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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Adelaide is swathed with security cameras that observe comings and goings in the Adelaide CBD.
The local police love this and are boasting about how well it is going.
The company in charge of the cameras is well pleased as well, and are so pleased that they are providing live feeds from the cameras on their website. They have had the good grace to omit a privacy policy. After all, that would be a bad joke.
Sean Gabb comments on the Conservative leadership switch in his latest issue of Free Life Commentary. So far, it’s just an email and that link doesn’t now work, but it will soon.
He starts by saying nice things about Michael Howard, and notes that he said much nastier things in the past. But since Sean now really hates the government, whatever has to be, in the matter of who has to be the Leader of the Opposition, has to be. At least he’s better than Iain Duncan Smith.
But how come, he asks, the Conservatives have suddenly had this collective fit of effectiveness?
But the question remains how did they do it? For the past six years, I have watched from an advantaged view as the Parliamentary Conservative Party ran about like terrified sheep in the dark. How have they managed this coup so quickly and so well? The simplest explanation is to say that enough of them saw the possibility of losing their seats at the next election and that desperation supplied the lack of courage and imagination. I like to believe, however, in a more complex explanation. Mine is not a standard conspiracy theory, as I claim little prior evidence in it support. Instead, I reason back from perceived effects to possible causes. It may be entirely false, but it pleases me to entertain it. Here it goes.
As said, this is not an ordinary Labour Government, but something of wonderful malevolence. It does not so much want to change the running of the country as to destroy it. There is the continued sapping of the Monarchy – the threatened removal of royal powers, and the degradation of Her Majesty from our Head of State to citizen of a United States of Europe. There is the determination to outlaw hunting and to destroy farming and to remove all the hereditary peers from the House of Lords. There is the progressive hobbling of the City financial institutions with European levels of tax and regulation. There is the use of the armed forces as American mercenaries – and without any advantage gained in return. There is the possible murder and undoubtedly the forced suicide of someone senior in the foreign policy and intelligence establishment. The remnants of the Old Order may finally have realised that there is no compromise on offer from this Government, and now may be doing something about it. The Monarchy, the landed and mercantile interests, and the security services – these are even now a formidable combination. Perhaps 1688 is finally come again. Then, an alarmed old order realised the nature of its enemy and took up the cause of an aroused but leaderless nation. Perhaps Mr Blair is to play the role of James II, and Mr Howard of Prince William.
Is there any truth in this? Or am I just an old romantic? We shall see.
Some but not much. Yes you are. And I believe we can already see. → Continue reading: Michael Howard and the Conservative opportunity
What is the world coming to!
A French hunter was shot by his dog after he left a loaded shotgun in the boot of his car with two dogs and one of the animals accidentally stepped on the trigger, police say.
The man, from the village of Espelette in the Basque region, was admitted to hospital in the nearby town of Bayonne on Monday with leadshot injuries to the hip.
“As he was driving along, one of his dogs accidentally set off the gun,” a police official said on Wednesday.
I didn’t know it was loaded, okay?
It is hard to know what to make of this:
Gordon Brown celebrated his return to politics yesterday by firing a shot across the bows both of Brussels and Tony Blair. Perhaps the Chancellor has found the time while on paternity leave to read the 250 pages of the draft European constitution. Mr Brown evidently does not agree with his neighbour in Number 10 that the constitution is a mere “tidying-up exercise”. On the contrary, he is obviously alarmed by the text agreed by the constitutional convention, which extends EU competence into areas of economic policy hitherto jealously guarded by the Treasury.
The only thing I am sure of is that it does not mean exactly what it says. My tentative take on it is not that Brown dislikes a regulated economy/society per se, but rather than he insists on being the one doing the regulating. The guy is hardly a free market capitalist after all and neither is he much of a nationalist. Maybe he feels that as Kinnock already has his snout highly placed in the EU’s trough, there will not be room enough for another ‘big beast’ such as himself and thus he is stuck with maintaining his looting rights via obsolescent old Westminster.
