One For The People
May 22nd, 2008One For The People
Justice
The Texas 3rd District Court of Appeals today decided in favor of 38 women who had appealed the removal of more than 460 children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) sect.
The three-judge panel said “The existence of the FLDS belief system as described by the department’s witnesses, by itself, does not put children of FLDS parents in physical danger” and that the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services “did not present any evidence of danger to the physical health or safety of any male children or any female children who had not reached puberty.”
The court concluded, “Evidence that children raised in this particular environment may someday have their physical health and safety threatened is not evidence that the danger is imminent enough to warrant invoking the extreme measure of immediate removal prior to full litigation of the issue.”
Now, I’m certainly no fan of the FLDS (except for the whole multiple-wives thing), or any organized religion in general for that matter – but I am even less of a fan of out-of-control government agencies. Clearly, the Texas DFPS had overstepped their boundaries and jurisdiction in this case, not at all unlike similar Protective Services departments do in other states.
Far more dangerous than any religion in the United States, even polygamist ones, is a government that is ready and willing to ignore the rights of its citizens.
This is yet another reason for less government.
Liberty Or Death
May 14th, 2008Liberty Or Death
Or More Of The Same?
Blog About Nothing is NOT a political blog, and will not become one.
However, as a long time Libertarian, I will do whatever I can to promote knowledge about the Libertarian Party and it’s platform. I don’t know how anyone can go the the polls and make a conscientious vote without knowledge of each party, and each candidate.
Personally, in the presidential election, I will be voting Libertarian. What are the alternatives?
Clown #1: A racist black lawyer and his dog wife who said she was never proud to be an American until hubby started getting famous.
Clown #2: A dog-ugly female lawyer married to a famous philandering lawyer who set this country on the wrong track after the great Reagan put us on the right track.
Clown #3: A senile former POW who is probably dying of melanoma. Censured by the Senate for his role in the Savings and Loan debacle.
It’s sad that this is the choice we’ve been presented with. These are the “best” the major parties can come up with.
At this time, it’s very likely that Bob Barr will be the Libertarian nominee. I voted for Mr. Barr as a Republican and I will also vote for him as a Libertarian.
A little background from his website:
Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, serving as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. He now runs a consulting firm, Liberty Strategies LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices in the Washington, D.C. area.
Bob Barr chose to join the Libertarian Party because at this time in our nation’s history, it is essential to join and work with a party that is 100 percent committed to protecting liberty.
Bob Barr has served as Regional Representative of the Libertarian National Committee.
Bob Barr works tirelessly to help preserve our fundamental right to privacy and our other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Along with this, Bob is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom.
Bob BarrBob Barr also occupies the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union, and is a Board Member of the National Rifle Association. Bob Barr is also a member of The Constitution Project’s Initiative on Liberty and Security, and he served from 2003 to 2005 as a member of a project at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University addressing matters of privacy and security. In fact, recognizing Bob Barr’s leadership in privacy matters, New York Times columnist William Safire has called him “Mr. Privacy.”
Bob Barr was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia (1986-90), and served as President of Southeastern Legal Foundation (1990-91). He was an official with the CIA (1971-78), and has practiced law for many years.
A Real Change
May 12th, 2008A Real Change
Bob Barr For President
Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia announced Monday he is seeking the Libertarian Party nomination for president.
While none of us are disillusioned enough to think he actually has a chance, it’s good for America - and therefore good for all of us - to have a viable choice other than the three jackasses currently in the race.
Voters “want a choice,” Barr told a gathering of about 40 journalists and supporters in a small room at the National Press Club.
“They believe that America has more and better to offer than what the current political situation is serving up to us,” Barr said.
He said the federal government has “run amok fiscally,” the presidency has grown too powerful, and individual freedoms have “fallen into disrepute.”
Barr, an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, said that as president he would begin bringing the troops home from that country and elsewhere around the globe.
He insisted he will not be a “spoiler” but said Republicans have urged him not to run out of concern that he will draw votes from Sen. John McCain, the presumed GOP nominee.
Barr said he is “confident” he can win the Libertarian nomination when the party holds its convention over Memorial Day weekend in Denver.
Barr, 59, quit the Republican Party two years ago, saying he had grown disillusioned with its failure to shrink government and its willingness to scale back civil liberties in fighting terrorism.
