BUREAUCRACY AT WORK
"The well-known inefficiencies of government operation are not empirical accidents, resulting perhaps from the lack of a civil-service tradition. They are inherent in all government enterprise, and the excessive demand fomented by free and other underpriced services is just one of the many reasons for this condition."
Bureaucratic lies: "Last fall, every state was required by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to identify schools with a 'persistently dangerous' atmosphere so parents would have a better idea of whether their children were being educated in a safe learning environment. When 44 states denied having any such schools and the remaining states admitted to having a combined total of fewer than 50, one safety expert greeted the publication of the lists with a Bronx cheer."
Bureaucrats take aim at doctors "Some doctors have been literally 'under the gun.' Government agents broke down the doors of Dr. Jonathan Wright's office in Washington state, seeking to investigate the heinous crime of using a form of Vitamin B12 that didn't meet the government?s idea of what a 'good vitamin' should be."
Drug hysteria: "I have long referred to the war on drugs as the war on some people who use some drugs, sometimes. Now there's a byproduct of that war -- a side effect, if you will -- a war against doctors who prescribe painkillers, putting a chill on legitimate pain treatment by physicians who fear prosecution."
Patient billed $1100 for 5min visit: ""Whether the doctor is there for 10 minutes or 10 hours, that is the standard charge for the management of labour," she said. "Her own doctor would have charged exactly the same fee. It is an item number set by Medicare and there is one set charge for that item regardless of how long it takes.""
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Sunday, March 28, 2004
ELSEWHERE
Dick McDonald shows that John Kerry's latest tax proposals are a good way of DESTROYING millions of American jobs.
The Horny-headed one has an interesting graph showing that poverty was declining until the LBJ-era expansion of welfare. Poverty CLIMBED as more welfare became available. Then when welfare programs were cut back in the Clinton era, poverty went DOWN again! How strange? Not at all. The Happy Carpenter explains why.
The wicked one has several links about the idiocies of gun control.
My recipe today is for Vindaloo -- a well-known "hot" (spicy) curry. By making it yourself at home you can put as many chillies in it as you like (or none at all) and thus have it hot, medium or mild. It tastes great even without the chillies. See here.
I have put quite a few postings up on PC Watch lately. Political correctness is showing no signs of waning but there is the occasional victory over it.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Dick McDonald shows that John Kerry's latest tax proposals are a good way of DESTROYING millions of American jobs.
The Horny-headed one has an interesting graph showing that poverty was declining until the LBJ-era expansion of welfare. Poverty CLIMBED as more welfare became available. Then when welfare programs were cut back in the Clinton era, poverty went DOWN again! How strange? Not at all. The Happy Carpenter explains why.
The wicked one has several links about the idiocies of gun control.
My recipe today is for Vindaloo -- a well-known "hot" (spicy) curry. By making it yourself at home you can put as many chillies in it as you like (or none at all) and thus have it hot, medium or mild. It tastes great even without the chillies. See here.
I have put quite a few postings up on PC Watch lately. Political correctness is showing no signs of waning but there is the occasional victory over it.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Saturday, March 27, 2004
GREENIE CORNER
At a time when resources have never been so cheap or abundant the nutty Greens have somehow got it into their heads that we are running out of things. Why? Because they work on simple-minded theories and are totally oblivious of facts. Once upon a time it made sense to darn socks and lots of women took a basket with them to go shopping. I can remember my mother doing both things back in the '50s. But who does either of those things now? Socks are so cheap that it would be lunacy to spend time darning them and plastic is so cheap it is almost free. Shops wouldn't give plastic bags away willy-nilly otherwise. The price system gives us all the resource scarcity signals we need. If wool and plastic were becoming scarcer the price would be going up and we would all soon be back to darning socks and taking baskets when shopping. But the opposite is happening. Things are getting cheaper, not dearer. It takes a Greenie not to notice that.
The Associated Press ran a global warming story this past weekend that makes the following statement: "Carbon dioxide, the gas largely blamed for global warming, has reached record-high levels in the atmosphere after growing at an accelerated pace in the past year..." See here for a systematic puncturing of the claim.
Bidinotto asks: "Do you ever wonder why terrorism has become so widespread? Then consider the crucial role played by terrorism's enablers: those intellectual and cultural leaders who act as apologists and excuse-makers for violence... Hollywood is now producing a new movie glorifying the violent exploits of eco-terrorist Paul Watson, transforming him into a cultural hero and icon. The film will star Academy Award-winner Sean Penn as the thug who rams and sinks fishing vessels..."
Physicist A.E. Brain says that global warming is part of a normal cycle unconnected with human activity: "It seems likely that the melting of the ice-sheet around the North Pole will continue whatever is done and that the climate differences we have seen within the last two decades will not alter their present course. To a physicist the supposition that such a considerable change in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean has been produced by a minor variation in the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere "caused by the burning of fossil fuels" is simply nonsense. Unfortunately, among the world's politicians this supposed "fact" has now become dogma; the waste of resources that has resulted from fighting this mythical dragon can only be regarded as futile and tragic.... Unfortunately many of the environmentalists who denounce global warming supposedly created by the burning of fossil fuels, may be driven by a political agenda and may be illiterate in matters relating to physics. Our concern here is simply with trying to get the physics right - events will inevitably take care of the rest. Global warming will definitely affect the future of every person on the Earth directly and to a non-trivial extent. We are all seekers after the truth. There are those who claim to have all of the answers by mystical revelation and do not need evidence - they "just know""
***********************************
FROM BROOKES NEWS
Economic indicators do not point to a market drop this year Share prices could continue to rise right into 2005 as excess capacity falls, investment rises and output and productivity continue to increase.
Union leader claims minimum wages don't raise unemployment The likes of Combet and their media hand-puppets blather on about the low-paid and the need to price them out of work, because that's exactly what their economic nostrums amount to.
Journalist misleads readers over Bush's war on terror There is just no pleasing Bush-hating journalists, including Australian ones. Peter Hartcher of the Sydney Morning Herald, aka "The Saddam Times". No wonder some people now think that Fairfax Press, to which this paper belongs, is an intellectual cesspit.
The Age lies for Palestinian terrorism Fairfax Press cheerfully welcomed a Palestinian apologist for terrorism.
Saudi Columnist: Terrorists in Iraq are more barbarous than Saddam A Saudi columnist criticises Arabs for blaming the US for the terror attacks in Karbala and Baghdad.
Solution of China's ills demands a free society China's problems are turning the country into a ticking time bomb.
Details here
***********************************************
At a time when resources have never been so cheap or abundant the nutty Greens have somehow got it into their heads that we are running out of things. Why? Because they work on simple-minded theories and are totally oblivious of facts. Once upon a time it made sense to darn socks and lots of women took a basket with them to go shopping. I can remember my mother doing both things back in the '50s. But who does either of those things now? Socks are so cheap that it would be lunacy to spend time darning them and plastic is so cheap it is almost free. Shops wouldn't give plastic bags away willy-nilly otherwise. The price system gives us all the resource scarcity signals we need. If wool and plastic were becoming scarcer the price would be going up and we would all soon be back to darning socks and taking baskets when shopping. But the opposite is happening. Things are getting cheaper, not dearer. It takes a Greenie not to notice that.
The Associated Press ran a global warming story this past weekend that makes the following statement: "Carbon dioxide, the gas largely blamed for global warming, has reached record-high levels in the atmosphere after growing at an accelerated pace in the past year..." See here for a systematic puncturing of the claim.
Bidinotto asks: "Do you ever wonder why terrorism has become so widespread? Then consider the crucial role played by terrorism's enablers: those intellectual and cultural leaders who act as apologists and excuse-makers for violence... Hollywood is now producing a new movie glorifying the violent exploits of eco-terrorist Paul Watson, transforming him into a cultural hero and icon. The film will star Academy Award-winner Sean Penn as the thug who rams and sinks fishing vessels..."
Physicist A.E. Brain says that global warming is part of a normal cycle unconnected with human activity: "It seems likely that the melting of the ice-sheet around the North Pole will continue whatever is done and that the climate differences we have seen within the last two decades will not alter their present course. To a physicist the supposition that such a considerable change in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean has been produced by a minor variation in the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere "caused by the burning of fossil fuels" is simply nonsense. Unfortunately, among the world's politicians this supposed "fact" has now become dogma; the waste of resources that has resulted from fighting this mythical dragon can only be regarded as futile and tragic.... Unfortunately many of the environmentalists who denounce global warming supposedly created by the burning of fossil fuels, may be driven by a political agenda and may be illiterate in matters relating to physics. Our concern here is simply with trying to get the physics right - events will inevitably take care of the rest. Global warming will definitely affect the future of every person on the Earth directly and to a non-trivial extent. We are all seekers after the truth. There are those who claim to have all of the answers by mystical revelation and do not need evidence - they "just know""
***********************************
FROM BROOKES NEWS
Economic indicators do not point to a market drop this year Share prices could continue to rise right into 2005 as excess capacity falls, investment rises and output and productivity continue to increase.
Union leader claims minimum wages don't raise unemployment The likes of Combet and their media hand-puppets blather on about the low-paid and the need to price them out of work, because that's exactly what their economic nostrums amount to.
Journalist misleads readers over Bush's war on terror There is just no pleasing Bush-hating journalists, including Australian ones. Peter Hartcher of the Sydney Morning Herald, aka "The Saddam Times". No wonder some people now think that Fairfax Press, to which this paper belongs, is an intellectual cesspit.
The Age lies for Palestinian terrorism Fairfax Press cheerfully welcomed a Palestinian apologist for terrorism.
Saudi Columnist: Terrorists in Iraq are more barbarous than Saddam A Saudi columnist criticises Arabs for blaming the US for the terror attacks in Karbala and Baghdad.
Solution of China's ills demands a free society China's problems are turning the country into a ticking time bomb.
Details here
***********************************************
ELSEWHERE
Aaargh! Has Mr Flip-flop flipped? "John Kerry wants to cut corporate taxes by 5 percent and eliminate tax loopholes that push U.S. jobs overseas." Has he now lost the Leftist vote? There will certainly be much weeping and wailing and garnishing of teeth among Leftists today. ("gnashing", I know).
Bidinotto has some satirical details of John Kerry's private life.
There are less than 1,000 homeless people in the whole of Chicago! How tragic for the do-gooders. Never mind: 1,000 out of 8 million is still too many! Tax the rich! More welfare! More rent control! Down with patriarchy! Or something.
Good man! "Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, has launched a trenchant attack on Islamic culture, saying it was authoritarian, inflexible and under-achieving. In a speech that will upset sensitive relations between the faiths, he denounced moderate Muslims for failing unequivocally to condemn the "evil" of suicide bombers. He attacked the "glaring absence" of democracy in Muslim countries, suggested that they had contributed little of major significance to world culture for centuries and criticised the Islamic faith." It may be noteworthy that Carey is one of the few Anglican bishops who still seem to believe in God.
A black blogress exposes the "reparations" industry for what it is -- a racket.
The Taliban's fall has helped lift the veil of superstition in Afghanistan. Women and children are the winners
The wicked one has some comforting thoughts for those who worry whether their diet is "healthy".
My recipe for today is for an upmarket version of Steak Diane -- The classic Australian way of cooking a fancy steak. See here. If any reader has "family-favourite" recipe that he/she thinks should be more widely known, do send it in to me and I will give it a trial run to see if it works for me -- and if it does I will post it up.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Aaargh! Has Mr Flip-flop flipped? "John Kerry wants to cut corporate taxes by 5 percent and eliminate tax loopholes that push U.S. jobs overseas." Has he now lost the Leftist vote? There will certainly be much weeping and wailing and garnishing of teeth among Leftists today. ("gnashing", I know).
Bidinotto has some satirical details of John Kerry's private life.
There are less than 1,000 homeless people in the whole of Chicago! How tragic for the do-gooders. Never mind: 1,000 out of 8 million is still too many! Tax the rich! More welfare! More rent control! Down with patriarchy! Or something.
Good man! "Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, has launched a trenchant attack on Islamic culture, saying it was authoritarian, inflexible and under-achieving. In a speech that will upset sensitive relations between the faiths, he denounced moderate Muslims for failing unequivocally to condemn the "evil" of suicide bombers. He attacked the "glaring absence" of democracy in Muslim countries, suggested that they had contributed little of major significance to world culture for centuries and criticised the Islamic faith." It may be noteworthy that Carey is one of the few Anglican bishops who still seem to believe in God.
A black blogress exposes the "reparations" industry for what it is -- a racket.
The Taliban's fall has helped lift the veil of superstition in Afghanistan. Women and children are the winners
The wicked one has some comforting thoughts for those who worry whether their diet is "healthy".
