Yes, have been for the past week, doing all sorts of interesting things. Including dining at a hotel and watching a marriage reception. On November 8...
Then it got MORE INTERESTING.
This is terrible but not unexpected. Jordan has for a long time been a seeker of peace and tolerance in the middle east. That makes us a target, and many attempts have been foiled.
This is typical of our loser enemies, blowing up happy wedding parties. Big heroes.
Jordanians, like the people of the U. S., Australia, and other targets, are stronger of heart than the small and evil men who hate the human love of peace and liberty. They will survive and triumph over the enemies of civilisation.
More later.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Cindy Sheehan Alert!
Today I rode the train from the terminal of the Atlanta airport out to my gate. Standing on one side of me in the train was a USMC Lieutenant Colonel, and on the other side was La Sheehan. YES, it was her, ankle tattoo confirms identification.
No entourage, no press, no nothing. Looks like the 15 minutes are over.
I have always said that I'm in no position to judge how another should react to the loss of a child. I consider that she was driven crazy (crazier?) with grief, at least I hope that she did what she did out of madness rather than ego.
She did just look tired and pathetic. I hope that she can find peace, she is still a gold star mother.
The Marine officer didn't recognise her, and was amazed when I told him after she got off the train.
I LOVE travelling with a tv-be-gone, I can turn CNN off at will.
Now I travel onward, to the world of sand and camels.
No entourage, no press, no nothing. Looks like the 15 minutes are over.
I have always said that I'm in no position to judge how another should react to the loss of a child. I consider that she was driven crazy (crazier?) with grief, at least I hope that she did what she did out of madness rather than ego.
She did just look tired and pathetic. I hope that she can find peace, she is still a gold star mother.
The Marine officer didn't recognise her, and was amazed when I told him after she got off the train.
I LOVE travelling with a tv-be-gone, I can turn CNN off at will.
Now I travel onward, to the world of sand and camels.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Kill a cow business idea????
If the lobster tank just isn't doing it for you any more...
Please CLICK HERE for the article I’m offering to your attention.
My favourite line? "...the three cows he bought at auction are females."
My favourite line? "...the three cows he bought at auction are females."
Monday, October 17, 2005
An interesting young man from Memphis...
Have a look at LeShaun Fosset.
"My point is that you don't have to go to a rally in Washington, DC to realize simple and common sense: take care of your family, be a responsible citizen, don't allow crime to exist in your community, put God in you life, etc. These are core values. No one should have to tell you how to do that, nor should you get a standing ovation and a pat on the back if you are already doing it. "
"Print this out and use it to kill vegetarians. If only there were something you could print out that would kill hippies…"
Please CLICK HERE for the article I’m offering to your attention.
"My point is that you don't have to go to a rally in Washington, DC to realize simple and common sense: take care of your family, be a responsible citizen, don't allow crime to exist in your community, put God in you life, etc. These are core values. No one should have to tell you how to do that, nor should you get a standing ovation and a pat on the back if you are already doing it. "
"Print this out and use it to kill vegetarians. If only there were something you could print out that would kill hippies…"
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Monday, October 10, 2005
Vice President is delusional...
Fortunately former V. P. Gore, who recently cried about the dumb citizens not wanting to take their orders from the experts any more. My favourite snippet-
"...Dan Rather - who was, of course, forced out of his anchor job after angering the White House - ..."
This ideologue can't even admit the most obvious truth if it does not help his cause. Here's the whole crazy thing-
Please CLICK HERE for the article I’m offering to your attention.
"...Dan Rather - who was, of course, forced out of his anchor job after angering the White House - ..."
This ideologue can't even admit the most obvious truth if it does not help his cause. Here's the whole crazy thing-
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Horny Jihadis...
I figured it out. Fighting terrorism is like fighting horniness.
Millions of people have one goal. They don't have a command structure, or uniforms, or identification. They all have their own plans and schemes and specific details, but they share a generalgoal. Some are TOTALLY DEDICATED, some just want it a lot, some are just willing. Some are obvious, some invisible, some clumsy, some incredibly skilled. Their targets may or may not be aware that they are in play.
And eventually, some of them will get through.
Millions of people have one goal. They don't have a command structure, or uniforms, or identification. They all have their own plans and schemes and specific details, but they share a generalgoal. Some are TOTALLY DEDICATED, some just want it a lot, some are just willing. Some are obvious, some invisible, some clumsy, some incredibly skilled. Their targets may or may not be aware that they are in play.
And eventually, some of them will get through.
Just in case I needed to prove it...
empnipnesiuotsihboasdplconaaasbahrrskeigegcljodnurxteiroeofdtwthgl
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Our President is a DEMOCRAT...
I've known it for a long time, but I've rationalised that he's not as bad as some of them. And he's not, but he's a Democrat even so. If you disagree, please corect me by naming anything he has done to ADVANCE a Republican policy. Not whinging about abortion or homosexual marriage or flag burning, but real things that matter and are within the constitutional responsibility of his office. Policies that Coolidge, McKinley, Washington, or even Cleveland- a Democrat- would have advocated. Here are some examples of how he has actively damaged those policies.
National defense- he has embroiled us in a war with only the vaguest and most unlikely connection with the safety of this country. If Saddam had to go, fine, that took a month and could have been done in an hour with tomahawks. Now we are jammed up against the tar baby of "fostering democracy" among barbarians. And he can't even do that right, by imposing religious and woman's freedom on the Iraqi constitution.
And not only does he refuse to defend our borders against ununiformed invaders, he coddles their masters and seeks ways to give the invaders votes!
Sound money- HA. He may snooze when it comes to military safety, but he's breaking a sweat every day to destroy the currency. Not just in the stupid war, but with bailing out the airlines after September 11 and all this hurricane nonsense to cite two more huge examples. He has presided over the pissing away- there is no other term- of a minimum of TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS on just these projects. On CREDIT, money that will be found in a printing press. Creating that money and inserting it into the economy will cut the value of our savings, and raise our prices, by half within five years.
Limiting government- What a joke. Just to pick one, his "bold" soviet security "reform" plan was- keep taking our money, but let us decide (among government approved and guaranteed choices) where they would keep three percent of it. Talk about not swinging for the fences, this wuss won't even pick up the bat.
Personal liberty- he hasn't screwed us so much there. Though he made it clear he would if congress renewed the "assault rifle" ban. And when the Swift Boat Veterans dared to speak, he told them to shut up.
But still I rationalised. He wasn't as bad as the other Democratic prospects, and he will at least appoint good conservative judges. Well the last 6 weeks have blown that theory. Lyndon Jr. could have put P. J. O'Rourke and Ann Coulter on the Supreme court, but we have this. At the very best, two mysteries.
His apologists say "trust him", fie. What has he done to earn that trust?
I invite examples of Republican policies advanced by President Bush.
National defense- he has embroiled us in a war with only the vaguest and most unlikely connection with the safety of this country. If Saddam had to go, fine, that took a month and could have been done in an hour with tomahawks. Now we are jammed up against the tar baby of "fostering democracy" among barbarians. And he can't even do that right, by imposing religious and woman's freedom on the Iraqi constitution.
And not only does he refuse to defend our borders against ununiformed invaders, he coddles their masters and seeks ways to give the invaders votes!
Sound money- HA. He may snooze when it comes to military safety, but he's breaking a sweat every day to destroy the currency. Not just in the stupid war, but with bailing out the airlines after September 11 and all this hurricane nonsense to cite two more huge examples. He has presided over the pissing away- there is no other term- of a minimum of TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS on just these projects. On CREDIT, money that will be found in a printing press. Creating that money and inserting it into the economy will cut the value of our savings, and raise our prices, by half within five years.
Limiting government- What a joke. Just to pick one, his "bold" soviet security "reform" plan was- keep taking our money, but let us decide (among government approved and guaranteed choices) where they would keep three percent of it. Talk about not swinging for the fences, this wuss won't even pick up the bat.
Personal liberty- he hasn't screwed us so much there. Though he made it clear he would if congress renewed the "assault rifle" ban. And when the Swift Boat Veterans dared to speak, he told them to shut up.
But still I rationalised. He wasn't as bad as the other Democratic prospects, and he will at least appoint good conservative judges. Well the last 6 weeks have blown that theory. Lyndon Jr. could have put P. J. O'Rourke and Ann Coulter on the Supreme court, but we have this. At the very best, two mysteries.
His apologists say "trust him", fie. What has he done to earn that trust?
I invite examples of Republican policies advanced by President Bush.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Is our President a liar, or stupid, or are we?
I refer to this Supreme Court nonsense. This seems to be what he wants us to think goes on...
" I have to do a lot of stuff! The war, signing or vetoing bills, eating odd food at state dinners. Hmm, what else do I do, there's living in this big house, those secret service people ..."
"Mr. President, Justice O'Connor just retired."
"Oh, yeah, APPOINTING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES. I forgot all about that one! I need to get busy, does anyone know a good judge? "
A few weeks pass...
"Mr. President, Chief Justice Rhenquist just died."
"Whoa! I have to do it AGAIN, who could have seen that coming? I need to start assembling possibilities. Wish I hadn't thrown away the list from last month. Guess we'll have to start over again from scratch. Because I'm SURE the prospects have really changed in THREE WEEKS."
What nonsense. Every president knows EXACTLY whom he intends to appoint to the first, second, and probably fifteenth Supreme Court vacancy. Presidents DREAM about making those appointments like assembly line workers dream of winning the lottery.
You, dear random reader, probably know whom you'd pick for the Supreme Court, too, or for the Academy Award for best picture. You DEFINITELY know whom you'd take away for a naughty week end given your choice. You KNOW you won't get to make those selections, but you still have a plan. So does everyone else with half a brain, it's essential human behaviour.
This "short list" and "consultation" stuff is insulting. I wouldn't WANT a President who didn't know whom he'd appoint. And, not to belabour the point, even if that is the process, THEY JUST DID IT. Judge Roberts was first on the list, there was a number two, you know who it was, just say the name. Forsooth...
" I have to do a lot of stuff! The war, signing or vetoing bills, eating odd food at state dinners. Hmm, what else do I do, there's living in this big house, those secret service people ..."
"Mr. President, Justice O'Connor just retired."
"Oh, yeah, APPOINTING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES. I forgot all about that one! I need to get busy, does anyone know a good judge? "
A few weeks pass...
"Mr. President, Chief Justice Rhenquist just died."
"Whoa! I have to do it AGAIN, who could have seen that coming? I need to start assembling possibilities. Wish I hadn't thrown away the list from last month. Guess we'll have to start over again from scratch. Because I'm SURE the prospects have really changed in THREE WEEKS."
