Saturday, March 03, 2007
A Confusion of Whats And Hows
"The California legislature may want to revisit the wording of their proposed ban on incandescents (AB 722). How about mandating a level of efficiency rather than assuming that innovation can't happen?" " [ A classic example of why putting almost anything related to science and technology in the hands of politicians is generally a dumb idea. -ed. ]
Forget It -- Liquid Explosives Edition
"Just imagine if the 'Palestinians' spent as much time and effort and resources trying to improve their lot in life as they spend trying to kill people. Forget it. It will never happen."
Eugenics Holocaust Update
"The thrust of the article, which was based on interviews with administration sources, was that while North Korea's commitment to acquire nuclear weapons has never been in doubt, at no time has the US had certain knowledge of its actual capabilities. In light of the uncertainty relating to Pyongyang's capabilities, the Bush administration was wrong - the Times's sources clucked - to have confronted it over its intentions.
By the same token, those who applaud the administration's decision to engage the nuclear weapons-seeking mullahs in Teheran argue that the administration would be wrong to confront Iran for its stated intention to "wipe Israel off the map," and to bring about "a world without America," since US intelligence services are incapable of bringing unequivocal information regarding the state of Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Clearly there is something wrong with this analysis. If what is not in doubt is Iran's commitment to acquiring nuclear weapons, rather than base its policies on a best-case-scenario regarding Teheran's unknown capabilities, the US and its allies should be basing their policies on a calculation of the risks a nuclear armed Iran would constitute for global security. ***
IN LIGHT of this analysis it seems that in spite of the praise it is reaping from the policy jet-set, the Bush administration would do well to reexamine its new policy toward Iran. It should accept their criticism and revert to basing its policy toward the nuclear-proliferating, terror-supporting rogue state on what is known rather than on what is unknown.
Since Iran not only wants nuclear weapons, but has an active nuclear weapons program, the question that should be guiding policymakers is not whether Iran should be negotiated with, but rather, whether the US is willing to accept any of the likely scenarios of what will transpire if Iran does in fact acquire nuclear weapons. If the US is not willing to accept any of those scenarios, then it should be asking itself what must be done to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
While Europe may be willing to sit on the sidelines of this fight, just as it sat on the sidelines of the Cold War, and did little to prevent the Nazi conquest of the continent in World War II, Israel has no such luxury." [ The holocaust survivor has now been officially flushed down the Memory Hole. You know, the one who when asked what he had learned from the Holocaust replied: "When a man says he wants to kill you ... you should believe him." Luckily for pomo man, intentions never matter. Or was that always matter? Ah, I forgot -- only MY (obviously bad no matter what I say) intentions matter... -ed. ]
By the same token, those who applaud the administration's decision to engage the nuclear weapons-seeking mullahs in Teheran argue that the administration would be wrong to confront Iran for its stated intention to "wipe Israel off the map," and to bring about "a world without America," since US intelligence services are incapable of bringing unequivocal information regarding the state of Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Clearly there is something wrong with this analysis. If what is not in doubt is Iran's commitment to acquiring nuclear weapons, rather than base its policies on a best-case-scenario regarding Teheran's unknown capabilities, the US and its allies should be basing their policies on a calculation of the risks a nuclear armed Iran would constitute for global security. ***
IN LIGHT of this analysis it seems that in spite of the praise it is reaping from the policy jet-set, the Bush administration would do well to reexamine its new policy toward Iran. It should accept their criticism and revert to basing its policy toward the nuclear-proliferating, terror-supporting rogue state on what is known rather than on what is unknown.
Since Iran not only wants nuclear weapons, but has an active nuclear weapons program, the question that should be guiding policymakers is not whether Iran should be negotiated with, but rather, whether the US is willing to accept any of the likely scenarios of what will transpire if Iran does in fact acquire nuclear weapons. If the US is not willing to accept any of those scenarios, then it should be asking itself what must be done to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
While Europe may be willing to sit on the sidelines of this fight, just as it sat on the sidelines of the Cold War, and did little to prevent the Nazi conquest of the continent in World War II, Israel has no such luxury." [ The holocaust survivor has now been officially flushed down the Memory Hole. You know, the one who when asked what he had learned from the Holocaust replied: "When a man says he wants to kill you ... you should believe him." Luckily for pomo man, intentions never matter. Or was that always matter? Ah, I forgot -- only MY (obviously bad no matter what I say) intentions matter... -ed. ]
Sink Or Swim Only Works With Swimmers
""How the Americans can infuse into the Iraqi army and police in Baghdad a sense of mission and even-handedness such that the Americans can withdraw from neighborhoods in eight to twelve months without backsliding. "
I don't have the answer to this one, it is a great question, but I know what many will say the answer is. "Just leave and they will be forced to take on the responsibilities themselves. Sink or Swim." I know many are advocating this course of action, but I can tell you from experience, this is not a winning strategy. We tried this in 2005 in Eastern Baghdad, turning over much of the East side to Iraqis who were not ready. Because they were not ready, they did what they had to in order to survive, they cut deals, turned blind eyes and stayed out of the way. They did what they could, but they were not ready to do what they had to do." [ The Golden Hour clock ticks relentlessly. And we have a 5 minute attention span... -ed. ]
I don't have the answer to this one, it is a great question, but I know what many will say the answer is. "Just leave and they will be forced to take on the responsibilities themselves. Sink or Swim." I know many are advocating this course of action, but I can tell you from experience, this is not a winning strategy. We tried this in 2005 in Eastern Baghdad, turning over much of the East side to Iraqis who were not ready. Because they were not ready, they did what they had to in order to survive, they cut deals, turned blind eyes and stayed out of the way. They did what they could, but they were not ready to do what they had to do." [ The Golden Hour clock ticks relentlessly. And we have a 5 minute attention span... -ed. ]
On Fighting
"Unless memory fails, Pickens once said that it is not enough for your adversary to know you will fight; he has to believe you love to fight. That always struck me as pretty good advice for war as well as business."
