LR Blog

Florida GOP Primary results: Ron Paul "brings up the rear"

2012-02-01T03:15:00.001-08:00

TV anchor, Fox News 11:

that's a touch way to put it

Glimpses into the dark side

2012-01-30T06:53:00.000-08:00

by Clifford F. Thies

The dark side of the birthers, the truthers, the world of economic populism, and the re-writing the histories of Lincoln and the holocaust, are coming together now, with Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney, we find, is a part of the secret Mormon / Mason / Bilderberger / Rothchilds / Rockefeller conspiracy. Not only that, he's not "natural born," and possibly not even human. Link:

Politicalvelcraft.org

This can only mean one thing: Mitt Romney is emerging as the probably nominee of the Republican Party.

Beyonce: White before your eyes

2012-01-17T05:34:00.000-08:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Beyonce is stirring it up again, turning herself into a blonde bombshell on the cover of her latest album. Biracial, Beyonce's skin is a lovely "yellow" color. With hair coloring, the right color clothes, some make-up and maybe dim lights, she can look quite exotic. She has pushed the envelop of "passing" for white before, as in her L'Oreal ad. But, with her fourth album, my goodness, how does she do it?

Reminds this writer of Shania Twain's song, "Man, I feel like a woman,"

The best thing about being a woman Is the prerogative to have a little fun

Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady
Men's shirts-short skirts
Oh, oh, oh, really go wild-yeah, doin' it in style
Oh, oh, oh, get in the action-feel the attraction
Color my hair-do what I dare
Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free-yeah, to feel the way I feel
Man! I feel like a woman!

3 young Muslim women upset with how they're viewed

2012-01-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

Absolute Must See!!

From Eric Dondero:

They don't really like Osama bin Laden, but are angry at the way he was treated, and how he was killed by US Forces.

Watch as the one in the middle stumbles around but acknowledges about 1.30 in, he "was one of us..."

Ron Paul poem by Libertarian Defense Caucus leader

2011-12-31T01:48:00.001-08:00

Kevin Bjornsen

Here's my revised edition of the Ode to Ron Paul:

Ron Paul is my shepherd, I shall not think.

He maketh me to post his wisdom on the internet.

He leadeth me to the best websites.

He restoreth my cowardice.

He leadeth me in the paths of Lew Rockwell
for Rothbardism's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of America,

I will fear no liber-hawks;
for RP's staffers are with me;

Thy managers and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou prepares talking points before me in
the presence of mine enemies:

Thou anointest my head with "ideas";

My brain runneth over.

Surely your great constitution interpretations
shall follow me all the days of my life;

And I will dwell with my head in the sand
like an ostrich forever.

December 14th: A day that will live in Norway

2011-12-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

by Clifford F. Thies

December 14th marks the 100th anniversary of the expedition of Roald Amundsen of Norway to the South Pole. He and Robert Falcon Scott of Great Britain were engaged in a great race. Amundsen and his team got there five weeks earlier than Scott and his team. And, Amundsen and his team got back alive.

Amundsen was single-minded. His team had one goal, to get to the South Pole and then get back.

Scott’s team was engaged in a comprehensive scientific expedition. They collected specimens, took photographs and recorded observations.

Amundsen took a route that was tougher at the beginning, with a climb over a fairly teep glacier, but which afterword featured a relatively flat approach to the Pole.

Scott took a more gradual, but longer route.

Amundsen’s team ate most of the dogs in his team along the way, minimizing the need for carrying both human and dog rations.

Scott’s team turned the dogs into pets. But, at the end of their journey, twelve miles from base camp, worn out, running out of provisions, and hit with a fierce storm, they, too, ate dogs. Except, the concentration of vitamin A in the livers of the dogs, in combination with their desperate conditions, resulted in poisoning, contributing to their demise.

Amundsen returned home a national hero.

Year later, with the recovery of log books, diaries and artifacts, Scott became the better known explorer.

All-American girl goes Hijab-wearing Islamist

2011-11-27T10:34:00.001-08:00

From Eric Dondero:

Goofy liberal calls for greater tolerance for Muslim immigrants in the U.S. Her plan, American girls should just start wearing the Hijab to make them feel more welcome.

And, a Habitat for Humanity style worker corps to help build more Mosques?

H/t BNI

One heluva salute to our boys in uniform; recent WVU game

2011-11-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

From Cliff Thies:

Half-time show, earlier this month at West Virginia University.

Enjoy!

Finally! Barbara Mikulski identifies her one True Love

2011-11-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

From Eric Dondero:

Who would have thought? And here everyone was thinking Senator Mikulski was a spinster, or perhaps swung to the other side.

Now the truth comes out. She's had a secret crush on the suave former Senator from neighboring Virginia all these years.

The Hill reports "Who is Sen. Mikulski calling her ‘boyfriend’?":

The Maryland Democrat cried out, “Oh, there’s my boyfriend!” upon seeing former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) at a gala last week for the National Women’s History Museum.

Of course, Warner was married to Elizabeth Taylor for 4 years.

Editor's comment - Liz Taylor, Barbara Mikulski? Two birds of a feather no doubt.

On Lauren Bush

2011-11-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

From Cliff Thies:

If Lauren Bush named David Lauren ...

If fashion model Lauren Bush, daughter of the former Governor of
Florida Jeb Bush, married David Lauren, son of fashion designer Ralph
Lauren, how would her name be pronounced?

A-Lahr-en Lahr-en
B-Laur-ohn Laur-ohn
C-Lahr-en Laur-ohn
D-Laur-ohn Lahr-en

More - UK Daily Mail

I got upgraded

2011-11-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

by Clifford F. Thies

I just checked into a D.C. hotel in conjunction with an economics convention here this weekend.

They put me into a suite. I have a bedroom, a living room/dining room, and a kitchenette. It's an older room with a rather eclectic combination of furniture and accessories. The lobby area downstairs in this wing of the property is charming. But, this suite of rooms, with its mix and match decor, sorry, doesn't quite do it for me.

The last time I got upgraded was in Atlanta. Wow, was that swank. They put me among the exclusive customers, on a floor for which you need a separate key for the elevator to stop at that floor. In the lobby for the floor, they always have coffee and other beverages. And, during breakfast time, they put out a very nice spread. Same thing at midday and in the evening, except these are "light snacks." And, did I mention real china and silver service. Well, of course.

I was joking with another common person like myself who got bumped into the floor reserved for the 1%. Like couldn't you just tell the difference between people who deserve this treatment and those who don't? Not that there's anything wrong people who don't deserve this treatment. You just can't trust them with silverware. And, if somebody from the 99% were to have "free food" put in front of them, they'd probably just hang out in the foyer like it was a $8 buffet at Las Vegas. And why would you offer a decent wine to one of them when they'd actually prefer to have Mad Dog 20-20?

"Thanks for asking"

2011-11-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

From Cliff Thies:

Senator Ted Kennedy, that jolly, dim-witted alcoholic hero of the Democrats, got some notice in Carrie "Princess Leah" Fisher's memoir "Shockaholic." Fresh out of rehab, she and her date, Senator Chris Dodd, were joined by Senator Kennedy. "Do you think you'll be having sex with Chris at the end of your date?" asked Senator Kennedy, playing wing man for his drinking buddy. "No," said Carrie, "thanks for asking though."

Occupy Portland Protester goes "Penn State" on Mayor Adams

2011-11-11T04:22:00.001-08:00

Leftists turning on other Leftists

From Eric Dondero:

Accuses Democrat Mayor of having Sex with Boys. Calls him a "bitch."

"Did you have sex with a 17-year old..."

We've got a child molester running this city across the street... He talking about sexual predators, bitch, you a sexual predator."

The Mayor escaped prosecution two years ago, for an admitted affair with a 17-year old before he was elected to office.

A Libertarian send-off to Smokin' Joe, RIP

2011-11-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Muhammed Ali said he was the greatest, other than for himself. Joe Frazier, Smokin' Joe, passed away shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. The World Heavyweight Champion from 1970 to 1973, and the gold medal winner in the Heavyweight division in the Tokyo Olympics of 1964, was 67. The three matches between Frazier and Ali - the first two in Madison Square Garden and the third billed as "The Thilla' in Manilla," were among the greatest boxing exhibitions of all time.

Everybody involved, from Don King, the promoter, to Howard Cosell, the announcer, became larger than life. Smokin' Joe, relentless in the attack, bobbing and weaving, taking punches, to delver his own devastating blows. Ali, the consummate counter-puncher, dancing around in the ring, avoiding or deflecting punches with his arms, while jabbing with power and accuracy. It was brutal and beautiful at the same time.

Another left-wing professor caught falsifying data

2011-11-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

"it's important to me to underline that the mistakes I made weren't for selfish reasons."

A Dutch social psychologist got busted when three of his grad students became suspicious of the data he was feeding them, and reported the matter to the Dean of the school.

The professor had, over the years, published one after another article "proving" notions with which left-wing intellectuals entertain themselves. Things like eating meat leads to violence.

Among the consequences, the university will now require that the raw data be archived for studies and be made available to others upon request. Such a practice has been rapidly becoming standard in academic research, in part because of the discovery of falsification of data in climate research.

Years ago, it might not have been practical to archive raw data. For example, in the age where data existed in the holes punched into cards, or on rolls of magnetic film, or on magnetic disks, it was costly to store, index and retrieve data. A top of the line computer of forty years ago, such as an IBM 360 or a Digital minicomputer
ranged in cost from a year's salary upward, required a special, environmentally-controlled room, and had less computing power than today's hand-held devices.

But today, massive data sets can be easily stored. Academic journals should require that the data be provided as a condition for publication, and it should be expected that researches should themselves maintain their data files for a reasonable period of time.

Oh, and this line of left-wing professors that I wasn't selfish, I did it for the common good, it simply repulsive. The basis for science is inquiry, to question. To claim to pre-know the answer is dogmatic and anti-science. It believe that you pre-know the answer is the very pinnacle of selfishness.

Source: UKTelegraph

Herman Cain a "strong, conservative black man"?

2011-10-31T17:40:00.000-07:00

From Clifford F. Thies:

The omnipresent Ann Coulter has come to the defense of Herman Cain. "Liberals," she says, "are terrified of strong, conservative black men."

This may be a true statement, but what about "strong, conservative white men," "strong conservative yellow men," and "strong conservative Hispanic men regardless of race"?

What does color or national origin have to do with it? (Or, for that matter, maleness, if Ann meant by "men" adult persons who are male, as opposed to meaning adult persons of either gender.)

Consider the following statement by a reliably left-wing commentator on CNN, in defense of Michelle Obama: "No, I think what you have is you've got some weak men on the conservative side who, frankly, don't like strong women."

Conservatives don't like strong women like ... Sarah Palin? Or, Michelle Bachman? Or, Nikki Haley? Or, Susana Martinez?

Back in the day when I was in college, I was on the intercollegiate debate team at St. John's. In the regional championship tournament, my team met a team from Braindeis. One of the two members of the opposing team was blind. I noticed this when he got up to speak and was reading the notes he had been taking during my speech, on 3 by 5 inch cards, on his braille typewriter. I thought, my goodness, we don't want to look like bullies debating this team being as one of them is blind.

Then it occurred to me, his team was kicking my team in the ass, and him in particular. There he was, reading his note cards two lines at a time, a finger on one card sliding left and a finger on the other card sliding right, while he was arguing points.

It was then that I learned to hate strong, blind men.

Of course, I would have loved the guy if he was on my team.

Isn't that what's going on with "strong black conservative men" and "strong women" like Michelle Obama? It's who's on your team and who's on the other team.

Madonna a complete ass?

2011-10-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

From Eric Dondero:

Madonna's brother Anthony Ciccone is homeless and "living under a bridge" in Traverse City, Michigan, according to the Daily Beast.

He was recently interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter:

“You think I haven’t answered this kind of question a bazillion times—why my sister is a multibazillionaire, and I’m homeless on the street?”

Oddly reminiscint of Obama's brother living in a hut in Kenya on $20 a year?

1984 was not like '1984'

2011-10-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011, a man of the mind of epic proportion. The value he created is many times his own personal net worth, estimated at $6 billion. Possibly $1 trillion and possibly even more than that. All of which stays with us, for us to build upon, even though he is no longer with us.

At the time of his breakthrough in personal computers, with the desktop Apple II, the world was nowhere near as free or as rich as it now is. The specter of communism and the economic malaise into which this country fell left us with diminished expectations. We usually think of the political leaders that turned all that around, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, Lech Walesa, the Velvet Revolution in Prague, the Singing Revolution in Riga, Yelstin and the patriots of Russia on the tank in Moscow, and the protests at Tiananmen Square. But we should should not forget the roles played by the business sector and by the popular culture. Especially those of us who are engaged in politics not because it is our life, but so we can be free to live our lives. We should remember the businessmen, scientists, artists and other creative geniuses that have so enriched us.

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford University Commencement Address.

If Sharia is okay, what about Halakha?

2011-09-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

In the United States, the government is supposed to both protect the exercise of religion and oppose the establishment of religion. While there are differences of opinion regarding how to do both simultaneously, religious law as such is not followed. However, there are those who today say Sharia should be recognized.

It is not unusual for governments to recognize religious law. For example, in Israel and in several Arab nations, religious law is recognized. In Israel, to get married, you have to follow religious law. If you and your partner are, for example, are Eastern Orthodox Christians, their rules govern. Ditto Maronite Christian. Indeed, there are a total of nine Christian traditions recognized by the state of Israel, as are (orthodox) Judaism, Islam and Druze. The set-up wasn't devised by Israel. Rather, it was inherited from the Ottoman Empire.

Problems abound with inter-religious marriages, which usually are resolved either by one of the parties converting to the religion of the other, or by the parties going overseas to be married (often, to Cypress). These marriages are usually recognized by the state of Israel, and are known as civil marriages.

With regard to Jews, some special rules should be mentioned: Only orthodox Judaism is recognized and all marriages between Jews are governed by orthodox Jewish law or halakha. Anybody born of a Jewish mother is, by birth, a Jew and cannot convert to another religion. Furthermore, children born of Jewish women who are not married by halakha (including civil marriages) are considered to be mamzers, a kind of illegitimacy, and restricted as to their rights to marry.

There was a time when the system of state recognition of several religious laws was considered tolerant. It allowed people of different religious traditions to live amongst each other, and engage in trade and other relations, and perhaps even to convert or cross-over from one tradition to another. With such systems, Jews lived in many places in Europe and the Middle East for many years prior to the Holocaust in Europe and the expulsions of Jews that occurred in many Arab nations following the formation of the state of Israel.

But, we, in America, took another step in the evolution of freedom: that the state would neither establish any single religion or any multiplicity of religions. Rather, the state's relation to us as citizens was to be direct and irrespective of religion. Recognizing sharia or, for that matter, halakha, would be a step backward. There should be no conditioning of our rights as citizens according to religious traditions.

Image from our friends at Gates of Vienna blog

Missing moon rock found amongst Bill Clinton's papers

2011-09-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

From Cliff Thies:

Somehow this doesn't surprise me.

Did they check the silverware at the White House after that white trash from Arkansas left?

From Fox News:

For years, Arkansas historians have searched for a valuable lunar rock from the Apollo 17 mission, one of the moon rocks NASA presented to each state in the 1970s.

While other states also continue to dig for the rocks that came to be known as the Goodwill Moon Rocks, the mystery in Arkansas was solved Wednesday -- sort of -- when an archivist discovered it in former President Bill Clinton's gubernatorial papers.

Still up in the air is how the moon rock got there.

Bobby Roberts, director of the Central Arkansas Library System, told Reuters the archivist opened a box previously archived as "Arkansas flag plaque." The tiny flag was also sent to space, Roberts said. The rock was inside.

Dolphin murderers discovered off California Coast

2011-09-17T21:11:00.000-07:00

From Cliff Thies:

Porpicide ... that's what they call it when the dolphins start killing the porpoises, and there's a killing spree going on just now, off the coast of California. Marine biologists can't explain it. In the dying words of one porpoise who washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay area, eke-eke, eke-eke-eke, which is, you know, porpoise for "can't we all just get along."

From SFGate:

The harbor porpoise that washed ashore last month at San Francisco's Fort Funston was clearly a victim of foul play.

It had two badly broken jawbones, fractured ribs on both sides and a broken scapula, evidence of a sadistic attack. Worst of all, the female porpoise, which had been seen twice before and identified by researchers in Monterey Bay, was lactating when she was killed, according to marine biologists.

It was a clear case of what scientists are calling "porpicide," the deliberate slaying of a harbor porpoise by a surprising and, to most people, unlikely culprit.

"We suspect that it was a bottlenose dolphin," said Bill Keener, a harbor porpoise researcher for the Bay Area chapter of the American Cetacean Society

Photo credit - UKGuardian

Cartoon Mascots have taken over Japan

2011-09-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Remember the Pokemon craze? Those trading cards and miniature figures that were ubiquitous during the 1990s? Well, mascots have completely taken over the Japanese government. There's Rakkaseigi-kun (Justice Boy) a top-hatted flying peanut with a magnifying glass,who is the mascot of the Chiba Prosecutors Office, and Dempa-Kun (Radio Wave Boy) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as well as hundreds, if not thousands of others, each one cuter than the others, every one of the smiling, even Tappy, the Happy Tax Dog, Uran-chan, a purple pixie with her glowing wand, representing the Nuclear Power Marketing Association, and Kashikashika, the Transparency Deer, of the Kyoto Bar Association.

