End the War on Freedom

Today is Patriots Day, the anniversary of the shot heard round the world, Waco, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and a lot more. In case you haven't guessed, I'm not writing this from Waco, TX, but my heart is there with the folks who are dedicating the rebuilding of their church.

Today's Sierra Times is a special Patriots Day edition, and boy is it a good one!

John Perna at Sierra Times - On April 19th in History: lots of things that happenned on this day in years past. [sierra]

Connie Mabin of AP via newsday.com - Davidians Look to New Church [sierra]

Posterity News via Sierra Times - National Guard and Paramilitary Extremists Clash "BOSTON - National guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed on April 19th by elements of a paramilitary extremist faction. Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw." [sierra]

L. Neil Smith at Sierra Times - Why Did it Have to be ... Guns? This has been on L. Neil's home page for as long as I've known about it. Read it if you haven't or reread it if you have. [sierra]

Charley Reese at the Orlando Sentinel - Serious self-defense? There's no substitute for a handgun

Michelle Malkin at the Houston Chronicle - Anti-gun fever would floor old patriots: "Who would have guessed that the shots heard 'round the world 225 years ago would fall on deaf ears in a nation now more sympathetic to the gun-grabbing Redcoat than the gun-bearing rebel?"

I picked up a newspaper about Harry Browne at the MA Libertarian Convention last Saturday. In it, Harry explains that what sets government off from other enterprises is that it uses force to guarantee compliance with its edicts. Fail to comply, and eventually men with guns will appear in your house. "So what is government? Very simply, it is an agency of coercion. Of course, there are other agencies of coercion--such as the Mafia. So to be more precise, government is the agency of coercion that has flags in front of its offices."

From Brian:

This I believe:
That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.

And this I would fight for:
The freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected.

And this I must fight against:
Any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.
--John Steinbeck

Michael E. Cook (Sheriff Mike) at Sierra Times - Will Gun Control Lead to Civil War? "I will tell you this right now, if they try to take firearms from most of the gun owners I know, including me, it will be another civil war here in America. The last one had a high body count and this one will be even higher... You can make life tuff for HCI [Handgun Control Incorporated]. Write and ask for a copy of form 990, which they are required by law to provide... Keep your ear to the ground and your eyes open, and your powder dry. It is coming and it won't be fun." [sierra]

This one reminds me of something. California passed a law last year making it illegal to own certain semi-automatic rifles, so-called "assault weapons". The law was to go into effect on 1/1/2000. I haven't seen any stories about whether they're enforcing it and whether anyone has refused, with extreme prejudice, to give up their guns. What's up?

J.J. Johnson at Sierra Times - Attention Gun Manufacturers: some good advice for America's gun manufacturers. [sierra]

Ed Wolfe at Sierra Times - My Grievances? There are "about 19 specific things that the government is responsible for doing and that it is authorized to do by the people. Today, the government is engaged in at least hundreds of functions. Every function not part of the original 19 it was originally assigned to handle is beyond it's charter. Meaning, it does all these other things with no authority from us, the people, and therefore it does these things illegally and under it's own fabricated and unconstitutional, fictional 'authority.'" [sierra]

J.D. Tuccille at About.com - Forfeiture reform: A good overview of the bill that recently passed congress and that Comrade Klinton has said he will sign. J.D. agrees with me that asset forfeiture must be eliminated entirely, and that this bill is a step in the right direction. [market]

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. at the Ludwig von Mises Institute - Can the Stock Slide Be Stopped? This was written last Friday. The slide has stopped itself, at least temporarily, but Mr. Rockwell's ideas are still spot on. He believes that the slide was caused by the government's antitrust judgement against Microsoft. "This was an appalling assault on the company that has done more than any other to commercialize the information-technology revolution and make it accessible to the masses. It is not coincidence that the April 3, 2000, news of the judgment sent stocks tumbling, and the market has experienced fits and starts ever since... In the end, the right policy to take toward a falling stock market is to end the government intervention in the economy that caused the underlying problem in the first place, and otherwise do nothing. If a recession has arrived, it can only be made worse by the usual measures that politicians and central bankers employ in a vain attempt to cover up their past errors." The great depression of 1929 was caused and prolonged by government. Don't let them do it again. [latte]

A new article in The Libertarian series by Vin Suprynowicz:

• {@Lying to the Court} - A building owned by Carol Pappas was seized by the Las Vegas government, bulldozed, and replaced by a parking garage. The city has yet to pay her for it, though they have spent a million bucks in court attempting to deny her recompense. What's more, they lied about the case in writing. Disgusting.

Evan Hansen at CNET - Patent demands may spur Unisys rivals in graphics market: Unisys has been enforcing its GIF patent more and more these days. Accuweather decided to switch to PNG instead of pay higher license fees. Good for them. May the market prevail. [/.]

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