Identify Yourself;One Drop of Gov't;Night Sweats;What Will You Do When They Come for You?; these articles have their titles and text in this color and are featured this week in -
 
Ender's Review of the Web
 

Web articles of likely interest to individualists found during the week of Mar.14-20, 2004.

 
Comments and suggestions on the content and structure of this review are welcome. To accommodate such discussion I have created a Yahoo group for it. That group is ERevD: EnderReviewDiscussion. Feel free to jump in there at any time.
 
I am happy to receive addresses of potential readers of Ender's Review who might like to receive a few trial issues and an invitation to subscribe. Or, if you prefer, please, forward this e-mail to those you think might be interested, with the subscription information at the bottom intact. 
 
Political Liberty
Articles showing a positive influence of political action on the cause of Liberty.
 
Why care what the Constitution says?
        by Randy E. Barnett from Rational Review
"To openly challenge the legitimacy of the Constitution -- held sacred and regarded as authoritative by so much of the public -- would be to admit that there is no 'man behind the curtain.' Instead, by subtly undercutting the legitimacy of the Constitution while at the same time preserving its much-revered form, a judge or even a clever constitutional scholar can become the man behind the curtain. Pay no attention to that figure in the black robe or to that bookish professor; the great and powerful Constitution has spoken!"
 
Repeal every law enacted since 1912
        by Vin Suprynowicz from Las Vegas Review-Journal
"Was murder illegal by 1912? Of course. Rape? Of course. Kidnapping, armed robbery, bunko fraud? All serious criminal behaviors had been outlawed by 1912. So why have the number of lawbooks on the shelf multiplied tenfold in the past 92 years?"
 
The Pledge of a Grievance
        by Garry Reed from The Loose Cannon Libertarian
"Extracting a government loyalty oath from public school children is legalized extortion.  Public schools are institutions of coercion.  Students are coerced to attend them.  Parents are coerced to pay for them.  A compulsory pledge has no more legal or moral authority than a confession tortured from a criminal suspect, no more validity than a military oath extracted from a conscript, no more legitimacy than a promise made to a burglar not to call the cops for two hours after your jewelry walks out your front door in his pockets."
 
Life in Amerika
Articles depicting the negative impact of politics on Liberty.
 
Identify Yourself
        by Russell Madden from Atlas Magazine
"Some libertarians have argued that...Hiibel should have complied with the officer's repeated demands to identify himself. What this attitude mostly shows, unfortunately, is just how saturated our culture has become with subservience to the State. The erroneous notion that we should elevate the status of State agents to that of parent or master rather than servant underlies the passive streak that is seeping poisonously through the once fiercely independent American character."
 

Martha Down Under: Kangaroos in the Courtroom

        by William L. Anderson and Candice E. Jackson from The Future of Freedom Foundation
"Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic had no more chance of acquittal than did Tom Robinson, the black man accused of rape in Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird'."
 
For some defendants, an American gulag
        by Robyn E. Blumner from St. Petersburg Times
"We preach great principles of justice, fair-dealing and respect for human dignity to Arab nations yet are willing to make them a pick-and-choose proposition over here."
 
Ordered Liberty without the State
Some people say it's Anarchy, some say it's not possible. It is an interesting topic.
 
One Drop of Government Is All It Takes
        by Brad Edmonds from LewRockwell.com
"If you believe government should exist to do any particular thing, your reasons for believing so are applicable to everything we do in our lives. If you believe government should get out of your industry, your reasons for believing this apply to everything else government does."
 
'Rule Me!  Please!'
        by Jim Davies from Strike The Root
"The whole truth includes the ugly fact named above; that there is quite a large demand for other people to be ruled, to one's own perceived advantage. ... We may think very highly of our own rights and freedom, but a lot of us have little or no regard for those of our fellow humans. That's the ugly paradox, and that's why the government industry not only survives, but even thrives."
 
The Myth of Efficient Government Service
        by Murray N. Rothbard from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"The vital command posts invariably owned monopolistically by the State are: (1) police and military protection; (2) judicial protection; (3) monopoly of the mint (and monopoly of defining money); (4) rivers and coastal seas; (5) urban streets and highways, and land generally (unused land, in addition to the power of eminent domain); and (6) the post office."
 
Spreading Decentralism
Articles demonstrating an increase in the dispersal of power.
 
Spain's Sophisticated Voters
        by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. from LewRockwell.com
"It is a credit to the Spanish population to have opposed their government's involvement in the Iraq war to begin with, and to let that opposition show itself in an election. ... What's at work here is nothing but a demand for a non-interventionist foreign policy that stays close to Europe and avoids the moral stain that comes with seeming to approve US imperialism."
 
