Moral Ground

Imposing Your Preferences On Others Through Government

Couldn't agree more with Williams.

Art needs moral vision

"In Munich, however, force is viewed with the suspicion typical of the quasi-pacifist liberal. Using force against murderers is futile, the movie keeps telling us, for each dead terrorist is replaced by another one, each killing of a terrorist inspires another act of terrorist retribution. I wonder what would have happened if the same attitude had been taken regarding Nazis or kamikaze pilots. Thank goodness our fathers and grandfathers had more sense. They knew that evil men have to be destroyed, and you stick with the job until the evil men give up or are no more. They knew that evil men choose their evil to advance some aim, and will try to kill you no matter what you do, and are more likely to take heart from a failure to resist than to reconsider their evil aims or to abandon violence. They knew that the sorts of reservations Munich indulges are not signs of a sophisticated sensibility but rather the evasions borne of moral uncertainty, Hamlet-like doubts whose purpose is to avoid action and moral responsibility."

Munich the movie aside, I can't imagine a more insightful concise summery and dismissal of dangerous moral ambiguity.

Chinook Diplomacy

"....the Chinook has become America's new emblem in Pakistan, a byword for salvation in an area where until recently the U.S. was widely and fanatically detested. Toy Chinooks (made in China, of course) are suddenly popular with Pakistani children. A Kashmiri imam who denounced the U.S. in a recent sermon was booed and heckled by worshippers. "Pakistan is not a nation of ingrates," a local businessman told me over dinner the other night. "We know where the help is coming from.""

Refreshing.

People who don't get out much

Federal agents' visit was a hoax

Well, DUH. What kind of paranoid, self-absorbed fool would believe that the American government would actually give a sh*t about what people are reading? What gets me are the people who BELIEVED his bullsh*t.

Stars turn backs on America's troops in Iraq

"The tradition of beautiful women thrilling the troops has continued - although while Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell showed up in Korea and Vietnam could boast Raquel Welch, in Iraq they have had to make do with sometime pop singer and reality TV star Jessica Simpson."

While I see no problem with the gist of the story, does the Guardian have anyone who is actually familiar with America? "Make do" with Jessica Simpson??? Check the tabloids and the entertainment mags, guys. Jessica is on the cover of most of them.

Frankly, Jessica Simpson is much hotter than Monroe ever was, imo.

European stuff

EU states that berated Bush on Kyoto fail to hit emissions targets

No surprise. I contend that these nations never intended to comply. Kyoto is an ECONOMIC treaty intended to hobble the USA.

Why European women are turning to Islam

Perhaps Western secular relativist mythology is inadequate.

French Christmas soup not for Jews or Muslims

I hate it when I agree with a-holes. They are perfectly free to serve pork, their motivation notwithstanding.

The emerging shadows of tyranny

Scary

"Last April, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by me titled "Mr. Spitzer Has Gone Too Far." In it I expressed my belief that in America, everyone--including Hank Greenberg--is innocent until proven guilty. "Something has gone seriously awry," I wrote, "when a state attorney general can go on television and charge one of America's best CEOs and most generous philanthropists with fraud before any charges have been brought, before the possible defendant has even had a chance to know what he personally is alleged to have done, and while the investigation is still under way."

"Since there have been rumors in the media as to what happened next, I feel I must now set the record straight. After reading my op-ed piece, Mr. Spitzer tried to phone me. I was traveling in Texas but he reached me early in the afternoon. After asking me one or two questions about where I got my facts, he came right to the point. I was so shocked that I wrote it all down right away so I would be sure to remember it exactly as he said it. This is what he said: "

"Mr. Whitehead, it's now a war between us and you've fired the first shot. I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you have done. You will wish you had never written that letter.""

Overt threat from a public official not because of any wrongdoing, but because someone had an opinion he didn't like. He is explicitly saying he will abuse his position and power to pursue a vendetta. He should be removed form office and charged.

Now Executive warns: no smoking at home

"Key points
• Letters to be sent asking for no smoking one hour before public worker visits
• Plan to draw smokers' map of Scotland identifying where smokers live
• Smoking ban to come into force 26 March 2006

I hear Big Brother's footsteps.

Armored Humvees

The “Ultimate Betrayal”?

"Why is it taking so long to design, develop, produce, and deploy — in adequate numbers — a troop-transporting armored vehicle that would replace the up-armored Humvee in Iraq? I've been asked that question time and again, not by soldiers and Marines who ride in Humvees daily, but by fellow journalists, many of whom have logged time in Iraq or Afghanistan. "

"One reporter said to me it was "criminal negligence" on the part of the White House and the Defense Department. Another referred to it as "the ultimate betrayal" of our soldiers.Despite their time in country, both reporters are wrong: Their opinions are based more on political animus than any real grasp of the facts."

This article is the best summery of the facts of this 'controversy' I have seen and is too detailed to summerize. Please read it, and stop making this a political issue.

Fools and our money

Chimp's painting fools experts - A GERMAN art expert was fooled into believing a painting done by a chimpanzee was the work of a master.

""I did think it looked a bit rushed," she told Bild newspaper. "

Maybe not everything is art.

Mexico Retaliates for Border Wall Plan

"Mexicans are outraged by the proposed measures, especially the extension of the border wall, which many liken to the Berlin Wall. Some are urging their government to fight it fiercely."

"Our president should oppose that wall and make them stop it, at all costs," said Martin Vazquez, 26, at the Mexico City airport as he returned from his job as a hotel worker in Las Vegas. "More than just insulting, it's terrible." "

First of all, its nothing at all like the Berlin wall. AMERICANS can come and go freely from our own nation. Foreignors have no right to simply violate our borders and laws at will. See, this is why this issue should have been deal with with decades ago. Guys like Martin Vazquez think that they are entitled to break our laws and are contemptuous. Such gall.



