Carnival Of The Libertarians, 10th Edition

Welcome to the June 22, 2008 edition of carnival of the libertarians.

Every time I host a blog carnival, I get a smattering of submissions that are too off-topic, or poorly written, or not worth sending you folks out to read. But long-time readers of this blog know that there's a special place in my heart for bizarre religious practices and beliefs. To the person raised in tradition "A", everything that goes on in traditions B,C,D,E etc through Z is a bizarre religious practice or belief.

James D. Brausch didn't reference a particular post when he gave us this one posted at FLDS View. Mr. Brausch is an insider/defender of the FLDS Church, the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints outfit that was recently in the news when the YFZ (Yearning For Zion) Ranch was raided. If you a Sociological/Anthropological interest in religion, this site is a gold mine. I suggest you start with the June 17 post about "A Communist Dictator", and wander around from there.

Obscure church elders are referenced as if they were Thomas Jefferson or James Madison. Church power struggles involving less than a few hundred people are chronicled in a manner worthy of Wagnerian heroes. Spend 30 minutes on that site, and you'll see that no matter how horrific the abuse at that ranch, it can be justified by church traditions and LDS scriptures. Amazing stuff.

Ok, let's get down to the business at hand....

Ian Bowman presents Default V: action posted at If It Feels Good Do It. Ian believes that regardless of how you feel about the concept of "No Blood For Oil", putting that particular sentiment on your Toyota's bumpersticker is a contradiction.

Archvillain presents Police State posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, "Does the Constitution still matter anymore?" Archvillain's post is about the idea currently floated around Washington D.C. where the entire district would be blocked off like airport security. (They're getting a bit tired of the crime rate there.) A simpler solution would be to stop electing corrupt mayors, city councils, etc., from one particular political party. Lordy, what a mess. Archvillain also uses a picture from the dustjacket of one of my favorite novels, "Jennifer Government".

Speaking of Democrats, Leslie Carbone presents Democrats' One-Half Compromise posted at Leslie Carbone. It's a post about how the Democrats are allocating the delegates in Michigan and Florida, which has become a non-issue since the Clintons decided not to take up arms against the Obama supporters. So let me pick another of Leslie's excellent postings that might be more timely. This is one about the seventeen girls, ALL UNDER THE AGE OF 16, who formed a "pregnancy pact" at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts. Not only should contraception be available without parental concent, contraception should be passed out as the free prize in McDonald's Happy Meals. (Those are my opinions, not Leslie's.)

Adam presents Net Neutrality and its Discontents posted at Sophistpundit. This is the best thing I've read on the subject. If someone provides a service through their property, whether the property if physical or online, they should be able to dictate the terms of that service.

Michael Snyder presents The Picture Of The Hindu God That Barack Obama Carries For Good Luck posted at Shattered Paradigm. Michael tries to get really upset because Barack Obama calls himself a Christian, but carries around a Hindu luck charm. I have no idea what that has to do with libertarians. But Michael, since you brought up the subject, I don't think there's any place in our political discourse for theological discussions. There's no way to "prove" who is right and who is wrong, so the electorate gets distracted and manipulated by the inquisitions of Heresy Hunters. If anyone is interested in an earlier butt-kicking that I gave another Heresy Hunter who didn't think Obama was the "right" kind of Christian, click here.

Dana presents Homeschooling without credentials leads to educational anarchy posted at Principled Discovery, saying, "It Comes with a nifty button you can use to display your educational opinions." Dana goes on to explain that the NEA is lobbying to outlaw uncredentialed Home Schooling in California. (California, of course, is the state that recently gave us school riots like this one.) The NEA hates competitors.

Praveen presents My Simple Trading System: Freedom vs. Equality posted at My Simple Trading System. He provides us with a great Will/Ariel Durant quote...."Freedom and equality," wrote Will and Ariel Durant, "are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.''

kevin colby presents Iowans more self sufficient than the people of New Orleans posted at Kevin Colby: Libertarian Political News Blogger, saying, "Somehow the people of Iowa have managed to get through this without all the bitching that came from and is still coming from the citizens of New Orleans after Katrina."

constitution

Michael Bass presents I’m Voting Republican: My Response posted at Debt Prison, saying, "The video I have posted below is a perfect example of the naive and misdirected ideology perpetuated by these obtuse liberals in their relentless pursuit of ever expanding government and micro-management of the daily affairs of each and every citizen. Below this video is my response."

free markets

Alan K Rudi presents Society, World Change, Globalization, and Business posted at Successful Business Leadership. I believe that Alan is worth reading. Regularly.

