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Wednesday, April 16

Guest Editor

A. Magnus is the guest editor today.

WANTED: A new guest editor for Saturdays.  A guest editor selects the external links for that day and then uploads them to STR.  If you're interested, please email me.
 

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photo courtesoy of phil_theone
Slaves Cannot Challenge Their Masters: New York Edition
Original article "Some gun owners have long threatened to ignore a requirement to register assault weapons under the SAFE Act, a set of strict gun laws approved by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers last year. With the registration deadline set for Tuesday, they'll soon have their chance."
The Income Tax and the Road to Collectivism
Original article A summary of the new book Taxed To Death: A Citizen’s Guide to How the Income Tax and IRS Harm EVERYONE in America, by Lawrence Hunter.  (Editor's pick)
Investigative Journalist Michael Ruppert Commits Suicide
Original article "The 63-year-old former narcotics investigator with the LAPD, shot himself after a final radio show broadcast, a friend reported." (Editor's pick)
If You Believed The Hype About Saddam's WMD, Then You'll LOVE The Hype About Assad...
Original article "The use of chemical weapons is not really in question since both sides of the conflict – the Syrian government and the death squad forces – are reporting their use. However, both sides are also blaming each other for the deployment of the poison gas."
Yet Another Resource-Rich Country Has Problems With Potential Coups
Original article "Thirty Venezuelan military officers of different ranks, including several generals, have been arrested for alleged conspiracy to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, a leading national newspaper has reported."
Your Government Can Kill You And Legally Lie About It
Original article "A Bay Area federal judge says the Obama administration can keep secret a memo spelling out the legal rationale for a 2011 drone attack in Yemen that killed a U.S. citizen and alleged terrorist mastermind. The Justice Department was entitled to withhold the memo on the grounds of national security and lawyer-client confidentiality, Chief U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland said Friday."
PHOTOS: Everyday Americans Facing Down Armed Statist Thugs - Bunkerville Edition
Original article "New images of cattle rancher Cliven Bundy’s tense standoff with the Federal Bureau of Land Mangement (BLM) on Saturday afternoon reveal how the armed agency’s military operation configured to forcefully engage Bundy cowboys and their supporters who sought to liberate federally confiscated cattle over the weekend."
Liberty And Facts Trump Fascism And Superstition
Original article "Three months following Colorado's decision to legalize the production, sale, possession and use of recreational marijuana — a vote that Denver city officials including Mayor Michael Hancock, among others, fought kicking and screaming — guess what's happened to Denver crime rates in 2014? According to new data, they've fallen across the board. Property crime is down 14.6% compared to the same period in 2013. Violent crimes are down 2.4%."
More Proof That The State Doesn't Have Your Best Interests At Heart - Pun Intended
Original article "Thanks to documents released by Snowden, it is now well known that the NSA is sucking up and storing practically all traffic on the Internet using its various spying tools, including the XKeyscore tool. The ability to obtain the private keys from servers using the Heartbleed bug means that the NSA can decrypt all past traffic encrypted to the keys it obtains, even traffic from years before the bug was introduced."
Organic Foods: 1, Frankenfoods: 0
Original article "The best-yielding, most affordable crop varieties to "feed the world" are non-GMO, says a retired team leader for the Environmental Protection Agency's biosafety program."
State-Controlled Bailout Media Brings The Finest In Nonsense And Non-Reporting...NOT!
Original article "CNN's coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has reached such astounding stupidity in the past five weeks that it accomplished something previously unimaginable: uniting Bill O’Reilly and Rachel Maddow on the same side of an issue."   Looks like US 'Mainstrean' Media is about to have a 'Pravda' moment...
Evil Is As Evil Does: Soviet-I Mean IRS Edition
Original article "Last year, it was revealed that the IRS was claiming the right to read taxpayers' email and private information on social media accounts without first getting a search warrant. After a brouhaha from civil liberties groups, citizens, and lawmakers, the IRS announced the no-warrant-required policy would be ditched for email, but it did not make the same commitment for other private electronic communications."
