Sep 12

Join us this coming weekend for our 3rd annual Glacier National Park glacier research project!

Lysander Spooner University will again meet at Glacier National Park this coming weekend, Friday September 15 through Sunday September 17, 2017 for our annual glacier research project.

Each year since 2015, we have sought to visit, measure and photograph the glaciers at Glacier National Park at their lowest points.

Government websites associated with the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey present ‘before and after’ pictures of the glaciers at GNP to show the glaciers rapidly melting away.

However, the government websites do not specify precise calendar dates. They simply juxtapose one year (e.g., ‘1945’) against another year (‘2006’).

It appears that some of the glaciers in GNP have grown over the past several years.

Join us on Friday, Sept. 15 at the downtown public library in Kalispell, Montana at 6:00 p.m. for a discussion of this research topic and an overview. Then, the following morning, Saturday, Sept. 16 at 8:30 a.m. we will meet in the lobby of the beautiful East Glacier Lodge in Glacier, Montana. From there we will divide up our ranks to head out to different glacier areas. Strong hikers should be ready to tackle several miles of hiking. Others will go to glaciers that are visible from highways (i.e., the Jackson Glacier).

We will then meet up in the evening of Saturday, Sept. 16 at a suitable restaurant or tavern to compare notes.

(Note that there are forest fire and smoke issues throughout the Park and access is constantly changing. Please contact Roger Roots at his cell phone 406 — 224 —3105 for info and updates).

Sep 12

Government failure: U.S. companies enforce their own rights in the global market

Interesting column by Steve Sherman.

It seems a U.S. company, CoStar, was allegedly the victim of theft by a competitor named Xceligent.

CoStar manages websites with information and photos of real estate properties for sale or rent. The company spends millions annually obtaining information and graphics. CoStar found that Xceligent was stealing its pics and descriptions on an industrial scale. CoStar sought regulatory enforcement of intellectual property laws.

(Note that libertarians argue with themselves over whether intellectual property is actual property. See here.)

The U.S. Justice Department–with all its resources aimed at grazing ranchers and constitutionalists–did nothing.

“So, what is a $6.6 billion company like CoStar supposed to do when the U.S. Government does nothing when a foreign company literally attacks their livelihood? At their own expense, they tracked down the hackers allegedly employed by Xceligent. The hacking operation was based in the Philippines hidden inside a company called Avion.”

CoStar’s lawyers obtained a Philippine court order and “swept through Avion’s sprawling facility — eight hours from Manila and accessible by a single road — and emerged with 262 hard drives containing 35 terabytes of data.” After they secured the data, they found something that disturbed them – evidence that this same firm, Avion, was involved in “child pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking, and links to the dark side of the internet found at Backpage.com, a site known to run a global adult ad sales operation.”

Sherman’s coloumn calls for more U.S. government enforcement of intellectual property laws. But that facts cry out with another reality: companies in the private sector can enforce their own rights more efficiently than government bureaucracies can.

And demands by government trusters that government have more power over the internet so as to protect the web from ‘cybercrime’ are shown to be without merit. Those with rights and interests in the web can protect those interests better on their own.

Sep 12

Police state takes over Florida

Floridians who complied with government orders that they evacuate their homes prior to Hurricane Irma are now finding that government bars them from returning afterward.

The Miami Herald has published some disturbing photos and videos of Americans stopped at police roadblocks simply for trying to return to their homes. See here.

During times of crisis and disaster, governments are always the greatest source of danger to people, property and the environment.

Sep 11

First Floridians were ordered to evacuate homes at gunpoint; now they’ll be prosecuted for felonies for ‘abandoning’ pets

Hurricane Irma has brought lots of rain and some wind, but government hype about the storm has proven to be mostly fake news. See here.

Thousands of Floridians were ordered at gunpoint to flee their homes under claims of catastrophic emergency. Government cops rolled through streets in massive shows of force, arresting almost anyone who wasn’t part of the ruling establishment (meaning government employees, friends of deputies, government-supported news media, etc.).

Now USA Today is reporting that Floridians who complied with authorities’ commands to evacuate homes and apartments will be prosecuted for felonies for ‘abandoning’ pets. See here.

Although some Floridians have capabilities of caring for pets during evacuations, many others are poor and have no means to transport or take care of pets. Some Floridians had to leave their pets home alone during the hurricane; others released their pets to the out-of-doors, expecting the dogs and cats could survive during the evacuation period and would return when evacuation orders were lifted.

