Earlier this month Freedom House released its findings from the latest edition of Freedom in the World, the annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties. According to the survey’s findings, 2009 marked the fourth consecutive year in which global freedom suffered a decline—the longest consecutive period of setbacks for freedom in the nearly 40-year history of the report.
These declines were most pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, although they also occurred in most other regions of the world. Furthermore, the erosion in freedom took place during a year marked by intensified repression against human rights defenders and democracy activists by many of the world’s most powerful authoritarian regimes, including Russia and China. Freedom in the World 2010 reflects developments that took place in the calendar year 2009. The full survey, including the individual country reports, will be available in late spring 2010.
Here you can find the overview essay which details trends identified in Freedom in the World 2010, including global and regional gains and setbacks for freedom.
The graphs and statistical tables of the survey, you can access by clicking the image to the left. For more information about methodology, questions and country reports,click here and visit the main Freedom in the World website.
V. Liberty in the Church (8:1-11:1)
VI. Worship in the Church (11:2-14:40)
A. Roles of Men and Women in the Church (11:2-16)
B. The Lord’s Supper (11:17-34)
Section 1: All to the Glory of God (v. 1)
There is only one more verse about liberty in the church, according to the outline in the John MacArthur Study Bible. It is verse one, which reads:
Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
This verse is very similar to 4:16, which I commented on in my post on 1 Corinthians 4. To refresh your memory, this is what I wrote:
Paul asks the Corinthians to imitate him. Doesn’t that seem wrong? Aren’t we supposed to imitate Christ? Yes, we are. However, if we live lives that imitate Christ, then others have an example of godly living that they can look at and imitate. We might not be able to fully imitate Christ, but we have the ability and obligation to at least imitate Him as best we can. Doing so, we set an example of Christlikeness that others can follow.
Section 2: Head Coverings (vv. 2-16)
Verses such as these are ones that frustrate me so much. I find it so hard to accept that men carry authority over women and that women cannot teach in the church, but can only teach other women and children. I do not feel any less qualified to be a pastor than a man. However, God’s Word clearly lays out these gender roles, and I have to learn to accept that. I might view them as injust, but God is just and righteous, so I have no right to think such a thing. I pray that I learn to accept this and find my role as a woman in the church.
While verses 3-10 annoyed this questioning side of me a bit as they presented that the head of woman is man and that woman comes from man, but man from God, verses 11 and 12 made me feel a bit better about all this. They read:
11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. 12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.
In response to these verses, John MacArthur writes, “All believers, male and female, are equal in the Lord and complementary in the Lord’s work. Their roles are different in function and relationships, not in spirituality and importance” (John MacArthur Study Bible).
That is how I have to learn to see this issue. I am not inferior as a woman, but my role is simply different.
Section 3: Conduct at the Lord’s Supper (vv. 17-22)
I am going to quote Matthew Henry’s Commentary on these verses:
The apostle rebukes the disorders in their partaking of the Lord’s supper. The ordinances of Christ, if they do not make us better, will be apt to make us worse. If the use of them does not mend, it will harden. Upon coming together, they fell into divisions, schisms. Christians may separate from each other’s communion, yet be charitable one towards another; they may continue in the same communion, yet be uncharitable. This last is schism, rather than the former. There is a careless and irregular eating of the Lord’s supper, which adds to guilt. Many rich Corinthians seem to have acted very wrong at the Lord’s table, or at the love-feasts, which took place at the same time as the supper. The rich despised the poor, and ate and drank up the provisions they brought, before the poor were allowed to partake; thus some wanted, while others had more than enough. What should have been a bond of mutual love and affection, was made an instrument of discord and disunion. We should be careful that nothing in our behaviour at the Lord’s table, appears to make light of that sacred institution. The Lord’s supper is not now made an occasion for gluttony or revelling, but is it not often made the support of self-righteous pride, or a cloak for hypocrisy? Let us never rest in the outward forms of worship; but look to our hearts.
Section 4: Institution of the Lord’s Supper (vv. 23-26)
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (vv. 23-26)
It is difficult for me to write about these verses, as I have never experienced the Lord’s Supper, as it is truly supposed to be. I grew up Catholic, and though I am no longer Catholic, my parents make me go to a Catholic church with them and do not allow me to go to a church of my own. Catholics believe in transubstantiation, that the bread and wine actually become Christ’s body and blood. That is dangerous heresy, as it suggests that Christ’s sacrifice is not sufficient, that it needs to be repeated again and again. Rather, the Lord’s Supper is meant to be a rememberance of Christ’s one-time sacrifice. John Piper says the following:
Remember me, Jesus says, sitting with you in fellowship. Remember me being betrayed – and knowing all along. Remember me giving thanks to the God who ordained it all. Remember me breaking the bread just as I willingly gave my own body to be broken. Remember me shedding my blood for you so that you might live because I died. Remember me suffering to obtain for you all the blessings of the new covenant. Remember me promising that I would drink this fruit of the vine new in the kingdom (Mark 14:25). Let the memories of me, in all the fullness of my love and power, flood your soul at this table. (“Why We Eat the Lord’s Supper, Part 1″)
That is what the Lord’s Supper is truly about. We are to remember what Christ did for us on the cross and thank and praise Him for it.
Section 5: Examine Yourself (vv. 27-34)
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (v. 27)
What does this mean? John MacArthur explains this verse in this way:
To come to the Lord’s Table clinging to one’s sin does not only dishonors the ceremony, but it also dishonors His body and blood, treating lightly the gracious sacrifice of Christ for us. It is necessary to set all sin before the Lord (v. 28), then partake, so as not to mock the sacrifice for sin, by holding on to it.
We see, then, that the Lord’s Supper is not something to take lightly. We should examine ourselves before we partake in it, lest we mock Christ’s sacrifice for sin by continuing to do the very things He died for.
Proper celebration of the Lord’s Supper is so serious that God actually put some offenders to death (v. 30). That was actually mercy on God’s part, as they were killed before they had a chance to fall away and incur eternal judgment (v. 32).
God forbid that we take the Lord’s Supper lightly, as “when believers do not properly judge the holiness of the celebration of Communion, they treat with indifference the Lord Himself—His life, suffering, and death” (John MacArthur Study Bible).
I went to Altoona today, a 45 minute drive, and to make the trip go a little faster, I listened to “Car Talk” on the radio. For some reason, I also tried to keep track of all the different stickers and magnets other folks had on their cars.
I saw a metal fish with the work JESUS inside, patriotic ribbons, three different sports team stickers, and a Proud Grandma bumper sticker. But the one thing that made an impression on me was a metal license plate in the rear window of a little blue car. All it said was:
RIP Pfc Jack Parks
It reminded me of a movie I recently watched, called Taking Chance. It was about a Marine who volunteered to escort the body of Pfc Chance Phelps home to Wyoming (I think). Chance was killed in Iraq in 2004.
It detailed everything that happened to his body from his death to his burial. It was powerful, and of course, a story of strength, courage, honor, and respect. I was proud of the Americans who came in contact with the pair, one living and one dead, as they crossed the country, beginning in Dover, Delaware.
So, today, when I saw the licence plate in the window, I thanked God for this young man. If I could have spoken to the driver, I would have asked for his story, and offered my appreciation for his service. Since that wasn’t possible, I offer this simple writing as a memorial to Pfc Jack Parks. May he rest in peace.
Do YOU really Understand it? I didn’t either until recently.
Now that I have read some information on both words and the true meanings behind them, I do not think I like it very much at all.
