Death of a Tyrant

Invading Iraq was a mistake, and one that the United States is now paying for in blood and treasure.

But it is a small comfort to see that Saddam Hussein, a tyrant of the first order, has received his just deserts. Much, I might add, to the chagrin of the mainstream media, whose articles sound like eulogies for a fallen hero.

Well, Saddam was no hero

Picture of the Week

That is all.

Ethiopian forces halfway to Mogadishu

If you've been listening to the news lately, you have probably heard that Ethiopia, which is 66% Orthodox Christian, is invading Somalia, currently ruled mostly by a gaggle of Islamist militias.

Well, Ethiopian forces now say that they are halfway to Mogadishu

"MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Tuesday it was halfway to crushing Somali Islamists as its forces advanced on the religious movement's Mogadishu stronghold after a week of war in the Horn of Africa."

It's of course, always good news to hear that Islamic militants are being defeated. However, this quote seems ominous, in light of the situation in Iraq:

"Islamists countered that they were ready for a long war and any attempt to oust them would prove disastrous for their foes."

Ethiopia should learn from American mistakes. Namely, don't occupy. If Ethiopia wants to overthrow the Islamist "government" it should do so, quickly replace it with another one, and then get the hell out of dodge.

US strategists, too, have a lesson to learn from this: Direct conflict is not the only way to win the War on Terror. Shrewd use of local allies, and minimal direct application of American military force, could be the road to victory.

Fuck with Thomas Sowell

at your own risk

Milton Friedman on the big screen

One question that always comes up around Christmastime is, of course, "Who would be the best hollywood actor to immortalize Milton Friedman on the silver screen?"

And as anyone who has seen a holiday special knows, the answer is always the same: Joe Pesci

Hat Tip: Ben "Two Weeks" Litchman

The Kissinger Option

The case for pulling out of Iraq, it seems, grows ever stronger. And from an ever widening chorus of voices, as this piece for the conservative, hawkish, pro-Bush doctrine blog, The American Thinker illustrates.

Besides it being clear that victory in Iraq is not an option for the United States, it is beginning to also become clear that a US pullout will mean a defeat for our enemies, and possibly even a strategic gain for us. As the Saudi government is now openly declaring, if the US were to leave Iraq, it would step in to support the Sunni militias the same way Tehran has done with the Shi'ites. What could be better for the United States? We swallow the bitter pill of humility, admit that it was a mistake, and remove ourselves from the conflict. We no longer incur the costs in blood and treasure of fighting a war in which victory is both undefined and unreachable. Meanwhile, our two greatest enemies, Shi'ite Islam, as represented by Iran, and Sunni Islam, as represented by Al Qaeda and its sugar daddies in Riyadh, tear each other apart for us.

This is the shrewdness of Henry Kissinger's foreign policy. Like any government program, warfare run by states has a near 100% failure rate. Clear victories in wars which are not defensive in nature are exceedingly rare. The United States, the world's largest superpower, has won no clear victory since World War II. In Korea, we fought to a stalemate, in Vietnam we were clearly defeated. We won momentarily in Desert Storm, but the very action of invading Iraq in 2003 demonstrates the failure of the 1991 war to "stabilize" the region through punishing Saddam without removing him from power. In Iraq, it seems that we are headed for another clear defeat, like the one we suffered in the Vietnam campaign.

In Vietnam, Henry Kissinger recognized a war that could not be won, and got the United States out. At the same time, he used shrewd diplomacy to turn the US' two greatest enemies of the period, Red China and the Soviet Union, against one another. While both nations were communist, Kissinger used their different theories of communism and their rivalry for status of the leader-nation in the communist empire to make them enemies of one another, for the benefit of the US, which would go on to win the Cold War without suffering another major conflict.

We can do this today as well. Saudi Arabia (and its lackey Al Qaeda) and Iran are both nations with Islamist governments. However, they are from different flavors of Islam, Saudi Arabia is Sunni and Iran is Shi'ite. They are ethnically different, the Saudis are Arabs and the Iranians are Persians. They speak different languages, Arabic and Farsi, respectively. And they are certainly rivals for the leadership position in the Islamic community.

What keeps them from each other's throats? The presence of the United States military in Iraq, which currently takes the brunt of both of them, hit on one side by Shi'ite militias such as Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, and the Saudi-linked Al Qaeda on the other.

The removal of the US military will leave them to squabble over the smoldering ruins of Iraq. Make no mistake: Iraq will be, as Vietnam was, an unmitigated defeat for the United States. But just like Vietnam, it will be just as large (if not larger) a defeat for our enemies. An internecine Islamist conflict in Iraq will give the US time to breathe and recuperate, and dash forever any dreams of a united Islamic ummah to confront the west.

