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In yesterday’s MX, a free paper given out on railways, they had an item about a pub in Britain that found a way around the anti-smoking ban. If a separate room was called a ‘Smoking Research Center’, and patrons filled out a questionaire about their smoking habits, then they were within the law.
The pub has had customers return in needed numbers. the council is looking into the matter.
Maybe something like this is what Australian pubs need?!
I recommend people click on the May 2008-May 2009 archive and read David’s comment # 410.
It was only up for 1 day.
Excellent article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124217356836613091.html
The Liberal response to the deficit:
http://thewesternlines.blogspot.com/2009/05/joes-response-to-swan.html
Would any economists care to critique Big Joe’s response, or is it just pretty much the facts as presented?
http://tiny.cc/A6skJ
In US: Paulson forced 9 bank CEOs into bailout
Think I’ve got one in the spam catcher.
But if you find it then delete it, please – don’t let it come through.
I’ve found another pro-freedom site from the US. I can’t believe the ALS has, so far, overlooked STR † THE FREEDOM BLOG©.
Here’s a sample – a thoughtful argument on the threat posed by those ugly, godless Germans:
Germany already started two world wars and they are the ones going to start the 3rd one, too! Germans have the “killer instinct”, they are what you call Natural Born Killers……
…….That’s right, people, Germans are on the march again, mobilizing against human dignity, against the rule of law and against the kind of Freedom and Moderation advocated by George W. Bush………….
………..Let me direct the last sentences to all German readers: You will never beat America! We are the winners and you are the losers. This is the way it has always been and this is the way it will always be. Don’t even try it losers. America will beat your ass again. Anytime. Bring’em on!
God bless you (Germans excluded of course),
Shelley Goodman
Shelley has also kindly offered to help the Big Guy out in his righteous efforts, by composing God’s Hitlist..
Life in the 21st century speeds along faster than Hillary Clinton will wind up in Hell. We sometimes need reminders of the good and the bad in life. So as a service to our readers, here is a list of topics, phrases and persons that should be considered a one way ticket to Hell with no hope of redemption.
God Bless You,
Shelley Goodman
=============Enemies of the homeland
God’s people hitlist: God wants them dead because they harm America!
Barack “The Muslim” Obama
(aka “Homobama”, “Barack Osama”, “Husein the Terrorist”)
Tristan Shuddery (He died due to auto-erotic asphyxiation in Room 66 of the Motel 6 in El Reno, Oklahoma on March, 15 2007. He was found the next day by the housekeeper. He was our friend and and part of the STR writer crew but he turned against God. He died and God won!)
Cory Doctorow ( Pro-hacker liberal, runs a satanic blog called “Boing” )
Scott McClellan
Richard Dawkins
Alex ‘The Snake Oil Salesman’ Jones
Mike Malloy
Michael Moore
Aaron Russo (God won – died of cancer!)
Hillary Clinton
Bill Clinton
Chelsea Clinton
Cindy Sheehan (Has publicly repented from her sins – God won!)
Al Gore
Al Franken
Barrack Osama
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
Charly & Martin Sheen
………………………….
There’s also a presidential campaign:
BBN 4 President
WILLIAM ROBERT NECK ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE
June 7th
BOSTON, MA After conferring with Mrs. Shelley Goodman and Jesus, William Robert Neck, otherwise known as Billy Bob, announced his intention to form a presidential exploratory committee. ?As long that?s what God wants,? Mr. Neck said, then there ain’t no reason not to………
…………..
Mr. Neck’s platform consists of three simple steps to restore America?s spotless reputation for honesty, fairness and morality after the nightmare of the Clinton years.
Go To Church
Home School
Gun Safety Classes
That’s just about all you need, Mr. Neck frequently says. God created America and America?s gotta stop turning its back on God.
I think there’s something in this for all of us.
Whilst I fully endorse Michael’s views above, and would only change ‘America’ to ‘Australia’, what do people think and feel about the new ‘please explain’ argument being talked about, that people suspected of living off criminal proceeds should be required to explain where their wealth comes from?
I’ve already thought of one avenue of explanation. A libertarian with betting connections could set up a retrospective service, and give people fake ‘winning’ tickets of past races, as an explanation of where the wealth came from. Any other ways to stimy this pernicious ‘guilty until released’ recommendation?
I feel I might introduce my self here. My name is Kate, I’m a newbie here, someone told me that i might find some good information here so… basically that’s why I’m here, and for any good advice i might get also… hope to have good time here
Welcome Kate! We’re always interested in good-time girls. I hope you will also speak up now and then. We could especially do with more feminine input, since a lot of us seem to be men, though it’s getting harder and harder to tell from names alone.
I notice you call yourself ’starlet’. are you actually in TV or movies, or hoping to break in?
STR is a parody site, I think you’ll find
I think you’ll find we were laughing along with you.
http://www.wbaltv.com/money/19435100/detail.html
Government efficiancy:
10,000 “stimulus” cheques to dead people in US.
http://www.vhemt.org/
Clearly the environmental movement is sane.