The other night at the State of the Union Speech President Obama address congress as “To my progressive friends (he pointed in the Democrats Area) and to my Republican Friends.”
However President Obama did not say “To my Democratic Friends.”
Interesting slip don’t you think?
Let me introduce some progressive American Presidents to you, and some Progressive people who also advocated Eugenics throughout the turn of the 20th century. Some of what the progressives think is at times very questionable and horrifying indeed.
Do you know what Eugenics is? (All underlined words are clickable links)
No …well it is an eye opener too. I think you will find it very interesting, especially the parts about controlling populations and culling the defectives.
Now let me enlighten you to some people who believed in Eugenics, including our own American Presidents.
At its peak of popularity eugenics was supported by prominent people, including Margaret Sanger,Marie Stopes, H. G. Wells, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Emile Zola,George Bernard Shaw, John Maynard Keynes, John Harvey Kellogg, Linus Pauling and Sidney Webb.
Its most infamous proponent and practitioner was however Adolf Hitler who praised and incorporated eugenic ideas in Mein Kampf, and emulated Eugenic legislation for the sterilization of “defectives” that had been pioneered in the United States.
Adolf Hitler got his ideas from America ? Really…?
Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, Progressives and Eugenics who were also American Presidents.
Teddy Roosevelt Quotes:
Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.
Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.
Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.
I am a part of everything that I have read.
Woodrow Wilson Quotes:
A little group of willful men, representing no opinion but their own, have rendered the great government of the United States helpless and contemptible.
Every man who takes office in Washington either grows or swells, and when I give a man an office, I watch him carefully to see whether he is growing or swelling.
I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty.
If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the United States, they are going to own it.
The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.
There can be no equality or opportunity if men and women and children be not shielded in their lives from the consequences of great industrial and social processes which they cannot alter, control, or singly cope with.
Quotes by Margaret Sanger:
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become the foundation of a new race.
A free race cannot be born of slave mothers.
The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.
George Bernard Shaw Quotes:
Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness.
I’m an atheist and I thank God for it.
When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.
We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.
All of the above people mentioned had their ideals based in superior genes and creating populations based on this fact.
So what about President Obama?
President Obama too has that air of elitism and superiority in his speeches, attitude and ideals. He has already used the word “Progressive” many times in his speeches, so does that also mean he too, believes in Eugenics?
After all, President Obama supports 36 week term abortions. A new abortion clinic in Huston that was a former bank, just opened up that performs such disgusting abortion practices.
You decide what that means to you personally, morally, spiritually, ethically and what this also means to the American people in general.
Where is America truly headed? These are the types of new leaders and thinkers in America we have elected into power. Those who will not hesitate to cull populations and the defectives, as was the case in the turn of the 20th Century. What other means will become open to these world leaders to do to other people as well?
KEEP WAKING UP PEOPLE,WE ALL NEED EACH OTHER TO STAND AGAINST THOSE POWERFUL AND CORRUPT ONES WHO WOULD LIE, BEG, CHEAT AND STEAL OUR MINDS WITH THEIR OWN THOUGHTS.
Woodrow Wilson did say a few beautiful quotes that I really Love:
“There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.”
“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”
“We have not given science too big a place in our education, but we have made a perilous mistake in giving it too great a preponderance in method in every other branch of study.”
Maybe our Current Politicians need to remember these above quotes the next time they try and pull the wool over the American Peoples eyes with their lies, deceit and corruption.
Department of Energy – $26.3billion+$38.7billion from the Recovery Act
Although Obama’s $26.3 billion budget allocation to the Department of Energy is far less than the $33.9 billion projected to be spent in 2009 it is still $2billion over the prior 3 years. A percentage of the budget goes to the promotion of a clean energy agenda and the advancement of Carbon Capture Storage technology. Obama also focuses on improving the safety and disposal of nuclear energy.
Highlights of Department of Energy Plan
New Energy Infrastructure
Provide additional funding to the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, which received $11 billion form the Recovery Act – no monetary value given for 2010 budget
Clean Air Technology
Supports loan guarantees for renewable energy projects and carbon caputaure store projects. – no monetary value given
Along with $3.4 billion from the Recovery Act the 2010 budget supports the advancement of low-carbon coal technologies – no monetary value given
Increased Nuclear Security
Supports efforts to secure and dispose of nuclear material – no monetary value given
Supports efforts that will deter nuclear smuggling – no monetary value given
The mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States.
The DOE promotes America’s energy security by encouraging the development of reliable, clean, and affordable energy. It administers federal funding for scientific research to further the goal of discovery and innovation — ensuring American economic competitiveness and improving the quality of life for Americans.
The DOE is also tasked with ensuring America’s nuclear security, and with protecting the environment by providing a responsible resolution to the legacy of nuclear weapons production.
The United States Secretary of Energy oversees a budget of approximately $23 billion and more than 100,000 federal and contract employees. …”
“…The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States’ policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation’s nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production. DOE also sponsors more basic and applied scientific research than any other US federal agency; most of this is funded through its system of United States Department of Energy National Laboratories.
The agency is administered by the United States Secretary of Energy, and its headquarters are located in southwest Washington, D.C., on Independence Avenue in the Forrestal Building, named for James Forrestal, as well as in Germantown, Maryland.
The Department of Energy was formed after the oil crisis on August 4, 1977 by President Jimmy Carter’s signing of legislation, The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977.
The United States, eager to make a nuclear bomb before any other nation, started the Manhattan Project under the eye of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After the war, the Atomic Energy Commission was created to control the future of the project.
In 1974, the AEC was abolished and gave way to Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which was tasked with regulating the nuclear power industry, and the Energy Research and Development Administration, which was tasked to manage the nuclear weapon, naval reactor, and energy development programs. Only a few years after that, the Energy Crisis called attention to unifying these two groups. The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977, which Carter signed on August 4, 1977, created the Department of Energy, which assumed the responsibilities of the Federal Energy Administration, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Federal Power Commission, and programs of various other agencies.
The department began operations on October 1, 1977. …”
Office of Science
The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, providing more than 40 percent of total funding for this vital area of national importance.[2]
The Office of Science directs funding for the scientific research via the following Program Offices:
Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
High Energy Physics (HEP)
Nuclear Physics (NP)
Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists
Each of the Program Offices may be composed of several Divisions. The first six of these Program Offices also have corresponding Advisory Committees (ASCRAC, BERAC and so on).
Other DOE offices may directly fund scientific research related to their needs. For example, studies of materials for nuclear reactors are usually supported by the DOE Nuclear Energy Office, whereas the NP program of the Office of Science only funds the research related to nuclear transformations, and the “Materials Science” Division of the BES program supports studies of other energy-related materials such as photovoltaics.
The Office of Science will invest $777 million over the next five years (from 2009) in 46 new Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs). The EFRCs will be established at universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and private firms across the nation, drawing in part on funds provided by the Recovery Act, while also depending on future Congressional appropriations. Twenty EFRCs will focus on renewable energy.[3]
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is an independent agency in the United States Department of Energy. It is the source for official energy statistics from the U.S. Government. EIA collects, analyzes, and publishes data as directed by law to ensure efficient markets, inform policy-making, and support public understanding of energy.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy. The NNSA also maintains and improves the safety, reliability, and performance of the United States nuclear weapons stockpile, including the ability to design, produce, and test, in order to meet national security requirements.
