tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post7795183381833583149..comments2024-03-08T07:09:46.527-07:00Comments on Pro Libertate: DARE and Back AgainWilliam N. Grigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-39244361231381290252015-01-12T12:05:16.429-07:002015-01-12T12:05:16.429-07:00Re. "...not the country I grew up in": I...Re. "...not the country I grew up in": I remember opening a bank account by myself at age 12, about 1965. No ID, no parental co-sign required. Just me and a box of change in a shoe box. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-54081740351081015142009-04-08T23:36:00.000-06:002009-04-08T23:36:00.000-06:00The conventional wisdom when I was younger was to ...The conventional wisdom when I was younger was to seek out children of police officers and befriend them. Why? Because they always had the best drugs.<BR/><BR/>Hmmmmmm...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-48930526608846371302009-04-07T18:18:00.000-06:002009-04-07T18:18:00.000-06:00Well, where would you go? New Zealand or the Czech...<I>Well, where would you go? New Zealand or the Czech Republic or something?</I><BR/><BR/>Exactly my skeptical view, anonymous. Folk who continually talk about going to and fro and here and yonder around the world apparently can't, or don't want to, grok the big picture. And that would be that a monstrosity called a world government has been in careful incubation for the better part of a century now is on the fast-track. It's as if the current crisis, the world's economies, have provided enough impetus for significant nation elites to gulp a handful of amphetamines and go into warp drive in implementing (not merely talking about it anymore) the foundational structure of world government.<BR/><BR/>And, like liberranter, there's no point in running off. I like Patrick Henry's statement to the Virginia House of Burgesses. Give me liberty or give me death! As I mentioned in <A HREF="http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2006/12/new-police-professionalism-serious.html#c116745072257577222" REL="nofollow">another post here</A> a few years ago:<BR/><BR/><I>Will, I think we're reaching the stage now, as Mr. Perez's episode clearly demonstrates, whereby folk who possess a genuine Christian worldview will either have to be ready to lose jobs, lose freedom, lose material, and inevitably at some point even lose life itself in America, not the Sudan, Cuba, Soviet Union, or a China. Otherwise, you're a fake. Others suffer for their belief systems, those that are genuine believers in, and practitioners of, that particular belief system, that is. So it must be with Christians. Folk for decades and decades always seemed to brush off cultural and political trends in this country. "Oh, don't worry about that, son, that's happening on the 'Left coast' what do you expect from a San Francisco...from politicians in Washington...and so on..."<BR/><BR/>Well, now these former cultural "anomalies" are in everyone's face and extant in every locale to some degree. Ignoring it, brushing it aside, doesn't and won't cut it.<BR/><BR/>This all kind of reminds me of this church during a Sunday service, where the folk therein are all attired in their Sunday best, listening to the morning sermon from the pastor.<BR/><BR/>Suddenly, the doors burst open in the rear of the sanctuary and a couple of hooded gunmen, brandishing Carbon 15s and AK-47s, rush inside. One of them, the presumed leader, utters a loud ultimatum: "Renounce your faith in Jesus Christ by exiting through the rear of the church at a quick pace, otherwise you will be summarily executed."<BR/><BR/>95% of the church quickly crowds up at the rear doors and run out the back of the church, including the pastor, and just 5% remain.<BR/><BR/>The leader of the gang of gunman closes the back doors, walks to the podium, and then makes a statement to the remaining members: "Now that we have filtered out the genuine believers from the genuine deceivers, let's worship together!"<BR/><BR/>Yep, to borrow your metaphor, Will, when the heat is cranked up, the chaff is boiled away out of the saucepan, leaving the residue.</I><BR/><BR/>And for the non-Christian, that church scenario can be painted for, and would just as well apply to, ANY arena of life in America.dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-16565243041797697332009-04-07T18:12:00.000-06:002009-04-07T18:12:00.000-06:00DD, that's EXACTLY the point I was trying to make ...<I>DD, that's EXACTLY the point I was trying to make in my original post, to which Lemuel apparently took exception.</I><BR/><BR/>I took a stab at it and am glad to have been accurate, liberranter ;).dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-52322597655709062192009-04-07T18:11:00.000-06:002009-04-07T18:11:00.000-06:00I believe the reason God gave us free will is beca...<I>I believe the reason God gave us free will is because *only* when we freely choose right over wrong do we earn merit and develop character. If we have no choice but to do good, what do we learn, and what merit accrues? For this reason, I disagree with those Christians who want to establish a theocratic state and legal system. That is anti-Christian. It deprives people of the opportunity to choose goodness and strength over evil and weakness. You would end up with a system just like Iran or Saudi Arabia.</I><BR/><BR/>Sigh....why do many confuse a person's belief in SELF-control and morality as synonymous with believing in instituting a theocracy? Heck, even the dubiously reliable <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theocracy" REL="nofollow">Wikipedia</A> notes the key distinction: <I>Theocracy should be distinguished from other secular forms of government that have a state religion, or are merely influenced by theological or moral concepts, and monarchies held "By the Grace of God".</I> <BR/><BR/>Yes, I also would disagree with any Christian who would want to establish a theocratic state as well, and would actually be skeptical of his/her true belief in Christianity. But a legal system based on Christian principles is not theocracy. In fact, much of our governmental structure was culled from the Bible.<BR/><BR/><I>Free will, I believe, is the reason God commanded the angels to worship Man, because the angels are not tempted as we are, and when we do choose goodness in the face of temptation, that makes us worthier than the angels.</I><BR/><BR/>I part ways with you here. I don't know from where you grasped your belief that angels "worship" Man. The Bible actually says that man is lower than the angels: <I>But there is a place where someone has testified: "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet." In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.