Snowbirds go where angels fear to tread
        by Doug Saunders from The Globe and Mail
"If the Slabs were 30 years younger, they might call their community an anarchist collective, or an intentional community, or a temporary autonomous zone, or a squat. Indeed, some Californians have tried to liken it to Burning Man, the annual gathering of young artists and stoners in another part of the desert. But those people are trying to create something. The Slabs are trying to get away from something."
 
Iraq: One Year Later
        by Sheldon Richman from The Future of Freedom Foundation
"The Spanish are being slandered by the La-Z-Boy warriors as appeasers because right after 200 of their fellow citizens were killed in train bombings, they threw out the ruling Popular Party ... and elected the Socialist Party, which vows to remove Spanish troops from Iraq. (It's a peculiar band of socialists, since their leader says he dislikes government intervention in the economy.)"
 
The New World Hegemon
Depictions of the coming Imperial power
 
Night Sweats
        by Chris Floyd from The Moscow Times
"But of course, the Pentagon Archipelago wasn't designed to fight terrorism; it's designed to advance terrorism -- state terrorism. Its purpose is to establish the principle of arbitrary rule -- in the name of 'military necessity' -- above the rule of law, in America and around the world."
 
Creating Iraq in Our Image
        by Jonathan David Morris from Strike The Root
"Iraq's constitution, with its promise of health care and social security, grants rights contingent upon the existence of Big Gov't. To control this government, Iraq's much-discussed factions will remain at war. ... With or without Saddam, all of Iraq must still be subjected to the whims of special interests. Sound like someplace you know? Like America, maybe?"
 
The U.S. Global Empire
        by Laurence M. Vance from LewRockwell.com
"What makes U.S. hegemony unique is that it is consists, not of control over great land masses or population centers, but of a global presence unlike that of any other country in history. The extent of the U.S. global empire is almost incalculable."
 
Politics by Other Means
War, rumors of war, and politicians fomenting war.
 
Pleas and carrots
        by Thomas L. Knapp from Rational Review
"Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming 'the LP must die' come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon."
 
The Coming Republican Rout
        by William L. Anderson from LewRockwell.com
"The Republicans have become a caricature of themselves, and ... have completely abandoned any commitment to freedom. On the other hand, Democrats are no more enamored of a free society than Republicans, but given their absolute commitment to turning every aspect of the Sexual Revolution into law, they will carry the urban areas and places populated with young singles."
 
The Déjà Vu War
        by Justin Raimondo from Antiwar.com
"Where are the 'weapons of mass destruction' that Saddam was supposed to be cleverly hiding? The same place as all those missing Kosovar corpses, the nonexistent evidence of mass murders that never happened. Lies, lies, and more lies - it's what our government does best, no matter the party in power."
 
Spontaneous Order
Articles showing decentralized successes.
 
The Birds, the Bees, and the Swiss Do It, So Why Can't We?
        by Michael C. Tuggle from LewRockwell.com
"Indeed, autonomy and self-reorganization are now seen as regular features in all organized systems, whether natural or human. Organization science, which grew out of the work of ecologists and systems engineers, teaches us that the health of the overall organization is optimized when its constituent components have the freedom to realign themselves as they see fit. Central control, then, is now seen as not only impossible in the long term, but counterproductive."
 
Law Versus Reality Part II
        by William Stone, III from The Libertarian Enterprise
"Since Jefferson's time, what limited copyright and patent law the United States had until the beginning of the 20th century allowed ideas and inventions to spread like wildfire. The action of those limited laws combined with the free market and millions of free individuals brought more prosperity and technological innovation in a mere century's time than had been seen in the entire preceding history of humankind."
 
The Explanatory Power of Economic Logic
        by Robert P. Murphy from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"Sowell’s overall message is that 'thinking beyond stage one' is necessary to understand the true causes (and cures) of social ills. Whether the issue is housing, health care, or Third World development, Sowell shows that the traditional government 'solutions' are always counterproductive."
 
Nonspontaneous Disorder
Articles showing centrally planned disasters.
 
Public Administration is Economic Chaos
        by Ludwig von Mises from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"The conduct of government affairs is as different from the industrial processes as is prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing a murderer from the growing of corn....  Lenin was mistaken in holding up the government's bureaus as a pattern for industry. But those who want to make the management of the bureaus equal to that of the factories are no less mistaken."
 
The Running Dogs Of The State
        by Pierre Lemieux from Le Quebecois Libre
"There are two very naïve ideas running around, which the whole history of mankind contradicts. One is that people can have their rights protected if they are not willing to fight for them -- and I mean to fight, like against mad dogs. The other naïve idea is that an individual can hope to have his rights respected by other people even if he is not willing to help them protect theirs."
 
