You've probably heard about the South Fulton Fire Department - the one that wouldn't put out a house fire because the homeowner hadn't paid his yearly $75.00 fire protection fee.
This thing is a great parable/metaphor for about a dozen different things, but let's hit some of the high points.
* Let's start by saying that most of us would've put out the fire if we owned a fire truck. We would have done it at no charge. Once. Maybe five or six times. But after that....
* People fear what would happen if libertarians got their way and more and more government services were privatized. (People wouldn't have access to government services if fees weren't paid, etc.) Well, that's already happening with government services, isn't it?
* Do you think that a lot of people who had not yet paid their $75.00 fee to the South Fulton Fire Department have now done so? In a hurry? Ya think?
* If the South Fulton Fire Department had put out this fire, do you think anyone in his right mind would have paid the $75.00 fee next year?
* If you were in the business of putting out fires for people who had paid a yearly $75.00 insurance policy, how many fires could you put out for no charge before you went bankrupt ? Would anyone ever pay your $75.00 insurance policy if they knew that you were always on call and willing to sacrifice your time, equipment, and/or life for no charge?
* And now the big one.... Once ObamaCare goes into effect, insurance companies won't be able to turn away people who haven't been paying insurance premiums. If you're willing to pay a (relatively) small fine up front, they have to take you as a customer and start paying all your medical bills. Will anyone in his right mind pay for insurance before he gets sick?
* I'm going into metaphor overload. Have a good day !
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Top Secret Blogger Meetup - Campisi's in Dallas, October 4, 2010
About a month ago, I got an email from Nick Rowe of the P.O.W. in the People's Republic of California blog. He was going to be in Dallas for a conference and wondered if we could get together.
Of course we could get together ! We met at Campisi's in Dallas, and had a great time. The world's problems can consider themselves solved. Paul Krugman, resident Obama apologist for the New York Times, can consider himself mocked. My misunderstandings about who insures banks against robbers can consider themselves eliminated. The mysteries of Mormon underwear remain unsolved.
Nick has now experienced Shiner Bock.
I would have invited more people to this gathering, but Nick (not his real name) works as an economist in a semi-government job, and must keep his identity a secret. Those who labor in The Belly Of The Beast (or at least its pancreas) have to be careful about campaigning for sanity.
Dr. Ralph, of The Journal Of Post-Ralphaelite Thought, took time out from supporting godless socialism long enough to meet us, knock back a few, and take these pictures. He was careful about not revealing Nick's true identity.
Here's Dr. Ralph, still looking somewhat like Leon Trotsky, and Nick:
One of the many cool things about being alive in the year 2010....the world is getting smaller and smaller. Dr. Ralph, Nick and I didn't even know each other three years ago. We started pounding our interests into the internet, and next thing you know we're all sitting in the same booth, eating spaghetti. Go figure.
Good times, good times.
Of course we could get together ! We met at Campisi's in Dallas, and had a great time. The world's problems can consider themselves solved. Paul Krugman, resident Obama apologist for the New York Times, can consider himself mocked. My misunderstandings about who insures banks against robbers can consider themselves eliminated. The mysteries of Mormon underwear remain unsolved.
Nick has now experienced Shiner Bock.
I would have invited more people to this gathering, but Nick (not his real name) works as an economist in a semi-government job, and must keep his identity a secret. Those who labor in The Belly Of The Beast (or at least its pancreas) have to be careful about campaigning for sanity.
Dr. Ralph, of The Journal Of Post-Ralphaelite Thought, took time out from supporting godless socialism long enough to meet us, knock back a few, and take these pictures. He was careful about not revealing Nick's true identity.
Here's Dr. Ralph, still looking somewhat like Leon Trotsky, and Nick:
Good times, good times.
Illinois or Mexico? Guess who has to pay higher interest
From Bloomberg News, via Newsalert, via Instapundit:
Mexico is a better investment. I repeat, Mexico is a better, safer investment. Look at these three guys. Would you purchase a used hubcap from any of them??? Let it roll around in your brain for a few minutes. According to people who evaluate risk, Mexico is a safer investment than Illinois.
CAVEAT EMPTOR, dammit ! !
If you purchase the Illinois bonds, Obama is eventually going to print some money, give it to Illinois, and they are going to pay you back with .50 cent dollars. Hide and watch.
Mexico is a better investment.
******
The Wanted Poster came from here.
Illinois capital-markets director John Sinsheimer and Citigroup Inc. bankers took a globe-girdling trip from the U.K. to China in June to persuade investors that the state’s $900 million of Build America Bonds were a bargain.In other words, the children of the state of Illinois are going to be forking out Payday Loan-type interest rates. All so their parents can support the political culture that produced Barack Obama, Rod Blagojevich, these 3 governors who have been to jail, Dan Rostenkowski, and the next mayor of Chicago.
