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Opinions/Editorials Title: 10 Ways the U.S. Gov't Has Destroyed Its Own Declaration of Independence The irony cannot be escaped that a country that issued a document codifying independence for free citizens, should turn into one that declares outright war on all that signifies independent living and prosperity. It is not a king this time who is exerting ownership over the land and its people, but it is a similar top-down tyrannical system that employs police state enforcers in much the same manner. In America, this tyranny has remained largely disguised behind pleasantries and a growing bureaucracy centered around Orwellian safety measures, but those days are over; the king (the tyranny) has returned to make its move from the shadows out into the open square for public view. Its kid gloves have transformed to an iron fist, which always seems to herald the final phase. The Declaration of Independence has been inverted in 10 key ways: 1. The refusal to assent to law: He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
These are just a couple of excerpts from the beginning of the list of grievances that set the tone for a criticism of rule by federal force, rather than rule by local law. Currently, we have seen an official elimination of the 4th Amendment in Indiana, which is a clear precedent-setting ruling to say that the State now believes that it owns the property and person of its citizens. TSA groping and sexual harassment anywhere it deems fit, public school surveillance, and a plethora of other federal initiatives have created a top-down managed society promoted through federal grants. These agencies such as the TSA actually believe they rule supreme over the states and sovereign citizens. This is perhaps most pronounced in the federal intervention over the legalization of medical marijuana. We now have a textbook tyranny in America, which operates with two separate definitions of legality: impunity for those in control, and an ever-increasing rule book whereby average citizens are likely to be in violation of something at any given time, and are stripped of their right of representative self-governance. 2. Imposition of bureaucratic rule: He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. Regulations and licenses coordinated between private companies and government have been handed down by political and corporate leadership, and have become de facto laws enforced by compromised judges. This has resulted in an almost impossible environment for entrepreneurial success. Independence has been criminalized, most notably by food safety laws, which have stripped the rights of individual farmers and use of their private land. In fact, there is only one growth industry left: government. 3. Standing armies (military rule): He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: The militarization of local police has been going on since the advent of the War on Drugs. SWAT team raids are now common even on raw milk vendors and natural health practitioners. More than that, Army and Marines have been called to man checkpoints and have been called in for support in any situation deemed an "emergency." TSA has groped and abused air travelers, and are rolling out to other modes of transportation with their VIPR teams. These actions are anathema to the Constitution of the United States in which the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 expressly prohibits military operations to be conducted on American soil. Naturally, this is why the National Defense Authorization Act has declared America to be a war zone, thus eradicating that illegal activity and allowing for the military to operate independently. 4. Economic warfare: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent. The policies of the American government have fully emboldened every other nation, except our own. The "trade" spoken of in the Declaration of Independence was based on concepts of free market trade, not free or fair trade. As a perfect example, one study by the Congressional Research Service identified 751 different types of barriers to American exports worldwide. Current policies have built-in exploitation and a lowered standard of living that is unrewarding to American innovation and excellence. It is no mystery, then, why the entire world is becoming poorer. Hidden taxes plague independent small businesses and reward only the governments and mega corporations which benefit from specially written tax loopholes and foreign account holdings to help them pay nothing, while enforcers of the IRS have been unleashed in greater numbers against everyday citizens -- soon they'll even do your taxes for you, or enforce compliance through pre-crime measures. 5. Removal of trial by jury: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury This has been made complete by the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains provisions for American citizens to be detained in America indefinitely without formal charges or jury trial. 6. Permitting citizens to be detained outside America: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies. America has indeed enlarged the boundaries of its sovereign law and jurisprudence by declaring the entire world a war zone in which American citizens under suspicion of loosely defined terrorism can be sent to any other country for interrogation, torture, and detention. 7. Fundamentally altering the role of binding laws of government: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. Government encroachment on civil liberties is now pervasive and obvious. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights is effectively dead; our laws are subject to the interpretation of a selected Super Congress, thus eliminating proper representation; and the office of the president has been given dictatorial power. The fundamental structure of government and its laws has been upended. Peaceful protest against such incursions are being violently oppressed, and our right to free speech has come under attack whether in the physical domain, or the virtual domain of the Internet. 8. Internal war on American citizens: He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. It should now be clear just how much the USA PATRIOT ACT, and its even worse brethren such as the National Defense Authorization Act have played in the incremental inversion of the Declaration of Independence. As someone recently lamented, "How can I have a Merry Christmas when my own government can kill me?" The U.S. Government has, and it will. The overseas killing of U.S. citizens by drones is something that is ready to come to American soil. The (il)legal framework is now in place, and the precedent has been set to use drones for domestic law enforcement. Meanwhile, other "free" military hardware is being handed out to local police nationwide to further militarize American neighborhoods. Furthermore, documents like the MIAC report of 2009, as well as many other leaked policy papers, are evidence that the federal government views its own citizens as the greatest threat of all. 9. Use of mercenary armies: He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. The behavior of mercenary groups like Blackwater used overseas, as well as paid security forces to protect large domestic corporations like BP during the Gulf Oil disaster are completing the works of "death, desolation, and tyranny" referenced above. They are held unaccountable for their war crimes and atrocities committed abroad, as well as on American soil, while employing foreigners as well. Additionally, public servants such as the NYPD have become more beholden to large banks that contribute to their retirement funds than they are to the people they swore to protect and serve. 10. Use of false flag terror He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us. It has been admitted that the Gulf of Tonkin incident, as well as the latest Fast and Furious scandal, were both conducted expressly to bring America to war -- whether foreign, or now the domestic War on Drugs. This was done knowingly and premeditatedly to cause increasing strife and economic hardship to American citizens, and to enrich international banks and organizations. This is merely the latest in a long history of American false flag terror that has been used to drum up support for various political and corporate power grabs. This use of criminal acts to spread fear and contrived problems among civilian populations for political power and financial gain is the very definition of terrorism and warfare. In conclusion, we find it difficult to improve upon, or add anything to the summary of a document created expressly to declare a proper evaluation of the conditions which require immediate action by free people to protect themselves against tyrants. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Comments (1-19) not displayed.
In this age of instant gratification you guys don't realize that the whole system was deliberately created by the founders to be a slow, grinding, process. Yes. But now that they have perverted our system it seems impossible to change it back to being good again.
#21. To: A K A Stone (#19) They are bought off. They don't listen to us to much anymore. Who would have the money to buy them off? Those huge corporations that you adore? "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #22. To: mininggold, A K A Stone (#16) Everything you mentioned are day to day actions that can easily be resolved either one way or another by the people and the three coequal branches of government. Fine. Question: If it's so "easily resolved," then why don't you go fix them? Answer: Because you can't. Here's an extended quote from Claire Wolfe, that lays it all out... Where we're really at.
Stopping Runaway Government “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #23. To: mininggold (#21) Who would have the money to buy them off? Those huge corporations that you adore? I adore? lol. I don't adore GE. I don't adore any corporation. The people who run them have free speech though. Just like you and I.
#24. To: A K A Stone (#23) (Edited) She's interested in pushing the leftist talking-points, instead of actually thinking for herself. “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #25. To: Capitalist Eric (#22) Question: If it's so "easily resolved," then why don't you go fix them? Sounds like a lazy defeatist talking. I'm sorry that your demand for instant gratification for whatever your neediness is at the moment wasn't a priority with the founders. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #26. To: Capitalist Eric (#24) She's interested in pushing the leftist talking-points, instead of actually thinking for herself. Yet you are the one quoting Clare Wolfe without any useful analysis on your part. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #27. To: A K A Stone (#23) I adore? lol. I don't adore GE. I don't adore any corporation. The people who run them have free speech though. Just like you and I. You support giving a paper figment an individual right of personhood. That's adoration at it's finest. The people running them already have those rights as individuals. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #28. To: mininggold (#25) I'm sorry that your demand for instant gratification Instant gratification. It is to late for that FDR has been dead for decades. When is his perversion of the constitution going to be remedied?
