Aug. 21 - 27, 2005

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Ender's Review
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Web articles of likely interest to individualists found during the preceding week.
 

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Political Liberty

Articles showing a positive influence of political action on the cause of Liberty.

Hypocrites and Liars

      by Cindy Sheehan from LewRockwell.com

"American citizens who oppose the war but never had a conduit for their disgust and dismay are dropping everything and traveling to Crawford to stand in solidarity with us who have made a commitment to sit outside of George's ranch for the duration of the miserable Texan August. If they can't come to Texas, they are attending vigils, writing letters to their elected officials and to their local newspapers; they are setting up Camp Casey branches in their hometowns; they are sending flowers, cards, letters, gifts, and donations here to us at Camp Casey. We are so grateful for all of the support, but I think pro-peace Americans are grateful for something to do, finally."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/sheehan/sheehan14.html

Activists deserve praise, not harassment

      by Robyn E. Blumner from St. Petersburg Times

"Public protests can be inconvenient, annoying and noisy affairs. But our Constitution has chosen the mess of freedom and democracy over the order that comes with repression."

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/21/Columns/Activists_deserve_pra.shtml

A Response to Jonathan Cohn: Healthy Choice

      by Michael F. Cannon from Cato Institute

"In essence, health insurance regulation is a product. We pay government to ensure, among other things, that carriers actually pay our hospital bills. When we see regulation this way, it should come as no surprise that we are likely to see quality improvements and cost savings once its producers (states) are forced to be competitors, rather than indulged as monopolists."

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4363

Life in Amerika

Articles depicting the negative impact of politics on the cause of Liberty.

Will Colleges Respect Your Child's Rights?

      by Wendy McElroy from ifeminists.com

"[A] bizarre scenario occurs: Advocates of tolerance call for censorship. Champions of diversity narrow the range of expressible attitudes. This is a form of Newspeak , the fictional language in George Orwell's novel '1984' that depicts a totalitarian future. Orwell explained the purpose of Newspeak: To reduce the very ability of people to express subversive ideas and attitudes ('thoughtcrimes')."

http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2005/0824.html

'Blogger Favors Freedom First

      by Lady Liberty from Lady Liberty's Constitution Clearing House

"It's been just about a year since DuBois began producing his politically oriented 'blog. Entitled 'Erie Voices' after the Ohio county in which he resides, the 'blog is his way of publicizing and demanding accountability for what he says is unacceptable if not illegal behavior among local and Ohio state officials ranging from prosecutors to politicians, and from judges to law enforcement personnel."

http://www.ladylibrty.com/our_view_archives/2005/blogger-favors-freedom.html

PLUR Meets SWAT as Utah Cops Attack Electronic Dance Party

      from StoptheDrugWar.org

"The attack on Versus II, a challenge of the DJs organized by promoter Salt Lake City promoter and record store owner Brandon Fullmer, is the latest escalation on what has become an all-out assault on dance music parties and the 'rave culture' by authorities in Utah County. Located just south of Salt Lake City, the county prides itself on being the most conservative in the nation, and the Mormon-dominated county wants nothing to do with electronic dance music and the youth culture that enjoys it."

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/401/utah1.shtml

Ordered Liberty without the State

Some people say it's Anarchy, some say it's not possible. It is an interesting topic.

I'm Not Buying Bicycle Helmets

      by James Leroy Wilson from LewRockwell.com

"[T]he State is the problem, no matter where it originated, how it is structured, or the virtues of the occasional honest politician. This isn’t about, 'If we had someone like [insert your favorite President here], faith in our government can be restored.' I agree wholeheartedly with Cindy Sheehan that her son Casey was killed in the wrong war fought for the wrong reasons. But I think we must emphasize that all non-defensive wars are wrong, no President can be trusted, and faith in the government defies history and reason."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/wilson-jl/wilson-james28.html

Assassination and Anarchism

      by Adam Young from Strike The Root

"True political change can only come, not from the barrel of a gun, but from the throats and pens of reformers to bring knowledge to the people to get them to understand freedom and to understand the State. If you oppose the State, what makes you different from--and better than--the State is your ideas and your methods."

http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/younga/younga6.html

On the History of the Word "Voluntaryism"

      by Carl Watner from voluntaryist.com

"[I]ts very essence is liberty. It offends no man's conscience, exacts from no man's purse, favors no sect or party, neither enforces nor forbids religion in the schools, is open to all improvement, denies to no person the right of teaching, and gives to none the slightest ground for complaint. It is as just and impartial as it is free. In all these important respects it differs from systems which require the support of law and taxation."

http://www.voluntaryist.com/forthcoming/historyofvoluntaryism.php

Spreading Decentralism

Articles demonstrating an increase in the dispersal of power.