The Department’s Office of Secure Transportation (OST) provides safe and secure transportation of nuclear weapons and components and special nuclear materials, and conducts other missions supporting the national security of the United States of America. Since 1974, OST has been assigned responsibility to develop, operate, and manage a system for the safe and secure transportation of all government-owned, DOE or NNSA controlled special nuclear materials in “strategic” or “significant” quantities. Shipments are transported in specially designed equipment and are escorted by armed Federal Agents (Nuclear Material Couriers).
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent regulatory agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. The Department also manages the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Other offices include:
Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI)
Office of Environmental Management (EM)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Related Posts On Pronk Palisades
United States Department Of Agriculture
United States Department of Education
United States Department Of Labor
United States Department Of Transportation
The State of the Nation: I am afraid By John Whitehead
We’re encased in what some are calling an electronic concentration camp. The government continues to amass data files on more and more Americans. Everywhere we go, we are watched: at the banks, at the grocery store, at the mall, crossing the street. This loss of privacy is symptomatic of the growing surveillance being carried out on average Americans. Such surveillance gradually poisons the soul of a nation, transforming us from one in which we’re presumed innocent until proven guilty to one in which everyone is a suspect and presumed guilty. Thus, the question that must be asked is: can freedom in the United States flourish in an age when the physical movements, individual purchases, conversations and meetings of every citizen are under constant surveillance by private companies and government agencies?
To read these stories look under our national and international news section at: http://www.worldviewtimes.com/news
• Leaders to meet in Davos to “rebuild” the world • Man Arrested After Weapons, Map of U.S. Military Facility Seized From N.J. Motel Room
• American diplomat suggests all Jewish settlers are terrorists
• Christians fined for slamming textbook that taught kids to be ‘Muslim’
• Using religious language to fight global warming
• Report: al Qaeda Dedicated to WMD Quest
• Report: Al-Qaeda aims to hit U.S. with WMDs
• US teen pregnancy rate up for first time since 1990: study
Item #2
Remembering President Ronald Reagan. Brannon was asked by Michael Reagan to sit in as the guest host of his national radio program while he attended his father’s funeral services in Washington D.C. and then in California at the Reagan Library. We have edited together a few of the best interviews and calls from two of those three hour programs that where guest hosted by Brannon. Brannon’s guests included people like Timothy McCarthy, the U.S. Secret Service agent that stepped in front of an assassin’s bullet and saved the life of President Reagan. Brannon also interviewed Dr. D. James Kennedy and Dr. Jerry Falwell and they shared personal stories on President Reagan and his Christian faith. Brannon also plays a clip from President Reagan from 1983 when he declared it the year of the Bible. Brannon also interviews Fred Barnes from Fox News Channel and shares a few calls from listeners that share their personal stories of meeting and working with President Reagan.
Item #4
Why Kids Don’t Do Well in School By Phyllis Schlafly
Let me share with you an interesting article from the Washington Post about the teacher of an all-black class in a high school in Alexandria, Virginia, who expressed his frustration at how poorly the students were performing. The class included both native-born African-Americans and kids who had immigrated from Africa.In a moment of exasperation, the teacher blurted out this question to the native-born students:
Item #5
None Dare Call it Genocide By Cliff Kincaid
Robert McCartney of the Washington Post went to the March for Life and discovered that young people are on the side of life.Dennis Howard told EWTN television network on the day of the March for Life in Washington, D.C. that legalized abortion is the equivalent of 260 Haiti disasters on American soil. The death toll from abortion in the U.S. is over 52 million.
Item #6
Historical Evidence of America’s Past By Bernard Reese
The historical record establishes the United States is recognized as a Christian nation. Our founding constitutional document, the Declaration of Independence, conceived in prayer and Bible study, declared that man was created equal by God to live in freedom with certain unalienable rights governed by God’s moral laws, defined in the Declaration as
Item #7
Understanding The Times with Jan Markell Emergent Delusion Pastor Bob DeWaay returns to talk about an Emergent conference he attended. He describes total spiritual darkness. Why do people rush to the defense of Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt and others, when they incriminate themselves with their own words? Why do once-solid evangelicals flee to jump on board this heretical movement?
Item #8
Tea Partiers Find Power in National Precinct Alliance Strategy The local precinct has been around longer than the United States has been around. But many Americans lost interest in the local precinct years ago, seeing it as only a low-level political office without power. That was before the recent Nevada success story and National Precinct Alliance (NPA).
Item #9
The Danger Behind Political Buzz Words We Ignore By Heidi Swander
There is a social value that has been forced into the fabric of our society today, and I daresay that the majority of us haven’t a clue what it means, nor do most of us care. But we should. We must. It involves our freedom, our homes, our very lives and the lives of those we love. Are you ready? The social value is called
Item #10
Wallbuilders Live with David Barton Live from WallBuilders’ ProFamily Legislators Conference – Part 2 Guest: Fmr. Congressman Bob McEwen (OH)
Read more worldview news at: www.christianworldviewnetwork.com
Congress and Senate conspired with Big Banking and Big Corporate to remove the spirit of America from its people. Yes, our Fearless Leaders sold your jobs! Sold your technology! Sold your wealth that they might control and manipulate you. Our Fearless Leaders decided decades ago to remove your freedoms! Your independence! Your ability to stand financially on your own two feet! Now Congress wants to “Pimp You Out”! Servants to the world! Senate would just soon sell your services to the highest bidder! Our Fearless Leaders liquidated your equities slowly and meticulously that we would not notice. They conspired to force all of “Working America” to work 24/7 by taxing, double taxing, and adding taxes to every aspect of our survival. They passed laws forcing “Working America” to pay ever-increasing premiums for insurances that insured nothing and covered nothing. Passed laws to prevent new small business while forcing existing small business to close their doors. Congress imposed excessive taxes upon oil that “Working America” and “Small Business” would spend their entire free income for survival. Senate imposed taxes at every level from conception to production of all products produced by America business. Senate taxed taxes and Congress doubled taxes, imposed excessive regulations and required insurances covering insured insurances till American business could no longer compete within the world market. American business shut their doors! Skilled “Working America” became unskilled servants to government. Surviving American business move elsewhere to escape the financial “Death by Congress”! The financial “Suicide by Senate”! ”We the people” elected and allowed our Fearless Leaders to liquidate our financial equities. “We the people” allowed our Fearless Leaders to control our destinies. “We the people” allowed our Fearless Leaders to sell America into slavery! Is America to “Wipe the Ass of the World” or do “We Stand and Fight”?
Reed Cowan, a Miami film maker has produced a documentary on the Church and it’s involvement in the Proposition 8 campaign, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. It apparently premiers today at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT.
I suppose it depends on how you define documentary whether this particular film fits into that category. If you define it as does Webster as being factual and objective, then this film probably doesn’t make the documentary cut. Of course, I haven’t seen the film; but, have seen the You Tube clip and read a few articles, as well as briefly looked at the official website. I’d have to say it’s more of a hit piece on the Church, filled with hyperbole and hysteria, which typically accompanies Proposition 8 discussion.
The promo photo of the website, pretty much says it all, depicting a book of scripture, emblazoned with title 8 The Mormon Proposition, with dollar bills protruding from the pages. This is probably the first clue, Mr. Cowan isn’t interested in a well documented, balanced discussion about gay rights, marriage, or Proposition 8.
As Church spokesperson Kim Farah noted:
Church officials have seen the trailer and other online materials about the film, LDS spokeswoman Kim Farah said, and “it is obvious that anyone looking for balance and thoughtful discussion of a serious subject will need to look elsewhere.”
The MSNBC article says Cowan begged the Church for participation in his endeavor. Why on earth would the Church do that, given the tenor and tone of Mr. Cowan’s presentation?
