February 20, 2004

Boundaries of Knowledge
Cults
Values & Human Life
Liberty & War

Boundaries of Knowledge

Loch Ness Monster

Were Picts the first to spot Nessie?
Inverness Courier, Calum Macleod, Jan 5, 2004

“PICTISH stone-carvers may have been the first to capture Nessie’s image, a Highland Council official has suggested….”

• Carvings of “Pictish Beast” or “Pictish Elephant”
• 1648 report of “floating island”
• Account by St Columba’s biographer Adamnan

 

Also see:
Ancient Portraits of Loch Ness Monster (http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=3463)
Unknowncountry.com, Jan 9, 2004

Mokele-Mbembe is the name of the African creature sighted in Likouala Swamp in the Republic of the Congo.

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Cults

Persecuting Cult Members

Finishing Off the Branch Davidians
Judith Vinson, LewRockwell.com, March 3, 2000

“If this was the only problem with building the church one might believe there was no concentrated effort to spare these people no end to indignity or grief…”

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Values & Human Life

Against Abortion

When Do Human Beings Begin? “Scientific” Myths & Scientific Facts
Dianne N. Irving, M.A., Ph.D, Libertarians for Life, 1999

I really recommend this essay – especially for those who will find it most challenging. It describes scientifically when an individual human being begins. It challenges myths that are used to justify research that is threatening the sanctity of human life.

Ideas have consequences. Facts, science, philosophy, religion – all these things matter. People need to learn and think for themselves, decide what they value, and what is unacceptable to them. As this essay points out, some arguments used by bio-ethicists to discount embryos may affect public discussion about the disabled.

Some quotations:

“The commonly used term, “fertilized egg,” is especially very misleading, since there is really no longer an egg (or oocyte) once fertilization has begun. What is being called a “fertilized egg” is not an egg of any sort; it is a human being…”

“It is particularly in the writings of these and other bioethicists that so much incorrect science is claimed in order to “scientifically” ground the “pre-embryo” myth and therefore “scientifically” justify many of the issues noted … abortion, as well as the use of donated or “made-for-research” early human embryos in destructive experimental human embryo research (such as infertility research, cloning, stem cell research, the formation of chimeras, etc.)…”

“… demonstrated above that the immediate product of fertilization is a human being with 46 chromosomes, a human embryo, an individual member of the human species, and that this is the beginning of the embryonic period…”

 

Liberty & War

Is the Tide Turning?
Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, Feb 18, 2004

“Antiwar sentiment is springing up in the most unlikely places, resonating in comments like Mel Gibson’s answer to Diane Sawyer when she asked him what comes after his Passion flick:

“I was thinking of pitching my tent right next to the weapons of mass destruction, then no one will find me.””

 

No End to War: Frum-Perle prescription for endless conflict
Patrick J. Buchanan, The American Conservative, March 1, 2004

“But no nation can “end evil.” Evil has existed since Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him. A propensity to evil can be found in every human heart. And if God accepts the existence of evil, how do Frum and Perle propose to “end” it?…”

 

U.S. terror study `crude, inexpert’ (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1076973010035&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724)
Toronto Star, Feb 17, 2004

“The report also casts doubt on Canada’s ability to toughen anti-terrorism and immigration laws, saying Canada’s “liberal-democratic identity” may limit adoption of sterner measures — a point Wark finds illogical.

“”Last time I heard, the United States was a liberal democracy too,”…”

 

Rush Limbaugh and the Sick Federal War on Pain Relief
Rep. Ron Paul, MD, LewRockwell.com, February 12, 2004

“…I wish to express my hope that Mr. Limbaugh’s case will encourage his many fans and listeners to consider how their support for the federal war on drugs is inconsistent with their support of individual liberty and constitutional government.”

 

A Wise Consistency
Rep. Ron Paul, MD, LewRockwell.com, February 11, 2004

On trade, drug prohibition, war, self-reliance, Emerson, everything.

“It seems criminal when cancer patients come to our congressional offices begging and pleading for a waiver to try some new drug. We call this a free society!…”

“Just mention terrorism and the American people are expected to grovel and allow the war hawks to do whatever they want to do…”

“…Sadly our citizens have become dependent on government for nearly everything from cradle to grave, and look to government for all guidance and security…”