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Blogger and Canadian writer Colby Cosh tells us why he is a libertarian in one of those don’t-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry stories.
Read, as the man says, the whole thing. August 17th, 2003 | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)
 In 1702, King William III was riding his horse around the gardens of Hampton Court Palace when the horse stumbled on a mole-hill. William was thrown and suffered injuries from which he did not recover. From then on, his Jacobite foes celebrated the event by raising a toast to ‘the little gentleman in black velvet’. Fast forward three centuries and another species of native British wildlife could be the cause of a government tumble. When supporters of the Countryside Alliance marched through London last September in protest at HMG’s plans to abolish fox-hunting they said they were ‘Born to hunt, ready to fight’. Now, according to the UK Times [no direct link], some of them are about to make good on that threat:
Of course, this isn’t really all about fox-hunting. It’s a cumulation of deeply felt resentments about a lot of things (see our archives for details) and, probably above all, about a government which rules rather than represents. Still talk is cheap and fighting talk is wholesale. Do the countryside rebels have the grit to actually do it? Or sustain it? Marching up and down with placards is one thing, but actual tax rebellion is hitting the state where it hurts and that means that the state is certain to hit back. Only through a willingness to accept the consequences can the rebels hope to succeed. But what if they do succeed and large pockets of the countryside become, in effect, ungovernable? What if they succeed thus and it spreads? Too early to tell yet but I find the editorial position taken by the Times to be of considerable interest:
Succinctly put and admirably correct. Nonetheless we’re not just talking about a sit-down demo or a campaign of fly-leafleting here and while the editorial doesn’t quite go as far as condoning the rebellion they only stop just short, leaving no-one in any doubt as to where their sympathies lie. When an institution as reliably august and reputable as the Times gives an approving nod and wink to a campaign of civil disobedience then you know for sure that there is a whiff of real excitement in the air. August 17th, 2003 | 28 comments - (Comments are closed)
On BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme (on Monday’s show – if my memory serves) there was a story about the destruction of the forests of Eastern Europe. The BBC journalist would refer to forests in country after country and talk about how the trees were “illegally cut down” and the timber “illegally imported into Western European countries”. I noticed something about the BBC man’s remarks. In each Eastern European country he discussed he talked about the ‘national parks’ or the ‘national forests’ – never once did he talk about privately owned forests being destroyed. Whether forests are owned by old aristocratic families or by private companies (as in the State of Maine) there is no question of them being destroyed for a quick buck – ownership (as opposed to licences, or ‘rights to’ or other nonsense), brings concern for the long term. Of course the BBC man did not notice this – he just claimed that ‘things’ would be improved when the Eastern European nations joined the European Union and there were even more regulations than there are now. August 17th, 2003 | 8 comments - (Comments are closed)
It must have been about a decade ago that I first became aware of the alleged dangers of exposure to the sun and the ‘link’ between over-exposure to ultra-violet radiation and skin cancer*. Looking back, it was a ‘consciousness raising exercise’ that mushroomed from ‘never heard of it’ to widespread health-panic with remarkable speed. Assisted, perhaps, by the miserabalisit anti-hedonism of the Nineties and the suspiciously convenient dovetailing with the doleful predictions about ‘global warming’, we should have been more sceptical. But medical opinion was converted and few people have the confidence to fly in the face of such an august edifice. The new orthodoxy was nailed down with copious amounts of ‘official’ advice to stay in, wrap up, cover up and, if you are foolhardy enough to venture out in the sun, only do so after smothering yourself with gallons of sunblock. But that was then, and this is now:
So Professor Holick just a publicity-seeking iconoclast or is this the heretical opening shot of a debunking campaign? Perhaps the only danger we really need to worry about are the risks arising from an over-exposure to ‘experts’. [Note to professional scare-mongers: ‘cancer’ is the panic word of our age. Linking lifestyle choices to heart disease or kidney failure just doesn’t cut the mustard.] August 16th, 2003 | 11 comments - (Comments are closed)