My recipe for today is for an upmarket version of Steak Diane -- The classic Australian way of cooking a fancy steak. See here. If any reader has "family-favourite" recipe that he/she thinks should be more widely known, do send it in to me and I will give it a trial run to see if it works for me -- and if it does I will post it up.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Friday, March 26, 2004
APPEASEMENT WATCH
People sometimes forget that the United States has been to war against Muslim terrorism once before -- not long after the USA became a nation. The terrorists concerned were the Barbary pirates of North Africa and on that occasion too, the USA had to act with only sporadic help from Europe. And also then appeasement just led to more demands and more attacks so that it was only force of arms that won peace and freedom from attacks. See here and here
Beat this! Appeasement doesn't work -- deterrence does: "A group of 70 Palestinian intellectuals and officials urged restraint on Thursday over Israel's killing of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, calling for peaceful protests instead of bloody revenge."
There is a good short article here about the double standards applied to Israel in its fight against Islamic terrorism. OK to kill Osama & Co. but not OK to kill their Palestinian equivalents?
A very sober warning here of the likely dreadful consequences of the Spanish appeasement: More bombs for Europe.
Gefen says: "Watching the parade of hypocrisy, racism, lies, and abject cowardice spewing forth from Europe over the execution of Hamas murderer Yassin has led me to only one conclusion: Europe is our enemy. The enemy of Israel, the enemy of the United States, the enemy of civilization itself. Its weakness and moral/spiritual bankruptcy threatens the lives and freedom of every one of us. It has become a continent of collaborators with terror and political evil".
**************************************
People sometimes forget that the United States has been to war against Muslim terrorism once before -- not long after the USA became a nation. The terrorists concerned were the Barbary pirates of North Africa and on that occasion too, the USA had to act with only sporadic help from Europe. And also then appeasement just led to more demands and more attacks so that it was only force of arms that won peace and freedom from attacks. See here and here
Beat this! Appeasement doesn't work -- deterrence does: "A group of 70 Palestinian intellectuals and officials urged restraint on Thursday over Israel's killing of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, calling for peaceful protests instead of bloody revenge."
There is a good short article here about the double standards applied to Israel in its fight against Islamic terrorism. OK to kill Osama & Co. but not OK to kill their Palestinian equivalents?
A very sober warning here of the likely dreadful consequences of the Spanish appeasement: More bombs for Europe.
Gefen says: "Watching the parade of hypocrisy, racism, lies, and abject cowardice spewing forth from Europe over the execution of Hamas murderer Yassin has led me to only one conclusion: Europe is our enemy. The enemy of Israel, the enemy of the United States, the enemy of civilization itself. Its weakness and moral/spiritual bankruptcy threatens the lives and freedom of every one of us. It has become a continent of collaborators with terror and political evil".
**************************************
ELSEWHERE
A MOST interesting United Nations report (about the "Micronutrient Initiative") has just come out which acknowledges that the people of poor countries are less intelligent! "But the most disturbing gap between countries with good and poor nutrition is in intelligence, said Cutberto Garza, a Cornell University professor who also leads the nutrition program at United Nations University. "A difference of five to seven IQ points doesn't sound like a lot, but you have to look at the tail ends of the (statistical) curve". The report, however, glides past the magnitude of the problem. It states, correctly, that about 5 IQ points can be added by optimal nutrition but neglects to mention that the gap between (say) some European and (say) some African populations is more than 20 points on average! And the means they recommend for utilizing the potential of good nutrition is also perfectly reasonable -- adding vitamin and mineral supplements to manufactured food. But the inhabiants of poor countries eat very little manufactured food! So how are we going to get them rich enough to buy manufactured food? More capitalism and less socialism is the only way. I don't think that got a mention, though. See Lynn & Vanhanen for the full facts about international differences in IQ.
Law versus science?? Frank Sulloway, one of the authors of the infamous "Berkeley Study" of the psychology of conservatism, has just shown how much of a scientist he is. When another scientist could not replicate the findings reported in Sulloway's book, Sulloway used the legal system in an almost successful attempt to suppress the contrary evidence. How Leftist! Replicating (repeating) a finding is the acid test of any scientific theory so Sulloway has totally discredited himself as a scientist. His book was devoted to the theory that it is birth order that makes you Leftist or Rightist. If you are not a firstborn, you should be a Leftist according to Sulloway! So it was another attempt to discredit the role of reason and logic -- and his legal attack on his critics was an attack on science itself.
Amusing: "With a small band of performers, writers, technicians and investors, Mr Walsh is taking a set of unmistakably leftwing voices to America's airwaves, where the right reigns supreme. Air America radio goes on the air next Wednesday". Are they trying to do NPR out of a job?
The National Urban League has just released the very old news that blacks are poorer than whites. This bit slipped past the censors, however: "About 68 percent of Americans own their homes, but the Census Bureau has reported that ownership among blacks and Hispanics is about 48 percent. Nearly 54 percent of Asian-Americans own their homes, compared with 75 percent of whites." Those poor Asians! Someone give them a dime! That the choices people make influence how well-off they appear to be is obviously the unmentioned elephant in the bedroom there.
"Hispanics and the Bottom Rung: Often uneducated, many are more willing than blacks or whites to take less desirable jobs, which keeps their jobless rate fairly low.... Latinos' thirst for labor and employers' eagerness to hire them "is so powerful that it offsets the education advantage blacks have," adds William M. Rodgers III, chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University." No comment.
With Saddam gone, the Ba'athist dictatorship next door is now coming under popular pressure
New Iraq has had enough of Old France: "France's policy is still sharply criticized by Iraqis. Contrary to what Europeans often think, having opposed the American occupation certainly does not help the popularity of Europe, or of any country, in Iraq."
Don Hagen has a humorous political beliefs quiz here
Amusing: Instead of importing people from the Third World to do menial jobs, The Japanese use robots.
Carnival of the Vanities is up again with its usual select reading
Pork fillet mostly seems to be eaten in the form of chops as far as I can work out but you can buy just the fillet if you want a treat. My recipe for today gives a good way to cook it. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
A MOST interesting United Nations report (about the "Micronutrient Initiative") has just come out which acknowledges that the people of poor countries are less intelligent! "But the most disturbing gap between countries with good and poor nutrition is in intelligence, said Cutberto Garza, a Cornell University professor who also leads the nutrition program at United Nations University. "A difference of five to seven IQ points doesn't sound like a lot, but you have to look at the tail ends of the (statistical) curve". The report, however, glides past the magnitude of the problem. It states, correctly, that about 5 IQ points can be added by optimal nutrition but neglects to mention that the gap between (say) some European and (say) some African populations is more than 20 points on average! And the means they recommend for utilizing the potential of good nutrition is also perfectly reasonable -- adding vitamin and mineral supplements to manufactured food. But the inhabiants of poor countries eat very little manufactured food! So how are we going to get them rich enough to buy manufactured food? More capitalism and less socialism is the only way. I don't think that got a mention, though. See Lynn & Vanhanen for the full facts about international differences in IQ.
Law versus science?? Frank Sulloway, one of the authors of the infamous "Berkeley Study" of the psychology of conservatism, has just shown how much of a scientist he is. When another scientist could not replicate the findings reported in Sulloway's book, Sulloway used the legal system in an almost successful attempt to suppress the contrary evidence. How Leftist! Replicating (repeating) a finding is the acid test of any scientific theory so Sulloway has totally discredited himself as a scientist. His book was devoted to the theory that it is birth order that makes you Leftist or Rightist. If you are not a firstborn, you should be a Leftist according to Sulloway! So it was another attempt to discredit the role of reason and logic -- and his legal attack on his critics was an attack on science itself.
Amusing: "With a small band of performers, writers, technicians and investors, Mr Walsh is taking a set of unmistakably leftwing voices to America's airwaves, where the right reigns supreme. Air America radio goes on the air next Wednesday". Are they trying to do NPR out of a job?
The National Urban League has just released the very old news that blacks are poorer than whites. This bit slipped past the censors, however: "About 68 percent of Americans own their homes, but the Census Bureau has reported that ownership among blacks and Hispanics is about 48 percent. Nearly 54 percent of Asian-Americans own their homes, compared with 75 percent of whites." Those poor Asians! Someone give them a dime! That the choices people make influence how well-off they appear to be is obviously the unmentioned elephant in the bedroom there.
"Hispanics and the Bottom Rung: Often uneducated, many are more willing than blacks or whites to take less desirable jobs, which keeps their jobless rate fairly low.... Latinos' thirst for labor and employers' eagerness to hire them "is so powerful that it offsets the education advantage blacks have," adds William M. Rodgers III, chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University." No comment.
With Saddam gone, the Ba'athist dictatorship next door is now coming under popular pressure
New Iraq has had enough of Old France: "France's policy is still sharply criticized by Iraqis. Contrary to what Europeans often think, having opposed the American occupation certainly does not help the popularity of Europe, or of any country, in Iraq."
Don Hagen has a humorous political beliefs quiz here
Amusing: Instead of importing people from the Third World to do menial jobs, The Japanese use robots.
Carnival of the Vanities is up again with its usual select reading
Pork fillet mostly seems to be eaten in the form of chops as far as I can work out but you can buy just the fillet if you want a treat. My recipe for today gives a good way to cook it. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Thursday, March 25, 2004
JOBS AND GLOBALIZATION
Economist Alan Reynolds points out that loss of factory jobs is occurring worldwide as processes become more efficient and that losses in the USA are actually SMALLER than the loss of factory jobs in China, South Korea, Germany and Japan.
The brainless Leftist idea of how to protect American jobs: "The trouble with protectionism, aside from its costs to the consumer, is that other nations retaliate: If America forbids the import of their goods and services into America, they will not permit export of American products to their countries. That would be costly because one factory job in five in America depends on international trade."
"186 million children, between the ages of 5 and 14, perform illegal child labor. 111 million of these jobs involve hazardous work. Kaushik Basu offers his analysis and observations in the latest issue of Scientific American. Obviously wealth is the best cure for hazardous and oppressive child labor. By the latter part of the 19th century, child labor was declining in the richer nations. Basu notes that many anti-child labor campaigns backfire. A 1990s boycott of Nepalese carpets, made with child labor, led many of those children to become reemployed as prostitutes".
Some economists ask: "Does increased international trade promote child labor? ... We find that countries that trade more have less child labor."
"Massachusetts ... has lost a higher percentage of jobs the past three years (6 percent) than any other state, according to data released this month by the Labor Department." Funny that! Nothing to do with firms moving elsewhere to escape tax and regulation burdens, of course.
The war against slavery isn't over, and globalisation is helping to eliminate it in India.
*******************************
Economist Alan Reynolds points out that loss of factory jobs is occurring worldwide as processes become more efficient and that losses in the USA are actually SMALLER than the loss of factory jobs in China, South Korea, Germany and Japan.
The brainless Leftist idea of how to protect American jobs: "The trouble with protectionism, aside from its costs to the consumer, is that other nations retaliate: If America forbids the import of their goods and services into America, they will not permit export of American products to their countries. That would be costly because one factory job in five in America depends on international trade."
"186 million children, between the ages of 5 and 14, perform illegal child labor. 111 million of these jobs involve hazardous work. Kaushik Basu offers his analysis and observations in the latest issue of Scientific American. Obviously wealth is the best cure for hazardous and oppressive child labor. By the latter part of the 19th century, child labor was declining in the richer nations. Basu notes that many anti-child labor campaigns backfire. A 1990s boycott of Nepalese carpets, made with child labor, led many of those children to become reemployed as prostitutes".
Some economists ask: "Does increased international trade promote child labor? ... We find that countries that trade more have less child labor."
"Massachusetts ... has lost a higher percentage of jobs the past three years (6 percent) than any other state, according to data released this month by the Labor Department." Funny that! Nothing to do with firms moving elsewhere to escape tax and regulation burdens, of course.
The war against slavery isn't over, and globalisation is helping to eliminate it in India.
*******************************
THE EDUCATION MESS
"Oxford University is moving to reintroduce entrance tests for history and English in the latest assault on the credibility of the A-level system as a means of identifying bright pupils. The move comes just nine years after the university scrapped its entrance examinations amid concern that they favoured independent school pupils.
Teachers hate free speech: "The Michigan Court of Appeals today threw out a lawsuit filed by the Michigan Education Association that attempted to punish the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank that accurately quoted the union's president in a fundraising letter. The Court stated that discussion on matters of public interest, such as school choice, should enjoy broad protection under the First Amendment ..."
Janet Albrechtsen argues against special scholarsips to entice males into teaching: "In promoting special privileges for male teachers, the Government has made exactly the same mistake as the unionists and the feminists - extrapolating the wrong conclusion from raw numbers without looking behind the numbers" Albrechtsen is not entirely fair, however. All Australia's conservative Federal government proposed was to REMOVE certain legal restrictions on what private bodies can do.
**********************************
"Oxford University is moving to reintroduce entrance tests for history and English in the latest assault on the credibility of the A-level system as a means of identifying bright pupils. The move comes just nine years after the university scrapped its entrance examinations amid concern that they favoured independent school pupils.
Teachers hate free speech: "The Michigan Court of Appeals today threw out a lawsuit filed by the Michigan Education Association that attempted to punish the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank that accurately quoted the union's president in a fundraising letter. The Court stated that discussion on matters of public interest, such as school choice, should enjoy broad protection under the First Amendment ..."
