Der Spiegel has an interesting article on the lack of women in East Germany and how it is contributing to neo-nazism. Men seem to need women around to remain civilized. I remember in the old Kenneth Clark "Civilization" series a quote something to the effect that "civilization does not occur without women ore the femine present." Ladies, thank you for civilizing us.
It makes me wonder about LU????
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
THE BEST TOURISTS
I saaw a rating of the best and worst tourists--Americans are the second best! But oh, oh. . .those French have a problem.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
AMERICAN SECULAR FEMINISTS
It has always bothered me that the American secular feminist movement seems to ignore the plight of women living in some Islamic countries. Honor killings and stonings are reprehensible. Christian Hoff Sommers discusses this issue.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
OBAMA TIRED ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Ann Althouse has an interesting post on Obama saying he made a misstatement (10,000 people dead in the Kansas tornado) because he was tired. Obviously the comparison goes back to the Bush campaign and his schedule. The comments that follow her post reflect the divisions between left and right -- is Obama being criticized for a non-issue on the part of the right or is he being given slack that Bush is not being given?????
HOOKED ON TRIVIA
In trying to catch up with what blogs are saying I was going through Victor David Hanson's blog -- he had a post I can thoroughly identify with. The fixation of the media on Anna Nicole, Alec Baldwin, etc. There are so many more important issues to deal with. I am not sure I can blame the media or even the politicians for this--Americans do seem to be hooked on the trivial and ignoring the significant. We are reaching the 11th hour in Iraq, and so few seem to be dealing with the reality of what may lie ahead. Also note his comments on Russia and oil.
ISLAMIC APOLOGISTS
Victor David Hanson challenges the idea that terrorism is non-Islamic and that any violence is just the result of a minority of fanatics.
While Ramadan and other apologists can pontificate all they want about “true” Islam, the fact remains: There are countless and nameless others who are so convinced that Islam extols not just terrorism (see Koran 8:12 or 8:57 for an idea of where they get this notion), but suicide-attacks — that is, “martyrdom-operations,” which radicals believe lead directly to paradise — that without a second thought they happily sacrifice their own lives. Surely if they believed that their actions were, as Ramadan vociferously maintains, “anti-Islamic” sins that lead directly to hell, they would not be committing them in the first place — and all while screaming “Allah is great.”
Moreover, if terrorism and suicide bombings have no connection to Islam per se and are instead byproducts of frustration and political oppression, or, as Ramadan asserts, “European colonialism,” why are we not seeing suicide bombers in other dictatorial, oppressive, and impoverished regions of the world, many of which were also colonized by Europe? Despite the fact that the Islamic world has the lion’s share of dramatic news headlines here in the West, it is not the only region in the world suffering, both from internal and external causes.
For instance, even though practically all of sub-Saharan Africa had been colonized by Europe and is currently riddled with political corruption and oppression, when it comes to political violence and terrorism, no other sub-Saharan nation can come anywhere near to Somalia — which also happens to be the only sub-Saharan country that a) is entirely Muslim and b) has experienced a suicide attack, which, admittedly, is a new style of terror for Somalia that was ushered in only with the rise of the Islamist Sharia regime.
While Ramadan and other apologists can pontificate all they want about “true” Islam, the fact remains: There are countless and nameless others who are so convinced that Islam extols not just terrorism (see Koran 8:12 or 8:57 for an idea of where they get this notion), but suicide-attacks — that is, “martyrdom-operations,” which radicals believe lead directly to paradise — that without a second thought they happily sacrifice their own lives. Surely if they believed that their actions were, as Ramadan vociferously maintains, “anti-Islamic” sins that lead directly to hell, they would not be committing them in the first place — and all while screaming “Allah is great.”
Moreover, if terrorism and suicide bombings have no connection to Islam per se and are instead byproducts of frustration and political oppression, or, as Ramadan asserts, “European colonialism,” why are we not seeing suicide bombers in other dictatorial, oppressive, and impoverished regions of the world, many of which were also colonized by Europe? Despite the fact that the Islamic world has the lion’s share of dramatic news headlines here in the West, it is not the only region in the world suffering, both from internal and external causes.
For instance, even though practically all of sub-Saharan Africa had been colonized by Europe and is currently riddled with political corruption and oppression, when it comes to political violence and terrorism, no other sub-Saharan nation can come anywhere near to Somalia — which also happens to be the only sub-Saharan country that a) is entirely Muslim and b) has experienced a suicide attack, which, admittedly, is a new style of terror for Somalia that was ushered in only with the rise of the Islamist Sharia regime.
MORE ON WOLFOWITZ
The World Bank's role and policies are questioned here. I still have a hard time not seeing the World Bank as a place where six figure salaries are given out while the poor of the underdeveloped world need so much. It is a place for failed western bureaucrats to make big money.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
LACK OF FREE SPEECH
I am seeing more infringements on free speech by the left in higher education. I wonder what would have happened if the math professor had sent one of Buchanan's anti-war essays?
TENET AS DIRECTOR OF THE CIA
Susan Katz Keating has a brief, but solid critique of Tenet's managment of the CIA during the Clinton administration. Human intelligence (Humint) was ignored (or at the very least not developed) and as a result America moved into the 21st century heavily dependent on satellites and other technical means for US intelligence information.
