While searching for good material recently, I couldn't help but notice the storm clouds of the State as they thundered across our nation and around the world, creating havoc and criminals, drowning taxpayers in seas of red ink, while diluting our liberty and sinking our freedoms.
The Washington Times reports [6], 'Montgomery County police said . . . that they will use tens of thousands of tips from the October sniper hunt to track down those who violate Maryland gun laws.' This is a fishing expedition at best, but it is also the first step of gun confiscation. Of course, the State isn't calling it that, yet.
The Washington Post reports [7] that Larry Wortzel, a retired Army colonel, said that he 'supported a draft because military service helps to socialize young Americans.' It also helps to get them killed, if not by the enemy, then by friendly fire, training accidents, exposure to toxic substances like depleted uranium (DU), or by the long-term effects of required immunizations. Any nation that must rely on conscription has already lost the war, if not the battle. The real war is being waged against liberty'not two-bit tyrants halfway around the world'and the State is winning.
The Sydney Morning Herald [8] reports, 'Step-parents may be held financially liable for their partner's grown-up children even if the marriage ends, following a ground-breaking court ruling.' Let's apply the deep-pocket theory to as many people as possible, even to those who are not related by blood to ensure that as much income as possible is stolen from those who earned it and handed to those who didn't, thanks to the State.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports [9], 'One day this month, a squad of sheriff's deputies will surround a middle or high school, hiding in woods or trees if natural cover is available . . . The deputies will spring into the open. Within seconds, they'll complete the off-campus roundup, capturing some of the students most wanted . . . for skipping school.' Obviously, in the War on Terrorism, the agents of the State have nothing better to do than conduct truancy stakeouts of school children attempting to evade compulsory 'education' in State schools.
The Denver Post reports [10], 'Many metro police departments, faced with state and local laws that forbade spying on citizens not involved in criminal activity, let cops take some spy files home, creating clandestine databases . . . . According to civil libertarians, such off-premises repositories have been commonplace, leading to egregious abuses in Portland, Ore., and Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, one detective reportedly took home confidential files and fed the information to a database run by an official of the John Birch Society.' Obviously, the agents of the State can't let little things like state and local laws stand in the way of Big Brother.
The Christian Science Monitor reports [11] that 'tens of thousands' of Canadian gun owners are thumbing their noses at the State and its national gun registry. 'Last month Canada's auditor general set off a political firestorm for Prime Minister Jean Chr'tien, when she reported that the firearm program's net cost to taxpayers had mushroomed from an estimated $1.3 million to more than $550 million.' The uncharacteristic civil disobedience displayed by these Canadians has only just begun. The legal challenges will be many, but the State will not be denied, for it must disarm the people.
A Time (Europe) poll asks the question [12], 'Which country really poses the greatest danger to world peace in 2003?' Given only three choices (North Korea, Iraq, and the United States) the 'winner' in this unscientific poll was overwhelmingly the United States. The American State is widely seen as the biggest threat to world peace, and rightly so.
The Sacramento Bee reports [13], 'As Illinois prepares to empty its death row, California's pro-capital punishment governor is asking the Legislature to approve construction of a $220 million, 968-bed death row at San Quentin State Prison. With no mass commutation of death sentences in the picture here, the death row that has housed California's condemned men since 1932 is bursting'. Robert Bloom, a prominent Oakland death row defense lawyer, spoke out against the proposal, saying, 'If you have 1,000 beds, it will encourage the barbaric practice of state-sponsored murder.' Bloom charged that Davis was 'downright in the hip pocket of the correctional officers union when it comes to matters involving locking people up.'' The correctional officers union is a major political force in California today. It is a growth industry, even with the state's $35 billion budget deficit. In fact, Davis wants to raise the California Department of Corrections budget by $40 million for 2003-04. Cost is no object, since he can always appropriate what he wants simply by raising taxes. Another agent of the State.
The Washington Times reports [14] that Louisiana police are stopping and demanding DNA samples from drivers of white GM pickup trucks in their search for a serial killer of four women. 'But as officers continue to go door to door running down tips, investigators began stopping white pickups and, in some instances, asking drivers to submit to DNA tests. Most complied, but some who balked were publicly embarrassed. 'What would these people have to lose ' if indeed they weren't guilty?' asked one Baton Rouge police official on the condition of anonymity. 'Hey, we're all in this together.'' Sorry, but no, we're not. That is the sentiment of a brainwashed believer of 'it takes a community' to do anything. Such is not the case, especially when personal privacy, bodily fluids, presumed innocence, and life in prison (or worse) are involved. Only an agent (or supporter) of the State would make this statement and expect to get away with it.
A reader writes, 'We had a very interesting guest speaker from the FBI at [reserve military] drill on Sunday to talk about anti-terrorism. I thought it would be the usual: try to blend into the surroundings, don't hang out at the airport unnecessarily, and don't go to work the same way every day.
'I was wrong, he was enlisting the help of reservists in monitoring neighbors and co-workers' activities. Look for things that are out of the ordinary: a lot of package deliveries, using the cell phone a lot outside vs. inside the house, do they have meetings at the house, what type of people attend, do they leave a lot at night and on weekends and then not really want to talk about it if you ask where they went.
'Scary, but not as scary as the almost universal positive response of the audience. There were really good questions from the assembled on how to inquire about the packages and trips without tipping your hand, asking about the group meetings and should they try to get invited. It was like attending a Nazi party meeting or meeting of the young communists. There was even some super info on things to look for at church events.
'And they say Osama is not winning. It's all over, stick a fork in the Republic and long live the Dept. of Homeland Security. I just hope this was an overspeed agent with a very small but active mind who found a good audience and not an actual program of the DHS.' Not bloody likely. FBI agents do not speak for themselves; they are agents of the State, that's why they carry a badge and a gun.
Bob Murphy says it all [15], 'In theory, there is no way to justify the State. In practice, there has never been a State that didn't eventually oppress its people. Only by ignoring logic and history can one advocate government. Now, once we get to that lovely, stateless society, we can argue about duty to neighbors and family. But first things first. Let's abolish the greatest threat to civil society: government.'
As the clock ticks and the calendar pages turn the sheeple continue to bleat 'we sure could use some rain,' but we are already underwater and there are no blue skies in sight, thanks to the storm clouds of the State.