The Gas Chamber
April 29th, 2008The Gas Chamber
Are you a voter?
Next time you’re bending over at the gas pump, keep thank you Democrat-controlled congress for:
- Opposing opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to oil and natural gas drilling.
- Opposing the expansion of the nation’s oil-refining capacity.
- Opposing the development of nuclear power plants.
- Opposing the investment in clean energy technologies.
- Opposing the elimination, temporary or otherwise, of the federal gas tax.
Be sure to thank them in November!
High Times
October 18th, 2007Why exactly is marijuana illegal?
I have asked myself this question over the years and the best answer I had come up with previously was “Well, obviously, because the government is retarded.â€
Now, generally when trying to justify certain actions or positions of our government, this answer is quite accurate. But certainly there has to be more to this apparent stupidity than I’m seeing. There must be some minds much greater than my own, which have studied quantified data from the scientific community and upon thorough analysis have come to the collective conclusion that marijuana is harmful to modern society and is possibly a threat to national security.
It has to be… How else can the strict laws governing its possession and usage with harsh punishments be justified? I should have seen this before, it is so obvious.
Never wanting to just assume something to be true, I sought out to prove my theory.
So, what are the names of the great scientists and medical researchers responsible for convincing the American government that marijuana is the root of all evil?
Expert #1 : Cotton Industry.
Expert #2 : Tobacco Industry.
Expert #3 : Elite Theory
Historically, the United States has relied heavily on the cotton and tobacco industries. In the early Twentieth Century special interest lobbyists from these groups heavily influenced their elected representatives to control the competition. In this case, hemp production (with or without THC) was seen as a threat to cotton, while any ingestible THC would directly threaten the more easily controlled, or more importantly, taxed, alcohol.
Elite Theory, which argues that a small minority, comprised of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, hold the most power no matter what happens in elections in a country, ensured the eventual criminalization of cannabis.
Similarly, attempts to control immigrants (Mexicans in the early 1900s) and the counter-culture (hippies and protestors in the 1960s) all but ensured the continued prohibition of the herb.
So, what justifies the continued criminalization of marijuana?
Is pot “dangerousâ€? Well, dumbass, anytime you inhale smoke from any burning object you’re introducing toxins into your lungs. Of course it’s “dangerousâ€. However, your choice to smoke marijuana is not dangerous to me – so it’s none of my business, nor should it be any of the government’s business.
What about driving a motor vehicle after using this intoxicating substance? We already have laws which prohibit driving under the influence of any substance, so this is already covered.
Is it addictive? THC is not chemically addictive. It could be argued that pot, or the process of smoking it, is psychologically addicting, but not any more than tobacco products, and quite possibly less so.
Think for a moment about the number of citizens in 21st Century America who have been legally prescribed anti-anxiety drugs containing chemicals manufactured in labs by corporations. Remembering basic psychology you might recall that anti-anxiety and anti-depression drugs are one in the same. We’re talking about a minimum of 30% of the population. Read the labels on those drugs. Now, are these safer, or more effective, than a natural herb? Why does the government send you to jail for the use of one drug, while it fully endorses the distribution of a far more potent one with an unproven track record.
Even more scary – Read the whitepapers from any major pharmaceutical manufacturer sometime and pay close attention to how serotonin inhibitors work. A hint: They don’t know. This is not an attempt at humor, it’s fact and something else you might want to familiarize yourself with if you’re one of the tens of millions who have been prescribed such medication. The drug companies know that certain chemical block serotonin, but they don’t know how. Nonetheless, it’s put into common medications which have become standard issue to anyone with a personality beyond that of a zombie. Hell, it’s just your brain functions we’re talking about here. No big concern, right?
This pretty much blows the whole “pot is illegal because it’s dangerous†theory right out of the water.
So, what does it really boil down to? This is not a Pro-Pot or Anti-Pot issue. Sadly, the logic revealed here is nothing more than the usual infringement upon your personal freedoms and liberties by the government, under the usual guise of “protecting you”.
Just remember that in the official government thesaurus “protect” and “control” are synonyms.
There are many sources far more credible than Blog About Nothing (as hard as that may be to believe) from which anyone with an interest can expand their knowledge of this topic. I encourage you to do so. I did, and in doing so I was able to finally be at peace with my original assessment…
Our government is retarded.
