Fighting for Farmers

What with all the talk about the US election and the impending Canadian election, let's not forget that the Canadian Wheat Board will also have a vote this fall to determine its board of directors.

I bring this up because Rolf Penner, a principled, pro-free market farmer is running for the directorship.

His goal is to end the Wheat Board monopoly and restore economic freedom to farmers.

It's a worthy crusade.

To learn more about Rolf or to donate to his campaign go here.

Me and the CRTC

I'd like to interupt all this election chatter to talk about something that really matters to Canadians: porn.

Check out my latest Sun media column.

A Little Summer Rand

From the movie version of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, here's Gary Cooper as Howard Roark, defending "men of unborrowed vision".

Blaming Georgia on George

Hey, this just in -- the Russian invasion of Georgia is George Bush's fault.

Isn't everything Bush's fault?

Pursuing Glory and Profits

I am reading The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815, a fascinating social-economic history of Europe's early modern age.

Reading about life in those days and all the problems people faced -- wars, plagues, famine, lack of deodorant -- makes me glad to be living in this industrial age, even if industry does cause global warming.

Anyway, the book's author, historian Tim Blanning, describes how an enterprising Englishman named William Dockwra created a private postal system to serve London in the 1680s.

Writes Blanning, "Recruiting hundreds of taverns, coffee houses and shops as collecting stations, he was able to provide a service more rapid than anything on offer today, as collections and deliveries were made as often as every hour during the daytime."

Of course, the King soon closed it down because it competed too efficiently with the monopoly he had granted to collect the mail.

The more things change...

Watching the Government's Waste

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is cutting back on wasteful cultural spending, so he will have more money to waste on bilingual spending.

This is how conservatism works today.

Hooray for Canada; Now Please Pass the Remote

Here's my latest Sun media column, in which I examine the current Olympic Games.

I ask, what do they mean for nationalism, what do they mean for sport, but most of all what do they mean for those of us proud of our Couch Potato heritage?

Enjoy the Summer

Here's my latest column from the Women's Post.

I try and look at the bright side of life.

Wheat Board Blues

Some bad news for the Wheat Board monopolists:

Just Some Unrelated Stuff

Here's are some unrelated but interesting items for a lazy summer evening.

* Pierre Lemieux has an excellent column looking at cultural subsidies. Key quote: “Cultural subsidies are not much different than if each subsidized artist was given a revolver and told to collect the money himself.”

* Grassroots opposition to the Liberal Carbon Tax is growing as evidenced by this cool new site.

* Read the sad tale of Babe Dahlgren, a Major Leaguer from the 1930s and 40s whose career was ruined due to rumours that the used a non-performance-enhancing drug.

Madonna and me

Hey, famous rock star Madonna turned 50 today.

I turned 50 earlier this year too.

So it seems we have something else in common besides the fact that we are both sex symbols.

Medal Mania

Thanks goodness Canada is starting to win some medals at the Olympic games.

Maybe this will put an end to the cries that we need to impose some sort of Stalinist-style "Sports Culture" on the public.

Debating Conservatism Round 2 - Me vs Taylor

Last fall I debated former Conservative Party campaign manager Tom Flanagan at a Fraser Institute event on whether or not the Conservatives were heading in the right direction.

I said no, arguing the Conservatives were betraying their ideological roots. And if I do say so myself, I won the contest by a knockout.

And now the Fraser Institute wants me to defend my championship belt against a new challenger -- Stephen "The Blogger" Taylor.

Should be a fun brawl.

The debate is set to take place September 23 in Ottawa, so Taylor will have home field advantage.

Check here for more details.

Dion's Delusions

I have a column in the Sun media chain today asking the question: Are the Liberals suffering from some sort of collective delusional disorder?

And by that I mean, they are acting even more delusional than usual.

Letters for Freedom

One of the great things about attending events like Liberty Fund seminars is that you meet tons of interesting people.

For instance, at a recent seminar I met Don Boudreaux an economics professor who teaches at George Mason and who also runs the Cafe Hayek blog.

