve may have.

Not self-defense
Texas: Employee’s husband shoots man who allegedly held up check-cashing store
(Click2Houston)  “A suspected robber who tried to hold up an ACE Cash Express in north Houston is in the hospital after he was shot by the husband of one of the store’s employees. … Officials said two suspects entered the business through a hole in the roof and waited for employees to show up for work Monday morning. Police said an employee came face to face with two men with bandanas over their faces. They were wearing all back [sic]and holding guns. They told her to open the safe, but she could not, officials said. ‘Luckily for her another employee was waiting outside,’ said Sgt. Fernandez. ‘They spooked the suspects and they took off running.’ Police said the employee’s husband, who was a concealed handgun license holder, was with her. He took off after the men and pointed his gun, pulling the trigger and shooting one of the suspects in the arm. He held him down until police arrived.” (05/27/13)

Nathan: First off, this is NOT self-defense.  The threat was over, no one was in danger any more.  The crime had been averted.  Second, where was their situational awareness?  If he was with her when she was accosted, why did he not take action to protect her then?  Lack of awareness, or lack of training, or just being a coward?  By the way, does anyone else have a problem with the poor quality of writing of this story?  Or do readers really need to have explained the actions of pointing a gun and pulling a trigger?

Mama’s Note: Indeed… poor writing, poor reporting, NOT self defense, and so much more. BUT, it is good to see this kind of story reported even so, and more and more stories of armed self defense that is justified. You take the bitter with the sweet sometimes.

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Libertarian News & Commentary, #13-21A: Self-defense and Stupidity

Posted on May 30, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

Work and travel have again conspired this week to delay commentaries!  But there is lots going on.

European collapse – Self-defense
Swedes Take to the Streets to Defend Their Neighborhoods
(Publicerat, Sweden) Stockholm. Faced by another night of terror at the hands of predominantly immigrant rioters, Swedes grown tired of the police’s inability to put an end to the unrest took to the streets Friday night to defend their neighborhoods.

Mama’s Note: So, of course, the police round up the defenders, not the rioters.

Nathan: Of course.  That is par for the course for as Tranzi a nation as Sweden.  The coppers deny it all, of course, but why would they NOT do it: ordinary Swedes, even Neo-Nazis and “football hooligans” are unlikely to firebomb the police stations or slit the throats of policemen (or their families), but the “immigrant’ (Even THIS guy won’t call them Muslims) rioters and their kind WILL burn and slit and probably rape as well.  (You wonder if some readers are so stupid that they think “immigrant” means British “football hooligans” and German “neo-Nazis” instead of the throwbacks to the 7th Century?) Or is the media so stupid that they think readers will believe this?

Theft by government – Corruption & Tyranny
IRS to Tea Party: ‘State the Reasons You Did Not Have a Candidate Rally for Lone Democratic Candidate’
(CNSNews.com) The Internal Revenue Service, in a letter dated November 16, 2011, asked the Albuquerque Tea Party why it didn’t host a “candidate rally” in 2010 for the lone Democratic gubernatorial candidate in New Mexico after it had hosted a “question and answer forum” for the Republican candidates.  On the Democrat side, then-Lt. Gov. Diane Denish was running for New Mexico governor unopposed, but five Republicans were running in the primary for the opportunity to face Denish in November.

Nathan: Ah, the bureaucratic mind at work when fronting for tyranny is a fearsome thing to behold.  This is a perfect example of how very small (and silly) things can be used as a pretext for cracking down on your political enemies.  End the IRS.  Now.

What we must remember is that this situation was inevitable, now that we have achieved the century mark for the federal income tax and the “need” for an organization like the IRS.  This is NOT a drastic change in IRS policy and impact: the IRS thrives on intimidation and abuse of those it feeds on – AND CONGRESS KNOWS IT.  It is just that it has reached the “final straw” stage and the political circumstances are such that people are now openly screaming about it.  But I do not think that there is any political will yet to do the only thing that would work: ending the organization, which requires scrapping the ENTIRE tax system at the federal level (and therefore, most states’s systems) and replacing them by something else.

