‘Immediately Terminated’: Trump Calls For Abolishing Section 230 In Late Night Tweet
ANDERS HAGSTROM — WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT
November 27, 202010:22 AM
*** begin quote ***
Trump and Republicans have argued for years that social media giants like Facebook and Twitter were abusing the immunity to silence conservative voices on their sites.
*** end quote ***
Long overdue!
—30—
http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/2015/04/enough-is-enough-abolish-the-irs/
Enough Is Enough: Abolish the IRS
By Editor on April 12, 2015
*** begin quote ***
The income tax is absolutely crazy if one takes a moment to think about it. We’ve become so conditioned to accept it that we don’t even realize how ridiculous it is. The government taxes one for being productive, for creating income for one’s family, for doing one’s part to grow the economy. It doesn’t make any sense.
*** and ***
The IRS has also become a political tool as the Lois Lerner debacle illustrated.
*** and ***
We should seriously consider a flat tax. Forget consider, we should institute a low flat tax tomorrow. 12.5% across the board. I could live with that (for right now.) 1 postcard on April 15th. No forms. Easy. Actually EZ.
*** end quote ***
I say 10%!
With reduction every year.
Until it’s zero.
Like Prohibition, “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs”, and the Federal Reserve, “We, The Sheeple” have allowed a lot of mistakes to be made.
Argh!
# – # – # – # – #
June 18, 2013, 10:26 a.m. EDT
40% of U.S. food is never eaten
How composting could benefit pocketbooks and the environment
By Quentin Fottrell
*** begin quote ***
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to require residents to compost their food waste may cause headaches for some families, but experts say it could also help cut their rising grocery bills.
Under the proposal, by 2016 the city will require residents to separate their food waste for collection. Organic waste in New York City — which could otherwise be recycled for fertilizer or natural gas — currently accounts for 1.2 million tons or 35% of landfills, and a pilot program on Staten Island achieved a participation rate of 43%, according to the mayor’s office. Last year, Vermont introduced a bill to by 2020 require residents to recycle their food waste — and 33% of the organic waste in that state already gets composted.
*** end quote ***
Mayor B is an entertaining parody of a leader.
First it’s the big gulp.
Now, he’s just helping.
Argh!
Is there anything that he can’t try to control?
Now don’t get me wrong, 40% waste, and really any waste, is a “sin”.
Growing up “starving children in china” were ofter used as a guilt trip.
For my own part, living alone, it’s hard to go to the supermarket and find packages for one.
In one recent trip, I could buy 8 pre made hamburgers at the cost of half the weight in bulk. Thanks to a freezer and vacuum sealer, I have 7 hamburgers for different days.
Pre-made salad is cost effective for me. To buy the makings costs more and usually goes bad to quickly.
Sad to say, I depend upon the cafeteria at work for two meals a day. And, I hate week ends for the loss of it.
(Seriously, last week end I made up some hard bolded eggs. But the cafeteria’s are better than mine. Mine are hard to peel; theirs aren’t.)
Just like a “nursing home” except I have to do my own wash.
Laff!
So, I’ll try and do my part Mayor B and not waste anything. Hope everyone else does the same. Without your diktats.
# – # – # – # – #
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/137474.html?utm_source=feedly
May 12, 2013
More Idiocy on the Idiotic TSA’s Idiotic TWIC
Posted by Becky Akers on May 12, 2013 07:04 AM
*** begin quote ***
One “consulting engineer in the offshore oil business” writes that “If you want to fly to any offshore oil platform, like in the Gulf of Mexico, you must have a TWIC card just to board the transport helicopter because being on an offshore oil platform requires a TWIC.” So though he only “occasionally attend[s] loading of ships for my job,” he duly “applied for the card, got the electronic fingerprint scan and facial 3-d hologram and the card with my picture and embedded chip.”
*** end quote ***
And, what does this prevent?
Argh!
How much does this cost “We, The People”?
The terrorists ties us in knots with lost freedoms and productivity while attacking us with sub $100 pressure cookers.
Argh!