There is good reason to get control of our own border"

Socialism Reborn

"Perhaps this is merely a pathology circumscribed only to countries south of our border. Yet as democracy spreads throughout the countries in which themajority of the people are mired in poverty, and often the victims of a lack of education, it is almost inevitable that many of them will be tempted by the old illusions of socialism, especially when these illusions are presented by populist heroes, like Morales and Chavez, whose stature in the eyes of their followers is often enhanced by their public defiance and continual denunciation of the United States. Furthermore, as the promise of socialism falls short ofits expectations, as inevitably happens, those who have made these promises will almost certainly increase the level of their anti-American rhetoric, in an attempt to shift the blame from themselves onto someone else -- and that someone else is certain to be us. "

"That is perhaps the best explanation for the startling rebirth of socialism in South America and in other parts of the world. The world socialism is increasingly being drained of its old meaning and is being replaced with a new one -- and its new meaning could not be clearer: it has become the rallying cry of those who despise the United States. It’s a slogan to gather together all those who regard us as the chief enemy of the human race. "

The Decade's Midpoint - In 2005 America's economy grew while Kofi Annan shrank

"But there were some significant happenings this year that may change the way the world works. Two thousand five saw a very strong American economy and some real success in the U.S. effort to bring freedom to the people of Iraq and defeat Islamic terrorism. The bad news was a Republican congressional failure to control federal spending and limit the expansion of the federal government, and the United Nations' failure to reform after its participation in the greatest corruption scandal in the history of the modern world."

Cheney cast tie breaking vote to cut spending. Good news, but its not nearly enough.

More News of the Weird

Stalin's half-man, half-ape super-warriors

"THE Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the creation of Planet of the Apes-style warriors by crossing humans with apes, according to recently uncovered secret documents. "

Sick bastard.

"And there was intense pressure to find a new labour force, particularly one that would not complain, with Russia about to embark on its first Five-Year Plan for fast-track industrialisation."

Hey, "True Communism has never been tried." lol!!

"Mr Ivanov's experiments, unsurprisingly from what we now know, were a total failure. He returned to the Soviet Union, only to see experiments in Georgia to use monkey sperm in human volunteers similarly fail. "

Volunteers. Right.

On the side of Freedom

East Europe Stands With U.S. on Iraq

"Echoing President Bush's warning that the road ahead will not be easy, they wrote that "Democratic transition is a long, painful process. It requires sacrifice. But, more than anything, it requires a belief that democratic values will prevail and people will have a better life as a result. We had that belief to guide us during the most difficult years of transition and we want to keep that belief alive in the people of Iraq. Maybe it takes countries with vivid recollections of tyranny to serve as the institutional memory of a larger community of democracies. If so, we are ready to fulfill that role." "

People who have actually lived under tyranny have more appreciation than pampered wannabe intellectuals who believe that they bravely tell "truth to power" by having an opinion in a nation where free speech is protected.

The Purple Finger

"I can hear the reporters and editors squawking that such coverage would make them “cheerleaders” for the war, that their responsibility is to air “dissent” and “critique” of the government. The idea lurking behind this protest — that American reporters are stateless professionals first and Americans second, if at all, with no loyalty due to their fellow citizens — strikes me as bizarre. I wonder how World War II would have gone if the media then had had the same attitude, if they had thought it appropriate to emphasize and exaggerate every setback in the middle of a long struggle, to second-guess every action, to dramatize the unfortunately unremarkable horrors of war, and to carp at a decision already debated and ratified by the legitimate machinery of democratic government — all the while their fellow Americans were under fire and being attacked by an enemy explicitly attempting to undermine our resolve. But leave that aside. For what we are asking is not that the media be cheerleaders for the war, but that they not be cheerleaders against the war. Every war has moments of success and moments of failure, achievements and bungling, casualties and heroes. All we ask is that the media cover both equally."

But don't dare question their patriotism.

Constructive criticism and questioning is one thing. Deliberately setting out to mischaractorize the war effort at every opportunity is another. Many journalists want it both ways. they want to be seen as nuetral, objective observers whose motives must not be questioned while advocating particular leftist, anti-American positions.

Iraq vote leaves Dems looking like the losers

"The Anglo-American political tradition is the most successful in the world in part because of the concept of "loyal opposition." Yes, the party out of office opposes the party in office and hopes to supplant it, but not at the expense of the broader political culture. A party that winds up cheerleading for a deranged loser death cult is the very definition of pointless self-defeating sour oppositionism."

Yes. One should be judged by one's actions and words.

Odd Notes

Ugly muscles `an unhealthy myth'

Seems obvious to me that women have to really dedicate effort ot make themselves "ripped". I have dated a couple women who were that dedicated to gym workouts, and even their muscles were more slim and sexy than bulky.

This line strikes me as odd:

"We still run into this perception from women that if they lift weights they'll look like Arnold Schwarzenegger," he said. "Physiologically it's not possible for them to produce that bulk in muscle."

"He said even women at the elite level were prone to these fears."

What does he mean by "elite"?

Dog Days and Nights

Good dog observations. My dog is a bit more brave than Linda, but I also notice that his posture and behavior tells me volumes.

Bias

Media Bias Is Real, Finds UCLA Political Scientist

"I suspected that many media outlets would tilt to the left because surveys have shown that reporters tend to vote more Democrat than Republican," said Tim Groseclose, a UCLA political scientist and the study's lead author. "But I was surprised at just how pronounced the distinctions are."

