Reason and Liberty Central

• Reason and Liberty Central Has Moved

  2008 Apr 24

  Reason and Liberty Central has moved.

• Good Riddance, Superweasel!

  2008 Feb 07

  Good Riddance, Superweasel!

  
  "This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose." — Mitten Romney, loser.
  
  I've got news for you, Mitten: You'll always lose. You'll always lose no matter how many last ditch efforts religious fanatics of all stripes are making. You've always lost, you lose, and you will always lose.
  
  You'll always lose because your brand of non-thinking is on the ash heap of history. In fact, you are the ash heap of history, Mitty-boy.
  
  And you'll not be in a position of power where you can add the ashes of "sinners" to that big pyre faith has already accumulated over the last two millennia. Eight years of King George II should be enough to realize that religious fanatics shouldn't be permitted to control nuclear weapons.
  
  To live, man must observe the facts of reality and process them by reasonable thinking. That's the diametrical opposite of taking dogma on faith, dogma that's necessarily at variance with the facts. If dogma weren't at variance with the facts, it would not be necessary to ask people to take it on faith — it could be demonstrated rationally.
  
  Plus, you lose because you're a weasel. If you cling to an intolerant, illiberal, and irrational belief system, at least have the good grace to admit it. Ad-Mitt it, you hear?
  
  "We need to teach our children that before they have babies, they get married."
  
  Well, human beings are neither breeders nor slaves. We need to teach our children that they neither have to have babies nor get married if they don't want to. Somebody who encourages innocent children to throw away their lives and marry isn't even fit to be kindergarten teacher, much less President.
  
  "I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating al-Qaida and terror."
  
  No quibbles here. Except that it takes a lot of nerve to oppose religious terrorism if you intend to turn America into the Mormon version of Talibanistan. Go design a burquini, Mitten. I even prefer Fuckabee: At least he is honest about his religious fanaticism.
  
  Ladies and gentlemen, applause for the next President of the United States: John McCain. He may believe in global warming, but at least he doesn't seem to be a religious fanatic.
  
  http://www.johnmccain.com/
  
  
  
  

• Get Your Burka Now!

  2008 Jan 31

  Get Your Burka Now!

  
  Gaaa! Attack of the Victorian Underwear Zombies! (Or something.)
  
  http://www.wholesomewear.com/page-3.html
  
  "WholesomeWear is a modest line of clothing for 'wherever.' "
  
  People should be free to go naked "wherever" they like.
  
  "Our WaterWear is the first to be introduced because the need for modesty in swimwear is greatest and the supply is almost non-existent."
  
  Yeah, I thought The Conspiracy of Civilized Men ™ had succeeded in rooting that out. A century of progress — down the drain. I hope they're proud of themselves at WholesomeWear.
  
  I guess I'll call it the "date killer." If you find you're having too much sex — fear not! For here's the answer.
  
  With every purchase, the warranty that no man (except for Mitten Romney, and he don't count) will try to pick you up.
  
  "Swimwear that 'highlights the face, rather than the body' includes an undergarment with bright colors at the neck and shoulders to draw the eye to the face."
  
  Now, I'd be the last one to recommend against highlighting the face, but how does dressing up like a total idiot help?
  
  Besides, scaring little kids is not nice.
  
  (Somewhere on the beach.) "Mommy, that dummy from the Victoria and Albert Museum…"
  
  "Yes, dear?"
  
  "She's come alive. And she's standing right behind you."
  
  "Gaaa!"
  
  Here's a better plan: Wear the skimpiest bikini you can find. Then, when Mr. Cute is checking out your assets, turn around and dazzle him with your smile.
  
  Dries faster, too.
  
  The bikini, not the smile. Try lip gloss. Lip balm. Lip gloss. Whatever.
  
  
  
  

• Why Ratify?

  2008 Jan 30

  Why Ratify?

  
  Did you ever wonder why treaties must be ratified? Take, for example, the Kyoto Protocol on "global warming." Why is the "international community" upset that the Senate refuses to ratify it? Isn't it a ratty enough treaty already?
  
