Iraq today...

...if any one feature typifies the political left (all right, all right almost everyone who enters politics) it is hypocrisy. And it is blatant hypocrisy on display that will guarantee green/left unpopularity and eventual demise. The internet and the vast network of file sharing and communication means that the left can never again posture and pretend and get away with it for long.

George W. Bush in comfortable retirement in Texas has been one of the left's most hated political figures. Yet, it is the left who claim a copyright on concern for human rights for all, and like to think they are the true "progressives" amongst us.

Surely then the left must be rejoicing in the recent progressive developments in Iraq, and regretting their hatred for the man whose policies and political principles ensured Iraq's liberation from dictatorship. George W. Bush will go down in history as a liberator of Iraq, and his opponents will be seen in the cold light of historical, objective examination as choosing to side with tyranny and oppression.

A month by month analysis of present day Iraq is carried out by The Brookings Institute. Its latest report is a thorough and fascinating snapshot of Iraq today and the hopes of its people. Among other facts, it's worth noting that under Saddam Hussein, prior to the invasion; there were NO commercial television stations and NO independent newspapers. By 2006, 54 commercial TV stations were operating and 268 independent newspapers and magazines were in circulation.
In 2003, there were 833,000 telephone subscribers. Today, there are 17.7 million cellular subscribers and 1.3 million landline users, In 2003 there were 4,900 internet subscribers, compared to 820,00 in April 2009...

These facts, together with nationwide polling, indicate that confidence for the future and support for Iraqi democracy is strong and growing stronger. Clearly then, Bush's war in Iraq was a war of liberation from a tyrant who deserved his fate. Not a war of liberation however, that the hypocritical left like to recognise or acknowledge...

...more from The Brookings Institute here...H/T Eric, at The Pool Bar...

Joke of the day...

...no not Tau Henare (left) ...
"An old guy's wife tells him to go to the butcher shop and get some meat. He goes to the butcher shop and stands in line for hours. Finally the butcher says, "We're out of meat." The old guy blows his top. He yells, "I am a worker! I am a proletarian! I am a veteran of the Great Patriotic War! I have fought for socialism all my life, and now you tell me you're out of meat! What kind of a system is this?! You are fools! You are thieves! . . . " A big man in a trench coat comes up to the old guy and says, "Comrade, Comrade, not so loud. In the old days you know what they would do if you said such things." The big man in the trench coat makes a pistol motion with his hand. He says to the old guy, "Calm down and go home." The old guy shrugs and leaves. He comes back empty-handed, and his wife says, "What's the matter, are they out of meat?" "Worse than that," says the old guy, "they're out of bullets." P.J.O'Rourke, H/T Samizdata

A mighty totara has shot through...

...It’s a sad day. Ted Kennedy, lion of the left, has passed from this world. A vibrant melting pot of Americans of every persuasion mourn the loss, and hope to carry on his ideals in their own lives. I, too, shed a tear. With a lump in my throat, I have written a deeply felt eulogy for Senator Kennedy. Pardon the hastily penned thoughts, but the words came spilling out of me like a deluge...

From commentator Roissy in Washington...here... all about Chappaquaddick here...

...and from William Briggs... Now he is dead, but he will be lauded and remembered fondly, more because of his status than what he has accomplished. For we must recall the tale of the counterfactual: while it true that this man has produced some benefit, just as he has certainly caused much harm, we are forced to ask what better and what different could he have been had he, instead of joining the Senate, been farmed out to an ambassadorship in Latvia. These necessary ruminations will not be pleasant to the aristocracy and so they will be ignored...

...and Mark Steyn... As Teddy’s biographer Adam Clymer wrote, Edward Kennedy’s “achievements as a senator have towered over his time, changing the lives of far more Americans than remember the name Mary Jo Kopechne.”You can’t make an omelet without breaking chicks, right? I don’t know how many lives the senator changed – he certainly changed Mary Jo’s – but you’re struck less by the precise arithmetic than by the basic equation: How many changed lives justify leaving a human being struggling for breath for up to five hours pressed up against the window in a small, shrinking air pocket in Teddy’s Oldsmobile? If the senator had managed to change the lives of even more Americans, would it have been OK to leave a couple more broads down there? Hey, why not?

