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]
« Newer Entries  
  Older Entries »

Discussion Point XI

· Philosophical

Is there an afterlife or is death the end?

June 20th, 2007 | 57 comments - (Comments are closed)

We’re all Danish now

· Middle East & Islamic · UK affairs

The book is now officially open…

Muslim radicals burned an effigy of Queen Elizabeth Tuesday as Pakistan summoned the British ambassador over Salman Rushdie’s knighthood and Iranian hardliners turned their fury on the monarch.

…so time to place your bets, ladies and gentlemen.

Will the British government buckle? Yes or No?

June 19th, 2007 | 37 comments - (Comments are closed)

Root causes ‘r’ us

· Middle East & Islamic

The Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, has issued a strong rebuke to the Pakistani Religious Affairs Minister for saying that the UK’s decison to award a knighhood to author Salman Rushdie was a justification for suicide bombing.

Mr. Haniyeh was quoted as saying:

“Ejaz-ul-Haq is a dog. The whole world knows that the reason for suicide bombing is the suffering of the Palestinian people. Now he is saying it is Salman Rushdie. Does he want the world to simply forget our plight? Is he in the pay of the Zionists now?”

The row has prompted EU officials to express concern that there was a “risk of public confusion” as to the genuine justifications for suicide bombers and other terrorist acts. EU Ministers are expected to convene an emergency session to determine the real root cause of terrorist acts which member states will be required to officially endorse.

June 19th, 2007 | 23 comments - (Comments are closed)

Better red than dead

· Sui generis

At last, a blow is being struck for truth, justice and equality:

Gingerism in the workplace could form the basis of formal grievances or constructive dismissal cases, an employment lawyer has warned. The news comes in the wake of one Newcastle family having to move house because of abuse about its members’ red hair.

The Chapman family has moved home three times in three years in the Newcastle area because of abuse directed at its six red-haired members. Kevin Chapman told reporters that his 11-year-old son even attempted suicide after becoming depressed following years of abuse.

The story has led to speculation about whether insults over red hair could have the same legal status as insults regarding a person’s race or gender.

This country is plagued with ugly and unchecked gingerism which is completely unacceptable in a multi-folicle society. According to scientifically-proven statistics more than 100% of ginger-haired people die before the age of 6 due to ruthless oppression and rampant pilophobia. This has serious repercussions for their future employment and housing prospects. This is the worst problem facing the world today and it is high time that the politicians did something to combat it. Hirsuitism must stop. Full stop.

June 19th, 2007 | 19 comments - (Comments are closed)

Progress

· Civil liberty, Law & Regulation

APPLICATION FOR A CHANGE OF UNDERWEAR LICENCE

Personal Details

Your Full Name

Address

Contact Telephone Number

E-mail Address

Date of Birth

Occupation

Ethnic Origin

Are you making this application on your behalf or as agent or carer for some other person(s)? If the latter, then please provide their personal details on the attached Supplementary Form

Do you wish to be visited at home by a Personal Hygiene Co-ordinator? (This is not mandatory but voluntary participation in the Personal Hygiene Home Consultation Scheme will speed up your application). → Continue reading: Progress

June 14th, 2007 | 24 comments - (Comments are closed)

Discussion Point X

· Opinions on liberty

Democracy or small government. Choose one.

June 13th, 2007 | 46 comments - (Comments are closed)

Discussion Point IX

· Media & Journalism

Have reports of the death of the mainstream media been greatly exaggerated?

June 8th, 2007 | 15 comments - (Comments are closed)

In an English country garden

· Middle East & Islamic · UK affairs

“Blair calls for homegrown Imams”

A quiet revolution is taking place in this green and pleasant land. In allotments and smallholdings all over the country the age-honoured and customary rows of marrows and ornamental cabbages are rapidly being replaced by a new and exotic species.

Spurred on by a combination of Tony Blair’s exhortations and the availability of generous government grants, farmers and market gardeners from Penzance to Perthshire are nurturing the first green shoots of what they hope will be a bumper crop of Muslim clerics.

Competition between growers is already hotting up as early adopters of the new fashion vie with each other for horticultural prestige. At the 78th Annual Chipping Sodbury Country Fair, Mrs. Gladys Whinge of Tetbury won First Prize for her record-breaking 254lb Imam which she calls ‘Yusuf’.