What nonsense. Every president knows EXACTLY whom he intends to appoint to the first, second, and probably fifteenth Supreme Court vacancy. Presidents DREAM about making those appointments like assembly line workers dream of winning the lottery.
You, dear random reader, probably know whom you'd pick for the Supreme Court, too, or for the Academy Award for best picture. You DEFINITELY know whom you'd take away for a naughty week end given your choice. You KNOW you won't get to make those selections, but you still have a plan. So does everyone else with half a brain, it's essential human behaviour.
This "short list" and "consultation" stuff is insulting. I wouldn't WANT a President who didn't know whom he'd appoint. And, not to belabour the point, even if that is the process, THEY JUST DID IT. Judge Roberts was first on the list, there was a number two, you know who it was, just say the name. Forsooth...
Friday, September 30, 2005
We love the commisionwhore...
Once again, a traitor to the republic is revealed. And when this snake's corruption becomes public knowledge, what do his fellow politicians do? Do they denounce his crime, or distance themselves? Nooo, not in Tennessee- here, they make sure that the voters know that their sympathy and identification are with the thief, not the violated citizens. Why else would the arrest of a corrupt commissioner be a black mark/eye for the whole commission?
"When something like this happens, it is a black eye for the entire commission." No, doofus, it's a crime against your constituents. I wish you felt it was a black mark against the commission that parts of Hamilton County are free zones for burglars and thieves, or that the schools you run refuse to educate or even control their inmates.
Where is the commissioner who will say, " It's no reflection on me, it's a reflection on the criminal. I oppose theft and betrayal of the public trust. If Mr. Cotton did these things, he is a disgrace and should be hounded from public life after he returns from his insufficienty long prison sentence. Corruption should be rooted out wherever it is found, and I will do anything I can do to help that happen. The highest standards are the only thing that will do when it comes to the trust of our citizens."
Please CLICK HERE for the article I’m offering for your attention.
Also, if one can't trust one's bag man...
Please CLICK HERE for the article I’m offering for your attention.
"When something like this happens, it is a black eye for the entire commission." No, doofus, it's a crime against your constituents. I wish you felt it was a black mark against the commission that parts of Hamilton County are free zones for burglars and thieves, or that the schools you run refuse to educate or even control their inmates.
Where is the commissioner who will say, " It's no reflection on me, it's a reflection on the criminal. I oppose theft and betrayal of the public trust. If Mr. Cotton did these things, he is a disgrace and should be hounded from public life after he returns from his insufficienty long prison sentence. Corruption should be rooted out wherever it is found, and I will do anything I can do to help that happen. The highest standards are the only thing that will do when it comes to the trust of our citizens."
Also, if one can't trust one's bag man...
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Guilt and a dilemma...
Orright, do please follow along.
A state representative, from my town, started a blog. I believe he was the first legislator, or among the first, to do this. I was impressed not only with his sense, but with his willingness to confront and expose the foully corrupt practices he found in Nashville. I link to him on the sidebar. He, for some unknown reason, links to me. Kindness and pity come to mind.
During the post Katrina stuff, I read a very impressive piece by a Jamaican ( I grew up in the W. I.) columnist in which he suggested that crying racism to justify theft and worse was both dishonest and insulting to decent black citizens, and that black citizens might do better to strive to provide a good example rather than whinge and riot. I posted a quote from Mr. Levy's column as a teaser.
I reckoned without the stupidity and Pavlovian indoctrination of the left, for whom ANY discussion of racial matters beyond "Look at what the blue eyed devils have done to the poor innocent noble (insert victim group)" is absolutely taboo. Some of these defenders of tolerance read the posted part of the Levy piece and leaped to the conclusion they have been trained to see and so much wanted to believe.
Doubleplusungood thoughtcrime!
I discovered this when I saw comments on Rep. Campfield's blog denouncing him for linking to me. I truly didn't, and don't, see bigotry in Mr. Levy's thoughts or in my own. I believe, as he seems to, that we ought to expect, white and black, the best from ourselves and our neighbors. That justifying evil relieves the evil doers, and degrades those who share their colour by suggesting that they are mere objects whose behaviour is dictated by others rather than by their own decisions.
Now I see that in response to these bigoted jackass shouters, Rep. Campfield has found it necessary to disable comments on his blog. The protectors of free speech- at least when it's "Bush is a motherfucker"- have managed to silence hundreds of people. Many of them disagreed with Rep. Campfield and used the comments to challenge and teach a legislator who wanted to stay in touch with the people he represents.
Nice going, petty tyrants. I feel badly that my blog led to this, but not very. The left behaves as though the way to deal with disagreement is to silence it. I just happened to be the catalyst. I do feel sorry for the people of Tennessee, who have been deprived of a direct conduit to a part of their government.
My dilemma is this. Since quoting Mr. Levy makes me a "racist", should I remove the links to other blogs to prevent them being tarred by the same brush? I still believe the linked bloggers have something to offer, and so I want to give them publicity for what that is worth.
So, to my tiny blog roll, I'll take you off if you like. And for those who link to me, feel free to take me off as well if the assault of the civil liberty advocates bothers you.
A state representative, from my town, started a blog. I believe he was the first legislator, or among the first, to do this. I was impressed not only with his sense, but with his willingness to confront and expose the foully corrupt practices he found in Nashville. I link to him on the sidebar. He, for some unknown reason, links to me. Kindness and pity come to mind.
During the post Katrina stuff, I read a very impressive piece by a Jamaican ( I grew up in the W. I.) columnist in which he suggested that crying racism to justify theft and worse was both dishonest and insulting to decent black citizens, and that black citizens might do better to strive to provide a good example rather than whinge and riot. I posted a quote from Mr. Levy's column as a teaser.
I reckoned without the stupidity and Pavlovian indoctrination of the left, for whom ANY discussion of racial matters beyond "Look at what the blue eyed devils have done to the poor innocent noble (insert victim group)" is absolutely taboo. Some of these defenders of tolerance read the posted part of the Levy piece and leaped to the conclusion they have been trained to see and so much wanted to believe.
Doubleplusungood thoughtcrime!
I discovered this when I saw comments on Rep. Campfield's blog denouncing him for linking to me. I truly didn't, and don't, see bigotry in Mr. Levy's thoughts or in my own. I believe, as he seems to, that we ought to expect, white and black, the best from ourselves and our neighbors. That justifying evil relieves the evil doers, and degrades those who share their colour by suggesting that they are mere objects whose behaviour is dictated by others rather than by their own decisions.
Now I see that in response to these bigoted jackass shouters, Rep. Campfield has found it necessary to disable comments on his blog. The protectors of free speech- at least when it's "Bush is a motherfucker"- have managed to silence hundreds of people. Many of them disagreed with Rep. Campfield and used the comments to challenge and teach a legislator who wanted to stay in touch with the people he represents.
Nice going, petty tyrants. I feel badly that my blog led to this, but not very. The left behaves as though the way to deal with disagreement is to silence it. I just happened to be the catalyst. I do feel sorry for the people of Tennessee, who have been deprived of a direct conduit to a part of their government.
My dilemma is this. Since quoting Mr. Levy makes me a "racist", should I remove the links to other blogs to prevent them being tarred by the same brush? I still believe the linked bloggers have something to offer, and so I want to give them publicity for what that is worth.
So, to my tiny blog roll, I'll take you off if you like. And for those who link to me, feel free to take me off as well if the assault of the civil liberty advocates bothers you.
"If you have to write it on your ass...
Lefties, click on the link to see what I'm suggesting you read.
Monday, September 26, 2005
I am a racist...
Or have been given that title by several readers in response to my September 13 post. It seems that quoting from, and linking to, a column written by a BLACK MAN in a BLACK owned and BLACK edited newspaper in a BLACK GOVERNED and BLACK POPULATED country qualifies me. I consider this a compliment, even though it comes from people who believe that name calling is a correct response to one who presents the opinion of a BLACK MAN.
A man who dares to reject and denounce predators and parasites, even of his own race. Can't have the darkies forming their own opinions on massas Jackson, Rangel, and Dowd's plantation. Take your welfare check and shut up is the standard for the left..
Or is the response directed at my having the audacity to suggest that U. S. media are so self censored and terrified of "the R word" that they fear airing such an opinion? To notice that the heroes of free speech have all agreed that the opinions of millions of BLACK PEOPLE are an unsayable heresy?
"The emperor is fully dressed, you RACIST." Q. e. d.
I decided long ago to stop keeping the black man down. It was just too much trouble, all those meetings and memos. And one really does try to avoid exposure to those who wear percale sheets, forsooth.
A man who dares to reject and denounce predators and parasites, even of his own race. Can't have the darkies forming their own opinions on massas Jackson, Rangel, and Dowd's plantation. Take your welfare check and shut up is the standard for the left..
Or is the response directed at my having the audacity to suggest that U. S. media are so self censored and terrified of "the R word" that they fear airing such an opinion? To notice that the heroes of free speech have all agreed that the opinions of millions of BLACK PEOPLE are an unsayable heresy?
"The emperor is fully dressed, you RACIST." Q. e. d.
I decided long ago to stop keeping the black man down. It was just too much trouble, all those meetings and memos. And one really does try to avoid exposure to those who wear percale sheets, forsooth.
Friday, September 16, 2005
SSSSSEPTEMBERRRR!!!!!!!!
Yes, finally! Watch out, coyotes, foxes, boars, and gurt big STAGGGS!
It's about time.
It's about time.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
No black American would DARE
say this publicly, and no American medium would air it. Even though millions of Americans, white and black, are thinking it.
"Desperation? Yeah, right. I am beginning to believe that black people, no matter where in the world they are, are cursed with a genetic predisposition to steal, murder, and create mayhem."
Shocking truth and expecting more- how dare he!
For the stupid and lazy, here are directions- CLICK ON THE LINK TO READ THE SOURCE OF THE QUOTE BEFORE YOU CALL ME A "RACIST", whatever you imagine that term means. It's his opinion, not mine.
"Desperation? Yeah, right. I am beginning to believe that black people, no matter where in the world they are, are cursed with a genetic predisposition to steal, murder, and create mayhem."
For the stupid and lazy, here are directions- CLICK ON THE LINK TO READ THE SOURCE OF THE QUOTE BEFORE YOU CALL ME A "RACIST", whatever you imagine that term means. It's his opinion, not mine.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Sexual harassment comes first...
Thousands of first responders have travelled to the gulf in response to appeals for help. (THANK YOU)
If you're the U. S. government, and trained, experienced, professional life savers arrive to help in a disaster, what do you do with them? Give them a fire truck? Put them to work in triage? Get them to filling sandbags?
