The Clean Regime

The Lonely Conservative discusses a documentary by Thet Sambath about the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge in Kampuchea, "Enemies of the People".  Thet spends three years trying to get the truth out of the second in command of the Khmer Rouge, Nuon Chea, the man who asked Pol Pot to run the party.

According to Chea, the Khmer Rouge was a “clean regime… a peaceful regime,” until they were “sabotaged” by “enemy spies.”

Sultans of Swat

In regards to "natural" or "inalienable" rights, there is a very disturbing trend of the increasing use of swat teams across the country even against non-violent offenders of civil laws or agency regulations.

The main point is that these raids are becoming routine especially against non-violent offenders such as participants in food co-ops and that recent one in California for the suspected fraud on student loans. Why on earth would anyone authorize use of a swat team for something like that?   That is the question everyone should be asking our elected officials.

John Whitehead sums it up nicely in SWAT Team Mania: The War Against the American Citizen at the Rutherford Institute.  (h/t to Publius Huldah for the link who also has an interesting post about Cut, Cap, and Balance at that link which is worth a read)

What the Hell are Rights Anyway?

That's all we hear these days:  Rights, freedom of speech, right to life, right to bear arms, liberty, natural rights, religion, 4th amendment rights, etc.   My rights, your rights...  Rights. 

Imagine this… A right is the ultimate fiction, nothing more than an abstract idea propagated by men along with “the law” to control men and induce them to act in a certain way within a society. There are no rights in the natural world, only constant struggle. You are endowed by your creator or nature not with rights, but only your five senses and various characteristics or skills such as speed, agility, endurance, and intellect to assist you in that struggle.   Life exists only as long as you can successfully use those senses and apply those characteristics in struggle or join with others to avoid or ward off conflict with anything bigger and badder that has a compulsion or desire to deprive you of it.

The Constitution is nothing more than a pact between mere mortal men to collaborate in a group effort to protect each other’s lives, liberty and property from those forces, both foreign and domestic, wishing to deprive them.  It has been and always will be under attack and is only as good as our mutual continued support to engage in the struggle to defend it to preserve equality, justice, and fairness for all.

An intriging parallel can be drawn between the Battle at Kruger in the embedded video below and the concept of rights and the struggle of interactions between the federal and state governments and the people.  Watch it, think, and then let's discuss.

 



 

 

(Updates )

 

17 Mar 2013 - Adding this link The Right to Life - From the blog of Philip Schuyler.  Interesting thoughts worth a look.



Public Unions, the War on Smokers, and ACORN - What Do They Have In Common?

Daniel Bice over at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online informs us that, "Firefighters union throws cold water on 9-11 float".  (h/t Bot for spreading the news)

The reason behind this union decision is the sponsor of this particular float, Matt Gorniak, has opted out of the union as allowed by a provision in his contract in that employees may elect to pay only their fair share of the union dues which are used for the associated costs of negotiating contracts.  Under Wisconsin state law, employees do not have to pay the portion of dues that funds the union's political lobbying, social, and ideological activities to the labor organization, but may instead donate that portion to a charity.  This applies as long as such a provision is approved by referendum under the bargaining unit agreement with the employees.

I've said before that we shouldn't judge all teachers (or cops or firefighters for that matter) by the spectacle of the union protests in Madison.  Many were silent for obvious reasons and it's a good development to see some start opting out and speaking out.  It warrants repeating:

What Woke You Up?

Meet a few of the Paulbots, as the MSM and supporters of the party-line of either party like to call practically anyone who says anything in support of Ron Paul, among other more derogatory terms.  A few of their stories are below, more can be found here.

cstuerke:

"I got back from Afghanistan in 2005 within a couple months my 4 years in the Marine Corps was up. I quickly realized I could not handle the US. I was mad at the world. I flew off the handle constantly. I went for help. I lasted about 5 min in the shrinks office and he was trying to give me drugs. I told him I didnt want drugs I wanted to be the old me. I decided to move. While in the Marine Corps I traveled all over Asia. I enjoyed Thailand the most and decided to move there. Fast forward to the last election. Sitting in Bangkok screaming at the TV watching the Fox News debate listening to the war mongering. Out of no where....."Just come home". Who is this guy I thought. I started to do research Dr. Paul and the libertarian philosophy. I started to look at people as individuals, unique in their own way. I wasn't mad at people anymore. Things made sense. I traveled back to the US about 10 months ago. I did it cause I believed in the cause of Liberty. I wanted to join the fight. I owe Ron Paul so much. I will be doing everything I can to see him get elected."

