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Earlier today business partner Jim Bennett passed this SR-71 story along to me. Mach 3.5 at 80,000 MSL… It just makes me go all quivery inside.  Not a single SR-71 was scrapped: every last one has been given an honoured and well-cared for retirement. Photo: copyright Dale Amon, All Rights Reserved March 8th, 2008 | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)
 As you may or may not know, today is International Women’s Day (IWD) – it falls annually on March the 8th. This anniversary is not especially remarked upon in the Western world, yet it is a widely noted event in many of the countries that were closely allied to, had ideologically similar political ideologies to, or constituted the Soviet Union. I am living in China at the moment, and was first reminded of the advent of this year’s IWD by my Vietnamese girlfriend, and then by the Chinese state press. Otherwise, it would have passed me by completely. I have to say I find it a little amusing that two countries I have spent a fair bit of time in of late – Vietnam and China – so noisily celebrate IWD, considering that women in both countries face considerable and ingrained discrimination, despite the official socialist repudiation of gender inequality. Still, the show must go on and my girlfriend came home from work on the 8th with a gift; the same one that all the women in her company (a large Chinese software firm) received to commemorate IWD. And what was her present? A gift pack of anti-dandruff shampoo and conditioner. A lot of women work at this company, so obtaining all that haircare product would have been a substantial purchase. There must have been a conversation in the HR department a few weeks ago that went something like: “I think this Head & Shoulders pack is suitable. I mean, we’re all for equal rights for women, but can we at least ensure that they are not leaving bits of their scalp about the place if they must work with us? Yes, I know, it’s a shame that the deal on the girdles fell through, but there’s always next year…” March 8th, 2008 | 8 comments - (Comments are closed)
University of Tennessee law Professor Glenn Reynolds has an excellent paper on jury nullification, a subject near and dear to the hearts of libertarians. Jury nullification is a common law concept with ancient roots in Anglosphere law. During the run up to the American Civil War it was used repeatedly, and much to the State’s chagrin, to make the Fugitive Slave Act unenforceable. Juries would not convict persons arrested for assisting in the escape of slaves. Law in the US has again taken a turn towards State convenience and interests over those of the individual and liberty so it is high time we dust off this legal concept and start telling judges and the legislature to ‘shove it’. March 8th, 2008 | 9 comments - (Comments are closed)
Even the most hard-bitten student activist would recognise its not an abrogation of his radicalism to get an ID card if it helps him to provide an assurance of his identity to those who provide services to him. – Ms Home Secretary Jacqui Smith (quoted in Computer Weekly) reacting to criticism by the National Union of Students of plans to hustle and hassle students to register themselves for life on the great and glorious National Identity Register. It is just extraordinary how tone deaf to human life, how uncomprehending of the impulses to privacy and personal liberty, this strange class of apparatchiks is. Jacqui Smith’s own concept of radical activism may not extend very far. A friend who was her contemporary at Hertford College commented:
It seems she has grown, changed, and reinvented herself – as a monstrously offensive political hack. March 8th, 2008 | 35 comments - (Comments are closed)
Just came across some footage of a Dutch Apache helicopter gunship facilitating some interesting ‘inter-civilisation dialogue’ with a couple Talibs in Afghanistan. I find myself watching YouTube more than TV these days. March 7th, 2008 | 43 comments - (Comments are closed)
On both sides of the Atlantic, the men and women who serve in the volunteer armed forces have been attacked on their own soil. There has been an attack on a recruitment office in the US. It is a sign of the times. In Peterborough, East Anglia, RAF personnel serving in such nearby bases as RAF Wittering have been abused, although it does not appear – yet – that any of the abuse has involved physical violence. As a result, force commanders are thinking of rescinding the idea of letting service personnel wear their uniforms while off-duty. Given that a chap traditionally liked to wear his uniform as a matter of pride, not to mention its wonderful women-attracting qualities (sorry if this offends PC readers), this is a poor state of affairs. I read this unpleasant story with a certain amount of personal interest as my father used