LIBERTY: Druge alerts “STATES WARN RESIDENTS: YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN” … … this is a surprise?!

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

http://tinyurl.com/rgukp

May 31, 2006
As Hurricane Season Looms, States Aim to Scare
By ABBY GOODNOUGH

***Begin Quote***

This save-yourselves approach comes after government agencies were overwhelmed by pleas for help after last year's storms and strongly criticized as not responding swiftly or thoroughly enough to the public need. Now, officials have said repeatedly, only the elderly, the poor and the disabled should count on the government to help them escape a hurricane or endure its immediate aftermath.

Mississippi, where more than 200 residents died in Hurricane Katrina, unrolled a "Stay Alert. Stay Alive" hurricane awareness campaign in April. State officials told residents what to pack in a "go-kit" for evacuating (flashlight, radio, nonelectric can opener) and, like many others, commanded them to stockpile at least three days' worth of water and food.

***End Quote***

And, we pay all those high taxes for the gummamint's "protection and services"? Hmm, maybe if we didn't have to pay so much for those services we don't get, didn't want, and can't get, then we have enough to take care of ourselves, our families, and our neighbors. Do you think maybe the problem is NOT with the people but with the promises that you have made for these taxes?

Sigh!

Wake up folks you are ALWAYS on your own. You may get help. But it will come from your family, your friends, and your neighbors. Any help you get from government should be regarded as just dumb luck! And, you can bet there will be strings attached.

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Posted by reinkefj

LIBERTY: Do the right thing regardless of the personal cost!

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/31/eveningnews/printable1670573.shtml

Hero Quietly Did The Right Thing
WASHINGTON, May 30, 2006(CBS)

***Begin Quote***

Hiram Bingham IV was U.S. vice consul in Marseilles, France, as Hitler began leaving his imprint across Europe. Even though he wasn't supposed to, he issued thousands of U.S. visas to Jews, allowing them to escape.

It wasn't good for his career.

But Bingham knew what he thought was right. And he did it. Quietly, but his actions nonetheless did not go unnoticed.

The visas issued without permission in 1940 got Bingham bounced from his job in 1941 and derailed what had been a promising career track in diplomacy for Bingham, who came from a prominent family: a father who was a Senator and Governor, a Tiffany heiress mother, and a grandfather and great-grandfather who were the first missionaries to Hawaii.

CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports Bingham said little about what he had done and his own family did not realize the scope of things until after his death in 1988, when they found the records he'd kept – hidden in the house.

Bingham's heroism was recognized posthumously in 2002, and Tuesday, a dream came true for his children as the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a stamp in Bingham's honor.

Elly Sherman – who was lined up with her family and other Jews outside the U.S. consultate in Marseilles, where they were saved by Bingham – doesn't need a stamp to jog her memory.

"My mother kept this document," said Sherman, pointing to the long-ago paperwork that allowed her family to flee as the Nazis marched forward into France.

Sherman's family, at the time the visas were issued, had already received an order to report to a concentration camp within two days.

And it was those two days which were the last two days that Hiram Bingham was still the vice consul in Marseilles – handing out visas to people who were not supposed to get them.

They weren't supposed to – because in 1940, it wasn't American policy to use visas to rescue Jews in danger because of the Nazis.

In comments recorded by his granddaughter, Bingham recalled being ordered to stop.

"My boss," Bingham recalled, "said 'The Germans are going to win the war. Why should we do anything to offend them?'"

But Bingham kept writing visa after visa, saving life after life. Among the many he saved were artist Marc Chagall, philosopher Hannah Arendt – and hundreds of Elly Shermans.

***End Quote***

Without a doubt, this fellow was a humanitarian. This story should be on the wall at the "employee entrance" of every embassy. Further, if I was the Secretary of State, then I'd create the "Bingham Award" for the employee who best exemplifies this value.

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Posted by reinkefj

LIBERTY: The War on Drugs is generous to drug addicts and punitive to all others … … UI?

