Sobering Thoughts |
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Comments on politics, the culture, economics, and sports by Paul Tuns.
I am editor-in-chief of "The Interim," Canada's life and family newspaper, and author of "Jean Chretien: A Legacy of Scandal" (2004) and "The Dauphin: The Truth about Justin Trudeau" (2015).
I am some combination of conservative/libertarian, standing athwart history yelling "bullshit!"
You can follow me on Twitter (@ptuns).
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Saturday, December 31, 2005
Quote of the day "If you're into partisan politics, it's easy to lose sight of the big picture -- the truly seismic shifts in culture and technology that, in the long run, underwrite human progress (or lack thereof)." -- Nick Gillespie, in the Editor's Note of the January 2006 Reason Kinsella on the Martin campaign Yesterday Warren Kinsella wrote: "My spidey sense tells me this: the bottom is NOT going to fall out of the Paul Martin Party campaign. In fact, my gut, which has generally served me well in politics, tells me the bottom has fallen out ALREADY. Yes, yes, yes, I know that's not what SES says. I know, too, that everyone is addicted to these SES daily polls like crack. I'm not. I strongly believe their key balloting question - asking folks how they will vote in their LOCAL riding, which ain't how people think during NATIONAL campaigns - distorts the ultimate result. Beer and popcorn, comparing people to animals, calling opponents unfit for office, offering no policy whatsoever, looking tired and old, bragging in the papers about a negative ad strategy, pretending to be an agent of change, lying about one's record, and - now - an RCMP criminal investigation: all add up to one thing. Arrogance. Voters despise arrogance. The best way to cure arrogance, in a voter's mind: change. Change, change, change. The bottom has fallen out. I feel it. Dithers has three weeks to turn things around. He will need the best ad air war, and the best debate performance, in the history of the planet. He won't pull it off because, at the end of the day, he's not a leader. Never has been, never will be. The second part of the campaign - the real campaign - is over before it has started. You read it here first, as they say." Analysis or wishful thinking? Hart, Burke, abortion etc... Jeffrey Hart and Richard John Neuhaus continue the discussion that begun with Hart's WSJ piece earlier this week. The lines of contention are these: "Simply to pull an abstract 'right to life' out of the Declaration of Independence is not conservative but Jacobinical. To be sure, the Roe decision was certainly an example of judicial overreach. Combined with Casey, however, it did address the reality of the American social process." In short -- and this is a bit of an over-simplication -- Hart argues that Burke would not agree with the conservative attempt to undo the abortion licence. Perhaps, but he would also have argued against using a Supreme Court decision to radically alter abortion law in 1973. Fr. Neuhaus disagrees with both propositions. It just isn't friendly, never mind correct, to call friends Jacobins. Defending authoritarianism in Russia Robert Bruce Ware is an associate professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, wrote over at inthenationalinterest.com earlier this month that NGOs in Russia deserve the restrictions placed on them. The the first sentence of his concludin paragraph offers a taste of his undemocratic screed: "For reasons that I have never understood, Russia pluralistically permits Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, and Voice of America to operate in its territory, despite their relentless criticism of the Russian government." Goodale to talk to RCMP The Globe and Mail makes a big deal of the fact that Finance Minister Ralph Goodale will meet with the RCMP to co-operate with them on the criminal investigation as to whether information about income trusts were illegally leaked. He said he has no specific message and would let the Mounties set the agenda which, of course, is how it should be: the RCMP is doing a criminal investigation, they have specific questions that need answering. If Goodale were to go in with any other attitude it would be to influence the direction of the investigation, would it not? As Monte Solberg noted several days ago, "Gee, Ralph; I would hope you would cooperate with the investigation. After all this is a CRIMINAL investigation." The Liberals should not win applause for this. It is merely respecting the law. Okay, perhaps they should win applause for this considering respecting the law is so unusual for them. Even if it did take more than a month for Goodale and his Liberal colleagues to get serious about ITscam. Political joke What's the difference between a mugger who tries to steal Pierre Pettigrew's cell phone and the Liberal government? The Liberals are successful when they try to steal. Friday, December 30, 2005
Cameron Tories do something right -- and Right The Daily Telegraph reports that as part of their wealth re-distribution goals, the British Conservatives will not tax the rich. Sadly, party chairman Francis Maude had to even say this. Quote of the day "Most conservative books are pseudo-books: ghostwritten pastiches whose primary purpose seems to be the photo of the 'author' on the cover. What a tumble! From 'The Conservative Mind' to 'Savage Nation'; from Clifton White to Dick Morris; from Willmoore Kendall and Harry Jaffa to Sean Hannity and Mark Fuhrman - all in little more than a generation's time. Whatever this is, it isn't progress." -- Andrew Ferguson, quoted by Andrew Sullivan in his year-end awards blog. Going negative I think that this Conservative ad is a good one. Greg Staples says of it: "Show the electorate that the Liberals are desperate and this is shown by the fact that they will go negative. Hopefully this type of ad can dull their impact." But let's remember one thing: complaining about your opponents going negative is, itself, going negative. Thursday, December 29, 2005
Green could be the new Red Eli Schuster has a piece on the Green Party in the Calgary Herald which concludes: "Assuming the Green Party maintains a steady supply of supply of federal cash and doesn't implode from infighting, it could become the new red Tory party." Looking back and looking forward National Review Online has symposia looking back at 2005 and making predictions for 2006. From the symposium predicting the future: Mark Steyn: "Baby Assad will not last the year as Syria's President. Iraq will recede deeper and deeper into the newspaper due to an ongoing lack of bad news." Andrew Stuttaford: "Sadly, the one prediction that we can be sure of is that 2006 will see yet more terrorist attacks from Islamic extremists. The only mystery is where, when, and how often they will strike." John Derbyshire: "The 'ground zero' site in Manhattan will look very much the same at the end of 2006 as at the beginning. New Orleans will look slightly worse." Clifford D. May, Victor Davis Hanson and Jonah Goldberg all predict that Howard Dean will not end the year as DNC chairman. Carrie Lukas: "Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will name their baby something odd." Ned Rice: "Barbara Boxer says something incredibly stupid." In the best/worst moments of 2005 are: Laura Ingraham's "best" pick: "Conservatives refusing to accept and ultimately defeating the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court." Bridget Johnson's "worst" pick: "Castro/Chavez lackey and coca farmer Evo Morales winning the Bolivian presidency. Not only are crack dealers everywhere doing a happy dance, but South America continues to melt into a pile of Marxist mush." Send the 'blackout law' to the trash heap of history Gerry Nicholls wrote in the Vancouver Sun yesterday on Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act (the section that prohibits the "premature transmission" of election results on election day), saying it belongs in the Bad Law Hall of Fame. That would be a large hall, wouldn't it? Nicholls begins his column thusly: "If they ever set up a 'Bad Law Hall of Fame,' then section 329 of the Canada Elections Act will be a charter member. Sometimes laws are bad because they are undemocratic and sometimes laws are bad because they are archaic, but section 329 manages the stunning achievement of being both undemocratic and archaic at the same time." Read the whole thing here. Political fallout of RCMP 'investigation' So the police wing of the Liberal Party to look into trustgate (but not Ralph Goodale? Great. Bob Tarantino has a good round-up of the news relating the RCMP investigating a possible leak of information from the finance department (but not the finance minister) about income trusts and concludes with this thought on the political impact: "So... odds of this having a huge impact on the campaign? Fairly low, I'd say. John Ibbitson (free access here) calls the news 'unprecedented', 'stunning', and 'catastrophic'. Perhaps - if we had a media that took seriously it's obligation to hold the government to account, and treated alleged Liberal perfidy with even a shadow of the outrage it treats alleged Conservative deceit. Alas, we aren't so lucky. And it will be difficult in the extreme to undo more than a decade of hosannahs being rained down on the Liberals - certainly just the announcement of an investigation, rather than, say, the announcement of actual charges, won't do it." Islam, religion of peace The AP reports (HT: LGF) "Nazir Ahmed appears calm and unrepentant as he recounts how he slit the throats of his three young daughters and their 25-year old stepsister to salvage his family's 'honour'." Ahmed's wife, Rehmat Bibi watched her husband slit the throats of their daughters, Bano, 8, Sumaira, 7, and Humaira, 4, and his 25-year-old stepdaughter, Muqadas. According to the AP, Ahmed said he killed Muqadas because he believed that she committed adultery (local reports say she actually fled her abusive husband) and proceeded to murder his three young daughters so they would not do the same. He said: "I thought the younger girls would do