The quote -

The energy of rapid growth in the city and on the frontier, people moving faster than laws could bind them, gave birth to the setting and with it the idea that a moral individual is a better force for good, than the system. There is something inherently libertarian about that. And indeed some of the more influential forces in both genres have been libertarian or libertarian-leaning. The comic book heroes looking down from the movie theater marquee at your today were often created or co-created by libertarians.

But there is a dramatic shift that takes place between the two genres. And it is a revealing shift. The cowboy is human. The superhero is increasingly inhuman.

Quote from The Naked Gun. Frame grab from this video…

It all starts with a post by Karl Denninger.  He makes some points that another pair of writers (who I’ll get to) will expand upon in another link.

Arctic Patriot responds with passion on two different occasions here and more recently here.

I’ll reproduce the comment left by Bill St. Clair on that first post as I thought it was the closest to what I believe I’ve found so far…

Abortion discussions never go anywhere. Nobody ever budges an inch. But I’ll state my considered opinion, which also is not likely to change.

There are two classes of living things on the planet, sentient beings and property. A sentient being is aware that it is alive. It fears death. It wants to remain alive. This desire is deeper, much deeper, than simple animal self preservation.

Intentionally killing a sentient being, other than in self defense, is murder. Property may be treated by the property owner in any way (s)he desires.

Human beings from the age of six months or so are usually sentient. There are exceptions, but they are rare. Dolphins and whales and apes may also be sentient. If flies were sentient, intentionally killing them, other than in self defense, would be murder.

A human sperm and egg are obviously not sentient. A three-year-old human child almost always is sentient. At some point between those two points, the developing human becomes sentient, and it becomes murder to intentionally kill it. The point at which killing that developing human becomes murder is a religious issue. Many people who self identify as Christian consider a human fetus to be sentient at conception. I consider it to happen sometime in the first year of life, but I’m willing to agree on birth as the point after which abortion becomes murder.

Personally, I don’t see the difference between a human embryo shortly after conception and a separated egg and sperm. Both are potential sentient human beings, but neither will become sentient without a lot of work and commitment. If it is to be considered murder to abort a 1-week-old embryo, then I think it should be considered murder to NOT inseminate a fertile 20-something beauty. Both deny a potential human life.

Since I do not consider a fetus to be sentient until after birth, it is property. The mother is the obvious property owner, since the fetus is part of her body. Therefore, it is entirely her decision whether to bring the baby to term or to abort. It’s nobody else’s business.

After the baby is born, it becomes a sentient being with rights, it is no longer the mother’s property, and she may not kill it.

I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind. Only to point out that this is a religious argument, hence not subject to rational discussion.

The most eloquent discussion on keeping abortion legal was written in L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman’s novel Hope. Here’s the link: I cannot put this into words any better than they did…

The heat this political issue creates within us freedom lovers is furious and counterproductive. Sadly, I fear it will never be resolved.

Assistant DA says he’s “above the law”.

Asshole.

Via Boing Boing – Chris Sims says it all here.

Found here

(Wish this would embed properly.)

Love the message – just going to critique the film (and I know that it’s a couple of years old now):

Pretty impressive filmmaking, if a little long.  The compositor who did the muzzle flashes/bullet hits really sold them (and yes, they were CG – do you seriously think that a student filmmaker is going to have the wherewithal to get real weapons for his film, when he’s got to pay for real film/processing/telecine and pay for his tuition as well. Film ain’t cheep, friends). I would’ve cut down on the camera POV at the beginning and sped up things like the title credits and such.  Not bad, though…