Thoughts on Freedom

Some great news from the States via the latest Zogby poll.

UTICA, New York – As the race for President passes the Independence Day holiday and heads toward the dog days of summer, Sen. Barack Obama holds a 44% to 38% lead over Sen. John McCain in the horserace contest, but also leads by a substantial margin in a state-by-state Electoral College tally, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.

The extensive national poll of of 46,274 likely voters also shows Libertarian candidate and former Congressman Bob Barr wins 6% support, eating into McCain’s needed conservative base of support.

The online survey was conducted from June 11-30, 2008. It carries a margin of error of 0.5 percentage points. After nearly a decade in development, the Zogby Interactive survey on a state level was remarkably accurate in the 2006 midterm elections. In 18 U.S. Senate elections polled two years ago, the Zogby online survey correctly identified the winner of 17 of 18 races. ….

 Pollster John Zogby: “Obama is in the driver’s seat right now, especially where it really counts - in the electoral votes. Bob Barr could really hurt McCain’s chances. McCain can’t afford the level of slippage to Barr we found among conservatives in this polling. While there has been plenty of talk about Obama’s recent emphasis on his centrist positions, he can get away with it during these dog days of the campaign as McCain finds himself still trying to shore up the conservative base. McCain will have to move to the center because right now Obama is clobbering him among independents. But there is the rub for McCain: Bob Barr has some juice among conservatives and is hurting him in several states. ”

Bob Barr receives the support of 7% of voters who identify themselves as conservative or very conservative voters. Barr gets 43% of libertarians and 11% of independents. McCain’s support among conservatives is 74%. On the left, Ralph Nader gets less than 2% nationally.

This indicates the possibility of up to 5-6 million votes, and there is time to improve on that as both Barr and Root are being taken seriously by a fair proportion of the media, a far cry from the norm.

The disappointing part of it is “Barr gets 43% of libertarians” which means the libertarian purity factor is worse than I predicted, although quite a few serious and dedicated Libertarians have swallowed their disappointment and are backing Barr/Root.

Regardless of the conservative origins of both members of the team, they appear to be bringing huge numbers of voters to pull the lever for Libertarian for the first time, after seriously considering LP policies for the first time. This has to be a positive.

I have been reading an excellent article from the Wall St Journal, “Anti-Americanism Is Mostly Hype,” By Foaud Ajami, who is a Bradley Prize recipient, and teaches at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of “The Foreigner’s Gift” (Free Press, 2006).

This article reminds me of the time just after Labor gained office in Queensland for the first time in a generation and Wayne Goss was premier. One of his less memorable statements was to the effect that the southerners liked us now. I wasn’t aware until then that anyone cared whether they liked us or not, but of course lefties just have to be loved, (or at least approved of.)

 But of course I digress: -

 So America is unloved in Istanbul and Cairo and Karachi: It is an annual ritual, the June release of the Pew global attitudes survey and the laments over the erosion of America’s standing in foreign lands.

 We were once loved in Anatolia, but now a mere 12% of Turks have a “favorable view” of the U.S. Only 22% of Egyptians think well of us. Pakistan is crucial to the war on terror, but we can only count on the goodwill of 19% of Pakistanis. Read more »

This was passed on to me by Viv Forbes. We need to find the originator of this document and have the constitution itself done by the same person. One thing we can safely assume is that there are other libertarians out there somewhere.

‘We the sensible people of Australia, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. Read more »

I owe David Leyonhjelm for bringing this to my attention. There appears to be significant change afoot in Libya, and not the usual ‘Oh shit’ change, but real change for the better. This is not only in the economic area, but also to a limited degree socially.

 Since December 2003, when Libya announced that it had agreed to reveal and end its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and to renounce terrorism, relations with the West have improved to the point where relatively normal relations exist with them. Come to think about it, it seems kind of odd not having Gadhafi making a bloody nuisance of himself.

 Gadhafi will never be acceptable in polite society owing to some of the extremes he went to during his pariah years, but will probably get along with governments just fine. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as far as the reform to his character but his past will always make him thoroughly reprehensible.

