Carnival of Liberty #15
Posted by Richard on October 11, 2005
Welcome to the 15th weekly Carnival of Liberty, where you’ll find some of the Web’s best thinking on the fundamental human rights of Life, Liberty, and Property and the limits of government power. The entries are presented in the order received with two exceptions:
At his request, I’ve put Eric’s second entry at the top — unlike all the other entries, this one is a call to action, and I share his desire to get many readers to act.
I’m putting my own entry at the bottom, even though I "received" it first, in a sense — that uncharacteristic act of humility and self-effacement will shock those who know me, which makes it worth it.
So for the opening special, Eric at Eric’s Grumbles and one of his commenters have come up with an idea for getting the attention of our congresscritters regarding their sorry spending habits. He explains it in It’s Time for a new Tea Party. Please take a look and join in the fun.
Then, starting things off for real is David Gross of The Picket Line, whose On The Uses of Disaster discusses "the inventive and productive and uplifting spontaneous voluntary community that develops naturally in disaster’s aftermath."
Next, Everyman at Everyman Chronicles presents Eminent Domain in Alabama and Why it’s Important to You, which describes the steps that the people of Alabama are taking to defend their property rights from Kelo-like depredations.
Obi-Wan at Forward Biased thinks we won’t have to wait long to find out if John Roberts is a strict constructionist — only until Roberts’ first rule.
David at dave’s not here gives Andy Rooney a good spanking in a post cleverly entitled Responding to Andy Rooney. And he did it without succumbing even once to the temptation to say, "Ever wonder why…"
Peter Porcupine at Peter Porcupine reprises a post defending the blogosphere against the Archbishop of Canterbury, who frowned on the web-based media as having an atmosphere "close to that of unpoliced conversation." Peter explains that Freedom of the Press Belongs to Him Who Owns One and notes that we don’t police conversations on this side of the pond.
Batya, the muse at Shiloh Musings, presents New Year, Old Problem, which notes sadly that more of the Middle East is now "Judenrein" — cleansed of Jews — and there have been no "cries and protests of the lovers of human rights and liberalism" against the destruction of communities in order to accommodate Arab hatred of Jews.
Mark A. Rayner at The Skwib saw a story about a chimp in a Chinese zoo kicking a cigarette habit, and that led him write the hilarious fake news story, China opens new smoking cessation clinic for humans.
KJ at No Government Cheese submitted two entries. The first, Avoiding The Good Fight, makes a point I made about the Miers nomination, but makes it better: Bush chose to avoid what he should have sought out, "an open and honest debate over the role of the Courts." The second entry, Why We Need Not Pay For Art, takes on "the flat out subsidy to artists whose work is apparently so appalling that they can’t sell it in the private market…"
Stephen Littau of Fearless Philosophy for Free Minds offers Moore Theocracy in Alabama?, which exposes the contradictions in the gubernatorial campaign planks of Judge Roy Moore.
Ezzie at SerandEz offers President Bush: "Freedom will Prevail" as the first of a two-part look at Bush’s Oct. 6 speech to supporters of the National Endowment for Democracy. Ezzie and I both blogged about this speech and had similarly positive reactions, but it’s interesting how we focused on different pieces.
Daniel at Idea Spout describes his "journey from liberalism to liberalism (that is American-style liberalism to classic liberalism)" in My years in the wilderness.
Ogre at Ogre’s Politics and Views reminds us that "The military is designed to kill people and break things," not hand out food and water, in Federal Troop Mission Creep.
I certainly sympathize with Josh Poulson at Josh’s Weblog, who’s sick of the GOP’s profligacy, turned off by the LP’s anti-war stance, and feeling politically homeless. At least he knows what to say when the RNC Comes By Looking For Money.
Ironman at Political Calculations presents Economic Freedom’s Big Movers, in which he looks at the most recent report on economic freedom in the world and finds that Marxist-inspired leaders hinder economic freedom. Who’d ‘a thunk it?
Kevin Boyd, the Louisiana Libertarian, expresses his gratitude for the generous federal disaster assistance by listing for us some of the projects Louisiana expects us to pay for: Thanks suckers.
Stephen at On Beyond looks at the definition of marriage issue and finds fault with all sides in Marriage, the Constitution, the Courts, and the Congress.
Ferdinand T. Cat at Conservative Cat hesitantly submitted Some Progress in Iraq Border Security, saying "I am not sure this qualifies. On the one hand, it’s an important step in helping the Iraqi people control their own destiny. On the other hand, it’s about forts and fences. If you decide not to include it, I will understand." I’m including it for 3 reasons, Ferdy: (1) I like cats. (2) Forts, fences, and security are life, liberty, and property issues. (3) You linked to that IMAO post with the fort picture and the hilarious comments. White Castle, indeed.
Eric at Eric’s Grumbles proves he’s nothing if not persistent in Continuing to Correspond with Senator Boxer, wherein he responds to Boxer’s non-response to his porkbusters missive. He exhibits more patience and politeness than I’m capable of, while the quotes from Boxer’s letter confirm that she’s a dumb-as-a-stump hard-left partisan. That’s a shock, huh? (BTW, it was this correspondence that led to the "new tea party" plan with which we opened.)
Nick Horianopoulos at Libercontrarian presents the depressing news that major league baseball likes Kelo in Has America’s National Pastime Become Robbery?
Brad Warbiany at The Unrepentant Individual uncovers something truly remarkable — an environmentalist "advocating for markets and taking power away from government" — in School Choice makes strange bedfellows. The environmentalist even makes a supermarkets vs. schools comparison that could have come from the pages of Reason.
Dan Morgan at NoSpeedBumps saw a Cato report claiming a strong correlation between economic freedom and peaceful behavior among nations. He concludes that this is grounds for optimism about China: Economic Freedom Will Diminish Threat.
Tom Hanna at Tom Rants is ranting about his Disappointment and the bird flu. He’s disappointed that no one, not even free-market economists, has suggested anything but more government intervention for dealing with this public health threat.
And, finally, my own entry discusses the DVDs of the future, fair use, and who’s looking out for you: Microsoft defends consumers’ rights. No, really. It’s not humor. I really mean it.
That’s it. A cornucopia of carnivalisciousness. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Next week, Dan Melson will host the 16th Carnival of Liberty at Searchlight Crusade. Make your reservations now. To keep track of this and other carnivals, visit The TTLB ÜberCarnival page.
UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers (and thanks, Glenn, for catching up on the carnival announcements)! Since you’re interested in posts about liberty, you might want to take a look at some of the posts listed on the left. And please come back from time to time.
muse said
Really great job!
Denise said
Great roundup! We have included your edition in the Carnival of Liberty archive (http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_40.html) at Blog Carnival. Have a look at the hundred or so other carnivals that folks are publishing.