Obvious to me, but its nice to have it quantified.

Schwarzenegger to Hometown: Remove My Name

Arnold is quite right to slap them down. They use his name and fame to benefit their town. Well, nothing wrong with that, I am sure Schwartzenegger was perfectly happy to help. How pretentious and immature are these Austrians to think they can discipline Schwarzenegger for following the law in California. Well, chidlish behavior has consequences.

News... of the Weird and Outrageous

"AN OUTRAGED shopkeeper is selling his business after being tormented by a crazy whistling campaign."

"Mr Caminito, 56, said: 'There is a conspiracy against me and I have got sick of it. My health is suffering.'People come in and whistle and it's just to bother me because they know I don't like it. They do it on purpose."

I think his problem is his own attitude and behavior. Imagine being so thin skinned as to boot someone out of your shop for whistling. Yes, he is within his rights to not serve people and to ask them to leave - its his property. However, that kind of behavior will quickly gain a person a reputation. "Conspiracy" is too strong a word for it, but I believe that people are deliberately hassling him with whistling. He is selling his shop, his "health is suffering". Please. He's a ninny.

No ham for Christmas: Muslim menu for WA hospital

"A WA hospital has scrubbed baked ham from its Christmas menu, fearing Muslim patients could be offended"

"It has also overhauled its entire menu so that all meals are now halal – containing only meat and other food prepared according to Muslim customs."

Lets think about this. Apparently, people can't eat the things they like because other people MIGHT be offended by the fact that they eat it. I understand not serving ham to muslims - or jews, its against their religion, after all.

What if I'm offended that my food is served only to muslim custom? I am not a muslim, what business does the hospital have forcing me to comply to their diet?

IMO, this hospital administrator is a dhimmi. A person who is frightened and intimidated and bends over compliantly to anyone who might possibly threaten him/her.

Police dog is defendant in lawsuit

A DOG is being sued? Crazy. Only people can be sued. Corporations can be sued only because incorporations create a "legal person" in the eyes of the law. If the law in that state allows property to be sued, they are in desperate trouble.

HEROES

Lieutenant General William Yarborough, founder of the Green Berets, has died.

“Without America, I Would Still be a Refugee”

"I still owe the United States whatever I can offer," Alibrahimi, who barely escaped Hussein's murderous postwar rage in 1991, explained. "No one else came to save my people. No other Arab or Islamic country tried to get Saddam to stop killing us. Without America, I would still be a refugee and there would be no election here, no constitution, and no freedom. We would be living under Saddam and his sons forever. I had to come."

Privatize Education

The Privatization Principal

"For years, the public-school establishment has rebelled against profit-making corporations engaged in educating America's children. It has drawn a line in the sand, saying it is unethical to make money off of kids and asserting that one can't be for public education and also support such nefarious ideas as vouchers or for-profit or non-profit alternatives. The public, according to polls, generally accepts the establishment's argument. Americans who care a great deal about their schools and support public education are still leery of private school choice, and seem nervous about private-sector solutions for ailing public schools....."

Teachers and administrators profit from their work, don't they? They are PAID to do their jobs. Universities and colleges are moneymaking enterprises. Tuition and public funding and endowments plus being tax free adds up to plenty of surplus used rather inefficiently. IMO, these institutions would be better off if they had an incentive to economize. i.e. responsibility to shareholders.

"It is ironic that a country built upon the notion of free enterprise, capitalism, entrepreneurship, and the power of ideas has for years embraced the idea that none of this pertains to how we educate our children. We have instead bought into the idea that there is only one way to provide public education: through a system that looks the same everywhere, funded by taxpayers and responsible to them through school boards. It is an idea of public education that has eschewed any potential benefit that might be derived from private-sector initiatives and ideas...."

This article's main point is that there is new hope for reform in the public school system. My excerpts edit this out since my interest is to point out the absurdity of our socialist school system. A system, imo, that has become unresponsive and self-affirming, ideologically contrary to fundamental American principles.

From accross the Pond:
Secular Education Loses the Faith

"The heart of the problem is that secular education has lost its backbone. The government trumpets the value of “choice” -- gearing schools towards the wishes of parents or local communities -- rather than setting down national standards. (Perhaps local governance is a better idea, instead of centralized, bureaucratized policies of 'giving' choice. True choice involves actual independence - BigDog) British schools today aim to make kids feel valued rather than to develop their minds: buzz phrases such as 'pupil-centered learning' and 'recognizing identities' pepper education policy documents. Meanwhile, the school curriculum is positively embarrassed about any scientific or rational heritage. Rather than elevating the achievements of Newton or Einstein, science classes often teach kids to consider the limits of their knowledge. Small wonder that Dr. Wahid felt justified in describing evolution as 'just a theory'."

"They hate us"

Lancing the Boil

"The world does not hate the United States. Of course, it envies us. Precisely because it is privately impressed by our unparalleled success, it judges America by a utopian measure in which anything less than perfection is written off as failure. We risk everything, our critics abroad almost nothing. So the hope for our failures naturally gives reinforcement to the bleak reality of their inaction."

"The Europeans expect our protection. The Mexicans risk their lives to get here. Indians and Japanese want closer relations. The old commonwealth appreciates our strength in defense of the West. Even the hostile Iranians, North Koreans, Cubans, Venezuelans, Chinese, and radical Islamists — despite the saber-rattling rhetoric — wonder whether we are naïve and idealistic rather than cruel and calculating. All this we rarely consider when we read of anti-Americanism in our major newspapers or hear another angry (and usually well-off) professor or journalist recite our sins."

