tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517143053994379512024-03-14T01:13:24.012-04:00Counter Blogger Wintegrated"It is dangerous to disagree with government." | "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." VoltaireIndelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-8947385849608707442012-07-08T14:31:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.805-04:00Boundaries and the Florida lifeguard<span id="description">“Lifeguards are supposed to save lives, right? Well, several lifeguards in Florida were temporarily out of jobs this week after one of them saved a man from drowning on a stretch of beach north of Miami -- and then was fired for doing so..“</span> <a name='more'></a> <p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7T1TxAoYsOERaR3nvUyPsP9BTRIBVevjOuXlxlnqr15hBmMOsNPF7ebNIN4WbQzN02r2h6NzvmpA0EassYdyRf007welr3smxm9tv0cJko_f-BGUcGVICR0eohSEgqhjksTfcw8qut7Y/s1600/Florida_Lifeguard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="302" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7T1TxAoYsOERaR3nvUyPsP9BTRIBVevjOuXlxlnqr15hBmMOsNPF7ebNIN4WbQzN02r2h6NzvmpA0EassYdyRf007welr3smxm9tv0cJko_f-BGUcGVICR0eohSEgqhjksTfcw8qut7Y/s320/Florida_Lifeguard.jpg" /></a></div> Just in case you’re wondering, he was <a title="YouTube Video (opens to the right if you're on the main site): Associated Press: Fired Fla. Lifeguard Will Be Offered Job Back" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RRQC_LWcmbE?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">offered his job back</a> but he <a title="YouTube Video (opens to the right if you're on the main site): Fired Fla. Lifeguard: I'm Just Ready to Move On" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HeT1nV_WXrQ?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">declined</a>.</p> <p>This story reminds me of my own time as a lifeguard. It was actually my first job in Canada.</p> <p>I had just graduated high school, where I had been part of the swimming team. My plan was to get certified for lifeguarding by the Royal LifeSaving Society and then become a ski Instructor with CSIA.</p> <p>As for the lifeguard, his case poses some interesting issues: to properly guard the entire shoreline, the city needs to hire more lifeguards but it only has money to cover a specific area. If they don’t enforce that particular perimeter, they can be found liable for anything lifeguards choose to cover through their own actions. This is why the supervisor was actually doing his or her job by firing this likeable fellow.</p> <p>I’d like to write much more than I have (including about the lifeguards in a pool next to me), but I don’t have the time right now – I’ll come back to finish it later.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Florida lifeguard is fired for saving a life; uproar ensues - latimes.com" href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-florida-lifeguards-fired-20120705,0,5499221.story" target="_blank">LAT-lifeguard</a> </p> <div id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:23328d3b-b9f1-480f-b140-bd19acbf6f57" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><a href="http://t.zamo.ca" title="zA Libertarian in Toronto TAGS">Toronto Libertarian</a>, <a href="http://t.zamo.ca/search?q=lifeguard" rel="tag">lifeguard</a>, <a href="http://t.zamo.ca/search?q=swimming" rel="tag">swimming</a>, <a href="http://t.zamo.ca/search?q=lawsuit" rel="tag">lawsuit</a>, <a href="http://t.zamo.ca/search?q=Florida" rel="tag">Florida</a>, <a href="http://t.zamo.ca/search?q=drowning" rel="tag">drowning</a>, <a href="http://t.zamo.ca/search?q=boundaries" rel="tag">boundaries</a> (Tags)</div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-75272234933368118172011-12-09T01:01:00.003-05:002012-08-19T11:44:38.782-04:00organ donor market<span id="description">As a firm believer in the right of an individual to make bad decisions I was in for a rude awakening when I realised the inconsistency of my opposition to organ selling with my belief that prostitution and drug use should be legal.</span> <a name='more'></a> <p>Alexander Berger, a research analyst for GiveWell, begins his article in NYT rather abruptly:</p> <blockquote> <p>On Thursday, I will donate one of my kidneys to someone I’ve never met. Most people think this sounds like an over-the-top personal sacrifice. But the procedure is safe and relatively painless. I will spend three days in the hospital and return to work within a month. I am 21, but even for someone decades older, the risk of death during surgery is about 1 in 3,000. My remaining kidney will grow to take up the slack of the one that has been removed, so I’ll be able do everything I can do now. And I’ll have given someone, on average, 10 more years of life, years free of the painful and debilitating burden of dialysis.</p></blockquote> <p>Here’s the solution he endorses:</p> <blockquote> <p>A well-regulated legal market for kidneys would not have any of these problems. It could ensure that donors were compensated fairly — most experts say somewhere in the ballpark of $50,000 would make sense. Only the government or a chosen nonprofit would be allowed to purchase the kidneys, and they would allocate them on the basis of need rather than wealth, the same way that posthumously donated organs are currently distributed. The kidneys would be paid for by whoever covers the patient, whether that is their insurance company or Medicare. Ideally, so many donors would come forward that no patient would be left on the waiting list. </p> <p>In the end, paying for kidneys could actually save the government money; taxpayers already foot the bill for dialysis for many patients through Medicare, and research has shown that transplants save more than $100,000 per patient, relative to dialysis.</p></blockquote> <p>I am for legalizing prostitution and decriminalizing drug use for many reasons, chiefly because they should be personal choices and those we think of as “victims” would get better protection if their choice to victimize themselves would be legal – i.e., their choice would not push them outside the law. And yet I was instinctively opposed to organ donation not realizing that my position made no sense. The Economist states this succinctly:</p> <blockquote> <p>It is odd that we consider this ethical dilemma when presented with the idea of organ sales, yet largely ignore it when considering similar transactions. What is so different about paying a young man for his kidney and paying him to go off to war or perform any number of jobs that harm his health? All rely, to some extent, on the desperation of the lower-class. In the mid-2000s, as the Iraq war reached its bloody peak, the Pentagon recruited heavily in economically depressed areas. And black-lunged coal miners are rarely the sons of millionaires. Yet there is something icky about organ sales that seems to set it apart.</p></blockquote> <p>I’m not a wide-eyed idealist: this emergent media blitz is probably driven by old farts who are tired of being fleeced for new organs. Perhaps the well-publicized health problems of Steve Jobs have also helped.</p> <p>Such “donations” will happen anyway, but insofar as it is illegal, it’s opportunists and criminals who will benefit the most, while the <a title="Cum incurajeaza Romania furtul organelor saracilor" href="http://asa.zamo.ca/2010/05/cum-incurajeaza-romania-furtul.html" target="_blank">poor donors</a>, who the laws are seemingly trying to protect, will get screwed.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Paying to live" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/12/organ-sales" target="_blank">eco-organ</a>, <a title="Organ Gangs Force Poor to Sell Kidneys for Desperate Israelis" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-01/organ-gangs-force-poor-to-sell-kidneys-for-desperate-israelis.html" target="_blank">bloomberg</a>, <a title="Why Selling Kidneys Should Be Legal" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/opinion/why-selling-kidneys-should-be-legal.html" target="_blank">nyt-sell</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110302528.html" target="_blank">wp-pentagon</a></p> <p align="center"><iframe class="youtube-player" title="YouTube video player" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F6DfPdwkBw0?iv_load_policy=3" frameborder="0" width="480" name="tvtub" align="center" type="text/html"></iframe></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:74bdaea7-62ad-4a14-b8b9-4160937360bc" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag" title="Zamo the Libertarian in Toronto, aka LibTO">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=organs" rel="tag">organs</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=economics" rel="tag">economics</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=organ+trafficking" rel="tag">organ trafficking</a> (Tags)</div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-47564760008117291972011-11-24T13:32:00.003-05:002012-08-19T11:44:38.737-04:00Y R Republicans embarrassed by Ron Paul<span id="description">I like this man so much, I've even given him <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search/label/Ron%20Paul">his own category on this blog</a> - and not being American, I don't even vote in their elections. But I fully respect his amazing consistency though there are very few things I disagree with him on.</span> <a name='more'></a> <p><a href="http://i.imgur.com/CW1HP.gif" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline; float: right" align="right" src="http://i.imgur.com/CW1HPs.gif"></a>I presented him in <a title="Ron Paul in Kinetic Typography" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2010/11/ron-paul-in-kinetic-typography.html">Kinetic Typography</a> in the past as well as in <a title="The R[evol]ution Continues :)" href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=site%3Aalit.zamo.ca%20ron%20paul&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDEQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Falit.zamo.ca%2F2008%2F06%2Frevolution-continues.html&ei=cETNTvmdAoji2QXN29GlDw&usg=AFQjCNHZnsfqVNRl7oxs1YozDV6tXwj9bw&sig2=XYe8dSFWqJtBIZh3qO2UbA">The R[evol]ution Continues :)</a>. Since then, he continued to hammer at his message with his legendary consistency, as remarked by <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): John Stewart Shows How Ron Paul Is Feared By The NWO Mafia Controlled Mainstream Media" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Tb5aGgQXhXo?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Jon Stewart</a> including an <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Ron Paul - Jon Stewart Interview 9 26 2011(on air version)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kPnqj73c5B4?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">interview</a> prefaced by the observation that he is <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Ron Paul Still Ignored - Jon Stewart Daily Show." href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VsvxmVl0Xic?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">still ignored</a>, though he rules on reddit and other online communities.</p> <p>Asked why does he think they have this <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): So apparently Ron Paul getting an appropriate amount of speaking time is equivalent to CNN trying to boost him up (Dick Morris being a complete tool)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hDiCQOyvguE?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">conspiracy of silence</a>, he offered two possibilities:</p> <ol> <li>Some people don’t want to hear the message because I’m a threat to the establishment <li>Some just flat-out don’t understand what freedom is all about</li></ol> <p>And that’s partially true. The main reason though some reporters are dead against him is the fact that most Republican pundits and analysts know darn well that <em>Ron Paul for President</em> would be a repeat of <em>Barry Goldwater for President</em>, who lost the 1964 election to Lyndon Johnson in what was then the largest landslide: 52 electoral votes to Johnson’s 486 and 38.5% of the popular vote to Johnson’s 61.1%. Why would that be?</p> <blockquote> <p>Since the beginning of his campaign, Goldwater fought an uphill battle to unseat an <em>incumbent president under favorable economic circumstances</em>. Goldwater consistently refused to moderate his views, which alienated a significant portion of the more moderate wing of the Republican party from his campaign. President Johnson used this fissure in the party to portray Goldwater as an extremist with the assistance of <strong>the media</strong>, who, in large part, also had an <strong>unfavorable opinion</strong> of him. In the general election, Goldwater lost in a landslide to Lyndon Johnson, carrying only six states to Johnson's 44 and a popular vote plurality of 38% to Johnson's 61%.</p></blockquote> <p>The campaign was very ugly, with Fact magazine libelling Goldwater with the claim that some psychologists declared him unfit for office. Goldwater got $75000 for libel but was forced on the defensive for the rest of his entire campaign. LBJ campaign speculated handily Goldwater’s reluctance to compromise with the famous <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): (High Quality) Famous 'Daisy' Attack Ad from 1964 Presidential Election" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dDTBnsqxZ3k?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">daisy ad</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): LBJ - Ice Cream 1964 Campaign Ad" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U-VzZQGWOqA?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">ice cream</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): LBJ - Poverty 1964 Election Ad" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/plCkZ38ftlI?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">poverty</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Pregnant Lady: LBJ Campaign Commerical (1964)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yOLBEn9pxHs?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">pregnant</a> and <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): LBJ - KKK for Goldwater 1964 Campaign Ad" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g_i9Bq2tntY?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">KKK for Goldwater</a> ads. Goldwater <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Goldwater Comments on the Daisy Ad" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v6_PGj3VQXI?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">reacted slowly</a> and relied on Ronald Reagan’s appeal to reason titled “A Time for Choosing” (<a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Reagan - A Time For Choosing" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lvg7lRsCVJ8?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">short</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Televised Campaign Address for Goldwater Presidential Campaign - 10/27/64" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qXBswFfh6AY?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">long</a>).</p> <p>Goldwater was hoping, just like Nixon before him, in an old-style confrontation of ideas with his long-time friend and political adversary JFK. Though after <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Kennedy-Nixon First Presidential Debate, 1960" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gbrcRKqLSRw?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Nixon’s televised massacre</a> (yes, I’m referring to the TV debate, including <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): JFK vs. Nixon - 2nd 1960 debate - October 7, 1960 Among the issues discussed was the U-2 incident involving Francis Gary Powers that occured in May 1960, in the midst of the Cold War." href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/30kDGU2vmx8?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">the 2nd one</a>) every politician should’ve realised the importance of <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Mc Luhan - The Medium is the Message" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RtycdRBAbXk?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">TV as a medium</a> and that the era of thoughtful, rational and <em>boring</em> debates was over, Goldwater was still convinced that he can mesmerize his audience solely with the power of his arguments. He didn’t stand a chance with JFK and he stood even less of a chance with LBJ who was, by many accounts, a total a**wipe.</p> <p>Much has changed since then. For one thing, the Republicans have learned their lesson and have promoted, since Reagan, candidates who are “electable” and “presentable” more so than they are intellectually capable (see Bush the Young & Sarah Palin). Their media campaigns are often more savvy than those of the Democrats who appear generally disorganized and amateurish in delivering their own message. Many <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): face the nation grilling Ron Paul over '9/11 was America's fault'" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-pf5eJlDupo?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">reporters still deeply dislike him</a> using all kinds of <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): fox errata" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eQaxZyck9Kc?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">dirty tricks</a> and if anything, Ron Paul’s message is a little too grass-roots: [<a title="Ron Paul 2012 Amazing!!! This is a homage i made for Ron Paul... video pictures and music! very inspirational!!! I wish there were more politicians like him!" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F7wK5qaNOtY?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">electable</a>] [<a title="Chris Rock supports Ron Paul 2012?? If Chris Rock ever sees this video, I hope he can have the courage to come out in support of Ron Paul - the only man running for president who will not only free people unconstitutionally incarcerated by federal drug laws but END the ENTIRE federal policy known as the 'War on Drugs' and return such decisions (banning or legalizing drugs) to each separate state" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Cm2sLSWXOOM?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">drugs</a>] [<a title="Ron Paul and the six kinds of libertarianism - Too many people define Ron Paul as a libertarian without even understanding what a libertarian is. Here I explain the six most common styles of libertarianism, and how his candidacy can unite them, and lead believers of liberty to victory." href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fwxBj5OfeGM?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">libertarianism</a>] [<a title="Ron Paul Interview With Piers Morgan 08\15/2011 Ron Paul says Democrats also fear him, says 'I would slash into Obama's civil libertarian view points, he don't really follow through on belief in personal liberties'" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wn7FAXVnSR8?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Piers Morgan</a>] [<a title="Ron Paul getting pissed over foreign aid to Georgia" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uNbmNmoDxyo?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">pissed-Aljazeera</a>] [<a title="Denzel Washington and Ron Paul 2012 - Ron Paul has proven to be the voice of reason in American politics. He is running for president in 2012. Please take the time to watch this video: 'Why America Needs Ron Paul'" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4wKmco16cOs?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">torture-Denzel</a>] [<a title="Interview on Real Time with Bill Maher (who also identifies himself as Libertarian)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8z99KLcYjYc?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Bill Maher</a>] [<a title="All Ron Paul CNN Foreign Policy Debate Highlights" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eZAW2spbZys?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">20111122 CNN debate</a>] [<a title="Ron Paul vs Michael Moore on Larry King CNN" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/r7myjtY13M8?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">healthcare - King</a>]</p> <p>Just like Ron Paul, Goldwater was against sending troops to foreign lands, stating that USA should not send..</p> <blockquote> <p>..American boys nine or ten thousand miles from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves</p></blockquote> <p>Goldwater was also plagued by rumours of being connected to labour extortionists, grew even more libertarian toward the end of his career and retired from Senate in 1987, being succeeded by John McCain.</p> <p>It seems that any Democrats support Ron Paul for president because he is what some call “Paleo-Conservative” and <em><strong>Ron Paul vs Obama</strong></em> would be very similar to <em>Goldwater vs LBJ</em> and / or <em>McCain vs Obama</em>, both having clear winners. Has much changed since then and if yes, <em>sufficiently</em>?</p> <p>TheLiberalPacifist seems to think that yes, it’s gotten much better at <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Evidence Of How The Media Is Bias Towards Ron Paul" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BgHpJl4hT6c?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">manipulating opinions</a>. But the <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Political media bias yesterday and today - Stewart & Caffertys sucker punch - Ron Paul" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U-VzZQGWOqA?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">short attention span and focus on only 2-3 candidates is old news</a>.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Barry Goldwater" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_goldwater" target="_blank">wiki-goldwater</a>, <a title="Study Shows Fox News Viewers Less Informed on Major Stories" href="http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/11/21/fairleigh_dickinson_publicmind_poll_shows_fox_news_viewers_less_informed_on_major_news_stories.html" target="_blank">slate-fox</a>, <a title="Ignorance is bliss when it comes to challenging social issues" href="http://www.sciguru.com/newsitem/11361/Ignorance-bliss-when-it-comes-challenging-social-issues" target="_blank">sci-guru</a>, <a title="Barry Goldwater presidential campaign, 1964" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Goldwater_presidential_campaign,_1964" target="_blank">wiki-goldwater-pres</a>, <a title="Bob Schieffer, Ron Paul and journalistic 'objectivity'" href="http://www.salon.com/2011/11/24/bob_schieffer_ron_paul_and_journalistic_objectivity/singleton/" target="_blank">salon-media-objectivity</a></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:523cf305-0eab-4759-9699-b761e136717f" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag" title="Zamo the Libertarian in Toronto, aka LibTO">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=libertarian" rel="tag">libertarian</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=politics" rel="tag">politics</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=usa" rel="tag">usa</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=us" rel="tag">us</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=united+states" rel="tag">united states</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=manipulation" rel="tag">manipulation</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=mass-media+pc" rel="tag">mass-media pc</a> (Tags)</div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-64889160493413021072011-11-22T23:00:00.003-05:002012-08-19T11:44:38.763-04:00Did I inspire Steven Levitt of Freakonomics daughter test?<span id="description">Months ago I wrote a quick summary of my comments in an Economist debate on legalizing prostitution. I was going to use them to write an essay, but have yet to do so. Instead, I recently discovered a source for an apparent mistake and also a flattering echo of my thoughts.</span> <a name='more'></a> <p>That echo is not the only one, however, there’s actually 3: Definition, Ontario and Mr Levitt is in the very last, Economist. In a turn of events I would like to think is related to that debate, FBI has expanded the definition of “rape” to what is generally called “sexual assault” here in Canada.</p> <h3><a name="definition"></a>definition</h3> <p>In a case of “I can’t! Someone [me] is right on the internet”, in a <a title="Why Prostitution Should Be Legal" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2010/09/why-prostitution-should-be-legal.html">debate on legalizing prostitution</a> I used the term “rapist” when the term “sexual assault perpetrator” would’ve probably been more appropriate (see 19. in the libTO list linked below) or this:</p> <p><a title="Indelible Bonobo Recommended (2) 09/09/2010 15:58:34 pm" href="https://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/573/CommentKey:653798" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Indelible Bonobo Recommended (2) 09/09/2010 15:58:34 pm" border="0" alt="What makes a rapist a criminal is not their need for sex but rather his willingness to satisfy it while ignoring the victim's will. Furthermore, if I read studies correctly, some if not most rapists are unable to obtain erections during their crimes. It's not the sex drive that causes sex crimes to occur, but rather a pathological / sociopathic need to control / harm others. In any event, I am not arguing for legalizing prostitution because it's healthy or normal, but rather because I believe it to be a better deal for prostitutes and because I don't believe that the state should legislate morals." src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUbV5bQ6xTyJ2Pr-0NQ1eA1RzQEYMz7UEFWU5LLdM9ibAs-cVaC_6qxoaWIpT-qNieyIt7Rm1nVkNqw0kfgxP0myX-eFw9hPURBAN0JUCtYPLd0EypzLFEcNX2jhaUh1udN8wZx-2Qmo/?imgmax=800" width="454" height="288"></a>I was basing all that on a study I read a while back which I could no longer find. Yet as it turns out, FBI only changed their definition of rape a few weeks ago. What used to be “<em>the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will</em>” is now </p> <blockquote> <p>Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration of a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.</p></blockquote> <p>BIG difference – it also adds a layer of validity to my original statement, not to mention that they will finally start counting prison rape. </p> <h3><a name="ontario"></a>ontario</h3> <p>But that’s in the States. The greatest impact that debate seems to have had was right here in Toronto, where, only weeks later, according to CBC, </p> <blockquote> <p>Ontario's Superior Court of Justice ruled Tuesday the Criminal Code provisions relating to prostitution contribute to the danger faced by sex-trade workers. In her ruling, Justice Susan Himel said it now falls to Parliament to "fashion corrective action." <p>"It is my view that in the meantime these unconstitutional provisions should be of no force and effect, particularly given the seriousness of the charter violations," Himel wrote. "However, I also recognize that a consequence of this decision may be that unlicensed brothels may be operated, and in a way that may not be in the public interest." <p>The judge suspended the effect of the decision for 30 days. It does not affect provisions dealing with people under 18.</p></blockquote> <p>The case ended up in an appeal to the Supreme Court and the Canadian Organization for the Rights of Prostitutes produced a factum (<a title="Document opens below: PRO Prostitution Factum" href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=www.uottawa.ca/constitutional-law/Prostitution.pdf&embedded=true" rel="gdoc" target="tutub">PDF</a>), with various echoes (<a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Canada Legalizes Prostitution?" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GGoxduvZcVE?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">TYT</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Prostitution in Canada: A Short Documentary" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XQNzputtOmI?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">docu</a>). Meanwhile, we just learned that BC dealt with prostitution by allowing a serial killer to kill prostitutes for decades (<a title="Senior Vancouver cops failed to take ‘ownership’ of missing women investigation, inquiry told" href="http://inbonobo.tumblr.com/post/13156859526/the-inquiry-is-investigating-why-it-took-vancouver" target="_blank">tumblr</a>).</p> <h3><a name="economist"></a>economist</h3> <p>First, the Economist has become a bit rough since then. On March 24, they <a title="The Economist and censorship" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2011/03/economist-and-censorship.html">censored</a> a bunch of my comments and then this email, which was most likely sent to many others as well:</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdS67j3MntZYv2GmZKvzP8f-T2iLyrgNVSiWveDvYUYzYULWDGPes9JE9mPKxJEByTpzR2nRW37nmxcr_tyMTymgToInqI6qRb5zyaveu2vNfejrXFM08sRXeKrAnSCr89DOwTBd5uPbg/s1600-h/Economist-Subscription%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Economist-Subscription" border="0" alt="Economist-Subscription" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikzAFB_Vg_YKuKNvE_MbDLwJSAtZuJ2Dkb_noKNouww5eQtNIa9nhOwQOnChoLj0V_JR0cMIIZ3oxmDIdCqC2L8KnOqKwnKrwV97qWxaqMyHGyuLt6vqlKDaiXennJbRtnWMCgP_4bdgo/?imgmax=800" width="454" height="263"></a>Secondly, I had said in the Economist back in 2010 and also in my article dated September 10, 2010, that</p> <blockquote> <p>One trick opponents of legalization use to silence liberals is “what would you do if your daughter was a prostitute?”. It is hard for me to imagine that, as I don’t have a daughter and naturally assume there’s no way she’d become a prostitute if I had one. However, for me the question is whether I would use coercion to help her out of [a] situation [our current laws make more dangerous and illegal than it needs to be], and the answer is yes, only if she is underage. If she is over the age of majority, I would try to convince her – giving up prostitution would have to be <u>her decision</u>. </p></blockquote> <p>It turns out that this idea has taken a new life as Steven Levitt’s “<a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Levitt about his daughter" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7Fw3lEMFofY?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">daughter</a> test” as quoted in the Economist in May 2011 (from a blog titled after de Tocqueville’s book, shown above):</p> <p><a title="Democracy in America: Emotion, reason and policy; Thinking liberally about feeling" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/05/emotion_reason_and_policy" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="[T]hinking 'what if I my daughter did this/were in this position?' is a way to take an argument from the abstract to the viscerally real, and to bring moral and legal gray areas into a sharper focus. It isn’t a mathematical proof, or a system of inputs that spits out an automatic, universal answer:" border="0" alt="ROSS DOUTHAT offers a partial defence of Steven Levitt's "daughter test" by way of a reply to my blog post on the subject:" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeI5JomkdJGVD2MEt-isaFNtO7yCDl-eRxVBYBN2usyWrsq3t0tYJCgF2qdRJrD8UFEDb5XdpvCPqpza_axeOSi8FvY6fiDqLHYwFgocNeVY4uqtj9x9LG8FALfOMxI6SKwQ40jZaVDTw/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="220"></a>Or let’s go straight to the source in Mr Levitt’s blog also published in May 2011:</p> <p><a title="The 'Daughter Test' of Government Prohibitions (And Why I’m so Angry About the U.S. Internet Poker Crackdown)" href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/05/09/the-“daughter-test”-of-government-prohibitions-and-why-im-so-angry-about-the-u-s-internet-poker-crackdown/" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="levitt-daughter-test" border="0" alt="It wasn’t until the U.S. government’s crackdown on internet poker last week that I came to realize that the primary determinant of where I stand with respect to government interference in activities comes down to the answer to a simple question: How would I feel if my daughter were engaged in that activity? If the answer is that I wouldn’t want my daughter to do it, then I don’t mind the government passing a law against it. I wouldn’t want my daughter to be a cocaine addict or a prostitute, so in spite of the fact that it would probably be more economically efficient to legalize drugs and prostitution subject to heavy regulation/taxation, I don’t mind those activities being illegal. On the other hand, if my daughter had good reasons to want an abortion, I would want her to be able to have one, so I’m weakly in favor of abortion being legal, even though I put a lot of value on unborn fetuses." src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8pL_3r_MWdFWpY0mB4YOGCe8Yhy_HBRnqSCluXOYlGo6MFbhcwQihLZzcRj5Z-VDK-mD5hn-Jczkm_fVJ24KfTdjXeU5CDqjkTSud1ITLzrih_eOIPh8MVyyEZWsJXbbTbOVHha1wZP8/?imgmax=800" width="450" height="279"></a>Was Mr. Steven D. Levitt influenced by my comments to the debate in the Economist? Hard to tell. But even if he was, can you imagine how hard it would’ve been for him to take the ethical route and credit “the Indelible Bonobo?!” <img alt="Tongue" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/10.gif"><img alt="Monkey" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/51.gif"> </p> <p>It’s nice to be appreciated and I’m sure Mr Levitt is proud to have made economic history with the “daughter test” that now carries his name. I can only hope that one day soon we’ll <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): share a Flaming Moe's" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AjD2U-THCb0?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">share</a> a <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Flaming Moe's" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/46mypklKEu0?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Flaming Moe</a> (like in <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): the simpsons season 3 episode 10 flaming moes Uploaded by jb006669 on Oct 1, 2011" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1ZWvf6vDtRs?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Simpsons</a>) as we <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): LemonParty reference" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0Jftig3yHP8?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">disappear into the sunset</a>. <img alt="Cowboy" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/48.gif"></p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Thinking liberally about feeling" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/05/emotion_reason_and_policy" target="_blank">eco-feeling</a>, <a title="FBI redefines rape to mean, like, rape" href="http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2011/10/23/fbi-redefines-rape-to-mean-like-rape/" target="_blank">fbi-rape</a>, <a title="Prostitution laws struck down by Ont. court" href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/09/28/prostitution-law028.html" target="_blank">cbc-prost</a></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:b905bf3a-9bde-4078-a957-1b6854efe44d" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag" title="Zamo the Libertarian in Toronto, aka LibTO">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=inspiration" rel="tag">inspiration</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=plagiat" rel="tag">plagiat</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=intellectual+property" rel="tag">intellectual property</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=copyright" rel="tag">copyright</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=theft" rel="tag">theft</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=daughters" rel="tag">daughters</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=daughter+test" rel="tag">daughter test</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=levitt" rel="tag">levitt</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=plagiarism" rel="tag">plagiarism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=quoting" rel="tag">quoting</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=quotation" rel="tag">quotation</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=attribution" rel="tag">attribution</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=citation" rel="tag">citation</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=cite" rel="tag">cite</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=citing" rel="tag">citing</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=quote" rel="tag">quote</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=discourse" rel="tag">discourse</a> (Tags)</div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-58211627017455690862011-08-08T10:58:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.761-04:00The Debt Ceiling Debacle and the World Economy<span id="description">The recent debt ceiling Kabuki theater and subsequent poor critical reception from S&P is a good case study and launchpad into an analysis of the political theater. Using <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="Real Time with Bill Maher">RTBM</abbr>, we will first look at the economic issues and then at the composition of the ruling class.</span> <a name='more'></a> <p>The last <em>Real Time with Bill Maher (RTBM)</em> show of the season had a stellar guest line-up. It started with Christina Romer from UC Berkeley who back in 2008, as CEA chair, correctly estimated that the size of the stimulus should have been more than $1.2-trillion. Most economists today seem to agree with her, especially in the light of new data that shows that the collapse 2008 was several orders of magnitude more severe than initially estimated:</p> <blockquote> <p>Output in the third and fourth quarters fell by 3.7% and 8.9%, respectively, not at 0.5% and 3.8% as believed at the time. (..) In January, total employment was already 1m workers below the level shown in the official data. (eco-blind)</p></blockquote> <p>The numbers keep being revised downward:</p> <blockquote> <p>On a per-person basis, inflation-adjusted GDP stands at virtually the same level as in the second quarter of 2005. America is six years into a lost decade. (eco-down)</p></blockquote> <p>You might wonder why a Libertarian blog such as this would fall for the “trap” of the Leviathan stimulus. To that I would respond that libertarianism has many undercurrents and even though I consider myself a right-libertarian I take exception to some “tenets”; I have yet to fully explain my position and my very own brand of libertarianism here. I will just note that according to Scott Sumner, a professor of economics at Bentley University who identifies himself as a "neo-monetarist", Friedman (but NOT Rothbard) would have supported the monetary stimulus.</p> <p>Gold remains a bet that the world economy as we know it is going the way of the Dodo, while emerging economies have doubled their clout in the past decade.</p> <p><a title="Kitco Charts - click for more" href="http://www.kitco.com/gold_currency/charts.htm?CAD" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="SpotGoldUSD" border="0" alt="SpotGoldUSD" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xBu6ToB38LXUTi_6mjeJGtpzs2F5Mbn3ivWu-IIoEa2rZ1Tuwp5NljwNh4UZQTft9Yx5ukOTlR09YMuFx2CakPHZaUpVohhLtDRKnaihlAIQoV4896nX-bLhbKtF5kxL772RLMPfRL4/?imgmax=800" width="462" height="297"></a>The recent S&P downgrade of US credit worthiness will probably push Gold even higher. It’s remarkable that Gold appreciated even more in CAD than in USD, possibly because CAD cannot compete with gold as a “safe haven” especially when USA, Canada’s largest partner (75% of all exports) is going down. Canada itself was downgraded in 1992 and it took a decade to get its AAA groove back. Today, the Economist calls Obama “the underperforming president” just like it called Canada’s leader “Mr. <strong><font style="background-color: #ff0000">Dithers</font></strong>” back in 2005, prompting his eventual demise from politics.