I would like to thank all our loyal readers for their patronage of this, my namesake blog. Those many readers who chose to comment and email MB and me need a vote of thanks as well. It was nice to know people were actually reading our stuff. I would, of course, like to thank all the contributors to this blog; Frank, Ian, MB, Genie, Mater, and my editor MommaBear. I wish them all the best of luck whereever their writings may end up.

Dodgeblog will stay up, for the foreseeable future, as an archive of some of the excellent writing that has appeared here over the last 10 months.

You may find my scribblings at Dodgeblogium.

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UPDATE: MommaBear is now safely ensconced at Kat’s Place.

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A  Farewell  From  Dodgeblogium….....

Due to circumstances beyond her scope and domain,
MommaBear is compelled, with all the dignity she can muster,

to remove her Den from Dodgeblogium.

Farewell, dear readers, ‘til she finds new digs!

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This is just too odd and amusing for words. It seems that there are some women who don’t get the fact Cthulhu is the product of Lovecraft’s imagination, or maybe they do. The site contains some amusing articles such as: “Fat-Lesbian-Witchcraft and its Origins Amongst the Cult of Shubb-Niggurath” by Lord K’rinseth.

Via the always amusing Pagan Prattle.

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Via Group Captain. What does it mean? I have no idea; probably means I am some messed up puppy.

you have an ominosity quotient of eight. you are more ominous than the creators of this quiz. good god.

find out your ominosity quotient.

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Well, we are back from Maine, returning to weather that would not have been out of place in London. It was pissing down with rain and fairly nippy as we wheeled our baggage (which had trebled in size) back to where I am staying. While traveling to and fro I read several magazines that were kindly donated by Delta Airlines. When I say donated, I mean that we got them free from the price of our tickets to Boston on the shuttle. It does shock me that it is more expensive to fly from NYC to Maine return than to fly to London via Virgin’s Premium Economy (ie: business class). I will be posting my reaction to some of the stupidity contained in at least two of these mags, both right-wing aligned, soonish.

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From  The  Editor’s  Desk….....

A political despatch from the field.

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This impassioned call to libertarian arms appeared in the Daily Telegraph, by the journalist, Stephen Robinson, who has headed that paper’s Free Country campaign of recent months .He advocates setting up a Free Country Party. Nice idea, given the dire state of the Tories. Of course, 140 years ago, such a party actually existed in the House of Commons. It was the Liberal Party, and led by William Gladstone, one of my few political heroes, compared with whom 99 percent of today’s politicians are mere boobies and place-seekers.

The very fact that the Telegraph, the house journal of the Tories, has carried an article plugging the idea of a new party, tells you how desperate is the plight of the formerly great party of Peel, Churchill and Thatcher.

Ian   Bacchus

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Well, the firefighters strike is to begin. The problem? Apparently the army assuming use of the firefighting equipment at firehouses would be ‘crossing picket lines’, and thus, not an option HMGov wishes to entertain. The Tories should dissent. This boils down to private individuals obstructing the use of public goods. Where else could it be done ‘legally’, or at least ignored? If a group wishes to prevent commuters from using Westminster tube station to protest government policy, should it be allowed? In my view, the firefighters’ action and blocking the tube are morally equivalent. To tacitly permit the firefighters union to enforce effective ‘ownership’ of public goods is flawed.

In addition, I’d assume the fire houses’ equipment is more modern and efficient, hence it may save more lives, but this is ignored, as the government doesn’t want to annoy the trades unions. Use of public equipment is completely unrelated to a strike. Substituting 827 Green Godesses for 4500 Fire Trucks equipped with cutting equipment, proper radios, sufficient ladders, and other modern safety equipment seems a bit unwise. If the firefighters do not want to work at a given wage, that is their prerogative. But they have no right to prevent other workers from using public goods. The policy being applied with regard to the picket lines is both dangerous and demonstrates an unwillingness to use the law to provide safety services with public goods.

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From  The  Editor’s  Desk….....

Our intrepid reporter is now going where others fear to tread!

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British cops are hunting a marksman who they think has shot two roadside speed cameras in the UK, according to this report. I love this quote from one of the Albert Einsteins they employ in the Boys in Blue these days: “You often have to worry about the mentality of people who do this sort of thing.”

Yes, I worry, too. I worry that British police are so dumb they cannot figure out that citizens are increasingly pissed at the obsession of those in power who want to transform the UK into a camera-ridden dystopia. It is hard to dispute the gut feeling that speed cameras are nothing more than metal shakedown devices.

