Apparently, there is a legitimate difference between “Christian Libertarian” and Libertarian Christian” – at least that’s what Wikipedia says:
Libertarian Christianity is a facet of Christian theology. Its advocates believe that it is the most biblically, rationally, and practically correct legal and political philosophy. This type of libertarianism derives from a specific blending of systematic theology and biblical theology.[1] Advocates claim to be Christians first, and libertarians second. As libertarians they believe that all secular governments exist to protect natural rights, and only to protect natural rights; and they believe that natural rights are necessarily defined in terms of private property, at least in the legal and political arena. — Although they readily acknowledge the distinction between their legal / political philosophy and the rest of their theology, they are suspicious of any attempt at separating the two, because separating the two leaves the visible Church without a viable, Bible-based legal philosophy.
Of course, there is the other side of the coin:
The glossary at Reformation Online says that Christian libertarianism is the view that supports maximum individual liberty under God’s law; that Christ came, among other things, to grant men liberty under God’s authority. It refers to John 8:36 in the Bible and says that the authority of all human individuals and institutions is strictly limited to what the Bible authorizes.[2]
Some people do not distinguish between Christian libertarianism, libertarian Christianity, and Christian anarchism. Others believe the distinctions are important: (a)Christian libertarianism is an extension of Christian theology, usually by people from theonomic and reconstructionist schools, so that this amalgamation includes many principles and perspectives of secular libertarianism. (b)Libertarian Christianity differs from Christian libertarianism in that it uses a different set of biblical hermeneutics from those used by Christian libertarianism. Even so, libertarian Christianity finds many principles and perspectives in common with Christian libertarianism.
My first impression is that the phrase “libertarian Christian” attempts to highlight the idea that I am a Christian first and a Libertarian second, but nothing in either reference states that Christian Libertarians don’t do this as well. I’m not quite sure what the full difference is or whether there is enough of a difference to matter, but I’m willing to keep an open mind on this one. If anyone has an insight here, I would appreciate it! As always, comments are welcome!
An interview where I am asked some nice open-ended softballs on liberty, regulations, and the future. This blog is apparently supporting a particular politician, but I do not personally support or endorse any politicians, and the fact that the interview is posted to this blog should be interpreted as support. It goes without saying that the views expressed in the interview are my own and do not represent the views of any other organization or person.
Here it is.
(Oh, and I am referred to in the post as an “economist” and “Dr. Morehouse”, neither of which I am.)
Here are two updates on the story of the Pennsylvania High School that admitted to remotely spying on their students and then said they weren’t :
1. Regarding the alleged “improper behavior” that set everything in motion – the kid was eating Mike and Ike’s candy and the vice principal thought he was taking pills.
2. Stryde Hax did a little research and found that the school’s tech admin had spent quite a bit of time online talking of, um, alternative uses of the spyware on the laptops in question:
The primary piece of evidence, already being reported on by a Fox affiliate, is this amazing promotional webcast for a remote monitoring product named LANRev. In it, Mike Perbix identifies himself as a high school network tech, and then speaks at length about using the track-and-monitor features of LanRev to take surreptitious remote pictures through a high school laptop webcam. A note of particular pride is evident in his voice when he talks about finding a way outside of LANRev to enable “curtain mode”, a special remote administration mode that makes remote control of a laptop invisible to the victim. Listen at 35:47, when he says: “you’re controlling someone’s machine, you don’t want them to know what you’re doing”
-Mike Perbix
It isn’t until 37 minutes into the video till Perbix begins talking about the Theft Tracking feature, which causes the laptop to go into a mode where it beacons its location and silent webcam screenshots out to an Internet server controlled by the school.
Along with that, he noted some of the things the other students at the high school were saying:
The truly amazing part of this story is what’s coming out from comments from the students themselves. Some of the interesting points:
Possession of a monitored Macbook was required for classes
Possession of an unmonitored personal computer was forbidden and would be confiscated
Disabling the camera was impossible
Jailbreaking a school laptop in order to secure it or monitor it against intrusion was an offense which merited expulsion
and more specifically quoting:
“My name is Manuel Tebas. I was a student at Harriton High School, in the graduating class of 2009. We were the first year on the one-to-one laptop initiative. [...] I saw your post about removing webcam capability from the Macbook. It is possible – I did it last year. I will preface this by saying that when I did it, I was almost expelled, saved only by the fact that there was, at the time, no rule against doing so.”
“I remember that the laptop was a requirement in school for many classes. That may remain so.”
” had brought in my own personal computer to work on a project for school one day. I was doing a presentation involving programs not available on the regular computers, only in specific labs. I happened to have a copy of my own. My personal property was confiscated from me in a study hall when I was working on a school assignment because it was against the schools ‘code of conduct’.”
“Hi, I’m a 2009 Graduate of Harriton Highschool. [...] I and a few of my fellow peers were suspicious of this sort of activity when we first received the laptops. The light next to the web cam would randomly come on, whether we were in class, in study hall or at home minding our own business. We reported it multiple times, each time getting the response: “It’s only a malfunction. if you’d like we’ll look into it and give you a loaner computer.”
“The webcam couldn’t be disabled due through tough tough security settings. Occasionally we would notice that the green light was on from time to time but we just figured that it was glitching out as some macbooks do sometimes. Some few covered it up with tape and post its because they thought the IT guys were watching them. I always thought they were crazy and that the district, one of the more respectable ones within the state, would never pull some shit like this. I guess I was wrong.”
“I am the father of a 17 y/o Harrington High student. She has had one of these laptops for 2 years. She has noticed the “green light” coming on but was not computer literate enough to know what initiated it”
This was an essay for a class I had to write on a modern ethical concern. I had to argue it using Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” for my basis of ethics.
Abortion is defined by Webster’s dictionary as: “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus”. Abortion is the death of an individual for the selfishness of the mother. Death is in the definition of abortion, and it is a sad truth. In 1996, there were about 3,750, on average, abortions per day. (abortionno.org). This is an ethical concern because this is taking away life from another individual, stripping away their rights, which is why it is unethical. A lifetime of experiences, events, revelations, and ultimately potential that is taken from not only the individual, but the world. That potential and their own cave and enlightened experience they could never have. Their “fire” is taken away from them. Abortion is the convenient answer that gives people a way out from their current problems in expense of the baby’s life. “93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).” (abortionno.org) That statistic is big, most arguments are for abortion if they were raped or some huge complication similar, when only 1% of abortion happens if they were raped or because of incest. This means that 93% of baby’s are being thrown away because it’s an easy way out for the mother. The infants are taken from the world before they’ve had the chance to choose. Their destiny is controlled by the mother that chooses to abort.
“Personhood”, begins at conception. I cannot see how anyone else can see different. After conception, it’s not going to turn into anything else. From conception, its developing, but the unborn child is still a person. Arguments say since it cannot live outside the womb in the first trimester, the child technically not a person. But again, the unborn won’t become anything else, unless its life is taken from it, it will still become a person. Now, compare babies and children to the unborn infants. Are they deemed anything less than human because they cannot live on their own or fend for themselves at birth? Infants cannot walk or talk or feed themselves, but they are deemed human, just the same for unborn children. They too are human. On a ”Personhood” Initiative in Colorado, which would change the definition of personhood to baby’s in the womb, politician Dave Schultheis said “I think that it’s warranted,” he said. “To me it is unconscionable to deny the fact that life begins at the moment of conception. We all know it deep down and there are too many who continue to resist for ideological reasons.”(The Colorado Independent) Politician Scott Renfroe also commented on the issue saying “I think it is a shame that we have allowed the killing of so many babies over the years. And the science shows assuredly that it is a life and that we should protect it.”(The Colorado Independent) Life begins at conception, and that’s what women realize post-abortion. The rights of citizens are getting taken away with each and every abortion and currently there is nothing we can do about it.
The rights of the mother seem to be the main argument against pro-life causes but the right of the infant inside gets no justice. Abortion is the termination of a baby. This baby gets no right to vote on abortion laws, but mothers do. They get their life taken away from them before they get the chance to live it. Just in 1996 alone, that is approx. 1.37 million people who could have voted against abortion. There was a commercial that aired during the current “NFL Superbowl” of Tim Tebow, the Heisman winning quarterback of Florida, and his mother. They told a story of how Tim’s mother was urged to get an abortion because the baby’s health and her health were at great risk. She decided not to get one, and the baby and mother came out fine. That potential that could have been lost through that decision could have affected the world in great ways that cannot be conceived now. “They must continue to ascend until they arrive at the good” (lines 58-59) Good is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “good intentions” or “free from infirmity or sorrow”. Where are the good intentions in abortion? Most arguments don’t focus on the baby, but on the mother. One argument is that it puts a burden on the mother. But there are many other options to choose from. Adoption is a viable option, and there are many parents that want children but cannot. Another argument is that they were raped. At Boston College, an article from the school newspaper wrote about a debate on abortion. Dr. John Rankin was arguing the pro-life side and asked “Does an abortion unrape the woman? Does one act of destruction repair another act of destruction?” It creates a cycle of sorrow and destruction with the mother and the baby. Even a baby that was produced from rape, the rapist doesn’t get punished, the baby does. That cannot be good intentions, and that cannot be ethical. A baby conceived from rape is still a baby and can still be put up for adoption either way. And the mother can relinquish responsibility for it if there is no true attachment to it because of rape. Abortion is a selfish act and if it hurts anyone else, then it cannot be truly good.
