by Runaway Slave | May 26, 2005 | Essays & Articles, History, Law, Libertarian Curmudgeon, Liberty
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause to be killed as many as would not worship the image of the beast. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a...
by Runaway Slave | Apr 10, 2005 | Essays & Articles, History, Libertarian Curmudgeon, Politics
Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tunes without the words And never stops at all… — Emily Dickenson Government officials have had people killed, for purposes good, bad and indifferent, for as long as there have been...
by Runaway Slave | Jan 12, 2005 | Essays & Articles, History, Libertarian Curmudgeon, Politics, Ponzi, Social Security
The pyramid scheme is the most enduring of thousands of tricks, buncos, fiddles and stings that con artists throughout history have used to relieve suckers of their cash. The two undisputed masters of the pyramid scheme are Charles Ponzi and Franklin D. Roosevelt. For...
by Runaway Slave | Dec 23, 2004 | Essays & Articles, History, Holidays, Human Interest, Libertarian Curmudgeon
Last week I was invited to a "Saturnalia." I had to look it up. Webster says "saturnalia" is a synonym for "orgy," which seems wildly optimistic for any soiree at which an overweight, bald geezer like me would be welcome. Either my invite...
by Runaway Slave | Nov 22, 2004 | Essays & Articles, History, Identification, Law, Libertarian Curmudgeon, Liberty
Turkey is a word plump with paradox for Americans. A turkey can be the culinary focus at a grateful celebration or a luckless loser. Turkey is an ambiguous word that draws powerful positive and negative images. Its origin is no less ambiguous, stemming from either the...
by Runaway Slave | Nov 1, 2004 | Essays & Articles, History, Human Interest, Libertarian Curmudgeon, Rotary
As I stomp around in the puddles of metaphor I occasionally splash mud on an innocent bystander. In my last column I damned “W” with faint praise, likening him to a small town Rotarian. I recommended Mr. Bush as the preferable choice between a hydrophobic Rin Tin Tin...
by Runaway Slave | Aug 3, 2004 | Essays & Articles, Freemarket, History, Human Interest, Libertarian Curmudgeon
Many of my schoolboy days I spent in the thrall of NASA’s first heady leaps into space. Classes were interrupted so the whole school could watch the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo launches on TV. My classmates and I would cheer encouragement, repeating “go… go… go…”...
by Runaway Slave | Jul 15, 2004 | Essays & Articles, Guns & Gun Control, History, Libertarian Curmudgeon, Rights
Beneath the rule of men entirely great, The pen is mightier than the sword. ― Edward Bulwer-Lytton Most people have never seen Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s famous quote in its entirety. Until I looked it up, I never knew he had qualified the famous second line with a...
