Expensive Beauty

The Daily Mail reports that photographer John Chapple took many beautiful photos with the most expensive camera in the world: the Hasselblad H3D-50, a 50-megapixel camera, as well as a Linhof Technorama 617 for super-wide shots.

These photos are some of the best out there, and they wonderfully capture beauty within nature, the nature which God created (Genesis 1:1). 

I recommend that you see these pictures and enjoy them, particularly the wide-screen shots. 

Happy Independence Day!

Dear readers of Letter of Liberty:

Happy Independence Day! The day when we seceded from Great Britain in 1776 and declared our independence from the mightiest empire at that time. This is the day not to boast how "free" we are; rather, this is the holiday to reflect on our past, and to look to the height from which we have fallen, from a constitutionally-limited republic to a fascist central government. We must strive to restore these principles; and not only that, but we must strive to perfect on the errors of the Old Republic and go further where even the Old Republic never went, even as we seek to restore that which was good about the Old Republic: its commitment to decentralization and the libertarian principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Here is some reading for Independence Day:

"The Declaration of Independence" by Thomas Jefferson: In order to refresh yourself on the meaning of the holiday, I recommend you go back and read this brilliant document by a great man; this was the document that laid out the principles of the American Revolution: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and natural rights.

"The Meaning of Revolution" by Murray Rothbard: In this classic 1969 article from The Libertarian Forum, Murray Rothbard explained the meaning of revolution, using examples from the English Civil War, the American and French Revolutions and how they brought giant steps in the direction of liberty. He encourages us to be the revolutionaries that the earlier classical liberals were.

"Jefferson Weeping" by Judge Andrew Napolitano: Fox News judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano laments how far we have come from our roots, from liberty to a police state.

"What Americans Used to Know About the Declaration of Independence" by Thomas DiLorenzo: Libertarian scholar and senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, Thomas DiLorenzo explores the secessionist character of the Declaration of Independence, which modern-day Americans have forgotten.

"Orwell's Big Brother: Merely Fiction?" by Murray Rothbard: In his 1949 review of George Orwell's dystopian and depressing classic Nineteen Eighty-Four, Murray Rothbard explained that Big Brother may not be merely fiction.

"Who Were the Patriots and Traitors on the Fourth of July, 1776" by Jacob G. Hornberger: Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation (FFF) in Fairfax, Virginia, reminds us that the revolutionaries of 1776 were not so much Americans as they were Englishmen revolting against their government.

"Just War" by Murray N. Rothbard: In 1994, Murray Rothbard's speech "Two Just Wars: 1776 & 1861" (now titled as "Just War") made the case for the American Revolution being a just war under libertarian standards.

"Happy Military Appreciation Day" by Laurence M. Vance: Christian libertarian author and adjunct scholar at the Ludwig von Mises Institute Laurence M. Vance explores how the wonderful holiday known as Independence Day, which was originally meant to celebrate our revolution against and secession from Great Britain, is being used as an excuse for military idolatry.

"The Libertarian Heritage: The American Revolution and Classical Liberalism" by Murray N. Rothbard: In the excellent first chapter to his classic book For A New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, Murray Rothbard explained how the American Revolution was part of our libertarian heritage.

"The Real Jefferson" by Luigo Marco Bassani: Luigo Marco Bassani, an Italian-American libertarian scholar and author of Liberty, State and Union: The Political Theory of Thomas Jefferson, blows away at the myths of Jefferson as social democrat and shows us that he was indeed a Lockean classical liberal. A complimentary article by the same author is "Life, Liberty, And . . . : Jefferson on Property Rights," which was published in the Winter 2004 issue of Journal of Libertarian Studies.

"Equality: American Idol" by Patrick J. Buchanan: Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan explains how the idol of equality is destroying the principles of liberty on which the nation was founded.

"The Real Meaning of the Fourth of July" by Jacob G. Hornberger: In 2008, Jacob G. Hornberger explained the true significance of the Fourth of July and the American Revolution.

"Myths of the Fourth of July" by Kevin R. C. Gutzman: Kevin R. C. Gutzman, constitutionalist scholar and author of many books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution, explains the myths surrounding Independence Day and explains that it is indeed a Jeffersonian, anti-statist holiday.

