Libertarian musings from just inside the M25.

It’s not often that I see two news stories in succession that make me want to tear out my hair, but today was just one such rare occasion:

Story #1: Mylene Klass was cautioned by police following an incident at her home in which some youths tried to break into her house until she scared them off by waving a kitchen knife at them. Apparently carrying an “offensive weapon” – in this case a perfectly normal knife – is illegal even within one’s own home. I’m sorry, but WHAT?! So every time anyone takes out a knife in the presence of another person for whatever reason – slicing potatoes, garden work &c included – they’re breaking the law?? Surely it’s bad enough already that people who try to defend their families and property from violent intruders are treated as though they‘re the ones who’ve done something wrong without the ability to fight back being made completely illegal? Does the state honestly expect every law-abiding homeowner to become an expert in karate on the off-chance that someone tries to break in?

Story #2: General David Petraeus, the US commander-in-chief for the Middle East region, has effectively confirmed that the USA are seriously considering bombing Iran to force them to accept the deal with 5 of the UN Security Council permanent members (UK, USA, France, Russia, Chine) + Germany. Or perhaps more accurately, they are trying to pave the way for someone to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities on the USA’s say-so. Now while I am unconvinced that the facilities in Qom are meant to serve purely peaceful civilian purposes, I cannot believe that the USA has still failed to learn its lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan and still plans on resolving everything via gunboat diplomacy in the last resort.

I really sometimes shudder at what a sick and perverse world we live in nowadays.