My "calling"?

I think I would really enjoy earning my money as an arbitrator in a free society.

I look at situations where a dispute has occurred as a puzzle. It is fun to work out "the right thing" based upon the ZAP and other libertarian principles.

It kind of fits in with my mom's assessment that I should have been a lawyer, while recognizing the utter contempt I have for "the law" and courts. And this respects the voluntary nature of real justice and I love the fact that no one would be robbed to pay my fee.

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Profanity in the Park- Liberty Lines 4-12-2012

(Published in the State Line Tribune 4-12-2012)

Freedom, as I understand it, is doing whatever you want to do. Liberty, on the other hand, is the freedom to do those things you have a right to do. However, just because you have a right to do something it doesn't mean that it's the best thing to do in every situation. Liberty always comes with responsibility

For example, those local residents who play basketball at the Farwell park and the elementary school playground have the right to use the childish language- mostly four-letter words- that is usually referred to as "profanity", but when small kids are around it is a poor decision.

I am not shocked by your words, nor am I impressed that you know them. I knew most of them when I was in fourth grade, and I was probably a slow learner. However I resent that you have so little respect for my young daughter that you can't play a simple game without screaming those words, and describing in graphic terms what you suggest your opponents do, at the top of your lungs, with each and every play. You foul the air just like you litter the ground with all the empty "sports drink" bottles that you leave behind. You are responsible for your deeds whether you accept it or not.

I understand why some misguided people try to have laws passed to use the brute force of government to punish those who loudly and indiscriminately fail to grow up in the language they use and in their actions. Yet I will continue to despise and oppose any such attempts to regulate your speech. As I say, you have a right to say whatever you want, but when you misuse that right, and fail to accept responsibility, others get the bright idea to control you by "law", and some of them aren't nearly as concerned about your rights as I am. You give the nannies among us an excuse to try to violate everyone's liberty with your boorish behavior. Please grow up.

I realize this plea will not reach those I am addressing. The impression I get from your juvenile choice of language is that you probably don't spend much time reading anything as deep as a newspaper- and it makes me doubt anyone in your life cares enough to mention this to you. Prove me wrong.

Man Alive, that was interesting!

I just read an online book that I really enjoyed. I found it over at Sunni's blog .

It is called "Man Alive! A Survival Manual for the Human Mind" by Greg Swann.

Now, you could argue that this is just a libertarian version of "The Secret" or something, but I don't think so. There's no "magic" or mystical thinking involved- just thinking. And acting on those thoughts.

I really dislike reading books on the computer, but on Sunni's recommendation I did it anyway. And I got a lot out of it. If you feel like reading it, I think you'll be glad you did.

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Right, wrong differ from legality

Right, wrong differ from legality

(My Clovis News Journal column for March 9, 2012.)

One common, and very amusing, retort I encounter whenever I point out that not all "laws" are equally moral or ethical, is "It's the LAW; you have to obey whether you agree or not". Usually that is followed by some personal insults and innuendo.

It is a pathetic excuse for an argument. The first thing bad government (but I repeat myself) does is make its own abuses "legal". It fools those who just want to do the right thing into taking the side of the bad guys.

Remember that there is right and there is wrong, and legality has less to do with rightness with each passing day. Suppose history repeats itself and suddenly a segment of the population- in the past it has been Jews and runaway slaves- is forced into hiding in order to survive. The law also demands you report any of those in hiding or you become a criminal just like they are. Would you obey the law? Would you ridicule and report those who refused to obey the law? It would, after all, be "The Law".

If you would, I pity you. I still will not obey laws that violate the basic, inborn natural human rights of others, even people I don't particularly like. My conscience is more valuable than is the feeling of being a "good citizen" by doing the bidding of those who believe they have the authority to rule.

Plus, there is a glaring double standard. We are expected to obey everything government imposes upon us, yet government employees conveniently forget to obey the laws that bind them. And, judging from recent history, they can't generally be held accountable.

