Dec. 2 — 8, 2007

Home Agora Columns Connections Review

Ender's Review
of the Web

Web articles of likely interest to individualists found during the preceding week.
 

If you encounter any difficulty using this document please let me know as soon as you notice. Contact information is at the bottom of this page.

I am happy to receive addresses of potential readers of Ender's Review who might like to receive a few trial issues and/or an invitation to subscribe. Or, if you prefer, please, send a link to this page or the index (which also has comprehensive source site links) to those you think might be interested.

Find all RSS feeds & e-mail lists on the Sign Up page – or use this RSS feed for Ender's Review 

Pursuing Liberty

Articles showing the positive influence of action in the pursuit of Liberty.

Cyber Salvation

      By James Leroy Wilson from Independent Country

"'The nation is becoming obese, because people would rather sit on their fat asses surfing the Internet instead of taking a walk.' .... We’ve all read statements like this. Many of us have said them. We watch a news report about a study with comments from academic experts, or we read a columnist’s take on social trends, and then we express these opinions in our own words. But tell it to Nancy Makin."

http://independentcountry.blogspot.com/2007/12/cyber-salvation.html

People Power

      By David Solnit and Aimee Allison from YES! Magazine

"People power can assert the democratic will of communities and movements to change the things that matter when the established, so-called democratic channels turn out be little more than public relations for elite rule. Every successful movement in the United States—from the workers’ and civil rights movement to victories in anti-corporate campaigns today—and every successful effort to topple a dictator in recent history has relied on people-power methods. "

http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=2107

First day of school

      By B.W. Richardson from Montag ...

"The conversation turned to the first day of college, and around the table a couple of folks talked about 1962, and 1970-something, and other times long ago and far, far away. I didn't contribute, but suddenly I was on a plane above the clouds thirtysomething years ago."

http://bwrmontag.blogspot.com/2007/12/first-day-of-school.html

Losing and Restoring the Republic

      By Jacob G. Hornberger from The Future of Freedom Foundation

"Is there any hope in all this? Of course there is! That hope depends on the dissemination of truth and ideas on freedom. There is a reason that even totalitarian governments try to suppress truth and ideas on liberty — they are fully aware of their potential to arouse a populace to bring about a change in governmental policy."

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0708a.asp

Life in Amerika

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

Death of Main Street, One Local Zoning Law at a Time

      By Radley Balko from Reason

"The answer, I think, lies in what's happened to Old Town over the last decade or so. It's been Gap-i-fied. The independent spots are closing down, and they're being replaced by familiar national chains. ... People who decry the Wal-Mart-ification and Gap-ificaiton of America need to realize that regulation often does more harm to local businesses than predatory pricing, loss-leader business models, or some other imagined corporate evil." [I have referred to this phenomena as “TV Amerika.” This subject relates to “Baptists and Bootleggers.”]

http://www.reason.com/news/show/123745.html

Paying the Planning Tax

      By Randal O'Toole from Cato Institute

"Easy credit fanned the flames of the recent housing bubble, but the bubble was first inflated by anti-sprawl plans that created artificial housing shortages in many American markets. If planning laws hadn't boosted median housing prices to several times median family incomes, few homebuyers would have had to resort to sub-prime mortgages."

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8833

It Takes A Taser To Raise A Child

      By Doug Newman from The Price of Liberty

"Tasering is harsh and extremely painful. In each of the above cases, tasering constituted 'cruel and unusual punishment.' Tasering is a form of 'pain compliance', which is just a euphemism for torture. Tasering has killed people. In each case, police claimed they tasered these kids for their own good. This is all too reminiscent of the army officer during Vietnam who claimed that it was necessary to destroy a village in order to save it."

http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/07/12/03/newman.htm

Indoctrination? What indoctrination?

