I dream of living in ... a World Without Dictators! I'm a Libertarian Paternalist in Slovakia - Freedom with Responsibility - 10% of income into your own Pension; Tax Loans for education, health, housing; now supporting Employment Maximizing Companies!

blog posts on immigration at The Truth Laid Bear

Increasingly anti-Google

Alternatives to Google look good.
Clusty with clusters.
Dogpile with multiple search engines, including Google.

Might as well add some other links:
The Last Best Hope -- History of America (recommended by Powerline)

Marine Corps Times on their investigation of Haditha, firing 3 commanders.  Not a lot of talk about an important issue -- if you're married to a terrorist, you know they've placed a bomb, you let the bomb kill Americans -- are you guilty?  The article does NOT cover this question, nor even raise it.  I think innocence of people in the know is not complete.

And the Presidents West Point Speech!

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/30/06 19:27 | link | comments (4)
blogs

Hello Stanford 81 Internationals & Friends

What a fine Stanford class 81, and so International -- too bad I might not know any of you!

I came to Stanford in 1976 as a transfer from the US Naval Academy, after finding out I didn't want to live under the UCMJ 24/7 -- it's no surprise I'm a Libertarian ( Changed my name in 1984). Lived in Manzanita Trailers, then Lagunita (with Rob Robinson), then off campus as I half stopped out of my co-terminal Economics / Engineering Economic Systems program.

My very late "1981" graduation came after Summer so I'm technically 1982, I kept working around the Bay area at Ford Aerospace, learned to love Ultimate Frisbee, ran a marathon, began dancing to punk & new wave, had a significant relationship which ended, ran as a Libertarian for state Assembly (against Tom Lantos), then for Congress (against Tom Campbell & Anna Eshoo). Was working as a System Consultant when I sold my Sili Valley house to travel around the world to meet other Free Market folk, including one in London who was about to become an advisor to the Slovak Prime Minister, which was still part of Czecho-Slovakia at the time in 1991; he invited me to join his team.

Loved the idea of Klaus' voucher privatization, though it had problems. Learned strongly that the "perfect" is the enemy of the good when my suggestions for improvement were heralded as reasons to stop it altogether. When the Christian Democrat dissident Jan Carnogursky lost to populist nationalist Meciar in 1992 elections, I stayed to see the conclusion of privatization.

And to continue courting my wife, Eva, a medical doctor now teaching bio-ethics. Under the commies, young doctors made less money than experienced janitors -- this is only slowly changing; teachers also don't much. We got married in 1994, when I agreed to stay in Slovakia. On our honeymoon in the great Tatra mountains (near Poland & Ukraine), after Meciar won a re-election in 1994, my new wife agreed we could leave for the US, if I insisted. But I knew she'd be happier in Slovakia, and that the secret to a happy marriage is to keep the wife happy. She's great.

I moved into Investment Banking for 8 years, then tried a small software company for a year; now I'm consulting again and a little teaching. I'm coordinating an AIDs mission in Kenya, where we send Slovak doctors to HIV as well as basic health treatment; similar programs are in Sudan & Cambodia; possibly soon in Haiti. I'm also a bit involved in Roma (Gypsy) issues; they're a big minority here and their culture is anti-assimilation, but also anti-wealth creating.

I have to say I'm excited by the reunion this year, despite planning to miss it -- I was last on the Farm in July, 2001, with my Slovak wife and 3 kids (we now have a 9 month old 4th). We saw the Rodin sculptures, lots of new buildings, and watched some squirrels in the palm trees. On my blog I link to a short video of my two sons singing a silly squirrels song while they're supposed to be trying out shorts; also see my wife and the baby, no me nor daughter. http://tomgrey.motime.com/post/576813/Try+my+Grey+Squirrels+Video

Feel free to comment on the political rants on my blog -- I'm sure there's something you can disagree with. There's never been a World Without Dictators, but I dream of one, and ask: Why not?

Bratislava's fine, Vienna's great and close. Drop me a line if you're ever in the area.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/30/06 18:44 | link | comments (3)
greys

Missing Myth of Big, Good -- yet hated

Is there any difference between a few thousand and a few hundred thousand?

Is there any difference between bombs killing civilians and rounding civilians up and executing them in death camps? 

Rightwing guy is right: MSM wants the USA to lose.

Our mythology is based on Biggest & Strongest guys in the story being bad Goliaths; or little Davids who are good being NOT biggest or strongest.

We don't have a mythological explanation for being Biggest, and Good -- and yet having folks feel oppressed and full of hatred against.  Since it's clear we're biggest, this must mean we're not so good.  And since we ARE imperfect, it's easy to look for and find proof of US non-goodness.
(via Dean Iraq & Vietnam)

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/29/06 17:03 | link | comments (1)
blogs

Injustice and hate

Neo-Neocon has a great thread on Why This War is so hated.

Thanks for a lot fewer insults than most such threads!

The Palestinians had a point that Israel's creation was not perfectly just. Yet from 1948 - 1967 Muslim Egypt and Jordan could have but failed to support the creation of a second, Palestinian state, next to the Jewish state, on pre-1967 boundaries.

Instead crazy USSR supported Nasser massed troops on the border, and Israel wiped out the wimpy Muslim fighters in 6 days.

The Jews humiliated the weak, disorganized, undisciplined Arab Muslims -- which is a big reason the Jews are hated. Much more so than them taking land which had been conquered Ottoman land, and very poor, for centuries. Muslim shame about weakness has been turned into Jew-hate and America-hate. Supported by those who hate capitalism's success.

The oppression has always been Arab oppression of Palestinians, as is true in Lebanon today, while blaming it on the West, the US, and Israel. Mostly false blame, yet Israel hasn't been perfectly just -- and there is NO "pure justice" available today.

Peace will require acceptance of less than justice.

It's important to see how the Left blames America/ the West for most of the evil of recent history.

The Holocaust murders were caused by Hitler, not the West's unjust Treaty of Versailles; the Cambodian Killing Fields were caused by (China supported) commie Pol Pot, not Nixon's bombing [with commie victory enabled by the Dems voting to end funding for fighting evil]; the Rwanda genocide was Hutu vs unjust Tutsi (French enabled, Clinton calling it "not genocide", until it was over); the Darfur genocide is enabled by the UN & Amnesty calling it "not genocide."

The choice is war or genocide, and the anti-war folk want to stop genocide with words, only. Their failure to do is blamed ... on America.

The evil is done by the evil actors, and such evil actors always look to excuse their evil actions with some imperfections of others.

America is good, is great -- but is imperfect. The Left that blames America for Iraqis starving due to sanctions, is failing to blame Saddam, the acting dictator in charge, for the deaths.

The Left that blames America for Iraqis dying from suicide bombs is failing to blame the acting Islamist murderers, though more Iraqis are starting to.

The purpose of the blame includes "keeping their hands clean," but also indulging in BDS Bush-hate. It's fun to demonize "the enemy" -- and Bush-haters do it, with Bush as the enemy.

If Iran gets a nuke, and allows Hizbollah to nuke Tel Aviv "secretly" -- such "blame America first" Leftists will blame America.

America should act like Iran is on that path now. Iran, unlike Israel, signed the NPT. That means, for 3 years they've been in violation of their signed agreements.

What does "international law" say about violations? Well, no UN SC resolution, no enforcement. It's not really law, because there's no World Cop; no World Judge; no democratic World Legislature. There "is" the UN, full of corrupt dictators, all looking to blame America for any evil by themselves, and using America's imperfections as justifications.

The purpose of the UN was to stop genocide, and stop war -- and it has failed, failed, failed, and is still failing. As long as there are important, powerful countries that don't accept Free Press & Free Religion, it will continue to fail. (The world needs a Human Rights Enforcement Group / coalitions of willing democracies -- but such an org doesn't exist yet.)

Of course, the Left blames the failures of the UN on ... America! Not supporting the ICC, not doing enough (in Darfur), doing too much (in Iraq). Even the weather is America's fault! -- Bush doesn't support signing Kyoto (which Clinton's gov't rejected). Of course, those that DID sign, are virtually all in violation.

But "signed treaties", like the Paris Peace Accords, are only really to be followed by America. Other country violations don't matter, don't count, and never reduce the blame to be given to (too-)rich America for being imperfect.

I blame Bush, too, a little bit -- he should have been talking about invading Darfur for two years. He should have pointed out the alternative to imperfect American invasion is slo-mo, UN enabled genocide.

He should also talk about how long, and slow is the process of nation-building. Look at how Iraq is already ahead of Kosovo (media suppressed info, of course).

There were other ways to help Iraqs rebuild faster (municipal loan bonds to elected Iraqi mayors, for instance, controlled by Iraqis), and much cheaper for the US taxpayer.

