Archive for News
Is John Stossel becoming anti-war?
Posted by: |In April, I reported that John Stossel filmed an episode of his show at the Students for Liberty International Conference in 2011. The segment was interesting, but I was genuinely concerned that Stossel, despite being quite decent on many economics issues, had un-thoughtful view of war and history.
However, I was pleased to see the following clip of Stossel on the O’Reilly Factor, where Stossel defends Ron Paul and begins to sound pretty good on issues of foreign policy. It was rather funny, honestly, to hear Stossel say that Ron Paul is “right on everything” – including foreign policy. While Stossel doesn’t talk about jus in bello (ethics during war), where I had the biggest problem with him before, he has the right idea on jus ad bellum (justification for war). Take a look, it’s entertaining to watch that snake O’Reilly squirm and look like an idiot trying to pronounce Keynes’s name to say the least.
I should note, though, that there was a Federal Reserve in 1920. They just didn’t do much in that recession, and thus it lasted for less than a year.
Tags: Afghanistan, economics, ethics, iran, iraq, John Stossel, Media, News, war
News of the Week: Potpourri of Sorts
Posted by: |Recapping the interesting and noteworthy happenings of the last week.
Dilbert author Scott Adams finally explains how to get a real education.
ExxonMobil’s Perspectives Blog tells the truth about government restrictions on oil supplies.
It’s ridiculous that Barry Bonds can catch the attention of congress by being dishonest about steroid-use and have the government spend nearly $100 million trying to prosecute him, but dishonesty about war by presidents gets zero consideration. This country is off its rocker.
That being said, there are a few interesting presidential candidates now in the field. Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson has officially announced, as has Lee Wrights in the Libertarian Party. Note Lee’s campaign slogan: “Stop All War!”
Some books I have read this past month:
The Devil Reads Derrida, by James K.A. Smith – When I saw this title at the bookstore, I had to buy it. It is an interesting set of essays on a variety of topics ranging from art to politics. Smith is not a libertarian, but he is anti-war and definitely has an aversion to power in general. I think he may at times be confusing political libertarians with the philosophical position of libertarian free-will; such a mistake is forgivable even though I do not really agree with him on free-will either. Still, it is good reading.
Accompany Them With Singing, by Thomas Long – This book compiles Long’s research into Christian funerals. Considering how bizarre the modern funeral has become (at least to me) this was refreshing. Definitely recommended for the ministers out there.
Art for God’s Sake, by Philip Graham – This short work gives a good perspective on the use of art in society from a Christian perspective. Thankfully, the author does not make the mistake of saying all art must be religious to be valuable. However, I have some minor quibbles with some of his definitions. It is well worth the time to read it, which is only about 90 minutes anyway since it has less than 100 pages.
Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell – How do successful people become successful? I am fascinated by people who are at the top of their game, doing the biggest and best things in the marketplace, and I like to hear their stories. That is not exactly what Gladwell’s book covers, but it is thought-provoking nonetheless. Essentially, Gladwell tells the reader that success is due to a multitude of factors, many of which are not in anyone’s control whatsoever. In his estimation, there is no such thing as a “self-made man.” I would tend to agree, but you can always push certain factors toward falling in your favor.
The Dawkins Delusion, by Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath – The so-called “New Atheists” are exceedingly vocal (not to mention insulting) these days, and there is a growing body of literature where theologians, philosophers, and scientists respond to their work. The Dawkins Delusion is a fairly short response directly to Richard Dawkins’s latest book The God Delusion.
UPDATE: Apparently, Ron Paul is going to announce on Tuesday that he is running!
Tags: Book Reviews, drugs, economics, education, elections, energy, Libertarian Party, News
Libertarians call for permanent government shutdown
Posted by: |The Libertarian Party issued the following press release this afternoon. It’s pretty good, with one particular flaw but enjoyable nonetheless. Gotta love Wes Benedict, who is a good friend of mine from his days as LP-Texas Executive Director…
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WASHINGTON – As elected officials put on a dog-and-pony media show about a temporary shutdown of small parts of the federal government, the Libertarian Party calls for a permanent shutdown of most of the federal government.
Libertarian Party Executive Director Wes Benedict said, "Just think how a permanent government shutdown would allow so many Americans to regain the blessings of liberty.
"Education would blossom as the Department of Education ended its War on Learning, no longer wasting our money and preventing educational innovation with one-size-fits-all centralized mandates.
"Job opportunities at companies big and small would multiply, providing opportunity and choice for American workers.
"The world would enjoy peace as we withdrew our forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Our government spends almost as much on the military as the rest of the world combined. Millions of industrious men and women who work for the military and its contractors could be focusing on building up our economy, rather than tearing down others’.
"Crime would plummet as the government’s War on Drugs ended, no longer sustaining a giant violent black market and overfilling our prisons.
"The life of many poorer Americans would improve as welfare programs stopped, no longer trapping low-income families in an endless cycle of government dependency.
"All Americans would feel a huge burden lifted every April, as they were no longer required to wrestle with a byzantine and oppressive IRS.
"But most importantly, Americans would once again be free of unjust and unconstitutional violations of their unalienable rights."
Benedict added, "We’re not talking about eliminating the federal government. We want to end all federal activities that are not authorized by the Constitution, and we want to cut everything else as much as we can. In 2000, the federal government spent $1.8 trillion. This year it’s expected to spend $3.8 trillion. Things are going the wrong way — fast."
For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.
The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.
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I’m more of a fan of completely shutting down the Federal Government, but this proposal is far better than that of Rand Paul, who has specifically stated that he wants to provide an incentive for Congressmen to go back to work. I’m sorry Rand, I appreciate you and all that, but every day Congress is in session is prosperity and peace sucked away from this country. Don’t try to keep it running, shut it down now!
Tags: economics, government, Libertarian Party, News, rights
News of the Week: Of Memes and Clouds
Posted by: |I have been so busy the past few weeks that I haven’t really kept up with the latest happenings around the world, aside from the US military bombing the crud out of Libya… but let’s think happier thoughts for a moment. Why so serious? (NO Batman.) Here are a couple of fun things I happened across this week.
I am fascinated by cultural movements for a variety of reasons, and some of the most interesting cultural tidbits you find occur in the form of internet memes. The website Know Your Meme does an incredible job of documenting and explaining how these things develop and propagate, and this live presentation at a recent conference illustrates why they consider their work important to the preservation of cultural knowledge. It even has some implications to how we think about intellectual property (or the lack thereof). Best quote: “Culture isn’t just valuable when you can stuff it full of DRM and sell it.”
Also, if you haven’t heard about Amazon’s Cloud Player, check it out. It is AMAZING.
That’s all for now, enjoy your weekend!
Tags: culture, fun, internet, News, video
Quick Follow-up on the Value of News
Posted by: |I wrote my post about why I don’t watch the news some time ago. Now I see Bryan Caplan over at EconLog has posted about why he doesn’t believe news is valuable.
Somewhat different argument, but similar conclusion: turn off the news!
Tags: culture, News
Norman Horn is the creator and primary writer for LCC. Learn a little bit about him in the 