Zen and the Art of /.*/

I recently received a forward from a family member:

A Little Boy’s Explanation of God — Fabulous!!! Out of the mouths of
the Babes–I certainly don’t think an adult could explain this more
beautifully!

Charlie Sheen sits down with the president…and BARRAGES him with inconvenient truth! Holy shit, batman. I wish there was a video–I would have liked to see him squirm. His response, or lack thereof, is extremely telling. Hope? Change? Nope. New puppet, same puppet masters.

Update: Stupid. Just saw the small print. Cool article anyhow… Pretty much how I would expect it to go down.

The so-called “freedom of religion,” which is supposedly protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (emphasis mine)

is also, quite clearly the freedom FROM religion, if that is what the individual seeks.

A recent Time article, Can Atheists Be Parents? explains that:

There is a well-known prayer in the fire service known as the Fireman’s Prayer:

When I am called to duty, God
Whenever flames may rage,
Give me strength to save some life
Whatever be its age.

Those familiar with Libertarian thought are surely also familiar with the notion that secession–from any form of association–is a fundamental right that applies to any subset of a society all the way down to the individual.

Many see state secession from the union as the ultimate solution to the problems of the United States government. But, as soon as one starts to consider this course of action, one shudders to think of the wrath that would likely be rained down upon the poor souls brave enough to try it.

Updated Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 10:40 pm.

Original letter sent to the faculty of the economics department at the College of Saint Benedict / Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN on Monday, July 13th - 11:45 am

My name is Mike Phenow. I am a 2005 graduate of Saint John’s. The nature of my correspondence to the Economics Department is a little unconventional and I thank you for your time in indulging me.

Recent developments have brought the discipline of economics to the fore of nearly everyone’s mind — layman, practitioner, and academic alike. In this regard, I am no exception. The much-watched and closely-scrutinized political events of the past few years — in which I have participated, in my own small ways — have led myself and others on an intellectual journey to discover the true causes of the economic crises — and how the vast majority of economists could have utterly failed to either foresee them or satisfactorily explain them.

The Creature from Jekyll Island - A Second Look at the Federal Reserve by G Edward Griffin (1:11:11)

A speech given by G. Edward Griffin in 1994 (!) on the contents of his book of the same name. Required listening. No excuses.

On this Mother’s Day, as we reflect on the role of motherhood and express our gratitude to the many mothers that have impacted our lives–and as I idly flip the silver dollar I keep in my pocket–I am struck by the choice of a woman–the ancient Roman goddess Libertas, or Lady Liberty–as the symbol of freedom.

I just returned from a meeting among some like-minded folk discussing victories and defeats in the past election and plans to help rebuild the party so that we can win some elections in 2010 with some real liberty-minded candidates. I was reminded of this letter-to-the-editor I wrote prior to the February 2008 caucuses and which was printed in the January 30th edition of the Osseo Press. It is interesting to re-read now, over a year later. Here it is, for what it’s worth.

I long ago signed up for an account on LibraryThing, but never got around to actually entering all of my books. A recent friend request from a real-life friend and coworker prompted me to revisit the site.

Taking advantage of the fact that I recently bought a barcode scanner for the sake of taking inventory of pull-tab boxes, and using it as a good excuse to further postpone other nagging responsibilities, I spent a couple hours scanning in my collection of books.