LIBERTY: Political veganism is just an another attempt at centralize oppression by Gooferment

Friday, February 23, 2018

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2018/02/get-ready-for-war-on-meat.html

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2018
Get Ready for the War on Meat
By José Niño

*** begin quote ***

Plant-based diets, especially vegan diets, seem to be all the rage these days.

Based on the practice of eschewing animal products, veganism has attracted a broad coalition of interest groups — ranging from animal rights to environmental activists — who believe that veganism is the most ethical and sustainable way of promoting human health and animal welfare.

At first, these appear to be reasonable premises for an alternative lifestyle that challenges the dietary status quo.

But when placed under the microscope, the modern vegan movement has shown signs of increased politicization and a tendency to mesh with socialist causes. 

*** and ***

Health arguments aside, the real issue at hand in these discussions is control. Taking a page from their environmentalist ilk, vegans constantly rely on alarmist tactics to advance their cause. And this agenda consists of more than just educational campaigns — it involves using a strong centralized state to carry out their dietary vision.

To achieve this zealous plant-based vision, these actors will ultimately have to control and regulate the means of production of meat. The US government already wields tremendous power over food through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). These agencies, with pressure from anti-meat activists, can be used as vehicles to implement one-size-fits-all policies.

Central planning of this sort forms the bedrock of socialism and the latest anti-meat crusades represent another ambit that socialists will exploit in order to gain more traction. At its core, political veganism is the same fundamental philosophy but with different cosmetic features.

*** end quote ***

While I agree with the “plant-based diet” recommendation, it’s should be just that — a RECOMMENDATION.

The second that anyone urges that the coercive force of the Gooferment — at any level or to any degree — then I oppose it completely.

If anything is “the next great idea”, then why do we need to force people to do it?

Leave people along. If a meme is so good or a paradigm is so obvious, then force is NEVER required.

Argh!

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GUNS: Gun-violence restraining orders (GVROs) seem like a good idea

Thursday, February 22, 2018

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/gun-control-republicans-consider-grvo/

POLITICS & POLICY
A Gun-Control Measure Conservatives Should Consider
By DAVID FRENCH
February 16, 2018 4:02 PM

*** begin quote ***

Gun-violence restraining orders (GVROs) make us all safer while empowering the individual and protecting liberty.To understand the American gun-control debate, you have to understand the fundamentally different starting positions of the two sides. Among conservatives, there is the broad belief that the right to own a weapon for self-defense is every bit as inherent and unalienable as the right to speak freely or practice your religion. It’s a co-equal liberty in the Bill of Rights, grounded not just in the minds of the Founders but in natural law.

Against this backdrop, most forms of gun control proposed after each mass killing represent a collective punishment. The rights of the law-abiding are restricted with no real evidence that these alleged “common sense” reforms will prevent future tragedies in any meaningful way.

*** and ***

While there are various versions of these laws working their way through the states (California passed a GVRO statute in 2014, and it went into effect in 2016), broadly speaking they permit a spouse, parent, sibling, or person living with a troubled individual to petition a court for an order enabling law enforcement to temporarily take that individual’s guns right away. A well-crafted GVRO should contain the following elements (“petitioners” are those who seek the order, “the respondent” is its subject):

  • It should limit those who have standing to seek the order to a narrowly defined class of people (close relatives, those living with the respondent);
  • It should require petitioners to come forward with clear, convincing, admissible evidence that the respondent is a significant danger to himself or others;
  • It should grant the respondent an opportunity to contest the claims against him;
  • In the event of an emergency, ex parte order (an order granted before the respondent can contest the claims), a full hearing should be scheduled quickly — preferably within 72 hours; and
  • The order should lapse after a defined period of time unless petitioners can come forward with clear and convincing evidence that it should remain in place.

*** end quote ***

While I would open up the “narrowly defined class of people” to include neighbors and others with direct knowledge and / or concern.

A road rage victim, someone threatened on social media, someone who sees “something” on social media should all be permitted.

