Glibertarians.com 2019 Archive

Category: Fun

  • It’s That Time of the Month

    First of all, thanks to all who tried the challenge. Whether you spent hours and hours trying to improve your sketching or simply made a few attempts, I’m sure we’d all love to see what you got. Post in the comments.

    I watched about 20 YouTube sketching tutorials and tried to follow what they were saying. But, I didn’t know what they were saying. Blending stump? Cast vs occlusion shadow? Values? Contour shading? I went down rabbit hole after rabbit hole trying to figure stuff out. I was Alice if she had nuts and hit them on every protruding root.
    Can you really learn how to be good at sketching in a month? Not when the extent of your artistic talent is drawing dicks on your older sister’s Brownie troupe group photo. I did learn some things that couldn’t possibly be useful in any other aspect of life:

    1. There are shadows everywhere. There are shadows inside shadows and the shapes they make are just as real as the objects and light creating them.

    2. Contrast is how you make things pop. If you don’t go bold in order to find the edges of possibility, you won’t be able to create subtleties.

    3. Sometimes you gotta draw a line no matter how shaky your hand is and live with it. The next time you’ll be more careful with your construction lines.

    4. Relax. Stress can cause of spaz hand. It may take a while to discover a method to relax that works for you. Keep trying because eventually you’ll be able to slip into that frame of mind easily.

    5. People have interesting faces. If you think a person is ugly, try drawing his or her face. You’ll find at least one point that is intriguing if not beautiful.

    My final work sketches. Not going to quit my day job.

    Pics links: https://m.imgur.com/a/Cee8cYW

    Music link just because I love it: youtube.com/watch?v=CbI79e5iZKs

  • ‘Twas the Night Before Glib-Mas

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    ‘Twas the night before Glib-Mas, and, purged of endorphins,
    Not a creature was stirring – not even the orphans.
    Booby traps and alarms were set, in fear
    That old rapist STEVE SMITH might decide to appear.

    The Glib Ones were nestled, each snug in their bunk,
    Each Glib Girl and Anarchist, and reg’lar old punk.
    Both I and my mistress, who looked really super,
    Were succumbing to an alcoholic stupor.

    When, all of a sudden, ere I could rebuke,
    Our Glib-house was hit with the force of a nuke!
    (I exaggerate, of course, but still, I was shook up
    And upset at the interruption of my hook-up.)

    I ran to the window and threw open the pane.
    Dark clouds had gathered, the moonlight did wane –
    And above the night wind’s blistering howl,
    I heard a voice; no, it was more of a growl:

    “ALL OF YOU TROLLS, BE READY FOR TAKEOFF!
    STEVE SMITH GO IN HERE, THEN WE WILL MAKE OFF
    WITH THEIR GIFTS AND PRESENTS AND CHRISTMAS BOOTY –
    ALL TROLL FLIGHT CREWS ATTEND TO YOUR DUTY!”

    I cowered in fear, for from childhood I knew
    Of the legend of STEVE SMITH and his murderous crew –
    Eight ugly trolls pulled his magical sled;
    The very sight of them filled grown men with dread.

    I stood frozen in fear, stuck right to the floor
    And heard massive footprints approaching my door;
    Then, at the last moment, dived back of a chair –
    My door was kicked open, and then, standing there

    Was STEVE SMITH, in all of his horrible glory,
    His dank body hair matted and gory.
    He possessed two incredibly bloodshot eyes;
    Oh, and a phallus of enormous size.

    The creature turned and gave me a wink,
    And just as I was beginning to think
    That I was a goner, now it appeared
    Perhaps things would not be quite as I feared.

    Instead, he turned his attention to see
    All of the Glib-gifts under the tree.
    Then it hit me like a clap of thunder –
    His purpose and intention to plunder!

    All the things we had bought, he stuffed into a sack,
    Our unopened presents, he proceeded to pack.
    All of the firearms, sex toys, and lube,
    Our home-brew kits, our blow-up dolls – hey, rube!

    This was our whole holiday he was stealing,
    But as I stood there, I had the feeling
    That if I tried to stop him, he’d pound me, I knew
    Into a greasy little pile of goo.

