Which Presidential Nominee Has the Most Awesome Supporters?

I think the question has now been answered:

http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/

More Fun With Tasers

My brother offers up a nice post today on the growing threat tasers in the hands of police pose to our civil liberties. I enjoy his idea that we use surveillance against its traditional master, the state. The scary part, however, is that, as has been repeatedly demonstrated, you might get arrested and even charged with a felony if you try to record the police in action. Try to come up with a good justification for that one…

Owning the Ocean

According to The Economist, fishermen in Spain are clamoring for the creation of a marine sanctuary in the middle of their fishing grounds. Their reasoning is that the undisturbed ecosystems in marine sanctuaries support the entire reproductive-cycle of the local marine wildlife. Thus, though the total fishable area shrinks, total catch becomes greater than if the entire area were fished and the catch becomes more sustainable from year to year.

I’m glad that fishermen are accepting that fishing practices have to change. The fundamental problem, however, has never been the fishermen; it has been the prohibition by governments on the recognition of private property rights in the ocean. Without private property rights, fishermen have no ability to preserve the fish for future use; each one can only hope to grab as much of the resource before competitors harvest the resource to exhaustion.

As much as I like the marine sanctuary idea, what about also creating private property rights in fish stocks via individual fishing quotas?  Here is an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article describing IFQs:

The system, which already operates in New Zealand, Iceland and the Philippines, sets a limit on the total allowable catch of any fish (such as the New Zealand orange roughy). Within that total catch, quotas are established, either by auction or by gift to incumbent fishermen. These quotas are tradable among individual fishermen. This offers an escape clause for some fishermen who no longer operate economically. It encourages more successful fishermen to buy fishing rights and exercise their property rights responsibly by fishing within their quota and monitoring others to make sure they do so as well. It also encourages brokers to speed up transactions and even allows environmentalists to enter the market and buy (and retire) quotas if they believe stocks are being overfished.

The success of this system is astonishing. In New Zealand the “value of the fisheries have doubled in recent years,” says Roger Beattie, a fisherman from Christchurch. The value of Icelandic fisheries has also soared, according to studies by Hannes Gissuarson, an Iceland University political science professor. Perhaps more importantly, fishermen in both locations have voluntarily reduced their catch to ensure sufficient stocks to provide a future livelihood. “Because they have the property right to secure future benefit from the resource, they are prepared to wait — to optimize their returns” says Mr. Gissuarson.

IFQs not only reach a good result, but, if done properly, are consistent with the libertarian homesteading principle of property: whoever uses a resource first has title to it.  By recognizing that historical harvesters of a particular fish stock have title to specified amounts of that fish – and permitting a free market in these titles – we will foster a libertarian, prosperity-generating revolution on and in the seas.

An Exceptional Day for Ron Paul

From the AP regarding the donations Ron Paul received yesterday:

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, aided by an extraordinary outpouring of Internet support Monday, hauled in more than $4.2 million in nearly 24 hours.

Paul, the Texas congressman with a libertarian tilt and an out-of-Iraq pitch, entered heady fundraising territory with a surge of Web-based giving tied to the commemoration of Guy Fawkes Day.

…

The $4.2 million represented online contributions from more than 37,000 donors, fundraising director Jonathan Bydlak said Monday night.

Astounding. The other candidates could only dream of such grass-roots support. To put this $4.2 million in perspective, Paul (I’m only speculating here, based on figures from the end of last fundraising quarter) could have as much or more cash on hand as Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson. And forget about John McCain and the other second-tier candidates – Paul just left them in the dust.

The next big Ron Paul moneybombs look to be scheduled for November 11 (Veterans Day) and December 16 (Boston Tea Party). The Veterans Day moneybomb will probably suffer from being so close to Guy Fawkes Day, but I suspect the Boston Tea Party moneybomb will be the biggest of all – the amount of momentum that Paul will have as he sweeps into the primaries is going to be awesome.

