July 4th- Celebrate by being a separatist!

Check out our latest YouTube podcast, we discuss the 4th of July, Trump, Iran, and several other things, like the true American Revolution!

Local (Fairbanks) 3 gun shoot!

A listener to the show, Josh, has let me know that he and a group of friends have started a 3 gun shoot here in Fairbanks.
Right now they are getting together once a month. Anyone who needs to work on their shooting, and who doesn't, should look into participating if they can.
A 3 gun shoot includes shooting 3 different firearm types, a pistol, a shotgun, and a rifle, walking, jogging, or running through a course with various targets to shoot.
Semi-automatics are preferred. Josh also tells me he will let folks borrow his guns for the shoot, but asks that they bring their own ammo.
After a brief but important talk on firearm safety, he goes through the basics of the course with the group, and the fun begins!!
Their next meetup is going to be on the 6th of August, as of now.

So, if you want to sharpen your skills in a firearms, meet some new folks, and just have a good ol fun time, contact Josh at iccarus_effect@yahoo.com

The great Wolf DeVoon, joins Patriot's Lament

The man who many of us weren't even sure actually existed, but loved to read, the Great Wolf DeVoon joins Patriot's Lament for a very personal and authentic discussion of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Grab a cup of coffee, grab a seat by the fire, and join us.

Dr. Ron Paul interview with Patriots Lament

The great champion for Liberty, Dr. Ron Paul joins us on Patriot's Lament radio to discuss the past election and the future of America and Liberty.

Adam Dick also writes a summary of the interview, at the Ron Paul Institute website, here.

Tom Woods

I recently was privileged to be on the Tom Woods show. Tom was very gracious in the interview, (he is just a great guy!) and I am greatly thankful to him for having me on his podcast.

Have a listen here!

Also, make sure to check out all of Tom Woods' great work.

http://tomwoods.com

Tom Woods Liberty Classroom

Thanks Tom!

LRC in trouble?

Lew Rockwell needs our help.

Please consider what you can.

Donate to Lew Rockwell.com

Legalized Theft

I had a discussion the other day on the Patriot's Lament radio show on the word "theft." The discussion was about the city of Fairbanks upping the amount of forfeitures it needed to fill the gap in the city budget.
I claim that asset forfeiture is theft. A caller to the show said while I might think it is theft, the city council says it is not theft, as long as it is doing the stealing.
So if a city, State, or any legislature concludes that what it does is not theft, does that mean that it is not?
If I punch someone in the nose, can I claim that it is a nostril love tap?
If I murder someone, can I call it a long sleeping spell?
Can a body of individuals change the Law of Nature, to justify its perceived needs?
Is theft always theft?
If a starving person steals food from an open kitchen window, isn't it still theft? Whether the person who was stolen from wants to receive restitution from the thief is not the concern here. Whether the starving person really needed the food more than the owner of the food doesn't matter either.
It is still theft.
It's the question that is not really all that old: if a government steals, is it really theft? Is the State held above the Law, rather than to a higher standard of the Law?
I say it is not that old of a question because in the past, it was well known that even the King himself was not above the Law.
From William Blackstone:
"For as God, when he created matter, and endued it with a principle of mobility, established certain rules for the...direction of that motion; so, when he created man, and endued him with freewill to conduct himself in all parts of life, he laid down certain immutable laws of human nature, whereby that freewill is in some degree regulated and restrained, and gave him also the faculty of reason to discover the purport of those laws."
 
And the Founding Fathers of America saw it quite simply, from Thomas Jefferson:

"Man has been subjected by his Creator to the moral law, of which his feelings, or conscience as it is sometimes called, are the evidence with which his Creator has furnished him .... The moral duties which exist between individual and individual in a state of nature, accompany them into a state of society, their Maker not having released them from those duties on their forming themselves into a nation."

In other words, just because man leaves the State of Nature and joins others in the State of Society, he is still held to the same Law as he was in the State of Nature, such as, do not Steal.
The very reason man leaves the State of Nature to join society is to protect his very property from theft, among few other things.
 Stealing violates the Law of Nature as its violator must take property that is not his from another person who has the rightful or higher claim to that property.
Simply being elected to an office does not grant the elected person special privileges, most certainly not the privilege to steal.

Otherwise this would mean that slavery would be legal and just. For we are talking about the very Right of Self Ownership when we speak of theft, and more so theft by the State.
If the State, or even some puny individual at a lowly city council, can steal from you legally, then that lowly city council claims ownership of your very body, and claims ultimately that you are its slave.

So, the real discussion over things such as asset forfeitures is not whether it hurts the poor at a higher percentage than others, it's not whether the State is too liberal in using the so-called law, it is not whether due process is violated or not, and I agree in the affirmative to all the above; the real discussion is whether or not it is theft.

