Tuesday, February 27, 2007
I bet this has already been going round the blogs but I still think it's excellent:
"Our mistake was to spell everything out," says a senior German official.
"For 50 years, the people of Europe were happy to eat sausages. Then we came along and asked them whether they wanted to eat tubes stuffed with chopped-up sow's udders."
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Why state intervention is no perfect cure for market failures, by Jane Galt:
1) People are often stupid
2) Bureaucrats are the same stupid people, with bad incentives.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
DumbJon is spot on here:
When the BBC is being criticised by the Right, it's coming from mainstream rightists, when the criticism is coming from the Left, it's from people who think the CIA killed John Lennon to stop him revealing the truth about how the Jews were plotting to destroy the rainforest.
Labels: media, politics, quote
Monday, December 11, 2006
One must beware of ministers who can do nothing without money, and those who want to do everything with money.
Labels: economy, politics, public services, quote
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Bumped into this randomly but it made me smile nonetheless:
And socialism, like history, repeats itself: the first time as genocide, the second time as therapy.
John O'Sullivan
Labels: history, politics, quote
Monday, April 10, 2006
Somewhat boring but essential point nonetheless:
Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a hundred brilliantPaul Wilkinson
saves but the only shot that people remember is the one that gets past
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
In accordance with my usual moaning here’s a great quote:
domestic policy decides how we live, foreign policy decides whether we live
Konrad Adenauer
Labels: defence, global affairs, politics, quote
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Via EU Referendum, On the unbelieveable desire to resurrect the failed EU constitutional treaty, here’s Denis MacShane:
The Totentanz is fine for gothic horror stories but climbing into the coffin of the corpse of the constitution is taking necroeurophilia too far
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Lee Harris writes:
Marriage was [. . . .]defined as between a man and a woman? Well, yes, but only in the sense that a cheese omelet is defined as an egg and some cheese — without the least intention of insulting either orange juice or toast by their omission from this definition. Orange juice and toast are fine things in themselves — you just can’t make an omelet out of them.
Labels: humour etc., nation, quote, religion, society
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
DumbJon hits it on the head again:
One of the defining characteristics of the Liberal is that he is plagued by the constant fear that someone, somewhere is outside the reach of government.
No politics this time, Jools Oliver:
It’s natural to put on weight when you’re pregnant for goodness sake. Since having the girls , I have to tuck my tummy into my jeans. But it just reminds me of them, so it’s fine.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
The Godfather proclaimeth:
The fully developed welfare state is a modern version of the feudal castle, guarded by moats and barriers, and offering security and shelter to the loyal population that gathers around it. Ironically, this means that in world affairs the poorer nations that are not welfare states, not nearly as risk averse since they have so little to lose, will be (as they are already becoming) the activist countries, the ones that create the crises and set the international agenda. The most powerful nations in the world--economically, technologically, even militarily--will become citadels of resistance and nothing more.
Labels: global affairs, nation, politics, quote
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
On a departure from this feature’s more political character, here’s Angelina Jolie:
Men don't really like skinny, do they? Ever since I dated a woman, I know what it is to grab a curve on a woman's body.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Lt. Gen. James Mattis , three star US-marine officer:
It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up there with you. . . . You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,. . . . You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."
Labels: Afghanistan, quote
Sunday, January 23, 2005
God save the Queen:
And what is Western civilisation? Not far from Bond Street tube there is a branch of McDonalds and, over the way, a fine sculpture by Barbara Hepworth. Western civilisation is where you can contemplate Hepworth's mastery of form and line while eating a Big Mac. We have always needed both, and always will.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The Chomsky defenders--and there seem to be a surprisingly large number of them--seem to form a kind of cult. Arguing with them seems to be a lot like trying to teach Plato's Republic to a pig: it wastes your time, and it annoys the pig.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Listening to banjo music is a bit like dressing up in women’s clothing and masturbating in front of ‘Bargain Hunt’.
Labels: humour etc., quote
