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It's not love, it's passion

Most importantly, it's not love. It's passion. We're not "wired" to seek out positive emotions over negative emotions. What our bodies want is the intensity, the peak, not the direction. What we choose to do with that passion, that's up to us. We can create or we can destroy. We can use it to rise above our fellow humans, we can use it as a means to cut ourselves off, or we can use it to give a hand up. Sometimes, each choice is necessary. There's no one answer that will serve in every situation or for every person. We have to trust that they will make a good choice.
— NeoWayland, comments from Column: Come Darkness, Come Light
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Justification for control

Despite their poetry, many monotheists expect others to sublimate their faith to the monotheism. They aren't interested in what we share except as a justification for control.
— NeoWayland, comments from Column: Come Darkness, Come Light
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“Love is reciprocal.”

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Goldwater on religion and politics

There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.'
— Barry Goldwater, September 16, 1981

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Holiday week roundup

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Friday roundup

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“DRAG QUEEN KIDS: The New Normal?”

“Drag Queen Kid Desmond is Amazing recently danced at a gay bar & Lactatia the 8 year old drag queen has been praised by progressives. Drag Queens are increasingly being invited to speak at schools, so is drag the normal for children?”

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Thursday roundup

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“Stossel: Does Silicon Valley manipulate users?”

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Cloned giants

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A Bush secret

“George H.W. Bush secretly sponsored a Filipino child for 10 years.”

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“Journalism is…”

Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.

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Wednesday roundup

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NeoNote — Politicos without sin

As long as you buy into the idea that one side is marginally better, the circus continues and you are cut out of the decisions.

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Tuesday roundup

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“Media Hype Questionable Gun Control Study”

“Dozens of news outlets reported that America has the most mass shooters in the world. Many say that shows America needs more gun control.”

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Monday super-sized roundup

Federal judge in Texas rules Affordable Health Care Act unconstitutional



VA Whistleblower Visited By FBI, Sent To Psych Ward, Set To Be Terminated From Job



FBI misses deadline to provide docs to Judiciary Committee probing whistleblower raid



Bare-Breasted 'Mariannes' Face Off With French Police; Tear Gas, Pepper Spray Used On Protesting Yellow Vests



Moscow To Set Up Military Base In Caribbean



The Green New Deal: eco pastiche



Personal Bank Accounts in Venezuela Frozen to “Fight Terrorism”



Every Bubble Is In Search Of A Pin



Will Half Of All Colleges Really Close In The Next Decade?



Mueller Destroyed Messages From Peter Strzok's iPhone; OIG Recovers 19,000 New "FBI Lovebird" Texts



Venezuela Joins the Social Credit Club



Million Plus NJ Gun Owners Defy State Law, Refuse to Turn Over Banned Gun Mags



New Jersey Magazine Capacity Restriction: Now What?



New Bill Prohibiting 3D Printed Firearms Introduced to Congress



One Year Ago Today, the FCC Killed the Internet


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“Hillary Clinton's $84 Million Money-Laundering Scheme”

The Anatomy Of Hillary Clinton's $84 Million Money-Laundering Scheme


I can't stress how important this is.

Trump has been accused, but Hillary Clinton did it.

Why was the special prosecutor authorization focused solely on the Trump campaign?

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Friday supersized roundup

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Last resort

I'm telling you to stop expecting the law to save you. And I'm telling you that law should be a last resort.
— NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Pagans and climate change

Critics have also noted that much of the science doesn't hold up and that the ten year deadlines keep getting moved.



Pardon, but that is not true. It's a very small minority of critics have publicly claimed the science doesn't hold up. As for the "vast majority of the world's scientists," that's not true either.

This is one area where what little science there is has been buried under layers and layers of politics. It has become heresy to criticize the "conclusions." And the reactions to those who do ask questions are exactly like those historical reactions to those who questioned Islam or Christianity in a less enlightened age. We should be asking why it is necessary to crush dissent. We should also be asking if (notoriously unreliable) politicos are really on the side of Earth and Nature, or if they have their own agenda.

Then we get to the science which really isn't science. It's computer models built on a unproven assumptions, including a carbon dioxide cascade effect that has never been observed either in the laboratory or in the field. The models also minimize other known strong climate influences such as solar variations and atmospheric water, probably because those can't be blamed on human activity. But no, the science is settled and Must Not Be Questioned.

Those of us who follow Earth-centered paths want to believe that we are uniquely qualified to help. Part and parcel of that is the belief that we are uniquely qualified to hurt as well. While there are ecological problems that are human caused like pollution and water table damage and overharvesting the seas and rainforests, Nature adapts. If all humans disappeared tomorrow morning at 7:13 AM Eastern Standard Time, life would go on.

We need to find actual changes that make the World a little better. That doesn't include handing over massive funding and political power to politicos and technocrats who have no understanding of Nature and haven't the slightest idea how to solve the "problem."



As a rule, I don't think either/or solutions apply. It's not save the planet OR consume everything.

Are there solutions? Yes, and a lot of them are beyond our reach for now. When we get nanotech going (and we will), I expect one of the first large scale applications will be vat-grown exotic hardwoods that are virtually indistinguishable from the "real thing" other than cost and availability. Vat-grown stone will follow. Already vat-grown meat shows promise.
And that is just short to medium term.

We can make it better without the need for noble sacrifice.

We also need to address capitalistic solutions that may work. The American bison population is growing because some herds are privately owned and managed. There's evidence that works with African elephants as well. People take care of what they own.



"Eppur si muove."

This is public science we are talking about. Public science means telling the politicos what they want to hear. In living memory, public science has flip flopped on things like forest management, eugenics, recommended diet, humans have only five senses, and the role of sodium in human biology. When discussing public science, we should always ask "who profits?"

I focus on the political of climate science because unlike almost any other field of science, dissent is not allowed. It's not merely a matter of dismissing results, it's discrediting the researchers who don't toe the line.

For most of the 20th Century, we humans have treated Science as the new god. We forget we know much less than we think we know. We forget that science is a process and not an absolute. I just keep remembering a commercial I heard on an old-time radio recording. "Eight out of ten doctors recommend Lucky Strikes for their patients who smoke."

I'd probably ignore the whole mess except governments are demanding tremendous power to Act Now despite having no real solutions. And of course, it's too urgent for debate or to submit to public vote.



I am not anti-science.

I really don't want to turn this into a long debate on climate science or government power.

What I'd like is for people to ask more questions. Why the goalposts for action keep moving. Just what is supposed to be done and how much of an effect it should have. What will be done if the predictions fail to predict.

While Why neopagans of all people are treating this as an Absolute Revelation when we know that the World does things we don't expect.

Why we can't start with simple things like planting more trees.

I think asking these questions is important.



It's the political aspect that worries me. I won't kid you, the extreme climate change crowd are a major inspiration for what I call the True Believer™.

I think the science could work itself out, but partial conclusions and unproven techniques have been placed front and center of an agenda that has very little to do with saving the planet.



The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
— H. L. Mencken



*shrugs*

Like I said, if it wasn't for the politician's rush to do something now, and incidentally completely remake every social structure and institution, I'd be content to sit this one out.

I've done more than a little research on this subject over the years. I've written about it quite a bit. I'm notorious in some circles for being the pagan that doesn't embrace the climate change panic.

But more and more I see this as political. It's not the scientists who are making the noise. It's not the scientists who are calling for massive financial and social changes. And it's not the scientists who want to punish "climate deniers."



I've no problem with bottom up changes providing better alternatives.

I've every problem with unquestioned top down solutions imposed by force.

I firmly believe that there are two phrases which have done more to shape humanity and human history than anything else.

The first is Let me help.

The second is I can do better than that!



Can you name another topic where "science" is defined by consensus rather than it's ability to predict?



Science isn't neutral. Science is a process. As a process, it shouldn't be treated as a conclusion.

The Brontosaurus was, wasn't, and then was again. Our perspective changed, our acceptance changed, but those old bones didn't.

No one is measuring the value of plate tectonics by how many people agree with it. Validity is measured by how well the theory explains observed phenomena and predicts what will happen.

Yet when it comes to climate change, there is always an overwhelming percentage of consent consensus cited, as if this measures validity.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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❝7 Things You Should Know About Free Speech in Schools: Free Speech Rules (Episode 1)❞

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Thursday super roundup

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Practical politics

Australian government passes controversial world-first anti-encryption law amid broad criticism

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Tuesday roundup

Monument Valley closed due to ‘cult activity'

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Monday roundup

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Australia screws your privacy

Their arguments among each other lead to pluralism, the American religious virtue that no one wants to talk about.

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Closing Monument Valley

Monument Valley closed due to ‘cult activity'

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NeoNote — There is no "Judeo-Christian faith."

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Sunday bonus roundup

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Friday roundup

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Thursday oversized roundup

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Wednesday roundup

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“Stossel: Google and Facebook Cross "The Creepy Line"”

“Tech companies are compiling incredibly detailed dossiers about you.”

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Tuesday roundup

The Amazon Deal Shows Why We Must End Corporate Welfare



Top Ecuadorian Diplomat Destroys Guardian's Claim That Manafort Visited Assange



Migrant caravan hits tourism



Will Dems Protest Clintons, Too?



Macron Looks to Tax Measures to Curb



Truth Is What We Hide, Self-Serving Cover Stories Are What We Sell



Will Paris Riots Scuttle Climate Accord?



Revealed: Marriott's 500 Million Hack Came After A String Of Security Breaches



Paris protests reveal fracture between France’s haves and have-nots



Miseducated or Stupid?



I quit Instagram and Facebook and it made me a lot happier — and that's a big problem for social media companies



Is the FBI Raiding Whistleblowers' Homes to Protect Robert Mueller?



I deleted my Twitter account. It's a breeding ground for thoughtlessness and contempt.


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Monday roundup

Youngest kids in class may be over-diagnosed with ADHD



Destroyed for Nothing

“The closing of GM’s Detroit plant—erected at the expense of a vibrant urban neighborhood—is a final twist of the knife in a tale of displacement and destruction.”

Exclusive: Google Employees Debated Burying Conservative Media In Search

You can be an advocate or you can be a search engine. You can't honestly be both.

Obama Tells Wall Street to Thank him for Making Them so Much Money



The work-from-home doctor will see you now



The Ignored Legacy of George H.W. Bush: War Crimes, Racism, and Obstruction of Justice



The Forgotten Legacy of George H.W. Bush That the Media Won’t Tell You About



Post Office Has Boom Year: Loses More Money Than Ever



San Francisco's Wealthy Leftists Are Making Homelessness Worse



G20 Summit, Top Agenda Item: Bye-Bye American Empire



Texas Bill Would Set Foundation for a “Gun Rights Sanctuary State”



Landlord Tells Harvard Student to Move Out Over Legally Owned Guns



Supreme Court Deals Unanimous, Welcome Blow to Administrative State in Frog Case



Curtains for the Clintons



The Cities That Amazon HQ2 Left Behind

“Amazon’s yearlong search for the location of its second headquarters was billed as a chance to transform an American city. In reality, it made plain an economic system that increases inequality, monopoly power, and political polarization.”
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Bonus Sunday roundup

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Choosing the most oppressed

Progressive politics revolves around choosing the most oppressed so that everyone else can be shamed into granting extra privileges to the designated victims.
— from the private journal of NeoWayland
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Wednesday mini-roundup

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NeoNote — George Soros and anti-Semitism

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Tuesday mini-roundup

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Monday mini-roundup

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from crux № 5 - making mistakes

LGBT Splinter Group From Migrant Caravan Is The 1st To Arrive In Tijuana

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Friday mini-roundup

Minneapolis' Healthy Foods Mandate Screws Over Ethnic Grocers

“The city's Staple Food Ordinance mandates that stores carry products customers don't want.”

Buried? Feds to release major climate report day after Thanksgiving



Mises Predicted the "Red Meat Tax"



Why A Revote Is Necessary After Brenda Snipes Resigns Amid Florida’s Midterm Insanity



Even California Cannot Defy Nature Forever



QE Created Dangerous Financial Dependence, Italy Hooked, Withdrawal Next, ECB Warns



Information Attacks against Democracies



Roberts, Trump spar in extraordinary scrap over judges


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“Proclamation of Thanksgiving”

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Thusday roundup

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❝All religions are not equal…❞

So does that mean that the Decalogue has no value?

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Wednesday roundup

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NeoNote — Someone made the choice for you

Someone else decided that obviously you couldn't be trusted to make the Proper Choice.

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“Victoria's Secret: NO Trans Models!”

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Tuesday roundup

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NeoNote — Nature and the World are not cruel.

So does that mean that the Decalogue has no value?

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“Remy: The Legend of Stan Lee”

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❝I can't be responsible for them…❞

Christianity, the Nation of Islam, atheism, Paganism, these are labels. Now people may use those labels as justifications for their actions, but it is not the label that is responsible. As a Pagan I'm not responsible for the actions of every Pagan out there. I'm responsible for my actions. Since I believe strongly that the measure of a man is in the lives he touches, I'll even accept some of the responsibility for the actions of the people I know and love. But someone I've never met? I can't be responsible for them, no matter what the label they choose. The label isn't responsible, the individuals are.
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Anonymous 'Santa Claus'

“Trump everyone's hard passes then”

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Missing wallet

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Shares the wealth

That's the only thing we can really measure about each other.

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Revoke

“Trump everyone's hard passes then”

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Supersized Monday roundup

In Democratic circles, anti-Semitism is becoming normal



The ACLU Condemns DeVos's Title IX Reforms, Says These Due Process Safeguards 'Inappropriately Favor the Accused'

“So much for civil liberties.”

Household debt hit a record high of $13.5 trillion last quarter



A Warm-Up For 2020: Arizona’s Maricopa County Just Stole The Senate Election

I'm not sure about the allegations, but I'm watching closely.

GOP Audits Elections Office In County That Swung To Democrats



Hanging On: Republican Congresswoman Mia Love Is Now Favored To Prevail In Tight Re-Election Bid



Stacey Abrams Acknowledges Loss In Georgia Governor's Race



Is an ‘Internet of Ears’ the next big thing for smart homes?



SAF, NRA File Federal Lawsuit Challenging Initiative 1639



Kansas City Health Department pours bleach on food meant for homeless people



Debra Messing Joins Alyssa Milano, Condemns Anti-Semitic Women's March Leaders



Gridlocked, in Fair Weather and Foul

“New Yorkers demand that the mayor clear the roads—but only in snowstorms.”

Bubble Trouble: Seattle-Bellevue Metro Housing Market Goes South



Democrats’ Way Back: Is the Resistance rooted in reality?



Identity Politics and American anti-Semitism



Brenda Snipes submits resignation as Broward elections supervisor



Hell Hath No Fury Like a Liberal Scorned: The Media Turns on Facebook and Google



Trump backs sentencing reform bill he says will give ex-inmates 'a second chance at life'



The Institutionalization of Social Justice



There's a Good Reason Many Women Make Less Than Men



Loggers support Trump's claim that wildfires caused by 'poor forest management'



Global warming alarmists pissed off by Canadian gov’t report that nukes their narrative about polar bears



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NeoNote — The Democrats aren't democratic

When they have eliminated superdelegates, they will have earned the designation.

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Friday roundup

Batkid saved San Francisco five years ago, and his cancer's been in remission ever since

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Batkid in remission

Freedom means making mistakes and learning to deal with the consequences

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Defining a libertarian

The Merriam=Webster Online dictionary defines Libertarian as: “a person who upholds the principles of individual liberty especially of thought and action.”  I agree with that definition.  The same dictionary defines liberty as:” the power to do as one pleases.”  This definition I do not agree with because it is incomplete.  It differs from the definition that was universally accepted by those who wrote and ratified the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  They believed that liberty is the freedom to do as you please, as long as you do not hurt others, or interfere with the rights of others.  It is freedom with the responsibility to not hurt others or prevent them from exercising their rights.

A Libertarian believes that preventing individuals from harming others, or interfering with the rights of others, are the only legitimate functions of government.  They believe that individuals should be free to live their lives as they choose, free from any government interference, as long as they treat others properly.  They believe that government assistance, of any kind, is unacceptable, unneeded, and harmful.

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Sewage into energy

I despise guns. I really do.

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Homegrown Philanthropy

I despise guns. I really do.

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from crux № 20 - guns

“Taylor Woolrich told her story yesterday at the annual conference of Students for Concealed Carry…”

I despise guns. I really do.

But I approve of this message.

No matter how I feel about guns, I can't help but notice that the people who obey the gun laws are not the ones we have to worry about. I can't help but notice that the folks making the most noise about gun control are the same ones I wouldn't trust to keep quiet about what anything. And I can't help but notice that the officials, agents, and policemen who proclaim that gun control is absolutely necessary to public safety are the same ones who don't want dash cams or the public recording them on cellphones.

Yes, I approve of this message.



*nods*

I used to be very anti-gun. Not quite out there carrying a sign, but close. Then someone pointed out Cramer’s The Racist Roots of Gun Control and I started looking into it and thinking hard. It was the last bit of libertarianism that I accepted, and the one that was most difficult.

The first time I ever did the reluctant advocate bit was in defense of concealed carry.



That's what started me questioning, but it wasn't where my studies stopped. I finally came up with questions I couldn't answer.

Why should someone who carries a gun decide if other people are allowed to carry? Why does his power trump their rights?

The answer is very simple. In a free society there is no reason.
I started keeping my crux files because I noticed I kept getting into the same discussions in comment threads on other people’s web sites. After a while it just made sense for me to organize my thoughts by topic. These are snippets. It’s not in any particular order, it’s just discussions I have again and again.
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NeoNote — the afterlife and This Side

That's the only thing we can really measure about each other.

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“It's Everybody's Business (1954)”

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The inevitable progression of progressive politics

LGBT Splinter Group From Migrant Caravan Is The 1st To Arrive In Tijuana

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Thursday - November 15, 2018

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Must not be questioned

The problem isn't the opinion or the what the SPLC says.

It's when what the SPLC says must not be questioned.

There are many people in the country I disagree with. It's when they think I am not allowed to argue that it infringes on my rights.
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Unconstitutional

Maryland files federal court challenge asking judge to block Whitaker, install Rosenstein

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Freedom of the press

CNN sues President Trump and White House for banning reporter Jim Acosta

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Oversized Wednesday roundup

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❝Stossel: Why Some Capitalists Are the Worst Enemies of Capitalism❞

“Amazon lobbies for government favors and bad regulations.”

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Tuesday roundup

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I miscalled it

The election was tight, much tighter than anyone thought it could be.

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❝The Fallacy of Single-Payer Health Care❞

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Monday roundup

Pelosi On Broward County: ‘There Is No Election Fraud,’ Just ‘An Honest Count Of The Vote’



Arizona Democrat's Lead Now 'Insurmountable'



Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe

How Florida elections work—or don’t

This is What Retail Investors Did with GE This Year as it Plunged



Google’s Highly Cited Scholar Wants a ‘Farewell to Free Speech’



Lhamon’s Confession: She Gamed The Narrative



God and Guns in the Synagogue



Understanding the Global Recession of 2019



Former Hillary Adviser: “Hillary will run again”



‘None of the above’ tops list of potential 2020 Dems, poll shows



Alabama Voters Pass Amendment to Display Ten Commandments at Public Schools

This won't end well. Why is it that certain monotheists define religious freedom as their religion above all others?

Should We Abolish the Electoral College?



Judicial Watch sues for records on overlooked House IT scandal


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Bonus Sunday mini-roundup

Poll – Dem Choice For 2020 POTUS Race: None Of The Above



Newly Unsealed Documents Show Top FDIC Officials Running Operation Choke Point

“Last week brought new revelations regarding Operation Choke Point, the Obama administration’s effort to freeze politically disfavored businesses out of the financial system.”

U.S. Secret Service Warns ID Thieves are Abusing USPS’s Mail Scanning Service



The DEA and ICE are hiding surveillance cameras in streetlights



Florida Sec. of State Orders Recount for Both Senate and Governor’s Races

“The mandatory recount occurs if the winning candidate’s margin is less than 0.5 percent”

Are We Becoming a Victimocracy?



Proof positive that these Dems were against Jeff Sessions before they were for him



Feinstein Urged Obama To Use Presidential Power To Limit Immigration: ‘No Legislation Necessary’


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Creating protected classes

…it represents yet another example of the government creating protected classes in order to advance political agendas, and gifting them special rights and privileges which result in ludicrous yet predictable outcomes bringing misery to ordinary people.
— Tim Newman, Playing with fire

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“Platform Or Publisher?”

Platform Or Publisher? How Big Tech Can Be Brought To Its Knees

Either way — platform or publisher — Big Tech loses, as long as the government forces it to one side or the other. If platform, then the FAAGs have to tolerate thought criminals using their services, just as if they were a common carrier, like a telephone utility. If publisher, then Big Tech can be sued to kingdom come and charged with innumerable violations of federal law.
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NeoNote — Making the free market work

First, let's acknowledge that almost no one becomes a billionaire without active government intervention. Whether it's a patent, the existence of a corporation, or the exclusive right to sell colored sugar water, you can't concentrate money on a large scale without government.

Second, money depends on movement. Money stuffed in a mattress is just lumpy nesting material. It's cashflow that makes economies work. Yes, that dingus sells for $350, but there is the raw material cost, the manufacturing costs, the overhead costs like salaries and government fees, and so on. Very few things have a profit margin of ten percent, and most are well under five. So that dingus sells for $350, but most likely it cost the company about $333 to make and distribute. Money has to circulate or there is no value anywhere.

Third, you can't overlook competition. Well, at least not without government suppressing it anyway. A company has to compete for employees, just as employees have to compete for jobs. Multiple employers mean better wages and benefits. Regionally, multiple employers means that a town or city is less subject to the whims of a single company or the demands of a single industry.

As far as there being too few jobs, that kicks into government intervention again. In a healthy economy, there will usually be more jobs than employees.

Fourth (and this is the really important bit), companies expand by providing better quality goods and services cheaper, faster, and with more distribution than the competition. This instability is the keystone to the whole process. If a company can't compete, it loses money. More accurately, resources (including employees) are freed to other companies.

Companies want shortcuts, so they lobby and change the law rather than create new products and services. If a large company can pull it off, it's usually much cheaper. Again, this is government intervention. Short of government protection and favor, the only way a company can stay in business is by being at least as good as it's competition.



I should add that digital services and products throw a spanner in the works. On the one hand you have companies like Google offering "free services" by selling your data. On the other hand you have companies like Disney selling movies produced 25, 30 years ago for $20 a pop. We're still working out how all this will work in the long run.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Friday roundup

As His Final Move in Office, Jeff Sessions Limits Use of Court Settlements to Reform Rotten Police Departments



I Think I Have Lost the Plot -- When Did AG Jeff Sessions Become a Liberal Icon?



What Causes a Normal Election to Spiral into Tribal Warfare?



Senate Judiciary Committee Report: 45 Interviews, Zero Evidence To Corroborate Claims Against Kavanaugh



China’s president vows to lower tariffs, increase imports amid tensions with US



Harvard's Racist Diversity



Why Are so Few Americans Able to Get Ahead?



Keith Ellison, Farrakhan groupie and go-to Congressman for anti-Israel activists, elected Minnesota AG



Note to Resistance media: The First Amendment wasn’t written to protect a reporter’s right to grandstand in the White House



Devastating wildfire blazes through California town: 'The community of Paradise is destroyed'



Florida Official Overseeing Vote Count Destroyed Ballots, Accused of Not Removing Dead Voters from Rolls



McSally vs. Sinema ballot update: About 9,600 votes separate the candidates, with Sinema in the lead



ABC, NBC Ignore Antifa Mob Assaulting Home of Fox News Host Tucker Carlson



Saudi prince MBS tells US evangelicals the world should focus on Iran, not him


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NeoNote — Using the law to compel belief

There's also climate change. Some treat it very much as a religious issue, right down to attacking dissenters as heretics. Using the law to compel belief is wrong.

After all, if it is Divine Will, how can mere humans dare question it? Which gives non serviam some very interesting implications. By some interpretations, the absolute demands of monotheism may be less about the Divine and more about the political power of princes, potentates, and priests.

It's easy to laugh at those crazy monotheists until you see some demands of the RadFems, the trans activists, the environmental groups, the redistributionists, and anti-hate speech types. Always, Always, ALWAYS there is a Grand Cause that demands total submission and absolutely no denial "for the greater good."

Anytime you see "thou shalt not dissent," it should be a flashing red strobe and a triple siren.



Kosher certification for restaurants is one private alternative for food safety that has worked. One author, L. Neil Smith, suggested in one of his novels that insurance companies would do a better job with driver's licenses because they are liable if something happens. Obviously these are not the only possibilities. But with government, we end up with only one Official Solution® allowed.

Personally I prefer the free market and competition. And by free market, I mean no government to pick winners or losers, and no government to give advantages over others. Just voluntary exchanges between consenting adults. Many companies especially international ones owe their competitive advantages to special privileges from governments and/or government regulation and control.

The only times I think government should intervene is to protect life, liberty, and property. Beyond that, the only role I see for government is enforcing contracts and agreements, but even that could be done privately.

But that is just me.

I do believe that Meddling in Other's Lives For Their Own Good is one of the great evils unleashed on humanity.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

Some monotheists

Some monotheists think that their religion belongs on top and take offense when you disagree.
 — NeoWayland
Comments

Thusday roundup

Illegal Migrants Boast of Aiding Democrats’ Campaigns

Funny how the rule of law is sacrificed to get the "right" people elected

Three European Countries Block Tax on Tech Giants



Mo’ Money, Mo’ Invasion



America Goes to War

“Fighting Russia, China and al-Qaeda simultaneously requires more money”

Fmr Assistant Secretary of Treasury Explains What The Mid-Term Elections Are Really About

“The establishment is seeking to make a massive statement this election cycle by punishing all those inside Washington who've ever challenged them.”

Hillary Clinton remains the Democrats best chance to defeat Trump in 2020



Right-wing activist group films undercover video of Kyrsten Sinema, staffers



Police decrypt 258,000 messages after breaking pricey IronChat crypto app



6 Questions About The Huge CIA Blunder That Allowed Enemies To Kill 70 U.S. Spies



CIA's ‘surveillance state’ is operating against us all



This Ousted Judge Just Released All the Juvenile Defendants Who Promised Him They Wouldn't Kill Anybody

“He was releasing everybody. Apparently he was saying that's what the voters wanted.”

Cannabis Industry Cheers Sessions' Departure at DOJ



3 Ways to Make the Post-Election World Better


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If you can't trust your worst enemy…

I called the U.S. House election wrong.

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The more control they have…

But none of that is a reason to impeach him.

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Wednesday roundup

It's going to be tight.

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Election results.

It's going to be tight.

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NeoNote — Does that make me a Trump supporter?

But none of that is a reason to impeach him.

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NeoNote — 4:51 AM on election day.

The Gods Do Not Vote, So Why Are You Asking Them?

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Tuesday roundup - election day

If money was really speech, there would be no legal limit to campaign donations.

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Oversize Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Comments

The Gods Do Not Vote

The Gods Do Not Vote, So Why Are You Asking Them?

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NeoNote — Campaign finance reform redux

My idea for campaign finance reform.

You can't contribute to a campaign unless you reside in the area affected by the campaign. No one from Phoenix could contribute to a city council election in Tucson, no one from California could contribute to a proposition in Nevada, and so on.

No anonymous contributions. A current public list of all contributions must be maintained.

Any unused funds must be returned proportionally to all contributors or to a specified charity. If someone contributed .01% of the campaign's funding, then they would receive .01% of any monies left over.

Violating any of these rules would render a candidate legally unable to serve in any public office until the end of term for the office they ran for. If they ran for Senate, violation would make them ineligible for six years. In the case of a ballot proposition, the election would be voided and must be held again.



Money is not speech. No matter what the USSC says.

If they want to spend money, they can do so in their own home. If they want to speak against someone, they can do that where ever and when ever. But someone in Idaho doesn't have to live with the aftermath of an election in Illinois.



It's part of my SUPER SECRET PLAN TO DESTROY THE POLITICAL PARTIES.

Don't tell anyone.



People forget that the party system wasn't created by the Constitution. Yet they essentially control the nomination process. Take the cash flow and war chests and political action groups away and the parties collapse.

All without arguing over if cash is free speech.

Oh, and banning corporate campaign contributions. And union contributions. And political "matching funds."

*grins*



Money isn't speech any more than money is press. Money is a tool, a way of keeping score, and power, but it is not speech.

If money was really speech, there would be no legal limit to campaign donations.

If someone has more money, does that mean they have a bigger right of free speech or a bigger right of the press? If that is the case, we might as well do away with elections and just hold auctions.

It's telling that prior to campaign finance "reform," no one thought otherwise. It's also telling that the CFR was used to restrict speech.

Just because the law says something doesn't mean it's so. I'm still convinced that anyone born with a penis is a male.

Under my proposal, there are two restrictions on donating money. You have to be a voter and you have to reside in the area affected by the election. These are the two restrictions that every other proposed form of campaign finance reform tries to do away with.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

NeoNote - No news source is going to be unbiased

No news source is going to be unbiased. Everybody has a narrative they believe in and everybody is the hero of their own story. I've no problem with people advocating for what they believe in. I have every problem with one side presented as THE Only Acceptable Solution and all other sides demonized. I also have problems when one side is presented as nearly saints and people looking the other way when it comes to the flaws of their champions.

As a rule, absolutes don't.

No one person and certainly no group has all the answers. The Christians aren't all wholesome, but neither are the pagans. The Republicans aren't all righteous, but neither are the Democrats. The labels have no vice or virtue. Only individuals can take responsibility for the consequences. The answers lie somewhere in the middle where we meet and work out how to live without killing each other.

I'd be worried if I agreed with everything written here. That would mean that there is no room left for growth on any side. That would mean that we have silenced the magick for political expediency. It would mean that perception was more important than change.

There's good work here. Sometimes that means telling people what they do not want to hear.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

Friday roundup

Changing the Rules

Controlling the internet

Why Is Social Media So Toxic?



Have we really wiped out half of all animals?



If Dems win the House, ‘climate committee’ will return – seeking energy taxes



Napolitano Teaches Basic Civics to Desperate ‘Fox & Friends’ Hosts

It wouldn't be the first time Trump said something outrageous to set the discussion

We Need a #MeToo Movement for Political Consent



How Trump Is Winning The Midterm Elections



Pakistan acquits Christian woman on death row



Surveillance Cameras Can Identify Anyone by “Talking to Their Cellphones”



Everything you need to know about economics you can learn in the pet food aisle



'Stalked within your own home': Woman says abusive ex used smart home technology against her



If You Liked 'Axis of Evil,' You're Gonna Love 'Troika of Tyranny'



Foxconn: Failure & Fraud


Comments

Vitally important note to any and all politicians

If you can't be bothered to have an actual person call me, I can't be bothered to take your call.

And I won't think fondly of you when I am in the voting booth.

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You misunderstand what law is supposed to be

The FedGovs.

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Libertarians believe

The FedGovs.

Read More...
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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“Who Owns The Statue of Liberty? (New Jersey vs New York)”

The FedGovs.

Read More...
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“Illegal Immigration: It's About Power”

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Wednesday roundup

Civility 101: James Cromwell Says ‘There Will Be Blood’ if Dems Lose Midterms

If this is true, why hold elections?

State-Backed Digital Currency Offers Nothing for Canadians



Is This Worse Than '68?



Moving The Goalposts: IPCC Secretly Redefines what ‘Climate’ means



Bolsonaro is not a fascist



Dad at McDonald's with kids shoots and kills masked gunman who opened fire



Why Halloween Is America’s Most Neighborhood-Nurturing Holiday



Hillary Clinton Drops Super Racist Comment During Event

Can you imagine any Republican getting away with this?

The Misguided Rabbis of Twitter

“Calls to excommunicate pro-Trump Jews are not simply wrong. They’re poison.”

Election predictions

Why polls probably aren't working

Feds Order Google To Hand Over A Load Of Innocent Americans' Locations

Not guilty, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So much for the "right" of privacy.

New Research Confirms We Got Cholesterol All Wrong

“The U.S. government has pushed a lot of bad nutrition advice over the years. Maybe it should stop advising us on what to eat.”

Warmists and Skeptics Should Agree That This is The Real Scandal in Climate Science


Comments

Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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What people could put into their bodies

While Leary definitely complicated things, let's not forget that it was the Federal government who seized the power to decide what people could put into their bodies and under what circumstances.

Of course that never would have withstood a constitutional challenge. So initially it wasn't about outlawing, it was about taxing. And then about crossing state lines so it fell under "interstate commerce."

This reminds me of the fuss over the Native American Church and peyote use. Yes, some use it as an excuse to get high. But more use it as part of a spiritual path. Government should not have the power to control either.
     — NeoWayland, comments from New books explore entheogens
Comments

NeoNotes — Abortion

Understand that I am still torn on the subject.

But not every pregnancy results in live birth, even without abortions. Not every pregnancy comes to term.

Under those circumstances, it's hard to call abortion murder or killing babies.



I saw it. I also was treated to a film series in high school called Whatever Happened to the Human Race?

I come from a long line of farming stock. Death happens. It's not pretty. But it's a part of life.

Incidentally, the big reason why the US has a higher infant mortality rate than many other nations is because in other nations babies aren't always counted as "alive" until they've gotten through the first year or so.

There are a great many things that our country does that are not civilized. I'm pretty sure that if I were deciding what is and is not acceptable to society, there would be complaints. Public nudity wouldn't go over well. Neither would removing body parts from those who abuse children.

