Via a reminder from Rad Geek...

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent
To blow up King and Parli’ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England’s overthrow...

Rad Geek has more befitting the season. Also, of interest to my anarchist friends, his discussion of post-Bush strategy. Let's get ready for his special kind of lack of change to come.

Tags: events, politics

A very happy centennial birthday to the late great master of scifi, Robert Anson Heinlein!

Robert Anson Heinlein
7/7/1907—5/8/1988

Heinlein is by far my favorite classical scifi author. What follows are some of my own favorite quotes - unfortunately, due to space constraints, I'll have to leave out basically the entirety of the Notebooks of Lazarus Long (click that link!), but you should get the picture.

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." --Robert Heinlein (as Lazarus Long), Time Enough For Love

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon

"A rational anarchist believes that concepts such as ‘state’ and ‘society’ and ‘government’ have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame ... as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluations, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world ... aware that his effort will be less than perfect yet undismayed by self-knowledge of self-failure." --Robert Heinlein (as Professor Bernardo de la Paz), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

"I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman- which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Robert Heinlein (as Jubal Harshaw), Stranger in a Strange Land

"Of all the nonsense that twists the world, the concept of 'altruism' is the worst. People do what they want to, every time. If it pains them, to make a choice- if the 'choice' looks like a 'sacrifice' -- you can be sure that it is no nobler than the discomfort caused by greediness... the necessity of having to decide between two things you want when you can't have both. The ordinary bloke suffers every time he chooses between spending a buck on beer or tucking it away for his kids, between getting up to go to work and losing his job. But he always chooses that which hurts least or pleasures most. The scoundrel and the saint make the same choices...." --Robert Heinlein (as Jubal Harshaw), Stranger in a Strange Land

"No matter how lavishly overpaid, civil servants everywhere are convinced they are horribly underpaid-but all public employees have larceny in their hearts or they wouldn't be feeding at the public trough." --Robert Heinlein (as Friday), Friday

"'Love' is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." --Robert Heinlein (as Jubal Harshaw), Stranger in a Strange Land

And above all things...

TANSTAAFL!

There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
A thanks for the reminder to Amy Sturgis from Liberty & Power. Check out her post

Tags: books, events, heinlein, history, holidays, people, quotes
Current Mood: thoughtful

So tonight, at around dinner time, I will be a quarter century old.  At that time, WE MAKE PARTY!


The Plan is to go to JT Schmid's this evening around 6:30 or 7:00, everybody's invited.  Give me a call or IM for details.  Yeah, yeah, late notice.  But srsly.

Tags: events, life
Current Location: home
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Rush - Tom Sawyer

For this Independence Day, I'd like to take a page from Roderick Long and point you all to Voltairine de Cleyre's insightful thoughts on the revolution.  Think about the prophetic words of Thomas Jefferson, which she quotes:

"The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may become persecutor, and better men be his victims. It can never be too often repeated that the time for fixing every essential right, on a legal basis, is while our rulers are honest, ourselves united. From the conclusion of this war we shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war, will be heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion."

Does the spirit of '76 live on in the United States on this, its 230th birthday?  Or have Americans lost their stomache for liberty entirely?

The 4th is not a celebration of fireworks, or of flags, or of wars, or of men.  It is fundamentally a celebration of ideals.  On this day, our founders pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" on the gamble that they might see freedom from England - and establish a nation on the principles of the Enlightenment.  The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were "self-evident truths," not merely nice goals, to be tossed aside when we are too lazy, afraid, or power-mad to keep them.

A microcosm of the perverse nature of our current Congress is the closeness of the flag burning amendment to passing the Congress last week.  By one vote!  A vote to destroy the very ideals for which the flag stands, in honor of the flag!  How hypocritical, or how misguided, for men whose bread and butter are platitudes built on the fathers of the Revolution?  Those men cared not for flags, but for liberty.  A flag is a symbol, and for Americans it is the symbol of that liberty - but it is the liberty also to destroy one's own property, no matter what its symbolism to others.  Yet the people do not know this.  They do not think about it, even; they merely get upset at the burning of their symbol, and cry out for the American judicial system to satisfy their anger.  Not because of principle, not because of the ideals of the flag, but merely because they are angry.  It is this that the Constitution tried to prevent, which it has failed to do.

Realize today that the federal government is merely another group of men, just like yourselves.  That it does not have the power to heal all wrongs, and that granting it more power will inevitably corrupt it further.  Those radicals in 1781 and 1789 had the right idea in attempting to chain Leviathan.  But it is up to us, not the Supreme Court or anyone else, to ensure that those chains remain strong.  In that duty, Americans have been derelict.

It is not too late, but it is a hard road back.  And I fear there are few men or women left in this country.

Jefferson said, also:

"God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion...What country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is its natural manure."

Tags: culture, events, history, holidays, politics, rant
Current Mood: contemplative

CL-USER> (defun merry-christmas (&key to)
           (format t "Merry Christmas to ~a!~%" to))
merry-christmas
CL-USER> (merry-christmas :to "you")
Merry Christmas to you!
nil

Tags: events
Current Mood: cheerful

Oh, and do have a Happy Thanksgiving.  I know Bob will.

