Now that the Army will not allow soliders in the PX to purchase Playboy Magazine , Donviti over at Delaware liberal had no words to describe the situation. Well, I have a suggestion.... Join the Navy:

I am not kidding. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are working with Richard Branson, to go to Mars. If you would like to go to Mars too, you can apply to do so at: http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html Or join Mission Control Network from earth to help develop the social system the Martian pioneers choose to adopt wink,wink, libertarians here is your chance ..... mailto:chance.....virgle@googlegroups.com Maybe now the government and big mercantilists can send all the successful members of the Page family to Mars instead of exiling us to Europe or Latin America?

I cannot provide sources for this story, because I have not seen anyone do anything like it, and I'm not sure how to search for it. But as I talk to people in the many developments around Pike Creek and Hockessin I have become convinced my point is accurate. Get me a few minutes and then decide for yourself. I believe that in this country we're on the verge of a major suburban collapse of the upper middle class (the so-called affluent class with the incomes of $140,000-200,000) into what can best be described as genteel poverty . My evidence, strangely enough, starts with a broken microwave. To get there, start with the housing boom of the 1990s in which middle class and upper middle class people either got suckered or suckered themselves (choose your own interpretation) into buying huge, steroidal houses with 2,400+ square feet, along with multiple vehicles (at least one of which was an SUV). Most of those families purchased those houses at the extreme end of what they cou...

This from our British friends at The Libertarian Alliance . I warn you in advance that it is provocative reading, even by Libertarian standards. Brit Libertarian Sean Gabb has been rather ceremoniously uninvited as a United Kingdom Independence Party speaker because--oh, wow!--they just discovered that he is in favor of drug legalization, eliminating the UK's race relations laws, and in repealing some child pornography laws. That's right: Sean Gabb actually takes a critical look at child porn from a Libertarian perspective. This requires a longish citation to do his reasoning justice: This outrage, it seems, was caused by my brief statement of what it means to be a libertarian. I said the day before yesterday that I believe in legalising all drugs, in repealing all race relations laws, and in repealing some of the laws against child pornography. I am surprised that my statement had this effect. I have spent the past three decades arguing very clearly on every occasion for wha...

After living part of my adult life in Asia, specifically in South East Asia, at first I found it very difficult to understand the American reluctance to accept and tolerate people who were either Lesbian, Gay or Transsexual. I had seen many. Some were my friends. In Thailand there is nothing wrong with having a highly educated ladyboy as a friend to advise you on meeting a nice highly educated upper middle-class Chinese woman. So I never really thought anything of ideas like homophobia until I came home to the United States. It seems to me that Thai's are much more honest about things generally and about sexuality in particular without all of the stigma we associate with it. You can read about ladyboys here: http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php?blog=8&cat=290 Any offense against a Thai ladyboy may wind up getting you beat to a pulp as many are experts in kickboxing and can be quite aggressive. If only the same were true in America. I am sure things would change overnight here f...

I remember my initial frustration on discovering Libertarianism was in my inability to see a path from here to there. I could see how a Libertarian society could work; I just couldn't see how to make it happen starting from welfare-state capitalism. Then I realized, somewhere along the way, that it all has to do with habits of mind. When we habituate people to standing in line to receive government benefits that they haven't worked for, we teach them to be subservient, grasping, and dependent. Every time we inculcate our children with the idea of blind obedience to authority-- Wear your bicycle helmet or the policeman will get you or you'll fall, crack open your head and become a quadriplegic! Good children color inside the lines! Everybody deserves a medal because everybody tried real hard! --we destroy a tiny bit of personal responsibility and independence. I've come to believe that we only get so many of those independent brain cells to start out with, so every tim...

The Center for Science in the Public Interest [which really should be known as the Center for Science as Paternalistic Influence ] has trashed my movie theater popcorn, lambasted take-out Chinese, and brutally attacked the menus at some of my favorite Italian restaurants. I'll give them this, they're honest about their Nanny State pretensions. For example, with respect to CSPI's campaign against youthful and underage drinking , Economic studies have concluded that increasing alcohol excise taxes is one of the most effective means of saving young lives and reducing the incidence of disease caused by alcohol. But the tax rates are still far too low to compensate for the costs of alcohol problems to society, and they are constantly being eroded by inflation. Further increases and indexing for inflation would allow governments to obtain needed revenue, as well as to reduce alcohol consumption among young people. CSPI has vigorously supported higher state and federal excise ...

Over at The Curvature , my pick for today is When Evil Temptress Secretaries Prey on their Poor Defenseless Bosses . You might think the title says it all, but if you did, you don't know Cara.

Despite what you may hear from Kyoto or Bali, there are a large number of people in the developing world that see global warming as a semi-conspiracy on the part of the industrialized nations to deprive them of a higher standard of living. Here's a current example, as reported by Canadian TV , as well as one of my favorite blogs, The Ecolibertarian . India's Tata Motors is unveiling the new Nano, a four-door compact that retails for between $2,500-3,000, potentially allowing tens of millions of Indians to upgrade from motorcycles and carts to automobiles. Tata says the vehicle will meet European emission standards and achieve fuel efficiency of about 45 miles per gallon. A triumph for capitalism and innovation? If you thought that, you're wrong. According to UN Chief Climatologist, Dr, Rajendra Pachauri (co-winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore), he's "having nightmares" about the possibilities of the Indian subcontinent teeming with cars ...

Thinking about my own life, and the extent to which my family has gone "Green," and why: I love big pickups. My Ford F-250 Supercab (12 mpg rolling downhill with a tailwind) was my pride and joy. I still miss it. I sold it 18 months ago when gas prices permanently got up over $2/gallon. Today on my 54-mile (each way) commute I drive a Nissan Sentra that is getting 36 mpg. I like a lot of light in my house. My kids like it toasty warm or (in summer) cold enough to hang meat. Then electricity costs went through the roof, because we finally had to start paying something close to the real price of generation and transmission. I bought fluorescent light bulbs, not because they are ecologically sound, but because they now save me a bundle of money. I like money; I can get used to the fact that they take a few seconds to achieve full brightness. My kids can also get used to putting on some sweat pants, because the thermostat now goes no higher than 67 in the winter and no l...