My Year In Review

As 2011 draws to a close, I wanted to review my writing and political activism for the year. A friend suggested that I start to offer monthly summaries instead, so that's what I'll do starting next month. Thankfully, there's much to review for the entire year!



If you find my work to be a value, please consider making a contribution!

Hoiles Finalist and New York Trip

Perhaps the biggest news of the year was the September announcement naming me as a finalist in the Hoiles prize for regional journalism. See my media release, which links to the articles entered for the contest.

While in New York for the awards banquet, I also attended a talk at the Foundation for Economic Education and interviewed several protesters with Occupy Wall Street. The photo shows me conducting an interview in Zuccotti Park; see the other photos (hosted by Picasa) of the New York trip.


Social Media Growth

My Facebook author page has 211 followers (please give it a "Like"); I use it to announce my new articles, videos, and media appearances.

My Twitter feed has 1,168 followers. I love Twitter and use it to aggregate news I find interesting (especially Colorado-related news), as well as to link to my own work. My Tweets are retweeted or mentioned nearly every day. If you're not following me on Twitter you're missing out on a large portion of my commentary.

I've loaded a total of 166 videos onto my YouTube channel, with 77 this year. My most popular video remains my shortest: "'USA Union Rally" at 26 seconds garnered 10,770 views. All my videos for the year got 30,849 views.

I think the following video is my favorite of the year; it contrasts the anti-capitalist sentiments of Occupy Wall Street with a defense of capitalism by my wife and a friend.





Liberty In the Books and The Objective Standard

Thankfully, I get paid directly for some of my work. I have now added fifteen works to the Liberty In the Books web site, and (thanks in part to a marketing campaign) the group's Facebook page has 408 followers. (Please give it a "Like!") I also moderate the monthly Denver reading group. Last year I raised funds for this work in an amount that covers it through the first part of next year. Liberty In the Books is a project of Liberty On the Rocks.

The Objective Standard also pays me for my articles. I am now a regular contributer to the blog there. Following is the list of my TOS articles so far this year:

* Call It Exuberant Friday, Not "Black Friday"

* Student Loan Scheme Just Another Rights-Violating Bailout

* Yes, President Obama, We Can't Wait...
(The Home Affordable Refinance Program)

* The Justice of Income Inequality Under Capitalism
(Retweeted by Michelle Malkin!)

* "Fair Tax" Offers Neither Fairness Nor Simplicity
(See also my first piece on the matter.)

* How to Actually "Separate Government from the Corporations"

* Fuel Controls Violate Rights and Stifle Markets

TOS has been a great forum for me to address more national issues.


Articles for Other Publications

I've written articles for various Colorado newspapers (some through the Independence Institute) as well as for Pajamas Media. (Neither the publications nor the Institute paid me for any of this work).

My dad Linn and I continue to write a twice-monthly column for Grand Junction Free Press. See the complete list of those articles. In an online September poll hosted by the paper, we were listed as the favorite columnists!

I've also placed several articles with other Colorado papers:

Gazette: Harry Potter Teaches Freedom and Strength

Colorado Daily: Ritter’s "New Energy Economy" Based on Old Fallacies
(This article was also published by the Independence Institute, Denver Daily, and Summit Daily, and it was discussed by Jon Caldara.)

Denver Daily: Law Should Protect Wanted Fetuses While Allowing Abortions

Gazette: Public's 'Right to Know' Can Clash with Right to Free Speech

Mountain Mail, Denver Daily: Use Tax Criminals

Denver Post: Lawsuit Against Gessler Over Campaign Finance (Letter)

Boulder Weekly: Harry Potter Explores Life's Big Questions

Denver Post: Reaction to Lamborn's "Tar Baby" Comment Is Typical GOP-Bashing

Pajamas Media: Health Insurance and Personal Responsibility

Pajamas Media: Elizabeth Warren's 'Social Contract' an Ideological Fantasy
(Retweeted by Michelle Malkin and Melissa Tweets, and discussed at Bizzy Blog!)


