No Treason
When
No one is looking
I swallow deserts and clouds
And chew on mountains knowing
They are sweet
Bones!
When no one is looking and I want
To kiss
God
I just lift my own hand
To
My
Mouth.
Google has a neat 4th of July banner today:
The Albany Times Union printed today on their op-ed page the full text of the Declaration of Independence. I wrote the following letter to the editor:
Declaration of Independence
I salute you for printing the Declaration of Independence on your op-ed page on Independence Day, July 4.
Today we consider the signers of that declaration to be heroes. To King George's government in Great Britain, they were traitors. Today the government of King George W is guilty of many of the "repeated injuries and usurpations" mentioned in that declaration. Our American revolutionaries complained about taxation without representation. Noone asked my permission to steal half of my earnings. Did they ask you? Our American revolutionaries complained about swarms of officers harassing them and eating out their substance. Check. But the action that triggered the shot heard round the world was the attempt by the British to seize the American patriots' guns. The leaders of today's American Empire should take a clue from history. If modern-day patriots protect their means of self defense from the king's minions, with extreme prejudice, they too will be heroes, to a new American nation, built on the ashes of the old, once again the land of the free and the home of the brave.
No Treason: a Journal of Liberty is an internet rag created by John T. Kennedy. No clue as to how often he plans to publish new articles. Hopefully it will be monthly. Mr. Kennedy's first essay, No Treason? tells the story of his discovery of Lysander Spooner and reminds us of the basic fact set out by Spooner's essay that shares this site's title. if you haven't read it, take the time ASAP. [grabbe]
This journal is dedicated to the insight of Lysander Spooner. I would sum up his political philosophy this way: We are not born with any positive moral obligation to any state or agency or individuals, the only legitimate obligations we have are those to which we freely consent. To reject the obligations we are commonly supposed to have to the state, but to which we have not in fact freely consented, is No Treason.
Harry Browne at WorldNetDaily - Al Gore in drag - The republicans convinced many people who wanted to vote for Mr. Browne to vote for gw in order to keep algore out of office. So what did we get? algore in drag. Well said, Harry. [alf]
The American Liberty Foundation - Watch Our Second Amendment Ads - Harry Browne's new organization has produced three second amendment television ads. You can view them on this page if you have Real or Windows Media Player. They're good. "Mommy" made little drops of water roll down my cheeks. They're asking for donations to become part of their Founders Committee. [alf]
Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk - "Patients Bill of Rights" or Federal Takeover of Medicine? - Separation of medicine and state. Now. The only help we need from government is to make all medical care costs 100% tax deductable (not that there should BE any taxes to deduct from, but that's a different issue). Additionally, IMNSHO, if the initiating side of a lawsuit loses, then whoever pays their legal fees should be liable for the other side's legal fees as well. Payment due the day the lawsuit is lost. This will stop bogus lawsuits in their tracks. It also means that tort lawyers who live on a percent of the take have a lot more at stake than just their time.
For decades, the U.S. healthcare system was the envy of the entire world. America had the finest doctors and hospitals, patients enjoyed high quality, affordable medical care, and thousands of privately-funded charities provided health services for the poor. Doctors focused on treating patients, without the red tape and threat of lawsuits that plague the profession today. Most Americans once paid cash for basic services, and had insurance only for major illnesses and accidents. This meant both doctors and patients had an incentive to keep costs down, as the patient was directly responsible for payment, rather than a third-party insurance company or government program. Not coincidentally, there was far less government involvement in medicine during this time. Somehow, however, the clear connection between government involvement in medicine and the decline in our once-proud healthcare system has been lost in the current debate.
...
Not surprisingly, the loudest voices on Capitol Hill now calling for a so-called "patients bill of rights" don't want to abolish the HMO mandate. Instead, more government is proposed to fix the problem. Congress wants to micromanage the system, deciding what treatments and drugs should be paid for by health insurers. Congress also wants to create new rules allowing lawsuits against employers when the HMO refuses treatment to an employee! Surely the trial lawyers will support the new laws, but Americans certainly should understand that more federal involvement will only increase the cost of health insurance for everyone.
There's a new issue of The Libertarian Enterprise, "Independence":
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Letter from Mike Lorrey - complains about "fine print creep" in
contracts, especially insurance contracts.
Furthermore, if this contractomania is going to continue, we will need a bill to require that all contracts be written in 6th grade newspaper level english, or at least some standard that says that the grammatical grade level of a contract cannot exceed the rated comprehension of the signors or their legal representatives, or else it is invalid.
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Letter from Matix Platt - admonishes Vin Suprynowicz for
neglecting to pay his Sprint bill even though they sent it to his
street address instead of his PO box.