...and Quote of the day...from a group of scientists who scoff at the green/left's statement that "the science is settled..." the CLOUD experiment at CERN...

"...If a causal connection between GCR (galactic cosmic ray) intensity and low cloud cover were to be confirmed, it could have profound consequences for our understanding of the solar contributions to the current global warming. During the 20th century the Sun’s magnetic activity increased dramatically and the solar wind more than doubled in strength... As a consequence, the mean GCR intensity on Earth diminished by about 15%. The implied reduction in low cloud cover by about 1.3% absolute could have given rise to a radiative forcing of about +0.8 Wm−2 (3.3 · 10−3), which is comparable to the estimated total anthropogenic forcing of about +1.3 Wm−2...

The chains of pain...

...not the epic from Bob Geldof, but Climate Chains, which are being used by the green left to shackle capitalism. Rattle those chains and view the trailer of the about to be released movie ...
...An epic debate is soon to begin in the U.S. Senate. The proposed Cap-and-Trade legislation would have a far-reaching impact on your standard of living and give government a portal into every aspect of your life. The affordable, dependable and abundant energy upon which any great civilization is built is about to be rationed. Please make the time to view this short video trailer and share it with your friends...here...
...and an update (H/T and thanks to A Western Heart) on the enquiry into the Australian bushfires...
...Residents in one of the areas devastated on Black Saturday were not allowed to clear highly flammable, noxious tea tree on their land because it was classified as native vegetation by the local council, the royal commission into the bushfire disaster has been told. Peter Wiltshire, who suffered serious burns and damaged airways trying unsuccessfully to save his home at St Andrews on February 7, said yesterday the tea tree, known as burgan, was "extremely flammable and lets off gases in heat". Wildfire from burning burgan on a neighbouring property created enough radiant heat to cause a horsefloat at one end of his house to instantaneously burst into flame.But the local Nillumbik Shire Council stopped landowners clearing burgan without applying for permission, Mr Wiltshire said. "They call it native vegetation and we are not allowed to clear it without a permit. It is probably the most noxious and flammable material. It really is a pest and dangerous." ...more here...

If this is the only surfing you do today...

...you couldn't do any better than spend a few minutes with the brilliant Bill Whittle, and his expose of media and academic political correctness. H/T and thanks to Slattsnews. Have a look at this superb commentary. This is outstanding and startling... Here...
...A note too, on a rarely seen commodity in NZ politics; political principle. Rodney Hide, Minister of Local Government, offered to resign his ministerial post if a new Auckland "supercity" was created offering designated seats to Maori only. Such racial separatism Rodney Hide observed, was contrary to the principle of "one man, one vote." What he should have added also is that it is contrary to what the left like to refer to as our founding document; The Treaty of Waitangi. (A fact conveniently forgotten by Maori protesters as they brandish their taiaha in street protests.) As always, lefty PC hypocrites within the media, particularly the craven NZ Herald and TVNZ, follow their PC guidelines and depict Rodney Hide as a bullying blackmailer and populist, not a politician of conviction. What utter hypocritical bullshit !
But now, the left have a fantastic opportunity to use the provision for a citizen's initiated referendum to test public opinion on institutionalised apartheid in outeroa... C'mon you leftie hypocrite scumbags, show your courage and let the people of Auckland vote on the matter... Some hope. ( Cartoon from NotPC with thanks.)
(Note to Rodney Hide. Well done, let's see much more of the same. Let's also see a press release about the futility of an ETS. Didn't you say last year that AGW was "a hoax" ?)

Greens and global warming on trial...

From The LA Times...The nation's largest business lobby wants to put the science of global warming on trial. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, trying to ward off potentially sweeping federal emissions regulations, is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a rare public hearing on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change.Chamber officials say it would be "the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century" complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge who would rule, essentially, on whether humans are warming the planet to dangerous effect."It would be evolution versus creationism," said William Kovacs, the chamber's senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs. "It would be the science of climate change on trial."...
Well no, Mr Kovacs. The Scopes trial was over an issue involving morality, racism and religion. This debate is purely scientific. It would be a definitive forum where the watching general public could view and listen to the competing arguments over the defining issues of our times. Bring it on...
...Exciting news ! More here... and from WuWT...