All that being said, if abortions were not government subsidized, I suspect there would be fewer. I think that is a more workable solution than banning abortions outright.



Well, that depends. For the most part, yes.

But let's acknowledge that is an artificial distinction. For example, my mother, stepsibs, and I in accordance with my stepdad's wishes from years before decided not to extend his life. Those last couple of years, he was on a feeding tube and incapable of communicating. Years before that, he had lost the ability to understand what was going on around him.

So yes, it was a death from willful causes. But at that point, what kind of life was it?

On another board, I've had talks with people with terminal illnesses who were considering assisted suicide.There were also surviving family members of people who had done that. What kind of life was it? Would you want someone to live with pain and having their body fall apart?

This is not a clear issue. We should accept that if nothing else. People die. Babies die. How much do we mourn? How much do we blame?

There's no absolute here. We should stop pretending that there is.



It is a distinction, but I am not convinced it has bearing. It's a while before a baby has awareness of self and even longer before the beginning of language.

I agree it's a fuzzy area and that there are many moral questions that can't be easily answered.

It gets even more complicated when considering the implications. If we accept the sense of self as the defining point of where killing is and is not ethical, what does that say about our companion animals? Or our food animals?



I'm not trying to justify abortion. I'm saying it's not easy to justify outlawing abortion and it raises certain moral issues.

The sense of self is different from perception. Humans develop a sense of self as we mature. We can also lose that sense of self.



Admittedly it is a fuzzy concept and psychologists argue over it. At it's most basic, it's a recognizing the distinction between "I" and "Other." It's a mental framework that probably arises from brain structure. It's the key to individuality.

As a libertarian, I don't give "society" an ethical justification to do squat. That includes ending lives and mandating clothes in public.

Here's the thing, if we do recognize rights, the only workable way is to make those rights individual rights. Not granted because of some label or gifted by government. You have rights because you are an individual and you share those rights with other individuals.

At that point, we're really defining "personhood" by individuality. That means you must be functionally an individual and accept that others are individual too.

Without individuality, we're hunks of flesh with automatic responses. With individuality,we can choose.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

“Nobel Laureate in Physics; "Global Warming is Pseudoscience"”

Comments

Who might be dangerous

One of the Best Arguments Against Blocking Speech on Social Media....

...is so we become aware of who might be dangerous.
     — Robert Wenzel, One of the Best Arguments Against Blocking Speech on Social Media....

Comments

Oversized Monday roundup

Report: 3,000 SNAP Retailers Used Social Security Numbers of Dead People During Obama Administration



China Targets Control Over Internet of Things for Spying, Business



Once Again, NBC Sits On Story Related to Sexual Misconduct Until After It Matters



Corporate Speech Police Are Not the Answer to Online Hate



'#WalkAway' movement renouncing liberalism marches through nation's capital



One of the Best Arguments Against Blocking Speech on Social Media....

“...is so we become aware of who might be dangerous.”

Defensible Space

““Megafires” are now a staple of life in the Pacific Northwest, but how we talk about them illustrates the tension at the heart of the western myth itself.”

Deficits Do Matter: Debt Payments Will Consume Trillions of Dollars in Coming Years



U.S.-bound migrants enter Guatemala, others clash at border

Another 3000 strong caravan

Is Orwell’s Big Brother Here? Bezos & Amazon Team up With Defense, CIA & ICE



Murder in Pittsburgh and the Targeting of Alternative Social Media



Voters in Oregon Have the Opportunity to Create 10 “Gun Sanctuary” Counties



New Hampshire Privacy Amendment on the Ballot



Google’s smart city dream is turning into a privacy nightmare



Mexico offers caravan migrants benefits to stay; thousands refuse



Virtue-signaling and derangement in the wake of a massacre


Comments

Approval voting

Fargo Considers Whether to Turn Local Elections into a Voting System of Likes (and Dislikes)

“Measure 1 would introduce "approval voting" to the city, meaning voters wouldn't have to abandon independent and third-party choices.”
It's called "approval voting," and residents of Fargo (population: 120,000) are being asked in a ballot initiative if they'd like to be the first municipality in the United States to try it.

Rather than simply voting for one candidate, voters in this system are asked to approve or oppose each person on the ballot. The votes are all tallied, and the candidate with the most approval votes is declared the winner. Much like Maine's ranked-choice instant runoff voting system, this approach doesn't lock voters into supporting a single candidate. It thus allows voters to support third-party and independent candidates if they like them, without having to "throw their vote away" or spoil the chances of a major-party candidate they also support.

Approval voting is a pet project of The Center for Election Science, and the group has been involved in the education campaign in Fargo running up to the election. Polls show that support for this change is high, twice that of those who oppose the change. But more than a third of those polled say that they are undecided, so the center has some work ahead.
     — Scott Shackford
Comments

“Blowback”

tip of the hat to Wendy McElroy
Comments

Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


Ecuador says Assange must sort out own issues with Britain



When Will Politicians Admit Social Security Is on a Collision Course with Math?



FBI: 'Pipe Bomb-Like' Devices Mailed To Prominent Dems Had 'Sulfur Substance,' Digital Clock, 'Harmless' White Powder

Not meant to explode. A hoax or a warning? I'm leaning towards hoax.

What a bunch of idiots

““A few days ago the creator of the most famous consumer ‘credit score’ in the United States announced a major overhaul in how it rates borrowers.”

Pentagon sends 800 troops to US-Mexico border as migrant caravan advances



The Feds Just Hit A Notorious Swatter With 46 New Charges. He Intends To Plead Guilty



Extending the Electric Vehicle Tax Credit Undermines Tax Reform



Criticizing a Drag Show Earned This Catholic College Student a Visit From the Title IX Coordinator



Their Ideology Is Envy And Their Policy Is Theft



Los Angeles Owes Billions in Pension Debts. Now It's Asking Citizens for Permission to Run a Bank.



Foxconn’s Predatory Reliance on Eminent Domain



European Court: Woman's Defamation of Muhammad Doesn't Count as Free Expression



CEI Expert Says EU Proposal to Ban Single-Use Consumer Plastic Items "Won't Help the Environment"

Comments

Can change the world

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
     — Margaret Mead

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Tax complexity

Tax complexity is a breeding ground for government corruption. It's much easier to add new corporate handouts to a tax code that's already overrun with favoritism, and it's simpler for politicians to justify adding narrowly targeted benefits when the practice is already common. Businesses, in turn, have an incentive to spend more time and resources lobbying the government than satisfying customers.
     — Veronique de Rugy, Extending the Electric Vehicle Tax Credit Undermines Tax Reform

Comments

Us versus them

This is the problem.

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“Google vs DuckDuckGo | Search engine manipulation, censorship and why you should switch”

This is the problem.

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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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NeoNote — “Vote like it matters”

Will they tolerate similar "resistance" from conservatives?

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NeoNote — My politics

I'm for individual freedom and personal responsibility. That's not "alt-right," it's not right wing, and it's certainly not left wing.

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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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NeoNote — What happens when progressives are in charge?

Will they tolerate similar "resistance" from conservatives?

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“Stossel: Sweden is Not a Socialist Success”

Comments

Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


An exclusive look at Cory Booker’s plan to fight wealth inequality: give poor kids money

Where does the money come from? Who decides who gets money and who does not? How is this not buying votes?

A Law Intended to Protect Crime Victims Is Being Used to Shield the Identities of Police Officers

Unaccountable authority will be abused.

Dear Resistance, listen to my lived totalitarian experience – you have no effing idea what you’re talking about



Politico Report Says Russiagaters Should Prepare To Kiss My Ass



Methods and Tricks Used to Create and Perpetuate the Human-caused Global Warming Deception



Divided Democrats struggle to answer Trump's claims on migrant caravan



Watching a Country Make a Fool of Itself



Saudi dissidents fear 'long arm' of state after Khashoggi murder



A Texas Police Officer Is Charged After Mishandling 130 Sex Crime Cases



Georgia Mayor Has Plan To Round Up Town's Sex Offenders on Halloween



California company that hires protesters is accused of extortion



Previously Deported Illegal Aliens Join Caravan: ‘It’s Time for Me to Go Back’



Judge bars New Hampshire proof of residency requirement for new voters


Comments

Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


Mueller report PSA: Prepare for disappointment



TSA Announces Plans To Subject Domestic Travelers To Biometric Screening

Guilty until proven innocent

Psyched at The American Psychological Association

Don't you dare question the experts

Facebook Blacklists Left-Wing Site that Praised Purge of Infowars

Unaccountable censorship

Ethanol Boondoggle

“Ethanol fuel is a boondoggle that benefits Big Agra, corn farmers and refiners and no one else.”

Saudis Admit Khashoggi Murder - Offer Weak Cover-Up



An Ohio University Student Said She Received Death Threats. The Police Think She Sent Them Herself.



Caravan of migrants swells to 7,000 and stretches more than a mile long as they continue marching towards the U.S. border


Comments

Bonus Saturday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


The truth about electric cars



When a DNA Test Reveals Your Daughter Is Not Your Biological Child



Will U.S. Success In Cutting Greenhouse Gases Kill The Paris Climate Deal?



Honduras's paid caravan 'refugees' exposed as frauds by Venezuela's real refugees



Emails Show Obama FDIC Struggled With Legal Basis For Operation Choke Point



Texas Democrats Caught Mailing Pre-Filled Voter Registrations To Non-Citizens



Elizabeth Warren's Other Cherokee Scandal: Her Fight Against Tribal Sovereignty



Khashoggi misinformation highlights a growing number of fake fact-checkers



Migrant caravan clashes with Mexican police, waits on bridge at Guatemalan-Mexican border



Black Trump Supporters Declare Their Independence From The Democratic Party


Comments

Stop discrimination

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.
     — Chief Justice John Roberts

Comments

Hexing justice

As I said before, apparently the motivation for hexing Kavanaugh has moved from justice to attack.

This will have consequences, regardless of who did what where and when.
     — NeoWayland, NeoNote — Political hexing
Comments

Accusers sometimes lie

If the day comes you are accused of some crime or tort of which you are not guilty, and you find your peers automatically believing your accuser, I expect you find yourself a stronger proponent of due process protections than you are now, Accusers sometimes lie.
     — James Moore, Professor criticized for stating that ‘accusers sometimes lie’ in email

Comments

"People just can't know that." McCaskill Hides Agenda from Voters, "semi-automatic rifle ban"

“Project Veritas Action Fund has released a third undercover video from campaigns during this 2018 election season. This report exposes how incumbent Senator McCaskill and individuals working on her campaign conceal their liberal views on issues in order to court moderate voters.”

Read More...
Comments

Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Read More...
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“Deep State Unmasked: Leaks at HHS; DOJ Official Resists "From Inside" and "Can't Get Fired"”

“Project Veritas has released the second installment in an undercover video series unmasking the deep state. This video features a Department of Justice paralegal Allison Hrabar reportedly using government owned software and computers to push a socialist agenda. Also featured is Jessica Schubel, the former Chief of Staff for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the last Obama administration.”

Read More...
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“Deep State Unmasked: U.S. GAO Auditor Admits “I Break Rules Every Day””

“Project Veritas has released the next in a series of undercover reports which unmask the Deep State. This report features a Government Accountability Office (GAO) employee and self-proclaimed Communist actively engaged in potentially illegal political activity. Natarajan Subramanian is a government auditor for the GAO and a member of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America (Metro DC DSA).”

Read More...
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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Read More...
Comments

“#DeepStateUnmasked: IRS Officials "You Should Give Increased Scrutiny" to Conservatives”

“I don’t give a s**t if that is a crime.”

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Wednesday roundup

“I don’t give a s**t if that is a crime.”

Read More...
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“Progressive Propaganda: BBC's Liberal Bias”

“The BBC's biased liberal reporting is on full display when it comes to Glamrou, gender, and diversity. Media bias examples abound, but the BBC's state-funding makes it especially deserving of scrutiny.”

Read More...
Comments

Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


Elizabeth Warren’s DNA Test Is ‘Useless,’ ‘Inappropriate And Wrong’ Cherokee Nation Official Says



U.S. Has 3.5 Million More Registered Voters Than Live Adults — A Red Flag For Electoral Fraud



Saudis said ready to concede writer was slain in botched interrogation



A White Woman Falsely Accused a Black 9-Year-Old Boy of Groping Her

“Surveillance footage disproves her allegations—and reminds everyone not to automatically believe victims.”

How An Amateur Rap Crew Stole Surveillance Tech That Tracks Almost Every American



The Next Generation Of Democratic Leaders Wants To Move Up, But The Baby Boomers Are In The Way

I don't usually cite BuzzFeed, but this one is dead on.

Washington Post: “Double or Triple” Fuel Prices to Solve the Climate Crisis



‘60 Minutes’ Was Outmatched by Trump (Column)



The FBI Doesn’t Want Users To Know Who Hacked Facebook



On Eve of Harvard Bias Trial, Dueling Rallies Show Rifts Among Asian-Americans



More Entrepreneurship Would Help Progressive Causes, But Progressives Do Not Understand It At All



Facebook Slams Independent Voices With Latest Political Purge



Understanding "Brazil’s Donald Trump"


Comments

“What's Wrong with Government-Run Healthcare?”

Comments

Monday extra-big roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


Top 3% of U.S. Taxpayers Paid Majority of Income Taxes in 2016

How about that? They paid more than their fair share.

Gore: Jet Stream 'Getting Loopier and Wavier,' So 'We Have a Global Emergency'

Al Gore is capitalizing on the news and fear. The jet stream hasn't changed.

Trump snubs Feinstein, Harris to nominate conservative judges to liberal 9th Circuit



Mary Robinson on climate change: ‘Feeling “This is too big for me” is no use to anybody’



Italian Interior Minister prepares legislature for self-defence: “No trial for those who defend their property”



‘Bitcoin and Guns, That’s the Only Way to Save This Country’

From the Ukraine

Libertarian and Police Accountability Pages Deleted in Facebook Purge

Golly gee whilikers, could Facebook have an agenda?

Facebook has lost 30% of its value since July



500,000 Afghan migrants are ready to enter Europe via unprotected Turkish-Greek border area

Technically, isn't that an invasion?

Bear spray, bloody brawls at Patriot Prayer 'law and order' march in Portland



Dozens of Witches Gather to Place Public Hex on Brett Kavanaugh

They have decided that he is guilty and they are going to be very public about it

Black Man Cuffed on His Own Property While Moving Into New Home



Venezuela Has Lost 13% of its Population in a Mass Exodus from Socialism



Fight Fizzles Before Police Arrive; Cops Start Tasing and Arresting People Anyway



Violence, Public Anger Erupts In China As Home Prices Slide



Lawsuit: KSP trooper attacks man after Facebook post

Strange doings in Kentucky



Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson in 'real legal jeopardy', GOP investigator says



Toronto's Sick Kids hospital preparing policy for euthanasia for youth over 18 that could one day apply to minors



Human 2.0 Is Almost Here: The Transhumanism Agenda Just Went Mainstream



The view from Saudi Arabia as world holds its breath

“With Saudi Arabia one of Britain's closest allies, diplomats are treating the alleged death of Jamal Khashoggi very carefully.”

Thousands line up for zero-down-payment, subprime mortgages

This won't end well

How the Heir of the White Nationalist Movement Learned to Let Go of Hatred



Congress Can’t Create an Independent and Unaccountable New Branch of Government

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was designed to be unaccountable.

Comments

Wind & Sun

The down side to wind power

As the world begins its large-scale transition toward low-carbon energy sources, it is vital that the pros and cons of each type are well understood and the environmental impacts of renewable energy, small as they may be in comparison to coal and gas, are considered.

In two papers — published today in the journals Environmental Research Letters and Joule — Harvard University researchers find that the transition to wind or solar power in the U.S. would require five to 20 times more land than previously thought, and, if such large-scale wind farms were built, would warm average surface temperatures over the continental U.S. by 0.24 degrees Celsius.
     — Leah Burrows

Remember, the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine. This means that wind power and solar power are at best supplemental power sources. There has to be something else to provide baseline power.

Given that, we also need to acknowledge the costs of power sources.
Comments

Carbon neutrality

Carbon neutrality is a fallacy cooked up so that developing nations would not have to face the same "standards" as industrialized nations and to create a parasite market based on a fictional commodity.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

Cloaks itself in science

Just because it cloaks itself in science doesn't make it science. There is very little that is provable or scientific about human caused climate change.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

Geniune Tree Hugging Pagan

I'm telling you as a Genuine Tree Hugging Pagan that anthropogenic climate change is a scam designed to seize money and political power.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

Regulations

Regulations exist so politicos can evade responsibility for unpopular choices.
     — NeoWayland, technocrat
Comments

Bonus Saturday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


WATCH: #HimToo: Neil Patrick Harris Recalls Proposition From Whoopi Goldberg When He Was A Mid-Teen

So why isn't Goldberg being attacked over hitting on a teen?

Democrats agree to confirmations of 15 Trump judges

"Principle" bows to politics

Sometimes I Just Go Full Potato

“By engaging in this public surge and display of unfettered hate – for there is no other name for it – they are revealing themselves for what they really are: extreme radicals and bullies willing to do anything, including burn down the house while you are in it, to get what they want. They do not believe society’s laws and rules apply to them, because they regularly and intentionally (or stupidly) misinterpret the Law of the Land. They are encouraged to do so, and to traipse as close to the edge of anarchy as possible to get what they want, with no thought to the consequences.”

I Won’t Support An Elizabeth Warren Presidency While She Appropriates My Identity

So the author would support a liar as long as she stops lying about what's important to the author

We’re Not on the Brink of Civil War. Here’s Why.



How Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Finally United The Right Under Trump

Sad to say, totally accurate.

Six Months Later, People Are Finally Realizing That FOSTA Actually Is Putting Lives At Risk



Top Ten Alternative Media Sites BANNED on Facebook and Twitter



First They Came for Alex Jones — We Told You We Were Next — We Were



What Sears’ Bankruptcy Says About Amazon’s Future


Comments

Posers, the lot of them



We “refuse to be silent any longer”: magic as self-care after Kavanaugh



It's junk like this that makes me angry at the posers calling themselves pagans.

They don't want justice. The want attention. They don't know the least little thing about magick. But they know how to put on a show.

Exactly what is it that either Trump or Kavanaugh have done to threaten them?

It all boils down to putting conservative judges on the bench. Eighty-four so far.

The implications are terrifying. It means that most progressives know that they only way they can have a progressive society is by controlling the judiciary. Not by getting people elected, but by having a moral authority with the final say.

I don't like conservatives either. But the actions of the progressives are driving me away.

And progressives still can't point to one thing that has been done and say, "Look, here is the threat!"

It's about who is on the bench. Not about what was said. Not about what was done. But about who sits in judgement.

That is tyranny.

Comments

Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


Study: 80% of Americans Believe Political Correctness Is a Problem



Trump's Trade War Isn't Working Because Tariffs Hurt Americans



The $15 Minimum Wage Is Turning Hard Workers Into Black Market Lawbreakers: New at Reason



Rand Paul Reveals Media Hid Key Detail About GOP Baseball Attacker



Obama had secret plan to validate Clinton victory if Trump didn't accept it: report


Comments

When politics define your personhood

When you let your politics define your personhood, there's not much room left for your personhood outside of your politics. Without your personhood, you can lose empathy and humanity.
     — NeoWayland label
Comments

“Camille Paglia Explains Why Feminism Is The Collapse Of Western Civilization - MGTOW”

Comments

Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Read More...
Comments

What 'Never Trump' means

This is not what "Never Trump" means, at least to me. To me it means: rejecting the basis of how Trump governs, even when it accidentally produces outcomes I might otherwise like. That's like accepting an abusive partner or friend because they're nice every few weeks.
     — Tom Nichols, 8:09 PM - 9 Oct 2018
tip of the hat to FREE WHITEWATER

Comments

Socialist governments

Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money.
     — Margaret Thatcher

Comments

NeoNote — Human rights

For the record, there are no LGBTQ rights. There are no black rights. There are no women's rights. There are no Hispanic rights. There are no pagan rights. There are no Chinese rights. There are no Christian rights. There are no police rights.

There are human rights. Period.

It's not a right unless the other has it too.

Too many times there are privileges passed off as rights. Privileges benefit a select few at the expense of everyone else. Too often, what should have been rights for everyone were enforced privileges for some. This is a big reason why rights and privileges are confused.

It's not a right unless the other has it too.



Which means they get a head thump when they demand I submit.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


Study: Economic Boom Largely Ignored as TV's Trump Coverage Hits 92% Negative



The First Amendment protects your right to not be a rat.



Two Students Hooked Up. It Was Clearly Consensual. He Still Spent $12,000 Defending Himself.



With corruption like this, it’s no wonder so many pension funds are insolvent



Antifa Arsonists Vandalize Pro-Trump Truck — THEN TORCH IT (Video)



Antifa Shut Down Major Intersection, Threaten Citizens with Violence If They Don’t Obey



Pennsylvania's Libertarian Senate Candidate Gets Invited, Then Snubbed From Televised Debate



Fearmongering Article Falsely Claims 'Halloween Is Christmas for Sex Offenders'



Data Showing Navy's Poor Aviation Safety Record Disappears From Website



Sex Workers Pioneered the Early Internet—and It Screwed Them Over



That sign telling you how fast you’re driving may be spying on you



A Florida Man Faces Prison for Making Grills Without a License



What Seems To Be Going on At @Tesla, and The Risks Of Buying (and Shorting) $TSLA Stock


Comments

NeoNote — global climate change

*sigh*

Pardon, but global climate change is a scam designed to take political power and money away from people. The figures are not accurate, the goalposts keep getting moved, and the solutions always seem to boil down to "give us money and don't ask questions."

I've done the research. Short of reducing the number of people or removing access to energy, there is not a lot that can be done. At present, there are exactly two off-the-shelf technologies that can meet power needs without adding to the "carbon footprint." Those are hydroelectric and nuclear plants. There are a limited number of rivers that can be dammed up to produce power. There are very few alternatives to high-pressure fission plants. Nobody wants either close to their homes.

Despite what you've been told, most "green" technologies are anything but. Ethanol can't be produced economically without subsidies. It's much more chemically unstable, making it harder to store, transport, and use in engines. Electric cars don't mass as much, making them more dangerous in an accident. Manufacturing and maintaining electric car batteries has a bigger impact on the environment. Solar and wind require parallel systems to meet peak demand. The cost of solar is prohibitive. Wind power attracts and kills birds. It may also contribute to local warming.

This is a big mess, and it's not going to be fixed by a top down legal solution.

Given the games that have been played over the years, we don't know what contributes to global climate change. We don't even know if there is human caused climate change. Climate changes, it happened before humans were here, and it will continue long after our descendant's descendants have turned to dust.

Meanwhile, we're still pumping water into swimming pools and golf courses. We still have waste plastics and trash piling up. We're destroying the rainforests and wiping out species.

But that doesn't matter because we're going to fix global warming. Eventually.



Pardon, but I didn't say that nuclear or dams are an acceptable solution. I said that they were the only existing off-the-shelf solutions that could meet demand and not add to the "carbon footprint."

As far as the predictions being short of reality, well, no. Back in the 1970s, the fear was about global cooling. In 1990, the IPCC predicted that temperatures would rise by 1ºC by 2025. As of the end of 2017, the actual change has been between .3ºC and .5ºC, depending on which database you use. Wildfires were supposed to increase, they declined. Snow was supposed to become a rare event, it stayed about the same. The Arctic Ocean was supposed to become ice free, but there's been no measurable decline. The sea level was supposed to rise four feet by now, it's been three or four inches. In 2005, there were supposed to be 50 million "climate refugees" by 2015.

This is the problem. Someone will proclaim disaster, but they are never held accountable for previous predictions. The goalposts keep moving.



What I'd like to see is the ecological issues separated from the climate change claims. There is a tremendous amount of power and money at stake without any accountability.

That is what I meant by a scam. People want to help. Pagans and Earth-centered faiths especially want to help the planet. Somebody is profiting without actually "saving the planet." If it were anything else, we'd call them out. But because it's climate change, we accept the outrageousness.



I agree with you about the dams. They aren't a good solution. They are one of the very few proven technologies that can deliver the energy.

Pardon, I wasn't clear. Electric vehicles devote most of their mass to batteries. There have been some impact studies that do not show electrics in a good light.

I don't advocate reducing the population. But it is one of the solutions that is "on the table." Oddly enough, it's focused mainly on highly industrialized nations.



Pardon, but it is not about "deepening our understanding."

Somebody predicted something, it did not happen, and rather than owning their mistake, they predict more disaster just around the corner.

We don't know what makes climate work. I wouldn't trust anyone who claims to know what the temperature "should be."

I do know that we don't have big enough baselines. They talk about "the worst weather in a century." But the planet is more than four and a half billion years old. That's about .0000022% more or less.



If I told you that your favorite relative was coming in a red car, wouldn't you notice more red cars?

If the news was telling you that there were more storms, wouldn't you notice more storms?

You should ask IF there are actually more natural disasters or if someone wants more viewers/readers.

I'm not disputing that there are ecological problems. In my first post on this thread I mentioned water and waste disposal. What I am disputing is if global climate change is human caused or even a problem.

Electric cars have always had the battery problem. Add to that generating the electricity in the first place. Both have a huge environmental and economic impact.

Solar and wind are cheap, but converting them into something we can use is not. I live in Arizona, one of the sun shiniest states in the union. But that won't produce electricity at night or during a storm. The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow.

Don't underestimate the power of profit and the free market. It's why we have things like grocery stores and comfortable shoes. Not to mention dirt cheap ballpoint pins, cheap computers, clean water, and affordable eyeglasses. See, the thing about the free market is that you have to offer as good as your competition or you lose business. If the competition makes it better or cheaper, you have to match them just to stay afloat.

And that brings us back to solar. In a world where practically anything can be sold at a profit at WalMart, don't you think that if cheap, durable, efficient solar cells could be made they would be?

I'm not asking for predictions to be one hundred percent accurate. But I do think the accuracy should be better than chance. Especially if the people doing the predictions want scads of money and tremendous political power to fix the "problem."



You're using solar supplementally. That's good.

Let me make it clear that I do not oppose solar. I just do not think it's practical or affordable as a primary source on a mass scale as it has been sold. I'm a big fan of decentralization. I also think that much of our architecture doesn't support the wise use of energy.

I'm not sure that solar is practical as a primary electrical supply, even on a small scale. Aside from AC, there are things like freezers, refrigerators, hot water heaters, washers, and dryers. These appliances are designed for a constant flow of power.

Ideally I think there should be earth houses or something along the lines of the works of the late Malcolm Wells.



The weather isn't the same every year. My high desert is having a very dry year on top of several others. Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at very low although not record low levels. It's enough to trigger the restrictions on the water treaties though, which means that Arizona and Nevada won't be getting their full allotment from the Colorado.

There was one year when I was a kid that there was snow every two or three days. Not a lot of snow, but very unusual for a desert and unheard of.

Even a human lifetime is not enough to establish a baseline. What is weather in a century when the planet is billions of years old? The planet has had several ice ages, which means there were warm periods too.

I want to stress that I am not dismissing environmental issues like clean water. When I first saw the PBS series based on Cadillac Desert I was horrified. That made me take a hard look at what was happening with water in the Southwest.

No, my issue is with anthropogenic climate change. From what I can tell, there are alarmists but no evidence. And a lot of failed predictions.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


Do Half of All Marriages Really End in Divorce?

“This outdated statistic has many young people hesitant to tie the knot.”

NATO to Deploy 45,000 Troops Near Russian Border—Calling it a “Defensive” Move



China confirms detention of former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei



U.S. not invited to Canada’s upcoming trade meeting — only ‘like minded’ nations allowed



How the mushroom dream of a ‘long-haired hippie’ could help save the world’s bees



ACLU's Opposition to Kavanaugh Sounds Its Death Knell



BOMBSHELL: audit of global warming data finds it riddled with errors



Politico: 'After Failing to Stop Kavanaugh, Dems Wonder If It's Time to Be More Ruthless'

"Next time they should just murder the nominee."

Former Google boss launches scathing Silicon Valley attack urging tech giants to end the delusion that it's making the world a better place



Trump Isn’t a Self-Made Man. His Wealth Is the Product of Years of Government Subsidies.



Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 'Eliminate' Electoral College, It 'Undermines' Democracy

There is one thing good I can't deny about the Electoral College, it kept Al Gore and Hillary Clinton the Presidency.

IPCC Report Reaches Dire Conclusions Based on Models that Overstate Rate of Warming



The Democrats' Complaints About the Senate Being Undemocratic Are Pure Whining and Excuse-Making: Here's Why


Comments

Witch hunt

Trauma and Truth

That idea—that the presumption of innocence, fundamental to common law, should be suspended for accusations of sexual assault—has been the cornerstone of the campus-rape bureaucracy; during the Kavanaugh hysteria, that conceit jumped out of the ivory tower into the world at large. It will be no easy task to put it back. In preparation for the next Salem witch trial-like ordeal, therefore, it is worth empirically rebutting the #BelieveSurvivors mandate, as well as its corollary: the claim that if most self-professed rape survivors in our patriarchal culture don’t report their assaults, that’s because the “social and emotional” costs are too high, as California congressman Ted Lieu explained on MSNBC last Sunday.
     — Heather Mac Donald
Comments

Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Read More...
Comments

Do what is right

The time is always right to do what is right.
     — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Comments

Credit

Big brother doesn't trust you.

Read More...
Comments

Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Read More...
Comments

Wannabe

And there are those of us who ask why is it OK to bind Republicans but it wasn't OK to bind Democrats.
     — NeoWayland
Read More...
Comments

“Big Brother Wants to Stop Your Private Online Conversations”

Big brother doesn't trust you.

Read More...
Comments

❝‘Rape Culture’ Is A MYTH | Change My Mind❞

“Steven Crowder takes the streets once again to have real conversations with real people on hot button issues. In this edition, Steven dispels the myth of ‘Rape Culture’ #Change My Mind.”

Read More...
Comments

Thursday roundup

People tend to repeat behavior that has been successful or will bring them an emotional high.

Read More...
Comments

Grassroots political activists aren’t really arguing about politics at all

The more time I spend covering politics, the more I’m convinced that a significant chunk of grassroots political activists aren’t really arguing about politics at all. These folks are actually grappling with personal psychological issues and projecting it onto the world of politics.
     — Jim Geraghty, Another Day, Another Unidentified Source

Read More...
Comments

Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Read More...
Comments

Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Read More...
Comments

NeoNote — Allegation is not proof

People tend to repeat behavior that has been successful or will bring them an emotional high.

Read More...
Comments

Monday roundup

Religions are created by people claiming to speak for the Divine.

Read More...
Comments

Sunday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Read More...
Comments

NeoNote — My favorite party trick

Religions are created by people claiming to speak for the Divine.

Read More...
Comments

Privacy and a new web?

Tim Berners-Lee tells us his radical new plan to upend the World Wide Web

Read More...
Comments

Opportunity for Amerindians

“Native Americans Realize Entrepreneurship Dream”

Read More...
Comments

Bet you didn't know what Facebook is doing

“Facebook Is Giving Advertisers Access to Your Shadow Contact Information”

Read More...
Comments

10 Red Flags

“Dangerous people.”

Read More...
Comments

“Stossel: Leaving the Left”

Comments

NeoNote — Taxes, spying, deductions, and economies

Did I ever mention how the income tax isn't designed to produce revenue, but to spy as needed on American citizens?



Yep.

You can start with how the IRS is the "go to" agency whenever someone does something the Federal government doesn't like.

You can continue with the fact that your employer and any financial institution you do business with are required "under penalty of law" to report any transactions on demand. There's a reporting threshold for "as they happen," but the IRS still has the (questionable) power to demand any and all going back for years.

Speaking of penalty of law, have you read that bit on the 1040? In fact, take a close look at the entire form. It doesn't say you are required to report your income, it just says that it must be accurate reported on the form before you sign.

No one, including the IRS understands the tax code. It can be manipulated and interpreted as needed. And remember, the first few levels of the tax courts are administrative courts run by the IRS with their own rules of evidence. The presumption of innocence doesn't apply. You have to prove the IRS wrong, and then you might get your seized money back.

By definition, a "standard" deduction means taxes are too high.



What, you wanted it stated in the authorizing law?

Everything I said was drawn from truth.

From Al Capone on, the IRS has been used against those the Federal government doesn't approve of. Or occasionally found politically inconvenient. Any other uncovered crimes are just a bonus.

Reporting financial transactions have proven so useful in so many cases that it has become literally the reason the IRS exists.

The 1040 form is unusually and carefully worded.

Since at least the 1970s, IRS agents and supervisors have been shown to have a very focused knowledge of the tax code and an appalling ignorance about the rest.

The IRS does have it's own court system with it's own rules of evidence. And you are not presumed innocent until proven guilty.

More importantly, look at how Presidents have used the tax code against their enemies.



Al Capone went to jail for tax evasion because they couldn't get anything else to stick.

You tell me, if you were a prosecutor and you knew you had a guilty man and you had the evidence, would you want to charge them with murder or tax evasion?

Prove me wrong instead of labeling it conjecture and innuendo. It's right there, I showed you were to look.

Remember, it took amending the Constitution to make a Federal income tax legal.



Going after him for tax evasion wasn't even part of the plan.

Pay attention, because that is a critical point.

Did you know that the IRS was used to enforce Prohibition?

