Gestapo at the Train Station
# Bob Wallace at Strike the Root - Safe, Effective and Illegal - Mr. Wallace discovers the pain-killing properties of cannabis hemp, avoids a trip to the emergency room, and saves the $500 that trip would have cost. [root]
So, I called up a friend of mine and explained the situation. He, of course, laughed hysterically. "So," he giggled, "you're going to be a 'hepcat' and take a 'toke' of some 'reefer,' huh? I'll see if I can find a 'lid' somewhere."
He gave me an amount about the size of a pea. He even lent me a pipe. I felt ridiculous, puffing on that tiny pipe like I was 16 again, but enough pain overcomes anything.
Much to my surprise, after about two minutes the pain in my hip started to go away. Not completely, but enough so that the pain was tolerable. And the muscles loosened up enough so that I could get up without groaning and cursing and staggering around like Frankenstein's monster. And I got sleepy.
And I wasn't high, either.
I fell asleep, and when I woke up the next morning, the injury had healed enough so I could get around with hobbling and grimacing. A few days later I was fine.
The total cost, according to my friend, if he had charged me for the amount I used, would have been a few dollars. That is obviously a heck of a lot less than $500.
# Lowell Potter at Strike the Root - Board Games - nice liberty rant. [root]
You see, I believe you have to run your own life, and I can't be bothered to do it for you. I'm not trying to be mean here, but I've got my own life to run! The only thing I must remember while I do it is to respect other folks while they're busy running their lives. Simple, really--no scary science or advanced math involved.
Every person must run their own life. It's their job! This used to be called responsibility, and not too awfully long ago, either. It was also generally understood in those times that the exercise of personal responsibility, essentially running your own life, required a modicum of courteous civility when intersecting with the will of other self governing people. Such civility in dealings with other individuals or a larger community of self-governors was a necessary component of reaching some mutually beneficial result in that interaction.
What's the catch? Honesty and integrity were once tacitly acknowledged as the ideal cornerstones of human interaction, and any thing less than a scrupulous adherence to that standard would result in proportionally less satisfactory results. Depending upon the degree to which some less than scrupulous self-governors held to the standards in their interactions with others, they might run the risk of suffering the displeasure of being at best shunned, and at worst, shot. What's to debate?
# Jason Peckenpaugh at GovExec.com - Ridge announces new rail and transit security measures - the airport "security" goons will soon be at the train station. So far it's only a pilot program, but you can be sure travelers will be regularly wand raped at Amtrak in the near future. It's time to refuse folks. Walk through the metal detector, bags in hand, and don't slow down. If some black-suited goon assaults you, defend yourself. [claire]
# Ralph Weller at GunNewsDaily.com - The Tragedy of Gun Control - why victim disarmament is a crime against humanity. [geekwitha.45]
# Jeff - Dave Baugh's Website - letters from Jail, posted by a friend. Liberty spoken here. If I knew Mr. Baugh personally, I would be tempted to break him out of the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Correctional Center. Sounds like a very dangerous place. [freewest]
# Publicola - SCOTUS heard oral arguments today on Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of the state of Nevada - commentary on this Gina Holland story about Dudley Hiibel's hearing with the Supremes this past Monday. [publicola]
# Gary North at LewRockwell.com - The TV Ad Kerry Won't Broadcast - but Mr. North and I wish he would. Not that I want Kerry for president, but I certainly can't stomach another four years of the Busheviks. [lew]
# Lawrence Lessig at Wired - Insanely Destructive Devices - the technology to create pathogens that are nearly 100% deadly has already been demonstrated with mice in Australia. It's only a matter of time before anyone who wants one can get it. Hadn't we better stop encouraging terrorists by killing their families? Isn't high time for the very concept of the state to die? [smith2004]
Our present course of unilateral cowboyism will continue to produce generations of angry souls seeking revenge on us.