End the War on Freedom

"That truth is simply this: it isn't the Moslems who came to the west to push us around, steal our resources, sneer at our customs and beliefs, depose our leaders and replace them with puppets, reshape our political institutions, or redraw our national borders to suit their own foul purposes. No, that's what we Europeanoids have been doing to them." -- L. Neil Smith

From lrtdiscuss:

"Princess Leia had it right, 'The more you tighten your grip, the more systems will slip through your fingers.'" -- Jeff "Hunter" Jordan

From smith2004 via survivalarts:

Bill of Rights Nullification by the US Supreme Court:

They have nullified the first: you have to be a politician to criticise a politician on TV or radio before an election.

They have nullified the second, repeatedly, since 1934.

They have nullified the third: we are now serfs, via taxation. We don't directly quarter the troops... they wouldn't lower themselves to live in our hovels.

They have nullified the fourth: there is no such thing as an illegal search anymore.

They have nullified the fifth: remaining silent is now unlawful.

They have nullified the sixth: you only get a speedy trial if the Supreme Court decides you deserve one, jurors are subordinated to the judges, and you can be tried secretly or get no trial at all if you are declared a "terrorist."

They have nullified the seventh: unless your civil case involves the exchange of 21 antique silver dollars, you have no right to a jury trial.

They have nullified the eighth: if you are declared a terrorist, it's torture and Gitmo time for you.

They have nullified the ninth: apparently the commerce clause and vague language about the common good cannot be contradicted by a later AMENDMENT.

They have nullified the tenth: no Supreme Court judge since the 1803 Marbury decision has obeyed that one.

The United States Supreme Court has finally nullified every one of the Bill of Rights amendments through judicial fiat. The destruction of rule of law in the U.S. is now complete.

Kristopher Barrett

# Claire Wolfe - Is This Cool, or What? - SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill holds up a sign made by Powell Gammill and Ernie Hancock: "SpaceShipOne: GovernmentZero". Bravo! [claire]

# NBC10.com - Rocket Plane Makes First Private Space Flight - videos of the take-off, rocket-powered flight, and landing of SpaceShipOne. Probably won't work anywhere but Windoze. There's a slideshow here as well. [google]

# Andy Stedman at No Treason! - Kidnapped - by the state. A short story about the arrest and rescue of an anarchist in Amerika's near future. [notreasonblog]

What am I in for? Does it really matter?

Any time you visit a State, you take your chances. Maybe you wear the wrong clothes, or use the wrong substances, or carry the tools you need to protect yourself from the more common thugs. Eventually the odds catch up with you, and the uncommon thugs who call themselves the government kidnap you.

Last week, the odds caught up with me.

They were very polite about it, like they weren't doing anything wrong. Perhaps in their twisted moral view, they weren't. They read me my rights--what a joke! I knew my rights better than they did, including my right not to be locked in a urine-soaked barred cell charged with a non-crime, stripped of my defenses and unable to contact my family. All I could do was wait for rescue.

Why did I let them take me? It's not like I had a choice. You can defend yourself against a common kidnapper or armed robber, but the agents of a State always hunt in packs, and out in the open. I was kidnapped right in front of hundreds of citizens, and not a single one showed the slightest interest in helping me. Flashing lights and a badge, just look the other way, nothing to see here. One thing's for sure, I'm never risking doing business here again.

# Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk - Zero Down for the American Dream - why a new bill in Congress allowing people to pay no down payment for federally- taxpayer-insured mortgages is a bad idea for everyone involved.

Every mortgage banker knows that even a modest downpayment greatly increases the likelihood that a buyer will pay his mortgage as promised. A buyer who has consistently saved money for a down payment is by definition a better credit risk, and it's harder to walk away from an obligation if it means losing a sizable amount of hard-earned money. A downpayment measures a buyer's willingness and ability to make sacrifices in order to reach a goal and improve his standard of living. Banks used to recognize hard work and thrift as indicators of creditworthiness, and in a free market would demand a significant down payment for virtually all homebuyers.

