I hope Real Campaign Reform succeeds in their civil liberties battle for us, but if they should fail… our North American readers could organize some very creative Guerilla Campaigning. You may want to begin planning of your 2004 campaign law snoot cocking right now.

Your mission, should you chose to accept it Mr. Phelps, is to keep
...continue Going on the offensive]]> The Libertarian case against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is going to the courts now and there is every expectation it will go all the way to the Supreme Court. Read Perry Willis’ testimony if you want to know more of the details.

I hope Real Campaign Reform succeeds in their civil liberties battle for us, but if they should fail… our North American readers could organize some very creative Guerilla Campaigning. You may want to begin planning of your 2004 campaign law snoot cocking right now.

Your mission, should you chose to accept it Mr. Phelps, is to keep alive the idea of a free and open political process. Here are a few ideas:

1. Start your own underground Free Libertarian Voters “cell” (the FLV as opposed to the dastardly LFV) with a few trustworthy friends. No one outside your group should even know you have “formed”. Above all, do not discuss this with anyone who is involved with an above ground “official” campaign group. Look in a mirror and practice not telling yourself about it.

2. Using your own computers and printers, make up flyers and posters for Libertarian candidates. Do nothing traceable: Big Brother is watching. Go out in the dead of night and plaster them all over. Place stacks in information trays; hand some out to passersby at malls or other busy areas. And don’t forget! Black ski masks are a serious fashion faux pas this season!
3. Come up with harmless and non damaging publicity pranks that will garner positive attention to your candidate or perhaps negative attention to the records of the Demopublican candidates. Do this especially in the last few days before the campaign.
4. Try to do as much rhetorical damage to the FEC and its’ regulations as you possibly can. Make them look like fools: “Every joke is a tiny revolution”. Make them look like a bunch of anti-democracy demogogues. That they actually are should help you immensely in this task.
5. Brainstorm with your cell. Be creative like the “Sons Of Liberty”. They invented guerilla theatre over a few pints in the Green Dragon, an idea so advanced we didn’t invent the name until 190 years later.

   Read “Rules for Radicals” by Saul Alinsky. It worked for the Left, it will work for you! This book is also very funny. I’d never have thought of a political use for baked beans.

6. Don’t get caught. You really could be in it extremely deep. You could go to jail for supporting the candidate of your choice in a non-State approved fashion, time and place.
7. If you are caught, read about the Chicago 7 for some really cool ideas on how to make a mockery of the campaign laws in the courtroom. Judge Hoffman is probably long retired by now, but there are other buffoons in robes and you might get lucky. If you’re going to spend a few years behind bars, you might as well land a good blow for Liberty on the way to the slammer.

   Read defendant Abbie Hoffman’s “Steal This Book” or “Revolution for the Hell of It” to get into the proper frame of mind. Again. It worked for the Left, it’ll work for you!

8. “Black world” campaigning must always be totally deniable by real campaign organizations. You can’t work in both. You can’t even communicate across the boundary. They cannot know who you are or what you are doing, not even a clue. For real. I’m not joking.
9. Watch what the official campaign is doing and follow their lead. Campaign managers know more about what is going on than you do. Don’t go off on your own tangent. Remember the Hippocratic Oath: “The first rule is to do no harm”.

It will be good practice just in case more of our civil liberties have to be exercised underground. I guess one could say “If political campaigning is outlawed, only outlaws will have political campaigns.”

We aren’t called Samizdata for nothing you know!

This tape will self destruct in zzzzzztttttttttttttttt………..

My sources tell me that this is an accurate account of what’s going on in the British Army at the moment. Or more precisely, how the New Labour government has been undermining one of the most respected and professional British institutions:

The British military and New Labour are politically and philosophically polar opposites. The government has made these differences even more acute by spending much of the last few years forcing soldiers to adopt a work ethic more
...continue What’s wrong with the British Army]]>

From being the envy of the world, the British armed forces are in danger of becoming merely average: a cut-price, camouflaged UNICEF…

My sources tell me that this is an accurate account of what’s going on in the British Army at the moment. Or more precisely, how the New Labour government has been undermining one of the most respected and professional British institutions:

The British military and New Labour are politically and philosophically polar opposites. The government has made these differences even more acute by spending much of the last few years forcing soldiers to adopt a work ethic more in line with commerce than with combat. Who Dares Wins has been replaced by Health and Safety. The government believes that it has a duty to look after soldiers by protecting their ‘rights’, but this approach to soldiering seriously undermines the ability of the men and women of the armed forces to get on with a difficult and dangerous job.

