The Liberty Log

Liberals have got this one right

While incidents of torture in Iraq have been roundly condemned by just about all media sources in the US, conservative or liberal, there is a new sentiment has surface in some areas of Conservative thought. While condemning the acts of torture, they try to isolate the incidents to a few bad apples, and criticize liberals for over-analyzing such a simple problem. Except this is not a simple problem, and this is not simply caused by a few bad apples. We need to splash this over our media, we need to get to the bottom of the problem. While those who performed the torture are bad apples, and deserve to be brought to justice, there also needs to be widespread reforms to the system to prevent this type of abuse from happening again.

The problems of the abuse scandal also highlight the military policy gone adrift- ever since the fall of Saddam, there has been great confusion among policy makers, military leaders, and soldiers on the ground over where this war is going and what people should be accomplishing. The ability of so many prisoners to be abused so badly under the eyes of US commanders is startling- if the commanders don't even have an understanding of what is happening on the ground, how can they effectively decide on the best course of action?

And lets not even get into how many years and decades it will take to repair the reputation of the US in the Middle East. Few bad apples maybe, not quite Saddam definately, but this all means nothing to the Arab street, who have seen Americans at their worst.

Singh the best choice for India

In the aftermath of the victorious Congress Party's leader, Sonia Gandhi, announcing that she would turn down the position of Prime Minister, all eyes were on the party's leadership, watching to see whom they would offer up in her place. Two days ago now the questions were answered, and the new Prime Minister of the World's Largest Democracy is a gentleman by the name of Manmohan Singh.

In general I try not to comment too strongly about electoral politics in other countries (it frustrates me so when Americans try to tell me what a jolly good Prime Minister we have in Tony Blair), but in this case I feel I must offer to the Indians a note of congratulation on their excellent decision.

Manmohan Singh is a former Finance Minister under Narasimha Rao, and in that position he was responsible for the Thatcherite economic reforms that turned the country around and gave it unprecedented levels of growth. Among other measures he simplified the tax laws, did away with miles of red tape that had been stifling the country's industries and preventing new business formation. The net result was that under his stewardship the country's GDP increased by an average of 7% per annum, growth which slowed under the recent Vajpayee/Hindu Nationalist administration.

Singh is a good man in other respects, too. He is a widely respected academic, an economist, and is by all accounts a moral and honourable person too, possessing about him not a whiff of the corruption that has been endemic in the Indian political elites.

Now, his aims are to continue the modernisation programme, focusing upon spreading the benefits of reform to all sectors of Indian society, including the very poorest. Finally, as a Sikh he is ideally placed to make progress in talks with the Pakistanis over Kashmir, leading his country into peace as well as prosperity. Let's all wish him the very best.

Winning the Unpopularity Contest

American forces in Iraq have scored an impressive 7%- when the Iraqi Centre for Research and Strategic Studies polled for the Number of Iraqis who view U.S. troops as liberators.

The stuttering reconstruction effort, prison scandal, worsening security situation, and widespread poverty are many of the reasons for such a poor showing. Yet another issue-which the American Forces have more control over- seems to be doing the US forces no help- the continued attack on Kerbala and other major strongholds of the Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. With every passing day of the conflict, Sadr's popularity only grows. And if the US forces manage to capture or kill him, it is hard to see how this will lessen his message, or strengthen America's. The decision to attack Sadr's forces has been a failing of the US Forces that many fail to acknowledge. Sadr's support in and around Baghdad was in the mere single digits before the uprising- now 31% claim to "strongly supported Sadr." Perhaps Sadr was involved with the murder of rival cleric Al-Khoei- only now it seems that the Americans are less able to pressure him or control him in any way. American Forces have created a resistance, and if they manage to kill Sadr, they will have created a martyr. Either way, Americans and those who support America's goals have all lost out from this crazy affair.
political and military pressure that the US

Left of South

South Korea's President Roh, the first Leftist President in the young nations history, has secured a majority in his parliament after right wing parties botched a ridiculous impeachment attempt. Yet what will this mean for Roh, a formerly embattled President who has tip-toed his way through office, balancing the needs of his grass-root support of leftists and militant unions against his needed support of investors and America, is yet to be seen.

A Roadblock to Reform

Much needed privatisations and reform in India may be slowed after the Congress Parties victories in recent elections. Except these reforms won’t be slowed by the Congress party itself, but instead by its tentative coalition with opportunist leftist parties.

