File this under: I should know better...

I made the mistake of reading talk.politics.guns today, and am reminded why I unsubscribed from pretty much all usenet news a long time ago. The pro-gun posters were just as bigoted, just as arrogant, and just as obnoxious as the anti-gun posters. Sure, it's easy to forget that the people reading your posts are people, but is that any excuse for making yourself look like an utter ass? Apparently, it is - at least, it is for the people who post on newsgroups.

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Oh, the irony...

NEVER talk to the police!

Professor James Duane (a law professor in Virginia) explains reasons why you should NEVER talk to the police, under ANY circumstances.

Did you know?

In times of war, the U.S. Constitution gives the President the power to ignore the Constitution? Including wars that are not declared, as required under Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution? Apparently, the people who published the copy of the Constitution that I've read neglected to include the portion that gives the President that power. Or maybe it's in a classified section of the Constitution, that's only available to members of the Executive Branch?

Did you know that the President does not condone or authorize torture or inhumane treatment of prisoners? I guess that means that Manadel al-Jamadi, Abed Hamed Mowhoush, and Nagem Sadoon Hatab, among nearly a hundred others, are still alive and well and being treated with basic human dignity? And I guess that means that those photos from Abu Ghraib were just Photoshop jobs? Oh, that's right, that's neither torture nor inhumane treatment - it's "enhanced interrogation techniques." After all, America doesn't torture its prisoners. Never mind that when other countries used the exact same techniques, their officials were charged - by America - with war crimes.

Did you know that the President insists on the preservation of the human rights of all American prisoners? But then again, habeas corpus isn't a human right, apparently.

How do I know all this is true? Because I've been assured so by Nancy Theis, Special Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Correspondence.

So, from now on, when someone tries to tell me that America is engaged in an illegal war, I'll just point them at that super-secret, classified portion of the Constitution that only the President has access to, that gives him the power to engage in war without the need for a pesky Declaration of War, and without the need to obey any of those pesky rules in the public portion of the Constitution.

And when anyone tells me that America tortures and mistreats its prisoners, I'll just point out to them that it's not torture when America does it - only when other countries do it.

And when anyone tells me that America violates human rights, I'll just point out to them that little things like habeas corpus aren't really human rights after all.

After all, I have been assured this is so by the Assistant to the President. And she wouldn't lie, would she?

If you have fibromyalgia, you are a woman who murdered her unborn child

At least, that's what you are according to Beverly, at Motherhood and other Ramblings.

Not only that, if you have HPV, you are a slut, and if you have HIV, you are a gay man who indulges in unsafe sex. All this, based on the word of a Catholic priest and a child psychiatrist who founded an anti-abortion group in Canada.

So like an HPV diagnosis in someone would almost guarantee that others would know the person's potential morals or lack there of, and HIV almost always denotes a gay man, a diagnosis of fibromyalgia could potentially indicate a woman who has aborted a child. Just a thought.

Here's "just a thought": Beverly is a moralistic bigot who deserves to be considered with the same level of thoughtfulness you'd give to Fred Phelps, George Lincoln Rockwell, or Khallid Abdul Muhammad.

With all the scientific and medical evidence that shows that fibromyalgia is a neurological condition that affects both men and women, the idea that anyone could still spew bigoted, ignorant garbage like that is simply mind-boggling.

My Response...

...to the people who have taken over the Libertarian Party.

If you're interested in a party that is still truly libertarian, follow me to the Boston Tea Party.

Congressional Guidelines for Abusing Women

I knew that men were victimized on a daily basis by the domestic violence industry. What I didn't know is how badly the domestic violence industry abuses those it supposedly protects.

Praise Xenu!

A message that needs to be spread:

Message From Anonymous to the Public:

It has again come to the attention of Anonymous that there are a number of you who do not fully understand the scope of the threat that Scientology as an organization poses to the public at large and to their own members that espouse themselves to the teachings and practices of the institution known as the Church of Scientology. Many are still confused about what "Anonymous" is and who we are.

This press statement should answer many of the most common questions. If you would like clarification on any statements or would like to ask specific questions to Anonymous, there are many sources for information available that will oblige your needs. These resources will be listed in the references section of this release.

