Is Libertarianism Utopian?

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Moreover, the leftist/statist frenzy has now descended into being such a farce that political satirists are finding it too difficult to make things up – and that what they previously considered as far fetched jokes based on just a kernel of truth are inflating into full blown reality.

Libertarianism – and any political position that leans towards a greater degree of freedom from the state – is opposed both ethically and economically on a number of substantive grounds. The proposition that without the state we would have inequality, destitution for the masses, rampant greed, and so on is a familiar charge which attempts to point out that libertarianism is undesirableand/or unjustifiable.

A further point of opposition is that libertarianism and the drive towards it is simply utopian or idealistic, and that libertarians are hopeless day dreamers, lacking any awareness of how the world “really” works. In other words, that, regardless of whether it may be desirable, some combination of one or more of impossibility, improbability or the simple unwillingness of anyone to embrace the libertarian ideal renders libertarianism either wholly or primarily unachievable. It is this specific objection that we will address in this essay.

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New York Times Calls for ‘Godfather’ Tactics to Stop Trump’s SCOTUS Nominee

 Donald Trump at Desk

The far-left New York Times editorial board is calling on Democrats to use mafia tactics from The Godfather to stop President Trump from filling a Supreme Court vacancy.

Using language that appears to not only condone, but to encourage violence, the editorial board writes:
Barring some unforeseen development, the president will lock in a 5-to-4 conservative majority, shifting the court solidly to the right for a generation. This is all the more reason for Democrats and progressives to take a page from “The Godfather” and go to the mattresses on this issue.
More @ Breitbart

North Korea Official Tells Media: “No CNN or NBC reporters?…In this van, no fake news”

Via Dennis

 

One North Korean official reportedly decided to have a little fun with media accompanying Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his recent visit to North Korea.

As reporters boarded a van that would take them from the airport to the guesthouse in Pyongyang, one of the media handlers asked about the various outlets represented. “No CNN or NBC reporters?” he asked, jokingly adding, “In this van, no fake news.” The two outlets have been targets of constant criticism from the Trump administration.

Military Mission Against South Carolina

 Image result for Steamer Fails to Aid Sumter, Arthur M. Wilcox



Lincoln Inaugurates War Against South Carolina

 The North’s war against the South could be said to have truly begun in 1854 Kansas, or Harper’s Ferry in 1859, or when the President James Buchanan-ordered “Star of the West” left its dock at New York Harbor. This passenger ship had 200 officers and men concealed below decks along with munition of war, and escorted by the warship USS Brooklyn.  This episode brings up the question of treason as defined in Article III, Section 3 of the US Constitution: “. . . shall consist only in levying war against Them.” Buchanan was levying war against one of “Them,” a State. Lincoln would do the same.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.org   The Great American Political Divide

Military Mission Against South Carolina

“When historians talk of the “first shot” of the Civil War it is a matter of disagreement. The men on the spot in Charleston Harbor Jan. 9, 1861, thought they knew when the first shot came. It was fired when a Citadel cadet at a battery half-concealed in the sand hills of Morris Island sent a ball whistling across the bow of a steamer named “Star of the West.”

The “Star of the West” wore a huge US ensign on her foretruck when he steamed up the Main Ship Channel . . . Her ‘tween decks were crowded with US soldiers. Otherwise, she was out of character as a ship employed on a vital military mission.

The “Star of the West” was a passenger liner, diverted from her run between New York and New Orleans for this business of bringing reinforcements to Maj. Robert Anderson in Fort Sumter.

That is why Gen. Winfield Scott, the aging general-in-chief at Washington had picked her for this task. Gen. Scott had an idea the “Star of the West” could do what a warship could not do – steam into Charleston Harbor without arousing the suspicions of South Carolinians.

Army headquarters had ordered strict security thrown about the “Star’s” mission, but somebody had leaked the news. The politicians had it first, and then the newspapers. Long before the “Star of the West” arrived off Charleston Bar, it was gossip on the streets of Charleston that the Yankees had decided to send reinforcements to Fort Sumter.

The newly-erected battery which Citadel cadets had just built near the northern end [of Morris Island] was alerted. [At first light] the “Star” steamed boldly across the bar, flushing the South Carolina guardship “Gen. Clinch” before her [which signaled] the alarm with flares and rockets.

With daylight coming on, Lt. Charles J. Woods, commander of the troops aboard the [Star”], took pains to make the ship look like a peaceful merchantman. A swish and a splash announced the arrival of a shot across the bow . . . [shortly afterward a] shot struck the side of the “Star” below the feet of the leadsman. To reach Sumter, the “Star” would have to pass within a thousand yards of [the Fort Moultrie gunners].

A gun was fired from Moultrie. Lt. Woods looked at Sumter hoping for a sign of recognition or assistance . . . but no gunfire came from Sumter’s walls. Another shot from Moultrie. Another.

Woods decided not to take the chance. [The Star’s] Capt. McGowan, shaken by the encounter with the battery in the dunes, ordered the wheel to put over [and steam northward].”

