The wrong 1980s Liverpool injustice

Scepticisle disagrees with my comments on the case of the (appallingly tasteless, Hitler-trivialising) Sun anti-Scargill front page from the miners' strike which was blocked by the print unions. My take was that either content should be illegal to publish, or people who want to publish (and are willing to set up presses to publish on … Continue reading The wrong 1980s Liverpool injustice

Imaginary, err I mean intellectual, property

This is a fine comment: “I own a sofa. I can arrange the cushions on it in any pattern I like; if I couldn’t it would reduce my rights to my property. I also own a hard disk, and I can arrange the magnetic alignments on it in any pattern I like; if I couldn’t … Continue reading Imaginary, err I mean intellectual, property

A quick note on free speech

As far as I can make out, "the right to free speech" means something like "the state will not take action against you for voicing your opinions, no matter how vile, and people who commit illegal acts against you for voicing your opinions will not avoid prosecution just because your opinions are deemed vile". If … Continue reading A quick note on free speech

Must… not… like… pretend… buffoon

In the last couple of weeks, Boris Johnson has done three good things that I can remember: * Allegedly had a row with David Cameron about Crossrail, taking London's side * Endorsed cycling home after a couple of beers * Supported restarting tours of London's disused Tube stations Meanwhile, I can't think of anything bad … Continue reading Must… not… like… pretend… buffoon

Yes nucular, no Tridentular

Supporters of nuclear weapons systems like Trident generally justify the cash by saying things like 'dangerous world, Kim Jong Il and Ahmadinejad very bad men, we can't just disarm'. Or, more cynically, 'place on world table, we can't just disarm'. I'm not totally sold on this argument - after all, the US will continue to … Continue reading Yes nucular, no Tridentular

Obvious ‘Madoff with the money’ gag

Over at Bystander's, some sanctimonious caants are talking a load of sanctimonious cant about one of the financial services community's finer comedians, Bernie Madoff, and why he's a Very Bad Man Indeed. They pointed me to this document, which is absolutely superb - the self-pitying ramblings of people who, having grown used to receiving copious … Continue reading Obvious ‘Madoff with the money’ gag

Isn’t this just obvious to everyone?

Clive has a good piece up on CiF on the way that internationally, David Cameron is going to be perceived as the UK's George W Bush, both for his buffoonery and his disdain for international agreements. Being a CiF thread, the comments spiralled into Europhobic lunacy. However, responding to a silly-ish question there did give … Continue reading Isn’t this just obvious to everyone?

The uniforms were also pretty

Quote of the day: I’m not sure I can vote UKIP: rather like voting for Hitler because you like his re-armament policies and hope that the bit about the Jews was mostly for show.. Starting a single-issue party that's obsessively dedicated to ending a flawed-but-democratically-elected transnational institution's influence over what happens in your country by … Continue reading The uniforms were also pretty

Longer Fraser Nelson

What the ignorant paranoiac says: The threat [of Terribly Bad Things if the Tories don't abolish all public services, taxes, etc] is abstract, but needs to be made real. What this means: There isn't actually a disastrous crisis that means we'll need to abolish all public services, taxes, etc, but if we lie that there … Continue reading Longer Fraser Nelson

Quote of the day

From the comments here: Starting an illegal war and allowing the banks to ruin the economy, neither of those is sufficiently serious to bring down a government. But a couple of free dinners… The original piece is interesting as well - the Telegraph smearing a couple of Lib Dem MPs, one for letting his daughter … Continue reading Quote of the day