Politics & Current Events
November 16, 2006
Milton Friedman - RIP
Friedman was my intellectual hero in high school and college. "Capitalism and Freedom" probably influenced me more than any book I read at that time. The BBC obit mentions that he was reputed never to have lost a debate, a claim that anyone who ever saw his performance would have no trouble believing.
Here is the NYTs obit, and here is a vintage performance from the 1970's "Open Mind" TV show. Finally, here is the Financial Times obit (quite good).
Milton Friedman was a great man who had a tremendous and positive influence on the well-being of mankind. RIP.
Posted by Paul at 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 04, 2006
All Rise for the National Anthem
Faith Hill - Super Bowl, January 2000(From Pajamas Media, where a much bigger celebration is going on).
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October 25, 2005
No Sesame Street in Turkey
The letters "W" and "Q" have been outlawed in Turkey. We know that in many parts of the world freedom of speech is not protected like it is here, but this seems especially silly. It is as if the umlaut had been outlawed here in World War I. Büt, it wasn't.
Posted by Paul at 06:26 AM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2005
Bird Flu in Indonesia?
I hope this BBC article Indonesia Fears Bird Flu Epidemic doesn't prove that my avian flu post of two days ago was prophetic....
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September 19, 2005
Odds of an Avian Flu Pandemic
I don't know what the odds are, but given what happened in 1918 and the obvious virulence of the H5N1 strain of avian flu when it crossed to humans in the winter of 2003/2004, everyone should learn as much as possible. A good place to start is the resources page of the Flu Wiki. Even if you are neither a boy, nor a scout, in this case you should do as they do and be prepared.
Posted by Paul at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2005
Eleven Brave Guardians of the Public Purse
It may be that I am in a very tiny minority about this, but I'm a wee bit concerned about the rush to throw money at the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. I've been shocked at the misery and death and destruction along the gulf coast, and have donated to private charities to help, but $10 Billion plus $50.8 Billion is a whole lot of money however you look at it, and I have the feeling that this is only the beginning. It is plainly too much money with not enough accountability. Paving the streets of New Orleans with dollar bills (*) will not make up for the evacuation that didn't take place, and the food, water, and rescue that was late. Assuming 200 million taxpayers, all of us just donated $300 each to federally-funded hurricane relief.
Given the current political climate only a very brave person, who is truly committed to reigning in spending would vote against this supplemental appropriation. No one in the Senate was that brave, but eleven House members were both brave and principled, and I salute them:
Continue reading "Eleven Brave Guardians of the Public Purse"
Posted by Paul at 07:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 26, 2005
Vive la Diférence
Charles Murray has bravely rejoined the debate on racial and gender differences in an article: The Inequality Taboo in the September 2005 issue of Commentary Magazine
I have omitted perhaps the most obvious reason why men and women differ at the highest levels of accomplishment: men take more risks, are more competitive, and are more aggressive than women. The word “testosterone” may come to mind, and appropriately. Much technical literature documents the hormonal basis of personality differences that bear on sex differences in extreme and venturesome effort, and hence in extremes of accomplishment—and that bear as well on the male propensity to produce an overwhelming proportion of the world’s crime and approximately 100 percent of its wars. But this is just one more of the ways in which science is demonstrating that men and women are really and truly different, a fact so obvious that only intellectuals could ever have thought otherwise.It is fascinating and is sure to draw ample comment in future letters to the editor.
Continue reading " Vive la Diférence"
Posted by Paul at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2005
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
The summer Supreme Court follies have just been launched with some nice performances by Bush, Roberts, Schumer and Lehey. The curtain has just gone up and already everyone seems quite comfortable in their roles.
For instance, here are some arguments I happened on this evening:
Continue reading "You Can't Make This Stuff Up"
Posted by Paul at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2005
Do We Inherit Our Politics From Our Parents?
A recently published study finds that genes may account for a significant amount (41%)of how we react to policy issues; genetics was less important in determining political party affiliation (14%).
In a conclusion similar to that in the infamous Bell Curve, where intelligence differences between segments of the population were forecast to increase because of "tribal intermarrying," the authors are not optimistic about the future of bipartianship.
It's a fascinating study and you should probably read Tyler Cowen's comments @ Marginal Revolution (thanks for the pointer) on the way there.
UPDATE: The folks at the New York Times have picked up this story: Some Politics May Be Etched in the Genes
Posted by Paul at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2005
Challenge the "delusional mental landscape"
This is interesting. (Follow the various links, too).
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April 02, 2005
John Paul II Requiescat in pace
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March 22, 2005
Steyn on Babies and Other Important Things
The strange death of the liberal West - Mark Steyn
America this Holy Week is following the frenzied efforts to halt the court-enforced starvation of a brain-damaged woman for no reason other than that her continued existence is an inconvenience to her husband.
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March 01, 2005
Germany - Sick Man of Europe
This can't be good news...
German Unemployment Rate Highest Since Depression
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February 15, 2005
Microsoft Dividend Distorts Personal Income Trends
It is significant when a single company, by declaring a dividend, can distort national income accounting...
CONSUMER SPENDING PUMPED UP BY MICROSOFT DIVIDEND
The government said U.S. consumer spending jumped in December after thousands of Americans shared in a massive payout by software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Continue reading "Microsoft Dividend Distorts Personal Income Trends"
Posted by Paul at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2005
The People Have Won
"The People Have Won" proclaims a blog posting from a young Iraqi in Baghdad. After all of the anguish and terror of the last year and the uncertainty of what might happen on Iraq's election day, the results are gratifying, no... the results are remarkable and inspiring, and the pictures of joyous Iraqis braving threats of death from the al-Zarqawi gang and going to the polls and voting make me proud of the courage of these people.
Al-Zarqawi issued a remarkable statement last week where he said: "We have declared a fierce war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology. Anyone who tries to help set up this system is part of it." He was right about the second part, and Praise be to Allah that the Iraqi people understood it, too.
Al-Zarqawi also said that "Democracy is [...] based on the right to choose your religion, and that is "against the rule of God." This is Tyranny of Religion, a yoke around the neck of humanity which was thrown off in the West four hundred years ago. It will be interesting to see what happens in Iraq, whether they use the power of the ballot to choose a theocracy as they did in Iran, or if they will chose a secular non-tyrannic government. I am betting that Iraq will choose the 21st century instead of the 14th century.
Forget Main Stream Media; read what the Iraqis have to say about January 30th direct from the street via these Iraqi Blogs...
Iraq The Model, The Mesopotamian, Hammorabi, Diary From Baghdad, Iraqi Humanity, Democracy In Iraq, Free Iraqi
Posted by Paul at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2005
Who Killed Jimmy Hoffa, and Who Forged the Memos?
My political obsessions introduced me to the world of blogging. I love elections and am never so happy as when people are fighting over some office or other. The campign for the Office of the President of the United States is the biggest fight of all, and the most fun.
Last September, the CBS News program, 60 Minutes Wednesday, ran a now infamous segment on President Bush's sojourn in the Texas Air National Guard.
Continue reading "Who Killed Jimmy Hoffa, and Who Forged the Memos?"
Posted by Paul at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2005
U.S. Navy Tsunami Pix
Paradise Lost.
See more tsunami relief photos from the U.S. Navy here.
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A European Moment
 | From today's New York Times: Europe Honors Tsunami Victims Across Europe, people bowed their heads in silence today to observe a three-minute commemoration of those who perished in the tsunamis. (photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) |  |
Posted by Paul at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)
December 27, 2004
Kate Bosworth
Well, this blog can't be serious all of the time. I just want to know: is this self-parody?
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December 22, 2004
Who Lost Russia?
Richard Nixon and Tolstoy must be having a good cry into their beer this December on news from Freedom House that political freedoms in Russia have backslid to where they were in 1989 causing a reclassification from "Partly Free" to "Not Free." Nixon warned of the possibility of a new Russian despotism in a 1992 memo to fifty foriegn policy experts that argued Russia was at a defining moment in its history and needed our help in clawing through the legacy of communism to become a state defined by free markets and free politics. Twelve years later, it looks like Nixon was right.
Posted by Paul at 11:56 PM | TrackBack
December 13, 2004
Skating Rink With A View
As if the Eiffel Tower weren't cool enough already, a skating rink has just opened there 188 feet up.
Paris is a really great place for this, as there are hardly any buildings in the city that are that tall - so you really do get a view. If the Rockefeller Center Skating Rink was 200 feet in the air, it wouldn't make much difference. Eiffel Tower Opens Elevated Skating Rink (AP News via Excite)
UPDATE: Via Brian's Culture Blog, here's another interesting picture of the rink in the sky.
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December 08, 2004
How History Is Made
While not everyone is going to have to same reaction to this photo, it gives me Goosebumps. There is some extraordinary footage of Thatcher in a meeting room inside the shipyards in Gdansk talking with members of the strike leadership (from the PBS Special: The Commanding Heights) which, in retrospect, clearly shows the course of history starting to turn. Ideas do matter, and people who believe in ideas can change the world.
Prime Minister Thatcher and President Reagan in 1986
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December 07, 2004
Thailand's War on Terror
In the news:
Sunday, December 5, 2004 at 16:50 JST
BANGKOK — Military aircraft on Sunday began airdropping more than 120 million paper birds in the three southernmost Muslim-dominant provinces in a bid to promote peace in the restive region.Some 100 Thai air force planes are being used to airdrop the origami cranes over 33 districts of the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, where violence has surged since early this year, according to Somkuan Sangpatranatra, spokesman for the Southern Border Province Peacekeeping Command." - from Japan Today
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A massive airdrop of paper birds to promote peace failed to halt violence in Thailand's restive south, with a spate of new attacks targeting soldiers and local officials erupting on Monday.