NYeT To The Killing Fields -- Past And Future
""In the beginning, middle, and end of this episode, Kissinger shows to telling effect, the barbaric nature of the Communist Khmer Rouge was painted over in soothing tones by much of the American press. The New York Times was the most flagrant offender. In one dispatch, its correspondent Sydney Schanberg described a ranking Khmer Rouge leader as a "French-educated intellectual" who wanted nothing more than "to fight against feudal privileges and social inequities." A bloodbath was unlikely, Schanberg reported: "since all are Cambodians, an accommodation will be found." As the last Americans were withdrawn, another upbeat article by Schanberg appeared under the headline, "Indochina Without Americans: For Most, a Better Life." In short order, the Khmer Rouge proceeded to march nearly two million of their fellow Cambodians to their deaths in the killing fields. Also in short order, Schanberg went on to greater glory and a Pulitzer prize. [ I was nearly unable to post this due to a tremendous nausea and urge to retch. -ed. ]
Friday, March 02, 2007
What Al Qaeda?
"The enemy we face in the war on terror has made Iraq the primary front in that war. To use a popular phrase, this is an inconvenient truth."
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Eugenics Past ... And Present
"The eugenicists and the immigrationists joined forces to put a stop to this. The plan was to identify individuals who were feeble-minded --- Jews were agreed to be largely feeble-minded, but so were many foreigners, as well as blacks --- and stop them from breeding by isolation in institutions or by sterilization.
As Margaret Sanger said, "Fostering the good-for-nothing at the expense of the good is an extreme cruelty … there is not greater curse to posterity than that of bequeathing them an increasing population of imbeciles." She spoke of the burden of caring for "this dead weight of human waste." [ Did I forget to mention that Magaret Sanger was the founder of Planned Parenthood? Did that make you sit up in your chair? -ed. ]
Such views were widely shared. H.G. Wells spoke against "ill-trained swarms of inferior citizens." Theodore Roosevelt said that "Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind." Luther Burbank" "Stop permitting criminals and weaklings to reproduce." George Bernard Shaw said that only eugenics could save mankind.
There was overt racism in this movement, exemplified by texts such as "The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy" by American author Lothrop Stoddard. But, at the time, racism was considered an unremarkable aspect of the effort to attain a marvelous goal --- the improvement of humankind in the future. It was this avant-garde notion that attracted the most liberal and progressive minds of a generation. California was one of twenty-nine American states to pass laws allowing sterilization, but it proved the most-forward-looking and enthusiastic --- more sterilizations were carried out in California than anywhere else in America.
Eugenics research was funded by the Carnegie Foundation, and later by the Rockefeller Foundation. The latter was so enthusiastic that even after the center of the eugenics effort moved to Germany, and involved the gassing of individuals from mental institutions, the Rockefeller Foundation continued to finance German researchers at a very high level. (The foundation was quiet about it, but they were still funding research in 1939, only months before the onset of World War II.)
Since the 1920s, American eugenicists had been jealous because the Germans had taken leadership of the movement away from them. The Germans were admirably progressive. They set up ordinary-looking houses where "mental defectives" were brought and interviewed one at a time, before being led into a back room, which was, in fact, a gas chamber. There, they were gassed with carbon monoxide, and their bodies disposed of in a crematorium located on the property.
Eventually, this program was expanded into a vast network of concentration camps located near railroad lines, enabling the efficient transport and of killing ten million undesirables.
After World War II, nobody was a eugenicist, and nobody had ever been a eugenicist. Biographers of the celebrated and the powerful did not dwell on the attractions of this philosophy to their subjects, and sometimes did not mention it at all. Eugenics ceased to be a subject for college classrooms, although some argue that its ideas continue to have currency in disguised form." [ Michael Crichton is unstinting on the global warming hysteria, no? Wow -- a real excavation of the Memory Hole on display here. -ed. ]
But now we have someone new working hard to bring eugenics back:
"Ahmadinejad has made a habit of making virulently anti-Israel comments, calling for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map," among other verbal attacks.
He also has called the Holocaust a myth and held a conference of revisionist historians on the credibility that six million Jews were killed by Nazis during World War II."
As Margaret Sanger said, "Fostering the good-for-nothing at the expense of the good is an extreme cruelty … there is not greater curse to posterity than that of bequeathing them an increasing population of imbeciles." She spoke of the burden of caring for "this dead weight of human waste." [ Did I forget to mention that Magaret Sanger was the founder of Planned Parenthood? Did that make you sit up in your chair? -ed. ]
Such views were widely shared. H.G. Wells spoke against "ill-trained swarms of inferior citizens." Theodore Roosevelt said that "Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind." Luther Burbank" "Stop permitting criminals and weaklings to reproduce." George Bernard Shaw said that only eugenics could save mankind.
There was overt racism in this movement, exemplified by texts such as "The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy" by American author Lothrop Stoddard. But, at the time, racism was considered an unremarkable aspect of the effort to attain a marvelous goal --- the improvement of humankind in the future. It was this avant-garde notion that attracted the most liberal and progressive minds of a generation. California was one of twenty-nine American states to pass laws allowing sterilization, but it proved the most-forward-looking and enthusiastic --- more sterilizations were carried out in California than anywhere else in America.
Eugenics research was funded by the Carnegie Foundation, and later by the Rockefeller Foundation. The latter was so enthusiastic that even after the center of the eugenics effort moved to Germany, and involved the gassing of individuals from mental institutions, the Rockefeller Foundation continued to finance German researchers at a very high level. (The foundation was quiet about it, but they were still funding research in 1939, only months before the onset of World War II.)
