Violence is everywhere.  We see it in the news daily, it’s in our TV shows, our movies, our video games and sometimes a part of our lives.  Recently we’ve read multiple news stories about police violence against unarmed individuals.  In some of these stories the innocence of the alleged victim is dubious.  In others, video seems to prove beyond doubt that the police used unnecessary lethal force. As Issac Newton’s Third Law observed in physics, so we are seeing in society; an equal and opposite reaction to ever increasing levels of police violence and brutality.  Most recently, two members of the NYPD were shot to death while they sat in a patrol car.  Anti-police sentiments and protests are on the rise everywhere.  Some of the outcry is the result of perceived racism.  Some stems from a recognition that the police – once known as “peace officers”, have become something quite different. This isn’t Mayberry.  Today your average hometown police squad has a cache of automatic weapons, body armor, tear gas, grenade launchers, armored military vehicles and perhaps even a weaponized drone. I have yet to meet someone who expressed a feeling of comfort, safety or peace upon seeing one of […]

There, I said it.  Despite the hysterical masses who are just eating up this media hype that the human race is on the brink of Ebola-induced extinction, I hold – quite comfortably – that Ebola is not a serious threat to the US.  Talk of closing borders is sensationalist over-reaction.  Even IF we were in the midst of a true epidemic, my answer to the above posed question would remain a resolute ‘NO’.  Here is why… I recognize that everyone has a right to travel anywhere they wish so long as they are not trespassing on another persons property.  The government has no authority to curtail this basic natural right – even in the event of a catastrophe.  As it is, in the three cases of Ebola in the US, the government has messed up multiple times.  The government – as always – is an utterly worthless, blitheringly idiotic monstrosity that fails even the most basic of tasks with the possible exception of hurting and killing people. In the event of a serious Ebola outbreak, should travel restrictions exist?  Would they help to slow the spread of the disease?  Yes, I believe they should, and would slow the spread.  No […]

I like the tea party.  It’s probably the most active force for relative political good today.  They helped get some true liberty-minded individuals in Congress, like Rand Paul, Thomas Massie, Justin Amash and Ted Cruz among others.  They have been going toe-to-toe with the establishment and really taking the fight to DC.  A fairly large contingency within the tea party are libertarian, or at least libertarian-leaning.  However there is also a faction of traditional Republicans who are in it for little reason other than that the current president is a Democrat.  This group supports the typical Republican platform, pro-life, anti-gay marriage, anti-drug, low taxes, and pro-military.  The primary push of the tea party is “smaller” government.  Murray Rothbard once noted that “the ultimate goal of total liberty must always be upheld”, in other words that a clear goal must be in mind and our eyes must remain fixed upon it if we are to reach it.  The tea party’s greatest inherent fault is that it has no clear goal.  It is a group marching in the right general direction, but without a final destination plotted out!  Without a point around which to concentrate its effort the tea party will eventually […]

Oh boy… Matt Zwolinski, founder of “Bleeding Heart Libertarians” (google it if you’d like – I can’t bring myself to benefit them with a link), recently wrote an article posted to libertarianism.org presenting “the libertarian case for a basic income”.  This idea is so absurdly un-libertarian that at first I wasn’t sure it even warranted the time necessary to expose what should be obvious.  I decided that it was worth the time because as someone who identifies as libertarian, I’m none too pleased to see the word used in association with this ridiculous concept. For those unfamiliar, the idea of a guaranteed basic income goes like this: each month the government writes a check to all citizens.  This check is the same amount regardless of other income, wealth, or any other conditions.  It is issued without regard to any requirements or stipulations – it is unconditional. Zwolinski argues that this is a justifiable program for libertarians to support because he claims it would, 1. be better than the current welfare system, 2. serve as approximate reparations for past injustices, and 3. it would meet the basic needs of the poor.  If you’ve read anything about the “thick vs. thin” libertarian […]

Tuesday night, June 10th, 2014 residents of Virginia’s 7th district made history by voting out Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the GOP primary election. Cantor, a career politician and neo-conservative was ousted in favor of newcomer David Brat, a local university economics professor.  Brat is being hailed as a “tea party” candidate, and while his views seem to align well with those generally held by tea party affiliates he actually received no backing from the major tea party organizations, due to the evidently misled belief that Cantor was untouchable. Brat’s win truly is a history making event, and one that sends a shock wave through the GOP establishment.  Late night’s victory marks the first time in US history that a House Majority Leader has been unseated in a primary election.  The implications of this win are far reaching.  Cantor has been a vocal supporter of amnesty measures for so-called illegal immigrants – an issue that has been coming to a head recently with immigrant children currently flooding over the US-Mexico border as an unforeseen ramification of President Obama’s recent declaration that children would not be deported. Mr. Brat was able to use this to his full advantage to […]

