Freedom of the Press Under Duress?

I saw the headline for this article the other day. At first I skimmed right past it. After a moment or two I thought about what I had passed, wondering whether it really did say what I thought it said. So I went up and found the headline again. It read, “Michigan Considers Law to License Journalists.” OK, it really did say what I thought that it said. I then read the article and found that it was exactly as bad as I had feared. It seems that simply going after the 2nd Amendment rights are not quite enough for those in power. They now appear to believe that they have the right to begin regulating the use of rights singled out in the 1st Amendment as well. While the proposed legislation does not stop anyone from writing whatever they like, I see it as a step in that direction. Further I see it as a result, and not an unexpected one, of the politicians in the US finding that they no longer can control the message to the people.

Guest Commentary: The Oath; Then and Now

As most of you conclude your work week (and I really begin the busiest stretch of mine), we find ourselves back at the open mic portion of our week. I know it is a night late, but things have been hectic, as I mentioned yesterday. For the record, I will not be posting a Memorial Day article. It simply isn’t worth the aggravation as some conclude that they simply cannot leave it alone and not bash the US military for even a single day of the year. But I do offer my thoughts and prayers to all who have sacrificed so much, no matter their reasons for doing so. For open mic this evening, we have an article submitted by G-Man! I know some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking here comes another conspiracy article. But this is not like that at all. G has decided to talk about the Oath Keepers and offer his thoughts around their declarations of orders that they will NOT obey. I find it an interesting topic, especially given the belief that some have that the US military would be willing to fire on innocent American civilians. So without further ado, I give you G-Man…

Nothing New Tonight, But Tomorrow

I didn’t have time to write this evening as I had a lot going on. The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy for me so I apologize that I have have struggled to keep up with the writing schedule that I usually do. It seems I have missed a day writing each week or two. I have been formatting some guest commentaries from Jon Smith and G-Man. I will be posting the one from G-Man tomorrow night. In the mean time, feel free to bring forward any conversations that you want to continue to this thread and also to post any “open mic” items you want to discuss to this thread. Sorry for the delay in getting the guest commentary up. Hopefully I will be able to get some folks hired soon and stop working every day!

Tuesday Night Open Mic for May 25, 2010

I apologize that there was not an article for everyone when they awoke yesterday morning. I wanted to write last night but simply ran out of time after taking care of all the other things that I had to get done. I appreciated the somewhat limited responses to the BP article. I understand the points some were making. I hope that eventually everyone will at least consider my point as well. Tonight for open mic we have a few interesting topics, but none that made me jump up and down with excitement. We have Congress banning dropside cribs, ensuring that those with bad backs will forever regret having children. We also have more nonsense from the left’s reigning gasbag, Alan Grayson. Add to that the federal government going on record showing us the very reason why Arizona felt that the only recourse they had was to take immigration enforcement into their own hands. Finally, we have the situation in Korea and the Secretary of State’s call for the international community to act against North Korea. As always, please feel free to add topics that you want to discuss!

The Oil Spill Disaster… Criminal or Accidental?

I have followed this story since the beginning, as the rest of the US has done, mostly because I am not really given a choice. It dominates the news daily, which I wouldn’t really have an issue with if I thought it was doing so for the right reasons. Obviously, that statement means that I don’t believe that it is being done for the right reasons. I will get into that shortly. What I want to start with is a serious look at the spill, the company that is in question, and the way that the entire situation is being handled in the media. British Petroleum is really being hung out to dry and I have to question whether they are being treated fairly by the powers that be. I understand that they bear some responsibility for the disaster and the events that led up to the spill, but I really find myself questioning whether they are worthy of the absolute demonization that has happened from day one of this situation. After all, it isn’t as though they intentionally caused this to happen.