What to Do Tomorrow?

      by Jim Davidson from The Libertarian Enterprise

"I suspect that those who demand ever more power won't be afraid to go nuclear. When a major American city is nuked, and the Islamic fundamentalists are blamed, all sorts of demands will be made. Register for the draft, or you are unpatriotic. Register to vote or you are unpatriotic. Get an ear tag, or REAL ID. Get a tattoo for that forearm. Don't be taken in by these pleas of necessity. Do get among friends where you can find support to avoid, delay, and refuse."

http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle333-20050821-08.html

Self-Medicating in Burma

      by Kerry Howley from Reason

"The simple privilege of looking over our pharmaceutical options was revolutionary, but more so was the sense that our relationship to doctors had shifted from paternalism to partnership. We bookended every doctor's visit with our own research, Googled and re-Googled our symptoms, weighed differing opinions from Western and Burmese physicians. As the months wore on, we grew more confident of our ability to navigate our Asian maladies but continued to seek doctors -- as consultants, not demigods -- for advice."

http://www.reason.com/0508/fe.kh.self.shtml

The Presidency and Other Dinosaurs

      by Jonathan David Morris from The Free Liberal

"Maybe it's time for multiple, regional presidents, who are under less threat of assassination because they piss fewer people off. Or maybe it's time for no presidents at all. I don't know what the answer is. But I do know this: We live in a country of nearly 300 million people now. We live in a technological era, where seemingly everything is personalized. That shouldn't stop when it comes to politics."

http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/001342.html

The New World Hegemon

Depictions of the coming Imperial power

Pat Robertson Describes U.S. Foreign Policy

      by Jacob G. Hornberger from The Future of Freedom Foundation

"What's all the fuss about? All that Robertson has done is state publicly what has long been an important part of U.S. foreign policy -- assassination of foreign rulers who behave independently of Washington."

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0508o.asp

Jackassic Park

      by L. Neil Smith from The Libertarian Enterprise

"The process of stealing America from Americans is already well underway. Many of the country's parks and wildlife reserves are said to be under the control of the U.N., or at least operating in compliance with its dictates. Some even display signage to that vile effect. ... It should be clear by now that this fascist organization is a far greater threat than Al Qaeda ever dreamed of being."

http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle333-20050821-02.html

Mashing Maritime Migrants

      by Becky Akers from The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

"Such failures aside, the Coast Guard has a long history of 'protecting' us. It was established by the first Congress, proving that liberty was scorned even then. According to its website, the Guard secured the young nation in those days of imposts and tariffs by 'protect[ing] the collection of the federal revenue.' I always feel safer when the Feds are defended while they rob folks; don't you?"

http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=7140

Politics by Other Means

War, rumors of war, and politicians fomenting war.

Bush vs. the Mother

      by Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone

"'I never knew,' she said, sighing. 'Not only that I would become the face of the anti-war movement but also that I would become the sacrificial lamb of the anti-war movement.' I asked her if she was referring to all the personal attacks. She nodded. 'But I'd still do it again,' she said. 'Because it's so important.' Sheehan's political sincerity has been questioned, and in almost every case the charges against her have proved monstrous, calculating and untrue."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7581585

The Politics of Death: Assassination

      by Diane Christian from CounterPunch

"Many suddenly saw extremist Muslim fatwahs in a new light. What exactly is the difference between Ayatollah Khomeni pronouncing assassination penalty on Salmon Rushdie for insulting Islam and Reverend Pat Robertson pronouncing assassination penalty on Hugo Chavez for criticizing the US?"

http://www.counterpunch.org/christian08272005.html

WARNING: You Are Under Martial Law

      by Karen Kilroy from LewRockwell.com

"Whether or not you are old enough to remember the tragedy at Kent State, please pay attention to this history. As we head into the age of aggressive protests, the police response is becoming more violent, such as in Saturday's actions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Salt Lake City, Utah. In Pittsburgh, protestors marched the wrong way up a one-way street to close down an army recruiting office. Police used both tear gas and tasers to subdue the protestors, and one 68-year-old woman was even bitten by a police dog -- she was also arrested. In Salt Lake City, a crowd of 1,500 was tear gassed from helicopters."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/kilroy1.html

Spontaneous Order

Articles showing decentralized successes.

