Small Government Blog

Back in March, Steven Bierfeldt , Director of Development for the Campaign for Liberty, was menaced by Transportation Security Administration officials at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

They were met with something federal authorities probably see too infrequently from private citizens they choose to harass.

Courageous defiance.

Whenever any of us stands up for his rights, as Bierfeldt did, he stands for the rights of all of us, as to “stand up for our rights”, as we put it, is to make an explicit statement demarking the limits of authority.

One pertinent question that should not go unmentioned regards this issue;

Why is the federal government even involved in airport security?

I submit, this is the responsibility of the airlines and/or the airports.

Were these charged, in the legal framework, with their appropriate responsibilities and bore the concomitant liabilities, it seems doubtful that private businesses would so cavalierly disrespect an individual’s rights.

Nor would we need fear airborne terrorism.

Another example of the consequences of the inappropriate application of governmental authority.

This incident illustrates how the citizens of a brutally expansive military empire cannot long delude themselves that they are the denizens of a free realm.

Meanwhile, President Obama discusses a system of indefinite detention, free of judicial review.

A government that knows neither limits nor constraints and focuses it’s resources on conquests abroad, cannot for long maintain the illusion amoungst it’s citizens that it respects their inalienable rights.

These rights are founded in the very nature that is a commonality of all humanity. If a government fails to respect the rights of all, it has no objective basis, and therefore no need, to respect it’s own citizen’s rights.

Today, Iraqis celebrate what they hope will be the beginning of the end of their nation’s occupation by the same gang of thugs that Americans must recognize as their own creation.

The same gang thrashed by Bierfedt.

And as is perhaps more easily seen through Iraqi eyes, as their oppressors.

—The Bikemessenger

ADDENDUM

As you listen to the conversation between Bierfeldt and his detainers in the video, you can understand the remarks by the CNN reporter that “…the TSA says an agent has been disciplined for using inappropriate tone and language…”

Nonsense.

If the agent is being “disciplined”, it’s for getting caught in a position that draws mass media attention to standard procedure.

The CNN reporter goes on to quote a “TSA statement”:

“…a passenger who refuses to answer questions may be referred to ‘appropriate authorities for ‘further inquiry’”

Or as the TSA agent told Steven Bierfeldt, “[Don’t]…play smart ass…I’m not going to play your [expletive] game.”

My friend Flash likes to refer to his establishment as a “free speech zone”.

So this past Friday night, I took the opportunity to express myself as follows. Of course, Flash uses the term a little more literally than the subject of my rant:

This past Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi criticized western politicians for supporting the recent post-election street protests, “It is amusing how they prohibit unauthorized mass gatherings in their own countries, but support them elsewhere”, he said.

Perhaps he was thinking of the infamous “free speech zones” that were employed at the major party conventions during the past two Presidential election cycles. (more…)

Of course, there’s no such thing as a collective mind. But it’s not uncommon to hear references to what a given community “thinks”.

Only an individual can think. Individuals may gather and have discussions, influencing each other’s opinions—coming to a consensus on particular matters.

So saying that a group of people “think” is a limited metaphor at best. Groups of people cannot make decisions, only individuals can. An aggregate can only arrive at a determination by discussion and consensus.

From these, law enforcement officials must make judgments on how to and whether or not to enforce a given applicable law.

I don’t mean to pick on the City of Raleigh, N.C. municipal police; I expect, presented with the same problem, my City of Miami police would offer the same response, as would most American municipal police departments.

Joseph Carnevale wasn’t trying to make an important statement, or a thought-provoking point, it would seem, when he took some traffic barrels, chopped them up, assembled, and positioned his clever, muppetesque, “hitchhiking roadside monster”. (more…)

About three and a half years ago, two Libertarian activists, Stephen Gordon and Stephen VanDyke, embarked on a fundraising scheme to raise money for implementing a new, state-of-the-art, libertarian blog/social networking site called LibertyMix. With the help of former Libertarian Presidential Candidate, Michael Badnarik, who signed a letter endorsing the project, they raised over $12,000 — that’s what they admit to, but it could have been considerably more.

Originally scheduled for release in February 2006, it was later reschedule for release on June 6, 2006. They advertised it as 6-6-6 the day they would release the beast - making a play on the biblical satanic number. That alone should have made it clear to people that the two knew nothing about marketing the libertarian message. Embracing something traditionally associated with evil and Satan does nothing to promote and market liberty, but goes a long way to garnering it disrespect from a powerful voting block.

Ultimately, LibertyMix did not get released. There were numerous excuses until finally, Stephen VanDyke shut down his orignal blog, HammerOfTruth.com and disappeared.

For more details on LibertyMix, visit this spoof site: http://libertymix.nfshost.com/

I note this as LibertyMix Day. Libertarians everywhere should take this day to remember the numerous people who are raising money from Libertarians and not delivering on their promises. Most recently we had the Barr campaign ($19,000 for an air conditioning system for an office they were only using for 4 months).