Well, according to Colin Jones of the Doshisha Law School in Kyoto, writing in Japan Times, these mascots are symbols of the nanny state, where everybody is treated like a child. So, the next time you see the black-uniformed SWAT police making a dynamic entry into your house or place of business, take a look at the shoulder patches. If your see a goofy-looking cartoon character smiling and saying "We're from the government and we're here to help you," you know that our country utterly doomed.

PS Tappy, if you haven't figured it out, is supposed to represent Tax + Happy. Like, right.

Interactive map of food riots

2011-08-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

From Cliff Thies:

Another indispensable tool for the coming tribulation: an interactive map of food riots in the world. With the whole world falling apart, with revolutions, inflation breaking out, shortages of basic necessities, governments being downgraded, global warming,natural disasters, space aliens and zombies, the one thing you don't need is to go someplace where there are food riots.

BusinessInsider.com -- MAP OF THE DAY: Food Inflation Riots Around The World

DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YOU: Where is your stash of survival food?

The Rhetoric of Shake

2011-08-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Sarah did it!

You'd think she would have learned her lesson; but, no, now we have to have this! A 5.9 earthquake.

Almost non-stop since she was named by John McCain to be his running mate in 2008, Sarah Palin was been campaigning to "shake up Washington." Here is audio of Rudy Giuliani saying that she is going to "shake up Washington." Those exact same words.

And here is a website by Rand Paul, who along with other racist,
homophobic reactionaries of the Tea Party was elected to the U.S.
Congress in 2010. It actually boasts that Sarah Palin is endorsing him
in order to "shake up Washington." Yes, those exact words are used
without even an attempt to deny or cover-up her intentions.

Oh, and before we move on, did you notice the location of this website? Frankfort, Kentucky. Isn't Frankfort a city in Germany where, not so long, the extreme right-wing got control of government and did what? Attempt to exterminate ethnic minorities and start a world war.

And even this year, Palin and her minions continue with the rhetoric of "shake," only now, they're no longer happy with just shaking up Washington, they want to shake up the Republican Party!

Only Republicans can continually engage in the rhetoric of shake and be oblivious that some day, some where, some body or even some primal force will act on that rhetoric. Then, as always, they will claim to be ignorant of the influence of shake-words on the behavior of others.

One example of Westerners helping to stop the utter cruelty of Islamist culture

2011-08-20T10:19:00.001-07:00

"Wylie had become a symbol of Kandahar"

by Eric Dondero

Disgusting. Revolting. What the Islamist culture does to our canine companions is directly anti-thetical to American culture and values, and everything that we stand for here in Western society.

And Ron Paulists, paleos, the antiwar wing of the libertarian movement, and other weak of foreign policy advocates could care less. Their non-interventionist policies have no regard for human rights, let alone protecting man's best friend against the ravages of Islamic culture.

Conservative radio talk show host and diehard dog lover Marc Levin read this story in full on air this week. It is the story of a remarkable dog named "Wylie," who was brutalized by Islamists in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan. The repeatedly hit him with wooden boards to get him to fight against another dog.

Excerpted from TheAustralian.com (photo credit), "Wylie the Afghan mutt shows how every dog will have its day" Aug. 15:

IN Afghanistan's 10-year war, where acts of cruelty are commonplace and so many thousands have died, the account of one dog's extraordinary survival is an oddly affecting tale.

In her 10-month tour, the 37-year-old [Australian Federal Police officer Narelle Jensz] has treated countless dogs and successfully adopted 15 Afghan strays out to returned coalition soldiers across the world, many of whom have testified to the rehumanising impact of their animal companions...

But Wylie's injuries were so bad Jensz judged him unlikely to last the night.

Two weeks later Jensz received another call. Local dog fighters had cut off Wylie's ears and had scalped him in the process, before using the same homemade knife to cut his muzzle wide open from his nose to under his eye. He was patched up again by Jensz and a team of Australian Defence Force doctors only to return from his perilous forays outside the base with new injuries -- a stab wound to the chest and a savagely docked tail.

Then, horrifically, one day he limped back to the camp after Kandahar locals -- many of whom despise dogs only marginally less than they do coalition soldiers -- had tried to sever his penis.

Three times Jensz and ADF doctors had to restitch the wound.

"Once we stitched for 90 minutes without anaesthetic," she said. "I can't fathom how much pain he must have been in but he just lay there motionless, looking up at us. He didn't bite or growl once."

Wylie has recovered, and is heading to Australia for a hoped for long life on a dog protection farm, thanks to these advocates of Western cultural values from Australia, and the helpful Troops from the United States.

I read the story of Wylie at a California Starbucks preparing LR for the morning. As a dog owner, (Keesha) I was literally brought to tears. If you are a reader of Libertarian Republican I impore you to send this link to any friends or political associates you know in the non-interventionist/Ron Paul camp and ask them straight out - what the fuck?

Read more about American Troops "smuggling" Afghani dogs onto Military bases to save them from Islamist cruelty at Dogfiles.com. Photo of one Afhanistan-based American soldier with his adopted dog.

Uniting the races, one cookie at a time

2011-08-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

by Turtle MacBride

Oreo has introduced the triple-double: three layers of cookie wafer with vanilla between one set of the cookies and chocolate between the other set.

Comments range from "symbolic of uniting the races," to "another contribution to obesity, women and minorities most at risk."

Senate Democrats are said to be preparing to tax the cookie, in order to lower the rate of increase in the federal deficit. While President Obama's advisors have said, off the record, first we have the millionaires and the billionaires, then the corporate jets, and now this.

In Texas, Rick Perry is reported as saying that any tax on free-market cookies would be treason. While in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney denies that the Mormon church has ever opposed uniting vanilla and chocolate in one cookie.

The 'Flying Squirrel' in World Junior Greco-Roman Wrestling

2011-08-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

From Cliff Thies:

Yahoo video features an insane 'Flying Squirrel' by American Ellis Coleman in the World Junior Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships at Bucharest, Romania.

Greco-Roman Wrestling is a very constrained form of wrestling. Basically, you cannot attack your opponent below the waist. So, Coleman, performing the Flying Squirrel, jumps over his opponent, an Iranian, and grabs him at the waist from behind, and then throws him out of the ring.

Coleman went on the take the Bronze medal.

Editor's comment - You're not sure what you're going to see here at WL. We aim to cover it all.

The War in Afghanistan Part 2 of 4

2011-07-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

On September 11, 2001, radical Muslims, trained and organized in Afghanistan attacked the United States of America. This was not their first attack. But, this was by far their most successful. Two of the four commercial airplanes that their operatives hijacked slammed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, touching off implosions that resulted in the utter destruction of the buildings. A third plane
slammed into the Pentagon in Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. And, the fourth, believed planned to destroy the White House, crashed into a rural area in Pennsylvania, after the passengers rose up to wrestle the plane from the terrorists.

Immediately after this, the Congress of the United States authorized the use of force against “those responsible” for the attack. In the House of Representatives, the vote was 420-1 (the one nay being from a Democrat; and, yes, Ron Paul voted aye). In the Senate, the vote was 98-0.

The President approved a bold plan developed by CIA Director George Tenet and General Tommy Franks of Central Command. The plan involved setting up a base camp in Kazakhstan and working with the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, popularly known as the Northern Alliance, which was then engaged in a civil war against the Taliban government and their allies from Al Qaeda and Pakistan. In November, the army of the Northern Alliance, joined by U.S. and British special operations personnel, met the army of the Taliban north of Kabul. The Taliban army of 25,000 included 8,000 Pakistanis.

As the Taliban army approached, it was pucker time for the fighters of the Northern Alliance. Then, an aging rock band from the U.S. known as the B-52s arrived and discharged their bombs on the Taliban army. So high were the warplanes, their bombs just seemed to come from out of nowhere. As the valley became engulfed in dust, and the Taliban army just disappeared, the fighters of the Northern Alliance roared out “Allah Akbar!”

Remnants of the Taliban army fled south, eventually to Pakistan. A provisional government was set up in Kabul. And, an area about that city was secured by a NATO force commanded at one time by Turkey and at another time by Germany. The U.S. hoped for something of a political resolution among the various tribes of the country; but, deeply-rooted tribalism combined with the religious fanaticism of the Talban made that impossible. Eventually, the mission of our involvement in that country morphed from kicking ass, at which our military is very good, to reconstructing a country that was never constructed in the first place. It is not clear that the U.S. Congress ever gave its approval to this mission creep, but it never is.

After President Obama took office, he made a review of the situation and announced a “surge” along with a timetable for withdrawal. From 30,000 at the time President Bush departed, U.S. troop strength was increased to 100,000. With other coalition partners, troop strength totaled 150,000. Taking the war to the Taliban and their allies in Pakistan, coalition fatalities rose to 500 in 2009 and 700 in 2010 and are currently running at about 500 on an annual basis. These numbers are not reported by the media. Implicitly, in announcing a drawdown of 20,000 troops though next year, the President committed a force of 80,000 for the next two years; and, the war has already passed the War in Viet Nam as the longest war in which we have been engaged.

The strategy, at this time, appears to be to continue to kill as many Taliban and Pakistani fighters as possible, and to train up an indigenous Afghanistan army capable of taking our place as we withdraw. Complicating this plan is continuing tribal jealousy, rampant political corruption, and Pakistani duplicity. Oh, and might I mention that opposing the fact of the complete dependence of the government and army in both Afghanistan and Pakistan on aid from the United States is the fact that a large segment of the population - perhaps a majority - hate us.

Photo credit - History commons

Palin and the Fertile Crescent (Bachmann's Catholic/Libertarianism Problem)

2011-07-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

by Brices Crossroads

As I have written before, the election will be decided along a large swath of states beginning with Pennsylvania in the East and extending West and North across the upper Midwest to Iowa. I dub these states the "fertile crescent" because they will award seventy electoral votes in 2012. These states,Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa are as important to Barack Obama's reelection as are Texas and Florida to the GOP candidate. Together with a handful of small Western states, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado (and perhaps New Hampshire in the East), these states represent the only true swing states in the election, assuming Florida returns to its GOP roots, a likely proposition given the 2010 GOP blowout there.

The six states of the fertile crescent should be uncharacteristically friendly to the GOP this year. Barack Obama won 43% of the white vote in 2008, the largest percentage for a Democrat non-incumbent since Jimmy Carter in 1976. However, his job approval among whites has been consistently, according to Gallup daily tracking poll, in the 37-38% range for the last year. Ominously, the Democrat share of the white vote (which is roughly 75-77% of the electorate) in the 2010 election was 37%. One might expect that Obama's prospects in the fertile crescent states, where the white vote is on average 85% would be even more imperiled. And they should be. But will it be? Well, that depends on who the GOP nominates.

The choice for conservatives seems to be narrowing to one of two--Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. I myself have grave doubts about whether Bachmann can even be nominated, and that if she emerges as the conservative alternative in Iowa, it will merely ensure the nomination of the Establishment candidate, Mitt Romney. But there are no doubt some conservatives of good will who believe she can be nominated and are supporting her based upon this belief. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that they are right and that Bachmann becomes the GOP nominee. How would Bachmann's nomination affect the GOP strategy to deny Obama reelection by denying him the fertile crescent? After all, Obama's approval numbers among white voters are abysmal and those six states have among the "whitest" electorates in the United States. Won't that translate into a Bachmann sweep? Well, not exactly.

The white voters in the fertile crescent are different from generic white voters nationally in two important ways. First, a far greater proportion of those voters are Catholic than the national average of 22%. Second, a higher proportion of the voters there are irreligious or claim no religion. The GOP voters contained within this group would be libertarians, economic conservatives and the like. They will make common cause with us against the overbearing federal leviathan, but they are wary of anyone who could be perceived as shoving a particular religious viewpoint down their throats. Reagan was the last (and really only) politician to be able to fuse the social conservatives with the economic conservatives, since both groups trusted him.

How do these dynamics affect Bachmann's prospects in these six states? Let's look at two. The first is a state without which no Democrat has won the Presidency since Harry Truman nearly 65 years ago. It is safe to say that, if Barack Obama loses this state, he will be packing his bags in January 2013. The state went deep red in 2010, electing nearly half dozen GOP Congressmen, a conservative GOP U.S. Senator and a new GOP Governor. It is a ripe GOP target in 2012 with the right candidate. The state of which I speak is the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral votes.

Pennsylvania's electorate is between 85% and 90% white, slightly higher than the average of the six states. It is however far and away the most Catholic of the six, with 53% of its population adhering to the Catholic faith. Until just six days before her Presidential announcement in June, Bachmann belonged to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, a denomination which unabashedly proclaims on its website:

``We identify the anti-Christ as the papacy. This is an historical judgment based on Scripture.’’

If Bachmann becomes the GOP nominee in 2012, the hill which the GOP must climb in the Keystone state will turn into Mount Everest. She will have a Jeremiah Wright problem, and unlike that scandal in 2008, which was ignored by the Lamestream media and John McCain alike, this one will be front and center throughout the election. And her problem with the Catholic vote has another, and different dimension, from the Jeremiah Wright episode. Wright's racist comments against white people were aimed not at a minority, but at the majority of Americans. That majority was confident enough that it could select an African American as President with no fear that there would be any racial repercussions. Catholics, on the other hand, are a minority, albeit a large one (comprising about 25% of the national electorate). The Church is embattled and under fierce attack, generally from the leftist, secular media. It has had an alliance with Evangelicals, but an uneasy one, and there is a history in other parts of the country, in the not too distant past, of discrimination against Catholics. Publicly expressed comments such as those by Bachmann's Church rip the scab off old wounds.

And Bachmann's problems in Pennsylvania do not begin or end with Catholic voters. In addition to the 53% of its electorate which is Catholic, fully 15% of the electorate there expresses no preference for any religion or is irreligious. This is typical for the states in the region and is much higher than the South, for example. These irreligious voters, the GOP leaning portion of which is likely libertarian, tend to be uncomfortable with government sponsored religious endeavors such as Marcus Bachmann's "de-gaying" clinic which receives medicaid and other government subsidies.

There is a voting demographic in Pennsylvania which is neither Catholic nor irreligious...the black vote. It comprises 10% of the population. However, it is completely beyond the reach of Michele Bachmann or any GOP candidate. I mention it only to make the point that, even at this early stage of the campaign, fully 78% of the electorate in Pennsylvania would be alienated from Bachmann or is out of reach for her completely. In the unlikely event that Michele Bachmann were the nominee, Barack Obama--who is gravely imperiled in Pennsylvania at present--could tuck its 20 electoral votes into his pocket and expend his resources on Florida and Ohio.

The other state on which I focus, Ohio, is even more crucial to GOP prospects than is Pennsylvania to the Democrats. No GOP candidate has ever won the Presidency without carrying Ohio. Its Catholic vote is large, 24%, Its irreligious demographic is, at 17%, the largest of the six states. 12% of its electorate is African American. By my calculations, then, Michele Bachmann's handicap in the "do or die" Buckeye state stands at a virtually insurmountable 53%. It is not that different in the other four states of the fertile crescent or in the western swing states or New Hampshire (where it is 64%).

And what of Sarah Palin? How would she fare along the wide expanse of the fertile crescent? Palin is herself an Evangelical but, as a former Catholic whose parents area also former Catholics, she does not frighten Catholic voters. I have heard her speak fondly of her Irish Catholic grandmother and her devotions. Like Ronald Reagan, whose father was Catholic, she has a cultural affinity for Catholics which Bachmann conspicuously lacks.

As a western governor, Palin's main raison d'etre was to get government out of the private lives of the citizenry as well as their pocketbooks. Ardently prolife, it is hard to see her embracing an enterprise like Bachmann's de-gaying clinic and even harder to see her approving government subsidies for such a caper. This is one reason among many why economic conservatives, CATO institute and Club for Growth aficionados, as well as libertarians, feel comfortable with Palin but are leery about the Bachmanns and the Huckabees.

Sarah Palin is lone candidate who, as the GOP nominee, can reassemble and energize, the old Reagan coalition of social conservatives---evangelical Christians and culturally conservative Catholics--and fuse it with the more secular, libertarian and economic conservatives. Bachmann's improbable nomination would fracture it, driving a wedge between Catholics and evangelicals, shearing off the libertarians from the economic wing of the coalition and giving Obama another four year lease on power.

The conclusion is inescapable. Michele Bachmann's improbable nomination would at a stroke alienate two huge and vital demographics--Catholics and libertarians--and would generate an electoral bloodbath and down ballot catastrophe of epic proportions. For this reasons among many others (executive experience being one) she will not be the nominee. The GOP may be the stupid party. It is not the suicide party.