[...]

The government’s obsession with political correctness has been applied to the military with such relish that at times it seems almost insane. I have lost count of the number of forms I have had to fill in giving details of my ethnic origin. These forms used to be anonymous, but the last one I had to complete carried my name, rank and service number. Perhaps this was a reaction to an earlier (anonymous) form, which had revealed that in our all-male unit there was a huge number of Bangladeshi single mothers!

[...]

Health-and-safety inspectors are blamed for recommending that chlorine be introduced into the underwater tunnel, in case some poor Commando picks up a bit of dysentery or a sore throat as a result of wading through dirty water. The steep ravines worn into the slopes that recruits had to run up and down at various points on the seven-mile course were also contrary to all sorts of well-meaning legislation. The recommendation was for proper steps and handrails to be installed — just like the ones you find in the mountains of Afghanistan or the wadis of Iraq.

The armed forces in the UK are currently so over-streched that their management amounts to a permanent crisis-management. The professionalism and high quality of the British army currently rests on the dedication of its officers. Let’s face it, they are not there for the money and they don’t get to shoot much these days either. The British military doesn’t lobby, speak out, point out the ignorance of the current government of military matters (which has no limits as this is the first government where nobody has a direct military experience) or do anything that would undermine its strong ethos as a ‘civilian’ army. Her Majesty the Queen, a civilian, is head of the Navy, Army and Air Force of Britain.

Perhaps they should.

In a country where virtually all forms of private firearm ownership have been outlawed, there was a march today in South-East London by a group calling itself ‘Mothers Against Guns’ in protest at rising gun violence.

But that thigh-slapping irony descends into tragi-farce: “The march had to be re-routed away from the crime scene of the early morning shooting outside Pharaoh’s Pub in Peckham Road.

Police confirmed one man was killed
...continue Carry on, gun-control]]> I briefly toyed with the idea of posting this under the ‘Humour’ category but, the trouble is, I am not making this up. I couldn’t possibly make this up.

In a country where virtually all forms of private firearm ownership have been outlawed, there was a march today in South-East London by a group calling itself ‘Mothers Against Guns’ in protest at rising gun violence.

But that thigh-slapping irony descends into tragi-farce:

“The march had to be re-routed away from the crime scene of the early morning shooting outside Pharaoh’s Pub in Peckham Road.

Police confirmed one man was killed on the spot and that another was in a stable condition in hospital after the incident.

Sometimes I feel as if this isn’t a nation anymore. More like an open-air Theatre of the Absurd.

“The problem for British libertarians is that they aren’t really used to the idea that the state really is our enemy. This is one reason why I don’t think that the UK withdrawing from the European Union is an automatic recipe for joy.”

In the exchange which follows he appears to believe that “without law or government” society cannot function,
...continue Is there an Act of Parliament for Table Manners?]]> I don’t normally respond publicly to comments, but I will make an exception. Peter Cutbertson has a blog called Conservative Commentary, it is certainly better than the Conservative Party’s website. He thinks that this conclusion I made makes me insane:

“The problem for British libertarians is that they aren’t really used to the idea that the state really is our enemy. This is one reason why I don’t think that the UK withdrawing from the European Union is an automatic recipe for joy.”

In the exchange which follows he appears to believe that “without law or government” society cannot function, and those who disagree with him are “insane” or follow “an incoherent, warped political philosophy”.

I am very tempted to ask our Mr Cuthbertson to define Conservative political philosophy, in plain coherent terms, with the agreement of those current and former leaders of the Conservative Party who are still alive: Heath, Thatcher, Major, Hague and Duncan Smith. But I don’t hate the man, so I won’t.

