Bump-Stock Bans Are Bullshit – But We're Giving Them the Finger
Alex R. Knight III
2020-11-16 09:36
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Following the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas shooting incident, USAG Matthew Whitaker issued a regulation outlawing, and providing for the confiscation and subsequent destruction of, all bump-stock firearm attachments across America. Many state governments followed suit – or even acted in advance of – Whitaker's edict. One of those...
Greta Thunberg vs. Boyan Slat
Alex R. Knight III
2019-11-04 20:46
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Ever since August of 2018, the world has been hearing a lot about Greta Thunberg, an autistic teen from Sweden who began skipping government school classes (an admirable action when taken by itself) to stake out the Swedish Parliament building in Stockholm in order to demand “action” on the subject of “climate change.” As...
The Real Reasons Why the Left Are So Hysterical Over Guns
Alex R. Knight III
2019-08-17 15:02
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Ever since the February, 2018 shootings at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the political Left in America – and elsewhere – have ratcheted up their traditional disdain for privately-owned firearms to an over-the-top, frantic pitch. The Democratic Party has made gun control its #1 platform priority for the foreseeable...
Do Not Resist
Alex R. Knight III
2018-12-17 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
A somewhat obscure documentary that first debuted in selected screenings and film festivals in 2016, was just earlier this year released on DVD, and I became intrigued enough to buy a copy.
Do Not Resisttakes a look at policing in modern America. And what emerges is hideous.
I will start by saying that, cinematographically speaking, Do Not...
Bordertarians
Alex R. Knight III
2018-11-26 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Among the numerous other rifts which have divided libertarians over time, none of them in recent memory seem to have created as much consternation as have the intertwined issues of both immigration, and state (national) borders.
Now it should seem at first glance that this dual issue, as it were, is an easily resolvable one from any even basic grasp...
Every Terrible Implement of the Soldier
Alex R. Knight III
2018-11-26 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Imagine for a moment (in case you don't – and if you're reading this, you most likely don't), that you live in Syria. Or Afghanistan. Or Iraq. Or Myanmar (Burma, if you prefer). Or any one of any number of Third World hellholes currently throttled by political, social, religious, ethnic, or other kinds of violence. In all...
An Idea That Should Not Even Exist
Alex R. Knight III
2018-10-13 22:08
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
The other night, after a long day of doing far more productive things, I broke one of my own usual patterns and watched some congressional hearing videos online. These mostly consisted of people like Trey Gowdy and Jason Chaffetz grilling various titular heads – and sometimes their subordinates – from any number of alphabet-soup...
UFO Disclosure: Why Now?
Alex R. Knight III
2018-06-29 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Many moons ago, I published an STRicle here on what certain people calling themselves Government might or might not have known regarding the entire unidentified flying object phenomenon, and what incentives they might've possessed to withhold any such knowledge from public (or any outside) scrutiny.
But my, how times have...
Individualism: The Real 'Progressivism'
Alex R. Knight III
2018-06-08 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
I’m sure that I’m not simply speaking for myself when I say that I marvel – though with no great pleasure – at the ignorance of leftists who consider their view of the world to be “progressive.” As if 19thCentury socialist, Marxian doctrines and economics – after wreaking almost inconceivable havoc and...
One Percent
Alex R. Knight III
2018-05-22 07:34
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Senator Rand Paul, son of the infamous quasi-libertarian ex-congressman Ron Paul, recently brought a proposal before the governmental body of which he is a member. It moved that – other than the sacred cow of so-called “Social Security”– one percent (1%) of all other fedgov spending, right across the board be...
Dirty Magazines in Vermont
Alex R. Knight III
2018-04-13 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
When I was a kid, my mother (or more likely, one of her boyfriends) kept a stack of dirty magazines hidden in a closet. Of course, always the curious type, I found them one day, said nothing about it, and then sometime later, shared them with my friends. Being about six or seven years old at the time, I eventually got caught, was to some degree...
Intellectual Property and Liberty
Alex R. Knight III
2018-02-16 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
An ongoing debate in libertarian quarters has been and is whether or not intellectual property (or IP, for short) is a concept which has any place in a free society. While honest arguments on both sides can be compelling, there also seems to be a great deal of misconception surrounding the entire topic, and my goal here is to attempt to demystify...
The Most Libertarian Towns in America
Alex R. Knight III
2018-02-13 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Maybe you're thinking seriously about getting out of some hellhole in favor of living in a slightly less statist place, around more like-minded people – or possibly you just want a break and an interesting place to visit. Either way, I think I've identified a few places that might interest you:
Keene, New Hampshire: It has more or less...
Cop Love
Alex R. Knight III
2018-02-01 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Cop Love is a psychological disorder.
It exists in spite of all reason, all logic, all empirical evidence, all appeals to the truth.
It is impervious to everything and anything whatsoever except unconditional worship of police as the most noble and righteous guardians of both justice and order.
It is a disease. And it is a lie.
I was...
Cryptocraze
Alex R. Knight III
2017-12-29 09:58
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Half a decade ago now, I wrote a piece here on STR about how advancing technologies have nearly always introduced more freedom into human affairs than the latest political idea or bid to shift the philosophical leanings of a given society or population. The latter takes place, if at all, glacially. Technologies have the ability to shift things...
The Higgs Boson Article
Alex R. Knight III
2017-08-29 07:49
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
A very short piece by Robert Higgs, recently published on Everything Voluntary, caught my attention in a big way, and you can read it here. The key sentence therein that caught my eye was this: “Except for a tiny minority, avowals of the love of liberty are little more than hot air. Given a choice, people choose something else.”
To...
Bureaucrits
Alex R. Knight III
2017-08-24 08:40
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
It's an all-too typical condition among those calling themselves Government: Do as I say, not as I do. Most members of the public seem to be so conditioned to the notion of it that they tolerate it with almost total obliviousness. And the government apologists are even more dismissive of such callous hypocrisy. They seem to feel, at least...
Demand and Supply
Alex R. Knight III
2017-07-20 08:45
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Much has been made in the press recently about former Texas Governor turned Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry's economic statement: "Here's a little economics lesson: supply and demand. You put the supply out there and the demand will follow.”
