Blogivists HQ

They tell me diversity of thought is good, an end in of itself. That it may foster critical thinking skills – and, thereby, work as a means towards ultimate truth – is both incidental and bordering on the irrelevant.

Now I don’t buy into the relativistic claim but, as it turns out, blogivists.com is ideologically diverse! I mean, don’t get me wrong – everyone here believes that government is, more often than not, the anti-solution but even so, there’s quite a bit of variety here when it comes down to the specifics.

To demonstrate, let’s look at the past couple months. I’ll name a few issues and give you a couple pro and con posts from within the Blogivists community. Hot dawg!

(Man-made) Global Warming

Pro:

• projectpetition is pure HORSESHIT! – The Midnight Rider (7/10)
• Breaking Down the Global Warming “Debate – The Midnight Rider (8/06)

Con:

• Man-made Global Warming Consensus Disintegrating – Principle Over Party (7/17)
• Change the Climate Change Debate: Reality is not a Democracy – Extremism in Defense of Liberty (8/08)

Open Borders

Pro:

• GET THEM OUT: Border Jumpers Ruining Our Economy – Liberty is for me (7/7)

Con:

• Hispanosupremacists Infiltrate Evangelical Movement – The Epistolizer (7/12)
• Libot Media, Always On The Side of Illegals – Malignant Liberal Idiocy (8/17)

English as the National Language

Pro:

• Does Anyone Speak English Anymore – In my right mind (7/9)

Con:

• On Liberty, Ideology, and some R-E-S-P-E-C-T – Pragmatically Political (7/10)

Bob Barr

Pro:

• Bob Barr is my homeboy – Nicky Cheese (5/26)
• “McCain fundraiser” – Standard of Living (6/27)

Con:

• Why Bob Barr is NOT your homeboy – Pragmatically Political (6/29)

The Republican Party

Pro:

• The Republican Brand is not Dead – Free Thought for Self-Restrained Minds (7/17)

Con:

• GOP collapse: Should we groan or cheer? – Eric O’Keefe (5/19)
• Limited government no more – The Silent Majority (6/18)
• More signs that Republicans still suck – Eric Odom (7/29)

There you go. And that’s just off the top of my head. Really! So, what I’m getting at here is: with a more thorough internal investigation, we could probably apply for some kind of government subsidy…

Haha. Just kidding! I think that’s one specific we’re unanimously against.

Cheers…to truth and liberty!

Well, that was a nice little vacation…

Yes, it’s been awhile since the last Select CHEESE. Know what’s better than time-off? The blogivists community, of course. Your blogivism.

And recently it’s only gotten better. Not only has the quantity of bloggers and posts increased, but the quality is way up as well.

Seriously, give yourselves a pat on the back because what, only months ago, was a small and rogue band of novice bloggers is well on its way to becoming something big and exciting. A force to reckon with. Statists, watch out!

So while I’m on the subject of community, how about I introduce some of the new kids on the block:

Classically Liberal: Like most people who self-identify as classical liberals, economics is the prism. Free markets, property rights and transparency is the result.

E! True Conservative Story™: A blog pushing “Justice and Liberty in Nevada”. I mean, with a title and focus like that, how can this blog not go far?

Extremism in Defense of Liberty: For this blogger, the title “capitalist” is incomplete. ‘Extremism… is an Objectivist. An Objectivist, moreover, with particular contempt for Senator Herb Kohl.

laffin@liberals: A blog with an Ayn Rand influence covering local politics in Dane County, Wisconsin.

Liberty Tree Lantern: This dudes loves liberty. Some call him Capt. Karl; most just know him as a legend.

Standard of Living: Another classical liberal – this one from Madison, Wisconsin. Modern liberals beware – we’re taking back the terminology.

…the end of man is to know: With quick wit and a sharp mind, he’ll beat you over the head with his pragmatism. Every time. Be sure to check out the Friday thread: No ‘Effing Way.

They’re all great people so be sure to drop them a comment or two. Hey, maybe even some link love.

As for me, I’ll be back to my usual routine – weaving particular posts into a theme – next week.

And if that doesn’t satisfy you, check out this video – entitled Any Given Blog – that Liberty Girl made. Holla!

Quite a bit of activity coming from Nevadan blogivists this week…

The Center for Yucca Facts made some noise when they presented a reasoned, anti-alarmist, alternative resolution to the Clark County Commission. For those of you unaware, CYF is a group that provides:

factual and scientific information on the proposed nuclear waste repository being built at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada…We believe the Nevada’s single-minded, unbending opposition to the Yucca Mountain project has not permitted a balanced appraisal of it.

Consider them the Bjørn Lomborg of the anti-nuclear movement.

Meanwhile, Sue Lowden, Chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, started a little brouhaha on the blog with her latest post, About Re-conveing the GOP Convention. Check it out. 67 comments and counting…which, being the self-absorbed blogger I am, makes me think I’m doing something wrong.

Sue, any chance I can get a blogging lesson sometime soon?

Speaking of comment envy, Miss Behavin’s now-classic I Hate Dell post of 3/20/08 is still getting comments. Talk about staying power — it should be entered in the Blogivist Hall-of-Fame or something. In an update late last week, ‘Behavin appears to have had the last word with the computer company. Yes, with consumer choice and contract enforcement, justice prevails in the market system.

