Government Intrusion Distorts the Marketplace

Jeffrey Miron asks, Should Government Subsidize Health Insurance?

I say no, based upon real-life examples.  Government heavily subsidizes higher education, and Big Ed keeps demanding more...

“A good rule of thumb is that tuition rates will increase at about twice the general inflation rate.  On average, tuition tends to increase about 8% per year.” ( FinAid – Tuition Inflation)

Government already is neck deep in health care, to the point it doesn't even resemble a free market anymore...

“The cost of hospital services, which grew by 1.1% in March and 8.6% in the last 12 months, almost quadruple the 2.3% increase in the overall Consumer Price Index for the same period, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today.

The rising costs of virtually every healthcare-related index have easily outstripped overall CPI for decades.”  (Health Leaders Media – Medical Care Outstrips Inflation)

Government subsidizes the sugar industry, and we all pay more.  Government subsidizes ethanol, causing the price of everything to skyrocket and touching off food riots worldwide.

I'd say we've had about all the government interventions we can stand...

Understanding Islam

I thought I would read the Koran during my one-year deployment to the Middle East.  It was boring, and the literary commentary and criticism I sought out to help me through it was so uneven or obviously biased that I ended up selling the book to a captain who worked in C-130 Ops.

If you really want to understand not so much Islam, but it's history, its people and the cultural milieu that stretches from Turkey to China, I recommend three sources:  Anything written by Bernard Lewis; The Arab Mind, by Raphael Patai; and and The Arabian Nights, unexpurgated edition.

In addition to these works, you should read the history of whatever area or era you are interested in.  Muslim culture and its history is rich and varied.  Reading a book on the Taliban and saying you understand Islam is like saying you read a book on 1930's Germany and now have an understanding of Christianity.  The Muslim world and it's varied cultures and history is a vast topic.

Bernard Lewis, now 95, is the West's leading Middle Eastern scholar.  He understands the culture and can explain it quite well.  Of the current uprisings...

"I think that the tyrannies are doomed.  The real question is what will come instead."

"We should have no illusions about the Muslim Brotherhood, who they are and what they want." (WSJ - The Tyrannies are Doomed)

Lewis is no Muslim hater.  Just the opposite.  He has written essays in an attempt to explain the Muslim point of view to fellow westerners.  His overarching themes in these works is that their ways are not our ways.

Indeed Muslims have tried "our ways" in the form of authoritarian statism and fascism.  It's been a poor fit to cultures that were historically steeped in decentralized government where even kings and sultans must consult with the various guilds, tribes and scattered interest groups.

Iranians' disdain for the ruling mullahs is the reason Mr. Lewis thinks the U.S. shouldn't take military action there. "It would give the regime a gift that they don't at present enjoy—namely Iranian patriotism," he warns.

"We have a much better chance of establishing—I hesitate to use the word democracy—but some sort of open, tolerant society, if it's done within their systems, according to their traditions. Why should we expect them to adopt a Western system? And why should we expect it to work?" he asks. (WSJ - The Tyrannies are Doomed)

The Arab Mind, written in 1973, has come under sustained attack since 9/11.  The neocons read it and the military used it, so it must be bad!  Dr Patai is a cultural anthropologist, and this is a well-documented and scholarly work.  His downfall is that he sometimes takes specific knowledge from a narrow part of the Middle East and extrapolates it out to the whole.  The Arab world is such a large and varied place that many generalities just don't fit and end up smacking of stereotype.   

He also engages in some amateur cultural psychology that so many anthropologists are guilty of.  So it may not be the definitive work it was once thought to be, but it is still a good jumping off point to at least get yourself oriented.


Arabian Nights is a collection of highly entertaining folk tales from Arabia and South Asia.  Some of the stories take place as far away as China.  You'll recognize some of the characters:  Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor (Who was actually a merchant from Basra, Iraq), Aladdin, as well as scimitar-wielding warriors, sultans and Genies (Jinn).