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

http://www.mises.org/story/2174

The Egregiously Destructive War on Drugs
by Gennady Stolyarov II
[Posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006]

***Begin Quote***

The War on Drugs is generous to drug addicts and punitive to all others; the drug addicts are arrested at others' expense and given "free" food and "free" lodging at government prisons — free to the imprisoned, that is, but paid for by the taxpayers. Why should moral people pay to sustain others for those others' immoral conduct? Why should the drug addicts be given state handouts and be spared the requirement to earn their own living on the free market? Prison conditions may be miserable, but they are granted to the drug addicts automatically — as a taxpayer-funded gift for having broken a silly law. Why should drug addicts deserve even poor-quality food and shelter for ruining their lives?

***End Quote***

Here's a interesting view of Prohibition Version 2.0 now being "waged" on Drugs Other Than Alcohol And Nicotine.

See alcohol and nicotine are "good" drugs. All the other illegal drugs are "bad" drugs.

Understand the distinction?

If yes, explain it to me. If no, look for the politician responsible!

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Posted by reinkefj

GUNS: Maher is no Libertarian … … what I wrote to Time Magazine and their response!

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

My letter to Time Magazine re: Maher is a NOT a Libertarian

***Begin Quote***

Dear Time Magazine Editor:Maher is not a Libertarian.

There's really no "big tent libertarianism". You have RepublicansINOs, DemocratsINOs, CatholicsINOs, but there are no LibertariansINO. There are lots and lots of people, usually on the radio, who CLAIM the Libertarian label. You can always tell the difference by how free they will let you be.

Real libertarians will always say you are free. "All men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." Ring a bell?

Libertarians will extend to you all the freedoms they want for themselves. See the only way I can be free is if you are as well. Then together we will fight any infringement of "our" freedoms. I don't want any gang (i.e., the government) stealing my money (i.e., taxes); so no one should be force to pay for any "service" that they didn't voluntarily agree to pay for. I don't want to pay for government reeducation camps (i.e., "public" schools) where your children are indoctrinated with beliefs contrary to your beliefs; so no one should have to pay for the publik skoolz. I don't want anyone telling me what drugs I can use; so you can be a drug addict or take whatever you feel you need. 

Both Big L Libertarians and Little L Libertarians (distinguished by  membership in the Libertarian party), despite the squabbles about specific issues, all will agree about the ZAP Zero Aggression Principle. Basically, a Libertarian is some one who will not use force to initiate social or political goals. That's not pacifism. But it's good old fashioned American MYOB!
 
Guns are the litmus test for Libertarians.
 
If you don't trust your fellow humans to be responsible enough to defend the free state, then you're not a libertarian. If you don't think that a woman or a responsible can't distinguish between the good and bad guys, then you're not a libertarian. If you think that the IRS needs automatic weapons, then your not a libertarian. If you think we need a BATF, then you're not a libertarian. If you think that we need the alphabet soup of private armies, then you're not a libertarian. If you don't think a patriot can tell the difference between the Nazi Storm Trooper and the highway patrol, then you're not a libertarian.
 
When only the gummamint has guns, the population is at risk for genocide. As the SF write Heinlein posited "an armed society is a polite society". When we surrender our protection to the promises of the Mommy State, Father State comes out and oppresses us.
 
The litmus test is especially useful because that seems to be THE single issue that exposes the Statist, Socialist, and the Benevolent Dictators who want to control everyone. With them, there's always an exception for guns. You can be free … … except for guns.

You have to give a huge percentage of your savings, earnings, and future to the State for its "protection". Ignore for the moment that the State's courts have held that there is no specific duty of the State to protect to you. But, you can't have a tool to protect yourself.
They always have to disarm the people before they can oppress them to enforce their will. Oppressed people with guns are dangerous to the oppressor. Look at what a few determined Jews with even fewer guns did in the Warsaw ghetto. Don't think that the current and future "hitlers" missed that lesson.
 
No, guns are an essential issue to true Libertarians because those guns are the only true check on government power. That why the dead old white guys recognized, right after our right to say what we want, the right to defend our liberties.

Your Liberty depends upon our guns.