what their eldest sister had done, so they should be eliminated ... We are poor people and we have nothing else to protect but our honor." He bought the butcher's knife and machete after midday prayers. What a perverse sense of honor. Microcredit and disaster relief Pablo Halkyard raises the issue at the Private Sector Development blog. Notably, microfinance didn't do a great job (neither did NGOs) to help rebuild after the tsunami last year, in part because the lenders were themselves victims of the natural disaster. And Halkyard finishes on this positive note: at least they are learning how to respond in the future. Free market environmentalism comes to China The World Bank notes: "Two Chinese companies today signed emission reductions purchase agreements with the World Bank’s Umbrella Carbon Facility for the largest emission reductions project on record. Through the €775 million (US$930 million) contract, the two private chemical companies, Jiangsu Meilan Chemical Co. Ltd., and Changshu 3F Zhonghao New Chemicals Material Co. Ltd, in Jiangsu Province in The People’s Republic of China are expected to reduce emissions of about 19 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually." The state of the punditocracy Over at Slate, Jack Shafer offered some advice (HT: Nikolas Gvosdev) to would be pundits: "The toughest part of the job is developing the ability to reduce everything in the news to the party's latest talking points. Make sure to get yourself on your party's e-mail lists or otherwise learn the correct line. The booker will test your skills at assembling a one-sentence, easily digested sound-bite in the pre-interview. Treat the pre-interview as an audition for a part in a continuing TV drama, because it is. 'Clinton was worse on this than Bush' or its opposite is a perfectly acceptable answer to almost any question. Don't try expressing an original thought on TV or otherwise upstaging the host, or he'll never invite you back. Remember, it's his show and you're just the replaceable talent. And no matter what you do, don't answer pre-interview questions with the preface, 'It's very complicated.' TV isn't the place for complicated discussions of politics. Save your learned dissertation for that 500-word newspaper op-ed you're hoping to place in USA Today." Live blogging a blog debate Spinning Clio makes sense of the robust debate at The Corner over Jeffrey Hart's Wall Street Journal piece on American conservatism. My thoughts on the Bronx Bombers acquiring Johnny Damon Quite a number of readers have asked me what I think about the New York Yankees signing free agent centerfielder Johnny Damon to a four-year $52 million deal. Well, I hate when Boston Red Sox players make the trip 206 miles south to the Bronx and don the pinstripes. At first. But I get over it, usually about the time they are contributing to much-needed wins in August. I hated Johnny Damon but that won't last. He is a major improvement over last year's centerfielder, Bernie Williams, one of my favourite Yankees. Last year Bernie Williams hit a career low 249 as his career average fell below 300 for the first time. Furthermore, Williams was missing balls in the outfield that kids in the sandlot would have made. Damon, on the other hand, was in the top five among American League outfielders for defensive win shares (and tied for fourth overall with new team-mate Hideki Matsui for overall win shares among outfielders). He was also second in outfield putouts in the AL (Williams was 61st). Hitting-wise, he's an improvement, but not as much so. While his recent BA is impressive, it is helped by the fact that he played half of recent seasons in Fenway. His career Fenway average in about 30 points higher than his average in all other stadia, and his career OBA is about 40 points higher. He is an okay lead-off hitter but (and I can't find the numbers right now) not as good as the one they have: Derek Jeter has an OBA about 15 points higher. Ideally, Jeter should hit first, A-Rod should be dropped to third (or fourth) and Damon inserted into the number two slot. That won't happen; Damon will lead off, followed by Jeter. That's fine. If the Yankees take Steve Lombardi's line-up advice they'll can alternate a lefty-righty straight through the line-up with one switch-hitter. The down-side? They payed slightly more for a centerfielder at an age (32) when centerfielders often experience a preciptious decline in ability than he's worth. But the Yankees can afford to overpay for good players. Damon is not the ideal lead-off hitter but the Yankees are fearsome hitters in the one through six slots and above average at second base and catcher. Having a classic lead-off hitter matters less with this line-up. There are two reasons I like the pickup. 1) He is an improvement at centerfield, an important position that the Yankees were frightening at last year. 2) As David Pinto noted, "this is a positive for the Yankees, if for no other reason than the Red Sox need to find a new center fielder, in addition to trying to trade Manny." In fact, when I heard that Damon was becoming a Yankee I was happier about the Red Sox losing the "heart and soul" of their team -- a clubhouse presence that also leads the team on the field -- than I was with the Yankees picking him up. I think that the Red Sox will have serious trouble making the post-season this year -- and that, as Martha Stewart says, is a good thing. Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Scoop Jackson's British followers I'm a little late to this project -- The Henry Jackson Society - Project for Democratic Geopolitics -- but it is quite worth noting. Pretty impressive list of signatories including Gerard Baker, Michael Ancram, Oliver Kamm, Stephen Pollard, Major-General John Drewienkiewicz, Michael Gove, and David Willets to name just a few. Patrons are a who's who of American neocons. There's this from their statement of principles: "1. Believes that modern liberal democracies set an example to which the rest of the world should aspire. 2. Supports a ‘forward strategy’ to assist those countries that are not yet liberal and democratic to become so. This would involve the full spectrum of our ‘carrot’ capacities, be they diplomatic, economic, cultural or political, but also, when necessary, those ‘sticks’ of the military domain. 3. Supports the maintenance of a strong military, by the United States, the countries of the European Union and other democratic powers, armed with expeditionary capabilities with a global reach. 4. Supports the necessary furtherance of European military modernisation and integration under British leadership, preferably within NATO. 5. Stresses the importance of unity between the world’s great democracies, represented by institutions such as NATO, the European Union and the OECD, amongst many others. 6. Believes that only modern liberal democratic states are truly legitimate, and that any international organisation which admits undemocratic states on an equal basis is fundamentally flawed. 7. Gives two cheers for capitalism. There are limits to the market, which needs to serve the Democratic Community and should be reconciled to the environment. 8. Accepts that we have to set priorities and that sometimes we have to compromise, but insists that we should never lose sight of our fundamental values. This means that alliances with repressive regimes can only be temporary. It also means a strong commitment to individual and civil liberties in democratic states, even and especially when we are under attack." I'm skeptical of talk about reconciling capitalism with the environment and alligning ourselves with repressive regimes, even temporarily. But on the whole, a worthwhile project. It's sad, isn't it, that Britons supportive of both the Labour and Conservative parties would find in Henry "Scoop" Jackson a model which the Democratic Party in America that he belonged to has so soundly rejected? My IPod I know I complained about anti-social IPod users a few weeks ago but that didn't stop me from asking Santa for a video IPod for Christmas. I hoped not to use it all the time and tune out the rest of the world. I wanted one so I could watch the previous evening's news and listen to the previous day's Rush Limbaugh show on my way to work or even while there. Mrs. Tuns obliged and now the IPod goes everywhere -- in the car (where we use the an adapter to play the music we want instead of listening to a single CD or some radio station), in the airplane, hooked up to our stereo during breakfast and, of course, while at the computer. I have always enjoyed the shuffle feature on our five-disc CD player but the shuffle feature on a machine that has 3000 songs and speeches (so far) is too much. The last hour: Super Freak (Rick James), Now Do You Call That a Buddy? (Louis Armstrong), Nice and Easy (Frank Sinatra), Concerto in E Minor for Recorder, Flute, Strings and Basso (Georg Philippe Telemann), Tragedy (Bee Gees), Baby's in Black (The Beatles), Petits Machins (Miles Davis), When I'm Gray (Johnny Cash), Pur nel sonno almen talor - Canata IV (Domenico Scarlatti), Teil Il Christus, der uns selig macht (Johann Sebastian Bach), Mamma Mia (ABBA), Along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix), White Tornado (REM), Orange Blossom Special (Johnny Cash), Cubana Bop (Dizzy Gillespie), Keyboard Concerto in A Minor (Johann Sebastian Bach), Temptation (Tea Party), William Buckley on sailing the Pacific Ocean (from the CD accompanying his memior Miles Gone By). What radio station would play that combination? UPDATE: No sooner am I done writing this blog when I read this by Scott Spiegelberg at Musical Perceptions: "I now need to decide how often I want to listen to music. If I make it ubiquitous, I stop listening, which I consider a bad thing. I think it will mostly be used for jogging and long car/airplane trips, though I am listening right now as I am blogging..." David Cameron, keeper of the conservative flame? The Daily Telegraph begins its editorial on alleviating poverty in Africa thusly: "We can see why David Cameron was keen to involve Bob Geldof in his commission on global poverty. Mr Geldof has