We should also note the Libertarian Party’s staff members who are repeatedly issuing press releases contradicting the Libertarian Party’s Platform. And the Libertarian Party officers who allow this activity to continue should feel the wrath of their members (I am a Life Member).

They are frauds.

This is LibertyMix Day, and this is the day we remember frauds and renew our opposition to fraud.

As we live out our lives, each of us, explicitly or implicitly, evolves a theme; a narrative, if you will, that expresses both the metaphysic within which we each experience our existence, and the person which we each, in essence, are.

For my part, far down the road of life, I can only hope that I have been, within the limits of my native abilities, both an advocate of peace, and foremost, a promoter of individual liberties. (more…)

I’m a strong believer that human nature mandates a libertarian social structure, to the exclusion of statist paradigms.

If this is so, then for anyone, our real-life experiences offer opportunities to illustrate the value of the libertarian perspective.

A notice was posted on “The Miami Critical Mass Meetup Group” message board:

The Ride Of Silence

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
6:45pm - 8:00pm
ACROSS ROAD FROM MAST ACADEMY SCHOOL
3979 Rickenbacker Causeway
Key Biscayne, FL
Free (We don’t want money) This is a memorial.

From the “Ride of Silence” website:

“Everyone is invited to ride, so long as they have a helmet. If they do not, ask that they not participate.” (more…)

The following is based on my spoken words last Friday night at the Wallflower Gallery’s “Open Mike” Event…

This past Saturday, at my invitation,we had the honor of being joined on our monthly critical mass bike ride by peace advocate Okhwan Yoon.

I learned of Okwhan from a Miami Herald article.

I e-mailed the author and a few days later, I was in touch…

As I exited my home Saturday morning, I got a call from him; when I arrived at the meeting point, he was there.

Okhwan’s mission of peace began in his native Korea and has spanned five continents—171 countries, eight years.
His goal is 192 countries.

Okhwan reminded me of Somayeh Yousefi
and Jafar Edrisi, an Iranian couple pursuing the same mission.

On his shirt, Okhwan advocates a unified Korea. I asked him what it would take to reunify his country. He looked off into the distance, a troubled look on his face—“this is very complicated…” he said. (more…)

Thought you might find this of interest…

“On the Russian question, the Obama administration promises to be even more belligerent and aggressive than the Bush administration. During the presidential campaign, Obama came out for admitting Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. John McCain’s exhortation, during one presidential debate, that we “watch Ukraine” is advice well worth taking.”

—Justin Raimondo

In the final analysis, the Obama Admin will prove to be no more than the new CEO and board of directors of WAR, INC..

WAR, INC., or The War Party, or the U.S.A., as it is also known, is a going concern.

Indeed, why limit ourselves to war on the Ummah?

Lets resume the cold war as well.

And while we’er at it, lets expand the war on drugs. (more…)

Those of us who experienced the advent of television as the main source of news for most people are familar with the work of Edward R. Morrow and Walter Cronkite.

In this day and age, as the old saying goes, we witness and experience the advent of another new medium–the internet.

Matter of course, said medium will have it’s Edward R.Murrow—it’s Walter Cronkite.

The keys to Murrow’s and Cronkite’s effectiveness were their personal integrity, and the fact that they had dedicated themselves to the profession of journalism before the medium of televison rose to dominance.

Today, they wouldn’t have a chance at achieveing prominence; they just weren’t “telegenic”.

Aside from being marvelously interactive, the internet is also wonderfully both democractic and meritocratic.

Ulitimately, by popular acclaim, journalists will rise to prominence.

Due to the relatively low cost cost of presenting one’s self in this medium, competitors will be legion.

But—there is one amoungst us who truly stands out in my estimation.

I have written about this before;

In this video , John Perry is at his best (at least, to date).

For my part, to a television “news” watcher of today, PERRYVISION must be a rude awakening.

Rudeness, at times, a virtue.

—The Bikemessenger

As a Vietnam era draft resister, the plight of the Shministim is familiar to me.

I can clearly recall resolving to spend the rest of my life in prison, if that would be what it took to make my statement.

I wrote the following in support of the Shministim:

“The individual does not exist to serve the state. It’s life is an end in itself.

It should be allowed to fall and be replaced by a more just system.”

If all military aged Israelis and their Palistinian counterparts would follow suit, the Israeli-Palistinian conflict that currently dominates the attention of the news media would not be possible.

We cannot know what would result. But it would be the product of peaceful, mutually voluntary cooperation.

What of the current pattern of events?

Only more evidence that violence begets violence.

—The Bikemessenger

P.S.–Please add your voice in support of the Shministim.

I am living proof that with enough popular support behind their courageous leadership they can succeed:

http://december18th.org/