The American Thinker ultimately rejects using the Kissinger option, saying that it is not worthy because there is still some hope left for democracy in Iraq. I hardly need to rebut that ridiculous assertion, but I will do so anyways.

Their argument can really be summed up with this quote:

"The United States is morally and humanely obligated to see it through --- unless the situation deteriorates so greatly that the policy cannot be sustained. We are not there yet, but we could be, by 2008."

How far, exactly, would the Thinker like the deterioration to go, before we admit our mistake? Iraq has no unified government, it has no military, no police force, no system of laws or courts that are enforceable, and it is racked by militia violence. There is absolutely no evidence that Iraq is ever going to return from this state, and much that it will not. Furthermore, if it ever does, it will certainly be far too late, and at far too high a price tag, in both blood and treasure, to ever use as an example for the rest of the Islamic world.

Warfare is a government program. As usual, the government program as failed. And again, as usual, the solution to the problem is to do away with the program all together. It's time to take the Kissinger option.

Economic Lessons of Bethlehem

Lew Rockwell can be a complete goddamn loon.

But this article is great. My favorite line:

"Herod was also a liar: he told the Wise Men that he wanted to find Jesus so that he could "come and adore Him." In fact, Herod wanted to kill Him. Hence, another lesson: you can’t trust a political hack to tell the truth."

Donnell Long

Is a hero

A Christmas of Suffering

Merry Christmas Eve to everybody, and a Merry Christmas tomorrow.

This evening, approx. 2,000 years ago, a child was born that would change the world forever. Jesus of Nazareth was a poor carpenter in a conquered land, ruled by the mightiest empire in human history. Not so mighty, though, that it was capable of resisting His will. Three centuries later, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine The Great, the man who would become Emperor of Rome, first became a Christian.

Since that time, armies have marched, cities have been built, and kingdoms toppled in His name. Some of history's greatest goods and most nightmarish evils have been performed by those who did so, or claimed to do so, out of loyalty to, and love of, Him.

In the land of his birth today, The people into whom he was born are no longer conquered, but their right to exist continues to be a constant struggle. Their enemies are no less vast now than they were then. God is many things, but an undemanding master is not one of them. This is illustrated in His chosen people, who are still singled out for greater tribulations and struggles than nearly any other nation on Earth. Every Christian should defend Israel, for its existence is divinely ordained. Jesus Christ, the very physical manifestation of God-made-Man, is a Son of Israel, of the House of David. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of Christ.

But Israel is far from the only place in which a little well-time divine intervention is in order. Civil war rages in Iraq, and threatens to break out across the Middle East. In Cuba and North Korea, we are constantly reminded that communism, that greatest and most nightmarish legacy of atheism, is still reaching out, even from the grave, to crush the innocent. Just today, on the eve of the birth of the Prince of Peace, Orthodox Christian Ethiopia and now Islamist Somalia have marched to war against one another. On the home-front, New Orleans still lies in ruin, a dark monument to the failure of government to protect us. A harsh recession in the near future threatens to give the rest of the nation a far less terrible, but still bitter, reminder of the scarcity that prevails in the non-capitalist world. Even now, madmen like Kim Jong-Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have acquired, or threaten to acquire, nuclear weapons.

In bethlehem, the very village of Christ's birth, anti-Christian discrimination has reached staggering heights in the wake of the Hamas takeover, and those members of the Church who have not already fled have poor prospects for the future.

The weeks and months ahead will be dark ones. We will need to remember that God looks down on us, and that providence has a broader plan in mind, as Mary did when she watched her son die on the cross.

For now, Merry Christmas. Peace on Earth, and Good Will towards Men.

Dennis Prager v. McGill student on sexual liberation

Dennis Prager debates a young woman from McGill University on the nature of sexual preference and on sexual liberation.

Link here

Its the first item on the list, if you scroll down.

Site News

Finals are over, the blog is officially back.

The Bush administration's plan to "surge" troops into Iraq for a short period is absolutely ridiculous and bound to fail. The words "government" and "short-term" should absolutely never go together. What will actually happen is that troops will be sent into Iraq, and excuses will keep coming up for why they need to stay. We are there and we are staying, or we are going to cut and run. Those are our options, "surge" is not among them.

I for one, vote cut-and-run.

Rape charges, thankfully, were dropped against the Duke lacrosse team. There was absolutely no evidence that they were guilty, and much that they were innocent.

Here are two opposing articles on the issue of whether Congressman Keith Ellison should have been allowed to make his oath of office on a Qur'an, both from conservative writes.

