Real Estate Rants

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Captain Jill

Since yesterdays ‘rant’ I’m feeling a little bit better but still not in the best of moods. I went to the doctor this morning and at least she seems to understand where I’m coming from. Apparently the doctors are getting blackmailed by the Feds just as bad as the mariners are.

Forced to go to the doctor every 3 months now instead of yearly, or it’s ‘malpractice’? I really don’t see the need to go any more than yearly, but I certainly do understand her need to protect her license. Just like I need to protect mine. We’ve both spent WAY too much time, effort and money to take losing it lightly.

So, my choice now is to be forced to spend $1000’s of extra $$ per year (for nothing), get my medical care in Mexico or retire. Wow, some ‘choice’.

I’ll never understand why so many people think it’s necessary to have someone else force us to live the way ‘they’ want instead of living the life we choose. Does everyone truly believe that every single person other than themselves is just out to rape, rob and kill? That we, along with our friends and neighbors can’t figure out some way to solve our problems without the use of force. That the world will go to hell if we don’t have some other idiot up there running our lives, making all kinds of decisions for us that we should be doing ourselves? That the world would really be worse off it we got rid of the sociopaths we allow to run it now?

I really don’t see how it would be possible to have all these enormous wars without governments. How we would have so many big problems with large corporations without government allowing them and helping them to destroy their competition and grow so powerful. People in small groups usually figure out how to make things work without relying on the use of FORCE. In our society, everywhere, that is what it all comes down to.

Personally, I think most people are just the opposite. They’ll go out of their way to help someone else. If nothing else, they’ll ignore it. That is- IF- they have not been ’empowered’ by some group to stand behind. When people join groups, it’s like they’ve lost their minds. All personal responsibility disappears and ‘it’s not my fault’.

A perfect example: I own some rental property in Freeport, TX. Freeport has been on the downhill slide for decades. When I moved to this area in 1978, Freeport was still a going concern. Other than the major employment opportunities (GOOD JOBS) at all the chemical plants around, there was also plenty of work at the port. There were still lots of shrimp boats working out of Freeport and with their related businesses (fuel, ice, mechanics, groceries, chandleries, hardware stores, bars, restaurants, etc), they brought a LOT of money and other advantages to the town.

Even then Freeport was known to be a little run down, but it still had a lot going for it. It would get pretty lively when the shrimpers were in town. That all ended when the city let their police department run wild.

The cops would go around arresting everyone in sight (and not even in sight- plenty of bars raided without any view from the street) for “public intoxication”. I must’ve paid for at least 2-3 brand new cop cars just with my own fines!

They used to go into all the bars in town and arrest everybody in there. Drinking or not. It was just about impossible to prove you weren’t drunk. It was so much easier to just pay the $53.50 so you could get out of jail and go home.

Well, fishermen may be crazy, but they’re not stupid! A few years of that and they all stopped coming to Freeport. The loss of their business started shutting down a lot of other businesses around town (along with loss of jobs for low skilled workers). The docks shut down, the shipyard closed, the ice houses shut down, the mechanics and fuel docks shut down. Grocery stores lots huge amounts of custom. Most of the bars and restaurants went from booming businesses to barely able to keep their doors open (if they did- many just closed up).

Basically, the out of control cops killed Freeport.

Instead of thinking about this mess they caused, the city fathers decided to double down and have lately been coming out with all kinds of absolutely ridiculous rules and regulations. They want to “improve” Freeport.

Question: Who spends tens of thousands of dollars to buy property so someone ELSE gets to dictate what you can and can’t do with it?

Answer: NO ONE! Everyone who buys property (of any sort) buys it so that THEY can decide what to do with it. They can use it, give it away, sell it, improve it, or not.

Somehow, our ‘educational system’ has bamboozled everyone into imagining that their property value depends on what someone else does with theirs. WRONG! Just think for a minute! If YOU buy something to use it, and someone then takes away your ability to use it, you LOSE value in your property. If YOU can lose value like this, so can your neighbor and everyone else. All it takes is a squeaky wheel. This is NOT the way it’s supposed to work here in America. We’re supposed to have the right to own property (but don’t get me started on property taxes). Just look at the definition of the word…own…

adjective

of, relating to, or belonging to oneself or itself (usually used after a possessive to emphasize the idea of ownership, interest, or relation conveyed by the possessive):

2. verb (used with object)to acknowledge as one’s own; recognize as having full claim, authority, power, dominion, etc.:

So, why do people keep falling for this? Because they’re greedy, power-hungry busy bodies that just can’t mind their own business!

Freeport is full of low income people (if they have any work, most are trying to survive on minimum wage jobs). I bought low priced property there, thinking it would be easy to keep those properties rented out. Low costs to buy and repair the properties would help both me and my tenants.

I was able to buy and fix up a property for a reasonable price. Not any more. The Freeport city council passed a bunch of rules that made any repair work 3-4-5 times the cost it was before the rules were passed. I just spent $15,000 to work on a house that originally cost me $4000 for the exact same work before they passed those rules. I guarantee I am not the only person in town who can’t afford to spend that kind of money to keep my property up to someone else’s standards.

And why the hell should I have to bow down and submit to their standards? Who the hell gives them the power to dictate whats right and proper? I sure as hell didn’t and neither did anyone else I know of. Why are their standards any better than MINE? We are all supposed to be equal under the law. That’s in the US Constitution which overrides any city, county or state ‘law’.

And what idiot came up with the idea of making a law out of such a subjective subject anyway? How your property looks to them. LAWS are supposed to be objective! Not subject to the whims of any certain group of people, but obvious and the same to everybody.

Well, Freeport city fathers have decided that they don’t want ‘scum’ like me around. They don’t want any low income people living in their town. They’e flat out come out and said that they will do what is necessary to get rid of us.

Is it really necessary for them to insist that everyone puts in a driveway? That no one can park on the streets anymore, even tho the streets are plainly meant for that? That it’s illegal to park on the grass? In my own yard! That there are very, very few houses in Freeport that already have a big enough driveway to fit more than one car since they were all built long before most people had even one car, much less 2, , 3, 4 that they have now. How many thousands of $$$$$ should a person have to spend to keep up with the Joneses? To keep their property they’ve struggled for years to earn for themselves?

Here’s another one… Freeport has decided to pass a rule that anytime you want to rent a property, they will have to send an inspector (that YOU will be forced to pay for). They will ensure that your property is “fit for human habitation.” Well, damn! I had always assumed I was a human. I thought all my tenants were humans too (maybe 1-2 of them not so much). Who the hell are THEY to determine what kind of living conditions are on offer? That should be between the buyer and the seller, period!

Oh yeah, they won’t allow you to occupy it until you’ve brought it ‘up to code’. Which pretty much means you might as well tear it down and start all over since there is no way you can bring an old house up to modern standards without spending 10 times what the house is worth! Which is their objective.

They’re harassing the hell out of everyone in town who doesn’t measure up to their high standards. Why the HELL should some high on the hog a**hole decide what’s OK and what’s not? Just because they felt like running for city council and I had an actual job to do? Sorry, but in THIS country, we are NOT a democracy, we are a constitutional republic and that means my rights are protected from the majority whims! That was the whole point of the Bill of Rights!