Since the 1920s, American eugenicists had been jealous because the Germans had taken leadership of the movement away from them. The Germans were admirably progressive. They set up ordinary-looking houses where "mental defectives" were brought and interviewed one at a time, before being led into a back room, which was, in fact, a gas chamber. There, they were gassed with carbon monoxide, and their bodies disposed of in a crematorium located on the property.
Eventually, this program was expanded into a vast network of concentration camps located near railroad lines, enabling the efficient transport and of killing ten million undesirables.
After World War II, nobody was a eugenicist, and nobody had ever been a eugenicist. Biographers of the celebrated and the powerful did not dwell on the attractions of this philosophy to their subjects, and sometimes did not mention it at all. Eugenics ceased to be a subject for college classrooms, although some argue that its ideas continue to have currency in disguised form." [ Michael Crichton is unstinting on the global warming hysteria, no? Wow -- a real excavation of the Memory Hole on display here. -ed. ]
But now we have someone new working hard to bring eugenics back:
"Ahmadinejad has made a habit of making virulently anti-Israel comments, calling for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map," among other verbal attacks.
He also has called the Holocaust a myth and held a conference of revisionist historians on the credibility that six million Jews were killed by Nazis during World War II."
The Middle ... Is Missing
"The CCES survey asked about 14 national issues: the war in Iraq (the invasion and the troops), abortion (and partial birth abortion), stem cell research, global warming, health insurance, immigration, the minimum wage, liberalism and conservatism, same-sex marriage, privatizing Social Security, affirmative action, and capital gains taxes. Not surprisingly, some of the largest differences between Democrats and Republicans were over the Iraq war. Fully 85 percent of those who voted for Democratic House candidates felt that it had been a mistake to invade Iraq, compared with only 18 percent of voters who cast ballots for Republicans.
But the divisions between the parties weren't limited to Iraq. They extended to every issue in the survey. For example, 69 percent of Democratic voters chose the most strongly pro-choice position on the issue of abortion, compared with 20 percent of Republican voters; only 16 percent of Democratic voters supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, while 80 percent of Republican voters did; and 91 percent of Democratic voters favored governmental action to reduce global warming, compared with 27 percent of Republican voters.
When we combined voters' answers to the 14 issue questions to form a liberal-conservative scale (answers were divided into five equivalent categories based on overall liberalism vs. conservatism), 86 percent of Democratic voters were on the liberal side of the scale while 80 percent of Republican voters were on the conservative side. Only 10 percent of all voters were in the center. The visual representation of the nation's voters isn't a nicely shaped bell, with most voters in the moderate middle. It's a sharp V.
The evidence from this survey isn't surprising; nor are the findings new. For the past three decades, the major parties and the electorate have grown more divided -- in what they think, where they live and how they vote. It may be comforting to believe our problems could be solved if only those vile politicians in Washington would learn to get along. The source of the country's division, however, is nestled much closer to home." [ Now that's truly sobering. -ed. ]
But the divisions between the parties weren't limited to Iraq. They extended to every issue in the survey. For example, 69 percent of Democratic voters chose the most strongly pro-choice position on the issue of abortion, compared with 20 percent of Republican voters; only 16 percent of Democratic voters supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, while 80 percent of Republican voters did; and 91 percent of Democratic voters favored governmental action to reduce global warming, compared with 27 percent of Republican voters.
When we combined voters' answers to the 14 issue questions to form a liberal-conservative scale (answers were divided into five equivalent categories based on overall liberalism vs. conservatism), 86 percent of Democratic voters were on the liberal side of the scale while 80 percent of Republican voters were on the conservative side. Only 10 percent of all voters were in the center. The visual representation of the nation's voters isn't a nicely shaped bell, with most voters in the moderate middle. It's a sharp V.
The evidence from this survey isn't surprising; nor are the findings new. For the past three decades, the major parties and the electorate have grown more divided -- in what they think, where they live and how they vote. It may be comforting to believe our problems could be solved if only those vile politicians in Washington would learn to get along. The source of the country's division, however, is nestled much closer to home." [ Now that's truly sobering. -ed. ]
Methane Credits
"me: “So let me get this straight: I pay you five dollars, and in return, you promise not to eat an ounce of roughage for, say, three days. Meanwhile, I can eat as much in the way of beans and cabbage as I want—and in the end, we’re both absolved from any responsibility for personal methane production...?”
poor Mexican migrant worker: ”Si.”
me: “Interesting.
me: “—So. Does this mean you have to follow me around and take the blame if I let one rip in a crowded elevator? Or is that, like, extra...?” "
poor Mexican migrant worker: ”Si.”
me: “Interesting.
me: “—So. Does this mean you have to follow me around and take the blame if I let one rip in a crowded elevator? Or is that, like, extra...?” "
VDH Reaches Into The Memory Hole Once More
"Imagine if the House of Representatives had debated a resolution to authorize the president’s use of force in Iraq only after the bombs were already falling. And what if after the debate, in the middle of the war, with our troops already in combat, Congress had suddenly denied such approval?
