The Tarrant County Libertarian Party has a website, a Meetup page, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, and might even have a long-forgotten MySpace account.
About a week ago, in a desire to restrict all of the above to general announcements, we started something on FB called Cowtown Libertarians. That's where we can post pics, memes, weird internet statist junk, and Barack Obama speeches sweetened up with a laugh track. I hope you'll check it out.
Here's a little taste. It beautifully explains why you'll never meet a really good server, waitress, or bartender who is a true Socialist.
Here's what I'm going to throw on there this afternoon, assuming someone else doesn't beat me to it.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 Utah) – A Utah man is vowing to go without any food until the state stops allowing same sex marriages. He claims if Utah wants to protect traditional marriage, it has an option it’s not using, and he's fasting until it does it.
When same sex marriage became legal in Utah, people immediately reacted. Couples stormed county clerk buildings. State attorneys tried to stop it, and Trestin Meacham started fasting.
"I'm very disappointed," said Trestin Meacham, fasting to stop Utah same sex marriages.
For the past 12 days Meacham hasn't eaten anything. He's surviving solely on water and an occasional vitamin.
"You can start a blog and you can complain on social networks until you're blue in the face and nothing will happen but actions speak louder than words and I'm taking action," said Meacham.
Meacham tells Reporter Brian Carlson he's fasting to convince Utah to exercise the option of “nullification.” It's posted on Meacham's blog. According to his interpretation of states’ rights, Utah can nullify the recent federal court ruling by simply choosing not to follow it.
From the Action News Team at 4COWTOWN in Fort Worth !!!
FORT WORTH, TEXAS (ABC 4 Cowtown) – A Texas man is vowing to go without any food until Tristan Meacham of Salt Lake City dies from hunger. He claims that Texas wants to protect non-eating rights, it has a states' rights option it’s not using, and he's fasting until it does it.
When starvation for political causes became legal in Texas, people immediately reacted. Unknown political hacks and publicity-seekers burned and vandalized county food banks, just to see if they could get on the news. State attorneys tried to stop it, and The Whited Sepulchre, an obscure Texas Libertarian blogger started fasting.
"I'm very disappointed," said Mr. Sepulchre, who is now fasting to support Mr. Meacham's right to starve himself over something that really is none of Meacham's freakin' business. "I'm doing this to protect Trestin Meacham's right to die."
For the past 12 days Whited hasn't eaten anything. He's surviving solely on shots of Kentucky Deluxe bourbon. He also claims that he sometimes gets thirsty enough to actually drink water.
"You can start a blog and you can complain on social networks until you're blue in the face and nothing will happen but actions speak louder than words and I'm taking action," said The Whited One. "I really want to see Trestin Meacham starve for what should be nothing more than a lifestyle choice."
Whited tells Reporter Brian Carlson he's fasting to convince Texas to exercise the option of “nullification.” It's posted on The Whited Sepulchre's blog. According to his interpretation of states’ rights, Texas can nullify the recent federal court ruling on force-feeding by simply choosing not to follow it.
"If Trestin Meacham wants to die to prevent gay marriage and Utah illegally tries to force-feed him, I believe that Fort Worth should become Trestin's sanctuary city, take him in, and allow him to die in the comfort and security he deserves."
One night I had a wondrous dream, Footprints beside a sandy stream, Those steps left there by God's own son, I looked for mine, but I saw none.
But then some stranger prints appeared, And I asked the Lord, “What have we here? Those prints are large and round and neat, But Lord, they are too big for feet.”
“My child,” He said in somber tones, “For miles I carried you alone. In spite of all your "Freedom" talk, You still refused to stand and walk."
“You wouldn't work, you wouldn't vote, You didn't want to rock the boat, And so I thought it time to cut Our ties and drop you on your butt."
“Because in life, there comes a time, When one must fight, and one must climb, When one must rise and take a stand, Or leave their butt prints in the sand.”
If you're interested in getting off your rear end, brushing off the sand, and working for less government, more freedom, and a better life for yourself, your children and your neighbors, go here to check out the Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup.
This one is beautiful, ain't it? Go here to see the other contestants. Go here to see what that photogenic idiot is likely to accomplish for medicine in California.
Someone (with the aid of schoolteachers, The Department Of Education, and the roadbuilders of the Information Superhighway) has written a clever little socialist parable that is making the rounds on Facebook:
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door, I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After work, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads to my house, which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshall’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet, which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how socialism in medicine is bad because the government can’t do anything right.