To be sure, at first assessment, this statement seems counter-intuitively inverted...
Bugging Out: Screw Society and Save Yourself
Alex R. Knight III
2017-02-03 09:56
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
No one can seriously deny that there’s a lot of unrest out there lately.
And it’s coming from an increasingly diverse number of directions.
Tom Woods even recently penned an essay in which he posits that American society has arrived at a place in which it has become time to admit that “the differences are...
Why It Makes Sense That Police Are Outlaws
Alex R. Knight III
2017-01-06 09:04
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
There’s been a lot of talk for quite some time now about police brutality, misconduct, and unaccountability. In fact, last year saw an unprecedented level of demonstrations, riots -- and even multiple shootings of police – in response to cop actions against the populace deemed to be abusive and outside of written code, often with...
Gun Control in the Third Reich
Alex R. Knight III
2016-10-03 06:19
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
It is perhaps apropos – with gun control hysteria reaching a feverish pitch as society pushes towards another bi-annual rat-on-a-treadmill November bean counting -- that I just recently got around to reading Stephen P. Halbrook’s 2013 literary offering, Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and “Enemies of the State...
Voluntaryist Vitriol: Anarchic Attacks Against Alcoholics Anonymous
Alex R. Knight III
2016-08-29 06:12
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Times have changed considerably – at the very least, for myself – since I scribed my first piece even touching upon this subject for STR, a decade ago. As I’ve talked about here in both direct and allegorical terms, I’ve gone from being a chronic, practicing alcoholic, to a recovering one. And my active participation in...
Jealousy, Jouvenel and the War Against Socialism
Alex R. Knight III
2016-07-28 07:36
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
In his famous post-World War Two exposé, On Power: The Natural History of Its Growth, Bertrand de Jouvenel makes some salient observations at the very beginning of Chapter IX, “Power, Assailant of the Social Order” (pp. 171-172):
“Power is authority and makes for more authority. It is force and makes for more force. Or,...
The Confessions of Congressman X
Alex R. Knight III
2016-07-06 08:21
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
A very slim volume was published in late May, which, although it may hold few new revelations for the long initiated, is nevertheless a grimly fascinating window view into the mind of a modern American bureaucrat: At once and at times fraught with sociopathy . . . and yet filled with a kind of jaded cynicism that belies pangs of bitter conscience,...
A Vital Religion: Automatic Voter Registration in Vermont
Alex R. Knight III
2016-05-19 08:04
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Recently joining the proud tax farms of Oregon, Commiefornia, and West Virginia, bureaucrats of Vermont, desperate to muster support for the continuation of the statist cause, recently enacted a measure that will automatically register all “eligible” applicants for driver’s licenses (a government tracking and identification device...
Light, Metal, Shadow: The Freedom of Welding
Alex R. Knight III
2016-05-03 08:07
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
I suppose my first serious exposure to the trade, craft, and art of welding came during a brief five-month stint I did working for a railroad company. Technically, my job title was that of forklift driver, loading and unloading rail cars when freight came in to a small ex-airport on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River. On days when no such...
The World of My Time: Insults and Infighting
Alex R. Knight III
2016-02-18 09:15
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Last time here on STR, I thought I had spoke to all of the reasons why I no longer find active promotion of a free society to be in my own personal best interest, but on subsequent reflection, I find that I neglected to address an area that deserves some attention, if only in brief. Consider this an addendum, if you will.
As voluntaryists, we suffer...
The World Beyond My Time
Alex R. Knight III
2016-02-16 09:46
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Some time ago, I wrote a piece here on STR about some of my experiences as a practicing alcoholic, and how my initial years of substance-abuse denial are directly analogous to the philosophical position of Statists. And I’m about to come out of denial again.
In the 22 years now that I’ve been aware of it and involved, the libertarian...
America the Failed Experiment: "I Don't Think That's a Word" and Other General Folly
Alex R. Knight III
2015-10-26 08:35
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Did you know that America has the smallest constitution of any other tax-farm on Earth? It was, of course, ostensibly designed to produce the most limited and least intrusive State in all of history. Yet, the American State is now the largest empire to ever exist in all the time humans have walked the world, with the hugest, most destructive military...
Renaissance Und Kulturkampf
Alex R. Knight III
2015-10-15 07:53
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
As perhaps a counterpoint to one of my recent essays, I thought I might try to escalate the level of optimism by comparing and contrasting the modern Voluntaryist movement with some observable historical parallels.
During the High Renaissance in the late 15th Century, the philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola wrote the following:
“You,...
The Natural State of Free(d) Markets
Alex R. Knight III
2015-10-05 07:30
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } Mankind are a part of nature. So as to avoid the risk of being branded pedagogic, I’ll add that the most widely accepted cosmological theory to date is that we are all comprised of stardust – the ultimate Mother Nature. Things in this universe, so far as we know or can tell, just don’t get...
What About Peak Liberty?
Alex R. Knight III
2015-09-17 08:09
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
In a prior column published some time ago, I outlined the sociologically necessary pre-requisite for the transition to a voluntary society: a full 10% minimum of the population dedicated to that ultra-libertarian goal, and nothing less. In short, at current estimated American population levels, roughly 33 million persons ready, willing, and able to...
Symbols
Alex R. Knight III
2015-09-10 08:03
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
A few years back I published a piece here on STR that dealt with the symbology employed by various enforcers of government laws, and noted how most of it seemed steeped in a praising and glorification of violence, militance, and intolerant prejudice. I meant every word of what I wrote then, and still stand behind it in full. The actions of the...
A Vermont Counter-Revolution?
Alex R. Knight III
2015-08-27 06:29
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
It’s something of an axiomatic view of history here in the Green Mountains that beginning in the early 1960s, the socio-political landscape of Vermont began to change, specifically because of an influx of young Baby Boomers seeking to create a haven based on leftist ideology. There is no question, at least, that quasi-Marxist Great Society...
Why Must I Be a Marxist to Be an Artist?