Vrooom-vrooom!!

Ian  Bacchus

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A  Sneer  From  The  Den….....

Tex has done a good coshing on M. Engels of the Grauniad. Once again, Engels has proven himself deserving, claiming to have been this and that as proof he should be writing much ado about nothing.

Pure dreck and drivel from the bird-cage liner, nicely torn to shreds…how fitting!

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A  Snarl  From  The  Den….....

This disgusting piece of news, described over at Samizdata, is just beyond anything acceptable! How has this escaped any real notice here in the States? Where are the outcries?

THIS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO STAND !!

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From  The  Editor’s  Desk….....

A more serious despatch from the field:

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Your humble correspondent was at Day Two of the Libertarian Alliance/Libertarian International Conference. Very interesting, but also a bit depressing. I heard a talk by Mark Littlewood, LA Director Chris Tame, and LA writer Sean Gabb about the collapse of civil liberties in Britain. I’d like to be able to sound optimistic, but I cannot.

Brian Micklethwait, who now has his own blog dedicated to education issues, made what I thought was a superb point during the Q&A when dealing with the alleged trade-off between liberty and security. In a nutshell, he said, this tradeoff is bogus. To be safer against terrorism, Brian said, we need more, not less, freedom. Recent examples surely bear this out. The Washington sniper was nabbed by motivated individual citizens, not the agents of the State.

Later on, I wrapped up my Sunday by having supper with a certain F. James Sensenbrenner Jnr, Republican Congressman from the Ninth District in Wisconsin. Nice fella. Were that all GOP members were like him. He had interesting things to say about how the Tory Party could learn from Bush. However, it was a private occasion, so I will keep schtum about the content.

Ian Bacchus

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A  Sneer  From  The  Den….....

Why is it left to a British editorialist to gather together an excellent summary of why Americans did what they did and do what they do? MommaBear hopes that all who have eyes will open them and see that we will not forget, and we will not give up defending our country. What a fitting way to remember all the others who gave themselves in similar defence of all we hold dear.

+ + +   Veterans Day 2002   + + +

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A  Snicker  From  The  Den….....

Everyone else is snickering at MoDo; MommaBear figured she’d do the same about that completely asinine performance she put on in her latest pathetic whining. Does anyone honestly believe she believes what she wrote!

More drivel from someone who chews up space in the muddied Grey Lady with what she thinks are brilliant writings. And exactly how many minutes after she lands back in the States will this alleged “conversion of opinion” last? MommaBear figures maybe all of 9 seconds.

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Anti-semitic TV shows being aired in Egypt? Sounds like more anti-Arab prejudice from the Western media, right? Wrong; MEMRI reports on the debate surrounding the “41-part serial called “A Knight Without a Horse,” which is based on ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.’ Forty-one parts; have these schmucks never heard of an editor, or how about the fact that the Protocols are a load of grade A-100% bulllshit! Have these people even read the damn thing?

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Ben Elton thinks legalisation of drugs might be the answer to the drug addiction problem. As my loyal readers would know, my book, Statism Sucks! Ver 2.0, sets out a similar position on drugs.

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Val has laid into yet another idiotarian with his Cthulhu-based mistings. This time Paul Watson gets it in the short and curlys.

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Gawain at the The Sprout has informed me the chief cosher of the EU is back with another issue!

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From  The  Editor’s  Desk….....

Another fine despatch from our ace reporter.

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A crackerjack of an article in the British weekly the Spectator today . It totally nails the Tories for allowing themselves to be suckered into the idea that the only way to beat Labour is by refusing to talk about tax cuts. Duh. Don’t they get the point that simply claiming to run Big Government a bit better than Blair and Co. is not going to work? When new tax rises hit our pay packets next year, and when the public services keep on getting crappier, surely that is the Tories’ chance to say something different and radical.

Earth to Tories: ever heard of George W. Bush?

Ian Bacchus

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A  Growl  From  The  Den….....

This post, from Running Silent, although quite long, is an excellent summary why the War On Terror MUST be pursued vigorously and persistently. Two selected excerpts are copied here as a sampling.

...Try to understand the enemy’s point of view. The Wahhabis, Islamists, Islamic Fundamentalists, Islamofascists, call them what you will, are not motivated by anything you can relate to. They don’t care about fossil-fuel depletion, the ozone layer, Third World debt or World Bank lending policies. They’re not interested in you boosting foriegn aid, voting Green, or visualising world peace. They want you do do one of two things.