There really isn’t much new in the articles I’ve read or even what his website portrays. It’s pretty much the same tired arguments we’ve heard made against the Church by other gay activists with an axe to grind and a political agenda to promote.
Predictibly Cowan ignores several facts:
1. Proposition 8 isn’t/wasn’t the Church’s Proposition–the People of California placed it on the ballot, and voted in favor of it. Yes, Mormons (individually) contributed vast sum of money toward the proposition–so that makes them bigots and hateful because they exercise Constitutional rights of religion, expression and voting?
2. California couples can and do register as domestic partners under one of the most sweeping domestic partnership laws in the country. Under those laws they enjoy the same legal rights as married persons in California law.
3. The Church was only one of a plethora of churches supporting the proposition.
4. The Church does not teach anyone to hate anyone else, under any circumstances.
5. The Church supported Salt Lake City’s first gay right’s ordinance--and rightly so; however, they were not obligated to do so, and without the Church’s support may not have eventually passed.
These are just a few which come to mind. Mr. Cowan has every right to produce any type of film he wants; but, it’s important to recognize he clearly has an agenda, is not supportive of the Church’s stance on Proposition 8, and uses highly charged emotional extremes in his documentary “so called.” He unfairly characterizes the Church’s motivation, mission, members and marriage, not only as it relates to Proposition 8, but overall.
When staff members at a Wellesley, Mass., school went to the nurse last Friday, they expected to be injected with a vaccine for theH1N1 flu. What they received instead was a shot of insulin resulting in a bout with low blood sugar.
While the staffers seem to be suffering no long-term damage from mistakenly receiving the insulin injections, investigations are ongoing to determine what caused the medical error. Indications thus far have been that a school nurse was responsible. The nurse has been temporarily relieved of duty.
While ABC News contacted people at the departments of health for the town of Wellesley and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the Wellesley School District, it remains unclear how the flu vaccine, which can be distributed in pre-filled syringes or vials, was mistaken for insulin, which is drawn from a vial because each dose needs to be calibrated when it is given.
Such errors have happened before. This past fall, a number of people in the neighboring town of Needham received a seasonal flu vaccine in place of the H1N1 vaccines they were supposed to receive. And in 2007, a teacher in the nearby town of Attleboro also received an injection of insulin instead of the intended flu shot.
“Mistakes can always be made,” said Lisa Lowery, a registered nurse and immunizations program manager for the Visiting Nurse Service in Indianapolis. While she is reluctant to blame the nurse, she said other steps can be taken to avoid such a problem.
The benefit of having a nurse specifically performing a vaccination clinic, according to Lowery, is that it allows the nurse to be more focused. “You’re in a habit of doing what you’re doing. You’re doing one vaccine and only one vaccine,” she said.
“In practices, you’re taught to take the bottle to another nurse and have her double-check what you’re about to give,” she said — a situation that isn’t possible when a school nurse alone is administering vaccine.
“That nurse is not used to injecting vaccines as a school nurse,” said Lowery. “It would have been her habit to pick up insulin. Having someone to back them up and check them out would have prevented some more errors. If you’re holding a vaccination clinic, use someone who’s used to doing that.”
Kay Renny, a registered nurse and manager of community programs for the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan in Detroit said other steps are typically taken to avoid such a problem.
She said when her nurses are giving out both seasonal and swine flu vaccines, they do so in two separate lines with two separate forms, which do not look alike, so that nurses — who are only administering one shot — will notice. “This is the first year where we’re administering two flu vaccines at the same time,” she said, explaining it presented a new challenge.
When a mistake happens, “It doesn’t hurt them, but it doesn’t help them. What they want is what they’re there for,” said Renny. “You try to put steps in place to avoid that happening.”
She noted that the vials for insulin and flu vaccine are similar but the syringes are different, with those for insulin being smaller. “Whenever administering any kind of medication, you have to double check when you have multiple kinds of medication in front of you. You really need to double check your double check.”
Possible Fallout
While no one seems to be suffering long-term consequences from the medical error, adverse events are always possible with insulin being needlessly injected, since it drops the blood-sugar levels.
“It’s basically going to make them hypoglycemic,” said Dr. Sue Kirkman, senior vice president for medical affairs for the American Diabetes Association. “That might cause anything from just feeling shaky and jittery and hungry all the way down to making it difficult to think.”
Kirkman explained that a person can become unconscious if their blood-sugar drops too low, but noted that this type of error could be corrected by certain injections or “you can have the person eat carbohydrates to bring the blood sugar back up,” depending on the severity.
It remains unclear what, if any, impact this incident will have on public demand for flu vaccine.
Both nurses seemed to think, however, that the incident, while unfortunate, would likely improve safety in people still getting vaccinated without reducing the number of people willing to get the shot.
//
“When you have stories out there, then people are going to be asking the person administering — the nurse — what are you giving me?” said Renny. “What I think it does is help the administrator administer the right vaccine, because it’s forefront in their mind.”
“I do think people who are actively going to seek a shot are going to be proactive about asking the nurse, which is a good thing,” said Lowery. At the same time, she said, “We still need to encourage the public to get both their H1N1 vaccination,” noting that it remains unclear if H1N1 will return and the traditional peak of seasonal flu has not yet arrived.
“Don’t let an incident as isolated as this affect your choice,” she said. “Make sure you get vaccinated and prepare for the flu season.”
More Answers Needed
One complicating issue that has not been resolved yet is how the error was made, given that the H1N1 doses had come in prefilled syringes, while insulin doses are filled at the time from a vial.
Insulin “typically would not be in pre-filled syringes,” said Kirkman, adding that “there are some situations where a home health nurse, for example, might pre-fill syringes for someone who’s homebound. I think it’s just impossible to speculate.”
//
“It does seem odd,” said Lowery. “However, having been a school nurse, it involves more than giving out Band-Aids,” she said, noting that kids and teachers are coming in for a variety of ailments. “I can see, unfortunately, where it would be very easy to get flustered and confused.”
A woman answering the phone for the Wellesley superintendent’s office indicated that the investigation is ongoing and no answer could be provided for that particular question yet.
Norman Tebbitt gets it right here. The only fly in the ointment for libertarians, most of whom would be cool about the idea of the UK leaving the EU right away, is that we still here have our own sadly home-grown gramscoFabiaNazi enemy-class, which habitually gold-plates everything the EU decrees before foisting it upon us.
These people would have to leave office by force, in a “great burning” of their work-premises, records, filing cabinets, pension-entitlements (sorry, Sean, I cannot view them with such equanimity as you sometimes do) hard disks and the like. A rebirth of British let alone English sovereignty and liberty would be still-born while such organisations staffed by such people remain in being.
The thing is worth quoting in full:-
By Norman Tebbit Politics Last updated: January 22nd, 2010
319 Comments Comment on this article
It may well be that Mr Cameron regards any discussion of the EU as “banging on about Europe”, but here in the Telegraph blogosphere – to judge from the over 350 comments on my last blog post – it does seem to be a matter of some interest.
However, I should first say to Gary 4 that I certainly did NOT tell people “to get on their bikes”, I am not, and never have been a “Monday Club politican”, although I see nothing shameful in being one. After all, it is not like being a Fabian. Nor have I ever urged people to vote UKIP.
On the other hand, ZigZag says he cannot understand the logic behind my view on the EU since he thinks that “the English are just a European Nation” and “the EU is simply an institution to which most European nations belong”.
So let me explain. The English are, of course, a European nation, but we are different by virtue of our history from the others. And I suppose that at this stage I should come clean about my own background.