That is precisely what happened to President Clinton during the Serbian war of 1999. Neither the Senate nor the House agreed to sanction the administration’s ongoing preemptive bombing campaign against Serbia. That congressional rebuke prompted liberal commentator Mark Shields to scoff on PBS Newshour that American troops were “putting their life on the line, and (the Congress) are saying, we’re not with you.” ***
Since World War II, our intelligence agencies failed to foresee the Chinese invasion of Korea, the Yom Kippur War, the fall of the Shah of Iran, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the sudden spread of Islamic fundamentalism, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Cambodian and Rwandan holocausts, and the acquisition of the bomb by Pakistan and North Korea." [ And let's not forget that the Manhattan project's inception based on the assumption (supported by Einstein no less) that Hitler was headed toward the bomb himself was probably THE greatest intelligence failure in history. The ALSOS project investigating Hitler's nuclear program after the war concluded that they may have spent more money trying to find the program than Hitler spent on his program! -ed. ]
That is precisely what happened to President Clinton during the Serbian war of 1999. Neither the Senate nor the House agreed to sanction the administration’s ongoing preemptive bombing campaign against Serbia. That congressional rebuke prompted liberal commentator Mark Shields to scoff on PBS Newshour that American troops were “putting their life on the line, and (the Congress) are saying, we’re not with you.” ***
Since World War II, our intelligence agencies failed to foresee the Chinese invasion of Korea, the Yom Kippur War, the fall of the Shah of Iran, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the sudden spread of Islamic fundamentalism, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Cambodian and Rwandan holocausts, and the acquisition of the bomb by Pakistan and North Korea." [ And let's not forget that the Manhattan project's inception based on the assumption (supported by Einstein no less) that Hitler was headed toward the bomb himself was probably THE greatest intelligence failure in history. The ALSOS project investigating Hitler's nuclear program after the war concluded that they may have spent more money trying to find the program than Hitler spent on his program! -ed. ]
I Did Mention Worms, Didn't I?
"Those who still dream of the grand bargain—including those in the G.W. Bush administration who have pursued it avidly, and have gotten kicked in the same place as the Clinton pursuers—must explain to us simple souls why there is anything different today that might make a bargain with the Iranians more likely than it has been for the last 28 years. Certainly the Iranians have shown no desire for reconciliation; quite the contrary, unless you think killing Americans at a rate considerably faster than the tempo of murder in the Clinton years represents some odd form of mating dance. The Supreme Leader is the same fanatic as he was then, in terrible health to be sure, but no friendlier towards satanic negotiators. The only big change in Tehran personnel is the president. Instead of Khatami-the-Reformer we’ve got Ahmadinejad, Hitler’s great admirer. I don’t think that is an improvement.
If they were forced to answer these questions, the advocates of negotiations would resort to the hoax—we haven’t tried negotiations, and it’s worth a try. But the real history of U.S.-Iranian relations suggests very strongly that the only possible winners in such talks will be the mullahs. They will gain more time to organize their war against us, and to build atomic bombs."
If they were forced to answer these questions, the advocates of negotiations would resort to the hoax—we haven’t tried negotiations, and it’s worth a try. But the real history of U.S.-Iranian relations suggests very strongly that the only possible winners in such talks will be the mullahs. They will gain more time to organize their war against us, and to build atomic bombs."
Blogger Down The Memory Hole...
"The pseudonymous Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey of Rantings of a Sandmonkey has an extremely moving article in Pajamas today about the sentencing of his fellow Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman. Abdel Kareem (also spelled Karim) was given four years for "contempt for religion" and "insulting the president". He could easily be killed in jail by a religious fanatic, according to the Sandmonkey, if he doesn't go crazy in solitary first.
It's frustrating to read stories like this. You want to do something, but you don't know how. I quickly clicked onto the websites of Human Rights Watch and PEN (of which I was once the West Coast president), hoping they could do something, but found no references to Abdel Kareem under either spelling. Maybe I missed something. I checked Atrios and the Daily Kos as well, but nothing there either about their fellow blogger. Perhaps they are unaware of what is happening. You would think this was a situation that would transcend domestic politics - the guy's going to the slammer - but so far apparently not. Lots of stuff on Kos though about how Giuliani's numbers can't last and how he's going to implode."
It's frustrating to read stories like this. You want to do something, but you don't know how. I quickly clicked onto the websites of Human Rights Watch and PEN (of which I was once the West Coast president), hoping they could do something, but found no references to Abdel Kareem under either spelling. Maybe I missed something. I checked Atrios and the Daily Kos as well, but nothing there either about their fellow blogger. Perhaps they are unaware of what is happening. You would think this was a situation that would transcend domestic politics - the guy's going to the slammer - but so far apparently not. Lots of stuff on Kos though about how Giuliani's numbers can't last and how he's going to implode."
That Old Marxist Envy
"Envy hasn’t yet been beaten in China. Yes, markets in China have been opening up, but traditional Confucianist disdain towards merchants goes back millennia. It won’t go away in a decade or two.
Over the past year, Marxist rhetoric has been heating up in the Chinese media. The Communist party’s official paper, the People’s Daily, has been talking a lot about income inequality (perhaps taking its cue from the New York Times). Powerful Communist party officials have been complaining about “black hearted” business tycoons and prattling on about social responsibility."
Over the past year, Marxist rhetoric has been heating up in the Chinese media. The Communist party’s official paper, the People’s Daily, has been talking a lot about income inequality (perhaps taking its cue from the New York Times). Powerful Communist party officials have been complaining about “black hearted” business tycoons and prattling on about social responsibility."
Keeping It From Happening Again
"The Sunni terrorists, faced with getting shut down, have shifted their aim to targets more likely to get noticed by foreign journalists. The terrorists know that the journalists are pretty dumb when it comes to terrorism. The journalists don't do much counting or analysis, but simply rush from one large explosion to another and try and make it sound like the sky is falling and the end of the world-as-we-know-it is neigh. That's not dumb as much as it recognizes how the news business works. It's all about events, the "news", not trends and analysis. The historians can come along in a decade or so and do that boring stuff. But for right now, the reporters want hot headlines, and the terrorists are glad to oblige.