It is not history, it's folklore, so any facts you garner will be incidental.  Regardless, you will gain enormous insight into the history and culture of the Islamic lands of the Near East.  Read the unexpurgated version, and you'll get the tales complete with the murder, mayhem and ribald randiness missing from the tales you enjoyed as a child.

TMI: Beautiful Operation Overshadowed by Shabby Messaging

Our government gives up way too much information. And not just under the Obama administration--Bush did it too.

We ascertained UBL’s whereabouts by patiently studying the ways of Al Qaida, watching their movements and methods. The enemy learns about us the same way, only instead of spying, they simply read newspapers and watch TV. Our government needs to curb its urge to brag about every accomplishment. Much of it serves no purpose besides feeding our entertainment culture's prurient interests anyway.


President Obama is Right on the Bin Laden Death Pictures

It’s the right decision to not publish the pictures. It would have become a holy icon to the macabre jihadi death worshipers, a gruesome propaganda poster to the sweaty hordes, and it would not have convinced the skeptics. And to those Taliban idiots and other terrorists who taunt us to produce the picture as proof we capped him, the burden is on them. Produce the picture? You produce Bin Laden!

Unfortunately, there is little else about this operation we are unwilling to release.

“There I was…”

Everybody likes to tell stories, especially if they’ve played even a marginal role in it. Whether it’s a forklift accident at work or a world-famous terrorist takedown, everybody wants to be first to spread the news, and we just can’t help regaling others with the juicy tidbits. It is understandable coming from ordinary folk, but it is irresponsible when the United States government does it. In the past, congressmen have inadvertently released damaging classified information in their rush to look important, and VP Joe Biden does it practically every time he opens his mouth.

Multifarious government officials rushing to the microphones has produced an incoherent message that leads a slavering press and fever swamp conspiracy theorists to put hammer and chisel to the exposed fissures, eventuating more official explanations and further fractured incoherence.

Are they lying, or are they simply stupid?

As time goes on, more details emerge. We know how many troops were involved, how many helicopters, how long it took. We even know which eye the skilled marksman shot out. All of this information, that none of us needs to know, fills in the blanks for bad guys hoping to dodge Osama’s fate.

Less serious but still troubling, as the “facts” change and the different government agencies struggle to amend earlier comments and keep their stories straight, the US government loses credibility and risks tarnishing the brave deeds of patriotic Americans.

Disinformation?

This is all too much information. "TMI!" as my sassy daughter would say. Unless it’s disinformation, in which case our government could do a much better job.

Here's how you do disinformation...

I want the bad guys and the superstitious hordes who cheer and shelter them to think our soldiers are hiding underground right now spying on them, ready to come up through the soil and strangle them at any moment. I want these 7th century obscurantists to believe we can read their thoughts, see through the walls of their grimy cinderblock huts, and swoop down and grab them at any time with trained invisible eagles. I want them to think every crawling bug and slithering reptile is a trained US spy.

It's not so far-fetched. They blamed the shark attacks off an Egyptian coastal resort on Mossad-trained predators. If the gullible dingbats actually believe Israel made a pact with King Poseidon to produce a flotilla of submersed Muslim eaters just to wreck Egypt's tourist industry, they'll believe anything

This should have been the only official statement:

“Through diligent intelligence work, we discovered Bin Laden. We dropped into his walled hovel and shot him and his son dead."

Let the speculation, conjecture and fearmongering run rampant. It would all work to our favor by leaving the press, the European pacifists, and the pompous UN global citizen crowd sputtering with outrage. Best of all, it would strike fear of the unknown into evildoing America-haters everywhere, leaving them glancing nervously over their shoulders, knowing no haven is truly safe.

Osama's Dead, Bert in Hiding...

So Osama was living comfortably in Pakistan…

Is anyone surprised by this?  Pakistan has been double-dealing us for years, using us to schwack the terrorists they don’t like, while shielding their own little trained vipers from the wrath of Uncle Sam. Can’t really blame them, all nations rely somewhat on deception and diplomatic double-talk, but other nations put up with it only if they can get something in return from the whole kabuki.