Legally, as amendments, the Bill of Rights supersedes anything in the body of the Constitution. Where the two clash, the Bill of Rights is the supreme law of the land. That means every gun "law", no matter how minor, is illegal, and enforcing it is a very serious crime. Yet, how many enforcers end up in jail for enforcing gun regulations and prohibitions?

It also means that the constitutional mandate for government employees to stay out of your home and papers (and today, your car, computer, and phone records) except in severely limited circumstances is rock solid. Any "fishing expedition"-type searches are illegal. Contrary to the clear intent of the law, warrants are rubber-stamped with no specific criteria, usually to enforce laws that the Constitution clearly prohibits.

In the coming years, as things average citizens care about become just as illegal as those things they don't, I will be amused to see the shift in attitudes, and will be thinking "Welcome to the party, pal".

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Tax addicts and embracing "the law"

A recent post dealt with an evil use of "child support". Here is another example I just became aware of.

Someone else I know had a baby a couple of years ago. The couple "coupled" but never were a "real" couple, as far as I know. And both were rather young by this society's standards (although I don't always agree with those standards). Anyway, a "surprise" teen pregnancy resulted to the horror of all involved. With the guidance of the soon-to-be grandparents, welfare was applied for and received. Yes, a rather appalling lack of responsibility all around.

The baby and mom have always lived with the mom's parents, and there is no plan to change that. They have not made any demands of the father at all. He is free to come see his young son, or to even take him places, at almost any time. The father is rather wishy-washy. He comes to see the kid when it is convenient and makes plans to come visit but doesn't bother to show up at the arranged time, or even bother to call to cancel, fairly often. His child doesn't even really understand who this guy is.

And now he is demanding- by force of The State- "fair access" to the kid, "child support" payments from the young mother (or, more likely, from her parents), and that the kid be given his last name.

If he prevails in his lawsuit, this is just another illustration that "child support" is a disgusting scam. That he could even get a lawyer to draft such a demand shows that something is dreadfully wrong with the "system".

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Do I harbor what I hate?

Sometimes I wonder if I have authoritarian tendencies that I keep hidden from myself.

I know someone who is a liar, who claims she hates liars, and who is a very sneaky person, but says she hates sneakiness.

I hate authoritarianism, so does that mean I really have the urge to order everyone around or work for the TSA? Goodness, I hope not!

I'm opinionated. If it comes up I do not hide my thoughts or attitudes. However, it usually doesn't become an issue until someone tries to force me to do things their way. As long as they don't do that I don't try to meddle in their business. (I have been accused of "forcing" someone to put up with me doing what I want to do, which seems absurd when you think about it.)

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Give me MORE climate change!

But I want "Libertogenic Global Political Climate Change".

I want understanding and hunger for liberty to spread like kudzu. I want it to be partially my fault. I want to increase my "Liberty Footprint" by giving off more than my fair share. And I want it to be irreversible.

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Rules of the game

I get together on an irregular basis to play cards with some of my relatives. Some of us (not me, of course) have trouble remembering the rules of Polish Poker and this brings many opportunities for hilarity.

Which makes me think about rules.

The common erroneous notion is that anarchists such as myself are opposed to rules in general. That's just silly. I am opposed to Rulers and arbitrary rules.

It is as if, during the course of a card game, someone keeps switching out the cards we are using for cards of some other type. Old Maid cards, perhaps. And keeps changing the rules in such a way that they benefit- win- at everyone else's expense. In other words, they rig the game.

Only a fool would keep playing under such conditions. But, just keep on voting and begging for your liberty if that's what you think is best.

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Making Buckskin

Over the years I have had a few people ask me about making braintan buckskin. I figured I may as well post my "standard response" here. It's not exactly "libertarian" I suppose, but it can be a part of living free.

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First of all, are you wanting buckskin or a hair-on hide? Deer hair is brittle and will always shed BAD, and it is very hard work to get a soft hair-on skin using natural methods. I will explain the buckskin method, but if you want hair-on, you just eliminate the hair removal step, and (contrary to what you might imagine) add a few more hours of very hard work to the "braining" and drying process.