Free Colorado Blog

I've posted 208 articles to this blog in 2011 prior to this one. Sometimes I use the blog to summarize my work elsewhere and link to it, but often I publish substantive and original content directly to the blog. Following are a few of those posts:

* Anti-Abortion 'Personhood' Tries for Round Three

* Yes, A National Sales Tax is Constitutional

* Occupy Denver and Free Speech

* Free Market Arguments Against Vouchers

* Occupy Wall Street: Bob Glass Reports

* Why Voting Integrity Requires Proof Positive

* Rand, Aristotle, and the 'Flayed Ox' (art)

* The Pope and Harry Potter

* On Making the News

* Does TABOR Violate the U.S. Constitution?

* Eina Kleina Social Security Analysis

* Why I'm Not a Libertarian

* 'Personhood' and the Fetal Protection Bill

* Business Investment: Willkie's Lessons for Obama and Moore

* Confessions of a Former Koch Fellow


Media Interviews and Mentions

I've appeared on radio and television a few times and been mentioned by other media outlets:

OpenMarket.org: "Ari and Linn Armstrong have a great piece in the Grand Junction Free Press on why it is finally time for a free beer market in Colorado."

Sam Adams Alliance: I was Interviewed about activism.

BigMedia.org: My articles about a fetal protection bill were quoted extensively a first and second time.

Denver Diatribe: A post included me as among the writers' "favorite local tweets."

Sam Adams Alliance: I was mentioned in a May 10 blog post (since removed) about free speech and Colorado's campaign laws.

Devil's Advocate: I appeared on Jon Caldara's television program to discuss free speech and Colorado's campaign laws.



BigMedia.org: Jason Salzman quoted me about Grassroots Radio.

710 KNUS: I spoke on the radio with Jimmy Sengenberger.

Grand Junction Business Times: The paper included a lengthy review of a Free Press article by my dad and me about international trade.

Westword: I was quoted by Patricia Calhoun regarding the "tar baby" flap.

630 KHOW: I appeared on Peter Boyles's show to discuss the "tar baby" controversy.

Gazette: An editorial quoted me regarding the "tar baby" story.

Denver Post: Several letters replied to my "tar baby" op-ed. (On my blog I replied right back.)

Pajamas Media: The publication mentioned me regarding the food stamp challenge.

Craig Green: In a blog post Craig kindly wrote, "Ari has an elegant way of saying a lot in a few words, each one carefully chosen to have the maximum impact."

Cari and Rob Show: I appeared on this radio show to discuss income inequality and Occupy Wall Street.

Grassroots Radio: I appeared on the October 11 show to discuss Occupy Wall Street.

BigMedia.org: I was mentioned regarding a "personhood" media conference. (The same article was linked by Westword.)

So it has been a very busy and productive year!


Again, I'd appreciate your donation (NOT tax-deductible) if you find my work to be a value.

Opponents Reply to 'Personhood' Push

Colorado's anti-abortion "personhood" advocates held a media conference November 21 in which they announced their proposed language for the 2012 ballot.

Previously I posted video of the entire event. Here I add the replies by Monica McCafferty, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, and Emilie Ailts, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado.





For my criticism of the "personhood" proposals, see the paper I coauthored last year.

Offer Gifts of Liberty This Season

The following article by Linn and Ari Armstrong originally was published November 25 in the print edition of Grand Junction Free Press.

Why fight the crowds when you can buy liberty-promoting gifts from your computer? We have several suggestions for you.

The final Harry Potter movie will make a popular gift. So will all of J. K. Rowling's novels, which chronicle Voldemort's rise to tyrannical power and Harry's struggle to defeat him. Ari's book Values of Harry Potter makes an excellent companion to any Potter-related gift for teens and adults.

Ari's book reveals the heroes' fight for values in the Potter novels and their fierce independence. A chapter on free will describes how the heroes forge their own character, while the villains bring themselves to corruption. The book's discussions of religion take on the controversies of sacrificial love and immortality. The new 2011 edition contains essays on the novels' rich psychology as well as their politics, journalism, and more.

