The problem with policy via anecdote is that the inevitable horror stories among any health care system that attempts to serve a population of 300 million people will exercise disproportionate weight over statistical analysis. This is because the math literate speak quantitative and the non-math literate speak qualitative. So take into account not individual horror stories but systematic restrictions of care when the government becomes involved in dictating what is best practice , it is interesting to look at Great Britain where, as noted in WSJ , if you are going blind due to treatable macular degeneration, the government will only approve treatment for one eye: In 2007, the board restricted access to two drugs for macular degeneration, a cause of blindness. The drug Macugen was blocked outright. The other, Lucentis, was limited to a particular category of individuals with the disease, restricting it to about one in five sufferers. Even then, the drug was only approved for use in on...

After being told relentlessly during the presidential election campaign by Barack Obama that Afghanistan and Pakistan represent the front-line of the war on terror, it's strange to find out that the CIA disagrees. The frontline on the war on terror resides in Great Britain. Here's the Telegraph : American spy chiefs have told the President that the CIA has launched a vast spying operation in the UK to prevent a repeat of the 9/11 attacks being launched from Britain. They believe that a British-born Pakistani extremist entering the US under the visa waiver programme is the most likely source of another terrorist spectacular on American soil. Intelligence briefings for Mr Obama have detailed a dramatic escalation in American espionage in Britain, where the CIA has recruited record numbers of informants in the Pakistani community to monitor the 2,000 terrorist suspects identified by MI5, the British security service. A British intelligence source revealed that a staggering four ...

... I'm going to run the photo of the old Scorpions album Virgin Killer [h/t From the Barrel of a G un] that got Wikipedia censored by the European Union's Internet Watch Foundation. Here's JD at Disloyal Opposition : If you're British and having a bit of trouble accessing Wikipedia today, you can thank the censors for your research roadblocks. The Internet Watch Foundation, a regulatory organization that calls itself "an independent self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry," added a Wikipedia page to its almost universally used (in the UK) "notice and take-down" service, essentially putting the page on the forbidden list for British Internet users. That's all the more reason to get acquainted with technologies specifically designed to defeat censorship. The forbidden Wikipedia article is devoted to the Virgin Killer album by the German heavy metal band, The Scorpions. The naked prepubescent girl on the cover was cont...

... why they had a real empire and we didn't. It is a truism among world historians that the two longest-running crimes in modern world history were the Atlantic Slave Trade (c. 1550-1850) and the British Opium Trade (c. 1798-1905). The British people had an addiction to tea that, in many ways, mirrors the American addiction to foreign oil [but the tea tasted better]. The problem: tea grew only in China, which was not only halfway around the world, but the Emperor controlled the trade and demanded payment for tea in gold bullion. This created an enormous economic threat to the British, as exchanging a durable form of wealth [gold] for a consumable [tea] on a long-term basis is not really a transaction, but an ongoing transfer of wealth . Eventually, all the gold ends up in China and the tea stays there as well. So what to do? The British had also acquired India during the late 18th Century [in our history books Lord Cornwallis is the man who lost at Yorktown, guaranteeing our ind...

From Stop the Drug War (via Drug War Rant ): From England comes yet another example of how drug prohibition has failed in more ways than we can even think of. DRUG dealers are getting themselves sent to prison because they can make huge profits in a few weeks behind bars. They are raking in tens of thousands of pounds from operations while inside jails. With a captive market, they can charge fellow inmates more for drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine than they can sell them for on the outside. [Daily Express] Needless to say, if you can't keep prisons drug free, what are we doing trying to eradicate the drug economy on the outside? Seriously, just imagine you call the cops cause someone's breaking into your house, but they're busy down the road dealing with a guy who's showing everyone his penis just so he can go to jail and sell drugs. Add another item to the list of phenomena that are so stupid they can only be caused by drug prohibition. You just can't make t...