The Limits of Altruism and the Power of Self-Interest

      by Lloyd R. Cohen and David J. Undis from Tech Central Station

"We need to appeal to self-interest. After all, we use the incentive of self-interest to increase the supply of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. There is every reason to think it will also increase the supply of organ donors. Debate about the use of self-interest to reduce the organ shortage has focused on legalizing financial incentives. But a non-financial incentive that is already legal also has the potential to alleviate the organ shortage. We can create a very powerful incentive to donate by changing the way we decide who gets the organs that are donated. Let's make this the new rule: people who have signed up to donate their organs when they die shall be the first to get organs if they ever need them to live."

http://www.techcentralstation.com/082305B.html

Fishing For Birds

      by Betsy Mason from New Scientist

"Some researchers have suggested that many purported examples of cultural transmission can instead be explained by individuals discovering the skill on their own rather than following another's lead. But because the gull-baiting behaviour is so unusual, 'it would be hard to argue that it is individual learning', says ethologist Janet Mann of Georgetown University in Washington DC, one of the authors of the dolphin sponging study."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725144.000

The Oil Price Mirage

      by Pierre Lemieux from Ludwig von Mises Institute

"In his challenging 1981 book The Ultimate Resource, Simon showed that resource prices had generally decreased over time. The relative price of oil (in terms of other goods) has fallen by perhaps as much as two-thirds between the 1860s and today. During the same period, the price of oil in terms of salaries has decreased by more than 90%."

http://www.mises.org/story/1892

Nonspontaneous Disorder

Articles showing centrally planned disasters.

Evolution or Intelligent Design? -- None of the Government's Business

      by Sheldon Richman from The Future of Freedom Foundation

"Those of us who think that government has no business 'educating' children have long warned that such a role would take government where it ought not to tread. There is no such thing as value-free education, so government control of schools entails government’s imparting values to children. Look at the politicians and bureaucrats you are familiar with. Do you want them imparting values to your kids?"

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0508j.asp

Money for Nothing, or Worse

      by Robert Higgs from The Independent Institute

"According to the CBO's report, in the current fiscal year the U.S. government is gorging on some $2,142 billion of revenues, consisting of taxes, fees, charges, fines, and other species of extractions from the people's purses. This sum works out to approximately $7,500 for every man, woman, and child resident in this country, or $30,000 for a family of four average persons. Perhaps some of those people feel they are getting benefits worth at least this much. I myself don't have that feeling."

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1556

Locking Up Life-Saving Drugs -- Prescription laws make us sicker and poorer

      by Kerry Howley from Reason

"It was not always the case that a panel of 23 doctors could deny drugs to millions of potential consumers. Prior to 1938, Americans were free to obtain nonnarcotic drugs without a physician's blessing. As the MIT economist Peter Temin recounted in a 1983 study published by the Journal of Health Economics, prescriptions were simply a practical way for doctors to communicate with pharmacists. It was not until a scandal prompted consumer safety legislation that prescriptions became a requirement rather than a convenience."

http://www.reason.com/0508/fe.kh.locking.shtml

War Is The Health Of The State

War is the ultimate State intervention in society.

To What Is Cindy a Threat?

      by Butler Shaffer from LewRockwell.com

"When power becomes its own raison d’être, how it is acquired, upon whom it is exercised, and for what alleged purpose, become irrelevant questions. If power is an end in itself, and war is a strategy for keeping and expanding such power, the enemy can be selected by the tossing of coins or the throwing of darts at a world map."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer117.html

Without Firing A Single Shot: Voluntaryist Resistance and Societal Defense

      by Carl Watner from voluntaryist.com

"As Bourne and others have noted, the State establishes a compulsory monopoly of defense services over a certain geographic area and obtains its revenues coercively. Thus, to maintain that the State might defend itself nonviolently from a threatened invasion, as some pacifist theorists have maintained, is both inconsistent and contradictory."

http://www.voluntaryist.com/forthcoming/withoutfiringashot.php

Recanting the War -- The neocons can't keep their troops in line

      by Justin Raimondo from Antiwar.com

"The self-augmenting power of the permanent government bureaucracy invariably takes a great leap forward in wartime .... Libertarians always knew this, and conservatives used to know it. With the more thoughtful figures on the Right rediscovering this timeless principle, one can only hope such disaffection is becoming a trend."

http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7063

Bits of History

The Past seen with a fresh look.

