Democracy at Work: Influenza Fuels Draconian Legislation

As stated in the story previously posted here, a democracy will do anything to remain safe and secure. Introduced and passed unanimously by the Massachusetts Senate, S18 will institute martial law in the event of an influenza outbreak.

According to this new bill, the the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will be given power:

(1) to require the owner or occupier of premises to permit entry into and investigation of the premises;

(2) to close, direct, and compel the evacuation of, or to decontaminate or cause to be decontaminated any building or facility, and to allow the reopening of the building or facility when the danger has ended;

(3) to decontaminate or cause to be decontaminated, or to destroy any material;

(4) to restrict or prohibit assemblages of persons;

(5) to require a health care facility to provide services or the use of its facility, or to transfer the management and supervision of the health care facility to the department or to a local public health authority;

(6) to control ingress to and egress from any stricken or threatened public area, and the movement of persons and materials within the area;

(7) to adopt and enforce measures to provide for the safe disposal of infectious waste and human remains, provided that religious, cultural, family, and individual beliefs of the deceased person shall be followed to the extent possible when disposing of human remains, whenever that may be done without endangering the public health;

(8) to procure, take immediate possession from any source, store, or distribute any anti-toxins, serums, vaccines, immunizing agents, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical agents or medical supplies located within the commonwealth as may be necessary to respond to the emergency;

(9) to require in-state health care providers to assist in the performance of vaccination, treatment, examination, or testing of any individual as a condition of licensure, authorization, or the ability to continue to function as a health care provider in the commonwealth."

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~Benjamin Franklin

All the Better to Keep You Safe, My Dear!

With the Hurricane Gustav non-crisis going on, I feel that this would be a good time for a discussion of mandatory evacuations and the dangers thereof.

Just how caring is the U.S. Government for our personal safety?
It would appear to me that the U.S. and state governments are using the excuse of "safety" from natural disasters as pretext to take guns and generally loot homes and businesses.

To begin with, there’s Katrina: a category 5 hurricane that struck New Orleans, the filthiest sinkhole of sin and crime in the South.

There, one of the most wretched usurpations of power ever seen after a natural disaster took place. I’ve mentioned it before, but, for the moment, I shall resurrect the little-reported story of the Katrina gun-confiscation of 2005:



Also from Katrina, New Orleans police looting a Wal*Mart store:



Katrina is not the only recent natural disaster in which tyranny reigns; Greensburg, Kansas also felt the sting of usurpation. I cannot adequately express the importance of this nationwide issue.

Now, Louisiana residents are faced with homelessness because the "Authorities", formerly known as "Civil Servants", aren't allowing them back home.

Don't ever evacuate, it may be more dangerous!

Belligerent Vermin

Our small farm has been plagued over the past year by filthy scoundrels of all sorts: cats, coons, and coyotes. (Also possums, but I didn’t want to interrupt the alliteration.)
The dirty thieves have been making off with egg and chick alike.

We’ve nabbed a few of the wily intruders, such as a couple of cats and a few possums, rest their souls. But the one critter yet to be whipped is the infamous coyote.

Those rascals have made several appearances over the past several months, with us never even knowing they were there until we looked out the window.

The first time we saw one, it was just standing there outside the window, looking for the weaker prey item.

We chased after it (anyone who‘s ever tried to nab a coyote knows how that usually goes), but to no avail. We may have hit him on the run with our small-arms fire, but if we did, it didn’t show. The next time we saw one, it was making off with a small chicken in the front yard. It too got away.

About a week ago, my Dad was casually going to and fro outside when a commotion of clamoring chickens startled him. Sure enough, running right for him was a hen being chased by a coyote. Not wanting to leave the chicken to be eaten, instead of running inside to get a gun, he rushed towards the coyote. The old song-dog saw him coming towards him and casually trotted away; that’s a bad sign.

That coyote should have darted away instead of trotting.

Oh well, the more brazen they are, the easier it will be to drop them.

The next time such a haughty mongrel appears, he will be met with the resounding clash of arms.

Check back for updates.