BOOK REVIEW of September Day - A novel by Larry Schweikart & Jeff Head

Rather than review this novel myself, I thought that a review from someone who is politically middle of the road might be more useful. Ken, A keen book-reading friend, has therefore read the book and commented as under:

"September Day is a dramatisation of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, the aftermath and subsequent "war against terror".

Despite his claim that this is a work of fiction and that ".similarities to actual persons or events are purely a result of the author's imagination" it is impossible to ignore the real names and thinly disguised characters and events which are so familiar to us, and therefore to allow this knowledge to colour the narrative.

The book is essentially a fast-moving thriller, written in the modern idiom of staccato sentences and short, double-spaced paragraphs. The author has cleverly woven together facts that have been widely reported, with fictionalised private lives of the real people caught up in the tragedy. He has stuck closely to reported facts and details while filling in the missing intrigues with imaginative and, for the most part, feasible fiction. The result is a page-turner of a novel that manages to maintain tension and suspense even though we are all too familiar with the actual outcomes.

I found a disturbing dichotomy in the representation of the fictionalised protagonists; the western hero's appear as stereotypical "all American" patriots who face danger and certain death with stoic rationalism in the noble traditions of "truth, justice and The American Way", whilst the Muslim heroes (who behave with exactly the same chauvinistic behaviour) are portrayed as either manipulated zealots or sycophants who voice their disapproval of bin Laden's fanaticism in italicised asides to the reader.

The main characters are fairly shallowly drawn, but in the context of the fast moving action this is probably not a serious criticism except that it is quite difficult to rationalise their reactions to the extreme circumstances they find themselves in without being able to identify with them fully and sympathetically. The young computer genius was the only character who felt real to me even when his anarchic persona (he was recruited from a serious virus case in a plea bargain) turns out to mask an unlikely patriotism.

The novel has an ambitious range, beginning with the American embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam and taking in the reported stock exchange transactions that netted fortunes to those who had inside knowledge. The author's speculation about the overall plan and the various events and intrigues which allowed some of the intended sequences to misfire, and others to become ineffective, is insightful and totally believable.

Whether or not the book is inflammatory or politically correct is questionable but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as a work of "faction". I was kept suitably enthralled until the last page, not knowing where or how the narrative would resolve. I was not disappointed and would recommend the book rather as a novel than a record of historical events."

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ELSEWHERE

Read here the statement by Israel's ambassador Gideon Meir and Brigadier General Ido Nehushtan on the current situation in Israel. Excerpt: "Israel has suffered an unprovoked cross-border attack from Lebanese territory. The attack was carried out by the Hizbullah, which is a party to the Government of Lebanon. The attack was carried out against Israelis, soldiers and civilians, while on sovereign Israeli soil. In these circumstances, Israel has no alternative but to defend itself and its citizens. For this reason, Israel is now reacting to an act of war by a neighboring sovereign state. Israel views Lebanon as responsible for the present situation, and it shall bear the consequences for this act".

Political fallacies: "The grand political fallacy of the age is that the Republicans are the party of wealth, while the Democrats are the party of compassion for the little guy. This is something that has been assumed and repeated so often that it has become a "well-known fact" without any hard evidence being asked for or given. In the 2000 elections, the counties that voted for Bush had a smaller percentage of their population with annual incomes over $100,000 than the counties that voted for Gore. The Bush counties also had a higher percentage of their population earning under $30,000 a year. It has become axiomatic in the liberal media that big-money donors give most of that big money to the Republicans. But the hard data show that the top ten donors to political campaigns gave far more to the Democrats, with the lone exception being the National Association of Realtors, who gave 50 percent to the Democrats and 49 percent to the Republicans."

Of meat and myth: "For many young people, 'The Jungle' is required reading in high-school classes, where they are led to believe that unscrupulous capitalists were routinely tainting our meat, and that moral crusader Upton Sinclair rallied the public and forced government to shift from pusillanimous bystander to heroic do-gooder, bravely disciplining the marketplace to protect its millions of victims. But this is a triumph of myth over reality, of ulterior motives over good intentions. Reading 'The Jungle' and assuming it's a credible news source is like watching 'The Blair Witch Project' because you think it's a documentary."

Malaysia: Muslim Laws And Corrupt Politicians: "Malaysia claims to be a "moderate Muslim country", but is also practises one of the most corrupt and bizarre travesties of religious freedom imaginable. It claims to be "enlightened", but the policies of its two main parties are based on discrimination against non-Muslim minorities.... UMNO hold to the principle of the "ketuanan Melayu" an ideology which states that the Malay people, who are all regarded as "Muslim" under Malaysia's Kafkaesque legal system, are the original and defining populace of Malaya, and thus should have special status and privileges.... Malaysia makes it compulsory for every citizen to be issued with a national identity card at the age of 12, and on this card is written the details of one's religion. In a move which is simultaneously racist and Islamist, all Malays are automatically registered on these cards (called MyKad) as Muslims".

Can FEMA be fixed?: l "The Senate succeeded last week in reconciling two bills intended to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the proposals do little more than tweak FEMA's organizational chart. The bills ignore the real problem: FEMA's central planning approach to organizing economic activity after a natural disaster."

For those who have not seen the story of Bruce Vincent's meeting with President Bush, you can find it here. Even Snopes was not able to discredit it, though in their usual Leftist way, they did their best. The story is one of many about the caring private deeds of the President.