      By Vin Suprynowicz from Las Vegas Review-Journal

"Why is it important to acknowledge the subjects on which our government youth conformity camps are indoctrinating our kids, sub rosa, in an attempt to create a near-unanimous consensus in favor of whatever power grab big government has in mind for us next? The very purpose of indoctrination of the young is to foreclose such debate."

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/12031951.html

Ordered Liberty without the State

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

Danger Is My Middle Name--And So Is Yours

      By Glen Allport from Strike The Root

"Get a gang of armed men together to pull a no-knock raid on your neighbor because he uses alcohol or pot and you’ll be the one put in prison, but get laws passed that result in armed agents of the state doing the same thing and you’re off the hook: You are an accomplice to violence against (in this case, millions of) non-violent men, women, and even children, yet you will never be held accountable for your role in these violations of human rights, including for the many deaths and ruined lives that result."

http://www.strike-the-root.com/72/allport/allport21.html

It’s No Longer About He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named-Here; It’s About You

      By Sunni (Maravillosa) from Sunni and the Conspirators

"[I]t is absurd to define libertarianism as excluding the subgroup of individuals who hold most strictly to the NAP/ZAP—anarchists. Really, how does opposing RP for president on principle—because one believes that no one should hold coercive power over another—make someone non-libertarian?"

http://www.sunnimaravillosa.com/node/1276

Notes on the Cultural History of Sleep

      By Rad Geek from Rad Geek People's Daily

"[F]iling the institutions that currently structure most Americans’ sleep patterns under the vague label of our lifestyle tends to obscure the issue. Depending on your age, the two main institutions that regiment your sleeping schedule are either (1) school, or (2) your job. The first has little to do with lifestyle choices.... After a decade or more of forced training, the job you take is nevertheless a matter of adult choices. But the economic and political environment that structures and constrains those choices — and tends to favor centralized, regimented, official forms of employment ... deserves much more critical scrutiny than the term 'lifestyle' conveys. "

http://radgeek.com/gt/2007/12/05/notes_on/

Distinguishing between anarcho-capitalism and agorism

      By Brad Spangler from BradSpangler.com

"The revolutionary agorist instead applies the non-aggression principle (and other aspects of libertarian theory) to their own perspective as an individual to derive an understanding of anarchist revolution as a process of bootstrapping market systems of law and defense which will emerge from below and outside the state."

http://www.bradspangler.com/blog/archives/867

Spreading Decentralism

Articles demonstrating an increase in the dispersal of power.

Home Unschooling: Theory & Practice

      By David Friedman from Ideas

"We concluded that the proper approach for our children was unschooling, which I like to describe as throwing books at them and seeing which ones stick. Leave them free to learn what they want, while providing suggestions--which they are free to ignore--and support." [Theory linked here and Practice linked below.]

http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2007/12/home-unschooling-practice.html

Amazon and Wal-Mart unwittingly team up against DRM

      By David Chartier from Ars Technica

"As if DRM needed more of a hint to get its coat and leave, Amazon is set to announce a promotional giveaway of one billion MP3s during next year's Super Bowl. Billboard was first to note that this announcement signals an all-out offensive on DRM, which is made even more powerful by parallel pressures brought by Wal-Mart."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/
20071202-amazon-and-wal-mart-unwittingly-team-up-against-drm.html

Ron Paul’s Appeal to the Youth

      By Anthony Gregory from LewRockwell.com

"Actually, young Americans today are in many ways considerably less anti-religion and more pro-life than their parents are. And they are less federally-oriented than their parents, more skeptical that the federal government should dictate everything nationally, whether through a national war on abortion or a continuation of the decisive Roe v. Wade regime. They are more localist and internationalist in their political sensibilities than the New Deal, Great Society and Reagan generations. They understand that some issues like abortion are complex and require rigorous philosophical deliberation and personal engagement, not the posturing we usually get from 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' politicians at the national level."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory151.html

Electric cars could act as batteries for the energy grid

      By Tom Simonite from NewScientist.com news service

"The average US car is only driven for one hour out of every 24, says Willet Kempton, who led the research. Combustion-powered cars are useless while off the road, but all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles could act as backups to the grid while idle, using a system developed by Kempton and colleagues called V2G (vehicle-to-grid)."

