Medary.com

Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey comments on the "freedom movement," in a story posted at the Ludwig von Mises Institute:

"The freedom movement remains a small, relatively unimportant movement in the United States today," he writes. "As a businessman who knows something about marketing and branding, I can tell you the freedom movement is branding itself very poorly."

By incorrect branding, Mackey means that too much emphasis about individual freedom has been focused on side issues, such as the legalization of drugs, and not enough on the big picture. Instead, he maintains, if it's to have any chance of having a mass appeal, the freedom movement will have to consciously create a broad and inspiring vision, an idealism that addresses the direct correlation between economic freedom and societal progress.

The freedom movement, libertarians, and free market economists, he writes, have done a poor job of defending the social legitimacy of business, economic freedom, capitalism, individualism and free markets. The message should be that business, working through free markets, has arguably been the world's greatest force for human progress and our collective well-being, delivering increased prosperity, less poverty, extended longevity and democratic freedoms.

I've wondered about this for a long time.  How can freedom and liberty, two bedrock foundations of our country and fundamental principles of classical liberal Western civilization, be so horribly, completely misunderstood by so many people for such a long time?  How does a dangerous concept like "fairness" come to be more respected than "liberty?"

Hat tip:  FreeRepublic.

Here's a letter we wrote to Mark Conroy, President of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, about our recent Hawaii-Tahiti cruise:

June 11, 2006

Mr. Mark Conroy
President, Regent Seven Seas Cruises
1000 Corporate Drive, Suite 500
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33334

Dear Mr. Conroy:

We are writing to comment on the wonderful cruise we experienced on your April 18-May 14 Hawaii-Tahiti cruise aboard the Seven Seas Mariner. As you may recall, our previous experience with your company, aboard the Seven Seas Voyager in December, was unfortunate. Our experience this time aboard the Mariner more than made up for the Voyager experience.

We have documented our Mariner voyage extensively on our web site, which you can find at http://www.medary.com/article.php/Mariner-Hawaii-Tahiti-2006. The cruise was, in short, everything we expect from a six-star luxury cruise, and we hope that our cruise journal posted online reflects that.

There were so many Regent crew and staff who made our trip remarkable, that it’s difficult to know where to start. Our suite stewardess, Evi, was very attentive and enthusiastic, and was a delight from the beginning of the voyage to the very end. She left Regent at the end of the cruise to go back home to Indonesia since her contract was up. During our voyage, she had expressed interest in coming back for another contract with Regent, although in our discussions with both Evi and with Hotel Manager Giuseppe Ginanneschi, we learned that she received a “DNR” due to her housekeeping performance. I would hope that, should she ever wish to return to Regent, that your company could find a place for such an energetic and bubbly personality as Evi, perhaps in a different customer-facing role.

The ship’s crew, under the leadership of Captain Guillou, was exceptional, friendly and helpful, and going about the business of maintaining and running the Mariner with unobtrusive competence. Captain Guillou himself was every bit as personable as we had been told before we sailed. We look forward to many more cruises on the Mariner because of the talents of the ship’s crew. We also enjoyed the fact that it seemed like everyone knew our names and greeted us frequently.

The wait-staff in the restaurants and lounges were uniformly excellent—so much so that it is very difficult to single anyone out. Arnel in the Compass Rose Restaurant was maybe the best waiter we encountered. We had him as a waiter once, early in the cruise, and not again until two weeks later, but he still remembered such details as my wife’s preference for ice water with lemon and a straw. Marinela, a sommelier in Compass Rose, was also excellent. The service was outstanding in every Mariner venue. This is a credit to the very attentive head waiters and maitre d’s, and restaurant managers under the leadership of Hotel Director Ginanneschi and Dining Room Manager Gary Roberts. Mark Stanton in La Veranda was particularly good, and we were sorry to hear that this was his last cruise as he was retiring. We enjoyed our dinner with Ivar Drageseth, and found Chef Cornel Ruhland’s tour of the galley particularly fascinating. Having canapés delivered to our suite every afternoon was also an unexpected surprise.

