Jennie Taliaferro has some interesting stuff about Protests in Arabia. Apparently that shocking business of the fire in the girls school resulted in serious protests, the details of which were kept secret. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
This is a Comment I wrote to an interesting discussion at NZ Bear.. Due to a Movable Type upgrade in-progress, it wouldn't post in his comments form:
People seem to be missing one big point here. These dilemmas can't be taken in isolation; any decision ramifies into the future. If a person can escape justice by taking hostages, that almost guarantees that more hostages will be taken in the future! The same goes for combatants hiding among civilians.
It's likely that the care the Israelis have used in the past to avoid civilian casualties created this situation. If Israel had been more ruthless in the past, this scumball sheikh would not have been sitting in a crowded building thinking, "I'm safe, those saps won't touch me here."
And I've heard that Palestinians are now starting to avoid the proximity of terrorist leaders. That's good, that's progress. And it will save lives in the future.
I've read that San Quenten Prison has the policy that if hostages are taken, the guards MUST shoot to kill. That sounds cruel and evil, but is actually the most moral and humane plan--after the first couple of tries, no hostages are ever taken.
I remember the very first airplane hijacking, back in the 60's. (That dates me!) Imagine if we had said NO back then. NO hijackings, this isn't going to happen, not now, not later, even if it means the deaths of everyone on that plane. Think of the suffering and deaths and trillions of dollars in expense the world would have been spared. Our oh-so-moral decision to let that one nut hijack a plane to Cuba was an encitement to terrorism that has afflicted the world ever since.
NZB had posed the situation of a Hamas leader who is cornered, and holding a child as a shield. The best situation morally (and yes I know it's presumptuous of me to pontificate when I don't have to make the choices) is for the Israel government to have an announced policy that in such situations soldiers must shoot, in order to prevent such situations from happening again.
Today's Paul Krugman column "The Private Interest" (07/26/02) meanders from the folly of Social Security privatization, to the sorry condition of 401(k) accounts, to the weak stock market, to Bush malfeasance in Texas, and then, returns to the folly of Social Security privatization. Along the way and at every point he distorts and misleads to the maximum. The only thing he got right is that Americans are becoming less and less dependent on Social Security for their retirement. Two economists, Alan Gustman and John Steinmeier, have studied this transition exhaustively and found that even for the cohort born between 1931 and 1941, i.e., the one retiring now, wealth at retirement is only about 35% dependent on Social Security. Later cohorts will be progressively less dependent. SeeSquad report #21 for details on this and other Krugman distortions on Social Security.
What this means is that Social Security is fast becoming irrelevant to most Americans and will soon be an appendage of the social welfare system. If Social Security is ever "privatized" it will be precisely because it no longer matters much. Of course, Kommissar Krugman is using the weak stock market to blast every capitalist institution in sight including the growth of private retirement plans. One can almost hear him lament (between the lines) "if only the government were in charge of 401(k) accounts." All those who are as bearish and pessimistic as Krugman things are bleak indeed. However, for the optimistic side, see Squad Report #7
But all of this hyperventilating over retirement issues is really just a lead-in to Krugman's main topic of smearing President Bush again over "Texas malfeasance" during his years as governor and before. As we learned in the Harken Energy and Texas Rangers smear jobs, there is always another side to these ravings that is perfectly reasonable. In the case of today's smear concerning Utimco, the management company created to invest the endowment of the University of Texas, William H. Cunningham of the Austin American-Statesman has competently stated the other side. [ I've posted a copy HERE. John W.]
We under estimated the virulence of Krugman's venom in the Harken matter. He stirred up quite a fury in the liberal media. Maybe he can do the same with Utimco. We can only hope that that his M.O. is getting as boring to the mainstream press as it is to us.
Dave Trowbridge was in town, and stopped by for dinner. Surrounded as we are by children and pets, it's a treat to talk to a witty adult. After we opened the second bottle, we were especially witty. I've forgotten most of it, but the enormous value and rarity of Aluminum when it was first discovered was discussed, and then Aluminum toilets, and then how Mozart used to make music by rubbing his finger on the rim of an Aluminum toilet...
Charlene is on an Atkins Diet, and Dave has just started one. We had fun feeding him some favorite low-carb treats. Daughter Betsy made vanilla cream for desert, and I cooked some Cauliflower with Parmesan Cheese, which I utterly adore. It goes like this: Whack up your Cauliflower and steam it. Take it off the heat while it's still quite crunchy, and drain. Then pour a big dollop of Olive Oil into the pot, maybe half a cup or more, and 6 or 8 chopped cloves of garlic, and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat high 'till it's good and hot, and the garlic is turning brown. Return the Cauliflower to the pot, and stir it around and let it sizzle for a while. Then add a cup or so of grated Parmesan Cheese. The cheese should cover everything in a cheesy goo, and some of it should stick to the pan in a crusty brown layer. Then scrape everything out into your serving dish.
i recommend Dave's weblog. He's made himself an intersection of various strains of bloggiting; tech, Christian, S-F, literature...without falling into any niche himself.
Dave's also a dog person, and is very fond of our Rex. Me, I'm a little less fond just now, because the leftover roast pork was put in the kitchen, and never seen alive again... But in most respects Rex is the splendid dog of the world, and will probably frighten any potential burglars. (Unless they are familiar with Great Danes -- then they'll just walk right in, and Rex will give them a kiss.) Here's Rex, begging for his favorite game of pull on the rope-toy
LONDON, July 23 -- Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams, an outspoken liberal who has been a sharp critic of U.S. foreign policy and American corporations, was chosen today to be the next archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion...
Oh super. Just what the church needs, another bearded leftie to preach The Gospel According to Saint Noam. There's nothing like a fresh point of view and some new ideas to get the Millennium started off well.
...He has called the U.S.-led war on terrorism "morally tainted," charging that U.S. forces used "random killing" of Afghan civilians "as a matter of military policy."
It's not random, it's aimed; Tommy Franks throws darts at a map in the Pentagon.
...It is just possible to deplore civilian casualties and retain moral credibility when an action is clearly focused and its goals are on the way to evident achievement," Williams wrote in January... Of course the real way to retain moral credibility is to be a terrorist who targets Christians or Jews. You can be sure Williams won't spend a lot of energy protesting those civilian casualties. ..."It is not possible when the strategy appears confused and political leaders talk about a war that may last for years...
Of course it's going to last for years, you twit, we are fighting against people who hide for years until they are ready to strike. Hide among civilians. We could finish this off fast if we were willing to kill millions of civilians when we suspect that terrorists are hiding among them. Would that make you happy, Mr MoralCredibility??
...An attack on Iraq, Williams has said, would be "immoral and illegal" unless authorized in advance by the United Nations....
An organization with Syria on its Security Council can confer morality and legality. Right. Sure. Whereas the US stopping a maniac who has made no secret of his desire to use nuclear weapons on civilians has no moral appeal for Archbishop MoralHighGround. Ending a totalitarian regime that uses poison gas on its own population is immoral says Archbishop OozingMoralityFromEveryPore. He probably would counsel Saddam to murder his people more discretely so as not to blur the shining moral clarity of his brave Archepiscopal stand against the US. (I haven't heard what he says about Israel, but if he doesn't come up with some Anti-Semitism thinly disguised as morally lofty Anti-Zionism, I'll eat my hat.)
...Williams has also been a harsh critic of "consumerism" driven by advertising, particularly ads aimed at children. In a forthcoming book serialized in the Times of London starting today, Williams charges that corporations, including the Walt Disney Co., are exploiting children...
I'm no fan of Disney, BUT, when corporations do their thing, we worry about children being overweight. When Archbishop Laudable's leftizoid revolutionary pals manage to eliminate evil consumerism, we worry about children starving. Or being taught to strap on dynamite and kill people. You know, civilians. You gonna go on any hunger strikes against that little problem, Archbishop Gandhi?? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Paul Krugman's short vacation apparently was too short to clear his head. In "Living with Bears" (07/23/02) he once again tries to connect those invisible dots from a weak stock market to an economic doomsday. And he does so with all the anger and bitterness we have come to expect. The column begins in classic Krugman fashion by picking on a cripple–namely James Glassman, the poor bloke who wrote "Dow 36,000" a few years ago. After ridiculing Glassman for missing the market by about 400% he moves forward with a cheap shot at Treasury secretary O'Neill by pretending to forget his name.
What has Krugman angry is the attempt, as he sees it, by government officials to "talk up the market by extolling the economy's fundamental strength." He proceeds as if disposing of Glassman's folly has somehow given him the "gravitas" to take on Chairman Greenspan for his up beat congressional testimonies about overall economic strength. Other than exposing Krugman's own insecurities, we don’t see any connection.
Among the howlers in this column are claims that 1) stocks are overvalued compared with earnings (they are not), 2) the federal budget outlook has worsened to the point we are looking at a decade of deficits (the OMB projection has not changed) and 3) the Bush administration is utterly inflexible (look who's talking!) in dealing with economic problems. But the best of all is when he says in one paragraph that "this is no time for fiscal austerity" and that the "federal government should be pumping more money into the economy than it is", and then in the next paragraph he says that future tax cuts should be put on hold to restore our long-term fiscal position.
Are all liberal economists this nuts? Absolutely not! Alan Blinder, former Vice-Chairman of the Federal Reserve, ardent Democrat and now Krugman’s colleague at Princeton University, wrote a very sensible article on this exact topic in the NY Times last Sunday entitled Stocks Are Only Part of the Story. We recommend it to one and all.
As a person who likes moss, I found this story, Mossy Space Spirals, interesting. Fire Moss spores, grown for 2 weeks aboard the Space Shuttle, grew in a spiral rather than the normal messy clumps.
...Typically, when a gravitropic plant is sent into space, it gets confused; it grows in a disoriented way. These odd spirals, Sack says, mark the first time in space that a plant normally oriented by gravity has grown in a non-random pattern ... No one knows exactly how plants sense gravity...
