End the War on Freedom

Ragnar's warped dictionary (apologies to Merriam-Webster)

Main Entry: gov·ern·ment
Pronunciation: 'g&-v&r(n)-m&nt, -v&-m&nt
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English thiefthe, from Old English thIefth; akin to Old English thEof thief
Date: before 12th century
1 a : the act of stealing; specifically : the felonious taking and removing of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. b : an unlawful taking (as by embezzlement or burglary) of property.

From smith2004:

"I flew with a guy a few months back that had flown in the Air Force for a number of years. He flew one of the older single seat airplanes that carried nuclear weapons. He had to be evaluated often for psychological fitness since he carried nuclear armament single pilot and therefore had the freedom to act with no other person able to interfere. He applied for the armed pilot program and after the psych screening was turned down. Interesting result. I guess a pistol is more dangerous than a 100 kiloton nuclear bomb." -- unattributed

# It was -10°F outside yesterday morning and 55 inside. The ice had built up on the insides of our single-pane side windows. So we went to the hardware store and bought some plastic. This morning it's -6 outside and 57 inside. The plastic doesn't seem to have done much, though we'll probably notice when the wind comes up. I remember one winter here where it was -20 for two weeks. Burrrrr. Hopefully, that won't happen this year.

# Lux Lucre (aka Kerry Pearson), the creator of a number of inspiring liberty-oriented Flash animations, died suddenly of complications from diabetes. I'll miss his contributions to smith2004. I have mirrored his Flash animations here. Links to news and remembrances in this week's Libertarian Enterprise, which will eventually move here. [smith2004]

# Sunni Maravillosa at The Claire Files Board - Hunter News Update - he got his Pathfinder back, but lots of his property was kept. I can understand them keeping the handguns, those being actual evidence of the supposed "crime", but keeping the contents of the locked box, all legal, makes no sense to me, except to provide evidence of "craziness" to a clueless jury. Please contribute what you can.

Getting the Pathfinder back was the usual bureaucratic c-f^*k. The trooper took his sweet time getting the paperwork, and when they got to the impound lot, although it was well within its hours of operation, it was closed. They called, and waited a while for someone to come release his SUV.

Finally, it was released -- and in total disarray. The battery was dead, and the interior looked as though a tornado had been through it. All the Christmas gifts he'd had in it for friends were opened. Nothing was visibly damaged.

These items are among the things NOT returned by the OHP:

all firearms
all ammunition
all knives on his person (Leatherman and Gerber tool)
Lord of the Rings swords, and other swords
Hunter's certificate from being made a Liberty Round Table Knight Defender
several books
International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL) pamphlets
work laptop computer

That last item -- the computer -- was not listed on the receipt. Oddly enough, the machete, which was mentioned in the reports as being part of his "arsenal", *was* returned, as was a double-edged axe he also had in the SUV.

# DraftResistance.org provides seven reasons why you should refuse to register with the selective service: Life Ownership, Slippery Slope, It's Patriotic, It's Easy, You Don't Have to, Anti-intervention, and The 'X' Factor. Remember, conscription is slavery. [email]

This site is a crime against the Military Selective Service Act. It advocates. We are specifically encouraging resistance to the registration laws of the United States, seeing registration as the necessary step toward conscription (the draft). We are what the Selective Service calls 'anti-war intellectuals.' We see the direct link between registration, the draft, and aggressive war. Remember, non- registration is the strategy to beat the draft. If enough of us refuse, there is nothing they can do!

-- Scott A Kohlhaas

# Rex Curry - The pledge of allegiance and the salute to the U.S. flag! - claims, supported by photographs, that the Nazi salute was taken from America. Can't speak for its accuracy. From Must you salute the flag?, linked from there:

The original salute to the U.S. flag was the same as the salute of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. An example of the salute is at http://members.ij.net/rex/pledge1.html [the story link above] (I collect historic photos of the original socialist salute being given to the U.S. flag, so please contact me if you have one). "Nazi" was an abbreviation of "National Socialist Worker's Party of Germany." They advocated nationalizing the economy. After the Nazi's demonstrated full blown socialism, the U.S. flag salute changed to the modern hand over the heart.

The U.S. pledge of allegiance was written in 1892 by a socialist, to promote socialism in the most socialistic institution -- government schools. The author, Francis Bellamy, belonged to a religious socialist movement known as "Christian Socialism," and belonged to a group known for "Nationalism," whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American economy. He saw government schools as a means to that end.

# Th. Metzger at Loompanics - Nameless Dread: The Function of Fear in a Controlled Society - "Be afraid -- you are helpless." Nanny Sam will help you. [claire]

What most of humanity feared, for most of history, were hunger, infectious diseases such as plagues, elements, and war. These threats were real, and these would kill you with ease. But for the American middle class, these are little more than TV entertainment spectacles. What kills Americans now are the products of our affluence. Heart attacks account for 725,000 deaths per year in the U.S., compared to 17,000 murders. And heart attacks are, of course, the direct result of our prosperity: sedentary lives spent before the cathode ray screen, fatty foods, and hypertension. Car accidents take 42,400 lives annually. Cancer kills 549,800 Americans each year and the rates are increasing because of polluted air, carcinogens sprayed on foods, poisons in our water, and toxic waste. These very real threats are the direct result of high-tech industries and the culture of too much. But dismal stories of slow death by cancer don't make good ratings. Tumors are not entertaining. As an instrument of social control, the so-called terrorist is far more useful than a graph of malignancies. If you're afraid of a shadowy murderer down the street, you're not so likely to question a leukemia cluster associated with a big chemical sludge factory.

