POLITICAL: Start the journey towards liberty

Sunday, January 10, 2010

http://www.michnews.org/2010/01/a-libertarian-vision-for-michigan/

A Libertarian vision for Michigan

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Troy – How should we as Libertarians craft our campaign theme for 2010? Here are my thoughts on the subject. I would certainly appreciate yours, too. As a political party we must articulate a positive, persuasive, simple and appealing campaign theme for our candidates in 2010.

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# Fair. No bail outs. No hand outs. No special deals for businesses, unions or individuals. Instead, cut spending now by eliminating all incentives, benefits, and programs that don´t benefit the average voter or business. Cut government costs by eliminating all agencies and regulations that impede the creation of jobs and businesses, competition and personal freedom. Eliminate tax abatements, exemptions and discounts for the few preferred businesses, unions and individuals, and cut the tax rates paid by all.

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“cut spending now by eliminating all incentives, benefits, and programs that don´t benefit the average voter or business”

That don’t benefit “ALL” voters.

The problem is that when gooferment tries to pick winners and losers, funny how they always pick the politicians’ friends.

A libertarian government should be extremely small. Prevent force or fraud. AND, that’s IT!

You don’t need a lot of taxes when you’re not doing a lot!

Slash the spending and taxes and step out of the way. Privatize any “service” or “product” that the government produces.

If it CAN NOT be done immediately, then let’s have a transition out of it. Five, Ten, … heck … even Forty Year plans.

Let’s start the journey to liberty!

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: DNA profiles aren’t unique

Sunday, January 10, 2010

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/01/09/1321219/Scientists-and-Lawyers-Argue-For-Open-US-DNA-Database
“New Scientist has an article questioning the uniqueness of DNA profiles. 41 scientists and lawyers recently published a high-profile Nature article (sub. required) arguing that the FBI should release its complete CODIS database. The request follows research on the already released Arizona state DNA database (a subset of CODIS) which showed a surprisingly large number of matches between the profiles of different individuals, including one between a white man and a black man. The group states that the assumption that a DNA profile represents a unique individual, with only a minuscule probability of a secondary match, has never been independently verified on a large sample of DNA profiles. The new requests follow the FBI’s rejection of similar previous requests.”

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Interesting? I never knew that DNA profiles weren’t unique. Isn’t that what CSI teaches? It would seem that it’s urgent to prove or disprove this very troubling assertion!

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Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: No executive or even management experience!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

FROM THE DRUDGE REPORT, FRONT PAGE:

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PAPER: Obama’s anti-terror chief remained on ski slopes…

CIA Panetta Was Also on Vacation All Last Week…

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Isn’t this “Management 101”?

I remember back in my AT&T days that there was an Executive On Duty list. We were all required to (1) be on duty if our boss was on vacation OR (2) if our Number #2 was on vacation. So if I was on vacation my boss and my Number #2 covered for me. It got a chance for my boss to evaluate my Number #2 and how I did picking a Number #2.

Had something similar at CS First Boston.

QUESTION: How come BHO aka O44 didn’t have the same thing?

ANSWER: No executive or even management experience!

Argh!

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Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: No consequences for prosecutorial and investigative malpractice

Saturday, January 9, 2010

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/45956.html

The FBI, Bullying, and Sloppy Investigations
Posted by Bill Anderson on January 1, 2010 10:56 AM

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By empowering police and prosecutors and providing them with immunity from their wrongdoing, the government is encouraging investigators to be sloppy and incompetent. As we have seen in the two linked examples, bullying investigators have managed to botch these investigations, and it is no accident. The political classes tell us that we have to give the “authorities” near-absolute power to keep us “safe.” (Read any of the conservative websites and you will see what I mean. There is near-worship of the police, prosecutors, and federal investigators.) Guess what? When there are no consequences for being wrong, we can expect the police and FBI and others to be wrong, as it is much easier for them to make up their own narratives and then bully people into “agreeing” with them.

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If we can fault the Dead Old White Guys (and that’s hard to do given their level of understanding at that point in time), then it would be for not putting a penalty in for ALL the INDIVIDUALS who violates some Constitutional rights.

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Posted by reinkefj

GUNS: Dial 911 and die

Friday, January 8, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/ybkq58j

NM: Burglary suspect shot by Jarales homeowner

Valencia County News-Bulletin

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“Charges are pending against a man who was shot in the chest by a Jarales resident while allegedly trying to break in.Valencia County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Trujillo said the shooting occurred shortly after midnight on New Years Day at a house on Mill Road. According to the deputy, the homeowner, whose name has not been released, heard someone trying to break into his home and called 911. When the suspect entered the house, the homeowner shot him once in the chest, Trujillo said.” (01/06/10)

*** end quote ***

Seems right! Remember “Dial 911 and die”.

