United Liberty

Every year the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, AL hosts a conference for scholars of the Austrian tradition to come together and share essays and ideas.  This year’s conference was loaded with big names and reputable authors among the Libertarian and generally liberty-minded.

The only thing missing from Fred’s shooting range in North Carolina is John William’s score from The Patriot.  You’ve got the rag-tag assortment of American everymen, you’ve got the red coat targets, and you’ll even feel a little of the same sense of urgency the American militiamen must’ve felt in the mid-1770’s.

Spending a weekend at an “Appleseed” rifleman school is not only a wise investment of money and time, it’s a whole lot of fun!  Hosted by the Revolutionary War Veteran’s Association (RWVA), the Appleseed program is acutely in touch with the importance marksmanship can have on history, as they refer to April 19, 1775 (the day of the “shot heard ‘round the world”) as the day “marksmanship met history, and heritage was born.”

The 2008 Mises Institute Supporters Summit

The Gold Standard Revisited

This past weekend was a chance for many of the Mises Institute’s supporters to get together, get familiar, and get updated on the Austrian tradition’s interpretation of recent events.  The focus of this weekend seminar was on the gold standard, and the increasingly desperate need for sound money in today’s fiat fiasco of an economy.  Speakers, local and international, delivered the message of monetary sanity to the supporters and students in attendance, as well as those who tuned in around the world via Mises.org.  Talks were given by many of today’s

Oliver Stone’s new release “W.” is certainly a unique film, and like other films of his, will likely become a reference point for our time.  It is an intertwining of bits and pieces of our current President’s past, from his Yale days to his “fiasco” in Iraq.

What’s particularly notable is how well executed the film is from a Realist perspective, as many of the lines W. delivers in the movie were taken straight from real incidents.  More often than not these statements are to his disgrace and/or embarrassment, provided he has the cognitive capacity to comprehend that he said something imbecilic - again - in the first place.  Stone simultaneously delivers the image of Bush I believe he intended, and yet absolves himself from political pressure or retaliation by sticking to what he was provided.