    So while I stood cowering, tame as a mouse,
    The creature went all about the house
    Taking all that he wanted; why, he even took
    Every Ayn Rand and Hayek and Mises book.

    When he was finally done, he heaved a great sigh,
    And again fixed me with a bloodshot eye.
    Though the beast seemed to be in a jovial mood
    I had only one thought: Holy crap, I am screwed.

    But as I stood there trembling, my mouth agape,
    The monster assured me: “DON’T WORRY, NO RAPE –
    STEVE SMITH EXHAUSTED AFTER LONG NIGHT OF THEFT.
    ALMOST FEEL SORRY, YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT.

    BUT REMEMBER THIS: GLIB-MAS NOT ABOUT EARTHLY THINGS
    BUT FREEDOM AND ALL THE JOY THAT IT BRINGS.”
    With that he stepped out, with his large pack fumbling,
    To his sled and his slave-trolls all a-grumbling.

    Within moments the over-burdened sleigh
    Rose into the sky, and then away –
    Leaving only a horrible stink.
    “No one will believe this,” I started to think.

    I was up the rest of the night explaining;
    I really don’t think I deserved the caning.
    Ah, well. As STEVE SMITH said, as he vanished from sight,
    “MERRY GLIB-MAS TO ALL! AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!”

     

     

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  • The Night Shift for December 21, 2019

    The countdowns to Christmas and Hanukkah are winding down…or, up. Something like that. Anyway, I think lots of us are traveling and/or preoccupied with ‘family’. In any event, I presume that for some, you may not get around to participating much with the other glibs for various stretches of time, and I thought that this was simply unacceptable. Well, not when I’m out, but, that’s different. So, with that, let’s have a bit more late-night fun, as we wind down the year:

    I had an unexpected comment to one of the songs I offered up last week (no, not that one; the other one). It got me to thinking, which is probably a dangerous situation. But, I realized there was truth in the statement(s), and I wanted to explore the idea. I picked a song in that similar ballpark; one with many renditions to choose from. After so sampling, I found one that surprised me, and yet, is really quite enjoyable. I hope you enjoy it.

    Welcome back to night time commenting, Festus!! Also, welcome to the newbies we seem to be gathering here, lately. No idea If any of you are around for this post, but, do jump right in and get weird. Or, don’t—I ain’t your boss.

    Merry Christmas, Major. You seem like a good Sheila, but, politicians probably deserve much worse. #McAfee2020!! WOOO!!

    Yes, and, Michael Jackson should transition to be Tlingit, to satisfy future identity politics. St. Nicholas is rolling over in her grave…er, tomb…er, sarcophagus.

    Did anyone already get any gifts (from yourself, or, others), you want to talk about? Of course, if you’ve already mentioned them, do so again, here.

    Well, it came down to the wire, but, we may just have the 2019 Parents of the Year award-winners…. Is it just me, or, do those pictures look like the shots of participants on Impractical Jokers?

    For any gliberati that may find themselves north of the DFW area (and, with a huge appetite), you really need to check out Bonnie Ruth’s. Especially on a weekend morning. Everything appears to be made fresh in-house. And, while I can’t comment on the quality of them, they make their mimosas (very popular from what I’ve seen) with, at most, 25% orange juice. Maybe even more like 15-20%. Sweet mother Mary, is this place fantastic… You’re welcome.

    Cheer up, bitches ladies: It’s the season of giving! Go eat some hazelnut whatever, and chill. (I really thought this might be an attempt to out-Bee the Babylon Bee. Alas, it seems real). It’s almost as if the sexes maybe could use some time and space away from each other, from time to time.

    I don’t know how much ‘good’ this good news is, but I’ll take what I can get. I mean, it’s only, like, what, 1/8th of the states…right, Mr. Former President?

    I’m going to leave this here. I have no idea if it is war-mongering/rah-rah-rah spin, or, an intelligent clarification of info that’s making the rounds. However, it seems like a good idea to have multiple views of the matter.