Guest Commentary… Anarchy: Truth or Fantasy

Guest commentary again and this week we have a topic that I think will spur some interesting conversations. Many of you have had your debates with Black Flag and Kent and others who espouse a form of anarchy. I have come to understand the difference between what they mean when they say it and what is accepted as fact in popular culture. They are two very different things. Even understanding that difference, I still sometimes find myself skeptical as to whether it can work. I remain, however, open to learning and understanding even better than I do already. I like the idea, in principle, if not in practice yet. This week we have a guest article from none other than Jon Smith. He has already posted this article on his site, and the debate began a bit there. I believe he will be moving some of that discussion over here as well. I encourage everyone to take the time, now, while it is a main article topic, to press BF and others on this concept. But do so with an open mind, one at peace with the idea of learning something new. I am not yet convinced that a world without government at all would work, so I will be learning too…

Tuesday Night Open Mic for May 18, 2010

Open mic night is again upon us and I have once again found myself with less time than I would prefer when writing. The discussions on the Arizona immigration laws has been both exhilarating and sometimes frustrating. I thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and comments on that topic. You are obviously welcome to bring continuing conversations forward to today’s thread. Because of my limited time this evening, I am only going to offer three topics instead of the usual four. I will attempt to add some other topics during the day on Wednesday. I also intend to have a guest commentary for Thursday night as well. I have several submitted and merely need to work on formatting them and working with the authors on any changes. For tonight we begin with some incumbents and favorites losing out on primary seats, Reverend Wright crying about his treatment from the White House, and the GOP blocking some financial reform stuff in Congress.

Arizona Gets SUFA Riled Up… Racial Profiling and Open Borders

I have to say that I was a little surprised to see such a robust discussion happening over yesterday’s article. I had originally intended to not write an article this evening, to simply let the Arizona debate rage on. However, with over 300 comments already, it would begin to get tough to navigate through. So I figured instead of simply replying to individual posts, I would instead write s sort of follow on article that addresses some of the things that were said yesterday, and allows for the conversations to continue with a somewhat fresh start (at least in the number of comments to read through). It was interesting to see how entrenched some folks are in their positions, some so much so that they were unable to see past it to other sides of the debate. That is unfortunate, as it is essential that we all begin to see different perspectives if we are going to somehow find a way to get through all the madness coming out of government these days.

The Arizona Situation Sickens Me….

I have been hoping to write this particular article for a couple of weeks now. Ever since the law passed and the liberal side began saying so many inaccurate things about it, I knew that I would write about the law and what I thought of it. Fortunately, the longer I have waited to sit down and write the article, the more idiotic the left has gotten over it. The lies and false dilemmas have spiraled out of control. We even have the President and the Attorney General of the United States making boneheaded and misleading statements about the law. We have groups boycotting, hell we have cities boycotting. We have potential Constitutional challenges and lawsuits and everything else you can think of. We have protests and rhetoric and all the crucial components that make up what passes for political discussion in today’s America. What we don’t have are people discussing the situation rationally and honestly. I will attempt to engage in such ludicrous action here tonight.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for May 11, 2010

It is always a fun night for me when I do open mic. I get to do little touches on stories that wouldn’t be nearly big enough for me to devote an entire article to. Additionally, I get to really scour the net and all the different sites out there to find topics, which gets me seeing lots of little interesting articles. I have often contemplated something like having a “bizarre article or website of the week” or “You Tube Video of the Week” where we truly share some of the absolutely bizarre things out there, or the really funny or interesting things. Perhaps some day soon I shall have to go down that path and begin doing something like that. But for tonight we have our regular stuff: politics. We begin with yet another fascist ruling from a public education system that has gone absolutely mad. We touch on the President’s Supreme Court nomination, as well as his comments that information today has become a distraction. Only three topics for me tonight, but I didn’t have as much time as usual. I will try to add one or two throughout the day to whatever all of you post!