 Free market style reforms will do a great deal to improve the economy as it has done in a number of countries in the past. The massive oil revenues of Libya will of course be used by the left as a smokescreen to excuse themselves from having to make any embarrassing admissions. Read more »

From Expatia. “Anti-govt-intervention group to be launched”

I know that some of you will disagree with me here but I believe that something that is a social problem, (in a lot of cases this simply means that some of us don’t like it) can with the intervention of the dead hand of the state become a social disaster.

Some interesting figures on the various state responses to gun crime come up in the San Francisco Coalition Against Prohibition campaign against Proposition H (handgun control) as follows.

Washington, D.C. has a handgun ban, and is arguably the murder capitol of the USA. Murder is higher now than before the ban. England banned firearms, and crime increased (up to 28% for street robberies; rape and murder have both increased). Read more »

OK, I know I will never get many of you on the John McCain bandwagon, (I have been quietly supporting him for a while without telling you), and you all seem to think Ron Paul is the answer to the prayers of all of Libertaria.

 Here is a guy for you who will do far more for the libertarian movement than any of the other LP candidates and Paul combined, with the exception of Wayne Root, who although he is the best of them will probably now find the going tough.

 The LP now finds itself in the unusual position of having two candidates with actual federal government experience, Bob Barr as a former congressman, and former Democrat Senator Mike Gravel.

Read more »

From ABC News.  

 The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is under fire after raiding the homes of two Victorians suffering from terminal illnesses.      

Controversial euthanasia campaigner Doctor Philip Nitschke says AFP officers executed search warrants on 78-year-old Don Flounders of Warragul, and 54-year-old Angie Belecciu of Hastings on Wednesday after the pair announced on television they planned to end their own lives.

Mr. Flounders suffers from the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma and Ms Belecciu is terminally ill with breast cancer. Read more »

Welcome to the nanny state, or should I say Labors new even more regressive version of the old one. The federal Government plans to protect the little children by censoring what we can access on the Internet. Little warning was given of this prior to the election, presumably because Howard didn’t say it so Kevvy didn’t have to say “Me too.”

 I also imagine as such a move would be unpopular, it was decided to keep us in the dark. Always remember that while politicians are always forthcoming about what they will do for you when seeking your vote, they are usually reticent about what they will do to you after they get it.

 Well I suppose we have to catch up with the rest of the world and following the examples of the great liberal democracies like China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, and Burma is a promising start.

Read more »

This one is mainly for my mates over here who are considering standing in the various campaigns over the next couple of years.

Those of you who listen to my occasional rants and waffles, or have somehow found yourself over at my site, will be aware that I have become involved in the William Russell V Murtha campaign for the 12^th district PA in the US.

There are two main reasons for this. The first is that Jack Murtha is a corrupt slimeball who needs getting rid of. The second is that Lt. Col. William T. Russell is running a shoestring budgeted campaign against a well known incumbent, who is extremely well funded by donations sourced mainly from the beneficiaries of his earmarks.

This allows me to pick up a few good pointers to pass on, as last time I looked we seemed to be in a similar position. Anyway I have a few, and I think its time to get them up and let you have a chew over them, (Most of it is pinched off the site of Stephen R Maloney and in order to keep it in context I have left most of it in his words, including the relationship to the Russell campaign.) So here goes: -

Read more »

I guess with the election not happening until tomorrow, it is a little early for post mortems. While I tend to be an optimistic person I am not counting on seeing headlines in the Sunday papers saying: -

 Shock Result

LDP wins 47 seats and leading in all Senate races.

 At this point I would like to congratulate all candidates on their efforts, I’m proud of all of you. The campaign has been remarkably disciplined probably due in no small part to the efforts of David L, Terje, and John H, and to the common sense of all of the other candidates.

 I loved the press releases, Its a pity more of them didn’t get through, we should look at that, I’m not sure what we can do about it. Perhaps if we are lucky enough to have Terje get through this might be solved.

