Do I smell Oscar?

Well, probably not ... but maybe Pollie! Here's episode one of Steve Kubby's new Internet video series.

If there's a hell ...

I'm pretty sure I know someone who's going there, regardless of how often she attends Mass, says the rosary, or proclaims her devotion to Jesus. I'm not going to recapitulate the story. CLS has it covered. Just one pull quote:

The court also said that "Jeanne told Brett that if Patrick was going to return to his life with Brett, after recovering from the stroke, she would prefer that he not recover at all."

I'm making a list. I'm checking it twice. And then I'm going to let the enterprises on that list know that I don't spend my dollars on naughty, only on nice.

The "Jeanne" in the story referenced above is the founder and president of Atkins International Foods, a company that makes desserts and other foods for retail and restaurant sale.

The first enterprise on my list is Bloomingdale's, the upscale department store. They apparently carry pastries made by Atkins International Foods (get used to the repetition of that phrase -- hello, SEO as agitprop tool!).

Now, I confess that I'm not a big Bloomingdale's shopper, but you may be. Let's you and me let Bloomingdale's know that we won't be buying any $335 briefcases or $119 sunglasses from them as long as they continue to stock Atkins International Foods products.

Do you ever get stuck planning events for your local libertarian group? Do you use a caterer? Please -- specify a menu excluding Atkins International Foods products.

And restaurants. Mmmm ... restaurants. I'm given to understand that Atkins International Foods does a lot of business with restaurants. Bear with me for a moment here ...

... I'm a dessert guy. If you don't believe me, ask my waistline.

I haven't found out which restaurants sell Atkins International Foods desserts yet, but I will (if you know of any, leave a comment).

The next time I dine out, and the time after that, and the time after that ... well, you get the idea ... I'm not going to boycott those restaurants. No, no, no. I'm going to pick a restaurant that serves Atkins International Foods desserts, and I'm going to go have myself a mighty fine meal.

BUT!

When we get to the "would you like to order dessert?" part, I'm going to answer -- just a little more loudly than is necessary, so that other customers can hear -- "I'd love to ... BUT! ... what do you have that is not made by Atkins International Foods? I don't buy their products, and I wish you would remove those products from your menu."

Petty and vengeful? You bet your sweet ass it is.

Petty as it sounds, if the same restaurant has even two such incidents -- maybe even one! -- it will be noticed. The manager will be calling his supplier to complain that the customers don't want Atkins International Foods. If it's a chain, the manager will pass word to the regional manager that something's going on with Atkins International Foods, and the corporate HQ will be calling Atkins International Foods to find out what's up ... with orders hanging in the balance.

So. Please. Do this with me. It's a minor inconvenience, and helping rectify this situation through voluntary action is the least those libertarians trapped in the "we don't want to dirty our hands addressing equal rights regardless of sexual orientation -- let's just wait a thousand years until the state is gone, problem solved" fallacy can do, since they eschew requiring the state to stop discriminating.

Jeanne Atkins seems to have a pretty one-sided view of the Good Book. I bet she has a similarly one-sided view of her checkbook. Let's give her something interesting to read and see if declining revenues are a useful instrument for teaching The Golden Rule.

Air time

Some radio plugs:

- Don't miss Libertarian Party presidential nomination candidate Steve Kubby this weekend on The Dangerous Doug Kendall Show. Saturday, August 18th, 1pm EST on WOIC 1230 AM, Columbia South Carolina, or listen on the Internet.

- As previously mentioned, Kubby also appears next week on Kevin Barrett's show "9/11 and Empire" on We The People Radio Network. As far as I know, this is "Internet Radio" only. Tuesday, August 21st, 7-9pm EST.

Moving away from 2008 presidential politics a little, I'm going to do some name-dropping. My good friend Lloyd Sloan's program, The Sloan Ranger Show, airs from 5-7pm CST each weeknight on WGNU 920 AM in St. Louis, Missouri (there's also a live web stream).

I'd be lying if I said his guest next Tuesday is also a "good friend," but I'll certify that he's an incredibly good writer and, on the basis of a little correspondence (have you ever emailed a "popular author?" You might be surprised at how friendly most of them are, and how willing to give a fan a minute of their time), a good guy, too:

Larry Beinhart wrote American Hero (the novel that was made into the film "Wag the Dog,"), as well as (more recently) The Librarian and Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin. And three other novels. And a book for aspiring authors on how to write mystery stories.

I've read all of the aforementioned except for Fog Facts (which I'll be reading as soon as I can get it), and they're all well worth your time, even if you don't buy them through my affiliate links. He's not, strictly speaking, a libertarian. He doesn't claim to be one. More of a civil-liberties-oriented lefty with some powerful insights into the hall of mirrors that mass media and politics have become (in other words, someone I can break bread with even if he doesn't have a tattoo of Murray Rothbard on his ass).

Anyway, Beinhart will be on Lloyd's show next Tuesday, August 21st, at 6:15pm CST. Don't miss it.