All good things must come to an end

It's been an interesting experience, but it's time to call it quits. I'm just not enjoying it anymore, and the blogosphere takes up too much of my time. Time I'd rather spend in the real world.

I appreciate and thank all of y'all who read my stuff and commented regularly. This place wouldn't have been much without y'all's contributions.

Perhaps I'll drop in on y'all's blogs from time to time. For now, though, it's farewell.

God bless.

Olafson's railroading continues

The Appeals Court has ruled against him:

His defense team had explained the case is about nothing more than a malfunctioning gun, and there was evidence to support that. But according to judges Daniel Manion, Michael Kanne and Virginia Kendall of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the weapon is a machinegun, and government information about the tests that determined that are not pertinent.

Unbelievable. The BATFE invents its own laws out of thin air and on the fly, and the judicial system just eats it up.

Of course, none of the bureaucrats who came up with this "malfunctioning gun = machine gun" crap were elected. Why anyone bothers calling our national political arrangement a "democracy" is beyond me...

Good grief, Drudge

I went to the Drudge Report, and there on the page was a photo of a woman who had undergone a face transplant. It was a "before and after" thing. The "before" was pretty hideous.

I would appreciate it, Mr. Drudge, if you would simply provide a link next time along with a warning about disturbing images. What is seen cannot be unseen.

Victims of mathematics

You Babylon 5 fans might remember a certain quote that goes like this:

Londo: "If the Narns all stood together in one place and hated all at the same time, that hatred could fly across dozens of light years and reduce Centauri Prime to a ball of ash. That's how much they hate *us*." Sinclair: "You don't have to respond in kind." Londo: "Of course we do. It is a natural law. Physics tells us that for every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction. They hate us, we hate them, they hate us back and so, here we are, victims of mathematics."

It seems that someone has actually made a t-shirt with Londo's "wisdom" on it. Check it out.

I like this one better, though. Because I have always been here.

One label, two camps, and never the twain shall meet

Vox mentions a strange disparity:

I find this sort of thing to be rather funny. It appears that Vox Popoli is rated the #7 Christian Libertarian blog while failing to rank among the top 100 libertarian blogs and websites.

Though, actually, it's not that strange at all. The answer is that there are libertarians and then there are libertarians.

One camp is centered in Washington, D.C. This camp sees libertarianism as little more than the right to use illicit drugs, rent prostitutes, and engage in various bizarre sexual acts. Examples of this kind of libertarian include Bill Maher and Matt Welch.

The other camp is decidedly not based in Washington, D.C. It is less centralized, though I suppose one could say Auburn, Alabama is a main base of operations. This camp arrives at libertarianism via ideas about property rights, from which all else is then derived. Examples of this kind of libertarian are Lew Rockwell and Murray Rothbard.

These two camps clashed a bit during the Republican primary of last year. I blogged about it a little in this post.

The differences between these two groups are not trivial. We're talking about opposite ideas about the very nature of government here.

The first link in Vox's post only lists Christian libertarians, so it is already limited in nature. It is the second list of "top 100 libertarian blogs and websites" that needs a little pruning. Mr. Messamore first must decide which camp he wishes to list, then remove the links from the other camp. Because as it is, his list is pretty meaningless; he might as well make a list of top conservative blogs that includes stuff like Daily Kos and msnbc.

This is a decision that every man who calls himself a libertarian must make. Do you call yourself that because you just want to smoke pot and have sex with hookers? Or is your political association based on something a little deeper and more fundamental, something that impacts not only your brain's production of dopamine but every other aspect of your life?

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but not all that call themselves roses deserve the name. It is the same with libertarianism and libertarians, and it is important to remember that when dealing with the other camp.



UPDATE: Just to be clear, I mentioned Welch as an example of the D.C. libertarian camp, not necessarily as an example of one who indulges in unseemly personal activities. I have no idea what he does in his private life, nor do I care to know. Sorry for any misconceptions.

Don Obama

Michael Corleone has some competition:

A leading bankruptcy attorney representing hedge funds and money managers told ABC News Saturday that Steve Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's Auto Industry Task Force, threatened one of the firms, an investment bank, that if it continued to oppose the administration's Chrysler bankruptcy plan, the White House would use the White House press corps to destroy its reputation.

I guess we don't get to accuse Vladimir Putin of being a gangster anymore. We've got our own mafia in the executive branch.

Speaking of secession...

Count me in amongst the 18 percent.