An interesting story tonight, on Newsnight, about some British pensioners refusing to pay ever-rising council taxes. There was one old soldier on £80 pounds a week, of which a quarter goes on council taxes. He was adamant that he would go to jail before he paid it, this year. Now this is perhaps a debate for more educated and informed fellows than I, but if once formerly restrained British senior citizens are now actively contemplating the tactics of Gandhi, in non-violent protest, is British society really being pushed to the absolute limit by these ruling class socialist thieves also known as the New Labour Party? The state of modern Britain grows ever more curiouser by the day.
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This seems interesting, from the BBC on Monday:
The Japanese Government, contrary to collectivist myth, has a record of earmarking billions to computer schemes which later prove to be embarrassing failures. Remember that “Fifth Generation” fiasco? And then, of a more private sector (but “cooperative”) nature, there was that amazing moment around twenty years ago now when every Japanese electronics conglomerate there was produced a near-identical version of the same doomed games console/Sinclair computer clone, only bigger and clunkier than the Sinclair. (Remember Sinclair? Oh dear, I’m showing my age.) Even so, I’d be interested to hear what our more computer-literate commenters think of this. I suggest we try to avoid reprising the usual Linux (good, ridiculous) Microsoft (good, tyrannical) arguments. I’m keen to learn whether this particular announcement is likely to make any difference to anything. September 10th, 2003 | 15 comments - (Comments are closed)
 When the Olympic games were held in Sydney in 2000, a number of public viewing areas were set up in public spaces throughout the city. Giant video screens were erected, and large crowds gathered to watch sports events and enjoy the atmosphere. Like in Britain, liquor licensing laws in Australia are quite strict in that if you enter a bar and buy an alcoholic drink, you must consume it on the premises of the bar. Although you have bought it, you are not permitted to walk off with it. During the games, a few portable bars were actually set up in the public spaces with the video screens. However, in order to comply with local liquor laws, certain relatively small areas of the public spaces were designated as alcohol drinking areas and barriers were erected to cordon people in these areas off from everybody else. On top of this, people in these areas were only sold drinks in cans or plastic cups. (These enclosures were quickly nicknamed “playpens”, on the basis that drinkers were being treated like small children). The dangers of broken glass were considered sufficiently great that people were not allowed to buy drinks in glasses or glass bottles. This was all very paternalistic, in the way that alcohol licensing laws in the English speaking world often are. This past weekend, I happened to be in Germany. When I visited the Kurfürstendamm, the main shopping street of what once was West Berlin, I discovered that some kind of event was happening, declaring itself to be the “Global City 2003” festival. Now any city that is sufficiently insecure that it feels the need to declare itself to be a “global city” or a “world city” actually isn’t one. There are plenty of interesting and enjoyable things to do in Berlin (including some of the most magnificent museums of cultural treasures anywhere) but when it comes down to it the city is not London, Tokyo, or New York. And the “Global City” festival was not all that global. There was a ferris wheel and a few other rides. A catwalk had been set up in the middle of the street and there were some fashion shows. A stage had been set up and there was some live music. There were stalls selling souvenirs of various kinds. However, the most important thing was clearly eating and drinking, and this was done in a very German way. → Continue reading: The benefits of beer glass ownership September 10th, 2003 | 19 comments - (Comments are closed)
So Wunderkind Wayne Rooney does it again, saving England from an embarrassing result against those footballing soccer lilliputians, Lichtenstein. Old Mottie and the Brookmeister even blessed him, as is traditional, with those epithets of glory, “he’s a natural”, and “he’s got a great footballing brain”. Ah yes, the memories of Peter Beardsley came flooding back, that face, the one of a bulldog chewing a wasp. But Wayne Rooney! Is he really only seventeen? It hardly seems possible. He’s a bull, he’s a monster, his touch is awesome, almost Pele-esque. Are we blessed with the next Maradonna, the next George Best, or is it just the next Wayne Rooney? This is what I love about genius. The idiot egalitarians of socialism want every man and woman to be ratcheted back to the level of the lowest of the low, to be smacked into the most feeble of the feeble denominators, but when it comes to sport, they are the first to proclaim the greatness of the individual, the uniqueness of human ability, and the sacredness of talent. What is it about sport? Is it the only human arena in which all can acknowledge individual human greatness? If only we could extend this to other realms of human endeavour. Whatever the case, God Bless you Wayne Rooney, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you. May I only be there when you score the winning goal against Brazil in the next World Cup Final. September 10th, 2003 | 7 comments - (Comments are closed)
This news has been all over the place. I first found it here:
And God forbid anybody should be offensive. September 10th, 2003 | 19 comments - (Comments are closed)
What do you call a country which is run by the police for the benefit of the police? Is that a ‘police state’? Yes, I think that qualifies. Surely it does?