Unless and until what I am doing OBJECTIVElY HARMS someone else, they have NO right to STEAL my property which is exactly what they are doing with their stupid rules!

Is it right that they get to even make these rules, simply by coming up with them at a meeting when most people involved (the huge majority of the people who live in the city) are not even informed of the meeting (oh yeah, its in tiny print in the back of the newspaper that nobody gets), and certainly aren’t able to be there? NO, obviously it is NOT right. It is 100% WRONG! It should not be accepted!

People wonder why there are so many shootings, where ordinary people just seem to lose it? This sort of thing makes it completely clear to me. When a group of people gets together and conspires to STEAL everything you’ve worked for, and you have a slim to none chance of ever being able to get it back. Yeah, I completely understand it.

DON’T tell me I should go ‘vote’! The times when voting mattered for anything are long gone! The politicians have been out of control in this country, from the lowest dog catcher to the highest President of the USA for decades. WHY do we even need them any more?

I’ve said for years, that we DON’T! We would all be a hell of a lot better off throwing the whole lot of them under a rock at the bottom of the stinkiest, slimiest sewer which is where they belong! Program a computer with the Constitution and Bill of Rights and let it throw out any ‘law’, rule or regulation that doesn’t comply. We DON’T need politicians, we DON’T need leaders, we DON’T need ‘authorities’. We NEED to take back control of our OWN lives, liberties and property and we’ll never be able to do that until we stop begging for someone else to ‘take care of things’.

The entire Freeport city council should be run out of town on a rail! AFTER hanging them! For their arrogance, stupidity and just plain meanness.

JusJoJan: Colour

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Captain Jill

Today’s prompt for Just Jot It January is: colour. Here’s my entry.

I like to draw and paint in my spare time. I like to use a lot of colour. 🙂

one of my favorites

PS- internet is acting up again here 🙁

Thanks to everyone who checked out my prompt yesterday (liberty).

JusJoJan: Liberty

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Captain Jill

Haha! I get to suggest today’s prompt for the Just Jot It January challenge. The word for today is: liberty.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but liberty is very important to me. In fact, I completely agree with Patrick Henry when he said “Give me liberty or give me death!”.

I would really rather be dead than to ‘live’ without liberty. I really don’t consider it living if I don’t have the freedom to live my life in the way I choose to. In fact, I consider it a long, drawn out slow death. A death of my creativity, of my happiness, or my loves, of my life. I don’t think I’m out of line at all. In fact, I can quote all kinds of things that show that America was founded to promote liberty and that it is the ONLY legitimate purpose of our (or any) government, is to protect and promote the liberty we all were born with.

Let’s define our terms…

noun, plural liberties.

1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.

2. freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.

3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.

Looking at that definition, can anyone seriously argue that we have NOT lost most of our liberty in the United States over the last few years? How many people can read the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights and argue that they do NOT argue for the liberty of all men (and pleeease remember the times they were written in)?

How can a country specifically formed ONLY to protect our natural rights (liberty) turn around to such a degree? To the point where that government, formed ONLY to protect our liberty instead spends all its time (and our money) to violate our liberties every chance it gets?

I’m perfectly aware that most people couldn’t care less about the loss of liberty we’ve suffered in the United States over the last few decades (and increasingly since 9/11). I hear from almost everyone that they don’t care what anyone does to them as long as ‘it keeps them safe”.

Really? Safety is all important? I don’t think the people who say that have really considered what they’re saying when they say that. After all, liberty is not really the sort of thing you can divide up. You’re either free or you’re not. It’s like you’re only a little bit pregnant. No, you either are or you’re not. You either own your own life or you don’t! If you don’t, then someone else must and you have become a slave.

Government is nothing but the monopolized use of force. If you study how governments came about, that’s very obvious to see. When you give up any of your powers to the government, you are ‘agreeing’ that they have the right to use force against you (whether you agree to it or not). And (they say) you don’t have the right to protect yourself against it!

At this point, we have given up almost all of our freedom. All of our liberty. We have very, very little of our natural rights left that we can exercise fully. You think I’m exaggerating? Try going to a law library and taking a look at the Federal Register!

Hundreds of thousands of pages of incomprehensible legalese. Shelves of big fat books full of ‘laws’ we’re all supposed to know and obey. How could that possibly equal freedom?

George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning, not as a roadmap. But left him choking in the dust by 1985! Our ‘big brother’ doesn’t only keep an eye on us from our home TV sets, he tracks our every move through our cell phones! He uses the EZ pass (toll roads) to keep track of where we go in our vehicles. He can tell our habits through tracking our spending on our credit/debit cards. He can get all kinds of information through our ‘smart’ devices. He’s already testing driverless (completely controlled by government) cars. And we can’t fly anywhere anymore without government permission (TSA)!

Big brother has already convinced fearful parents to chip not only their pets, but their kids and their parents! Scientists have already invented pills that inform your doctors if you take them or not. Soon they will report all your health information. Cashless societies are on the way, where every dollar you spend will be tracked (to cut down on tax cheats).

Just think of how the government controls everything now a days. What, if anything, don’t they have their hands in? They regulate the food you eat, the drugs you take, the doctors you can talk to about your health issues. Oh yeah, they also regulate what your doctors can say (and your churches if they want to remain tax free which is a form of coercion).

Free speech? Not so much any more with all the ‘political correctness’ BS going around. If I like Trump for one thing, I do love him for the fact that he is most definitely NOT PC! They regulate the amount of water you can use to flush your toilet and the type of light bulbs you can use in your house (forcing dangerous mercury filled bulbs to replace previous incandescent bulbs).

Think you can choose what jobs you’d like to work at? Nope, big brother is enforcing hundreds of regulations restricting the rights of people who choose to work in professions as diverse as hair braiders, to animal massagers, to interior designers, to merchant marines. They’ve manipulated most businesses in the country to coerce us into submitting to giving up our rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Do you call it freedom to be forced to beg permission from the government in order to go to work?

I don’t! I don’t call it freedom because it ISN’T!

Think you can just pick up and leave? “If you don’t like it here, you can just go back to where you came from?” Well, I would if I could, but I came from HERE! I grew up in the good ol’ USA. I believe 100% in the principles this country was founded on “LIBERTY and justice for all!”.

I believe everyone, everywhere in the world SHOULD be able to exercise those same liberties we here in America are promised. But the fact is, America is the only country, anywhere, ever in the history of the world to form specifically in order to promote and protect the individual rights of all of us.

I wish the American people would wake up and take back our freedom before its too late. I don’t think we have much time left to turn things around.

Sorry to all the democrats who think its all Trumps fault. Or the republicans who blame it all on Obama. Fact is, it’s ALL of our political ‘leaders’ fault! And ours, for continuing to believe that any politician from either of the mainstream parties will ever change anything! For the last 100 years (at least), they’ve ALL conspired to strip us of our liberties and give themselves more power and control.

It’s sad how easily they manipulate us. They keep us divided and fighting over such stupidities as the word “shithole” and how many ‘illegal’ votes were counted. It’s time to stop wasting our time fighting each other and come to understand who we really SHOULD be fighting. Look beyond the party lines. I can promise you, you will find the same people are running things on both sides.