But read the Euston Manifesto -- Leftists like Norm Geras who is more honestly in favor of human rights and democracy, and is increasing disturbed by the rampant, intellectually dishonest anti-Americanism of so much of the Left.

Very similar logic is followed by anti-God folk, who hate God since it's not understandable that: 1)God exists, 2) is all powerful , 3) is good, and 4) evil exists. The mystery of Free Will and Human Sin isn't enough -- God isn't "good enough".

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/29/06 13:52 | link | comments (15)
iraq, leftist

Current Stories

Quick hits on the important stories (Via Marc Cooper)

The Dem & Rep House is totally out to lunch on corruption issues.  And while the Reps are more guilty of getting cash, the Dems are totally guilty of not proposing systemic solutions -- primarily in reducing gov't handouts (pork), tax loopholes, and regulatory adjustments. 

I'm not convinced the Times Ramallah is the best, but it's better than much.  There's a lot of other Iraq not covered well; Basra, Iraqi Kurdistan.

House Reps who want to get re-elected will NOT support amnesty, and so what if Bush wants it?  Thanks to low polls, due to silly unrealistic expectations, Reps don't have to follow Bush's lead, even if he's going in a good area.

What would you think of legal but NOT a path to citizenship, like permanent non-voting resident?  (Must go back "home" and get in line to become a citizen.)  I can imagine such a compromise being accepted.

East Timor is huge UN disaster.  Like Darfur.  And as such, it will be used (I hope?!!!) as a representation of the realistic alternative to US action.  And it's very sad.  I suspect corruption and especially aid corruption as part of the politics.  Don't know enough yet.


The big My Lai type Haditha murders by US marines will NOT create huge new anti-war sentiment.  To a large extent, the anti-war folk have been claiming from the beginning that such atrocities were inevitable, and unacceptable.  The pro-war folk have, for the most part, agreed that some amount is inevitable, and must be accepted if the alternative is worse. 

Similar to Abu Ghraib -- where a General was fired and demoted, and many of the actual perpertrators went to prison. 

I suspect that the Haditha story is true enough that murder occurred, and a couple Marines will be found guilty.  But the Left calling for Rumsfeld to resign or Bush to be impeached ... it's all so childishly predictable.

It's a war.  Shit happens.  Imperfect human beings fight, kill, die -- and even kill innocents.  Thru bombings or murders, the innocents are still dead.  It's not US policy; it IS US policy to stop it and investigate it and punish soldiers who are guilty (never enough punishment according to Leftists who hate the imperfect troops that are considered either idiots or brainwashed or nutjobs anyway).

One thing I can say about the unfair Perfection standard the Left uses, is that it has helped the USA soldiers to get closer to that standard.  There's been historically low incidents of wanton soldier murders

I know, Leftists say there shouldn't be ANY!  It's UNACCEPTABLE.  Yeah; and 200 000 killed in Darfur is unacceptable too, starting 2 years ago when Bush called it genocide, but Amnesty didn't.  And the UN didn't.  And as for the unacceptable killing being stopped then, it didn't.

But it really is unacceptable, and needs to be punished.  What is appropriate, assuming guilt?

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/29/06 13:00 | link | comments (10)
blogs

Please reduce Potty Mouth passion

Neo has more on Politics and Friends.  How one woman complained about a 10 year-old's pictures of Reagan and Bush.  Neo notes that when one equates Bush to Hitler, it follows the thought that Bush is evil.

The Angry Left is crazy.

I think from the Anchoress, I now have the habit of complaining about obscenity, which I call "potty mouth".

I think if we laugh at those, especially but not exclusively Leftists, who argue using potty mouth language, we can maybe move to
significant discussion.

I don't think it possible to argue significantly with those who are potty mouth passionates.

Sally was mostly correct: the anti-capitalists hate America leading the globalization process using capitalism -- the peaceful economic system.  Voluntary agreement by the decicion making buyer. For good, or vulgar consumerist, or their own non-elite reason.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/29/06 12:32 | link | comments (2)
media

Michael answers some questions about ME corruption and faithfulness (my qs in italics):

Couldn't you write more about your experiences with ME corruption, and attitudes towards it?

Here's an example. Until recently, high speed Internet was banned in Lebanon so the Lebanese/Syrian mafia could rip people off on cell phone charges. Banning high speed Internet effectively banned Skype and forced people to pay the most expensive cell phone bills in the world. They didn't even bother to hide this plot from people. You could read about it in the newspaper.

