Editorial Matters
by Ken "Not Mr. Ed" Holder
Here is issue 231, one more of the imitation TLEs I've put together
in the absence of our true editor, Mr. Ed, Dan Weiner ("Wine-er, not
"Wee-ner" in case you were wondering).
Mr. Ed signs in with an explanation of what's up with him, and the
news is not good, but we are all thinking good thoughts in his
direction, and you should too.
Bill Stone reports on another of his delightful conversations with
one of his daughters.
Frank Ney reviews the new Harry Potter book, and then discusses how
events in the book are reflected in events in the news. Or is it the
other way around?
Todd Barnett gives us the inside news on the insider trading thing
with Martha, comments on Christine Wilhelm's problems, and then
discusses Medicare (we're playing catch-up with Todd here).
Finally, Wendy McElroy continues to explore the ins and outs of
individualist feminism.
Enjoy. And don't forget:
War is the common harvest of all those who participate in the division
and expenditure of public money, in all countries. It is the art of
conquering at home; the object of it is an increase of revenue; and as
revenue cannot be increased without taxes, a pretence must be made for
expenditure. In reviewing the history of the English Government, its
wars and its taxes, a bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped
by interest, would declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars,
but that wars were raised to carry on taxes.
—Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man (1792). (Project Guttenberg
E-Text edition)
So, What's Wrong With Dan?
by Dan Weiner, a.k.a. Mr. Ed
Okay, kids, time to Tell All. As background, I had
been through some very stressful times in recent months up to my vacation
in June. I even got mildly sick over it, but I seemed to be healthy when
I left Houston June 8th. I was, in fact, fine all day, until I found out
I was going the wrong way on Hwy 287 and heading back to Witchita Falls.
I finally made it to Amarillo, but the next morning was damp and chilly
(about 50-55 deg. -- very chilly in summer for Texass). By the time I
made it to ABQ, I was very sick, with what felt like the flu. I tried
to fix it in the usual fashion: Dayquill and Nyquill and chicken soup
and bed rest. It seemed to go away for the most part, but that was a
false feeling, it turned out later....
• FULL STORY
The Economics of Pokemon
by William Stone, III
Like many similarly-aged children, my nine-year-old
daughter is heavily into Pokemon. Being an engaged parent constantly on
the lookout for pop culture that undermines my attempt to turn my children
into gun-toting individualists, I've watched a number of episodes and
three of the four movies that have been released to date.
• FULL STORY
How Bad Government Gets Worse
A review of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by Francis A. Ney, Jr.
Finally, after three years of angst, pregnancy,
writer's block and lawsuits, the long-awaited fifth book of the Harry
Potter series has been released. Harry is now fifteen, an age of angst
and anger even for the best of kids. When a major force of darkness,
recently reborn from Harry's own blood, is seriously honked off and
looking to remove the source of his misery, don't expect matters to
improve. It doesn't help that, with few exceptions, no one believes
the aforementioned darkness has truly returned. To top it off, the
people Harry has been looking to for information, advice, encouragement,
and support are now inexplicably leaving him out of the loop, covering
up, and basically treating him like an idiot child.
• FULL STORY
Repeal All Insider Trading Laws and Abolish The SEC
by Todd Andrew Barnett
The recent indictment of famous celebrity homemaker
Martha Stewart—which entails the fictitious "nine counts" with which she has been
charged, including "obstruction of justice, perjury, bank fraud, and
securities fraud"—epitomizes the lunacy, perversity, political and
legal debauchery, and political evils brought upon by the morally
degenerate, treacherous, and putrid actions of the Justice Department
and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It bears mentioning
that the government's persecution (excuse me, "investigation") of
Stewart and her trusted ally and ImClone co-founder Sam Waksal is an
outstanding reason why all laws outlawing insider trading must—and
ought to—be repealed. That reason also includes the needful and
necessary abolition of the SEC, which is obviously a creation of the
presidential regime of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
• FULL STORY
The Great Medicare Drug Fiasco
by Todd Andrew Barnett
If the recent congressional plan to spend $400 billion on
Medicare drug benefits for the elderly is a practical joke,
then none of us who see right through this politically-
motivated agenda are laughing. After all, the idea is to
place seniors who are already on Medicare under a new plan,
which would subsidize private health insurers. (Let's face
it—the new plan, which was just passed by the House and
the Senate, should make taxpayers and senior citizens
queasy in their stomachs.)
• FULL STORY
Christine Wilhelm: "Mentally Ill" Victim or Murderer?
by Todd Andrew Barnett
Christine Wilhelm, the mother who stands accused of
murdering her four-year old son Luke by drowning him in a
bathtub in their home near Vermont on April 16th, 2002, has
become the latest poster girl of the mental health field
establishment. Like Andrea Yates, she is the newest epitome
of a profession, which has long since "lost its marbles"—in
a manner of speaking.
• FULL STORY
In the Best Interests of the Child
by Wendy McElroy
A new legal term is creating debate across North America: the
"rebuttable presumption of joint custody." It means family courts
should presume that divorcing parents will equally share the legal
and physical custody of children unless there is compelling reason
to rule otherwise. Advocates say children are more likely to emerge
from divorce with both a mother and a father in their lives unless,
of course, one parent is shown to be unfit. Why is this idea
controversial?
• FULL STORY
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