There is nothing to be gained by continuing to support these political parties who want nothing more than continued CONTROL. I want my freedom back! Do you?

SoCS: Vol

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Captain Jill

Linda’s challenge today for Stream of Conciousness Saturday is…

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “vol.” Find a word with “vol” in it, and use it in your post. Have fun!

My first thought was ‘volvo’, I don’t know anything about them. I’m not really into cars, especially not newer models. Then I thought of ‘volunteer’. I volunteer sometimes at our local Seamans Center (in Freeport, TX). I haven’t been able to lately. I’ve just been too busy. I don’t really understand that, since I have hardly been working.

Usually I work offshore. I’m gone for weeks at a time and then home for a while. When I’m home, I have to catch up with all the things I didn’t get to do while I was gone.

Since I haven’t been working, I figured I’d be able to get a lot done. It hasn’t worked out that way at all. I spend so much time looking for work! I also found a couple of part time jobs so that takes up even more of my time.

Oh well. I will continue to volunteer when I can. As a seafarer for most of my life, I appreciate how much any Seamans Center is worth to a sailor. Maybe not quite so much as in the old days, when we had to wait to go ashore and then go find a telephone office. We’d have to wait in line for hours to call home.

Now we have phones on board and some people even have cel phones so they can call home once the ship gets near enough to land. The Seamans centers still offer phones to call home. Now they also have internet access (a BIG plus).

It’s a friendly place in a strange port where you can go hang out and be comfortable.

Anyway, volunteer was only my first good thought. My next thought, and the one I really wanted to write about was voluntarism.

That is at least as important to me as volunteering. In a way they’re connected. I strongly believe that we should all follow the principle of voluntarism. I think it’s the best way to live together as a society. Everyone free to live the way they want, with no one else forcing them into a mold they don’t fit into. All doing the things they really want to do. The way I understand voluntarism is- living life through voluntary actions.

That means I am against the use of force. I agree with the Libertarian NAP (non-agression principle- which does allow for defense of self and others). I do not think any (responsible) human being has the right to control another as long as a person is not harming anyone. There are all kinds of arguments that can be thrown out there, like ‘what does it mean to be responsible?’, ‘what does it mean to harm someone?’. etc, etc, etc.

Serious libertarians spend hours debating such questions. I am just a libertarian ‘lite’. I want to live a peaceful, prosperous life. I want to live as a free human being. I want everyone else in the world to have the same ability.

So many people think it would never work. But it has worked in the past. If you look at the most prosperous, the most advanced societies on the planet you’ll find out that they also had the most liberty. Just compare North and South Korea for a good idea of what I’m talking about. People who are free to live as they chose can get very creative and they do mostly find ways to get along.

I was reading something just the other day about an ancient city. I think it was in Turkey somewhere. The article mentioned that it was, in fact, an anarchy. If this wasn’t a SoCS post, I would go and look it up (I will do that later and post on it). 😉

In the meantime, check out my sticky post at the top of my blog. Take the quiz and see where you stand on the idea.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Order

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Captain Jill

I was at work last week (finally!) and while taking a break I was watching the fish swimming around the ship. It was a beautiful calm clear day, one of the few like that I saw in the month I was offshore. It was entrancing watching the fish swim around.

They mostly moved together, it looked like some sort of order. Was there a boss fish leading them all around? If there was, I sure couldn’t tell which one it was. They all just seemed to be meandering around, then all of a sudden they would change direction. All together. Weird. Spontaneous order.

I know some people don’t believe in such a thing (especially when it comes to human society). I see it all the time.

There have actually been studies done on how fish school together like that. On birds too.

The science behind it is pretty interesting, but I think just watching is cool. Too bad we seem to have lost the ability to just sit and observe nature. That’s one of the things I love the most about working at sea. I haven’t even been home a week and I’m already missing it.

Check out more on “order” from the Daily Post here.

F is for Freedom- #AtoZChallenge

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Captain Jill

“F” is for FREEDOM! A particular passion of mine. I could go on and on about it (like this), but no one ever wants to listen. Here, on my blog, I can express myself. I can try to make a point and then remove myself from the ‘conversation’.

Maybe then, others will take a minute or two to think about what I am trying to communicate? Instead of talking to each other in person. Where each person almost always has a rebuttal in mind before the first person even gets finished speaking?

Maybe by just putting some of these thoughts out there, into the ether, someone might think ‘hey, that actually makes sense’, or ‘wow, what a thought’, or ‘maybe those nut job libertarian freaks really do have some good points’, or best of all they might start to think for themselves about why we are NOT allowed to live our lives with all the freedoms we OUGHT to have!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes (taken from google)…

I truly believe that with all my heart. I only wish others felt the same.

And again, you can’t value freedom for yourself without granting the same to others.

Why do so many people value ‘fitting in’, falsifying their own true selves to be ‘accepted’ by others? Be yourself! I decided a long time ago, I will not let others opinions affect the things I choose to do with my life! If people don’t like me the way I am, then the hell with them! There are over 7 BILLION people in this world, I’m sure to find at least a few who accept me and value me just the way I am. Those are the only ones for me to care about.

Sad, but true. For some reason, we have an overabundance of greedy, power-hungry bastards that ALWAYS manage to steal the power away from the people. We, the people managed to wrestle it away for a short time here in the US, but they’ve come back with a vengeance and stolen away almost ALL of our liberty again! Unless and until the populace starts caring again and demands their freedom, and takes it back- we will just keep on losing more and more each year until we’re basically just a slave state (again) and only ‘our leaders’ are free.

Believe it or not, but we’re pretty damn close to that state right now, today (and no, it’s not just because Trump got elected). The “deep state”, the powers behind the powers have been working behind the scenes for decades and they are sooooo close, so close they can taste it! Total control is within their grasp. We’re so far past Orwell’s 1984, it’s not even funny.

While we all just keep on ignoring the whole thing, telling ourselves we still live in the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave’. Repeat it enough and we’ll make ourselves really believe it’s true. Nope, that place is long gone!

Snowden tried his best to wake us up, even his revelations did nothing to wake up the majority of the people. They just don’t seem to care. Have they all been brainwashed? 12 years of government indoctrination has done the job the public schools were created to do? Dumb us down and turn us all into ‘cogs in the great machine‘, just indistinguishable tools to create the wealth so that others can siphon off most of it before we ever even see it?

EXACTLY! What’s the big deal? Why do so many people freak out when the idea of real freedom is brought up? They’ll bring up every imaginable excuse (no matter how ridiculous) to argue against it. Regardless of the fact that the most free societies in the history of mankind have been the most prosperous and gave the best possible lives to the most possible (considering the reality of the times they lived in).

This idea perfectly expresses the reason why the founders rebelled against Great Britain and formed the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence says it all:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-Preamble to the Declaration of Independence

That basic principle is the foundation of our country. ALL people should be free to live their lives in whatever way they choose (as long as they don’t hurt anyone else). (No matter how hypocritical they were back then re: blacks, women, native americans). Why don’t even Americans hold to these principles anymore?