GROW UP VIN! Sprint is not a government entity. You cannot rob it by refusing to pay your bill on time and get a FREE RIDE. You can stomp your feet and blame the Holocaust on them if you want to the fact remains that the bill didn't get paid on time because YOU failed to take responsibility. You have the freedom to go elsewhere, they have the right to cut off your service when you are too lazy to pay your bill ON TIME. You both exercised your freedoms. AIN'T IT GREAT? I doubt Sprint will miss another deadbeat customer anymore than you miss them.
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Letter from James J Odle - Mr. Odle wishes Mary J. Ruwart luck in
ber bid to become the next commissioner of the f.d.a.
The real question is: Does Dr. Ruwart have the strength, the intelligence, dare I say it, the ovaries to deal with a deeply entrenched, corrupt, self-serving, less than loyal government bureaucracy? Or will she be Yes, Ministered? (Anyone familiar with PBS' satirical Yes, Minister knows how easily a well-meaning, but nonetheless, naive political appointee is easily out maneuvered by his support staff.
I hope she gets her chance to reform the FDA as it is another one of those lawless, don't give a damn about the Constitution, out-of-control agencies that is in dire need of privatization. Actually the current leadership is in dire need of some no-nonsense jail time as they are currently in contempt of court and in defiance of Congress.
...
Will someone please tell me why the FDA needs a SWAT Team? Are food and drug companies running amok through out the land? -
Don't Make Fun of Feminists by Gail Jarvis - when its "Women's
Caucus" complained that all house pages were male, South Carolina
allowed female pages. When the caucus complained that some of the
pages were wearing low-cut blouses and short skirts, the heretofor
unknown "Men's Caucus" released an anonymous memo. Chaos ensued. Hehe.
The "Men's Caucus" memo contained these directives: "Pages will receive additional merit pay for economizing and saving valuable materials used in blouse construction. Hose are clearly optional. Undergarments are also optional. Dresses should be no longer than 4 inches above the knee. The terms "babe," "honey," "sugar" and "little missy" should be accepted as compliments and terms of endearment. Any future memos from the Women's Caucus concerning attire can hereby be completed ignored."
...
However, there might be other unanticipated problems at the Statehouse especially with communications. For example, when a new legislative procedure manual is distributed to House members, the transmittal memo should avoid language such as "Please don't bend your pages over." Also, when two members are involved in a telephone discussion regarding the details of a proposed law it would be highly inappropriate to ask, "Which page are you on?" -
Choice and Diversity go Hand-In-Hand in Education by Jack VanNoord
- an example in Indianapolis of what education could be with
government out of the way.
The Oaks Academy opened it's doors in September 1998. It is a Christian school structured on a classical education model. Third graders read Homer's Iliad. Fourth graders learn Latin.
The educational excellence the school offers is drawing families from all over Indianapolis. Although the school is in a neighborhood that is 95 percent black, The Oaks is quickly realizing it's goal of having an equal mix of black and white, urban and suburban students. It would be almost impossible to find a government-run school that is as racially and economically diverse as The Oaks.
Yet, the idea persists that when we eventually do away with government-run schools, we will all choose to segregate ourselves into little enclaves according to race and income. The Oaks Academy stands as a testament to the contrary. Not only are parent-run schools like the Oaks more racially diverse than government schools, but according to Professor Jay Greene of the University of Texas, black and white students are more likely to be found sitting side-by-side in the lunchroom. Choice in education doesn't stifle integration, it fosters it.
There's a new article in The Libertarian series by Vin Suprynowicz:
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Most Americans should be ashamed to celebrate the Fourth - This
was originally published on July 3, 1997, and is excerpted from Vin's
book Send in the Waco Killers.
Great Britain taxed the colonists at far lower rates than Americans tolerate today -- and never dreamed of granting government agents the power to search our private bank records to locate "unreported income," nor to haul away our children to some mandatory, government-run propaganda camp, doping up the most spirited youths on Luvox or Ritalin. Nor did the king's ministers ever attempt to stack our juries by disqualifying any juror who refused to swear in advance to leave their conscience outside and enforce the law as the judge explained it to them.
Robin McKie at Guardian Unlimited - All that you think you know is wrong - Guess what? Lots of the "scientific" scares in the world today are bunk. Doesn't surprise me. Details in Fragile Science: The Reality behind the Headlines by Dr Robin Baker, published by Macmillan. Not yet available at BN or Amazon. Even AddALL didn't find it. [wood s lot]
Many of the medical and environmental horror stories that fill our newspapers and TV documentaries on subjects ranging from global warming to GM foods may be based on science that is 'so unreliable, so fragile, that it does not merit our emotional energy', according to a controversial new analysis of science in the modern world.
Antony Barnett and Solomon Hughes at The Observer - ICI pulls out of cocaine war - A British company that makes one of the key ingredients of "Cosmo Flux, a sticky soap-like substance which helps the pesticides stick to the leaves of plants", has refused to any longer do business with the U.S. government. Cosmo Flux is being mixed with Roundup and sprayed on Colombia, causing sickness and destroying crops. ICI, I salute you. [unknown]