A Bridge to Somewhere: Duetche Bahn and China Rail's "Land Bridge"

2011-07-11T06:42:00.001-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Duetche Bahn and China Rail, in cooperation with counterparts in Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland, have initiated a new transcontinental containerized freight rail service. The service involves rail transport from China (containers on standard gauge railroad cars) to Kazakhstan (with transfer of the containers to Russian broad gauge cars) through Russia and Belarus to Poland (with re-transfer of the containers to standard gauge cars) and then, finally, to Germany. Even with the transfers of the containers and with customs at the border crossings, the entire trip looks to take about two weeks and compares favorably to ocean transport for high value manufactured goods. The event marks yet another step in the continuing development of the now global market.

Here in the United States, it is easy to take our transportation infrastructure for granted. Six great rail systems dominate the continent, complemented by dozens of short lines. This networkese emerged from the many companies that were formed during the 19th and early 20th centuries and then were frozen into place by federal controls over the industry, after railroading was deregulated in 1980. The process has involved dozens of mergers and spin-offs.

The development of the railroad network prior to its regulation was mostly characterized by the “piece meal” system. That is, each relatively small segment of the network was put into place based on the profit opportunity that segment offered at the time, with little regard for the big picture. Among the consequences of the piece-meal system was that different roads adopted different gauges (or, widths between the rails). In many cases, adoption of a particular gauge followed a careful engineering study to determine what would the best. As to why such studies came to so many different conclusions, I (an economist) have no idea. Maybe, vanity. In some cases, it appears that parochial interests were at work, so as to prevent “foreign” companies invading “invading.” Thus, there was Ohio gauge and there was Southern gauge, in order to prevent the railroads from the northeast from entering the territories of the railroads of the west and of the south. In the case of Russia, back in the days of the Czar, the decision to adopt a broad gauge may actually have been to make a literal invasion more difficult.

The cost involved in transshipment due to what is called “break-of-gauge” is very high. Yes, the cost involves the unloading and reloading of freight and passengers. But, more than that, it requires the coordination of two sets of locomotives and rail cars. As the volume of inter-regional traffic grew during the 19th century, the saving of time and expense in transshipments due to break-of-gauge overcame the thorny problem of who is supposed to adopt the gauge of whom. By the late 19th century, the railroad network was much larger in the north and west, where standard gauge ruled, than it was in the south. Therefore, it was clearly cheaper for the railroads of the south to shift to standard gauge. Accordingly, in 1884, at a meeting of the Presidents of the major railroad companies of the country, it was decided that the railroads of the south should shift to Southern gauge. Companies that, off and on, engaged in rate wars and such also cooperated in matters such as jointly-operated facilities, railroad safety and the interchange of traffic and equipment, as these things were in their mutual interest.

The greater ability of the railroad system to move freight and passengers over long distances facilitated the emergence of an integrated, continent-wide marketplace. Railroads that had originally been built to get coal or crops to market, became used by an emerging manufacturing industry both for the distribution of end-products such as automobiles as well as for the acquisition of intermediate goods such as automobile components. Serving the manufacturing industry that would emerge with an integrated, continent-wide market was not the purpose of adopting standard gauge, as that possibility was too remote to much influence the calculation of profit. But this is another aspect of the piece-meal system: The profitable investments of today make possible new profitable investments in the future.

Returning to the news item that provoked this recounting of the way in which the railroad network developed in this country, what profit oportunities might the new Eurasian rail service give rise? First, if traffic were to develop along this route, eventually Duetche Bahn and China Rail will want to forego the shifting of containers back and from standard gauge cars to broad gauge cars. In addition, they will want to ship non-containerized cargo; e.g., chemicals (which use special cars). One option would be to use variable gauge wheel-sets (which require more expensive, specialized rolling stock for this route). Another would be to use a third rail along the route allowing its use by both standard and broad gauge equipment (which would require a significant investment in the road). With increasing business within Russia and between Germany and Russia, of which the Eurasian Land Bridge is only a part, Deutche Bahn is very much interested in addressing the issue of gauge. Also a factor in how this will play out is that the Russian rail service (which remains a state enterprise) is very short of capital.

Were the rail connections between the countries of the former Soviet Union and those of China and of the west to be rationalized, it could be imagined that places that have been isolated for all of history might be brought into the emerging global economy. New opportunities for specialization and trade would develop. Over time, the transformational power of the market might re-direct these places from tribal values to the values of a liberal, democratic and capitalist society. This transformation would occur not through the sacrifice of any nation’s treasure or the lives of any nation’s soldiers. Indeed, there would be no sacrifice at all. The transformation would take place while those who are involved were simply going about the business of making money. The interests of the stockholders of Duetches Bahn may differ from our interests as residents of a planet that has become small since that start of the market revolution. Their interest is the relatively-narrow prospect of profit in a particular decision and our interest is very broad. I hope they make a lot of money.

Photo credit - RailwayInsider.eu

Dead Penguins: Does Anybody Care?

2011-07-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

by Turtle MacBride

First, it's hundreds of dead penguins in Brazil, then Chile, and now Uruguay. Hundreds, even thousands of the cute little birds washing ashore, dying, apparently of starvation. Oh, the humanity!

From TreeHugger.com:

On the Average Year, Only About 10 Dead Penguins are Found in that Area
Over just the past 10 days, around 500 dead penguins have washed up on beaches in the Sao Paolo state of Brazil. What killed the black-and-white birds is still a mystery, though the autopsy of some of the dead birds has revealed empty stomachs, meaning that starvation could be the cause of death. But if that's the case, what is the cause of the starvation?

But why should these tuxedoed birds be starving? They're all protected by treaty. Nobody can hunt them for food production or for sport or any other reason.

Well, did it ever occur to anybody that, in the absence of a natural predator, species tend to grow in their numbers until they exhaust their food supply? Then, the members of the population have to roam further and further in search of food.

No wonder a Magellan Penguin washed ashore in New Zealand, just a few days ago, in search of food.

The simple answer that penguins roam far, in search of food, because they exhaust local supplies, would be lost to those believing that the great god Gaya keeps everything always in perfect harmony and that everything bad that ever happens is because of man.

What if there was a war and nobody reported it?

2011-06-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

PART I: IRAQ

Victory achieved

by Clifford F. Thies

President Obama has thusfar been given a pass on the wars he inherited and the war or whatever you call it that he got us into in Libya. The mainstream media report no news regarding troop levels, casualties, whether we are winning or losing, or even what winning would mean in these places. In this, the first of four parts, I will describe the situation in Iraq. In follow-up installments, I will do the same for Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen.

In Iraq, the United States did not withdraw according to the 16 month timetable that candidate Obama promised. Rather, in accord with an agreement negotiated with the Iraqi government during the prior administration, U.S. forces withdrew from the cities of the country in June 2009, except that some U.S. personnel remained at joint security stations in the cities as "trainers." U.S. forces withdraw completely from the country by August 2010, except that up to 50,000 "trainers" could remain in the country. Those "trainers" are to be withdrawn by December of this year.

From a peak of 900 fatalities and 6,000 wounded per year during 2006-2007, U.S. casualties began falling in 2008, and continued to fall through 2010, when they have leveled off at about 60 fatalities and 300 wounded per year. Casualites among Iraqi security forces and civilians show similar trends. In terms of reducing the violence, and buying time for the new government of the country, the "surge" conducted by the prior administration, and the follow-though conducted by the current administration has been successful.

On the other hand, it is not clear that the new government is yet capable of conducting its affairs without outside assistance. The U.S. commander describes the current security situation as mixed. The Iraqi government debates a new agreement with the United States allowing a continued presence of U.S. military forces within the country, even as radical Muslims threaten renewed violence if Americans, whom they describe as "infidels," remain in the country.

The economy of the country has not recovered to its pre-war position. Oil production constitutes the only significant source of revenue for the country. Per capita income remains very low by global standards. Unemployment is very high. For many, the only job opportunity is to join the Iraqi security forces. The country still suffers from the emigration of skilled workers, especially doctors and engineers, and religious and ethnic minorities are fleeing the country.

Putting aside the problem of radical Islam, the situation in Iraq is about as good as it might be expected, and perhaps not so different from the situations in South Korea or Taiwan immediately after those places were stabilized. In those places, a bit more than a generation was required from the flowering of democracy. Today, we look at South Korea and Taiwan and see shining examples of what is possible with democratic government and market-oriented economies. But, for many years, these places were authoritarian, curropt and poor.

What throws a monkey wrench into Iraq is radical Islam. Radical Islam is so hateful and prone to violence, that it is not clear that outsiders can help with security while the country works it way through its domestic problems. And, it is not clear that the Radical Muslims will not take over soon after we depart. The outcome in Iraq, as to whether the country will proceed down a road that will eventually result in the flowering of democracy will depend on whether the moderate Muslims who have remained in the country will be able to outlast the radical Muslims.

The way to look at Iraq is that we, the United States, have done what we could do. This has required many years of secrifice, most especially by the men and women of our all-vounteer military forces. National Guardsmen and Reservists have been deployed, in some cases multiple times. Young adults are today serving in Iraq who were mere youths at the outset of the war. We, as a nation, have soldiered on. We have achieved our victory. Like a parent raising a child, we have given Iraq the opportunity to fulfill its potential. But, as to whether Iraq will use its opportunity well is for it to decide.

The Dept. of Insensitive Humor declares Weiner Jokes Illegal

2011-06-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Turtle MacBride

The Department of Insensitive Humor, created along with three other new cabinet-level agencies as part of the 2009 Stimulus Package - oops, I mean "bill" - has declared Weiner Jokes to be immediately and henceforth politically incorrect and illegal. Punishment will involve transfer to Gitmo until suitably re-educated.

An example of the now banned humor is the accompanying image of President Obama biting a Weiner at a restaurant in Toledo, Ohio, that he said was saved by Auto Bailout when he visited the place, which subsequently closed. The official story is that this restaurant closed because of the terrible tsunami that hit Japan, not because of anything the current administration did or failed to do.

It is also illegal to show images of the President reading off a teleprompter, at a Caterpillar assembly line in Illinois, which may soon shut down and re-locate to a low-tax, right-to-work state, and say "that guy's an effin' Weiner!"

Finally, in case you haven't yet figured it out, it is definitely illegal to show an image such as this one and say "Look at these people laughing at the President's Wiener."

Photo credit - AP

The British are coming?

2011-06-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

As every public school child and the NPR knows, Paul Revere, on his midnight ride, shouted "The British are coming! The British are coming!" Why, the word "British" is even in the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. So how could anybody be so stupid as Sarah Palin and say that Paul Revere was warning the British, when he was obviously warning the Americans?

First, through the Battle of Bunker Hill, the patriots considered themselves to be British. Indeed, the flag they flew at Bunker Hill was the British flag. They flew that flag to demand their rights as Englishmen under Magna Carta. For Revere to have said. "The British are coming!" would be like today, driving up and down the street to warn the people about a coming assault by the BATF, saying "The Americans are coming!" What Revere actually said in the first part of his ride was "The Regulars are coming." Later, when Longfellow wrote his poem, he (Longfellow) changed it to "The British are coming," as few people could relate to the mindset of the earlier time.

I happen to know a little about this history because of my interest in currency. Paul Revere was a silver smith. Among his more famous works are two designs for the engraving plates for the paper money of Massachusetts. In 1775, he designed the "Sword in the Hand" currency issue. It featured a patriot ready to defend his rights under Magna Carta. The next year, after the Declaration of Independence, the "Sword in the Hard" money was redesigned to display a patriot ready to defend his rights under the Declaration. Obviously, Paul Revere on the night of his famous midnight ride, imagined that he and his fellow patriots were British demanding their rights under Magna Carta.

Second, there was a second part to Revere's ride, when he was detained by the Regulars, who inquired as to his whereabouts. It was while he was questioned that Revere "warned" the Regulars about the patriots, telling them that it was they who should be afraid, not him, as they were surrounded by as many as 500 armed patriots. This was the specific reference being made by Palin. She is warning the Republican establishment that she and others have warned the people and they, the Republican establishment, should now consider themselves warned.

Of course for the NPR, the combination of ignorance of history and prejudice against those they consider to be white trash gives them an irresistible urge to disrespect Palin whenever they think they can. On the other hand, with regard to the doper-in-chief and his side-kick Little Mister Plagiarizer, no misstatements are ever recognized. But if the standard of perfection they demand of conservatives were equally applied to liberals, nobody would survive the scrutiny. On the other hand, a fair consideration of the intelligence of the principal leaders of each side would indicate that the real difference between them is that one side is for big government and socialism and the other side is for limited government and capitalism.

Bulgaria descending into Civil War?

2011-05-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Christians and Muslims clash in downtown Sofia

A female Member of Parliament was hit in the head by a rock thrown from Muslims in front of a Mosque, during a protest Friday. Patriot groups staged a rally against Muslims blaring the call-to-prayer five times a day over loudspeakers.

Violent clashes begin at 50 seconds mark.

The news report is in Bulgarian, of course. But it's pretty easy to catch the gist of the events.

Hernando de Soto dice si, Mario Vargas Llosa no

2011-05-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Two great heroes of freedom in the world - Hernando de Soto and Mario Vargas Llosa - have endorsed rival candidates in the Presidential run-off election in Peru. De Soto, author of the classic The Other Path, is going with the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori. Vargas, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature for his politically-tinged novels, with the left-wing candidate Ollanta Humala.

While everybody knows the story of Chile, few know the story of Peru. From a country of extreme and widespread poverty, there has emerged in Peru one of the more dynamic economies of the Latin world. Sustained economic growth, fueled by the burgeoning private pension plans of the country, are transforming Peru into a middle-income country. With a continuation of the economic policies implemented during the 1990s, Chile will soon no longer be the only high income country of Latin American. It will merely be the first.

There can be no wonder, then, as to why Hernando de Soto has endorsed Keiko Fujimori. In The Other Path, he outlined the alternative to revolutionary socialism or The Shining Path for the poor of the world. His endorsement is because of her commitment to continue those economic policies. The following youtube shows de Soto campaigning with Fujimori.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIchRmEbhpo

Mario Vargas Llosa, contrariwise, is backing Ollanta Humala. His first response to the victories of the left- and right-wing candidates in the first round of voting, and the defeat of the three centrist candidates, was to describe the country's choice as being between cancer and AIDs. Then, switching metaphors, he said the country was facing either suicide or a miracle. Then, "unhappily and with fear," he indicated that he would vote for Humala, the man who twice attempted a military overthrow the government and who calls for the nationalization of the private pensions plans. How could Vargas Llosa do such a thing? Well, consider that Vargas Llosa was a vocal critic of Kieko Fujimori's father during the 1990s, for his suspension of Congress and his authorization of death squads against socialist revolutionaries, and that he had to fles the country to take up residence in Spain.

Initially all three of the defeated centrist candidates refused to endorse either of the candidates who qualified for the run-off. Since then, Pedro Kuczynski, a former finance minister who finished third in the first round of voting, endorsed Keiko Fujimori. In so many words, so has the outgoing President, Alan Garcia, who said the people of the country would never vote for somebody who jeopardized their economic progress. Clearly, in both of these cases, the risk of the cancer of socialism proved more frightening than the risk of the AIDs of corruption. Or, to wish for a miracle to happen and for Keiko Fujimori to honor the country's new commitment to democracy is more credible than to wish for the miracle of socialism not destroying the economy.

Another failure to plan

2011-05-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

From Turtle MacBride:

An unnamed man in Dubai fell to his death from the 147th floor of Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. BUT, because he did not plan properly, his life was ended prematurely when he landed on a deck on the 108th floor. Having reached terminal velocity of about 120 mph, his life was unnecessarily cut short by 15 seconds. Not only that, but his place in the Guinness Book, for being the first person to commit suicide by jumping off Burj Khalifa, is tenuous because, technically speaking, he did not actually jump "off" the building. Sticklers insist that you have to actually clear the building. All of which goesto show how important seemingly trivial details can be. Remember: the failure to plan is a plan to fail.

Geert Wilders comes to Nashville, Tennessee USA

2011-05-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

Speech by Geert Wilders, Cornerstone Church, Nashville, 12 May 2011

Dear friends from Tennessee. I am very happy to be in your midst today. I am happy and proud to be in this impressive church.

My friends, I am here to speak words of truth and freedom.

Do you know why America is in a better state than Europe? Because you enjoy more freedom than Europeans.

And do you know why Americans enjoy more freedom than Europeans? Because you are still allowed to tell the truth.

In Europe and Canada people are dragged to court for telling the truth about islam.

I, too, have been dragged to court. I am an elected member of the house of representatives in the Netherlands. I am currently standing in court like a common criminal for saying that islam is a dangerous totalitarian ideology rather than a religion.

The court case is still pending, but I risk a jail sentence of 16 months.

Last week, my friend Lars Hedegaard, a journalist from Denmark, was fined because in a private conservation, which was recorded without his knowing, he had criticised the way women are treated in islamic societies.

Recently, another friend, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, a human rights activist from Austria, was fined because she had criticised islam’s founder Muhammad. She had said that Muhammad was a pedophile because he had married a 6-year old girl and raped her when she was 9.

Unfortunately, there are many similar cases.

I am especially happy to be in your midst because here I can say what I want to say without having to fear that I will be dragged to court upon leaving this church.

My dear American friends, you cannot imagine how we envy your First Amendment. The day when America follows the example of Europe and Canada and introduces so-called “hate speech crimes” which is only used to punish people who are critical of islam, that day America will have lost its freedom.