That was a critical point too.

I understand your confusion. Many assume that Government is a Good Thing. It's not commonly acknowledged that taxes can be some of the worst abuses of government authority. Might I suggest Adams' For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization as a starting point?



No I am not.

I'm stating that law is not good in and of itself, and that law is more likely to be abused than not.

For example, people are usually taught that the progressive income tax in particular is a way to get the rich to pay "their fair share." That's not true and it never has been. We know that whole histories industries have grown up to help people use tax loopholes. What's more, we know that politicos and technocrats benefit from selectively applying the law.

Which returns to my comment, that the income tax as designed is intended to spy on American citizens. It's not uniformly applied. It's subject to change and political influence. And the majority of the public is locked out of changes. And for what? A mala prohibita law. Not paying taxes is does not harm someone, it's just bad because government has declared it to be bad.

The graduated income tax has done more harm and destroyed more freedom than any other law in American history. "Innocent under proven guilty" stopped because of the income tax and no longer applies in American law.

I should have warned you. Never argue taxes with a libertarian.



Yeppers.

That standard deductions line makes people think. And it should.

That's usually when I point out that if they are getting a refund, they just gave the government an interest free loan.



Oh my, that's just so adorable!

Look at it this way.

Taxable income = 100 dollars
Standard deduction = 17 dollars
"Taxed" income = 83 dollars

You are still paying taxes. It's only on paper that there is a difference. They messed with the rate, not with the tax.

They lie.

Don't even get me started on itemized deductions.

ETA: I'm the one with the line of "by definition, a standard deduction means taxes are too high." I'm proud of it, so I want credit.



Yep, and the claim stands.

The politicos and technocrats are playing word games to convince people that the IRS is looking out for the little guy.

They don't reduce the tax, they tell you that there is a standard deduction.

Speaking of which, let's look at that word standard. As in, everyone gets it. If it were really about "giving something" to someone with lower income, you'd think the deduction would be less for higher incomes. But then it wouldn't be a standard deduction.

Nope, we give everyone a standard deduction.

And that certainly looks like taxes are too high.



The fact is that the government hides to actual tax rate to make people think they are getting something for nothing.

The tax rate is too high, so they play word games.

The graduated tax is another issue.

The point is, the mere existence of a standard deduction means that the standard is to deduct. Hence, by definition and the admission of the government, taxes are too high.



That's the same form that is worded to hide the fact that they don't care about you paying your taxes as much as they don't want you to lie about it and make sure that it is correct, right?

The whole thing is deceptive from the payroll deduction to the falsity that a progressive tax that impacts higher tax brackets more to which deductions may be allowed this year if you are lucky enough to know about them.

Not to mention the undeclared interest free loan that many make to the government every year without realizing it.

If it were really just about the income, the whole thing could be done on half a postcard.

Including the instructions.



But this US doesn't do it simply. The code is created to distract, to obfuscate, to hide what government wants.

It's not about the revenue.

It's about tracking the flow of money. Something which isn't authorized by the Constitution.

The whole business of a "standard deduction" is just another way to confuse citizens and convince them that they are getting something for nothing.

It's three card monte by government regulation. You aren't supposed to look close.

Meanwhile there is a surveillance system that is the envy of tyrants all over the world. And Americans accept it even as they complain about it.



Tax income, but not track money.

The 16th was a product of the time, and NO ONE at the time expected it to be used against the poor and the (emerging) middle class. It was sold as a way to make the rich pay "their fair share." I'm pretty sure that if people knew then what the income tax would become, there would have been another revolution.

The graduated income tax was intended to foster class envy. At that point, the upper class did not have the political clout to protect themselves.

Don't you find it interesting that a sales tax doesn't require nearly the administration that an income tax does?

Don't you find it even more interesting that no one understands the tax code and just accepts that is how it is supposed to be?

And then there is the fact that in the name of "protecting" the poor, they still have to declare their income under penalty of law.



As I said and have shown, the American income tax system is more about spying on the American people than producing income.

All you are doing is saying that the system is necessary.



One of the things I quickly learned as a Corporate Clone is that the budget expands to consume the sales income. It's always easier to spend someone else's money.

Remember I said that taxes are too high.

Still, I stand by my point. The spying on the American public is more important than the revenues.



If you state a tax rate and then give everyone a "standard deduction," then taxes are too high.

Taxes are too high for many other reasons, but I agree that distracts from this argument.



A standard deduction goes to everyone, not someone on a graduated scale.

Deductions have nothing to do with a graduated tax, especially since most deductions go to the middle and high end income groups.



It's not a reduction of tax on graduated income, it's deliberately confusing what the rate is.

Which isn't necessary for the higher ends of the income scale who can afford to have someone do their taxes. On the very high end, that means hiring a professional accountant to minimize tax liability.

Deductions are not intended to help the poor. Even if they are standard.

Of course the easiest thing of all would be actually lowering the tax without deductions.



Not true.

The modern version of the income tax started as a class tax. It was not expanded to a mass tax until WWII. Even then (in 1944), the "standard deduction" started as ten percent of taxable income. When the standard deduction was changed to a flat fee, that fee deliberately wasn't linked to the rate of inflation. Which means that over time, people on the lower end of the income scale paid more. But that wasn't the justification in 1964 when the deduction was changed from a percentage to a fee.

Because the fee amount wasn't linked to inflation, inevitably people started falling through the cracks. Meanwhile the income tax provided an unprecedented (and expanding) monitoring of cash flow (not the economy). That monitoring power could not be sacrificed.

And that is where the Earned Income Tax Credit came from. A direct payment from government that did not interfere in the existing tax structure or the government's ability to monitor cash flow. If anything, it expanded the latter.



And if you lower taxes, you don't have to lie about deductions to convince people that they are getting something that they are not. The actuality is that it's easier to manipulate a fee than a percentage all while hiding that people are paying more and getting less while being told what a Good Thing it is.

Reagan signed the expansion of the EIC, but it was originally created in 1975. It's also constitutionally questionable.



And if you eliminate the standard deduction and lower the tax rate to 8%, they pay less.

Manipulating the process is not the answer.



Um,yes.

Because now we are going to talk about the unintentional side effects of a graduated tax system.

Higher taxes aren't just absorbed by businesses and those with more income. The higher costs are passed on. In the case of a business, that means higher prices. In the case of an individual, that means they will buy less, which means few jobs creating or selling.

All this results in lower economic opportunity overall, but especially on the margins. That in turn means that those trying to increase their income will be most affected, especially if they are on the lower end of the income scale.

These are well known second order effects. Look them up.

Simply put, modifications and exceptions to the rules usually benefit those most able to influence the system. Or, as I like to put it, government authority tends to be used against those least likely to resist.

The more complex and convoluted a law is (any law), the bigger negative impact it has on the lower levels of income.



Extra rent and utilities due to displaced costs $50 per month or $600 per year.

Extra costs of food $15 per month or $180 per year.

Extra costs of clothing and miscellaneous $60 per year.

Company downsizing and freezing salary, adjusted for inflation $200 per year.

Just for the stuff I've listed, $1040 additional costs per year due progressive and distributed taxes.



Taxes are costs. They certainly aren't revenues to the people who are paying them.

The costs I provided were approximately middling. See, it's not just the amount of the tax that is shifted. It's also the cost of collecting and administering the taxes. Not to mention all the other costs of government, from the salary of Congressional pages to the paperclip allowance in the Department of the Interior.

Economies are based on the movement of value, we usually talk cash flow as a shorthand. The movement of value acts a lot like water. You can block it off, you can divert it, you can tap it, and you can channel it. Every change influences the whole system, you can't isolate one bit from the other without removing the cash flow. Think water pressure and you're close to the mark. The more you mess with the pluming, the more unstable the system becomes.

Governments tend to use the myth that the economy can be managed and controlled. But it is a myth. The only reason some governments can get away with it is because the cash flow is usually high enough to compensate for the really stupid things.

But if the goal is more money and not lower taxes, then the people with the lowest cash flow (i.e. water pressure) will be most impacted by any changes.

That's why lower taxes alone is a false and misleading measurement.



If you reduce taxes and costs go up, then there is no benefit to a "standard deduction"

Manipulating the system at a higher cost is going to hurt the people the deduction is supposed to help. The government sells a line, "We're going to reduce your taxes." But the politicos never admit the obvious, it's going to cost more.

Revenues are not neutral, that is another lie. There is an increased cost to administer the system. Any changes in process will increase this cost. And government has no incentive to reduce this extra cost.

So in the name of compassion, the system screws the people least likely to resist.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
Comments

“Brexit Morons”

tip of the hat to Bookworm Room
Comments

Obligatory libertarian rant

ahem

Government Is Not Your Friend.

When government acts, there will always Always ALWAYS be less liberty afterwards.

Do we really want politicos and technocrats deciding what is and is not available based on a morality that was defined between the two AM sex party and the prayer breakfast?

==>Obligatory libertarian rant over. We now return you to your regularly scheduled comments.<==
     — NeoWayland
Comments

But faith manages

The pragmatic survive, and the determined thrive, but faith manages.
     — Babylon 5

Comments

Because I can't be trusted

Under your arguments, it's a choice between benevolent authority and slavery. For My Own Good, of course, because I can't be trusted to decide what is best for me.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

And then 9-11 happened.

And then 9-11 happened. That would have destroyed most other nations. It just pissed us off. By October 1st, 2001, Americans were ready to take the world apart and put it back together in our own image. And we almost set out to do exactly that and be damned with the consequences.

But no, we had to be multi-lateral and multi-national and multi-phasic and multi-tasking and multi-cultural and multi-apologetic.

Freedom and liberty have always been our beacons. That's when Americans are at our best. That's when we change the world for the better.
     — NeoWayland, Why does your enlightenment demand that I sacrifice?
Comments

“This Border Patrol Agent Resigned After Changing His Mind About Immigration”

Comments

“What Is Net Neutrality?”

Comments

“Left or Liberal?”

Comments

The most important phrases in human history

Let me help.
     — as explained in The City on the Edge of Forever, Star Trek The Original Series


I can do better than that!
     — some anonymous hominid far back in time

Comments

Objective

Sometimes the objective is just keeping the other guy from crossing the finish line.

Frustrates the hell out of them too.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

NeoNote — "Race," IQ, and savagery

That is a phenomenally inaccurate and simplistic view.



"Run by blacks…"

They are run by Democrats who have spent the last 50+ years telling minority groups that they are victims and don't have to be responsible.

Gods, the absolute last last thing you should do is blame skin color.

Do you want to make things worse?



Of course you're blaming skin color.

Those "heritable characteristics" vanish when you start adjusting for quality of education, early childhood environment, and family support.

Next time read the disclaimers and qualitifications qualifications.



Yes, yes they do. Check the studies again. Better yet, follow it to the inevitable conclusion. If the "heritable characteristics" exist and are not modified by environmental factors, then by your logic "blacks" are inherently inferior.

Think about that very carefully.



The fact that you are relying on IQ tells me quite a bit.

The IQ tests are culturally biased. What's more, studies from the late 1970s forward have shown that the tests are sub-culturally biased. Those scores are significantly linked to quality of education, early childhood environment, and family support.

Yes, those things I mentioned earlier.

What's more, there's evidence of an inner-city sub-culture that is adamantly against doing well in school or on tests.



Look, here's the problem.

You're defining people by skin color, no matter what their individual accomplishments.

Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Daniel Hale Williams , Booker T. Washington, James West, John J. Jasper, Daniel "Chappie" James Jr., Thomas Sowell, Huey P. Newton, Carter G. Woodson, W. E. B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, those are just some of the remarkable American men I remember off the top of my head.



Those averages only matter if you've allowed for all other factors.

For example, how many sub-Sararan sub-Saharan nations have a free market based economy? How many recognize the rights of the individual?

I already told you a third theory. There are significant cultural and environmental differences. What's more, put any skin color in unfavorable circumstances and watch how fast the "average" drops.



Unless a government recognizes & defends individual rights, corruption follows as surely as night follows day.

Those white South Africans you mention had special privilege and exploited people because they had the power to do so. When things changed, there was no living memory of anything except special privileges. The corruption stayed and the exploited targets changed.

A version of the same problem is happening in those Democrat controlled cities that you incorrectly insist on labeling "black run." Recognized rights have long given way to special privilege, and no one remembers anything else.



I didn't say anything about it not being their fault. I specifically said Democrats "have spent the last 50+ years telling minority groups that they are victims and don't have to be responsible."

Not so long ago, the Republican idea of race relations was to get out of the way and tell people to take responsibility. That's no longer the case.

I don't care about blame. I just care about fixing the problem. And you are making things worse.

You're making the Democrat case for them. You're saying that "blacks" will fail if left to themselves.



You mean other than the examples I gave you?

If you are interested in statistics, try the upward mobility of "blacks" between 1900 and 1960, before government interfered. The welfare statistics and the rise of single mother families are particularly telling. These have been well documented.

On the whole, two parent households do better over time. When the immediate cost of having children is reduced by government intervention, then a single parent household is less likely to move up the economic ladder.



I told you some of what was necessary for a society's success. Recognition and protection of individual rights. A free market economy. Those things are rare.

Those things are also not dependent on skin color.

I don't recognize "black" societies, I recognize human societies. Almost every single time when someone talks about "black" societies or "black"nations or "black" cities, it's about racism.

There's one race and it's human.



I said no such thing.

I talked about political systems designed to exploit victimhood and grant privilege.

That has almost nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with denying rights.



People designed those systems. Generations of people over centuries, trading, interacting, arguing, fighting, failing, and trying again. It wasn't because of one skin color even if you could define "white."



Because I said that people designed the systems, for good or ill?

Because I pointed out that it took generations?

Because I pointed out that you can't define "white" anymore than you can define "black?"

You lost this one the second you used skin color as a substitute for individual merit.



You haven't managed to identify any significant differences that aren't environmental in nature.

Instead, you keep focusing on skin color, a poor indicator under the best of circumstances.

There are hundreds of other factors, starting with how many parents the child has and if the child is raised in a loving environment. That doesn't even include the social factors I've already touched on.

As long as you focus on skin color, you're just perpetuating the problems.

The only way the question is reduced to a binary condition is by focusing on insignificant measurements such as skin color.



We've already established that IQ is culturally biased. There are also strong indications that IQ is sub-culturally biased as well. That means that part of what IQ measures is cultural conformity.

That's assuming that IQ is a relevant measure of intelligence to begin with. There are theories that one measurement of intelligence isn't nearly enough.

Like it or not, you have to allow for environmental and cultural factors in IQ scores.



Me and about two thirds of the researchers studying the possibility.

I suggest you do a web search for IQ cultural bias.



First, it's not the "warrior gene." A variant is popularly (and inaccurately) referred to as the "warrior gene." Technically the variant produces less MAMO MAOA .

Second, the evidences seems to show that the people with a low level of MAMO MAOA show higher levels of aggression when faced with social stressors such as ostracism, exclusion, or overwhelming loss.

You know, environmental factors.

ETA: Sorry about that, spell check fixed something I didn't want fixed.



With environmental factors, yes.

Would you like a list of genetic variations that are activated by environmental stressors?



I don't lie.

You keep stressing differences that derive from environmental factors.

Yet you keep blaming skin color.



Remember when I mentioned "family support?" Have you accounted for the incredible cultural pressure to succeed at schools and testing?



Yep, Obama was all about skin color. And his solutions worked out just so well for everyone, right?

There's a line I've been throwing around for a couple years now.

There were so many patting themselves on the back and proud that a black man had been elected President that no one bothered to ask if a good man had been elected President.


The politics are a much bigger part of the problem than the skin color.

It's the politics I blame.



And there's your problem.

You think it's about America.

It's about freedom.



Who said anything about pretending it's not there?

I'm disputing why it is there.



Actually I did. I talked briefly about incentivizing single parenthood and telling minorities that they are perpetual victims and how they don't have to take responsibility.



No, it wasn't the same environment.

I specified "telling minorities."

Politics are bad enough, but the politics are of victimhood are just despicable.



Because they don't have the same incentives.

Do you have any idea how much has been written and spoken about this over the last sixty years?

You might start with Goldwater's objections to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.



I believe they are indoctrinated to believe that they could only be victims no matter what.



Talked with more than a few. Slept with a couple.

I'm a bilagáana born on the res. I grew up next to the Diné, the Hopi, and the Havasupai. Spent a lot of time in Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, and Albuquerque.

Still want to lecture me on the "races?"



Gods, you really are so ignorant that you can't be bothered to do a web search.

Roughly translated, bilagáana means "white man." There's more to it than that, especially for one born on the reservation. I'm what happens when Louisiana farming stock takes root in the Four Corners region.



Check again.

I never denied cultural differences, I just pointed out that they alone don't determine IQ or aggression.



I don't think I've done it in this thread, but I have pointed out that there is one race and it's human.

"Peoples" is a completely different concept and doesn't usually rest on minor genetic differences. The term is slightly more accurate than tribes.

Go back and reread what I wrote on this thread. I started by pointing out that what was being passed off as racial and genetic differences were actually due to environmental and cultural factors.



Ah, someone is making the right points.

First, IQ is not an objective measurement. One of my favorite examples is the Diné, their culture doesn't recognize time and distance as linear. With the possibility of multiple intelligences, things get more complicated. Gross motor coordination doesn't translate to spatial mathematical. Yes, I know the theory has problems like leaving out fine motor control, but this isn't the place.

We've not defined intelligence very well. There's a difference between following a recipe and walking in a kitchen just to whip up amazing food. IQ tests look for proven solutions, not for that creative spark. Sometimes that mostly works, sometimes not.

One set of parents can produce a musical genius, a good accountant, and a total slacker. It's impossible to say if a specific genetic line might produce. We know from domesticated animals that some traits will probably breed true, but we have to allow for environment and chance. We can't say that this family always produces good Rotarians and never any gamers. We can't say that every puppy from that Labrador will be good with kids. If you expand it to a group, the uncertainty grows too.



Interesting. You get to keep your preconceptions but I have to give mine up.

Okay, let's go back to basics. Part of science is eliminating variables.

The people we're comparing, are they on the same economic level? Did they have the same number of parents? Did they attend the same or comparable schools? Are they married? Do they have the same number of kids? Is their debt level the same? Is their education level the same? Do they live in the same or comparable neighborhoods?

We know that every single one of these environmental factors can influence someone's mental abilities, their tastes, their chosen activities, and their obligations.

And these are just the big ones.

Otherwise you're comparing apples from last year to next year's bananas. There's no way to establish a baseline.

There's no real comparison until you can account for most of the major variables.



I'm telling you (again) that until you can account for environmental differences, your measurements are useless.

There's a difference between a Walmart special and a finely made bookshelf. You can't just say that the one that is forty-one inches wide is better than the thirty-five inch one. You don't have enough information to judge.



It's a trick question.

It presupposes that there aren't any other variables that matter.

At the very least, acknowledge that the quality of schools makes a difference.

Mona Lisa Vito: It's a bullshit question.

D.A. Jim Trotter: Does that mean that you can't answer it?

Mona Lisa Vito: It's a bullshit question, it's impossible to answer.

D.A. Jim Trotter: Impossible because you don't know the answer!

Mona Lisa Vito: Nobody could answer that question!

D.A. Jim Trotter: Your Honor, I move to disqualify Ms. Vito as a "expert witness"!

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Can you answer the question?

Mona Lisa Vito: No, it is a trick question!

     — My Cousin Vinny


From my second response to you on this thread, I've pointed out again and again that you can not eliminate cultural and environmental factors.

The differences that you chose to highlight directly resulted in part from the culture and environment.

These are facts that we know and can easily be verified through a web search.

Children from single parent households tend to do worse at school and hold lower paying jobs.

Children from abusive households tend to do worse at school and hold lower paying jobs.

Single parent households tend to stay at lower income levels.

Some schools fail so much that most of their students can't read, write, or do basic math.

If children don't have enough to eat, they don't do well in school.

If people don't have shelter, they tend to have more health problems.

How much did environment and culture play a part? There is no way to know unless you can eliminate variables.

There's no comparison unless you can account for most of the major variables. This is true in science. This is true in statistics. This is true in life.

Your question makes no sense because there can be no comparison.



But you haven't presented evidence.

You've gone out of your way to dismiss the very idea that the culture and environment can have any possible influence on the differences you chose to highlight.

All you've done is lay out a premise that presupposes that no other factors can change what you choose to measure.

It's not science. It's not statistics. It's not even logically verifiable.

It's just prejudice.



You don't have evidence. You have observation, but you haven't shown cause or correlation because you have not allowed for environmental and cultural factors.

It's not even a matter of "interpretation." You've deliberately chosen one measurement and claimed that it defines the whole discussion. Can you say selection bias?



You can put tomato seeds in a salt shaker for nine months. That doesn't mean you'll be harvesting.



But I don't blame skin color at all. That's when I talk about this at all. Most people don't want to deal with uncomfortable truths.

I talk about politics, history, and the lies of government. Also basic economics and self-ownership.



Self-ownership and responsibility are a big part of what I write and talk about.

I also talk about strategy that exploits the politics of victimhood. I point out that the people who don't accept those lies from politicos and technocrats do better over time. Usually better than their parents. Which used to be a measurement of success in this nation.

A significant number of politicos (easily more than half) use the message that people are victims and their friend, the government, can help.

I tell people that government is not your friend, no matter how much the politicos say that it is.

That's not making excuses. That's showing that most politicos want problems they can stage manage. The politicos can't do that by solving problems.



It's a loaded question.

The premise is insufficient.



Neighbor, you're telling me that I am dealing in absolutes when I just listed seven major variables that we know affect intelligence and ability. These variables change everybody no matter what their skin color, nationality, sex, or ice cream preference.



I can stop you with nothing more than a few words.

Think about it. You're taking offense at what I write on a website when all I am really saying is "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…"

You would deny that?



I'm not defending today's mess.

I've written against it.

But (and this is the important bit), you're still defining people by skin color instead of what they are individually.

There's a phrase about "content of their character" that comes to mind.



I know, you keep defining people by skin color.



Tell me, what nationality are "blacks?"

If a "Chinese" has been granted American citizenship, when does he stop being "Chinese?" Three seconds after? Three generations? When he changes his name to Jones?

If Jesus Fernandez was born in Michigan and barely speaks Spanish, is he "Mexican?"

Or American?



I didn't say anything about stopping the Left with words.

I said I could stop you.

And I have.



Think you so?

Look at what's happened.

I've held my own against you and your "friend." Along the way, we've discussed history, psychology, morality, biology, and ethics. We've done it in real time for a few hours, and right now you are focused on taking me down, not in proving that "blacks" are inferior.

And all you can do is tell me that I don't deserve my citizenship.

You got stopped.



"The fact that blacks are not us."

Pretty sure my neighbors would disagree. Pretty sure your neighbors would too.



"Wait until your neighbors are Hindus, Muslims, Mexicans, or Asians."

Um, they are.



I could ask my across-the-street neighbor, but I'm pretty sure she's happy with her husband. I don't know their kids that well.



Because they are us.

The commonalities outweigh the differences.

These barriers, these labels that people like you keep using, they separate us. The labels keep us apart.

Those are the same stars, and that is the same moon, that look down upon your brothers and sisters, and which they see as they look up to them, though they are ever so far away from us, and each other.
     — Sojourner Truth


The Hopi are surrounded by all sides by the Diné. Can you tell me the genetic differences between the Hopi and the Diné? Good luck, because they've been intermarrying for a long time.

So what are their national characteristics?

As I said, I'm an American. I'm a mix. Part of my ancestry is Irish, part of it is English, part of it is Creole, part of it is German, part of it is Russian, and there's probably stuff on both sides of the bed that isn't officially acknowledged.

What are my national genetic characteristics?

I'm pretty sure I could father a child with any fertile human female if we tried hard enough. That's sort of how the species works.

And that's the important thing. We're one species, one "race." Throw us together and those distinctions fade. We get down and funky. We rut. We mix our genes.

It doesn't stop there. Ideas mix too. We argue with each other. We try to one up each other. We try. We look at what the other guy is doing. We borrow what works and tweak it a bit.

Synchronicity and syncretism happen, no matter how much you want "purity."



I'm not trying to change the labels.

I'm pointing out the truths.

Those labels are controlling your life.



"Truth and lies don't miscegenate."

Miscegenation has nothing to do with truth and lies and everything to do with sex and children.

Truth is subject to change. There was a time when people thought the speed of light was infinite. Now we know it's about 186,000 miles per second. In a vacuum. Put it through an atmosphere or water and it's something else.

We're human. That humanity matters more than any "racial" difference. It's why there are children of "mixed race." As time and people go on, the differences fade.

Until we meet a new population and it starts all over again.

I don't lie. I serve veritas.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

Suppressed

See, here's the thing - if you're on national media screaming about how you're being suppressed, you not only are not being suppressed, but are a freakin' idiot.
     — Steve Skubinna, from the comments on Trump Derangement Syndrome

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Politicizing funerals

Lauren Southern lets loose on organized libertarianism

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Community

Years ago I came up with a crazy tax scheme that was so nutty it might work. Here's the revised version.

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NeoNote — The Label™

There are valid criticisms against Trump. But he's made his career on bad press.

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“The Problem With Libertarians”

Ever notice when someone picks a scapegoat, it's because they think the scapegoat can't fight back?

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Nine percent

As an Arizona resident who worked against his re-election the last four times, I wish he had retired years ago.

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“Yep, a Trump Pet.”

People can do most things on their own without government help, direction, or control.

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NeoNote — The nature of politcs

Ever notice when someone picks a scapegoat, it's because they think the scapegoat can't fight back?


I agree with you that politics is a source of great evil in the World.

I disagree that the Trump and the Republicans are the cause. Or even most of the cause.

One annoying thing about politics is that people are willing to overlook the misconduct of "their" side even while slinging wild accusations against the Enemy. The accusations may or may not be accurate. But you can count on the Enemy not being quite the Ultimate Horror Unleashed on Mankind. And you can count that your side is not quite the paragon of virtue and self-sacrifice that they claim.

Politics is about controlling the other. Never you, always the other. When government is involved politics is about control backed by force.

Politicians are never on your side. Even as they stand wrapped in the flag clutching holy writ promising that they will be your bestest friend ever no matter what.


I'm sorry, but I can't agree. Obama used the IRS and Justice Department against his enemies, among other things. And the Democrats looked the other way.

Rather than get into a long and pointless discussion of who did what worse, I want to point out something that most people overlook.

The politicos NEED you to blame the other party and never question the wisdom of your party's decisions. It's always the other party that is doing things Too Terrible and always your own party that promises to Save The Day. When you buy into that, you perpetuate the system. You're always going to be victimized and you're never ever going to be saved. If you were saved, you'd have no reason to vote the party line.


I know I have my political critics on this site, but believe me when I tell you that there are conservatives who are just as threatened by the Democrat leadership as you are by Trump.

Too often today, people make excuses for what their side does by trotting out the disasters from the other side.

I want less government. I think government is a terrible danger to liberty. I think politicos and technocrats complicate things because they don't want you asking questions and they don't want you changing the status quo. They don't want you understanding what they do.

So when I see someone insisting that this flavor of politico is slightly less objectionable, I tell them they are wrong.


Accurate, as far as it goes.

*sighs* Look, I know that other pagans think I am simplistic and partisan when it comes to politics. And believe me, I realize how ironic it is for me to denounce mixing paganism with politics while having a political blog called Pagan Vigil.

Politics is one of my darker passions. I'm better at it than any amateur has any right to be. I understand the temptations and lusts because those are my temptations, my lusts, but for a bit of discipline and some promises I made. There's a line from Doctor Who, “Good men don’t need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many.” These days I try to use my abilities and urges in a good cause. Mostly I succeed.

I've said that politics is about controlling the other. It's literally "power over." All the processes, all the carefully defined rules to protect democracy, all the blame exists SOLEY to keep people from looking too carefully at "the sausage being made." To keep people from asking how much freedom they are "supposed" to sacrifice for "the Greater Good." To keep them from asking themselves why expecting the other guy to sacrifice and compromise is GOOD but they themselves aren't supposed to sacrifice and compromise. To keep them from accepting that POWER OVER for their principles just might not be as as effective as power with based on things we all share.

Smashing the opposition just makes more pieces that can regrow.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

John McCain passes

Sen. John McCain, American ‘maverick’ and Arizona political giant, dies at age 81


I do not and would not wish death on anyone.

As an Arizona resident who worked against his re-election the last four times, I wish he had retired years ago.

Governor Ducey will be empowered by an act of the legislature to appoint a Republican to fill out the rest of the term. And yes, Arizona state law requires that the appointee be the same party.

I had my disagreements with McCain.

So did Barry Goldwater.

I stopped trusting McCain during the Keating Five mess.

I could say more, but I'll wait a month or so.

I don't speak or write ill of the dead in the first month after their passing. It changes nothing, and everyone deserves the right to deal with their passions and memories.

Edited to add:

McCain to lie in state at Capitol in Washington, Arizona


I know it's supposed to honor the “most eminent citizens,” but I still think lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda is political opportunism.

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NeoNote — No sane reason

I'm not something less, I'm something else.

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You are free

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights limit government, not people.

The way I see it, you are free to say and do as you want SO LONG AS you accept responsibility and the consequences. Anyone who promises you freedom from that is lying.
     — NeoWayland
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“Should We Ban Plastic Straws?”

“Will Witt went to Santa Barbara to ask people what they thought of the new law banning plastic straws. Check it out!”

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NeoNote — Dualistic viewpoint

I'm not something less, I'm something else.

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“Free-Market Social Security”

For something with no moral relativism, there's an awful lot or relative morality going on.

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Fight back

Man attempts to kidnap 11-year-old girl, friends throw hot coffee on him and escape, Michigan police say

\A group of four girls, ages 11 to 14, noticed a man followed them as they left a gas station convenience store in Millington, Michigan, last week. They crossed the street. He did, too. Then, the man, identified as 22-year-old Bruce Hipkins, grabbed the 11-year-old girl in the group, Millington Police Department Chief Jason Oliver told USA TODAY.

“He grabbed the youngest and said: 'You’re coming with me,'" Oliver said.

No, she wasn't.

"The girls turned around and started punching him," Oliver said. "They threw coffee, slurpees. They used whatever they had.”

Then, Hipkins attempted to take another girl, grabbing her by the hair, Oliver said. The girls continued pummeling him, and he eventually ran away.
     — Ashley May
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NeoNote — Absolutism

The problem with making the personal political is that you drag everyone around you into politics, whether they want to be or not.

The environment is a hugely complex topic. Where do we start? Water rights? Ethanol eradication? GMO seeds? Climate change? I'm willing to bet that no one here is going to agree on all of those.

Likewise the "religious right." Obviously we need to take a stand against people like Roy Moore. It took me twenty-plus years to get on speaking terms some of my relatives younger than me, I'd rather not throw that away. Not all of the religious right is a monolithic block, any more than all pagans. Individual relationships work better than shunning everyone with the wrong label.



Pardon, but I've found environmental issues particularly troubling, to the point where I'd rather discuss ecology rather than environmentalism. There are some in the climate change crowd who are just as absolutist as any hard core evangelical Christian. As another example, when I call for the eradication of ethanol because it is subsidized, requires food crops, consumes more than a gallon of gas to produce one gallon of ethanol, and is harder to store and transport than gasoline, I'm attacked because I am "in the pocket of big oil."

Perhaps it's that absolutist quality that is the real problem. There's more than one answer and one answer doesn't fit all. I'd say there is more than one problem too, but most don't want to deal with that.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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NeoNote - Responding to another Bookworm rant

Okay, time number three. We've been through this twice before.

For something with no moral relativism, there's an awful lot or relative morality going on. Of course there's the Catholic Church mess going on in Pittsburg right now. Granted, that was priests breaking the laws of "God" and man. But there are plenty of other examples.

Child labor used to be not only allowed, but justified by people quoting the Bible. Women were denied property rights and the right to vote. Slavery was justified and encouraged before some good people decided that not only was it wrong but it should be abolished.

You cite the Decalogue, but number one on that list denies any other religion or faith system. Using that, at best non-Christians (okay, non-Abrahamics) exist only at the sufferance of their "betters," to be indulged as children and tolerated for their misunderstanding.

If there is one thing I wish I could literally pound into Christian heads, it's this: Christianity is not the source of all that is good and righteous in our society. Other cultures and other faiths have contributed heavily. It's amazing that I even have to mention this where one house of the national legislature is called the Senate and the other has a ceremonial fasces. Syncretism happens and we're better for it.

We're not measured by our faith, but how we treat others. There is this urge particularly among evangelical Christians to meddle in the lives of others. You yourself cite "the" Native American experience. It wasn't "the," different tribes and groups were treated differently. Usually that led to stealing land, women, and children. Not to mention Indian wars, relocation, and reservations. How is that higher morality? Yet the American treatment of "Indians" was usually justified by Bible quotes.

I could go on and on but I won't. The vice or virtue is in the individual, not the label. By pagan lights, monotheisms have their own sins which they seldom answer for.

Yet there is hope. The "Golden Rule" is the true keystone of Western civilization. It exists in many faiths and cultures. Arguably it is core of the best ethical civilizations. Applied correctly, it can do everything that your Judeo-Christian values can. And we won't be arguing over whose morality should be "in charge."
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Making the personal political

The problem with making the personal political is that you drag everyone around you into politics, whether they want to be or not.
     — NeoWayland
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Vote for the label

Vermont governor's race: Christine Hallquist, Phil Scott win primaries

Vermont Democrats made history Tuesday by nominating Christine Hallquist as the first transgender individual to be a major party candidate for governor.
     — April McCullum

That's the first paragraph.