Is there anything left for us to gain by dealing with these duplicitous bastards?

Pakistan is using us much like rival tribes in Afghanistan and Iraq have: As a revenge tool against their enemies. If we get inside their loop and understand the dynamics we can actually use this to our tactical advantage, but at some point you’ve got to stop and assess if it’s all advancing our goals. I think the Army understood and worked this dynamic to good effect in Iraq. It’s not perfect, but we got the country to a relatively stable state. Notice there are no “Arab Spring” riots there, and if there was outrage at Osama’s death, it was subdued.

Afghanistan is a different story.  Spring fighting season has just started, so we'll have to wait and see how it goes…

Women and Children First

Now they’re saying maybe Osama didn’t use one of his wives as a human shield. I don’t buy it. I choose to believe the original story.   Jihadis are famous for hiding behind women and children.  They reported that Osama’s son also died cowering behind a woman, and I noticed that the government spokesman left that report stand without correction.

Our Muslims are Better than Their Muslims

American Muslims are relieved to have this stone around their necks removed. More telling, they are relieved and satisfied as Americans that Bin Laden has crossed the river Styx.   The language they use is telling.   They talk of justice, of the shame and the consternation felt after 9/11 as they lost the blessed normalcy of their lives.  They speak of “our country,” and indeed it is.

President Obama Done Good

Finally, a hearty salute to President Obama.  It was a tough call and he did the right thing. Those upset that he has won a political windfall should contemplate the alternative. Would you rather that this operation had failed, with loss of American lives and national embarrassment?  We should take any opportunity we can to praise the man; they are so rare.

Gitmo and “black site” interrogations led to this successful operation.  Now that he has access to all the information, does Obama now realize the utility of these tactics?

Bottom Line

Killing Bin Laden was a victory for America, and it's thanks to the diligent intelligence community and a highly disciplined military, especially that SEAL team.  The piddle-down-the-leg Euro-whiners and the military-hating scribblers in this country yapping about Osama being unarmed can shove it.  The POS killed over 3000 unarmed people on our soil, and our Special Forced put him down like the cowardly dog he was.

For comments more thoughtful than these, see Jack Camwell's  "The Meaning of Osama Bin Laden's Death"

Think for Yourself!

A diversity of thought is a good thing, and we have plenty on the right.  Beware those who say it's a bad thing and we should all shut up and get on board.

Fuzzy Slippers always has some excellent analysis over at her blog, Fuzzy Logic.  Her blog must be ironically named, because her logic is eternally crisp and the writing crystal clear.  She rarely states the obvious and instead of taking the easy road of attacking today's big, fat liberal target, she will often delve into conservative issues, exposing fractures, and taking apart nonsense on our own side, and always with a smile.

Is the GOP "Imploding From Within?"
This past Sunday she fisked a blog post lamenting that the Republican Party was "Imploding from Within."  She entitled her ripost, The Leftists' Conservative Civil War Trap, and it hits the bullseye.  I recommend you give it a read.  It led me to go read the original blog post she took apart.

I won't bore you with the details of the original post that spurred Fuzzy Slippers to craft her excellent antidote, but the original blogger offered a long laundry list of evidence showing that the GOP is fracturing.  It was full of "Bill O' Reilly hates Rush Limbaugh, Ron Paul hates RINOs, Lindsay Graham is a RINO, You can't be a fiscal conservative and a social liberal ..." 

Can't we all just get along?  (and think exactly like I do?)

The blogger's bottom line seems to be that we should all think exactly alike and get behind Sarah Palin and other "pure" politicians he happens to like.  I could not disagree more.  Here's a factoid that drives Purity Uber Alles bloggers crazy:  "RINO" Tim Pawlenty got an A and a #3 ranking among governors in fiscal responsibility from the libertarian CATO Institute.

Intellectual Ferment is a Good Thing

Progressives make the mistake of turning every belief of the week into religious dogma, and I don't want to see us going down the same road.

