Ventura Police Department – Incident Press Release
On April 19th at 2:58 PM officers responded to the Vons to investigate a theft that had just occurred. The officers were told that (Suspect 1) Angela Brunson came into the store and began to stuff bottles of alcohol into her clothes. Loss prevention officers for the store observed Brunson stealing the alcohol and started to follow Brunson through the store. A short time later Brunson exited the store and loss prevention contacted her outside. During the contact, Brunson returned some of the items she took. However, she did not return all of the property and started to argue with the loss prevention officers.
While Brunson was arguing with the loss prevention officers, (Suspect 2) Charles Lee exited a vehicle in the parking lot and joined Brunson. Lee told the loss prevention officers that Brunson returned all the property and then started to assault the loss prevention officers. Brunson also started fighting with the loss prevention officers who immediately disengaged and let the two leave. Brunson and Lee got into the vehicle Lee had exited earlier and left the parking lot.
A short time later a motor officer was looking for the vehicle when he saw it in the area of Harbor and Peninsula. The officer made a traffic stop on the vehicle that was occupied by Brunson, Lee and a third subject who later determined not be involved in the crime.
Brunson was taken into custody and arrested for felony robbery. Lee was arrested for misdemeanor battery. Both were transported to Ventura County Jail and booked for their charges. No one was injured during the robbery at the store or the vehicle stop on Harbor.
Suspects: Angela Brunson 11-2-1979 and Charles Lee 01-18-1968
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This Earth Day, April 22, NASA invites you to celebrate our beautiful home planet by participating in a global social media event and local events around the country.
Here is a list of the major agency Earth Day activities:
#PictureEarth on Social Media
Celebrate the planet we all call home with NASA’s #PictureEarth social media event. Post a close-up photo on social media of your favorite natural features, such as crashing waves, blooming flowers or stunning sunsets, with the hashtag #PictureEarth. Include the location where the photo was taken in the text of your social media post. On Earth Day, we will share some of NASA’s most stunning images of Earth from space to help inspire you. We’ll check Instagram, Twitter and our NASA Earth Facebook event page to find your images and select photos to showcase in future videos and composite images.
Earth Day in the Nation’s Capital
Monday, April 22, and Tuesday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT
Union Station Main Hall, 50 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Washington
Learn about Earth, and how NASA explores our home planet and beyond, with more than 20 hands-on activities and demonstrations. Activities range from creating your own cloud in a bottle to using your smartphone to become a citizen Earth scientist.
Public Talk: The Future Is Cloudy
Thursday, April 18, at 7 p.m. PDT in the Von Kármán Auditorium at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, California
Friday, April 19, at 7 p.m. PDT, in the Caltech, Ramo Auditorium at 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, California
NASA scientists discuss the critical role clouds play in our planet’s interconnected natural systems and in better understanding Earth’s future climate. Speakers include Kate Marvel from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, and Graeme Stephens and Brian Kahn from JPL. The April 18 talk will stream live on Ustream.
NASA Science Live Broadcast: Our Weird Planet
Monday, April 22 at 3 p.m. EDT
The next episode of NASA Science Live highlights our weird and wonderful home: Earth. Join us for a live 30-minute show as experts discuss what makes our planet so special. Liquid water, a protective atmosphere and an active core that gives our planet a defensive shield are just a few of the features that make our home one of the most unique places in the solar system. Ask questions during the program using #askNASA or by commenting on the livestreams on Ustream, Periscope, Facebook Live and YouTube. The program also will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Green Facility Grand Opening
Monday, April 22, Building 4221 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama
Media are invited to Marshall for the grand opening of the center’s latest state-of-the-art facility. Building 4221 is an environmentally-friendly, glass and steel structure designed to federal guidelines on energy and water efficiency. The entire facility is specially insulated, and much of the exterior is covered in low-emissivity glass that deflects heat, thereby reducing cooling costs. Rooftop solar panels absorb energy to augment electrical power. Media interested in covering the event should contact Shannon Segovia at 256-544-0034 no later than 10 a.m. EDT Monday, April 22.