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Pennsylvania Edition
Original article "On February 11, Christian Stanfield, a 15-year-old sophomore at South Fayette High School, recorded seven minutes of the bullying on his iPad. His mother showed school officials the footage the next day. The school officials, including Principal Scott Milburn and Superintendent Bille Pearce Rondinelli, took immediate action. They contacted police for a possible violation of wiretapping laws." Ben Franklin must be rolling in his grave...
REAL Freedom Rock - 'Howard Beach' By Biohazard
Original article "Next time you see on the TV screen / There's a man talking about sh*t he's never seen / Change the channel and ignore the fool / Get out on the streets / Then you go to school"
PHOTOS: Yellowstone Landscapes
Original article If you can't make it out west, at least you can enjoy some of the views before the Caldera erupts next...
STR Blog
Original article
Lead By Example
0
Randall Schultz 2003-06-01 16:00
One of the tactics that politicians use to deceive us is tricking us into believing that they are just like one of us. On the way home from work, I noticed one of those yard signs that homeowners often display in support of a candidate. Below the candidate's name was the phrase, "a working man working for you." It is enough to make one ponder why an honest working man would want to immerse...
Whither Free Will?
0
Joe Blow 2003-05-29 16:00
free will n. 1. The ability or discretion to choose; free choice. 2. The power, attributed esp. to human beings, of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by necessity. ~ The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, c. 1982
How the Government Helped Me Today
0
Amanda Bowen 2003-05-29 16:00
I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to do my usual round at the governmental indoctrination camp. Today was my last day there, at least for this cycle, but The Last Day Of School has ceased to mean much for a while now. I wouldn't have had to go to school today, but it seems I've bilked the place out of so much state money by being in the hospital for two weeks that they feel they need to punish me by making...
Rotten to the Core Principles for Iraq
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Joe Eldred 2003-05-29 16:00
On May 27th the Wall Street Journal published an editorial by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld entitled 'Core Principles for a Free Iraq.' As one who opposed our unconstitutional attack on Iraq, I found reading it quite exasperating. As one would expect, Secretary Rumsfeld begins with a recap of the 'remarkable military achievement' and then briefly touches on the challenges still...
He Has My Eyes
0
Mark Glenn 2003-05-29 16:00
'Isn't he beautiful?' asked my friend Charles. 'He has my eyes, look.' Sure enough, the newborn baby had my friends' eyes. 'He's so beautiful,' he exclaimed. 'He's perfect.'
Guerilla Posting 101
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Andy Henke 2003-05-29 16:00
Sometimes you just have to get your message out. The cause of liberty, especially in these trying times, is at its core a battle against the State for the hearts and minds of the masses. The easiest way to participate in this battle is to become active on Internet message boards. Post facts, post opinions, challenge the views of others; get them to think. There are untold thousands, if not...
Watch What You Watch
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Craig Russell 2003-05-29 16:00
'The response to television may be fairly described as passive . . . . Television is a communication medium that effortlessly transmits huge quantities of information not thought about at the time of exposure.' ~ Herbert Krugman (1969), quoted in Four Arguments For the Elimination of Television
Suburbia Makes Good Firewood
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Jeff Vail 2003-05-29 16:00
Suburbia makes good firewood. It has a rebellious, almost arrogant ring to it--and after all, we knew those box houses had to be good for something. I'm not advocating some EF! style "burn down the housing development" message or anything--rather I was thinking about fires in general, and that when everyone realizes that they want to be in on the "fire pit" craze they're going to need a source of...
Slaves to the Teacher Unions
0
Bernard Chapin 2003-05-28 16:00
The teacher unions are a longstanding cancerous influence on the body politic. They are highly accomplished in the art of political pressure, and funnel money into the accounts of whatever political candidates will uphold their monopoly on public schooling. In the 2000 election cycle, $2.7 million found its way into the Democratic Party war chest and was quite useful in promoting the idea that...