A common meme in the media and on the left is "Why do they hate us?" Generally followed by a list of supposed American sins that sum up to a paradgm that the US must rurn to socialism and give its power, wealth and soverignty to other people.

New home of the left

Environmentalism as a Cover for Collectivism

"The unending argument in political philosophy concerns constantly adjusting society's balance between freedom and equality. The primary goal of collectivism -- of socialism in Europe and contemporary liberalism in America -- is to enlarge governmental supervision of individuals' lives. This is done in the name of equality."

"People are to be conscripted into one large cohort, everyone equal (although not equal in status or power to the governing class) in their status as wards of a self-aggrandizing government. Government says the constant enlargement of its supervising power is necessary for the equitable or efficient allocation of scarce resources."

"Therefore, one of the collectivists' tactics is to produce scarcities, particularly of what makes modern society modern -- the energy requisite for social dynamism and individual autonomy. Hence collectivists use environmentalism to advance a collectivizing energy policy. Focusing on one energy source at a time, they stress the environmental hazards of finding, developing, transporting, manufacturing or using oil, natural gas, coal or nuclear power."

The 'environmentalist' movement has always had more than its share of leftist ideologues, but following the collapse of the USSR and the obvious failure of the socialist/Communist model, 'environmentalism' became the new home of the left. Must be easier than working for a living.

Standing up to Oppression

America’s Earliest Terrorists

"Take, for example, the 1786 meeting in London of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the Tripolitan ambassador to Britain. As American ambassadors to France and Britain respectively, Jefferson and Adams met with Ambassador Adja to negotiate a peace treaty and protect the United States from the threat of Barbary piracy. "

"These future United States presidents questioned the ambassador as to why his government was so hostile to the new American republic even though America had done nothing to provoke any such animosity. Ambassador Adja answered them, as they reported to the Continental Congress, “that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.”"

"Sound familiar?"

Further, in their minds its immoral and wrong for non-muslims to resist. Nothing has changed.


Beware of the Fogh

Brave Danes refuse to bow to Islamic demands for suppressing free speech.

"A demonstration in Copenhagen by “as many as 5,000 Muslims” having failed to provoke a change of heart, in December, Danish Muslims announced they were sending “delegations” to a number of Islamic countries to meet with “senior officials and prominent scholars” although with what end in view they didn’t say. A spokesman named Abu Laban stated, “We have fled our countries because wewere denied freedom of expression so no one should play this tune with us. This is not a case of freedom of expression.” "

Let me see if I understand correctly. Abu Laban left his third world craphole country because of oppression. Now he wants to make Denmark into the type of nation he fled in the first place. What he is saying here is that no one else should be allowed freedom of expression if he doesn't like it.

Does he comprehend the concept?

I think he DOES understand. He just wants to be the one to be denying others their freedoms. This isn't about freedom or taking offense, its about power.

Friday Quote

"The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." -- A.E. Van Vogt, "The Weapon Shops Of Isher", ASF December 1942

Last Notes

Stadium named for Arnold Schwartzenegger to be renamed because Tookie was executed.

Immature

A jailstay changed my mind on death penalty

Sure it did. So the author went to jail and her delicate sensibilities were assaulted. I fail to see the relevance.

Listen to Yourselves!

"So here is what I think could be the foundation of a true teaching moment for the anti-death-penalty community. One of the main reasons its sermons don’t resonate beyond the choir isn’t that Americans are consumed with racist bloodlust or yearnings for vengeance. It isn’t even because all death-penalty supporters are unshakably convinced of the rightness of their position. It’s because the anti-capital-punishment crowd has lost all credibility."

"I’m sure that from within the movement, saying whatever it takes to save a life seems like a moral obligation — hence the last-minute appeals, the dubiously miraculous discovery of exonerating witnesses, and the rest. But from outside the fishbowl, it just reinforces the impression that nothing they say can be taken at face value."

The Moral Chasm

"The moral chasm between the opposing sides in the death penalty debate was perhaps best displayed on Monday’s Larry King Show, which featured defense attorney Mark Geragos, retired deputy D.A. Robert Martin (who prosecuted Williams), and syndicated radio host Dennis Prager. Also appearing were death-penalty opponents Mike Farrell and Sister Helen Prejean, who was made famous when she was portrayed by Susan Sarandon in the film Dead Man Walking."

"Prager, a practicing Jew, a biblical scholar, and as decent and moral a man as one can hope to meet, expounded the traditional case for capital punishment, i.e. that crimes such as those committed by Tookie Williams cry out for the ultimate punishment, that for Williams to keep his life after taking the lives of four defenseless people is an affront to justice. Incredibly, both Geragos and Farrell proceeded completely to mischaracterize Prager’s statement as to mean that anyone who takes another’s life should be executed. I’ll give Geragos and Farrell the benefit of the doubt in saying they may have misunderstood Prager during what was a heated exchange, but the cynic might be forgiven for suspecting they deliberately distorted his words so as to portray him as a madman."

I am not as generous.

"“[Y]ou sit there and lick your lips about the death of a human being,” Farrell shouted at Prager, “you disgust me.” “Exactly right,” added Geragos."

"But the signal moment in the program, the moment that distilled the entire debate, came in a brief exchange between Prager and Sister Prejean. Was it immoral, Prager asked her, for Israel to execute Adolph Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust? Prejean hemmed and hawed, she bobbed and weaved, but she could not bring herself to endorse the execution of a man with the blood of millions on his hands."

Followup

Teen's Mannequin Love-in

Michael Plentyhorse charged for indecent exposure. Interesting to note that he is referred to as a 'teen' in this article, and as a 'man' this article in my hometown newspaper.

