Latest notable terms from this week’s Slate Culture Gabfest and Slate Political Gabfest (feel free to email me suggestions or leave them in the comments to the main page). august (adj.) [JT, CG04-28-10] callipygian [JT, CG04-28-10] slanket [JT, CG04-28-10] wheelhouse [DS, CG04-28-10]
Last night I downloaded Magic Piano for iPad, by Smule (iTunes page; Smule page). This incredible app cost only $0.99. Several things about it startled me. First, the sound is very good–the imitation of piano sound, and the speakers on the iPad. Second, I didn’t realize the iPad’s multitouch allowed so many simultaneous touches to […]
A Tea Party-sympathetic friend sent me a link to a video, Tax Day Tea Party Racists Caught Saying N-Word!!, which mocks the people accusing the Tea Party of racism (the host can’t find anyone who will say the N word). My 6 year old was watching over my shoulder and says, “Dad, what’s the N-word?” […]
From his post Against Libertarian Nostalgia (linked in Preference Falsification: A Case Study): I’m sure that David [Boaz] would be happy to add genocide against American Indians to the list of historical crimes that libertarians ought never forget. But I wonder whether he’d join me in condemning the American Revolution itself as yet another unjust […]
My reply to Roman Pearah’s blogpost: You have to refer to property rights and force to define aggression. “using someone as a means” won’t cut it. In fact it’s perfectly okay to use people as means: see my discussion in Causation and Aggression–the section “COMPLICATING THE PICTURE: CAUSATION, COOPERATION, AND HUMAN MEANS” on p. 101. […]
Yet another thing Rand was good on. No offense quasi-mystical/collectivist types who “take pride in” belonging to ethnic, religious etc. groups like atavistic cavemen. Racism Racism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism. It is the notion of ascribing moral, social or political significance to a man’s genetic lineage—the notion that a man’s […]
Fundamentalist Christians are often “young earthers” who believe the Bible is literally true often think the earth and human history is only 6,000 to 10,000 years old–you get this by counting enumerated generations in the bible back to Adam and Eve. This leads to ridiculous theories about dinosaurs living contemporaneously with man, skepticism of carbon-dating […]
Update: see Open the Borders, End the Housing Glut My comment to Michael Barnett’s post Anti-immigration libertarians are treading in dangerous waters, where he linked to my article “A Simple Libertarian Argument Against Unrestricted Immigration and Open Borders“: Mike, my article was to provide a simple argument against unrestricted immigration. I did not imply that I […]
The recent case of the lost next-generation iPhone prototype can help illustrate the absurdity of intellectual property rights. The basic idea of IP is that information can be owned–patterns, recipes, methods, designs, and so on. Even Rothbard, in The Ethics of Liberty, makes this assumption in arguing for a type of contractual copyright: A common […]
See Roderick Long’s blogpost Left Cop, Right Cop. In my view, this just gives further support for the contention that we libertarians should associate ourselves with neither right nor left. Both are corrupt and statist. I have spoken.
Update: This was just a rant when I was in a bad mood. In actuality I like helping people, especially friends and fellow libertarians. So take the following with a grain of salt. However I do wish more libertarians had better manners when the approach others for help. SK *** I don’t mind giving free […]
Picture: Hey kids! The military wants you to know that if you eat right and exercise, a nice box like one of these could have your name on it one day.
School lunches called a national security threat!
Retired military officers say kids are growing up too pudgy for service
WASHINGTON - School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat.
Picture: Hey kids! The military wants you to know that if you eat right and exercise, a nice box like one of these could have your name on it one day.
School lunches called a national security threat!
Retired military officers say kids are growing up too pudgy for service
WASHINGTON - School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat.
Picture: Hey kids! The military wants you to know that if you eat right and exercise, a nice box like one of these could have your name on it one day.School lunches called a national security threat!Retired military officers say kids are growing up too pudgy for serviceWASHINGTON - School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat.That's not a reference to the mystery meat served up in the cafeteria line either.
My 6 year old loves when I have deep conversations with him. Well the other night we got into one about heat/cold, light/dark, good/evil. I started out with the physical things to lead him into the latter conversation, which was my main goal because of something he said about good and bad when we were […]
I’ve noted in recent posts that while some left-libertarians seem to oppose standard libertarians’ positive endorsement of “capitalism” for semantic or strategic reasons, for others they actually oppose the substance of what libertarians mean by (non-crony, non-corporatist) capitalism (see, e.g., Capitalism, Socialism, and Libertarianism, and links in that post; see also Wirkman Virkkala’s post A […]
Latest notable terms from this week’s Slate Culture Gabfest and Slate Political Gabfest (feel free to email me suggestions or leave them in the comments to the main page). “at university” [JT, CG04-21-10] baleful [SM, CG04-21-10] cowl [SM, CG04-21-10] eponymous [Alice Tynan, guest from Australia, CG04-21-10] garret [DS, CG04-21-10] hidebound [DS, CG04-21-10] Johns Hopkins [SM, […]
John Pilger describes how the rich and powerful have taken over and distorted the people's pleasure - sport, from Tiger Woods Inc to the World Cup, soon to begin in South Africa. Pilger looks at the way Fifa and multiple sponsors have invaded South Africa and ordinary South Africans have been pushed aside in the cause of profiteering.
