I just got to fulfill a little fantasy I’d been entertaining in the back of my head for the past couple of weeks. No, no — Pat Robertson is still alive, and my nipples remain unseared by hot wax. I’m talking about the final round at debate nationals. Amy and I got to run “The […]

[Read more →]

The NYU debate team used to have a case to the effect that “virtual” child porn ought to be made legal. I never ran it myself, in part because it felt so unsportsmanlike to make people oppose something palpably, obviously true. I felt somewhat vindicated when I read of the Supreme Court’s lopsided decision striking […]

[Read more →]

The Clone Wars Libertarians have long been critical of systematic distortions of science from the left. But just as censorship is the tribute tyranny pays to truth, distortion is the tribute

[Read more →]

Somehow or other, I’ve been tapped to debate a Keynesian at some sort of function sponsored by Jinx Magazine. So I’m brushing up on my Hayek. In other news, I had this thought about language while out with some of my boys. Terms with a narrow usage — either slang or jargon — are rather […]

[Read more →]

Nice Bush Oh dear lord. Maximum hilarity. Just go look. Courtesy of Harry Layman.

[Read more →]

Bad News: Lost the Reason internship to some Canadian dude. Good News: This means I can go to the Social Change Workshop that the inimitable Will Wilkinson is running at UVA. Bad News: It’s the same week as the release party for Doug Rushkoff‘s new novel, Exit Strategy, which should be a good time. But […]

[Read more →]

Legislative Diapers First, apologies to those of you who, on the basis of the title, were anticipating a column about Strom Thurmond. I don’t want to talk about the literal diapers lawmakers wear, but the metaphorical ones they feel obligated to fasten to the rest of us. Unfortunately for our bargain-basement copies of Plato’s “guardians,” […]

[Read more →]

Fighting in the Ranks Libertarians, like the members of any other unorthodox political movement, are no strangers to internecine conflict and backbiting. Internal dissent over the War on Terror has set the stage for Libertarian Wrestlemania, and it looks like the first real brawl is breaking out. Early signs of trouble in libertopia came mere […]

[Read more →]

APDA Nationals 2002 – May Madness? Storey Clayton is a crazy, crazy man. But the tropical heat of obsession has yielded entertaining fruit in this case. I’m all in favor of pairing Nats (not to be confused with gnats, which pair themselves effectively enough) by the chart. Though it does look like a set-up for […]

[Read more →]

Arm the Chicks Did you know that Penn of the comedy/magic duo Penn & Teller is a libertarian? Actually, so is Teller. And they’re both Cato scholars. Anyway, Penn’s come up with a plan sure to win bipartisan support: in order to protect women from violence, socialize… guns! And buy my ass some kevlar.

[Read more →]