According to the article the transgender label is more important than the candidates qualifications. The label is more important that the candidate's character. The label is more important than anything you might consider.

This is the inevitable result of identify politics. The label must transcend all other reasons.

Sadly, this is the result of party politics too.

Politics is about controlling other people. You must not be allowed to make up your own mind. You might do it wrong.

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Taking on terrorists

There are two basic kinds of terrorists. The amateurs will be deterred or detected by even basic security measures. The professionals will figure out how to evade even the most stringent measures. I've repeatedly said that the two things that have made flying safer since 9/11 are reinforcing the cockpit doors and persuading passengers that they need to fight back. Everything beyond that isn't worth it.
     — Bruce Schneier, Don't Fear the TSA Cutting Airport Security. Be Glad That They're Talking about It.

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Conditions

There's a vast difference between a character who happens to be X and a X character.

The emphasis should be on character, not the label. Character is about the human condition, the label is about the labeled condition.

Next, it's acting. Fictional. If the actor is good enough, they can play the heavy and the hero. They can play the pauper and the prince. And they can play whatever sexual orientation is necessary.
     — NeoWayland
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“How This Town Got Rid of Crime”

He speaks for himself.

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Divide & Conquer

What this illustrates is that racism in this country is dying, but the media appears to be fervently attempting to keep it alive.
     — Matt Agorist, Divide & Conquer on Full Display as Media Devotes Days of Attention to 20 White Nationalists in DC

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“Make Men Masculine Again”

The "millennial whoop" and other problems.

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Define reality

But they are hypocrites when they declare that they support free speech while applying selective censorship.

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“Rowan Atkinson on Freedom of Speech”

tip of the hat to Samizdata

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“The TRUTH Why Modern Music Is Awful”

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Censorship & corporate virtue signalling

So the big news is that Apple decided to remove the Alex Jones Infowars podcasts. YouTube and Facebook followed. Twitter did not.

Alex Jones is wrong almost all the time. He's not worth your time or mine. Infowars is not a good source.

Absolutely these companies have the right to decide who does and does not use their platform. It's their money after all.

But they are hypocrites when they declare that they support free speech while applying selective censorship. Especially if they allow the Islamist, the anti-semitic, the anti-conservative, the antifa, and the anti-white stuff to stay on their platforms.

That's the problem with hate speech. Somehow it's always about what the other guy said, never about what you said.

And all this still overlooks the obvious. If someone doesn't like what is in a podcast or a video, they don't have to pay attention.

Demanding it's removal for the greater good is the coward's way out. It means you don't trust someone to make their own choices. You want to meddle. You wouldn't stand for it if someone else did it to you.

People should choose for themselves. Corporations have lousy morals.

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Insult

A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.
     — Frederick Douglass

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Republican racism

Most of the claims of Republican racism are because the Republicans involved didn't see any reason to grant special privilege when people already had rights recognized by law.
     — NeoWayland
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Degradation

If you wonder where radfems got the idea that they are living in an unforgiving patriarchy, a rape society, a "man's world" that degrades women, it's because that's the way their "allies" have treated them.

They just think it's everyone.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Online monopolies

No, they are not monopolies.

When I sit down at a computer, I don't have to go through Facebook to check the weather or see what is happening at this site. If I wanted to message someone on my iPod or iPad, I don't have to use Twitter.

With AT&T, if you were in an area covered you had no choice. It was your regional Bell company and AT&T or nothing. The breakup fixed that, you could choose your phone company. And today, if I am not in range of the right cell tower, my phone still works as long as I am in range of a cell tower.

Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, all got big by offering something the competition did not have. No one was forced. Competition is the only way to reduce their hold. And the competition, like all competition, has to offer something more than "just as good as."

For a while, iOS and macOSX had software hooks so that Facebook and Twitter had easier access. That's no longer necessarily true, some of Apple's customers didn't want their data shared by companies that weren't trustworthy.

Government intervention is the last thing we need. There are already politicos who complain about "fake news" that isn't fake, it's just not what the politicos want you to think about. From the news in the last couple of days, it seems Twitter is going after conservative and libertarian users. Do we really want a world where government decides what may and may not be said?

Oh, one other thing. Monopolies rely on government support and intervention. Start regulating and you just planted a monopoly.



I agree it's a mess.

To get a site, you have to register a domain name. Then you have to get server space. If you use a company like Wordpress, you agree to carry their ads on your site in exchange for a reduced rate or free use on their server space. If you go on your own, you find a web host (like MacHighway) and you have more control over the site and advertising.

Think of it like a storefront that you have to rent. Depending on the terms of the lease, that is how much service your "landlord" provides and how much you provide to your visitors.

If Twitter provides the ability to block people you don't like, I agree that it should be available to ALL users. But the platform is not public property. The "landlord" can block out who they want when they want. But they shouldn't be shielded from the consequences of their actions. They are liable if they provide different services and benefits to their users. If it's a "free" service, then all "free" users should have the same benefits as all other "free" users. The "landlord" can ban conservatives, but if they allow conservatives (or one specific high profile conservative), then that person should have the same rights and benefits.

ETA: The real question is if the platform should ban offensive content and how that should be defined.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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“Damnatio Memoriae, or How to Erase Someone from History”

“How do you remove the memory of a particularly bad emperor from the history books? Or what if your brother is just so annoying that you can't stand the sight of him anymore, and don't want to share power? You perform a damnatio memoriae, erase all inscriptions, destroy all public images, and pretend as if he never existed.”

Read More...
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Labels

The problem with attacking the label is that there are always remarkable individuals far beyond the box you try to cram them into. Nor are they the exception to the rule.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Socialism, fairness & choice

There was a late night bull session I attended. One very drunk person announced, very authoritatively, "Socialism is jealousy."

Then she passed out.

She may have had a point.



I'll go you one farther. There are studies that show primates have a strong sense of fairness. Some other studies show the fairness idea is linked to play in wolves and coyotes. I've seen speculation but no mention of studies that the idea exists in elephants as well. Taken together, these may indicate that it is part of the biology, at least for social animals.



I'd say it relies on control and orientation in time. Given that it's extremely difficult to control other's behavior except through force, someone who is past-orientated will choose coercion and false signals. Especially if their behavior was controlled in the past.

Future orientation and risk taking are more likely to depend on cooperation. Especially if one doesn't have the resources to pull off the future alone.

Going forward, power with beats power over. But someone stuck in the past won't see that. As for the "leaders," they're gaming the system and don't practice what they preach. "But just do as I say, don't do as I do," as the old Genesis song says.



Everyone who lives in America is a socialist to some degree.

True. But did they choose, or was it chosen for them "for the greater good?" In many cases before they were born? Did they ever have an alternative choice? Were they even allowed to think about it?

That's how socialism works. It's always involuntary except for those calling the shots.

It’s just that the rank and file among us don’t have $12 billion to buy votes from farmers we’ve screwed over.

If he had bought votes, the farmers wouldn't be screwed, would they? You've moved beyond mixing metaphors here, you're mixing conspiracy theories.



Your premise about vote buying is wrong. There's plenty to criticize about Trump's tariff strategy (which I've done), but there was no vote buying. That's the problem with most of the accusations against Trump. The loudest people ignore what Trump has done and blame him for things he hasn't done. You can't buy votes after the fact. And you keep overlooking all the other people adversely affected by the tariffs.

I used the word choosing because we are supposed to live in a representative government. Socialism removes choice. Socialism removes freedom. Socialism removes prosperity. The only reason why the United States works economically is because of the partial free market. The free market works. The free market works better than anything else in history. The only reason Americans can afford even partial socialism is because of the abundance produced by the free market.

So are Americans socialist? Yes, but not from choice. Someone had to do it to them. Someone had to lie to them about what they could get. Someone else had to pay the bills. Would Americans choose socialist programs? I don't think they would if they understood the costs.

I didn't claim you wrote anything about choice. I asked about choice. That's not words in your mouth, that's a question you don't want to answer.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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“RIP in Peace, Net Neutrality”

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What's the point?

Liberty demands more than just deciding who is "in charge." If government means electing people who are kinda-sorta on your side on alternate Thursdays when there's no rain, what's the point?
     — NeoWayland
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“The Strange Death of Comedy”

“Tell a joke now and who knows who you might offend? Identity politics is taking the fun out of just about everything. This is – no fooling – a very serious problem. Actor/Comedian Owen Benjamin explains why and what needs to be done about it”

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Threatened

I've never gotten a straight answer.

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NeoNote — Pandering

Since the last time I read your stuff, I've been racking my brain to remember any libertarians who "pandered" to pedophiles. I can't remember any. "Consenting adults" is a big priority.

As for "pandering" to homosexuals, well, we also "pander" to Jews, women, Rotarians, Red Sox fans, and classic car owners. Not to mention people with piercings, people with tattoos, people with nine toes, and almost anyone else you can name.

If you're threatened by "live and let live," by all means run away.



These are two different issues. The only one that I'm denying is that libertarians pander to pedophiles.

You want to use it as the modern political equivalent of blood libel.

It's probably because I am pagan, but I've found keeping minors at an arm's length when it comes to religion and sexuality solves more problems than it causes. It's one of those necessary compromises that keeps neighbors.



I think you'll find that most small "l" libertarians like me consider it a minor issue, if at all.

I will point out that the laws are not self consistent. Driving at 16 (some farm states allowed it at 14 in rural areas), voting and draft eligibility at 18, drinking age of 21, well, those are just some of the best known examples.

I've pointed out before that the whole extended childhood thing is mostly a post WWII American urban phenomena. Attitudes towards "child brides" were very different a few generations ago.



Can you tell me what the "American" position is on taxes? Does every single American agree with that? What about public schools? And immigration?

I call myself libertarian with a small "l" because when I say "classic liberal" most folks in the U.S. don't know what I am talking about. It has nothing to do with a political party and everything to do with liberty.

I believe that the freedom to choose is the mark of an adult human. Make of that what you will.



Classic liberalism predates the founding of the American republic. That is why I distinguish between "Libertarianism" and "libertarianism." Big "L" versus small "l." Party platform versus individual responsibility.

If you'll look closely at what I've written, I've always stressed "consenting adults" when it comes to sexual practices.

I pointed out that even the All Wise Forces of Government & Society® can't decide when a child is responsible or not.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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“Jinx the Anarchist Sex Worker Goes to Washington”

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NeoNote — What makes a hate crime worse?

For years, I've asked the question what makes a "hate crime" worse than another crime for the same offense. I've never gotten a straight answer.

Well, here it is. "Hate crimes" are absolutely justified if it's for the correct reason. Thou shalt not dissent from the approved narrative. Victims are victims unless they strike out against the Man as declared by progressive experts. And collective victimhood counts, especially if it acts against collective oppression. The individual MUST be subservient to the label, all in the name of The Greater Good and to Protect the Children.

So now we know. If it offends progressives, anything is justified so feelings can be protected and any questionable behavior can be ruthlessly suppressed.

Yep, definitely about the hate there.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Greed

It is amazing how many of the intelligentsia call it 'greed' to want to keep what you have earned, but not greed to want to take away what somebody else has earned, and let politicians use it to buy votes.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Fair share

Since this is an era when many people are concerned about 'fairness' and 'social justice,' what is your 'fair share' of what someone else has worked for?
     — Thomas Sowell
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Sounded good

Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Equality

If you cannot achieve equality of performance among people born to the same parents and raised under the same roof, how realistic is it to expect to achieve it across broader and deeper social divisions?
     — Thomas Sowell
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Entitlements

One of the consequences of such notions as ‘entitlements’ is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Women last

Like all “intersectional” facets of the left, feminism is about the propagation of leftism first and women last.
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What they want

When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear. People with careers as ethnic leaders usually tell their followers what they want to hear.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Doers and do-nots

There is much discussion of the haves and the have-nots, but very little discussion of the doers and the do-nots, those who contribute and those who merely take.
     — Thomas Sowell
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NeoNote — The farce continues

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Politics of shame

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Demonic realms

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Do something

Those who cry out that the government should 'do something' never even ask for data on what has actually happened when the government did something, compared to what actually happened when the government did nothing.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Bright ideas

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Invasion

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People with high IQs

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Snitch culture

Social justice is a surveillance culture, a snitch culture. The constant vigilance on the part of my colleagues and friends did me in. That’s why I’m delivering sushi and pizza. Not that I’m complaining. It’s honest work, and it’s led me to rediscover how to interact with people in the real world. I am a kinder and more respectful person now that I’m not regularly on social media attacking people for not being “kind” and “respectful.”
     — Barrett Wilson, I Was the Mob Until the Mob Came for Me

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American citizenship

capitalism vs. corporatism

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Class labels

What sense would it make to classify a man as handicapped because he is in a wheelchair today, if he is expected to be walking again in a month and competing in track meets before the year is out? Yet Americans are given ‘class’ labels on the basis of their transient location in the income stream. If most Americans do not stay in the same broad income bracket for even a decade, their repeatedly changing ‘class’ makes class itself a nebulous concept.
     — Thomas Sowell
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“An individual has an idea”

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Dead hand of the past

For the anointed, traditions are likely to be seen as the dead hand of the past, relics of a less enlightened age, and not as the distilled experience of millions who faced similar human vicissitudes before.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Experience trumps brilliance.

Experience trumps brilliance.
     — Thomas Sowell
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“The TRUTH About Abortion & Sex”

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Stupidity or dishonesty

Considering how often throughout history even intelligent people have been proved to be wrong, it is amazing that there are still people who are convinced that the only reason anyone could possibly say something different from what they believe is stupidity or dishonesty.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Weighing benefits against costs

Weighing benefits against costs is the way most people make decisions – and the way most businesses make decisions, if they want to stay in business. Only in government is any benefit, however small, considered to be worth any cost, however large.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Great and destructive evil

More and more I'm convinced that one of the greatest and most destructive evils humanity has produced is Meddling For Your Own Good.
     — NeoWayland, Discussion on morality, sex, nudity, and pagan festivals
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“Stossel: Plastic Straw Myths”

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Price controls

Four things have almost invariably followed the imposition of controls to keep prices below the level they would reach under supply and demand in a free market: (1) increased use of the product or service whose price is controlled, (2) Reduced supply of the same product or service, (3) quality deterioration, (4) black markets.
     — Thomas Sowell
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What they want

It is amazing how many people think that the government's role is to give them what they want by overriding what other people want.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Government is a non-producer

Government is a non-producer; like any parasite it is wholly dependent on its host for sustenance. And so the only way it can accomplish anything is to force others to do it by the threat of violence.
     — Maggie McNeill, The Gun in the Room

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Too ridiculous

Virtually no idea is too ridiculous to be accepted, even by very intelligent and highly educated people, if it provides a way for them to feel special and important. Some confuse that feeling with idealism.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Modest talents so richly rewarded

There are few modest talents so richly rewarded — especially in politics and the media — as the ability to portray parasites as victims, and portray demands for preferential treatment as struggles for equal rights.
     — Thomas Sowell
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FamousFeminist

New publication makes it easier

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Revived 15Jul2018

These older blog entries have been reformatted and entered into the current directories. Redirect pages have been placed in the old locations.

Underground computer gaming and freedom

Latest efforts of a desperate government

The threat of web censorship

Censorship failing, bit by bit

Blogging anonymously

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Women & children

It makes you wonder what all those repressive nations are really afraid of, doesn't it?

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Killing the goose

In short, killing the goose that lays the golden egg is a viable political strategy, so long as the goose does not die before the next election and no one traces the politicians’ fingerprints on the murder weapon.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Racism

The word ‘racism’ is like ketchup. It can be put on practically anything — and demanding evidence makes you a ‘racist.’
     — Thomas Sowell
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Confuses it with feeling

The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.
     — Thomas Sowell
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“Hernando de Soto Knows How To Make the Third World Richer than the First”

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Bad motives

It is amazing how many people think that they can answer an argument by attributing bad motives to those who disagree with them. Using this kind of reasoning, you can believe or not believe anything about anything, without having to bother to deal with facts or logic.
     — Thomas Sowell
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Personal responsibility

To believe in personal responsibility would be to destroy the whole special role of the anointed, whose vision casts them in the role of rescuers of people treated unfairly by ‘society.’
     — Thomas Sowell
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Lack common sense

The charge is often made against the intelligentsia and other members of the anointed that their theories and the policies based on them lack common sense. But the very commonness of common sense makes it unlikely to have any appeal to the anointed. How can they be wiser and nobler than everyone else while agreeing with everyone else?
     — Thomas Sowell

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Understand politics

No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems – of which getting elected and re-elected are number one and number two. Whatever is number three is far behind.
     — Thomas Sowell

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No solutions

Abortion is one of those things I have mixed feelings on.

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Second wave feminism

I suspect that many other problems that second and third wave feminists faced happened because certain men took advantage. These (sleaze ball) men said the appropriate things, acted properly in public, and attended the right meetings. But it was all a show, manipulating the second wavers into sex and other things. Then these certain (scumbag) men went on to their next conquests all while convincing everyone else that they supported women and feminism. The third wave misandry that followed was a natural reaction.
     — NeoWayland, feminism (second wave)
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My theory

Unfortunately I keep finding more and more proof for my theory. Practically the only reason "male feminists" exist is so they can take advantage of feminists. Exceptions are so very hard to find.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Abortion

Abortion is one of those things I have mixed feelings on.

First, even in this modern day, every pregnancy may not result in live birth, even with the best actions of the parents and the doctors. I say this because many conservatives act as if it were not so.

Second, even a potential human life should be more than gulp-a-pill and POOF it's gone. Assuming the sex is consensual, there is no reason that both partners should not take precautions if they don't want a child.

Third, Unless it's with me, who you have sex with, how you have sex, and how many times you have sex is frankly none of my business. Likewise, unless it is sex with me, I'm not responsible for the consequences.
— NeoWayland's lexicon, sex

Fourth, no agency or entity that receives taxpayer funds should provide abortion or abortion counseling. I know they'll say that taxpayer funds are never used for either, but providing any money just frees other funds for those uses. It's one of those legal fictions that lets politicos skirt responsibility.

Fifth, there is a right of privacy, although not as defined by Roe vs. Wade. It's there in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, and (yes) the Fourteenth Amendments.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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We've regressed

Given how some absolutely insist that any accusations of sexual impropriety must be treated as unquestioned truth, I'd argue that we've regressed.

Sometimes people lie. I don't think that is very hard to understand. We shouldn't base justice on lies. That's not hard to understand either.
     — NeoWayland
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Essence of libertarianism

That's the essence of libertarianism you see. It's not that we don't care, we just don't see government as an effective way to deliver what needs to be done.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Shame

You are aware that you just tried to shame me into keeping quiet and not offer a dissenting opinion, aren't you?

It's only shame if I accept the premise.

I did not deny that discrimination and oppression takes place.

Now, let's look at what I actually did.

I said people had tried to shame and shun me because of my sexuality, faith, and politics.

You know, like you tried to do.

I didn't proclaim my victimhood gave me the power to command others.

You know, like you tried to do.

It's only shame if I accept the premise.

I refuse to give blanket special privilege because of proclaimed victimhood.

If an individual wants help, I'll give what I think I can. If a vague class demands constant unquestioned deference because of some poorly defined list of potential offenses that may have been committed on alternate Tuesdays, I'll probably laugh.

The World needs heroes more than it needs victims.

I despise the politics of victimhood. That always ALWAYS means a hierarchy and oh so carefully deciding who has it worse. It's never about injustice, it's about injustice shown to a particular class. Injustice against other groups gets downplayed if not ignored entirely.

For example, I gave three reasons. You picked sex sexuality. Not just sex sexuality, but sexual politics as it applies to your letter salad. So heterosexual feminists don't rate high on your victim scale. And you treated all those carefully defined letters as One Monolithic Block, as if the needs and desires of the transfolks matched those of the gay bears.

You're not a hero because someone hurt your feelings or didn't give you what you thought you deserved. Heroes overcome adversity.



Yes, you did attempt to shame me. It's kafkatrapping, specifically invoking model A and model C. It was old when Alinsky wrote about it, under a different name of course. The goal of shaming is to morally prevent me from speaking or writing. It attempts to manipulate guilt of both the target and the spectators.

You're right, I don't know you. Nor should what you have experienced have any influence on my behavior. Unless you're expecting my guilty pity to overcome my beliefs and self-interest.

Even now you are ranking comparative victimhood as if that is what defines people. That is what intersectionality does, isn't it? It's all about the victimhood. Emphasizing the victimhood isn't going to do anything except create a pity party. It's not particularly healthy and it isn't a practical solution.

There are radical feminists who routinely try to shame and shun men all the time. Starting with allegations that America is a "rape culture" and that any PIV sex is rape by it's very nature.

You'll never get social justice because people don't agree on what it means.

You obviously don't know me or you'd know that I carefully think about everything I write. I pride myself on it. You have a problem in that my thoughts don't slavishly follow what you think is important.

I've seen people called heroes over hurt feelings. So have you. I've also seen people cashing in on the ordeals of others. So have you.

You chose to respond to my post. I had done you no harm. All I did was challenge your belief. You don't know who I am or what I've done. You don't know who I've helped or who I've hurt. All you know is that you think I should not be allowed to speak or write my opinion.



Pardon, but you're deigning to respond so you can prove a point. You're not doing me any favors and the act comes across a little hollow.

Yes, you did try to shame me. You're not the first or thirteenth or thousandth person to try. You don't get to set the terms of my shame.

Of course I want a better world. What I may not want is a better world on your terms. That's not because of my politics, it's because I'm human.

Yep, I did bring up self-interest because it's a major reason for people's behavior. You're not having this discussion because you're feeling selfless. You've convinced yourself you're doing it for the Greater Good.

Speaking of self-interests, one reason why private alternatives become better, cheaper, and faster is because of competition. A public program doesn't have the incentive to improve so it can keep and get more business. But that is a long subject well beyond the scope of this discussion. I will point out that if something is cheaper and more available, that means that more people can get it if they want it.

I'll also point out that the free market, voluntary transactions between consenting adults, has done more to raise people out of poverty than anything else in history.

Just so you know, I was born on the Navajo reservation and I've spent much of my life near it or the Hopi reservation. I've also lived in Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, Provo, and Albuquerque among other places. I know about "people of color," but mine go beyond your definition.

And that brings us up to women, doesn't it? I knew my first strong woman from before I was born. Your issue here is not that I don't have empathy, it's that I don't have the empathy that you approve of. Actually the radical feminists I was talking about called themselves third and fourth wave. When I can, I regularly seek out people who disagree with me. No one person and certainly no one group has all the answers.

I didn't pass judgement on sexual assault and harassment. I said that power from victimhood is not a good thing and heroes overcome adversity.

You yourself cited the experiences of others to justify fighting injustice. So yes, you're cashing in and you know people who have done so.

You chose to confront my "hypocrisy" but you haven't proven it. It may not match your opinion, but that is a different issue.

By the way, asserting that I have a "privileged position" is kafkatrapping Model P.

Isn't it interesting how you can tell me that my ideas are flawed but you think I can't tell you the same?

Before you proclaim that US Aid is the answer to all the World's problems, you might ask yourself how much of it actually gets through the many corrupt levels of government? That's the essence of libertarianism you see. It's not that we don't care, we just don't see government as an effective way to deliver what needs to be done.

If I see a victim, I don't want them to stay a victim.

I didn't put the web addy up for you.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
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It's only shame if I accept the premise.

It's only shame if I accept the premise.

As I see it, the vice or virtue isn't in the label. It's in how you touch the lives of others. The honor is in giving truth when needed, helping when you can, and leaving the World a little better than how you found it.
     — NeoWayland, comments from Column: What of the Christians?
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Run out of people

What I'd like to point out is that if you keep throwing people you don't agree with into the "Them" pile, you're going to run out of people in the "Us" pile.

And no, I don't include myself in your "Us" pile.

Disagreements happen. People should decide if they want a Grand Crusade where every one agrees (or is afraid to disagree) and nothing gets done. Or maybe where you go for the smaller battles that you can win with allies, instead of waiting for perfection.
     — NeoWayland
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Mutual consent

Mutual consent is the only factor I've found that makes any sense.

I would no more try to control someone's sexual activities than I would try to control their diet or clothing. And for pretty much the same reason. Now I personally may not prefer sheep's brains or orange polka dots on purple plaid, but that gives me no reason to stop the other guy.
     — NeoWayland
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Religion enshrined in law

I'm not demanding that you give up your faith.

I'm asking why religion should be enshrined in law.

Faith is between you and the Divine, no other person can change that. It's up to you and your choices.

I'm asking for no sacrifice unless you believe that your religion should govern the faith and religion of others.

And if that's the case, I'm asking why.
     — NeoWayland
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Wholly remarkable

The U.S. Constitution doesn't mention the Christian God except in the date.

It's wholly remarkable in that it may well be the first document in history that didn't claim government power derived from the Divine.

Men of faith and men of reason deliberately chose not to make a public declaration of religion even as they acknowledged it's role in individual action.

They knew that faith must be chosen, not compelled.
     — NeoWayland
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Right choice

I think the mark of an adult is the ability to make the right choice without the threat of punishment. Or perhaps despite it.

We know that's possible. Under the right circumstances, we even revere the people who did that as saints and heroes.
     — NeoWayland
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Law is not moral

The law is not moral.

That's up to us humans.

(Apologies if I offended any nascent AIs)
     — NeoWayland
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Deliberately forgetting

Pardon, the shooter took advantage of circumstance. It doesn't take much to look around and see where you might kill the most.

I still think we'd be better off if as a society we deliberately didn't publicize the names of these shooters. The notoriety is part of what drives them.

Imagine listing all their victim's names and deliberately forgetting the twisted scum who did it. He sacrificed his humanity to be famous, let him be forgotten.
     — NeoWayland
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However

You did know that "However" is not only lawyer-speak but a Major Weasel Word, didn't you?
     — NeoWayland
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“Good men must not obey the laws too well.”

Good men must not obey the laws too well.
     — Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“What I think right”

Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.
     — Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

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Rabble rousing

The secret to rabble rousing is not chewing the scenery, it's getting the crowd to chew the scenery.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Rights, privileges, and powers

When the press shows that it can't be trusted with even some truths, why should the press be trusted?

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“American Independence”

Samuel Adams delivered this speech from the steps of the State House in Philadelphia on August 1, 1776. This was the day before the famous parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence was signed.

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Definition of insanity

It may be a religion, but if it relies on force, any and all opposition is justified.

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NeoNote — Demonizing the press

Pardon, but the media set the stage for their own demonization well before Trump's election. No, not everyone of them and not most of them. But the shift from news to liberal-opinon-passed-off-as-news has been going on for decades now. In the mission to present "THE truth," the media has forgotten that there is often more than one truth and that truth needs something more than passionate writing.

Anyone remember supply-side economics? The common narrative is that it was a product of the Reagan administration and that it was a catastrophic failure. But truth shows that Kennedy tried reducing taxes and regulations first. And under both Kennedy and Reagan, it boosted the economy. But that is not what the media says.

The common narrative is that people of faith demand that minorities be suppressed. Unless of course you are a minority person of faith who depends on government protection. But truth shows that Christians (yes, Christians) made American pluralism possible and even to this day are among the strongest defenders of religious freedom. In some minority communities, local churches are bedrock. Good luck finding that in the news today.

The common narrative is that conservatives mistreat and suppress women. But one truth that #MeToo has demonstrated is that certain (scumbag) high profile liberal politicos and celebrities gave lip-service to feminism so they could take sexual advantage. Many more liberals than conservatives in fact. But the stories that we get are that liberals Are Taking Steps while conservatives could care less.

In all these cases and many more, conservatives and conservative ideas are disparaged while the press presents liberal ideas as the Only Practical Solution. Never mind that many of those liberal ideas don't work and make things worse. After seeing that happen again and again, conservatives naturally distrust the media. They don't see the stories where their ideas and beliefs are celebrated. Those stories with a NEUTRAL bias are hardly ever there. The press passes itself off as mainstream when it isn't, and goes out of it's way to avoid stories that show conservatism in a good light.

As for libertarianism (CLASSIC liberalism), we get labeled as the kookiest of the those scary alt-right types. Never mind that isn't who we are. Never mind the merit of our ideas. No, we're the dangerous nutcases that you dare not listen to.

When the press shows that it can't be trusted with even some truths, why should the press be trusted? They demonized themselves long before Trump did.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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“#WalkAway Campaign- WHY I LEFT LIBERALISM & THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY”

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NeoNote — Religion & government

WH, you are way off base with your opinion about Islam having no Constitution protections. Religion is between you and the Divine and no one else.

That being said, *ahem*





It may be a religion, but if it relies on force, any and all opposition is justified. And if someone chooses to walk away, that's their right.

If your religion depends on force, you're doing it wrong.



That's not your place to decide. And Story was wrong.

If you start excluding religions from protection, sooner or later someone else is going to exclude yours. No other nation has America's pluralism. It's what threatens all monotheistic Islam. Religious choice is exactly that, choice,

On the other hand, we must insist on an even playing ground. Islam gets no special treatment and no special protections.

I'd be perfectly happy seeing a law that required anyone, regardless of faith, who participated in an honor killing or female genital mutilation to be executed, wrapped in pigskin, boiled with pig dung, and buried under a pig farm. Of course, the pigs might object…



Religion is a hot button topic for me, if for no other reason than I have had Christians use theirs against me, and tell me in no uncertain terms that any religion except Christianity should not be allowed. I'm related to some of those people.

Story himself specifically excluded Judaism. Which is interesting considering (among other things) the history of the Newport, Rhode Island Hebrew Congregation.

Here's what both you and Story are completely overlooking. The English Civil War was relatively recent. No proto-American wanted another church telling their church what to do. But that is minor. No, the big thing is that for the very first time (that we know of) in the history of Western Civilization, the defining document did not say that government power derived from the Divine. Except for the date, there is no mention of any god in the Constitution.

The SCT made a mistake with the Mormon ruling. It wouldn't be the first or last time that the Court goofed. Kelo v. New London comes to mind, as does Pace v. Alabama. There is nothing in the Constitution that gives the Federal government authority over marriage, and certainly nothing that gives it authority over religion. Under the Tenth (and yes, I know politicos love to ignore the Tenth), that means the no power, period.

Most importantly, there were many things that did not exist in 1791. Radio, automobiles, telegraph, and baseball come to mind. There were many things that were unknown in 1791. No American had seen the Mariana Trench, the Grand Canyon, Mount McKinley, or a coyote.



Story was commenting well after the fact, he was not a signatory to either the DOI or Constitution. The fact that he excluded Judaism reflects on him and not the Founders. Jews may have been a minority faith, but they were a well established faith.

Using law to force the rules of your religion was wrong then and it is wrong now. I'm sure you'd object if Muslim prayer calls were enforced in American law, or if Kosher dietary restrictions were part of the legal system. Almost all of the mala prohibita laws have a religious basis. It's no secret that I believe most of the problems in American society are because of too much government and mala prohibita laws. If your religion says no shopping on Sunday or no selling liquor, that's up to you. Using the law to restrict other's choices based on your religion, well, that doesn't say much for your faith.

Start respecting the "commonalities of Christianity" and you're going to fast approach respecting the commonalities of faith. The Ethic of Reciprocity or "Golden Rule" is the keystone of Western Civilization. It is arguably the single most important and universal basis for human advancement and is the basis for all true liberty. But it did not begin with Judaism or Christianity.

Once you eliminate specific mentions of any god, pluralism between sects pretty much leads to pluralism between religions. It may have been an accident. I suspect some of those Deists took a hand, or pen as it were.

I can't stress that enough. That simple idea takes religion and religious choice out of the public sphere and puts it back into individual behavior where it belongs. The teachings of a faith should matter only to the individual, not to the state. I don't want a Congresscritter demanding that I observe the Christian sabbath, any more than you want another Congresscritter demanding that you participate in ritual sex with same sex partners under the next full moon. And no, I don't do that.

Because that sets up the next bit. Radical Islam demands that the state require and prohibit according to the interpretation of the imams. The state becomes an extension of Islam. There is no provision for other faiths except in very subservient ways. The state becomes religion.

The ideas of liberty expressed in the Constitution reflect the universal ideals well beyond "Judeo-Christianity." Parts of it originated with the ancient Greeks and the Roman Republic as you've pointed out. It's a good idea because it works and not because of it's origins.

When the Founders wanted to limit freedom, be it slavery, restricting the vote to male landowners, or originally not enumerating human rights, it was wrong and it failed miserably. There was no way the Founders could foresee what would follow. We celebrate the universality, the protection of liberty from government and those who would abuse government power.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.



It's not your place to decide if you require others to sacrifice their freedom for yours. And as a citizen of this country, that's something I will defend fight against.

Constitutional America was not founded as a Christian nation. Nations are not Christian, individuals are. Yes, even the nations with established churches. Just as one very obvious example, nations can't participate in the Christian rite of communion. If a "Christian nation" goes to war, does that mean that Jeshua ben Joseph signed the marching orders?

Story may have been closer chronologically, but that doesn't mean he was right. I've already told you the biggest piece of evidence. The Constitution clearly states that political power comes from the people and not the Divine. This was unheard of, as far as we know it had never happened before.

Protecting rights means protecting people from the whims of the majority. You don't stop having freedom of speech because your city voted for "free speech" zones.