</p> <p>This particular recovery is far more fragile than previous ones, as the Economist clearly shows, so the bloodletting simply could not be too severe:</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhamv48YHToW2HHmOCf7Bol0pX9sJgNOfNu_g5D0RxoUuCSr_0oTb1qAqY8AN7c94aCrDWtG90Sojnj09hf9YPc6ZLy_iW1VPH_T0A78vjZ9qD_Vx-hMMSJOlDWpfVn-rhyBwPbHycqDwI/s1600-h/US-recessions-and-recoveries2.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="US-recessions-and-recoveries" border="0" alt="US-recessions-and-recoveries" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6KxVFpBkcDIpjJVw_Nmf9zXjxSEBytiGGnePXjseP5o5k9YyFcs1iXFHmehXBhS8oKDsDn-YNDN_it7GYcS14lf9hitvOLM5asQHD0aHIE-D3Celtkm20GDWrSSrcoAX9P0XtMAECg9g/?imgmax=800" width="344" height="386"></a>Still, the downgrade is a slap on the face of politicians and their bickering rather than the American economy as a whole, as it should be obvious from the S&P announcement:</p> <blockquote> <p>The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy … [This] weakens the government’s ability to manage public finances..</p></blockquote> <p>It remains to be seen whether this will hurt Obama more than it will help him. He has certainly managed to appear as a weak, <strong><font style="background-color: #ff0000">dithering</font></strong> leader (much like the previous challenger to Bush’s hegemony) but on the plus side, he painted himself in the center, in opposition to “tea-bagger terrorism/blackmail”.</p> <p><a title="The debt ceiling crisis - Tuesday morning quarterbacking" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood/2011/08/debt-ceiling-crisis-0" target="_blank">Buttonwood</a> does an excellent job of explaining where each side of the debate is coming from:</p> <blockquote> <p>Paul Krugman describes the debt deal as a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/opinion/the-president-surrenders-on-debt-ceiling.html" target="_blank">disaster</a> on the grounds that austerity in the economy's current state is folly; Edward Glaeser of Harvard, in contrast, is <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-02/balanced-budget-suddenly-looks-more-appealing-edward-glaeser.html" target="_blank">backing the call</a> for a balanced budget amendment, an approach that would force the government to take a procyclical approach, forcing the government to cut spending at a time of recession. Mr Glaeser argues that <blockquote>The best argument for balanced budgets is that forcing governments to pay for their spending with current taxes will produce less wasteful spending.</blockquote> <p>Japan provides an example of how wasteful spending (concreting river beds) has failed to revive the economy. But again, we don't have the benefit of counterfactual analysis; what would the Japanese economy look like if the government had balanced its budget on a regular basis? Richard Koo's book "The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics" argues that the Japanese had little choice in the face of the deleveraging of the private sector. <p>At the heart of these arguments is the question of whether government spending has a positive or negative multiplier, ie create more or less bang for each buck. Keynesians think the former; neoclassicists think the latter. It seems (to this blogger, at least) intuitive that the impact of a stimulus will be dependent on the initial conditions of the economy; factors such as the size of the output gap and the overall level of government debt will play a role. For example, a government will find it easier to finance a deficit if it starts from a low debt-to-GDP ratio; if it starts from 100%, its borrowing costs will rise, offsetting any fiscal stimulus. This <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w16479" target="_blank">study</a> from the National Bureau for Economic Research illustrates the point; it says that factors like exchange rate flexibility and openness to trade play a role. It also finds that <blockquote>During episodes where the outstanding debt of the central government was high (exceeding 60 percent of GDP) the …fiscal multiplier was not statistically different from zero on impact and was negative (and statistically different from zero) in the long run.</blockquote> <p>Of course, the US and Britain would fall into that category. However, Paul Krugman <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/multiplying-multipliers/" target="_blank">interpreted</a> the paper (admittedly on the basis of a slightly earlier version than the link provided above) as favourable to the Keynesian case, arguing that <blockquote>this <a href="http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/4036">piece by Ilzetzki et al</a> is interesting, and offers a wide range of multipliers depending on a country’s situation. The question for the United States is which estimate is most relevant.I’d say it’s the fixed exchange rate estimate. Yes, I know, we have a floating rate. But they explain the relatively high fixed-rate number by pointing to Mundell-Fleming, which says that fiscal policy is effective under fixed rates because it doesn’t drive up interest rates (capital flows in). We’re in a similar position for a different reason: fiscal expansion doesn’t drive up rates because we’re at the zero bound. <p>Oh, we’re also relatively closed. The thing is that both the fixed rate and closed multipliers are around 1.5 — which so happens to be just about the number assumed by Christina Romer in her analysis for the Obama administration. Just saying.</p></blockquote> <p>Anyway, we may have more of a test case of Keynesianism over the next couple of years. The authorities have thrown both monetary and fiscal stimulus at the problem since 2007, so it is hard to tell which policy has had what effect; indeed, hard to tell whether the effects are combining positively or cancelling each other out. But now the US has joined the fiscal austerity club, monetary policy will have to do all the work. It is hard to see the Fed (or the Bank of England) raising rates in the next 12 months. We will be able to compare the Anglo-Saxon experience with that of the euro-zone which is enjoying/enduring fiscal and monetary tightening. <p>UPDATE: On the US joining the fiscal austerity club, see the IMF's latest <a title="Document opens below: IMF latest package" href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2011/cr11201.pdf&embedded=true" rel="gdoc" target="tutub">report</a>, dated even before this package. "Under the staff projections, expiration of temporary stimulus programs, lower defense spending and new deficit reduction measures will help reduce the federal deficit by 3¾ percent of GDP over the next two fiscal years,subtracting roughly 1 percentage point from GDP growth in both 2012 and 2013." (The reference is on page 17). And if you look at the IMF's June fiscal policy <a title="Document opens below: IMF June fiscal policy monitor" href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fm/2011/02/update/fmindex.pdf&embedded=true" rel="gdoc" target="tutub">monitor</a> (see page 3), the US is closing its cyclically-adjusted deficit at a faster pace than the euro area over the next year (1.4% reduction against 0.6%).</p></blockquote> <p>Sadly, the emerging consensus is that with the exception of Germany, most other countries are facing a period of prolonged downturn and we face a minimum 3-5 year “<abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="DEPRESSION">serious downturn</abbr>”. Economies and governments are in <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Western economies are in worse shape than 2008" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AoqHOfNQ-CI?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">worse shape</a> than in 2008, having spent most of their ammunition in hastened and insufficient “surge” (or “stimulus” as surges are called at home). The Economist tries to calm down spirits with an article titled “<a title="Free exchange - Second time farce - That 30s feeling" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/08/second-time-farce" target="_blank">that 30s feeling</a>”. When they wrote that article, Athens was feeling the pinch of right-wing rioting (via <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/macroeconomic-folly/" target="_blank">Paul Krugman</a>, <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20110802/greece-economic-and-political-crisis-110802/" target="_blank">CTV</a>):</p> <blockquote> <p>In Greece, alarm is rising that the twin crises of financial meltdown and soaring illegal immigration are creating the conditions for a right-wing rise — and the Norway massacre on Monday drove authorities to beef up security.<br>The move comes amid spiralling social unrest that has unleashed waves of rioting and vigilante thuggery on the streets of Athens. The U.N.’s refugee agency warns that some Athens neighborhoods have become zones where “fascist groups have established an odd lawless regime.”</p></blockquote> <p>An excellent prop to the monetarist view and debunking of the myth that hyperinflation directly caused the rise of Nazism:</p> <blockquote> <p>There is a striking irony to the current situation in the euro zone. It's often assumed that hyperinflation gave the world the Nazis; that's wrong. The hyperinflation ended in 1923, and the German economy and political system functioned fairly well from then until 1929. The rise of the Nazis was precipitated by the stunning economic collapse that began in 1929, but which intensified significantly in 1930 and 1931. During the recovery years, the German economy accumulated a significant amount of debt, as lenders rushed to take advantage of the boom. When the economic crash hit, Germany found itself squeezed on two sides. The economy was crushed by an intense cycle of deleveraging and austerity, as the government struggled to maintain market confidence.</p></blockquote> <p>Now, even <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Looted shops, smashed cars & windows" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XnVTqL2NPPI?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">London</a> is <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Britain Burns: London riots rage..." href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/k4DUtDMfymI?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">burning</a>, much like <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Vancouver riot 2011. A SHORT FILM by Reid Gower." href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fzsLz7s9q40?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Vancouver</a> <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Video of mad Canada riots: Vancouver fans run amok, set cars on fire" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4VzOUKODdZ4?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">only</a> <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Vancouver Riots 2011: Destruction After Boston Bruins Win Stanley Cup" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1q5V6DKH3bw?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">a month</a> ago. But let’s do away with the gloominess and continue on with Bill Maher’s show.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki" target="_blank">wiki-kabuki</a>, <a title="Fiscal policy - Flying blind 20110803" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/08/fiscal-policy" target="_blank">eco-blind</a>, <a title="Six years into a lost decade - The numbers keep being revised inexorably downwards 20110806" href="http://www.economist.com/node/21525440" target="_blank">eco-down</a>, <a title="Missing Milton Friedman" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/07/free-marketeers-and-inflation" target="_blank">eco-friedman</a>, <a title="Downgrading our politics" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/08/sps-credit-rating-cut" target="_blank">eco-downgrading</a>, <a title="An underperforming president - How Barack Obama allowed the Republicans to rout him over the debt ceiling" href="http://www.economist.com/node/21525395" target="_blank">eco-obama</a>, <a title="Why the tail wags the dog - Emerging economies now have greater heft on many measures than developed ones" href="http://www.economist.com/node/21525373" target="_blank">eco-tail</a>, <a title="Emerging vs developed economies - Power shift - The emerging world begins to seize the lion's share of global markets" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/08/emerging-vs-developed-economies" target="_blank">eco-shift</a></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:541b50cd-f959-49d1-aadb-8b3ae9438098" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag" title="Zamo the Libertarian in Toronto, aka LibTO">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=tax" rel="tag">tax</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=taxation" rel="tag">taxation</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=debt" rel="tag">debt</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=congress" rel="tag">congress</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=complex" rel="tag">complex</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=politics" rel="tag">politics</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=economy" rel="tag">economy</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=economics" rel="tag">economics</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=stimulus" rel="tag">stimulus</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=surge" rel="tag">surge</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=keynes" rel="tag">keynes</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=keynesian" rel="tag">keynesian</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=monetarist" rel="tag">monetarist</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=friedman" rel="tag">friedman</a> (Tags)</div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-4773875125193970102011-08-03T15:31:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.742-04:00The Daily Show with Jon Stewart censored in Britain<span id="description">Watching The Daily Show (TDS) the other day I learned that their “praise” of British Parliament had been censored in Britain. And while Jon Stewart vented his beef with the Brits, I couldn’t help remembering my own beef with TDS.</span> <a name='more'></a> <p><a title="Jon Stewart - Caricature by DonkeyHotey @ flickr CC SA" href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5251/5544227934_d005096e95_o.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Jon-Stewart-caricature by DonkeyHotey" border="0" alt="Jon-Stewart-caricature" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnzF6PRiqgVwl6fiVkrJuGN3sEXSQFBdj5Ht2tif9EIf1JPmmvrjoe-DL-xqi_KvMtdrZqAohRoXUh2aCySxsRQ6vmbi8CFzPgQy1S3MeUHtdLyKs9QaW31jYu1KxRMdCCGIA7dUJSIjc/?imgmax=800" width="200" height="347"></a>TDS covered the News of the World scandal and the few bits from a Parliament Question Period (the Q&A where the MPs get to grill the members of the government) concluding with the words “Britain is awesome!”. And indeed, you don’t have to be a former debater to appreciate the quality of the English political theat<strong>re</strong>, far superio<strong>u</strong>r to the American political theat<strong>er</strong>. Still, for all its triumphs, in Britain institutions of power (the House, the Royals) cannot be shown in a humorous context, which, predictably, has Jon foaming at his proverbial pie hole:</p> <blockquote> <p>I understand not being allowed to poke fun today at the vestigial powerless anachronisms populated by the most recent incarnation of the centuries long genetic experiment known as English nobility. They are understandably and perhaps fatally thin-skinned having had over this many years their power diminished along with their ability to produce platelets, but the House of Commons?! Is the most basic expression of British democracy, is that too fragile to withstand a gentle parody, a good natured kick to the clotted creams? Or perhaps it’s not the Parliament you are protecting, but the people. Perhaps the delicate sensibilities of your gentle countrymen cannot bide the vulgar sendup of barbarian […] I’ve seen the shit you show on Channel 4 [..]</p></blockquote> <p>Truth be told, despite the embedded anachronisms that Jon mentions, British democratic institutions seem to work better than their American counterparts. Counter-intuitively, there is more social mobility in Britain than in the USA and the same holds true for political clans (families where most men hold public office such as the Kennedys and Bush). </p> <p>My beef, however, is not with the Brits, but rather with <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Jon visits the troops" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2MwRS0LSpxQ?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Jon</a> and his show. For a long time now, they’ve been heavily discriminating against Canadian viewers, who cannot embed or link directly to video clips on either Comedy Network (the equivalent of Comedy Central) as Americans can. This forces Jon’s show out of the Canadian public discourse. Sure, we can still link to Rick Mercer who does a <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): RMR: Rick's Rant - Parliament and the Need to be Informed" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6AZNeiq2e90?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">pretty good job</a> explaining <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): RMR: HOW PARLIAMENT WORKS" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Aealt-etGVs?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">how Parliament works</a>, or <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): RMR: Canada Explained" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yi1yhp-_x7A?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">how Canada works</a>, but good luck trying to get anything done with the <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Rick Mercer - Talking To Americans" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BhTZ_tgMUdo?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">USA</a>.</p> <p>I hope Viacom & TDS will come to their senses and stop screwing with us. It’s aboot time!</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a href="http://dailyshow.thecomedynetwork.ca/" target="_blank">tcn</a>, <a title="Aug1" href="http://watch.ctv.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/episodes/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-ep-16099-august-1-2011/#clip510378" target="_blank">ctv</a>, <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" target="_blank">tds</a></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:037927b6-738b-43b8-969d-c6704b06ff34" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag" title="Zamo the Libertarian in Toronto, aka LibTO">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=censorship" rel="tag">censorship</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=ip" rel="tag">ip</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=intellectual+property" rel="tag">intellectual property</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=discrimination" rel="tag">discrimination</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=restriction" rel="tag">restriction</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=restrictions" rel="tag">restrictions</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=web" rel="tag">web</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=website" rel="tag">website</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=quoting" rel="tag">quoting</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=embed" rel="tag">embed</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=embedding" rel="tag">embedding</a> (Tags)</div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-15998865640494971132011-07-22T15:42:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.687-04:00Oslo bombedI am quite upset to learn about this terrorist attack in Oslo, particularly since years ago I traveled through that country. Though at least 7 people died and more were harmed, it’s a small relief that the Prime Minister, who was seemingly the target of these attacks, was not hurt<span id="description">.</span> <a name='more'></a> <p><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/54221000/jpg/_54221892_oslo_blast_464map.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Oslo-bomb-attack" border="0" alt="Oslo-bomb-attack" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfc1LDgy8Tmtgo9W5JFz6E-AZnc9K5lGxh8y-UY8dfffuPAB2e9W4-n144G_MVnjp9IkP3kvzBh-LvX6_JmdTUnRUdoV9niUR0q_7neW15osibew82-X-LUOb6QuKKTD1GlfZFNZZVOfw/?imgmax=800" width="216" height="244"></a>To recap, the attack seems to have targeted the prime-minister. A bomb exploded in the heart of Oslo’s “political” district, right next to the PM’s office. A gunman also fired shots outside the city, on the island Utoeya, at a youth Labour Party rally the PM was due to attend. The preliminary reports suggest that at least 7 people are dead as a result of the explosion, 15 injured and a number trapped in the rubble. <strike>Four people</strike> Close to 100 were <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Al-Jazeera Interview: Norway shooting witness" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3pt6-XCAVc8?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">killed on the island</a> and police managed to arrest the perpetrator, who was linked to the bombing in Oslo. Friday is a holiday and government offices were not as busy as they could have been. Norway is a NATO member and, like Canada, participated in the war in Afghanistan.</p> <p><u>First reaction</u>: I cannot help noticing, once again, the complete idiocy of those who plan and inflict terror. <em>If they’re those</em> headed by some CIA-trained dude who was offered asylum by Pakistan and passed his time watching himself on video and masturbating, the hopelessly failed raccoons who keep attacking with blunt forks fail to grasp that prior to engaging a superior enemy, they need to at least make an attempt at education; then again, education tends to open minds and show peaceful alternatives to force, which is perhaps why they find themselves in this Catch 22.</p> <p><em><strong><abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="Later Edit, adaugat dupa publicare">LE:</abbr></strong> It turns out that the main suspect is Anders Breivik, 32, described in news reports as a libertarian who had turned to extreme right-wing views in his 20s. He studied commerce and was self-employed at Breivik Geofarm which would have given him access to sufficient fertilizer to make the bomb that damaged the PMO. His actions are in clear and obvious disagreement with libertarianism, which is a philosophy that strongly rejects violence; he is more of an anarchist than anything else. Furthermore, his “manifesto” mentions a large number of people, including Vlad Tepes aka Dracula, which makes such a linkage hazardous. Since he is alive, we will soon learn more about his. Here’s an eyewitness account (what a terrible way to die):</em></p> <blockquote> <p>I was working in the information booth on the island. <p>We were informed by radio of a bombing in Oslo, so we gathered all 700 people on the island together to tell them. <p>A couple of minutes later we got a phone call to say one policeman was coming on to the shore to see us. <p>I went to the coffee shop to get supplies for everyone. I then heard gun shots and could see people running. As they were running, they were shot in the back. <p>People were falling dead right in front of me. <p>I ran through the campus to the tent area. I saw the gunman - two people started to talk to him and two seconds later they were both shot. <p>He was wearing a black uniform, with red edges. He looked liked a Nazi, with his police-like uniform and hair. <p>The gunman was very sure, calm and controlled. He looked like he knew what he was doing. He screamed at us that we would all die. <p>We all started to run down to the water, people had already undressed and started swimming. I thought I didn't have enough time to take off my clothes, so I started swimming in the rain, in my clothes and big boots. <p>I went for about 150 metres but the lake is about 800 metres long. I realised I wouldn't make it so I turned back. <p>I saw him standing 10 metres from me, shooting at the people who were swimming. He aimed his machine gun at me and I screamed at him, 'No please no, don't do it'. I don't know if he listened to me but he spared me. <p>He came back an hour later. I was with other survivors and we were lying down and hiding behind the trees and rocks. We were freezing in our wet clothes. <p>The shooting started again and people were falling on top of me, on my legs and falling into the water - that's when many people died. I just had to shield myself behind them, praying he wouldn't see me. <p>Then he came closer, I could feel his breath, I could feel his boots, I could feel the warmth of the barrel. <p>But I didn't move and that's what saved my life.</p></blockquote> <p><em>There is very little known about <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Norway Police: Suspects admits firing weapons (AP)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Tzh2C2At_N4?autoplay=1&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">the gunman</a> as he had no criminal record and kept a rather low profile, apart from participating in online forums holding strong nationalistic and anti-Muslim views. He’s been shooting on the island for more than 1h.</em> <blockquote> <p>On the Facebook page attributed to him, he describes himself as a Christian and a conservative. The Facebook page is no longer available but it also listed interests such as body-building and freemasonry. The gunman was described by witnesses who saw him on Utoeya island as tall and blond - and dressed in a police uniform. The image of him posted on Facebook depict a blond, blue-eyed man. The Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang quoted a friend as saying that the suspect turned to right-wing extremism when in his late 20s. The paper also said that he participated in online forums expressing strong nationalistic views. He had no military background except for ordinary national service and no criminal record, it seems. </p> <p>A Twitter account attributed to the suspect has also emerged but it only has one post, which is a quote from philosopher John Stuart Mill: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests." As with his Facebook page, the tweet was posted on 17 July.</p></blockquote> <p>I traveled to Norway some time at the beginning of this millennium together with some Swiss friends. Norway – like the other Scandinavian countries as well as the Baltic countries – made an excellent impression upon me. I traveled throughout the entire Europe and I regard Scandinavia together with Switzerland as the pinnacle of the Western civilization: highly educated, polite, communicative, truly beautiful inside and out people who have built open, welcoming societies ruled by responsive, dedicated governments. In fact, I was so enamored with what I was experiencing that I arranged for a job with the intention to live and work there for a year. That did not pan out, as I got an email that a very close relative had just been diagnosed with metastatic cancer and needed my help, so I returned to Canada.</p> <p>What concerns me is that even in this beautiful, open country, reactionary forces may use this attack to unleash a sick dose of security theatre on this proud land. One more reason to hurry up with my travel stories; they won’t undo the damage, but hopefully one will be able to better understand the beauty and importance of openness.</p> <p><em><strong><abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="Later Edit, adaugat dupa publicare">LE:</abbr></strong> This is a truly tragic event and the casualties seem to greatly exceed the initial estimates. I would rather not jump to conclusions, but it appears that this individual was the European version of Timothy McVeigh (rather than <a title="Jared Lee Loughner and Gun Crime" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2011/01/jared-lee-loughner-and-gun-crime.html">Jared Lee Loughner</a>). It saddens me to learn that even a harmonious society can produced such deranged individuals. If anything, this goes to prove that we have to treat all extremism and intolerance similarly, since even <a title="Jamel, Ayn Rand and German Racism" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2011/01/jamel-and-german-racism.html">xenophobia / racism</a> / <a title="European Islamophobia" href="alit.zamo.ca/2010/10/european-islamophobia.html">Islamophobia</a> can cause people to turn against their own. Such an attack may also turn public opinion against gun ownership, especially since Norway is one of the few countries with liberal gun laws. However, it seems to me that even with stricter gun control this individual would have still carried out his crime. The way this was perpetrated suggests a high degree of planning. Strong gun control would have certainly made it more difficult for him to kill so many people, but it seems to me that he would have found a way.</em></p> <p><em>If anything, all these killings should teach us that terror could come from anywhere and that <a title="France enforces burqa ban" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2011/04/france-enforces-burqa-ban.html">intolerance</a>, racism and xenophobia end up hurting those who hold such views almost as much as their targets. A concerted effort to deal with such attitudes is bound to bring better results and make communities safer than simply banning guns, though I concede that gun-control-make-believe is much easier to achieve than opening minds.</em></p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Oslo bomb - latest updates" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14254705" target="_blank">bbc-oslo</a>, <a href="http://www.edutarian.com" target="_blank">edu-oslo</a></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:4e0ed308-c83c-431f-b20c-a442cd9d5347" class="wlWriterSmartContent"><a title="Zamo the Libertarian in Toronto, aka LibTO" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=attack" rel="tag">attack</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=bomb" rel="tag">bomb</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=terror" rel="tag">terror</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=terrorism" rel="tag">terrorism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=security" rel="tag">security</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=insecurity" rel="tag">insecurity</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=crime" rel="tag">crime</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=explosion" rel="tag">explosion</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=dead" rel="tag">dead</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=deaths" rel="tag">deaths</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=pmo" rel="tag">pmo</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=prime-minister" rel="tag">prime-minister</a> (Tags)</div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-19170318413713687362011-04-11T15:23:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.690-04:00France enforces burqa ban<span id="description">In yet another sign that Europeans are increasingly afraid of “<a title="European Islamophobia" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2009/11/anti-minarets-switzerland.html">the Muslim threat</a>”, France has started to <a title="YouTube Video (opens to the right if you're on the main site): Openly Defying France's Burqa Ban" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ubfQQQtclCQ?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">enforce its ban on the burqa (niqab)</a>. It is the only European country to do so but it may soon be followed by other countries. </span> <a name='more'></a> <p><a title="An unidentified veiled woman is taken away by police officers, flanked by two friends, in Paris on Monday. ((Michael Euler/Associated Press))" href="http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2011/04/11/li-veil-arrest-cp00494321.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="burqa-woman-arrested" border="0" alt="burqa-woman-arrested" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYJavudDvvXsfKUiQT_xxrQDaAOajriDzSObHZtUeZdAKbSLnlBvunOWnSO5lZMvMODkW-mmEx0i-9dhEaaJcMbYqh1uGJMPM9oDN5YrEfg1yfM-f0BFXYpCDeZ0rV54hOEAgCSK92ZM/?imgmax=800" width="221" height="221"></a>The parallels with the <a title="Anti-minarets Switzerland" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2009/11/anti-minarets-switzerland.html">Swiss ban on minarets</a> is evident: same widespread support, same symbolism. For starters, only a small minority, i.e., 2000 women of France’s 5 million Muslims wear it, and seemingly only in high-immigration neighbourhoods. This causes some to see this law as a measure against the country’s second religion.</p> <p>In today’s protests, about 9 casually dressed people and 3 women in niqabs appeared in front of Notre Dame in Paris, surrounded by much larger crowds of police, tourists and journalists.</p> <blockquote> <p>One of the veiled women was seen being taken away in a police van. A police officer on the site told The Associated Press that she was detained because the protest was not authorized and the woman refused to disperse when police asked her to. The officer was not authorized to be publicly named. The Paris police administration said another woman was also detained for taking part in the unauthorized demonstration.It was unclear whether the women were fined for wearing a veil. The law says veiled women risk a $205 Cdn fine or special citizenship classes, though not jail. People who force women to don a veil are subject to up to a year in prison and a $41,000 fine, and possibly twice that if the veiled person is a minor. (..) in many cases the women are young, French-born daughters of immigrants who have a "spiritual reawakening" and become more religious than their family, wearing the veil as an identity statement — often over the objections of their parents.</p></blockquote> <p>There are some obvious points in favour of such a law:</p> <ol> <li>Being so fully covered results in significant Vitamin D deficiency for these women. Here’s how burqa is worn in the Muslim world, according to relijournal: <blockquote> <p>Burqa falls under the category of Hijab. This is a Arabic word which means to veil or cover and refers to a women’s head and body covering gear. In Saudi Arabia, women a loose robe called abaya and a face veil called niqab while in nations like Tunisia or Turkey, Muslim women tend to wear only a headscarf. In Iran, they take a step further and the “fashion police” mandate all women to wear loose clothing – preferably black or a while robe – when going out and women are also supposed to wear either a full face veil or scarf. If the dress code is not followed, it results in punishment. In order to accommodate to the modern word, Islamic teachers allow women to wear a “Burqini.” A Burqini is a swimsuit for women and it covers the entire body. The only exposed parts are the feet, fingers and the face. Chador is also a full body cover for women. One of the extremes of Burqa is the Afghan Burqa, which was enforced by Taliban. This burqa covers the entire body in a loose clothing and even the face (including eyes) are covered with only a grille for the women to look through.</p></blockquote> <li>Some Muslim scholars do not consider it mandated by Quran: <blockquote> <p>First of all, it depends on which Islamic scholar you ask. They are all in disagreement as to what extend Quran advocates this. However, the Quran does urge men and women to dress and behave modestly in society. The Quran does not specifically mention the Burqa or tells women to wear such extremely confining clothes. The Ulema or the Scholars do agree that the Quran says women should not wear extremely revealing clothes. Modern day muslims base their authority regarding the Burqa on the Hadith or collected traditions of life in the days of Muhammad the prophet. But a noteworthy objection is that Hadith describes 7th century Arabian life, which should not be imposed on modern day Muslims world wide. Muslim communities also argue that women are to dress modestly but should not be forced or punished to wear a Burqa.</p></blockquote> <li>The French have had some experience with <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): French Colonialists vs. Algerian Muslims (Independence)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-gHrJHNiN0k?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">veiled terrorists</a>. Paris goes periodically through “security scares” and everytime I visited there was nowhere to place garbage on the street, as all such designated “holes” had been sealed and covered. Even <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Hundreds of people at the French film festival in Cannes have protested against a movie about Algeria's struggle for independence from France (AlJazeeraEnglish)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/o42wn7NXYp8?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">newer movies on the subject of Algerian independence</a> encounter resistance. <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): President John F. Kennedy - Statement on the Occasion of Algerian Independence" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0YDKRqoRkfQ?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Kennedy recognized Algeria</a>’s independence.</li></ol> <p>What I find interesting is that France is not the first to ban burqa. It was <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Italian town introduces burka ban by AFP - While France moves a step closer to banning the full Islamic veil, in Italy the anti-immigration Northern League is also pushing a bill to outlaw it." href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7vW88bnPIhY?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">banned by an Italian town</a> and right here in Canada Quebec was the first to pull this off. Here’s what Worthington wrote in Toronto Sun over a year ago in defence of the Quebec ban:</p> <blockquote> <p>Unlike “English” Canada, Quebec has never doubted its own identity, and has led the rest of the country in culture, music, the arts, even politics (where it can be a real nuisance). By banning the niqab and burqa (the veil with eye slits and the full head covering with latticed mask) for any provincial employee, and anyone dealing with government services, Quebec is setting an example for the rest of the country. A majority of Canadians likely endorse Quebec’s decision (Bill 94). Some will call it racist, unfair and even unCanadian to ban face coverings for women and feel it should be a matter of individual choice. While worthy of debate and discussion, what the new Quebec law is not, is racist. Rather, it is an effort to promote or enhance racial and gender equality. That so few Muslim women in Quebec wear the niqab or burqa — we are told only a couple of dozen go along with the custom — makes the new law even more appropriate. It will cause no widespread disarray or discomfort. Put bluntly, having to do business with someone who refuses to have their face seen, is offensive and demeaning — to both parties. Ours is a society that prides itself on face-to-face dealings, where both parties can size one another up, establish a rapport or, in some cases, a disconnect. <p>(..) The Muslim Canadian Congress wants the niqab and burqa banned for all the right reasons — symbols of oppression, inequality, subservience, etc. — and that they “marginalize women.” Excluded was the hijab. For what it’s worth, the origins of the niqab are unclear — probably dating back to pre-Islam Persia, and adapted mostly by Bedouin. Tunisia has banned the niqab, as has Turkey in government offices and schools. Saudi Arabia enforces it only in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In Dubai, an ambassador had his marriage annulled when he discovered his bride, who wore a burqa, was cross-eyed and had facial hair. In Florida, one Sultaana Freeman who was born Sandra Keller and converted to Islam, wanted her driver’s licence photo in a veil, but compromised if a woman took a barefaced photo of her in a closed room. <p>Bizarre. <p>Hail Quebec!