#3
"...US President / Commander-in-Chief / National School Lunch Lady Barack Obama took to the airwaves to declare an all-out War on Tater Tots."
Now that's one Obama initiative I could actually support. They used to serve those . . . those things in the dorms in the late 70s. Devil's work, those Tater Tots are.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/02/2011 16:37 Comments ||
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#4
Remember kids gravy is not a Vegetable!
Posted by: Joger Oppressor of the Lichtensteiners9577 ||
02/02/2011 18:04 Comments ||
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#1
Between all this officer training, and the annual Bright Star exercises since 1981, that have also brought a lot of NATO personnel to Egypt as well, the Egyptian officers corps has had a lot of exposure to the better way of doing business.
However, and even more intensively, the training the US conducted with the Iraqi military is the real question. That was by far much more extensive and intensive, and permeates its entire structure.
And that raises the idea of what if the military is better than the society? The Turkish military took charge of its government several times, but didn't change its society beyond what Ataturk envisioned. But the Iraqi military may feel the need to recreate its society to modern and western standards.
That won't be revolutionary, but evolutionary. I would think that the Iraqi military would take over the nation's educational system, to raise the next generations to its standards.
Not long ago, a close comrade of mine was dining with a person who I can't identify beyond telling you that his father is a long-term absolutist ruler of an Arab Muslim state.
"Tell me," said this scion to my friend, "is it true that there are now free elections in Albania?"
My friend was able to confirm the (relative) truth of this, adding that he had once even acted as an international observer at the Albanian polls and could attest to a certain level of transparency and fairness. The effect of his remarks was galvanic.
"In that case," exclaimed the heir-presumptive, thumping the table, "what does that make us? Are we peasants? Children?"
The gloom only deepened, apparently, as the image of the Arab as a laughing stock--lagging behind Albania!--took hold of the conversation. rtwt. Where do we classify Egypt in file under? It's Chris Hitchins. Seriously, rtwt.
#3
Makes me glad and proud to live in America. The BO Health Care law was shoved down our throats despite the will of the people. The donks paid heavily in the Congressional elections.
There is really no model for democracy/free elections in muslim countries. Iraq is attempting such but they have a way to go. The Shah of Iran got ousted and they ended up with a far worse situation than they had. The mullahs (theocratic jackasses) imposed a much more destructive and harsh government on the people of Iran. The Taliban imposed draconian rule on the people of Afghanistan with their fundamentalism. The model in the Mideast is dictatorship, royalty, theocratic rule, or elitist rulers with rigged elections.
#4
...no, it means they're too dense to understand how to do it with the facade of 'democracy' while maintaining the corruption and hereditary transfers of power, the Chicago Way(tm).
#5
I would refer the gentleman to the Most Important Paragraph Ever Written in English:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness....
It's as true today as in 1776, as true in Cairo and Caracas and Pyongyang and Mosul as it was in Philadelphia. Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and their only legitimate purpose is to secure for their citizens natural rights which come from a source greater than any government. No other form of government is legitimate. Period, full stop.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/02/2011 9:20 Comments ||
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#6
Mike nailed it.
The problem with Islamic "culture" is that they do not believe in the primacy of the individual.
Without that all alternatives (including the faux democracy) are authoritarian at best. If individuals are not allowed to make their own choices about how to live life, free from coercion, than there is nothing but tyranny.
The question is how do you imbue the concept of INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS in a subject people? Islam is submission pure and simple and that precludes any thought of the individual as a free thinking unit.
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
02/02/2011 9:56 Comments ||
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#7
The question is how do you imbue the concept of INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS in a subject people? Islam is submission pure and simple and that precludes any thought of the individual as a free thinking unit.
The problem as I see is that islam is thought by many muslims to be a complete system of religion, politics, banking, and law. Every aspect of life is regulated by religious beliefs. There is also the notion built into islam is of a caliphate, supremacy over others, and subjugation. This precludes any notion of freedom of the individual. It precludes tolerance for other's beliefs. The view by muslims of islam would have to change. The current version uses the methods of subversion and where that is not possible, violence. I doubt that change is possible so long as the imams are selling their fundamentalist version of islam out of the mosques.
#8
JQC, you are basically correct, BUT, I think that you may have missed a key point.
imams are selling their fundamentalist version of islam
They aren't selling a fundamentalist version, they are selling the one and only version that their is. Old Mo spelled out in great detail every last thing about life and any variation is NOT allowed. Muslims have to reject Islam to introduce the concept of individual freedom.
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
02/02/2011 13:37 Comments ||
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#9
as the image of the Arab as a laughing stock--lagging behind Albania!
An Instapundit reader raises the point, confirmed by Wikipedia, that the long-since overthrown King Farouk was part Albanian through his mother.
I can remember a time not all that long ago when it was said by many wise and eminent persons with degrees from all the right schools and lifetime subscriptions to the conventional wisdom that the whole idea of governments deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, and using those powers to secure for their citizens natural rights which come from a source greater than any government (in other words, democracy, individual rights, and the rule of law) was fundamentally incompatible with Latin American culture, and it was an act of supreme arrogance on our part to even suggest that Chileans or Brazilians or any of them should be voting. It wasn't compatible with "Asian cultural values" either. Or European values. Or the superstitious Papist stuff those damned Irishmen believe.
