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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The Pope Benedict XVI knew very well what he was doing quoting Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologu. Once more, with feeling…
Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.
The BBC’s correspondent in Rome, David Willey, suggests that Pope Benedict may have not understood the potential implications of his remarks. I beg to differ. The Vatican spends a fair amount of time and effort on other religions, both as part of its institutions and as a continuation of ecumenism so dear to John Paul II. I therefore doubt that Pope Benedict would be oblivious to the Muslim ‘sensitivities’. I suspect he understands rather well how modern victimhood assists Muslims in the West. In short, he has done a great service to the public debate about Islam, such as it is, by holding a mirror to those whose only response is to strike at it violently.
I am disappointed that the public figures defending him cannot do better than saying his speech was misunderstood (re German Chancellor Angela Merkel). Catholic Church for all its vilification throughout the ages, some of it deserved and a lot of it not, is the last remaining Western institution that holds values to be above public opinion(s). One of the values that the Church has paid dearly for acquiring and upholding is the understanding that spreading the faith through violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul…
Interestingly Pope Benedict’s lecture was about faith and reason. It was based around one of the central beliefs of Catholicism – that God is knowable through reason. His intention was to broaden our concept of reason and its application… not contrary to the scientific nature of Western philosophy but as a matter of rational and practical approach to the cultural and social problems that the West faces.
A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures.
I do not mean to exonerate the Pope from being ‘subversive’ of Islam as there is a bit in his lecture that I find more central to the debate than the infamous quote from 14th century:
But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality.
This is a far more damning statement than the one that caused all the commotion. There is not much tolerance these days in the Vatican for intolerance and, gasp, lack of reason.
Riding the 211 bus from Hammersmith to Chelsea yesterday, I was in a good mood, anticipating a tipple or two with Samizdata Overlord Perry de Havilland. As the bus drew up beside Borders, though, my mood took a significant tumble upon spotting this:
Paperchase is a British stationery chain which also operates within Borders stores, having been acquired by Borders Group in 2004. If you click on that link, you will see that the “Top Marx” line of back to school supplies is the central feature of their new season’s products. The product descriptions refer to the red stars and other iconography as “Chinese emblems”. I suppose that is true, much in the same way that the swastika became a “German emblem”.
It was only a few months ago that a number of people decided to boycott Borders, due to the chain’s decision not to sell the issue of Free Enquiry magazine which featured the Danish cartoons depicting Mohammad. The reply I got to my complaint letter to Borders about this was exactly the same as the one Dale Amon received. It read, in part:
[W]e place a priority on the safety and security of our customers and our employees.
So is it safe to presume that Borders would cease to carry the “Top Marx” line if they were subject to sufficient threats of violence over it? Is it possible that no Paperchase or Borders employee voiced concerns about the wisdom of this line at any time? Or is it more likely that the people at Paperchase and Borders are really that ignorant of such recent history? I am curious what Samizdata readers think of this one.
I’ve been lucky enough to win an Oscar, write a bestseller… my other dream would be to have a painting in the Louvre. The only way that’s going to happen is if I paint a dirty one on the wall of the gentlemen’s lavatory.
– David Niven, actor, writer and soldier.
There is an interesting post on ‘Classical Values’ that people who share my view that we are indeed in a war of civilisations might want to see. I may not be a Christian or a Jew but I do know who my enemies are… and are not.
Sign me up for the Oriana Fallaci Society.
As I type these words, Britain’s Channel 4 is airing a major piece of breath-taking propoganda.
This two-hour prime-time ‘documentary’ is called ‘The Doomsday Code’ and purports to be a ciritical examination of the violent, apocolyptic, end-of-the-world ideology of (wait for it)…American Christians!
The story so far:
- American Christians and Israelis are conspiring to bring about a global nuclear holocaust and this is why they are attacking Islam
- Americans are deliberately causing global warming as a part of their monstrous plot to realise ‘End Times’
- The only hope for mankind lies with the UN but its effectiveness is being undermined by the “corrosive hostility” of the fundamentalist Christian Americans
I cannot find any specific programme website to which to link but there is a link to the website of the production company which is somehwat illuminating:
The Doomsday Code is produced by Fozia Khan and directed by James Quinn. It was commissioned by Aaquil Ahmed, Commissioning Editor for History, Science, Religion and Arts at Channel 4.
It is still broadcasting and has now moved on to Africa which, allegedly, is proving to be a fertile recruiting ground for the insanely violent American Evangelicals who are (among other things) doing their best to facilitate the spread of AIDS in accordance with the Book of Revelation.
I am not making this up.
Looks like the Holy War odds have just lengthened:
Pope Benedict XVI has said he is sorry that a speech in which he referred to Islam has offended Muslims.
Only fair, I reckon, given the superhuman levels of tolerance and generous spirit of the latter.
I received my absentee ballot from Pittsburgh last week but it was not until this afternoon I was able to look over the papers. I opened up the list of candidates to see who was running… and I saw no Libertarians. I opened up the ballot itself, thinking there must be some mistake. Again, no Libertarians and not even a box for the party.