-Anonymous Wingnut
It begs for a response, doesn't it? If the phrase "electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy" doesn't make you break out in fits of giggles, hell, it can't be done. And then there's the long lists of unnecessary government departments, all staffed with tens of thousands of useless seat warmers, helping this guy get through his day.
Because if the government didn't provide those services, the private sector could never ever do so. Is that really what this dude believes?
Someone called Ipster76 on Reddit wrote a response that goes as follows:
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the local public power monopoly. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the latest misleading liberal dominated mass media reports are. I watched this while eating my unhealthy, subsidized corn-byproduct dominated breakfast thanks to the US Department of Agriculture.
Had I written this, I would've put in something about "the US Department of Agriculture - a wholly owned subsidiary of Monsanto." But I tend to over-write.
I then get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration used automobile, whose renewed title I was forced to pay an exorbitant amount for when I bought it. I then set out to my job on the roads built by the local, state and federal departments of transportation, passing by groups of 8 or more Union laborers, of which only about 2 are actually doing work at any given moment due to their collective bargaining agreement. I am also forced to slow down or risk being caught and fined by speed cameras implemented by the local government, despite the fact that I am a fully competent driver with no violations on his record, and the highway repairs have yet to be finished after 5 years. I also do not stop to purchase exorbitantly priced fuel from Big Oil subsidized by the Federal Government using legal tender that has lost value thanks to inflationary policies of the Federal Reserve Bank. At some point in the future when I am married with children, I will drop off my kids off at a private school 20 minutes away, because despite my future residence in a decent neighborhood, I am zone for an unsafe public school fraught with gang activity, and staffed by underpaid teachers.
This guy must live on Fort Worth's East Side.
After work, I drive by the same unproductive union workers in the alleged construction zones, and am again forced to slow down because of the speed cameras. I do not stop by the liquor store, because although I am legally an adult who can vote and serve in the military, I cannot legally purchase alcohol, thus violating my rights under the Equal Protection Clause of Section I, Amendment IIV of the Constitution; however, because I am over the age of 18, it will also remain on my permanent record if I am caught in possession of it. I continue driving my car back to my apartment, which I discover has been plundered of all its valuables. I contact the local Police Department, who make a cursory investigation and fail to find any evidence, because they are too busy fighting the prohibitionist war on drugs under which gang activity has flourished for the past 30 years. I consider smoking some marijuana on my own private property to relax after a long, hard day at work, but I can’t because it has been made illegal by politicians that receive campaign funds from big pharma and the liquor lobby.
I then get on to the internet, which the Federal Government is trying to stifle through regulation and censorship, and proceed to post on r/politics about how libertarians are selfish and that the government needs to be more involved with healthcare.
Iowahawk has sat down at his laptop and created a masterpiece.
Of course he had help from his high school teachers, the people who paid private companies to build the roads and bridges and then gave those companies taxpayer money, he had help from the Department Of Motor Vehicles, some V.A. Hospitals, the General Accounting Office, the Department Of Health and Human Services, the people who wrote the latest Farm Bill, Cash For Clunkers, TARP, The Porkulus Package, the people making a fortune off of the Drug War, and the ATF people who send teenagers who look like adults into my favorite bar and try to trick the bartenders into selling them a drink so they can bust the bartender and fine the bar owner.
Iowahawk had help from all of those people, but hit this link anyway. Good stuff.
I think we should be a compassionate society. I think we really are our brothers' keepers. I hope that Broadway Baptist Church, the Libertarian Party, the Little Sisters Of The Blind, or somebody will take me in when I get old, feeble, and worn-out. (In other words, I'll probably need some help tomorrow.) I don't think that people should be required (at gunpoint) to help me. I don't think that Barack Obama and the Republicans should have a monopoly on compassion. Now, let's get down to bidness.....
Barack Obama has released an unintentionally hilarious slideshow on the White House website.
It's called the "Life Of Julia", and shows a woman's lifelong dependence on The Teleprompter Jesus, from birth to old age.
Julia doesn't rely on family, friends, or the sperm donor for her baby. She relies on Barry O. Parodies have sprung up everywhere.
One night Julia dreamed she was walking along the beach with The Teleprompter Jesus. Many scenes from her life flashed across the sky. In each scene, she noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints. Other times she only saw one set of footprints.