---- 

The Law (da, da, da, dummmm)

wulffmorgenthaler.com

The Law's true essence is aptly captured by this comic strip created by two Danes, Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler.  All of their creations certainly will not appeal to America's prurient standards, but their humor is sure worth a look.

Former CIA Officer Speaks... Supports Bloggers.

Robert Steele definitely some interesting points in this intriguing speech.   However, the editing in the embedded video below makes it look like a stream of unconnected or loosely related topics for it combines quotes from within his presentation and some from the Q&A with the audience. If you want to see more, the full 40 minute presentation is here with 24 minutes of Q&A. It's worth it. Accompanying slides are here (they're quite 'busy', but they help since he just runs through them too quickly and doesn't have time to adequately cover all the material).

The main point I get from this is that central planning within our federal government is woefully inadequate to meet the needs of our country.  Misinformation, corruption, and ignorance run rampant through all segments of the government to the point even the "experts" running things are ignorant of how much they don't know, and it is readily apparent in the failures within our intelligence gathering communities from which he was involved.  This lack of knowledge and prevalence of misinformation is especially dangerous to our way of life, liberty and inalienable rights which are supposedly protected by our Constitution.  Bloggers are helping to convey information.

I'm going to add to a few comments to hopefully clarify or add to some of his main and supporting points. 

Civic Ignorance - How Bad Is It?

This video, Civic Ignorance - How Bad Is It?, illustrates just how bad it is. This is exactly why we're even having such an uphill battle in the fight for liberty and freedom in the first place and it's disturbing.   It highlights the root cause of the problem - our education system. 

We've all seen it with videos of various members of Congress wrongly interpreting Constitutional concepts or boldly saying they just don't care what's in the Constitution anyway because they believe, like Pete Stark, that they can do whatever they want. We have also seen Herman Cain's speech where he talks about lack of knowledge of what's in the Constitution saying people need to "reread" it, then he goes on to describe it with words that are in the Declaration of Independence. It's pathetic.

I've been following Dr Ron Paul for years and his campaigns for president. He's a great guy, but he's certainly not our last hope. Our children are our hope, for they are the leaders of tomorrow. He knows that and that's why he spends so much time on the college circuit, to teach tomorrow's leaders and sow the seeds that are so sorely lacking in our schools.

Which is Worse? Cancer in Our Bodies or Cancer in Government?

This documentary about Dr Stanislaw Burzynski's fight against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test his alternative approach to cancer treatment is the most hideous thing I've ever seen.

This whole fiasco is not about whether Dr Burzynski's theories and treatments work or not.  It's that this saga reveals much more about the hidden inner workings of the FDA, their corrupting alliance with big Pharmaceuticals with the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) of 1992, and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act furthering their power grab with blatant disreguard for our freedoms and our lives.

In 1982, FDA Bureau of Drugs Director Richard Crout stated, “I never have and never will approve a new drug to an individual, but only to a large pharmaceutical firm with unlimited finances.” [SOURCE: The Spotlight, January 18, 1982]

That's insane!

Tom Woods' Speech in L.A.

Awesome speech by Tom Woods on Nullification.

John Stossel Questions Ann Coulter on the Drug War.

This says it all.  Hmmm.

The Message is Spreading and the r3VOLution Grows.



 This young man gets it.  There is no way I could do it justice to say anything more as eloquently as he does.



Maafa 21 and Planned Parenthood

I really don't yet know what to make of this documentary, Maafa 21 The History of Eugenics in America.  I've watched it several times now and it's so intriguing and I'm surprised it hasn't become viral like so many silly little videos.  Perhaps because it addresses such a serious subject at such length that many people find distasteful or downright disgusting.  Embedded is part 1 of the 13 part series, but I recommend you go directly to the link above and watch them all:

I haven't and probably won't be able to check all the 'facts' in the video.  Of course it has tremendous propaganda value and there may be some misinterpretation of the types of information they present as proof.  One article by Michelle Goldberg in Religion Dispatches, Anti-Choice Doc Aims to Link Reproductive Rights to 'Black Genocide', contends that the documentary is largely propoganda though not all in it is untrue.  Specifically, Goldberg writes that it distorts some claims such as Margeret Sanger being a racist and it perpetrates an outright deception and outrageous distortion about the work of Alva Myrdal, but I'm not sure all of her facts about the rest are entirely accurate either. 

