See problem. Complain about problem. Wonder why nothing changes. You’re here because that’s not good enough for you. Quill Sword is here because it shouldn’t be good enough for anyone. We don’t have to accept the status quo – we can work for good changes. And we start with having an idea of what the solutions should look like. One set of solutions involves curtailing government power – this is not a bad way to go. The Institute for Justice, … Continue reading “Making Things Better – Long Term Solutions”

The Institute for Justice has done a comprehensive report on municipal fines and fees. It’s not exactly easy to decide what is and is not excessive. After all, if the municipality gets to keep the money, what establishes what percentage those fees should or should not be of the municipality’s overall budget? Is 5% reasonable? What about 25%? I think the very fact that it’s difficult to determine the threshold of excessiveness is an indication that we’re asking the wrong … Continue reading “Choices: Bad Justice”

We have become a very, very well regulated society. Many of us would argue a little too regulated but that’s a discussion for another day. But most of us agree some regulation makes sense – there are some things that we want government to be able to stop or to change. But what kinds of things – what’s the purpose of all these codes? Short answer – to protect the public safety, by regulating unsafe conditions or actions where they … Continue reading “What Are Codes For, Anyway?”

We all know how this argument goes. Someone suggests that we should reform some part of the criminal justice system. Five minutes later, two normally rational people are glaring at each other and utterly convinced the other person is out to wreck society. The weirdest part is that they usually agree on most of the issue – they may even agree on the nature of the problem – but the solution, not so much. There’s the ‘but they are just … Continue reading “Is It Justice?”

If you’re old enough to have even a vague memory of the Seventies, you likely remember movies and TV depictions of the small town speed trap, the corrupt judges and lawyers, the greedy mayor all arrayed against the hippie hero who falls into their clutches. The hero wasn’t always a hippie – but the system was always corrupt to its core. The idea that every small town in every state (not just the South) was out to victimize as many … Continue reading “Taxation By Citation”

This is a topic very near and dear to me. Yes, I realize it’s not purely a political issue – well, at least not in the sense that we necessarily need to look to government for changes. But poverty IS a critical political issue – and this topic concerns one of the factors in that. Let’s be clear – this affects those lower middle class and below. If you can afford to buy a $250,000 house and the bank doesn’t … Continue reading “Rental Trap”

Just a few months ago every conservative commentator on YouTube was certain that the end was nigh – or so it seemed. Now, to be fair, the election was a heavy blow and the blatant injustice of the media’s treatment of the nothing burger of January 6 so it’s understandable that many conservatives felt as though America herself might be utterly lost. More than one commentator expressed their frustration that Republicans, conservatives, you name it, weren’t doing enough – or … Continue reading “Let The Games Begin!”

There was a time when choosing a political party was not terribly difficult. You either picked the party of your parents or the one that best represented a particular issue important to you – both in the same party if you were lucky. When you became disillusioned enough, you could declare yourself an Independent and reek as much havoc as possible on election politics. There’s growing and alarming evidence that an elitist ruling class has infiltrated both parties, making the … Continue reading “Republican, Democrat, Beggar Man, Thief”

If you are fully convinced you are in the right, then don’t quit on it when it gets hard. If you know you are in the right morally, don’t quit when everyone else decided to do what’s wrong. If you know it’s the ethically right thing to do, then don’t quit when no one else is doing it. Basically, don’t quit. The medieval period lasted about a thousand years. During most of that time, slavery was absent from Europe. The … Continue reading “Don’t Quit on What’s Right”

Although I am a conservative, I’ve never been enamored with Reagan. I will concede that he was a much better president than I gave him credit for back in the day but a saint, he wasn’t. Still, one thing I always knew he had right was ‘trust, but verify’. Now, Reagan used that slogan in the Cold War talking about nuclear disarmament treaties with the Soviet Union but it’s really a very common sense approach to all information. We don’t … Continue reading “Information: Being Our Own Fact Checkers”