Source: American Institute for Economic Research.

This brief essay shatters the untested assumption that liberty is a modern concept or merely a superficial product of the Enlightenment. The main difference between now and the ancient past is that today we can show empirically that liberty produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

By liberty I mean something specific: a political arrangement consciously made under which the freedoms and natural rights of individuals are preserved and respected.

Source: Loudoun Times-Mirror.

We can be thankful, I suppose, that the cicadas eaten at restaurants in Loudoun County meet government specifications. No word on the actual criteria, or whether unapproved cicadas had caused harm to anyone. One only wishes that an “Eat American” solution could have been found.

Taylor Aerocar III. (from Wikipedia, photo released into the public domain by the author).

Source: Astral Codex Ten.

Basically, Baby Boomers and the government made flying cars (as well as nuclear power and nanotechology) impossible. Hippies undermined the pre-existing cooperative culture that had enabled large business organizations to function and innovate, but government funding of science was directly counterproductive. A note from the review on the latter (quotations from the book):

Continue reading “Your Book Review: Where’s My Flying Car?” →

Source: Vanity Fair.

This article is receiving much attention in the places I haunt on the Internet. Its main revelation is that U.S. government officials had strong incentives and took coordinated action early on to suppress the lab-leak hypothesis as an explanation for Covid-19’s origins. In effect the government created and promoted a false narrative of natural origins for over a year.

It is probably going overboard to accuse the government of lying to the people, but it is not going overboard to say that the people were intentionally misled. This, in turn, justifies speculation that the lab-leak hypothesis itself may be a ruse.

Time will tell, of course. Be skeptical of everything you read or hear on this topic.

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

I came across a reference to this material in an article discussing a WAPO fact check. The question at hand was whether the Nazi Party could be legitimately described as socialist. The writer felt that the party platform contained a number of decidedly socialist provisions (particularly planks 13, 14, and 17), but I was struck by the numerous intersections with contemporary left-wing dogmas in the U.S. One such intersection occurs in plank 23c:

Continue reading “Nazi Party Platform” →

Source: Frontpage Mag.

What to make of the redoubtable Daniel Greenfield’s observation?

“In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that COVID-19 is man-made,” Facebook conceded, after the theory of a Chinese lab leak gained fresh currency.

Continue reading “The COVID Censorship Consensus” →

Source: The Unz Review.

The writer outlines a conspiracy theory in which the U.S. deep state created Covid-19 as a bioweapon, released it in Wuhan to harm China’s economy (and in Iran to depopulate the leadership class), and manufactured a cover-up within the intelligence community to hide the operation.

Could it be true? The answer, I suppose, depends on one’s politics or personal animosities.

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/desk

“On this Memorial Day, we remember the fallen heroes who took their last breaths in defense of our Nation, our families, our citizens, and our sacred freedoms. The depth of their devotion, the steel of their resolve, and the purity of their patriotism has no equal in human history. On distant battlefields, in far-off oceans, and high in the skies above, they faced down our enemies and gave their lives so that America would prevail. They made the supreme sacrifice so that our people can live in safety and our Nation can thrive in peace. It is because of their gallantry that we can together, as one people, continue our pursuit of America’s glorious destiny.

“We owe all that we are, and everything we ever hope to be, to these unrivaled heroes. Their memory and their legacy is immortal. Our loyalty to them and to their families is eternal and everlasting.

“America’s warriors are the single greatest force for justice, peace, liberty, and security among all the nations ever to exist on earth. God bless our fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Coast Guardsmen, Airmen, and Marines. We honor them today, forever, and always.”

Source: ZeroHedge.

This is the best news I have heard in many years: a demonstration project for space-based solar power. Should it prove feasible and scalable, the next step would be development of a “space elevator” for transporting building materials, equipment and personnel to an off-planet construction site.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

It should be obvious that Antifa is a terrorist network, but I wonder how many young people see it that way. Conversion stories like this one inspire hope that groups like Antifa, BLM, etc., will produce their own rejection in the end.