America Alone

Even lefty rag The New York Times can't keep Mark Steyn off the bestseller list.

October Surprise?

This is just disturbing. Democratic Senate Candidate Jim Webb has been exposed. Turns out he's a fiction writer who does erotica involving underage boys and girls, and parent/child sexual expression. Can you say moral bankruptcy?

Stupid Americans

The stupid Americans have won three out of three Nobel science awards, and the Nobel economics award this year. "The stupid Americans must have bought the awards, they're not smart enough to win fairly" a typical anti-American might say, and s/he'd be half right. The fact is, America does buy their science achievements. With dollars. Cash. It has a way of working for them every time. And that cash, earned by hard-working, optimistic people, including the scientists themselves, is the core of the American social contract, and it's a fact that the far left will tragically never understand.

The Americans excel at virtually all sports (except for soccer). Why is that? Cash. Their athletes are allowed to earn virtually as much money as the market will bear, through professional sports organizations and endorsement deals. Whereas here in Canada, with the noteable exception of hockey players, athletes are virtually obligated to live at the edge of subsistence, depending on government handouts to get by. And don't get me wrong, Canada's star does sometimes shine. But not consistently. And those hockey players are successful because of the American dollar, not government.

Update: Mark Steyn's new book, America Alone, is number one on Amazon.ca. Still unavailable at Canada's only major bookseller. It has reached number ten at Amazon.com.

Hostages

Jack Schafer of Slate.com has a good article on the hostage taking that is done by government and big media regularly these days. First he takes government to task for holding essential services hostage (ie. Fire-fighting or Crime-fighting) in order to preserve the tax revenues that support other crappy/unnecessary services (ie. community centers/social services), and then he moves to big media claims of their importance to freedom of speech and how it's necessary to continue to patronize them in the face of better and more reliable sources of information. It's an interesting comparison.

America Alone

is the title of Mark Steyn's new book, which has been out less than a week and is already in its fourth printing in the states, and is number 2 at Amazon.ca.

Funny thing is, Chapters/Indigo/Coles didn't order any. That's because Ms. Heather Reisman, Canada's book police chief and CEO of the company, is a pinko, and she knows better than you do what you should read and what you shouldn't. Steynonline.com will ship it to you autographed, and based on my previous experience, within a couple days. I haven't read it yet, but as soon as Amazon sends out my order, I will post a review.

This Man is Brilliant

Al Gore, a presidential loser most famous for inventing the internet and destroying the environment while trying to save it, has decided that America's space policies will create an Iraq-like quagmire in space! Wow.

He goes on to say “It has the potential, down the road, to create the [same] kind of fuzzy thinking and chaos in our efforts to exploit the space resource as the fuzzy thinking and chaos the Iraq policy has created in Iraq.” Well, I guess if it's coming from the expert on fuzzy thinking, it must be true.

But seriously, he may have a point. If you don't believe (as I don't) that Iraq is a terrible mess, then there is a way for him to be telling the truth. If you believe that this project will yield tremendous results for Iraqis 5 or 10 years down the road, and that the glory of Mesopotamia will be restored by a responsible democratic society whose seeds have been already sown, then perhaps yes, space will one day be like Iraq.

The New Tet Offensive

"George Bush Sees Possible Iraq/Vietnam Parallel" shouts Reuters, mouthpiece to terrorists world-wide.

You know, Democrats have been warning of this possibility for years. "Quagmire" is the preferred term, and the comparison between the 'Quagmire' in Vietnam and the difficulties in Iraq has long been made. Some of the loons out on the far left have been fairly triumphant as a result of GWB's 'admission', completely oblivious to the irony he is pointing out.

He is not comparing military failures, first of all. What he's saying is that the Tet Offensive in 1968, which was a complete failure for the Viet Cong, was part of the enemy's overall strategy of manipulating Big Media and other 'useful idiots' in the States to turn the public against the war effort. He sees Al-Qaida and other radical Islamic groups as trying the same thing, which judging by the complete corruption of Reuters, Associated Press, CBS, CNN, CBC, BBC, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and others, has had at the least limited success. All they have to do is find a way to keep killing people, and with that in mind, they will continually try to turn people off of the greater good that the Americans intend.

Useful idiots. I believe it was Lenin who coined the term, and it was meant to describe those in America whose weak sense of morality could be subverted to promote the Sovet agenda. It was particularly descriptive of those in America and other Western countries who did not agree with the constitutional construction of their nations, and who would side with anyone else who opposed it. I think fondly of some in my parents' generation who would believe anything except for that which was spoken by the mouths of those in authority, and also of some of my peers who would foolishly believe any useless conspiracy theory that's out there (because it 'discredits' their political opponents), rather than the wisdom of those who are democratically elected to lead our countries and make the hard decisions that are necessary to protect our liberties.