Regulatory malpractice
        by Richard W. Rahn from Washington Times
"Millions of businesses are subject to at least some of these rules and regulations, and it is close to impossible to inform them of their obligations. Even the largest international banks, with huge staffs of lawyers and anticrime enforcement personnel, are unable to fully work through this ever-expanding morass of regulation."
 
War Is The Health Of The State
War is the ultimate State intervention in society.
 
What Will You Do When They Come for You?
        by Douglas Herman from Strike The Root
"Ask yourself this question: Who do you fear more, Al Qaeda or the state? Ask yourself, who caused the Al Qaeda problem to begin with, you or representatives of state?  And lastly ask yourself, who never once consulted you about foreign policy in the Middle East, that crucible of the problem? If you answered the state to any or all of these simple questions, then you realize 'terror' is always a manufactured crisis invented by the state."
 
Taking Stock One Year After the U.S. Invasion of Iraq
        by Robert Higgs from The Independent Institute
"This war, like all the others, has been not so much a case of who knew what when, of well-intentioned mistakes and tragic miscalculations. It has been more a case of who told what lies to whom, to serve what personal, political, and ideological ends…."
 
The Meaning of Madrid
        by Justin Raimondo from Antiwar.com
"The neocons wanted a new world war -- and now they have it. That is the meaning of the Madrid attacks, in which 201 people were killed and over a thousand wounded, for which Al Qaeda has taken responsibility."
 
Bits of History
The Past seen with a fresh look.
 
William Graham Sumner on War and Peace
        by Murray Polner from LewRockwell.com
"More than all else, his importance lies in the fact that he anticipated the lethal rise of false utopianism, highly sophisticated mass propaganda techniques, two world wars, concentration camps and gulags, religious and nationalistic hatreds that have murdered many millions of human beings in the 20th century and threaten to reoccur in this century. Sadly, though, Sumner (1840–1910) has been largely forgotten."
 
Deployed in the USA?
        by Gene Healy from Cato Institute
"For over 125 years, the Posse Comitatus Act has limited the federal government's ability to use armed soldiers to 'execute the laws' on American soil. But a month ago, a top Pentagon official told the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks that, when it comes to the war on terror, the act does not apply."
 
Emma Goldman for President -- "If Voting Changed Anything, They'd Make It Illegal"
        by Kurt Nimmo from CounterPunch
"In her famous essay, 'Anarchism: what it really stands for,' Emma quotes Thoreau, who said, 'All voting is a sort of gaming.... Even voting for the right thing is doing nothing for it. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority'."
 
War and Peace
Articles showing the nature of War.
 
Successful Strategic Bombing
        by William S. Lind from LewRockwell.com
"The whole notion that the 21st century can suddenly revert to the 18th and governments can fight wars in which the people and vital national interests are not involved is absurd. That is the real lesson of the Spanish election. War is no longer a 'game of princes.' The people are involved, and Fourth Generation opponents know how to make sure they are intensely involved, by bringing the war home to them."
 
We Are Losing The War Against Terrorism
        by Martin Masse from Le Québécois Libre
"Like [the War On Drugs]..., it will be a purely statist invention which will provide for the maintenance of a whole bureaucratic and police apparatus of repression whose main purpose will be to protect its turf and advance its own interest while guzzling taxpayers money."
 
A Year On: Time to Change Course
        by Alan Bock from Antiwar.com
"The United States, however, engaged in what is more accurately termed a preventive war. A preventive war is designed to neutralize a potential threat that might or might not materialize in the near future. Knowing that intelligence is always imperfect ... preventive war is a doctrine unworthy of a free country that wants to remain free."
 
Great Individuals In History
Some people stand out from the crowd.
 
Musician/Singer - Nat "King" Cole : Mar. 17, 1919
        from The Nat King Cole Society
"6/8/1946 - Cole's recording of '(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66' enters the R&B chart, where it will peak at #3. Later that summer, it becomes a pop hit as well, just missing the Top Ten."
 
Poet - Wilfred Owen: Mar. 18, 1893
        from Spartacus Schoolnet
"Wilfred Owen was killed by machine-gun fire while leading his men across the Sambre Canal on 4th November 1918. A week later the Armistice was signed. Only five of Owen's poems were published while he was alive."
 
Astronomer - Caroline Herschel : Mar. 16, 1750
        from University of St Andrews, Scotland
"Caroline Herschel received many honours for her scientific achievements. Together with Mary Somerville, she was elected to honorary membership of the Royal Society in 1835. They were the first honorary women members."
 