Anyway, one of Boudreaux's hobbies is writing letters to the editor. He writes tons of them to papers like the Washington Post and New York Times.

Here's a letter he recently sent to the Times that's sure to raise the ire of both the right and left:

Paul Krugman is confused ("Know-Nothing Politics," August 8).

While I agree that Bush's attack on Iraq was both stupid and immoral, many of the reasons that persons on the left (such as Mr. Krugman) offer against military intervention abroad apply equally to "liberals'" case for government intervention domestically.

Just as many on the right naively fantasize that foreign problems are best solved by force, "liberals" fantasize that domestic problems - real and imaginary - are best solved by force.

Jobs disappearing in Ohio? No problem - force Americans to buy fewer foreign goods.

Too many Americans without health insurance? Force taxpayers to give it to them. The "distribution" of income doesn't satisfy some Very Caring Person's criterion? Government should forcibly redistribute.

A mine collapses in West Virginia? Uncle Sam should force mine-owners to increase safety. See? All very simple.

Unlike Mr. Krugman, I believe that both political parties are the party of the stupid - specifically Republicans are the party of the stupid and the hypocritical and the Democrats are the party of the stupid and the arrogant.


Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux

Why Can't Parents Choose?

Probably the funniest case for school choice ever made:

Media Alert

I will be a guest on the London, Ontario radio program Focus 980 with John Wilson, at approximately 11:15 AM EST.

Topic: federal politics.

Modesty Forbids

Hey check out the Blogging Tory site of the week.

Some Musings

A couple of comments about recent goings on:

* So it turns out John Edwards is a sleazy liar, which is not really all that shocking. What is shocking is that the only one telling the truth is this sordid affair was the National Enquirer.

* Russian troops are invading Georgia. I just hope they don't burn Atlanta.

* The Olympics are underway, which means our sense of national pride will hinge on things like whether or not some muscle-bound guy can throw a lead ball farther than some other muscle-bound guy.

Atlas Memories

Here's the beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake hotel I stayed at a few weeks ago while attending an Atlas Research Foundation conference.

And here's me and Peter Jaworski, the guy behind the Institute for Liberal Studies and the Liberty Summer Seminar.

Here's a "thorn between two roses" shot of me and a couple of charming Atlas ladies.

Poll: Who Should be McCain's VP?

Who should be Republican nominee John McCain's running mate?

Have your say in this really scientific poll.

Who should John McCain select as his vice-presidential running mate?
	Mitt Romney
	Rudy Giuliani
	Hillary Clinton
	Joe Lieberman
	General David Petraeus
	Paris Hilton
pollcode.com free polls

Politicians too Predictable

In my latest Sun media column I both lament and explain the predictability of politicians.

And just to keep the volume of hate mail up, I also take a shot at the CBC.

Rating my blog

I recently received an email to inform me that this blog received an 8.3 score out of 10 in the Society/Government category of Blogged.com.

It seems somebody with too much time on their hands evaluated my blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of updates, relevance of content, site design and writing style.

I also got this nifty badge:



But it's probably just a marketing ploy, so please forget I mentioned it.

Media Alert

I will be a guest tonight on the Michael Coren Show at 8:00 PM EST.

Beware the Vegetables

Here's my latest column for the Women's Post.

This one might be a little controversial because in I argue it's about time we did more to monitor and regulate a dangerous minority in our midst: vegetarians.

Running for this student council thing

Before the school year ended my son was elected to the student council. What you see here is his actual campaign poster.

It's a brilliant piece of political marketing, if I say so myself.

I only hope he gives up this political thing before he gets himself elected Prime Minister.

Send Deserters Packing

My friend Rondi Adamson has an excellent piece in the Christian Science Monitor examining the plight of American War Resisters army deserters here in Canada.

Should these ex-soldiers be allowed to stay or not?

Adamson says no.

Stand up Scandal

Here's an interesting analysis of the Bernier/Couillard affair.