The reason we have government is to perform vital functions in society, crucial things that couldn't be done without the coercion of state power. Things like keeping liquor stores closed on Sunday:
This morning, at approximately 10:30, I was out doing my regular walk. My usual route takes me past a local liquor store. Today I watched a nun pull into the small parking lot next to the liquor store and walk up to the front door of the store only to find the store closed. Only after being unable to get in, did she notice the sign on the door stating that the store was closed until noon. She angrily looked at her watch and then, just as angrily, stomped back to her car.Now, for all I know she was on an emergency mission to pick up some wine for the 11 and 12 o’clock masses. Then again, maybe she and the other sisters in the convent plan to fire up a movie today and kick back with a few brewskies. No problemo, as far as I'm concerned. It was, however, quite a visual.
Success!
And on Saturday, during a funeral for children who died in the bombing on Wednesday, a unit of the Iraqi police stopped a suspicious-looking man approaching the funeral procession and discovered that he was wearing a suicide vest filled with explosives and ball bearings, the American command reported Sunday.An explosives team disarmed the man, a Libyan, and no one was hurt, according to the American military.
"The bomber was high on drugs and is being treated for the potential overdose," said Col. Joseph DiSalvo, an American commander. The bomber, he said, "came here to kill the grieving parents of the children who were killed on Wednesday."
"I cannot imagine a worse crime."
This isn't the first time that we've had reports of suicide bombers on drugs, but as I read this it occurs to me that we're wasting a potential resource in the war. We've got tens of thousands of warriors combating drug use domestically, but our drug users aren't blowing themselves up amidst crowds of children or mourners. So why let these paramilitary units languish here? We can start with the DEA. Off to Iraq with you. Do some good, for a change.
h/t to Jeff, naturally.
The battle over Referenda C & D is looking to get ugly. Ari has been working on a report of wasteful state government spending. The Rocky got ahold of an early draft and went public with it, in a none too flattering account.
Read Ari's response here.
Howard Dean was in town speechifying a couple of nights ago, so let's look at what he said and have some fun.
The former presidential candidate said Democrats are focusing on families, who are willing to sacrifice for their children."If you want to focus on the family, focus on minimum wage. If you want to focus on the family, focus on smaller class size,"
Great. Keep minimum wage high, so your teenagers have a greater chance of spending time at home without jobs. Very good for the family! That class size thing means more jobs for second rate teachers, so that will help someone's family. Probably not yours, though.
Dean said gay marriage is not mentioned once in the Bible.
Along with toxic waste cleanup, nuclear proliferation and HMO's. Ergo, all should be outside government action. I like that line of reasoning, actually.
Thanks, Gov. Dean. Come back any time.
Westword picked up my July 9 post and, with some minor editing, used it as a letter to the editor in the current issue.
On further review I wish they would have linked back to my blog. Not that I need the traffic, it's just that the letter makes more sense that way.
Amusing to see that Denver blogger Richard Combs, not long on the scene, has now become one of the 'usual susects,' at least according to James Wolcott.
I prefer to think Richard has earned the accolade, as opposed to Wolcott being just plain loopy. But you can take your pick.
Perusing the 4AD website a few days ago I saw that Michael Allen, late of the legendary Wolfgang Press, has a new project, called Geniuser. It's a collaboration with Giuseppe De Bellis, and their first record, Mud Black, has just been released.
It's only available in Europe, and after having it overnighted across the pond I have to say it's well worth the trouble.
You can hear samples here. Your tastes may vary...
I have a friend I used to work with who suffered a horrible tragedy. His teenage son murdered his wife.
It was unspeakably sad, literally. We didn't speak of it. My friend appreciated that I wouldn't bring up the subject, and we hung out together, skiing, playing cards, and competing in pro golf tournaments. (We were both teaching pros at the time.)
I wouldn't dream of bringing up this subject again in a public forum like this, except that someone else already has. Denver's popular local weekly paper, Westword, has a cover story this week featuring the plight of underage criminals who are sentenced to long terms.
Guess which case they used as an example.
It gets worse. The teen in this case, now in his twenties, was sentenced to life without parole. In an effort to get a new trial he is introducing new 'evidence', claiming that his parents sexually abused him, and other ugly accusations. His lawyer is even initiating a civil suit against my friend.
Of course, none of this came out before.
The Westword article, written by one Luke Turf, is something less than critical of these accusations.
Roger Ybanez, if you happen to come across this, you have my sympathy. You've now been victimized twice over.
And a hearty thank you to Westword and Luke Turf. Nothing's too sensational to use to advance an agenda, I suppose. Victims be damned.
Very few people in human history have had the opportunity to live lives in a free society, even relatively speaking. Not many others have even wrapped their minds completely around the concept. How does a society function without someone to give orders, to govern?
Some early American colonists lived as free people, and Murray Rothbard chronicled that period in a four volume set titled Conceived in Liberty. A portion of that opus has been published on the net for the first time, including this excerpt:
The Quakers, led by Thomas Lloyd, now embarked on a shrewd and determined campaign of resistance to the imposition of a state. Thomas Lloyd, as keeper of the great seal, insisted that none of Blackwell's orders or commissions was valid unless stamped with the great seal. Lloyd, the keeper refused to do the stamping. It is amusing to find Edward Channing and other thorough but not overly imaginative historians deeply puzzled by this resistance: "This portion of Pennsylvania history is unusually difficult to understand. We find, for instance, so strong and intelligent a man as Thomas Lloyd declining to obey what appeared to be reasonable and legal direction on the part of the proprietor. As keeper of the great seal of the province, Lloyd refused point blank to affix that emblem of authenticity to commissions which Blackwell presented to him." What Channing failed to understand was that Pennsylvanians were engaged in a true revolutionary situation, that they were all fiercely determined to thwart the reimposition of a burdensome state upon their flourishing stateless society. That is why even the most "reasonable and legal" orders were disobeyed, for Pennsylvanians had for some years been living in a world where no one was giving orders to anyone else.
Early Pennsylvanians were happily living in anarchy, and modern academics have a hard time even grasping the idea.
H/T to Jesse Walker.