For more postings, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. (Mirror sites here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

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"All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State." -- 19th century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel is the most influential philosopher of the Left -- inspiring Karl Marx, the American "Progressives" of the early 20th century and university socialists to this day.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

Comments? Email me here (Hotmail address). If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Pages are here or here or here.

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Brookes News Update

The red-green alliance against the West: The greens, like the communists and Nazis before them, are inordinate, i.e., there is no limit to their demands. Each demand will be followed by more demands. They are only interested in total and unconditional surrender. This is why they ally themselves with Islamofascists
Productivity, wages and jobs - more economic stupidity from the media, part I: Productivity increases the intensity of demand for labour, which is just another way of saying that it raises real wage rates. It does not raise unemployment
Is Islam misrepresented?: Islam is indeed misrepresented. Islam is not misrepresented by its "detractors". It is misrepresented by Islamic mercenaries: organizations and individuals generously funded by states as well as wealthy believers who are making billions of dollars pumping and selling oil at astronomical prices
Los Angeles Time slimes Harvard and President Bush: The Los Angeles Time is a leftist rag. It spews such liberal propaganda that it is hard to find actual news in its pages. To say that it is anti-American, anti-war, anti-business, anti-Republican is just scratching the surface of this pathetic excuse for communication
Is the National Republican Congressional Committee running scared?: The National Republican Congressional Committee is apparently running scared -- so scared that it has even stooped to telemarketing on the Sabbath

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ELSEWHERE

There is a new site here exposing labor union hypocrisy and corruption -- particularly as it relates to Wal-Mart.

London hits SUV owners: "The London congestion charge will treble for large 4x4s and other fuel-hungry cars, under plans by Ken Livingstone to penalise vehicles with high levels of carbon dioxide emissions. The Mayor of London is proposing a discount on the 8 pound rate for "greener" cars but an increase to 25 pounds for "environmentally damaging" vehicles. The top rate would apply to any vehicle emitting more than 225g of CO2 a kilometre (g/km), including the Range Rover, Toyota Land Cruiser and some versions of the Renault Espace and BMW 5-series. Cars emitting 120g/km or less, such as some models of the Citroen C2 and C3, and the Renault Clio, would pay less than œ8, though the exact figure has to be decided. But the new sliding scale of charges would mean about 44 per cent of motorists paying more than 8 pounds."

Research finding: Self-esteem is genetic and uninfluenced by family background: "We attempted to clarify the relation between self-esteem level (high vs. low) and perceived self-esteem stability (within-person variability) by using a behavioral genetics approach. We tested whether the same or independent genetic and environmental influences impact on level and stability. Adolescent twin siblings (n = 183 pairs) completed level and stability scales at two time points. Heritability for both was substantial. The remaining variance in each was attributable to non-shared environmental influences. Shared environmental influences were not significant."

Race in soccer -Italian comment: "Roberto Calderoli, head of the right-wing popular Northern League party, refused to retract earlier comments in which he hailed Italy's defeat of France in Monday's World Cup final as "a victory for Italian identity". "When I say that France's team is composed of blacks, Islamists and communists, I am saying an objective and evident thing," Calderoli was quoted as saying today by the ANSA news agency. His comment, in response to a complaint to the Senate by France's ambassador to Italy, reiterated remarks made on Monday in the aftermath of Italy's World Cup victory. Italy's all-white team, from a largely devout Catholic populace, had won against "a France team which sacrificed its own identity by lining up blacks, Islamists and communists to get results", Calderoli said on the day of the final. Members of the France team, composed largely of non-white players, returned to a heroes' welcome yesterday despite their 5-3 penalty shootout defeat to Italy in Berlin. France captain Zinedine Zidane gave an unexpected twist to the match when he was sent off for head-butting Marco Materazzi, after the Italy defender allegedly made racist insults. But Zidane, born to Algerian parents, was backed by his country's politicians.

Language and wealth: "Does the language you speak or use help influence how wealthy you are? When trying to determine why some countries are wealthier than others, economists rarely, if at all, consider language. However, if you look at the list of wealthiest countries on a per capita income basis, you will notice almost all the top 20 are English-speaking, or use some other Germanic language, with the exception of France, Japan, and Finland (however, most Finns know German and English as well as Swedish, and many Frenchmen know German and/or English). English is only the primary language for about 5 percent (340 million) of the world?s people. Another 200 million, or 3 percent, are reasonably fluent in English, and perhaps up to another 500 million (8 percent) know some English. The number of French and German speakers are each probably less than 3 percent of the world?s population. Yet, those who speak English or other Germanic languages account for more than 40 percent of the world GDP, while comprising only about 8 percent of the world's population.

Asians best at making cars?: "Britain's ailing car industry received another blow yesterday as Nanjing Automobile, which owns the remnants of Rover, announced that it would start building MG cars in Oklahoma. The motor industry had expected all MGs to be built at Rover's old base at Longbridge, Birmingham, but most production will now go to America.... Construction of the Ardmore factory will begin next year and MG is hoping to start production in 2008. About 60 per cent of its 12,000 to 16,000 forecast sales will be in North America and the rest in Europe... The Oklahoma factory will be the first to be opened in America by a Chinese carmaker. Other Asian manufacturers have also moved into the American South - Hyundai is in Alabama, Nissan in Tennessee and Toyota in Texas. The move by Asian companies to open factories in the US has come as the traditional Detroit car manufacturers - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler - have struggled."

