Today Transform Drug Policy Foundation in the UK publishes Tools for the Debate, a 76-page guide to making the case for the legalization and regulation of all drugs.
Although its authors seek to distance themselves from what they call a"libertarian" solution, the report makes for interesting reading.
The Guardian carries a summary here and Danny Kushlick, who works for Transform, explains more here.
Although its authors seek to distance themselves from what they call a"libertarian" solution, the report makes for interesting reading.
The Guardian carries a summary here and Danny Kushlick, who works for Transform, explains more here.
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 23:33
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Michael Munn's David Niven: The Man Behind the Balloon is published next month by JR Books.
The most interesting part for me was how Niven's experiences during World War II haunted him for the rest of his life.
"There was a policy of keeping famous film star soldiers away from the action. In August 1942, Niven's unit fought in the disastrous allied attack on the French port of Dieppe. It has always been assumed he didn't take part, but he told me he disobeyed orders and went, risking court martial. 'Yes, I was there,' he'. I can't bear to remember Dieppe. The loss of life was unpardonable.'
"Of 6,000 men taking part, 1,027 were killed and 2,340 captured. David had to write letters to the wives and girlfriends of the men lost in his unit. He told me: 'The mental scars of war stay with you. My mental scars are more than I can handle. I leave them alone when I can. The horror of actual battle is more than I can stand.'"
The most interesting part for me was how Niven's experiences during World War II haunted him for the rest of his life.
"There was a policy of keeping famous film star soldiers away from the action. In August 1942, Niven's unit fought in the disastrous allied attack on the French port of Dieppe. It has always been assumed he didn't take part, but he told me he disobeyed orders and went, risking court martial. 'Yes, I was there,' he'. I can't bear to remember Dieppe. The loss of life was unpardonable.'
"Of 6,000 men taking part, 1,027 were killed and 2,340 captured. David had to write letters to the wives and girlfriends of the men lost in his unit. He told me: 'The mental scars of war stay with you. My mental scars are more than I can handle. I leave them alone when I can. The horror of actual battle is more than I can stand.'"
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 23:38
A migrant community in Mexico is offering one of the country's quirkiest tourist attractions: for $15, anyone can get a taste of what it's like to sneak into the United States by simulating the experience in a weekend adventure.
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 23:32
This is noteworthy, not for its insights (it has none) but for the simple fact that the Editor-at-large of The Times newspaper of London deigns to dismiss the"liquidationist" Austrian theory of the business cycle while taking a swipe at Murray Rothbard and"the libertarian market fundamentalism" of Ayn Rand.
As Gandhi is reported to have said,"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." I guess Austrians have now made it as far as ridicule.
As Gandhi is reported to have said,"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." I guess Austrians have now made it as far as ridicule.
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 23:20
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 23:24
Tuesday’s Guardian carries a long dispatch from Ed Vulliamy who has written by far the most complete account of the Uzbek massacre of May 13. That’s the one where President Islam Karimov—protege of Vladimir Putin and, until recently, a crucial ally to Britain and America in the"war on terror"—dispatched his troops to kill hundreds, possibly thousands, of innocent civilians at Andijan in eastern Uzbekistan.
The massacre received comparatively little coverage both at the time and in the months that followed. Far less coverage, it might be added, than any ballot-rigging by Viktor Yanukovych that precipitated the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. It's also noteworthy how little the American, British and other European governments have protested the massacre. Yet from all accounts it can only be described as government terror of the worst sort. So, George Bush and Tony Blair, where is the outrage? Or are the demands of U.S. and Nato policy in Central Asia determining whose rights are worth protesting and whose rights can be ignored?
The massacre received comparatively little coverage both at the time and in the months that followed. Far less coverage, it might be added, than any ballot-rigging by Viktor Yanukovych that precipitated the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. It's also noteworthy how little the American, British and other European governments have protested the massacre. Yet from all accounts it can only be described as government terror of the worst sort. So, George Bush and Tony Blair, where is the outrage? Or are the demands of U.S. and Nato policy in Central Asia determining whose rights are worth protesting and whose rights can be ignored?
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 23:35
Michael Munn's memoir of David Niven continues in today's Sunday Times (London).
Niven's second wife Hjördis explains how"Jack Kennedy wanted a quickie, and I gave him a quickie. He gave me a disease. Chlamydia." I guess this disease was an occupational hazard of being intimate with this particular president. The sorry affair happened, apparently, when the Nivens went to the White House for President Kennedy’s 46th birthday celebrations in May 1963. Then six months later Lee Harvey Oswald's (or was it someone else's?) prophylactic put paid to this particular epidemic at its source.
The story of the Nivens' marriage is in fact very sad, as you would learn if you read Munn's account.
Niven's second wife Hjördis explains how"Jack Kennedy wanted a quickie, and I gave him a quickie. He gave me a disease. Chlamydia." I guess this disease was an occupational hazard of being intimate with this particular president. The sorry affair happened, apparently, when the Nivens went to the White House for President Kennedy’s 46th birthday celebrations in May 1963. Then six months later Lee Harvey Oswald's (or was it someone else's?) prophylactic put paid to this particular epidemic at its source.
The story of the Nivens' marriage is in fact very sad, as you would learn if you read Munn's account.
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 23:30
Matthew Parris explains that sometimes you have to listen to the mountains.
Does anyone really believe the U.S. and its allies will succeed in achieving their stated goals in Afghanistan?
Does anyone really believe the U.S. and its allies will succeed in achieving their stated goals in Afghanistan?
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 23:30
226 years after the Treaty of Paris which formally ended the American Revolutionary War, it seems that a heckle of"Abolish the Monarchy!" still upsets the British establishment. I guess that's why Parliament has yet to repeal the Treason Felony Act 1848.
Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 11:13
Here are sixteen graphic photographs of alleged prisoner abuse, thought to be among up to 2,000 images Barack Obama is trying to prevent from being released.
Warning: this slideshow contains graphic and disturbing images to anyone who loves liberty.
Warning: this slideshow contains graphic and disturbing images to anyone who loves liberty.
Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 11:10
Johann Hari's You Are Being Lied to About Pirates provides a salutary corrective to government propaganda on this subject.
Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 11:27
Obama Ponders Outreach to Elements of the Taliban.
"Asked if the United States was winning in Afghanistan, a war he effectively adopted as his own last month by ordering an additional 17,000 troops sent there, Mr. Obama replied flatly, 'No.'"
"Asked if the United States was winning in Afghanistan, a war he effectively adopted as his own last month by ordering an additional 17,000 troops sent there, Mr. Obama replied flatly, 'No.'"
Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 15:04
James Kynge has written an insightful article on the Tiananmen anniversary in today's Financial Times.
"The truth is that the students in the square had only the haziest understanding of western-style democracy. To the extent that the protests were directed at abuses of an existing system by an emerging elite, they were motivated more by outrage at the betrayal of socialist ideals than by aspirations for a new system. The mood in the square was at least as much conservative as it was activist."
I encourage you to read the entire article here. It's well worth the effort.
UPDATE: Brendan O'Neill explains here how both China and the West have distorted the truth about the Tiananmen Square protests and the massacre that followed.
"The truth is that the students in the square had only the haziest understanding of western-style democracy. To the extent that the protests were directed at abuses of an existing system by an emerging elite, they were motivated more by outrage at the betrayal of socialist ideals than by aspirations for a new system. The mood in the square was at least as much conservative as it was activist."
I encourage you to read the entire article here. It's well worth the effort.
UPDATE: Brendan O'Neill explains here how both China and the West have distorted the truth about the Tiananmen Square protests and the massacre that followed.
Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 10:44
Monday, August 10, 2009 - 10:26
Matthew Engel explains why it's time to end the war on drugs.
Below Engel's article you'll find Tom Feiling's take on drug prohibition and legalization. Feiling is author of The Candy Machine: How Cocaine Took over the World (Penguin, 2009).
Below Engel's article you'll find Tom Feiling's take on drug prohibition and legalization. Feiling is author of The Candy Machine: How Cocaine Took over the World (Penguin, 2009).
Sunday, August 2, 2009 - 00:03
It isn't just a question of being against the war in Afghanistan. Real liberals should be against the war for the right reasons.
Go here to read Brendan O'Neill's insightful analysis of the war."[T]here has been no serious debate, no serious analysis, no concern with the rights and liberty of the Afghan people. Instead, 130 years after the British Empire first began to unravel in Afghanistan, now the very British state unravels there too. All of this should remind us of the importance of making the principled anti-interventionist argument in relation to Western militarism overseas – not in order to save 'our boys' or hide at home out of fear and defeatism, but in the name of the democratic rights of foreign peoples and of tackling domestic political crises head-on rather than projecting them 'over there'." That's exactly right. It's too bad that so much"anti-war" opinion is not founded on a principled argument against the war.
Tim Black makes a similar argument here.
Go here to read Brendan O'Neill's insightful analysis of the war."[T]here has been no serious debate, no serious analysis, no concern with the rights and liberty of the Afghan people. Instead, 130 years after the British Empire first began to unravel in Afghanistan, now the very British state unravels there too. All of this should remind us of the importance of making the principled anti-interventionist argument in relation to Western militarism overseas – not in order to save 'our boys' or hide at home out of fear and defeatism, but in the name of the democratic rights of foreign peoples and of tackling domestic political crises head-on rather than projecting them 'over there'." That's exactly right. It's too bad that so much"anti-war" opinion is not founded on a principled argument against the war.
Tim Black makes a similar argument here.
Thursday, July 16, 2009 - 01:14
Simon Jenkins writes that Brown can salvage the diplomatic disgrace of Afghanistan if he acts as he is known to believe, and sets a withdrawal date.
"The Canadians, who have suffered terrible losses, have shown their sovereignty by signalling their intention to leave [Afghanistan] in 2011. Why not Britain?"
"Like the Canadians, they should give a date for withdrawal, to stop wasting British lives and to isolate Obama in his wrong-headed policy."
"The Canadians, who have suffered terrible losses, have shown their sovereignty by signalling their intention to leave [Afghanistan] in 2011. Why not Britain?"
"Like the Canadians, they should give a date for withdrawal, to stop wasting British lives and to isolate Obama in his wrong-headed policy."
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - 23:08
That is to say, the British sporting aristocracy. Simon Kuper explains how British toffs sometimes succeed in clinging to power in a changing world.
Monday, July 13, 2009 - 14:05
Stephen Berry of the Libertarian Alliance provides an informed and insightful review of Pat Buchanan's recent book.
Berry explains how as the twentieth century unfolded successive British administrations embarked upon unwise policies that led to disastrous consequences for Britain and the West. He explains how they ignored Lord Salisbury's dictum that"Isolation is much less dangerous than the danger of being dragged into wars which do not concern us." And how, after the First World War, much of the British elite was (1)"obsessed, then as now, by the 'special relationship' with their American cousins," and (2) enthralled with Wilsonian internationalism.
Berry concludes:"Great play is still made of the UK resisting Germany and Continental Europe alone in 1940. This book explains how Britain had come to such a position and Buchanan makes it clear that the German military victories of 1940 were only part of the story. Pursuing a League of Nations agenda, antagonising Japan and Italy, keeping the Soviet Union at arms length were all a prelude to the disaster of 1940. Against a more astute German leader than Hitler these policies would certainly have led to the loss of the war. As it was, they merely led to the loss of the British Empire. Pat Buchanan has done a tremendous service by pointing all this out in his frank and well written book."
You can read the review in pdf format here.
Berry explains how as the twentieth century unfolded successive British administrations embarked upon unwise policies that led to disastrous consequences for Britain and the West. He explains how they ignored Lord Salisbury's dictum that"Isolation is much less dangerous than the danger of being dragged into wars which do not concern us." And how, after the First World War, much of the British elite was (1)"obsessed, then as now, by the 'special relationship' with their American cousins," and (2) enthralled with Wilsonian internationalism.
Berry concludes:"Great play is still made of the UK resisting Germany and Continental Europe alone in 1940. This book explains how Britain had come to such a position and Buchanan makes it clear that the German military victories of 1940 were only part of the story. Pursuing a League of Nations agenda, antagonising Japan and Italy, keeping the Soviet Union at arms length were all a prelude to the disaster of 1940. Against a more astute German leader than Hitler these policies would certainly have led to the loss of the war. As it was, they merely led to the loss of the British Empire. Pat Buchanan has done a tremendous service by pointing all this out in his frank and well written book."
You can read the review in pdf format here.
Monday, July 6, 2009 - 17:44
Not for the first time. Milliband was a leading Marxist intellectual, editor of Socialist Register, friend of C. Wright Mills, and passionate opponent of the American war in Vietnam. Now his sonseeks to deflect allegations that MI5 has been colluding in the torture of British citizens.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 02:58