A few months of stomping on Sunni terrorists will be followed, for most of the Summer, by an even more difficult battle with the Shia terrorist organizations. The problem with the Shia gangs is that they have more support (60 percent of the population is Shia), and the worst ones have the backing of Iran (in the form of cash, weapons and technical advice). Most of the Shia terrorist gangs also have connections to Shia political parties. Shia politicians are nervous about taking down the Shia gangs because of the risk of a civil war between Shia factions. But either you take that risk, or you leave the Shia terrorists to go on driving the Sunni Arabs out of Iraq. That would get ugly, and widely condemned. For example, a European war crimes court recently condemned Serbia, and all Serbians, for their support of Bosnian Serbs in the ethnic cleansing massacres of the 1990s. Same thing is shaping up in Iraq, and the Shia terrorists are very encouraged. Over half the Sunni Arabs have already been driven from the homes, and most of them have fled the country. Kurds and Shia in Iraq don't care what European war crimes commissions think, they can only remember their dead, and an urge to prevent it from happening again. That means the Sunni Arabs have to go."
A few months of stomping on Sunni terrorists will be followed, for most of the Summer, by an even more difficult battle with the Shia terrorist organizations. The problem with the Shia gangs is that they have more support (60 percent of the population is Shia), and the worst ones have the backing of Iran (in the form of cash, weapons and technical advice). Most of the Shia terrorist gangs also have connections to Shia political parties. Shia politicians are nervous about taking down the Shia gangs because of the risk of a civil war between Shia factions. But either you take that risk, or you leave the Shia terrorists to go on driving the Sunni Arabs out of Iraq. That would get ugly, and widely condemned. For example, a European war crimes court recently condemned Serbia, and all Serbians, for their support of Bosnian Serbs in the ethnic cleansing massacres of the 1990s. Same thing is shaping up in Iraq, and the Shia terrorists are very encouraged. Over half the Sunni Arabs have already been driven from the homes, and most of them have fled the country. Kurds and Shia in Iraq don't care what European war crimes commissions think, they can only remember their dead, and an urge to prevent it from happening again. That means the Sunni Arabs have to go."
Oops, Another Bad Example...
"U.S.: Er ... Well, uh ... this has been very helpful, don'tcha think? I mean, we're talking, right? Talking is progress, no? Didn't Chamberlain talk to Hitler — oh, sorry, bad example. Didn't Carter send Brzezinski to talk to you guys — oops, another bad example. But you get my drift, right?"
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
The Apocalypse Will Be Only Grapefruit Sized?
"For want of a less loaded term, let us just say that the hail of shakti or "universal k" is coming down the size of grapefruits, pelting everyone below: "the sun shines on both the wicked and righteous," and all that. Some people strap on a suicide bomb while others hallucinate about a "Christo-fascist takeover," but everyone gets hit and tries to figure out why we have hail on earth.
A great many primordial conflicts are rising to the surface and being worked out in the field of time. Mankind's future evolution hinges on their outcome, no less than it hinged on the earlier preparation of a human group and a human body. For now, the only viable human future will have to involve all of mankind, not in some twisted left-hand exterior version enforced by elites from on high, but in a truly interior-vertical sense. One way or another, all men must become Coons, even if they don't yet have a public school diploma or can't come up with the $1.50 initiation fee." [ Gagdad has another fine post worth savoring today. What he forgets is something that he already has pointed out before tangentially: "It's pretty odd when you can be less than five years away from the nuclear bomb but more than five centuries away from the nuclear age." I really like the imagery of the "Arc Of Salvation". The problem is that the Arc's entire trail remains fossilized in the present with the continued existence of progressively more primitive peoples leading back in a geographical Arc from the New World back throughEurope Eurabia, the Middle East/ Islam and even some few remaining pre-modern rain forest primitives. The folks in the rain forest are not the problem -- not yet any way. (See "Understanding The Concept Of Button") But there is a fault line in the Middle East with Islam where we have violated the Prime Directive in a very big way. The power of Shiva's fire is barrelling precipitously toward people that really don't understand the awesome power of Oppenheimer's child (and its relatives) having their fingers on the button. They know what a button is. But they really don't understand what it will mean to push it... (Welcome to the 3 Conjectures) So in my view we have two choices leading to survival: 1) an all-out effort to educate them and extinguish their primitive beliefs and ignorance before they inevitably have their finger on the button or 2) an all-out effort to re-impose the cloak of the Prime Directive and remove Shiva's power from their hands. I don't see either one happening -- instead we have a pitifully weak and bumbling hybrid of the two. We are squandering the "Golden Hour". -ed. ]
A great many primordial conflicts are rising to the surface and being worked out in the field of time. Mankind's future evolution hinges on their outcome, no less than it hinged on the earlier preparation of a human group and a human body. For now, the only viable human future will have to involve all of mankind, not in some twisted left-hand exterior version enforced by elites from on high, but in a truly interior-vertical sense. One way or another, all men must become Coons, even if they don't yet have a public school diploma or can't come up with the $1.50 initiation fee." [ Gagdad has another fine post worth savoring today. What he forgets is something that he already has pointed out before tangentially: "It's pretty odd when you can be less than five years away from the nuclear bomb but more than five centuries away from the nuclear age." I really like the imagery of the "Arc Of Salvation". The problem is that the Arc's entire trail remains fossilized in the present with the continued existence of progressively more primitive peoples leading back in a geographical Arc from the New World back through
Eurabia Update
"MvdG: In WGM you argue that Europe will face big problems due to the aging and decreasing population. Can something be done about that or do you advise me to leave this hellhole migrate?