</p></blockquote> <p>The event was covered by a number of organizations, such as <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Burqa Ban: Muslim full-face cover now crime in France" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LuMISZxcffo?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">RT</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Bin Laden targets France, blasts burqa ban and Afghan war" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pH5qIv_n9m0?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">binLaden</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): France enforces burqa ban today" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g9SvWb7mWRI?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Times</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): France's ban on Islamic face veils now in effect. Several women protesting a new French law banning Islamic face veils were taken into custody in Paris. Jeff Glor reports" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NLHpEZmAZZc?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">CBS</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): France Might Ban Burqas" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vtCuteGzc1M?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">TYT</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): Amnesty International Condemns French Burqa Ban" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UpcvNDTBNhk?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">NTDTV</a>, <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): France votes to ban burqa" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7MJh332SXb0?autoplay=1&rel=0" rel="ytvid" target="tutub">Reuters</a>. Still, I’m not sure this is an issue of interest to Torontonians. We might rejoice however, knowing that now <a title="Drivers can fight some parking tickets by email" href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/04/11/toronto-parking-tickets658.html" target="_blank">parking tickets can be contested by email</a>.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa" target="_blank">wiki-burqa</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niqab" target="_blank">wiki-niqab</a>, <a title="Veiled women arrested at Paris protest" href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/04/11/paris-france-islamic-veil-arrest.html" target="_blank">cbc-burqa</a>, <a title="The head-covering of Muslim women and the issues and controversies surrounding it." href="http://relijournal.com/islam/the-burqa-facts-issues/" target="_blank">relj-burqa</a>, <a title="Revolutionary Woman vs Burqa Woman" href="http://www.thestar.com/business/article/955088--revolutionary-woman-vs-burqa-womanR" target="_blank">tst-revwoman</a>, <a title="Quebec’s burqa ban is not racist: Worthington - It’s neither ‘scary’ nor ‘threatening’ to expect people to adapt to the cultural mores of their new homeland" href="http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/peter_worthington/2010/03/29/13400986.html" target="_blank">tsn-que</a>,</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:bb890f59-3f73-456b-b013-268868e9e89d" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag" title="Zamo the Libertarian in Toronto, aka LibTO">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=burqa" rel="tag">burqa</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=veil" rel="tag">veil</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=islam" rel="tag">islam</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=islamophobia" rel="tag">islamophobia</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=muslim" rel="tag">muslim</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=moslem" rel="tag">moslem</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=niqab" rel="tag">niqab</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=hadith" rel="tag">hadith</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=koran" rel="tag">koran</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=quran" rel="tag">quran</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=tradition" rel="tag">tradition</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=customs" rel="tag">customs</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=law" rel="tag">law</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=dress" rel="tag">dress</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=feminism" rel="tag">feminism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=woman" rel="tag">woman</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=women" rel="tag">women</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=oppression" rel="tag">oppression</a> (Tags)</div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-88711501918876171042011-03-24T22:31:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.801-04:00The Economist and censorship<span id="description">One of my comments to an Economist article was deleted. It seems to me that they were wrong and misguided to do so. Or am I being subjective?</span> <a name='more'></a> <p>I am an old fan of this publication. I started reading it more than 10 years ago and it is still my favourite. Not long ago, I was paying $1-200 / year for a subscription, but I discontinued due to lack of time.</p> <p>Just the other day I noticed a few comments following this daily chart on Global nuclear power:</p> <p align="center"><object height="580" width="500" > <param name="movie" value="http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/media/2011InfoG/Interactive/NuclearPower0323f/main.swf"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/media/2011InfoG/Interactive/NuclearPower0323f/main.swf" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="580"> </object></p> <p>Underneath, the following comment:</p> <p><a title="Economist - I was a much happier person before I knew Armenia, Romania and Bulgaria all have nuclear reactors, and that the Ukraine still have 15 running." href="http://www.economist.com/comment/868968#comment-868968" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9c7JjDFR1PdJ5DOPWVHtBK9XPmJw_KqdYctNLOIty59a4A2QUyYuRaBRnu2T1Y1EC_GUkAZEYh5swomeUXP77QZLVuG-JMtD4OrDXUb0jz0ChbQEeLqRwlOdZ0w1pf75jnZEKA_EgLo/?imgmax=800" width="464" height="78"></a></p> <p>ximik took offence, writing</p> <p><a title="@Zambino: Please rest assured, the people that are operating those nuclear reactors are much, much smarter than you and your ignorance." href="http://www.economist.com/comment/868997#comment-868997" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="ximik-2-zambino" border="0" alt="ximik-2-zambino" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEili1288505MvFrSRnQIeqjlvb4wuAfwFWEsHEhyphenhyphenHovq1xgB7xiqbmyn-j59G5fHiXlkovXq20ppQUYFL6eqvxVXmhFmpSSndVdxMK-csbkLChqeZJyzo8FB81JanzmG5_ayBVnfE0NZYo/?imgmax=800" width="473" height="79"></a></p> <p>I wrote a short comment meant to bring a smile on those felt insulted by Zambino:</p> <blockquote> <p>USA should be on a separate, "nucular" list, together with @Zambino :)</p></blockquote> <p>Much to my surprise, hours later, I get an email from The Economist:</p> <blockquote> <p>The attached comment, posted under the pen name Indelible Bonobo, has been deleted from The Economist online. The comment was removed because it breaks our comments policy<br>We remind you that repeated violation of our comments policy may result in your being blocked from posting comments on The Economist online.<br>Yours sincerely,<br>Comments Moderator The Economist online</p></blockquote> <p>The email also suggested that I may have confused <em>Zambino</em> with <em>Lucano</em>..</p> <p>Looking through the rules (ec-cp) I found the following which may apply to the aforementioned exchange:</p> <ol> <li>Post, link to or otherwise publish any Messages containing material that is obscene, racist, homophobic or sexist or that contains any form of hate speech; <li>Post, link to or otherwise publish any Messages that are illegal, libellous, defamatory or may prejudice ongoing legal proceedings or breach a court injunction or other order; <li>Post, link to or otherwise publish any Messages that are abusive, threatening or make any form of personal attack on another user or an employee of The Economist; <li>Restrict or inhibit any other user from using the Forums.</li></ol> <p>My view is that if any rule was broken by me, the aforementioned messages break more rules and to a greater extent. The fact that they have not been censored indicates one of the following:</p> <ol> <li>The Moderator does not judge comments in context, looking only for specific “infractions”, such as whether another user’s name is mentioned.</li> <li>Only comments specifically flagged are considered for deletion (i.e., even though other messages break rules more flagrantly, they will not be deleted unless a user reports them).</li> <li>The Moderator may assess comments politically – i.e., the USA readers may have a greater economic value to the publication than the Armenian, Bulgarian and Romanian readers combined and as such their outrage is less acceptable than that of USA readers.</li> <li>The Moderator may have felt that my “Indelible” pen name is a sign of defiance <img alt="Batting Eyelashes" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/5.gif"><img alt="Monkey" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/51.gif"></li></ol> <p>The problem with such an approach is that it may backfire. Faced with all these possibilities and no hint from the censor as to which presumption is correct, my logical reaction would be to stop commenting on that site. Besides, as a Libertarian, I favour a moderation environment where users can and should correct themselves and each other rather than relying on some kind of “big daddy” to do it for them. This is why, rather than complain or fill in an abuse form, I preferred to simply comment with an innocuous joke. Or was the target of my irony right to take offense and file a complaint? </p> <p>What do you think? Was the Economist right to delete my comment?</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Nuclear energy interactive map - Going nuclear: An interactive map of current and future nuclear-power producers | Mar 24th 2011, 15:05 by The Economist online" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/03/nuclear_energy_interactive_map#comments" target="_blank">ec-gn</a>, <a title="Comments Policy, Economist" href="http://www.economist.com/legal/terms-of-use#usercontent" target="_blank">ec-cp</a>, <a title="Contact customer service" href="http://www.economist.com/help/contact.cfm" target="_blank">ec-cntct</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/EconomistMagazine" target="_blank">ec-yt</a></p> <p align="center"><iframe name="tvtub" align="center" title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="500" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tjG3IGbK0Pg" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:328a8ee8-9890-49b7-b4fc-f1acb6f6e486" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag" title="Zamo the Libertarian in Toronto, aka LibTO">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=economist" rel="tag">economist</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=censorship" rel="tag">censorship</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=freedom" rel="tag">freedom</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=free+speech" rel="tag">free speech</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=civility" rel="tag">civility</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=humor" rel="tag">humor</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=humour" rel="tag">humour</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=joke" rel="tag">joke</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=joking" rel="tag">joking</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=nuclear" rel="tag">nuclear</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=nucular" rel="tag">nucular</a> (Tags)</div> </embed> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-86876463986180876142011-01-11T17:42:00.003-05:002012-08-19T11:44:38.796-04:00Jared Lee Loughner and Gun Crime<span id="description">A subject often debated by libertarians is gun ownership and gun control. Though I suspect most libertarians would, like me, prefer as few restrictions on gun ownership as possible, I suspect that left libertarians might actually prefer outlawing guns altogether, which would mean that Second Amendment issues are not necessarily a Libertarian universal cause.</span><a name='more'></a> <p><a title="Jared Lee Loughner (I call him the Laughing Loner), shown here in a mugshot, is charged in the shooting that left six dead and 14 wounded including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Laughner has a minor criminal record dating back to 2007." href="http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/Politics/397/224/loughnermugshot.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Jared Lee Loughner" border="0" alt="Jared Lee Loughner" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_FKamGR_u6Plrs_o8s85VFM1Klpsfqho9GpuAz3WB9_vpzjjVKJjAFC2sz2qpS6SvpvKZAYPj88PzytejOHryiPd7nOGTDItjYeqac_huKPEe1I9kkOj9s-_JPLMYNxX8ZFjJ0ofkog/?imgmax=800" width="104" height="104"></a>These days, any debate on gun control is (or, seemingly, must be) taken over by the recent news of a massacre perpetrated by what appears to be a schizophrenic individual, Jared Lee Loughner. And just as usual, the issue of how and why did a mentally ill person get worse and was left untreated, to his own devices, is overshadowed by “magnet-issues” such as gun control, Sarah Palin’s bull's-eye map, fringe right vs Obama-care, the “vitriolic discourse” etc.</p> <p>Couldn’t help wondering: is his black eye evidence of some police TLC? Are the rights of prisoners we just don’t like worth less or that applies only to people with mental problems? Anyways, Jon Stewart has a nice comment on the tragedy, linked below (tds).</p> <h3>a facebook comment</h3> <p>A friend of mine has recently made the following comment:</p> <blockquote> <p>just like we all have to take our shoes off, get body scanned and otherwise go through annoying security at airports due to some lone assholes trying to blow up planes, maybe americans should give up their precious right to bear arms just because of some other assholes who are trigger happy.</p></blockquote> <p>I lovingly disagreed and prodded by her I expanded to the following:</p> <blockquote> <p>Your comment seems to be driven by the frustration of going through the idiotic, useless and irrelevant <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="a term that describes security countermeasures intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually improve security. The term was coined by computer security specialist and writer Bruce Schneier for his book Beyond Fear, but has gained currency in security circles, particularly for describing airport security measures. It is also used by some experts such as Edward Felten to describe the airport security repercussions due to the September 11 attacks. Security theater gains importance both by satisfying and exploiting the gap between perceived risk and actual risk (cf wikipedia)">security theat<em>re</em></abbr> (<em>eh</em>); the part with guns is a <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="Latin for _it does not follow_; a logical fallacy where a stated conclusion is not supported by its premise">non-sequitur</abbr> (<a title="Non Sequitur - Obvious Man" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v53UxOZbwU4?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">video</a>). In fact, packing guns when traveling is one way to make sure that your luggage will not be lost and will be well-tracked. <p align="center"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/5E19028F267592B8&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/5E19028F267592B8&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="385" width="480"></embed></object></p> <p>As for guns in general, trigger-happy assholes will exist whether gun ownership is legal or not. Legally-owned guns are almost never used to commit crimes (less than 0.5%). When a person dies as a result of legally-owned gun use, that's usually the owner. The overwhelming majority of crimes are committed with illegal guns (i.e., more than 99.5%).</p></blockquote> <p>I also provided a link to a discussion suggesting that Australia and UK recorded higher crime rates after banning handguns (similar to Washington DC). My friend then replied that <ol> <li>while I unfortunately do not have time to check tons of references and make a truly informed opinion, I will tend to take for relatively accurate gun-con (link in sources, below) <li>more gun ownership leads to more illegal guns, as legal guns are stolen and series erased. Gun owners whose gun was stolen bear zero responsibility in this case. <li>the huge gap between gun related crimes and accidents in America and Europe, which can not be blamed on 'cultural differences'. Wiki-gun-v: Gun homicide rate is less than 1:100K in Europe vs 3 in USA. <li>It is amazing that an attack such as the recent one on a US congresswoman left with dead does not spark much of a debate in the US. Surely it must be normal that teenagers can lay their hands on guns and kill people at will.</li></ol> <h3>what i think</h3> <p>I can certainly continue this “debate”, but my friend’s points 1. and 4. seem to indicate that it will likely be overrun by emotion and devoid of reason which means that the risk of alienating my friend in this debate far outweighs any potential “debating pleasure”. I will simply list my thoughts in point form and will return to this subject at a later date. <ol> <li>To have a proper debate, we’d need to clarify what are trying to prove / accomplish. So far, we have not discussed but merely assumed a relationship between gun ownership per capita and crime. Also, are we considering total gun ownership or household gun ownership? By “gun control” are we referring to total ban, registration, partial ban or what? Finally, discounting BBC reporting and UK Police data in favour of some source suggested by an Internet page because that’s what suits the pro-gun-control argument seems rather hazardous to reason. <li>There might be a link <em>more gun ownership –> more illegal guns</em>, but the evidence we have (previously provided) seems to suggest that banning guns actually increases illegal gun ownership as well as gun crime rates in the long run. A similar effect is seen with most morality-based legislation: Prohibition increased alcohol consumption and the same goes for drugs (<a title="Deb8 I: Decriminalizarea (legalizarea?) Drogurilor" href="http://asa.zamo.ca/2010/10/deb8-i-legalizarea-drogurilor.html" target="_blank">zamo</a> - <a title="Decriminalizarea (legalizarea?) Drogurilor - Also Sprach Zamolxis" href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1X8bWXdNnzNvzkw9MOBBhEvK9hy6pjZQb4Hnb-koT9eA#Sources&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Doc</a>). When looking at the big picture, “control” laws achieve their objective in the short term, but are counterproductive in the long run, increasing demand for what they are trying to ban (see wiki-scarcity). <li>Comparing “Europe” with “USA” fails to take into consideration that Finland, Norway and Switzerland have all relaxed gun ownership legislation but also have much lower gun crime rates than US. Canada also has a higher gun ownership rate than Europe as a whole and also higher per capita gun ownership, but still a lower crime rate than many countries with more stringent gun laws / less ownership. It seems to me that <strong>crime rates correlate more closely with rates of incarceration and severity of sentencing</strong>. While stiffer penalties may initially reduce crime and make victims and powerless, fearful people feel good, they are also counterproductive for the long haul. The more time people spend in prison the less likely they are to re-enter society. <strong>USA would do better by decreasing its incarceration rate – the highest in the world – and reduce the profit motive in imprisonment</strong> (private prisons) as well as <strong>experiment with drug legalization if the intent is to decrease fatalities and rates of crimes</strong>. <li>Adding <a title="Al Jazeera: Murder charges in Arizona shooting" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/grH7iqcVV4Q?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">the recent tragedy</a> to this debate seems to be an attempt to exploit it. Nobody called for banning planes after 9/11. There are more people dying in traffic accidents: in 2002 (the latest year I could find data for both), there were 14.94 auto fatalities vs 11.5 who died in gun crime for each 100000 people, yet nobody is calling for car bans. Though the call for stricter gun laws is rejuvenated with each mentally ill massacre, using this logic one could also ask for banning Koreans after the Virginia Tech massacre or banning Goth movements after Columbine or banning schools or students. Banning, like any anal retentive move / morality-based legislation seems like an easy answer yet it never works: see the <a title="Why Prostitution Should Be Legal" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2010/09/why-prostitution-should-be-legal.html">echoes of the Economist prostitution debate</a> or the <a title="Anti-minarets Switzerland" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2009/11/anti-minarets-switzerland.html">Swiss minarets</a>.</li></ol> <h3>motivations</h3> <p>Watching the two sides of this “war” from afar, one is hard-pressed to understand. On one side, you have the “gun lovers”, mostly rednecks, who display a very strong emotional attachment to their guns and their rights. Many have very large collections, investing small fortunes in buying and keeping them. Some belong to gun clubs where they seem to be in juvenile competitions on who can extend his penis with the most guns. On the other, you have people - mostly women -who feel threatened by these arsenals, displaying <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="from the Greek hoplon, meaning armor, is defined as the fear of firearms and or armed citizens.">hoplophobia</abbr> and seeing threats where none exist. And then you have white folks from both sides giving in to their anal-retentive instincts and supporting tough sentencing laws for underlying racist reasons (<a title="Dick Almighty - 2 Live Crew (English and Brazilian_PT Subs)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uFWSVu3XpbM?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">penis envy</a>, <a title="Crown CSC 850 L" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vlrdmOJXGwk?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">crown</a>) more so than safety or security. <a title="George Carlin on the left wing" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q8_YL3q1--U?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">People on the left</a> seem to share the overwhelming yet erroneous belief that banning guns will make everybody safer; <a title="The Truth About Republicans by..George Carlin" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hsBfqrNoFXQ?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">people on the right</a> feel that this is the first step toward communism; the middle tries to figure out WhyTF is everyone so obsessed.</p> <p><em><strong><abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="Later Edit"><em><strong>LE</strong></em></abbr>:</strong> Doesn’t this guy seem to be a happy <a title="YouTube Video (opens below): The Complete Metropolis - Official Trailer [HD]" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZSExdX0tds4?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Metropolis (1927)</a> dude?</em></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4A83peHDdL2C2y3jhAnkrY9Ix7h42K5A3mEV4D3Qf-Lv1NhXhN7Qc38NB7l6GQ2KDYpaQA6s7ue6-32oDifOWqWPnVwJS3jffM89yEKSj82suQ5qYq_nF0k-JMwcAd9OEDuHnSw6qCU/s1600/metropolis09.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4A83peHDdL2C2y3jhAnkrY9Ix7h42K5A3mEV4D3Qf-Lv1NhXhN7Qc38NB7l6GQ2KDYpaQA6s7ue6-32oDifOWqWPnVwJS3jffM89yEKSj82suQ5qYq_nF0k-JMwcAd9OEDuHnSw6qCU/s400/metropolis09.jpg"></a> </p> <p>Maybe watching the following videos might help..</p> <p>Laughs: <a title="Chris Rock on Gun Control: Chris Rock delivers his own message on belief in Gun Control." href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OuX-nFmL0II?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Chris Rock</a>, <a title="William Shatner on Gun Control - It's How Well You Aim the Gun" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e0D78JtxmqI?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">William Shatner</a>, <a title="Dumbass DEA Agent" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AmRN00KbCr8?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">DEA</a>, <a title="Gun Control - 1/2 Hour News Hour" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p3kUD6W8QaQ?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">1/2 H</a>, <a title="GUN CONTROL: In a world where everyone's armed, how can a criminal do his job? From filmmaker, Lalo Alvarez, comes the story of a simple convenience store robbery that turns into a total mess." href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pDqHjmYh7QA?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">UniqueFilm</a>, <a title="Caught on Tape: Bizarre Armed Robbery" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zmCWITE6i9A?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">AP</a> and <a title="Archie Bunker on Gun Control" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CLjNJI54GMM?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Archie Bunker</a>. Achtung: <a title="Myth: Gun Control Reduces Crime" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/j_YTM_eAWnQ?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Myths</a>, <a title="Soviet Style Gun Control" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wEflfh7nPho?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Soviet</a> and <a title="Nazi Gun Control" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dqQqYj-pbdg?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Nazi</a>. CBS: <a title="Katie Couric's Notebook: Gun Control (CBS News) - mental health background checks kept current, like credit" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/av1MagW-LOg?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Katie Couric</a>, <a title="Outrage Over Gun Ruling" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HKEYpgacgqg?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Outrage</a>, <a title="Right To Bear Arms Revisited" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EcJcnf4yOd0?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Right</a>, <a title="Feinstein on Gun Control" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C7QeFrv59Xk?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Feinstein</a>, <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="Behind Jared Lee Loughner's Smile: New details about Tuscon gunman Jared Lee Loughner are being revealed as investigators search his home. Ben Tracy reports.">J_nq3-mUVZ8</abbr>. TYT: <a title="Canadian Gun Control: Canada has more guns & sex" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tdTnms8pIJE?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Canada</a>, <a title="The Supreme Court Ruling on Gun Rights" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MZMyPs_-U4M?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">SC</a>, <a title="Gun Control" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WB7nc4uV1ww?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">GC</a>, <a title="Gun Laws Are Out of Control" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Thsa5kdBMgw?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Out of Control</a>, <a title="Conservative Thoughts on the Virginia Tech Shooting" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5WEOd6gnhyg?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Vtech</a>, <a title="Clinton's Thoughts on Guns" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RpSRKqfNHEw?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Clinton</a>. FOX: <a title="Gun Nuts Media on Fox News" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x8HJsAa79rk?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">nuts</a>, <a title="Rudy's Gun Control Position" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M9kOJwfG-WM?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Giuliani</a>, <a title="Peter Schiff on Fox Feb. 25 2009" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/y-K_xO168ho?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Schiff</a>, <a title="gun control debate on hannity and combs with allen gottlieb" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FQ0qshdPm1k?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Hannity</a>, <a title="(Nov 17 09) Glenn Beck on Fox and Friends" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b7EH48KSqKk?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Glenn</a>, <a title="Glenn Beck & Wayne LaPierre ( NRA ) discuss gun control and the 2nd Ammendment" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VlnZ8yq6wJA?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Beck</a>, <a title="John Stossel : Gun Control" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HownowetYps?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Stossel</a>, <a title="Jesse Ventura on FOX 6/15/09" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XLywvxki39U?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Ventura</a>. <p><a title="DESPITE electing an unusually liberal president, on at least one measure Americans are more conservative than at any time before. Public support for a ban on handguns has fallen to 28%, the lowest level in nearly 50 years, according to a new poll from Gallup. When Americans were first asked the question in 1959, 60% were in favour of introducing a law to ban handguns, but support has declined steadily. Enthusiasm for stricter laws relating to the sale of firearms is also ebbing, falling from 78% in 1990 to 44% today. Polls suggest that 43% believe laws should not be made tougher." href="http://media.economist.com/images/na/2009w42/Guns.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="gun-control-economist" border="0" alt="gun-control-economist" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACcY45TGubNhiFgUfny74fdcRXxWRdvQoQLl7Y1qBckuJl7IQxxznnjgD2BeYBM0QWLVuoIAvH4c0PpKFdf3IO6AOD4j_akBdrTkqvajfvWwHfMWS-iGq6xH1Hwv3-EwSgEUoMnT8PRs/?imgmax=800" width="244" height="166"></a> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="One victim every minute: Many countries, from Brazil to Britain, are trying to cut violent crime by taking guns out of circulation, but the world is awash with more than 600m of them—and they continue killing almost 60 people an hour" href="http://www.economist.com/node/1936029" target="_blank">economist-victims</a>, <a title="Planning for the worst: Gun-owners are on the defensive" href="http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348942&story_id=E1_TPSRRGNP" target="_blank">economist-az-soaring</a>, <a title="Guns n' Robes" href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/06/gun_control_and_supreme_court" target="_blank">economist-guns-usc</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarcity" target="_blank">wiki-scarcity</a>, <a title="11.01 / 100K (2009) | 14.94 (2002)" href="http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx" target="_blank">auto-fatalities</a>, <a title="11.5 / 100K (2002)" href="http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir-death-rate-per-100-000" target="_blank">gun-fatalities</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2207450267&topic=23411&h=cbc99" target="_blank">fb-bbc-stories</a>, <a title="Handgun crime 'up' despite ban" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1440764.stm" target="_blank">bbc-handgun</a>, <a title="Gun crime explodes: SYDNEY is in the grip of a wave of gun crime, with a weapon fired or used to menace innocent residents six days in every seven." href="http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,21678380-5006009,00.html" target="_blank">dt-sydney</a>, <a title="Capital gun crime rises by 50 per cent: Weapons are now fashion accessories, warns Yard" href="http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article340224.ece" target="_blank">ind-capital</a>, <a title="GUN CONTROL AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT" href="http://www.guninformation.org/" target="_blank">gun-con</a>, <a title="Mental Health Warnings Preceded Rampage, as Arizona Gunman Likely Went Untreated" href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/10/mental-health-warnings-preceded-arizona-rampage-evidence-gunman-sought/" target="_blank">fox-mental</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence" target="_blank">wiki-gun-v</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States#Gun_ownership" target="_blank">wiki-gun-v-us</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_arguments_of_gun_politics_in_the_United_States#Relationships_between_crime.2C_violence.2C_and_gun_ownership" target="_blank">wiki-pol-arg-us</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States" target="_blank">wiki-crime-us</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_gun_ownership" target="_blank">wiki-list-gun-o</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate" target="_blank">wiki-list-firearm</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Canada" target="_blank">wiki-crime-cnd</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Canada" target="_blank">wiki-gunpol-cnd</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics" target="_blank">wiki-gunpol</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_for_Columbine#Climate_of_fear" target="_blank">wiki-bowling-cnd</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_imprisonment_rate" target="_blank">wiki-us-imprisonment</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States" target="_blank">wiki-us-incarceration</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration" target="_blank">wiki-incarceration</a>, <a title="Arizona Shootings Reaction" href="http://shar.es/XFEdZ" target="_blank">tds-cc</a>, <a title="The Daily Show with Jon Stewart : January 10, 2011 : (01/10/11) Clip 1 of 4" href="http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/full-episodes/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart---january-10-2011/#clip399095" target="_blank">tds-cn</a>, <a title="He Was the Only One in the Room Who Was Professional Enough to Sue the DEA" href="http://reason.com/blog/2011/01/05/he-was-the-only-one-in-the-roo" target="_blank">dea-suecky</a>, <a title="Gun ownership rates by country, for countries responding to the UN survey" href="http://www.allcountries.org/gun_ownership_rates.html" target="_blank">gun-own</a>, <a title="Armed, but Not Necessarily Dangerous: Is a country violent just because it has a lot of guns?" href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/01/11/armed_but_not_necessarily_dangerous" target="_blank">fp-armed</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub z" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5E19028F267592B8" target="_blank">yt-sec-th</a></p> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="413"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113"><strong>UNODC: Country</strong></td> <td valign="top" width="62"><strong>199x</strong></td> <td valign="top" width="103"><strong>Population</strong></td> <td valign="top" width="133"><strong>%Households Guns</strong></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">USA</td> <td valign="top" width="62">3</td> <td valign="top" width="103">257783004</td> <td valign="top" width="133">39</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Norway</td> <td valign="top" width="62">3</td> <td valign="top" width="103">4324815</td> <td valign="top" width="133">32</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Canada</td> <td valign="top" width="62">2</td> <td valign="top" width="103">28120065</td> <td valign="top" width="133">29.1</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Switzerland</td> <td valign="top" width="62">4</td> <td valign="top" width="103">7021000</td> <td valign="top" width="133">27.2</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Finland</td> <td valign="top" width="62">4</td> <td valign="top" width="103">5088333</td> <td valign="top" width="133">23.2</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">France</td> <td valign="top" width="62">4</td> <td valign="top" width="103">57915450</td> <td valign="top" width="133">22.6</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">New Zealand</td> <td valign="top" width="62">3</td> <td valign="top" width="103">3458850</td> <td valign="top" width="133">22.3</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Australia</td> <td valign="top" width="62">4</td> <td valign="top" width="103">17838401</td> <td valign="top" width="133">19.4</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Belgium</td> <td valign="top" width="62">0</td> <td valign="top" width="103">9967387</td> <td valign="top" width="133">16.6</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Italy</td> <td valign="top" width="62">2</td> <td valign="top" width="103">56764854</td> <td valign="top" width="133">16</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Sweden</td> <td valign="top" width="62">3</td> <td valign="top" width="103">8718571</td> <td valign="top" width="133">15.1</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Spain</td> <td valign="top" width="62">3</td> <td valign="top" width="103">39086079</td> <td valign="top" width="133">13.1</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Germany</td> <td valign="top" width="62">4</td> <td valign="top" width="103">81338093</td> <td valign="top" width="133">8.9</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">N. Ireland</td> <td valign="top" width="62">4</td> <td valign="top" width="103">1641711</td> <td valign="top" width="133">8.4</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Scotland</td> <td valign="top" width="62">4</td> <td valign="top" width="103">5132400</td> <td valign="top" width="133">4.7</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">England/Wales</td> <td valign="top" width="62">2</td> <td valign="top" width="103">51429000</td> <td valign="top" width="133">4.7</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="113">Netherlands</td> <td valign="top" width="62">4</td> <td valign="top" width="103">15382830</td> <td valign="top" width="133">1.9</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>PDFs: [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Cr_and_Vio_Car_E.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tocta/6.Firearms.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">UNODC firearms</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.guncontrol.ca/English/About/TheGunControlStory.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Canada: Pro Gun Control</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.crvawc.ca/documents/Why%2520gun%2520control%2520is%2520really%2520a%2520gender%2520issue%2520-%2520Sept%252017%25202010%2520-%2520The%2520Toronto%2520Star.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Gender</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/forum/More-guns.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Gun Control Around the World</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/letters/DrUSoped104.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Do Gun Laws Improve Public Safety?</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/sterlingprize/Debunking-Myths-FI.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Peace or Freedom</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=www.ccjc.ca/well/Spring-2010/Are-we-really-soft-on-crime.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Maclean's</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/2008/P7742.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">rand</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85f0035x/85f0035x2001000-eng.