Liam O'Brien Blogs on the Windsor Liberty Seminar

Liam at the Responsible Government League has added his name to those blogging about the Windsor Liberty Seminar. While Liam himself won't be at the seminar (I live in Newfoundland, it's too far, blah, blah, blah) we'll try to make him proud with a couple topics (education and healthcare) rooted in the concepts of free markets and competition.

Gerry Nicholls Blogs on the Windsor Liberty Seminar

Gerry Nicholls, Vice-President of the National Citizens Coalition, has this to say about the Windsor Liberty Seminar:

"a wonderful event that helps to promote my favourite cause: individual freedom."

You can read the full post here.

Windsor Liberty Seminar 2007

It's that time of year again. Time to seek shelter from the cold of winter and oppressive government regulation by basking in the warming glow of liberty in Canada's most southerly city!

The 2007 Windsor Liberty Seminar (our second annual) will be held on Saturday, March 24 at the University of Windsor. Speakers will include Brett Skinner of the Fraser Institute, Malkin Dare of the Society for Quality Eduction, Jim Watkin of LEAP and a super-secret yet to be announced presenter.

And what, you may ask, is the cost of this priceless opportunity? Well, if you're a student it really is priceless and the entire day (including lunch) will run you a cool $0. Not a student? Not a problem! We still want to see you there and ask only for a mere $10 to cover the cost of lunch.

To check out the agenda, speaker bios, pictures of last year's event and to register just drop by the Institute for Liberal Studies website.

Dear Lost

To the Producers of Lost:

You owe me one hour of my life. Since you're obviously not spending much time on your television show I expect to receive the aforementioned compensation post-haste.

Sincerely,

Matt

The Problem with Rail

I pretty frequently hear arguements that we need to make greater use of railways for our transportation needs. The arguements usually sound pretty reasonable - greater efficiency, less polution, and so on. At the end of the day I don't support government intervention in how people and companies move their goods from Point A to Point B, but today's Globe and Mail provides a good example of why so many companies choose to move their goods by road.

Free Kareem

As some of you may or may not know an Egyptian blogger who goes by the name of Kareem Amer is currently in custody in Egypt, awaiting a decision on whether he will serve up to 11 years in prison for criticism the government on his blog.

The decision will be handed down on February 22nd and while many bloggers and some politicians have asked Egypt to take a stand for free speech I think it's time that Canada spoke up on this important issue.

I've created this online petition with the goal of getting 1,000 signatures by midnight on Sunday in the hope that it will encourage the Canadian government to ask Egypt to make the right call on this one.

So sign the petition and tell a friend!

Ooops!

During my seasonal check on my Cogeco email account I came across something other than the usual newsletters from Airmiles and the Liberal Party of Ontario (both contain about the same amount of useful information) - an email forwarded by Cogeco from BayTSP Inc., acting on behalf of Paramount Pictures Corporation. Apparently in the process of conducting the necessary research for my blog on An Incovenient Truth I got on the wrong side of a few international copyright laws. I would like to make the following statements:

Note to Paramount Pictures Corporation: Please accept my sincere apologies, since I'm pretty sure you hold the edge in the legal department (Lawyers retained by Paramount: >1, Lawyers Retained by Me: <1) I will endeavour to be more respectful of your intellectual property.

Note to Al Gore: Apologies to you as well. I should, however, point out the considerable irony given the outrage that followed after you were not allowed to show people this movie for free. But I'm taking the high road and won't even point out that you seem to be hoisted by your own petard.

Note to S.C. (co-worker who insisted I watch the aforementioned movie): This is entirely your fault.

Just Say No To Income Splitting

Today's Globe and Mail gives us the good news the Finance Minister Jim Flaherty (the best premier Ontario never had) is holding the line on tax relief, unfortunately it appears the proposal to cut taxes only for married couples is still on the table.

Fortunately Jim is a veteran of the Common Sense Revolution and knows that while broad-based tax relief leads to two majority governments the path to targeted tax cuts is paved with 25 seats (remember mortgage tax deductibility?).

Give'er Jim!

The Threat of Global Cooling

"It is a cold fact: the Global Cooling presents humankind with the most important social, political, and adaptive challenge we have had to deal with for ten thousand years. Your stake in the decisions we make concerning it is of ultimate importance; the survival of ourselves, our children, our species," wrote Lowell Ponte in 1976...

...quotes Dr. Tim Ball as he takes the unpopular side in the climate change debate (slogan: dissenters will be shot). Worth a read, whatever your views on the latest environmental crisis.

Fighting for the People

Windsor city councillor Alan Halberstadt takes a lot of heat in some quarters for consistently standing up against the status quo, and the way the status quo likes to spend I say that's a good thing. Full disclosure, I was Alan's campaign manager in last fall's election, so it's no surprise that I like him, but it's good to see the Windsor Star's Roseann Danese standing up for Alan in her February 2nd blog.

Alan does sometimes take stances that make him unpopular with his fellow councillors, but even his fiercest critics will admit that he plays an important role on council. Spending cuts are always controversial, but all too often projects which boost spending are universally lauded.

Now it's obvious that the government needs to spend money, but shouldn't we scruitinize new and increased spending in the same way we look at cuts. After all, every dollar in tax revenue means less money for the taxpayers.

Keep up the good work Alan!