It is also important to remember that ANY tax is, by its very nature, nothing but “legalized” theft.  There is NO MORAL DIFFERENCE between a decision by 268 people (1/2 of 535 Senators and Congressmen plus the guy at 1600 PA) to make you or me pay taxes and using the threat of armed force to make us “voluntarily” pay it, and the guy who whips out a gun on a dark street corner and says, “give me all your money.”  No moral difference.

Mama’s Note: No moral difference, and it wouldn’t matter what the IRS was “replaced” with. The practical difference between the IRS and the street corner mugger is the fact that the guy on the street will vanish, never to return – even if we don’t shoot him. The IRS holds that gun to our head daily, even hourly and robs us repeatedly and increasingly while we have little or no choice but to pay or start a revolution.

Islamic wars: Arab street revolt
It’s Terrorist Against Terrorist in the Widening Syrian War
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: A major reason that US forces – and US money stolen from taxpayers – has no business in Syria.  While “the enemy of my enemy may be my friend” in this case they are ALL our enemies, and (besides many other reasons) we need to let them kill and torture and destroy each other.

Stupid government tricks – the “messiah’s’ minions
Kerry: Africans’ Access to U.S.-Funded AIDS Drugs Is ‘Breathtaking Accomplishment’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Charity begins at home:  if this is so important to Africa, should not it be Africans that are paying for the access to these drugs?  And not American’s stolen money, ultimately to be impoverished by being the doctor and nurse as well as policeman to the world?

Mama’s Note: It’s even more complicated and insane than that, Nathan. There is a fair body of solid evidence to indicate that the drugs are far more deadly, in the long run, than the disease. Follow the money… the major pharma outfits who make the drugs are some of the few industries in the world still making money hand over fist.

World wars – Stupid, murderous government
Catholic Bishops Committee Chair: Obama’s Drone Policies ‘Seem to Violate the Law of War’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Seriously?  To say nothing of violating God’s moral law?  And the standards to which the world has held other nations?  “Seems to?”

Local tyranny
No Evidence Chicago Red Light Cameras Based on Safety — System Made $71 Million Last Year
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: “Safety” is the excuse, but that is nothing new.  Building inspections are also “justified” by safety, together with all the bureaucracy and permits and fees that bring in a lot of money to municipalities like Chicago – and to support corruption in almost every form.  Alternatives to government exist for ALL of these, if we will just use them.

Culture wars – Government-run, tax-funded schools
‘Boy or Girl?’ Gender a New Challenge for Schools
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: There seems to be a new story every week in various papers and media about this kind of thing:  parents who have decided (or allowed their five-year-old) to decide that five-year-old Johnnie is really “Joannie” no matter what the actual plumbing is.  And eager for fees, prestige, and power, psychiatrists and educators are eager to support the parents and make special rules for little John-Joan.  Strange, isn’t it, how for centuries this was never a significant problem (I realize that there have always been a few unfortunate people whose bodies or minds are abnormal), but only now is this a “major” problem with 1-2% of ALL students being “ungendered” or “transgendered?”  The causes are not known, but our present government and society make it more of a mess.

Hoplophobes – Stupid cop tricks
California: Microphone, Not Gun, Prompts Lockdown At Chaminade Prep. In West Hills
(CBSLA.com) A private San Fernando Valley high school was placed on lockdown Tuesday due to a report of a person with a gun near campus that turned out to be a student with a boom microphone. LAPD Topanga officers responded to a call from school officials at 9:30 a.m. stating the mother of a student saw a suspicious person near Chaminade College Preparatory High School, 7500 Chaminade Ave.

Mama Liberty: Job security for cops, I guess. I’m just so glad they didn’t start shooting before they discovered what he actually had. They are all on a hair trigger these days.