 As a matter of interest we briefly had a Senator in the Progress Party back in the late 70s or early 80s. Someone secretly negotiated to get a WA Liberal Senator whose name escapes me now to defect on the eve of an election. It was all a done deal and John Singleton went to the airport to meet him and take him to a press conference to announce our triumph.

Read more »

As “Arguing Freedom With a Communist”, has got a good response and totalitarianism is a subject at the forefront I thought I would post a quiz to test whether you have paying attention I found this on Neal Boortz.

(1) “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.”

 A. Karl Marx

B. Adolph Hitler

C. Joseph Stalin

D. None of the above

 (2) “It’s time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few…and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity.”

 A. Lenin

B. Mussolini

C. Idi Amin

D. None of the Above

Read more »

It is not enough merely to call for freedom, democracy and human rights. There has to be a united determination to persevere in the struggle; to make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths; to resist the corrupting influences of desire, ill will, ignorance and fear.”Aung San Suu Kyi from her 1991 book, Freedom From Fear

I have to admit to a weakness for strong women. I admired Margaret Thatcher, and rather like Condoleezza Rice, and who could forget Boudicca (no ‘lefties’ though- sorry Hilary your not on my list) but when it comes to the crunch Aung San Suu Kyi leaves them for dead.

This girl stares down the barrels of loaded and cocked rifles for a living.

Read more »

The following is from the latest “Bob Barr Update”; it seems to be a case of the nanny state and political correctness gone mad. 

Atlanta, GA –

Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr today blasted school officials in Cobb County, Georgia, a northwest suburb of Atlanta, for seeking to bring felony charges against a 12th grade student, Wilford Ray Chandler, Jr., for simply having a small Swiss Army knife in his car in a school parking lot at Wheeler High School.

“The student posed no threat to anyone, and he was not using the knife in any threatening manner,” Barr noted, “in fact, he was not using the knife at all - it was simply in his car.” “Trying to ruin a student’s career before it even begins, by treating such an innocuous activity as having a Swiss Army pocketknife in a car, is nothing short of an unthinking, stupid, and vindictive exercise of government power,”Barr, a former federal prosecutor, said.

Read more »

The following is a post from Eric Dondero who runs Mainstream Libertarian, and Libertarian Republican. As background there is a certain degree of suspicion within the GOP that if Ron Paul is unsuccessful in his effort to win the nomination he might take the opportunity to stand as a “third Party” candidate.

This would have devastating consequences to the very real chance the Republicans have, to win the presidency again. They have very credible candidates in Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and probably Fred Thompson, and are gaining ground in grassroots campaigns across America.

Some Libertarians though have expressed an intention of joining the GOP in order to support Ron Paul, then leave again if he fails. If he were to stand as a third party candidate, he could take with him a great deal of the parties libertarian/Republican support.

It would be a terrible thing to see a man of his stature act as a spoiler.
Read more »

Advocates of planned economies never seem to listen to the lessons learned elsewhere, and will probably choose to ignore this one.

For them, “there is no reality, only perception”, something my daughter asked me about from school. 

I found an excellent article by Whitney Stewart in CNS News while looking for something else. (A short attention span can be a great thing). I have edited it to fit it in but the crux is still there.

In this article we see the reference to an “economic miracle”, which seems to be a phenomenon which follows in the footsteps of freeing up the economy. Perhaps economists will find out what correlation lies there.

Here is the story: - Read more »

At this time I believe we should  be trying to get our beliefs in front of the public in order to prime them in preparation for the federal election. As such I have sent a letter to the editor of ‘The Australian’ on the Haneef matter, concentrating on the rights aspects of the case.

 I would encourage all of those who can to follow suit on this sort of activity to do so, and a few press releases by ‘Spokesmen’ for the LDP wouldn’t go astray at this time.

It is probably a good time to brush up our skills on this and your comments and suggestions for improvements in this effort will help.Those with less experience should go for ‘low hanging fruit’ type subjects, - the type of material easily accepted by the public, and if in any doubt about content should contact  us with inquiries.

