The Plum Line - Obama to auto-workers: If GOP had had its way, your jobs would be gone
Republican blows it. Obama touts the 80 billion he has squandered on the dino-jobs of the UAW and a Republican, Lamar Alexander, blows it. Alexander says that the government should get out of the business of propping up the lame 2 in order to protect jobs. Wrong! They are inefficient companies and they should go out of business. If the Republicans don't yet have the guts to say that the reason you don't prop up bad companies is not to protect the workers at the bad companies but to protect the consumers and investors now, when will they?
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Jack Devine: The CIA Solution for Afghanistan - WSJ.com
Jack Devine: The CIA Solution for Afghanistan - WSJ.com
The CIA plan: let our friends hang, if they are lucky, that is. Our enemy's usual method of execution is not so humane.
The "plan" is to just let the country's democratic government take its chances and form relationships with whoever can help us out with Al Qaeda. One particularly noxious feature of this oped is the sanctimony it reeks of. He ends with a little flourish about advocates of covert action like himself having a special obligation to make it clear that they will not 'continence' such things as waterboarding. Three terrorists being water boarded is a great moral tragedy. A nation falling under the rule of monsters who make a public entertainment of beheading infidels is just being realistic.
The CIA plan: let our friends hang, if they are lucky, that is. Our enemy's usual method of execution is not so humane.
The "plan" is to just let the country's democratic government take its chances and form relationships with whoever can help us out with Al Qaeda. One particularly noxious feature of this oped is the sanctimony it reeks of. He ends with a little flourish about advocates of covert action like himself having a special obligation to make it clear that they will not 'continence' such things as waterboarding. Three terrorists being water boarded is a great moral tragedy. A nation falling under the rule of monsters who make a public entertainment of beheading infidels is just being realistic.
Afghanistan's 'pristine jihad' draws in outsiders trained in Pakistan - Times Online
Afghanistan's 'pristine jihad' draws in outsiders trained in Pakistan - Times Online
Foreign fighters are increasing in Afghanistan. That means that if we walk away or lose it will be seen as a victory for the Islamists. That will be a disastrous outcome not only for the Afghans but for us.
Foreign fighters are increasing in Afghanistan. That means that if we walk away or lose it will be seen as a victory for the Islamists. That will be a disastrous outcome not only for the Afghans but for us.
Arizona Immigration Decision - Andy McCarthy - The Corner on National Review Online
Arizona Immigration Decision - Andy McCarthy - The Corner on National Review Online
McCarthy's analysis seems spot on to me. On thing that I really find interesting here is that some of the law's opponents think the judge has done them a favor in striking down the law. This is almost certainly not true. Our experience from the Roe v. Wade decision is that the court's intervention preempting normal law and policy making has the effect of mobilizing the losers far better than mere legislative opposition can. And remember, when the abortion laws of the states were struck down those laws were not all that popular and were seen as on the way out anyway (indeed, the fact that abortion prohibitions were on the wane across the states was actually used by the court as a reason the laws should be struck down!). Arizona's statute was supported by large and already mobilized blocks of voters.
McCarthy's analysis seems spot on to me. On thing that I really find interesting here is that some of the law's opponents think the judge has done them a favor in striking down the law. This is almost certainly not true. Our experience from the Roe v. Wade decision is that the court's intervention preempting normal law and policy making has the effect of mobilizing the losers far better than mere legislative opposition can. And remember, when the abortion laws of the states were struck down those laws were not all that popular and were seen as on the way out anyway (indeed, the fact that abortion prohibitions were on the wane across the states was actually used by the court as a reason the laws should be struck down!). Arizona's statute was supported by large and already mobilized blocks of voters.
Trip from 1701 N State St, Jackson, MS 39210-0001 to Quest Fitness, 1693 Bailey Ave, Jackson, MS 39203
Trip from 1701 N State St, Jackson, MS 39210-0001 to Quest Fitness, 1693 Bailey Ave, Jackson, MS 39203
My new martial arts class will be starting here soon.
My new martial arts class will be starting here soon.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Opinion: Sen. Jim Webb Uses His Privilege to Play Racial Politics
Opinion: Sen. Jim Webb Uses His Privilege to Play Racial Politics
Here is a reply to Webb's oped by Michael Arceneaux. His reply to Webb's argument that to the extent that affirmative action is justified by the need to compensate for past injustices suffered at the hands of white America is American imperialsim:
Here is a reply to Webb's oped by Michael Arceneaux. His reply to Webb's argument that to the extent that affirmative action is justified by the need to compensate for past injustices suffered at the hands of white America is American imperialsim:
Webb says that immigrants from Asia, Africa and Latin America "did not suffer from discrimination from our government" the way black Americans did, but they nevertheless benefit from programs intended to rectify it. He doesn't address the prospect that American imperialism affected people of color in various parts of the world.This seems a bit thin. American imperialism would seem to be a reasonable argument for American Indians, Philippines Islanders and perhaps even some Hispanics, but what could it possibly have to do with East Asians or South Asians?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Khmer Rouge Leader Convicted - WSJ.com
Khmer Rouge Leader Convicted - WSJ.com
Another farce of international law comes to an end with a Khmer Rouge leader being convicted and sentenced to 35 years, probably with time served as part of the sentence. If you object to mass murder being committed by a state the proper action to take is to go to war and stop mass murder by forcibly stopping the mass murderers.