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">crime canada us</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/CTS10%20homicide.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">UNODC homicide</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080313170530/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/guic.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Prevention DOJ</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.suicidology.org/associations/1045/files/2003data.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">2003 suicidology</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Measures_of_Gun_Ownership_Levels_for_Macro-Level_Crime_and_Violence_Research.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">gun macro</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.suicidology.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=228&name=DLFE-142.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">suicidology 2006</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://johnrlott.tripod.com/whitney.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Safe-Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/165476.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/208079.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">The Characteristics and Dynamics of Gun Markets: Implications for a Supply-Side Enforcement Strategy (Final Report)</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/165476.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Guns in America: National survey on private ownership and use of firearms</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188741.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Reducing Gun Violence: The Boston Gun Project's Operation Ceasefire</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/192378.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Research Report: Reducing Gun Violence - Operation Ceasefire in Los Angeles</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/html/PSNFactS.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Project Safe Neighborhoods - Fact Sheet</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.unicri.it/wwk/publications/books/series/understanding/19_GUN_OWNERSHIP.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Martin Killias (1993). Gun Ownership, Suicide and Homicide: An International Perspective</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/sas/publications/year_b_pdf/2007/CH2%20Stockpiles.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Small Arms Survey 2007 part 1</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/sas/publications/year_b_pdf/2007/2007SAS_English_press_kit/2007SASCh2_summary_en.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Small Arms Survey 2007 part 2</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/85-002-XIE/0090185-002-XIE.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">StatsCan Homicide 2000</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/st176.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Myths About Gun Control</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/harcourt/harcourt_fordham.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Harcourt, Bernard E (2004) On the NRA, Adolph Hitler, Gun Registration, and the Nazi Gun Laws: Exploring the Culture Wars (A Call to Historians)</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.stephenhalbrook.com/article-nazilaw.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Halbrook, Stephen P. (2000) Nazi Firearms Law and the Disarming of the German Jews</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.unicri.it/wwk/publications/books/series/understanding/19_GUN_OWNERSHIP.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Gun Ownership, Suicide and Homicide: An International Perspective, Martin Killias</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080107174528/http://www.unicri.it/wwk/publications/books/series/understanding/19_GUN_OWNERSHIP.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Killias-backup</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/27/2/214.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle income countries</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://rechten.uvt.nl/icvs/pdffiles/Guns_Killias_vanKesteren.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Guns, violent crime and suicide in 21 countries</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.nccd-crc.org/nccd/pubs/2006nov_factsheet_incarceration.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">US Rates of Incarceration: A Global Perspective</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p09.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Prisoners in 2009</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/r188.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">World Prison Population List by Roy Walmsley</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/One%20in%20100.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">One in 100: Behand Bars in America</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/ppus06.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Probation and Parole in the United States, 2006</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/downloads/wppl-8th_41.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">World Prison Population List. 8th edition</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.cjcj.org/files/americas.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">America's One-Million Nonviolent Prisoners</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc_meaningoflife.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">The Meaning of Life: Long Prison Sentences in Context</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rpr94.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Uneven Justice: State Rates of Incarceration By Race and Ethnicity</a>] [<a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.spr.org/pdf/struckman.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Sexual Coercion Rates in Seven Midwestern Prisons for Men</a>] <p align="center"><iframe class="youtube-player" title="YouTube video player" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/j_YTM_eAWnQ" frameborder="0" width="500" name="tvtub" align="center" type="text/html"></iframe></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:b8dedc9d-e6dd-4e96-bcda-b6cadfc70234" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=media" rel="tag">media</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=gun" rel="tag">gun</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=guns" rel="tag">guns</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=gun+control" rel="tag">gun control</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=gun+crime" rel="tag">gun crime</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=gun+legislation" rel="tag">gun legislation</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=law" rel="tag">law</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=crime+rate" rel="tag">crime rate</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=politics" rel="tag">politics</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=legislature" rel="tag">legislature</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=murder+death+kill" rel="tag">murder death kill</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=mdk" rel="tag">mdk</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-2550753846035830642011-01-06T16:46:00.003-05:002012-08-19T11:44:38.702-04:00Jamel, Ayn Rand and German Racism<span id="description">The news about Jamel has been slowly trickling down from the Spiegel article. It is wrong to view this phenomenon separated from the wider resurgence of European xenophobia.</span><a name='more'></a> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRg8bZP9dGVOGPJmxuQaohs3yJBeADw78nszhCMxWb6lxgnBpGN6kYJmGq59RxD6jqB_0VOmBKezLAKpWfQnByYQInzP4EidqR9PMABYwFxfAluwb0M7wvQWY7UP-a2bKE8c8tMa-Hyc/s1600-h/signs8.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Jamel signs" border="0" alt="Jamel signs" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVddTuF_EgGkDeBSB7bV8FvmjBFCa-D0gYDVGcoevEbsb-Pmj1V4dPQf132TXgDpaD-R-KOHSPpCkTDwMDBsjCXguGWWzL2T78-dpop87JY7QPGOV02MImTZ5Zady7-TZSFStcTmBsKI/?imgmax=800" width="121" height="121"></a>The Spiegel Online article linked below (and widely echoed in the media) tells an interesting story: </p> <blockquote> <p>Hitler salutes in the street and firing practice in the forest: Neo-Nazis have taken over an entire village in Germany, and authorities appear to have given up efforts to combat the problem. The place has come to symbolize the far right's growing influence in parts of the former communist east.</p></blockquote> <p>Perhaps the lessons to be learned here are:</p> <ol> <li>Extremism flourishes on economic ruins – the West has never managed to bring the <em>left</em>-behind East at least back to its pre-‘89 levels. <li>The neo-Nazis managed to grab only 10 houses or so out of the entire village, but have managed to completely poison the atmosphere and drive out the moderates.</li></ol> <p>Besides, let us not forget that everywhere else in Europe people are focusing on building walls. In France as in Italy and most other European countries the “fight” goes against Gypsies and Arabs / Muslims. Greece is stepping on Israel’s and Bible Belt states’ path and builds a wall against poor migrants.</p> <p>What I would really like to know is to what extent is racism (or even “<a title="George Carlin on national and ethnic pride" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xDgmjL6z2jY?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">national/ethnic pride</a>”) motivated by economic hardship vs simple, everyday idiocy. You can <a title="Ayn Rand lecture on Racism" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MdeI9NfbfT8?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">listen to her words</a> below or read the entire <a title="] Ayn Rand – The Virtue of Selfishness: Paper delivered by Ayn Rand at the University of Wisconsin Symposium on Ethics" href="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://marsexxx.com/ycnex/Ayn_Rand-The_Virtue_of_Selfishness.pdf&embedded=true" target="tvtub">Virtue of Selfishness</a>. As we can gather from the conversation on the White Supremacist forum Stormfront as well as from the wikipedia article, Rand was a Russian Jew who had significant difficulties graduating from her University primarily because of Soviet political interference and harassment. Her detractors claim that “Allan Greenspan lost his virginity to her” and that she had to appear smart as an evolutionary strategy motivated by her less than appealing physique. Furthermore,</p> <blockquote> <p>the left-leaning <i>Mother Jones</i> remarked that "Rand's particular genius has always been her ability to turn upside down traditional hierarchies and recast the wealthy, the talented, and the powerful as the oppressed", while <i>The Nation</i> alleged similarities between the "moral syntax of Randianism" and fascism</p></blockquote> <p>Regardless what you may think of her, it is hard to find flaws in her critique of Racism, summarized as</p> <blockquote> <p>A genius is a genius, regardless of the number of morons who belong to the same race -- and a moron is a moron, regardless of the number of geniuses who share his racial origin.</p></blockquote> <p>Going back to European extremism, some voices (such as Jonathan Jones in the Guardian) wonder why aren’t European unity efforts focused more on the common cultural ancestry, rather than the bland EU symbols, purposely devoid of any cultural connotations. I can only hope that when he claims that “Europe is written in stone” he is not referring to the stone of Jamel:</p> <p><a title="A vaillage sign at the entrance to Jamel bearing the far-right slogan Free, Social, National. Jamel is an example of the far-right problem that has plagued Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for years. The rural state, once part of communist East Germany, has a poor reputation in this regard -- the NPD, which glorifies the Third Reich, has been in the state parliament since 2006 and neo-Nazi crimes are part of daily life." href="http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-166185-galleryV9-tffr.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="stone-Jamel-frei-sozial-national" border="0" alt="stone-Jamel-frei-sozial-national" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_EnKOGVGUX1-lhgK8J7Y_G4ejpvzGeuWl_DxLjLZ5hBaosDRt_FTQVvMqKabADYEchPGckNqGrtT8z7cqJDitxOl0K1JpY4ugS83AoN1mh6yR7xu3UIU153hS7DKMDEYoYx-JHhmFpY/?imgmax=800" width="244" height="160"></a></p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="The Village Where the Neo-Nazis Rule" href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,737471,00.html" target="_blank">spiegel-jamel</a>, <a title="Athens builds anti-migrant wall" href="http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/447701-athens-builds-anti-migrant-wall" target="_blank">athens-wall</a>, <a title="Τείχος στον Εβρο για την αποτροπή εισόδου αλλοδαπών" href="http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100024_04/01/2011_427497" target="_blank">kathimerini</a>, <a title="Moisi: New Wave Nationalism" href="http://politiken.dk/debat/worldviews/ECE1150992/new-wave-nationalism/" target="_blank">dk-nationalism</a>, <a title="Related articles, background features and opinions about this topic" href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/right_wing_extremism/" target="_blank">spiegel-right-wing</a> (<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/right_wing_extremism/index.rss" target="_blank">rss</a>), <a title="Racism Essay by Ayn Rand" href="http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t138475/" target="_blank">stormfront-rand</a>, <a title="Ayn Rand" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_rand" target="_blank">wiki-rand</a>, <a title="Europe is written in stone: The European Union has entered its darkest days, to the Eurosceptics' delight. But our shared history will keep us together, argues a Guardian columnist." href="http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/447541-europe-written-stone" target="_blank">eu-stone</a>, <a title="Europe has been building a secret community of culture: Political union is entering its darkest days, to the Eurosceptics' delight. But our shared history will keep us togethe" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/23/european-union-written-in-stone-christendom" target="_blank">guardian-jones</a></p> <p align="center"><iframe class="youtube-player" title="YouTube video player" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MdeI9NfbfT8" frameborder="0" width="500" name="tvtub" align="center" type="text/html"></iframe></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:dc707d89-0b7e-4802-9c3c-4d00f409afc4" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=racism" rel="tag">racism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=nazism" rel="tag">nazism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=nazi" rel="tag">nazi</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=wn" rel="tag">wn</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=white+supremacism" rel="tag">white supremacism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=xenophobia" rel="tag">xenophobia</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=immigration" rel="tag">immigration</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=anti-immigration" rel="tag">anti-immigration</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=anti-immigrants" rel="tag">anti-immigrants</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-50296313655643553532010-12-11T17:04:00.003-05:002012-08-19T11:44:38.746-04:00Wikileaks, Assange and Dilbert<span id="description">One of the most commented issues in the USA and also the West facing parts of the world is Assange's release of documents. The first reaction was demented and only now do the voices of reason start to prevail.</span><a name='more'></a> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjdIUbDcX1t1IYcYzOf2mPjfTLfpXdCuUoQITjaYubDep1hqqkm37ciAj76Njd-ZbGn97eEfFWh8CM10F74rbaK_cOtNQJIq9hTnkKXC1i2azkCo6nWXgb7dXpngZJFAH364mCdY0-Fc/s1600-h/assange-wl%5B11%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="assange-wl" border="0" alt="assange-wl" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZFeGtfCvm5kt9CdR7Pdrjsd5RWDvvBWsiva2_E3L62oJUUE9odw-MV6hgLXmYCHKlsGQ2LQDk8fpJdpVIv-bkJERJq-0xE6pd0yyPqVxZWQCggq_Cmf8hbm9dYWUUW8ojbTmovhCalg/?imgmax=800" width="135" height="134"></a>Personally, I do not know who this Assange dude is and quite frankly I don’t need to know. He has done what anybody else who had the know-how and ability to release sensitive information to the public has or should have done. Trying to find secret reasons or a hidden agenda behind his actions is counterproductive, as we cannot positively establish any of it. We might as well get busy trying to find out if God exists, which is at least a similarly idiotic waste of time, but at least there are far more people devoting resources to this last endeavor.</p> <p>I resent falling in love with him or raising him on a pedestal. We should be celebrating freedom instead and all its manifestations, whether that is wikileaks, the ideas of Chinese Nobel prize winner Liu Xiabao (who is far worthier of the attention bestowed upon Assange), the ideas of Friedman, Hayek, Voltaire. Unfortunately, a limitation of our monkey brains is that we find it difficult to love abstract ideas – we need to pin them on a certain someone. Julian seems to be willing and, having been raised in an acting family, able.</p> <h3>Videos</h3> <p>There is no justification for the hatred some feel for this guy. His releases only confirm what most of us knew already, but had no proof. Here’s a quick video history (opening below): </p> <p>[<a title="Ron Paul: to lie is not patriotic" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nxPB9yy7IJ4?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Ron Paul</a>] [<a title="wired video on torture leak" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/c_yVP4HL4EM?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">wired-torture</a>] [<a title="collateral damage: apache kill" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5rXPrfnU3G0?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">apache</a>] [<a title="AlJazeera reports on new cyberwar front" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Icv7x-ixpeo?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">AlJazeera-cyberwar</a>] [<a title="RussianTimes chimes in" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u9PAA7tb1Wk?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">rt-wishlist</a>] [<a title="one of their long, exhaustive reports" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kCmjmDXp7TI?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">journeyman</a>] [<a title="RT is having a field day, interviewing the man" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7QEdAykXxoM?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">rt-assange</a>] [<a title="HD baby" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XpAfhJH5CzY?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">itn-revelations</a>] [<a title="journeyman, another one" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_g_VOdvqn5I?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">journeyman-inside</a>] [<a title="like that old lady who sings, according to the daily show" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uIgcKC-b_FA?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">assange-lawyer</a>] [<a title="the young turks couldn't let this pass" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/20LkYvEZOZs?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">tyt</a>] [<a title="rhetorical Q: how will US shut wikileaks up (putin would've just killed him)" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xKZyNbuCbtA?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">rt-shut-up</a>] [<a title="Russian Times covers the war logs" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KF2miwIWOE4?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">rt-warlogs</a>] [<a title="russian times, happy again to expose US hypocrisy, even though russia has far more" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bVGqE726OAo?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">rt-why</a>] [<a title="The Pentagon Papers journalist who obtained a US Supreme Court decision protecting him speaks in favour of Assange" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z1pTl8KdREk?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Ellsberg</a>] [<a title="Noam Chomsky chimes in" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bWd-pgiU4Co?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">Chomsky</a>] [<a title="Julian Assange: Is WikiLeaks Biased?" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wBENlJfZ-f8?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">ForaTV</a>] [<a title="O'Reilly & Palin WikiLeaks Outrage" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5QsmfKHQJrM?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">tyt-oreilly</a>] [<a title="Wikileaks founder slams sexual abuse charges" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QzaDtt5VGuw?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">AlJ-sex</a>] [<a title="Beck: WikiLeaks, Al Qaeda, Obama, Soros Connections" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9-ufa1cbF3k?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">tyt-beck</a>] [<a title="Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HNOnvp5t7Do?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">ted-assange</a>] [<a title="Diplomatic 9/11: WikiLeaks presents Cablegate" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O69X2ZUhSXM?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">rt-cableg8</a>] [<a title="BREAKING: WikiLeaks To Disclose UFO/ET Activity!" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q-3YoTcLemE?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">tlgrph-UFO</a>] [<a title="Amy Goodman Reports on Collateral Murder WikiLeaks Video" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7au7rMNY19I?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">fora-goodman-collateral</a>] [<a title="Larry King Awkward WikiLeaks Interview" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4wT-vbg_tuU?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">tyt-king</a>] [<a title="WikiLeaks: How Safe Are Whistleblowers in the Digital Age?" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eILp50-jmmw?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">fora-whistleblowers</a>] [<a title="WikiLeaks buys insurance" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MvJXDTNfx24?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">rt-insurance</a>] [<a title="Right Wing Reaction To WikiLeaks - Cenk Attack On MSNBC" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GhD0pgs44JI?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">tyt-rwing-rxn</a>] [<a title="Tea with Julian Assange, editor of Wikileaks economist.com/video" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E_HPLHIBTtA?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">economist-assange</a>] [<a title="WikiLeaks Insurance: Stunt or safety net?" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z1z4oRBUB9Y?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">rt-insurance2</a>]</p> <p>The first wave of reactions, coming mainly from the fascist pundits in USA (Rush Limbaugh and those like him), is calling for his murder by the CIA or for being charged with treason, even though he is not a US citizen. Even progressives such as retired Hugh Shelton consider Assange more dangerous than Osama (!?!?). Only after his arrest on trumped-up Swedish sex charges have <a title="Ron Paul intervention" href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nxPB9yy7IJ4?autoplay=1&rel=0" target="tvtub">cooler heads (Ron Paul, as usual) started to prevail</a>. As the actual documents (see torrents linked below: tpb-insurance, tpb-cableg8) received far greater coverage than the Swedish situation, we found it worthwhile to delve into the Swedish hell (asz-ecil) of good intentions gone astray.</p> <h3>Sweden</h3> <p>As you might know, Assange was first charged with rape, then the charge withdrawn, then charged again with “sex by surprise” because the sex, although consensual, happened with organizers of the Sweden’s Social Democratic party conference and did not involve a condom (or the condom broke during sex). Here’s how Scott Adams interprets the events:</p> <blockquote> <p>The unintended consequence of his actions is that he managed to make Sweden look like a country that's governed by congenital idiots and populated with nothing but crazy sluts and lawyers. And don't get me started about the quality of their condoms. <p>(..) Assange had a lot of help making Sweden look like the last place on Earth that you would want to take your penis. (..)</p> <p>Apparently Swedish laws are unique. If you have a penis, you're half a rapist before you even get through customs. And if your condom breaks, that's jail time. What I'm saying is that the Club Med in Sweden is a nervous place.</p></blockquote> <p>But Sweden’s laws must be seen in perspective. This is, after all, the most democratic country in the world according to the Economist. At the same time, Sweden’s war on its own men has resulted in Swedish women increasingly getting pregnant while vacationing in Spain and other countries known for their macho culture. The recent defeat of the same Social Democrats may signify a general dissatisfaction with this male-bashing direction.</p> <p>But how does Canada compare? We shall soon see.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikileaks" target="_blank">wiki-leaks</a>, <a href="http://mirror.wikileaks.info/" target="_blank">.info</a>, <a href="http://wikileaks.ch/" target="_blank">.ch</a>, <a title="WikiLeaks_insurance" href="http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5723136/WikiLeaks_insurance" target="_blank">tpb-insurance</a>, <a title="torrent cablegate.wikileaks.org_2010-11-28_220_total.zip" href="http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5994583/cablegate.wikileaks.org_2010-11-28_220_total.zip" target="_blank">tpb-cableg8</a>, <a title="Hugh Shelton describes his response to someone in the Clinton administration who suggested letting Saddam Hussein shoot down an American plane. (06:39)" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-6-2010/hugh-shelton" target="_blank">tds-shelton</a>/<a title="The Daily Show with Jon Stewart : Hugh Shelton Extended Interview - In this complete, unedited interview, Hugh Shelton discusses Julian Assange's threat to national security and expresses his concerns over the repeal of - don't ask, don't tell." href="http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/full-episodes/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart---april-12-2010/#clip385820" target="_blank">tcn-shelton</a>, <a title="The Scott Adams blog: Sweden" href="http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/sweden/" target="_blank">dlbrt-swe</a>, <a title="WikiLeaks 400,000 Iraq War Documents Reveal Torture, Civilian Deaths" href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10/wikileaks-press/" target="_blank">wired-torture</a>, <a title="Julian Assange: To Catch a Somewhat Pasty Predator" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-december-8-2010/julian-assange--to-catch-a-somewhat-pasty-predator" target="_blank">tds-pasty</a>, <a title="watch Evil / Onduskan at bottom of article" href="http://asa.zamo.ca/2010/09/evil-cool-fluier-si-reeducarea.html" target="_blank">asz-evil</a>, <a title="besoareca feudala si precrestina" href="http://asa.zamo.ca/2010/04/besoareca-feudala-si-precrestina.html" target="_blank">asz-swe-atheism</a></p> <p align="center"><iframe class="youtube-player" title="YouTube video player" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nxPB9yy7IJ4" frameborder="0" width="480" name="tvtub" align="center" type="text/html"></iframe></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:b752abaf-f380-4fb8-94cd-148206d2c908" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=wikileaks" rel="tag">wikileaks</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=transparency" rel="tag">transparency</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=information" rel="tag">information</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=freedom+of+speech" rel="tag">freedom of speech</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=freedom+of+information" rel="tag">freedom of information</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=foi" rel="tag">foi</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=foa" rel="tag">foa</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=press" rel="tag">press</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=mass-media" rel="tag">mass-media</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=freedom+of+press" rel="tag">freedom of press</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-33993092432619598242010-11-19T13:16:00.003-05:002012-08-19T11:44:38.719-04:00Ron Paul in Kinetic Typography<span id="description">Many Libertarians, including myself, have issues with compromising their ideals in the real world and / or dealing with the simple fact that most people either do not know or understand what libertarianism is and are scared by it. Ron Paul is an example of making it work and explaining it well.</span><a name='more'></a> <p>I couldn't resist the urge to add, along with Ron Paul's speech, a bunch of other Kinetic Typography videos..</p> <p><a title="The Ron Paul Blimp by slobug @ flickr CC SA" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10330611@N07/2110296893/" target="_blank"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="ronpaul" border="0" alt="ronpaul" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGSXtIdjQrsITTT70LaW0xV_SwQ_JuleSjAoWHqnhXYBpXirUn22_kgFqHi7al-vpb_4Nsy-7msScvYalGWA9QxKSY2UnH0ecQ9wHgld9_l2qfX6OnsWGvNt5OnlB5ZT9QD9zm_j-ct9U/?imgmax=800" width="191" height="191"></a>[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FqAF-Alc7CM" target="kinetictype">Ron Paul What If</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/c6Q0dfrbr10" target="kinetictype">V for Vendetta</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Sh1hXJvC21M" target="kinetictype">Family Guy</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uuiKJ0rRTAo" target="kinetictype">Fight Club - Chemical Burn</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J7E-aoXLZGY" target="kinetictype">Stephen Fry - Language</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aiKXVYF6-hY" target="kinetictype">Kill Bill</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RL2IIpNkSKs" target="kinetictype">Dark Knight</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rNxoLJy3m3s" target="kinetictype">Mad as Hell</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RbRFOS-2NqY" target="kinetictype">Pulp Fiction</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pvgPhDrpQ8c" target="kinetictype">FireFly</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z79LR-oN2Sc" target="kinetictype">Matrix</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fbMa4MGFCOg" target="kinetictype">The 8 rules of Fight Club</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ejweI0EQpX8" target="kinetictype">Who's on First?</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gT2Iii0Psao" target="kinetictype">Help! Beatles</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WldBRXIYroQ" target="kinetictype">300</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IVET-jFYYXU" target="kinetictype">The Hangover</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P4nqFL2o5Cw" target="kinetictype">Mad World - Gary Jules</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gjXHRUlKe_M" target="kinetictype">Social Life, With Friends</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0N-c8MIFvaI" target="kinetictype">Rocky Balboa</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e4X4NdTb-rQ" target="kinetictype">Bioshock</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t3lSSp-3068" target="kinetictype">Minimalism</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1vU08w_hrvo" target="kinetictype">Halo Reach</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zomd9PhUccI" target="kinetictype">Scarface I</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pZlUm28SMcw" target="kinetictype">Scarface II</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uBwV5PefLRY" target="kinetictype">Scarface III</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fPnUpvWTiSA" target="kinetictype">Scarface IV</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8JuVgQXmldQ" target="kinetictype">Scarface V</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VzFnQ9EJY90" target="kinetictype">Scarface VI</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LgG2BuF6Aqg" target="kinetictype">Scarface VII</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8JuVgQXmldQ" target="kinetictype">Scarface VIII</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ydTIHmvUAyk" target="kinetictype">Big Lebowski Larry</a>] [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rsucK43_DoM" target="kinetictype">Big Lebowski Jesus</a>] <!--[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/" target="kinetictype"></a>]--></p><iframe class="youtube-player" title="YouTube video player" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FqAF-Alc7CM" frameborder="0" width="500" name="kinetictype" align="center" type="text/html">Loading...</iframe> <p>Playlists: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FE8F5D9A891E767E&playnext=1&v=aiKXVYF6-hY" target="_blank">CaponeX773</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8916EAEE318BC067&playnext=1&v=XKd1CWDKaV4" target="_blank">sugakunonenko</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_playlists&search_query=kinetic+typography&uni=1" target="_blank">alexisb85</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3ADDEE27ED635F43&playnext=1&v=wU56_6Ucqs0" target="_blank">RusfanTV</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=429371E213E4CCB7&playnext=1&v=WldBRXIYroQ" target="_blank">RevolutionOfTheMind</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6427948B6E9684FF&playnext=1&v=uuiKJ0rRTAo" target="_blank">blaireaug</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6323110E64565525&playnext=1&v=L3hD8NgSrqE" target="_blank">xXxKillSwitch666</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F3BDB56D8F83CDA9&playnext=1&v=c6Q0dfrbr10" target="_blank">vfrederic</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3F1ED5FB53868A6A" target="_blank">filippopistoia</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8A364705B931911E" target="_blank">eightfootyoda</a></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:d0240713-b529-4673-ae6f-b2d7c6c1e9fb" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=libertarian" rel="tag">libertarian</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=real+world" rel="tag">real world</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=what+if" rel="tag">what if</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=speech" rel="tag">speech</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=speeches" rel="tag">speeches</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=youtube" rel="tag">youtube</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=animation" rel="tag">animation</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=motion+type" rel="tag">motion type</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-58148807786009145132010-10-22T21:34:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.758-04:00European Islamophobia<span id="description">Not long ago, in <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2009/11/anti-minarets-switzerland.html">Anti-minarets Switzerland</a>, Stefan Metzeler (Pro Libertate, ISIL, Institut Constant de Rebecque) was attempting in comments to justify the xenophobic and racist hatred most Europeans feel toward immigrants. I promised I was going to answer to him but never did. I discovered however a longer essay which covers some of the topics I would have covered quite well.</span><a name='more'></a> <p><a title="Some rights reserved by Poster Boy NYC" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4976544819_28e3aba2ec_o.