Either way, pull the hide off without using a knife if at all possible. If you DO need to use a knife, make sure it doesn't score the skin at all. NO SALT! Take out the brain and save it. If you can buy any pork or beef brains anywhere, get a few extra pounds. (Save the strips of sinew that are on either side of the backbone, too, if you want thread.)

When the skin is off the animal you need to "flesh" it. Without cutting into the skin at all, scrape off all of the meat, tallow, fat, and membrane. (I always save the tallow and make various good stuff with it) A 90 degree angle edge on a steel bar is better than a knife blade if you have a rounded surface (like a smooth log) to lay the skin over. And then you can grip it on both ends to really push it down the skin. It's a very good way to build arm muscle.

After the flesh side is completely clean of all tissue and membrane you need to stretch the skin in a frame to let it dry. You need to be able to get to both sides, so don't just nail it to a wall.

Once the skin is completely dried, you need to use a sharp blade to scrape off all the hair. A rounded blade that is sharp and that has a handle perpendicular to the edge helps. I made my own with a big leg bone and a plane blade that I ground off round.

This is the messy, miserable part of the process. The hair goes everywhere and clings to everything.

Scrape the hair and the epidermis away. Be careful because it is very easy to pop through the skin since it is parchment (and paper-thin) at this point. After all the hair is removed use a medium sandpaper (or sandstone rocks) to sand both sides of the skin until it is nice and fuzzy (on a small scale anyway).

(If you are not in a hurry, the stretched, dried skins can be taken out of the frames and kept indefinitely, as long as you protect then from critters and moisture. I used to get a bunch of hides ready and then wait for nicer weather for the finishing steps, but yellowjackets LOVE the brain solution and doing the braining in winter avoids that complication.)

Then, once you have sanded the skin, take the skin out of the frame and hose it down to make it wet and flexible again.

Now, boil the brains in a little water until they go from pink to pinkish-gray and smell "cooked" ( hate this smell). Put the cooked brain -or two (more is better)- in a couple of gallons in a 5 gallon bucket. Make sure it is not hot or it will cook the skin. Lukewarm is OK. Stick the skin in the solution and get it very saturated. Five minutes or so, with you stirring it around in the solution, should be good.

Take the skin out and wring it out. Put it back in the solution, saturate, then wring it out again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. The biggest mistake I used to make was not repeating this step enough. I have never done it too much but have not "brained" it enough lots of times. I would put it in the brain solution and wring it out at least 5 or 6 times, and 10 or 12 would be better.

Now, you can either put the skin back in the frame, or you can work it by hand. Either way you want to pull, stretch, twist, tug and otherwise abuse the skin until it is dry. Do not stop until it is totally dry or you will have hard spots in the hide. You will notice it getting whiter as it dries and stretches, and it will start to fluff up. Once it is dry, it should feel like thick, luxurious flannel, and be an off-white color.

Now comes the smoking. This gives it its color, its moth-proofing, and its ability to not be destroyed by water. Find rotten "punky" wood. It should be crumbly. It doesn't matter if it is a little damp.

Sew or staple the skin into a bag shape. You can put two skins together to save time and trouble. Just try to make sure there are no dead spaces where smoke can't go, and stitch any holes closed. For safety's sake, I'd also sew a sleeve of cloth onto the mouth of the skin bag so that the skins will be farther from the fire while smoking.

You will need to make a small fire and let it burn down to coals. If you can make it somewhere that you can have a small chimney or pipe, and something above it to hang the skins from, it is easier. When the fire has burned down to coals, hang the skin bag over the coals, trying to seal around the fire, with the cloth bag or the edge of your skin bag, so that you can direct the smoke up into the bag and force it to go through the skin.

Then toss on the punky wood and seal every thing up, but keep an eye to make sure the fire doesn't flame up again. You want smoke, not flame. (if it does flame, just pull the bag off of the fire until the flame dies). Let it smoke until you see brown color soaking through the skin. Remember that any spot where you didn't get all the membrane or epidermis off will not get good smoke penetration as fast as the rest. And, anywhere the skin bag touches itself will also not be getting enough smoke, so keep adjusting as it smokes. The browner you let it get, the better the color will last. (Most of my stuff has lost most of its color now, although it still has the protective qualities) Then, turn the bag inside out and smoke the other side in the same way for a while. And you are finished. If you saved the sinew from alongside the deer's spine you even have your thread to use to make some nice things.