NASA uses the vantage point of space to understand and explore our home planet, improve lives, and safeguard our future. The agency’s global observations of Earth’s complex natural environment are critical to understanding how our planet’s natural resources and climate are changing now and could change in the future.
A visitor gives a high five after learning about oceans at one of NASA’s exhibits at the Earth Day event on Thursday, April 19, 2018 at Union Station in Washington, D.C. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
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There is no more iconic symbol of the old West than the American cowboy. But here’s a question: Who came first—the American cowboy or the California Indian vaquero?
From the founding of the first Spanish Mission at San Diego in 1769 to the industrialization of California in the 1930’s, California’s primary industry was cattle. Not only were California Indians instrumental in the development of the California cattle industry, but they were practicing their trade one hundred years before Jesse Chisholm blazed the cattle trail that bears his name and eighty years before the first Anglo American cowboy appeared in the 1850’s.
Jose Ignacio Rivera, who is Apache, Nahuatl and Huasteco, is the former Director of the Heritage Center at the Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Director of Education at the Marin Museum of the American Indian in Novato, California; Curator of Exhibits at Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix; and a retired California State Park Ranger/Peace Officer. He holds an AA is Archeosophy (ancient history, ancient philosophy, & symbolic art) from D.Q. University, a B.S. in Native American Studies from the University of California, Davis, and an MA in History and Historical Resources Management from the University of California, Riverside. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Hueneme Museum Distinguished Speaker Events in May
May 4 Denis O’Leary “History of Cinco de Mayo”
May 17 Meet with your Ventura County Supervisor @the Museum
May 18 Jose Rivera ”Indian Mission Vaqueros: The First Western Cowboys”
May 27 Third Annual Memorial Day (City Hall) @8:30 AM
Port Hueneme Historical SocietyMuseum
220 Market St, Port Hueneme 93041
805-488-0585
Hours: W, Th, Fri, Sat 9:00 AM-3:00PM Sun 12:00-3:00PM and MW by appt.
Picture Credit: Contra Costa County Historical Society
Port Hueneme Historical Society Museum
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May 2nd, 2019 NATIONAL GROUP ART SHOW EMERGING AND MID-CAREER ARTISTS
5:30pm-9:30pm | STUDIO D @ SBCAST 513 Garden Street, Santa Barbara
EXHIBIT ‘time’ STUDIO D @ SBCAST
Santa Barbara Calif. – April 15, 2019 Release: ForImmediate Release New exhibition hosted by open i art space. This exhibition explores interpretations of time through the creative process in mixed-media, sculpture, photography, digital art and video.
“What is time? Is it a thing? Does it even exist? Can we move forward and backwards in time as Physics shows or are we only moving forward within the Arrow of Time?”
One of the artists in the exhibit: Tyler Hobbs Tyler is a generative artist from Austin, Texas. For each work, he writes a custom computer program specially designed to create an abstract image. His work focuses on the interplay of randomness and order, and draws inspiration from paint, vegetation, and naturally occurring patterns.
open i art space | STUDIO D @ SBCAST 513 Garden Street, Santa Barbara 5:30pm-9:30pm
Gatherings outside for chats, drinks and catering by Nimita’s Cuisine.
Republican California State Assemblyman Vince Fong recently tweeted about California’s 19 percent poverty rate, which he said “is driven by the extreme high cost of living here.”
“Yet,” said Fong, “Sacramento continues to pass policies that make it even more expensive.”
In a story illustrated by an artist’s rendering of a family in a moving van fleeing a congested, costly, and hopeless state of affairs, the Mercury News asked if the Bay Area was “pushing people to the breaking point?”
The paper pointed out, “Despite a booming economy, pleasant climate and natural treasures, nearly two-thirds of Bay Area residents say the quality of life here has gotten worse in the last five years, according to a new poll.”
When asked which problems were “extremely serious” or “very serious,” 83 percent in the Silicon Valley Leadership Group poll cited housing costs, 81 percent the cost of living, 79 percent homelessness, and 76 percent traffic.
The Bay Area might be the epicenter of California discontent. But the shock waves spread across the state from there. According to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, it takes more money to live in California than it does all but two states, New York and Hawaii. Golden State residents spend $114.40 to buy the same amount of goods and services that $100 would buy elsewhere, based on the U.S. average.