</I> - Hebrews 2:6-8 ("everything" above signifies earthly things not heavenly beings, since they are obviously not under our feet)<BR/><BR/>But I'll cease at this point arguing about man's place in the universe ;).<BR/><BR/><I>Russia has immense problems - the incessant and inescapable smoking is hard to endure, and the alcoholism, AIDS, and tuberculosis, especially in their nightmarish prisons, have reduced their life expectancy. That's one of the reasons for the declining population which I did not mention.</I><BR/><BR/>Yeah, I forgot to mention the demographic reality myself of declining birthrate. Thanks for mentioning that point. BTW, I must confess here that I'm still "burdened" with smoking. I've been smoking cigarettes for 28 years while having Type 1 diabetes, under haphazard sinusoidal control since being diagnosed I might add, for 19 years (since I exited the AF). True, I wouldn't recommend smoking to anyone just as I wouldn't recommend drugs to anyone, but I'm still kicking, and can do a lot of physical work that even non-smokers sometimes struggle with. As a sidenote, I believe the "War on Drugs" is only a major issue at all for many folk because those folk can't be propagandized away from <I>mind-altering</I> intoxicants that can harm their liver, lungs, heart, etc., etc., but they CAN be from those that have no discernable mind-altering "qualities" but that also can harm your lungs, heart, etc., etc. It's amazing as well the number of folk who are addicted to any and every drug that helps their penile malfunctions, their vaginal fungi issues or whatever else so that they can screw when and where they please. And on it goes.....nothing new.<BR/><BR/>The key is pleasure at any and all cost. Something that doesn't affect ones mind in some pleasurable way, even if minimal and short-lived, will easily be ignored per Leviathan's dictates, so the "War on Tobacco" runs quietly forward with no shrieking from the masses. It's no surprise if I don't really have much sympathy for those yacking and yawing about the "War on Drugs," frankly. Everybody has their own "Wars" to deal with that are being waged by Leviathan, I reckon.<BR/><BR/>[OK, sorry (somewhat) for the runoff rant, but back to the topic...]<BR/><BR/><I>And you are correct, circulating among the elite does not give you the same insights. The elite in all countries are pretty much the same everywhere. Only the ordinary folk are genuinely different.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm glad we can agree here. Indeed, it would be comparable to taking Madonna's account of life in Malawi or Bono's account of life in South Africa. Their accounts would be about as useful as a spoon to dig a burial plot. <BR/><BR/><I>Someone once asked me: "So, from all that traveling, what did you learn?" After thinking about it, I answered truthfully, "That people everywhere are very, very kind."</I><BR/><BR/>Well, sorta. I mean it's indisputable that there exists some sizeable numbers of vile humanoids in every country on earth, but yes, there are likewise some significant numbers of "very, very kind" humanoids as well ;).dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-2447162001771196082009-04-07T18:04:00.000-06:002009-04-07T18:04:00.000-06:00Double-D, one reason I value your contributions so...<I>Double-D, one reason I value your contributions so much is because of your unerring knack for asking unsettling questions that help keep me honest.</I><BR/><BR/>Will, I have to face the same issues as you or anybody else. Ergo, we need to always strive to ask OURSELVES unsettling questions often to see where we TRULY stand in the scheme of things that we each are quick and happy to blab about ;). Why depend on others to do that?<BR/><BR/><I>In this you remind me of another occasional contributor to comment threads who's a very good friend(he knows who he is) who is entirely guileless and utterly principled -- and refuses to let me get away with sloppy thinking or easy, convenient choices.</I><BR/><BR/>I can't accept the "utterly principled" description you graciously bestow upon me. I do, however, labor to be guileless in general, except when I'm dealing with a particular Leviathan organ...sometimes, hehe.<BR/><BR/>In terms of THINKING, that's really what keeps attracting me to your blog time and again - it induces one to THINK - in addition to your exquisitely detailed blog posts. <BR/>Many, if not most, of the bloggers I've ventured to read over the years just slap some keys and form a paragraph or two, usually polluted with unhealthy doses of pomp and self-aggrandizement. There's nothing that will turn my stomach faster than an excessively pompous humanoid. I despise arrogant folk to the <I>n</I>th degree. You don't appear to me to <I>waste</I> an excessive amount of OUR time and space inflating your own ego and "congratulating" yourself so I always look forward to reading your posts with enthusiasm. Yes, everybody has an ego, but if one constantly needs inflating with hot air means one should probably start over with a new one.<BR/><BR/><I>Before I was thrown under the bus, I had made myself obnoxious to the JBS management in Appleton precisely because I wasn't a "team player" regarding the <BR/>compromises they were making.</I><BR/><BR/><I>Obnoxious</I> is probably not the best way to describe your actions, is it? I mean you weren't really and truly "obnoxious" in the strict sense I would assume, correct? At least, the way I see it is that when one acts independently in refusing to compromise toward wicked ends, that's being upstanding and not "obnoxious." But yes, I know, you were describing yourself from <I>their</I> perspective. (I didn't fall of the turnip truck yesterday ;))<BR/><BR/><I>I grant that there have been some material changes to my views regarding the application of certain principles, but it's not as if I've suddenly embraced globalism, or <BR/>consider the Constitution an infinitely malleable "living document," or think that the CFR is a font of wisdom.</I><BR/><BR/>Hmm, now this is interesting. What on earth prompted you to add these meaty parcels to ponder? Granted, I must admit that I have wondered at times if you, in your rash to beat down a Hagee or Bush, or whatever personage element of the so-called "Right," "religious" or otherwise, you were at times <I>unknowingly</I> or <I>inadvertently</I> pronouncing support <I>via omission</I> of the "other side" of the same philosophical/ideological coin. The reality is that control-freak surfers have ridden unhindered, under both Party banners and under myriad labels, the totalitarian wave for decades and decades. Even if the "Right" gangrenes and dies off, the "Left" side is always making headway and vice versa. Of course, I grant you already know this, but it's for the reader's benefit.