Our Hands are Dirty....

Yes, American hands are dirty - the dirt of honest labor and battle. A damn sight cleaner then anyone else who lives in the world and actually acts.

War is ugly, and insurgencies are even dirtier and less clear. This article The Dirty War: Torture and mutilation used on Iraqi 'insurgents' was brought to my attention by Dave Bones at Malungtvnews. I agree in principle that torture and indescriminate violence is detrimental to the war effort and the establishment of a stable, freer Iraq. I am also aware that the USA is not perfect, nor are all the people who serve in the American military or fight alongside us. I expect us to try, to make a serious concientious effort to maintain high standards of conduct and avoid civilian casualties. Civilians are still going to be hurt and killed unintentionally, individual Americans are still going to behave badly, and some of our allies are not going to have the same high standards of conduct.

It is my contention that some people will seize on any pretext to attack and undermine the US. Since these people cannot really fault American ethical standards or point to any actual legal or treaty violations that we have not openly and strictly enforced, they rely on inuendo and guilt by association.

Lets fisk "The Charge Sheet" at the end of this article:


"Endemic torture of prisoners"

"The discovery last week of starved and tortured prisoners in an Interior Ministry bunker emphasised that detention without due process remains endemic in Iraq, echoing the Saddam era. In Basra, militia elements in the police used cells to imprison and torture their enemies. When the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal broke, it emerged that among the prisoners being maltreated by US soldiers were "undocumented" detainees who had been kept hidden from the Red Cross. And Britain was shamed by the death of Baha Mousa, a Basra hotel clerk, in British military custody."

Yes, there is a problem here, Americans and Iraqis found out about an illegal prison and acted. Iraq is a scorpion's nest of vendettas, inter-tribal rivalries and violence. The difference is that under Saddam, the Sunnis and more specifically one tribe cruelly and systematically victimized everyone else. We are trying to change this paradigm, and its not going to happen overnight. We should instead look at this raid on an illegal prison as positive step to dealing with the problem. Of course, Abu Ghraib had to be mentioned again. Note the misdirection: "among the prisoners .....were "undocumented" detainees... hidden from the Red Cross." Okay, "among" doesn't mean that they WERE the same prisoners, it means being held in the same prison. Abu Ghraib was being used to house run-of-the-mill criminals too. The Red Cross is entitled to visit POWs only. If the author has an accusation to make, then make it. This author is a weasel, smearing by implication.

"Use of napalm and phosphorus"

"Last week the Pentagon admitted using white phosporus as an offensive weapon in last year's assault on Fallujah. Its official use is to create smokescreens to shield troop movements, but if fired into trenches or foxholes it can burn victims to the bone. The legality of this use is debatable. Last year the US also admitted, after previous denials, that it had used napalm - which Britain has banned - against Iraqi forces during the invasion. There is also controversy over the deployment of cluster munitions, which Britain has said should not be used in or near civilian areas."

This entire paragraph is bullshit. First of all, White Phosphorus is an incindiary. Yes, it has a dual use as a smoke screen generator, but think about it: we have other smoke devices. If WP was meant ONLY for smoke, why have it at all? The fact is that WP is a weapon used to kill enemies. The legality of its use is NOT debatable. The only debate is that some people WANT it to be illegal. The word "admitted" is inuendo, implying wrongdoing. Yes, the US uses incindiaries, like napalm, and cluster munitions against our enemies, so what? This is not "controversial" except that the author objects. So the Brits don't use cluster munitions sometimes? That's nice.

Nothing like insinuation when you have no actual arguement.

"Indiscriminate 'spray and slay'"

"Heavy-handed tactics against the insurgency, dubbed "spray and slay", have attracted much criticism. The current American offensive in the west and north-west appears to replicate the methods used in Fallujah: the population is ordered to leave before the town is sealed off and subjected to an air and ground assault. Those killed are invariably described as insurgent fighters, even in incidents where there is strong evidence that groups of civilians, including women and children, have been caught up in airstrikes."

Dubbed by whom? Your leftist buddies? I searched the net for the term "spray and slay" and I have found that this is a meme on many LEFTIST websites.* Our tactics have attracted much criticism, winning tactics will do that from people who want America to lose. The US is being extraordinarily civilized and merciful by announcing ahead of time where we are going to attack so that civilians can get clear, even at the expense of not surprising our enemies and letting them escape. Don't expect any credit or comprehension from the Left, however. Yes, of course civilians are "caught up" in the fighting. More inuendo here. The author is not directly accusing the US of deliberately targeting civilians, but he is trying to give the impression that the US is deliberately careless when, in fact, the opposite is true.

*"Spray and slay" is an obvious ripoff of "Spray and pray", a phrase used to describe enemy fighters who don't aim when firing their weapons, but "Spray" bullets all over and hope they hit something.

Internet Freedom

The U.N.'s war on Internet freedom isn't over.

"Today no organization or government controls the Internet. The mechanics of participation--domain names, suffixes like .com and .org, and technical codes--are supervised by the independent organization Icann, an acronym for Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, based in America and loosely overseen by the U.S. government. Much of the rest of the world, gathered last week in Tunisia for the U.N.-hosted World Summit on the Information Society, wants to take over that responsibility, or as European Union spokesman Martin Selmayr put it, the U.S. must "give up their unilateral control and everything will be fine." Perhaps as fine as it is in China, where, according to the New York Times, "major search engines . . . must stop posting their own commentary articles and instead make available only pieces generated by government-controlled newspapers and news agencies." "

"Old Europe and the despotic nations want exactly that--international Internet content control. And they have convinced the EU establishment that U.N. control of the Internet would be just and appropriate. The last United Nations World Summit on the Internet--held in 2003--concluded that "governments should intervene . . . to maximize economic and social benefits and serve national priorities." The report of the U.N. Working Group on Internet Governance says it would have "respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, " explaining that meant "multilingual, diverse, and culturally appropriate content" on the Internet. "

Perfectly understandable. Tyrants and would be tyrants are demanding that the US give them power and money. Screw em.

