Posts in "Random"

"Sh*t People Say" Contest -- Liberty Themed!

Megan Duffield — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:29:57 +0000

There’s this meme floating around on YouTube. There’s these videos satirizing the ridiculous things people say, usually broken down by demographic. Sh*t white people say. Sh*t black people say. Sh*t rich people say. Sh*t hipsters say. Sh*t zombies say. Just a whole lot of shit. I found a lot of them pretty racist, or at least collectivist by design. I don’t usually go for that sort of humor, but then I found one that tickled my prejudices right where I like it:

Just brilliant! Best of all, completely true. Will Potter, who created the video, says it’s all based on statements the FBI has actually made in court, in the press, or to activists themselves. Being married to a civil rights attorney, I’ve heard most of these before. Green Is The New Red looks mostly liberal, but they’ve chosen a rallying cry everyone can get behind: Activism is not Terrorism. Americans allegedly have the Constitutional right to political activism, but activists on both sides of the aisle (or no aisle at all) are being targeted by the programs created to surveil terrorists.

Click here to participate in the contest!

Dave Barry's 2011 Year in Review

Bonnie Kristian — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:38:16 +0000

Libertarian and generally hilarious person Dave Barry has released his annual Year in Review. An excerpt:

In Washington, as the deadline for raising the federal debt limit nears, Congress and the Obama administration work themselves into a frenzy trying to figure out what to do about the fact that the government is spending insanely more money than it actually has. At the last possible minute, they hammer out a historic agreement under which the government will continue to spend insanely more money than it actually has while a very special congressional committee -- A SUPER committee! -- comes up with a plan, by a later date, that will solve this pesky problem once and for all.

Enjoy the whole thing here.

YAL @ Northeastern: 'Alcohol, Parties & the Law' Draws 150 Students

kerr.g — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:13:38 +0000

The Young Americans for Liberty at Northeastern University drew at least 150 students to their event "Alcohol, Parties & the Law," presented by C.L. Lindsay. C.L. Lindsay is an attorney who founded the Coalition for Student & Academic Rights (CO-STAR). Through the night he spoke to students about how to have a party without getting busted by the police (or ticking off your neighbors).

Through his fun and entertaining presentation C.L. covered virtually every legal pitfall, including how to collect money legally, keg laws, underage drinking laws, noise ordinances, etc.

The best part of the event besides the enthusiastic student audience? The school helped sponsor the event and was very supportive of it, as it is in their best interest if students stay out of trouble (since they won't stop having parties).

Music Video: Roll With the Flow

mrbasil0 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:46:51 +0000

Released last week, this new music video by Dorian Electra is going viral in the liberty sphere. It's the sequel to "I'm in Love with Friedrich Hayek!"

Steve Jobs: Bloodthirsty, Fat Cat Capitalist

Zak Slayback — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:17:22 +0000

"Think Different" -- Remembering an American Innovator

BrianMUGA — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:10:44 +0000

President Obama does not get a lot of things right nowadays, but he hit the nail on the head when he said, "The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

The impact that Steve Jobs left on our lives is indelible. I will even go so far as to say that nearly everyone reading this owns at least one Apple product, or has at least seen a Pixar film or owns some piece of technology that resulted from the revolution he helped facilitate (and I am sure that there is no one reading this who does not at least know someone who owns an Apple product).

This is what a real hero looks like.

Jared Fuller — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:12:01 +0000

If you believe in capitalism, if you believe in the American Dream, and if you are a Young American for Liberty like me, then today I humbly request that you honor the unsung heroes in our lives: The entrepreneurs, the visionaries, and the business tycoons who have vastly changed our lives -- Steve Jobs surely rests near (if not at the top) of that list.

Steve Jobs is my hero. Thank you for forever changing the course of human history and improving the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the world.

If there should be any idolitry today, I would hope that in lieu of idolizing those who live at the expense of others, we idolize those who vastly improve the lives of others.

Send any kind remarks to: rememberingsteve@apple.com

Spending Money We Don't Have on Things We Don't Need

Ryan Gilroy — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:27:04 +0000

Forbes has put together a list of the silliest uses of tax dollars by our government:

$930 Million: On unnecessary printing costs
$175 Million: On an unused monkey house (and other structures)
$112 Million: On fraudulent tax reimbursements to prisoners
$47.6 Million: On streetcar system that runs the same rout as the subway system below it
$15.68 Million: On an unprofitable shooting range
$5 Million: On a three week conference for the Federal Aviation Administration
$4.2 Million: "Duplicative Shuttle Services for Federal Employees"
$3 million: Treadmills for shrimp
$2.5 Million: On a U.S. Census commercial that appeared during the Super Bowl
$2 Million: On a study about posting pictures online
$1.5 Million: On new toilets for Denali National Park
$1.5 Million: On a laundry-folding robot
$1 Million: On a study about baby names

Click here for details on each item. It is really amazing what dumb ideas manage to get government funding!

