End the War on Freedom

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. -- Billy Graham

William Safire at The Washington Post - Threat of National ID - Once we allow the National ID, it's just one short little step to implanting it under our skins. More efficient that way, don't ya know. [cowlix]

What about us libertarian misfits who take the trouble to try to "opt out"? We will not be able to travel, or buy on credit, or participate in tomorrow's normal life. Soon enough, police as well as employers will consider those who resist full disclosure of their financial, academic, medical, religious, social and political affiliations to be suspect.

Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk - Stimulus or Spending? - A good reminder that the only way the government can truly stimulate the economy is to cut taxes. Anything else is just spending our stolen money.

It's important to cut through the rhetoric surrounding the stimulus debate over the last few weeks. The only real and lasting way to stimulate the economy is to reduce the amount of money government takes out of the private economy. The only way to do this is by cutting taxes. When taxes are reduced on individuals, they have more money to spend, save, or invest. When taxes are reduced on companies, they have more money to hire new employees, increase wages, or pay dividends to investors. Since all economic growth depends on private capital, the goal of any economic stimulus plan must be to leave more private capital in the hands of investors. When too much American wealth is tied up in government coffers, investment and job growth suffer. This is exactly what we have seen over the past 18 months- the Treasury "surplus" touted by the last administration actually represents a tax overcharge that dragged the economy down well before September 11th.

Gene Callahan at LewRockwell.com - King Billy's Horse, or the Mill? - Government is not a necessary evil. Small limited government is highly unstable. It always gets worse. [lew]

Because politics is about competing individuals grabbing for power, it means that one group of individuals ultimately is able to take power and abuse another group of individuals. While political classes like to couch their actions in terms of "social justice," what they really are doing is plundering one set of individuals and transferring their wealth to their supporters. This is the only way the system operates. There are no alternatives.

Jeff Cooper - Cocked and Locked - Mr. Cooper appears to believe that all of Islam is on a jihad against America. I don't think so. He talks about patriotism, the importance of a "crisp" trigger, "ex-Marine" vs. "former Marine", and much more.

Since its inception, we have always regarded the 223 cartridge (5.56 NATO) as a varmint load. Well now we have our hands full of varmints, so perhaps we have the perfect tool for the task.

JPFO expects to release The State vs. The People by Claire Wolfe and Aaron Zelman sometime in January. Yay! [jpfo]

Vin Suprynowicz - Should Nevada borrow tax structures of the states everyone is fleeing? - part of The Libertarian series. Nevada's congress critters are spending too much and, of course, blaming their self-induced problem on too little stolen tax money.

But the perceived "needs" of those who seek free schooling, food, shelter, and health care can never be "met," of course. Set up a table offering "free sandwiches," and see whether anyone ever says, "No thanks, I've had enough."

Vin Suprynowicz - Metro the 'moving force' behind killer cops - part of The Libertarian series. When a Las Vegas cop killed an unarmed man in 1999, a Coroner's inquest found it justified. Fortunately, the local federal judge is acting a bit more rationally in the civil case of the dead man's family against the police department.

Vin Suprynowicz - 'I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me' - part of The Libertarian series. A resend of Vin's classic Christmas column. Many of our optimistic Christmas songs were written during an earlier crisis: World War II.

Here is a day for friends and family, for again celebrating our freedoms and the bounty they create. For make no mistake, the notion that armed men can enforce some uniform brand of "compassion" by mandating the redistribution from those who have earned "too much" to those with less, has been tried now for most of a century across half the globe ... and has universally collapsed in a pitiful heap of poverty, devastation, denial, and finger-pointing.

Only by allowing men and women to profit from the fruits of their labors can a society be truly moral and just. And only by thus allowing each soul to remain a free agent is true, voluntary kindness and charity possible.

AP via Yahoo News - Bullet Found at Florida Airport - somebody found a "bullet" outside a gate at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. They evacuated the concourse and delayed flights for three hours. Oh my! [kaba]

Charlie Macaulay at The Seattle Times - Check your baggage - why we don't need no steenking new airport security policies. [kaba]

The new "security" procedures have done absolutely nothing to improve passenger safety and a lot to reduce freedom. But they have let a few politicians and bureaucrats claim they are doing something worthwhile and so they can brag about it during the next campaign. The fact of the matter is that no one will ever be able to take over an airplane again with nothing more than a knife or two. Passengers will surely rebel and overpower anyone stupid enough to try.

The best way to combat terrorism (and other forms of random evil in the world) is to teach everyone that their duty is to resist evil wherever it is encountered -- and ensure they have the tools to resist.

Nick Anderson at The LA Times - Airports Quickly Heighten Security - meanwhile, the goons are checking shoes. Sheesh.