The bombings, shootings and arson attacks came hours after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the airdrop Sunday of nearly 100 million Japanese-style origami cranes over the predominantly Muslim region had achieved an "enormous, positive psychological effect'' toward peace. -- AP Dispatch in the Malaysia Star
At the very least this is an example of unfortunate circumstances creating some very bad press. Even Jimmy Carter realizes that you have to talk to the guys with the guns in order to make any progress.
I wonder if this is an example of the difference between the West and the East, an older clash of cultures, pre-dating the current Western/Muslim one? It may be that I don't understand the Far East, but by the time people start making bombs, burning things down, and murdering people with guns, it seems to me you have passed the point where "a positive psychological effect" produced by millions of oragami birds fluttering down out of the sky from a fleet of military aircraft is going to help much.
And I also wonder where someone would get 120 million oragami birds. ...Or, if they got them, how they would know they have 120 million of them?
Posted by Paul at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 01, 2004
Ukranian Blogosphere
Here are links to three blogs focusing on the Ukrainian crises.
Orange Ukraine, SCSU Scholars, and A Step at a Time.
If there had been any dobut before, these examples prove we are in the era of the Blog; you can get much better information and informed opinion from your Computer and a web connection than you can from traditional media. The world is changing at a tremendous rate.
Posted by Paul at 11:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 29, 2004
Russia My Dear: My, How You Have Changed!
"The strongarm tactics used by the western stooge, Yushchenko, are typical of the anti-democratic processes set in motion by a rampant and militant Washington, crushed in the grip on a monetarist, neo-conservative crypto-fascist clique of elitists, whose corporate greed speaks louder than the mores of international diplomacy and whose thirst to dominate the world's resources in the lifetimes of Rumsfeld and Cheney throws any moral concept into the trash bin."- Pravda on the Ukraine election struggle. From Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish
This gave me a chance to look at the Pravda website. It is very strange, in fact truly whacky; kind of like the National Enquirer if it were published by Lyndon LaRouche! It is filled with really weird stories, and good old cheesecake.
This is actually more interesting than one would think. This commentary quoted by Sullivan is from Pravda Online, which has nothing to do with the Pravda newspaper, but more than a little to do with the old Pravda arm of the Communist Party. Pravda online was started and staffed by members of the old Pravda staff who resigned en masse in 1991, as detailed in this Wikipedia article: Pravda: The post-Soviet period. So the "western stooge, Yushchenko" rhetoric is an echo of the old order, its bones rattling in the grave.
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November 27, 2004
A Lesson from the Pilgrims
From Marginal Revolution, one of the smartest EconoBlogs on the Web: "It's one of the ironies of American history that when the Pilgrims first arrived at Plymouth rock they promptly set about creating a communist society. Of course, they were soon starving to death." Read the posting here.
Posted by Paul at 07:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
World Prosperity
David Brooks says:
I hate to be the bearer of good news, because only pessimists are regarded as intellectually serious, but we're in the 11th month of the most prosperous year in human history.The New York Times is gloom embodied these days, so one wonders how Brooks got past the editors. He continues making his point:
Last week, the World Bank released a report showing that global growth "accelerated sharply" this year to a rate of about 4 percent.Here is a link to the column (registration required) which will be active and free for another week.Best of all, the poorer nations are leading the way. Some rich countries, like the U.S. and Japan, are doing well, but the developing world is leading this economic surge. Developing countries are seeing their economies expand by 6.1 percent this year - an unprecedented rate - and, even if you take China, India and Russia out of the equation, developing world growth is still around 5 percent. As even the cautious folks at the World Bank note, all developing regions are growing faster this decade than they did in the 1980's and 90's.
Posted by Paul at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 23, 2004
Eighteen Percent of Americans are Delusional
From an article in the NYT about today's New York Times / CBS poll (PDF 688K):
Still, in a telling contrast with the 2000 election, 82 percent of respondents said that Mr. Bush legitimately won on Nov. 2. Just before Election Day, 50 percent of respondents said they considered Mr. Bush's defeat of Al Gore in 2000 a legitimate victory.
And the Democrats have been complaining about the mental stability of Bush voters!
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November 21, 2004
Condoleeza Rice
I was interested to learn that Condoleeza Rice's first name was constructed by her mother, a music teacher, out of the Italian musical marking “con dolcezza” (with sweetness). Also, she probably knows French as well or better than John Kerry! There is a lot of other interesting information in this article from The London Times: Condi: The Girl Who Cracked the Ice Read the whole thing.
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October 18, 2004
Dear Diary
People used to be more private. They had affairs, delusions, rages and observations on the currents of the day just like we do, but in those less modern ages people confided only to a mute, bound, locked and hidden diary or, perhaps a to close friend in a gossip session over tea or at the club.
Posted by Paul at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)