If they are willing to use their own time, money, and resources to make a case before a Judge, then they should be heard. 

Frivolous actions should be sanctioned for those who misuse the process; like the SLAP stuff for those who file frivolous lawsuits.

The judge should be able to be able to set the time period for the sanction to apply.

The  judgment should be quickly registered to prevent acquisition, a warrant issue, to search for the defendant’s weapons in “all the usual places”, and seize any found. To be returned when the order lapses.

Seems like a good idea to me.

It’s an adversarial process where defendant has rights.

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INTERESTING: Big Pharma’s role in school shootings and other killings?

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/02/brian-wilson/the-missing-link/

The Missing Link
By Brian Wilson
February 17, 2018

*** begin quote ***
And so it begins…another shooting, another school, another student with a grudge and a gun, another body count and another 72 hours of MSM 24/7 Redundant Coverage featuring the same cast of media, political, social media and law enforcement “experts” showcased on the Evening News with the tears of relatives and near-victims, sotto –voice anchor interviews of “how do you feel…?” and “what was it like…?”, surrounded by non-stop re-runs of every cell phone vid available providing it shows at least a whif of the Horror From Within.

Once the essential Who, What, Where and When facts are announced (49 seconds, tops), more bloviating follows in the form of conjecture, idealistic rhetoric and hypotheticals mixed with predictable mis- and disinformation intended to fortify a political agenda. Out come the Same Old Same Old “solutions” that either violate the Constitution or other (HIPPA) laws or cost incalculable amounts of unavailable revenue and “political will”.

Eventually, the tragedy tails out in a cloud of “Why’s” and “If Only’s” – until the next time.

Rinse. Repeat. The script writes itself.

The Missing Link – Pragmatic Answers – remain hidden. The only tangible results are in the heart-breaking frustration of the survivors and snarky political points scored by the Usual Suspects who come out their holes to claim a few minutes of Fame.

*** and ***

Consider the following history:

Eric Harris age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold’s medical records have never been made available to the public.

<<< FOLLOWED BY A LIST OF ANOTHER 36 EXAMPLES >>>

*** and ***

“Three-fourths of the population of the United State is taking psychotropic drugs. But all we focus on are guns. Violence is built into the very nature of popular culture. Entertainment? Violent. Rap music? Violent. It’s all around us. We in the US tend to ignore these matters and look at one issue: guns. But it’s not just guns, it is an environment where violence is promoted.”

*** and ***

When you ingest your next full helping of ABCCBSNBCCNNFOX News, observe the number of commercials for Viagra, SeeAlice, Lipizzaner, FaithandBegorium and a medicine chest full of other strangely named pills and liquids with Warning Disclaimers speed-read by the off-stage announcer. Do you think Pfizer (Prozac, Zoloft, Xanax), Paxil, Wellbutrin (GlaxoSmithKline), Ritalin (Novartis), Lexapro (Forest), Luvox (Abbott Labs) , Ambien (Sanofi) would appreciate having their advertising dollars spent on reporting they may be the manufactures of certain medications occasionally having serious anti-social side-effects on young patients? Similarly, would health care providers and their doctors want similar exposure?

While there is an understandably strong public resistance to having personal medical records revealed to an over-reaching government in order to exercise the basic human right to bear arms, there may be a more acceptable way for the prospective firearms purchaser and his/her doctor to acknowledge any prescribed psychotropic medications. Ignoring the information will go a long way in failing to find a workable solution that everyone wants: protection of freedom and the innocent without sacrificing either. Right now, none of the old worn-out “solutions” are workable or acceptable in what is purported to be a “Free Society”.

Let the discussion begin. This time let’s include the previously Missing Link.

*** end quote ***

I want to know if there is another more proximate cause than “guns” in all these disasters.

Why can’t we know the pharmacological and psychiatric records of these criminals. Could it be that Big Pharma has “bloody hands”?

Who knew what and when?

Perhaps being on these drugs should disqualify that person from not only guns, but their freedom? 

Remember the criteria, “a danger to themselves or others”?

