Freedom Home Page of the Week Archive Winter 2002

SCTV. The Newsroom. Terrance & Philip. Some of the best and most biting satire comes from the Great White North: Canada. Add to the above list The Iconoclast, a website dedicated to "Puncturing Today's Prevailing Wisdom". The site's logo pretty well sums up the iconoclastic position: A classic figure on a pedestal, holding aloft a scroll which reads "Semiotics, Ebonics, Intertexuality, Postmodernism." Meanwhile, she is being quietly and repeatedly bonked on the head by a hammer coming from just offscreen. Just looking at this animated logo for awhile can be highly amusing. And that's before you even get to the site's actual content!

Most of the content is political in nature, and definitely libertarian-leaning. And, in spite of the fact that it's Canadian in origin, most of it concerns the goings-on here in the states. No politician, celebrity, or plagiarizing liberal historian is safe from the Iconoclast. And the site isn't solely made up of fake (but funny) Onion-style news. The equally funny (but not fake) film reviews, book reviews, and editorial commentary make this site much more than just a humorous diversion.

Being a libertarian iconoclast yourself (as I assume you must be), you'll want to visit The Iconoclast again and again. And, when you do, give Lady Pomo a bonk on the head from me.

Orwell fans will recall that the Memory Hole is where subversive, anti-state ideas are relegated to in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. These ideas, being against the continuing rule of the bureaucracy, are erased from existence. The books are destroyed, those who've read them are brainwashed or disposed of, etc., until the ideas simply no longer exist. They've gone down the Memory Hole.

The website by the same name is an expansive collection of such subversive, anti-state ideas. We haven't yet gotten to the point where the state is so blunt about suppressing them. But, unless you've been a very curious anti-statist for some time, you may not have heard of any of the authors found here. They are conspicuously obscure. You just don't hear anyone talk about Max Stirner, Lysander Spooner, Ludwig von Mises, or even H.L. Mencken in politics or popular culture. For the most part, they have all been tossed down the Memory Hole.

But Orwell didn't forsee a private and largely unregulated Internet. As long as there are diligent, freedom-loving, and technologically educated people in the world, ideas need not disappear. The Memory Hole exists, and anyone with an Internet connection can access it. So, before history marches into Orwell's dystopia, I urge you to check out this excellent library of subversion. The Memory Hole features hundreds of documents organized by topics like "The Austrian School of Economics", "Civilian-Based Defense", "Individualist Anarchism", and "The Loyal Opposition". There is plenty here to convince new-comers to the freedom movement, as well as to solidly reinforce the convictions of old-timers. As the motto of the site proclaims, "All is not necessarily lost."

Those who read this page regularly know that I'm not in favor of the government poking it's nose in anywhere. In fact, normally, I wouldn't even advocate the government having a nose. But there is one, just one, public safety issue recently brought to my attention which demands fast, forcible, federal legislation before any more innocent people are senselessly killed and/or mutilated. This one issue is the focus of my favorite site of the week: BanScrewdrivers.com

"Many people are not aware that screwdrivers, due to their pointy nature and steely construction, can be extremely dangerous." This startling revelation is the beginning of a path of enlightenment that begins at BanScrewdrivers.com. You may be one of those who thinks that screwdrivers are just useful tools, and that the blame for their misuse rests with the perpetrators rather than with the manufacturers of the tools, or the tools themselves. But, if you think that, then you are likely a stooge of the screwdriver industry, perhaps willing, perhaps not. I'm confident that the unassailable facts presented by BanScrewdrivers.com will cure you of your delusions.

Not satisfied with merely pointing out the facts, the concerned citizens of the Ban Screwdrivers movement also have a practical solution: the screwdriver buy-back initiative. And this informative website also features a FAQ for easy reference when defending the movement from the arguments of the powerful screwdriver lobby, a personal story by BS.com founder Aaron Young explaining the journey that led him to his brave stance, and an active discussion board where one astute reader points out that perhaps the real enemy is not the screwdriver but the hands and arms which wield them. Help us put an end to this blight upon our free society. Support the Ban Screwdrivers movement today!