We are still living now on the proceeds of the freedom we used to have. I wonder how much longer can we last before our creeping statism (fascism, totalitarianism, globalism, corporatism, crony capitalism, socialism, etc) destroys whats left?

I agree (tho a clipper ship under full sail I’d count as a close second)! Take a quick look at some beautiful ships…

See what I mean? 🙂

Tuesday Meetups: Government Explained

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Captain Jill

I was at our weekly Tuesday Meetup of the Campaign for Liberty. Last week was one of the better ones we’ve had in a while. We watched a couple of pretty good videos. Here’s one…

We all got a good laugh out of it. I would love to see this thing played in every school in the country. We really need to do something to get people to think about this kind of stuff!

Personally, I’ve never understood why so many people think they need someone else to tell them how to live their lives. Or why so many people think that someone else actually has some sort of right to do it.

As a libertarian, I believe every person has the absolute right to live their own lives in the best way they can. The way they choose. They have the right to do anything they want, as long as they don’t hurt anybody else.

So far, no one has ever been able to give me a good reason for not having things that way. A lot of excuses, a lot of fears, a lot of “what-ifs”, but no reasons.

I’d really like to see someplace, even just one place in the world, try to form a society where people could live that way. The US tried. They came very close when they came up with the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. But they never truly followed it. If they had actually treated ALL people the way they said they should, we might actually have a free country today. Too bad they weren’t ready to go that far. 🙁

I do see a few people around the world trying. The Seasteaders, the Libertarian Party, the guy over in Europe who’s trying hard to create a really free country, even the Freedom Ship was originally intended to be a place where people could have real freedom (tho it seems to have mutated).

I’d love to be able to find somewhere like that to move to, so far they are all out of my reach financially at least. In the meantime, I keep on trying to find ways to make things better here, but it sure does get frustrating.

Videos like that help cheer me up, for a little while. 😉

A to Z: Politics

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Captain Jill

Today’s A to Z challenge post is: Politics. Yes, I can hear the groans already, but I hope at least a few of you will bear with me for a while.

I’m sure you know by now how passionate I am about freedom and individual liberty (check my tagline!). This leads me to also being passionate about politics.

Not because I like politicians or want to become one, or even because I’m interested in the behind the scenes action. No, not at all. The only reason I’m interested in politics is because it has insinuated itself into every little detail of our lives.

We have completely lost sight of the principles of individual liberty this country was founded on. We have forgotten what it means to be free!

Just for example, there are now hundreds of thousands of ‘laws’ on the books, most of them totally un-necessary (and unconstitutional). We started out with a fairly short and simple document. The US Constitution. That document (along with it’s amendments and the Declaration of Independence) is the basis of all law in this country. It was purposely written so that every one could understand it. It was NOT supposed to need a lawyer to interpret it!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.- Declaration of Independence

*my emphasis with the bolding!

Somehow, those simple documents have grown into a system of ‘laws’ so overwhelmingly complex that not even the brightest lawyers can figure it out. There are so many ‘laws’ that it’s pretty much impossible for anyone to get through a day without breaking at least one!

Try reading the book 3 Felonies a Day by Harvey Silverglate (some other great books in that link too). It tells the story of how this situation came to be. How special interest groups manipulated the politicians to get benefits for themselves and the hell with everybody else. How when big benefits accrue to few, they’re justified in their hard work to pass these beneficial ‘laws’. The rest of us don’t bother to fight since it’s not really that big of a deal and it’s just so much work (if we’re even lucky enough to learn what’s going on before it’s already over). It hardly makes a difference to us, so why make the effort? This is how we wind up with millions of rules and regulations!

(Not to mention the Law of Unintended Consequences!)

I get so tired of people telling me ‘there ought to be a law’! Most likely, there already is! But even if there wasn’t, please tell me why we always need to use FORCE to solve every conceivable problem?

Do we really need a law to force kids to apply for government permission to sell lemonade in the front yard now? Do we really need a law to prevent people from collecting rainwater on their own property? Do we really need a law to prevent people from choosing their preferred method of relaxation? Do we really need a law to prevent people from gardening? Do we really need a law to prevent people from feeding the homeless?

OMG how the hell did we ever survive up til now?

All of those are (or recently were) against the law, right here in the ‘free’ country of the USA. Public interest law firm the Institute for Justice has been fighting to correct the injustice of enforcing these ridiculous ‘laws’. They’ve even managed to win a few cases. But it never ends, they just keep piling on more and more and more and more…

Do we really need all of these ‘laws’? Do we really need ANY of these ‘laws’?

Then WHY do we have them? What is preventing us from eliminating them?

It might be well hidden, but there are costs to each and every one of them! According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the cost of the regulatory burden was a staggering $1.88 TRILLION! And growing! In 2014!

That is just the cost of complying with the regulations- “in lost productivity and higher prices”. That does not take into account the other costs involved like the loss of choices, the loss of freedom, the loss of human spirit. I can’t even imagine what that would amount to in dollars. trillions? Quadrillions? Googles?Sexagintillions? Mega-multi-quadruple-googleplexes?

According to an article I read, the Federal Register was ‘only’ 2,620 pages long. By 2012 it was 78,961 pages, and since 1993 has been growing by an average of 286 pages per day! Read the article for more interesting statistics.

HOW did we get from a country where we declared “Give me Liberty or give me death!” to one with a (mostly useless) pile of rules and regulations standing taller than the Washington Monument? WHY are so very few people concerned about the insanely large government we have now and the almost total control they’re asserting over our lives? WHEN are people going to start thinking about the loss of freedom and individual liberty that’s happened just in our own lifetimes? WHAT is it going to take for people to stand up and take back their freedoms?

WHERE can lovers of liberty go if we can’t reverse this trend in America?

Sacrifice

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Captain Jill

Today’s prompt for Just Jot It January is: sacrifice.

3. the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

For the sake of today’s post, I’ll use this definition, and this quote (some versions add “and lose both”).

I feel extremely isolated in that I agree completely with that quote. I seem to be 1 out of many millions. 🙁 Most people today seem totally willing to sacrifice ALL their freedoms (and mine too), in return for a (false) ‘promise’ of safety.

I can barely stand it; waiting in line for the TSA to grant me permission to travel. It’s all I can do to keep my mouth shut so I don’t lose that RIGHT forever. And the worse thing about it is, listening to the people around me in line making comments like “If you don’t have anything to hide, you don’t have anything to worry about”, or “I don’t care what they do as long as they keep me safe”, or “they’re only doing their jobs’.

Yeah, so were the NAZI’s!

We have given up SO many of our freedoms already, I can’t even begin to count! Just for a start, we have all the violations of the TSA, PATRIOT ACT, NSA spy programs, NDAA, etc. Restrictions of our rights to travel, to earn a living, to defend ourselves, what we can eat and drink and smoke, to choose how to take care of our own health, insane threats of fines and/or imprisonment dictating every single thing we do down to what kind of light bulbs and toilets we can have!

And yes, along with every other right listed in the Bill of Rights, even our right to speak freely has been violated (to all those who inform me how I would be imprisoned for what I say in North Korea or Iraq!).