My friends, let us hope that this never happens.

Last week, we celebrated Liberation Day in the Netherlands. We celebrated the liberation from the Nazi occupation in 1945. Many American soldiers, including many young Tennesseans, played a decisive role in the liberation of the Netherlands from nazi tyranny. We are immensely grateful for that. Young Americans gave their lives so that the Dutch might be free. I assure you: The Dutch people will never forget this.

Unfortunately, however, the Europe which your fathers and grandfathers fought and died for is not the Europe we are living in today.

I travel the world to tell people what Europe has become. I wish I could take you all on a visit to my country and show you what Europe has become. It has changed beyond recognition as a result of mass immigration. And not just any mass immigration, but mass immigration driven by the dangerous force of islam.

My friends, I am sorry. I am here today with an unpleasant message. I am here with a warning. I am here with a battle cry: “Wake up, Christians of Tennessee. Islam is at your gate.” Do not make the mistake which Europe made. Do not allow islam to gain a foothold here.

Islam is dangerous. Islam wants to establish a state on earth, ruled by islamic sharia law. Islam aims for the submission, whether by persuasion, intimidation or violence, of all non-Muslims, including Christians.

The results can be seen in Europe.

Islam is an ideology of conquest. It uses two methods to achieve this goal: the first method is the sword. Do you know what figures on the flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a country where Christian churches are banned and Christians are not even allowed to wear a tiny crucifix? There is a huge sword on that flag, just below the Islamic creed. The message is clear. Without the sword islam would not have been able to spread its creed.

The second method is immigration. Islam’s founder Muhammad himself taught his followers how to conquer through immigration when they moved from Mecca to Medina. This phenomenon of conquest through immigration is called al-Hijra. My learned friend Sam Solomon has written a perfect book about it.

I had a copy of Sam’s book sent to all the members of the Dutch Parliament. But most of them are worse than Saint-Thomas in the Bible. Thomas did not believe what he had not seen. Most politicians refuse to believe the things they see before their very eyes.

In Europe we have been experiencing al-Hijra for over 30 years now. Many of our cities have changed beyond recognition. “In each one of our cities” wrote the well-known Italian author Oriana Fallaci shortly before her death in 2006, “there is a second city, a state within the state, a government within the government. A Muslim city, a city ruled by the Koran.” – end of quote.

How did the Europeans get into this situation? It is partly our own fault because we have foolishly adopted the concept of cultural relativism, which manifests itself in the ideology of multiculturalism.

Cultural relativism advocates that all cultures are equal. However, cultures wither away and die if people no longer believe that its values are better than those of another culture.

Islam is spreading like wildfire wherever people lack the guts to say that their values are better than the Islamic values.

Islam is spreading like wildfire because the Koran explicitly tells Muslims that they are “the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind” and that non-Muslims are “the worst of creatures.”

Islam is spreading like wildfire everywhere in the West where political, academic, cultural and media elites lack the guts to proudly proclaim, as I believe we all should proclaim:

Our Judeo-Christian Western culture is far better and far superior to the islamic culture. We must be proud to say so!

Multiculturalism is a disaster. Almost everyone acknowledges this today, but few dare say why. Let me tell you why: Multiculturalism made us tolerate the intolerant, and now intolerance is annihilating tolerance.

We should, in the name of tolerance, claim the right not to tolerate the intolerant. Let us no longer be afraid and politically correct, let us be brave and bold. Let us tell the truth about islam.

Before I continue I want to make clear that I do not have a problem with people. I always make a distinction between the people and the ideology, between Muslims and islam.

Indeed, I have no problems with Muslims, but I do have a problem with the totalitarian Islamic ideology of hate and violence. The fact that there are many so-called moderate Muslims, does not imply that there exists a moderate islam. A moderate islam doen not exist and will never exist.

And because there is no such thing as a moderate islam, the islamization of our free Western societies is an enormous danger.

Only two weeks ago, the British press revealed how the so-called “London Taliban” is threatening to kill women who do not wear veils in the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

In some neighbourhoods Islamic regulations are already being enforced, also on non-Muslims. Women’s rights are being trampled. We are confronted with headscarves and burqa’s, polygamy, female genital mutilation, honor-killings where men murder their wives, daughters or sisters because they do not behave in accordance with Islamic rules.

Polls show that the influence of those Muslims who live according to islam’s aggressive requirements is growing, especially among young people.

Among 15-year-old German Muslims, 40 percent consider islam more important than democracy.

Among Muslim university students in Britain, 40 percent support sharia. One in three of those students considers it legitimate to kill in the name of islam.

Christians are asked to follow the example of Jesus. Muslims are ordered to follow the example of Muhammad. That is why islam is dangerous. While Christianity preaches love, islam preached hatred and practizes violence. Hatred and violence for everyone who is not a Muslim.

Muhammad personally participated in the ethnic cleansing of Medina, where half the population once was Jewish. Muhammad helped to chop off their heads. On his deathbed, he ordered his followers to cleanse Arabia of all Jews and Christians.

To this very day, Christian symbols are prohibited in Saudi-Arabia. If you wear a cross in Saudi Arabia, they sent you to jail.

And now, Europe is beginning to look like Arabia.

Just today, a poll revealed that in Brussels, the capital of the European Union, half the islamic youths are anti-semitic. It is dangerous for Jews to walk the streets in Brussels.

If you wear a cross or a kippah in certain urban areas in Europe today, you risk being beaten up. In the capital of my own country, Amsterdam, a tram driver was forced to remove his crucifix from sight, while his Muslim colleagues are allowed to wear the veil.

In June 2008, the Christian church authorities in the Danish town of Arhus decided to pay so-called “protection money” to islamic so-called “security guards” who assure that church goers are not harassed by islamic youths.

On March 31st, 2010, Muslims entered the Roman Catholic cathedral of Cordoba, Spain, and attacked the guards with knives. They claimed the cathedral was theirs.

Last month, the bishops of Sweden sent out a letter to priests advising them to avoid converting asylum seekers from islamic countries to Christianity, because the converts would risk losing their lives.

In the Netherlands, the city authorities in Amsterdam register polygamous marriages. The authorities in Rotterdam serve only halal meals in municipal cafeterias. Theaters provide separate seats for women who are not allowed to sit next to men. Municipal swimming pools have separate swimming hours for men and women, Muslim lawyers do not have to stand when the judges enter court rooms.

Meanwhile Jews are no longer safe on our streets. In Amsterdam, the city of Anne Frank, Jews are again being harassed in the streets. Even political leaders acknowledged that life has become unsafe for Jews in Holland. Do you know what they said? They advised Jews to emigrate. Jews are already running for Israel. But I say: Jews must not leave, violent Muslims must leave!

What is needed, my friends, is a spirit of resistance.

I repeat: What we need is a spirit of resistance.

Why? Because resistance to evil is our moral duty. This resistance begins with expressing our solidarity to Christians, Jews, indeed, to all people worldwide, who are the victims of islam. There are millions of them.

We can see what islam has in store for us if we watch the fate of the Christians in the islamic world, such as the Copts in Egypt, the Maronites in Lebanon, the Assyrians in Iraq, and Christians elsewhere.

Almost every day, churches are arsoned and Christians are assassinated in islamic countries.

In a report on the persecution of Christians in the world, Archbishop Twal of Jerusalem, wrote recently– I quote: “In the Middle East to be Christian means accepting that you must make a great sacrifice. All too often and in many places, Christians suffer various threats. On some occasions, their homes and churches are burnt, and people are killed. How many atrocities must we endure before somebody somewhere comes to our aid?” – end of quote.

Indeed, how many atrocities before we come to their aid?

Rivers of tears are flowing from the Middle East, where there is only one safe haven for Christians. You know where that is. The only place in the Middle East where Christians are safe is Israel.

That is why Israel deserves our support. Israel is a safe haven for everyone, whatever their belief and opinions. Israel is a beacon of light in a region of total darkness. Israel is fighting our fight.

The jihad against Israel is a jihad against all of us. If Israel falls, we, too, will feel the consequences. If Jerusalem falls, Athens, Rome, Amsterdam and Nashville will fall. Therefore, we all are Israel. We should always support Israel!

Today, we are confronted with political unrest in the Arab countries. The Arab peoples long for freedom. However, the ideology and culture of islam is so deeply entrenched in these countries that real freedom is simply impossible as long as islam remains dominant.

A recent poll in post-revolution Egypt found that 85 percent of Egyptians are convinced that islam’s influence on politics is good, 82 percent believe that adulterers should be stoned, 84 percent want the death penalty for apostates. The press refers to the events in the Arab world today as the Arab spring. I call it the Arab winter.

Islam and freedom, islam and democracy are not compatible.

The death of Osama bin Laden last week was a victory for the free world, but we will be confronted with Islamic terrorism as long as islam exists, because islam’s founder Muhammad himself was a terrorist, worse than Bin Laden.

And here is another truth: The rise of islam means the rise of sharia law in our judicial systems. In Europe we already have sharia wills, sharia schools, sharia banks. Britain even has sharia courts.

In my own country, the Netherlands, sharia is being applied by the courts in cases relating to divorce, child custody, inheritance, and property ownership. Women are always the victims of this because sharia discriminates women.

This is a disgrace. This is not the way we should treat women.

My friends, I told you that we have just remembered Liberation Day to commemorate the young Americans and all the heroes who offered their lives to free the Netherlands from nazi tyranny. It would be an insult to them if we Europeans would give up that precious freedom for another totalitarian ideology called Islam.

That is the goal for which my party and I work day after day. And we are having success.

In the Netherlands, we are successfully starting to roll back islam. The current Dutch government is a minority government which can only survive with the backing of my party, the Party for Freedom.

We have 24 seats of the 150 seats in parliament and we support the government, in return for measures to prohibit certain aspects of sharia law.

We have achieved that the Netherlands will soon ban the burka and the niqaab.

We will also restrict immigration from non-Western countries by up to 50% in the next four years. We are not going to allow islam to steal our country from us. It was the land of our fathers, it is our land now, our values are based on Christianity, Judaism and Humanism and we will pass this on to our children with all the freedoms that the previous generations have fought for.

Let those who want to rob us from our freedoms, stay in their own countries. We do not need them. If you want to wear a burqa, stay in Saudi-Arabia. If you want four wives, stay in Iran. If you want to live in a country where the islamic ideology is dominant, stay in Pakistan, if you don’t want to assimilate in our society, stay in Somalia. But don’t come over here.

We are also going to strip criminals who have a double nationality – for instance Dutch and Moroccan, and who repeatedly commit serious crimes, of their Dutch nationality. We will send them packing, back to their homeland.

My friends, what the Party for Freedom has achieved, shows that it can be done. We can fight the islamization of our societies.

Dear friends, here is my warning. Make no mistake: Islam is also coming for America. In fact, it is already here. America is facing a stealth jihad, the islamic attempt to introduce sharia law bit by bit. Last March, a judge in Tampa, Florida, ruled that a lawsuit against a mosque and involving the control of 2.4 million dollars, should proceed under Islamic law.

My friends, be aware that this is only the beginning. This is also how it started in Europe. If things continue like this, you will soon have the same problems as we are currently facing.

Leaders who talk about immigration without mentioning islam are blind. They ignore the most important problem Europe and America are facing. I have a message for them: it’s islam stupid!

My friends, fortunately, not all politicians are irresponsible. Here, in Tennessee, brave politicians want to pass legislation which gives the state the power to declare organisations as terrorist groups and allowing material supporters of terrorism to be prosecuted. I applaud them for that. They are true heroes.

Yesterday and today, I met some of those brave legislators. They told me that Tennessee in particular is a target of islam. Help them win their battle.

They need your support.

While Tennessee is in the frontline, similar legislative initiatives are also being taken in the states of Oklahoma, Wyoming, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Arizona, Indiana. It is encouraging to see that so many politicians are willing to resist islam.

This gives us hope and courage. I am not a pessimist. We can still turn the tide – even in Europe – if we act today.

There are five things which we must do.

First, we must defend freedom of speech.

Freedom is the source of human creativity and development. People and nations wither away without the freedom to question what is presented to them as the truth.

Without freedom of speech we risk becoming slaves. Frederick Douglass, the 19th century black American politician, the son of a slave, said – I quote – “To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”

I have already told you about my court case. This legal charade will not, however, prevent me from saying the truth. Never. I will speak out, even if they drag me before 500 courts and threaten to jail me for a thousand years.

The fact that we are being treated as criminals for telling the truth must not deter us. We are doomed if we remain silent or let ourselves be silenced. Let us not forget, this is our first and most important obligation: defend the right to speak the truth.

Second, we must end cultural relativism and political correctness. We must repeat it over and over again, especially to our children: Our Western culture based on Christianity and Judaism is superior to the islamic culture. Our laws are superior to sharia. Our judeo-christian values are better than islam’s totalitarian rules.

And because they are superior and better, we must defend them. We must fight for our own identity, or else we will lose it. We need to be warriors for the good, because the good is worth fighting for. Neutrality in the face of evil is evil.

Third, we must stop the islamization of our countries. More islam means less freedom. There is enough islam in the West already. We must stop immigration from non-Western countries, which are mostly islamic countries. We must expel criminal immigrants. We must forbid the construction of new hate palaces called mosques.

We must also close down all islamic schools because educating children in a spirit of hate is one of the worst things imaginable. We must introduce anti-sharia legislation everywhere in the free world. Enough is enough.

Fourth, we must take pride in our nations again. We must cherish and preserve the culture and identity of our country. Preserving our own culture and identity is the best antidote against islamization.

And fifth, last but certainly not least, we must elect wise and courageous leaders who are brave enough to address the problems which are facing us, including the threat of islam.

Politicians who have the courage to speak the truth about islam.

Politicians who dare to denounce the devastating results of the multicultural society.

Politicians who – without political correctness – say: enough is enough.

You and I, Americans and Europeans, we belong to a common Western culture. We share the ideas and ideals of our common Judeo-Christian heritage. In order to pass this heritage on to our children and grandchildren, we must stand together, side by side, in our struggle against Islamic barbarism.

That, my friends, is why I am here. I am here to forge an alliance. Our international freedom alliance. We must stand together for the Judeo-Christian West.

We will not allow islam to overrun Israel and Europe, the cradle of the judeo-Christian civilization.

My friends, we will stand together.

We will stand firm.

We will not submit. Never. Not in Israel, not in Europe, not in America. Nowhere.

We will survive.

We will stop islam.

We will defend our freedoms.

We will remain free.

More Democracy and Free Speech rights in Russia than in Sweden?

2011-05-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

Who knew?

Watch as Russiam Premiere Putin breaks with protocal set by his hosts.

Eine tapfere deutsche Frau steht bis zu islamischen Faschisten

2011-04-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

Islamisten haben eine Demonstration, Frankfurt 22. April

Eine unbekannte Frau ruft nach Deutschland zu erheben, um den neuen Hitler.

Obama's Missing Birth Certificate: Bill Clinton, and the Monica Lewinsky cover-up Redux

2011-04-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

by Eric Dondero

The year was 1996. An FBI Agent named Gary Aldrich quit the force after 26 years and released a book called "Unlimited Access: An FBI Agent Inside the Clinton White House." He alleged wild sex parties in the White House. He even reported on hot rumors within the White House of the President having Sex with staffers.

He was called a "kook," a "rightwing extremist." His book was written off as pure trash, even though it was a bestseller.

Of course, a little more than a year later, information began to surface that President Clinton had had a longtime illicit affair with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. More allegations soon came out of wild sex acts within the Oval Office involving cigars, and other "sex toys."

Aldrich was completely vindicated. But he never really got credit outside of conservative media circles. No mea culpas from the liberal media, No media types stepped forward to admit they were wrong. No big interviews for Aldrich on the major networks congratulating him for being right all along.

Rather he just faded into obscurity.

Fast forward to 2011. For years, going way back to the 2004 US Senate race in Illinois there have been serious allegations about Barack Hussein Obama's mysterious background. Documents seem to be missing; college transcripts, published articles of editorials, even a missing birth certificate.

Democrats and liberal media claim "it exists," it's just not accessible due to Hawaii law. Yet, newly-elected Governor Neal Abercrombie failed to locate the document after an extensive search. He had vowed that he would "put an end to the issue once and for all."

Liberals lie. In 1996 and '97 the liberal media circled the wagons around Clinton. Til the bitter end they insisted that the President couldn't have possibly had sex with "that tramp Monica."

When it all finally came out that Clinton had been lying all along they just got mum. They moved along to other matters quicker than you could say "Montecristo."

Today the liberal media and Democrat politicians are lying through their teeth over the missing Obama birth certificate. They are now in full-fledged attack mode against Donald Trump (Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann). Like they labeled Aldrich, they are calling Trump and others asking questions about Obama's highly suspicious background, as "far-out kooks," and fringe figures who shouldn't be believed.

Par for the course. But worse are the so-called conservatives and libertarians who are siding with the liberal media and politicians on the birth certificate issue.

Take your average Ron Paul supporter for instance; largely silent on Obama's background. Even worse, some Ron Paulists are even joining in with the trashing of Trump, Palin and Bachmann.

