Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of The ONT

There's been a lot of talk about the UK elections over the past two days, it reminded me of this cartoon.

America is still the best idea Britain ever had.

Of Course, We're Not Without Problems

The Cost of America’s Cultural Revolution

And this just makes me angrier and angrier the more I think about it.

Confidential documents reveal U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan

All those lives wasted, and for what? We had no plan for success, and lack the will to do what would be necessary to truly change the country for the better (basically full on Roman-style imperialism with a multi-generational commitment to ruthless sublimation of the existing culture to ours). Instead we've been lying and lying and lying, all the while pissing away the lives of some of our best and brightest. I think I hate the neo-cons more for this than I do for their craven refusal to oppose the left in any way that would interfere with their posh lifestyles of unearned status.

And In Some Ways We're Struggling

Small-town America fights for its life

But Where Else Would You Rather Be?

New Zealand: Not the Paradise Americans Think It Is

You think China is the wave of the future? Well, maybe, but I doubt it. They're like the electric car: Always the next big thing, yet somehow never the current big thing.

The United States Should Fear a Faltering China

In the 80s it was Japan that was going to bury us. Well, look how that turned out. China could go the same way – if we only have the balls to act aggressively in our own self-interest. Frankly, I'm not sanguine.

Plus, We've Got Penis Fish!

Thousands of ‘penis fish’ wash onto California beach

There ya go guys, you can stop sending me this link now. I've posted it.

Hmmmm

Porn

Last week a fascinating fight erupted on Twitter between “conservatives” and libertarian types. The “conservatives” proposed banning porn. I get the point – porn can be very damaging to individuals and to a society:

How Porn Fuels Sex Trafficking

However, I've been putting “conservative” in quotes because I don't know what the hell you'd be conserving by facilitating the massive police state and government intervention that would be necessary to ban porn. It certainly isn't ordered liberty, and if you're not conserving that, what's left? We talk about the blessings of liberty, but liberty from what? The ONLY thing that we need liberty from is the GOVERNMENT. Unless it's something extreme, like abortion, where the issue is people being killed and thus being deprived of their right to life (related: Planned Parenthood Honors King Herod With Lifetime Achievement Award), empowering government never increases liberty, it only curtails it. Liberty is messy, and sometimes it means that some people will drink themselves to death or throw away their relationships in order to masturbate all day. Liberty means allowing people to fuck up – and the giving them the space to deal with the consequences of their fuck ups.

Related: Imagine There’s No Nations. Also tangentially related to the Afghanistan story above.

New Resources For Journalists

Here's the link. Pass it on to your favorite member of the MSM today.

Related: Why is everyone pretending reporters never sleep with sources?

Thoughts On Jihad

Jihad and Criminality: Inseparable Bedfellows

Tonight's ONT brought to you by anal:

posted by WeirdDave at 09:53 PM

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