Jacob Halbrooks, a senior at Tufts University, is a man with a wide range of knowledge and interests. Among the hobbies listed on his personal biography are frequency domain analysis of signals and systems, heavy metal music, and the television show Little House on the Prairie. His goals aren't modest either. From the same bio, one of Halbrook's motives is to "incite the Big Change".

Jacob's Libertarian Press is Halbrooks' thoughtful, neatly designed website which is worth a visit by anyone interested in libertarian ideas. In his regular columns on the site, Halbrooks thinks through primary libertarian tenets with unusual clarity. Some of his articles on rights and the nature of government are so simple and pristine that they would make ideal introductions to pass on to those friends-on-the-fence whom you'll never get to pick up a Ludwig von Mises tome.

But this isn't just an "Introduction to Libertarianism" site. Even long-time freedom fighters will find much here to enjoy, as Halbrooks regularly brings his extensive knowledge to light on unusual topics like the socialization of Baseball and whether God might be a socialist. Overall, this site's well-written and interesting exposition of libertarian ideas is a great step towards inciting that Big Change.

If you're a libertarian, I suspect you're probably a thinker, a ponderer, the type who walks down the street having long, deeply involved arguments in your head. I come to this conclusion because, well, you must have gotten your political beliefs from somewhere, and it sure didn't just seep in from the popular culture. But a penchant for whirring the brain motors isn't enough to make a libertarian. Plenty of very smart people spend oodles of time thinking about stuff, and still manage to open their mouths and spout statist nonsense. (I call this condition Chomskyitis.) What causes this mental disease? One of my guesses, besides purposeful evil, is lack of practice at disciplined thinking.

This week's featured page is a gymnasium for your brain. PhiloSophos is aimed mostly at college philosophy students but it is useful to anyone. In fact, one of the two mottos of the site is "Philosophy is for everyone, not just philosophers." (The other motto, equally important, is "Philosophers should know lots of things besides philosophy.") Just browsing through this interesting site for a couple of minutes will yield something substantial for your brain to work out on.

For a nice warm-up, or even an extended work out, check out the Ask A Philosopher section. Here, anyone can send in a philosophical question which will be answered by philosophy graduates and teachers. Don't be intimidated. The questions and answers are short and easily digestible. For more in-depth cogitatin', there are regular Feature Articles on the site, selected from the e-journal Philosophy Pathways. Much of the rest of the site is devoted to several search engines which will direct you to all the resources you need to get your think on. So go strengthen your brain because, as the continued respectability of socialist ideas proves, the war of ideas is far from over.

The dilemma which public schools face is this: They are required to teach the kids something about the founders of this country, their ideas and the founding documents based on those ideas. Yet the whole public schooling system is explicitly antithetical to those original ideas of freedom. Since nobody's blood has a lower boiling point than a teenager who feels his freedom is being impinged upon, the schools do the only thing they can in their situation. They briefly skim over the important stuff and make it as uninteresting as the rest of the subjects they teach. If the kids really understand the ideas of freedom, they'll start to question why they're being forced into education camps.

It is this catch-22 that The Bill of Rights Institute is working against. Since 1999, the Institute has been providing a resource for those rare teachers who really want their students to learn why this nation was formed. By designing and providing free lesson plans, hosting conferences, and creating a massive online library of educational materials, the Bill of Rights Institute works to make sure that at least a few of the kids trapped in public schools learn about freedom. As the title suggests, the focus is primarily on the those first ten amendments to the Constitution, but there is much more here, covering the historical and intellectual origins of all the important founding documents.

The Bill of Rights Institute has invigorated students and re-invigorated teachers about our rights and why we have them. Whether you're a teacher, a student, or just a citizen concerned about the future of freedom (and what honest person isn't?), the Institute's excellent website is worth a visit.

I know the chances that you're filling out your tax return while reading this Page of the Week review are low, but just in case: PUT DOWN THAT PENCIL!! Devote all your attention to these words. There. Isn't that better? Now, take the tax return and all of your various self-incriminating forms, crumple them up, and toss them in the wastebasket. That's right. The illegal Income Tax is no more.