Maybe the bumper sticker should read: “Guns don’t kill people; antidepressants do!”?

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Pocahontas or Fauxahontas?

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/02/14/elizabeth-warren-lies-about-her-heritage-again-at-tribal-nations-summit-my-mothers-family-was-part-native-american/

Elizabeth Warren Lies About Her Heritage Again at Tribal Nations Summit: ‘My Mother’s Family Was Part Native American’
by MICHAEL PATRICK LEAHY 14 Feb 20187,325

*** begin quote ***

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has once again made the false claim that she has Native American ancestry.
“My mother’s family was part Native American,” she said in a speech to the National Congress of American Indians Tribal Nations Policy Summit in Washington, D.C, on Wednesday, according to prepared text provided to the Boston Globe.

*** and ***

“The New England Historical Genealogical Society, which originally announced they found evidence of Elizabeth Warren’s Native American heritage, said today they have discovered no documentation to back up claims that she is 1/32 Cherokee,” the Boston Herald reported in May 2012.

The Herald reported:

‘NEHGS has not expressed a position on whether Mrs. Warren has Native American ancestry, nor do we possess any primary sources to prove that she is,” said Tom Champoux, spokesman for the NEHGS. “We have no proof that Elizabeth Warren’s great great great grandmother O.C. Sarah Smith [Crawford] either is or is not of Cherokee descent.’”
As Breitbart News reported, Warren does descend from O.C. Sarah Smith Crawford’s husband, Jonathan Crawford, who was a member of the Tennessee Militia that rounded up Cherokee tribe members in the 1830s for the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.

“You won’t find my family members on any rolls, and I’m not enrolled in a tribe,” Warren conceded, but added, ” I never used my family tree to get a break or get ahead. I never used it to advance my career.”

As Breitbart News reported previously, however, beginning in 1986 and continuing into 1995, Warren claimed that she had minority status in the Association of American Law Schools directory.

Those claims began while she was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and were part of her job application submitted that ended in her hiring on the faculty of Harvard Law School.

*** end quote ***

How do you know when a politician is lying?

Aside from her wacky lunatic left ideas and proposals, this claim needs to “have a stake put in its heart”.

She clearly used “minority status” to advance her career.

We can, and should, eliminate all the “minority preferences” in the Gooferment as unConstitional.

End Gooferment Skrules and we’ll have solved the probem once and for all.

Who cares what “minority” anyone is? We’re all minorities in some way or another.

Just give each other the respect, freedom, and liberty to each other that we want for ourselves.

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HEROIC: An ER doc is a hero imho

Monday, February 19, 2018

http://epmonthly.com/article/not-heroes-wear-capes-one-las-vegas-ed-saved-hundreds-lives-worst-mass-shooting-u-s-history/

How One Las Vegas ED Saved Hundreds of Lives After the Worst Mass Shooting in U.S. History
By KEVIN MENES, MD, JUDITH TINTINALLI, MD, MS and LOGAN PLASTER ON NOVEMBER 3, 2017

*** begin quote ***

The night that Stephen Paddock opened fire on thousands of people at a Las Vegas country music concert, nearby Sunrise Hospital received more than 200 penetrating gunshot wound victims. Dr. Kevin Menes was the attending in charge of the ED that night, and thanks to his experience supporting a local SWAT team, he’d thought ahead about how he might mobilize his department in the event of a mass casualty incident.

This is his story, as told to Judith Tintinalli, MD, MS
Edited by Logan Plaster

I’m a night shift doc. My work week is Friday to Monday, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Most people don’t want to work those shifts. But that’s when most of the action comes in, so that’s when I work. It was a Sunday night when the EMS telemetry call came in to alert Sunrise Hospital of a mass casualty incident. All hospitals in Las Vegas are notified in a MCI to prepare for incoming patients.

*** end quote ***

Here’s something to read and put you in awe of an American Hero. 

His preparatory thinking saved a lot of lives.

I hope all the “health industry” politicians and bureaucrats take note of his “lessons learned”.

Makes me wish I’d have become a doc.