Do you support the idea of putting “global warming” on trial with the EPA?
After getting over 2200 responses over two days, I’ve closed the poll. Here are the results:
Yes 94% (2084 votes)
No 4% (87 votes)
Undecided 2% (51 votes)
Total Votes: 2222

...and an update from Climate Depot, here...

G'day cobber...

...while Kiwis don't like to seem smug, and have had to get used to failure and mediocrity quite a lot lately, they are naturally quite shy and would hesitate to talk to an Aussie about THE BLEDISLOE CUP, or even ask about THE ASHES. Meanwhile, Prime Ministers John Key and Kevin Rudd are doing a lot of talking, and are concerned about steering NZ and Australia ever closer politically. The MSM like to report on such issues as transtasman trade and travel and a new joint ANZAC rapid response force.They would rather overlook of course (apart from the esteemed Australian) the chaos unravelling in the backrooms over the question of climate change management. Here both governments are in a classic lose-lose scenario. Whatever they decide to do it will not, (and we know it, and they know it too) in any way whatsoever effect climate change. LOSE. Whatever they decide to do it will not be enough to placate the desperate and loopy greens and their loopier supporters. LOSE. Whatever they decide to do, it (unless they do nothing at all) will cost all of us dear in increased utility prices and taxes. LOSE LOSE. It is no wonder then, that in Australia the opposition National/Liberal coalition is unwinding, and in NZ, we have a farce worthy of Sir Humphry and Yes Minister, where green sounding sanctimonious platitudes and fence sitting have become an art form.

If you were a Green MP named Sue Bradford you'd want to cry over all this. And if you did, you'd want to weep bucketfuls of tears to wash away all the eggs and custard pie off your fat face. (For expats and foreigners, Bradford's attempt at subverting the Kiwi family via her private members bill has been rejected by a whopping 88% of participants in a referendum.) The greenest part of Ms Bradford today will be around her more than ample gills. But dry your eyes Sue my sweet, and tuck into some of that custard pie dripping off your chops, you know you want to...

Free Carbon Certificates ! Get 'em while they're hot !

Birthdays, anniversaries, special gift giving days...here's the answer...

... click to get your own certificate suitable for framing here...

Warmists...read this and weep...

...In a study sure to ruffle the feathers of the Global Warming cabal, Professor Richard Lindzen of MIT has published a paper which proves that IPCC models are overstating by 6 times, the relevance of CO2 in Earth’s Atmosphere. Dr. Lindzen has found that heat is radiated out in to space at a far higher rate than any modeling system to date can account for.The global surface temperature record...has shown no statistically-significant “global warming”for almost 15 years. Statistically-significant global cooling has now persisted for very nearly eight years. Even a strong el Nino – expected in the coming months – will be unlikely to reverse the cooling trend.
More significantly, the ARGO bathythermographs deployed throughout the world’s oceans since 2003 show that the top 400 fathoms of the oceans, where it is agreed between all parties that at least 80% of all heat caused by manmade “global warming” must accumulate, have been cooling over the past six years. That now prolonged ocean cooling is fatal to the “official” theory that “globalwarming” will happen on anything other than a minute scale...There are only a couple of conclusions to be made of this. Either the world has been misled by scientists working for the UN and IPCC due to faulty science, or faulty science has been deliberately used in a global scheme to generate tax revenues for the Governments instituting Cap and Trade Taxation policies.
Either way, the world has been the victim of some very bad science. The results of which can be seen in drastically reduced GDP in countries with the Cap and Trade laws in place, as well a a 5 - 10% decrease in standard of living for those citizens living there...all with little or no effect on emissions globally......more here...
SPPI Monthly CO2 Report: July 2009

It looks like they were right all along...so much for global warming...