Okay, not really. We are not free at last, yet. But the Income Tax is going on trial on February 27th and 28th, thanks to the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education. After being formally petitioned by We The People for more than three years, those two infernal agencies, the IRS and the DOJ, have finally agreed to a public hearing on Capitol Hill. At that hearing, the federal government will have to answer the many nagging questions regarding the formation and continuing enforcement of the IRS code. I, for one, can't wait to hear someone say "It depends on how you define 'voluntary.'"

The We The People Foundation is dedicated to the idea that there is a final law of the land, the Constitution, and it is the final law no matter what our elected officials do or say to contradict it. In a constant effort to educate the public about what that document actually says, the Foundation takes actions like this one to put the Income Tax on trial. But at their great website, you can also read the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitutions of all the states in the republic. There are also many fine resources for learning more about the income tax and constitutional law.

As for the public hearing, well, I'm not holding my breath. I expect I'll still have to waive my fifth amendment rights and voluntarily, under threat of imprisonment, fill out a pile of forms. But I'll wait until after the hearing anyway, if only to show solidarity. And I sure can't wait to see the feds squirm a little.

I was going to start this review saying something like "A great libertarian site, and past Page of the Week, has just gotten better" until I double-checked and discovered, to my shame, that I haven't previously highlighted this site as Page of the Week. I have a hard time believing it, but the spreadsheet I keep of my POTW history doesn't lie. Many mea culpas. So, since I haven't told you before, let me tell you now... twice.

To paraphrase Virginia Postrel, libertarianism is the only political philosophy which accepts, even encourages, rapid and unpredictable change. It is this worldview which uniquely positions libertarians to understand the world of today and the world of the future, a world dominated by ever-advancing and life-improving technology. Tech Central Station, "where free markets meet technology", has long been the site to go to for the latest news and analysis of all things political and technological.

If you've been there before, but not recently, TCS just got a nice new facelift which it's dying to show off for you. The site has gotten immensely more useful and interactive, including discussion forums, search engines, archives, and the ability to e-mail columnists. And if you haven't been there before, blame me for not telling you earlier and get your techno-geek heinie there now.

Okay, holiday's over. You got off easy last week, slapping Osama silly. Now it's time to get back to the hard and serious work of making the world a freer place. Dedicated to that proposition, and opening its doors for the first time on January 1, is a new libertarian online magazine, Rational Review. It's hardcore, gritty libertarian politics you'll find there. And you'll love it.

I've praised the writing of T.L. Knapp in this space before and, as he is the publisher of Rational Review, you'll find more great work by him. Joining him are columnists Steve Trinward and R. Lee Wrights, both with excellent articles providing inspiration and strategy for libertarians. Cartoonist Scott Bieser pens an unusually attractive political cartoon, worthy of hanging on your wall. And I don't expect I'll be the only one looking forward to the next Forthnightly Cryptogram.

Activist, Humorist, Puzzle Nerd. Rational Review has something to suit a libertarian's every mood.

This is the hardest week of the year to do anything productive. Christmas is over and you're wallowing in newly opened presents and too much food, the work week is short and half-hearted, and an evening of new year's debauchery is just around the corner. Who has the fortitude to pore over in-depth policy analysis, no matter how saucy?

So, in the same spirit of fun that brought us previous pages of the week SlapHillary.com and The Three Media Stooges, I present your latest chance to inflict cartoon violence on an enemy of freedom: SlapOsama.com. There's little to say about this site except that a.) you will require Flash5 and a healthy disrespect for Islamic Fundamentalist terrorist leaders, and b.) man, it's so much fun. In addition to slapping him, you can nuke him, airstrike him, and do something quite foul involving a camel.

And, if you really want to do some reading, SlapOsama is just one part of David Horowitz's fine site, FrontPage Magazine, which currently features the best articles of the passing year. But mark my words, you'll come back to SlapOsama for more Biff, Bang, Pow and Splat with the most evil man in the world.