Yes, we are all immigrants, since during the depth of the most recent ice age Britain was not inhabited by man. Even since the land bridge to the mainland was submerged there have been a good number of new arrivals, not least the Scandanavians, Romans, and Normans. My paternal forebears probably arrived here sometime in the 16th century from the continental lowlands. Indeed had they not got on their bikes, so to speak, I might have been born a Belgian. Happily they passed the cricket test with flying colours and integrated into the East Anglian turnip taleban of their time.
They, and most of us who came here until recent times, adopted the history and culture of England and the English. We were much infuenced by the Scandinavian practice of the folk moot, wherein lie some of our democratic ideas and which had a part in the thinking which led to Magna Carta.
It saddens me that in the bastardised ruins of what was once an educational system even children taught the importance of what happened at Runnymede are often told that the barons forced King John to grant rights, such as free speech, freedom from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment and the right to a fair trial. No, not quite so. The King was forced to sign a declation that he would not interefere with, nor abridge, those rights which were were the inherent rights of English freemen (and women too, Harriet) according to rank.
Our fellow Europeans may well enjoy similar rights, but they are rights which have their origins in constitutions and laws. The right of a German or Frenchman to free speech is a grant by law – essentially an entitlement rather than a right. Here, it requires a law to set limits upon that right, which in this Kingdom is (I’m sorry Professor Dawkins) the God-given right of an Englishman or woman from birth.
What I discovered during many days (and not a few nights) negotiating and dealing around the table in Brussels was that my colleagues were, with a few wonderful exceptions such as Count Otto von Lamsdorff, not just corporatist by nature, but inclined to the unspoken assumption that man was made for the state rather than that the state was made for man. At its worst, that became an assumption that whilst the citizen must obey the law and his rights were limited by the scope of the law, the state could do whatever was not specifically forbiden to it.
The basic assumptions underlying the two systems of law, English Common law and European law, are such that they cannot exist side by side. While we are members of the EU as it is constructed today, wherever the two clash on a matter within European competence, European law is superior.
Nor is it just a matter of law. Our history has shaped our society to be different. We have suffered no invasion nor conquest since 1066 and no civil wars, revolutions nor military dictators since Cromwell’s time, and we have stopped one attempt after another to create a pan-European state. Philip of Spain, Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin have all been frustrated by the people of these islands. In short, we have form as a destructive force against European political and military union.
Churchill was right. We should wish European union well – so long as it does not seek to cross the Channel. Certainly I have no ill will towards our friends on the mainland, but I think it is time the British dog got out of the federalist manger. I could live happily on the mainland as a foreigner. I believe that we should have a treaty relationship with other European nations covering matters of mutual interest, but that our Parliament should remain fully sovereign.
Divorce is never easy, but it may be better than persisting in an unhappy marriage. The question should not be whether we part, but what sort of relationship would follow.
Tags: cricket, David Cameron, eu, europe, get on yer bikes, Scandinavia, Winston Churchill
The Mises Memorial Lecture, given by Larry Sechrest at the 2008 Austrian Scholars Conference, Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn Alabama; 15 March 2008.
The Anticapitalists: Barbarians at the Gate
Background Articles and Videos
Larry Sechrest, 1946-2008
“…Our dear friend Larry Sechrest, professor of economics at Sul Ross University, and a long-time writer and speaker for economic liberty, died this morning (October 30, 2008). He was born in 1946. The cause was heart failure, and he died with his wife Molly by his side.
She says that it meant so much to him that only recently the Mises Institute was able to bring back his marvelous book Free Banking into print. Of course this book, which is a prophetic attack on the dangers of the central bank, is a gift he has given the ages. In addition, here is his scholarly article archive on MIses.org.
This past year, he delivered the Mises Memorial Lecture, which was widely read and commented on: The Anti-Capitalists: Barbarians at the Gate.
Larry earned his PhD late in life from the University of Texas, Arlington, and immediately went to work teaching. He was person of great charity and optimism, but also courage, as was shown a few years ago when a controversy arose about some of his writing. He had written a hilarious and wonderful essay about the trouble with today’s students, singling out his own students as examples. The essay appeared in Liberty Magazine and is online here.
What followed was an amazing spectacle. The locals were very upset. The mayor of Alpine, Texas, got involved and denounced him, as did many others. There was even a “support Sul Ross” parade right there in town, with floats and posters, all to protest the words of Sechrest. The students, the professors, the merchants, everyone, was against Sechrest – except that in private everyone knew he was right and let him know, again privately. It was a sight that H.L. Mencken would have adored. …”
http://blog.mises.org/archives/008873.asp
My Hometown
A Strange Little Town in Texas
by Larry J. Sechrest
“…Welcome to Alpine, where cowboys are poets, burglars don’t have a chance, and football is rivaled only by beer, sex and church. And, by the way, if you move there, drop your auto club membership. …”
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Banking Cartel’s Public Relations Campaign Continues:Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke On The Record
Do these women sit there minding their own business, when cheap alcohol sneaks up on them and infuses them by osmosis? I don’t think so.
And I’m getting really tired of the fucking police trying to dictate social policies. They never ever advocate being more liberal with anything, do they? They only want to fix their own problems by hemming society in with authoritarian head-fuckery.
By nature, if you’re a pig, you’re a statist authoritarian. To be otherwise would be as a conscientious objector signing up for the army. For this reason, their opinion should be all but ignored, and perpetually ridiculed.
Hmm. I wonder what Nottinghamshire plod performance is like in clearing up, you know, actual crime.
I can’t be arsed to look it up, but I’ll bet they’re in the Unipart northern league of police forces.
On September 11th, 2001, the United States of America witnessed the greatest loss of life within its shores since the Civil War. This flagrant act of terror against the American people galvanized a nation far too apathetic for its own good.
On September 12th, this country was different. Families stood together. Neighbors looked out for each other. This nation returned to God.
Now a new enemy is at war with America. This war is not being fought with rifles and tanks, but words and ideas. Our freedom is under attack. Personal liberty is hanging by a thread. But today there are those who are still trying to live in the America that was on 9/12/2001. They have called themselves the 9-12 project.
They describe what they want America to be in 9 principles and 12 values. The basis for these ideas were taken directly from our forgotten founding fathers who’s stories have been revised to demean there impact on America today. Take a look at what they stand for. See if you long to live like Americans united not concerned with special interests and political favors. If so, you may be interested in more than just ideas. You may want direction.
This is not a recruitment speech. Full disclosure, I am a registered member of the 9-12 project. I am not trying to sway public opinion one way or another for my personal political gain or the gain of someone glad-handing career leach that has found a luxurious way of life by working in government. See, I don’t even like politicians. I just want you, for yourself, to poke around a non-party affiliated network that has no goal other than to empower citizens to be more informed and more responsible for what is going on within our borders.
You need to find out for yourself because this movement is being felt. It is striking fear into the two established parties. Both are now trying to adopt some of their principles and alienate their members. Some news organizations have gone so far as to label 9-12′ers as radical outsiders, religious zealots, racist bigots, right-wing nut jobs, tin-foil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorists, or even as paid town-hall-wrecking astroturf.
Find out for yourself if you believe in honesty, hope, humility, and courage; if you believe America is good; or I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Here is a video of what this network of people is doing to make a difference through what has become characterized as the Tea Party Movement.
They coined this name from the acronym “Taxed Enough Already.” Several formerly legitimate news sources used the tea party concept to make repetitive sexually incredulous remarks about a movement they disagreed with.
