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Saturday, March 09, 2002
posted by gbarto at 4:50 PM:
The TurkeyBlog has not disappeared but is taking a little vacation. Just a quick post here then:On CNN, I see we've had another explosion in Jerusalem. This time, 10 or 11 killed, 80 injured. But don't worry, Israel's reluctance to negotiate is the cause of all this and if they'd just stop being so fussy about wanting more than promises from people who will take their own lives in order to kill Israelis in greater numbers, this would all work out. And if you believe that, Yassir Arafat's got some property he'd like to sell you.
While Europe wrings its hand and the U.S. tries to figure out what to think, a people is being slowly obliterated, and the fact that it's being done by oppressed and hence politically correct Arabs instead of those abominable Northern European White Christians Pat Buchanan so loves doesn't make it right.
Of course, we can understand Europe's concern: Having watched Muslims get slaughtered in their backyard not so long ago, they naturally feel Muslims should get a shot at slaughtering someone themselves, and if it's someone other than the Europeans, so much the better.
Still, the fact remains: Until either the Jews are destroyed or Europe realizes the moral costs of doing business with Iran, Iraq, Syria et al while fetishizing the Palestians, the violence will continue. Let's hope peace comes not through the fulfillment of Hitler's plan by other means, but through the understanding and action of grown-up nations that finally realize they can't keep letting things play out this way and still hold themselves up as genuine models of civilization to respect, admire and emulate.
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Thursday, March 07, 2002
posted by gbarto at 1:09 AM:
Postrel is absolutely right about the Bush decision on tariffs: A shameful act by a usually worthy man. Too bad his domestic team doesn't match the foreign policy/defense team.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:02 AM:
Ruffini called the California primaries; now here's his after the fact take. (via Instapundit)Matt Welch says it's not a good idea to run Bill Simon. I'd say it's probably also not a good idea to run Gray Davis. The question Welch and other bloggers who were pushing Riordan last week now need to ask themselves is this: Is the California Democratic party such a mess that we really needed the Republicans to find a worthwhile candidate?
The other question is whether those who were so viciously excoriating Davis last week will vote for him anyway.
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Wednesday, March 06, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:26 PM:
Let us now speak of serious men. Michael Kelly today makes the point that the problem with Daschle's criticism of the war isn't that it is unpatriotic; it just isn't serious.Kelly's critique reminds of the key distinction between George W. Bush and many of his opponents: His opponents are not serious men. Tom Daschle, Richard Gephardt and friends have been looking for a wedge issue to separate the president from his popularity. However, the scattered nature of their approach - Enron, one week; the economy, the next; and then the war for a split-second - shows that these men are not operating from philosophical principle nor even from a coherent political strategy; they are simply playing a game. These profoundly unserious men have not yet realized that in a time of war, politics is not a popularity contest, but a matter of life and death.
The dominant midgets on Republican side of the aisle likewise show little in the way of spine. When Senator Lott went on the attack, it was too easy to remember that he used to be a male cheerleader - apparently of the gossipy sort. The senator could have done a real service to his president - and the nation - if he had limited himself to explaining what was wrong with the new Democrat line. Accusations of lack of patriotism don't really work against men too shallow to understand the implications of their focus-grouped babble.
Fortunately, the people actually leading this war are profoundly serious. And to the surprise of some, George W. Bush has proved more serious even than his gravitas-laden vice-president. The president will go back and forth on domestic issues, of course; but where the war is concerned, he has listened to counsel, made his decisions and stuck to them. When the going has been rough, he has not backtracked, instead reassuring the nation that he knows what he's doing. And so far, he has been proved right.
The vice-president has been invisible a great deal of late. On emerging, however, he did not tell us how he was working on secret matters of great importance, did not puff out his chest and make noises to suggest that any credence be given to the claim that he's the power behind the throne. Instead, he has modestly explained that he is filling the role the president has given him.
Condi Rice, Patrick Ruffini's political hearthrob, has needless to say been excellent - and again, so modest!
The star of the show, Don Rumsfeld, has been yielded the spotlight by the president and vice-president, yet even he has raised the most eyebrows not by his antics by his willingness to say flat-out what so many would dance around. What's more, his candor has most surprised when it comes to his admissions of what he cannot know, cannot do and cannot leave undone, much as he would like to.
Finally, Powell has seemingly played the fly in the ointment, but every instant that it's come to crunch time, he has been on board. I think Powell has been given the job of telegraphing to our allies and enemies alike that there's no point playing diplomatic games because the president has his plans, they will be followed, and that's that. If Powell' going from capital to capital to smooth feathers with soothing words of "I know, I know, but what can you do?" keeps the Europeans out of our way, it's all to the good. And let us likewise salute Mr. Powell for using his position to advance our cause when so many others, if they had his stature and position, would be either angling for a Nobel Prize or trying to pretend that they were the real face of the country.
