Voluntaryism

Unique institute unites capitalists who want to save the world

"The Unreasonable Institute, founded by University of Colorado graduates Teju Ravilochan and Daniel Epstein in this college town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, is an attempt to solve real-world problems by linking innovative thinkers from around the world. Entrepreneurs wanting to join the camp submit written applications and go through a series of interviews. Successful applicants pay $10,000 for a single and $12,000 for a pair to take part. The institute helps participants raise the fee through crowd-sourcing and the support of donors like Hewlett-Packard and Vodafone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUnique institute unites capitalists who want to save the world

Secret flower planter threatened with arrest if he doesn’t stop planting flowers

"Along the north side of their Dupont Circle station, hundreds of mysterious morning glories and other flowers have been coming up in planter boxes along the Metro's north escalators. Metro found out who the secret flower planter was when they received a polite letter on June 3 written by the flower planter himself, Henry Docter. Henry sent a letter asking permission to continue caring for hundreds of flowers he had planted a week earlier at the Metro transit system. Immediately, the Metro responded to Docter on June 11 with a 'cease and desist' letter threatening 'arrest, fines and imprisonment' if Docter tried to weed, water, or tend to the flowers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecret flower planter threatened with arrest if he doesn’t stop planting flowers

Stand With Whistleblowers

"The Bradley Manning Freedom Torch Parade began this weekend in San Francisco, and will feature solidarity events across the US. We at the Center for a Stateless Society were among the first organizations to sponsor this effort to defend whistleblowers. If there is an event near you, I urge you to participate. If not, I suggest you organize one. Whistleblowers like Manning risk their lives and liberty to shine a light on abusive state power. It’s time for us to stand in solidarity with them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStand With Whistleblowers

Who Says the Market Cannot Supply Its Own Money?

"I just arrived back from lecturing at the week-long Free State Project’s Tenth Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, a huge gathering of libertarians of all stripes from all over the U.S. in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire. Many of the vendors accepted an array of payments media. I was particularly struck by the sign on one stall which read: 'Bitcoin, silver coins, Shire Silver, ammo and even Federal Reserve notes accepted.' I was also delighted to discover that privately minted gold and silver money were circulating at the festival in the form of the aforementioned Shire Silver. These were widely accepted as media of exchange by vendors and paid out in change." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWho Says the Market Cannot Supply Its Own Money?

Welcome to the ‘Glock Block’: Oregonians are no longer calling the police, arm themselves instead

"Frustrated by an increase in petty crime, residents of an Oregon neighborhood have decided to arm themselves instead of calling the police. Residents of a Jennings Lodge neighborhood in Clackamas county, Ore., have put up fliers advertising their new policy, calling themselves the 'Glock Block', according to KOIN News. 'This is a Glock Block,' the fliers read. 'We don't call 911. Along with some of her neighbors, Coy Toloman has put up the fliers and gotten a concealed carry permit with the hopes of deterring criminals. While the increase in neighborhood crime is mostly petty, with incidents of vandalism and stolen law ornaments, Toloman has had enough." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWelcome to the ‘Glock Block’: Oregonians are no longer calling the police, arm themselves instead

Turks invent new form of ‘standing’ protest to get around ban on gatherings

"A man stood still in Istanbul’s Taksim Square: silent, staring straight ahead, he had not moved for hours. His peaceful action, on the square that police cleared of protesters on Saturday and where the Turkish authorities have banned gatherings, was a new form of protest. He arrived Monday evening as night was falling and took up position in the middle of the square, just a stone’s throw from Gezi Park. Five hours on, the man was still there, hands in his pockets, a bag and some bottles of water at his feet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTurks invent new form of ‘standing’ protest to get around ban on gatherings

Connecticut health officials bully barber giving free haircuts to the homeless

"An 82-year-old barber who has been giving free haircuts to the homeless in exchange for hugs for 25 years was granted permission by the mayor Thursday to keep working in a city park, despite orders to leave from police and health officials. Anthony 'Joe the Barber' Cymerys has been a fixture every Wednesday for years at Bushnell Park, where he cuts hair and his friends hand out food to the needy. But shortly after Cymerys set up shop this week, he said, health officials and police confronted him and his friends and told them they had to leave because they didn’t have permits." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConnecticut health officials bully barber giving free haircuts to the homeless

Firefox plug-in warns users of NSA surveillance

"Justin Blinder released a plugin for the Web browser Firefox this week, and he’s already seeing a positive response in the press if not just based off of the idea alone. His 'The Dark Side of the Prism' browser extension alerts Web surfers of possible surveillance by starting up a different song from Pink Floyd’s 1973 classic 'The Dark Side of the Moon' each time a questionable site is crossed. Blinder told the Guardian that he built the program over the course of four hours with the hopes he could 'create some sort of ambient notification that you are on a site that is being surveiled by the NSA.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFirefox plug-in warns users of NSA surveillance

New York woman solves her father’s cold case murder 26 years later

"A man arrested in Miami last Thursday who confessed to the killing of a New York restaurant owner 26 years ago was caught thanks to the persistence of a daughter who never forgot the man’s name. The NYPD had improperly closed the case on Martinez’s killing. Joselyn Martinez was just 9 years old when her father was shot and killed. In November 2012, she found her father’s cold case file in the NYPD’s 34th precinct archives. Martinez worked furiously for three months before approaching police again with evidence she’d collected online, paying less than $300 to track the man down. Armed with this new information, police acted swiftly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York woman solves her father’s cold case murder 26 years later

California man jailed for painting crosswalk

"A Northern California man is facing vandalism charges after authorities say he painted a crosswalk on a street, allegedly telling officials it was needed. Fifty-two-year-old Anthony Cardenas was arrested Thursday morning in Vallejo and booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of felony vandalism. Solano County Sheriff's Lt. Brad DeWall says workers spotted Cardenas committing the vandalism at a city intersection. State transportation workers painted over Cardenas' alleged crosswalk later in the day. A police cadet had been posted at the intersection until then to keep pedestrians from using it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia man jailed for painting crosswalk