Lies and Consequences

War & Reconstruction - For Bush’s critics, even hindsight is cloudy.

"This is the mantra of the extreme Left: "Bush lied, thousands died." A softer version from politicians now often follows: "If I knew then what I know now, I would never have supported the war."

"These sentiments are intellectually dishonest and morally reprehensible for a variety of reasons beyond the obvious consideration that you do not hang out to dry some 150,000 brave Americans on the field of battle while you in-fight over whether they should have ever been sent there in the first place."

You don't have to be an amnesiac to be a Democrat, buddy, but it helps

"PERHAPS THE biggest weapon in the arsenal of America’s critics is carefully selective amnesia. Conveniently forgetting important historical facts enables tactical amnesiacs to make claims about US policy that seem to support their contention that the country’s government is uniquely evil. "

Why We Went to War - What if people start believing that "Bush lied"?

"Yes, politics ain't beanbag. But there is a larger danger in the Democratic strategy of attempting to make George Bush into the Wizard of Oz, a man whose every statement about threats to American security is fantasy and falsity. Pounding through the media that the prewar intelligence was a conscious lie may incline the American people to believe the whole Iraq enterprise is false, and worse, that the very notion of weapons of mass destruction is also doubtful. The psychology of the big lie can sometimes run out of control. "

News of the Weird

Beware of geezers! Blitz on pensioner buggy speeders

"SPEED-MAD pensioners who race along the pavement in electric-powered buggies are facing a council clampdown."

"Action is being taken after a number of incidents, in which high-speed mobility chairs have collided with pedestrians in the Lancashire seaside resort of Lytham St Annes."

"In one incident, witnesses claim a man in a buggy used his walking stick like a "jousting knight" to clear people from his path."

Reality bites Depp: DEPP: 'I CAN'T STAY IN RIOT-RAVAGED FRANCE'

A Metaphor

$20,000 fine for employee's fall

"The worker had been using a chainsaw to demolish the walkway he was standing on when it collapsed. "

This guy was STANDING on the walkway HE was cutting apart with a chainsaw. Surprise! ITs a metaphor for socialism. A worker destroys the structure he is standing upon by voting for socialist policies, then when he falls and hurts himself, someone else is punished.

Friday Quote

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do." - Ben Franklin

International

Soft Wood, Hard Dispute Canada and the US have had an ongoing dispute over timber imports and tarrifs. Canadians seem to think they are righteous on this issue, demanding that US tarrifs end and that the money be "returned", presumably, their government even tho the tarrifs are paid by consumers.

Global Warming, Global Governance Kyoto is merely the latest attempt to impose world government.... and it wouldn't be a democracy.

Latin left's oil (& coke) boom "The U.S. answer to the left has got to be liberalization of our trade restrictions on Latin products and nations. The Democrats who almost killed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA, ratified by one vote in the House) are doing nothing to help. But the Republicans — by protecting the American sugar, textile, steel, orange juice, and beef industries — are asking Latins live by free-market rules we don't apply to ourselves. These restrictive quotas and our massive farm subsidies (to largely wealthy farmers) combine to make Latin America and its poverty fertile ground for subversion and leftist infiltration. "


Atlas Shrugs must be credited for finding this gem:

"Europeans have no rights when it comes to this issue and the European criticism of Americans is positively inappropriate. Europeans have no idea what misery the Iraqi people endured. I'd like Europeans to take a trip to Iraq to visit the 400 thousand person mass graves. People could no longer put up with Saddam's regime. The people of Germany and Austria could have never been rid of dictators like Hitler without a war. That was the price that had to be paid."

Must Read

I have linked Walter E Williams ten part series on Economics for the Citizen here.

Economics for the Citizen - Part 1

Economics for the Citizen - Part 2

Economics for the Citizen - Part 3

Economics for the Citizen - Part 4

Economics for the Citizen - Part 5

Economics for the Citizen - Part 6

Economics for the Citizen - Part 7

Economics for the Citizen - Part 8

Economics for the Citizen - Part 9

Economics for the Citizen - Part 10

Odd Notes

Has the Coalition Used Chemical Weapons in Iraq? Nonesense over the use of white phosphorus. The article specifically debunks George Monbiot, who I catagorize with Robert Fisk "he is that most valuable resource, a journalist whose judgments are not just mistaken, but reliably mistaken" - Simon Hoggart, and John Pilgar. Anti-American leftist cranks.

Police find semi-nude man inside Pavilion How did I miss this story in my own town? This is about as exciting as it gets here.

'Divide' and Conquer? More on the UN's efforts to control the internet. They want power and money, folks. Think the UN won't give into the temptation to use their power for political ends?

U.S., Poland discuss base Not just any base, an anti-ballistic missle base... right next to Russia. This would be the only (or first) such base outside the US. Other nations are allowing us to put in radar and tracking installations.

The UN said it, it must be true....

U.N. claims U.S. social system violates human rights

"Problems with U.S. social benefit systems impede people struggling to overcome poverty, the United Nations said."

"High health care costs and lack of low-cost housing exacerbate poverty and this can be seen as a human rights abuse, concluded a 17-day fact-finding mission by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights Tuesday. "

Translation: Not enough welfare that ruins lives and destroys the economy. Because as we all know, the European model is so much better.... ahem.