<BR/><BR/><I>In all candor, I had intuited that Appleton wanted to be rid of me by no later than April or May 2006 (and I had warnings to that effect from people on staff), and so I <BR/>quietly began exploring contingency plans in the event that I was fired.<BR/><BR/>Korrin's illness and subsequent hospitalizations made that very difficult, as did the fact that Appleton wrung whatever it could from me literally up to the point that it <BR/>threw me overboard.</I><BR/><BR/>I understand, but that's why I was curious as to whether the JBS "suddenly" became the Leviathan grinch only <I>after</I> you were "thrown under the bus" or "thrown overboard" or did you clearly see all this well beforehand and would of SELF-terminated your employment, accordingly. In any case, I think you adequately explained that you were aware of it. Because, you know as well as I, the old saying (or my version of it) that "when all is on Cloud 9, all is fine, and I'm silent. When I fell, all was hell, and I became noisy" is always on someone's mind ;).<BR/><BR/><I>Alan Scholl has told people that I "fired myself" by refusing to adapt to the new regime. That description is untrue to the extent it insinuates that I was guilty of some <BR/>termination-worthy form of misconduct; I did absolutely nothing to merit being treated the way I was.<BR/><BR/>But in a way that Scholl and his ilk could never understand, the charge that I "fired myself" actually captures an essential truth: I wasn't content with the ethical and ideological compromises that were conditions of my continued employment.</I><BR/><BR/>I wholeheartily agree. In fact, as you said, Mr. Scholl telling people you self-terminated does NOT imply misconduct in my mind. It would, instead, imply precisely that you were fed up with the new regime as you state above, not misconduct. Now, if he said to other people WE FIRED him, that would imply misconduct. After all, folk culling a key truth out of a major untruth is a plus in my book.<BR/><BR/><I>I really can't speak on behalf of Bill, who remains a good and generous friend.</I><BR/><BR/>I understand that. I don't like being placed between a rock and a hard place myself ;). Don't misunderstand, I think Mr. Jasper is probably a fine fella and, heck, if one can manage to still write the same sort of in-depth, incisive investigative stories as in the past involving some aspect of Leviathan and collect a paycheck, even while your boss and/or employer at large is simultaneously and gradually huggin' up to and kissin' Leviathan's backside. Hey, that's having ones cake and eating it too as he still remains principled while his boss doesn't <I>and</I> the boss not manifest those proverbial tics and get uppity, accordingly. That'd be great 8).dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-37431122222384471442009-04-07T12:08:00.000-06:002009-04-07T12:08:00.000-06:00If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranqui...If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, — go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.Patnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-7289569985227874552009-04-07T10:05:00.000-06:002009-04-07T10:05:00.000-06:00Well, where would you go? New Zealand or the Czech...<I>Well, where would you go? New Zealand or the Czech Republic or something?</I><BR/><BR/>I don't know about New Zealand, but the Czech Republic is arguably freer than Amerika, at least in the respect that its government doesn't treat personal vices (e.g., drinking or smoking in public) as crimes demanding state intervention and punishment. It's unfortunate that the Czech Republic, along with much of the rest of Eastern Europe, is moving into the NATO/EU orb, where Orwellian political correctness run amok is the order of the day. <BR/><BR/>Having traveled and lived abroad extensively, I can easily understand the urge to expatriate as things here in the United Soviet Socialist States of Amerika grow more intolerable to liberty lovers with each passing day. HOWEVER, I've decided that running away isn't the answer, that if good people don't stay, stand up, and fight, then the battle is lost. More relevantly, if liberty dies in the nation that was created for the express purpose of giving it life (however short of that goal it has fallen), where else in the world is safe from tyranny? You can only run for so long before the evil you seek to avoid catches up with you. Better to stand fast and fight it to the death (hopefully <B><I>its</I></B> death) than to run from it forever.<BR/><BR/>Anon 2:43 - You're right about Amoricons coming more and more to share the stability addiction characteristic of Russians. In fact, as Amerika and Russia move in opposite directions to the point where each occupies the position held by the other a half century ago, the trait I ascribe to the Russians will become a more apt description of Amoricons. One wonders if Russians will become the adventurous individualists that Americans were for their first century and a half of this country's existence.liberranterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00555275410576294081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-70467366266623725422009-04-06T17:26:00.000-06:002009-04-06T17:26:00.000-06:00Ultimately, I can't stay here.Well, where would yo...<I>Ultimately, I can't stay here.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, where would you go? New Zealand or the Czech Republic or something?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-54333652966817121472009-04-06T17:22:00.000-06:002009-04-06T17:22:00.000-06:00A code of ethics is not a valuable Darwinian chara...<I>A code of ethics is not a valuable Darwinian characteristic</I><BR/><BR/>This is not true, or at the very least it is not at all self-evident. Recall Henry Hazlitt's injunction: consider the <I>long term effecs</I> of actions on <I>all</I> groups, rather than the short-term impact on one group.<BR/><BR/>If Mr. Grigg had chosen to sell out to the JBS, in the long term he would just be abetting a system that not only threatens his own existence, but that of his posterity; by walking <I>away</I> from the JBS in order to preserve his moral integrity, he is ultimately making the world safer for his children than it would be otherwise. This is why apparent self-sacrifice can be a rational strategy for the propagation of one's genes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-28424445470780051442009-04-06T16:11:00.000-06:002009-04-06T16:11:00.000-06:00all,i think what a few commenters have pointed out...all,<BR/><BR/>i think what a few commenters have pointed out is our laziness in researching the laws on our own and taking somebody else's word for it.