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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New smite cats recruited… … I have returned from Istanbul and never have I seen a city with more cats. And in spite of many being feral, they are well fed and friendly. One of these days I hope to see if there is some way to see a return of the smite cats to samizdata (long standing readers will know what I am babbling about).
So un-smittting should be a bit faster now.
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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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Did you have the shrimp at Omar’s on the Hipppodrome? Or at least some marble steak?
caption: “Tomb cat makes sure everyone stays dead”
That is somewhat alarming. Bit of a problem with the undead in Istanbul?
Well there would be if not for all the cats, Marcher. There is a reason they all look so well fed.
I have just been watching Midnight Express, this has rather put me off the idea of traveling to Turkey
Does Istanbul have even more cats than Venice?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Israel has more than Istanbul, and they look worse.
Way more.
My host in Istanbul just got back from Israel and he disagrees there are more but agrees they look worse 😀 There are water bowls and plates of cat food everywhere in Istanbul, which is doubtless why the cats look good and are very friendly. So many people feed them.
Possibly, Perry – after all, counting cats is not my primary business 😀
Impressed you managed to avoid being caught insulting Erdogan. Love the bookseller cat!
But what about the fleas and worms?
Well I communed with a lot of them and I do mean a lot, and noticed a remarkable lack of flea bitten worminess 😀 I really cannot explain why the hordes of street cats appear to be in such good condition (as per the pictures). It is possible more have owners than is apparent but that would mean ailurophilia might be giving islam a run for its money as the local religion 😉 That said, the two are wholly compatible.
And it was Istanbul, not Zanzibar 😉
Yes, I was counting on you to notice that 😀
Thanks for the name check both. We still struggle onward. 😉
😀
Maybe once a month it’s deworming day: everybody adds dewormer to the cat food bowls. Even if compliance is not much below 50%, it would probably be enough.
Incidentally, i have been wondering about the ambiguous nature of domestic cats: they are as libertarian as any animal, and more than any other domestic animal; and yet, they play their most important role in societies based on grain agriculture, which are, broadly speaking, the least libertarian societies.
One thing I have in common with a certain religious and political-military leader is love of cats.
“But Paul they are ruthless, cruel and sadistic”.
Yes – I think that is why I like them.
I could never really understand what is so libertarian about cats.
Alisa: seriously?? Have you ever shared living quarters with a cat? do they behave as though they owe you anything?
Well, if they share quarters with me (not that they ever would – I’m not much of a cat person), I’d presume they do owe me shelter and food, at the very least? If they don’t feel that they so owe me, than I’d think that they are more of welfare spongers than libertarians.
*then
Well the thing about cats is they are supposed to be diffident and independent. Now from a left wing perspective, that makes them selfish Libertarians, just out for themselves, and I’m afraid they are.Not that Libertarians are… but you know what I mean.
I have owned cats and dogs. I prefer dogs, because a dogs love is almost unconditional. It is part of the pack and will fearlessly defend you. Cats look at you and will take your love when on offer but piss off down the back alley to an old lady they know who feeds them better than you. This happened to two of our cats. Greener grass and all that. Our bonkers dog waits by the door when we are out to welcome us home.
“Take your love when on offer”? I don’t think that offering love is a good way to deal with cats. I think it best to sit and wait for them to come to your lap. Also, never talk loudly to them: they don’t like noisy people. When i had kittens, they were almost always there purring when i emerged from the bedroom in the morning or returned home in the evening.
Cats might be spongers, but only out of necessity: they take every opportunity to catch their own food, and are willing to share it with their “owners” too! and they don’t vote for more welfare.
I’m allergic :-/
As to the rest of your points, all true and well, but has nothing to do with libertarianism, just as your original remark did not 🙂