    OK—I think I found the perfect outro song for the thread. If not, I’m sure you’ll provide your own.

    Alright, ya derelicts…I hope everyone gets to have some seasonal joy over the next couple of weeks. If not, I’ll see what I can do once I’m back on the weekend swing. Be kind, rewind, and all that. Don’t over-do anything, and keep your eyes and ears open, since there be assholes about—ready to make your life miserable, at the very least. If you’re a prayin’ person, please pray for me, and anyone else interested in receiving such. Merry Christmas, and, Happy New Year!

  • Sunday Night Open Post

     

    Would.

     

    Would not.

     

    Fine, here you go. There will be stuff happening next week.

     

    Tunes.

  • The Night Shift for December 14, 2019

    Yep, I have to work tonight (my pardner has a birthday AND college graduation this weekend).  Nope, my familial travails aren’t anywhere near improved.  But, it’s been long enough, and, since I have no idea when I’ll be prevented from doing this on any kind of schedule, might as well get something out before the end of the year.  With that out of the way, let’s get on with the commenting festivities:

     

    Since we are in the holiday season, and since I usually throw in some music with these posts (and, there are a LOT of options for me to choose), I’ll try a bit different format.  I trust that, if you don’t participate, you may still like these choices…or, not, since I’m not your boss, or anything:

    1. Something traditional, to start us off
    2. If you know Sir Digby, you probably expected this jam
    3. If you don’t like this classic, may Krampus visit you in the small hours of the night, wearing a French tickler and space helmet.
    4. This artist’s seasonal offerings made for a tough choice, and this is where I landed. I had no idea he had so many!
    5. Allow this goy boy to offer up something that should please many .
    6. Sir Digby’s personal favorite, in the classic style.

    I can only say that I’m really disappointed my home state doesn’t have a sheriff like this.  I have no idea if this is a good idea, or bad.  I am, however, very elated at the hope this gives to others.

    I am happy that this was in my home town.  I can see these folks embody a particular stereotype, but, I definitely applaud the giving.

    Did anyone do any Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday shopping, in meat-space or online?  If so, care to share any bargains you got, or, any best kept secrets for that time of year?

    I know this has made the rounds amongst the glibs, but…c’mon—it’s a classic, and the reason for my handle addition.  Notice the explanation under the video.  Are you sure the ‘whole thing’ really adds to anything other than the comedy?

    Do you see what multiculturalism has led to??  Do you?!?  (“a lot more metal” is right!)

    Wait…how close is CA to BC?  It’s not Christmas if it’s not political.  Post-Enlightenment, indeed.

    Glib holiday travel plans:  Where are you going?  For how long?  How are you getting there?  Will you bring me back a souvenir?  Er, scratch that—how about I just watch your stuff while you’re gone?  You know, for security purposes…

    Yeah, I’m watching The Mandalorian, and I’m enjoying the heck out of it, too.  But, since some of you just had to crap on it, you get THIS.  See what you made me do?

    Alright—I guess it’s time to wrap up (get it??) with a classic, by a beloved performer.

     

    I don’t know if this was a return to form for me, or, just an attempt to get back on the horse.  Or, both.  In any event, I’m not giving up on my beloved Saturday nights just yet.  Don’t you do it, either.  If I don’t happen to get another one out before the new year, do your best to enjoy the holiday season, in whatever form that takes.  For those of you who spend time on the Discord server, please invite our brethren and sistren over for some late Saturday yuks and hijinks.  Peace!

  • Relegation/Promotion in Baseball

    Revolution

    In 1988, in his last Abstract, Bill James wrote an essay called “Revolution”.  I would link to it, but our copyright laws mean that a 31 year old essay is not yet in the public domain, nor never will be.  In it, James suggested freeing the minor leagues from their farm status and having them compete as independent leagues.  Some would accept their levels as minor leagues, some would try to build up and from a 3rd major league, some would fold.  It would allow more teams to exist as every town could have a team and compete at their proper level, with proper levels of pay (none to very little).   There was a lot of good stuff in the article but when I was reading it, in April 1988, I was struck by what he left out…relegation and promotion.  There was no way for a team not in the majors to get there, other than expansion.  It was the obvious flaw in the article.  It is one I have been thinking about ever since, and despite tinkering around, my solution keeps coming back to the same one I thought of 31 years ago.

