Quick Roundup 521

Follow me on Twitter

I keep hearing that lots of people get their news and blog feeds from Twitter, so I've finally opened an account. At least for now, I plan to use it almost entirely to announce publication of new posts via Twitterfeed, which will look for updates hourly. Those who want the tweets can get them here.

Yes. That's a raven. Why? Because it's my favorite non-mythological bird.

More Blog Maintenance

I slipped in a handful more of new blogs to the sidebar. Better yet, I now have what had been a tedious task reduced to what will become a script and a few text file edits on the next iteration. The additions from last time are still marked "new" to give my readers a chance to visit them as well as the other new additions.

As usual, if you were linked before and write regularly, make sure you're still here. A few blogs have changed names or addresses, too. (e.g., Doc MacDonald is now listed as Let's Get Political..., and the link for the Objectivism Metablog should work now.)

Also, the list of favorite posts has been updated, and it will be far easier for me to keep it current in the future, too.

Coming soon in the hopper will be updating the FAQ, so if you've ever wanted to ask a question about me or my blog, fire away.

Schiff-Greenspan Cage Match

Peter Schiff blames Alan Greenspan for the housing bubble in no uncertain terms and officially challenges the former central planner to a debate in a video that I unfortunately cannot embed. (HT: HBL)

Watch and enjoy. I am ambivalent about Schiff's senatorial campaign. On the one hand, I'd love to rid the Senate of Chris Dodd. On the other, his recent support of Ron Paul makes me dubious about his non-economic opinions, not to mention the fact that Schiff could do far more good as an in-line activist in the field of finance. (This last is not to imply that I consider Schiff an Objectivist.)

Government Financing in a Free Society

Regarding a recent post in which I brought up the idea of abolishing taxation altogether, a commenter asked about more concrete guidance. In answering him, I forgot to mention an entire series of posts on the subject by Brian Phillips at Live Oaks. I listed them once here before, but it seems worthwhile to do so again:

• Introduction
• The Size of Government
• The Police And Military
• The Courts
• Other Revenue Sources
• Final Thoughts

Also, while this is not exactly the same subject (and I haven't read the full article yet), Glenn Reynolds points to a story about how Ireland turned government workers "into a lobby for responsible spending" as a means of lowering their pay. Of course, doing this risks granting moral sanction to the government performing tasks that are outside its proper scope, so such a tactic should be used with caution, if at all.

Fashion Faux Pas

This blog post on hanger loops reminds me of an opera date with Mrs. Van Horn ages ago.

I don't know what it was, but early on, I noticed that her dress had some odd (but still pretty), tassel-like thing hanging out just above its zipper, below her neckline, in the back. When we got home, she discovered this and asked why I didn't say anything to her about it. "I thought it was a decoration," I said lamely.

Needless to say, I never assume anything out of the ordinary on a dress is necessarily decorative any more!

-- CAV