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/
tech/dn13000-electric-cars-could-act-as-batteries-for-the-energy-grid-.html

The New World Hegemon

Depictions of the coming Imperial power

Ending the Empire of Lies

      By L. Neil Smith from The Libertarian Enterprise

"Despite its widely-advertised—and for the most part sincere—aspirations, American civilization presently stands on a foundation of corrosive lies that, slowly but insidiously, have poisoned its every effort to become the first truly decent society in the history of the world."

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2007/tle446-20071202-02.html

When Will Bush Come Clean?

      By Paul Craig Roberts from CounterPunch

"Osama and 9/11 were never more than public excuses for a pre-determined agenda. Why do the US media and the investigative committees of Congress have no interest whatsoever in finding the agenda behind Bush’s wars? How can Americans be a free people living under a rule of law when the president can commit the country to catastrophic wars on the basis of deception and escape all accountability? "

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts12072007.html

Veterans Against Individual Freedom

      By Rad Geek from Rad Geek People's Daily

"There is an elaborate and formalized liturgy of theo-nationalist rites surrounding the military colors of the United States—a liturgy replete with hymns, recited creeds, high holy days, and solemn processions officiated by a uniformed military priesthood. The liturgy is instilled and practiced with great care through government schools, in federal bureaucracy buildings, and (of course) throughout the intensely ritualistic culture of the government’s military cadres. But that is hardly enough for the state and its minions."

http://radgeek.com/gt/2007/12/03/veterans_against/

Is Fascism A Real Concern For The U.S.A.?

      By Sam Lucero from Countercurrents.org

"In a constitutional democracy, the laws assumed for war should be retractable and normality restored when the war is over. Wartime laws should only be created for this end, however the laws that have been created since WWII, that have granted the president more power during war, have not been retracted or even created to enable their retraction."

http://www.countercurrents.org/lucero061207.htm

Politics by Other Means

War, rumors of war, and politicians fomenting war.

The Battle for Iowa

      By Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone

"In a presidential campaign dominated almost from start to finish by gobs of corporate money, a captive commercial media and reams of computer-generated rhetorical bullshit, the frenzied stretch run in this tiny first caucus is one of the last bastions of real democracy left in the process.... This is the significance of all the stumbling and audience-rigging and Rove-ing of debate opponents and carping at the Randall Rolphs of the world that we saw in recent weeks; they have exposed Hillary as a New York Yankees-style villain who buys all the best players but seems to resent having to actually win it between the lines."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/17480049/

It Turns Out Ahmadinejad Was the Truthful One

      By Robert Scheer from Truthdig

"He didn’t listen when they told him he was wrong in claiming that Iraq had purchased yellow cake uranium from Niger and he doesn’t listen now when they tell him his alarms about Iran are without factual foundation. The difference this time around is that because Bush is a discredited lame duck the intelligence chiefs were a bit more forthcoming with their findings in a report that has, in part, been made available to the public."

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071204_it_turns_out_ahmadinejad_is_honest/

Congress' copyright reform: seize computers, boost penalties, spend money

      By Nate Anderson from Ars Technica

"The bill, which will have a committee hearing soon, is supposed to kick-start the copyright reform process talked about for so long. But copyright reform means one thing to the PRO IP sponsors and another to the consumer groups that have been advocating for it."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/
20071206-congress-copyright-reform-seize-computers-boost-penalties-spend-money.html

Ron Paul: He Won't Win the Presidency, But...

      By Michael D. Tanner from Cato Institute

"Most of the current Republican candidates fall squarely into the big-government camp. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney imposed a Hillary Clinton-style health plan in his state and ... supports No Child Left Behind ... John McCain ... shows a disturbing predilection for making a federal issue of every personal pet peeve from steroids in baseball to airplane service quality. ... Rudy Giuliani's record on civil liberties suggests he views the Constitution as an afterthought. ... Fred Thompson talks a good game, but his record suggests he is closer to McCain-lite. Mike Huckabee may be an even bigger spender than President Bush, and he never met a tax increase he didn't like."

