Month: September 2003

Arnie’s Libertarian Lunge. Just in time for tonight’s debate, Arnold Schwarzenegger lays out his economic program and philosophy in today’s Wall Street Journal (registration required). The lede:bq. I have often said that the two people who have most profoundly impacted my thinking on economics are Milton Friedman and Adam Smith. At Christmas I sometimes annoy some of my more liberal Hollywood friends by sending them a gift of Mr. Friedman’s classic economic primer, “Free to Choose.” What I learned from Messrs. Friedman and Smith is a lesson that every political leader should never forget: that when the heavy fist of government becomes too overbearing and intrusive, it stifles the unlimited wealth creation process of a free people operating under a free enterprise system. For news of Schwarzenegger’s actually substantive proposals, click here. (WSJ link via Robert Garcia Tagorda, whose unique theories about Arnold’s unorthodox campaign tactics will be put to the test tonight.) [Hit & Run]

I’d sooner believe that Schwarzenegger is really an android assassin from the future than a libertarian.

CIA created fake mullahs. The CIA paid Mullahs and created fake Islamic religious leaders to preach a moderate message and counter anti-American sentiment in the Arab world after the September 11 attacks, a new book says.

In “The CIA at War”, Ronald Kessler, an investigative reporter and author of several books about the CIA and the FBI, also detailed espionage activity in Iraq that supported the March invasion that toppled President Saddam Hussein. (link)

Doesn’t seem to have worked. Might try changing our Middle East policies instead. [Al-Muhajabah’s Islamic Blogs]

That sounds like the Feds’ supposedly cancelled propaganda campaign popping up again.

Equal Time, Sorta. Here’s the Libertarians for McClintock Web site. [Hit & Run]

I notice they don’t mention his anti-gay and anti-immigrant positions. I haven’t decided yet who I’ll vote for, but I very much doubt it will be McClintock.

For Sale: Iraq [Baghdad Burning]

Some comments on reconstruction contracts, Brown and Root, and the puppet government’s announcement that foreign ownership of companies would be allowed (leaving unsaid that only foreign companies would be given contracts). Arthur Silber also wrote about this subject on Friday.

After briefly reaching almost $66/share, Symantec’s stock price seems to be headed down again. I still can’t see what made it jump up so high, but I did manage to unload all the options I could while it was over $65.

Mike Lockwood tells the story of his last day at Apple working on the Dylan project. And there’s a list of Apple history stories told by Apple insiders. A gold mine of now-it-can-be-tolds. [Scripting News]

Dylan was a new language project–I think it was related in some way to Lisp.

Liberty in the Balance, Part III. In the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge, 24-year-old Sohail Rahim is waiting for a yellow Checker cab that will ferry him into Canada, where he hopes to start a new life.
Again.

Two years after he fled persecution in Pakistan and carved out a life of freedom in Dallas, he is fleeing the United States and the fear of the FBI coming for him. (link)

As counter-terrorism policy, this has failed, since there have been no terrorism suspects charged out of all the people who have been questioned, registered, or detained. As immigration policy, this is discriminatory, singling out certain immigrants because of their nationality, while leaving others of different nationality with the same violations alone. Something has got to change. [Al-Muhajabah’s Islamic Blogs]

This kind of thing isn’t really about terrorism or immigration, at least not directly. Politicians always respond to major events like 9/11 by rushing to “do something,” even though the things they do never would have had any effect, and in fact almost always make things worse for everyone. The “Patriot” Act and the creation of the Terrorist Safety Administration and the American KGB are other examples of this sort of thing.

Also, his kind of persecution of immigrants will probably make conservative immigrant-haters happy, and considering the close presidential election Bush may be looking for more votes next year.

IQ test. I took the Emode.com online IQ test. I would have to pay to see detailed results but it told me that my IQ is 136 and that my intellectual type is Facts Curator, about which it says: This means you are highly intelligent and have picked up an impressive and unique collection of facts and figures over the years. You’ve got a remarkable vocabulary and exceptional math skills.

:bookish: [Al-Muhajabah’s Islamic Blogs]

I tried it, and got an IQ of 135 and an intellectual type of “visionary philosopher.” I think it’s important to keep in mind that although IQ is often considered an measure of intelligence (and it stands for “intelligence quotient”), it is really more a measure of knowledge–which is not at all the same thing.

Warning for people who want to take the test: you have to give personal information and an email address to get the results.

Neocon Iraqis Suppress Free Press. Why, we can’t have anyone criticizing Sultan Bremer and his court (though at least they aren’t bombing the Arab free press, as their US masters are wont to do)…. [LewRockwell.com Blog]

Another example of what the Crusaders mean by liberation: the press is free to say exactly what the puppet government wants it to say, and nothing else.

Larken Rose at KeepAndBearArms.com –

Why Fear an Armed Public? – unless you’re a tyrant who routinely
does things that would make the average Joe want to shoot
you. Like the i.r.s. agents who raided Mr. Larken’s home last May.
bq.
At some point the same agent asked me if my guns were “registered.” I
wasn’t sure what he meant, so I answered that they were all purchased
legally. He asked again if they were “registered.” When I told him
that we don’t register guns in Pennsylvania, he arrogantly mocked my
claim. His arrogance faded, however, after the local cop confirmed
that we don’t register firearms here. (That convinced me that this
agent was another import from the left coast.)

But the agents conveyed more to me than what their words literally
said. They were quite visibly disturbed at the idea of a mere peasant
like me being armed. Why? I have never threatened them (or anyone
else) with violence. I walked away from my firearms to get to the door
to let them in. So what was the problem? The answer is quite simple:
they were doing things that they thought were likely to result in
someone shooting them. The local cop wasn’t scared of my firearms. (He
even asked where I got my nifty little combination safe for my
handguns.) He wasn’t the one whose idea it was to pull a Gestapo stunt
on me. He wasn’t doing anything which might make him fear my guns.
[End the War on Freedom]