Our friends in the UK Libertarian Party have opened up a new blog for business, and if the first week or so is any indication, it will be a must-read. In Jenkins Nails It, there is a comprehensive (and absolutely correct) discussion of the War on Terror having devolved almost completely into a mechanism for social control. Excerpts: Under the guise of 'security', freedoms and liberties gained over the centuries are being consigned to the dustbin of history in our country. The main political parties, and a complicit mass media (who know that 'fear sells', regardless of how overblown and ridiculous the supposed threat -- avian flu, anyone?) are telling us that there is no alternative, that only by giving up our basic rights to the state will we be safe. But surely we know that the threat is both real and grave? After all, every time that television programmes run a story about Islam or Al-Qaeda, they serve us up some demented Muslim cleric -- undoubtedly pledging death ...

. . . which I do--nonetheless, this from Nanny Knows Best shows us just how bad the mania for social control, masquerading as concern for security can go: When Terminal 5 at Heathrow opens on 27th March, all passengers passing through its portals (including British citizens flying on domestic flights) will be fingerprinted and photographed. Don't kid yourself: Michael Jerk-off and our own security mavens are watching this to see if the UK government gets away with it. And they will.

Lots of controversy about that . Was he justified? No. This is the type of irresponsible journalism that endangers lives.

Here's Waldo's teaser about the annual Royal Shrovetide Football match in Ashbourne, England: Just a paragraph makes clear the event is no ordinary affair: 'This is a two-day, no-holds-barred game where crowds play and goal posts are three miles apart. A substantial middle-aged lady once confided in me (as her MP) that she secretly defied her husband's ban on joining the mob, had a tremendous afternoon - and for weeks contrived to undress in the dark so he never saw the massive bruises.' For something completely different, go read the whole damn thing. Right now. Trust me.

Nanny Knows Best makes me laugh as often as it outrages me with its chronicle of Statist intrusion into everyday life in Great Britain, and I really do have to resist the urge to link to virtually every story posted there. But three days ago in my deed-restricted community one of our neighbors ran out into the street screaming at my wife that she was not allowed to put out a sign supporting the upcoming Red Clay referendum. [I think this was the same one who finked on me for leaving an empty trash can out in front of my garage door one night.] So maybe you'll understand why this one resonates with me . Nanny has found another nice way to screw us for money, that's nice! Nanny has instructed local councils to fine householders for putting out a single bag of rubbish at the wrong time. Nanny has produced an "enforcement manual" (pass the sick bag someone), which will be distributed to local councils. The manual instructs local councils to implement a "zero tolera...

This snippet of a (very) brief radio interview [that may not have actually happened--see the comments--it's still worth reading] courtesy my friends at Great Britain's The Libertarian Alliance : THE BEST COMEBACK LINE for 2007 … For those that don’t know him, Major General Peter Cosgrove is an “Australian treasure!” General Cosgrove was interviewed on the radio recently. You’ll love his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children. It is a portion of an ABC interview between a female broadcaster and General Cosgrove who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military headquarters. FEMALE INTERVIEWER : So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base? GENERAL COSGROVE : We’re going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting. FEMALE INTERVIEWER : Shooting! That’s a bit irresponsible, isn’t it? GENERAL COSGROVE : I don’t see why, they’ll be properly supervised on the rifle rang...

It is really uncomfortable to defend free speech, because you often have stand beside those who say things you find personally noxious. And there's always the temptation to label speech you personally find offensive as hate speech so that you can get it outlawed (of course, if I think it's hateful, everyone else must also, right?). But sometimes it's just exhilarating to tee off on somebody with an idiotic argument. The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury is upset that Great Britain is scrapping its old blasphemy laws, reports the Telegraph : New legislation may be needed to protect religious believers from "thoughtless and cruel" attacks if Britain's ancient blasphemy laws are scrapped, the Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday. Dr Rowan Williams conceded that the blasphemy offences were flawed and no longer served any purpose, but he questioned whether recently introduced laws banning incitement to religious hatred were an adequate substitute. The Archbishop said ...

Nanny Knows Best brings us this story from Great Britain: not content to regulate the ingredients in school lunches, Under Nanny's "obesity strategy" (give me strength!), there are plans to force all schools to implement a "healthy lunchbox policy". Good grief! Seemingly parents may even be asked to sign a form agreeing to ban unhealthy foods from their children's lunches. Raising this above the usual level of carping is this anecdote: When I was a "nipper" my mum would make me a nice lunchbox containing a myriad of delights, eg: -a thermos of soup -a banana sandwich -homemade crisps (with added salt and grated cheese) -a chocolate cup cake, or Jaffa cakes Nanny wouldn't have approved of much of that. Even the soup was risky, one day I dropped the thermos and the vacuum glass interior broke. Being a thickheaded child I happily drank the contents anyway, wondering why there were silver bits in the soup. When I came back home I told my mum abou...