The problem is that the Congress Party controls only 150 of 545 seats in parliament, and its preliminary coalition only controls 220 seats. To attain a majority, it must bargain with the Leftists, dominated by the Communist Party of India with 43 seats. Congress had started the major economic reforms in 1991 that opened up India’s economy and resulted in record growth- reforms that were continued by the outgoing Bharatiya Janata Government. The Congress party indeed offered to continue globalisation and cut out bureaucracy, but these tasks will be difficult if impossible while trying to attract support of the Communists.

As a result of the elections, India’s stockmarkets are in panic, with the Bombay Bourse down 17.5%- its largest ever fall. Hopefully Sonia Gandhi, the soon-to-be Prime Minister, will prove an effective leader, and these events will be a mere blemish on India’s rise to economic power. There are 1,049,700,118 people depending on it.

Hardly Surprising

Politics at the DoD seems to work in predictable cycles. And when it comes to abuse at Guantanamo, the cycle is as follows.

-Rumsfeld denies any abuse occurs at Guantanamo.

-New evidence and pressure from the media (focusing this time on Abu Ghraib) forces Rumsfeld to take action.

-An official inquiry into abuse at Guantanamo is to be made by Vice Adm. Albert Tom Church.

-The inquiry comes up with:

Eight "minor infractions involving contact with detainees" going back to 2002, including "an unauthorized haircut" by a barber at the prison to "mild physical contact."

Yet with the widespread abuse revealed at prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan, it seems like this is good news. Great news. Amazing news. In fact, I bet there is more abuse in an average US prison. So good is this news, that I can hardly believe it. And I don't.

And thats all?

This is hardly a surprise- its just how politics works!

Rumsfeld denies abuse in places such as Guantanamo.

The press finds evidence of such abuse (in this case from Abu Ghraib)

Rumsfeld orders an official inquiry into Guantanamo.

The inquiry comes up with:

8 minor infractions, including a forcing "an unauthorized haircut" by a barber and "mild physical contact."

So Guatanamo really isn't a bad place- case closed. Or is it? It is hardly surprising that the official inquiry found nothing of value- it is hard to believe that US commanders, understanding the renewed media interest in treatment of prisoners- would allow anything wrong to happen for the two days Vice Adm. Albert Tom Church was conducting his review. But does this disprove the numerous reports of abuse at the prison? The whole system seems aimed at coming up with nothing.

And so nothing will change.

Hardly Surprising

And Hardly Needed. The World Bank continues to pump up failed dictators, bail out failed fiscal policies, and prop up Mercedes sales figures to the third world. If helping poor nations achieve economic stability is the goal, there must be a better way.

The Odd Couple

Scotland still doesn't see the point in Thatcherism. Bill Jamieson wishes it were otherwise. (referred by Brian Monteith MSP)

Liberty Club AGM

The Liberty Club recently held its AGM. The club will miss the help of fund-raiser and man-about-town Will Gould, who worked his way up from Vice President to Chairman on the Liberty Club this year. Taking his place as Chairman is Jane McCarthy, who held the position of VP this year. The place of VP will be filled by Kim Drewett, native Alaskan and former Publicist. In addition to her position as VP, Kim will take on the responsibility of producing next year's magazine Katallaxia. I will stay on as President for next year. Other committee positions are being filled as we speak, and the new committee will be posted online shortly.

Liberty Club Annual Lecture

The Liberty Club's 2nd Annual Lecture will be held on Wednesday, 5 May, 7:30 for 8:00 PM in School III of St Salvators Quad. This year's guest lecturer will be Professor Dr Norbert Walter, Chief Economist of Deutsche Bank Group and head of Deutsche Bank Research. He will be speaking on "EU-Enlargement and Effectiveness of EU Institutions." With yesterdays addition of 10 new members to the EU, Prof Walter's speach should have particular relevance.

This Just In....

Minimum Sentences don't work!

Or is this news?

U-Turn

According to the Times, Blair might move towards a referendum on the EU Constitution. This is good for democracy- and if he can win it, good for Labour as well. The conservatives have put a lot of effort into calling for a referendum, which raises the stakes of any outcome.

Unfortunately, what we have seen in both the UK and France with referendums on the Constitution have shown weaknesses in democracy. In both countries, referendums are held at the whim of the governments. Chirac seems to be avoiding such a referendum in order to avoid an embarrassing defeat- Blair seems to be doing the opposite- floating the idea when he thinks he can win, thus using such a referendum as a political tool. What is needed in Europe and the UK is an impartial body that determines for which issues and when referendums are needed. Until then, you will see countries on both sides of the channel using such ‘democratic’ tools as just another in governments’ grab-bag of tricks.