The seven-country visit worked. The state sold one-fifth of the federally subsidized securities abroad the next month, tapping investors who are the fastest-growing source of borrowed cash for U.S. municipalities. Illinois, with the lowest credit rating of any state from Moody’s Investors Service, dangled yields higher than Mexico, which defaulted on debt in 1982, and Portugal, which costs more to insure against missed payments.
CAVEAT EMPTOR, dammit ! !
If you purchase the Illinois bonds, Obama is eventually going to print some money, give it to Illinois, and they are going to pay you back with .50 cent dollars. Hide and watch.
Mexico is a better investment.
******
The Wanted Poster came from here.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Libertarian Purity Test
For everyone who thinks The Libertarian Party is too extreme, well, compare us to our friends in the Anarcho-Capitalist movement.
When time permits, please take the Libertarian Purity Test.
I scored a 105 out of a possible 160.
The test could use some clarification in places. For instance, question #36 asks "Should we abolish welfare?" I believe that publicly funded welfare could easily be replaced by privately funded welfare, and that's the way we oughta go. So I don't believe we should "abolish welfare". We should turn it back over to the churches, civic groups, benevolence funds, etc.
Question #42: "Should the FDA and Medical licensing be abolished?" Well, yes. But only after some competing certifications have a chance to get themselves established. Until then, we're like that video of Democrats stuck on an escalator. We've forgotten how to walk.
I would trust a Wal-Mart certification far more than an FDA certification. Heck, the FDA has certified Oxycontin, but won't allow for marijuana. Go figure.
Anyway, it's nice to occasionally take a test that makes me seem moderate.
Please post results below.
When time permits, please take the Libertarian Purity Test.
I scored a 105 out of a possible 160.
The test could use some clarification in places. For instance, question #36 asks "Should we abolish welfare?" I believe that publicly funded welfare could easily be replaced by privately funded welfare, and that's the way we oughta go. So I don't believe we should "abolish welfare". We should turn it back over to the churches, civic groups, benevolence funds, etc.
Question #42: "Should the FDA and Medical licensing be abolished?" Well, yes. But only after some competing certifications have a chance to get themselves established. Until then, we're like that video of Democrats stuck on an escalator. We've forgotten how to walk.
I would trust a Wal-Mart certification far more than an FDA certification. Heck, the FDA has certified Oxycontin, but won't allow for marijuana. Go figure.
Anyway, it's nice to occasionally take a test that makes me seem moderate.
Please post results below.
Monday, October 4, 2010
On the difficulty of typing every day
I've noticed a trend.
First of all, my overseas blog/Facebook buddy Obnoxio The Clown is hanging up his clown wig for the forseeable future.
Here's something from his final post:
My inspiration to blog issues from a libertarian angle has waned. There's only so many times you can reduce things to first principles and argue the case and get the same stupid, meaningless counterarguments....
....The ****alition is not as astoundingly infuriating as the Labour Party were. They're just as ****ing inept, thieving, misguided and bossy, but they're much nicer about it. So that's fine.
I'm tired of trying to explain the concept of anarchism as something natural and workable to people who are happy to mindlessly defend extortion with menaces.
I can't even pretend that I will never, ever blog here again. My life may change again. I have no intention of deleting the blog, and I would be flattered to think that someone, somewhere may still find some of my writing interesting or inspiring.
I'll bet dollars to donuts that Obnoxio will be back within a month or so. He won't be able to contain all the rage.
Next, my friend Stephen M. Smith, of A Beginner's Guide To Freedom, is going through a dry spell. He's only posted once in August, and about that many times in July. Stephen is probably the best Libertarian writer in these United States.
We asked Stephen about it at the last Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup, and he said something that all long-term libertarians have felt at one time or another. (Or maybe I said it, and he agreed with me because I had beer in me....)
"How many times can you explain that all government activity is theft? How many times can you point out the difference between government's stated goals and government's results? After a while, you feel like the one-eyed man in the land of the blind."
Well, it ain't easy. I know that the stuff I throw up here every day isn't always good or even coherent. But somebody's gotta say it.
Hit that link above to Stephen's site. That post about "Lesson's Learned" is the best thing I've ever read about how our nation should go about escaping from the current fog. I miss seeing that stuff every week.
I hope Obnoxio and Stephen will find it in themselves to crank their sites back into action.
In the meantime, here's a picture of Barack Obama picking his nose.
He isn't Superman.
He isn't our leader - he should only be an administrator (like every other politician).
He doesn't have a clue about what's best for me, you or anyone else.
Why would anyone give a Chicago Machine Politician this much power?
The Messiah is wearing no clothes.
He picks his nose.
Guys, you can always start with that.
First of all, my overseas blog/Facebook buddy Obnoxio The Clown is hanging up his clown wig for the forseeable future.
Here's something from his final post:
My inspiration to blog issues from a libertarian angle has waned. There's only so many times you can reduce things to first principles and argue the case and get the same stupid, meaningless counterarguments....
