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01/17/2003 Archived Entry: "Count to ifeminist transfer"

A gracious good morning to all:

On the Political Front:

Thomas Knapp, with whom I had the pleasure of working at Free-Market.Net, asks an urgent question: "When is the anti-war movement going to get serious about being an anti-war movement?"

When will it focus on one issue -- WAR! -- and not use the peace banner to promote everything from animal rights to euthanasia? The question is particularly relevant as several major peace rallies are planned for this weekend. Nice job on the article, Tom.

One thing I like about MoveOn, despite Tom's able criticism... It reshot the famous 1964 "daisy ad" -- a highly controversial election ad run only once by the Lyndon Johnson campaign against Barry Goldwater. The new ad opens with a young girl standing in a field picking petals off a daisy, and it culminates in a mushroom
cloud. As the ad rolls through footage of burning oil wells and crowds of angry Arabs, the narrators voice says, "War with Iraq. Maybe it will end quickly. Maybe not. Maybe it will spread. Maybe extremists will take over countries with nuclear weapons."

Applause to Chicago's City Council which voted 46-1 on Thursday to oppose a pre-emptive military attack on Iraq unless the country is shown to be a real threat to the United States. The resolution makes Chicago the biggest U.S. city to speak out against war.

It is also reassuring to hear that Big Brother style invasions into privacy are meeting obstacles. A TIA (Total Information Awareness) moratorium is gaining momentum on Capital Hill. Free Congress Foundation has posted a letter of protest and concern re: the TIA that was sent to the Committee on Armed Services, co-signed by organizations such as the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier.

Sean Gabb of Free Life Commentary updates us on the Statist drive for an identity card in the UK.

On the Personal Front:

We are down to the fiddly bits of transferring ifeminists.com over to the Independent Institute and I expect e-movement in the next few days.

Several people have contacted me in the wake of ordering an advance copy of my latest book "The Debates of Liberty" from Amazon. According to Amazon, the book is due out on December 31, 1964. Neat trick. It is actually due in mid-February 2003. ;-)

It is a bone-freezing day here in Ontario. My first task upon getting up each morning is to tend the air-tight stove -- (our primary source of heat, with electric as back-up) -- which is always down to glowing coals after being ignored during the night. Next, I make coffee so strong it makes our unwary house guests choke. Next, I let the three Keystone-cop garage cats tumble their way into the house: these nights, they curl together on the blankets in their wicker basket, over which Brad has suspended a large heat lamp. We got the three reprobates after mice in the garage chewed through plastic tubing in our truck, which resulted in real damage when -- in our innocence! -- Brad and I drove the darned thing.

Then...work, work, work. Today, my weekly FOX column is first on the schedule. Watch for it on Tuesday.

Best to all,
mac