...

I called my state's Terrorism Tips Hotline to find out what exactly they do. The woman there told me they collect information on "suspicious activities." When I asked her what exactly did that mean, she told me that "For instance, if you saw a group of people videotaping a bridge or reservoir or other piece of critical infrastructure," I should report it. If I see people "who don't belong there," hanging around a reservoir, I certainly should turn them in. Apparently there's a corporate monopoly on dumping toxins in the water supply. If you're an individual (especially with dark skin) caught pouring a small vial of poison in the water, you're a terrorist. If you're a large corporate entity dumping poison by the ton, then you're merely keeping the economy humming.

...

As long as Americans keep sucking at the great pacifier nipple of TV, there's little hope for change. As long as Americans are happy with their simple diversions (bread and circuses have become Big Macs and the Internet), then the steady erosion of their rights will continue. As long as our national motto remains "Convenience Uber Alles," then there's little reason to be optimistic.

# Carl F. Worden at The Price of Liberty - The Iraq Model For Retaking America - a rag-tag bunch of angry Americans could easily topple the Amerikan government; death by a thousand cuts. We would win, but the real questions is what would we win? [smith2004]

That is the only rational reason we citizens haven't descended on Washington D.C. already. We know that a major upheaval in American civil rule would lead to a splintering of differing interest groups that would in turn lead to a shattering of a once great nation: A once great nation that no longer cooperated in a union of states that has withstood the tests, depressions and wars of time. Hell yes, we would win, but what then? Our international enemies would probably descend on us like locusts.

# Massad Ayoob at Backwoods Home Magazine - Firearms handling refresher Part II: Shotguns - largely about equipment, shotguns and ammo, but also covers safety and basic shooting tips.

In Part I, we began a series of refreshers on safety and proper handling of firearms. This time, we'll examine what may be the most common firearm in rural homes: the shotgun.

Nicknamed the "smoothbore" because it has no rifling inside its barrel, the shotgun derives its given name from the fact that like muskets of old, it can fire a charge of shot pellets in a beehive cluster, and can also fire a single projectile of relatively large diameter. This allows an unmatched versatility that self-reliant people have appreciated for centuries. Because it is normally loaded with small pellets of "shot" that spread outward as distance from the shooter increases, the shotgun is also spoken of in slang as a "scattergun."

# Massad Ayoob at Backwoods Home Magazine - Firearms handling refresher Part III: Rifles - training, eye and ear protection, carry in condition three, use the right ammo (with a graphic illustration of what can happen if you don't), difference in ammo types, slings, keep it steady, be ready for a quick follow up shot, proper use of the riflescope, ghost ring sights, make sure the rifle fits the shooter, Jeff Cooper's four rules of firearms safety.

Unless you're hunting in a truly barren wasteland, there is likely to be something upon which you can brace the rifle. A tree stump, the side of a tree, a boulder, a fence or fencepost when hunting in farmlands...something. In the Eastern Transvaal of South Africa, I saw a friend make a superb shot on an antelope while resting his Ruger Model 77 rifle on an anthill. In the same area, I nailed a striking zebra with one shot from my buffalo rifle, another Ruger 77 but chambered for .458 Magnum and equipped with fast-action open sights. The distance was 70 or 75 yards. I braced the fore-end over a tree branch, and was rewarded with an instant one-shot kill, the bullet striking exactly the spots where the sights had held steady, thanks to the solidity of the handy tree. (Yes, a .458 is a bit much for a horse-size animal. However, we were hunting Cape Buffalo at the moment and this splendid specimen had presented a "now or never" shot that had to be taken quickly. But the 510 grain Remington Core-Lokt softpoint in the chamber (backed up by 500 grain Winchester full metal jacket in the magazine in case of a head-on buffalo charge after the first shot) dropped the zebra like a lightning bolt, and fulfilled the hunter's obligation to kill the quarry swiftly and painlessly. As Robert Ruark said of his own extensive African hunting experience, "Use Enough Gun.")

You will read that allowing any part of the rifle to touch a hard surface will cause mysterious vibrations that will "make the shot go awry." This is myth and hogwash. Try it yourself on the shooting range. The fore-end of the stock resting on a firm object is as close to a bench rest as you can get. If the barrel itself touches a hard surface, there will indeed be vibrations that negatively effect accuracy, but it has been my experience that this rarely alters point of aim/point of impact, and usually merely doubles the size of the shot group. That is, if your rifle shoots every shot into one inch at 100 yards from a sandbag rest, it will shoot them into two inches at the same distance with the barrel resting on a tree branch. Two inches is still close enough for government work, and a helluva lot tighter than all but the greatest champion riflemen can hold a group with the same gun from a standing, unsupported shooting position.

...

But NEVER use your riflescope as a scanning device to find game! That is what binoculars are for. Anything the scope points at, the rifle points at. If you inadvertently "scope" a hiker or a fellow hunter, you've committed one of the most egregious sins in the world of the gun. The conservation officer WILL see that your hunting license is revoked for doing this. It can get worse. Pointing guns at people in anything but a self-defense situation is the serious felony known as Aggravated Assault, and it can get you over a year of hard prison time as well as ending your status as a legal firearms owner.

...

The modern rifle is a magnificent precision machine, and a touchstone of American freedom. All firearms, like the element they are named for, are "effective servants but fearful masters." Use them properly, and you can proudly wield the instrument Jeff Cooper correctly called "the queen of battle." But understand that power and responsibility are commensurate, and that our possession of this power brings with it a responsibility that demands both mental judgment and physical competence.

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