For the Birds ... and 30 Seconds?
July 1, 2005
7:02 a.m., MT

No, no, I'm not disparaging commenters who disagree with me ... this post really is for the birds. Y'see, where we're currently living, there's abundant bird life: the usual songbirds, of course, but also turkeys, cranes, owls, pheasants, and hummingbirds, among others. The snolfs greatly enjoy prowling around the shrubs and tall grass on our property, and in the course of their wanderings have discovered two birds' nests. Every evening at dinner the rest of the family hears a progress report on them ... so, as a break from my "over-cerebral" ruminations of late, I thought I'd share some photos with you.

The first is a nest so small that it almost certainly is a hummingbird's nest. Sadly, the surroundings don't provide enough context to appreciate how small this nest is -- the bush in which it's nestled is perhaps two feet tall, and the nest is close to the ground.

The snolfs have been keeping a close eye on a redwinged blackbird's nest for several days now -- with such frequent checkings that I was concerned the eggs may not have gotten sufficient incubation. Happily, I was wrong, as we learned yesterday. One chick hatched early in the day, and later, a second did. Amid much raucous chattering from the parents (but no attacks), my son and I got this picture of the two chicks and the remaining egg:

I'm sure once the snolfs are awake they'll be checking on the status of that third egg!

Now, the thirty seconds bit ... David over at Law, Legislation, and Lunacy has offered an interesting challenge: Libertarianism in 30 seconds. The idea is to create an "elevator definition" of libertarianism -- something that can be conveyed effectively and briefly. He's accepting suggestions in the comments section, so if anyone comes up with something good (I haven't, but I've not really tried), fire away!

Speaking of firing away, I gotta get some fireworks for this weekend's celebration.

Sunni

Comments: 6 people have spoken!

On Friday, July 1st, at approximately 10:28 a.m. Mountain time, Ginny said:

Those pictures are great.

On Friday, July 1st, at approximately 1:07 p.m. Mountain time, Wolf DeVoon said:

Libertarianism is the native American creed, taught in every grade school. Our forefathers pledged their lives and fortunes to rid us of authoritarian government. Libertarians strive to regain the freedoms that our country was founded on.

On Saturday, July 2nd, at approximately 7:08 a.m. Mountain time, Bill St. Clair said:

Wolf,

Good to see you. I haven't seen hide nor hair of you since your article over at anti-state.com. Hope you are well.

Back to the topic.

I think L. Neil Smith's Zero Aggression Principle says it as well as it can be said: "A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

On Sunday, July 3rd, at approximately 3:44 p.m. Mountain time, Wendy said:

A hummingbird's nest is about the size of a walnut shell, and the eggs are about the size of a jellybean, maybe a bit smaller... The h'bird nests I saw as a child were lined with a finer material than the one you show, but that was long ago and far away...

On Sunday, July 3rd, at approximately 6:25 p.m. Mountain time, Sunni said:

Hi Wendy; yah, I heard from someone else that the nest pictured is much too large. It is quite small, though -- but now that I think about it, it's obviously too big to be a hummingbird's.

Bill, although I've no problem with the ZAP, it isn't at all intuitive to nonlibertarians. Wolf's phrasing does much better, on several important levels IMO.

On Sunday, July 3rd, at approximately 7:28 p.m. Mountain time, Endervidual said:

Hey Bill,

Two essays more recent than the ASC piece by Wolf are available at Endervidualism: "The Architecture of Liberal Democracy" and "The Meaning of Liberty."

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