Archive for the ‘Liberty’ Category

“Republic.

“I like the sound of the word. It means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose.

“Some words give you a feeling. Republic is one of those words that makes me tight in the throat. The same tightness a man gets when his baby takes a first step, or his first baby shaves, and makes his first sound like a man.

“Some words can give you a feeling that make your heart warm. Republic is one of those words.”

—John Wayne, as Davy Crockett in The Alamo.

Once you’ve recognized the importance of encrypting your Internet communications, the next step, of course, is to figure out how you plan to do this.

As with anything you intend to incorporate into your daily lifestyle, it’s important that you make a few key decisions up front, before you’re too committed to a particular approach. It’s also quite important that you find a relatively painless way to implement your plan: if it takes too much manual work, you’re not likely to do it all the time.

You Can’t Do It Alone

Encryption is about communication, and communication implies at least two parties. Whichever approach you settle upon for your day-to-day encryption, you will have to consider those with whom you will be communicating the most. This means you’ll want to select a technology that most of your friends and family will have readily available to them, as well. For example, if you wish to communicate with me, you will want to select an OpenPGP compatible solution, as I primarily use PGP Desktop Home for my regular correspondence.

X.509 Certificates

The easiest solution, though also the most expensive, is to purchase a client certificate from a trusted certificate authority, and install it into your favorite email client. There are a handful of certificate authorities which issue free certificates (albeit with no personally identifying information), but most of these are untrusted by the major operating systems. I’m aware of only one free certificate that is trusted by all the major operating systems, www.startssl.com.

As a software developer, I have used digital certificates in quite a few of my corporate software solutions, but I prefer to avoid the hassle and expense of paying for my certificates every year, for my personal use.

OpenPGP Keys

Back in 1991, Phil Zimmermann created the first “Pretty Good Privacy” (PGP) program, to enable political activists to secure their online communications. He released the source code into the public domain, because he felt that encryption technology was something that average people should have access to, not just corporate and government developers.

This is the approach I have settled on, for my own personal correspondence. While the technology is often a little bit more finicky to get working, because it’s mostly open source software, it’s the most popular protocol amongst non-governmental types, and there are quite a few innovative solutions based on it (such as encrypting instant messaging conversations and VOIP telephone calls).

My Current Implementation

At the moment, I am using Microsoft Outlook 2010 Beta 2, as my primary email client, and PGP Desktop Home v9.10.

I won’t go through a step-by-step installation guide, as whatever software you select will already have such. In my case, PGP Desktop was an ideal solution because, though it cost me $99 to purchase a license, it uses a client-agnostic proxy that filters my incoming and outgoing email traffic. It also intercepts AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) traffic and encrypts it, as well!

If you are using Outlook 2003 or 2007, there is an open source plugin called GpgOl that is available, as part of an overall Windows-oriented package of GPG (open source version of PGP) tools called Gpg4Win. As of today, I have been unable to get GpgOl to work in Outlook 2010, though I’ve seen a few comments on the support forum by folks who claim to have made it work. I’m thinking, maybe, they had it installed before they upgraded Outlook 2007 to Outlook 2010.

While I was investigating software implementations of PGP for Windows, I also came across a product called cGeep that looked very promising. It also uses the Outlook plugin approach, though, so I decided to go ahead and pay a little more to get PGP’s proxy, so I could know it will work with the cutting edge, beta software that I often run.

What Are You Waiting For?

If you value your privacy and individual liberties at all, I strongly encourage you to invest an hour or two setting up an encryption system on your computer. If you need any technical assistance, I can’t promise to be an expert, but I’d be happy to assist however I can.

The substantive nature of those rights which are inherent in all mankind was described by William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England:

Those rights, then, which God and nature have established, and are therefore called natural rights, such as are life and liberty, need not the aid of human laws to be more effectually invested in every man than they are; neither do they receive any additional strength when declared by the municipal laws to be inviolable. On the contrary, no human legislature has the power to abridge or destroy them, unless the owner shall himself commit some act that amounts to a forfeiture. (Commentaries, 1:93.)