YAL Exclusives: Ben Sommer's Newest Tracks

Zak Slayback — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:50:21 +0000

Ben Sommer, an edgy progressive rock artist who has been featured on YAL before, provides his newest releases for a YAL Exclusive preview.

Sommer's newest songs touch at consumerism, militarism, and cadaverism, all delicate issues for society. Sommer describes the songs as, "pretty 'out there' -- compared to the rest of the album" and "more than a bit tongue-in-cheek."

Consumerism:

Militarism:

Sea Communities: The New Frontier?

BenLevine16 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:36:44 +0000

Recently, one of the most interesting and innovative ideas in the political field has come from The Seasteading Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Sunnyvale, California. Patri Friedman, the grandson of Milton Friedman, founded the institute in 2008. The core idea, in simplistic form, is this: Build self-sustaining islands and experiment with different political systems. With help from libertarian Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Pay-Pal and first investor in Facebook, Seasteading raised over $1,000,000 by December of 2010 and has received a fair amount of media coverage. It certainly will not be easy to carry out this project, but it is a novel idea.

Imagine if it were proven that a community without heavy government intereference can not only function but flourish? What if it could be shown that private charity, not governmental assistance, is the best way to take care of individuals in need? This idea is truly exciting and deserves more respect as a credible step toward a freer future. I absolutely hope it succeeds and proves statists wrong.

Education vs Stimulus

Dave Scotese — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:55:45 +0000

What is the most important of the following four efforts?

Punish the bad guys
Reward the good guys
Share what you know about liberty
Learn more about liberty

There are six "Which is more important" questions that will each divide people into two groups:

1. Punishing bad guys vs Rewarding good guys
2. Punishing bad guys vs Sharing what you know
3. Punishing bad guys vs Learning more
4. Rewarding good guys vs Sharing what you know
5. Rewarding good guys vs Learning more
6. Sharing what you know vs Learning more

I wanted to characterize the kind of people on each side of these questions, and see if that generates some feedback.

1. Punishing bad guys vs Rewarding good guys

Those who feel that punishment is more important than reward are, perhaps living among people who already feel pretty free, and they see more negative behaviors than positive ones. They would like to stop others from "being bad" and they sense a failure on the part of the status quo to help limit those behaviors. I submit that they haven't realized that carrots work better than sticks.

Bacon Inflation Nation

Brian Beyer — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:23:32 +0000

Instagram.

The "Caesar Effect" of Forum Moderators

BrianMUGA — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:35:54 +0000

We all know them -- those moderators or administrators on political forums or groups that claim to "support liberty" and "welcome all opinions," but then boot you the instant you post something they disagree with.

To their credit, some of them may have started off legitimately wanting to "welcome all opinions" in their group or forums, but they slowly change their minds as they grow weary of those they disagree with as they begin to succumb to what I call the "Caesar Effect."

... These two revolutions, both the one in electronic communications and the emerging ideological revolution in the name of individual rights, have found happy union together. Such connections have spurred much beneficial action, as with the Arab Spring, while also leading to baseless violence in theft, as in the United Kingdom. But it has also altered the ways in which people speak to and view one another. The traditional power structures implicit within the old forms of ideological activism (e.g. seniority, age, political pull) can be immediately usurped by a newcomer who, though he has no prior connection, displays that he is no less capable of holding his own than those who once considered themselves the de facto leaders (or rulers) of said groups.

Mad Men's Libertarian

bertramt — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:53:57 +0000

Not too long ago my sisters got me hooked on a show called Mad Men. The show is about a man named Don Draper, who is the creative director at an ad agency in the 60's -- a job which entails a lot of drinking, smoking, and quick thinking. Mad Men also focuses on the ad agency's need to make a profit, which is where the show's token libertarian is revealed:

Not only is it a great shout out to a very famous libertarian thinker Ayn Rand, but the libertarian character's name is Bertram which makes this blogger very happy. Bertram is a funny, very odd, and sadly minor character in the show. However, I am convinced that getting our message into pop culture such as TV, music, film, etc. is absolutely necessary for the liberty movement. The left has shown us how succesful this can be.

Americans Elect: New Ticket, Old News

Kelsey Crockett — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:58:01 +0000

Americans Elect is seeking to create an “open nominating process” that will submit a bipartisan ticket for the 2012 presidential election. They invite online visitors to sign up as “delegates” and contribute by prioritizing issues, then answering more detailed questions about those issues. The authors ask decent questions, but provide very black and white (or should I say red and blue?) answers that basically mirror the Republican and Democrat platforms. Nothing new.

Because they simply reproduce old party ideas instead of fostering outside discussion, it's likely that whatever position gets the upper hand on this new ticket (judging by the current response statistics -- Democrat) will do nothing more than take a few votes away from the official ticket.

Nevertheless, the response statistics are interesting. This one on job creation serves as a reminder of the work set out for us.