Antiwar.com

I'm not a huge fan of this website b/c I prefer LewRockwell.com, but this interview with Justin Raimondo, the gay founder of the website is pretty good. See what he has to say about Alex Jones.

Antiwar.com — along with Counterpunch, LewRockwell.com and Infowars — are among the best Libertarian sources of news and opinion on the Internet. Have you ever been in the same room with Cockburn, Rockwell and Jones?
I wouldn’t call Counterpunch a Libertarian website: Cockburn is a leftist, albeit an unconventional one. As for Alex Jones, he is crazy; there’s no two ways about it, and I would never appear on his radio program. He holds that Al Qaeda is a CIA front, that Osama bin Laden doesn’t exist, and that the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11 were directed by Mysterious Forces In Our Own Government — yeah, right! Whatever he’s smoking, I don’t even want to take a single hit of it! I love LewRockwell.com, of course: It’s the leading “movement” Libertarian web site. And, yes, I’ve been in the same room with both Lew and Alex Cockburn: at the first Antiwar.com national conference, held some years ago, which both attended and spoke at. I’ve known Lew for many years, and I’ve known Cockburn for about five years. Both are great guys: I’ve never met Alex Jones, and if I can avoid meeting him I certainly will continue our non-acquaintance.

U.S. World Police Force

Excluding Iraq, Afghanistan and the other facilities in the Gulf states that have been built since the Republican war, the Pentagon lists 702 overseas bases in 130 foreign countries on which are stationed more than 250,000 uniformed troops. There are also dependents and civilian employees on many of those bases.

One of the oldest military clichés is that the generals always want to fight the last war over again. Well, there's some truth to that. In fact, though, we will never again fight World War II, so why in the heck do we have bases still in Germany, Italy, Japan, Guam and South Korea?

Just whom do we expect to fight from these bases? How do they contribute to the defense of the U.S.? They don't...

I don't wish to disillusion anyone, but Asia and Europe are not our responsibilities. If there is any need for defense, it is the responsibility of the countries on those continents. We know from personal experience that Japan and Germany can field large and competent armies if they should decide they need them. They do not need our protection...

Americans need to realize that we are not the police force of the world. It is not our responsibility to overthrow dictators or effect regime change in other people's countries. It is not our responsibility to stop slaughters such as seem to be a permanent feature of Africa.

Global Warming Disbeliever

Check out this article by Pat Buchanan. It's pretty much exactly how I feel, but with Pat's literary wizardry.

Is then global warming – a steady rise in the temperature of the Earth to where the polar ice caps melt, oceans rise 23 feet, cities sink into the sea and horrendous hurricanes devastate the land – an imminent and mortal danger?

Put me down as a disbeliever.

Like the panics of bygone eras, this one has the aspect of yet another re-enactment of the Big Con. The huckster arrives in town, tells all the rubes that disaster impends for them and their families, but says there may be one last chance they can be saved – but it will take a lot of money. And the folks should go about collecting it, right now.

This, it seems to me, is what the global-warming scare and scam are all about – frightening Americans into transferring sovereignty, power and wealth to a global political elite that claims it alone understands the crisis and it alone can save us from impending disaster.

Christian Just War Theory

Ron Paul Tzu

Dr. Ron Paul of Texas is our American sage. He merits the honorific tzu, meaning "master," given to the great thinkers of Chinese antiquity: K'ung Fu Tzu (Confucius), Meng Tzu (Mencius), Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Sun Tzu and others. Ron Paul Tzu is both a Confucian gentleman and a Taoist sage.

"When words lose their meaning, people lose their liberty (ibid. XIII, 3)."

"What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others (ibid. VX, 24)"

"An oppressive government is fiercer and more feared than a tiger (The Record of Rites II, 2)."

"by [governmental] inactivity the people will of themselves become prosperous."

"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare (ibid. II, 4)."

Ron Paul: A New Hope

Whiten Your Teeth

with strawberries.

I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds interesting.

The problem with most current tooth-whitening products, both over-the-counter versions and those performed in your dentist’s office, is that they use hydrogen peroxide to whiten your teeth.

This is not your best choice because peroxide can cause your teeth to become sensitive. Additionally, hydrogen peroxide forms radical intermediates that can damage and destroy your gums and nerves.

What causes your teeth to become discolored in the first place? Tooth discoloration is caused by colored molecules such as tannins and polyphenols -- found in red wine, coffee, and tea -- which become absorbed by your tooth enamel’s surface.

Cigarettes, blueberries, and other foods that contain dark pigments can also discolor your tooth enamel.

If you’re looking for a safer alternative to brighten your teeth, you can try this simple trick:

• Crush one ripe strawberry and mix it with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.
• Spread the mixture onto your teeth and leave on for five minutes.
• Brush your teeth with a little toothpaste (non-fluoride, of course) and rinse.
  

This natural mixture works because of the malic acid it contains, which acts as an astringent to remove some of the surface discoloration on your teeth. Though this method is perfectly safe to use on occasion, don’t use it too often (no more than once a week) because the acid could potentially damage your tooth enamel.