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GUNS: Solutions for school and other shootings

Sunday, February 18, 2018

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL “The 10-Point”

*** begin quote ***

Classroom Massacre 

A South Florida high school became the latest scene of a deadly mass shooting in the U.S. after a gunman opened fire at the end of the school day, leaving 17 people dead and more than a dozen injured. The suspect, who is in custody, is 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons, police said. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said the suspect had “countless” gun magazines and one “AR-type rifle.” The victims include both students and teachers, the sheriff said. Twelve people were killed inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and three outside the school. Two others died at the hospital. The Florida school shooting is the deadliest since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six adults were killed. It is the third-deadliest school shooting in modern U.S. history, after Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech. One parent, who reached his daughter on the phone as the shooting unfolded, said: “She’s 14 years old and she had to see multiple dead bodies….It’s something that you hear about all the time, and you never think it will happen to you.”

*** end quote ***

Now that a little time has past, here’s my “solutions”.

  • “Gun-free zones” are nothing more than “Target rich environments”. End them!
  • Arm any teacher, bureaucrat, or custodial person interested.
  • Screen the students for “wackos”.
  • Study the relationship between these events and the drugs given to young men.
  • Surveil “social media” sites for young men with weapons fetishes.
  • “Harden” the Gooferment Skrules.
  • Implement “Constitutional Carry” like in Vermont.
  • Pass “National Reciprocity”; just like “drivers’ licenses”.
  • Enforce the existing laws & enforce prison terms like “felon in possession”, “straw purchases”, and “attempted purchases by disqualified persons” with NO plea deals! (DJT45 should be leaning on the various Deputy Attorneys around the country for regular reports on their results.) 

Argh!

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FROM LUDDITE:

You can screen for wackos like your blog says, but then what do you do?  You can’t arrest or detain them….and that certainly would go against your libertarian civil liberties.  I’m not sure there is a defense for this stuff…at least on that vein.

[JR: You most certainly can “detain” them as “threat to themselves and others”. All States have a 72 hour hold. And, an adversarial court finding would bar them from purchasing firearms under the current laws.]

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The Gooferment needs to be the referee of a level playing field

Saturday, February 17, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-batteries-are-taking-a-bite-out-of-the-power-market-1518431400?mod=djem10point

Big Batteries Are Taking a Bite Out of the Power Market
Batteries charged by renewable energy are nibbling at power plants that generate extra surges of electricity during peak hours
By Russell Gold
Feb. 12, 2018 5:30 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Overall, it still generally costs 35% more today to provide extra power via a battery compared with a conventional peaker plant, according to energy analysts at SSR LLC. But they estimate that batteries will be less expensive by 2024. Batteries, they add, are better suited to replace peaker plants in warmer areas than in colder climates, where winter peaks can last for longer than four hours.

*** and ***

The American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying group that represents natural-gas producers, applauds batteries but believes they should compete on a level playing field. Storage projects, when paired with renewable energy, currently qualify for a 30% federal investment tax credit, which was left intact in the recent tax overhaul.

“It appears that battery technology is now ready to compete in the market. This means the financial support provided by governments intended to encourage the development and deployment of the technology can be eliminated,” an Institute spokesman said.

*** end quote ***

The Gooferment should not have special tax breaks for their “favorite” Crony Capitalists.

In this case, let solar power stand or fall on its own merits.

Look at the computer marketplace, the “invisible hand” of the truly free market will deliver benefits to everyone without help from the politicians and bureaucrats taking a cut.

Argh!

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GUNS: An “interesting definition” of “school shootings”

Friday, February 16, 2018

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/02/14/fact-check-pro-gun-control-liberals-spread-misleading-claim-18-school-shootings-far-2018/

Fact Check: Pro-Gun Control Liberals Spread Misleading Claim of 18 School Shootings so Far in 2018
by AWR HAWKINS 14 Feb 2018

*** begin quote ***

In the wake of the heinous attack on Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, pro-gun control liberals spread the misleading claim that there have already been 18 school shootings in 2018.