We had insufficient intelligence. True, we had electronic surveillance; but we lacked the all-important human intelligence-gathering — the Humint — networks. How did Tenet know this? Because the former spy chief-turned-author — who held powerful intelligence posts for 21 years — helped oversee the gutting of programs that would have put spies on the ground in Iraq.
I think the verdict on the CIA, Tenet, and the Clinton White House has yet to be written on this issue. But I believe additional facts will begin to trickle out in the next few years.
We had insufficient intelligence. True, we had electronic surveillance; but we lacked the all-important human intelligence-gathering — the Humint — networks. How did Tenet know this? Because the former spy chief-turned-author — who held powerful intelligence posts for 21 years — helped oversee the gutting of programs that would have put spies on the ground in Iraq.
I think the verdict on the CIA, Tenet, and the Clinton White House has yet to be written on this issue. But I believe additional facts will begin to trickle out in the next few years.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
MILITARY LEADERSHIP PROFILE
Take this test to see which military leader you are most like. This is terrible--I wanted to be a Patton or Caesar and instead I am most like Wesley Clark--is he still running for President?
"DEMOGRAPHY IS DESTINY"
Michael Barone has written a very interesting article on "The Realignment of America." Native-born Americans are moving out of major cities on the coasts or Detroit. Interior cities like Dallas are growth cities.
It has become a commonplace to say that population has been flowing from the Snow Belt to the Sun Belt, from an industrially ailing East and Midwest to an economically vibrant West and South. But the actual picture of recent growth, as measured by the 2000 Census and the census estimates for 2006, is more complicated. Recently I looked at the census estimates for 50 metropolitan areas with more than one million people in 2006, where 54% of Americans live. (I cheated a bit on definitions, adding Durham to Raleigh and combining San Francisco and San Jose.) What I found is that you can separate them into four different categories, with different degrees and different sources of population growth or decline. And I found some interesting surprises.
Start with the Coastal Megalopolises: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago (on the coast of Lake Michigan), Miami, Washington and Boston. Here is a pattern you don't find in other big cities: Americans moving out and immigrants moving in, in very large numbers, with low overall population growth. Los Angeles, defined by the Census Bureau as Los Angeles and Orange Counties, had a domestic outflow of 6% of 2000 population in six years--balanced by an immigrant inflow of 6%. The numbers are the same for these eight metro areas as a whole.
The economic divide in New York and Los Angeles is starting to look like the economic divide in Mexico City and São Paulo.
It has become a commonplace to say that population has been flowing from the Snow Belt to the Sun Belt, from an industrially ailing East and Midwest to an economically vibrant West and South. But the actual picture of recent growth, as measured by the 2000 Census and the census estimates for 2006, is more complicated. Recently I looked at the census estimates for 50 metropolitan areas with more than one million people in 2006, where 54% of Americans live. (I cheated a bit on definitions, adding Durham to Raleigh and combining San Francisco and San Jose.) What I found is that you can separate them into four different categories, with different degrees and different sources of population growth or decline. And I found some interesting surprises.
Start with the Coastal Megalopolises: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago (on the coast of Lake Michigan), Miami, Washington and Boston. Here is a pattern you don't find in other big cities: Americans moving out and immigrants moving in, in very large numbers, with low overall population growth. Los Angeles, defined by the Census Bureau as Los Angeles and Orange Counties, had a domestic outflow of 6% of 2000 population in six years--balanced by an immigrant inflow of 6%. The numbers are the same for these eight metro areas as a whole.
The economic divide in New York and Los Angeles is starting to look like the economic divide in Mexico City and São Paulo.
PIG EPIDEMIC IN CHINA
Something is killing pigs in China. Since pigs can transport human viruses, this is potentially serious. The problem in the past is that Chinese government officials are not forthcoming on what is happening. With the recent dog food contamination in mind, it appears that China is sacrificing human or animal safety for profit.
But officials in Hong Kong as well as at the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization, both agencies of the United Nations, said today that they been told almost nothing about the latest pig deaths, and been given limited details about wheat gluten contamination.
But officials in Hong Kong as well as at the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization, both agencies of the United Nations, said today that they been told almost nothing about the latest pig deaths, and been given limited details about wheat gluten contamination.
Monday, May 07, 2007
UNPOPULARITY OF BUSH
I know it is fashionable to be critical of Bush, but I think a lot of his opponents are increasingly irrational in their criticism of him. 35% of Democrats believe Bush knew in advance that 9/11 would take place according to a Rasmussen poll. Another 26% are not sure!
SARKOZY'S WIN
The victory of theRight in France has been an interesting development, especially the size of Sarkozy's win with 53% of the vote. The response of the left has been rioting. Gateway Pundit links the rioting to Sarkozy's statements on France supporting the rights of women, especially in Muslim countries.
CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS
A soccer game bringing Muslim imams and Christian priests "shoulder to shoulder" on a field in Norway was cancelled Saturday because the teams could not agree on whether women priests should take part. Powerline
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