:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/07/2002 09:54:00 PM [+] ::
...
A 'Hrmmm' From The Den........
Sometimes being a libertarian Bear makes for difficult evaluations: is the following just good unharmful fun, or should it be labeled some kind of critter abuse. These races appear not to cause harm to the participants, but should they be permitted? Comments from fellow critters are solicited.
Joe Katzman has continued his three part response to Iain Dale's posts on Israel. It has become a cross-blog discussion and one that is very interesting. I urge you to follow this debate.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/07/2002 01:09:00 PM [+] ::
...
The Telegraph has a very poignant piece on that Dutch killing today. It makes the valid point that the left and the media are partly responsible for whipping up hatred against right-of-centre candidates.Their depiction of Mr Fortuyn as "far-right" and "extremist" was and is totally inaccurate and slanderous. Comparing him to Haider and Le Pen is equally ludicrous and, more importantly, dangerous. The BBC 1 o'clock news is continuing the network's defamatory depiction of the man, even in death. The report called him a "racist" and compared him to Haider.
There is no doubt that those on the left will not care if they are partly responsible for the death of Mr Fortuyn. We must all do our part to expose the campaign of hatred against right-of-centre leaders. If I were in charge of Iain Duncan Smith's security detail I would be a might concerned right now.
Brian over at Samizdata has written a brilliant piece called Give me a definition of racist. It is based on a question by Fortuyn to the BBC's John Simpson when the latter accused the former of racism.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/07/2002 12:58:00 PM [+] ::
...
Goliard's Kevin has posted a very interesting piece on today's events in Holland. His other posts aren't half bad either.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/07/2002 01:40:00 AM [+] ::
...
Andrew Sullivan has posted his thoughts on the developments in Holland. He makes some very valid points. Oh yes, and Andrew Sullivan actually knew the man.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/07/2002 01:21:00 AM [+] ::
...
:: 5/06/2002 ::
For once, a quiz that gets me in one. Thanks to promising The Bitch Chronicles for this link. Visit her site, the poor dear has just suffered through exams and is in a bit of daze.
I am Chocolate Flavoured.
I am sweet and a little bit naughty. I am one of the few clinically proven aphrodisiacs. Sometimes I can seem a little hard, but show warmth and I soon melt. What Flavour Are You?
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/06/2002 11:21:00 PM [+] ::
...
Iain Dale has responded to Katzman's post on Israel. I come in for stick yet again from Iain; this time he seems to think I didn't realise his "Politicos ban" was a joke. Yeah, right, ok, Iain, I NEVER realised that you want me to spend my money in your shop. It is not surprising that my post on the subject was less than complete, since it was considerably shorter than Katzman's. I was planning to, and may yet respond to, some of the points mentioned by Iain and Katzman.
I do take issue with Iain's assertion that the comment made by Ann Winterton was racist. The joke which ended with "Asians are 10 a penny" might have been ill-timed, but it was NOT racist. If that joke had ended with the same line and inserted "Americans" instead, would it have been anti-American?
Still, considering the power of the fascist Council on Racial Equality, IDS had no choice but to sack her from the cabinet. If he was going to make such a move, it was a good idea to do it as soon as possible.
Of course, one could ask, where was the CRE when Tom Paulin called for the execution of Isreali settlers? Something I might point out: this indeed happened less than a week after his comments. Were the CRE all aflutter about his anti-semitic comments? Nope, dead silence. In other words, Jews matter less than Asians to the CRE. Or is it, if you are from the left you can be as racist as you want?
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/06/2002 06:38:00 PM [+] ::
...
Dutch leftists show their strong belief in democracy. They have assassinated Pim Fortuyn, a right-wing leader who was set to win at least 15% of the vote democratically. The party had done well in Rotterdam in the local elections, being the largest party in the city. He was openly gay and critical of muslim extremists in Holland.
What do you bet Le Pen would have been shot as well? Nice to see the left believes so strongly in the vote.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/06/2002 06:19:00 PM [+] ::
...
Jay Manifold has published the results of his "what would you save from history contest". What was a bit odd for me is that I was not the only one to suggest retrieving the Library at Alexandria. I am not used to be part of a crowd! Some of the other suggestions were rather interesting. A few were rather predictable and a few were very original, but all showed a decent amount of thought.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/06/2002 12:39:00 AM [+] ::
...
:: 5/05/2002 ::
Information on tomorrow's Israel Rally can be found here.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/05/2002 03:18:00 PM [+] ::
...
