Memorial Day, A Day To Remember

Remember

by Roger Young

Ask ten people what Memorial Day is about and you’ll probably receive ten different responses. Mentioned are claims of "recognizing those who have served and fallen in defense or service to their country," "identifying patriots who unselfishly answered the call," and "acknowledging the heroes of battle." A common theme encountered in the discussion is remembrance. But, what else should be remembered? Are there not other aspects of war that need remembering?

Remember the architects of perpetual conflict, the schemers and tacticians who design the strategy, chart the acts of aggression, and lay the blueprints for other’s destruction.

Remember the plague of nationhood that infects the innate free spirit of men, disrupts the natural order of peaceful exchange and fuels the slavish obedience to political orders; regardless their legality or morality.

Remember the irresponsible who jump at the opportunity for conflict, forgetting reason, composure, and diplomacy. Remember how they delegate to others the duty to lead the engagement.

Remember the propaganda meisters who flood the airwaves with poisonous lies to reassure a wary, skeptical public; all carefully calculated to stultify the truth of war’s consequences.

Remember the Masters of War who profit from this heinous spectacle- those who gain power and tarnished wealth. Watch them flaunt their booty paid for with the bloody currency of children not their own.

Remember those who consider it essential that defense of a state’s borders requires committing pre-emptive acts of aggression against people on the other side of the globe.

Remember the cheerleaders who urge on "their" warriors with shouts of jingoistic fervor; yet refuse or find it unnecessary to give up their comfort of state side security.

Remember those who have witnessed, first hand, the horror of battle and tasted the acrid flavor of war’s experience.

Remember those who discover an epiphany, a life changing understanding that war is not the glorious adventure of Hollywood imagery, not the youthful pastime of an entertaining video game.

Remember those of this group who then fail to warn others of this newfound knowledge, who fail to convince compatriots of the needless sacrifice and stolen innocence.

Remember those on the sidelines who do not obey their conscience to speak out against the carnage, who hold their tongues through shyness or cowardice; who stand by silent as family, friends, and neighbors are whisked off to their inevitable doom.

Remember the children who witness war and its atrocities. Remember the confusion within young minds told killing is wrong, than struggle to comprehend the exception of war.

Remember their bewilderment when told to accept the killing of strangers that have done them no harm.

Remember the irreconcilable conflict within the hearts of Christians whose testament instruct "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." and "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also (Luke 6:27–29)" Remember their befuddlement when finding serving their state (be it the U.S.A and/or Israel) requires disregarding these principles. Remember the ideological clash when told serving their "country" preempts faithfulness to their God.

Remember the broken bodies and shattered psyches, still with us to remind us of war’s human cost. Remember the lost potential, the dashed dreams, the oceans of shed tears, the newly discovered war against desperation and hopelessness.

Yes, remember the fallen, the dead. Visit their resting places with solemn respect. Make note of their obscenely abundant and escalating numbers.

Remember that each grave has a face, a story, a soul represented by that slab of coldly etched stone or weathered cross.

Then, remember the graves throughout the world without adornment of a marker- a name, an individual, sentenced to a burial of eternal anonymity. Don’t the numbers now grow exponentially? Some were enemies, some were allies. Remember they also once walked the earth as those you honor. Remember they also aspired to a life of peaceful contentment, though driven by a different philosophy or creed as a means to obtain it.

Remember how, when living, all sides were compelled by opposing views of righteousness but now all are colleagues in death.

Do not only grieve for their loss but remember the lies and liars that killed them.

May 30, 2005

Roger Young is a freelance photographer in Texas and maintains a website called PixelPrairie.com.



Copyright 2005 LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Is Ron Paul an Extremist?

The disinformation campaign against Ron Paul by the supporters of the establishment has begun. Tom Woods responds. Resource page at http://www.tomwoods.com/motherjones

Watch the Watchers? The War on Cameras

Reason TV reports on the governments war on citizens using cameras. I had a little personal experience with this when the Republican National Convention was in St. Paul in 2008. A cop yelled at me to quit taking pictures of him (shooting the breeze with other cops) behind the fence they had installed blocking off the street a couple of blocks from the Xcel Energy Center. I was on a public sidewalk, he was in the street.

