No Safe SeatNew IntellectualsA Mind of One's Own; I'm Only Interested in Freedom; these articles have their titles and text in this color and are featured this week in -
 
Ender's Review of the Web
 

Web articles of likely interest to individualists found during the week of Feb. 8-14, 2004.

 
Comments and suggestions on the content and structure of this review are welcome. To accommodate such discussion I have created a Yahoo group for it. That group is ERevD: EnderReviewDiscussion. Feel free to jump in there at any time.
 
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Political Liberty
Articles showing a positive influence of political action on the cause of Liberty.
 
Feds Back Off Case Targeting Antiwar Activists
        by Jim Lobe from Antiwar.com
"Civil liberties groups Tuesday hailed the withdrawal of subpoenas issued last week to four peace activists by federal prosecutors in Des Moines, Iowa as a significant victory, but insisted that the government must explain why they were issued in the first place."
 
Retiring Senator Stood Up for Principles
        by Radley Balko from FOX News
"He'[Sen. Peter Fitzgerald] retiring because his own party has turned on him and promised to run a primary candidate against him. That's because this particular senator decided that while he was in office he'd be his own man and vote his own conscience."
 
The Diminishing of John Ashcroft 
        by Nat Hentoff from The Village Voice
"In Brewster, anger at the Patriot Act has drawn together libertarians, an anti-tax group, and a Unitarian congregation, as well as a more traditional coalition of civil libertarians and anti-war activists."
 
Life in Amerika
Articles depicting the negative impact of politics on Liberty.
 
On campus, free speech causes indigestion
        by Robyn E. Blumner from St. Petersburg Times
"Here again is evidence of the way the political left is just as dangerous to freedom of expression as is the right. Virtuecrats may take aim at indecency and flag burning, but the diversitistas of the world have no tolerance for those who would question why white and Asian students are held to higher standards in college admission."

Is America Just Like China?

        by Abe Arias from Strike The Root
"How can the Federal Government provide an [tax] exemption to churches when it was never delegated such a power by We the People? It can't. To provide an exemption is to admit that the Feds properly exercise authority and dominion over religion in our nation. "
 
Shepherds of the Nation 
        by Jesse Walker from Reason
"Now as far as I'm concerned all this is an open-and-shut issue of free speech, disturbing not just because it puts a Washington agency in charge of what you're allowed to say and show on radio and television but because it has an obvious chilling effect on material that isn't nearly as pathetic as Bubba the Love Sponge's sophomoric jokes or Justin Timberlake's dance routines."
 
Ordered Liberty without the State
Some people say it's Anarchy, some say it's not possible. It is an interesting topic.
 
Don't Vote, Not Even for Martha
        by George F. Smith  from Strike The Root
"A vote for a candidate today is almost certainly a vote to further abridge your liberty, endanger your life, and make you poorer. The election winner won't return your surrendered rights -- if you voted for him, you must not want them back."
 
Flower Power
        by Robert P. Murphy from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"...[L]ibertarian groups that use the government to push through their (often dubious) agendas may be shooting themselves in the foot. If so, it is the responsibility of purists to speak up; Rush Limbaugh can adequately mock the Democrats."
 
No Safe Seat at the Feast
        by Sunni Maravillosa from Endervidualism
"So many libertarians believe that some amount of 'state service' is necessary to ensure and protect our liberties -- that voluntary arrangements and free markets just cannot provide for the well-being of peaceable individuals, nor build healthy societies. "
 
Spreading Decentralism
Articles demonstrating an increase in the dispersal of power.
 
Commuters soon may ride private boats
        by Kery Murakami from Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"As soon as this summer, the companies that take vacationers on scenic excursions of Puget Sound could ferry Kitsap County commuters to a far less relaxing destination: work."
 
Perils of Outsourcing
        by Cecil E. Bohanon and T. Norman Van Cott from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"The effect on U.S. living standards is the same as what would happen if a cost-reducing technology in software production occurred. Living standards rise either way."
 
The States and Outsourcing
        by Radley Balko from Tech Central Station
"American workers are still far more productive than, for example, Indian workers -- even when you factor in the lower wages. It's only when the onus of complying with federal, state and local tax laws and regulations becomes overly burdensome that it makes economic sense for a corporation to shop jurisdictions for a better deal."
 
The New World Hegemon
Depictions of the coming Imperial power
 
Iraqi Sanctions: Were They Worth It?
        by Sheldon Richman from The Future of Freedom Foundation
"Saddam did not use the sanctions as an excuse to let the Iraqi people starve. The New York Times and Washington Post reported that he maintained an elaborate food-rationing program, presumably to hold the loyalty of the Iraqi people, which the sanctions were intended to dissolve."
 