This bothered Julia because she noticed that during the low points of her life, when she was suffering from underemployment, student loan debt, and excessively high insurance copays, she could only see one set of footprints.
So Julia said to The Teleprompter Jesus: “Your programmers promised me, O Teleprompter Jesus, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, were you not there for me?
The Teleprompter Jesus replied, “The times when you have only seen one set of footprints is when I carried you.”
Go, and live a better life, knowing that Barack Obama and the Chicago Gang are there for you, should you stumble....
My old friend Henry Farrish got this started on Facebook today. He only did a couple of verses. I fixed it for him. Enjoy. In honor of our 15 trillion dollar debt:
1. Obama is the shepherd I did not want.
2. He maketh me to lie about green energy. He leadeth me beside the still factories.
3 He restoreth G.M.
He leadeth me in the paths of Carter for his name's sake.
4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan, I will fear no irony: for thy Nobel Peace Prize still comforts me.
5. Thou preparest a stimulus before me to be paid by my children: thou anointest my head with Teleprompter Bullshit; my debt runneth over.
6. Surely regulation and inflation shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will be paying for this crap for ever.
I don't care which side of the Wall Street protest divide you're on, this is funny.
It's from the geniuses at Reason magazine.
Come gather round people
come and join your hands
we're taking Wall Street
and we're making demands
and we're heeding the call
and we're crying for help
only 1% of us have wealth
but first we need posters
we need to make signs
but to do so it seems
that we need some supplies
We need poster board
I can't make it myself
but it's 10 cents a sheet
at the store it's on sale
an example of economies of scale
it's so evil
They're saying that freedom
has done little to stop
Corporations from keeping
the wealth at the top
But at what point in history
would a kid and a king
both have clean water to drink?
George Washington was
the richest man of his age
But he lost all his teeth
at a very young age
Because they didn't have Scope
and they all crapped in trays
we're not wealthy?
now there's fountains on streets
from which clean water pours
Four dollar generics
at all big box stores
a sultan and student
both have iPhone 4s
it's not fair
Come gather young people
come on everyone
and I'll tell you a tale
of a fortunate son
He's born in a country
and given vaccine
and rendered immune
to all kinds of disease
the Kardashians are on
all his TVs
it's not perfect
Banks don't need bailouts
on that we agree
so let's start up a group
and let's take to the streets
because if we do that then
you know what that means
we're racist.
Warning: Adult language alert.
Another Warning: It's 100% accurate.
Final Warning: Finish your coffee and step away from the computer. This thing is funny.
This was bound to happen.....
Here's Hitler learning that Professor Mann has admitted that there's been no warming since 1995, that the Medieval Warm Period was warmer than it is now, and all the other nasty secrets that people discovered when they went outside and checked their thermometers.
I love this genre.
And I'm glad I got to be alive for this moment.
The long-awaited Keynes vs. Hayek smackdown rap video, courtesy of the good folks at Cafe Hayek. For those new to the conflict, Fast Freddy Hayek, the bald guy, believed that markets, economies, and ummm....YOU should be left alone. Keynes, the guy in the dark suit, believed that everything should be run by people from Cambridge.
Here are the lyrics: (The phrase "animal spirits" was Keynes' term for acting on emotion rather than logic, or acting because of a desire to do something rather than nothing. IMAO, that's a perfect explanation for why people favor Keynesian flurries of spending whenever there's a financial crisis. But that's just me.)
We’ve been going back and forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Hayek] Blame low interest rates. [Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
[Keynes Sings:]
John Maynard Keynes, wrote the book on modern macro The man you need when the economy’s off track, [whoa] Depression, recession now your question’s in session Have a seat and I’ll school you in one simple lesson
BOOM, 1929 the big crash We didn’t bounce back—economy’s in the trash Persistent unemployment, the result of sticky wages Waiting for recovery? Seriously? That’s outrageous!