The Various Organizations of Scientology

+ Are directly responsible for the deaths of at least 7 people and countless others indirectly through emotional abuse, physical abuse, or medical malpractice.
+ Have wrongfully imprisoned at least 24 people since 1976.
+ Have infiltrated the Federal government, Local governments, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
+ Continues to Payroll off-duty police officers for private security
+ Circumvented due process by tampering with and obstructing evidence and witnesses.
+ Aggressively censors the media both on the national and international level through unscrupulous methods.
+ Driven lawsuits launched against them into the ground through malicious litigation.
+ Aggressively litigates, blackmails, slanders, harasses, and spread misinformation about: critics, former members, current members, psychiatry, psychology, and pharmacology.
+ Violates basic human rights both outside and within its walls.
+ Drains billions from the accounts of its member who were only seeking help that they could have otherwise obtained for free from legitimate sources.
+ Destroys families by perpetuating an internal culture of paranoia, isolationism, and total censorship.
+ Stolen paperwork, property, and identification from its members as a means of subjugation and coercion.
+ Is suspected of violating child labor laws.
+ Refuses vital medications to its members.
+ Convicted of fraud in many countries and multiple times.

Keep in mind that Anonymous represents an idea that people from all over the world, from all backgrounds, races, and creeds, and from all walks have life have come to embrace. It is a constantly evolving, adapting group dedicated to the principles of free speech, human rights, and upholding national and international laws.

Thanks to some very wise guidance from Emmy-award winner and critic of the Church of Scientology, Mark Bunker, as well as many other veteran critics and ex-Scientology members, Anonymous has pursued policies of peaceful protests, letter righting campaigns, and an effort to educate the masses on the documented cases of abuse, fraud, and illegal activities of the organization known as the Church of Scientology.

Current projects include world wide peaceful pickets at Church of Scientology sites across the world on March 15th 2008. Anonymous has also focused on lobbying for the repeal of the Church of Scientology's tax exemption status as an organization that operates under the legal definition of a business, and enjoys tax exemption status for religious education not currently allowed for any other religious group in the United States.

Outside of the protests, the mining of information by Anonymous and its supporters, both inside and outside of the Church of Scientology, have uncovered a wealth of new information and will continue to do so. Those that did take action on the protests of February 10th are now seeing ever increasing throngs of support appearing to increase their ranks. The protests on March 15th are already expected to be much larger in scale than previous dates.

There are already plans that extend out beyond the protest planned for March 15th, including Operation Reconnect where ex-Scientology members and those who have lost friends and family to the Church of Scientology's Disconnection policy will speak out to their loved ones. If you would like to participate directly or indirectly to aid our cause, please visit the forums at enturbulation.org

Our Anonymity is but a tool. It protects us from the threat of illegal harassment, malicious litigation, and Fair Game policy that is standard practice in dealing with all critics who speak out against the abuses and fraud of the Church of Scientology. It is a way to provide safety to those hurt by the Church of Scientology who have been too afraid to speak out. It is a way to unite peacefully behind an idea of justice, of human rights, and of law.


Our true strength is truth.


We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

While I did not find this message until today, I support it wholeheartedly.

Ron Paul and the GOP

Stephen Dinan makes the usual mistake that political pundits make when talking about Ron Paul and his supporters. He assumes that people who support Ron Paul are Republicans, and that the GOP just has to figure out how to keep them "in the fold."

I'm afraid Mr. Dinan is a little confused. OK, make that a lot confused. 

Ron Paul doesn't appeal to Republicans. He doesn't even entirely appeal to Libertarians. The people he appeals to are those who have this silly idea that the U.S. Constitution means something, and that the U.S. government is supposed to obey it. 

That's never been the Republican ideal, except in the rhetoric they used during the 1980s and 1990s to try to sell the Democrats as the party of socialism. The Republican Party is the party of high taxes, corporate welfare, large government projects, and empire. It's been that way since the 1850s. The whole image of the GOP as "the party of small government" is nothing but a marketing gimmick. Sadly, it's a marketing gimmick that the average American (and most Republicans in particular) believes.

Since the GOP has done everything from threatening Ron Paul voters (using Glenn Beck as their mouthpiece) to outright vote fraud (in New Hampshire, Louisiana, and Washington state, at the very least) to keep Ron Paul from getting the nomination, I have to ask, why should anyone who supports Ron Paul even give the GOP a second look? It's obvious they don't want you. It's obvious they think they can manage quite nicely without you. Well, why not take them up on it and show them just how well you can get along without the GOP?

Vote Libertarian. Vote Constitution Party. Vote Boston Tea Party. Hell, write in your own name on the ballot. Just don't vote for either of the "major" parties. If you support Ron Paul, it's obvious you're not a Democrat, so you wouldn't be voting for their candidate, and since the GOP has shown it doesn't want you, why should you vote for its candidate?

