Tag: Current Events

Foreign PolicyLeave a comment

What Difference Does Syria Make?

Podritske

Syrians killed in the ongoing civil war will be just as dead tomorrow whether their lives were extinguished by beheading, bombing, shooting, stabbing, defenestration or gassing with chemical weapons. “What difference does it make?” is to borrow an infamous question from one of the New Left’s most prominent of sacred cows, Hillary Clinton. Of course she was referring to the circumstances surrounding the Benghazi affair in which four Americans were killed nearly one year ago. Today still there are no reasonable answers to the embarrassing questions some were asking and which led to her hectoring outburst. Was the US secretly … Continue reading What Difference Does Syria Make?

Media, PoliticsLeave a comment

Of Persons and Things

Podritske

Associated Press has reported that: Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill. The Person For 2008 and for 2012 Time named Barack Obama. While that is certainly its prerogative I might interpret the selection quite differently, using Time’s own criteria. First, what exactly has Barack Obama influenced? The culture? Hardly. Obama is an icon. He is the choice of the culture. A nation’s culture is the sum of its intellectual achievement, the dominant ideas generally accepted. Since the dawn … Continue reading Of Persons and Things

Ethics, Media1 Comment

In Mourning: No Media Please

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This is a terrible time to watch broadcast news media. Grieving over the horrific loss of life in Newtown, CT is a private affair for the family and loved ones affected. Those affected in a tertiary sense, troubled by the cultural basket-case which the US has become, will also be best served by private suffering and contemplation. It is not a time for media saturation with “public grief” and for speculation about gun control or collectivist solutions to alleged mental illnesses. The griever-in-chief, Barack Obama, did not start this virulent and collectivist emotionalism but he certainly enables it with his … Continue reading In Mourning: No Media Please

Ethics, Rights1 Comment

Obligation to Work

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It is a characteristic of human nature that man must work in order to survive. That is, man does not possess physical advantages to forage for survival nor does he have an instinct to guide him in self-preservation. The defining attribute of man is his mind. He must think and act in accord with a chosen path of productiveness in order to survive. Anything that obstructs or impairs him in this quest that is not present in nature is destructive and evil. Barriers placed in the way of man’s creativity and productivity by other men are immoral. One must keep … Continue reading Obligation to Work

Foreign Policy, Politics2 Comments

Islamic Hope and Change

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How is it that the American government got caught so flat-footed on 11 September 2012? As Americans observed the eleventh anniversary of the worst terror assault in their country’s history plans were being implemented half a world away for violent protests against anything American. The US State Department had overlooked the seemingly obvious precaution of bolstering security in world trouble spots around this important date. Intelligence failures would appear to be at issue as well. Why has this happened? Out-of-context “hope and change” is not enough to protect civilized people from the savages who crawl over this earth. Pretext For … Continue reading Islamic Hope and Change

Canada, Political Economy, PoliticsLeave a comment

Out Damned Euro!

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I would go a bit further than Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in commenting that “maybe Europe should give up on the eurozone”. Europe should definitely give up on the eurozone, that collectivist-inspired effort at central control of disparate nations and disparate lives. The attempt to have a common currency—the Euro—among 17 different economies was always doomed to failure. It is just another essentially useless fiat currency. It is legal tender because central authorities say it is. The conduct of trade between 17 competitors using the same currency cannot work because no adjustment can be made in a member country … Continue reading Out Damned Euro!

Foreign Policy, PoliticsLeave a comment

Rocket Redo

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On 25 March—from a position safely outside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing North and South Korea—US President Barack Obama warned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) against taking any “provocative” measures. It was a meaningless warning of empty rhetoric. For years this regime has drawn attention to itself in order to gain benefits, much as a horrid little child would by throwing a tantrum until mommy gives in and provides more treats. That is approximately the level of sophistication the US and other nations have demonstrated in dealing with North Korea, a socialist dictatorship featuring the usual famine and … Continue reading Rocket Redo

PoliticsLeave a comment

The Simple Summit

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The recent Summit of the Americas in Cartagena ended on a down note. There were two issues of contention: the simple possibility of decriminalizing the illicit drug trade—as suggested by Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Columbia—and Cuba’s  representation at the summit, advocated by the Latin American constituency. So contentious were these points that the usual closing statement could not be issued. The US and Canada, represented respectively by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper, were united in opposition, effectively exercising a North American “veto”. The position on Cuba is clear enough. Cuba has not been involved in the Organization of … Continue reading The Simple Summit

Law, Media, Politics1 Comment

Force Majeure

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In recent weeks, the news with the most dangerous implications for human liberty did not come from anywhere between the eastern Mediterranean and the Hindu Kush. Rather, it developed within the short distance between Big Business, USA and Washington, DC. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and companion Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) introduced respectively in the House and Senate of the US Congress were on the verge of being pushed to a favourable vote when a public backlash temporarily arrested further progress. I draw attention to the use of the word “progress” to clarify that I am using it … Continue reading Force Majeure

Politics1 Comment

An Arab Winter

Podritske

The promise of an “Arab Spring” may yield a “winter of discontent”. In Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) continues the dictatorship after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. Democratic elections promised by August are delayed to November 28. SCAF used some of the extra time to unilaterally write the rules governing the election process. Voting will take 6 months, allowing plenty of time to manipulate the outcome. Further facilitation will be provided by the absence of any international observers to witness the elections. SCAF has banned them. Free Expression The Egyptian military … Continue reading An Arab Winter