Another farce of international law comes to an end with a Khmer Rouge leader being convicted and sentenced to 35 years, probably with time served as part of the sentence. If you object to mass murder being committed by a state the proper action to take is to go to war and stop mass murder by forcibly stopping the mass murderers.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
JammieWearingFool
JammieWearingFool Reports on the contributions from BP to the Obama administration, another story the state run media are not interested in.
New Blood for Social Security — The American, A Magazine of Ideas
New Blood for Social Security — The American, A Magazine of Ideas
This article discusses a proposal for bringing government workers into the social security system. There is something about tyranny being defined by the rulers not living under the laws they make for others somewhere in political theory, isn't there? I think the new political divide will be between the people and the mandarinate, the people that have to make their living in the market and the people that get checks from the government. The new class warfare will be between citizens and the government payroll one way or the other.
For a lot of this century these issues have been deflected by painting government employees as self-sacrificing heroes, the operative synecdoches always being fire-fighters and police. But one of the ways to counteract this is by bringing up easily understood contrasts. Such a contrast is highlighted by reference to the simple principle that you have to live under the laws you make for others. The social security exemption is an obvious example. Government officials who don't send their kids to private schools is another. The coming of government health care is going to offer a target rich environment.
The charge that they rulers are not living under the laws they make for others was used to great effect by Gingrich in the early 90s. The fact that Congress had literally exempted itself from most of the hiring and safety regulations it had imposed on the rest of the country was of little practical import but tremendous symbolic power. The issues of government workers not living within the constraints of the welfare state they are pushing the rest of the country into is a huge potential issue.
This article discusses a proposal for bringing government workers into the social security system. There is something about tyranny being defined by the rulers not living under the laws they make for others somewhere in political theory, isn't there? I think the new political divide will be between the people and the mandarinate, the people that have to make their living in the market and the people that get checks from the government. The new class warfare will be between citizens and the government payroll one way or the other.
For a lot of this century these issues have been deflected by painting government employees as self-sacrificing heroes, the operative synecdoches always being fire-fighters and police. But one of the ways to counteract this is by bringing up easily understood contrasts. Such a contrast is highlighted by reference to the simple principle that you have to live under the laws you make for others. The social security exemption is an obvious example. Government officials who don't send their kids to private schools is another. The coming of government health care is going to offer a target rich environment.
The charge that they rulers are not living under the laws they make for others was used to great effect by Gingrich in the early 90s. The fact that Congress had literally exempted itself from most of the hiring and safety regulations it had imposed on the rest of the country was of little practical import but tremendous symbolic power. The issues of government workers not living within the constraints of the welfare state they are pushing the rest of the country into is a huge potential issue.
White House backed release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi | The Australian
White House backed release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi | The Australian
So the Obama administration backed release of the Lockerbie bomber? Incredible. And more evidence that if you want to know anything you have to read the foreign papers. No use relying on the state run media here.
So the Obama administration backed release of the Lockerbie bomber? Incredible. And more evidence that if you want to know anything you have to read the foreign papers. No use relying on the state run media here.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Breitbart: Sherrod "Sees Things Through Racial Prism" - CBS News Video
Breitbart: Sherrod "Sees Things Through Racial Prism" - CBS News Video
Breitbart makes some very good points and I agree with most of them. I really don't like the way he monopolizes the conversation even if he is right and even if he is getting slammed by the media which is distorting everything he says. I go back to Reagan. Reagan was vilified by the media but never felt the need to act like this in an interview. I can't stand people that can't make their points with pith and brevity. It is the Alinskyiazation of the right.
One thing that I think we could all benefit from is a definition of the terms "doctoring". The clip was not doctored. It was incomplete. Doctoring is taking something out of the middle of someones remarks. Taking an intact but incomplete clip is not doctoring. Taking one question and putting it with a different answer is doctoring. Incomplete may or may not be relevant, but is not doctoring.
Right now I am hearing Shiraz give her life story as a martyr. She is going to be the poster child for the administration and she really is a bit weird. Morris is the guy who made the key point, the administration now owns this woman and it is not clear that she is a bargain.
Breitbart makes some very good points and I agree with most of them. I really don't like the way he monopolizes the conversation even if he is right and even if he is getting slammed by the media which is distorting everything he says. I go back to Reagan. Reagan was vilified by the media but never felt the need to act like this in an interview. I can't stand people that can't make their points with pith and brevity. It is the Alinskyiazation of the right.
One thing that I think we could all benefit from is a definition of the terms "doctoring". The clip was not doctored. It was incomplete. Doctoring is taking something out of the middle of someones remarks. Taking an intact but incomplete clip is not doctoring. Taking one question and putting it with a different answer is doctoring. Incomplete may or may not be relevant, but is not doctoring.
Right now I am hearing Shiraz give her life story as a martyr. She is going to be the poster child for the administration and she really is a bit weird. Morris is the guy who made the key point, the administration now owns this woman and it is not clear that she is a bargain.
Breitbart: Sherrod "Sees Things Through Racial Prism" - CBS News Video
Breitbart: Sherrod "Sees Things Through Racial Prism" - CBS News Video
Breitbart makes some very good points and I agree with most of them. I really don't like the way he monopolizes the conversation even if he is right and even if he is getting slammed by the media which is distorting everything he says. I go back to Reagan. Reagan was vilified by the media but never felt the need to act like this in an interview. I can't stand people that can't make their points with pith and brevity. It is the Alinskyiazation of the right.