I was heartened to watch a broadcast this past week of three candidates who are vying for the Republican nomination for the office of Governor of the State of Texas. What heartened me was the presence of one who is a true “citizen candidate”, as the founders envisioned our elected officials would and should be, squaring off against two life-long “professional politicians.” I would imagine that most citizens of any state who has any political savvy would recognize the names of the two professional politicians – Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson and the incumbent Governor, Rick Perry, but I also strongly suspect that not only would every citizen outside the state of Texas but most inside the state would not recognize the name of this citizen candidate, Debra Medina – a private businesswoman, political activist, wife and mother.
You ask why would Debra Medina make me feel heartened to the point that I would start out this week’s post mentioning her and tying her to its title of a resurgence of anti-federalism? To answer that question I would offer you the link to the debate for you to see and hear for yourself: http://www.texasdebates.org/video.php. If you listen to this debate (and I would recommend skipping through the portions of the two professional establishment politicians so that you can listen to Ms. Medina’s responses) you will hear the voice of a modern-day anti-federalist. She accurately tied together the rights of individual citizens to bear arms (I would refer you to my three essays on this topic of second amendment rights, The Bill of Rights – What Were They Thinking – VII, VIII & IX) and their property rights, free from threat of government acquisition as going hand-in-hand with the concept of individual liberty. She proposes that law-abiding citizens be allowed to own weapons without registration requirements, for as she correctly pointed out from history, the only reason for doing this is to give government the knowledge of who to go to when they determine that these weapons should be confiscated (see the opening documentation that I give on this in the ninth post in my series on the Bill of Rights). She also put forth the concept that property taxes should be eliminated, for every homeowner knows that they never truly “own” their home, for should they fail to pay their property taxes the government can and will evict them and seize their home and property. Both of these positions were those that were dear to our anti-federalist founders and they warned against just the kind of threats our current governments, local, state and federal pose to our freedoms.
She also spoke of the failure of the federal government to fulfill its constitutionally obligated responsibility of protecting the nation’s borders as regards to illegal immigration (or as it should be more accurately titled, illegal “invasion”, for that is what it is) and that if the federal government would not step up to its obligations then it was time for the state of Texas to reassert its sovereignty as authorized in the (gasp) tenth amendment to the US Constitution – i.e., “The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people” - and put state troops on the border to protect the private property of the citizens who are suffering from these invaders who cross over onto their property. Again, sovereignty of the states and the power and rights of them was a driving force in the objections of the Anti-Federalists to the Constitution when it was being written, debated and ratified. In support of this need for the states to reassert their rights under the Constitution I offer for your listening encouragement this video clip produced by Judge Andrew Napolitano on the wisdom of the framers of the Constitution in how they envisioned the relationship between the states and the new proposed federal government: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhQ-iq8n4xU
I realize that this week’s essay is a far cry from my previous ones, but I felt that it was important to not just write about what our founders intended and how our current crop of fascist leaders are destroying our liberties and rights, but also to show that there are places where the flames of hope – true hope, not the hollow and hyped “hope and change” of President Obama – flicker. It is of utmost importance that we do all that we can to fan these flames from a mere flickering of a candle to a raging forest fire that will sweep the refuse and useless underbrush out of the seats of power at all levels of government, and to do this we – the people – must rise up and reassert our power over our elected officials and lend our support to any and all of our fellow citizens who will take a stand against the entrenched professional political establishment. I fear that Ms. Medina does not stand a good chance at winning her election as the establishment of both the media and state party are against her, but we must heed this warning of admonition sounded by the renowned economist and political philosopher, F.A. Hayek in the 1956 forward to the American edition of his classic work, The Road to Serfdom:
“…the most important change which extensive government control produces is a psychological change, an alteration in the character of the people. This is necessarily a slow affair, a process which extends not over a few years but perhaps over one or two generations. The important point is that the political ideals of a people and its attitude toward authority are as much the effect as the cause of the political institution under which it lives. This means, among other things, that even a strong tradition of political liberty is no safeguard if the danger is precisely that new institutions and policies will gradually undermine and destroy that spirit. The consequences can of course be averted if that spirit reasserts itself in time and the people not only throw out the party which has been leading them further and further in the dangerous direction but also recognize the nature of the danger and resolutely change their course.“ [emphasis mine - Epaminondas]
So I urge you, whatever state, city or county in which you may reside, to seek out those who will take such a stand on any level of government and lend them your support so that we the people can once again be recognized as those who hold the reins of power in this country and not the perennial politicians in the various state capitals, city halls and yes, especially in Washington, DC. Those of you who regularly read my posts I know are aware of the dangerous path down which our country is treading, and so we must as Hayek stated, resolutely work to change our nation’s course before the spirit of political and individual liberty among our fellow citizens is crushed and lost forever and the opportunity for reversing our slide into totalitarianism disappears.
Here are a few of our favorite campaign slogans that have come out of recent blog posts, comments, and updates on our Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Each slogan is linked to the post or update which inspired it. These are not in any particular order. We love them all.
Why settle for the lesser wickedness?
“The absolute rule of the state shall be a function of the absolute liberty of each individual will.”
Immanentizing the Eschaton? Been there, done that.
Not Barbara Bush’s father.
“Except ye be free to act, ye cannot act.”
The end of the world is so 1904.
Sacrifice the vote!
Don’t waste your vote on Mickey Mouse.
“The principle of popular election is a fatal folly.”
The Best Chance for Libertarians.
Also see the Top Ten Reasons to support Aleister Crowley in 2012.
Feel free to use any of the above to make your own bumper stickers or other propaganda!
Have any ideas for campaign slogans? Send them to us at aleister.crowley.2012@gmail.com, or post them to our on our Twitter or Facebook, and we’ll post the best ones.
“…This Jet is the USAF C-32, Boeing 757 that Speaker of the House of Representatives,Nancy Pelosi, uses to commute weekly between Washington D. C. and
California.
Madame Pelosi wasn’t happy with the small, USAF C-20B, Gulfstream III jet that comes with the Speaker’s job. No, Madame Pelosi was aggravated that her little jet had to stop to refuel, so she ordered a Big Fat 200-seat USAF C-32, Boeing 757 jet that could get her back to California without stopping!
Nancy’s Big Fat Jet uses about 20,000 gallons of fuel for each one-way trip. Since she only works 3 days a week, every week-end this gas guzzling jet gets fueled and flies her home to California, cost to the taxpayers of about $60,000, one way! Unfortunately, we also have to pay to bring her back to the capitol every Monday night. Cost to us = another $60,000 ! !
Folks, that is $480,000 per month, an annual cost to the taxpayers of $5,760,000. No wonder she complains about the cost of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They might cramp her style and she is styling on my back and yours.. Think of the military families in this country doing without and then think of this woman, who heads up the most do-nothing Congress in the history of this country, as she keeps fueling that jet, on the pretext of doing her do-nothing job.
Madame Pelosi wants you and me to reduce our carbon footprint. She wants us to buy smaller cars and Obama wants us to pump up the air in our bicyle tires. These people are nuts !
If you think this is outrageous, forward it to everyone on your email list! Keep in mind the figures above do NOT include the cost of the plane or the crew, just fuel ! One wonders what her total package costs us? And she wants to tax our IRA’s & 401K’s so that we can continue to pay for her “little perk.”
And the Democrats want to talk about the cost of Sarah Palin’s dress???
Conservatives! Are you out there ? …”
Pelosi is a LIAR and a THIEF…
Background Artilces and Videos
The Lifestyle of Speaker Pelosi
The BBC reports about an ECHR ruling which finds that the practice stopping and searching people without grounds for suspicion is illegal. Hurrah.
