This was originally published in October of 2024: TPOL part 1 of “real world problems”. Now, with concerns over drought, warmer than normal weather conditions in some of the States and exceptionally cold weather in others, and with recent examples of hurricane force winds and resulting dust storms, accidents, injuries, and deaths, we thought it might be good to reprint that series.
In this fallen world of ours, the planet itself is not as hospitable a place as we’d like. Though parts of it come close, Terra is not a paradise. The third rock from the sun, Old Sol himself, is just that: mostly rock. Lots of metal, too, even those metals that cause cancer. And wars.
All that metal and rock has a very thin layer of dirt, water, and air. A little bit of water. And other liquids, and gases (both confined and floating held only by gravity). That is mostly where we humans live. That air and dirt and water also support more than just humans: there are animals, from single-cell critters up to blue whales and great condors and even elephants. But sometimes there isn’t enough dirt: it isn’t there and so it is exposed rock. Or it’s covered by water. Usually salt water, but sometimes fresh water – water with a low enough salt content to make it drinkable by humans, birds, and land animals.
Yesterday, we looked at the incredible record of American politicians and government officials engaged in, and sometimes found, tried, convicted, and maybe punished, for abusing children (and others) sexually.
As we pointed out, such evil is not the only way in which those in power are committing evil deeds.
A correspondent of TPOL lists a lot of actions in which seemingly nothing is being done to provide justice both to the perpetrators and victims (or at least their families and communities).
She points out: “Whether it’s Epstein’s client list or the theft of billions of tax-payer dollars or a myriad of other national sins, these sores must be exposed so our nation can finally heal.”
We are told that “good government” praises those who do good and punish those who do evil. Of course, that is a key metric to determine whether or not man-made, human, mandatory governments can be tolerated as a necessary evil, or rejected as tyrannical parasites which must be put down.
Here in our homeland, we see something even worse, perhaps, than not praising those who do good and not punishing those who do evil. What is that? Government that enables, instigates, and protects those who do evil. When justice is denied to victims of parasites, evil-doers in government positions of authority, and the evil-doers are unindicted, untried, and unpunished.
Ah? But what is evil? Today, there might not be a lot of agreement on that. But so far, the vast majority of people in the States (we think, at least) believe that pedophilia is evil. That men and women who prey on children, and even those defined as “under-age,” are doing wrong. They must be stopped, must be prevented from committing sexual acts (or even trying to commit them) with children. (We here at TPOL know of some who have been sent to prison for that.)
As more and more comes out from the Epstein files and the seeming attempts by prominent members of the current regime and bureaucracy to hide names and actions? Consider this:
It is not, of course, just Republicans: go to this list what has more dozens of Republicans and many Democrats. Now, we realize that these lists may be bogus, or have many errors: just as both the mainstream media and the alternative media try to push their agendas. And some of these are decades old.
The point is: while many of these have been exposed, tried, convicted, and punished, many have not been. (And the punishments are often little more than hand-slaps.) Yes, we must keep ensuring that people are innocent until proven guilty, even of something like this. But the signs are clear: American governments are not providing justice for victims, nor justice to predators.
Mike Slater discussed the danger of relativism in culture. As reported by Breitbart, Slater said, “There are three cultural expressions that people use all the time (without even thinking about it) that are just wrong:
Who are you to say?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
My truth.
“So,” he continued, “The ancient wisdom is you look for the good, the beautiful, and the true. So, we have the exact opposite of all of these,” speaking of today’s corrupt and corrupting society.
None of us will deny that today’s society seems to be decaying before our very eyes. And we may even question whether we (as lovers of liberty) are part of the problem.
A New Mexico state representative has again filed a constitutional amendment that would allow three or more contiguous counties in the State to vote to secede if at least 15% of the counties’ electorate sign a petition to put the question on the ballot and then there is a simple majority vote. While no one expects the bill to even get out of committee, it shows that secession from States is still considered a valid and desirable action in many States.
For example:
Counties in true Northern California and Southeastern Oregon have long dreamed of a State of Jefferson, freeing them from the tyranny of both Sacramento and Salem.
A few years back, a dozen counties in Colorado, mostly in the Eastern Plains and Western Slope, attempted a referendum to secede, as a separate State of Northern Colorado. Though voted down, the movement is still alive: the overwhelming dominance of the Metro Denver area (including Boulder) and the increasingly regressive rule in cities such as Fort Collins and the I-70 corridor in the Rockies drive this.
Nearly two-thirds of the land of Oregon are in eastern and central counties actively seeking to secede and join a Greater State of Idaho. Some counties in Eastern Washington State and even Northern Nevada are interested. Again, the tyranny of Salem, Olympia (together with Seattle), and Carson City (read Las Vegas) pushes this.
A number of counties in Virginia along its boundary with West Virginia have explored how to secede from Virginia (Richmond, the DC suburbs, and more) and join the State of West Virginia. Which of course, exists because DC supported its succession from Virginia in 1863 over the issues of Secession and Slavery. (Ironic, huh? The counties that did not want Virginia to secede from the Union were willing to secede from their own Commonwealth.
There are, of course, other historical examples, stretching a long ways back. Kentucky, for example, also really seceded from Virginia in the 1700s. Just as Tennessee did from North Carolina, winning only after the failure of a first effort to establish the State of Franklin. And Maine seceded from Massachusetts, aided by Congress in the Compromise of 1820 to balance slave and “free” states.
The history of “President’s Day” is a convoluted one. (Isn’t everything with government?) Legally, for the FedGov, it is officially still “Washington’s Birthday” and just the calendar date was changed back in 1971, from 22 February to the third Monday in February. (Many States have officially changed the name; the common title reflects the popular belief that it also replaced any celebration of Honest Abe’s birthday (12 February) honored “all POTUS.” Yup, even Nixon.)