Alex R. Knight III
2015-08-06 07:49
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { }Have you ever taken notice of the fact that almost the entire artistic community – and I don’t mean just Hollywood culture here, but also the literary world, the music industry, the visual arts – seem to have a kind of unspoken agreement amongst themselves that in order to be one of the...
Pilfering for Pluto
Alex R. Knight III
2015-07-20 07:22
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
It is unquestionably a scientific achievement of no small measure, the recent flyby made by NASA’s New Horizons space probe of the binary dwarf planets Pluto and Charon – and associated moons – at a near constant velocity of 30,000 miles per hour: the fastest object yet sent into motion from the Earth! The amount of data collected...
Change? You'll Have to Do Better, Becca
Alex R. Knight III
2015-06-03 08:16
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Becca Balint, a state senator here in Vermont who is an ardent supporter of gun control and also publishes a fairly regular column in a local newspaper, quoted Heidi Halverson – a psychologist at Columbia University – in a recent write-up. The quote itself is in reference to the fact that people fear change, but that this is also not the...
Defiant, She Advanced: Legends of Future Resistance
Alex R. Knight III
2015-06-01 07:39
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Let’s begin by forgetting about libertarianism altogether for a few moments and focus only on the primary aspect of this anthology: science-fiction.
There are a total of ten tales in this little micro-collection, edited by George Donnelly, and I found every one of them to be a singular gem. Some appealed to my sensibilities a tad more than...
An Axe to Grind With Stephen King
Alex R. Knight III
2015-02-04 09:11
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
As the man himself has stated the importance of, I can and definitely do separate the art from the artist. The fiction of Stephen King has inspired, entertained, and excited me ever since I first read The Dead Zone while sick as death-warmed-over myself on my mother’s living-room couch in 1981. This first exposure to the master of modern horror...
The State Is Out of Date: We Can Do It Better
Alex R. Knight III
2014-10-09 08:25
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
While there are many books both in and out of print designed to proselytize for a voluntary society to a layman audience, none perhaps have done so while retaining the kind of populist feel present in this offering from author Gregory Sams.
Initially published in 1998 in a slightly less expansive form, earlier this year saw the latest edition of The...
Against the State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto (Book Review #7)
Alex R. Knight III
2014-08-26 07:08
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
While he has long since come out candidly as a free market anarchist, Lew Rockwell, through his ever-popular LRC site, has provided a forum for freedom-oriented thinkers ranging from Voluntaryist to minarchist. Indeed, among Rockwell’s other accomplishments and titles are serving as editorial assistant to small government Austrian-economist...
The Urge to 'Do Something'
Alex R. Knight III
2014-04-10 08:03
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
It’s virtually the mantra of the statist government-believers – those of the Left, Right, and Center – whenever there’s a perceived “crisis.” A mass shooting. Unemployment. A display of racism or gender-bias. A tax-financed school system that fails to actually educate (though why such should baffle anyone is beyond...
Defending the State?
Alex R. Knight III
2014-04-09 08:13
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
I have to admit I’m rather perplexed by something I’m witnessing of late within the gun ownership community, and I’m going to do my best to try and dissect it.
Here in Vermont, we’re fighting some proposed gun control laws, and one of the pillars of support for private gun ownership that is commonly deferred to is Article 16...
The Meat of the Matter
Alex R. Knight III
2014-01-22 09:10
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
I can recall a story that circulated widely throughout the field of work I was in during the early 1990s, involving the owner of a meat processing plant in Nebraska.
It seems that this businessman (with help from his paid employees, of course) had produced a load of beef that he then wished to bring to market. In order to do this, however, the meat...
Government: Indicted (Book Review #6)
Alex R. Knight III
2014-01-15 09:14
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
It’s now been almost 11 years since the publication and release of Marc Stevens’ first book, Adventures in Legal Land, a volume which has heretofore – along with Marc’s radio show – served as a primary point of reference for Voluntaryists and others seeking to stop bureaucratic attacks by The Man in his own government...
Vandals
Alex R. Knight III
2013-12-31 09:24
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
This is one of those columns I’d hoped to never have to write, the kind that’ll probably get other libertarians pointing fingers at me and preaching about all the things I could’ve done differently, but here’s what happened – or has, so far.
I moved to a different residence here in Vermont back in November, and along...
Don't Tase (Or Kill) Me, Bro!
Alex R. Knight III
2013-10-31 08:21
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
One of the latest techno-gadgets government has taken to employing against the public in order to further cement its grip on control by perpetuating a reign of terror are, of course, tasers. They are touted as an allegedly non-lethal means of coercing an uncooperative person into compliance with a government goon. Yet, according to a May 2013 study...
A Voluntaryist Milestone
Alex R. Knight III
2013-10-14 08:32
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
One of the very first pieces I wrote for STR dealt with the appearance of a well-noted Voluntaryist on one of the most listened-to talk radio programs around.
Marc Stevens’s 2006 appearance on Coast to Coast Live – at the time, a subsidiary show of the famed Coast to Coast AM, with a much earlier broadcasting slot on Saturday nights and...
Tumbling Dice
Alex R. Knight III
2013-10-08 08:07
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
In 1966, the paleoanthropological writer Robert Ardrey published a book titled The Territorial Imperative, the predominant thesis of which is that the principal needs of any higher animal – such as man – are identity, stimulation, and security. The anathema of which are, of course, anonymity, boredom, and anxiety.
If there were one...
Government Belief Is Suicide
Alex R. Knight III
2013-09-23 08:07
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
During my sojourn as an undergraduate student, I had the pleasure of studying under the tutelage of a fine poet. Ben was a likeable enough guy: Literary, musical, humorous, and easy to work with. My study project title that semester was The Craft of Poetry, and so I read and wrote lots of both, which was also agreeable enough.
But during our in-...
Starbucks and Guns
Alex R. Knight III
2013-09-20 08:06
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
The recent announcement by Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz that the open carrying of firearms in his popular coffee shops is no longer welcome, has elicited quite a range of reactions from both pro and anti-gun groups. Some of it, in fact, has reached a hysterical pitch (as, I suppose, is only to be expected from what is such a hot button...