"With higher per capita income levels than any other country, the United States also has one of the highest incidences of poverty among the rich industrialized nations. Some 37 million Americans, 12.7 percent of the U.S. population, lived in poverty in 2004. Some 45 million people were without health insurance coverage and 38 million households experienced food insecurity. There is a significant disparity in poverty between African-Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, said UNHCR"

The "Poverty line" in the US is set at a certain percentage of household income. Many working people with children would be surprised to learn that they are "poor" by this crude standard.

Further, I am one of those people without health insurance. Some people have this axiomatic and foolish notion that a lack of health insurance means "no medical care". I PAY for my medical care. Its less expensive that way.

Food insecurity? What kind of weasel phrase is that? I thought Americans were fat. Make up your minds, are we fat ("Ha ha ha! Stupid, fat Americans!) or are we going hungry? I have an idea that these terms are rather loosely applied, and that they "statistic" that 38 million households - that is a hell of a lot of people - is an extrapolation of some survey which asked "Were you ever hungry any time in the past 6 months?" or some such question. You know how that will be answered. Anyone who might have skipped a meal because they are busy will be counted as "Food insecure"

Poor people in the US have the option of working their way out of poverty. This "17 day trip" by UN bureaucrats is simply their way of smearing the US. I expect this kind of behavior from leftist bureacrats working for a corrupt institution.

Newsbites

Actor forced to stop smoking Some ninny ruined everyone's fun to accomodate his/her neurosis. What are the chances that anyone in the audience was close enough to smell the smoke?

What Causes Unemployment? Government solutions don't help.

Pa. May Let Hunters Use Prehistoric Weapon Get out your spears! Okay.... Javelins.

"struck fear in the hearts of Spanish conquistadors"?? Are you joking?

Iraq's National Security Advisor: Most Al-Qaida Suicide Bombers are Saudi Nationals Crossing Through Syria IMO, the Saudis are being macheavellian. They let fanatics leave Saudia Arabia to get themselves killed in Iraq. One of these days, Syria is going to get it.

Interview with a Rightwingsparkle

Broads on Blogs: An increasingly popular political forum is attracting women with something to say, but is the blogosphere still a man's world?

"Kathy, who hosts Right Wing Sparkle (www.rightwingsparkle.blogspot.com) and prefers her real name not be used, remarks, "The benefits of an active blogosphere commenting is that so many voices get heard. The disadvantage is that unfortunately so many of those voices are shrill and insulting. I hate that?.But," she adds, "my Dad always said that 'cream rises to the top,' so I think that eventually the main blogs that will be read by the general public will be those who carry on civil discourse and voice their opinions in a thoughtful manner." "

and

"Females certainly have a different voice than men when blogging," says Kathy. "I think that's why a lot of the big male bloggers ignore us. Women view politics through the same prism that they view life--one that is colored by emotion." "

and

"Kathy cites the example of abortion. "Women bloggers on both sides will post long and emotional and detailed essays. Male bloggers throw a few sentences at it." "

and

"And knowing a writer's sex may reveal the context of a blogger's comments. Notes Kathy, "I think it's fairly easy to tell if it is a man or woman blogger. We are different, after all, even in the way we write." "

Common Sense

SOUTHERN UNREST: Villagers to get weapons training

"About 20,000 residents will be trained and armed in the three southernmost provinces enabling them to defend their villages and spy on the movements of insurgents in the restive region, commander General Ruangroj Mahasaranond said yesterday."

Good, a government that can trust its citizens.

What if it were legal in America for adults to carry concealed weapons?

"Guns are dangerous. But myths are dangerous, too. Myths about guns are very dangerous, because they lead to bad laws. And bad laws kill people."

Friday Quote

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell

Veteran's Day

Random Dog Pic

France - the ash-heap of history

Wake up, Europe, you've a war on your hands

Telling people to wake up never works.

"The notion that Texas neocon arrogance was responsible for frosting up trans-Atlantic relations was always preposterous, even for someone as complacent and blinkered as John Kerry. If you had millions of seething unassimilated Muslim youths in lawless suburbs ringing every major city, would you be so eager to send your troops into an Arab country fighting alongside the Americans? For half a decade, French Arabs have been carrying on a low-level intifada against synagogues, kosher butchers, Jewish schools, etc. The concern of the political class has been to prevent the spread of these attacks to targets of more, ah, general interest. They seem to have lost that battle. Unlike America's Europhiles, France's Arab street correctly identified Chirac's opposition to the Iraq war for what it was: a sign of weakness."

France's oposition was not principled. The factors influenceing Chirac were 1) an interest in keeping sanctions in place to profit from the corrupt food for oil program and illegal arms sales 2) keeping evidence of the food for oil corruption buried 3) buying "protection" from muslim radicals - which of course never works 4) the fact that France is too militarily weak to participate, and thus is in a position of more influence and power if they oppose diplomatically 5) Anti-American envy.

"If Chirac isn't exactly Charles Martel, the rioters aren't doing a bad impression of the Muslim armies of 13 centuries ago: They're seizing their opportunities, testing their foe, probing his weak spots. If burning the 'burbs gets you more ''respect'' from Chirac, they'll burn 'em again, and again"

France is weak. The French make good weapons, which they are eager to sell. Selling tech and arms keeps France afloat.

Troubling “Facts” of the Paris Riots

"It's in the last paragraph that the reporting of news gives way to disguised opinion: "The continuing unrest appears to be fueled less by perceived police brutality than by the frustration of young men who have no work and see little hope for the future." In Saturday's coverage, this opinion migrates to the front of the story, with references to "underlying frustrations" and "decades of high unemployment and marginalization." To statements such as these any perceptive reader should respond, "Says who?""

