18 May 2013

A Great Idea for Liberty Activism: Robin Hood Parking Vigilantes

Big Brother 19 Comments

Check out this news story:

KEENE – The city has filed a lawsuit against six citizens, part of a group dubbed Robin Hood of Keene that patrols downtown armed with video cameras and pockets full of change to fill expired parking meters.

Also known as Robin Hooders, the six are associated with the Free Keene group.

“They say video recording or talking to them is harassing them, but I don’t agree with that,” “Robin Hooder” James Cleaveland said of parking enforcement officers. “So they want to establish a safety zone of fifty feet.”

Members of the group place cards under windshield wipers that read, “Your meter expired; however, we saved you from the king’s tariffs, Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Please consider paying it forward,” and includes an address where donations can be sent.

Now I actually know at least some of these people–a lot of the people who live in Keene go to the Porcupine Freedom Festival (“Porcfest“)–and I asked them if they were being obnoxious to the meter maids. My general impression is that they were mostly being courteous, though admittedly people generally get uncomfortable with cameras.

Here’s a clip showing an educated young lad quoting Lysander Spooner to a guy who doesn’t really appreciate it, I’m sure.

I wish I had more time to devote to this story, but I’m too swamped with work. Anyway I just wanted to pass this along as a great example of a way would-be activists to get the message out in a way that is likely to win sympathy, particularly if everyone involved is courteous.

16 May 2013

Don’t Ever Talk to the Police

Big Brother 57 Comments

This is a classic. If you’ve never seen it, you need to watch this. You can start watching at 5:55 if you’re short on time.

16 May 2013

Jon Stewart Rips Obama’s “I Just Heard About This Too” Defense

Big Brother, Humor 2 Comments

I don’t need to comment on news of the day when we’ve got the Daily Show:

16 May 2013

“If the Fed Ever Started Monetizing the Debt, We’d Be in Trouble…”

Federal Reserve 10 Comments

The CBO recently revised its estimate of the FY2013 deficit down to “only” $642 billion. The Fed is still buying $45 billion per month in Treasury securities, on average.

So that means the Fed will monetize 84% of the Treasury’s deficit this fiscal year. And it’s not chump change, the deficit is still over half a trillion dollars.

15 May 2013

The Zombie Returns! See Tom Woods and Bob Murphy June 8 in NYC

Shameless Self-Promotion, Tom Woods 2 Comments

More plugging:

Go here for full details.

14 May 2013

First Music Video Shot in Orbit

All Posts 8 Comments

Apparently this is Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.

14 May 2013

Tennessee Police Take $160,000 From Guy at Traffic Stop

Big Brother 11 Comments

Tell me this cop doesn’t seem like a lying bully.

14 May 2013

Final Exam, Intro to Microeconomics

Steve Landsburg 2 Comments

You have 30 minutes. Read this actual news story and then explain, to the best of your ability, how Steve Landsburg would discuss this on his blog.