Two folks I very much admire have finally started blogging.

Jacques, self-admitted lazy guy, has succumbed to nagging and started Jacques’ Blog. I can only hope he sticks with it.

Meanwhile, I’m a little late to the party over at Eleanor’s My Quiet Mountain Town. As she’s someone who, when she speaks up, is worth listening to, I’m looking forward to reading her musings on her upcoming relocation and anything else she cares to write about.

Rob over at To The People cracks me up. I appreciate a man who doesn’t mince words.

I’ve recently been enjoying a couple of blogs I’ve found, so I’m adding them to the roll over there on the side.

The first is To The People. The author(s) have a decidedly libertarian bent, and there’s some non-political human-interest type stuff in there, too. Worth a look.

The second is Last Free Voice (the name comes from the television series “Dark Angel”), which I stumbled upon while searching for any updated information on the still-defunct-and-silent Hammer of Truth. Specifically, I was searching for one of their writers, Michelle Shinghal, because I had enjoyed her posts at HoT and wondered if she’d simply moved on to greener pastures. Happily, I found her over at Last Free Voice along with a few other former contributors to HoT. There’s still a bit more coverage of Libertarian Party politics than I care to peruse, but the former HoT writers, along with some fresh blood, have much to say that isn’t LP-related and is well worth reading.

For example, today LFV provided a thought-provoking entry, a Defense of Plagiarism in public schools, exploring the suggestions that plagiarism is fraud, theft, or breach of contract, or that it’s otherwise negative because kids aren’t using or developing any creativity. This is the first of two posts on the subject, and I look forward to the second entry.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve added dare2bfree’s Restored Spirit to the Blogroll.

Her post from yesterday - When the norm is not normal - raises some important questions.

A few months ago, I had a long conversation w/ my husband about what I felt was the signs of another “civil war” which would be more aptly described as the next Revolution. We both thought that the potential was there, even if the majority (if any at all) of it wouldn’t be fought with guns and other weapons like the one that first formed our country. However, I’m beginning to rethink that. With the moronic decision to confiscate guns in New Orleans during Katrina, I can see that happening in other cities or across the U.S. easily. That is a line in the sand for many people. What will happen then? What will happen when the general gun owning public are faced with the order to turn in their weapon, their means of helping to protect their family?

I don’t see signs of a coming revolution or civil war. What I see are signs of a coming collapse. Sure, the confiscation of weapons is a line in the sand for many, many folks. But not enough. Not enough by a long shot. I’ve long-since given up any hope that Americans would rise up and overthrow tyranny. And the walls that’ll keep us from victory are sliding quietly into place; when they come to take our guns, it’ll be far too late.

Maybe I’m jaded from city life, but what I see are millions overwhelmed with apathy and intellectual laziness. Not only are they apathetic and lazy, they’re PROUD of it. In the city, it’s not uncommon to hear folks boast of being completely unaware of politics on any level, or to announce that they always vote for the best-looking candidates (at least they get points for being aware of some kind of election). They brag to others about how much money they were able to get from the government - the question of whether to accept government funds has long since been shoved aside. It’s not “whether to take”, it’s “how much to take,” and the answer is “ALL that you can.” This shallowness and stupidity and willful blindness to the world around them makes me doubt our ability to rise up as one. If a person can’t even be self-sufficient when things are relatively calm and good, what chance does he stand at self-sufficiency and fighting back when the storm breaks?

So long as they’ve got a beer in one hand, and the TV remote in the other, everything beyond the living room walls is insignificant. And you can bet that if the lazy won’t rise up to save their own asses, when their neighbors lose their guns to the thugs at the door, you can bet these repugnant folks won’t rise up to save their neighbors, either. It would take a complete collapse to get their attention, and even then, the goal will be survival, not retaliation and certainly not victory.

While an amputee might be able to feel an itch or ache in a lost limb, most Americans have long since stopped noticing any aches in their lost freedom. Our freedom was amputated so long ago that most have forgotten there was ever any freedom to begin with, and the stump that remains is weak from disuse.

I really would like to have more faith in my fellow Americans. I would like to think there are more folks like the ones at The Claire Files. But sadly, I think we’re in the minority - and a small minority it is. When the shitstorm comes, we won’t be fighting a revolution. We’ll be fighting to keep our lazy, apathetic neighbors from swamping us with the needs they were too stupid to avoid.

From The Dilbert Blog:

But the best part of this story is the cleric’s defense that he was just quoting an “ancient scholar.” Apparently that strategy worked out pretty well for the Pope, so he thought he’d give it a go. People understand that sort of thing. Here’s an example of how you can use this method at home:

You: “Your mother smells of horse crap and sailors…”

Other Guy: “You take that back!”

You: “…said the ancient scholar.”

Other Guy: “Oh, sorry. I thought it was you saying it.”

I’m going to have to remember that one the next time my mother and I get into a round of name-calling. There MUST be an ancient scholar somewhere who once referred to his mother as a crap weasel. (Mom, you’ll just have to conveniently forget that I typed this - and by convenience, I mean mine.)

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, has nicely summed up his thoughts (and mine) on the concept of flag burning.

But symbols are personal things, and everyone is free to interpret them however they see fit. For me, a flag that I’m NOT allowed to burn is a symbol that the government is too intrusive in my life. And it’s an insult to anyone who died to defend freedom. But that’s just me. You might prefer your symbols of freedom to have as many restrictions as possible.

It seems to me that the great thing about the flag is that it symbolizes something inherently indestructible: the concept of freedom. You can burn the flag as many times as you want and the concept of freedom is not only still there – it’s stronger.

(emphasis mine, props to the Bonehead of the Day for the find)

An excellent post over at Montag about the freedom mindset.

Another theme I try to emphasize is be optimistic and, in the sense that most days the police aren’t going to break down your door and seize your person and property, it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic and unafraid. But somewhere today, police are breaking down someone’s door and seizing persons and property, often to enforce bad laws. And outside Waco that day, the lawbreakers were the law enforcers. So while it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic and unafraid and to expect the best, it also doesn’t hurt to anticipate the worst, so that while most of the time you’ll be pleasantly surprised, you also will be prepared should the worst happen.

I couldn’t possibly add more to what he said so eloquently.