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="islamophobia" border="0" alt="islamophobia" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uZ7bvc_HzVWYzNnSDN_gfwe751hsO2L-Vt2XioB1loJK7b23U5H9TeT0mw7EsPy9Uwg1mr16YEmDyREny58SR45PfiGfTwSFGjijwf5IRB4m32nvIMOhcq7YUaJ0szTaDy1yUJM4u8w/?imgmax=800" width="89" height="89"></a>Some choice quotes from his 6 consecutive comments:</p> <ul> <li>This was the most IGNORANT, RIDICULOUS article I've ever read by someone claiming to be "libertarian". I myself am Swiss and ANARCHO-CAPITALIST and I know the entire Islam issue inside out, which clearly the author of this article does not! <li>For starters, let me correct this unbelievable and pathetic LIE about Switzerland being “xenophobic": Switzerland has 22.5% legal foreign residents, probably more than any other country in the world. <li>No one is against "foreigners" here. We've had many votes demanding a limitation for immigration, all of which were rejected with large majorities. Swiss people voted on allowing the free circulation of Europeans. <li>As Libertarian, you should (but apparently don't) know that Islam is the most profoundly FASCIST and OPPRESSIVE ideology that ever existed. It is infinitely worse than Communism and Nazism, because contrary to these, it does not ever need to be "right" and to "work". <li>Now no Libertarian can be retarded enough to believe that freedom can grow under hostile attacks, especially when there is not even a defensible front line. <li>Islam never makes a falsifiable claim. For both, Communism and Nazism, there are methods to decide if they "work" (according to their own terms) or not. In Islam, there is nothing like it. <li>One cannot be a Muslim without accepting that there is an eternal war against non-Muslims. Of course a person can claim to be a Muslim but not really believe any of this, but if his mental defection becomes known, he is at great risk. <li>Anyone who thinks that it is even remotely possible to achieve co-existence between liberty and Islam is either totally ignorant or a fool. Anyone who doesn't see that is exactly like those who didn't understand the threat of Communism or Nazism in the 1920/30s. <li>Given the evolution of the population of Europe, it is a mathematical certainty that - without any drastic and so far totally unimaginable change - Muslims WILL become the majority population of Europe within the next 50 years. <li>Muslims exploit the Western tradition of freedom to impose Fascism. Intentionally! Most Muslim immigrants are NOT individuals who migrate for their own benefit, but they are TROOPS sent to invade a hostile territory, a fact that has been openly admitted by several Muslim leaders. They even BRAG about it! <li>Don't ever forget that Nazis were actually ALLIED with Muslims in WWII. There were Muslim SS battalions which showed such cruelty that even some German SS officers were disgusted. (Not all German officers were evil, not even in the SS - e.g. Rommel was fundamentally a good person who happened to fight for the wrong masters). <li>In short, anyone who doesn't get this development and supports Islam - especially out of a principle of "tolerance" - is digging his own grave. Many classical liberals understood the threat of Islam very well, e.g. Chateaubriand, Constant de Rebecque, Voltaire and Goethe <li>Swiss people sometimes have a very good intuition for what is right and wrong and for what threatens our freedom. That's why they rejected joining the EU - twice - and only accepted joining the UN on the second vote after 20 years and only by a margin of 400 votes; a really stupid move, too! <li>The prohibition of minarets was absolutely not the question. The referendum was really about whether or not Swiss people reject Islam per se and the answer is very clear: Swiss people do NOT want to live with or under Islam. <li>Expel any immigrant who commits a crime against person or property or fraud to obtain social security payments (which is exactly what the "sheep" initiative demanded, a perfectly legitimate and libertarian approach); that would get rid of very large numbers of Muslims; 70% of all prisoners throughout Europe are now Muslims</li></ul> <p>Recently, Sweden has brought to power an anti-immigrant far right party, while its Social Democrats recorded the worst election results in a long time. The Laserman, some sniper who went shooting immigrants in the early 90s seems to have been given birth to a new phantom, as more immigrants are being shot in their cars and homes. On ICARE, a book is presented:</p> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="500"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="166"><iframe style="width: 120px; height: 240px" marginheight="0" src="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bestplus-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=07AN74PQXHR1PJRCZ582&asins=2070128822" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></td> <td valign="top" width="166"><iframe style="width: 120px; height: 240px" marginheight="0" src="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bestplus-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=07AN74PQXHR1PJRCZ582&asins=0978813820" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></td> <td valign="top" width="166"><iframe style="width: 120px; height: 240px" marginheight="0" src="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=inbonobo-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=07AN74PQXHR1PJRCZ582&asins=030735752X" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Writes Pepe Escobar: <blockquote> <p>Mad against foreigners? Mad against politicians? That's soooo last century. The new groove is mad against Islam. It does not matter that immigration to Europe has been in decline for years; still "they" have to become like "us". An aging, fearful, reactionary Europe is terrified that The Other, issued from younger or more dynamic regions of the world, is catching up. Asia - not Europe - is the future. A melancholic weekend in a tourist/trash-infested Venice turned into a replica of its Las Vegas mirror provided me the graphic illustration; I did feel like Dirk Bogarde in Death in Venice - and so must feel countless Europeans. <p>(..) <p>There's hardly a way to evade a direct link between the historically very low score of the Swedish social democrats and the also historic rise of the extreme right. For American, Asian, Middle Eastern observers this may sound utterly suicidal; how could the Swedes possibly reject an old-school welfare state that assures to everyone the Holy Trinity of health, education and a good pension? So if the ultra-civil Swedes were not rejecting their model, what was it? Maybe the answer is in a book first published in Italy in 2008 by Italian linguist and essayist Raffaele Simone, whose subtitle literally translates as "Why the West is not leaning to the Left". <p>In the extremely well-argued book, Simone proves that the European Left is intellectually dead; it simply has not understood the drive of hardcore capitalism (which he defines as "arch-capitalism", or "the political and economic manifestation of the New Right"); it has not understood the correlated primacy of individualism and consumerism; and it has refused to discuss the phenomenon of mass immigration. From France to Denmark, from Italy to Sweden, it's easy to see how savvy populists skillfully deploy those European values of free speech, feminism and secularism - oversimplifying issues to the point that their take seems logical - as ammunition against mosques, minarets, headscarves and, of course, "sub-intelligent beings". And then there are local realities. The majority of those voting SD were protesting against overwhelmingly Muslim immigrants, a great deal of them jobless, who come to Sweden, get fat government benefits and remain idle. Sweden is nowhere as tough on immigration as Denmark, Norway or Holland. <p>(…) <p>Talk about an European summer of hate - from minarets banned in Switzerland to burqas banned in Belgium. The populist extreme right has been part of coalition governments in Italy and Switzerland for many years now. And they are represented in the parliaments of Austria, Denmark, Norway and Finland. The National Front in France had 9% of the vote in last spring's French regional elections. But now everywhere it feels like a Lamborghini let loose. Geert Wilders' Freedom party in Holland has turbo-charged Islamophobia to the point of almost paralyzing Dutch governance. The elegant, eloquent, peroxide-blonde populist Wilders wants to ban the Koran - which he has compared to Hitler's Mein Kampf - and impose a "headscarf tax" (how come no government thought about this in the Middle East or in Pakistan?) <p>French President Nicolas Sarkozy - now facing his own, self-provoked May '68 remix in the streets over his pension reform - tried to seduce (once again) the National Front by expelling planeloads of Romanian gypsies. Austrian extreme right stalwart Heinz-Christian Strache, running for mayor of Vienna less than two weeks ago, took no less than 27% of the vote. And Barbara Rosenkranz, who insists anti-Nazi laws should be abolished, came second in Austria's presidential race. The Islamophobic, anti-immigrant Northern League of Umberto Bossi in Italy is part of the government in Rome and not accidentally the country's fastest-growing party, now controlling the ultra-wealthy provinces of Veneto and Piemonte. During the latest election campaign, La Lega supporters handed out bars of soap to be used "after touching an immigrant".</p></blockquote> <p>A long opinion, but well worth your time! <p>Sources / More info: <a title="LETTER FROM ISLAMOPHOBISTAN (opinion) By Pepe Escobar, author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007) and Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge. His new book, just out, is Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009)." href="http://www.icare.to/article.php?id=29352&lang=en" target="_blank">ICARE</a>, <a title="Day of Treason (detail) by Poster Boy NYC @ flickr CC BY" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/posterboynyc/4976544819/" target="_blank">flickr</a>, <a title="Swedish police link racist shootings to lone gunman" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11606019" target="_blank">bbc-laserman</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub (z)" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=737E4DA9AFA6AFF5" target="_blank">yt-islamophobia</a> </p> <p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/737E4DA9AFA6AFF5&hl=en?fs=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/737E4DA9AFA6AFF5&hl=en?fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:d04885ef-5eed-4ae2-b236-af7ca1c58b96" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=islam" rel="tag">islam</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=koran" rel="tag">koran</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=quran" rel="tag">quran</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=islamophobia" rel="tag">islamophobia</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=prophet" rel="tag">prophet</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=hadith" rel="tag">hadith</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=fatwa" rel="tag">fatwa</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=jihad" rel="tag">jihad</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=europe" rel="tag">europe</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=european" rel="tag">european</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=fear" rel="tag">fear</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=fears" rel="tag">fears</a></div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-30953672992975742042010-10-17T16:33:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.712-04:00The best course for libertarianism<span id="description">I recently started paying more attention to a debating website. I've found some interesting discussions and in particular, a debate about the effectiveness of libertarian ideas and persuasion which I thoroughly enjoyed.</span><a name='more'></a> <p>First, here’s a 3D Nolan diagram you might find interesting from LaissezFaire’s profile on the site:</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCv9m0ZJsuD1pKogM4vHOqXo7bsG6rz0zPNH5SsgUEswhBtSyxv1kEwUMp3MM4ZkzNhuSsPA_DU-R-0wlVZBJfQ6_EfA6VTPJoCRlZv5x-qOOg2j9_KyExMoqWQQdamrxagz8jVj4Hrw4/s1600-h/3DNolan21175819qvgbva9.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="3D-Nolan-21175-819-qvgbv-a" border="0" alt="3D-Nolan-21175-819-qvgbv-a" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2xF-TsTMfdMDUv0YS7rFWvguzEu8mpnFlP5LlsWPUUXzkMnr-DejHsysECA8KA-s4dEi6foGeC2VHAcKkdGTThzglEDRjQm4bVZRZXBKJbXBVuKpX5DW-5sGjklbjCFXpsT8w3c1Cf8/?imgmax=800" width="172" height="156"></a> </p> <p>Here’s a summary of the debate:</p> <h3>Round 1</h3> <p><strong>innomen</strong> argues that libertarianism should try to find its place in society and compromise to a certain extent, whereas <strong>Sieben</strong> claims that libertarians should stay true to their ideals and create a and incentive for people to follow and adopt such ideals. In particular:</p> <ol> <li>Voters are rationally ignorant (it’s cheap being uninformed / irrational), which makes libertarian persuasion impractical and insufficient. <li>Libertarians should “re-open the frontier” by creating “seasteads” which would cost only $300/sqft. A profitable business model on the floating islands would entice people to live in this new frontier and make money, thus implicitly adopting said ideals.</li></ol> <h3>Round 2</h3> <p><strong>innomen</strong>: “by infiltrating an existing party with those who are skilled in the art of persuasion and politics, their malleability and appeal to fears, doubts, and insecurities can prove to be a powerful tool in the creation of a society that is headed toward libertarianism.” </p> <p>After giving as a examples the infiltration of the Democratic Party first by KKK (early 1900), then by Communists (‘50-70), he concludes: “It is clear that influence and control of a party is quite possible, and effective in changing the public policy of the US.”</p> <p>“In a climate where both are slipping away”, <strong>individual freedom</strong> and <strong>property rights</strong> have or ought to become more important to Americans. The lack of progress in libertarianism is attributable in part to the lack of appeal of those preaching it: “the usual proponent of libertarianism is a tediously academic type, incapable of touching the inner workings of the common man”.</p> <p>Regarding seasteading, he raises two objections, one practical the other principled:</p> <ol> <li>It is difficult and in the far off future, according to Wayne Gramlich, one of the founders of that Institute.</li> <li>“There is no libertarian society in this cruise ship, but rather a floating corporate entity that would enjoy complete freedom. Although an interesting notion, it is devoid of the goal of libertarianism in the context of a society.”</li></ol> <p><strong>Sieben</strong> – In his response, he states:</p> <p>KKK: The movement was marked by exclusion and violence. This is not a good example of persuasion, infiltration, and political action. (..) KKK movement was based on special privilege and political inequality, something libertarians can never be a part of. We will never be able to buy votes with welfare. I don't think libertarians would have much luck persuading people dependent on welfare to end the welfare state.</p> <p>Dems: The metamorphosis of the American left into the party of welfare and government spending is similar to the KKK in its reliance on special privileges and handouts. The ideological source of government intervention came from the government itself, not the masses [3]. Again, this is not a good example of persuade, infiltrate, vote.</p> <p>(..) My intention has never been to argue that all parties are perpetually stagnant, but rather to attribute their changes to factors other than mass awareness. Parties may change cosmetically to fit better with voter culture (see Pro's example of Christians), but actual policy has largely been influenced by different special interest groups, sourced in R1.</p> <p>In rebuilding his arguments, he notes:</p> <p>A) If they spend hours becoming a master of political science, or just sit on the couch watching TV, everyone else is going to vote more or less the same way.</p> <p>B) "What about the poor?" and "National defense" may as well be the demopublican party slogans. There is a large statist mythos (mostly centered on WWII and the New Deal) supporting these ideologies. We have no well known mythology... We can never win the rhetoric game.</p> <p>Libertarian appeals must be intellectual. In light of A), mass voter education is a practical impossibility. I went on to point out that even the founder of the Libertarian Party, who still runs for senate, thinks political action will never work.</p> <p>C) Seasteading</p> <ol> <li>If Seasteading is good in theory, the small things can be worked around.</li> <li>they are based off consent (no one can force you onto a seastead). They are also a peaceful use of private property. Sounds very libertarian to me.</li> <li>if we can make seasteading profitable, it will happen</li> <li>Seasteading does not actually require anyone to be libertarian, so we don't have to persuade people of the whole ideology.</li></ol> <h3>Round 3</h3> <p>In rebuilding his “infiltration” argument, <strong>innomen</strong> states:</p> <p>I'm not going to candy coat this, but rather libertarians should bluntly use existing tools in our system; tools needed in order to attain libertarian goals within the confines of personal ethics and existing legal limitations. (..) Sieben somehow believes that I am comparing libertarianism to those goals of the KKK?! Of course that's not my point, but rather there are examples of extremists who have taken control of a political system and party, and affected actual policy as a result. – I point to this as an example of what can be done as a matter of process, not content.</p> <p>He also makes the following points:</p> <ul> <li>the current system of government appeared not as a result of government growing by its very nature, but rather “deliberate design”/infiltration (my note: <em>Innomen seems to concede the “special interest groups” theory, but does not explicitly states it</em>); he claims that libertarians should take the same path</li> <li>Sieben: find a place and problem solved; who will fix your toilet, if everyone is a high-level intellectual?</li></ul> <p>“Sieben essentially believes that the masses are asses, but I don't hold such a dim view. Although they may not be intellectually at the standard that Sieben and his other brand of libertarian might like to have in his community, the voters are not fools, but do indeed follow certain party loyalty and predictable trends [3]. (..) fundamentals of libertarianism [are] not intellectual, but basic, and will appeal to all who value freedom.</p> <p><strong>Sieben</strong> corrects the misunderstanding that he is rejecting a similarity with KKK & NDs because they are “ugly”, but because they are not “grass-roots”.</p> <p>“I recently drew a really offensive (by mainstream standards) comic where the final panel is a white hand shaking a black hand with a welfare check in the middle. No amount of persuasion would ever convince someone to turn down free money.” – yes, that’s offensive and counterproductive – why relegate to racism such good argumentation?</p> <p>Don't agitate! Voting is for collectivists! Libertarians are individualists. Each man can make his own way.</p> <p>Another interesting forum discussion: <a href="http://www.debate.org/forums/politics/topic/7953/2/" target="_blank">libertarian politician vs city zoning</a></p> <p>Yet another interesting debate: <a href="http://www.Debate.org/debate/13332/" target="_blank">online debates better than irt</a>?</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Libertarian zoning" href="http://www.debate.org/forums/politics/topic/7953/2/" target="_blank">db8org-zoning</a>, <a title="The best course for libertarianism 13323" href="http://www.debate.org/debates/The-best-course-for-libertarianism/1/" target="_blank">deb8org-best-course</a>, <a title="Online debates are better than real life debates" href="http://www.debate.org/debates/Online-debates-are-better-than-real-life-debates/1/" target="_blank">db8org-irt</a></p> <ul> <li>R1con: <a title="Cato: the myth of the rational voter" href="http://www.cato-unbound.org/2006/11/06/bryan-caplan/the-myth-of-the-rational-voter/" target="_blank">myth-rat</a>, <a href="http://www.brightandearlyblog.com/2009/02/promises-vs-reality/" target="_blank">promises-v-reality</a>, <a href="http://www.reasontofreedom.com/Again_Horse_Did_Not_Fly_David_Nolan.html" target="_blank">nolan-horse</a>, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?order=A" target="_blank">open-sec</a>, <a title="A Tale of Two Bailouts: Goldman's profits, CIT's trouble, and 'too big to fail.'" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124762129423442667.html" target="_blank">wsj-2b2f</a>, <a href="http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_5.pdf" target="_blank">mises-pdf</a>, <a href="http://seasteading.org/mission/faq#Basics" target="_blank">seasteading</a></li> <li>R2pro: <a href="http://realdemocrathistory.wordpress.com/category/kkk/" target="_blank">rdh-kkk</a>, <a href="http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/nov2000/hall-n06.shtml" target="_blank">wsws</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_USA" target="_blank">wiki-commie</a>, <a href="http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/1/1/2/7/p211272_index.html" target="_blank">all-acad</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_right" target="_blank">wiki-CR</a>, <a href="http://www.quebecoislibre.org/030329-5.htm" target="_blank">QueL</a>, <a href="http://www.alternet.org/news/140253/seasteading:_libertarians_set_to_launch_a_(wet)_dream_of_'freedom'_in_international_waters/?page=entire" target="_blank">alternet-ss</a></li> <li>R2con: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws#Origins_of_Jim_Crow_laws" target="_blank">wiki-jim-crow</a>, <a href="http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=1322&theme=home&loc=b" target="_blank">1stpj</a>, <a href="http://mises.org/rothbard/AGD/chapter11.asp" target="_blank">mises-agd-11</a>, <a href="http://seasteading.org/mission/PoseidonProject" target="_blank">ss-poseidon</a>, <a href="http://seasteading.org/book_beta/Concerns.html#pirateswillgetyou" target="_blank">ss-concerns</a></li> <li>R3pro: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Fascism" target="_blank">wiki-lib-fas</a>, <a href="http://www.amconmag.com/article/2005/mar/14/00017/" target="_blank">amcm</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Voter" target="_blank">wiki-amVot</a>, <a href="http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~redlawsk/papers/Motivated%20Reasoning%20Voting.pdf" target="_blank">rutg-PDF-motVot</a>,</li></ul> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:3641d4d4-c204-4d23-841f-550933e4b909" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=debate" rel="tag">debate</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=debating+club" rel="tag">debating club</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=online+debating" rel="tag">online debating</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=ivory+tower" rel="tag">ivory tower</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=engage" rel="tag">engage</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=engaging" rel="tag">engaging</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-71282310245564959202010-09-06T21:15:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.773-04:00TVO’s The Agenda summer shows<span id="description">Coming from Eastern Europe, I have never been too impressed with public television. There seemed to always be overblown egos fighting for disproportionately small issues. Even the “world-class” BBC seemed to always get facts wrong at least regarding our country (and possibly many others). In Toronto, however, things seem different.</span><a name='more'></a> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNobZD3p-BrZ8QENTj-1jME7qiElP1DF2WRYt-q0ZdUHqU4pjbK8gJhX9PbevdYGkeJrfqh_kZCjR4DjX1LnUnGuIQHeKWQuYG_WKWIQJ4LWalBjpaZCkzhsaNIB6RqTQtUxVcilwa31Q/s1600-h/paikin-agenda%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="paikin-agenda" border="0" alt="paikin-agenda" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1DubyAahvBjeF6rOQAUD2Cix832eW9xg8LGdPRFGwYbrmEMeDma6uNdUpI6woVyYDc-MY9FFl_6mhSzDodDt6yU3aULzlOUWWQ1yFz1a1deXyIWpH7I5_q-_sRTHSsB6Q1sgATF_v7o/?imgmax=800" width="135" height="135"></a>Though CBC has its share of politicians fighting to restrain it, TVO (TV Ontario) managed to broadcast consistently (truly) <em>world-class</em> programming. They are indeed one of the few reasons left to turn on the TV.</p> <p>In the past few months, a lot of time was spent discussing China and Mike Harris. I plan to discuss China in an upcoming article. As for Mike Harris, the only parts of his legacy that interest me are the amalgamation of Toronto (an old but still timely topic, considering the upcoming municipal elections) and his educational reforms (which belong to <a href="http://www.edutarian.com" target="_blank">edutarian</a>). Let’s start with the shows that caught my eye:</p> <p>1. From the China series, Janice Stein discusses <strong>Authoritarian Capitalism</strong>. This is the equivalent of socialism when it comes to lifting a country quickly from feudalism to a functional market economy, and it is how South Korea, Chile and presumably China are improving their fortunes.</p> <p align="center"><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden" border="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyODM4MDgyMDQ*MDYmcHQ9MTI4MzgwOTYzMjU5MyZwPTI2Njc1MSZkPXR2b1ZpZGVvUGFnZSZnPTImbz*1NzhmZjhi/NDgwNjk*ZjBiYWFjZWU4ZTBjYTcwMDZiNCZvZj*w.gif" width="0" height="0"><embed src="http://www.tvo.org/video/tvoMain.swf" quality="high" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="486" height="412" name="flashObj" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" FlashVars="videoRefID=142417946001&videoPlay=manual&gig_lt=1283808204406&gig_pt=1283809632593&gig_g=2"></embed></p> <p>2. Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin (since January 7, 2000). From the little I have read about her and her decisions, she deserves her position.</p> <p align="center"><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden" border="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyODM4MDk4MTM2MjUmcHQ9MTI4MzgwOTgzMzIwMyZwPTI2Njc1MSZkPXR2b1ZpZGVvUGFnZSZnPTImbz*1NzhmZjhi/NDgwNjk*ZjBiYWFjZWU4ZTBjYTcwMDZiNCZvZj*w.gif" width="0" height="0"><embed src="http://www.tvo.org/video/tvoMain.swf" quality="high" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="486" height="412" name="flashObj" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" FlashVars="videoRefID=167604471001&videoPlay=manual&gig_lt=1283809813625&gig_pt=1283809833203&gig_g=2"></embed></p> <p>3. Life after cabinet – a discussion with five Ontario <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="Member of Parliament">MP</abbr>s (federal) and <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="Member of the Provincial Parliament">MPP</abbr>s (provincial), three of which represented or still represent(s) my riding. Judy Sgro, former Minister of Immigration is still representing me in at the federal level. She was preceded by Art Eggleton, former Minister of Defense. Both Judy and Art were forced out of the Government by what seemed to be baseless accusations, probably created by rivals within their own party. Monte Kwinter used to represent my riding in the provincial legislature; then the riding boundaries shifted and he is no longer representing me. Interestingly, a while back I tried to meet him but could not, as he claimed “conflict of interest”, stating that he cannot meet his constituents because he is part of the Government and the Ethics Commissioner would not allow it. He referred me to Mario Sergio, who eventually eneded up representing my entire riding.</p> <p align="center"><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden" border="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyODM4MDA*OTEwMDAmcHQ9MTI4MzgwMjU5ODM*MyZwPTI2Njc1MSZkPXR2b1ZpZGVvUGFnZSZnPTImbz*1NzhmZjhi/NDgwNjk*ZjBiYWFjZWU4ZTBjYTcwMDZiNCZvZj*w.gif" width="0" height="0"><embed src="http://www.tvo.org/video/tvoMain.swf" quality="high" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="486" height="412" name="flashObj" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" FlashVars="videoRefID=180413274001&videoPlay=manual&gig_lt=1283800491000&gig_pt=1283802598343&gig_g=2"></embed></p> <p>Finally, as soon as I have some time I’d like to have a look at the debates and the 6 major mayoral candidates in the upcoming elections. The battle seems to be waged between Smitherman and Ford, with Ford registering strong support in suburban neighbourhoods and Smitherman belonging more to the downtown core. They seem to show it even in their personal appearance; Ford is obese and drives an SUV, publicly claiming that he is afraid to walk on the streets (most suburban streets don’t have enough sidewalks anyway) while Smitherman, OTOH, is favoured by the media but he is gay, which unfortunately diqualifies him in the eyes of most voters. I’d like to read a bit more on their platforms, though I don’t know when I’ll find the time. Tomorrow, TVO will host their own debate. Until then, have a look at what went on this far..</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Mike Harris: Legacy of Divisiveness? | Agenda Summer 2010: Is There Life After Cabinet?" href="http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=779841&ts=2010-07-30%2020:00:00.0" target="_blank">tvo</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgamation_of_Toronto" target="_blank" title="Amalgamation of Toronto">to-amalgamation</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Eggleton">wiki-art</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Sgro">wiki-judy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Kwinter">wiki-monte</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub TO mayoral 2010" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F507711D150669A7" target="_blank">yt-TO-2010</a> </p> <p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/F507711D150669A7&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/F507711D150669A7&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:00a719b7-782d-4307-aac0-8bffc671b9fd" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=politica" rel="tag">politica</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=politics" rel="tag">politics</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=politik" rel="tag">politik</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=politic" rel="tag">politic</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=body+politic" rel="tag">body politic</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=ministers" rel="tag">ministers</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=ministerial" rel="tag">ministerial</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-72974547120733028662010-08-30T14:45:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.776-04:00Rubicon. Cross it off your list.<span id="description">Rubicon entered on my radar only because it was mentioned with the Emmies. Then I looked into it and started to like it.</span><a name='more'></a> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkr2KW7WDDjZ7Q5qUkoQrVsDBOfKfDocJ4aIaocUI3F6GIK2KYL5ERfGC8rp1jIrpUzGSZH3w74yNphr6OCfKKsqnXCTnAv7iY2FvMZAJXI37yxBCpBSIfp4Fq9Q_HQa-unWWFFh9S0LQ/s1600-h/rubicon%5B9%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="rubicon" border="0" alt="rubicon" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4ra6B4E4BE_DbspeV7NfSIBcmB_pyhjesrQkG-yW_4RJbti_jVtqv7jGoPAgz0E4OMSB3IlVQityqM_Unjdj-TcR3LV0XkB89hG3V0Gp8y6iWqo_FSo_v7zEwz3lWIbWl1JBr1wW3gg/?imgmax=800" width="158" height="158"></a>The 62nd Emmies came and went, <a title="Is Mad Men really changing?.." href="http://www.overheardinhogtown.com/2009/09/is-mad-men-really-changing.html" target="_blank">Mad Men</a> cleaned again in the “drama” category, Daily Show won over Bill Maher and Colbert and Conan again for variety and Modern Family wins for comedy. And somehow, among all these great brands, I’ve heard Rubicon mentioned. So I had a look (you can do that too, see the trailers and sneak previews below).</p> <p>I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I like to “keep an eye of things”. For the most part, such theories are a waste of time. You do not know and cannot know if they are true, it’s best to not to worry about what you don’t / cannot know. However, I would like to live in a country where events such as Pearl Harbor or 9/11 (NYC, not Chile) could not be “allowed” to happen, nor could a suspicion exist.</p> <p>This series follows our hero, an information addict with the intelligence to process it, as he works at a think-tank modeled on the American Enterprise Institute. Following the lead of the 70s conspiracy theory films (The Parallax View, Three Days at the Condor etc), the series features our guy stumbling upon and slowly unraveling a major conspiracy – a small group of people playing an important role in world events. So important is this organization that when they decide to do away with one member, they send him a 4-leaf clover; that person then commits suicide, as they would not want their family to suffer the invisible hand’s full wrath.</p> <p>The title sends us to that Italian river, who crossing is the equivalent to the point of no return. In the time of the Republic, no army was allowed to cross. Breaking this law was an act of war punishable by death. When Caesar crossed it in 49 BC, it essentially meant that the Roman Republic had started its transformation into an empire.</p> <p>If you ever wondered if USA is evil or if the world could’ve been a better place had the land of freedom stayed out of all wars and kept a low military profile but a high economic one, well, this series is for you.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Mad Men wins the Emmy for best drama; Glee takes home two awards" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/29/AR2010082904229_2.html?sid=ST2010082904233" target="_blank">wp-emmy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/62nd_Primetime_Emmy_Awards" target="_blank">wiki-62-emmy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enterprise_Institute" target="_blank">wiki-aei</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubicon_(TV_series)" target="_blank">wiki-rubicon</a>, <a href="http://www.amctv.com/originals/Rubicon/" target="_blank">amc-rubicon</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub (ib)" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=17E9D5DB2A511952" target="_blank">yt-rubicon</a> </p> <p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/17E9D5DB2A511952&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/17E9D5DB2A511952&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p> <p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:450396f8-91db-47b6-a735-8e94dc9d0c90" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=secret+service" rel="tag">secret service</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=think+tank" rel="tag">think tank</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=cia" rel="tag">cia</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=nsa" rel="tag">nsa</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=secret+services" rel="tag">secret services</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=covert" rel="tag">covert</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=covert+ops" rel="tag">covert ops</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=intelligence" rel="tag">intelligence</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=espionage" rel="tag">espionage</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=conspiracy+theory" rel="tag">conspiracy theory</a></div></p> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-15706630402744358412010-08-26T15:09:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.683-04:00Libertarians and Socialists<span id="description">I recently stumbled upon the "loving rant" of a left libertarian. I don't particularly agree with him, but it is worthwhile discussing his views.</span><a name='more'></a> <p>Here’s the original video clip:</p> <center><iframe class="youtube-player" height="364" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3y_M4wolKAY" frameborder="0" width="445" type="text/html"></iframe></center> <p>What “SelfOwnershipFTW” seems to talk about is libertarian socialism or left libertarian. Libertarianism has many currents and sub-currents. Simplifying, what they have in common is the rejection of state violence.</p> <p>Left libertarians believe that in the absence of the state, collectives of workers, self-administering and running their own workplaces (co-operatives) should rise and fulfill that function. The problem I see with this approach is that it will obviously not work.</p> <p>Here’s a few important figures of this current from wikipedia:</p> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="133"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Parijs" border="0" alt="Parijs" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_uhW6NLv8d06lqo35G6NZdI8NB1IK1uxyNQDRmkbMeLY7QXH88a0LCCpQ_umcgGQ7P1dEMt-rl0OY1zU0f1fTMPqdGkIiC_CrnTsXCFk7citjOOg3imBmPTVXjFVsZRIIgy_YGOHhGvs/?imgmax=800" width="128" height="139"></td> <td valign="top" width="128"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="henry george" border="0" alt="henry george" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6Ukb2FA_kcRRfKzv32MuCTtWIlRga7C32alW9yNOfQ_NqLSeQBv1IQ7pn7g1ec-YeSJMFXkhMZwCCebCYL_aCTrRxQgoF0GNU_IRXq3xQGpgJq7M5el9rS8-BHsIbmFh2PSDb94Y9XQ/?imgmax=800" width="104" height="136"></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7qPoTLHGnijBJp5MrahOgVKf9QxVL5YUrD2MstzibnwxtJvqqEAElf3XAB9HL6kY9V2DaonQYhEF-ipeCnuY7hYM5l6pKUKs2eR3ViMcrh12Y8A4e78w-k8TxIdWFAEIrQxlbsx2EI0/s1600-h/hess%5B5%5D%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="hess[5]" border="0" alt="hess[5]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kQHik8zRe5G2w5XT3eUX3AW8GD6CZe0b-WXJJXWNV_Qhv9N55JxekzRU0_raE_HfjDAxAwZdDWqsGztXpRbCEY4VC-0jLFOWVOuq-7J7o4N9EjvngulmYABM-E4TGSrdZWRoPwhGtH4/?imgmax=800" width="148" height="118"></a></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="133"><font size="1">Political theorist Philippe Van Parijs has contributed to the academic literature on left-libertarianism</font></td> <td valign="top" width="128"><font size="1">Henry George (1839–1897) proposed the abolition of all taxes except those on land value.</font></td> <td valign="top" width="138">Karl Hess <p>(May 25, 1923 – April 22, 1994) </p></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>I grew up in Stalinist Easter-European country and had the “chance” to experience first-hand the results of socialist demagoguery. The ignorance of basic economic rules and principles is highly destructive not only to the economy, but to people’s mentalities and mental health.</p> <p>Co-operatives exist even within [more or less] capitalist economies and what we find again and again is that co-op members behave mostly selfishly, stealing and placing personal interests well ahead of the group. <a title="I once was a Savage Man God I" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2010/05/i-once-was-savage-man-god-i.html">My experience with co-op</a>s as well as my life in a Stalinist <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="governing by theft">cleptocracy</abbr> very similar to <a title="Little Kim sucks donkey bum-bum" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2010/08/little-kim-sucks-donkey-bum-bum.html">North Korea</a> endowed me with a deep distrust of anything that smells like the LEFT.</p> <p>The economic ignorance of left-libertarianism is quite well-exposed in the critique of Noam Chomsky (see below), who is perhaps the most famous left libertarian.</p> <p>It would be intellectually dishonest of me to claim that my version of libertarianism works better than Noam Chomsky’s, but though I have certain reservations, I think it has a far better chance of success. The altruism that forms the basis of his ideas has a bad habit of devolving into dystopia and we have repeatedly seen that happen with numerous countries, which mostly ended their experiments. The excuses that the socialists make (“we are Trotskyites”, or “Stalinism is not socialism” or “Marx talked about socialism in UK, not in Russia; not even Lenin thought it can succeed there”) is hogwash. There may be an iron-fist behind the invisible hand for now, but that iron has been rusting more and more in the post-industrial era and it will soon disintegrate.</p> <p>What we libertarians of all “sides” have in common is that most people do not know / understand what libertarianism is about, that most of these organizing principles are most likely non-viable and that we choose sides based on our personal experiences. As far as I can tell you will not find many left libertarians born in former “communist” countries before 1980, and that should tell you something.</p> <p>Another big difference between left libertarians and right libertarians (anarcho-capitalists) is that – I suspect – the former get laid more than the latter in college, just like socialists beat objectivists at their bare bottom as well. I suspect this is the major reason that causes otherwise informed, intelligent individuals to embrace this hyper-utopian worldview. Yet a recent study suggests that “do-gooders” are universally despised:</p> <blockquote> <p>Parks and Stone found that unselfish colleagues come to be resented because they “raise the bar” for what is expected of everyone. As a result, workers feel the new standard will make everyone else look bad. It doesn’t matter that the overall welfare of the group or the task at hand is better served by someone’s unselfish behavior, Parks said. “What is objectively good, you see as subjectively bad,” he said. The do-gooders also are seen as deviant rule breakers. It’s as if they’re giving away Monopoly money so someone can stay in the game, irking other players to no end.</p></blockquote> <p>Where we could unite our efforts is in understanding what we fight for better, crystallize our ideas and explain them to those interested. My own understanding of L and ideas are bound to evolve in time, but I am almost certain that they will not move toward the left. Personally, I also think that the key to opening minds is in education, but that is a subject best addressed by <a href="http://www.edutarian.com" target="_blank">edutarian</a>.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="w0000t RT @libertyideals: Why libertarians and socialists aren't really at odds. #libertarian http://bit.ly/a9RDev" href="http://twitter.com/InBonobo/status/22186504146" target="_blank">twitter</a>, <a title="Left-libertarianism" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-libertarianism" target="_blank">wiki-left-libertarianism</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism" target="_blank">wiki-libertarianism</a>, <a title="THE IRON FIST BEHIND THE INVISIBLE HAND: Corporate Capitalism As a State-Guaranteed System of Privilege by Kevin A. Carson" href="http://www.mutualist.org/id4.html" target="_blank">iron-fist</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutualism_(economic_theory)" target="_blank">wiki-mutualism</a>, <a title="People don't really like unselfish colleagues" href="http://www.wsutoday.