When I was growing up, when people still wrote checks at the market, my mother had all of her checks printed by a now defunct organization called the Hemlock Society.

The organization promoted euthanasia and assisted suicide for those who were terminally ill or grossly incapacitated by disease or other severely disabling afflictions. Mom was a staunch supporter of the Hemlock Society and I have been raised on the notion of assisted suicide being acceptable. (more…)

As the republicans and democrats do battle on the House and Senate floors, one blaming the other for the problems that face the nation, both side competing for our votes and creating positions of power for themselves. This is easy to understand when politicians live in a sort of vacuum.

I think Barack Obama is probably a good guy. I think he is basically rooting for us. Unfortunately, he and every other politician no longer represents the people, because the people no longer have any direct access to politician. I wonder whether politicians could identify with them in any event, even if they were to sit down with the common man. Do they have anything in common anymore? (more…)

Here is my brief personal acknowledgement that the founding fathers, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and a bunch of other revolutionaries, were criminals in the eyes of Britain. So was Ghandi.

Martin Luther King wrote the Letters from a Birmingham Jail because he was in a Birmingham Jail, and because he exercised his rights as a citizen, even if others believed he was a criminal. (more…)

Does a vote made out of fear, count as a vote? Of course the answer is “yes.” And that’s exactly the way most republicans and democrats want it. If a voter is afraid of one political party, then he or she will vote for the other. Then one of the lesser two evils win.

Unfortunately, at the stage in the game most people will not consider other choices. So to vote third party is frequently a difficult one. (more…)

I have been running into arguments lately that pits Libertarian versus Libertarian in the blogosphere. This always scares me because the party is already small enough as it is.

The main argument I have been seeing is this, can there be public property? While at first glance this questions appears to be really a small detail. However, after a few minutes of thinking about it. The question quickly becomes a core question. (more…)

I have been running into arguments lately that pits Libertarian versus Libertarian in the blogosphere. This always scares me because the party is already small enough as it is.

The main argument I have been seeing is this, can there be public property? While at first glance this questions appears to be really a small detail. However, after a few minutes of thinking about it. The question quickly becomes a core question. (more…)

This morning a was reading Reason Magazine and an article about a recent decision by a Chicago judge that suggests that states rights should override the Constitution in matters of gun control.

He argues, “Federalism is an older and more deeply rooted tradition than is a right to carry any particular kind of weapon.” (more…)

I have just noticed the green equilateral cross in the field of white across the street from where I live. At first it took a moment to sink in. Then I figured it out. Someone is legally selling some dope in my area. There was a big grated fence in front of the door and a neon glowing leaf in the window.

I know as a father of a nine-year-old, I should be appalled by the recklessness of drugs, in general, and the awfulness of addiction, but I am not. I recognize that only 4% of all addicts could be classified as “bums or Skidrow types.” (more…)