The Founders Did Not List All of the Unalienable Rights

When the Founders adopted the Declaration of Independence, they emphasized in phrases very similar to those of Blackstone that God has endowed all mankind “with certain unalienable rights, that AMONG these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Let us identify some of the unalienable or natural rights which the Founders knew existed but did not enumerate in the Declaration of Independence:

• The right of self-government.
• The right to bear arms for self-defense.
• The right to own, develop, and dispose of property.
• The right to make personal choices.
• The right of free conscience.
• The right to choose a profession.
• The right to choose a mate.
• The right to beget one’s kind.
• The right to assemble.
• The right to petition.
• The right to free speech.
• The right to a free press.
• The right to enjoy the fruit of one’s labors.
• The right to improve one’s position through barter and sale.
• The right to contrive and invent.
• The right to explore the natural resources of the earth.
• The right to privacy.
• The right to provide personal security.
• The right to provide nature’s necessities—air, food, water, clothing, and shelter.
• The right to a fair trial.
• The right of free association.
• The right to contract.

Many Founders Used Similar Language Emphasizing “Unalienable Rights”

It was very common among the Founders to express their sentiments concerning man’s unalienable rights in almost the same language as Jefferson. Here are the words of the Virginia Declaration of Rights adopted by the Virginia Assembly June 12, 1776 (before the Declaration of Independence!):

All men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. (Annals of America, 2:432.)

The above is excerpted from The 5,000 Year Leap, by W. Cleon Skousen, pp. 124–126.

I am pretty pessimistic when it comes to the United States of America, and our odds of survival over the next decade or so. When the best the Republicans could find to face Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential election was George Bush, I became convinced that grassroots, incremental improvements would never bring freedom and liberty back to this land. Nothing short of the complete collapse of the United States of America will give true liberty a chance, in my opinion.

I am very opposed to the imperialistic invasions of foreign sovereignties that our country has undertaken just since 9/11, let alone over the past half-century. If our rulers would be honest and acknowledge the empire-building that’s going on, I would be more understanding. Nations have been conquering nations for as long as there have been people on this planet, and I have no illusions that world peace is humanly achievable. But, the lies and cover-ups that our government masters perpetrate to pretend we “fight to make the world safe for democracy” or whatever B.S. is popular at the moment, are more nauseating to me than the battles themselves.

I have no hope that Obama has any intention to do good things for you and me. In fact, I am rather convinced that he and his cronies are going to have a four- or eight-year party at our expense.

However, I watch something like this…

…and I am reminded that…

I have great confidence in The Average American to do the right thing when it really matters. On a day-to-day basis, the typical American follows the course of least resistance, and lives their lives in comfort. Remember the people of the Axiom, the flagship of the Buy ‘n Large fleet that coddled humanity for nearly a millennium in deep space? This is the image I have of the current state of the average American. Generally, these people were very friendly, and well-intentioned. They were simply out of shape because they had been living in the lap of luxury for so long.

It touched me to see the hundreds of people who took time out of their day, rearranged their schedules, left the comfort of their homes, sacrificed the couple of hours’ pay, and stood along the road with their U.S. flags to salute the fallen soldier. I’m sure many of those people don’t realize they support imperialism, but I’d bet quite a few understand the issues and don’t support the war. In spite of their various opinions, levels of understanding, and emotional support for the politics of the war, hundreds (and, maybe, thousands) of average Americans heard about a husband and father who had died, trying to do the right thing, so they stood on the side of a road and honored his memory.

It already has!

Can you remember when Andy Taylor was sheriff? When chewing gum in school would get you demerits?

What happened to America?

If this is what happens when we call 911 for help, what can we expect when our neighbor decides they don’t like us, and call 911 to make a false complaint?

If you’re outraged, do me a quick favor, please… click this link, so the Stark County Sheriff’s Office gets a bunch of referrals from this post. I’m not holding my breath, but maybe they’ll respond! Regardless, they’ll know that people are aware of their crimes.

Originally published on the Theo Spark blog, I found this story by way of the Word Warriorette mailing list…

You’re sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door. Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers. At least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way.

With your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your shotgun. You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it. In the darkness, you make out two shadows.

One holds something that looks like a crowbar. When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise the shotgun and fire. The blast knocks both thugs to the floor. One writhes and screams while the second man crawls to the front door and lurches outside. As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you’re in trouble.

In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few that are privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless. Yours was never registered. Police arrive and inform you that the second burglar has died. They arrest you for First Degree Murder and Illegal Possession of a Firearm. When you talk to your attorney, he tells you not to worry: authorities will probably plea the case down to manslaughter.