"Thomas Jefferson: Rebel" by Frank Chodorov: The late libertarian scholar and columnist Frank Chodorov, under whom the great Murray Rothbard was influenced, wrote this classic article on Thomas Jefferson and his rebellion against statism and tyranny on behalf of liberty and freedom.

"What Do We Celebrate on the Fourth of July?" by Tibor R. Machan: Libertarian philosopher Tibor Machan asks this poignant question. He analyzes the principles of the American revolution and how it has been betrayed in recent years.

"Celebrating Our Capitalist Revolution" by Thomas DiLorenzo: Thomas DiLorenzo goes deep into the capitalist libertarianism of the American Revolution.

"Recapturing the Spirit of Independence" by Ron Paul: A classic article from Ron Paul, one of the most principled politicians of all time and a great libertarian, which explains the stark contrast between a republic and an empire, exploring the spirit of independence inherent in a republic.

"A Republic, Not A Democracy" by Ron Paul: Ron Paul explains why America was founded as a republic rather than a democracy.

For a good book on American history from a libertarian perspective, I would recommend Murray Rothbard's four-volume Conceived in Liberty, which is now a one-volume edition from the Ludwig von Mises Institute. The book was originally published by that same institute in a four-volume edition. It is available at Amazon.com and other stores, as well as for free download at Mises.org in PDF and E-PUB formats. I would also recommend historian Thomas E. Woods's brilliant work that is The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. It will challenge your views on the founding, secession, nullification, the Founding Fathers, the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, capitalism and much more. While it is marketed to a conservative audience, it is radically libertarian, as reviews from Laissez-Faire Books (LFB) editor Jeffrey Tucker and libertarian writer Anthony Gregory (in his review for the March 2005 issue of Liberty) note. I will be writing a review for this book in the future, as I did indeed enjoy it. 

Fred Reed on George Zimmerman and Race Riots

Fred Reed, host of FredOnEverything, has some words of wisdom on George Zimmerman and race.

Says Reed:

So do whites (which will make no difference if Zimmerman walks). After all, they ended slavery, passed the Civil War amendments, abolished segregation, passed and enforced the civil rights laws, and instituted lifelong charity for blacks in the form of welfare and affirmative action. They didn’t have to do any of these things.

But onward. It is an automatic belief among blacks that any black shot by a white was innocent, and shot because he was black. This is seldom true today, if ever it is, not because white policemen like blacks – they do not – but because every cop knows that he would be crucified in the press and probably in the courts, lose his job and pension, and become unemployable. However, white cops (and black ones, but that is another story) do abuse ghetto blacks, sometimes in front of a police reporter (me). Blacks know, and remember.

Memories are selective. People readily remember evil inflicted on them by others while forgetting their own sins. Blacks do not tolerate mention of their high rates of crime and the common – increasingly common – racial gang attacks on whites in which the victims frequently, and intentionally, end up with brain damage. These are hidden by the media, but a primer is White Girl Bleed a Lot.

Read the rest here.

Disney's 1943 Anti-Nazi Cartoon: "Education for Death"

Years ago, during WWII, Walt Disney released a brilliant short film entitled "Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi," which explored the Nazification of children since their very birth. Gary North comments that "this Disney cartoon goes beyond wartime propaganda. It raises the question of the legitimacy of tax funded education in general." This cartoon, in my opinion, transcends the simplistic propaganda of Frank Capra's Why We Fight and explores a far deeper message on the dangers of government education that most of the viewers of this cartoon failed to recognize. 