<BR/><BR/>if we are to make it in the times ahead, we need to know the laws and the rules of the game.<BR/><BR/>sometimes the rules of the game trump the law.<BR/><BR/>sometimes the law trumps the rules of the game.<BR/><BR/>i got a speeding ticket once because i did not see the sign stating the speed limit. (i went back and checked and a sign was indeed posted). i was ticked off and angry, but my sister told me to calm down, got the county phone number from me and called the court clerk. what my sister told me was that if i paid a fee of X amount of dollars and did not get in any incidents in a year, then it would be wiped clean. so i paid the bill, and the next day went to iraq for 13 months. :-) (my sister told me i should have used this fact to get out of the ticket).<BR/><BR/>the lesson learned was that i did not know how the system in that jurisdiction worked. when i did learn, i found a way to keep my record clean. cost me a pretty clad coinage copper flashed penny, but it got wiped away.<BR/><BR/>we've gotta be smarter than our enemies or we're gonna be singing one of Sam Cooke's greatest hits.<BR/><BR/>rickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-89770132863344937042009-04-06T15:43:00.000-06:002009-04-06T15:43:00.000-06:00'... a people who are addicted to stability above ...'... a people who are addicted to stability above all else, who are risk-averse to nearly everything, and who pine for ANY form of authority that will release them from having to determine their own destiny, with all the hardships this brings.' -- liberranter<BR/><BR/>Sounds a lot like Amerika. Let me supply an apposite example. Went to dinner last night with my wife, 22-year-old son, and two middle-aged friends. We ordered a round of drinks. The waitress demanded a drivers license from our son. He handed her his passport. 'No good,' she said. We demanded to discuss it with the manager.<BR/><BR/>The manager demanded a second ID, which was duly presented -- a university ID. 'Still no good,' he insisted. To our astonishment, he claimed that a U.S. passport must be 'validated' by actually traveling outside the country and obtaining Customs stamps from a foreign country, plus a re-entry stamp from U.S. Customs.<BR/><BR/>Having traveled a bit, I would confidently assert that the United States is the only place in the world where a 22-year-old in the company of his parents would be hassled this way over ordering a beer; much less having his national passport rejected as an ID.<BR/><BR/>The U.S. today is not the country I grew up in. The cultural change has been far more radical than that involved in crossing borders.<BR/><BR/>Ultimately, I can't stay here. The mindless, rulebound, 'zero tolerance,' good-German DARE mentality which has been so profoundly instilled into the American consciousness is intolerable to me.<BR/><BR/>Why struggle for freedom, in a culture which no longer respects or values it? Seems more productive to emigrate to a place that doesn't combine German efficiency with American fanaticism -- the willingness to carry moral crusades to infinite extremes. I'm talking about such DARE-inspired, zero-tolerance insanity as expelling a child for bringing an aspirin to school. Or for having a plastic pencil sharpener with a loosened metal blade -- a 'deadly weapon,' according to zero-tolerance 'thinking.'<BR/><BR/>There's a profound, unhinged fanaticism afoot in this country which is every bit as narcissistically insane as North Korea's. Let me the hell out of this fascist living nightmare.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-24317276207478102402009-04-06T12:05:00.000-06:002009-04-06T12:05:00.000-06:00From many media accounts over the years, Russians ...<I>From many media accounts over the years, Russians in general long for the days of easy dependency, never seeming to recall the attendant squalor that accompanies it.</I><BR/><BR/>DD, that's EXACTLY the point I was trying to make in my original post, to which Lemuel apparently took exception.<BR/><BR/>Lemuel, both Russians whom I've met personally, and first-hand accounts of the Russian outlook on politics from close friends of mine who have lived among them in their own country yields a picture of a people who are addicted to <B><I>stability</I></B> above all else, who are risk-averse to nearly everything (one exception being the tiny handful of criminal kleptocrats among them whom the mainstream media depicts as representative of the whole), and who pine for ANY form of authority that will release them from having to determine their own destiny, with all the hardships this brings. A good friend of mine who holds an MS in International Studies from the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies, who is fluent in Russian, and who has lived in Russia off and on for the last ten years tells me that among the large number of those Russians on the street who revere Stalin's memory (contrary to what the MSM would have us believe, my friend tells me that it's NOT just young people who have no memory of that era), the overriding desire is to see a Russian leader emerge who can bring some form of "normalcy" in which everyone is employed, everyone has a roof over their head and at least enough to eat to survive on, and where some modicum of "national greatness" prevails again. They don't particularly care, says my friend, whether or not such a leader is a Communist in the Leninist-Stalinist mold, or a right-wing Russian Nationalist in the Putin mold, magnified manifold. If a leader of either such persuasion emerges who can make all of their cares disappear, he's their man. This is why Stalin is still a respected, even revered figure to many Russians, despite the fact that they know him to have been one of human history's most notorious mass murderers, whose victims included at least one member of each of their families. In these peoples' minds, Stalin's heinous crimes (which many of them are convinced happened to "undesirables", namely non-Russian peoples whom the average Russian despises anyway) were greatly overshadowed by the fact that he made Russia a world power. <BR/><BR/>My friend notes that Vladimir Putin's popularity in recent years can largely be attributed to his success at co-opting the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument for advancing nationalist politics, clearly an indication that Putin appreciates just how highly esteemed the church is in the eyes of the people after nearly three quarters of a century of repression. <BR/><BR/>Finally, I'm not sure that this Russian attitude of acquiescence to authority is solely the result of 73 years of Communist rule, but probably more the ingrained attitude of a people accustomed to feudal rule for most of its history. To be fair, this analysis is certainly not unique in its application to the Russians. The traditional American concepts of liberty and rule of Natural Law are thoroughly alien to most of the rest of the world, a major reason why America's attempts to transplant its concept of "democracy" by force of arms and blackmail over the course of the last century have always been and will always be abject failures.