United Liberty

Via Reason: The 2012 bankruptcy of Rhode Island-based video-game developer 38 Studios isn’t just a sad tale of a start-up tech company falling victim to the vagaries of a rough economy. It is a completely predictable story of crony capitalism, featuring star-struck legislators and the hubris of a larger-than-life athlete completely unprepared to compete in business.

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, an iconic figure in New England after anchoring a historic playoff comeback which ended a legendary 86-year title drought, founded 38 Studios near the end of his baseball career in the hopes of becoming a big shot in the intensely competitive multi-player gaming world.

From CNN comes an awesome story about a medical marijuana superstore that has just been set up in my second hometown - Oakland, California. To paraphrase what the San Francisco Chronicle said, we can all thank Dhar Mann, the owner, and the City of Oakland for one important step in the legalization/decriminalization of marijuana in the United States.

This video is brilliant in its simplicity. Beck manages to boil down a very complex subject into a four minute segment. Glenn Beck is one of those figures in the media who I both love and hate. When he misses it, he really misses it, but when he hits it, as he does here, he hits it way out of the park.

This is a must see for anyone concerned with the American economy. Seeing as we’re all in this together now, that should be everybody.

Ron Paul gives his reaction to the recent violence in the Middle East with Israel’s invasion of Gaza, along with its implications for the United States. He correctly points out that, given the large amounts of foreign aid to Israel, the U.S. will likely be blamed for the current crisis, and that we can expect to suffer the consequences. He also brilliantly ties this crisis with our overall foreign policy of interventionism and pre-emptive war, and our overall foreign policy with the current financial crisis, reminding us that in reality this is one very large, multifaceted issue. He also gives his predictions for what we might expect in the coming year, including possible massive inflation when foreign countries financing our debt choose to start rejecting the dollar.

Via Reason, Kennedy gives a rundown of the best and worst Christmas films from a libertarian perspective.