End the War on Freedom

I watched last night the 60 Minutes piece on psychiatrist Robert Weitzel. Or should I say "former psychiatrist". He's working as a waitor now. When he was convicted of manslaughter and negligent homicide, he lost his license to practice medicine. The 60 Minutes crew did a good job of showing the injustice done Mr. Weitzel. If I believed that doctors should be licensed, I'd charge the prosecutor with practicing medicine without a license. She did worse, however. The prosecution talked with a doctor who specialized in end-of-life care for elderly people. He told them that Dr. Weitzel made some mistakes, but basically did the right thing. They, the prosecution, then neglected to tell the defense about the specialist's testimony, so the jury never got to hear it. The prosecutor lady told 60 Minutes that they never brought it up because he had nothing important to offer. I guess he had nothing to offer that would have helped them get a conviction. But his testimony would likely have provided an innocent verdict. Withholding that evidence was criminal.

Dr. Weitzel was given patients with fatal end-of-life conditions. He didn't try anything heroic because they had written requests against that. He gave them pain medication to help them be more comfortable. If I were in their position, I would bless him with my last breath.

Stephen Hunt at The Salt Lake Tribune - '60 Minutes' to Feature Weitzel - a little more about the 60 Minutes piece.

Charged with five counts of murder, Weitzel was convicted by a jury two years ago of lesser counts of manslaughter and negligent homicide. But the judge granted Weitzel a new trial after discovering that prosecutors had failed to disclose knowledge of a pro-defense medical expert. That judge was subsequently removed from the case because of "an appearance" that he was biased against the prosecution.

Ian Mulgrew at the Vancouver Sun - The truth is out there ... right? At first, it all seemed so obvious. It was those Islamic terrorists. Osama bin Laden. Mullah Omar. George W. Bush had nothing to do with it ... did he? - if you like conspiracy theories, this article puts a bunch of 'em in one place. [cures-not-wars]

According to those who do not believe in The Lone Gunman, the truth is as plain as the nose on your face: Sept. 11's terrorist acts were planned and paid for by the CIA to enable the Bush Administration to "legitimately" bomb Afghanistan into submission on behalf of the oil industry.

There's a new Libertarian Enterprise issue: "Chuck Jones, RIP". Articles I liked:

• Letter from Alobar - a personal experience that supports Mr. Bastard's definition from last week of when human life begins ("when the fetus has the capability to survive on it's own, without artificial aid").
• Letter from jeff colonnesi - An interesting addition to the child rights discussion.

  Myself, I favor the idea of a MAXIMUM age which a person can be considered a child. This would be the age at which parents could, legaly and morally, tell the child to leave and have no more responsibility for the child ... regardless of how the child felt about it. It would also be the maximum age which a parent could be held responsible for a crime commited by a minor child. It would also be, by default, the age at which a parent could no longer claim any control over the childs actions or make decisions for them without thier consent. Probably the age sould be somewhere between 16 and 21. Personally, I favor 18.

• Letter from E.J. Totty - Mr. Totty got a call from 911 and a visit from two of Everett Washington's men in uniform. Why? He knocked his phone off the hook in the middle of the night.
• Letter from Richard - after giving a clue to Mr. Hutchinson about the use of CALITALIZATION for italics when typing in a medium that doesn't provide the latter, Richard agrees with Joel Simon (and Claire Wolfe, though he doesn't say that) that the National ID is the line in the sand.

  This one would take a true mass protest. I mean a million people saying no. A hundred, or even a thousand, just won't stop it I don't think.
  
  If they had to actually imprison a million of us though...BIG disruption, big hit to the economy, big notice taken by all...

• An Armed Society Is ... by Joel Simon - why Heinlein's famous line is true. I have tears in my eyes while writing this. I hope you like it too.

  I drove around this town in which I knew only one soul and wondered how I would get by. By chance I happened to drive behind the local rodeo ground to the area of some dilapidated tin buildings. I heard shotguns close by. Going to investigate, I went round the buildings and found an improbable but beautifully kept skeet range occupied by several prosperous-looking and heavily-armed gentlemen.
  
  Aware that I was trespassing, that I was shabby and completely out of place, I began to retreat. But one man approached and asked if he could help me. He didn't ask it in the usual way that really means, "what are you doing here?" He asked it as if he might actually be willing to help if the request were reasonable. I said I had just followed the sound of the guns, and he asked if I wanted to join them. The suggestion was ridiculous to me, but he was serious. He offered me the loan of a shotgun. I recognized the gun from my reading on such things. It was worth more than my car.

  If It's Tuesday, This Must be Iran ... by Manuel Miles - the Amerikan imperialist state marches towards oblivion.

  Attempts to create a priority list of targeted "rogue states" and "terrorist harbouring nations" resulted in the inane "axis of evil" speech in which Mad King George attempted to link historic (and contemporary) enemies Iran and Iraq with totally isolated North Korea and Somalia in a conspiracy against K-Mart shoppers in Muncie, Indiana. Day by day, speculative assaults on these (and other) countries are predicted, announced, threatened and surmised by Rumsfeld, Powell, Ashcroft, the Wall Street Journal, and various pundits and necromancers from within the Beltway Pale.

• The Trouble With Beavers by Minority Mike - Commentary on gender-neutral bathrooms and handicapped accessible houses in Mike's inimmitable style.
• Some Limitations of the Non-Aggression Doctrine: Part III - conclusions and answers (maybe) by Patrick K Martin - I wish Mr. Martin had said this first instead of writing the other two parts. Well, he said it now and it's very well said. The principle of non-agression cannot be expressed in one short paragraph, though a well-written sentence can remind one of it.

  For myself, I adhere to a personal doctrine: "The only justification for the taking of life, is the preservation of life."
  
  This is how I express it to others, but, as you can see, it requires an understanding of issues far beyond the actual text. The reason I do not offer it in replacement of the non- aggression doctrine is because in order to properly understand and adhere to it, you must understand three things...

• "Of Course You Realize This Means War" by William Stone, III - Mr. Stone pens a tribute to Chuck Jones, then tells how he plans to put Mr. Jones' ideas into practice. Hehe. Also a nice reminder of Scott Bieser's September 11 cartoon.

  But beyond this, the character of Bugs Bunny under Chuck Jones assumed a uniquely American flavor. By "American," I don't mean some form of nationalist or socialist drivel. I mean that he was an adult individual, aware of his own self-ownership, and took took care of his affairs without asking for help.
  
  Yes, Bugs Bunny under Chuck Jones was a libertarian.

  If You Have Nothing to Hide ... by Jim Duensing - creative commentary on the recent arrest of several Montana residents for possessing large amounts of ammo and the names and addresses of many cops and public officials. Hehe.

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