Defining Liberty
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Andy Henke 2003-05-28 16:00
Although liberty means different things to different people, most would agree that it is not something that is bestowed by government; rather, in a 'free society' such as America , it is assumed that government exists to protect the inherent freedoms of its populace. The State often exploits this assumption by curtailing individual liberties in the name of 'protecting everyone's freedom.'
Untitled
10
Joseph S. Bommarito 2003-03-17 17:00
Beyond the count of years I walked the world, and my children built their shrines to me.  Decades and centuries and millennia pass, and still the shrines are built. Temples insubstantial to men, clear to my eyes.  No foundations or walls or roofs, but shrines nonetheless. Holy ground, consecrated  Today, every day, somewhere in the world, the earth is prepared for my coming. ...
Taoism and Anarchy
10
Mark Gillespie 2003-10-21 16:00
I have studied many religions in my search for truth. In my searches, I embraced a few. I was a nominal Christian for many years and converted to Islam about six years ago. Of course, I have left all of those religions behind, in my never-ending quest for truth. However, there is one "religion" that I studied that seemed to contain more truth than any other. That way is Taoism.
An Open Letter to the Peace Movement
10
Roderick Long 2003-03-10 17:00
Dear Peace Activists:All honour to you. In your opposition to the United States' impending war on Iraq, you represent a welcome voice for sanity and civilisation, lifted up against the incessant baying of the dogs of war.But I want to urge you to follow the logic of your position just a bit further.Much has been said, and eloquently so, about the need, in dealings between nation and nation, to...
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
10
Scarmig 2003-12-11 17:00
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child. I simply said 'no.' Really. That's how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again. On the Texas Application for Birth Certificate, which I was unable to get a copy of for this article, there is a check box down at the bottom of the page. It says, and I'm paraphrasing, 'Check here to have your...
Supreme Court Lets Dogs Go Fishing...for Drugs
10
Rex Curry 2005-01-25 17:00
A new Supreme Court case states that cops can take dogs fishing. Dogs can go fishing for drugs in Illinois vs. Caballes. As an attorney, I am often consulted by people victimized in searches by dogs trained to smell drugs. A drug dog's skills are often overestimated because people anthropomorphize dogs. A humanlike quality that dogs have is that they are natural libertarians with no interest in...
Radical Solidarity and Moderate Anarchism
10
Anthony Gregory 2005-01-27 17:00
Libertarians, and especially anarchistic libertarians, are known for their principles and strong ideology. This has often been, but does not have to be, a double-edged sword in the fight for freedom. To be a libertarian, one must embrace the Non-aggression Principle, or at least come to the same policy conclusions as one would based on the principle. Some libertarians say they don't like the...
The Suppression of Dissent
10
Jim Davies 2005-10-25 16:00
Exclusive to STR The jury is still out, as I write these words. Its verdict may be in by the time you read them, and there's a blog with the latest news--but that's okay because the point of this article is not to comment on the trial's outcome but to show what government had to do, in order try to silence an influential advocate of freedom. Its conclusion will be that government is wholly unfit...
The Power of One
10
Jim Davies 2005-11-21 17:00
Exclusive to STR Nobody is better qualified than my friend Per Bylund to propose, as he did in a recent STR article, that we who yearn for liberty "save the world through saving [our]selves." Per is not only a brilliant thinker and prolific author (in two languages!) he founded an anarchist website before many of us got our brains in gear and has engaged in debate there all comers from...
Be Free
10
Mark Davis 2005-07-10 16:00
The state has grown too big and powerful and conversely the individual appears small and powerless. Libertarians of all stripes can debate endlessly on why this has come about and where we should ideally be instead. When the question of what to do about it comes up, there is typically a moment of silence and perhaps a chuckle or two coupled with some frustrated cynicism. After this moment of...
Utopia vs. Liberty
10
Richard Rieben 2005-07-18 16:00
In his insightful analysis of the Dark Side, STR writer Jonathan David Morris notes that, "The Dark Side of the Force is not evil for evil's sake. It's evil because it believes the ends always justify the means . . . .