By the way, many people think mosses are a form of rot, like fungi or bacteria. Not so at all, they are plants. If moss is growing on your roof, it does NOT mean that your roof is rotting. Nor do they have harmful or invasive roots. And if tradesmen come by and offer to save your roof from these terrible mosses, it's unnecessary, and will likely do harm.
While on the subject of moss, I can hardly forebear to recommend Moss Gardening, by George Schenck.
...It happens that I garden each year in several countries, a fact I believe I must bring in, in order to clear up what might otherwise be a mystery in these pages, where I speak of moss and lichen gardens of mine as being located in various places about the world, in all of which I am apparently present as designer, gardener, and reporter. Actually, that is just the way it is. I visit old friends who live in the vicinities of Seattle and Vancouver, Auckland and Manila, and on the properties of these amiable people I garden for entertainment and education, and for the enjoyment of everyone concerned. I stop at one place for a few months and then go on to the next in an itinerary that I have repeated year after year since the late 1970s, when I retired from my landscaping and nursery business and sold my Seattle-area property.
My gardening with mosses, lichens, and all, in far-flung places, has led me to the discovery of a geographical ease in the hobby: Wherever you live, the plants that you have at hand, native to the property or nearby, are among the best of kinds for your garden. So if you do not have the species I write about, there is no problem. You will almost certainly find others just as valuable. Chances are, however, that you will turn up close at hand, say, within 25 feet or 25 miles, a number of the primitive plants included in this book. Many of the species or genera that are of proven usefulness in gardening range throughout much of the world. These are the ones that have earned mention for their availability as well as their value...
You don't even have to be a gardener to enjoy George Schenk's books; reading them is like spending an afternoon with an old friend who knows how to enjoy life...Nor do you need to be a moss gardener to enjoy mosses (and other moss-like cryptogams). There are moss forests all around you, unless you live in a desert. Keep your eyes peeled and you will see them. Peer closely and enjoy their fascinating shapes and colors... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I read some interesting musings by Dean Esmay on the current state of American politics...
...Here's a certain unpleasant truth for most hard-core partisans to swallow: neither party has a lock on most American voters--not women, not men, not the poor, not the middle class, and certainly not "the rich." That's especially hard for certain old-school Democrats, who seem to think it's still 1964 and that they have a natural right to own 2/3rds of the country's elected offices, and that Republicans have "fooled" people into voting for them with "wedge issues" and "emotion" instead of ideas--having failed to notice that Republican ideas have dominated American political discourse for more than a decade now.
It's almost as hard for certain Republicans to admit that their gains over the last generation aren't a rising tide that will continue forever. Good thing too; Republicans would probably do just as much damage if they became as fat, arogant, and convinced of their own moral superiority as Democrats did. It took us 20 years to recover from Lyndon Johnson's massive domestic policy mistakes--the War On Poverty hurt America a lot more than the War in Vietnam--and I'd rather not go through a similar Republican-style onslaught, thank you. Neither, I think, would most voters...
Bill Quick linked to an article on the up-coming "Earth Summit," whatever that might be. It was mostly the usual malarky of poor countries demanding dough from rich countries. But they were also demanding trade. That's a good sign. But this really caught my eye:
...The statement slammed protectionist tariffs imposed by Western nations on textiles and agricultural products - industries in which poor countries would otherwise have a competitive advantage due to low production costs.
European Union Development Commissioner Poul Nielson said on Saturday that failure by rich nations to commit to a clear plan to provide water, sanitation and electricity to the poor and set environmental targets would mean poorer countries would be unlikely to play ball in global trade talks launched last year. - Nampa-Reuters
play ball ... play ball in global trade talks...Does this mean what I think it means?? You Third-Worldians drop this ridiculous demand that we open our protected and cosseted markets to your products; and in return we will bribe you with infrastructure projects that will benefit your corrupt ruling elites while bringing you little closer to economic health and (perish the thought) competitiveness... EU, you stink. And alas, our government is not much better. How does that prayer go? Let not the hope of the poor be destroyed...Do you say that one in your church, Mr Bush?
Dawson has just posted "Palestinians" Said NO to Peace 8 Times in the Last 65 Years . Well, you knew that, but it's good to put it down in black and white. Actually they say No to peace in a thousand little ways every day. And any of them who want to say Yes probably fear for their lives and keep quiet.
Then scroll down for a good joke about the Giant Rat of Haifa (Any relation to the Giant Rat of Sumatra?), & some reasons to like James Traficant.... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
More on Iran, since I'm in the mood... Hoder (Hossein Derakhshan ) has these two posts on Editor: Myself (Good name for a blog, that.)
GOOGLE LAUNCHED FARSI VERSION Google has finally launched it's much anticipated Persian interface.
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I AM IN TEHRAN NOW. This is so hot here in Tehran. I had no trouble entering the country and I'm hoping the same when exiting. Yesterday was a anti-American demonstration. Although we all know these kind of demonstrations and people who participate in these kind of stuff. Most of them are govenrment staff who are forced to come, or they are gonna have problems. Even some of them are brought down to Tehran from other cities. So nobody should take these things seriousely. Iranians love Americans and their life-style, you just have to come here to see it...