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8828

Spontaneous Order

Articles showing decentralized successes.

Mozilla COO: over 125 million people use Firefox

      By Ryan Paul from Ars Technica

"Lilly arrives at the 125 million user estimate by leveraging the statistical data collected by the Firefox application update service. The Firefox web browser sends an anonymous request to the update servers every single day to check for new versions. Counting the total number of pings makes it possible for Mozilla to guess roughly how many instances of Firefox are running on any given day, a metric that Mozilla refers to as Active Daily Users (ADU)."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/
20071202-mozilla-coo-over-125-million-people-use-firefox.html

As Intel Surges, PC Makers Prop Up Its Main Competitor

      By Bryan Gardiner from Wired

"How close are we to a world dominated by one chipmaker? Not very, say most industry analysts. In fact, Intel is actually much less of a monopoly threat today than it was previously, thanks largely to the cyclical nature of the x86 processor business -- and the paranoia of computer manufacturers who don't want to see a world where a single chipmaker calls all the shots."

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/12/intel_monopoly

Freaked Out: Economics Comes to the Movies

      By Kirsten Anderson from Snarkerati.com

"While at first glance an economics book, no matter how popular, may not seem like a natural for a film adaptation, this one seems to have a lot of potential...." [Even though I might prefer a different economic approach, an “econ movie” strikes me as a good thing. Building an understanding of economics seems unlikely to hurt much.]

http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/freaked-out-economics-comes-to-the-movies/

Happiness Comes Cheap -- Even For Millionaires

      By staff from ScienceDaily

"The research found that happy people — whether lottery jackpot winners or not — liked long baths, going swimming, playing games and enjoying their hobby. Those who described themselves as less happy didn’t choose the cost-free indulgences. They rewarded themselves with CDs, cheap DVDs and inexpensive meals out instead."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071130224158.htm

Nonspontaneous Disorder

Articles showing centrally planned disasters.

Pigs Don't Fly: The Economic Way of Thinking about Politics

      By Russell Roberts from Library of Economics and Liberty

"The Baptists give the politicians cover for doing what the bootleggers want. No [politician] says we should ban liquor sales on Sunday in order to enrich the bootleggers who support his campaign. The politician holds up one hand to heaven and [talks] about his devotion to morality. With the other hand, he collects campaign contributions (or bribes) from the bootleggers."

http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2007/Robertspolitics.html

Teaser Freezer Burn

      By Jeff Taylor from Reason

"Given the amazingly complex world of high finance—full of derivatives, hedges, and tranches—Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson last week hit upon a stunningly simple plan to fix the nation's subprime mortgage mess: Lie. And don't just lie, but get everybody together and agree to lie, thereby making the lie become truth."

http://www.reason.com/news/show/123782.html

Carbon Offsets? Let’s Offset Everything

      By Garry Reed from River Cities Reader

"[W]here do you buy one of these carbon offsets? Simple. You buy it where Planet-Saver-in-Chief Al Gore buys his carbon offsets. From a company called Generation Investment Management. Never mind that Al Gore is chairperson and co-founder of Generation Investment Management, that he buys his carbon offsets from himself, that his incessant carnival barking about the imminent death of the planet is motivated by the desire to bloat his company's stock value, which in turn is turning him into a multi-shillionaire. Your neighbors will love you and will congratulate you and will invite you to watch Monday Night Football with them. "

http://www.rcreader.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12402&Itemid=42

Texas Close'Em: Cops Raid Poker Games

      By Drew Carey from reason.tv

"In most jurisdictions throughout the country, consenting adults are banned from gambling -- unless of course they want to bet on low-odds games run by the government. State lotteries, that is."

http://www.reason.tv/video/show/172.html

War Is The Health Of The State

War is the ultimate State intervention in society.