No, fool. Two full time, tactical medicine trained firemen from Indiana travelled to help.
Their "first task was an eight-hour course on sexual harassment and equal opportunity employment procedures..."
There were 700 trained firefighters in that class. that comes to FIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED HOURS of trained, experienced expert rescuer time destroyed for NOTHING. How many lives did that cost, diversicrats?
http://www.nbc5.com/news/4946511/detail.html
If you're the U. S. government, and trained, experienced, professional life savers arrive to help in a disaster, what do you do with them? Give them a fire truck? Put them to work in triage? Get them to filling sandbags?
No, fool. Two full time, tactical medicine trained firemen from Indiana travelled to help.
Their "first task was an eight-hour course on sexual harassment and equal opportunity employment procedures..."
There were 700 trained firefighters in that class. that comes to FIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED HOURS of trained, experienced expert rescuer time destroyed for NOTHING. How many lives did that cost, diversicrats?
http://www.nbc5.com/news/4946511/detail.html
9-11 ALLAH AKBAR!
Here's one of the 5 finalist selected for the memorial to the events of September 11, this one not in the hills of Afghanistan but the field where flight 93 and its 3 martyrs to Allah died.
ALLAH AKBAR !!!!!
ALLAH AKBAR !!!!!
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Senator Kennedy said...
"What the American people have seen is this incredible disparity in which those people who had cars and money got out and those people who were impoverished died,"
Now if one just changes "impoverished" to PASSENGERS...
Now if one just changes "impoverished" to PASSENGERS...
Monday, September 05, 2005
Refreshing Katrina response...
A friend in northern Louisiana, bypassed by Katrina, writes:
"One of the evacuees at the resident shelter in the church I am visiting has said, "Please don't send me back to the projects. I grew up there, I was trapped there. When the hurricane came, it wiped out everything I had. Now is MY CHANCE to make a new life. I have a job, I have somewhere for me and my kids to stay while I get some money in the bank. We have a chance to be something now."
Wow. Amazing to think of a tragedy being a way to GET OUT of a bad situation and start anew. Of course some of the N.O. people up here are the thugs and police are having alot of trouble in the Monroe area - esp. the Civic Center where the Red Cross shelter is and the mall. But there are a lot of good N.O. too. As they were saying today, the first two days the families that are staying in the shelters run by the Church arrived, they were exhausted but after that, they have kept their areas neat and tidy, done all the cleaning and cooking, helped out with preparing relief boxes and GOTTEN JOBS. Most that have looked for jobs have been placed, and not at Burger King and Walmart, but decent jobs, some teachers even got jobs in the school system. Amazing when you think of all the layabouts complaing about lack of jobs. "
"One of the evacuees at the resident shelter in the church I am visiting has said, "Please don't send me back to the projects. I grew up there, I was trapped there. When the hurricane came, it wiped out everything I had. Now is MY CHANCE to make a new life. I have a job, I have somewhere for me and my kids to stay while I get some money in the bank. We have a chance to be something now."
Wow. Amazing to think of a tragedy being a way to GET OUT of a bad situation and start anew. Of course some of the N.O. people up here are the thugs and police are having alot of trouble in the Monroe area - esp. the Civic Center where the Red Cross shelter is and the mall. But there are a lot of good N.O. too. As they were saying today, the first two days the families that are staying in the shelters run by the Church arrived, they were exhausted but after that, they have kept their areas neat and tidy, done all the cleaning and cooking, helped out with preparing relief boxes and GOTTEN JOBS. Most that have looked for jobs have been placed, and not at Burger King and Walmart, but decent jobs, some teachers even got jobs in the school system. Amazing when you think of all the layabouts complaing about lack of jobs. "
Sunday, September 04, 2005
It's not looting...
It's just self assigned welfare benefits!
After all, lying around and letting someone else house, feed, clothe, and medicate you IS stealing. What's the difference (for an able person) between taking a welfare check to buy a television, and walking into a store to carry one out? It just bypasses the expense and administrative trouble of the check sending and cashing process.
After all, lying around and letting someone else house, feed, clothe, and medicate you IS stealing. What's the difference (for an able person) between taking a welfare check to buy a television, and walking into a store to carry one out? It just bypasses the expense and administrative trouble of the check sending and cashing process.
There are no poor people in America...
There ARE NO POOR AMERICANS (or poor Britons) except those who seek destitution. Our welfare system provides a sound home, heat, electricity, hot and cold running water, food, medical treatment, education, and spending money. Go to any place in the U. S. or Britain where the "poor" go to receive benefits- there are more fat than thin and they ALL have cellular telephones, and colour televisions at home.
Poor people die young of starvation and disease. Our "poor" die old of diabetes and cancer. Poor people live in dirt floored huts or shantytowns. They get their water from a creek or street tap.
Genuinely poor people- in huts in Madagascar or slums in Lima- DREAM of the Lucullan luxury of a New Orleans housing project.
What we DO have in the U. S. and the rest of the west is a group of people in our society who have been for 3 generations treated like zoo animals. As long as they stay in their zones and vote correctly, their masters provide them with the basics of life without work. They are encouraged to breed by being paid more when they do so, and discouraged from competing by generous guaranteed benefits. If I got my pay check without having to show up, do you think I'd go to work? Do you think I'd keep myself skilled and trained?
The trash in New Orleans know that soon people with degrees and skills will drain the water, turn the power on, clean the streets, and replace the houses provided for them.
So why not tear things up? Why shouldn't the zoo animals run wild when the fence breaks?
Poor people die young of starvation and disease. Our "poor" die old of diabetes and cancer. Poor people live in dirt floored huts or shantytowns. They get their water from a creek or street tap.
Genuinely poor people- in huts in Madagascar or slums in Lima- DREAM of the Lucullan luxury of a New Orleans housing project.
What we DO have in the U. S. and the rest of the west is a group of people in our society who have been for 3 generations treated like zoo animals. As long as they stay in their zones and vote correctly, their masters provide them with the basics of life without work. They are encouraged to breed by being paid more when they do so, and discouraged from competing by generous guaranteed benefits. If I got my pay check without having to show up, do you think I'd go to work? Do you think I'd keep myself skilled and trained?
The trash in New Orleans know that soon people with degrees and skills will drain the water, turn the power on, clean the streets, and replace the houses provided for them.
So why not tear things up? Why shouldn't the zoo animals run wild when the fence breaks?
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Sneers at the unstable Americans...
For those who feel American, or Southern, or New Orleanian culture makes us particularly susceptible to anarchy, I suggest thet you spend one full rainless Saturday- Sunday night, 6 A. M. to 6 A. M,. on any urban British (or wherever you are from) council estate. Just stand on the corner and mind your own business. No fair taking your mobile telephone.
After you have done this, then you can talk. Otherwise, knock it off, idiot.
EVERY big city in Britain, and the U. S., and the rest of the west, has a little New Orleans within it. They operate all the time, even without natural disasters. Places where the cruelest and strongest are the law, where police, law, and morals are just temporary visitors.
The lord of the flies rules somewhere in your town, too.
After you have done this, then you can talk. Otherwise, knock it off, idiot.
EVERY big city in Britain, and the U. S., and the rest of the west, has a little New Orleans within it. They operate all the time, even without natural disasters. Places where the cruelest and strongest are the law, where police, law, and morals are just temporary visitors.
The lord of the flies rules somewhere in your town, too.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Everyone hate me now, no Katrina aid...
I stand by the David Crockett plan when it's a U. S. tsunami, too. Taxpayers should not be forced to give money to the victims of Katrina. Or to any other "charitable" work. It's unconstitutional and immoral.
Here's the whole story, read it before posting heartlessness comments-
David Crockett on government charity.
Here's the whole story, read it before posting heartlessness comments-
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Another word for rape victims...
And those who love them.
I had a very moving experience years ago. I was helping try a really bad home invading serial rapist, and I was in a room with ten of his victims waiting for the trial to start. Some of them had been attacked 2 years earlier, this slug had a long run. All were strangers to each other.
Anyway, as we waited, one of them said, "Maybe after this is over I won't have these dreams any more".
Another one's eyes got wide. "You are having them too?"
Another one, "I dream about it all the time, I thought I was crazy".
Another, "I keep thinking he is in my house when I come home".
I just sat back and listened to them. Each one of them was having normal post traumatic reactions, yet each one thought she was the only one and was losing her mind. Now I tell that story to every rape victim, tell her she isn't crazy and how to get help if she thinks she needs it. Amazing the number who say "How did you know?"
So, if it's happened to you, here are four things to remember:
1. You aren't crazy. Dreams, sleeplessness, fears you know aren't justified, are all perfectly normal. You'd have similar reactions if you were hit by a car.
2. You will blame yourself. DON'T. Sure, you might have done something that made you more of a target, but HE DID IT. It's ABOUT HIM, you aren't any more to blame than the slightly slower gazelle is for being eaten by the lion. If it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. Learn what there is to learn, if you made mistakes don't repeat them, but HE DID IT.
3. If you feel like your reactions are a problem, talk to an expert. Not because you ARE crazy, but because talking to an expert who tells you that you aren't crazy will be a relief. The expert can also provide you with tools and strategies to help you cope. It will not cost you a dime, if you need help finding somebody, email me at staghounds@bellsouth.net and I'll get you started. Doesn't matter where you live or whether you have health insurance.
4. REPORT IT. That is something you can do, and there are two big reasons to. First, rape is all about degrading you, taking away your freedom. When you report it, you stand up and refuse to accept that. Rapists hug themselves at night thinking about all the victims who never said anything, how they have the added guilt of having just taken it. Those memories are like precious jewels to the perverts- take them away.
In the words of a victim whose case I tried, whose rapist was acquitted, "I don't care. I told everybody in that room what he did, and he had to take it, just like I did that night. He stuck his dick in my ass, but he didn't get my pride."
And you know that he will do it again and again. Don't put yourself in the position of rebuking yourself for having let him get away with it. Without exception, every rape victim I've ever dealt with- no matter what the result in court- has said the same thing- if he does it again it's not my fault.
Think about it. If he had stolen your car you would report it, right? Isn't this more important than a car?
I had a very moving experience years ago. I was helping try a really bad home invading serial rapist, and I was in a room with ten of his victims waiting for the trial to start. Some of them had been attacked 2 years earlier, this slug had a long run. All were strangers to each other.
Anyway, as we waited, one of them said, "Maybe after this is over I won't have these dreams any more".
Another one's eyes got wide. "You are having them too?"
Another one, "I dream about it all the time, I thought I was crazy".
Another, "I keep thinking he is in my house when I come home".