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Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: Sneering at Ron Paul and “End the Fed”

Friday, January 8, 2010

http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2009/12/29/visiting-ron-pauls-fed-free-utopia/?xid=rss-topstories

Visiting Ron Paul’s Fed-free utopia
Posted by Justin Fox
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 2:22 pm

*** begin quote ***

As for his welfare state argument, there’s surely something to it, but not nearly as much as Paul seems to think. In the post World War II era, Germany has followed much more of a hard-money (that is, Ron-Paulish) line than the U.S., yet it has a much bigger welfare state. So the growth of government can be a political choice, not just the result of the machinations of central bankers.

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It’s hard to imagine the Germans creating their welfare state WITHOUT a fiat currency. That’s what enabled them to create the state without seizing the nation’s wealth silently. If there was a non-fiat monetary base (i.e., gold or competing currencies), then the German politicians would have had to inflict pain on the wealth holders to acquire the funds to give away. With a fiat currency, they can silently inflate away wealth without taxes.

Note that gold isn’t necessary. Repealing the legal tender laws would allow the folks to use a non-inflating alternative.

From times long past, sovereigns always debased the currency to serve their needs. I cite the French Franc from Louis 1 to 17. And rest my case.

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Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Self-reliance?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240629/At-mercy-deep-freeze-Schools-shut-firms-hit–6-inches-snow.html

Army rescues 1,000 drivers stranded in cars for 12 HOURS as UK is paralysed by heavy snow (with more on its way)
By Sophie Freeman
Last updated at 2:09 PM on 06th January 2010

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The 23-year-old said: ‘We went through hell. I am eight months pregnant, I couldn’t go to the toilet all night, I couldn’t warm the bottle up for my baby daughter. It was very frightening.

‘There were loads of cars parked up, just on the motorway. No-one knew what was going on – there was no-one to help.

‘We didn’t see any police, we’ve heard that the Army is out but we didn’t see anyone – it’s not very good really.”

She had set off for Heathrow Airport in West Sussex at 5.30pm yesterday and didn’t arrive until 8am today.

Ms Holt’s father, Mark, attempted to reach his daughter but was prevented from driving up the A3 beause it had been closed because of the weather.

He said: ‘It took my daughter 15 hours to get home and no-one came to help her, they didn’t see anyone.’

*** end quote ***

Totally unprepared Brits, throughout article, whine: “they” didn’t do this for me; “they” didn’t do this for me; wha, wha, WHA! No one takes responsibility for themselves. Maybe it is the welfare state culture?

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Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: Time to get “small”

Thursday, January 7, 2010

http://www.newsweek.com/id/228428/output/print

Survivalism Lite
They call themselves ‘preppers.’ They are regular people with homes and families. But like the survivalists that came before them, they’re preparing for the worst.
By Jessica Bennett | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Dec 28, 2009

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In the end, what it all boils down to, at least for the preppers, is self-reliance—a concept as old as the human race itself. As survival blogger Joe Solomon pointed out in a recent column, during the Victory Gardens of WWII, Americans managed to grow 40 percent of all the vegetables they needed to survive. “My mother’s parents had a 10-acre garden, and my grandfather worked at the dairy farm next door,” says Hill, the former jet mechanic. “They worked by raising their own food, they had their own chickens, they canned vegetables, and my grandfather fed a family of 12 like that.” But in the modern world, he says, many of those skills are easily forgotten. Today, our food comes from dozens of different sources. Most of us aren’t quite sure how electricity gets from the wires to our stoves. We use debit cards to buy a can of tuna and we wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to filter contaminated water. We are residents of the new millennium; we simply haven’t needed to prepare.

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Hard times are coming. While it may not be TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It), there’s no doubt that it will represent a lesser standard of living for everyone.

Get “prepared”!

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Posted by reinkefj

GOVEROTRAGEOUS: You can’t make this stuff up

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/80731457.html

A bomb scare Tuesday at the Lindbergh terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport brought things to a virtual halt.
By ABBY SIMONS and SUZANNE ZIEGLER, Star Tribune staff writers
Last update: January 5, 2010 – 7:17 PM

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Portions of the Lindbergh terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were evacuated for about 90 minutes Tuesday afternoon after a bomb-sniffing dog reacted as though there were something suspicious on a bag found in the baggage claim area.

As it turned out, the battered pink bag was airport property, the one crews put on the carousel to mark that all luggage has been unloaded.

*** end quote ***

Left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

It leaves me speechless!

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Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Simple health insurance fixes

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

http://www.humblelibertarian.com/2009/12/how-to-strip-us-health-insurance.html

Monday, December 28, 2009

How To Strip US Health Insurance Companies of Their Power Forever in 1 Easy Step

Regulations Empower Insurance Companies

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These regulations usually consist of a long list of ridiculous coverage mandates that require customers to be covered for all kinds of things whether or not they want or need it.

So even if a woman in Maryland doesn’t want to pay $500/month to be covered for in-vitro fertilization, morbid obesity treatment, smoking cessation, substance abuse, and hair prosthesis, she has no choice.

And she can’t purchase more affordable insurance without any unnecessary coverage from another state because it would be non-compliant with Maryland’s regulations and mandates.

*** end quote ***

It’s interesting that the congress critters have deliberately created the “crisis” that they now seek to “save” us from that same crisis!

Argh!

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