# – # – # – # – #
December 9th, 2012 would have been the 98th birthday of Maximo Guillermo “Max” Manus. He was was one of the few Norwegians who had the testicular fortitude to put his life on the line, fighting the Nazi occupiers. (There surely would have been many more active resistance fighters in Norway, but fearing widespread reprisal executions by the Germans, King H7 urged the civilian populace to stand down.) Manus passed away in 1996. His exploits are fairly accurately shown in the movie Max Manus: Man of War
–30–
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/127265.html
November 28, 2012
End the Pretense that Government Schools and Prisons Are Different
Posted by William Grigg on November 28, 2012 03:13 PM
*** begin quote ***
It’s for your own good, kids: The “Isolation Box” at Longview, Washingon’s Mint Valley Elementary School
Warrantless “drug sweeps” in government-run schools have become routine in recent years. So have “lock-down” drills in which SWAT teams conduct training exercises involving hostage or terrorism scenarios. In some lock-down drills, students inmates have been kept in the dark about the fact that the incident is a training exercise, rather than a genuine crisis.
Vista Grande High School in Casa Grande, Arizona, held a lock-down drug sweep on October 31. Students Inmates were confined to their classrooms, then led in small groups to another room where they were forced to line up against a wall and be searched with the help of drug-sniffing dogs. This exercise introduced a new element: Among the four law enforcement agencies involved in the search was a group of prison guards employed by the Corrections Corporation of America, the nation’s largest for-profit prison contractor.
*** end quote ***
We need the home schooling movement to break out.
I suggested a 40 year plan to end gooferment skrules during the tax revolts in Nu Jerzee. First 20 years was to get them out of the operations; the second 20 years was to end the funding.
Argh!
–30–
Huge unemployment, record numbers not working, welfare at an all time high.
Debt soaring, deficits increasing, fiscal irresponsibility.
Foreign policy in shambles. More wars, less peace.
Lying, cover ups, media bias.
Assault on the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Tenth Amendments.
Corruption and fraud in the elections.
Obamacare fundamentally seizes control of healthcare. Death panels start killing us. Cost exponentially increase.
Pro-Life and Catholic values rejected. Marriage redefined. I am taxed to fund activities I deem abhorrent and immoral.
A second term of even more radical action can be expected.
Sorry, but the American Experiment in Liberty is traveling down the road to ruin.
If anything, this election convinces me more that we have to figure out how to secede.
Looks like, things are going to get much much worse. As the takers have outvoted the makers. And, like the nursery story, The Little Red Hen, the producers have no incentive to cooperate in the theft of the fruits of their labors.
I’d predict that the “productive class” will coast and the economic will get even worse.
I just don’t understand the logic.
But, I will not be abused. I will not be robbed, I will not kneel.
I do NOT consent.
–30–
OCT 22, 2012, 2:03 PM
Should Stay-at-Home Spouses Get Their Own Credit Cards?
By AnnaMaria Andriotis
*** begin quote ***
An effort to loosen credit-card standards for stay-at-home spouses would seem to benefit millions of consumers, but critics say the change could actually push some families deeper into debt and derail their finances.
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed loosening regulations to make it easier for the nation’s more than 16 million stay-at-home spouses to qualify for credit cards, largely undoing more stringent requirements put into place in October 2011. Prior to then, consumers could sign up for a credit card by stating their household income, even if all of that income came from their spouse. But the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act required the Federal Reserve to amend several lending provisions for credit card issuers, including a new rule that issuers had to ask for individual income on a credit card application, and could no longer rely on household income.
If enacted, the CFPB’s proposal would allow credit card issuers to ask card applicants 21 and over for income to which they have a “reasonable expectation of access,” which could include a spouse’s salary. The bureau says it’s aware of several issuers that have denied card applications from otherwise creditworthy individuals based on the applicant’s stated income.
***
Not everyone agrees that this problem would outweigh the benefits. Some say the old rules were more fair for consumers. “Stay-at-home parents shouldn’t be penalized because they don’t personally bring in income,” says Scott Bilker, founder of DebtSmart.com.
*** end quote ***
Having had a spouse pass, maybe I am a little sensitive to this issue.
I see this area fraught with issues over and above the very real and present danger that the couple may get into credit card debt.
The value of a two income family is that, if properly diversified by company (i.e., both spouses don’t work for the same big company) as well as by locale (i.e., dad works on Wall Street and mom works on Broad Street in a different sector), then that provides a lot of safety. As long as they “live” on one income, then they are relatively insulated when one of them loses their employment. (Notice I said “when”; not “if”!)
There is a HUGE danger when the two checks are not “independent”. Or, if they need both to “live”.
(Either of those cases are a much bigger problem than the risk being explored here!)
The stay at home spouse, for whatever reason, was deemed the “lesser of two evils”. Maybe, most likely, they earned less and the loss of income is substantively made up for by the lack of day care costs. Net of taxes, commuting, lunches, and “wear ‘n’ tear”, the couple decides to forgo some income, which when net of costs is considered, isn’t so bad.
