by Matt Barr

Carnival of Liberty 47

Welcome to New World Man and the Greatest Spectacle in Liberty Blogging! The 47th Carnival of Liberty is organized like the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race -- its official name -- held each Sunday before Memorial Day. (Did you know that in 1919, the first race after the Great War, the race was called The Liberty Sweepstakes?) With luck, this week's CoL is half as exciting as Sunday's Indy 500. Read to the end to discover our editor's choice post drinking milk in the winner's circle!

Last Row Party

Each Friday before race day, a charity event called the Last Row Party is held to roast the three race qualifiers in the 11th and final row. Fans share some fun at the drivers' expense, but more importantly celebrate their resilience and skill. Every driver who qualifies has proven him or herself among the very best in their profession.

So our pre-race Last Row Party includes humor, absurdity and a good cause. Satire at the expense of anti-development progressives: Don't Condemn Earthquake! at Morgnet. A cynical laugh at the expense of bureaucrats in Canada who decided a group of Canadian actors, with a Canadian crew, using a Canadian script, and Canadian producer/director doesn't qualify as Canadian enough: The mystery of "Canadian Content" rules at Quotulatiousness. Finally, LLP community member Part Time Pundit re-inaugurates Wictory Wednesdays to rally support for small-government candidates.

An international field

In the last 15 years international drivers have increased the level of competition and the quality of the racing at the Indy 500. Still, as many in the immigration debate would point out, international drivers have to follow the same rules as Americans, and far from agitating for special treatment, those drivers who master the American rules and traditions have the best chance to succeed here.

Et Tu Bloge notes that mastery of English improves the odds of success for immigrants, and argues in Biggest Step Is Mastery Of English that "providing people the easy way out to avoid learning it, will deny those people access to the good life."

Carb Day

Carb Day used to be called Carburetion Day and didn't sound so much like a diet promotion. It's the first day qualifiers can practice in race day trim, which used to involve adjustment to qualifying cars' carburetors. (Carburetors haven't actually been used at the 500 since 1963.) It's a dress rehearsal, you might say, like a thorough, more abstract essay on liberty-centric topics puts your brain through its paces.

We have three such: Rights and Cosmic Justice at The Liberty Corner, The Nature of Self Interest from OK So I'm Not Really a Cowboy, and A Market Anarchist on: what is exploitation? part 1 from The Radical Libertarian. All are worth a close read, and none are for skimming. Similarly, we also have a detailed review of "The Question of German Guilt" by Karl Jaspers at The Picket Line. What is the distinction between political and moral guilt?

Souvenir truck

Commerce is important to liberty and merchandising is important to Indycar racing. Merchandise with the likeness of the circuit's most, um, visible driver, Danica Patrick, outsells other drivers' by 10 to one, and a souvenir truck dedicated to her stuff is parked outside Indycar events in which she competes. Which gives us an excuse to include a picture of her to the right.

On the economic front, Searchlight Crusade explains Why I Will Never Do Business With Dell Again. Read it and learn an important lesson not only about customer service but protecting your financial privacy. Tom Hanna at Tom Rants asks, Why Not Mess With Markets? And answers with reference to the booming economy.

Gasoline Alley

The garage area housing the cars at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is nicknamed Gasoline Alley, possibly after the newspaper cartoon of the same name that began publication in 1919. It's also a probably politically incorrect way to introduce this week's post about the Middle East: Mike at The London Fog discusses a Toronto Star editor who's making noise about a libel suit against a blog in An Islamofascist Man Of Letters Writes.

Balloon release

A race day tradition is the balloon release at the conclusion of Jim Nabors' rendition of "Back Home Again in Indiana" accompanied by the Purdue Marching Band. Balloons? Politics! Are Politics Getting Nasty? Brad Warbiany at The Liberty Papers takes a closer look at that little bit of conventional wisdom.

"Gentlemen, Start Your Engines"

Four of the most famous words in sports. Sometimes, like when Danica Patrick (pictured) qualifies, it's "Lady and gentlemen..." You may know they've started a brand new country called Montenegro. Two different perspectives: Meet The Newest Country... and a Virtual One at The People's Republic of Seabrook. Then consider the geopolitical implications (and danger of the rise of another radical Muslim state -- independent Kosovo) with Mensa Barbie's Kosovo's Independence: Danger to Europe.

Yellow flag

The yellow, or caution, flag during the race means hazardous conditions on the track, and cars must slow immediately, maintain position and yield to track safety vehicles until the green flag is displayed. Ogre at Ogre's Politics and Views warns about the danger to democracy in Gerrymandering in North Carolina. And at Principled Discovery, Dana warns that the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child could impact the practice of homeschooling in CRC: The End of Homeschooling? (Or Worse?).

Passing flag

During a race the passing flag, blue with a diagonal yellow stripe, signals slower cars to yield to faster traffic. Nanny states and today's abortive egalitarian utopias don't have a passing flag -- they warn the faster traffic to slow down to the speed of the slower. How's that for a metaphor! In the individual rights department, Lisa at The London Fog writes about personal responsibility in Smokers must die - if they are still alive that is. At Hell's Handmaiden, read the thoughtful, thorough Gay marriage is the end of marriage ("Or so some folks would like us to believe," the post begins).

Black flag

A black flag directs a driver to proceed to the pits on the next lap and to follow the instructions of race officials. Do that to a Congressperson, and Denny Hastert would say it's unconstitutional! So-called Congressional immunity is a hot topic this week. The Cranky Insomniac presents Dr. Strangelaw or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hate the Congress. Void Where Prohibited says The Revolution is Betrayed -- the American one. And your host has a two-parter, the second of which brings a more abstract discussion into current events: Please read Who Do You Trust With Your Constitution? and Bogus Constitutional Arguments.

Milk

A driver (example pictured at right) who wins the Indianapolis 500 traditionally drinks milk in the winner's circle. In our winner's circle is our editor's choice for this carnival: Desperately Seeking Serfs at Deep QT looks at the ongoing fight over eminent domain abuse and "economic revitalization" in New London, Conn. nearly a year after the Supreme Court's infamous Kelo decision.

In early May of 2006, almost a year after the Supreme Court decision, the Connecticut legislature adjourned. No eminent domain reform legislation had been passed. A consensus as to what such reform might entail had proved impossible. However, both Democrats and Republicans did agree on what they typically agree on: the need for a new government position. In this case, an eminent domain ombudsman (taxpayer price tag $200,000) within the Office of Policy and Management. The ombudsman would mediate eminent domain disputes between property owners and municipalities, and advise each on their rights.

Read the whole thing to see how much "mediating" is actually going on, the sweet deal the ombudsman has on the table for the homeowners to jump at (hint: it's what the "serfs" part of the post title refers to) and how the fate of the holdout Fort Trumbull homeowners may impact Connecticut politics in an election year.

Next week's Carnival of Liberty is being hosted at OK I'm Not Really a Cowboy. Visit Below the Beltway for an updated hosting schedule. Finally, bookmark the Life, Liberty and Property Community page to keep up with the Internet's best liberty blogging. Thanks for visiting!

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