What's Worse? An Asteroid Heading Toward Earth or an Anti-Asteroid Tax?

Does anybody else have a hard time discerning between actual things that libertarians think and people making fun of things that libertarians think?

I'm pretty sure — though not 100 percent (especially after this recent Onion story) — that this post from Sasha Volokh is the former…

I don't speak for all libertarians, but I think there’s a good case to be made that taxing people to protect the Earth from an asteroid, while within Congress’s powers, is an illegitimate function of government from a moral perspective.

I think it’s O.K. to violate people’s rights (e.g. through taxation) if the result is that you protect people’s rights to some greater extent (e.g. through police, courts, the military). But it’s not obvious to me that the Earth being hit by an asteroid (or, say, someone being hit by lightning or a falling tree) violates anyone’s rights; if that’s so, then I’m not sure I can justify preventing it through taxation.

Bryan Caplan once suggested the asteroid hypo to me as a reductio ad absurdum against my view. But a reductio ad absurdum doesn’t work against someone who's willing to be absurd, and I may be willing to bite the bullet on this one.

Well put.

(via Kevin Bondelli)

Fox Nation Tackles Serious "Fourth Horseman" News Story

If you're shocked that this video — that purportedly shows "the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse" making an appearance during the Egyptian protests — wound up on the Fox Nation website as supposed actual news, then you are probably a person who is very easily shocked. Maybe you should see a doctor about that…

Fox Nation accompanies the video with quoted text from Fox News host Clayton Morris' website…

Between the crowds of protesters and barricades, the video shows a flowing, pale green image that resembles an erect rider atop a horse in Medieval-like barding. The ethereal figure remains for a few moments before floating over protesters' heads and off the screen.

Is this the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse?

One would hope that a harbinger of the end of all things would have better special effects at his disposal than I did when I made "The Ghost That Haunted the House" on Super-8 back in 7th grade.

SMBC: One Year Away from 2012

Just a friendly reminder that you all have about a year to get your affairs in order before the Mayans come back to exact their revenge…

Continues after the jump…

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Better Make Certain to Get Your End-of-Civilization-as-We-Know-It Pants Back from the Cleaners Before 2015

As most rational people understand, the world will probably not — as many people believe has been predicted by the Mayan calendar — be coming to an end in 2012.

No, the End of Days will, in all likelihood, be postponed for about three or so years when all the oil runs out…

The US military has warned that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact…

"By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day," says the report, which has a foreword by a senior commander, General James N Mattis.

It adds: "While it is difficult to predict precisely what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India."

Good thing the U.S. is not economically linked to China in any way. Or completely dependent upon petroleum for everything from transportation to food production. Or in complete denial about this whole issue.

We should come out of this just fine.

I said, we should come out of this just fine.

This Modern World: Health Care Reformageddon!

Oh my God! It's just like the Bible Code predicted!

Read the whole thing.