'Obamacare Nightmare Edition' of Ringo's Law and the Healthcare System of Doom MUST READ
10
Glen Allport 2013-10-30 08:02
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR Introduction for this 2013 Edition As I write this – October 28, 2013, more than four years after the column below was posted (here with minor edits; see the original at this link if you wish) – NBC News is reporting that the Obama administration “knew millions could not keep their health insurance" under Obamacare, and has known...
An Armed March on Washington? MUST READ
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Alex R. Knight III 2013-05-07 06:52
Column by Alex R. Knight III. Exclusive to STR Perhaps never before have I encountered a proposal within Liberty Movement circles that has generated more controversy faster and further than Adam Kokesh’s planned July 4th march on Washington, District of Criminals, in which he states that himself and the other participants “will march with rifles loaded & slung across our backs to...
The Orwellian Paradigm--Killing You, For Your Own Safety MUST READ
9.625
fmoghul 2013-04-10 08:12
Column by Faisal Moghul. Exclusive to STR Almost 30 years ago, cultural critic Neil Postman argued in Amusing Ourselves to Death that television’s gradual replacement of the printing press has created a dumbed-down culture driven by mindless entertainment. In this context, Postman claimed that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World correctly foresaw our dystopian future, as opposed to George...
Frameworks, Virtual Reality and Civil Society: A Manifesto for the Doctrine of Love and Freedom MUST READ
10
Glen Allport 2012-12-06 08:44
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR Perhaps I should say this paradigm shift is resuming. The healthier incoming paradigm is a modern, more accurate, better-supported, and better-understood version of one that began the shift towards a free, healthy, and prosperous world more than three centuries ago and which informed the creation of the United States itself: Classical Liberalism. - 1...
Timeline of a World-Killing Paradigm Shift MUST READ
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Glen Allport 2012-05-14 00:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR   Part 3 of "Could the Non-Aggression Principle Stop the Sixth Great Extinction?"   Part One of this series discussed the Non-Aggression principle, calling it "the libertarian half of the Golden Rule" (compassion being the other half) and describing the function of aggression in creating not only tyranny and war but also...
Terrorist Alert: Government Extremists Threaten Americans MUST READ
9
Glen Allport 2012-03-26 00:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR   Question: are you more terrified by Muslim extremists, by "domestic terrorists" – or by your own government? Which group is more likely to assault you? To kill you? To unjustly imprison and even torture you?   The U.S. federal government has ALREADY:   Built and is staffing a huge gulag of concentration camps ["...
The State Is a Firing Squad MUST READ
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JGVibes 2012-02-17 01:00
Column by JGVibes.   Exclusive to STR   Although the common perception of human nature is very negative, the truth is that most people who aren’t mentally ill have a very difficult time committing acts of violence. Usually it takes a sizeable payment and a fair amount of manipulation to convince someone to act violently, and even then a tremendous amount of guilt typically...
How the 1% Took America's Wealth--and How to Get It Back MUST READ
9.25
Glen Allport 2011-12-01 01:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR  - 1 - Plundering Wealth vs Producing Wealth   In recent decades, the rich have gathered an increasing share of the total wealth in the United States. As this wealth disparity grows and especially as large numbers of the formerly middle class fall into poverty and even into homelessness, this flow of wealth from main street (from anyone not...
'Anarchy or Minarchy' Is Only Half the Question, Part 2 MUST READ
9.5
Glen Allport 2011-04-13 03:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR  This is Part 2 of a response to a column by Wesley Messamore. Last week's Part One of this column discussed the following:   ·      Minarchy: Lighting a Match to the Fuse of Tyranny ·      Anarchy: By Itself, Yang without Yin ·      The Missing Key...
Oh, Stanley MUST READ
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tzo 2011-03-30 03:00
Column by tzo. Exclusive to STR   Stanley Milgram was an American social psychologist best known for his Milgram Experiment, a study conducted in the 1960s.   Dr. Milgram wanted to research the relationship between obedience and authority, and he was at least partly motivated to do so by the events of the Nazi Holocaust. It greatly troubled him that so many supposedly good people could...