(One note—we had asked for the recipe for an excellent Indian carrot pudding, gajjar ka halwa, but we instead received a recipe for “traditional” carrot cake. We would still love to have that gajjar ka halwa recipe but didn’t receive it by the time we disembarked.)

We found the entertainment organized by Barry Hopkins and his staff to be very entertaining, amusing, and informative. Entertainers Mark Haslam and Rodi Alexander were particularly good. We had an opportunity to chat with Ms. Alexander at length one morning and found her to be as personable off the stage as she was talented on-stage.

Please pass along our appreciation to all of the crew and staff of the Mariner and to all the Regent employees who made our Hawaii-Tahiti cruise so memorable. We enjoyed this cruise so much that we did something we have never done before: we booked another cruise while on the Mariner for next year. We will be traveling with my wife's parents on the Panama Canal transit beginning April 27, 2007, and we all look forward to experiencing the exceptional service we received on the Mariner.

Sincerely, etc.

cc: Mr. Gair O’Neill, Manager of Guest Relations

Good news for those drinking way, way, way too much beer to stave off cancer!

CNN reports that coffee limits liver damage from too much alcohol.

"Coffee is a complex substance with many potentially biologically active ingredients," the study said. "The fact that coffee is also frequently taken with added cream, milk, sugar or other substances adds more possibilities for health effects."

Other studies with similar findings have led to speculation that caffeine could play a role. However, the protective effect was not found among tea drinkers, though the authors said they were not nearly as numerous in the study as coffee users.

The Kansas City Star has an article reporting that a subdivision planned in Kansas City suburb of Lenexa, Kansas will as a part of its homeowner's agreement ban sex offenders from living in the neighborhood:

In August, construction will begin on the Kansas City area's first sex-offender-restricted subdivision, probably only the second such development nationwide.

"Certainly, there are things you can do to improve a neighborhood, like pour better streets or build a park. But this is more," Texas-based developer Clayton Isom said. "We can keep one little girl or boy safe."

This is one of those issues where I'm a bit torn.  Mostly I think that people should be free to enter whatever agreements they want with each other--even neighborhood covenants.  On the other hand, even sex offenders have to live somewhere (or do they?  he asked, chuckling evilly). 

On the third hand, it seems to me that good old back-alley whuppins by the men-folk of the victim upon the offender would control sex offenders much more decisively and completely than our law enforcement system.  Perhaps that should be legalized as a part of the punishment meted out by judges to child molesters:

"I sentence you to be beaten within an inch of your very life by your victim's dad, the victim's uncles Joe, Ken, and Michael, her two brothers Victor and Ivan, and her grand-dad Pops, and after that, should you survive, then spend ten years in the State Pen taking it up the wazoo from Big Bubba the Cellblock Boss.  Oh, by the way, any relative of the victim shall also, for the rest of your natural life after your sentence is served, be allowed by Law to beat the holy bejeezus out of you if they ever, EVER lay eyes on you again. Bailiff, take the convict out back to the alley."

Gateway Pundit continues to be all over the goings-on in Iran with this post documenting the beating of Iranian Women Protesters.

The Iranian mullahs are not nice people, folks.  Do you really want them to have nukes?

In my new quest to find libertarian/center right bloggers in the greater Kansas City area, I've come across Lone Pony.  Here, she has a personal moment and decides to move forward rather than live trapped in the past:

I used to blame things on my husband:

I'm ANGRY because you went drinking and drove home and ended up in the front yard on top of that beautiful rose bush I planted. What I should have felt was disgust and pity. (Someone called me out today and made me look at myself and feel ashamed. Let's make you mad and see if you do anything about it. I feel like fighting with someone smaller than me, so that I can whip them and feel like a big man again.)