extraordinary appeal: a hero of the anti-capitalist movement, he is also a successful businessman, a Daily Telegraph reader, a Euro-sceptic and a knight." So let's get this right: David Cameron, leader of the British Tories, picks a "hero of the anti-capitalist movement" to join his commission on global poverty. What's next? Stephen Harper can get policy advice from Naomi Klein? Where's the Mercedes? and why asking that question disqualifies you as a serious journalist James Bone, the New York correspondent of the London Times, writes in Opinion Journal, about Kofi Annan's outburst against him as an unserious journalist. It all comes down to the fact that Bone has repeatedly asked where is Kojo Annan's Mercedes? Here's Bone's account: "Kofi Annan, U.N. secretary-general and Nobel peace laureate, is normally the meekest of diplomats. He is so accommodating he once described Saddam Hussein as a man "I can do business with." These days he spends a good deal of time on the phone with Syria's Bashar al-Assad. Yet he seems to have problem with me. It was with some amusement that I found myself the target of a decidedly undiplomatic tirade by the U.N. chief at a news conference last week. The usually mild Mr. Annan erupted in an ad hominem attack, calling me 'cheeky' and belittling me as an 'overgrown schoolboy.' Although I have covered the U.N. in minute detail for The Times of London since 1988, and have known Mr. Annan for almost all that time, he suggested I was not a 'serious journalist.' The cause of Mr. Annan's ire was a question I put to him about a Mercedes car that his son Kojo had imported into Ghana (and which cannot, now, be traced). The facts indicate that Kojo had bought the car in his father's name, thereby obtaining a diplomatic discount and a tax exemption totaling more than $20,000. The question about the car--to which Mr. Annan again refused to give a satisfactory answer--is part of the wider probe into his role in the U.N.'s Oil for Food scandal. Despite months of investigation, important questions about the integrity of public officials remain unanswered. If we are serious about U.N. reform--as Mr. Annan claims to be--they must be resolved. ... The Mercedes was purchased by Kojo Annan in his father's name four days before the Hotel de Crillon meeting--and about two weeks before Cotecna won the U.N. contract. The use of the U.N. chief's diplomatic status qualified the car for a $6,541 discount on the purchase price and a $14,103 tax exemption when it was imported to his native Ghana. Mr. Volcker's investigators found a memo on the computer of Mr. Annan's personal assistant asking him to authorize a letter to Mercedes. "Sir, Kojo asked me to send the attached letter re: the car he is trying to purchase under your name. The company is requesting a letter be sent from the U.N. Kojo said it could be signed by anyone from your office. May I ask Lamin to sign it?" the assistant wrote. Neither Kofi Annan, his aide Lamin Sise, nor his assistant, Wagaye Assebe, can recall what happened, and the original documents have disappeared--but somehow the Mercedes was purchased with the diplomatic discount anyway. Abdoulie Janneh, the U.N. official who arranged the tax exemption in Ghana was recently promoted to U.N. under-secretary-general, in charge of the Economic Commission for Africa. Amid the clutter of unanswered questions, one query has the virtue of simplicity: Where is the car? I have been asking this for weeks at the U.N.'s daily briefing. It was this question that triggered Kofi Annan's outburst. He clearly wants me to shut up. I'm afraid, Mr. Secretary-General, that would be the wrong thing for me to do. Every schoolboy knows that." Heffer's advice to Blair In his Daily Telegraph column, Simon Heffer proposes 10 things that British Prime Minister Tony Blair should do to fix England. The proposals range from cutting spending and fixing the NHS and state education to restoring freedom of speech and creating a "new policy on monoculturalism." All are sound proposals -- that is they are worth debating and, for the most part, acting on -- but the point is that after a decade in power Blair is not going to do any of those things. This explains Muslim silence about post-9/11 terror Stephen Schwartz at TCS Daily last week: "Muslims in the US and Great Britain are, today, far more dominated by Islamist extremism than their counterparts in various Muslim countries. In many lands where the majority follows Islam, a struggle is underway between mainstream moderates and radicals inspired by the ultra-Wahhabi preachers of Saudi Arabia, the agitators of the Muslim Brotherhood in various Arab countries, and the virulent and volatile adherents of Pakistani jihadism ... Yet the Islamic communities of the U.S. (dominated by the Saudis) and Britain (run by radical Pakistanis) suffer under a totalitarian regime of thought-control." (HT: Kathy Shaidle) Are we frogs not noticing the slow boil? Gerry Nicholls points to this great Walter Williams column in which the George Mason U. economist notes that small infringements on personal liberty often later leads to ever greater infringements. Williams uses two contemporary examples (freedom of religion and the freedom to enjoy a cigarette) and Nicholls adds his own Canadian example: "Here in Canada we will likely see the same thing with election gag laws. This law began as an attack on the right on non-political parties to participate in elections. I dread to think where it could eventually lead." I had a conversation about a week ago with a co-worker about the loss of liberty in general and how people accept every infringement until its too late to do anything and how citizens everywhere need to begin fighting back. Eventually the restrictions are so great that fighting back becomes impossible. You've been warned. I thought conservatives were supposed to be doom and gloomers Stanley Kurtz in The Corner on the Republican future: "[T]he Democrats as a whole have typed themselves as the party of weakness for the remaining lifetime of everyone now reading this post. Future terrorism will inevitably push the country to the right. Demographic pressure on the welfare state is also likely to put the Republicans in the drivers seat over the long term. So far at least, Alito looks like he'll be confirmed. If that happens, it will have set a political precedent for a genuinely conservative third nominee, likely before the end of the president's term. So while our political-cultural battles aren't going away, the dream of a long-term era of Republican dominance is very much alive." Conservatives should chill a bit What is it with conservatives (such as Stephen Taylor) joining in with the mainstream media chorus of playing the racism card on Mike Klander? Greg Staples put it best by describing the Liberal official's webstite comments as "adolescent" humour, but the feigned (or worse, real) outrage is too much. A visual representation of Olivia Chow as a chow dog is not a "racist" attack but obviously a play on her name. That is the understanding of Conservative leader Stephen Harper who said: "I don't think it helps itself by running a campaign of personal attack and slur, which is what it has been doing -- comparing political opponents to animals." But I think he misses the point, too. Klander is not running an official Liberal Party website and his blog is hardly part of the Liberal campaign. Truth be told, many conservatives have made similar comments and laughed about them at private parties and if conservative bloggers did not have the full hate-on for the Liberals -- an attitude that leads them to accept politically correct pieties if it means scoring political points against their nemisis -- they would, too. Let me commit a conservative heresy and agree with Klander on several points. He refers to Rona Ambrose as "sexy." Stephen Taylor says that is misogynistic. I think both are wrong. Ambrose isn't sexy but it's harldy misogynistic to point it out if she was. More importantly, though is the hypocrisy of Conservatives on this. The unspoken assumption of Conservatives when they put her forward as the face of the Tories is that some Canadians believe she is not hard on the eyes and she is thus a great face to put on the party. That is, there is some "sex factor" being considered by the Tories themselves. Furthermore, I can't help but believe that Rahim Jaffer and other ethnics appear on stage alongside the party leader because they are visible minorities. It is not that Ambrose and Jaffer and others are not talented but that politics is so debased that the Conservatives must be "politically correct" in their presentation of their party. So Klander has a point. Even if he stoops to adolescent jokes to make some of them. All that said, I think that Ezra Levant strikes the right tone in his earlier Shotgun post. (Cross-posted at The Shotgun) Monday, December 26, 2005
End-of-year list Biggest idiots of 2005 10. Everyone who exploited the year's natural disasters -- Con artists who pocketed the money they said they were raising for disaster relief, politicians who sought political gain in the days after Katrina or painted President George W. Bush as a racist because of his "slow response" to the Hurricane, UN officials who castigated the United States for being cheap. 9. The mainstream media -- For substituting ideological wishes for real reporting. Too many examples to cite. 8. Cindy Sheehan -- She has turned the death of her son in Iraq into an anti-Bush carnival to become the 2005 version of Michael Moore. 7. Michael Schiavo -- The wife murderer 6. John Kerry -- Insinuated that U.S. troops in Iraq are terrorists. 5. Jack Layton -- Helped prop up a corrupt government. 4. Belinda Stronach -- Helped prop up a corrupt government by joining it. 3. Paul Martin -- Incompetent and arrogant is an ugly combination. 2. The Nobel Peace Prize committee -- They gave its prize to the International Atomic Energy Agency and Mohamed ElBaradei the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes" despite the fact it is doing nothing to prevent Iran and North Korea from acquiring nuclear energy for military purposes. 1. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- Do I need to explain why the Iranian president deserves top spot? Sunday, December 25, 2005
