Friday, October 17, 2003

ELSEWHERE

"Two things...have staggered me....The first has been the dangers that have so swiftly come upon us in a few years, and have been transforming our position and the whole outlook of the world. Secondly, I have been staggered by the failure of the House of Commons to react effectively against those dangers." --Winston Churchill, 1936 ++ "All is over. Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into darkness....We have sustained a defeat without a war." --Winston Churchill, 1938. The first sentence could of course have been about the USA today. Fortunately, Bush and Blair have heeded the warning of the past and have not just sat around “negotiating” the way the British and French of the 1930s did. (Via The Federalist.

Miranda Devine points out that it is bad roads which are the major cause of traffic accidents and that speed cameras do nothing to improve safety -- despite government claims to the contrary.

There is a huge collection of Democrat quotes about Iraq dating from the Clinton years here. When GWB says something it is “lies”. When Democrats say the same thing it is cause for cheering!

Chicago as Little Mexico. For mile after mile nobody speaks English.

Thomas Sowell spells out the real political reasons why Democrats oppose vouchers. Hint: It has nothing to do with “compassion” for blacks or any other poorly schooled kids.

The small business regulatory swamp: "Perhaps the most destructive result of regulation is the effect on the poorest of our citizens. In our inner city, there is no shortage of needs ... no shortage of business opportunities to provide needed services and products ... but the complexity of starting a small business can be completely overwhelming ... so difficult, even with a great idea, that it makes a poor job or welfare look like the only reasonable choices."

This link summarises some of the work of "Austrian" economist Bill Hutt. He is particularly good on the destructive effects of labor unions.

Mike Tremoglie has been really listening to what the advocates of socialized medicine for America say: “It would be a grievous error to believe that the current proponents of a single payer healthcare system are concerned with anything other than ideology. I reached this conclusion after attending the annual National Managed Healthcare Congress conference in Washington D.C. in April 1993....”

The things you learn! Libertarian though I am, I did NOT know that Ayn Rand was born Alisa Rosenbaum!. (Via Marc Miyake)

Amusing: A very arty blogger has got both myself and The Wicked one on her blogroll under the heading: “evil lynx to monitor for safety's sake”. I like it!

Michelle Malkin has a good comment on the racial preoccupations of the New York Times. A thinly disguised dislike of smart Indians is included, it seems.

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