Equal and opposite reaction ... except at the UN: "Got any doubts about ineffectiveness and ineptitude of the U.N.? Consider this: On Tuesday, North Korea test-fired as many as seven missiles, including one ICBM capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States, in defiance of international warnings. On Wednesday morning, the Security Council met in emergency session. There was a time when such a session would have begun immediately, perhaps in the wee hours of the morning. Not so today. The Council sat down at the more leisurely hour of 9 a.m. local time. And they talked."

For more postings, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. (Mirror sites here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

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"All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State." -- 19th century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel is the most influential philosopher of the Left -- inspiring Karl Marx, the American "Progressives" of the early 20th century and university socialists to this day.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

Comments? Email me here (Hotmail address). If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Pages are here or here or here.

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Today's anti-American leftists betray their own radical heritage

A few excerpts from an excellent July 4 article by Michael Medved:

Today's militant leftists not only spread lies about America's present but generate even more damaging distortions about the nation's past and in so doing differentiate themselves from the radical idealists of yesteryear. Contemporary followers of Noam Chomsky and Ward Churchill view the entire American experience as a disgrace, even a crime. They stress the nation?s guilt in committing "genocide" against Native Americans, enslaving millions of Africans, stealing Mexican land, despoiling the pristine environment, oppressing working people everywhere, and blocking progressive change with an imperialist foreign policy. One Jake Irvin of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington recently told the Wall Street Journal: "My political belief is that the U.S. is a horrendous empire that needs to end."

In contrast, the radicals and revolutionaries of the past cloaked themselves in patriotic symbols and proclaimed their desire to call the nation back to its own highest ideals. From Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas to Paul Robeson and Abbie Hoffman, these agitators proudly quoted Jefferson, Lincoln, or Tom Paine, and agreed with the nation's mainstream that Americanism (at least as they defined it) represented the last, best hope of earth. Even the Communist Party USA unblushingly honored national heroes: when they dispatched their fighters to support fellow Stalinists in the Spanish Civil War, the volunteers called themselves "The Abraham Lincoln Brigade" not the "Vladimir Lenin Brigade." Stalin's personal friend Paul Robeson achieved mainstream popularity with his "Ballad for Americans," treating the Revolutionary War as a heroic struggle not a malevolent conspiracy by greedy slaveholders (as it's often portrayed today)....

Today's radicals feel embarrassed by the leftwing flag-waving of 70 years ago, and insist that Americans should feel guilty rather than proud of their nation''s past and its role in the world. Cindy Sheehan, who became a worldwide celebrity by exploiting her son's combat death in Iraq, recently posted a heart-rending rant on Michael Moore's website, declaring: "often have to ask myself why we, as Americans, so blindly follow our leaders down this path of violent destruction, and it has always been so. From the genocide and virtual extinction of our native population to dehumanizing black people so they could be used as human chattel and still be oppressed, even today, to still be the only so-called "civilized nation" that executes people "Before we can change the world we have to look in our hearts and change ourselves. Before Casey was KIA in Iraq I led the life of rampant consumerism that wreaked havoc on my soul and the environment." ...

These arguments matter because a nation embarrassed about its past, apologetic about its very existence, is a nation unable to defend itself from its enemies. The Fourth of July offers a unique opportunity to tell true stories about the land we love: not as a flawless paradise, but as a uniquely blessed haven that has provided more opportunities for more disparate populations than any nation in human history. In terms of our role in the wider world, one need not defend every decision by past leaders to recognize that no country has ever benefited the rest of humanity as consistently and abundantly as the United States.

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ELSEWHERE

Price controls have predictable results. The legislators in Canada's New Brunswick province seem unable to learn from experience, however. They have put new price ceilings on heating oil. Just 10 days later: shortage!

David Frum notes some hopeful hints of sanity from Muslim writers. Excerpt: "Dear Palestinian Arab brethren: The war with Israel is over. You have lost. Surrender and negotiate to secure a future for your children. We, your Arab brothers, may say until we are blue in the face that we stand by you, but the wise among you and most of us know that we are moving on, away from the tired old idea of the Palestinian Arab cause and the "eternal struggle" with Israel. Dear friends, you and your leaders have wasted three generations trying to fight for Palestine, but the truth is the Palestine you could have had in 1948 is much bigger than the one you could have had in 1967, which in turn is much bigger than what you may have to settle for now or in another 10 years. Struggle means less land and more misery and utter loneliness."

Immigration: The remnants of Federalism still valuable: "The spotlight in the illegal immigration debate has been on Congress's field hearings. But the action has been in Colorado, where the state legislature spent the weekend haggling over whether to cut government services to illegal aliens. Republican supporters want the issue to turn out their base in November. Democrats, meanwhile, are scrambling for the nearest political cover. Bill Ritter, the party's gubernatorial candidate, has even told reporters that "the person I'm closest to" on immigration is President Bush. With Washington deadlocked, the battle over illegal immigration is moving to the states. And if the fight on Capitol Hill has been ugly, just wait until state lawmakers who don't have the power to do much, feel compelled to do something about the 12 million or so illegal aliens in this country. Rep. Tom Tancredo, the Colorado Republican who did so much to bring this issue to a boil in the U.S. Congress, may yet see his nativist ideas enacted into law, albeit piecemeal and state by state."