<BR/><BR/>At any rate, I sincerely hope that I didn't leave the impression that my take on Russia comes from the MSM. Surely you don't believe that any regular contributor to Will's blog would lend a milligram of credibility to anything emanating from such sources. No, I rely purely on personal observations and analysis or observations from sources I know and trust. (I too have traveled extensively and lived abroad for long periods, although Eastern Europe is definitely not my area of expertise.) <BR/><BR/>Finally, just to put this thread back on topic, I cannot imagine that contemporary Russia is significantly different from its Soviet predecessor in terms of its drive to control its citizens, starting with the children. If the government of an ostensibly "free" society such as the United States routinely launches transparently aggressive and unabashedly lawless assaults on the parental rights of its subjects, can a reasonable person believe that an authoritarian society such as that of Russia would be any different?liberranterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00555275410576294081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-37952735162912843242009-04-06T08:38:00.000-06:002009-04-06T08:38:00.000-06:00"Dare and Back Again" (A Libertarian's Tale by Wil..."Dare and Back Again" (A Libertarian's Tale by William N Grigg)<BR/><BR/>Great post, when you got to the part about your son removing the DARE shirt I gave a good triumph cry.R.S. Ladwighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13487404072546513179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-52129310748008811142009-04-06T04:54:00.000-06:002009-04-06T04:54:00.000-06:00Erratum: Will, "The Prophet" is of course by Kahli...Erratum: Will, "The Prophet" is of course by Kahlil Gibran. Mikhail Naimy's book quoted from was "The Book of Mirdad." Sorry for the confusion.Lemuel Gullivernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-27754880320055745382009-04-06T04:36:00.000-06:002009-04-06T04:36:00.000-06:00Dear Will,"Before I was thrown under the bus, I ha...Dear Will,<BR/><BR/>"Before I was thrown under the bus, I had made myself obnoxious to the JBS management in Appleton precisely because I wasn't a "team player" regarding the compromises they were making. I wasn't content with the ethical and ideological compromises that were conditions of my continued employment."<BR/><BR/>I feel for you. Been there, done that. A code of ethics is not a valuable Darwinian characteristic, which is why Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom is NOT of this world." <BR/><BR/>This unfortunately has been going on since history began to be written, and is the reason no empire, no company, and no worldly organization has ever endured. As soon as the managers and thieves take over from the entrepreneurs, they destroy a company. Same with an empire. As soon as the self-seekers and trough-feeders take over from the visionaries, the empire begins to die. America, inevitably, is no exception.<BR/><BR/>Lebanese poet Mikhail Naimy in his book "The Prophet" wrote: "We live, that we may learn to love. We love, that we may learn to live. No other lesson is required of us."<BR/><BR/>This concept is a universe removed from the philosophy of most people who maneuver themselves into positions of power in this world. Remember what Jesus told us: Do not expect the swine to value your pearls.<BR/><BR/>But, after reading your blog for some time, I think your heart contains an abundance of treasure that no money can buy and no power can command. You are one lucky guy, did you know?<BR/><BR/>Sincerely, <BR/>Lemuel Gulliver.Lemuel Gullivernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-74440064631422525532009-04-06T03:56:00.000-06:002009-04-06T03:56:00.000-06:00Hey Dixiedog,"...two key missing ingredients that ...Hey Dixiedog,<BR/><BR/>"...two key missing ingredients that enables true freedom to flourish and that's morality and SELF-control. After 70 odd years of the state providing its "morality" and control, or playing the mother role, that's understandable, but the folk themselves need to learn how to SELF-govern with a moral compass before true freedom can be sustained."<BR/><BR/>Hear, hear. I could not agree with you more. I have said much the same myself on this blog, in regards to our own predicament here in America. Statism replaces self-reliance, and self-control, with reliance on the state's mothering, and on its laws and constraints. This is Satanic and anti-God. I believe the reason God gave us free will is because *only* when we freely choose right over wrong do we earn merit and develop character. If we have no choice but to do good, what do we learn, and what merit accrues? For this reason, I disagree with those Christians who want to establish a theocratic state and legal system. That is anti-Christian. It deprives people of the opportunity to choose goodness and strength over evil and weakness. You would end up with a system just like Iran or Saudi Arabia.<BR/><BR/>Free will, I believe, is the reason God commanded the angels to worship Man, because the angels are not tempted as we are, and when we do choose goodness in the face of temptation, that makes us worthier than the angels.<BR/><BR/>Of course you are right, nowhere on this earth is a paradise, since we humans are flawed and put here to learn. Russia has immense problems - the incessant and inescapable smoking is hard to endure, and the alcoholism, AIDS, and tuberculosis, especially in their nightmarish prisons, have reduced their life expectancy. That's one of the reasons for the declining population which I did not mention. Mainly it is the older, tired people who long for the security of the old socialist system. The young are more optimistic and have the energy to be self-reliant and to struggle to succeed. It's a generational thing. Of course, even among the young there are those who give up hope and turn to drugs and alcohol, but you find that everywhere.