I just sat back and listened to them. Each one of them was having normal post traumatic reactions, yet each one thought she was the only one and was losing her mind. Now I tell that story to every rape victim, tell her she isn't crazy and how to get help if she thinks she needs it. Amazing the number who say "How did you know?"
So, if it's happened to you, here are four things to remember:
1. You aren't crazy. Dreams, sleeplessness, fears you know aren't justified, are all perfectly normal. You'd have similar reactions if you were hit by a car.
2. You will blame yourself. DON'T. Sure, you might have done something that made you more of a target, but HE DID IT. It's ABOUT HIM, you aren't any more to blame than the slightly slower gazelle is for being eaten by the lion. If it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. Learn what there is to learn, if you made mistakes don't repeat them, but HE DID IT.
3. If you feel like your reactions are a problem, talk to an expert. Not because you ARE crazy, but because talking to an expert who tells you that you aren't crazy will be a relief. The expert can also provide you with tools and strategies to help you cope. It will not cost you a dime, if you need help finding somebody, email me at staghounds@bellsouth.net and I'll get you started. Doesn't matter where you live or whether you have health insurance.
4. REPORT IT. That is something you can do, and there are two big reasons to. First, rape is all about degrading you, taking away your freedom. When you report it, you stand up and refuse to accept that. Rapists hug themselves at night thinking about all the victims who never said anything, how they have the added guilt of having just taken it. Those memories are like precious jewels to the perverts- take them away.
In the words of a victim whose case I tried, whose rapist was acquitted, "I don't care. I told everybody in that room what he did, and he had to take it, just like I did that night. He stuck his dick in my ass, but he didn't get my pride."
And you know that he will do it again and again. Don't put yourself in the position of rebuking yourself for having let him get away with it. Without exception, every rape victim I've ever dealt with- no matter what the result in court- has said the same thing- if he does it again it's not my fault.
Think about it. If he had stolen your car you would report it, right? Isn't this more important than a car?
Monday, August 29, 2005
There never would have been affirmative action if...
I wonder what would have happened if back in 1960 or so, Lester Maddox and George Wallace had started policies along the lines of,
"The Supreme Court has ordered that our schools may no longer separate negro from white. Since we all know that negroes are inferior, we will now implement programs to insure that negroes are accepted to selective institutions. These programs will create lower standards for admission for negroes, since they are not able to meet the standards white applicants can. We will call the programs 'affirmative action'."
Oh would that they had.
"The Supreme Court has ordered that our schools may no longer separate negro from white. Since we all know that negroes are inferior, we will now implement programs to insure that negroes are accepted to selective institutions. These programs will create lower standards for admission for negroes, since they are not able to meet the standards white applicants can. We will call the programs 'affirmative action'."
Oh would that they had.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Pantry Proof that Marxism can never work...
I have been thinking about Kelo and the one hundred percent error rate of government planning for "developement". Any sensible person knows that professionals in all sorts of businesses are often wrong in their predictions of the future. Why would mayors and aldermen, merely expert ballot whores, do better?
And if there was REALLY a chance that the scheme would turn a profit, you could be sure that the businessmen would want it all to themselves.
Then I thought of an example, a parable in a way, that refutes the very idea of Marxism's, Keynsianism's, and Socialism's basic foundation, economic planning. The next time some goof is going on about things like "it will bring in revenue", or other Soviet planning nonsense, have this conversation.
You- "Let me ask you something. You live within minutes of stores constantly stocked with every sort of household commodity, right?"
Statist- "Yes, I do".
"Have you ever had the experience of going to the pantry or the storage room for something- sugar, toilet paper, anything like that- and finding there was none, that you had forgotten to replenish that item?"
"Yes, everybody has."
"That, my friend, proves that planning can never work. You can't even plan the needs of YOUR OWN HOUSE. You can't keep abreast of the 50 or so things you PERSONALLY use ALL THE TIME. Don't feel stupid, it's universal. If NO ONE can plan HIS OWN needs, how can you expect anyone to ever do even a mildly competent job planning for anyone else?"
And if he does not fall to the ground like Saul on the road to Damascus, make some money. Have him list 10 household items. Then have him plan his year's requirement thereof. Give him a week to do it. Then have him give you the sole copy of the plan, and have him keep a record of what he uses of each item. At the end of a year, compare the actual results against the plan. For each item that he is within an agreed range of the plan, (e. g., within 5 rolls of toilet paper, to avoid gross overbuying), pay him a sum. For those where he was 5+ out, he pays you the same sum.
I'm going to call this the "Pantry Proof".
And if there was REALLY a chance that the scheme would turn a profit, you could be sure that the businessmen would want it all to themselves.
Then I thought of an example, a parable in a way, that refutes the very idea of Marxism's, Keynsianism's, and Socialism's basic foundation, economic planning. The next time some goof is going on about things like "it will bring in revenue", or other Soviet planning nonsense, have this conversation.
You- "Let me ask you something. You live within minutes of stores constantly stocked with every sort of household commodity, right?"
Statist- "Yes, I do".
"Have you ever had the experience of going to the pantry or the storage room for something- sugar, toilet paper, anything like that- and finding there was none, that you had forgotten to replenish that item?"
"Yes, everybody has."
"That, my friend, proves that planning can never work. You can't even plan the needs of YOUR OWN HOUSE. You can't keep abreast of the 50 or so things you PERSONALLY use ALL THE TIME. Don't feel stupid, it's universal. If NO ONE can plan HIS OWN needs, how can you expect anyone to ever do even a mildly competent job planning for anyone else?"
And if he does not fall to the ground like Saul on the road to Damascus, make some money. Have him list 10 household items. Then have him plan his year's requirement thereof. Give him a week to do it. Then have him give you the sole copy of the plan, and have him keep a record of what he uses of each item. At the end of a year, compare the actual results against the plan. For each item that he is within an agreed range of the plan, (e. g., within 5 rolls of toilet paper, to avoid gross overbuying), pay him a sum. For those where he was 5+ out, he pays you the same sum.
I'm going to call this the "Pantry Proof".
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Famous Soldier Test...
Orright, try this on your friends, Americans.
Who are the U. S. A. 's most famous soldiers? I don't mean Generals, and not your great uncle Jim, but famous working soldiers? And why?
War by war, you'll get-
First world war? Sergeant York, maybe Rickenbacker. Killed lots of enemy.
World war II? Audie Murphy. Killed lots of enemy.
Korea? Nobody.
Vietnam? John Kerry. Killed one enemy, threw away medals.
John McCain. Captured, imprisoned a long time.
Iraq?
(No, "that football guy" Tillman was Afghanistan. ) IRAQ.
That's right-
Lynndie England. Naked prisoner on leash.
Jessica Lynch. Captured, tortured after being knocked out in a truck wreck.
And now "that protestor woman's son", Casey Sheehan. His mother is angry.
Should we see a pattern here?
Who are the U. S. A. 's most famous soldiers? I don't mean Generals, and not your great uncle Jim, but famous working soldiers? And why?
War by war, you'll get-
First world war? Sergeant York, maybe Rickenbacker. Killed lots of enemy.
World war II? Audie Murphy. Killed lots of enemy.
Korea? Nobody.
Vietnam? John Kerry. Killed one enemy, threw away medals.
John McCain. Captured, imprisoned a long time.
Iraq?
(No, "that football guy" Tillman was Afghanistan. ) IRAQ.
That's right-
Lynndie England. Naked prisoner on leash.
Jessica Lynch. Captured, tortured after being knocked out in a truck wreck.
And now "that protestor woman's son", Casey Sheehan. His mother is angry.
Should we see a pattern here?
Monday, August 15, 2005
An outrage indeed...
Via some internet character,
"The only time local stations or newspapers cover a local Marine or Soldier is if they die in combat. That is an outrage."
"I did it because I knew no one else would. A lot of others could, but no one else would."
"They have a bachelor's degree in Mass Media or Journalism, possibly the worst education possible outside of a teaching degree."
"I worked in television for four years producing newscasts every day, these reporters are some of the least equipped individuals to be covering important topics that affect people's lives. "
"Twenty years ago, or even ten, it took a huge infrastructure to allow one guy in a safari jacket to report from places like Baghdad and pretend he knew what was going on there. Now it can be a do-it-yourself project. This is probably bad news for terrorism, which is an information warfare operation disguised as a military one, and one that is based on taking advantage of the kind of reporting (hysterical and shallow, for the most part) that traditional mass media tend to do. I suspect that the growth of guerrilla media -- ranging from operations like Faces From the Front, to reporting by freelancers like Michael Yon, to reports from Iraqi bloggers and even emails from soldiers -- has made the terrorists' task tougher, as the reporting is by people who are much closer to what's really going on, and much more closely connected to their audiences."
This is another real journalist, in the Yon and Ernie Pyle mold. Amazing how weak just a couple of good reporters make the whole sorry media establishment look.
http://www.facesfromthefront.com/
"The only time local stations or newspapers cover a local Marine or Soldier is if they die in combat. That is an outrage."
"I did it because I knew no one else would. A lot of others could, but no one else would."
"They have a bachelor's degree in Mass Media or Journalism, possibly the worst education possible outside of a teaching degree."
"I worked in television for four years producing newscasts every day, these reporters are some of the least equipped individuals to be covering important topics that affect people's lives. "
"Twenty years ago, or even ten, it took a huge infrastructure to allow one guy in a safari jacket to report from places like Baghdad and pretend he knew what was going on there. Now it can be a do-it-yourself project. This is probably bad news for terrorism, which is an information warfare operation disguised as a military one, and one that is based on taking advantage of the kind of reporting (hysterical and shallow, for the most part) that traditional mass media tend to do. I suspect that the growth of guerrilla media -- ranging from operations like Faces From the Front, to reporting by freelancers like Michael Yon, to reports from Iraqi bloggers and even emails from soldiers -- has made the terrorists' task tougher, as the reporting is by people who are much closer to what's really going on, and much more closely connected to their audiences."
This is another real journalist, in the Yon and Ernie Pyle mold. Amazing how weak just a couple of good reporters make the whole sorry media establishment look.
http://www.facesfromthefront.com/
A letter for Maureen Dowd...
Maureen Dowd, now that Mrs. Sheehan became a vocal opponent of the war, asserts that
"the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute."
Intrigued by this discovery, I wrote for clarification-
So let me understand, if Harald Quandt had been shot down Magda Goebbels would have then assumed absolute moral authority? Oh wait, only the parents of children killed in Iraq. That's a relief.
Is assumed the right term? Absolute moral authority status must require awareness of the child's death, since only burying the child confers it. (It would be silly to think that a parent could be an absolute moral authority in the interval between the death of the child and notification of the death.) But at what point does the parent become morally absolute? The day of the funeral? A week later? A month?