#29. To: mininggold (#27) You support giving a paper figment an individual right of personhood. Uh. Paper can't talk.
#30. To: A K A Stone (#29) Uh. Paper can't talk. Sure it can, if it has a Board of Directors speaking on it's behalf. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #31. To: A K A Stone (#28) Instant gratification. It is to late for that FDR has been dead for decades. When is his perversion of the constitution going to be remedied? It would be remedied if the majority of voters felt it was necessary. Do you really want the minority to rule over the majority in this country? "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #32. To: mininggold (#30) Sure it can, if it has a Board of Directors speaking on it's behalf. You're as goofy as the one who thinks mice talk. So you don't support free speech if someone speaks to someone else and asks/tells them to say something? You have proven yourself to be an enemy of the constitution. There are no restrictions on free speech found in the constitution. You can try to spin but it doesn't work on me or smart people.
#33. To: mininggold (#31) It would be remedied if the majority of voters felt it was necessary. Do you really want the minority to rule over the majority in this country? I want the constitution upheld. You obviously don't. It was misinterpreted purposefully. They are liars and you support them. Then if some corporation says something about it you want to shut them up. You are the enemy of my countries constitution.
#34. To: A K A Stone (#32) You're as goofy as the one who thinks mice talk. I see you can only cope for so long before you run out of arguments and lose any semblance of rationality. You really need to try to get a hold on your BPD. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #35. To: mininggold (#34) I see you can only cope for so long before you resort to name calling.
#36. To: A K A Stone (#33) I want the constitution upheld. You obviously don't. Where is the right of corporate (an entity essentially created by a government) personhood mentioned in the constitution? Where is "capitalism", of which corporations are an integral and vital part, mentioned at all? "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #37. To: A K A Stone (#35) I see you can only cope for so long before you resort to name calling. You called the first name as usual. I'm accurately describing a condition that includes your highly documented, obsessive need to "split". "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #38. To: mininggold (#36) Where is the right of corporate (an entity essentially created by a government) personhood mentioned in the constitution? blah blah blah. That is spin. The government isn't allowed to limit free speech period. Why do you hate people with more money then you speaking freely?
#39. To: A K A Stone (#38) blah blah blah. That is spin. Funny how you seem to hate government except when they give free speech rights on the behalf of a piece of paper they authorized and essentially created. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #40. To: mininggold (#25) Capitalist Eric: Question: If it's so "easily resolved," then why don't you go fix them? Answer: Because you can't. Empirical evidence demonstrates my point to be accurate, despite your attempts to label me. But your feeble efforts to distract are amusing. “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #41. To: mininggold (#39) rights on the behalf of a piece of paper That makes no sense. Elaborate. Tell me about the talking paper.
#42. To: Capitalist Eric (#40) Empirical evidence demonstrates my point to be accurate, despite your attempts to label me. Show your empirical evidence then. This country has had many shifts to and fro differing political viewpoints and economic theories (starting with mercantilism for one). Prove they didn't occur. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #43. To: mininggold (#31) It would be remedied if the majority of voters felt it was necessary. Yeah, obamacare is a great example of that. LOL. You make it too easy. “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #44. To: A K A Stone (#41) That makes no sense. Elaborate. Tell me about the talking paper. You are one saying that the piece of paper authenticated by a government entity equals blood and flesh. You tell me. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #45. To: Capitalist Eric (#43) Yeah, obamacare is a great example of that. For those with little or no impulse control the wheels of change grind waaaay to slowly. For us normals they grind just as the founders wanted. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #46. To: mininggold (#44) You are one saying that the piece of paper authenticated by a government entity equals blood and flesh. You tell me. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. They aren't allowed to make any laws abridging free speech. Checkmate you lose.