If you have any questions about things that didn't seem clear, make a comment and I'll try to answer them and insert the clarifications in the body of the post.

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Libertarianism offers contentment

Libertarianism offers contentment

(My Clovis News Journal column for March 2, 2012)

Life. Family. Friends. Those are things that really matter. At least, to me. I hope those are the things that really matter to you, too, regardless of where you might place yourself on the political grid, or the antiquated (and never very accurate) "left/right" political spectrum.

The reason I embraced libertarianism, after I discovered there was a name for the way I had always pretty much believed anyway, was that it enriches life's important things more than the other political ideologies do.

For years, from a position of ignorance due to not taking the time to study and think, I held on to some "yes, buts"- where choosing to respect the liberty of the individual frightened or confused me.

Then I began to discover that the few reservations I managed to excuse crumbled when exposed to experience, rational thought, and the ethical treatment of others as my equal where rights were concerned. Live and let live. Instead of uncertainty and confusion, I was surprised to find contentment.

It made relationships easier, even when there were philosophical disagreements. No one is ultimately responsible for the life and choices of another, even though you may want to help. Most people have enough difficulties running their own life, and can't handle the added burden of running someone else's life, too. Anything more than friendly advice, and an explanation of any boundaries involved, is harmful to any relationship. My family and friends, and yours, can make the right decisions for themselves and advice should never be presented as an order.

I see politics as an attempt to get along with people you don't like. Yet, as long as other people don't believe they have the right or authority to take your property, your labor, or your volition from you without your consent, there really isn't much of a reason to dislike them. Only the twisted "mainstream" notion of politics makes this barbarous behavior look legitimate.

Enjoy your life, family, and friends, and trust them to run their own lives. Give that same trust to those you don't know; even those you believe you have nothing in common with. As long as you point out, and defend, your boundaries with effective determination from all usurpers, you should get along fine. Then you have more time and energy for the important things.

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April 1st

I don't really care much for April Fools Day pranks. Most are rather cruel, at least emotionally. Tends to make me not believe anything I hear throughout the entire day. Obama and his military and enforcers could finally start the roundup and I probably wouldn't heed any warnings, believing them to be pranks. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" comes to mind.

Then, on the other hand, I heard someone refer to today as "Atheist's Day". Being one, I'm not sure whether I should feel honored to have a day (kind of like April 19th- "Patriot's Day"), or whether it should be insulting that something which should be so normal needs a "day".

And, I don't know if it was designated by atheists or by non-atheists as a way to associate "All Fools' Day" with atheism. And I'm not concerned enough either way to look it up.

So, I'm going outside to grub around in the dirt and do other Kentish things. Later...

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At a loss for words... almost

I just found out that someone I know, who has admitted to me that she used a guy to get pregnant (and then ditched him long before the baby was even born), has been getting "child support" from him. To me that is about the same depth of wrongness as robbing a guy in a parking lot.

As wrong as I feel it was for her to use him to get pregnant (without his informed consent) in the first place, that was small potatoes to then turning around and robbing him. I just can't see this in any other light.

Maybe in a few isolated cases "child support" is justified. In a case like this- no way.

OK, so that is just my opinion, but it sure made my estimation of the person's character crash through the floor. No, this person makes no pretense of being a libertarian, but sometimes I am still shocked at how low non-libertarians can stoop.

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Homeschooling Rocks (and unschooling is even more awesome!)

Here's another one of those infographics/ads. This one didn't ask me to post it, but I have seen it a couple of different places and I really like it.. so:


Created by: College At Home

People change out of self interest

People change out of self interest

(My Clovis News Journal column for February 24, 2012)

I can't imagine how anyone could be considered to be different in any way that matters- better or worse- just through an accident of birth. No one chooses their skin color or which government claims the territory where they were born. To use either of those to evaluate anyone is absurd, as is the act of judging someone based upon the language they speak. Those things don't figure into inalienable human rights in the least way.