Merry Christmas Merry Christmas to all. And as Vermont Royster wrote in 1949, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Quotidian "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.' Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.' When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.' So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." -- Luke 2: 1-20 Friday, December 23, 2005
Equality, even poverty, is a relative term The Economist tells of the plight of Enos Banks, a retiree from Kentucky, and Mbwebwe Kabamba, a surgeon in the Congo, both of whom make about $500 a month. It is full of interesting facts -- Dr. Kabama cannot afford to have air conditioning (that's only for VIPs he says), although a majority of America's "poor" have air conditioning. Likewise, as Dr. Kabama laments he only has meat twice a month, the Economist notes that poor Americans eat more meat than wealthy Americans. The article concludes with this extraordinary observation: "The point of this article is neither to mock Mr Banks nor to praise Dr Kabamba. Both have their virtues and flaws, and your correspondent cannot reliably judge which is the happier. But here are two concluding observations. First, if poor Americans were to compare their standard of living with what is normal elsewhere in the world, let alone in Congo, they would see they have little cause for discontent. Then again, were Americans not so incurably discontented with their lot, their great country would not be half as dynamic as it is." Charles may go by George The London Times reports that Prince Charles may go by George VII instead of Charles III when (pray, if) he becomes king because of his name's association with "some of the bloodiest periods in the monarchy’s history." Charles I was the only king to be executed (beheaded in 1649) and Charles II spent nearly two decades in exile. Perhaps, though Charles is hoping to avoid association with Charles II and his mistresses? Krauthammer on wiretapping The conclusion of Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer's piece today perfectly sums up my view on President George W. Bush's ordering domestic communications surveillance of al-Qaeda operatives -- and Bush's political opponents: "Contrary to the administration, I also believe that as a matter of political prudence and comity with Congress, Bush should have tried to get the law changed rather than circumvent it. This was an error of political judgment. But that does not make it a crime. And only the most brazen and reckless partisan could pretend it is anything approaching a high crime and misdemeanor." That is Bush perhaps over-stepped but not by doing the surveilleance but by not getting Congress to amend the law. But if Bush over-stepped and committed bad judgment, his opponents on the Left has over-stepped, too, calling for a punishment that is not proportionate to the lack of judgment the president demostrated. Thursday, December 22, 2005
Quotidian "The writer studies literature, not the world. He lives in the world; he cannot miss it. If he has ever bought a hamburger, or taken a commercial airplane flight, he spares his readers a report of his experience. He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, because that is what he will know." -- Annie Dillard, The Writing Life Someone remind me why we need conservative parties The Daily Telegraph interviewed Oliver Letwin -- "one of David Cameron's closest advisers" -- during which he says: "Of course, inequality matters. Of course, it should be an aim to narrow the gap between rich and poor. It is more than a matter of safety nets." And: "We do redistribute money and we should redistribute money. But we have to find ways that empower people rather than reducing them to dependency." While it is good that Letwin said that people shouldn't be reduced to dependency, he didn't offer any particular policies to reduce income inequality. Either he 1) is merely mouthing liberal platitudes about inequality or 2) he means it and hasn't figured out what to do about inequality. I have never heard a persuasive argument as to why inequality is even an issue and I can't imagine the argument why conservatives should care. But I've all but given up on conservative parties. The state of Uruguayan soccer Here's an interesting story on soccer in Uruguay from its Olympic championships in the 1920s and first World Cup in 1930 to a domestic league in which cows encroach the practice fields of the championship team and a game this year that saw a grand total attendance of eight. Private investment from Mexico might help rejuvenate the league which would be great if it helps keep some of the country's star playing at home a little longer and paid better for doing so. Judicial whims rather than the law governs Canada Kate McMillan sums up the meaning of the Supreme Court of Canada's swingers club 7-2 decision: "The Supreme Court Of Canada has now erased the principle of community standards in law." In yesterday's decision, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said: "Consensual conduct behind code-locked doors can hardly be supposed to jeopardize a society as vigorous and tolerant as Canadian society." Kate reminds us that several weeks ago Chief Justice McLachlin told law students at the Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) that, "The rule of law requires judges to uphold unwritten constitutional norms, even in the face of clearly enacted laws or hostile public opinion" and "There is certainly no guarantee or presumption that a given list of constitutional principles is complete, even assuming the good faith intention of the drafters to provide such a catalogue." In other words, judges can just make it up as they go. And as they did yesterday, dismiss community standards in law. The Conservatives' week so far I don't think they've been having a great week because Stephen Harper has made two unnecessary mistakes. National Citizens Coalition vice president Gerry Nicholls points to both them: 1) Conservatives turning the other cheek: The Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday that "the Conservative strategy of ignoring harsh personal attacks and refraining from making them in return while instead peppering the country with ideas, looks to be set in stone." Nicholls calls it "a dubious strategy," saying: "One of the reasons the Tories fell short in the last election was that they failed to effectively respond to Liberal attacks ads. Politics is a blood sport, and sometimes you got to fight fire with fire. Otherwise you will get burned." 2) Harper wanting to debate the Bloc in Quebec: Nicholls says that the Conservatives won't swing enough votes their way to win seats in the province, adding: "What they could do, however, is weaken the Bloc enough to allow the Liberals to win a few more seats in Quebec – maybe enough seats to keep the Grits in power." So the winner of a Stephen Harper/Gilles Duceppe debate could be, if Harper "demolishes" the Bloc leader, Paul Martin's Liberals who could maintain their Quebec seat total or even improve upon it. Why strengthen the Liberal hand? God bless John Bolton The US ambassador to the UN is a national treasure because he is incredibly, and often impolitely, honest. UPI and the Boston Globe both report that he has urged the admininstration to withhold its funding of the UN unless the international organization delivers real reform. Bolton is holding up the UN budget until he sees a commitment to fix some of what is broken and has proposed a three-month interim budget to give time for the Secretariat to begin getting the UN's house in order. The EU opposes Bolton's tactics. The Globe reports: "'As much as we agree with the reform effort, we do not support the tactic of using the budget as a weapon,' said one EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations. 'Management reform is a long-term thing. You won't get it done in a couple of months. We have to have a UN that is operational in order to get the reform done'." Bolton responds: if you don't force the UN to do it now, they'll put it off until the next two-year budget approval process, which is 2008. Teddy Roosevelt said speak softly and carry a big stick. Bolton isn't speaking in hushed tones and his stick certainly is getting the attention of the UN: American dues account for 22% of the organization's budget. Furthermore, he is ruffling feathers by challenging diplomats from other country's for their failure to confront the evil of terrorism and those that support it. Says Bolton spokesman Richard Grenell, "We are not going to play the etiquette game. [We are here] to advance the US foreign policy at the UN." Thankfully. Libertarian students rejoice Even as a conservative I am heartened by the news of the creation of the first libertarian newspaper at an American university -- the Pennsylvania Independent. (HT: Oxblog) Some of the stories are not very well written but I especially enjoyed this article about how university regulations are killing the frat party. Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Quotidian "His indignation began to take a more personal shape when the speaker, branching off from the main subject of Socialism, began to touch on temperance. There was no particularly reason why Mr. Waller should have introduced the subject of temperance, except that he happened to be an enthusiast. He linked it on to his remarks on Socialism by attributing the lethargy of the masses to their fondness for alcohol; and the crowd, which had been inclined rather to pat itself on the back during the assaults on Rank and Property, finding itself assailed in its turn, resented it. They were there to listen to speakers telling them that they were the finest fellows on earth, not pointing out their little failings to them." -- P.G. Wodehouse, Psmith in the City Japan depopulating The AP reports that for the first time, Japan is depopulating with 10,000 more deaths than births. The decline occurred one year earlier than projections predicted. Meme of Four Terry Teachout's Meme of Four looked fun. Here is mine off the top of my head. (It's pathetic when you tag yourself but I absolutely love lists.) Four jobs you've had in your life: bread delivery boy, mini golf and arcade attendant, working with the developmentally handicapped, editing The Interim Four movies you could watch over and over: Godfather I, Godfather II, Goldfinger, Planet of the Apes Four places you've lived: Woodstock, Kitchener, Waterloo (technically a different city), Toronto Four TV shows you love to watch: Oz, Homicide, The Simpsons, Dallas Four places you've been on vacation: New York, Boston, Las Vegas, Europe Four websites you visit daily: Just four? Here's the first four I check out daily: New York Sun, National Review, TSC Daily, the World Bank and its Private Sector Development Blog. Four of your favorite foods: pizza (even when it's bad, it's good), medium well barbecued steak, my dad's spaghetti, my aunt's croquettes Four places you'd rather be: New York City, wherever there is an orchestra playing Handel's Messiah, any place warm, in bed I'm going to tag Greg Staples, Publius at GCH, Russ Kuykendall, Bob Tarantino Rare case of tribunal sanity The Daily Telegraph reports that a 25-year-old British Muslim lost his employment tribunal complaint against his employer after claiming Direct Line Insurance discriminated against him (and other Muslims and teetotalers) because it offered wine as a performance incentive. He sought damages for "hurt feelings." The paper reports that another Muslim who worked for the insurance company "exchanged his wine for gift vouchers." Big Brother is watching In a crime-fighting effort in Great Britain, surveillance cameras will keep track of every car as it drives around the island and keep the records for two years. The Independent reports: "By next March a central database installed alongside the Police National Computer in Hendon, north London, will store the details of 35 million number-plate "reads" per day. These will include time, date and precise location, with camera sites monitored by global positioning satellites." The program is not even up and running and there are already plans to vastly expand it. I wonder if Brits feel any safer. Holding experts accountable Louis Menard's review Philip Tetlock’s new book, Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? in a recent New Yorker (HT: John Derbyshire). Menard says: "[P]eople who make prediction their business—people who appear as experts on television, get quoted in newspaper articles, advise governments and businesses, and participate in punditry roundtables—are no better than the rest of us. When they’re wrong, they’re rarely held accountable, and they rarely admit it, either. They insist that they were just off on timing, or blindsided by an improbable event, or almost right, or wrong for the right reasons. They have the same repertoire of self-justifications that everyone has, and are no more inclined than anyone else to revise their beliefs about the way the world works, or ought to work, just because they made a mistake." This reminds me of what Allan Gregg said on the night of the June 2004 election when asked by Peter Mansbridge about why the polls were wrong. Gregg said, in essence, that the polls were not wrong because they were right at the time they were conducted. Well, well, isn't that nice. The pollsters and other experts not only never admit they are wrong but essentially (with pollsters at least) say that they cannot be proved wrong. Nice work if you can get it. UN redundancy watch The United Nations reports on the creation of the Peacebuilding Commission: "In an historic action that brings to fruition a central reform proposed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the 2005 World Summit, the Security Council and the General Assembly today acted in concert to establish a new body that aims to prevent countries emerging from conflict from falling back into chaos." Isn't that what the UN is already supposed to do? Whatever helps you sleep at night CubaNet reported yesterday: "HAVANA, December 20 (Amarilis C. Rey, Cuba-Verdad / www.cubanet.org) - State security agents arrested rafter Amaury Hernández Frómeta, 33, when he was returned to Cuba after being picked up by an American oil tanker at sea. Hernández Frómeta said he refused a request by an agent named Pedro to accompany him to the police station for an "interview" unless he produced an official citation. The agent then returned with two policemen who forcibly removed Hernández Frómeta. Hernández Frómeta had been taken to Venezuela on the oil tanker that picked him up. From there he was returned to Cuba. Under an agreement with the United States, Cuba is forbidden to retaliate against rafters returned by the U.S. Coast Guard." Read that last paragraph again. Whatever makes Americans feel better about returning those who escaped Fidel Castro's island gulag back to that prison state, I guess. Great 2005 list Steven Milloy has a list of the 10 worst moments for free enterprise including Wal-Mart lobbying for an increase in the minimum wage, the annual Business for Social Responsibility meeting and various companies capitulating to environmentalist extremists. Americans prefer to say Merry Christmas According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, as reported by CNN: "61 percent of respondents said more stores and institutions using 'Happy holidays' rather than 'Merry Christmas' is a change for the worse." 69% use Merry Christmas compared to 29% who use Happy Holidays -- a 12 point drop for the latter. Happy days are here again. Or is that merry days. Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Sundry items Ken Dryden was 15 feet from my front door when I got home a few minutes ago. A volunteer (I suppose) asked if I wanted to talk to him. With great disgust I said no, unlucked my door and went inside. That was wrong. I should have chastized him for his condescending attitude toward parents -- and a million other things -- but I wasn't in the mood. Is it just me or did the federal election campaign get very boring immediately after the debates? Want to give someone an amazing gift for Christmas (or whatever), give what my wonderful gave me last year: an electronic subscription to the New York Sun. Normally $16.25 a quarter, it has a special introductory rate of $34.95 for the year. Imagine giving a gift every weekday of the year. Imagine receiving it. For those of you who have asked what happened to the weekend list, here's the simple answer: life. Sometimes I don't have time, often I forget. I will probably resume the list this weekend with a year-end list of some sort and it appear periodically after the New Year. I'll be back tomorrow. Finishing up The Interim which goes to press Wednesday, but only if I don't get distracted by blogging. Monday, December 19, 2005
Quotidian "Democracy demands that little men should not take big ones too seriously; it dies when it is full of little men who think they are big themselves." -- C.S. Lewis, Compelling Reason Cosh's prediction This is a couple days old but here's Colby Cosh's prediction about the make-up of the House of Commons the day after January 23: Liberal: 126 Conservative: 105 Bloc Quebecois: 59 New Democrat: 18 He says that the Tories make modest (very modest) gains in Ontario, the Bloc does likewise in Quebec and says talk about a Tory bloodbath in BC is rubbish. What Iraqi election? Paul Kengor writes in TAS Online that there is a VLWC out to get George W. Bush and it often misrepresents what happens in Iraq to score points against the president. But the day after the Iraqi elections, the New York Times didn't spin the news negatively. It ignored the election, focusing instead on Bush "spying on innocent Americans" which Kengor called a "desperate gasp to knock the Iraq triumph from the front pages." The Times leads and the media herd follows: "To be sure, it is not that the legions of left-wing journalists are sheep who bah-bah in sycophancy to the Times's lead. Rather, they are like modern-day shepherds following the guidance of the Divine Star hovering above Manhattan, where the King lay to offer them political redemption." PBS's Jim Lehrer asked Bush about domestic spying and Bush lectured him that there were bigger stories that day, namely the largely incident-free vote in Iraq. So what happens when the Times ignores the Iraq election? It's like it never happened and no one notices. Who's great Bought The Who Live at the Royal Albert Hall tonight for my eldest son and immediately confiscated it. It's excellent. The highlight: Baba O'Riley performed with violinist Nigel Kennedy. Amen brother Kudlow Larry Kudlow at NRO: "Unlike a lot of economists, I’ve never truly believed that the Federal Reserve is really my friend, or a friend of financial markets and the economy. True enough, I started at the New York Fed over thirty years ago, and got a good education there. But frankly, I’d rather bet on America’s free economy, and the men and women who do the real heavy economic lifting by exercising their God-given talents to invent, produce, take risks, and work hard at their jobs, than bank on the Fed. This is provided of course that the U.S. government gets out of the way by allowing for sufficient after-tax rewards and incentives. Deregulate America, and U.S. capitalism will soar. Whether it’s monetary or fiscal, central planning is the antithesis to prosperity." Ladies in White I forgot to mention this on the weekend, a great little story by Mary Anastasia O'Grady in the Wall Street Journal on a group of Cuban women -- the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of dissidents held in Fidel Castro's jail -- defy the regime after Sunday Mass each week by dressing in white and walking ten blocks from St. Rita's Church in Havana to a local park. O'Grady says, "Their show of resistance impressed a people who were conditioned to cower. Their ranks grew. They now number about 30 on a regular basis, but on special occasions such as Mother's Day, the group can swell. Reports from the island say that as many as 100 have joined in." And surprisingly, the European Parliament honoured the women with its Sakharov Prize. Congratulations to the EP for a wise and brave and unpredictable choice. Castro would not allow the ladies to leave the island and he now joins the De Klerk government of South Africa as the only regimes to deny a recipient permission to travel to receive his or her reward. Sunday, December 18, 2005