"Notice the use of the impersonal weasel-word "appears." Appears to whom? The Times writer, a French politician, an academic, an imam, or the rioters? The way this opinion is phrased obscures the fact that it is a mere opinion, an interpretation of the events described, not a fact. As such, the source of the opinion should be identified so we can evaluate its usefulness and integrity. But to say it "appears,” unconnected to a person with a point of view, is an evasion of responsibility. If this explanation was deemed so important for the story, then surely the reporter could have found someone to give him a quote expressing the opinion so that at least we'd know whose ax is being ground. And a thorough reporter would be sure to find other people with alternative interpretations in order to provide balance and give the reader a fuller range of opinion on the matter. Without this sort of attribution, however, the opinion then must be that of the writer and the editors of the Times. At which point we need to be asking why a newspaper that continually proclaims its professional objectivity is putting opinion into what's supposed to be a news story."

The NYT is left/liberal and biased. I don;t think its argueable.

"In the case of the Paris rioters, there are other explanations for their behavior that are more accurate than liberal clichés about “frustration.” As Dr Jack Wheeler puts it, “The problem is not that these Moslem kids are unemployed, but that they are unemployable. They are illiterate, unskilled except in crime, don't speak French well, refuse to assimilate into French culture and think being Moslem is more important than being French. Worse, they are paid by the French welfare state not to work, living well off the dole (and crime). The problem was epitomized by these words of a young Moslem rioter to a French reporter: 'In the day we sleep, go see our girlfriends, and play video games. And in the evening we have a good time: we go and fight the police.'”"

"Fight the police", sounds much more brave than it is. I am sure that they destroy property, stand around bragging to eachother, working up their courage, but how much courage does it take to throw a rock or a molotov knowing that you won't be counterattacked?

Eurabian Fights

"Decent law-abiding people who work, pay taxes, and raise their children properly have been begging the government to crack down on the Islamists and criminals who prey on them. If there is indeed 30 percent unemployment in the banlieues, it follows that 70 percent of the people are gainfully employed. High rents and low wages keep them in the housing projects. It is their cars that are burned, their public transportation that is interrupted, their safety that is jeopardized. Attacking bus drivers, raping women in cellars, hallways, and commuter trains, destroying public property, stealing purses and cell phones…this is nothing new. Young women are forced to wear hijab, one was burned alive for resisting advances, one was stoned to death, thousands are persecuted, confined to their homes, trapped in forced marriages. They beg, plead, and supplicate the French government to protect them. These are French women, born in France, and abandoned to de-facto Islamic rule in the country of their birth. It is their Islamist brothers, not French society, that reduce them to second class citizenship."

The Riots of Ramadan

"The majority of commentators blame the riots on the staggeringly high unemployment (as high as 35% in some areas) among the immigrant populations. However, the high unemployment is more symptomatic of deeper political and economic problems that the political class has been ineffective in addressing and understanding. For instance, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin’s longstanding economic policy has been to use the state to provide jobs while setting up trade barriers to protect French companies. Of course, this policy is self-contradictory and typifies the sclerosis of the French political class and perhaps of the Fifth Republic itself. With unemployment at ten percent for non-immigrants, the French economy is too sluggish and dragged down by the welfare state to generate jobs. "

"The government’s policy of housing these immigrants in public housing projects compounds the problem. Americans will be familiar with the "projects" that originated with Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs and with the various criminal and social pathologies they created. The lack of private ownership and the lack of self-respect that accompanies it produce the conditions for these rioters."

As noted above. unemployment is only part of the problem.

Liar Liar, Pants on Fi.... oh, yeah, can't say that - Beavis

Is Jimmy Massey telling the truth about Iraq?

"Massey's claims have gained him celebrity. Last month, Massey's book, "Kill, Kill, Kill," was released in France. His allegations have been reported in nationwide publications such as Vanity Fair and USA Today, as well as numerous broadcast reports. Earlier this year, he joined the anti-war bus tour of Cindy Sheehan, and he's spoken at Cornell and Syracuse universities, among others."

"News organizations worldwide published or broadcast Massey's claims without any corroboration and in most cases without investigation. Outside of the Marines, almost no one has seriously questioned whether Massey, a 12-year veteran who was honorably discharged, was telling the truth."

"He wasn't."

"Each of his claims is either demonstrably false or exaggerated - according to his fellow Marines, Massey's own admissions, and the five journalists who were embedded with Massey's unit, including a reporter and photographer from the Post-Dispatch and reporters from The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal."

The French buy his bull. What a surprise.

GOP Leaders to Bush: 'Your Presidency is Effectively Over'

Wow. FAscinating. Not what the article says, but what it reveals about the author. This guy is a liar. He's making it all up. Must be a good job. No need to do research or talk to people. just dream it up and write about it.

Note how un-named they are all are: "says a longtime, and angry, GOP strategist" "says a senior White House aide" "says a source within the office of House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert" "says a GOP pollster" "a GOP strategist suggested" "says a GOP strategist who has advised Presidential campaigns for 30 years"

A thought strikes me, is this author, Doug Thompson, a comedian? Is this website a put on?

Telling a lie is bad enough,but at a funeral for a hero?

Ah..... Bill. People just eat this stuff up.

Friday Quote.... on, ahem, sunday

"Americans have the will to resist because you have weapons. If you don't have a gun, freedom of speech has no power ." -- Yoshimi Ishikawa, Japanese author, in the LA Times 15 Oct 1992