    Ignoring the relegation/promotion question for now, why would we want free minor leagues?  Have you been to a minor league game?  The decision making is less than spectacular, but it is because the managers literally aren’t playing to win.  They are rewarded for developing players, not winning games.  If that means playing Joey Votto in left field instead of 1B, because the Reds don’t have an opening at first, then so be it (this is not a hypothetical.  And yes, he was a far worse outfielder than you can possibly imagine).   Your AAA team has made the playoffs?  Great, we will call your best player up to the majors so he can pinch hit once a week in September.

    There is no real rooting for your home team.  At best, if you are a fan of their affiliated major league team, you get to see players that you will be cheering for later one.  As a Reds fan and Cardinals hater, when Louisville was a Cards franchise, I had trouble cheering for my local team.  Fortunately, they switched to the Reds (with a brief detour thru Milwaukee).  If the teams were independent, they would be playing to win.  And attendance would go up, not down, in the post season.

    I get up, I get down

    For those not fans of European sports, what is relegation and promotion?  I will use English soccer as my example, as it is the best known to American, but I am sure Pie can fill us in on how it works differently in Romania.   At the end of the season, the worst teams from one league are relegated down to the next lowest league, and the best teams from that league come up.  For example, the bottom 3 (18th thru 20th) in the English Premier League are relegated to the Championship League, and the top 3 (actually top 2, plus a playoff winner of teams 3-6) are promoted from the Championship to the Premier League.  Below the Championship is League 1 and League 2.  Below them is the National Conference, and then it starts getting interesting.  At that point, instead of a straight 1 to 1 correspondence, we get branching, as the leagues form “The Pyramid”.  Below the Conference is Conference North and South.  Below them are 3 leagues, Northern, Southern, and Isthmian.  And below them are more and more branches.  At the lowest levels you get county leagues.  Its just neighborhood teams playing against each other, with better ones moving up and playing against the other better teams.  Think of it as like A-league vs B-league softball.

    If you really care, here is a nice image:

    https://englishsoccerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/english_league_pyramid.gif

    Centerfield

    Now that we are all on board, what would the American system look like.  First, we have to accept that 1969-1976 had the correct setup for MLB.  Each league had 12 teams, divided into 6 eastern and 6 western teams, with 18 games played in division and 12 played out of division with no interleague play.

    Perfection!  Then it all got screwed up by letting Toronto in the AL.

    While we can’t go back, we can replicate that.  We will expand the majors by 18 teams, and form two levels of 24 teams.  The Major Leagues D1 will have 4 6-team divisions:  NL-East, NL-West, AL-East, AL-West playing the schedule they did in the 70s.  Major League D2 will also have 4 6-team divisions, but will save on travel costs.  There will be two leagues, the Eastern League and the Western League, each with a National and American division.  They will play the same 18-12 breakdown, but wont cross over to the other half of the country.

    Sixth place in each D1 division will be relegated to the appropriate division in D2.  The winners of divisions in D2 will move up.  Below is my initial layout.  I chose the 18 teams from current minor league baseball (17 of the 18 are in AAA) based on 2019 attendance and not being located within the DMA of a major league team.  The 6 MLB teams in D2 were based on geography and 2019 records.  For assigning minor league teams to National or American, I mostly went with their historical affiliations with some adjustments for balance.  Its just an example.  The west starts at Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and the UP.  And whatever that is in Canada – Albertoba or something.

