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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Sky and Telescope is not where one would normally expect an editorial on government waste. Mostly it covers more important issues like “what is the fastest way to cool down my Newtonian’s primary mirror?” or “are Type II supernovae assymetric?” But if there is one topic that unites astronomers of all persuasions from the most casual amateur to the greyest Chaired professional, it is science literacy. So it should not be surprising when The Boston Globe announced “Heavens smile on astrology school: It’s accredited”(1) your average astronomer was mildly upset, as in “I was mildly upset the wife emptied the house and took my dog and pickup truck and the good Dobsonian when she walked out on me”.
I first heard of this yesterday morning when I read Dr. Rick Feinberg’s scathing January 2002 editorial on the subject. He did a bit of research into the story. It all just gets better. Not only did the The Astrological Institute of Scottsdale, Arizona become accredited by the US Department of Education in August 2001; the Kepler College of Astrological Arts and Sciences in Seattle, Washington, was granted the right to award Batchelor’s and Master’s degrees in June 2001. Now I have nothing against people who want to throw their own money away on supernatural claptrap; but as Dr Feinberg points out federal grants and loans can be awarded to students to help pay tuition. That’s right. All of you in America are now paying taxes to ensure your local gypsy fortune teller has a Diploma hung on her wall.
I strongly agree with Dr. Feinberg’s suggestion that Americans call the Office of the Inspector General’s hotline for fraud, waste, and abuse involving federal student aid funds. The number is: 1-800-MIS-USED (1-800-647-8733) or email at oig.hotline@ed.gov
(1)The article is no longer available on line at the Boston Globe, but a copy may be found posted here if you search well down the page.
Some strange (and over optimistic) search engine hit on the Samizdata over the last week:
via Google: conspiracy+code+illuminatus
via Lycos: naked+Claudia+Christian
via Google: cat+sex+libertarian
via Yahoo: balkan+murder
via Lycos: Natalija+Radic+naked
via Yahoo: hawala+tax+computer
via Google: London+prostitution
via Yahoo: guns+wild+Italian
via Yahoo: cypherpunk+libertarian
via Yahoo: elephant+economics
In answer to many e-mails asking about it… yes, this ad is absolutely real. I scanned it in this evening myself. It is the front page of a one fold high quality A4 size colour brochure that fell out of one of the UK aviation magazines on my floor. Unfortunately I cannot with any certainty say which one because I just this evening noticed it in the pile. I’m sure that if other UK aviation enthusiasts (those not in Greek prisons) check their stacks they will find their own copies. They may be worth holding on to.
The following has to be intentional. I just cannot believe that anyone could be this dumb, even in an advertising agency. Just so those outside the UK understand this fully, dates are written differently over here. Day/Month/Year rather than the american Month/Day/Year.
Take your pick: sick or stupid?
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?
Wired magazine reports that the nuclear bomb documents found by Times journalists in an abandoned Al Qaeda house in Kabul might be spoof plans published by some gonzo pranksters several years ago.
This is indeed hilarious and it should now be clear to all that Al Qaeda are downloading everything on the Internet with the word ‘thermonuclear’ in it because they too are just misunderstood pranksters. We must stop bombing Afghanistan forthwith as it must now be clear that flying airliners into the WTC was just a good natured jape that got a little out of hand.
Similarly, the only reason they have been sending anthrax through the post is a simple linguistic misunderstanding: they were told to send Andrex (a brand of toilet tissue) but as English is not their first language, they got a little confused…hey, anyone can make a mistake!
Any day now, intelligence sources report we will soon hear that Osama will be calling on Bert from Sesame Street to replace slain Al Qaeda number two, Muhammed Atef, as Chief Deputy Prankster.
Beyond its entertainment value, Baywatch has enriched and, in many cases, helped save lives. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue with a project which has has such a significance for so many.
– David Hasselhoff, Actor
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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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