Furthering a divide

A recent tape allegedly produced by Bin Laden offers a suspension of terrorist activities in Europe if they agree to stop interfering with Middle East affairs. But "President (George W.) Bush and leaders in his sphere, big media institutions and the United Nations...all of them are a fatal danger to the world, and the Zionist lobby is their most dangerous and difficult member, and we insist, God willing, on continuing to fight them.” The tape also attributed the Madrid bombings as retaliation to Spain’s involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and its position on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

This is yet another attempt by Islamists to divide the western world in its fight against terrorism. It is hard to believe that Islamic terrorists- who are fighting liberal democracies the world over- would simply ignore Europe- especially as the EU seeks to increase its political and economic influence in the world. It is even harder to believe that groups such as Al Muhajiroun and the numerous other domestic terror organizations and cells would end their efforts at the whim of Bin Laden.

Lets remember that while Bin Laden and his deputies are playing a political game- trying to divide and conquer its enemies- the majority of terrorists do not distinguish between American, European, or any other ‘disbeliever.’ Extremists who have Islamic domination as their goal do not draw the line at certain ‘neutral’ countries. And when terrorist leaders continue to recruit followers and funds, which country from the west would want to be neutral?

Sadr Comes to the Table

After a week of defiance and claiming his intent on becoming a martyr, Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr has dropped his initial demands to the coalition and has expressed interest in negotiation. Perhaps this weeklong “intifada” was just yet another attempt of a cleric shoring up power? Sadr was bold when the US forces were at a distance last week, but it seems odd that he would suddenly bow to pressures now that the US has tightly encircled Najaf, the city he is hiding out in.

The Return

Tomorrow will hail the return of Liberty Club co-founder Marian Tupy. While I have yet to meet him in person, Marian has left a vivid legacy here on campus, and many are excited for his talk tomorrow evening. Marian will be speaking on "EU Enlargement: Unique Opportunity or Historic Mistake?" The event starts at 8PM in School I of St Salvators Quad. For more information visit our future events section of our webpage.

It heats up

Finally- an election interesting to watch! Well, not Kerry. It is almost as if Bush is running against himself right now, and running against the War. Bush has raised the stakes today by acknowledging his political fate is attached to his results in Iraq. And with 80 US soldiers dead in the past week, this is no small matter.

At least it won't be an election of lock-boxes and misunderestimations!

As the foriegn contractors continue to run into security problems in Iraq, it seems reasonable to question the US's decision to award many top construction contracts to US and other foreign contractors. There is a massive security problem in Iraq, as well as mass unemployment and disenfranchisment among the population. Why haven't more of these contracts gone to Iraqi firms? Already there have been complaints by Iraqis that the schools and hospitals built by US contractors have been of substandard quality- not surprising considering the lack of competition among contractors and the lack of oversight by the US.

Hiring Iraqis to rebuild their country would increase employment, better US-Iraqi relations, and keep foreigners out of harms way.

It is like the days of the Baath

Thanks to Reason's blog Hit and Run for this one:

American Forces have shut down an opposition newspaper in Iraq, saying the newspaper had several articles "designed to incite violence against coalition forces and incite instability."

How to deal with the Iraqi independent media has been problematic for American Forces from the beginning. Limited to state news before the war, Iraqis can now choose from nearly 200 independent daily newspapers. The upstarts vary widely in ideology, quality, circulation, and accuracy. Some have gone to far- earlier this year a newspaper was rightly shut down for printing death to all spies and those who cooperate with the U.S." and saying killing them was a religious duty.

But what about the crimes of the recently shut down newspaper? In one article it claimed a suicide bombing two weeks earlier that killed 53 in a mostly Shiite town was a rocket "fired by an (American) Apache helicopter and not a car bomb." Another article compared Bremer to Saddam. Controversial, yes. Probably not accurate. But since when was being controversial and wrong a crime- a crime worth suppressing?

War on What?

We've all heard the criticism of Bush and his War on Terrorism. Even I have been known to question whether war can be waged against something as vague as terrorism. This was particularly true after the fall of the Taliban, when international terrorism's state embodiment was swiftly defeated - and terrorists were hard to find. But lets look at today's Reuters Headlines:

-Gunbattle Rages in Uzbek Capital After Bombs - Uzbekistan is fighting Islamists in the streets.