Also, a friend of mine opened a restaurant. Just before the place opened he got a phone call from the chief of police in the neighborhood inviting him over for a friendly dinner at the chief's house. At the end of the call the chief said "Oh, and bring 3,000 dollars in cash."

Also, I'm wondering how rampant the not-faithful-to-one woman vice is; you alluded to guessing it.

In Lebanon, it's not even considered a vice.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/29/06 12:10 | link | comments (5)

Defense of Bush

Utterly fantastic, beautiful and meaningful  defense of Pres. Bush by The Anchoress. I completely agree about Bush, and the excess of conservative desire for Unreal Perfection -- yet disagree with Bush on immigration.

In fact, each and every conservative against Bush should be asked -- where is your energy on the local Republican Primary, to get a better Republican candidate?

I'm afraid the Personality Bush-hate anti-cult of the media has infected Michelle Malkin & LaShawn Barber (who I read and enjoy and usually agree with), into being too critical of Bush.

Bush, or any "conservative" leader, needs supporters in Congress. The failure of conservative pundits to pressure big-spending Reps is a failure of the Republican "leader" as well as the pundits -- and, like most folks, they want to blame Bush instead.

Prof. Bainbridge and Mark Tapscott should be scolded for taking the easy, lazy, "Bush only" approach to gov't, and not fighting longer and harder in support of "true conservatives" for Congress thru Rep primaries.

Just as the media focuses too much on America (not Darfur, Congo, China, Indonesia), it focuses too much on the President, not enough on the 100 Senators and 435 reps.

Most conservatives who feel betrayed by Bush have betrayed themselves by their own laziness/ busyness in other things.

Thanks again for your heart AND mind. Please consider re-reading Rerum Novarum (115th anniversary last week).

Update: Of course, if the Reps believe that protecting criminal Congresspeople is good -- then they are bad.  And "anything", even Dems, are better.

 

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/26/06 00:00 | link | comments (1)
democracy

No money - stop incumbents

I have nice things to say about Bush, and about Reps, and how the Dems are worse --
but not now.

Bribe taking Congressmen are criminals and should go to jail.  No money to the RNC, or any incumbents.

Of course I'm talking about the horrible idea that the FBI, even WITH a warrant, can't search a Congressman's office for the money bribe he's accepted.

Yeah, I'll just bet lots of Rep Congressmen don't want their offices or bank accounts searched.

They should be constantly audited.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/25/06 23:56 | link | comments
corruption

Try my Grey Squirrels Video

Not sure this will work, but the code is from Google.

"Squirrels" music in background is from Dr. Demento, who started out in LA while I was at in South Gate High School. But this is a new song. The boys loved it.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/24/06 10:19 | link | comments (1)
greys

Replace gouging with limited supply

QandO on price rises and gouging after Katrina.

The law against gouging is an ass. It should be changed.

It would be better to have no limit on increases, but a reasonable compromise seems to be a simple 100% "maximum" emergency surcharge -- the price is doubled.

Perhaps the law should be amended to read that "no gouging occurs after an emergency if the temporary price increase is 100% or less". In fact, the voters need to learn to expect doubled prices in an emergency, just like convenient groceries at the gas station cost more than in Wal-Mart.

The generators taken are a good example of why such a law change, and debate, should make people learn about the supply issues. For almost nothing does doubling the price in an emergency create excessive hardship, but it immediately makes folk do more conserving, as well as rapidly increasing the supply.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/23/06 18:48 | link | comments (1)
economics

Equality and free trade

“all are equal, blah blah blah” is not PC, it is self-evident human relations

Yeah, that's why there are as many women top physicists. Right. It's self-evident. NOT. This is just a PC lie...

People who really care about poverty are trying to help poor people get jobs.

Like 30 really poor $1/hr jobs instead of 1 overpaid $20/hr job -- where clearly the guy losing his overpaid job is worse off if he has to take a $15/hr job; but the WORLD is better off if 30 people are better off. Whether Chinese or Roma or Kenyans or Mexicans (in the US or Mexico).

The anti-immigrant Dem position is exactly this: stop the really really poor Mexicans from coming to the US, so that the relatively poor (but on world scale absolutely rich) US workers can make more ... than they deserve. Based on using gov't force to stop peaceful, honest peaceful from offering to work for an agreeable price. Gov't using violence to stop peaceful social advancement of the very poor.