Phil B. presents Inheritance is Not Capitalism « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "Yesterday, I had an epiphany. Simply put, inheritance is anti-capitalism." Phil is a serial Carnival submitter who I generally agree with. On this one, though, I have to part company with him. If it's your money, house, or business, you should be able to do what you want with it, give it to whoever you please, etc. Most people work harder not for themselves, but for their children.

APH presents Rent Control Part 1: Microeconomics Lesson & Hoarding Market Urbanism posted at Market Urbanism, saying, "A four part series on the consequences of rent control, concluding with some solutions." This is one of Dr. Thomas Sowell's favorite topics. APH also does quite a number on it. If you restrict the price of an item to an artificially low level, less of that item will be brought to market. It ain't very complicated. Truly a beautiful political scam.

Libertarian Party

Holly Ord presents The Message is Simple posted at Menstrual Poetry. In this case, the message is that Mike Gravel woulda been a much better Libertarian Presidential Candidate than Bob Barr.

libertarianism

Phil B. presents A Plan to Destroy All Weapons of Mass Destruction posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "No leader and therefore no country can be trusted enough to control weapons of mass destruction." I agree. We've also shown that no country can be trusted to control missiles, airliners, armies, handguns, slingshots, or box knives. So I think mutual assured destruction is the best way to go. Sadly, I have to disagree with Phil again.

limited government

Nick Pardini presents The Era of Bad Feelings: A Return to One Party Politics Common Sense Magazine posted at Common Sense Magazine, saying, "How the Republicans and Democrats have become a united in statism and the need for small government and trust in the individual"

Nick also gave us Teaching a Man How to Fish: The Reality of Entitlements Common Sense Magazine posted at Common Sense Magazine, saying, "It is not the government's job to give out free handouts. We need to make Americans self sufficient by eliminating entitlement benefits (besides we cannot afford them anyway)." This post runs parallel to one I did about what happens if you teach someone to fish, but never leave them alone.

Collin Williams presents Assumptions of Competence posted at RejectSociety.com. Collin gets close to the heart of the matter. It might be time to bail out on both sides of our current party system.

Kevin Colby presents Democrats want to nationalize a hurricane tax posted at Kevin Colby: Libertarian Political News Blogger. Why not? We've already nationalized hurricane insurance for all the condos up and down the Atlantic coast, and done it for rates that no sane private company would provide.

Other

Charles H. Green presents What Malpractice Suits Teach Us About Trust posted at Trusted Advisor Associates, saying, "Even when it comes to something like a doctor saying sorry for messing up, politics, and laws, are involved." I've long believed that we don't have a healthcare crisis. We have a legal and insurance industry crisis. Is there anyone who doubts that healthcare costs could be cut in half if those two groups were kicked out of the room?

Livingalmostlarge presents Same Sex Rights? LivingAlmostLarge posted at LivingAlmostLarge, saying, "Why does the government get to decide who gets married? Why not separate state and religion? Make marriage religious and civil unions just a government issue mandate?" Yeah, but LAL, you don't understand.... This is a hot-button wedge issue that really effects no one except gays and lesbians, who already vote for Democrats. Therefore, it's a useful distraction, and a handy fund-raising tool for Republicans.

U.S. Politics

Doug Ragan presents My Presidential Campaign ? Oil and the Environment posted at I'm A Pundit Too, saying, "I am putting together a series of posts regarding my Presidential Campaign Platform. I am not actually running for President of the US for a few reasons. One reason is that I am 33. Another reason is that I have no political experience. And lastly, I am a very reasonable person who does not enjoy lying, therefore no one would ever vote for me. The first part of this series will be the issue of oil and the environment." But just in case things start getting really stupid in October and November, please remember Doug as a possible write-in candidate.

Holly Ord presents John McCain Doesn’t Support the Troops posted at Menstrual Poetry. This is true, Holly. However, I link to your posts in these carnivals all the time, but you still haven't added me to your blogroll. What's up with that?

Jeffrey Stingerstein presents » Oh No! John McCain Is Trying to Lose My Vote! Disillusioned Words: atheism, art and politics posted at Disillusioned Words. I don't think that McCain had a chance at Jeffrey's vote anyway.

kevin colby presents To much government spending has killed New Jersey posted at Kevin Colby: Libertarian Political News Blogger, saying, "The state is $32 billion in debt and a revenue shortfall forecast at close to $3 billion, the third worst in the nation after California and New York." And yet, these three states have to carry the weight of more intellectuals per square foot than any others. Coincidence? I think not.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of the libertarians using our carnival submission form.
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It's been real, folks.

Next time, the Carnival Of The Libertarians will be hosted in Australia by Chris and Nick at CountingCats.