<BR/><BR/>Between us, isn't it an enriching experience to live in another culture? Every young person should be required to spend at least a year in a foreign country, preferably three or four. Many of the world's probelms would melt away. Unfortunately most Americans are very insular, ignorant of even their own nation and its history, much less those of other countries, and proud of their ignorance, seeing it as somehow patriotic to refuse to listen to what other cultures have to say. Their loss.<BR/><BR/>And you are correct, circulating among the elite does not give you the same insights. The elite in all countries are pretty much the same everywhere. Only the ordinary folk are genuinely different. Someone once asked me: "So, from all that traveling, what did you learn?" After thinking about it, I answered truthfully, "That people everywhere are very, very kind."<BR/><BR/>Did you ever read Eric Hoffer? He wrote two very good little books: "The True Believer," and "The Ordeal of Change." I think they are out of print, but you can get them used on Ebay or Alibris. They are packed with wisdom, and I *highly* recommend them to you - I can tell from your thoughtful commentary that you would enjoy them and learn from them. His other books pretty much just rehashed what he said in those two.<BR/><BR/>So okay, Russia is not perfect, but they are tending in the direction of freedom and self-reliance, while we seem at the moment to be tending in the opposite direction. There was a Russian joke back in the 70's which, if you think about it, hits tragically close to home in America in 2009:<BR/><BR/>American says to Russian: "In America we have freedom of speech, which you do not have in Russia. For example, I can stand in front of White House and shout for all of Washington to hear, "Nixon is a crook and should go to jail," and nothing will happen to me."<BR/><BR/>Russian replies to American: "But is not true! We in Russia have exactly same freedom of speech as you. I too, I can stand in front of Kremlin and shout for all of Moscow to hear, "Nixon is a crook and should go to jail," and nothing will happen to me either."<BR/><BR/>Be well!<BR/>Lemuel Gulliver.Lemuel Gullivernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-14332158597517026272009-04-05T21:54:00.000-06:002009-04-05T21:54:00.000-06:00My experience with government schools has been the...My experience with government schools has been the same as Will. School employees lied to my family about the laws of opting out of immunizations and transferring into programs. They know what the established laws are in our state and county. <BR/><BR/>They have done much more . . . Some of the most immoral behavior I've ever seen was by the employees of public schools. This is heartbreaking because I know there are good people in the system that are threatened by the perverse ones.<BR/><BR/>It doesn't surprise me that they would lie to a parent or student and then say something different in a telephone conversation.<BR/><BR/>Change the words to a song because a parent was offended!?! What state and year did that take place? <BR/><BR/>Will, this is a great blog and I want to express my gratefulness. You're a great teacher with insight. God bless!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-47210309676293583652009-04-05T08:09:00.000-06:002009-04-05T08:09:00.000-06:00H-Dog is da-bomb!H-Dog is da-bomb!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-56412634574581314542009-04-05T04:40:00.000-06:002009-04-05T04:40:00.000-06:00DARE, Coulson, Rogers, Maslow, etc.Years ago a loc...DARE, Coulson, Rogers, Maslow, etc.<BR/>Years ago a local Christian TV station (that has since become evil) did an interview with William Coulson during which he told how he had learned how dangerous his Values Clarification projects really were. He warned listeners that programs like DARE had negative effects rather than positive ones. He explained that children in such programs who don't do drugs are influenced by children who do, rather than the other way around. In my rural community the county sheriff claims to be a Christian and uses the local Christian community to advance himself politically. In the past when he has been campaigning I have contacted him and informed him that DARE is denounced by Coulson and have asked him to educate himself about it and stop spending tax money on it. He told me that school employees like it and he will not stop it. It has been reported that he had hired his son to administer the DARE program. This man has been told. He knows that the masses believe DARE is good. He benefits from using DARE. Therefore he WILL NOT make any effort to learn the truth. The truth would not benefit him in any way. The masses will continue to believe he is a Christian. He will retain his power and his position.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-1385414270911577622009-04-04T20:33:00.000-06:002009-04-04T20:33:00.000-06:00"Knowing how the JBS has devolved, would you have ...<I>"Knowing how the JBS has devolved, would you have rejected this change and self-terminated your employment and moved on? I see Mr. Jasper has not done so; hmm, I do wonder how lame/statist/ineffectual JBS will have to become before Mr. Jasper also would decide enough is enough and move on?</I><BR/><BR/>Double-D, one reason I value your contributions so much is because of your unerring knack for asking unsettling questions that help keep me honest. <BR/><BR/>In this you remind me of another occasional contributor to comment threads who's a very good friend(he knows who he is) who is entirely guileless and utterly principled -- and refuses to let me get away with sloppy thinking or easy, convenient choices.<BR/><BR/>To answer your question about the JBS as it applies to me:<BR/><BR/>Before I was thrown under the bus, I had made myself obnoxious to the JBS management in Appleton precisely because I wasn't a "team player" regarding the compromises they were making. <BR/><BR/>The mantra at the time was that the JBS had to "ride the Republican wave," and that "an adjustment would be made" regarding those who weren't on board with the GOP's version of collectivist statism. <BR/><BR/>My views and perspectives didn't change. I didn't zig where they zigged, or zag where they said it was necessary. <BR/><BR/>I grant that there have been some material changes to my views regarding the application of certain principles, but it's not as if I've suddenly embraced globalism, or consider the Constitution an infinitely malleable "living document," or think that the CFR is a font of wisdom.<BR/><BR/>In all candor, I had intuited that Appleton wanted to be rid of me by no later than April or May 2006 (and I had warnings to that effect from people on staff), and so I quietly began exploring contingency plans in the event that I was fired. <BR/><BR/>Korrin's illness and subsequent hospitalizations made that very difficult, as did the fact that Appleton wrung whatever it could from me literally up to the point that it threw me overboard.