liberty

Some vandalism and a look at the MAGA mindset 3   Recently updated !

This entry was posted in Commentary Personal and tagged liberty Massachusetts on by

My rear windshield has a decal with the text, “My cat is smarter than your president.” On Monday I noticed that several letters were no longer on the windshield. Some were still on the car, in the gap between the windshield and the trunk lid. Given that so many letters came off at once, It was most likely vandalism. I don’t think any of my neighbors did it. The day before, I parked in a large public lot in Massachusetts for several hours. Most likely it happened then, and I didn’t notice till the next day.

Windshield sticker with missing letters indicated by brackets: "My [c]a[t] is sm[art]e[r] than your president"
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ICE: America’s Gestapo   Recently updated !

This entry was posted in Censorship Commentary and tagged censorship ICE liberty on by

“Geheime Staatspolizei” means “secret state police,” usually shortened to “Gestapo.” It was the Nazis’ enforcement bureau, the ones who snatched people without charges and sent them away to prisons or execution. In the United States, it’s shortened to “ICE.” Its masked thugs have snatched people off the street, not presenting any criminal charges, and shipped them to offshore hellholes. So far I haven’t heard of its intentionally killing anyone, though people have died in its custody.
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Why is Trumpism still popular?

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged liberty psychology on by

In less than three months since he’s taken office, Donald Trump has imposed huge taxes by decree, harassed lawyers and judges, brought federal agencies into chaos, had people abducted from the streets without charges or access to legal counsel, antagonized America’s allies, and hinted at several acts of military aggression and conquest. The economy is already suffering from his actions and is likely to get a lot worse. In spite of this, his approval rating stands at close to 50%. Nearly half of registered voters, according to polls, approve of what he’s doing. Why?

In the past, I’ve discussed a couple of reasons. News media have abandoned objectivity. It’s hard to get just the facts. A second reason is the miserable state of education in the US. Schools turn out students who seldom read and lack critical thinking skills.

Here I’d like to talk about a third factor: the attitudes of the left.
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Trump goes after voters 1

This entry was posted in Commentary News and tagged law liberty on by

Donald Trump’s latest decree takes his power-grabbing to a new level. He has commanded the states to alter their laws to require proof of citizenship for voting. He has no legal authority at all to do this. The Constitution lets the states run elections; Congress has a limited ability to set requirements, and the president has no authority without an act of Congress. He is relying on intimidation of state officials and federal judges to get his way. Claiming the personal authority to decide who can vote is the action of a dictator or would-be dictator.
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Increased risk to visitors to the USA 2

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged conventions liberty on by

Just a few weeks ago I wrote, “I don’t think — though I might turn out wrong — that Trump will be able to break down civil liberties protections enough to make a US Worldcon dangerous to visitors.” Now I’m not so sure. The fannish world is talking about the ICE detention of Becky Burke, a British comics creator.

Here’s the situation, as I understand it. Burke was visiting the US and Canada on an extended hiking trip. She lodged with some families along the way, doing chores in return. When she tried to enter Canada from the United States, she was turned away on a visa issue I don’t know the details of. Going back to the USA, she was detained because of her chores-for-boarding arrangement, which I guess was taking jobs away from good Americans! ICE has held her in a cell under conditions like what a violent criminal would face. A GoFundMe campaign was run to finance her legal expenses, and she has been released, returning to Wales on March 18. She should never had had to experience all this.
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Anatomy of Trump’s SSA data grab

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged law liberty technology on by

In my previous post, I talked about inconsistencies in the reporting about what DOGE is doing and can do. I wrote the article on March 9 and had it appear publicly early on March 10, following my usual practice. About the time it appeared, I came upon a Washington Post article that linked to a detailed court filing that helps to clarify things. It’s a terrifying story, so here’s another post on the same day.
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Unraveling DOGE reporting

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged journalism law liberty on by

A lot of what’s allegedly happening with DOGE doesn’t make sense. Some things just can’t be happening as reported; others need explanations that no one is giving. The news media are doing their usual bad job of delivering facts.

To start with, what is DOGE? The “Department of Governmental Efficiency” isn’t a department of the government, in spite of its name. Officially, it’s a “special commission” created by the president. It has no power over anybody beyond its own employees. Yet we keep hearing of government employees being fired by DOGE. A notice of termination by DOGE to, for example, a Department of Energy employee has no more significance than one from me. Either the terminations are actually coming from somewhere else, or people are complying for no apparent reason.
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Why America is dying

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged education liberty on by

In just over a month since Trump took office, America has begun a clear descent into strongman rule, with few signs it will be stopped. He’s gotten rid of qualified people in high positions, replacing them with loyal followers. He has enacted heavy taxes without Congressional action. He has tried to amend the Constitution’s birthright citizenship clause by decree. He’s loosed the ICE on cities; “border czar” Tom Homan has threatened, “I’m coming to Boston and I’m bringing hell with me.” Trump’s and Musk’s DOGE is a phantom entity, not an administrative unit authorized by any law, and it has scooped up sensitive information from government agencies with no accountability.

There’s outrage, to be sure, and more meaningless talk of “resistance” like what we heard during Trump’s first term, but not nearly enough solid opposition to Trump’s moves toward autocracy. The Republican Party has totally abandoned any limited-government positions it once held. The Democrats offer only a timid voice. The far left is worse than the Trumpist right. The Libertarian Party has ceased to be libertarian. I can only expect things to keep getting worse.
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The Old Issue

This entry was posted in History and tagged history liberty on by

Guest post by Rudyard Kipling: “The Old Issue,” 1899.

Note: Kipling wrote this poem, strangely enough, as a justification for Britain’s entry into the Boer War, not as a protest against any aspect of British rule. While we need to understand the historical context of any written work, this one is more satisfying if we take it on its own and apply it to our times, apart from its origin.

“Here is nothing new nor aught unproven,” say the Trumpets,
“Many feet have worn it and the road is old indeed.
“It is the King — the King we schooled aforetime!”
(Trumpets in the marshes — in the eyot at Runnymede!)

“Here is neither haste, nor hate, nor anger,” peal the Trumpets,
“Pardon for his penitence or pity for his fall.
“It is the King!” — inexorable Trumpets —
(Trumpets round the scaffold at the dawning by Whitehall!)

“He hath veiled the Crown and hid the Sceptre,” warn the Trumpets,
“He hath changed the fashion of the lies that cloak his will.
“Hard die the Kings — ah hard — dooms hard!” declare the Trumpets,
Trumpets at the gang-plank where the brawling troop-decks fill!

Ancient and Unteachable, abide—abide the Trumpets!
Once again the Trumpets, for the shuddering ground-swell brings
Clamour over ocean of the harsh, pursuing Trumpets—
Trumpets of the Vanguard that have sworn no truce with Kings!

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Vigilante violence for tolerance?

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged ethics liberty Massachusetts on by

Lately I’ve been dealing with some people on Bluesky who advocate violence against people whose ideas are sufficiently repugnant. One of them, a supposed “libertarian,” cited Popper’s “paradox of tolerance” at me, then descended into outright trolling when I linked to my article on the topic in response. I immediately blocked him, of course.

Laws restricting which ideas may be freely expressed are bad enough. Direct violence by individuals or mobs won’t have so broad an effect, but the outcomes in individual cases may be worse. Let’s look at the threats allegedly made by John Reardon of Millis, Massachusetts. According to the DoJ release, called a Jewish synagogue and reportedly said: “You do realize that by supporting genocide that means it’s ok for people to commit genocide against you.” “With supporting the killing of innocent little children, that means it’s OK to kill your children.” “End the genocide, or it is time to end Israel and all the Jews.”
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