Ari has also started writing regularly for The Objective Standard, a journal influenced by the ideas of Ayn Rand. (Ari gets paid for that work.) For example, you can find Ari's October 19 article, "The Justice of Income Inequality Under Capitalism," on the publication's blog.

The journal's editor, Craig Biddle, reviews Rand's objective theory of rights for the Fall 2011 edition. Rights don't come from God, Biddle argues, but neither do they come from society. Instead, he writes, "they are conceptual identifications of the factual requirements of human life in a social context." That article is available for free, as is a piece by John David Lewis on the Islamist threat to American security; both merit your attention.

You should subscribe to the journal to access all of its articles, and you should consider buying subscriptions for your active-minded friends. You can buy subscriptions to the print version or for audio, online, or ebook versions. A subscription to the journal makes an especially great gift because its benefits extend throughout the entire year.

Any of the films shown at the Free Minds Film Fest in Colorado Springs last month would make wonderful gifts. We recommend three in particular.

The dystopian short film 2081, based on Kurt Vonnegut's story "Harrison Bergeron," imagines a society in which everybody is finally equal. People are no longer merely equal under the law, but they are made physically equal by political force. The strong must wear weights, the intelligent must wear shrieking headphones, and so on. But the hero of the story, not content with suffering chains and imprisonment for his strengths and virtues, stages an "occupation" event of his own, and one with a very different message from today's Occupation protests. This film would make a great addition for everyone on your list.

We also recommend two films about Soviet Russia. The first, Soviet Story, reveals the brutal slaughter and oppression of the Soviet regime. The film demonstrates that the Communists paved the way for genocidal mass slaughter, while the Nazis (National Socialists) followed the same path. The film features a segment in which the socialist George Bernard Shaw speaks candidly of killing off those deemed undesirable (by the socialists).

Moreover, the film reviews, before and during WWII the Communists actively collaborated with the Nazis to slaughter Jews and oppress most of Europe. It's a brutal film, but one everyone should watch, lest mankind be doomed to repeat the horrors of totalitarian slaughter.

A much happier film showing the collapse of the Soviet regime is The Singing Revolution, the story of the valiant and nonviolent Estonian uprising. The Estonians used singing, long a central part of their cultural traditions, to express their rebellion. It is a magnificent film, and one perfect for holiday viewing. But be warned: you won't be able to watch it with dry eyes.

If you're looking for something more practical, you can buy a gift certificate for those 18 and older for a Grand Valley Training Club Basic Pistol and Personal Protection in the Home Course. These are NRA certified classes taught by outstanding local NRA volunteer instructors, and the classes meet the qualifications for concealed carry. Whether somebody is new to handguns or needs a refresher course, this class offers first-rate training, and for $100 it offers a great value. (For more information call Linn.)

For the readers in your life, anything from the Liberty In the Books list (www.LibertyInTheBooks.com) would make a great gift. (Liberty On the Rocks pays Ari a bit to run this program.) Our last three titles are How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes, Why Businessmen Need Philosophy, and The Right to Earn a Living.

The great thing about giving the gift of liberty is that it benefits not only the recipient but all of us, including future generations of Americans.

Happy Exuberant Friday

The Objective Standard has published my latest article, "Call It Exuberant Friday, Not 'Black Friday.'" I write about the day:

What’s so black about it? Stores and city streets glitter with holiday lights. Shoppers, often in bright-colored clothing, chatter with excitement among family and friends. ... We should call it “Exuberant Friday,” a day for celebrating prosperity, shopping for gifts, and enjoying friends.

Read the entire piece!

Harry Potter, Distinguished Toastmaster?

I've just published a new article over at the web page for my book, Values of Harry Potter, titled, "Harry Potter's Magical Communication." Invoking examples from the Potter novels, I show how the stories offer several lessons for public speakers.

