On the evening, of 1st November, on BBC 2 television, Lord Paddy Ashdown, presented a programme dedicated to the heroic exploits of ten men, who in December 1942, launched their canvas canoes from the submarine HMS Tuna off Pointe de Grave, and paddled fifty miles to plant limpet mines on the blockade running German ships lying alongside the quays of Bordeaux. Only two, Hessler and Sparks, survived – several of…
The ‘Mail’ invites us to gasp at the audacity of Arran Coghlan, as he challenges the Coroner’s Court and seemingly disrespects their holy authority: There were dramatic scenes as Mr Coghlan was ordered to respect the court. He responded by saying: ‘You should deal with me with proper respect and allow me to answer the question.’ It seems Mr Coghlan didn’t like the cut of the coroner’s jib very much: At…
First off, I’m not against new homes being built, in fact if we were to build a hell of a lot more of them it might just stop the ridiculous squeeze on the market that is constantly pushing up the price of a new home and has made it nearly impossible for first time buyers to get a foot on the ladder. More homes available = better market pricing, it’s…
When blogging I’ve occasionally quoted from Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books since they’ve always been less a fantasy series and more a series of parodies of parts of the world we actually live in, and there are often bits here and there which align pretty neatly with libertarian positions. I’ve no idea if Terry Pratchett would describe himself as a libertarian but some of his characters certainly are, at least…
The ‘Rotten Oak Tree’ from Atlas Shrugged and ‘Whatever is right’ At the start of 2011, on Ironies Too, I offered these two short passages, both from the very first chapter of Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand to provide thought for the New Year which I offer today for the readers ofOoL as they seem appropriate for this particular All Hallows: The great oak tree had stood on a…
What would take the place of Gaddafi’s semi-muslim, semi-socialist regime if he fell? That’s what a lot of people were wondering six or seven months ago when the Arab Spring uprisings reached Libya. Some, bloggers and journos mostly but I think maybe some politicians too, saw parallels with Iran in the late 70s and wondered if it could lead to Libya becoming another Islamic theocracy. Some wondered if Gaddafi’s exit…
Honestly, with all the economic and social problems going on in the UK, and now we’re debating time! Tory MP Tim Yeo laid out the ‘for’ argument in the Telegraph on October 28: This weekend the change in the clocks heralding five months of depressingly dark evenings is a reminder of a huge missed opportunity. Giving us all an extra hour’s daylight all the year round is long overdue. Sadly…
The Forbidden Book (Ooms), Academy of Fine Arts, Brussels The rationale for running this at OoL is that it is concerned with freedom, as will be seen below. It is an appropriate time, at the beginning of the All Hallows cycle, of which only All Hallow’s Evening remains in most people’s minds, to write about the beginnings of the new tyranny, the new metanarrative and whence it arose. Immanuel Kant…
With COP17 coming up in Durban from November 28th, this is just a short reminder about the UNFCCC – the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is the body in overall control of promoting climate change as a global issue with its various associated schemes such as emissions control and carbon credit schemes. It is the global political body promoting the whole project for global political reasons. The UNFCCC…
Professor Tim Newburn (head of social policy at the London School of Economics) ponders the ‘Officer Krupke’ question in CiF: What should we make of this new data? First, it is important not to be swayed too much by some of the media coverage. “Too sick to work, but not too sick to riot” was the Daily Mail’s take on the fact that Department of Work and Pensions data suggest…
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