    Here is your 2020 breakdown:

     

    NL-East NL-West AL-East AL-West
    Atlanta St Louis NY Yankees Minnesota
    Washington Milwaukee Tampa Bay Houston
    NY Mets Chi Cubs Boston Oakland
    Philadelphia LA Dodgers Cleveland Texas
    Cincinnati Arizona Toronto Chicago WS
    Pittsburgh San Fran Baltimore LA Angels
    EL-National WL-National EL-American WL-American
    Miami Colorado Detroit Kansas City
    Louisville San Diego Toledo Seattle
    Indianapolis Iowa Columbus Round Rock
    Durham Sacramento Charlotte Las Vegas
    Buffalo Paso Rochester Salt Lake City
    Scranton Albany Nashville Oklahoma City

     

     

    American Pyramid

    That is a start of the system, we could keep the rest of the minors around as farm teams, instead of each MLB team having about 6, each of the 48 would have 3.  But once we go down this path, this won’t last.  There will be more expansion off the bottom of this, We will start the American Baseball Pyramid.  I don’t know exactly how it would develop, but I think it would start with 4 regional leagues, Northeast, Southeast, Central, and West Coast.  Maybe 5, with a Midwest league also, Yeah, probably so.  I don’t know how they would decide the 4 to promote, so maybe it would be 4.  But whatever, you get the idea.  And below that would be 8 or so leagues, and below that state level leagues.  Below that city level leagues, where neighborhoods play against neighborhoods – probably much shorter seasons with a game or two thru the week and then weekend games on Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

    This would give a place for that guy you played little league with, who was a AAA all-star and then spent 2 weeks in the Majors with an ERA over 10, a place to continue to play (this is also not a hypothetical).  Now, there are two types of guys in the minors, young kids who have potential to be major leagues, and guys kept around because they help the young guys learn and may be a coach someday.  As soon as you lose that prospect status, you are generally out the door.  They don’t want a 32 year old at A ball.  But with an independent system, if that 32 year old can help the A league team win and get promoted, he is worth having around.  And they will still develop the 19 year old, so they can sell him to a Major League team and rake in the profits.

     

    Money

    So why hasn’t this already happened?  It might have in the 19th century.  It would have prevented all the failed competing major league attempts, like the Players League and the Federal League and the American League.  The PCL was very close to a 3rd major league and might have become one if the Dodgers and Giants hadn’t moved west.  There were a few players who refused Major League contracts to stay in the PCL.

    Now it won’t happen for the obvious reason:  $$$.  I team dropping to MLB-D2, or even lower, would lose out on lots of money.  With the cost of a team, owners can put up with being bad, they can’t put up with being in a lower league.  And the second monetary reason is leverage.  Although expansion has put a stop to most of it, teams can get shiny new stadiums out of cities by threatening to leave.  Get Las Vegas a D2 team and the threat goes away.  Vegas isn’t going to try to become the new home of the Twins, they can just spend money on players and get promoted.

    The system seems great to libertarians, the best 24 franchises will rise to the top and bad owners will watch their teams fall.  Good fan bases will support their team, providing the money for teams to rise to their appropriate level and stay there.  Bad fan bases will get what they deserve.  And we can also see why crony capitalist wouldn’t like it.

    So yet again, I end an article with a section on why my awesome idea isn’t feasible.

  • Great Glib Debate Series: Biff vs. Ozymandias

    And now, for your reading pleasure, the next installment of the debate competition for the ages!  Vote for the winner here.

     

     

    Question as asked:

    Given the existence of a nation-state and some form of Western representative government (think bicameral, parliamentary or some variation thereof), is multiculturalism or assimilationism preferable for the health of the nation and its people?

    Expansion: What “preferable” means will largely be left up to the debater to establish.  It could mean material prosperity, stability, personal or cultural identity; just argue convincingly to your point.

    Multiculturalism – numerous populations from disparate cultures living alongside one another within the nation while retaining much of their cultural distinctiveness.  The proverbial “salad bowl”.  Assimilationism – numerous populations from disparate cultures shedding or deemphasizing most of their cultural distinctiveness to adapt to the prevailing “majority culture”.  The proverbial “melting pot”.

    Biff defends multiculturalism, Ozy defends assimilationism.

     

     

    Biff:

    America has been multicultural since its inception. The very idea of freedom of speech, freedom of religious practice, and freedom of association are all foundational components of the United States, and all clearly support the idea of a multicultural nation. The cultural practices of colonial Georgians differed widely from colonial Virginians, much less the residents of the New England colonies. Concepts of individual liberty and freedom require multiculturalism. Demanding that all citizens adhere to a limited set of cultural ideas is the exact opposite of the type of freedom the United States sought (and still attempts, though often poorly) to provide its citizenry.