Notice that even those who wrote the Constitution never made the claim that the rights enumerated therein were contingent upon being a citizen of America. They were human rights. They exist in every human the world over just by virtue of being born human. These identical rights exist whether the local government respects them or violates them.

Putting up artificial barriers between yourself and others you consider to be different only hurts you. When you act as though it is "us against them" it makes people defensive. When you demand they change to be what you want, they will usually dig in their heels and refuse. You would do the same.

There are legitimate yardsticks you can use to judge others, if you want to do that. I have no objection to judging people based upon their actions. If they steal or attack the innocent they are not my friend no matter what other traits they may have in common with me. The behavior matters; nothing else does.

Of course, one of the inalienable rights all humans share is the right to associate only with those of your own choosing- at least on your own property. For any reason or no reason at all. You can also hate anyone for any reason, as long as you don't act on that hatred by violating the other person's rights. To make "laws" to the contrary may be well-intentioned, but it doesn't work out well because of the resistance to a "demanded change", as mentioned above.

A better way is to let people do business with whomever they wish, including allowing them to expose themselves as narrow-minded bigots if that is what they want to do. After all, you then have the right to shun them, too. And by eliminating a segment of their potential acquaintances they are hurting themselves and opening up opportunities for the rest of us to step in with welcoming arms. In the long run, self-interest will change more people than anything else.


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May I draw your attention to- Abortion Wars!

No, it seriously isn't as bad as all that.

If you enjoy "The Abortion Debate", you might find the comments on this post ... "interes-taining".

I never intended that particular post to become the focus of so many comments; I actually thought it was rather trivial- a "throw away".

After all, there have been so many other posts on that topic that I thought had more to say. Whatever.

Read the comment exchange and decide if I am full of ... "it", or if I addressed the points adequately. Anyway, I would like to thank "itor" for the engaging debate, even if we are not going to convince each other of anything. At least it keeps me thinking.

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Relax and enjoy

I must be an odd character.

A couple of nights ago, after coming home from a long, hard day, there was a party going on a few houses away. Loud bass thumps, and loud singing. In Spanish. It was happy, bouncy music with an exotic feel. It made me feel good.

My daughter's mom, on the other hand, immediately started wondering aloud why no one had called the cops on them yet. Not that she was considering it, but that was still her first thought. It had not occurred to me that anyone would react to the party sounds like that. Until she brought it up.

There have been other things like that. If someone does something that annoys me (yes, it is very possible), I don't think of calling the cops or shoving the "law" in their face. I either speak to them myself, or I "suck it up" and realize this is part of living in town, and deal with it however I can. If it is an actual, credible threat, then I might take matters into my own hands.

Anyway, that evening I ended up sitting out in the yard enjoying the music for a while. I think others might benefit from relaxing, and just enjoying the moment, too.

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Trayvon Martin killing

I don't know- I wasn't there.

There have been times I felt threatened by a person I assumed to be "un-armed" (but you can never be positive of that point, can you?). Had that person made a furtive move, I might have shot them. That's not the time for hesitation if you suspect your life is at risk.

I haven't read a lot about the case because everything seems so hyperbolic. But, regardless of anything I might read I wasn't there. Maybe it was murder, maybe it was a reaction to a credible perceived threat. Anything more I might say would be speculation and assumption.

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Did you feel the globe warming?

So, NASA has announced that the recent solar storms heated up Earth's upper atmosphere with enough energy to power every home in New York City for 2 years. Put in perspective, that's not a lot compared to the amount of heat released/reflected by the planet daily, and supposedly none of that added heat reached us down here on the surface, but still...

The real Climate Deniers claim that human-released CO2 is a larger factor in the heating of the planet than the sun?

I read a lot of skeptical sciency stuff. Even the "mostly libertarian" Michael Shermer speaks as if Anthropogenic Global Climate Change is a simple, proved fact- to be accepted now without the slightest bit of skepticism or doubt. No questions allowed.