I think Mr. Bush's team has proved so impressive in the war for one simple reason: It's filled with people who know they have nothing to prove - except maybe by the quality of their work. In the previous administration, everyone - starting with the president - claimed to be working so hard for us, while resenting that we weren't all kneeling before them to offer our humble gratitude. Bush's people get up, go to work and do their jobs. Serious people understand that that's what you have to do sometimes.
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Tuesday, March 05, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:44 PM:
Sorry, Perry, Dale, Natalija, etc.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:32 PM:
Power to the People! Below, I note that tariffs raise the cost of goods. They do so because (1) they limit goods available versus dollars chasing the goods and (2) even when they don't reduce supply below demand, the regulatory burden they impose causes friction in the supply chain - and part of the cost of a good or service is what it takes to get it there.In fact, anything that constricts, restricts or regulates supply will in the long run increase cost. So will anything that adds to the cost of producing goods - taxes, for example, can only redistribute money; they can't generate wealth. So whether Bush is saving U.S. steelmakers, Congress is saving Social Security or the whole lot of 'em are saving the family farm, if you think the government is helping somebody out, remember that it's at a cost to the citizenry. If it's worth that cost to the citizenry, fine. If it's not, scrap it. But don't think that the government can help the economy as a whole - it can only take from some to give to others; the only value it generates is enforcing contracts so that capitalism can function as intended (Libertarians would add that in the long run, the market enforces contracts too, though sometimes it takes a while to get there).
So if we truly want power for the people, the answer is not government involvement; it's ensuring that workers have the same shot at ownership as everyone else. And that means scrapping tariffs and the like since they make it that much more expensive to participate in trade and that much more difficult to set aside money for investment after providing for basic needs. Again, down with tariffs!
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posted by gbarto at 10:03 PM:
Charles Murtaugh is dead on with this excellently written and researched critique of proposed increased steel tariffs. Murtaugh notes Barbara Mikulski's support for the tariffs, with the justification that we can't rely on foreign suppliers in a time of war. I was heartened to learn that Mikulski will break ranks with her fellow Democrats to support ANWR drilling (isn't that what she meant?).As for the Bush administration, if they implement these tariffs they are in the wrong. Making cars more expensive for the poor will not help them get to work. Making trucks more expensive will not make their dollar go further. And making tanks more expensive will not make their tax bills lower. The only justification for trade restrictions is to keep potentially dangerous technology out of the wrong hands. Anything else is a shell game to shrink the economy, magnify the importance of politicians' decisions and pretend to serve the people while limiting their options and their purchasing power.
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posted by gbarto at 9:00 PM:
Sullivan hits the Daschle problem on the head: If Daschle were offering constructive criticism, he could be considered part of the loyal opposition, but since he seems to be more interested in raising questions about the administration's approach than offering a better way, he must be regarded as the cautious, mealy-mouthed politician that he is.* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:49 PM:
Relative alive and ornery though still not in great shape; other issues more or less as before but somewhat better. Normal posting continues...* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:48 PM:
Andrew Sullivan and many others have linked this story touching on blogland. Among other things, the story tells us:Like print, Weinberger says, the earlier Web magazines were "bound up with the use of publications as a way to establish not just authorship but authority." But "the Web is by its nature hyperlinked, not self-standing. You have to be linked to be on the Web. And if you're posting material that has no links, you're taking yourself out of the conversation."
So why doesn't the story link to any of the websites mentioned? Maybe the webmaster doesn't read what he/she publishes.
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posted by gbarto at 8:43 PM:
In the last few days, a little more stuff has gone up on the Hugo site. I mentioned a poem and a partial translation the other day. The partial translation is still partial - just can't find a good way to deal with "Lesbos... et les marins d'Hydra." However, there is now a translation for a second poem from Les Châtiments and it is a complete translation.* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:27 PM:
Crappy night: Very sick relative, fiancée with issues and of course it's been snowing again. So off to blogland where all is happy. Content starts in the post above; continues with the post below.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:53 PM:
"Si possono dire cose sbagliate, basta che le ragioni siano giuste."
"Perdio. Altrimenti perché faticare tanto ad essere animali razionali?"
("So you can say something wrong if your reasoning is right."
"Of course. Otherwise, why bother to be a rational animal?")
-Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum (poor translation by gbarto.com)
Brian Linse will be assimilated. While he's still resisting, reasonable people exposed to libertarian thought can never really escape its pull. Libertarian thought has an internal coherence - a certain rhyme to its reason - that most other philosophies lack. This internal coherence is comforting to those who want a world that makes sense. Well-meaning people. Those who have thought more deeply on these matters will recognize libertarianism's only potential flaw - it presumes a logical and rational world. But a gentleman earnest enough to assure us that he "ain't no bad dude" probably would not want to reconcile himself to an illogical, irrational world, since in such a world left-leaning convictions would be meaningless, rather than just flawed.