As I explained to WH above, radical Islam means that the state becomes an extension of Islam. Pluralism is pretty much the only thing that can resist that and not become tyranny.

Radical Islam is depending on special privileges and protections not granted to others. They can't do it on a level playing field.

Since the practices I mentioned are exclusive to the more radical versions of Islam, then the rest of us don't have to fear that punishment, do we?



Story was still wrong on this. Veritas. No one person, no one group has all the answers. I distrust anyone who says that they do. I refer back to the source document. The Constitution remains one of the clearest pieces of English ever put to paper. There are reasons why the Founders, some of the best educated people of their time, deliberately chose not to include the Christian Deity in the Constitution. It's not because of their faith. It's not because they were not pious. It's because they didn't trust men when they claimed to speak for the Divine.

Religion can not be allowed the coercive power of the state and the state can not be allowed the moral justification of faith. That's one of mine.

I'm not advocating paganism and especially not my version. I am saying that your religion does not govern my behavior. Just as mine does not govern yours.

Our nation was founded on principles that transcended Christianity. Some of them predate Christianity. The Founders were wise enough to know that they didn't know everything. The Enlightenment thinkers did not spontaneously create their philosophy, they drew heavily on history. There's no need to label these ideas as Christian or Hottentotten, it's enough that some very wise men found ways to pass along truths that worked. Civilization rises from wisdom after disaster. You're arguing over the labels so "your side" can take credit. Yes, Christian people (as opposed to Christianity) have done some wonderful things. And Christians have done some terrible things with huge costs to humanity. The vice or virtue is not in the label, it's in the individual. Labels borrow merit, although they do get blamed.

I didn't say the EoR was universal, I said it was the keystone of Western Civilization. Our best law and principles rest on the simple idea that we're fair to others because we expect them to be fair to us.

I've said it before, Christianity is not the source of all that is good and righteous in our society. Christians are better and nicer when they aren't the only game around. “One path among many” means Christians usually pay attention to what others say. It means Christians have to defend what they say and do without hiding behind scripture or a "higher truth."

Our law should not be defined in terms of A religion. Certainly not if everyone doesn't share that religion.

We should celebrate the ideas, not the labels.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Crazy tax scheme

An argument against gun control has much wider application than I realized

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Asking to be abused

Democrats are remarkable at ignoring bad law if a Democrat is President.

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Headline of the year

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Got Booted From a Restaurant, but Florists and Photographers Should Have to Work Gay Weddings?

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NeoNote — So change the law

I realize that this is going against the narrative, but the immigration mess predated Trump. The difference is that Trump has decided to mostly enforce the law while Obama decided to sometimes not. The Obama administration is on record telling Congress that it was a lousy law.

Democrats are remarkable at ignoring bad law if a Democrat is President.

If you don't like the law, change it. Don't go selectively protesting because a government functionary does their job. That's virtue signaling.

Where were the protests before Tump was elected?



It's bad law. It was abused before Trump decided to run and the only reason it's getting all the attention now is because a Republican is in office. This is literally being sold as evil Trump while almost no progressives are talking about changing or revoking the law. It's propaganda telling people that if a nice Democrat is in office, they won't have to worry about that bad old law because the Democrat President will have the moral courage to ignore it.

“Family separation was a frontline issue for immigration activists for the last decade or more. They warned of a generation of orphans scarred by the loss of their parents. They cautioned that Obama expanded deportation forces on his own to a degree that would be horribly exploited by a Republican president. (At the time, they were worried about Mitt Romney.)

The Obama administration conceded as much on the issue of separation in 2011, when Cecilia Muñoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, told PBS, “Even if the [immigration] law is executed with perfection, there will be parents separated from their children.”

Many liberals contend Obama never ripped babies from the arms of screaming parents. They should ask, for example, the over 150,000 immigrant children separated from their parents due to detention and deportation proceedings in 2012 if that’s true. Or the over 500,000 immigrant children, who experienced separation between 1998 and that year.”
Separation Of Immigrant Families Was Part Of Deportation Under Obama—Now Trump Is Expanding The Practice



Again, it's bad law. Trump can only do what he has done because of laws on the books for years.

It's not just one law. We keep trying to fix the problem with more law which creates more problems which need more law.



Except it is the law.

Would you have government ignore the law if the politicos didn't think it was moral? Remember we have an AG who was spouting Bible quotes to justify his immorality.

If the law is wrong, it should be changed. Preferably removed. Anything else puts us at the whim of the politicos and bureaucrats. If we are to have freedom and protection by law, then the rule of law must be uniform. No enforcing it when this man is in office and ignoring it when that woman is in office.

I know you don't like what is happening and you blame Trump. But it it is the law. Selective enforcement just means the threat of tyranny is always there.

Change the law.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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I don't have an easy answer.

I don't have an easy answer. I do think a nation is obligated to protect it's borders and I do think it should be able to expel immigrants or visitors who break the law. I do think that part of the problem are government benefits, I think that anyone who comes here should be able to pay their own way. Beyond that… *shrugs*
     — NeoWayland
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Society & government

Society is produced by our wants and, government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.
     — Thomas Paine, Common Sense
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KYFHO now & forever

You are perfectly capable of making your own decisions. That is your right, that is what makes you human, and fuck all to anyone who tells you different.

KYFHO now and forever. The only protection you should get is the certainty that NO ONE ELSE can use government to control you.

But, if you expect that right for yourself, you’d better damn well defend if for others. Even if you don’t like them. Even if you don’t trust them. Especially if you don’t trust them. Otherwise you will lose your choice.
     — NeoWayland
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Government should be a referee

Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government-- in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.
     — Milton Friedman

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Gradual

There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
     — James Madison

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Discriminate

The Right to Discriminate

The left has created a macabre myth that runs counter to the whole experience of mankind. The left has persuaded the gullible masses of America, including, sadly, most conservatives, that "discrimination" by individuals and businesses is wrong and that it violates the Constitution.

Precisely the opposite is true. All serious cognition and all honest moral judgments involve discrimination. When individuals and businesses are not free to discriminate, then the power to determine what is true and false and good and bad becomes the sole property of the state – or that even more odious creature, that lobotomized Frankenstein monster, "society."

Instead of diverse opinions and actions freely manifest, which are what happens when the state and society are denied the power to force a certain viewpoint down the throats of private citizens and enterprises, what happens is that all debate, all differences, and all individuality are crushed based upon what those who run the state or manipulate society deem sacrosanct.
     — Bruce Walker
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“Stossel: Jordan Peterson vs. “Social Justice Warriors””

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Republicans against Democrats

Pitting Republicans against Democrats or the "right" against the "left" is the distraction. It gives people someone to blame without solving the problem. And it certainly doesn't help that it's selectively reported, depending on which party holds the Presidency.
     — NeoWayland
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Live free

It’s simple. If you want to live free, you can’t meddle in other’s lives.

The second you start meddling is the second you sacrifice your own rights.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — What conservatives see

See, that’s what I mean. No one has all the answers and certainly no group has all the answers.

Let me tell you what I think they see.

First, a nation where some people believe victimhood has become more important than merit. A place where people have been taught that certain groups must be forced to sacrifice so that the unworthy may prosper.

Let me talk about that word unworthy for a bit. In this case it means someone who expects that their desires be fulfilled with minimum effort on their part. It’s one thing to march with fuzzy pink hats. But who shows up to do the work? And no, marching with a hat is not the work. Work means getting your hands dirty. Work isn’t about raising awareness or pointing out injustice. Work is the every day effort to provide for yourself and those you care for. Work is not taking a weekend to show your solidarity.

Because for them, it’s not about skin color. It’s about merit. If it were about skin color, then people like Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell wouldn’t be celebrated. For them it’s about fixing the problem and getting the job done. It’s not about curing past injustices or preventing any possible future injustices (definition subject to change). A hand up instead of a hand out.

Thomas Sowell said “When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.” And he was right. Too many privileges today are passed off as rights. Temporary measures become permanent. Privileges are sold as rights, despite only applying to certain victim groups.

And when there is criticism of any of this, it’s called racism.

Second, a government that has lied to them repeatedly. And a bunch of politicos who keep promising that government will fix the problems.

And by the way, this crosses the “skin color” barrier. It’s just that we’ve been lectured that you can’t be a “real …” (black, Hispanic, minority) unless you oppose Republicans and conservatives because “the Man” wants to take it away. See the Sowell quote above.

Third, that Democrats exploit the victimhood.

I disagree with your figures about “the young.” I think the media have their own reasons to skew the news (90% negative stories about Trump).

I also think you are making a major mistake focusing on Trump.

I told you before that it is not Trump. People are losing faith in institutions because our institutions are failing to deliver what was promised. Trump is a symptom not the cause.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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NeoNote — The process or the Republic?

I'm so very tired of progressive "elites" and reporters focusing on the "dirty tricks" of Republicans all while excusing the excesses of their own side.

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Discrimination

I am not saying that discrimination because of gender, skin color, creed, or sexuality is right. I AM saying that government seeking to control discrimination is more wrong than the discrimination itself.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Compulsion by law

Under what circumstances does the state or the people have the moral authority to compel someone to act against their beliefs?

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NeoNote — Legacy of privilege

At the same time, the privilege of being a protected class is regularly exploited to excuse behavior and escape responsibility.

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NeoNote — “Not all …”

If you wish to ban me, it is your site and your choice.

I'm also the one who says "not all men" when I am told in uncertain terms that America is a rape society. And I am the one who says "not all Christians" when I am told that "religious freedom" is a code word for dominionism. And I am the guy who politely and upfront told you and your readers I am a trouble maker, even if it is in the cause of truth and liberty.

Mr. McCain, you and I have had some epic disagreements. We've also had some epic agreements. If you checked, you would see that I seldom disagree with you about the individuals you single out. I just disagree with attacking a label and a class of people.

So, I hope I can stay around. I will not stop saying "not all …" when I think it applies. And now, I have at least one more comment to answer before I am banished.



Maybe it's because my experience with feminism didn't start with loud People Who Want To Be Noticed and write books.

Maybe it's because when I had my first direct experience of the Divine, She was just a mite put out that it had taken me so long to notice. I still look for the Divine in every woman I meet. I don't always find it but I always look.

Maybe it's because I knew my first strong woman from before I was born. When her contemporaries were out protesting, she was busy making her part of the World just a little better. All while not claiming the feminist label or accepting anything less than the respect she had earned.

Maybe it's because I learned early on that while words matter, actions matter more and intentions don't.

And maybe I am just too damn stubborn.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Right to refuse

rHBQXsABjkGPB4c3zNgs6O0MSyItN7V2PVbLlWduO1U
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NeoNote — Tit for tat

The only reason to follow the rules is if the other does too. If they don't follow the rules, you aren't bound to the rules.

Tit for tat.

You play by civilized rules until the individual doesn't. Then you crush them.

Not the group they belong to, the individual. You refuse to treat the label as the enemy. That prevents them from retreating into the safety of the group identity, and it delegitimizes the moral claims of that group. It also demonstrates that rules work only if everyone follows them. And when someone doesn't follow the rules, then they don't have the protection of the rules.

I might have had some small experience fighting this type of battle.

ETA: Oh, it also makes someone who believes in collective identity for the greater good feel very exposed when they can't retreat. Very exposed.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Catallaxy

Recent centuries have given us a new paradigm of how cooperation creates civilization-a paradigm other than control from on high. Civilization rises from the grassroots. It arises through the uncoordinated and voluntary association of individuals and groups. It comes from catallaxy, which is sometimes called “catallactics.” The concept was a long-sought-after intellectual breakthrough that allowed free-market advocates to explain the evolution of society without a central authority.
     — Wendy McElroy, Crypto and the Impossibility of Knowledge in Planning

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Exposing a crime

“When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are ruled by criminals.”

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Pretend selectively

I've been telling politicos for years that they've been stupid about immigration. The Democrats want to pretend that the law doesn't exist and the Republicans want to use it selectively.

A nation should protect it's borders. No one has a "right" to immigrate. That being said, the whole idea of so many allowed from this country and none allowed from that country is idiotic.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Control

So some religions should get protection and others should not? Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that if we start making those distinctions we've just sacrificed religious freedom.


There are times I want to discriminate.

There are people I do not want to have anything to do with. Yes, sometimes those people are Christian fundamentalists. But sometimes those people call for imprisoning climate deniers. Sometimes those people call for the redistribution of wealth. Sometimes those people call for the suppression of ideas they are "triggered" by. Sometimes those people want others removed from history because of things the others have been accused of.

So tell me, why should any of those people get their way?

We draw the line for a reason. No, it's not perfect and not everyone will be happy. But it comes down to parity. If I don't think someone has legitimate power to tell me how to think, what to say, or how to act, then I have no legitimate power to tell them how to think, what to say, or how to act. Which means that public accommodation and anti-discrimination laws are so much bunk.

Otherwise we're just raising one victimhood over another. Last week it was women, this week it is transgenders we're "protecting." Can't have equal rights because Black Lives Matter. If your faith offends, you aren't allowed. At that point, at this point, the only "solution" is to control the law so that you can control what is "allowed." Never mind that just sets up a future where you will lose control. You must be free, but the Other is not allowed.


Everyone should have freedom to discriminate.

The moment that the law declares this group of people off limits is the moment when you invite the law to be abused.

Look at the bill that sparked the original article. It's a "fix" of another law, which was a fix of a previous law, and so on.

The solution to government is always more government. And the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results.

If Christians are wrong to enshrine their beliefs in the law, then anyone else is wrong trying to constrain them with the law.

The only practical solution is making sure the law gives no advantage. "Protecting" one group over others is just going to perpetuate the injustice.



As far as the rest, I don't blame labels. There's no vice or virtue in the label. "Christian" includes Roy Moore and MLK. It's not every Christian and we should stop declaring that Christianity is a threat to our chosen way of life. Like it or not, American religious pluralism made American paganism possible.

As far as scapegoats go, well, you (among others) are blaming Christians because they are Christians and not because of what the individual has done.

My point all along this thread is that the law should not benefit or harm any religion. There are some very vocal Christians who want the law to shield Christianity. There are some very vocal people who want the law to contain Christianity. Both groups are wrong.



Actually yes.

Starting with a big one. I'll repeat it for you.

If Christians are wrong to enshrine their beliefs in the law, then anyone else is wrong trying to constrain them with the law.

Freedom of religion is exactly that. Neither help nor hinder. You can't fix bad law by making more law. You can only repeal it. Politics is about control. Freedom is about choice.


Ah, but that isn't what people like Bill Nye, Lawrence Torcello, Mark Hertsgaard, and Brad Johnson said. They all said that the mere act of climate change denial should be a crime.

Behold the new heresy. You are not allowed to dissent.

And yes, that is every bit as authoritarian as anything any Christian fanatic demanded.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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“Logan’s General Order No. 11”

“Logan’s General Order No. 11”

HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
General Orders No.11,
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868

1. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, “of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion.” What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.

If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.

Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from hishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude, the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.

2. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.

3. Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective.

By order of

JOHN A. LOGAN,
Commander-in-Chief

N.P. CHIPMAN,
Adjutant General

Official:
WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.
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Honest dissent

Honest dissent doesn't need outside funding.
     — NeoWayland
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If passion rules you

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.
     — Benjamin Franklin
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NeoNote — effectiveness of public schools

We're so conditioned to accept public schools as a Good Thing™ that we resist looking at options.

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“Protect the institutions'”

More DOJ norms being eroded. Trump-a SUBJECT of the investigation-wants access to material related to the inquiry. His Congressional supporters want evidence connected to an ongoing investigation. Time for DOJ/FBI to simply say no-protect the institutions and time tested norms."
     — Eric Holder tweet reported at Holder urges DOJ/FBI to unconstitutionally defy President: 'Protect the institutions'

Federal agencies and Federal agents serve at the pleasure of the President and Congress. That is directly from the Constitution. No institution may trump the Constitution. Democrats wouldn't stand for it if it were happening to a Democrat president or a Democrat Congress. There's more than a little hypocrisy here.

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NeoNote — Manifest your faith

You do realize that if "the Bible is all one piece," you can't pick and choose bits and pieces to quote, don't you? If you eat all your veggies and are especially nice, I won't demand that you start following all those bits in Numbers and Leviticus. We won't talk about the deleted texts now.

How do you suppose those disciples did it? They had to work without a New Testament.


So, only the True Believers® are allowed to quote the Bible as they choose because they are special.

I told you before, that says more about your faith than it does my arguments.

It's not enough that I be a good person, I must supplicate myself before the altar of your dogma and beg forgiveness.

Not going to happen, My gods gave me a pass. They also told me what was up.

It's not your god who demands those things. It's certain pesky humans who claim to speak in his name.



All this fixation on the Bible is missing the forest for the trees.

Your scripture isn't nearly as important as how you manifest it.

I don't care about your god. I do care about the people around me. I'd rather not fight a religious war, but I can fight to defend me and mine.

The way I see it, it's better if we humans at least talk to each other. Maybe argue and wave fingers in each others faces.

You have your god, I have mine. For all we know they may go out together for beer and wine every seventh year. So let's honor the gods and treat each other decently.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

NeoNote — Religion in public schools

One reason why the public school movement gained so much ground in America was in direct response to Catholic schools. Control over what should be taught in public schools is a distraction.

Hardly anyone asks if there should be public schools in the first place.

Mandatory school attendance is backed by the force of law. Much of it has degenerated into who gets to control the conditioning. Which raises some interesting questions. The Daily Caller reports that the Mountain Ridge Middle School in West Virginia requires students to write out the Shahada to practice calligraphy. There are no requirements to write out Christian or Jewish affirmations, and apparently those are not part of the curriculum. Obviously Buddhist and pagan beliefs aren't included either.

Why is this a big deal and a much bigger deal than is being reported? According to Islam, reciting the Shahada makes one Muslim forevermore.

I want to stress that the issue is not Christianity, Islam, or any other faith. The issue is public schools requiring faith lessons. If public schools force religion on the students, then most likely they are teaching other questionable propaganda as well. We notice the religion because as members of minority faiths that is one thing our antenna are tuned for, we overlook the other.

All of this returns to the question why have public and compulsory schools to begin with?
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

NeoNote — More on Jordan Peterson

There's at least one blogger who says that Jordan Peterson's advice is banal and obvious. I haven't been able to get through Peterson's book, but I think Greenfield (the blogger) has a point. We need more men acting like men do, especially with kids and VERY ESPECIALLY with boys. I still worry about the American inner cities, where the Federal government in their Official Incompetence decided that families could work without fathers.



Scott Greenfield, different blogger. I think I got the article link from Claire Wolfe.

Honestly there are many libertarians and a fair number of conservatives who just don't get why Jordan Peterson is such a big deal. It's like "yeah, we knew that, it's obvious."



There's a lot to be said for standing up for what you believe.



See, I think it's way too early to compare him to Rush. I also think it's giving Peterson too much credit.

I haven't gotten through his book yet, so maybe there's something there I haven't seen.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

Banal

For the most part, Peterson’s advice is banal. Not wrong, necessarily, but banal. And as a result, he’s gained a significant and loyal following. On the one hand, it’s good that someone is telling young men to grow up, put away their childish toys and do big boy things like make their bed. I have no particularly issue with Jordan Peterson’s advice here. And as the insipid will respond if you question anything about Peterson’s fans, why undermine someone giving young men positive advice?
     — Scott Greenfield, Where Did All The Dads Go?

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No one asked

There were so many patting themselves on the back and proud that a black man had been elected President that no one bothered to ask if a good man had been elected President.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — reserve currency

As far as the world's reserve currency, as a whole that's a bad idea. I doubt that Trump sees that, but competition is good. This is one instance where he is doing the right thing by accident.



Yes, Trump is contributing to the debt, but so has every national politico since the "reform" of 1974. The continuing resolutions instead of actual budgets and the exploding bureaucracy are creating greater problems than Trump did. Both also predate Trump's election.

Meanwhile, that has nothing to do with the (BAD) idea of a single reserve currency or fractional banking. Both of which by their very existence distort the free market and introduce instability. But that is another topic or six.



The aging population is a problem because a) government promised that it could provide better, more reliable retirement income than the private sector, b) government mandated contributions, thereby reinforcing the idea that Government Knew Best when it came to retirement and driving out many private sector alternatives, c) government mismanaged the funds it collected, and finally the REALLY Big One, government borrowed against those funds without payback.

A good smartphone can get up to the minute currency exchange information, along with futures markets, stock markets, index funds, and football pools. Understand this, the only "practical" reason for a single reserve currency is so the government producing the currency can control the economy.

None of which has anything to do with the Korean negotiations of the impact of Chinese trading.

ETA: I should warn you, some libertarians spend a lot of time studying economics.



When people are told that they will be taken care of because it is their right, they stop paying attention to the numbers. That's true with pensions, Social Security, health care, public schools, roads, the post office, and clean water. I call it Somebody Else's Problem after a fictional FTL drive introduced by the late Douglas Adams. On the other hand, if they have to take responsibility, they pay closer attention. Just as one example, why should there be a mandatory retirement age? Just as interesting now that you brought it up, the current interest on savings accounts is artificially low because of government currency manipulation. It doesn't even beat the rate of inflation. Basically if you put money in a bank, you're losing money.

I'm not saying that the U.S. didn't benefit when the dollar was unquestionably the single reserve currency. That tends to happen with monopolies. I'm saying that competition and the free market can do better, with less government control and more choice and more benefits for people.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

Multiculturalism

What 'multiculturalism' boils down to is that you can praise any culture in the world except Western culture—and you cannot blame any culture in the world except Western culture.
     — Thomas Sowell

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Make a business

There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.
     — Booker T. Washington

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Certain class

You have to look outside your preconceptions and expectations for the things you can't explain.

Read More...
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Process over goals

I think that is the problem behind Washington's "politics as usual" and what passes as "globalism." It's process over goals. Spending money and gathering attention is more important than measurable results.
     — NeoWayland
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Neurotic world-view

Second-wave feminism went off the track when it started to demonize men and blame them for all the evils in human history. It’s a neurotic world-view that was formulated in too many cases by women (including Gloria Steinem and Kate Millett) with troubled childhoods in unstable homes. First-wave feminism, in contrast, focused on systemic social problems that kept women in secondary or dependent status.
     — Camille Paglia, Prominent Democratic Feminist Camille Paglia Says Hillary Clinton ‘Exploits Feminism’

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NeoNote — Women's studies

Okay, seriously though, and this relates to one of my long standing criticisms of women's studies (and any number of gender studies, skin color studies, etc.)

If these various fields of study have any worth at all, they have to acknowledge that they are only part of the picture. Limiting your studies to one subgroup is going to limit your understanding. Especially if you dismiss without question other subgroups. It's the difference between rigorous study and fantasyland. It's why the theoretical has to cross over with the practical. It's not enough to say how things should work, you have to examine how things actually work together. You have to look outside your preconceptions and expectations for the things you can't explain. Otherwise you never leave the echo chamber.

Or, women's studies without human studies is sh*t.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
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NeoNote — What has Trump done that is so bad?

I'm not a Trump fan. I don't trust him and I don't like him.

That being said, when some of us said we didn't like Obama, we were told to sit down and shut up. Obama won, and it was his ball game.

That alone should raise people's hackles.

Right after Trump was elected, there was the woman's march thing. I asked a very progressive group just what was it that Trump had said or done that presented such a threat to women in particular. The only real answer I got was something about woman's reproductive rights. That's when I pointed out that Trump supported Planned Parenthood.

One year later, the same group was talking about supporting the next woman's march. I asked what Trump had done in the previous year that was a particular threat to women. I got something vague about the judges he appointed. I asked how that was different than a liberal President appointing liberal judges.

The complaints about Trump not being legitimately elected are mostly recycled from Bush the Younger. The complaints about Trump being a danger to world peace and being totally incompetent are being recycled from Goldwater and Reagan. I know, I went back and checked. Progressive will complain about Trump tweeting from the toilet, but they can't tell you what he has done that they find repulsive. Except judicial appointments, of course.

We've reached the point where we're told that Trump is E-V-I-L, but they can't say why. And meanwhile with overwhelming bad news coverage, he still has an approval rating of more than 50%.

I don't like him. I don't trust him. I think he is going to make some very bad decisions that will be very bad for the country. But meanwhile, he's screwing up the established government traditions and driving the technocrats crazy. He's disrupting things that need to be disrupted. He's changing government. I have to give the man credit for that.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Practical philosophy

You know, in this day and age the term philosopher is disparaged. There are a bunch of academics debating the works of people long dead, trying to stretch writings and sayings to fit their own worldview. They argue over punctuation and the implication of what was not said in which edition. Most of the people called philosophers today are little better than research librarians. They don't think about the practical application, you see.
     — NeoWayland
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Permission


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Your life

You take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.
     — Erica Jong
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NeoNote — Trump & North Korea

I'm not totally convinced that North Korea has anything left to work with. Something happened to that mountain. Most likely it's because of NK's own testing. Now they have the Chinese looking over their shoulder saying "Don't put radioactive stuff over our country!" Meanwhile, the NK leadership doesn't know how to deal with Trump and is looking for help where ever it can find it.

This isn't business as usual. It never is with Trump. The old diplomatic games won't work. He doesn't care about the shape of the table. Trump cares about getting things done.

ETA: Pardon, that was the wrong China article link. Here's the correct one.



Obviously I disagree.

I will say two more things. The people saying that Trump is going to bungle this are many of the same people who said the conference would never happen, that Trump couldn't bring the North Koreans to the table, that answering threats with threats couldn't possibly work, and most importantly, that Trump would never win the Presidency.

And I think it's too early to say how the table is set.



I think you are seriously underestimating Trump.

But more importantly, you are expecting Trump to act like a politician.

North Korea is treading new ground dealing with Trump.



I remind you how many times you have been wrong about Trump on this thread alone. You really should brush up on negotiating, not the diplomatic version but the commercial version.

I'm also amazed by how many are writing off this meeting before it happens. Many of them said there would never be a meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea, and that happened.

Kim Jong Un can't feed his people. After that happens for a while, even tyrants have to shift course.



I didn't say it would go well. I said you have been wrong about Trump. And so have a lot of "experts." Trump does things in his own way and he has accomplished quite a bit.

Quite frankly, the President (ANY President) should make his own decisions and not be bound by what the staff thinks is important. That's part of the institutional climate that needs to change. The staff serves at the pleasure of the President.

And if this were a Democrat President, you would be cheering his courage and independence.



Given that most of the news stories about Trump have been extremely negative, I think it's safe to assume there is a bias there. It's not that the news has been negative, it's been that is how it is written. Many of the "open sources" have long considered it their Duty to deliver the narrative, not the news. Stormy Daniels is a non-story, or rather it's a story in a way that no one wants to report. If she took money at the time to stay quiet (a voluntary act), then what kind of person is she to break her word and contract? And if she is that kind of person, how can she be trusted to tell the truth now?

The point is, the information that is being published about Trump isn't necessarily accurate. Career Washington politicos and lobbyists don't know what he is going to say from day to day, much less what he is going to do. And if they don't know and if the media regularly alters the news to fit the narrative, just how much good do those sources do for the North Koreans?
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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“Why do I have a gun?”


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Inequality


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Skin color


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Frank Zappa on civics


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Memos

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“This is conscious authoritarianism…”

Therein lies danger. Peterson may articulate an end goal of balance, but at the moment he's offering order against chaos, yang against yin. The effort is, by definition, reactionary, counter-revolutionary. But once you place yourself squarely on one side of the pendulum, you'll inevitably exaggerate the collective demerits of the other while indulging in-group excesses. Dogma throughout history has had its freedom-killing flaws, he readily admits, but, well, sometimes people just need to be told what to do. This is conscious authoritarianism, and Peterson is volunteering for the job.

Power corrupts, and relationships alter behavior. "This risk of being changed is one of the most frightening prospects most of us can face," Peterson writes at one point. In setting himself up as rule-maker to an adoring flock and flirting openly with the idea that he is being visited with capital-r Revelation, the professor threatens to become unmoored from the winning pragmatism of his clinical practice. Stepping into an exalted role as avenging angel against a feminine chaos can descend quickly into self-parody.
     — Matt Welch, Jordan Peterson Is Not the Second Coming

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NeoNote — Not a Trump supporter

Trump has many faults, but he is intelligent. At least take the time to do some basic research before throwing out accusations.



You don't make millions of dollars again and again by being an airhead. Even bending and breaking the law, you have to have something on the ball.

Look, I don't like or trust Trump. I don't want to defend him. But only an idiot assumes that just anyone can function for decades in high finance, television, sports, and all the other things that Trump has done. If he didn't have intelligence, he would have been reduced to poverty decades ago. I keep telling people that to understand Trump, you have to realize his strength is negotiating. Nobody thought North Korea was going to come to the negotiating table, but guess what. Trump agreed on camera to everything the Democrat leadership said about immigration, knowing that when they broke their promise he'd be free to act as he wished. That's exactly what happened.

Blazes, the "most intelligent" Democrat minds picked Trump so Hillary would have an easy win, and we know how that worked out. At a fraction of the cost.



Look, I am not a Trump supporter. I think there are some terrifying things happening here, but no one is talking about those!

As long as liberals and anti-Trump people can't be bothered to learn what made him successful, they can't oppose him. And yes, Trump is successful. Before he went after the Republican nomination, some of his biggest critics now were tripping over themselves to kiss his ass. So when I read about how Trump is barely literate or how he owes it all to his daddy's money or how he can't negotiate his way out of a wet paper bag, I know that the person writing doesn't know Trump. And I know that they are still trapped in the old mindset of dealing with uppity Republicans. None of that is going to work on Trump. He's been dealing with bad press for decades. He's taken everything that can be thrown at him for the last two years, including television news that runs 90% anti-Trump, and he still does things while hitting around 50% in the polls.

The "Trump is an idiot" meme played out more than a year ago. The longer you use it, the less people are going to listen. The more you try to make this about Trump instead of his policies, the more ineffective you'll be.

I'm telling you this on the remote chance you'll pay attention. I think Trump does need criticism. But all this "Trump is a buffoon" junk just waters down legitimate concerns. The more you do it, the stronger he'll be. There's already a pretty good chance Republicans will gain seats in 2018, and I think Trump will win in 2020. There's a sharp first rate mind there, and he doesn't care about playing the clown if it gets him what he wants. I know this because it's been what he's done for decades.

Which you would know if you bothered to pay attention instead of sticking your head in the echo chamber.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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NeoNote — John McCain

For the record, I'm from Arizona. I've also actively worked against John McCain's reelection for decades. I was willing to give him a pass until the Keating Five scandal.

Being a prisoner of war doesn't not give license later in life to screw your constituents. John McCain is selfish, as proven by his last stunt. There's almost no chance of his returning to the Senate. So why hasn't he resigned? Why did he even run in 2016?



I don't care if it was talking about George Washington. John McCain is a dishonorable scumbag who is in it only for political advantage. He's cashed in on that POW experience so many times that it ought to have disintegrated by now.

I can't help but wonder if it would have defending John McCain so hard in 2008.



No. I mean running for office when one is pretty sure one will be dead before the term ends.

That should have been incredibly obvious by how I worded it.

Obviously your understanding lacks something. If you are not sure what I mean, ask me and I will explain.

One thing I will explain now is that I am not Republican.

ETA: Speaking of incredibly selfish actions, why is anyone discussing John McCain's funeral and his disagreement with Trump before the man has passed?



But why is McCain's funeral being discussed in the national press? And don't tell me it's because McCain is a National Figure.

It's not anyone's business except the family until after the man has passed.

Unless McCain thought he could get one more bit of of political posturing at Trump's expense out of it.

Like I said, the man is selfish.



I wish I could agree. Unfortunately, the man fancies himself a part-time kingmaker and has done harm to my state.
And. You. Are. Not. Allowed. To. Criticize



Sometimes not even then.

You get lectured on how he is an Institution.

Goldwater was an institution, and earned that status. Funny thing is, he didn't have people around him telling other people how important he was.

I met Goldwater when I was in high school. He makes McCain look like a drunk javelina with a missing back leg.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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“Socialism — Capitalism — Traditionalism”

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Mala prohibita

Bad because it is prohibited. Something is mala prohibita if and only if the state has forbidden it. I would add regulation as well. Driving without a license or insurance, unusual sex, public nudity, profanity, recreational drug use, opening a small business without the "proper" permit, all these are included. The key concept here is "forbidden." Mala prohibita means that the government will impose morality and ethics by force.


It's no secret that I believe most of the problems in American society are because of too much government and mala prohibita laws.
     — NeoWayland, mala prohibita
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Mala in se

Bad in and of itself. Something is mala in se if and only if it threatens or results in measurable damage to life, liberty, and property. Murder, violent attacks, rape, kidnapping, and theft are included. The key concept here is "measurable damage."
     — NeoWayland, mala in se
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“Why The Left HATES Jordan Peterson”

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Fair game

As for secession, no, it's not treason.

Read More...
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Kafkatrap

Kafkatraps are THE keystone of victimhood politics and most identity politics. Without someone recognizing or assuming blame, kafkatraps cease to work.

Kafkatrapping centers on guilt. Don't accept it. Don't reject it. Act as if the accusation is so silly and undeserved it's not even worth discussing. They will repeat, and you still shouldn't pay any attention to the claims. Go on as if the accuser had said nothing of importance. Indeed, go on as if you are trying to keep them from embarrassing themselves further. You're doing them a favor if only they were rational/sober enough to know it.