It’s funny how life works.  The daily interactions and experiences we have seem trivial at the time but can have profound ramification on our futures.  Here I sit, trying to strategize how best to proceed with the writing of this post, the future of this site, my reading list, my son’s education, financial planning, dinner tonight… It’s an unceasing string of seemingly random thoughts that are all interconnected, at least for me.  Everything fits into a web and has varying degrees of influence on the other nodes of the web.  It was this web that brought me to the political opinions I hold now, which in turn changed my views, or at the least enlightened my views on many other topics.  My political journey so far is what I’d like to talk about in this post. I was brought up in a conservative, Republican household.  I don’t recall the issue-specific positions my parents took on most things.  It was the typical Republican platform, patriotic, lower taxes, anti-gay marriage, pro-life…  While I took on many of those view as a child and teenager something about them – something I can’t pinpoint – didn’t agree with me.  I missed the age cutoff […]

The protests and ultimate governmental overthrow in Ukraine has been in the headlines for a few weeks now.  In the last few days the situation has been heating up and a good time is being had by all in politics and media.  You see, as it’s being reported by the mainstream, Russian President Vladimir Putin is aggressively invading the destabilized Ukraine – particularly the Crimean Peninsula.  Politicians and talking heads are making this sound like a global catastrophe in the making perpetrated by a belligerent leader in an attempt to establish the dominance of his country on the world stage.  The United Nations is holding an emergency meeting of its Security Council in the coming days to assess the situation.  The United States is threatening consequences for Russia if she doesn’t back down.  Lots of dogs are barking and many sabers are rattling.  At it’s face, it sounds like Putin is overstepping, and perhaps he is.  As with every story, there is another side. To get a better grip on the situation we need a little prospective from the history books.  First of all, Crimea itself can be divided into two parts.  The first being the Autonomous Republic of Crimea […]

I talk a lot about politics.  I have a blog that focuses largely on politics (thanks for reading it).  I read a lot about politics.  Well, I also tried to break into politics and I’m considering giving it a second go.  Unfortunately, it’s left me ill at ease and struggling with what I view as a moral dilemma. In 2012 I ran for my local Republican committee.  I was seeking election to the position of Committeeman.  This is basically the lowest level of elected political office.  The role is that of “vote-getter”.  Responsibilities include voter registration, staffing the polls on election day, signature collection to get candidates on the ballot, “get out the vote” efforts, door-to-door canvasing and placing all of those political signs that appear everywhere before an election. At the time when I ran for the position it was vacant, and had been for over a year.  I contacted my county GOP and expressed interest in fulling the vacancy, which can be accomplished by appointment by the GOP county executives.  I had a meeting with the GOP executive responsible for my part of the county which I thought had gone well.  My appointment to the post never came […]

Tuesday evening President Obama addressed the nation for his State of the Union speech.  As usual, this was a horse and pony show with little in the way of substance and less in the way of honesty.  As usual, the president intends to correct the nations problems with more of the same – more government.  The nation is crumbling beneath weight of a Leviathan government, and the president’s solution is to feed Leviathan more. The president threw out a lot of cherry-picked statistics and funny figures.  One of them was a claim that unemployment is the lowest it’s been in 5 years.  While this is technically true based upon the politically convenient method used to measure it, the figure forgets the millions of individuals who are no longer looking for work.  The people who have given up on the job market aren’t counted toward the official unemployment numbers.  He goes on to talk about how “if you work hard and take responsibility you can get ahead in America”.  This is a very interesting remark considering the source.  This president has made it his mission not only to discourage hard work, but also to demonize those who are the most successful. […]

Welcome back for Part 2!  I know, it’s been a long time coming.  If you haven’t already, check out part 1 of this series before continuing. All of the disclaimers given at the start of part 1 remain in full force.  Without further ado… Internet Security Use Firefox for web browsing – Mozilla has no direct connection to any company taking part of PRISM (unlike Internet Explorer and Chrome). Use Firefox Extensions to add security – NoScript is a great little add-on that blocks scripts from running, thus helping to prevent script based attacks. HTTPS Finder and similar add-ons detect when a webpage has HTTPS (encrypted HTTP) and uses it when available.  This encrypts the connection between the site and your computer. Note that many sites have HTTPS but that the HTTPS version of the site may not be intended for public use so formatting issues, loading problems and errors are common. Use “private mode” in your web browser, particularly if using a public computer – it will leave no trace of your activity and will block any tracking cookies. Consider an alternate “private” search engine such as DuckDuckGo which claims not to keep any search records. Now, the above tips help to secure and […]