Back on the Job Hunt

The contract at Nintendo ended, so I am on the search again.   Other than that not a lot happening.  My walking has dropped off so I am trying to get it going again.  Also studying for the A+ exam.

Speaking of walking,  I went down to Alki Beach on Saturday.  They had something going on so even though it was cold and rainy it was crowded.  The cool thing though was I met Miss Washington.  She was there in Tiara and Sash and a kneelength black coat that looked pretty good on her.  I can’t say we struck up a lasting relationship but we exchanged a few words, and she seemed fairly nice.

Actually they are…

Instapundit links to an article entitled Libertarians Are Not Anarchists! with the comment NO THEY”RE NOT:

Actually they are, or at least they would like to be.  From the Libertarian party platform:

As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

…

Consequently, we defend each person's right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.

…

The only legitimate use of force is in defense of individual rights — life, liberty, and justly acquired property — against aggression. This right inheres in the individual, who may agree to be aided by
any other individual or group. We affirm the individual right recognized by the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms, and oppose the prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights of self-defense. We oppose all laws at any level of government requiring registration of, or restricting, the
ownership, manufacture, or transfer or sale of firearms or ammunition.

…

Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of individual liberty, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to agree to such new governance as to them shall seem most likely to protect their liberty.

Common definitions of Anarchy:

• "No rulership or enforced authority."^[1]
• "A social state in which there is no governing person or group of people, but each individual has absolute liberty (without the implication of disorder)."^[2]
• "Absence of government; a state of lawlessness due to the absence or inefficiency of the supreme power; political disorder."^[3]
• "Absence or non-recognition of authority and order in any given sphere."^[4]
• "Acting without waiting for instructions or official permission... The root of anarchism is the single impulse to do it yourself: everything else follows from this." ^[5]
• Anarchy is the basic rule of a no rule society.

From the pamphlet Anarchy, published in 1891:

Anarchists generally make use if the word "State" to mean all the collection of institutions, political, legislative, judicial, military, financial, etc., by means of which management of their own affairs, the guidance of their personal conduct, and the care of ensuring their own safety are taken from the people and confided to certain individuals, and these, whether by usurpation or delegation, are invested with the right to make laws over and for all, and to constrain the public to respect them, making use of the collective force of the community to this end.

    In this case the word "State" means "government," or, if you like, it is the abstract expression of which government is the personification. Then such expressions as "Abolition of the State," or "Society without the State," agree perfectly with the conception which anarchists wish to express of the destruction of every political institution based on authority, and of the constitution of a free and equal society, based upon harmony of interests, and the voluntary contribution of all to the satisfaction of social needs.

Read the pamphlet and them read the party platform.  Do you see the similarities?  I will give the Libertarians credit, at least they were smart enough to throw in some approving references to the Constitution, but the approval is at best hollow if you accept the idea that every individual is individually sovereign.  If that is the case then any law which a person feels infringes on his “life, liberty, or property (or in Jefferson’s wording ‘pursuit of liberty’)” does not need to be obeyed.

I should add that I am not a political scholar , but I have read Locke (referenced in the original post, as an inspiration for Libertarians) and I don’t recall anything about limited government in his Second Treatise.  What I do recall is his idea that for the government to be legitimate it must represent the interest of the citizens. If it stops doing so then it is the right of the citizens to rise in revolt. This is echoed in the Libertarian party platform. I also don’t recall Locke advocating this idea of individual sovereignty.  In fact he expressly advocates the idea that citizens must give up some sovereignty to form the civil society.  Pointing this out will probably be as popular as pointing out that in “The Road to Serfdom” Hayek accepted as legitimate both the idea of welfare and nationalized health care.

Just throwing it out there

from Comics Alliance

Geeking out today

Reconfigured my desktop.  Went for simplicity instead of the usual pictures of girls or beaches

I also checked out what what “Star Wars” planet Seattle’s weather is most like:

Ah, the leisurely life.

What WoW character would you like to be stranded on a desert island with?

In my role as guild leader of that scrappy little band known as the Army of Morons (Hellscream US server, Alliance, open recruitment) I am occasionally called upon to do some research on specific requirements for various achievements or quests.  While doing so today I came across this post: Breakfast Topic: What WoW figure do you want on your desert island?  My immediate thought was Jaina Proudmore –

Music for the Masses

Wipe the Raid by Ariel

Re-reading the Classics–Cohort of the Damned

Monty over at Ace of Spades continues to shame me with the volume, breadth, and sheer intellectual heft of his offerings, but I feel my delving into the classics of American literature remains a worthwhile pursuit.

Today’s selection is actually the third (and I believe last) book in the “Fifth Foreign Legion” series by Andrew Keith.  If you haven’t read any of the books on this series the thing you need to know is that the series is predicated on the idea that the universe went batcrap crazy and the French ended up the dominant superpower.  No one works, no one bathes, empires have risen and fallen, and currently the Terran Commonwealth is in charge.  It is also in a state of perpetual war with various bird and lizard people; mainly because, except for the Legion, the Commonwealth seems ready to surrender and accept terms anytime someone farts loudly.  (That part actually seems historically sound).

Now that we have the background of the series lets take a look at “Cohort of the Damned”.

In general this novel could be considered the classic bildungsroman (no the dung in the middle of that word doesn’t mean what you think).  Following the loss of his planet to alien invaders, the aforementioned lizard people, Wolfgang Alaric Hauser, a member of the aristocratic class on that planet, is accused of cowardice and fights a duel to redeem his honor.  Unfortunately this makes matters worse and in a bid to redeem himself he joins the Foreign Legion.  Enlisted under the highly imaginative name of Karl Wolf, we follow as the trappings of his former life are taken from him and he is forced to adapt without them.  Each loss also leads to the development of new ties and a new level of self examination.  Finally at the end of his training, and coincidentally the end of the novel he has emerged transformed; a man where previously he was a boy (even though he seems to be about 30 years old) ready to accept what life has thrown at him and to do so competently.

The book is pretty well written, even though it relies heavily on stock characters and settings, and the story is mostly enjoyable.  Karl Wolf is a bit of a spoiled brat and you sorely want him to get his ass kicked a number of times as he engages in his interminable self-reflection, but that is the nature of the beast with this kind of story.  I really only have two problems with this book: 1) Heinlein did it much better in his juveniles, but that is not the author’s fault, Heinlein was a genius. 2) I have been through Boot Camp twice (Navy and Army) it is never as organized and efficient as books like this (including Starship Troopers) make it out to be.  Hurry up and wait probably doesn’t make for much of a story but it is the reality of most of military life.

In closing you could do worse than reading this book, but if it was me I think I would check out Heinlein again first. 

Fight Brewing on Illegal Immigration

An article in the NY Times today points out that at six state legislatures are likely to enact AZ style anti-illegal immigration laws, and that the is likely to lead to an immediate fight in the GOP.

Legislators have also announced measures to limit access to public colleges and other benefits for illegal immigrants and to punish employers who hire them.

Next week, at least five states plan to begin an unusual coordinated effort to cancel automatic United States citizenship for children born in this country to illegal immigrant parents.

…

But the proposals have already drawn opposition from some business groups. And they are forcing strategic soul-searching within the Republican Party nationwide, with a rising populist base on one side demanding tough immigration measures, and, on the other side, traditional Republican supporters in business and a fast-growing Latino electorate strongly opposing those measures.

Should make for an interesting legislative season.  I don’t know how much money Tea Party candidates got from business or organizations like the US Chamber of Commerce, but it will be interesting to see how many people think they are owed favors coming off the last election season.