Quotidian "Sometimes the professor with his bone becomes almost as dangerous as a dog with his bone." -- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man Mader on Martin's lie about SSM and the Charter Here is David Mader's post on Paul Martin claim that the Charter protects same-sex marriage: "Okay, maybe they do law differently in Canada, but when CTV reports on Paul Martin's attack on Stephen Harper with the assertion: Critics have said [that] same-sex marriage is upheld by the charter. I have to ask: isn't this just, well, not true? I've read the Supreme Court's advisory opinion, and as far as I can tell it specifically declines to answer that question. As I've subsequently noted, the assertion that same sex marriage is 'protected by the charter' - such that the Civil Marriage Act could not be amended - depends on the assumption that the Supreme Court will agree with the provincial high courts. But they haven't agreed yet. Now here in the state's there has been, for two hundred years, a notion that the Supreme Court gets to say what the law is. Either Canada doesn't have such a principle - and so the high court of British Columbia can bind the national legislature on the meaning of the Constitution - or these 'critics' are, how you say, wrong. Would somebody please explain to me a) whether my analysis is faulty, and b) why the Tory war room doesn't have some constitutional lawyer pointing out this very, very, very rudimentary legal state of affairs?" Might I suggest that Harper doesn't really want to engage the Liberals on this issue despite the fact that revisiting the issue of same-sex marriage has the support of the majority of Canadians. Good news just isn't interesting: journalist The Canadian Taxpayers Federation's David MacLean notes that a reporter explained to him the reason his news outlet didn't run with a story on the positive development by the city of Saskatoon in reducing employee absenteeism and thus saving taxpayers' dollars: "It's not that we don't like good news. It's just that it didn't really spark anyone's interest." Democracy spreading The King of Bhutan will step down as ruler in 2008 and two-party parliamentary elections will determine the next ruler. The move will end the absolute monarchy that has ruled the mountainous nation located between India and China since 1907. Political scuttlebutt Robert Novak reports that Donald Rumsfeld is sending signals that he intends to stay on as Defense Secretary for the next three years and that Andrew Card is trying to squash rumours that he will replace John Snow as Treasury Secretary, that the GOP will put off a decision about a full-time replacement for Tom DeLay until after the State of the Union Address, Democratic presidential hopeful Evan Bayh's centrist credentials may be under fire and former Virginia governor James Gilmore may be eyeing a run for his old job. Bandow suspended Copley News Service has suspended libertarian Doug Bandow's syndicated column and he has resigned as a senior fellow at the Cato Institute after it was revealed that lobbyist Jack Abramoff had paid for or suggested column ideas -- perhaps as many as 24 of them. Reason's Nick Gillespie and the Washington Post have stories on it. The left-wing blogs are about to have a field day. Not perfect but good enough? The London Times applauds the baby steps toward freer trade that the Doha Round has offered, including lowering agricultural export subsidies progressively through 2013, although it laments the opportunity lost in not going further. The Age reports that the agreement didn't go very far at all: "OxFam Australia chief executive Andrew Hewett said export subsidies accounted for just 3.5 per cent of the protection paid out by the EU." The deal didn't go further because EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson has effectively become, as the Globalization Institute's Alex Singleton has said in The Business, "little more than a mouthpiece for French farmers." There are other significant developments including cutting eliminating quotas and tariffs 97% of categories of goods from the world's 50 poorest nations by 2008, which is a positive step forward. For the developing world, the more free trade the better yet the anti-globalization crowd decries liberalizing trade. The Times editorial: "The flat earth opponents of globalisation like to caricature these sorts of deliberations in terms of 'rich' versus 'poor.' Free trade benefits all concerned and the poor most. If the Doha round of trade talks is completed, then hundreds of millions of the poorest on the planet will have the opportunity to sell to the world and establish markets at home. Why that possibility attracts hostile demonstrations against it is a sign of the vacuousness that characterises the anti-globalisation movement." In soccer, a mixed day for Tuns family I'm quite happy with AC Milan's 4-0 win over Messina today in Serie A action, closing the gap with Juventas. There is still a nine point spread, but Milan helped themselves by scoring four goals today which will matter if it comes down to goal differential. And who doesn't like to see four goals in a game? My eldest son was diapponited with Premier League action today as Chelsea beat his struggling Arsenal 2-0. As the London Times reports, the sale of Patrick Vieira now looks foolish. To make matters worse for Gunners fans, there is talk of Thierry Henry's sale to Barcelona next year. Fortunately, my son Patrick is also an AC Milan fan. Chretien Liberals, Martin Liberals My article on the Paul Martin Liberals being the Jean Chretien Liberals despite the former's attempt to put distance between himself and Adscam can be found here at Business Report. In short here's what I say: Paul Martin isn't really serious about getting to the bottom of the kickback scheme (aka the sponsorship scandal) or he would be calling for a wider police investigation and he'd order an audit of the Liberal Party's books (there's more than $30 million missing and unaccounted for) with the possibility of suing the LPC to recover more than just the million dollars he has ordered it to payback to Canadian taxpayers. Saturday, December 17, 2005
Quotidian "The sum of the whole matter is this, that our civilization cannot survive materially unless it is redeemed spiritually." -- Woodrow Wilson, "The Road Away from Revolution, The Messages and Papers of Woodrow Wilson Grain subsidies are chicken feed -- and that's a problem The Christian Science Monitor reports that while the European Union and the United States do not subsidize their poultry farmers, the industry does benefit from grain subsidies which ensure that they can feed their chickens cheaply. This is hurting West Africa's poultry industry. Ghana's National Association of Poultry Farmers claims that European chickens are 40% cheaper than locally raised birds -- and that's after shipping and retail mark-up costs are calculated. My guess is that the NAPF is exaggerating slightly but Ghanan farmers understandably want the restoration of tariffs that were eliminated earlier this year. Understandable but wrong. If Western liberals really cared about the plight of the poor in the developing world, they'd call for an end to agricultural market-distorting farm subsidies. It's good economics and compassionate. Harold Bloom should stick to literary criticism... ... Instead of using literature to survey American history and politics to criticize the current political situation where, he asserts, the US is on the verge of becoming a theocracy. Talk of oligarcy/plutocracy/theocracy makes him sound a little Michael Mooreish/Paul Krugmanite. It is thoroughly unpleasant fare. Times on Iraq A London Times editorial notes that for the third time in less than 12 months, Iraqis went to the polls, demanding and making change. This is an unqualified success: "It is important, though, to recognise that the story is evolving. The simplistic portrayal of Iraq as 'a disaster' is not one that could be reconciled with the reality on the ground. It has been a traumatic year, but it will end with the possibility of a peaceable, pluralist and prosperous Iraq much enhanced. Irrespective of where a person stood on the conflict at the outset, it would be bizarre, if not immoral, for progress in Iraq to be regarded as anything less than welcome." Top football books Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason lists his five favourite football books for the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal. The first one, When Pride Still Mattered, a biography of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss, is a great book that can be enjoyed even by those who are not football fans. Novak to Fox A friend sent along a link to this story about Robert Novak leaving CNN for Fox News. Novak hasn't been on air since he swore and walked off a set in August and will join Fox in January. His contract expires later this month. I don't watch much CNN but I always look forward to their year-in-review programs with Novak pontificating in his bright red sweater. But not this year. Friday, December 16, 2005
