Wednesday morning links

“I must study politics and war, that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, natural history and naval architecture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, tapestry, and porcelain.”

Note it is a right to study painting, etc., but it all hinges on the middle generation generating enough family wealth to support such economically unproductive endeavors. So many Millenials, misguided by their parents and Boomers in general, attempted to jump the gun. What changed was that unlike the 1960s and early '70s, you can't fall into a good paying job, but since the original Star Wars came out, students have needed to prepare themselves for productive work, because such work now requires more study and thought. Not the Millenials' fault, is that the Boomers who infested the universities hated America and the Western Civilization. That which used to be the gift of the university, now must be excavated by the neophyte while the professorate claw at them to stop their discovery of the ancient secrets.

#1 JKB on 2014-12-17 08:01 (Reply)

What is a suburb?

A suburb is where people want to live.

Dense urban development is where Leftists, disguised as new urbanists, want to force people to live.

Many people will be free in the suburbs, even as the urbanists seek to destroy their souls in tenements.

But the urbanist has a new problem. The current unrest will bring more street crime to the urban hellholes undoing what Republican governance wrought.

Good news, the urban cores are becoming islands in a sea of greenbelt. Bad news, fewer and fewer are crossing those seas to visit or work in those cores.

#2 JKB on 2014-12-17 08:11 (Reply)

Sprawl: neighborhoods outside of city limits where wealthy liberals do not live.

Blight: neighborhoods inside of city limits where wealthy liberals do not live

Sustainable: neighborhoods where wealthy liberals live.

#2.1 Another guy named Dan on 2014-12-17 12:32 (Reply)

Deroy Murdock: The True Victims of Torture

Do the promises of the Americans mean anything?

#3 Zachriel on 2014-12-17 09:07 (Reply)

And which promises would those be?

#3.1 mudbug on 2014-12-17 09:55 (Reply)

QUOTE:

Convention Against Torture: For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity...

Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.

No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CAT.aspx

Signed by President Reagan, 18 April 1988
Ratified by 2/3 vote of the U.S. Senate, 21 October 1994

U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2
U.S. Constitution, Article VI, Clause 2: all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land

#3.1.1 Zachriel on 2014-12-17 10:06 (Reply)

In the first place, treaties are between countries. I don't remember al Qaeda being a signatory to the Geneva Convention, or even a member of the UN (though given the stuff that comes out of that organization, it wouldn't surprise me if that is coming).

In the second place, you'll have to tell me what severe pain or suffering those dirt bags went though. After their "torture" was over, they played soccer or read the Koran. In fact they were healthier for their time in Gitmo than they were when they were captured.

From what I know, the authors of the Senate Report - which is what prompted the column - did not interview a single member of the CIA or anybody else on that side of the issue. It was a report useful only for propaganda purposes.

#3.1.1.1 mudbug on 2014-12-17 10:24 (Reply)

mudbug: In the first place, treaties are between countries.

That's right. The U.S. and other nations have promised not to use torture.

mudbug: you'll have to tell me what severe pain or suffering those dirt bags went though.

Waterboarding, beatings, chained to walls for days on end, stress positions, cold, heat, malnutrition.

#3.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2014-12-17 14:14 (Reply)

So waterboarding is painful? How long is is painful? Does it leave a mark? Same with stress positions. Why are these prisoners so much more healthy now than when they were captured?

#3.1.1.1.1.1 mudbug on 2014-12-17 14:28 (Reply)

Since you're concerned with the comfort of al Qaeda prisoners, were you also distraught to hear of Sen. Feinstein's comment that, “We have to do some things that historically we have not wanted to do to protect ourselves.” or complaint that the CIA was too risk averse?

There was a lot of cheerleading from the intelligence committees and now some of the cheer leaders are unhappy that the team won.

#3.1.1.2 mudbug on 2014-12-17 10:41 (Reply)

I hope Feinstein and Pelosi will be arrested for aiding and abetting torture the next time they are on vacation and sipping wine somewhere in the French Riviera, since in 2002 they were both aware of and approved the interrogation methods being used, and indeed thought they were not aggressive enough.

#3.1.1.2.1 Jim on 2014-12-17 12:59 (Reply)

mudbug: were you also distraught to hear of Sen. Feinstein's comment that, “We have to do some things that historically we have not wanted to do to protect ourselves.”

Yes. It was a failure of her oversight responsibilities.