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=21047" target="_blank">altruist-study</a></p> <p></p><iframe class="youtube-player" height="405" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/r5UuXtNcd2w" frameborder="0" width="500" type="text/html"></iframe> <p></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:0ee9106b-4597-42cf-9352-b7dd134629a7" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=discussion" rel="tag">discussion</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=debate" rel="tag">debate</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=youtube" rel="tag">youtube</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-83251476075704401262010-08-15T22:51:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.792-04:00Left, Right and Libertarianism<span id="description">I recently stumbled upon a fun drawing, aiming to contextualize the psychology of the liberal / progressive, conservative and libertarian and their perceptions of each other. You might enjoy it <img alt="Thumbs-up" src="http://messenger.msn.com/MMM2006-04-19_17.00/Resource/emoticons/thumbs_up.gif"><img alt="Broken heart" src="http://messenger.msn.com/MMM2006-04-19_17.00/Resource/emoticons/broken_heart.gif"><img alt="Thumbs-down" src="http://messenger.msn.com/MMM2006-04-19_17.00/Resource/emoticons/thumbs_down.gif"></span><a name='more'></a> <p>Here it is:</p> <p><a href="http://i.imgur.com/UyzoY.png" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="psychology of left / right" alt="psychology of left / right" src="http://i.imgur.com/UyzoY.png" width="500" height="587"></a> </p> <p>Here it is, in words:</p> <h3></h3> <h3>how self-identified members of right/left identify members of the other group</h3> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="500"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="250"><strong>left</strong></td> <td valign="top" width="250"><strong>right</strong></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="250"> <ul> <li>believes members of ‘right’ are attempting to subvert the protective rule of government and let ‘corporate greed’ run wild <li>associates ‘right’ with Christianity, nationalism, GWB, ‘deregulation’, racism, slavery, imperialism <li>includes ‘radical’ elements in ‘out-group’ categorization – associates all ‘far-right’ radicals with possible exception for ‘libertarians’, ‘anarchists’ – includes neo-nazis, past communist totalitarianism (although may idealize ‘guerilla’ rebellions which later led to those same regimes)</li></ul></td> <td valign="top" width="250"> <ul> <li>believes members of “left” are attempting to subvert some portion of national character by corrupting established norms <li>believes the left are naive for thinking humans can operate without coercive control <li>believes members of ‘left’ have sense of entitlement <li>includes ‘radical’ elements in ‘out-group’ categorization – likely groups ‘communist’, ‘anarchist’ and possibly ‘libertarian’</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>reality, as seen by a libertarian</h3> <p>Those self-identified as libertarians, anarcho-capitalists or anarchists tend to ascribe to themselves the following traits:</p> <ul> <li>familiarity with history, understands ‘nations’ as abstractions of the division of hierarchal control</li> <li>for some varieties of anarchist, understands difference between compulsory payment and voluntary payment, i.e., difference between ‘government’ and ‘free market’ and the consequence of the introduction of compulsory elements into voluntary interaction</li> <li>‘utopian’ ideology – unhindered development of discourse leads to technological development, alleviating problems of poverty and even government itself (barring anarcho-primitivists, in some cases)</li> <li>understands difference between deregulation as in ‘removing the cause of the problems’ and ‘deregulation’ as in ‘removing liability protections for problems regulation caused to begin with’</li></ul> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="500"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="250"><strong>self-identified left</strong></td> <td valign="top" width="250"><strong>self-identified “right”</strong></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="250"> <ul> <li>watches: Daily Show / Colbert Report, Maddow, Hitchens, reads Dawkins, Hawking, maybe Chomsky, mainstream “liberal media”</li> <li>possibly supports “welfare” programs</li> <li>believes in “rule of law” as means to an end</li> <li>believes ‘deregulation’ will lead to a crisis of voluntary human interaction</li></ul></td> <td valign="top" width="250"> <ul> <li>watches FOX, soap operas, reads tabloids, trashy supermarket books, Limbaugh</li> <li>sees ‘nations’ as antagonistic entities to be controlled, strong nationalism, xenophobia</li> <li>lives in perpetual fear, large set of ‘morals’ instilled by operant conditioning, often to be imposed onto others (subjects of shilling, not shills, at least not always)</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Is it all true? ..dunno.. What do you think?</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Indelible Bonobo on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/InBonobo/status/21270526654" target="_blank">twitter</a></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:ca79f58f-890b-4ceb-918a-5a51c644b2bb" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=libertarian" rel="tag">libertarian</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=left" rel="tag">left</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=right" rel="tag">right</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=conservative" rel="tag">conservative</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=conservatism" rel="tag">conservatism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=progressive" rel="tag">progressive</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=progressivism" rel="tag">progressivism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=liberal" rel="tag">liberal</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=liberalism" rel="tag">liberalism</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-67075237605467749202010-08-13T08:32:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.767-04:00Little Kim sucks donkey bum-bum<span id="description">North Korea is our favourite <em>rogue / almost failed</em> state. This is because although <a title="Ayatollah! Leave the kids alone!" href="http://www.overheardinhogtown.com/2010/08/ayatollah-leave-kids-alone.html" target="_blank">Iran is in itself a fundamentalist Absurdistan</a>, North Korea is a combination of Boris & Natasha, 1984 and Confucianism.</span><a name='more'></a> <p><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="kim-klap" border="0" alt="kim-klap" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8j16FskKd4oPw6llFJ9P3P8NQPugZubljVA9EnoVo0iifi5ncoE4hj61nNtrNuuYnYsVVbtsCefJDq_BpCxRwSAOhxRuZhJfIt01z4vXGdWBCiY9bCtAkERwoUUUg5hrTs5EYEwV7Idg/?imgmax=800" width="87" height="87">Looking at this pathetic leader in photos, you almost always see him clapping. Clapping is his main way to express himself, learned most likely as a child, back when he had to clap for his father, along with the other communist state slaves.</p><p>Like any communist prison, North Korea is a country everybody is trying to escape. This is why I was surprised to recently read about the South Korean boy (no, not the <a title="music can never go old" href="http://www.overheardinhogtown.com/2010/08/music-can-never-get-old.html" target="_blank">ukulele covers kid</a>) who wants to visit North Korea and meet Li’l Kim:</p><blockquote><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTvdF_iE-wgdrJTtWXbIdDBYvMbUR2gpp59T-K5eNL25FqEY8u6Uftgtl70mrXguwLyu8Lbhrd2z5cRyZR7Nh4HcNOkc8akYLS3G3XwQNkqyIQgtVWgjX0oWzXfyjrQDpDOj-dCmG5Rss/s1600-h/Kim%20Il-sung%5B7%5D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Kim Il-sung" border="0" alt="Kim Il-sung" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbnvykyqc_9uFXZVXU0af7mn9_odfDoxAllwf_fhcpZMAAoWIC-Pq5AzJOYWDrHE01l94uI2YrvjCPFypqtdUlKyi5H0_56Wqd495ixPXmmYshZgYotDKchI89ojnr2JkU-wY-ArqVnco/?imgmax=800" width="149" height="244"></a>A 13-year-old American schoolboy is hoping to go where few senior US politicians have been before, to North Korea for a meeting with the country's leader. Jonathan Lee, who was born in South Korea, wrote to Kim Jong-Il outlining his plans for a "children's peace forest" in the demilitarized zone between the two countries. Lee believes his project would give "hope to the people and children around the world".</p></blockquote><p>That’s all very interesting, even though we’re not being told that the DMZ is filled with over a million landmines. Let’s have a quick look at what North Korea means for me.</p><p>First, I oughtta tell you that I’ve never been there, but I did have a relationship with a Korean person of the opposite sex. It was quite different. I already knew quite a bit about both Koreas (even more than what M*A*S*H has taught us<img alt="Whistling" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/65.gif">). Here’s a list of the most recent developments this 2010, courtesy of <a title="The Latest on North Korea" href="http://www.nytimes.com/info/north-korea/news/" target="_blank">NYT</a> (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/info/north-korea/feed/" target="_blank">RSS</a>):</p><div style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; width: 500px; height: 200px; overflow: auto; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid"><ul><li>AUG. 9, 2010 North Korea <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/world/asia/09boat.html?scp=2&sq=north%20korea&st=cse" target="_blank">seized a South Korean squidding boat</a> in waters near their eastern sea border, the South Korean Coast Guard said, straining already high tensions between the two Koreas. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>AUG. 5, 2010 A North Korean land mine stored in a wooden box apparently washed ashore in South Korea during heavy flooding. It exploded in an inter-Korean border area, killing one South Korean civilian and injuring another, South Korea’s <a href="http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2924019" target="_blank">Joongang reported</a>. <em>— <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">Global Voices Online</a></em><br /><li>AUG. 3, 2010 After meeting with South Korean officials, American officials elaborated on Washington’s intention to increase <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/world/asia/03korea.html?scp=2&sq=north%20korea&st=cse" target="_blank">pressure on foreign banks</a> and businesses that help North Korea in illicit activities. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JULY 21, 2010 The Obama administration announced that it would <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/world/asia/22military.html?scp=7&sq=north+korea&st=nyt" target="_blank">impose further economic sanctions</a> against North Korea, throwing legal weight behind a choreographed show of pressure on the North that included an unusual joint visit to the demilitarized zone by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JULY 20, 2010 A video of a North Korean waitress in Cambodia who bears a striking resemblance to a well-known South Korean actress has become a <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/07/16/north-korea-beauty-plays-in-the-psychological-warfare/" target="_blank">big hit on YouTube</a> in South Korea, amidst rumors on political blogs that she may be a government agent. <em>— <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">Global Voices Online</a></em><br /><li>JULY 16, 2010 Drawn from interviews with more than 40 North Koreans who had defected over the past six years, as well as with health professionals who had worked with North Koreans, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/world/asia/16north.html" target="_blank">a report by the human rights group Amnesty International</a> depicted a North Korean health system in dire straits. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JULY 9, 2010 Key Security Council members have agreed on a statement that condemns the sinking of a South Korean warship that left 46 sailors dead, but <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/world/asia/09nations.html?scp=2&sq=north%20korea&st=cse" target="_blank">avoids singling out North Korea</a> for the attack. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JULY 7, 2010 While tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years over the sinking of a South Korean warship, North Korea continues to allow South Koreans to enter the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/world/asia/07kaesong.html?scp=2&sq=north%20korea&st=cse" target="_blank">Kaesong Industrial Complex</a>, where 121 mostly South Korean companies employ 44,000 North Korean workers. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JUNE 18, 2010 Political tensions were sidelined this week, as <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/06/17/south-korea-tensions-went-under-world-cup-anesthestia/" target="_blank">South Korean blogs were filled with praise</a> over the North Korean performance in a World Cup match against Brazil. <em>— <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">Global Voices Online</a></em><br /><li>JUNE 16, 2010 North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said that his country’s military would <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/world/asia/16korea.html?scp=21&sq=north+korea&st=nyt" target="_blank">respond forcefully to any Security Council condemnation</a> over the sinking of a South Korean warship, warning that “our people and army will smash our aggressors.” <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JUNE 10, 2010 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/world/asia/10koreans.html" target="_blank">Interviews with eight North Koreans</a> who recently left their country paint a haunting portrait of desperation and growing political resentment. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JUNE 8, 2010 In an unusual public rebuke, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/world/asia/09china.html?ref=asia" target="_blank">China said</a> on June 7 that in the previous week a North Korean border guard shot dead three Chinese nationals and wounded one in an incident in northeast China, prompting it to file a formal complaint. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JUNE 7, 2010 As its leader, Kim Jong-il, was watching, North Korea’s Parliament elevated his <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/world/asia/08korea.html?scp=13&sq=north+korea&st=nyt" target="_blank">brother-in-law to the regime’s No. 2 post</a>, according to the state-run news agency, another sign that the ailing Mr. Kim was depending more heavily on close relatives as he engineers a dynastic succession of power to his third son. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JUNE 6, 2010 A top North Korean official believed to be working to secure an eventual transfer of power from Kim Jong-il, the ailing North Korean leader, to one of his sons <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/world/asia/06nkorea.html?scp=1&sq=ri%20je-gang&st=cse" target="_blank">died last week</a>, but analysts say they do not think it will impede the succession process. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JUNE 4, 2010 Endless <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/06/03/south-korea-the-unsolved-mystery-of-sunken-warship/" target="_blank">doubts and conspiracy theories</a> about the alleged sinking of the South Korean warship by North Korea pervade the South Korean blogosphere. <em>— <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">Global Voices Online</a></em><br /><li>JUNE 1, 2010 K. M. Lawson from The Korea History Blog <a href="http://www.froginawell.net/korea/2010/05/a-question-of-credibility-the-asck/" target="_blank">criticizes the "Alliance of Scholars Concerned About Korea"</a> for lack of critical discourse on North Korea, most recently in reference to the sinking of a South Korean warship. <em>— <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">Global Voices Online</a></em><br /><li>JUNE 1, 2010 The Telegraph shows a series of Google Earth photos titled <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/7782145/A-birds-eye-view-of-the-prisons-and-palaces-of-Kim-Jong-ils-North-Korea.html" target="_blank">A bird's eye view of the prisons and palaces of Kim Jong-il's North Korea</a>. They include photos of forced labor camps and Kim's luxurious residences around the country. <em>— <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/kay-seok" target="_blank">Kay Seok</a>, Human Rights Watch</em><br /><li>JUNE 1, 2010 Citizens in China and Hong Kong <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/05/27/china-and-hong-kong-response-to-cheonan-sinking-incident/" target="_blank">discuss the North Korea warship sinking incident</a> in online forums, from a Chinese perspective. <em>— <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">Global Voices Online</a></em><br /><li>MAY 24, 2010 The Obama administration on Monday <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/world/asia/25korea.html" target="_blank">supported steps</a> by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to punish the North for what he called the deliberate sinking of a South Korean warship. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MAY 24, 2010 Moves by President Lee Myung-bak amounted to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/asia/24korea.html" target="_blank">the most serious actions the South could take</a> short of an armed retaliation for what Mr. Lee called the deliberate sinking of a South Korean warship. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MAY 24, 2010 Chinese leaders face <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/asia/24china.html" target="_blank">two unpalatable options</a>: mollify North Korea or join the U.N. Security Council in condemning it. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MAY 24, 2010 American <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/world/asia/23korea.html" target="_blank">intelligence analysis</a> of a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship concludes that Kim Jong-il, the ailing leader of North Korea, must have authorized the torpedo assault. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MAY 21, 2010 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/world/asia/22diplo.html?ref=world" target="_blank">harshly condemned</a> North Korea for a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean Navy warship last March, and promised to marshal an international response in the coming week with Japan, China and other countries. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MAY 20, 2010 South Korea’s formal accusation that a North Korean torpedo sank one of its warships, killing 46 sailors, will set off a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/world/asia/20diplo.html?ref=world" target="_blank">diplomatic drumbeat to punish North Korea,</a> backed by the United States and other nations, which could end up in the United Nations Security Council. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MAY 19, 2010 South Korea has concluded that a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/world/asia/19korea.html?scp=2&sq=north%20korea&st=cse" target="_blank">North Korean torpedo</a> sank one of its warships in March, killing 46 sailors, according to government officials and domestic news reports. South Korean officials are preparing to announce the results of their investigation later this week. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MAY 6, 2010 Despite an aggressive offense by Chinese police officers who detained several camera operators at one stop and asked them to erase images, foreign journalists have managed to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/world/asia/06beijing.html?scp=2&sq=north%20korea&st=cse" target="_blank">track the movements</a> of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, from a luxury hotel and a car factory in the port city of Dalian to the official state guest house in Beijing. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MAY 4, 2010 Amid reports that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/world/asia/03korea.html?scp=2&sq=kim%20jong%20il&st=cse" target="_blank">Kim Jong Il's train crossed into China</a>, scholar Alexandre Mansourov argues that the DPRK's currency reforms are part of the "<a href="http://38north.org/2010/05/north-korea-changing-but-stable/" target="_blank">uneasy but symbiotic relationship</a>" between state and market in North Korea, undergirded by "burgeoning economic ties" to China. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>APRIL 28, 2010 North Korea Freedom Week is being held in Seoul, South Korea from April 25 to May 1. This marks the first time the <a href="http://www.nkfreedom.org/" target="_blank">North Korea Freedom Coalition</a> is holding the annual event outside of Washington D.C. The program includes prayer vigils, photo exhibitions, seminars, press conferences and balloons which are intended to float to North Korea. <em>— <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/kay-seok" target="_blank">Kay Seok</a>, Human Rights Watch</em><br /><li>APRIL 26, 2010 Mourners in South Korea paid tribute to at least 40 sailors killed in the sinking of a warship, as the country <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/asia/27korea.html?scp=3&sq=north+korea&st=nyt" target="_blank">inched closer</a> to placing blame on North Korea and faced the urgent question of how it might respond. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>APRIL 25, 2010 A photograph published in March in North Korean newspapers shows Kim Jong-il with a man said to be <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/world/asia/25succession.html?scp=7&sq=north+korea&st=nyt" target="_blank">Kim Jong-un</a>, his son and presumed heir, at possibly his first public event. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>APRIL 21, 2010 South Korean security officials claim to have arrested two <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/world/asia/22korea.html" target="_blank">North Korean agents who had posed as defectors</a> in a plot to assassinate the highest-ranking North Korean defector by slitting his throat. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>APRIL 20, 2010 The Daily NK <a href="http://www.dailynk.com/korean/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=82781" target="_blank">reported</a> that a former North Korean refugee who worked for Free North Korea Radio in South Korea was kidnapped in Dandong, China on February 19 and sent back to North Korea. The 50-year old man was supposed to rendezvous with his wife and son at the Chinese border city, the report said. <em>— <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/kay-seok" target="_blank">Kay Seok</a>, Human Rights Watch</em><br /><li>APRIL 17, 2010 North Korea <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/info/north-korea/wp-admin/post-new.php" target="_blank">denies</a> involvement in the explosion and sinking of a South Korean war ship in disputed border waters. <em>— <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/choe_sanghun/index.html" target="_blank">Choe Sang-Hun</a></em><br /><li>APRIL 9, 2010 The North Korean government's announcement on the sentencing of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a U.S. citizen, raises serious concerns about whether his trial was fair, especially given the lack of transparency and extremely harsh punishment for a vaguely worded charge, Human Rights Watch said in a <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/04/08/north-korea-verdict-american-raises-fair-trial-concerns" target="_blank">statement</a>. Gomes was sentenced to eight years of hard labor and fined the equivalent of US$700,000 for illegal entry and "hostile acts" against North Korea. <em>— <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/kay-seok" target="_blank">Kay Seok</a>, Human Rights Watch</em><br /><li>APRIL 6, 2010 According to <a href="http://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/human_rights_defector/defector_sucide-04052010173101.html" target="_blank">RFA</a> and <a href="http://www.voanews.com/korean/2010-04-05-voa24.cfm" target="_blank">VOA</a>, Jae-won "Joseph" Shin, widely known as one of the first North Korean refugees to resettle in the U.S. after the North Korea Human Rights Act went into effect in 2004, committed suicide at his home in Flushing, New York. According to his family, Shin has been suffering from depression. <em>— <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/kay-seok" target="_blank">Kay Seok</a>, Human Rights Watch</em><br /><li>APRIL 5, 2010 The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, was the host of a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/world/asia/05iht-korea.html" target="_blank">weekend party</a> in his country’s capital, Pyongyang, for the new Chinese ambassador, both countries’ state media reported, disputing a South Korean news report that Mr. Kim visited China. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>APRIL 2, 2010 In an unusual interview with AP Television News (in Pyongyang), North Korean <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hqbfYesANk3hHmzd4OAmrjBDVf0QD9EQBRV82" target="_blank">economist Ri Ki Song</a> insists that the economic situation "is being stabilized overall." For now, supplemental private market activity is being allowed, but the government's plan is to slowly phase-out markets by "expanding planned supply through state-run commercial networks." Ri claimed that foreign media reports of "social disorder" due to the December currency reforms were unfounded. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>MARCH 31, 2010 Anticipation of an imminent <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/04/120_63405.html" target="_blank">Kim Jong Il visit to China</a> is intensifying based on official statements by Seoul and a flurry of <a href="http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6934438.html" target="_blank">PRC-DPRK diplomatic activity</a>. Such a visit would raise expectations for announcement of a resumption of the Six Party Talks, presumably adding some momentum going into President Obama's Global Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April 12th and 13th. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>MARCH 31, 2010 Dr. Kwon Tae-jin of (South) Korea Rural Economic Research Institute says in <a href="http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2010/03/31/0200000000AKR20100331140200014.HTML" target="_blank">an interview</a> with Yonhap News Agency that by May/June, North Koreans could face a severe food shortage comparable to the famine in the 1990s, unless North Korea receives food aid. <em>— <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/kay-seok" target="_blank">Kay Seok</a>, Human Rights Watch</em><br /><li>MARCH 30, 2010 The Daily NK <a href="http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk02900&num=6170" target="_blank">reports</a> that wholesalers who survived through North Korea's monetary reform are releasing food in markets again, contributing to a sudden decrease in both food prices and the US dollar's black market rate against the North Korean won. <em>— <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/kay-seok" target="_blank">Kay Seok</a>, Human Rights Watch</em><br /><li>MARCH 29, 2010 North Korea <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/world/asia/30korea.html" target="_blank">warned of deadly consequences</a> unless the United States and South Korea stop allowing journalists inside a heavily guarded buffer zone that has divided the Korean Peninsula since the armistice more than a half century ago. <em>— <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/choe_sanghun/index.html" target="_blank">Choe Sang-Hun</a></em><br /><li>MARCH 29, 2010 North Korean citizens, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/world/asia/29news.html" target="_blank">using cellphones to pierce North Korea’s near-total news blackout</a>, are feeding information about life there to South Korea and its Western allies. <em>— <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/choe_sanghun/index.html" target="_blank">Choe Sang-Hun</a></em><br /><li>MARCH 26, 2010 The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted <a href="http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?c=50&su=59" target="_blank">a new resolution</a> against North Korea and extended the mandate of the North Korea special rapporteur by another year. The Council said it deplored grave, widespread and systematic human rights abuses in North Korea. <em>— <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/kay-seok" target="_blank">Kay Seok</a>, Human Rights Watch</em><br /><li>MARCH 24, 2010 A handful of North Koreans who recently crossed the border into China to give interviews to <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7069225.ece" target="_blank">Times Online</a> and <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-korea-famine24-2010mar24,0,7474692.story?page=1&utm_medium=feed&track=rss&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20latimes%252Fmostviewed%20%2528L.A.%20Times%20-%20Most%20Viewed%20Stories%2529&utm_source=feedburner" target="_blank">The Los Angeles Times</a> indicate <a href="http://goodfriendsusa.blogspot.com/2010/03/north-korea-today-no-335-march-2010.html" target="_blank">near-famine conditions</a> and increasing disaffection in the wake of failed currency reforms. A <a href="http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/pswp021.pdf" target="_blank">new paper</a> by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, based on defector interviews in 2005 and 2008, suggests that such disaffection has been on the rise for over a decade, and finds expression in "<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=YpB_Ft8Q294C&dq=everyday+forms+of+resistance&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=eHCqS5WyK8Wblgfm7P3SBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CDYQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">everyday forms of resistance</a>" such as trading in markets and listening to foreign media.<em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>MARCH 22, 2010 Reports that North Korea <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/world/asia/19korea.html" target="_blank">executed a top finance official</a> suggest intensifying economic instability. University of Vienna professor <a href="http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/m05/s20/content.asp?ifesforumNO=268&GoP=1" target="_blank">Rudiger Frank</a> and RAND economist <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/15/north-south-korea-asia-reunite-opinions-contributors-charles-wolf-jr.html" target="_blank">Charles Wolf Jr.</a> argue that planning for North Korea's long-term modernization is falling behind the speed of events. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>MARCH 19, 2010 North Korea has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/world/asia/19korea.html" target="_blank">arrested and possibly executed</a> its top financial official, Pak Nam-gi, as it struggles to contain chaos set off by its botched attempt to halt inflation through a radical currency revaluation, according to news reports in South Korea. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>MARCH 5, 2010 A Russian student studying in Pyongyang opened a window onto North Korea's own version of Windows by posting a <a href="http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-03-01/north-korea-cyber-weapon.html" target="_blank">blog entry</a>, translated by Russia Today, about using "Red Star", the DPRK's official operating system. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>MARCH 3, 2010 The blog Ask a Korean! <a href="http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/01/excellent-article-on-dong-ilbo-about.html" target="_blank">translates an article</a> that explains how NGOs obtain information from North Korea via cell phones imported from China. <em>— <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">Global Voices Online</a></em><br /><li>MARCH 3, 2010 Robert Neff from The Marmot's Hole blogs about Korea's role in the logging of Siberian timber, in particular <a href="http://www.rjkoehler.com/2010/02/14/siberian-timbering-economic-salvation-extinction-and-enslavement/" target="_blank">how North Koreans are working as slave loggers</a> in Russia. <em>— <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">Global Voices Online</a></em><br /><li>FEB. 25, 2010 North Korea makes its usual <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100225/wl_nm/us_korea_north_1" target="_blank">threat</a> against a planned joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise.<em>— <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/choe_sanghun/index.html" target="_blank">Choe Sang-Hun</a></em><br /><li>FEB. 22, 2010 Amidst another wave of rumors that North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan is likely to visit the United States in the coming weeks, the Korean Central News Agency released a <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_KOREAS_NUCLEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-02-19-06-05-07" target="_blank">statement</a> insisting that nuclear disarmament will require peace talks and an "end to hostile relations" with the US— economic aid alone will not suffice. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>FEB. 22, 2010 Security Council Report, a non-governmental organization affiliated with Columbia University, released a useful overview and update on DPRK-related activities at the UN Security Council in its <a href="http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.5764285/k.D901/February_2010brDPRK_North_Korea.htm" target="_blank">monthly forecast</a>. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>FEB. 13, 2010 North Korea ends talks with China, and <a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2010/02/13/95/0401000000AEN20100213001500315F.HTML" target="_blank">says</a> that the two sides discussed ways to "speed up" the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, such as the signing of a peace treaty. <em>— <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/choe_sanghun/index.html" target="_blank">Choe Sang-Hun</a></em><br /><li>FEB. 12, 2010 The South Korean news agency <a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/02/12/8/0301000000AEN20100212001600315F.HTML" target="_blank">Yonhap</a> reports that the top North Korean nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, may visit Washington in March. <em>— <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/choe_sanghun/index.html" target="_blank">Choe Sang-Hun</a></em><br /><li>FEB. 11, 2010 The North Korean government has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/asia/12korea.html" target="_blank">made a rare apology for a policy blunder and lifted a ban on using foreign currency</a>, according to South Korean news organizations. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>FEB. 4, 2010 Recent moves by the North Korean government to crack down on illegal private markets have triggered <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/world/asia/04korea.html?ref=world" target="_blank">runaway inflation</a>. <em>— <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/choe_sanghun/index.html" target="_blank">Choe Sang-Hun</a></em><br /><li>FEB. 2, 2010 The Pentagon's <a href="http://www.defense.gov/bmdr/BMDR%20as%20of%2026JAN10%200630_for%20web.pdf" target="_blank">Ballistic Missile Defense Review Report</a> focused much of its attention on the threat posed by North Korea, estimating that within 10 years, if left to its devices, the DPRK "will be able to mate a nuclear warhead to a proven delivery system." One of the most thorough open-source, non-governmental assessments is the International Crisis Group's "<a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/asia/north_korea/168_north_koreas_nuclear_and_missile_programs.pdf" target="_blank">North Korea's Nuclear and Missile Programs</a>," last updated in June 2009. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>JAN. 29, 2010 Choe Sang-hun’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/world/asia/25north.html?scp=2&sq=choe%20sang-hun&st=cse" target="_blank">article</a> this week on North Korean defectors' underground news services draws attention to the critical problem of getting accurate information about North Korean politics, economy and society. See the sidebar on this page for more resources. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>JAN. 27, 2010 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/books/27book.html" target="_blank">Three provocative new books</a> about North Korea parse the slivers of light that escape this enigmatic and often baffling place. <em>— NYT</em><br /><li>JAN. 19, 2010 Experts on the North Korean economy are closely monitoring the effects of last month's currency re-denomination and foreign currency ban, which have profound implications for the DPRK's political economy going forward. The most thorough study to emerge so far is <a href="http://www.iie.com/publications/pb/pb10-01.pdf" target="_blank">"The Winter of their Discontent: Pyongyang Attacks the Market"</a> by Marcus Noland (Peterson Institute for International Economics) and Stephan Haggard (UC San Diego). —<a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury,</a> <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/policy-politics/center-us-china-relations" target="_blank">Asia Society.