The Power of Belief

      By James Leroy Wilson from The Partial Observer

"Fearful illusions about ourselves and our circumstances can prevent a happy and fulfilling life, yet fearful illusions about the nation and world is the only thing that politicians produce and sell. After all, if nothing is a 'threat,' we would have no need for government. It is the job of politicians to create illusions – nightmare scenarios of what would happen if the government wasn't there to protect us and defeat our enemies. Our fears become our 'consent,' and this is how government derives its powers."

http://www.partialobserver.com/article.cfm?id=2758

The Central Bank: Silent Partner In the Bloodletting

      By Mike Whitney from Dissident Voice

"The Paulson plan has nothing to do with saving working class people from the ravages of foreclosure. Oh, no. The Bush administration is ideologically opposed to helping people in need. We know that already. Just look at Katrina and New Orleans. The real purpose of the proposed 'bailout' is to allow enough people to keep making minimal payments on their mortgages so the banking system doesn’t collapse in a heap."

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/12/the-central-bank-silent-partner-in-the-bloodletting/

Sins Of The Fathers

      By Michael Gaddy from The Price of Liberty

"Something over two years ago, I asked Christian warmongers and George W. Bush idolaters here to please discontinue their support for my son who had just returned from a tour of duty with an Army Cavalry unit in Iraq. Three months after his return he was finally able to get out of the Army. From my own experiences, I knew my son would be dealing with the demons and horrors of war for years to come. I found him once in the middle of the floor in his room, in the fetal position, yelling at the visions in his head to please go away; I saw him struggling to adjust to a world he could not understand and destroy relationships with those he loved. "

http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/07/12/03/gaddy.htm

More War is Job One: Torturing the Truth on Iran

      By Chris Floyd from Empire Burlesque

"[M]oving the goalposts in this manner will allow the Bush Regime to portray Iran as a dangerous, defiant menace for merely carrying on with its fully legal nuclear power program, as authorized by international treaty and monitored by the IAEA. Thus no matter what Iran actually does – or doesn't do – the Bushists will continue to use the 'Persian menace' as fodder for the imperial war machine."

http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1374&Itemid=135

Bits of History

The Past seen with a fresh look.

Benjamin Ricketson Tucker

      By Wendy McElroy from The Future of Freedom Foundation

"Tucker brought his own gifts to the radical community: sophistication and a worldliness rare in Americans. In 1874, he made the first of several journeys to Europe, where he absorbed the influence of such political philosophers as Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Herbert Spencer, Max Stirner, and Mikhail Bakunin. Tucker’s voice became a unique blend of the best within American and European radicalism." [This was published in two parts. The link below goes to the first part which links the second part.]

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0708e.asp

Rainbow Five

      By Jim Davies from Strike The Root

"FDR achieved his objective of joining World War Two--with Germany as his first priority--despite an 85% pre-war popular opposition. And he had done it with both enemies in such a way as to make it seem they were the aggressors! That is statecraft at its very ugliest, and set a standard of malevolence to which even Shrub has not come close (though he does have 13 more months). "

http://www.strike-the-root.com/72/davies/davies9.html

Our Second Amendment: The Founders’ Intent

      By Stephen P. Halbrook from The Independent Institute

"For America’s Founders, the answer was obvious. In 1768, when Redcoats landed to occupy the town, the Boston Gazette warned of British plans 'more grievous' than anything before: 'the Inhabitants of this Province are to be disarmed'; martial law would be declared; and patriots would be 'seized and sent to Great-Britain.' Through the periods of the Boston Massacre and the Tea Party the screws were tightened, until finally British attempts to seize colonists’ arms at Lexington and Concord in 1775 led to the shot heard ‘round the world."

