Former US presidential candidate and House of Representatives member Ron Paul says people seeking to advance peace can learn much from looking to Switzerland.
Paul states in the interview that he likes Switzerland’s “very successful national defense,” and adds “there is no reason that we can’t use that as a starting point.” Paul explains:
… all through the twentieth century — a century of carnage and killing and murdering in the European theater especially, they were never invaded. So they had a strong national defense, but of course it was under a completely different philosophy than what most other countries have…. if we are seeking peace and prosperity, we ought to move in that direction.
Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis is characterizing Sandra Bland — who died last week in a jail in the Texas county — as being “very combative” and “not a model person” during the traffic stop that led to her arrest and incarceration. His disparaging assessment appears to be far from the truth.
Recently released dashboard camera video of Bland’s arrest shows that throughout her ordeal on a Texas roadway Bland behaved appropriately and much as would many other ordinary people in a similar situation. Bland’s response may even have been more muted than average considering the infuriating nonsense she had to deal with — an out-of-control cop pulling her over for changing lanes without using a turn signal and then proceeding, for no good reason, to force her out of her car, throw her to the ground, handcuff her, and send her off to jail.
Bland’s response to the police harassment and brutality is commendable. Unless you accept the police-state mindset that Mathis’ comments suggest, you can’t help but admire Bland boldly standing up to a cop who literally had the power of life and death in his hands on that Texas roadway.
In a move that Alan Zarembo of the Los Angeles Times reports could result in the US government barring millions of Americans from owning guns, President Barack Obama’s administration has been quietly planning to have the Social Security Administration report the private information of Social Security recipients to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Among the millions of people who may, as a result, be deprived of the ability to legally possess guns are, Zarembo notes, about 1.5 million Social Security recipients who “have their finances handled by others for a variety of reasons” and about 2.7 million people who receive Social Security disability payments due to mental health problems.
Former US House Member and presidential candidate Ron Paul is having a birthday party the afternoon of Saturday, August 15 in his hometown of Lake Jackson, Texas. And you are invited!
The Mises Institute is throwing the party for Paul. You can find out all the details and make your reservation (required for admission) here at the Mises Institute’s website. Admission is $20 per adult and, as explained on the Mises Institute’s website, covers “Texas BBQ, a country music band, birthday cake and the thrilling and moving occasion of a lifetime.” Admission is free for children and students.
With President Barack Obama announcing Monday the commutation of the sentences of 46 US government prisoners, Reuters calculates that the president “has now commuted the sentences of 89 prisoners, the vast majority of whom were nonviolent drug offenders who applied for clemency under an initiative the White House began in April 2014.” The freeing of any drug war victims is reason for celebrations. Yet, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons 95,265 people (48.7% of all federal prison inmates) are in US government prisons for drug convictions. How about freeing them all?
As Obama indicated in his announcement of his newest round of commutations, drug law violations are nonviolent crimes. In addition, they are victimless crimes. With no violence and no victim in drug crimes, it is absurd for the US government to incarcerate a single person for a drug crime for even one more day.
Jacob Hornberger, picture used with permission from the Future of Freedom Foundation
Back in 2001, I saw Jacob Hornberger speak at the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party’s state convention. I had learned much reading Hornberger’s articles at the Future of Freedom Foundation, of which Hornberger is the president and founder. Hornberger’s presentation, like his articles, was informative, insightful, engaging, and persuasive.
I returned home after the convention happy to have seen a maestro of libertarian communication in action. I have continued to follow Hornberger’s work since.
In June, I was honored to see Hornberger on FFF’s The Libertarian Angle complimenting my articles at the Ron Paul Institute. The topic of my writing came up at the end of Hornberger’s June 15 The Libertarian Angle interview with RPI Executive Director Daniel McAdams.
Here is the Hornberger and McAdams exchange regarding me:
Hornberger: In the time we have left, I do want to say a little bit about the work you guys do on civil liberties and privacy and the NSA, because we’re on the same page on that issue too. Give us your take on those issues, along with the drug war as well. We are all on the same page on that one too.
McAdams: Absolutely, well, my colleague Adam Dick—we worked together about ten years in Dr. Paul’s office, and Adam handled a lot of the civil liberties issues, some of them we worked together on—and so, thankfully, Adam is with us at the institute. And he does a lot of writing on the drug war, which he feels very strongly about. His background is as an attorney, so that gives a nice dimension to what he writes….
So it’s great to be able to continue working with someone that I worked with for so long—Dr. Paul and Adam Dick….
Hornberger: …And I agree with you about Adam’s work. I mean, I love his stuff. He’s got great pieces on financial privacy, about the bank structuring laws, the asset forfeiture. He’s doing fantastic and courageous stuff on that….
Watch the complete interview, and learn about the important work of FFF and RPI, here:
Former US presidential candidate and US House member Ron Paul and libertarian multi-bestselling author Tom Woods offered an enticing preview of Paul’s new book Swords into Plowshares on the Wednesday episode of the Tom Woods Show. Paul’s new book, which may be pre-ordered before its July 17 release, is rapidly moving up the Amazon sales rankings.
Woods calls Paul’s Swords into Plowshares both “fantastic” and a “one stop shop” for arguments, including moral and economic arguments, against war.
On Saturday, July 4, Ron Paul Institute Senior Fellow Adam Dick took Fairbanks, Alaska KFAR radio listeners on a tour of American politicians gone bad. Taking calls and speaking with Patriot’s Lament show hosts Joshua Bennett, Michael Anderson, and Aaron Bennet, Dick discusses American politicians illegally providing weapons to groups on the United States government’s terror list, preparing to purge the Confederate battle flag, and stealing money from people via asset forfeiture laws.
In the two-hour interview, Dick also discusses topics including the drug war, the US government’s past and present military interventions around the world, the redaction on 28 pages of a congressional report on the September 11 attacks, jury nullification, reason for hope that an informed and irate minority will bring about greater respect for liberty, and RPI Chairman and Founder Ron Paul’s new book Swords into Plowshares.
With the interview taking place on Independence Day, the conversation also turns to the Revolutionary War.
Listen to hours one and two of the radio interview here and here.
Texas state Rep. David Simpson (R-Longview) has an intriguing response to Obergefell v. Hodges, the United States Supreme Court decision imposing a national mandate to override the diverse ways in which state governments deal with same sex marriage. Simpson is asking Texas Governor Greg Abbott to declare a special session of the state legislature to consider Simpson’s proposal that Texas end marriage licensing in the state.