*** and ***

For example, in Everytown for Gun Safety’s breakdown of the alleged shootings, it is evident that eight of the 18 incidents did not result in any injuries or fatalities. Of the remaining 10 alleged shootings, Everytown lists two as an “attempted or completed suicide, with no intent to injure other person.” One of the suicides occurred in the bathroom of an Arizona school and the second in the parking lot of a Michigan school. No one else was injured in either incident.

Of the remaining eight incidents, Everytown lists one as a “gun fired unintentionally.” Of the remaining seven, where a gun was fired to harm others, at least one of the incidents was a single shot fired following an early morning fight at Wake Forest University. One shooting happened outside a Louisiana high school resulting in a 14-year-old receiving an “superficial” wound, and another resulted in a 15-year-old girl being wounded by a 16-year-old boy.

When suicides, accidental discharges, purposeful shootings without injuries, and purposeful shootings with only “superficial” wounds are counted as school shootings on par with the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School or Columbine, then we have reached a point when the phrase “school shootings” can connote anything.

*** end quote ***

How can we have an honest discussion when “interesting definitions” are used?

It’s really counter-productive and does nothing to advance our understanding.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Can we even enumerate and list all the possible things of note?

Friday, February 16, 2018

https://nypost.com/2018/02/10/peeling-back-the-layers-of-hillary-clintons-deceit/

OPINION
Peeling back the layers of Hillary Clinton’s deceit
By Michael Goodwin
February 10, 2018 | 10:20pm

*** begin quote ***

For law enforcement, Congress and even journalists, exposing misdeeds is like peeling an onion. Each layer you remove gets you closer to the truth.

So it is with the scandalous behavior of the FBI during its probe into whether President Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia in 2016. One layer at a time, we’re learning how flawed and dirty that probe was.

A top layer involves the texts between FBI lawyer Lisa Page and her married lover, Peter Strzok, the lead agent on the Hillary Clinton e-mail probe. They casually mention an “insurance policy” in the event Trump won the election and a plan for Strzok to go easy on Clinton because she probably would be their next boss.

*** and ***

Thus, the Democratic nominee paid for and created allegations against her Republican opponent, gave them to law enforcement, then tipped friendly media to the investigation. And it is almost certain FBI agents supporting Clinton were among the anonymous sources.

*** end quote ***

Sad to say, the “truth” will come out in dribs and drabs.

Far beyond the average voter to track.

It would be useful if the “Big Media” was honest enough to even pretend to care.

Argh!

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TECHNOLOGY: Web 3.0 — the dWeb — will transform the inet again?

Thursday, February 15, 2018

https://medium.com/@matteozago/why-the-web-3-0-matters-and-you-should-know-about-it-a5851d63c949

Matteo Gianpietro Zago
Guinness World Record by creating the Most commented Item in the Web 2.0 history. Founder @ Essentia.one.
Jan 30
Why the Web 3.0 Matters and you should know about it

*** begin quote ***

How will it work?

Like any emerging technology is still being refined. For access to the decentralized web, people will only need a seed. This will be a single asset which enables the interaction with dApps and other services. Individuals will still use a web browser to access the internet, and visually it will be Web 2.0 user-friendly.

On the surface, the learning curve from 2.0 to 3.0 will be gentle. But behind the scenes, the framework connecting users with digital services are markedly different. Transactions are signed and verified manually, to prevent platforms from siphoning away personal information without due cause. Web users will opt in rather than trying — and often failing — to opt out.

  • Instead of Google Drive or Dropbox, we have services like Storj, Siacoin, Filecoin or IPFS technology to distribute and store files.
  • Instead of Skype we have platforms like Experty.io.
  • Instead of WhatsApp and Wechat we have Status
  • Instead of operating systems such as iOS and Android, frameworks such as Essentia.one and EOS provide a gateway to the new web.
  • Akasha or Steemit will play the role of Facebook, the Brave browser will serve as Chrome and Ethlance can take over from Upwork.

*** end quote ***

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