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]

Harry Potter, the new crack?

It seems that Harry Potter is taking over like cocaine in the 1980’s. The Devil Girl confesses her addiction:

I am wrapped up in my Harry Potter […] I’ve been reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets all night and day. I am going to finish it so I can read books 3 and 4. This is worse than crack, I swear. (Not that I’d know, but, uhm, well anyway..)

Everyone was so concerned about a few cases of anthrax, they missed something truly virulent spreading across the world.

Samizdata motto of the week

Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

– J. K. Rowling (…whom the Samizdata Illuminatus happens to think is rather desirable)

Samizdata slogan of the day

Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness Positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
Thomas Paine (1776)

Samizdata quote of the day

Level playing fields are for those who lack the wit to find one tilted in their favour.

– Bob Lewis

Samizdata quote of the day

The future isn’t as far away as it used to be

– Dale Amon

Samizdata quote of the day

When bad men combine, the good must associate else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle

– Edmund Burke

Hey Dawson… Yeah, you…

Yeah, you…Dawson of Dawson.com

Your e-mail address link is phucked. Fix it or we will send Natalie Solent and her well armed husband around to sort you out.

Vegetarians say “Be Christlike, don’t eat meat”

It seems that ‘People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) feel that to be a good Christian, one must refrain from eating meat. There is even a Christian Vegetarian website.

Now as a libertarian, I regard vegetarianism as a totally acceptable life style choice for other people and I am not knocking it…however it is not something I choose to follow myself. I shall stick to my omnivorous ways.

I just have one question… if vegetarianism matters one jot to Christianity, then why did Christ perform the miracle of turning five loaves and two fishes into many in order to feed the multitude (Matthew 14)? Why not five loaves and two tofu cubes?

Samizdata quote of the day

Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

– H.L. Mencken

And here’s one for all you Objectivists who have a sense of humour…

Now I realise that the concept of an Objectivist-with-a-sense-of-humour (or even humor) might be straining the bounds of credulity for some readers of the Samizdata, but I beg to differ. After all, if you listen to just about anything Leonard Piekoff has said since September 11, it indicates a man with immense comedic talent and superb comic timing. He even keeps a straight face whilst indulging in collectivist whimsy like advocating lobbing nuclear weapons at various unspecified Middle Eastern cities. See what I mean? Now is that man a jolly funster or what?

And so in that spirit, take a look at Modern Humorist (ignore their ghastly American spelling for a moment… there is a u shortage over there), and read ATLAS SHR: A glimpse into alternate universes where Ayn Rand’s books are all 400 pages shorter.

I particular liked:

ALAN GREENSPAN finished reading Ayn Rand’s complete works seven years earlier. He advanced more quickly into Rand’s inner circle, began his career as an economist in the mid-1960s, and became chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in 1971. Thanks to his earlier leadership, there was no oil crisis or recession in the 70s. As a result, widespread vilification of Arab culture by working class Americans never came to pass, and the professional wrestling scapegoat known as The Iron Sheik was never created. This allowed wrestler Bob Backlund to retain the WWF championship belt in 1983.

Excellent.

Cheers and a funny handshake to the sinister Matt Drachenberg for pointing the Samizdata at Modern Humorist.

Samizdata quote of the day

Prostitution is a combination of sex and free enterprise. Which one are you against?

– Unknown

WARNING: Extreme irony alert

…with advance apologies to a certain nameless Reuters reporter who occasionally posts his own articles to the Samizdata.

This little gem was pointed out to us by Mathew Drachenberg on the hilarious satirical U Thant.com site (recommended). As you might know, Reuters have been heavily criticised for refusing to call Al Qaeda ‘terrorists’:

NEWSFLASH! 12:00PM 11/20/01
Reuters Journalists Die in Taliban Ambush
Reuters reports that “so-called murderers” may have “in the opinion of some Westerners, killed” individuals that “Reuters claims were journalists.” Witnesses say that the journalists had no warning of the impending irony before the terrorists shot them.