From my pov, this has several risks to this approach.
Number One is that the stay at home spouse’s skills will “age” badly. For all intents and purposes, I’d guesstimate the spouse’s renetry rate at just the minimum burger flipper wage. “Everyone” can go to MickeyD’s?
Life insurance is a hidden expense in this equation. Having had a dependent spouse, much of my fiscal planning was around if I got hit with the proverbial Mack Truck, what does she do?
One, that I’ve seen but not experienced, is what happens if the stay at home spouse — male or female — gets divorced. The TV prototypical example is Doc X who gets married in med school; typically to a nurse. Becomes a big doc and has an affair with the sexy secretary. Stay at home spouse is <crude vernacular for the act of procreation>. The stay at home spouse is muchly at the mercy of the working spouse.
I’m not sure how you handle these things.
I’m sure the working spouse would be insulted at any suggestion that the stay at how spouse would be eft high and dry.
BUT!
Sorry, but it has to be considered.
Stay at home spouse BEFORE they agree to become the “wife” (boy or girl):
(1) Need life insurance that names them as the beneficiary and lock it in stone;
(2) Need a legal document that outline any promises or expectations (written by a pre-divorce lawyer); and
(3) Funds on deposit in the “stay at home” person’s name that can’t be touched. (Think Titanic’s lifeboat).
Too many people — gay or straight — married or living together — traditional or non-traditional — don’t think outside the box.
—
I write this not for the adults, but for the children who always seem to get the short end of the straw.
—30—
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/334957
Mississippi passenger detained, stranded in Hawaii by No-Fly List
By Elliott Freeman
Oct 17, 2012 – yesterday in Travel
*** begin quote ***
A Mississippi man flying to visit his wife in Japan on Monday was detained during a stop in Hawaii and has been barred from reboarding his flight – or any other flight – because his name came up on the U.S. No-Fly List, leaving him stranded on the island.
Gulfport resident Wade Hicks, Jr., boarded a military jet at Travis Air Force Base in San Francisco so he could spend time with his newlywed wife, a U.S. Navy lieutenant stationed in Okinawa, Japan, the Canada Free Press reports.
According to Hicks, when the plane stopped for refueling at Hickam Air Base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, he was escorted from the plane and detained by armed military personnel. After several hours, a representative of U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrived and told him he was pulled off of the flight because he was on the no-fly list.
Why was he put on the list? “They have given me no reason. They just basically are telling me, ‘You can’t fly because we said so,'” Hicks said in an interview with radio talk show host Doug Hagmann. “They didn’t know how I even left Travis Air Force Base.”
*** end quote ***
Sorry, but any bureaucratic organization that is this stupid needs to be put out of its misery.
It was a bad idea to start. Made worse over time. Unionized.
Just a waste of valuable human attention, time, and effort.
Close it down now.
The “terrorists” won by changing our way of life and getting us to do stupid things.
How dumb are we?
— 30 —
The American and British Governments Knew – Down to the Day – of the Coming Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor … And Let It Happen to Justify American Entry Into WWII
Posted on October 15, 2012 by WashingtonsBlog
Military Officers and Code Breakers Speak Out … On Camera
*** begin quote ***
But a full and honest account of World War II shows that some big American banks funded the Nazis. And America dropped nuclear bombs on Japan when top U.S. military officials said it wasn’t needed.
And – as shown below – we probably knew about the coming Pearl Harbor attack, but let it happen to justify America’s entry into World War II.
The White House apparently had – a year before Pearl Harbor – launched an 8-point plan to provoke Japan into war against the U.S. (including, for example, an oil embargo). The rationale for this provocation is that the U.S. wanted to aid its allies in fighting the Nazis and other axis powers, and decided that an attack by Japan would be the most advantageous justification for the U.S. to enter WWII.
Moreover, Honolulu newspapers warned of a possible attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor:
Indeed, as the following must-watch BBC documentary – with interviews with many of the main players, including military officers and code-breakers – shows, the American and British knew of the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor — down to the exact date of the attack — and allowed it to happen to justify America’s entry into World War II:
And see this short essay by a highly-praised historian summarizing some of the key points. (The historian, Robert B. Stinnett, a World War II veteran, actually agreed with this strategy for getting America into the war, and so does not have any axe to grind).
*** end quote ***
I read Stinnett’s book many years ago. I was convinced with the “smoke” from the gun he laid out in the book.
Now we have testimony!
Seems like this one for the Tin Foil Hats.
Maybe the people won’t be so quick to dismiss suspicions.