Amerika Is FUBAR
Alex R. Knight III
2013-09-19 08:28
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
There are a lot of people, well-intentioned ones among them (and we know what the road to Hell is paved with, don’t we?), who are still locked into the mindset of playing the government game, as it were. I’ve written quite a bit about that recently myself, and here’s another current essay that sums their misguided and futile efforts...
Everything Voluntary (Book Review #5)
Alex R. Knight III
2013-09-05 08:13
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
While there are certainly many superb libertarian/voluntaryist anthologies in publication, both past and present, most tend to be unitopical in nature. This is why Everything Voluntary: From Politics to Parenting, a 2012 offering from editor Skyler J. Collins, is not only instantly distinguishable, but perhaps of broader utilitarian value in terms...
Political Science Is Junk Science
Alex R. Knight III
2013-08-28 07:25
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
One of the more amazing aspects of the increasingly untenable farce that passes for education in America today is the widespread availability, at the college or university level, of degrees in Political Science.
What is “political science” – if indeed we are to even accept the idea that two such concepts bear any relation to one...
A Kingdom of Lies
Alex R. Knight III
2013-08-22 07:53
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
“People don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Ask virtually any person on the street if they like being lied to, and they will invariably tell you no. Of course – what other answer would you ever expect?
But the truth is that people quite obviously do...
Unapologetic Anarchism
Alex R. Knight III
2013-08-20 07:39
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Last October, a friend of mine from the People’s Republic of Marxachusetts was visiting me here on the slightly more enlightened tax-farm/slave plantation known as Vermont, and the topic of discussion turned to guns. I remarked how different the situations were between where she lived and here in that respect – how in Vermont, no licenses...
Government Denial
Recommended
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...
There Will Be No Victorious State
Alex R. Knight III
2013-07-26 07:54
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
One of the most absurd characteristics of democracy to me is the unspoken yet obviously present belief on the part of all active participants that ultimately, one day, through enough intellectual persuasion – or even underhanded political tactics so often openly engaged in – a single ideology will prevail, trouncing in some final imagined...
My Frustration With You Minarchists
Alex R. Knight III
2013-06-13 07:50
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
It’s not as great as with the out-and-out leftie government lovers, but it’s catching up. In fact, in many ways you’re worse. It’s not your sentiments, for the most part, just your methods.
They will change nothing.
In fact, they are detrimental.
Let’s set aside the fact that any government, however small, violates...
The Violent Libertarian, Part 2
Alex R. Knight III
2013-06-12 08:50
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
In the first part of this train of thought, I focused on my own past personal travails in order to shine a light on what I perceive as an unrealistic and undue degree of self-ascribed perfectionism in libertarian circles. Perhaps as a result, perhaps for other reasons, that essay has to date generated very little comment or controversy. However that...
The Voluntary Voice (Book Review #4)
Alex R. Knight III
2013-05-17 07:53
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Most of us are familiar with scores of libertarian books written by movement luminaries or anthologies containing scores of them, both past and present. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so refreshing to see a volume go into print straight from the grassroots.
The Voluntary Voice: A Book by Individuals (Volume One, 2013), is a...
The Violent Libertarian
Alex R. Knight III
2013-05-15 08:34
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
I suppose I had wanted to begin this essay talking about a piece published back in January by Jay Bookman, “Second Amendment is Not License for Treason, Armed Revolt.” I further suppose I had wanted to point out how, from a libertarian/market anarchist/voluntaryist perspective, it matters little what any amendment in any government...
An Armed March on Washington?
MUST READ
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...
Tea Party Anarchists?
Alex R. Knight III
2013-05-03 07:26
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
On the floor of the U.S. Senate this April 23rd, Harry Reid of Nevada had this to say, on record:
“We have a situation where this country has been driven by the Tea Party for the last number of years. When I was in school, I studied government and I learned about the anarchists. Now, they were different than the Tea Party because they were...
Building Bridges
Alex R. Knight III
2013-04-19 07:20
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Linda Waite-Simpson, an ultra-left, pro-government “state representative” here in Vermont, recently lamented to local press that her rejected bid to impose sweeping gun control measures upon the residents of the most gun-friendly tax farm out of the 50 was shot down (pun intended) because of the “strong libertarian bent in this...
The Smilers Among You
Alex R. Knight III
2013-03-05 08:43
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
I don’t know why you do it, any of you, when I talk about or discuss the fundamental issues. It is entirely inappropriate, absolutely irrational. Yet you continue to do it, almost every time.
The smiles. The grins. The amused looks – sometimes even outright laughter. It puzzles me, and it frustrates me. I’ll even admit, it...
New World Rising (Book Review #3)
Alex R. Knight III
2013-03-04 08:13
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Most of us, of course, are familiar with Benjamin Franklin’s November 13, 1789, statement that “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Federal judge William Pauley, in a February 19th ruling in Manhattan, referenced Franklin’s quote in connection with the holding of offshore bank accounts by Americans when...
The Invisible Reality
Alex R. Knight III
2013-02-27 08:21
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Let’s try to unmask and decipher a few things right now, and to make things a bit easier, let’s also take as our example a topic that is front and center stage politically at the time of this writing. In order to get there, however, we’ll have to provide some background.
John and Jane and their baby Adam all live together in...
Karl Marx: The Most Evil Man to Ever Live
Alex R. Knight III
2013-02-18 08:05
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
He perhaps fancied himself a liberator, though history has since more than amply demonstrated the utter moral and intellectual bankruptcy of this delusion. From no other philosophical doctrine to date has there yet arisen such a surfeit of sophistry, abuse, tyranny, oppression, corruption, malice -- and even genocide – as has due to the result...
The Voluntaryist Art of Not Debating
Alex R. Knight III
2013-02-14 08:50
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
That’s right: Not debating.
There seems to be a penchant, if not almost insatiable urge among those in our movement to constantly confront and debate those who adhere to one statist philosophy or another. Voluntaryists/Libertarian Anarchists burn up thousands of hours on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and such arguing our case,...