***End Quote***

AND their response:

***Begin Quote***

Dear Reader:

Thank you for writing.  We welcome timely, insightful reactions to material we have published, and we can assure you that your observations found an attentive audience among the editors.  Should your comments be selected for the column, you will be notified in advance of publication.  Again, our thanks for letting us hear from you.  We hope that you will write again should you discover something of particular interest in the news or in our reporting of it.

Best wishes.

TIME Letters
***End Quote***

Notice the canned paternalistic pat of the head of the generic reply. "We hope", yeah right!

1 Comment | GUNS | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

LIBERTY: Free to petition your government for the redress of grevances … … watch what you get back!

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

 

—–Original Message—–

From: reinkefj
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 10:05 AM
To: SenInverso@njleg.org; AsmBaroni@njleg.org; AswGreenstein@njleg.org
Category: EDUCATION – FINANCE

Subject: Reduce aid to higher education

Please reduce state aid to education to zero. It will actually improve education for the following reasons:

(1) Schools will have to respond to their true customers (i.e., the students and the people who pay the bills).

(2) The cost of education will rise and fall based on demand and benefit without the State's involvement.

(3) If you cut aid, you can give me back my money. If I think that a school "deserves" that money, then I'll give it to them. If lots of my fellow taxpayers, do the same then that is different than you forcing me to do it.

(4) Perhaps without the artifical support of government some schools will go out of business. That's good. We obviously didn't need them.

Basically, free the taxpayer from supporting what politicians think is important. If it truly is important, then we can do it on our own.

Mr. Ferdinand Reinke
Kendall park, NJ 08824

==

From: Senator Peter A. Inverso, R., NJ Legislative District 14 
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 10:25 AM
To: reinkefj
Subject: RE: Reduce aid to higher education

Mr. Reinke:

This is to acknowledge that our office received your E-mail on May 19th.

We will share your concerns with the Senator.

Sincerely,

Jim Hansbury
Legislative Aide
Senator Peter A. Inverso, District 14

==

Yup, I can just hear it now. "Senator, listen to what this wacko wants. His money back!" followed by a group laugh.

I'm sure the French Aristocrats laughed too when Marie said "let them eat cake"! 

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Posted by reinkefj

LIBERTY: The FDA “protects” the sheep … … right into skin cancer!

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=858453&page=2

Why Is the Best Sunscreen Blocked by FDA?
America Denied Sun Shield That Other Countries Enjoy
John Stossel
***Begin Quote***
June 17, 2005 — We think of July and August as the peak of summer, but when it comes to sunburn, now is the peak. Next Tuesday, June 21st, is the longest day of the year, when the sun is highest in the sky, so it's now that the sun does the most damage.
{extraneous deleted}
But even though dermatologists say Mexoryl is the best, you cannot legally buy it in the United States. It's illegal, because the Food and Drug Administration won't approve it. They won't even say why. The FDA is charged with making sure no drug is sold unless the government is convinced it's safe and effective. Dermatologists think it's just stuck in the bureaucracy. It routinely takes 12 to 15 years for a drug to get approval. After an approved drug — Vioxx, for example — gets bad publicity as a health risk, the FDA gets particularly cautious.
{extraneous deleted}
Everyone is always telling us, protect yourself from the sun, but then the government won't give us permission to have the best sunscreen?
Give me a break.  
***End Quote***
I was tipped to this article. That aside. (Note to self: put Stossel on a internet watch service!)

FDA "protecting" us, like a good Mommy Government agency should. After all we are to dumb to choose what to put in or on ourselves.

Wake up sheep! 

Close all those Three, Four, and Five Letter Agencies! Then we'll work on the "big words" like freedom, liberty, and limited government.

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Posted by reinkefj

WRITING: Using “yWriter” to compose the great american novel

Monday, May 29, 2006

http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter.html

As a "tool guy", I am enamoured with the idea of a tool that will help me write the … my … great american novel. I'll let you know how I make out. I have to gather all my bits and parts that I have tried to compose over time. Let's see what we have. 

