April 21, 2007_ Interesting Stuff from the Web

Anthony Gregory Reviews Idiocracy
“ 'Some libertarians might find the movie a cheap shot on capitalism, but insofar as it is, it is not the free market version being attacked. The film takes place where corporation and state have become so mixed as to be indistinguishable.' If you have not yet seen this hilarious film yet, do yourself a favor and rent it tonight. You’ll be glad you did.” (Strike the Root.com)

[Don] Imus's Real Crime
He empowered the charlatans Sharpton and Jackson, says Imus-fan Elizabeth Wright. (Lewrockwell.com)

'MySpace will fail..' Says Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales
"There's way too much advertising and they're not really respecting their own community."

The Ethics of Labor Struggle: A Free Market Perspective
“I also recall seeing a lot of tsk-tsking from Paul Birch and others of like mind in some discussion forum several months back, about what blackguards union workers were for demanding higher wages when their labor was most needed. Golly, aren't these the same people who defend "price gouging" by the oil companies? It's not very consistent to go from 'caveat emptor' and 'fooled you twice, shame on you!' in every realm except labor relations, to spelling 'God' E-M-P-L-O-Y-E-R within the workplace. The hostility is quite odd, assuming the person feeling it is motivated by free market principle rather than a zeal for the aggrieved interests of big business. They seem, in fact, to implicitly assume a model of employer-employee relations based on a cultural holdover from the old master-servant relationship.” An essay by Kevin Carson. (Via FreedomSLUT.com)

The Sun's Atmosphere Sings
“In the cosmic equivalent of a guitar pick, so-called microflares at the base of loops could be plucking the magnetic loops and setting the sound waves in motion, the researchers speculate. While solar flares are the largest explosions in the solar system, microflares are a million times smaller but much more frequent; both phenomena are now thought to funnel heat into the Sun's outer atmosphere.The acoustic waves can be extremely energetic, reaching heights of tens of miles, and can travel at rapid speeds of 45,000 to 90,000 miles per hour. 'These [explosions] release energy equivalent to millions of hydrogen bombs,' von Fay-Siebenburgen said.” (YahooNews.com)

Enemy of the State
“My own sheltered childhood ended with the Cultural Revolution. My parents were denounced as 'stinking intellectuals' and 'counter-revolutionaries.' Our house was ransacked. Under the new policy, I went to a nearby school of workers’ children, some of whom threw rocks at me and even left human excrement on our balcony. But Jianguo thrived amid the social turmoil, and became a leader of a Red Guard faction at his school. He seldom came home. When he did, he dressed in full Red Guard fashion: the faded green Army jacket and cap, the Mao button on the shirt pocket, the bright-red armband. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and, with his manly good looks, he seemed to me larger than life. I was shy and tongue-tied in his presence.” (The New Yorker)