So do the promises of the Americans mean anything?

#3.1.1.2.2 Zachriel on 2014-12-17 14:16 (Reply)

In answer to your question is that the promise of Americans does mean something and even though we are dealing with thugs who are only evil, we treat them much better than they deserve.

I don't call treatment that does not leave a mark, does not leave a psychological scar, and leaves the prisoner in better health torture in any way.

#3.1.1.2.2.1 mudbug on 2014-12-17 14:37 (Reply)

mudbug: I don't call treatment that does not leave a mark, does not leave a psychological scar, and leaves the prisoner in better health torture in any way.

Not causing a mark is not the same as not torturing. Some of the most effective forms of torture don't leave a scar or cause serious injury. It's amateurish to let them die, as happened to U.S. detainee Gul Rahman when he was subjected to “48 hours of sleep deprivation, auditory overload, total darkness, isolation, a cold shower and rough treatment”, then chained to a wall, and allowed to die of hypothermia.

If it causes severe physical or mental pain or suffering, then it torture under the terms of the Treaty. Waterboarding causes severe suffering, and has been prosecuted as a war crime by the United States.

#3.1.1.2.2.1.1 Zachriel on 2014-12-18 08:01 (Reply)

Ask the UN's International Narcotics Control Board. Interesting article at the Guardian. Might to need to haul some marijuana activists to Den Hague.

One of the sad realities Internationalists face is that domestic concerns outweigh adherence to treaties.

#3.2 walt moffett on 2014-12-17 11:29 (Reply)

walt moffett: One of the sad realities Internationalists face is that domestic concerns outweigh adherence to treaties.

So, your answer to the question "do the promises of the Americans mean anything?" is no.

U.S. Constitution, Article VI, Clause 2: all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land

#3.2.1 Zachriel on 2014-12-17 14:19 (Reply)

Do the figures in the poor millenials study include students?

#4 B Moe on 2014-12-17 09:30 (Reply)

Re: Red states & Blue states

What a delightful story! I often think the differences in our views from one part of the country to another can only be solved by peaceful secession. Unfortunately, you'd - or rather the Red States - would end up with a East Red States and West Red States situation. I can live with that.

Unfortunately, there is a huge risk that secession would not be peaceful after the carnage of the last attempt. I can dream, can't I?

#5 mudbug on 2014-12-17 09:52 (Reply)

RE: Oberlin

It's difficult to picture black Americans (as a group) as anything other than an entitled class that, by its own devices, is unqualified and unwilling to work. They seem to put more effort into blaming anyone and anything other than themselves for any failures, shortcomings or disappointments. The left - particularly the left in academia (sorry, that's almost repetitive), but also in politics - has developed and fostered in them a culture of victimhood and blame rather than one of personal responsibility.

America has been left with a significant segment of its population who are unable (due to their own poor choices) and unwilling to contribute productively to society, yet who feel they are entitled to and demand the things that others in society produce.

As an employer and business owner, I would be very reluctant to hire any (to quote the petition) person of color, particularly blacks. That's the case especially if they have been raised in the US. The same caution applies to college educated indoctrinated whites.

#6 Mike M on 2014-12-17 10:11 (Reply)

Mike M: As an employer and business owner, I would be very reluctant to hire any (to quote the petition) person of color, particularly blacks.

"There is no racism."

Labor force participation (BLS 2013)
White: 63%
Black: 61%
Hispanic: 66%

In other words, blacks work at nearly the same rate as whites, though as you have shown, it is harder for them to find employment through no fault of their own.

#6.1 Zachriel on 2014-12-17 14:29 (Reply)

Please note that I specifically said "contribute productively" rather than "work" or "are employed." The BLS statistics don't actually report who "works", but who is "employed" or "seeking employment." While there are lazy and unqualified people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, it is chiefly blacks who are given preferential treatment that considers their race rather than their qualifications as a criteria for hiring and advancement.

Given the propensity of those particular blacks who happen to be unqualified AND unwilling to make a sincere effort (because they feel entitled and know that many businesses must hire a certain number of minority applicants) to play the race card if they are fired or not promoted, many businesses are reluctant to fire these parasites.

What I have shown is that the policies advanced by the left that claim to help blacks, actually harm blacks by giving them less incentive to increase their productivity and making less appealing to hire them. "Do I want to hire the white/Asian guy who knows I can easily fire him if he does a crappy job or do I want to hire the black dude who feels someone owes him a job and whose diploma may be based on his race and who may file a discrimination lawsuit if I fire him?"