Janet Albrechtsen argues against special scholarsips to entice males into teaching: "In promoting special privileges for male teachers, the Government has made exactly the same mistake as the unionists and the feminists - extrapolating the wrong conclusion from raw numbers without looking behind the numbers" Albrechtsen is not entirely fair, however. All Australia's conservative Federal government proposed was to REMOVE certain legal restrictions on what private bodies can do.
**********************************
ELSEWHERE
Cronkite attacks Kerry: "Dear Senator Kerry: In the interests of your campaign and your party's desire to unseat George W. Bush, you have some explaining to do. During the primary campaign, your Democratic opponents accused you of flip-flopping on several important issues, such as your vote in favor of the Iraq War resolution. ... Shades of gray don't do well in political campaigns, where primary colors are the rule. And your long and distinguished service in the Senate has no doubt led to genuine changes in some positions. But the denial that you are a liberal is almost impossible to reconcile. ... A candidate who lacks the courage of his convictions cannot win a nation, Mr. Kerry."
Guess who supports John Kerry? Malaysia's famously antisemitic Muslim ex-Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad!
From Conservative Truth: "You don't believe Kerry is al Qaeda's choice? America certainly does. In a national survey, Americans were asked, "Who do you believe the terrorists want to win in November?" 65% answered "Kerry". Only 17% thought Bush would be their choice."
Some interesting statistics: Assassinating Palestinian terrorist leaders saves both Palestinian and Israeli lives.
A couple of readers have asked why I was not more critical of the article in the Christian Science Monitor that quoted my work. I take the view that ANY mention of Hitler's Leftism in the mainstream media is a breakthrough. See here for the full story.
I like Keith Burgess-Jackson's idea of hurling epitaphs at people. Should be more of it!
Writing on his "other" site, China Hand reviews the changes of the last 20 years or so in both China and Australia and notes the progress towards economic rationality in both -- with an accompanying rise in living and other standards.
The wicked one has a story about the Australian approach to salesmanship.
My recipe for today is a quick way to make good spaghetti bolognaise. See here. I am pleased to say that a lady in Melbourne emailed me yesterday after trying my recipe for Korean meatballs. She said they were "a big hit with all the family".
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Cronkite attacks Kerry: "Dear Senator Kerry: In the interests of your campaign and your party's desire to unseat George W. Bush, you have some explaining to do. During the primary campaign, your Democratic opponents accused you of flip-flopping on several important issues, such as your vote in favor of the Iraq War resolution. ... Shades of gray don't do well in political campaigns, where primary colors are the rule. And your long and distinguished service in the Senate has no doubt led to genuine changes in some positions. But the denial that you are a liberal is almost impossible to reconcile. ... A candidate who lacks the courage of his convictions cannot win a nation, Mr. Kerry."
Guess who supports John Kerry? Malaysia's famously antisemitic Muslim ex-Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad!
From Conservative Truth: "You don't believe Kerry is al Qaeda's choice? America certainly does. In a national survey, Americans were asked, "Who do you believe the terrorists want to win in November?" 65% answered "Kerry". Only 17% thought Bush would be their choice."
Some interesting statistics: Assassinating Palestinian terrorist leaders saves both Palestinian and Israeli lives.
A couple of readers have asked why I was not more critical of the article in the Christian Science Monitor that quoted my work. I take the view that ANY mention of Hitler's Leftism in the mainstream media is a breakthrough. See here for the full story.
I like Keith Burgess-Jackson's idea of hurling epitaphs at people. Should be more of it!
Writing on his "other" site, China Hand reviews the changes of the last 20 years or so in both China and Australia and notes the progress towards economic rationality in both -- with an accompanying rise in living and other standards.
The wicked one has a story about the Australian approach to salesmanship.
My recipe for today is a quick way to make good spaghetti bolognaise. See here. I am pleased to say that a lady in Melbourne emailed me yesterday after trying my recipe for Korean meatballs. She said they were "a big hit with all the family".
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
HOMOSEXUALITY
I personally don't think that what homosexuals do among themselves matters a hill of beans one way or the other but nobody (Left or Right) seems to agree with me so here are some of the more interesting recent comments:
"Newsweekly" (Catholic conservative publication) on same sex marriage... "Until recently, laws in every country throughout the world recognised marriage as a legally enforceable agreement between a man and a woman to become husband and wife. Marriage changes the status of those who enter into it: it is an exclusive and enduring contract which requires the husband and wife to pledge fidelity to each other, and to care for each other and their children. On this foundation, marriage is regarded as the basis of the family unit, necessary to protect the position of children, and ultimately, important to the stability of society. With the best will in the world, none of these conditions apply to homosexual couples."
Osama & Co. can't stop Saudi Arabia's homosexuals: "Jeddah's malls have become meeting places for another group: homosexuals. Gay Saudi men now cruise certain malls and supermarkets, openly making passes at each other"
"Nationalizing marriage laws will only grant more power over our lives to the federal government, even if for supposedly conservative ends. A far better approach is for Congress to exercise its existing constitutional power to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts."
"Marriage is a fundamental human right. For many of us, and our churches, it is a holy act; in some religions even a sacrament. These two facts point to the only decent American solution to the gay marriage controversy. Marriage belongs in church, not in the courthouse or the legislature.
****************************
I personally don't think that what homosexuals do among themselves matters a hill of beans one way or the other but nobody (Left or Right) seems to agree with me so here are some of the more interesting recent comments:
"Newsweekly" (Catholic conservative publication) on same sex marriage... "Until recently, laws in every country throughout the world recognised marriage as a legally enforceable agreement between a man and a woman to become husband and wife. Marriage changes the status of those who enter into it: it is an exclusive and enduring contract which requires the husband and wife to pledge fidelity to each other, and to care for each other and their children. On this foundation, marriage is regarded as the basis of the family unit, necessary to protect the position of children, and ultimately, important to the stability of society. With the best will in the world, none of these conditions apply to homosexual couples."
Osama & Co. can't stop Saudi Arabia's homosexuals: "Jeddah's malls have become meeting places for another group: homosexuals. Gay Saudi men now cruise certain malls and supermarkets, openly making passes at each other"
"Nationalizing marriage laws will only grant more power over our lives to the federal government, even if for supposedly conservative ends. A far better approach is for Congress to exercise its existing constitutional power to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts."
"Marriage is a fundamental human right. For many of us, and our churches, it is a holy act; in some religions even a sacrament. These two facts point to the only decent American solution to the gay marriage controversy. Marriage belongs in church, not in the courthouse or the legislature.
****************************
ELSEWHERE
I noted over 30 years ago how violent "peace" demonstrators were then. They are still the same -- as hypocritical and dishonest as ever.
Thanks to one of my readers, I found this article in the "Christian Science Monitor" which quotes some of my points about Hitler. The realization of how Leftist Hitler was is slowly getting into the mainstream instead of being known only to historians.
"Wearing the American military uniform doesn't guarantee the person wearing it loves America, understands America, or is even interested in defending America. That should be quite clear by now. That people like John Kerry should think to conjure up images of genuine American patriotism by publicizing a very dubious military record and subsequent political activism is a sign of leftist delusion. The Left always presumes the public is ignorant and treats the public as such"
"The story of Anthony Bars -- the 4-year-old boy who was starved and beaten to death in Indiana by foster parents with a criminal record of child abuse -- continues. Due to media and public outrage, the caseworker who recommended removing Anthony from an earlier, loving foster parent is facing charges. Denise Moore is accused of official misconduct and of falsifying reports in an adoption proceeding: misdemeanor offenses. Sadly, Anthony is just one in a long list of children neglected or abused by Child Protective Services... The increased power of child welfare agencies to do so comes from legislation dating back to the Mondale Act of 1974. That act established huge financial incentives for state agencies to uncover abuse, without providing checks or balances to protect those wrongfully accused. It also virtually immunized child welfare workers and false accusers from liability."
Capitalism is good for your health. Poland is much more capitalist than Russia and it shows in their health statistics: "In the early 1980s life expectancies in Soviet Russia and Communist Poland were roughly similar, and both were starting to get worse. Cancer and cardiovascular disease were beginning a rapid rise, in lock step with their prime causes: smoking and alcoholism. Two decades later, Poland's life expectancy for men, at 70, has risen by four years since the collapse of communism and now is more than 10 years longer than that of Russian men. In Poland, cardiovascular disease has fallen by 20 percent in a decade, while in Russia, it has risen by 25 percent"
A paragraph from a very impassioned book (Beyond Terror) by Ralph Peters: "A room filled with university professors makes me nostalgic for the Khmer Rouge. Since I value intellect, I dislike intellectuals-those men and women, freed from the necessity of labor, who prefer theory to reality and who footnote while others fight our nation's battles. The enormous increase in the number of minds shielded from mundane concerns-thanks to our expanding wealth-is far more dangerous than the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: Absurd theories killed vastly more human beings in the twentieth century than did the most terrible weapons. Those powers of thought that so enrich the years of the man or woman unafraid of life are employed by the intellectual to reduce life to a colorless, explicable sketch. The intellectual, whether a dean on a Cambridge campus or a scholar in a Cairo madrassah, perverts the power of the mind in order to force reality to conform to a simplified, strict, and inhuman vision of the way the world should be. With intellectuals in charge, of course."
Blogger A.E. Brain has been looking at what the National Library of Australia carries on its website: "I did a search on "Iraq & Saddam". The results, frankly, astonished me. A result worthy of the Misistry of Truth. Of the 4638 hits, I reviewed the first 1000. Of these, approximately 300+ were political anyalysis and commentary. Of that 300+, I found 2 that were neutral, neither pro- nor anti- war, but dispassionate analysis of alternatives. The rest were all anti-Bush, anti-War, anti-American." As Slattery comments: "And that clearly displays the difference between us rationalists and the dumb, unconfident in their convictions, moral relativists: we can handle all sides of the debate, because we know truth will win; they can't because they don't want truth, only ideology." Leftists really are pathetic in their fear of the full truth on any matter becoming known.
Colorado Conservative says fitness is bad for you. I agree. The last time I did any exercise was when I was 16 and at 60 I feel fine.
China Hand says very few people in China are interested in politics. They are too busy improving their personal lives.
I have just put up a recipe for Liptauer cheese spread and Hungarian open sandwiches: Something different. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
I noted over 30 years ago how violent "peace" demonstrators were then. They are still the same -- as hypocritical and dishonest as ever.
Thanks to one of my readers, I found this article in the "Christian Science Monitor" which quotes some of my points about Hitler. The realization of how Leftist Hitler was is slowly getting into the mainstream instead of being known only to historians.
"Wearing the American military uniform doesn't guarantee the person wearing it loves America, understands America, or is even interested in defending America. That should be quite clear by now. That people like John Kerry should think to conjure up images of genuine American patriotism by publicizing a very dubious military record and subsequent political activism is a sign of leftist delusion. The Left always presumes the public is ignorant and treats the public as such"
"The story of Anthony Bars -- the 4-year-old boy who was starved and beaten to death in Indiana by foster parents with a criminal record of child abuse -- continues. Due to media and public outrage, the caseworker who recommended removing Anthony from an earlier, loving foster parent is facing charges. Denise Moore is accused of official misconduct and of falsifying reports in an adoption proceeding: misdemeanor offenses. Sadly, Anthony is just one in a long list of children neglected or abused by Child Protective Services... The increased power of child welfare agencies to do so comes from legislation dating back to the Mondale Act of 1974. That act established huge financial incentives for state agencies to uncover abuse, without providing checks or balances to protect those wrongfully accused. It also virtually immunized child welfare workers and false accusers from liability."
Capitalism is good for your health. Poland is much more capitalist than Russia and it shows in their health statistics: "In the early 1980s life expectancies in Soviet Russia and Communist Poland were roughly similar, and both were starting to get worse. Cancer and cardiovascular disease were beginning a rapid rise, in lock step with their prime causes: smoking and alcoholism. Two decades later, Poland's life expectancy for men, at 70, has risen by four years since the collapse of communism and now is more than 10 years longer than that of Russian men. In Poland, cardiovascular disease has fallen by 20 percent in a decade, while in Russia, it has risen by 25 percent"
A paragraph from a very impassioned book (Beyond Terror) by Ralph Peters: "A room filled with university professors makes me nostalgic for the Khmer Rouge. Since I value intellect, I dislike intellectuals-those men and women, freed from the necessity of labor, who prefer theory to reality and who footnote while others fight our nation's battles. The enormous increase in the number of minds shielded from mundane concerns-thanks to our expanding wealth-is far more dangerous than the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: Absurd theories killed vastly more human beings in the twentieth century than did the most terrible weapons. Those powers of thought that so enrich the years of the man or woman unafraid of life are employed by the intellectual to reduce life to a colorless, explicable sketch. The intellectual, whether a dean on a Cambridge campus or a scholar in a Cairo madrassah, perverts the power of the mind in order to force reality to conform to a simplified, strict, and inhuman vision of the way the world should be. With intellectuals in charge, of course."
