Harry Potter III

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 04 Jun 2004 12:00:00 GMT

# In case you only ever enter my site through this weblog page, I recommend checking out the articles and photographs on my home page (the "Home" link in the left column goes to the weblog home, but there are no visible links to top-level of billstclair.com). There's quite a bit there. I am occasionally amazed that I've managed to accumulate so much quality stuff in a few years time.

# The Second Horseman of the Confederacy - On Civilization and Government - a good short history of civilization and why we must get rid of the organized criminal entity known as government. From Chapter Five: Government:

Most people believe that government is an aspect of civilization. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Government can actually be thought of as an extremely common form of cancer that afflicts civilizations. A form of cancer which is normally terminal.

Government is actually the "pack behavior" of Authoritarian Criminals. The sole function of government is to victimize the productive individuals who make up civilization for the benefit of the Authoritarian Criminals. By creating an enormously complicated, faceless system to mask and automate their activities, the Authoritarian Criminals make it difficult for civilized individuals to target their efforts of resistance. By using the wealth they bleed from civilization to amass a terrifying capacity for violence, the Authoritarian Criminals make it quite dangerous for civilized individuals to resist. By echoing and reinforcing each other's bogus justifications for their actions, the Authoritarian Criminals confuse many otherwise civilized individuals into supporting or tolerating their agendas.

From Chapter Six: The Thin Blue Line:

Law enforcement has been referred to as the thin blue line that stands between civilization and barbarism... This is true. But the thin blue line isn't facing outward to hold the perimeter against barbarism, it's facing inward to eat away at civilization. If civilization is an island, the Enforcement Officers aren't the beach. They're the pounding surf eroding the island away into the sea of barbarism.

Without government interference, civilized individuals would be able to obtain highly effective technology at free market prices to defend themselves against criminals. They would be able to carry and deploy such technology as they saw fit. Criminals would face the prospect of being utterly at their intended victims' mercy, rather than the other way around. Crime would be much less safe and profitable.

Without contrived laws, your neighbors might do some things of which you don't approve. But is it really acceptable to rob every civilized person in the community to pay and arm Enforcement Officers to kick in your neighbor's door because he might stuff the wrong species of dried plant matter into his pipe?

Government law enforcement is to crime-fighting what kerosene is to fire-fighting. If every Enforcement Officer in the thin blue line, including those who restrict individual defense technology products, were to toss their badges and take up a productive occupation, real crime would soon become a rare anomaly rather than a regular aspect of American culture.

# John Ross - I'm Not the Only One Thinking About What the Iraq War Means - a guest article by Bill Whittle, emailed to Mr. Ross by his friend, Chuck Kaiser. Very well written, as usual for Mr. Whittle. I'm still not convinced. My son dying now so that the country might be better after I'm dead for some unborn future American is not something I'm willing to go through. If the war comes to me, I will fight it, whether the person bringing it to me wears a turban or a U.S. police or military uniform, but I won't go half a world away to shoot at people I don't know with whom I have no argument. The only argument here is between governments, and I don't believe in government.

[I originally attributed this article to Mr. Kaiser, having misread Mr. Ross' introduction. My apologies to Mr. Whittle.]

# Sean Corrigan at LewRockwell.com - Let's Go Fly a Kite - a little fable reflecting the coming collapse of the Fed's funny money. 'twould be good to put away some real wealth as soon as you can: food, guns, fuel, tools, precious metals, practical knowledge. [claire]

# Publicola - Want Another Reason Not to Hand Your Gun Over to the Cops? - police impersonators. Some advice for avoiding them, including one idea that most lawyers won't second, but that I agree with 100%: [publicola]

If a cop tells you to do anything extremely harmful your Rights, such as hand over your firearm (I assume you carry) politely refuse. This applies to real cops for reasons of principle, but doubly so to anyone who you might doubt is a real cop for more practical reasons. The lawyers in question will say that it's dangerous to do this. They'd advise doing whatever the cop asks & waiting till you can get a lawyer to straighten things out in court. But for me there is no court that can correct certain violations. I'm sure even the lawyers would tell you if a cop demands you perform oral sex on him to refuse. I could be wrong but I think it's safe to say that they'd draw the line there. I just draw my line at a different place. I've went over some of the principled reasons in a previous post. The practical reasons you should be able to guess. After all, if a person fakes being a cop to pull you over then being disarmed might make things too easy for him & much worse for you.

# Stephanie Zacharek at Salon via fairuse fairuse.1accesshost.com - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - at least one reviewer really likes the new Harry Potter flick which opens today. I plan to take the family to a matinee tomorrow. [lew]

Hippogriffs, Dementors and Harry, oh my! Alfonso Cuaron finally decants the essence of J.K. Rowling's work and brings us one of the greatest fantasy films of all time.

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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