However, it amazes me that Mr Cuthbertson cannot see that law doesn’t necessarily derive from government. For a start, any conservative who believes in God ought to consider the possibility that there is a higher authority than the State. Assuming atheism (which isn’t very conservative, but hey, who’s being coherent?), I should have hoped that a conservative might believe in the organic, spontaneous order of common law. Assuming God doesn’t exist, and the common law is a fiction (sounds more like a French Jacobin!), what has Mr Cuthbertson done with civil society? Is it true that members of the Carlton Club only behave because of the fear of being arrested by the police? Does the members’ code of conduct depend on the State for its existence and enforcement? Is there an Act of Parliament for table manners?

If the cream of the Conservative movement believe that regulation of human behaviour is only possible by State intervention, then it is no wonder the Conservative Parliamentary Party is an unelectable shambles comprised largely of cretins, petty crooks, pompous buffoons and in-bred yahoos. I will take no lessons in morality or “coherent political philosophy” from a Tory.

Some who think poverty is a noble, exalted state would have you buy nothing today, calling it ‘Buy nothing day’. But those who reject the Luddite anti-life call of atavistic collectivism know better.

Every November 30th, we all need to remind ourselves that due to the creeping spread of global capitalism, more of humanity has been lifted above a subsistence level of existence than at any other time in the history of our species.

Plumbers, builders, postmen, farm workers, sailors… all owning technological marvels like motorcars, televisions, computers, all having unheard of life expectancies. This
...continue Today is…]]> Shop ’til you drop day!

Some who think poverty is a noble, exalted state would have you buy nothing today, calling it ‘Buy nothing day’. But those who reject the Luddite anti-life call of atavistic collectivism know better.

Every November 30^th, we all need to remind ourselves that due to the creeping spread of global capitalism, more of humanity has been lifted above a subsistence level of existence than at any other time in the history of our species.

Plumbers, builders, postmen, farm workers, sailors… all owning technological marvels like motorcars, televisions, computers, all having unheard of life expectancies. This occurs not because of central planning, but rather in spite of it… yet somehow Paris gets fed.

So on November 30^th go out and turn your mundane daily participation in the capitalist system into a celebration of it! Make it special. Go out and buy the one you love a book they have wanted but is only available in hardback or maybe even a nice sheepskin coat for the winter. You know it makes sense.

The blogosphere is agog.

The militant Islamic group Hamas is urging followers to conduct a three-day ‘electronic Jihad’ on Jewish websites, starting today, Novermber 29th. Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles said the latest find this week was particularly alarming: “We have had numerous hackings back and forth between Israeli and Islamic sites since the Intifada began two years ago.

But this is something we have not seen in some time. There seems to be an entire portion of a We site which is
...continue Electronic Jihad]]> My previous posting about ‘ironic Jihad’ was satirical but this is certainly not!

The militant Islamic group Hamas is urging followers to conduct a three-day ‘electronic Jihad’ on Jewish websites, starting today, Novermber 29th. Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles said the latest find this week was particularly alarming:

“We have had numerous hackings back and forth between Israeli and Islamic sites since the Intifada began two years ago.

But this is something we have not seen in some time. There seems to be an entire portion of a We site which is devoted to a ‘how to’ get involved in that kind of activity.”

The term ‘Jewish’ websites could mean anything from Israeli government sites to any company that does business with Israel.

Apparently, the same way bloggers are using the Internet as a forum for ideas and for additional sources of information, increasingly computer literate Islamic groups are using it to transform the Islamic and Islamist world and to circumvent official sources of information.

“….The Internet has become not only a battlefield, as this announcement would seem to indicate… of electronic wars, but it is also a key element in propaganda battles in Arabic, Persian and in English.”