Quotidian "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." -- Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents Quote of the day Kathy Shaidle: "From the beginning, AIDS activism has been more about mainstreaming the gay 'lifestyle' than saving lives." My two cents on the non-debate Several observations/comments. 1) Paul Martin waves his hands too much. Way too much. 2) Stephen Harper's smile seemed forced. He was seems to have been advised to smile and he did. Unconvincingly. 3) When talked he about SSM, Gilles Duceppe said you can't revisit issues after they've been settled. Hmmmm. Does that apply to separation referenda? 4) I don't like the format. While it has the benefit of allowing the leaders to fully discuss their policies/make their points, there needs to be the opportunity by others to challenge them on it. 5) I can't imagine any Canadian changing or making up their mind after watching the non-debate. (Cross-posted at The Shotgun) Will anyone in the media report this? Russ Kuykendall observed this during the "non-debate" when the candidates were asked: "What's your vision of what Canada will be like in fifty years?": "... when the question came to Mr. Martin, second in the rotation, he spoke from the heart and persistently looked down to his notes in answering the question -- not once, but something like a half dozen times!" I told you so The Spectator blog reports that Nick Boles, a top aide to British Tory leader David Cameron, warned party activists not to expect a Conservative government to be a ... well, conservative government. No tax cuts. No school choice. The Speccie says: "However, the ideological right have been told in no uncertain terms: if the Cameron project works out, then you face another decade plus of political irrelevance, no money, and no influence." Champion's League Here's the draw for the second round: Chelsea v Barcelona Real Madrid v Arsenal Werder Bremen v Juventus Bayern Munich v AC Milan PSV Eindhoven v Lyons Ajax v Inter Milan Benfica v Liverpool Rangers v Villarreal My predictions: Chelsea, Real Madrid (unfortunately), Juventas, Bayern Munich (unfortunately), Lyons, Inter, Benfica, Villarreal. The Daily Telegraph has a short story. So does UEFA -- click on the links on the left-hand side for each match-up. Find that backbone, Stephen According to a Leger poll, 55% of Canadians want the issue of same-sex "marriage." The Edmonton Sun reports: "Considered a mistake by many pundits, Harper promised in the early days of the Christmas election campaign that a Conservative government would reopen the divisive debate and allow all MPs to vote freely on the issue." Listen to the people, not the pundits, and make a stand for marriage. I am convinced that they will find new Christian voters who have dropped out of electoral politics but are hungry for leaders who represent their worldview and shave non-Muslim minority voters concerned about SSM from the Liberals. But they want the issue to be front and centre not cryptically alluded to. I'd trade some urban votes for a slew of voters in rural eastern Ontario, the cities of southwestern Ontario and perhaps Atlantic Canada. American soccer Over at the Daily Standard, Wall Street Journal sports writer Stephen Barbara has an interesting piece on 1) a short history of the United States in the World Cup and 2) American soccer fans' confidence about the US in the World Cup, and 3) Old World resentment about such confidence. It is worth reading if you are interested in such things. Black flight from public schools Family News in Focus reports: "More and more black families are home-schooling their children. Many have determined that the public schools they fought so hard to get into in the 50’s and 60’s are letting them down by leaving morality out of their teaching." In total, 30,000 black children in the United States are home-schooled. There is even a National Black Home Educators Resource Association. Does the Left not want to understand Bush and Iraq? From Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus column today: "People have asked, What would victory mean in Iraq? What would constitute victory? President Bush provided an answer: 'Victory will be achieved by meeting certain objectives: when the terrorists and Saddamists can no longer threaten Iraq’s democracy, when the Iraqi security forces can protect their own people, and when Iraq is not a safe haven for terrorists to plot attacks against our country. These objectives — not timetables set by politicians in Washington — will drive our force levels in Iraq.' Got that? You may not like it — you may think it’s unconscionable — but it’s clear. And here comes Sen. Russ Feingold (D., Wis.), saying, 'The American public, the Iraqi people, and our brave troops still don’t have any clarity about the U.S. military mission in Iraq.' Oh, come off it." I am convinced that the Left, having long ago stopped listening to conservatives in general and President George W. Bush in particular because they cannot win a debate with them, just talks ... and talks and talks, with little regard for the arguments of the other side. Or for that matter, reality. Stanley Tookie Williams, martyred hero The Los Angeles Times reports that friends of Stanley Tookie Williams, convicted and executed murderer and founder of the Crips, will have a large, public funeral -- "on the scale of the funeral for Rosa Parks." He will be cremated and his ashes will be spread in South Africa, it is hoped within the presence of the family of Nelson Mandela. At NRO Jack Dunphy observes: "So, in the eyes of Barbara Becnel (and, apparently, many others), a man who murdered four helpless people during the commission of two robberies, and who is sometimes credited with founding a street gang responsible for thousands of additional murders, is deserving of no less a tribute than that given to a pioneer of the civil-rights movement. This is what passes for enlightened thinking on the fringes of the American Left, which for years has lionized such homicidal thugs as Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Yasser Arafat, and which now very noisily places Tookie Williams, like convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal before him, in this pantheon of heroes. How long will it be before someone proposes to name an elementary school after him?" Dunphy says he cannot understand how even capital punishment opponents hold up a convicted killer as a hero. How Bush is winning in the Middle East Victor Davis Hanson in NRO: "For the last three years we have seen a carbuncle swell as the old Vietnam War opposition rematerialized, with Michael Moore, the Hollywood elite, and Cindy Sheehan scaring the daylights out of the Democratic establishment that either pandered to or triangulated around their crazy rhetoric. The size of the Islamicist/Baathist insurrection caught the United States for a time off guard, as was true also of the sudden vehement slurs from our erstwhile allies in Europe, Canada, and Asia. Few anticipated that the turmoil Iraq would force the Syrians out of Lebanon, the Libyans to give up their WMDs, and the Egyptians to hold elections — and that all the killing, acrimony, and furor over these developments would begin to engulf the Middle East and threaten the old order. In the face of that growing ulcer of discontent, we quietly kept on killing terrorists, promoting elections in Iraq, pressuring Arab autocracies to democratize, and growing the economy." Just to remind ya. 'like Afghanistan before the Taliban took over' That's a Yemeni minister's description of the most failed state, Somalia, as reported by The Economist. It has no government and no central bank. Since 1991, a total of 13 attempts to form a government have failed. Illiteracy is high and disease is spreading. Militias battle amongst themselves throughout the country. Pirates have their way off the coastal regions. Jihadist groups operate within Somalia. That's why the provisional government of former warlord Abdullah Yusuf, based in Jowhar and without influence in the capital, Mogadishu, is so important. It is backed by the EU, but doesn't have the military to retake the capital or enforce the law, or the money to pay soldiers, let alone provide services. Still, there is a tentative ceasefire. The Economist reports: "If peace holds for a little longer, Mr Yusuf may start to look a little more like the real thing. Parliament might even meet, and proper elections be held in 2009. The danger is that opposing factions in Mogadishu, angry at being excluded from the government and worried that their roadblocks and other sources of revenue may be curtailed, may choose to fight it out instead. A rebel force rolled out of Mogadishu a fortnight ago towards Kismayu, a southern port. The warlords in charge of the forces say they mean to negotiate with Mr Yusuf in a neutral town, but doubters say they mean to fight." That doesn't sound promising but the West -- Canada included -- should offer financial assistance (at the minimum) to Yusuf. The downing of a helicopter 13 years ago probably spooks the US or the EU from offering military assistance but to not ensure that Yusuf has the resources to bring some semblance of stability to the region, especially considering that it could become a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists, is pure folly. Indeed, the US is skeptical of the whole project; they have little faith in Yusuf, they do not like how power if divvied up and fear that the country will continue producing jihadists. The Economist says that while Somalia's troubled neighbours (Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda) receive aid and the attention of diplomats, Somalia is ignored. That must end. Western diplomats must become involved in the process of restoring a state and developing legitimacy in the new regime. Nations must restore trade with the troubled state. And the United States must understand that the perfect can be the enemy of the good. In Somalia even a little improvement will make a big difference. Making immigrants American Robert P. George has a long post at On the Square (FT's blog) on how to make immigrants Americans. He says: "How do immigrants become Americans? Well, I’ve thought about it, and I think I have the answer. The key ingredient is gratitude. It all begins with gratitude. An immigrant’s feelings of gratitude to America for the liberty, security, and opportunity our nation affords him and his family is what leads to his appreciation of the ideals and institutions of American cultural, economic, and civic life. From this appreciation comes his belief in the goodness of American ideals and the value of the institutions by which they are effectuated. And from this belief arises his aspiration to become an American citizen together with his willingness to shoulder the responsibilities