Cato’s David Boaz in recent weeks generated controversy in the libersphere when, in his Reason article Up from Slavery, he chastised conservatives and libertarians, such as Jacob Hornberger, for failing to condemn or acknowledge slavery when they celebrate aspects of antebellum America: I am particularly struck by libertarians and conservatives who celebrate the freedom of […]
And, in the words of Groundhog Day’s Ned Ryerson, “It’s a doosy”. As noted previously (see Stop the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)), this treaty was being negotiated in secret and is an attempt to extend the reach of the west’s horrible and draconian IP (patent and copyright) regimes to other countries. As I noted, the […]
On Wednesday April 14th, I was invited to speak to the UConn Students For Liberty at the University of Connecticut. I had prepared a thirty-minute speech, and planned to devote another 30 minutes to Q&A. However, the audience included several socialists, and the entire event wound up running three hours.
I gave some of the speech. Even though the outcome was different from what I anticipated, and I didn't counter their objections as well as I would've liked, I thought the whole experience was great.
On Wednesday April 14th, I was invited to speak to the UConn Students For Liberty at the University of Connecticut. I had prepared a thirty-minute speech, and planned to devote another 30 minutes to Q&A. However, the audience included several socialists, and the entire event wound up running three hours.
I gave some of the speech. Even though the outcome was different from what I anticipated, and I didn't counter their objections as well as I would've liked, I thought the whole experience was great.
On Wednesday April 14th, I was invited to speak to the UConn Students For Liberty at the University of Connecticut. I had prepared a thirty-minute speech, and planned to devote another 30 minutes to Q&A. However, the audience included several socialists, and the entire event wound up running three hours.I gave some of the speech. Even though the outcome was different from what I anticipated, and I didn't counter their objections as well as I would've liked, I thought the whole experience was great.I have split it into two parts.
The scholarly libertarian journal Reason Papers, founded by Tibor Machan and currently edited by Aeon Skoble, just put its most recent issue online. (It’s hosted on the Mises Institute’s servers and I help with the online aspect.) Contents listed below: Issue No. 31 – Fall 2009 (Full Issue) Editorial Articles: Business Ethics Symposium Rival Paradigms […]
A new documentary is out, Patent Absurdity: how software patents broke the system: Patent Absurdity explores the case of software patents and the history of judicial activism that led to their rise, and the harm being done to software developers and the wider economy. The film is based on a series of interviews conducted during […]
I’ve posted recently about Net Neutrality–see Net Neutrality Developments and A Libertarian Take on Net Neutrality. There’s an interesting discussion about this and related issues on the EconTalk podcast, between host Russ Roberts and Yochai Benkler of Harvard. Benkler really knows his stuff and it comes thru in this fascinating and informative discussion. As he […]
On his blog, the hapless and inept Gene Quinn calls me a liar. He says that’s why he banned me from his blog. He’s lucky I believe defamation law is unlibertarian or he might be facing another lawsuit–but he’s already got his hands full defending himself from in another lawsuit from charges of making false […]
On a couple of facebook discussions (here and here, if you are friends with the right people), several people had some interesting and vigorous discussion of David Boaz’s article Are Libertarians Anti-Government? An edited version of some of some of my comments is appended below: Boaz’s piece implies that libertarians are all minarchists. This is […]
Facebook is cool. It helps bring back forgotten memories. A good example follows. I attended St. George Elementary in Baton Rouge for 8 years, and since joining facebook I’ve reconnected with several of my former classmates. Someone posted this picture of our sixth grade class (I’m sitting on the far right, front row). One of […]
Picture: My estimate of the audience members' average political position, based on the World's Smallest Political Quiz.
On Wednesday April 14th, I was invited to speak to the UConn Students For Liberty at the University of Connecticut. I had prepared a thirty-minute speech, and planned to devote another 30 minutes to Q&A. However, the audience included several socialists, and the entire event wound up running three hours.
Picture: My estimate of the audience members' average political position, based on the World's Smallest Political Quiz.
On Wednesday April 14th, I was invited to speak to the UConn Students For Liberty at the University of Connecticut. I had prepared a thirty-minute speech, and planned to devote another 30 minutes to Q&A. However, the audience included several socialists, and the entire event wound up running three hours.
Picture: My estimate of the audience members' average political position, based on the World's Smallest Political Quiz.On Wednesday April 14th, I was invited to speak to the UConn Students For Liberty at the University of Connecticut. I had prepared a thirty-minute speech, and planned to devote another 30 minutes to Q&A. However, the audience included several socialists, and the entire event wound up running three hours.I gave some of the speech.