From Reason TV:

Who will watch the watchers? In a world of ubiquitous, hand-held digital cameras, that's not an abstract philosophical question. Police everywhere are cracking down on citizens using cameras to capture breaking news and law enforcement in action.


In 2009, police arrested blogger and freelance photographer Antonio Musumeci on the steps of a New York federal courthouse. His alleged crime? Unauthorized photography on federal property.

Police cuffed and arrested Musumeci, ultimately issuing him a citation. With the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union, he forced a settlement in which the federal government agreed to issue a memo acknowledging that it is totally legal to film or photograph on federal property.

Although the legal right to film on federal property now seems to be firmly established, many other questions about public photography still remain and place journalists and citizens in harm's way. Can you record a police encounter? Can you film on city or state property? What are a photographer's rights in so-called public spaces?

These questions will remain unanswered until a case reaches the Supreme Court, says UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh, founder of the popular law blog The Volokh Conspiracy. Until then, it's up to people to know their rights and test the limits of free speech, even at the risk of harassment and arrest.

Who will watch the watchers? All of us, it turns out, but only if we're willing to fight for our rights.

The Final Nail in the Coffin of Liberty

Texas Congressman Ron Paul comments on our rapidly disappearing liberty.

The Last Nail The last nail is being driven into the coffin of the American Republic. Yet, Congress remains in total denial as our liberties are rapidly fading before our eyes. The process is propelled by unwarranted fear and ignorance as to the true meaning of liberty. It is driven by economic myths, fallacies and irrational good intentions. The rule of law is constantly rejected and authoritarian answers are offered as panaceas for all our problems. Runaway welfarism is used to benefit the rich at the expense of the middle class. Who would have ever thought that the current generation and Congress would stand idly by and watch such a rapid disintegration of the American Republic? Characteristic of this epic event is the casual acceptance by the people and political leaders of the unitary presidency, which is equivalent to granting dictatorial powers to the President. Our Presidents can now, on their own:


1. Order assassinations, including American citizens,

2. Operate secret military tribunals,

3. Engage in torture,

4. Enforce indefinite imprisonment without due process,

5. Order searches and seizures without proper warrants, gutting the 4th Amendment,

6. Ignore the 60 day rule for reporting to the Congress the nature of any military operations as required by the War Power Resolution,

7. Continue the Patriot Act abuses without oversight,

8. Wage war at will,

9. Treat all Americans as suspected terrorists at airports with TSA groping and nude x-raying.

And the Federal Reserve accommodates by counterfeiting the funds needed and not paid for by taxation and borrowing, permitting runaway spending, endless debt, and special interest bail-outs.

And all of this is not enough. The abuses and usurpations of the war power are soon to be codified in the National Defense Authorization Act now rapidly moving its way through the Congress. Instead of repealing the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), as we should, now that bin Laden is dead and gone, Congress is planning to massively increase the war power of the President. Though an opportunity presents itself to end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Congress, with bipartisan support, obsesses on how to expand the unconstitutional war power the President already holds. The current proposal would allow a President to pursue war any time, any place, for any reason, without Congressional approval. Many believe this would even permit military activity against American suspects here at home. The proposed authority does not reference the 9/11 attacks. It would be expanded to include the Taliban and "associated" forces—a dangerously vague and expansive definition of our potential enemies. There is no denial that the changes in s.1034 totally eliminate the hard-fought-for restraint on Presidential authority to go to war without Congressional approval achieved at the Constitutional Convention. Congress' war authority has been severely undermined since World War II beginning with the advent of the Korean War which was fought solely under a UN Resolution. Even today, we're waging war in Libya without even consulting with the Congress, similar to how we went to war in Bosnia in the 1990s under President Clinton. The three major reasons for our Constitutional Convention were to:

1. Guarantee free trade and travel among the states.

2. Make gold and silver legal tender and abolish paper money.

3. Strictly limit the Executive Branch's authority to pursue war without Congressional approval.

But today:

1. Federal Reserve notes are legal tender, gold and silver are illegal.

2. The Interstate Commerce Clause is used to regulate all commerce at the expense of free trade among the states.

3. And now the final nail is placed in the coffin of Congressional responsibility for the war power, delivering this power completely to the President—a sharp and huge blow to the concept of our Republic.

