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“[State controlled] education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.” – Joseph Stalin

"[I]f you serve a child a rotten hamburger in America, federal, state, and local agencies will investigate you, summon you, close you down, whatever.  But if you provide a child with a rotten education, nothing happens, except that you're liable to be given more money to do it with."

--Ronald Reagan

“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924)

 

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?  Forbid it, Almighty God.  I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

--Patrick Henry

Happy Independence Day!           By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

As we celebrate Independence Day with fireworks, picnics, and time with family and friends, let’s pause for a moment to remember what independence really is – and why our forefathers risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to obtain that independence for us.  We might begin by re-reading the Declaration of Independence, to understand what Thomas Jefferson and the other Patriots were thinking at the time.  The Declaration proclaims that each of us has unalienable Rights, given to us by our Creator, including the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, and that the purpose of government is to secure those rights.  What does this really mean?       (click to read more)

Norm will say it because someone needs to..         By Norm Davis
 
The Supreme Court has ruled! The media is re-ruling or doing some kind of interpretation that I do not understand. According to the media, nobody’s land or home is safe from the rich or the corporations.
 
The radio shows with the experts, including “His Majesty, Rush Limbaugh”, have said that it is a ‘welfare program’ for the rich corporations. I have heard it all and I think they are full of stinky stuff.       (click to read more)

How can you celebrate Independence Day knowing that government can now take your home?       By Christopher J. Derry, President, Bluegrass Institute

June 23, 2005 will forever live in infamy.  Those who understand that our Constitution was created to protect our liberty, not dispose of it, will look back on this day as a turning point. 

Some might say, "That's it, our republic is gone!"         (click to read more)

High court hits new low        by Henry Lamb

The Supreme Court's decision on Kelo v. City of New London erases the principle of private property from 200 years of American history. There can be no question that the founders intended private property to be secure from the arbitrary reach of government. The Constitution sets forth the legitimate purposes for which the government may own property (Article I, Section 8), and it stipulates the process by which private property must be acquired. Moreover, the Fifth Amendment requires that just compensation be paid when private property is taken for public use.        (click to read more)

Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005  Introduced in Congress June 22, 2005           By John Riley

Congressman Ron Paul of Texas has introduced a bill that would remove the federal bit and reins from our Kentucky farmers so they would be able to truly exercise their "unbridled spirit"!  What will the Kentucky Congressional delegation do for Kentucky farmers? The federal government should indeed allow Kentuckians to enjoy the economic benefits of this alternative crop of nearly unlimited uses.  Note that the auto industry is a large existing market for parts made from natural hemp fiber which could be beneficial to Kentucky's well established auto industry and boost economic development opportunities in some of Kentucky's rural communities.        (click to read more)

You Can’t Take It With You…          By D. Eric Schansberg  Professor of Economics at Indiana University Southeast

It has been said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. It seems that Democrats are fond of combining the two-- especially for the wealthy and the working poor.

Opposition from Democrats to the "estate tax" is well-established. Their political savvy combined with a lack of political resolve by Senate Republicans resulted in a bizarre set of changes to the federal estate tax in 2001. Under the "reform", the estate tax will be reduced from 2002 to 2009-- as exempted wealth increases dramatically (from $1 million to $3.5 million per person) and as the top marginal tax rates gradually decreases (from 50% to 45%). Then, the estate tax will be completely repealed in 2010 before reverting back to the exempted wealth amount we had in 2002 and the top marginal tax rate we had in 2001. It's enough to make one wonder whether the War on Drugs is being waged effectively within the halls of Congress!       (click to read more)

Lack of economic freedom burdens Kentuckians

(Bowling Green, Kentucky) – If not for West Virginia, Kentucky would rank dead last among its surrounding states in vital economic freedoms, according to a report released today.

