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April 28, 2008

Love, A is A style

If you believe that Rachmoninoff and Vermeer were "objectively" the greatest composer and painter ever, and you only wish to date like minded people, there is hope. See here.

-RC

Posted by RobertCapozzi at 06:26 AM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2008

Firefly is returning

Firefly, the best (and most libertarian) science-fiction show since The Prisoner is being resurrected as a special, three issue comic book, penned by none other than Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind the Firefly TV series and the show's cinematic follow-up Serenity.

Posted by NormSingleton at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

Miss Bimbo isn't Shakespeare

Moral outrage of the week: Teenyboppers are playing virtual materialistic, body-obsessed bimbos at MissBimbo.com.

The site advertises a variety of fulfilling activities:


* Find your own cool place to live.
* Find a fun job to pay for your needs and all the clothes a Bimbo could possibly want.
* Shop for the latest fashions and become the trendsetting bimbo in town !
* Become a socialite and skyrocket to the top of fame and popularity.
* Date that famous hottie you've had your eye on and show the Bimbo world the social starlet you are !
* Even resort to meds or plastic surgery. Stop at nothing to become the reigning bimbo !
* Tackle your 104 tasks as quick as possible to become the rising star bimbo !!

Colleen McEdwards of CNN says, "it's vulgar." Apparently, several parents groups are also in a tizzy.

Meanwhile, according to Wired magazine's latest issue, Arden, an online Shakespearean world, has been a total dud. They are releasing a new version with fewer literary references and more killing.


/KDR

Posted by KevinRollins at 01:58 PM | Comments (1)

January 28, 2008

Hillary the Robot (at SOTU)

She's clapping, but she isn't smiling. Why is she clapping?

/KDR

Posted by KevinRollins at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2007

For the Children

Please start smoking, if only for the children...

Posted by PaulGessing at 12:56 AM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2007

Good enough for government work

From the department of things that are not at all surprising, comes news of a man whose unusually tiny brain did not prevent him from having a successful career in the French bureaucracy.

Posted by NormSingleton at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2007

I Know An Old Lady...

For some reason, lately I've had that children's song "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly" in my head. I do pest control, and I somehow got it in my head when I was at a particular house approximately four months ago, and have gotten it back every single time I've serviced that house. So I've been mulling the lyrics over on a regular basis. The lady, for some inexplicable reason, swallowed a fly, and rather than doing the sensible thing by shrugging her shoulders and saying "Heh, it's just extra protein" and allowing the fly to take its natural course, she goes on to swallow successively larger animals, each in an attempt to deal with the previous animal, until she finally kills herself by swallowing something truly monstrous.

I had the sudden realization that this song could be considered analogously descriptive of how our society often attempts to solve problems. The problem is caused, in the first place, by society "swallowing" something that isn't good for it, adopting some error or injustice that begins to cause problems. However, rather than simply dealing with the injustice (because the injustice is perpetrated by the very people charged with dealing with injustice), a larger error is adopted in an attempt to correct the smaller error. This, of course, causes even larger problems, and it's almost as if people say to themselves "well, two wrongs may have failed to make a right, but hey, third time's a charm, right?"

Errors and problems compound, as at each stage, rather than dealing with the root cause of the problems, an even larger error is adopted to solve the problem. The cycle has been going on for so long we don't even remember how it started; we don' t know "why she swallowed the fly." At this rate, however, we'll swallow our horse, and then we'll be dead, of course!

It's kind of what it means to me to be a Free Liberal. So many people either close their eyes to social problems, or seeing them, agitate for more and more government control. I look and I ask, where could government control be contributing to the problem? How can this social problem be solved with freedom? I don't, upon seeing the gastrointestinal problems caused by the swallowing of a live bird, seek out a cat to send after it. Rather, I wonder if the bird might be removed.

Posted by DarylSawyer at 01:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 15, 2007

Brave New World Update

Nominee for the silliest legislation of the year award: a New Jersey bill restricting the sale or gift of toy guns to anyone under the age of 18. This almost makes the effort to ban "provocative cheerleading" seem reasonable.

Posted by NormSingleton at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2007

What's in a name?

Monica Goodling's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee last week inspired the blog Political Arithmetic to dig out the figures showing a dramatic drop in the popularity of the name Monica in the late nineties when, as you might recall, another Monica was in the DC spotlight. I wonder if there was a corresponding drop in parents naming their children "Richard" after Watergate, and if the phenomenon extends beyond politics. For example, will recent events cause a drop in the number of girls named Lindsey, Brittney, or Paris?

Posted by NormSingleton at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

February 05, 2007

Anti-Terror Extortion?

The Mooninite terror saga continues. Turner Broadcasting and the ad company, the aptly named Interference, Inc. which devised the light-box "terror" plot, are paying $2 million to state of Massachussetts to make amends. On its face, this is another example of the government blaming others for the very chaos it brought about. However, Turner may be doing quite well even so.

