Category Archives: Freedom

Quote of the day—John Hayward @Doc_0

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When the central State grows all-powerful, there is no reason to do the hard work of persuasion or humbly respect the “right to refuse” because it no longer exists. We should reclaim that which separates slaves and serfs from free men and women.

John Hayward @Doc_0
Tweeted on October 29, 2021
[We are long past the time when the reclamation should have begin. I fear we will have to endure the continuation of the dreadful path we are on to the point where the “central State” suffers economic collapse and/or revolution.—Joe]

Slowly at first then rapidly

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Shortages of both goods and services combined with massive government spending are resulting in inflation. And now there are predictions of increasing electrical power outages:

Longer, more frequent outages afflict the U.S. power grid as states fail to prepare for climate change

Across the nation, severe weather fueled by climate change is pushing aging electrical systems past their limits, often with deadly results. Last year, the average American home endured more than eight hours without power, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration — more than double the outage time five years ago.

I suppose you can call it “climate change”. Assuming it’s the political climate you have in mind. From the same article:

…state regulators largely have rejected these ideas, citing pressure to keep energy rates affordable. Of $15.7 billion in grid improvements under consideration last year, regulators approved only $3.4 billion, according to a national survey by the NC Clean Energy Technology Center — about one fifth.

After a weather disaster, “everybody’s standing around saying ‘why didn’t you spend more to keep the lights on?’” Ted Thomas, chairperson of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, said in an interview with The Washington Post. “But when you try to spend more when the system is working, it’s a tough sell.”

Politicians are demanding “green electricity”. But most types of “green electricity” are unreliable and more expensive. And at the same time there are demands to remove hydroelectric dams. Then they demand electricity be “affordable”. The grid is aging and stretched to the limit by increased consumption, decreasing production, and regulators don’t allow rate increases to replace and improve the equipment. Socialism, it’s the poison pill working it’s evil upon humanity.

A phrase comes to mind which was commonly used in regards to the “eco-freaks” when I was electrical engineering school, “Let them freeze in the dark.”

But the problem is it won’t be those who created the problem who “enjoy” the fruits of their work. It will be those who are out of political favor who will be last in line to get their share of the rationed electricity, food, medical care, etc.

Our situation will likely slowly deteriorate on all fronts then as all the reserves in the system are consumed it will be a rapid, catastrophic, and systemic failure. Prepare appropriately.

I need to include good backup electricity for my underground bunker.

Quote of the day—Glenn Reynolds

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If you want to be better-liked, try acting like a public servant, instead of a public master.

Glenn Reynolds
October 21, 2021
Glenn Reynolds
YES, AND THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE
[Interesting choice of phrases. I wonder when and where the first use of “public servant” contrasted with “public master” came about.

I know I was using it in 2008. But I don’t know where I got it from.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Daniel Bostic @debostic

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I’m still grappling with the fact that we live in a country where you can be banned, censored, and investigated for calling out irregularities and demanding audits of an election.

Truly terrifying.

Daniel Bostic @debostic
Tweeted on January 11, 2021
[Prepare and respond appropriately.—Joe]

Good news

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Independent from the morality and constitutionally of abortion Texas S.B. 8 needs to go down in flames. As expressed by a FPC brief (from here):

This case is important not because of its specific subject matter of abortion, but instead for Texas’s cavalier and contemptuous mechanism for shielding from review potential violations of constitutional rights as determined by this Court’s precedents. It is one thing to disagree with precedents and seek their revision or reversal through judicial, congressional, or constitutional avenues; it is another simply to circumvent judicial review by  delegating state action to the citizenry at large and then claiming, with a wink and a nod, that no state actors are involved.

From Amicus‘s perspective, if pre-enforcement review can be evaded in the context of abortion it can and will be evaded in the context of the right to keep and bear arms. While the political valences of those issues seem to be opposites, the structural circumstances are too similar to ignore. As with Roe and Casey, many States view Heller as wrongly decided. Those States, with the help of many circuit courts, have showed an ongoing refusal to accept the holding in Heller and a continuing creativity in seeking to circumvent any protections for, and to chill the exercise of, Second Amendment rights.  It is hardly speculation to suggest that if Texas succeeds in its gambit here, New York, California, New Jersey, and others will not be far behind in adopting equally aggressive gambits to not merely chill but to freeze the right to keep and bear arms.