Nathan: I am sure the cops are pleased that they have created such a horrific climate of fear among parents.  These sorts of false alarms are taking place daily – most just don’t get reported nationally.

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Libertarian News & Commentary, #13-20D: More stupid government abroad and at home

Posted on May 27, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

Stupid Government – European Collapse
Five Euro Note Won’t Buy You Soda
(La Republcia (Italy) The Italian daily’s reporters tried using the new “Europa series” banknotes in machines used to purchase tickets, consumer goods and other items in ten Italian cities, and discovered that the vast majority were unable to tell them from false money.

Nathan: Ah, yes, the incompetence of super-government (Dritte Reich v.2.0?) doesn’t surprise me – nor should it surprise the Europeans.  Isn’t it time to go back to being Italians and Frenchmen and Germans and so forth?

And maybe even getting back to REAL money?  God’s money?  Gold – even maybe silver?  The plain fact is that the Euro is a fiat currency, and like the dollar, the Reichsmark, the CSA dollar, the peso and peseta and so on, it will soon be to the point where a five-euro bill won’t buy a soda not because the machine can’t recognize the banknote, but because inflation means the soda costs more than five euros.  Keep in mind that in the mid 1980s a 1/3-liter Coke in a can cost 1 DM (DeutschMark) or about 25 US cents – today, that same 1/3-liter Coke costs 1.5 euros, or about 200 US cents (2 dollars).  Inflation.  The hidden tax; the destructive tax (more destructive than other taxes, that is: all taxes are destructive).

Home front – Stupid government infighting
NJ: Cop charged with firebombing captain’s home
(NBC New York) “A New Jersey police officer is accused of firebombing a police captain’s home where the captain was inside with his wife, two children and elderly mother, prosecutors said. Officer Michael A. Dotro, 36, was arrested at his home in Manalapan Thursday. He faces charges of attempted murder and aggravated arson.” (05/24/13)

Nathan: Actually, I can sympathize with the cop:  bad enough the guy steals the cop’s wife, but to steal his mother and his children, also?  I thought Jersey cops were corrupt, but apparently their firefighters are even worse!

Mama’s Note: HUH? No mention of the fire dept. or family theft in the story. Do we need a “sarcasm” warning on this one? But of COURSE they’re all nuts… they had to be to become cops in the first place.

The “messiah’s” consort – Stupid nanny government
Michelle O Wants Textbooks to ‘Swap Cupcakes for Apples’ in Math Problems

Nathan: You laugh, but you fail to appreciate the deep-seated psychological programming used in these evil math books.  Remember, math books teach that intentions and good will and self-esteem mean NOTHING, just the cruel, pedantic and hard-hearted idea that there is only ONE right answer to a problem.

The role of the “First Lady” in modern times has become a sick joke in many ways: she has her “causes” and her “bully pulpit” and immediately rises to the top 10 or top 50 in fashion and advice to whomever: selling tabloids and tramp magazines and all the rest, while “being a role model” for small-fry everywhere.  Except that she is usually NONE of these things – especially not the current one.

The “messiah’s” take: Outer space border jumpers?
Obama Meets In Oval Office With Illegal Aliens
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Well, the title fits on the front page of the National Enquirer with those stories about the secret love nest of Queen Elizabeth and the two-headed babies threatening to wipe out the alligators in the Florida swamps. Heaven forbid that a REAL newspaper would report that the guy infesting 1600 PA shows such cavalier disregard for the law.

More and more, the “messiah” starts to resemble some modern-day edition of Caligula or Nero.  His flaunting of the laws, his disdain for American customs and liberties and most Americans, his constant partying, his rank tribalism, and his insatiable hunger for more power and more control  makes Nixon’s Imperial Presidency look like some comic-operatic court of a German micro-state.

The “messiah’s” take – Islamic wars: Arab street revolts
Obama: Benghazi Terrorist Attack Was a ‘Localized’ Threat
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: No threat to any Americans except those within 1 A.U. or so, right?  And everyone knows that bodyguards are much like sand-lizards in dishrags: totally expendable.