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2084

Legacy of Prohibition Lives on in Maryland

      By Brandon Arnold from Cato Institute

"These days, most folks rarely think about this failed experiment in our history. We no longer need to find a speakeasy to enjoy an alcoholic beverage. And virtually nobody distills rum in his bathtub anymore. Yet the vestiges of Prohibition live on in our state and country, most notably in the laws that govern the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages. In addition to repealing Prohibition, the 21st Amendment turned regulation of alcoholic beverages over to state government."

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8829

War and Peace

Articles showing the nature of War.

Does Nation Building Work?

      By James L. Payne from The Independent Institute

"[President Bush] hoped that our military occupation [of Iraq] would turn that country into a democracy, but there is no sign he considered the success rate for this kind of action. Over the past century, the United States has sent military forces to many troubled areas in an effort to establish democracy. Great Britain has done the same, several dozen times. Before invading Iraq, the president should have studied how these efforts have turned out, to know his chances of success."

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2083

Captain Blackadder's Lament: Imperialism Isn't Fun When The Enemy Can Shoot Back

      By William N. Grigg from Pro Libertate

"We are ritually instructed to remember Pearl Harbor in the least reflective way possible. Yes, the Japanese attack was a vicious act of aggression. This is true even though Washington was doing everything it could to provoke and even facilitate that attack as a back door into a war in Europe. I like to refer to Admiral Yamamoto, the architect of the attack who was not enamored of the idea of war with the US, as 'FDR's most important collaborator in the attack on Pearl Harbor'."

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2007/12/captain-blackadders-lament-imperialism.html

Iran: Why Won't We Take Yes For An Answer?

      By Justin Raimondo from AntiWar.com

"The national security community has done its part, and now it is time for the politicians to step up to the plate and show their own independence from the most powerful lobby in the foreign policy realm. As a species, politicians are hardly known for their courage – and yet, now more than ever, we need patriots to come forward and make their views known. "

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12014

Eating Iraq: Corruption Rules and Cholera Rises While Insurgents Surf the Surge

      By Chris Floyd from Empire Burlesque

"[T]his horror show will go on and on, no matter who is elected to the presidency next year. All of the 'major,' 'serious' candidates of both parties have pledged to maintain an American military presence of some sort in Iraq for the foreseeable future. "

http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1372&Itemid=135

Great Individuals In History

Some people stand out from the crowd.

Freedom Fighter – Crazy Horse : Dec. 3, 1840 (so said Wikipedia birth index on Dec. 8, 2007)

       from PBS - THE WEST

"Celebrated for his ferocity in battle, Crazy Horse was recognized among his own people as a visionary leader committed to preserving the traditions and values of the Lakota way of life."

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/crazyhorse.htm

Humorist/writer --James Thurber : Dec. 8, 1894

       from The Thurber House

"He began writing for the New Yorker in 1927 after friend E.B. White (Charlotte's Web) got him a job at the magazine. Thurber started as an editor for the magazine but quickly became a writer. His career as a cartoonist began in 1930, when White dug some of Thurber's drawings out of the trash and submitted them to be published in the New Yorker."

http://www.thurberhouse.org/james/james.html

Musician -- Sonny Boy Williamson II : Dec. 5, 1899

       from sonnyboy.com

"Sonny Boy Williamson II, nicknamed 'King of the Harmonica' by his peers, was one of the most inspiring harp players in blues history. With his passionate yet understated style, his metronome-like timing, and his endlessly inventive technique, he has influenced generations of players...."

http://www.sonnyboy.com/harp/harp.html

Singer -- Maria Callas : Dec. 2, 1923

       From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"An extremely versatile singer, her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini, and Rossini, and further, to the works of Verdi and Puccini, and in her early career, the music dramas of Wagner."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Callas

Culcha'

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

The Golden Compass: The Making of Philip Pullman's Epic Fantasy

      By Gavin Edwards from Wired

"Set in a world of shape-shifting animals and armored polar bears, The Golden Compass was aimed at kids, but it has also been devoured by adults. Drawing in equal measure from Grimm's fairy tales and Milton's Paradise Lost, Pullman's trilogy has become wildly popular over the past decade, selling more than 5 million copies in the US alone."

