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Liberty and Power

  • Jun 2, 2007

    Misinterpretation?

    by Liberty and Power

    According to this news story, we've all been misinterpreting Bradbury's Farenheit 451. Interesting. Guess I'll have to reread it now.

    Hat tip: Fark
  • Jun 1, 2007

    Caning Darwin

    by Liberty and Power

    [cross posted at Austro-Athenian Empire]

    Joseph Sobran suggests (conical hat tip to LRC) that people’s willingness to help or praise others refutes Darwinism and atheism, and defies Randian egoism. Let’s take these in turn.

    Darwinism: Sobran seems to imagine that if Darwinism were true, people would be interested solely in their o

  • Jun 1, 2007

    Oswald Did It, All By Himself

    by Liberty and Power

    That is the conclusion drawn by Vincent Bugliosi who proclaims that his new tome"settles all questions about the assassination once and for all."

    According to the author, "No reasonable, rational person - and let's italicize those words - can possibly read this book and not be satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that

  • Jun 1, 2007

    A Modern Morality Play

    by Liberty and Power

    Whatever the truth about man-made global warming, it has increasingly become the argument of choice to freeze progress. Read Mick Hume's essay on the current campaign to halt the growth of London's Stansted airport in Essex.
  • May 31, 2007

    Medical Marijuana Pioneer Rest in Peace

    by Liberty and Power

    Those patients suffering from AIDS, cancer needing chemo-therapy, MS, glaucoma and countless other maladies who find relief in the medical use of marijuana owe a great deal to Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a tireless advocate on their behalf. Sadly, the good doctor passed away from complications of cancer on May 20th. Fortunately for the world, Mikuriya left a
  • May 30, 2007

    The Value of Electoral Politics as Education: Juan Cole Defends Ron Paul

    by Liberty and Power

    Generally, I have pooh poohed the view that electoral politics can successfully"educate" the public in libertarian principles. The Paul campaign is changing my mind. Even if he fails to surge in the polls, he has done more to expose Americans to the libertarian antiwar perspective than any person in decades.

    Most significant of all is the positive response coming from people on the political left. Today's example is from

  • May 28, 2007

    The Science is Disputed

    by Liberty and Power

    Those who argue that drastic action must be taken immediately to save the planet from human induced global warming depend upon the idea that scientific inquiry is complete and beyond dispute. Douglas J. Keenan, who has published in the journal Theoretical and Applied Climatology provides an example showing this just is not so. Commenting on work by Chuine et al., using the harvest dates of grapes in Burgundy, France purporting to
  • May 27, 2007

    Alexander Cockburn Replies to His Critics

    by Liberty and Power

    "I began this series of critiques of the greenhouse fearmongers with an evocation of the papal indulgences of the Middle Ages as precursors of the 'carbon credits'—ready relief for carbon sinners, burdened, because all humans exhale carbon, with original sin. In the Middle Ages they burned heretics, and after reading through the hefty pile of abusive comments and supposed refutations of my initial article on global warming I'm fairly sure that the critics would be only to happy to cash in whatev
  • May 25, 2007

    Who Said This About Listening to Bin Laden?

    by Liberty and Power

    "Yesterday, in my speech, I quoted quotes from Osama bin Laden. And the reason I did was, is that I want the American people to hear what he has to say -- not what I say, what he says. And in my judgment, we ought to be taking the words of the enemy seriously."

    No, it wasn't Ron Paul this time.

    Answer: George W. Bush. Hat tip: James Ostrowski.

  • May 24, 2007

    Former Head of CIA Osama Bin Laden Unit Teams Up With Ron Paul

    by Liberty and Power

    Ron Paul has had a good week and it promises to get better. Z. Byron Wolf of ABC News reports that he will team up with Mr. Anonymous --Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA's Osama Bin Laden Unit, to appear at a join news conference on Thursday at the National Press Club. They will"argue that America's Mayor needs to bone up on his recent history."

    Hat tip

  • May 23, 2007

    Immigration, Secession, and Taxation

    by Liberty and Power

    [cross-posted at Austro-Athenian Empire]

    1. A frequent argument against secession is: What about the tax money that the rest of the country has invested in the would-be secessionist region for infrastructure, education, security, etc.? A region shouldn’t be allowed to secede until it first pays back the full costs of those investments.

    Now many things could be said in response t