....The ****alition is not as astoundingly infuriating as the Labour Party were. They're just as ****ing inept, thieving, misguided and bossy, but they're much nicer about it. So that's fine.
I'm tired of trying to explain the concept of anarchism as something natural and workable to people who are happy to mindlessly defend extortion with menaces.
I can't even pretend that I will never, ever blog here again. My life may change again. I have no intention of deleting the blog, and I would be flattered to think that someone, somewhere may still find some of my writing interesting or inspiring.
I'll bet dollars to donuts that Obnoxio will be back within a month or so. He won't be able to contain all the rage.
Next, my friend Stephen M. Smith, of A Beginner's Guide To Freedom, is going through a dry spell. He's only posted once in August, and about that many times in July. Stephen is probably the best Libertarian writer in these United States.
We asked Stephen about it at the last Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup, and he said something that all long-term libertarians have felt at one time or another. (Or maybe I said it, and he agreed with me because I had beer in me....)
"How many times can you explain that all government activity is theft? How many times can you point out the difference between government's stated goals and government's results? After a while, you feel like the one-eyed man in the land of the blind."
Well, it ain't easy. I know that the stuff I throw up here every day isn't always good or even coherent. But somebody's gotta say it.
Hit that link above to Stephen's site. That post about "Lesson's Learned" is the best thing I've ever read about how our nation should go about escaping from the current fog. I miss seeing that stuff every week.
I hope Obnoxio and Stephen will find it in themselves to crank their sites back into action.
In the meantime, here's a picture of Barack Obama picking his nose.
He isn't Superman.
He isn't our leader - he should only be an administrator (like every other politician).
He doesn't have a clue about what's best for me, you or anyone else.
Why would anyone give a Chicago Machine Politician this much power?
The Messiah is wearing no clothes.
He picks his nose.
Guys, you can always start with that.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Andy Barron - The Egocessary Prayer Candidate for Texas Governor
Since so many of you begin your Sunday morning devotions with a visit to this site....
Our text for today comes from the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 5:
Prayer as a priority - Since 1962 when prayer was eliminated unnecessarily from public schools there has been a steady decline in morals of our society.
The good doctor gives us more specifics on his Issues page:
■Prayer and Religious Speech Protected Under 1st Amendment
■Establishment Clause Requires the Government to be Neutral Toward Religion, and Does Not Justify the Exclusion of Religious Speech
■Legislative Prayer Is a Permissible Acknowledgment of Widely Held Religious Beliefs in this Country
■The Rights of Students to Pray at School
■The Rights of Students to Pray at Graduation
■Equal Access allows individuals and groups to use government facilities for prayer and worship on the same basis that other individuals and groups are given access.
By all accounts, Dr. Barron is a great guy. He has already accomplished more good in the world than I ever will.
Unfortunately, he is focused on reviving one of the problems that our nation's founders were trying to escape.
Dr. Barron grew up in Texas and went to Baylor. The organizations he belongs to are predominantly Protestant, so let's assume he's a Protestant.
Dr. Barron and other Christian Protestants can pray any time, anywhere. In between this paragraph and the previous one, I prayed a simple prayer. "God, please let this be a great post, and if it's okay with you, please let it be emailed around the world. Please help Kathie Glass be elected Texas governor. I want a pony. Amen."
You can't stop me from praying, at least in the Protestant sense of the word. You can't stop me, and I can't stop you. The legislatures can legislate all they want, and it doesn't do a bit of good.
But there's another kind of prayer, the kind that Jesus was irked about in this morning's Bible reading. Dr. Brent Beasley (of my own Broadway Baptist Church) calls this "Egocessary Prayer" (That's a play on words with the phrase "intercessory prayer", where you ask God for blog hits, election results and ponies). "Egocessary Prayer" is the kind I grew up hearing in school, at graduation services, before football games, and before most public events. It basically means "praying out loud in public".
For instance....
Before a Mississippi private academy football game, a preacher gets on the microphone and asks everyone to bow their heads, and asks God to bless (so and so). Then the preacher thanks God for (so and so), and asks that He keep our young men safe on the football field while they are trying to kill each other.
Then the preacher outlines the plan of salvation, not because God is fuzzy on the details, but because the preacher's congregation needs to know that the preacher is earning his pay and trying to convert the Catholics and Episcopalians.
Bonus points are given for length, style, use of verbs from The King James version, and for passion. I once heard the equivalent of a double reverse backflip triple-axle, when a preacher at a graduation service shoveled in something about the superiority of full-immersion baptism.
And then finally, the preacher says "we ask these things in your son's name, Amen."
Then you can go on with your football game, graduation, or city council meeting.
What will happen down in south Texas when someone is asked to lead a public school prayer, and a priest decides to take advantage of the teachable moment and educate everyone on how to pray with a rosary? (Note to Yankees, Europeans, and Aussies: No one living north of Waco can imagine this ever happening.)
Is Dr. Barron prepared to purchase storage facilities for Muslim prayer rugs?
