This guy gets it: "We who have been called "conservative" (because we somehow have not accepted the Marxian idea of progress) are ultimately just people who believe in truth. Many "conservatives" came to conservatism (whatever that is) because the Left is so permeated with lies and self-delusion (Exhibit A: Global Warming.) How do we define our enemies? Some of us might like to call them "socialists," but that is using a vacuous Marxist term to describe a very real attitude. They do not really believe in anything, except power... When the craving for power transcends every other human longing, then the importance of truth and honor shrinks to nothing. The bondage of lies is just as great as any other bondage. Our enemies seek to manacle us and allow, without always knowing it, themselves to be manacled as well. So we could call them power addicts, but perhaps the purest term to describe them is as bondsmen in the party of pathological lies."
Wisdom in Iceland and Taiwan: "Iceland is known as the Nordic Tiger because of rapid economic growth. Much of the nation's prosperity is the result of free-market policies, including a 36 percent flat tax on labor income, a 10 percent flat tax on capital income, and a corporate tax rate of just 18 percent (down from 50 percent at the end of the 1980s). But Iceland is not resting on its laurels. The government has just announced a reduction in the corporate tax rate: The corporate income tax will be cut from 18 per cent to 15 per cent, effective for the 2008 income year and come into force in the 2009 assessment year. Meanwhile, even though the 25 percent corporate tax rate in Taiwan is already substantially lower than the 39 percent-plus rate in the United States, Taiwanese politicians apparently recognize that globalization and tax competition are powerful arguments for even lower rates. Tax-news.com is reporting that the government therefore plans to slash the corporate rate to 17.5 percent - and also make unspecified reductions to personal income tax rates"
A failure to stimulate: "It's an election year, so it should be no surprise that politicians are in the market for votes. 'Passed in record time' as a 'gift to the middle class and those who aspire to it,' according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Congress gave final approval in early February to an economic stimulus package that supposedly will help avert a looming U.S. recession. In no place but Washington would anyone think that putting hard-earned money back in the pockets from which it was taken in the first place is giving taxpayers a gift."
Holy Ireland short of priests: "Ireland, a country that used to export its Catholic clergy around the world, is running out of priests at such a rate that their numbers will have dropped by two-thirds in the next 20 years, leaving parishes up and down the land vacant. One-hundred and sixty priests died last year but only nine were ordained. Figures for nuns were even more dramatic, with the deaths of 228 nuns and only two taking final vows for service in religious life. The decline in vocations is attributed to the loss of the church's authority after a string of sex-abuse scandals. In 1994 the then government collapsed over the mishandling of the case of a paedophile priest Brendan Smyth. Regular church attendance, which was at 90 per cent at the start of the 1990s, has suffered a collapse, mitigated partially in recent years by the mass influx of Polish workers. The priestly age profile is creating another dilemma because most priests are already close to normal retirement age. The average age of Irish priests is currently 61."
Fidelistas forever: "Pity the poor Cubans, who as of Tuesday have found themselves deprived of the benevolent care of their glorious leader Fidel Castro. So say today's Commie tools, anyway. Reading the photosphere's reaction to Castro's retirement provides a gentle reminder that too many academics and other propagandists for socialist totalitarianism just don't care how many skulls must be cracked if the blood fertilizes their utopian fantasies."
Wal-Mart can be good for your health: "Many medical groups, like the American Academy of Family Practice and the American Academy of Pediatrics (to which I belong), have published position papers opposing retail clinics. Their basic argument is that retail clinics run counter to the concept of 'a medical home,' a place where patients receive care for any and all of their problems. They worry that patients will have no sensible place to follow up their test results, and that putting a clinic in a mall or a Wal-Mart could expose shoppers to people with a contagious illness. The medical community needs a second opinion. Retail clinics are good for American healthcare." [See also here]
Anti-military bigotry hurting Berkeley: "People who are angry at city leaders for their anti-military stance are taking it out on businesses - canceling hotel rooms, restaurant reservations and theater tickets. They are writing letters to the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce outlining their plans to boycott the city. And they are steering clear of downtown shops because of the weekly anti-war protests that in recent weeks have become increasingly volatile. Two weeks after the Berkeley City Council refused to apologize to the Marine Corps for calling them "uninvited and unwelcome intruders," Berkeley businesses said they are feeling the backlash from people who don't want to spend their money in the city. "We're hearing of folks canceling reservations and canceling hotel rooms, and we know there is a direct correlation."
Muslim thugs kill aid worker: "A Southwestern Baptist Theological seminary graduate apparently has been killed after being kidnapped by gunmen in Afghanistan a month ago, a humanitarian aid foundation reported Tuesday. Cyd Mizell, 50, an aid worker who taught Afghan women income-producing skills such as sewing, and driver Muhammad Hadi, another aid worker, were abducted Jan. 26 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. They served with the nonprofit Asian Rural Life Development Foundation."
Unilateral Democrats: "Democrats claim the world hates America because President Bush has behaved like a global bully. But we don't recall him ever ordering an ally to rewrite an existing agreement on American terms -- or else. Yet that's exactly what both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are now promising to do to our closest neighbors, Mexico and Canada. At their Ohio debate on Tuesday, first Mrs. Clinton, followed ever so quickly by Mr. Obama, pledged to pull America out of the North American Free Trade Agreement if the two countries don't agree to rewrite it on Yankee terms. How's that for global "unilateralism"? While it is politically incorrect to say so, Nafta has been good for all of North America. By opening the continent to investment and trade, capital has found more efficient uses, with benefits to producers and consumers alike. In Nafta's first decade after 1993, trade between the U.S. and Mexico multiplied to $232 billion from $81 billion. Trade with Canada has also blossomed, with Canadian exports to the U.S. by surface transport rising 79% in a decade and U.S. exports to Canada increasing 38%. The deal also increased U.S. productivity."
There's some particularly interesting news on FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC today: "Diversity" can be harmful to your heart, literally.
For more postings from me, see OBAMOLOGY, TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.
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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here and here.
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) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".
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"Anti-military bigotry hurting Berkeley"
ReplyDeleteThis is kind of funny, by analogy. Once upon a time in what must have been the late 70s, a bastion of American television culture, comedy show boss Johnny Carson made a *single* comment to millions of viewers about having visited France, and in his opinion they were uptight, snobbish and downright "rude." Within a year, followed by another, French tourism dried up by tens of percentage points (about 30%), so the French government had to issue a country-wide propaganda campaign about the importance of TOURISM to the economy, which included the idea of being respectful to the "Ugly American."
And as far as I can remember, Berkeley (I got into Columbia instead and became a New Yorker forever) was indeed a major tourist town. One of it's 1970s claims to fame was its bookstores, which for a science-minded boy like me was amazed at. Book on how to make drugs and bombs or how to pick locks, at every corner! I don't think it was the locals who were buying that stuff, but as a novelty gift, a book on "How to Rip Off a Drug Dealer" were kind of fun.
Berkeley is also famous for its big bridge and especially its truly scary Suburbia that has roads that have an inclination angle of something near 89 degrees, so that automatic garage doors have angled bottoms. It's a tourist town.
In NYC the Hispanic phrase for 'tourist' is "too rich" and unofficial "gypsy cabs" charge you accordingly, as do shoe repair shops (oh, sir, you meant to fix *both* shoes? Oh, that will cost *twice* as much), etc.
Maybe the weekly protests are a sort of tourist worthy parade, which this one time got a bit out of control, this decade. MUST MAINTAIN 1960s AURA. Oops. Not that way. "Just look drugged-out, kids!"