Blogger A.E. Brain has been looking at what the National Library of Australia carries on its website: "I did a search on "Iraq & Saddam". The results, frankly, astonished me. A result worthy of the Misistry of Truth. Of the 4638 hits, I reviewed the first 1000. Of these, approximately 300+ were political anyalysis and commentary. Of that 300+, I found 2 that were neutral, neither pro- nor anti- war, but dispassionate analysis of alternatives. The rest were all anti-Bush, anti-War, anti-American." As Slattery comments: "And that clearly displays the difference between us rationalists and the dumb, unconfident in their convictions, moral relativists: we can handle all sides of the debate, because we know truth will win; they can't because they don't want truth, only ideology." Leftists really are pathetic in their fear of the full truth on any matter becoming known.
Colorado Conservative says fitness is bad for you. I agree. The last time I did any exercise was when I was 16 and at 60 I feel fine.
China Hand says very few people in China are interested in politics. They are too busy improving their personal lives.
I have just put up a recipe for Liptauer cheese spread and Hungarian open sandwiches: Something different. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
SOME MORE PHILOSOPHICAL OBSERVATIONS
Amusing: My critique yesterday of an article by big-time Princeton philosopher Gilbert Harman produced a very rapid backdown. Prof. Harman emailed me a brief reply, the key sentence of which was "My article was intended only to point to certain developments in social psychology" -- a much more modest claim than he in fact originally made. For instance, he originally said "Character based virtue ethics may offer a reasonable account of ordinary moral views. But to that extent, these ordinary views rest on error". A climbdown from "error" to "certain developments" is quite a plummet. Given the way he had ignored half the evidence on his topic, a backdown was of course all that was available to him.
Being an old guy, I have long ago decided (and got into print) what my views are on most of the major questions of analytical philosophy. Keith Burgess-Jackson's various posts on philosophical questions have however reminded me what fun philosopical questions can be so my interest in thinking about them has revived somewhat. Keith and I do not however agree on many of our conclusions. I suspect, in fact that there are NO two philosophers who agree with one-another on all philosophical questions. So I am sure that Keith will not take it amiss if I make a few comments (in my usual "take no prisoners" way) about his theories. He will probably just give my theories a hard time in reply.
In particular, Keith has a theory of "rightness" that is deontological. A deontologist believes that at least some actions have little bits of rightness or wrongness attached to them in some mysterious, mystical and unobservable way. Keith's own version of deontology seems to be peculiar to him: He thinks that uncontracted actions (contracted actions being actions done or refrained from pursuant to some sort of contract) can only have wrongness attached to them, not rightness. That oddity aside, however, he seems (in his major paper on the subject) to give NO reason why he believes that some actions have moral attachments nor does he say how we find out what those attachments are or resolve disputes about what they are.
That really puzzles me. I could understand such a view in a religious believer -- as religious believers believe in lots of mysterious, mystical and unobservable stuff -- but Keith is an atheist! I am forced back onto the view espoused by John Maze that Keith and those like him are simply making a mistake about how uncontracted actions come to have rightness or wrongness. Maze (See: Maze, J. (1973) "The concept of attitude". Inquiry, 16, 168-205) says that because moral properties are sometimes spoken about in the same way as physical properties (the statement "X is right" is of the same form as "X is pink"), some people mistakenly conclude that moral properties must have a separate and distinct existence of their own similar to physical properties. They don't, however. As most people readily see, "X is right" is an entirely different sort of statement from "X is pink". They see that "X is is right" is a value judgment whereas "X is pink" is a statement of fact. It is easy to detect, measure and agree on pinkness. None of that is true of rightness.
That "rightness" is a value judgment does not however mean that it is unimportant. As I think almost all psychologists would agree, values are very important indeed. I spent most of my research career studying them.
I also made a very brief comment yesterday about how I believe rights (as distinct from rightness) come about. Keith asked in reply whether or not I think that babies have rights. The ancient Greeks certainly thought that newborn babies had no rights at all. A father had the right (up to a certain age) to say whether a baby lived or died. So it seems to me that we GIVE babies rights. They are not BORN with rights. If babies are born with rights that are independent of any human law or custom, where do we find those rights? -- under the baby's fingernails? If not there, where? Or do we merely assert them without proof or evidence? And how come the Greeks could not find them?
********************************
Amusing: My critique yesterday of an article by big-time Princeton philosopher Gilbert Harman produced a very rapid backdown. Prof. Harman emailed me a brief reply, the key sentence of which was "My article was intended only to point to certain developments in social psychology" -- a much more modest claim than he in fact originally made. For instance, he originally said "Character based virtue ethics may offer a reasonable account of ordinary moral views. But to that extent, these ordinary views rest on error". A climbdown from "error" to "certain developments" is quite a plummet. Given the way he had ignored half the evidence on his topic, a backdown was of course all that was available to him.
Being an old guy, I have long ago decided (and got into print) what my views are on most of the major questions of analytical philosophy. Keith Burgess-Jackson's various posts on philosophical questions have however reminded me what fun philosopical questions can be so my interest in thinking about them has revived somewhat. Keith and I do not however agree on many of our conclusions. I suspect, in fact that there are NO two philosophers who agree with one-another on all philosophical questions. So I am sure that Keith will not take it amiss if I make a few comments (in my usual "take no prisoners" way) about his theories. He will probably just give my theories a hard time in reply.
In particular, Keith has a theory of "rightness" that is deontological. A deontologist believes that at least some actions have little bits of rightness or wrongness attached to them in some mysterious, mystical and unobservable way. Keith's own version of deontology seems to be peculiar to him: He thinks that uncontracted actions (contracted actions being actions done or refrained from pursuant to some sort of contract) can only have wrongness attached to them, not rightness. That oddity aside, however, he seems (in his major paper on the subject) to give NO reason why he believes that some actions have moral attachments nor does he say how we find out what those attachments are or resolve disputes about what they are.
That really puzzles me. I could understand such a view in a religious believer -- as religious believers believe in lots of mysterious, mystical and unobservable stuff -- but Keith is an atheist! I am forced back onto the view espoused by John Maze that Keith and those like him are simply making a mistake about how uncontracted actions come to have rightness or wrongness. Maze (See: Maze, J. (1973) "The concept of attitude". Inquiry, 16, 168-205) says that because moral properties are sometimes spoken about in the same way as physical properties (the statement "X is right" is of the same form as "X is pink"), some people mistakenly conclude that moral properties must have a separate and distinct existence of their own similar to physical properties. They don't, however. As most people readily see, "X is right" is an entirely different sort of statement from "X is pink". They see that "X is is right" is a value judgment whereas "X is pink" is a statement of fact. It is easy to detect, measure and agree on pinkness. None of that is true of rightness.
That "rightness" is a value judgment does not however mean that it is unimportant. As I think almost all psychologists would agree, values are very important indeed. I spent most of my research career studying them.
I also made a very brief comment yesterday about how I believe rights (as distinct from rightness) come about. Keith asked in reply whether or not I think that babies have rights. The ancient Greeks certainly thought that newborn babies had no rights at all. A father had the right (up to a certain age) to say whether a baby lived or died. So it seems to me that we GIVE babies rights. They are not BORN with rights. If babies are born with rights that are independent of any human law or custom, where do we find those rights? -- under the baby's fingernails? If not there, where? Or do we merely assert them without proof or evidence? And how come the Greeks could not find them?
********************************
ELSEWHERE
There is a very interesting article in "Spiked" which blames terrorism on the risk-aversion that the politically-correct brigade have engendered in Western society. We look so chicken-livered to the rest of the world that they think they can easily intimidate us into doing what they want. And the lack of cojones among the Spanish has reinforced that impression. Thank goodness for the resolve of GWB in Afghanistan and Iraq!
The NYT has used the occasion of declaring the famously polluted "Love Canal" clean to revive all the Greenie myths about it. Wayne Lusvardi writes: "Times reporter Brian De Palma is incorrect that in 1978 "hundreds of families were evacuated from the working-class Love Canal section of Niagara Falls, N.Y., after deadly chemicals started oozing through the ground into basements and a school, burning children and pets and causing birth defects and miscarriages." The truth is that after decades of research, there is no scientifically substantiated incident of harm, not even so much as catching a cold, that ever occurred to humans at Love Canal due to exposure to so-called toxic chemicals, as documented in the book by Aaron Wildavsky: But Is It True? A Citizen's Guide to Environmental Health and Safety Issues -Harvard University Press, 1995.
Western Australia has decriminalized cannabis. Prohibition of alcohol did not work either. As Queen Elizabeth I of England asked King Philip II of Spain centuries ago: "Why cannot Your Majesty let your subjects go to the Devil in their own way?"
"An opinion poll suggests most Iraqis feel their lives have improved since the war in Iraq began about a year ago. The survey, carried out for the BBC and other broadcasters, also suggests many are optimistic about the next 12 months and opposed to violence."
Michael Darby has just put up a new lot of postings. Some of his headings:
THE PRIME MINISTER IS RIGHT (about Australia's risk from terrorism)
Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (Influential former conservative Premier of the State of Queensland)
Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage
Education Debate: Good work by Hon Brendan Nelson MP
Adoption of children by homosexual couples
Food Scares
David Yeagley compares the so-called "Christians" of the Left to the Pharisees.
Peg Kaplan has the Jug Man ("Krug" means jug" in German) summed up.
The wicked one has put up an alaming scenario of how difficult it soon might be to order a pizza.
My recipe for today is for that old Greek favourite -- Moussaka. It's not a quick recipe to make but the result is worth it. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
There is a very interesting article in "Spiked" which blames terrorism on the risk-aversion that the politically-correct brigade have engendered in Western society. We look so chicken-livered to the rest of the world that they think they can easily intimidate us into doing what they want. And the lack of cojones among the Spanish has reinforced that impression. Thank goodness for the resolve of GWB in Afghanistan and Iraq!
The NYT has used the occasion of declaring the famously polluted "Love Canal" clean to revive all the Greenie myths about it. Wayne Lusvardi writes: "Times reporter Brian De Palma is incorrect that in 1978 "hundreds of families were evacuated from the working-class Love Canal section of Niagara Falls, N.Y., after deadly chemicals started oozing through the ground into basements and a school, burning children and pets and causing birth defects and miscarriages." The truth is that after decades of research, there is no scientifically substantiated incident of harm, not even so much as catching a cold, that ever occurred to humans at Love Canal due to exposure to so-called toxic chemicals, as documented in the book by Aaron Wildavsky: But Is It True? A Citizen's Guide to Environmental Health and Safety Issues -Harvard University Press, 1995.
Western Australia has decriminalized cannabis. Prohibition of alcohol did not work either. As Queen Elizabeth I of England asked King Philip II of Spain centuries ago: "Why cannot Your Majesty let your subjects go to the Devil in their own way?"
"An opinion poll suggests most Iraqis feel their lives have improved since the war in Iraq began about a year ago. The survey, carried out for the BBC and other broadcasters, also suggests many are optimistic about the next 12 months and opposed to violence."
Michael Darby has just put up a new lot of postings. Some of his headings:
THE PRIME MINISTER IS RIGHT (about Australia's risk from terrorism)
Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (Influential former conservative Premier of the State of Queensland)
Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage
Education Debate: Good work by Hon Brendan Nelson MP
Adoption of children by homosexual couples
Food Scares
David Yeagley compares the so-called "Christians" of the Left to the Pharisees.
Peg Kaplan has the Jug Man ("Krug" means jug" in German) summed up.
The wicked one has put up an alaming scenario of how difficult it soon might be to order a pizza.
My recipe for today is for that old Greek favourite -- Moussaka. It's not a quick recipe to make but the result is worth it. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Monday, March 22, 2004
SOME DUBIOUS PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY
I have just been reading a much-linked article on moral philosophy by Prof. Gilbert Harman of the Philosophy Dept. at Princeton -- titled "Moral Philosophy Meets Social Psychology". Judging by his publication list, Harman is one of the eminences of American moral philosophy so I am sorry to say that in my view his article is straight out of cloud-cuckoo land (with apologies to Aristophanes). I have no idea of Harman's general political orientation but his argument on this subject is classic Leftist stuff. To oversimplify a little, he claims that there is no such thing as a stable personality trait in anybody and that "It's all situational". It is only people's environment that dictates how they behave. So there is no barrier to creating a "new Soviet man", for instance. He claims, in other words, that there is no such thing as a "kind" man, a "dominant" man a "selfish" man etc. etc. His reasoning seems to be the completely fallacious: "Because nobody is kind all the time, therefore nobody is kind most of the time".
His article is deceptive from the outset. He claims that his view is "widespread" among social psychologists. If one psychologist in half a dozen countries around the world held such a view, I suppose the view could indeed be described as "widespread" but that would not at all mean that it is a majority view. And to my knowledge it is in fact the view of only a small minority of psychologists. Such a view had some vogue in response to a paper by Mischel (Mischel, W. (1977) "On the future of personality measurement" American Psychologist 32, 246-254) but the vast majority of psychologists continued to talk of traits nonetheless.