</a> <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>JAN. 13, 2010 Barbara Demick, Beijing bureau chief for the LA Times, has published <a href="http://asiasociety.org/policy-politics/international-relations/us-asia/barbara-demick-nothing-envy" target="_blank">Nothing to Envy: Lives of Ordinary North Koreans</a>, a book that chronicles the harrowing socio-economic freefall experienced by ordinary North Koreans since the end of the Cold War. —<a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/policy-politics/center-us-china-relations">Asia Society</a>. <em>— <a href="http://www.asiasociety.org/keyword/john-delury" target="_blank">John Delury</a>, Asia Society</em><br /><li>JAN. 7, 2010 North Korea apparently <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/world/asia/07korea.html" target="_blank">began pursuing a uranium enrichment program in 1996</a> at the latest, the South Korean foreign minister said on Jan. 6, bolstering fears that the North’s second route to building a nuclear bomb could be well on its way. <em>— NYT</em></li><br /></ul></div><p>One event that the 13 yo’s trip conjures up is the “Axe murder incident”. On that occasion, Korean soldiers attacked and killed 2 US military personnel who were trimming a tree in the DMZ as scheduled on common accord. Here’s a description of the event from wikipedia:</p><blockquote><p>On August 18, 1976, a group of five Korean Service Corps (KSC) personnel escorted by a UNC security team consisting of the Joint Security Force (JSF) Company Commander (Captain Arthur Bonifas), his South Korean (ROK) Army counterpart, Captain Kim, the platoon leader of the current platoon in the area (1st Lt. Mark Barrett), and 11 enlisted personnel, both American and South Korean, went into the JSA to trim the tree as previously scheduled with the KPA delegation. The two captains did not wear sidearms, as members of the Joint Security Area were limited to only five armed officers and 30 armed enlisted personnel at a time. However, there were mattocks in the back of the 2½ ton truck. The KSC workers had the axes they brought to prune the tree branches. The tree had been scheduled to be trimmed seven days earlier, but rain had forced the work to be rescheduled. <p>After trimming began, 15 to 16 KPA soldiers appeared, commanded by Senior Lt. Pak Chul, whom the UNC soldiers had previously nicknamed "Lt. Bulldog" due to a history of confrontations. Pak and his subordinates appeared to observe the trimming without concern for approximately 15 minutes, until he abruptly told the UNC to cease the activity stating the tree could not be trimmed "because Kim Il Sung personally planted it and nourished it and it’s growing under his supervision." Capt. Bonifas ordered the detail to continue, and turned his back on Lt. Pak Chul. <p>After being ignored by Capt. Bonifas, Pak sent a runner across the Bridge of No Return. Within minutes a North Korean guard truck crossed the bridge and approximately 20 more North Korean guards disembarked carrying crowbars and clubs. Pak again demanded that the tree trimming stop, and when Capt. Bonifas again turned his back on him, Pak removed his watch, carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief, placed it in his pocket, and then shouted "Kill them!" as he swung a karate chop to the back of Capt. Bonifas' neck. Using axes dropped by the tree-trimmers, the KPA forces attacked the two U.S. soldiers, Capt. Bonifas and Lt. Barrett, and wounded all but one of the UNC guards. <p>While Capt. Bonifas died instantly, Lt. Barrett jumped a low wall which led into a 15 ft. (4½ m) deep tree-filled depression. The depression was not visible from the road. The entire fight lasted for only about 20–30 seconds before the UNC Force managed to disperse the KPA guards and place Capt. Bonifas' body in their truck. However, there was no sign of Lt. Barrett and the two UNC guards at OP#5 could not see them. <p>They did, however, observe the KPA guards grab (by the heels) approximately five members of their own force and drag them back across the bridge. They also observed the KPA guards at KPA#8 (along the UNC emergency egress road) exhibiting strange behavior, in that one guard would take an axe and go down into the depression for a couple of minutes and then come back up and hand the axe to another guard who would repeat the process. This went on for approximately 90 minutes until the UNC guards at OP#5 were informed that Lt. Barrett was missing, at which time they informed their superiors about the KPA activity in the depression. A search and rescue squad was quickly dispatched and found Lt. Barrett had been attacked with the axe by the North Koreans. <p>A helicopter on a training mission was also sent to the location (its crew issued yellow armbands and .45 automatics) and used for a medevac, but Barrett did not survive. <p>A corporal witnessed the attack from OP#5 and recorded the incident with both a camera and a movie camera. <h4>Reaction </h4><p>Shortly after the incident, North Korean media began airing reports of the fight. The North Korean version stated: <p>"Around 10:45 a.m. today, the American imperialist aggressors sent in 14 hoodlums with axes into the Joint Security Area to cut the trees on their own accord, although such a work should be mutually consented beforehand. Four persons from our side went to the spot to warn them not to continue the work without our consent. Against our persuasion, they attacked our guards en masse and committed a serious provocative act of beating our men, wielding murderous weapons and depending on the fact that they outnumbered us. Our guards could not but resort to self-defense measures under the circumstances of this reckless provocation." <p>Within four hours of the attack, Kim Jong-il (son of the North Korean leader Kim Il-sung) addressed the Conference of Non-Aligned Nations in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he presented a prepared document describing the incident as an unprovoked attack on North Korean guards, led by American officers. He then introduced a resolution asking the conference to condemn that day's grave U.S. provocation and called on participants to endorse both the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea and the dissolution of the United Nations Command, which was seconded by Cuba. With such a short time since the incident, with details still sketchy, and the nature of Conference of Non-Aligned Nations, the members of the conference passed the resolution.</p><h4>Operation Paul Bunyan</h4><p>In response to the "axe murder incident", the UN Command determined that instead of trimming the branches that obscured visibility, they would cut down the tree with the aid of overwhelming force. The operation, named after mythical lumberjack Paul Bunyan, was conceived as a US/South Korean show of force, but was also carefully managed to prevent further escalation. It was planned over two days by General Richard G. Stilwell and his staff at the UNC headquarters in Seoul.</p><p>(..)Although the operation was carried out peacefully, there was concern that it could spark a wider conflict. The incident led to increased tensions along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, but did not develop into full-scale war. Some shots were fired at the US helicopter which, carrying Major General Morris Brady, circled Panmunjom later that day, but nobody was injured.[6] The firing stopped abruptly when six Cobras banked line abreast and swung into firing position, their laser sights illuminating the North Korean gun position.</p></blockquote><p>North Korea represents all that is wrong with statism namely, its worst manifestation: STALINISM. Such a state does not deliver even the <em>raison d’etre</em> of the state: security. Survival is arbitrary and at the latitude of those in power. Apart from violence, a demented cult of personality and cruel repression, the regime has subjected its citizens to famine starting with the 1990s and as the regime started to pursue its nuclear ambitions more closely. According to wikipedia:</p><blockquote><p>In 2006, Amnesty International reported that a national nutrition survey conducted by the North Korean government, the World Food Programme, and UNICEF found that 7% of children were severely malnourished; 37% were chronically malnourished; 23.4% were underweight; and one in three mothers was malnourished and anemic as the result of the lingering effect of the famine. The inflation caused by some of the 2002 economic reforms, including the Songun or "Military-first" policy, was cited for creating the increased price of basic foods.[117] <p>The history of Japanese assistance to North Korea has been marked with challenges; from a large pro-Pyongyang community of Koreans in Japan to public outrage over the 1998 North Korean missile launch and revelations regarding the abduction of Japanese citizens.[118] In June 1995 an agreement was reached that the two countries would act jointly.[118] South Korea would provide 150,000 MT of grain in unmarked bags, and Japan would provide 150,000 MT gratis and another 150,000 MT on concessional terms.[118] In October 1995 and January 1996, North Korea again approached Japan for assistance. On these two occasions, both of which came at crucial moments in the evolution of the famine, opposition from both South Korea and domestic political sources quashed the deals.[118] <p>Beginning in 1997, the U.S. began shipping food aid to North Korea through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to combat the famine. Shipments peaked in 1999 at nearly 700,000 tons making the U.S. the largest foreign aid donor to the country at the time. Under the Bush Administration, aid was drastically reduced year after year from 350,000 tons in 2001 to 40,000 in 2004.[119] The Bush Administration took criticism for using "food as a weapon" during talks over the North's nuclear weapons program, but insisted the US Agency for International Development (USAID) criteria were the same for all countries and the situation in North Korea had "improved significantly since its collapse in the mid-1990s." Agricultural production had increased from about 2.7 million metric tons in 1997 to 4.2 million metric tons in 2004.</p></blockquote><p>Though healthcare is free, <blockquote><p>North Korea's healthcare system has been in a steep decline since the 1990s due to natural disasters, economic problems, and food and energy shortages. Many hospitals and clinics in North Korea now <em>lack essential medicines and equipment, <strong>running water and electricity</strong></em>.</p></blockquote><p>The differences between the North and South Korea clearly show the difference between the Stalinist “model” and authoritarian capitalism followed by democracy / liberalization. Whereas the citizens of the North live in abject poverty and do not have enough food, those in the South enjoy the benefits of democracy and a vibrant economy. If they could, all those living in the North would jump the border over to their southern brothers and sisters, but they are not allowed by the northern repressive military apparatus. <p>It is difficult to even begin to describe North Korea without mentioning its constant provocations toward UN / South Korean personnel, its demented cult of personality, its contraband and abduction of foreigners, pervasive corruption, prostitution, slavery of its citizens in the Siberian logging industry. We will mention, however, that the North Korean soccer team was publicly humiliated for failing to get a World Cup for their fearless leader: <blockquote><p>The entire squad was forced onto a stage at the People's Palace of Culture and subjected to criticism from Pak Myong-chol, the sports minister, as 400 government officials, students and journalists watched. The players were subjected to a "grand debate" on July 2 because they failed in their "ideological struggle" to succeed in South Africa, Radio Free Asia and South Korean media reported. The team's coach, Kim Jong-hun, was reportedly forced to become a builder and has been expelled from the Workers' Party of Korea. The coach was punished for "betraying" Kim Jong-un - one of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il's sons and heir apparent. The country, in its first World Cup since 1966, lost all three group games – including a 7-0 defeat to Portugal. The broadcast of live games had been banned to avoid national embarrassment, but after the spirited 2-1 defeat to Brazil, state television made the Portugal game its first live sports broadcast ever. Following ideological criticism, the players were then allegedly forced to blame the coach for their defeats. Only two players avoided the inquisition - Japanese-born Jong Tae-se and An Yong-hak, who flew straight to Japan after the tournament. However, media in South Korea said the players got off lightly by North Korean standards. "In the past, North Korean athletes and coaches who performed badly were sent to prison camps," a South Korean intelligence source told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.</p></blockquote><h3>Current US policy</h3><p>What US is doing under Hillary Clinton seems incredibly intelligent and inspired.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOQkfjnR7SvAW1aeA_WA9CLwvCM5PL-tVDM0llE1yhDDzRHkC8HQqXuYEPpEqWTndY8VWvtpTnVUN6bjidWXBgDQJYxUaFv-pFCiTLwzQ4iRg6pyfWliTQeXzttwEOiz1UyqrT0GM-lk/s1600-h/DMZ%20Clinton%5B11%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="DMZ Clinton" border="0" alt="DMZ Clinton" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH4ID2ZGZ4CSt-ypVZc4r0dueHmt2B93LaPaWGktM5y9sqQigkSLmgAFSv09TZpMVhyEYZooiRLM90LqeAHIdfV9OVPOigv2_GMqMtJaeRRYG_QnD1GpN-XywB3oqbnURWbiZ8GFoGWsE/?imgmax=800" width="504" height="379"></a></p><p>The newly announced sanctions are meant to strike the very communist cleptocracy and its oligarchic stranglehold on that country’s resources. US is leaning hard on the regime’s collaborators and making it more difficult for them to obtain luxury items which are out of the reach of the subjugated population anyway. Furthermore, the US is showing its confidence with Hillary’s visit in the DMZ. This renders Li’l Kim’s attempt to scare everybody moot. <p>No matter how much we know about the atrocities this laughable but <em>contemporary</em> regime is committing against its population and other countries as well <em>in our own time</em>, we will still have Westerners preaching communism to the confused. They will most likely emphasize that they are “Trotskyites”. AFAIK, that means that they plan to do nothing and die with a pick axe buried in their brain – this preferred murder weapon of Stalinist regimes. <p>My hope is to see the last Stalinist regime toppled in my lifetime and the Korean people reunited in a prosperous, happy island. <p>Sources / More info: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_korea" target="_blank">wiki-nk</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axe_Murder_Incident" target="_blank">wiki-axe</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotsky" target="_blank">wiki-trotsky</a>, <a title="US schoolboy to visit North Korea" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10957066" target="_blank">bbc-boy</a>, <a href="http://tweeter.faxo.com/Justin_Bieber_My_World_Tour" target="_blank">faxo-bieber</a>, <a title="Web Prank Tries to Send Justin Bieber to North Korea" href="http://mashable.com/2010/07/06/justin-bieber-north-korea/" target="_blank">mashable-4chan-nk</a>, <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html" target="_blank">cia-wfb-nk</a>, <a title="DPRK (North Korea)" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/dprk/pool/" target="_blank">flickr-nk</a>, <a title="Official Korea website" href="http://www.korea-dpr.com/" target="_blank">korea-dpr</a>, <a href="http://www.unikorea.go.kr/eng/default.jsp?pgname=ENGhome" target="_blank">sk-ministry-uni</a>, <a title="North Korean Economy Watch" href="http://www.nkeconwatch.com/" target="_blank">nkeconwatch</a>, <a title="kim's nuclear gamble" href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/kim/" target="_blank">pbs-kims-nuclear</a>, <a href="http://www.dailynk.com/english/index.php" target="_blank">daily-nk</a>, <a title="North and South Korea: Sabre-rattled" href="http://www.economist.com/node/16646244?story_id=16646244" target="_blank">economist-sabre</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Aforeignpolicy.com+little+kim" target="_blank">gg-fp-lk</a>, <a title="New York Times: The Latest on North Korea" href="http://www.nytimes.com/info/north-korea/" target="_blank">nyt-nk</a>, <a title="Amid tensions with S. Korea, N. Korea fires artillery into the sea" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/09/AR2010080902057.html" target="_blank">wp-artillery</a>, <a title="North Korea Warns of Physical Retaliation Against South Korea Over Drills" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-07/north-korea-warns-of-physical-retaliation-against-south-korea-over-drills.html" target="_blank">bb-nk-drills</a>, <a title="South Korean fishing vessel held by North" href="http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2010/08/08/14958756.html" target="_blank">ts-vessel</a>, <a title="South Korea begins massive military drill" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10875916" target="_blank">sk-drill</a>, <a title="North Korea vows 'retaliation' over Yellow Sea drill" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10848629" target="_blank">nk-retaliation</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j1gyMv3ZqwA60L1wrZNPaQHLynqwD9HBO1D80" target="_blank">nk-dance</a>, <a title="North Korean football team shamed in six-hour public inquiry over World Cup" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/7918468/North-Korean-football-team-shamed-in-six-hour-public-inquiry-over-World-Cup.html" target="_blank">nk-soccer</a>, <a title="North Korean eyes open as Hillary Clinton passes by" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10722644" target="_blank">bbc-nk-eyes</a>, <a title="New U.S. sanctions take aim at North Korean elite" href="http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/sanctions+take+North+Korean+elite/3307583/story.html" target="_blank">np-us-sanctions</a>, <a title="Clinton announces new sanctions against North Korea" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/07/21/GA2010072102353.html" target="_blank">wp-sanctions</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub North Korea" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6A7FF500F175A528" target="_blank">yt-nk</a> </p><p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/6A7FF500F175A528&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/6A7FF500F175A528&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p><div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:d9b846be-0b5e-45ba-b56c-46940685bf64" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=dystopia" rel="tag">dystopia</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=dictator" rel="tag">dictator</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=diktator" rel="tag">diktator</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=dictatorship" rel="tag">dictatorship</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=stalinism" rel="tag">stalinism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=trotskyism" rel="tag">trotskyism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=communism" rel="tag">communism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=communist" rel="tag">communist</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=socialist" rel="tag">socialist</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=statism" rel="tag">statism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=state+sadism" rel="tag">state sadism</a></div>Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-2110677487346498652010-08-09T14:09:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.698-04:00Rabbits and Black-Footed Ferrets<span id="description">We discussed in a recent article the <a title="Yet another bunny battle" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2010/05/yet-another-bunny-battle.html" target="_blank">proposed rabbit cull at the University of Victoria</a>, BC. Recently, the provincial Supreme Court granted an injunction preventing it. In unrelated news, an insanely cute and crazy threatened species, the black-footed ferrets, show signs of having gained a foothold in a national park.</span><a name='more'></a> <p>Here’s how Canadian Press covers the news:</p> <blockquote> <p>The University says it has been served with a B.C. Supreme Court injunction preventing it from killing the bunnies. Trapping has been suspended while the university deals with the court action. A statement from the university also says it continues to work with community groups trying to find new homes for the rabbits. A spokesman for the groups says the injunction provides some breathing room, because members believe the university planned to cull the rabbits before arrangements could be made to move them. Gino Schifrin says a farm in Coombs, north of Nanaimo, has offered to take some of the bunnies and a rescue organization in Texas is prepared to take 1,000 of the critters. But he says red tape has stalled efforts to obtain the necessary permits to ship the rabbits to their new homes.</p></blockquote> <p>If a new home for the rabbits can be found, that is indeed great news. The danger here is that this will drag on forever. Which is why we are extremely happy to hear that ferrets are taking hold of a Saskatchewan National Park, again: <blockquote> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBnw8XOgA0PHOcuKG_4Q3i_pUOvVNnEKg8QFDybOfFIaaGly6ylLBRnuERx2wObQ34hAxHWeif3chzgVSXrJ_rTHbpNtTgZmPUHZaHCIB3JSLaMvB2YUddUWBZYg-lRQKq-3SSsrTuAE/s1600-h/Black-footed-ferrets%5B8%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Black-footed-ferrets" border="0" alt="Black-footed-ferrets" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgxrxR6hrBQUXQIT0w4vIc6MvGUDewuUk6c-ZThwjRIAOxPkXq-nyfNJchbP9wlz0XAKE7L3ov0H_UzTgSz-NCkPoO1hIkcglRaR-DAVwG29RBF8ezWmPKwNHE4A8MJYxphvEl4JimRM/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="215"></a>VAL MARIE, Sask. - The reintroduction of black-footed ferrets in Grasslands National Park is being called a success story after the discovery of a litter of young animals — the first wild-born in the species in Canada in over 70 years. Last October, 34 ferrets — many of them born at the Toronto Zoo — were released in the park in southwestern Saskatchewan. After a spring survey, it was found that at least 12 had survived the winter. Now, Parks Canada says, observers have spotted a litter of three kits and their mother on a black-tailed prairie dog colony. Ferrets, about the size of domestic cats, prey on prairie dogs, and use the prairie dogs' burrows for their own shelters. The discovery was filmed by a documentary crew for "Nature of Things With David Suzuki" and is to air in the coming months. "This species was on the brink of extinction and now we have caught a glimpse of a new generation of wild-born animals," said documentary director Kenton Vaughan. The black-footed ferret once occupied a huge range — from the mixed grass prairie in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta all the way to Mexico — but populations fell in the early 20th century after the arrival of European settlers. The last wild specimen in Canada was seen in 1937. Wildlife officials thought the species was extinct until a small number of animals were found in Wyoming in 1981. "The observation of wild-born ferrets is a tremendous cause for celebration and a significant benchmark in the reintroduction effort of this species," said federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice.</p></blockquote> <p>I’ll keep my fingers crossed for these guys.. <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Smithsonian's National Zoo @ Flickr CC NC ND" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalzoo/4856840453" target="_blank">flickr</a>, <a title="Once feared extinct, black-footed ferrets breed in Sask. national park" href="http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/greenpage/environment/once-feared-extinct-black-footed-ferrets-breed-in-sask-national-park-100271459.html" target="_blank">wfp-bff</a>, <a title="Fur flies as B.C. university's opponents block bunny cull" href="http://www.vancouversun.com/life/flies+university+opponents+block+bunny+cull/3359259/story.html" target="_blank">vs-fur-flies</a>, <a title="Court injunction halts UVic rabbit cull" href="http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100803/bc_rabbit_cull_halted_100803/20100803?hub=BritishColumbiaHome" target="_blank">ctv-uvic</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub Black-footed ferret (z)" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4E72280B42B1470E" target="_blank">yt-bff</a> </p> <p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/4E72280B42B1470E&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/4E72280B42B1470E&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p> <p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:6d53b659-bf6a-4679-bdb2-c38be4cf5ac6" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=animals" rel="tag">animals</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=animal+welfare" rel="tag">animal welfare</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=peta" rel="tag">peta</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=pita" rel="tag">pita</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=cull" rel="tag">cull</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=pest" rel="tag">pest</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=control" rel="tag">control</a></div></p> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-33194162453788891902010-08-04T20:40:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.716-04:00Harper’s billion dollar G8 G20 fiasco<span id="description">Though we have lived through it, we have not covered the events surrounding the G8 / G20 meeting. Well, better later than never..</span><a name='more'></a> <p>Personally, I did not attend the meetings of protest, as I could not see a reason to protest. It was unclear to me what had happened by the next day, but I wish I had attended the post-factum anti-police-state rally.</p> <p>In short, it had come to this:</p> <p><a title="Obama's agenda got burned, too. (the tyee)" href="http://thetyee.cachefly.net/Opinion/2010/06/28/g20-summit.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="TO police car burning" border="0" alt="TO police car burning" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWdJPKL4l92k5detjKp6h8EYAJve_0I7GRVz_Zq1hbSAev0WpEkU9LjRMCf-leuu4buvncz4se0ltg_3AUY2GyenMc1-UsGkUr66Hl7r9VtxeykLJHZzosGv543fJOFQ6DfW0-H3Iia0/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="193"></a></p> <p>Here’s how Steve Paikin, one of this province’s best journalists described the events by <a title="Zamolxis / Indelible Bonobo on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/inbonobo" target="_blank">twitter</a> on that faithful June 26, 2010:</p> <div style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; width: 500px; height: 300px; overflow: auto; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid"> <p>"i saw police brutality tonight. it was unnecessary. they asked me to leave the site or they would arrest me. i told them i was dong [sic] my job." <p>"they repeated they would arrest me if i didn't leave. as i was escorted away from the demonstration, i saw two officers hold a journalist." <p>"the journalist identified himself as working for 'the guardian.' he talked too much and pissed the police off. two officers held him...." <p>"a third punched him in the stomach. totally unnecessary. the man collapsed. then the third officer drove his elbow into the man's back." <p>"no cameras recorded the assault. and it was an assault." <p>"the officer who escorted me away from the demo said, 'yeah, that shouldn't have happened.' he is correct. there was no cause for it." <p>"i can appreciate that the police were on edge today, after seeing four or five of their cruisers burned. but why such overreaction tonight?" <p>"the demonstration on the esplanade was peaceful. it was like an old sit in. no one was aggressive. and yet riot squad officers moved in." <p>"police on one side screamed at the crowd to leave one way. then police on the other side said leave the other way. there was no way out." <p>"so the police just started arresting people. i stress, this was a peaceful, middle class, diverse crowd. no anarchists" <p>"literally more than 100 officers with guns pointing at the crowd. rubber bullets and smoke bombs ready to be fired. rubber bullets fired" <p>"i was 'escorted' away by police so couldn't see how many arrested, but it must have been dozens." <p>"we must make a distinction between the 'thugs' who broke store windows and torched cop cars and the very reasonable citizens who..." <p>"...just wanted to remind the authorities that the freedom to speak and assemble shouldn't disappear because world leaders come to town." <p>"i have lived in toronto for 32 years. have never seen a day like this. shame on the vandals." <p>"and shame on those that ordered peaceful protesters attacked and arrested. that is not consistent with democracy in toronto, G20 or no G20" <p>"2. Who specifically gave the order to clear the street? was that decision made on site or by a higher authority?" <p>"Does the tor police svc have any evidence of dangerous acts from those demonstrators that forced them to act that way, at that time?" <p>"if any journos are talking to the police chief on sunday, those would be questions i'd like answered. ok, that's it. signing off tonight."</p></div> <p>It turned out that the cost associated with hosting the event was well over 1 billion dollars (far more than for any other similar event). Twenty thousand police officers from across the country were brought to Toronto – again, many times more than at any other such event. Here’s globalresearch’s account:</p> <div style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; width: 500px; height: 300px; overflow: auto; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid"> <p>In the weeks leading up to the summit, the media was full of fearmongering. A Toronto Star “Survival Guide” advised staying calm around the police, and explaining to them whatever they wanted. A police official went a step further, in an unusual usurpation of authority by police to tell citizens what to do and where to go: “don't come.” Security for such summits had in the past, at the highest level in Pittsburgh, run as high as $100-million. What was the $1-billion paying for? Some of it went to new, and lasting, police infrastructure: new water cannons, new sound weapons, new surveillance cameras, an array of nonlethal weapons intended to disrupt protests. The training, communications, and command systems would cost more. The overtime pay for the thousands of out-of-town police would cost still more. But $1-billion? No one believed there was any credible threat to the safety of the G20 officials. At worst, protesters might have smashed some windows, as they had in some previous global summits like the WTO protest in Montreal in 2005. Could smashed windows, or any conspiracy to smash windows, justify $1-billion in security expenditure? Could it justify the various changes to the law and emergency police powers that were put in place? The open question represented a political risk for Harper: if the protesters succeeded in capturing the agenda or disrupting the summit, Harper could lose some of his law-and-order reputation. If Harper's police went too far, they might risk a backlash from the public, who have so far been very forgiving of Harper. <p>In the event, the police forces took no chances, and quite probably took matters into their own hands. When the big march (well over 10,000 by my count, 25,000 by some counts) failed to pass police lines (given that about an equal number of police, 19,000 or 20,000, were deployed), and continued, a group of protesters doubled back before turning south toward the fence. Some of these covered their faces and, after they'd left the big march, smashed windows and police cars. While deep police lines backed by horses had prevented the big march from heading south to the fence, a gap appeared and a group of protesters was somehow allowed to head several blocks south before being stopped. At the southernmost location, Bay and King, a police car was somehow set on fire, although some eyewitnesses say there were almost no protesters around and also, mysteriously, no uniformed police. The role of police provocateurs in these events might eventually come out in court, to which I will return. <p>The point here is that at least through a passive decision, and more likely through active provocation, the police helped see to it that windows and police cars were destroyed. Journalist Joe Wenkoff followed the Black Bloc for 27 blocks without any police presence. A police source told Toronto Sun reporter Joe Warmington that the police had orders to let it happen: “there were guys with equipment to do the job, all standing around looking at each other in disbelief.” <p>Almost no one was arrested during the smashing. Before the demonstration took place, police seized activists and organizers in raids – some of whom are still being held at detention centres. The (Saturday, June 26) night after the afternoon demonstration and the day after (Sunday, June 27), however, police rounded up hundreds of people – some 1,000 in total (which means $1-million security expenditure per arrested protester). Curiously, police had announced prior to the summit that they expected to arrest 1,000. Did they simply keep arresting until they met their numbers? Given the “catch and release” policy they followed (100 of the 1000 are still in detention, and many of those released have given shocking testimonies of abuse by police, outdoor cages, open toilets, denial of feminine products to prisoners) it seems likely. <p>People on Toronto streets reported seeing police operations that had no relationship to any protest or anything going on: riot police shuffling about, horse charges, rapid deployment from one part of the city to another, temporary closures of areas and sweeping up of random people into mass arrests. It looked to me like Harper's people were flexing their muscles, testing the public stomach, seeing how far they could ride over people's rights and liberties. Accompanying the show of muscle was a public relations effort – placing the burden of justifying the $1-billion security expenditure on some smashed windows and police cars (with damages probably in the tens of thousands). <p>Something of a public backlash did emerge. On Monday afternoon, 2600 people (by my count) protested the police response outside headquarters. Among the slogans: “No more cops on overtime, protesting is not a crime.” The same police who had been so abusive the day before were relatively quiet. Protesters didn't see any riot gear, the bike police didn't push people with their bikes as they often do at protests, and the horses stayed largely out of sight a block away.</p></div> <p> <p>You might think that, as in any civilized, law-abiding country, an investigation will take place and those responsible for the “overreaction” will be disciplined. Instead, the Toronto City Council voted unanimously to commend the Police for their “outstanding work”. For a more incendiary coverage than this, try the wsws link below who will lead you to a socialist website (I’m not willing to go that far <img alt="Raised Eyebrow" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/23.gif">).</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Steve Paikin's tweets offer eyewitness account of Toronto police brutality at G20 summit" href="http://www.straight.com/article-331223/vancouver/steve-paikins-tweets-offer-eyewitness-account-toronto-police-brutality-g20-summit" target="_blank">straight-paikin</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/spaikin" target="_blank">@spaikin</a>, <a title="G20 Live: Monday, June 28" href="http://thestar.blogs.com/g20/" target="_blank">torstar-g20</a>, <a title="Toronto Star Survival Guide" href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/825713" target="_blank">torstar-g20-survival</a>, <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/06/30/14564416.html" target="_blank">torsun-warmington</a>, <a title="The G20 Debacle: The largest Police Mobilization in Canada's History by Justin Podur" href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20000" target="_blank">gr-g20</a>, <a title="G20 Protests: Is this What Harper Wanted?" href="http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/06/28/G20Protests/" target="_blank">tyee-g20</a>, <a title="Harper's aggressive plans: Canada at G8 and G20 summits" href="http://rabble.ca/news/2010/06/harpers-aggressive-plans-canada-g8-and-g20-summits" target="_blank">rabble-g20</a>, <a title="G20 Review Boards set to whitewash Toronto police-state tactics" href="http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/toro-a03.shtml" target="_blank">wsws-g20</a>, <a title="Harper defends G8 as summit wraps up" href="http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100626/g8-g20-summits-100626/" target="_blank">ctv-defends</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub toronto g20 protests (zamo)" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9C38892C760F79EF" target="_blank">ytz-to-g20</a> </p> <p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/9C38892C760F79EF&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/9C38892C760F79EF&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p> <p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:d11ab28f-3207-419d-9278-5a28f6c30537" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=security" rel="tag">security</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=police+state" rel="tag">police state</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=police" rel="tag">police</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=confrontation" rel="tag">confrontation</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=violence" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=black+bloc" rel="tag">black bloc</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=block" rel="tag">block</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=anarchy" rel="tag">anarchy</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=anarchists" rel="tag">anarchists</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=arrests" rel="tag">arrests</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=prison" rel="tag">prison</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=kettle" rel="tag">kettle</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=kettling" rel="tag">kettling</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=kennel" rel="tag">kennel</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=fence" rel="tag">fence</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-24828843015002721012010-08-04T11:43:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.700-04:00Stockwell Day redefines reality<span id="description">In our first ever roundup of Canadian political news, aptly titled "free lunch coffee", we're looking at the news du jour. We don't like what we find, but maybe you will.</span><a name='more'></a> <p><a title="Canada needs to spend more money building prisons because of violent criminals and a rise in unreported crimes, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day said Tuesday. (Reuters)" href="http://www.vancouversun.com/business/2578083.bin?size=620x400" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Stockwell Day prison" border="0" alt="Stockwell Day prison" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwkLa0S-aNhas_NssSm5fIYLktfldEDrbxxjXOKx9yxrWjgSsgKWbIAhFxcZtDiOJhq_lV1MGKx8ytNsxHAYIfXV2BdxaYxQ0lX2uQugV2gvHC9JXmzcyaADaqzil1nFKk4h_N4P5tWU/?imgmax=800" width="154" height="154"></a></p> <p>This worrying, inexorable march toward a Police State based on <abbr style="border-bottom: navy 1px dotted" title="cf Colbert, truth that cannot be held back by facts">truthiness</abbr> rages on. It seems as if <a title="Harper’s billion dollar G8 G20 fiasco" href="http://alit.zamo.ca/2010/08/harpers-billion-dollar-g8-g20-fiasco.html">the Gxx show of force</a> was only a rehearsal (or a planned milestone).</p> <p>First, it was the fracas with Stats Can. As it has been widely covered in the media, the Harper government through Industry Minister Tony Clement has decided to shorten the census form. When they claimed that Statistics Canada recommended this, its director Munir Sheikh quit, unable to live in Harper Wonderland. The changes in government bureaucracy seem to resemble more and more those performed under Bush, when only “loyal bushies” were allowed to work for the government, everybody else being fired or severely censored. It’s almost as if reality and facts are something to abhor. The scene in the legislature when the Industry Minister is asked how many citizens were ever jailed or penalized for not responding to the long census (none is the correct answer) with the Minister dodging the question is EPIC.</p> <p>Some commentators felt that the government wanted to do away with figures relating to poverty. But the plan came to light a couple of weeks later. Don’t forget, Stats Can had just released its report on July 20, showing that the crime rate had decreased again last year (cbc-crime).</p> <table class="full"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3"><strong>Total Crime Severity Index of selected Canadian cities</strong> </td></tr> <tr> <td><strong>City</strong></td> <td><strong>2009 </strong></td> <td><strong>% change from 2008</strong> </td></tr> <tr> <td>Regina</td> <td>143.7</td> <td>-12</td></tr> <tr> <td>Saskatoon</td> <td>132.1</td> <td>-5</td></tr> <tr> <td>Winnipeg</td> <td>127.2</td> <td>+2 </td></tr> <tr> <td>Edmonton</td> <td>115.1</td> <td>-7</td></tr> <tr> <td>Vancouver</td> <td>109.6</td> <td>-8</td></tr> <tr> <td>Halifax</td> <td>97.2</td> <td>+1</td></tr> <tr> <td>Saint John</td> <td>96.4</td> <td>-6</td></tr> <tr> <td>Victoria</td> <td>92.2</td> <td>-10</td></tr> <tr> <td>St. John's</td> <td>90.6</td> <td>+4</td></tr> <tr> <td>Montreal</td> <td>89.6</td> <td>-2</td></tr> <tr> <td>Calgary</td> <td>78.4</td> <td>-7 </td></tr> <tr> <td>Windsor</td> <td>71.1</td> <td>-5</td></tr> <tr> <td>Ottawa</td> <td>67.0</td> <td>-2</td></tr> <tr> <td>Toronto</td> <td>61.9</td> <td>-4 </td></tr> <tr> <td>Quebec City</td> <td>61.0</td> <td>-4</td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3"><em>(Source: Statistics Canada, Police-reported crime statistics</em> <em>)</em> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The Stats Can report quoted by CBC states:</p> <blockquote> <p>Nearly 2.2 million crimes were reported to police in 2009, about 43,000 fewer than in 2008, according to a report released Tuesday. Car thefts, break-ins and mischief cases accounted for most of the decline. The crime rate, which is a measure of the volume of crime reported to police, fell three per cent last year and was 17 per cent lower than a decade ago. The crime severity index (CSI), which measures the seriousness of incidents reported, declined four per cent last year and was down 22 per cent from 1999. Violent crimes, from harassing phone calls to homicide, accounted for about one in five crimes in 2009. The report said violent crime is declining but to a lesser extent than overall crime. <p>There were about 165,000 youth age 12 to 17 accused of a criminal offence in 2009, a slight drop from 2008. Both the numbers and the seriousness of youth crimes have generally been declining since 2001.