One thing that I think we could all benefit from is a definition of the terms "doctoring". The clip was not doctored. It was incomplete. Doctoring is taking something out of the middle of someones remarks. Taking an intact but incomplete clip is not doctoring. Taking one question and putting it with a different answer is doctoring. Incomplete may or may not be relevant, but is not doctoring.
Right now I am hearing Shiraz give her life story as a martyr. She is going to be the poster child for the administration and she really is a bit weird. Morris is the guy who made the key point, the administration now owns this woman and it is not clear that she is a bargain.
Breitbart makes some very good points and I agree with most of them. I really don't like the way he monopolizes the conversation even if he is right and even if he is getting slammed by the media which is distorting everything he says. I go back to Reagan. Reagan was vilified by the media but never felt the need to act like this in an interview. I can't stand people that can't make their points with pith and brevity. It is the Alinskyiazation of the right.
One thing that I think we could all benefit from is a definition of the terms "doctoring". The clip was not doctored. It was incomplete. Doctoring is taking something out of the middle of someones remarks. Taking an intact but incomplete clip is not doctoring. Taking one question and putting it with a different answer is doctoring. Incomplete may or may not be relevant, but is not doctoring.
Right now I am hearing Shiraz give her life story as a martyr. She is going to be the poster child for the administration and she really is a bit weird. Morris is the guy who made the key point, the administration now owns this woman and it is not clear that she is a bargain.
Breitbart: Sherrod "Sees Things Through Racial Prism" - CBS News Video
Breitbart: Sherrod "Sees Things Through Racial Prism" - CBS News Video
Breitbart makes some very good points and I agree with most of them. I really don't like the way he monopolizes the conversation even if he is right and even if he is getting slammed by the media which is distorting everything he says. I go back to Reagan. Reagan was vilified by the media but never felt the need to act like this in an interview. I can't stand people that can't make their points with pith and brevity. It is the Alinskyiazation of the right.
One thing that I think we could all benefit from is a definition of the terms "doctoring". The clip was not doctored. It was incomplete. Doctoring is taking something out of the middle of someones remarks. Taking an intact but incomplete clip is not doctoring. Taking one question and putting it with a different answer is doctoring. Incomplete may or may not be relevant, but is not doctoring.
Right now I am hearing Shiraz give her life story as a martyr. She is going to be the poster child for the administration and she really is a bit weird. Morris is the guy who made the key point, the administration now owns this woman and it is not clear that she is a bargain.
Breitbart makes some very good points and I agree with most of them. I really don't like the way he monopolizes the conversation even if he is right and even if he is getting slammed by the media which is distorting everything he says. I go back to Reagan. Reagan was vilified by the media but never felt the need to act like this in an interview. I can't stand people that can't make their points with pith and brevity. It is the Alinskyiazation of the right.
One thing that I think we could all benefit from is a definition of the terms "doctoring". The clip was not doctored. It was incomplete. Doctoring is taking something out of the middle of someones remarks. Taking an intact but incomplete clip is not doctoring. Taking one question and putting it with a different answer is doctoring. Incomplete may or may not be relevant, but is not doctoring.
Right now I am hearing Shiraz give her life story as a martyr. She is going to be the poster child for the administration and she really is a bit weird. Morris is the guy who made the key point, the administration now owns this woman and it is not clear that she is a bargain.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Cultural Defense Accepted as to Nonconsensual Sex in New Jersey Trial Court, Rejected on Appeal
The Volokh Conspiracy » Cultural Defense Accepted as to Nonconsensual Sex in New Jersey Trial Court, Rejected on Appeal
As yes, the sweet smell of multi-culturalism. So raping a woman is ok if you don't think that you are raping a woman but acting under what your culture (the culture of the country you came from), you think you are just exercising your rights. Of course, not all cultures are according this privilege of super ceding the law of the land. Whoopi nods, it wasn't "rape" rape. It is not rape if the 14 year old's family wants the money and connections that come from selling their daughter off in marriage or letting your daughter be ravaged by a Hollywood producer if you think they are going to have a shot at getting a part in a big movie.
As yes, the sweet smell of multi-culturalism. So raping a woman is ok if you don't think that you are raping a woman but acting under what your culture (the culture of the country you came from), you think you are just exercising your rights. Of course, not all cultures are according this privilege of super ceding the law of the land. Whoopi nods, it wasn't "rape" rape. It is not rape if the 14 year old's family wants the money and connections that come from selling their daughter off in marriage or letting your daughter be ravaged by a Hollywood producer if you think they are going to have a shot at getting a part in a big movie.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Volokh Conspiracy » Obama Campaign Adviser Participated on JournoList
The Volokh Conspiracy » Obama Campaign Adviser Participated on JournoList
Here is the thing: the fact one of their guys is part of the liberal in-crowd with journalists is not news. But the fact is that coordination is against the campaign finance laws. Of course, as a matter of substance this is trivial: most what they did and talked about would surely have happened without the guy being on the list. The law is overly broadly drawn. But a bad law is still a law. What will happen is that the establishment will concede the law was technically violated but argue that substantively it didn't matter because they were all liberals anyway. That is a problem for two reasons. For one thing, it is a violation of law anyway. But more interestingly, the defense puts a lie to the claim that the "profession" of journalism is in some significant way to be accepted as a neutral authority.