... Newsweek on April 28th 1975 predicted a new Ice Age ...The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth’s climate seems to be cooling down... The evidence...has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it...A survey completed last year reveals a drop of half a degree in average ground temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere between 1945 and 1968...satellite photos indicated a sudden, large increase in Northern Hemisphere snow cover in the winter of 1971-72...the amount of sunshine reaching the ground in the continental U.S. diminished by 1.3% between 1964 and 1972...the Earth’s average temperature during the great Ice Ages was only about seven degrees lower than during its warmest eras – and that the present decline has taken the planet about a sixth of the way toward the Ice Age average. Other (scientists) regard the cooling as a reversion to the “little ice age” conditions that brought bitter winters to much of Europe and northern America between 1600 and 1900 – years when the Thames used to freeze so solidly that Londoners roasted oxen on the ice and when iceboats sailed the Hudson River almost as far south as New York City. Just what causes the onset of major and minor ice ages remains a mystery...some of the more spectacular solutions proposed, such as melting the Arctic ice cap by covering it with black soot or diverting arctic rivers, might create problems far greater than those they solve...and THIS MONTH from the US National Solar Observatory...
...But something is unusual about the current sunspot cycle. The current solar minimum has been unusually long, and with more than 670 days without sunspots through June 2009, the number of spotless days has not been equaled since 1933...The solar wind is reported to be in a uniquely low energy state since space measurements began nearly 40 years ago.Why is a lack of sunspot activity interesting? During the period from 1645 to 1715, the Sun entered a period of low activity now known as the Maunder Minimum, when through several 11- year periods the Sun displayed few if any sunspots. Models of the Sun’s irradiance suggest that the solar energy input to the Earth decreased during that time and that this change in solar activity could explain the low temperatures recorded in Europe during the Little Ice Age...
...and yet the hysterics of Planet Gore continue to insist "the science is settled", the planet is warming and rising sea levels and 1000 other plagues and pestilences will make large areas uninhabitable...bah ! humbug !

Environmental rationalism...

...is a commodity that the green left despise. With their disdain comes hatred of their world and prosperity induced guilt. In years to come people will marvel that these last few decades have produced enough self doubt, guilt and panic (a.k.a. Y2Kyoto) to make a retreat from prosperity and technology back to the Dark Green Ages and the coldness of the cave a real possibility. With the knowledge that we have today, we in the developed nations enjoy comforts that our predecessors could never have imagined. It surely is up to us to share this knowledge and this luxury rather than attempting to stifle human development....Ian Plimer (author of Heaven and Earth) compares what's happening now ...to what happened with Lysenkoism in the Soviet Union 7 decades ago. When Lysenko convinced Stalin that he could improve grain production by treating seeds before they were planted, Lysenkoism became a state approved methodology. Dissenters were killed or sent to the gulags. An entire nation converted their agricultural system to accommodate Lysenko's theories. But the grain refused to grow. Sixty years later, they went back to science. ...global warming has divided scientists into two basic camps. The AGW proponents are a new breed, confident in their computer models, dismissive of those who think skepticism should be the first response to new theories, and for the most part conducting their science while driving a computer. The second camp is both older and older-fashioned, for the most part, and is bent on going out and getting the data and seeing where the data leads them...AGW proponents have experienced considerable political success, and national governments and world institutions are contemplating changing the world's infrastructure to suit the needs of this new political doctrine. But the science is clearly not there yet...The debate is not yet over... if the political decisions are made now, while the debate is still in progress, we risk turning away from our best chance to lift one third of the planet out of poverty, using the same tools that lifted us out of poverty just a century ago-cheap and readily available energy. We can not only condemn these people to a life of miserable deprivation, we can turn our backs on our own futures and begin to retreat from what technology can give us.
If instead we moved practically and sanely towards a greener technology base, led by research and development instead of eco-lobbyists and windmill producers, we could stabilise and then reduce emissions over the course of this century without actively oppressing the poor... and continue to move ahead.
The worst of the eco-warriors are not shy about saying they want a much lower population on this planet living a vastly reduced lifestyle...(they are) the enemies of the rest of us who want to live a normal life and give our children a better future. By brazenly claiming that there is no future without sacrificing our energy base, they propagate a Big Lie that would send us back to a past long before Lysenko-back to a cold, cold period we called the Dark (Green) ages. But they didn't need Lysenko back then--they had the Inquisition to tell them how to treat skeptics...more here...

Thoughts for the day...