Local papers are a good target as they are widely read within the local community and the letters section is always popular.

This is advice from the editor, “If you haven’t already done so,please include a contact telephone number and home address. Letters sent as an attachment cannot be processed and will need to be sent in the body of the email”.

In the old days  the heading ‘Letters to the Editor’ was also required, however I do not know if this is still the case.If anyone wishes to rip this off and use it in another paper they are welcome to do it, but it might be wise to see what our gurus think of it first.

Anyway, here it is, lets see what we can do: -

Read more »

American libertarians are fortunate in that they live in a nation founded on libertarian values, with many of those values enshrined in the constitution. They have ‘inviolable rights’, because of the healthy distrust with which government was held by the founding fathers. The basic principle of government in America is, that it gains its power from the consent of the governed.

When Australian statists argue for more control or against liberalization of existing controls, they use the slogan, “We don’t want to be like America”, perhaps American libertarians should adopt “We don’t want to be like Australia, New Zealand, England, France, etc”

All of this aside, Americans are fortunate enough to have a solid libertarian philosophical base to the point that they have the option in many cases, of voting for Republican candidates, who in some cases are near enough to the real thing to not matter when no Libertarian candidate is available.

My kind of sites are the practical/mainstream/blue collar/real world libertarian sites, the kind of people who not only support fiscal responsibility and social tolerance, but the right to defend liberty. The no shit libertarians.

This brings me to the subject in hand, after digressing somewhat.

Read more »

The following is from the pages of the Gympie Times on the 5/6th Jul 07:-

EIGHT Gympie families will lose their livelihoods this month in a major victory for Queensland’s culture of complaint, with the closure of the iconic Wises Road sawmill.One complainant, it seems, has more say than all the mill’s other neighbors and all the people who depend on its social and economic contribution.The mill’s image, subject of an award winning painting by Gympie artist Peter Hughes, hangs today in Queensland Parliament House as a symbol of Gympie city.
We could rebuild it, if we knew we were going to have timber in 10 years time, but they keep locking up the forests, part owner Rod Godwin said in the mill’s tiny old-fashioned office yesterday.ONE-MAN bands are altering the character of a Gympie neighborhood and Kevin Gomersal says if it keeps happening, the city’s old world charm will be lost.
Bureaucratic nonsense, is how neighbors of Elliott’s Sawmill describe the action taken to close down the mill which they say has contributed to the cohesion of their community for as long as it’s been in operation.

Read more »

The following is a Media Release from Viv Forbes. Viv is a man who’s opinion I hold in the greatest respect. I am posting it for your information.

Climate Smart?

A new organization called “The Carbon Coalition” has been set up to defend the role of carbon on earth and in the atmosphere.

Chairman of the new group, Mr. Viv Forbes, a pasture manager, soil scientist and geologist from Rosevale in Queensland, says the group is concerned at the growing and unjustified vilification of carbon by politicians and the media.

More information on The Carbon Coalition can be found on our web site here.

Read more »

Well, election time is coming up again and we have to brace ourselves for a barrage of advertising of the ‘virtues of various candidates’ and of course their parties. We will be told of all of the wonderful things they will do for us, but will probably be less forthcoming on what they will do to us.

Interspersed among these in Australia will of course be some by the Electoral Commission warning us that voting is compulsory and that failure to do so, will incur fines.

Yes folks, in this great democracy of ours the right to vote has been taken away and replaced with a compulsion to vote. The reason I say that the right to vote has been removed is that a right is something that the individual can choose to do or not do as free will decides. I have the right to drink, but if I do not choose to do so I don’t.

No publican has the right to lay criminal charges, or sue me for failing to do so. Some of them may have a beef about this, but are not likely to be taken seriously. I will not be fined for failing to drink; therefore my right to drink is untainted.

Voting needs to be reformed, if for no better reason than that the disinterested people who go along to vote because they are compelled to, probably skew results. How many people have been voted in or out by people who essentially don’t care enough about the process enough to vote voluntarily.
Read more »