1) I have come to the conclusion that, for most people, some parts of liberty will always be more appealing than others. Say we broadly divide liberty in two parts: the personal/social portion (dealing with who we should be allowed to have sex with, which substances we can put in our bodies, etc.) and the economic/ambitions portion (with regard to how much we should be taxed, how much government should be involved in businesses, etc.). It seems to me that most people are generally attracted to one side of the freedom coin more than the other. Political comedian and talk show host Bill Maher is a great example: he often uses the word ‘libertarian’ to describe himself, but in practice he simply likes the use of that term to describe his attitude to sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll – he is practically opposed to most of the freedoms which fall on the other side. I actually quite like Maher, who is, for the most part, a garden-variety leftist. His attitude to religion is refreshing even though I am a Christian – “Christians have a neurological disorder”. And I laughed hard when I heard him answer a question regarding his position on abortion, capital punishment and euthanasia: “I am pro-death.” It is true that many real libertarians also have a hard time with some of what their principal of non-aggression prescribes, but deal with it because they know it is right. What a novel concept, and how out of place in today’s pragmatic approach to politics; that someone may actually have a preeminent reason for believing something.

2) Moonbat just won’t settle down. He is fidgety and antsy about the changes he wants to see on energy consumption. His agitated article in today’s Guardian is a series of complaints about being forced to ride his bicycle behind buses spewing vile fumes into his face. It was a rather amusing thought. As I have previously pointed out in this blog, the reason that environmentalists are so desperate is that they believe the world will END unless we stop burning fossil fuels NOW. In his last article, Moonbat used the words “melting down” to describe the ecosystem. (It is obvious to me that the only real urgency required here is the strapping of Moonbat into some sort of straitjacket, and his subsequent treatment for what is plainly some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder.) In actual fact, all the evidence suggests that there is plenty of time for the free market to continue doing what it always has: provide the solution peacefully through the advances of technology.

One interesting such technology is the biofuel that can now be produced from turkeys. In the November/December issue of ‘E’ Magazine there is an article about a company called Changing World Technologies, which transforms “…turkey byproducts – beaks, feathers, bones and all – into oil…” which can then be used to run motor vehicles. So the turkey-car is just around the corner, folks. The resulting oil is called biofuel, which of course can come from other sources as well, such as coconuts and other biomatter. Obviously these developements are all exciting, as they represent the direction humanity will take in the near future. In fact, my prediction is that, in 10 or 15 years, you will have three choices at the pump: gasoline (which will be used for older cars and large trucks), biofuel (made from a mixture of mouthwatering spices and herbs) and hydrogen (on tap for the 60% of cars that will run on the hydrogen fuel cell).

But I thought since we are approaching Thanksgiving, upon which 45,000,000 turkeys are devoured vigorously every year by the American population, the turkey-juice was of special interest. They are currently working on eliminating the rancid smell produced by the turkey-fuel plant; local residents are suddenly in favour of granting instead the sewage treatment plant they so vehemently opposed several years ago. (I made that last part up.) Incidentally, many environmentalists are also members of PETA. The fact that global warming may be solved in part by killing turkeys and turning their guts into bio-soup may produce a challenge that would be an entertaining spectacle; rather like watching fireworks.

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John Wright