#47. To: A K A Stone (#46) (Edited) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Yet a government is able to grant or not grant corporate status to a group of people, if they don't meet certain conditions (that often changse with the next congress, IRS regulation or state law). That hasn't changed a bit. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #48. To: mininggold (#42) Show your empirical evidence then. Here's an EASY one: TSA checkpoints in EVERY airport, in direct violation of the Bill of Rights- literally strip-searching grannies, and feeling up little kids (actions that, outside the airport, would be considered felonious sexual assualts). The courts won't stop this abuse, even though it is outrageous on its face. The Congress has neither the will nor the power to stop it. And the abuse goes on, even as I write this. I am personally forced to tolerate this abuse, because my circumstances demand my travelling by air to meet certain obligations. Yet my right to travel unimpeded (confirmed by 150+ years of case-law) is contingent upon me giving up my rights to privacy, and my right to not be sexually assaulted each time I have to fly. This is overtly ILLEGAL. I've called my Congressional representatives. I've talked to ACLU lawyers, who refuse to touch this. I've talked to the local District Attorneys, even the local Sheriff's Department... And NOBODY can stop it. “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #49. To: mininggold (#45) For those with little or no impulse control the wheels of change grind waaaay to slowly. For us normals they grind just as the founders wanted. The first part of your reply is... nonsensical mish-mash. The second part, I would happen to agree. It's why, ultimately, the 2nd Amendment was in the Constitution. Because they knew we would reach this day, eventually. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. -- Thomas Jefferson -- “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #50. To: Capitalist Eric (#49) (Edited) The first part of your reply is... nonsensical mish-mash. Only for those with poor impulse control and need for instant gratification. Elections have consequences. If you think that legislation passed was done illegally and is an impeacheable offense, get congress to act on it. "ROTFLMAO... Perfect! She longs... for someone to Teabag her. a man that squats on top of a women's face and lowers his genitals into her mouth during sex, known as "teabagging" She aches for it"... ~~~JWpegler. Head Tea Bagger and Tea Party supporter extraordinaire, explicitly expressing his fantasies in public about other posters. #51. To: mininggold (#50) Capitalist Eric: The first part of your reply is... nonsensical mish-mash. And those who understand that WORDS MEAN THINGS. Stringing together words which do not reasonably follow normal grammatical rules make for poor communication. Which is why the first part of your reply was nonsensical mish-mash. Again, you attempt to sling mud to cover for your failure. You exhibit an overwhelming urge to avoid responsibility for your actions- a typical leftist trait. “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #52. To: All, mininggold (#48) (Edited) I showed you but one empirical example of government run amok, with no possibility of the population stopping them. And your response?
<<<< crickets >>>>>>
As usual, you make it too easy. “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #53. To: A K A Stone (#4) Yeah the British said the same thing. Yep, which is why we need a new Declaration that substitutes the U.S. government for King George. ![]() #54. To: mininggold (#47) Congress shall make no You can't get around this. Checkmate again. Do you think my position is unreasonable. Considering the words "no law"? Do you think people who think like me are "spinning" the words. Or do you think that it is reasonable for me and others to take the position we take? If so how do you get around the "no law" words in the constitution that are not qualified in any way whatsoever?
#55. To: Capitalist Eric (#48) I am personally forced to tolerate this abuse, because my circumstances demand my travelling by air to meet certain obligations. Does your right to travel include a right to any particular mode of transportation? There must be something really special about you Eric - I recently flew and no one was interested in invading my privacy or sexually assaulting me (I was flying first class so maybe there is a difference there). Actually the process was less invasive than it was in the late 60s when everyone flying internationally was patted down. I've called my Congressional representatives.
I've talked to ACLU lawyers, who refuse to touch this.
Airport security seems to be pretty much the same in Europe as it is in the US. Economics is a social phenomenon and in no way a “science”, no matter how desperately its high priests would like to have it believed otherwise. It is, instead, a branch of anthropology and the sooner that is recognized and accepted, the better off human-kind in general and the world of academic economics, in particular, shall be proximity1 #56. To: lucysmom (#55) Does your right to travel include a right to any particular mode of transportation? The question is moot. But I'll give you credit for a very subtle attempt to divert the argument. Case law doesn't discriminate on which mode of travel, only that American citizens have a right to unimpeded travel, unmolested by the government, unless probable cause and due process requirements are met. It's the reason why the VIPR teams in Tennessee and DUI checkpoints are unconstitutional- neither requirement is met.