Isn't this cartoon similar to the American education system? Karen De Coster comments: "It's funny how applicable this propaganda is today, right here at home, eh?" Notice the similarities between the Nazification of education and the public school education of today. In our schools, we have an official version of history that precludes any sort of revisionism (except, of course, when revisionism benefits the establishment). Here are some of the myths: capitalism caused the Great Depression, FDR saved capitalism, nullification and secession are evil, Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest leaders of all time, the Civil War was all about slavery, discrimination is evil, the medieval period was entrapped in flat-earth theory, public education is good and so on. On capitalism and the Great Depression, see Murray Rothbard's 1959 letter to the William Volker Fund. On FDR and capitalism, see here. On the issue of nullification, see here. On Abraham Lincoln, see the King Lincoln archives at LewRockwell.com (LRC). The articles in this archive would explode your thinking on Lincoln. Also, on whether the South was all about slavery, I would refer you to the 10th chapter in historian Thomas E. Woods's book 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask, which I am in the process of reading. On discrimination, see here. On the flat-earth theory and medieval history, see here, and on public education, see Murray Rothbard's monograph Education: Free and Compulsory. For more information on the lies in public schools, see Listverse's list, particularly #6, which reminds us that Abraham Lincoln was not the Great Emancipator we all thought him to be. Also, for more information on public schooling in general, I would refer you to the work of John Taylor Gatto. 

Here is the film. Enjoy.

Note: Some of the German in the short film is not subtitled or translated. 

Letter of Liberty News Edition (7-02-2013)

So begins the second edition of my Letter of Liberty News Edition.

Walter Williams on why we ought to distrust government, as the Founders of this country did. We should also celebrate any attempt by local state governments to disobey and nullify unconstitutional laws, says Williams.

Marc Clair's new Mondays with Murray explores Murray Rothbard's classic essay "Why Be Libertarian?" The reason we ought to be libertarian, according to Rothbard, is to instantaneously abolish all invasions on the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In other words, the libertarian is an abolitionist. Also, a companion article would be the late libertarian Harry Browne's (who was also the Libertarian Party presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000) "Why You Are A Libertarian."

Ron Paul exposes E-Verify.

It seems that George Zimmerman was threatened by Trayvon Martin, who said, "You're going to die tonight, motherf***er." as he was being attacked. The Daily Mail reports on this.

Bill Sardi exposes Obamacare (Oh-Mama-Care! as he calls it) in all its evil glory.

WikiLeaks publishes a new statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow.  "For decades the United States of America has been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum." At the end of the day, the Obama administration doesn't hate whistleblowers. On the contrary, "the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be."

Gawker has it out that the Washington Post is just a bitter old newspaper that wants to persecute Edward Snowden and defend power. 

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may have been wrongly indicted, according to Stephen Lendman.

Libertarian economist Peter Schiff on the gold cycle. 

Economist David Stockman on the free-market economist Milton Friedman as freshwater Keynesian.

Justin Raimondo at AntiWar.com on how Edward Snowden is a symbol of politics and persona.

Jacob Hornberger on an imaginary trial of an imaginary person named Dietrich Schmoller. 

Libertarian feminist Wendy McElroy on the culture of denunciation being created.

Daisy Luther, the Organic Prepper, on how to survive a two-week power outage.

Glenn Greenwald on how the NSA is harvesting your online data and how the NSA collected bulk data for two years under Obama—under a program started by Dubya.

Glenn Reynolds at USA Today assures us not to fear the leaker.

Will Grigg comments on Edward Snowden's "safe and dreary" global prison, which is somewhat similar to the Roman Empire.

The Reformed Libertarian gives a Christian perspective on Murray Rothbard's essay "Why Be Libertarian?".

Robert Higgs at the Independent Institute blog wonders whether we should fight "for king and country" at all.

Norman Horn, host of LibertarianChristians.com (LCC), reviews Ron Maxwell's (of Gettysburg and Gods and Generals fame) new movie Copperhead. The movie details the story of the Northern opponents of the Civil War, who were known as the Copperheads. I haven't seen the movie; however, I might plan to some time in the future.

Investor and broadcaster Theo Caldwell at The Daily Caller asks whether America is free at all.

Alternative health doctor Joseph Mercola on how sensible sun exposure can prevent cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, and hundreds of other health problems.

Her.menutics, the women's blog at Christianity Today, exposes the not-so-pretty little liars.

Why does Edward Snowden want to go to Ecuador? Harold Maass explains why at The Week. 

