Category: Steve

Question for Libertarians

Note the capital “L.” I mean those who support the Libertarian Party, or Randites, or “Rational Anarchists” ala Heinlein, or, as Patrick says, those who want to sell the streets and privatize meat inspection.

This isn’t an effort at argument (though no doubt one will ensue), but a request for information. I’m wondering what the canonical answer is to the charge that without state control, nothing would prevent child labor, and similar abuses. It’s an obvious enough question that I’m sure it’s come up. If someone could run it down for me I’d appreciate it. Thanks.

Obama's Mistake

There is an episode of “The West Wing,” I think from season 3, where there’s an exchange something like this: “Why is this such a big deal?” “Because it’s the classic Washington mistake: he accidentally told the truth.”

No, I am certainly no supporter of Obama. But I think the WSWS analysis that I linked to on the sidebar is spot on–he’s in trouble because a little piece of truth accidentally slipped out. This does nothing to raise my opinion of him, but the flap created by it is certainly another confirmation of what we all knew about US politics.

There are probably more conclusions one could draw from this. Call this thread an invitation for anyone who feels like drawing conclusions.

Cats Laughing

Will Shetterly has been putting some old Cats Laughing tunes online.  I miss that band the way you miss a lover you’ve never gotten over.  I’ve been listening to the downloads, and I’m agreeably disappointed to find that my drumming didn’t suck as much as I thought it did at the time.  Emma and Lojo sing like, well, like really good singers.

Fourth Street Fantasy Convention

For those unfamiliar with it, the Fourth Street Fantasy Convention is a fairly small convention that ran during the 80s. It’s oriented toward, well, how to read and write better. Or, put another way, it’s a convention of people who like to read, write, and edit good books, and want there to be more good books to read, write, and edit.

We’re bringing it back. I’m heading up the programming. My approach to programming is: What are some questions I want to hear smart people argue about so I can learn stuff from it. A few of the panel topics this year are: “Pushing buttons for fun and profit;” “Stealing from the mainstream and doing it better;” “What the hell IS ‘structure,’ anyway?” Stuff like that.

Our Guest of Honor is Elizabeth Bear. The dates are June 20-22, 2008. The place is Minneapolis. For more information, check here.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, we’d love to see you there.

If you’re interested in being on a panel, let me know via my email address, which you can find on my web site.