Localized?  He may consider it a localized threat to his presidency, his regime.  But when coupled with all the other things, it may be a wee bit more serious than he thinks.  I am not holding my breath, but this perfect “trifecta” (Benghazi, IRS intimidation, and the DOJ media raids) may finally get a few people to seriously think about taking out this administration with its culture of revenge and corruption and power-madness.  Someone has even wondered if this man is liberalism’s Gorbachev.  Sadly, if he goes, though, he will be replaced by yet another Tranzi stooge or figurehead, unless the true revolutionary spirit of 1776 is revived.  And I don’t think so.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-20C: This and that

Posted on May 25, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

The “messiah” – Killing
Obama ‘Respects Inherent Dignity of Every Human Life’—When Deciding Whether to Abort Terrorists
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan:  Cute headline, and seemingly true.  Of course, the squatter at 1600 PA is not alone in this: he is one of many who are inconsistent.  Many “liberal” religious people seem to have the same mindset.  It is the misunderstanding of innocent life versus those who are a danger to others.  Right now, of course, the greater danger to American lives is NOT the terrorists, it is not even the murderous abortionists: it is the federal government and the state governments themselves.  If they really respected human life, they’d stop taking so many innocent lives themselves (at home and abroad), and bring justice to those who are aggressors and take innocent lives.

Islamic wars: British front
British PM Declines to Comment on Claims That London Attackers Were Known to MI5
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: There are many troubling aspects to this: “British subjects” of Nigerian origin, Muslim (they claim as many as 50% in London are Muslim), “youth” (like all those “Swedish youth”) and wandering around armed in a land where even knives are more and more illegal, and now this.  What the attack DOES show is that if the soldier or those passers-by who witnessed this had been armed, the 20-minute police response would have been to clean up the bodies of these two Islamist murderers, and probably the soldier would not have died.  Brits need to wake up and see what they have created for themselves.  They can expect a LOT more of this.

Mama’s Note: We can hope, but I suspect that the response will be to make knives even MORE “illegal.” That’s been the direction they’ve traveled for a long time, and the attitude of those who witnessed this insanity is not encouraging for any change just yet.

Culture wars: homosexuality
Boy Scouts Change Membership Guidelines to Allow Homosexuals
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: More on this later, but it is important to note that NO one is happy with this: many of us believe that the BSA has betrayed its principles completely.  And of course, the homo lobby is NOT satisfied: they demand ALL positions be open and that the BSA not only “tolerate” but PROMOTE their sickening lifestyle.  Let them do whatever they want, adult or youth, but keep their activities away from the families who do NOT want it, and the sponsoring organizations who have moral objections.  Once more, religious and traditional religious morals are relegated to the backseat of the bus, if not kicked off entirely yet.  You cannot have “freedom of association” of there is no possibility of refusing to associate.

Mama’s Note: Yes, this is turning out tragically for the established BSA, but I do see a silver lining possible. Those families and sponsors who refuse to support or promote homosexuality can and should leave the old BSA and form their own private clubs. The key, however, will be to completely refuse any connection with those who accept tax money or use of government facilities. I’d even go so far as to avoid using “National” or “state” parks if possible. A total divorce from government, and strict maintenance as a private club, would be the best way to avoid the problem in the future. Now we just have to see if these folks truly have the courage and strength of their convictions.

Europe’s collapse – Theft by stupid government
Spain’s new S-80 class submarines sink but won’t float
(Digital Journal)  Madrid – Just as Spain’s Ministry of Defense has seen its budget cut by some 30% as part of recent austerity measures, it turns out they have spent some $680 million on the design of a brand new S-80 class submarine. One big problem, the darn thing won’t float.

Mama’s Note: This would be very funny… if it were not for the stolen money spent on it. How sick, when the people the money was stolen from are fast headed for poverty, if not starvation. I’m sure none of them have any use for a submarine, floating or otherwise.