Such a moral disgrace -- yet every rich country does it. Germany and Austria aren't yet even willing to let Slovaks work in their rich economies in unlimited numbers, despite being in an "EU", for the same reasons. They certainly do NOT want Slovak Roma!

And remember, the "market" doesn't really exist, only real people who make decisions exist. Decisions made in an environment which states: who uses what force against who under what circumstances. Decisions of peaceful, honest agreement -- or decisions based on non-peaceful force.

The "free market" means minimum force (define property rights & protect them, enforce honest contracts). Everything else is less peaceful. Nothing with less force keeps working.

Oh, the use of big gov't to "help the poor" is also so historically stupid -- the rich and powerful will ALWAYS take control of any gov't big enough to challenge them, and use the gov't to help themselves. The one Dem argument against Bush that has merit is that Bush is now helping the US rich too much -- by letting the pork bills the Reps and Dems push in Congress go thru.

It's not the tax breaks which are a problem (letting the rich keep the money they’ve earned), it's the gov't pork, Other People’s Money, to friends of the electeds (Rep and Dem).

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/23/06 18:45 | link | comments (1)
economics, poverty, immigration, aid

Obscene Rudeness

I'm afraid that, starting with Lenny Bruce but continuing with George Carlin, the use of F* speech, which I thought cool in '80 in grad school, leads to more rudeness.

Once obscenity is "accepted" as not rude, then something worse will be put out by those opposed.

We need to make obscenity "socially unacceptable" again -- so that when a rudeness boundary is crossed, it's only a curse word.

Not sure this is socially possible. (Via Bainbridge on McCain’s Commencement Speeches at Liberty U and New School)

McCain's speech is excellent.  I'm getting upset at rudeness, even on blogs.  I just don't find it at all fun anymore.  It has become too mean.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/23/06 18:42 | link | comments (1)
blogs

More honest government

Jane Galt wants more transparency.
More transparency is more honest. The Big Lie is that the gov't can give "all voters" more of Other People's Money than they take. The winners, those who really DO get more cash than they put in, don't want this to become known; and neither the winners nor the losers much want it known how the losers are supporting such a system.

Most have the illusion that they put their money in, like in a bank, and get their money out. Or they pay taxes, and thus deserve benefits.

Transparency helps, but what is really needed is to shift from gov't grants, to gov't loans -- so the needy get cash, but with an obligation to repay it. (I support Tax Loans). Similarly, Fed. Emergency cash should go thru the states and cities, with an automatic tax to repay it (1% sales?)-- and have the states decide how much Fed. cash they really "need".

But the electeds in DC want more power and glory, and the voters keep rewarding the over-active ones. The voters know there is no free lunch, so if their guy can get the Feds to buy them a lunch, it's time to pig out.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/23/06 18:31 | link | comments
democracy, corruption

Let Palestinians vote on Israel

Why not support a campaign to make "Western aid" to the Hamas PA based on them having a referendum to their own people:

Do you accept that there be two states: Israel and Palestine?
     Yes
     No

No borders, no compensation, no right of return. Only right of existence -- so that Hamas can sign a peace agreement without losing face. As said (prior thread?), only Islamists can give Israel peace. A referendum would allow them to do so, AND maintain their turn in gov't, without "betraying their own ideals."

Was there any talk of anything like this? < Michael, what do you think about this as a possibility?

(And only AFTER Palestine is created, or AFTER Iran becomes a free religion respecting democracy, will Hizbollah in Lebanon change.)

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/22/06 13:41 | link | comments
israel palestine

Revolutionaries are like

Revolutionaries are rather like teen drunks driving, no? "It can't happen to moi"
Until it does.

Mobs are more like babies, just wanting to have an EFFECT. Listen to our shouting, we want to make a DIFFERENCE.
Off with his head -- that's a difference.
Next.

(Via Neo on Revolutionaries.)

 

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/22/06 12:39 | link | comments (4)
hearts and minds

Comparative and Absolute Cost Advantage

The world hates the US -- wrong. The Leftist envy filled neo-socialists hate the US, for showing France and Germany and Canada and Italy and Japan and even the UK how to create jobs in an advanced economy. Too bad so many Leftists are such good writers, talented singers, great actors ... but such lousy economists. If the illegals hate the US so much, why are they coming? And why don't more Leftists leave? Didn't they promise to if Bush won -- guess they were just lying, like so many Leftist gasbags.