Is there time before a high school graduation to perform the "Festival of Ramen", the only way known to appease The Flying Spaghetti Monster? Will the schools have to make reasonable accomodations for all the tongs, salad sporks, colanders, and cheese graters? And if you think kids coming to school in gang colors are a problem, just wait until those who have been Touched By His Noodly Appendage show up in full pirate regalia.
There are only 2 reasons for Egocessary prayer, as opposed to praying silently:
1) To show off.
2) To evangelize.
There's no point in the first one, and The Founders were opposed to the second. End of story.
One last thing about the Barron candidacy, check out this video. It's only 30 seconds long.
Regardless of how you feel about Andy Barron as Texas governor, regardless of how hard you work to get him elected, or whether you do everything in your power to prevent him from becoming governor, none of that matters.
You don't matter.
Polls don't matter.
Effort doesn't matter.
Planning doesn't matter.
Andy Barron wasted his time becoming a doctor/dentist. If people's health/teeth were going to improve, it was going to happen anyway.
Please check out the video. It's only 30 seconds long. I don't know why I'm bothering to ask you to watch it, since if you watch it, it was bound to happen anyway.
Aren't you glad you got it over with?
Our text for today comes from the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 5:
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.Please put aside your bibles, and turn to your internet. Visit the site of Dr. Andy Barron, who is running for Texas governor. Dr. Barron's first priority is as follows:
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Prayer as a priority - Since 1962 when prayer was eliminated unnecessarily from public schools there has been a steady decline in morals of our society.
The good doctor gives us more specifics on his Issues page:
■Prayer and Religious Speech Protected Under 1st Amendment
■Establishment Clause Requires the Government to be Neutral Toward Religion, and Does Not Justify the Exclusion of Religious Speech
■Legislative Prayer Is a Permissible Acknowledgment of Widely Held Religious Beliefs in this Country
■The Rights of Students to Pray at School
■The Rights of Students to Pray at Graduation
■Equal Access allows individuals and groups to use government facilities for prayer and worship on the same basis that other individuals and groups are given access.
By all accounts, Dr. Barron is a great guy. He has already accomplished more good in the world than I ever will.
Unfortunately, he is focused on reviving one of the problems that our nation's founders were trying to escape.
Dr. Barron grew up in Texas and went to Baylor. The organizations he belongs to are predominantly Protestant, so let's assume he's a Protestant.
Dr. Barron and other Christian Protestants can pray any time, anywhere. In between this paragraph and the previous one, I prayed a simple prayer. "God, please let this be a great post, and if it's okay with you, please let it be emailed around the world. Please help Kathie Glass be elected Texas governor. I want a pony. Amen."
You can't stop me from praying, at least in the Protestant sense of the word. You can't stop me, and I can't stop you. The legislatures can legislate all they want, and it doesn't do a bit of good.
But there's another kind of prayer, the kind that Jesus was irked about in this morning's Bible reading. Dr. Brent Beasley (of my own Broadway Baptist Church) calls this "Egocessary Prayer" (That's a play on words with the phrase "intercessory prayer", where you ask God for blog hits, election results and ponies). "Egocessary Prayer" is the kind I grew up hearing in school, at graduation services, before football games, and before most public events. It basically means "praying out loud in public".
For instance....
Before a Mississippi private academy football game, a preacher gets on the microphone and asks everyone to bow their heads, and asks God to bless (so and so). Then the preacher thanks God for (so and so), and asks that He keep our young men safe on the football field while they are trying to kill each other.
Then the preacher outlines the plan of salvation, not because God is fuzzy on the details, but because the preacher's congregation needs to know that the preacher is earning his pay and trying to convert the Catholics and Episcopalians.
Bonus points are given for length, style, use of verbs from The King James version, and for passion. I once heard the equivalent of a double reverse backflip triple-axle, when a preacher at a graduation service shoveled in something about the superiority of full-immersion baptism.
And then finally, the preacher says "we ask these things in your son's name, Amen."
Then you can go on with your football game, graduation, or city council meeting.
What will happen down in south Texas when someone is asked to lead a public school prayer, and a priest decides to take advantage of the teachable moment and educate everyone on how to pray with a rosary? (Note to Yankees, Europeans, and Aussies: No one living north of Waco can imagine this ever happening.)
Is Dr. Barron prepared to purchase storage facilities for Muslim prayer rugs?
Is there time before a high school graduation to perform the "Festival of Ramen", the only way known to appease The Flying Spaghetti Monster? Will the schools have to make reasonable accomodations for all the tongs, salad sporks, colanders, and cheese graters? And if you think kids coming to school in gang colors are a problem, just wait until those who have been Touched By His Noodly Appendage show up in full pirate regalia.
1) To show off.
2) To evangelize.
There's no point in the first one, and The Founders were opposed to the second. End of story.
One last thing about the Barron candidacy, check out this video. It's only 30 seconds long.
