http://www.samizdata.net/blog/ A blog for people with a critically rational individualist perspective. We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. en-us brianmick@londonsw1.demon.co.uk Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:33:00 +0000 http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/the_cru_hack_wh.html If you want to see how different the world now is from how it was before the internet, look no further than this story (now bouncing energetically around the world): It is claimed that the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia has been hacked and there is a massive file of emails and code up on a server in Russia. If what has been posted is real then the balloon is about... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/an_excellent_re.html Anything that p*sses off the mad mullahs is worth seeing twice in my book. In addition to seeing cool special effects you can set 10th century heads spinning in blind hatred as you enjoy a doomsday fantasy!... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/toby_baxendale.html I recently recorded a conversation with Toby Baxendale, who owns and runs a fish distribution empire, and who is the founder of the Cobden Centre. Listen to it by clicking here. Our chat lasted about fifty minutes and a lot of interesting biographical and intellectual ground is covered. For the benefit of those for whom that is rather a long time to spend listening to talk, I have written at greater length about listening to... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/antiisrael_hyst.html I suppose it says something about The Daily Telegraph's admirable commitment to freedom of speech that it let this comment I paste up below through, or possibly, the laxness of its editors. Following a comment piece about the forthcoming trial of the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, we get this remark, by someone dubbing itself "Lord Barnett": The trial will be a farce,held in New York for the benefit of the jews and the... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/selling_honours.html I wonder what Patri Friedman, moving light in the Seasteading Institute and an advocate of the idea of creating new nations, makes of this story. Sealand is one of the longest-running attempts to create a micro-state. It is off the Suffolk coast, based on an old anti-aircraft tower. The article, by the local newspaper in the East Anglian region, contains a nice photo of the place. I suspect that if Sealand ever provided services -... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/why_the_usa_bad.html It is no secret I am no great admirer of some aspects of the US legal system and the corrupting influence of the US trial lawyers lobby, but then along comes a particularly stark example of why the US really really really needs a UK style 'loser pays' system to discourage preposterous actions like this... Man Blames Planes For Divorce, Seeks $555 Million [...] (Stanley) Hilton's 16-page suit against San Francisco International Airport blames 37... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/lions_lead_by_d.html Yet another example of the vileness of the culture which pervades the management of the public sector... Paramedics fighting to save a nine-year-old road accident victim were told rigid rest-break regulations meant the closest crew could not be called upon for back-up. Lifesavers at a crash scene in Upton were told they would have to wait for a crew nearly 20 minutes away because paramedics in Poole still had a few minutes left on their... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/about_bloody_ti.html Bravo to the security men aboard the MV Maersk Alabama, who when approached and fired on by Somali pirates, fired back and drove them off. Placing armed security men aboard ships vulnerable to pirate attacks has always been the obvious solution to the problem of piracy. How could anyone have thought that hugely expensive warships designed for real wars, operating under preposterous rules of engagement, was ever the solution to a profusion of scabby predators... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/ten_years_on_wi.html The extremely worthy TPA has a nifty new promo for their new book that dares to think the unthinkable... The book, Ten Years On, is available to order free here.... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/cracks_in_the_w.html The "watermelons" - green on the outside, red on the inside - can sometimes be uncomfortable elements, prone to occasional frictions. The old left, with all its many faults, did at least favour industry and material wealth. And the cause of wealth creation can clash with the Green agenda, though let it be noted that the best way to tackle environmental problems, in my view, is for us to get as rich as we can.... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/the_speaker_of.html This comment on the current Speaker, of the House of Commons, John Bercow, who is generally regarded by many people as a slimeball of the first order: "If you feel that is an exaggeration, look what they did when last entrusted with what was potentially a great reforming measure – the chance to elect a new Speaker to replace the compromised and incapable man we must learn to call Lord Martin. They ended up choosing... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/on_avoiding_a_r.html Via the Cobden Centre, a relatively new think tank that focuses on banking and money from the "Austrian" point of view, here is a nice article by James Tyler. He sets out how to avoid past problems and what to do about banking and money. I still think that fractional reserve banking, so long as it is openly stated and so long as legal tender laws are scrapped, is not necessarily an evil. If a... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/and_the_last_10.html Why has the null hypothesis been the backbone for testing for decades Epic fail Brazil miniskirt woman Bratislava babe Does my carbon footprint look big in this Opinions about healthcare Miss Japan porn scandal Communism collapse Best national anthem Dystopia satire The internet is strange.... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/christian_chari.html The Archbishop of Canterbury seems to be of the view that somewhere in the Bible, it says "take the wealth of others by force and give it to people best able to work the political system". Just another statist thug, but then we already knew that.... http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/11/read_the_whole.html And then ask yourself: What is to be done? What can I do? How far am I prepared to go? John Osimek reports for The Register: The government obsession with collecting data has now extended to five-year-olds, as local Community Health Services get ready to arm-twist parents into revealing the most intimate details of their own and their child’s personal, behavioural and eating habits. The questionnaire – or "School Entry Wellbeing Review" – is a...