  And: If multilateral treaties were ratified by fewer governments, would they be less ratty?
  
  And: If governments stop ratifying things, will all those supernumerary rats clog up streets and sewers?
  
  All good questions…
  
  
  
  

• The Towering Inferno, Part Two: Find, Tape, Watch… Fuck?

  2008 Jan 27

  The Towering Inferno, Part Two: Find, Tape, Watch… Fuck?

  
  Here's a funny article on the Stone Age of consumer electronics:
  
  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22730823/
  
  Well, maybe not the Stone Age, but the Bronze Age of consumer electronics. That's a change from the Bronze Age of sexual mores I discussed the other day, but we won't go there today.
  
  Where we go now is this quote from the article:
  
  "I would use my little Sears cassette recorder to capture the audio of shows that were on past my bedtime," he confesses. "I would go to bed as planned, then sneak into the family room, drape a blanket over the television to hide the light, turn the volume down to a pre-arranged level, and position my recorder next to the speaker, dash back to bed, then listen back to the cassettes the next day."
  
  What intrigues me, safety fanatic that I am, is that that kid could have started a Towering Inferno with that blanket over the TV. Only one word: heat buildup. Well, you might actually argue that's two words… Let's agree on "compound noun."
  
  Whatever, back to the moral. Listen good, parents: If you send your kids to bed, they may burn down the house, intentionally or unintentionally.
  
  Yours truly, on the other hand, was allowed to watch pretty much everything that was on TV back then. The worst I suffered from it were exactly two nightmares, and I haven't gone on a Rambo killing spree yet. Go figure.
  
  
  
  

• The Towering Inferno, Part One: The Plastic Tower

  2008 Jan 27

  The Towering Inferno, Part One: The Plastic Tower

  
  You probably heard about the Vegas hotel that caught on fire the other day.
  
  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22844444/?GT1=10755
  
  So it's been billed a "roof fire" and guests fleeing the fire worried about "embers" falling from the roof. However, a second glance at the videos on TV will show that the roof of the building wasn't actually on fire (fortunately not).
  
  What was on fire were the false fronts, or more specifically, the plastic foam sheathing imitating the carved marble masonry on the outside of those false fronts. Apparently, what did drip down from there weren't embers, but flaming drops of molten plastic. Which, by they way, set fire to the plastic facade on the floors below in places. So, thanks to the extensive use of plastic, what we had there was a fire that burned down, not up.
  
  Actually, the fire looked a lot worse than it was. All that black smoke and flames was only from the outer, plastic layer of the facade burning off. Yet — plastic?
  
  Well, I'm not the kind of person to go "I told you so," but I never liked plastic siding on high rises. Not only does it look cheap and age ungracefully… It also does this kind of thing.
  
  It's bad enough for a building to do a Francon & Keating and imitate ornament of past styles — but from flammable plastic? That's adding injury to insult.
  
  So in Old Europe they built palaces and grand hotels with masonry facades and marble floors supported by flammable timber frames. In the New World they recreate such a casino palace — sheathing a fireproof steel frame in flammable plastic.
  
  OK, this plastic foam was there for imitation. But is it only me, or are they using more and more plastic foam sheathing for insulation, too? So they want to conserve energy to combat an alleged global warming. But when that stuff catches on fire, the warming is much more catastrophic than anything Al Gore could dream up. Go figure.
  
  
  
  

• Going Down: The Wrong Stairway

  2008 Jan 20

  Going Down: The Wrong Stairway

  
  The other day The NY Times reported that the so-called "Survivors' Staircase," just about the last architectural remnant of the original World Trade Center, is to be moved to the WTC Memorial, at a cost of $1,000,000.
  
  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/nyregion/17stairway.html
  
  Views differ on whether that's a good idea. One I heard was that it should be dumped off Staten Island as a sanctuary for striped bass. Another was along the lines of, "If the WTC should be rebuilt as closely as possible to its former use and stature, why should the only remnant of the old WTC not be left in place?"
  