I had a real plan any fool can understand The advice, real simple—boost aggregate demand! C, I, G, all together gets to Y Make sure the total’s growing, watch the economy fly
We’ve been going back and forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Hayek] Blame low interest rates. [Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
You see it’s all about spending, hear the register cha-ching Circular flow, the dough is everything So if that flow is getting low, doesn’t matter the reason We need more government spending, now it’s stimulus season
So forget about saving, get it straight out of your head Like I said, in the long run—we’re all dead Savings is destruction, that’s the paradox of thrift Don’t keep money in your pocket, or that growth will never lift…
because…
Business is driven by the animal spirits The bull and the bear, and there’s reason to fear its Effects on capital investment, income and growth That’s why the state should fill the gap with stimulus both…
The monetary and the fiscal, they’re equally correct Public works, digging ditches, war has the same effect Even a broken window helps the glass man have some wealth The multiplier driving higher the economy’s health
And if the Central Bank’s interest rate policy tanks A liquidity trap, that new money’s stuck in the banks! Deficits could be the cure, you been looking for Let the spending soar, now that you know the score
My General Theory’s made quite an impression [a revolution] I transformed the econ profession You know me, modesty, still I’m taking a bow Say it loud, say it proud, we’re all Keynesians now
We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Keynes] I made my case, Freddie H Listen up , Can you hear it?
Hayek sings:
I’ll begin in broad strokes, just like my friend Keynes His theory conceals the mechanics of change, That simple equation, too much aggregation Ignores human action and motivation
And yet it continues as a justification For bailouts and payoffs by pols with machinations You provide them with cover to sell us a free lunch Then all that we’re left with is debt, and a bunch
If you’re living high on that cheap credit hog Don’t look for cure from the hair of the dog Real savings come first if you want to invest The market coordinates time with interest
Your focus on spending is pushing on thread In the long run, my friend, it’s your theory that’s dead So sorry there, buddy, if that sounds like invective Prepared to get schooled in my Austrian perspective
We’ve been going back and forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Hayek] Blame low interest rates. [Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
The place you should study isn’t the bust It’s the boom that should make you feel leery, that’s the thrust Of my theory, the capital structure is key. Malinvestments wreck the economy
The boom gets started with an expansion of credit The Fed sets rates low, are you starting to get it? That new money is confused for real loanable funds But it’s just inflation that’s driving the ones
Who invest in new projects like housing construction The boom plants the seeds for its future destruction The savings aren’t real, consumption’s up too And the grasping for resources reveals there’s too few
So the boom turns to bust as the interest rates rise With the costs of production, price signals were lies The boom was a binge that’s a matter of fact Now its devalued capital that makes up the slack.
Whether it’s the late twenties or two thousand and five Booming bad investments, seems like they’d thrive You must save to invest, don’t use the printing press Or a bust will surely follow, an economy depressed
Your so-called “stimulus” will make things even worse It’s just more of the same, more incentives perversed And that credit crunch ain’t a liquidity trap Just a broke banking system, I’m done, that’s a wrap.
We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Hayek] Blame low interest rates. [Keynes] No it’s the animal spirits
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.”
John Maynard Keynes The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”
This is the legendary Robert Earl Keen's song about Copenhagen - the smokeless tobacco. He gets started after about a minute of onstage banter.
Mr. Keen left out a few verses. These are more timely.
First we tried some Y2K, then tried Acid Rain, Bird Flu came and went 'cause it was too hard to explain. Global Cooling, Global Warming, couldn't be arranged, But now we've got 'em panicked with our talk of Climate Change !
Chorus: Copenhagen, Let's all fly to Denmark, Copenhagen, Let's all increase our worth! Copenhagen, Let's release some carbon, Fly to Copenhagen, and claim we're saving Earth!
Chorus: Copenhagen, Let's all fly to Denmark, Copenhagen, Let all increase our worth! Copenhagen, Let's release some carbon, Fly to Copenhagen, and claim we're saving Earth!
The moral of this story is so easy to relate: Selling is a hassle, why not just legislate ? So try my little method and I promise you will win, Fly to Copenhagen, start your money rollin' in !
Chorus: Copenhagen, Let's all fly to Denmark, Copenhagen, Let's increase our worth! Copenhagen, You rent-seeking bastards Fly to Copenhagen, and claim you're saving Earth!
(Repeat Chorus until North American and European manufacturing gives up and totally shuts down, and everyone is forced to purchase Al Gore and Kleiner Perkins Perpetual Motion Machines, and we have to spend most of our time digging furrows in the earth with sharp sticks.)
Just think of all the grant, subsidy, and porkulus money that disappeared as a result of these guys cooking the books. We owe the Hockey Team a debt we can never repay. (For those new to the Climategate scandal, the "Hockey Team" refers to the folks who created Al Gore's hockey stick chart showing an upward spike in earth's temperature.) Another question raised by the Climategate incident.... The mainstream media is doing their best to ignore this story. The blogosphere is going wild over it. The Minnesotans are wondering if this makes Al Gore wish he'd never invented the internet.