of citizenship and even to make great sacrifices for the nation, should it come to that." But: "... today not all immigrants become Americans or even want to become Americans. An ideology of multiculturalism—one that is fiercely promoted by opinion-shaping elites in many sectors of our society—has been embraced by some immigrants and will likely be embraced by many more. This is not simply a matter of hanging onto customs, traditions, and ethnic or religious identities and passing them on to the next generation. Immigrants have always done this, and it is fine and good—a source of strength for our nation. Rather, it is a matter of rejecting the idea of a primary and central political allegiance to the United States and its ideals and institutions. Often this rejection is rooted in a denial of the goodness of America and even an assertion of America’s wickedness. Sometimes it manifests itself in a view of American history as a history of nothing but racism, exploitation, chauvinism, abuse, imperialism, and other injustices. For people who view things this way, the United States is hardly an object of gratitude. On the contrary, it is the sinner, the debtor, which must abase itself before the world, make amends, and give recompense. It is not owed gratitude or allegiance; it owes. Putative victims of its oppression and their descendants are entitled to feast from its bounty with no gratitude or loyalty required in return." So: "... it is gratitude that launches immigrants on the path to becoming Americans, it is attitude that impedes and prevents immigrants from embarking on the journey. Grateful immigrants become Americans; immigrants with attitude do not." The issue has been diagnosed but there is no fix for this ailment. Well not directly. There is nothing to be done specifically to address the issue of how to make immigrants Americans. Professor George says the "attitude" comes from the culture of entitlement which corrupts not only the attitudes of immigrants but all Americans. America, says Professor George, must return to its ideals and promote them to all Americans. It is no small task to make not only immigrants but all citizens grateful to be American. What was America thinking? First Things editor Joseph Bottum wonders what America, a Jesuit publication, is doing running an ad for "Extra Virgin" -- a piece of 'art' in which an eight-and-a-half inch statue of the Virgin Mary is wrapped in a condom. As Bottum notes, "the issue appeared just in time for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception." Tacky. Tasteless. And while not typical of America, not completely surprising, either. Thursday, December 15, 2005
Quotidian "There is one metaphor of which the moderns are very fond; they are always saying, 'You can't put the clock back.' The simple and obvious answer is 'You can.' A clock, being a piece of human construction, can be restored by the human finger to any figure or hour. In the same way society, being a piece of human construction, can be reconstructed upon any plan that has ever existed." -- G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong With the World 'You're going to relegate my history to a month?' That's Morgan Freeman's thoughts on Black History Month. The actor from such films as Seven and The Shawshank Redemption tells CBS' 60 Minutes this weekend: "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." The Associated Press reports: "Black History Month has roots in historian Carter G. Woodson's Negro History Week, which he designated in 1926 as the second week in February to mark the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Woodson said he hoped the week could one day be eliminated — when black history would become fundamental to American history." That is hard to do when black history has been ghettoized. Ms. Mallick doesn't live here anymore The venomous Heather Mallick doesn't have a column at the Globe and Mail anymore. This is the AutoReply one receives in response from Ms. Mallick if you send a note to her Globe and Mail address: "From: Mallick, Heather To: ABCD EFGH Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 10:16 AM Subject: Out of Office AutoReply: Worthy commentaries for your reading pleasure (December 12) Dear Reader I quit writing my Globe columns on Dec. 1 in an ethical dispute. Yet for some reason, this email address lives on. I thank you for your letters. As for the rest of you: 1) No, I don't want a fake Rolex or even a real Rolex. 2) Good for you, inventors, but my Bought column would never have covered a red velvet strap to wrap around my garbage cans to stop the bags from slipping. This is Canada. We face the elements here. 3) If there are any Globe techies around, could you kill this email and also my access to Factiva?. I would greatly appreciate it. 4) Mail room people: Don't forward any more mail. You are free to return to sender or keep it for yourself. Warning: If the box feels like it has Chivas Regal in it, it more likely has seven bottles of Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion in new scents. Sorry! Happy holidays and New Year to all, Heather" Six reasons to read Jay Nordlinger Six great lines from today's Impromptus column by Jay Nordlinger: 1) About the Iranian president's Holocaust denial: "Many people were shocked by this. But such talk is routine in the Middle East (and elsewhere). Absolutely standard. No more remarkable than, 'Are you enjoying the weather'?" 2) On how Middle Easterners view the paper of record: "In the Muslim world, the New York Times is seen as an Israeli propaganda sheet. How’s that for misunderstanding?" 3) On the Democratic/Left position against the War on Terror: "Once upon a time, it wouldn’t have been so surprising that a liberal Democrat would support the overthrow of the Taliban and the Saddam Hussein regimes." 4) On the Left: "I hate to use the word 'liberal,' in conjunction with the Left, as I have above. But sometimes you have no choice — you just bow to the convention of your day. What word you have left for Locke, Hume, Smith, Jefferson, Hayek, and the rest of the boys, I don’t know." 5) On playwright Dario Fo writing a play about Cindy Sheehan: "One reason I like writing about Dario Fo is that I get to say 'the Nobel-winning Italian Communist clown'..." 6) On Fidel's island gulag: "Orating before students at the University of Havana the other day, Fidel Castro taunted Gov. Jeb Bush as fat. Judging from the looks of his political prisoners, Castro likes his men nice and thin." The amazing thing about Nordlinger is that today was not exceptional. Blair on trade liberalization I am not a big Tony Blair fan -- as much as he has been a close ally in the War on Terror, he has been a vandal at home attacking traditional freedoms and institutions with reckless abandon -- but he is good on free trade. Here is some of his speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet at Guildhall: "There are some who argue that the poor will lose from an ambitious liberalising round. Far better to continue to offer them preferences - an old form of welfare. In one sense they are right. In the short term they may loose from some changes to the preference system if we do not take other actions. But ultimately the preference system is not the way forward. They stand to gain far more if we are bold; if we are confident; if we are ambitious. Developing countries could gain $47 billion in increased agricultural exports. We know the current system of preferences is not helping Africa. African trade with the EU has fallen over thirty years under the Lome and Cotonou Preferences. We also do not give enough market access to larger developing countries including countries like Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa who are not LDCs. Yet the blunt reality is that it is they who will drive African economic recovery. And most of the world's poor live in India and China. They will benefit from an ambitious trade deal too." Alas, the world will not listen. Everyone talks about free trade but no one is willing to do anything about it. (HT: The Globalization Institute) A sure sign of progress in Iraq Reuters reports: "Saddam Hussein loyalists who violently opposed January elections have made an about-face as Thursday's polls near, urging fellow Sunni Arabs to vote and warning al Qaeda militants not to attack. In a move unthinkable in the bloody run-up to the last election, guerrillas in the western insurgent heartland of Anbar province say they are even prepared to protect voting stations from fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq." Incredible. (HT: Sgt. Hook) Cloning success faked The Financial Times reported yesterday that Roh Sung-il, head of the Mizmedi infertility clinic which provided the human ova for ground-breaking cloning research, admitted that he was asked by Hwang Woo-suk, the discredited Seoul National University researcher, to (in the words of the FT) "fake data to make it look like there were 11 stem cell colonies." Nine of 11 stem cell lines that the two claimed to create in a Science article earlier this year were fake and there are questions about the other two. With Hwang's veracity now in doubt, there are also questions about his claims to have cloned a cow and a dog. FT reports: "'Professor Hwang admitted to fabrication,' Dr Roh told MBC after a meeting with the scientist earlier on Thursday. Prof Hwang also confessed 'there were no embryonic stem cells' because all colonies had since died in the lab, Dr Roh reported. They had agreed to ask Science to withdraw the paper." Last month Hwang admitted to unethically acquiring human eggs in his research. Yet somehow no matter how discredited scientists such as Hwang become, the science they are doing is never questioned. A great day for Iraq Bill Roggio has a few photos including one of a massive lineup to vote. He concludes his post thusly: "Barwana, once part of Zarqawi self declared 'Islamic Republic of Iraq,' is now the scene of al-Qaeda’s greatest nightmare: Muslims exercising their constitutional right to chose their destiny." Canadian politics seems ... oh ... so inconsequential compared to the vote in Iraq. |