My Opposition to H. 124
Alex R. Knight III
2013-01-31 07:59
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Dear Vermont Legislators:
It becomes increasingly difficult to know just where to begin since, no matter how many times those of you who repeatedly attempt to impinge upon one of the very foundations of human liberty are presented with a surfeit of facts and evidence demonstrating the counterproductive, dangerous, and frankly, arrogant nature of...
An Open Letter to Philip Baruth
Alex R. Knight III
2013-01-23 08:22
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Dear Vermont Senate Majority Leader Baruth:
As I was from the very outset a staunch opponent of your proposed ban on “assault-weapon” style firearms and accompanying ammunition magazines with capacities of over 10 rounds, I am glad to see that you have chosen a wiser path and, before such a misguided knee-jerk “we have to do...
Not Mainstream, Just Consistent
Alex R. Knight III
2013-01-22 08:43
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
An article from April of last year that just came to my attention is one that I find both astonishing and encouraging in scope. It was published by no less than Forbes magazine, and its author, Lawrence Hunter, according to the accompanying bio, was a “former staff director of the congressional Joint Economic Committee, former vice president...
I'm a Liberal, You Dirty Radical!
Alex R. Knight III
2013-01-09 08:49
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
I’d like to share a little something here with you, a recent e-mail exchange I had with a now-former Facebook “friend” of a few years. This individual will remain unnamed here, though I will provide some details. This person is a not untalented filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has published an autobiography of some...
Markets Not Capitalism (Book Review #2)
Alex R. Knight III
2012-12-21 08:50
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
In November of 2011, a book was published that immediately captured my attention, not only because its central theme was market anarchist economics, but in that its very title challenged the label “capitalism” – long the sacred cow of free-marketeers, self-styled and otherwise.
I must admit that I too had partially fallen prey to...
Libertarian Anarchy: Against the State (Book Review #1)
Alex R. Knight III
2012-12-18 09:17
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
I can remember my first exposure to David Bergland’s Libertarianism in One Lesson as a freshman in the movement, and how it blew open any number of doors for me at the time. Enter now Gerard Casey’s Libertarian Anarchy: Against the State – a recently published work that I am willing to estimate has already assumed a rightful place in...
Requiem for the Republican Right
Alex R. Knight III
2012-12-03 08:53
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
The 2012 elections, while of limited interest to Voluntaryists, can still provide us, I believe, with something both instructive and profoundly useful.
Not only did Obama win a second term in the Oval Office, but Democrats in general made gains in both the Senate and House (even if Republicans held a slim majority in the latter). Now after you...
Thanksgiving Skies
Alex R. Knight III
2012-11-28 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Ever since I was very young, I have always enjoyed watching airplanes cross the sky. Day, or night, high-altitude jet or low-flying Cessna, far away on the horizon, or straight above, I revel in watching them pass across the big blue (or black) canvas overhead. Always.
Naturally, this is only possible since I am a child of the 20th Century. In prior...
Marijuana Prohibition Will Die of 1,000 Cuts…So Look Out
Alex R. Knight III
2012-11-16 08:47
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Of the 50 tax farms that comprise America, 16 have governments that will allow prescribed medical marijuana for use by patients suffering from such conditions as glaucoma, anorexia, or cancer. The local rulers of the District of Criminals also recognize such provisions, benign repositories of wisdom that they are. In some of these arbitrary...
Why I Did Not Create a Vermont Secession Request
Alex R. Knight III
2012-11-14 07:57
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
At the time of this writing, people from 48 of the 50 tax farms comprising the “United States of America” have created “We the People” web-based petition pages to the White House in Washington, District of Criminals, requesting Obama to peacefully allow their tax farm of residence to have a government entirely independent of...
The More We Do To You
Alex R. Knight III
2012-11-09 08:40
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." ~Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955), physicist
Now that the 2012 version of the...
Technological Transmogrification: Collapsing Government Via the Internet and Beyond
Alex R. Knight III
2012-10-29 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Karl Hess once said that historically, technological innovations always changed societies more than voting ever did, and without doubt he remains correct. All the evidence shows this to be true. Fire gave humanity the ability to survive the elements in greater numbers, and transition from the Stone to Iron Age. The printing press enabled Lutherans to...
The Post Office That Government Built
Alex R. Knight III
2012-10-19 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
As I continue to do my small part to ultimately wipe government off the face of the Earth forever, I can offer at least two prognostications which, although modest in scope compared to any actual voluntaryist destination, are almost sure to occur in the relatively near future. One, is marijuana legalization – even if only in some heavily taxed...
Veritas Est Non Grata
Alex R. Knight III
2012-10-17 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Twenty-five years ago, in 1987, the rock band Fleetwood Mac recorded a song with a chorus sung by composer Christine McVie that went, “Tell me lies, tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies….” It was as apt of a sentiment as could be for that despicable era of militarism, conformity, worship of authority, and “Just Say...
Can Voluntaryism Fix the Machine?
Alex R. Knight III
2012-10-10 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
The much vaunted libertarian journalist and commentator H.L. Mencken once wrote: “I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.”
I don’t consider it a stretch at all to say that this is how any voluntaryist worthy of the title feels. But statists – left, right, and...
A Fine and Functioning Anarchy
Alex R. Knight III
2012-10-04 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Those of you who may perchance recall (or might care to read for the first time) my second piece ever published here at STR, “Anarchism and Alcohol,” are in for a bit of a converse experience.
A recent acquaintance of mine – I’ll call him Larry, for purposes of anonymity (the further relevance of which shall...
The Future of Not Voting
Alex R. Knight III
2012-05-01 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Given that those in government have designated this another election year, we’re going to be hearing a lot about this biennial farcical charade for the next several months. And in truth, one could compile a small library just out of the amount of writing voluntaryists have done on the subject since at least the 19th Century. Thus...
The Ballad of Cullen Mutrie
Alex R. Knight III
2012-04-20 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
It’s made national news by now, and so the information I’m getting is from the Washington Post: Apparently, around 6 p.m. on April 12th, members of the New Hampshire Drug Task Force went to serve a search warrant on Cullen Mutrie of Greenland. They were ostensibly searching for steroids, and if they found any in Mutrie’s...