(Steamer Fails to Aid Sumter, Arthur M. Wilcox, The Civil War at Charleston, A.W. Wilcox & Warren Ripley, 1966, excerpts pp. 10-11)

Havoc in 1864 New York City

 Image result for The Civil War and New York City, Ernest A. McKay


In mid-July of 1864, opposition to Lincoln’s oppressive regime made him see his reelection as improbable, despite offering prestigious governmental posts to newspaper opponents. Even Thurlow Week, recognized as a great political seer in New York, told Lincoln in early August 1864 “that his reelection was an impossibility.” Though Lincoln’s faction-ridden party was collapsing in the face of McClellan’s candidacy and wide support, the War Department’s manipulation of the soldier vote, and monitored election polls, resulted in Lincoln’s victory.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.org   The Great American Political Divide

Havoc in 1864 New York City

“Francis P. Blair, Lincoln’s friend, support and father of Montgomery Blair, the postmaster general, went to New York City in the hope of waylaying [General George B.] McClellan’s [presidential] candidacy. [Publisher] James Gordon Bennett . . . advised Blair, “Tell him [Lincoln] to restore McClellan to the army and he will carry the election by default.”

The month of August 1864 was so depressing for the Republicans that the Democrats had good reason to dream of glory. [Former New York City Mayor] Fernando Wood . . . had said “that the national [Democratic Party] was unqualifiedly opposed to the further prosecution of the war of emancipation and extermination now being waged against the seceded States, and will continue to demand negotiation, reconciliation and peace.”

The more moderate August Belmont sounded no less harsh when he addressed the Chicago convention. “Four years of misrule,” he said, “by a sectional, fanatical and corrupt party have brought our country to the very verge of ruin.” Four more years of Lincoln would bring “utter disintegration of our whole political and social system amidst bloodshed and anarchy.”

Also in August the Confederates dealt a demoralizing blow to New York City. The Confederate steamer Tallahassee audaciously captured tow Sandy Hook pilot boats off New York Harbor, bringing the war close to home. The rebel ship laid in wait for outbound vessels and in less than two weeks, according to official records, destroyed or damaged more than thirty ships. Some estimates ran as high as fifty-four ships destroyed, and insurance men shivered over the consequences.

John Taylor Wood, grandson of President Zachary Taylor and captain of the Tallahassee . . . longed to create havoc in New York. He knew which ships were in port from newspapers he had taken from captured ships, and he hoped to set fire to the ships in the harbor, blast the navy yard in Brooklyn, and then escape into Long Island Sound.

During these unpleasant days, [Lincoln] called for five hundred thousand more men for the army. [This] prompted John Mullaly to publish an article called “The Coming Draft” in his paper . . . which resulted in his arrest for counseling Governor Seymour and others to resist the draft. [Mullaly] . . . continued to express his belief that the South had the right to select its own government and that the North “in the endeavor to force her into a compulsory Union is violating the principle of universal suffrage, which we claim to be the foundation of our democratic system. By this right we shall continue to stand, for it is a right older and more valuable than the Union itself.”

(The Civil War and New York City, Ernest A. McKay, Syracuse University Press, 1990, excerpts pp. 269-270; 272-273)

Where is Margaret Corbin? Hunt on for Revolutionary War hero's grave

Via Billy

Image result for The real woman behind the Molly Pitcher legend

From atop a makeshift fort high above the Hudson River, a young woman aimed a cannon at a mass of Hessian soldiers swarming up the steep, rocky slopes and fired. Her husband, a Patriot soldier, was just killed in battle and she stepped in to take his place.

Her name was Margaret Corbin.

At 24 years old, "Captain Molly” became one of the first women to fight in the American Revolution — and later the first woman to receive a life-long pension from Congress, making her the first female veteran of the United States. For decades, Corbin’s grave site at West Point — a granite monument within a sacred space of green — was honored by all who passed through the storied cemetery.

More @ Fox

Elon Musk making “kid-sized submarine” to rescue teens in Thailand cave

Via Michael

 

"Construction complete in about 8 hours," the tech billionaire tweeted Saturday.

Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that a team of SpaceX engineers is hours away from completing work on a "tiny kid-sized submarine" that could be used to extract 12 teenagers and preteens who are stranded with their soccer coach in a flooded cave in Thailand. Musk has had a team of engineers working on the problem for the last couple of days and has been keeping the world updated on the work via Twitter.

On Thursday night, Musk tweeted about an idea to use an inflatable nylon tube to help the kids escape. By Friday afternoon, Musk's thinking had evolved. He tweeted that his team was working on building "double-layer Kevlar pressure pods with Teflon coating to slip by rocks." A mid-day tweet on Saturday provided another update:

Nerve agents not found in samples from Syria's Douma – interim OPCW report

Nerve agents not found in samples from Syria's Douma – interim OPCW report
 
No traces of any nerve agents have been found at the site of a suspected chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma, an interim report issued by the OPCW says, adding that several chlorine compounds were detected. 
 