Tags: events, holidays

Just as I posted last year, I shall once again remind everyone what the true celebration of Thanksgiving should be:  the triumph of private property and the free market over collectivism and tyranny.

The first Thanksgiving was in 1621 and was the result of a meager harvest.  At that time, the colony was run communally - the crops would go into a common store, and would be distributed to families much as the Marxist maxim: "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need."  Because of this, there was corruption - "much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable."  Bounty did not come until 1623, when, as William Bradford, governor of the Plymouth colony, writes on:

So they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in misery. At length, after much debate of things, the Governor (with the advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; in all other thing to go on in the general way as before. And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number, for that end, only for present use (but made no division for inheritance) and ranged all boys and youth under some family. This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.

The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato's and other ancients applauded by some of later times; and that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For the young men, that were most able and fit for labor and service, did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense. The strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalized in labors and victuals, clothes etc., with the meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them. And for men's wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could many husbands well brook it. Upon the point all being to have alike, and all to do alike, they thought themselves in the like condition, and one as good as another; and so, if it did not cut off those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least much diminish and take off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them. And would have been worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none object this is men's corruption, and nothing to the course itself. I answer, seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in His wisdom saw another course fitter for them.

(emphasis mine)

So remember and give thanks, as you eat your Thanksgiving feast, the origin of that bounty.  It is the calculation of the price system and the incentive of private property that have brought plenty to America.  Without capitalism, the cornucopia that surrounds many American families on this day would most certainly be diminished considerably.  Individuals, not governments or collectives, are truly responsible for the continuous prosperity we enjoy.

For more, I encourage you to read Richard Maybury's article, "The Great Thanksgiving Hoax" from the Mises Institute.

Once again, my continual quest to turn every holiday you love into a political rant ;-)

Tags: events, history, politics
Current Mood: thoughtful

Alright.  You all know where I stand, and the election is tomorrow.  You know what to do - if you are well-informed, have read your voter information guide(s), and feel confident of your choices, please go vote.  If you are ill-informed or otherwise poorly equipped to vote, please stay home rather than sully the ballot box with your ignorance. Thank you.

Remember: You have no right to vote. You should do your best to earn the privilege.

Proposition	Vote
73	Your Conscience*
74	Yes
75	Yes
76	Yes
77	Yes
78	No
79	No
80	No
B	No
C	No
D	No
E	No
F	No
G	No

If you vote with me on any one proposition, please make it 75. I know public union employees that it affects who are desperate for it - they work in an industry where they are the minority and have no control over how their dues are spent. Along with 76, it is to my mind one of the most important initiatives on the ballot.

About B through E: These are all Orange County propositions that are being clamored for by over-funded special interests. Please vote no, we don't need to subsidise public welfare queens any more than we are.

F and G may not be on your ballot, they may only apply to Newport-Mesa USD and to La Habra (respectively). If you're in those districts, I recommend voting no - but that's just me.

* I understand both sides of the issue on 73. Personally, I am in favor of it on parental rights grounds - but either way it is not an especially important proposition to me, personally. Vote the way that you feel you would prefer the law as a parent or future parent.

Tags: events, politics, voter information guide
Current Mood: contemplative

Who is coming? You will comment, and you should call me.

The plan:
Our usual theater, Century Stadium 25 (1701 W Katella Ave, Orange, CA 92867), has a showing at 10:30pm.  You should buy your tickets in advance on Fandango.com ASAP, just in case it sells out (it's not a huge movie, but this is opening night after all, who knows).  We should get to the theater at least by 10:00pm to get good seats.

We may go to dinner at JT Schmid's first, which is just down the street from the theater on Katella.  If we do so, we will meet there around 7:30 or 8:00, and you should let me know in advance if you are coming so I can reserve the right number of seats.  If you just want to meet us for the movie and skip dinner, that is fine too, just let me know.

Feel free to call my cell phone about questions or concerns you may have, or to let me know you are coming.  If you don't have my cell number, leave a comment and I will get it to you.

Tags: entertainment, events, geekery, life
Current Mood: excited

1. While coming to meet up with us, ki_pat's car was viciously attacked by another car, ending in a busted tail light
2. Hurt my back somehow.  Ouch.
3. Got to Pacific Amphitheatre in time to catch last couple songs by The Decemberists.  They were quite good, check them out.
4. Met the sheriff.  He freed us from the the pull-ties that bound our chairs. For some reason he didn't look how I pictured - I had been expecting a handlebar moustache.
5. Ate concession-stand hot dog, which made stomache sad.
6. Saw Beck.  Technically 4th row, but effecitvely front row (we were on the end, in the pit, and once standing could walk up to the stage).  w00t.
7. Wandered fair.  Made fun of AARP members from afar.  I want to go back, stand in front of them looking expectant, hands on hips, and say: "Well?"
8. Drove home.

All praise and thanks go to bashful_dwarf who stealthily purloined our tickets from her boss.  Well, by "stealthily purloined" I mean "obtained legally", but I wanted to say "purloined".