Global Volatility Facilitates Global Financial Integration
        by Joan Veon from NewsWithViews.com
"After doing extensive research on the 1997 Asian Crisis, I found that Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Korea and Japan did not want to open their financial borders to the World Trade Organization Financial Services Agreement. As such, their currencies were crashed."
 
Training the sheeple
        by Andy Nowicki from The Last Ditch
"That is to say, is there any other reason for the segment's existence in an otherwise forgettable and innocuous article? -- other than to further train the masses to fall in line with the accepted, and officially enforced, prejudices of our age...."
 
Politics by Other Means
War, rumors of war, and politicians fomenting war.
 
Campaign Diary: Hail, Kerry: Senator Facing-Both-Ways
        by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair from Counterpunch
"Kerry voted for Clinton's crime bill and for Clinton's Counter-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act which set the template for Bush's Patriot Act, which Kerry, who now loses now opportunity to belittle the insipid John Ashcroft, also saw fit to support."
 
For Bush, It's All Unraveling
        by Alan Bock from Antiwar.com
"Would we like it if every country believed it had the right to enforce 'regime change' though military force on countries halfway around the world?"
 
George W. and the uses of stupidity 
        by Stephen J. Sniegoski from The Last Ditch
"In short, in the Russert interview, Bush's lack of intelligence was fully evident to any half-observant viewer. But Russert was unable to isolate the inconsistencies and outright lies in the Bush administration because of Bush's failure to answer the questions, the incomprehensibility of some of his answers, and the sheer simple-mindedness of most of what he said."
 
Spontaneous Order
Articles showing decentralized successes.
 
Payday Lending: Serving the Unbanked
        by Mike Foley from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"On the margin, it is the borrower and lender who are most fit to decide the appropriateness of any transaction--not the Center for Responsible Lending, or a congressman."
 
Word Play 
        by Jacob Sullum from Reason
"Such a switch may seem like a word game, but it would reflect an important reality: Civil marriage is not synonymous with 'the sacred institution of marriage,' which existed long before the state started doling out marriage licenses."
 
The New Intellectuals
        by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. from LewRockwell.com
"But we live in times that devour anyone who aspires to be the one all-controlling national or international will. Real intellectuals -- and they are everywhere today -- will never stand for it."
 
Nonspontaneous Disorder
Articles showing centrally planned disasters.
 
Free market doesn't mean pro-business
        by Bruce Bartlett from Townhall.com
"The last thing most businessmen want is a free market, where they must compete, slash prices, continuously innovate, suffer narrow profit margins and live constantly on the edge of bankruptcy."
 
The Plot to Stop the Internet Telephone Revolution
        by Adam Thierer and Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. from Cato Institute
"Often, however, when the fears over technological change reach a fever pitch, certain interests substitute a political response for a market response. For many, adjusting or abandoning an old business model is just not an option they are willing to consider."
 
The State of Evolution
        by Emiliano Antunez from Strike The Root
"The welfare state ensures the propagation of a large number of undesirable genes for generations to come."
 
War Is The Health Of The State
War is the ultimate State intervention in society.
 
Advice from a Savvy Investor in the Israeli Occupation: Go to Gaza
        by Uri Avnery from Antiwar.com
"Once there, you can obtain the villa you have dreamt about all your life, with two floors and a green lawn, for next to nothing. The State is rich."
 
End Game
        by Chris Floyd  from The Moscow Times
"The Bushists have only ever had two methods of masking the rapacious truth of their extremist ideology: sham and blood. Now that the sham is unraveling, right and center, they have just one card left to play: the death's-head joker -- war."
 
Sanctions: The Cruel and Brutal War against the Iraqi People
        by Jacob G. Hornberger from The Future of Freedom Foundation
"Our own government -- the U.S. government -- knowingly and deliberately implemented and maintained a cruel and brutal policy with the intent to target the civilian population of Iraq, with the full knowledge that it would cost the lives of countless innocent people, including innocent children."
 
Bits of History
The Past seen with a fresh look.
 
Happy Three-Day Weekend! (Or What Does Presidents' Day Mean To You?)
        by Bill Kauffman from LewRockwell.com
"When tradition faces off against the almighty buck, smart gamblers put their money on the money. Consider one of the overlooked revolutions of the '60s: the Uniform Holiday Act of 1968, under which Congress decided that George Washington's face on the dollar bill trumps George Washington's birthday."
 
Open Letter To Liberals Favoring Gun Confiscation
        by Liz Michael from LizMichael.com
"German gun control didn't begin under the Nazis. It began in large measure because of the Nazis. They did not demand it, though. It was being aimed AT them. Yes. You heard me right. Check your history."
 
The American West: A Heritage of Peace
        by Ryan McMaken from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"A century ago, the American West, and the process of homesteading and Americanization that took place in the lands West of the Mississippi River was seen as a triumph of American drive, ingenuity, and courage; a sheer act of will that required hard work, perseverance, and above all, a spirit of independence and individualism."
 