Put another way, the relative value of $100 in California is only $87.41, according to the Tax Foundation.
MIT says 10 of the country’s 15 most expensive zip codes are found in California, the most expensive state to live in overall. San Francisco is at the heart of what Fong calls the state’s “affordability crisis.” The Council for Community and Economic Research Cost of Living Index ranks San Francisco as the second-most expensive U.S. city to live in.
When asked which policies will make it “even more expensive” to live in this state, Fong mentioned: the split roll initiative, a 2020 constitutional amendment that removes Proposition 13’s tax protections for commercial and industrial properties that would raise taxes as much as $10.5 billion a year; the proposed $140 million a year water tax; a new $55 million annual tire tax; and a soda tax that might add $2 billion in new taxes, and fall disproportionately hard on the poor.
Also tumbling around in the capitol’s proposal machine is a $900 million a year oil-and-gas severance tax intended to impose a “tax upon any operator for the privilege of severing oil or gas from the earth or water in this state,” and newly-introduced legislation that would place on the 2020 ballot a steep — as much as $1 billion a year — estate tax to fund wealth inequality programs.
“Sacramento wants Californians to pay more and get less,” Fong says. “That would never work in other situations” outside of government. He believes California’s path is unsustainable. Unless there’s change, the middle class “is going to disappear,” the poor will endure “worse poverty,” and upward mobility will continue to be inhibited.
One wonders, as well, about the extended effects of the commercial exodus that’s been draining the state for some time.
How long can government’s hostility toward business, and everyday Californians, continue before there’s a painful reckoning? Silicon Valley and Hollywood drive California, but there’s much more to this state.
We’re farmers, oil field roughnecks, store clerks, loggers, plant employees, gig workers, middle managers, young professionals, and entrepreneurs struggling against the tide of taxation and regulation. Until lawmakers remember there’s life outside the Los Angeles, Bay Area, and Sacramento bubbles, this state’s future is in question.
Kerry Jackson is a fellow with the Center for California Reform at the Pacific Research Institute, a nonprofit group advocating for limited government.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
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“The recommendation that was on the agenda today was to rename the Hueneme Pier after Jonathan Sharkey for his two and a half decades of service to our beautiful city. Mr. Sharkey has done much for our city. Notably, Mr. Sharkey opposed the ‘View Tax’ that was proposed in 1998 and assisted in the writing and passing of Port Hueneme’s city charter. Outside of our city, Mr. Sharkey served as a chair on the Ventura Regional Sanitation District and as Director of the Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment. And, of course, Mr. Sharkey also saved Shady, the city hall cat, from eviction.
“Mr. Sharkey’s service and commitment to the City of Port Hueneme is deserving of acknowledgement and recognition. He has accomplished much during his years here, undoubtedly for the benefit of our home. There is no question that Mr. Sharkey’s legacy should be remembered in this city.
“However, there is another legacy that we must give attention to. This legacy begins over 13,000 years ago. The Chumash people lived along this California coast for millennia. We hold a small memory of these people in the name ‘Hueneme,’ a Spanish spelling of the Chumash word ‘wene me’ meaning ‘resting place.’ Our beach was a prime fishing location for the Chumash, particularly as the Chumash held a reverence and connection to the sea.
“The Chumash believe that they are connected to the ocean not only in a spiritual way, but in a familial manner. We know this from the Chumash creation story. As told by a ceremonial leader, the story shows how their ancestors came here across a rainbow bridge. The waters below the bridge tempted some to fall, but the earth goddess asked the creator to save them. The people were transformed into the blue dolphins, and they are the brothers, sisters, and relatives of the Chumash people. When Chumash people died, they believed that the soul traveled back across the sea.
“The Chumash people share a strong bond with the sea. They did not make the pier, it was constructed in 1956, approximately 200 years after the Chumash people were suppressed by the Spanish conquerors. The distinction that we give with the name Hueneme needs to be recognized. This is a reminder of the Chumash people who came here before us. Thousands of people called these lands home, and they are not at liberty to continue their legacy. As citizens of this city, we must represent the Chumash people and honor the foundations they established here. The roots of these Native American people cannot be erased. The legacy of an entire civilization is at stake here. We are deciding, at this moment, how we choose to represent the City of Port Hueneme in the naming of our landmarks; and the removing of the Chumash name from the pier when this culture had such a strong connection to the water is disrespectful to the thousands of people who lived here before us.