Immigrants and Idiots

A couple days ago, I was debating with one of those no-nothing anti-immigrant morons, when he came up with what he imagined was an utterly devastating reply to the facts I presented showing that immigrants are, despite his fevered imaginings to the contrary, not a detriment to society.

His so-called argument was that, since immigrants send the money they make home to their families in whatever country they come from, they're stealing it from the American economy, and that's bad.

Let's pause a moment while you consider the sheer mindlessness inherent in the argument presented. What's that? Yes, you, in the back of the class. You don't understand why I say the argument is mindless? Well, let's review some basic economics then, shall we?

The American dollar, like most other national currencies, is what we call a fiat currency. What this means is that the dollar has value only because the U.S. government says it has value.

I'll repeat that, because it is very important to understand. The U.S. Dollar has value only because the U.S. government says it has value.

So what does this have to do with the argument above? It's really quite simple.

Unlike a representative currency, which is backed by something of real value (gold, silver, crude oil, diamonds, whatever), a fiat currency is valuable only in relation to the country it represents. In addition, a fiat currency is not removing something of real value from the treasury of the country it was printed in, because there is nothing of real value backing it. 

So let's take our hypothetical immigrant, who is working his tuchis off in America, saving his money, and sending it home to his family. What is he actually sending home? Pieces of paper that the U.S. government says have a certain value. But -- and this is important to remember -- it is only in relation to the U.S. economy that those pieces of paper have the value promised by the U.S. government. 

In other words, those pieces of paper are worthless anywhere else in the world, until the bearer chooses to exchange them for his own government's fiat currency. When those pieces of paper are exchanged, they begin their journey back to America, whether as a part of a string of exchanges, or as the currency used in purchase of American goods. Either way, it is only when those pieces of paper are used in an economic exchange that returns them to America that they are of any value at all. 

The only way you could believe that an immigrant sending his savings overseas is somehow stealing dollars from the American economy, is if you believe that the dollars have intrinsic value, rather than merely being glorified IOUs with nothing but trust in the government to support them AND you believe that the immigrant does not have the right to engage in economic exchanges on his own behalf. Even those beliefs are wrong, but they're not the point of this post. If you want a discussion of them at a later time, we can go into them, but the point I'm making is that as long as the currency in question is a fiat currency, it has no value except in relation to the economy of the nation in which it was printed, and therefore can not be"stolen" from the economy merely by being temporarily in another nation.

If Cars were treated like Guns

Found on a mailing list:

• Convicted felons could not own or drive a car.
• You'd pay for a car, register it, and then wait from 5 to 15 days to pick up your car.
• Purchasing a used car from a neighbor requires the same waiting period, and you would have to transact the sale through a licensed car dealer.
• If you trade in your old car for a newer model, you still have to wait 5 to 15 days to pick the new one up.
• You could buy a car and register it, but you'd need a special permit to take it on the streets.
• To get the above "street permit" you have to show good cause, and be of good moral character (as defined by the licensing authority).
• Persons convicted of "domestic violence" could not own or drive a car, even if that conviction occurred 30 years ago.
• Your car would have to be stored where no child could access it and hurt themselves playing with it.
• In some places (e.g. NYC or New Jersey) you would first need a permit from the police department to buy a car, which sometimes takes up to 2 years to obtain.
• If you buy a car, and then move to another state, you may have to leave the car behind since the other state may not accept the make and model you own.
• If a minor child stole your car and hurt himself or others with it, you'd be guilty of a felony.
• In some cities (e.g. Washington D.C.) you would have to store your car partially disassembled.
• Failure to register your car would be a federal felony (prevents you from ever owning another one, for the rest of your life).
• People under psychiatric care, or declared to be mentally incompetent, could not own or drive a car.
• Some models of automobiles might be banned after you buy them, and you'd have to turn them over to the government without compensation.
• "Assault vehicles" look evil and must be specially registered at extra cost. Hummers, 4x4 trucks, Suburbans, Dodge Vipers, Nissan NSX's, and Corvettes are likely targets.
• Cars under a certain size, or having certain features, could not be imported.
• You could not modify your car to allow more fuel, more performance, or better cornering.
• The government would allow some states or cities to not issue licenses at all, for any reason (or no reason at all).
• Cars could not be operated on city streets with gasoline in the tank. (Kinda defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it?)
• In some states (e.g. Virginia, California) you could only buy one car per month.
• There would be no traffic "infractions". Instead, all violations would be criminal misdemeanors or felonies.
• It would be illegal to directly buy a car from an out of state dealer or seller.
• Car dealers would have to allow government agents to review their records without a warrant and without notice.
• Car dealers who sell a car to someone prohibited would be charged with a federal felony.
• Car dealers would be subject to being shut down by the government, and charged with a felony, for failure to keep proper records. The government inspector defines what "proper records" means.
• The inventory of car dealers could be seized and destroyed before the dealer is ever charged in court.
• Your car could be declared to be one of the banned kind, even after you legally bought it, and you would be charged as a criminal, based solely on the word of a government auto inspector, who doesn't even have any written guidelines to what is required for a car to be banned.
  