And if it is, then this should be the focal point of our discussion.
It is theft.
Individuals using the State claim to be above and outside the Law, and choose to steal from their neighbors. They call it "legal" and the "law," but it is just theft, plain and simple.


                                                                       ______

Now I want to briefly speak to the Fairbanks City Council, that wretched gang of thieves, and enemy of a free people.
I am quite happy that you have been so forthcoming in telling the people of Fairbanks that you consider yourselves above the Law, and also that you consider the people of Fairbanks to be your slaves.
It has to be this, or otherwise you have to admit that you are simply thieves of other men's means.
The fact that you PUT INTO YOUR NEW BUDGET, additional monies you have not even yet stolen from us, through fines and asset forfeitures, by doing so you have opened many people's eyes to what you really are:

You are an enemy of the Poor.
You are an enemy of Justice.
You are an enemy of The Law.
You are an enemy of Righteousness.
You are an enemy of the People.
You are an enemy of God.

While Justice on this earth may not seem to always come swiftly, Justice will indeed come.

But don't take my word for it.


Whenever the Legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the Property of the People, or to reduce them to Slavery under Arbitrary Power, they put themselves into a state of War with the People, who are thereupon absolved from any farther Obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence. ... [Power then] devolves to the People, who have a Right to resume their original Liberty, and, by the Establishment of a new Legislative (such as they shall think fit) provide for their own Safety and Security, which is the end for which they are in Society." John Locke










  

Ron Paul Institute

I am a big supporter of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
I really believe the work that they are doing there is actually taking that step up and forward from when Dr. Paul was a congressman. Lovers of Liberty should support the Institute.
Please join me and send them whatever you can for the fight for Liberty.
Thank you!
Ron Paul Institute

In addition

I wanted to follow Jim's post with this from Lew Rockwell's blog:

In his City of God, St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great. Alexander demands of him, “How dare you molest the seas?” The pirate replied, “How dare you molest the whole world? Because I do it with a small boat, I am called a thief. You, with a great fleet, molest the whole world and are called an emperor.” St. Augustine called this answer “elegant and excellent.”

I have been stressing on our radio show that Americans do NOT have a government, not one that can be defined as one, but most are under the allusion of such.
I was sent this today by one of my brother's:

What the America is supposed to be -
A Constitutional Republic
where the rights of the individual are protected

What we pretend it is -  
A Democracy
where the individual is forced to comply with the will of the majority

What it actually is -
A CORPORATION OWNED BY AN INTERNATIONAL BANKING CABAL, WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL HAS NO RIGHTS AND WHOSE LABOR IS USED AS COLLATERAL IN AN UNLAWFUL PYRAMID SCHEME.

  So the question of how would we take care of "X" without the State, is really missing the point, as Jim pointed out. Who cares? The real question is, how do rid ourselves of it?

 

Patriot's Lament with Daniel McAdams

Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity joins us for the first hour of Patriot's Lament. Daniel talks about Ron Paul's days in the Congress, and what it was like working for him. Daniel also talks to us about U.S. foreign policy, and the importance of having trade with others countries instead of war, and how important Peace is to Liberty.

Daniel McAdams to join us today!

Daniel, who is now the Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, will be joining us in the first hour of the Patriot's Lament radio show, 9-11am Alaska time, or 1-3pm eastern.
Join us!

Patriot's Lament with Mark Thornton

Mark joins us and we talk about the State of the economy, Liberty, and his skyscraper theory.
Join us, it was great!

Becky Akers joins Patriot's Lament

Becky Akers joins us on Patriot's Lament for both hours! We talk about the evils of the State, Romans 13, Christian participation with the State,(or rather, how we wish Christians didn't participate) wars, and her books. This was a great show, enjoy!

Jeffrey Tucker

Jeffrey Tucker will be joining us today on Patriot's Lament radio in the second hour (10 am Alaska time/1 pm central) to talk about his now up and running site, liberty.me
You can listen in live at kfar660.com
Jeffrey is always a blast, don't miss it!

