I visited my family in Maryland this week and just before leaving accomplished one major goal of the trip: eating a marshmallow creme snoball (snow cone for some of you). Apparently, putting marshmallow creme (they use a flowing rather than fluffy creme) on top of a cup of flavored crushed or shaved ice is a particularly Maryland thing to do, as the folks down here in NC look at you like an alien if you ask for it. My new favorite flavor is grape+lemon, which approximates (but can never quite match) the genius deliciousness that was Purplesaurus rex Kool-Aid. ¶ 10:34 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
>
> Please review the proposed resolution and post your comments.
>
http://wesbenedictforlnc.blogspot.com/2007/06/iraq-withdrawal-proposed-lnc-resolution.html
Ah, a breath of sense!
"THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party calls on the
government of the United States to withdraw the armed forces of the
United States from Iraq, without delay or preconditions."
Sweet. I'm absolutely behind this.
Can we do one one exactly the same on Afghanistan next? Maybe we can
work backwards in time until we get to Japan and Germany :-/
The New Yorker Store Pre-Summer Sale - Save 20%
I guess the point is that they're selling stuff FOR summer BEfore it gets here. But still... ¶ 2:26 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
"Woman Skips Jury Duty, Gets Jail Time Instead
Goldsboro — Wayne County Superior Court Judge Ola Lewis on Wednesday
ordered Benita Cox, 33, of Pikeville to spend 10 days in the county
jail after she failed to report for jury duty Monday."
XM has gotten me hooked on "golden age" radio. I'm listening to a particularly funny "X Miinus One" episode right now called "a thousand dollars a plate". It's about a running dispute between the scientists of an astrological observatory on Mars and the Vegas-like entertainment complex down the road. At one point one of the scientists proposes that the observatory go into the horoscope business, and the director says "Dr. Morton, send for the staff psychiatrist; Benzinger has scratched his reflector." (he says it in a pricelessly deadpan voice)
I ask you: can you GET zingers like that on TV? I think not! ¶ 5:50 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
match my philosophy to my politics :) I'd like to share this:
I am catching up on reading I slighted as a youn'un, and either
reading or re-reading _Civil Disobedience_ (school is a rather
merciful blur; perhaps I did read it).
http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html
Almost every line is gold so far. But here's something I think is
especially interesting to those of us who are voluntaryists/anarchists
and yet who still engage in politics - it is not a passage I remember
having seen quoted, like so many of the others:
"But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call
themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government,
but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of
government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward
obtaining it."
I think that's probably the best formulation of the radical
libertarian approach to politics I have seen. Thoreau also points to
voting as essentially an opinion poll, and as a lagging rather than a
leading indicator of public sentiment (he points out that by the time
people vote en mass against slavery, for instance, it will already be
well on the way out.
Great stuff!
--
Susan Hogarth
http://www.lpradicals.org
"VotersForPeace is educating, organizing and activating voters to end
the occupation of Iraq and prevent future wars of aggression. Our
mission is to mobilize anti-war voters into a visible and effective
political force that cannot be ignored. We provide voters with the
information and tools they need to be effective advocates; this
includes educating their friends and family on the occupation, writing
letters to the media, or becoming active in their region's
Congressional elections."
This coalition is 'real' because it acts like a true single-issue
coalition and does not drag in questions of 'economic justice',
funding for Katrina victims, or a mishmash of other causes that seem
expressly designed to turn libertarians away from peace coalitions
(though I doubt their organizers see it that way, to be fair).
There's a simple pledge:
http://www.votersforpeacepledge.us/
"I will only vote for or support federal candidates who publicly
commit to a speedy end to the Iraq war, and to preventing future 'wars
of aggression'."
But along with this, I am sensing an early derailment to any
enthusiastic run again David Price for congress. He seems better than
most on the Iraq war - though I do note he seems to support the
occupation of Afghanistan. Maybe I should consider a more thoroughly
pro-war incumbent.
Every adult should have the freedom to make his or her own choices about medication, without a permission slip from a government-blessed medical professional. If you think control of antibiotics is about sound science rather than control, you should check out the agriculture industry, where antibiotics are given routinely to perfectly healthy livestock.Why make poor folks suffer through a weekend's pain or go to an emergency room for a simple tooth abscess because they don't have a regular physician on call? Let's educate folks about antibiotics and let them make their own call - to a doctor or to a pharmacy of their choice.
You can order this shirt and other items with this conversation-provoking slogan here. They were designed by a member of the WakeLP. ¶ 12:45 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
intelligent and earnest people really think Ron Paul is sweeping the
world with truth and vision. I think it's much more likely that he's
fulfilling a nice empire-has-no-clothes function - which is great,
don't get me wrong. It's just that he's speaking to *individuals*, not
to the *country*. And that's a Good Thing.
Earnestness is good, but it's also an irresistible target for poking fun.
From Wonkette's comments, one fella says to t'other feller:
"Ron Paul geeks are all libertarians, which means they are all crazy
fanatical bastards who want to privatize stop lights and sewers."
and t'other fella says:
"They're not all libertarians. I've repeatedly come across the sort of
vague college-educated hippie type at parties this year -- friends of
friends, nobody really knows why they're around, etc. -- earnestly
jabbering about Ron Paul. Especially when they hear I work for
Wonkette. (That's when I always say, "No, sorry, I write for Defamer,"
and run away.)
"You know, the kind of people who say "Chimperor" in conversation,
without irony?
"A lot of these people are sincere in thinking they support Ron Paul,
because he is against the war and says so. This is really why I
honestly want him to win, because it would be hilarious when he sold
all the national parks and ended social security and stopped Medicare
and Student Loans and all that. People have No Idea what he's about. I
love this about America."
OK, and one more I can't resist:
"My friend described Ron Paul as the guy who talks to you on the bus,
who seems really smart, and makes a lot of sense. Then he tries to
sell you a time machine."
Hmmm. On a more serious note, this comment suggests to me what our
biggest problem as libertarians is:
"Libertarians are even worse than the Repubs simply for the fact that
they come off as trying to boost individual freedom, which is all well
& good until you realize the individual corporations are the ones they
are really looking at freeing."
So not true, and so widespread (and depressing) a misconception. The
Drug War battle we've pretty much cleaned up on. This fascism charge
has got to be the next thing we tackle. Well, OK, that and
imperialism.
sigh
¶ 12:02 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
