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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I don’t know what to make of this, but it is surely interesting. The story, in case this link to it goes dead for some reason or another, is that some French-based (it would seem) Muslim entrepreneurs have contrived something called “Mecca-Cola”. It presumably tastes pretty much like the usual Clona-Cola stuff, but it has an Islamic spin to its marketing.
I’ve just caught a British Channel 5 TV report about this, and they made it look as if the “average Muslim” is all for it. And the sales pitch C5 were reportng was: buy Mecca-Cola and demonstrate against the USA and its vicious anti-Muslim war, a troubling combination of messages.
I don’t know if this is us infecting them or them infecting us, or what the hell is going on here, beyond the obvious of some people trying to make lots of money. Is Mecca-Cola making its way in the USA? Comments anyone?
I am trying to figure out who ‘Holland & Barrett’ are worried might sue them if they discovered NUTS in their packet of… Whole Cashew Nuts!
I don’t read cyrillic script, but I’m I’m told that this link takes one to a book by Yuri Muchin which is about the “murder” by “the Jews” of Beria and Stalin.
All I can say is, if it is true, where do I send my check to the global Zionist conspiracy. It is hard to think of a greater service to mankind.
Yesterday I found myself reflecting on that monstrous half-truth, consumer sovereignty. It’s a half truth because the places where consumers do their consuming are also sovereign. (I seem to recall the late Murray Rothbard having some good things to say about “The Myth of Consumer Sovereignty” in Chapter 7, I think it is, of Man, Economy and State). Shops can also do things as they wish, and if you don’t like this then ultimately your only course may be to run away. I don’t favour shop sovereignty extending to the point where they can bolt the door while you’re still there and force you to do things their way, take back what you just said, buy things you don’t want, and so forth. But short of that I like the occasional shop where the constomer has to walk on egg shells to avoid a proprietorial tantrum or to avoid knocking huge tottering piles of random items all over the grubby floor.
Sure, there must be proper shops where the customer is always right and which are helpful, clean, efficient, full of good stuff well displayed and reasonably priced, etc. etc. But not all shops should be like this.
There used to be a wonderful place in Dover Street, just off Seven Dials (a bit to the north of Covent Garden tube station), which was crammed to the ceiling with hardware of every kind you could possibly want or imagine, provided it could be found.
I remember three things in particular about this place, aside from the general mess and dirt and confusion and lack of walking space.
First, the front window was literally a rubbish dump. There it was, displaying a kind of archaeological system of sediments from previous eras of the shop’s history. Nails from the late nineteen fifties, drill bit sets from the early sixties, crushed cardboard boxes, rolls of insulating material, bags full of obscure and complicated joinery items, long discontinued workbench kits, and of course inch upon inch of genuine actual rubbish. All this could be clearly enjoyed through the front window of the shop. → Continue reading: Retailer sovereignty
You never know who’s trying to get into your computer:
“The phone rings: tech support: “hello computer tech support ” customer: “hello my computer was making a strange hissing noise last night and this morning when I turned it on there was a crackling noise and some smoke then nothing, if I bring it in can you fix it?”
This time, though, the intruder was caught on camera.
I went over to Michael Jennings‘ blog to read his cricket piece, the first version of which was apparently eaten by Blogger (the blogospherical equivalent of Wordstar), and which I recommend to all Americans enthusiastically. The cricket piece, not Blogger.
I also found a link to this piece of nonsense, which must be what they mean by the bursting of the internet bubble.
Greece has banned the sale of living dead dolls – kids’ toys featuring fiery eyes, scarred faces and bloodied mouths which come in their own little coffins. Oh, and the dolls also have their own death certificates.
 Playful Sybill Sybill is strapped in a strait jacket with a collar and chain while Inferno has auburn hair, fiery eyes and bat-like wings. They should be a hit with children who just love all things gory and gruesome. But no, the Development Ministry said:
“There is no way we will allow these dolls on the market…these toys constitute a serious threat to the smooth formation and development of the child’s personality and mental health.”
Unlike your knee-jerk statist interference., right? 
I think we may have finally found a justification for burqas. 
A detective working for the Metropolitan Police specialist crime branch fell victim to crime four times in an hour-and-a-half. His car was broken into and his bicycle stolen before being beaten up and having his moped vandalised.
The crime spree started outside his home in Fulham (which is a nice area!) in London. First, his CD player had been taken from his VW Golf. Then his bike was stolen as he went to report the car break-in and to call his insurance company. He took his moped to look for the thief but, after trying to detain a youth he saw riding his bike, he was attacked from behind by two others and violently kicked in the face and body.
John Cullen, the hapless policeman in question, said it was “frightening” that his attackers had little respect for people, including the police. He added:
“I don’t have any answers to all this but a multi-agency approach is surely urgently needed to tackle this sort of youth offending to protect the public – including me.
But there is an answer! 
With the British government’s approach and policy towards crime, gun control and self-defence, how not very odd that even the police are now victims!
Unless, Mr Cullen considers a 9mm Uzi SMG a suitable ‘agency’ to tackle crime…
Update: Just saw Alice Bacchini’s post about the story from yesterday. How very fast – I only read about it this morning!
How very odd that Perry should decide to add a category called ‘How Very Odd’ on exactly the same day when I uncover something that I can only describe as very odd.
Or, to be precise, it was uncovered by a colleague at work when seeking the website of the The Law Society. The Law Society is the professional governing body for solicitors in England and Wales and, as one would expect, it does have a very comprehensive website which is located at www.lawsoc.org.
However, acting largely on instinct, he initially typed www.lawsociety.org into his browser and found something altogether different not to mention wholly unrelated.
Just a coincidence that they chose a similar name for their website? Well, possibly I suppose. On the other hand, is it a deliberate marketing ploy? In either event, one must conclude that it is a very effective, if not altogether transparent, way of getting their messages across to a lot of British lawyers.
Now corporate promotional calenders featuring scantily clad ladies draped over the company’s products is hardly a new or unusual concept… expect when the company in question is an Italian manufacturer of coffins!
This article has induced me to add a new category to samizdata.net (see category archives) called ‘How very odd!’.
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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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