End the War on Freedom

"One of the most important signs of the existence of a democracy is that when there is a knock at the door at 5 in the morning, one is completely certain that it is the milkman." -- Winston Churchill

# Paul Joseph and Alex Jones at Prison Planet - Republican Congressman Says Totalitarian Regime a Danger - Bob Barr fears for our liberty. If they pass the new, improved, U.S.A. T.R.A.I.T.O.R. Act, you should too. [picks]

Barr said that legislation like the Patriot Act and its imminent re-authorization and expansion were more of a threat to the American way of life than any terrorist attack.

"Even when the leaders in Washington say we're not going to let the terrorists change our way of life, they are implementing policies that do precisely that."

Barr elaborated that the manipulation of fear was a key cornerstone in the government's coup de 'tat on constitutional liberties.

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Speaking on the topic of the second amendment, Barr said that his position as a board member on the NRA enabled him to judge the difference between how the Clinton and Bush administration's approached the issue. Barr echoed the sentiments of many other prominent conservatives in expressing his frustration about how the Bush administration was even more anti-second amendment than the Clinton office.

# Butler Shaffer at LewRockwell.com - The Deaths of Children - states kill children. Always have and always will. That's why the very concept of the state must end. [lew]

For all the many reasons I hold political systems in utter contempt, this is by far the most dominant: the state is in a constant war with all of life. It always has been and it always will be, and no mouthing by politicians of empty bromides about "caring" will ever change this fundamental fact. Political systems war against the spontaneous and self-directed nature of all living systems, using violence as a weapon to force life to go in directions it does not choose. The state is the most fundamentally indecent of all human inventions, a fact that most of us prefer to keep from our conscious mind, which we obfuscate with lies and rationalizations; anesthetize with drugs or alcohol; or trivialize with entertainment-as-news.

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When societies organize themselves into war systems -- which is the nature of all political entities -- and purposefully destroy each other's children -- be they soldiers or non-combatants contemptuously dismissed as "collateral damage" -- they are placing themselves in a state of war with the very future of mankind. The casualties of such a war are not to be measured just in the calculus of young persons destroyed in the process, but in the general diminution of respect for life itself; for the sense of truth and reality upon which life depends; and for the value that is fundamental to any vibrant and decent social system, namely, that neither the dignity nor the will of harmless people shall be violated.

We may not always be able to protect our children and grandchildren from biological forces we do not understand, but we can -- and ought to -- protect them from the dangers of our thinking, and from the destructive systems that our thinking creates. Right now, there is a tug-of-war taking place for the soul of Americans. We can personify this struggle as one between two mothers, although all of us are contestants. One mother is Cindy Sheehan, who continues to ask President Bush the question he regards it as irrelevant for any American to even ask: "what was the noble cause for which my son died?" The other is Bush's own mother, Barbara, who declared: "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"

# CBS 5 San Francisco - Appeals Court Rejects NRA Petition Against Gun Ban - The California Court of Appeals refused to strike down San Francisco's Proposition H handgun ban, ruling that it must be litigated in a trial court. [root]

# Kim & Connie du Toit - Nation of Volunteers Foundation - finally an account of the travails that caused the du Toits to remove their name from the web. They are starting the Nation of Riflemen Foundation, whose goal is education and training in shooting. It will be non-profit. They are asking for pledges of donations, money to be collected once their non-profit status is in place.. [kimdutoit]

Here's a little glimpse as to what we plan to do, in the beginning. We will be hosting quarterly "Shooting On The Green" events in the DFW area, and helping volunteers establish similar events across the country. This practice dates back centuries, to where townspeople would meet once a month on the village green to practice their archery skills, against the time when they would be required to fight their country's enemies.

# Jesse J. Holland of AP via Yahoo News - House Approves Extension of Patriot Act - Bill Frist thinks it will survive a filibuster threat in the Senate. Welcome to the Brave New World. Big Brother advances another step. The House vote was 251 to 174. My Congress Critter, John Sweeney, joined only 17 fellow Republicans in voting against it. I sent him the following:

Thank you, sir, for voting against H.R. 3199, the reauthorization and extension of the U.S.A. T.R.A.I.T.O.R. Act. I am seriously troubled that our side lost, and that it is likely to pass the Senate and be signed into "law" by the President. But I appreciate your effort to eliminate this grevious infringement of our civil liberties.

Blessings.