"This should make it obvious to anyone who claims to be an economist that offshore production of goods and services is an example of capital seeking absolute advantage in lowest factor cost, not a case of free trade based on comparative advantage." Paul Craig Roberts

If a country has educated, low cost, hard working labor -- that IS their free trade comparative advantage. Saying America is not losing $20/hr jobs to companies making the same stuff with $1/hr jobs seems silly -- that's exactly what the free market says. [The Roma problem is worse in Slovakia -- but they are NOT educated, and do NOT have a good work ethic. ]

Even $5/hr illegal immigrant laborers will replace $20/hr folk -- such $20/hr folk are OVERPAID.

But of course the RACISTS, er, nativists, will say it's better to use some kind of gov't program to keep a $20/hr job rather than let 30 $1/hr jobs be created in China, or India, or someplace where the people are REALLY POOR. Bah.

The Dem desire to hurt the US rich, so as to benefit relatively rich workers in America is a little immoral. To help rich American workers by deliberately keeping dirt-poor Chinese in both absolute and comparative poverty should be considered immoral -- but nationalist racists keep making excuses for it.

It's also stupid to compare China to America -- the better comparison is the USA with the EU. And high unemployment, unsustainable gov't benefits to the "workers" is already causing problems here in "EUtopia" (NOT!)

Paul Roberts chooses his starting point as Jan. 2001 -- without mentioning the dot.com bubble pop, where Clinton's overemployment economy burst. A more intellectually honest look would be looking at multiple 5 year and 10 year periods, and would show the Bush tax-cuts as doing great for the economy.

Bush and Reps in Congress have been doing terrible at spending (although the spending has also made the unemployment too low). Yet look at the corporate welfare of $700 million to Northrup, and Hillary, etc. voted to keep it rather than cut it as some Reps wanted. More evidence that the Dems talk "deficts bad" but virtually never "cut spending". (And big spending Reps kept the pork, too.)

Latin America is sick because the power of the gov't is used to hurt the poor and help the rich and powerful; and anti-rich folk become popular, give their gov'ts power, and then the rich take that power back.

How many times will the promise of easy help for the poor be shown false, before poor folk stop believing the false promises?

Get less gov't -- gov't should be protecting private property, and enforcing honest, voluntary contracts. Too often it enforces dishonest, anti-poor contracts; too often instead of protecting poor private property, it takes that property, and gives it to the current gov't friends; the rich and powerful.

Chavez seems, now, to be giving good benefits to the poor. If he can allow, primarily by NOT making it ILLEGAL (as too many in Latin Am. do), the poor to form their own small and medium companies, they can even get out of poverty. But he'll prolly create BIG gov't programs, so it will seem to work for awhile, and then break down.

++I've been on the board of directors, though fairly inactive, for ETP Slovensko for many years -- we work with Roma, and are actively helping them help themselves.

As a group, they have less education. As a group, they have lousy work habits.

One of the reasons "political correctness" is getting such a bad name is that those who believe it, believe in untrue facts (all are equal, blah blah blah). As long as the PC thought Nazis keep trying to suppress the truth, and implement policies based on their false wishes, their policies will fail.

Right now I'm not offering anybody any $1/hr job -- but I'm working with HIV folk in Kenya, and seriously looking for a way to start businesses there offering $1/hr. I know it would be a help for most who would get such jobs, relative to having no job.

Brian, it's easy to call somebody's logic confused; it takes a little thought to show it. Your comment doesn't rise above ad hominem. On "American racism", which is actually less than other countries but real, the desire to use gov't to save "our group's" job is essentially racist. Free traders say that that instead of a gov't making cheap cars illegal to save the jobs of highly skilled blacksmiths (in 1910-1930), the customers should be able to buy whatever they want and the producers should adjust.

Please show me a way to save overpaid jobs that doesn't hurt others, and maybe you can convince me.

Naturally you make no attempt to relate to my own example, it's not clear if you fail to understand it or just want to bloviate.

On the "rapid decline of the United States of America," it would be nice if there were some macro facts. Key facts: growth rates; unemployment rates; asset value amounts.

NOT absolutely important: GNP of US relative to the whole world. With less than 300 mil people, if all 6 bil on earth averaged the US GNP/person, the US would be some 5% of the world's product. From memory, the USA was something over 40% after WW II, and is still over 30%. As Chinese workers make more, prolly* starting with 600 000 000 (six hundred million) $1/hr jobs or somesuch, China's econ should become twice as big as the US, or more. It'll be bigger than the EUs before that.