Or just when she finally gets around to agreeing publicly with Maureen Dowd?
And since parents who bury children killed in Iraq have absolute moral authority, shouldn't we now refer moral questions to them? Can they tell me, for example, if it is stealing for me to take home a blank cd from work to replace one I paid for but used for work purposes, without going through the company reimbursement process for a lousy dime?
And are the parents who bury Iraqi children killed in Iraq also absolute moral authorities, or is this another lefty whites only policy? For example, the parents of jihadis who believe that Ms. Dowd should put on a burqa, stay home, and do as her husband commands?
Just wondering.
"the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute."
Intrigued by this discovery, I wrote for clarification-
So let me understand, if Harald Quandt had been shot down Magda Goebbels would have then assumed absolute moral authority? Oh wait, only the parents of children killed in Iraq. That's a relief.
Is assumed the right term? Absolute moral authority status must require awareness of the child's death, since only burying the child confers it. (It would be silly to think that a parent could be an absolute moral authority in the interval between the death of the child and notification of the death.) But at what point does the parent become morally absolute? The day of the funeral? A week later? A month?
Or just when she finally gets around to agreeing publicly with Maureen Dowd?
And since parents who bury children killed in Iraq have absolute moral authority, shouldn't we now refer moral questions to them? Can they tell me, for example, if it is stealing for me to take home a blank cd from work to replace one I paid for but used for work purposes, without going through the company reimbursement process for a lousy dime?
And are the parents who bury Iraqi children killed in Iraq also absolute moral authorities, or is this another lefty whites only policy? For example, the parents of jihadis who believe that Ms. Dowd should put on a burqa, stay home, and do as her husband commands?
Just wondering.
Sometimes I start to think I'm doing something worthwhile...
Prosecuting my burgalrs and murderers.
But then I read this
http://michaelyon.blogspot.com/2005/08/jungle-law_10.html
or this
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8941525/site/newsweek/page/2/
Although I will pat myself on the back, I bought the camera for Michael Yon to take those pictures.
Aaaaaanyway, I'll start regular commentary tomorrow.
But then I read this
or this
Although I will pat myself on the back, I bought the camera for Michael Yon to take those pictures.
Aaaaaanyway, I'll start regular commentary tomorrow.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
No need to go overboard on ethics...
So the chairwoman of the new Tennessee legislature's ethics committee left that position when it came out that she had accepted a $200 "birthday present" to gamble with in nickel slot machines. Dream big! Didn't resign her office, just left the ethics committee.
Her replacement says...
"I don't see a need for it even though I'm on it."
"Some of the lobbyists are my friends. You see them in the evening, and you have dinner with them because your family's not there."
NO, Rep. Favors, lobbyists dine with you because they WANT SOMETHING FROM YOU.
You have dinner with lobbyists because you WANT SOMETHING FROM THEM.
Rather surprising, Rep. Favors is pretty new but I suppose she knows already how to get along.
Her replacement says...
"I don't see a need for it even though I'm on it."
"Some of the lobbyists are my friends. You see them in the evening, and you have dinner with them because your family's not there."
NO, Rep. Favors, lobbyists dine with you because they WANT SOMETHING FROM YOU.
You have dinner with lobbyists because you WANT SOMETHING FROM THEM.
Rather surprising, Rep. Favors is pretty new but I suppose she knows already how to get along.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
75000 British Suicide Bombers and Allies...
So the dhimmi Stalinists at the Guardian rag commissioned a poll to tell us how threatened Moslems feel nowadays, and the headline reflects that-
"Two-thirds of Muslims consider leaving UK "
I considered running marathons and it made me feel faint. But reading on down to the very bottom of the article, we find
"A small rump, potentially running into thousands, told ICM of their support for the attacks on July 7 ..."
Orright, there are over 1,500,000 Moslems in Britain. I looked at the PDF of the raw data, and FIVE PERCENT of the respondents told a stranger that "further attacks by British suicide bombers in the U. K. are justified". Not to be expected (that was 33%), or understandable, but JUSTIFIED.
Now my math is that 5% of a million and a half actually does run into exactly seventy five thousand.
Without speculating on how many bomb cheerleaders lied to the poll, that gives a pretty good recruiting and support base. If I had a product to sell and I could identify a population with 5% who already wanted to buy it, I'd be rich. It's a marketer's dream.
Eliminate oldsters and children, and one or two out of every 20 british Moslems thinks MORE BOMBS ARE JUSTIFIED.
20 Moslems working in your office or living in your building? One of them thinks that more bombs are right and proper.
Surrender, Dorothy.
This is the Guardian story:http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1536222,00.html
And the PDF of the raw data:http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Politics/documents/2005/07/26/Muslim-Poll.pdf
"Two-thirds of Muslims consider leaving UK "
I considered running marathons and it made me feel faint. But reading on down to the very bottom of the article, we find
"A small rump, potentially running into thousands, told ICM of their support for the attacks on July 7 ..."
Orright, there are over 1,500,000 Moslems in Britain. I looked at the PDF of the raw data, and FIVE PERCENT of the respondents told a stranger that "further attacks by British suicide bombers in the U. K. are justified". Not to be expected (that was 33%), or understandable, but JUSTIFIED.
Now my math is that 5% of a million and a half actually does run into exactly seventy five thousand.
Without speculating on how many bomb cheerleaders lied to the poll, that gives a pretty good recruiting and support base. If I had a product to sell and I could identify a population with 5% who already wanted to buy it, I'd be rich. It's a marketer's dream.
Eliminate oldsters and children, and one or two out of every 20 british Moslems thinks MORE BOMBS ARE JUSTIFIED.
20 Moslems working in your office or living in your building? One of them thinks that more bombs are right and proper.
Surrender, Dorothy.
This is the Guardian story:
And the PDF of the raw data:
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Amazing Christianity...
Usually I see the worst in human behaviour in my work. Yesterday was a change. I was prosecuting a car theft, an older couple had their car stolen. The thief was a neighbour child, single mother, 16 years old, directionless. The victims had sort of adopted him- bought him clothes, spent time with him. He repaid them by stealing and destroying their car, $11,000 worth.
Little weasel pled guilty. I announced the plea, the restitution amount and my standard reccommendation of an order that the defendant have no future contact with the victims or their property.
The victims interrupted me from behind.
"No, that isn't necessary."
"He is welcome in our home any time. We love him."
Some people really believe.
Little weasel pled guilty. I announced the plea, the restitution amount and my standard reccommendation of an order that the defendant have no future contact with the victims or their property.
The victims interrupted me from behind.
"No, that isn't necessary."
"He is welcome in our home any time. We love him."
Some people really believe.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Moslems stand AGAINST murder, no publicity...
I hear, and issue, complaints that Moslems who oppose murder don't say so loudly enough. Here's an exception, not reported on any of the conservative blogs I read, not on U. S. news that I saw-
"More than 500 British Muslim religious leaders and scholars have issued a fatwa in response to the London bombs.
Gul Mohammad, secretary general of the British Muslim Forum, quoted the Koran saying: "Whoever kills a human being ... then it is as though he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a human life it is as though he had saved all mankind."
He went on: "Islam's position is clear and unequivocal: murder of one soul is the murder of the whole of humanity; he who shows no respect for human life is an enemy of humanity.
"We pray for the defeat of extremism and terrorism in the world. "
The fatwa was read out at Parliament square and will be read at prayers on Friday. These Imams are all named as signatories and have been on television undisguised. They are taking a real personal and professional risk to stand against murder and they should be noticed and praised.
More detail at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4694441.stm
"More than 500 British Muslim religious leaders and scholars have issued a fatwa in response to the London bombs.
Gul Mohammad, secretary general of the British Muslim Forum, quoted the Koran saying: "Whoever kills a human being ... then it is as though he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a human life it is as though he had saved all mankind."
He went on: "Islam's position is clear and unequivocal: murder of one soul is the murder of the whole of humanity; he who shows no respect for human life is an enemy of humanity.
"We pray for the defeat of extremism and terrorism in the world. "
The fatwa was read out at Parliament square and will be read at prayers on Friday. These Imams are all named as signatories and have been on television undisguised. They are taking a real personal and professional risk to stand against murder and they should be noticed and praised.
More detail at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4694441.stm
Friday, July 15, 2005
An original thought!
Nlotice how many fouled up states have capitals distant from their great population centres?
California- not L. A. or S. F, Sacramento.
N. J., who lives in Trenton?
New York City? No, Albany.
Illinois picks not Chicago, but Springfield.
Pennsylvania has Harrisburg rather than Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.
California- not L. A. or S. F, Sacramento.
N. J., who lives in Trenton?
New York City? No, Albany.
Illinois picks not Chicago, but Springfield.
Pennsylvania has Harrisburg rather than Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
BBC makes people mad by not using magic T word...
Seems the BBC style book frowns on using "terrorist". Discovering this has twisted many knickers.
I completely DISAGREE with the dhimmis at the BBC's reasons for changing to bombers, but I agree with the change. The words we use matter.
Murderers would be better. We have plenty of perfectly good English words.
I dislike the whole "terrorist" and "war on terror" term anyway. It seems that if our enemy's goal is to produce terror, that word should not pass our lips.
Yes the bombs may have terrified some people, but that's about the targets, not the killers.
And I have yet to be terrified. Angry, concerned, sad, all these, but not terrified. And of the dozen or so people I know who have been bombed, terror isn't the emotion they relate to me.
I'm not afraid of that bastard hog blowing trash.
I completely DISAGREE with the dhimmis at the BBC's reasons for changing to bombers, but I agree with the change. The words we use matter.
Murderers would be better. We have plenty of perfectly good English words.
I dislike the whole "terrorist" and "war on terror" term anyway. It seems that if our enemy's goal is to produce terror, that word should not pass our lips.
Yes the bombs may have terrified some people, but that's about the targets, not the killers.
And I have yet to be terrified. Angry, concerned, sad, all these, but not terrified. And of the dozen or so people I know who have been bombed, terror isn't the emotion they relate to me.
I'm not afraid of that bastard hog blowing trash.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Maybe this is better than crying...
over our dead and being proud of our victimhood.
"The British Lion's Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger", Sir John Tenniel
Neill or Canning are the choices.
But we'll probably get more of this for a while:
"They shan't blow him from nasty guns; but he must promise to be a good little sepoy."
