Samizdata HQ is secure and the entry lights are finished and looking fab! Stay warm, guys.

Thanks Jax... don't drink ALL my whiskey!

I'm welling up with American pride; that view is as wonderful as any fairy-tale castle in Germany.

Looks infinitely preferable to being in some bullet-ridden African hell-hole, sunshine not withstanding.

Bag a Clinton for me Perry.

Looks like Verykino...keep the wolves at bay.

New Hampshire, Perry? It was that reference to free that got me speculatiing. You know, New Hampshire, live free or die land.

Welcome to the facist state that is BusHitler's AmeriKKKa.
/sarc off

Looks like New Cowshire.
Shooting in the states? Can I recommend 'Rent A Machinegun', at 2900 Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas. You only need to be over 21, and of course you can't leave the store. They have a range in the back where they only ask you not to shoot up the ceiling, and not to use long bursts. It's fairly reasonable and they have a good selection of WWII to modern machine pistols, revolvers and automatics.

And I am still in DC, returning to NYC for a week before going back to Belfast... or off to Wyoming. I know where I am going to be when I get there and home is at 30,000 feet MSL...

Freeish?
I venture that wherever you may be in the states, you are not being tracked throughout the day by security cameras. Nor are you in danger of being arrested for speaking your mind; even if it is done in a manner that offends protected religions (need I define which?) or persons of different ethniticy.

It is passing strange that folks from the UK or Europe continue to believe that their governments are less intrusive than that of the U.S.; despite all of the evidence to the contrary.

It may shock some to learn that the ordinary American does not feel at all threatened; either by gun-toting crazies or jack-booted government agents. It is all a figment of over-heated imaginations.

OldflyerBob in Virginia

Bob, I can only assume you are not a regular reader of this blog. The USA is in many ways a paragon of liberty compared to the UK and I am usually accused of being far to pro-American, but the notion that the USA is without some very seriously problems is preposterous.

Eminent domain taking and even more starkly asset forfeiture laws in the US have no parallel anywhere in the free world to my knowledge, these both make a complete nonsense of the 5th amendment of your own constitution. Try transporting a personal weapon through New Jersey and get stopped by a state trooper. So much for "keep and bear arms".

That is why I say "free(is)". If you think all is well in the USA, then the USA really has a problem.

Eminent domain taking and even more starkly asset forfeiture laws in the US have no parallel anywhere in the free world to my knowledge, these both make a complete nonsense of the 5th amendment of your own constitution.

Would you believe me if I said it was getting better? Well, a very little bit better. The forfeiture part, in some places at least, now requires actual proof that the seized items be either instrumentality or fruit of a crime, and strict liability is starting to go away.

And then there's that damn Kelo v. New London...naw, I don't feel much better after all. My state keeps looking for ways to fix eminent domain at the state level, but the bastards who run private toll roads seem to be able to block any real reform.

Try transporting a personal weapon through New Jersey and get stopped by a state trooper. So much for "keep and bear arms".

In 1986, Uncle Sucker passed a law on that. Along with a number of objectionable components, there was also a traveler's protection: as long as you can legally possess the weapon in the jurisdiction where you start your trip, and where you end it, and you don't have undue delays in a state where the weapon is prohibited, and the weapon is unloaded and locked away from the passenger compartment (which renders defensive arms useless...)

I hadn't heard about any problems with New Jersey, but I know that a number of people who qualified for the Federal protections were still arrested in Boston.

If you REALLY want offensive: A vaccine for HPV (which is linked to some forms of cervical cancer) was released last year and is heavily marketed for girls ages 11-12. HPV can be transmitted sexually, and the vaccine is most effective prior to the onset of sexual activity.

Here's the problem: a number of states are now considering FORCING grade-school girls to receive the vaccine. At a cost of about $400 for a full course. With the drug being on the market less than a year, and a limited amount of data as to its efficacy and safety. And only one company making (and profiting from) it. And for what's essentially a sexually-transmitted disease, and NOT one easily spread in the school environment, which is the usual justification for the other immunizations required for schoolchildren.

Sorry for the rant. I should learn to not drink six cups of coffee before going online.

No, I don't think everything is great in the U.S.

I do think that there is a greater level of freedom than is found in any other developed society. I sometimes become rankled by know-nothings who speak of fascism and Bushitlerism and other such BS.

I found the rant by Sunfish about the gun laws particularly humorous coming on a blog based in the UK.

The tricks being played with Imminent Domain are despicable and now that they have been exposed, I expect the backlash will bring it to a stop.

There is no question that the forces of Nannyism are always looking for new venues to exploit. I just don't think snide comments, i.e.; "Land of the Free(ish), a particularly intelligent or effective way of holding them off.

I assume everyone on this site are deeply involved in the politics of the respective countries represented here.

I do think that there is a greater level of freedom than is found in any other developed society.

In some ways, that is true and in others, nothing could be further from the truth.

I sometimes become rankled by know-nothings who speak of fascism and Bushitlerism and other such BS.

On this blog??? WTF? BTW, the term 'know-nothing' probably does not mean what you think it does.

I found the rant by Sunfish about the gun laws particularly humorous coming on a blog based in the UK.

Sunfish is an American policeman and thus rather well qualified to opine on the subject.

I often find the complacency of Americans about the state of liberty in the USA very very alarming, because complacency is how the UK ended up where it is now, and thus I find myself moved to make the sort of remark you found annoying because I feel it is actually a very good way of forcing Americans to confront the realities of their own country.

And just for reference, I am true creature of the Anglosphere... a UK-US dual national.

Perry,

An excellent short summary in your last post of the real threats to liberty in the US.

I am always horrified by the level of complacency I see.

Were you in New Hampshire BTW? It might be fun to meet a few of the regular commentators here.

Earl, I was in Pennsylvania most of last week but this particular picture was taken in New Jersey.