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

· Civil liberty, Law & Regulation · North American affairs · Slogans & Quotations

Our message today is very simple: we will never allow barbarism, never allow Islam, to rob us of our freedom of speech.

– Geert Wilders

May 4th, 2015 | 75 comments - (Comments are closed)

The Fascist International continues to coalesce

· European affairs

This is looks like it was a fun hack!

The hackers from the Anonymous International have disclosed thousands of text messages sent to and by Timur Prokopenko, deputy chief of the Domestic Politics Department of the Russian Federation’s Presidential Administration.

[…]

The messages dating back to March 2014 also mention Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far right National Front, and contribute to better understanding of the relations between Russia and Le Pen’s party.

[…]

These communications correspond well to the developments in March 2014. Le Pen did not indeed go to Crimea, but her contemporary adviser on international relations, Aymeric Chauprade, went to observe the “referendum”. The French newspaper Libération informed, with a reference to Chauprade’s entourage, that he had been invited to monitor the “referendum” by the Eurasian Observatory for Democracy and Elections (EODE), a Belgium-based NGO run by Belgian extreme right activist Luc Michel. Together with the pro-Kremlin, Poland-based European Centre for Geopolitical Analysis, the EODE was responsible for inviting international monitors to observe the “referendum” in Crimea. However, the National Front denied that the EODE had invited Chauprade, as the party feared that the publicized relationship with the Belgian right-wing extremists could damage the reputation of the National Front, especially on the eve of the municipal elections.

Whilst the Le Pen/Putin association is hardly a secret, it is always fascinating to see the spider-web of links amongst amongst Europe and Russia’s assorted fascists.

May 3rd, 2015 | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)

Just when I think things are bad in the UK, the cousins do this…

· North American affairs

Things drive me crazy in the UK, what with the precipitous decline in civil liberties by almost every measure. Yet somehow we seem to avoid shockers like this (so far at least):

Craig Patty asked his employee Lawrence Chapa to help take one of his two trucks to the garage, not realizing that Chapa was a DEA undercover planning to fill the truck with weed, which ended in a firefight with a Los Zetas hit squad that killed the driver, who was a DEA informant.

The DEA says it doesn’t owe Patty anything for the more than $100,000 in repairs that were required for the truck, and disclaim any responsibility for the death of Patty’s employee. Also, they won’t do anything about the fact that they led the Zetas to believe that Patty was a rival drug-runner.

A federal judge in Texas dismissed Patty’s lawsuit against the DEA, because when the DEA is undertaking a “clandestine” operation, it can operate with total legal impunity

Oh and sorry about the dead employee but tough shit. Actually I would not be surprised if they did not even say ‘sorry’. I want to run a business in the USA even less than I want to run one here now. Gah.

May 2nd, 2015 | 21 comments - (Comments are closed)

French politics looks much more interesting…

· French affairs

…because boobs!


Les Femen perturbent le 1er mai de Marine Le Pen by lemondefr

May 1st, 2015 | 33 comments - (Comments are closed)

Dick Puddlecote’s Fantasy Front Bench

· UK affairs

That dependable wag and foe of darkness Dick Puddlecote (who is still blogging in spite of dying in 1305, which is pretty damn hardcore if you ask me) has come up with his Fantasy Front Bench for freedom lovers!

Puddlecote-FantasyBench

What do you make of Ol’ Dick’s choices?

April 30th, 2015 | 12 comments - (Comments are closed)

Samizdata quote of the day

· North American affairs · Slogans & Quotations

I wish you all the luck in the world Baltimore. And I truly wish you had the courage to change. If you ever do, send up a flare. Until then, there is nothing anyone can do for you. You are victims of your own choices, and no one can make choices for you but you.

– John Nolte, from ‘Baltimore is a Democrat problem, not America’s problem‘

April 29th, 2015 | 33 comments - (Comments are closed)

Nothing splendid about splendid isolation

· Economics, Business & Globalization · European affairs

If Capaldo’s claims were right, Europe should have economically disintegrated as a result of its trade integration with any other part of the world. The Capaldo reasoning suggests that Europe’s trade integration with China, for instance, would have fractured EU economic integration. In fact, European economic integration deepened considerably even though import competition from the Asia-Pacific increased significantly over the past two decades.