A Cool American Capitalist

      by Edward Hudgins from The Objectivist Center

"Carrier started his own company in 1915. Entrepreneurs soon understood that cool could attract customers. By 1924 he was producing air conditioning systems not only for industrial concerns but for department stores and theaters. The spread of Carrier's creations meant that during the hard times and long, hot summers of the Depression and World War II Americans could chill out while watching a Clark Gable movie."

http://www.objectivistcenter.org/mediacenter/articles/ehudgins_rff-cool-capitalist.asp

Scotland: Seven Centuries After William Wallace

      by Lawrence W. Reed from Mackinac Center for Public Policy

"Wallace took his campaign for independence to the courts of Europe in search of foreign alliances. When he returned to Scotland in 1303, he was the most-wanted fugitive in the country, and he was betrayed to Edward in the summer of 1305. The evidence is strong that it wasn't commoners who broke faith with him, but highly-placed Scottish officials who sold out to Edward. He was hauled to London, where he was hanged and then drawn and quartered while he was still alive."

http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=7320

Karl Hess: the Left-Right spectrum

      by Wally Conger from out of step

"The attitude on that farthest left toward law and order was summed up by an early French anarchist, Proudhon, who said that ‘order is the daughter of and not the mother of liberty.’ Let people be absolutely free, says this farthest of the far, far left...."

http://wconger.blogspot.com/2005/08/karl-hess-left-right-spectrum.html

War and Peace

Articles showing the nature of War.

The Tide Is Turning, Mr. President

      by Amy Branham from Antiwar.com

"I believe your 'noble cause' is oil and blood money for those good buddies of yours who are making money off this war. Your 'noble cause' is to go down in history as a War President, something you are proud of and have worked very hard to accomplish. While you sit in your nice, comfortable home, work out for two hours a day, and get on with your life so you can maintain balance, you need to think long and hard about what a truly noble cause is. You have no idea."

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/branham.php?articleid=7036

Don't Support the Troops

      by Brandon J. Snider from LewRockwell.com

"If we had joined the military, gone to Iraq, and suddenly become libertarians, what would we do? Would we not do as Kevin Benderman has done? Refuse to obey any future orders, and willingly go to prison for it. Better that than continue to kill. The fact that the troops continue to obey orders, and some no doubt enjoy their jobs, clearly reflects their attitudes -- and suggests what level of sympathy they deserve."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/snider1.html

Will Iraq's Constitution Be Irrelevant?

      by Ivan Eland from The Independent Institute

"The question is whether U.S. troops will be caught in the middle of that internecine conflict or whether President Bush will tacitly admit his mistake and save them from further futile and dangerous duty amid the escalating mayhem. … Believe it or not, the best alternative now is admitting defeat, without publicly acknowledging it, and withdrawing American troops from Iraq before the civil war begins."

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1554

Great Individuals In History

Some people stand out from the crowd.

Composer - Achille Claude Debussy : Aug. 22, 1862

      from The Musical Impressions

"Debussy's style was one of the most important influences on 20th- century music. As a student he refused to submit to the rules of traditional musical theory. Later he stated 'There is no theory. You have only to listen. Pleasure is the law'."

http://public.srce.hr/~fsupek/debussy.html

Musician - Count Basie : Aug. 21, 1904

      from Duke Music Department

"Today many musicians consider Count Basie's band to be the model for 'ensemble rhythmic conception and tonal balance'. During the 1930's, the band's lightness and precision set the tone for modern jazz accompanying style."

http://www-music.duke.edu/jazz_archive/artists/basie.count/03/bio.html

Dancer - Gene Kelly : Aug. 23, 1912

      by Donna J. Pointkouski from The Gene Scene

"On the Town proved to be the first of several major musical successes. The movie broke new cinematic ground as the first to film outdoors instead of in the studio. Although it is only the opening montage that was shot amid the hustle of New York, it was a first. On the Town is a roller coaster ride of sheer exuberance from beginning to end."

http://members.aol.com/humorone/bio.htm

Culcha'

Books, Movies, TV, Media, Music, poetry, etc.

Serpico (1973)

      Reviewed by Tom Ender from Endervidualism

"This is the true story of what happened to one honest cop. It displays why honest cops may be getting rarer than they might once have been. That statement is so qualified not because I believe that honest cops are common; but, as with many perceptions of modern life, we often believe that the conditions that appall us now are new. Perhaps they aren't."

http://endervidualism.com/agora/serpico_1973.htm

Massively Macabre -- Terry Gilliam's truly twisted take on The Brothers Grimm.

      from Wired

"With dazzling visual effects by Kent Houston, Gilliam's collaborator since Life of Brian, The Brothers Grimm combines the malevolent whimsy of early Disney with the dark hyperrealism of 21st-century fantasy-adventure. Central to the story is Queen Mirror (Monica Bellucci), a composite of Grimm villains - like the queen in 'Snow White' and the sorceress in 'Rapunzel'."

