Last night I watched Have I Got a Bit More News for You?, which is the extended Saturday night version of the BBC's popular current affairs and comedy quizz show. Something interesting was said, and even more interestingly, not contradicted. HIGN4Y regular Ian Hislop was commenting on the Mini- Pre- Budget that isn't really a Budget, but really is. He said that the country had got into terrible trouble because of everyone borrowing too much…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

As someone who has certainly conspired with Damian Green (and LibDem MPs too) to embarrass the Government and the Home Office. I spent some time Thursday and Friday making provision in case I were to be arrested and my property searched. The reaction from the media and parliamentarians in the Green affair has been so strong that I don't now think it likely. But it does seem possible. Before Thursday night I would have laughed…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

Matthew Parris today: For me, Thomas à Becket and Canterbury Cathedral spring to mind. I picture an infuriated Prime Minister bellowing at a flat-screen television: "Will nobody rid me of these troublesome leaks?" Who the four knights were who took it upon themselves to act upon the presumed wishes of a maddened monarch, we may never know, but when Mr Brown insists that he didn't actually know, it is possible to believe him. Just what…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

The events surrounding the arrest of Damien Green have caused a political storm amongst parliamentarians. From the Labour government we have heard that Ministers had "no prior knowledge" of the arrests, though the permanent secretary of the Home Office instituted the leak investigation, and that the "operational independence" of the police should not be questioned or circumscribed. These lines were agreed quickly by the government's news management team have held for now. The police raid…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

As the terrible events in Mumbai have reminded us - I have some ex-colleagues who work there - terrorism remains an ever-present threat. Even while the economic stories dominated our news headlines in recent months, I had a nagging worry that the jihadis were not going to pass up the chance to strike, particularly with a new US president on the way. So terrorism is back as a topic in the most awful way imaginable….

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

I agree with all those who are now saying that the England cricket tour of India should not be interrupted, in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. My understanding of terrorism is that what makes it such a headache to defend against, given that in India people generally are not allowed to carry guns (correct?), is not knowing when or where they might strike. But if you have a number of set-piece, high…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

In my family, we’ve got a simple tradition. Every year on Thanksgiving, we pass around a book where everyone can write what they’re thankful for that year. We might as well start that tradition here, right?
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Today, I’m thankful for my family, who (mostly) flew out here to SoCal where my brother and I […]

From The Liberty Papers

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Is this what it must have felt like in the 1930's?…

From Samizdata.net

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Richard North on UK writer, actor and travel writer, Stephen Fry: As he takes us on his taxi-ride around the US, he is not ostensibly defending the place, though in his accompanying notes (in interviews and on his website) that seems to be his mission. It is easier to warm to Mr Fry's account. He seems a nice old thing. But he has a striking narrowness of mind, best exemplified by the disdain with which…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

I just love gadgets, and this has to be one of the funniest. Ideal for bloggers at breakfast….

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom