“Liberty in Our Lifetime”

The Free State Project

The Free State Project, which hopes to get 20,000 liberty-minded people to move to one state and peacefully reduce the role of government in that state, has announced that New Hampshire will be their target state. They had early on decided that they would vote on their target state when membership reached 5,000 people, and they’ll start the migration when they hit 20,000 people. It’s an interesting experiment, and I hope that they reach the point of moving so we can see what kind of changes they’ll be able to make. I’ll even toy with the idea of signing up as New Hampshire is close enough to be acceptable to me, though I’m not sure I’m that committed to the libertarian ideals anymore. Most of my interest would be in the experiment, to find out whether or not it is possible to make that kind of change, and to find out whether or not the principles would work.

Road Trip, Day One

If I remember correctly, and I usually do, it was three years ago today that I hopped in my car and started driving to California. At this moment, I was asleep in a Red Roof Inn in Joliet, IL, after having been turned down by a Motel 6 because I was under 21. I was so excited, for the whole trip, but especially on that first day. Only 8 hours on the road and I’d already been through two states I’d never seen before and a third I hadn’t visited since I was too young to remember.

Lying in that motel room I felt two dreams within my immediate grasp. I was driving cross-country, by myself, everything I owned in my car, as I had imagined I would since long before I could even drive. I was going to wake up in a town I’d never seen, in a world that had never seen me. I was going to drive, and at some point, I was going to arrive at the door of my second dream and I was going to create a new life.

But this night, three years ago — this was the beginning.

US firms to trade greenhouse gases

US firms to trade greenhouse gases

Chicago Climate Exchange

This is something I’ve long heard proposed as a libertarian solution to environmental problems, but I had no idea anyone was actually attempting it. It looks, though, like these kinds of things have been around for a long time, at least in some form. The only piece I don’t understand is that the article states that this is a way to cut emissions without government intervention, but who decides what the total number of permitted emissions is? The CCX?

Old Friends – Update

I have a ticket to see Simon & Garfunkel!

At 7:25 PM tonight I pulled up ticketmaster.com and started hitting refresh, waiting for the text saying “Pre-sale 09/28/2003 7:30 pm” to be replaced by a link saying “Find Tickets.” When it finally changed, I was shocked to be offered four tickets on my first attempt.

My mother and I had discussed, in detail, the steps we were going to take to try to secure tickets. Each member of my family, as well as my sister’s boyfriend, was to be stationed at his or her computer, phone in hand, in hopes that one of us would be able through. What we hadn’t discussed was if we were willing to pay for more than the base level tickets, so when I saw the tickets being offered were $127 each, I called my parents to confirm that they wanted me to get them.

It turned out we were all at the same stage and all wondering the same thing. I had already decided that I would pay pretty much whatever it took to get to this show and thought my parents felt the same way. As I was about to purchase the tickets, though, my mom announced that she wasn’t going because it was on a week night and she felt that she’d be too tired the next day. Then my father said he didn’t have an interest in going. And then my sister said she only wanted to go if the whole family went.

So I hung up and purchased one ticket to the 12/9 Simon & Garfunkel show in Philadelphia. If I read the seating chart correctly, I will be in the fifth row.

I’m disappointed that I’ll be going alone but a decision had to be made quickly, and even so, I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive the anticipation of the next two and a half months.

Complete unrelated — I saw “Matchstick Men” tonight and recommend it. Thought provoking, funny, touching, and even slightly surprising. Go see it or save it to your queue.

Vietnamese Food

Thanks to Snow for introducing me to some excellent Vietnamese food at Pho Pasteur on 29th. I so enjoyed our Wednesday lunch that my mom and I went back for dinner the next day. Vietnamese bears a resemblance to other Asian foods, most notably Chinese and Thai, but is less greasy than Chinese and a little bit simpler than most Thai flavors I’ve had. Snow says he goes for the soups every time, but I very much enjoyed my chicken, onion, and ginger stir fry — with large quantities of hoison and chili sauces. The shrimp and pork rolls, ordered sans pork, were also interesting and delicious, encased in a rice paper with a consistency somewhere between rubber and flesh, but in a good way. Anyway, I highly recommend it!


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Map of
Pho Pasteur
560 S 29th St
Harrisburg PA 17104

U.S. court blocks anti-telemarketing list

U.S. court blocks anti-telemarketing list

This is too bad. While I think freedom of expression is one of our most precious rights as Americans, I don’t think it’s applicable here. The law, as I understand it, stated that non-profits and politicians could still make calls, it was only commercial callers who would be prohibited from calling registered numbers. If I don’t want someone to come to my door, I can post a sign saying “No solicitors” and I can take legal action against anyone who approaches. Why can’t I do the same with my phone?

Forcing Freedom

Forcing Freedom: Can liberalism be spread at gunpoint?

One of the best anti-anti-war articles I’ve read, although that’s not its explicit intent. Bailey is sane and rational and talks about the bigger issue in a way that I haven’t heard discussed much, but I think is exactly the point. This is the argument that says maybe it doesn’t matter if we find the elusive WMD because there were other justifications, maybe better justifications. My hope is that Bush can shift focus at this stage of the game and take actions that will be conducive to democracy in Iraq.