1) Convert to Islam, or

2) Die.

...Enough of them are already living in the intellectual stone age. The trick is to get their attention and help them change their minds. The occasional loud bang is in fact quite a help in this regard. The carrot is fine Michael, but it works a lot better with a stick as well. I think it was the eminent philosopher Al Capone who once said “You get a lot further with a kind word and a gun, than with just a kind word”.

[ bold print inserted by editor ]

We must never forget and never give up!

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A  Snarl  From  The  Den….....

MommaBear had sent out eMails to other bloggers who, she thought, might be interested to read about this write-up of Blogger Harassment; now she feels compelled to blog about this topic here, also. Within this post you will find a direct link to the subject of the harassment, Diane Hsieh, being pursued in court for daring to express an opinion !!

UPDATE: Arthur, at Light of Reason, has additional information, here.

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Candidatewatch has another crop of PPCs to expose. It is nice to see that one Douglas Carswell has been selected in a decent seat. He is a collegue of mine from my YC days and a good chap who will make a fine MP.

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From  The  Editor’s  Desk….....

At long last, our wandering Field Reporter/Rock Band Manager has finally submitted his first Field Despatch, which is posted, herewith:

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Andrew has often noted the crossover between rock music and opera. Well, I couldn’t resist a chuckle when I read a report on Reuters’ website that the rock anthems of Queen got a standing ovation from 2,000 classical music fans at a concert in London’s Royal Festival Hall. Film music composer Tolga Kashif has toiled to transform 13 of Queen’s best-known tunes into a six-movement orchestral and choral work for EMI.

Maybe this is a sign that rock is still one of the most fertile bits of the music scene. Think about it. Can you imagine the dirge-like works of David Gray or various boy-bands being used in this way? To pose the question, as Enoch Powell used to say, is to know the answer.

Ian Bacchus

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A  Smirk  From  The  Den….....

Such a beautiful takedown; Greg certainly does have a lovely way with words, and he’s done it again!

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Bubonic plague in NYC? Nice to know, since I am here…boy, some of my paranoid detractors are gonna love this one. For the record: I am suppose to be the rider of chaos, not plague.

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From  The  WebMistress’s  Computer  Stand….....

Dissecting Leftism: A new blog that joins us on our Blogroll because he, too, knows the need to slice, chop, and dice through the idiotarianists’ piles of deceipt and other assorted merde. Enjoy !!

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God might hate fags, but Topeka hates bigoted Christian arseholes as well. It seems Topeka is sick of taking shit for Fred Phelps and his collection of ChristiaNazis. Why doesn’t the Air Force “accidentally” drop a smart bomb on this sphincter’s “mission.”? If we are going against Islamonazis, surely we need to do the same to fundamentalist extremists in the US as well?

Via the always equally infuriating and amusing Pagan Prattle.

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Holidaying here in NYC has allowed me the opportunity to get reaquainted with American TV. Just like most of the stuff we get in the UK, I’m seeing the dross of American TV. It seems from early observation to be in the same state of shitdom as the UK TV screen. Nice thing about being in NY, though, is that there are some very cool Spanish stations. Nothing like watching the Spanish version of Springer or Maury. One thing is for sure: the latinos on these shows actually give a damn about what they look like when they go on the telly. Most amusing, to be sure.

The religious programming on the arse end of the dial is rather snigger-inducing, as well. Watching a nun get all bothered about something and yelling is most laughable. Can’t get enough of those ole’ time black pastors, either; some of them have damn fine voices.

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HFP has posted a very funny analysis of last night’s election results. Not the best idea to read it with a full mouth of liquid; I almost spewed my Porter all over the screen. The lovely Sasha has posted her thoughts on the dire coverage of the night by CNN. Besides one or two, a brain trust it wasn’t. I understand from various sources that the Fox News coverage was not much better. Why is it that election coverage in the US is so bad these days? They might want to import Peter Snow and Co. to lend their magic to the proceedings in 2004. At least Snow, with his “swingometer”, is funny even when getting it wrong.

Well, Bush and Blair get on well, so it’s no shock their opposite parties are in the same deep poo. Murray has made the point in his own special way.

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A  ’Hrmmm’  From  The  Den….....

Election 2002:  Veerrrrrry  Interesting!

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MB was Hamilton and I am:

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