Libertarians who've blocked me: Austin Petersen Jeff Tucker Cliff Maloney Jason Brennan Jeff Deist Dan D’Amico Tom Palmer Kevin Carson (later unblocked me)

If you wanna cry, take your mom to see "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" on Mother's Day.

Ted Turner used some of his vast wealth to forever alter (for the better) the landscapes of three of my favorite artistic mediums: film (Turner Classic Movies), animation (Cartoon Network), and pro-wrestling (World Championship Wrestling).

States trivially, and by a wide margin, fail to meet even the most lenient effective altruist-style criteria for what makes an organization worth giving money to.

“[W]hile supporters of age-verification tools argue that their methods are not the same as having to hand your real name and identity directly to the government, it nevertheless saws away at crucial barriers between anonymous speakers and government oppression.” @sarahemclaugh.bsky.social

That he would pardon everyone has been obvious from the very beginning.

Green Day's American Idiot was on the whole a pretty good protest album, apt to its times and intended audience.

It's important to remember that a military draft is a form of slavery.

This (the best thing in libertarianism) is tainted by Jeff Tucker's involvement. Any suggestions for who the cast should be in the modern version?

On my shortlist of "historical episodes I'd love to visit."

Over at the old place, @corymassimino.bsky.social opined: "Libertarianism, as a movement, became untethered from its actual history of ideas. It traded philosophers and economists for influencers and comedians." Kinda true? But maybe it goes deeper/happened sooner than "influencers" suggests. 🧵

"He [the most powerful person in world history] was just kidding [about destroying a civilization and murdering millions]" seems like the inexorable culmination of the irony-poisoned nihilistic apathy that got us into this.

Ok, now that it's all over, I think we can all admit that was a really good bit.

"We all spend every minute of our lives held hostage, facing the threat of total, immediate annihilation. We put it out of our minds most of the time because it is so spectacularly out of our control." - @corymassimino.bsky.social c4ss.org/content/50452

Why is everyone so worried? He literally says "I don't want that to happen" right in the post.

Millions of American voters wanted to be villains. They came to believe it’s the key to success, while goodness is weak, woke, loser stuff, done only to signal. Offered the option of unvarnished villainy, they enthusiastically took it. Seeing others suffer more made them feel big. And here we are.

The Turkish government is planning to require social media users to register accounts under their real names with the goal of ending anon accounts. I really fear we are not understanding the cliff we're approaching around the world re: online anonymity. www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkiye-acts...

I just don't know what to do with the fact that there are a great many people for whom deranged threats to do war crimes, to slaughter people en masse, are actively a good thing; what they want from a leader. This is their idea of strength, their valourised masculinity. I think I hate them.

I agree: all ethnostates are actively a bad thing for the world. I accept that now the world being as it is one often can't undo this bad thing without making things far worse, but so far as they implement policies (let alone ones as murderous as Israeli policy) to maintain their status I hate that.

Just the sheer oddity that the section of the commentariat (and electorate!) most obsessed with American strength also voted for the very obvious Imperial Suicide option, I think basically because Gender convinced them of the dumbest possible theory of what would constitute and project strength.

Pope Leo confirmed Rothbardian.

Saturday plans c/o DAISIES (1966) ❤️‍🔥 🍰 Watch Věra Chytilová's radical masterpiece on the Criterion Channel.

Anarchist literature is now evidence of terrorism, according to the government. As is wearing black at a protest, carrying a first aid kit, or using Signal. Horrifying stuff is happening, it's happening quickly, and not nearly enough people are paying attention to it.

It's always a fallacy to go from "anti-Israel does not necessarily mean anti-Semitism" to "anti-Israel necessarily means not anti-Semitism." It's distressing, though not shocking, to see the fallacy spill over from the intra-left context to a way to interpret an actual near-Nazi like Joe Kent.

My two favorite movies of the year ("If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You" and "Blue Moon") were not even nominated for Best Picture. Sad.