“The virtue of wisdom… contains a divine element… is rendered useful and profitable… or hurtful and useless.” This happens with post-abortion women. This is a tragic and traumatic experience that doesn’t seem so at first, but that experience is like going out of the cave, it’s blinding, and after, the now-known experience it’s what was unforeseen and it hurts women, psychologically. Abortion patients don’t see what they are doing is killing a life until after, and that revelation, learned through that experience that what they were doing was wrong. This “seeing the light” hurts them through what they now know. A study taken 8 weeks post-abortion revealed that “44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine”. This disturbs the women, and that a third regret it. In the famous court case “Roe v Wade”, Jane Roe won the right to get an abortion, but even her, in the famous landmark case, she regretted winning and ”she joined an effort called “Operation Rescue.” She has become an outspoken figure in the pro-life movement.” (nysun.com), and tried to overturn the decision. Women believe it’s alright, but they are living in a cave still, and the abortion is the catalyst that frees them from their chains, but for the worse. That revelation that they don’t see and seems good in the present affects the rest of their life. It cannot be ethical if it harms people. Happiness in that one second of judgment does not justify the rest of life in pain. The ultimate good should be the goal in one’s life. Just as something cannot be good if it hurts the people around them, it also cannot be good if it hurts the future selves of them.
Laws aren’t bad. People see laws as restrictions and hindrances on their rights, but that is not the case. Liberty is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant, permission especially to go freely within specified limits”. These limits make it possible to have freedom to do whatever you want, but with limitations that prevent bad things from happening. The major concern is that lawmakers are stripping rights from women, but in actuality, they are creating a just and hospitable environment for people, which is the object of liberty and what this country was founded upon. In the allegory of the cave, the enlightened person, goes back into the cave, and tries to help turn their reality so they can see what they are truly seeing, just as Roe tried to do. “For they are just men, and the commands we impose on them are just”(lines 64-66) This is what the enlightened man does, he becomes the lawmaker and tries to rule, but they still try to kill the enlightened person. This is a sad truth, they don’t like the regulation even though it is good, and it will create a good environment. Having a ruler and regulations aren’t bad, the allegory of the cave shows that there must be structure that provides and protects the common good, which makes for a better environment. This better environment leads to happiness. Instead of taking away rights like it seems to do, it instead provides the structure to create a better environment, and leads to enlightenment.
Plato’s ethics came from seeing the light and then coming back down to liberate them from their false reality. But in this case, liberating us from abortion will have to go through pain, since moral logic of good does not seem to win over people’s innate weaknesses. Complete freedom does not free us as a whole, but it stops progress because complete freedom causes chaos with such power to do anything. And what’s set in the heart of people is not always good, and for the unenlightened, they look toward themselves, for themselves. That is why abortion is so popular. Just as Roe regretted it, and the psychological pains that were unforeseen but inevitable, so will all the rest of abortion patients. And the “Silent generation” of people never to let their voices be heard, cannot do anything about it. We need to look at this ethically and stop abortion. Liberty is such a sweet concept to have and work unabashed in this country, but people sometimes fail to see the good of pure liberty because they are clouded by the shadows they see, that false reality that they see is right. There are much more ethical solutions and it shouldn’t take an actual abortion to see that it is wrong.
I bought these lovely letterpress party invitation cards from Hello Lucky in Liberty in London but they’ve been sitting in my sideboard drawer for 2 years now begging for an excuse to be used…. so when I went looking for inspiration for a Gatsby-themed party I found the following gorgeous pics and ideas.
Mena of Nested threw a Gatsby Summer Afternoon to celebrate a birthday and I’ve pasted some pics below
Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo has also posted two great themed party posts, one a fab Gatsby-themed goodbye party, which was forwarded to her from Haley & Leslie (from Minnesota) and another post which features her own 30’s / depression themed party
Fans of dressing-up should definitely check them out! One of these days when I have enough energy to stay awake after 9pm I’ll think of an excuse to celebrate and bite the bullet and use these invites
Organized religion (read corporate church) is a God-ordained monument to the flesh (teaching as doctrines the traditions of men) set in contrast to the Ekklesia, the called-out body of believers (the glorious liberty of the children of God, worshiping in spirit and truth). These are not synonymous. For the vast majority of believers, organized religion is a Divine training ground that sets bondage against liberty, law against grace. Man’s traditions obscure truth. Most believers are, or have been, professing “members” of some corporate church. It is the experience of bondage that makes liberty so sweet.
In contrast, all believers have been placed (called out) into the body by its Head, Christ Jesus our Lord – and in time all will be set free.
Of all the things the EU has done over the years, i have to admit that this one suprised me.
The EU is now going to be producing a comic book, detailing the crimefighting shennanigans of two European Commission bureaucrats.
Take that free market capitalism! *BLAMMO!*
Eat this civil liberties! *THWAP!*
Wave goodbye Freedom of speech *KLONK!*
How much should a crime cost the perpetrator? Should a teenager that pleaded guilty to a “string of muggings committed at 15″ and served 3 years in a reformatory be punished again at age 29 because of his crimes at age 15?
Nina Bernstein’s article on Qing Hong Wu in The New York Times exposes the random cruelty of our justice system. We know that if we commit a crime and serve the sentence we are done; our obligation to society has ended because we have been punished. That’s not to say there won’t be permanent consequences to having committed that crime, but the punishment phase has ended.
Notwithstanding the victims of crime, who can have permanent consequences, a criminal’s history follows him like a shadow that can’t be escaped. Ever applied to a job and reached the line asking if you’ve been convicted of a felony? It takes an enlightened employer to overcome this stigma, even if you’ve changed.
But Qing Hong Wu’s punishment has been extended. Judge Corriero, the judge that sentenced Mr. Wu to a reformatory, made a promise to Mr. Wu , that if he turned around his life, he would stand behind him. Mr. Wu did change his life, but became ensnared in our immigration laws when applying for citizenship and was deemed deportable because of his prior record.
Our immigration laws still reflect their 19th century doctrine where neither detention nor deportation count as punishment, so in an Orwellian twist, the law can claim that Mr. Wu is not being punished by being permanently barred from the United States. So he is being punished twice but the law doesn’t recognize it.
Ironically, if Mr. Wu’s impoverished immigrant mother had applied for citizenship, he would also have received it, making this whole deportation case moot.
Once again our convoluted law has created two justices, one for citizens and one for immigrants, especially poor immigrants. Illegal immigrants are one thing, but legal non-citizens should receive the same legal privileges that citizens enjoy.
Three cheers for Judge Corriero for keeping his word to Mr. Wu. I hope his efforts succeed. And a big Bronx cheer to Governor Paterson for not pardoning Mr. Wu. He could end this tragic nightmare with a stroke of his pen.
The increase in surveillance of the British public has long been on the up, but a new state of the nation poll (reported in the Guardian) shows that the country has hit its tipping point.
One such aspect that has come under public scrutiny is the ID card. In July 2009, the home secretary, Alan Johnson, said the card were a ‘no brainer’. They would allow easy travel between EU countries— passport free, only terrorists wouldn’t have them, and so on.
“The identity card is a safe, secure and simple way for people to protect and prove their identity and to travel around Europe but leave their passport at home,” he said. “Given the growing problem of ID fraud and the inconvenience of having to carry passports coupled with gas bills or six months worth of bank statements to prove identity, I believe the ID card will be welcomed as an important addition to the many plastic cards that most people already carry.”
And then a UK newspaper hired a hacker to test the ‘unhackable’ cards out. With a phone and a laptop, the card was hacked in minutes and cloned, with new information put on it. Not so fraud-resistant after all. Besides which, even if they were, it only takes one corrupt/breakable/bribable individual on the inside to screw the whole system. On the surface a good, all-inclusive, ‘no sensitive info‘, easy idea. On the inside, deeply flawed and unlikely to go down well in a country where trust in the government is at best tenuous.