One wonders what the Paulists, and other so-called conservatives and libertarians who believe Obama's story hook, line and sinker, will say when Trump and others finally expose the truth.

It will be Aldrich redux. The only difference this time is that Trump will not fade away. He's more likely to be elected our next President.

Eric Dondero is a former senior congressional staffer from Texas. He is currently a political consultant specializing on ballot access and initiatives. And is publisher of LibertarianRepublican.net

Islamic Terrorism in Brazil; 11 Schoolchildren Dead

2011-04-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

GRAPHIC IMAGES!

Gunman recently converted to Islam.

From Atlas Shrugs:

Rio Mass Murder: Muslim Opens Fire on Children's School, 11 Dead, 20 Wounded, Suicide Note "References to Islamic fundamentalism

Obama mulls resignation

2011-04-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

by Turtle MacBride

With the domestic economy mired in recession and many parts of the world in turmoil, President Barack Obama has come to the realization that he is not qualified to be president and has been considering the idea of “making things right” by resigning, sources say. The biggest obstacle to this course of action is said to be the fact that Vice President Joseph Biden would then become President.

By mid 2010, President Obama started to realize his economic policies weren’t working. Not only did the policies fail to lower unemployment, inflation started to pick up. Plus, we were winding up with a ginormous deficit. In the meanwhile, recoveries were getting underway in countries that adopted austerity budgets. President Obama asked his economic advisors to reconsider their premises, but to no avail. Besides, Obama learned, the entire Democratic Party is beholden to public employee unions and many people in the green movement actually want the economy to fail. Once, and completely off the record, Obama remarked, “Socialism may look great when you’re high, but it’s a bitch when you’re the President.” Recently, President Obama has been seen bringing his Gameboy to economic briefings.

Same thing with foreign policy. After two years of access to intelligence, President Obama has, in private, completely turned around on the threat posed by radical Islam. No more closing Guantanamo Bay, no hasty withdrawal from Iraq, a “surge” in
Afghanistan. The President’s motto nowadays is WWWD, as in “What Would ‘W’ Do?” Replace Mubarak with a military government? Exactly. Bomb the hell out of Libya? You got it. Strengthen Europe’s missile defense against Iran? Why not?

In a candid moment, President Obama revealed his new foreign policy strategy. “I picked this up during an episode of Seinfeld. George Costanza decided to do the opposite of whatever his instincts told him.”

“Whenever there’s a problem in the world,“ the President continued, “I now do the opposite of what my instincts say. For example, if my instincts say ‘due process,’ I go with ‘military tribunals.’ If my instincts say ‘timetable for withdrawal,’ I’m doing ‘surge.’ If my instincts say ‘the Constitution requires Congressional authorization of the initiation of force, I'm saying ’What Constitution?’”

“I have to admit,” President Obama said, “that I discovered how far over my head this job is, but, what could I do? On the one hand, I got Bozo the Clown for a Vice President; and, on the other, I have to somehow manage to pay for the bills that Michelle rings up. So, if I resigned, the country would be in worse shape and I’d be out of a job in the middle of a bad economy married to a spendaholic.”

And what if Vice President Biden could be persuaded to resign along with you? “For crying out loud,” he replied, “then we’d wind up with Boehner, and the radical Muslims would look at the whole picture - me resigning and Boehner all teary eyed and everything - as a sign of weakness. Sometimes, you know, you just have to stay the course.” With that, the President’s handlers broke off the interview. He had to move on to a photo opportunity, standing next to a Chevy Volt with a banner in the background proclaiming “Emission Accomplished.”

News Report out of Israel: Sarah Palin visits Jerusalem

2011-03-21T04:26:00.000-07:00

Report in Hebrew, with Sarah Palin making remarks halfway through in English.

H/t Weasel Z...

Pakistani Actress now in India blasts Muslim Cleric

2011-03-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

Calls him out on his hypocrisy, and prudishness.

The 50 Ways (Hillary explains things to the President)

2011-03-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

with apologies to Paul Simon

From Cliff Thies:

The problem is all inside Maghreb
She said to me
The answer is easy if you
Take it logically
I'd like to help Libya in its struggle
To be free
There must be fifty ways
To spell Gaddafi

She said it's really not our habit
To intrude
Furthermore, I hope our meaning
Won't be lost or misconstrued
But I'll repeat myself
At the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways
To spell Gaddafi
Fifty ways to spell Gaddafi

Just hack out the “i”, Guy
Conclude with a “y”, Nye
Don't start with a “G”, Lee
Just listen to me
Start with “Q” “u”, Sue
Or don’t use the “u”, Fu
Or begin with a “K”, Trey
And get yourself free

She said it grieves me so
To see Libya in such pain
I wish there was something we could do
To keep them from flying again
I said I appreciate that
And would you please explain
About the fifty ways

She said why don't we both
Just turn it to the UN
And I believe in the morning
You'll begin to agree with me again
And then she kissed me
And I realized she probably was right
There must be fifty ways
To spell Gaddafi
Fifty ways to spell Gaddafi

Just hack out the “i”, Guy
Conclude with a “y”, Nye
Don't start with a “G”, Lee
Just listen to me
Start with “Q” “u”, Sue
Or don’t use the “u”, Fu
Or begin with a “K”, Trey
And get yourself free

NORWAY: Welfare Fraud by Immigrant Somalis documented

2011-03-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

From Eric Dondero:

Shocking statistics: Somali families living in Norway scam the welfare system in overwhelming numbers in comparison to native Nords.

Political Power Babes: Marine Le Pen and Sarah Palin, many similarities, some differences

2011-03-12T05:47:00.000-08:00

From Eric Dondero:

It was inevitable. With the rise of French NAP Leader Marine Le Pen, now 2 points over Nicolas Sarkozy for President in next year's election, the comparisons to Sarah Palin would come.

From the Spanish newspaper ElSpectador.com (translation):

The blonde with blues eyes, is being recognized by the public... support for leaving the European Union, opposition to immigration... this mother of three, separated from her husband, has taken a posture... like Sarah Palin and her Tea Party in the United States.

Rue Frontenac Le blogue de Marco Fortier, "Docteur Le Pen et ses remèdes" March 10:

Marine Le Pen... is what France is looking for... Sarah Palin and Tea Party friends also put their finger on the problem of worrying about the staggering debt of the United States.

Fortunately, representatives of the people as brave Marine Le Pen, Sarah Palin and Rob Ford (the new mayor of Toronto) are there to speak to the "real issues", freed from any connection with the "elite" by the corrupt ruling class power.

From Glenn Crumley Time, Global Spin blog "Marine Le Pen And Sarah Palin: Who Is More Extreme?"

similarities exist. Both women and their parties want to seal off borders, halt immigration, and ruthlessly crack down hard on crime—including using capital punishment. They both want to protect jobs and businesses in their countries from foreign threats; champion a form of hard-edged nationalist exceptionalism that emphatically puts the interests of their own people and country above all others; and show bristling disdain for international organizations. Both also call followers to help return society to supposedly simpler, wholesome, traditional practices and values lost over time to alien influence, political malfeasance, and moral decay. Meanwhile, both have also proven masterful in using media to spread their political messages and advance their personal political ambitions. And—in a pinch—both women will cite reality-defying “facts” to support their arguments. And though their personal styles differ significantly, both women are smart and wily political animals with excellent instincts they use when laying verbal pile drivers on foes.

To be sure. Significant differences do exist as Crumley later points out. Mostly on economics; Palin is far more of a consistent free market champion, while Le Pen's views are more anti-globalist, anti-free trade.

Prompting Crumley to opine:

Not a program either Palin or the Koch brothers are likely to get behind anytime soon.

And ironically, Le Pen bristles at any comparisons of the two:

“I can not be compared with Madame Palin, and the National Front isn't similar to the Tea Party... The two political systems are very different, and (Palin's) positions reflect that.”

But their personal attractiveness and generally rightwing politics will no doubt spark further comparisons in the coming year.

Enormous earthquake in Japan reminds us: The Earth is not happy!!!

2011-03-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

From Turtle MacBride:

No sooner did Japan get hit by the biggest earthquake in that country’s history, but the global warming deniers were out in force saying this is proof of what they call “natural variation.”

First, we will grant the deniers their due: yes, there has been a pronounced upward trend in earthquakes (along with volcanoes and other seismic activity). The following table presents the figures since 1900. During the first period, about 200. Then, during the second period, about twice that. And, now, during the most recent period, yet another doubling.

Big earthquakes since 1900:

1900-1938 215
1939-1976 373
1977-pres 722

The global warming deniers claim - without the benefit of any government funding! - that this proves that the earth either itself is causing global warming or is the conduit for some celestial phenomenon such as variation in sun’s radiance, a wobble in the earth’s rotation about the sun, or the rotation of the solar system about the center of the galaxy.

Well, did they even consider how long it’s been since we’ve sacrificed any virgins to the earth gods? With the obvious dearth of virgins we have nowadays, sacrificing the internal combustion engine is only prudent.

Did they consider that the earth may have anticipated the growth of capitalism during the late 20th century, and started crying out in advance?

Have they ever really thought about the polar bear, or the penguin, or the Orca whale? Have they ever thought about how many trees had to be murdered so they could live in middle-class indulgence? Have they ever actually looked into the thousand of tiny eyes of an insect-American and not see their own reflection???

The global warming deniers only deny themselves with their so-called reason.

Gillard down under

2011-03-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

From Clifford F. Thies:

Thanks to two thought to be conservative independents, Julia Gilliard kept her position as prime minister of Australia despite losing the popular vote in last year's election. Since then, it's been full speed ahead with Labor's plan to tax carbon-based energy. Also since then, Labor has plummeted in the polls, even to the lowest point ever recorded. The opposition is calling for a public referendum on the proposed new tax. And, were a snap election to be called, the Liberal-National Coalition would win an overwhelming victory. We, at Libertarian-Republican and Worldwide Liberty, speculate that a couple so-called conservative independents would, following a snap election, remain in solidarity with their comrades in the Labor Party, only at the unemployment office instead of the parliament building. We don't think government-subsidized internet quite off-sets higher taxes on carbon-based fuels for their constituents in rural Australia.

4-way race for President in Peru

2011-03-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Coming up soon in this year's cycle of elections is Peru, with election of congress and the first round of voting for president in April. Four candidates appear capable of making it to a run-off, with no candidate having a chance of being elected in the first round.

Currently leading in the polls is former President Alejandro Toledo, who is considered to be the centrist in the race. President Toledo has a compelling personal story. He was elected as an anti-corruption candidate, but it was discovered that almost 80 percent of petition signatures were forged. He also has been accused of living large, at least by Peruvian standards.

In something of a tie for second are Luis Castanada and Keiko Fujimori, both of whom are considered right-wing candidates. Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori; and, Castanada a former mayor of Lima, the capital city of Peru.

In fourth place is the Ollanta Humala, who is considered to be the left-wing candidate. Humala is a former army officer and veteran of the country's war with the Shining Path and the country's short war with Ecuador concerning their shared border. Humala finished first in the first round of voting in the last presidential election, but was overtaken by the second place finisher in the run-off election who proved better able to appeal to the voters of the eliminated candidates.

Fine Gael's deal with Labor betrays the people of Ireland

2011-03-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

by Clifford F. Thies

After a week of negotiations following the election, center-right Fine Gael reached an agreement with center-left Labor Party to form a new government. The new "purple" coalition will not implement the kinds of cuts in spending needed to bring the budget quickly into balance. Instead, the agreed-upon outline for the budget is for continuing high deficits to be financed by borrowing from the EU-IMF bailout and what's left in the government's pension fund for its workers, along with an assumption of strong economic growth. This agreement represents no real change from the failed policies of the prior government, led by Fianna Fail, and undermines the mandate for change expressed by the people of Ireland in the recently concluded election.

We, at Libertarian Republican and Worldwide Liberty, would have preferred Fine Gael seek support of independents or even Fiana Fail, rather than cave in to demands of Labor to avoiding severe cuts in spending. It is now likely that, upon exhausting the line of credit extended by the EU and IMF, the new government will next raid the private pension funds of the country. The already ticking demographic time bomb of Ireland may become inevitable. Where tens of thousands of younger Irish persons are presently departing the country for greener pastures, there may be hundreds of thousands. Lord Keynes is doing to Ireland what John Law did to France!

Estonia Elections: We cover it all here at Worldwide Liberty

2011-03-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

From Cliff Thies:

While we wait for the results ...

Today, Estonians cast their ballots for the next government. The center-right coalition of the libertarian Reform Party and the conservative Patriotic Party are favored. But, as of yet, we have no results. So, while we wait, here a link to some popcorn music by Estonian sensation Getter Jaani:

Social Democrats rebound strongly in Hamburg election even as center-right parties gain in national poll

2011-03-04T04:30:00.001-08:00

From Clifford F. Thies:

The Social Democrats, which were embarrased in the most recent national election, rebounded strongly in the just concluded election in the city-state of Hamburg. Entering the election as the second largest party in the state legislature and in a coalition of the center with the Christian Democrats, the center-left party scored 48.3 percent of the popular vote, up from 34.1, and a majority of the seats in the new legislature. Chancellor Merkel's party fell from 42.6 to 21.9 percent of the vote. The Greens, with 11.2 percent of the vote, Free Democrats, 6.6, and Left Party, 6.4, also qualified for the state legislature.

Going into the election, the Social Democrats had been talking of a possible coalition with the Free Democrats, a worker-businessman coalition as it were, to secure their centrist bone fides. But, having secured an outright majority, they will not need a coalition partner.

Concurrently with the state election in Hamburg, a new national poll put Chancellor Merkel's ruling coalition of the Christian Democrats/Christian Social Union and the Free Democrats into a statistical tie with the opposition Social Democrats and the Greens, 41 to 42 percent, with 10 percent indicated for the Left Party. This showing represents a strong recovery for Merkel from prior polling and probably reflects the economic recovery that is on the way in the country.

Take two aspirin and don't bother calling

2011-03-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

From Clifford F. Thies:

Almost 10 percent of the population of Northern Irleand is waiting for an initial, outpatient appointment with the government-run health care system, about half of them for nine weeks or longer, a new report indicates.Thus we discover what is really the problem with health care in the United States. In this country, it is unfair that the majority of people have reasonable access to health care, when some people do not have such access.In Great Britain, nobody has reasonable access to health care, so that makes it fair.

South Korea drops pamphlets in North telling of Arab uprisings

2011-03-04T04:27:00.000-08:00

From Clifford F. Thies:

Korea Times reports that South Korea has dropped some 2.4 million pamphlets in North Korea telling of the pro-democracy uprisings in various Arab countries. The pamphlets, along with food and other items such as warm clothes and toothpaste, are delivered by balloon. The North is warning people against the packages and the messages accompanying them, further restricting communications within the country, and dispatching soldiers to markets and other places where people gather to prevent word of mouth.

Safety when a Food Crisis strikes

2011-02-28T05:22:00.001-08:00

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AMAZING VIDEO!! Tunisian Girl in protest crowd stands up and Sings traditional song for Freedom

2011-02-20T11:24:00.001-08:00

"I am those who are free and have no fear"

From Google News (via AFP) "Hundreds demonstrate for secular Tunisia" Feb. 20:

TUNIS — Hundreds of Tunisians demonstrated Saturday for a secular state following the murder of a Polish priest, verbal attacks on Jews and an attempt by Islamists to set fire to a brothel.

Rallied by a call on social network Facebook, they gathered in the main Avenue Bourguiba in Tunis waving placards reading, "Secularism = Freedom and Tolerance" and "Stop Extremist Acts".

"We've called this demonstration to show that Tunisia is a tolerant country which rejects fanaticism and to strengthen secularism in practice and in law," blogger Sofiane Chourabi, 29, said.

See LibertarianRepublican.net for latest on Tunisian Islamist violence against the Freedom movement.

Germany: New Land of Opportunity?

2011-02-20T09:35:00.001-08:00

Chancellor Merkel welcomes engineers, scientists, technicians, other
skilled workers who speak German

Even Israeli Jews are encouraged to come back to the German Homeland

From Cliff Thies:

As Germany shakes itself free of the worldwide recession caused by the collapse of the United States housing bubble, it welcomes skilled workers from other countries provided that they speak German. Relocating to the economic powerhouse of Europe looks especially attractive Spaniards, Greeks and others living in countries governed
by socialists and overrun with uncivil servants and other moochers. Even a few Israeli Jews are exercising a newfound Right of Return, not to mention a growing number of U.S. Americans. Perhaps Germany should erect a great statue of Chancellor Merkel emblazoned. "Give us your over-taxed, over-regulated, over-litigated producers yearning to speak German."

American Media Whitewashes Egyptian Cab Driver's Personal Jihad in San Diego

2011-02-18T18:16:00.000-08:00

by Steven Givler

Eric Dondero published a report at Libertarian Republican about an Egyptian cab driver living in San Diego who drove his cab into a crowd outside a nightclub on 12 Feb. (Gaslamp nightlife district in SD). Reports say 30-some people were injured, two-thirds of them seriously. One woman may have had a leg amputated as a result.