Simon Clark's From the Barrel of a Gun [formerly The Cynical Libertarian ] has a great post on a British anti-gun advocate visiting the National Rifle Association's firing range just to find out what happens there. Simon dissects, paragraph by paragraph, the inane thinking of a man who can't find his way past his own preconceptions, refuses to see what's in front of him, and--when all else fails--makes it up as he goes along. [Anyone who has ever been to a range will understand that part when Simon nails him on it.] It is lengthy post, that doesn't lend itself to excerpting, so I hope you'll try the whole thing. Here's the best I can do for a flavor: But then I did something stupid. I actually went to a gun range. Exactly why is this stupid? I just can't understand why anyone would think going to a gun range is stupid. Gun ranges are one of the safest places you can be, they're fun, not too expensive, you meet some great people there... After some ...

This from Nanny Knows Best , concerning a British town council that got concerned with the excessive salt intake of patrons eating fish and chips: As we know, Nanny hates salt. The fact that people can die of salt deprivation (eg if they are sweating profusely and don't increase their salt intake, or drink too much water) seems to have escaped Nanny. Nanny is determined to cut our salt intake. To this end her chums on Rochdale council have come up with a brilliant solution. They have reduced the number of holes in the traditional chip shop saltshaker from 17to 5. Brilliant! The theory being that the less holes, therefore the less salt will be shaken onto the food by the customer when he/she is applying the "salt and vinegar". Takeaways are being issued with catering-sized salt pots with just five holes in the lid, rather than the usual 17. Of course now they'll have to regulate how many times you shake the shaker.

I'm asking you to visit The Curvature and take the time to read Cara's long post on the British NHS "Know Your Limits" campaign that is actually an anti-drinking campaign, but uses women being raped to make a very bizarre argument. It is a long post, and does not lend itself to abstracting. If you want to get the most out of it, however, first visit the "Know Your Limits" site and play the game as a female. Make the most dangerous choices you can make (chat up the cute guy, take a drink, ride in a taxi home), and see what happens. Then visit Cara and find out the subtext of what's really going on.

Recently I posted on t he Electronic Frontier Foundation's campaign to protect bloggers from Internet censorship . Here's an example of why it's critical. From Australia's Real World Libertarian comes a January 7 report that I just picked up that British authorities are arresting blogger Lionheart: I am currently out of the Country and on my return home to England I am going to be arrested by British detectives on suspicion of Stirring up Racial Hatred by displaying written material" contrary to sections 18(1) and 27(3) of the Public Order Act 1986. This charge if found guilty carries a lengthy prison sentence, more than what most paedophiles and rapists receive, and all for writing words of truth about the barbarity that is living in the midst of our children, which threatens the very future of our Country. What has become of my homeland, the land my forefathers fought and died for on the battlefields of the world when one of their children is forced into the pos...

From Thoughts on Freedom --the Australian Libertarian blog--comes the report that the BBC has made another of its NewSpeak coverage decisions. Henceforth, all acts of terrorism committed by people who happen to be Muslims shall be specifically categorized as "un-Islamic . I think this means that BBC writers now qualify as crime reporters for the Snooze Journal. But Great Britain's pathetic attempts at censorship pale beside the opinion of Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagenstated, that “Freedom of expression doesn’t mean the right to offend."

This from the Libertarian Alliance Blog out of Great Britain: "How Much is a Billion?" Upon finding out that the government under Gordon Brown was either spending or borrowing a Billion pounds per day, somebody (apparently in the US) helpfully tried to place the figure billion into perspective: The next time you hear a politician use the word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases. A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959. B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Old (middle paleolithic) Stone Age. D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. (That’s 2,740,000 years approx - I think the writer is wrong but it’s a moot point still - David Davis) E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and...