Nathan: Once upon a time, I believed that government could, at least, provide the necessary function of defense of a nation, a society, rights, and liberties.  This, of course, is not the FIRST stupidity of this nature done by governments, going back to Henry VIII’s Mary Rose, as I recall: a galleon which could not safely leave harbor.  Many other examples are found through history.  This is particularly ironic since the Spanish economy is collapsing right now, as Mama Liberty points out.  And since Spain has all but surrendered its sovereignty to the EU and its new Muslim invaders, you wonder why they bother?  Pride?  Welfare for corporations and workers?  Or just plain… stupid?  How the mighty have fallen.  Britain was next – and to some degree France.  Russia much more recently.  Are we next?

Self defense – Home front
26-Year-Old Woman Stabbed and With a Knife to Her Throat Fights Back…with a Gun
(The Blaze)

Mama’s Note: This lady needs to learn more about situational awareness, and maybe buy a dog, but she gets full kudos for keeping her cool even after being stabbed… and pulling her gun! What a rush to think she was actually armed. I’ll bet the attacker was soiling his drawers as he fled. Now she needs to learn more about how to use that gun effectively. Wish I could work with her for a few weeks.

Nathan: We all need to learn more, but that is one reason that weapons are so important: they give us an opportunity to correct our poor awareness far more easily than being unarmed.   It again points out the need to train, as well: most people in this situation would fail to do anything – but die.

Mama’s Note: Indeed… but this story is unusual because even the best trained experts will tell you that once an attacker is that close with a knife… especially if they know how to use it and have the WILL to use it, having a gun is often not very much help. She is just very lucky he did not stab her in a vital place immediately. If he had actually cut her throat, she would not have survived even if she’d been able to draw and shoot. Very, VERY scary situation. The fact that she kept her cool and was able to effectively draw and shoot after being stabbed is simply amazing.

Stupid government tricks
Red Tape Record Breakers
(WALL STREET JOURNAL/COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE) Pages in the Code of Federal Regulations hit an all-time high of 174,545 in 2012, an increase of more than 21 percent during the last decade…

Nathan: I don’t even know if it is possible to read all  of this: certainly Congress is unable to keep track of what they “authorize.”   Notice this does not include all those regulations and interpretations of regulations that are “internal” to the various government agencies.  Enough is enough!  Government continues to explosively grow, when we just need it to melt down.  Of course, the more moribund it becomes, the more unable to react, the better off we are, in the long run.  But short term we are miserable indeed. Once, it was just the tax code that was this stupid, but today…

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Libertarian Commentary on the News 313-20B: Stupid government and more

Posted on May 25, 2013 by TPOL-Nathan

Abominable Act – Stupid government
Sebelius: ‘Expanding Access to Health Coverage Is a Responsibility Belonging Chiefly to National Governments’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Funny, funny, but perhaps she can show us just where we can find this “responsibility” in the US Constitution?  Or in any serious work on the needs of humans for government – like the Bible?  Who decided this belongs chiefly to “national governments” – or indeed, ANY government at ANY level?  There is NO justification for government to control so vital and large a segment of an economy that should of ALL sectors value personal choice.  How this woman developed this attitude growing up in a place like Kansas should worry us all.

Mama’s Note: There is no justification for any non voluntary government to control anything. There, fixed it for you.

Hoplophobes & Hoploclasts – Stupid government
New guns effectively banned in California
(offgridsurvival.com ) California has effectively banned the sale of all new guns after Attorney General Kamala Harris officially certified a law that will require all new semiautomatic handguns to use technology that stamps identifying information on bullet casings.

Nathan: The more we disarm California, in many ways, the better for the rest of us.  The good people (as well as the criminals) will ignore this sort of nonsense or move out of the state; the truly stupid or braindead will obey and perhaps get weeded out.  Meanwhile, the guns will flow in from even places like Oregon. What does California intend to do, build a wall?