But since most of us treat this like “All Presidents’ Day” (and absolutely nothing to do with the idea behind All Saints’ Day), let us look back at one of the few POTUS that has some really good things to say about him. Thomas Jefferson. In particular, let us look at TJ and the First Amendment. (This is a rewrite of an old commentary on TPOL.)
History has a funny way of getting twisted by people who weren’t there. When a distortion has centuries to fester, they become very dangerous. Such is the case of the Danbury Baptists.
Yes, the 14th of February is a major benefit-generator to all kinds of commercial, money-grubbing enterprises: candy, flowers, dining venues, greeting cards, candy, beverages, even nightwear, and did we mention candy?
Valentine’s Day has a romantic and affectionate tone, is connected with red and pink (contrasting white in the middle of Winter), and is very popular. Hence, the reason the peddlers of all that stuff (did we mention candy?) pile it on.
Here at The Price of Liberty, we don’t accept the common wisdom that love is just an emotion and can wane and wax for any number of reasons. Regardless of the source of love, it should be an “action verb.” (We know, grammarians tell us that all verbs involve action.) To love someone means that you are concerned about their welfare, their trials, their needs.
But as we see so much in politics, the word love is bandied about. (Ditto in commercial enterprises and advertising. It is so American to “love hot dogs” or “love apple pie” and in the same breath say we love our mother!)
So, today, examine yourself, and see what you can do to express your love (romantic or not) to someone. Nothing really wrong with candy, or nice dinners, or flowers. But look and see what you can do to really show someone (or many folks) that they are special, and that you love them not just for what they do but for who they are, and tell them as well as finding a way (or two or three) to show them.
By the way, the same thing applies when we say “We love liberty” and “We love freedom” and “We love our homeland.” Show it!
Headlines this week continue to illustrate the growing de facto secession taking place in the “United States” in 2025.
As Tom Knapp pointed out, many States that are labelled red or blue are not reliably so. But the big urban areas drive the train. Smaller communities in the rural and frontier areas (outside the big metro zones) are dragged along, often kicking and screaming but unable to make any impact.
State boundaries are easy to use to emphasize differences, but it is too easy. Still, we see the divide growing. Somebody in Ferndale, California or Milford, Oregon may be disgusted by what the politicians in Sacramento, supported by San-San denizens, or in Salem, supported by Portland and much of the Willamette Valley do, but have no choice. The same for the inner urban cores of Houston and Dallas and El Paso (and even Austin itself) when the numerous smaller cities are less blue: Odessa, San Angelo, Waco, etc.
There are many issues over which to divide: let us look at just two.
Yesterday, we published a long, perhaps apocryphal story about a 2nd grader who was punished for being kind to a classmate. For trying to share his lunch with the classmate who was served the “cheese sandwich of shame” because his parents hadn’t paid for the “regular” meal.
No doubt some will claim that the solution to that situation is what is being done now in, for example, Colorado. Where all school lunches (and presumably, breakfasts, snacks, and more) in the public schools (government-run, tax-funded) are free. Or what likely is the case in New Mexico, where now childcare is free. Of course, we mean “free to those eating the food, and being cared for” and in the case of many, free even to their parents.
But they are not free: it is just that someone else besides the child benefitting (and their family) is footing the bill. That is, the taxpayers. Current and future. Or whoever is left holding the bag with the whole corrupt and bankrupt system fails cataclysmically. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
Readers, this story is longer than most commentaries; we hope you will still read the whole thing.
We do not know if the following story is true. But some of us here at TPOL have personally seen incidents like this and have heard of others very similar. This was shared by a brother in Christ, on social media. I suspect similar stories are behind the news stories we sometimes hear about someone paying hundreds or thousands of dollars to settle up bills. Please read and share the story and then read the comments below the story. And share them and add to them, as well. Tyranny can be very tiny things.
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The Pizza Caper
I was doing eighty on the highway because the Vice Principal said my second-grader was caught “distributing contraband” in the cafeteria. I thought he had drugs. I was wrong. It was pepperoni.
I walked into the administrative office still wearing my work boots, drywall dust on my jeans. The secretary looked at me like I was going to track mud on her carpet. I didn’t care. I just wanted to see Leo.
I found him sitting on the “Cool Down Chair” in the corner of Vice Principal Miller’s office. He didn’t look scared. He didn’t look guilty. He looked confused. His hands were folded in his lap, and there was a smudge of tomato sauce on his chin.
The Price of Liberty 
Real world problems: floods and droughts, hurricanes and blizzards, tornadoes and hail #1 Water
This was originally published in October of 2024: TPOL part 1 of “real world problems”. Now, with concerns over drought, warmer than normal weather conditions in some of the States and exceptionally cold weather in others, and with recent examples of hurricane force winds and resulting dust storms, accidents, injuries, and deaths, we thought it might be good to reprint that series.
In this fallen world of ours, the planet itself is not as hospitable a place as we’d like. Though parts of it come close, Terra is not a paradise. The third rock from the sun, Old Sol himself, is just that: mostly rock. Lots of metal, too, even those metals that cause cancer. And wars.
All that metal and rock has a very thin layer of dirt, water, and air. A little bit of water. And other liquids, and gases (both confined and floating held only by gravity). That is mostly where we humans live. That air and dirt and water also support more than just humans: there are animals, from single-cell critters up to blue whales and great condors and even elephants. But sometimes there isn’t enough dirt: it isn’t there and so it is exposed rock. Or it’s covered by water. Usually salt water, but sometimes fresh water – water with a low enough salt content to make it drinkable by humans, birds, and land animals.
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