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]
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Another lead points to Pakistan

· Middle East & Islamic

This Teheran Times story says that two of their nuclear scientists have been rearrested on suspicion of something or other to do with Afghanistan. Can the two stories be linked?

November 28th, 2001 | Comments are closed

Libertarian Kipling!

· Opinions on liberty

Well, if you’re going to have libertarian Kipling, you’d better get a good strong dose of MacDonough’s Song:

Whether the State can loose and bind
In Heaven as well as on Earth:
If it be wiser to kill mankind
Before or after the birth–
These are matters of high concern
Where the State-kept schoolmen are;
But Holy State (we have lived to learn)
Endeth in Holy War.

Whether the People be led by the Lord,
Or lured by the loudest throat:
If it be quicker to die by the sword
Or cheaper to die by the vote–
These are things we have dealt with once,
(And they will not rise from the grave)
For Holy People, however it runs,
Endeth in wholly Slave.

Whatsoever, for any cause,
Seeketh to take or give
Power above or beyond the Laws,
Suffer it not to live!
Holy State or Holy King–
Or Holy People’s Will–
Have no truck with the senseless thing.
Order the guns and kill!
Saying–after–me–

Once there was The People–Terror gave it birth;
Once there was The People and it made a Hell of Earth.
Earth arose and crushed it. Listen, O ye slain!
Once there was The People–it shall never be again!

November 19th, 2001 | Comments are closed

Dale Amon is right

· Military affairs

…to point out that the 18 US Rangers in Somalia gave a good account of themselves. All honour to them. The fact remains that the point of military action is not to get a favourable kill-ratio but to win. If I wanted to bore you with a list of wars where the losing side killed more than the winners I would start with World War II, go on to World War I, and keep talking for a long, long time.

Not that I’m arguing with the main thrust here! Here’s some more forgotten dead people: 5,000 killed by chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein in Halabja.

November 17th, 2001 | Comments are closed

The worldview promoted by arbitrage

· Economics, Business & Globalization

…is not so completely wonderful as all that. As I understand it arbitrage is a zero sum game. As I never tire of pointing out – um, no, as I’m sick and tired of pointing out but keep doing it anyway – the wider world of laissez faire is a win-win game. Warm. Loving. Huggy. Capitalism. It’s a metacontext thing, Perry, like in your opening essay.

November 14th, 2001 | Comments are closed

Bruce Willis versus Sting

· Arts & Entertainment

Bruce Willis, as you note, won’t get on a plane to Britain and is going to get a few rasberries come Die Hard Whatever It Is Up To Now. In this he follows the heroic tradition of Sly Stallone who wouldn’t fly for fear of catching Foot & Mouth from the loo seats, or something. Oh yes, I remember now, his problem was fear of what we used to call “terrorism”. Contrast our own magnificent Sting, up there on Concorde! Quite takes you back to the cutaways in Eagle Magazine, doesn’t it, “Another British World Beater!” Just don’t mention the cricketers.

On second thoughts, while I freely award boos and cheers to all the right people, let’s not get hung up on gesture politics. Or on giving unwarranted attention to the irrelevant political views of famous hunks.

BTW on my husband’s Eagle Book of Cutaways the de Havilland Comet is right next to the Short Solent flying boat. Isn’t that cute?

November 8th, 2001 | Comments are closed

Blogthoughts

· Independent sites & social media

Like Dale Amon, I lose my co-blogging virginity today, indeed at this moment. That’s like not with for any tabloid journalists reading this. If any are, keep reading. You might learn something for a change.

Many hear will have heard me gushing on about (a) blogs and (b) being paid for them as the Wave of the Future etc. The “being paid” bit strikes me as important because only money can transform the provision of decentralised, unmediated news from a hobby of the intelligentsia to a major former of opinion. We need a system where you can, without effort, pay a tiny sum to read a web page.

But it’s not all good news. An obvious problem is that of preaching only to the converted. If the “team” list under the toilet sign at the top of the screen all contribute, this blog looks likely to become the Real Libertarian Alliance Forum. I find this somewhat worrying, and not only because it’ll make Mario Huet feel bad as his numbers go down through no fault of his own. We’ll all become – dare I invoke Banquo’s ghost? – atomised.

BTW I have set up my own blog at http://nataliesolent.blogspot.com. I don’t think my blogspot’s evolutionary niche lies in discussion. Rather I aim to just post comments about news stories and thoughts that interest me. So my dears, don’t be sad that I haven’t invited you, because I haven’t invited anyone. All I want in life really is to be a James Bond supervillain and have a cool wall of TV screens. My Birman cat already fits the part beautifully.

November 6th, 2001 | Comments are closed
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