Three years ago I was stopped and searched in London Bridge station, while wearing CS95 uniform (normal military camouflage uniform, if you’re wondering). Having presented my ID, I asked the PCSO why he had picked me, and his response was little more than a grunting assertion that I couldn’t be given special treatment just because I was a military officer. Fair enough – I didn’t expect special treatment. Justification would have been nice, though.
The truth was, of course, that the sole justification for my being stopped and searched was that the PCSO had to be seen to be searching someone, no matter who they were, or how unlikely it was that they intended to, I don’t know, blow up a Tube train. Stopping and searching entirely innocent people in the clear absence of suspicion is a box-ticking waste of time, and an unacceptable invasion of privacy. It is to be hoped that the police take note of the ECHR ruling and use their powers more wisely, proportionately and intelligently in future.
One of the problems that ideologues of any persuasion probably runs into is the problem of democracy. What do I mean by “the problem of democracy”? What I mean by this is that the democratic majority often does not adhere or conform perfectly to the ideology that a person or group may have. This can be a problem for the ideologue if he or she professes to be a democrat (a supporter of democracy). So, for example, the libertarian may decry the government’s role in society, despite the democratic majority wanting social programs or government regulation. Thus, any claim that we should wipe out social spending is inherently anti-democratic in this sense. My previous post on government involvement touches on this issue. Of course, the ideologue can bypass this “problem” if they do not profess to be democrats. Instead, we should simply implement the policies of our ideology, no matter how much the public is opposed to it. That is, we become authoritarians. For the libertarian or the anarchist, this is inherently paradoxical. We cannot claim to be libertarians and authoritarians at the same time—the ideas are necessarily opposed to each other. It is not possible to authoritatively implement our policies in the name of libertarianism, for example. That isn’t to say no one has tried; for example, Augusto Pinochet, in his brutal dictatorship over Chile, enacted free-market reforms in the name of “liberating.” We know that’s hypocritical, and we understand the perversity in his understanding of “liberty.” Here, “liberty” means liberty for the corporation, not for the people. Thus, the ideas of libertarianism and anti-democratic measures are incompatible.
How can the ideologue cope with “the problem of democracy”? How can we accept certain principles that the majority rejects, yet still call ourselves “champions of democracy”? I have two suggestions, and others are welcome. First, be what could be called a philosophical ideologue (cf. philosophical anarchism). That is to say, you keep your beliefs in whatever ideology you choose, but you accept the majority’s opinion as the opinion that should be adhered to. So, for example, if you’re against social spending, but the majority supports it, you continue to believe that social spending is wrong but accept the majority’s choice as the will of the people. For some, this might seem like an unpleasing solution, which I accept. It does seem contradictory to accept the choice but at the same time to not accept the choice. It would seem as if we are not truly adhering to our ideologies (that’s a common argument against anarchists who do not support the overthrow of the state—they’re not real anarchists). Do we or do we not accept that argument? The other thing I suggest is that we teach or advocate our ideology in a way that is not anti-democratic. We explain our philosophies (non-coercively) to others in the hopes that they will accept them. In this way, we can influence the outcome of the democratic choice without resorting to authoritarianism.
I accept that others may not accept this. They may say we have to cling to our ideologies, no matter what. We must reject the democratic majority. They may not say it in this way, but it is what they’re saying. I reject this argument and find it to be dangerous. Over ideology, I am a democrat.
P.S. This is a further exploration of a concept that Dr. Spagnoli explores on his blog, “What is Democracy?” In it, he explains, “Napoleon Bonaparte propelled his armies across Europe on behalf of the universal principles of liberty, equality and fraternity . . . Napoleon’s armies occupied Europe because they wanted to export French principles and French civilization. . . . France was the advance guard of the struggle of humanity for freedom and against old-style authoritarianism.” The parallels to contemporary foreign affairs are obvious enough. Claims Dr. Spagnoli, “Attacking, conquering and occupying other countries, even with the purpose of liberating these countries from oppression and archaic authoritarian forms of government, seems to be highly illogical and self-contradictory. It’s incompatible with the very principles of democracy (democracy is self-determination).” The question being raised is, “are we allowed to impose or enforce democracy in an authoritarian way?” Likewise, I raise the question if libertarians are allowed to impose or enforce libertarianism isn an authoritarian way. I say no.
Troy – How should we as Libertarians craft our campaign theme for 2010? Here are my thoughts on the subject. I would certainly appreciate yours, too. As a political party we must articulate a positive, persuasive, simple and appealing campaign theme for our candidates in 2010.
*** and ***
# Fair. No bail outs. No hand outs. No special deals for businesses, unions or individuals. Instead, cut spending now by eliminating all incentives, benefits, and programs that don´t benefit the average voter or business. Cut government costs by eliminating all agencies and regulations that impede the creation of jobs and businesses, competition and personal freedom. Eliminate tax abatements, exemptions and discounts for the few preferred businesses, unions and individuals, and cut the tax rates paid by all.
*** end quote ***
“cut spending now by eliminating all incentives, benefits, and programs that don´t benefit the average voter or business”
That don’t benefit “ALL” voters.
The problem is that when gooferment tries to pick winners and losers, funny how they always pick the politicians’ friends.
A libertarian government should be extremely small. Prevent force or fraud. AND, that’s IT!
You don’t need a lot of taxes when you’re not doing a lot!
Slash the spending and taxes and step out of the way. Privatize any “service” or “product” that the government produces.
If it CAN NOT be done immediately, then let’s have a transition out of it. Five, Ten, … heck … even Forty Year plans.
Assorted liberty-oriented links from around the internet this Saturday morning.
Interview of Ron Paul on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360. Dr. Paul discusses the Tea Party movement, Sarah Palin, CPAC, third parties, and the public’s growing discontent with government. – (YouTube)
Bob Murphy points out an article from CNBC reporting that Pennsylvania has legalized poker and blackjack at slot casinos. – (Free Advice/CNBC)
Lecture from Murray Rothbard regarding the rise of big business and the failure of trusts and cartels. – (Mises Institute)
Alex Tabbarok makes the case for market processes and presumed consent to boost organ donations in The Wall Street Journal. – (Marginal Revolution/WSJ)
Josh Eboch, a blogger for the Tenth Amendment Center points out that nullification can work for states to resist unpopular mandates from the federal government. – (Tenth Amendment Center)
Libertarian Party wants open health care negotiations. The Libertarian Party (LP) calls on President Obama to not break yet another campaign promise by directing Congress to have an open, televised format for all future negotiations on the health care overhaul bills under consideration in Congress. – (Independent Political Report)
Robert Wenzel clues us in to the up hill battle facing Peter Schiff in his race for Senate in Connecticut. – (EPJ)
Sheldon Richman let’s everyone know that the phrase “transparent government” is just this side of a logical contradiction. – (Campaign for Liberty)
The FBI, Bullying, and Sloppy Investigations
Posted by Bill Anderson on January 1, 2010 10:56 AM
*** begin quote ***
By empowering police and prosecutors and providing them with immunity from their wrongdoing, the government is encouraging investigators to be sloppy and incompetent. As we have seen in the two linked examples, bullying investigators have managed to botch these investigations, and it is no accident. The political classes tell us that we have to give the “authorities” near-absolute power to keep us “safe.” (Read any of the conservative websites and you will see what I mean. There is near-worship of the police, prosecutors, and federal investigators.) Guess what? When there are no consequences for being wrong, we can expect the police and FBI and others to be wrong, as it is much easier for them to make up their own narratives and then bully people into “agreeing” with them.