I was probably one of the first in Europe to hear about the US blackout. I’ve customers in Manhattan. One of them rang me in Belfast as soon as she determined not only her Upper West flat, but also her Chinatown server rack were both affected. She has a big UPS but no backup generator. It just isn’t feasible for a facility her size. I advised an immediate controlled shutdown. It seems government officials were announcing “this wasn’t a terrorist incident” almost before people like my customer completed their emergency procedures. I found and still find this strange. It may well be true. It probably is true, but the haste to discount the possibility was unseemly. Terrorism and sabotage are not necessarily spectacular events. It doesn’t take a bombing or an armed attack to bring down a power grid. In 1964 the East Coast power grid came down all by itself. It was due to a cascade of protective shutdowns after a “First Cause” failure. That may be the case this week as well, but we don’t know yet. A sudden reversal of power flow on the Lake Erie power loop occurred instants before the cascading failures began. That is sufficient information to tell us absolutely nothing. Thus unarmed with facts, I will now sally forth into the vacuum of hard data and suggest some attack scenarios. The Saboteur. Someone with appropriate knowledge may have penetrated a targeted power facility and simply thrown a few switches. A “mole” at a power station would be best, but power stations are not Fort Knoxen. A trained agent could probably get in and out of some “weakest link” facility somewhere without being detected. Does anyone remember the incident of November 11, 2001 (see Charleston Daily Mail, “Guard Chases Men Near Power Plant”) during which a security guard slugged a person attempting to enter power plant grounds from the river? The Hack. Someone could have cracked a power company control system and “adjusted” a few things. I once authored software systems for control of large building complexes. Most such systems have queues of time based actions. If an attacker penetrated several systems, they could insert minor events synchronized to milliseconds. Even the actual queue insertions could be handled by stealthy, pre-positioned “Trojan Horse” programs. An innocuous looking message could trigger the countdown sequence. The trigger could be sent from anywhere on the planet. Perhaps the Microsoft worm was a diversion. Each event on it’s own would be insignificant, but the sum of all could be a big problem. A trail might be left, but it would be difficult to uncover if there was a dispersed attack. If only one site were involved it would be much easier to find evidence both because the source of the First Cause would be pin-pointed and because the event itself would be out of the ordinary. If the attackers were moderately good they would leave a trail only discoverable by computer forensics. The critical computer log entries would be gone unless printed on paper as they occured… or if they were intended to be found. These scenarios are an intellectual exercise. Taking down a power grid is an annoyance but doesn’t accomplish anything in and of itself. There has been no “other” event connected to it. No claims of holding American infrastructure under threat. No major attack during the early blackout confusion. No operational movements and pre-setting of people or material… hmmm. Just thought I’d keep y’all worryin’ over there! August 16th, 2003 | 22 comments - (Comments are closed)
This constant intervention by government in tasks that belong to the (with thanks to David Goldstone) August 16th, 2003 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
Bond purists know that there are only two ‘proper’ cars for 007 to drive, an Aston or a Bentley. But for many years, while the British auto industry decayed, neither Aston or Bentley produced anything James would be caught dead in (book readers might recall Gardner gave him a Mulsanne Turbo in 1984). But over the last decade, the British Car business has been undergoing a renaissance, riding a wave of American and German capital and technology. The fruits of this are really starting to come now. Two years ago, Aston Martin (now owned by Ford) introduced their beautiful V12 Vanquish, seen in last year’s Die Another Day. But still, relative to the breathtaking Ferrari 575M Maranello, it’s only real competition, most automotive commentators declared it an also-ran. (While the comparison is far closer than that of the classic DB5, introduced in Goldfinger, and the 1964 Ferrari 500 Superfast, to say nothing of the incomparable 250GTO. Even the Lamborghini 350GT and Maserati 3500 GT, would likely have cleaned the DB5’s clock.) Now, all that is behind us. After many teases, Bentley Motor Cars, (now owned by Volkswagen) is finally releasing their latest masterpiece, the Bentley Continental GT:  It has no competition. This 4 passenger, 5000lb, W-12, AWD monster does 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, the same as a Porsche Carrera. It tops out at 198 mph, faster than all but a handful of 2 seat super-exotics. All this while coddling the passengers in the lap of luxury. With plenty of room for Q to hide