I'm INSECURE because you like trashy women. Is that the kind of woman I am??? You picked me, you picked her...am I like THAT??? (Hell no!)
. . .
I act like a BRAINLESS IDIOT because I've accepted your lies without confronting you. (It didn't take you long to train me. No wonder you don't respect me.)

Well...*censored* YOU. And shame on me. I picked you and I stuck around when you treated me badly.

I don't want to be a lonely, angry, insecure, fearful, shameful, brainless idiot.

Good for you, Lone Pony.  Do what you know is right, and do it with optimism and good cheer and without fear.  If only more people learned what you say here, the world would be a much better place:

My friends should be those who make me feel proud of who I am.

They should be the people who make it easier for me to be the person I want to be.

I used to blame things on other people. I used to think the way I felt was because of other people. But, didn't I make those choices myself? Didn't I choose to be with that person? Therefore, shouldn't I take the responsibility for my feelings and my actions?

Once again, bravo, Lone Pony!

(Irritatingly, my fingers persist in wanting to type 'pony' as 'poney.'  Grr.)

Hat tip:  The Chatterbox Chronicles.

Previously reported here, beer fights cancer. Now we learn (according to BBC News):

Italian researchers say eating pizza could protect against cancer.

Researchers claim eating pizza regularly reduced the risk of developing oesophageal cancer by 59%.

The risk of developing colon cancer also fell by 26% and mouth cancer by 34%, they claimed.

The secret could be lycopene, an antioxidant chemical in tomatoes, which is thought to offer some protection against cancer, and which gives the fruit its traditional red colour.

Who knew that all those late nights in college were so healthy?

Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt.

National Review Online via FreeRepublic:

Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has informed top White House adviser Karl Rove that Rove will not face indictment in the CIA-leak investigation, National Review Online has learned. The word came yesterday, when Fitzgerald told Rove lawyer Robert Luskin that he, Fitzgerald, did not plan to seek charges against Rove. This morning, Luskin released a brief statement:   

    On June 12, 2006, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove.

    In deference to the pending case, we will not make any further public statements about the subject matter of the investigation. We believe that the Special Counsel’s decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove’s conduct.

I'm not sure how to put this but:  so sorry, Loony Left.  You may now return to your regularly scheduled fever dream.  Halliburton!

I was wondering when this was going to happen.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - President Bush is meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki face to face on Tuesday after making a surprise visit to Iraq to bolster the newly-formed government and discuss the next steps in trying to shore up Iraqi security after three years of war.

I was sitting around this afternoon, doing what I usually do (surf the Web), and I stumble across Tony's Kansas City blog (nice King Frog picture, by the way, Tony). He's apparently a nexus blogger (i.e. a blogger that lots of other local Kansas City-area bloggers know and link to). I had a thought: where are the libertarian/center-right Kansas City bloggers? There must be one or two other than yours truly here at Medary.com.

So, now having a mission, I commence to searching. The search started by going through the blogroll at kcbloggers.com. Holy moley, there are a lot of "alternative" bloggers. After running through about twenty of them, I grow weary and head off to Technorati.

At Technorati, I enter something like "kansas city blogs" and hurray! I find a KC-area blogger who describes herself as politically somewhere between Ann Coulter and Peggy Noonan. Since the mere mention of Ann Coulter causes severe distress to my favorite mother-in-law, this amuses me greatly. Therefore, I'll be adding The Chatterbox Chronicles to my blogroll and probably to my Bloglines feed.

But the quest continues! If you're a blogger in the greater Kansas City area (i.e. states of Kansas and Missouri, or ties to the KC metro area) with a center/libertarian/moderate right political stance (your blog doesn't have to be primarily political, by the way) drop me a trackback here, sign up here and post your blog URL in the comments to this post, or e-mail to phil - at - haskett - dot - org. No Kos Kidz/"netroots" types, please.

Meanwhile, I am, therefore I surf . . .

This one's worth trotting out the Technorati tags
[bloggers] [Kansas City] [Kansas] [Missouri] [libertarian] [center-right] [republican]