Tyranny – Theft by government
Protesters chant ‘IRS has got to go’ in Cincinnati
(AP) Chanting “IRS has got to go,” tea party activists are rallying in Cincinnati to protest extra IRS scrutiny of their groups. Waving such signs as “internal revenge service” and some wearing Colonial-era attire, members of tea party

Nathan: Well, good for them, but seriously do they think that THIS is going to work?  Until and unless people EN MASSE start to refuse to support or kowtow to the IRS, through every possible means of peaceful resistance until in frustration and desperation the employees of the IRS resort to instigation of armed violence against peaceful people, we will see the tyranny and the fear grow and grow.  Enough is enough: END the IRS.  END the FED.

Islamic wars
Husby riots reveal profound failure
(Aftonbladet via EuroPress) The riots that have broken out in recent days in the suburbs of Stockholm show that the many immigrants who live there have not been integrated. The fault lies with the government and the lack of political will to take action on education and employment.

Nathan: A typical liberal/Tranzi view, and completely wrong.  First, we have to point out that the majority of these “immigrants” in the “suburbs” (exterior ghettos) are Islamic, and apparently ALL of those participating in the riots: the burning of schools and stores and public buildings, the destruction of private and public property, and the attacks on others – ALL of these are Muslim.  Lack of education is a ridiculous excuse:  REAL immigrants seek out and get education in their new homeland.  The idea of unemployment being a cause shows even more stupidity.  The only reason that Sweden has so many immigrants (especially from southern European and Middle Eastern and Saharan countries) is because it was short of workers: these were guest workers.  Now, the children (and even grandchildren) of those guest workers are bums on the Swedish people’s dime.  So action on employment should consist of telling people that no longer are guest “workers” that it is time to go home – with their families.  This is NOT “action on employment.”  Nor do the Swedish people as a whole have any responsibility to educate the children of guest workers – any more than they have a responsibility to educate the children of Chinese or Indian workers who produce goods for Sweden.  The Swedish socialist dream is ending in fire and terror.

Home front: No self defense
911 Dispatcher Tells Woman About To Be Sexually Assaulted There Are No Cops To Help Her Due To Budget Cuts
(CBS Seattle)  “Uh, I don’t have anybody to send out there,” the 911 dispatcher told the woman. “You know, obviously, if he comes inside the residence and assaults you, can you ask him to go away? Do you know if he’s intoxicated or anything?” The woman told the dispatcher that Bellah previously attacked her and left her hospitalized a few weeks prior to the latest incident. The dispatcher stayed on the phone with the woman for more than 10 minutes before the sexual assault took place.

Mama’s Note: Dial 9-1-1 and die, for sure.  Sadly, there is no real reason this woman couldn’t have had a gun and defended herself. The comments on this article are actually pretty encouraging. Most of them say she should have shot him.

Nathan: Of course, with waiting periods, she could not have gotten a gun anyway.  Obviously, Seattle cares more about not throwing away trash than they do about not throwing away people.  Isn’t it time people in urban areas learned how to, and were allowed to get the tools to, defend themselves?

Mama’s Note: I don’t know about the “waiting periods,” but wasn’t suggesting she go out and buy a gun just for this occasion, of course. She should have had a gun in her home, or on her person already – and be trained and ready to use it. That she did not was more a matter of her own choosing than any real legal barrier. The fact is that any home contains hundreds of things that could be used as a weapon, even if guns are simply not available. She chose not to defend herself, to be helpless… and that’s the sad thing.

The “Messiah” – Islamic wars: Home front
Obama: No ‘Large Scale’ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Since I Became President
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Major Hasan doesn’t count – workplace violence.  Neither does Boston: only three dead and a couple hundred wounded:  Bostonians, at least, don’t count.

Mama’s Note: The idiot occupying the oval office is blowing smoke, as usual. If anything, he’s done more than his share to make sure the hate and excuses for “terror” remain in high gear all over the world.

 

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