Kafkatrapping came by way of certain Christian denominations and mala prohibita laws. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
     — NeoWayland, kafkatrap
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“Control the Words, Control the Culture”

When government is "responsible" for something, regular people stop paying attention.

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NeoNote — California secession and the U.S. Constitution

“Delusions of Justice”

Read More...
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Obliged

So if elected officials no longer honor the Constitution and rig the game so it isn't possible to elect anyone not approved by national party leadership, what obligations do citizens have to honor and respect the government?
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Government should not be trusted

When government is "responsible" for something, regular people stop paying attention.

Read More...
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Left wing anti-Semitism

“Delusions of Justice”

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“MN Blows Billions!”

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25 years after Waco

Bitter lessons 25 years after Waco, Texas, siege

Fifty-one days before the FBI final assault, scores of federal Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents launched an attack on the Davidians’ home spurred by allegations that they had converted semi-automatic rifles to full-automatic capacity. The ATF’s lead investigator had previously rejected an offer to peacefully search the Davidians’ home for firearms violations. Four ATF agents and six Davidians were killed in the fracas on February 28, 1993. At least one ATF agent told superiors that the ATF fired first, spurring an immediate end to the official shooting review. But the media trumpeted the ATF storyline that its agents had been ambushed, entitling the feds to be far more aggressive in the following weeks.

What lessons can today’s Americans draw from the FBI showdown on the Texas plains a quarter century ago?
     — James Bovard
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NeoNote — Not defense

I just want to point out that American "defense" policy involves military action against nations when Congress hasn't declared war.



Even Trump complained when Obama launched military actions without Congressional approval.

You tell me. Should we change the Constitution so the President can attack any other nation on his authority alone? Or should we insist Congress does it's job?

Is this about America, right or wrong?

Or is it about liberty?



How about multiple missile attacks?



And is it right to launch missiles into other nations? You've said that eight months is sufficient. Is four months? Is four weeks? Is four days?



Is it right for other nations to launch missiles into our country?

After all, we have a proven record of meddling in the governments of other nations.



So you are saying that the U.S. has the unique power to fire missiles into other countries.

So much for freedom.



Obviously there is.

And it's even covered by that top ten list of yours.



At the very least, I think using a missile against innocents qualifies as murder.rob



Too late.

I do have a solution for the opium fields. But it doesn't involve armies. It would be a lot more effective though.



13843a0ce5d79577f49445c87bded26a797c00dbe3fc34163efc10746d450733


Oh?

There are an awful lot of people who got shot at who would disagree with you.

ETA: Not to mention all those overseas military bases.



You're arguing over definitions and a matter of degree.



Might doesn't make right. I've told you that before.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something. Or that you are justified in doing it.



Justified?

And if we're wrong, does that make us weak? Or just a bully that no one wants to face?



There is a century old story that I tell sometimes. Back during the Russian revolution, President Wilson sent American troops to intervene. The "mission" was murky at best, which led to failed promises and out-and-out lies. Wilson did this without Congressional authorization, we weren't at war with Russia.

Fast forward a couple of decades. Some of the Soviet General Staff had faced American soldiers in the trenches. They knew exactly what American words were worth.

And after WWII, that shaped the Cold War.

All because an American President took it on himself to intervene in a revolution without Congressional authority.



Don't get mad at me. It's right there in the Constitution. And if Congress hasn't declared war, then why are American troops fighting?

Considering who has been President, do you really want no checks and balances when it comes to war?



So why do we have troops fighting when war has not been declared?



Politicos have sacrificed the nation's honor and the lives of American troops for what?

Why do we have troops fighting when war has not been declared?
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Clinton lied

Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is.
     — Barbara Bush
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“The Militarization of Police: When Tyranny Comes Home”

“Since the end of the Cold War, SWAT teams have proliferated across the United States and the number of no-knock raids on private citizens has risen dramatically. Abby Hall and Chris Coyne explain that this is the result of the boomerang effect– the process by which, in the absence of strong formal constraints, tactics used in foreign interventions abroad are later used to limit the liberties of people back home.”

Read More...
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Better government

We've not had a "better" government in decades. Good government is not measured by how much government controls, but by how much it doesn't. It's no accident that America's greatest advances come from places that government doesn't regulate.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Economics and Trump

One flawed legacy of Keynesian economics is that government can control individual action by government. Taxes and budgeting are not the same thing and shouldn't be treated as such. Taxes on the revenue side of the ledger are calculated in terms of their cost (expense side of the ledger) to government. This is probably the most fucked up part of modern government accounting. It's not about how much money government has, it's about how much money government takes from people. Money is power and choice, the more government takes the less people have. Government can't create value, it can only divert it.

There hasn't been a real government budget in years. What there has been is a series of continuing resolutions, essentially a short term agreement to spend at least the same amount as before unless specifically changed by Congress. There hasn't been a balanced budget in even longer. There's no cost to Congresscritters for not passing a balanced budget. If it were up to me, I'd say that Congress and it's staff only gets paid in years that a budget is passed and the budget is balanced. In years that the budget isn’t balanced, a Congresscritter should pay it’s salary to the government with interest.

In the case of the tax cut, the original CBO scoring said that the cost to government would not be offset by the revenue it generated. The new CBO report says that the cost to government was offset. Since people like having more money, Trump's popularity went up. People don’t care about the deficit. People do care about money in their pocket.

I’m not “you guys.” I’m not cheering for massive deficits (which happen with Democrat presidents too). I specifically said that he gave the economy a (mythical) boot into growth and that the tax cuts have paid for themselves and boosted his popularity. This is not the action of a drooling idiot. It’s not smart enough and it’s only short term, but it makes Trump look good and gives people more power today.

What I am doing is pointing out that Trump plays the populist better than any recent president, possibly any President since Jackson. The reason he can do this is because government has become more and more oppressive, no matter what party is “in control.”
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

NeoNote — Obamacare

Okay, let's talk about the ACA, a law so "good" that nobody was allowed to read it before Congress passed it. A law so well written that it had to be illegally modified by executive order again and again just to work. A law that was supposed to pay for itself, but was so dependent on government subsidies that states had to withdraw just so their citizens could have health insurance. A law deliberately designed to reduce the number of health insurance companies and choices available to consumers. That last bit and raising prices is the only thing that the ACA has accomplished.

The only reason government is involved in healthcare to begin with is because government enforced salary caps and companies had to offer something more to recruit and keep employees. Every part of healthcare that government has been involved with, costs have outpaced inflation, availability never meets demand, and innovation has been stifled.

If this is Obama's legacy, it has resulted in less medical care at a higher price and almost impossible to use. But it looks good.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Income taxes

Income taxes are the fine one pays for the crime of being useful and productive.
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Never forgive

Europe will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz.
     — Zvi Rex
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Being libertarian

Being libertarian is like being the only sober person in the car and no one will let you drive.
     — anonymous
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“Let's talk about gun control”

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Platinum Rule

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst and meanwhile, do everything you can to make things better.
     — Jim O'Neil
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“The Left's War on Science”

“City Journal contributing editor John Tierney joins John Stossel to talk about the politicization of science and how the dominance of left-wing thinkers in academia and the scientific community impedes progress.”

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Personal

Faith is a personal choice. It has to be, or it has no meaning.
     — NeoWayland
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This just in

The same government that has repeatedly violated privacy laws and illegally collects data from all it's citizens, is lecturing the CEO of a company about violating privacy laws and collecting data from all their users.
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“Stossel: The Great American Tax Ripoff”

“Tax Day gets a lot of attention, but John Stossel says that attention is misleading, because the April 17th deadline is only for income tax. That's just a fraction of the taxes Americans pay.”

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Sum up

“Mueller Investigating Trump Over $150K Donation From Ukrainian Who Gave Clintons $13 Million”

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Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“Why Isn't There a Palestinian State?”

“Why don't the Palestinians have their own country? Is it the fault of Israel? Of the Palestinians? Of both parties? David Brog, Executive Director of the Maccabee Task Force, shares the surprising answers.”

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Friday supersized roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Thursday roundup

Scientists say the dream of unlimited clean energy is about to come true

At this point this is a well informed guess, but it could be huge. The ramifications of shifting from a petroleum based economy to a fusion one is unprecedented. Also, I want helium airships the size of stadiums.

John Bolton’s History of Tirades and Dirty Tricks

Realist or loose cannon?

Young Anti-Gun Demagogues Copy Their Elders

The stakes can't be higher. I think it's going to backfire. Pun intended.

Report: FBI Officials Dragged Feet Breaking into Terrorist's Phone to Try to Force Apple to Weaken Encryption

Another sign of a runaway bureaucracy.

Rep. Thomas Massie: 'Anybody That Voted for the Omnibus Committed an Appalling Act'

There's a problem when no one is allowed to ask questions before the bill is signed into law

NYT Tries To Trip Up Roseanne Barr On Trump Support, Fails

Think about this. The Paper Of Record went after Rosanne Barr for a political opinion and flubbed it

Stormy Daniels Lawyer Michael Avenatti Says She ‘Would Consider’ Settlement With Trump

This means she knows she flubbed it, regardless or what happened.

Facebook Is Deeply Enmeshed In Education Data Mining And It’s Probably Affecting YOUR Children

It's not going to stop there. Facebook is a data mining company. Count on any "regulation" of FB to protect the data mining, even in the classroom.

The Anti-Gun Movement’s Use of Child Crusaders Debases National Discourse

They use children so their opponents won't tell the kids to shut up and let the adults speak.

Privileged Whites Leave Inner-City Minorities Defenseless With Gun Control Push

“As the privileged white community of Parkland, FL spreads its message of universal disarmament following a high school shooting, the voices of inner-city communities are not being heard as the debate continues.”

Hemp Farming Bill Hits US Senate Next Week With Powerful Bipartisan Support

Hemp used to be the industrial fiber

Why Are States So Strapped for Cash? There Are Two Big Reasons

“The proportion of state and local tax revenues dedicated to Medicaid and public pensions is the highest since the 1960s”

name redacted trial: Pulse gunman's father revealed as FBI informant, but judge won't dismiss case

I am really beginning to wonder just what is going on at the FBI

15 Years of War: To Whose Benefit?

Yes, it's been fifteen years. Is the nation safer?

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NeoNote — What are the freedoms you feel are restricted?

The ability to earn, keep, and move money without government monitoring or control.

The ability to travel without being searched and having my belongings seized.

The ability to practice my faith and others as I choose without harassment, including celebrating rites and rituals that aren't "mine."

The presumption of innocence if charged with a crime.

Ownership of property without the threat of government seizure.

The ability to speak and write my thoughts and beliefs without prosecution.

There are others, but those are the biggies.



"Yeah, taxes are a bitch. But how do you think you get that massive military and corporate welfare you guys love so much?"

That has nothing to do with Libertarianism or libertarianism.

You keep trying to get me to justify Republican positions of the things that certain conservatives have done. Why should I point out that income taxes by their nature require massive surveillance powers when you just assume that I support a massive military and corporate welfare?

You want specific examples? Fine.

I don't support corporatism, crony capitalism, corporate welfare, or any variant. If a company can't succeed without government help, it doesn't deserve to exist.

The only reason the U.S. "needs" a massive military is because we are actively meddling in the internal affairs of so many other nations. And then we take offense when other nations try to meddle with us.

All but three of the 9-11 terrorists were in direct violation of American law before 9-11. Nearly everything the U.S. has done since is security theater and plain oppression while expanding the police state.

Yes, I have had belongings seized, and none of your business.

No, I can't practice any rite or ritual I choose. Even leaving out the ones I usually practice nekkid, there are so-called liberals who object to any religion. Then there are the conservatives who object to any non-Christian religion, especially if their version of Christianity is not placed above all others. There is a casual assumption of "Judeo-Christian" values in public life that implies that other faiths only exist at the sufferance of "good Christians." There are rituals which by law I am not allowed to participate in, such as the peyote rites of the Native American Church. By law if I am not from a recognized tribe, I am not allowed to possess the feathers of a raptor, even if I found them on the ground. In some jurisdictions, this extends to ravens and crows.

I have "selective" free speech. There are hate speech laws on the books in this country. Universities and political gatherings regularly confine dissenters to "free speech zones." Microsoft just announced that they will be reviewing private accounts to screen for hate speech and "unsuitable content." Twitter regularly deletes conservative and libertarian posters. YouTube either demonetizes or deletes conservative and libertarian content. Lately YouTube has even gone after prepper and gun review videos. The only way to get around this is to own your own domain and pay for a hosting service, but that is no guarantee.

I want a world with less government than absolutely necessary. If I wanted a world where nothing bad happened, I would want more government to protect me. Of course more government couldn't protect me, but that is another topic.

Drug laws came from progressives, just as Prohibition did.

I'm not a conservative. Quit lumping me in with them. I don't believe in warrantless searches, period.

I was born on the Navajo reservation. I grew up in Arizona and I still live here. I've witnessed oppression. And yes, I've lived through it too. But I am not doing this for "poor little me" or because I want people to acknowledge my victimhood. It's not me that is important.

I'm doing this because there is a right and a wrong and the difference is not hard to find. I'm doing this because we're measured in the lives we touch. I'm doing this because we're here to make the World a little better than how we found it.

So quit trying to make it worse because a "white" did something to a "black." Quit trying to make the Democrats heroes because they care for the "little guy" even as they work to keep them victims. Quit slapping labels on people to excuse their bad behavior.

I'm human. You're human. That person over there is human. Don't judge by the labels. Words matter. Actions matter more. Intentions don't.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Privileges above its principles

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
     — Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lived 14Oct1890 to 28Mar1969
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NeoNote — Government is not your friend

I never expected Trump to do anything except disrupt.

Pardon, but you're making the same mistake they did. You think that if the right person was in charge, everything would be okay.

Government is not your friend.



We will have a government regardless - until we replace it. The replacement may or may not work as well, it may or may not get better, but the ability to replace is inherent in the promise of America.

We've not had a "better" government in decades. Good government is not measured by how much government controls, but by how much it doesn't. It's no accident that America's greatest advances come from places that government doesn't regulate.

Sometimes (and more times than we'd like to admit), the best way to fix something is to replace it. Sometimes the only way to replace something is to destroy it. It works that way with food, clothing, houses. It works that way with cars, companies, and marriages. And yes, sometimes it works that way with government.



There is some opinion that NASA exists to keep other (and particularly American private interests) out of space. There a fair-to-middling novel Kings of the High Frontier, that explores that. I'm rereading it right now.

We understood the principles behind the internet years before. AT&T had adopted some of them years before to keep long-distance phone calls from being interrupted. Even after the internet became public, the real driver for bandwidth and video compression was porn. Netflix owes it's existence to horny men looking for naked pictures.

Building roads has always been easy. Maintaining roads is the hard part. There government has failed so much that "infrastructure" is a code word for raising taxes.

My faith is in the free market, not consumer capitalism.

Trump is changing things (and disrupting things), but he's only a small part of what is happening.



First of all, they were poor before Trump was even a candidate. And they weren't helped by Obama's war on the coal industry. If you read the article, state and local authorities had a hand in there too.

I haven't looked at this in depth, but I know there wasn't much of an economic base to begin with. Despite what is claimed, that's not something that any government can create. At a minimum, it requires good ideas and private investment.

Oh, and the jobs vanishing overseas? That's something the Democrats and Republicans share the blame for.



Like Venezuela?

I could give you pages of proof, but long story short, central control distorts the economy. The more pressure focused in one area, the bigger the disruption. On a small enough scale, you may escape second and third order functions. But if you are using a healthy economy to support massive intervention, you are pretty much guaranteeing those second and third order disruptions.

Think of it like tapping a water main without turning down the pressure. It will give way, it will require replacement, and while it is being fixed most of the system will have to be shut down. The only question is when.



I'm not a conservative.

I picked Venezuela because in just a few short years socialism destroyed a robust, expanding, petroleum based economy.

Your other examples aren't exactly socialist either. They are more progressive than the US, but they have not nationalized their means of production. Unlike say, Venezuela.



Have you taken a closer look at the Obama Administration? Cronyism, emotional appeal, basically everything that Trump does except it was (mostly) within the system.

Government is not your friend.



I repeat, have you taken a look at the Obama administration? A good, long, hard, unbiased look? Have you seen how many of his contributors benefited?

Nor is the Obama administration alone.

This is what annoys me. You're all set to blame Trump and the GOP for crimes against humanity all while excusing the crimes and excesses of the Democrats. And you are still calling for more government control.

Now if you really want, we can match abuse of power against abuse of power. I can tell you horror stories about Congresscritters and technocrats. I can show how almost everything you've been told about economics is designed to confuse you and keep you quiet. I can prove that almost everything government tells you is a lie just to convince you that government is necessary and that one flavor of politics is better than the other.



How about I tell you truths instead?

Government is not your friend.

Politics is about control, not truth, not compassion, not liberty, and not funding.

There's no Man on a White Horse riding to the rescue. You shouldn't trust anyone who looks like that because they are cosplaying.

The Republicans and the Democrats are about equally as guilty for the mess we're in. Each will blame the other, then you for not caring enough. Each will want more money and more power.

There's no objective difference between the party on the right and the party on the left. The only difference is who gets screwed now and who gets screwed tomorrow.

Blame Trump. Blame Obama. Blame Smith. It doesn't matter because government is the problem.

Government is not your friend.



Obama didn't reduce the debt. He reduced the deficit. That means the government didn't overspend as much as it had in previous years. Oh, and by the way, they printed more currency to "cover" some of the difference which raised the inflation rate and the interest on the national debt.

Trump didn't nuke North Korea. He responded to provocation, as Presidents at least as far back as Kennedy have done. And by the way, the Norks are willing to negotiate now.

I don't remember seeing anything about Trump going after gay marriage.

Before you defend the ACA, take a look at the costs of healthcare starting when Medicare became law. It's no accident that the costs have exceeded inflation every year since. Thanks to the ACA, dozens of states are scrambling to try to cover healthcare costs. Some are opting out of the program. Legally they aren't supposed to, but there is no way they can cover costs.

I'm not familiar with Golden Valley.

Only Congress can decriminalize marijuana. Since they are exploiting an opioid crisis created by government action, I don't expect them to act soon. Basically when Obama's DoJ stopped enforcing marijuana law, they were breaking the law.

The cities and counties who have the strictest gun laws are the same cities and counties who have the highest rate of gun crimes. Pay specific attention to Chicago and Baltimore. Most of those areas have had Democrat administrations for decades.

"Vote Democrat." Why? So we can fall off the left side instead of the right side?

Government should be smaller than absolutely necessary.



You mean the multinational corporations who pay both sides but mainly the left ones to pass laws and regulations that benefit them and shut out competition?

You mean the alt-right is a bigger threat than unaccountable race hustlers and movements like BLM who focus on events that fit the narrative and exclude things like "black" on "black" crime in the major cites?

You mean like the attacks on Christianity that happen just because someone professes their faith?

And let's not forget all those people who are only too willing to tell "white" people what they can and cannot say, what they can and cannot think, what they can and cannot do, because of "white privilege."

Government is playing all sides (not both sides, all sides) against each other, and the politicos just keep getting taxes and more power.

Like I told you before, if you want to keep the people you distrust from having power over you backed by government force, the only sure way is to drastically reduce government power. That way you can't mess with them and they can't mess with you.



But it is possible.

Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense: “Society is produced by our wants and, government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.”

Milton Friedman wrote: “Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government-- in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.”

James Madison said: "There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."

People are perfectly capable of making their own decisions. Those choices won’t always be ones you agree with. Sometimes those choices will be bad ones with terrible consequences. Still, freedom is based on choice. Without choice, there is no freedom. Without freedom, we aren’t human.

You are perfectly capable of making your own decisions. That is your right, that is what makes you human, and f*ck all to anyone who tells you different.

KYFHO now and forever. The only protection you should get is the certainty that NO ONE ELSE can use government to control you.

But, if you expect that right for yourself, you’d better damn well defend if for others. Even if you don’t like them. Even if you don’t trust them. Especially if you don’t trust them. Otherwise you will lose your choice.

Otherwise you will lose your freedom.

It’s simple. If you want to live free, you can’t meddle in other’s lives.

The second you start meddling is the second you sacrifice your own rights.

“The greater good” is just as big a tyranny as “for you own good.”

You only think it’s fantasy because that is what you’ve been taught by those benefitting from the current power structure.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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NeoNote — Trump racist or Democrat legacy?

We'll start with basics. The game is not what you think it is.

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The Great Secret

You can’t hoard freedom. It’s not really liberty unless you share it.
     — NeoWayland, Lady Liberty
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Statists gonna state

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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Let's solve the problem with…More Government!

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Any unarmed people

Any unarmed people are slaves or subject to slavery at any given moment.
     — Huey P. Newton
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Political Opportunism

Personally I don't think anyone should be displayed in state in the Capital unless 1) They were the President, and 2) They died in office. ANYTHING else is political opportunism.

But that's just me.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

Monday supersized roundup

CDC Admits Rx Opioid Deaths ‘Significantly Inflated’

Imagine that, government lying to create a crisis

House passes controversial legislation giving the US more access to overseas data

Secretly going after your privacy

Ex-Nobel Secretary Admits Obama’s Prize Was A Mistake

It was all for show

Think you know Mary Magdalene? Think again

This could be an amazing film. I hope it finds and American distributer

What Are Zombie Retail Stores Really Worth: Answers Emerge

When the commercial real estate bubble bursts, it's going to hurt

Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner Promised a Criminal Justice Revolution. He’s Exceeding Expectations.

Great news and demonstrating how to do it right

Rivals and consumers will rein in Facebook, not regulation

Don't fall for government's promise. Contrast with It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

Friended: How the Obama Campaign Connected with Young Voters

It was acceptable for Obama, not for Trump

YouTube Suspends Major Gun Manufacturer, Bans Instructional Gun Videos

It is a private platform after all. But what do you think will be off limits tommorrow?

Scott Walker Is Making It Harder to Receive Welfare in Wisconsin. Will This Become a Nationwide Blueprint?

I do not believe government should do welfare.

Jann Wenner says MeToo suffers from absence of due process

He's right

HOGG WILD! David Hogg Rallies Democrats in DC: “If You Listen Real Close You Can Hear the People in Power Shaking” (VIDEO)

This is manufactured.

Reforming Dodd-Frank, for Real

“Rather than adopting a recent Senate bill, Congress should reconsider last year’s House measure, which is much more supportive of free-market discipline.”

Lawsuits Pile Up As #DeleteFacebook Movement Spreads

Facebook is a data-mining company

Rural hospital shutdowns force communities to take care of their own

A real healthcare crisis

The Cambridge Analytica Scandal: An Elitist Delusion

They want to control you, and not just the Republicans

Hillary fundraiser causes a stink with the DNC

Hillary Clinton wants the 2020 nomination

Will the Democrats Blow It in 2020?

“The question is whether the Democrats will lead their party on a giddy march to the left.”

Earth Hour or Human Achievement Hour: Which is the enlightened choice?

I have it on good authority that most of the people reading this are human.

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Gun confiscation

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Truthful answers

What I do know is that sometimes I wander in where I am not wanted and give truthful answers. I'm the pagan that tells Christian conservatives that they don't get to dictate what others worship or how others worship. I'm a male who tells feminists that not all men are guilty. And I'm the libertarian who tells the climate crisis crowd that the climate models don't work.

I appreciate the warning, but I've been troublemaking for a long time. It's one of Coyote's gifts and I'm honor bound not to squander it.
     — NeoWayland
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Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Second Inaugural Address

by Abraham Lincoln

At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it--all sought to avert it. While the inaugeral [sic] address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to dissole [sic] the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether"

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
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Look for the Divine

I look for the Divine in every woman I meet. I don't always find it. Sometimes that's my fault, sometimes not.
     — NeoWayland
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Government WILL abuse power

Government WILL abuse power. The only long term answer is reducing the power that government has.
     — NeoWayland
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Thursday supersized roundup

Survey Says: Politicized Sports, Entertainment Driving Viewers Away

But some progressives have been saying it doesn't make a make a significant difference

Digitalships and Double-Standards



Document drop: Another fatal FBI fumble in Florida

What happens when diversity is more important than public safety

The Schooling of David Hogg

Public spectacle doesn't mean you'll get respect. See also Dear David Hogg, You’re a Lying, Opportunistic, Insufferable Little Toe Rag


California judge holds climate change ‘tutorial’ ahead of landmark case against oil companies

This alone should be enough to show the judge's bias

NOAA Data Tampering Approaching 2.5 Degrees

Completely rewriting climate history

EU reveals a digital tax plan that could penalize Google, Amazon and Facebook

The important thing is NOT that the EU is going after these companies. The important thing is that "traditional businesses" pay 23.2% in taxes.

Why Trump Is Right to Reject the Paris Climate Agreement

It was never about reducing CO2. It was about the United States paying through the nose.

The Problem With Social Justice Today -- Dividing Rather than Unifying

Labels, pronouns, and power over speech.

Trump is right: The special counsel should never have been appointed

I still think the Obama and Clinton Russian connections should be investigated.

Congress Is Still Ignoring Its Spending Problem as Deadline Looms for $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill

“Four out of five voters agree that Washington has a spending problem, but a new omnibus spending bill will add yet more to the national debt.”

Freedom-Loving Parents, Rejoice: Utah Approves Free-Range Kids Bill

Let kids be kids

The sad hysteria of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Targeting conservative people and groups

Elizabeth Warren’s Unaccountable Federal Agency Backfires on Her: New at Reason

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional. All government agencies should answer to Congress.

More California Cities Seek to Defy ‘Sanctuary State’ as Revolt Spreads

This could make the succession movement very interesting

France: Toward Total Submission to Islam, Destruction of Free Speech

All other things being equal, the side that can't stand dissent is usually wrong.

Syrup Smugglers Take on the Maple Mafia

The free market is economic activity between consenting adults. Funny how governments don't like that, "for your own good" of course.

CalPERS retirees are suddenly worried about their pensions. What happened?

Government took too much power and mismanaged the assets

Fired FBI official authorized criminal probe of Sessions, sources say

I'm not even sure this is legal against a sitting Attorney General

FOSTA Passes Senate, Making Prostitution Ads a Federal Crime Against Objections from DOJ and Trafficking Victims

Another headline grab for politicos

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I promise you this

I promise you this, the second after America starts exiling, imprisoning, or permanently disenfranchising people for political opinions, conservatives will be kicked out the same as progressives. That "solution" depends on who controls the politics. What makes you think it will be people you trust who trust you?
     — NeoWayland
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“Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina Talks Big Data at the Milken Institute's 2013 Global Conference”

“In this series of clips from our discussion about Big Data at the 2013 Global Conference, Jim Messina discusses how the Obama campaign effectively used large volumes of data to identify voters. This ultimately lead to a more effective deployment of resources. The discussion provides fascinating insights into the way large data sets can be accumulated and used to change the outcome of an election.”

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Half her humanity

“Jennifer Palmieri: Hillary Ran With 'Half Her Humanity Tied Behind Her Back”

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One weakness of identity politics

This does point out one weakness of identity politics. The label trumps things like ability, character, and fashion sense. It's always going to be about who is first in the victim hierarchy this week. No members of unapproved victim groups need apply.
     — NeoWayland
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See again

“Patients regain sight with stem cell treatment in U.K. clinical trial”

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Some men

And if there can be some men who don't have that opinion, why can't there be others?
     — NeoWayland
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“Welcome To Progressive Utopia”

“A society afraid of free speech is afraid of itself.
Anyone who needs a safe space from other people’s opinions should be in therapy”

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Government action displaces private action

Government action displaces private action. If government does something, it's not because they do it more efficiently or more humanely or whatever the justification is. It's because government uses the law and the implied use of force to keep anyone else from doing it.

We know that choice and the free market work because even a partial free market over time delivers things faster, cheaper, and with a wider distribution. The same can't be said for government
     — NeoWayland
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Wednesday supersized roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“Let Kids Be Kids”

“Lenore Skenazy, President of Let Grow, encourages parents to do what parents have always done: follow basic safety rules, and then let their kids be kids.”

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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“The “Overheated” Costs of Climate Change”

“Oren Cass joins John Stossel to discuss the Paris Climate Agreement and how climate “catastrophists” are harming the debate over ways to adapt to changing global climate. The epithet “climate denier” has been used for years by activists to tastelessly smear critics of the Left’s preferred environmental policies. Cass argues that climate activists have drawn drastic policy implications unwarranted by current climate science.”

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Monday supersized roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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from crux № 14 — honor

Funny thing about the honor culture, it takes generations to "die."

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Bonus Sunday supersized roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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That's dependency

Freedom is not empowerment. Empowerment is what the Serbs have in Bosnia. Anybody can grab a gun and be empowered. It's not entitlement. An entitlement is what people on welfare get, and how free are they? It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights -- the "right" to education, the "right" to food and housing. That's not freedom, that's dependency. Those aren't rights, those are the rations of slavery -- hay and a barn for human cattle. There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.
— P.J. O'Rourke
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When you go down that road

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long.
— Thomas Sowell
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Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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NeoNote — Somebody had to pull the trigger

I am not going to go into gun rights here.

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“The Destructive Male”

This 1868 classic helped lay the groundwork for the 19th Amendment securing women's right to vote

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Fighting for

Human rights are the only rights worth fighting for.
     — NeoWayland
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Sacrificed

Men have sacrificed and crippled themselves physically and emotionally to feed, house, and protect women and children. None of their pain or achievement is registered in feminist rhetoric, which portrays men as oppressive and callous exploiters.
     — Camille Paglia
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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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What's the difference?

An AR 15 verses a Ruger Mini 14

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Is it most men

Pardon, but that gets back to the first question I asked. Is it all men that do these terrible things?

I'll ask another, because it should be asked.

Is it most men that do these terrible things?
     — NeoWayland
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Wednesday roundup

Israeli officials meet Qatari, Saudi and UAE counterparts at White House

With any other president, this would be front page news. North Korea, the Middle East, Russia. So what exactly did Obama do for his Nobel Peace Prize?

Girl Scouts Write Anti-Smoking Legislation in Colorado

“A government for the children, of the children, by the children.”

FBI Insiders Blow Whistle on Massive Las Vegas Cover Up; Agents Told Not to Investigate Key Evidence Including ISIS Terror Link

Not sure this is true, but we still don't know what happened. Somebody is covering stuff up

Hungary “Ready to Fight” United Nations Plan to Facilitate Global Mass Migration

Refugee migration was a total disaster for the EU, even if the elites don't want to admit it

The Federal Government's TIGER Program Splurges on Sidewalks in Rural Florida and Recreational Boat Ramps in Iowa

“It was supposed to be a temporary stimulus program. Instead it's an engine for pork.”

Drunk History: When the Government Banned Female Bartenders

When government meddles, it costs freedom

The World Is Better Than Ever. Why Are We Miserable?

Something to think about

Stores use secret shopper score to track and decline returns

The article tries to sell this a Really Bad Thing, but really it's just the companies acting in self-defense.

REVEALED: Obama Campaign Hired Fusion GPS To Investigate Romney

The same company that the Clinton campaign hired to for the Russia dossier,

Last photographs of Stephen Hawking emerge showing him enjoying a night out in Mayfair as his children pay tribute to the professor's 'brilliance and humour' after he dies peacefully aged 76

What a brilliant man and a remarkable life

3 Questions Congress Should Answer Before Bailing Out Obamacare

I don't think it should be bailed out. The free market would lower costs dramatically

The Meaning of Freedom

“I learned that to be strong wasn’t good enough; you had to use your strength to help those who were unable to help themselves. I learned that it is better to build than to destroy, and violence, even amongst warriors, is always a last resort.”

Socialism Is Not Now, Nor Has It Ever Been, A Friend To Women

Freedom rests in choice and the free market

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“Stossel: The Philly Soda Tax Scam”

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Contraception

I'm really not trying to be difficult here. But I have a hard time seeing how contraception for consensual sex should be on the public dime. How can that be a right when not everyone benefits and taxes are collected by force to pay for it?
     — NeoWayland
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Abortion & contraception

I have mixed feelings on abortion. The one thing I am sure about is that it should not be paid for by government. There are many reasons, but the main one is that it's always easier to spend someone else's money.

Contraception is less complicated. Sex is (or should be) a voluntary act. You choose to have sex. Your neighbors should no more pay for your contraception than they should pay for your designer shoes. This is an example of what I was talking about. If government gives you benefits at the expense of others, it's privilege.
     — NeoWayland
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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Destroy masculinity

Because there is very little honor left in American life, there is a certain built-in tendency to destroy masculinity in American men.
     — Norman Mailer
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Injustices

If you want to tell me about specific injustices done to individuals, that's one thing.

If you want to tell me about generalized injustices against a given class of vaguely defined people, that's something completely different. Especially when that group routinely excludes many people and constantly redefines who is a REAL member.
     — NeoWayland
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Accidentally

Daughter's Single Tweet Accidentally Launches A Business For Her Struggling Dad

Christopher Gonzales, 39, has been facing hard times. The single father of two injured himself on the job last year and has been struggling ever since. The injury at his construction job left him with spinal cord nerve damage which makes it hard for him to physically move around. His only source of income has been a disability check he receives once a month.

Over the past year, Christopher has been trying to find his passion by exploring new hobbies. He enjoyed woodworking in his garage.

He started creating logos of various sports teams.

His daughter, Alexis, saw his amazing work and posted pictures of them on Twitter hoping someone might be interested in buying one.

