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Henry Louis “H. L.” Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, and critic of American life and culture. Mencken is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century.

Here are a few of his most famous observations:

“Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.”
“We must be willing to pay a price for freedom.”

“When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice, that the old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had one before.”

“A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.”

“A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier.”

“A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground.”

by Audrey Pietrucha

First there were “Truthers” andthen “Birthers,” and now there are “Tenthers.” To be accurate, the “Tenthers” actually came first, since this newly coined term (which is supposed to denote a “fringe” position and is therefore derogatory) refers to those who believe the 10th Amendment to the Constitution actually means what it says, that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states.

By this definition, today’s “Tenthers” may consider themselves in good company since we can assume many, if not all, of the founders themselves agreed with this concept.

The history of the “Tenthers” dates back to 1789, when the Constitution was being considered for ratification throughout the former colonies. Though the enumerated powers listed in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution seemed concise enough to limit federal power, Americans were still wary of government’s tendency to grow and liberty to yield.

By Ralph Lopez

Ethan McCord, one of the soldiers seen in the now-famous Wikileaks video in which two American Apache helicopters fire upon a relaxed, unhurried gaggle of men in Baghdad, has stated in an interview with World Socialist Website that he witnessed numerous times the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in Iraq after IED attacks. McCord is on of the soldiers seen helping two wounded children after the attack. He has stepped forward with open opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and written a letter of apology for his part in the incident to the mother of the children, who has accepted his apology. The mother’s husband was killed in the attack and found with his body shielding that of one of his children.

McCord said to reporter Bill Van Auken:
“we had a pretty gung-ho commander, who decided that because we were getting hit by IEDs a lot, there would be a new battalion SOP [standard operating procedure]. He goes, “If someone in your line gets hit with an IED, 360 rotational fire. You kill every motherf*cker on the street.” Myself and Josh and a lot of other soldiers were just sitting there looking at each other like, “Are you kidding me? You want us to kill women and children on the street?” And you couldn’t just disobey orders to shoot, because they could just make your life hell in Iraq. So like with myself, I would shoot up into the roof of a building instead of down on the ground toward civilians. But I’ve seen it many times, where people are just walking down the street and an IED goes off and the troops open fire and kill them.”

by Derek Sheriff
tenthamendmentcenter.com

Just when you thought Arizona couldn’t get any more provocative, or push any more of the federal government’s buttons, it looks like America’s 48th state may actually become the 15th state to adopt another very controversial law!

This proposed law, on the other hand, may actually make some people on the Left, as well as the Right, happy for a change. I have my doubts about whether it will make those who put party above principle, or anyone_employed by the U.S. Department of Justice happy, however.

While Arizona was getting tons of media attention related to the passage of its high profile immigration enforcement law, (SB 1070), the grassroots activists that were delivering more than 100 boxes of petitions containing 252,000 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office received little.

by Patrick Reagan

This past week, hemp advocates and aficionados nationwide engaged in educational and awareness building exercises during their annual “Hemp History Week”. The aim was to enlighten the public’s perception of hemp by demonstrating its versatility in several facets of everyday life and drawing attention to its pivotal role in American agriculture up until the mid-20th century. Before hemp can be understood in its contemporary context, a stroll down memory lane may refresh the reader on this critical crop.

While the history of hemp and humans goes all the way back to the Neolithic Revolution ~10-12,000 years ago, for brevity’s sake, the focus of this reminiscence will remain on hemp’s history in the New World. Hemp helped propel European explorers to America’s shores by providing tough and durable sails and rope for riggings on long, trans-Atlantic voyages. The climate proved suitable, and in 1564, King Philip II of Spain proclaimed that hemp be cultivated in his New World possessions, ranging from the tip of Tierra del Fuego to the Willamette Valley.