I write, "Tellingly, the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort involves the two of them arguing, alone, in the midst of hundreds of their compatriots. Harry addresses Voldemort, but he speaks to inform the crowd of the truth of Voldemort's evil and the virtues of Harry's allies." Read the whole piece!

This is relevant here: I'd like to congratulate Brad Beck and the other leaders of Liberty Toastmasters for creating a robust and amazingly valuable club. You can meet the future of Colorado's liberty movement at these meetings.

Incidentally, I'm declaring this Friday "Sirius Black Friday," in honor of Harry's godfather. It's the perfect day to buy my book!

Anti-Abortion 'Personhood' Tries for Round Three

The so-called "personhood" movement has been knocked down badly in Colorado twice before in the 2008 and 2010 elections. By wide margins voters defeated ballot measures intended to ban all abortions. But the measures' organizers are back with a new, slightly modified anti-abortion measure for the state's 2012 ballot (assuming the group gathers enough signatures).

I attended the group's November 21 media conference at the state capitol, filmed it, and asked a few questions. Please note that my purpose in filming the event was largely journalistic; my main goal was to record the views of the group's participants. Of course I pressed some questions on matters that I find important. Embedded is the complete video of the event, plus some extra footage of Kristi Burton Brown answering questions.



My opposition to the "personhood" measures is well known (in the relevant circles); I coauthored a paper against the measures in both 2008 and 2010.

The proposed 2012 measure is mostly the same as the previous measures, though it spells out some of its implications in greater detail. I posted the four-page media packet distributed by the group's organizers, including a page with the complete text of the new proposal:

From Personhood Nov. 21, 2011

The major difference for the 2012 measure is that it explicitly allows abortions to protect the life of the pregnant woman. One of the problems with the previous measures is that they left the life of the woman in a precarious state under certain conditions. See the section of the 2010 paper, "Abortions to Protect a Woman's Health." The new measure states:

Medical treatment for life threatening physical conditions intended to preserve life shall not be affected by this section. ... "Medical treatment for life threatening physical conditions intended to preserve life" includes but is not limited to treatment for cancer, ectopic and molar pregnancy, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, and placenta previa.

This language would give doctors some much-needed latitude to perform abortions to save the life of the woman. (Note that the measure's supporters are loath to call these "medical treatments" abortions, but that's what we are in fact talking about.)

But what if a doctor needed to perform an abortion only to protect a woman's long-term health, as opposed to her life? Abortions under such circumstances would be banned if the measure were passed and fully enforced. And ambiguous cases would be decided by prosecutors and the courts.

Still, the measure's supporters have made a serious effort to address one of the concerns with the earlier measures. Unfortunately, the remaining problems with the measure are manifold and severe. Consider:

* Obviously, the measure would totally ban all elective abortions.

* The measure explicitly says that abortions would be banned even in cases of rape or incest.

* The measure would ban all forms of birth control "that kills a person"; i.e., that can prevent a zygote (post-fertilized egg) from implanting in the uterus. Notably, that includes the birth control pill, the IUD, and "morning after" drugs.

* The measure would ban all fertility treatments "that kills a person"; i.e., that involves the destruction of embryos created outside the womb. In practice, the measure would shut down most fertility procedures that involve creating embryos outside the womb and limit such treatments to the wealthy and to those with rare physiological conditions.

* The measure would subject women who get abortions (along with those who assist her) to severe criminal penalties, counting an abortion legally as "murder."

* While the 2012 language explicitly protects women with "spontaneous miscarriages," the entire problem is that it would be the responsibility of coroners, prosecutors, and the courts to distinguish natural miscarriages from intentional harm to the fetus. So the new language changes nothing on that score.

One thing that bothered me about the media conference is Burton-Brown's insistence that her opponents are liars. But it is Burton-Brown herself who has been consistently cagey about the implications of the "personhood" measures. During the conference, she flatly refused to state whether "personhood" would ban the birth control pill (hint: if consistently enforced it would). In any case, neither Burton-Brown nor anyone else has found a single factual error in the paper coauthored by Diana Hsieh and me (though obviously the "personhood" crowd disagrees with our analysis of the basic facts). In general, people ought not call their opponents liars unless they have really good evidence that such is the case; Burton-Brown presented no such evidence (though I have not evaluated all the claims of all of the opponents of "personhood"). Indeed, the main reason for the 2012 rewrite is to address various criticisms.