It raises a number of fascinating questions, too. For instance, what is an "organization"? You are a member of journolist. What does that mean? Being on an address list makes you a member of something? That is scary considering some of the mailing lists I am a member of.
Here is the thing: the fact one of their guys is part of the liberal in-crowd with journalists is not news. But the fact is that coordination is against the campaign finance laws. Of course, as a matter of substance this is trivial: most what they did and talked about would surely have happened without the guy being on the list. The law is overly broadly drawn. But a bad law is still a law. What will happen is that the establishment will concede the law was technically violated but argue that substantively it didn't matter because they were all liberals anyway. That is a problem for two reasons. For one thing, it is a violation of law anyway. But more interestingly, the defense puts a lie to the claim that the "profession" of journalism is in some significant way to be accepted as a neutral authority.
It raises a number of fascinating questions, too. For instance, what is an "organization"? You are a member of journolist. What does that mean? Being on an address list makes you a member of something? That is scary considering some of the mailing lists I am a member of.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Breitbart and the clip
Breitbart says that he only received the edited clip. That seems a reasonable explanation but it only moves the misdeed back a step to whomever edited the clip to be obviously misleading. Where are the demands that that person apologize and come forward.
Breitbart's argument that was he was only trying to draw attention to the way the audience reacted. Again, this is an interesting and reasonable point. I think the reaction of the crowd was a little disturbing. But the characterization the edited clip gave of Sherwood's thinking is just just unforgivable. If it had been made clear at the outset that the story about discriminating against a white man was part of a larger story of how she learned that such behavior is wrong then the point about the audience's reaction to her statements before she had revealed that her views had changed might be defensible, but having the truth come out only after a person's reputation has been doesn't quite cut it. After all this progress we have made we now have to fight the perception that every piece of video we release is part of a set up. The possible fact that Breitbart was not in on the set-up hardly undoes the damage.
Breitbart's argument that was he was only trying to draw attention to the way the audience reacted. Again, this is an interesting and reasonable point. I think the reaction of the crowd was a little disturbing. But the characterization the edited clip gave of Sherwood's thinking is just just unforgivable. If it had been made clear at the outset that the story about discriminating against a white man was part of a larger story of how she learned that such behavior is wrong then the point about the audience's reaction to her statements before she had revealed that her views had changed might be defensible, but having the truth come out only after a person's reputation has been doesn't quite cut it. After all this progress we have made we now have to fight the perception that every piece of video we release is part of a set up. The possible fact that Breitbart was not in on the set-up hardly undoes the damage.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Jules Crittenden » Race-Baitism
Jules Crittenden » Race-Baitism
Good post on the use of the racism charge. I have two things to add.
First, it should be called playing the racism card. That is the most sensible and accurate term. Why will no one listen to me?
Secondly, the incriminating emails from journo-list have been defended by Solon on the grounds that the tactics talked about do not appear to have been actually employed. But that misses the point. The media did act as if they had been on journ0-list and had employed their strategies. Rove and other conservatives were called racists for bringing it up and the main-stream press was remarkably incurious about Reverend Wright and Obama's connections to him. But the most damning piece of evidence is that the McCain campaign ignored the story. They did not want to be tagged as racists. The misdeed of intimidation is not lessened because the intimidation worked.
The value of the Journo-list revelations is not that we see the actual planning of the specific actions taken by that set of journalists but that we get to see the thinking of mainstream journalists whey they think no one is listening.
Good post on the use of the racism charge. I have two things to add.
First, it should be called playing the racism card. That is the most sensible and accurate term. Why will no one listen to me?
Secondly, the incriminating emails from journo-list have been defended by Solon on the grounds that the tactics talked about do not appear to have been actually employed. But that misses the point. The media did act as if they had been on journ0-list and had employed their strategies. Rove and other conservatives were called racists for bringing it up and the main-stream press was remarkably incurious about Reverend Wright and Obama's connections to him. But the most damning piece of evidence is that the McCain campaign ignored the story. They did not want to be tagged as racists. The misdeed of intimidation is not lessened because the intimidation worked.
The value of the Journo-list revelations is not that we see the actual planning of the specific actions taken by that set of journalists but that we get to see the thinking of mainstream journalists whey they think no one is listening.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
George F. Will - The high price of American hubris
George F. Will - The high price of American hubris
Will mentions something that would be too perfect to believe if it were made up:
Will mentions something that would be too perfect to believe if it were made up:
Wilson said, in effect, "Stop the world, America wants to get off." He actually said America would "in no circumstances consent to live in a world governed by intrigue and force." And so the next war came, on Sept. 1, 1939, when dignitaries were in Geneva, birthplace and cemetery of the League of Nations, unveiling a statue of Wilson.We don't always get to choose our wars and our enemies, sometimes they choose us.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
U.S. and Afghanistan Debate More Village Forces - NYTimes.com
U.S. and Afghanistan Debate More Village Forces - NYTimes.com
Here is the problem: we disarmed the local populace and left them vulnerable to the Taliban on the theory that they needed a strong central government to protect them. When the strong central government never materialized the Taliban took advantage. And it was precisely the people that were most supportive of our side and were most likely to comply with the disarmament decrees that were hurt.