Interview with Thomas Sowell

Way back before there was an internet, I used to subscribe to Forbes primarily to read Thomas Sowell's columns.  He only gets better with age.  This is one of the best interviews I've seen him do.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

The Fed's Love Affair with Debt. Is There an Answer?

I'm adding a new blog to the list, Market Skeptics.  There are plenty of interesting posts there by Eric deCarbonnel and he seems to know what he's talking about.  One in particular, *****FRAUD: Federal Reserve Is Selling Put Options On Treasury Bonds To Drive Down Yields*****, is extremely intriguing.

Ron Paul has been forever critical of the Fed's fast and loose monetary policies to help Congress to continue to spend bucks like a drunken sailor on shore leave, but I say that with all due respect to sailors for their many monotonous days at sea protecting our country, at least they deserve to let their hair down now and then, not so Congress.  He raised the warning, long before it was cool.

Professor Jacobson over at Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion now writes about Sarah Palin's similar criticism of the Fed's policies and the left's attacks on her.  She's starting to get it, but how much does she really get?

Ron Paul says the founding of the Tea Party was encouraging and there is still a healthy element within the movement, but he is also critical of the fact that conventional candidates moved in and that many are not attuned to the full picture of the budgetary battles in terms of the revolution for freedom by defining just what the role of government should be.  You can see what he's talking about in this list of videos where he answers questions from C-SPAN callers.  No one says it better.

Smoking Bans - The Continued War on Smokers Takes a Strange Turn

Dr Michael Siegel continues to take on businesses that refuse to hire smokers.

Of course tobacco control advocates like Dr Siegel are opposed to such discrimination towards smokers by extremist anti-smokers, but I just have a feeling it's not entirely because it's simply unfair to smokers.  What else is there then?  Quite simply because it illustrates the concept of free association which undermines the reasoning legislated smoking bans were able to be forced on business owners in the first place - to protect the rights of the non-smoker.

Now I respect Dr Siegel even though our opinions differ on a number of issues.  He has always been willing to discuss issues, to include his own research with us laymen on the other side of the debate and listen to our concerns with some of their proposals and positions.  Even though he is currently at war with the mainstream anti-smoker extremists who have taken over the business, it's only because he now sees their irrationality as undermining what he considers to be legitimate progress that he has been a part of from the beginning.  He still is very much a tobacco control advocate supporting things like smoking bans which I view as an illegitimate abuse of authority.

The Most Important Video You Will Ever See.

Way back when, before they started allowing things like "The Story of Stuff" into classrooms, I was taught stuff similar to what people like Dr Albert Bartlett teaches in this 8 part video of one of his lectures:

Here is the complete list of the rest of the videos:

(part 2 of 8)
(part 3 of 8)
(part 4 of 8)
(part 5 of 8)
(part 6 of 8)
(part 7 of 8)
(part 8 of 8)

Ann Coulter's (not so) Brilliant Take on Wisconsin, NPR

A couple of videos of an interview between Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity are on Breitbart.tv titled as  Coulter's Brilliant Take on Wisconsin, NPR.

Coulter asks, "Where has Scott Walker been?", then goes off lambasting Walker's actions and the fact that she hadn't seen him on TV in two weeks and apparently she was upset because he wasn't on the night before the interview gloating over his victory in getting the bill passed.

"A little harsh", Hannity says at the end and "You're making a mountain out of a molehill here"?  That was an understatement. 

Yes, it was over the top.  In actuality there is little difference between Coulter's harsh words against Walker and those of the demonstrators in the capitol and the streets of Madison.

Scott Walker exhibited something throughout this ordeal which eluded Coulter in this particular interview - Class.

Why now? Why not?

There are so many awesome blogs out there that until now I had previously been happy to just wander along and leave an occasional comment here and there.

But...  Something seemed to be missing.  I never could quite place a finger on it. 

What could it be?

I still don't have an answer for that and perhaps I never will.  However, after several months of considering a recommendation of at least one blogger at mindnumbedrobot.com that I start my own blog, I started wondering if perhaps that might be a way to help me find it.

So here it is, Bot.  Your blog and your comments inspired me, even with the title of this blog itself.  I hope you can live with the consequences.  ;)