Saturday morning links

The E.U. is just the latest example of the powerful Enlightenment idea that human nature and civilization, through the expansion of scientific knowledge, are progressing away from the cruelty, oppression, and collective violence created by irrational superstition, religion, and ethnic or nationalist loyalties. Once liberated from this destructive ignorance, people can create political and social orders that will promote peace, social justice, political freedom, and prosperity. Most important will be what Immanuel Kant, in his influential 1795 essay “Perpetual Peace,” called a “federation of free states” that would form a “pacific alliance . . . different from a treaty of peace, . . . inasmuch as it would forever terminate all wars.” Kant predicated the possibility of such global peace on “the uniformity of the progress of the human mind.” A universal human nature progressively becoming more rational and possessing more knowledge about itself and the world can craft a global order that would lessen if not eliminate the evils that had afflicted the human race for all of its previous history.

Hamas Executes One of Its Leaders - Then Blames Israel

"We Don't Understand Real Evil, Organized Evil, Very Well. This is Evil Incarnate."

The U.N. Handmaiden of Hamas

Washington Opened The Gates Of Hell In Iraq: Now Come The Furies

I basically agree with Tyler's view (wait, it's David Stockman again, via Tyler). Iraq is not a real nation.

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:00 | Comments (12) | Trackbacks (0)

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>>Kerry: Starving Africa Shouldn’t Build More Farms Because It Would Contribute to Global Warming

Wow. Where to start.

Good idea. Because decades of aid have increased the populations of DEPENDENT people in countries that can not provide for themselves, meaning instead of a few dozen starving kids on TV, it's thousands. Hundreds of thousands.

And it's not like American farmers are dictated how and when they can plant crops, how much, water rights removed, grazing rights removed, or having their crops seized and destroyed over arcane "laws" and rabid orcs that have to control everything, because you know, safety or something. SWAT teams that rip your place apart because you might be selling raw milk or have an unapproved antibiotic on site.

I can picture that place in hell that is reserved for these people and especially Kerry. Killing as many as possible. As brutally and tortuously as possible.

Oh and I suppose the tomatoes used to make the Ketchup in the Heinz company that lines his pockets don't come from farms, eH?

#1 Fjord on 2014-08-09 07:37 (Reply)

Walmart Primary Care;

Mr Fjord went to a CVS minit-clinic for his DOT/CDL physical. His schedule didn't permit him to be able to get an appoint. in the 9-5 time slot M-W, F, of our family doctor (that i've since changed) and this was before the physical had to be done by a DOT-certified Dr.

For $115. he got his paperwork filled out (and it's more involved than a regular physical) and was seen on a Sunday morning, although we had to drive over an hour to get a CVS that had this option, definitely worth it.

#2 Fjord on 2014-08-09 07:43 (Reply)

We have an inordinate fear of death. We live a bit longer now than we used to, but that doesn't seem to have lessened our fear of death. The death rate has never changed; one person, one death (I stole that from Heinlein, I think), and it never will. We need to accept that, and quit spending gillions of dollars on people who are dying.

And before you ask, I'm 62, and probably have liver cancer. I won't ask my fellows to spend $600k (apparently the going rate) to keep me alive.

#3 Randy on 2014-08-09 07:57 (Reply)

Every human that ever lived or ever will live cherishes their own life more then they cherish anyone else's life. I'm sure that most people on reading that will disagree and declare they cherish their childs life more or their spouse's life more. But those statements are made from ignorance. When you are sitting across from your oncologist and he is talking months then and only then will you truely understand how much you cherish your own life.
Should we spend money on dying people? Perhaps not but should we spend money on fat people, drunks, drug users, people with diabetes, parents of more the two children, seriously ill children or young adults... Who decides? And if we decide that someone decides what happens when they decide "your" illness is not worth the tax money they have been taking from your paycheck for 45 years?
In fact we already do "give up" on dying people. The doctor/hospital sends them home and they are provided with pain medication and are told that you cannot and should not call 911 or take the dying patient to the hospital. That is the state of the art health care for dying seniors.

#3.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2014-08-10 17:50 (Reply)

"This is the sort of English up with which I will not put."- Winston Churchill

#4 chasmatic (Link) on 2014-08-09 09:15 (Reply)

My aunt Rozella thought that talking about weather would cause it and that it was OK to end a sentence with a preposition.

When she heard some people talking about an approaching storm she said: "Why bring weather that a body has to get in out of up for"?

#4.1 oolioo on 2014-08-09 10:05 (Reply)

Thornton: The failure of the EU:

An interesting article with a lot of valid observations. But a bit overstated and untimely. For all of it's seeming theoretical failures and actual difficulties, the EU has somehow worked for a long time. Much longer than I thought it would. And it has worked for the better in the main. Europeans eat well, live a long time and enjoy themselves like pros.

Most significantly at this point in time is the large and growing body of direct evidence that the EU works at it's best under stress. I call it the Putin effect.

Not only are the Europeans working together to share resources to adjust to Putin's madness, many other nations are working with them. Canada, Australia, Japan, etc.

I'm usually not an optimist, but I am impressed by the resolve of medium and small sized nations like Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania to stand up to the bully in the Kremlin. It seems the lessons of past aggressors have not been lost on the present generation of leaders.

If Putin does not know he is painting Russia into a deep, dark, isolated, hungry, poor and cold hole, someone should tell him.

#5 W. C. Taqiyya on 2014-08-09 09:28 (Reply)

Obama's Amnesty Would Be Like Lincoln's Emancipation

So the massive influx of foreign nationals that the US government refuses to stem will be legalized for those areas in open rebellion to the federal government, but not those states under Union control, to stave off any possibility of a negotiated peace?

Interesting. I guess those states to be affected should get to the open rebellion.

#6 JKB on 2014-08-09 09:43 (Reply)

I don't understand the notion that Iraq was never a real nation. Sumeria and then Babylon were some of the oldest kingdoms and civilizations on Earth.

The problem isn't geography or borders, the problem is Islam.

#7 B Moe on 2014-08-09 11:54 (Reply)

Iraq was invented by the Brits, with a magic marker on a map.

#7.1 Bird Dog on 2014-08-09 12:12 (Reply)

All the Middle East countries were invented by Britain with a map and a marking pen - except for Israel - which was invented by the UN.

#7.1.1 mudbug on 2014-08-09 16:01 (Reply)

"Super Party-Boy Has Advice for Young People with "Right-Wing *ssholes" for Parents"

So yeah, I guess the kids are gonna be OK. I tend to think so because I have recently been impressed a few times by young people. Like, in their twenties young and showing some very professional moves. Upon reflection, I remember being impressive at that age. I should not have been surprised. But, I'm old and I forget stuff. Actually, I think this new crop of kids may be better. Better looking for sure.

#8 W. C. Taqiyya on 2014-08-09 20:55 (Reply)

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Saturday, August 9. 2014

Saturday morning links