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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One doesn’t expect much good news from Africa, and Kenya may be notorious as among the most corruptly governed countries in the world, but this is what I call a public service.
A strange note in the commentary which I take to be a sign of a global, not just an African, problem:
People are so into their daily lives, running here and there, they don’t have time to read. In fact they only read when they need to sit for an examination. We hardly have anyone reading for pastime or for knowledge.
I have heard similar things in Britain, from both the non-readers and academic acquaintances responsible for teaching non-readers. In a world dominated by bureaucracy, qualifications no longer have any necessary relationship to knowledge, and reading is an act of compliance.
But being an outdoor librarian seems like a good job to me.
Perry in particular will be delighted to know of the existence of Moonbat Media – it is new to me anyway. Though they do not seem to be taking the definition very literally.
Take a look at this… Jenna Jameson in a really strange bit of video weirdness. This is not the sort of thing you should ‘over-think’ in the comment section.
An intriguing remark overheard, with no supporting context, at tonight’s bash at Samizdata HQ:
“I was an immigrant chambermaid in Hotel Babylon”
That sounds fascinating!
I suppose it had to happen. As global temperatures supposedly rise – and it is not difficult to accept that claim right now in my sweltering apartment – certain groups are playing the victim card by suing governments and other agents for causing global warming and hence hurting their livelihoods.
Silicon.com carries a story about one of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ new IT projects. Apparently the “Aspire” project will come in at double the estimated 3 to 4 billion pounds. There is no hint of what the real-world functions of Aspire are supposed to be, but apparently this is part of the department’s attempt to cut the proportion of its costs that are IT below 20% at the same time as reducing its headcount by 12,500 (out of 90,000).
Readers who are in business may wish to pause at this point and admire the insanity. Breath the heady aroma of that pompous project name. Note lightly in passing the apparently conflicting goals. Savour a budget for a re-tooling exercise (if that is what it is) of £40,000 a head. Stretch your generosity (it’s good for you) and see that mere billion variance in the estimate as a calculated ±15% derived from risk analysis, not cluelessness at all. Then marvel as the costs bust the error-bars by multiple-sigmas… A Titanic of a project! How unlucky could they be?
So far so paradoxical. Business as usual for the government department that purports to oversee your every penny, and guarantees suffering if you can’t account for the office biscuit budget, or provide a full itinerary for a business trip taken five years ago. What’s sort of gobsmacking is this – the National Audit Office (NAO) finds things to praise:
The NAO estimates that if HMRC’s approach and best practice is adopted across the public sector, it could save 10 per cent in procurement and transition costs when re-competing major contracts – and called on the Office of Government Commerce to take a lead in providing guidance in the future.
Head of the NAO, Sir John Bourn, said in the report: “The department successfully completed the first major re-competition of a large public sector IT contract and transfer from one supplier to another without a loss in service to the taxpayer.”
I’m not sure I want to know what “re-competing” is.
Yesterday… I saw a homemade butane-powered cannon shoot a saboted blueberry muffin across my lawn.
– Tamara K
Like many folk, I get my fair share of free newspapers pushed through the letterbox. These publications live on advertising and in some cases are quite useful, full of details about local plumbers, plasterers, doctors, new restaurants and the like. In my central London neighbourhood of Pimlico, there are a few of these things floating around. I normally give them a cursory glance and either jot down any handy numbers or put the rag into the trash.
The Pimlico and Belgravia Eye has this interesting ad which definitely caught my eye (not available online):
The latest craze hits Pimlico, Victoria!. Experience the ultimate sense of self expression. Not only is it an alternative form of fitness, but it is an overall empowerment source for women. Whether you want to learn new moves for personal enjoyment or for professional career development, we have just the class for you… Students are from all walks of life, ages, shapes and sizes. The school is designed for all levels of experience – total beginners, professional dancers and even aspiring pole dancing performers.
Pole dancing – now associated with ’empowerment’ and ‘professional career development’. Say what you like about we stuffy Brits – there is none of that stuffyiness in deepest Pimlico.
Here is their, ahem, website.
One of my hobbies is photographing landmarks, but in the course of doing this, I spot other less landmarky things, and snap them too. That was the origin of this photo:
It was taken in Harrow, which I visited not long ago, to photograph the new and I think magnificent Wembley football stadium.
Click to see more clothing graphics. Very Samizdata, I hope you agree. Apart, maybe, from where it says John Lennon.
Ok, now this is both cool and a bit wierd.
Jim Henson banged out these rather bizarre commercials – featuring a murdering psychopathic Kermit The Frog lookalike and a Cookie Monsteresque grump – before sharpening his act up and creating The Muppets.
See (a lot) more of the series here, and ponder why Wilkins Coffee is not a household name.
(Hat tip – Larvatus Prodeo)
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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.
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