Doug Newman at the Food for the Thinkers Blog (one of the best Christian libertarian blogs, in my opinion), reminds us of the similarity between George W. "Dubya" Bush and Barack Hussein Obama, and explores the utter hypocrisy of those who hate Barack Obama but love Dubya.

Conservative Christian columnist Chuck Baldwin on what John Hagee and other evangelicals really want when they beat the war drums.

The Reformed Libertarian on homeschooling and the battle for children's minds.

Justin Raimondo at The American Conservative asks whether Edward Snowden is our ideal Randian hero 

Eric Metaxas explores what turned off atheists to Christianity. The answer may surprise you.

It seems that a liberal is arguing that abortion is good and saves money, reports Napp Nazworth at the Christian Post.

On Paula Deen, Racism, and the Cultural Marxists

Let me confess. I don't watch Paula Deen a lot, even though I love food and cooking. Also, I think that carbs (such as deep-fried cheesecake, fried chicken with Crisco shortening, and mac-and-cheese pies) were the real cause of Paula Deen's heart attack rather than butter or heavy cream.

Now, I will comment on the alleged racism of Paula Deen. Here is the case as it goes: Deen is under fire for admitting that she used the N-word thirty years ago to describe a black person who held a gun at her head. The Daily Mail reports that she lost millions of dollars from Home Depot, Walmart, and Caesars Casinos, even as her empire was collapsing with the end of her contracts with Food Network. Also, a lawsuit was filed against her for her alleged discrimination against black employees, which also revealed Deen's use of racial slurs and her desire to have a "plantation-style" wedding for her brother. The lawsuit also revealed Deen's admission to wanting black men dressed as slaves. A sobbing Paula Deen, however, claimed in her interview on The Today Show to have used the N-word only once, and that hurtful lies are destroying her reputation in a worse way than any loss of money. She also denies that she is racist and that she would never hurt anyone. She even calls for a sinless person to stone her and wants to "meet [the stoner]."

Now for my comments. Apart from my disappointment in her for saying unwise things, I am severely disappointed in the media and the cultural Marxists for their lambasting of an apparently broken and contrite woman. They smeared her as a self-pitying woman who had no concern for those she hurt.  That may or may not be true. She may have shown self-pity. She may have repented of these sins. However, the media treatment was so bad that even the Rev. Al Sharpton (or Not-So-Sharpton as the conservative talk show host Mark Levin called him) admonished the media not to judge her for old racist comments. Before judging Deen for her words, the media should follow Jesus's commands and be careful to remove the plank from their eye before removing the sawdust from Deen's eyes.  The problem with the media is not so much a genuine confrontation of Paula Deen and the flippant use of language; rather, as the libertarian columnist Ilana Mercer pointed out in her recent column, many in the media harbor a resentful attitude against Old South culture per se (not so much because of flaws such as slavery and other abominations), while neglecting the good parts of that culture. Mercer says, "Blaming Old-South culture – as the prototypical knaves of conservatism are doing – is, moreover, unlikely to help exculpate Ms. Deen in the minds of the morons who judge her for her words, rather than for her deeds. The bad Old South macro-narrative is as ineffective in mitigation as is pointing out that Deen misspoke because of a near-death experience. 'A black man [once] burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head,' recounted Deen. 'I didn’t feel real favorable towards him.'"

Even when they point out Paula Deen's alleged racism, the cultural Marxists and the media, as Tom DiLorenzo points out, "are paternalistic racists who believe that black people can never, ever, make it on their own without special help from them" and "can never admit any of [the problems of statism] because they have championed [the war on poverty, the welfare state, the war on drugs, government schooling, and the welfare state] over the past decades." As I said before, the media neglected to deal with their own problems before picking on Paula Deen.

Now, having said all this, what should Paula Deen do? Simple. Repent of her actions, apologize, and make reconciliation with those whom she has hurt. She should also watch her words next time, and she should recognize the dangers that a big "empire" could bring to the "emperor."

Blimey Cow on The Pursuit of Happiness

Blimey Cow, one of my favorite YouTube channels, has a brilliantly sarcastic video on the pursuit of happiness and exposes the lie behind this all-American myth.

Here it is. Enjoy. Then bookmark it and subscribe to the Blimey Cow channel.