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Letter from Jeff Fullerton

New Trump Budget Provides Billions for Guns and Gun Owners - Steve Sheldon

At first I was very disappointed when I read this. The idea of turning gun owners into the equivalent of welfare recipients and pork for the firearms industry was just so counter intuitive—on top of being a major breech of principle and more debt which is the last thing we need right now.

Then I realized this is obviously a clever April Fools joke as it has me going for a while like it did have some moonbats from Berkeley. Some of whom may still believe or are probably indignant because the idea of handing out guns along with free butter and cheese is no laughing matter in their minds.

[Link to Article]

Now that we’ve had our fun, there is a serious side to the issue. We don’t need free guns and ammo—but there is one big favor that the Trump Administration could do for us: do something about the shortage of 22LR by stopping federal agencies from buying up and hoarding that particular ammo (if they haven’t done so already) and sell off the surplus to put an end to the empty shelves in Walmart and other ammo dealers.

Jeff Fullerton
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Letter from Milt Borchert

RE: Jethro and Duke by L. Neil Smith (in this issue)

Neil,

Actually, you were not wrong—you simply didn’t go far enough.

Open “borders” requires that there be no centralized authority to influence (or hope to influence) by terrorist actions. As long as governments exist, immoral activities will remain institutionalized—indeed the very existence of government is criminal. Your problem lay in attempting to reconcile a morally correct position on a specific issue with an overarching immoral system; neither you, nor anyone else bound by the rules of logic, can hope to accomplish that. You fault in that case was that you did not take a sufficiently radical position.

You must first remove the greater evil in order to deal with the lesser.

Islam”s “demographic jihad” is entirely dependent on the active cooperation and support of the host countries” governments. Just another reason to ditch the notion that it”s acceptable for one group of people to run the lives of the rest...

In Liberty,

Milt Borchert
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Letter from Jim Woosley

RE: Jethro and Duke by L. Neil Smith (in this issue)

Neil,

If I weren’t aware of the fact already, I would take this as proof you are a man.

This is certainly a major reason I don’t support open borders.

The “traditional” standard for immigrants were that they should not be a burden to the state by being impoverished, incompetent, or diseased. Of course, the foreknowledge that “the state” is not going to support you should be a deterrence to immigrants who are impoverished, incompetent, or diseased. (And a motivation for the current citizens/residents whom they are displacing).

Jim Woosley
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Letter from J. Neil Schulman

RE: Jethro and Duke by L. Neil Smith (in this issue)

Once again the two Neils appear to be on the same page.

As I wrote in my TLE article “Defending Discrimination and Deportation” (TLE, No. 911, February 26, 2017), and included in my latest book, J. Neil Schulman’s The Book of Words (in the Free Radical Bookstore):

As an anarchist novelist, filmmaker, and essayist I’ve repeatedly made the point that work and travel are basic human liberties, so I reject the idea that government may rightfully (again, this is a moral discussion) restrict or license who may travel to somewhere else one is welcomed, and to exchange labor for pay when both buyer and seller of the labor freely reach an agreement.

But please remember that this essay of mine starts out by discussing discrimination—rendering judgment on essential differences.

In this instance the statist and the anarchist can agree: there is absolutely nothing wrong with expelling those who rob, rape, defraud, maim, or murder other individuals. Discriminating against others based on race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, or even bad character if they have not victimized others by violence, menace, or deceit, is not a morally just reason for deportation. Having committed invasions of the rights of others and their justly- acquired property is a good reason to be a candidate for exile—allowing for mercy and mitigating circumstances.

J. Neil Schulman
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Another Letter from Jeff Fullerton

Working on the latest installment of Nihon Ishigame—which chronicles the start of my 4th year working with Asian turtles and lambasting the bucket heads and moonbats that are the bane of the reptile hobby. All the while Springtime is resurgent after a brief bout with another polar vortex between two stretches of 70 degree days! Would have been the perfect article on the perfect day when everything is just right that keeps eluding me—but even that eludes me as time is running out after a busy Saturday outside and I keep falling asleep trying to write it. It looks more like it will be ready next weekend and maybe for the better since there are two more potentially perfect days ahead—Sunday and Monday that may turn out even more worthy of writing about.

In the meantime I can always add to the thread concerning the latest news from Venezuela which when I first took notice of it-I did not realize until now that it is actually a prime example of El Neil’s article on the Deadly Price of Collectivism. What we are seeing right now is the bill for the terrible policies of the late Hugo Chavez coming due.

Yet the apologists continue to rationalize as Chavez’s chickens come home to roost.

Like the guy from a man on the street interview who claimed it was not this bad when Chavez was running things. They always think it’s not the system but just that the right people are not in charge. The fundamental problem is that there is no one man or woman who is capable of running what it takes an entire nation or world of people acting on their own best interests to run. Command economies can run efficiently for a little while when you have a nation on a wartime footing and the population is drawn together out of perceived necessity to get the job done. And they better get it done quickly or the whole thing decays into corruption and waste of resources because a war like any other crisis is like a broken window. It diverts resources from productive enterprises and often leads to repressive policies that further sap productivity.

Like Venezuela’s price controls and punitive taxes on its most productive citizens born of a regime that appeals to irrational class envy and scapegoating the productive class. The coalition of looters and moochers has driven the producers out of business and in some cases out of the country as entrepreneurs doctors and other skilled trade persons are fleeing. Leaving behind a population of non producers along with the remaining producers who have given up and are keeping a low profile just trying to get by until the whole thing collapses and hopefully the looters can be removed from power. In the meantime Venezuela is living off the dwindling resources and failing infrastructure that is no longer being maintained because the incompetent ideologues are don’t know what they are doing and can’t operate it properly. It’s starting to look like the climactic event where the city lights flicker and fail near the end of Atlas Shrugged may be just around the corner.

They won’t last the summer and that is my conservative assessment. It might even come to a head before the end of this month. Eating the zoo animals is not exactly the sign of a resilient society.

You would think they’d have learned the lesson when the Soviet bloc collapsed. But don’t count on it. Like hope: human stupidity springs eternal.

Jeff Fullerton
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