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“Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party.” – Anita Dunn, White House communications director and fan of the greatest mass murderer in history. So one network for the Republicans and three for the Democrats then. October 19th, 2009 | 21 comments - (Comments are closed)
 The intelligence of the creature known as a crowd, is the square root of the number of people in it – Terry Pratchett October 11th, 2009 | 32 comments - (Comments are closed)
Upon reflection, I think all the mockery will cease when Barack Obama walks across the Atlantic Ocean to accept His prize. October 10th, 2009 | 15 comments - (Comments are closed)
It is the lack of hope in this world that drives so many desperate souls to bigotry, violence, and terror. Barack Obama has now struck a telling blow against this, by giving literally billions of plain people across the globe a ray of hope that – without any elitist demands for actual diplomatic achievement on their parts! – a genuine Nobel Peace Pony may yet be theirs. When, next year, he finally resolves the Middle East conflict, and is borne shoulder-high through Jerusalem by an ecstatic crowd as Netanyahu and Abbas lead a mass conga round the Temple Mount, we shall just have to give it to him twice. Unless he fails, in which case I guess it can always go to Paris Hilton. – Gray Woodland of Goat in the Machine commenting here. This was too good to leave languishing in our comment section as it had us literally weeping with laughter at Samizdata HQ. October 9th, 2009 | 15 comments - (Comments are closed)
“The fact that there is some populist anger in the country these days is not a shock. The surprising thing is that there is not a lot more of it.” October 6th, 2009 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
Starbucks was bad enough but McDonald’s is worse – An anonymous art historian at the Louvre in Paris, reacting to the news that a McDonald’s will soon open at the famous museum. Come to think of it, when I visited the Louvre earlier this year, I discovered an exhibition devoted to “The Da Vinci Code”. Might I suggest that this is much, much worse. October 4th, 2009 | 30 comments - (Comments are closed)
There you were, in a world of pedants, clergymen and golfers…and here was this wonderful man who could tell you about the inhabitants of the sea, and who knew that the future was not going to be what respectable people imagined – George Orwell on his discovery of the writing of H.G. Wells, as quoted by Cynthia Crossen of the Wall Street Journal, in a context that is quite worth reading, as is the follow up discussion at io9. Come to think of it, these sorts of “respectable people” (along with those who believe that housing is not a high risk investment and therefore expect to be bailed out with my savings when this turns out not to be so, those who are in favour of the television licence fee, and…) may be what I have in mind when I proclaim how much I despise the middle class, as I am prone to do. September 26th, 2009 | 22 comments - (Comments are closed)
To look at this from a UK perspective, I have given this a lot of thought as we have a general election next year (Civil Contingencies Act permitting). Abstention or a vote for a party other than Cameron’s “Conservatives” runs a real risk of preventing the eviction of the Labour party that has done so much damage in the past 13 years. Given another 5 years they could add incalculable damage to an already impressive list. On the other hand, a vote for the “Conservatives” would vindicate Cameron’s position, kowtowing to the supposed BBC/Guardian left of centre (quite a long way left of centre actually) “consensus”. In the short term Cameron would do less harm than another Labour government, but his success would result in future “Conservative” governments following the same policies so we would be stuck with them for the long term. The question I asked myself was: do I think Labour can do more damage in 5 years than Cameron’s “Conservatives” can in 10, 15 or more? My answer was no, another five years of Labour is less threatening than an indefinite period of Cameron “Conservatism”. Once defeated Cameron would be dropped like the proverbial hot brick and then it will time to start working for a new leader with Conservative beliefs. – Commenter MarkE September 25th, 2009 | 29 comments - (Comments are closed)
Can an individual, or body of people, acting without thought, in a mood of crowd-pleasing over-excitement, amid a succession of equally superfluous and ill-considered acts, be said to have consciously intended anything at all? In an ideal world, there would be effective safeguards against such people. – Catherine Bennett, on the will of parliament, in Britain the manner of exercising and dispensing absolute power. September 20th, 2009 | 10 comments - (Comments are closed)
“To anyone who pays more attention to Ben Bernanke than Ben Affleck, walking away from a prime gig like Palin’s was virtually incomprehensible, signalling either imminent scandal or incipient dementia. To the rest of America, Palin’s move made perfect sense, firmly cementing her status as perhaps the one politician who truly feels our ennui. First she cheerfully admitted that she had no idea what the vice president actually does all day (just like me!) Then she stared blankly when asked to reveal her thoughts on the Bush Doctrine (the what?) Then, after earning even higher Nielsen ratings in her first big prime-time showcase than the American Idol finale, only to return to Alaska and the dull reality of mulling over potential appointees to the Board of Barbers and Hair Dressers, she bailed. Sorry, politics, she’s just not that into you.” He’s talking about how the media/political establishment was befuddled by Sarah Palin’s resignation from the Alaska governorship a few months ago. September 18th, 2009 | 34 comments - (Comments are closed)
“We’ve heard ample warnings about extremist paranoia in the months since Barack Obama became president, and we’re sure to hear many more throughout his term. But we’ve heard almost nothing about the paranoia of the political center. When mainstream commentators treat a small group of unconnected crimes as a grand, malevolent movement, they unwittingly echo the very conspiracy theories they denounce. Both brands of connect-the-dots fantasy reflect the tellers’ anxieties much more than any order actually emerging in the world.” Jesse Walker, talking about how the likes of Glenn Beck and other conservative commentators are being targeted by an increasingly jumpy “liberal center”. This is a good article and it has a certain relevance too here in Britain. If something like talk radio or a UK equivalent of Fox were to take off, just imagine the commentary from the MSM. September 16th, 2009 | 7 comments - (Comments are closed)
“By the end of that summer, I had concluded that the population cannot be divided into an intellectual class and a nonintellectual class; instead, I concluded, everyone is to some extent an intellectual. The college professor is an intellectual who, it is hoped, applies his intellect to his teaching and research. The skillful auto mechanic is an intellectual who uses logic to eliminate various possible causes of an engine’s failure in order to narrow it down to the actual cause. Everyone is an intellectual. Compulsory schooling has robbed millions of people of the knowledge of their intellectual birthright.” David Henderson, reflecting on how he learned to be less dismissive of folks who had not been to university. I am glad to say that I have never suffered from that form of snobbery: having a smart-as-hell dad who could have gone down the academic route but who chose a different path does help, of course, in providing a firewall against striking superior attitudes. The way things are going, not going to university will be a badge of pride. September 15th, 2009 | 15 comments - (Comments are closed)
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