HdB: Can something be done? Absolutely, mostly in the bedroom but Igather that Europeans are pretty good at this elsewhere too. Unfortunately the attractions of large families are not what they used to be, as anyone sitting in row 18 in an airplane will agree. So Europeans are still having fun but less, shall we say, outcome. The results are daunting, and I do not see Europe’s future very optimistically. At least Europe’s population is not declining for the same reasons Russia’s is (Russia,of course, is not Europe); dysfunction goes a lot deeper in Russia. Nor does Europe face the cultural obstacles as also-declining Japan with its racial-purity obsessions. But Europe’s geography — that is, its relative location — creates special problems in the sourcing of the immigration stream that has and will replace its demographic losses. Accommodating the ex-colonial and neo-Muslim immigrations has not gone well and various models, including the Dutch, have essentially failed. Regarding your question about emigrating — take a look at the statistics… You’re in good — and much — company. The number of Dutch leaving the Netherlands annually is steadily rising."
HdB: Can something be done? Absolutely, mostly in the bedroom but Igather that Europeans are pretty good at this elsewhere too. Unfortunately the attractions of large families are not what they used to be, as anyone sitting in row 18 in an airplane will agree. So Europeans are still having fun but less, shall we say, outcome. The results are daunting, and I do not see Europe’s future very optimistically. At least Europe’s population is not declining for the same reasons Russia’s is (Russia,of course, is not Europe); dysfunction goes a lot deeper in Russia. Nor does Europe face the cultural obstacles as also-declining Japan with its racial-purity obsessions. But Europe’s geography — that is, its relative location — creates special problems in the sourcing of the immigration stream that has and will replace its demographic losses. Accommodating the ex-colonial and neo-Muslim immigrations has not gone well and various models, including the Dutch, have essentially failed. Regarding your question about emigrating — take a look at the statistics… You’re in good — and much — company. The number of Dutch leaving the Netherlands annually is steadily rising."
Peters On The Real Mistakes
"Historically, the common denominator of successful counterinsurgency operations is that only an uncompromising military approach works — not winning hearts and minds nor a negotiated compromise. This runs counter to our politically correct worldview, but the historical evidence is incontestable.
Simply because the truth is hateful to us doesn't mean that we can declare it false.
We have entered a grim new age in which we must cope simultaneously with a return to old-fashioned wars of blood and belief, with the fatally flawed borders left behind by European imperialism, with the destabilizing effects of the information age on traditional societies, and with the explosion of our cherished myths about the pacific nature of humankind.
There were many things we failed to understand about Iraq, but our comprehensive mistake has been failing to understand our place in history."
Simply because the truth is hateful to us doesn't mean that we can declare it false.
We have entered a grim new age in which we must cope simultaneously with a return to old-fashioned wars of blood and belief, with the fatally flawed borders left behind by European imperialism, with the destabilizing effects of the information age on traditional societies, and with the explosion of our cherished myths about the pacific nature of humankind.
There were many things we failed to understand about Iraq, but our comprehensive mistake has been failing to understand our place in history."
Inside The MSMemory Hole
"The Vietnam-era journalists began a tradition that today's press consistently upholds. We hear very little from most large press outlets about American heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan, men like James Coffman Jr., Danny Dietz, and Christopher Adlesperger, or about our military successes there. Instead of associating such names with these wars, Americans associate the words they hear most often from the press, like Abu Ghraib and Haditha. As in Vietnam, too, the shunning of heroes does not extend to the press's coverage of itself. Awards to journalists, both those who have spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan and those who have not, are considered worthy of lengthy news stories.
Publicizing American heroism and success is essential today for two reasons. First, it permits a nuanced view of Iraq and Afghanistan, one which cannot be discerned from the daily stories of sectarian murders and the photos of American troops who have just been killed. Second, American troops and the American people become more courageous and resolute when they hear of their countrymen's military heroism and success, past and present. In earlier times, Americans ingrained their traditions of heroism and victory into the country's youth through historical instruction. Today's history textbooks largely ignore America's military past, a reflection of the anti-military prejudices, lack of military experience, and cosmopolitanism that pervade the intelligentsia."
Publicizing American heroism and success is essential today for two reasons. First, it permits a nuanced view of Iraq and Afghanistan, one which cannot be discerned from the daily stories of sectarian murders and the photos of American troops who have just been killed. Second, American troops and the American people become more courageous and resolute when they hear of their countrymen's military heroism and success, past and present. In earlier times, Americans ingrained their traditions of heroism and victory into the country's youth through historical instruction. Today's history textbooks largely ignore America's military past, a reflection of the anti-military prejudices, lack of military experience, and cosmopolitanism that pervade the intelligentsia."
Christian Worms As Far As The Eye Can See...
"Washington, DC—A coalition of liberal religious leaders just returned on Sunday from a week long “bridge-building” trip to Iran. [ a bridge to Hades - Atlas] They met with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the hopes of averting U.S. military action against Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The Iranian president, who has denied the Holocaust and threatened to incinerate Israel, assured the trusting church officials that he is against nuclear weapons. Organizers of the trip were the Mennonite Central Committee and American Friends Service Committee. Ahmadinejad invited the religious officials to Iran after having met with many of them in New York last September. The delegation included representatives of the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, and the National Council of Churches, among others.
IRD UMAction Director Mark Tooley commented:
“The ecumenical delegation’s acceptance of President Ahmadinejad’s soothing assurances about peace and good will was absurd. The Iranian dictator, who presides over a vicious Shiite theocracy, has publicly prophesied for an apocalypse that concludes with the destruction of non-believers. Presumably he did not discuss his genocidal plans with the church officials, and presumably they did not bother to ask.