Thomas Eddlem reviews “How and Economy Grows and Why It Crashes” by Peter and Andrew Schiff

If this writer were to claim that Peter and Andrew Schiff have created the master work of introducing basic Austrian economics that could be clearly understood by anyone of middle-school age and older, I would be only partly incorrect in describing their new book, How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes.

The genius of this book comes from neither Peter nor Andrew Schiff, however. Much of the credit belongs to Irwin A. Schiff, who created the first draft of this introduction to Austrian economics back in 1985. The Schiff brothers acknowledge that “this story would best be described as a riff on the original.” But Peter and Andrew Schiff have perfected their father’s already brilliant work, which had some presentational shortcomings. The sons have new illustrations by Brendan Leach, and additional material that brings the text up to date.

by Justin Raimondo
www.antiwar.com

Just as John McCain was telling Gen. David Petraeus how worried he is that the US is going to leave Afghanistan before “the job” is done, the General’s head dropped onto the desk in front of him: had he passed out from ennui? McCain had the same effect on the American electorate in 2008. Petraeus blamed it on not having had breakfast, but, in any case, the US government seems intent on having Afghanistan for lunch – and what a rich meal that is going to be! According to a piece by James Risen in the New York Times, there’s gold in them thar hills!

“The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.”

by Ron Holland

What Would Mises Do?

“There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final total catastrophe of the currency involved.” ~ Ludwig von Mises

I believe we are facing a future collapse of our debt and dollar as Mises outlines in the above quote. We should forgo the macho, “Apocalypse Now smelling napalm in the morning rhetoric” and ask ourselves, “what did Mises do in a similar situation?”

The following is an excerpt from the book:

“Disciple of Liberty: Seven Priorities of a Christian Patriot.”

Colonists at a Crossroads
In 1765, The Stamp Act was a tax imposed by British Parliament on the U.S. colonies. It required that most printed materials in the colonies carry a tax stamp. This was a revenue generating scheme that was meant to pay for British soldiers who remained in North America following the Seven Years War. The British citizens weren’t too keen on having standing armies on British soil, nor was Britain ready to continue paying the soldiers’ salaries while they were stationed abroad. So, to avoid bringing fifteen hundred soldiers back to Britain unemployed, it was better to leave them across the pond to keep an eye on those pesky colonists. Since the colonists were the direct beneficiaries of the soldiers’ presence, as they were a source of protection, it was only natural to charge the colonists for the soldiers’ services. At least, that was the King’s line of thinking.

King George used Writs of Assistance to enforce the Stamp Act. The Writs of Assistance were essentially transferable search warrants with no expiration date. They allowed British troops entry into private homes to make sure the colonists were complying with the Stamp Act. These violations of personal privacy turned many of the colonists against the British government. The Stamp Act is credited with bringing together numerous underground patriot groups who opposed the growing tyranny of the Crown. Before the Stamp Act, underground patriot groups such as the Sons of Liberty were peppered throughout the colonies but weren’t coordinated in their efforts. As these groups began to work together toward repealing the Stamp Act, they set the stage for the next landmark in the American Revolution: The Boston Tea Party.

by Harold Thomas

During the debate on the health-care bill, a reporter asked U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi whether she thought the bill was Constitutional. Her incredulous reply was, “Are you serious?”

In the last year, Ohioans have used the Tea Party and other rallies to vent their anger. We have made it clear to the world that we are sick and tired of the federal government attacking the Bill of Rights, fighting endless wars, running up endless debts, and collecting endless taxes.

Bob Chapman says “US, UK and European financial systems are on the way to collapse.”

Were it not for the Federal Reserves purchase of Treasury and Agency bonds the US would already be unable to raise funds to service debt and issue new debt, and it would already have descended into national bankruptcy. It is no wonder the Fed does not want to be audited. Through various artifices the Fed has been purchasing US treasury paper. No one knows how much, because when asked the Fed says it is a state secret. That is what all Americans love. A country run in secrecy. A privately owned corporation operating under the cover of secrecy, and protected by a Treasury Department, that is under the control of the Fed’s owners. How is that for an incestuous relationship?