As Eric points out, journalists are largely failing to mention that the driver in question, who the some are calling "Sam Daley," but who is actually named Osama Hassan El-Darandaly, is a devout Muslim. After his cab stopped, he tried to continue his attack with a pair of scissors.

The press are also inferring that his attack may be linked in some way to financial woes, as it appears his house is being foreclosed upon.

More likely, as far as I'm concerned, is that El-Darandaly (Sam Daley? Really?) was affected by this, Al Qaeda's "Inspire" magazine, edition 2, which details how to select the best spot for mowing people down with your vehicle. Helpful hints include,

Pick your location and timing carefully. Go for the most crowed locations. Narrower spots are also better because it gives less chance for the people to run away. Avoid locations where other vehicles may intercept you.

You can call me paranoid if you like, but I have to wonder about a press that anglicizes the perpetrator's name, completely fails to mention that he may have an Islamic motivation for his attack, and publishes benign-sounding statements about an attempted mass-murderer like, "Cabbie out of hospital after crash that hurt 35."

So glad you're out of the hospital, Sam. Now maybe we can get you into prison where you belong.

Steven Givler is an American libertarian right blogger and painter living in Portugal.

Geert Wilders latest speech on Radical Islam

2011-02-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

"The Islamic Mozart... the Islamic Bill Gates? Islam cannot produce them. Because without freedom there is no creativity."

The latest from Ken Mercury: Americans just don't have a Clue

2011-02-05T06:39:00.000-08:00

Just Released...

From Eric Dondero:

Israeli comedian and news commentator Ken Mercury skewers Americans' lack of interest and knowledge of foreign affairs. He's especially critical of the Obama administrations ambivalent approach to the current Egyptian crisis.

(English video portion starts in at 1:40, but the intro in Hebrew is well worth it.)

Muslim Women in Germany blackmailing State Governments over Burqa ban

2011-02-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

One German State fighting back

by Eric Dondero

The German State of Hesse (Frankfurt in Western Germany), recently banned full-burqas for state workers out of a concern for safety. Muslim women are still permitted to wear burqas coming to and from work, and during lunch breaks. But on company time, they must keep their faces clear of any obstructions.

But that doesn't sit well with some Muslim extremists, even those working only part-time or on a temporary basis.

A new cottage industry had developed of Germany lawyers suing cash-strapped stated governments on religious discrimination grounds.

From The Local: German English News, Feb. 2:

The state of Hesse has banned the wearing of the burka – the Muslim dress that covers a woman’s face – by state employees during work hours, officials announced late Tuesday.

The decision was made by Interior Minister Boris Rhein in response to a worker at a local administrative office, or Bürgeramt, in Frankfurt who wanted to report for work wearing a burka.

What prompted the ban. Continuing:

“We have allowed her a couple more days to think about the situation,” said Frankfurt city head of personnel Markus Frank. “We want to relieve the pressure somewhat.”

The 39-year-old woman had the option of returning to work without her burka. Before she went on parenting leave, she wore a headscarf only.

But shortly before her scheduled return to work, she announced she wanted to wear a full burka on religious grounds. Daily Bild reported that there might be financial issues involved, as there had been discussion of a €40,000 settlement, though the woman’s lawyer had later talked of €18,000.

However Frank insisted the woman was not due for any kind of financial settlement. Nor is she being paid at the moment, because she is a part-time worker.

“We will not pay a cent of taxpayers’ money for this,” Frank said.

The city was following the clear rule that workers in the public service must make their faces visible. Frank said he hoped that the woman would think the matter over and return to work without the burka.

Thankfully, the state government is not backing down, and is working to protect the German taxpayer from such frivolous lawsuits.

Sami Enan: Could he be the man to take Mubarak's place?

2011-02-01T07:39:00.000-08:00

BREAKING NEWS...

From GulfNews.com "Armed forces chief seen as Mubarak successor":

Cairo: Egypt's armed forces chief of staff Sami Enan could be an acceptable successor to Hosni Mubarak because he is perceived as incorruptible, a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood said on Tuesday.

Kamel Al Helbawi, a prominent overseas cleric from Egypt's main opposition movement, told Reuters that Enan, who has good ties with Washington, was a liberal who could be seen as suitable by an opposition coalition taking shape on the streets of Egypt.

In a hopeful sign, Helbawi said of Enan, "he is not an Islamist."

Lt. Gen. Enan serves as Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces. He was recently in Washington for talks with the Pentagon on regional issues such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Iran.

Adds Reuters Jan. 28:

All four Egyptian presidents since then have come from the military, now led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, 75, who is defense minister and commander in chief.

Enan ranks below him but is one of the top military officers in Egypt and carries considerable clout

Egyptian Police battle Protesters on bridge in Cairo

2011-01-28T14:53:00.000-08:00

Raw Footage!

Released just hours ago...

Full coverage at main site LibertarianRepublican.net, including more video footage.

BREAKING NEWS!!!

Mubarek now says his Government "will step down"

Patriotic Canadians?

2011-01-25T04:51:00.000-08:00

From Eric Dondero:

The Conservative Party of Canada has released a new Ad critical of Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff ahead of expected Parliamentary elections in late Spring.

At issue, Ignatieff's Patriotism and disrespect for the Canadian flag and Canadian values.

Muslims riot against mural in Australia: Burqa controversy sparks violent protests

2011-01-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Aussie artist:

"The issue of visual identification is important here in Australia... The paint brush is mightier than the guy, or the sword."

AntiWar vs. Pro-Defense Libertarians

2011-01-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

"We don't ask the AntiWar swabs to go over there and fight. But at least, they can offer moral support"

by James Fryar, Australia

Generally libertarians tend to vary on foreign policy, from the extreme anti war, whatever that may mean, libertarians right through to pro defence types, which includes me. Noninterventionism is fine as a principle if you hold to it, however there is a strong element within that who seem to believe that this principle binds us to ignore the atrocities of the world on the basis of it being none of our business. This is wrong.

While it is reasonable to accept the idea of not sending troops to foreign countries, liberty is the rightful state of affairs for all mankind. At a time when public opinion is crippled by the tyranny of PC to the point where most of the 'mainstream' press simply ignore everything that could conceivably be thought vaguely if improbably possible to cause the slightest offence to the most radically extreme believer in any philosophy, no matter how ridiculous its foundation, some of us need to stand up for our beliefs.

Where injustice is seen we need to hold the blowtorch of visibility to its belly. We don't ask Cato, Reason, or the anti war swabs to go over there and fight but at least let the world outside our doors to see that supporters of the principle of liberty, are at least willing to offer moral support. That is of course if those entities can get past parsing the word 'moral' to see who can come up with the most binding definition.

Editor's note - Jim, an oil rig worker by trade, was a free market Liberal Party candidate for State Senate in Australia last year. His blog RealWorldLibertarian

Where's the rest of the libertarian movement on Radical Islam?

2011-01-14T05:56:00.001-08:00

Cato, Reason, and other libertarian groups completely ignoring the Threat of Radical Islam

Foreign Policy analysts Dr. Clifford May opines over at National Review: "The War Against the Christians
The most important story not being told" Jan. 13:
He writes:

Imagine if Muslims in Europe were being arrested for nothing more than peacefully practicing their religion. Imagine if Muslims in South America were being sentenced to death for “insulting” Jesus. Imagine if mosques were being bombed and burned by terrorists in a growing list of Christian-majority countries.

Now here’s what you don’t need to imagine because it is all too real: In recent days, Christian churches have been bombed in Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, and the Philippines. In Indonesia a mob of 1,000 Muslims burned down two Christian churches because, according to one commentator, local Islamic authorities determined there were “too many faithful and too many prayers.” In Iran, scores of Christians have been arrested. In Pakistan, a Christian woman received the death penalty for the “crime” of insulting Islam; the governor of Punjab promised to pardon her — and was then assassinated for the “crime” of blasphemy.

I could provide dozens more examples of the persecution and, in many cases, “cleansing” of Christians in what we have come to call the Muslim world...

Radical Islam presents the absolute Greatest Threat to Liberty in our Lifetimes

LibertarianRepublican.net and Worldwide Liberty in which I serve as Editor are two political websites that have been telling the story. Within the last week alone, LR has run stories on:

Labour MP: Pakistanis raping British Girls rampant in UK

Police in Britain too "frightened" of PC to arrest Pakistani men raping British Girls

Muslim police officer guns down 6 Christians on Egyptian Train - Female victims not wearing Burqas

South Sudan votes for Independence like our own fight for Independence in 1776

Islamist attackers hack to death 13 Christians in Nigeria

Radical Muslim conquest of Somalia near complete

Cato jumped on the demise of the Soviet Union, but refuses to promote Liberty in the Middle East

Clifford May is correct in questioning the liberal media, and there serious lack of coverage of these vastly important stories. But he misses the libertarian media.

Where's Reason on the rise of Islamo-Fascism? Where's the Cato Institute and their daily blog? The Libertarian Party? Influential libertarian pundit sites like The Agitator, Liberty Papers, The Daily Libertarian, Nolan Chart?

Of course, numerous other left-leaning libertarian sites completely avoid the subject for obvious reasons; sites like AntiWar.com, LewRockwell.com, and many of the Ron Paul sites. To talk of the threat of Radical Islam, would bring up the uncomfortable subject of what to do about it, for these hardline non-interventionist/isolationists.

But Cato, Reason? Why are they taking a head-in-the sand approach on Islamo-Fascism? They proclaim to be consistently Pro-Liberty, but how can we have liberty if Sharia Law is being shoved down our throats?

And Cato has no leg to stand on in this regard. For, in the early 1990s, they sent an entire delegation of free market economists and policy analysts to the former Soviet Union to promote freedom-oriented policies, at considerable expense. Why aren't they doing the same now in the Muslim world, sending libertarian scholars and policy analysists over the Middle East to promote Ayn Rand, Hayek, and other free marketeers?

LibertarianRepublican.net is virtually the only libertarian website giving coverage to the threat of Radical Islam. In fairness, Reason touches on the subject once in a great while, when it overlaps with free speech concerns such as the Danish cartoonist and South Park controversies. But that's it.

Yes Clifford May, the liberal media is purposely avoiding coverage of Radical Muslim violence against Christians. But the libertarian media is just as absent. It just doesn't fit the template.

Indian News reports on America's first female Indian-America Governor

2011-01-13T05:10:00.001-08:00

NIKKI HALEY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Sworn in on Tuesday, as the Palmetto State's new Republican governor.

FRANCE: A "resurgence" of Car Fires set by Muslim Youth

2011-01-01T04:27:00.000-08:00

From Eric Dondero:

From AFP, "Les Français fêtent le passage à 2011 sous le signe des mesures de sécurité" Jan. 1, 2011:

The French Government has decided not to report the total number of car fires set across France for the annual New Years riots. Muslim Immigrant Youth from North Africa and the Middle East, each New Year take to the streets and burn vehicles owned by French citizens. In 2009, the total number for the year was 1,300. In 2010, the number was 1,400.

From the French blog The Buzz:

New Year's Eve 2011 will involve nearly 53,000 police officers. The French state like many other countries feared terrorist threats... this risk remains high.

In addition... the "traditional" cars that are burnt during this New Year's Eve... The car fires usually occur in Ile de France and in French cities like Paris, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg.

Yet, scattered reports are coming out. One official is quoted in a major news source as suggesting that in the city of Lille there has been an "escalation" of burnings.

This year, officials have received a stern warning from Minister of the Interior chief Brice Hortefeux not to report a count of the burned cars.

In northern France, rescue services, who reported "unusual quiet" a little before midnight for New Year's Eve, recorded around 3:30 a resurgence of car fires in all departments.

"It is mostly occupied by lights of vehicles, in the Lille metropolitan area, "he told AFP a fire official North, confirming statements made by its counterparts in other departments of the region. "From home to home, we feel an escalation in the fire," said another officer of the emergency services department.

Translation by Eric Dondero, fluent French speaker.

Encore Presentation: Minnesotans for Global Warming

2010-12-27T09:37:00.001-08:00

From Eric Dondero:

Yes, I know. This is from last year. But with the East Coast covered in one of the worst blizzards of the decade, and Ireland having set a record for the coldest day ever in history, it seems mighty appropriate.

As for Minnesota? Well, they're still waiting for all that Global Warming to arrive.

Enjoy!

How is Global Warming treating you?

2010-12-27T09:30:00.000-08:00

Special Guest Post: From Turtle MacBride

It’s one thing for the climatologists to say that Global Warming will cause the oceans to rise, endanger the polar bear, usher-in category 3 or above tropical storms, and destroy the economy. It’s another thing for Global Warming to cause the roof of the Minnesota Metrodome to collapse and force an NFL game to be re-scheduled. Now, we’re talking football!

How does Global Warming cause the Metrodome to collapse? By causing an early snowstorm. Global Warming is like that. It causes warming, cooling, increased variation of temperature and decreased variation. As scientific theories go, it’s bullet-proof. It’s consistent with any development. And, if any predicted catastrophe fails to materialize, no problem, a new prediction will replace it. If the polar bears aren’t endangered, don’t worry about that any more, we’ve got the price of corn rising. And, if one awful season of tropical storms isn’t followed by another, a massive oil spill will take the place of tropical storm activity.

Just remember this: Gaya, the earth god, is angry at us. This is evident in the well-documented rise in earthquake and volcanic activity over the past several hundred years. From the day that George Stephenson invented the railroad locomotive, the Gaya knew we humans were going to unlock the carbon she had labored to sequester in the forms of coal and oil. She knew what was going to happen and expressed her displeasure in the only way she could; but, did we listen?

Same thing with Ra, the sun god, majestic in his daily commute across our sky. His followers dutifully note the pattern of dark areas or “sun spots” on his surface. Their recordings reveal an eleven-year pattern. But, from time to time, there are no sun spots. The last prolonged period of no sun spot activity was followed by the Little Ice Age. Although the Little Ice Age was once denied by the climatologists, because it is no longer denied, we can now ask why Ra was angry at us. And, what are we to make of the current lack of sun spot activity?

Which brings me to the recent gathering of the U.N. climate people at Cancun, Mexico, and the last remaining controversy of climate science: how much the rich nations of the world have to give to the poor nations. Never mind that the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are not the rich nations, but are the middle-income nations, like China, India and Brazil. Apparently, the rich nations have to make the payments for the same reason that Willie Sutton robs banks, because “That’s where the money is.”

And, don’t you just love how sanctimonious are the leaders of the poor nations, always with their hands out, never getting about the business of reforming their economies so their people can enjoy the kind of economic growth being enjoyed by the middle-income nations of the world. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, says we’re immoral for having such a vibrant economy and complains that we don’t give enough to the poor. Isn’t that like a born-again pimp slapping his prostitute for not coming across enough money, while criticizing her for the way she earns it?

It all goes back to the first Star Trek movie, doesn’t it? “Vger” has returned and is going to cleanse the earth of the carbon-based units.

Captain Kirk, where are you now that we really need you?

Fiji Water to leave Fiji over tax hike from government

2010-11-29T06:01:00.000-08:00

From Eric Dondero:

More proof tax increases are not the best way to keep successful businesses in a state or in this case a country. They do vote with their feet.

From Fox News "Bottled water firm closing namesake Fiji business":

SUVA, Fiji – Fiji Water on Monday closed its operations in the South Pacific country that gives the popular bottled drink its name, saying it was being singled out by the military appointed government for a massive tax increase.

A company statement announcing the decision did not say whether the company was shutting down permanently in Fiji, where an acquifer deep underground has been the source of one of the world's most popular bottled water brands.

The company, owned by California entrepreneurs Lynda and Stewart Resnick, said it was closing its facility in Fiji, canceling orders from suppliers and putting on hold several construction contracts in the country.

Predictably, the Fiji government is now scrambling to do whatever is necessary to keep the company in-country.

The North Korea stand-off: Order of Battle

2010-11-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

By Clifford F. Thies

The latest in a series of provocations committed by North Korea requires consideration of all options. We know that North Korea cannot maintain its lunatic system forever. Eventually it will collapse. Indeed, it has been for some time now in a state of slow collapse. The policy of South Korea, of being ever vigilant militarily, is designed to support peaceful reunification by removing the option of conquering a new host upon which the North’s socialist system can act as a parasite. We implemented this strategy in Europe and achieved an enormous victory symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall. This remains our hope for Korea. Even so, we may need to imagine the unimaginable.

The sheer numbers for North Korea’s military forces are daunting: 1 million men organized into 20 army corps with associated supporting units and a reserve force of 7 million. Against this, South Korea has “only” 650,000 troops and a reserve force of 3 million.

First of all, South Korea’s military is not small. Its army is larger than ours. No, I didn’t say larger than the part of our army that is stationed in South Korea. I said larger than ours.

Second, the South Korean military is well-trained, well led, and equipped with contemporary weapons. North Korea may have about 3,500 main battle tanks, but these are mostly T-54s and T-62s. These were very good tanks when they were in production, but that was a long time ago. Today, they are no match for current generation main battle tanks. South Korea has 2,400 main battle tanks. These are mostly K1s, a somewhat down-sized version of our M-1 Abrams tank. We saw, in the Persian Gulf War, what well-trained units equipped with M-1s were able to do against an army of, shall I say, a varied state of readiness equipped with T-54s and T-62s.