...A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for... John Shedd

"...The recent but largely unreported trend of global cooling has become increasingly hard for warmers to deny or explain away, and there is increasing evidence that various other core elements of the GW hypothesis are incorrect. In the face of failing claims and prophesies, the prophets of GW are becoming more and more strident and apocalyptic . The cooler it gets the shriller their cries of warning about warming become.
In addition to the true believers, GW has attracted a large contingent of self-interested fellow travellers. Politicians, bureaucrats, political activists and manifold financial interest have perceived advantages to be gained from climbing aboard the GW bandwagon. Large vested interests are now involved, and there is great pressure to lock in emission controls and subsidies before popular support weakens.
Despite all this, in the end the entire matter is only an empty irrelevant charade. The developing nations will not cease their development even if developed ones do. A modest increase in energy prices will not result in decreased emissions and large cost increases that will do so will result in recession and severe economic disruptions. This is not speculation. We have already had two clear instances. Any government which does not understand this will be replaced..." ...more from marine biologist Walter Starck, here...

Gird your loins for battle...

...George (moonbeam) Monbiot of the UK Guardian is preparing to do battle with Professor Ian Plimer, author of the book Heaven and Earth... as Monbiot reports...After I wrote an article attacking his claims, he challenged me to a public debate. Last week I told him that I would accept his challenge as long as he accepted mine. I would take part in a face-to-face debate with him as long as he agreed to write precise and specific responses to his critics' points - in the form of numbered questions that I would send him - for publication on the Guardian's website...more here...

This exchange, if it comes about will be a defining moment. Watch this space.

...and, from the "Isn't Science Wonderful" dept...Study: Men Who Do Housework Attract More Women, Fewer Contusions

..."When Ian keeps ahead of the laundry, I find it really helps keep the relationship healthy and the hospital visits at a minimum," said Sarah Pilcher, 37, a study participant. "Isn't that right, Ian? I SAID, isn't that RIGHT?"
"Oh, yes, definitely, dear," agreed her husband Ian, 38, bolting to attention in the midst of a silent gaze through the window of their spotless home in Luton, Beds. "It's hard work sometimes, but I know Sarah appreciates it. Especially when I polish the glass on my testicle jar."
"I shudder to think what this place would look like had I not married Sarah. I reckon it would be such a disgusting mess from the pizza cartons and empty beer bottles, I would probably be down at the pub, drinking a pint with my mates, watching a football game," he added, bursting into tears...more from Dr Iowahawk here...

Our green/red future...

...with grateful thanks to the politically aware and ingenious Kaboom... "The climate change sceptics constantly scare-monger about the possible loss of jobs through the transition of a lower carbon economy," Kevin Rudd said. "But they constantly fail to talk about the new clean energy jobs of the future which will arise from the introduction of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme."
Behold! Kaboom's "Greenshaw"!
The concept is both simple and elegant...and the five-fold employment opportunities are as follows:-
When the petrol runs out because of Peak Oil, or because it has become so expensive that no-one besides environmental consultants can afford it, there will be millions of useless old "clunkers" (like the MINI Cooper S shown left) lying around rusting. Not only that, but there will be billions of people walking to work. The first employment opportunity will be for someone to cut these hulks of a past epoch in half, using carbon-friendly tools such as a hack-saw.
Next, someone will be employed to smooth off the rough hacksawed edges, fabricate by hand the steps, and ensure that the end product meets all necessary safety requirements.
Another person will be employed to remove the air-bags from the old clunkers, and insert these devices into the rear compartments used for the Greenshaw.
Another person will be employed to hand fabricate (using recycled materials, NOT wood) the carrying frame of the Greenshaw.
Finally, and most importantly, someone with the innate strength and green-savvy to pull the Greenshaw...As you can see, by using a bit of Green ingenuity, we can massively redeploy employment to cure major social problems of (1) unwanted cars, (2) people having to walk, and (3) unemployment.
...As we greenies like to say, "A win-win situation!"

...and from the comments, Anonymous adds...It would work. Definitely. Please consider options for mass public transport too. I have never driven, in fact I despise cars as sinful mobile hot beds of lust, so prefer to travel by bus. Preferably crowded, I like to feel the crush of people moving next to me. So, what do think of the chances of applying your principle to all the big old Bedford buses that my alternative lifestyle friends travel the country in ? One person on her own couldn't shift one of course, she'd need 20 or so helpers, but wouldn't it be something to travel to the cooperative lentil factory in a Bedford pulled by big fit, strong young ladies, all singing together ! A good song would be a speeded up version of Kumbaya, and in really hot weather they'd work up quite a bit of a sweat and lather. I'd want to stand up the front and...