[Edit: With all due respect Shem, I have a somewhat different point of view. All me to explain...]
The environmentalist movement is the most hateful, irrational movement there is. Worse than the jihadists for craziness. After all some of those jihadists in Iraq have come over and are now co-operating with the Americans. But we haven’t seen such redemptive action from Environmentalists. Who are all belligerently unrepentant.
Hey, this is my first post.
Can anyone tell me their opinion of the forum thus far.
Looking to meet new people to exchange info with,so leave me your name.
Later, .
Tim, maybe those cheques to deceased voters was to pay them for still voting even after they’re dead? And have you thought that the dead need bigger stimulus packages to get them going?
SnarlyJohn, can I call you bruce? Welcome to the wider world of libertarian gossip!
Johnhumphreys, anarchocapitalists actually believe in a zero-sized state, so another title could be Zerocrat, as opposed to Democrat. A Zerocracy would have no chief, AND no democratic commune structure favoured by traditional anarchists!
Not sure this is worth its own post… so I’ll just put it in “discussion” until I can decide.
It seems Prodos has decided to run a hit-piece on me regarding climate change policy. I left the following response on his blog, but as he has a habit of editing/deleting comments as it suits him I thought I’d leave it here…
Prodos’ article — http://prodos.thinkertothinker.com/?p=559
My response…
I note that Prodos does not offer a response to the arguments.
Clearly, Prodos thinks the science debate is important. But my paper & presentation weren’t about the science, so that’s not relevant.
The issue being discussed is “carbon tax v ETS”. If Prodos disagrees with me, that implies he supports an ETS. If he agrees with me, then it’s not clear why he has produced such a hateful attack on me. And if he thinks it is the wrong question, again it is not clear why he takes the time to produce such a hateful attack.
Regarding what I would prefer — my latest commentary on climate change is here — http://blog.libertarian.org.au/2009/04/16/climate-games/
I don’t see what this has to do with Greg Lindsay, who has never given a public comment on climate change.
I also note that the previous policy of not giving or allowing negative personal comments on this blog seems to have changed.
A final observation is that Chris Monckton has come out with pretty much the exact same proposal I had in my paper. It will be interesting to see whether Prodos also wants to imply Monckton is a fascist.
I don’t know Prodos but I generally like his work. I think he is being unfair on you in the video commentary. He seems to willingly misunderstanding your position. I think you should blog on this. I left my 2 cents worth on his blog but it is still in moderation.
Thanks for your comments on his blog Terje… and Michael & Tim too.
John Ray was originally appalled at the CIS for publishing my rubbish, but after a clarification has published this:
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com/2009/05/prodos-global-warming-and-cis.html
This is a concern for our American friends:
http://reason.com/news/show/133722.html
“It is settled law,” Sotomayor and the Second Circuit held, “that the Second Amendment applies only to limitations the federal government seeks to impose on this right.”
Say what you will about the pros and cons of the right to bare arms, wouldn’t this mean that States in the US can draft laws limiting free speech, the right to a trail by jury and anything else enshrined in the bill of rights?
Ben, at the very least she won’t be any worse than Souter
From another blog:
( Ross )… “Gittins outlined his own theory according to which business cycles are driven by two elements of human psychology — namely the herd instinct and the tendency to cycles of optimism and pessimism.”
http://clubtroppo.com.au/2009/05/28/well-youve-got-me-there/#more-8501
Apparently Ken Henry of the Treasury considers Gittens to be Australia’s preeminent economic commentator.
I wonder how the Treasury views the Gittens Theory of Business Cycles ?
I was reading about GM’s troubles in CATO, and I realised that one major hassle was that one union monopolised industrial relations. Why should workers there, or HERE, have only one group? Tear up any demarcation regulations and rules, and let Unions compete for workers to join them! The old argument, that they need a monopoly to match the monopoly of employers, was never very credible.
An interesting discussion of climate change…
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/PSEUDOSC/GlobWarm.HTM
I found the best thing to my boyfriend’s birthday… It’s really hard to find cool and still unique.
So today I saw this thing from ZTARLET on facebook where you can name a real star in heaven and have the certificate and a teddy bear sent to you and pay it by a single SMS. So awesome
Q. How many people in Australia suffer from swine flue?
A. Isn’t it something like 700?
Retort- (Achoo!) two more than you think!
John – a good article. I don’t have any argument with the notion that on the balance of probabilities, as opposed to beyond reasonable doubt, there is global warming caused by humans. The argument is certainly strong enough in my book to warrant a change in the policy mix (eg a shift from payroll tax to a carbon tax).
This guy may be worthy of a link:
http://bradtaylor.wordpress.com/
I am pleased by the results across Europe, if only because conservatives, being ’status quo’ types, won’t be as meddlesome as socialists. And it looks like Gordon Brown has had the ‘luck’ to keep the poisoned chalice of Prime-Ministership. Britain will be fascinating to observe, from afar!
Why don’t anarcho-capitalists just call themselves Free Anarchists, the Free standing in for Free Enterprise and Free Markets?
I want to listen good music. Help me please.