Here is the problem: we disarmed the local populace and left them vulnerable to the Taliban on the theory that they needed a strong central government to protect them. When the strong central government never materialized the Taliban took advantage. And it was precisely the people that were most supportive of our side and were most likely to comply with the disarmament decrees that were hurt.
20 Highest Earning Cities in America - The Daily Beast
20 Highest Earning Cities in America - The Daily Beast
Richard Florida thinks his list shows the growing returns to knowledge and intelligence but note that the highest earning city is Washington, D.C.. Are they inventing a lot of new devices in D.C.? No, what is happening is that the returns to cultivating politicians are increasing faster than the returns to building businesses.
Richard Florida thinks his list shows the growing returns to knowledge and intelligence but note that the highest earning city is Washington, D.C.. Are they inventing a lot of new devices in D.C.? No, what is happening is that the returns to cultivating politicians are increasing faster than the returns to building businesses.
Mattis Named To Command U.S. Forces In Iraq, Afghan Wars - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2010
Mattis Named To Command U.S. Forces In Iraq, Afghan Wars - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2010
In 2005, Mattis was reprimanded by the Marine Corps for telling a conference in San Diego, California: "It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling."Lesson learned? Meaning that it is not fun to shoot them or that it is not smart to admit it? I hope it is the latter. Nothing so well illustrates the problem our society faces in fighting a war than our horror at the idea that some of the men fighting the war might actually enjoy killing their enemies.
"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said during a panel discussion. "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."
Gates said on July 8 that appropriate action had been taken at the time. He added that "the subsequent five years have demonstrated that the lesson was learned.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Thank you, America
On my first day in Kabul, Afghanistan, I visited the home of my college's student, Sabira. Her Father was insisted on picking me up at the airport and hosted me for a long lunch. These workmen were in the courtyard outside my student's house and, after seeing me through the window, asked to come in and meet me.
Here is the video on my YouTube page
They wanted to say 'Thank You' to America.
I have heard this before, though not as often as I hear disappointment. However, the disappointment is not from our killing civilians or failing to respect Muslim culture, it is from our failure to defeat the Taliban. This has been the main complaint during all my trips to Afghanistan.
Another thing that has been a common theme on this trip is frustration that the reconstruction aid all seems to go to the areas that are controlled by the Taliban and people that don't support America, while the people in areas that are happy to work with the US and want to have a modern, democratic country are left to fend for themselves.
It makes sense to try to give young men that are joining the Taliban an alternative to fighting, but we can end up spending all our effort on trying to make our enemies like us and failing to back our friends. Caesar's policy in Gaul was first and foremost to see to it that the enemies of Rome were seen to suffer and the friends of Rome were seen to prosper. Maybe we should start thinking a bit more like the Romans.
Here is the video on my YouTube page
They wanted to say 'Thank You' to America.
I have heard this before, though not as often as I hear disappointment. However, the disappointment is not from our killing civilians or failing to respect Muslim culture, it is from our failure to defeat the Taliban. This has been the main complaint during all my trips to Afghanistan.
Another thing that has been a common theme on this trip is frustration that the reconstruction aid all seems to go to the areas that are controlled by the Taliban and people that don't support America, while the people in areas that are happy to work with the US and want to have a modern, democratic country are left to fend for themselves.
It makes sense to try to give young men that are joining the Taliban an alternative to fighting, but we can end up spending all our effort on trying to make our enemies like us and failing to back our friends. Caesar's policy in Gaul was first and foremost to see to it that the enemies of Rome were seen to suffer and the friends of Rome were seen to prosper. Maybe we should start thinking a bit more like the Romans.
Who is Confused?
An interesting paragraph from a New Republic profile of Scott Brown, entitled "Mr. America":
Perhaps most intriguingly of all, Brown has sometimes exploited anxiety about jobs as a reason to oppose … jobs-related legislation. In doing so, he’s picked up on a paradox that defines the political zeitgeist: Even though Americans are more concerned about jobs than anything else, they don’t seem to appreciate the factors that help create them. In the same NBC poll in which voters overwhelmingly say jobs should be the government’s top priority, they also say, by nearly a two-to-one margin, that they’d prefer the government attend to the deficit even if it delays the economic recovery. So, according to the poll, voters care much more about jobs than the deficit, but much more about the deficit than the economy. Where exactly are the jobs supposed to come from?Well, private investment? One can disagree with the conservative approach to economic growth, that by rewarding private investment (keeping taxes low and not crowding it out of the financial markets with excessive government borrowing) but note that the author here, Noam Scheiber, dismisses the possibility. If you think that reducing the deficit is conducive to or even just compatible with creating jobs you are simply confused. All of the smart people know that deficit spending by the government is the way to create jobs and if you disagree you are merely confused. "Mr. America" is used here as a way of saying 'not too bright.'
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sharia Law faculty, Kabul University: Girl Power!
I got to meet the director again who called in the younger (Who did not give me a card--I'll get his name later) to translate. This is the third time I have met him and he is less intimidating now that I have gotten to know him a bit. For some reason the first time I met him I had the impression that he was a giant but now he is just a bit taller than me.
the director had concerns about the sample. He said that you can't tell about a country from taking the soil from one place. I said that sometimes you can tell a lot about a river from just one glass of the water. He said that there are many rivers in this case. I was going to point out that there is only one river in Kabul but thought it better to pass. He seems to like using metaphors. we had one go round last year about learning about Islam from a waiter versus and expert.