Both from Punch, these pictures courtesy http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/illustra/illust1.html
and
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.victorianweb.org/periodicals/punch/53.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.victorianweb.org/periodicals/punch/53.html&h=432&w=578&sz=103&tbnid=sOj6J5hsXf0J:&tbnh=98&tbnw=132&hl=en&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvengeance%2Bbengal%2Btiger%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
"The British Lion's Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger", Sir John Tenniel
Neill or Canning are the choices.
But we'll probably get more of this for a while:
"They shan't blow him from nasty guns; but he must promise to be a good little sepoy."
Both from Punch, these pictures courtesy http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/illustra/illust1.html
and
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.victorianweb.org/periodicals/punch/53.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.victorianweb.org/periodicals/punch/53.html&h=432&w=578&sz=103&tbnid=sOj6J5hsXf0J:&tbnh=98&tbnw=132&hl=en&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvengeance%2Bbengal%2Btiger%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
Pitiful "London can take it" nonsense...
In 1940, the British empire stood alone. Defeated in war, unable to prevent the hun from bombing London, the great Churchill made a virtue out of endurance. Dunkirk and the East End became examples because Britain's weakness meant they could not be avoided.
But Churchill knew that the making of virtue from necessity was a dangerous fraud. "Wars are not won by evacuation", he said; and when he spoke of the finest hour and the debt owed the few, he referred to those who killed Nazis, not those who nazis killed. And when he did pay tribute to our endurance he always made it clear that the first goal was testing the enemy's ability to do the same.
Bliar, Livingstone, and all the other bien pensant accommodators are weak. They are wrong to only speak of how good we are at suffering. It sends a bad message to our enemies and a worse one to us.
Our culture has become so obsessed with the virtues of the downtrodden that we now see being beaten as morally better than winning victory. We have such contempt for the things that gave us success- lack of nuance, focus on the goal, self confidence - that we forget that others have and value these things. The enemies- moslems, Chinese tyrants, or whoever- DO live in a black and white world. THEY know weakness when they see it. It's good to not be afraid, I suppose. But what good is it in isolation? Better that we should be feared.
It's the old story. We are better than they are, and we really do try to avoid wholesale slaughter. Maybe they will shrink before our moral power. It's a nice fantasy. "London can take it, we'll go back to the desert now."
The historical precedent is.... hmmmm....
But Churchill knew that the making of virtue from necessity was a dangerous fraud. "Wars are not won by evacuation", he said; and when he spoke of the finest hour and the debt owed the few, he referred to those who killed Nazis, not those who nazis killed. And when he did pay tribute to our endurance he always made it clear that the first goal was testing the enemy's ability to do the same.
Bliar, Livingstone, and all the other bien pensant accommodators are weak. They are wrong to only speak of how good we are at suffering. It sends a bad message to our enemies and a worse one to us.
Our culture has become so obsessed with the virtues of the downtrodden that we now see being beaten as morally better than winning victory. We have such contempt for the things that gave us success- lack of nuance, focus on the goal, self confidence - that we forget that others have and value these things. The enemies- moslems, Chinese tyrants, or whoever- DO live in a black and white world. THEY know weakness when they see it. It's good to not be afraid, I suppose. But what good is it in isolation? Better that we should be feared.
It's the old story. We are better than they are, and we really do try to avoid wholesale slaughter. Maybe they will shrink before our moral power. It's a nice fantasy. "London can take it, we'll go back to the desert now."
The historical precedent is.... hmmmm....
Saturday, July 09, 2005
And some future perspective for us....
Americans have always been self focussed and not had much historical perspective. And since the 1960s when we collectively decided to stop teaching and start self esteeming in schools it's been worse. Now it's like we are dogs, every day is a surprise.
Whatever is in front of our faces is the ONLY THING THAT EVER WAS OR EVER WILL BE. Some woman lost in Aruba, airplanes crashing into buildings, a has been football player on trial, it's all the same.
But there is a future, and I've been thinking that all this terrorism / war on terror is an interesting rehersal and test bed.
For our real future competitors.
I expect the general staffs in Peiking, Moscow, and Delhi- as well as Teheran and the forests of Colombia- are watching with interest. This is what they do when you crash into their buildings, shoot a dozen people from the trunk of a car, fight a war, or get accused of flushing a book down a toilet. This is how we defend our borders.
If I was on those staffs I might be concluding that we are no longer serious people. Look at it from their perspective. The west has the ability to totally overpower the Arabs. Yet a collection of desert nomads who can barely work an electric generator hold us hostage to the tune of billions. If China had our navy, the oil would be shipped east for nothing. We conquer Iraq, and assign our very effective army to patrolling for men with rifles. Foreigners conspire to slaughter our people, and we make fools of ourselves extending our incomprehensible legal rights to them. Four bombs in London, and we apologise to the murderers' coreligionists.
I might be wondering if a couple of snipers or kidnaping some brides could draw our focus better than, say, annexing Taiwan.
The Moslems are a problem, but the rest of the world is still there.
Whatever is in front of our faces is the ONLY THING THAT EVER WAS OR EVER WILL BE. Some woman lost in Aruba, airplanes crashing into buildings, a has been football player on trial, it's all the same.
But there is a future, and I've been thinking that all this terrorism / war on terror is an interesting rehersal and test bed.
For our real future competitors.
I expect the general staffs in Peiking, Moscow, and Delhi- as well as Teheran and the forests of Colombia- are watching with interest. This is what they do when you crash into their buildings, shoot a dozen people from the trunk of a car, fight a war, or get accused of flushing a book down a toilet. This is how we defend our borders.
If I was on those staffs I might be concluding that we are no longer serious people. Look at it from their perspective. The west has the ability to totally overpower the Arabs. Yet a collection of desert nomads who can barely work an electric generator hold us hostage to the tune of billions. If China had our navy, the oil would be shipped east for nothing. We conquer Iraq, and assign our very effective army to patrolling for men with rifles. Foreigners conspire to slaughter our people, and we make fools of ourselves extending our incomprehensible legal rights to them. Four bombs in London, and we apologise to the murderers' coreligionists.
I might be wondering if a couple of snipers or kidnaping some brides could draw our focus better than, say, annexing Taiwan.
The Moslems are a problem, but the rest of the world is still there.
Friday, July 08, 2005
A little historical perspective for the Moslems...
The problems are:
they won the crusades;
they haven't progressed since then and think we haven't either;
they didn't go through the wars of religion and so don't have a cultural revulsion to same; and
they mistake forbearance for weakness, because they would not forbear.
The Germans killed a quarter of their OWN PEOPLE fighting over religious trivia in the 30 years war. I strongly suggest that intelligent or self preservationist moslems consider that statistic before approving of those picking a religious war. And that those who live in the west choose to be our allies openly and obviously.
We are nice and kind fat and soft and ridden with unearned guilt. We also have a history of savage bloodshed that makes the earth blanch.
We are horrified by what our own civilization did as recently as 1914-18 and 39-45. But we DID do it, and there are plenty of men still living who found it possible to incinerate cities full of white European babies, or throw them screaming into gas chambers for that matter. Enough of their grandchildren can be found to push the buttons.
Forbearance and measured response are still what we are doing, but we might decide they aren't effective.
And OUR jihad won't just blow up a handful of buildings and a bar and some trains and a bus. Everybody loses in a war, but some lose more than others.
Beziers, Magdeburg, Ypres, Guernica, Rotterdam, Auschwitz, Hamburg, Tokyo, Kolyma, Hiroshima, Nagasaki.
We are crazy. Maybe ought to not fuck with us too much.
they won the crusades;
they haven't progressed since then and think we haven't either;
they didn't go through the wars of religion and so don't have a cultural revulsion to same; and
they mistake forbearance for weakness, because they would not forbear.
The Germans killed a quarter of their OWN PEOPLE fighting over religious trivia in the 30 years war. I strongly suggest that intelligent or self preservationist moslems consider that statistic before approving of those picking a religious war. And that those who live in the west choose to be our allies openly and obviously.
We are nice and kind fat and soft and ridden with unearned guilt. We also have a history of savage bloodshed that makes the earth blanch.
We are horrified by what our own civilization did as recently as 1914-18 and 39-45. But we DID do it, and there are plenty of men still living who found it possible to incinerate cities full of white European babies, or throw them screaming into gas chambers for that matter. Enough of their grandchildren can be found to push the buttons.
Forbearance and measured response are still what we are doing, but we might decide they aren't effective.
And OUR jihad won't just blow up a handful of buildings and a bar and some trains and a bus. Everybody loses in a war, but some lose more than others.
Beziers, Magdeburg, Ypres, Guernica, Rotterdam, Auschwitz, Hamburg, Tokyo, Kolyma, Hiroshima, Nagasaki.
We are crazy. Maybe ought to not fuck with us too much.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Stop helping us to death, white people !
An interview with a startlingly honest African. Economist James Shikwati:
SPIEGEL: Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa...
Shikwati: ... for God's sake, please just stop.
SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.
Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.
SPIEGEL: Do you have an explanation for this paradox?
Shikwati: Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid.
SPIEGEL: Even in a country like Kenya, people are starving to death each year. Someone has got to help them.
Shikwati: But it has to be the Kenyans themselves who help these people. When there's a drought in a region of Kenya, our corrupt politicians reflexively cry out for more help. This call then reaches the United Nations World Food Program -- which is a massive agency of apparatchiks who are in the absurd situation of, on the one hand, being dedicated to the fight against hunger while, on the other hand, being faced with unemployment were hunger actually eliminated. It's only natural that they willingly accept the plea for more help. And it's not uncommon that they demand a little more money than the respective African government originally requested. They then forward that request to their headquarters, and before long, several thousands tons of corn are shipped to Africa ...
SPIEGEL: ... corn that predominantly comes from highly-subsidized European and American farmers ... Ruandan President Kagame has over a million deaths on his conscience, says Shikwati.
Shikwati: ... and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unsrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the UN's World Food Program. And because the farmers go under in the face of this pressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if there actually were a famine next year. It's a simple but fatal cycle.
SPIEGEL: If the World Food Program didn't do anything, the people would starve.
Shikwati: I don't think so. In such a case, the Kenyans, for a change, would be forced to initiate trade relations with Uganda or Tanzania, and buy their food there. This type of trade is vital for Africa. It would force us to improve our own infrastructure, while making national borders -- drawn by the Europeans by the way -- more permeable. It would also force us to establish laws favoring market economy.
SPIEGEL: Would Africa actually be able to solve these problems on its own?
Shikwati: Of course. Hunger should not be a problem in most of the countries south of the Sahara. In addition, there are vast natural resources: oil, gold, diamonds. Africa is always only portrayed as a continent of suffering, but most figures are vastly exaggerated. In the industrial nations, there's a sense that Africa would go under without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed before you Europeans came along. And we didn't do all that poorly either.