There must be something really special about you Eric - I recently flew and no one was interested in invading my privacy or sexually assaulting me ... Actually the process was less invasive than it was in the late 60s when everyone flying internationally was patted down. Uh-huh. Did you go through the whole-body scanner, where you have to raise your arms above your head (like a stick-up victim in an old Western movie)? If so, you were bathed in ionizing radiation (increased risk of cancer), and digitally strip-searched. My guess is that you did it, without realizing what you were (literally) stepping into. Having a background in nuclear engineering, I have a pretty good idea of what the scanners do, and the I have a very good understanding of the risks they pose... Which is why, though I fly every month, I have never gone through the scanners. If the metal-detectors are open, I'll go through them, but if they try to make me go through the scanners, I refuse, in which case I am subjected to a (sometimes outrageous) "pat-down." Flying through LAX fairly regularly, about 75% of the time it's either the scanners or a pat-down, so I am forced to endure the latter- even if the metal-detector is standing right next to the scanners, unused. I've gotten into several arguments with the TSA agents, esp. at LAX... called them thugs, worse than the Nazis... They're largely ignorant of the fact that what they're doing is illegal. (Imagine the reaction of two big black guys hearing that they're worse than Nazis- the looks on their faces was of complete disbelief! One guy asked, "you think we're like the Nazis?" I said, "no, you're worse than the Nazis. All they did was ask for papers. You strip-search little old ladies and fondle children.")
Airport security seems to be pretty much the same in Europe as it is in the US. BULLSHIT. In the last year, I've traveled... I don't know, somewhere around 300,000 miles, including the USA, trips to Europe and the Middle East. Security in Europe and Middle East is not NEARLY as ugly as it is in the USA. Why do you think tourism to the USA from those areas is down? Because they don't want to put up with the police-state thugs. Quit trying to BS me. “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #57. To: Capitalist Eric (#56) Uh-huh. Did you go through the whole-body scanner, where you have to raise your arms above your head (like a stick-up victim in an old Western movie)? If so, you were bathed in ionizing radiation (increased risk of cancer), and digitally strip-searched. My guess is that you did it, without realizing what you were (literally) stepping into. Nope, just the metal detectors. I've gotten into several arguments with the TSA agents, esp. at LAX... called them thugs, worse than the Nazis... They're largely ignorant of the fact that what they're doing is illegal.
(Imagine the reaction of two big black guys hearing that they're worse than Nazis- the looks on their faces was of complete disbelief! One guy asked, "you think we're like the Nazis?" I said, "no, you're worse than the Nazis. All they did was ask for papers. You strip-search little old ladies and fondle children.")
I just knew there was something special about you that even TSA agents would recognize! Economics is a social phenomenon and in no way a “science”, no matter how desperately its high priests would like to have it believed otherwise. It is, instead, a branch of anthropology and the sooner that is recognized and accepted, the better off human-kind in general and the world of academic economics, in particular, shall be proximity1 #58. To: lucysmom (#57) Nope, just the metal detectors. Then you got lucky. Most major airports don't use them, unless the lines are seriously backed up...
I just knew there was something special about you that even TSA agents would recognize! As usual, your conclusions are wrong. I told you, I fly every month. I just had two hours to kill, I was bored, and I had already gone through the security checks... I gave them the what-for after I had already gotten through, and retrieved my bags... I decided to confront them, without their having the ability to bar me from flying, due to "security" risks. “Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated 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 you were our countrymen!” -- Samuel Adams -- #59. To: Capitalist Eric (#58) I just had two hours to kill, I was bored, and I had already gone through the security checks... I gave them the what-for after I had already gotten through, and retrieved my bags... Eric, you're a hoot. Economics is a social phenomenon and in no way a “science”, no matter how desperately its high priests would like to have it believed otherwise. It is, instead, a branch of anthropology and the sooner that is recognized and accepted, the better off human-kind in general and the world of academic economics, in particular, shall be proximity1 Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
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