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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Astonishing news! In London today, the BBC has revealed a remarkable revelation:
Windows work in both directions! Not only can a person in a hotel room see out of a window, it is possible for people to also see in from the outside!
Truly we live in an age of marvels! Ah that such a cognitive breakthrough could have happened here, it make me proud to be English! Article like this are why I often send the BBC twice the licence fee they actually demand from me (under threat of jail if I do not pay up) because how can anyone doubt they provide such inestimable value. No, seriously, for the life of me, I cannot estimate how much value they provide. I truly cannot.
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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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This is only possible because of the unique way the BBC is funded.
😐
In spite of tiredness I suspect that Perry is being sarcastic.
The BBC deserves sarcasm.
Rather than stolen money.
Well, to be fair, when I live in Honolulu there was a notorious high-rise hotel that had bathrooms with one-way glass in the windows. A lot of guests using them at night didn’t realise it, thinking it was a mirror, and stood about starkers in full view of the world.
Should Scotland leave the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the term ‘British’ may have to be reconsidered in official usage, a wondrous pretext to abolish the British Broadcasting Corporation, but what to call the Zombie as it staggers on? The State-privilieged Parasitical UK National Broadcaster Underwritten by Menace would be a nice mouthful, the acronym is unfortunate though, SPUNBUM.
The real problem is to economically rout the ruling class, the BBC, those funded by the State, the charities, the central bankers and those they aid, the defence contractors, the quangos, the NHS nomenklatura, Local Government, the judiciary and the Universitariat and educashunners to name but a few. Has anyone drawn up say, a 20 point plan for ridding the UK of the ticks on the body politic? 50 reforms to let freedom reign? or the like (it could be 47 for all I care, but we seem to like base-10 lists.
They could still keep Liz, so technically still the union of the crowns could refer to Great Britain.
The United Kingdom would be a stretch though. How’s about the semi-detached kingdom.
Well JG I am assuming that the Nats would take over those BBC operations in Scotland and make the SBC even more turgid and politicised than the BBC, we would have a common Monarch but so do Canada, Australia, Jamaica and New Zealand, and anyway it was James VI of Scotland who took the English Crown, so the Scots would be back to 1603-1707, which was a messy period. I still prefer for England to leave the UK leaving the remaining three countries with no common land border, far more fun to form “the Celtic Kingdoms (no one wants)‘.
Talking about being proud to be English we won’t mention Churchill’s remark when a Tory MP and a Guard’s Officer were caught flagrante delicto on a bitterly cold night in Hyde Park.
I’m not proud to be English, I didn’t have any choice in the matter, pride doesn’t come into it, gratitude might. I’m just glad not to be of Ulster, or Welsh, seeing how they get to be the butt of so many jokes.
Since the main island is called ‘Britain’, the Scots could call their part, with endless ‘Taggart’ repeats, the Northern British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC (big Brother corporation, if I remember my Goons right) adds S for Southern- SBBC. the country could be called the Un-united Kingdom, so they can keep the same initials. No problemo!
Nick, but to keep the initials would mean that there was no Year Zero, to eradicate 307+ years of misery and occupation.
Having said that, I went to Scotland c.1985 and I was struck by how often anything that was ‘public’ was prefixed with ‘Scottish’ or Scot’, e.g. Scotrail for the British Rail (State-owned) railways, and anything that the State touched seemed to be called ScotX or Scottish X or X Scotland, a massive agitprop campaign. How could I forget that I was in Scotland? I did recall crossing the border, the pound notes were funny looking things, I could see Edinburgh Castle (which will probably become ‘Castle Scotland’ once the Great Helmsman of the North takes over). If we are to ditch the UK, let’s ditch some statism with it, no national broadcaster, no TV licensing, and culturally, I’d happily keep the bagpipes, but maybe no Englishmen in kilts, a sure sign of an overly expensive English wedding.
I have noticed that the word “British” seems to have disappeared from the BBC lately; it is all “UK this” and “UK that”. Maybe it is their way of preparing for the break up of Britain?
Good Heavens, this news item is about architects and designers cocking up the hotel rooms in a way that means guests are visible at times. And you’ve turned it into an anti-BBC story.
Ridiculous.
You might have a valid point about the failings of the BBC, but you’ve completely missed the target here.
Why don’t you attack the morons who forgot in the first place that windows are two-way, instead of a perfectly reasonable BBC report?
Because James, you do not have to go to the Shard to find a hotel room that puts your family jewels on display if you don’t draw the curtains. That is why this article is hilarious.
And there is never a wrong reason or a bad time to attack the BBC, because it should not exist at all.
@ Mr. Ed.
Sean Gabb has done this analysis in his book Cultural Revolution, Culture War.
He used to have it available as a free pdf download on his web-site at:
seangabb.co.uk
but it appears it is now available as a Kindle download for 1.92 pounds. Well worth that minimal price.
His prescription: shut down all the boondogles, quangos and public money quagmires in one fell swoop. Doing it one by one allows all the rest to raise the alarm. He has some prescient comments about the hilarity which would ensue putting into effect this course of action. Imagine the Grauniad without any government advertising to carry the load!
Of course, David (the “Conservative”) Cameron will never do this. I’m not even sure that Nigel would if given the chance.
The fact Sean Gabb opposes the BBC is enough to make me re-evaluate my opposition to it.
Cynewulf: A stopped clock is right twice a day. But there are some Maths tests where the working is not as important as the outcome, and this is like one of them. For those who do not know Sean Gabb, like me, ask the Sage of Kettering for his tuppenth worth.
The BBC does indeed provide a lot of value, at an extravagant price to license fee payers perhaps, but for free to those of us who do not have to pay a license fee and have internet access.
However, to keep the proper balance, it is necessary to also look at some site like Instapundit (or Samizdata) linking to the news that the BBC won’t report.
A stopped watch is right twice a day, but the wearer wouldn’t actually know when that happened, unless one was wearing another watch to compare the two. Only an economist would think that was a good reason to hang onto the non-working watch!
“because how can anyone doubt they provide such inestimable value.”
I see you misspelled “infinitesimal” there…
If you’re in the States & listen to NPR (national progressivism radio) or PBS (popular bullshit syndication) you know the scene…