"So my dad is disabled and is trying to make a little extra money because he makes so little. He makes wood carvings [in] his free time, and he can make them any size, for anything (not just team logos). Even if you don't like them a RT will help spread the word."

Alexis's tweet went unexpectedly viral with over 214,000 retweets!

She woke up the next morning to 7,000 direct messages.
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Monday roundup

We’re Letting Mentally Ill People Walk Around. Do You Like The Results?

The problem is what do you do with the people? And who decides what is mentally ill?

Democrats Are Considering Dropping Superdelegates Altogether

There are reasons I don't like calling the Democrat party the "Democratic" party

A Heretical Plan for Cutting Spending on Education

“Government at all levels fuels an educational arms race through lavish and indiscriminate funding.”

Going to College Is Selfish

“Let's stop pretending education is a public good.”

The Women's March Has a Farrakhan Problem

“The group refuses to be accountable for a high-level alliance with an open anti-Semite.”

The Psychology of Progressive Hostility

Excellently written

There is No "Free Trade"--There Is Only the Darwinian Game of Trade

I don't like it but he has a point

Visa Refuses to Cut Ties with Semi-Automatic Rifle Manufacturers

Good for them

The Campus Victim Cult

“A dialogue about why colleges and universities have become so hostile to freedom of thought”

There Would Have Been No Soviet Communism If Not For Western Technology

Something to consider

Capitalism Has Proven to Be the Best System For Feminism

Feminism could never have existed except in a capitalist system

In 45 days, lawmakers pushed to expand and assert their power here, there and everywhere

Republicans can't be trusted with power either

Freedom of Speech Should Protect All Opinion



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Rape culture

Madam, you don't know what rape culture is!

What's more, you demean the experiences of women and children who do suffer living under rape cultures by comparing yourself and your experiences to them.

You're not helping them, all you are doing is guilting people into giving more privilege.

Please, if you do nothing else, stop exploiting their experiences for your agenda.
     — NeoWayland
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Getting better

The thing is, we're getting better. Americans especially. We're practically hardwired to help. Show us something that we can do something about and we will do it. Not because we're obligated to, not because of some government edict, but because we genuinely want to. Child fallen in a well? We're there, not only with (mostly unofficial) rescuers but with people feeding the family and the rescuers. New Orleans flooded? We're there with fan boats carrying supplies and the most efficient trucking network on the planet bringing in more. Notably the fan boats got turned away because they weren't "official." You should watch for that, it's a repeating pattern.
     — NeoWayland
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What the politicos and historians tell you

You can't trust what the politicos and historians tell you. They each have their separate agendas. They need you to believe the Great Man on a White Horse myth. If ever there was a time when the ordinary person made a profound, undeniable, and fundamental change in society, it was in the 20th Century civil rights movement. It didn't happen in the Capital building. It happened when a woman refused to give up her seat on a bus. It happened when a group of well dressed and well disciplined men faced down a mob and armed police officers. It took place at the Lincoln Memorial in front of a huge crowd. It happened when one man stood in front of a police squad and said "No." Congress and the Federal government had nothing to do with these acts. These actions and thousands more along with the faith of all those people, that's what changed the world.
     — NeoWayland
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“Every High School Principal Should Say This”

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NeoNote — non-citizens voting

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on the internet. As nearly as I can tell from a fast scan, Federal case law says that states are responsible for setting voter qualifications within certain limits. Apparently you can't restrict someone from voting for something like not paying poll taxes, or by requiring them to pass a literacy test.

I'm pretty sure it can't be done by a city, but it looks like it may be possible for a state to create voters.

Gods, that's a huge loophole. It may well be legal to be a voter without being a citizen.



There's a small problem. I've looked over the Constitution, paying special attention to the 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendment.

It looks to me that Congress (and therefore the Federal government) has no power to deny people the power to vote, citizen or not. Congress only has limited powers to prevent the States from denying people the vote.

Which means that most Federal election law is illegal. And the loophole remains. If a state permits non-citizens to vote even it's a Federal election, there's nothing the Congress or the Federal government can do.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Deserve rights

Yes, some humans systematically are denied human rights.

Most of them are not American.

The most successful rights movements in history have not divided people into victims groups. They've said that people deserve rights because they are human.
     — NeoWayland
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Human rights

Depends on what you are calling a right.

Personally I think there are no women's rights, no pagan rights, no Hispanic rights, no men's rights, no black rights, no gay rights.

There are human rights. Human rights are shared by everyone. Anything else is a privilege, taken at the expense of others by force.

I will fight for and support human rights.
     — NeoWayland
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Recently

Never trust an institution because it's an institution, always look at what it has done recently.
     — NeoWayland
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Friday roundup


‘Barbarism’: Texas judge ordered electric shocks to silence man on trial. Conviction thrown out.

Freedom of speech also means freedom not to speak

CIA Still Arguing Its Official Leaks To Journalists Shouldn't Be Subject To FOIA Requests

Codswallop. It's just because they don't want citizens taking a close look at their propaganda

Sanctuary Showdown: The Feds Sue California

Article I Section 8 gives Congress control of immigration. This is not a "states rights" thing, the Tenth Amendment does not apply

Geek Squad's Relationship with FBI Is Cozier Than We Thought

I wonder if Best Buy's customers knew that the FBI was peeking into their computers

Gun crackdowns have already led to too many federal abuses

Government WILL abuse power. The only long term answer is reducing the power that government has.

The Deleterious Effects of Our Tabloid Discourse

It's screwing with our thinking, says the guy typing blurbs for headlines

South Africa Is Prioritizing White Land Confiscation Over Critical Water Supply Needs

So who will be blamed for the drought?

The Ever-Changing ‘Russia Narrative’ Is False Public Manipulation

Taxpayer funded no less

Which Democrat is obstructing confirmation on Trump’s openly-gay nominee for Ambassador to Germany?

So now it's not enough that he is gay and very qualified? So much for looking out for minorities

CNN, MSNBC Journalists Give Trump Glowing Praise for North Korea Move as Obama Flacks Lose It

These were the same journalists who a few months ago were saying that Trump was a clown who was endangering the world.

The Robot Replacement for Fast Food Workers Has Finally Arrived

If it costs less than a salary would and is more reliable, this is the wave of the future

Medicare’s New Day

“The program’s privately managed plans provide quality care while controlling costs—and winning political support.”

These communities sued Big Oil over climate change; then the backlash began

One lawsuit begats others. Irony abounds.

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“Remy: I Like it, I Love it”

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Heard of brave knights

Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.
     — C.S. Lewis
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Bigot

Because I assume that people are amazing unless they prove otherwise.

Because I prefer asking questions to arguing.

Because I'm not defined by my gender.

And because not everyone is a bigot.

As I said, I look for the Divine in every woman I meet. Can you think of a better way to find people who are honorable, passionate and reasoning at the same time?
     — NeoWayland
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People are amazing

I prefer to assume that people are amazing unless they prove otherwise. Individuals may be awesome or terrible, but men as a group aren't guilty because of the behavior of some.

Treating all men as if they are guilty will not only cost you allies, it means that some good men will stop listening just because being called perpetually guilty is tiresome.
     — NeoWayland
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“On the Death of John Brown”

This 1859 classic asks if slavery is too high a price tor the Union

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Thursday roundup

Malthusian Specter Pushed Back Further: Crops Engineered to Use 25 Percent Less Water

Welcome news, especially in less developed parts of the World

Rand Paul, on Trump: ‘I Think He Will Sign Audit the Fed if We Can Get it to Him’

Noble goal, but I am not sure Trump will go along

What Forfeiture Reforms? New Hampshire Police Bypass State Law, Keep Taking People's Stuff

“The Department of Justice's loophole lets officials seize property without having to get a conviction.”

Trump DOJ sues California over 'interference' with immigration enforcement

Tenth Amendment advocate that I am, the states have no power over immigration

Seven House Democrats Have Direct Ties To Notorious Jew-Hater Farrakhan, Republicans Call for Their Resignations

“If seven House members had ties to David Duke, they would be forced to resign in disgrace. This is no different.”

DOJ to give Oversight panel more 'Fast and Furious' documents

This SHOULD years ago

Ryanair Threatens to Ground Flights and ‘Prove’ Brexit Voters Wrong, ‘No More Cheap Holidays’

So why should customers use this airline?

Florida Senate OKs bill for year-round Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Savings Time is unnecessary. A state doesn't need Congressional approval to change. There are some really silly regulations requiring states to go through the Department of Transportation.

Silicon Valley and the ABCs of Diversity

Sometimes diversity isn't the best standard

Ben Carson Nixes ‘Inclusive’ And ‘Discrimination Free’ Clause From HUD Statement

When it conflicts with the job, diversity should take a back seat

Want Boys to Become Men? Teach Them the Classical Virtues

The real answer to "toxic masculinity"

Jerry Brown accuses Jeff Sessions of lying, using California for a ‘political stunt’

Who is breaking the law?

What If We Operated Auto Garages Like We Do Public Schools?

We should rethink things

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PragerU and the Alt-Right


In the interest of fairness, I am linking to a response. Obviously I don't agree with the response or I would feature it here. Here is another response I don't agree with.

First, I don't care about the technicalities or the numbers. Group identity politics are still about group identity. The average conservative is more likely to treat people mostly as individuals than the alt-right.

Second, there is one race and it is human.

Third, I don't care "what the other guy does." If you are raising your particular group above all others, then I'm not interested.

Fourth, you can spot all the Christian rhetoric you want. I'm more interested in how you touch other people. That's how I'm going to judge what is a "true Christian." Even if I am pagan, I've spent time studying Christianity for all it's flaws. Deeds, not words.
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NeoNote — SPLC

No one person and no one group has all the answers. No one group should be vested with THE moral authority to decide who is and is not a hate group.

The SPLC needs competition.

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Parents surprise students

“Parents Surprise Students By Painting The School's Bathrooms With Positive Messages”

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NeoNote — Post WWII

The American extended childhood is a post WWII phenomena. That's also what gave us the Baby Boomers, the less said about the better.

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Wednesday Roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Dolly Parton is a class act

I’m not addressing that. I do not get into that. Of course I have my opinion about everybody and everything. But I learned a long time ago, keep your damn mouth shut if you want to stay in show business. I’m not in politics. I am an entertainer.
     — Dolly Parton
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Open and free

An open and free internet is the last, best hope for humanity. That's why politicos want it regulated.
     — NeoWayland
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Making more women equal

The 2nd Amendment - Making more women equal than the entire feminist movement
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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Raise your children

Raise your son to be a gentleman and your daughter to accept nothing less.
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Super!

“Photographer snaps cancer-stricken kids as superheroes. Pictures take off.”

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Supersized Monday roundup

China Presses Its Internet Censorship Efforts Across the Globe

Will China demand censorship across the globe? A free internet is humanity's last, best hope.

Schumer Will Vote ‘No’ On Judicial Nominee Because He Is White

“The nomination of Marvin Quattlebaum speaks to the overall lack of diversity in President Trump’s selections for the federal judiciary. Quattlebaum replaces not one, but two scuttled Obama nominees who were African American.”

Schools are safer than they were in the 90s, and school shootings are not more common than they used to be, researchers say

There isn't a trend. See also School Shootings Have Declined Dramatically Since The 1990S. Does It Really Make Sense To Militarize Schools?

Google tried censoring 'gun' shopping searches. It backfired

Someone didn't think it through. Well, it was a bad decision anyway, but the unintended consequences…

The History of the 'Assault Weapon' Hoax. Part 1: The Crime that Started it All

“A 1989 shooting at a Cal. schoolyard began the national "assault weapon" issue. It was a consequence of law enforcement failure.”

More cover-up questions

Remember Seth Rich?

SHOCKER: Companies Pulling NRA Support Totally Backfires

People are taking the NRA boycott seriously. Just not the way the virtue signalers hoped.

Obamacare: Will States do the Job that Congressional Republicans Have Failed to Do?

All sorts of implications here

Seven Feet Of Snow In Northern California Puts Screeching Halt To State’s Drought

You mean climate fixes itself?

Why Did It Take Two Weeks To Discover Parkland Students’ Astroturfing?

This needs to be in the gun control (victim disarmament) discussion. Remember this The Parkland Teens Fighting For Gun Control Have The Backing Of These Huge Organizing Groups

High School Teacher Suspended For Pro-Gun Comments On Parkland Shooting

Thou shalt not dissent

How Lenders Are Turning Low-Level Courts Into Dickensian “Debt Collection Mills”

“Federal law outlawed debt prisons in 1833, but lenders, landlords and even gyms and other businesses have found a way to resurrect the Dickensian practice.”

YouTube Purge Begins=> Top Conservative YouTube Sites Taken Down in February Sweep

Thou shalt not dissent OR criticize

Reclaiming “Liberal”

In 1900 America, "liberal" meant what "libertarian" means today

Laura Moser Shakes Off the DCCC

This might be a glimpse of what happens next. See also When DCCC Calls, Hang Up the Phone

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NeoNotes — gun tragedy

I think it's despicable and dishonorable to capitalize on tragedy hours after a mass shooting, but hey, what do I know?

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NeoNotes — news bias and agendas

I reserve the right to tie anyone in semantic knots if I can do it with truth.

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Friday supersized roundup

Florida vote to post 'In God we Trust' in schools prompts a question: Whose God?

Why does government think it can choose someone's religion?

Behind name redacted Rampage: Obama's School-Leniency Policy

Disturbing

Dick’s Sporting Goods Bans Some Rifle Sales…Again

Virtue signaling…again

Google is censoring shopping results for AR-15, handguns and more

Chilling. Do you really want Google deciding what you can see on the 'net?

A rural county legalized marijuana farms. It took their tax money – then voted to ban them

Literally taxes are theft

The IRS Is Coming for Your Passports

This is probably seven types of illegal.

Police Unions Defend Bad Cops Who Do Awful Things. Why Won't They Defend Broward County Deputy?

Follow the money

‘Chappaquiddick’ to Open Film Festival… on Martha’s Vineyard

Beyond surreal

Stop treating the Southern Poverty Law Center like it's a respectable and responsible organization

The SPLC is heavily biased against conservatives, and moderately biased against libertarians

China banned the letter N from the internet after people used it to attack Xi Jinping's plan to rule forever

Why we need a free and open internet

Still More Bad News (For Democrats) About The GOP Tax Cuts

Blacks, Hispanics, and women hit hardest

Koch Brothers Group Launches Ads Against Tax Breaks for Amazon HQ2

Why should any company be shielded from the taxes that other companies pay?

The Parkland Teens Fighting For Gun Control Have The Backing Of These Huge Organizing Groups

Yes, it's BuzzFeed which I don't like using as a source. It's also accurate.

Some Billings students are opposed to planned walk-out

Funny how only one side of the debate is hitting the national media

Facebook Keeps Secret Files on EVERYONE Including Non-Users – Here’s How to See Yours

Exaggerating, but not by much

What Mueller Has and What He’s Missing

There is very little doubt that this was an attempt to derail an elected President

Derry business turning away Republican customers

If the tables were turned, don't you think a business would be shamed into servicing Democrat voters?

Italian Voters Set to Shake European Union to Its Core as Anti Mass Migration and Euroscepticism Dominate Election

What? You mean Brexit was not an isolated event?

Trump the 'Big Second Amendment Person' Becomes 'Trump the Gun Grabber'

“Trump's embrace of gun control is consistent with his views before he ran for president.”

Pittsburgh Still Won't Let Anyone See Its Amazon Bid

There's no reason voters shouldn't know the details

Shocker! Rent Control Makes Housing Scarcer and More Expensive

“San Francisco rent control reduced affected rental housing by 15 percent while boosting citywide rents by 5 percent”

How can a place with 58,000 homeless people continue to function?

Excellent question

What Has Capitalism Ever Done For Us?

Capitalism holds the roots of freedom

'Get on the Right Side of History': A Phrase G.K. Chesterton Would Have Understood

“Telling others to 'get on the right side of history' is not just a form of intellectual bullying.”

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The Wall Speech

Tear Down This Wall

by Ronald Reagan
Chancellor Kohl, Governing Mayor Diepgen, ladies and gentlemen: Twenty-four years ago, President John F. Kennedy visited Berlin, speaking to the people of this city and the world at the City Hall. Well, since then two other presidents have come, each in his turn, to Berlin. And today I, myself, make my second visit to your city.

We come to Berlin, we American presidents, because it's our duty to speak, in this place, of freedom. But I must confess, we're drawn here by other things as well: by the feeling of history in this city, more than 500 years older than our own nation; by the beauty of the Grunewald and the Tiergarten; most of all, by your courage and determination. Perhaps the composer Paul Lincke understood something about American presidents. You see, like so many presidents before me, I come here today because wherever I go, whatever I do: Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin. [I still have a suitcase in Berlin.]

Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and North America. I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the East. To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, a special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me. For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only one Berlin.]

Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe. From the Baltic, south, those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers. Farther south, there may be no visible, no obvious wall. But there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same--still a restriction on the right to travel, still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state. Yet it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly; here, cutting across your city, where the news photo and the television screen have imprinted this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world. Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.

President von Weizsacker has said, "The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed." Today I say: As long as the gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind. Yet I do not come here to lament. For I find in Berlin a message of hope, even in the shadow of this wall, a message of triumph.

In this season of spring in 1945, the people of Berlin emerged from their air-raid shelters to find devastation. Thousands of miles away, the people of the United States reached out to help. And in 1947 Secretary of State--as you've been told--George Marshall announced the creation of what would become known as the Marshall Plan. Speaking precisely 40 years ago this month, he said: "Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos."

In the Reichstag a few moments ago, I saw a display commemorating this 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. I was struck by the sign on a burnt-out, gutted structure that was being rebuilt. I understand that Berliners of my own generation can remember seeing signs like it dotted throughout the western sectors of the city. The sign read simply: "The Marshall Plan is helping here to strengthen the free world." A strong, free world in the West, that dream became real. Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant. Italy, France, Belgium--virtually every nation in Western Europe saw political and economic rebirth; the European Community was founded.

In West Germany and here in Berlin, there took place an economic miracle, the Wirtschaftswunder. Adenauer, Erhard, Reuter, and other leaders understood the practical importance of liberty--that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. The German leaders reduced tariffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes. From 1950 to 1960 alone, the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled.

Where four decades ago there was rubble, today in West Berlin there is the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany--busy office blocks, fine homes and apartments, proud avenues, and the spreading lawns of parkland. Where a city's culture seemed to have been destroyed, today there are two great universities, orchestras and an opera, countless theaters, and museums. Where there was want, today there's abundance--food, clothing, automobiles--the wonderful goods of the Ku'damm. From devastation, from utter ruin, you Berliners have, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on earth. The Soviets may have had other plans. But my friends, there were a few things the Soviets didn't count on--Berliner Herz, Berliner Humor, ja, und Berliner Schnauze. [Berliner heart, Berliner humor, yes, and a Berliner Schnauze.]

In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind--too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.

And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.

Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent-- and I pledge to you my country's efforts to help overcome these burdens. To be sure, we in the West must resist Soviet expansion. So we must maintain defenses of unassailable strength. Yet we seek peace; so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides.

Beginning 10 years ago, the Soviets challenged the Western alliance with a grave new threat, hundreds of new and more deadly SS-20 nuclear missiles, capable of striking every capital in Europe. The Western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter-deployment unless the Soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution; namely, the elimination of such weapons on both sides. For many months, the Soviets refused to bargain in earnestness. As the alliance, in turn, prepared to go forward with its counter-deployment, there were difficult days--days of protests like those during my 1982 visit to this city--and the Soviets later walked away from the table.

But through it all, the alliance held firm. And I invite those who protested then-- I invite those who protest today--to mark this fact: Because we remained strong, the Soviets came back to the table. And because we remained strong, today we have within reach the possibility, not merely of limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.

As I speak, NATO ministers are meeting in Iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons. At the talks in Geneva, we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons. And the Western allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons.

While we pursue these arms reductions, I pledge to you that we will maintain the capacity to deter Soviet aggression at any level at which it might occur. And in cooperation with many of our allies, the United States is pursuing the Strategic Defense Initiative--research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend; on systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them. By these means we seek to increase the safety of Europe and all the world. But we must remember a crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we mistrust each other. And our differences are not about weapons but about liberty. When President Kennedy spoke at the City Hall those 24 years ago, freedom was encircled, Berlin was under siege. And today, despite all the pressures upon this city, Berlin stands secure in its liberty. And freedom itself is transforming the globe.

In the Philippines, in South and Central America, democracy has been given a rebirth. Throughout the Pacific, free markets are working miracle after miracle of economic growth. In the industrialized nations, a technological revolution is taking place--a revolution marked by rapid, dramatic advances in computers and telecommunications.

In Europe, only one nation and those it controls refuse to join the community of freedom. Yet in this age of redoubled economic growth, of information and innovation, the Soviet Union faces a choice: It must make fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete.

Today thus represents a moment of hope. We in the West stand ready to cooperate with the East to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safe, freer world. And surely there is no better place than Berlin, the meeting place of East and West, to make a start. Free people of Berlin: Today, as in the past, the United States stands for the strict observance and full implementation of all parts of the Four Power Agreement of 1971. Let us use this occasion, the 750th anniversary of this city, to usher in a new era, to seek a still fuller, richer life for the Berlin of the future. Together, let us maintain and develop the ties between the Federal Republic and the Western sectors of Berlin, which is permitted by the 1971 agreement.

And I invite Mr. Gorbachev: Let us work to bring the Eastern and Western parts of the city closer together, so that all the inhabitants of all Berlin can enjoy the benefits that come with life in one of the great cities of the world.

To open Berlin still further to all Europe, East and West, let us expand the vital air access to this city, finding ways of making commercial air service to Berlin more convenient, more comfortable, and more economical. We look to the day when West Berlin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in all central Europe.

With our French and British partners, the United States is prepared to help bring international meetings to Berlin. It would be only fitting for Berlin to serve as the site of United Nations meetings, or world conferences on human rights and arms control or other issues that call for international cooperation.

There is no better way to establish hope for the future than to enlighten young minds, and we would be honored to sponsor summer youth exchanges, cultural events, and other programs for young Berliners from the East. Our French and British friends, I'm certain, will do the same. And it's my hope that an authority can be found in East Berlin to sponsor visits from young people of the Western sectors.

One final proposal, one close to my heart: Sport represents a source of enjoyment and ennoblement, and you may have noted that the Republic of Korea--South Korea--has offered to permit certain events of the 1988 Olympics to take place in the North. International sports competitions of all kinds could take place in both parts of this city. And what better way to demonstrate to the world the openness of this city than to offer in some future year to hold the Olympic games here in Berlin, East and West? In these four decades, as I have said, you Berliners have built a great city. You've done so in spite of threats--the Soviet attempts to impose the East-mark, the blockade. Today the city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in the very presence of this wall. What keeps you here? Certainly there's a great deal to be said for your fortitude, for your defiant courage. But I believe there's something deeper, something that involves Berlin's whole look and feel and way of life--not mere sentiment. No one could live long in Berlin without being completely disabused of illusions. Something instead, that has seen the difficulties of life in Berlin but chose to accept them, that continues to build this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence that refuses to release human energies or aspirations. Something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says yes to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom. In a word, I would submit that what keeps you in Berlin is love--love both profound and abiding.

Perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental distinction of all between East and West. The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront. Years ago, before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexander Platz. Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw, treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere--that sphere that towers over all Berlin--the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed.

As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner: "This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality." Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.

And I would like, before I close, to say one word. I have read, and I have been questioned since I've been here about certain demonstrations against my coming. And I would like to say just one thing, and to those who demonstrate so. I wonder if they have ever asked themselves that if they should have the kind of government they apparently seek, no one would ever be able to do what they're doing again.

Thank you and God bless you all.

President Ronald Reagan - June 12, 1987
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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Measure of happiness and well-being

First, there is nothing either intrinsically right or intrinsically wrong about liberty or slavery, democracy or autocracy, freedom of action or complete regimentation. It seems to us, however, that the greatest measure of happiness and of well-being for the greatest number of entities, and therefore the optimum advancement toward whatever sublime Goal it is toward which this cycle of existence is trending in the vast and unknowable Scheme of Things, is to be obtained by securing for each and every individual the greatest amount of mental and physical freedom compatible with the public welfare.
     — E. E. Smith, First Lensman
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Escaped

“Former Slave Escaped To US, Competed In The Olympics Twice, Joins Air Force To Give Back”

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Legal and orderly

In approaching immigration reform, I believe we must enact tough, practical reforms that ensure and promote the legal and orderly entry of immigrants into our country.
     — Senator Barack Obama, Senate floor, 2007
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Better secure

We all agree on the need to better secure the border, and to punish employers who choose to hire illegal immigrants.
     — Senator Barack Obama, 2005
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Success

“Mom Turns $700 into a $65 Million Company After Manufacturer Calls Her ‘a Stupid Woman’”

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Supersized Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Rightly disturbed

All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public services they use impose burdens on our taxpayers.
     — President Bill Clinton, State of the Union address, 1995
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Rebuke

“CPAC speaker Mona Charen stuns with fiery rebuke of Trump, Le Pen”

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Five gun control facts

“5 Facts That Gun Control Advocates Hate”

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NeoNotes — the best tyranny

Once you start using force and the rule of law to go after your "enemies," what's to stop you from going after us next?

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Friday roundup

13 Ways Public Schools Incubate Mental Instability In Kids

The simplest solution is allowing more private schools unbound by most government regulation

Shooting Survivor: CNN Gave Me "Scripted Question" After Denying Question About Armed Guards

There is a political agenda, even if the kids are not crisis actors. See also CNN Scrambles: Denies ‘Scripted Question,’ Invites Pro-Gun Student to Appear

Judge Nap: Order From New Judge in Michael Flynn Case Is 'Unheard-Of

It's looking more and more like Michael Flynn was blackmailed by the special prosecutor's office

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is Unaccountable. Trump’s Budget Tries to Change That.

No governmental agency should be unaccountable.

Wendy McElroy: Privacy Prevents Violence and Crime

This contradicts the government narrative about privacy. That is the biggest reason you should pay close attention. Government is not your friend, especially when it is pretending to be.

Money Laundering Via Author Impersonation on Amazon?

I didn't expect that

Armed School Resource Officer Stayed Safely Outside School While Mass Killing Was Underway

The professional

Competition In Technology Is More Vibrant Than It Looks

It doesn't fit in the normal market segments

Are We Free to Discuss America’s Real Problems?

“It is only when people are confronted with speech they don’t like that we see whether these abstractions are real to them. ”

Police Announce Program to Illegally Stop People for ‘SAFE Driving’ & Facebook Owns Them

“Safe driving is now a reason for police to pull you over, check the inside of your car, demand your papers, and stomp what is left of the 4th Amendment into the ground.”

“Cash Must Not Be Made the Scapegoat”

“In the War on Cash, a rare defense of physical money by an ECB Board Member.”

Mueller Files Sealed New Charges in Manafort, Gates Case

Why does this look more and more like blackmail?

Idaho is ignoring Obamacare rules. That could set off a catastrophic chain reaction.

Using the process against itself

Should Teachers Be Armed?

Sometimes even LewRockwell.com asks the right questions

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Deportation

We will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes, to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace
     — President Bill Clinton, State of the Union address, 1995
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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The Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island

This 1790 exchange helped lay the groundwork for religious freedom.

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Gun control

“Is that what they are saying? Is that right?”

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Chief meaning of freedom

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Thursday roundup

Florida Shooting Survivor Says Media Is Exploiting Shooting to Push an Agenda

Brandon Minoff is a voice of reason. No, not the only one. And no, his opinion isn't necessarily the last word. But ask yourself, why aren't we hearing more from students like him? See also Parkland School is turning into America’s Grenfell Tower

Witnessing the Collapse of the Global Elite

It was always about promises they couldn't keep.

Unrestrained Judgment

Obama put a policy in effect by decree, and the judge claims that Trump can't repeal it by decree

School shooting survivor knocks down 'crisis actor' claim

David Hogg says he is not a crisis actor. See also Houston-area school district threatens to suspend students who protest after Florida shooting

The End of (Artificial) Stability

“The central banks'/states' power to maintain a permanent bull market in stocks and bonds is eroding.”

Officials Identify More Rotherham Victims, Number Up to 1,510

This is why nations must insist that the rule of law applies to everyone. No exceptions.

JOURNALISM! CNN harasses Trump supporter at her home over what she shared on Facebook

Thou shalt not dissent

Donald Trump's Listening Session With Mass Shooting Survivors Was Really Powerful

If this is acknowledged at all, within 24 hours someone will find a reason to dismiss it.

Broward Deputies to Carry Rifles on School Grounds: Sheriff

After the fact and it's only temporary

Cleaning Up Air Pollution May Strengthen Global Warming

Unintended consequences. Maybe.

Parkland shooter always in trouble, never expelled. Could school system have done more?

Not just the school system. 39 visits by police.

South Africa's Brand New President Wants To Confiscate Land From White Farmers

That didn't work so well in Zimbabwe. Bottom line, when government confiscates and redistributes, expect disaster

Dr. Gina Loudon: Do You Trust Federal Bureaucrats to Decide if You’re Sane Enough to Keep Your Second Amendment Rights?

The state is not a moral entity

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Employers must use

I continue to believe that we need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace. And that means a workable mandatory system that employers must use to verify the legality of their workers.
     — Senator Barack Obama, Senate floor, 2007
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Second Amendment

The Second Amendment is about a single mom living in a tough neighborhood with a crack house down the street being able to defend herself and defend her kids.
     — Ted Cruz, Hypocrite Celebs Want Gun Control For Everyone, But Their Bodyguards
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Moral authority

Showing resilience and resolve in the face of horrific adversity deserves the highest praise and attention. Juvenile victim status, however, does not warrant absolute moral authority or the unfettered powers in the political arena that ideologically stunted law professors are so eager to bestow upon them.
     — Michelle Malkin, Do not let the children lead
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Remember

The victims and heroes of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

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Supersized Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Break our laws

If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship and guarantee full access to all public and social services this society provides — and that's a lot of services. Is it any wonder that two-thirds of babies born at taxpayer expense (in) county-run hospitals in Los Angeles are born to illegal alien mothers?
     — Senator Harry Reid, Senate floor, 1993
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Ownership

Admit it, what is worrying you is right and justice; what is worrying you is ownership – not yours, of course, but that of others. You find it difficult to accept that others are free to dispose of their property (the only way to be an owner); you want to dispose of your property . . . and theirs.
     — Frederic Bastiat, “Plunder and the Law”
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Young heroes

“West Point posthumously admits shooting victim Peter Wang to Class of 2025”

“U.S. Army Awards Medal of Heroism to Three Junior ROTC Cadets Killed in Parkland Shooting”

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No, boys aren't broken

Me, I think men protect their own, and stand between innocents and danger. I'm sure there are hundreds of other ways. I just don't buy that manhood is validated by the gender of the people you might sleep with.
     — NeoWayland



“Peter Wang died a 'hero' in Florida shooting, wearing his ROTC uniform. Petition seeks a full honors military funeral”

“JROTC students use Kevlar pads to shield classmates from Florida shooter”

“Hero boy shot five times shielding classmates from Florida school gunman”

“Florida school shooting: Football coach shot, killed while protecting students hailed as hero”

“A heroic geography teacher died protecting his students from the Florida high school shooter”

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“Let Grow Free Play”

Let kids work at playing

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SJW Inclusivity

“Step One: We demand that you include us in your space!”

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Power concedes nothing

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
     — Frederick Douglass
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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Need to start

We need to start by giving agencies charged with border security new technology, new facilities and more people to stop, process and deport illegal immigrants.
     — Senator Barack Obama, 2005
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Increasingly suspect

Ah, "anthropogenic global warming/cooling/drastic weather." In a word, unproven.

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“The Truth About Climate Change”

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Mass school shootings

“3 disturbing facts about mass school shootings that change everything”

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Monday roundup

Black History Month is a failure

Read Carter G. Woodson

Greg Gutfeld: How To Stop Mass Shootings Without Gutting the 2nd Amendment

Smart thinking here

Hillary Clinton Claims There Have Been ‘Over 230’ School Shootings Since 2012

Overhyped hysteria aimed at gun owners

Florida students turn to activism in wake of shooting

Feelings trump common sense

Top GOP donor threatens to cut off contributions unless party supports assault weapon ban

A reminder that most shootings in America use handguns

Women’s March organizing national school walk-out

More feelings trumping common sense

Google's firing of James Damore was legal, labor board says

Technically correct but morally wrong. Also ‘Advancing Gender Stereotypes’: You Can Be Fired for Telling the Truth, Feds Rule

Arizona House approves ban on harassment secrecy pacts

“The Arizona House on Thursday approved legislation allowing victims of sexual misconduct to talk to police or testify in a criminal case even if they signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of a civil settlement.”

‘Peace Through Strength’ Is a Racket

“The way to achieve peace is not to prepare for war but to reject militarism and empire, and embrace nonintervention.”

“Blockchain” Stocks Completely Disintegrate

Bubbles pop

‘Top Priority’ — Sessions Orders ‘IMMEDIATE REVIEW’ Of FBI, While FL. Gov. Calls For Director Wray’s Resignation

Not sure if it can be cleaned up, it might be time to blow it up and start over

Chronicle of a white supremacist PR crisis and the making of a hoax

Those who seek attention

Marijuana Criminal Cases Dropped En Masse by Philadelphia District Attorney

As Wendy McElroy asks, what about the people already in jail?