The young professor took us to a class and I was quite surprised to find that it was an all girls' class. Mirwais had said that last year the girls were enthusiastic about the survey while the boys last year were initially suspicious. I certain found that the girls in this third year class were not shy about giving their opinions (what Afghans are?), but that they also made rather sharp and cogent arguments. Again, I found that people gave small speeches rather than engage in a shorter give and take. I don't know if this is a broader characteristic of the culture or just something that happens in academic settings though I my sense is that it is the former. Unfortunately it was apparently not "OK" to take pictures.
One young lady said that the human rights groups are always criticizing Afghanistan, saying, for instance, that we should not kill a murderer because it is a violation of human rights. But isn't endangering the community by letting a murderer go violating the human rights of the community as well as the victim?
Another young woman made an intriguing point about the NGOs and women's rights. I am not sure that I fully got her point, but she was critical of the women's rights NGOs. She made two points. First, that by constantly talking about "women's rights" rather than human rights, they create the sense that their is some set of rights that are peculiar to women and, by being specific to women, somehow inferior to general human rights. Second, she argued that by talking about the special rights of women they undermined the family. These two points seemed to me to be somewhat contradictory but I didn't really have the chance to probe the issue very deeply.
There does seem to be a tension in the Western Intellectual world that has not really been faced straightforwardly in that we talk about multiculturalism (treating all cultures as equal) and a universal set of human rights as if those two propositions were completely compatible if not interchangeable. But what if individuals in a culture does not want the rights we classify as universal? We can sometimes dismiss the refusal or some rights as being a product of ignorance or fear, but that hardly seems a tenable answer in the case of these rather impressive young women. Indeed, the young women in the Islamic Law class had more cogent arguments and every bit as much confidence as the rather more loquacious young men in the economics department.
The younger member of the Sharia Law faculty who had been charged with shepherding us around proved to be quite talkative once we were alone. In the presence of the Department chair he had been quite deferential, not venturing to give his own opinions. When we got a chance to talk to him alone he was very interesting. One thing that struck me was that as conservative as they are he hated the Taliban. Two things he mentioned stand out.
He had a friend at an NGO. She worked in Afghanistan for a few years but as the Taliban's terrorism got more and more extreme her movements were more and more restricted. He said that near the end she would send him emails asking him to come visit her in her 'prison'. Like most of the foreigners in Afghanistan she was being picked up in a dark-windowed SUV and kept in a "guest house" with the same NGO types. There is a list of 11 restaurants they can go to. Luckily for me I am expendable and can go wherever I want.
The other thing he mentioned was a student that he had in class. Something came up where they had to give the students a couple of days off. This student was so happy because he would have time to go back to his village and fight with the Taliban for a few days, doing his duty of Jihad. The professor was shocked that he had someone in his class that thought like this and that would declare it openly.
I asked him if he was afraid of the Taliban. I said that he was a conservative Muslim with a beard and a Pashtun, so he would be safe right? He looked at me as if he were dealing with a particularly slow child……
Small World
Hanging around Kateeb University
A man I had been introduced to but with whom I had not had a conversation came upon me as I was stretching my legs outside Mirwais' office and insisted I come into the office of his faculty (what we would call a department). He turned out to be on the economics faculty. One of the three fellows in the room spoke excellent English and I found out that he used Mankiw's text. He even had access to the website. The government office where he has his day job had a two year old legit copy (most people have photo-copies) with the code number for the website. No one had bothered to try it in the two years the book had been there so he was able to get access to all the exercises and supplementaries. Small world.
A man I had been introduced to but with whom I had not had a conversation came upon me as I was stretching my legs outside Mirwais' office and insisted I come into the office of his faculty (what we would call a department). He turned out to be on the economics faculty. One of the three fellows in the room spoke excellent English and I found out that he used Mankiw's text. He even had access to the website. The government office where he has his day job had a two year old legit copy (most people have photo-copies) with the code number for the website. No one had bothered to try it in the two years the book had been there so he was able to get access to all the exercises and supplementaries. Small world.
Open letter to the Intellectuals of the World
Babar's tomb
we were invited to Babour's tomb. Babour was the founder of the Mogul empire which ruled India from the 16th century till the 18th though the dynasty was kept as a figure head up until the Mutiny in 1857).
The tomb is really an extended garden. It has been rehabilitated a fair amount since out last visit a couple of years ago. The palace was closed at the time we went there but it has been restored and is open to the public on occasion. From the outside the palace was a rather modest building, though his main palace was in India proper apparently. The tomb is quite small and tastefully done in what I judged to be white marble. He certainly did not give the impression of being extravagant. One imagines a serious man who would have preferred to rule his empire from horseback. I was happy to have along the two Sabiras--on the left a future high school exchange student and on the right 'our' Sabira, the pre-med student. (Here we are in the restaurant at the park.)
I had an nice conversation with our hosts. One, Mahmood Hakimi, was a newspaper editor who had been imprisoned for about 6 months before the Taliban were overthrown. We found ourselves in great agreement till economics came up.