The Telegraph today features some paranoid bleating from Simon Heffer about drug legalisation. He claims that the government will tax drugs so high that it will force users back into the arms of the criminals. He does not once suggest the obvious answer to this supposed problem. How about lowering the taxes? The reason people buy illegally imported booze and cigarettes is because of the obscene taxation thereon. Lower the tax it makes it less tempting to cheat
"...only the libertarian argument is left. Since the claims about reducing crime and work for the police do not hold water, we can instead have hours of fun arguing about the need to defend the freedom of teenage crackheads to beat up old ladies who are on their way back from collecting their pensions."
It is nice to see that Simon is interested in having a sensible argument about the legalisation of drugs. What a fool. Then again the only counter authoritarians, like Heffer have to those of us who believe in freedom, is taking the worse case scenario every time.
I suspect that pointing out that legalised drugs would mean the drugs were purer and less adulterated would be moot. Having a reputable company controlling the distribution and production would be it would be their interest to have the drug as pure as possible. This would mean fewer deaths and lower the amount needed to be taken for the desired result.
How about all those people suffering from MS, eye problems, and cancer who would benefit from cannabis? Aren't authoritarians keeping them in pain for the sake of stopping a few teenage yobs?
Until authoritarian nitwits, like Simon, stop trying to use emotional blackmail to justify their stance, we will be stuck in this nonsensical debate.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/05/2002 03:03:00 PM [+] ::
...
I suspect, despite recent polls in France, that Le Pen's will be higher than predicted. I am in no doubt that the French people are lying to pollsters about their support for Le Pen. Likewise, I am fairly sure that the pollsters are lying about the true numbers. I suspect his vote may be has high as 40% but probably more like 30%. While it means Chirac will remain in the Ellyse palace, it certainly will mean the General Election in a month's time will be tres' interesting.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/05/2002 03:02:00 PM [+] ::
...
:: 5/04/2002 ::
Ex leftie Bruce of War Now! has some pertinent things to say about the IRA in his piece Israel=Ulster?. Thanks to Yourish for this link. She seems to be a tad fond of the guy.
Hawkgirl weighs in the issues as well on her excellent blog. She has written an impressive screed on the realities of Northern Ireland as opposed to the fantasy-land portrayed by Irish-American terrorist supporters. I wonder if these scumbags will take pause from the fact that the FARQ have just blown up a church up with 60 people inside who were seeking santuary from the fighting. Guess where they learned how to make this type of "building buster" bombs?
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/04/2002 12:42:00 PM [+] ::
...
The Telegraph today does a good line in debunking today. First up is the local election results and the hysteria caused by the outcome in Burnley. The next reason to bleat comes tomorrow, when we find the final results of the French presidential election. Then a month later we will witness the French general election which could see chaos resume.
Tom Utlley, a former lobby correspondent, takes on the lap-dog mentality of some of the current crop.
And Mark Steyn launches his "British Press Award For Total Fantasy". Up for the prize are those who screamed about a massacre in Jenin, when even the PLA now admit it was around 50 or so, and the Isrealis agree. Other contenders are those, mostly the same people, who screamed hysterically about the blood-bath that was going to be the war in Afganisatan.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/04/2002 12:09:00 PM [+] ::
...
:: 5/03/2002 ::
Well it is the day after the latest round of local elections in the UK. Those hearty souls who stayed the pace last night, or lasted into the wee hours, will be picking up their papers to look at the result. Mostly, they will be hearing bleating about the fact that the British National Party won 2 seats (and maybe a 3rd currently in recount) in Burnley. Labour, feeling guilty, is blaming everyone else but themselves for this result, especially, as one might have guessed, the Conservatives.
In a breathtaking bit of demagoguery, a Labour MP on the BBC declared that there were Conservative candidates in the North of London expressing extreme-right and racist views. When weakly challenged, by the buffoon that is Eric Pickles MP, the man in question rescinded his remarks.
In other more amusing news, some nitwit in a monkey suit won mayor in Hartlepool (Peter Mandelson MP's patch). The mascot of the local football club is a monkey because those clever people in the town hung a monkey that washed up on their coast during the Napoleonic Wars. They thought it to be a French spy. Inotherwords, a symbol of Hartlepool's ignorance is now their mayor. How very fitting. An independent, former police chief, nicknamed Robocob, looks to have won mayor in Middlesborough. Senior Labour members were visually bemused that their "invention" for England was being used to elect this sort (ie non-Labour) of candidate.