<BR/><BR/>Alan Scholl has told people that I "fired myself" by refusing to adapt to the new regime. That description is untrue to the extent it insinuates that I was guilty of some termination-worthy form of misconduct; I did absolutely nothing to merit being treated the way I was. <BR/><BR/>But in a way that Scholl and his ilk could never understand, the charge that I "fired myself" actually captures an essential truth: I wasn't content with the ethical and ideological compromises that were conditions of my continued employment.<BR/><BR/>I really can't speak on behalf of Bill, who remains a good and generous friend.William N. Grigghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-72739054101615703412009-04-04T13:25:00.000-06:002009-04-04T13:25:00.000-06:00I remember that 1987 miniseries. There was a para...I remember that 1987 miniseries. There was a parade scene in which people were waving flags or banners with the likenesses of Dishonest Abe and Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov (Lenin).Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16565620274260288512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-33139640980106895832009-04-04T13:05:00.000-06:002009-04-04T13:05:00.000-06:00The Russians I know are flocking back to the Ortho...<I>The Russians I know are flocking back to the Orthodox Church, absolutely love Mr. Putin, (who always wears a crucufix under his shirt - did you know? - I'd bet George Bush does not,) regret intensely the murder of their Royal Family by the Bolsheviks, mourn the destruction of many of their finest ancient buildings, churches and monuments by Stalin, and hate those same Bolsheviks with a deep and passionate intensity for the millions of unnecessary deaths, decades of deprivation, and infinite litany of lies upon lies upon lies that they endured for 70 years.</I><BR/><BR/>Yeah, yeah, but this is likely just yet another case of the dichotomy between what folk SAY and what they DO (vote, live day to day, so forth and so on...). After all, as I've said before I'm both a much more <I>hardcore</I> cynic and <I>hardcore</I> skeptic than Will. I'm <I>not</I> proud to declare that, but it's ground from experience over the years.<BR/><BR/>Even though I have no known ties with Russians specifically, I would be skeptical of their professed "love" they claim with their mouth they have for true freedom, just as I am when "true blue" Amerikans blab as much. From many media accounts over the years, Russians in general long for the days of easy dependency, never seeming to recall the attendant squalor that accompanies it.<BR/><BR/>Speaking of Putin, isn't he a "former" KGB strongman? Anyone can wear a crucifix just as anyone can go to church. So what? The <I>appearance</I> of piousness is just that.<BR/><BR/>An excerpt from the UK's <A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3617723/Theyve-got-used-to-freedom-so-why-do-Russians-still-hunger-for-the-USSR.html" REL="nofollow">Telegraph</A> (June 18, 2005): <I>Yet there is a discernible nostalgia for the terrible simplifications of the old days. In a poll conducted in 2003, the Russian Centre for Public Opinion found that <B>53 per cent of Russians still regard Stalin as a "great" leader.</B> The explanation is not far to seek. The collapse of Communism has meant not just greater freedom but also widening inequality and a dramatic decline in average living standards.<BR/><BR/>Since 1989, the Russian mortality rate has risen from below 11 per 1,000 to more than 15 per 1,000 - nearly double the American rate. For adult males, the mortality rate is three times higher. Average male life expectancy at birth is below 60, roughly the same as in Bangladesh. A 20-year-old Russian man has a less than 50/50 chance of reaching the age of 65.<BR/><BR/>This has much to do with the round-the-clock consumption of fags and booze - the typical St Petersburg man walks around with a bottle of beer and a cigarette in one hand the way a Londoner carries his mobile phone - not to mention an attitude to road safety apparently inspired by the Mad Max films. It also reflects the long-term effects of the planned economy on the Russian environment and the near-collapse of the healthcare system.</I> [emphasis mine]<BR/><BR/>Yes, that's a media piece, so take it or leave it, but many state similar findings. Most significantly, these pieces reveal two key missing ingredients that enables true freedom to flourish and that's morality and SELF-control. After 70 odd years of the state providing its "morality" and control, or playing the mother roll, that's understandable, but the folk themselves need to learn how to SELF-govern with a moral compass before true freedom can be sustained. Predictably, these realities evidence that that's clearly not the case, in general. However, the same sad state is evident over here in America now as well.<BR/><BR/>I'm curious, if I could proffer one key question, however: Within what stratum of society did you live and work day to day within these countries? I'd more readily accept a person's account who lived with and worked among the commoners or the working-class for a month over someone who trotted among and worked with the upper crust in a given country for a year. In other words, the REAL lowdown picture (no pun intended) of how the aggregate people in general think, how they live day to day, their opinions on (their own) Leviathan, and so on.<BR/><BR/>I was an enlisted man in Germany from '86-'90 in USAFE and worked (when not on deployment) on the missile base, obviously, but I lived, played, and partied with the German commoners almost the entire four years. A month in the beginning was in the barracks, but soon a buddy and I found a house to rent and moved just once during the tour. I gathered a huge amount of knowledge of the culture, people, language, and skillful driving of the rural and urban roadways during that 4 years. I rarely set foot on the main base. Yet many Amis spent almost their entire tour literally <I>on</I> the base living in barracks. Sad.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, we must strive to always keep in mind that it's ones WALK, over and above ones TALK, that really counts on any matter in question.dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-88586027856439557412009-04-04T12:38:00.000-06:002009-04-04T12:38:00.000-06:00Will, I'm certainly glad that I graduated HS the s...Will, I'm certainly glad that I graduated HS the same year that DARE germinated.