Groupthink is a killer and leads to intellectual sclerosis and ultimately, failure. There is a diversity of thought on the right, with libertarians joining in. It is a free marketplace of ideas and that's a beautiful thing.

Avoid Personality-Based Politics -- Use Objective Criteria

We'll be picking a GOP candidate before we know it, so here is my advice.  Avoid personalities and stick to objective criteria.  I recommend three...

US Constitution - My first criterion in judging a politician is the US Constitution.  How does she interpret and understand it?  Natural rights?  Does she believe in negative rights of Locke and the Founders, or has she bought into the progressive movement's phony notion of positive rights?

Russell Kirk's Ten Conservative Principles - This classical essay should be read by all people who call themselves conservative.  It is a brilliant distillation of what conservatism is.

Key Concepts of Libertarianism - If you are libertarian, this is a good quick measurement to use.

Using such criteria, while treating Bill O'Reilly and other talkers as entertainment, will guide you in a rational analysis of the candidates and their ideas.

Brought to You Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue

 

This is a Western Hero salute to the brave Americans who tracked the stinking bastard back to his fetid lair and killed him like the dog that he was.

This does not mean we won the war on terror.  It does tell the bad guys of the world that even if it takes years, we will track you down and kill you if you mess with us, and that is an extremely important message.

Will the West Get its Mojo Back?

Will this change anything?  Will this invigorate a culture gone weak and morally flaccid?

Will Great Britain now stop paying millions to jihadi jailbirds and acting as a launching pad for thousands more?   

Will the US continue to grant citizenship to immigrant criminals convicted of terror-related charges?

We have brave men and women doing grim work in dangerous places.  May their efforts not be in vain.

No one was wringing their hands over a diminishing supply of whale blubber back in the 1800's

"Proponents of green energy argue that if the government can put a man on the moon, it can certainly make green energy economically attractive. Well, notice that government was not trying to get a man to the moon profitably..."  (Green Energy Economy Reconsidered)


The ever erudite George Will wrote an article awhile back about the history of peak oil. The timeline from 1914 to now is dotted with gloomy predictions of oil's imminent demise. Back in the 70's, failure-face president Jimmy Carter publicly worried that we would run out of energy by the 90's. Will brings us up to date...

Since then, the world has consumed three times more oil than was in the proven reserves. Today, shale rock formations in Texas and Louisiana; Montana and North Dakota; and New York, Pennsylvania, and other Eastern states may contain 2,000 trillion cubic feet of clean-burning natural gas. (George Will – Peak oil)

Fellow blogger Jersey McJones recently chided me for calling wind power an "immature technology."  OK Jersey, I take it back.  Wind is very mature.  It's so mature it's over the hill.  Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren say it better than I ever could:

Have we ever seen such a "green economy"? Yes we have; in the 13th century.

Renewable energy is quite literally the energy of yesterday. Few seem to realize that we abandoned "green" energy centuries ago for five very good reasons. (Green Energy Economy Reconsidered)  

It Takes a lot of Land, it's not Reliable, it Starves People...
The same authors explain that you would have to turn the entire state of Connecticut into a wind farm just to power New York City.  And Lord help the NYPD and all those appliance stores if the wind stopped at night.  Solar has the same limitations.

Biofuels is no better.  It starves people to feed cars.  Farm land is finite, and government subsidizing ethanol skews the market and has caused food shortages and higher prices.  Your tax dollars at work.

I am not a Luddite. I cheer technological advances. Unlike many on the left, I only cheer actual advances, not wishful thinking ones. Take LED’s for example. I love them, and I am confident the price eventually come down. It already has for flashlights. Anyone who has ever gone camping with kids who are scared of the dark cannot help but appreciate these little energy saving marvels. They last forever!

Meanwhile, the case for fossil fuels is compelling:

Fossil fuels are everything that green energy is not. Approximately 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas (which cost approximately $4.00) can generate the same amount of electricity as running an average rooftop solar system for 131 days.  (George Will – Peak oil)

XarJ - End of the World