In my view, it appears that the fate of the American Republic is now sealed—unless these recent trends are quickly reversed.

The saddest part of this tragedy is that all these horrible changes are being done in the name of patriotism and protecting freedom. They are justified by good intentions while believing the sacrifice of liberty is required for our safety. Nothing could be further from the truth.

More sadly is the conviction that our enemies are driven to attack us for our freedoms and prosperity, and not because of our deeply flawed foreign policy that has generated justifiable grievances and has inspired the radical violence against us. Without this understanding our endless, unnamed, and undeclared wars will continue and our wonderful experience with liberty will end.

Rand Paul Stands Up To Harry Reid And Opposes Patriot Act

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul expresses his outrage over accusations he is pro terrorist because he supports individual rights.

Rand Paul Fights Against Extending The Patriot Act

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul stands on principal and fights the extension of the Orwellian named Patriot Act.







Senator Rand Paul – Statement on USA PATRIOT Act Extension

Published on 24 May 2011


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Sen. Rand Paul spent a significant amount of the day on the Senate floor urging Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to keep his word and allow debate and amendments on the USA PATRIOT Act extension.

“Instead of honoring statements he made in February regarding allowing amendments and debate on the bill, Sen. Reid went through procedural hoops to go back on his word. By hurriedly attaching the extensions to the privileged small business bill as an amendment, Sen. Reid denied the Senate the opportunity to debate the constitutionality of its provisions,” Sen. Paul said. “Today’s events further underscore the U.S. government’s lack of transparency and accountability to the American people.”

RIP Alan Bock

From ReasonTV:

Alan Bock, longtime editorial writer at the Orange County Register, died on May 18 at his home in Elsinore, California. Alan was a champion for liberty and a good friend to many of us at Reason. Alan, you'll be missed.

Alan wrote four books, including Waiting to Inhale: The Politics of Medical Marijuana (2000). In 2007, Drew Carey interviewed Alan about that book for a reason.tv program on medical marijuana. Here are some excerpts from that interview.

What? Make Up Your Mind!

Lionel comments on the constantly changing Osama raid story.

How Much Is That Government Program Costing You?

Just how much is the federal government really costing you, find out at MyGovCost.org.

From ReasonTV:

Federal spending will top $3.6 trillion this year, but what's your share?


The Government Cost Calculator is a new online tool that can be found at MyGovCost.org. A project of the California-based Independent Institute, it allows you to plug in your age, income, and education level to generate a series of tables that show your share of both current and future federal spending across more than a dozen categories. You can break out your share of spending for defense, Medicare, Social Security, and other areas and calculate what you could be earning if you were able to keep the money and invest it at a 6 percent rate of return.

The idea behind the project is that the true cost of government is reflected not just in your tax bill, but in your opportunity cost, what you could be doing with those dollars if you didn't have to hand them over to the government

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie interviewed the Independent Institute's Emily Skarbek, who's also an assistant professor of economics at San Jose State, via Skype to find out more about the Government Cost Calculator and what she hopes to achieve with the project.

 

Highways Beat Government High-Speed Rail

Reason"s Adrian Moore and Robert Poole explain why government subsidized high speed rail is pie in the sky folly.

From ReasonTV:

What are the best ways to get America moving in terms of transportation?


At Reason Weekend 2011, Reason Foundation's annual donor event, Adrian Moore and Robert Poole spoke about the right ways to create a 21st-century transportation policy. Moore takes heavily documented aim at high-speel rail projects as tax-funded boondoggles that will certainly fail to hit ridership goals. Poole argues that pie-in-the-sky projects such as high-speed rail divert limited federal funds from much-needed infrastructure improvement and fail to tap into private capital funds that could help expand the nation's transportation network.