Judge rules FBI raid on congressman's office was legal: "A federal judge on Monday upheld the FBI's unprecedented raid of a congressional office, saying that barring searches of lawmakers' offices would turn Capitol Hill into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime." Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan rejected requests from lawmakers and Rep. William Jefferson to return material seized by the FBI in a May 20-21 search of Jefferson's office. The overnight search was part of a 17-month bribery investigation of Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat. In a 28-page opinion, Hogan dismissed arguments by Jefferson and a bipartisan group of House leaders that the raid violated the Constitution's protections against intimidation of elected officials. Hogan acknowledged the "unprecedented" nature of the case. But he said the lawmakers' "sweeping" theory of legislative privilege "would have the effect of converting every congressional office into a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime."

More brilliant British bureaucracy: "A backlog of 5,000 passport applications has built up after serious problems developed with a computer system only weeks after the inception of a new online service. The Home Office agency in charge of issuing the travel documents has now withdrawn the online application service because of mounting difficulties in issuing passports. Some applicants have been asked to resubmit passport applications on paper and others have had application fees and other costs refunded because of the problems... The Prime Minister and John Reid, the Home Secretary, have praised the Passport Agency as an area of government with high levels of customer satisfaction. The agency is also the organisation that is to develop the identity card scheme, which will involve issuing tens of millions of cards to British citizens... Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said that the latest disclosure was "a terrible omen for the forthcoming identity cards scheme". He said: "If the Identity and Passports Service - supposedly the flagship of competent government IT procurement - can't handle 18,000 applications, how will it ever be able to run a database of every British citizen, with millions of applications a year?"

For more postings, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. (Mirror sites here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

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"All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State." -- 19th century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel is the most influential philosopher of the Left -- inspiring Karl Marx, the American "Progressives" of the early 20th century and university socialists to this day.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

Comments? Email me here (Hotmail address). If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Pages are here or here or here.

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AN OLD TRUTH REDISCOVERED

As I have long ago shown elsewhere, academic psychology just goes around in circles, continually reinventing the wheel. The latest example is the following "discovery:

"Beauty may be more than skin deep after all. New research suggests that good-looking people do better in exams and thus probably in later life, than the plain or downright ugly. In the study, better-looking students achieved superior results in both oral and written exams -- the latter marked anonymously -- suggesting that success is not just down to teachers favouring attractive students but to superior natural ability.

"Physical appearance has a significant and economically meaningful effect on the performance of students," said the authors of the study, led by Giam Pietro Cipriani, associate professor of economics at the University of Verona in Italy.

The study -- presented to the annual conference of the European Society for Population Economics in Verona -- will reignite the debate on whether good-looking people get on in life through talent or beauty.

The authors of the study and the journalists commenting on it are scrambling for all sorts of explanations of the finding but are overlooking the one "nasty" explanation -- which happens to be the true one.

Back in the 1920s, Terman & Oden did a series of studies which they called "Genetic Studies of Genius". They took high IQ kids and tracked them for many years. What they found was that high IQ was only one aspect of a general syndrome of biological good functioning. The brain is only one part of the body and if the brain is functioning well, the rest of the body will usually be pretty good too. So high IQ kids tended to end up taller, have fewer health problems, have better social lives etc.

Cipriani has simply rediscovered that. There has long been a consensus that what we see as beautiful or attractive is a reflection of health, strength and fitness. So what Cipriani should have done is look at the IQ scores of his beautiful people. He would have found them to be somewhat brighter on average -- and that explains their greater academic success.

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A GOOD COMMENT ON AIRPORT "SECURITY"

From Jerry Lerman, referring to this report

In retrospect it was probably a bad idea to have the cell phone ring tone set to shout "I am a terrorist" while waiting to board a plane at the airport. A 15-year-old Singaporean girl was apprehended by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport security in China when her cell phone shouted out "I am a terrorist" when a call came in.

Because this happened in China where human rights and personal freedom is much more restricted and individual liberty is less respected and valued by the government than here in the United States, she was permitted to board the plane only after being forced to delete the ring tone and after receiving "a severe telling off" from security forces instead of being arrested for delivering a terrorist threat, ruined for life with a felony record, and forced to remain in an interrogation cell for weeks on end with all of her rights canceled because she did something dumb at the airport, especially with her being from another country.

And surprisingly they didn't even evacuate the airport, delay flights for hours or send in dozens of police squads and security forces to contain her. They are so under-reactive in China.

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ELSEWHERE



There is an interesting book out called Samson Blinded: A Machiavellian Perspective on the Middle East Conflict that Amazon refuses to list. Banning a book is of course a fairly reliable indication that the book contains unwelcome truths and so it is on this occasion. The basic point of the book is that Israel is going to have to get a lot tougher with the Arabs before they will give up their aggression. I am afraid the author (a senior Israeli politician writing under a pseudonym) is right.

Growing Revenues to Shrink Deficit: "The economy and federal revenues are growing at such a rapid rate that the deficit will shrink in the short term, President Bush's chief budget official says . . . . Rob Portman . . . said the president's economic policies have led to exceptional economic growth, which has in turn led to bulging federal receipts."