Regardless of how you feel about Andy Barron as Texas governor, regardless of how hard you work to get him elected, or whether you do everything in your power to prevent him from becoming governor, none of that matters.
You don't matter.
Polls don't matter.
Effort doesn't matter.
Planning doesn't matter.
Andy Barron wasted his time becoming a doctor/dentist. If people's health/teeth were going to improve, it was going to happen anyway.
Please check out the video. It's only 30 seconds long. I don't know why I'm bothering to ask you to watch it, since if you watch it, it was bound to happen anyway.
Aren't you glad you got it over with?
Saturday, October 2, 2010
The Global Warming Cult has plans for those who will not submit to The New World Order
If you don't cut your carbon emissions by 10%, the followers of Saint Albert, The Goracle Of Music City, are going to splatter your guts all over the office.
There's going to be nothing left of you but a greasy spot.
That's the message of this video, and it is not a parody. It's a fantasy.
What you're about to see was produced by a group called 10:10, who want everyone to reduce their carbon emissions by 10%. Or else.
There's a link at the bottom of this post where you can read 10:10's apology to the environmental movement for pulling back the curtain too far. Hell, we've now seen behind the curtain, the man behind the curtain, his underwear, his hernia scar, and that tattoo he got during that wild trip to New Orleans.
Goodgodalmighty, they should also apologize to their mothers, their children, and everyone who knows them.
Don't they know that in the last century, governments killed 200 million of their own citizens?
Here's Ed Morrissey on what you're about to see:
What makes this fascinating is that the people who produce this dreck have no clue as to just how far removed they have become from normal human sensibilities, or at least they didn’t until the video began provoking the fully-predictable reaction. They have become so wrapped up in Gaia that they seem to have little connection to humanity.
(Go here if you want to learn more about the mindset of the lady with the sign. It's a subject for another day.)
The most alarming part of the video? To me it is when the office workers slowly start raising their hands, looking around to see if everyone else is raising theirs. They look like they don't agree with what is being asked of them, but they are afraid to express anything except mindless conformity.
Otherwise, you see, the nice man might hit his red button. Get in line, you mindless sheep. Start goose-stepping. You see, there's No Pressure.
Ok, enough ranting. Here's the video.
Hope everyone has a great Saturday. I'm going to dispatch 6 semi-tractor drivers and have them ride around Fort Worth all day, just for the hell of it.
I'm turning on every light in the damn house.
The contents of my city-mandated recycling bin are going into the regular garbage.
I'm breaking every CFL ObamaBulb I can find, and dumping the mercury into the sewers.
In a few minutes, people in Abbot, Texas, will be able to hear Lynyrd Skynyrd's One More From The Road blasting forth from my stereo, Limey Nanny-Staters with red buttons be damned.
Go here to read an apology from the producers of this mess.
Go here to see Audi's "Green Police" ad, just in case you've forgotten about it. You see, this was not a fluke. The authoritarians among us really do believe that this imagery is appealing.
There's going to be nothing left of you but a greasy spot.
That's the message of this video, and it is not a parody. It's a fantasy.
What you're about to see was produced by a group called 10:10, who want everyone to reduce their carbon emissions by 10%. Or else.
There's a link at the bottom of this post where you can read 10:10's apology to the environmental movement for pulling back the curtain too far. Hell, we've now seen behind the curtain, the man behind the curtain, his underwear, his hernia scar, and that tattoo he got during that wild trip to New Orleans.
Goodgodalmighty, they should also apologize to their mothers, their children, and everyone who knows them.
Don't they know that in the last century, governments killed 200 million of their own citizens?
Here's Ed Morrissey on what you're about to see:
What makes this fascinating is that the people who produce this dreck have no clue as to just how far removed they have become from normal human sensibilities, or at least they didn’t until the video began provoking the fully-predictable reaction. They have become so wrapped up in Gaia that they seem to have little connection to humanity.
(Go here if you want to learn more about the mindset of the lady with the sign. It's a subject for another day.)
The most alarming part of the video? To me it is when the office workers slowly start raising their hands, looking around to see if everyone else is raising theirs. They look like they don't agree with what is being asked of them, but they are afraid to express anything except mindless conformity.
Otherwise, you see, the nice man might hit his red button. Get in line, you mindless sheep. Start goose-stepping. You see, there's No Pressure.
Ok, enough ranting. Here's the video.
Hope everyone has a great Saturday. I'm going to dispatch 6 semi-tractor drivers and have them ride around Fort Worth all day, just for the hell of it.
I'm turning on every light in the damn house.
The contents of my city-mandated recycling bin are going into the regular garbage.
I'm breaking every CFL ObamaBulb I can find, and dumping the mercury into the sewers.
In a few minutes, people in Abbot, Texas, will be able to hear Lynyrd Skynyrd's One More From The Road blasting forth from my stereo, Limey Nanny-Staters with red buttons be damned.