Spooner sees it so clearly

We need a little Lysander Spooner, I think.
"It is no exaggeration but literal truth, to say that, by the Constitution, 'not as I interpret it, but as it is interpreted by those who pretend to administer it-' the properties, liberties, and the lives of the entire people of the United States are surrendered unreservedly into the hands of men who, it is provided by the constitution itself, shall never be "questioned" as to any disposal they make of them.
Article 1,sec.6 provides that, " for any speech or debate [or vote] in either house shall not be questioned in any other place".
The whole law making power is given to these senators and representatives, [when acting by 2/3rds vote] and this provision protects them from all responsibility for the laws they make.
[On an aside, this is from me, not Spooner, this means these garbage traps can spend the people into trillions of dollars of debt and can not be held accountable for it, according to the constitution. Back to Spooner.]
"Thus the whole power of the government is in their hands, and they are made utterly irresponsible for the use they make of it. What is this but absolute, irresponsible power?
It is no answer to this view of the case to say that these men are under oath to use their power only within created limits, what should they care, for oaths or limits when it is expressly provided, by the constitution itself, that they shall never be questioned or held to any responsibility whatsoever, for violating these oaths, or transgressing their limits."
[From here I am going to paraphrase a little, or rather, jump ahead to a conclusion from Spooner.]
Neither is it any answer to this view of the case to say that the men holding this power must be men chosen by people to hold it. A man is NONE THE LESS THE SLAVE BECAUSE HE IS ALLOWED TO CHOOSE A NEW MASTER ONCE IN A TERM OF YEARS. Neither is a people any less the slaves because they are permitted periodically to choose new masters. What makes them slaves is the fact that they now are, and are always hereafter to be, in the hands of men whose power over them is, and always is to be,absolute and irresponsible.
[This is me again, but here is the point of this whole post.]
The right of absolute and irresponsible dominion is the right of property, and the right of property is the right of absolute, irresponsible dominion. The two are identical; the one necessarily implying the other. Neither can exist without the other.
If Congress have that absolute and irresponsible lawmaking power, which the constitution, according to their interpretation of it gives them, it can only be because THEY OWN US AS PROPERTY. If they own us as property, they are OUR masters, and their will is our law. IF they DO NOT own us as property, they are NOT our masters, and their will, as such, is of no authority over us."
What Spooner is saying then, and rightfully so, is that if we are bound by the laws that congress passes, then congress owns us as property. But if congress does not own us as property, and they DO NOT, then we are not bound by their laws. They have no authority over us.
That is the whole point. We have to get out of this mind-controlling thought that we are their subjects, and they have any authority over us. If they do, and they are not responsible for anything they do to us, (and they are not) then they own us and we are no less slaves than any other slave in history.
I am NOT a slave.

Internment camps? Not here, really?

Justice Anthony Scalia said some pretty interesting things this past week, something we have been ridiculed here at Patriot's Lament for even suggesting, when we helped to expose the detention articles in the NDAA 2 years ago.
Well, seems that we weren't wrong so much, unfortunately.
When a supreme court justice is willing to say it in public, a person ought to take notice, especially when he says the things that he did.

Scalia on internment camps in the U.S.S.A

Friends?

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom — go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.
Samuel Adams. 

This one is something that reminds me of a friend who once told me about a test he does for people he meets, and based on their answer, he decides whether or not he will even give them the time of day, much less befriend them. He calls it the "Raw milk test." He asks if you think the State has the right to jail people who disobey the law and buy/sell raw cows' milk. Based on the answer given, he decides whether his time would be worth spending with you. Yes, if you say the state does have this right, he sees no worth in your friendship.
This brings up a broader point, one where we decide our time preferences. How much time do you want to spend with a Statist, really, someone who for whatever reason wouldn't blink an eye if the State threw you in a cage. Someone who says, "He must have done something wrong, after all, it's the law." I think we have to remove ourselves as much as possible from the Statists who just WON'T get it, no matter how much time you have wasted on them. Freedom and Liberty aren't for everyone;, some actually like being slaves, all the while, of course, telling you that they are somehow free (thanks, no less, to the State).
I think it's time to take Samuel Adams' words to heart, and to tell these Statists--and you know who they are in your life--to move on.
What really do we need from them anyway? They aren't edifying our lives, so why even associate with them?
Let them live in their chains.
We should have a little more self respect than that. If you have no qualms over the State caging me or my family or anyone over an arbitrary law some mortal man made up from his little mind, I want nothing to do with you.
You sound more like an enemy than a friend.
May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.
Don't expect me to smile and be your friend while you chain me.

Hoppe destroys the state

If you don't understand why the state is inimical to human well-being, you could listen to the lecture included here: http://archive.mises.org/16747/the-power-of-hoppe/

Jeffrey Tucker

Jeffrey Tucker will be joining us on the Patriot's Lament radio show tomorrow morning Saturday the 26th at 9 a.m. Alaska time. (10 a.m. pacific.)
Tune in on the web here (660 KFAR) and click the "listen live" tab.
It's gonna be awesome.

Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo

Dr. DiLorenzo will be joining us on the Patriot's Lament radio show tomorrow in the first hour. (9am AK time)
We will be discussing the Liefare/Warfare state, and expose the State warmongers for what they are. War criminals.
I am sure that we will discuss the American people's stupid gullibility and the so called "Christian church's" lust for war and blood. Whatever happened to Matthew 5??

In the second hour, our friend and local radical for Liberty Frank Turney will join us to discuss the history of the Jury, and the power the Jury has, and the Founding Fathers that stood for the Right of the Jury to judge the law. As Jefferson said, law (positive law) was merely the will of Tyrants. Google 660 KFAR and click on  "Listen Live" if you are out of the range of the station.   

Tune in! It promises to be another good program!