The last state of the nation poll showed only 33% of people opposing ID cards. Now 53% perceive them to be a [very/]bad and 63% of people– up from 53% – worry about the government holding information on them.
The state of the nation poll shows the rights that the sample believed should be included in a Bill of Rights:
81% – the right to know what information government departments hold on you
79% – the right to privacy in your phone, mail and email communications
76% – the right to join a legal strike without losing your job
75% – the right to obtain information from government bodies about their activities
72% – and the right to free and peaceful assembly.
Which just goes to show that the UK still wants to be a free society.
This information was released by Power 2010, which asked the public to choose its top five priorities for political reform, the poll revealed that
80% agreed with the need for a bill of rights, 52% strongly.
The British public seems to be rejecting the idea of massive centralised power over which they have no control.
56% thought government power was too centralised, with
88% saying that local communities should have more say over decisions that affect them.
Attorney General Tom Corbett won the state GOP endorsement over primary foe Sam Rohrer Saturday morning, a decision that appeared a forgone conclusion for most of the last year. The attorney general emerged as the front-runner following his surprisingly easy re-election victory in 2008, and he has forced two Republican candidates to bow out of the gubernatorial race, former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan and U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach.
via PoliticsPA: Corbett receives endorsement; Rohrer undeterred.
nbcdfw.com By OMAR VILLAFRANCA
Updated 9:54 AM CST, Tue, Feb 16, 2010
Debra Medina for Governor Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina continues to draw scrutiny. Last week she was under fire for her comments on the Glenn Beck show, and now for her recently released transportation policy.
“The Medina campaign is exposing the truth about TxDOT and that’s got them running scared,” said Gwendolyn Walton, with Medina’s campaign.
In the release, the Medina camp said it had received a call from the owner of American Security Solutions, a company that lost a bid “on a project to install security cameras for the North Texas Toll Authority.”
The release went on to say, in part:
“TxDOT awarded the project to JAI Inc., a global company that has home offices in Denmark and Japan and too many subsidiaries, aliases and umbrella corporations to follow their multiple rabbit trails. JAI’s ‘Systems Integrator Partner’ is Raytheon and their ties to Gov. Perry smack of the cronyism commonplace in his administration. Gov. Perry has appointed Raytheon staff to the Aerospace board while the company holds many national and international Dept. of Defense contracts. This is just one more example of what TxDOT has been doing with billions of Texas highway dollars for the past several years…”
(Read the full Medina Transportation Plan here)
medina-transportation-plan
The North Texas Tollway Authority took exception to what the Wharton County Republican had to say and NTTA’s chairman said, in a statement, that Medina’s facts are wrong.
“While we do not wish to insert ourselves into a heated political contest, it is essential that we correct any inaccuracies about the NTTA being widely disseminated,” said NTTA Chairman Paul N. Wageman. “Such inaccuracies should not be left unchecked as the NTTA seeks to advance its mission of providing innovative tolling solutions to the region.”
Below is Medina’s press release on transportation, with the NTTA’s response to each allegation in parenthesis and italicized:
Just last week, a concerned and irritated citizen called the Medina Headquarters. Her small Texas business, American Security Solutions, had bid on a project to install security cameras for the North Texas Toll Authority. [italics] (TRUTH: American Security Solutions submitted a bid on a public solicitation by the NTTA to procure Video Tolling Cameras. Their proposed solution did not meet the technical requirement clearly stated in the request for bids. American Security Solutions submitted a proposal to integrate a complete video tolling system when all the NTTA requested was cameras to use with its current tolling solution. Thus, they were not chosen. Please note American Security Solutions’ proposal included cameras manufactured by JAI.) TxDOT awarded the project to JAI Inc., (TRUTH: TXDOT plays no part in this process and the NTTA has not yet made an award. A notification was issued to the five bidders that JAI Inc. was the apparent winner, subject to NTTA Board approval, based on technical merit and price.) a global company that has home offices in Denmark and Japan and too many subsidiaries, aliases and umbrella corporations to follow their multiple rabbit trails. JAI’s “Systems Integrator Partner” is Raytheon and their ties to Gov. Perry smack of the cronyism commonplace in his administration. Gov. Perry has appointed Raytheon staff to the Aerospace board while the company holds many national and international Dept. of Defense contracts. (TRUTH: The NTTA has no past or present connections to either JAI Inc. or Raytheon. Additionally, Raytheon has not bid on the NTTA Video Tolling Cameras procurement and was not included in the bid submitted by JAI Inc.) Terri Hall of TURF, an organization dedicated to truth in Texas transportation, stated, “Rick Perry’s Transportation Commission has agreed to pledge the State’s credit (basically untold billions in our gas tax revenues) for two toll projects in north Texas (at the behest of the North Texas Toll Authority, a regional toll way authority, whose credit is so in the toilet it can’t finance these deals without the State’s backing). (TRUTH: The NTTA’s senior lien credit continues to be rated A-level despite an increase in our outstanding debt issued as we work to advance several mobility projects in North Texas.)[end italics]
(Read the full fact check document from the NTTA) ntta-factcheck-medina
A call to Medina’s press team has not yet been returned.
ORIGINAL LINK: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/Debra-Medina-and-NTTA-Fight-Over-Facts-84412107.html
HOW can WE the People regain control of OUR right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” WE have delved into what won’t work in order to find what will work.
Here is where we are so far:
The List (simplified)
8. Establish a new service to restore OUR rights to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” – WE are working on this Now!
Today: The Day the States United Ceased to Exist!
Previously WE saw HOW the Congress ceased to exist as a Constitutional Legislative Branch of government and became thereafter and to this present-day, an Executive Congress under the control of the Executive Branch and ultimately, the president. WE saw that both the Judiciary and Legislative Branches of government were in all actuality, under Martial Law. WE saw that despite any honorable or good intentions or that the Constitution was invoked, this was not constitutional, it was manipulation! How has this continued to this present-day and even more importantly, when did the states lose their sovereignty?
Since 1861, the country was under Martial Law. Two years later it still was and there were 3 dramatic events which started in 1862 and specifically in1863.
First, on September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued a presidential order which was the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It declared the freedom of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. The second presidential order was The Emancipation Proclamation issued
January 1, 1863, freed slaves from specific areas in 10 specific states. For our purposes here both of these orders will merge as on for the year 1863.
Second, was the Conscription Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Lincoln, March 3, 1863. This law called for a national draft to be implemented, divided the country into districts and provided for the enforcement of the law by a provost provost-marshal (military control).
Conscription Act
SEC. 4.
And be it further enacted, That, for greater convenience in enrolling, calling out, and organizing the national forces, and for the arrest of deserters and spies of the enemy, the United States shall constitute one or more, as the President shall direct, and each congressional district of the respective states, as fixed by a law of the state next preceding the enrolment, shall constitute one: Provided, That in states which have not by their laws been divided into two or more congressional districts, the President of the United States shall divide the same into so many enrolment districts as he may deem fit and convenient.
SEC 8.
And be it further enacted, That in each of said districts there shall be a board of enrolment, to be composed of the provost-marshal, as president, and two other persons, to be appointed by the President of the United States, one of whom shall be a licensed and practicing physician and surgeon.
Conscription Act (March 3, 1863)
This was and in effect, martial law. Just a short time after the public became aware of the new law, riots broke out across the country. The worst riot occurred in New York City, NY and lasted for three days, destroying much of the city and cost the lives of many. Now not only was the Congress under Executive control by the president, so were the states and would include the southern states when under control of the union.
The third event of 1863, was when the term ‘Martial Law’ was literally put into force.
General Orders No. 100 : The Lieber Code
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE FIELD
Prepared by Francis Lieber, promulgated as General Orders No. 100 by President Lincoln, 24 April 1863.
Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, prepared by Francis Lieber, LL.D., Originally Issued as General Orders No. 100, Adjutant General’s Office, 1863, Washington 1898: Government Printing Office
SECTION I
Martial Law – Military jurisdiction – Military necessity – Retaliation
General Orders No. 100 : The Lieber Code
So Congress was under jurisdiction of the military, the judiciary and all of the states under the union in the north and any state in the south where union forces were able to subdue. The districts were already defined in the Conscription Act.
At the conclusion of the conflict and after the surrender of the south, Martial Law was lifted from all states except for Missouri. It was later lifted by military action sometime after the assassination of President Lincoln.
By proclamation (executive order) of the president in 1861, Congress became an Executive Congress, not a Constitutional Congress and it so remains to this present-day. The legal fiction states and legal fiction country from 1861 became a law passed by the Executive Congress and signed by the president in the Conscription Act of 1863, designating the former sovereign states as “districts.” These “districts” (areas in and including the several states), has never been rescinded or cancelled by any president or Congress since, or overturned by any Supreme Court!