Friday Night at Pet's Parlour

Three great songs from Petula Clark.

Cutting Food Stamps For The Poor Is Not The Right Priority

Texas Congressman Ron Paul on the Dylan Ratigan Show says we should cut our military budget instead of food stamps for the poor.

Drug Prohibition Is About As Discredited As The Flat Earth Society

Even William F. Buckley Jr. came to oppose the insane war on some drugs.

Big Government Conservative Rick Santorum

Compassionate Conservatives are merely statist big government supporters.

Bollywood in the War on Terror

From Reason TV:

Even before Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. soldiers, his brand of anti-modern, anti-pleasure Islam was under attack by Bollywood, India's pop culture juggernaut that boasts a global audience of 3 billion people.


As Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia explains, Bollywood movies and videos appeal to young men and women in Muslim and Arab countries because they dramatize the sorts of tensions between traditional and modern ways of living. "Who should decide who one should marry - is it the parents or is it the boy and girls themselves?" asks the Indian-born and raised Dalmia. "In the West, in Hollywood movies, it's not even an issue. But it's a huge issue in that part of the world and all of Bollywood movies deal with that one central question."

Dalmia also notes that Muslims are among the most popular - and sexually suggestive - performers in Bollywood productions. "When you have Muslims succeeding in Bollywood as Muslims, it makes them feel, well, we don't have to give up our religion in order to be modern," observes Dalmia. "That's very, very subversive...of Islamic demands and Islamic extremism....If you can have a good time in this world...and still be religious, why do you have to strap suicide bombs to your chest and blow yourself up?"

Neither Bush or Obama Kept Us Safe

Jack Hunter explores the rhetoric on the killing of Osama bin Laden. Hunter rightly concludes that it could of been done a hell of a lot cheaper both in money and lives.

Jay Carney: Lost and Without a Clue

Lionel says Jay Carney is lost and without a clue:

Ron Paul Defending Personal Liberty

Ron Paul in the South Carolina debate explaining why he supports re-legalizing drugs, prostitution etc.

Too Gory? Too Inflammatory? Yeah Right

Jon Stewart says release the bin Laden photos because we need to see the price of war.

The Daily Show - Face/Off
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Sacrifice Like Prince Charles

We should all follow Prince Charles example and reduce our carbon footprint.

Well I guess Charles wants us to do as we are told, not as he does. Another true leader!!

Don't Let Osama Have The Last Laugh

Texas Congressman Ron Paul comments on the killing of Osama bin Laden. Paul says we should act now so that bin Laden does not have the last laugh. We must bring our troops home, or else bin Laden will have won.

Let's Really Celebrate The End Of The Bin Laden Era

The Libertarian Party calls for killing more than just bin Laden:

Libertarian Party celebrates end of bin Laden era

WASHINGTON - Libertarian Party Chairman Mark Hinkle issued this statement today:

"I am glad to hear of the death of Osama bin Laden, who had no qualms about slaughtering American civilians.

"Unfortunately, bin Laden leaves behind an evil legacy in the United States: the Department of Homeland Security, the TSA, the PATRIOT Act, warrantless wiretaps, the 'state secrets' doctrine, and other violations of Americans' civil and economic rights.

"Just like Osama bin Laden, these programs must be terminated.

"President Obama must also end the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. It's time to stop being the world's policeman. It's time to bring all those troops home.

"Our government should also end its foreign aid programs, which create future terrorists by funding many dictators around the world."

The Libertarian Party platform (section 3.3) states, "American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world. Our foreign policy should emphasize defense against attack from abroad and enhance the likelihood of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements. We would end the current U.S. government policy of foreign intervention, including military and economic aid. We recognize the right of all people to resist tyranny and defend themselves and their rights. We condemn the use of force, and especially the use of terrorism, against the innocent, regardless of whether such acts are committed by governments or by political or revolutionary groups."

In 2008, the Libertarian National Committee adopted resolutions calling for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.