There’s been a good deal of debate recently in libertarian circles about the word capitalism. Is it compatible with libertarianism? A synonym for it? Should we use it? For example: Voice of Radical Dissent podcast, Episode 109: “Capitalism; an interview with Walter Block and Brad Spangler” Walter Block: Say ‘Yes’ to Capitalism and ‘Capitalism’ Yesterday, […]
On today’s Slate Political Gabfest the hosts criticized Tea Partiers for misusing the word “socialism.” David Plotz said it’s “stunning” that Tea Partiers would say Obama is leading the country into socialism. After all, the Obamacare legislation benefited corporations such as insurance companies. The hosts accuse the Tea Partiers of basically engaging in equivocation: using […]
Latest notable terms from this week’s Slate Culture Gabfest and Slate Political Gabfest (feel free to email me suggestions or leave them in the comments to the main page). avidity [DS, CG04-14-10] épater les bourgeousie [Jodi Rosen, CG04-14-10] gestalt [JR, CG04-14-10] impresario [SM, CG04-14-10] inchoate [SM, CG04-14-10] malaise [pronounced “muh-lezz”] [CG04-14-10] nascent [JR, CG04-14-10] patois […]
Anarcho-pacifist Jason Ditz did some funny mini-movies about Rothbard and his parting from Cato, with various other libertarian characters thrown in. Recurring characters include Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Tom Palmer, Lew Rockwell, me, Karen De Coster, and others. Many of the movies contain in-jokes regarding various discussions by a group of libertarians on a freewheeling, funny […]
Those without any sound principles about rights and economics are totally confounded by the issue of gene patents. The author of “The absurdity of patenting genes,” in The Guardian, for example, first observes, “Patents are a sensible idea, because people are more likely to invest in innovation …”. But on the other hand, “patents also […]
Great illustration of the logic of MAD: the infamous “guillotine” cartoon: Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. It is based on the […]
Topic:
From Capitol Access Website: Denis and Lydia interview Brett V., host of the School Sucks Podcast and creator of SchoolSucksProject.com -- a project concerning, in his words, "the END of public education"
Brett is a professional educator who has come to realize that the basic design of public school "sucks" the creative capacity out of children, and also "sucks" wealth away from more productive uses.
Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
Topic:
From Capitol Access Website: Denis and Lydia interview Brett V., host of the School Sucks Podcast and creator of SchoolSucksProject.com -- a project concerning, in his words, "the END of public education"
Brett is a professional educator who has come to realize that the basic design of public school "sucks" the creative capacity out of children, and also "sucks" wealth away from more productive uses.
Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
Topic: From Capitol Access Website: Denis and Lydia interview Brett V., host of the School Sucks Podcast and creator of SchoolSucksProject.com -- a project concerning, in his words, "the END of public education"Brett is a professional educator who has come to realize that the basic design of public school "sucks" the creative capacity out of children, and also "sucks" wealth away from more productive uses.Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
Congratulations to Professor Peter Boettke on receiving the 2010 Adam Smith Award from the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE). Teaching economic literacy and the principles of liberty is absolutely essential to making progress in the fight against the state. Professor Boettke is to be commended for his tireless efforts in this regard. [TLS]
I blogged a year ago about the “Secret intellectual property treaty [that] could profoundly change life on the Internet.” At the time, the text was still secret but it was believed that the treaty: “seeks to set forth standards for enforcing cases of alleged copyright and patent infringement.” Now, as Cory Doctorow notes in How […]
Fellow guest Becky Akers and I discussed anarchy, the role of education in fighting statism, and related matters, with host Don Cooper on his Qaoss Talk Radio show, April 10, 2010. The show is archived here (local MP3).
In recent years the “Net Neutrality” movement has gained steam. This is an effort by various statists, interventionists, do-gooders, meddlers, and techno-ignoramuses who seek to have the government forbid network providers (e.g. cable companies, telcos, and wireless carriers) from selectively blocking certain types of Internet use–for example, to require companies to give Web users equal […]
Jeff, re your post LvMI Kindle editions, as I noted there, the Kindle app does not, as far as I know, natively support ePub files. However, the new iBooks format on iPad does. All you do is click on the ePub link for a given book (several are listed here)–or download the ePub file and […]
I’ll admit: for the last 3 years or so I’ve become an Apple fanboi. My first computer in 1984 was an Apple II+ clone–a Franklin Ace (unfortunately, Apple was able to use copyright law to get this competition squashed). But after that I was in the PC world, for almost 20 years. Until about 3 […]
I’ve been remiss on my duties… just busy at work. Plus there has been a lull in esoteric terms of late. But given my increasing renown (see My Bourbon and Cigar Entertaining Discussed on Slate Culture Gabfest), I better get back on the job! So, with that: the latest notable terms from this week’s Slate […]
