We’re Losing Revenue! Quick, Let’s Tax E-Cigs!

by Dick Puddlecote
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DickPuddlecote/~3/K7wVLaAENEU/were-losing-revenue-quick-lets-tax-e.html

We’re Losing Revenue! Quick, Let’s Tax E-Cigs! Could this be what it’s really all about?

Italian MEP Giancarlo Scottà tabled this extraordinary written question a couple of weeks ago.

Intolerance (1916)

The more often I watch this, the more I am astonished and awed by it. Oh, to see it in a big cinema, with an orchestra playing! When Mr Blake goes to Hollywood, he will insist on similar spectacle.

Save Your Freedom – Please Retweet!

by Anna Raccoon
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AnnaRaccoon/~3/EumMDBkP-kM/
Save Your Freedom – Please Retweet!

We need to ‘gird our loins’ and go to battle folks, I need your assistance on this one! Please retweet this post to anyone you think might pay attention, and kick into action those who you think will continue dozing. I know its easier to continue playing solitaire – but you could put your computer to better use this morning, trust me.

I shall explain.

A year ago, I wrote of a worrying case where Social Workers went to the High Court for permission to enter the home of a person of sound mind because ‘it was thought’ that possibly they were making decisions as a result of ‘undue influence’ by their son who lived with them. No one actually knew whether they were or not, but on the basis that they might be – such permission was granted. Fair enough, a judge had listened to the arguments from ‘a’ social worker – we are not allowed to know who – and a document was drawn up delineating what subjects the son was allowed to speak of to his parents in their own home…in particular, he should not discuss with his parents any arrangements for securing the family home. What happened to the home in which he and his parents lived was to be entirely a matter for the local authority to decide if and when they thought it should be sold…..presumably if and when the parents became vulnerable through mental incapacity.

Sean Gabb on the Horrors of Internet Pornography

The Beeb woke me at the crack of dawn to deal with these fatuous and endlessly-recycled lies about the tendency of porn to turn good men into sex-crazed zombies. Don’t be surprised if I sound as bored here as I felt. The most interesting thing for me about the interview was staring up at the contours of my bedroom ceiling.

http://www.libertarian.co.uk/multimedia/2013-05-14-sig-porn.mp3

Emma West timeline

This is a timeline of the events concerning the prosecution and trial of Emma West, who was recorded on video while on a London tram. Her case has previously been the subject of comment here, in particular by Robert Henderson.

In the timeline below I have tried to record the dates relating to her trial and where possible the reasons for its interminable, Kafka-esque delays. My sources for this have been the printed media and a variety of blogs, so it is possible that some details may need amending. Nevertheless, I believe the overall picture of the way the powers-that-be are dealing with this fundamental freedom of speech case is damning. There are now two cases and multiple charges against West. Does anyone know what the current position is regarding these?

Whether anyone agrees with Emma West’s comments or not, she should have the right to voice her opinion in a free society without then having her life effectively put on hold by the marmoreal process of the courts, with the threat of prison and the forcible removal of her children hanging over her head.

Unanimous Consent and the Utopian Vision

This is the transcript of a speech given at the December 1987 Future of Freedom Conference held at the Pacifica Hotel in Culver City, California.
http://www.lneilsmith.org/utopian.html

Unanimous Consent and the Utopian Vision
or
I Dreamed I Was a Signatory In My Maidenform Bra
by L. Neil Smith

The relative invisibility of Libertarianism after 40 years of backbreaking, heartbreaking labor, has little to do with any lack of money, ideas, personnel, or anything else Libertarians may occasionally whine about. It isn’t the fault of an evil northeastern Liberal conspiracy. Nor, as the more timid among us often recommend, is it reason to tone down Libertarian rhetoric, to soften principle or its expression, to make it more conservative or “practical” in approach. All of that has been tried, again & again.

Police State