Mike S. Adams is for it.

Dennis Prager is against it.

I personally fully support Ellison's right to swear on the Qur'an. As a convinced Roman Catholic, I would be loathe to take an oath of office on anything other than a full canon, Church-approved, Holy Bible. I would not swear on Mr. Ellison's holy book, and he ought not have to swear on mine.

Hole in Posting

Sorry about not posting as of late, its finals week here. Posting should resume on friday, once these tests are over.

Democratic Underground Loves David Duke

horrifying

Quote of the Day

"The old formulation defined conservatism as the desire to protect traditional values from the intrusion of big government; the new one seeks to promote traditional values through the intrusion of big government." - Brink Lindsey

Hat Tip: Matt Santos

Libertarian Mutiny Follow-Up

Another article about a possible libertarian mutiny in the Republican ranks.

Granted, those who write for Lew Rockwell have never exactly been the greatest of friends with the GOP. However, it really feels like something is brewing here.

Quote of the Day

"The majority of the U.S. government is in the pocket of the world zionist conspiracy." -David Duke, world renowned douchebag

A Libertarian Mutiny?

Check out this great article by Bruce Bartlett, making the case that the Libertarians may be ready to pack up camp and leave the GOP. To be honest, I am with them (though certainly not for running into the arms of the Democrats). The GOP has become a party of big government, both in your wallet and in your bedroom.

So why do libertarians vote for them?

George W. Bush did not deliver on his promise to privatize Social Security, he did not deliver on his promise to reform the U.S. Tax Code, and he expanded government more than any other U.S. president since LBJ. Moreover, he engaged in such anti-libertarian policies as attempting to push through constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, and the burning of the American flag. I am personally sickened by both, but banning either erodes liberty and as such I oppose it.

Sorry George, but tax cuts alone don't make a compelling case.

Democracy in the Muslim World?

Things aren't looking so good.

Quote of the Day

"Mahurin, the daughter of a German immigrant, said her father didn't expect any hand-holding when he arrived in the United States at the age of 18. And he sure didn't receive any. Once, some friends gave him a package of "chocolate" that turned out to be Ex-Lax. He was left, she said, with plenty of time to sit and ponder an important lesson: Learn English." -Metro

Hat Tip: Matt Santos

Uno Attack

You might get aids

Tomb of Saint Paul Discovered

The tomb of Saint Paul has been discovered beneath a church just outside the walls of Rome.

The body is decapitated, and the head is thought to rest with Saint Peter's as Saint John Lateran Church on the Celian Hill.

A beautiful picture of Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls:

Fractional Reserve Fraud

Check out this great video on the nature of money and of fractional reserve banking.

The bottom line, really, is that fractional reserve banking is fraud. It is no different than if I paid a storage company to store my physical goods, only to find out, when I came to get them back, that the company had been lending them out to other people to use, and may not even have them!

That is how fractional reserve banking works. You give the bank your money, they give it to other people, keeping only a fraction of their deposits at any given time. Most of the time, when you come to take money out of your account, they will have enough on hand to give to you. But in certain circumstances, such as a bank run, you might just be out of luck. Sorry, we gave your money away, and now we can't get it back!

Understandably, people are outraged when this occurs, and they should be. Fractional Reserve Banking is fraud. Its one among many reasons we need free banking.

Whenever an economy develops, it bases its original trade off of barter. For example, I have two fish, you have two bushels of wheat. We each want what the other has, and so we can trade.

However, there are major flaws in this system. The most prominent among them is that if I want wheat, and have fish, I actually have to find someone who has wheat, and also wants fish. Unsurprisingly, this becomes difficult.

So, in a barter economy, what occurs is that some commodity, which it is believed that nearly everybody desires, arises as the standard of trade. In frontier era America, beaver pelts were used as a standard of trade. For all intents and purposes, beaver pelts were currency.

However, for most of western history, gold and silver have been the standards of trade. In a free banking system, one would pay a fee to banks to hold gold and silver (or any other standard of trade) and in return would receive bank notes in the amount of the deposit. Undoubtedly, some banks would still use fractional reserve banking, but entering into contracts with their depositors that allowed them to do so. But they would do so via consent, instead of government-protected fraud. And they would likely have to give their depositors a negotiated kickback.

Such a system would battle inflation by subjecting currency to competition, and would be good for consumers, because it would allow them to freely negotiate interest rates for their deposits, or to simply opt out of fractional reserve, in the knowledge that they would always be able to access their deposits, and never would have to fear bank runs.

This system is better, I believe, both economically and morally.