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Millions of illegal immigrants

Right now we've got millions of illegal immigrants who live and work here without knowing their identity or background.
     — Senator Barack Obama, 2005
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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What we need

We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.
     — Carter G. Woodson
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NeoNotes — Let people make their own choices

There comes a time when the only way to win is not to play.



Just pointing out again that if you don't like government power, maybe the real answer is taking the power away from government.



At that point I'd have to stand and say no.

You can't exile someone because of what they believe. It's what they want to do to you. That doesn't make it right.

We need to have our ideas challenged by people we don't agree with. If the ideas are good, they will stand on their own merit.



Maybe it's time the libertarians (small l, not the party) were in charge. We could start by abolishing any political party, reducing the total amount of taxes to ten percent and making the politicos pay for anything government spends above that amount.

Then we can talk about who is allowed to have influence.



And organizing everything from the words anyone is allowed to say to the calorie count of a pizza slice, just how well is that working out?

The problem isn't who is calling the shots. Experience has shown that no matter what promises someone makes, as soon as they have power they will be just as tyrannical as the opposition. Look at this discussion. You are literally writing about who is and is not allowed to have influence. And making sure that capital L Libertarians are on display, but not allowed to influence policy. That's better for people how? We are supposed to trust in the benevolence of conservatives?

The answer is massively reducing the size and scope of government. Let people make their own choices.



Can you do that without pointing a gun at people?

Do you have enough courage in your convictions to do it without force?



And I am not convinced that conservatives can be totally trusted. As I rule, I trust conservatives more than I do progressives, but I don't trust you that much.

It's not easy to do it without a gun, but it's possible. The thing is, progressives don't start with guns. They start by establishing Moral Authority. You can do more by taking that away than you can with guns. Hurting them or killing them just makes martyrs to the "cause."

The Left doesn't like it when I do a lot of things. That doesn't stop me much.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
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Before you get excited about Russians messing with American elections

tip of the hat to The Carol Moore Report
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Bonus Sunday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Point a gun

Hello, everyone. Guess who. Please, point a gun at me if it helps you relax.
     — The Doctor, A Good Man Goes to War
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“Can Climate Models Predict Climate Change?”

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“Penn & Teller on Gun Control”

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“I can do better than that!”

The free market is built on two very simple principles. The first is the voluntary exchange of goods and services between consenting adults. The second is hardly ever acknowledged but just as important. Someone will see something and think "I can do better than that!" Most will fail, some spectacularly. But the ones who succeed change everything. There's no way to tell who will succeed in the free market now or in the next decade. It can't be controlled or predicted. Nor should it be.
     — NeoWayland
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Training wheels

I don't believe in enabling power through victimhood. I know that can seem cruel, but it's not. After a time, the training wheels get in the way.
     — NeoWayland
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Million different ways

Culture is the million different ways we touch one another. We're letting skin color and nationality get in the way.
     — NeoWayland
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A pet peeve

It's not a right unless the other guy has it too.

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Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Nation of immigrants

We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.
     — President Bill Clinton, State of the Union address, 1995
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Strong border security

Let me repeat: We need strong border security at the borders.
     — Senator Barack Obama, 2005
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Gone in a day

“Is This Experimental Japanese Drug the Secret to Stopping the Flu?”

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American dreaming

“As kids, they picked cotton and dreamed about the 'mansion' across the road. Now they own it.”

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Wednesday roundup


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Easy

If only everyone (in the Middle East) could be like Scandinavians, (achieving peace) would all be easy.
     — President Barack Obama, 2016
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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“Surprise: Voters Aren't More Polarized than Ever, Only Pols and Media Are”

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Award to be an illegal immigrant

If making it easy to be an illegal alien isn't enough, how about offering an award to be an illegal immigrant. No sane country would do that, right? Guess again.
     — Sen. Harry Reid, Senate floor, 1993
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
Comments

Tuesday roundup

Inside The Two Years That Shook Facebook—And The World

Very long but a good summary

Federal abuses on Obama's watch represent a growing blight on his legacy

Some of us knew this during his first term

'We are being targeted': Voodoo believers fear a backlash

There's a mess, but this article doesn't help sort it our

Is California Starting To Circle The Drain?

A long and almost unbelievable tale of what happens when the police aren't policing anymore

We All Live on Campus Now

Groupthink spillover

'Hire the best and fire the worst': Trump proposes biggest civil service change in 40 years

If this is a plan and not a negotiating ploy, it's a really good idea

Are Progressives More Biased Than Conservatives?

“Progressives generally assume that they're less biased than conservatives. New research shows otherwise.”

Woman Dragged Out of West Virginia House Hearing For Listing Oil and Gas Contributions to Members

It's an issue that should be examined before they pass any law

Catholic School Parents Fight Lesbian Teacher's Firing. Here's Why That's Good.

Shifting morality

If You Really Wanted to Ban Porn, Here's What It Would Take

Detailed look at exactly what it would take

New York Times CEO: Print journalism has maybe another 10 years

Digital works better for millions of people

California’s drought restrictions on wasteful water habits could be coming back — this time they’ll be permanent

Water is precious in the desert, and California has acted otherwise for decades

Commonwealth in secret succession plans

I didn't know that head of the Commonwealth wasn't hereditary.

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Goal of our culture

The goal of our culture now is not the emancipation of the individual from the group, but the permanent definition of the individual by the group. We used to call this bigotry. Now we call it being woke.
     — Andrew Sullivan, We All Live on Campus Now
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Adoption

Teacher Almost Quit Because Of Unruly Student. Then She Adopted Him

A fourth-grader's behavior was so bad that his teacher Chelsea Haley almost gave up on teaching altogether. So Haley did what she felt she had to do: she adopted the 12-year-old student, and his one-year-old brother.

Haley, 24, joined Teach for America in 2013 to make a difference in a low-income school. She met Jerome Robinson while teaching at an elementary school in Baton Rouge.

"At certain points, his behavior got so bad," Chelsea Haley told CNN, "I thought, 'I can't do this anymore. I can't be a teacher.'"

Though she struggled to control him, the two formed an unlikely bond. Other teachers would send Jerome to Haley's classroom because they knew she was the only one he would listen to.

As her two-year experience with Teach For America was drawing to an end, the school principal suggested Haley stick around "for Jerome." She did, signing on for a third year as a special education teacher.

Then one October night, Haley felt as though God spoke to her in a dream, telling her to be Jerome's mother.

Jerome and his one-year-old brother lived in poverty with their grandparents and birth mother, who shared care for the two boys. The family was going through tough times after the recent loss of two family members.

Haley says she awoke from the dream and laughed out loud, thinking the idea was preposterous, and went back to sleep.

But the very next day, Jerome looked up while taking a test and asked Haley if he could live with her.

Now Haley knew it was meant to be, so she invited Jerome's mother to dinner.
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Aggressively

Our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens.
     — President Clinton, State of the Union address, 1995
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
Comments

Monday roundup

I remind you that no American political fact for the last two years has been easily ascertained. Or static.

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NeoNotes — More on climate change

Ah, "anthropogenic global warming/cooling/drastic weather." In a word, unproven.

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Too afraid

This long, solemn wake is an over-reaction that’s led to boredom and disinterest from the general public who actually pay to watch movies. People still love sex, sizzle and controversy — but the entertainment industry is too afraid to serve it up right now.
     — Johnny Oleksinski, The woke police have ruined entertainment
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NeoNotes — Trump's facts & examining the 2016 election

I remind you that no American political fact for the last two years has been easily ascertained. Or static.

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“Liberty vs. Democracy | Why Majority Rule Isn't So Great” by Roaming Millennial

“Let's talk about democracy & liberty. Which is more important and why? Should we value freedom, or majority rule?”

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Bonus Saturday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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The Nation goes after the intel community

“Russiagate or Intelgate?”

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Obama's foreign policy & YOUR TAX DOLLARS at work

“Obama-era cash traced to Iran-backed terrorists”

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“25 Principles of Adult Behavior” by John Perry Barlow

Be patient. No matter what.

Don’t badmouth: Assign responsibility, not blame. Say nothing of another you wouldn’t say to them.

Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.

Expand your sense of the possible.

Don’t trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.

Expect no more of anyone than you can deliver yourself.

Tolerate ambiguity.

Laugh at yourself frequently.

Concern yourself with what is right rather than who is right.

Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.

Give up blood sports. Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Don’t risk it frivolously.

Never lie to anyone for any reason. (Lies of omission are sometimes exempt.)

Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.

Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.

Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.

Praise at least as often as you disparage.

Admit your errors freely and soon.

Become less suspicious of joy.

Understand humility.

Remember that love forgives everything.

Foster dignity.

Live memorably.

Love yourself.

Endure.

— John Perry Barlow 1977

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“A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”

A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

by John Perry Barlow
Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.

We have no elected government, nor are we likely to have one, so I address you with no greater authority than that with which liberty itself always speaks. I declare the global social space we are building to be naturally independent of the tyrannies you seek to impose on us. You have no moral right to rule us nor do you possess any methods of enforcement we have true reason to fear.

Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. You have neither solicited nor received ours. We did not invite you. You do not know us, nor do you know our world. Cyberspace does not lie within your borders. Do not think that you can build it, as though it were a public construction project. You cannot. It is an act of nature and it grows itself through our collective actions.

You have not engaged in our great and gathering conversation, nor did you create the wealth of our marketplaces. You do not know our culture, our ethics, or the unwritten codes that already provide our society more order than could be obtained by any of your impositions.

You claim there are problems among us that you need to solve. You use this claim as an excuse to invade our precincts. Many of these problems don't exist. Where there are real conflicts, where there are wrongs, we will identify them and address them by our means. We are forming our own Social Contract. This governance will arise according to the conditions of our world, not yours. Our world is different.

Cyberspace consists of transactions, relationships, and thought itself, arrayed like a standing wave in the web of our communications. Ours is a world that is both everywhere and nowhere, but it is not where bodies live.

We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth.

We are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity.

Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity, movement, and context do not apply to us. They are all based on matter, and there is no matter here.

Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot obtain order by physical coercion. We believe that from ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonweal, our governance will emerge. Our identities may be distributed across many of your jurisdictions. The only law that all our constituent cultures would generally recognize is the Golden Rule. We hope we will be able to build our particular solutions on that basis. But we cannot accept the solutions you are attempting to impose.

In the United States, you have today created a law, the Telecommunications Reform Act, which repudiates your own Constitution and insults the dreams of Jefferson, Washington, Mill, Madison, DeToqueville, and Brandeis. These dreams must now be born anew in us.

You are terrified of your own children, since they are natives in a world where you will always be immigrants. Because you fear them, you entrust your bureaucracies with the parental responsibilities you are too cowardly to confront yourselves. In our world, all the sentiments and expressions of humanity, from the debasing to the angelic, are parts of a seamless whole, the global conversation of bits. We cannot separate the air that chokes from the air upon which wings beat.

In China, Germany, France, Russia, Singapore, Italy and the United States, you are trying to ward off the virus of liberty by erecting guard posts at the frontiers of Cyberspace. These may keep out the contagion for a small time, but they will not work in a world that will soon be blanketed in bit-bearing media.

Your increasingly obsolete information industries would perpetuate themselves by proposing laws, in America and elsewhere, that claim to own speech itself throughout the world. These laws would declare ideas to be another industrial product, no more noble than pig iron. In our world, whatever the human mind may create can be reproduced and distributed infinitely at no cost. The global conveyance of thought no longer requires your factories to accomplish.

These increasingly hostile and colonial measures place us in the same position as those previous lovers of freedom and self-determination who had to reject the authorities of distant, uninformed powers. We must declare our virtual selves immune to your sovereignty, even as we continue to consent to your rule over our bodies. We will spread ourselves across the Planet so that no one can arrest our thoughts.

We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before.
Davos, Switzerland
February 8, 1996
Comments

Look out for flying pigs

I'm not sure what is bigger news, Rand Paul's stand or the fact that CNN (and Chris Cillizza of all people) agreed with him publicly.


Rand Paul is right

When Rand Paul took control of the Senate floor just before 6 p.m. Eastern, virtually every one of his Republican colleagues grimaced. Five years ago, they would have cheered him.

Paul's speech, which slowed attempts to pass a massive budget deal before the government shuts down at midnight, was a savaging of his party -- a party that appears to have turned 180 degrees from the deficit hawks of the mid 2010s who insisted that government spending was ballooning out of control and was crippling the country.

"When the Democrats are in power, Republicans appear to be the conservative party," Paul said at one point. "But when Republicans are in power, it seems there is no conservative party. The hypocrisy hangs in the air and chokes anyone with a sense of decency or intellectual honesty."

He is 100% right.

The simple fact is that Republicans in the Obama era defined themselves primarily as committed to reducing government spending and shrinking the nation's debt. The ur-document of that age was Paul Ryan's budget, in which he proudly touted the need to confront entitlement spending and make the hard cuts necessary to keep the country solvent for the foreseeable future.
     — Chris Cillizza
Comments

Friday roundup

Uranium One informant makes Clinton allegations to Congress

Clintons, the scandals that keep on giving

Canadian PM: Sharia law is compatible with democracy

In which the Canadian PM proves his idiocy beyond any doubt

Let Us Eradicate Poverty, Not Demolish Wealth

Smart headline, but the rest of the article worth reading

Before You "Buy the Dip," Look at This One Chart

I think this is sound advice

Judicial Watch Tom Fitton Reports 3rd Dossier Provided by Obama to Sen. Cardin

If there was a third dossier, was there a fourth and fifth? What did President Obama know and when did he know it?

Online Gambling -- None Of Washington's Business (But Its Enemies Don't Care)

Beware of politicos who promise things for "your own good"

Institute for Justice Sues New Jersey Over Ban on Home Bakers Selling Their Cakes

Notice how Big Government loves to go after the little guy

One year later: President’s regulations crackdown is working

Less government means more prosperity

Consumers Are Open to Superhuman Vision and Cognitive Enhancements. Are Regulators?

Regulators shouldn't have any say

Congress must stop union scheme siphoning funds from Medicaid

Yep.

Why are we still regulating Main Street like Wall Street?

Good question

Senate Report: Obamacare and Medicaid Expansion Contributed to the Opioid Epidemic

You mean reducing the cost of medicine by fiat made addiction problems worse? Gee, who could have foreseen that?

$20 Billion Hidden in the Swamp: Feds Redact 255,000 Salaries

Somebody is hiding stuff from the voters

Comments

Disrespect the rule of law

Those who enter the country illegally and those who employ them disrespect the rule of law, and they are showing disregard for those who are following the law. We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented (and) unchecked, and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and lawfully to become immigrants in this country.
     — Senator Barack Obama, 2005
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?
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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Victim can't tell the difference

The Democratic Party is better than the Republican Party in the way that manslaughter is slightly better than murder: It might seem like a lesser crime, but the victim can’t really tell the difference.
     — Michael Harriot, The Democratic Party Is Not Our Friend
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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Tuesday roundup


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Generous

Chip and Joanna Gaines team up with Tim Tebow to help pay off family's mortgage

Tuesday’s episode of “Fixer Upper” turned out to be much more than a home remodeling for the Copp family.

Chip and Joanna Gaines teamed up with former football quarterback Tim Tebow to transform a run-down Waco, Texas, house into an Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant home for Melissa and Jody Copp and their two sons, Calan, 9, and Lawson, 5, who both use wheelchairs.

But what started out as a desire to design a family home for the Copp family ended up being so much more. After the episode’s airing, Chip Gaines took to Instagram with a very important request to his followers: Please donate to pay off this extremely deserving family’s mortgage.

And thanks to the help from strangers everywhere, less than two days later Gaines revealed they had raised enough money to pay off the family’s mortgage completely.
     — Danielle Wolf
Comments

Monday super roundup

The Nunes Memo: Just an Opening Act

Watch the Democrats try to hide the fallout. Additional - If You Think The Nunes Memo Will 'Discredit' FBI and DOJ, You Haven't Been Paying Attention For the Past 50 Years & Nunes Memo Alleges FBI Used Dossier to Get FISA Warrant on Trump Campaign Member

New Mexico Considers Forcing High-School Students into State-Approved Post-Graduation Plans

There is no way this is legal under the 13th Amendment

A male backlash against #MeToo is brewing

The backlash has been brewing for years

Federal 5G: An authoritarian approach in the name of 'safety'

I'm pretty sure this was a manufactured leak to get people talking about the issue

Can State Governments Impose "Excessive Fines," Treat Citizens Like Walking ATMs? Indiana Says Yes

Yeah, fuck that.

Inside a Public School Social Justice Factory

Performance sacrificed for social justice. Additional - Academics Suffer After Minnesota School System Adopts Social Justice Curriculum

Tory Government REJECTS Petition for a Free Speech Act

Funny how speech is one of the first things to go

Iranian Police Arrest 29 Women for Appearing in Public Without a Hijab While Western Feminists Impose World Hijab Day #StrongInHijab #Metoo

Funny how women's rights go out the window when it's under Islam. Anyway, watch this carefully, it's important.

Federal Regulators Want to Ban Zen Magnets, but Shihan Qu Battles On

It's hard to see this as anything except Federal overreach

The Real FISA Scandal

Democrats are presumed innocent and Republicans are presumed guilty

Visual Map Of The Cabal Behind ‘Trump Dossier’ Will Never Be Aired On CNN



Inside the FBI: Anger, worry, work — and fears of lasting damage



The three faces of the Democratic Party are coming to a head

Pretty accurate summation

Child Services Caught Taking Bribes to Look the Other Way As Mom Tortured 5yo Boy to Death

Official won't save you

Britain’s first ‘private police force’ has 100 per cent conviction rate and is now investigating murder and rape

Interesting

Comments

16th Amendment

\s\ In a TOTALLY unrelated fact that has nothing to do with government abuse of power, including weakening 4th & 5th Amendment protections to the point of uselessness, today is the anniversary of the 16th Amendment and the modern American income tax.

Your government needs to know what you are doing so it can protect you. No need to worry, Citizen, government knows what is best for you at all times. \s\
     — NeoWayland
Comments

Deny freedom

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves”
     — Abraham Lincoln, Complete Works - Volume XII
Comments

Friday roundup


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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Modern propaganda

The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.
     — Garry Kasparov‏
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Wednesday roundup

Bill Nye Does Not Speak for Us and He Does Not Speak for Science

Silliness

Democrats And Leftists Will Be Giving At Least Six Separate Responses To Trump’s State Of The Union Address

This disunity shows that the Democrats still don't know what to do about Trump

'Booze Equality' Bill Inches Forward for Virginia Craft Distilleries

“ The Virginia wine tax is $1.51 per gallon and the tax on beer is $0.26 per gallon. The ABC Board marks up the price for liquor sold on-site at distilleries by 69 percent. Once ABC takes its 54 percent cut of the purchase price, it ends up effectively taxing spirits at a rate of $30.88 per gallon.”

Man Incarcerated for 6 Years Without a Trial Because He Demanded a Speedy Trial

Yes, it happened. In America.

Second Trump-Russia dossier being assessed by FBI

“Shearer does not have a background in espionage, and his memo was initially viewed with scepticism, not least because he had shared it with select media organisations before the election.” First, the misspellings are straight from the article. Second, the only reason that this "dossier" is even being considered is because nothing in the original panned out.

FCC chair opposes nationalizing 5G network

The other commission members don't like it either

Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan Chase to tackle employee health care costs, delivery

The single biggest problem in healthcare is government, but this article doesn't admit that

Nope, Trump Doesn't Get Credit for Low Black Unemployment

It started before Trump was sworn in

National I.D. By Any Other Name Still Stinks

Americans didn't want it but we're stuck with it

How Trump is Retooling Politics for the 21st Century

The press and the politicos aren't coping with him

Kelly: White House to Release Nunes Memo ‘Pretty Quick’

This is the fork in the road

“Dreamers” vs. demons

Worth considering

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director RESIGNS after her purchase of tobacco stocks is exposed

The CDC is not a regulatory agency

Comments

“How Free Are You?”

Comments

Tuesday roundup

Minnesota, Plundered by Vikings

The stadium scam strikes again

Gillibrand Softens Tone On Clinton Sex Scandals

Selective outrage

Eliminate Google From Your Life

I know it's LewRockwell.com, but it's also dead on

Student Expelled for Sexual Assault Had Evidence His Accuser Was Dating the Cop Who Investigated the Case

The cop should be brought up on charges

In fight over Bombardier CSeries, Boeing loses friends as well as tariff case

Corporate cronyism exposed.

Democrats Turn To A Kennedy For Rebuttal To Trump's State Of The Union Address

He's a lightweight

Trust Is Collapsing in America

The important takeaway from this is that decline in trust predates Trump. Institutions have been exploiting and failing Americans for a long time, and it's beginning to show

Why Free Speech Matters

Great article

Environmentalists Ready to Sue to Fight EPA Deregulation

I don't think this has ever happened before

Seven Days in January

“The signs are already there as to the effort to exonerate Hillary.”

Rising Social Disorder Is Inevitable: Here's Why

“The status quo has not changed the inputs or added any new feedback loops, so the output of the system--extremes of widening income and wealth inequality--cannot possibly change.”

You Won’t Believe How Much the House Has Spent on Harassment Cases

You should ask why Congress wants to hide this

~$1 trillion of real estate is on the move … here’s why

Automatic cars will change the face of the nation

Comments

Inferior

The countries Trump meant are not inferior to enlightened Western democracies because of the color of their populace, but because of the corruption and oppression of their kleptocratic governments that keep the proles in poverty, ignorance, and fear; their religions that teach violence or passive resignation; and their cultures that oppress women, devalue learning, promote superstition, and don’t inculcate the upwardly mobile virtues, because few can move up.
     — Myron Magnet, Cut the C-Rap
Comments

What did President Obama know, and when did he know it?

“House Intel votes to release controversial surveillance memo to the public”

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Bargin with the state

Is it moral for the state to compel a product or service?

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Roaming Millennial “#MeToo? | Regret & Consent”

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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NeoNotes — compel an individual

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Will we be allowed

If we can't question the science, then will we be allowed to question the new regulations, taxes, and fees?
     — NeoWayland, from crux № 12 — climate change
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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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from crux № 12 — climate change

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Drone rescues teens

“2 Teens Were Rescued By A Drone While Lifeguards Were Still Learning How To Use It”

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Friday roundup

California, Poverty Capital

Not all is golden

Real Federalists Need to Step Up to Fight Jeff Sessions' War on Weed

I still want to know where the Federal government gets the power to outlaw cannabis

She was 91 and dying of dementia. City Hall fined her $39K. Now it says her family must pay.

“In Coachella, Officials Buried A Great-Grandmother In Debt By Mailing Fines To The Wrong House, Then Took Her To Court After She Was Dead.”

Wells Fargo Glitch Leaves Customers With Empty Bank Accounts

I'd say it's time to change banks

Worst-case global warming scenarios not credible: study

Seems like the science isn't settled

Catherine Deneuve, #MeToo, and the Fracturing Within Feminism

This is more important than it looks. The RadFems DO NOT speak for all women. This also confirms a trend I've been watching for five years or so

Fear and Mass Surveillance: Our Constitutionally Toxic Political Cocktail

The politicos want you scared and not asking questions

House Report Concluded Pakistanis Made ‘Unauthorized Access’ To Congressional Servers

So why isn't this make more headlines?

I Propose the 48 Hour Trump / MSM News Rule

Why does this make too much sense?

These Hospitals Are Sick of High Drug Prices. So They're Starting Their Own Nonprofit Drug Company

Competition works

Mexican Cities Are Escaping Corruption and the Cartels through Secession

Now that is an interesting idea.

Massive flu outbreak? Here’s the real story the media won’t touch. The lies, the hoax, the scandal.

“That would mean the flu vaccine has been ineffective for decades.”

Bill Introduced to Stop Civil Forfeiture Funding of DEA Marijuana Eradication Program

“DEA's use of proceeds acquired through civil asset forfeiture to expand marijuana enforcement makes the already unacceptable practice even worse.”

Comments

Secrets

…when politicos keep secrets, something is screwy.
     — from the private journal of NeoWayland, 19Jan2013
Comments

Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“Stossel: The Southern Poverty Law Center Scam”

The real problem is government.

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Wednesday roundup

FBI, DOJ Argue for Dismissal of Suit About Garland, Texas Attack

The FBI not only knew about a 2015 terrorist attack, they provoked it. So why aren't the people responsible under arrest?

Thanks Capitalism, Refrigerators Are Awesome!

Living better than the kings of a century ago

GOP Leaders Tell Fiscal Hawks To Fly Away, No Budget This Year

Reduce spending. Reduce taxes. Decrease regulation. Decrease laws. That's the only way to restore lasting freedom.

NYC Police Union Argues Releasing Body Cam Footage Violates Cops' Civil Rights

Police privilege.

Thoughts on Challenging the Climate Orthodoxy

Nobody should be beyond question

Senate Votes to Shut Down Rand Paul Filibuster Against Surveillance Act Renewal

When government doesn't trust you, why should you trust government?

Trump to PC: “No More!”

Donald Trump's greatest virtue is that he disrupts.

Jeff Flake: You know that ‘Trump is Stalin’ thing I mentioned? Nevermind.

Right out of an old SNL sketch

President Nobama

No one should be surprised that Trump is unraveling Barack Obama's "legacy"

Carillion’s Demise

“To me, this looks like a catch-all company that has bedded itself in with the government and helpfully told politicians and civil servants that they can take care of everything. No problem, just leave it to us, just keep that cash hose turned on full.”

European Angst Over Immigration

Europe may have committed cultural suicide by opening to "immigrants" who don't want to assimilate to the existing cultures

Clinton Corruption Update: It’s All One Scandal

You should ask yourself why Hillary Clinton is not in prison?

Democrats: Trump must capitulate on DACA “to prove you’re not prejudiced or bigoted”

This will make the Democrats look very foolish. Go after Trump with anything less than the truth and it will backfire.

Comments

Carrying water

I don't like seeing others manipulated into carrying water for a "moral" cause that is in fact pure politics. You can't trust politicos, especially when they say "Let's you and him fight."
     — NeoWayland
Comments

NeoNotes — Conservatives and big government

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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When perception is more important than actuality

To my knowledge, Arizona is the ONLY state to ever put MLK Day to a public vote.

Twice.
     — NeoWayland
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Tuesday roundup

Policing Sexual Desire

Great piece.

HIDDEN CAMERA: HUNDREDS of Twitter Employees Paid to View “Everything You Post Online” Including Private “Sex Messages”

And making money doing it.

NAACP Says MLK’s Vision Can’t Be Achieved Without Fighting Global Warming

In all my studies, MLK didn't once mention global warming or climate change.

Backdoor Censorship through Libel Law

Here's something Trump is actually doing

Comic Convention Bans Christian Conservative Actor Kevin Sorbo For Friendship With Hannity

Guilty by association

How Conservatives Are Being Destroyed by Facebook, Twitter and Google Without Even Realizing It

There needs to be competition, these companies are breaking their promises

The Subtle ‘Tyranny’ of Regulatory Overlords

“Who really benefits from the 14,000 pages of Dodd-Frank?”

Collapse of Construction Giant with 43,000 Employees Globally Sparks Fear and Mayhem

Size doesn't always guarantee success

Jesse Jackson praises and thanks Donald Trump for a lifetime of service to African Americans

YouTube video - flashback

Kafkaesque campus sexual assault tribunal at Johnson & Wales alleged in lawsuit

“Female waited a year to complain, male not given copy of complaint, entire process only 5 weeks, no record of hearing”

Police Knew That Hawaii Missile Attack Report was False Within Five Minutes After Alert

I'm glad someone was on the job

FLASHBACK: The Obama Administration Called Netanyahu A ‘Chickensh**’

Funny how none of the major networks are talking about that one

Shrinks present latest plot to remove Trump from office

The unelected, unappointed, and answerable to no one believe they have the power to overturn an election. The only way to take Trump out is truth. Anything else will backfire, badly.

Comments

Pretty sure

“Oct. 23, 2013”

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Fake news checking

Google’s New ‘Fact-Checker’ Is Partisan Garbage

Now, you may believe that conservatives are hopeless liars in need of relentless correcting, so I’ll concede the point for argument’s sake. Even then, you’d have to admit it’s a small miracle that, according to Google’s search engine, not a single prominent liberal or mainstream site in the entire universe has ever uttered a dubious or questionable claim.
     — David Harsanyi
Comments

Dick Durbin lied before

The White House Is Refuting A Shocker Of A Claim From A Top Democratic Senator

Oct. 23, 2013, 2:55 PM
A claim from the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), drew denials from House Republican leadership and the White House on Wednesday.

Durbin claimed in a weekend Facebook post that a House GOP leader told President Barack Obama that the leader "cannot even stand to look at" him during a recent negotiation over the government shutdown and raising the nation's debt ceiling.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, flatly, that the exchange "did not happen."

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner was baffled by Durbin's allegation.

"The Speaker certainly didn’t say that, and doesn’t recall anyone else doing so," Michael Steel, Boehner's spokesman, said in an email Wednesday morning.
     — Brett LoGiurato

tip of the hat to Tammy Bruce
Comments

from crux № 17 — spiritual warrior

All I am saying is that you should check your experience with others who have a different perspective, people you can talk with face to face.

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Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Nothing scandalizes like the truth

Nothing scandalizes a leftist like the truth. Point out that women and men are different, that black Americans commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime, that most terrorist acts are committed by Muslims, and the Left leaps to its collective feet in openmouthed shock, like Margaret Dumont after a Groucho Marx wisecrack. This is racism! This is sexism! This is some sort of phobia! I’m shocked, shocked to find facts being spoken in polite company!

No one is really shocked, of course. This is simply a form of bullying. The Left has co-opted our good manners and our good will in order to silence our opposition to their bad policies. The idea is to make it seem impolite and immoral to mention the obvious.
     — Andrew Klavan, Of Crudeness and Truth
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The obvious

Of Crudeness and Truth

Let’s state the obvious. Some countries are shitholes. To claim that this is racist is racist. They are not shitholes because of the color of the populace but because of bad ideas, corrupt governance, false religion, and broken culture. Further, most of the problems in these countries are generated at the top. Plenty of rank-and-file immigrants from such ruined venues ultimately make good Americans—witness those who came from 1840s potato-famine Ireland, a shithole if ever there was one! It takes caution and skill to separate the good from the bad.

For these very reasons, absurd immigration procedures like chain migration, lotteries, and unvetted entries are deeply destructive. They can lead to the sort of poor choices that create a Rotherham. Trump’s suggestions—to vet immigrants for pro-American ideas and skills that will help our country—are smart and reasonable and would clearly make the system better if implemented.

So, when it comes to the Great Shithole Controversy of 2018, my feeling is: I do not care, not even a little. I’m sorry that it takes someone like Trump to break the spell of silence the Left is forever weaving around us. I wish a man like Ronald Reagan would come along and accomplish the same thing with more wit and grace. But that was another culture. History deals the cards it deals; we just play them. Trump is what we’ve got.
     — Andrew Klavan
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The people aren't…

The people aren't shitholes, the countries are. No one immigrates from a country where things can get better.
     — anonymous
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Worldproof

You can't childproof the world. You can only worldproof your children.
     — probably L. Neil Smith, The American Zone
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America meddled and made a shithole

“If You Think Haiti Is a Shithole, Then Blame America for Helping to Make It That Way”

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“As if withholding belief was a moral crime…”

I have a problem with this assumption "at the moment the general reaction seems to be to disbelieve abuse survivors." I do not find it to be accurate. Mostly because of what group is being examined to provide the baseline for the general reaction, which I've rarely seen explained.

Every time I see this idea come up, it is used as a weapon against those who desire to have an examined and rational discussion without having to say "I believe." as if withholding belief was a moral crime. That idea that there is a culture of disbelief has been weaponized and used to silence those who ask uncomfortable and disquieting questions.
     — Isabella LeCour, comment on Accusations of abuse surface against ADF founder Isaac Bonewits
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Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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from crux № 21 — American hegemony

In the name of the greater good, the US supported tyranny and dictators all over the globe.

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Charity instead of trash

“Instead of Trashing Groceries During Cooler Malfunction, Store Donates 35,000 Pounds of Food”

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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Great idea

“Work 50 minutes for meal at Tokyo eatery”

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“The Problem With The UN | Corrupt, Anti-Western & Useless”

“Corruption, abuse scandals, extravagant spending, and laughable committee assignments. Here are some of the biggest problems with the United Nations.”

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“We All Knew”

“Street Artist Trolls Golden Globes with ‘We All Knew’ Artwork”

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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“Can't be sure if parts of it are true”

“The author of the explosive new Trump book says he can't be sure if parts of it are true”

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Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Force

Government is force. Every government program, law, or regulation is a demand that someone do what he doesn't want to do, refrain from doing what he does want to do, or pay for something he doesn't want to pay for. And those demands are backed up by police with guns.
     — Harry Browne, Principles of Government
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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Politics

Government is politics. Whenever you turn over to the government a financial, social, medical, military, or commercial matter, it's automatically transformed into a political issue — to be decided by those with the most political influence. And that will never be you or I.
     — Harry Browne, Principles of Government
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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Control

You don't control government. It's easy to think of the perfect law that will stop the bad guys while leaving the good guys unhindered. But no law will be written the way you have in mind, it won't be administered the way you have in mind, and it won't be adjudicated the way you have in mind.
     — Harry Browne, Principles of Government
Comments

Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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