Happy Summer!
Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof. -- Ashley Montague
BattleRifles.com - Good Surplus Ammo Suppliers? - mail-order surplus .308 ammo on the web: www.falparts.com/ammo.asp, www.aimsurplus.com, www.jgsales.com, www.ammoman.com, www.southernammo.com, www.ammunitionstore.com, www.cheaperthandirt.com. Bottom line, the $89/1000 "tarnished ball" from www.southernammo.com works fine.
Farhad Manjoo at Wired - Public Protests NPR Link Policy - more on the NPR linking controversy. [wired]
Russell Madden at Laissez Faire Electronic Times - The Crack in Liberty - Mr. Madden describes his visit to "the block containing the Liberty Bell, Congress Hall, and Independence Hall" in Philadelphia, which "is now cordoned off with metal fencing."
I learned that -- intended or not -- the folks running this menagerie are achieving some very unpleasant goals. As they filter thousands and thousands of young people through lines and metal detectors and "no weapons" signs and personal searches, these agents of the State continue the conditioning process essential in their quest to create a future population of docile citizens. Such illogical, unnecessary, and fruitless efforts as these "security" procedures establish a false standard for what is dangerous and what is not: a ten-year-old girl hardly represents any kind of viable threat.
...
These officially sanctioned saboteurs place protection of the symbols of liberty above the reality of liberty. They worry so much over vague threats to such objects as the Liberty Bell that they actively destroy the actual freedom they have sworn to protect. They have yet to discover that there is no dichotomy between freedom and security. Indeed, the more they move to restrict us, the less safe we become.
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If we continue to tolerate the cowards in the Congress, in the White House, and in the Supreme Court who refuse to face freedom and who continue to wall themselves away from chimerical dangers, then America may soon have a new slogan to drape from its collective shoulders:
"Land of the Unfree, Home of the Unbrave."
J. Orlin Grabbe at Laissez Faire Electronic Times - Strange Loops - a sequence of unusual very short stories.
George F. Smith at Laissez Faire Electronic Times - A Memo to Aspiring Politicians - good satire.
Unfortunately, in the early years of our democracy, certain recalcitrants prevented the government from operating the way it should. They fostered dangerous notions of the U.S. as a republic with a limited government and something called states' rights. Then in 1860, a Martyr came along and saved us, and we've been on the path of righteous freedom ever since.
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Today, revisionists are trying to push different interpretations of the nation's birth. But let them talk. The FBI will nail them as terrorists if they talk about the Constitution. Issues are for amusement purposes only. Political power is the only reality.
New York Daily News - 'Enemy Combatant' Loses Right to Lawyer, Feds Say - The Injustice Department has made it official. They've filed a 46-page brief claiming that anyone they decide is an "enemy combatant" loses their right to a regular trial. Hopefully the courts will set 'em straight. Otherwise, time for some heads to roll. [smith2004]
Alex Williams at New York Magazine - Rent Asunder - Why rent control is a bad idea, for the tenants as well as the landlords. Well, that's part of this story. [villagechoice]
Richard Shim at CNET News.com - Philips picks blue lasers for itty- bitty disc - The new "Blu-ray Disc" stores a gigabyte on a quarter-sized (3cm) disc. Slashdot discussion here. [/.]