According to the Capaldo reasoning, economic integration within the European Single Market should have triggered a tremendous fall in wages and employment due to the greater exposure of EU economies to trade and the proclaimed negative impact on income and aggregate demand. None of this has happened.

– Fredrik Erixon & Matthias Bauer, from “Splendid Isolation” as Trade Policy: Mercantilism and Crude Keynesianism in “the Capaldo Study” of TTIP

April 29th, 2015 | 7 comments - (Comments are closed)

Everything you ever needed to know about trigger warnings and safe areas

· Sui generis

TW2_L115A3_sniper_rifle

Trigger warnings, eh? Well now you know! You are welcome. This public service announcement was brought to you by samizdata.net

April 25th, 2015 | 34 comments - (Comments are closed)

Because today I just cannot bring myself to write anything profound…

· How very odd!

… so here is a cautionary tale. Continuing the topic of interspecies communication, when you see a monkey just sitting there minding his own damn business (note there are two people quite calmly sitting next to him), it is most unwise to get in his face and then impolitely flip him off.

April 24th, 2015 | 16 comments - (Comments are closed)

Earth Day! Another golden marketing opportunity!

· Environment

earthday_hahaha

God bless Capitalism! And do not forget, turn every light in your house on to celebrate!

April 22nd, 2015 | 14 comments - (Comments are closed)

So my American chums, answer me this…

· Civil liberty, Law & Regulation · North American affairs · Self defence & Security

You guys have the Second Amendment. Guns, you has ’em. I am told it is the ultimate bulwark against tyranny. At least in principle I agree completely that an armed population is a good thing, which is sadly not the situation here in disarmed Britain.

Then why is this possible?

Cindy Archer, one of the lead architects of Wisconsin’s Act 10 — also called the “Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill,” it limited public-employee benefits and altered collective-bargaining rules for public-employee unions — was jolted awake by yelling, loud pounding at the door, and her dogs’ frantic barking. The entire house — the windows and walls — was shaking. She looked outside to see up to a dozen police officers, yelling to open the door. They were carrying a battering ram. She wasn’t dressed, but she started to run toward the door, her body in full view of the police. Some yelled at her to grab some clothes, others yelled for her to open the door. “I was so afraid,” she says. “I did not know what to do.” She grabbed some clothes, opened the door, and dressed right in front of the police. The dogs were still frantic. “I begged and begged, ‘Please don’t shoot my dogs, please don’t shoot my dogs, just don’t shoot my dogs.’ I couldn’t get them to stop barking, and I couldn’t get them outside quick enough. I saw a gun and barking dogs. I was scared and knew this was a bad mix.”

So a politically motivated raid by armed police in Wisconsin is conducted against a political rival, and… well… and what?

As news of what happened belatedly spreads, are militia’s urgently forming in the ‘Land of the Free and Home of the Brave’ to meet this use for political armed force with opposing armed force? Is there a hash tag #NewMinuteMenMuster calling armed civilian enemies of tyranny in the USA to take up those 2nd Amendment blessed arms yet? Or at least are folks coming up with SOPs for an en-mass armed response for the next time this happens?

Clearly it would be wholly justified to start putting up NO POLICE ZONE signs backed up with lethal roadside IED’s to be used against the thugs who did this, so why in the land of the Second Amendment are such things not happening?

This is not a slide towards tyranny in the USA, this is tyranny. The tree of liberty is looking mighty parched right now.

Damn, I thought things were bad here, where all we have to defend ourselves with is pointy sticks, bottles full of soap flakes & petrol, and creative imprecations.

April 21st, 2015 | 84 comments - (Comments are closed)

The US Navy is celebrating Earth Day… is this some kind of joke?

· How very odd! · Military affairs · North American affairs

The US Navy, who job it is to, well you know, kill people when directed to, it proudly celebrating Earth Day.

No doubt this is a strategy to cause the ships of the Chinese Navy to collide, their captains unable to issue orders due to tears of mirth and uncontrollable fits of laughter.

If anyone doubted the western world’s political class and their retainers have been utterly debased … well, here we have proof positive… I can only hope we snap out of it collectively, before it is too late and the congruent cultural decline leaves us with the future prospects of Carthage. And no, I do not accept that it is already too late, and will ignore the usual wailing suicide note comments that suggest otherwise 😉

April 21st, 2015 | 14 comments - (Comments are closed)
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