Words Poorly Used #130 — Militia

The emotionally driven “we can’t just do nothing” crowd is dragging out the very ambiguous “militia” wording in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, 2nd Amendment.  The Amendment reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”  There is, to my knowledge, no definition of “Militia” in the Constitution.  Furthermore, the addition of the dependent preambulatory clause, and the last comma render the passage ungrammatical.

The Tragicomedy of Russiagate

Let’s assume — purely for the sake of discussion since no evidence has been made public — that the Russians did it. Note, first, that the “it” looks like the product of the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. I’m not going to do what Johnstone, Glenn Greenwald, Aaron Maté, and the late Robert Parry have done so well so many times, namely, catalog all the inane acts the Putin-guided Russian intel agencies are said to have committed in order to bring down America. (Start here.) Suffice it to say that if that’s the best Putin can come up with, we have little to worry about.

Abortion, Gun Control, Phone Spying, & Trump’s Militarism (27m) – Editor’s Break 060

Editor’s Break 060 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: the distinction of libertarian political philosophy from libertarian legal philosophy, the practice of abortion, where he comes down personally on the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate, Walter Block’s evictionism compromise, Richard Dawkins on gun control, the FBI on the possibility of China spying on Americans through their phones, and Trump’s insane militarism.

“Peace Through Strength” Is a Racket

“I’m going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody — absolutely nobody — is gonna to mess with us,” Trump says. On other occasions he’s said similar things: “We want to defer, avoid and prevent conflict through our unquestioned military strength” (same link) and, a year ago, “Nobody is going to mess with us. Nobody. It will be one of the greatest military build-ups in American history.”

No Huawei! US Spy Chiefs Reverse Course on Phone Spying

Testifying before the US Senate Intelligence Committee, officials from the FBI, CIA, NSA, et al. warned Americans against using phones made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. Why? Because, Christopher Wray (Comey’s successor at the FBI) explains, the Chinese government might equip, or find and exploit weaknesses in, such phones to “maliciously modify or steal information” and “conduct undetected espionage.”

The Road

It’s difficult to decide what single action would make gender inequality go away. If getting rid of POTUS would do the trick, I say “off with his head!” But neither the direction nor the facts are crystal clear. Look at the history already exposed. It’s not linear. The future is as unpredictable as the weather. Turbulence may pop up anywhere. Where shall we hold the March? Which road shall we take?

Proper Parenting, Libertas Institute, Immigrants, & Relationships (30m) – Editor’s Break 057

Editor’s Break 057 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: proper parenting practices and supporting our children in their choices, the efforts of the Libertas Institute of Utah for the 2018 legislative session, why immigrants are great people, and so-called illegal immigrants even more so, military parades, school abuse, why every relationship is an exchange and the importance of only maintaining beneficial relationships, and more.