It seemed to come into the conversation by my talking. He asked me about democracy and I said that it might be too early to introduce it in the countryside where the literacy rate is so low. I suggested that in Western countries democratic rights spread gradually from urban elites to the rest of the country. He said that I sounded like a communist.
As it turns out this was not necessarily a criticism from his point of view. For one thing, the communists were pretty good and keeping order and protecting the urban elites (like my newspaper editor friend, well, like all my friends in Kabul). For another, my friend turned out to be a great proponent of the planned economy.
He said that capitalism might be alright for a country that is already rich like the US but that in a country that is as poor as Afghanistan it was not fair. He gave the example of 10 taxi drivers put out of business by a rich man that buys a bus. I countered that the people riding the bus are saving money that can be spent on other goods and services, the provision of which, the 10 unemployed taxi drivers might eventually be employed. I also started in with the example of the horse and buggy makers displaced by the automobile in the first place but my friend was adamant about making a larger point that went on for some time without definite conclusion. (I thing the most direct answer to his argument would have been to ask why not replace the taxis with mule carts which would require ten times as much labor again to provide the same amount of transportation service)
In any case, our host, an older student at Kateeb named Asif Razi, soon produced several copies of a short letter which I quickly gathered had been the real reason for the invitation.
I have asked him to send me the document with an English translation which I will later post. Here is a rough and ready translation of his statement:
"The world is growing more interconnected. Therefore, what happens in one part of the globe cannot be kept separate from the rest of the globe, whether for good or ill.
Intellectuals are citizens of this globalizing world. Intellectuals are against ignorance and ignorance is a danger to intellectuals. What is dangerous to them is dangerous to the world.
People living around the Durand line are living in ignorance. They are ignorant because in a globalizing world they are killing their fellow human beings without due process.
Then you, intellectuals of the world, what do you intend to do? Since Afghanistan's intellectuals are in the first line facing this danger, what will you intellectuals of the world do to support us in our struggle?"
I answered by asking if he knew George Orwell. He said that he did, of course.
I said that Orwell once remarked that there are some ideas which are so obviously absurd that they could only be believed by intellectuals. The great danger in our world today comes from the barbarians in his country and the intellectuals in ours, who believe in the absurd notion that they can negotiate with barbarians.
we were invited to Babour's tomb. Babour was the founder of the Mogul empire which ruled India from the 16th century till the 18th though the dynasty was kept as a figure head up until the Mutiny in 1857).
The tomb is really an extended garden. It has been rehabilitated a fair amount since out last visit a couple of years ago. The palace was closed at the time we went there but it has been restored and is open to the public on occasion. From the outside the palace was a rather modest building, though his main palace was in India proper apparently. The tomb is quite small and tastefully done in what I judged to be white marble. He certainly did not give the impression of being extravagant. One imagines a serious man who would have preferred to rule his empire from horseback. I was happy to have along the two Sabiras--on the left a future high school exchange student and on the right 'our' Sabira, the pre-med student. (Here we are in the restaurant at the park.)
I had an nice conversation with our hosts. One, Mahmood Hakimi, was a newspaper editor who had been imprisoned for about 6 months before the Taliban were overthrown. We found ourselves in great agreement till economics came up.
It seemed to come into the conversation by my talking. He asked me about democracy and I said that it might be too early to introduce it in the countryside where the literacy rate is so low. I suggested that in Western countries democratic rights spread gradually from urban elites to the rest of the country. He said that I sounded like a communist.
As it turns out this was not necessarily a criticism from his point of view. For one thing, the communists were pretty good and keeping order and protecting the urban elites (like my newspaper editor friend, well, like all my friends in Kabul). For another, my friend turned out to be a great proponent of the planned economy.
He said that capitalism might be alright for a country that is already rich like the US but that in a country that is as poor as Afghanistan it was not fair. He gave the example of 10 taxi drivers put out of business by a rich man that buys a bus. I countered that the people riding the bus are saving money that can be spent on other goods and services, the provision of which, the 10 unemployed taxi drivers might eventually be employed. I also started in with the example of the horse and buggy makers displaced by the automobile in the first place but my friend was adamant about making a larger point that went on for some time without definite conclusion. (I thing the most direct answer to his argument would have been to ask why not replace the taxis with mule carts which would require ten times as much labor again to provide the same amount of transportation service)
In any case, our host, an older student at Kateeb named Asif Razi, soon produced several copies of a short letter which I quickly gathered had been the real reason for the invitation.
I have asked him to send me the document with an English translation which I will later post. Here is a rough and ready translation of his statement:
"The world is growing more interconnected. Therefore, what happens in one part of the globe cannot be kept separate from the rest of the globe, whether for good or ill.
Intellectuals are citizens of this globalizing world. Intellectuals are against ignorance and ignorance is a danger to intellectuals. What is dangerous to them is dangerous to the world.People living around the Durand line are living in ignorance. They are ignorant because in a globalizing world they are killing their fellow human beings without due process.
Then you, intellectuals of the world, what do you intend to do? Since Afghanistan's intellectuals are in the first line facing this danger, what will you intellectuals of the world do to support us in our struggle?"
I answered by asking if he knew George Orwell. He said that he did, of course.