Go here to read an apology from the producers of this mess.
Go here to see Audi's "Green Police" ad, just in case you've forgotten about it. You see, this was not a fluke. The authoritarians among us really do believe that this imagery is appealing.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Mark Boler for Congress, Texas District #26
Due to some long-forgotten gerrymandering, my house sits in the southern panhandle of Texas Congressional District #26.
Come November, this accident of geography gives me the privilege of voting for Mark Boler, the Libertarian candidate for Congress.
Here's why I think Mark Boler would be great....
Go here to check out his responses to the Dallas Morning News Voter Guide survey.
You can also go here to his campaign website, but Mr. Boler's Facebook page has a much more concise summary of his beliefs and principles:
I am a Libertarian. I am outspoken. I believe in extremely limited government and maximum personal and individual freedom. And I believe the United States of late is moving in the opposite direction and is in need of REAL change.
I believe that government is best that governs least. The role of the government is to protect INDIVIDUAL rights and DEFEND the country from attack. I believe in free trade and no entangling alliances.
I firmly believe in the non-aggression principle of the Libertarian Party. I believe in cutting taxes, bringing all of our troops back home and ending the Federal Reserve system.
Because I believe in a strong DEFENSE, however, I do not believe the US should dismantle all nuclear weapons. Other countries will acquire them in the future no matter how hard we try not to let them.
I am running for US Congress, Texas' 26th District. The platform I believe in that will restore this country to greatness includes these tenets:
* Dramatically reduce the size and scope of government.
* Shut Down the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
* Abolish the Federal Reserve System and return to a policy of sound money.
* Restore the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 8th amendment rights of every American.
* Repeal the Patriot Act and other legislation that violates 4th amendment rights.
* Return the United States to a foreign policy of non-intervention. Note: This does NOT mean isolationism.
* End the war on drugs and get rid of drug prohibition
* Withdraw the United States from the United Nations and other one-world organizations.
* Remove "big government" Republicans and Democrats from office.
* Phase out Social Security, Medicare, Welfare, Food Stamps, WIC, and other communist programs and eventually replace them with free market, insurance and charity based systems.
* Restore individual sovereignty and reduce the role of government in our lives.
* Restore the rule of law and criminally prosecute politicians, corporations and other individuals who violate the law.
* Allow American citizens to spend their own money, own their own property, raise their own children, practice their own religion, be secure in their persons, be free from government harrassment and regulation, own and carry deadly weapons for protection, travel and do business from state to state unmolested, and speak and think freely without danger of imprisonment.
Does this sound extreme? Heck yes, it sounds extreme.
Now, tell me if this sounds extreme....Your government has you on the hook for $50,000.00 in debt. If you, like me, have a family of three people, you are $150,000.00 in debt.
There's also your share of the unfunded liabilities are somewhere north of $350,000.00. (More than a million dollars if you're in a household of three.)
Once all the teachers, soldiers, policemen, jailers, parole officers, congressmen, bureaucrats, and African Genital Washers start retiring, they're going to want your money. And they're going to get it. We're doomed. The piper is going to have to be paid.
However, there is some hope for our grandchildren. We can start electing Libertarians who pledge to shut down entire departments within our government, get us out of the Korean/German/Japanese defense business, get us out of the bailout industry, and force us to spend only about 75% of what we take in while we whittle down the debt.
Congressman Michael Burgess (R-Monsanto) is probably a great guy, but he will no more shut down the Department Of Energy than shut down the orbit of Venus. Republicans just aren't the shutdown types.
Extreme? Maybe so. But say your family is one million dollars in debt, and if you're an average American earner with a family of three, your family really is going to have to come up with a million bucks to fund this disaster.
Can you think of a way out that's "moderate"?
Back to Mark Boler's Facebook page:
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing" ~ Albert Einstein
Go here to send the Boler campaign a donation.
Come November, this accident of geography gives me the privilege of voting for Mark Boler, the Libertarian candidate for Congress.
Here's why I think Mark Boler would be great....
Go here to check out his responses to the Dallas Morning News Voter Guide survey.
You can also go here to his campaign website, but Mr. Boler's Facebook page has a much more concise summary of his beliefs and principles:
I am a Libertarian. I am outspoken. I believe in extremely limited government and maximum personal and individual freedom. And I believe the United States of late is moving in the opposite direction and is in need of REAL change.
I believe that government is best that governs least. The role of the government is to protect INDIVIDUAL rights and DEFEND the country from attack. I believe in free trade and no entangling alliances.
I firmly believe in the non-aggression principle of the Libertarian Party. I believe in cutting taxes, bringing all of our troops back home and ending the Federal Reserve system.
Because I believe in a strong DEFENSE, however, I do not believe the US should dismantle all nuclear weapons. Other countries will acquire them in the future no matter how hard we try not to let them.
I am running for US Congress, Texas' 26th District. The platform I believe in that will restore this country to greatness includes these tenets:
* Dramatically reduce the size and scope of government.