The annual Economic Freedom of North America report, released jointly by the National Center for Policy Analysis and Canada’s Fraser Institute, ranks Kentucky 33rd among American states and Canadian provinces. The findings are based on such factors as the amount of goods and services consumed by government, burdensome taxation and restrictive labor policy.        (click to read more)

Why Limit Government?        By Lawrence W. Reed

Someone once said that those of us in the business of free-market think tanks do a better job of describing Hell than we do Heaven.

As people who want to “limit” government, we are often perceived as naysayers. Thus, we must continually remind others that we are opposed to excessive government because we are in favor of some very positive, important things.        (click to read more)

Prichard’s silence is deafening       By Richard Innes

“Frozen in time” by Bob Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, is a day late and several dollars short in its analysis of Kentucky’s public-education crisis.

Sexton’s recent article in the (Louisville) Courier-Journal and a companion Prichard report opine that high schools are 100 years out of date. But Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been chanting such themes for more than a year. Regarding higher standards, Gov. Ernie Fletcher agreed many months ago to participate in a national effort to raise high-school standards.        (click to read more)

Independence Day 2005       By Jeff “Mario” Smith, Guerilla Reporter

On the 4^th of July, 1776, the Congress of the United States of America formally renounced subjection to the government of Great Britain. That was a long, long time ago. Generations of Americans have come and gone and much has been forgotten regarding the sacrifices of those who put it on the line so that we might inherit Freedom and Liberty in our One Nation Under God, independent of any other nation or government. Many who enjoy the Liberty our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution provide have received it free of charge and without sacrificing one thing. Although I believe nothing that is free is truly appreciated, one of the things so great about America is the open bosom of Lady Liberty.       (click to read more)

Gahanna Ohio Standing Against US Supreme Court Libertarian Councilmen Propose ‘Eminent’ Ban

Gahanna City Councilmen Nick Hogan and John McAlister have proposed a ban on eminent domain abuse for the Gahanna City Charter. The US Supreme Court ruled last week that city governments were permitted to take away anyone’s private property if they expected to receive higher property taxes from someone else.       (click to read more)

The NIMBY view on bad schools        By Andrew J. Coulson

When we’re asked about the overall quality of our nation’s or state’s public schools, Americans are fairly pessimistic. But when it comes to the schools in our own neighborhoods, we generally offer a much more upbeat appraisal.

This pattern was repeated yet again in a poll released last week. Four out of five Californians say there’s a quality problem with the state’s schools – most think it’s a “big” problem. But when respondents were asked about their neighborhood schools, just over half rated them an A or a B, and only 13 percent gave them a D or an F.        (click to read more)

How To Remember 9/11 (Without Really Trying)        By Jonathan David Morris

I like a good 9/11 memorial.

I guess that statement looks weirder in print than it sounded in my head. But I think you know what I’m getting at. Many towns in the New York City area—in fact, many towns across the country—have put up memorials over the last few years, either in honor of locals who lost their lives on 9/11 or simply in honor of 9/11 overall. I enjoy these memorials, inasmuch as you can possibly “enjoy” such a thing. To this day, I can read the placard of a 9/11 victim, see a single word like “mother” or “father,” and start to get choked up.        (click to read more)

Karl Rove Should Apologize.  He Went Way to Easy on Them.          By Justin Darr

After years of attacks from the Left on the War on Terror, Karl Rove has finally said it like it is.  America's Liberals have never approached the War on Terror with the seriousness it deserves.  Oblivious to the obvious irony of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin's coerced and disingenuous apology for comparing the actions of American troops at Guantanamo Bay to those of the Nazis coming within the same week as Rove's comments, Democrats in Congress rushed to the aid of their ideological brethren attacking Rove and demanding either his resignation or a similarly disingenuous apology to that of Durbin.         (click to read more)

We need the Duke in the war of the worlds        By Barry Bright  

This ‘right wing extremist’ rarely goes to opening day movies. But I’m enough of a sci-fi fan, plus I read “War of the Worlds” as a teenager, and to top it all I was curious about why they were pushing this movie so hard that I felt a need to catch Spielberg’s new flick Wednesday, matinee price of course.       (click to read more)