Government is desperately searching for more revenue to cover its massive deficit spending and to service existing mandatory programs. Taxes are being increased; some 19 new taxes, in the recently passed medical reform legislation. Unfortunately this isn’t enough. Of course, there is never enough.

by Kevin Gutzman

America’s national holiday is the 4th of July, the anniversary of public promulgation of the Declaration of Independence. The 4th of July, like many other government holidays, is surrounded by numerous myths. Some of the most notable:

1. The 4th of July is a celebration of the U.S. Constitution.
Actually, the U.S. Constitution’s purpose was to remake the American governments of the Revolution by making the system less democratic. The delegates from 12 states who met in Philadelphia in summer 1787 had been sent by the states to recommend amendments to the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they instantly decided to meet in secret, and then the nationalists among them tried to win adoption of a national – rather than a federal – constitution.

2. The 4th of July was the day that the 13 states established their independence.
No, it was not. In fact, Virginia established its independence on May 15, 1776, when its revolutionary Convention adopted resolutions for a declaration of rights, a permanent republican constitution, and federal and treaty relationships with other states and foreign countries. It was because the Old Dominion had already established its independence – had, in fact, already sworn in the first governor under its permanent republican constitution of 1776, Patrick Henry, on June 29 – that Virginia’s congressmen, uniquely, had been given categorical instructions from their state legislature to declare independence. Virginia was not the only state whose independence was not established by the Declaration on the 4th, as New York’s congressional delegation did not then join in the Declaration. In short, the states became independent in their own good time – some on July 4, some before, some after.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

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.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

“I think most people are concerned with the IRS.”
-Malcolm Forbes, when asked if he was afraid of terrorism.

“Can any of you seriously say the Bill of Rights could get through Congress today? It wouldn’t even get out of committee?
-F. Lee Bailey

“Communism is like one big phone company.”
-Lenny Bruce

“Government does not solve problems, it subsidizes them.”
-Ronald Reagan

“Why doesn’t everybody just leave everybody else the hell alone?”
-Jimmy Durante

“Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hardworking, honest Americans. It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.”
-Lily Tomlin

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”
-Albert Einstein

“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”
-P.J. O’Rourke

“No man’s life, liberty and property are safe while legislature is in session.”
-Mark Twain

by Jason Rink
Publisher/Editor

This is a brand new experience for me. I wrote for my high-school newspaper back in Cincinnati, Ohio. I wrote for my college magazine in Rochester, New York. I have written chapters of books, blog posts, and news articles.

But, this is the first time I have ever put together an entire newspaper. Let me say that over the past week I have developed a whole new appreciation for the work that Sherry Mann has done over the last couple of years.
I know that it will be hard work to continue putting out “fiercely independent news and information.” That’s a tall order, and one that is sure to create some enemies. I know that I will print things that people won’t agree with. I will print things that make people angry. I will print things that challenge accepted paradigms.

I will also leave things on the editing table. I will choose not to print things. And that will make some people mad too.

Even so, what I really desire is for this to be a publication that truly represents the grassroots liberty movement in America. We all have issues we are passionate about. We all have truth that we feel is not getting out to the masses. We all want to do our part to preserve freedom in this country.

We all want a place to make our voices heard.

by Tom Franklin

Despite encouraging words from politicians and the establishment media’s talking heads, it is clear to me, and I believe most Americans who do not live in a regime ivory tower, that we are not coming out of the recession. In fact, things appear to be getting worse as unemployment continues to rise and businesses cut salaries or shut down. The fears that this recession could turn into another Great Depression are very real, as we have lost so much of our capacity to create wealth and the federal government seems determined to use up any remaining capital fighting endless wars, funding endless entitlement programs, and spending trillions of dollars on non-wealth-creating “stimulus” programs while handing out even more trillions to their bankster buddies and corporate cronies. However, another 1930s-style depression is not what keeps me up at night with worry.