The Progressives asserted (and, to this day, still assert) that the optimal form of government is rule by carefully selected experts with degrees from all the right schools. Free elections, individual rights, and the rule of law--not to mention this whole concept of constitutionally-restrained limited government--just gets in the way of the efficiency of the perfect technocracy.
The Progressives' ideological cousins, the socialists of various flavors, agreed with them about the inefficiency of free societies with limited government. Oh, and that "endowed by their Creator" bit? Superstitious nonsense! There is nothing higher than the State, and the State can remake its subjects into New Socialist Men/purebred Aryans/what-have-you. Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato! (Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State)
As history has shown, and current events continue to show, all of these wise and eminent and hip, cool, and trendy people were and still are dead-ass wrong.
Yes, Saudi-style Sharia is incompatible with a free society, and yes, the Arab world has a lot of catching-up to do. However, you either agree with the Declaration of Independence or you don't. When it says "all men are created equal, . . . endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" it means all. Everybody. (See also Galatians 3:28.) The most benighted burkha-clad Bedouin grandma, the most pathetic peasant in the crappiest village east of Pyongyang, every Chinese, Cuban, Bangladeshi and Beylorussian, has the same Creator and the same unalienable Rights as you, and deserves liberty as much as you do.
If you don't believe that the principles espoused in the Declaration apply equally in Cairo, Egypt and Cairo, Illinois, then pray tell, how do you make the distinction between those of God's children who have those unalienable Rights and those who don't? And on what principle do you prevent some future elite or warlord or People's Revolutionary Vanguard from defining you into the second category?
Posted by: Mike ||
02/02/2011 15:02 Comments ||
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#11
how do you make the distinction between those of God's children who have those unalienable Rights and those who don't?
Domestically that is the purpose of the criminal justice system. We regularly deny people their rights when they are judged to have denied others theirs.
Internationally, the distinction is made based on our willingness to have our children die for the principle. Our willingness varies depending on the extent to which others attempt to deny us our rights.
And on what principle do you prevent some future elite or warlord or People's Revolutionary Vanguard from defining you into the second category?
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
or
God grants liberty only to those who love it and are ready to guard and defend it.
#12
Nimble, I'm basically in agreement with what you're saying; I was referring to categorical sorts of judgments, such as "Democracy is incompatible with Chinese cultural values." Individual liberty has to include individual responsibility or it doesn't work.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/02/2011 16:32 Comments ||
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#13
And I agree with what you were generally saying. We are foolish to think all people did not yearn for freedom at some point in their lives.
We are also foolish to think we can impose individual freedom on them after they have adopted a view that they have the right to impose submission to allan's will on others. The saying is you can only get to Jefferson through Martin Luther. Islam needs to find its Luther before before it can join the modern world. And until they do, they risk an end far less peaceful than the Protectorate's.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] African heads of state and government gathered together can be quite a spectacle. Some make you suppress a laugh, others make you stifle a yawn, and yet others make you want to cry.
They cut a multiplicity of images at the Assembly of the African Union's 16th Ordinary Session on Sunday. Any keen journalist would not want to take his or her eyes off their excellencies before coming up with a verdict.
My eyes come to rest on Meles Zenawi, the AU host and Prime Minister of Ethiopia. I see what western news hounds see in Cote d'Ivoire's Gbagbo; I see a strongman.
However hard he tries to exchange pleasantries with his colleagues and members of their entourage on the floor, his I'm-a no-nonsense-man image cannot be concealed. His fast receding hairline, that has left an airport-like patch on his scalp, works to reinforce the image.
My eyes reluctantly leave him and settle on Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan President who refuses to let go of Migingo Island. I see another strongman.
He needed not make any effort to show all and sundry that he was at the conference for serious business and nothing else. I couldn't help but pity Ugandans who have had to endure him for two decades and are poised to do so for many more years to come. The fellow has not even attained the age of 70.
Museveni will probably improve on the long record at the helm, set by Bob Muggsy Mugabe, ... who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... President of Zimbabwe. Those clamouring for generation change should see the youthful Mugabe.
Despite the rumours that good old Robert is in bad health, he looks years younger than his age. He walks straight and his face is bright. I can't rule out the man remaining in power till he is over a century old.
Then there is of course, our very own Emilio Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's president. One word sums him up: aloof.
Having reached for his seat, he remains faithful to the podium, hardly turning his head to look to the sides or even nod. From my corner in the press gallery, I keep wondering whether he is awake or merely struggling to be seen to be awake and following the proceedings. I give up.
Over to Abdoulaye Wade, president of Senegal. Tired man, if there ever was one.
Unlike his peer, brother Robert from Zimbabwe, the good old scholar is visibly tired, no matter how much he tries to hide it. As he makes his way to the washroom and back during the session, I wonder why he has chosen to hang on when there is a legion Senegalese ready to give their lives for his seat.