The Non-Aggression Principle           By Jonathan David Morris

A short time ago—okay, okay, way back in January—I began a discussion on the definition of libertarianism, which I’ve been meaning to continue ever since. The January column focused on two things: (1) the average libertarian’s dislike for government; and (2) the average libertarian’s dislike for average libertarians. While it’s certainly true that most libertarians see the government as the mafia’s mildly retarded big brother, this really only scratches the surface of their intense dislike for it. (Yours truly excluded. Like I said, I love the government. It’s my source of material.) You see, libertarians dislike the government for reasons beyond inefficiency. For them, the very idea of it is immoral.        (click to read more)

Sorry Liberals.  Being Arrogant Does Not Make You Right.         By Justin Darr

Back during the Presidential Election, Kerry enthusiasts were constantly gushing over the perceived intelligence of John Kerry.  If it was not praises toward his “nuanced” approaches of how to creatively surrender to the United Nations and international terrorists then it was how all of his aides had to run around carrying dictionaries just so they could understand his “big words.”  Well, the truth is out.  Eight months after everyone quit caring about John Kerry’s records, he has finally released them to “The Boston Globe.”  Chance of chances, these records show that Senator Kerry was a “C” student with a virtually identical grade average as the stuttering, slack jawed, ignoramus George W. Bush.  And, Kerry’s aides needed dictionaries to understand him?  Suddenly it is much easier to understand why Kerry ran such an inept campaign and how they thought voting for the $87 billion before he voted against it made any sense.  Kerry chose to surround himself with die hard liberals who made the congenital mistake of all liberals by assuming that arrogance equaled intelligence and being right.       (click to read more)

Terry’s Tidbits   Independence Day         by Terry Gray

Yes, there are some of you walking America’s soil who don’t know that you’ve just been raped again by the Supreme Court.  You are the ones who will grumble when you find out, but you’ll just turn up “The Price is Right” and have another candy bar.  “How does this affect me?”  Then there are those of you who already know, who will shrug and say, “Oh well, there’s nothing I can do about it.”  You’ll work to make your house your home and when Big Brother comes to take it you’ll indignantly scream, bow your heads, pack your bags, and continue your existence as a slave to government.       (click to read more)

"What July Fourth Means to Me" --Ronald Reagan (1981)

For one who was born and grew up in the small towns of the Midwest, there is a special kind of nostalgia about the Fourth of July.

Somewhere in our [youth], we began to be aware of the meaning of [important national] days and with that awareness came the birth of patriotism.  July Fourth is the birthday of our nation.  I believed as a boy, and believe even more today, that it is the birthday of the greatest nation on earth.

The day of our nation's birth in that little hall in Philadelphia, [was] a day on which debate had raged for hours.  The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey.  Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words "treason, the gallows, the headsman's axe," and the issue remained in doubt.

[On that day]  56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.  Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor.

What manner of men were they?  Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants and tradesmen, and nine were farmers.  They were soft-spoken men of means and education; they were not an unwashed rabble.

They had achieved security but valued freedom more.  Their stories have not been told nearly enough.

John Hart was driven from the side of his desperately ill wife.  For more than a year he lived in the forest and in caves before he returned to find his wife dead, his children vanished, his property destroyed.

He died of exhaustion and a broken heart.

Carter Braxton of Virginia lost all his ships, sold his home to pay his debts, and died in rags.  And so it was with Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Rutledge, Morris, Livingston and Middleton.  Nelson personally urged Washington to fire on his home and destroy it when it became the headquarters for General Cornwallis.  Nelson died bankrupt.

But they sired a nation that grew from sea to shining sea.  Five million farms, quiet villages, cities that never sleep, three million square miles of forest, field, mountain and desert, 227 million people with a pedigree that includes the bloodlines of all the world.  In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation.

It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history.

Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours.  But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another.  Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.

We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.

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