With regard to air forces, South Korea should be able, operating on its own, to wrest air superiority from North Korea, and certainly would be able with the aid of certain U.S. Air Force assets. The mainstays of the South Korean air force are the F-15 and F-16. Although no longer in production, these warplanes remain air superiority aircraft. Nearly 200 F-15s and F-16s would be arrayed against about 150 MiG 21s. The F-15s and F-16s would be backed-up by about 300 F-4s and F-5s.

The MiG 21 was a creditable aircraft for its day, especially when sortied against war planes already long in the tooth. The Indian and North Vietnamese air forces achieved considerable success with the plane, against F-105s and such flown by the Pakistani air force and the U.S. air force and naval air during the India-Pakistan War and Viet Nam War. The MiG 21 came up short, however, when the U.S. deployed newer model fighters over North Viet Nam. It was also out-matched when flown by various Arab air forces against the Isreali air force. In the North Yemen-South Yemen war, Soviet pilots flying the MiG-21 for South Yemen were likewise out-matched by Republic of China pilots flying F-5s for North Yemen. The Iranian air force, flying F-5s, initially inflicted heavy losses on the Iraqi air force, flying MiG-21s, during the Iran-Iraq war, until the revolutionary government of Iran got crazy and the Soviets came to the rescue of their client state in Iraq.

Almost the entire active duty force of North Korea is deployed near the DMZ separating North from South Korea. They are well dug-in and probably could not be displaced except at a very high cost. As to whether this military force can deployed, either to the south or the north, is another question. Were South Korea to attain air superiority, any attempt to maneuver might be tantamount to suicide.

The rear area of North Korea is defended by the reserves, involving practically every adult person. High school, in North Korea, involves mostly indoctrination and military training. Graduates are organized into rear area units. Supposedly, the countryside is defended by the people, Swiss-style, organized into local militias. But, with mass starvation in the country, nobody can be sure of the loyalties of the people. The option of by-passing North Korea’s modern day Maginot Line would be in play were the balloon to go up.

The proximity of the densely populated areas of South Korea to the North-South demarcation line necessitates concern for rocket and artillery attacks on civilians as a terrorist tactic. This is probably the most fearsome aspect of an actual confrontation between the North and the South. Yet, such attacks would not be without cost to the North, as the possibility of a negotiated return to the status quo would be jeopardized as the South would likely commit itself to bearing even a very high cost to achieve reunification and an end to the madness that is North Korea.

French Defense League is fighting back against Islamist assault

2010-11-22T16:08:00.001-08:00

Stop a la Cherie! C'est mon droit!

Radical Islamists have taken to the streets of Paris and other major urban areas across France, to hold mass Muslim pray-ins. The demonstrations disrupt pedestrian trafic and local commerce. Now the French Defense League is issuing a warning to future Islamist demonstrators, to cease and desist, or face the consequences.

Frenchmen are uniting to repulse the rising Islamist threat.

The LDF proclaims on their website they are neither bigoted nore xenophobic. They wish to preserve centuries-old French culture and their Nation.

Puerto Ricans went for Rubio in Florida

2010-11-12T02:36:00.000-08:00

A shift to the GOP for La Gente de la Isla?

Some indications that Puerto Ricans in Florida voted for Cuban-American Marco Rubio in larger numbers, than typically seen for Republicans.

From the Wall Street Journal "Rubio Republicans":

Marco Rubio won 40% of the non-Cuban Hispanic vote in Florida (and 55% of the overall Hispanic vote) and ran effective Spanish-language ads describing what the American dream means for immigrants.

Pew reports that 32% of Florida Hispanic voters are Puerto Rican.

PewHispanic.org pdf

The Chinese owning America in 2030?

2010-10-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

Massive National Debt owned by the People's Republic

(Mandarin Chinese with English translation.)

Germany's Angela Merkel stands up for Western Values

2010-10-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

Immigrants are welcome, but should assimilate

by Clifford F. Thies

Angela Merkel has moved a bit to the right on immigration, saying that immigrants to her country should learn German and adopt to the values of that place. Immigrants should obey the law, not Sharia, she says. Multi-cultural has failed in terms of leaving immigrants unemployed and isolated from others in society, she says.

All across the world, people are getting fed up with anti-westernism, anti-capitalism and anti-semitism passed off as multi-culturism. They are also fed up with the ideas that minorities should get affirmative action and special privileges, that we can't rebuilt a church destroyed during the attacks of 9-11 but they can build a mosque, that Christianity cannot be accomodated at workplaces but Islam can, that Christmas needs to be taken off the school calendar and Eid added to it, that immigrants qualify for social security and a long list of welfare benefits without ever having paid into the system, that girls must be returned to parents who abuse them according to our laws because that is their tradition, that certain people can where masks in public for religious reasons, when this is against our laws, and they can even be masked when on the witness stand in court in spite of our long-standing, common law and Constitutional right to confront the witness!

Germany now joins the other Germanic countries of central Eruope in asserting that our dearest values to include equality before the law are not to be pissed away because of liberal self-loathing, The Germans, along with the Scandinavians and the French, are now taking a stand. What about the English and the English-tradition countries of the world?

Reference Reuters article

Bizarre statement from Prime Minister Cameron on libertarians and Tea Party

2010-10-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

From Eric Dondero:

We're big fans of the Tories and David Cameron here at Worldwide Liberty. But we find this statement of his on America's lurch to the Tea Party right, just downright inexplicable.

From the New Statesman "Cameron, the Tea Party and a little backbench problem" Oct. 2:

Later, I would ask him what he thinks of American conservatism's lurch to the libertarian extreme. "How shall I put this? We seem to have drifted apart ... there is an element of American conservatism that is headed in a very culture war direction, which is just different. There are differences with the American right."

Is the Prime Minister unaware that the Tea Party is stridently un-social issues oriented, and goes out of its way to downplay the social issues agenda in favor of fiscal conservatism?

The Tory Party has its own libertarian wing of Daniel Hannan and London Mayor Boris Johnson, ironically friends of the Prime Minister.

Perhaps the quote is taken out of context. Perhaps the Prime Minister misunderstood the jist of the question. We strugle here to find and explanation, for this truly unfortunate statement from a gentleman we both admire and respect.

CNN Translator blows it: Describes Ahmadinejad speech criticizing libertarian economics as "liberal economics"

2010-09-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

From Eric Dondero:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered his speech to the United Nations this morning. Here is how CNN described and translated an excerpt of the speech:

United Nations (CNN) -- Attending a United Nations session on alleviating world poverty Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed capitalism for the world's woes.

"The demanding liberal capitalism and transnational corporations have caused the suffering of countless women, men and children in so many countries," Ahmadinejad said at a U.N. General Assembly session on the Millennium Development Goals.

"It is my firm belief that in the new millennium, we need to revert to the divine mindset, to our true nature for which man was created and, indeed, to the just and fair governance," he said.

The translation in Persian (Farsi) for libertarian/free market economics is:

اقتصاد لیبرال

Which can be easily confused with the definition of "liberal economics," more commonly thought of as left or socialist, state-control of the economy.

اقتصاد لیبرال

With 90% of votes counted in Sweden: Center-right short by 2 seats

2010-09-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

by Clifford Thies

173 seats for center-right parties (175 needed for an outright majority) 156 for left parties 20 for Swedish Democrats

The four-party center-right government has increased its share of the vote, and these parties and the populist-right Swedish Democrats together achieved a 10-point victory over the left parties; but, the final outcome of the Swedish election is not yet known.

As both the center-right and the left have ruled out working with the Swedish Democrats, each side is floating concepts for so-called purple, red-blue or blue-red coalitions.

The current prime minister the country and the leader of the largest center-right party, Fredrik Reinfeldt, says he will explore bringing the small left of center Green Party into the ruling coalition. The leader of the Green Party, in turn, dismissed the offer, and suggested that the small centrist Center and Liberal Parties join the left parties.

As this blog has been suggesting the past several months, the center-right can do in Sweden what the center-right has done recently in Denmark and the Netherlands, which is to rule in the minority with"support" from the populist-right.

The alternative is for the voters in Sweden to be betrayed by deal-making by politicians, as just happened in Australia. That is, where the left parties organized government even though the center-right scored more votes, The difference is that, in Australia, margin in the two-party vote was very narrow. In Sweden, the margin is 10 friggin' points.

Google - Verizon reach compromise agreement on Net Neutrality

2010-09-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

BLOGGER NEWS

The Google-Verizon proposal finds a middle-ground on the highly controversial issue of net-neutrality. Those who fear a government takeover of the network may now be able to breath a sigh of relief.

From AOL News:

Google and Verizon made big headlines when they announced they were teaming up to offer a framework for regulating broadband networks. On one hand, this isn't that big a deal since it's not binding and doesn't have the force of law behind it. On the other, it's a huge deal since it marks the end of the so-called "net neutrality" debate.

And for that we should all offer hearty thanks.

As a major network provider, Verizon had never been keen on proposed net neutrality rules that would regulate its broadband services. Google, meanwhile, had been one of the biggest backers of net neutrality regulations. They wanted to make sure that no other companies could interfere with their relationship with their users and believed net neutrality regulations would help.

But "net neutrality" was never more than a vague concept that meant totally different things to different people.

Consider an analogy. Instead of network neutrality, imagine imposing "road neutrality" regulations on streets, boulevards and highways. To some people, this might mean getting rid of speed limits, traffic signals, stop signs and other measures that adjust the flow of traffic. This would rightly strike most people as silly. On the other hand, maybe it means permitting all cars on the roads even if they have a bad paint job or tacky rims that some people find in poor taste. This would rightly strike most people as sensible.

The same problem has plagued "net neutrality" from the start. Absent a coherent meaning for the concept, most debate participants have been arguing past each other for years.

If two giants of the broadband age who had been at loggerheads on this issue can team up in an effort to craft policy, maybe that means we can bury "net neutrality" once and for all, and get back to where we should have been all along -- which is discussing the merits of various forms of regulation of broadband networks.

On Christine O'Donnell, Christianity & Masturbation

2010-09-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

On MSNBC, Christine O'Donnell she was asked about masturbation. This was part of "gotcha" journalism. She took the bait instead of saying that her views on personal matters are not an issue in the campaign. She said, “If he’s gonna take care of himself, what am I doing here.”

Her statement has been mischaracterized as saying masturbation per se is a sin, when the context was a married man. Christine wants sex to bring the couple together. This means that each reserves himself for the other, and does not deny himself to the other. Paul, in the New Testament, says that a couple should only avoid sex "for a time." In the Old Testament, a man owes his wife "the duty of marriage." In the Torah, it is said that refraining from sex should be at most for aweek. In a traditional Jewish marriage, a man cannot even take a job that takes him away from his family for extended periods of time without his wife's consent. The point is this: in the ideal marriage, the couple are completely intertwined, physically, financially, emotionally, they lust for each other, they love each other, and they are the best friends of each other.

But, what if a person finds himself in a marriage that falls short of this ideal What if, for example, one of the parties has problems with his sexuality? I think it's best that I just say things get very complicated very fast. This is why the libertarian rule is the best: Not only the government but all of us should respect the privacy of others. You simply don't know what other people are dealing with. And, this goes for our candidates for high public office. Don't take the bait. Don't discuss what, in your opinion, are the moral sexual acts, the moral frequency of sex, the moral length of anybody's hair, or dress, or manners. Instead, you should uphold the legitimacy of all choices that people make that are lawful and, without regard to what our laws should be, they should respect the right to privacy.

O'Donnell's statement on MSNBC was also mischaracterized as showing that she is some kind of Christian fundamentalist and, thus, unfit for public office. She, supposedly, was calling masturbation sinful because of the Old Testament story of Onan. To the elite, it's o.k. to be a fundamentalist Muslim as long as nobody over-reacts to the occasional suicide bombing or honor killing, but - God Forbid! - anybody should actually believe in the Bible. The story of Onan was about a man who was supposed to marry his brother's widow (part of God's plan to provide for unmarried women, now we have welfare). This was for them to be married by men who were able to marry them, even polygamously. This way these women could have children who could, after they were raised, take care of them in their old age (now we
have Social Security, so don't anybody worry too much about your aged parents). Onan married his brother's wife, but withdrew from her before climax and denied her children. How was this woman, who was obedient to God's Law in being marrying Onan, to be taken care of in her old age?

The story of Onan is a bit removed from the circumstances of today and difficult even for preachers to address. It is simultaneously titillating and socially repulsive. Political candidates should just avoid it altogether.

Mark Kirk candidato para Senador - Estado de Illinois

2010-09-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

Republicano para menos impuestoa para la gente.

Exploding the Liberal lie of Somalia the "Libertarian Paradise"

2010-09-14T04:31:00.000-07:00

by Eric Dondero

Clever tricksters those on the American Left. They're quite crafty with production of YouTube videos, as well. And one could say, even craftier wordsmiths when it comes to their propoganda.

We've all seen the hilarious YouTube video from 2009 that went viral: "Somalia; Libertarian Paradise." Well-produced. Snarky, silly and condescending.

It was produced by MTV and Second City comic actor Andy Cobb of Los Angeles. It's got over 300,000 views to date. Cobb is best known for his 2008 series of John McCain bashing videos featuring hip hop artists making fun of McCain's age and military service.

But the video uses a clever trick that hardly anyone, who is unfamiliar with the region, would be aware of. And how many Americans ever visit Somalia?

The government of Somaliland does indeed have some generally libertarian, hands-off, pro-business economic policies.

The government (if you can call it that?) of Somalia, most certainly does not.

What's the difference? Somaliland has been autonomous since 1993. It is the region fully to the northwest of the area known as Somalia. (There are some border disputes in the eastern part of Somaliland with Somalia itself). It is for all intents and purposes and entirely separate Nation. Though for a variety of political reasons, mainly failure of UN recognition, it is still considered to be part of Somalia.

Somalia consists of the area to the south and east. It is now nearly entirely controlled by the extreme authoritarians and Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabab.

Excerpted from East Africa Forum "Adopt policies of peaceful Somaliland" Sept. 5:

Somalia is known for two things: its pirates and its Islamic militants.

Somalia’s transitional federal government hangs on by a thread in Mogadishu. Despite several years of international support, including an African Union peacekeeping force, its authority remains tenuous.

Somaliland, a peaceful enclave in northern Somalia, offers some valuable lessons. The autonomous area is not recognized by the international community, but it recently held successful presidential elections

Somaliland is a small success story within the larger failed state of Somalia.

Somaliland’s business community has been instrumental in the formation of political institutions; it has lent money to the government, funded the security forces and financed peace conferences.

When Somaliland’s political institutions were established, preventing a powerful centralized government was very important to the population. As a result, Somaliland has a decentralized governance structure that allows individual districts to retain 10 percent of their customs collection.

Get it? Somalia. Somaliland. Big difference. One is generally laid back, laissez-faire, and yes, even slightly libertarian. The other is Islamist, murderous, brutal, and almost wholly authoritarian.

So, the next time some Leftist smirks, "Ahh, you Libertarians want everyone to live like in no-tax, total free market anarchy Somalia. Set the record straight.

Somalia. Somaliland. We Libertarians favor Somaliland, and fiercely oppose Somalia.

Sweden: With 1 week to go, center-right surges to 10 point lead

2010-09-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

The center-right is poised for yet another victory in the forthcoming national election in Sweden. The center-right parties, to include the four parties of the current ruling coalition plus the Swedish Democrats, are poised for a double-digit margin over the parties of the left. The margin is large enough to preclude quirks in the process from throwing the result to the left as recently happened in Australia and Norway.

Leading the center-right parties is the Moderate Party, a self-styled post-socialist party, that has emerged in this campaign as the nation's largest party, overtaking the long dominant Social Democrat Party. The Moderate Party argues that a robust system of social insurance can be had along with a vibrant market-oriented economy and reinvigorated family and community life. The cogency of this argument, along with the country's relatively successful weathering of the global recession, has catapulted it and the center-right into very strong electoral position. The other side of this success is the splintering of the left parties. The shriveling of the Social Democrats and the growing strength of the radical left is leaving the country without a meaningful political spectrum. What's left of the left when the right rationalizes social insurance?

Also demonstrating strength in the polls in the Swedish Democratic Party. Described as an anti-Islamic Party, it is a populist right-wing party. It advocates policies designed to assimilate immigrants into Swedish life rather than maintain them, through welfare benefits, in enclaves. It is aligned with similar parties in Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland, ranging in size from barely reaching the threshold for representation in their national parliament to being the largest party in their country. If the polls are correct, the current four-party center-right coalition won't need the support of the Swedish Democrats to maintain power. But, should one of the parties fail to make the threshold, the other three might look to the Swedish Democrats for support, as the ruling center-right coalitions have done in Denmark and the Netherlands.

Geert Wilder speech in New York City - No Ground Zero Mosque

2010-09-11T16:24:00.000-07:00

From Dutch TV, Geert Wilders Member of Parliament and leader of the Party For Freedom (PVV), speaks to about 3,000 at a rally against Islamization of America at Ground Zero.