Theses districts (former sovereign states) are still,
under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government
This corrupt, corrupting and corruptible system took jurisdiction over the Legislative, Judiciary Branches of the Federal Government and of the several states, placing it into the Executive Branch and ultimately, the president. It would need only to take jurisdiction over WE the People.
Next Time: The Day WE the People, Ceased to Exist
I have promised and will keep my promise. I promise you that what WE can do about all of this and HOW to do it is coming! WE are in it, right now! The solution is on the way! It is really quite simple. It will not take forever or even a lifetime. It will only take a small amount of time and your direct participation. It may be difficult, but WE can do it IF, WE the People so will to do it. Do WE so will?
What may seem as insurmountable odds in regaining control of our liberties may appear hopeless, but there is an answer! Stay tuned here as we continue.
Check out the other blogs listed to the right. Come often. Bring others. Get involved. Do something. See:
How You Can Help
Ask not what your country can do for you
or what you can do for your country,
but what can WE the People do, for each other!”
1 of WE,
Dahni
An Amer-I-Can eagle
Next Post – The Day WE the People Ceased to Exist! Coming Soon
Previous Post – Re-writing History!
Front Page - Welcome & Introduction
Mark Steyn has a typically witty column that covers everything from the infamous Audi Superbowl commercial to the kid who was stopped by TSA for having Arabic-language flash cards. But he closes his piece with this powerful statement:
…the difference between America and Europe is that, when the global economy nosedived, everywhere from Iceland to Bulgaria mobs took to the streets and besieged Parliament demanding to know why government didn’t do more for them. This is the only country in the developed world where a mass movement took to the streets to say we can do just fine if you control-freak statists would just stay the hell out of our lives, and our pockets. You can shove your non-stimulating stimulus, your jobless jobs bill, and your multi-trillion-dollar porkathons.
There are obviously millions of Europeans who want to be left alone and millions of Americans who like sticking their snouts in the public trough, but Mark’s observation is generally true. The United States is the only major nation that still has a libertarian tradition of individual liberty and personal responsibility. This is why we need to stop government-run healthcare and roll back the nanny state. Yes, it is bad that bigger government undermines growth and prosperity, but the real danger is that collectivism will destroy the American soul.
A look at where the Republican candidates for governor stand on some key issues ahead of the March 2 primaries. Early voting begins Tuesday, Feb. 16.
ABORTION
Rick Perry: Opposes abortion in all cases except rape, incest or when the mother’s life is in danger.
Kay Bailey Hutchison: Supports the right to choose an abortion before a fetus is viable; also supports abortion restrictions such as the parental consent law and a ban on late-term abortions.
Debra Medina: Opposes abortion in all situations.
BORDER SECURITY and IMMIGRATION
Perry: Says federal government has failed to adequately secure the Texas-Mexico border; favors using state troopers and grant money to beef up state and local law enforcement along the border.
Hutchison: Cast U.S. Senate votes in favor of wall construction along parts of the border; wants to require state agencies to use federal “E-Verify” program to ensure state workers’ legal status.
Medina: Calls for dispatching Texas National Guard and Texas State Guard troops to border; Claims that Texas can unilaterally withdraw from international treaties that encourage trade with Mexico; promises to use state government to deport illegal aliens.
BUDGET and TAXES
Perry: Has asked state agencies to propose 5 percent cuts in their in their 2010-2011 spending in preparation for an anticipated state budget shortfall; has proposed a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for the Legislature to raise taxes.
Hutchison: Calls the state’s revised business tax, signed by Perry under court order in 2006, a “tragic mistake.” Supports property-tax appraisal reforms to empower homeowners to fight ever-rising appraisals.
Medina: Has proposed eliminating property taxes in favor of higher sales taxes; promises to work to reduce the size and scope of state government.
TRANSPORTATION FUNDING
Perry: Believes toll roads and private-public partnerships will have to be part of future road-building plans.
Hutchison: Calls for a sweeping audit of the Texas Department of Transportation and would appoint a special committee to find areas of wasteful spending in the agency that could be eliminated; she has proposed a series of reforms, including new restrictions on toll road construction and any future tax increases, also wants to begin developing high-speed rail; she has offered few details on how to pay for it all.
Medina: Opposes all new taxes, tolls, debt or new fees; Proposes audit of TxDOT and would make sure all gas tax dollars are spent solely on transportation, rather than being diverted as they now are.
WORTH NOTING:
Perry: Opposes federal intervention in state policy-making, even rejecting money for schools and unemployment funds so as not to have to agree to federal changes.
Hutchison: Although she violated her own pledge to serve only two terms in the U.S. Senate, Hutchison says she would seek to restrict the governorship to two four-year terms.
Medina: Argues that Texas can ignore and “nullify” federal mandates and programs environmental regulation and international trade agreements; Also doesn’t rule out Texas seceding from the U.S.
ORIGINAL LINK: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9DR402O0.html
Napoleon once said, ‘An army travels on its stomach.’ By this, he meant that the problem of keeping an army supplied is a prerequisite for the very existence of the force.
Any large-scale military engagement with the British, who during the 1800s were at the peak of their military power, was nearly impossible to do without their knowledge. Any early warning could derail the plan. Historical accounts of 1857 rarely discuss the logistics, the supply lines, and the economics of waging a war. It is well-known that the cost of fighting the war against the British was enormous. While the military logistics of acquiring and maintaining weapons and ammunition is important to the understanding of how the Indian fought this war, the critical piece is the mystery of the supply line.
Troop movement in the 1850s in India was a long and arduous process and the logistics involved was enormous. Three to five camp followers accompanied each soldier. With this calculation, when two divisions of troops were on the move, the total number of human beings marching exceeded 20,000. In addition, there were thousands of horses, camels, elephants, mules, and bullocks. The elephants would drag the cannons. The bullock carts would transport the soldiers. The camels would be needed to carry the supply of grain for the cavalry and artillery horses. The supply for one day for 8,000 horses would need 200 camels for its conveyance. More camels would be needed to transporting the hospital stores, wines, medicines, quilts, beds, pots pans of all sorts and sizes. In addition, ‘troop stores’ were also transported. These included horse clothing, head and heel ropes, pickets, nose bags and spare shoes. In addition, there was the private baggage for the soldiers and the tents for officers. With this complicated logistics, typical troop movement was about 12-15 miles per day.
As this indicates, the critical part of waging a successful war is to have an elaborate logistics for food for the soldiers and the horses and elephants, if any. In addition, as mentioned above, each soldier was followed by three to five camp followers just to manage the needs of the soldiers including food.
While there are several little things including horse clothing and medicine supplies, the primary need for troops on the move is food, critical for success on the battlefield. A marching army required provisions not just for the soldiers, but feed also for the horses, elephants, bullocks and camels.
Before waging a war against the English, the Indian soldiers, as employees of the East India Company, had access to the full spectrum of support and a functional supply line. Once the Indian soldiers ‘mutinied’, they no longer had access to that infrastructure. All basic needs, including food and other logistics had to be managed. Did they travel with their rations? Did they have access to the camels that would be carrying the rations? For each soldier there were three camp followers, who would take care of the essentials. Did the ‘rebel’ soldiers have any camp followers? What about pots, pans and cooks? Who cooked the food? Did they get access to any the camp equipment before they mutinied, including pots and pans?
A soldier fights a war based on the assumption that the basic things such as food, water and a camp to sleep are taken care of.
Here is a glimpse into the scale of the problem that has been glossed over by most historians. Over 50,000 Indian troops fought in this war. Just for one month, they would have needed nearly 1,500 tons of grains, not including the feed for horses and elephants. Where did the grains come from and more importantly who cooked the food for the soldiers? The EEIC’s army had three camp followers for every soldier. Did the camp followers mutiny as well? How did they carry their grains? Did they have supply lines as elaborate as the English did?
Food was a critical element of this War for the Indian soldiers and this was another very important piece that has been missing in history books. Tatya Tope demonstrated the use of fully functional supply lines in the later phases of the War. However, in the first phase, planning for a fully functional logistics would have impossible task to achieve covertly. Was Tatya able to invent an alternate and fully functional supply lines for his soldiers? Who accounted for that critical piece of supply line logistics?
All these answers are in the mysterious traveling chapatis and red lotuses.
In the 1950s, my father, a scientist, described a kind of injury to me out of pure interest, caused by a stiletto heel making a self-shaped depressed-skull-fracture, like a trepanning-wound only small and D-shaped.
Clearly, today’s new-labour girls, fired up by GramscoFemiNaZism and enragement that “models” and “WAGs” have invaded their “partners’ ” text-messaging, have moved on. This poor man had his entire eye taken out, and the fracture-zone passed into his brain.