“The service that Mr. Sharkey provided to our community is worthy of recognition, but eliminating a reminder of the Chumash people is not the proper course of action. There are other aspects of our city that do not hold such powerful cultural significance. Commemorative benches and bricks can be placed along the beach. Plaques can be added to the flags with prominent council members’ names. The lifeguard towers can be named in your honor.
“We have already forgotten the Clovis culture that existed in this land before becoming the Chumash. Let us not forget the historic and culture significance of the Native American people who came before us.”
-Vivian Hernandez
“I cannot support renaming any of our city landmarks. Mr Sharkey has served our city for many years and has played an pivotal role in past accomplishments to preserving a positive lifestyle for everyone in Port Hueneme.
“Whether he deserves to be commemorated does not need to be debated. There are many ways to recognize his work and dedication without relabeling our landmarks.
“For instance: the empty garden square at the entrance of city hall needs to be utilized and could be an ideal location for a small garden and bench with his name on it.
“Or even better yet; the council meeting chambers can be renamed in his honor. What better way to honor a man that served in city government for 24 years?
“I believe one of these options could be far more meaningful in recognition of the work Mr Sharkey has done for the city of Port Hueneme.”
-Roni Miranda
Tom Dunn is a Port Hueneme resident who is publisher of Port Hueneme News, a digital newspaper (facebook @huenemenews) and host of “Hello Port Hueneme” a video interview show about people, places and things in Port Hueneme.
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Heads are spinning in Washington once again – this time over President Trump’s appointment of Stephen Moore to the Federal Reserve Board…
Over the years I’ve written about how the Federal Reserve System – called the Fed – has made terrible mistakes…
Many times, it has politicized the economy by:
manipulating interest rates
expanding the money supply
And it has been responsible for economic turmoil that has:
slowed business growth
killed jobs and wage increases
created inflation
stifled innovation and entrepreneurship
Over the years, I’ve sat on the platform and have spoken along with Stephen Moore at conferences such as FreedomFest.
Steve is smart … and has just been appointed – as an outsider – to the 12-member Federal Reserve Board.
I will be speaking with him again at this year’s FreedomFest in July. I hope you will be able to hear his economic insights and understanding.
Steve Moore said it himself: “Donald Trump wanted to drain the swamp. The Fed IS the swamp.”
And yes … President Trump has just appointed him to the Federal Reserve Board.
And the swamp … the socialists … and the Deep State are going crazy….
They are trashing Stephen Moore’s reputation and trying to reverse the nomination.
Here are 5 surprising facts you should know:
The Federal Reserve is the most powerful economic force in America … and the world.
The Federal Reserve manipulates and controls interest rates, the money supply, and much more.
The 12 board members – called governors – consist of the heads of the nation’s 5 regional federal reserve banks, plus 7 governors nominated by the White House and approved by the Senate Banking Committee before being referred to the full Senate for confirmation.
Stephen Moore is an opponent of socialism and an advocate for free market economics.
Over the years, Steve and I have talked about the free market, and how it has solutions for our economic ups and downs – solutions often ignored by the Fed.
Steve is a free-market economist. He believes in capitalism. He opposes socialism.
One of the reasons the socialists hate him is because he believes in supply-side economics … similar to Art Laffer.
Supply-side economists believe that people and businesses respond positively to economic incentives such as tax cuts and low inflation. They also believe that sound monetary policy – such as slow or zero growth of the money supply – can help boost the U.S. economy out of a period of stagnation … such as happened after the recession of 2008. Two examples of this are:
The supply-side tax cuts of the Reagan administration fueled the booming economy of the 1980s following the economic “malaise” of the Carter administration.
President Trump’s tax cuts and business deregulation have helped ignite a surge in job growth and wage increases – accompanied by a stable, strong dollar – following the weak economy of the Obama administration.
Steve Moore will be an independent voice challenging the Federal Reserve bureaucracy.
