Category Archives: Misc

Hey, Social Conservatives, Libertarians want Jesus back.

Some of the debate about whether or not the bible is Libertarian can be found here. I’m not an expert in the scriptures. Nevertheless, I thought this essay was lovely:

open quote(John 8: 3-11)

As we approach the new year with conservatism again ascendant in the political sphere, this story of Jesus’ uncompromising libertarianism seems even more timely than stories of his birth, despite the approach of his celebrated birthday. Nowhere does Jesus admonish “social conservatives” more harshly.

There is an important distinction here. By “social conservative,” I do not mean anyone who disapproves of certain human behavior. The freedom to follow the dictates of one’s conscience was the first inalienable right recognized by the founders of our nation. If one truly believes that homosexuality, adultery, or other “non-conservative” behavior violates the laws of God, it is that person’s inalienable right to disapprove of it, even to voice his disapproval of it, regardless of the anguished cries of the political correctness lobby on the left.

However, no one has a right to use violence against those who engage in behavior that does not harm another person, regardless of whether or not that behavior violates the laws of God. Since all laws are enforced under the threat of violence (as this story illustrates wonderfully), Jesus makes it clear in this passage that it is not for men to enforce the laws of God. With the exception of cases in which one human being has done injury to another, the right to punish human behavior is reserved for God.

It is important to recognize that Jesus does not condone the sin that the anonymous woman has committed. When he has shamed away the mob who would have stoned her, Jesus commands her to sin no more. Neither does he insinuate that her behavior might not have consequences for her soul. With flawless libertarian reasoning, Jesus teaches us the true meaning of freedom: that God grants us the liberty to do as we wish, even to reject him and his laws, but that we also bear the full consequences of our actions. If we harm another person, then we are subject to the laws of men. However, it is otherwise left to each individual to determine the will of God according to his conscience and to choose whether to act accordingly or not. There never has been nor can there ever be any body of corruptible men who can save an individual’s soul.close quote (Read more from breakthematrix.com)

Obama waiver allows U.S. aid to 4 countries using child soldiers

Yes we can!

open quotePresident Obama has granted a waiver allowing four countries to continue receiving U.S. military aid even though they use child soldiers, officials said Wednesday.

Human rights groups reacted with surprise and concern, saying the decision would send the wrong message.

“What the president has done is basically given everybody a pass for using child soldiers,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch.

Administration officials said cutting off aid would cause more damage than good in countries where the U.S. military is trying to fight terrorism and reform abusive armies.

Obama sent a memo to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, dated Monday, saying that it was “in the national interest” to waive a cutoff of military assistance for Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Yemen. close quote (Read more from washingtonpost.com)

U.S. rights group sues to protect right to swear

politicians = pathological busy bodies

An American rights group is suing the police in Pennsylvania for issuing tickets, which carry a jail sentence, to people for swearing.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed the lawsuits earlier, argues that the right to use profanity is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

“Unfortunately, many police departments in the commonwealth do not seem to be getting the message that swearing is not a crime,” said Marieke Tuthill of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “The courts have repeatedly found that profanity, unlike obscenity, is protected speech.” (Read more from news.yahoo.com)

Nine Indicted on Charges of Accessing Obama Student Loan Records

Nine people were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of accessing President Barack Obama’s student loan records while they were employed for a Department of Education contractor in Iowa.

The U.S. attorney’s office said a grand jury returned the indictments in U.S. District Court in Davenport.

All nine are charged with exceeding authorized computer access. They are accused of gaining access to a computer at a Coralville office where they worked between July 2007 and March 2009, and accessing Mr. Obama’s student loan records while he was either a candidate for president, president-elect or president.

Why all the fuss?

Chinese report documents human rights disaster in the United States

The United States has been throwing rocks from a glass house.

The 14-page report is divided into six major sections: Life, Property and Personal Security; Civil and Political Rights; Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Racial Discrimination; Rights of Women and Children; US Violations of Human Rights Against Other Nations. The cumulative picture is one of a society in deep and worsening social crisis.
A few of the facts and figures cited on violence and police repression in the United States:

• Each year, 30,000 people die in gun-related incidents.
• There were 14,180 murders last year.
• In the first ten months of 2009, 45 people were killed by police use of tasers, bringing the total for the decade to 389.
• Last year, 315 police officers in New York City were subject to internal supervision due to “unrestrained use of violence.”
• 7.3 million Americans were under the authority of the correctional system, more than in any other country.
• An estimated 60,000 prisoners were raped while in custody last year. (Read more from indybay.org)

Prostitution in Canada

Thought this was interesting.

There is no general crime of prostitution in Canada. However, many of the activities that are usually associated with prostitution are classified as criminal offences.

For starters, buying sex from or communicating about buying sex with someone under the age of eighteen years is an indictable criminal offence that carries with it a minimum six-month jail term.

While it is not a crime in general to arrange to buy sex or communicate for that purpose, if this is done or attempted in a public place (eg. on the streets) it is considered a criminal offence. This is classified as a summary conviction offence.

Engaging in sexual acts in a public place is also a criminal offence that falls under the ‘indecent act’ provisions of the Criminal Code. Even if you are engaging in sexual activity in the ‘privacy’ of your car, you could be charged with this offence.

Obviously, the activity of prostitution has to take place somewhere. Again, the exchange of sex for consideration is not criminal, per se. However, if the activity occurs in a place which is used regularly or habitually for the purposes of prostitution, then it is considered a “common bawdy-house”. The Criminal Code makes it an offence to run a common bawdy-house, to work in one, to allow one to be operated over a place or premise which you have control, or to be found in one without a lawful excuse. It’s even an offence to offer to take someone to a bawdy-house! (Read more from torontocriminaldefence.com)

Deuteronomy

I found this on Reddit:

I looked up the verses and found them a little more convoluted than this man’s sign, though with the same basic message:


13 ¶ If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,
14 and give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:
15 then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:
16 and the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;
17 and, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.
18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;
19 and they shall amerce him in a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
21 then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die; because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
(King James)


13 If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her
14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,”
15 then the girl’s father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate.
16 The girl’s father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her.
17 Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town,
18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him.
19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver [b] and give them to the girl’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl’s virginity can be found,
21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you.
22 If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
(New International Version)