Culcha'
Books, Movies, TV, Media, Music, poetry, etc.
 
Humble Folks Without Temptation
        by Jesse Walker from The American Spectator
"It's the bad taste that made 'South Park's' reputation, it's the bad taste that allowed it to slip under most intellectuals' radar screen for so long, and it's the bad taste that will keep it from ever growing too respectable."
 
Messing With the Blues
        by Jeff Taylor from Reason
"But culture, especially musical culture, doesn't flow like gelatin into predictable molds. It bubbles and gurgles along, and pops up in the most unexpected places in unexpected forms…."
 
Liberty and Localism Scientifically Proven
        by James Leroy Wilson from LewRockwell.com
"His stated lesson is that this centralized, top-down form of organization, does not conform to the way nature -- the way a system -- works. As the federal government becomes more powerful and imposes more pressures on local systems, this will cause states and maybe even local cities to attempt secession, and encourage corporations and individuals to move elsewhere."
 
The lighter side
Humor, satire, cartoons, parodies, food, popular music and other things to amuse.
 
Forget Mars, just open the refrigerator
        by Dave Barry from The Miami Herald
"All other leftover foods should be thrown away immediately, for the same reason you should not go to your 40th high-school reunion. You go expecting to see people whom you vaguely remember as being attractive, and even though you know they've aged some -- Heck, even YOU have aged some -- you figure, hey, it's not as if you're OLD yet! You're middle-aged! Like Harrison Ford!"
 
Pentagon Launches Operation Pink Storm
        by Andy Borowitz from BorowitzReport
"Mr. Bush's speech coincided with news from the Pentagon that the U.S. was launching a spring offensive, Operation Pink Storm, to root out gay brides and bridegrooms hiding in the mountainous region on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan."
 
Warning: Obesity (and Lying about It) Could be Hazardous to Your Health
        by Jacob G. Hornberger from The Future of Freedom Foundation
"Americans are now faced with a double danger: obesity and, even worse, the possibility that officials of the FDA and the Justice Department will conduct unannounced visits asking them how much they weigh."
 
Deep Thought
Scientific and scholarly studies, philosophical essays, in-depth and longer articles.
 
Terrorists -- and Freedom Fighters?
        by Patrick J. Buchanan from Antiwar.com
"As the president swears eternal war on terrorism, it is time to ask: Who is a terrorist? Exactly what is terrorism? Have we not ourselves sometimes breached our commitment 'never to negotiate with terrorists'? Have we Americans also engaged in terrorism?"
 
The Great Divorce
        by Roderick Long from Strike The Root
"The question then becomes: which one is more likely to go wrong -- a justice system that is subject to the discipline of market incentives, or one that is insulated from them? If anything we know about economics is right, the answer is surely the latter."
 
Tips for Making Liberty
        by Richard Rieben from The Price of Liberty
"Unempowered, voluntary, optional groups, of any size or description, are harmless and may provide benefits to individuals, as freely formed associations composed of other, sovereign individuals. The means of sustaining unempowered groups is always predicated upon the continued voluntary support of individuals."
 
Miscellany
Articles not easily classified.
 
Miss Fitz' Guide to Guns, Part II
        by Claire Wolfe from Backwoods Home Magazine
"Don't narrow your choices down to just one 'perfect' gun yet. That gun might not be as right for you as it sounds on paper. Keeping options open also means we can grab a great deal on a good gun when one comes along, without wearing the soles off our shoes searching for one gotta-have-it gun."
 
Feminist Confession Reveals Cultural Shift
        by  Wendy McElroy from ifeminists.net
"The ongoing melodrama surrounding feminist author Naomi Wolf clearly shows that a cultural tide has turned. Wolf tried to fall back on Old Reliable -- a tearful confession of feminist victimhood -- and encountered skepticism instead of automatic sympathy."
 
Spy, Adulterer, Whatever
        by Jacob Sullum from Reason
"By the time of the hearing it had become clear that prosecutors were vindictively pursuing a man who had been erroneously identified as a spy, compounding the government's mistake instead of having the courage to admit it. Now it appears they have reconsidered."
 
Please feel free to forward this to anyone (or any list) who you believe might be interested, leaving the subscription information below intact.
 
Or if you know of prospective readers, but don't wish to send this to them yourself, please e-mail their addresses to me at  TomEnder@free-market.net  and I will send them a message with a link to the latest issue and invite them to subscribe. 
 
Archives are available at -  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnderReview/ 
 
 
or subscribe by sending a message to EnderReview-subscribe@yahoogroups.com