Stiletto heels are good. At least, on short-girls, which is the right sort to be, they are.
They make the female stance and walk more exciting to watch, which is their primary courting purpose, and also they bring her secondary sexual characteristics up nearer to yours when you have got her in a hug. This is the next most important objective, and ideally leaves her still shorter still than you, which is necessary or else you would need to stand on a box, which means that your name is Bernie Ecclestone (and that would not be good.)
So I dreamt last night that I should start this blog. It probably won’t amount to much other than amusement for my cohorts, an outlet for myself, and something that will stick in the craw of the statists–be they neocons or populists–that happen to stumble across it.
I may not have a degree in Political Science, but I do pay attention, and a lot of people tend to underestimate that. I am also blessed with many amazing friends (of like mind and not!) that share with me the latest in current events and their takes on the world in general. If it weren’t for my fantastic support system and incredibly lively and diverse “debate team” as it were, my life would be quite dull and this blog would most likely not exist… but here we are.
What to expect from me:
A laywoman’s take on today’s world, its problems, and possible solutions.
A fair and balanced argument for every point I feel is fit to be published. No, not “Fair and Balanced” a la Faux News. Really, truly fair and balanced.
A few oddball opinions that may instinctively make your hair bristle. Please bear with me, and read through the perceived insanity! Even my most unconventional conclusions have been reached through serious research, thought, and debate. Remember, I was raised by a single working mother, went to the same public schools you did, and have screwed around in my life as much as the next guy. It’s not like these thoughts have been programmed into me like this!
Sarcasm. I’m sorry, I really just can’t help myself sometimes. If you have a problem with smartasses, this is probably not the blog for you. Also, I drop the occasional potty word. Sorry.
What NOT to expect from me:
Hatemongering. I don’t know how this blog will come up in search engines, but if you Googled “conservative Christian blogger” and wound up here, you might not like what I have to say. I mean fiscally conservative if and when I call myself conservative, not socially conservative. I do not use my faith as a vehicle to have unconstitutional laws passed against my countrymen, nor as a vehicle to perpetuate name-calling or the “blame game,” as it were.
Driveling on and on about how X political candidate is so (insert adjective here). Politicians are imperfect, just like the rest of us. They flip-flop, lie, and come and go. I will not sit here and hash out all of a politician’s wrongdoings either. Nancy Pelosi, you shall be spared! I am here about the issues and real solutions to our nation’s problems as I see them. The issues will not change, and calling people names won’t get anything done!
Unresearched, thoughtless debate. This means that if you disagree with a point I make, you are entitled to either A: explain to me calmly (with documentation) why I am mistaken, or B: agree to disagree, keep your mouth shut, and move on. Before you cry that if I’m such a strong proponent of the First Amendment I should let people say whatever the Hell they want, remember that your rights end where mine begin and slander and libel are illegal. For example, when I say, “The war in Iraq is a prime example of American Imperialism,” you are not entitled to slander or libel my name, calling me a “liberal pacifist scumbag.” Rather, take a deep breath and try to find some sort of documentation that shows the pros of “Operation Iraqi Freedom” outweigh the cons and proves that it truly will make for a better world. You just might win a prize if you can accomplish that.
Endorsements for you, your product, or your website. If you are a politician, a salesperson, a businessman or businesswoman, a fellow blogger, or otherwise seeking publicity, please look elsewhere. I will not be linking with any web rings or other blogs, as I believe that you are judged not only by your own character, but by the company you keep. Not only that, but I wouldn’t want people thinking I’m endorsing you, your product, or your website just because you have linked to me and I want more hits. No thank you. On that note, if you do want me to check out your website, webpage, or product anyway, please send me a private message or contact me on Facebook. I would be more than happy to check out what you’re about, just don’t expect me to be part of your PR campaign.
the kinks all day and all of the night
the kinks you really got me
The Kinks – Tired of Waiting
The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon
The Kinks – Days – ‘69
Come Dancing – The Kinks
The Kinks – Apeman 1970
THE KINKS – VICTORIA
THE KINKS – VICTORIA
THE KINKS – VICTORIA
THE KINKS – VICTORIA
THE KINKS – VICTORIA
THE KINKS – VICTORIA
THE KINKS – VICTORIA
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I am embarrassed to write that although I’ve heard about his analogy of the candlemakers’ guild, I’ve never actually read any of his works. In reading The Law, I am happy to say I’ve corrected that.
There has been a renaissance in the reading of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged in the past year and there deserves to be one for The Law as well. And unlike Rand’s thousand-plus pages, Bastiat’s work is only 58 pages in the Foundation for Economic Education’s 2007 printing.
Bastiat is classified as an economic writer because his main topic is economic liberty. But in his defense of economic liberty he finds that the main threat is government and it’s application of the law. It’s brilliant, really: writing just after the 1848 revolution in France, Bastiat nails the socialists to a “T”. He could be writing about the Progressives of today.
His defense of liberty is absolute and clearly in line with the social contract theory of Locke that the Founders built into the Constitution. Government’s sole purpose is the defense of our God-given liberties. It is justified in taking our money only for that purpose; everything else is legalized plunder designed to reward the followers of the party in power. Does any of this sound familiar?
Utopians are simply socialists who think they are smarter than the rest of us and therefore have the right to make laws to control us and to mold us into the kind of people they think we ought to become. Socialists are simply communist-lite. As various factions fight for power, they court the voter with one face only to change face immediately upon gaining that power. Each faction in turn rewards its followers and punishes its enemies. The law is not absolute–it is a weapon to be wielded against one’s opponents.
I have heard some on the left say that our Constitution is outdated because it was written in the 18th century, borrowing on 17th century ideas and designed for a pre-industrial society. Here is my answer: Bastiat writes in the middle of the 19th century during the Industrial revolution and in the middle of the rise of socialism. The critique of socialism proves liberty still prevails. In today’s post-industrial society it is socialism that has become obsolete.
Outside of the Declaration of Independence you could not ask for a better defense of Liberty.
Frederick Bastiat, The Law, Foundation for Economic Education, 2007.
Perhaps it is just the product of the times in which I grew up and my experience with the events of the world. Or perhaps it is the spin that has been added to the word “global”, endowing it with an almost spiritual quality.
Mostly, though, I think it is my utter disgust with “global warming”, having spent the better part of three decades striving to defeat this plot to enable all forms of governmental intrusion into people’s lives and choices.
A bit of personal history; as a child I recall riding the train to and from the Jersey shore when it was filled with young men in uniform, all destined to fight in far-off places whose names even then seemed exotic to me; Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Normandy, and Sicily. It was the harsh geography of war, but to a youngster it only meant someplace far away.
By the time I was a teenager, an older brother was already in Japan at the headquarters from which the Korean conflict was conducted. There were new names to deal with, Seoul, Incheon, and the Yalu River. By then the Cold War was well on its way.
The 1950s were full of talk of A-bombs and then H-bombs, and then intercontinental missiles. In college I took scant notice of events in Cuba, but a few years later I would be in full combat gear waiting for orders to invade. Then the problem went away without ever really going away. It has since spread to Venezuela.
Like many Americans, I learned about the world because we were sending troops somewhere to push back against some form of aggression or some new oppressive regime. At home the streets were filled with Civil Rights marchers or anti-war marchers, both of whom would be replaced by new groups demanding to be heard. It was the era of Woodstock and Watergate.
And no trains filled with soldiers because the military had ceased to be every young man’s duty to serve their nation. It became a voluntary military and, we’re told, one that is superior to the former model. It would suffer casualties in Beirut, wrest Grenada from a communist takeover, invade Panama to remove yet another corrupt leader and then, in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, go there to set things right. After 9/11, in 2001 it would drive the Taliban and al Qaeda out of Afghanistan and then in 2003 invade Iraq to bring down Saddam Hussein.
Is it any wonder Americans are weary of war? Is it any wonder that the word “global” to my generation means some new place where young, dedicated Americans are battling some new despot, regime, or threat to peace anywhere and everywhere?
All of which brings me to the new meaning of “global” for the generations that followed mine. It is attached to “global warming”, the greatest hoax, not merely in the modern era, but in all of history! And it was initiated and implemented by an international institution that was supposed to end wars, the United Nations.
Some years ago, the UN published a book called “Our Global Neighborhood”, but we do not live in a global neighborhood. We live in our own, local neighborhood. The UN is all about global government with, of course, global taxes, a global army, and, as in the case of every dictatorship, a global restriction on gun ownership.
It is all about a vast matrix of global treaties that involve the surrender of some element of U.S. sovereignty to the UN to oversee “heritage” sites and our national parks. It is about an educational indoctrination program to turn American children into “citizens of the world.”