Sad that so many people died and so man lives disrupted for so many generations.
We can’t total up all the costs.
Time to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
— 30 —
http://cafehayek.com/2012/10/threadbare-economics.html
Threadbare Economics
by DON BOUDREAUX on OCTOBER 11, 2012
in POLITICS, SEEN AND UNSEEN, TRADE
*** begin quote ***
This administration policy will win votes for the President from some textile workers in the Carolinas. And Mr. Sanchez and his big boss can now bask self-righteously in their imagined humanity.
But will Mr. Sanchez pose for pictures with poor families whose living standards fall because clothing is now made more costly? Will the administration stage press events to highlight the jobs lost because American consumers, obliged to spend more on clothing, will have less to spend on restaurant meals, evenings at the movies, and other goods and services? Will the President post photos on his website of Americans whose jobs are destroyed because foreigners will now have fewer dollars to spend and invest in the U.S.? Will Mr. Obama boast that his re-election strategy includes a policy that, by dulling the creative forces of competition, diminishes America’s economic dynamism and, hence, reduces its economic growth?
*** end quote ***
It’s our old friend Bastiat and those unseen unintended consequences!
Nasty old “rule”. “Every time a politician says or does something, look for what’s behind the curtain.”
It’s like when the increased minimum wage law induced AT&T to automate the elevator operators out of their jobs. Some were capable of other work, but many were just let go. My cousin never worked again in her life. True she wasn’t the sharpest blade in the draw, but she was the unseen side of that increase in the minimum wage law.
So don’t tell me that real people are not hurt when the politicians run amok!
–30–
http://lewrockwell.com/napolitano/napolitano34.1.html
The Case for Austerity
by Andrew P. Napolitano
*** begin quote ***
Government is not a jobs program, and government is not your caretaker. Government is an arrangement made by free individuals to protect their rights and their property.
It doesn’t take $3.6 trillion a year to do that effectively in America today. I doubt it takes a trillion. We must swallow the bitter pill of austerity now, on our own terms, while we are still the undisputed leader of the free world and while we still have a Constitution, so that we can restore our prosperity in a way consistent with personal liberty.
*** end quote ***
Certainly seems that the 15T$ national debt is OUR problem.
If we were all on the same page, then we could amortize that over generations.
Bet we could sell 50 year bonds!
But we’re not even on the same planet as some people.
The Tea Party and the Occupy folks were all screaming about the same thing. Crony Capitalism, Regulatory Capture, and Rule by the Effete Elite. (imho)
Time to cut spending. And get everyone back to work.
# – # – # – # – #
“The American people have no idea they are paying the bill. They know that someone is stealing their hubcaps, but they think it is the greedy businessman who raises prices or the selfish laborer who demands higher wages or the unworthy farmer who demands too much for his crop or the wealthy foreigner who bids up our prices. They do not realize that these groups also are victimized by a monetary system which is constantly being eroded in value by and through the Federal Reserve System.” – G. Edward Griffin, The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, p. 33
# – # – #
The root of all our problems is the “money”. It’s faith-based. And, once you lose “faith”, what else do you have?
# – # – # – # – #
“Words have always retained their power”
# – # – #
If you have to ask, don’t bother. You’re “We, The Sheeple”!
# # # # #
http://dumpdc.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/flash-editorials-october-1-2011/
Flash Editorials October 1, 2011
By Russell D. Longcore
*** begin quote ***
The Nation II: Anwar al Awlaki, an American citizen and Muslim cleric, was assassinated IN YEMEN by a CIA drone. Barack Obama personally ordered this murder. Three others were killed in the attack. Awlaki was afforded no due process as any American citizen deserves. No effort to arrest this man was made. Barry became this man’s judge, jury and executioner. Children, can you count all the ways that this is wrong? Last time I checked, ordering a hit on another person is First Degree Murder. But I guess when you’re in the DC government, it’s OK. By the way, just exactly when is it OK for military personnel to disobey an unlawful order? If this incident doesn’t qualify, nothing does. Are there any Oath Keepers in the military?
*** end quote ***
Where does it stop?
This President was elected whining about “fair trials”.
I guess low approval ratings have to be counteracted in some fashion.
This is another sad day for the “American Experiment”.
# # # # #
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/diocese-of-orange-raises-bid-for-crystal-cathedral/
Diocese of Orange raises bid for Crystal Cathedral
By Marianne Medlin
*** begin quote ***
Garden Grove, Calif., Aug 11, 2011 / 05:59 am (CNA).- The Diocese of Orange upped its previous bid and signaled openness to new negotiations for the Crystal Cathedral after board members recently announced that the building is no longer for sale.