SPIEGEL: But AIDS didn't exist at that time.
Shikwati: If one were to believe all the horrorifying reports, then all Kenyans should actually be dead by now. But now, tests are being carried out everywhere, and it turns out that the figures were vastly exaggerated. It's not three million Kenyans that are infected. All of the sudden, it's only about one million. Malaria is just as much of a problem, but people rarely talk about that.
SPIEGEL: And why's that?
Shikwati: AIDS is big business, maybe Africa's biggest business. There's nothing else that can generate as much aid money as shocking figures on AIDS. AIDS is a political disease here, and we should be very skeptical.
SPIEGEL: The Americans and Europeans have frozen funds previously pledged to Kenya. The country is too corrupt, they say.
Shikwati: I am afraid, though, that the money will still be transfered before long. After all, it has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, the Europeans' devastating urge to do good can no longer be countered with reason. It makes no sense whatsoever that directly after the new Kenyan government was elected -- a leadership change that ended the dictatorship of Daniel arap Mois -- the faucets were suddenly opened and streams of money poured into the country.
SPIEGEL: Such aid is usually earmarked for a specific objective, though.
Shikwati: That doesn't change anything. Millions of dollars earmarked for the fight against AIDS are still stashed away in Kenyan bank accounts and have not been spent. Our politicians were overwhelmed with money, and they try to siphon off as much as possible. The late tyrant of the Central African Republic, Jean Bedel Bokassa, cynically summed it up by saying: "The French government pays for everything in our country. We ask the French for money. We get it, and then we waste it."
SPIEGEL: In the West, there are many compassionate citizens wanting to help Africa. Each year, they donate money and pack their old clothes into collection bags ...
Shikwati: ... and they flood our markets with that stuff. We can buy these donated clothes cheaply at our so-called Mitumba markets. There are Germans who spend a few dollars to get used Bayern Munich or Werder Bremen jerseys, in other words, clothes that that some German kids sent to Africa for a good cause. After buying these jerseys, they auction them off at Ebay and send them back to Germany -- for three times the price. That's insanity ...
SPIEGEL: ... and hopefully an exception.
Shikwati: Why do we get these mountains of clothes? No one is freezing here. Instead, our tailors lose their livlihoods. They're in the same position as our farmers. No one in the low-wage world of Africa can be cost-efficient enough to keep pace with donated products. In 1997, 137,000 workers were employed in Nigeria's textile industry. By 2003, the figure had dropped to 57,000. The results are the same in all other areas where overwhelming helpfulness and fragile African markets collide.
SPIEGEL: Following World War II, Germany only managed to get back on its feet because the Americans poured money into the country through the Marshall Plan. Wouldn't that qualify as successful development aid?
Shikwati: In Germany's case, only the destroyed infrastructure had to be repaired. Despite the economic crisis of the Weimar Republic, Germany was a highly- industrialized country before the war. The damages created by the tsunami in Thailand can also be fixed with a little money and some reconstruction aid. Africa, however, must take the first steps into modernity on its own. There must be a change in mentality. We have to stop perceiving ourselves as beggars. These days, Africans only perceive themselves as victims. On the other hand, no one can really picture an African as a businessman. In order to change the current situation, it would be helpful if the aid organizations were to pull out.
SPIEGEL: If they did that, many jobs would be immediately lost ...
Shikwati: ... jobs that were created artificially in the first place and that distort reality. Jobs with foreign aid organizations are, of course, quite popular, and they can be very selective in choosing the best people. When an aid organization needs a driver, dozens apply for the job. And because it's unacceptable that the aid worker's chauffeur only speaks his own tribal language, an applicant is needed who also speaks English fluently -- and, ideally, one who is also well mannered. So you end up with some African biochemist driving an aid worker around, distributing European food, and forcing local farmers out of their jobs. That's just crazy!
SPIEGEL: The German government takes pride in precisely monitoring the recipients of its funds.
Shikwati: And what's the result? A disaster. The German government threw money right at Rwanda's president Paul Kagame. This is a man who has the deaths of a million people on his conscience -- people that his army killed in the neighboring country of Congo.
SPIEGEL: What are the Germans supposed to do?
Shikwati: If they really want to fight poverty, they should completely halt development aid and give Africa the opportunity to ensure its own survival. Currently, Africa is like a child that immediately cries for its babysitter when something goes wrong. Africa should stand on its own two feet.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa...
Shikwati: ... for God's sake, please just stop.
SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.
Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.
SPIEGEL: Do you have an explanation for this paradox?
Shikwati: Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid.
SPIEGEL: Even in a country like Kenya, people are starving to death each year. Someone has got to help them.
Shikwati: But it has to be the Kenyans themselves who help these people. When there's a drought in a region of Kenya, our corrupt politicians reflexively cry out for more help. This call then reaches the United Nations World Food Program -- which is a massive agency of apparatchiks who are in the absurd situation of, on the one hand, being dedicated to the fight against hunger while, on the other hand, being faced with unemployment were hunger actually eliminated. It's only natural that they willingly accept the plea for more help. And it's not uncommon that they demand a little more money than the respective African government originally requested. They then forward that request to their headquarters, and before long, several thousands tons of corn are shipped to Africa ...
SPIEGEL: ... corn that predominantly comes from highly-subsidized European and American farmers ... Ruandan President Kagame has over a million deaths on his conscience, says Shikwati.
Shikwati: ... and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unsrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the UN's World Food Program. And because the farmers go under in the face of this pressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if there actually were a famine next year. It's a simple but fatal cycle.
SPIEGEL: If the World Food Program didn't do anything, the people would starve.
Shikwati: I don't think so. In such a case, the Kenyans, for a change, would be forced to initiate trade relations with Uganda or Tanzania, and buy their food there. This type of trade is vital for Africa. It would force us to improve our own infrastructure, while making national borders -- drawn by the Europeans by the way -- more permeable. It would also force us to establish laws favoring market economy.
SPIEGEL: Would Africa actually be able to solve these problems on its own?
Shikwati: Of course. Hunger should not be a problem in most of the countries south of the Sahara. In addition, there are vast natural resources: oil, gold, diamonds. Africa is always only portrayed as a continent of suffering, but most figures are vastly exaggerated. In the industrial nations, there's a sense that Africa would go under without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed before you Europeans came along. And we didn't do all that poorly either.
SPIEGEL: But AIDS didn't exist at that time.
Shikwati: If one were to believe all the horrorifying reports, then all Kenyans should actually be dead by now. But now, tests are being carried out everywhere, and it turns out that the figures were vastly exaggerated. It's not three million Kenyans that are infected. All of the sudden, it's only about one million. Malaria is just as much of a problem, but people rarely talk about that.
SPIEGEL: And why's that?
Shikwati: AIDS is big business, maybe Africa's biggest business. There's nothing else that can generate as much aid money as shocking figures on AIDS. AIDS is a political disease here, and we should be very skeptical.
SPIEGEL: The Americans and Europeans have frozen funds previously pledged to Kenya. The country is too corrupt, they say.
Shikwati: I am afraid, though, that the money will still be transfered before long. After all, it has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, the Europeans' devastating urge to do good can no longer be countered with reason. It makes no sense whatsoever that directly after the new Kenyan government was elected -- a leadership change that ended the dictatorship of Daniel arap Mois -- the faucets were suddenly opened and streams of money poured into the country.
SPIEGEL: Such aid is usually earmarked for a specific objective, though.
Shikwati: That doesn't change anything. Millions of dollars earmarked for the fight against AIDS are still stashed away in Kenyan bank accounts and have not been spent. Our politicians were overwhelmed with money, and they try to siphon off as much as possible. The late tyrant of the Central African Republic, Jean Bedel Bokassa, cynically summed it up by saying: "The French government pays for everything in our country. We ask the French for money. We get it, and then we waste it."
SPIEGEL: In the West, there are many compassionate citizens wanting to help Africa. Each year, they donate money and pack their old clothes into collection bags ...
Shikwati: ... and they flood our markets with that stuff. We can buy these donated clothes cheaply at our so-called Mitumba markets. There are Germans who spend a few dollars to get used Bayern Munich or Werder Bremen jerseys, in other words, clothes that that some German kids sent to Africa for a good cause. After buying these jerseys, they auction them off at Ebay and send them back to Germany -- for three times the price. That's insanity ...
SPIEGEL: ... and hopefully an exception.
Shikwati: Why do we get these mountains of clothes? No one is freezing here. Instead, our tailors lose their livlihoods. They're in the same position as our farmers. No one in the low-wage world of Africa can be cost-efficient enough to keep pace with donated products. In 1997, 137,000 workers were employed in Nigeria's textile industry. By 2003, the figure had dropped to 57,000. The results are the same in all other areas where overwhelming helpfulness and fragile African markets collide.
SPIEGEL: Following World War II, Germany only managed to get back on its feet because the Americans poured money into the country through the Marshall Plan. Wouldn't that qualify as successful development aid?
Shikwati: In Germany's case, only the destroyed infrastructure had to be repaired. Despite the economic crisis of the Weimar Republic, Germany was a highly- industrialized country before the war. The damages created by the tsunami in Thailand can also be fixed with a little money and some reconstruction aid. Africa, however, must take the first steps into modernity on its own. There must be a change in mentality. We have to stop perceiving ourselves as beggars. These days, Africans only perceive themselves as victims. On the other hand, no one can really picture an African as a businessman. In order to change the current situation, it would be helpful if the aid organizations were to pull out.
SPIEGEL: If they did that, many jobs would be immediately lost ...
Shikwati: ... jobs that were created artificially in the first place and that distort reality. Jobs with foreign aid organizations are, of course, quite popular, and they can be very selective in choosing the best people. When an aid organization needs a driver, dozens apply for the job. And because it's unacceptable that the aid worker's chauffeur only speaks his own tribal language, an applicant is needed who also speaks English fluently -- and, ideally, one who is also well mannered. So you end up with some African biochemist driving an aid worker around, distributing European food, and forcing local farmers out of their jobs. That's just crazy!
SPIEGEL: The German government takes pride in precisely monitoring the recipients of its funds.
Shikwati: And what's the result? A disaster. The German government threw money right at Rwanda's president Paul Kagame. This is a man who has the deaths of a million people on his conscience -- people that his army killed in the neighboring country of Congo.
SPIEGEL: What are the Germans supposed to do?
Shikwati: If they really want to fight poverty, they should completely halt development aid and give Africa the opportunity to ensure its own survival. Currently, Africa is like a child that immediately cries for its babysitter when something goes wrong. Africa should stand on its own two feet.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
The most important single thing the west can do...