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/play.html?pg=1

Nehemiah Scudder

      by Dennis Kabaczy from The Libertarian Enterprise

"I understand we must defend ourselves when attacked. But, when we shred the constitution in an attempt to provide security (which the government has proven it can't or won't do) we advance a tyranny no better (or worse) than that we are opposing."

http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle333-20050821-03.html

The lighter side

Humor, satire, cartoons, parodies, food, popular music and other things to amuse.

City Councilman Unearths Magical Zoning Amulet

      from The Onion

"City planning commissioner Errol Criclow, who was dismissed by LaMere at a Planning And Zoning Commission hearing last Thursday as 'subhuman,' said that he feared that LaMere's power would eventually corrupt him and his city. According to Criclow, during a private consultation with local community leaders, LaMere became infuriated with timid suggestions that his amulet be used to create more green spaces. In a blinding torrent of thunder and light, LaMere violently rezoned Rochester's west side with a maze of warehouses and parking garages." Too close to reality.

http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4134&n=3

WARNING: High Crime Zone

      by Scott Bieser from The Libertarian Enterprise

Political cartoon on Kelo decision (Front Page of TLE)

http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle333-20050821.html

This Week in God: Compari-Sin

      by Stephen Colbert from Daily Show

Stephen Colbert looks at how three different religions punish masturbation. [Commercial precedes - media player - video]

http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=17485

Deep Thought

Scientific and scholarly studies, philosophical essays, in-depth and longer articles

Does Neuroscience Refute Ethics?

      by Lucretius from Ludwig von Mises Institute

"[T]he goal of this concealed search for moral relativism is to get others to abandon their beliefs in a few moral principles; and thus Greene's studies are just an attempt to prove his own collectivist truth with brain science. Only in this case we discover a new twist. He uses facts about brain activity to argue 1) there are no moral facts, it's all a matter of opinion; and 2) we should all become utilitarians and donate to charity."

http://www.mises.org/story/1893

Slavery -- Fine For Somebody Else

      by Fred Reed from FredOnEverything.net

"The acceptance of accustomed evil is remarkably easy. England's poor children during the Industrial Revolution suffered horrible mistreatment, as did those of Northern sweatshops in America: Slavery has various forms. These abuses were deplored by some, excused by others, but continued because they brought advantages to those who ruled. The better classes seldom see the evils by which they live. They avert their eyes by one means or another."

http://www.fredoneverything.net/Slavery2.shtml

Kelo and the 14th Amendment: Exploring a Constitutional Koan Vanity

      by Mark Edward Vande Pol from The Price of Liberty

"Corporations have limited liability, pooled risk, immortality, and can more easily concentrate capital in the hands of a few than can individuals. They can lavish executive perquisites equivalent to personal income and not a dime of tax need be paid by either. ... Equal protection of corporations had thus become an unequal playing field intended to benefit the investor class at the expense of small business and private land ownership, something the Founders had rightly feared, being only too familiar with the excesses of the corporations of European royalty."

http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/05/08/24/guest_vandepol.htm

Miscellany

Articles not easily classified

Libertarian Basics

      by Arnold Kling from Tech Central Station

"From a libertarian perspective, anyone who is capable of recognizing the implications of reciprocity is morally competent. People can agree to join clubs, networks, partnerships, corporations, and other institutions that enforce codes of conduct and resolve disputes. Within those institutions, they devise rules and agree to abide by those rules. Morality does not have to be defined by a central power or by a designated class of priests or authorities." [Minarchist, not anarchist, but well reasoned.]

http://www.techcentralstation.com/082505A.html

The Left Lane of Liberty

      by Roderick Long from Austro-Athenian Empire

"I end up on what would generally be perceived as the 'left' side of the issue: anarchist, anti-militarist, anti-intellectual-property, anti-punishment (so a fortiori anti-death-penalty), anti-big-business, pro-immigration, pro-abortion, pro-secularism, pro-gay-rights, etc."

http://praxeology.net/unblog08-05.htm#07

The NRA Gets It Wrong

      by Sheldon Richman from The Future of Freedom Foundation

"The Constitution governs relations between the government and individuals, not relations among individuals. Weyerhaeuser did not forbid employees from keeping and bearing arms. It could not possibly do that. It merely said that employees may not bring firearms onto its property ...."

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0508n.asp

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