Well, want one or not, you’re getting one. (Conical hat tip to LRC.)
Makes me feel all 1917-ish ….
Tag Archives | Left-Libertarian
Freedom and Friends
An interesting observation from Lord Acton:
At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities, that have prevailed by associating themselves with auxiliaries whose objects often differed from their own; and this association, which is always dangerous, has been sometimes disastrous, by giving opponents just grounds of opposition, and by kindling dispute over the spoils in the hour of success.
This passage by itself doesn’t argue for or against any particular alliance. It makes the point that alliances are advisable (as they must be if it is indeed true that defenders of liberty have never succeeded except by allying with defenders of something else) but also that they are extremely risky and sometimes extremely harmful. All facts worth keeping in mind – though by themselves they don’t offer any concrete guidance.
Haters of Gays versus Lovers of War Propaganda
Carrie Prejean, pageant contestant and anti-equality activist, explains:
On April 19, on that stage, I exercised my freedom of speech, and I was punished for doing so. This should not happen in America. It undermines the constitutional rights for which my grandfather fought for [sic].
Wow! What happened? Was she arrested? Was she fined?
Um … no. All that happened was that she was verbally attacked for her views. Does she really think she has a constitutional right not to be criticised? That she can express whatever bigoted views she wants, but others have no right to call her out for them? Is freedom of speech something that applies only to herself and not to her critics?
On the other hand, some of her critics have been saying inane things too. Olbermann, for example (sorry), tonight said something like “Her grandfather didn’t fight for her right to speak her mind in a beauty contest, he fought for her right not to have her speech interfered with by the government.”
Huh? What did World War II have to do with defending her right not to have her speech interfered with by the government? Didn’t the U.S. government on the contrary use World War II as a pretext to increase such interference? Or does Olbermann mean that Prejean’s grandfather was fighting to prevent Nazi Germany from conquering the U.S. and imposing still harsher censorship? If so, does Olbermann really believe that the U.S. was in serious danger of being conquered during World War II?
Minimax
If you hear that a movie’s being presented in IMAX format, would you assume that it was going to be on a really huge screen?
Well, guess what: turns out IMAX is just a brand name and not necessarily a description – so fans are being suckered into shelling out extra cash to see movies on screens that are called “IMAX” but are only slightly larger than a regular screen. (Conical hat tip to AICN.)
Here’s a size comparison of standard IMAX screens versus the new tinyfied verisons:
Spread the word – ’cause IMAX really deserves to take a financial hit over this.
Labour Action in Liberia
A five-year-old news story you’ve never heard, from the country named for freedom.
Hayek on Skis!
David Gordon has some funny reminiscences about Hayek.
Psychopolitik adds some thoughts on the Olbermann.
Where the state ends – look there, my brothers! Do you not see it, the rainbow and the bridges of the Olbermann?