I am NOT a North Korean or Iraqi! I was NOT brought up idolizing their dictators or ayatollahs as having the god-given right to run my life! I was raised as an American, one who believes whole-hearted in the ideals written down in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Those ideals that millions of Americans before me sacrificed everything up to and including their lives for. Things like individual liberty and freedom.

I can’t believe so many here are just forgetting all that, just throwing it all away, just giving it all up without any fight, without even a feeble protest. What the hell has happened to the American people that they put up with this? All I hear is how ‘times have changed’, ‘we have to go with the flow’, ‘the constitution was written 200 years ago’ and best answer yet- ‘you’re a real nut-job’!

All I have to say to that is: our founding fathers were RIGHT and principles NEVER change, FREEDOM and individual liberty deserve all those sacrifices made in their name, ‘safety’ and ‘security’ do NOT, even if they were possible to achieve (which they’re not).

Three Quote Challenge: 2

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Captain Jill

Here’s my second post in the Three Quote Challenge. I almost missed it, having another lazy day not doing much.

It’s a simple challenge. Just post a quote for 3 days and invite 3 bloggers to play along. I didn’t exactly follow that second rule, but I figured by inviting everyone who wants to get involved, there would be at least 3.

I asked yesterday for people to link back here so I could see their quotes, but so far nobody has taken me up on it. 🙁

Politics Tonight.

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Captain Jill

It’s Tuesday. That means its time for the weekly meeting of my favorite local political group, the Texas Liberty Campaign of Brazoria County We meet every week at a local restaurant for good food and interesting discussions.

We’ve been meeting at the Mediterranean Gardens for a while now (since we moved from China Town). Plenty of good Greek (and Cajun) food. I’m looking forward to it tonight since I haven’t been in so long.

I miss being able to talk about all this ‘crazy’ stuff, politics outside of the 2 party system, REAL freedom and liberty for America, things not really covered in the mainstream media. Yeah, most people think we’re a bunch of tin hat conspiracy theorists. 😉

Sometimes I do too. But sometimes I think there really might be something to it (like all the completely unconstitutional spying on everything and everybody the US government does for just 1 example). And sometimes I even think it’s worth doing something about.

I only wish I knew just exactly WHAT to do about it all (other than speak out).

If anybody is interested, come on out and join us! We’re there from 7:00 til closing. 🙂

All About Me

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Captain Jill

Todays prompt from the Daily Post is to write a post explaining “why you chose your blog’s title and what it means to you”.

I chose to call my blog “Captain Jills Journeys” for a couple of reasons.

I wanted to write a travel blog, since I love to travel and I’ve gone to a lot of interesting places (and hope to go to a lot more). So I tried to come up with words relating to that. I picked the work ‘journey’ because it sounded good with my name (Jill). I was also remembering how I used to write in my journal every day for years as I sailed around on the school ships. Journey- journal… which one? I wanted it to be about more than writing, so- ‘journey’ it is! 😉

So why call it Captain Jills Journeys (rather than just Jills Journeys)? I’ve spent most of my life on the water and worked my way up the hawsepipe to earn a captains license (finally managed an unlimited masters license a few years ago). I figured I would wind up blogging about boats and working on the water along with the travel. After all, one of the main reasons I started working at sea was the opportunity to see the world (and get paid for it!).

I also liked the alliteration and the sounds of the J’s together. It makes a short sentence and sounds cool. 🙂

I added on the tag line “she sails the seven seas in search of FREEDOM” to explain more fully what my blog (and me) are all about. My passions flow together in that sentence. I love to sail. I love to travel. And I am very intensely concerned with the issue of freedom.

Liberty and justice for all. Human rights. Individual liberty. However you want to say it. I very fervently believe that every person deserves to live the best life possible, that they should be able to chose to live the way they think is best for themselves. I do not think people should have to bow down to ANYONE.

We should all be equal under the law and any and all governments should obey the principles the US government was founded on (and no longer has any respect for). To PROTECT the “god-given” (or NATURAL) rights of the people. I just do not understand why so many people seem to feel that others have some sort of right to rule over them. I just don’t get it.

I am looking for some place in this world I can live free. I hope one day to find a place to settle down with other like minded people. A place where everyone is content to just “live and let live”. Most people think that’s some kind of fantasy, that it could never happen. So they won’t even TRY. I will at least keep on trying.

Walk the Line- Live and Let Live

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Captain Jill

Today’s prompt from the Daily Post…

Have you got a code you live by? What are the principles or set of values you actively apply in your life?

I don’t usually think too deep about that kind of thing. But after I thought about it again, in response to the prompt today, I realize that yes, I really DO have a code I live by.

That code is simple:

LIVE AND LET LIVE

I’ve always thought that philosophy would make the world a MUCH better place if more people would live that way.

I thought when I was growing up I was alone in my thought processes. For so long, it seemed that everyone else around always thought for some strange reason that someone else (god, family, state, etc.) had some sort of ‘right’ to dictate how others should live their lives.

It was very encouraging for me to learn a few years ago that there are actually a lot of other people who think the way I do. Who believe in the philosophy of liberty and value freedom for all (actually, Americas’ founding fathers thought the same way and tried hard to form a government that would protect our rights to live this way- too bad their vision has been totally destroyed in only 200 years).

I only found out about the libertarians when my local Texas congressman Ron Paul was running for President as a Libertarian. It was SO nice to find that there were other people I could talk to who actually agreed with me. 🙂

(On most things- or at least the basic principles. Of course, if you’ve ever been in a room full of libertarians, you’d never believe that since we can argue for hours over the minute details of some proposal.)

But, the BASIC principals are not really an issue.

Self ownership: YOU own your life! No one else!

Everything else comes out of that most basic principle. Things like personal responsibility, honesty and respect for others. Everything comes together in a very sensible, ethical way for people in society to live. Each person is free to chose how to live their own lives in the best way possible for them (live according to their own values), taking into consideration their personal circumstances, and remember that they’re free to do whatever they choose as long as they don’t hurt anyone else while doing it (and, that they’re responsible for their own choices/actions!). That brings up a biggie.

There is also the non-aggression principle. Here is a good explanation of that by Dr. Mary Ruwart…

QUESTION: What is the libertarian “non-aggression principle” (or “non-aggression axiom”)?

MY SHORT ANSWER: Libertarianism is based on a single ideal, the non-aggression principle, so libertarian rhetoric tends to be remarkably consistent.

Libertarians oppose the initiation of force to achieve social or political goals. They reject “first-strike” force, fraud or theft against others; they only use force in self-defense. Those who violate this “non-aggression principle” are expected to make their victims whole as much as possible.

This “Good Neighbor Policy” is what most of us were taught as children. We were told not to lie, cheat, steal, not to strike our playmates unless they hit us first. If we broke a friend’s toy, we were expected to replace it.

Most of us still practice what we learned as children with other individuals, but we have grown accustomed to letting government aggress against others when we think we benefit. Consequently, our world is full of poverty and strife, instead of the harmony and abundance that freedom (i.e., freedom from aggression) brings.

Simply put, libertarians take the non-aggression principle that most people implicitly follow in their interactions with other individuals, and apply it to group actions, including government actions, as well.