  The reason why I agree with the former is that these stairs memorialize the wrong thing. What these stairs commemorate is dust-covered businessmen running for their lives. Well, it wasn't their fault that they were dust-covered, and maybe running for their lives was the most reasonable option then.
  
  Anyway, these stairs are not testament to the lives, virtues, and achievements of the people who worked at the WTC, nor to the heroic service of the rescuers, but to the fact that the terrorists managed to send thousands of people running and screaming. They're as appropriate for a WTC Memorial as a sculpture of a Japanese Zero zeroing in on the USS Arizona (excuse the pun) would be for a Pearl Harbor Memorial.
  
  An appropriate memorial would look more like the Marine Corps War Memorial:
  
  http://www.nps.gov/archive/gwmp/usmc.htm
  
  Or look at the actual USS Arizona Memorial:
  
  "Wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory.... The overall effect is one of serenity. Overtones of sadness have been omitted to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses... his innermost feelings."
  
  — Alfred Preis, architect, USS Arizona Memorial.
  
  http://www.nps.gov/usar/historyculture/index.htm
  
  So far, what is planned for the WTC Memorial memorializes defeat to the exclusion of everything else. But I guess BMW (bitch, moan, and whine) is the spirit of these politically correct times, and the negativity of that kind of memorial stairway matches that perfectly.
  
  However, the WTC should be rebuilt for the same purpose and at least on the same scale as before, and these stairs, while there, are the worst possible cornerstone for that.
  
  By the way, $1,000,000 would buy 867 square feet of office space for the new WTC or 47 JDAMs for the war on terrorism.
  
  
  
  

• Directive 10-289, SPQR

  2008 Jan 20

  Directive 10-289, SPQR

  
  "In the name of the general welfare," read Wesley Mouch, "to protect the people's security, to achieve full equality and total stability, it is decreed for the duration of the national emergency that—
  
  "Point One. All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such Board to be appointed by the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. All persons reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation.
  
  "Point Two. All industrial, commercial, manufacturing and business establishments of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth remain in operation, and the owners of such establishments shall not quit nor leave nor retire, nor close, sell or transfer their business, under penalty of the nationalization of their establishment and of any and all of their property.
  
  …
  
  Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, p. 499.
  
  That's only fiction, you'll say. Even the most stupid socialist in the most corrupt government could never be that stupid.
  
  Well, think again. That's what actually brought about the Fall of Rome, the Dark Ages, and the medieval forms of slavery called feudalism and guild socialism:
  
  As the private wealth of the Empire was gradually confiscated or taxed away, driven away or hidden, economic growth slowed to a virtual standstill.
  
  …
  
  With the collapse of the money economy, the normal system of taxation also broke down. This forced the state to directly appropriate whatever resources it needed wherever they could be found. Food and cattle, for example, were requisitioned directly from farmers. Other producers were similarly liable for whatever the army might need. The result, of course, was chaos, dubbed "permanent terrorism" by Rostovtzeff (1957: 449). Eventually, the state was forced to compel individuals to continue working and producing.
  
  The result was a system in which individuals were forced to work at their given place of employment and remain in the same occupation, with little freedom to move or change jobs. Farmers were tied to the land, as were their children, and similar demands were made on all other workers, producers, and artisans as well. Even soldiers were required to remain soldiers for life, and their sons compelled to follow them. The remaining members of the upper classes were pressed into providing municipal services, such as tax collection, without pay. And should tax collections fall short of the state's demands, they were required to make up the difference themselves.
  
  …
  
  In order to maintain this system where people were tied to their land, home, jobs, and places of employment, Diocletian transformed the previous ad hoc practice. Workers were organized into guilds and businesses into corporations called collegia. Both became de facto organs of the state, controlling and directing their members to work and produce for the state.
  
  …
  
  Here's the full article:
  
  http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cjv14n2-7.html
  
  
  
  

• What's Worse: Foie Gras or Africaines Gras?