“The important thing is to use plenty of steaming, fresh horse manure”, said Mrs. Whinge “so I read the Guardian to him every day”.

The retail markets is already gearing up for what they hoping will be a huge demand for the homegrown Imams in 2008 with supermarket chain Waitrose leading the way by announcing that locally-produced Imams will be sold under their new ‘Koranic’ range.

June 5th, 2007 | 24 comments - (Comments are closed)

Discussion Point VIII

· Middle East & Islamic

Which Western country will be the first to become an Islamic state?

June 4th, 2007 | 58 comments - (Comments are closed)

While my Gaia gently weeps

· UK affairs

I am always looking for new and exciting ways to increase the size of my carbon footprint. For example, I actively seek to buy products that originate in far-flung corners of the world, such as New Zealand, China, Chile, California or Japan. I resolutely boycott all modes of transport that do not involve the burning of fossil fuels and, during the bleak British midwinter, I loll around the house in a T-shirt and shorts with the central heating thermostat set to ‘Nuclear Meltdown’ level.

But I still feel that I could be doing more and, indeed, I would be doing more if only I had the kind of information that would help me to make proper, ethical choices. Well, my long wait is finally over. The dark pall of ignorance that has hung over me like the emission cloud of a coal-fired power station is about to be blown away by the sweet, zesty breezes of eco-enlightenment:

Shoppers will be able to tell how much damage their purchases do to the environment, under a government plan unveiled yesterday…

Consumers have little way of judging the environmental impact of goods and services, often relying on the miles such products have travelled from their country of origin.

Praise be! For the first time in a very, very long time the British government has actually done something useful and beneficial. From now on, my conscience will be at peace knowing that not a morsel of food will pass my lips unless it has previously been schlepped from the other side of the world in a huge, smokey, belching diesel-powered container vessel. Not a stick of furniture will adorn my home unless it has been hewn from the arboreal habitat of an exotic, endangered species. Not a stitch of clothing will I wear on my back unless it has been made in a factory that operates on full power for 24 hours a day, seven days a week and whose unscrupulous and profit-hungry owners dispose of their toxic effluents by pumping them into the nearest nature reserve.

I firmly believe that individuals can make a difference and, thanks to this wonderful labelling system, I will be better equipped than ever to do my bit for the environment.

May 31st, 2007 | 57 comments - (Comments are closed)

Bring out your dead

· Arts & Entertainment · Civil liberty, Law & Regulation · UK affairs

Of course, you do realise that in 20 years or so, everybody will be smoking again:

WHEN the musical Grease opens in London’s West End this summer, and the teenage sweetheart Sandy draws on a symbolic cigarette, warning notices will be in place around the theatre alerting the audience to the danger she poses.

And that’s for a symbolic cigarette! Imagine the danger she would pose if she blazed up a real one?

The West End theatres fought successfully to win an exemption for actors from the ban on smoking in public places, which becomes law on July 1. But some are now concerned that onstage smoking may draw complaints from the audience.

They should put up a warning sign which says:”Anyone who complains about smoking on stage will have the snot beaten out of them”.

But whatever signs are erected will be temporary. When things get this deliriously insane, it means that the war on smoking is quite obviously and hopelessly lost.

May 27th, 2007 | 28 comments - (Comments are closed)

He’s thinking of the children

· Civil liberty, Law & Regulation · UK affairs

At least one member of the British Government is thinking of the children:

Richard Caborn, the sports minister, has backed a drive by shooting groups to increase participation in the sport among children as young as 12. He believes that the sport helps young people to become more responsible and disciplined, and vowed that significant funds would be made available to help boost participation.

And what better way, I ask you, to foster a gun culture than to get them while they are young?

Truly, as volte faces go this has to be one of the most volte we have ever faced and, offhand, I can think of only three possible explanations: (1) the government is running out of projects at which to throw public money; (2) we have finally reached the apogee of the safety/nanny paradigm (probably a bit optimistic); (3) the “broken watch” principle rears its head.

But, whatever the reasons, a taboo has been broken.

May 27th, 2007 | 35 comments - (Comments are closed)
« Newer Entries  
  Older Entries »