War and Peace
Articles showing the nature of War.
 
Iraqi Sanctions and American Intentions: Blameless Carnage? 
        by James Bovard from The Future of Freedom Foundation
"One major reason for the animosity to U.S. troops is the lingering impact and bitter memories of the UN sanctions imposed on the Iraqis for 13 years, largely at the behest of the U.S. government."
 
New US Plans for Nukes Hypocritical, Say Experts
        by Thalif Deen from LewRockwell.com
"Both Boyle and Solomon also pointed to the US double standard in curbing nuclear weapons in the Arab world but ignoring Israel's nuclear arsenal."
 
Watching Propaganda Become Truth
        by Paul Craig Roberts from Antiwar.com
"As we are belatedly learning in Iraq, there are no easy military solutions to terrorism. If there were, Israelis would have achieved security many years ago."
 
Great Individuals In History
Some people stand out from the crowd.
 
Inventor - Thomas Alva Edison : Feb. 11, 1847
        by Gerald Beals June from ThomasEdison.com
"Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison was not born into poverty in a backwater mid-western  town. "
 
Economist - Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk : Feb. 12, 1851
        by Roger W. Garrison from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"Future goods trade at a discount, or alternatively, present goods trade at a premium. The payment of interest is a direct reflection of this intertemporal value differential."
 
Abolitionist - Frederick Douglass : Feb. 14, 1818 (approx)
        from University of North Carolina
"Douglass never lost a sense of attachment to the South. 'Nothing but an intense love of personal freedom keeps us [fugitive slaves] from the South,' Douglass wrote in 1848."
 
Culcha'
Books, Movies, TV, Media, Music, poetry, etc.
 
Chronicles of Earthsea
        an Interview of Ursula K. LeGuin from Guardian Unlimited
Ursula Le Guin' books include A Wizard of Earthsea, The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness and many others. This is an edited transcript of her online Q&A, in which she answered readers' questions about anarchism, utopias, Harry Potter, her favourite planets and the best Dr Who
 
My Precious
        by Russell Madden from Atlas Magazine
"Every person today who seeks to disarm his neighbor; who relishes banning peaceful behavior; who works to take what belongs to others; who hides behind the violence of his kindred spirits; all people who to whatever degree push these ideas and actions are to that degree evil."
 
Say You Want a Revolution
        by Ron Jacobs from CounterPunch
"It is up to today's radicals and revolutionaries to make the connections. Culture does matter. Even if it is only rock and roll."
 
The lighter side
Humor, satire, cartoons, parodies, food, popular music and other things to amuse.
 
Albinos Of The World Unite!
        by Fred Reed from FredOnEverything
"Being as I am an aspiring dead white male, I believe I could weary of hearing harsh words about what guttersnipes we are, and sludge, and sharpers, and impediments to civilization, and rapists and slave drivers and Marines: yes, and just no damned good."
 
Red alert! W dreams
        by Dave Barry from The Miami Herald
"The Bush administration says the Mars mission can be accomplished for only 143.8 zillion dollars, but critics claim that the true cost is likely to be much more like 687 fillion dillion dollars."
 
Gay Marriage
        from The Onion
Last week, the Massachusetts high court sanctioned same-sex marriages in that state. What do you think?
 
Deep Thought
Scientific and scholarly studies, philosophical essays, in-depth and longer articles.
 
A Mind of One's Own
        by Catfarmer from The Price of Liberty
"Nothing has value apart from a way of thinking, and the things that we value individually tell stories about the way we think."
 
A Wise Consistency
        by Rep. Ron Paul, MD from LewRockwell.com
"He attacked bull-headedness, believing that intellectuals should be more open-minded and tolerant of new ideas and discoveries. His attack targeted the flat-earth society types in the world of ideas. New information, he claimed, should always lead to reassessment of previous conclusions."
 
I'm Only Interested in Freedom
        by Sunni Maravillosa from The Price of Liberty
"What that means is that I don't care what anyone thinks of me, and I don't much care what anyone thinks of my ideas unless he or she can show me -- with clear, reasoned arguments free of loaded definitions -- where I'm wrong. If your view will help get us to a freer world, then I'm all for it."
 
Miscellany
Articles not easily classified.
 
Don't Look to Politicians for Inspiration
        by Sheldon Richman from The Future of Freedom Foundation
"Most politicians have spent their professional lives plotting to be in a position to spend other people's money in order to tell them how to live."
 
Cooling Down the Abortion Debate
        by Wendy McElroy from ifeminists.net
"The abortion issue is a reminder that not all problems are created by government ... but government can always make them worse."
 
Misplaced Honor for Politicians 
        by Tibor R. Machan from Strike The Root
"They do not hold honorable professions. They are, essentially, power brokers and wielders, not professionals standing up for peace and justice."
 
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