America could survive another Great Depression if it was like the last one. Sure, it would be extremely painful, but it would be manageable, as it was before, and eventually we would come out of it, despite the fact that the government would most certainly make all the wrong moves along the way. However, what really terrifies me is a hyperinflationary depression.

According to John Williams at ShadowStats.com, in an article titled Hyperinflation Special Report, hyperinflation is not only possible, but inevitable due to the overspending of the federal government, and the printing press of the Federal Reserve, which as Congressman Ron Paul continuously reminds us, prints money out of thin air. Williams’ report is a truly terrifying read that insists that the coming hyperinflation could get so bad that we will have to resort to the barter system as the dollar will become nothing more than very rough toilet paper. He cautions that electronic banking will cease to work and for a time no one will have any money at all, not even inflated currency. You can certainly imagine the type of Hell on earth this will create for the American people.

by Maurice A. Thompson
Director of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law

A History Rooted in Limited Government

In May of 1850, 108 men from across the state gathered to rewrite Ohio’s original constitution, adopted in 1802. This conglomerate of 37 lawyers, 35 farmers, ten editors, eight merchants, seven medical doctors, and the remainder comprised of blacksmiths, surveyors, and millers, set out with a specific purpose: “keep the power in the hands of the legislature, and then tie its hands.”ii To do this, the delegates to the 1850-1851 constitutional convention authored constitutional provisions that left behind a “self-acting Constitution.”

The Ohio Constitution is special because it was passed in an era where the people of Ohio believed in individual rights and resented the authority that attempted to interfere with such rights,” and “had no use for any central authority.”iv This period in the state’s history has a familiar tenor: it coincided with the average citizen’s growing awareness of “the mad rush to rob the state treasury and heap up debts to be paid by generations yet unborn,”v and recognition that the legislature had become “the pliant tool of individual greed.”vi Much like today, this “mad rush” and “individual greed” involved bailouts and gifts to private corporations that claimed to be necessary to our way of life, particularly railroad and canal corporations.

In 1850, to put an end to such things, Ohioans called a constitutional convention.

By Matt Mayer
President of The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy

With the March 2010 employment data, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revised its state employment data back to 1990 (www.bls.gov/eag/eag.oh.htm). As you may recall, our report, “State of the State: Two Decades of Weak Job Growth and Skyrocketing Government Costs Pose Daunting Challenges for Ohioans,” highlighted several sobering pieces of BLS employment data (original data from the report in parens below). The new BLS data paints an even more troubling outlook for Ohio.

Specifically, from January 1990 to January 2000, Ohio’s job market added 714,900 jobs (720,200), which was the 37th best in America. From January 2000 to January 2010, Ohio’s job market lost 635,000 jobs (544,100), which was the 2nd worst in America. From January 1990 to January 2010, Ohio had the 3rd (6th) worst job market in America — Ohio added a net of 79,900 jobs (176,100) over 20 years, or less than 4,000 per year (9,000) for Ohio’s 11.4 million people. This growth amounted to an increase in jobs of 1.9% (4%) from 20 years earlier. Only Rhode Island (-1.7%), Michigan (-2.2%), and Connecticut (-4.9%) had worse job markets.

As a point of comparison, in January 1990, Ohio had 714,800 (714,000) people working in government. As of January 2010, 781,900 (789,100) Ohioans worked in government. Thus, from January 1990 to January 2010, Ohio added 67,100 (75,100) government jobs. That means that for every 1.19 jobs created over those 20 years in the private sector, Ohio added 1 government job. This ratio is the 4th worst in America, exceeded only by New Jersey (.96), Connecticut (-1.93), and Michigan (-3.54).

By Ron Paul
Statement before the United States House of Representatives, September 23, 2009

Government has been mismanaging medical care for more than 45 years; for every problem it has created it has responded by exponentially expanding the role of government. Points to consider:

1.) No one has a right to medical care. If one assumes such a right, it endorses the notion that some individuals have a right to someone else’s life and property. This totally contradicts the principles of liberty.