[From the UK Times] Some nerve those plods have got! Assuming that nothing has been lost in the media translation, I detect not even a hint of humility. After all, they are supposed to be public servants. And what next, I wonder? ‘Police demand increase in income tax to help fight crime’? ‘Police demand greater integration with the European Union to help fight crime? ‘Police demand greater regulation of world trade in order to fight crime’? What disturbs me here is not so much the idea of a national DNA database. Okay, that does disturb me but HMG hasn’t got the money to fund such a grand scheme so it isn’t going to happen (yet). No, the ugliness is more immediate than that; it lies in the casual assumption by police chiefs that they can simply demand such a thing and expect their will to be done without even paying lip service to the principle of democracy that most people in this country set great store by. Who died and left them boss? The crime-solving canard has worn so thin that it is almost beyond mockery. Solving crimes is something that the UK police are not much interested in doing anymore. Population control is now their job (‘Social Management’ in NuSpeak). And as they now regard themselves to be a uniformed wing of the ruling elite, I suppose we’re going to get much more of this kind of thing from them in future. So now we are the servants and they are the masters. How did that happen? Cross-posted from Samizdata.net September 10th, 2003 | Comments are closed
The Liberal Democrats’ Environment Spokesman, Norman Baker, has been banging on again, via the Today program this week, about how people in Britain shouldn’t be allowed to have 4×4 cars, unless some busy-body, such as himself, agrees to it. At least, that’s what he seems to be saying. Back in May he started an anti-SUV campaign which attracted lots of supportive comment from the usual suspects. Hearing James Naughtie and Mr Baker discussing this, on a regular basis now, is becoming a staple gap filler on the Today program. Now socialists and environmentalists I can understand wetting their pants over whether I love my wonderful Honda CRV or not, or whether I should get one of those new baby Jeeps next time, which look rather nice, but what is an MP from the Liberal Democrats doing criticising my choice of car? Will somebody please remind Mr Baker, and other members of the supposed political party of liberalism, that we in the United Kingdom are supposed to be living in a free country, and whether I choose to drive a Honda CRV, an Amazon Land Cruiser, or a disarmed Scimitar tank, it is entirely my free choice. Or at least it should be. And when it isn’t, I will know for absolute certain that I am no longer living in a free country. When will the Liberal Democrats get it? When will they realise that the reason they have been out of power for nearly a century is because they are nothing more than the bleeding-heart wing of the Labour Party, having long spurned the causes of freedom under that great statist double-dealer, David Lloyd George. As Mr Carr points out, there may be a great opportunity out there for the rise of a new Classical Liberal party, which could return to the Old Whig roots of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to upset the statist struggle between New Labour and the Conservatives. With idiotarians like Norman Baker around, I fear it may be a some time yet before the Liberal Democrats grab this chance. William Ewart Gladstone must be weeping in his grave. September 10th, 2003 | 24 comments - (Comments are closed)
In the category of “better late than never”, I don’t think White Rose noticed this CNN story from Aug 13 first time around:
I glanced through the WR archives from around then and couldn’t find anything. Presumably these webcams are still operating. September 10th, 2003 | Comments are closed
A scientific opinion poll has been carried out in Iraq for the first time. The results are about what one should expect, given the situation. That is to say, the media image of the situation is pretty bogus. Iraqis by and large want the Coalition to stay just long enough for them to get their country standing on its’ own feet. A large percentage, especially among the majority Shiites, want no part of a religious state. Most Iraqis are fairly positive towards America and Americans but not uncritically so. The population appears to be very secular for that part of the world. There appears very little danger any of our nightmare scenarios will happen. Baathists will be tried and punished. There seems little desire for amnesty towards the managers of 35 years of brutality in the Iraqi public’s heart. Osama is personna non-gratis by a super-majority. Iran is not their favoured model for their future, not even among the southern Shiites. Iraq may not end up a democracy; but it will probably not end up a disaster. I think these people will sort themselves out just fine. In a few years it will be a very friendly place for American and British tourists to visit. I plan to be one of them. September 10th, 2003 | 22 comments - (Comments are closed)
There’s a lovely case of the punishment fitting the crime to read about at Dave Barry’s blog. On Aug 31, Barry wrote a Miami Herald article, describing the menace of what they call in the USA telemarketers, and what we call here junk fd*&%$ing phone calls.
And for all I know that is, approximately speaking, what the US Constitution says. Plus, if junk phone calling stopped, lots of junk phonies would be out of their junk jobs. Much the same, Barry pointed out, applies to muggers. Anyway, what’s the answer? → Continue reading: Junk phoners junk phoned September 10th, 2003 | 22 comments - (Comments are closed)
Edward Teller, one of the great intellects of the twentieth century, died on Tuesday at age 95. Fox News has an obituary. It’s not bad although the reporter obviously has a rather negative attitude about Dr. Teller. These lines are some of the best of the article:
I was my good fortune to attend a lecture by the good doctor some years ago. Teller was an idea factory through his entire life and was a rivetting speaker. I never knew the man personally, but I know people who worked with him in the national labs. He was a forceful leader and did not like obstacles or excuses. The future was there to reach for and he was fully prepared to reach as far as possible. We owe him a debt of gratitude. September 10th, 2003 | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)
User Friendly has been my daily “must read” cartoon every day since it’s inception. It’s the “Bloom County” of the computer world. If you see a tech guy laughing hysterically and falling off his seat, it means he’s either just wiped the corporate server terrabyte disk and backups by accident or is reading UF. Like Bloom County, the strips have long standing characters and follow ongoing story lines. The stories often have a connection to the humorous side of current events. Now to the point and the current events. UF’s Sunday ‘toon takes a pithy look at the true meaning of the RIAA “amnesty” program. Don’t blame me if you spend the rest of the day and well into the night reading the UF cartoon archives… you have free will. Really. September 10th, 2003 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
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