No Witnesses, No Problem

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sat, 04 Dec 2004 13:00:00 GMT

From muth:

"Social Security is a disaster. If any corporation were run the way the federal government runs Social Security, it would be shut down and the corporate officers marched off to jail in handcuffs." -- Neal Boortz

and:

"Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." -- Thomas Jefferson

Steve Sack at The Star Tribune - The Sky's the Limit - cartoon commentary on the recent raising of the federal debt ceiling. Hehe. [militant]

# Dave Workman at The Second Amendment Foundation - Wisconsin case about murder, not political football - good, sane, piece about the reality of the Chai Soua Vang case. [stanleyscoop]

# Gerard Holmgren at Serendipity - Debunking Conspiracy Theorists - contends that the biggest, most ridiculous conspiracy theory about the World Trade Center Demolition is the mainstream story of 19 Arab hijackers. Hehe. I've had this story on my site since I mirrored the Serendipity 9/11 area, but never knew about it until now. My mirror is here. [stanleyscoop]

Astute observers of history are aware that for every notable event there will usually be at least one, often several wild conspiracy theories which spring up around it. "The CIA killed Hendrix", "The Pope had John Lennon murdered", "Hitler was half Werewolf", "Space aliens replaced Nixon with a clone", etc., etc. The bigger the event, the more ridiculous and more numerous are the fanciful rantings which circulate in relation to it.

So it's hardly surprising that the events of Sept 11 2001 have spawned their fair share of these ludicrous fairy tales. And as always, there is, sadly, a small but gullible percentage of the population eager to lap up these tall tales, regardless of facts or rational analysis. One of the wilder stories circulating about Sept 11, and one that has attracted something of a cult following amongst conspiracy buffs is that it was carried out by 19 fanatical Arab hijackers, masterminded by an evil genius named Osama bin Laden, with no apparent motivation other than that they "hate our freedoms."

Never a group of people to be bothered by facts, the perpetrators of this cartoon fantasy have constructed an elaborately woven web of delusions and unsubstantiated hearsay in order to promote this garbage across the internet and the media to the extent that a number of otherwise rational people have actually fallen under its spell.

Normally I don't even bother debunking this kind of junk, but the effect that this paranoid myth is beginning to have requires a little rational analysis, in order to consign it to the same rubbish bin as all such silly conspiracy theories. These crackpots even contend that the extremist Bush regime was caught unawares by the attacks, had no hand in organizing them, and actually would have stopped them if it had been able.

# Jim Davies at Strike the Root - Do You Know the Way to...Liberty? - a Ponzi scheme to educate the country in the rightness of a Zero Government Society. Convince one person a year, and convince him/her to do the same. Interesting idea. Do you think I've convinced anybody with this web site? I added The Anarchist Alternative to the "Liberty" column of the Freedom section of my links page. [clairefiles]

No action whatever will be asked of those who graduate from the School--except to replicate themselves once a year, as explained above. No political activism. No tax resistance. No sabotage. No violence. No emigration to the South Pole or to Outer Space. Nothing that each might not be inclined to do anyway. He will just be asked to live a normal life, to be patient, to study some more, to salivate for a free society pretty well exactly as we do here today on this web site and elsewhere, and to enjoy the anticipation of seeing it happen by 2027, well within the lifetimes of most who are reading this. The Plan would create 200-300 million "sleepers," awaiting completion.

# Naomi Klein at Guardian Unlimited - You asked for my evidence, Mr Ambassador. Here it is - about the United States' second war on Iraq: the elimination of witnesses to the brutal killing of innocents. [lew]

# Henrietta Bowman at Sierra Times - Fallujah Napalmed - stories and commentary on the latest atrocities committed by the U.S government in our names. [sierra]

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November 2004
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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