The GM struggle: "The timing could not have been more pointed. As Americans prepared to celebrate Independence Day, Kirk Kerkorian, a billionaire investor who owns nearly 10% of the world's largest carmaker, suggested that the best hope for General Motors was to join Renault and Nissan. A symbol of American commercial might needed rescuing by France and Japan... In particular, Mr Kerkorian and his sidekick Jerry York--veteran of turnarounds at Chrysler and IBM--wanted Mr Wagoner to endorse targets and a timetable for reversing GM's decline.... Mr York damned Mr Wagoner with faint praise and eulogised Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault and Nissan, for saving Nissan with ambitious targets that he hit early. Mr Ghosn's secret is to form cross-functional teams, have them draw up detailed plans and then enforce them. He made it work at Michelin in Brazil and America, at Renault in France (where he was called "le cost killer"), and most famously at Nissan in Japan, where he was parachuted in after Renault took a stake in the ailing company in 1999. At the time, Bob Lutz, now GM's vice-chairman, likened the investment in Nissan to filling a container with $6 billion in gold bullion and sinking it in the Pacific. GM's losses have since far exceeded that sum, whereas Nissan has notched up the best profit margins in the industry."

Peter Huber explains economics to the educated ignoramuses who demonize "Big Pharma".

Rather amusing: There is now a Carnival of Wal-Mart up! Posts from both pro- and anti-Wal-Mart bloggers.

For more postings, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. (Mirror sites here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

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"All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State." -- 19th century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel is the most influential philosopher of the Left -- inspiring Karl Marx, the American "Progressives" of the early 20th century and university socialists to this day.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

Comments? Email me here (Hotmail address). If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Pages are here or here or here.

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Pollyanna speaking

I live in a country where I broadly approve of what the political class does. I don't think Australia's national leadership always gets it right but, given the circumstances in which they operate, I think they do pretty well. As far as I can see, I live in one of the world's most conservative countries and that suits me well. I am pretty content. The few things I am not content about, I address on Australian Politics and also occasionally here. But most of what gives me concerns happens in the USA and the UK, so that is what I mostly blog about.

But if I were a Brit, in particular, I think I would be cross-eyed with dissatisfaction. The huge take of the tax system, the appalling health service, the lack of personal safety (resulting from the combination of gun bans and a high level of crime), the worship of homosexuality and the extensive way BOTH sides of politics pander to Muslim dregs would irritate me to death.

I am particularly appalled by the latter. Several leading members of the Australian Federal government and even some Leftist State government leaders (one summary here) have told the Muslims to shut up or ship out. Their statements to that effect are continually being circulated via email by gleeful American conservatives who cannot believe that any politician could be so outspoken.

Both Britain and Australia have suffered from Muslim bombings but in Britain there is no end to the appeasement -- as we see here and here. But I am sure that both Mr Cameron and Mr Blair have done their market research and concluded that their wishy-washy approach to the Muslim menace has general public support. And the vote shows that. People COULD vote for the British National Party if they wanted to but very few do.

So how can almost the entire British people be so unwise? Unlike conspiracy theorists such as old Adolf and his successors today on both Left and Right, I do not delude myself with explanations in terms of malign outside forces. I think blind Freddy can see that the problem lies in the British people as a whole. Most Brits agree with the Blair/Cameron approach. They know what that approach is and they approve of it and vote for it. The approach is not the work of a few conspirators with big noses in back rooms.

So in those circumstances, the Pollyanna in me comes to the fore. I begin to doubt that the British are in fact unwise. I begin to suspect that there is wisdom in the Blair/Cameron approach. And the source of that approach is not far to see. It is in fact a realization of the teachings of Christianity. See Matthew 5:44, for instance.

Very few Brits these days are anything more than nominal Christians but those teachings are nonetheless the foundation of British conventional wisdom. What is no longer religion is still culture. And that the British culture is a wise one, its historically vast influence on the world rather confirms. American culture is still basically British (or else I would have to write this in Spanish) and even as culturally distinctive a country as Japan governs itself in very Anglo-Saxon ways. The Japanese Diet and the English parliament are very similar and there is no doubt which was the model for the other.

And the English attachment to kindness and consideration pays off. England has very seldom had to fight its wars alone. It is always successful at forming extensive alliances. And those alliances almost invariably put it on the winning side. In Mein Kampf, even Hitler expressed great admiration for British World War I propaganda and there is no doubt that British propaganda has been remarkably successful at portraying the British as the good guys. Nobody can win them all, of course, but even in former colonies, there is still considerable goodwill towards Britain.

But that propaganda has to have some basis. Lies don't work for long. Britain has to BE the good guy it promotes itself as being. And, largely, it is. And that is why it finds allies with relative ease. It is basically Britain's moral claims that eventually brought isolationist America to its side in two world wars (Yes. I know that Hitler declared war on America rather than vice versa but America was assisting Britain long before that).

So whatever the problems the Muslims cause and no matter what Britain ends up doing about that problem, it will act from a position of righteousness. It will be seen as having done all it can to deal with the problem kindly. And that is an asset of great value. Its decisions will be generally respected and supported and its actions will be assisted.

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ELSEWHERE

A new declaration: "It is easy to simply blame faceless bureaucrats and politicians for our current state of affairs, and they do bear much of the blame. But blame also rests with those who expect Washington DC to solve every problem under the sun. If the public demanded that Congress abide by the Constitution and pass only constitutional spending bills, politicians would have no choice but to respond. Everybody seems to agree that government waste is rampant and spending should but cut -- but not when it comes to their communities or pet projects. So members of Congress have every incentive to support spending bills and adopt a go-along, get-along attitude. This leads to the famous compromises, but the bill eventually comes due on April 15th."