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Monday, March 04, 2002
posted by gbarto at 10:56 PM:
To repeat Welch, Fuckers.(via McCardle, via Green)
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posted by gbarto at 10:13 PM:
Attention Green and Reynolds: The new UThant is up.* * *
posted by gbarto at 4:27 PM:
Read this and remember that for all their pretensions, it was the Europeans' nuanced, complex views that allowed effete intellectuals and cowardly "leaders" to turn a blind eye to what would become the Holocaust. Remember that Israel was created to create a homeland for the Jews after a supposedly sophisticated Europe proved too medieval in mindset, too barbaric in practice, to give them safety in the lands to which they had emigrated in the diaspora. Remember that when a nation such as France produces ambassadors who denounce Israel as "a shitty little country," the incongruity of such a great and large nation finding itself stymied by a 50-mile strip given over to the Jews must indicate a psychological problem - a wound on a nation's soul - and not a legitimate reading of the international scene. And finally, remember, all who worship "sophisticated" Europe, Pat Buchanan was saying all this ten years ago.There are times when nuance is called for; there are times when complexity cannot be avoided. But when knowing winks acknowledge a climate of opinion not unlike that which produced the Holocaust, when clever smiles let pass any notion that the stigmatizing of a people is acceptable, we must remind that such thinking is simply wrong.
Is the United States going to have to rescue Europe from itself, yet again? Or will they for once get their own house in order? If M. Védrine and friends would slap down the French ambassador, it might show that Europe is at long last growing up.
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posted by gbarto at 3:55 PM:
Short Israel screed (from the TurkeyBlog, not the patented Lileks kind)* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:33 PM:
Il n'y a pas de complexificateurs terribles. Dr. Weevil had this to say about the complicateurs terribles, which he found only on a German webpage, thus offering a genuine googlewhack, but alas, little enlightenment. He did however note that a friend said complicateurs terribles was bad French. Apparently, terrible complicator is bad English, as well - the OED knows of no such animal. Though complexificateur doesn't appear in Le Petit Robert (the best French dictionary according to all save the wacky Laroussites), complexification does, so I thought, why not? Here is the google page for that, but alas, google shows no pairings with horrible, terrible, mauvais or méchant. One note of interest: Complexificateur is used especially in the pairing "élan complexificateur," a term connected to the idea that the world works by means of diverse, complexly interwoven forces. It seems that complexity is accepted as an unquestioned good - no errant adherents of Ockham's razor have yet launched counterattacks against those who marvel at it (though complexification comes in for some criticism when it refers to globalisation and the fact that Eurocratic laws cannot alter those of physics or economics).* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:14 PM:
Another simple person has addressed questions of the French and complexity. I don't think it likely the French would have a good term for "complicator" because something so second-nature would not need to be mentioned - it's taken for granted. However, the TurkeyBlog will leaf through a tome or two to see if there's anything worth following up. By the way, there's an excellent point at the end: It's about time the Académie française did something productive for a change.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:02 AM:
So I was trying to log into blogger and it was taking forever, so I went to google to find out what the problem was - gotta move up to blogger pro! As I waited for the results, I thought to myself, "I'll bet they don't have these problems in Lagos!" Then I went here again, realized it said Instapundit references to Nigeria, not references to Instapundit, and slowly passed out as I realized I'd been doing it all wrong.* * *
Sunday, March 03, 2002
posted by gbarto at 6:31 PM:
Here's the quote from Santayana (see four posts down):“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
And here are two articles (1 and 2) on why you should know more about him that just this quote. (via Arts and Letters Daily)
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posted by gbarto at 6:22 PM:
According to this National Geographic piece:But the politics of women's rights can be complex. Last year the [U.N.] special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions was criticized by a coalition of member countries for including honor killings in her report, and a resolution condemning honor killings failed to pass. (my italics)
Being American, and thus naturally simple (Hubert Védrine says so), I don't find this complex at all: The United Nations, being dominated by slightly barbaric countries, unsurprisingly set standards that allow for barbarism, so long as it is enmeshed in complex issues of cultural identity (or similarly phrased hogwash) while standing vigilantly against simple readings (if women are people, they ought not be ritually killed any more than any other people) that prevent the West's greater degree of civilization from being seen too clearly. The only question is why we are using our tax dollars to fund an international organization whose membership is more firmly opposed to the jailing of terrorists than to the murder of women whose only crime is having an abusive husband.