Swedish Elections: Ad by Social Democrats critical of Islamists banned on airwaves

2010-09-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

From Cliff Thies:

Here is the ad (with English subtitles) by the Swedish Democrats that has been banned in Sweden. It argues that immigrants (in burqas) threaten the social insurance system of the country.

Recent polls show the current four-party center-right government to be headed to a something like 50 percent, the Soclal Democrats and their left-wing allies to something in the low 40s, and the Swedish Democrats to about 4. Whether the Swedish Democrats hit the four percent mark, the minimum for representation in the Swedish
parliament, appears to be somewhat in doubt. For that matter, the Christian Democrats, one of the four parties in the ruling coalition, are indicated to be only slightly over the 4 percent hurdle.

The center-left is not holding together in Sweden, repeating a trend observed elsewhere in Europe. The hard-left parties are growing at the center-left's expense. The Social Democrats, once the country's largest party, has now fallen into second place, behind the surging Moderate Party. Here, in the U.S., a similar phenomenon manifests itself as the rise of radical leftists within the Democratic Party, with what remains of the Blue Dogs and centrist Democrats increasingly alienated within their party.

WSJ reports Australian independents may throw support to Labor

2010-09-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

by Clifford F. Thies

Strange as it might sound, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the three conservative independents may throw their support to Labor, enabling a Labor, now in coalition with the Greens, to continue to rule the country. If this were to happen, the will of the people, to shift the country to the center-right will be frustrated. As to whether it will happen, the Journal says we should know by Tuesday.

The three independents, all former members of the National Party, are not particularly enamored with the relatively free-market policies of the Liberal Party. In spite of the effects of Labor-Green policies on the overall Australian economy and especially in the rural regions of the country, these lawmakers appear interested more in the spending side of the government budget than in the taxing side. Labor's promise of government-provided broadband may turn out to be Australia's "bridge to nowhere." We all cannot live at the expense of somebody else.

Australia's Family First Party goes Socialist for Elections

2010-08-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

Right-wing party elects socialist Senator in Victoria, Australia

by Clifford F. Thies

Run-off elections, proportional representation, preference voting and other alternative to "first past the gate" voting are thought to be more robust with respect to matching election outcomes to voters' true preferences. However, some of the alternative systems of voting have their own problems. In the U.S., the most recent, dramatic illustration of the problem of "third-party siphoning" in first past the gate voting was the award of Florida to George W. Bush in 2000, because Ralph Nader drew more left-of-center votes away from Al Gore than the conservative and libertarian party candidates drew away from Bush. Perhaps not as dramatically, the most recent illustration of the problem of proportional representation voting with a significant threshold was in Norway this year, where the center-right parties received more of the popular vote than the center-left parties, but lost the election because one of the center-right parties failed to reach the threshold. In the just conducted Australian voting one of the problems with preference voting was illustrated in the election of a socialist Senator from Victoria, Australia,

Each of the states of Australia elected twelve Senators. They are elected six at a time, for overlapping, fixed terms. In each state, the six are decided by preference voting. First, the candidates of all parties reaching the number of votes equal to the "quota" for election are elected. Typically, this is two from the center-right and two from the center-left. To fill the remaining seats, parties are eliminated, one at a time, from the bottom, with their votes being allocated to the remaining parties according to the preferences stated by the party. This is where there is often some mischief. Many of the leaders of the small parties despise the major parties and would rather see any other minor party win the election, including minor parties that are at the opposite side of the political spectrum. Thus, the Family First Party - a small, social conservative party - named the Democratic Socialists as preferred to the Liberal-National Coalition. As a result, when the Family First Party got eliminated in round 23 of vote-counting in determining the Senators elected from Victoria, its votes were shifted across the middle of the political spectrum, to the remaining party that stood for exactly the opposite of what the preferences of their voters' true preferences.

The symbol of Family First is a bishop's mitre, a fitting symbol for their holier-than-thou, self-righteousness attitude, and the need for a tall hat to hide their pin-heads.

Republicans losing support on the Birther issue

2010-08-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

by Eric Dondero

In early July, the Executive Committee of the Clayton County GOP, the home County for Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport, voted to endorse Libertarian Party candidate Chuck Donovan, over incumbent Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson. At issue, Isakson's refusal to acknowledge discrepencies with Obama's birth certificate, and questions regarding his eligibility to hold the office of the Presidency.

Bob Chiperly with the Augusta Chronicle, editorialized on Wednesday, "Senators drag feet on Obama birth issue":

There is discontent within the Clayton County Republican Party Committee. It concerns support for our Georgia senators.

The gist of the disagreement revolves around President Obama's eligibility to hold office, and that neither senator has taken any action concerning this violation of the Constitution. The Constitution requires that a U.S. citizen be a "natural born" citizen to hold the office of president. Obama's birth fails to meet this requirement.

On July 7, a motion was put forward by the members of the CCGOP to withdraw support for Sen. Johnny Isakson because of "his failure to vet and to stand up for us concerning the eligibility of Barack Obama." The Constitution clearly defines a "natural born" citizen. Both parents have to be U.S. citizens. Not so in Obama's case. The article on The Post & Email Web site says that the CCGOP voted to endorse Libertarian Chuck Donovan for the U.S. Senate seat over incumbent Isakson.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss also was contacted regarding the eligibility of Obama. The CCGOP member says that he was "thwarted at every attempt" to find out if Obama actually is eligible.

The article charges that Johnny Isakson (and Chambliss) have failed to uphold their constitutional oath of office.

I also have contacted both senators with specific details, and asked that they uphold their oath and conduct the congressional oversight they are tasked with. They continue to ignore us. Both of these senators should be removed from office.

The Clayton County GOP became the first local Republican organization in Georgia, and quite possibly in the entire United States, ever to officially back a third party candidate for Senate. The move received coverage on internet sites, and conservative forums, but was largely ignored by the major media.

The recounting of the exact details of the meeting where the endorsement was made appeared at LibertarianRepublican.net on Aug. 4.

Donovan reacted to the news:

I was told by Clayton County GOP members after the fact, that a vote had taken place to withdraw their support of incumbent Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, and to endorse my candidacy for U.S. Senator. For months, I have been asking Georgia voters to put party and politics aside and to focus on principals. These Georgians have done just that, and I am very pleased to receive their recognition. If all Georgia voters were to consider the American principals of individual rights, fiscal responsibility, and limited government first, they would find they really cannot vote for any other candidate in this race.

The coverage on the right internet forums and websites, may have had an impact. It now appears that a great many other Georgia Republicans and constitutionalist conservative may be following the lead of Clayton County.

A new poll was just released this morning which finds, Libertarian Party candidate Chuck Donovan with 7% support statewide. Previously, he did not even register on any public polling.

From Ballot Access News:

On August 19, an Insider/Advantage/WSB-TV poll was released for the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races in Georgia. For U.S. Senate, the poll shows: Republican Johnny Isakson 47%; Democrat Michael Thurmond 35%; Libertarian Chuck Donovan 7%; undecided 11%.

For Governor, the same poll shows: Republican Nathan Deal 45%; Democrat Roy Barnes 41%; Libertarian John Monds 5%; undecided 9%.

In the entire history of popular elections for U.S. Senate in Georgia, only one candidate for that office who was not the Republican nominee nor the Democratic nominee has ever received more than 5% of the vote. That was in 1920. An independent candidate that year, Harry Edwards, polled 5.10%. Edwards was the only opponent of the Democratic nominee, Thomas Watson.

The best Libertarian Party showing for U.S. Senate in Georgia was in 1996, when Jack Cashin polled 3.60%.

Donovan has expressed no opinions on the Birth Certificate issue one way or the other. But so long as Libertarian Party and Constritution Party candidates on the ballot for November, remain open to arguments questioning the legitimacy of Obama's Presidency, the Republican Party could see a loss on its right flank in some critical races.

China a "libertarian paradise"

2010-08-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

From Eric Dondero:

Now, that's something you don't hear often, the word "libertarian" associated with the People's Republic of China. But ultra-liberal columnist Joe Klein at Time this morning has a piece, "A Big, Big Story" on Chinese worker revolts against corporate owners. He accuses China of having very few regulations on business and the work environment. Something we libertarians would indeed find quite attractive.

From Time:

an absolutely crucial story--one that may have tremendous impact on our economy in the long-term--is taking place in China: the revolt of Chinese workers, in industry after industry, against the squalid working conditions and lousy benefits. The New York Times has been doing a good job of watching this. Today's installment is about a protest by bank workers who've been downsized.

Why is this important? Because China is, in effect, a libertarian paradise for employers. The application of environmental and job safety rules is spotty to non-existent. If the workers get angry enough, the so-called "communist" government--which fears chaos more than anything else--may have to respond with something more than the usual violence...that is, an actual social safety net

Tuesday's Primary Elections here in the U.S.

2010-08-11T08:37:00.001-07:00

Colorado Bucks the Establishment

McMahon bodyslams Simmons in Connecticut

In Georgia, with 99% of the vote counted, it’s still too close to call

From Cliff Thies:

In Georgia, where the primary turned into a proxy war between possible rivals for the 2012 GOP nomination, Newt-backed Nathan Deal is ever so slightl;y ahead of Sarah-backed Karen Handel in a nearly complete but unoffical tally of the vote, in the run-off election for the Republican nomination for Governor. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Deal leads Handel 50.2 to 49.8 percent. There is no discernable pattern to incomplete results by county; so, it is unlikely that the votes yet counted will reverse these results. But, these results are unofficial, and – given the closeness of this result – we may only know the winner of this race when the vote count is official. In the end, Deal’s more consistent record as a social conservative may have been the difference.

In Colorado, Ken Buck, the candidate of the Tea Party, won a clear but not overwhelming victory over Jane Norton. He will go on to face Democrat U.S. Senator Michael Bennett, an appointee, in this fall’s election. Norton, emerged as the establishment candidate. A former, statewide officeholder, Norton raised a lot of her campaign funds in Washington, D.C., and was endorsed by Senator John McCain. She called on her supporters to get back to work to take back the country and to support Buck in the general election. Buck is part of the groundswell in the country known as the Tea Party movement. He was not hurt by describing those who dwell on the issue of President Obama’s birth certificate as dumbasses.

Also in Colorado, fellow Tea Partier Dan Maes appears to have bested U.S. Congressman Scott McInnis for the Republican nomination for Governor. McInnis was clearly hurt by the revelation that much of a series of reports he handed in to a think tank, for which he was paid $300,000, was plagiarized. Maes will face Denver Mayor, Democrat John Hickenlooper in the general election.

In Connecticut, Linda McMahon, co-founder of the WWF, scored a surprisingly big victory against former U.S. Congressman Rob Simmons and income tax-protestor Peter Schiff. Before coming on stage to make her victory speech, the lights in the hall were dimmed, spotlights raced across the crowd, “The Eye of the Tiger” blared over the loudspeakers, and a man in a tuxedo walked up to the microphone to say, “Introduing your 2010 Republican candidate for United States Senator, Linda ‘co-founder of the WWF’ McMahon.” She will go on to face state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in a cage match for the right to wear the U.S. Senator belt. The event will be available on Pay-Per-View throughout 80 percent of the country.

Fmr. Conservative President of Mexico calls for Drug Legalization

2010-08-10T04:41:00.001-07:00

From Eric Dondero:

Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, with the conservative Partido Accion National (PAN), has officially come out for the legalization of drugs.

From Bloomberg:

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said his country should legalize the production and sale of drugs in order to curb rising cartel-related violence.

Legalizing narcotics would curtail funding to organized crime groups, who are using profits from the drug trade to consolidate power, Fox wrote yesterday on his personal website.

“Radical prohibition strategies have never worked,” Fox said. “The cost of the fight against organized crime, and in particular narcotics trafficking, has been enormous in our country.”

The drug war has killed 28,000 people in Mexico since late 2006, when President Felipe Calderon entered office vowing to take on the cartels, according to data from the government intelligence agency, known as CISEN. That’s keeping tourists away and limiting foreign direct investment, Fox said.

Fox said in a July 28 interview with Bloomberg Television that the U.S. as well as Mexico were responsible for the violence.

Editor's Note - I had the pleasure of meeting President Fox in person at a Young Republicans of Harris County (Houston) meeting in 1996. He was the guest speaker. Serving as Congressman Ron Paul's Senior District Aide at the time, I was one of 5 other Houston YRs to share his front table for the dinner.

In Australia, the cups runneth over

2010-07-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

Breakthrough in Manscience:

By Turtle MacBride

After years of careful observation, it can now be said with scientific precision that in Australia, the cups runneth over. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the average bra size down under has increased from 10B in 1960, to 14C today. And, bra manufacturers are rolling-out new, super-sized versions. Triumph, which tops out at G, is market-testing a J cup, while Evelyn already offers a K cup. "Something's happening, and we're all noticing larger breasts, even for young, slender women, but there's still no quality research being done on it," says one scientist. No quality research? Haven’t they heard of the internet?

Muslims riot against French in Grenoble, Shoot at Police

2010-07-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

H/t Gates of Vienna

International Libertarian nominated for Senate in Australia's Queensland province

2010-07-18T07:11:00.000-07:00

Breaking news...

by James Fryar

The Liberal Democratic Party has nominated me as Senate candidate for Queensland in the forthcoming election to be held on the 21st of August.

Gillard has panicked and decided that rather than try to fix the mess she and Rudd have left the nation in, her best option is to go to the polls now before her reputation starts to really stink with voters. Three weeks ago she was put in power by the unions and claimed that she would be the fixer and sort out the problems which she blamed on Rudd, even though she had clearly been involved in every decision the government had made.

Since then she has made a sweetheart deal with three major mining companies on tax to the detriment of all other mining companies who now face an uncertain future, given that once the resource rent tax is in place she can extend it at will, increase the rate at will, and extend it to other industries at will. The major coal and iron ore mining states of Queensland and western Australia will bear the brunt of this in order to support the others.

She has since then failed at a new attempt at a Pacific solution to the people smuggler problem, and caused a diplomatic row by announcing she was building a refugee detention centre in East Timor without consulting their government. She did contact their President, but their government has voted the proposal down.

The last straw for her was the details of Rudds political knifing being leaked to the media. She has to have the election now, while she is only on the nose, instead of waiting until she is putrefying.

Purple coalition in Netherlands future?

2010-07-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

by Clifford Thies

The market-liberal Dutch People's Party (VVD) is currently in negotations with three center-left parties (the center-left Labor Party, the progressive-left Democrats, and the Greens) to form a "purple coalition." The main sticking point is the speed at which the coalition would balance the budget, with the People's Party wanting to quickly reduce the deficit and the center-left parties wanting a more gradual approach. The deficit, in the Netherlands, is about 6 percent of GDP, as compared to twice that in the U.S.

Although the People's Party would be the largest party in this coalition (by 1 seat), and would probably name the Prime Minister, the coalition would have a markedly left orientation. In contrast, the center-right and right-wing parties (the People's Party, Christian Democrats, Geert Wilder's Freedom Party and the tiny Christian Reformed Party) won a clear majority of the vote and increased their vote share from the prior election. It would be ironic that the people voted for a shift to the right from a centrist coalition (consisting of the Christian Democrats, Labor and the tiny centrist Chirstian Union) and, instead, wound up with a shift to the left.

Unfortunately, the Christian Democrats were unwilling to bargain with Geert Wilders. Supposedly, this was because the Freedom Party was unwilling, prior to negotiations, to renounce the provisions of its manifesto (party platform) calling for a ban on the Koran, taxing of headscarfs and end of immigration from the Muslim world or from Eastern Europe. To be sure, the Christian Democrats support equal rights and freedom of religion, and would have a hard time "negotiating" on such matters. Market-liberals also support equal rights and freedom of religion, but the People's Party was willing to see if these parts of the Freedom Party's manifesto were merely political rhetoric, to be easily discarded when it comes to actual governing.

Update on Dutch election after-math: Trying to form the Coalition

2010-06-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

From Cliff Thies:

The Dutch People's Party, a market liberal, quasi-libertarian party, has been rebuffed by the Dutch Labor Party, for demanding too substantial cuts in government spending. This was the People's Party second attempt to form a ruling coalition, following its first place finish in the recent parliamentary election in the Netherlands.

While there are other possibilities, the most probable scenario for the People's Party to put together a ruling coalition is to return to its first attempt, involving a three-party coalition of itself, Geert Wilders' Freedom Party (a populist-right party) and the Christian Democrats (a conservative, center-right party). These parties would have 76 of the 150 seats in the Parliament, a majority. While these three parties would share a lot in terms of fiscal policies, there is a question as to whether the Christian Democrats and Wilders can resolve their differences on social policies.

Should the People's Party fail again to put together a ruling coalition, it would not be surprising for Queen Beatrice to ask Labor to see if it can assemble a working majority. The obvious problem facing Labor is that it would not be able to rely only on parties to its left, but would have to reach across the political spectrum (see the following breakout of seats in the Dutch parliament). Perhaps the left-wing parties wouldn't be as shy about joining with Wilders as the Christian Democrats.

Center-right and Right (78)
People's (31), Freedom (24), Christian Democrats (21), Reformed (2)

Center (5)
Christian Union (5)

Center-left and Left (67)
Labor (30), Socialist (15), Democrats (10), Greens (10), Animal Rights (2)