The bureaucratic, government system, though? Well, let’s just look at Liberty Girl’s post on Senator Robert Byrd, also known as the Ultimate King of Pork. Here’s a system that promotes the acquisition of earmarks, that rewards looters such as Senator Byrd. With what? Specifically, how about:

a 10-foot, 1500 pound statue of himself in the state capitol building

And if that didn’t stroke his ego enough, there are more than 35 public-work projects named after him. You know, roads, public buildings, colleges, parks, awards, feats of science, etc.

Uh…yeah, I don’t quite consider that deserved, nor just.

Continuing on the theme of justice though, how about — as Liberty Girl suggests — we all promote this:

Give me your comments!

How about that holiday weekend, eh? Yes, Memorial Day – a day to commemorate those men and woman who perished while defending our country’s freedom.

A few from these parts paid homage…

• Christina from Christina’s Common Sense created a video reflecting upon the meaning of freedom and where she receives inspiration to defend that ideal.
• A Chicago Blog gave us an action item for the day.
• And well, as for me…I linked to Top Gunn’s “Soldier’s Blues”…which isn’t the most patriotic of songs, but it gets your head in the right place.

If, like me, you did any major traveling during the weekend, you probably noticed a gap in your wallet where there once was money. And I’m not the only one complaining about high gas prices either. Big ups to Principle Over Party, who points to the real source of our fuel woes: taxes, taxes and more taxes. Case in point? As he states:

in Chicago, who has the highest gas prices in the nation, taxes account for approximately 20% of the gas costs.

Geesh.

You’d think with all that revenue streaming in, the Illinois state government wouldn’t be (too much) in the red but, of course, they are. Just how much? In a post entitled 109 billion…and counting, Go Free Yourself tells us about For the Good of Illinois, a nonprofit that – besides doing a lot of other good work – provides free Illinois debt counters that you can add to your blog. Wondering how much debt Illinois is in at this moment? Maybe you shouldn’t…

Which brings us to the last item on our agenda: who is the newest member to join the blogivist community? Give him a shout, it’s The Silent Majority. In an introductory post, ‘Silent questions whether privatization is the solution to Chicago’s ever-growing public debt. The entity in question? Parking meters. He isn’t quite sure it’s the end-all-be-all but, then again, he’s probably a socialist. Haha. Totally kidding. In all seriousness though, what do you think? Forward your responses here.

Hey, what do you know? Another weekend is upon us. Cheers!

Last week the talk of the town was the Farm Bill. With Wednesday’s presidential veto of the bill – a rare instance of fiscal restraint for W indeed – the collective jabber continues, taking on a celebratory tone for opponents of pork and government waste. You know, that thing that was once considered a “conservative” value. These days – not so much…

As Night Twister laments:

Finding a true conservative in Congress these days is like finding a farm growing anything other than corn…or Renewable Energy as it is now called.

Ugh. Ethanol subsidies…don’t remind me.

Fortunately ‘Twister is on top it, giving Rep. Marilyn Musgrave – a self-proclaimed conservative who has pledged to “lead the fight” in overriding Bush’s veto – a little econ 101.

As for waste at the local level, in Chicago it appears we need an ethics class because no amount of Keynesian indoctrination could produce the following level of disrespect for taxpayer investment…

Coming from our own Rock’s Rantings, we get wind of Alderman’s Lyle’s magazine subscription to Communist Party propaganda and, moreover, $1,480 that was spent by Alderman Latasha Thomas to mow the pathetic, dinky strip of grass you see on the left-hand side of your screen.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…

What’s the solution? How do we put a end to this culture of political corruption?

As Eric O’Keefe’s Monday-morning post put it, don’t look for hope in our political parties. They’re not the solution.

They are now quasi-governmental entities run by incumbents to expand their power. They offer no check on the power of government; and they are so heavily regulated by government that there is no prospect of reviving them…

Liberty is in retreat because our political parties are controlled by incumbents in government whose goal is to increase their power over taxpayers. Only private, voluntary organizations can hope to preserve and promote principles that limit incumbents to their proper roles.

The solution is us. You, me – all of us.

The stiffs at Blogivists.com have asked me to write a run-down of what’s hot, of what’s noteworthy in the community on a weekly basis. Naturally, I said yes, so expect just that every Thursday or Friday under the title ‘Select CHEESE’. Yes, ‘Select CHEESE’ – the Cheeseman’s take on what should be mandatory reading. Aspire for it!

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What’s happening on this beautiful Friday afternoon…

Before I forget, remember to wish RightWave a belated birthday. As a gift, perhaps someone will grant Wave’s wish of getting rid of the Farm Bill. According to the latest post, it’s clear Mrs Clinton doesn’t have any plans to.

“I believe saying no to the farm bill is saying no to rural America.”

Haha…I’m sorry, it’s just great comedy.

For those of not familiar with the long, wasteful, headache-inducing history of the Farm Bill, Subtle as a Sledgehammer breaks it down for you all in The Farm Bill, The Farm Bill, The Farm Bill. Living in this post-modern world, I appreciate his old-fashioned identity theory:

They pay the farmers not to farm!! If they are farmers who do not farm, what are they?

Yes, a $307 billion dollar package full of pork…if there’s one thing that the Farm Bill isn’t, it’s transparency. And Congress better shape up or ship out ’cause Americans dig honest, open government.

Thank you Cozcommunio for the perfect case in point…

A 19 year-old college freshman has been elected the Mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma. Not kidding…he defeated a 3-term former mayor who outspent him 10 to 1. How? A platform of transparency and open government.

Awesome.