Today a jury in Prairieland, TX will decide if the state can imprison people for their beliefs, if the state can criminalize ideas it dislikes, if the state can treat anarchists like terrorists. It's a horrifyingly consequential pivot point in our descent into authoritarianism.

We’ve launched @liberalism.org! It’s a online journal of liberal ideas, exploring the ways liberalism points to a better future and how we can get there, from me and my @theihs.org colleagues @jkuznicki.bsky.social and @uncanonical.net, and feature essays from top scholars, podcasts, and more.

Good piece by my friend @corymassimino.bsky.social reckoning with Murray Rothbard's rather mixed legacy. Cory acknowledges & discusses the worst elements of Rothbard's thought (including gross racism), but he also highlights Rothbard's insights and their relevance to left-libertarians.

"Rothbard is usually viewed as either a right-wing villain or right-wing hero. Often, the right-wing classification has merit. But it’s more complicated than that. People mostly overlook Rothbard’s left-wing tendencies." - @corymassimino.bsky.social c4ss.org/content/61027

I wrote about Rothbard's left-libertarian legacy for his centennial birthday:

I see the 7th George W. Bush administration is going well.

War brings suffering, misery, and ruin. We must never give in to war.

Lung surgery has failed to remove all of my mom's cancer (her eighth bout of it) so now she's pursuing radiation treatments. Any donations, shares, or well wishes are really, really appreciated. Thanks everyone. www.gofundme.com/f/support-je...

"Becoming President to cover up raping children, but running on releasing the very files that expose you" has got to be one of the biggest self-own in history, right?

A+ State of the Union counterprogramming by TCM.

I am thrilled to announce my big new project, Liberalism.org. Coming 3/12. It’s is a journal of liberal ideas, edited by @jkuznicki.bsky.social, with new podcasts from me and @uncanonical.net. It’s a project of @theihs.org, and has a superstar lineup of contributors. Sign up to get notified here:

I saw "The Princess Bride" in theaters the other day and the audience burst into raucous applause twice: first, when Inigo Montoya said "I want my father back, you son of a bitch," and second, when Rob Reiner's name appeared in the credits.

My good friend @michaelzigismund.bsky.social's close family suffered a devastating house fire. Any donations or shares are greatly appreciated. www.gofundme.com/f/helping-th...

This is a very good article by @helenrumbelow.bsky.social on how the Epstein emails shed light on the way hatred of women permeates the thought-to-be private correspondences of powerful men. www.thetimes.com/life-style/c...

The late great Steve Horwitz, less than a month into the first Trump presidency, already fully understanding the shape of things:

I spent two decades arguing with everyone over whether self-aware evil people exist (as opposed everyone having good intentions or rationalizations), and now every day I get proven right on the national stage and it sucks.

This is by far the most cartoonish politics has been in my lifetime. Extremely kind & decent people vs. the absolute dregs of humanity. It continues to baffle me that this is not equally clear to the whole country.

You have the right to record and publicly discuss the conduct and activity of law enforcement, including ICE. That's First Amendment 101. And the federal government can't coerce private companies into censoring speech about ICE, just because it doesn't like what people have to say. LAWSUIT:

I unironically enjoyed the Super Bowl very much last night. The score was close for nearly the entire game and it featured some of the best defensive gameplay I've ever seen. I hope it portends more defensive and low-scoring games next year. Football is just better when everything feels earned.

I appreciate this. I thought I couldn't be surprised anymore. But then here comes the "libertarian" complaining that the real problem with the child rapist oligarch government cover-up is that it's stirring up a witch hunt.

The nothing-to-see-here from some pundits to the Epstein files, and their tisc-tisc-ing at those calling for social consequences for the men who cozied up to him after it was clear to everyone what he was, show how political factionalism and rank contrarianism can stamp out discernment and humanity.

Now I don't think there's great odds that Yarvin/Vance/etc will succeed in their explicit aspiration to just outright abolish all that court stuff, but it is worth noting that said ultimate intention is responsible for why they barely bother to remember the courts still exist.