*** and ***
The liturgist for the Orange diocese, Monsignor Arthur Holquin, said July 26 that several changes would need to take place in order for the Crystal Cathedral to become a Catholic worship space.
Along with a central altar, a tabernacle and a baptismal font, the building would need a “cathedra” or bishop’s chair. While renovations are needed to the building, “not much deconstruction would be required and the iconic personality of the original architecture and design would, for the most part, be retained,” he said.
Purchasing the Crystal Cathedral is an attractive option for the diocese because it provides an instant solution to its building needs and would cost roughly half the $100 million price tag for the planned Santa Ana cathedral.
Though the diocese made an official $50 million bid for the Crystal Cathedral on July 22, the church’s board later voted against selling it and decided to appeal to church members and viewers to donate the funds instead.
*** end quote ***
Guess I just don’t understand.
Couldn’t God be worshiped in an appropriately decorated warehouse?
As far as the “bishop’s chair”, I have a old folding chair to donate. Won’t that hold a butt.
$100M$?
Reminds me of the French’s Maginot Line and Patton’s famous apocryphal remark “fixed fortifications are monuments to man’s stupidity”.
Maybe a cathedral is marketing? Of an idea who’s time has past. “Big Church” must join the dustbin of failed concepts like: Big Gooferment, Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Labor, Big Biz, “Too Big To Fail” (2B2F), Social Security “Insurance”, the misnamed Federal Reserve Bank, Wall Street, Fiat Paper aka “monopoly money”, and all such stupidity?
It’s always sad when the illusions and delusions die. And all we are left with is the wreckage.
Is it too late to rebuild from the pieces?
# # # # #
http://dumpdc.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/meet-americas-51st-broke-state/
Meet America’s 51st (Broke) State
by Tyler Durden
*** begin quote ***
(Editor’s Note: This would actually be a story with some legs if the Southern Californians wanted to secede and actually become a new nation, separate from the USA. But mostly it’s just an amusement piece.)
It is only fitting that a few days after South Sudan became the newest independent country to join the roster of IMF and World Bank “modernization and industrialization” targets, another Southern version of something should break apart, although some may be surprised that this latest secession is not somewhere in the middle of Africa, but in America’s own insolvent back yard. Meet Southern California. “Accusing Sacramento of pillaging local governments to feed its runaway spending and left-wing policies, a Riverside County politician is proposing a solution: He wants 13 mostly inland, conservative counties to break away to form a separate state of “South California.” Supervisor Jeff Stone, a Republican pharmacist from Temecula, called California an “ungovernable” financial catastrophe from which businesses are fleeing and where taxpayers are being crushed by the burden of caring for welfare recipients and illegal immigrants.” Ah yes, the heart of prosperity that is the Inland Empire, known for such great achievements as Hell’s Angels, the most ridiculous excesses of the housing bubble, Del Taco, and… that’s pretty much it. This sounds like yet another Swiss Watch plan.
*** end quote ***
Interesting in that maybe not only is the Federal Gooferment too big, but maybe states are too.
Staten Island wanted to come to New Jersey.
And, NJ could be broken in half. Trade North Jersey to New York for Staten Island. And, an undisclosed amount of cash.
Think of others Texas, Florida, North Carolina.
Anything that got too many people or too much land should be broken up.
As it all crumbles like the USSR, into smaller “moreresponsive to the people” units,
Secession?
One can only hope.
# # # # #
http://lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis249.html
Banks Should Die for Their Countries, Not Countries for Their Banks
by Eric Margolis
*** begin quote ***
Greece is using the same scare-tactics that the supposedly too-big-to-fail insolvent US banks employed in 2008: “if I go down, I’ll take everyone with me.”
In this case, it’s Europe’s big banks. Three big French banks, BNP, Crédit Agricole, Société Général, hold large chunks of Greece’s debt. If Greece defaults, goes the hue and cry, French, German, Swiss, and Belgian banks may crash.
Here we go again. Politicians have allowed the banking industry not only to grow larger than manufacturing, notably in the United States where the top five banks control 40% of all deposits, but to become so powerful, over-extended, and risky they are a danger to itself and the public.
Bankers who invested in Greek debt or US subprime mortgages were greedy fools and should be fired, not rescued.
*** end quote ***
Seems logical to me “2big2fail” is “2big2be”.
Only politicians and bureaucrats don’t seem to see the concept.
Nature only allows an efficient size.
“We, The Sheeple” need to update our paradigms and memes.