Obviously I'll have much more to say about Colorado's 2012 "personhood" measure in the coming months. For now, it suffices to say that it is the identical measure as before, only with more verbiage, with the notable exception of the language about "life threatening physical conditions." It richly deserves defeat again, and I do not doubt that Colorado voters will oblige. The problem is that, if unchallenged, it softens the ground for incremental abortion restrictions leading to a long-run total ban.

Meanwhile, Team Obama rejoices as the Republican Presidential candidates fall all over themselves endorsing such wildly unpopular nonsense.

November 29 Update: See the replies by Monica McCafferty, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, and Emilie Ailts, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado.

Kirk Barbera on the Benevolent Universe Premise

In a November 14 talk, Kirk Barbera discussed Ayn Rand's concept of the "benevolent universe premise" in the context of Rand's novel The Fountainhead and Barbera's own life.

Listeria Outbreak Cries for Changes, Not Hysteria

The following article by Linn and Ari Armstrong originally was published November 11 by Grand Junction Free Press.

The cantaloupe-caused outbreak of listeria created a tragedy for those infected by the bacteria and for their families. As of the end of last month, the death toll had risen to 28, the number of reported illnesses had climbed to 133, and one infected woman miscarried.

Though less important, the outbreak also created a tragedy for Colorado agriculture. Jensen Farms, responsible for spreading the bacteria, sits on the opposite side of the state. Yet Grand Junction has long been the home of fruit growers, and no doubt everyone associated with the industry can imagine the horror of getting caught up in something like that.

Colorado cantaloupes are among the best in the world. We have not seen good estimates on how much money the outbreak cost the growers of healthy cantaloupes, nor how much it may weaken the market for Colorado cantaloupes into the future.

While there is good reason to believe that Jensen Farms contributed to the outbreak through irresponsible practices (more on that below), it is also important to keep in mind the context of the illnesses. As of the 28th victim, the median age was 84. Prior to modern detection methods, such deaths often would have been chalked up to old age. In many cases, the listeria must be considered a contributing factor of death.

Bacteria are everywhere; the human body contains around ten times as many bacteria as human cells. We run into contact with potentially dangerous bacteria on a daily basis. Usually, our bodies fight them off. NPR ran an informative story last month pointing out that thousands of people probably ingested the listeria from the cantaloupes, and in most cases stomach acids killed these bacteria. Note too that some 128,000 Americans check into the hospital every year because of foodborne illness, and 3,000 die.

However, even though listeria mostly attacks people with already compromised immunities, obviously farmers should strive to take reasonable precautions to avoid the spread of dangerous bacteria. Jensen Farms seems not to have done that.

For example, "the farm had stopped adding a chlorine-based agent to its wash water," reported the Denver Post's Michael Booth (who has done a generally good job covering the story and sorting through the relevant reports). Tap water gets chlorine treatment to kill pathogens, and it's reasonable to think it could have helped prevent listeria growth. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration raised concerns about Jensen's cooling systems, sorters, and more, Booth reported.

The question is what should be done to improve safety. Merely the financial risk of lawsuits may sufficiently motivate cantaloupe growers to double-check their safety procedures. Booth reported that Jensen "and its distributor, Frontera Produce of Texas, already face multiple wrongful-death lawsuits."

What didn't seem to work is a private audit; one of Booth's headlines reads, "Private audit at Jensen Farms before listeria outbreak failed to flag woes." Primus Labs gave Jensen Farms high scores just before the bad mellons shipped. We haven't looked into the incentive structure of such deals or the details of that particular inspection enough to determine what went wrong; we do, however, wonder whether the inspection lab also opened itself up to tort liability.