Alternatively, could it is just a ploy to demonstrate that there is a ‘vibrant Euro-sceptic wing in the Labour Party’ and thus forestall natural Labour supporters from feeling they have to vote a revitalised (ha!) Tory Party under Count Drac… Michael Howard, given that Brown is making it clear that “Labour is not entirely in the pocket of Brussels”. Are Labour’s strategists really that clever though? Not sure.
Cynical? Moi?
It had to happen:
Undercover Agents Talking To Each Other In ‘Under 12’ Chatroom
WASHINGTON, DC—In an effort to weed out pedophiles, two FBI agents, identified only as “Cutiepie1994” and “KoalaLover,” unknowingly communicated with one another in the under-12 chat room of TweenTalk.com for almost two hours Tuesday. “You should see me in my new bathing suit. It’s really rad,” Cutiepie wrote. “Kewl. Guess what? My parents aren’t home right now,” KoalaLover responded. Two minutes after their lengthy Internet conversation ended, KoalaLover unknowingly passed Cutiepie on the way into the bathroom.
Well, it probably will happen, assuming life imitates Onion.
Statewatch reports that legal opinion says that under the ECHR mandatory data retention is disproportionate, contrary to the rule of law and cannot be said to be necessary in a democratic society
Privacy International (cannot find a link to this on their site) have obtained a Legal Opinion from the international law firm Covington and Burling which presents a devastating critique of plans by EU governments and the Council of the European Union to introduce the mandatory retention of communications data. The Opinion examines in particular the draft EU Framework Decision on communications data retention and access to it leaked by Statewatch in August 2002.
The Opinion concludes that:
The data retention regime envisaged by the (EU) Framework Decision, and now appearing in various forms at the Member State level, is unlawful.
…
The indiscriminate collection of traffic data offends a core principle of the rule of law: that citizens should have notice of the circumstances in which the State may conduct surveillance, so that they can regulate their behaviour to avoid unwanted intrusions. Moreover, the data retention requirement would be so extensive as to be out of all proportion to the law enforcement objectives served. Under the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, such a disproportionate interference in the private lives of individuals cannot be said to be necessary in a democratic society.
A few days ago I came across this in a post by The Dissident Frogman. An online boycott targeting companies that would buy advertising during the planned mini-series about Ronald Reagan broadcast by CBS. Those wishing to support could join the battle by signing up for email alert informing them which companies advertise on the CBS series.
Today, I saw the news that the mini-series has been cancelled. CBS said the four-hour final version of the film did not present a balanced portrayal of Mr Reagan and his wife, Nancy, and that proposed cuts did not address those concerns.
Over the past week, CBS has been under relentless attack on talk radio and the Internet, and boycottcbs.com had signed up over 100,000 members. It has also been speculated that the network had bowed to pressure from Washington where it is entangled in a contentious battle with the House and Senate over the relaxation of media ownership rules. So, is it a ‘victory’ for internet grassroots or just the usual political quid pro quo?
White Rose is run by people in London, so they won’t be going, but maybe we have a few readers in Chicago. It’s organised by the Century Foundation, and they also publish this, which all of us can get hold of and read.
True:
In this handout picture made available Tuesday Oct. 28, 2003 by the Israel-based Cornershot Co. in Tel Aviv, Israel, a rifle is seen composed of two parts; the front, that can swivel from side to side, containing a pistol with a color camera mounted on top, and the back section which consists of the stock, trigger and a monitor. According to a report by the Israeli daily ‘Maariv’ newspaper, the pistol, produced by the Florida-based Cornershot Holdings, is being tested by the Israeli military and has already been bought by a number of special forces around the world. The unique weapon allows a soldier to remain behind cover, with only the barrel of the rifle exposed in the direction of the hostile fire. (AP Photo/HO, Cornershot)
If you’ve already seen and heard about this days ago, apologies from me and only me. If not but you’re glad to see and hear of it now, you also have Chris O’Donnell to thank.