...for George Carlin's superb take on Green values, SEE THIS...

If the USA sneezes...we catch more than a head cold...

...There are two driving forces behind Cap-and-Trade. One is the claim that “green” energy producers will generate new jobs if the government just provides a combination of legislative mandates for its use (wind and solar) and, two, that a massive new trading apparatus in “carbon credits” for the generation of “greenhouse gas emissions” will protect the Earth against “global warming.”...Using “global warming” to justify any government mandates or to empower the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon dioxide as a “pollutant” is a lie. It is a very big lie. As the Energy Tribune authors point out, “To generate real industrial jobs you need a basic commodity to trade, such as oil, gas or coal.” This is in marked contrast to wind and solar energy. “The trouble is that alternative energy technologies currently don’t work. That is to say, they remain inefficient, offering a very poor energy return on investment.”“Cut off the flow of public subsidies and the alternative energy industrial revolution would grind to a halt tomorrow.” ...If you had a choice, would you prefer to see wind, solar and biofuel energy producers receive billions in taxpayer subsidies or would you prefer to see independent energy producers permitted to extract oil and natural gas or the coal industry have access to the U.S. reserves that would provide electricity for centuries to come? This is not mere conjecture. The experience of European Union nations demonstrates that for every green job created, a real job is destroyed elsewhere in the economy. Carbon regimes drive manufacturing to nations that do not impose limits on coal, oil and natural gas. For example, “Germany’s Angela Merkel is insisting on major exemptions for German heavy industry come December’s global climate summit in Copenhagen. Merkel’s government is also supporting the building of 26 new coal-fired power plants across Germany.” Compare that with one hundred such plants whose construction was thwarted in the United States by environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth.“In June, deputy head of Poland’s Solidarity trade union, Jaroslaw Gresik, estimated that the EU’s climate policy would cost 800,000 European jobs.” Widely circulated data from a study of the heavily subsidized wind and solar energy industry in Spain revealed that its alternative energy program destroyed nearly 110,500 jobs elsewhere in its economy or 2.2 jobs destroyed for every ‘green job’ created. Consumers there have seen their electricity rate increase by 31 percent.Other independent studies reveal that Obama’s claim of five million new “green” jobs would cost an estimated $500 billion to create... The Big Lie about “Green jobs” is going to cost jobs. The Cap-and-Trade bill is a massive tax increase. If the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill is passed, it will undermine the economy, cost jobs, and leave the nation increasingly dependent on the import of energy resources while our own lay underground, unexplored, untapped, unused..a grim picture for US taxpayers, social and economic disaster unfolding, thanks to lies, overstatement and ideology. With thanks, and with sympathy to WarningSigns...

Now. To sum up...

...the IPCC (Idiot Poofters in CupCakes, pictured left on Cupcake Day) stated CATEGORICALLY that as atmospheric CO2 levels increased global temperatures would rise exponentially. However, in spite of their claim, in reality, although CO2 levels have increased, global temperatures have fallen, proving that CO2 is NOT the main driver of Climate Change, sea levels are NOT rising and the Polar ice caps are NOT melting.

The petition project against the theory of AGW now has over 31,000 signatures of prominent scientists, experts in their fields of climate, geophysics, thermodynamics etc. and many hold the title of Professor Emeritus.
No one disputes that the climate changes, or that there has been warming, the earth has been warming since the Little Ice Age ended circa 1800... So what then kicked off the warming trend ? as there were few 4x4s or coal fired power stations around at the end of the Little IceAge, could it just be nature doing what it does without the interference of politicians and green left fellow travellers ?
...and Quote of the Day...I am an agnostic on the climate change issue, and not being a scientist, do not presume to know what the position actually is with regard to whether such warming is man-made, or not. However, my political and economic views lead me to favour approaches that work to enhance prosperity and freedom, and my suspicions about some of the alarmists is drawn very much from the fact that their agenda seems to be incorrigibly statist. Sometimes you have to go with your gut instincts...with thanks to Samizdata...