OF COURSE the US REALATIVE economic position will get worse, as dirt-poor poverty of LESS than $1/ DAY gets replaced. That's a good thing, but having a Clinton Leftist bozo complain about it shouldn't surprise me.

He implies China can't have both absolute cost advantage AND comparative advantage; which is a false idea. Every absolute cost advantage IS a comparative advantage. And the best thing in the world is for the lowest cost producer to produce, so the poor get jobs first, if they can do them.

Unions, like "Buy American" racists, don't want to allow customers the choice to buy from "them."

(*I like 'prolly' better than 'probably', hope it takes over linguistically, so people use it more often, and thus become more accurate.) (Via Marc)

 

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/21/06 00:21 | link | comments (4)
economics

Norm hits

Norman Geras blogs:
About the fine Euston Manifesto, and some Leftists critiques:
"Understanding" noises about terrorist atrocities - in London or Madrid, but especially Tel Aviv and Haifa - as having their roots in poverty, oppression and injustice are equally common, though these voices are at a loss to explain why there have been movements in the past fighting these evils that didn't resort to randomly blowing up civilians. Well-known writers - mature people, veterans of the Left - see their way to endorsing the Iraqi so-called resistance despite its murderous methods, or give out lightminded comparisons between the US under George Bush's leadership and Nazi Germany.

How Syria is arresting a human rights lawyer and the writer Michal Kilo.

Tom Hamilton of Let's be Sensible

Very important post: The Black Book of Saddam Hussein, on how many crimes seem to be forgotten.  Like the 1 million civilians killed in the Russian attack on Afghanistan.
The double standard of Anti-Americanism, and Anti-West is so terrible.

How Jim Nolan gave a speech and reminded folk about how evil Saddam was.  Reminded them that the facts are how bad Saddam was, even if the political rival said those were the facts.

My own view is that the anti-war folk were in favor of more Saddam -- and should be called on it. 

A humorous note about Polls, and how he wants to renounce them; but maybe not.  Maybe take a poll about it.  Preceeded by a smart comment about Eurovision voting.

How does he do it?

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/20/06 00:53 | link | comments
blogs, hearts and minds

Peace Possible in Palestine and Israel

Michael J Totten is talking to a Palestinian Arab (with Israeli living permit), asking who he voted for:

“I didn’t vote,” he said. “There was no one worth voting for. Our parties are terrible.”

I would have said I know the feeling, but Good Lord. Whining about the Democrats and the Republicans to a guy who is stuck with the likes of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah and Hamas would just sound pathetic.

“What do you think about the prospects for peace now that Hamas won?” I said.

“The Israelis have an opportunity,” he said. “A piece of the puzzle was missing before. Permanent peace must have the signature of the Islamists. Now the Israelis can get it.”

YES.  Only the Islamists can give peace to Israel.

But the financial pressure needs to be on Hamas to sign: recognize Israel's right to existence (perhaps in pre-1967 borders). (easy???)

End support for terrorism.  (very hard, until after peace.  Perhaps conditional on 67 border acceptance?)

Read it all -- like everything Michael writes.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/19/06 13:20 | link | comments (4)
peace, israel palestine

Tired Conservatives - Iraq Iran Darfur Immigration Spending

There are 5 big reasons Conservatives are tired:

Iraq is slowly becoming a success, but the media keeps publicizing it as a failure.

Darfur is a failure of the UN, it's a failure of the "global test", but few anti-war folk accept the truth that genocide is the alternative; has been for two years.  Maybe most of the fighting and killing is finished now.

Immigration is an issue with no good solution.  Sending mothers home without their children is bad; letting all illegals stay in America as illegals is bad; legalizing them with amnesty is bad.

Spending, by Reps for pork for all (45% for Dems) is "under the control" of Reps -- but it's out of control.  Why vote for big-spending Reps?

Iran.  Attack and get verbally attacked by the international press -- or let Iran get nukes?  No good answers.

No wonder Conservatives are tired.

Plus, when the economy is good, as Iraq becomes a success -- these successful issues are overlooked by the media.  Bush remains bad to news folk.  He's doing a much better job than his poll ratings.

Posted by: TomGrey at 05/18/06 18:39 | link | comments (3)
iraq, media, immigration, darfur, iran