    Think of your favorite style of food – French, Italian, Thai, Indian. Now imagine how bland life would be if you could only ever get one of those. Multiculturalism means you can walk down the street and pick up a set of tacos on one corner and sushi at the next. No matter how much you like burgers and fries, after a while it gets boring. Variety is the spice of life.

    Multiculturalism means you get to celebrate (or just as importantly NOT celebrate) Diwali, or Yom Kippur, or Christmas, or Ivana Kupula, on any other Holiday you wish. It means (((They))) can get Chinese food and go to the movies on December 24th and 25th every year. It means you can even celebrate a made up Holiday like Kwanza (and really, aren’t they all made up?).

    Many have claimed Multiculturalism has its drawbacks – clashing ideas from different cultures have been the root of many conflicts over history, but it’s not multiculturalism’s fault – quite the opposite. True multiculturalism has an ingrained respect for other cultures where supremacy of one culture over another isn’t needed. It also demonstrates a true faith in your own culture in that your support of your own culture (born into or adopted) is sufficient that it can withstand differing opinions, viewpoints and traditions without feeling the need to suppress them or attempt to ban them outright. Much like the closely related theory of free speech, the best response  to objectionable cultural practices is exposure to alternate viewpoints and practices.

    Assimilation is for Star Trek villains – or for Bernie fans trying to streamline deodorant options.

     

     

    Ozymandias:

    Multiculturalism is an ideology doomed to failure because it is by its very nature antithetical to the concepts that undergird a nation-state. In short: the ‘salad bowl’ riposte to the ‘melting pot’ analogy ignores the fact that both need a container of some kind, be it ‘a bowl’ or ‘a pot.’ In either case, that vessel constitutes the extant culture into which the ingredients must be mixed and without which you merely have a mess of ingredients on the floor.

    To quote a Glib regarding language: “meanings have words” – and not the other way around, as it is commonly expressed. The same idea applies in the context of the nation-state. Nations don’t get created and then decide to pick and choose which cultures they’ll let in: nation-states are the byproduct of an extant culture. Through most of history those cultures that rose to sufficient heights or grew to sufficient size were almost always tied to an ethnicity and/or a dominant religion and a particular patch of dirt on the Earth.

    It was the United States that changed this conception with the creation of a nation-state steeped in Enlightenment ideas, founded explicitly against the notion of the European, ethnocentric model, to wit: France is where French people live; Italy is for Italians and Spain is for Spanish peoples, etc. The U.S. was founded by various European cultures, each in enclaves sufficient to allow them to grow, up against the pressures of raw nature with an indigenous culture, in which the “melting pot” concept could begin to take hold. Ideas such as rugged individualism inhered in the very nature of the undertaking to come to the New Land and “find one’s fortune.’ The ‘pot’ of the melting pot was already cast before the U.S. was even a political entity.

    By contrast, the evidence of the failed experiment of multiculturalism is everywhere in Europe. This is because the idea that immigrant culture can be imported, yet retain all of its own antecedents, misses the mark for a host of reasons, all related to the “bowl” into which these new cultures must be poured.

    1.     Cultures – i.e. collections of relatively homogenous groups of human beings – are deeply influenced by their environment, including weather, mountains, plains, desert, etc. We seem to have lost touch with this simple, ineluctable fact of life, especially in urban centers, where food magically appears, now that only 2-3% of our population help feed the other 97%.

    2.    Cultures always, always, include ways of solving disputes; there are objectively – measurably – better ways to resolve disputes. In Afghanistan, for example, honor culture demands the killing of the eldest son in response to certain offenses. This is decidedly NOT a good way of resolving disputes if we place any value on human life. Courts are a better way, for just one example.

    3.    No culture can expect to survive, to maintain the “pot” or “bowl,” if the ingredients themselves are allowed to alter the bowl, or destroy it at their whim.