#6.1.1 Mike M on 2014-12-17 17:37 (Reply)

Mike M: Given the propensity of those particular blacks who happen to be unqualified AND unwilling to make a sincere effort (because they feel entitled and know that many businesses must hire a certain number of minority applicants) to play the race card if they are fired or not promoted, many businesses are reluctant to fire these parasites.

As we pointed out, at least some of the difference in workplace participation between whites and blacks can be explained by continuing racism, as you have exhibited here. Thank you for the illustration of unreconstituted racism. It helps to see it in the open for the benefit of those who like to pretend it's a thing of the past.

#6.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2014-12-18 08:08 (Reply)

The left in their zeal to label anyone they disagree with as racist do serious damage to the effort to help people of color to improve their lives. This is so endemic in the left that many believe that the left prefers to keep their boot on the neck of people of color because it helps the left maintain power. Others, more forgiving or more naive think that the left are merely stupid and don't make the connection between their constant drumbeat of racism and the resulting unwillingness for good people to try to help. Either way it is impossible to have an honest discussion of race in this country. If you try to point out that most of the problems that blacks have relate to the destruction of the black family as a result of the massive increase in welfare (which Pres Johnson admitted was put in place to destroy the black family) the left will call you a racist. If you are in favor of more rigorous K-12 education and conduct standards for blacks you are called racist. The preferred choice of the left is to "deem" that black children have learned and give them diplomas and reduce the standards for college entry so that it will appear that blacks are "equal". If you point out as a businessman that you are reluctant to hire a black graduate with a degree in black grievence studies considering that blacks are routinely pushed through the education system while learning little to nothing then this fullfills the self fullfilling prophecy of the left that you are a racist. If you notice and comment on the fact that the racist system the left has set up is failing the black people then YOU are the racist. They then use this "racism" as justification of new programs to further destroy the black family and graduate blacks into careers they are unprepared for. This is a devilishly deviously sly plan by the Democrats to keep the blacks voting Democrat because any opposition to it by clear thinking people can be spun as racism don'tcha know.

#6.1.1.1.1 Sweetpea on 2014-12-18 11:32 (Reply)

You know, I just want to say the following: evil does not equal crazy.

All the major media are referring to the Sydney hostage taker as 'mentally ill', yet I can find absolutely no facts supporting this description.

In a press conference, Tony Abbot said that the man had an extensive history of mental illness...but he also said that this guy had a valid gun license which turned out not to be true.

Was this person truly mentally ill, or is that just a convenient category for the liberal Western media to put him into and therefore render his actions 'non-political'?

If this person had been hospitalized several times, then yes - that is an extensive history of mental illness. But just quoting people who met him as saying, "Well he just seemed nuts" as proof of a person's mental illness is ridiculous.

Just because someone is doing something you would never do and would never imagine doing, that is not proof that they are insane.

#7 JM01 on 2014-12-17 10:29 (Reply)

The Oberlin Story is encouraging-

Well, at least encouraging for US. Not so much for them. Conservatives generally understand that protesting is A. peaceful B. Sometimes a civic responsibility and C. carries consequences. My job has to let me go for jury duty, but not for protesting.

So these little liberal radicals will get out into the real world and rapidly discover that nowhere you want to work at will give you slack for protesting. They can't and probably won't fire you for protesting on your own time, but if your work suffers, or you can't continue meeting deadlines- tough shit susie.

I think the reason a lot of people start getting more conservative around 30 is that's when people start settling into real careers. Losing a Starbucks job to protest Ferguson isn't much of a tragedy, losing a good job with bennies and a salary and a desk to do the same is a lot different.

#8 JimmyBeam on 2014-12-17 10:39 (Reply)

...Our Weakness is Our Strength. Sounds like a global warming climate change argument.

#9 BillH on 2014-12-17 11:07 (Reply)

Where there is an opportunity to destroy one's culture there is someone who will get the political backing to do it with vigor. In France we can see visual pictures of ignorance and contempt at Chartres Cathedral.

http://www.archdaily.com/578212/the-restoration-of-chartres-cathedral-is-a-scandalous-desecration/

#10 faculty wife on 2014-12-17 12:18 (Reply)

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Wednesday, December 17. 2014

Wednesday morning links