In the end, not a bad evening - despite my stomache, back, and ears (loud!).  I look forward to the sequel.

Tags: entertainment, events, life, music
Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime

Well, it's that time of year again, folks - Defcon looms just around the corner (July 29-31), and I'm putting out a call for fellow travellers.  Currently I am going with Naerbnic, but we would love to have others join us.

We will be leaving the evening of thursday, July 28th, to travel with the Deathrace 2k Caravan.  Please comment or contact me in some way if you are interested - last minute notice may even be fine, but don't make that your plan.  Defcon is a blast every year, and this does not appear to disappoint - Hacker Jeopardy and the TCP/IP Drinking Game are both back, Phil Zimmerman will be speaking again (the Man), along with Fyodor (the Other Man), Bruce Potter, and Paul Vixie...and that's just the first day.

Ah yes.  We shall enjoy it.

Tags: events, geekery
Current Mood: excited

It's that time of year again - Sunday is International Capitalism Day.  Come out and celebrate!

Celebrate Capitalism™ 2005
"For the love of freedom! And the glory of human creativity!"
Sunday June 5 2005, is International Capitalism Day!
Click here for more information.

Tags: events, politics
Current Mood: geeky

So...Episode III tonight? If so, buy tickets now. First listed 12:01 AM showtime at Edwards Brea Stadium East.  Be there or be NONsquare.

Oh, and I get to go to E3 on friday. Huzzah!

Update: Okay...so the site was deceptive. Won't let me buy tickets, maybe sold out - maybe not. I will figure something out and let you know.

Update 2: Alright, so for REAL now, we are seeing it at AMC Fullerton. Buy tickets now, the third listed showtime.

Tags: events
Current Mood: excited

(via Mises Blog)

Hasten, children, black and white –
Celebrate the yearly rite.
Every pupil plant a tree:
It will grow some day to be
Big and strong enough to bear
A School Director hanging there.

               --Ambrose Bierce

Arbor Day - when saps create little saplings.  Want teo help the environment and grow more trees?  A handful of people planting their own one day a year is all well and good, but there is really only one long-term solution:  more private property.

There was an interesting leader last week in the Economist about the current environmental movement.  I recommend you read it before it becomes subscription-required.

Tags: events, politics
Current Mood: busy

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy coming out friday!  Who wants to see the 12:01 showing?

Bring your towel.

Tags: entertainment, events
Current Mood: excited

Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. ( Read More... )

Click here to read more about the importance of this day in American history.

Tags: events, history
Current Mood: content

Ahoy, all libertarians in Orange County.  Forward this to your friends. Some friends and I are organizing a libertarian social club in the Orange County area.  Everyone is welcome, we are non-denominational - libertarians or those interested in libertarianism should come and participate.

WHAT:

The first meeting of the (tentatively titled) Libertarian Social Club of Orange County (LSC-OC). Just a meeting for similarly-minded folks in the greater Orange County area to meet and hang out together.  Totally informal - no "meetings for business" allowed.  Activism may be discussed, but will not necessarily be formally endorsed or organised directly through LSC-OC meetings.

We are not associated with the Libertarian Party or any other existing libertarian organisation (even if some of us may be members).

WHEN:

Monday, April 11, 2005 @ 7:30 PM

WHERE:

Round Table Pizza
2506 East Chapman Avenue
Fullerton, CA 92831

WHO:

Small-L libertarians, small-government conservatives, classical liberals, Objectivists, and anarcho-capitalists of all denominations - Republican, Democrat, LP, Independent, come one come all and bring interested friends. We will have libertarian philosophical materials for perusal and distribution.  If you believe in liberty and agree with the principle of "That government is best which governs least" (or, perhaps, that "which governs not at all") then we want you present.

WHY:

As far as I have found, there are no decent libertarian social organisations in the LA or OC area.  The LP's meetings are stuffed-shirt affairs, and are all well and good for Political Party mucky-muck, but are not conducive for casual discussion and general hanging out.  With a political philosophy as rare these days as libertarianism (even in Orange County), I think it is important to be among those of like minds at least part of the time.  Perhaps the LSC-OC will lead to activism - perhaps not.  But at the very least, we can know we are not alone.

Be aware, this will be our first meeting and may be small.  But all it will take for growth in the future is your attendance.

Tags: events, politics

FYI:

I and others are going to see Sin City tonight.  It was shot in digital, so we're going to go see it at the digital theater at the Irvine Spectrum.  If you want to go, buy your tickets online (we don't know when they'll sell out) from Fandango for the 10:10pm DIGITAL PROJECTION showing and give my cell phone a call.  naerbnic, bashful_dwarf, ki_pat, onehemophiliac, and Echoboy will be there as well.

Tags: entertainment, events

Oh, and before I forget.  For a woman to whom the world and myself owe a great deal...

Happy Birthday, Ayn Rand.

Tags: events, history
Current Mood: thoughtful

I would like to recommend Randall McElroy's blog entry today to all my Democrat friends.  I think he has some good points from an external perspective about how you can bring your party back together.

Tags: events, politics
Current Mood: busy