You might have heard the Libertarian Party (LP) referred to as the “Party of Principle.” This is because the LP bases its programs and policy positions on the non-aggression principle.

Yeah, I really DO believe in these principles and yes, I do live by them.

If I haven’t gone too far off the deep end for you, and you’re interested in learning more, try taking the quiz (that’s why I keep it as a sticky first post on my blog). Check out the links in this post, or try the Advocates for Self-Government or the International Society for Individual Liberty, they’re both full of good information and more links to other resources for the liberty movement around the world.

Have you ever heard of libertarians before? Do you agree with these principles? If you don’t mind me asking, why or why not?

(Yes, I am hoping to start a discussion here). 🙂

Ron Paul: "We now live in a police state"…

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Captain Jill

Yes, Ron Paul is right about this (as he was about so many other things). Most Americans refuse to open their eyes to this truth (or about the rest of them). They seem to be either just slogging through the daily grind with no time to think or anything else. Or they’re completely convinced that the OTHER mainstream political party is the cause of all the problems in the world.

Truth is that BOTH the mainstream political parties are in reality the SAME and they ARE the cause of most of Americas problems. Try getting people to see the truth to that, keep on banging your head against the wall.
Yes, we ARE living in a police state! Thanks to Ron Paul for all his work, from another head-banger. 🙁

New Year's Resolution ~ James Corbett

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Captain Jill

Good idea. I’m going to do that too. 🙂

Mediterranean Gardens: Great Gyros!

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Captain Jill

I just got in from my regular Tuesday night meeting. Lately we’ve been going to the Mediterranean Gardens, a local Greek/Cajun restaurant. They have the best gyros in town (and really great French Dip sandwiches). Also, the baklava is really good.

But I don’t actually go there for the food. I go there for our weekly Campaign for Liberty meetups. I go there to get my weekly political fix. I can go out, have a good meal and talk politics with people who (mostly) agree with me. That’s a nice change. 😉

We talk about all kinds of things… The history of the United States, the proper function of government, the role of the Federal Reserve, the situation with our money/dollar/debt, who’s running for office (local, state, national) and do we like their plans or not…

Then we try to come up with projects to work on and things to do to increase our membership. We started a community garden (pesticide and GMO free), we’ve shown a couple of movies (Behold a Pale Horse, Atlas Shrugged), gone to a few rallies, etc. It’s really hard to do much if you don’t have a very large group of people involved. People are just so busy trying to survive now, they don’t have the time to get involved.

It’s a catch 22 situation. People are too busy to get involved, but if they don’t get involved, things will only continue to get worse and they’ll have even less time to do the things they would really like to. Instead they’ll be working harder and longer to pay the bills (and TAXES).

I have to admit. I don’t have the ability to do as much as some of the people that go. I just don’t have the energy, but I sure am glad that those other people are working so hard to keep it all going.

I wish more people really understood and took to heart the founding documents of our country. We are unique in the history of the world. These principles, that the government is made to serve US and NOT the other way around, are what made this country special. The Declaration of Independence says it perfectly…

http://calibloom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DeclarationOfIndependence.jpg

Photography Challenge 101: Treasure

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Captain Jill

I’ve been busy with other things again and falling behind on blogging. Here’s my post for Day 16: Treasure of the photography challenge.

No, not the flag (or the moon). In fact, I treasure my (and your) right to trash it if you so choose. What I really treasure are the principles that flag (or the country behind it) represents. Or, I should say, USED to represent.

Principles we mostly seem to have forgotten. Principles “our government” now seems hell bent on squeezing out of us.

The most basic of those principles is not stated explicitly in our founding documents, but it’s there. It is the principle of self-ownership. This simply means that YOU own YOUR life. No one else. Period! All else derives from that (fact).

The founding principles of America were all based on that very simple premise.

Principles announced to the world in statements like these from the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Those are the things our government was established to PROTECT. Today, it does everything it can to destroy those things. So, I treasure what little there is left of them.

Let's Talk Justice

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Captain Jill

To follow up on yesterdays post, can anybody justify this situation?

I would really like to hear from people. Please give me your reasons for why you think women should be treated as worth less than men are.

Why are they still denied a full education in so much of the world? Why are they still considered as property of some man in so many places? Why are they still not allowed to make basic decisions about their own lives in so many cultures?

I’m especially interested to hear from people with Muslim influences. Just because it seems to me that the Muslims are the worst offenders at this point in time. If you don’t think they are, can you please explain why you don’t think so, who’s worse?

I would also love to hear from people of all religions as to how they reconcile their ideas of justice and basic fairness with a god who supposedly says they should treat some people with less respect than others.

If you do worship a god who you think says that kind of thing, WHY do you continue to worship it?

Just thinking it’s past time we (the entire world) start to discuss this situation and CHANGE it. I think first we need to get to the bottom of the reasons people claim it needs to be this way in the first place.

I don’t think it’s justified, at all. For any reason.

Now, who’s up for a good argument??? 🙂

Writing 101: Try Again

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Captain Jill

OK. I’m going to try this “Writing 101” thing again. I tried it before, but I was on the ship and could never find the time to do the assignments. I’m really glad the folks at WordPress decided to run this challenge again. I would like to improve my writing.

Today is the first day of the challenge. I got home late Friday after a couple of days traveling home from the ship. We were working offshore Angola (West Africa). I worked all night Wednesday and then started my voyage home Thursday morning.

I was basically up for about 60 hours straight, not counting the few minutes at a time I managed to doze off on the plane(s). I’ve had a couple of days to rest up and catch up on mail, etc so I hope I can find the time now to keep up with the assignments for this challenge. 🙂

Today’s assignment is pretty easy. It’s to “JUST WRITE”. Just like talking, I can always find something to say, I can always find things to write. Who knows if anyone will listen to what I have to say either way I put my thoughts out there? It seems most of the time I am ignored. 🙁

I think I have some good ideas and some good solutions to a lot of the things no one likes to see happening around the world. It’s all about FREEDOM. Too bad I’m not the dictator of the world. What a paradox. 😉

I would SO love to see this world full of people where everyone is able to live their lives the way they choose. I would love to see everyone able to live to their fullest potential. I would love to see everyone have enough to eat and comfortable surroundings and work that they enjoy.

I used to have long arguments with my best friend J. about this kind of thing. I told her once I would love to buy an island. I would have to buy it so that it would be mine, as legitimately mine as it would be possible to be. (Not to get into the whole argument about is it really legitimate for people to own land at all). I just don’t want it to be claimed by any government, they would ALL be totally against everything I’m trying to do.

I would turn that island into my own country. Anyone could come there and do anything they wanted to do, as long as they didn’t hurt anyone else (no murder, rape, robbery, etc). That is my basic premise in life. That is the idea that I live by.

Of course the USA would probably bomb the hell of my island. There’s NO WAY they would allow the world to see that a place with REAL freedom could exist and prosper. It would prove to the entire world what a fraud (and a danger to the entire planet) the US has become.