*** end quote ***
If we can fault the Dead Old White Guys (and that’s hard to do given their level of understanding at that point in time), then it would be for not putting a penalty in for ALL the INDIVIDUALS who violates some Constitutional rights.
This was received on the internet. It is a bit long, but it is a clear statement of how the far left has managed to begin and maintain its campaign of destruction of our Constitution and our country
Bless Robert A Hall!
“I’m Tired” by Robert A. Hall”
I’ll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired, Very tired.
I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth around” to people` who don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.
I’m tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to “keep people in their homes”. Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I’m willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.
I’m tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros, and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela .. Won’t multiculturalism be beautiful?
I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace”, when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor”; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers”; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery”; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.
I believe “a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin”. I’m tired of being told that “race doesn’t matter” in the post-racial world of Obama, when it’s all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois.
I think it’s very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.
I’m tired of a news media that thinks Bush’s fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama’s, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush’s military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn’t vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.
I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue, or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.
I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global` warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore’s, and if you’re greener than Gore, you’re green enough.
I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don’t think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I’m tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana. I’m tired of illegal aliens being called “undocumented workers”, especially the ones who aren’t working, but are living on welfare or crime. What’s next? Calling drug dealers, Undocumented Pharmacists”? And, no, I’m not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it’s been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I’m willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn’t have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military… Those are the citizens we need.
I’m tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here’s the deal. I’ll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we’ll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.
I’m tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I’m tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois, where the ” Illinois Combine” of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama’s cabinet as well.
I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers, and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.
Speaking of poor, I’m tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn’t have that in 1970, but we didn’t know we were “poor”. The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.
I’m real tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.
Yes, I’m damn tired. But I’m also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I’m not going to have to see the world these people are making. I’m just sorry for my granddaughter.
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.
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Viva Palestina Starts Entry To Gaza
Report by GEORGE GALLOWAY
The VIVA PALESTINA Convoy, and after facing ongoing Egyptian rejection and violent attacks by the Egyptian security forces, started on Wednesday evening [6th January 2010] to roll into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Thousands of Palestinians, carrying flowers and flags, gathered in the streets while the convoy continued to move in.
A Press conference would be held on Thursday [7th January 2010] and would be followed by the official ceremony of handing the international humanitarian aid.
The Qatar-based Al Jazeera reported that a convoy of eight truck started crossing the Rafeh Terminal.
On its website the VIVA PALESTINA reported that “convoy continues to move into the strip to be greeted by flowers and flag-waving crowds. Press conference later to be followed tomorrow [Thursday 7th January 2010] with ceremony to hand over the aid”.
17.30 GMT Wednesday 6th January 2010
One month, thousands of miles, ten countries, one ship and a four flights later, VIVA PALESTINA has begun to enter the besieged Gaza Strip.
. “We are all emotional to see that all of Gaza are
. out to greet us! Our VIVA PALESTINA convoy
. is symbolic! It shows the Palestinian people just
. how much the people of the West do care.
. “We come in peace to deliver humanitarian aid and
. we hope that our convoy (and convoy’s like ours)
. will help to build pressure on the Israeli government
Convoy continues to move into the strip to be greeted by flowers and flag-waving crowds. Press conference later to be followed tomorrow [Thursday 7th January 2010] with ceremony to hand over the aid.
Up to the minute reports from the convoy can be found by CLICKING HERE (http://readingpsc.org.uk/convoy/) and on Twitter (http://twitter.com/viva_palestina).
More details of the struggle to this point, videos and links here.
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Posted by Devil’s Kitchen at 1/05/2010 12:15:00 AM
My friends,
We are broke. Our country—whatever it may once have been—is now laden with debt. And this isn’t “the government’s debt”: it is our debt.
The government has no money but what it takes—what it extorts—from us.
We have gone beyond consensus politics: if a man were to come to your door, with a gun, and demand half of everything that you earned—on pain of severe punishment, on pain of the total ruination of your life—would you not protest?
For a moment, lay aside those dutiful thoughts of those starving millions beyond your gate, and think, instead, of those within your own household—within your own family: would you not rather protect them first?
Of course you would: they are your kith and kin and you would expect—would you not?—that everyone, like you, would defend theirs against you were you the one holding the gun.
The government has now utterly removed from you the means of protecting yourself and your family against the man with the gun: indeed, you dare not defend yourself because you fear that it is you, not the mugger, who would end up in the dock.
For the government is the man with the gun, demanding tithes from you: the government is here, at your door. But not randomly.
No.
The government has gone out and bought itself nice things—plasma TVs, second homes, duckhouses, moats. And jobs, and votes. All of those things that you could not afford—because it has been here before: at your door, with a gun.
Five years ago, it was here—threatening you with prison if you did not pay up—for the sake of all of those children who were not yours. You paid, because you had no option.
Four years ago, it was here—threatening you with prison if you did not pay up—for the sake of all of those unhealthy who were not yours. You paid, because you had no option.
Three years ago, it was here—threatening you with prison if you did not pay up—for the sake of all of those uneducated who were not yours. You paid, because you had no option.
Two years ago, it was here—threatening you with prison if you did not pay up—for the sake of all of those feckless bankers who were not yours. You paid, because you had no option.
One year ago, it was here—threatening you with prison if you did not pay up—for the sake of all of those MPs who had no duck-houses or second homes or moats. You paid, because you had no option.
And now the government has spent everything that you had to give, and more, on its pet projects—on buying its second homes, on buying its duckhouses, on buying its votes—and none of it benefited you and yours. Not even by one iota.
The government didn’t care that you couldn’t afford to give any more: it didn’t care that you had no money.
The government didn’t care that you had lost your job: the government didn’t care that all of those thousands of pounds it took in National Insurance payments translated into a few hundred when you were in need.
And now, when you are getting back on your feet—back in a job that is not as good as the one the government destroyed, back struggling to look after your family on the pittance you are paid, back paying off your debts—the government, too, is back: it’s back with the gun.
The government is back—demanding half of what you broke your back to earn—because it has more grand schemes, more votes to buy, more trinkets to deliver to its favoured ones.
Will you so willingly hand over the sweat of your brow? Will you so willingly condemn you and yours to penury? Will you capitulate again?
Or will you fight?
Join us—and help us to stop the extortion.
Join us—and understand that providing for you and yours is not a sin.
Join us—and realise that a society that pulls together is a society that stays together.
Join us—and help us fight for a future in which people help each other voluntarily, because it is right and fitting to do so.
Join us—and help to build a future in which men, women and children take back their work, their birthrights, their dignity and their compassion from a government that cares nothing for you.
Join us.
Because—whether the government is Tory, Labour or LibDem—soon you will have nothing left to lose.
Labels: freedom, libertarianism, UK Libertarian Party
Earlier this month Freedom House released its findings from the latest edition of Freedom in the World, the annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties. According to the survey’s findings, 2009 marked the fourth consecutive year in which global freedom suffered a decline—the longest consecutive period of setbacks for freedom in the nearly 40-year history of the report.
These declines were most pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, although they also occurred in most other regions of the world. Furthermore, the erosion in freedom took place during a year marked by intensified repression against human rights defenders and democracy activists by many of the world’s most powerful authoritarian regimes, including Russia and China. Freedom in the World 2010 reflects developments that took place in the calendar year 2009. The full survey, including the individual country reports, will be available in late spring 2010.
United States Department of Energy