    4.    In a bowl with different ingredients, the radishes shouldn’t get to enslave the avocado because that’s what ‘radish’ culture demands.

    5.    The US explicitly chose assimilation, even with people with a very similar common heritage, namely, Mormons. Statehood was explicitly conditioned upon giving up bigamy. One may argue about whether that specific choice was necessary, but the fact is that the US made historical choices to preserve the distinct characteristics of culture over the “salad” approach.

    None of this even begins to address issues such as language, which includes means of commerce and currency that must be fairly constant for the nation-state to survive. The ascendancy of American English as the lingua franca for the world is not a historical birthright. It is a result of deserved U.S. cultural ascendancy across a range of important areas of human relations, from international aviation, to computers, commerce, science and other technology, including medicine, and on and on. If those gains in civilization mean anything, they certainly indicate the need to preserve the underlying character of the culture that produced those gains.

     

     

    Vote!

     

  • It’s the easy one! : An Acrostic

    I know that I said I was going to go back to crosswords because a lot of you are Acrostic-ally challenged but I had already started this one. To help I tried to make it very very easy and did make it short. I probably should have posted this one first to ease you neophytes into the wonderful world of acrostics but hindsight and all that. Once again to make it libertarian oriented I chose a quote that touches on some common glibish themes, I expect you all to discuss this in the comments. I mean it this time, last time I was disappoint in all of you. Anyway…Entertainment only…no gambling…have fun…we’re all counting on you…across all obstacles…Epstein’s not dead…

     

     

     

     

    Solution

    Single Page Printable PDF

    Old Blind Person Double Page PDF 1 2

    Music to solve acrostics to

  • What Are We Reading – November 2019

    Brett L

    I finished Mark Lawrence’s newest trilogy (Impossible Times). It is a closed loop time-travel story centering around a British D&D group. It starts in the early 80s, where the teen protagonist has cancer. He is visited by a future version of himself, who is focused on getting an advanced technology to record memories to his past version so they can record the memories of their sweetheart who will have a serious brain trauma in 30 years. Like all of Lawrence’s stuff, its very readable. I was disappointed about the deus ex machina in the third book that tied everything up in a neat “they all lived happily ever after” bow. Although I will say that the effort put into making the characters’ D&D campaign foreshadow the actual story is fun. Would read again, especially at the cheap price-point.

     

    jesse.in.mb

    Grindr.

    Martin L. Shoemaker – The Last Dance (The Near-Earth Mysteries Book 1). I don’t know that it’s quite a mystery novel. The facts of the case are clear from the start and it’s a matter of context and judgement that make up the suspense of the novel. The sentiments are libertarianish about judgements needing to be made close to home. The cadence of the book was enjoyable, though maybe not to the point of being gripping. I’ll be interested in where Mr. Shoemaker takes the series.

    JW

    Krispy Kritters box. Man, this has really given me a new outlook on life.

     

    mexican sharpshooter

    I am afraid I have nothing for you this month.

    OMWC

    I have even less than mexican unless you want to hear about exciting things like Dow Guide to Flexible Foams. Having Mom here pretty much takes all my non-work time. The books are on the shelf crying in loneliness.

     

    SP

    I’m a little burnt out, so I’ve been reading escapist books. Mostly John Rebus books by Ian Rankin.

    I also read The Red Baron of Arizona  which could serve as a useful primer on how to become a con artist. This guy was seriously dedicated, going to great lengths to pull it off. The book was made into a movie starring Vincent Price, but it’s part of The Criterion Collection, so I haven’t seen it yet.

    Does anyone here subscribe to the The Criterion Channel (TedS?)? Is it worth it?

     

    SugarFree

    I’ve been reading books about murderous children: Carrie and Firestarter by Stephen King, The Bad Seed by William March, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, The Other by Thomas Tryon, “The Little Assassian” by Ray Bradbury, “Children of the Kingdom” by T. E. D. Klein. No real reason why, I just got interested. There are more for me to read. It’s a substantial subgenre.