I said that Orwell once remarked that there are some ideas which are so obviously absurd that they could only be believed by intellectuals. The great danger in our world today comes from the barbarians in his country and the intellectuals in ours, who believe in the absurd notion that they can negotiate with barbarians.
Prince of Conquerers
Prince of Conquerers
Though he stands 5' 4" he gives no appearance of being self-conscious about his height. He exudes self-confidence. The only time Ali Reza is close to being embarrassed is when his friends and co-workers use his nickname in front of foreigners, even though it is used with an obvious combination of affection and respect. He tries reminding people to call him "Ali Reza" but usually gives up after a few tries and everyone reverts to using his regular name, "Cheng geez"--the Afghan pronunciation of Genghis Khan.
Ali Reza is an undergraduate student at two universities in Afghanistan--Kateb University and the American University of Afghanistan. But being a student is something he does in his spare time. His main job is as a businessman. At the age of 24 he is the founder and proprietor of the Star English Academy which has over 7,000 students at three branches. His most recent enterprise is dubbing foreign TV shows and selling them to Afghan TV. (If anyone wants to come to Afghanistan and try to enforce their copyright they are welcome to).
He began as a program officer for USAID a couple of years after the occupation. He did that for three years. He rose quickly in the ranks due to his industriousness and English language ability. But he didn't really like it. He found that he was spending 50% of his time writing reports to justify how they had spent the money. His experience illustrates a problem with foreign aid. The money that you can get applying for grants far outweighs the profits from actually doing something useful in many cases. At the American University the most popular courses are those that teach applying for grants and justifying how you spent the grants. The best and most talented people in the country are sucked into the most profitable activities around which, when the money is flowing, are those that involve getting money from foreigners. He decided that if he wanted to really do something to improve things he would have to go out on his own.
He started the Star English Academy with almost nothing, barely a wall to write on. he developed his own curriculum and started attracting students. His students were, like him, mostly Hazaras, the previously despised asiatic minority. The word "Hazara" means 10,000. The name comes from the story of the town in Herat, which was destroyed by Genghis Khan in the 13th century for attempting to revolt. The scourge of God reportedly made an example of town by killing all of its inhabitants and replacing them with Mongols, 10,000 of them, Hence, the name.
Since that time the Hazara have had a hard time in their own country. As the smallest minority, distinguish both by their racial features and their Shi'ia religion, they have been treated practically as slaves throughout much of their history in Afghanistan. But since the coming of the Americans academic achievement has come to the fore and the Hazarah have had something of a come back. this has been called the Rennaissaince of the Hazarah.
But this has not stopped the violence against them. the Pashtun nomads of Afghanistan have recently attacked the Hazarah in the province of Ghazni.
The nomads were supposed to be settled in fixed abodes as a matter of constitutional law. That has not happened.
The attack was one-sided. the Hazarahs had no guns. The ISAF, in its wisdom, had taken them away. The big plan, don't you see, we are going to make Afghanistan a modern, civilized country where the government provides security. The Hazarahs, having no interest in violence and very much wanting to live in a free, democratic society, complied. The nomads did not. Nor has the Taliban.
It is all part of our fundamental mistake of trying to impose solutions that make little sense in the institutional context of Afghanistan. We are trying to impose policies that treat everyone impartially by means of a bureaucracy that is thoroughly cooped by ethnic and clan networks as loyal to the Taliban and local warlords as they are to the state. The result is that we put those who are willing to follow the rules and give their loyalty to the new democratic order are the ones that are hurt by our policies.
Aid is another example. The thinking that drives our aid distribution is that if a province is supporting the Taliban it can only be because they are dissatisfied with the new order. By giving them aid we will remove the source of dissatisfaction and give them an incentive to join the new order. But at some point the aid becomes and incentive to continue the revolt. Given the weak institutional structures through which the aid is given the money mostly ends up benefiting corrupt officials rather than the true targets of the aid.
Worst of all, the provinces that are happy to accept a modern, democratic state are neglected. Schools are built in the Pashtoon areas only to be burnt down while the Hazarah areas build their own.
Ali Reza talks faster the madder he gets, without ever losing the precision of his language.
"The Karzai government has decided to call the Taliban "the dissatisfied brothers." So now we will say, "the dissatisfied brothers just hanged a seven year old boy for being a "spy". The dissatisfied brothers have just thrown acid in the face of two girls walking to school."
The counter insurgency strategy which we have adopted means economically developing the areas that are under Taliban influence. But the thing That I hear most often in here is not the anger of those that support the Taliban--such people are vanishingly rare in educated circles--but the disappointment of our natural allies in Afghanistan. We have worried so much about making our enemies like us that we have neglected our friends, a mistake no successful 'conquerer' can afford to make.
Beggar and future supermodel
I have a policy against giving out money to beggars that I have managed to keep to. But what policy could win against a face like this? She ran me down in Shar-e-Naw, literally, new town, my first week in Afghanistan. It is the only part of town where you really see beggars regularly as it is where most of the foreigners and most well-off Afghans are.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Sumpremacy
One thing I don't get. If it is a violation of the Supremacy clause when a state enforces federal law, why is it not a violation when a city declares itself a sanctuary and refuses to allow the enforcement of federal law? Moreover, isn't the Arizona law simply a set of guidelines as to when the suspect is referred to the federal authorities? The decision to deport or what constitutes a deportable alien is still entirely in the hands of the federal authorities.
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