The First Amendment would also be subject to almost immediate attack if the Texas scheme were allowed to stand.

I suspect SCOTUS also sees the danger because:

The Supreme Court Court acted quickly to grant certiorari before judgment in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas, the two primary challenges to S.B. 8, the controversial Texas abortion law.

…

This is an important legal question that extends well beyond the issue of abortion. It could, for example, implicate the federal government’s ability to challenge state-level Covid policies (as both the Trump Administration and Biden Administration threatened to do, although concerning different sorts of policies).

H/T to Law Firm of SolitaryPoorNastyBrutish&Short @AubreyLaVentana for the tweet alerting me. I knew about the Texas law and the risk. I did not know about the FPC getting involved.

You cannot comply

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Via Matthew Bracken:

ComplyYourWayOut

You can vote your way in but you have to shoot your way out.

History buff

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Via Rolf and @LaughtingEyes::

HistoryBuff

Quote of the day—Caitlin Johnstone

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It doesn’t matter what you’re allowed to say if it doesn’t matter what you say. It doesn’t matter if you’re allowed to call the oligarchic puppet put in office by the last fake election a dickhead. It doesn’t matter if you’re allowed to Google any information you want only to find whatever information Google wants you to find.

Caitlin Johnstone
October 10, 2021
The Science Of Propaganda Is Still Being Developed And Advanced
[True.

I’m at a loss for a solution as is Johnstone.

Sometimes I wonder if a major reset (economic collapse?) would improve things. But when I give it more than a moment’s thought I decide things will get worse under those sort of circumstances.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Jesse Kelly @JesseKellyDC

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Rest assured, we ARE separating. It’s already in the works. Sane people are fleeing the blue areas as blue areas become East Germany. There is no reversing this trend. The country WILL come apart. It is only a matter of dates.

Jesse Kelly @JesseKellyDC
Tweeted on October 10, 2021
[While I can see the trend and understand the desire to be separate I’m not convinced that a separation will actually occur. There was an even stronger trend and desire for the North and South to separate in the early 1860’s and that separation wasn’t really completed and certainly wasn’t even semi-permanent.

There are a number of ways we could become unified again. An external threat could do it. A military coup quickly wiping out the leadership of one side and/or the other would be another roadblock to a separation. And that isn’t even considering things like an extinction class asteroid.

It’s really difficult to figure out what might happen. There are so many different ways things could go. Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future!—Joe]

Mass murder with bow and arrow

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Assailant with bow and arrows kills 5 people in Norway

A man armed with a bow fired arrows at shoppers in a small Norwegian town Wednesday, killing five people before he was arrested, authorities said.

The police chief in the community of Kongsberg, near the capital of Oslo, said there was “a confrontation” between officers and the assailant, but he did not elaborate. Two other people were wounded and hospitalized in intensive care, including an officer who was off duty and inside the shop where the attack took place, police said.

Almost silent and certainly deadly. These weapons of mass destruction have been available for 1000s of years. It’s long past time for civilized society to eliminate their possession by civilians. The weapons should be limited to the police and the military.

I wonder if they have universal background checks on the purchase of arrows and registration of all bows and bow owners owners. If not, are there bow safety advocates pushing for such legislation? It’s just common sense. Do it for the children. It’s a good first step.

Quote of the day—Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider)

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Many Americans are waking up from their slumber and discovering the hangover of tyranny in the guise of safety.

Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider)
Tweeted on October 2, 2021
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Jennifer Granick

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Trawling through Google’s search history database enables police to identify people merely based on what they might have been thinking about, for whatever reason, at some point in the past. This is a virtual dragnet through the public’s interests, beliefs, opinions, values and friendships, akin to mind reading powered by the Google time machine. This never-before-possible technique threatens First Amendment interests and will inevitably sweep up innocent people, especially if the keyword terms are not unique and the time frame not precise. To make matters worse, police are currently doing this in secret, which insulates the practice from public debate and regulation.

Jennifer Granick
Surveillance and cybersecurity counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Exclusive: Government Secretly Orders Google To Identify Anyone Who Has Searched A Name, Address And Telephone Number
[As I have mentioned before I’ve been impressed with Granick on Internet freedom issues.