     

     

     

  • Great Glibs Debate Series: PieInTheSky vs. Larry Joe

    Our inaugural matchup: Pie vs. Larry Joe! Remember, the Survey Monkey will be open for 24 hours here.

    The question as it was posed to them:

    Given a general libertarian perspective on bodily autonomy taken as a prerequisite, assume an individual has absolute ownership of his own DNA.  Imagine a cloning machine exists such than an individual can take a personal DNA sample and clone a perfect copy of himself.  If someone decides to create clones of himself specifically to kill them, is that murder, or is the clone an extension of that person’s body and, therefore, not murder?
    Pie will argue that it is murder, Larry Joe will argue that it isn’t.

     

    PieInTheSky:What does “an individual has absolute ownership of his own DNA” truly mean? Keeping with the premise, we can assume the DNA can be seen as a form of IP.

    What is DNA? DNA is simply information, data. It is codified in a certain way in organic matter, part of all living things, but, in the end, it is information.

    What is a human? Is an individual just information? I argue against that assumption. An individual is defined as more than just information. A 23andme database does not have the same moral value as the human who spat in a tube. And while we can delete the database, we cannot delete the human. Your DNA does not define you fully. Who looks at a person and sees some DNA?

    A human is an independent sentient biological organism, directed in development by DNA and environment and random chance. From a libertarian perspective, a person’s moral value goes well beyond the bits of data codified in DNA. No one says “all unique DNA configurations have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  A human has a body, a mind, a consciousness, self-awareness – these are the basis of moral consideration. It does, in fact, contain DNA information, but it is much more than the information in itself. The moment a clone is made, it is an independent organism with the above characteristics. While the biologically stored information is the same as the original, the being is separate. The DNA is incidental at best.  Personhood is not defined by unique stored information, and as such a clone is not its DNA, so it is not under the ownership of the original DNA donor. There is no reason to think they would be.

    Contributing information does not give you right to kill. While children are solely composed on the DNA of the parents, it does not mean the parents can simply jointly decide to kill them at any point through life. DNA data configuration is not relevant in decisions of personhood.

     

     

    Larry Joe:

    Surely some would say, “to create a human life simply to kill it is certainly immoral and murder!” They may be correct with regards to the morality of such an action; but ought it really be considered murder?

    The main defense of this most libertarian of libertarians, wishing to kill a piece of himself for sport, is that we already exclude from murder many classifications of killings of humans. Self-defense of one’s own (or another innocent’s) life is a widely recognized right and justification for killing. Defense of one’s domicile, as reflected in numerous “castle” laws placing the burden of proving malicious intent on the state, is another. In a legal sense we often distinguish murder from manslaughter, typically lacking the “malice aforethought” required for murder. Finally we reach the two most relevant distinctions, those with a murkier moral position and greater social disagreement: suicide and abortion.

    The general libertarian perspective of bodily autonomy is supportive of the right to self-determined suicide; it is in essence the ultimate example of such a right. The act of suicide itself is legal in most of the world, with support for assisting a person in committing suicide gaining support in some U.S. and Australian states, Canada, and some European countries, depending upon circumstances. While many may morally oppose committing or assisting in suicide, there is a growing legal movement toward decriminalization.

    Abortion is a divisive issue with a long history of being considered a moral offense.

    In contrast to the moral considerations, note that abortion is legal (up to various stages of gestation) without a justification in nearly every country in the Northern Hemisphere. Even one of the crowning jewels of classical liberal legislation, the United States Bill of Rights, is interpreted as protecting the “fundamental right” to abortion under the “penumbra” of the right to privacy. The Bill of Rights faces enough attacks; must we libertarians undermine it too?

    Given the numerous exceptions to human killing being considered murder, it seems presumptuous to assume that the killing of a clone must be considered such. If one has complete authority over one’s DNA, how can the government justifiably restrict actions taken to property created through that DNA? How can one justify the killing of a fetus, up to the point of partial delivery, without also permitting the killing of a clone created expressly for that purpose? The moral character of a psycho clone killer is certainly up for debate, but for the government to consider him a murderer is a bridge too far.

    Vote!