Update from the editor: As it happens, this innovative Israeli weapon is just a more sophisticated development of an idea implemented by the Germans in World War II… a version of the MP44 with a ‘shoot-around-corners’ attachment using a mirror.
It may be a little thing, but I’ll take my good news where I can get it.
A Williamson County judge has dismissed a Franklin police citation against a man who warned other drivers of a speed trap.
He flashed his lights at them.
County Judge Russ Heldman yesterday ruled Walker was right about the citation violating his free speech guarantees.
The Franklin city police chief has now written a memo to officers, telling them not to cite drivers for flashing their lights in warning.
For his part, Walker is pleased to win his case, but says he’ll flash only his brights next time. He says the only way Marlowe knew he was flashing his lights was because his tail lights were going on and off.
Fight the power, brother!
Last week the Slovak Republic passed a tax reform law introducing a flat tax rate at 19 percent for income and value added tax (VAT) with effect from January 2004. The Finance Ministrer, Ivan Miklos, hopes that such a vast reform will spur further economic growth and attract more investments.
Tax reform, and tax rates at the lowest possible level for everyone is an important motivation to attract investors. It is a strong and positive signal for the inflow of foreign investments.
Flat tax, the abolishment of taxation on dividends, and profit shares that are included in the tax reform is the correct way of supporting those who want to invest. This is a fair, horizontal aid from the state that sets the same conditions for everyone.
It seems that the Slovaks have done their homework and the Finance Ministry proposes the reform arguing that the flat tax or a tax similar to this one has been introduced in 33 countries, GDP growth in these countries is two times higher than in others and quoting examples of effective unified tax in New Zealand, Estonia and Hong Kong.
Apart from changes in income taxes and VAT, the reform will abolish gift tax and inheritance tax by the end of 2003 and introduce a flat 3-percent real estate transfer tax in 2004 with a chance to abolish it later on. In my book these qualify as glimpses of common sense, as exhibited in the statement of Peter Papanek, the spokesman for the finance minister:
Those taxes represented multiple taxation of property that was already taxed once.
An article in the Slovak Spectator explains that for corporations this means a lower income tax compared to the current rate of 25 percent. Individuals, nowadays taxed progressively within the range of 10 – 38 percent (the percentage increases with higher incomes), will all pay the same tax rate. Two current rates of VAT, a reduced one at 14 percent and a standard one at 20 percent, will be unified from the beginning of next year at 19 percent.
This is all interesting and very good news for Slovakia indeed. Now if they only got their social security payments and national health contributions in order… Nevertheless, the country is certainly moving in the right direction and it is probably worth keeping on one’s radar.
via Teekay’s Coffeeshop
And Slovak babes are not bad either
Finally, a decent update on how the reconstruction is going in Iraq. It is astonishing that all the thousands of words that spew forth on a daily basis concerning the Iraqi situation manage to impart virtually no useful information. The Economist has a very nice overview of the reconstruction work in Iraq that paints a realistic and encouraging picture.
For many Iraqis, living standards have already risen a lot. Boosted by government make-work programmes, day labourers are getting double their pre-war wages. A university dean’s pay has gone up fourfold, a policeman’s by a factor of ten.
Stacks of such goods now crowd the pavements of Baghdad’s main shopping streets, shaded by ranks of bright new billboards. Prime commercial property, says a real estate broker in the Karada district, easily fetches $1,000 a square metre, four times the level this time last year.
The southern capital, Basra, for example, got only two-to-four hours of electricity a day before the war—and now has a power surplus. Baghdad still works to a regime of three-hours-on/three-hours-off, but the country as a whole is producing as much power as before the war. By spring it will be up by 25%. Within three years, if America sticks to its plan of sinking $5 billion-plus into the sector, power output should have more than doubled.
→ Continue reading: Iraq update
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