Leslie Howard -- born April 3rd, 1893 -- is probably best-known to audiences for his memorable role as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind. But he also chose to star in, and in some cases produced and directed, several early films of libertarian interest. Two of these films were important in the effort to defeat Nazi Germany and to save its victims. Howard's first … [Read more...]
Never Forget: Cops Busted A Surfer Under Covid Rules
On this day, April 2nd, 2020, Malibu police arrested a man for paddle-boarding alone on the ocean because he was violating COVID social distancing rules. Again, this surfer was alone on the ocean. You could hardly say he wasn't social distancing. But California Governor Gavin Newsom had issued a strict stay-at-home order, so the surfer was handcuffed and perp walked along the … [Read more...]
Walter Williams: Happy Angel Birthday!
Walter Williams was born on March 31st, 1936. He was an influential libertarian economist, a beloved professor at George Mason University, and a prolific and often witty writer. Free to Choose Media released a documentary about him in 2014, entitled Walter Williams: Suffer No Fools; it's available free online. He joined Milton Friedman in the PBS series Free to Choose. … [Read more...]
Bruce Willis: Libertarian Film Hero
Bruce Willis -- born March 19th, 1955 -- started out as a minor off-Broadway actor but eventually landed the lead in Die Hard, launching his now legendary action-hero career. He seemed attracted to the role of individualist hero, and it was a role he took up in several films of libertarian interest. Willis is probably best known for his role as John McClane, a classic … [Read more...]
James O’Keefe: Lucky Charms Is Offensive
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's the very first James O'Keefe video, in which a young O'Keefe persuaded a university administrator to ban Lucky Charms as "offensive to Irish." He went on to create Project Veritas, and later O'Keefe Media Group, both of which produce undercover videos on corruption and left-wing political bias. … [Read more...]
Michael Apted: Libertarian Film Hero
Michael Apted -- born February 10th, 1941 -- was a British television and film director and producer. He directed four films of libertarian interest, including one of this website's top 25 list of most important libertarian films of all time. In 1992, Apted released the documentary Incident at Oglala, an inquiry into the alleged framing of AIM member Leonard Peltier by the … [Read more...]
Ayn Rand: Happy Angel Birthday!
Ayn Rand was born on February 2nd, 1905. Novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter -- Rand did what no one had done before: she took the ideas of classical liberalism into the world of stories and dreams, portraying the entrepreneurial heroes of our unprecedented prosperity as just that, and to the absolute horror of enemies of freedom. Decades after her death, Ayn … [Read more...]
John Hurt: Libertarian Film Hero
John Hurt -- born January 22nd, 1940 -- was an English actor whose career spanned over half a century. He made three films of libertarian interest, all of them focused on the dangers of totalitarian states, and all of them among the most dead-on libertarian films ever made. Two are included in this website's top 25 list and the third is included in other libertarian top … [Read more...]
Aaron Swartz, Internet Wunderkind, Died On This Day
On January 11th, 2013, Aaron Swartz — the wunderkind genius who contributed much to the early development of the Internet, including Reddit, Creative Commons, RSS, and more — committed suicide. He was just 26. Aaron Swartz was driven to take his own life by aggressive prosecutors enforcing tragically defective technology law, law that is still on the books. Aaron’s story is … [Read more...]
Happy Veterans Day!
Freedom isn't free. Here's a sweet short film as thanks to the armed forces, who have held at bay those who would take our freedom from us. Happy Veterans Day! … [Read more...]