We Have To Send A Message!

Have you ever noticed that, whenever anyone tries to convince politicians to do anything that makes sense, like decriminalizing marijuana, restore the 2nd Amendment, protect people's privacy rights, or whatever, their response is some variation on "we have to send a message"?

Nobody ever asks them what kind of message they're trying to send.

Maybe that's because people know, even without being told, that the message they're sending is one of the following:

"You are stupid." - The politician believes you are too stupid to be able to live your own life without being told what to do by the government.

"You are evil." - The politician believes you are an evil person and must be constrained by government power to prevent you from doing whatever it is the government has declared to be "evil."

"You are insane." - The politician believes that you are crazy. You must be, because only crazy people would question the beneficence of the all-powerful government.

So let's be real here. Why should we trust, or believe, anyone whose essential message is any one of the three messages I've mentioned here?

Y2K Bug was real! Well, at least for ONE thing....

It seems that James Hansen (yes, the same James Hansen who accused the Busheviks of trying to censor his views on climate change) was using a secret algorithm for calculating the global temperatures that he reported as "proof" of "global warming".

Leaving aside the fact that a real scientist would never use a secret algorithm to produce the data he claims as "proof" of anything, we have now discovered that Mr. Hansen's algorithm had a very interesting Y2K bug. Thanks to Steve McIntyre, of climateaudit.org, who reverse-engineered Mr. Hansen's algorithm when Mr. Hansen refused to reveal what he used to calculate his temperature data, we have learned that no matter what data you feed into Mr. Hansen's algorithm, you will always get a sudden jump in global temperatures right around the year 2000.

After eliminating Mr. Hansen's Y2K bug, that sudden jump in global temperatures no longer exists, and we discover that the actual distribution of temperatures falls into the normal variances you would expect, without having to call upon "global warming" to explain them.

Punishment Park

This movie was banned in 1971. It seems to me that it's even more timely now than it was then - and it was pretty spot on back then.

Why the Gun IS Civilization

Short and sweet.

Conspiracy Realists of the World Unite

Wilt Alston has written one of the best debunkings of the official story of 9/11 that I've seen anywhere. He hasn't gone into the pesky details of how, if you believe the official story, you have to believe that the laws of physics were suspended for long enough for the WTC buildings to "collapse" - he's just pointed out the glaring errors in the story so you can do your own thinking.

Of course, doing your own thinking is something most people seem allergic to.

Why Even The Terrorists Need A Trial

Why Even The Terrorists Need A Trial

I'm not going to quibble over his need for a spellchecker. The message is clear and unmistakable.

Are you a terrorist?

Your score is 70%

Congratulations, you are a domestic terrorist. Well, at least you are according to the US government. Consider turning yourself in to your local authorities. There are FBI offices all around they country and they would like to talk to you. Pack your bags for Gitmo because the government doesn't like you.

Take this score !

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Proof that MySpace is Censoring its Users who support Ron Paul

If you go to this video at YouTube, you'll be able to watch as a MySpace user has his account blocked THREE TIMES, simply for attempting to post a bulletin supporting Ron Paul on his personal bulletin board.

He verifies in the video that it is his support of Ron Paul that triggers the block, thus proving that MySpace is engaging in active censorship of Ron Paul supporters.

So let's see what happens here, eh?

Are you a terrorist?

The Dept. of Homeland Security has defined what they consider a "domestic terrorist" - and their definition includes anyone who:

• Believes the Constitution has been subverted by the government.
• Opposes gun control
• Believes the government is violating their rights
• Believes that the government's policies are criminal and/or immoral.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the following images, captured from a Homeland Security training website before the pages were pulled after being publicized by the Classically Liberal blog.

(Note that the page had to be taken in two shots, but you can clearly see where the text overlaps between the first and second shot.)