Where Harman appears to have gone wrong is in his narrow view of social psychology. There are two strands of social psychology -- the experimental and the correlational. The typical method of the first is to tell lies to your students and see what happens next while the typical method of the second is simply to ask people what they think about a variety of topics. Almost all my papers are in the latter tradition. And the reason why I and many others do the sort of psychology we do is that we find the totally unknowable generalizability of the experimental work to be deeply unsatisfactory. Neither people nor situations are normally sampled in any way in such work so any attempt to draw general conclusions from its results is faith, not science. And it is the "faith-based" work that Harman relies on.
The more soundly-based correlational work, on the other hand, almost automatically has the means of examining the sort of assertion made by Harman. It has the data to tell (via factor analysis etc.) whether there is any trait-like consistency in what people report about themselves. And there is. People do report considerable consistency in how they behave from situation to situation. And not only that, but the consistency can usually be readily summarized by normal trait adjectives, and OTHER PEOPLE agree that the self-described consistencies of behaviour do exist in the individual concerned (e.g. here). Harman has simply not attempted to look at the evidence most relevant to his assertion. But unconcern about the evidence is of course hardly new among Leftists. I would even describe it as one of their "traits"!
********************************
I have just been reading a much-linked article on moral philosophy by Prof. Gilbert Harman of the Philosophy Dept. at Princeton -- titled "Moral Philosophy Meets Social Psychology". Judging by his publication list, Harman is one of the eminences of American moral philosophy so I am sorry to say that in my view his article is straight out of cloud-cuckoo land (with apologies to Aristophanes). I have no idea of Harman's general political orientation but his argument on this subject is classic Leftist stuff. To oversimplify a little, he claims that there is no such thing as a stable personality trait in anybody and that "It's all situational". It is only people's environment that dictates how they behave. So there is no barrier to creating a "new Soviet man", for instance. He claims, in other words, that there is no such thing as a "kind" man, a "dominant" man a "selfish" man etc. etc. His reasoning seems to be the completely fallacious: "Because nobody is kind all the time, therefore nobody is kind most of the time".
His article is deceptive from the outset. He claims that his view is "widespread" among social psychologists. If one psychologist in half a dozen countries around the world held such a view, I suppose the view could indeed be described as "widespread" but that would not at all mean that it is a majority view. And to my knowledge it is in fact the view of only a small minority of psychologists. Such a view had some vogue in response to a paper by Mischel (Mischel, W. (1977) "On the future of personality measurement" American Psychologist 32, 246-254) but the vast majority of psychologists continued to talk of traits nonetheless.
Where Harman appears to have gone wrong is in his narrow view of social psychology. There are two strands of social psychology -- the experimental and the correlational. The typical method of the first is to tell lies to your students and see what happens next while the typical method of the second is simply to ask people what they think about a variety of topics. Almost all my papers are in the latter tradition. And the reason why I and many others do the sort of psychology we do is that we find the totally unknowable generalizability of the experimental work to be deeply unsatisfactory. Neither people nor situations are normally sampled in any way in such work so any attempt to draw general conclusions from its results is faith, not science. And it is the "faith-based" work that Harman relies on.
The more soundly-based correlational work, on the other hand, almost automatically has the means of examining the sort of assertion made by Harman. It has the data to tell (via factor analysis etc.) whether there is any trait-like consistency in what people report about themselves. And there is. People do report considerable consistency in how they behave from situation to situation. And not only that, but the consistency can usually be readily summarized by normal trait adjectives, and OTHER PEOPLE agree that the self-described consistencies of behaviour do exist in the individual concerned (e.g. here). Harman has simply not attempted to look at the evidence most relevant to his assertion. But unconcern about the evidence is of course hardly new among Leftists. I would even describe it as one of their "traits"!
********************************
ANIMAL RIGHTS
Why animal rights don't exist: "My point was, in essence, that rights are just not the sort of things animals other than people could have. Could animals have guilt, be blamed, feel regret and remorse, or apologize or anything on that order? No, and why so, that was the gist of my thesis: They are not moral agents like us, not even the great apes." I must say that I cannot see any way that rights can arise except through some sort of contract (implicit or explicit) or law so the idea of inborn animal rights seems mere emotionalism to me. Though I imagine that Keith Burgess Jackson might have something to say about that.
PETA's latest: Constitutional rights for fish! "Sorry, crustaceans and reptiles. You didn't make People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' list of animals that deserve protection under their proposed constitutional amendment, which declares 'all mammals, birds, and fish will, henceforth, be defined as 'persons' in the eyes of the law.' Of course, PETA's idea of protecting animals would strip us of everything from our leather shoes to the milk in our breakfast cereal (not to mention bacon and eggs). PETA president Ingrid Newkirk has called human beings the 'biggest blight on the face of the earth.'"
Get ready to see the real PETA, warts and all . ... Showtime will air the program at 10pm (all time zones) on April 1. ... This might be the only kind of publicity PETA's self-styled 'total press sluts' would prefer to avoid. The group's radical zealots may wish this were just an April Fool's joke, but it's not."
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Why animal rights don't exist: "My point was, in essence, that rights are just not the sort of things animals other than people could have. Could animals have guilt, be blamed, feel regret and remorse, or apologize or anything on that order? No, and why so, that was the gist of my thesis: They are not moral agents like us, not even the great apes." I must say that I cannot see any way that rights can arise except through some sort of contract (implicit or explicit) or law so the idea of inborn animal rights seems mere emotionalism to me. Though I imagine that Keith Burgess Jackson might have something to say about that.
PETA's latest: Constitutional rights for fish! "Sorry, crustaceans and reptiles. You didn't make People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' list of animals that deserve protection under their proposed constitutional amendment, which declares 'all mammals, birds, and fish will, henceforth, be defined as 'persons' in the eyes of the law.' Of course, PETA's idea of protecting animals would strip us of everything from our leather shoes to the milk in our breakfast cereal (not to mention bacon and eggs). PETA president Ingrid Newkirk has called human beings the 'biggest blight on the face of the earth.'"
Get ready to see the real PETA, warts and all . ... Showtime will air the program at 10pm (all time zones) on April 1. ... This might be the only kind of publicity PETA's self-styled 'total press sluts' would prefer to avoid. The group's radical zealots may wish this were just an April Fool's joke, but it's not."
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ELSEWHERE
Andrew Bolt gives details of how Australia's universities and public broadcasters acclaim the views of Far-Leftists who believe that Israeli children and other innocents deserve to die.
Leftist antisemitism: "Anti-semitism is a virus and it mutates. To claim Jews cause their own suffering by failing to denounce Israeli policy is a revival of an old hatred"
Those delightful Arabs again: "More than 100 women have been raped in a single attack carried out by Arab militias in Darfur in western Sudan. ... "It is more than just a conflict. It is an organised attempt to do away with a group of people," he said...Arab militias, backed by the government, have driven hundreds of thousands from their homes"
It comes as no surprise to learn that John Kerry, who hates to take one position on an issue when he can take two or three, has come down strongly in favor -- and strongly against -- US policy in Cuba.
The Lolita story was first created by a Nazi. Makes sense: Nazis were Leftists and Leftists have no moral restraints.
Seeing Easter is coming up, I have put up on my recipe site a recipe that could be useful for family reunions -- a recipe for Greek Easter Lamb. The Greeks really know how to do lamb. See here.
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The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Andrew Bolt gives details of how Australia's universities and public broadcasters acclaim the views of Far-Leftists who believe that Israeli children and other innocents deserve to die.
Leftist antisemitism: "Anti-semitism is a virus and it mutates. To claim Jews cause their own suffering by failing to denounce Israeli policy is a revival of an old hatred"
Those delightful Arabs again: "More than 100 women have been raped in a single attack carried out by Arab militias in Darfur in western Sudan. ... "It is more than just a conflict. It is an organised attempt to do away with a group of people," he said...Arab militias, backed by the government, have driven hundreds of thousands from their homes"
It comes as no surprise to learn that John Kerry, who hates to take one position on an issue when he can take two or three, has come down strongly in favor -- and strongly against -- US policy in Cuba.
The Lolita story was first created by a Nazi. Makes sense: Nazis were Leftists and Leftists have no moral restraints.
Seeing Easter is coming up, I have put up on my recipe site a recipe that could be useful for family reunions -- a recipe for Greek Easter Lamb. The Greeks really know how to do lamb. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Sunday, March 21, 2004
GREENIE WATCH
The Democratic Leadership Council released on March 18 a commentary, Carbon Flip, Mercury Flop. The screed begins: "When it comes to environmental issues, the Bush administration seems determined to destroy its own limited credibility." For a point by point refutation, see here
Some current posts on ecoNOT:
* Much a-doo: Greens advise moms not to use diapers!
* Misanthropic quotation of the week: from "animal rights" philosopher Tom Regan
* "Alternative energy" -- but not in environmentalists' back yards
* A new primer on the Mother of All Eco-Crises
If the scientists don't understand climate change, how can anyone be so sure of what to do about it? "As scientists have studied the climate record trapped in glacial ice from Antarctica and Greenland, and in mud samples extracted from beneath the ocean floor, their respect for the speed of change has grown. In the mid-1950s, a change of roughly 3 degrees C over more than 1,000 years was deemed abrupt. In 1999, a team led by Jeffrey Severinghaus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., determined that the last ice age ended with a temperature burst that raised the thermostat at Greenland by some 9 degrees C over a mere decade.... "We still don't understand the causes" behind the increase, he says. .... But here, too, the picture grows murky. At a meeting last fall at the WHOI, researchers from the US and Canada looked at the problem and raised more questions than answers."
More elitist trash from the Green/Left: "In Growth Fetish, Hamilton admits that, in the past times of scarcity, growth was beneficial - but he argues that in today's era of superabundance development no longer leads to subjective wellbeing. To support his argument, he quotes opinion polls showing that people in prosperous societies are often unhappy with their lives... There is a nauseating undertone of elitism in Hamilton's work. In his view, the marketing industry, including advertising, plays a key role in shaping individual desires. He refers to 'gullible consumers' and goes on to argue that 'today's average consumer may be an everyday victim of foolishness and feeble-mindedness in their consumption behaviour' .... Whatever people's subjective sense of wellbeing, there remains a huge amount to be done to raise living standards, even in the more developed countries. For instance, we are constantly being told that there is a demographic problem that means that the elderly cannot expect a reasonable standard of living. But with greater economic growth it will become possible for the elderly and others not able to work to have higher living standards." I wonder how many working people today share the judgment that we are living in a world of "superabundance"? Only a "limousine liberal" would think so.
**********************************
The Democratic Leadership Council released on March 18 a commentary, Carbon Flip, Mercury Flop. The screed begins: "When it comes to environmental issues, the Bush administration seems determined to destroy its own limited credibility." For a point by point refutation, see here
Some current posts on ecoNOT:
* Much a-doo: Greens advise moms not to use diapers!
* Misanthropic quotation of the week: from "animal rights" philosopher Tom Regan
* "Alternative energy" -- but not in environmentalists' back yards
* A new primer on the Mother of All Eco-Crises
If the scientists don't understand climate change, how can anyone be so sure of what to do about it? "As scientists have studied the climate record trapped in glacial ice from Antarctica and Greenland, and in mud samples extracted from beneath the ocean floor, their respect for the speed of change has grown. In the mid-1950s, a change of roughly 3 degrees C over more than 1,000 years was deemed abrupt. In 1999, a team led by Jeffrey Severinghaus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., determined that the last ice age ended with a temperature burst that raised the thermostat at Greenland by some 9 degrees C over a mere decade.... "We still don't understand the causes" behind the increase, he says. .... But here, too, the picture grows murky. At a meeting last fall at the WHOI, researchers from the US and Canada looked at the problem and raised more questions than answers."
More elitist trash from the Green/Left: "In Growth Fetish, Hamilton admits that, in the past times of scarcity, growth was beneficial - but he argues that in today's era of superabundance development no longer leads to subjective wellbeing. To support his argument, he quotes opinion polls showing that people in prosperous societies are often unhappy with their lives... There is a nauseating undertone of elitism in Hamilton's work. In his view, the marketing industry, including advertising, plays a key role in shaping individual desires. He refers to 'gullible consumers' and goes on to argue that 'today's average consumer may be an everyday victim of foolishness and feeble-mindedness in their consumption behaviour' .... Whatever people's subjective sense of wellbeing, there remains a huge amount to be done to raise living standards, even in the more developed countries. For instance, we are constantly being told that there is a demographic problem that means that the elderly cannot expect a reasonable standard of living. But with greater economic growth it will become possible for the elderly and others not able to work to have higher living standards." I wonder how many working people today share the judgment that we are living in a world of "superabundance"? Only a "limousine liberal" would think so.