<BR/><BR/>Will, by gauging your writing over time, you seem to be of the mindset that folk follow/obey a mantra as long as, say, a paycheck or some reward is in the mix. True, I can't disagree with that in the abstract, but why is no thought given to why someone moves in a direction, accepts a statist position, whatever in the first place? In other words, hypothetically, would you accept a job offer from DHS that paid, let's say, $100,000 per annum in the first place, given that you have a large family and such? I would hope you would NOT, as I certainly would NOT, because, yes, I'm keenly aware that once one takes that initial plunge into ease, comfort, pleasure, and hefty benefits, they'll likely do whatever it takes to retain that position. Besides, I never was the overly ambitious type. Of course, this conundrum not only applies to Leviathan hypotheticals, but involves ANY endeavor.<BR/><BR/>On another front, you keep mentioning your (understandable as it were) disdain with the JBS for terminating you and leaving your LARGE family with no steady source of income and gradually becoming a Leviathan partner via cooperation.<BR/><BR/>But that all leads me to ask this simple question: Knowing how the JBS has devolved, would you have rejected this change and self-terminated your employment and moved on? I see Mr. Jasper has not done so; hmm, I do wonder how lame/statist/ineffectual JBS will have to become before Mr. Jasper also would decide enough is enough and move on?<BR/><BR/>I know, I ask weird questions so don't answer if it's uncomfortable; it's none of my business anyway. Admittedly, I was kind of a weird kid anyway growing up as I always asked the hardcore, poignant, frank questions that made teachers, my parents, et al, sometimes develop an involuntary tic in their eye ;).dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-37293767565326956972009-04-04T03:54:00.000-06:002009-04-04T03:54:00.000-06:00Liberranter,I have to take exception to what you s...Liberranter,<BR/><BR/>I have to take exception to what you said: "Given the lingering affinity for Iosif Dzhugashvili expressed by far too large a segment of today's Russian population, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this legacy statue still proudly stands in some Moscow park. Something approaching a majority of Russians seems to favor totalitarianism and all of its symbols, no matter what the ideological package."<BR/><BR/>Before I launch into a tirade I would regret, let me ask you respectfully if you have any first-hand evidence to back that up?<BR/><BR/>From my experience of the many Russians, Austrians, Swiss, Chinese, Swedes, Germans, Israelis, Poles, Indians, and several other nationalities I have met, lived among, and worked with, (I have lost count of how many different countries I have visited and lived in - something like 40, depending on how long a stay you set as a criterion,) it seems to me nothing could be further from the truth.<BR/><BR/>The Russians I know are flocking back to the Orthodox Church, absolutely love Mr. Putin, (who always wears a crucufix under his shirt - did you know? - I'd bet George Bush does not,) regret intensely the murder of their Royal Family by the Bolsheviks, mourn the destruction of many of their finest ancient buildings, churches and monuments by Stalin, and hate those same Bolsheviks with a deep and passionate intensity for the millions of unnecessary deaths, decades of deprivation, and infinite litany of lies upon lies upon lies that they endured for 70 years.<BR/><BR/>The fact that today the Russian Communist Party is NOT banned is a testament to their intense commitment to freedom of speech and democracy. Those misguided souls, usually the aged, who want to idolize Lenin and Stalin and Krushchev are free to do so - no Russian Homeland Security goons are going to arrest them and "render" them to an Arab country to be tortured.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile here in Amerika we have spent 8 years inflicting millions of casual deaths on others, thousands of unnecessary deaths on our servicemen, hundreds of secret deaths on our civilans, and have swallowed an endless litany of lies from every politician or official calling him- or herself a Republican, from precinct captains to Supreme Court judges to the President himself. <BR/><BR/>Our police these days are more thuggish, so I am told, than the Russian police, who can usually be counted on to be polite, since they hope for a bribe from the guilty, and respect the fury of the innocent, so recently unburdened from totalitarianism and unwilling to tolerate even a vestige of it any longer.<BR/><BR/>I think you should take with many grains of salt anything you read in the media or see on the TV in this here Amerika, especially what their propagandists have to say about foreign countries and their people and political systems. Question: Does the American media ever tell you those things you read here on Mr. Grigg's blog? No, they do not. <BR/><BR/>Well, if they lie about what is going on in this country, consider that they may also be lying to you about what obtains in Russia, Georgia, Venezuela, and Israel - or any country in which our ruling oligarchy, who own the media, have a financial interest.<BR/><BR/>As regards Venezuela - they want its oil, just as they wanted the oil of Iraq. But they cannot pull the same lying scam twice, so they just poison your mind, hoping for an opportunity. As regards Russia, they would dearly love to get their hands once more on its oil, minerals and manufacturing assets, which they stole by force under the drunken Yeltsin and which Mr. Putin took away from them by force. So they poison your mind. As regards Israel: Its banks and its defense industry and its role as a laboratory for new American weapons to be tested against Palestinians, is worth vast sums of money to the oligarchs. So they tell you Israel is a democratic paradise on earth. Do not believe this - I lived four months in Israel and I know its people first-hand, from Eilat to Qiryat Shimona.<BR/><BR/>You may think I am bullshitting you. I am 62 years old, and have had plenty of time to do all these things and more.<BR/><BR/>You would be quite shocked to know how much co-operation there is between career civil servants in countries whose politicians bluster and swear at each other, such as between the CIA and the FSB. It is rather like two wrestlers - when the fight is over they shake hands cheerfully and go out for a drink together. Quite humorous, really - and it was always so, even at the height of the farcical Cold War.<BR/><BR/>Do not fall for the crap you are being fed by the oligarchic media.<BR/><BR/>Yours sincerely,<BR/>Lemuel Gulliver.Lemuel Gullivernoreply@blogger.com