So you will have to forgive me if I look at the world and see places where Americans have continually had to sacrifice blood and treasure because someone or some nation had ambitions to impose their will on people who just wanted to be left alone.
If something terrible happens in America I do not expect to see one single other nation on Earth come to our aid.
In America today, the enemy is not always in some far-off place. It is in Washington, D.C. where an out-of-control Congress is spending and borrowing to the point where we are being warned that our dollar is at risk of being worthless. Led by a feckless new president, it has imposed huge debts on generations yet to be born.
The White House is trying to expand an “entitlement” program, Medicare, that is already broke for the purpose of controlling one sixth of the nation’s economy.
The White House is giving money to banks and then threatening to tax them after they have repaid it.
The White House has bought General Motors and Chrysler instead of letting them go through a bankruptcy process like any other business.
The White House is squandering billions on “clean energy” and “green jobs”, both of which are mere fantasies while billions of barrels of oil go untapped, billions of cubic feet of natural gas remains unavailable, and hundreds of year’s worth of coal is not mined.
Congress is engaged in phony, multi-billion dollar “stimulus” programs instead of cutting taxes to jump-start the economy.
“Think globally. Act locally” is the mantra of the environmental movement, but the movement itself is a global monster, determined to decide what you can eat, how you should deal with your garbage, what kind of car or truck you can drive, how much you should heat or cool your home.
It is despotism, no matter what other name you call it.
And then there are those insane followers of Islam who want to inflict more harm on America because they are not content with killing their fellow Muslims.
I wish I could ignore the world beyond my neighborhood, but it won’t let me.
Alan Caruba writes a daily post at Warning Signs. A business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.
Read more thought provoking articles at Warning Signs
HOW can WE the People regain control of OUR right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” WE have delved into what won’t work in order to find what will work.
Today: I am asking for Your Help!
Heretofore in this blog, my several blogs and web sites, I have not and do not ask anyone for anything with the exception of asking for comments and for You to do something for yourself. I have not charged you or anyone to read this post, any post from any blog or for the content on any of the web sites I am associated with. But in one sense, you pay something when you give of your time to view the content that I have provided. Today, I am asking you for more!
Oh my, it looks like a To-Do-Today list. Well, yes it is. As everything begins with the letters r’ and e’ or Re’, perhaps the list will be easier to recall, especially so if the items from the list of 8 are less than 8 in what you choose to act upon.
So this list is to bring back. It is a resurgence, a coming out of exile, like coming out of the Matrix (see the movies with this name); like emerging from the Rabbit Hole (see Alice in Wonderland). With eyes opened, WE the People are vehemently infuriated and WE are not going to take it anymore! Redux also, carries the meaning of a restoration. When WE cook WE understand the word, reduce. Remove the water and what is left is the original, not watered down. This is what I mean here in this post and this blog by the word, RESTORATION.
1. Read – It is my intention that you read this post and every post in this blog and all those associated with this blog, WORD FOR WORD! An informed public is OUR greatest tool for restoring WE the People. Information is not only for information, but it can be for transformation too!
2. Research – Check out my facts, history, grammar, spelling, style and the way in which I have written them. This is first of all for YOU! Don’t just take my word for what I have written. Am I right? Challenge me! Tell me where I am wrong or where improvements could be made. This of course leads to the next item on the list. If I am really 1 of WE, WE are all in this together. It is important to be right and to communicate to the end that all can understand, so that WE can take action.
3. Respond – Make a comment or comments below or send me an email to: dahni1@gmail.com. My icon picture is really me. I am not transparent or invisible. I can be found. Refresh me with your encouragement, your kindness and if anything I have written or write makes any positive difference to you. Rebuke me with the facts and your suggestions as to how I may change or improve. This is not a me-thing, but a WE -thing that I, 1 of WE am endeavoring to do for US, WE the People!
4. Repeat – If you like or appreciate, agree with or believe in what I am trying to do – copy, cut and paste; right-click with your mouse; drag and drop, and download and upload these posts (or what is appropriate to you) to your friends, families, associates and anyone by email, on a web site, by phone, by online social network, print media, carrier pigeons, smoke signal, Morse code, Braille, tap-taps or to those on the other end of the string, connecting your network of tin cans.
I just ask that you give credit where it is due and to include this blog address:
http://theamericaneagleservice.wordpress.com/
5. Reciprocate – If you like something I have done, if you believe in what I am trying to do or if anything I have done or that I am doing means anything to you, buy something. I am not wealthy or a person of means. I am not running for any political office. I am not trying to set up a tax-deductible, not for profit political organization or another political party. I am not part of a non-profit organization. I am just like you, I have expenses just like you, bills, a mortgage and yes even debts. But this is who I am. This is what I do. I am an artist, composer, a poet and a writer. Sure, I would probably have been better off if I had not gotten into the arts at all (starving artist syndrome thing) or at least just devoted my efforts to one of these instead of the many things I do. But these are all like breathing to me! I am asking you to buy or purchase something I have done or have made. Check out:
https://americaneaglestore.wordpress.com/
www.dahni.com
www.i-imagine.biz.
These are the principle locations for what I have to offer for purchase. If you cannot find something you like, ask and I will make something special for you. Buy a post or an article I have written. Send whatever you think appropriate. Send a check. Your check is the receipt or I’ll send you a receipt. Put on the memo: For Literary Services Rendered or For Educational Purposes. Any good accountant or CPA would know how to write this off your taxes, especially if you have a home based business, which I believe everyone should have! Are you or do you know an agent, publicist, producer, editor, advertiser, marketer, business person, lawyer, an investor or someone involved in the arts in any way? Can you; would you help me? I have poetry, music, art, scripts and the list is nearly endless of work completed or in process. Any help just keeps me going. I am not looking to become wealthy at the expense of WE the People. I just want to make a living among US, doing what I love to do. Please make Checks Payable to:
I-Magine
27 West. Blvd. Parkway
Rochester, NY 14612
You can write me, Dahni, at the same address.
6. Restore – I am asking you for help in restoring our republic. This restoration has three parts:
a. it includes 1-6 above
b. STOP BLOCK AND ROLL – stop, block and roll over any attempt in your state to call for a Constitutional Covention!!! (see:)
Convening a Constitutional Congress
c. Participate in the actual restorative process – COMING SOON
7. Rejoice – Rejoice living with OUR unalienable rights that among theses are, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness!”
8. Resist – Resist any attempt, from anyone or from any source foreign or domestic to usurp, control, disband or overthrow by any means, the government OF the People, By the People and FOR the People, EVER AGAIN!! With eyes wide open, let US walk among each other with Liberty and justice for all!
Check out the other blogs listed to the right. Come often. Bring others. Get involved. Do something. Even if it is just leaving a comment, that’s doing something. But don’t bother in telling me how stupid I am, this won’t work or that you hate my guts and things like that. Been there, done that and heard that all before and then some. Be original. Be different.
Ask not what your country can do for you
or what you can do for your country,
but what can WE the People do, for each other!”
1 of WE,
Dahni
An Amer-I-Can eagle
Next Post – Let the Restoration Begin! Coming Soon
HOW can WE the People regain control of OUR right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” WE have been delving into what won’t work in order to find what will work. So far:
The List (simplified)
1. Overthrow the government by a military coup or para-military militias?
2. The 9/12 Project?
3. ‘The Commerce Clause?’
4. Convening a Constitutional Congress?
5. Hope that the present circumstances will change and the will of WE the People will be implemented?
6. Hope that the other party will get its act together and produce the necessary changes for WE the People in future elections?
7. Remain divided and work for self, other causes, parties and candidates.
Today: Freebies & Pay-bees.
Last time WE saw that IF, WE the People, devote ourselves to working solely for ourselves, other causes, candidates and parties, it is to no profit in restoring OUR Liberty and cannot work, for WE remain divided.
WE live in; have grown up in – a digital world of cut & paste, drag and drop, right-clicks with a mouse, downloads and uploads and the many products and services, catered to me-myself-and-i. WE are accustomed to, used to and most always expect much, to be FREE.
Daily, WE are bombarded with vast amounts of information – visually, audibly and textually. OUR interest, the content and the time WE have available, will determine how much WE will give of our resources and OUR time. WE are accustomed to, used to and most always expect much, to be FREE.
Most of US recognize the following symbols and understand their meaning:
These are Copyrights, Registration marks and Trademarks. They are seen almost everywhere and on everything. But they are like locks on doors; only as good as, the occupant’s ability to secure the contents and the honor of those outside the door, to respect the owner’s privacy and property. There is no foolproof lock which can prevent intent to find an opportunity and to exploit some vulnerability! There is no crime committed without intent, opportunity and vulnerability!