Lawyers for an Australian man who “mooned” a police car claimed
...continue The incorrigible spirit of Oz]]> It is good to know that in a turbulent world, one can count on our Anglosphere cousins down under to maintain their glorious traditions of brash vulgarity and plain-spokenness (and not to mention the ability to kick ass at cricket). On a gloomy November afternoon, while pondering the latest tragic events in Kenya, I came across this cheeky little news report, which should gladden the hearts of anyone who has less than 100 percent respect for the police, who increasingly seem more intent on social control than beating crime.

Lawyers for an Australian man who “mooned” a police car claimed it was his constitutional right and part of the larrikin Australian character.

Sounds entirely reasonable to me!

Now that Patrick has moved it over to Movable Type, I am nagging him to set me up with automatic posting rights to Transport Blog, to take up some of the slack when he gets too depressed about the state of Britain’s deeply depressing
...continue Wheelmen]]> UK Transport is now Transport Blog, and has a burst of short but varied new postings. This is a good name, combining Patrick Crozier‘s all-embracingly global field of vision (although the latest postings are mostly British, with only the occasional Japanese reference) with his general gloom about his ability to dazzle. No “Transports of Delight” nonsense.

Now that Patrick has moved it over to Movable Type, I am nagging him to set me up with automatic posting rights to Transport Blog, to take up some of the slack when he gets too depressed about the state of Britain’s deeply depressing transport infrastructure, for words, as it were. When my campaign has succeeded, this is the kind of stuff I’ll be putting there, although if Perry wants to insert a weekend type picture here, I recommend this as being more his (our) kind of thing.

Being a pedestrian with a heart condition is about to get worse.

For example, I’m already thinking about a post I hope to do soon concerning the vital importance to the development of Silicon Valley not just in a general way of Stanford University,
...continue BEdBlogging BEdBlogging BEdBlogging]]> In my previous posting here, about Gordon Brown’s plans to wreck the British economy, I said that all that was one reason I was happy. Here’s another: Brian’s EDUCATION Blog. It’s not for me to be saying how good this is, but I can say that so far I am managing to keep on doing whatever it is I’m doing. I’m not running out of things to say.

For example, I’m already thinking about a post I hope to do soon concerning the vital importance to the development of Silicon Valley not just in a general way of Stanford University, but in particular of just one academic at Stanford University, a man called Frederick Terman. I’ve semi-known about this man for almost as long as I’ve known about Silicon Valley, but there’s nothing like having to write regularly for a specialist blog to make you learn the outlines of a story like this properly, by the simple procedure of writing it out. Quite aside from what others may be learning from it, think what Brian’s Education Blog is doing for Brian’s Education. The ambiguity of the title is entirely deliberate.

And what about the writings of others that I might otherwise have missed? My favourite new writing discovery this week is Colby Cosh. He’s done two pieces this week on educational themes, both excellent. This is a take on one of the minor weaknesses (slightly weird parentally implanted beliefs) that sometimes goes with a kid being home-schooled, and on the major strength, ditto (very good education).

And this is an essentially economic critique of the whole idea of schools as we now know them which I think is right on the money, money being one of the things Cosh talks about. I’ve already quoted from this over at BEdBlog. Here’s another bit:

… If you were designing an education method from scratch you’d never dream of having hundreds of kids in one giant building like a workhouse or a Panopticon prison, would you? You’d probably get together with ten or twelve of your neighbours, people who have kids roughly your child’s age, and you’d hire one person to handle their education. Think of the background checks you could do on your candidates, the multi-tier interview process you could organize. Worried about paying the salary of a tutor? Well, I don’t know about where you live, but my provincial government spends about $5,000 a year educating a child, according to a back-of-envelope calculation. That’s not an unreasonable amount, but if you were given that money and allowed to spend it as you please, do you think you could do better?

That’s more or less what I see happening… increasingly radical forms of “school choice”, the creation of a free market for tutor labour, innovative community arrangements. Flatter educational structures without all the paperwork. An outflow of schoolwork from the factories to – well, I don’t know; it seems to me, just for starters, that there are a whole lot of old people rattling around big houses who would almost be willing to pay to have the place full of children during the day. Or you could simply let a parent with a large house host the class, and allow their child to join for free. A finished basement would be more than large enough, really, for the kind of classes I’m imagining. …

Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, I’ve got into the habit of typing “education” into google and seeing what floats to the top. Usually it’s some ghastly governmental, er, item, and last night was no different. But honestly, what is there to say about some piece of politico-educational chair re-arranging like this? One lot of politicians think that someone in charge of some schools in Ottawa (a Mr Beckstead) should be fired. Another lot of politicians think he shouldn’t. Money is mentioned a lot, education hardly at all. Something to do with how quickly inner city schools are being shut down and how quickly new schools are being erected in the suburbs. By the government. As they say in parts of the USA, well whoop-de-do. Maybe I ought to be interested, but all I can really think to say is that in Colby-Cosh-Brian-Micklethwait world, these things would take care of themselves. I’m afraid Mr Beckstead is not going to get any mentions on BEdBlog, and this is definitely the last you’ll be reading about him here, unless some Canadians surprise us with some comments about why we should care about him.

In general, I find that all the interesting action in education is taking place underneath the politics, so to speak, in the form of local initiatives that make sense for the people directly involved. The nearest thing to a political-type news story that I have found seriously interesting is the so-called Teach First scheme, which although it is aimed at making some very bad state schools (of exactly the sort that Colby Cosh criticises) somewhat less bad still makes a lot of sense to me. Basically it’s sticking posh young men from posh universities in crap schools for a couple of years before they duly get their posh jobs in the City. Good idea, at both ends. More about this, and about how I heard about it, here.

Although I have to struggle to stay awake when confronted with nationalised education policy, “Globalised” education policy, that is to say, the ongoing attempt to create a global Ministry of Education, is, on the other hand, extremely interesting, and also of course extremely sinister. I’m definitely going to keep an eye on that story as it unfolds. Very slowly, I hope and pray. With luck, by the time the damned machine is in place, real education of the Colby Cosh sort (which is now spreading like wildfire throughout the Third World) will be up, up and away.

Jew on holiday. Legitimate targetanywhere in the world, apparently.

But Jews = Israel and Israel = bad, in fact very bad as it is not just ‘Jewish’ but also ‘White’. Therefore the people who did this must be misguided ‘Islamic activists’. Terrible but ‘understandable’ to idiotarians and other sundry folk who take Noam Chomsky seriously. You know, the sort of people who say “Who are we do judge the value of other cultures?” and “Of course I deplore terrorism, but…”

Kikambala in Kenya
...continue A meta-contextual dilemma for the Idiotarians]]> Someone tried to shoot down an airliner full of Jews, not in Israel but in Africa…

Jew on holiday. Legitimate target
anywhere in the world, apparently.

But Jews = Israel and Israel = bad, in fact very bad as it is not just ‘Jewish’ but also ‘White’. Therefore the people who did this must be misguided ‘Islamic activists’. Terrible but ‘understandable’ to idiotarians and other sundry folk who take Noam Chomsky seriously. You know, the sort of people who say “Who are we do judge the value of other cultures?” and “Of course I deplore terrorism, but…”

Kikambala in Kenya is ripped apart by the same people who tried to shoot down the passenger jet and slaughtered Kenyans are photographed in the ruins of the resort which used to bring much needed foreign money into Kenya’s economy…

Vanquished capitalist tools perhaps? CIA agents maybe?

Black people in the Third World lie dead, therefore people who did this must be capitalists, um, imperialists, errr, Americans, no, Mac Donalds, um, er, ah…

I see pictures like those and I am soooooo sick of the people who say “It is all about Israel!” or “It is all about oil!” or “It is all about US policy!“… those dead Kenyans are not in Israel, I rather doubt they owned shares in any oil companies and they did not get to vote for who became the President of the United States.

What “it is all about” is that there are people using violence who advocate coercive pan-Islamic collectivism and who wish to force submission on everyone else. Once this is understood, all that needs to follow is to determine the best way to exterminate them as expeditiously as possible.

Read here about a comedy fatwa and call for a full-scale ironic jihad… It’s Friday, for God’s sake!