Melvin Spaulding Walks. YAY!!

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 19 Dec 2003 13:00:00 GMT

From The Federalist:

"You know how Congress is. They'll vote for anything if the thing they vote for will turn around and vote for them. Politics ain't nothing but reciprocity." -- Will Rogers

and:

"Congress may be going home for the holidays soon. How can you beat a Christmas gift like that?" -- Bob Hope

Eric Blumrich - The Idiot Son of an Asshole - flash animation. An anthem to our president. Hehe. [grabbe]

Don't hate us because we're Americans. Just hate our government.

Curtis Krueger at the St. Petersburg Times - Shooter, 71, won't face charges at all - Melvin Spaulding will not be charged with any crime for defending his friend from attack by shooting one of the attackers in the arm with his .22 pistol.

Prosecutors will not file an attempted murder charge against Melvin Spaulding, the 71-year-old man who shot a 20-year-old for allegedly attacking his friend in the street.

"That's good," Spaulding said after hearing the news Tuesday, as he smoked a Dutch Masters cigar in his mobile home.

Pinellas-Pasco Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett said evidence showed Spaulding was trying to prevent his friend George Lowe, 63, from being killed or suffering "serious bodily harm" as others attacked him.

The law allows people to intervene in such cases to protect others from harm, Bartlett said.

Claire Wolfe - Return of the King - Claire's comments on the third Lord of the Rings movie. I'm planning to viddy it this weekend. [claire]

Before seeing the film, I was distressed that the Scouring of the Shire and the Houses of Healing were to be left out. Surprise. I didn't miss them at all. As most of the reviewers point out, ROTK already has about five "endings." The Scouring would have dragged things out eternally. Jackson was right to drop it -- though it's still my favorite part of the book & it was a shame to abandon Christoper Lee (Saruman). Cutting the Houses of Healing does leave a gaping hole in the Eowyn-Faramir story. One moment we see Eowyn pining with love for Aragorn, then the next she's standing glowingly next to Faramir, and if you don't already know why ... you don't know why. I expect the DVD will fill that gap.

GeekWithA.45 - Battle Rifle Recommendations - the geek used a picture of an M1A (below) in his earlier battle rifle piece, but he wasn't implying that everyone needs an M1A (though Fred and I highly recommend it). Here he gives a table of recommendations for battle rifles in the classic military calibers of .308/7.62 Nato, 7.62x39, .223/5.56 nato, and .30-06. [geekwitha.45]

"This is my battle rifle. There are many just like it, and this one is mine. As an American, it is my absolute, unquestionable right to have this; it is my birthright. I will go to any length necessary to ensure that this rifle remains in my hands, the hands of my countrymen, and to ensure that the hands of our posterity may go freely to the most fearsome arms the future has to offer."

NBC11 - Court Ruling Is Victory For Medical Marijuana Users - the Ninth Circuit Court has ruled that the feds cannot prosecute medical marijuana users who have a doctor's recommendation for their medicine unless the pot crosses state lines or is used for non-medical purposes. So, unless the Supreme Court overrules this decision, medical marijuana users in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state have laws similar to California can use their medicine without fear of federal prosecution (Colorado and Maine have medical marijuana laws, but are not in the Ninth Circuit's jurisdiction). [smith2004]

Brad Edmonds at LewRockwell.com - How to Abolish Government - some peaceful steps towards market anarchism. Home school your kids, compete with government security services, write snail mail to your rulers, buy guns and learn to use them safely and effectively, join or start freedom-oriented organizations, get informed. [trt-ny]

When people are convinced, educated, and capable, they'll come up with more solutions; the work will be under way. Worldwide anarcho-capitalist (a.k.a. voluntary) society is not only possible, I believe it is inevitable; many are already doing everything I've mentioned above, planting the seed of self-governance in the minds of people everywhere. Work at it one day at a time, and stay tuned.

Haroon Siddiqui at The Toronto Star - Nine tales of a society scared into stupidity - questions asked of Asian-looking people at the border from Canada to Amerika. [unknown]

Mark Williams at The Bulletin Online - Orchids... not Osama - on an armed raid by jack-booted thugs from the Fish and Wildlife Service, looking for illegal orchids. Really.

The fact of the matter is that George Norris didn't do anything illegal. "I've been importing these particular plants for years," says Norris, a resident of Timber Creek, just south of The Woodlands. "The importation is sanctioned by the government of Peru, and it's all perfectly legal. These are plants that have been grown in the same greenhouse for years."

Norris is accused by the FWS of violation of the Lacey Act: the nation's first far-reaching federal wildlife protection law. Under the Lacey Act, it is illegal to import, export, sell, acquire, or purchase fish, wildlife or plants taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of U.S. or Indian law; or in interstate or foreign commerce involving any fish, wildlife, or plants taken possessed or sold in violation of state or foreign law.

"The Lacey Act was amended to cover plants in 1981," says Norris. "Up until this time, (the FWS) had very little to do with plants and still don't for the most part. The agents who were in the raid went through the greenhouse out back and tore everything up, but they couldn't identify a single plant out there. They didn't know what the plant they were looking for even looked like."

The Lacey Act sets fines for violations involving imports or exports, or commercial violations in which the value of the wildlife exceeds $350. Fines for misdemeanor violations are currently set at a maximum of $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for organizations; maximum fines for felonies are presently $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations.

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This Day in 1873: The Boston Tea Party
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Stay in Your Hat Box, Mr. President

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Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair