EVERYTHING I SAY IS RIGHT
THE DEEP AND PROFOUND THOUGHTS OF CITIZEN STUART, MANCHESTER BASED LIBERTARIAN, TARGET SHOOTER AND SPACE ENTHUSIAST. EVERYTHING I SAY ON THIS BLOG IS MY OPINION, AND NOT NECESSARILY THAT OF THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY.
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THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY AGM
I had to get up early yesterday (about 10.00am) so I could drive over to York in order to attend the Libertarian Party's very first Annual General Meeting. I haven't been to York for years, so I was expecting to have trouble finding the place, especially as half the drive was through thick fog (alternating with bright sunlight, just to help my headache along), but as it turned out, finding the venue itself (the National Centre for Early Music) was easier than I expected. The difficult bit was finding a place to park up. I managed to find a car park (the most badly designed car park I've ever been in, with an extremely narrow ramp that seemed to serve as both the entrance and the exit) and I paid £7 for parking, but at least I got to the AGM in time. It was quite a nice venue (a converted church or similar) although I did half expect Christopher Lee to turn up in a cape! The meeting was reasonably well-attended, considering we're still a small party in the first year of our activities. Most of the business of the AGM was to do with approving various amendments to the party constitution - probably most important was the amendment to allow the formation of regional and local groups and branches. There was a lot of interest in doing this - it's the logical next step for a growing party - and I hope some of us in the North West of England will be able to get something going next year (watch this space). Other things on the agenda was the Treasurer's Report (we're not rich, but we're at least in the black), re-election of the National Co-ordinating Committee and the election of members to the Judicial Committee. There was a break part way through for coffee and biscuits, which provided an opportunity for a bit of socialising (and also to get my caffeine fix) and a bit of discussion about election strategy. I have to admit that I didn't make much of a contribution myself, due to a combination of tiredness and a headache (probably brought on by lack of caffeine) but at least I retained enough of my marbles to understand what everyone was saying. Overall, I thought it was a good first AGM, and a clear sign that we're becoming a serious political party. We won't storm into Paliament next year, but we all know that we're in it for the long haul, and as long as we keep making progress there's no reason why we won't get there eventually. Some of the attendees went to the boozer afterwards. I would have liked to have done this, but for various reasons (partly financial, since I'm between jobs at the moment, and partly because I hadn't had much to eat and wanted to get home and have some tea) I decided to get back to the Command Module and drive back to Manchester. Driving out of York at night in the fog turned out to be a fairly surrealistic experience, and I made at least one wrong turn, but it didn't take me too long to find my way to Leeds and then onto the M62. So although I was tired, poverty-stricken and generally feeling deathwarmeduplike, I'm glad I went. I'll go again next year if at all possible (and I expect I'll be meeting up with other LP members before then). And next year I'll hopefully be able to stay for a pint or several.
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LIBERTARIAN PARTY SUPPORTS BRITISH AIRLINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION ON ID CARDS
Libertarian Party Support For BALPA Over ID Cards Press Release .........................................
For a bit more background to this, here's a statement from BALPA about their dispute with the government: PILOTS WARN ON ID CARDS
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HOW TO GUARANTEE FAILURE
"In whatever creative activity you're involved with, perseverance doesn't ensure success, but quiting guarantees failure. So whatever you do, don't quit, and you can do just about anything - even reach the stars." Warren W. James, presenter of Mike Hodel's Hour 25 .
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PIRACY ON THE HIGH SEAS - A TRADITIONAL ANSWER TO AN OLD PROBLEM
A major news story this week (almost as prominent as the Strictly Come Dancing business) has been the hijacking of the supertanker Sirius Star by Somali pirates . The usual political talking heads have been quick to condemn this action, but a bit slow to come up with practical solutions. Sure, the areas of sea around Somalia are patrolled by various nations' navies, and they do their best (the Indians and French having done some particularly good anti-pirate work recently) but the sea's a big place and complete coverage is impossible. It's also a problem that's likely to get worse - it was bad enough when these pirates were limited to hijacking smaller craft, but now that one gang has proven the feasibility of hijacking a supertanker, how long will it be till some terrorist group has a go? Never mind ransom, imagine an oil tanker being hijacked and then either blown up or deliberately run aground in a spot where the oil spillage is likely to cause the most trouble - or a cruise liner being taken over and the crew and passengers being massacred. So, given that the military aren't going to be able to guarantee complete protection to all commercial shipping at all times, isn't it about time we went back to traditional remedies? What did they do about pirates a couple of hundred years ago, apart from getting the navy to hunt them down and hanging them when caught? What did they do in addition to military action and the legal process? They allowed merchant ships to arm themselves. Can you think of any sensible reason why the same can't be done today? OK, the owner of your typical African fishing boat isn't going to be able to afford much in the way of defensive hardware, but even just an AKM or a shotgun or two could well be enough to at least give them a chance of scaring off any gang of scumbags who try to board them. As far as oil tankers go - well, their owners can basically afford any level of protection short of a carrier escort. Just as an example, imagine if the captain of the Sirius Star had had a locker full of automatic or semi-automatic rifles ready to distribute to his crew in case of trouble. Better still, I don't see any reason a ship like that couldn't carry a bit of light artillery, of the sort appropriate for blowing attack boats out of the water. I'm sure the UN would hate the idea, since individual and voluntary collective action for self defence is basically against its dominant statist ideology, and gun-grabbers everywhere would faint with shock at the very thought of it. So I don't see a downside. Unless you're a pirate.
Really, wouldn't it look nicer with a couple of gun turrets?
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VALKYRIE
I'm looking forward to this film. Ignore the bit at the end where it says it's coming out in Summer 2008, the latest word is that it's due out in December. Hopefully it'll be worth waiting for. There's something about doomed heroes that really strikes a spark with me.
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PLASTIC FINGERMEN BUST GOOD GUYS
If you haven't got a clue what the headline means, I suggest you read the classic graphic novel "V for Vendetta" (don't bother with the film, which was a real letdown. Yesterday, fellow blogger and Libertarian Party member Old Holborn went for a quiet walk in the vicinity of the Houses of Parliament while dressed in a snazzy Guy Fawkes mask and costume. He happened to be accompanied by a few friends, some of whom happened to be similarly dressed - not a political demonstration, they weren't waving placards or shouting slogans or anything, they were just going about their lawful business while wearing Guy Fawkes masks. No law against that as far as I know, but it didn't stop a van load of PCSOs pulling up and harassing them. The plastic fingermen asked the Good Guys some questions, which were politely refused on the grounds that they were acting outside their authority, and the Good Guys were searched. Libertarian Party leader Ian Parker-Joseph, who happens to have also been there (dressed as himself) took some pictures of these events with his phone, but reports that the phone seems to have been unaccountably blocked all day yesterday. Weird coincidence, yes? Apart from the intervention of the PCSOs, walking around dressed like Guy Fawkes sounds like a fun way to celebrate 5th November - it wouldn't surprise me if there are a few more people doing it next year. Hopefully by then someone will have told the fingermen that it's not actually illegal to walk the streets in fancy dress.
(Honestly, read the book in preference to watching the film - there are too many compromises in the film.)
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1984 CAMPAIGN UPDATE
As previously blogged, the Libertarian Party has organised a grass roots campaign to send each and every MP at least one copy of George Orwell's 1984. My MP should have got his copy on Wednesday. I couldn't find the second-hand copy I wanted to send him, so I had to buy the scumbag a new one - I hope he's grateful. The campaign seems to have been a reasonable success, with every MP due to receive at least one copy - Jacqui Smith (Spit!) is said to have been sent copies by nine different people! Nice one. It won't change the political makeup of this country overnight, but it makes a point, and it has demonstrated the ability of libertarians to organise something on a national scale. Here's a press release issued by the Libertarian Party the other day: November 4th 2008
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