http://pacificempire.org.nz Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:13:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This is a cross-post from a thread about heroism at SOLO Passion (Sense of Life Objectivism), an Objectivist forum. I do not identify myself as an Objectivist, merely a libertarian who found Atlas Shrugged inspiring. I think there are at least two kinds of heroes promoted here: Heroes of ... http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/09/06/heroes/ I've been told so many times that freedom is just a fantasy, that you can't live that way in the real world, that there are too many commitments that have to be met, that in real life things are much too complicated to be able to do what you want ... http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/08/28/you-can-decide-to-be-free/ Warning: If you are a Greens supporter, you probably shouldn't watch this. You should probably try to ban it. Look to the Libertarianz for a party which doesn't want to ban everything they don't like, or make everything they do like compulsory. http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/08/24/ban-it/ ACT has released their party list. I am pleased to see some familiar faces on the list, including Nick Kearney, Clint Heine and Peter McCaffrey. I was disappointed to see Lindsay Mitchell missing from the list, unless she is mystery Number 5 candidate ("yet to be announced"). A Lyn Murphy is ... http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/08/20/act-candidate-questions/ Libertarianz spokesman Luke Howison congratulated Steve Crow today for his triumph over the fascism of the Auckland City Council. "Well done Steve! You have successfully taken on the closed-minded authoritarian bureaucrats of the Auckland City Council - and won!" "Only the most politically correct 'liberals' like Cathy "not-in-my-backyard" Casey and ... http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/08/19/good-on-ya-steve/ Russian war correspondent Arkady Babchenko presents these amazing images of the war in Ossetia as he travels with Russian soldiers to Gori (hat tip Coming Anarchy). Warning: the photographs on the linked site contain many graphic images of corpses. The photographer did not get too close to the actual fighting, but he ... http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/08/15/war-in-ossettia/ Everyone is getting excited about the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony containing "faked" bits.Well, who remembers the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when the Olympic flame was lit by a flaming arrow? In this video you can see that the arrow flew far over the cauldron which was supposed ... http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/08/13/olympic-fakery/ It seems like my previous post on the graffiti and rubbish at Linden Station was read by someone important - the graffiti has been painted over on the walls and seats. Previously: Now: http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/07/31/public-transport-sucks-slightly-less-than-before/ It's a boring overcast day here at the Pacific Empire pad. I recently got a digital camera and tripod, so I thought I'd walk you around the flat and we'll see what we can see ... http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/07/27/whats-new-at-pacific-empire-photo-post/ Reason Number 31: Unpleasant train stations. Well done New Zealand, you are now the proud owners of the Linden train station. They can't even spell swear words right? http://pacificempire.org.nz/2008/07/21/public-transport-sucks-31/