-Two Pakistanis Executed by Al Qaeda Militants - Al Qaeda executes unarmed hostages.

-Philippines Says Foils Major Terror Attack - Police have foiled a "Madrid-level" terror attack on shops and trains in the capital Manila by arresting four suspected Islamic militants and seizing a large amount of explosives.

- Explosive Ingredients Found in UK Terror Raids - British anti-terror police seized a large amount of explosive materials and arrested eight Islamists.

- Tamil Candidate Shot Dead Ahead of Sri Lanka Poll - Not Islamist, but these guys are the pioneers of suicide terrorism and nobody to take lightly.

Add to this the recent Islamist bombings in Madrid and Uzbekistan, and you can see an International terrorist apparatus that is still strong and dangerous. Vague as it may be, its worth fighting.

Another Politician

My main problem with politics is I dislike politicians. Kerry has attacked Bush on his fuel policies- suggesting the prices are too high as a result of Bush's failings. His solution is to push OPEC to produce more. This from a man who has campaigned for higher gasoline taxes in the senate. You can't have it both ways.

Truth is, fuel prices are high for American standards, but hardly crippling. The winter is over, so there is no desperate need for lower prices. As long as our economy is tied to oil, America must learn to deal with fluctuating oil prices. Perhaps this price spike might further increase fuel efficiency in America? This could hardly be a bad thing.

Oil is a limited resource. And when it comes to limited resources, I'll trust prices over politicians any day.

Needed to be said

Even I occasionally agree with something I read in a major newspaper. Tim Hames from the Times has stated the obvious - that Spain's rapid distancing of itself from the US and Britain might make Spain safer in the near term, it will be disastrous for Europe in the future, as terrorists are rewarded with the results they are seeking.

Because lets face it, the Socialists weren't winning Spain a week ago.

"This is a victory for democracy," Zapatero declared in his victory speech- but for a man right up to the bombings had little chance of winning, it was a victory for himself and his party. And his supporters. And al-Qaeda.

Does it matter who?

The Spanish are angry at terrorists. And angry with their (now departing) government. But in being angry, they often point out one thing- that their attacks were a result of the War on Iraq. While it may be the case that Spain was specifically targetted because of its support in Iraq, Jose Aznar should not be blamed for the deaths caused. 201 people were brutally massacred on trains in Madrid because a group of fanatical (at this point probably Muslim) terrorists performed a terrible act. It is true that if Spain was not at War with Iraq, the terrorists might have attacked Poland or Britain, but they still would have brought their hatred to bear on someone. The West may not be united on Iraq, or free trade, or capital punishment; but it must be united against terrorism. Blaming Aznar is empowering terrorists- for they know their work will continue to divide the west. This will only motivate them further.

Hope this is a misquote:

Dominique de Villepin, French Foreign Minister, on Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the European Constitution:

“I think this is the most urgent and burning issue facing Señor Zapatero.”

Well forget securing the borders, tracking down terrorists, leading a nation through mourning, and redrawing a foreign policy. I'm sure the constitution is exactly what he is working on.

Why? Read on.

According to Mohammad Fneish, representative of Hizbollah in the Lebanese Parliament, the overthrow of Saddam is good (Hizbollah is Shi'ia Muslim). So why was Hizbollah opposed to the War in Iraq? Among other things, said here;

"We have to distinguish between whether Saddam was overthrown for the good of the Iraqi people or for the good of American ambitions. "

Can something not be good for both? This seems to promote a zero-sum view of the world, one which is popular with many anti-American Islamists.

Overall, Mohammad Fneish seems to be a thoughtful, if slightly misleading, on his points, and his interview is worth a read.

Coach Class Education

The Telegraph has highlighted a new attack on University funding (thank you to those on the Sinner for pointing it out)- this one by Sir Richard Sykes, the rector of Imperial College. Sir Richard attacks the Governments policy of equal or even higher funding for "Third Class Universities," while top tier Universities struggle to compete internationally. Once again, the Government target of getting 50% of school leavers into University is criticized.

The problem with the current funding regime is that it doesn't reward a Universities performance with adequate funding. Meanwhile, research is generously rewarded on merit basis- which further distracts professors from teaching. Sir Richard is correct that funding should reward top-tier Universities, but this leaves the difficulty of deciding which University is "top tier" and by how much it is so. A market in education- ie University fees - would solve this problem- rewarding excellence in teaching with funds.

