You Wanna Bet? Roderick, Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-05-16). Betting is the replacement for dueling. It's not a perfect replacement, of course. (Nothing is a perfect replacement for anything else.) It only applies in certain cases. But what it has in common with dueling is the challenge either to back up one's opinion or retract it. In that sense,… (Linked Tuesday 2011-05-17.)

Comment on Viking Cinema, Part Tveir by Roderick. Roderick, Comments for Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-05-16). Spoilage ensues: Asgard and Jotunheim have been at (uneasy) peace for a thousand years. Then some frost giants slip into Asgard to steal a Frostee MacGuffin, but after whacking a couple of guards they are killed by Odin's automated defenses. Thor wants to go to Jotunheim to smash all the… (Linked Tuesday 2011-05-17.)

28 Years Later; or Hey Hey Goodbye. Roderick, Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-05-17). Explaining why this is such a good thing would take a post far longer than I have time for right now. (Linked Tuesday 2011-05-17.)

Anti-Americanism As an Anti-Concept. Roderick, Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-05-13). Just as some questions (e.g., "Have you stopped bleating at your wife?") carry false presuppositions and so can't rationally be answered either yes or no, so some terms build false presuppositions into their meanings, making it impossible to use the term (at least in its ordinary sense) without signing on… (Linked Sunday 2011-05-15.)

Jury awards $82,000 after woman is arrested when asking police for a business card. Aimee Green, The Oregonian, Portland News (2011-04-14). Jurors say if police aren’t in an urgent or dangerous situation, they should always hand over a business card when asked. (Linked Monday 2011-05-16.)

Intellectual Property is Murder. Kevin Carson, Center for a Stateless Society (2011-05-11). Among the terms of a so-called "free trade agreement" between the European Union and India is a requirement for "data exclusivity" which will eviscerate India's generic drug industry. "Data exclusivity" means that clinical trials conducted before marketing by the company that originally produced the drug cannot be applied to meet… (Linked Monday 2011-05-16.)

The Paradox of Property. Roderick, Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-05-05). Nonlibertarians are often puzzled as to why libertarians accept such strong property rights claims (sometimes called "absolute" property rights, though I've never figured out what "absolute" is supposed to mean in this context). The answer I'm going to give here is one I've already offered elsewhere (see here and here),… (Linked Thursday 2011-05-05.)

History News Network | Because the Past is the Present, and the Future too. hnn.us (2011-05-05). Mutual Aid in Tuscaloosa. (Linked Thursday 2011-05-05.)

TomTom Sold User Data to Police, Motorists Then Targeted With Speed Traps. John Gruber, Daring Fireball (2011-05-02). Consumer Reports: Following reports that TomTom had sold traffic data collected from GPS device users to police who then used it to determine locations for speed traps, the company has issued a statement and video in an effort to appease angry customers. Shameful.  â˜…  (Linked Thursday 2011-05-05.)

Jon Stewart on the Photos of Osama bin Laden. John Gruber, Daring Fireball (2011-05-05). Jon Stewart: Maybe we should always show pictures. Bin Laden, pictures of our wounded service people, pictures of maimed innocent civilians. We can only make decisions about war if we see what war actually is — and not as a video game where bodies quickly disappear leaving behind a shiny… (Linked Thursday 2011-05-05.)

On the Road to Nowhere With Johnson and Paul. Thomas L. Knapp, Center for a Stateless Society (2011-04-28). Is it just me, or is the silly season of electoral politics — the presidential election cycle — arriving earlier and earlier in each successive four-year stretch? Last time around, it was nearly Memorial Day of the year preceding the election before pundits started speculating about when the obvious odd… (Linked Thursday 2011-05-05.)

Gratitude Attitude, Part 2. Roderick, Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-04-29). Are you sick of those t-shirts that say "If you love freedom thank a veteran"? Check out the Molinari Institute's newest t-shirt, which reads "If you love freedom thank an anarchist," thus honouring both those anarchists who've been in the forefront of struggles for freedom in the past (e.g. the… (Linked Friday 2011-04-29.)