Despite President Trump’s pro-business, pro-growth, pro-free market philosophy, the Deep State federal bureaucracy is still trying to harm the economy so it can offer government “solutions.”
Steve Moore will oppose the federal bureaucracy and any policies coming out of it that would harm the economy by raising taxes or by causing price inflation.
Many in the press are calling Moore a puppet of Trump. He is not. He is an independent free-market advocate … and if Trump ever supports a socialistic or non-free-market policy, Moore will criticize him.
Moore is co-author – along with Ph.D. Arthur Laffer – of the 2018 book Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy. This book explains the president’s policies of economic populism … which is causing the economic boom we are now seeing.
The progressive media and socialist politicians are going crazy.
The name-calling and character assassination are in high gear:
New York magazine calls Moore a “famous idiot.”
Rachel Maddow of MSNBC sarcastically stated, “Since President Trump first nominated Stephen Moore … it has emerged, sort of sequentially and with increasing awkwardness, that he’s not an economist…”
Economist Steven Taylor sneers, saying “by all appearances. Moore opposes mainstream fiscal theories because he simply doesn’t understand them.”
Taylor goes on to trash Moore further, calling him “an ideologue and a pundit.”
Why?
Because – Taylor whines – Moore is not “a trained economist” with a Ph.D. in the field.
Neither is Fed Chairman Jerome Powell … and in fact, most of the past Fed chairmen have not been Ph.D. economists.
But if you go along with “Beltway Establishment” fiscal and economic policies, you are immune from criticism about your academic qualifications … and about your tax disputes with the IRS.
Moore will be a critical voice against the powerful establishment Federal Reserve “swamp.”
He supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign call for the establishment of a monetary commission to look inside the Fed and uncover any hidden policies that are having negative economic impacts.
Many are also beside themselves because Moore called for the Fed to follow a “price rule” that tracks oil and other commodities in setting interest rates.
The “price rule” is used to tame inflation. It was used during the Reagan administration.
The Fed acts unpredictably and often makes jarring midcourse corrections:
Last year it raised interest rates when it probably shouldn’t have done so.
Last December, it announced plans to raise rates twice during 2019.
Then on March 20, it decided there would be no interest hikes this year at all.
This type of unpredictability disrupts long-term investment and business decisions … and should not happen
Moore’s response to the Fed’s gyrations: “Keep the rules stable over time, and you’ll have a stable price system.”
Moore will bring sanity and stability to our economic system … and this could be a big first step in determining whether the Fed can be reformed – or whether it’s even necessary for it to exist.
But all key Fed decisions are made by the full committee of up to twelve members. Moore will be one voice at the table.
I hope you’ll be able to hear Steve Moore speak at FreedomFest at the Paris Resort in Las Vegas this July 17-20…
There will be over 2,000 “Wild West” free-market enthusiasts in attendance … and over 200 speakers and workshops to choose from.
It’s the largest free-market business and investment conference of the year.
I’ll be hosting two workshops:
The Newest Developments of the Deep State
How Businesses and Entrepreneurs Can Market and Grow their Businesses
A few of the other popular speakers include:
Kevin O’Leary, Shark Tank
Douglas H. Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
John Mackey, Whole Foods
Doug Casey, Casey Research
Alex Green, Oxford Club
Van Simmons, Dave Hall Rare Coins
Mark Skousen, Forecasts & Strategies
… and many more
There’s an early-bird discount available if you register now. Click here for information.
I hope to see you there!
Watch this 4-minute video about the vile and nasty attacks on Stephen Moore.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled against President Donald Trump on Thursday, affirming that California’s sanctuary city statutes do not conflict with federal immigration laws.
The case began in March 2018 when the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against three of California’s laws regarding immigration, saying the state’s sanctuary rules violate U.S. constitutional law.
California state laws prevent private employers from coordinating efforts with immigration officials to report illegal immigrants (AB 450) and “bar law enforcement from sharing information about the release of illegal immigrants from custody” (SB 54), the Associated Press reports. It also requires the regulation of immigration detention centers (AB 103).
“CA will not be complicit in the Trump Administration’s attacks on immigrants.”
— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) April 18, 2019
San Francisco’s 9th Circuit ruled that two of the three California sanctuary laws challenged by the DOJ (AB 450 and SB 54) do not violate federal law. “California has the right, pursuant to the anti-commandeering rule, to refrain from assisting with federal efforts,” the ruling reads.
It continues, in part, “The district court concluded that the United States was unlikely to succeed on the merits of many of its claims, and so denied in large part the motion for a preliminary injunction.”
The court did reverse the law that requires the examination of detention centers (AB 103) because it “discriminates against and impermissibly burdens the federal government, and so is unlawful under the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity.”
This court decision comes just six days after the 9th Circuit temporarily lifted a suspensionon the Migrant Protection Protocols, a Trump administration policy that requires immigrants seeking asylum in the United States to remain in Mexico while they wait to appear in U.S. immigration court hearings.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection have called the influx of migrants who are seeking asylum arriving in the United States from Mexico a “crisis“: “CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest Border.”
Ports of entry across the southern United States in counties such as El Paso, Texas and Yuma, Arizona, are being closed because immigration officials cannot keep up with the record-breaking amount of people seeking asylum from Central America. Otero, New Mexico, declared a state of emergency Wednesday after checkpoints were closed “to assist with the processing of these aliens,” a CBP statement read.
Trump has threatened to send illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities as a solution to the crisis, saying in a tweet, “The [United States] has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to Sanctuary Cities. We hereby demand that they be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the State of California…
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The next Ventura County Garden Club regular meeting will be on Wednesday, May 1st (2019) at St. Paul’s Episcopal & Emmanuel Church, 117 N. 7th Street, in Santa Paula. This is “A Victorian May Day” and will begin at 1:00 p.m. with a “Vintage Spring Fashion Show”, presented by Garden Club member, Carol Beckerdite; an avid vintage fashion collector. She has created many fashion shows and teas. Models from Ventura and Santa Paula will be wearing original and reproduction vintage clothing and hats; with an emphasis on Victorian style. The show will be followed by light refreshments and regular club business.
May-day basket
After announcements, members and guests will hear about the Victorian custom of making a May Day Basket. Then they will have an optional opportunity to make their own, with fresh cut flowers. Carol will bring supplies for those who telephone her, (805)525-1935, by April 29th. She will collect a $10 materials fee (cash-only), from those who will be making a basket.
Members and guests are encouraged to wear a spring outfit and hat. Carol will bring a few extra hats that she makes ($30-$35 to purchase). Guests are always welcome to join in Club events. For further information about the meeting, contact Jacqualin at (805) 816-6019 or [email protected]
May basket to Eleanor Roosevelt
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Those who are familiar with my work all know that I consider myself an acolyte, of sorts, of the late, great libertarian philosopher, author, and lecturer Robert LeFevre. You can look Bob up in Wikipedia; the entry isn’t too bad. He is said to have been the model for Prof. Bernardo de la Paz in Robert A. Heinlein’s _The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress_. Also, my friend Carl Watner wrote a biography of Bob that you should read. I didn’t agree 100% with Bob – among other things, he was a pacifist — but he taught me a very great deal about history and human nature.
In the end, I think Bob believed that the various divisions between human beings — communists vs. fascists vs. loyal American patriots — we have lived with all our lives are less important, less fundamental, than the basic one that Heinlein identified: “The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.” Call the first group authoritarians or feudalists and the second, generic libertarians.
The first time, in the history of Western Civilization, that this became an issue, was the Renaissance/Reformation. Information suddenly came flooding, unbidden, into Europe, from North Africa, through Galileo’s telescope, out of Gutenberg’s printing press, and a dozen other undesirable, unlicensed, and _deplorable_ sources. It must have been a nightmare for the aristocrats who considered themselves to be in charge, the kings and barons and bishops and bullies. They struggled in vain to get it back under control. They got the Church to condemn it. They intimidated and tortured its emissaries when they could. They invented universities to get a handle on it, a collar around its neck, but it was a lost cause. In just a couple of centuries (compared to the previous 500 generations), people — ordinary people; who the hell did they think they were? — came to know too much for the good of Authority.