If we were to add up all the earned media that the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie has received from this "fiasco" it might well sum to greater than $2 million dollars. Moreover, the nature of the coverage will certainly appeal to the kind of sick minds who appreciate the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, such as myself. It was surreal to see a clip of the Mooninites on the very stodgy evening news, explaining their modus operandi:

"We do whatever we want to whomever we want."

A very un-free liberal statement. But, very funny, nonetheless.

-- KDR

Posted by KevinRollins at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

February 01, 2007

Greatest Prank Ever

What seemed to be a possible national emergency yesterday was apparently just a mean trick played by the Mooninites, who do not share our earthly morality. I refer to the suspicious packages found in Boston.

What is ludicrous is that the “emergency” continued after it must have been obvious to those who “deactivated” the first one that it was just a hoax. However, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley told us of the government’s expert appraisal of the dire situation. From CNN.com:

"It had a very sinister appearance," Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires."

A photo caption on Yahoo! described the sinister object:

“The device consists of light emitting diodes on a circuit board forming the shape of a gesturing character which is part of a promotion for the TV show 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force,' a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball…”
Frightening.

I look forward to hearing the details of what the Boston P.D. knew and when they knew it, especially since they are looking to pass the cost of the anti-terror actions to the Adult Swim network and its agents.

-- KDR

Posted by KevinRollins at 01:40 AM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2006

The Purity of Being Broke?

Paul Jacob makes a good point in his essay on "idea laundering." Why should he have to apologize because the people who like what he says also are the ones who support him? Those who accuse think tanks and writers of "selling out" because they receive money from a person or organization which ostensibly benefits from the "ideas" of those think tanks or writers are getting the relationship backwards as well as having a fantastical view of how the public policy sector operates.

Wrong Premise 1: Big donors give money to people whom they despise in hopes of "corrupting" the recipient of their largesse.

Why spend money on someone who hates you when you could instead give it someone who is already on your side? For example, how much money would you have to give a Christian to endorse atheism? An environmentalist to embrace oil spills? A libertarian to advocate communism? This seems unlikely and unproductive.

ASIDE: I suppose if you believe that people are perfectly malleable and are willing to give up their deepest values for a little extra spending money, then this is possible, but it seems that people actually have more worth than that! Who would like to live in a society peopled by such unprincipled automatons? Why bother saving it if that is the case?

In contrast, it should not surprise us that those who like the ideas of a writer are willing to support that person financially. If companies are corrupt for supporting pro-capitalist thinkers who defend the company's right to make a profit, then are not teachers' unions corrupt for asking the government to raise their pay? Shouldn't environmentalists stop sending their money to environmental groups for fear that the groups will be "corrupted" by their pro-environment views?

Rather than hating this form of "corruption" is it possible that these critics are simply in fantasy land when it comes to the economics of non-profits?

Wrong Premise 2: Writers and think tanks should somehow operate on no funds at all.

Despite the miraculous continued existence of this publication despite a lack of attention from its editor (me), a persistent lack of funds, and a slow-moving 501(c3) approval process, it should not be assumed that a non-profit can run on bread and water alone. In the case of The Free Liberal, it also requires a sort of bread/water hybrid known as "beer." In seriousness, we survive on the generosity of our staff to donate their time and energy to make it happen, but we could do more if we had some corrupt funding!

To have people who are ready and willing to work full-time on any cause, they need to be independently wealthy, or they must get funding from somewhere. The funding can come in small amounts (from a grassroots network) or in large batches from corporations and wealthy individuals. Other organizations get grants from the government or may be employees of the state (educators, for instance). How many sucessful organizations can you name which don't get funding from somewhere?

If being paid by others who support your work, then practically everyone in the economy is corrupt.

Even the butcher, baker, and candlestick makers are corrupt because they get money from people who want to buy meat, bread, and wax lighting devices!

There is no purity in being broke. There is nothing wrong with being supported by people who appreciate you. Our society depends on the principle that those who represent your values should earn your support.

So, if you like this, please send a donation to The Center for Liberty and Community, PO BOX 325, Woodbridge, VA 22194.

-- Kevin D. Rollins

Posted by KevinRollins at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)

June 06, 2006

Ayn Rand Greeting Cards

I first saw Garry Myers' Ayn Rand Greeting Cards five years ago. Finally, they have been published and Carl Milsted and his wife Suelinda have added some graphics to bring them to life. Check them out at: the Libertarian Reform Caucus website.

-- Kevin D. Rollins

Posted by KevinRollins at 01:19 AM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2006

Achewood on Hating America and Anarchy

Thanks to John Stephens for pointing out these two very silly Achewood comics on Hating America and Anarchy.

-- Kevin D. Rollins

Posted by KevinRollins at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

Free-for-all (frfr-ôl) -- n. A disorderly fight, argument, or competition in which everyone present participates.

from Dictionary.com



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About the Free Liberal
The Free Liberal is an independent journal of transpartisan thought.

The views expressed herein are those of the writers individually and not necessarily those of the Free Liberal, the Center for Liberty and Community, or its board of directors.