Freedom Is Not Found on Paper
Recommended
Alex R. Knight III
2012-02-14 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
One of the good folks at Gun Owners of Vermont (I like spelling that out much more than the acronym – GOVT – for what should be an obvious reason) recently sent me, along with my 2012 membership card, a piece published not long ago in a small freebie newspaper called The Shopper. It hails out of Ludlow, Vermont, and the...
Crossing the 10% Rubicon
Alex R. Knight III
2012-01-09 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
A very recent article published in Science Daily reveals the findings of a study that has yielded some very positive information for the Voluntaryist movement. In short, that once an ideology or set of beliefs is fervently held by ten percent of any given group or population, it invariably becomes the predominant philosophy throughout the...
Why You Can Drive Over 65
Alex R. Knight III
2011-12-21 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
I’m not referring to age – though the answer to that, if you qualify, is probably that your eyesight and reflexes are still good enough to get behind the wheel and make it from point A to point B without causing any 20-car pileups or running down any small children. I am referring to the the maximum speed limit cap on most...
The Iconography of Evil
Alex R. Knight III
2011-11-30 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
If you ever want an irrefutable indication of what’s wrong with America today, I suggest you have a look at some of the iconography government is putting out there – symbolism, if you will.
It has long been a known psychological principle that symbols and icons are a powerful yet subtle means to instill certain emotions and...
Vermont's Raw Arrogance
Alex R. Knight III
2011-11-17 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Of course, it’s already common knowledge for the most part that Vermonters have the temerity to carry firearms without any form of government say-so – even neighboring “Live Free or Die” New Hampshire will not suffer such uppitiness from the mere non-governmental hoi polloi. But another freedom – albeit not nearly...
No, Society, There Is No Santa Claus
Alex R. Knight III
2011-11-15 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
I know that I have likely irked some of you already by writing a Christmas-themed column before we have even gotten to Thanksgiving, but I can at least offer the caveat that it will likely not be near as onerous as the fact that the latest crop of political parasites (with all due respect to Ron Paul) have already ramped up their bids to be...
To Vote or Not to Vote? I’d Rather Go Fishing
Alex R. Knight III
2011-10-31 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
There resides here in southern Vermont a radio personality and newspaper columnist who prefers to simply go by the handle of “Fish” (no, it’s not Abe Vigoda living out a retirement fantasy in the Green Mountains), who in the October 26th edition of the Brattleboro Reformer began his column titled “To Vote or...
Government Steve, This Will Not Pass
Alex R. Knight III
2011-09-09 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
There was a pretty good article back in June published at Slate.com by David Weigel. The title was “Live Free or Move: Hanging Out With the Young Kids Who Want to Turn New Hampshire into a Libertarian Paradise.”
It’s a trite label for what was otherwise, in my opinion, a pretty good write-up. Not...
Aquacalypse Now: Some Reflections on Tropical Storm Irene in Vermont
Alex R. Knight III
2011-09-08 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Good night, Irene. And good night, as well, to any number of roads, storm drains, bridges, businesses, and homes here in Vermont and some surrounding environs. In a roughly 24-hour period on August 28th, the landscape of the Green Mountains was radically transformed. It will be weeks and months before any semblance of full...
A Decade of Striking the Root
Alex R. Knight III
2011-08-10 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Although for myself personally, it’s been very close to half that long at the time of this writing. My very first STR column, “The Trouble With Star Trek,” appeared on August 22, 2006. It was the first time I came to recognize the immense power of the Internet. I’d only learned of STR’s...
Government Is an Obsolete Idea (and Castro Proves It)
Alex R. Knight III
2011-08-02 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Fidel Castro is one of the only personages within recent memory--and this was while talking to a host of news reporters back in the 1990s--who repeated the Marxist myth that ideally, Communism would eventually make governments disappear. Of course, when then asked when the world could expect to see the Cuban government disappear,...
How Can You Hate Hitler?
Alex R. Knight III
2011-06-28 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
And not just in contrast to other tyrants and butchers of the 20th Century, when modern warfare and weaponry for the first time made the extermination of human beings possible on such a massive scale – I’m referring to Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and a few others who were at least indirectly responsible (after all, it was ultimately the masses...
Obama, Where's the Contract?
Alex R. Knight III
2011-06-27 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Of course, the more popular question these past three years or so has been, “Where’s the birth certificate?” – so much so that Barack felt obliged to produce a Hawaiian “long-form” piece of paper alleging his 1961 birth took place there. Others contend that this is a forgery, and that the...
The Absurdity of Hating Walmart...and Not Government
Alex R. Knight III
2011-06-10 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
It seems to invoke the ire of the dogmatic leftists to no end, the largest corporation on earth; this homegrown business, now global in scope, second in size only to the U.S. federal government. They inveigh against it as if this department store chain were the summary of all total malfeasance – a horrible capitalist-pig...
We Have Nothing to Fear but Government Itself
Alex R. Knight III
2011-05-24 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
The recent conviction of Bernard von NotHaus, founder of the Liberty Dollar, which had provided a gold and silver-based alternative form of currency to U.S. government-sanctioned Federal Reserve Notes (pieces of paper backed by nothing of any value whatsoever; thin air) since 1998 demonstrates quite clearly where Amerika currently is. ...
Government Will Die
Alex R. Knight III
2011-01-24 04:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
But not by way of “Second Amendment remedies” or any such hyperbole. True, there may well (and probably will) be episodes of anti-government violence before we get to the zero-government endgame, but as my last piece here at STR pointed out, violence begets violence. And we know that government, by its very nature...
Violence Begets Violence...and Government Is Violence
Recommended
Alex R. Knight III
2011-01-11 04:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
The recent shootings in Tucson, Arizona, involving Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, federal judge John Roll, and others has brought a tidal wave of outrage from the mainstream press, with those on the political left railing against what they perceive as the violence-inducing tirades emanating from everyone, apparently, from Michael Savage to Sarah...