After all, having risen so high, he can never lack a job. Is he not aware how busy Kenneth Kaunda, Jerry Rawlings, ... former lieutenant in the Ghanian air force, then military dictator for 11 years. He thought he was elected President-for-Life of Ghana in 1993, but was forced to step down his at the end of his term-limited second term when his proxy was defeated ... Thabo Mbeki or even Festus Mogae are?
Goodluck Jonathan, the President of Nigeria is one lucky man. Flamboyance, his broad-brimmed hat, and perhaps the fame of the country he leads, make him stand out among his colleagues.
Circumstances force him to remove the hat to wear a head phone for translation and this does him a great disservice. I hope he wins the April presidential poll so that he can continue gracing the African scene.
Pierre Nkurunziza the president of Burundi is simply colourless. The youthful chief executive of the tiny country cuts an image of an uninspiring leader; almost looking intimidated. So much for youthful leaders. Things would probably be different were he the president of a massive landmass like the neighbouring DRC.
And you can't fail to spot Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia. She is graceful. The only woman CEO of the 53-member organisation may inspire many of her gender to aim higher.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia, greeted by former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
...Let us take a stroll down memory lane. Having assumed the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, Gorbachev understood clearly that the economy was poor in some respects and a shambles in most others. The basic problem simply couldnt be the system itself; after all, the White House GosPlan (the Soviet central planning agency) was populated with the best and the brightest. And so perestroika was the new buzz word, and the key to long-term improvement in Soviet economic performance was machine tools. Machine tools were the key to the future. That was obvious, anyone could see it: The strong world economies had invested vast sums in modern machine tools, and if only the Soviet Union did the same, its economy too would be world class. Presto! The system could be reinvigorated!
Obama, oops, Gorbachev was very clear: The key to long-term growth was the continuing introduction of increasingly fast high-speed rail productive machinery and equipment....
Can anyone be surprised that the Soviet system collapsed? Just like Obama, Gorbachev had thought of everything, with the crucial exception of electric cars, expensive energy, and high-speed rail. Or the one big simple reality that central planning does not work. Just like Gorbachev, Obama has thought of everything, except the one Big Thing: Central planning does not work....
Posted by: Mike ||
02/02/2011 09:04 ||
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While the US is hell-bent on meddling (at tremendous expense) in the affairs of at least 140 countries where its troops are stationed, China seeks to assimilate technology at little expense.
#3
See also DRUDGEREPORT > WIKILEAKS: US + CHINA IN MILITARY STANDOFF OVER SPACE MISSLES [US-vs-China "Star Wars" Programs, Intentions].
ARTIC = the US repor threatened China wid potential MilAction iff Chin's Anti-Satellite SpaProgs + Testing became too much of a unilateral, risque' threat to US Satellites???
#4
ION SINA, NEWS KERALA > US SHOULD DO MORE TO SUPPORT ANTI-ISLAMIST FORCES ALONG PAKISTAN'S ARABIAN SEA COASTS, espec as per US support for an INDEPENDENT SOVEREIGN BALUCHISTAN REGION + tighter US-Allied scrutiny + interaction vee PAKISTAN'S GROWING NUCLEAR ARSENAL.
OTOH MIL FORUM BLOGGERS/NETTERS > opine that curr CHINA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS + COOP [e.g. Gwadar] DOES NOT MEAN THAT PAKISTAN DOES NOT HAVE LRBMS OR OTHER PAK MIL FORCES TARGETED TO STRIKE AT PLA FORCES IN TIBET, NEPAL + WEST CHINA.
* PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > CHINA'S DROUGHT COULD HAVE GLOBAL CONSEQUENCES.
ARTIC stats indicate that:
> BOTH CHINA + INDIA ARE THE WORLD'S LARGEST SIMUL PRODUCERS + CONSUMERS OF WHEAT.
> Up to 5.0Milyuhn Hectares = 12.4Milyuhn Acres of Chinese Crops, a Land Area equal to 1/2 of South Korea, have suffered present damage.
> Up to 10.0 Milyuhn tonnes of vital FoodCrops could suffer serious drought-related damage by EOMS April-May, 2011.
* 2/3's of Chinese Cities suffer Water Shortages, wid Per Capita Water Consumption = 28% of Global Average for same.
Yes, our third year of Obama hope and change is beginning a lot like 1979 (Ill skip the domestic parallels), as an unjust and imperfect world rejects the utopian visions of another liberal idealist, and sees magnanimity as weakness to be exploited rather than as kindness to be reciprocated.
The ongoing Iranian nuclear program, the impending fall of Mubarak, the sudden rashness of North Korea, the regional muscle-flexing of Russia and China, the worries of Japan and Western Europe, the emerging new Marxist, anti-American, and anti-democratic axis in Latin America, the implosion of Mexico again, fairly or not, these will be interpreted as the wages of haughty American pontificating, coupled with impressions of stasis and indecision. That once again oil and food prices are skyrocketing, as the dollar weakens, deficits soar, and unemployment stays high, as in 1979, does not help to convey an image of American stability and power.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