# – # – # – # – # 2011-Jul-12 @ 07:54
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/an-alien-in-my-own-land-120563539.html
An alien in my own land
Vin Suprynowicz
Posted: Apr. 24, 2011 | 2:16 a.m.
*** begin quote ***
I got a little postcard from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles a few weeks ago, reminding me it’s been eight years since I last had my picture taken, and that I had to go renew my driver’s license in person.
*** and ***
I asked to speak to a supervisor. One Sheri Olsen, who is paid $49,614 per year plus amazing benefits for the job of refusing to renew valid driver’s licenses for native-born Americans with an unusually large number of authentic identification documents, was finally located to (of course) repeat the same lunacy.
“Your name doesn’t match,” she said.
Why was this never a problem before? Especially when Franklin Roosevelt swore up and down that our Social Security numbers would always remain confidential between us and the single appropriate federal agency — never to be used for purposes of identification the way the Nazis did?
“It’s because of 9/11,” she said.
*** end quote ***
Amusing.
A superb writer, Vin skewers the stupidity of “The Real Id” Act.
Funny, too, because Frau Reinke had to prove her marriage. But I didn’t. Then, was told that her “Hudson County” birth certificate was “no good” because of rampant fraud in that office. So she had to trek back to “order”, (and pay 16$ for), a “replacement” that took 4 weeks to get.
(Needless to say she wasn’t pleased and my anti Gooferment rant wasn’t well received either. She may have told me to “shuddup”. Lovingly, of course. But it was funny to see her get upset with the stupidity. She didn’t tolerate stupisity well. Especially when it cost her tim, effort, attention, and money. Sh had to have a money order. No cash, no checks, no credit card. So she had to go across the street to a bodega where a very funny Hispanic man had a stack of 16$ money orders all printed out. 19.50! So back across the street. “It’s not filled out”. So she gives me the priv of filling it out. (I had a pen.) For address I put “Suite EV01”. Away we go home to await her cert. Yup, you guessed it. We got junk mail to “EV01” before the cert arrived. She wasn’t pleased at that either.)
(That junk stopped quickly after I applied my BSR correction technique. If some one spamming you gives you a BSR, you have a moral obligation to return it. Suitably filled. They pay by weight for the return. Junk mail for the junk mailers.)
When do “We, The Sheeple” rise up and say “No more”?
# # # # #
http://ncc-1776.org/whoislib.html
Zero Aggression Principle (“Zap”)
A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being for any reason whatever; nor will a libertarian advocate the initiation of force, or delegate it to anyone else.
Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim.
— L. Neil Smith
Formerly called the “Non-Aggression Principle”, or “NAP”
# # # # #
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=5337
A Libertarian’s New Year’s Resolutions
Posted in LFA Flashback by R Lee Wrights on December 30th, 2010
by Harry Browne
1. I resolve to *sell* liberty by appealing to the self-interest of each prospect, rather than *preaching* to people and expecting them to suddenly adopt my ideas of right and wrong.
2. I resolve to keep from being drawn into arguments or debates. My purpose is to inspire people to want liberty — not to prove that they’re wrong.
3. I resolve to *listen* when people tell me of their wants and needs, so I can help them see how a free society will satisfy those needs.
4. I resolve to identify myself, when appropriate, with the social goals someone may seek — a cleaner environment, more help for the poor, a less divisive society — and try to show him that those goals can never be achieved by government, but will be well served in a free society.
5. I resolve to be compassionate and respectful of the beliefs and needs that lead people to seek government help. I don’t have to approve of their subsidies or policies — but if I don’t acknowledge their needs, I have no hope of helping them find a better way to solve their problems.
6. No matter what the issue, I resolve to keep returning to the central point: how much better off the individual will be in a free society.
7. I resolve to acknowledge my good fortune in having been born an American. Any plan for improvement must begin with a recognition of the good things we have. To speak only of America’s defects will make me a tiresome crank.
8. I resolve to focus on the ways America could be so much better with a very small government — not to dwell on all the wrongs that exist today.
9. I resolve to cleanse myself of hate, resentment, and bitterness. Such things steal time and attention from the work that must be done.
10. I resolve to speak, dress, and act in a respectable manner. I may be the first libertarian someone has encountered, and it’s important that he get a good first impression. No one will hear the message if the messenger is unattractive.
11. I resolve to remind myself that someone’s “stupid” opinion may be an opinion I once held. If *I* can grow, why can’t I help *him* grow?