Hacked

Apologies again for the offensive material that was posted to this website maliciously. This material was not posted by any members of the liberty club or the libertylog contributors, and we are sorry if it offended anyone. Obviously some members of this University are less mature than others.

Is it China?

We've all heard it before - that the US economy is unfairly burdened with an undervalued Chinese currency which is pegged to the dollar. Looking at the US trade deficit makes this an easy conclusion, with $11.5 billion of the $43.1 billion trade gap in January coming from the Chinese shores. Yet while doing this, American economists suffer from too much focus on, well, America. A closer look shows that China itself has a trade deficit, and one that continues to grow - $7.87 billion in February alone. China might move massive quantities of manufactured goods stateside, but as its industrial classes grow in wealth, they continue to spend it on imports from various other nations. With its imports continuing to grow - and fast, at 77% on the year - the yuan could in fact slide. While the exact movement in the yuan would be difficult to predict, it is wrong to assume that it would appreciate.

GM

GM has passed a major hurdle to its European Markets as the Government has given a thumbs-up to GM Maize. Not surprisingly, the National Farmers Union welcomed the move while enviormentalist groups have lined up against it.

Redefine war?

In the latest round of political bickerings, Bush has accused Kerry of being "deeply irresponsible" for proposing cut proposing cuts to the intelligence budget in 1995, saying "that is no way to lead our nation in a time of war." Forget that in 1995 we weren't IN a war, at least none that I can remember. And that today we again really aren't at war. Bush will continue to tout his war leadership skills to the public, which is fine, but he seems to be stretching many lines when attacking the war leadership record of Kerry.

Unauthorized Access

You may or may not have viewed some offensive material that was briefly posted to this weblog yesterday, 3 March. This was the result of malicious St Andrews students gaining access to my user account. We at the libertylog apologize for any harm this post may have caused, and will do all we can to ensure it does not happen again.

Reasons to vote Conservative if you're a British libertarian, no. 94

Michael Howard promotes free trade

Michael Howard has thrown his weight and influence behind the Conservative campaign to end protectionism and open up world trade.
Michael Howard promotes free trade

Michael Howard has thrown his weight and influence behind the Conservative campaign to end protectionism and open up world trade.

He called on the world's richest nations to throw open their markets in a bid to bring prosperity to the poorest nations on the planet.

And in what was seen as a swipe at the policies of the Bush administration in the United States, he declared: "The rich countries should act in accordance with what they know to be true: free trade spreads prosperity, protectionism does not."

The Conservative Leader was addressing a special Trade Justice Forum, hosted by the party at Central Office, and attended by rock star Bob Geldof, Harriet Lamb of the Fairtrade Foundation, and Jeremy Lefroy, from Equity for Africa.

Criticising wealthy countries for the "appalling" way in which they have shut poorer nations from their consumer markets by imposing trade tariffs, Mr Howard warned that such activity effectively maintained poverty.

"Free markets and free trade generate the wealth that helps lift people out of poverty. But for this to happen, the rich countries must open up their markets. It is appalling that the West should close its markets to so many of the world's poor. It is even worse that it should target its tariffs primarily to exclude agricultural products," he said.

Mr Howard went on: "For every dollar that western countries give to poor countries, those countries lose two dollars through barriers to their exports to the developed world. So for the developing countries, it is one step forward and two steps back. This is hardly the right way to help our fellow human beings - more than a billion - who have to struggle to survive on less than a dollar a day."

He also called on the richer nations to establish an "advocacy fund" which would be available to give developing countries access to top legal advice to help them negotiate a better deal at the World Trade Organisation.

See the Conservative Party web site for more information...

On Marriage

Tim Cavanaugh believes that same-sex marriage will fundamentally destroy what we now know as marriage. And he thinks its a good thing

NUS arrogance

The National Union of Students continues to get quoted in articles about St Andrews. Odd, when in a student-wide referendum on whether St Andrews should join the NUS, 1013 students voted against joining. Only 63 voted in favour of joining.

NAFTA Bashing Season

Primaries have a way of revealing the party's populist tendencies. Kerry and Edwards have made NAFTA and outsourcing of industrial jobs central to their compaigns, especially as they battle for hard hit industrial states. But here is the hitch - Kerry voted for NAFTA, and the WTO, and welfare reform, and....the list goes on (bottom of the page here)

So how do you vote for NAFTA and tell people you don't support outsourcing? Well, you fudge with words, and fudge with facts. As stated on Kerry's website:

"John Kerry believes that American workers can compete and win with workers anywhere in the world if they have the skills and training they need and the level playing field they deserve. He will put in a place a series of incentives to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States and he will ensure that our trading partners play by the rules."