Reason interviews Matt & Trey

If you like Matt Stone and Trey Parker, of South Park fame, and you like liberty, than you will love this interview.

Jewish Rabbi Hates Christmas

Some Rabbi hates christmas. Thus confirming every anti-semitic myth in history.

US Government Tars Hitler and Stalin as dictators

Since the NYT apparently feel that the US government tars their beloved Castro as a dictator, In wonder if they feel the same way about US attitudes towards Hitler and Stalin. After all, Castro has a higher political incarceration rate than either

New York Times Can't Get Enough of Tyranny

Today's online edition of the New York Times carried with it this article in doe-eyed praise of one of the worst tyrants in the world today. Specifically, his program of forcing medical students to go through Marxist indoctrination. To quote:

"The Latin American School of Medical Sciences, on a sprawling former naval base on the outskirts of this capital, teaches its students medicine Cuban style. That means poking at cadavers, peering into aging microscopes and discussing the revolution that brought Fidel Castro

to power 48 years ago.

Cuban-trained doctors must be able not only to diagnose an ulcer and treat hypertension but also to expound on the principles put forward by “el comandante.”

It was President Castro himself who in the late 1990s came up with the idea for this place, which gives potential doctors from throughout the Americas and Africa not just the A B C’s of medicine but also the basic philosophy behind offering good health care to the struggling mass"

Yes, I am sure that they are discussing the revolution that brought Castro to power. Somehow I get the feeling that maybe less than the full range of opinion is welcome.

This was especially amusing:

"Still, the Cuban authorities are eager to show off this school as a sign of the country’s compassion and its standing in the world. And some students cannot help responding to the sympathetic portrayal of Mr. Castro, whom the United States government tars as a dictator who suppresses his people."

Yes, the United States tars him as a dictator. Maybe the good folks over at the NYT are unfamiliar with basic English, but a ruler who seizes power in a coup, holds on to it through brute military force, and brooks no dissent, sounds like a dictator to me.

Don't worry, this parade of murder-apologetics isn't over yet!

"The education the students are receiving here extends outside the classroom.

“I’ve learned to become a minimalist,” Mr. Williams said. “I don’t necessarily need my iPod, all my gadgets and gizmos, to survive.”

There are also fewer food options. The menu can be described as rice and beans and more rice and beans. Living conditions are more rugged in other respects as well. The electricity goes out frequently. Internet access is limited. Toilet paper and soap are rationed. Sometimes the water taps are dry.

Then there is the issue of personal space.

“Being in a room with 18 girls, it teaches you patience,” said Ms. Benyard, who was used to her one-bedroom apartment back home and described her current living conditions as like a military barracks."

Well, thank God Castro institutes those socialist policies that turned the economy on its head and let to abject poverty for the Cuban people! How else would we learn not to use our iPods so much!?!

One parting gift for you:

" “Democracy is a great principle,” said Mr. Williams, who wears long dreadlocks pulled back behind his head."

Lou Dobbs

Is a fucking douchebag. That is all.

Quote of the Day

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, to anybody reading this. Not much in the news other than the Iraq Study Group, and I don't quite have the time to give that the length of post it deserves yet.

Which brings me to the Quote of the Day:

"“Its scheme for a new military strategy contains so many loopholes that a president could cite its language to justify doing anything (or nothing).” If the only reason for the study group was to provide political cover (and sell books) then has been a rousing success." - Fred Kaplan

Hat Tip: Matt Santos

Quote of the Day

"If you love goodness and hate evil, this is a very difficult time to stay sane." -Dennis Prager

Great Article from the Washington Post

On the pointlessness of raising the minimum wage.

To quote:

"Nomey Druskin, manager of the Rainbow Hair Designers at the White Flint Mall, employs six shampooers. Mostly Hispanic immigrants, they are paid at the low end of the wage scale. Druskin should be particularly interested in the Democrats' intention to raise the minimum wage when they take over Congress, right?

She's not. Druskin pays her shampooers at the North Bethesda salon a base rate of more than $8 an hour. That's higher than the federal minimum wage ($5.15), higher than Maryland's minimum wage ($6.15) and higher than what the Democrats are proposing federally ($7.25). In fact, the median hourly rate for all shampooers in the Bethesda-Gaithersburg area, according to federal statistics, is $7.48 -- above all mandated minimums.

Druskin said the shampooers at her 30-year-old salon earn what they earn -- plus tips -- for a few reasons. First and foremost, it would be inhumane to pay them less, she said, given the cost of living in the Washington region. And if she didn't pay them a decent salary, she couldn't attract good, stable help. The shampooers wouldn't smile as easily at their customers. The hair wouldn't be washed just right, and the business, which serves a high-end clientele, would suffer.

