But the special function of certain Newspeak words, of which oldthink was one, was not so much to express meanings as to destroy them. These words, necessarily few in number, had had their meanings extended until they contained within themselves whole batteries of words which, as they were sufficiently covered by a single comprehensive term, [...]

The video that accompanies the song is simply too powerful to merely post the lyrics (below the fold) of the 3 Doors Down song “Citizen Soldier.” If you know a veteran, share this with them and tell them “thank you” for their service as citizen soldiers.

I’m actually surprised that it hasn’t occurred to me to post “Land of Confusion” for Liberty Rock sooner. This is a great song with a great message that seems perhaps even more appropriate now than its original 1986 release.
The song raises questions in my mind such as:
Who is ultimately responsible for this land [...]

I’ve been looking for a reason to share this video for a long time.
Why?
Because its one of the funniest videos I’ve seen on YouTube for awhile.
Yeah, I realize that this video has little to nothing to do with the theme or purpose* of The Liberty Papers but sometimes a little humor can go [...]

From The LA Times:
More than 100 industry leaders and prominent authors — including directors Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Michael Mann, Mike Nichols, Woody Allen and Neil Jordan — have signed a petition asking that [Roman] Polanski be released from Swiss custody. “Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world [...]

This is possibly the single best business document I have ever read; and I mean that with no hyperbole. It is also the single most libertarian document I have ever seen applied to a large corporate environment.
You HAVE TO read this.

Culture
View more presentations from Reed Hastings.

One of my personal bits of curiousity about the world is related to cultural “ways of thinking”. While I don’t believe that Americans are innately different than Europeans, or Chinese, or Russians, there are certainly differences in average thought borne of the different cultural histories of each place. Dale Franks at QandO recently [...]

Proving yet again that there is no limit to the extent to which the Federal Government will intrude upon our lives, the Feds are now turning their attention to that staple of American Suburbia, the garage sale:
WASHINGTON — If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: You could be [...]

Crossposting something my wife wrote, from here:
I’ve been in an incredibly foul mood the last couple of days, and until this morning I did not understand why.
We’re planning on moving to where we actually want to be. We’re constantly being asked why we want to move to the middle of nowhere. I tell everyone, [...]

A 38 year-old mother of three, who posed no threat to the police or anyone else, was tasered right in front of her children in January of this year. Yet to my knowledge, President Obama has failed to address this genuine case of the police “acting stupidly.” Maybe it’s because Audra Harmon cannot help the [...]

Over at the Agitator, Radley Balko asks why people are amused by Bob Dylan’s latest run-in with the law.
I find it pretty depressing. There was a time when we condescendingly used the term “your papers, please” to distinguish ourselves from Eastern Block countries and other authoritarian states. Post-Hiibel, America has become a place where a [...]

CSI, Forensic Files, The First 48 and other television programs of this genre are among my favorites. Investigators study a crime scene and learn all sorts of valuable information from blood spatter, shoe prints, tire marks, hair fibers, ballistics, and trace evidence. We are to believe that “the evidence doesn’t lie” and that these noble [...]

Up to now I have purposely avoided this whole disorderly conduct arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. for a number of reasons.
First reason being that compared to the other cases I’ve written about here and elsewhere, this is a very minor case of police misconduct. I have yet to read or hear any reports [...]

THIS BOOK IS BASED on a single idea: You should be allowed to do whatever you want with your own person and property, as long as you don’t physically harm the person or property of a nonconsenting other.
Thus begins a book that everyone interested in politics should read; Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do: The Absurdity [...]

One of the most pernicious beliefs held by Americans is the conflation of the state with society. This belief is causing them acquiesce to government actions that threaten the destruction of American civilization if not stopped.
The word society comes to us from the Latin societas, which meant a group of people bound by friendship [...]

The July/August 2009 issue of the Left-leaning Mother Jones dedicates several articles to the asinine War on (some) Drugs.

The title of the magazine’s cover story states it best – “Totally Wasted: We’ve blown $300 billion. Death squads roam Mexico. Cartels operate in 259 cities. This is your War on Drugs. Any Questions?”
Reason’s Nick Gillespie points [...]

This song somehow seems appropriate in marking the end of another term of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Metallica
…And Justice for All
…And Justice for All (1988)

Songwriters: Hammett, Kirk L; Hetfield, James Alan; Ulrich, Lars
Halls of Justice Painted Green
Money Talking
Power Wolves Beset Your Door
Hear Them Stalking
Soon You’ll Please Their Appetite
They Devour
Hammer of Justice Crushes You
Overpower
The Ultimate in Vanity
Exploiting [...]

Judging from his statements and the note he left in his car, James von Brunn walked into the Holocaust Museum believing that he was about to strike a blow against Jewish world hegemony and Federal gun-control.  Even by his twisted standards, his actions were counterproductive. His plan was to massacre people visiting and working at [...]

Five Finger Death Punch
“Death Before Dishonor”
The Way of the Fist (2007)
Written by Garamszegi, Zoltan; Greening, Ivan Lewis; Heyde, Jeremy Spencer

[V1:]
To the haters, the takers, the liars, all the vultures and the bottom feeding scum
The FCC, the FBI and every tin god with a badge and a gun
You talk and talk, you preach and bitch [...]