* Shut Down the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
* Abolish the Federal Reserve System and return to a policy of sound money.
* Restore the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 8th amendment rights of every American.
* Repeal the Patriot Act and other legislation that violates 4th amendment rights.
* Return the United States to a foreign policy of non-intervention. Note: This does NOT mean isolationism.
* End the war on drugs and get rid of drug prohibition
* Withdraw the United States from the United Nations and other one-world organizations.
* Remove "big government" Republicans and Democrats from office.
* Phase out Social Security, Medicare, Welfare, Food Stamps, WIC, and other communist programs and eventually replace them with free market, insurance and charity based systems.
* Restore individual sovereignty and reduce the role of government in our lives.
* Restore the rule of law and criminally prosecute politicians, corporations and other individuals who violate the law.
* Allow American citizens to spend their own money, own their own property, raise their own children, practice their own religion, be secure in their persons, be free from government harrassment and regulation, own and carry deadly weapons for protection, travel and do business from state to state unmolested, and speak and think freely without danger of imprisonment.
Does this sound extreme? Heck yes, it sounds extreme.
Now, tell me if this sounds extreme....Your government has you on the hook for $50,000.00 in debt. If you, like me, have a family of three people, you are $150,000.00 in debt.
There's also your share of the unfunded liabilities are somewhere north of $350,000.00. (More than a million dollars if you're in a household of three.)
Once all the teachers, soldiers, policemen, jailers, parole officers, congressmen, bureaucrats, and African Genital Washers start retiring, they're going to want your money. And they're going to get it. We're doomed. The piper is going to have to be paid.
However, there is some hope for our grandchildren. We can start electing Libertarians who pledge to shut down entire departments within our government, get us out of the Korean/German/Japanese defense business, get us out of the bailout industry, and force us to spend only about 75% of what we take in while we whittle down the debt.
Congressman Michael Burgess (R-Monsanto) is probably a great guy, but he will no more shut down the Department Of Energy than shut down the orbit of Venus. Republicans just aren't the shutdown types.
Extreme? Maybe so. But say your family is one million dollars in debt, and if you're an average American earner with a family of three, your family really is going to have to come up with a million bucks to fund this disaster.
Can you think of a way out that's "moderate"?
Back to Mark Boler's Facebook page:
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing" ~ Albert Einstein
Go here to send the Boler campaign a donation.
The "True Grit" trailer
They're doing a remake of "True Grit".
Lord have mercy, I hope they don't mess this up.
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn.
Matt Damon as whoever it was that Glen Campbell played.
Barry Pepper as Ned Pepper.
Directed by The Coen brothers.
Please, please, please don't mess this up.
Lord have mercy, I hope they don't mess this up.
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn.
Matt Damon as whoever it was that Glen Campbell played.
Barry Pepper as Ned Pepper.
Directed by The Coen brothers.
Please, please, please don't mess this up.
Swiss Gun Control: The Ability To Hit Where You Are Aiming
From the BBC:
Guns are deeply rooted within Swiss culture - but the gun crime rate is so low that statistics are not even kept.
The country has a population of six million, but there are estimated to be at least two million publicly-owned firearms, including about 600,000 automatic rifles and 500,000 pistols.
This is in a very large part due to Switzerland's unique system of national defence, developed over the centuries.
Instead of a standing, full-time army, the country requires every man to undergo some form of military training for a few days or weeks a year throughout most of their lives.
Between the ages of 21 and 32 men serve as frontline troops. They are given an M-57 assault rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition which they are required to keep at home.
Once discharged, men serve in the Swiss equivalent of the US National Guard, but still have to train occasionally and are given bolt rifles. Women do not have to own firearms, but are encouraged to.
From The American Rifleman:
The nation (Switzerland) is ready to mobilise on a moment's notice. Said one Swiss citizen-soldier, "If we start in the morning, we would be mobilised by late afternoon. That is why the gun is at home, the ammunition is at home. The younger people all have automatic rifles. They are ready to fight."
From Wikipedia (granted, not a reliable source, but I can't read the linked references in German.)
Police statistics for the year 2006 records 34 killings or attempted killings involving firearms, compared to 69 cases involving bladed weapons and 16 cases of unarmed assault. Cases of assault resulting in bodily harm numbered 89 (firearms) and 526 (bladed weapons). As of 2007, Switzerland had a population of about 7,600,000. This would put the rate of killings or attempted killings with firearms at about one for every quarter million residents yearly. This represents a decline of aggravated assaults involving firearms since the early 1990s. Some 300 deaths per year are due to legally held army ordnance weapons, the large majority of these being suicides.
Remember, Switzerland has a population of 6 million. And that's 34 killings or attempts that weren't necessarily succesful. Now, let's bring it all back home. Here's the Washington Times:
If Chicago were serious about bringing its violent crime problem under control, it would recognize the constitutional right of residents to use firearms to protect themselves.