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posted by gbarto at 4:53 PM:
Why the United States is better than Europe. In the U.S., it is understood that our rights are God-given - We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights... Among these rights, free-speech is sacred for the simple reason that democracy is meaningless if the demos cannot talk amongst themselves in order to set a course for their nation. Our founders understood this. The French - who sometimes think they invented liberty (when I was in France, I met a disturbing number of people who thought the French Revolution preceeded the Revolutionary War - we're not the only ones who can't learn history) - recognized in the Declaration of the Rights of Man that certain rights were "natural, inalienable and sacred". But even at that early date, they weren't fully committed to free speech:No one must be harmed for his opinions - even religious opinions - provided that their manifestation does not disturb public order as established by the law (Nul ne doit être inquiété pour ses opinions, même religieuses, pourvu que leur manifestation ne trouble pas l'ordre public établi par la loi.)
Here in the United States, even the most repugnant groups are allowed their say - it's their right, and better to let them speak than risk the suppression of worthy but unappreciated voices. Not so in much of Europe, where hate speech is (a) unlawful and (b) in the eye of the government. That is, Bill Clinton's assertion that Rush Limbaugh helped inspire Oklahoma City could have been grounds for shutting down his radio show. Now the Europeans are trying to slip their restrictions into the U.S. system through the backdoor because in a global village they can no longer keep a lid on the opinions of their own citizenry.
For a sharp, clear-eyed look at what's up and what it means check out this from the Captain of the USS Clueless.
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posted by gbarto at 3:36 PM:
Love is all you need. So says Tim Sanders of Yahoo in this article in Fast Company. According to Sanders, when we show the same committment to customers and business partners that we show to loved ones, good things come our way:What do I mean by "love"? The best general definition that I've read comes from philosopher Milton Mayeroff's brilliant book, On Caring. Love, he writes, "is the selfless promotion of the growth of the other." When you help others grow to become the best people that they can be, you are being loving -- and as a result, you grow.
Mayeroff talked primarily about love in our personal lives. But what we need is a definition of love in our professional lives. Here's mine: Love is the act of intelligently and sensibly sharing your knowledge, networks, and compassion with your business partners. The secret to being a high-impact leader and the essence of individual and corporate success: Learn as much as you can as quickly as you can and share your knowledge aggressively; expand your network of people who share your values and connect as many of them with each other as possible; and, perhaps most important, be as openly human as you can be and find the courage to express genuine emotion in the harried, pressure-filled world of work. And one last point: Behave this way not because you expect something in return -- a quid pro quo -- but because it's the right way to behave. The less you expect in return for acts of professional generosity, the more you will receive.
The points Sanders makes are good ones, though he doesn't directly note that the opposite is also true: Businesses that try to screw their workers, customers and partners out of every last dime inevitably blow it in the long run (are you listening, airlines?).
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posted by gbarto at 2:00 PM:
Heinlein gems:Bjørn Stærk, in discussing pacifism, reminds of Heinlein's assertion that no state has a right to survive on conscripted troops - if the people won't fight for their country, either the country doesn't deserve their support or they don't deserve their country. I tend to agree with this one; ultimately, a state must be able to justify itself at least in the eyes of its own people.
Heinlein offered thoughts on a lot of matters over the years, and condensed some of them into a short "notebook" in the middle of Time Enough For Love. Here are a few more thoughts:
- A "pacifist male" is a contradiction in terms. Most self-described "pacifists" are not pacific; they simply assume false colors. When the wind changes, they hoist the Jolly Roger.
- A generation which ignores history has no past - and no future (shades of Santayana?)
- It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is still better to be a live lion. And usually easier. (GWB must have read this one)
- Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded - here and there, now and then - are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck."
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posted by gbarto at 1:30 PM:
It's for the children. This article from NRO (main page linked at left) reminds again just how confusing and convoluted our nation's child protection services are. Here in Michigan, we can count on regular headlines about the child returned to parents who killed or severely injured her. But in Cleveland, they seem to have time for this investigation. I tend to side with the family in this article - it really doesn't look like any further follow-up was necessary. This does not mean that all social workers are engaged in ripping apart perfectly healthy families - about a year ago a social worker here in Michigan was killed - by a mother who was sure she was going to lose her kid because she couldn't control her violent impulses. Part of what is required is the exact opposite of what usually follows these cases: new layers of regulations that deny social workers the use of common sense and families the same commonsense protections from a government that too often oversteps its bounds. Lest that seem to pollyannish, the TurkeyBlog also favors motherhood and ice cream.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:19 PM:
A little more Hugo. Finally a poem from Les Contemplations has made its way to the Hugo pages. It's one of the happier poems, and I've even included a translation of the first half. Coming soon, the more somber opening poem from book 4, Pauca Meae (Lat. for "little me").* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:15 PM:
I want my global warming! After a nice week, Michigan got buried in snow this weekend. Spent an hour on the driveway this morning and now the snow is coming at a great clip again. Perhaps instead of raising CAFE standards, Senator Kerry could sponsor a "Northern United States Growing Season Expansion Act" to make SUVs more affordable.* * *
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