Have you ever seen an ‘honor box,’ a little cardboard box filled with snacks, where you take what you want and place the money to pay for it in a slot?
These ‘honor boxes’ are often found in places of businesses and institutions as a service to employees, customers and clients, when space and/or costs prohibit the use of a vending machine. I have removed the money from several of these boxes and it has never equaled the amount due, for the items taken. It was always less. Sure, you could accuse me of pocketing some of the money, you would be incorrect, but you have the right to think that I did. I’m sure some people did not have the right amount of money at the time and forgot to come back. I even found fake money that was placed there intentionally or from an honest mistake. Maybe they didn’t know it wasn’t real? There is no doubt in my mind that some people are either just ignorant or stupid, taking whatever they want because they think it’s FREE. And then there are those that have no intention of paying, just taking. But no matter what the reasons for the shortage, someone, usually the employer or provider of the honor box, still had to make up the difference.
But WE are accustomed to, used to and most always expect much, to be FREE.
WE see sales and trials and use FREE coupons, 2-for-1’s, BOGO (buy-one-get-one), FREE food, FREE products and services, almost every day and nearly everywhere.
Advertising, marketing, publicity, promotion or whatever you want to call this stuff, all pretty much do the same thing. They are designed to attract attention to people, products and services.
A writer writes something – an article, poem, presentation, book etc. A web designer designs a webpage or a blog. An artist produces some kind of artwork. A musician writes a song, a composer composes, a dancer dances and the local burger shop has French fries too. And on and on and so forth…
…each I of WE the People do whatever it is that WE do and whatever it is that WE do, takes time, some amount of effort and the expenditure of OUR available resources.
For this, WE expect something in return. This is usually money.
Money is nothing more than an exchange between parties, for a product or service. Perhaps a long time ago, the house-call-doctor received a chicken for their service. Maybe the local minister was fed by, clothed and housed by their congregation, for spiritual service rendered to the community. WE trade, WE barter, WE exchange time for money or something, for products and services.
But WE are accustomed to, used to and most always expect much, to be FREE.
So WE read, watch, look, listen, touch, taste and smell whatever WE are interested in and that is available to US. WE copy, cut, paste, drag and drop, right-click, download and upload whatever is out there. I have long understood that there is no such thing as security on the Internet, anywhere or for anything! It all comes down to the ‘honor box.’ The honor box is the FREE advertising that draws attention to the persons, products and services in the box. The slot is to pay for the stuff, and it is left to the individual, to do the honorable thing.
There is an exchange between the givers or providers of something and the recipients. This is time. It takes time to provide and give something and it takes OUR time in receiving it. But WE usually do not take or make the time, and WE usually do not pay for something unknown.
Read an article, watch a movie, listen to something, sample something all for FREE and then what? Are WE done? Has the time WE have spent in taking this stuff equal to the time it took to provide it? Have WE paid for it in full? The answer is often no. So then what? What are WE do, what else is required of US?
If WE have enjoyed something, if WE have appreciated it; if it has mattered to US in some way, what about a simple thank you, a comment or even a critique without being critical, as to how it could be improved? What about sharing it with others? What about paying for it to help such people providing such things and services, to continue?
But WE are accustomed to, used to and most always expect much, to be FREE.
Deep down, each 1 of WE the People know that there is, nothing in life for FREE! Someone or something has paid the price. The Liberty and the freedom we enjoy in this country were and are FREE, but to maintain these gifts, to secure these gifts, it has been paid for, often by blood, sweat, tears and lives.
WE each came into this world naked; so shall we leave this world. WE enter in and exit out with only the gifts of Life, Liberty, and the right to the Pursuit of Happiness. But when these rights are re-written as privileges, OUR lives, liberties and the pursuits of that which makes us individually happy, are based upon our ability to pay for them and given to US , by the few that control it and allow it.
What WE freely take without paying for, WE will forfeit in the future. What WE forfeit is taken from US!
“I remain as free as nature first made man. Ere the base laws of servitude began, when wild in the woods the naked savage ran.”
What WE will not pay for will be unto US, a master that enslaves us…
…for there is nothing in Life for FREE!
What can each 1 of WE the People; what can WE the People do? What can unite US? How can WE the People, restore our rights to, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit Happiness?”
I have promised and will keep my promise. I promise you that what WE can do about all of this and HOW to do it is coming! WE are just one day or one post to this blog, away from the solution! It is really quite simple. It will not take forever or even a lifetime. It will only take a small amount of time and your direct participation. It may be difficult, but WE can do it IF, WE the People so will to do it. Do WE so will?
What may seem as insurmountable odds in regaining control of OUR liberties may appear hopeless, but there is an answer! Stay tuned here as we continue.
Next Time: I am Asking for Your Help
Check out the other blogs listed to the right. Come often. Bring others. Get involved. Do something. Even if it is just leaving a comment, that’s doing something. But don’t bother in telling me how stupid I am, this won’t work or that you hate my guts and things like that. Been there, done that and heard that all before and then some. Be original. Be different.
Ask not what your country can do for you
or what you can do for your country,
but what can WE the People do, for each other!”
1 of WE,
Dahni
An Amer-I-Can eagle
Next Post – I am asking for your help Coming Soon
Previous Post - Me, Those and Them?
Front Page - Welcome & Introduction
I am high.
Intoxicated… by the discoveries of my own mind… and the treasures that it leads me to…
Heady…with the freedom with which it dives into disturbia… and surfaces again… in brilliant clarity.
OK.
You know how it is. Sometimes, life is kind and epiphany refuses to leave you. The real world and all its f@#%-ups become extras in the unrelenting movie that your mind is filming. You finally get a glimpse of your raison d’etre (if it hasn’t happened to you already, i hope it does, because it is unbeatable, like I say each time) You might lose your phone connection if the bill isn’t paid tonight. That cool guy you met last night hasn’t called. In fact you saw him borrow a pen from the girl with the killer legs. Your boss raised the wrong eyebrow when you turned in your work.Your friends raised the wrong eyebrow when they saw your haircut. Your coworker is off to pick up those shoes you were eyeing. Why aren’t you hyperventilating already?! Do you not see the doom? Oh yeah that’s right. Your invincible button is turned on. You are ON. You surfaced. Are you gonna float and breathe or worry about the sirens in the distance?
Float baby float!
But then I have all these college applications to fill out and a passport application deadline and a Resume that needs to be rescued from the jaws of extinction but does it matter to me right now? I’m busy building a home of insight here. In the real world i am “relaxing”. In my head I’m a sweaty construction worker. I should like, live - in this world of ideas. I’d like to. Everything has its place here. Everything makes sense. Beautiful, poetic sense. So that just leaves one option. I declare myself delusional beyond help, impractical beyond saving and check myself into mental rehab.
Except that I already set my mind free! It does not like this solution! It will get its own. It starts figuring out the place of the real world in my ‘home’. It struggles. It starts frikkin’ wading again until it arrives at priorities and plans and action. Unimaginative, mundane, real world action. It discovers order. A creature of reason and a slave of meaning, I am helpless in the face of this discovery. I must follow it.
Tonight I decide to bring order. Not by force, but by simply opening my eyes to the right place of things. The right place of thoughts and activities. The right time of action. And when I see the place of something, it’s not in my place to disrupt it by not pursuing it. Wouldn’t I be disrespecting me own sense of reason? If follow-my-instincts is what I do, what I’d rather do, I have to go wherever they take me. Even if it’s a place they never wanna go to.
When you don’t see any reason in doing things that u should be doing, you have to rise to the reason.
Or pull yourself up to it.
So that they come naturally to u.
So that you arrive at them.
Liberty in place.
Maybe then… freedom and discipline can strike the balance they never wanna strike?
P.S: Rabindranath Tagore definitely had a college-application to fill out when he said “Emancipation from the bondage of the soil, is no freedom for the tree”
HOW can WE the People regain control of OUR right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” WE have been delving into what won’t work in order to find what will work. So far:
The List (simplified)
1. Overthrow the government by a military coup or para-military militias?
2. The 9/12 Project?
3. ‘The Commerce Clause?’
4. Convening a Constitutional Congress?
5. Hope that the present circumstances will change and the will of WE the People will be implemented
Today: Why hope that the other party will get its act together and produce the necessary changes, will not work.
Last time WE saw that just hoping everything will change will not work as we put no action; no belief or believing behind the desire for change. The same is true, hoping that the other party will get it together.
With low confidence among US, WE the People in mainstream media and politicians from both sides of the aisle, OUR inaction is just as effective (counterproductive) as those WE consider responsible for most of OUR problems in the first place. WE often take the attitude and the position of ‘wait and see.’ Wait and see for what, what are WE waiting for?