to serve at Wittering with 23 Squadron, a fighter squadron that in the 1950s operated aircraft such as Venoms and more latterly, Phantoms and Harriers. The identity of the abusers is not described. For all we know, they could be anti-war types, Islamists, or just local youths trying to impress their mates by “having a go” at folk in uniform. When I lived in Ipswich 15 years ago, there were always stories of how Army squaddies at Colchester, a nearby army town, were getting into scrapes with the locals. It was, however, much rarer for the US servicemen at RAF Bentwaters, Woodbridge, Mildenhall or Lakenheath to encounter problems, since overseas US guys tend to be more polite and let’s face it, if you insulted an F-16 pilot after drinking too much Adnams ale in an Ipswich boozer, the chances are that the guy would order in a squadron of B-52s to nuke the place. At least I like to think that was always an option. March 7th, 2008 | 22 comments - (Comments are closed)
Sometimes I wonder whether the news editors in the media “join the dots”, to coin a phrase. Scanning my Bloomberg machine this morning (part of my day job), this headline was prominent: Chicago’s Snowiest Winter Since 1979 Depletes Budget Then, on the same Bloomberg front page, is this: Gore Invests $35 Million for Hedge Funds With EBay Billionaire Gore has, of course, made himself a mint and also burnished his Green credentials with his film, An Inconvenient Truth, a film that has had great influence in encouraging the idea that the Earth is at serious risk from man-made global warming, although others remain to be convinced. Fair play to Gore: if he has managed to make a lot of cash by producing a film and persuaded enough paying customers to see it, well who am I, as an ardent capitalist, to complain? If he wants to invest in those mysterious-sounding things called hedge funds, even better (they are not all that bizarre, by the way, just a form of investment fund with a few tricks). But if the city of Chicago is running short of cash to pay for all the snow clearance, maybe the councillors should phone up Al and ask for a donation. After all, the current freezing weather in so many places must be er, Man’s fault, right? March 7th, 2008 | 15 comments - (Comments are closed)
For me the idea of the state installing cameras everywhere to ensure compliance with its edicts was the most memorable aspect to George Orwell’s dystopian 1984, with Newspeak a close second. But of course here in the real world, the state would never try to force private business owners to allow the state to place cameras to make sure people are following regulations, right?
And what comes next? Cameras in schools and daycare centres naturally. For the children of course. And after that? I mean, why stop there? March 7th, 2008 | 9 comments - (Comments are closed)
Last week the Metropolitan police
And now for the visuals:  When I saw those for the first time, I honestly thought these were a joke. And lo and behold, it did not take long for them to become just that…  And of course the Lolcats version:  Long live the internetz. March 7th, 2008 | 20 comments - (Comments are closed)
The very worthy folks of the Free State Project are holding an event in June in New Hampshire to highlight their work and maybe attract some more supporters.
If you are interested in supporting the FSP and becoming a ‘porcupine’, check it out!  March 6th, 2008 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
These things are only more difficult because the govt has deliberately made them so. Pushing my head underwater, then giving me the option of buying an overpriced snorkel isn’t doing me any favours. – Paul, a commentator on The Register, merely the funniest of many pertinent comments on this story: ‘Boil a frog’ ID card rollout to continue until 2012. Regular readers may gather I have been a little busy today. March 6th, 2008 | 6 comments - (Comments are closed)
As many of our readers already know, Carla Howell succeeded in collecting a sufficient number of signatures for her ballot initiative to end the Massachusetts income tax. There may be further legal challenges but it will almost certainly be on the ballot this year. With polls showing a dead heat between yes and no voters the inappropriately named “Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation” is already preparing its defense of high taxes. Although the core battle is months away, politicians are already hitting back. Can you guess which party this statement came from?
It was from Peter Torkildsen, the Republican state party chairman of Massachusetts. And you wondered why libertarians do not flock to the Republican Party? The correct answers to Torkildsen’s quiz are: “Zero” and “Leave it with the honest folk who earned it”. March 6th, 2008 | 18 comments - (Comments are closed)
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