DemandSphere

CEO Ray G. mentions some formative books.

Expedient Homemade Firearms

Now that Paladin Press is defunct, I'm finding books they used to publish that are now out of print.  I have to wonder how one gets started in the publishing business...and if one could license some of Paladin Press's old texts.

One of the publications was by Philip Luty, Expedient Homemade Firearms.  It sounds like a practical text to have in addition to the more modern version by Cody Wilson.  Unfortunately, a well-used copy is over $100 on Amazon.  Unfortunately, Mr. Luty passed away in 2011, so unless his estate has someone looking to sell the rights to the book, it will likely remain out of print.

Children and the State

In my social media travails I've run into the following quote, attributed to Adolf Hitler:

It [the State] must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. . . .  And conversely it must be considered reprehensible: to withhold healthy children from the nation. Here the state must act as the guardian of a millennial future in the face of which the wishes and the selfishness of the individual must appear as nothing and submit.

I was trying to find if this was in fact what was said, since the current progressives in the U.S. seem to be spouting the same line.  It appears to be from Mein Kampf, and Project Gutenberg in Australia has one translation:

It must proclaim the truth that the child is the most valuable possession a people can have. It must see to it that only those who are healthy shall beget children; that there is only one infamy, namely, for parents that are ill or show hereditary defects to bring children into the world and that in such cases it is a high honour to refrain from doing so. But, on the other hand, it must be considered as reprehensible conduct to refrain from giving healthy children to the nation. In this matter the State must assert itself as the trustee of a millennial future, in face of which the egotistic desires of the individual count for nothing and will have to give way before the ruling of the State.

Pretty sick stuff, to lay claim to others' children.

It's odd that the main Project Gutenberg doesn't have the text of Mein Kampf.  Afraid people will read it and be disgusted with the modern-day progs?

Books

• Harvey Silverglate, Three Felonies a Day (examples)
• Mira Locher, Zen Gardens: The Complete Works of Shunmyo Masuno, Japan's Leading Garden Designer
• Bill Gifford, Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (or Die Trying)
• Damon Root, Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court

Links from FB

Stefan Molyneux on the Hypocrisy of Gun Control (from 2007):

In general, the argument for gun control comes down to this.

Guns are used to commit crimes.
A crime is defined as the initiation of violence against a peaceful citizen.
Thus guns must be restricted or banned, in order to reduce crime.

It is easy to see the illogic of this argument. How does the government go about banning guns? Why, by initiating violence against those who possess them “illegally.” Thus there is no way to ban guns without initiating the use of force – in other words, a certain crime must be committed for the sake of possibly preventing an unknown crime at some point in the future. We might as well jump off a cliff when we are 20 to prevent the possibility of falling off a cliff when we are 70.

Indeed, anti-rights activists ignore the aspect of who is doing the confiscating. The implicit statement is that the government has the authority to do all of this, "for the greater good".

A blogger with "A Message for My Beloved Children Who Insist Their Lives Are Really Really Hard"—ugh, HuffPo, but it's a funny post.

How Different Cultures Understand Time, by author Richard Lewis.

The guy who created the company that made the Video Toaster, Tim Jenison, did an analysis of how Vermeer may've created his photo-realistic images--which was turned into a movie by Penn & Teller.

Revolutionary War Books

A list from a thread on the Appleseed forum:

Robert Gross "The Minutemen and their World."
David MccCllough "1776"
David Hackett Fischer "Albion's Seed" and "Liberty and Freedom" and "Washington's Crossing"
Stephen Halbrook "The Founder's Second Amendment"
Peter Oliver "Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion, a Tory View"
Richard Lacrosse "The Frontier Rifleman"
Lyman Draper "King's Mountain and it's Heroes"

Edit [2013.01.03]:
An Appleseed Radio email also noted:
Thomas B. Allen "Tories"
Esther Forbes "Johnny Tremain" (fiction)

The Shape of Things That Hide

A guy I know self-published a book of short stories on the Tokyo life.  It's available on Lulu, and soon to be available on Amazon.

Modified Mel's Mix

I've got the 1st edition of SFG, and the recipe for soil is, shall we say, daunting for beginners.  Apparently in the 2nd edition of SFG, the author Mel recommends a mix of equal parts peat moss, vermiculite, and compost.  I found mention online of a modified version of "Mel's Mix" that recommends half compost, and quarter parts peat moss and vermiculite.  That's nicer since vermiculite is fairly expensive locally ($35 for 4 cu ft).  You can get vermiculite for insulation, but I have yet to assuage my concerns of it being "garden grade".

Top 100 SF/Fantasy Titles?

Found on VftP, a list of the top 100 SF/fantasy books, apparently from an NPR poll. Ought to be able to glean some new items for my reading list....

Survival Lit

An article over at Alpha Rubicon lists a bunch of books one ought to have on hand.  Perhaps they're worth checking out.

Dare to Prepare

There was a link to this book on Sipsey St a couple weeks ago.  I haven't decided whether to get it or not; I need a more in-depth assessment first.

Libertarian Publications

I've been looking for a copy of 101 Things to Do 'Til the Revolution by Claire Wolfe, but can't seem to locate non-used copies for a reasonable price. I hope it's not out of print, but it sure seems that way. The publisher is Loompanics, which according to Wikipedia has gone out of business and Paladin Press, publisher of The Ultimate Sniper, has picked up some of the titles. Unfortunately they don't appear to be as bulk-purchase friendly as Loompanics was.

Incidentally, I found a scanned copy of the aforementioned book on Scribd. There's also an online bookstore called Laissez Faire Books that sells libertarian-type printed matter.

Apparently a revised version of the Wolfe book is available as The Freedom Outlaw's Handbook, published by Paladin Press.

Furthermore, a mirror of the apparently now-defunct clairewolfe.com exists. Fight on!

A Logic Named Joe

I need to read this at some point.