Avoid the use of Google. They are evil. Use DuckDuckGo or something similar, use a privacy window in your browser and consider using a VPN such as Private Internet ACCESS.—Joe]

Ugly behavior

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Via email from Chet who says, “The crack down/revolt is just beginning”:

Education leaders decry ‘ugly’ behavior by attendees at Washington state school board meetings

It wasn’t their mask mandate to make, but school officials are getting the heat all the same.

…

To reduce the chances for these types of conflicts, some school districts have resorted to calling the police preemptively to monitor meetings, Aune said, or moved their meetings online. The Seattle School Board, seeing cases arise across the state and country, brought on extra security to monitor in-person meetings and escort staff back to their cars over the summer, said Chandra Hampson, the board’s president. To make sure there was enough security at schools when the year began, the board briefly returned to remote sessions. Meetings will resume in person later this month.

Across the country, there have been similar displays, prompting the National Association of School Boards to call for the involvement of the FBI, the Department of Justice and other law enforcement authorities.

While I think a lot of the “facts” quoted by the anti-vax and anti-mask people are taken out of context and/or distorted the politicians believing they have the legitimate power to shut down the economy and force people to accept injections get zero support from me. In fact, I’m sometimes cheering on those opposing the politicians even though I think the opposition is for the wrong reasons.

We live in interesting times. The “ugly behavior” is likely to get uglier on all sides. Prepare appropriately.

Temporary safety versus essential liberty

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Via brother Doug on Facebook:

SecurityLiberty

Mr. Franklin would have approved this meme.

Quote of the day—Jim Bovard

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The FBI’s power and federal legitimacy are far more tenuous than Washington recognizes. Beyond the nation’s big cities and the coastlines, federal authority hinges largely on the consent of local citizens. Once that consent vanishes, FBI agents are left to sit in their cars eating their lunches all by themselves. But plenty of pundits and congressmen still clamor for the government to confiscate everyone’s guns or forcibly inject their children. If the feds came in and started shooting mountain men who refused to surrender their firearms, they would likely quickly find themselves in a worse plight than Custer at the Little Big Horn.

Jim Bovard
September 27, 2021
He Thought I Was an Undercover Fed
[Consent of the governed is a concept in our country’s founding documents. With a nearly $30 Trillion debt, incredible overreach of the U.S. Constitution’s limits, and blatant violation of our specific enumerated rights, it is long past time to revoke consent.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Jefferson Mack

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LEADERS ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED AND FOLLOWED, THEY ARE TO BE CONTROLLED AND LIMITED.

Jefferson Mack
1986
Secret Freedom Fighter: Fighting Tyranny without Terrorizing the Innocent, page 61.
[Lots of good stuff in this old document.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Kevin Sorbo @ksorbs

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We should have left our guns for the Australians not the taliban.

Kevin Sorbo @ksorbs
Tweeted on September 26, 2021
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Brandon Smith

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Eventually tyranny has to put boots on the ground. A totalitarian system can function for a time on color of law and implied threats, but it will crumble unless it is able to establish a physical presence of force. Once those jackboots touch soil in a visible way and the agents of the state try to expand oppressive measures, rebels then have a free hand to disrupt them or bring them down. But this only works if there are objectives and enough decentralization to prevent misdirection of the movement.

Brandon Smith
September 22, 2021
Organizing Patriots In The Face Of Government Informants And False Flags
[Interesting post and associated comments.

See also my Boots on the ground blog post.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Accountability @Nocte_Insanire

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Do not be confused. YOU are the carbon they want to reduce.

Accountability @Nocte_Insanire
Tweeted on September 19, 2021
[They’re not wrong. A good case could be made for this assertion.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Zachary Faria

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The surge in new gun owners could have a political impact that lasts far longer than the pandemic and the surge in homicides that inspired it.

Between January 2019 and April 2021, approximately 7.5 million people became first-time gun owners. Nearly 50% of them were women. More than 40% are black or Latino. This is bad news for the gun control movement and, perhaps in the long term, for the Democratic Party.

…

Gun control, despite polling well as a collection of general platitudes, is already a losing issue throughout the country. Each time someone becomes a first-time gun owner, the chances of passing the strict gun control measures that the gun control movement and the majority of the Democratic Party want to see implemented go down. The pandemic will go away, and homicides will decline — but this will continue to shape our gun control politics for years to come.

Zachary Faria
September 17, 2021
The pandemic and the homicide surge will have a lasting effect on our gun control politics
[Help the trend to continue. Take a new shooter to the range.—Joe]