The "book" is dead. Mark, dive into mark (2011-04-29). David Flanagan, author of JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, writes: For 15 years I've been one of those lucky authors who has been able to support himself and his family almost entirely on book royalties. But the publishing industry has been in decline and my royalties checks have decreased more-or-less steadily… (Linked Saturday 2011-04-30.)

maybe i just don't understand the meaning of leadership. Captain Capitulation, eye of the storm (2011-04-29). maybe i just don't understand the meaning of leadership. obama's visit to tuscaloosa today (then off to the scuttled shuttle launch!) was a bigger story than the aftermath of the disaster. ok he was there, but the practical steps he took he took from dc last night. it's a constant… (Linked Saturday 2011-04-30.)

Future Timeline. xkcd.com (2011-04-17). (Linked Monday 2011-04-18.)

Big Media To Innovative App Maker: Stop Innovating Without Our Permission! | Techdirt. www.techdirt.com (2011-04-18). “And, honestly, if creating an app that makes it easier to read your content is a threat to your business, you’re doing business wrong.” (Linked Monday 2011-04-18.)

boardgames are to monopoly as comics are to garfield, THAT'S RIGHT I SAID IT. Dinosaur Comics (2011-04-19). I blame the Georgists. (Linked Tuesday 2011-04-19.)

Austro-Californian Empire? Roderick, Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-04-18). While in San Diego I'll be meeting with the San Diego Austrians and the Café Libertalia folks on Thursday night. Details here (for the socially mediated). (Linked Tuesday 2011-04-19.)

if i was interested in starting a…resistance movement, i. Captain Capitulation, eye of the storm (2011-04-19). if i was interested in starting a…resistance movement, i would proceed by simulated terrorism. such a procedure is suggested by things like this, where i'm thinking the authorities evacuated a mall or at least closed in en masse to get a guy wandering around a mall with a rifle, when it… (Linked Tuesday 2011-04-19.)

Birmingham officers who beat man while he was unconscious to be reinstated. Dr. Q, Gangsters in Blue (2011-04-15). On January 23, 2008 Birmingham police officers attempted to stop and question one Anthony Shannon Warren about suspected drug activity. Warren fled in his car. Because interrogating people about suspected involvement in activities that harm no one is much more important than public safety, the officers decided that the best… (Linked Wednesday 2011-04-20.)

On Controlling Parents. der Blaustrumpf (2011-04-20). “Many of the comments, like the author herself, blame Rand for the father's selfishness. What struck me is not the awfulness of Rand's philosophy, though awful it is, but that a seemingly infinite number of options are available to parents who wish to justify abuse. A hardcore Objectivist parent is rare, thankfully, but it'd be easy to envision a Christian parent who would justify similar deprivation as a lesson in altruism and humility – the very opposite of Rand's alleged ideals.” – Cheryl Cline (Linked Wednesday 2011-04-20.)

Free Market Anti-Capitalism Paper Online. DarianW, DarianWorden.com (2011-04-19). My contribution to the 2011 APEE Topics in Free-Market Anti-Capitalism panel is now available for download from my archives page: Capitalism, Free Enterprise, and Progress: Partners or Adversaries? The paper disentangles the concepts of capitalism, free enterprise, and progress in the context of the early Industrial Revolution. While a lot… (Linked Wednesday 2011-04-20.)

Digital Cash Sparks Digital Debate. Jesse Walker, Jesse Walker: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-04-20). Writing in Time, of all places, Jerry Brito discusses Bitcoin, the latest alternative currency to capture the digerati's imagination: The web has also seen all-purpose digital currencies, from defunct dot-com bubble start-ups Flooz and Beenz, to the slightly more successful e-gold. Unlike cash, however, digital currencies to date have had a… (Linked Wednesday 2011-04-20.)