...

Despite the congressional rhetoric about helping the poor, federal housing policies often harm poor people by pushing them into houses they may not be ready to buy. Given the realities of insurance, property taxes, maintenance, and repairs, many low-income buyers lose their homes and destroy their credit ratings. Easy credit and low interest rates, courtesy of the Federal Reserve, have dramatically increased housing demand and artificially increased prices. Zero down payment schemes do the same thing by pushing renters into the housing market. This increased demand actually serves to price many poor Americans out of the housing market indefinitely.

# Joel Miller at LewRockwell.com - The Afghan Bungle - fight terror: legalize heroin and other extracts of the opium poppy. Elementary arithmetic really, but there's no money or power in it for our masters, so I won't hold my breath. [lew]

# Joe Blow at Strike the Root - Identities and Aliases - some ideas about how to identify yourself, or not, in light of Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of the state of Nevada. [root]

If federal agents detain you in a Terry stop, all bets are off. Based on the provisions of the PATRIOT Act, they can basically do whatever they want simply by uttering the magic words national security. Instead of facing a misdemeanor charge at the local courthouse, you could potentially be facing much worse, including various felony charges associated with terrorism, national security, or suspicion of being an enemy combatant. None of these charges need to be true, but any of them will be more than sufficient to keep you in a federal prison for weeks or months. I recommend that you request to see their photo IDs before you say anything to anybody. You need to know who has detained you before you decide how you will respond, if at all. Pray that you never find yourself in this situation.

# Gun Week - TSA May Be Phased Out By Critics in Congress - now that would be very good news. Of course much better news would be the removal of the entire concept of pre-flight passenger screening. [gunweek]

After the terrorist attacks, "people were panicked to put in place a massive bureaucracy," said House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-FL).

Now Mica says the time has come to rethink TSA and cut it back.

The federal air marshal program, which places armed, undercover officers on select planes, already has been transferred elsewhere within the Department of Homeland Security, for instance. Also, TSA has cut its work force of passenger and baggage screeners--who make up the bulk of its employees--from 60,000 to 45,000.

Mica and other Republicans, who were never entirely comfortable creating a new bureaucracy, want to return all airport security screener jobs to the private sector, where they were before Sept. 11, 2001. If so, the federal screeners would get the first opportunity to apply for the private jobs.

Mica argues that private companies will do a better, more efficient job at the screening that currently is the TSA's primary function.

# Dave Workman at Gun Week - Wrestling with a Python! Colt's Most Famous Snake - Colt's .357 magnum wheel gun will be 50 years old in 2005. Mr. Workman likes his. [gunweek]

All I know for certain is that whoever at Colt made the decision to chamber this magnificent sixgun in .357 Magnum should be memorialized as a genius. Whether Colt will introduce a 50th Anniversary commemorative next year remains a mystery, but the gang at Colt should consider this a hint: Gold-plated hammer and trigger, gold plastic insert on the front sight, presentation box, the words "Golden Anniversary" engraved on the frame or barrel with gold inlay. In deep polished blue only, with scrimshaw ivory polymer grips!

Naturally, if one were offered to me as a memento, I'd just have to accept. Yeah, right. Fat chance of that ever happening!

# skype (a voice over IP application) is now available for Linux, and a Mac version is in the works. You can now put your picture in your profile. Wonder if they're going to edit for porn. I didn't reinstall it when I wiped my disk a while back. Never used it, and when I turned it on I got random calls from people who hardly spoke English, so why bother. [wes]

Version 0.98.0.28 also includes software enhancements for the soon-to-be launched SkypeOut feature that will enable you to use Skype and call phone numbers anywhere in addition to your Skype calling. SkypeOut is currently only available when you buy a special Plantronics-Skype bundled headset and receive a free promotional voucher. More information about SkypeOut will be offered in the near future. Please watch this space for more details.

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