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OUTSOURCING AND INTERFERENCE WITH FREE TRADE
Who's outsourcing whom? "Airwaves and newspapers are abuzz of late with talk about the loss of manufacturing jobs, the offshoring of tech jobs, immigration, and general alarmism about the 'outsourcing' of the American worker. We hear lots of talk about exactly why (and if) this is happening, but rarely do pundits and commentators look at the relationship between companies moving plants overseas, and the kinds of tax and regulatory policies employed by the states they're moving away from. As it turns out, states with business-friendly public policies attract and retain jobs. States with policies hostile to business tend to lose them."
Outsourcing creates AMERICAN jobs: "When Americans hear the word 'outsourcing,' they typically imagine the movement of U.S. jobs overseas. But globalization has created many forms of outsourcing. Consider the world's appetite for American popular culture. America annually exports $90 billion worth of movies, TV shows, sound recordings and other products created by U.S. 'copyright industries.'"
South Africa's Leftist leaders have been successful in their vow to stop SA becoming the West's African "sweat shop". Pity about their 40% unemployed.
For years we have been hearing about a water shortage in the western states... What specifically is a shortage? It is a situation where you are willing to pay the price but simply cannot find as much as you want.... a shortage is a sign that somebody is keeping the price artificially lower than it would be if supply and demand were allowed to operate freely. That is precisely why there is a water shortage in the western states.... Even in California's dry Central Valley, less than 10 percent of the water available from federal water projects is used by cities and industries. The vast majority of it is used by farmers, who pay a fraction of what urban users pay, thanks to federal price fixing.The long-term contracts under which this ridiculous arrangement goes on expire this year, so theoretically these contracts could be renegotiated so that everyone who uses water supplied by federal water projects has to pay his own way and cover the costs of the operation. Alas, this is an election year, so you can bet the rent money that no such thing is going to happen.
Western protectionists to India. Don't do as I say. "I read about one Indian who said something like the following: "Hey, you lectured us for decades during the Cold War and Indian socialism. Aren't we now doing exactly what you told us to?"
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Who's outsourcing whom? "Airwaves and newspapers are abuzz of late with talk about the loss of manufacturing jobs, the offshoring of tech jobs, immigration, and general alarmism about the 'outsourcing' of the American worker. We hear lots of talk about exactly why (and if) this is happening, but rarely do pundits and commentators look at the relationship between companies moving plants overseas, and the kinds of tax and regulatory policies employed by the states they're moving away from. As it turns out, states with business-friendly public policies attract and retain jobs. States with policies hostile to business tend to lose them."
Outsourcing creates AMERICAN jobs: "When Americans hear the word 'outsourcing,' they typically imagine the movement of U.S. jobs overseas. But globalization has created many forms of outsourcing. Consider the world's appetite for American popular culture. America annually exports $90 billion worth of movies, TV shows, sound recordings and other products created by U.S. 'copyright industries.'"
South Africa's Leftist leaders have been successful in their vow to stop SA becoming the West's African "sweat shop". Pity about their 40% unemployed.
For years we have been hearing about a water shortage in the western states... What specifically is a shortage? It is a situation where you are willing to pay the price but simply cannot find as much as you want.... a shortage is a sign that somebody is keeping the price artificially lower than it would be if supply and demand were allowed to operate freely. That is precisely why there is a water shortage in the western states.... Even in California's dry Central Valley, less than 10 percent of the water available from federal water projects is used by cities and industries. The vast majority of it is used by farmers, who pay a fraction of what urban users pay, thanks to federal price fixing.The long-term contracts under which this ridiculous arrangement goes on expire this year, so theoretically these contracts could be renegotiated so that everyone who uses water supplied by federal water projects has to pay his own way and cover the costs of the operation. Alas, this is an election year, so you can bet the rent money that no such thing is going to happen.
Western protectionists to India. Don't do as I say. "I read about one Indian who said something like the following: "Hey, you lectured us for decades during the Cold War and Indian socialism. Aren't we now doing exactly what you told us to?"
*************************************
ELSEWHERE
Jeff Jacoby says: "Once upon time it was racists who insisted that "nonwhite" was a synonym for "intellectually deficient." Today that attitude is promoted most emphatically by the defenders of affirmative action, a system rooted in the belief that blacks and certain other minorities can't hope to win if they have to compete on a level playing field."
Even the tolerant Dutch cannot stand Muslims: "Dutch parents are abandoning the state-run school system in droves, and sending their children to private schools with high education standards, which just coincidently happen to be almost exclusively native Dutch. The private schools are referred to as 'white' schools, and the remaining high-ethnic state schools are referred to as 'black' schools, and the phenomena is being called 'white flight'."
Spanish "socialism": "Here are some of the economic promises on which Zapatero's Socialist Workers Party campaigned: lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 30 percent, cutting income taxes, and reducing the value-added tax. Oh, and they're going to balance the budget and control inflation."
I have just put up a recipe for Korean fried meatballs. I am betting that they are the best meatballs you have ever tasted. See here. Food names change a lot from country to country. I can translate some Australian food names into more widely understood ones but I will no doubt miss some. For instance, in yesterday's recipe I mentioned "zucchini". They are "courgettes" in England and "Italian squash" in the USA.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Jeff Jacoby says: "Once upon time it was racists who insisted that "nonwhite" was a synonym for "intellectually deficient." Today that attitude is promoted most emphatically by the defenders of affirmative action, a system rooted in the belief that blacks and certain other minorities can't hope to win if they have to compete on a level playing field."
Even the tolerant Dutch cannot stand Muslims: "Dutch parents are abandoning the state-run school system in droves, and sending their children to private schools with high education standards, which just coincidently happen to be almost exclusively native Dutch. The private schools are referred to as 'white' schools, and the remaining high-ethnic state schools are referred to as 'black' schools, and the phenomena is being called 'white flight'."
Spanish "socialism": "Here are some of the economic promises on which Zapatero's Socialist Workers Party campaigned: lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 30 percent, cutting income taxes, and reducing the value-added tax. Oh, and they're going to balance the budget and control inflation."
I have just put up a recipe for Korean fried meatballs. I am betting that they are the best meatballs you have ever tasted. See here. Food names change a lot from country to country. I can translate some Australian food names into more widely understood ones but I will no doubt miss some. For instance, in yesterday's recipe I mentioned "zucchini". They are "courgettes" in England and "Italian squash" in the USA.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Saturday, March 20, 2004
IMMIGRATION
Samuel Huntington has made a strong case against policies that would increase the rate of Hispanic immigration into the US -- largely on the grounds that the "melting pot" is no longer "melting". There is however some evidence that Hispanic immigrants have in fact been assimilating steadily into American society.
Pro-immigration: America's melting pot is still bubbling... "Some 1.3 million immigrants, legal and illegal, are arriving each year. One in nine U.S. residents began life in another country; the total foreign-born population now exceeds 33 million - more immigrants than people in all of Canada." The author argues that concerns about assimilation go back a long way but all have been shown as misplaced. But the political and social environment of today is very different from that of the past so past precedents may be a poor guide today.
Anti-immigration: Peter Hitchens tells why New Labour wants to turn Britain into a multicultural nowhereland
More on the British government's underhand attempts to INCREASE the intake of unqualified immigrants here and here
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Samuel Huntington has made a strong case against policies that would increase the rate of Hispanic immigration into the US -- largely on the grounds that the "melting pot" is no longer "melting". There is however some evidence that Hispanic immigrants have in fact been assimilating steadily into American society.
Pro-immigration: America's melting pot is still bubbling... "Some 1.3 million immigrants, legal and illegal, are arriving each year. One in nine U.S. residents began life in another country; the total foreign-born population now exceeds 33 million - more immigrants than people in all of Canada." The author argues that concerns about assimilation go back a long way but all have been shown as misplaced. But the political and social environment of today is very different from that of the past so past precedents may be a poor guide today.
Anti-immigration: Peter Hitchens tells why New Labour wants to turn Britain into a multicultural nowhereland
More on the British government's underhand attempts to INCREASE the intake of unqualified immigrants here and here
**********************************
THE ACADEMIC CESSPIT
I was not originally going to blog on the loony Leftist professor who vandalized her own car to draw attention to "hate", but I realized what a good proof of one of the two mottos at the head of this blog it is. Powerline has a good summary of the story. Note how there is NO outrage from the Left about the "lie" concerned. All their outrage about the "lies" allegedly told by GWB is thus shown for the sham it is. No wonder they keep saying there is no such thing as objective truth. Truth just does not matter to them. They don't have double standards. They have no standards. Only power matters to them. And Stalin showed where that ultimately leads.
Academics ignore the elephant in the bedroom: Sheikh Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, the Imam of the most important mosque in Mecca, sermonized that the Jews are "the scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the violators of pacts and agreements, the murderers of the prophets, and the offspring of apes and pigs." The Imam further advised Arabs to abandon all peace initiatives with Jews and asked Allah to annihilate them. But an examination of PsycINFO, a leading online index of psychological studies, shows 458 entries on anti-Semitism since 1940, 99 of which have appeared during the past 10 years. But not a single one deals directly with hatred of Jews by Muslims or Arabs in the contemporary world.
Random Observations enjoyed my mention on 17th of the Sokal hoax and does a good job of explaining how postmodernism came about and why academics in English Departments of universities love it. Perhaps because he is an engineer however, he misses the main philosophical objection to postmodernism -- its solipsism. Because the postmodernist asserts that there is no such thing as objective reality, the only thing he can be sure of is that he himself exists. This "collapse into solipsism" has long been regarded by analytic philosophers as a decisive disproof any theory -- because it implies that the person believing such a theory can make no assertions at all.
*******************************
I was not originally going to blog on the loony Leftist professor who vandalized her own car to draw attention to "hate", but I realized what a good proof of one of the two mottos at the head of this blog it is. Powerline has a good summary of the story. Note how there is NO outrage from the Left about the "lie" concerned. All their outrage about the "lies" allegedly told by GWB is thus shown for the sham it is. No wonder they keep saying there is no such thing as objective truth. Truth just does not matter to them. They don't have double standards. They have no standards. Only power matters to them. And Stalin showed where that ultimately leads.
Academics ignore the elephant in the bedroom: Sheikh Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, the Imam of the most important mosque in Mecca, sermonized that the Jews are "the scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the violators of pacts and agreements, the murderers of the prophets, and the offspring of apes and pigs." The Imam further advised Arabs to abandon all peace initiatives with Jews and asked Allah to annihilate them. But an examination of PsycINFO, a leading online index of psychological studies, shows 458 entries on anti-Semitism since 1940, 99 of which have appeared during the past 10 years. But not a single one deals directly with hatred of Jews by Muslims or Arabs in the contemporary world.
Random Observations enjoyed my mention on 17th of the Sokal hoax and does a good job of explaining how postmodernism came about and why academics in English Departments of universities love it. Perhaps because he is an engineer however, he misses the main philosophical objection to postmodernism -- its solipsism. Because the postmodernist asserts that there is no such thing as objective reality, the only thing he can be sure of is that he himself exists. This "collapse into solipsism" has long been regarded by analytic philosophers as a decisive disproof any theory -- because it implies that the person believing such a theory can make no assertions at all.
*******************************
ELSEWHERE
They want us all to get AIDS: "Quebec's largest school board has voted to cancel Hema Quebec's annual blood drive at its Montreal offices and will remain in effect until the blood agency changes its policy of excluding gay male donors."
Following my post on IQ yesterday, a reader alerted me to a recent study at Duke university which found that the learning ability of rats was much enhanced if their mothers were fed extra choline while they were in the womb. The inference is that human IQ could be increased by early nutritional supplementation too. Eysenck did a study about 15 years ago which showed that feeding babies and young children extra amounts of key nutrients could increase IQ by about 5 points -- not dramatic but worthwhile. So I would expect the same from this procedure. Choline is a very common component in foods that most people eat regularly, however, so the benefit might be confined to people with particularly abnormal diets.
In the Vietnam war many so-called "peace" activists really wanted their country to be defeated. Their anything-but-peaceful behaviour showed that. Mike Tremoglie points out that at least some "peace" activists today are similarly motivated. Hate is their motive, not peace.
VD Hanson and some myths of Iraq war, a year on: "It has now been almost a year since the liberation of Iraq, the fury of the antiwar rallies, and the publicized hectoring of Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Sean Penn, and other assorted conspiracy freaks - and we have enough evidence to lay some of their myths to rest. I just filled up and paid $2.19 a gallon. How can that be, when the war was undertaken to help us get our hands on "cheap" oil? Where is the mythical Afghan pipeline when we need it?"
Mark Steyn on terrorism in Madrid: "In his penultimate public appearance, the late Osama bin Laden, broadcasting from his cave in the early hours of the Afghan campaign, listed among his principal grievances "the tragedy of Andalusia" - that is, the end of Muslim rule in Spain in 1492. That's 512 years ago"
The wicked one has a lot of good stuff up at the moment -- including some wisdom from Charles Schultz -- creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip and Charlie Brown.