Chicago's population is around 2.8 million, for purposes of comparison to Switzerland's 6 million.
The city's troubles are so extreme that a pair of state lawmakers are calling on a fellow Democrat, Gov. Pat Quinn, to deploy the National Guard to help restore calm. The latest figures show that Chicago had racked up 122 homicides for the year, exceeding the 116 killings over the comparable period in 2009, a very bad year. Among the top 10 U.S. cities, Chicago is within shooting distance of advancing from second place to win the dubious distinction of being the U.S. murder capital. It's no coincidence that the Windy City is already the U.S. gun-control capital.
Since 1982, Chicago has banned the private ownership of handguns and rifles by requiring a convoluted registration process designed to be impossible to complete. Exceptions to the rules enable politicians and their personal friends to own and even carry handguns - but nobody else. This unconstitutional scheme has been a colossal failure. Before the ban took effect, Chicago's murder rate had been falling relative to the nine other largest cities, the 50 largest cities, the five counties that border Cook County, and the United States as a whole. After the ban, Chicago's murder rate rose relative to all these locations. During the first 19 years of the ban, there were just three years when the murder rate was as low as when the ban started.
Here's some video. Be sure to catch the part where the government actually supplies ammo for recreational target practice and shooting events.
Best quote in the video: "The key to freedom is the ability to be able to defend yourself, and if you don't have the tools to do that, you are at the mercy of whoever wants to put you away."
When time permits, look up the Nazi invasion of Switzerland.
Guns are deeply rooted within Swiss culture - but the gun crime rate is so low that statistics are not even kept.
The country has a population of six million, but there are estimated to be at least two million publicly-owned firearms, including about 600,000 automatic rifles and 500,000 pistols.
This is in a very large part due to Switzerland's unique system of national defence, developed over the centuries.
Instead of a standing, full-time army, the country requires every man to undergo some form of military training for a few days or weeks a year throughout most of their lives.
Between the ages of 21 and 32 men serve as frontline troops. They are given an M-57 assault rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition which they are required to keep at home.
Once discharged, men serve in the Swiss equivalent of the US National Guard, but still have to train occasionally and are given bolt rifles. Women do not have to own firearms, but are encouraged to.
From The American Rifleman:
The nation (Switzerland) is ready to mobilise on a moment's notice. Said one Swiss citizen-soldier, "If we start in the morning, we would be mobilised by late afternoon. That is why the gun is at home, the ammunition is at home. The younger people all have automatic rifles. They are ready to fight."
From Wikipedia (granted, not a reliable source, but I can't read the linked references in German.)
Police statistics for the year 2006 records 34 killings or attempted killings involving firearms, compared to 69 cases involving bladed weapons and 16 cases of unarmed assault. Cases of assault resulting in bodily harm numbered 89 (firearms) and 526 (bladed weapons). As of 2007, Switzerland had a population of about 7,600,000. This would put the rate of killings or attempted killings with firearms at about one for every quarter million residents yearly. This represents a decline of aggravated assaults involving firearms since the early 1990s. Some 300 deaths per year are due to legally held army ordnance weapons, the large majority of these being suicides.
Remember, Switzerland has a population of 6 million. And that's 34 killings or attempts that weren't necessarily succesful. Now, let's bring it all back home. Here's the Washington Times:
If Chicago were serious about bringing its violent crime problem under control, it would recognize the constitutional right of residents to use firearms to protect themselves.
Chicago's population is around 2.8 million, for purposes of comparison to Switzerland's 6 million.
The city's troubles are so extreme that a pair of state lawmakers are calling on a fellow Democrat, Gov. Pat Quinn, to deploy the National Guard to help restore calm. The latest figures show that Chicago had racked up 122 homicides for the year, exceeding the 116 killings over the comparable period in 2009, a very bad year. Among the top 10 U.S. cities, Chicago is within shooting distance of advancing from second place to win the dubious distinction of being the U.S. murder capital. It's no coincidence that the Windy City is already the U.S. gun-control capital.
Since 1982, Chicago has banned the private ownership of handguns and rifles by requiring a convoluted registration process designed to be impossible to complete. Exceptions to the rules enable politicians and their personal friends to own and even carry handguns - but nobody else. This unconstitutional scheme has been a colossal failure. Before the ban took effect, Chicago's murder rate had been falling relative to the nine other largest cities, the 50 largest cities, the five counties that border Cook County, and the United States as a whole. After the ban, Chicago's murder rate rose relative to all these locations. During the first 19 years of the ban, there were just three years when the murder rate was as low as when the ban started.
Here's some video. Be sure to catch the part where the government actually supplies ammo for recreational target practice and shooting events.
Best quote in the video: "The key to freedom is the ability to be able to defend yourself, and if you don't have the tools to do that, you are at the mercy of whoever wants to put you away."
When time permits, look up the Nazi invasion of Switzerland.
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