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/15-12/ff_compass

Why they need us

      Reviewed by B.W. Richardson from Montag ...

"The truth revealed by the movie is that the state is the source of the chaos. The titular character V, either a freedom fighter or a terrorist depending upon point of view, helps detective Finch uncover the reality that the central terrorist attack of his age was staged by government forces seeking control of citizens' lives under the cover of providing more security. ... A central theme of the movie is the same as mine: Refuse to be afraid."

http://bwrmontag.blogspot.com/2007/12/why-they-need-us.html

Top 10 Pillars of Led Zeppelin Mythology

      By Steve Robles from 10 Zen Monkeys

"At London's 02 Arena Monday night, rock gods Led Zeppelin will attempt to recreate the special alchemy that made them one of the most legendary live bands of their era. ... [W]hen the band was on they were like nothing else on earth."

http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/12/07/top-10-pillars-of-led-zeppelin-mythology/

UWA 44: Life at 78 rpm

      By Warren Bluhm from Uncle Warren's Attic

"I emerge from the Attic covered with dust and shellac. We begin on a serious note...."

http://unclewarrensattic.blogspot.com/2007/12/uwa-44-life-at-78-rpm.html

The lighter side

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

Reporters Expose Security Lapses By Smuggling Bomb On Plane, Blowing It Up

      By staff from Onion News Network

"271 are dead after an Onion News Network Special Investigative Report on airport security."

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/reporters_expose_airport_security

Huckabee Chooses Jesus as Running Mate

      By Andy Borowitz from Borowitz Report

"In a bold move that could dramatically alter the playing field of the 2008 G.O.P. presidential race, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee today named Jesus Christ as his vice-presidential running mate. Governor Huckabee has made an increasing number of comments about his relationship with Jesus in recent debates, but few Republican insiders expected him to announce that he was anointing Christ as his vice-presidential pick."

http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=6802

Man Finally Put In Charge Of Struggling Feminist Movement

      By staff from The Onion

"After decades spent battling gender discrimination and inequality in the workplace, the feminist movement underwent a high-level shake-up last month, when 53-year-old management consultant Peter 'Buck' McGowan took over as new chief of the worldwide initiative for women's rights."

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/man_finally_put_in_charge_of

Cinematic Titanic Steams Into Mystery Science Theater Waters

      By John Scott Lewinski from Wired

"The original MST3K started in 1988 on Minnesota television, then aired for a decade on various national cable channels. Created and initially hosted by Hodgson, the show endured a turnover of its entire cast before ending its run on the Sci Fi Channel in 1999. Earlier this year, the Sci Fi cast reunited to work on two separate MST3K-style satirical projects."

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/news/2007/12/cinematic_titanic

Deep Thought

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

The Goal Is Freedom: The Constitution or Liberty

      By Sheldon Richman from Foundation for Economic Education

"Calvin Johnson makes a strong case that the Constitution was not intended to put strict limits on the national government. He thinks that is a good thing. No libertarian would agree with him. It is important to separate two issues: what the Constitution appears to say and how we evaluate it. We must resist the temptation to let our political-moral views warp our reading of the document. The ultimate political value for libertarians is not the Constitution but liberty-and-justice."

http://www.fee.org/in_brief/default.asp?id=1749

Live Free—Do It Yourself

      By Sarah van Gelder and Doug Pibel from YES! Magazine

"Instead of asking someone in power for policy changes or the right job, why not take over streets for bikes and parks, build our own cooperatives, create cultural events that nurture our souls and community spirit, build our own homes? Why not live the lives we want, along with others, without waiting for permission from the authorities? ... Does seeking freedom mean sacrificing family and friends and striking out alone? Quite the contrary. Getting free of debt, addiction to shopping, and corporate television can open up space for the authentic relationships we crave. ... Our individual liberation and the liberation of our society are interconnected."

http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=2089

How Serious Is R.U. Sirius?