Government Is a Garbage Dump
Alex R. Knight III
2010-04-30 03:00
Exclusive to STR
I was recently sent two friendly little notices from the government of Vermont, via the U.S. government’s postal monopoly, to the effect that it was time to fork over some of my money to purchase a new slip of paper and a couple of stickers so as to “register” my automobile, and to purchase a new laminated piece of paper with photo (though in Vermont, the...
The Real Debate
Alex R. Knight III
2009-12-20 17:00
Exclusive to STR
Most of STR's readers by now are likely no longer deluded by the falsehood of the Left Wing vs. Right Wing argument. Most of you correctly perceive both "wings" as really being one force unified against individual liberty in both economic and personal affairs. However, it occurred to me recently that--even in libertarian circles--there is still a strong perception of...
Things to Do While Boycotting July 4
Alex R. Knight III
2009-07-03 16:00
Exclusive to STR
July 2, 2009
It's been a tradition of mine, lo these past few years, and I certainly feel no shame about it. After all, July 4, 1776 , was a unique and very limited event. A group of 56 men, incensed by the tyranny of King George III in Great Britain , declared the land and inhabitants therein of 13 colonies, free from this regent's control.
I Don't and Won't Vote: Here's Why
Alex R. Knight III
2009-06-08 03:00
Exclusive to STR
It was really Larken Rose’s idea, not mine. In case you don’t know who Larken is, he is a fellow anarchist, but is more infamous still for his assertion that there is in fact no government law that makes anyone liable for the U.S. income tax. While I agree with his overall assessment, I...
Statism Is a Poisoned Mind
Alex R. Knight III
2009-05-17 16:00
Exclusive to STR
May 18, 2009
To fully appreciate and understand the hurdles we voluntaryists face in imparting the rational truth about government to the general public, observe this particular spectacle: an excerpt from an article written by Leon Wieseltier, titled 'Washington Diarist: Love Me I'm a Liberal,' published in the March 4, 2009 edition of The New Republic:
Don't Answer the Census
Alex R. Knight III
2009-05-07 16:00
Exclusive to STR
If you're already familiar with Lysander Spooner's "No Treason IV: The Constitution of No Authority," then you know that the U.S. Constitution isn't even worth the paper it's printed on. This becomes all the more visible when you bear witness to how selectively government either enforces or doesn't enforce it, based on whatever happens to be to the advantage of those...
Should Voluntaryists Own Guns?
Alex R. Knight III
2009-02-17 17:00
Exclusive to STR
Before answering that question, it seems profitable to delineate all of the various reasons or motivations anyone--not just voluntaryists--might find to own firearms. I'll start with the more trivial, and work my way down to the serious:
1.) Target and Sport Shooting: Like many recreational activities, this can also improve manual and mental dexterity. Sport shooting is a...
Vermont's Red Badge of Courage
Alex R. Knight III
2009-02-09 17:00
Exclusive to STR
February 10, 2009
Of late, the dogmatically left-wing media apparatus here in Vermont has been broadcasting with great zeal the fact that the Brady Campaign, and the New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, have just unilaterally denounced the lack of gun laws in Green Mountain country as 'the worst in the nation.' Here's a brief laundry list of the facts these wonderful...
I Believe in Common-Sense Too, Obama: I'm Buying More Guns
Alex R. Knight III
2008-12-15 04:00
Exclusive to STR
In an article published on December 8th by the Chicago Sun-Times, Barack Obama was quoted as saying the following: "I believe in common-sense gun safety laws, and I believe in the Second Amendment," Obama said at a news conference. "Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear. I said that throughout the campaign. I haven't indicated anything different during the...
Ready for Revolution?
Alex R. Knight III
2008-12-07 17:00
Exclusive to STR
December 8, 2008
According to Gerald Celente, you'd better be. Celente is the CEO of Trends Research Institute, who in mid-November made public his prediction that by 2012, America will witness mass food riots, squatters rebellions by the homeless, tax rebellions by the economically strapped, and even pockets of armed resistance as economic conditions worsen.
Libertarians, the Party's Over
Alex R. Knight III
2008-11-04 17:00
Exclusive to STR
November 5, 2008
This is an open letter to any and all 'Libertarian' Party folks; those of you who are still clinging desperately to the notions that libertarians will someday be electable candidates for office, and that by engaging and subsequently entering the political system, you can then dismantle, reduce ' or even eliminate it altogether ' from within.
Dark Thoreau: Another Side to Henry David
Alex R. Knight III
2008-10-30 17:00
Exclusive to STR
October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween, everyone. I thought I might take this opportunity to share with you a book by Walter E. Bridgman, Dark Thoreau (University of Nebraska Press, 1982). Strike The Root seems the best venue for this, of course -- and on what better day?
With Government, You've Already Lost
Alex R. Knight III
2008-09-29 16:00
Exclusive to STR
September 30, 2008
It doesn't have to be anything as dramatic as being dragged into court on criminal charges, though that certainly qualifies. It might be a routine traffic stop, whether or not the cop issues you a fine. It might be a nastygram sent via the U.S. postal monopoly from the IRS . It may only be one of those absurd forms the U.S. Census Bureau mails to us every...
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
Alex R. Knight III
2008-09-23 16:00
Exclusive to STR
To my disgust, there's one down at the end of my driveway at the time of this writing. Well, okay, it's really only half my driveway, even though I own the land immediately adjacent to either side of it. It's shared with my seasonal neighbor, who shall remain anonymous, and who departs for Florida every year before the snow begins to fly here in Vermont. Not that I envy him '...
Thoreau: Anarchist, Minarchist, or Individualist?
Alex R. Knight III
2008-02-28 17:00
Exclusive to STR
Was Thoreau an anarchist, a minarchist, or merely an aloof individualist to whom the State was an at-hand example to be used in illustrating further philosophical points? I'd like to re-examine Thoreau thusly.
Perhaps the first place to turn one's attention in this regard is 'Resistance to Civil Government' ' or, 'Civil Disobedience' if we defer to Thoreau's later title. At the...
