Here’s an interesting story of home defense from China. This fellow doesn’t appear to be suicidal as he is hoping to play national officials against the local officials who are harassing him.

China farmer uses cannon to fight eviction (link)

BEIJING (AFP) – A farmer in central China has turned his home into a fort equipped with a homemade cannon and fireworks to fight off government eviction in an ongoing land dispute, state media said Wednesday.

A man’s home is his castle, indeed.

The Free Gaza flotilla has been attacked. A number of people have been killed. I’ve supported Free Gaza since they sent the SS Liberty to Gaza in August 2008. That ship was named after the USS Liberty, the US Navy ship attacked by Israel on June 8, 1967. Thirty four Americans were killed on that day including a man named John Spicher who went to school with my mother. Now Israel is killing people I am proud to call my friends. All they were trying to do is help people left homeless by Israeli war crimes.

Photo of my Mom’s friend, John Spicher of the USS Liberty:

http://www.ussliberty.com/spicher.htm

Photos of the attack on Free Gaza:

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-55384-2.html

I called the State Dept. this morning and the woman who answered the phone said they have received over a thousand calls in protest of this act of murder. She said the government won’t actually do anything about it today as they are on vacation but she assured me that Hillary Clinton will be on the job come Tuesday. I wonder what kind of left handed statement she’ll come up with to signal continued US support for Israel’s crimes with a modicum of regret for the loss of my dead friends.

Time to wipe away my tears for now and make some more calls and get on freegaza.org and send more money. I will not be cowed. Free Gaza will not be stopped. Palestine will be free and peace will prevail.

Darren McPhilimy

Frank Costanza’s holiday creation, Festivus (from the television series Seinfeld), famously included a tradition known as “The Airing of Grievances.” This tradition has been shared by people from around the world and since the beginning of time. One can be certain that Brennan the Soothsayer nearly came to blows over the finer points of augury with his brother-in-law Felan the Bard during some long ago solstice celebration just as this Christmas will see cousins Tom and Mary get into a shouting match over perceived political differences even before anyone has had a chance to ask for a second helping of turkey.

The little Lord Jesus, secure in his manger, made no cry, but the poor little fellow would scarcely have a chance of enjoying even a short, heavenly nap if he found himself swaddled in a comfy living room chair somewhere in America this Christmastime. While economic concerns have reduced the seasonal bounty of shiny toys and gee-whiz gadgets, the political climate offers an abundance of topics for futile and often hurtful arguments to be enjoined around the dining room table.

While pre-recorded sounds of holiday cheer warble unnoticed in the background, Climategate, healthcare Hell, Obama’s disappointing first year in office, and the economy are certain to burst to the forefront no matter how much the host might silently pray that everyone will keep their mouths shut for just this once. The contradictory talking points of falsely divergent philosophies will blend inharmoniously with the ghosts of Christmas past – Mom’s been lending him more money, their kids just will not behave, she’s drinking too much again this year – and threaten to displace wassailing with wrestling.

But as you find yourself shouting at Aunt Louise for the umpteeth time that the polar bear population is on the mend take heed of that exasperated voice which will inevitably rise up to end the argument, not by awarding victory to one side or the other but by demanding that all parties must “agree to disagree.”

Agreeing to disagree may be seen as an act of submission or surrender but if it can bring even a brief holiday truce between those possessed of longstanding resentments then it is a godsend and especially appropriate in the Christmas season. And if the political banner you fly in the midst of such holiday brouhahas is a love of liberty and a commitment to freedom then agreeing to disagree seals your victory both rhetorically and practically.

Unique among modern political participants, libertarians can and should display the virtue of agreeing to disagree. As a stop-gap measure to end the flow of familial blood at a holiday gathering, agreeing to disagree has its limited benefits. But to practice the virtue of agreeing to disagree on a regular basis, one must recognize the virtues of liberty and self determination.

If Aunt Louise takes Luddite vows in an attempt to combat global warming this will be of no concern to you as long as she is willing to stop haranguing you in regard to the gas mileage you get from your decade old pickup. If you can cut through Cousin Fred’s fears of foreign terrorists just long enough to remind him that the practical application of his rhetorical support for limited government means that you should not be forced to pay for guns and bombs to kill people whom you have never met and with whom you have no argument, then you can declare victory on that small front.

In a world where politics has been perverted far beyond the absurdity of Swift’s “Big-endians” and “Little-endians” and bitter rivals now seek to draw blood merely on the basis of who is “red” and who is “blue,” there are few opportunities for the virtues of agreeing to disagree to be appreciated. Agreeing to disagree should be more than a temporary method of taming frazzled nerves at holiday gatherings. Let us resolve that in the New Year we will not limit our focus to the trivial machinations of politicians and puppeteers but keep our eyes fixed firmly upon the virtues of freedom itself. Let us impress upon any rivals our willingness to allow them to live their lives as they see fit and make known our demand for an equal right to live our lives as we see fit.

In convincing our rivals to agree to disagree we obtain the only true and honorable peace. In such a compromise, individual liberty finds total victory.