'We have to pay them enough to make them happy and for them to live happily,' Druskin said. 'It's a domino effect from the bottom up. We want the clients to be happy.'"

As the article drives home, wages are set by productivity, not by government legislation. Its really as simple as that.

Somehow, I doubt the Post intended to make the case against raising the wage so eloquently.

Finally, an Iranian weakness

This post from FP Passport seems to have finally revealed a weakness in Iran. Surprisingly, that weakness comes in the form of Oil & Natural Gas.

UN Piece-keepers

Looks like UN peace-keepers in Haiti and Liberia have been getting a little too friendly with the local children.

Internationalist attempts to save and civilize foreigners always work

Rumsfeld Backed Iraqi Pullback

I've always been something of a fan of Rumsfeld, though I realize I'm far from in the majority on that one.

A new leaked White House memo indicates that the outgoing Secretary of Defense supported a pullback from Iraq. I agree with him.

NBA Player's Union Suing League over New Ball, Complaint Regulations

The NBA player's union is suing the league on two counts of unfair labor practices. What are these practices, you ask?

The first is anger over the fact that the NBA will be introducing a new official ball. The second is over anger about the NBA's new "zero tolerance" policy towards player reactions after the whistle has been blown.

This is hardly the first time that America's player's unions have engaged in such ridiculous behavior.

Just another case of silly union litigiousness.

Obesity in Africa

Heres your weird story of the weekend. A growing obesity problem, in Africa of all places.

"More than one-third of African women and a quarter of African men are estimated to be overweight, and the World Health Organization predicts that will rise to 41 percent and 30 percent respectively in the next 10 years.

"We have gone from undernutrition to overnutrition without ever having passed healthy nutrition," said Krisela Steyn, the retired director of the South African Medical Research Council's Chronic Disease and Lifestyle unit.

Although the figures are lower than in affluent countries, many experts fear that health systems already stretched by the AIDS virus, malaria and poverty-related diseases may snap under the additional burden of heart disease, strokes, cancer and diabetes, conditions linked to obesity."

Well, I don't know what to make of it.

Recession?

The clamoring is getting louder and louder that America is heading for a recession. I tend to agree, judging from a look at our personal savings rate, which is, to put it lightly, less than ideal.













Heres a depressing set of facts about that.

Some argue that its going to be a soft landing. I disagree. foreseeing a slowdown, the fed didn't stop raising interest rates until August. Meanwhile, the government deficit is sitting pretty at something like 3% of GDP.

Those arguing for a soft landing, or for no recession at all, cite that corporate pre-tax profits are up 31% in the third quarter. Sounds like the last gasp of a lot of borrowing-fueled malinvestment to me.

Hold on to your seats, its gonna be a bumpy ride.

Picture of the Week: East & West United

Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew hold hands at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.

Calls for Iraq Pullout Grow Louder

The calls for a withdrawal from Iraq are growing louder as this post from the hawkish American Thinker demonstrates.

Overall, its a good post. However, there is one point at the end I disagree with:

"Of course, in the event of such a war, the Saudis might not be able to ship any oil via the Persian Gulf, nor the Iranians either. The world economy would be hit by a mighty spasm, and if the interruption lasted very long, tens of millions or more might die in the world’s poorest countries, and the rich countries would find themselves facing a lot of economic disruption."

I doubt the Iranians would be so foolish as to try to strike at The Kingdom via the gulf. Not with five US carrier battle groups present.

We do well to remember that the Iraq War is not the same as the War on Terror, but merely represents a single strategy-end the clash of civilizations quick and early by exporting our own values into their lands.

It seems clear that this experiment has failed. But thats no reason to accept defeat just yet. In the US' two main armed conflicts of the Cold War, the Korean War and Vietnam War, we were able to achieve only a stalemate in the first, and were defeated in the second. But we would go on to become the clear winners of the struggle with communism. Winning in Iraq is not necessary to winning overall, and a temporary loss might be an investment in a long term victory.

Quotes of the Day

“We have no work. We have nothing else to do, so we came to overthrow the government.”

Lebanese explaining to a reporter why he is participating in the protests.

“History gives evidence of no civilization that survived long as purely secular and without a god, that put its trust in reason alone, and believed human nature was subject to radical improvement given enough capital and learning invested in the endeavor.”

Victor Davis Hanson

Hat Tip: Matt Santos

Seat Belts Kill?

Interesting piece from Time on the hidden dangers of seat belts. Namely, that people drive more recklessly when they perceive a lower risk. Thomas Sowell has been saying this for a while now, actually.

Incentives matter.