And they soon proved it, in the American Revolution, which told 10,000 years of kings to go to hell, and the French Revolution, which cut to the chase and removed their overly-pampered heads. I have actually seen the blade. Many other revolutions followed, worldwide, and people began to learn, slowly and awkwardly, to live their own lives. The one good thing to come out of the brutal and deceitful Russian Revolution was the ultimately individualistic philosophy of refugee Ayn Rand.
Otherwise, it was a naked attempt by the authoritarians, the feudalists, to regain control of the masses that the Czar had clumsily let slip through his overly-manicured fingers. Whenever human beings have clashed over whether their lives should be controlled by others or not, it has almost certainly been a matter of who gets to be the next king, baron, bishop, commissar, etc., a battle between liberated entities and those who would restore feudalism.
World War II, which I have described (in _The Probability Broach_) as a struggle between competing brands of fascism, was much the same thing. For the beleaguered people of Europe, it meant being forced to choose between Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. Would you rather be shot or gassed?
For Americans, it meant looking for protection by a political regime so grossly and criminally corrupt that future historians will shake their heads, wondering how an entire people could be such suckers. “The Greatest Generation”, that miserable collectivist mouthpiece Tom Brokaw has called them. Looking back over what my father told me of his life, how his family suffered in the government-caused Great Depression, how he and his comrades risked unspeakable danger in the war, and how he became a prisoner in Germany — all to aggrandize the virtual godhood of Franklin Delano Roosevelt — I call them “The Gullible Generation”.
On the other hand, people loved the Roosevelt Administration so much that they passed a Constitutional amendment to make sure that no sonofabitch could ever be elected to more than two Presidential terms again.
World War II gave government complete, dictatorial control of American society, control of industry, control of communications, control of the economy, control that Roosevelt had desperately lusted after before the war, but failed to achieve. If anyone objected, or insisted on his rights under the Constitution, all the other side had to say was, “Don’t you know there’s a war on?”
The government enjoyed that level of control. Once the war was won, and people looked forward to a period of peace, the government plunged us into the Korean War, Vietnam, and an increasing number of undeclared and stupid conflicts in order to retain its power. “Don’t you know there’s a war on?” never worked quite as well as it had to shut dissenters up, but it’s clear that this scam will go on and on and on until something drastic is done to stop it.
Against us are outfits like the Bilderbergers, the Bohemian Club, and Silicon Valley, pitiable (if still wealthy and influential) remnants of feudalistic power and coercion.
I’m old enough that I understand it will have to be left to another generation. The Deep State desperately needs war to retain its hold on you and me. The Deep State has been robbing and extorting people for ten thousand years. It’s time to outlaw taxation the same way that other forms of slavery have been outlawed. Taxation is fundamentally immoral. What’s your “fair share”, after all, of the dead children blown up in middle eastern countries?
Taxation is theft.
Taxation is slavery.
Taxation is the fuel of war.
Write me if that needs explaining.
Award-winning novelist and essayist L. Neil Smith is a retired gunsmith, Publisher and Senior Columnist of L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise and the author of over thirty books. Look him up on Google, Wikipedia, and Amazon.com and watch for the forthcoming ONLY THE YOUNG DIE GOOD and ARES. He is available, at professional rates, to write columns, articles, and speeches for your organization, event, or publication, fiercely defending your rights, as he has done since the mid-1960s. His writings (and e-mail address) may also be found at L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise, at JPFO.org or at https://www.patreon.com/lneilsmith, to which you can contribute, directly. His many books and those of other pro-gun libertarians may also be found (and ordered) at L. Neil Smith’s THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE “Free Radical Book Store” The preceding essay was originally prepared for and appeared in L. Neil Smith’s THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE. Use it to fight the continuing war against tyranny.
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![Under the Radar: 5 Surprising Realities about the Federal Reserve, the Swamp, and President Trump’s Controversial New Appointee [Video]](https://www.citizensjournal.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/federal.reserve.dreamstime_xs_45807288-e1533076995816.jpg "Under the Radar: 5 Surprising Realities about the Federal Reserve, the Swamp, and President Trump’s Controversial New Appointee [Video]")