“Supposedly Ahmadinejad told the 13-member delegation his government ‘Iran has no intention to acquire or use nuclear weapons’ yet his foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki has reiterated that his country would never suspend uranium enrichment. (AP)
“The ecumenical statement released included, ‘We believe it is possible for further dialogue and that there can be a new day in U.S. – Iranian relations.’ Perhaps the ecumenical delegation should have sung Kumbaya with the Iranian president. For over 30 years, officials from these church groups have never failed to meet an anti-American dictator they could not trust and even admire. If they made any impression on Ahmadinejad at all, these church officials must have only confirmed his stereotypes about naïve and gullible Americans." [ I have never used the really bad word on this blog other than a small number of quotes of it. I'm sorely temped to use it in the first person right now though... -ed. ]
IRD UMAction Director Mark Tooley commented:
“The ecumenical delegation’s acceptance of President Ahmadinejad’s soothing assurances about peace and good will was absurd. The Iranian dictator, who presides over a vicious Shiite theocracy, has publicly prophesied for an apocalypse that concludes with the destruction of non-believers. Presumably he did not discuss his genocidal plans with the church officials, and presumably they did not bother to ask.
“Supposedly Ahmadinejad told the 13-member delegation his government ‘Iran has no intention to acquire or use nuclear weapons’ yet his foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki has reiterated that his country would never suspend uranium enrichment. (AP)
“The ecumenical statement released included, ‘We believe it is possible for further dialogue and that there can be a new day in U.S. – Iranian relations.’ Perhaps the ecumenical delegation should have sung Kumbaya with the Iranian president. For over 30 years, officials from these church groups have never failed to meet an anti-American dictator they could not trust and even admire. If they made any impression on Ahmadinejad at all, these church officials must have only confirmed his stereotypes about naïve and gullible Americans." [ I have never used the really bad word on this blog other than a small number of quotes of it. I'm sorely temped to use it in the first person right now though... -ed. ]
The Secret 51st State -- Do You Know Where It Is?
"“I read the Iraq Study Group report that criticized your region for not flying the Iraq flag,” I said.
Adnan responded, “Yes, they did. This was the same flag planted in over 5000 villages that were gassed. We have a constitution, and our region is democratic. Why must we fly the Iraqi flag? Would the U.S. ask the Jews that suffered in the Holocaust to fly the Nazi flag? We refuse to honor the ‘Hitler’ who gassed our people; we want the new flag approved by our Constitution.” Adnan also rejected the Iraq Study Group’s proposal that two terror states, Iran and Syria, “meddle in our affairs.”
“Why,” he asked, “did no one from the Iraq Study Group come here? They ask where the proof is that the Bush policy is succeeding in Iraq. We are the proof. Your nations saved us from extermination. We are a stable region that is a model of everything the U.S. wants for Iraq. Why is it being kept hidden?” I am reminded as I look into his eyes that he was the target of a bomb attack by fanatic Muslims because of his strong support for America, and was poisoned by Saddam Hussein, and almost died.
Adnan placed a letter in my hands to deliver to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. He said, “I sent it through diplomatic channels via the U.S. Ambassador, but did not hear back.” I promised I would do my best to get it into the hands of the President." ***
"The U.S. National Intelligence Agency declassified a report suggesting that President Bush’s new strategy for controlling violence must show progress within twelve to eighteen months or risk further deterioration. Show progress? What a sick joke. You have one-fourth of Iraq living in stability; not one U.S. soldier has been killed there…ever. There has not been a terror attack in 18 months. If that is not progress, what is?" [ Have you figured out where this is yet? If you can't name it yet what does that say about your opinions on the rest of the Middle East? And if you can, did you know this? Why not? -ed. ]
Adnan responded, “Yes, they did. This was the same flag planted in over 5000 villages that were gassed. We have a constitution, and our region is democratic. Why must we fly the Iraqi flag? Would the U.S. ask the Jews that suffered in the Holocaust to fly the Nazi flag? We refuse to honor the ‘Hitler’ who gassed our people; we want the new flag approved by our Constitution.” Adnan also rejected the Iraq Study Group’s proposal that two terror states, Iran and Syria, “meddle in our affairs.”
“Why,” he asked, “did no one from the Iraq Study Group come here? They ask where the proof is that the Bush policy is succeeding in Iraq. We are the proof. Your nations saved us from extermination. We are a stable region that is a model of everything the U.S. wants for Iraq. Why is it being kept hidden?” I am reminded as I look into his eyes that he was the target of a bomb attack by fanatic Muslims because of his strong support for America, and was poisoned by Saddam Hussein, and almost died.
Adnan placed a letter in my hands to deliver to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. He said, “I sent it through diplomatic channels via the U.S. Ambassador, but did not hear back.” I promised I would do my best to get it into the hands of the President." ***
"The U.S. National Intelligence Agency declassified a report suggesting that President Bush’s new strategy for controlling violence must show progress within twelve to eighteen months or risk further deterioration. Show progress? What a sick joke. You have one-fourth of Iraq living in stability; not one U.S. soldier has been killed there…ever. There has not been a terror attack in 18 months. If that is not progress, what is?" [ Have you figured out where this is yet? If you can't name it yet what does that say about your opinions on the rest of the Middle East? And if you can, did you know this? Why not? -ed. ]
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Did I Mention Worms?
"I hope General Shirazi is explaining all the details of his job to our interviewers. He undoubtedly knows a lot about Iran’s international reign of terror, from Iraq to Yemen, from Europe to South America. He might even help us track down Imadh Mughniyah, the operational chief of Hezbollah, who was last noted at a confab in Tehran with Ramadan Shalah (head of Islamic Jihad) and Moqtada al Sadr, the boy wonder of Iraqi radical Shi’ism.
Perhaps Secretary Rice can explain to us, slowly and clearly, why we should be negotiating with these bastards instead of supporting regime change in Tehran? Those lucky enough to escape their clutches—such as Ardeshir Dolat—understand that you can only lose by negotiating with terrorists.