2.) If medical care is provided by government, this can only be achieved by an authoritarian government unconcerned about the rights of the individual.

3.) Economic fallacies accepted for more than 100 years in the United States has deceived policy makers into believing that quality medical care can only be achieved by government force, taxation, regulations, and bowing to a system of special interests that creates a system of corporatism.

4.) More dollars into any monopoly run by government never increases quality but it always results in higher costs and prices.

The Top Five Questions We Should Ask the Pentagon

by William J. Astore
hat tip: Tom Dispatch

When it comes to our nation’s military affairs, ignorance is not bliss. What’s remarkable then, given the permanent state of war in which we find ourselves, is how many Americans seem content not to know.

There are many reasons for this state of affairs. Our civilian leaders encourage us to be deferential toward our latest commander/savior, whether Tommy Franks in 2003, David Petraeus in 2007, or Stanley McChrystal in 2010. Our media employs retired officers, most of them multi-starred generals, in a search for expertise that ends in an unconditional surrender to military agendas. A cloud of secrecy and “black budgets” combine to obscure military matters, ranging from global strategy to war goals to weapons procurement. The taxpayer, forced to pony up about one trillion dollars yearly to fund our military, national security infrastructure, and wars, is sent a simple message: stay clear and leave it to the experts in uniform.

The powerlessness of ordinary Americans in military matters is no accident. Recall the one-word reply — “So?” — Dick Cheney offered in March 2008, when asked to comment on popular opposition to the war in Iraq. The former vice president was certainly far blunter than Washington usually is, and for that we may owe him a measure of thanks. By highlighting the arrogant dismissiveness of Washington’s warrior-elite when it comes to American public opinion, he revealed more than he intended.

by J. H. Huebert

“Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra

Judge Andrew Napolitano opens his new book, Lies the Government Told You, with that quote, and that’s the book’s theme: the State is our enemy because it constantly lies, steals, and kills.

Radical Libertarianism

That’s a pretty radical idea, so this is a radical book.

This is not a book about “public policy,” about how we might limit the rate of government’s growth, or about how to “reform” this or that program. It’s not really even about “getting back to the Constitution.”

Instead, this book is about exposing the criminal acts of our rulers in Washington, and about abolishing and repealing powers and programs wholesale.

by Geoffery S. Shough
hat tip: GeofferyShough.wordpress.com

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” —Thoreau

For the past century, a general trend has taken shape in America where Americans are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. There was a time in this country when only one member of the average household needed to work in order to support a family, and now it is not uncommon to have both adults in the household working to support their families. To make matters worse, many of the products we buy are declining in quality, and in many cases these same products are becoming more expensive. America has gone from a nation of savers and producers to a nation of debtors and consumers.

There are many explanations behind why this trend is occurring in America, but the most cogent among them is that the Central Bank, called the Federal Reserve (Fed), through its ineptitude in managing monetary policy, produces a hidden tax and causes serious imbalances in the economy with long term and far reaching effects.

Ohio’s Estate Tax Must come to an End

“Estate tax repeal should be a no-brainer: More family businesses and farms growing in size. More jobs. More tax revenues.” Dick Patten, president American Family Business Foundation.

For centuries, economists have pointed out the harmful economic effects of estate and inheritance taxes.

Excerpts from the book Rich States, Poor States (by Laffer, Moore, Williams, 2009) explain the harm:

“Many studies indicate that the death tax is so inefficient, so adverse to saving and capital investment, and so complicated, that the states and the federal government would actually recoup much if not all revenues lost from this tax with higher tax receipts resulting from long term economic growth.

“The estate tax causes distortions in household decision making about work effort, saving and investment (and the loss of economic efficiency) that are even greater in size than those from other taxes on income from capital.”