      R.U. Sirius interviewed by Paul Krassner from The Huffington Post

"[T]he Bush Administration has been so distressing that people seem to be setting aside some of their differences. Increasingly, subculture as a source of an identity that needs to be exclusive to remain hip is giving way to a desire among lots of different people to preserve the right to non-conform and dissent."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-krassner/how-serious-is-ru-siriu_b_75402.html

Former 'No Nukes' Protester: Stop Worrying and Love Nuclear Power

      Gwyneth Cravens interviewed by John Borland from Wired

"Every day spent burning coal for power translates into damaged lungs and ecosystem destruction. If the world wants to keep plugging in big-screen TVs and iPods, it needs a steady source of power. Wind and solar can't produce the 'base-load' (or everyday) steady supply needed, and the only realistic -- and safe -- alternative is nuclear."

http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2007/12/nuclear_qa?currentPage=all

Miscellany

Articles not easily classified

Weak Dollar Induces a Dream World

      By The Mogambo Guru (Richard Daughty) from The Daily Reckoning

"Hahaha! The Cold, Cruel Laughter Of The Mogambo (CCLOTM) is mocking and scornful at the stupidity of people still buying into that stupid 'buy and hold', 'investing for the long term' crap! Hahaha!"

http://www.dailyreckoning.com/Writers/Mogambo/DREssays/MG120707.html

Patriot Games – Is all of China trying to poison American toddlers?

      By Kerry Howley from Reason

"Can only Westerners be trusted? Hardly; nearly three-quarters of the toy recalls are attributable to American and European designs. The Barbie and Tanner toy mentioned above, for example, features a plastic dog that defecates after a child stuffs putty-like biscuits into its front orifice. Barbie’s pooper scooper harbors a small magnet between pieces of blue plastic. The magnets, which can cause severe intestinal damage if swallowed in multiples, are a component of the directions Mattel gave the factories with which it contracted. Blaming China for these flaws is something like blaming an ugly building on a bricklayer."

http://www.reason.com/news/show/123751.html

Why won't UNOS reduce the organ shortage?

      By David J. Undis from Tucson Citizen

"The United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the national organ allocation system, has the power to implement a simple policy change that would save thousands of lives every year. UNOS identified this policy change 12 years ago, but it has taken no steps to implement it. What is this life-saving policy change? UNOS should allocate organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die. This would cause a dramatic increase in organ donation rates. "

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/70614.php

Microsoft feeling heat from Linux in budget flash PC market

      By Ryan Paul from Ars Technica

"Microsoft's newfound interest in this space is largely a response to growing demand for inexpensive subnotebook hardware that uses flash-based storage. Manufacturers of such devices are increasingly adopting Linux instead of Windows because Linux is free and easier to adapt for use on systems with limited computing power and storage capacity."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/
20071205-microsoft-feeling-heat-from-linux-in-budget-flash-pc-market.html

Find all RSS feeds & e-mail lists on the Sign Up page – or use this RSS feed for Ender's Review 

Each week immediately after Ender's Review is posted at Endervidualism a small plain text note (~5K) containing a few links to the web edition is sent to ERevNote subscribers.

Subscribe to ERevNote:

the Ender's Review reminder note

If you know of prospective readers, please send them a link to this page, or alternately if you don't wish to e-mail them yourself, you can e-mail their addresses to me at this address:  Tom@Endervidualism.com and I will send them a message with a link to the latest issue and invite them to subscribe. 

Comments suggestions and discussion on the content and structure of this review are welcome at the ERevD: EnderReviewDiscussion Yahoo group. Feel free to jump in there at any time.

Alternately, you may elect to receive a copy of an HTML e-mail object (50 - 90K). Archives of the HTML e-mail are available to EnderReview members. You may join that group or subscribe to its mailing list.

Home Agora Columns Connections Review