So says Iain Murray. But do I believe it?

If you are going to write and article entitled Hooligans are patriots disowned by their country you'd better be pretty sure of your stuff. Lawrence James, writing in the Times, seems to be surer than most:

In the past there was a simple answer to hooliganism: channel it into some useful activity. Magistrates sent a steady stream of rogues into Nelson’s Navy and Wellington’s Army where, if they persisted in their trouble-making, the whip and the gallows were on hand. It worked, for as Dr Johnson observed, what the hooligans’ superiors termed insolence in peacetime became courage in war. Like today’s hooligans, the roughnecks of Regency Britain looked down on foreigners and were unperturbed by swarms of Frenchmen shouting “Vive L’Empereur”. As Wellington knew, their blend of stubborn defiance and ferocity would see Johnnie Crapaud off.

In these politically correct times, it is conveniently forgotten that the Empire was conquered by working-class rowdies commanded by aristocrats. Street fighters from the slums were no more frightened of Zulu warriors than they were of policemen.

The Telegraph, in it’s oh-so trendy way, takes New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, to task for enforcing little known minor laws against such acts as allowing kittens to roam free on the Subway and sitting on milk crates. Bloomberg is turning New York into Nitpick City, they say.

Balderdash. Now, I have little time for a man who bans smoking on private property and hums and hars about putting something fucking big on the site of the World Trade Center. But on the questions of how many seats you should occupy on the Subway and where dogs might be allowed off the leash he is absolutely right.

It’s about time we had an elected official who is prepared to enforce all the laws – even the silly ones. As far as I am concerned the sillier the better as it sends out the message that the government takes the law seriously and that crime – in all its forms – will not pay.

So, three cheers for Mickey Nitpick.

I wonder if New York has the same ban on Christmas that we do in the UK. ‘Cause, Mickey, if you plan to enforce it and need a few deputies – you can count me in!

Chris Cooper^* writes:

I haven't been out today – no farther, anyway, than into my back garden to hang out washing that should dry well in the fine day that seems likely. A little later I shall walk the dog. Then I might discover whether there have been any attacks overnight...

The attacks are a puzzle. One thing is clear to all of us, though: the police will be no help. But one night, I hope, the vandals will run into some of the men of the wronged families lying in wait and get the kicking they deserve. Then the problem will be how to defend the good guys from the police and politicians who will try to victimize them for presuming to defend themselves.

Last year I commented on Japan's astonishingly low crime rate. Some of the Times's reporting of the trial of a British citizen might go a long way to explaining why:

“His treatment has been barbaric, something out of the Dark Ages. He’s been held in solitary confinement for months and can be punished even for making eye contact with a guard or combing his hair at the wrong time of day...

Japan’s courts have an extraordinarily high conviction rate of 99 per cent. Prosecutors are usually armed with a full confession from the accused, often achieved after a period of solitary confinement and reduced rations.

Prisoners are not told of most of the rules and learn them only when other inmates tell them or a guard punishes them. For much of the day, prisoners are banned from talking or looking at each other. Making eye contact with a guard usually results in instant punishment.

Excellent article from the Telegraph

New York or California? Which will collapse first? - Samizdata
Pro-gun stats wrong - Mr Happy?
Imports, not exports, make countries richer - Liberty Log
MEP - "doesn't understand" - Freedom and Whisky
Fun in the sun - the TCS way - Samizdata
Death penalty still good - The Edge
Airport security questions to be dropped? - The Captain
"Hysterical morons" sign of the times - Public Interest
Natalie Solent is back
Mark Steyn - serious - Conservative Commentary
Iraq is likely to end up as roadkill on the third way - Airstrip One
Why is acting on the radio so crap? - Mr Happy?

Bored with the debate over capital punishment? Think it's just common sense? Want a more fertile topic upon which to exercise your infinite wisdom and imagination? Well, if so, the CrozierVision Challenge is for you.

As you all know the main methods of doing away with murderers and traitors are the long drop, electrocution and lethal injection. Boring or what? It is amazing that with the vast array of technology available - technology such as elasticated ropes, mobile phones and Velcro - we haven't come up with a more innovative, interesting or - let's face it - entertaining way of getting people to meet their maker. That's the challenge. In no more than 5,000 words describe how you would do away with society's unwanted. Marks will be given for originality, use of modern technology and commercial spin-off potential. Prize? Hmm.

It's over to you.

Guardianista, Polly Toynbee, has come under attack for being soft on murderers. Writing in Conservative Commentary, Peter Cuthbertson said: "Motivated by a bitter contempt for her country, morality and common sense, she is shameless in her advocacy of any means to destroy conservatism. The parliamentary route seems scarcely to interest her except where she shows her distaste for it. She must look with admiration on those European Commissioners, without a vote to their name, driving small businessmen across the continent into bankruptcy with politically correct regulations."

80% of Britons support the restoration of the death penalty.

Bolshie David Carr of Samizdata has criticised advocates of an FBI-style force for the UK for opportunism. He said: "Will the establishment of yet another state agency lead to the discovery of the whereabouts of these two children? Will it deliver them unharmed back to their respective homes? Will it stop this kind of thing happening again? The answer in all cases is 'no' but that doesn't matter."

It is believed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was set up in the US in the late 1920s. In recent years it has failed to prevent either September 11th, Oklahoma or Clinton.