Christopher Hitchens on our Enemies

In a recent article for Vanity Fair Christopher Hitchens returns to his old neighbourhood and finds it filled with jihadists.

Back to the Future Penology

The British started transportation as punishment, deportation of convicts to Australia, because their prisons were overcrowded. A stopgap measure was using derelict warships, hulks, as cheap prisons. Now I hear of news that prison hulks are having a comeback. Creepy.

If you want to read more about the original prison hulks here is a journal written by a Crapaud POW, The Floating Prison. If want to learn about the type of criminal who ended up as guests of His Majesty. The Old Bailey has put their proceeding online for 1674-1834. You can read everyday about the poor bastards who had it so much worse.

Amateur photos on BBC website

The BBC website has a number of pictures from the public, in fact most of their pictures are from the "amateur photographers".