Yes, on my island you could drive without a license, without wearing seatbelts or helmets. You could drink or get high on whatever you wanted to (but you would be responsible for your actions whether high or not). There would be no spying allowed for any reason. There would be no universal ID such as social security has become (and therefore a magnet for identity theft). There would be no such things as ‘guilty property’ (asset forfeiture), money laundering laws, etc. Yes, there would be legal gambling and prostitution and there would be no such thing as a ‘victimless crime’. You could work at whatever you chose, for whoever you chose, for whatever wages and benefits you chose. There would be no government licensing of anything.

Since this island is based completely on voluntary action, I can see people working together to provide all the things we need and want without resorting to the use of force. If we need roads, schools, etc, people will come up with ways to provide them just like they did in colonial times in the USA. I can’t even think of anything we would need taxes for, so there probably wouldn’t even be any of those! 🙂

I would base my laws on the US constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights and I would follow the letter and the INTENTION of those documents! That being to promote INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM! To keep the people in control of the government and NOT the other way around.

We would get into huge arguments about what exactly was meant by the word “hurt”. I told her, I think it would have to be defined as an ‘objective’ hurt. Something obvious to everyone else. Otherwise, anyone could just make anything up they wanted.

I think it would have to be something ‘proveable’. Something that you could prove actually happened to you and that it actually did hurt you. You should be able to prove real harm.

So, we got into all these arguments over ‘what if?’…

‘what if she moved in next door to my multi-million dollar mansion and built a junkyard?’, (who said I would have a multi-million dollar mansion? I just spent all my money to buy this island!

‘what if she came to my (multi-million dollar mansion) and shit on my floor?’ (multi-million dollar mansion??), if she shit on my floor on purpose, then I think I would throw her out of my house. If she was sick or something and couldn’t control herself, then I think I would send her to the hospital but still get her out of my house!

‘what if somebody’s feelings got hurt?’ see above point about being objective and proveable

‘what if somebody trashed your boat?’ unbelieveable! they would have to pay restitution for the damages and/or they would get deported!

After a while of this kind of thing, we both got sick of the argument. I decided I would not really want to be dictator after all. It’s too much work!

I really just want to be left alone to live my life in peace. I don’t want to BE alone, I just want to be LEFT alone. There’s a huge difference.

It seems very few people understand where I’m coming from. Almost everyone seems to think people are somehow better off with other people running their lives instead of themselves. I am totally in opposition to that idea.

This is why I am searching so hard to find some PLACE where I can live the rest of my life. It is no longer possible to have that in the USA. The country that was founded to allow people exactly that freedom.

My only hope now is to somehow get out of the US permanently and find some out of the way place where the people will just accept you for who you are. Where they are happy to live and let live. Where their government does not have the resources to constantly interfere. And if it does, where the people will force it to back off!!!

So, OK, I’ve rambled on now for over the 20 minutes the assignment called for. Hope some of you made it all the way to the end. 😉

Any comments on this subject (or any other) is always appreciated. 🙂

These people are animals…REALLY???

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Captain Jill

An EXCELLENT post from the Culture Monk! Hopefully he is starting a conversation that we all really ought to be having. I completely agree with his comments about the news media (mainstream news media) and I am SO glad we now have the internet to help us learn the truth about what’s going on in the world and to bypass the lies the psychopaths in power wish us to believe.
I have been promoting the libertarian outlook for a long time. I think they deserve at LEAST the opportunity to have their views known in the public forum. The mainstream news media does all it can to discredit their views and label any politician who espouses them as a ‘nutjob’!
Who’s nuts” Someone who believes in freedom and liberty. or someone who prefers to use FORCE on every issue?

Zero to Hero-Day (16)- 17: Focusing on Formatting

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Captain Jill

Oh well, I still haven’t come up with anything to say about the assignment for Day 16 (prompt: reputation). So I never did write a post on the subject.

Reading the assignment for Day 17, I have already looked at quite a few of other Zero to Hero participants and commented on some of their posts. I really enjoyed reading some of the very different takes on that one subject. It sure brings to the forefront the beauty of blogging, that even tho we are all here and all doing pretty much the same thing, there is still SO much variety! 🙂

OK, since I didn’t do a post on the prompt, I am going to write a post today about something else. 😉

And, to follow along with the challenge, I will use 2 (or more) of the suggested formatting tools (“block quotes, preformatting, or an ordered or unordered list”).

I'm not really sure what is meant by 'preformatting'. 
So I guess I'll just write a little bit til I can see what happens.

Here we go. It doesn't really seem to do much of anything. Changes the 
font and looks like it cuts off the space I can write in a little bit. 
Also makes a black space around my writing while I have the 'preformatted'
box checked.

OK, so that’s that. I learned something new. 🙂

Since today is a holiday here in the US, it’s Martin Luther King Jr Day, I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes of his. Also using the ‘blockquotes’ formatting tool.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I really like all 3 of those quotes. I have always been a fierce believer in freedom in all its forms and hold the fact that our governments entire purpose is to uphold individual liberty as our greatest accomplishment here in the USA.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,…

Declaration of Independence

I am SO sad to see what has been happening here in the last few years.

What happened to all those people who were around back when Martin Luther King Jr was out protesting against the wrongs of society? Why aren’t those people STILL trying???

Things have surely NOT been fixed! Obama is NOT the answer.

I was pretty young back in the 60’s when Martin Luther King Jr was around in person, but I read a lot. I read a lot of history and politics and social studies, etc. I think people were trying to create a more free, more just, more peaceful and prosperous society.

WTF happened??? The people who were protesting back then are the ones in power now. People like the Clintons for instance. They grew up and now they are the ones upholding all the same old crap they used to fight so hard against! 🙁

Things like…

the War on (some) Drugs
(Unjust) Foreign Wars
Big Government
Big Business
The SYSTEM

It makes me sad to see how many people just don’t get any of the things I try to bring to their attention. Things like why it’s so bad that we have given up our freedom and liberty for the TSA, NSA, NDAA, PATRIOT ACT, FACTA, etc, etc, etc. Never-ending big government information gathering and CONTROL of every tiny little aspect of life here in this ONCE free country.

I just don’t understand how a once free people (and we were SO much more free even when I was a kid) can give up so much and not even seem to care. Most people I talk to think it’s somehow a GOOD thing.

Have they never read or seen George Orwells 1984? or Animal Farm? Or any of the numerous other books describing how power ALWAYS corrupts? Or how lack of privacy (spy programs) turns society into a dreary, bleak, isolated, sad, destructive, sick mess that eventually sucks dry every bit of human decency, compassion and creativity?

I wonder what will it take? What will have to happen for people to WAKE UP and take back THEIR lives and their freedoms? I sure don’t know but I hope with all my heart and soul it will happen soon, before we have to go through another total collapse of civilization.

We ARE all in the same boat together. We only have one planet (unless we can hurry the hell up and get ourselves to Mars PDQ)! It’s a global civilization now and for better or worse, we do all influence each other now in numerous ways. I hope I can be a force on the side of peace and freedom.

I hope this blog can help. 🙂

None Dare Call It…

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Captain Jill

None Dare Call It… | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Interesting article from Laissez-Faire. It talks about Obamacare and how no one in the insurance industry is really speaking out against it. Yeah, I noticed that too. I know the insurance industry had a hand in the creation of Obamacare.