And Next…. The FCC Will Pass a Drug Trafficking Tax

I know, that headline got your brain moving in a really weird way first thing in the morning. The words in the sentence simply don’t fit together. I mean, what the hell does the Federal Communications Commission have to do with Drug Trafficking regulation or taxing? The answer: Absolutely nothing. But it would be a heck of a revenue generator for the organization. Can’t happen, right? I would normally say no. But in light of what I am about to share I am beginning to question that premise. I used to think that an organization couldn’t simply randomly decide to tax or regulate something that it has nothing to do with. Then I ran across an article tonight on Fox News with the headline, “World Health Organization Moving Ahead on Billions in Internet and Other Taxes.” You read it right. I am not making this up. The World Health Organization, in an effort to both raise revenue and further redistribute wealth from countries like the US to poor countries, has decided to move ahead with an internet tax. What?

Does Miranda Help or Hurt Us?

Over the last couple of years, we have seen a ton of clamoring from both sides of the political spectrum over the fact that those who have committed alleged terrorist acts have been read their Miranda rights upon capture. Those on the right tend to lean towards their actions falling under an act of war, and therefore, the defendant should not be treated as a criminal, but instead as a war criminal (where no Miranda is necessary, but informing of a right to counsel is under some circumstances). Those on the left tend to feel that those who commit acts of terror are criminals just like any other, and therefore, they should be read their Miranda rights as required. I want to first state that I personally don’t think that the reading of Miranda rights to these terrorist suspects means a single thing. After all, it certainly doesn’t seem to stop us from getting the information that we are after….

Why The Michigan Trip was Dumb, but not Wrong

I don’t have a new guest commentary ready to go (in fact I don’t think I have any at all to even get ready!). So I decided I would quickly put together an article that explored an article that caught my attention today. There seems to be a fair amount of hype going on around the story coming out that a Michigan elementary school teacher organized a class field trip that intentionally did not allow white children to attend. When I first heard the sound bytes, I was a little bit angry. After all, I do not approve of children, or anyone else, being discriminated against because of the color of their skin. However, after reading a bit more to the story, hearing the explanation from the principal in question, and reading the note that he sent out to parents, I have come to the conclusion that the decision to have this “black children only” field trip was incredibly stupid. But I do not feel that it was wrong. In fact, I would completely support this principal if he came to me with this idea, if only I lived in a less quirky and touchy society.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for May 4, 2010

Another fine day for an Open Mic. The legalization of Marijuana debate was interesting yesterday. I have to say, however, that I didn’t see a single coherent argument against legalization. A lot of supposition, rhetoric and ignoring of the facts that legitimate studies show. But very little in the way of evidence to support the idea that cannabis should be illegal. I was afraid that many would be so stuck in their ways that they wouldn’t even be willing to entertain ideas or facts that flew in the face of their beliefs. I was fortunate to find that there are many willing to think for themselves and really attempt to learn and discuss. For tonight we have a few articles, and I am sure there will be more added by all of you. We deal with the GOP panicking over candidates that don’t toe the party line, climate change legislation, terrorists who are simply misunderstood, and the “transparent” White House working to block an audit of the Federal Reserve.

The Case For Legalizing Marijuana

This was a topic that seemed to really cause a stir a week or so ago when it was brought up. It seems that there are many who would stand in the way of legalizing marijuana, in fact there were more comments saying so on this site than I would have expected. During those discussions, I kind of kept myself clear, not getting into the debates too heavily. I did so because I knew from the reactions that I was going to write an article about this. Tonight I offer that article. It appears that there are many myths and false statements around this debate. Further, it appears that I have unwittingly struck yet another topic where folks that otherwise seem to espouse freedom fall in the realm of contradiction. I wrote an article a couple of weeks ago stating that many people do not really want freedom. I think this is one of those topics that show exactly that sentiment. There sure is a lot of demand that people conform to someone else’s standards on this topic. So let’s take a closer look. AND TAKE NOTE THAT THERE IS A NEW POLL OVER THERE ON THE LEFT ON THIS SUBJECT!

Wal-Mart Article Removed

Just a quick note that I have removed the article posted yesterday about Wal-Mart. I was getting somewhere around 20 spam an hour on that particular article for one reason or another. I am unsure what was causing it so I have temporarily removed it and will re-post it at a later date, although the comments that had been made will be gone. I apologize for the inconvenience.