President Bush said,
"Let's join hands as wealthy industrialised nations, and say to the world, we're going to get rid of all our agricultural subsidies together. And so the position of the US Government is we're willing to do so, and we will do so with the, uh, with our fine friends in the European Union."
Let's fantasise that it happens. What results?
Food in the west gets cheaper immediately.
Farmers in the west become competetive, since there is now competition.
Western farmers stop being dependent on handouts.
Western consumers pay less for food at the shop, and pay less in taxes for welfare (since food is cheaper), and pay less in taxes again since the subsidies aren't being paid.
Unproductive farmers go into other lines of work, no longer wasting their abilities on subsidy chasing.
What about the third world? Their agricultural products are suddenly marketable.
They have an incentive to grow for more than just subsistence.
Western imports of food increase, making western consumers more dependent on third world suppliers.
Conditions in third world hellholes become important to the western economy. Tyrants in those hellholes are bad for business, so important voices in the west pressure Western goverments soactually do useful things to depose them.
At a stroke, this could be the greatest positive change that western governments could possibly do on their own to improve the material lot of the planet.
Neeeeever happen.
"Let's join hands as wealthy industrialised nations, and say to the world, we're going to get rid of all our agricultural subsidies together. And so the position of the US Government is we're willing to do so, and we will do so with the, uh, with our fine friends in the European Union."
Let's fantasise that it happens. What results?
Food in the west gets cheaper immediately.
Farmers in the west become competetive, since there is now competition.
Western farmers stop being dependent on handouts.
Western consumers pay less for food at the shop, and pay less in taxes for welfare (since food is cheaper), and pay less in taxes again since the subsidies aren't being paid.
Unproductive farmers go into other lines of work, no longer wasting their abilities on subsidy chasing.
What about the third world? Their agricultural products are suddenly marketable.
They have an incentive to grow for more than just subsistence.
Western imports of food increase, making western consumers more dependent on third world suppliers.
Conditions in third world hellholes become important to the western economy. Tyrants in those hellholes are bad for business, so important voices in the west pressure Western goverments soactually do useful things to depose them.
At a stroke, this could be the greatest positive change that western governments could possibly do on their own to improve the material lot of the planet.
Neeeeever happen.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
More Gay Police Monitoring- Terrifying
As usual, reading what the GPA has in mind is even more frightening. Positively 1938.
And this is ALREADY IN FORCE IN 3 DEPARTMENTS.
The links at the bottom are to the GPA's own PDFs about the monitoring plan. They reveal that the GPA believes that sexuality is in fact everyone's business and that there is something wrong with anyone, especially any gay person, who disagrees.
Here are some bits-
"It is intended that this will see the introduction of attributable or identifiable sexual orientation monitoring."
We can't tell who you are just by looking.
"Sexual orientation need be no more personal than ethnic identity, gender, or age."
Here's your pink triangle.
"Sexual orientation monitoring will enable gay staff to more easily demonstrate personal integrity."
If you don't like the triangle, maybe you plant evidence, too.
"The issue of one's sexual orientation SHOULD be no more "secret" than other forms of personal information already sought.
What do you mean, private? This isn't private, you should be proud to wear the triangle. What's your problem?
"TO ARGUE TO THE CONTRARY CULTIVATES AN INSTITUTIONALLY HOMOPHOBIC VIEWPOINT" (Emphasis in original)
You are a homophobe if you oppose or won't wear the triangle.
If you are a British police officer, even your bedroom belongs to the government. If this isn't tyranny, what is?
http://www.gay.police.uk/files/MonitoringPressRelease.pdf
http://www.gay.police.uk/files/MonitoringFAQAug04.pdf
And this is ALREADY IN FORCE IN 3 DEPARTMENTS.
The links at the bottom are to the GPA's own PDFs about the monitoring plan. They reveal that the GPA believes that sexuality is in fact everyone's business and that there is something wrong with anyone, especially any gay person, who disagrees.
Here are some bits-
"It is intended that this will see the introduction of attributable or identifiable sexual orientation monitoring."
We can't tell who you are just by looking.
"Sexual orientation need be no more personal than ethnic identity, gender, or age."
Here's your pink triangle.
"Sexual orientation monitoring will enable gay staff to more easily demonstrate personal integrity."
If you don't like the triangle, maybe you plant evidence, too.
"The issue of one's sexual orientation SHOULD be no more "secret" than other forms of personal information already sought.
What do you mean, private? This isn't private, you should be proud to wear the triangle. What's your problem?
"TO ARGUE TO THE CONTRARY CULTIVATES AN INSTITUTIONALLY HOMOPHOBIC VIEWPOINT" (Emphasis in original)
You are a homophobe if you oppose or won't wear the triangle.
If you are a British police officer, even your bedroom belongs to the government. If this isn't tyranny, what is?
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Police Sexual Orientation Monitoring Form
Here's a draft-
In order to better serve the public, Your Police Service has begun a program of Sexual Orientation Monitoring. Please note that completion of this form is voluntary. It is also anonymous, please do not place your name on this form. Interested co workers will not use your fingerprints, dna, or their ability to notice who drops the form in the box in our 24 hour CCTV monitored building to find out who the perverts are. Or put their names on the internet. Really. Promise.
Please check all that apply:
I have a: Vagina____ Penis and/or Testicles____ Both___
Neither___ (Chief inspectors and above check here)
I would like sexual contact with a: Vagina__ Penis __ Both ___
I would be willing to accept contact from a: Vagina __ Penis __
If it is attached to someone:
Pretty Enough ___
Young Enough ___
Not That Young Though, I'm Not A Pervert ___
Need Young And Pretty ____
If Pretty Enough, Older Is Fine ___
I Prefer Old And Ugly, Actually ___
A More Senior Officer In Exchange For
Career Advancement _____
Rank Of Officer ____
Amount Of Career Advancement____________________
The Person Named Here __________________________
Don't Care, As Long As It's Not ________________________
Anybody, Please, Just Some Pathetic Simulation Of Love: ___
Anyone Who Will Hire Me, This Form Is The Last Straw ____
In order to better serve the public, Your Police Service has begun a program of Sexual Orientation Monitoring. Please note that completion of this form is voluntary. It is also anonymous, please do not place your name on this form. Interested co workers will not use your fingerprints, dna, or their ability to notice who drops the form in the box in our 24 hour CCTV monitored building to find out who the perverts are. Or put their names on the internet. Really. Promise.
Please check all that apply:
I have a: Vagina____ Penis and/or Testicles____ Both___
Neither___ (Chief inspectors and above check here)
I would like sexual contact with a: Vagina__ Penis __ Both ___
I would be willing to accept contact from a: Vagina __ Penis __
If it is attached to someone:
Pretty Enough ___
Young Enough ___
Not That Young Though, I'm Not A Pervert ___
Need Young And Pretty ____
If Pretty Enough, Older Is Fine ___
I Prefer Old And Ugly, Actually ___
A More Senior Officer In Exchange For
Career Advancement _____
Rank Of Officer ____
Amount Of Career Advancement____________________
The Person Named Here __________________________
Don't Care, As Long As It's Not ________________________
Anybody, Please, Just Some Pathetic Simulation Of Love: ___
Anyone Who Will Hire Me, This Form Is The Last Straw ____
Britain registers sexual tastes of police officers....
Yes, if you are a police employee, tell the boss who you like to fuck right away!
"Over the last 18 months, The Gay Police Association has been working to introduce sexual orientation monitoring for all police officers and police staff. Monitoring refers to the collection of data about the sexual orientation of a member of staff. The process is similar to that already used to identify race, gender and disability within organisations. Monitoring is voluntary and will rely on self-classification."
What does the form look like? Is it boxes, check all that apply? Or a blank to fill in?
Can I just write down Miranda Otto?
Someone who likes long walks on the beach?
Does one time back in college with that girl from Psychology class count?
What if I'm willing to switch for that hot Inspector down the hall?
The possibilities are endless.
And the monitoring aspect, does that mean they get to watch? Are pictures required? Testimonials?
Voluntary, right.
Really, why on earth is it the business of any government agency? Or anybody at all for that matter?
(Except Miss Otto and the Inspector down the hall.)
And why is a gay rights organisation pushing this? I know, because it's money, but think about it.
If there IS prejudice, then wouldn't they want to DISCOURAGE the question of sexual orientation being asked? Shouldn't that be off limits?
And if there is no prejudice, shouldn't it be a non issue?
But if there's no prejudice AND you want some sort of special advancement, well...
News for the gay police folks- registration precedes confiscation.
http://www.gay.police.uk/monitoring.html
"Over the last 18 months, The Gay Police Association has been working to introduce sexual orientation monitoring for all police officers and police staff. Monitoring refers to the collection of data about the sexual orientation of a member of staff. The process is similar to that already used to identify race, gender and disability within organisations. Monitoring is voluntary and will rely on self-classification."
What does the form look like? Is it boxes, check all that apply? Or a blank to fill in?
Can I just write down Miranda Otto?
Someone who likes long walks on the beach?
Does one time back in college with that girl from Psychology class count?
What if I'm willing to switch for that hot Inspector down the hall?
The possibilities are endless.
And the monitoring aspect, does that mean they get to watch? Are pictures required? Testimonials?
Voluntary, right.
Really, why on earth is it the business of any government agency? Or anybody at all for that matter?
(Except Miss Otto and the Inspector down the hall.)
And why is a gay rights organisation pushing this? I know, because it's money, but think about it.
If there IS prejudice, then wouldn't they want to DISCOURAGE the question of sexual orientation being asked? Shouldn't that be off limits?
And if there is no prejudice, shouldn't it be a non issue?
But if there's no prejudice AND you want some sort of special advancement, well...
News for the gay police folks- registration precedes confiscation.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
My name is Sharareh Shirvani, and I'm not afraid of anyone.
Heroes are all around us. Here's a braver woman than I'll ever be, risking her life to stand up to the mullahs in, of all places, Houston. The mullahs are not bogeymen, they are real and they do genuinely terrible things to actual people every day.
"I know they're going to report me to the Iranian government, come and torture me, or, you know, if my family goes to Iran. But I don't care, because I'm protecting all the innocent people in Iran who are in need of democracy and freedom."
Read the whole report at
http://www.willisms.com/archives/2005/06/video_transcrip.html
Will is pretty brave and energetic, too.
http://www.willisms.com/archives/2005/06/video_transcrip.html
"I know they're going to report me to the Iranian government, come and torture me, or, you know, if my family goes to Iran. But I don't care, because I'm protecting all the innocent people in Iran who are in need of democracy and freedom."
Read the whole report at
http://www.willisms.com/archives/2005/06/video_transcrip.html
Will is pretty brave and energetic, too.
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