I know we know this ...

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... but it bears repeating:

None of which matters, because this fight is not about guns.  They are but the prop.  Rather, this fight is about power, control, liberty, and the Statist’s desire to remove the last, most effective obstacle keeping free men free, not subjects, or masses to be managed and herded by a ruling elite.

Sometimes I wonder if the gunnyshpere isn't just a big echo chamber. I've tried to engage a bit on Facebook, but I'm not sure that does any good since my FB 'friends' tend to be those who feel the same (relatively) about things as I do.

But I keep plugging away ...

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Well ...

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... it's worth a shot:

This year there's another incumbent president with modest approval ratings who could turn out his base with controversial ballot measures. But this time, the issue features no biblical or scatological imagery. In 2012, voters in swing states will decide whether they'll allow their fellow citizens to bear joints. Unlike the gay marriage votes, there's no indication that Obama's re-election team is behind any of the pot legalization initiatives, but there are Democrats who are hoping that it will boost turnout among weed's biggest fans: young people.

The very least he could do is fulfill his campaign promise to stop federal prosecutions of marijuana dispensaries.

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Remember ...

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... this is how they think of you:

"When public safety comes up, that is No. 1," Porter said. "If we see someone carrying a weapon in a holster, they have to have a permit on them and would be asked to show it. Anybody with a weapon on their side is considered a suspicious person."

Soooo, if you're in OK and you have a carry permit and because it's hot as Satan's ass you're openly carrying, you're suspicious.

I believe that if I lived in Midwest City, I'd be calling the chief of police and the sheriff and ask them exactly what about open carrying (absent criminal activity) makes a permit-holder 'suspicious'?

Because I'm sure that the form this 'reasonable public safety measure' will be the po-po drawing down on a citizen and detaining or arresting them until they can show their permit and the police are satisfied (which I'm quite sure some of them won't be).

Dr Gura .... paging Dr Gura .....

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Seems like ...

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... I've heard this before:

Despite warnings from opponents of medical marijuana, legalizing the drug for medical purposes does not encourage teens to smoke more pot, according to new research that compared rates of marijuana use in Massachusetts and Rhode Island after the latter state changed its laws.

Just not from anyone that matters.

Governments should not make things illegal; they should make actions illegal.

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You can talk the talk ...

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... or you can walk the walk (or "Why Ron Paul gets my vote"):

No. 2, says Pruett, was that the practice would not participate in any federal health programs, which meant, as Paul described it, "that we will see all Medicare and Medicaid patients free of charge, and they will be treated just like all of our other patients, but we're not going to charge them and accept federal funds."

Still in debt from his medical training, Pruett said that was a little harder for him to swallow. "But I liked Ron, so I decided I would agree to that, too. And in all those 20 years, we never accepted one penny of federal money. We saw all those patients for free, delivered their babies for free, did their surgeries free; whatever they needed we did, and we didn't charge them."

I could give a flying fuck about Ron Paul's foreign policy stance or that he's reported to be an anti-semite. He knows why the country has gone off the rails, and he's the only candidate that I see that will try to do something about it.

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Couple ends it all ...

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... after living a fulfilling life:

The note also went on to say that Ravi and Deepa believed in the philosophy that their life belonged to them alone and they "had the right to choose death as much as they had the right to live" and they had travelled the world, made money and lived life to the fullest.

It's not a philosophy, that's reality. It's sad that the couple, being so young, decided it was time to shuffle off, but as long as they don't directly harm anyone else, I say more power.

Shame the government doesn't take a hint.

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This video ...

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... has been floating about the right-o-sphere:



It exemplifies two very important points.

First, it points out just how incredibly stupid the protesters for Occupy Wall Street and their solidarity meetings are. A ten minute video where they ask if everyone is comfortable with having John Lewis speak, and then catering to the "block", and then having someone respond to the block, ad infinitum ad absurdium.

Second, it shows precisely why we don't live in a democracy, but rather in a constitutional republic. The "block" in this video is how the republic is supposed to work. Even though the whole nation is arrayed against your rights, it only takes one individual to assert those rights and the majority is thwarted.

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If you're a GA gun owner ...

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... and you believe in firearm liberty, you need to go here and sign the petition.

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Is this what they call 'Blowback'?

It begins ... :

The largest independent union of airline pilots in the world is urging its members to boycott body imaging machines currently being rolled out in airports all over the globe, citing dangers of excessive exposure to harmful levels of radiation during the screening process.

The president of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 11,500 pilots, many of whom work for American Airlines, has urged members of the union to revolt against the devices.