Minimum wage socialism: "The idea that legislators can help low-income workers simply by mandating a pay raise is the height of hubris. While the minimum-wage rhetoric may sound good, the reality is quite different. Forcing employers to pay low-skilled workers a higher than market wage - in the absence of any changes in productivity - will decrease the number of workers hired (the law of demand). The National Federation of Independent Business estimates that if the federal minimum wage is increased to $6.65 per hour, nearly 217,000 workers would lose their jobs. The long-run consequences would be even more severe, as employers introduced labor-saving equipment and technology. In fact, many entry-level jobs actually pay more than $5.15 or even $6.15 per hour, so the idea that without the minimum wage, workers would be exploited is a myth. In competitive markets, such as fast food and retailing, employers who pay below-market wages will not be able to attract sufficient help. McDonald's is paying up to $8 per hour in Panama City, Fla., for example".

Sowell on the black vote: "Should blacks vote for Democrats or Republicans? Since blacks are not all the same, any more than whites are, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Yet the black vote is more overwhelmingly tied to the Democrats than that of any other group. Most blacks are working people and taxpayers, who are not benefiting from the welfare state programs of the Democrats or from affirmative action. Many live in places where they are more likely than whites to become victims of the violent criminals that liberal judges turn loose and liberal governors pardon. Blacks are also more likely to gain from vouchers that would enable them to pull their children out of failing public schools and give them a chance to get a decent education in a safer environment."

Some sanity about Wal-Mart -- even in California: "Saying "Wal-Mart Supercenter" in some California city halls is akin to yelling "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater -- the first reaction is panic. Not so in eastern Sacramento County. Political leaders here are taking a more pragmatic approach to the corporate giant, discussing issues associated with the behemoth store as they calmly clear the way for the retailer. In Folsom, Wal-Mart's application to build a Supercenter prompted the City Council to create a committee to review the approval process for larger retailers. "We want to make sure we understand all the potential benefits and all the potential detriments," said Folsom Mayor Andy Morin. "We want to handle it in a very pragmatic, sophisticated manner." Meanwhile, a plan for a Supercenter in Orangevale, initially met with hostility from some residents, is now on the fast track to construction."

For more postings, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. (Mirror sites here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

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"All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State." -- 19th century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel is the most influential philosopher of the Left -- inspiring Karl Marx, the American "Progressives" of the early 20th century and university socialists to this day.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

Comments? Email me here (Hotmail address). If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Pages are here or here or here.

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BLOGIVERSARY

My first blog post ever was on this day in 2002. I reproduce immediately below an excerpt from the post concerned:

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DENIAL OF REALITY

"The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind." (H.L. Mencken)

There would seem to be some possibility that excess ego can be curbed. The traditional Christian preaching of humility certainly assumes that. It is doubtful, however, that another underpinning of Leftism can be much influenced: Denial of reality.

Denial is perhaps best known through the work of Sigmund Freud as a classical neurotic symptom or coping mechanism. Instead of dealing with uncomfortable truths, the neurotic acts as if those truths simply do not exist. This is, of course, very maladaptive and creates at least as many problems as it solves.

Sadly, however, it would seem that reality denial is far from limited to psychiatric cases. Denial would appear to be in fact much more common even than excess egotism. Human beings generally do not handle reality well. That is why humans are such a drug-using species. Whether it be alcohol, cannabis, opiates, Khat, cocaine, nicotine or merely caffeine, few of us seem able to face life without chemical crutches. Straight reality is generally too much for us.

But WHY are human beings so uncomfortable with reality? Why do they use so many means to "escape" it? Again it probably goes back to more primitive times when reality was very oppressive and dispiriting. Only those who could escape reality in some way had the heart to carry on. So a talent for ignoring unpleasant truths was adaptive. In the modern world, however, reality is much more benign and, as Freud saw, denying it can easily descend into the psychopathological.

So any attack on the reality-denying habits of Leftists would appear doomed to failure. Even such an overwhelming reality as the utter collapse of the world's 70 year experiment with Communism caused them not at all to abandon their equalitarian mania but only to change their focus somewhat.

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IS THIS THE FINAL MELTDOWN OF THE BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY?

They are clearly trying to outflank Blair on the LEFT

David Cameron is to deliver an extraordinary defence of hoodie-wearing yob teenagers, insisting they needed to be loved - not locked up. The Conservative leader attacked the decision by Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent to exclude youngsters wearing hooded tops. And in a speech tomorrow, he will say: 'The hoodie is a response to a problem, not a problem in itself.'

Mr Cameron will also praise the controversial film Kidulthood, set in his own Notting Hill neighbourhood, which depicts schoolchildren taking drugs, having casual sex and 'happy slapping' - attacking random passers by in the street. He says: 'Kidulthood is not about bad kids. Even the villain is clearly suffering from neglect and the absence of love.'

The comments mark the latest breath-taking Tory U-turn on law and order. Traditionally Conservatives have defined themselves by their tough, uncompromising stance on justice. But there is no mention of punishing the criminal yobs in Mr Cameron's speech. Instead, he stresses the role of 'compassion and kindness'.

