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]
|
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! 
The Canadian government official who branded U.S. President George W. Bush a “moron” has resigned, news services report.
Consider the recent actions and achievements of this ‘moron’:
- Propose a massive cutback in world tariffs.
- Republicans win back control of the Senate and boost control in House of Representatives.
- The tax cut.
- Force UN to get serious about Iraq.
- Stiff the Kyoto Treaty.
- Ditto the International Criminal Court.
- Kick out the Taliban from Afghanistan.
- Foster vastly improved relations with Russia.
- Make serious social security reform a key GOP agenda item.
- Fracture the Democrat hold on the ethnic vote.
And finally,
- Seriously annoy the EU junta.
Okay, okay, I hear you libertarians cry, what about the Patriot Act, the Farm Bill, the steel tariffs? All fair criticisms. But the oft-repeated claim from the chattering classes that Bush is a dope is plainly silly. They are making the same mistake they made about Ronald Reagan.
The conjunction of dreaming and ruling generates tyranny.
– Michael Oakeshott
The National Ammo Day BUYcott is today, November 19th. Remember all those people in other nations who have been disarmed by their governments when you stock up on a few boxes of your favorite 9mm and 308 Win.
No retreat. No surrender.
You did something because it had always been done, and the explanation was “but we’ve always done it this way.” A million dead people can’t have been wrong, can they?
– Terry Pratchett
When words lose their meaning, people will lose their liberty
– Confucius
For example the term ‘liberal’… once meant (& to some, prefaced by ‘classical’, it still does) a supporter of individual liberties against both force backed custom (paleo-conservativism) and force backed allegedly rational planning (socialism). It is now generally used as a euphemism for ‘democratic socialism’.
This meme hack was brought to you by Alan K. Henderson. See here for the inspiration.
Long live freedom and Secularism
– From the Movement of Iranian Students, who are right now the fighting forces of ignorance and darkness.
Rousseau’s reputation during his lifetime, and his influence after his death, raise disturbing questions about human gullibility, and indeed about the human propensity to reject evidence it does not wish to admit.
– Paul Johnson
I don’t smoke. I don’t like the whiff of a cigarette and frequently will come back from a certain pub, cursing the atmosphere in the boozer for making my clothing reek of ciggies. I think that so-called ‘passive smoking’, while it may not cause cancer or other health problems, is certainly unpleasant. I prefer to sit in the non-smoking bits of a restaurant if at all possible and ask people in my apartment not to smoke. So there it is.
And yet, and yet… I loathe the cultural jihad in the West that has been going on against smokers. The latest lunacy has been the decision by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to ban smoking in all public places. All of them. So even if the owner of a private restaurant or bar (which are of course private property) says it is okay to smoke, and the customers are okay with that, the ban must be imposed nonetheless. Never mind that no one is forced to go into a bar or restaurant if they dislike the atmosphere. This is a clear violation of property rights. Of course with true public spaces which have been funded out of tax, the situation is a bit different and with subways, safety issues to do with fire can be used to justify a ban, or partial one.
But Bloomberg, owner of a some sort of news company  , is showing a total lack of proportion. Since September 11, 2001, New Yorkers have occasionally had many reasons to steady their nerves and enjoy the indulgences of this fleeting life. For some, it may be the taste of a delicious bagel, or a sip of a beer. But for many citizens of that great city, it has been about lighting up a cigarette.
In case anyone else has noticed… there seems to be a failure of DNS for Glenn Reynolds Instapundit. The company “DNS Services” seems to not be answering queries. He is still reachable by IP
I wonder if he realizes it… HEY GLENN, IF YOU FLUSH YOUR LOCAL CACHE YOU MIGHT LOSE TOUCH WITH YOUR SERVER!!!
Later… 0400 GMT: All seems well again over at Instapundit.
Our Debian Linux-based server is undergoing a software update this afternoon (GMT) so please excuse us if any problems arise. Remote system upgrades are always “interesting” affairs.
Time passes…
All clear. Other than one near disaster with a critical library that got automatically de-installed when it shouldn’t, all seems to have gone smoothly.
|
Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
|