“What kind of sentence will I get?” you ask. “Only ten-to-twelve years,” he replies, as if that’s nothing. “Behave yourself, and you’ll be out in seven.”

The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper. Somehow, you’re portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men you shot are represented as choirboys. Their friends and relatives can’t find an unkind word to say about them. Buried deep down in the article, authorities acknowledge that both “victims” have been arrested numerous times. But the next day’s headline says it all: “Lovable Rogue Son Didn’t Deserve to Die.” The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into Robin Hood-type pranksters. As the days wear on, the story takes wings. The national media picks it up, then the international media. The surviving burglar has become a folk hero.

Your attorney says the thief is preparing to sue you, and he’ll probably win. The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized several times in the past and that you’ve been critical of local police for their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects. After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared next time.. The District Attorney uses this to allege that you were lying in wait for the burglars.

A few months later, you go to trial. The charges haven’t been reduced, as your lawyer had so confidently predicted. When you take the stand, your anger at the injustice of it all works against you. Prosecutors paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man. It doesn’t take long for the jury to convict you of all charges. The judge sentences you to life in prison.

This case really happened.

On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk, England , killed one burglar and wounded a second. In April, 2000, he was convicted and is now serving a life term.

How did it become a crime to defend one’s own life in the once great British Empire? It started with the Pistols Act of 1903. This seemingly reasonable law forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun sales were to be made only to those who had a license. The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms except shotguns.

Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the registration of all shotguns.

Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987. Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the streets shooting everyone he saw. When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.

The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun control", demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.)

Nine years later, at Dunblane, Scotland, Thomas Hamilton used a semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public school.

For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally unstable or worse, criminals. Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearms still owned by private citizens.

During the years in which the British government incrementally took away most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to grant gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun. Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real criminals were released.

Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into their own hands.."

All of Martin’s neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no fear of the consequences.. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.

When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given three months to turn them over to local authorities. Being good British subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn’t were visited by police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn’t comply. Police later bragged that they’d taken nearly 200,000 handguns from private citizens.

How did the authorities know who had handguns? The guns had been registered and licensed. Kinda like cars.

Sound familiar?

WAKE UP AMERICA; THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTION.

“..It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds..” –Samuel Adams

If you think this is important, please forward to everyone you know. You better wake up because your new president is going to do this very same thing over here if he can get it done. And there are very stupid people in congress and on the street that will go right along with him.

If you love liberty, you must be familiar with these quotes. They are just as relevant today, as they were when our founding fathers lived to say these great words.

Nowadays, at least 90% of the news we hear about firearms is bad news. We hear about yet another law passed to constrain our liberties, or another anecdotal sob story about an irresponsible gun owner who accidentally shot his own dog, or worse, child.

So, it was nice, this afternoon, to get the following story in my mailbox, telling a good story about an armed citizen who averted what might have been a tragedy.

ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP America’s Aggressive Civil Rights Organization

January 18th 2009

JPFO ALERT: GOOD GUY SHOOTS BAD GUY.

WE ASSUME SARAH BRADY IN TEARS

Confirmed: There was a shooting incident in Glasgow, Montana on Saturday afternoon. Besides the shooter, one person was killed and two were injured. Police locked down the community, warned people to lock doors and stay inside, and followed a blood trail which eventually led to the deceased shooter.

Unconfirmed but probable: The shooter made his attack at a local hospital and killed a female Emergency Medical Technician. Scott Billingsly was present because his wife works at the hospital.

Scott has a Montana concealed weapon permit, was armed, and engaged the shooter in defense of himself and others. Scott was injured in the hand and Scott’s wife was also injured. The shooter was seriously injured and was driven off by Scott’s armed engagement of the shooter. The seriously wounded shooter sought shelter, leaving the blood trail that law enforcement followed, where they found the shooter dead of a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The people of Glasgow who know these details are highly thankful that an armed citizen was present and able to interdict the killer before he could kill more than the one person murdered, possibly saving the lives of many other hospital employees.

Gary Marbut, President Montana Shooting Sports Association – http://www.mtssa.org/ Author, Gun Laws of Montana – http://www.mtpublish.com/

406-549-1252