And Mr Cameron attacks Tony Blair for supporting the Bluewater hoodie ban. He says: 'The fact is that the hoodie is a response to a problem, not a problem in itself. 'We - the people in suits - often see hoodies as aggressive, the uniform of a rebel army of young gangsters. But hoodies are more "defensive" than "offensive" - they're a way to stay invisible in the street. 'In a dangerous environment the best thing to do is keep your head down; blend in. 'For some, the hoodie represents all that's wrong about youth culture in Britain today. 'For me, adult society's response to the hoodie shows how far we are from finding the long-term answers to put things right.'

Kidulthood, released earlier this year, was criticised for its gritty portrayal of West London teenagers as criminals with no sense of morality.

More here

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ELSEWHERE

The European plane-maker, Airbus, was for a time held up as an example of a government-owned enterprise that was succeeding in business -- though its reliance on big subsidies and soft loans from European governments always made that claim questionable. The excreta has now really hit the turbofan, however, with the company in deep trouble. See here.

The big-bang story of U.S. private business: "Did you know that just over the past 11 quarters, dating back to the June 2003 Bush tax cuts, America has increased the size of its entire economy by 20 percent? In less than three years, the U.S. economic pie has expanded by $2.2 trillion, an output add-on that is roughly the same size as the total Chinese economy, and much larger than the total economic size of nations like India, Mexico, Ireland and Belgium. This is an extraordinary fact, although you may be reading it here first. Most in the mainstream media would rather tout the faults of American capitalism than sing its praises. And of course, the media will almost always discuss supply-side tax cuts in negative terms, such as big budget deficits and static revenue losses. But here's another suppressed fact: Since the 2003 tax cuts, tax-revenue collections from the expanding economy have been surging at double-digit rates, while the deficit is constantly being revised downward. For those who bother to look, the economic power of lower-tax-rate incentives is once again working its magic."

Democrats wising up?: "Democrats in Congress should look outside of the capital, where some of their fellow party members are embracing tax cuts, and even supply-side economics, says the Wall Street Journal. A handful of blue states and Democratic Governors have put tax cuts in motion: Rhode Island, with Democrats holding 70 percent of the state legislature, have allowed residents the choice of a flat tax that cuts the top tax rate on high income earners to 5.5 percent from 9.9 percent. Arizona governor Janet Napolitano agreed to a 10 percent across-the-board cut in income tax rates. Oklahoma governor Brad Henry signed into law a budget that will cut rates by nearly 20 percent, from 6.25 percent to 5.25, percent and abolish the state estate tax. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has cut the state's top income tax rate to 4.9 percent from 8.2 percent and cut the capital gains tax in half. "This was our way of declaring to the world that New Mexico is open for business," says Richardson. "After all, businesses move to states where taxes are falling, not rising." And contrary to the belief that tax cuts produce budget deficits, New Mexico has grown a half-billion-dollar surplus and seen tax revenues soar by 27 percent this year"

Estonia creates an economic miracle: "Mart Laar was barely 32 years old in 1992, when he became prime minister of Estonia, a small nation on the Baltic Sea that had just emerged from decades of Communist oppression as a satellite state of the Soviet Union. He inherited leadership of a country with 1,000 percent inflation, 30 percent unemployment, and government-owned businesses that were a shambles. Laar's government removed price controls, cut regulations and welfare programs, sold state-owned businesses, introduced a new currency, and instituted a simple, flat-rate income tax that is being emulated in countries across Central and Eastern Europe. The rate has been lowered several times over the years and is now at 20 percent. The result? Inflation in Estonia has dropped below 3 percent, unemployment has plunged below 6 percent, and foreign investment has poured in. Estonia has enjoyed the greatest growth in real per-capita income of any of the former Soviet states. Today the country is a member of NATO, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization."

Bush's border security plan decreases captures: "Unarmed National Guard, hailed as the answer to beef up border security, (surprise!) has resulted in FEWER captures along the border. As noted in the article, and evidenced by increased Minuteman sightings of illegal border crossers since October when the U.S. Senate caused the human tsunami over the border with their irresponsible rhetoric and false promises of amnesty, the flow of traffic over the border has increased, but the captures have decreased."

For more postings, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. (Mirror sites here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

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"All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State." -- 19th century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel is the most influential philosopher of the Left -- inspiring Karl Marx, the American "Progressives" of the early 20th century and university socialists to this day.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

Comments? Email me here (Hotmail address). If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Pages are here or here or here.

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THE COLOR OF RACISM IS DEMOCRAT BLUE

"Bigotry has proven, once again, to be the hallmark of Democrats and Liberals. This article from the Washington Post shows how some of one color are upset that someone of another color would DARE run for office in "their" district. The only difference between these people, such as Al Sharpton and George Wallace, is the color of their skin...racism comes in all colors--but especially in Democrat Blue.