</p></blockquote> <p>It is well known that <strong>as people get older, they feel less safe and secure and start to believe that the crime rate is increasing, even though it is not</strong>. As such, it is quite obvious that a conservative, “tough on crime”, “family values”, “strong army” government will be very much inclined to pander to this constituency. James Travers explained it best in his Star column:</p> <blockquote> <p>Liberals and Tories freely spent taxpayer dollars finding political advantage in opinion polls that sometimes seeped into the public domain. Conservatives mostly pay their own research bills, a twist that both cuts communal costs and allows the party to keep private what it learns. <p>Useful now, that information becomes politically priceless after the census is gutted. When no one else knows anything, reality becomes putty in the hands of those who know something. <p>As a political dynamic, that has particular Conservative appeal. It opens the unopposed way to shaping into policy the core beliefs smuggled from the Reform movement’s raw beginnings into national office. As an added bonus, it presents the Prime Minister as a libertarian defender of personal privacy even as he strips the information necessary for voters to assess the wisdom of his ways. <p>It’s been said, perhaps by Yasser Arafat, that fighting a war over religion is like arguing about who has the best invisible friend. Still, as so many kids know, having a special pal no one else can see is always comforting and often useful.</p></blockquote> <p>Still, I could not believe my ears when I heard Stockwell Day’s “unreported crimes” bomb, especially following the Stats Can scandal, when they were supposed to – I thought – tread lightly. Here’s how National Post (a conservative national news outlet) reports through John Ivison:</p> <blockquote> <p>It had all the hallmarks of a classic Stockwell Day gaffe, a highlight reel moment comparable to his comment during the 2000 election that Canadian jobs were flowing south "just like the Niagara River," which actually flows north. <p>The Treasury Board Secretary held a news conference in Ottawa to talk about the economy but reporters were more interested in why the government is intent on spending $9-billion on prisons at a time of declining crime rates and fiscal restraint. <p>"We're very concerned about the increase in the amount of unreported crimes that surveys clearly show are happening," Mr. Day replied. <p>Like sharks sniffing blood, reporters circled, claiming to be "baffled." "There's a statistic about unreported crimes? I mean, if they're not reported, by definition we have no idea about these crimes," said David Akin of Sun Media. <p>Mr. Day babbled nonsense like a man with a concussion, leaving the distinct impression that Liberal critic Mark Holland was correct when he said later that the minister was making it up as he went along. <p>(..) statistics that show most categories of crime (including violent crime) have been falling since 1991. <p>Even though it is clear the crime rate started falling long before his government came to power, Mr. Day was quick to claim some credit for the falling numbers. "I think some of that is because of the large amount of resources we've put into some areas of preventative criminal justice issues," he said.</p></blockquote> <p>Then Mr Ivison joins Stockwell Day in his flight over the cuckoo’s nest:</p> <blockquote> <p>(..) every five years Statistics Canada asks Canadians about their experience of crime. </p> <p>The Crime Victimization study, part of the broader General Social Survey, found that in 2004 only about 34% of criminal incidents came to the attention of the police, down from 37%in 1999 and 42% in 1993.</p></blockquote> <p>The Opposition was fuming and foaming, but will the public reason with them, or choose the “seductive” (though idiosyncratic) “arguments” of Mr Day? <blockquote> <p>Liberal MP Mark Holland, his party’s public safety critic, called Day’s remarks ridiculous. <p>“I think they (Conservatives) are so desperate to turn the channel with crime issues that they are willing to just make up facts and hope that people believe that in fact there is some basis in reality for this fantasy that they are writing,” Holland told reporters. <p>“Clearly this is a government that doesn’t have any respect for facts, let alone for Statistics Canada,” he added, “and I think they’ve shown it in how they are addressing crime.” <p>New Democrat MP Don Davies added that crime rates have been dropping steadily and consistently across categories for decades. “So faced with those statistics, (the Conservatives) turn to unreported crimes. Why in 2010 would you be less likely to report a crime than in 1980 or 1990?”</p></blockquote> <p>The Tories have also introduced legislation that expands the definition of “serious crimes”, giving police more tools to fight it. The Opposition lamented bypassing parliamentary debate:</p> <blockquote> <p>But he denounced the Conservatives for moving on measures without subjecting them to proper parliamentary study. <p>“This is about changing the channel. This is about raw politics,” said Holland. <p>“What I detest and what I think Canadians see through is when you have a government that just whips up policy in the middle of the night and throws it out as a diversion to their other political problems.” <p>Holland slammed the Conservatives for shifting about $5 billion to $8 billion of prison construction costs onto the provinces, slashing support to crime prevention programs to $19.3 million in 2008 from $57 million in 2005 and for cutting funding for victims of crime services. <p>Holland also derided Treasury Board president Stockwell day for relying on so-called “unreported crime” statistics to justify an overall $10 billion to $13 billion in new prison spending. <p>“Do they propose to lock up people who haven’t been criminally charged?” he said. <p>“The Conservatives prefer wild, out-of-control spending to fund their ideological pursuits even when taxpayers are forced to finance the largest deficits in Canadian history,” Holland said.</p></blockquote> <p>The obvious question remaining unasked is why would we give greater weight to the purported increase in “unreported crime” (though this is most likely hogwash) when <strong>it is way below the 17% <em>real decrease</em> in actual, reported crimes</strong> over the past decade? Why claim you are keeping costs under control, but <strong>the new census form will end up costing $8 million more</strong>?!? <p>Still, the government appears to show the same determination and focus that the Bush gov has showing in pursuing their single-minded / single-neuron agenda. He will spend $9 billion on new prisons even though we don’t need it, another $9 billion for F-35 fighter jets even though we’re “peacekeepers”: <blockquote> <p>Ottawa: Canada on Friday unveiled its most expensive military purchase ever -- a multi-billion dollar deal to buy 65 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets to replace its aging squadron. <p>The Joint Strike Fighter jets, developed by Lockheed Martin in a multinational effort that included Canada, the United States and Britain, will cost nine billion Canadian dollars (8.5 billion US), Defense Minister Peter MacKay said. <p>The purchase will reportedly occur in tandem with plans by the US government to buy 2,443 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II jets.</p></blockquote> <p>Despite his aura of austerity, Harpers’s track record reads, according to p2l: <ul> <li>2 million for <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/23/g20-fake-lake.html" target="_blank">a "fake lake"</a> <li>1.3 billion for security at the G-20 to target the media and advocacy groups, while telling the police to <a href="http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2010/06/police-now-admit-that-they-were-told.html" target="_blank">leave vandals alone</a> to do their job <li><a href="http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-are-defense-department-computers.html" target="_blank">16 billion for new jets</a>. <li><a href="http://rabble.ca/columnists/2010/06/canadian-banks-even-americans-are-agog-our-fiscal-virtue" target="_blank">125 billion bank bailout</a> so they can give their execs 8 billion in bonuses. <li><a href="http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/reformers-to-spend-25-million-of-our.html" target="_blank">25 billion ad blitz</a> to sell us on their new census decision <li>Massive increase <a href="http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/harper-preaches-austerity-while.html" target="_blank">in Harper's communication budget</a>, which is rich because he doesn't communicate. <li>45 million <a href="http://omaralghabra.ca/municipalities-forced-to-pay-for-partisan-conservative-signage-documents-reveal" target="_blank">for signs</a><br>5 million for self-promotion <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/tory-aide-tried-to-suppress-5-million-olympic-ad-bill/article1515213/" target="_blank">TV ads during the Olympics</a> <li><a href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091008/govt_advertising_091008/20091008?hub=TopStoriesV2" target="_blank">Millions to sell bogus Canada Action Plan</a> where <a href="http://www.canada.com/news/Feds+spent+promoting+stimulus+spending+documents+show/2958107/story.html" target="_blank">stimulus</a> went to ridiculous projects including the opening of a <a href="http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2010/07/harpers-next-big-career-move-hes-going.html" target="_blank">circus school</a> (Harper's fall back career) <li>And yet they are carrying through with a 6 billion dollar tax cut to the wealthy, while telling our <a href="http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/why-is-stephen-harper-abandoning-our.html" target="_blank">veterans to take a hike</a>.</li></ul> <p>P2L has seemingly missed the $5 billion for CCV (Army) and the $4.3 billion for new (but unnecessary, really) Arctic ships.</p> <p>This government’s priorities are clear: though I agree with killing the money-sucking gun registry, I did not agree with killing the national daycare program. The Liberals (left) wasted money on demented gun control, the Tories (right) waste money on more guns that we don’t need. I remember the bumper sticker that used to be displayed in <em>Juice for Life</em>, one of my favorite restaurants: <em>I cherish the day when the local school will have all the money it needs and the military will have to hold a bake sale for a new bomber</em>.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="StatsCan's reputation damaged, former boss testifies" href="http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100727/clement-census-industry-100727/20100727/?hub=OttawaHome" target="_blank">ctv-stats-can-fracas</a>, <a title="Day's defence on crime holds up" href="http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/defence+crime+holds/3356179/story.html" target="_blank">np-day</a>, <a title="Stockwell Day says unreported crimes are rising" href="http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Stockwell+says+unreported+crimes+rising/3353984/story.html" target="_blank">vancsun-day</a>, <a title="Crime statistics not accurate, Day suggests" href="http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/08/03/canada-economy-stockwell-day.html" target="_blank">cbc-day-accurate</a>, <a title="Crime decreased again last year" href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/07/20/crime-statistics020.html" target="_blank">cbc-crime</a>, <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100720/dq100720a-eng.htm" target="_blank">stats-can-crime</a>, <a title="Stockwell Day questions lower crime rates" href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/census/article/843306--stockwell-day-questions-lower-crime-rates" target="_blank">ts-day-q</a>, <a title="Canada to buy 65 Lockheed Martin fighter jets" href="http://www.defencetalk.com/canada-to-buy-65-lockheed-martin-fighter-jets-27569/" target="_blank">dt-f35</a>, <a title="Canada to buy 65 Lockheed Martin Jets" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jkHYYq3Bp6NFLAbvfjp9tQuacnFw" target="_blank">afp-f35</a>, <a title="Stockwell Day Says Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah ..." href="http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/stockwell-day-says-blah-blah-blah-blah.html" target="_blank">pushed2l</a>, <a title="Canadian Army Missions Win Priority for Vehicle Programs" href="http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4588227" target="_blank">dn-ccv-5bil</a>, <a title="Arctic sovereignty slogan masks win for military lobby: New ships won't meet civil needs in North, earmarked for military operations elsewhere?" href="http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=0066" target="_blank">arctic-ships</a>, <a title="Day’s fantasy world" href="http://www.thestar.com/article/844005--day-s-fantasy-world" target="_blank">ts-fantasy</a>, <a title="PM’s actions, words at odds" href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/842900--pm-s-actions-words-at-odds" target="_blank">ts-at-odds</a>, <a title="Crime is down? That's a damned lie" href="http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Crime+down+That+damned/3357507/story.html" target="_blank">vs-lie</a>, <a title="Bad policy, brilliant politics" href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/844047--bad-policy-brilliant-politics" target="_blank">ts-politics-policy</a>, <a title="Travers: Tories enlist imaginary enemies" href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/843930--travers-tories-enlist-imaginary-enemies" target="_blank">ts-imaginary</a>, <a title="Ottawa steps up fight against organized crime" href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/843768--ottawa-steps-up-fight-against-organized-crime?bn=1" target="_blank">ts-organized</a>, <a title="Organized crime law changes unveiled" href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/08/04/tories-organized-crime-nicholson.html" target="_blank">cbc-organized</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub stockwell day prisons (vv)" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=0725B486C59A65FB" target="_blank">yt-stockwell</a> </p> <p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/0725B486C59A65FB&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/0725B486C59A65FB&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p> <p></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:c4128311-54d4-4ab0-a631-72c982e25d6e" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=big+brother" rel="tag">big brother</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=government" rel="tag">government</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=prison" rel="tag">prison</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=prisons" rel="tag">prisons</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=imprisonment" rel="tag">imprisonment</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=conservative" rel="tag">conservative</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=conservatism" rel="tag">conservatism</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=reactionary" rel="tag">reactionary</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=police+state" rel="tag">police state</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-51217259602788487122010-05-28T13:39:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.749-04:00I once was a “Savage Man God” I<span id="description">I was recently contacted by a former housemate who will be in Toronto temporarily. We were housemates in the Lowther co-op housing division, in Toronto downtown, somewhere close to Bloor, between Spadina and Bay St.</span><a name='more'></a> <h3>humble beginnings</h3> <p>University life is meant to be enjoyed on campus and this was the reason (among others) I chose to pay “rent” and live downtown, even though I had “free housing” uptown, with my parents. Looking for a place to live takes a long time, and by the time I was about to give up, the semester had already started. I finally learned about co-op – this wonderful place where you didn’t have to pay that much but were expected to clean after yourself, cook and wash dishes. <em>Whoa,</em> I thought,<em> isn’t that something you have to do <u>anyway</u></em>?</p> <p>I was first placed on a waiting list when I called them. Then I came in person, calmly explained that I could no longer wait and next day somebody called me to tell me that she will be showing me the <em>vacancies</em>.</p> <p><em>There’s more than one?</em> I inquired, incredulous. “Sure”, the blonde girl with a discrete, story-telling perfume answered. “We like to keep our options open, as most houses want foreign students at this time of the year”. I ended up getting a room on the first floor of an old Victorian house, with very large windows that were incredibly drafty and a house “leader” whose father was an editor of the New York Times. I loved the light, I didn’t like the constant sounds of shagging, which became evident every time I myself wasn’t overusing my small bed.</p> <p><a title="Savage House - extra large :)" href="http://www.campus.coop/images/houses/165_lowther-lg.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Lowther Savage House" border="0" alt="Lowther Savage House" align="left" src="http://www.campus.coop/images/houses/165_lowther-sm.jpg"></a>The <strong>Savage House</strong> (165 Lowther) is tersely described as: <br>Houses 11 members with 2 washrooms and 1 kitchen. Savage House was originally an all-male house that called its residents the "Savage Man Gods". Savage House was purchased in 1965. This house is a non-smoking house.</p> <p>This description hardly tells the whole story. The <em>Savage Man Gods</em> had died, replaced with a co-ed situation, far closer to my particular swinging style.</p> <h3>what exactly is co-op housing?</h3> <p>The co-op concept was born and took hold in the ashes of the Great Depression, when (some) people realized that only by helping, trusting and relying on each other would they be able to exit the doldrums. Those who happened to own some property decided to pool it together and form a legal, non-profit entity, tasked with sharing the ownership in a democratic way. Whomever would be living on that property became part owner, would participate in decision making and share in the responsibilities and the work necessary to sustain and develop it. Here’s some “facts”:</p> <p>Campus Co-Operative is a non-profit, student led housing co-op located in the U of T area. As a student-led organization, we consider it our mandate to provide our members with more than just affordable housing, we want to provide our members with the experience of living and working in a co-operative community.</p> <p>Campus Co-Op is not like your average student residence. By moving into one of our houses, you are not simply a tenant, but a member of our community. Our members work together to govern the co-op, administer our meal plans, maintain a fun and social environment and keep our houses beautiful. It takes a special type of person to flourish in our environment, one who is hard-working and interested in bettering their community.</p> <ul> <li><b>Location, Location, Location:</b> Our houses are located near the University of Toronto, in the Annex neighbourhood. The Annex is a fantastic place to live, with concerts, theatre, bars and a thriving nightlife. We are also located at the intersection of two major subway lines, so you can get anywhere you want in Toronto in a matter of minutes. <li><b>Great Rates:</b> our rates are much less than other forms of accommodation - starting around $450. Inquire about sharing a room with a friend, and save even more. <li><b>Good Environment:</b> Our houses are fun and social environments, and most of our tenants are university and college students. <li><b>Great Amenities:</b> We are close to the TTC, the University of Toronto and downtown Toronto. </li></ul> <p>Wikipedia states:</p> <div style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; width: 500px; height: 200px; overflow: auto; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid"> <p>As a legal entity, a co-op can contract with other companies or hire individuals to provide it with services, such as a maintenance contractor or a building manager. It can also hire employees, such as a manager or a caretaker, to deal with specific things that volunteers may prefer not to do or may not be good at doing, such as electrical maintenance. However, as many housing cooperatives strive to run self-sufficiently, as much work as possible is completed by its members. A shareholder in a co-op does not own real estate, but a share of the legal entity that does own real estate. Co-operative ownership is quite distinct from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condominium" target="_blank">condominiums</a> where people "own" individual units and have little say in who moves into the other units. </p> <h4>Canada</h4> <p>The federal government tied its loan assistance to requirements that these housing co-ops provide a percentage of their units, usually at least 15 to 20 per cent, for what are termed income-tested residents. These people voluntarily provide information to the co-op on a confidential basis about their gross income, and their rent is calculated according to a formula. If the calculated rent is less than the market rent of the units, then the federal government, through another formula, would provide funding to those units to bring their unit revenue up to the market rate. This produced mixed-income co-op housing, in which relatively well-off people lived side-by-side with relatively low-income people and worked with them on committees. This often had the ripple effect of improving the financial health of those less well-off. (It's interesting to note that, depending on your political point of view, such government payments for offsetting the rent could be considered subsidy of the low-income people, or a contractual business arrangement between the government and the co-op which helps to stabilize revenue to the co-op in exchange for accomplishing a social goal for the government for a specific period. This dichotomy is typical of the fact that a housing co-op is somewhere between a corporation and a social agency, and where one places it depends on one's viewpoint—and the collective viewpoint of each housing co-op.) </p> <p>Political will dissipated in Canada in the 1990s, however, as other issues occupied politicians and financial belt-tightening by the governments reduced the funds available for the mortgages. In 2004 and 2005, however, the political winds shifted back towards the idea of developing more low-income housing. However, not-for-profit housing co-operatives are committed to the mixed-income concept and have not been able to make much use of the few opportunities that have come available in recent years.Also, the term of many of the government agreements concerning funding for housing subsidies are coming to an end, provoking a debate in individual co-ops and the co-op movement on the extent to which co-ops should continue to be mixed-income forms of housing. </p> <h4>Germany</h4> <p>In the Industrialisation in the 19th century there were many housing cooperatives founded in Germany. Presently, there are over 2.000 housing cooperatives with over two million apartments and over three million members in Germany. The public housing cooperatives are organised in the GdW Bundesverband deutscher Wohnungs- und Immobilienunternehmen(The Federal association of German housing and real estate enterprise registered associations).</p></div> <p>The people I met and the deeds I’d done are a long story, to be told with <a title="Ze Fritz. Koming zuruck." href="http://asa.zamo.ca/2010/05/ze-fritz-koming-zuruck.html" target="_blank">another occasion</a>…</p> <h3>other co-ops</h3> <p>The idea of co-operatives is even older than communism and unfortunately, just as discredited, usually for the same reasons. For one thing, just like communism, co-ops seldom work as envisioned. There is a high rate of cheating among members, whether by not fullfilling their duties, or, in case of retail co-ops, by stealing merchandise.</p> <p>In a recent article, the Telegraph describes a starting co-op thus:</p> <div style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; width: 500px; height: 200px; overflow: auto; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid"> <p>Nevertheless, he's bang on the money politically, what with a push for volunteering from across the parties, and the Prime Minister's call for the "active participation" of the British people to "mend our broken society". <p>Once you pay your membership fee (£25) and sign up for a four-hour shift, you will be part-owner of TPS. You will be able to vote on what foods are stocked, and help make decisions on how it's run. You might also find yourself on TV, thanks to a Channel 4 documentary series that (of course) is following the birth of the store. <p>But running a supermarket with volunteers, however keen, is just not the same as having an army of paid workers, and Potts Dawson, who has opened two London restaurants, knows it. "Hmm," he says, as I rather ineffectually start to clean a window. "I always say that a volunteer takes about three times as long as a professional will to manage a job." I stand back from the window and survey a large area of smears. "I've just cleaned that," hisses Nuala in my ear. (..) <p>The idea springs from an existing co-operative model in America. Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York, is a co-operative around 25 years old, whose 6,000 members all put in two and three quarter hours a month in order to shop there. Web designer Cathy Clarke has been washing floors and putting out the rubbish at Park Slope for the last seven years. <p>"I love it," she says. "But then I am like a weird person, I like to clean." And in recession-hit America, the price difference makes a huge difference. "Most stores in the States have 100 per cent markup," she says. "Park Slope marks up by around 20 per cent. In a health food store, a loaf of bread which would costs $3, costs $1.50. An avocado which could be $3 would be $1." <p>However, as Clarke explains, even though volunteering brings its own feel-good glow, you can't assume everyone in there is a Good Samaritan. "There is a lot of theft at Park Slope," she says. "It's pretty depressing. Cashiers have stolen significant amounts, and have been arrested. People steal food. People sign in, and then don't do their shift." What happens to them? "They eventually get caught and are brought in front of the Disciplinary Committee. They are usually expelled. It sounds harsh, but we are only talking about working for two hours 45 minutes a month." <p>Even taking holidays is frowned upon, although this is probably no big deal for hard-working New Yorkers, long used to only two weeks of paid holiday every year. <p>"I wish London good luck with its experiment," says Kristin Miller, 52, who cuts cheese on the deli counter, "but given your British tradition of holidays I think you might have to institute vacations." Judging from how Miller sees it, volunteering to work in a supermarket is not a fun thing, like a sponsored bounce. It's tough. "Over the 20 years I have been there I have occasionally left, because working there has been harder than I could bear," she says. <p>What happens if you skip your shift? Bad news. "For every shift you miss, you have to do two to make up. The policy is that scheduled time is worth twice as much as unscheduled time," explains Miller. (..) <p>Adam York, who runs the Unicorn Grocery in Manchester, a 40-member strong co-operative, is somewhat more realistic than Potts Dawson about the likelihood of people wanting to sweep the floors, or stack Baked Beans, of a night. "It is not easy to recruit motivated people," he says. "Culturally, working in the food industry is not popular. We want people who are interested in the rights and responsibilities of owning a business. And the aspirations of the co-operative movement doesn't necessarily meet modern cultural aspirations." <p>Rubbish, says Potts Dawson. It perfectly meeets them. This supermarket will be communal, it will be friendly, local, cheap and democratic. Rather like a 1950s Tesco, in fact. Does he think it really can take on the modern day giants? Why not, he says. In the meantime, if you want to cut those food bills, and are relaxed about stacking pots of Danone in a chiller cabinet for four hours every month, your time has come. </p></div> <p> <p>As for the Mountain Co-op, the famous Canadian BC success story, I have shopped there and even voted in their elections. I can vouch for the excellence of their customer service, their large selection and low prices. They seem to also attract high-quality people in their elections of the board. Yet in 2007, their competitors ran ads claiming that the MEC is unfairly advantaged by their favourable non-profit status.</p> <p>I wonder if those ads weren’t more like unpaid advertising for MEC <img alt="Confused" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/7.gif"></p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Campus Co-operative Residence" href="http://www.campus.coop" target="_blank">campus co-op</a>, <a title="Housing cooperative" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_co-operative" target="_blank">wiki housing co-op</a>, <a title="The People's Supermarket: communal, cheap and democratic" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/7779395/The-Peoples-Supermarket-communal-cheap-and-democratic.html" target="_blank">telegraph-co-op</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Slope_Food_Coop" target="_blank">wiki-park-slope</a>, <a href="http://www.foodcoop.com/" target="_blank">food-coop</a>, <a title="Mountain Equipment Co-op" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Co-op" target="_blank">wiki-mountain-co-op</a>, <a href="http://www.mec.ca/" target="_blank">mountain-co-op</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperatives" target="_blank">wiki-co-op</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumers%27_cooperative" target="_blank">wiki-cons-coop</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub Co-op Housing" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C9B095A80ACD623A" target="_blank">yt-coop</a> </p> <p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/C9B095A80ACD623A&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/C9B095A80ACD623A&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:3478e362-4c19-480a-85f4-3aac43e6dbd5" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=student" rel="tag">student</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=university" rel="tag">university</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=college" rel="tag">college</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=lifestyle" rel="tag">lifestyle</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=memories" rel="tag">memories</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=memory" rel="tag">memory</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=friends" rel="tag">friends</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=friendship" rel="tag">friendship</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=housemate" rel="tag">housemate</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=roommates" rel="tag">roommates</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=roommate" rel="tag">roommate</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=room+mate" rel="tag">room mate</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=house+mate" rel="tag">house mate</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=room+mates" rel="tag">room mates</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=house+mates" rel="tag">house mates</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=coop" rel="tag">coop</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=co-op" rel="tag">co-op</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=coed" rel="tag">coed</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=co-ed" rel="tag">co-ed</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-851714305399437951.post-34665621028867166832010-05-25T19:27:00.003-04:002012-08-19T11:44:38.721-04:00Souder: at least he had a hetero affair<span id="description">The last Republican to go down in the flames of hell is Mark Souder. Compared to other "pillars of society and morals", he fell because of marital infidelity, not because of "latent homosexuality".</span><a name='more'></a> <p><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Mark Souder and Tracy Jackson" border="0" alt="Mark Souder and Tracy Jackson" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQtXn70GoaXsrGqi44I1IJc-4WHRpKxJop8jYyt0Zv70IiFPjRzgoICfYMscGNyNeTKGFQEIiDcHMGwHLC6Y1u6j0ksLgVmOZxkIMWD6ifoqSkPXj7cEoRJagxESDkjJWXxyVp9-eWWE/?imgmax=800" width="244" height="185"> What is interesting about his affair with his staffer Tracy Jackson is that he recorded a video together with her extolling the virtue of “abstinence from sex until a committed, faithful relationship”.</p> <div style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; width: 500px; height: 200px; overflow: auto; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid"> <p>Souder’s revelation Tuesday of the affair follows the resignation of Democratic Rep. Eric Massa of New York in March amid an investigation into whether he sexually harassed male staffers and admissions of extramarital affairs by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Nevada Sen. John Ensign — both Republicans who have held onto their offices. <p>The confession by Souder — an evangelical Christian who promoted abstinence education and was known for his outspoken views on religion — stunned some voters in his district. <p>“I just think it’s a crying shame,” said Jean Tarner, who owns the Huntington Street Bar in downtown Syracuse. “He’s supposed to be setting the values for the youth. It’s just too bad.” <p>Souder, 59, stood alone during an emotional news conference at his Fort Wayne office during which he apologized for his actions but provided no details, including the name of the staffer. <p>Two senior congressional aides with firsthand knowledge of the decision identified the staffer as Tracy Jackson, who began working part-time in Souder’s Indiana district office in 2004. Jackson resigned Tuesday, according to the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. <p>After a 2008 hearing on abstinence-only education, Jackson recorded a video interview with Souder in which the congressman said the only fully reliable way young people can protect themselves from pregnancy and STDs is by “abstaining from sex until in a committed, faithful relationship.” <p>Jackson did not return phone calls and e-mails left by The Associated Press Tuesday and Wednesday. A man who answered the door at her home in Syracuse, Ind., on Tuesday declined to comment. <p>Souder said his wife and family were “more than willing” to stand with him at Tuesday’s news conference. But “the error is mine and I should bear the responsibility,” Souder said. <p>“I am so ashamed to have hurt the ones I love,” he said as he battled tears. “I am sorry to have let so many friends down, people who have worked so hard for me.” <p>Souder had been counted on by Republican leaders to win re-election, even though he was to face the Democratic candidate who four years ago gave him his toughest challenge since he was first elected in 1994. <p>Souder’s staff contacted the staff of House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Sunday to alert them to the situation. Boehner spoke on the phone with Souder on Monday. <p>Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the minority leader “has been perfectly clear that he will hold our members to the highest ethical standards.” <p>Rumors of Souder’s infidelity had circulated in the northeastern Indiana district for months. Opponents reported receiving anonymous calls a few days before the May 4 primary with allegations of the affair. <p>Souder’s fellow Republicans in northeastern Indiana wasted little time in jockeying to replace him. State Sen. Marlin Stutzman, a tea party favorite who finished second in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate two weeks ago, said he would announce within days whether he’s running. <p>Allen County GOP Chairman Steve Shine had a list of potential candidates, including the two Republicans Souder defeated in the primary — Bob Thomas and Phil Troyer — as well as state Rep. Randy Borror of Fort Wayne and Fort Wayne City Councilwoman Liz Brown. <p>Shine said he hasn’t talked to Stutzman about a possible run but received several calls from supporters saying he would make a good candidate. <p>“He did well in the Senate race and certainly had a following,” said Bob Schmuhl, a political analyst and University of Notre Dame professor. <p>But it could be a problem for Stutzman to run for another office so soon, said Dan Parker, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party. <p>“It takes away from his ability to say he’s not a career politician, which was his argument against Dan Coats,” Parker said. <p>Throughout his time in Congress, Souder made his evangelical Christianity a centerpiece of his public persona, with strong stances on abortion and traditional marriage. As a lawmaker, Souder was best known for his work on drug enforcement issues and his opposition to online gambling. <p>Republicans hope the district’s GOP tendencies will prevail in November. Souder was to have faced Democrat Tom Hayhurst, a former Fort Wayne city councilman who got 46 percent of the vote against Souder in 2006 — the toughest challenge since Souder was first elected in 1994.</p></div> <p> <p>Men in a position of power will always use it to spread their seed. Even men who are not in a position of power do so. Few people are capable of controlling their instincts and those who do, don’t usually run for office.</p> <p>The worst part is that for those paying attention, this unmasked hypocrisy is far worse than the absence of moralistic messages.</p> <p>Sources / More info: <a title="Meet the latest politician with sex troubles" href="http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2010/05/19/14010566.html" target="_blank">cnews-souder</a>, <a title="Lista clipuri iutub souder" href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FC8BB582D8F515E0" target="_blank">yt-souder</a> </p> <p align="center"><object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/FC8BB582D8F515E0&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/FC8BB582D8F515E0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500"></embed></object></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:34ca705b-d3db-4d78-9d2b-18a64950b614" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/" rel="tag">aLibertarianInToronto</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=affair" rel="tag">affair</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=cheat" rel="tag">cheat</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=cheting" rel="tag">cheting</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=politics" rel="tag">politics</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=abstinence" rel="tag">abstinence</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=ethics" rel="tag">ethics</a>, <a href="http://alit.zamo.ca/search?q=moral" rel="tag">moral</a></div> Indelible Bonobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595505459463870noreply@blogger.com0