One of the more annoying political tactics of the activist left is to "follow the money" and imply that an idea's relevance is somehow related to the money trail. For example, Think Tank X promalgates ideas which, in some ways, happen to be beneficial to Tobacco Company Y; X accepts funding from Y, and therefore X's ideas can be dismissed because they are motivated by money. I'll leave it to you to count the number of logical fallacies in that argument. Suffice it to say, for now, that the number is sufficient to make the argument not just laughable but jump-up-and-down-and-guffaw-able.

But, just because following the money has gotten a bad reputation by association doesn't mean that it doesn't have merit, when done by people to whom reason is still important and meaningful. Some of those people are the creators of ActivistCash.com, a new website dedicated to exposing the ways in which many anti-consumer non-profit groups are funded. The difference is that you are encouraged to judge the merits of the groups and their missions yourself and, once you have, form educated opinions and decisions regarding where their money comes from.

The attractive, expertly-designed pages of ActivistCash.com are accessible through various useful methods. "Activist Groups" and "Foundations" menus let you examine the ideas and activities of all the groups watched by the site, as well as the foundations which fund them. A trip through the "Celebrities" menu can be entertaining and enlightening when trying to decide what movie to see on an evening, given the celebrities who will benefit from a strong opening weekend. (Don't panic. Though I suspect Liv Tyler is exactly as smart as she looks, no stars of Lord of the Rings are on the list, so you can go see the movie without guilt.) A similar menu of "Key Players" will introduce you to the less famous recurring characters in the anti-consumer soap opera. Overall, this site is innovative in both form and content, and is sure to help give "following the money" a good name again.

There haven't been many variations on the good, catch-all libertarian Web site ever since Free-Market.Net set the standard six years ago. (I can't write about great sites every week without patting this one on the back every once in awhile. She gets jealous.) Yet the unique Center for Individual Freedom manages to surprise even the jaded Web reviewer who thinks he's seen it all. I don't know how they do it. Relatively minor subsections of the CFIF site cover information that might normally be covered a whole, separate site.

First, there's the Freedom Line section, which is a collection of up-to-date news and commentary. My favorite part of the Freedom Line is the Notable Quotes page. Whereas many "Quotes" pages collect quotes by historical figures, CFIF's page is an encyclopedia of quotes about today's news, by today's newsmakers.

Step into the Legal Issues section and you'll find that CFIF is also an activist in the legal system. By constantly filing amicus briefs and keeping a close eye on everything the Supreme Court does, CFIF actively seeks freedom through education, both of the public and the politicians.

And, as if that wasn't enough for one organization, the Legislative Issues section reveals that CFIF is a diligent public-policy think tank. So, you might ask, which do they cover: Federal policy issues or state policy issues? By now, you might have guessed the answer: Both.

Suffice it to say that the site is BIG. But it's also expertly designed, with minimal graphics, so it's very easy to load and to navigate. I don't know if CFIF will be the new model for libertarian Web sites, because I don't think there's room for more than one, but it is tremendously useful and informative. Like FMN, I think it will be around for awhile.

The film medium is more important than many thoughtful people are willing to give it credit for. After all, one might reason, how could an industry which thrives by producing year after year of mindless dreck be taken seriously by anyone? But the mindless dreck is exactly the problem. Provacative moving images, projected onto huge screens and viewed by millions of people sitting quietly in the dark will have an effect on the way those millions think, feel, and vote.

Yet conservative film critics are so painfully rare. So rare are they that movies like American Beauty or (shudder) Bulworth are widely hailed as thoughtful and important films. But James Bowman, film critic for The American Spectator, is having none of that. At his website, JamesBowman.net, American Beauty is revealed as the "paean to self-pity" that it is, while Bulworth is relegated to "political idiocy". As a thinking person's movie critic, Bowman even unmasks the moral presumptions hiding within the usual Hollywood pap.

JamesBowman.net contains all of Bowman's film reviews over the past several years, which means there is plenty of reading to be done before your next trip to the video store. But, if you've already chucked your TV out the window, Bowman writes excellent articles on many other subjects as well. Overall, JamesBowman.net is a good antidote for the subtle liberal brain-scrubbing that happens through our entertainment media every day.

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