Day: April 16, 2002

Public health, private idiocy

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

So a Portland gun group is offering free gun training classes to abused women, but so-called public health experts think armed self-defense is short-sighted.

“Like it or not, a firearm is the great equalizer,” said the founder of the gun group. “A 90-pound woman can defend herself against a 300-pound (man).” But:

“From a public health perspective, that’s certainly not the message I would want to send,” said Nancy Glass, a professor in the School of Nursing at Oregon Health & Science University who has researched intimate partner homicide. “In my view, arming people is a very short-sighted response to a public health crisis.”

If my abusive ex-husband or ex-boyfriend has threatened to kill me and the only protection I have is a judge’s restraining order, somehow, I don’t think a long-term response to the public health crisis is not going to help me sleep at night. Anyway, this is not a “public health crisis,” it’s a crime problem. To blithely say that teaching women how to defend themselves is not useful is a remarkably obtuse attitude to the situation. There may be deep societal reasons for intimate partner homicide, but in the meantime, women want — and have a right — to defend themselves. And for many women, the best way to do that is to learn how to use firearms.

Is Ed Thompson for real?

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

Tommy Thompson’s little brother, Ed, is running for governor of Wisconsin and is polling at 7 percent among registered voters. At first I thought that this was just another gimmick like so many other LP campaigns. Obviously trading on his brother’s celebrity –Tommy was governor of Wisconsin and is now Secretary of Health and Human Services — and the mayor of a small town called Tomah, Thompson couldn’t seriously have a chance to make a dent.

But apparently his down-to-earth style to the cheeseheads.

It’s a long time until November, though, and as the race tigtens between the major-party contenders, votes will be siphoned away from Thompson. Also, voters traditionally don’t seriously consider their votes until a month or two before the election.

So while the numbers are encouraging — it’s better to be to have a chance to lose 7 percent than not ever get close to it — only time will tell whether Thompson’s folksy approach will win over a significant number of voters who probably don’t really agree with the libertarian program as such.

Looking at Thompson’s issues page, I’ve got to give him credit for framing issues imaginatively. I highly doubt Thompson will pull off a Ventura-like win, as he hopes. But wouldn’t it be great if he pulled off 10 percent in the final tally and, even better, if the major-party candidates had to address libertarian issues in an attempt to win over voters leaning toward Thompson and the LP?

Rimensnyder bottoms out

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

In a misguided attempt to come up with something unique to say about Penthouse’s going out of business, Reason’s Sara Rimensnyder floats a silly hypothesis.

The conventional wisdom is that Penthouse can’t compete with more explicit fare available anonymously available on the Internet, and I’ve added that softcore magazines like Penthouse and Playboy are also getting squeezed by the wave of “lad” magazines such as Maxim, FHM and Stuff, which offer better writing and scantily clad celebrities.

Rimensnyder writes, “It’s possible that Penthouse’s readership has gravitated toward more violent fare now that it’s readily available. But if that’s the case, why has the comparatively tame Playboy consistently outsold the smuttier Hustler?”

The question is not how Playboy is doing relative to Hustler but how it is doing relative to what it used to make when it was the only game in town. The same holds true for Penthouse. As I wrote before, Playboy is still losing millions online while amateur outfits that make a nice living for themselves appealing to adult market niches.

Rimensnyder continues:

Surely mainstream attitudes about sex are governed by more than fear of being caught with raunch. Could it be that mainstream man’s high regard and respect for woman governs his taste (and, sometimes, distaste) for porn? That would be news to both Penthouse’s founder and one of its foremost critics.

Could it be that by framing her opinion in the form of a question that Rimensnyder avoids the risk of actually stating what she believes? That would be news to me.

There’s no evidence at all that overall trends in the adult market are turning toward softer material. Indeed, the success of the “lad” magazines depends in large degree to the easy availability of porn on the Internet. That is where people go to see the hard stuff, and the Maxim subscription is for ogling sitcom starlets.

Does this mean Mike Tyson can fight there now?

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

The Onion reports that Nevada is phasing out laws altogether. To wit:

“Critics always argued that if we allowed gambling and prostitution, it was just a short leap to lawlessness,” said Senate Majority Leader William Raggio (R-Washoe), flanked by a pair of armed strippers. “It didn’t sink in for a while, but we eventually just sort of looked at each other and said, ‘Why not?’ Without laws, Nevada could offer a whole range of entertainment and lifestyle options never before imagined.”

As usual with The Onion, this story is more than just a joke, but jabs those critics who always argue that decriminalizing victimless crimes like gambling and prostitution will lead to complete lawlessness and chaos. But then it turns right around and mocks the idea that people can be relied on to be decent without any sort of legal framework:

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for 20 years,” said Reno blackjack dealer Dale Everson, polishing his new machete while enjoying a lapdance. “Pretty soon, I won’t have to worry about speeding tickets or emissions tests. Only the common sense and inherent decency of the people of Nevada will govern this state. That’ll be more than enough for me.”

Looks like The Onion has struck a happy limited-government medium.

More Middle East

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

OK, I know I’ve covered this topic a lot already, but that’s what’s in the news. Here’s another good column by Rep. Ron Paul, “America’s entangling alliances in the Middle East.” A highlight:

Political pressure compels us to support Israel, but it is oil that prompts us to guarantee security for the western puppet governments of the oil-rich Arab nations. Since the Israeli-Arab fight will not soon be resolved, our policy of involving ourselves in a conflict unrelated to our security guarantees that we will suffer the consequences.

Paul is a little bit more pro-Palestinian than I’d like, but he still is one of the few people in Congress willing to speak out against U.S. involvement in the Middle East.