I am not one to give up easily. I did a quick search and found the LP of Pittsburgh web site. The first number I tried just rang. Then I decided to look over their blog and that was when I started to see the picture of what sorts of things are going on over there:
The challenge to Posipanka’s nomination papers, which had been accepted by the State Elections Bureau on August 1st, was filed on August 8th, and Posipanka was served with court papers the evening of August 10th by a local constable. Local Libertarian Party database manager and Posipanka campaign advisor, Harold Kyriazi, estimated from careful database work, that Posipanka would fall about 40 signatures shy if he sought to fight the court challenge, because about 110 of the signatures seemed to be from residents who aren’t registered to vote.
Not wishing to travel all the way to Harrisburg on a workday for what would almost certainly be a losing effort, Posipanka decided to submit to the request of Gergely’s lawyer friend, who brought a withdrawal form to Posipanka’s house the day after “informing him” about the possibility of punitive legal fees if the case went to court.
Gergely is the Democratic candidate in that district and appears to be a really nasty peice of work.
I found a contact number which answered and further discovered there are no Libertarians on the ballot this year. Some of the problem was also mentioned in the blog article:
Major party candidates need only collect 300 signatures during the weeks before the Spring Primary, whereas minor party candidates need to solicit either 300 or 2% of that district’s previous election’s highest winning vote total, whichever is higher. This means that in some cases, a minor party candidate needs to collect almost 600 signatures while major party candidates need only 300. For statewide offices the situation is infinitely worse: this year, any minor party candidate for Governor or U.S. Senate needed 67,000 valid signatures, while major party candidates needed only 2,000.
“These sorts of shenanigans are not only unfair, but a direct violation of the Pennsylvania constitution, which stipulates that ‘elections shall be free and equal,’ said local party chair Dave Powell, from Morningside. “In my book, 67,000 does not equal 2,000. And, if minor party candidates for the state house needed only the 300 signatures needed by major party candidates, David Posipanka would still be on this year’s ballot.”
So for any Democrats who drop by Samizdata, let it be known that instead of voting “none of the above” as I probably would have done, I instead voted straight Republican for just a tiny bit of revenge against this low life by the name of Gergely.
There is a more general issue here. The Pennsylvania laws have totally disenfranchised me. I have no way of being represented. I have no stake in the government or the way it is run because I have been declared outside of it just as surely as if there were men in white peaked hats and shotguns standing outside of the polling stations.
Free country? Democracy? Do not make me laugh.
I quite like iTunes, finding the ‘look and feel’ better than any other music players for both my Mac and PC… however I made the mistake of upgrading to iTunes 7 the other day and found its ugly, laggy and above all the sound quality was dire with crackling and buzzing sounds clearly audible.
Looking on the internet I see I am far from the only person this has happened to. How Apple could release such a pox ridden piece of software is a marvel. Avoid at all costs until it is well and truly patched. I have gone back to the previous version with which I am entirely happy and will probably stick with it for some time now unless I can find an alternative player that I like.
Isn’t it hilarious? Muslims are outraged that the Pope would link Islam with violence and react – with violence. Magnificent.
– James Waterton
Earlier tonight, whilst browsing in a shop, I was listening to a song playing on the radio that I have not heard for years. It is an appallingly bad, drivellous, sappy love tune with a disco beat called Lady (Hear Me Tonight) by one-hit-wonder group Modjo. What makes this song so utterly shit are the lyrics – they were surely written by a computer or perhaps someone who does not speak English. I’m going to reproduce them now, so if you intend to read on, make sure you have a bucket within easy reach. Consider yourself warned:
Lady/Hear me tonight/’Cos my feeling/Is just so right/As we dance/By the moonlight/Can’t you see/You’re my delight/Lady/I just feel like/I won’t get you/Out of my mind/I feel loved/For the first time/And I know that it’s true/I can tell by the look in your eyes
Is this the worst song ever written? I think it a strong contender for that title, but I would like to see some differing opinion from the worldly and wise that congregate here. Therefore, inspired as I am by Johnathan’s recent vox pop and Perry’s determination to position Samizdata as a YouGov competitor, I petition you, dear reader, to leave your nominations for worst song lyrics (with a sample of the horror) in comments.
Conservative party leader David Cameron has introduced a new logo for his party to replace the rather appealing (though not entirely apt) torch of liberty.
Admittedly, the stylised green smudge in the shape of an oak tree represents the Tories under Cameron far better than the bracing Thatcherite torch of liberty. According to the Times article linked above, this is the latest move in a process of ‘decontaminating the brand’. They could have accomplished that to their satisfaction, saved a lot of time and expense AND perfectly encapsulated the Cameronite Tory party by simply borrowing this existing logo.
Today whilst at the fuel station, I had a rather one-sided encounter with a smug Toyota Prius-driving oaf. The guy was fuelling up his car and wearing the most ridiculous grin. I did not think my face conveyed any surprise at such an improbable expression, but it must have – as soon as he saw me glance at him, he said “it makes me laugh to think how much less I spend on fuel these days”. My instant response was “it makes me laugh to think that there are people who will pay $40,000 for a Toyota Corolla”. I lie – that’s what I instantly thought. To the oaf, I simply smiled and nodded – a technique I find useful and effective if I wish to limit interaction with a whole manner of people best avoided – from the vexatious to the unhinged. This time, however, I wish I’d spoken my mind, for taking smug Prius owners down a rung or two is surely the most worthy of pursuits.
I blame my parents – they raised me to be too polite.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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