To those that would retort "Jer, your sense of moral superiority makes you blind to the other possibilities and points-of-view that might be equal to yours"....I say that in a world of many choices, you have to make choices. I read literature that I don't agree with. I read the editorials of at least 4 newspapers with opposing views almost every day. I listen to punk rock, I love Propaghandi, Bad Religion, Rise Against, Strung Out, Anti-Flag, and many others who espouse a different point of view, I watch the Jon Stewart Show, CBC Newsworld, I read Slate, The Daily Kos.....

But I still have to make a choice. Being 'open-minded' doesn't mean that you can't chose. It doesn't mean that there isn't a black or a white. It's not all gray, contrary to what some people will tell you. In fact, being open-minded is only a tool to discover what is black or white, and to not be blind to either. Being empty-minded is what allows one to only see gray. And if you only see gray, you are a useful idiot.

So what was GWB talking about when he drew comparisons between the Tet Offensive and the situation in Iraq today? I would say that he sees massive defeats for the enemy, which continually seem to be perverted by mainstream media into useful propaganda for the enemy. I challenge readers of this blog to look at the situation with this in mind, and to make your choice.

Pining For The Old Days

Mikhael Gorbachev laments that the United States has squandered a chance to improve the world, since the fall of the Soviet Union. An excellent introduction to the regular socialist boilerplate, most tellingly revealed by this quote:

""At that point, the West focused more on its geopolitical interests," Gorbachev said, adding that Western countries had been more interested in cashing in on the "unbridled burst of globalization" that followed the end of the Cold War than in improving the international political climate".

Ah yes, it's all coming together; the world is falling apart, and it's because of capitalistic industry. Capitalism is also making the rich richer and the poor poorer. And it's also breeding extremists. And producing terrible Hollywood films.

Or,

it has created an environment where any able-bodied person (which the vast masses of humanity are, contrary to current liberal beliefs) can live a productive life full of joys and sorrows, during which science has produced virtual miracles that extend and enhance human experience, and believe it or not, has exponentially developed the social conscience; our concepts of right and wrong are so incredibly more complicated that generations before us that it's ridiculous to compare them. And directly contradicting Gorbachev's world-view, world-reality demonstrates that more and more countries every year have finally recognized that individual liberty, embodied by 'globalization'(read capitalism), is the catalyst.

Sure, there's some basket-case states out there still that haven't got it yet, as any good liberal will protest; "You know, there's shit going on in _______________ state in Western/Northern/Asian/South American that is just as _______________ as Iraq, but the States doesn't care about them - they only care about oil, man - you don't see them trying to reform the country if it doesn't have oil reserves."

But you know what? It's only a matter of time, if things keep progressing so nicely, before the silly little issues like Poverty-case North Korea or Somalia or Sudan become the only problems left, and the powers of the world at the time end up solving them (compare this with 50 years ago, when all of Europe, North America, major parts of Asia, Africa and Australia were all at war with each other). I think currently about the position China will end up taking on North Korea, as NK continues to 'threaten' to release thousands of refugees across the border into China. First of all, are the people of North Korea citizens, or hostages? But secondly, can China tolerate a nuclear-nutbag neighbour now that it realizes that the protection and encouragement of individual liberty is what is transforming their economy?

The governments of progressive, libertarian countries world-wide have recognized that their fundamental role, and only real legitimate role, is to protect the liberty of their citizens, whether it be from killers, rapists, thieves, or whatever.

My prediction: China will play a bigger role in the neutralization of North Korea than the Americans will.

My second prediction: In fifty years there will be complete world peace.

My third prediction: My grandchildren will at least visit Mars, if not live there.

Spice Island

My good friend Jason (aka Rumpus) and his wife Kristy have just arrived in Grenada, where they'll be spending the next 6 months working with NGOs, as a practicum for J's program at the University of Winnipeg. They've got a blog, and so far it's pretty good and educational reading! Check it out!

GWB, The Cause of All Things Bad

It took a while, (like two days), but the Bush-Haters have pinned the blame for North Korea's nuclear ambitions on him. Let's see, what else is George W. Bush's fault?

1. Global Warming
2. Poverty
3. Islamofascism
4. Gun Violence
5. Species Extinction
6. 9/11
7. Terrorist Attacks in Russia, Britain, Spain, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India.
8. smelly farts
9. Christianity
10. The disappearance of the rain forest
11. The existance of the oil industry

For some people, the world only began in November 2000, and since then, the sky has been veeeeery slowly falling.