My latest recipe is for Frittata -- the ultimate Spanish omelette. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
They want us all to get AIDS: "Quebec's largest school board has voted to cancel Hema Quebec's annual blood drive at its Montreal offices and will remain in effect until the blood agency changes its policy of excluding gay male donors."
Following my post on IQ yesterday, a reader alerted me to a recent study at Duke university which found that the learning ability of rats was much enhanced if their mothers were fed extra choline while they were in the womb. The inference is that human IQ could be increased by early nutritional supplementation too. Eysenck did a study about 15 years ago which showed that feeding babies and young children extra amounts of key nutrients could increase IQ by about 5 points -- not dramatic but worthwhile. So I would expect the same from this procedure. Choline is a very common component in foods that most people eat regularly, however, so the benefit might be confined to people with particularly abnormal diets.
In the Vietnam war many so-called "peace" activists really wanted their country to be defeated. Their anything-but-peaceful behaviour showed that. Mike Tremoglie points out that at least some "peace" activists today are similarly motivated. Hate is their motive, not peace.
VD Hanson and some myths of Iraq war, a year on: "It has now been almost a year since the liberation of Iraq, the fury of the antiwar rallies, and the publicized hectoring of Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Sean Penn, and other assorted conspiracy freaks - and we have enough evidence to lay some of their myths to rest. I just filled up and paid $2.19 a gallon. How can that be, when the war was undertaken to help us get our hands on "cheap" oil? Where is the mythical Afghan pipeline when we need it?"
Mark Steyn on terrorism in Madrid: "In his penultimate public appearance, the late Osama bin Laden, broadcasting from his cave in the early hours of the Afghan campaign, listed among his principal grievances "the tragedy of Andalusia" - that is, the end of Muslim rule in Spain in 1492. That's 512 years ago"
The wicked one has a lot of good stuff up at the moment -- including some wisdom from Charles Schultz -- creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip and Charlie Brown.
My latest recipe is for Frittata -- the ultimate Spanish omelette. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Friday, March 19, 2004
BUREAUCRACY
There are some pictures here (or here) showing graphically the sort of bureaucracy that the Left are forever wishing upon us.
There is a classic example of bureaucracy at work near where I live in Brisbane. The local authority (Brisbane City Council) builds boardwalks and the like in seaside areas like Wynnum using ordinary steel bolts to hold the structures together -- completely ignoring the fact that any outdoor structure, let alone one exposed to salty air, is very prone to attack by rust. So the bolts will have rusted out in a few years and all the work will have to be re-done -- doubling the cost. The morons do not even protect the exposed steel with paint -- and something as simple and old-fashioned as using galvanized bolts in the first place is clearly way beyond their ken. Anybody in private enterprise who behaved so stupidly would not last five minutes but in the Left-controlled Brisbane City Council you can be sure that nobody will be held accountable when the structures begin to wobble.
See "When 'Mother' is a Bureaucracy," by Wendy McElroy for more on bureaucratic irresponsibility and negligence -- in this case using little babies in New York as guinea pigs.
What government is good at: "We often complain about how slow government can be. But there's a teenager in Arizona who can tell you that swift government has its downside. On February 23, the Arizona Republic printed a fascinating story about how Christian Alf set up his own after-school business rat-proofing his neighbors' houses. Two days later that same newspaper printed a follow-up: the state of Arizona had put young Mr. Alf out of business, citing him with two separate violations of state law."
There is no guarantee that capitalists will be intelligent but it is broadly true that the smarter ones will get the gravy. An amusing instance I know of in that connection is the practice in many Australian Real Estate offices of having a meeting for all staff on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Buyers who ring at that time are told that there are no salespeople available to assist them. I imagine that 90% of buyers do as I do on such occasions -- ring another agent. I can think of at least two occasions where the next agent I rang in fact sold me something. So the wankers who thought that their meeting was more important than selling anything in effect had several thousand dollars offered to them on a plate and knocked it back! Not smart. They'd do well as government employees, though.
*******************************
There are some pictures here (or here) showing graphically the sort of bureaucracy that the Left are forever wishing upon us.
There is a classic example of bureaucracy at work near where I live in Brisbane. The local authority (Brisbane City Council) builds boardwalks and the like in seaside areas like Wynnum using ordinary steel bolts to hold the structures together -- completely ignoring the fact that any outdoor structure, let alone one exposed to salty air, is very prone to attack by rust. So the bolts will have rusted out in a few years and all the work will have to be re-done -- doubling the cost. The morons do not even protect the exposed steel with paint -- and something as simple and old-fashioned as using galvanized bolts in the first place is clearly way beyond their ken. Anybody in private enterprise who behaved so stupidly would not last five minutes but in the Left-controlled Brisbane City Council you can be sure that nobody will be held accountable when the structures begin to wobble.
See "When 'Mother' is a Bureaucracy," by Wendy McElroy for more on bureaucratic irresponsibility and negligence -- in this case using little babies in New York as guinea pigs.
What government is good at: "We often complain about how slow government can be. But there's a teenager in Arizona who can tell you that swift government has its downside. On February 23, the Arizona Republic printed a fascinating story about how Christian Alf set up his own after-school business rat-proofing his neighbors' houses. Two days later that same newspaper printed a follow-up: the state of Arizona had put young Mr. Alf out of business, citing him with two separate violations of state law."
There is no guarantee that capitalists will be intelligent but it is broadly true that the smarter ones will get the gravy. An amusing instance I know of in that connection is the practice in many Australian Real Estate offices of having a meeting for all staff on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Buyers who ring at that time are told that there are no salespeople available to assist them. I imagine that 90% of buyers do as I do on such occasions -- ring another agent. I can think of at least two occasions where the next agent I rang in fact sold me something. So the wankers who thought that their meeting was more important than selling anything in effect had several thousand dollars offered to them on a plate and knocked it back! Not smart. They'd do well as government employees, though.
*******************************
ELSEWHERE
What fun! A huge and very careful study of mental abilities has just come out from Johns Hopkins University under the title: "Disparities in Cognitive Functioning by Race/Ethnicity in the Baltimore Memory Study". I'll spare you the suspense and tell you for starters that blacks had much lower scores than whites across the board. As the study was primarily of memory, the tests used were not all high loaders on 'g' (general intelligence or 'IQ') so the racial difference varied a fair bit from test to test but it was always there. The amusing thing was that the racial difference persisted depite heroic attempts by the researchers to remove it. They even did some things that an Australian would call "shonky" (con-men and frauds are "shonks"). For example, they removed the effect of social class variables such as wealth on their results. In other words, the scores of poorer people were "adjusted" upward. But wealth is a product of IQ! Smarter people get richer! And this particular study was of 50-70 year old people so any effect of intelligence on wealth would have had plenty of time to show up. If the researchers had used parental status indicators only it might have been more defensible. So the fact that the racial difference emerged despite such blatant attempts to mask it is testimony to how strong the difference is.
Good news: Caltech graduate student Bill Cottrell, accused of firebombing and vandalizing sport utility vehicles, was denied bail Wednesday... Cottrell was indicted Tuesday on nine counts, including a count of using a destructive device during a violent crime, which alone carries a minimum sentence of 30 years in federal prison. See also here
Were the Bush tax cuts just for the rich? This article shows that the benefit was spread across the board.
Mel Gibson has broken the 10 commandments, the Hollywood ones that is: "Because "Passion" will be timely to re-issue theatrically at Easter for years to come, it has the potential to wind up as the biggest grossing film in movie history"
Dumb teachers? No problem! "The nation's schools, under deadline to get a top teacher in every core class, have won some wiggle room in areas where the task hasn't survived a collision with local reality. Rural teachers, science teachers and those who teach multiple subjects will get leeway in showing they are highly qualified under federal law, the Education Department said yesterday."
"Anyone who wants to understand why the media are held in such low regard by the public ... should consider the following headline from an Associated Press story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer last week: 'Accused spy is cousin of Bush staffer.' The accused person is Susan Lindauer, charged with working for Saddam's intelligence agency. ... Before she allegedly became an Iraqi agent, Miss Lindauer spent a decade in Washington working for four members of Congress, Peter DeFazio, Ron Wyden, Carol Moseley Braun and Zoe Lofgren. What do these four legislators have in common? Answer: They all have a 'D' after their names. But to The Post-Intelligencer's headline writer the salient fact about Miss Lindauer is not her 10 years of work for the Democratic Party but the amazing revelation she is a second cousin of Bush chief of staff Andrew Card."
Firm breasts are bad for women!. The do-gooders will puzzle over that one. Compulsory breast massages, perhaps?
China Hand's latest posting about one of China's new container ports says that it is world-best -- which obviously warms his Sinophilic heart. Being pretty Sinophilic myself, I am pleased to hear of it too.
Today's recipe gives a very easy way to make fettucine. There's no such thing as an "authentic" fettucine recipe but this one tastes good. You may note a certain politically incorrect instruction in it too. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
What fun! A huge and very careful study of mental abilities has just come out from Johns Hopkins University under the title: "Disparities in Cognitive Functioning by Race/Ethnicity in the Baltimore Memory Study". I'll spare you the suspense and tell you for starters that blacks had much lower scores than whites across the board. As the study was primarily of memory, the tests used were not all high loaders on 'g' (general intelligence or 'IQ') so the racial difference varied a fair bit from test to test but it was always there. The amusing thing was that the racial difference persisted depite heroic attempts by the researchers to remove it. They even did some things that an Australian would call "shonky" (con-men and frauds are "shonks"). For example, they removed the effect of social class variables such as wealth on their results. In other words, the scores of poorer people were "adjusted" upward. But wealth is a product of IQ! Smarter people get richer! And this particular study was of 50-70 year old people so any effect of intelligence on wealth would have had plenty of time to show up. If the researchers had used parental status indicators only it might have been more defensible. So the fact that the racial difference emerged despite such blatant attempts to mask it is testimony to how strong the difference is.
Good news: Caltech graduate student Bill Cottrell, accused of firebombing and vandalizing sport utility vehicles, was denied bail Wednesday... Cottrell was indicted Tuesday on nine counts, including a count of using a destructive device during a violent crime, which alone carries a minimum sentence of 30 years in federal prison. See also here
Were the Bush tax cuts just for the rich? This article shows that the benefit was spread across the board.
Mel Gibson has broken the 10 commandments, the Hollywood ones that is: "Because "Passion" will be timely to re-issue theatrically at Easter for years to come, it has the potential to wind up as the biggest grossing film in movie history"
Dumb teachers? No problem! "The nation's schools, under deadline to get a top teacher in every core class, have won some wiggle room in areas where the task hasn't survived a collision with local reality. Rural teachers, science teachers and those who teach multiple subjects will get leeway in showing they are highly qualified under federal law, the Education Department said yesterday."
"Anyone who wants to understand why the media are held in such low regard by the public ... should consider the following headline from an Associated Press story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer last week: 'Accused spy is cousin of Bush staffer.' The accused person is Susan Lindauer, charged with working for Saddam's intelligence agency. ... Before she allegedly became an Iraqi agent, Miss Lindauer spent a decade in Washington working for four members of Congress, Peter DeFazio, Ron Wyden, Carol Moseley Braun and Zoe Lofgren. What do these four legislators have in common? Answer: They all have a 'D' after their names. But to The Post-Intelligencer's headline writer the salient fact about Miss Lindauer is not her 10 years of work for the Democratic Party but the amazing revelation she is a second cousin of Bush chief of staff Andrew Card."
Firm breasts are bad for women!. The do-gooders will puzzle over that one. Compulsory breast massages, perhaps?
China Hand's latest posting about one of China's new container ports says that it is world-best -- which obviously warms his Sinophilic heart. Being pretty Sinophilic myself, I am pleased to hear of it too.
Today's recipe gives a very easy way to make fettucine. There's no such thing as an "authentic" fettucine recipe but this one tastes good. You may note a certain politically incorrect instruction in it too. See here.
********************************
The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Thursday, March 18, 2004
FREE TRADE UNDER ATTACK FROM IGNORANCE -- AS ALWAYS
Protectionism is pretty disgusting at any time but this example really smells. Efficient producers of shrimp in a poor country (Vietnam) are being subjected to huge legal costs and the threat of tariffs by inefficient American producers who produce only a small fraction of the shrimp sold anyhow. I'll bet you'll not hear a single Leftist sticking up for the poor country on this one. Leftist "caring" and concern for "the poor" is just a lie.
Unemployment: "It is a constant refrain from Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry and his lackeys these days: 'George W. Bush has the worst job creation record of any president since Herbert Hoover.' They also claim that an economy that has seen significant growth in productivity, the stock market, consumer confidence, housing starts, and overall economic strength, is a 'jobless recovery' because the Bush administration is 'shipping our jobs overseas.' Statements like these make for great campaign rhetoric, but they are far from true. In fact, the unemployment rate today is virtually the same as it was when President Bill Clinton ran for re-election in 1996 touting his strong record on the economy."
"Every political campaign seems to have some buzzword, and this year's buzzword is 'outsourcing.' Since the economic recovery has not yet reached the stage when new jobs are being created to the extent expected and hoped, the idea that American jobs are being sent overseas has political mileage, whether or not it has much economic substance."