And it all started in Memphis, with one man who said 'No'.

About time.

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Two speeches .....

One by Mike, one by Alvie.

Go, read.

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I've got an idea

And since I don't fly, I'm in no danger of having to try this.

Why couldn't an enterprising individual take a concealed blue gun through one of those newfangled full-body scanners at a large airport? Surely it's not illegal to carry a blue gun around?

And how much longer before we start to see underwear with opaque-to-xray-machines writing on them, stuff that says .... oh, "Fuck you" ... or "Pat this down" .... or "Can you blow me while you're at it"?

Just a thought, Mr Fox.

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Good.

The baby that was taken from a New Hampshire citizen because he, among other things, was associating with the Oathkeepers:

A tiny baby girl snatched from her parents' custody a week ago when her father was accused of being an "Oath Keeper" was returned to her parents today.

According to WND sources close to the case, the accusations against the father, Johnathon Irish, whose fiancée, Stephanie Taylor, is the mother of Cheyenne, have been dropped.

Sounds like someone didn't like the attention this was bringing.

Since my wife works in the child welfare world*, I can say a couple of things about this. First, kids don't just get taken unless there's an emergency ..... someone had to present this to a judge, and the judge had to sign off on it. So, in addition to the child welfare folks who presented this idea who should be sternly reprimanded (this time ... terminated the next), the judge needs to be sanctioned for such a highly unconstitutional tactic.

But just remember ... if you're a tea partier, or a patriot, or a militia member, or a III-per, or anything that is anti-collectivist ....

They're watching ...... and they're taking names.

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* in GA

About those pesky libertarians

Vox Day answers a question posed about how a libertarian society would work:

Libertarianism is a secular defense mechanism against evil; a moral Christian society can tolerate and survive big government much better than a purely secular one due to the limits built into Christian morality. Those limits will be violated from time to time, Man being fallen, but the centuries-long history of hundreds of Christian near-absolute rulers who never once engaged in the sort of routine butchery of their people that secular irreligious rulers regularly do shows that it is secular and immoral societies that are the most in need of libertarian government.

Most folks that I've talked to about libertarian philosophy conflate libertarianism with either anarchism or libertine-ism. Libertarianism isn't about not having any laws, it's about not having laws that have no business being passed in the first place. Ron Paul provides an example with his performance at the Value Voter's debate in 2008.

The question was, 'Should the US pass a constitutional amendment officially making marriage between a man and a women?' Every candidate except Paul answered 'Yes', and there were audible gasps from the audience.

You see, Ron Paul recognizes that the government has no business being involved in marriage at all, so why would he advocate for a constitutional amendment? Government's already involved much more than it has any business being.

Anyway, read Vox' post, and the comments .... he does a much better job than I.

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Get out .... get out now!

The firearms situation in the UK has officially gotten out of hand:

A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for "doing his duty".

Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.

So what, exactly, is a subject supposed to do upon finding a gun?

If it were me, I'd save it for the inevitable hard times coming!

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Contrast

Robb at Sharp as a Marble has this interesting comparison, reproduced here:




Lots of good comments there a well.

Go. Read.

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Another 'authorized' journalist*

h/t WND - Headline at the UK Telegraph is about polygamy in TX:

Court case sheds light on Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, where it is alleged that bigamy and sexual abuse of girls, some as young as 12, are widespread. [emphasis added]

I know that marrying off 12 year olds is pretty distasteful, but probably should not be illegal. My faith is what it is, and those folks' faith is what it is .... who am I (or the state) to judge?

But 22 paragraphs later, you find this admission:

The church also practices "placement marriage" - with the church leader, who has the status of prophet, assigning females to husbands. Traditionally, this has involved marrying off girls as young as 12, although the church stated last year that it would end the practice of child brides.

So you allege the church members of doing something, that later in the article you admit they've stopped doing already?

Seems like someone has an agenda now, doesn't it?!

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*h/t David

Kevin always finds the best stuff

A little humor for your head!

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This seems a bit much

NH woman and her husband get 35 years for not wanting to pay taxes.

Yes, everyone has to pay taxes ..... I believe that there's information out there that would make that assertion debatable. I'm sure that the government will always claim that you do.

Plotting to kill federal agents? I don't see it. Promising to fight back if federal agents attempt to arrest? Sounds like good strategy to me.

And the explosives? You know, when I was growing up, 6th grade chemistry sets were worthless if you couldn't make a little something that would go boom. As long as they didn't misuse explosives, as far as I'm concerned let 'em have explosives ...... big deal.

But I guess that's just me ........ I'm all for liberty, but not so much the government.

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