12. I resolve not to raise my voice in any discussion. In a shouting match, no one wins, no one changes his mind, and no one will be inspired to join our quest for a free society.
13. I resolve not to adopt the tactics of Republicans and Democrats. They use character assassination, evasions, and intimidation because they have no real benefits to offer Americans. We, on the other hand, are offering to set people free — and so we can win simply by focusing on the better life our proposals will bring.
14. I resolve to be civil to my opponents and treat them with respect. However anyone chooses to treat me, it’s important that I be a better person than my enemies.
Originally published by Harry Browne in 1998.
# # # # #
http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/61784
Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the “Trial Marriage” Theory?
November 7, 2010 18:50
Source: Demographic Research
*** begin quote ***
A number of studies show that premarital cohabitation is associated with an increased risk of subsequent marital dissolution. Some argue that this is a consequence of selection effects and that once these are controlled for premarital cohabitation has no effect on dissolution. We examine the effect of premarital cohabitation on subsequent marital dissolution by using rich retrospective life-history data from Austria. We model union formation and dissolution jointly to control for unobserved selectivity of cohabiters and non-cohabiters. Our results show that those who cohabit prior to marriage have a higher risk of marital dissolution. However, once observed and unobserved characteristics are controlled for, the risks of marital dissolution for those who cohabit prior to marriage are significantly lower than for those who marry directly. The finding that premarital cohabitation decreases the risk of marital separation provides support for the “trial marriage” theory.
*** end quote ***
Now, I’m just a fat old white guy injineer but it would seem that “We, The People” are engaged in a huge number of species-wide social experiments. Abortion, same-sex marriage, sex selection, trial marriage, single mother households, serial monogomy, serial marriage, multigenerational welfare “farming”, Prohibition, Welfare/Warfare Statism, Theocracy, Socialism, Communism (although I’d be hard pressed to define it), genocidal tribal warfare, and on an on. Just name a few off the top of my head.
And, most of them, if not all, in some way trace back to he Gooferment. (It truly is the root of all evil. The Serpent in Garden of evil wasn’t a snake; it was a politician.) Before we try to remake the face of the Earth in the vision of Al Gore, before we change civil society, before we collapse under the weight of debt, before we throw away generations of accumulated wisdom, we should have an idea for what we want to accomplish.
Isn’t the medical adage, “First do no harm”, appropriate here?
# # # # #
Residents of Missouri Town Block Protesters From Picketing Soldier’s Funeral
Published November 07, 2010
*** begin quote ***
Members of a small Missouri town banded together Saturday to block a controversial pastor and members of his Westboro Baptist Church from protesting the funeral of a fallen U.S. soldier, Fox4kc.com reports.
*** end quote ***
That’s “We, The People” in action. We don’t need our Gooferment to abridge anyone’s right of free speech. But, we can express our displeasure in very effective ways. No parking available? Gee that’s just too bad.
“Reinforcing that cordon, the locals applied firm pressure to ‘visitors’ not to intrude. The gas station wouldn’t sell gas to the intruders. The local sheriff was issuing warnings for parking violations. There were no rooms available for fifty miles around. And, those that wouldn’t ‘get with the program’ were usually arrested on trespass or violating some MV code or another. Reporters who transgressed were sent to the Guv’s woodshed.” — CHURCH 10●19●62 Volume 2 Page 285
“We, The People” have tremendous power to “instruct” our fellow citizens in proper conduct in so many ways.
As a little L libertarian, there’s no one who is more anti-war more pro-life than anyone, but intruding on the funerals of the military is hust NOT the proper place to conduct essentially a political discussion.
The fact that a town full of people recognized the problem and actioned it without fuss or muss is inspiring to me!
# # # # #
http://www.wxpnews.com/LEM1E6/100913-gpstracking
*** begin quote ***
Did you think government agents needed a warrant to put a GPS tracking device on your car and monitor where you go? Nope – at least not if you leave in the western United States. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that sneaking onto your property and planting such a device doesn’t require a search warrant and doesn’t violate your fourth amendment rights.
*** end quote ***
Any reasonable person would say that this is a violation. Does this make you blood boil? It’s another loss of our liberty.
What are YOU going to DO about it?
# # # # #
http://www.flixxy.com/9-11-budweiser-tribute.htm
*** begin quote ***
This is the commercial spot Budweiser produced after 9-11. They only aired it once so as not to benefit financially from it – they just wanted to acknowledge the tragic event. Wow.
*** end quote ***
I think of how I was in that very spot the day before for a job interview; it could have been me there the next day. I think of the 100+ fellow alumni and their family members who died that day. I think of the 3,000 who died that day — horribly; some driven to jump. (It was truly a miracle it wasn’t more.)
