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Monday, July 21, 2008

Republikaanit valtionvihaajia?

Hesarissa oli juttua republikaanien ("valtionvihaajien") vaikutusvallan vähenemisestä. (Juttu on auki vain digilehden tilaajille, mutta löytyy Pikkupojan blogin kommenttiosastosta. Kiitokset Kumitontulle.)
Markkinafundamentalismi ei enää vetoa amerikkalaiseen keskiluokkaan. Republikaanit ovat vakuutelleet kaiken paranevan, kunhan veroja alennetaan ja markkinat jylläävät. Paikallaan polkevan keskiluokan kokemukset kertovat muuta.
Kuten tässäkin blogissa on jo aiemmin mainittu, republikaanien puheet eivät ole vastanneet heidän noudattamaansa politiikkaa. Bushin aikana "markkinafundamentalismi" on hylätty: alijäämää on kasvatettu, julkisia koulutus- ja terveydenhuoltomenoja (Medicare D eli lääketuki, joka maksaa vuodessa about yhtä paljon kuin Afganistanin sota) on lisätty. Budjetti vuodelle 2008 on n. kolme biljoonaa dollaria (josta n. kolmasosa menee terveydenhuoltoon ja työttömyystukeen), uusi ennätys. Bush ei kertaakaan käyttänyt veto-oikeuttaan ensimmäisellä kaudellaan. Alkuvuodesta Bush pyrki stimuloimaan laahaavaa USA:n taloutta Keynesin oppien mukaan. Bushin tuplakauden mukaan republikaanit rakastavat valtiota.

Clintonin häivyttyä republikaanien uskollisuus markkinataloutta kohtaan on ollut luokkaa nolla huolimatta siitä, että kongressi lipsui demokraattien haltuun vasta alkuvuonna 2007. Jos Obama nyt voittaa, tulevat demokraatit todennäköisesti hallitsemaan sekä Valkoista taloa että kongressia. Clintonin kahta ensimmäistä vuotta lukuunottamatta tilanne oli tällainen viimeksi Jimmy Carterin kaudella. Tietenkin on mahdollista, että toivottavasti jatkuva menestys Irakissa mahdollistaa sotilasmenojen karsimisen, jolloin liittovaltion budjetti ei välttämättä paisu täysin kohtuuttomaksi.

Kun ottaa huomioon USA:n talouden globaalin merkityksen, en ymmärrä, miksi jatkuvasti USA:n vanavedessä seilaavat eurooppalaiset edes haluaisivat USA:n lipuvan poispäin "markkinafundamentalismista".

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A devastating end to the Second Lebanon War

Two years ago a group of Hezbollah terrorists invaded Israel and attacked an Israeli army patrol. This casus belli for the war resulted in eight Israeli soldiers killed in action and two captured by Hezbollah thugs. Hezbollah's aim was to exchange the captured soldiers for several Muslim terrorists in Israeli jails, including Samir Kuntar, a nice guy:
Kuntar turned his attention towards the 4 year-old. He took his rifle and then swung it across the toddler's head, knocking her to the ground. Kuntar then dragged the toddler a couple of feet to the closest rock he could find and laid her head down on a rock, with the intention of crushing it with the butt of his rifle. Einat, instinctively covered her head with her arms, Kuntar struggled with the toddler until he finally managed to clear her arms out of the way. Once her arms were out of the way, Kuntar repeatedly beat her on the head with the butt of his rifle and stomping on her body, until blood rushed out of her ears and mouth. Then, to ensure she was dead, Kuntar continued beating her over the head until her skull was crushed and she was dead.
Today, Israel agreed to exchange Kuntar and several other prisoners for the remains of the captured Israeli soldiers. Kuntar's return to Lebanon was celebrated. Only a few weeks ago I wrote how different cultures react differently to vicious acts and here we have another perfect example of how little the Islamic culture appreciates life: a child murderer was celebrated as a hero. They showered him with flowers for God's sake!


(Copyright AP)
The five (released prisoners) — including Samir Kantar, who had been serving multiple life terms in Israel for a grisly 1979 attack — were brought home in International Committee for the Red Cross vehicles and received a red-carpet welcome in this coastal border town.

A giant red carpet was rolled out along a road next to the seashore on the Lebanese side of the border, next to dozens of yellow Hezbollah flags whipping in the breeze.

Hezbollah supporters set up a makeshift stage in Naqoura, where a brass band awaited the returning prisoners. On the platform stood a large photograph of a weeping Israeli woman. A nearby sign read, "Israel is shedding tears of pain."

"Lebanon is shedding tears of joy," read another.
And yet some people keep on insisting that cultures are equal and that Israel is no better than her enemies. But if cultures are equal then why is Israel releasing well fed, living prisoners instead of their remains? And why is Lebanon celebrating a subhuman like Kuntar?

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

Worth a thousand words

A satellite image proving the glorious nation of North Korea is dedicated to conserving energy and saving the planet:



-Strangemaps
-DailyMail

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Thursday, July 03, 2008

A tale of three girls

United States (FoxNews):
The uncle of a young Vermont girl found dead could face the death penalty on federal kidnapping charges connected with the case, prosecutors said Thursday.

About 300 people attending a candlelight vigil Wednesday night found themselves mourning the news that her body had been found a few hours earlier
Iraq (FoxNews):
A horrifying video showing a 17-year-old Kurdish girl being stoned to death for having a relationship with a Sunni Muslim boy has made its way onto the Web,

A large crowd watched as eight or nine men dragged Aswad from a house, and then hurled stones at her for about 30 minutes until she was dead.
Another one from Iraq (TeleGraph):
An Iraqi father who murdered his 17-year-old daughter after she fell in love with a British soldier said death was “the least she deserved”.

Abdel-Qader Ali claimed the 'honour killing’ was supported by local police, and said his only regret was that he had not killed his daughter at birth.
It's true that every country has psychos willing to molest and kill innocent, underage girls. (This is an inevitable result of a permanent biological process: from time to time the genetic cocktail results in monsters whose inability to engage in normal, stable and fruitful relationships is so severe that it leads not just to their demise but takes innocents with them too.) This argument is often used by multiculturalists to show that the west is just as corrupt as the Islamic world. But the significant difference is how the surrounding society reacts to acts committed by degenerates. In the two Iraqi cases the society reacted by praising these degenerates. It was no less than the police that showed understanding for the killing of a teenage girl. No candles were lit for the victims. And no, this isn't merely about Islamic versus Christian values. After all, Christianity sees the individual as a part of some greater good, not valuable in itself but only in respect to God. It was classical liberalism, i.e., libertarianism, that placed the individual first and abandoned the idea that an individual is valuable only in respect to his family, clan, race or nation. Until the Islamic world recognizes the individual as the primary functional unit of society their world should not be considered equal with ours. This is also why there should be no such thing as national sovereignty, an idea that is inconsistent with classical liberal principles. If liberty is not actively defended it ceases to exist.

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