SUVs Are Good for the Earth
"Sir, If Tony Blair is seeking a weapon of mass destruction he has only to read the proposed European constitution." -- letter to the UK Times
From How Many Americans Does it take to Change a Dim Bulb?:
"The public school system must be abolished, its buildings razed to the ground so that not one stone is left standing on another, and salt sown on the ruins." -- L. Neil Smith
The Libertarian Enterprise - Letter from Manuel Miles, aka Kapt Kanada - many of this week's other letters complain about Mr. Miles' previous snubbing of anarchism. Seems to me that he's supporting anarchism, but just doesn't want to call it that.
For the (serious) record, however: I oppose all Statism [n. the theory or practice of concentrating economic and political power in the state--according to the Collins Concise dictionary], but not any and all possible forms of government. Minimal government, of a non-Statist form, is necessary precisely to protect ourselves from Statists and other marauding gangs of frauds and thieves.
Thus, true Libertarians are minarchists, meaning that we accept the voluntary formation of voluntarily-funded mutual self-defence agencies. That is, of course, government without Statism. I realise that the concept is a subtle one and, therefor, causes havoc with wishful thinking, but I make no apologies.
William Stone, III at The Libertarian Enterprise - "Why Johnny Is A Bored Ignoramus" - he's attending a government school. That's why. Mr. Stone uses his experience with his own children to show that the old one room school house was a radically better method of education than the Prussian, age-segregated, good little citizen training system.
If American education is to survive, it must completely abandon its current paradigm of enormous, age-segregated schools controlled by Federal monies and the NEA. A return to the one-room school house--even in large metropolitan areas--would be a massive improvement.
The barriers to this are simple: the FedGov will never willingly give up its centralized control of education. Nor, for that matter, are the State and LocalGovs. As long as we allow any government body to control education through funding, our children will continue to be either ignorami or bored stiff all day long.
The only way to cause the current paradigm to disappear is via collapse. Every individual must be made aware that no matter how good they think their local government school is, their child will be only one of two things on Graduation Day: an ignoramus or bored out of their mind.
Maybe both.
To hasten the collapse, it's imperative that individuals not participate in government schools. Home-school your children. Send them to non- government schools. Do whatever you must to keep them out of the doors of a government school. When the Local, State, and FedGov whine to you about how it's all about money, don't listen. I could take my children to the schoolhouse at Pedro today, and using the books still on its shelves impart all the knowledge they could glean through a modern High School.
David Carr at Samizdata.net - SUVs are good for the earth - global warming is good for people and other living things. Really. Hehe. [samizdata]
Mark Mannix at Unknown News - Lend me a lighter, let's put the American flag out of its misery - why flag burning qualifies as speech. And how the latest incarnation of the flag burning amendment, recently passed by the House, and hopefully to be once-again killed by the Senate, is itself a desecration of the ideas embodied by the flag. [unknown]
HappySysiphus at Unknown News - Constitution burning - treating the absurdity of fascist Amerika absurdly. Hehe. [unknown]
Liberez L'Ours at Unknown News - Why I will not serve - He will not only nullify bad laws. If forced to serve on a jury, Mr. L'Ours will vote to acquit, without consideration for the facts of the case. I can respect his decision, given the state of the "law" in Amerika. [unknown]
No, it is not a matter of money or pride at the root of my dilemma. It is a matter of principle: shall I serve a corrupt system and sentence fellow citizens to durance vile knowing that there but for the grace of God -- or whim of the Fuhrer -- go I?
Nay. I will not serve willingly. If forced, to serve, I will set the prisoners free.
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries - June 2003, Summer Time - I'm in a hurry this morning, so I'm not going to summarize. Don't miss this latest offerring from the Gunner's Guru.
The Marines are hunting around for a new service pistol, and one pilot model we have seen differs from the piece I am carrying on my belt primarily in the presence of a frame rail forward on which to mount a night light. John Browning's wonderful design has lasted almost a full century without serious competition. The great 1911 45 was a very nearly perfect artifact from the day of its birth, and this may be unique in the entire history of technology.
...
As we have often stated, marksmanship could be improved if we could simply persuade shooters to get away from the bench rest. The bench rest is a useful device for identifying and isolating mechanical shortcomings, but it helps a marksman no more than a dynamometer helps a race driver. The sooner a marksman can get away from the bench rest, the better shot he will become.