The "exporting jobs" scam: "Politicians are notoriously economically illiterate. And even when they know what would be the right thing, we don't really expect them to do it. But we do expect financial and economic reporters and 'experts' who appear on television to have some grasp of whatever they're discussing. Thus, when these 'experts' join in the chorus of outrage over greedy corporations exporting jobs, it's easy to believe there must be something to the complaint."
"The lack of employment growth continues to be the major political/economic problem facing the country and it likely will remain that way through Election Day. Contributing to the reluctance to hire permanent employees is the rising cost of employment, especially the cost of benefits ..."
**********************************
FROM BROOKES NEWS
The Madrid bombing and the election result is a warning to the US Bush's response to America being attacked was to overthrow the Taliban, bring down the murderous Saddam and take out a good slice of al Qaeda. Spain's response was to hold a mass demonstration against terrorists and then promptly surrender.
US productivity and the jobless mystery The contrast between America's unemployment level and the growth in GDP is causing consternation.
A journalist tries to skewer Bush on incomes and inequality A reporter would have us believe that the widening income gap was caused by President Bush. In fact, the gap grew significantly under Clinton. So what we have is another left-wing attempt to rewrite history.
What determines wages? A businessman cannot pay a worker more than the amount added by the work of the employee to the value of the product i.e. what the customers are prepared to pay for the product.
Why the Clinton boom burst Rather than look to economic history and well-tried theory for guidance, commentators, and some economists too, interpreted the boom as a "new era", one that had "abolished the business cycle".
**************************************
Protectionism is pretty disgusting at any time but this example really smells. Efficient producers of shrimp in a poor country (Vietnam) are being subjected to huge legal costs and the threat of tariffs by inefficient American producers who produce only a small fraction of the shrimp sold anyhow. I'll bet you'll not hear a single Leftist sticking up for the poor country on this one. Leftist "caring" and concern for "the poor" is just a lie.
Unemployment: "It is a constant refrain from Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry and his lackeys these days: 'George W. Bush has the worst job creation record of any president since Herbert Hoover.' They also claim that an economy that has seen significant growth in productivity, the stock market, consumer confidence, housing starts, and overall economic strength, is a 'jobless recovery' because the Bush administration is 'shipping our jobs overseas.' Statements like these make for great campaign rhetoric, but they are far from true. In fact, the unemployment rate today is virtually the same as it was when President Bill Clinton ran for re-election in 1996 touting his strong record on the economy."
"Every political campaign seems to have some buzzword, and this year's buzzword is 'outsourcing.' Since the economic recovery has not yet reached the stage when new jobs are being created to the extent expected and hoped, the idea that American jobs are being sent overseas has political mileage, whether or not it has much economic substance."
The "exporting jobs" scam: "Politicians are notoriously economically illiterate. And even when they know what would be the right thing, we don't really expect them to do it. But we do expect financial and economic reporters and 'experts' who appear on television to have some grasp of whatever they're discussing. Thus, when these 'experts' join in the chorus of outrage over greedy corporations exporting jobs, it's easy to believe there must be something to the complaint."
"The lack of employment growth continues to be the major political/economic problem facing the country and it likely will remain that way through Election Day. Contributing to the reluctance to hire permanent employees is the rising cost of employment, especially the cost of benefits ..."
**********************************
FROM BROOKES NEWS
The Madrid bombing and the election result is a warning to the US Bush's response to America being attacked was to overthrow the Taliban, bring down the murderous Saddam and take out a good slice of al Qaeda. Spain's response was to hold a mass demonstration against terrorists and then promptly surrender.
US productivity and the jobless mystery The contrast between America's unemployment level and the growth in GDP is causing consternation.
A journalist tries to skewer Bush on incomes and inequality A reporter would have us believe that the widening income gap was caused by President Bush. In fact, the gap grew significantly under Clinton. So what we have is another left-wing attempt to rewrite history.
What determines wages? A businessman cannot pay a worker more than the amount added by the work of the employee to the value of the product i.e. what the customers are prepared to pay for the product.
Why the Clinton boom burst Rather than look to economic history and well-tried theory for guidance, commentators, and some economists too, interpreted the boom as a "new era", one that had "abolished the business cycle".
**************************************
ELSEWHERE
David's Medienkritik says that, while the initial reaction of Germany's left-wing media to the results of the Spanish election was one of joy and relief, a new mood seems to be building up fast: the feeling of fear. Zapatero's intention to withdraw the Spanish military from Iraq does not meet with unanimous approval of even the most ardent Bush-haters.
Bidinotto has some updates on the money-laundering scandal in the John Kerry campaign -- and on what Rudyard Kipling had to say about appeasing terrorists.
In case you have not seen it yet, here is another story about the personal arrogance of "John the Jerk" Kerry -- this time from an airforce pilot who worked for him. Kerry really "cares" (about Kerry).
A Leftist puts the workers first! How unusual: "Opposition Leader Mark Latham has backed continued clear-felling of Tasmania's old-growth forests until 2010, angering environmentalists who had hoped he would pledge to halt logging earlier."
More scare-based "science": "Antibiotic use increases breast cancer risk, according to a new study. But after scrutinizing the study, I'm leaning toward linking grant-hungry researchers and a publicity hungry medical journal with reprehensible sensationalism. ... Without a plausible biological link between antibiotic use and breast cancer, the researchers relied exclusively on statistical analysis, a potentially useful tool if the data analyzed are of reasonable quality. These study data, however, fall way short."
China Hand's recent postings reveal some interesting contrasts: Most of his students have TWO cellphones; things get CHEAPER almost daily in China but they cannot make good bread in at least his part of China.
Arlene Peck says that the Arab areas within Israel have descended into gang-ruled anarchy.
Carnival of the Vanities is up again with its usual wide range of select blogospheric reading.
Over the years I have collected a lot of recipes for food that I particularly like. Many of them are for fairly unusual dishes but some are just shortcuts. I thought I might as well share them with anyone who is interested so I have started a separarate site on which I hope gradually to post my whole collection. The site is here. The first recipe I have put up is for what should be a fairly traditional Australian meat pie but which nonetheless seems to be little heard of today: Lamb and bacon pie. Great with a tossed salad and a glass or three of good Australian red wine.
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The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
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David's Medienkritik says that, while the initial reaction of Germany's left-wing media to the results of the Spanish election was one of joy and relief, a new mood seems to be building up fast: the feeling of fear. Zapatero's intention to withdraw the Spanish military from Iraq does not meet with unanimous approval of even the most ardent Bush-haters.
Bidinotto has some updates on the money-laundering scandal in the John Kerry campaign -- and on what Rudyard Kipling had to say about appeasing terrorists.
In case you have not seen it yet, here is another story about the personal arrogance of "John the Jerk" Kerry -- this time from an airforce pilot who worked for him. Kerry really "cares" (about Kerry).
A Leftist puts the workers first! How unusual: "Opposition Leader Mark Latham has backed continued clear-felling of Tasmania's old-growth forests until 2010, angering environmentalists who had hoped he would pledge to halt logging earlier."
More scare-based "science": "Antibiotic use increases breast cancer risk, according to a new study. But after scrutinizing the study, I'm leaning toward linking grant-hungry researchers and a publicity hungry medical journal with reprehensible sensationalism. ... Without a plausible biological link between antibiotic use and breast cancer, the researchers relied exclusively on statistical analysis, a potentially useful tool if the data analyzed are of reasonable quality. These study data, however, fall way short."
China Hand's recent postings reveal some interesting contrasts: Most of his students have TWO cellphones; things get CHEAPER almost daily in China but they cannot make good bread in at least his part of China.
Arlene Peck says that the Arab areas within Israel have descended into gang-ruled anarchy.
Carnival of the Vanities is up again with its usual wide range of select blogospheric reading.
Over the years I have collected a lot of recipes for food that I particularly like. Many of them are for fairly unusual dishes but some are just shortcuts. I thought I might as well share them with anyone who is interested so I have started a separarate site on which I hope gradually to post my whole collection. The site is here. The first recipe I have put up is for what should be a fairly traditional Australian meat pie but which nonetheless seems to be little heard of today: Lamb and bacon pie. Great with a tossed salad and a glass or three of good Australian red wine.
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The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.
Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!
Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2004
LAKOFF AND HIS DEFENDER
"Strange Semantics" is an anonymous "cognitive psychologist" -- apparently a cross between a psychologist and a linguist. His views, though Leftist, are somewhat more reasoned than the usual Leftist torrent of abuse featuring words like "scary" so I thought I might make a brief reply to his post about Leftist linguist George Lakoff. He refers to my article on Lakoff and says that I have misinterpreted what Lakoff says in his book about the Left/Right divide. I may well have done that. I cannot take Lakoff seriously enough to study him in any depth. (His work seems to be a branch of that solipsistic body of Leftist thought known as "postmodernism" and, after the Sokal hoax, I think one must suspect all postmodernism of being essentially contentless -- and hence worthy of yawns only). But I was guided in my interpretation of Lakoff by Lakoff himself in his interview here. I think my article is a fair comment on Lakoff's version of Lakoff. A comment on Lakoff's theories by Bernhardt Varenius at the foot of the "Strange Semantics" post is good too: "The liberal worldview, the indulgent parent model, assumes that the world is nothing but puppy dogs and rainbows and children are born good and only become bad if their parents are conservative...." etc.
A reflection on projection: Over 30 years ago I put into the academic literature the view that the Leftists who were throwing rocks and bombs in the cause of "peace" (a common phenomenon at that time) were a prime example of what psychologists call "projection" -- seeing and hating their own faults in others. The slogan at the top of this blog asking why Leftists are always going on about "hate" ("Hate crimes" etc) also embodies that view of Leftist motivations. I suspect that our academic friend at "Strange Semantics" is another case in point. I asked him why he was clinging to anonymity and asked was he ashamed of his views. He replied: "No, I'm not ashamed of my views. I'm just wary of people on the internet". The idea that people on the internet are particularly dangerous sounds pretty paranoid to me but I will credit him with sanity and look for another reason why he holds that view. Lots of conservative bloggers with views that many would violently disagree with -- such as myself -- put their names and personal particulars on their blogs so why is this Leftist blogger so cowardly? What has he got to fear? I think the aggression against conservatives that is so often unleashed by Leftists in power (such as Stalin or modern-day campus Leftists) gives us the answer. He knows how hate- and rage-filled he and his fellow Leftists are and assumes that conservatives are at least as bad in that respect. So he fears from conservatives the sort of treatment that Leftists themselves dish out. That conservatives are generally happy and law-abiding people just does not enter into his calculations.
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"Strange Semantics" is an anonymous "cognitive psychologist" -- apparently a cross between a psychologist and a linguist. His views, though Leftist, are somewhat more reasoned than the usual Leftist torrent of abuse featuring words like "scary" so I thought I might make a brief reply to his post about Leftist linguist George Lakoff. He refers to my article on Lakoff and says that I have misinterpreted what Lakoff says in his book about the Left/Right divide. I may well have done that. I cannot take Lakoff seriously enough to study him in any depth. (His work seems to be a branch of that solipsistic body of Leftist thought known as "postmodernism" and, after the Sokal hoax, I think one must suspect all postmodernism of being essentially contentless -- and hence worthy of yawns only). But I was guided in my interpretation of Lakoff by Lakoff himself in his interview here. I think my article is a fair comment on Lakoff's version of Lakoff. A comment on Lakoff's theories by Bernhardt Varenius at the foot of the "Strange Semantics" post is good too: "The liberal worldview, the indulgent parent model, assumes that the world is nothing but puppy dogs and rainbows and children are born good and only become bad if their parents are conservative...." etc.
A reflection on projection: Over 30 years ago I put into the academic literature the view that the Leftists who were throwing rocks and bombs in the cause of "peace" (a common phenomenon at that time) were a prime example of what psychologists call "projection" -- seeing and hating their own faults in others. The slogan at the top of this blog asking why Leftists are always going on about "hate" ("Hate crimes" etc) also embodies that view of Leftist motivations. I suspect that our academic friend at "Strange Semantics" is another case in point. I asked him why he was clinging to anonymity and asked was he ashamed of his views. He replied: "No, I'm not ashamed of my views. I'm just wary of people on the internet". The idea that people on the internet are particularly dangerous sounds pretty paranoid to me but I will credit him with sanity and look for another reason why he holds that view. Lots of conservative bloggers with views that many would violently disagree with -- such as myself -- put their names and personal particulars on their blogs so why is this Leftist blogger so cowardly? What has he got to fear? I think the aggression against conservatives that is so often unleashed by Leftists in power (such as Stalin or modern-day campus Leftists) gives us the answer. He knows how hate- and rage-filled he and his fellow Leftists are and assumes that conservatives are at least as bad in that respect. So he fears from conservatives the sort of treatment that Leftists themselves dish out. That conservatives are generally happy and law-abiding people just does not enter into his calculations.
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