toys, this is a car Commander Bond would love. Of course, the next car 007 actually drives will be determined by the real world consideration of how much the manufacturers are willing to pony up in product placement money. And, although the producers know the fans want to see Bond in a British car (and not a plastic toy Lotus, even if it does go underwater), If Toyota forked over enough, James might be driving the new Supra. There’s a new player on the scene I didn’t consider this at first, because of the leading name on the moniker. However, on further consideration, there’s likely more actual British engineering and manufacturing content in this than the Bentley. Ladies and gentleman, coming in about six months, I give you the revolutionary Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren:  As opposed to the Bentley’s porcine two and a half ton mass, carbon composite construction helps keep the SLR to a svelte one and three-quarters. This, along with slightly greater horsepower (580, not 605 as stated on spec. sheet), shave a full second off the Bentley’s 0-60 time. Top speed is 211 mph. A handful of currently available automobiles are in the performance league with the SLR: the Lamborghini Murcielago (also VW, btw), the Pagani Zonda C12-S 7.2, the Ferrari Enzo, and the Saleen S7. But all these are, to one degree or another, racing cars for the street. The SLR promises to be the first super-exotic that’s also a viable daily driver. Of course, the SLR costs (before Q-izing) two or three times the price of the Bentley. But, to Her Majesty’s Government, it’s just chump change seeing as they have all those taxpayers to call on. August 16th, 2003 | 8 comments - (Comments are closed)
Creepy stuff in Florida:
Here’s all of the story from the Gainsville Sun.
Right. August 16th, 2003 | One comment - (Comments are closed)
It’s a day or two late to be passing this on, but here it is anyway:
If you want to. read the whole thing. August 16th, 2003 | Comments are closed
The DOD announced a site for a new US missile defense system today: Adak Island. This is exactly where I expected the first 21st century land-based ABM system would go. It is the most likely of two well placed islands in the Aleutians Chain extending south and west from Alaska. Adak Island is an old NSA Cold War listening post and has a military airfield. It also just happens to sit almost exactly on the great circle route on which a North Korean based ICBM must travel to reach American soil. The DOD release doesn’t mention that little tidbit. You’ve heard it first on Samizdata. August 15th, 2003 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
I’ve just done a posting on my education blog about an organisation called Connexions Direct, which, together with its website ending in .gov.uk, I’ve just seen advertised on TV. It strikes me as just a tad creepy, at any rate potentially.
Should an organisation with .gov.uk at the end of its website address be offering relationship advice? I can see it developing into a sort of database of the unhappy. It of course swears that it won’t abuse all the information it will nevertheless be hoovering up, but then it would, wouldn’t it? And since doing that posting at my blog, I’ve also noticed this. Guess what? Yes, it’s the Connections Card:
I’d be interested to hear what anyone else thinks about all this. August 15th, 2003 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
Most of us are fortunate enough to live our lives in peaceful obscurity. Not many of us do things that attract attention from more then our circle of friends and family. There are those though that either through their skill or through opportunity attract unwanted attention. While Brian writes about the attention that Prince William is getting, in Australia, we who make princes of our sportsmen are debating the latest scandal involving cricketer Shane Warne. Warne is one of the most gifted bowlers in the history of the game, but away from the field he is a rather unsavoury man who has gathered a well earned sleazy reputation. An enterprising South African woman has tried to cash in on that reputation by making allegations against Warne. It seems that for once there is little truth to the story, and indeed she’s been charged by the South African police with extortion. Whatever the truth of this sordid affair, the media spotlight is once again firmly on Shane Warne. Sometimes that spotlight steps over the boundary of what is acceptable by the media after News Corporation’s flagship newspaper “The Australian” took a photograph of Warne having a smoke in his backyard. While in general little sympathy need be wasted on Warne, in this case, I feel for him. His response to the affair has been to keep as low a profile as possible, and every person has the right not to be photographed if they don’t want to be. Governments are notoriously inquisitive about the private matters of their citizens, but they are not the only intrusive Big Brother out there. August 15th, 2003 | Comments are closed
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