Sep 10

Florida sheriffs will do warrant checks on all hurricane victims seeking shelter

During times of disaster and crisis, governments become the greatest source of danger for most Americans.

The New York Times is reporting that the Polk County, Florida sheriff will be doing background checks and warrant checks on all victims of Hurricane Irma seeking ‘shelter’ at any of the government-designated shelters in the county.

If anyone seeking assistance has an outstanding warrant, he will be arrested immediately and taken to jail. See here.

Sep 09

UC Berkeley offers counseling services for students impacted by neoconservative speaker

America’s government colleges have become temples of elitism, privilege, intolerance, socialism and government worship. Any American becomes instantly less free upon walking onto a government college campus.

Many campuses have speech codes, restricted ‘first amendment zones’ and internal intelligence units which are paid to hunt down anti-government, free-market, or politically incorrect thought.

Now there are reports that UC Berkeley–supposedly the crown campus of the California higher ed system–is offering counseling services for students traumatized by neoconservative speaker Ben Shapiro. See here.

Sep 09

Civil rights violations on a massive scale as Hurricane Irma approaches U.S.

When natural disasters strike, people would be much safer if governments were nowhere in sight. People naturally cope and overcome such disasters with spontaneous order.

But governments in the modern era are so gorged on money and power that natural disasters simply fuel their drive to control, cage, kill, and destroy.

Now the AP reports that money-gorged police departments in Miami and elsewhere are roving through streets arresting all homeless people on ‘mental health’ justifications. See here.

Sep 06

Leaked info shows Soros spending massively to push ‘climate change’ theme

“Climate change” is a constant theme of ultra-powerful elites. It barely registers as a problem or issue among democratic majorities.

For the past 2 decades, the earth’s governments and wealthy elites have tried to ram cap-and-trade and carbon-tax laws down the throats of long-suffering taxpayers on the grounds that only socialism and central planning can save the world from catastrophic-global-warming-by-manmade-CO2.

While skeptical science survives in dark corners where intrepid dissenters bravely question the elitists’ meme, the climate-change hysterics are funded massively by governments, corporations and the world’s richest people.

Now there is leaked information that billionaire pro-government extremist financier George Soros has been secretly spending millions to promote the hysteria. See here.

Sep 06

Allegation: The New York Times bestseller list is rigged to favor ‘liberal’ titles

The terms ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ have almost no meanings. “Conservative” can sometimes designate ideas which challenge the state; while at other times the term means the precise opposite. The same goes for ‘liberal.’ What was ‘liberal’ yesteryear can be seen as ‘conservative’ today.

But such designations can illuminate certain policy debates and conflicts. Regnery Publishing, which is sometimes described as the largest conservative publisher in the United States, is alleging that the “New York Times Bestseller” list (which formerly was recognized as the gold standard measurement of how a book is selling) has become inaccurate if not fraudulent.

According to Regnery, its ‘conservative’ releases often sell hundreds of thousands if not millions of copies but tend to not even appear on the New York Times ‘Bestseller list.’

Regnery believes that its title, Dinesh D’Souza’s The Big Lie, about the American Left’s past relationship and present affinity with the Nazis and their tactics, should have been ranked at number one in sales — but the New York Times trailed it in at number seven.

The New York Times organisation admits it “surveys” hand picked booksellers across the nation.

See here.

Regnery is severing all ties with the Times ‘Bestseller’ list–which may further erode the List‘s gatekeeping status.

Sep 06

Kentucky government workers retiring early to avoid looming pension collapse

For decades, governments at every level have been overpaying government “workers.” Government employee unions have negotiated contracts in most states and large municipalities which result in government retirees living like kings among starving peasants.

In states such as California, New York and Illinois, state retirees commonly RETIRE on six-figure annual pensions. Even in districts where average household incomes remain in the $20,000 to $30,000 range.

Currently, Illinois is spending more on pensions for RETIRED university personnel than the State spends on CURRENT university operations. See here.

Now there are reports that government workers in Kentucky are sensing that long-suffering taxpayers cannot sustain the extravagant pension obligations of state retirees. They are retiring early hoping to vest their retirements before the system collapses. See here.

Minnesota’s State accountants recently took measures to correct future projections regarding the longtime viability of the State’s pensions. The State’s official ‘estimates’ had pegged the pension fund to have long-term 7% returns on investments. (Real-world returns on average investments are slightly lower.) When Minnesota accountants tried correcting future estimates, they found that the underfunding of pension obligations TRIPLED. See here.