The NRA: Friend of Freedom, or Foe of Firearms?
Alex R. Knight III
2008-02-07 17:00
Exclusive to STR
February 8, 2008
From a recent solicitation letter I received from the National Rifle Association in order to increase membership, I excerpt the following quote: 'We actively work to fight anti-gun media bias by encouraging law-abiding gun owners like you to stand tall and defend our freedoms without apology or compromise.'
Socialism Does Not Exist
Alex R. Knight III
2007-09-23 16:00
Exclusive to STR
September 24, 2007
Let's take a brief trip back to high school civics class (yes, I know it was likely a government school, but I'm sure not to blame for that) and review the four major known systems of economics:
1. Communism: In this model, both ownership and operation of all means of production lies exclusively in the hands of the State.
Don't Burn Your Bra, Just Stop Wearing It
Alex R. Knight III
2007-08-22 16:00
Exclusive to STR
As filmmaker Aaron Russo (The Rose, Trading Places, most recently America: Freedom To Fascism) tells it, he was sitting around sipping drinks with Nick Rockefeller when the latter asked him what he thought the whole Women's Lib movement, culminating in the early 1970s, had been about. Russo responded that he thought it was mostly about equal pay for equal work and universal...
Put the Monster in the Cornfield
Alex R. Knight III
2007-08-12 16:00
Exclusive to STR
August 13, 2007
As resident horror/sci-fi/fantasy buff here at STR , I'd like to draw to your attention an old and rather famous Twilight Zone episode. It's the one about a small rural town in Ohio , a town every single bit as Norman Rockwell as the early 1960s in which it fictitiously existed. A serene, peaceful, sleepy place to live.
Until the monster came to town.
Time in a Bottle: American POWs Left Behind in Vietnam
Alex R. Knight III
2007-07-02 16:00
Exclusive to STR
July 3, 2007
It was, I suppose, otherwise a typical overnight for me; listening to Coast To Coast AM in the wee hours of this past May 30th. The subject matter, however, was such as I had not visited since at least the 1980s, when Rambo-type movies were in vogue -- Uncommon Valor (loosely based on true events) is one which comes to mind. It all made for great cinema, though...
The Day After
Alex R. Knight III
2007-03-25 16:00
Exclusive to STR
March 26, 2007
It was nothing like the ABC -TV special from November of 1983 (save one element) -- but it was November. 2008. The day before the presidential elections, to be specific.
That one element was the use of Soviet-era "suitcase nukes." Within bare minutes of each other, four of them detonated in various parts of the country. Though three of them occurred in...
Welcome to Anderson, Alaska!
Alex R. Knight III
2007-03-21 17:00
Exclusive to STR
March 22, 2007
Here's what you won't find here: there is NO: sales tax; "income" tax (Alaskans won't buy into the Feds' fraud--bravo to them!); property tax (that's right--absent any mortgage, you own your home and land free and clear!); gun control (though Alaska does ban certain types of "exotic" shotgun ammunition; Vermont is one up on the Last Frontier there).
What you...
Chuck Schumer, You Are the Essence of Evil
Alex R. Knight III
2007-02-26 17:00
Exclusive to STR
February 27, 2007
Senator Schumer:
I'll cut right to the chase. First off, I'll not refer to you as the "Honorable Charles Schumer," since there is not a single manner -- not one -- in which that adjective can possibly apply to you.
UFOs: What Does Government Know?
Alex R. Knight III
2007-02-25 17:00
Exclusive to STR
February 26, 2007
Well, here's what I know: I've never seen an unidentified flying object in my life. Yet I still believe they exist . . . whatever they may be. Certainly the number of sightings and reports -- going back centuries, and at the time of this writing we are witness to a global rash of them -- indicate some substance to the overall phenomenon. In truth, however,...
I Talk to the Wind
Alex R. Knight III
2007-01-31 17:00
Exclusive to STR
February 1, 2007
"I talk to the wind/My words are all carried away /I talk to the wind /The wind does not hear/The wind cannot hear."
So sang King Crimson way back in 1969, and these lyrics are especially poignant (if considerably more vile) when we substitute "bureaucrat" for "wind." Go ahead and do that right now and see what I mean.
Leave Government Alone!
Alex R. Knight III
2006-12-31 17:00
Exclusive to STR
January 1, 2007
Perhaps no one institution receives more derision on a more consistent basis, and yet somehow manages to carry on virtually unabated. This stands as either a testament to its noble heroicism, or evidence of a kind of Luciferian immortality. It all depends, I suppose, on where you think mankind stands.
Either way, we ought to leave government alone.
A Machiavellian Matrimony
Alex R. Knight III
2006-12-13 17:00
Exclusive to STR
December 14, 2006
Not for me. Of course, as I close in on 38, I'm still a bachelor which means no matrimony yet of any kind. I doubt it's in the cards. Here's why:
Authority Is the Problem
Alex R. Knight III
2006-12-04 17:00
Exclusive to STR
December 5, 2006
It occurred to me just recently that I've done some pretty amazing things in my life. That may well be said of many human lives, but as a bellwether by which you might gauge for yourself, here's a sampling: I have . . .
* scripted two radio ads which were recorded by a once-famous Hollywood actor.
* nearly backed into and stepped on the foot of another...
Chasing Rabbits: My First Experiments With Hallucinogens
Alex R. Knight III
2006-11-12 17:00
Exclusive to STR
November 13, 2006
'And if you go chasing rabbits, and you're sure you're going to fall, tell 'em a hookah smoking character has given you the fall . . . call Alice . . . when she was just small . . . .' ~ From 'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane (Surrealistic Pillow, 1967)
This Is the Me Generation
Alex R. Knight III
2006-10-17 16:00
Exclusive to STR
October 18, 2006
We had better terminology back then, I think, to describe what we thought was wrong with the world. Anomie. Urban malaise. Existential grief of the 20th Century. Increasing lack of empathy. Ethical or racial ramifications of social dysfunction. Tedious words for tedious times. Encounter-group catchphrases. Yoga session buzzwords.
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