The Free State Project has finally reached the goal of its First 1000 Pledge, with less than a day left to the deadline. The pledge was led by Ian Bernard, a long time supporter of the FSP and host of the libertarian radio show Free Talk Live, who promised to move for liberty to New Hampshire by the end of 2008, only if 999 others did so as well. This is the first real success of any Liberty minded group. Hopefully all these people move down there by the end of 2008 and pave the way for the rest of the FSP. 1,000 people fighting for liberty in one state can make a difference. New Hampshire will soon be the most free place to live in the world and they will show the rest of the world how good true liberty can be.

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The sadistic dictator is finally dead:

This actually came as a bit of a surprise to me. I figured he would appeal the verdict for years before he was actually executed. Turns out Iraq’s government does not work that way. Oh well, one more evil bastard dead is never a bad thing. At least the United States government ended one evil regime. Too bad we can not seem to replace it with anything too much better. When will we learn to stay out of the business of other countries?

Wiretapping is now the least of your worries. According to Fox News, the FBI is now using cell phones to eavesdrop on conversations. They can now remotely connect to the phone, activate the mic and listen to what is being said in the area. The only way to absolutely avoid this is by removing the battery from your phone. It may also be possible to cover the mic with something when you are not using it. This is ridiculous. The government is becoming more invasive day by day. Big Brother here we come.

According to maltaStar.com, Italian Doctor Mario Riccio switched off the life support of his patient Piergorgio Welby in order to allow him to die peacefully. Welby was suffering from muscular dystrophy and was unable to move his body. At this point, he was reduced to communicating by blinking his eyelids. Welby asked authorities to be euthanized, a process which is illegal in Italy and much of the world, but was denied. He even went as far as writing a letter to the President of Italy. His efforts, however, were futile.

According to the article:

Even though the plea was turned down, Dr Riccio might have found a legal loophole that permitted him and his staff to allow Welby to die, even though the doctor rejects it was a case of euthanasia.

“In Italian hospitals therapies are suspended all the time, and this does not lead to any intervention from magistrates or to problems of conscience,” Dr Riccio told reporters, following Mr Welby’s death late on Wednesday.

“This must not be mistaken for euthanasia. It is a suspension of therapies,” he told a news conference in Rome. “Refusing treatment is a right.”

Let me reiterate that last statement. Dr. Riccio said, “Refusing treatment is a right.” While I agree with this statement, is it not true that someone’s right to do what they want with their life more important. Yes, the doctor has the right to refuse treatment to whoever he wants, but he also has the right to perform any service that he wants. If there is someone who wants to be euthanized and the doctor is willing to perform this service, then what business does the government have meddling in the affairs? Laws that prohibit people from doing what they want with their life, even if that means ending it, are wrong and need to be abolished. I never understood why eutanasia was illegal in the first place. I guess it is just another case of legislating morality.

Welby’s death has stirred up some controversy and some groups are hoping to bring legal charges against Dr. Riccio. If he is found guilty, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

The headline and video speak for themselves:

In the face of many cases of people being injured and breaking things with the Wiimote, Nintendo has decided to recall the straps that secure it to your hands. If you own a Wii, you can go to Nintendo’s website and fill out a simple form to get your new strap. You will receive the new strap in the mail sometime after Dec. 21st. The new straps will have a 0.04 inch diameter, as opposed to the old 0.024 inch diameters. Nintendo estimates that they will be replacing more than 3.2 million straps total.

Truthiness. A word, coined by Stephen Colbert on the very first episode of the ‘Colbert Report’, is now Merriam-Webster’s 2006 Word of the Year. The words definition can loosely be described as ‘Believing what you feel is true, even if it does not necessarily agree with the facts’. For the few of you out there that may not know, Stephen Colbert is an on-air personality who is a satire of right-wing political pundits. His attitude is very neo-conservative and he seems to agree with everything that our current president says and does. However, to understand the comedy, you have to see the sarcasm. It is clear that his personality is a very good attempt at making fun of people with these beliefs. In fact, at the white house correspondents dinner of 2006, Colbert accused President Bush of ‘thinking with his gut’ as opposed to his head. This is why the word ‘truthiness’ was such a great invention for his character. It describes all political pundits, whether Democrat or Republican. None of them think with their heads. They believe what the party leaders tell them is true and they feed it to the general public without a second thought. And that’s this year’s word. Truthiness.