Overall, the Tories did rather well, taking several councils including Enfield, with the Liberal Democrats having a mixed night and Labour having a pretty poor one. Independents all over the country were up as well. Expect the Labour machine to go into overdrive, spinning this one as a "victory." We can look forward to Charles Kennedy of the Lib-Dems decrying how badly the Tories have done. I suspect he will jump on the, "blame the Tories" for the Burnley mess bandwagon, as well.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/03/2002 10:26:00 AM [+] ::
...
On a more technical note: I would recommend that anyone running either XP or OSX use the latest release of Mozilla for posting. It is significantly faster and more stable than IE. In addition, it is a joy to use.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/03/2002 09:57:00 AM [+] ::
...
David Pryce-Jones has written an insightful article on Islam's relationship with the West. He takes to task Patten et al ending his piece with this piquant final quote:
"The Vedrines and Pattens and such spokesmen are in the inexplicable position of lining Europe up with Saudi Arabia, Hamas, and the Islamists against the rest of the West. This is an intellectual, and a moral, failure."
Kind of says it all, doesn't it? It will be interesting to see what Adil has to say about this.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/03/2002 09:44:00 AM [+] ::
...
Goldstein has called for the Tory Party to push the idea of a withdrawl from the EU. I, for one, agree with him wholeheartedly. Good one, Emmanuel!
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/03/2002 01:26:00 AM [+] ::
...
:: 5/02/2002 ::
A Snarl From The Den........
And you wonder why MommaBear refers to 'humans' with a question mark! After reading this, MommaBear had all she could do not to go charging off to eliminate this one member of the specie H. Sapiens(?). Leave it to a fellow critter to find this one.
:: MommaBear 5/02/2002 09:50:00 PM [+] ::
...
Kevin James has written a long piece calling for a new inquisition in the Catholic Church. He rebrands it "internal affairs". I find it odd that the SECOND task of this organisation would be dealing with the pedophiles and its primary task would be a strengthening of Orthodoxy. Surely, under this remit, the Church would go for the easy option and just persecute gay priests while ignoring the non-gay pederasts that exist in the Church. Andrew Sullivan shares my worry. If the Catholic Church wishes to survive, it needs to root out and excoriate the pedophiles in its ranks and worry about the theological aspect second. Despite my reservations about the tone of Kevin's proposal, it is a very well-written and thoughful piece that is well worth the read.
I disagree with his attempt to tone down the reputation of the Spanish Inquisition as well. "The reader should note, however, that much of the Spanish Inquisition's horrific reputation rests upon a "Black Legend" composed of wild fabrications," he says.From what I have read the Inquisition all over Europe deserves its brutal reputation. Let's not forget the internal European crusades against the Cathars and Janesens (amoungst others like the Templar Order). The Inquisition, which continued in one form or another until the last century, was a brutal and highly repressive pogrom against anyone who did not toe Rome's line.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/02/2002 01:04:00 PM [+] ::
...
Iain Dale has responded to my comments and those of Joe Katzman on our recent posts about his on Israel. In it. I criticised him for accusing Israel of waging a "war of terror" on the Palestinians. He launched this screed on the basis of inaccurate reports on the operation in Jenin speaking of a "massacre" and the killing of women and children. There is no evidence of this occuring; in fact, there is evidence that many of the buildings blown up were destroyed by Palestinians terrorists via the use of booby traps (whose design was said to be thanks to the IRA). These militants were using civilians as human shields, something we condemned in Iraq but don't seem to care about in Palestine.
Believing that Jenin was a massacre and deseminating that information is passively helping the terrorist cause. Why do you think there are Palestinian sources spreading these lies? Who could possibly gain by painting the operation in Jenin as genocide? Is it not possible that these claims were in aide of attracting more bombers to go kill Isreali civilians?
Iain asks me to apologise for my comments or I might be banned from Politicos. I might have been a tad harsh, but the general idea of my piece was correct. The Thatcher comment was a tad lame; I will admit to that. As you do Iain, I call it as I see it.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/02/2002 12:01:00 PM [+] ::
...
Boris has taken on the screeching against Blair's proposal to tackle youth crime. In this proposal, child benefit will be withheld if parent(s) do nothing about their erring child. I support the idea and proposed something similar in my book Statism Sucks! Ver. 2.0. Why should the rest of society have to pay when parents fail in their duties? If anyone suffers, shouldn't it be the parents and not everyone else?
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/02/2002 11:47:00 AM [+] ::
...
:: 5/01/2002 ::
A Chuckle From The Den........
MommaBear has received another missive from her cousin, GruffBear, up in the hills of Vermont. Hoping to lighten the mood of H. Sapiens(?), she submits it forthwith:
THINGS YOU'D LOVE TO SAY AT WORK, BUT CAN'T!
1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of shit.
2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
3. How about never? Is never good for you?
4. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to worship me.
6. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.
7. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...
8. I don't work here. I'm a consultant.
9. It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying.
10. Ahhh...I see the mess-up fairy has visited us again...
11. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid.
12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
13. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't give a damn.
14. I'm already visualising the duct tape over your mouth.
15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of
view.
17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
18. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
19. What am I? Flypaper for freaks!?
20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.
21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.
22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
23. And your cry-baby whiny-assed opinion would be...?
24. Do I look like a people person?
25. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.
26. I started out with nothing & still have most of it left.
27. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.
28. If I throw a stick, will you leave?
29. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.
30. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.
31. I'm trying to imagine you with a personality.
32. A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.
33. Can I trade this job for what's behind door #1?
34. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
35. Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?
36. Chaos, panic, & disorder - my work here is done.
37. How do I set a laser printer to stun?
38. I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks
Oh great! Some call me the "straight Oscar Wylde" in real life because of my dress sense [ed.-nonsense, or, perhaps, lack of]. Now I am the "straight deist Andrew Sullivan" according to this:
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/01/2002 03:19:00 PM [+] ::
...
New blogger, the guy is a writer, computer game designer, and a Swede. Be kind to him, he sure has good taste in templates. Thanks to the excellent Bruce Baugh for the tip.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/01/2002 02:51:00 PM [+] ::
...
Bryan over at JunkYardBlog has written a great short explanation of the ways of the Baptist Church. He contrasts it with the structure of the Catholic Church. Well worth the read.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/01/2002 02:26:00 PM [+] ::
...
Have all of you done your bit FOR global capitalism today? Go spend some money at Starbucks or McDonalds or use your Visa credit card. Do whatever you can to annoy the leftie scum rioting on the streets of the world!
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/01/2002 01:21:00 PM [+] ::
...
It is rather worrying to see that ardent PCism/fundametalist secularism is rising at UK universities. It seems there are moves to persecute Chrisitian organisations for excluding those who do not share their faith (or brand thereof). This letter in the Telegraph shows a rather disturbing trend at places of higher learning. One wonders whether the same level of enforcement occurs for Hindu and Muslim organisations. I rather doubt it somehow.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/01/2002 12:44:00 PM [+] ::
...
Arab Christian Clergymen Against Western Christians, Jews, and Israel is the latest piece of analysis from MEMRI. It makes for some rather nasty reading. It will come as quite a shock to think that anti-jew feeling in the Arab world is not just an Islamic phenomenon. The Christians in the West and President Bush come in for harsh criticism; they are described as "pagan" (or worse) for not coming to the defence of Christian Palestinians. I am sure there are many fundamentalist Christians in the West who would be very upset by this sort of criticism. Of course, the root reason for the lack of help is those satanic Jews (again). This is particularily worrying to hear coming from a clergyman "This religion [Judaism] is the enemy of God, the enemy of people, and the enemy of Christianity."
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/01/2002 12:33:00 PM [+] ::
...
Philip Delves Broughton has written an interesting article on the three Jean-Maries of France. All of these men have influence on the country and have a lot at stake on Sunday. In a continuing theme, the Telegraph is examining the state of France today in calm and informed manner.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/01/2002 12:20:00 PM [+] ::
...
Well, it is another May Day and the arseholes are out in force on the London streets. The anti-(fill in blank here)s today are making a nuisance of themselves and preventing decent people from going about their day. Thanks to these morons I will be unable to attend the Daily Telegraph Freedom Conference. I will not be able to go to my new bank, either, because it is to close for the safety of its employees and customers. Yes, these idiots have the right to protest, but no, they don't have the right to disrupt an entire city for a day. I do hope if there is any trouble from the hordes the police use "European" tactics on the rioters. In plain English: beat the living shit out them!
For any of you who think this is not very libertarian of me. Remember one caveat of libertarianism: you may do what you wish as long as it does not affect others. May Day riots violate this tenet in extremis.
:: Andrew Ian Dodge 5/01/2002 11:36:00 AM [+] ::
...
