We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

The force is strong in this one!

Why? Because this is just too damn good…

You are welcome.

So here comes the next ‘moral panic’

I assume this risible claim by NSPCC (the quango responsible for the discredited family destroying ‘satanic‘ moral panic of the 1980’s/90’s), is priming the pump for the next assault on civil liberties to justify its existence, yes?

A tenth of 12 to 13-year-olds fear they are “addicted” to pornography, an NSPCC ChildLine survey has concluded.
One in five of nearly 700 youngsters surveyed said they had seen pornographic images that had shocked or upset them, researchers found

…”researchers found” is a phase that is pure gold, it is not? Perhaps children have fundamentally changed since I was one, but when I was in my early teens, if I saw a ‘helpline’ being advertised that could assist me regarding porn, I would have called it on the assumption they were going to help me find the ‘good stuff’ rather than those hairy porkers in Mayfair or Men Only 😉

An Armstrong Whitworth Argosy?

I have not had time to process the photos I need for a good photo blog of the LA County Airshow from about ten days ago, but I am going to push this photo ahead of the bunch. The aircraft in question was not a part of the show; it was parked way back where you need your maximum lens extension to get a fair look. It sits behind a C-97 and not far from a C-119, so I was of course looking for something USAF or USAAF from that era even though I knew of no aircraft of this format in American service. It looked somewhat Russian or British so I tried that approach. The match to the Argosy seems conclusive to me, but I have no idea what one of those is doing at Fox Field outside Lancaster, California.

A C-97 and an Armstrong Whitworth Argosy at Fox Field In Lancaster, California

A C-97 and an Armstrong Whitworth Argosy at Fox Field In Lancaster, California. Copyright Dale Amon, All Rights Reserved.

Samizdata quote of the day

When you look at 19th century America or 18th and 16th century Europe, all of a sudden it’ll become clearer that the thing that broke the back of poverty and privilege in developed countries in the past was when property rights came around and destroyed feudal title.

Hernando de Soto

This could add a whole new meaning to having a car crash

I was watching this video about electric cars…

 

…and was struck by this remark by Mark Tinker, discussing driving a Tesla:

“I liken it to driving an iPad”

Hmmm…

Then I had a flash forward a few years into the future…

Me: Hello, sorry I am a bit late, but I had a car crash.

Friend: oh no, is everyone alright?

Me: Not that kind, I just had to pull over and wait for the car to reboot.

Samizdata quote of the day

The part I find hilarious is the divestment movement that’s popping up around this law. They’re basically saying that Indianans have done something they find deeply and personally offensive, so the boycotters are going to refuse to do business with them as a result. It sounds like a prima facie argument for the exact bill that they’re opposed to.

– Samizdata commenter Alsadius

Yet another superb argument for home schooling

When I read this:

Head teachers in Cheshire have warned parents they will report them to the authorities if they allow their children to play computer games rated for over-18s.

“We are trying to help parents to keep their children as safe as possible in this digital era.”

… I concluded the best way to keep your children safe is to home school them so that they stay as far away as possible, not from GTA, but from power obsessed busybodies like these people.

US state Indiana to allow freedom of association?

… and you cannot have freedom of association without freedom of disassociation.

Therefore I am perfectly willing to see a non-state owned company decline to do business with me because of my politics, or because of my hippopotamus fetish, or because I tend to wear red trousers. Of course by ‘perfectly willing to see’ I mean ‘that a company is legally permitted to discriminate against me’… I am not suggesting I would be thrilled by it.

So is there any reason anyone who cares about liberty should oppose this? Indeed would it not be better if the law just stated it was none of the state’s business who a company chooses not to do business with for any reason, absent any prior or overarching contractual obligation?

This is not going to end well (Part 38,239)

This was tweeted by Dominic Frisby earlier today:

CBLF6YDWUAACbaJ

As he says: “1st-time-buyer earnings-to-house-price ratio in London. Gulp. And London 1st-time-buyers are old too … ”

The moment interest rates go up, even slightly, there is going to be an almighty collapse.

Samizdata quote of the day

The fundamental problem is that the majority of otherwise peaceful and law-abiding Muslims are unwilling to acknowledge, much less to repudiate, the theological warrant for intolerance and violence embedded in their own religious texts.

– An excerpt from Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s latest book, quoted here.

Thank you Mick Hartley.

Feminist Jazz Hands!

This is one of the funniest things I have read in quite some time.

Please can we ask people to stop clapping but do feminist jazz hands? it’s triggering some peoples’ anxiety. thank you!

My goodness what timorous fearful little things they are! Not exactly the sort of women who might be up for a spot of defending Kobani with some fellow Marxists then, eh? Truly the western world’s loonie left is vanishing up its own backside.

Well should I have the singular misfortune to find myself in a room with these delicate little flowers, I might be moved to make a somewhat different gesture rather than “Jazz Hands” as an alternative to clapping. Think this might ‘trigger some anxieties’?

David_Niven_flicking_V_promo_still_Dinner_at_the_Ritz

Please tell me this is a joke…

Amongst the ten people voted “World’s Top Thinkers” are Russell Brand and Thomas Piketty? Seriously? This must be a truly tenebrous selection of voters! I have occasionally stood in more thoughtful things than those two whist incautiously walking down the street palm surfing for porn essays on complexity theory!