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Posted by reinkefj

TECH: WRIDEA … but why do I need it?

Monday, May 29, 2006

http://www.wridea.com/index.php

WRIDEA — a web-based note pad?

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Posted by reinkefj

GUNS: Maher is no Libertarian … … because guns are a litmus issue!

Monday, May 29, 2006

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1198918,00.html

From the Magazine | Interview
10 Questions for Bill Maher
By REBECCA WINTERS KEEGAN

***Begin Quote***

Sometimes people say to me, "You're not a real Libertarian because Libertarians believe there should be no gun control." I'm not a radical Libertarian, O.K.? Every party has something of a big tent.

***End Quote***

Maher is no Libertarian.

There is no big tent in the Libertarian party. We've seen the RINOs (Republicans in name only), the DINOs (Democrats in name only), the CINOs (Catholics in name only), but there are no LINOs (Libertarians in name only). That's because there is only one core Libertarian belief among Libertarians. Freedom, liberty, on every issue, every time, no exceptions.

Lot's of people claim to be Libertarians. Mostly it's talk show hosts. I guess it's the new "undecided" without being labeled as unable to make up ones mind. But, claiming something doesn't make it so. I can claim to be thin, handsome, and young. But that doesn't make it so!

So when Maher claims the "Libertarian" label except for guns, he fails. Guns are what can be as close to a Libertarian litmus test as can exist.

Some background to get to that.

Libertarians — both the big L Libertarians who define it as being a member of the party and the little L Libertarians who subscribe to a philosophy of life — are all defined by the ZAP Zero Aggression Principle. Libertarians, regardless of petty squabbles on individual issues, unify behind the idea that no one is allowed to initiate force. And, certainly not to accomplish political or social goals.

Libertarians trust others with freedom and liberty. It's really axiomatic. One can only have as much freedom as one is prepared to give others. I don't want you telling me what drugs I have access to; so, I have to let you be free to be a drug addict. I don't want my earnings and savings to be stolen (i.e., taxes) by an armed gang (i.e., government); so, I can't make you pay them either. I don't want to pay for the government reeducation camps (i.e., the gummamint publik skoolz) where your children are taught things antithetical to your beliefs; so, I won't make you pay either. To be free, I have let you be free as well.

Guns, and the freedom concerning them, are intimately involved in freedom.

First, the armed citizen is the ultimate check on a despotic government. The dead old white guys knew that having just fought a war against an oppressive government. There are some great a bumper stickers that summarize the reasons. "Politicians prefer unarmed peasants!"  "A man with a Gun is a citizen. A man without a Gun is a subject." "Only Crooked Politicians Fear Armed Citizens." "Genocide what happens when people are disarmed."

Second, the armed citizens are the police. They back up the thin blue line. Think of the Old West's posse. Look what happened in NOLA when the good people left, the police were helpless. Again some bumper sticker philosophy says it quicker. "When the laws outlaw guns, then only outlaws will have guns."  "The more helpless you are the safer you are from criminals." "A woman raped and strangled is morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun and a dead rapist at her feet."

Third, the armed citizen is emblematic of participate in the body politic. A civil society depends upon the support of its members. If we are not prepared to defend society from those who would harm it, then we don't deserve its protection. One can tell the sheep from the sheepdogs by who rushes to the defense of the flock. If you're unarmed or disarmed, then you're not a very effective defender.

So when someone tells you that they don't trust you with a gun, you better start asking yourself why you should trust them to have one when you don't. There is no single issue that will expose whether a person's beliefs about "gun control" are meant as "victim disarmament" or "hitting what you aim at". When people like politicians and celebrities talk about "gun control", they mean "the unopposed ability to impose their will".

So when Maher say "no guns for you kiddies", he definitely NOT a Libertarian.

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Posted by reinkefj

TECH: Spammers working overtime. Apparently!

Monday, May 29, 2006

One of my "open" ids has been taking a load of spam. Technically, I measured 158 spams. Two made it past the Google GMail filter. Thanks, Google. It's enought to make one turn on controls and tools to prevent strangers from emailing in. 

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

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