Taboo topics now ads...

Have you ever stopped to wonder about how you can see how much our culture has changed by what is now acceptable to advertise versus what years ago would have been taboo? It's at times a bit hypocritical, but stop and think about this for a moment. Now on television and the internet everything from a yogurt that makes your digestive track work better, to drugs to help men with erectile issues to feminine products even going as far as advertisements designed to address vaginal dryness are out there.

Cigarettes and types of alcohol are no longer allowed to advertise in some places, but we can run disclaimers at the bottom of ads warning men to look out for erections that last more than 8 hours. This then leads to the irony that those little magic pills for men are covered under almost all prescription plans but not birth control...

Fat Cats if only...

I saw this cartoon and it caught my attention because of the concept of "fat cats" and how they are portrayed in cartoons. Most of us when we hear that phrase don't think of the real feline variety, we think about greed and an obsession for more. It'd be nice to think there was some type of magic diet pills that would address this type of "fat" but when you look at how long that word has been used, it's actually been used as a term since the 1920's and it appears to be here to stay.

Nice resource for libertarianish news

If you have never stopped by SmallGovTimes.com it's a source I try to read on a regular basis. While most of you who are regular readers know I battle between the liberal part of me and my libertarian up bringing, I typically find quite a few articles of interest there that you won't read in the traditional media.

One recent piece that is very thought provoking is Individualism and Self Defense. I highly recommend it as it will make you stop and think about what you perceive you have a right to as a citizen versus the realities of what the constitution states.

A new country?

An interesting article is linked at the title that reports on the progress of a group who is attempting to make their own country, not on land but on sea. It caught my interest when I heard about it some time ago, so it was interesting to read the coverage (ironically from the UK and not here). Some selected parts of the article:

A utopian project part-funded by a dotcom tycoon aims to build a giant platform off the coast of San Francisco where people can live free of government regulation.

It sounds like the plot of a pre-Daniel Craig Bond film: an internet tycoon invests part of his vast fortune to fund a fiefdom afloat in international waters. He is joined by the libertarian grandson of one the world’s most famous economic thinkers and advertises for like-minded citizens “who are dissatisfied with our current civilisation” to join him aboard his brave new world.

However, this is not fiction. It is happening now and the group, called the Seasteading Institute, has just released the first detailed plans of what its utopian water world will look like. The first architectural stage is being financed by a $500,000 (£362,000) donation from Peter Thiel, billionaire co-founder of PayPal, the online payments system that was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002. More funding will follow, and the group hopes to start building a small-scale version off the coast of San Francisco this year.

If this inspires you to want to learn more, there are some pictures:



You can also read quite a bit more about this by visiting The Seasteading Institute where they have more information, a blog and are even using Twitter now.

The greening of the economy

While parts of our economy are not faring well, one area that seems to be doing at least fairly well from a public relations/marketing stand point is green products. Go to any grocery store and chances are you'll see an array of "green" cleaning products, the same can be said for laundry detergent. When it comes to home lighting, more and more people are selecting led light fixtures or using other types of energy efficient, long lasting lights.

Reclaiming the Libertarian Party

Recommended piece by David F. Nolan on why he thinks it's time for the Libertarian Party to stand up for their principles and not be "just a pale, slightly-more-tolerant version of the GOP." He's formed The December 11 Group and is urging those interested to blog about it, visit the site and to get involved with their efforts.

The blog site is fairly new, and at this point the three listed as contributors are - "The Instigators" David F. Nolan, Jack Dean and Less Antman. They don't appear to be accepting comments but they do have an email address for those interested in more information. Or, you can bookmark their blogsite and see how this develops...