  2008 Jan 16

  What's Worse: Foie Gras or Africaines Gras?

  
  Eww, foie gras… Disgusting, as Romney would say. Must be unhealthy to eat something that fat. Who'd eat something that is basically a diseased organ, anyway? An organ diseased by force-feeding birds until they're morbidly obese? Might as well eat frogs and snails… ;)
  
  So it looks like a good idea that California is outlawing foie gras production and sale by 2012, non? Think again. Animals can't have rights, so the government has no business using force against humans to protect animals from humans.
  
  What did that racist Stephen Douglas say? "When the struggle is between the white man and the Negro, I am for the white man; when it is between the Negro and the crocodile, I am for the Negro." Well, I'd say: When the struggle is between any human and any animal, I am for the human. Every time.
  
  The only moral way to protest foie gras is to boycott producers, distributors, and vendors of that vile stuff. What an irony that Whole Foods Market, a company that is doing just that, was sued by foie gras manufacturer Sonoma Foie Gras under the looters' antitrust and equalization of opportunity laws.
  
  http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E4D7113FF930A35756C0A9609C8B63
  
  I guess it's not even an irony: People unconscionable enough to ill-treat geese to make foie gras should be expected to run to the government to seek the shelter of looters' laws.
  
  Imagine my surprise when I learned that gavage, as foie gras manufacturers call force-feeding, is being performed on human beings. No, I'm not talking about prisoners on hunger strike, but about little girls and women in Mauritania.
  
  http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0711/p04s01-woaf.html
  
  Looks like those Mauritanian dudes find heifers sexy, as they perceive obesity as a sign of wealth. We in the enlightened Western world of course know that obesity is a sign of disease and premature death.
  
  Goes to show how many ideals of beauty are shaped by tradition instead of objective facts, like the fact that slim is healthy. By the way, that kind of obesity cannot have been a good idea even when those tribes had to weather multiple famines.
  
  So those "animal rights" activists believe they're brave if they have Western governments dictate laws to a "civilized," largely disarmed, pacifist populace that obeys most any law, be it on cruelty to animals, on fugitive slaves, or on herding Jews into concentration camps? What about human rights? What about the rights of those women? If anti-gavage activists had the courage of their convictions, they would let alone Western legislatures and go tell African natives that they can't have heifers anymore.
  
  But beware of those scimitars… Or are they called nimchas there? Anyway, as those hippie activists would soon find out, that which we call a sword by any other name will cut as sharp.
  
  
  

• Bend Over, Here It Comes Again!

  2008 Jan 13

  Bend Over, Here It Comes Again!

  
  Socialism, that is. Here's an excellent article on how philosophy shapes the lives of individuals. In this case, how the ideology embraced by a country determines public education, which influences the choices made by individuals not heroic enough to resist.
  
  "Europe's Philosophy of Failure"
  
  By Stefan Theil
  
  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4095&print=1
  
  Abstract: "In France and Germany, students are being forced to undergo a dangerous indoctrination. Taught that economic principles such as capitalism, free markets, and entrepreneurship are savage, unhealthy, and immoral, these children are raised on a diet of prejudice and bias. Rooting it out may determine whether Europe's economies prosper or continue to be left behind."
  
  "In 2004, a bread roll cost 40 cents. For the wheat that went into it, the farmer received less than 2 cents. What do you think about that?" — Theil quoting a math textbook for 4th graders in Berlin (AKA the only surviving part of the Soviet Union).
  
  Well, what do I think about that? I think that family farms should be taken over by multinational corporations, which would run those larger units more efficiently, reducing the price of wheat to less than 1 cent, and the price of a bun to 39 cents. What's more, I think the government with all those socialist income taxes, social security taxes, and whatever other ways of legalized robbery their sick minds have come up with should get out of the way. That way, the price of a bun would probably drop to less than 9 cents. Of course, socialists would have to buy their own health insurance, instead of having it subsidized through somebody else's buns.