I admit, I have not read the ‘law’. No, I haven’t got through even 10 pages of it’s 4000 or so. I don’t know exactly everything it says. I only know about a few of the things it’s supposed to do. But I’m pretty sure the big insurance companies didn’t allow Obama or anyone else to cut their throats. To REALLY do them any damage.

MONEY runs this country and there’s no way this situation is any different than any other in the last 100 years. Big money has protected itself at the expense of the rest of us. Let’s wait and see? Or lets get rid of it before it hammers the final nail into our coffin?

I’m pretty sure the insurance companies are going to benefit from Obamacare. WE, (regular people) are the only ones who are really going to be hurt by it. Regardless of the hope that Obamacare will help the little guy, I can pretty much guarantee that the little guy is the only one that is going to get hurt by it.

If it doesn’t hurt you by turning your hospital into a depressingly substandard VA experience, or turning a visit to your doctor into a visit to the DMV (remember the last time you renewed your drivers license). It will for SURE hurt you when it becomes the final straw that breaks our financial system!

Then we’ll all be in the same sinking boat together. Of course the fat cats that created this mess will probably escape. You DID notice that they all exempted themselves from Obamacare, right? Unless you’re a much better prepper than I am, the rest of us are just going to get screwed. 🙁

The worst part of this whole scenario is what they mention towards the end of the article. The people who work in the insurance industry are not the only ones fearfully staying silent. The writer mentions remembering East Germany and the pervasive atmosphere of FEAR.

I can already see signs of it here. I have felt it myself. It’s all I can do to keep my mouth shut at the airport. I have to do it for fear of being hauled off to be ‘indefinitely detained’ and lose my RIGHT to travel forever.

All for simply wanting to exercise my RIGHT to travel FREELY and my RIGHT to speak freely about the loss of that right too!

I have talked to dozens of people since 9/11. Almost all of them are willing to justify our huge loss of liberty in some sadly delusional trade for safety. Apparently, most of them have fallen for the security theater in our airports and truly believe it is really doing something other than stripping them of their freedoms along with their dignity.

I can’t imagine what it must feel like to live like that. To choose to give up your freedom for ANYTHING, much less an impossibility like total safety. It’s really sad. 🙁

No, it’s not (JUST) Obamacare, that’s bothering me, that’s wrong here. It’s the entire system! The basic reasons for the founding of this country are being lost little by little. People just don’t care any more. Either they want ‘free stuff’ like the health care that Obamacare (falsely) promises. Or they are living in such FEAR that they are willing to not only give up THEIR right to live freely, but giving away MY rights too. 🙁

Are You on a Government Watch List?

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Captain Jill

I’m sure I’m on at least one. 😉

The Phony ‘Fight’ And The Real Story

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Captain Jill

The Phony ‘Fight’ And The Real Story : Personal Liberty™.

Another good article from Bob Livingston and Personal Liberty. This one is discussing the events of the last few weeks, the fight over the budget and Obamacare. The scare tactic to ‘shutdown’ the government, as if that is a bad thing we would never want. As usual, the politicians caved in for bigger government, more money and more power for them. 🙁

I agree completely with Bob on the idea that there is really only ONE party in this country. We might as well just call it the ‘statist’ party since every piece of it (every so called ‘independent’ party), whatever it’s called, is for BIG government.

As the latest vote in congress just proved once more, BOTH the Democrats AND Republicans are for BIG government and completely against the limited government this country is supposed to have according to our Constitution and all the rest of our founding documents!

ALL of those politicians are breaking their oaths of office to uphold the Constitution. EVERY ONE OF THEM, FROM BOTH PARTIES! The Libertarians are the ONLY political party (unless there is an anarchist party I’m not aware of) who is NOT statist and is for the limited government our Constitution calls for.

The latest ‘shutdown’ was just one more farce. The latest show put on for us by ‘our’ leaders to trick us into giving up even more of our power to them. 🙁 I just keep wondering just WHAT is it going to take to get the American people to wake up? To put a stop to this?

I managed to piss off a good friend of mine tonight. He’s a die hard Obama fan and just couldn’t take any more of my ‘ranting’ about how Obama (and all of our previous ‘leaders’ for the last few decades) has been ruining this country.

Well, sorry to him and anybody else who can’t/won’t see the truth. I’m no Tom Paine, but I think the more people put it out there (shout out for freedom/liberty), the more people will come to their senses.

I’m thankful to all the other people in this country and around the world who are fighting for Liberty. In any way. Thanks to the Libertarian Party, to all the small L libertarians, to the Free State Project, to the Advocates for Self Government, to the International Society for Individual Liberty, to the Young Americans for Liberty, for Ron Paul and all his supporters, for the ACLU, for the Gun Owners of America, for the Institute for Justice, for ALL the people fighting AGAINST statism and FOR liberty!

I’m thankful to WordPress, Facebook, Twitter and any other platform I have to spread the word. To get MY voice heard, out there to compete against the mainstream media who keeps on NOT doing their jobs. Dianne Feinstein can go to hell! Here’s to me and the rest of the (‘non-journalist’) bloggers out there!

Keep up the good work!! 🙂

“Privacy” Held Hostage By “Security” – Public Unimpressed

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Captain Jill

“Privacy” Held Hostage By “Security” – Public Unimpressed | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Another great article from Laissez-Faire. This one on the supposed conflict between privacy and security. I agree completely with Mr Leahy, the real issue is between control and liberty. I don’t know about you, but I will side with liberty EVERY time on EVERY issue!

“Coupon Constitution” Threatens Fundamental Freedom

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Captain Jill

“Coupon Constitution” Threatens Fundamental Freedom by Bob Barr.

I couldn’t have said it better. Everything he says is the truth. It’s so sad what we have allowed to happen, what we have done to ourselves. It wasn’t Al-Qaeda that destroyed America, it was US!

Through our FEAR, we allowed everything America stood for to be shot down along with our enemies. We allowed the government to run rampant, in complete contrast to our founders intentions of an extremely LIMITED government with only a few areas of authority.

I hope one day the American people will come to their senses and take back our country before its too late.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin

The Weekend Vigilante August 24, 2013

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Captain Jill

The Weekend Vigilante August 24, 2013.

I’m a subscriber and I really love this email newsletter I get, TDV (the Dollar Vigilante). Its written by Jeff Berwick and his team of libertarians/anarchists. I wish I had his ability to get my thoughts out so well and to so many people. I wish more people would pay attention and wake up to what is happening around us, the daily loss of liberty here in the USA. I am to the point of desperation to leave, but still stuck here trying to figure out a way to support myself anywhere outside of this country. I am SO tired of beating my head against the wall. I am SO tired of trying to explain to people here that we are NOT a democracy but a constitutional republic, and that we have certain inalienable rights that are NEVER subject to a majority vote. That our actual rights belong to us as an integral part of our being human beings, they do NOT come from any government! Our so-called leaders violate our rights continually and no one seems to care. I just don’t get it and I guess I never will, WHY do so many people choose to live as sheep instead of accepting the freedom they were born to?

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