Colorado Agriculture Commissioner John Salazar, formerly the area's Congressional representative, wants to expand state oversight. (See Booth's coverage of this story as well.) We appreciate Salazar's relatively light touch here (not that he had much choice given state law): he suggests a possible "Colorado Proud" label that would require meeting certain guidelines.

We like the idea of a certification process, and we understand why other cantaloupe farmers support the idea. Responsible farmers want a good way to distinguish their products and separate themselves from their less-reputable competitors. However, we don't see why the state needs to get involved in it. We think an independent agency, comparable to Underwriters Laboratories or Consumer Reports, can handle the job without bureaucratic assistance. No doubt grocers who sell the melons would look to such certification standards with great interest.

If we have one complaint about Booth's reporting, it is that it seems to sometimes veer off into editorial waters by promoting more federal oversight. We don't think the listeria outbreak warrants that, though we recognize the federal government's Constitutional authority to "regulate" interstate trade. Frankly, the lawsuits alone will likely fix the problems, though we'd also like to see the improved certification.

Life is filled with risk. The only way to totally prevent foodborne illness is to stop eating. (We are, however, also intrigued by the potential to irradiate more food to kill pathogens.) If government regulators overreact, they threaten to raise food prices -- something that creates its own health problems -- and destroy certain businesses or even industries. Eating listeria-infected cantaloupe is dangerous, but so is throwing people out of work.

Remember not only those who recently got sick, but the multitudes who have enjoyed eating healthy Colorado cantaloupes, still among the best in the world.

[Update: Jennifer Brown and Michael Booth wrote a great article for the November 14 Denver Post discussing the wider problem of foodborne illness and offering some common-sense advice about it.]

Occupy Wall Street: In Their Own Words

Thankfully, the Tea Partiers are now taking useful action in politics, rather than holding endless rallies. For the Occupiers, holding endless protests is their political action. I think the Occupations, often violent, law-breaking, trashy affairs, don't ultimately do much to help the leftist cause. But they do help define the debate in America: many people now openly debate the merits of socialism and capitalism, and that is a good thing. It's about time we got back to fundamentals.

I visited Occupy Wall Street in New York on November 3, where I captured several interviews. Note that, while I ask some challenging questions and editorialize a bit, my goal here was not to debate but to interview. It always irritated me when journalists covered the Tea Parties without actually talking to the Tea Partiers. So I wanted to give the Occupiers the chance to say what's on their mind. In many cases, their positions are more subtle and nuanced than perhaps many of their opponents tend to recognize. Here my main goal is to present the Occupation case; later I'll pursue the discussion more forcefully.

Also see my editorial video from the day, "Wall Street Occupiers Depend on Capitalism."













Here is some of my coverage of the Tea Parties:

Voices of the Tea Party

"Eat the Rich?" Unions, Tea Parties Stage Opposing Denver Rallies

Tax Day Tea Party: Denver 2010

Tea Party 9/12 March on Washington Video Interviews

NYT Smears Tea Partiers

Wall Street Occupiers Depend on Capitalism

"Free the Wage Slaves" -- read the mass-produced T-shirts sold by the entrepreneur at Zuccotti Park. The Occupiers used the tents, paper, clothing, food, and other products of capitalism -- to condemn capitalism.

After I filmed several interviews at the park, I caught up with my wife and friend across the street at McDonald's, where they celebrated American capitalism. Interestingly, numerous Occupiers also seemed to enjoy using the facilities at McDonald's (though the day after I filmed this one of the Occupiers trashed the restaurant). On a personal note, I'd like to thank Apple for producing the iTouch pocket computer and camera with which I filmed the interviews.



See also:

Occupy Wall Street: Bob Glass Reports

Occupy Denver Steals Services, Destroys Property

Occupy Denver and Free Speech

From The Objective Standard:

The Justice of Income Inequality Under Capitalism

Student Loan Scheme Just Another Rights-Violating Bailout

How to Actually "Separate Government from the Corporations"