“Various chlorinated organic chemicals were found in samples” from two locations in the Damascus suburb of Douma, which were examined by specialists from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an interim OPCW document said. The chemicals were found in two samples taken from canisters found in Douma, the report said. The report confirmed the absence of any traces of nerve agents, such as sarin, at the site.

More @ RT

Trade deficit drops to 1½-year low in May

 New vehicles are seen at the Horizon Terminal as they await to be exported from Port Everglades on May 22, 2018 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

The U.S. trade deficit fell to a 1½ -year low in May as exports rose to a record high, boosted by an increase in shipments of soybeans and commercial aircraft.

The Commerce Department said on Friday the trade gap narrowed 6.6 percent to $43.1 billion, the smallest since October 2016. Data for April was slightly revised to show the trade deficit falling to $46.1 billion, instead of the previously reported $46.2 billion.

More @ CNBC

Trump lawyers call Comey ‘Machiavellian’ in note to Mueller

Via Billy


Lawyers for President Donald Trump unleashed a blistering attack on former FBI Director James Comey in a confidential memo last year to the special counsel, casting him as “Machiavellian,” dishonest and “unbounded by law and regulation” as they sought to undermine the credibility of a law enforcement leader they see as a critical witness against the president.

The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, underscores the intense effort by Trump’s legal team over the last year to tarnish Comey’s reputation and pit the president’s word against that of the former FBI director. Comey’s firing in May 2017 helped set in motion the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, and one-on-one conversations with Trump that Comey documented in a series of memos helped form the basis of Mueller’s inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice.

More @ AP

"Recall what I wrote on the fate of white South African population in March."

Via Billy

 Putin: US Not A White Christian Country Anymore - We Europeans Need To Preserve Our Culture
While blind and hypocritical West was hailing their thoroughly fake idol of Nelson Mandela, the Republic of South Africa was slowly being consumed by unprecedented black racism and non-stop assault on white Afrikaners. Rape, murder, robbery, barbed wire electrified fences around white South African communities–these are defining characteristics of modern South Africa.
In general–it has NO FUTURE. The expropriation of land from white farmers will be their death knell, literally. Like in Zimbabwe, they will be raped, murdered, pillaged and whatever else comes with Zimbabwean, now South African “justice”. 
The so called West, which still believes in own lies about South African “democracy” and benevolence of BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) and of ANC WILL NOT accept white Afrikaners when real white exodus starts, nor will the United States do so–the combined West prefers today anybody but white, predominantly Christian people. The fate of Afrikaners is in question today and those people need desperately safe haven to start their lives over. Modern West is not it.

Mexico Reduces Legal Age Of Sexual Consent To 12 – IS THIS WHAT WE WANT FOR AMERICA?

Viac omment by Reborn on June 2018 Child Rapes by Illegal Aliens in NC: 23 ...

 The age of legal sexual consent in Mexico is now 12-years, while the age at which there are no restrictions for sexual activities is 18.

Mexico has lowered the legal age of sexual consent to just 12-years-old, becoming the latest nation to give in to pressure from an international liberal network of activists determined to normalize pedophilia and legalize sex with children across the world.

Federal law in Mexico now establishes the age of 12-years as the age of legal consent, while the age at which there are no restrictions for consensual sexual activities is 18-years (sex with someone as young as 12-years is legal, but can be open to prosecution if deceit, force, or an abuse of authority was used.)

More @ White Locust

WATCH: Adam Schiff Slams Trey Gowdy For 'Prostrating' Himself Before Trump. Gowdy Buries Him.

 "I don’t think anybody on my side of the aisle gives much of a damn of what Adam Schiff thinks."

Partial transcript via The Blaze 

"You wouldn’t know the whole spontaneous reaction to a video was a hoax in Libya,” he emphatically said. “You would have never have read the first [Ambassador] Chris Stevens email.”
“You wouldn’t know that Hillary Clinton had this unique email arrangement with herself because Adam Schiff did everything in his power to keep you from finding out,” he added.
“You wouldn’t know about the dossier,” he continued, “you wouldn’t know who funded it, you wouldn’t know it was used in a court proceeding, you wouldn’t know about [FBI official Peter] Strzok and [former FBI lawyer Lisa] Page, in fact you wouldn’t even be having a show tonight. You wouldn’t be having a show about Strzok and Page if Adam Schiff had had his way.”

What Diocese Will Quote St. Thomas on Citizenship and Immigration?

Via Jerry
During most of the history of the West, citizenship was understood to be a jealously guarded privilege and honor, not a universal entitlement entailing access to a plethora of welfare benefits.
Even as Christian thinkers respond to divorce, gay “marriage,” and mass feticide, we should also give extra thought to the patriotic question, which is more closely related to the pro-life movement and the defense of marriage than we might at first suppose. As C.S. Lewis has pointed out, the different facets of natural law stand or fall together, so if the sanctity of the conjugal vow, the dignity of unborn life, and the complementarity of the sexes embody real values, then so, too, does loyalty to homeland, community, and heritage. Those of us who are alarmed to see marriage trivialized and redefined might do well to think long and hard about how citizenship has been trivialized and redefined.

More @ Crisis