So he believes Americans can compete on their own two feet, but then wants protections for those same Americans put in to protect jobs going to, well, more appropriate people. The contradictions continue: He wants to "Assure Trading Partners Play by the Rules" and "Break Down Barriers in Key Export Markets" but also "Give Tax Breaks to Manufacturers in America." So he wants to punish other countries that support their own industries and, well, support his own industries.

Kerry's voting history on free trade has actually been quite good- its a shame he can't tell the voters just that.

How much?

Thanks to Ronald Bailey in his most recent Reason article for finding these facts related to the "Oil Crisis." According to many, oil is running out- fast. While it is true oil is running out in that it is being used and not really being repleneshed, few have actually looked at how FAST it is actually running out. Well, few in the political world. Many have in the geological world. And to the non-geologists here, the facts are a welcome surprise.

Keele Libertarians

Keele University now has a libertarian group.

Making a difference on campus

Originally published in Freedom Today magazine in 2001

Student unions may not be as viciously left wing as they once were, but they are still battlegrounds. I was an officer of mine for a short period, and it was hell. I had to attend meetings to discuss whether students in wheelchairs can play an active role in the disco, and whether we should ban Guinness from being sold at the bar. Despite royal patronage, my university, St Andrews, is a hive of activity for the Left. Societies include the Left Wing Union, Fair Trade, Tree and Frog (an environmentalist pressure group), One World and St Andrews in Europe. These groups receive generous funding from the student union (in other words, they receive taxpayers' money) and in some cases free propaganda from the European Union.

By February of this year [2001], enough was enough. Edmund Burke said: "When bad men combine, the good must associate." Taking his advice, a group of us formed a pro-freedom society called the Liberty Club. We decided to launch a series of campaigns attacking political correctness, the welfare state and anti-capitalism. We saw the hard work that the Left had put into their campaigns, and realised that we had to work even harder. Margaret Thatcher once pointed out: "Marxists get up early in the morning to further their cause. We must get up even earlier." So we did.

Our most rewarding experience was actually one of the cheapest. We booked a stall in the student union foyer and spent a day handing out leaflets in favour of free trade and globalisation. We also wore and sold "I love Capitalism" T-shirts which created quite a stir. We realised that there were more freedom-lovers in town than we had thought, and it gave us lots of opportunities to explain why capitalism is the morally best system. Handing out flyers for our talks outside the University Library was a fun occupation, especially when our leaflets contained the headline: "Socialism is killing the third world." This is completely true, but some of the more commie students were not used to the opposition.

We debated whether or not to accept student union funding, but in the end we realised it was a question of staying true to our principles. Student union money is, in part, taxpayers' money and therefore stolen. We also realised that it is more hassle than it is worth to take the union's money: it comes with lots of strings attached, such as a requirement to follow the union's Equal Opportunities' Policy and to fill out lots of paperwork. Instead, we set out to raise private finance. Over the summer holidays we raised over £1000, disproving the myth once and for all that societies need to be financed by the taxpayer.

Now we want to see Liberty Clubs set up across the UK. The sad fact is that in many universities the voice of freedom simply does not exist. Perhaps the reason is that while those who are pro-freedom will find themselves in a bar, the Left are desperately putting forward motions in student union meetings while drinking warm ale. But I believe it is essential if we are to limit the size of the state to ensure that students are exposed to the ideas of freedom instead of the mutterings of the free society's enemies. I have found that many students come to university without clearly defined political views, and it is these people that we need to focus on if we want the middle-way conventional wisdom to be challenged.

Stalked?

Somebody likes us.

Whirlwind

While many of my democratic friends flocked the polls over these past weeks, I was doing my patriotic duty - taking a two week holiday to France. Separated from most of my news sources and the internet is difficult for a political junkie such as myself, though somehow, with the aid of my skis, managed. When I Left, Kerry and Dean were neck and neck in the polls, and I told everyone I knew that Dean would probably take it. I hope no money went down on that. Since then, Kerry has been on a nearly unstoppable run. Kerry’s new power is his “electability” which, by relying on his previous victories, only seems to gather in strength. After eating my words on Dean, I am willing to make a second obvious prediction – Kerry’s run will only gather in steam, and the bickering second tier will lag further behind. If this does happen, people around the world will see why little places like Iowa and New Hampshire can nominate a president – its all in the momentum.