Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.'s Blog, page 2399

Las Vegas as San Bernardino II

The obvious question in the San Bernardino mass shootings in December 2015 was this: “Does the ballistics evidence at the murder scene show that the alleged shooters’ weapons were involved?”

I asked this ten days after the shootings.

The Washington Post reported this:

Agents from the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the ATF headed to the scene of the shooting to aid local law enforcement, authorities said.The 10 special agents from the ATF includ...

Can the Government Keep Us Safe?

Here we go again. The United States has been rattled to the core by an unspeakable act of evil perpetrated by a hater of humanity. A quiet, wealthy loner rented a hotel suite in Las Vegas, armed it with shooting platforms and automatic weapons, knocked out two of the windows, and shot at innocents 32 floors below. Fifty-nine people were murdered, and 527 were injured.

The killer used rifles that he purchased legally and altered illegally. He effectively transformed several rifles that emit on...

The Tax Donkeys

I would hazard a guess that an increasing number of tax donkeys are considering dropping out as a means of increasing their happiness and satisfaction with life.

Since federal income taxes are in the spotlight, let’s ask a question that rarely (if ever) makes it into the public discussion: what if the tax donkeys who pay most of the tax rebel? There are several likely reasons why this question rarely arises.

1. Most commentators may not realize that the vast majority of income taxes are paid...

The Future of the EU

Fascist Franco may have been dead for more than four decades, but Spain is still encumbered with his dictatorial corpse. A new paradigm has been coined right inside the lofty European Union, self-described home/patronizing dispenser of human rights to lesser regions across the planet: “In the name of democracy, refrain from voting, or else.” Call it democracy nano-Franco style.

Nano-Franco is Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose heroic shock troops were redeployed from a serious nation...

The Military-Entertainment Complex

“Mass shootings have become routine in the United States and speak to a society that relies on violence to feed the coffers of the merchants of death. Given the profits made by arms manufacturers, the defense industry, gun dealers and the lobbyists who represent them in Congress, it comes as no surprise that the culture of violence cannot be abstracted from either the culture of business or the corruption of politics. Violence runs through US society like an electric current offering instant...

Oil Changes

Changing a car’s oil is pretty simple – so it’s surprising it gets done wrong so often.

Sometimes, by “professionals”  . . . who actually aren’t.

See that part above about “simple.”

Many places that do oil changes (such as tire shops and quick-lube joints)do not pay trained mechanics to do them. Because trained mechanics have better things to do – and because most shops can’t offer a $19.99 oil and filter change and pay a trained mechanic to do them.

Not without losing money on the transactio...

Moment of Unity

“An act of pure evil,” said President Trump of the atrocity in Las Vegas, invoking our ancient faith: “Scripture teaches us the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

“Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence,” Trump went on in his most presidential moment, “and though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is love that defines us today and always will. Forever.”

Uplifting words....

RussiaGate

The answer to the question in the title of this article is that Russiagate was created by CIA director John Brennan.The CIA started what is called Russiagate in order to prevent Trump from being able to normalize relations with Russia. The CIA and the military/security complex need an enemy in order to justify their huge budgets and unaccountable power. Russia has been assigned that role. The Democrats joined in as a way of attacking Trump. They hoped to have him tarnished as cooperating with...

Libertarianism Summed Up

The Libertarian Forum, edited by Murray N. Rothbard; April 1, 1969.  The second issue of this obscure journal and already a tremendous insight.  But this can wait….

FBI And CIA

After identifying a stupefying (well, for the time) list of government and crony-corporate abuses, Rothbard offers:

Libertarians have every reason to view all of these matters with knowledgeable horror.  They could predict any enormity of the state simply because they know that enormities are the nature of the state, e...

Cops vs. Blacks

Let’s throw out a few numbers so we can put in perspective the NFL players taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem. Many say they are protesting against police treatment of blacks and racial discrimination. We might ask just how much sense their protest makes.

According to The Washington Post, 737 people have been shot and killed by police this year in the United States. Of that number, there were 329 whites, 165 blacks, 112 Hispanics, 24 members of other races and 107 people...