He doesn't know that. Neither do I. But I am still open to new information either way. And, no matter what, I know "global warming" doesn't trump property rights.

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Does "noon" make you seasick?

Yeah, this has nothing to do with anything, but for some reason I worked on this a lot yesterday.

The thing is, I still think about how bizarre "daylight savings time", and the government's encouragement that we follow it, is. (Lest you think otherwise, I have no problem with "standardized" time zones. It's the intentional screwing up of those time zones that bewilders and frustrates me.) I've mostly gotten adjusted, but I can't help feeling that the clock is very wrong when I look at it. Which brings discomfort, which spurs me to action.

Then, I do things like watch the sky to see when the sun is actually at its zenith and discover it's even worse than I thought. The clocks around here are now 2 hours early, according to the sun. That's right- when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, which is known as "noon", the clocks say it is 2PM.

So, using Wolfram/Alpha I checked "solar noon" for this location on the 6th and 21st of every month. I was happy to see that their data matched the observations I have recorded in the past. I was worried about that because if it hadn't matched, I would trust my observations rather than their data, and then I would have been yelled at (figuratively) for ignoring authority (like when I tell people that the dictionary definition of "anarchy" is wrong).

This graph that I posted is actually only the starting point. I copied it and made graphs stretched over 2 years (yes, solar noon stays consistent over at least small numbers of years; from my previous observations and cross checking by plugging different years into Wolfram/Alpha), and graphs where I marked the peaks and troughs, and marked the solstices and equinoxes. And lots of lines connecting lots of different data points. Looking at the patterns that were revealed.

It makes me curious about the main pattern. Why does solar noon wander up and down around the year, with two peaks and two troughs sandwiched between the solstices and equinoxes? (Update: Because-- in part-- the Earth's orbit is eliptical.) I could research it by seeing what others have to say, but that would be as boring as "labs" in school where the exact same "experiment" had been done millions of times before, and everyone knew what the results would be. Yawn.

Anyway, I will keep fiddling with it whenever the urge strikes me. And, I will still wonder why some "genius" decided that government had a better idea of what clocks should be set to.

Added: I have discovered this graph is called The Equation of Time. 

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Libertarian ideals still hold up

Libertarian ideals still hold up

(My Clovis News Journal column for February 17, 2012)

I am constantly re-examining my beliefs and principles. All of them, not just libertarianism.

Mentally I try to look at them from every possible angle and twist them inside-out to see if there is a possibility I could be wrong and libertarianism isn't the most ethical philosophy which has ever been discovered for relating to all other people. Sometimes I am very unhappy at having to wade through arguments that seem abhorrent to me, from people who will try to justify every horror imaginable just to manipulate society into what they believe it should be, or to excuse terrible things they want to be able to do to others without a guilty conscience. But it is necessary for my own peace of mind to delve into the dragon's lair in order to find the truth.

If externally-imposed government (rather than self-government/"self control") really is a good idea, and if The State is really the right way to impose that government, I don't want to be stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the right thing.

If natural human rights don't really exist, as some claim, yet somehow there still exists a "right to govern" that can be claimed or delegated, I would want to know it. If it really is wrong for you and me to be responsible for the defense of our own lives and property; that we should leave that to the "professionals", I want to do the right thing. If it really is necessary to sacrifice the individual and his property for "the common good", as in the various wealth-redistribution schemes we see at work, then why fight it? If it really is appropriate to kidnap and kill people for their own good- to prevent them from harming themselves- then it's time to accept it.

So far I have not been able to twist things enough that coercion or "violence against the non-violent" becomes right, and theft becomes something other than theft if done by a government employee. Every argument to that effect I have ever encountered is so full of holes and inconsistencies that it falls apart as soon as you begin to examine it. But I keep looking.

So far, only the libertarian idea- that it is wrong to attack the innocent or steal, and your position in society changes nothing in that regard- holds up to scrutiny.

I'll let you know if anything ever changes, because I'd rather be embarrassed at having to eat my words than to be wrong and refuse to accept it.

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