Have a look at these excellent thoughts from Ardeshir Dolat. He knows. Condi should have him over for tea."
Perhaps Secretary Rice can explain to us, slowly and clearly, why we should be negotiating with these bastards instead of supporting regime change in Tehran? Those lucky enough to escape their clutches—such as Ardeshir Dolat—understand that you can only lose by negotiating with terrorists.
Have a look at these excellent thoughts from Ardeshir Dolat. He knows. Condi should have him over for tea."
Even Angels Long?
"If in Christian terms this is truly the era of the Paraclete, it means that the history of the world since the redemption must itself contain a message, a message that cannot be less than equal to the Gospel of Christ -- if the Holy Ghost is indeed equal to the other two persons of God. If we look at that history from the vantage point of today, we notice one huge development: the astonishing progress of science, technology, and the human arts in general. That progress occurred chiefly in the parts of the world devoted to the Book and influenced by the life of Christ, while other civilizations lagged, or caught up only when exposed to the Gospel. The implication is that in Christian terms we might see progress in human art and science as the direct sign, the gospel, the very metabolism, of the Paraclete, the Helper."
AND:
"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things." (I Peter 1:10-12 TNIV)"
AND I WAS SOMEHOW -- SOMEWHAT O.T. -- REMINDED OF THIS JARRING PASSAGE OF GENESIS 6:
"1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose."
AND:
"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things." (I Peter 1:10-12 TNIV)"
AND I WAS SOMEHOW -- SOMEWHAT O.T. -- REMINDED OF THIS JARRING PASSAGE OF GENESIS 6:
"1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose."
Oh, THAT Place Again
"The international community . . . having invested so much . . . must continue to stay deeply involved. It would not be surprising if, after seven years, interest has flagged. But without more outside help, there is little hope for building a peaceful democracy in . . .
You guessed it, the next word isn't "Iraq." The Times doesn't want to cut and run from Kosovo." [ You know, where Clinton tried to help the Muslims against the Serbs and mysteriously the West only got 9/11 for doing so? And that the libs keep trying to bury because it doesn't fit the BDS story line? ]
You guessed it, the next word isn't "Iraq." The Times doesn't want to cut and run from Kosovo." [ You know, where Clinton tried to help the Muslims against the Serbs and mysteriously the West only got 9/11 for doing so? And that the libs keep trying to bury because it doesn't fit the BDS story line? ]
What Would Al Gore Be Like If He Were Real?
"[It] has 25,000 gallons of rainwater storage, gray water collection from sinks and showers for irrigation, passive solar, geothermal heating and cooling. "By marketplace standards, the house is startlingly small," says David Heymann, the architect of the 4,000-square-foot home. "Clients of similar ilk are building 16-to-20,000-square-foot houses." [ Like Al Gore and John Edwards? ] Furthermore for thermal mass the walls are clad in "discards of a local stone called Leuders limestone, which is quarried in the area. The 12-to-18-inch-thick stone has a mix of colors on the top and bottom, with a cream- colored center that most people want. "They cut the top and bottom of it off because nobody really wants it," Heymann says. "So we bought all this throwaway stone. It's fabulous. It's got great color and it is relatively inexpensive.""
Memory Hole Update
"As they review the bizarre and unpredictable weather pattern of the past several years, a growing number of scientists are beginning to suspect that many seemingly contradictory meteorological fluctuations are actually part of a global climatic upheaval. However widely the weather varies from place to place and time to time, when meteorologists take an average of temperatures around the globe they find that the atmosphere has been growing gradually cooler for the past three decades. The trend shows no indication of reversing. Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age."
Mecca Is As Mecca Does
"There is not one ME majority Muslim nation that doesn't have an Islamic based radical violent minority which is openly tolerated or by a large portion of the remaining population. Sometimes the radicals are dominant as Iran is.
When I first got into Iraq and saw what was going on I gave Islam the benefit of the doubt and attributed what I saw as "just" tribalism and factioning. After some distance and perspective I find that the overriding factor in all of this is Islam as it is practised by the dominant cultures of Islam.
Saudi Arabia is where it starts, where the radical Sunni Wahabbi sect runs the religious show. Where Mecca is. Where Muslims go on Hajj for Eid, a religious holiday. Where no infidels are allowed."
When I first got into Iraq and saw what was going on I gave Islam the benefit of the doubt and attributed what I saw as "just" tribalism and factioning. After some distance and perspective I find that the overriding factor in all of this is Islam as it is practised by the dominant cultures of Islam.
Saudi Arabia is where it starts, where the radical Sunni Wahabbi sect runs the religious show. Where Mecca is. Where Muslims go on Hajj for Eid, a religious holiday. Where no infidels are allowed."
Today's Memory Hole Moment
"I'd like to congratulate Carl Levin for undercutting several of the major Democrat talking points and I'd like to thank Senator Levin for calling for mililtary action against Syria as well as Iraq."
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Old Fogies: Same As They Ever Were...
"Students, be warned: the college of your choice may be watching you, and will more than likely be keeping an eye on you once you enter the hallowed campus gates. America’s institutions of higher education are increasingly monitoring students’ activity online and scrutinizing profiles, not only for illegal behavior, but also for what they deem to be inappropriate speech."
On French Comprehension
"For some reason, people see the union of Hamas and Fatah as some sort of breakthrough in the peace process, but a unity government for the Palestinians only addresses their internal tensions, not their relationship to Israel. Actually, that's not quite true -- it makes the relationship to Israel worse than before. Why some nations want to leap to their checkbooks to reward the Islamist integration into the PA is a question only Douste-Blazy could answer, if he could even comprehend the question."
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