Many patriots deciding to get off that fence jumped into the pasture, of the town hall meetings. Some of OUR servants decided not to participate and didn’t even bother to show up. Some argued with the very people that put them into office. Some blatantly told their constituents that it did not matter what they wanted, they were going to vote their conscience and do whatever they thought best, not what WE the People wanted. Since WE the People got off the fence and jumped into the political pasture, many were labeled as idiots or worse and were just “full of” what they were walking around on, in the pasture. It’s just another classic example of US against them.
After experiencing a ‘smack-down’ from OUR elected servants whose demeanors and attitudes came off as being better and smarter than US, WE the People, it caused many of US to become hesitant in getting involved again, in the political process. These attitudes by the way, come from those who did not know who wrote the bills or even read the bills they wanted to subject the rest of US, OUR futures and the futures of OUR children’s children to have to pay for. WE view these attitudes as coming from the elite that waste OUR money on their own private comforts and security. Frustrated with the whole thing and with these people, WE throw up our hands, give up, and just wait and see.
What do WE see? Instead of solutions, WE see the ‘blame game’ being played. Oh, it’s not my fault I inherited this mess from him, her, they and them. OK fine, someone borrows your car and leaves the lights on and leaves town. You get into your car the next day to go somewhere and it won’t start, because the battery is dead. After hurling choice expletives into the air, what do you do next? Do you just sit there until whenever, because this is not your fault or do you just get the battery charged?
One year WE have one party or one person in control of this and that. WE wait and see and when they lose OUR confidence, WE elect another person and/or another party to replace them. WE want our politicians to know WE are watching them. In times past it seemed like WE votes really mattered, forcing the screw-ups to change in order to get elected or re-elected next time and forcing those in office to hold the line or WE would vote them out. Today, this does not seem to make any difference anymore, the fear of loss to many politicians does not seem as important to them as it once was. Why is that?
For one thing, it’s not the pay they receive while in office, it’s the benefits and the pension they’ll get after they leave, for the rest of their lives, paid for by WE the People. From a business point of view, salaries in government are not that great. So why would they want to get into politics in the first place, to serve? If this was mostly true, why do most of them try and maintain their service for most of their lives? That sounds like careers to me and not service. Let’s use the president’s benefit package as an example. But first, let’s see what he came into office with, courtesy of WE the People.
Published books with millions of dollars in royalties? Had he ever written one before? So curiosity compelled people; popularity influenced people and getting on the bandwagon of everyone is buying them mentality, the media, marketing and advertising and referrals all produced sales. Don’t ask me about the content of these books as I really don’t know. But it made personal wealth climb to millionaire status. Clearly the president does not need the money. But he has an annual salary of about $250,000 a year. Not bad, but not too great either, considering the pressures of the job and in comparison to what other C.E.O.’s make. But this does not include FREE room and board, FREE travel, FREE food, a lot of other FREE stuff, benefits extended to and include his immediate family, plus the many benefits after leaving office, all courtesy of, WE the People. But why do people want the type of pressure that comes with these jobs? The simple answer is, sphere of influence, power and control and all at OUR expense. So what if they screw up everything, they’ve got theirs and will keep getting theirs,long after they leave office
So WE wait and see. If they don’t care about getting elected or re-elected, and they don’t seem to respect US, WE the People, all it seems like WE can do is to wait, watch and see if they implode or devour each other. WOW, that’s pretty cynical; pretty pathetic! Is this all? Is this just “damned if WE do and damned if WE don’t?”
This is not a choice of the lesser of two evils. There are those in political office or that will one day enter in that really do care. WE have seen many of the good people throw up their hands and leave, sick and tired of the whole game. Then there are the bright-eyed, full-of-hope; full of potential and possibility – ‘newbies’ that enter. So some seasoned one takes them under their wing and shows them how things are done. Intentional or not, the wing people mess with the little chicks and the little chicks get transformed to often something else that even they were not expecting. And WE the People weren’t either!
So after the mud settles to the bottom and the ripples cease; the water becomes clear and WE can see all the way to the bottom. All of this is not about a person, persons or parties. This is not drinking water it’s a stagnant cesspool. It is a corrupt, corrupting and corruptible system. Even the good apples will eventually rot in this barrel of rotten apples. I’ve no doubt that there are some that know exactly what is going on or at least some of it, but for the most part, it is just the way it is and has been since 1861, 1863 and 1871. But it does not have to stay this way. Guess who it’s up to, to change it? WE the People!
Hoping that the other party will get its act together and produce the necessary changes will not work, because there is no measurable difference between the people and the parties in politics. The problem is the system. It’s the system that WE the People must eliminate.
I have promised and will keep my promise. I promise you that what WE can do about all of this and HOW to do it is coming! It is really quite simple. It will not take forever or even a lifetime. It will only take a small amount of time and your direct participation. It may be difficult, but WE can do it IF, WE the People so will to do it. Do WE so will?
What may seem as insurmountable odds in regaining control of our liberties may appear hopeless, but there is an answer! Stay tuned here as we continue.
Next Time: Remain divided and work for self, other causes, parties and candidates?
Check out the other blogs listed to the right. Come often. Bring others. Get involved. Do something. Even if it is just leaving a comment, that’s doing something. But don’t bother in telling me how stupid I am, this won’t work or that you hate my guts and things like that. Been there, done that and heard that all before and then some. Be original. Be different.
Ask not what your country can do for you
or what you can do for your country,
but what can WE the People do, for each other!
1 of WE,
Dahni
An Amer-I-Can eagle
Next Post - Remain divided and work for self, other causes, parties and candidates? Coming Soon
Washington Post [Hat tip John Lott] – When gunmen attacked 10 sites in Mumbai in November 2008, including two five-star hotels and a train station, Mumbai resident Kumar Verma sat at home glued to the television, feeling outraged and unsafe.
Before the end of December, Verma and his friends had applied for gun licenses. He read up on India’s gun laws and joined the Web forum Indians for Guns. When he got his license seven months later, he bought a black, secondhand, snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolver with a walnut grip.
“I feel safe wearing it in my ankle holster every day,” said Verma, 27, who runs a family business selling fire-protection systems. “I have a right to self-protection, because random street crime and terrorism have increased. The police cannot be there for everybody all the time. Now I am a believer in the right to keep and bear arms.”
Verma said he plans to join the recently formed National Association for Gun Rights India to lobby against new gun controls that the government has proposed, blaming the proliferation of both licensed and illegal weapons for a rise in crime.
Although India’s 1959 Arms Act gives citizens the legal right to own and carry guns, it is not a right enshrined in the country’s constitution. Getting a license is a cumbersome process, and guns cannot be bought over the counter — requirements that gun owners describe as hangovers from the colonial past, when the British rulers disarmed their Indian subjects to head off rebellion.
In December, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed several amendments to the Arms Act that would make it even harder to acquire a gun license, restrict the number of people eligible for nationwide licenses and curtail the amount of ammunition a gun owner can amass.
An official said that the ministry has called for public input. But in the meantime, the proposals have given rise to a nascent gun rights movement modeled on the strategies of the United States’ National Rifle Association and echoing its rhetoric of civil rights, dignity and self-protection.
“We are outraged. We are not murderers. Instead of going after real criminals, the government is indulging in window dressing by bringing in gun control laws that target law-abiding citizens who have licensed guns,” said Abhijeet Singh, 37, a software engineer who started Indians for Guns and is the coordinator of the new gun rights association.
“We want to remove the stigma on licensed gun owners,” Singh said. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 87 percent of murders by firearms in India in 2007 involved illegally held guns.
There is no official tally of legal gun owners, but Singh cited a rough estimate of 4 million to 5 million.
Last week, the National Association for Gun Rights India began meeting with lawmakers and consulting lawyers in a bid to stall the proposals. The group’s president is a 39-year-old lawmaker, Naveen Jindal, who studied at the University of Texas business school in Dallas. Inspired by American students’ displays of patriotism, Jindal earlier launched a successful campaign for Indians’ right to display the national flag outside their homes and offices.
Indian security experts appear dismissive of the group’s efforts. “There is no place for a gun rights movement in India,” said Julius Ribeiro, a former police officer who comments on security issues. “That kind of debate may work in America, but it will not work here, because laws are misused and guns can easily fall into the wrong hands. It can get dangerous in India.”
Gun rights advocates respond — using language familiar to Americans — that guns are a deterrent to crime.
“An armed society is a polite society,” said Rahoul Rai, a member of the campaign. He said the movement also reflects the rise of an Indian middle class that can “voice its fears about rising crime, interpret the constitution to articulate their rights to self-protection and bring like-minded people together through technology.”
By Alan Caruba