When will the MSM start recognizing Paul as the first-tier candidate that he is? Only time will tell.

Ron Paul’s Jay Leno Appearance = 8.05 Republican Primary Debates

In my opinion, the biggest obstacle to Ron Paul’s nomination in the Republican primary is his lack of voter awareness. Paul has made some headway in this category through his participation in the Republican debates, but these debates are essentially beauty contests for MSM-approved candidates (of whose number Paul cannot be counted). This week, however, Paul appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. In two months, we may be looking back at this appearance as a true turning point in Paul’s campaign.

First, Paul got more meaningful face time on national TV than ever before. Paul had about six solid minutes on Leno (if we don’t count the time where Leno is talking or the audience is clapping). To put this into perspective, Paul had more time to talk on Leno than he did at at least one of the recent Republican debates.

Second, Paul was exposed to more viewers than in the debates. According to Wikipedia, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has a nightly average of 5.7 million viewers. Compare this to the number of viewers for the primary debates, which, according to the Washington Post, has ranged in 2007 from a high of almost 2.9 million viewers down to just over 1.0 million viewers. Paul reached two to five times more viewers on Leno than he did in any of the debates thus far.

Third, Paul truly hit his stride in terms of marrying genuineness with polish and principle with charisma. Though he has done well thus far in the debates, in my opinion he has never been better. It didn’t hurt that, unlike debate moderators, Leno was respectful and asked meaningful questions.

So, to sum it all up, on Jay Leno, as compared to previous debates: Paul had as much time to speak; Paul reached an estimated 2 to 5 (say, 3.5) times as many viewers; and the quality of Paul’s time was (in my sober judgment) 2.3 times higher. Based on my unassailable assumptions and logic, Paul’s Jay Leno appearance was worth approximately 8.05 primary debates. In other words, Paul got more value out of one appearance on nighttime TV than in all of the televised debates thus far put together!

Ron Paul on Jay Leno

In case you missed Ron Paul’s terrific appearance last night on Jay Leno, here you go:

Don’t Forget!

Ron Paul will be on Jay Leno tonight.  I wish I had cable…

I’m Relieved

Remember how, a few weeks back at a John Kerry speech, police tasered a University of Florida student for being annoying? Well, the government announced today that it investigated itself and has cleared itself of all charges. Thank goodness that’s taken care of!

My favorite quote from the article: “‘They should have beat him with some batons while they were at it,’ Kaster [a UF student and religion major] said.”

So, according to Kaster, it’s okay not only to taser obnoxious people, but also to beat the hell out of them with sticks. I am curious whether she would change her opinion if she were to get a taste of her own medicine.

The Most Powerful, Renewable Resource in the World: Self-Interest

When it comes to global poverty, everyone is self-interested: rich people want to help poor people (or at least feel like they are), poor people want to stop being poor, and politicians want to appear munificent by spending everybody else’s money.

On the subject of global poverty, BBC News informs us today that:

Ebay, the world’s largest online auctioneer, has launched a website that allows people to invest in loans that lift people out of poverty.

The website, called MicroPlace, acts as a broker between ordinary investors and microfinance organisations.

For as little as $100, US investors will be able to help entrepreneurs in poor countries, be they coffee sellers in Cambodia or hairdressers in Ghana.

The investments last between two and four years and offer a small return.

The MicroPlace website contains this little gem: “Microfinance has emerged as an effective poverty alleviation tool because it is based on the fundamental principle that human beings are motivated to do whatever it takes to make themselves as well off as possible.”

Kudos to the folks at Microplace! They accept the fact that sustainable solutions to societal ills require us to harness human nature (i.e., self-interest), not work against it.

I’m about to invest $100 in Tanzania – I’ll let you know how it goes.

Oh, Hillary, You Make Me Laugh

Hillary Clinton says she “would launch a policy review as president with an eye towards giving up some of the executive powers accumulated by George Bush.” Riiiiight!