An Apostate From the Government Religion Recommended
9.66667
Paul Bonneau 2013-10-23 08:00
Column by Paul Bonneau. Exclusive to STR I was reading an article about Roger Williams. The more I learn about him, the more impressed I become. "Roger Williams was not a man out of time. He belonged to the 17th Century and to Puritans in that century. Yet he was also one of the most remarkable men of his or any century. With absolute faith in the literal truth of the Bible and in his...
Murray's Missing Plan Recommended
9.66667
Jim Davies 2013-10-07 08:37
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR I've been continuing to read the fascinating story of the modern libertarian movement's early years, as told in the Libertarian Forum, edited and often written by Murray Rothbard. It's vast, but very worthwhile – warmly recommended. I've supplemented it recently with a re-read of parts of Justin Raimondo's excellent biography of him...
Left-Libertarians and the Ring of Power Recommended
9.5
Glen Allport 2013-10-01 08:32
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR Whoever cannot hit the nail on the head should please, not hit it at all. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche Image of The Ring of Power from Wikimedia Commons – 1 – If I had the Ring of Power, I would only use it for GOOD!   Recently, I was reminded that to at least some extent, left-leaning libertarians and anarchists do not understand that...
Government Denial Recommended
10
Alex R. Knight III 2013-07-31 08:31
Column by Alex R. Knight III. Exclusive to STR During my years as a practicing alcoholic, I employed any number of tactics to avoid the ultimately invariable conclusion that in order to solve my numerous problems, I needed to stop drinking altogether. Even long after I had made the inner admission that I was, in all likelihood, suffering from the disease – and I knew or understood very...
The Licensing Effect Recommended
0
Lawrence Samuels 2013-05-10 08:28
The article below contains excerpts from L.K. Samuels’ new book, In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human Action. Column by L.K. Samuels. Exclusive to STR Good intentions rarely make good laws. Those who do evil almost always think they are doing good for goodness’ sake. Nobody sees himself as evil. As Will Smith, the American actor, once quipped, “...
The Pugsley Plan Recommended
8.5
Jim Davies 2013-01-14 08:46
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR Prior to Harry Browne's first run for US President in 1996, his friend John Pugsley wrote him a passionate “open letter” urging him not to. As far as I know, Harry didn't reply, but he did continue his campaign – and repeated it four years later. He got few votes more than the LP normally receives, but his platform and campaign were...
Ed Schultz and His Alleged Middle Class Heroes Recommended
8.5
Greg Haley 2013-01-04 01:00
Column by Greg Haley. Exclusive to STR Ed Schultz has set quite the task out for himself. On his New Year’s Eve broadcast on MSNBC, he announced who his “Middle Class Heroes of 2012” are. Schultz is a self-styled liberal, so his recipients of the title “Middle Class Hero” are predictable and worthy of a certain amount of eye rolling. The general reverence for...
The Trials Recommended
8.33333
tzo 2012-12-11 08:49
Column by tzo. Exclusive to STR To anyone who has seen or read The Reader (a synopsis of the relevant part of the story is here), one of the main questions raised in the story is, "What should be done with Hanna?" Was she responsible for her actions even if she was so thoroughly indoctrinated so as to be completely confused by the charges against her? She asked more than once, while...
464 Lost Years Recommended
8.25
Jim Davies 2012-12-10 08:48
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR Recently I re-read part of that seminal essay, Discourse on Voluntary Servitude by Etienne de la Boëtie, written in 1548, or 464 years ago. He said that if you want to topple a tyrant, all you need to do is to withdraw support. No violence, no sweat, just stop helping him. Yet 24 years later there was a massacre of Huguenot Protestants, indicating that...
The Duty to End the State Recommended
10
Jim Davies 2012-11-30 08:53
Column by Jim Davies. Exclusive to STR Many reading this already understand the Self-ownership Axiom; that we each own our own lives by right, and hence that all government is an unnatural and ruinous appendage. Among those who do, though, surprisingly there is disagreement over what to do about it. Some hold that resistance by such voluntaryists in the present government-saturated environment...

 

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