The very same people that believe showing proof of ID at a polling place believe that white people or Hispanics should not run for office in a "black" district. Based on that, if you agree with the premise, Congressman Harold Ford, a black, should not be allowed to run for the US Senate from Tennessee, since that state HAS a majority of white people. Or that Ken Blackwell in Ohio, Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania or Michael Steele in Maryland, should not be allowed to run for statewide office in their home states--why? Because they are black and the majority in those three states are white. (PLUS, THEY ARE THE "WRONG" TYPES OF AFRO-AMERICANS--REPUBLICANS)

Bigotry, of the lowest form has shown itself, this time in Brooklyn. Instead of wanting the best, most competent people in office, the Jesse Jackson Wing of the Democrat Party are ONLY concerned about skin color. That is George Wallace styled bigotry. Maybe that is why they want affirmative action, set asides, quotas and special benefits, based on color or ethnicity. The Jackson Wing believes people of color are incapable of success, that it must be given to them in order to achieve anything.

Sadly, two generations of good people have been convinced they are no good without government help. We have two generations, and working on a third, that have leaders giving them low self esteem. Read this article and weep for the children and the lost opportunities. BTW, the Jackson's and Sharpton's aren't really for Afro-Americans holding high office, the person must be the "right" black person--just remember Clarence Thomas!"

From Stephen Frank

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ELSEWHERE

I love it! "Memo to Boston Globe gay and lesbian Guild employees: Get married or lose your domestic partner benefits. Globe staffers have been told that health and dental benefitsfor gay employees’ domestic partners are being discontinued. Gay couples who want to keep their benefits must marry by Jan. 1. A memo sent to the Globe’s Boston Newspaper Guild members, and obtained by the Herald, states that Massachusetts gay Guild employees can extend their benefits to their partners only if they marry. “An employee who currently covers a same-sex domestic partner as a dependent will have to marry his or her partner by Jan. 1 for the employee benefits coverage to continue at the employee rates,” the memo states. The policy change at the Globe, which devotes extensive coverage to gay issues, opens a new can of worms in the Bay State"

Peace hypocrite: "A New Zealand peace activist is facing serious assault charges after he allegedly punched a rock singer in London, leaving the man in a coma. Christiaan Briggs, 30, who spent three weeks in Iraq with the Truth Justice Peace Human Shield Action Group in 2003, appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Tuesday to face a charge of grievous bodily harm. Police say the incident occurred on June 22 when Briggs allegedly punched 19-year-old Billy Leeson, causing the rising rock star to hit his head on the ground. Leeson, the lead singer with rock band Les Incompetents - who have supported Pete Doherty's group Babyshambles - was "still very ill", said Scotland Yard spokesman James Nadin. His condition was described as "critical but stable". Mr Nadin said an argument broke out between the pair after Briggs allegedly "made advances" towards Leeson's girlfriend."

Scruton on Leftist shrieks of "Racism": "Someone who is in a state of denial regarding his mortal illness, his wife's infidelity or his child's delinquency will turn angrily on the one who refers to the forbidden truth. Likewise, a political culture that is in denial about a serious social problem will condemn those who seek to discuss it, and try its best to silence them. For a long time now the European political class has been in denial about the problems posed by the large-scale immigration of people who do not enter into our European way of life. It has turned angrily on those who have warned against the disruption that might follow, or who have affirmed the right of indigenous communities to refuse admission to people who cannot or will not assimilate. And one of the weapons that the elite has used, in order to ensure that it is never troubled by the truths that it denies, is to accuse those who wish to discuss the problem of `racism and xenophobia'"

Big loss for the legal piranhas: "The Florida Supreme Court lifted a cloud over the tobacco industry Thursday when it refused to reinstate a crushing $144.8-billion class-action verdict that had been overturned by a state appeals court. The long-awaited ruling came in the landmark Engle class-action case, filed on behalf of up to 700,000 Florida smokers who blamed tobacco-related illnesses on an industry conspiracy to hide the risks and addictiveness of smoking. In July 2000, after a two-year trial, a state court jury in Miami ordered top cigarette makers to pay the record-breaking punitive damages award. The judgment far surpassed any civil verdict before or since and, according to tobacco executives, would have bankrupted their companies. A Florida appeals court reversed the judgment in 2003, but plaintiffs sought review by the state's highest court, leading to Thursday's decision."

British Tories veer even further Left: "The Conservatives will next week ditch hardline policies on immigration that were widely seen to have backfired at the last election. As they attempt to create a more “civilised” approach, David Cameron’s party will consult ethnic minority groups in big cities and begin to extol the benefits of migration, The Times has learnt. The change is expected to involve dropping controversial policies such as quotas for refugees, processing migrants on an island and withdrawing from the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. These were put centre stage in the election under the leadership of Michael Howard, but the tactic was blamed for turning off some voters. Doreen Lawrence, mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen, said Mr Howard was “clearly pandering to the racists”. Damian Green, the Tory immigration spokesman, told The Times that the tone during the election campaign “was perceived by many people as harsh”. He will meet Muslims in Coventry on Monday in the first of a series of consultations towards a new policy, which he said must have the consent of ethnic minorities."

Malaria: Marvellous news: "A drug developed to treat allergies has been identified by US researchers as a potential cure for malaria. Tests in mice show that the antihistamine astemizole also kills the malaria parasite. It is already licensed for use in people, so it could be developed for use as a malaria drug in about 12 months. And because it is no longer under patent, it will be possible to manufacture it at rock-bottom prices."

For more postings, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. (Mirror sites here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

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"All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State." -- 19th century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel is the most influential philosopher of the Left -- inspiring Karl Marx, the American "Progressives" of the early 20th century and university socialists to this day.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

Comments? Email me here (Hotmail address). If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Pages are here or here or here.

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