Q. How many Sharks’ supporters does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Both of them!
A better way to spend the stimulus package is to buy a new book, just out. It is called “A Brief History Of The Future”, by Jacques Attali. He looks at longterm historical trends, and his conclusion, derived from history, is, “from century to century, humankind has asserted the primacy of individual freedom over all over values.”
Who could disagree with that? By future, he means the next century. He even has a few references to Australia! It cost me $35-, but I am very impressed with it.
Hi,
What is the cheapest web hosting company?
I’m need to set up a web site for my boss.
Thank you,
-Carol
Good news- Libertarian blogs are being discussed in The Australian! The Media section mentions libertarians, as well as other sites, and even uses the term anarcho-capitalist! It’s brief, but any publicity is better than none!
I came up with a new word, to describe the hard green types who give themselves permission to use violence on the rest of us, and who are against all forms of technology, except new ways to reduce human numbers to ‘acceptable’ levels. These Green fanatics should have their own title, so why not ‘Greenatic’?
I debate an old coot about Government spending crowding out private sector investment:
http://www.catallaxyfiles.com/blog/?p=5328
Good for a laugh but ultimately depressing considering our illucid friend’s somewhat loose grip on reality.
And the difference between a young coot and an old coot is?
To a 15 year old you are ancient, Mark. Enough with the ageism.
If you go to ninemsn, you can read about a blog called Anonymous, which is breaking through the walls of censorship to give the Iranian people the truth about the elections over the Internet!
I heard Barry O Farrel on AM talkback this morning (showing my age, apparently).
I like the boy.
He spruiked recall elections, beefed up protections against eminent domain, lower payroll taxes, less spent on administration and allocating funds to infrastructure more quickly.
The LDP should go in hard for a preference deal with the LP/NP coalition for the 2011 NSW election ASAP.
If this isn’t LDP fodder I don’t know what is:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25665607-5006009,00.html
I saw that Casey Fronczek is offering fishing trips now down in south Florida. Does anybody have any input on these trips or has anyone been on one of these trips before?
Wow, never thought this would see the light of day:
The most likely path to do this would be for the commonwealth to give the states the ability to impose their own surcharge on income tax, which would be collected for them by the Australian Tax Office.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25669048-601,00.html
Perhaps there’s some hope for competitive federalism in this country?
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Why don’t we have a libertarian form of salute? Instead of ‘Good luck’, why don’t we farewell each other with, “Pure Profit”, or “Tax-free earnings”?
The LDP has a draft gambling policy on its blog site. http://ldpblog.wordpress.com/ Comments by members and supporters are invited.
Hi all!
I`m new user on this forum. My name is Sharon I`m 23 yo girl from New York.
I hope to have good time here
Glad to have you aboard, Sharon. My name is Bruce. Can we call you Sheila, just so nobody gets confused?
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Seriously now, this could make an LDP Policy:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/25/2608804.htm
Is there any reason we should waste police resources on arresting aboriginal people for drinking in public places – which usually means an area that no one else goes to because there’s blackfellas draining metho through bread? With no disrespect intended, it’s apparent to a lot of ‘average’ people that the resources expended on aboriginal people aren’t getting the intended results. Perhaps we are overpolicing and they’d be better off left alone for minor offences they commit away from everyone else?
The police should police public areas. I don’t think turning a blind eye is a solution. The long-term solutions are to privatise unnecessary public areas and remove any aboriginal-specific welfare. Legislated racism is the root problem, not overpolicing.
I guess it’s a question of what level of detail a public area should be policed. Should we fine someone lots of money for dropping a cigarette butt on the ground? If aboriginal people (or anyone really) are drinking quietly to one side is that worthy of action?
My feeling is that we’ve hit a situation where we fine someone with a hefty fine for dropping a cigarette butt on the ground, but if someone smashes the window of your car and takes your handbag and ipod then the police don’t blink an eyelid and file a report to you’ve got a reference number for your insurance company.
I get your point; here in London you can hang out most public places drinking (or at least I’ve never been stopped), including beautiful places like Regent’s park. I just don’t necessarily think this is a political or legislative issue. Yes it’d be nice if the police got their priorities straight. But, they’re a government monopoly department and thus provide a low quality service. Should state-level police even be policing council-owned public areas? I’d rather solve the structural issues rather than the internal management of individual departments.
Victoria is on the move… to a totalitarian state. A bill has passed the lower house this week making it an offence to smoke in cars, further resticting advertising of a legal product and banning the sale of tobacco at events such as the Big Day Out. Can’t wait for November ‘10. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25691484-661,00.html
Just re-read post. In fairness, they are only trying to ban smoking in cars carrrying people under 18. So I suppose that makes it alright then. Obviously the police aren’t raising enough revenue and do not have anything better to do with all their spare time.
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I think the Senate is making Rudd look like a good PM:
The Senate has scuttled:
The CPRS (Carbon Cap and Trade)
The Alcopops Tax
The Mandatory Internet Filter
while at all times, he still gets to pretend he cares about “thees issues”.
LOL
“the issues”
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: knauf-center.ru@mail.ru
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