I think of the Ground Zero Mosque controversy and how everyone has forgotten Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. (It was tiny. Three pews. Twenty people was a crowd.)
I think of the outrage we should be feeling at our Gooferment that (1) The Towers are NOT rebuilt by now. With a third one, taller in the middle. As a message to our friends and enemies. (Think Rodney Dangerfield pissed off in “Back To School”.) (2) We still haven’t secured the borders. The TSA is your typical Gooferment joke. And, they think we are amused by their ineptitude. AND (3) The responders and victims haven’t been taken care of; neither have our returning Wounded Warriors.
I wonder what in the Creator’s name are people thinking.
Are we waiting for a nuke in Las Vegas?
Let’s hold our Gooferment accountable. If it’s not there to protect us, then what are we paying for? Some type of variety show in the District of Corruption and the fifty other venues. Featuring highly paid corrupt clowns pretending to to be “self sacrificing public servants”. I’m not amused.
I DEMAND:
The Gooferment won’t protect us, won’t protect our rights, and won’t do things right. So the Declaration of Independence says we can abolish it. Lets do just that … for the children. Let each State go its own way.
Secession.
It worked for the USSR. It can work for us.
# # # # #
*** begin quote ***
On Aug 13, 2010, at 9:12 AM, LUDDITE wrote:
I almost submitted on your blog, but decided this should be a ‘personal’ post! I found your letter quite interesting given your Libertarian label. Isn’t this a little hypocritical? Maybe it is hitting ‘too close to home’? Being a FOWG like me? lol
*** end quote ***
Well, exxxxcuuuuse me. :-)
Think my “libertarianism” is not “pure” enough? That’s why libertarians rip each other up. Over who is the “pure-est” in the land. Very counter productive to success.
(You could have made it a public post. I take criticism well. I think.)
Let me explain my thinking on EEO and corporations. Maybe you can show me the error of my ways?
When a thief steals your wealth, you have the right to self-defense. Part of self-defense is working the system to get back what was unjustly taken. Think Robin Hood stealing back the King’s unjust taxes. Fighting against injustice is always the correct thing to do.
Corporations are a creations of the Gooferment. So, any diktats leveled on their subordinate entities are of no concern. In my little L libertarian world, there should be no “limited liability companies”. Just people doing business as. You might have “groups” operating under a “trade name” but liability would be unlimited but shared under a contractual arrangement. Thus a “BP” would be responsible for cleanup and damages.
(Sigh!)
But we are NOT in my little L libertarian world.
If the thief has ways of recovering some of your wealth, then, as a principle of common law, I must mitigate my loss.
Some libertarians believe that “true libertarians” should be “pure” and complete forego any voluntary interaction with the Gooferment. These are the anarcho capitalist faction.
Some libertarians believe that “true libertarians” should be confrontational and get in the Gooferment’s grill at every opportunity. These are the social action / peaceful civil disobedience faction. (Think like Gandhi. Of course, it is never moral to initiate force or violence. It’s always moral to defend yourself. In proportion. Can’t kill a politicians and bureaucrats because they rob you of a few dollars. But, in Ruby Ridge, Waco, or Kelo, you defend vigorously.)
Some libertarians believe that “true libertarians” should pick their battles. Steal anything you can back if you can. Pay when you have to. So, each time an opportunity to “interact” with the Gooferment appears, you decide: comply, ignore , or “snipe”. One motivation is to recover lost wealth or liberty. One is to demonstrate the Gooferment’s oppression. One is to gum up the works (i.e., pay tickets in pennies; use their system against them to demonstrate to them or others that they are tyrants).
My EEO post was that the Gooferment permits another part of itself (i.e., corporations) to injure people while the Gooferment is claiming to champion the people and protect them from age discrimination. It circles back on itself. If you look at “corporations” as part of the Gooferment, then the illusion really dissolves.
Does that make sense? Strip away the costumes & labels, and it all seems much clearer.
imho,
fjohn
p.p.s., For example, that’s why like the “University of Maryland” is really the Gooferment in disguise. And, they should not be allowed to fool “We, The People” with different costumes and labels. It’s just all just Gooferment. Big! Overpowering! And, ubiquitous. They call themselves the UoM but it’s just an extension of Big Government. When you total up, you have to figure: politicians and bureaucrats added to all the people who are the “feeders at the trough” of Big G!
# # # # #
Reinke Faces Life 
You must be logged in to post a comment.