Last Post

I shall no longer post on this blog.

There goes the UK's future

My triumphal graduation post shall be delayed for a time while I try to wrap my mind around exactly how much of a jerk the UK electorate seems content to elect into office. They've really got themselves into a fix this time. Their fearless leader, Tony Blair, has surrendered completely to the impotent ravings of the rest of the European Union. The budget rebate that Margaret Thatcher worked to secure has been surrendered. Tony Blair has given up £7 billion (10.5 billion Euros) from its 2007-2013 EU budget. This is half of Maggie's rebate for that five year period.
Why a rebate? Well, much of the EU's expenditure is on the ridiculous Common Agricultural Programme (CAP). This system of subsidies funnels enormous amounts of money to European farmers, much in the same manner of our own system except much larger. This money supposedly goes to agricultural development. However, oddly enough, more money goes to French, Spanish, and German farmers than to farmers in the other twenty-two countries combined! The disparity between what the UK put in and what it received was so great that the rebate, which covers this disparity, is now worth £3 billion per year.
This represents a problem for the Franco-German axis (with Spain's Zapatero playing the part of Harpo) is that it cuts them out of a great deal of CAP money. The European Commission also wants to expand its operations, requiring a bigger cut of the budget. This all came together to put pressure on Blair. Having no backbone, Blair eventually caved. One of his campaign issues was to keep the rebate. He then announced that he might surrender 15% of the rebate in exchange for CAP reform. He finally dropped about a third of the rebate in exchange for the possibility of a review of CAP reform (that the French can, and will, cancel) in 2008. Not to be outdone, Chirac demanded at the same press conference that the UK rebate be abolished entirely within the decade.
This is patently ridiculous. The UK rebate is being surrendered by turns, and what do they get in return? More onto this, the UK is abandoning its naturally strongest allies in the Commonwealth for European partners that are at best unreliable. The much-vaunted Anglosphere Alliance between the US, UK, and Australia isn't materialising. What we're seeing instead is a more geographic and economic division. The US and Australia have become strong allies. Japan has also joined this- Japan has strong ties in the realm of defence and economics with the US. Europe hasn't joined the party- it's too concerned with its radical anti-Americanism and amusing attempts to form an opposing power to the US. This takes money, and Tony Blair is more than willing to part with his taxpayers' cash.

A Retrospective

Having completed my senior thesis, and thus being drained of all creativity, I’ve decided to shamelessly crib other peoples’ ideas. To-day I’ll steal Professor Massa’s idea for a blog entry. Given that I leave University permanently Thursday morning, it seems an appropriate theme.

Nicholas “Professor” Massa
One of the first gentlemen I met at this school. He’s typically my co-conspirator in grand projects. Over the course of my time here, the projects have become considerably grander, and thus our wallets considerably more drained. He has quite the interest in history, and a library that puts my meagre collection to shame. It’s rare that you meet anyone so conversant in the subject. Other joint projects include the Battleship Yamato and other efforts of the WJU Shipyards, sledding and Cedar Point instead of studying for finals, and the Swedish Mauser Acquisition Programme.

Chris “chirs” Lim
I also met this gentleman early on in my first year here. Again, it’s a pleasure to be acquainted with someone conversant in foreign affairs and international policy, especially after high school. He’s a bit on the eccentric side, and he spends much of his time demanding money from people around campus. However, his eccentricity is complimented by a level of maturity which makes him a good companion for meaningful conversation.

Kristine “Christine” Malmgren
One of the many effects of having the same people in all of your classes is getting to know them. Out of all my fellow PEP majors, I’d say that I know Kristine the best. Though we’re not terribly close on a personal level, Kristine and I get along very well, at least most of the time. Of course, when I misspell her name or make a wiseacre comment the situation changes dramatically. I’d place her as one of my all-time favourite (part) Scandinavians, and one of my favourite people at Jesuit.

Thomas “Tom” Gallagher
Tom has been the source of many escapades over the years. There is no way to describe the full “Tom experience” in such a short column as this. Tom is serious about his religion (he is of a very papistical temperament) and his philosophy. Despite his tendency to find creative ways of persuading Protestants to embrace the Popish Superstition, he is a great conversationalist, especially when it comes to discussion of the various demerits of certain Christian denominations (5-4-3-2-1 Communion!).

Jerry Schubert
Mr. Schubert is a topic all to himself. He was the dark lord of the Young Republican movement, and made for many interesting class periods. He also had a capacity for retaining liquor that the rest of the campus could not collectively match. He was also an interesting conversationalist, especially in the areas of firearms and political philosophy.

Scott Hitchens
Master Hitchens inherited Jerry’s dark mantle and he’s the current master of the Young Republicans. He’s the sole author of the extremely progressive Comrade Stalin cartoons, many of which decorate my refrigerator presently. Whether it’s a smart political point or a didactic anecdote concerning the infamous ice plant, Mr. Hitchens can easily dominate conversations and ably steer them.

Stefano Bartolini
Stefano is the model of the cultured European gentleman. He has a very friendly temperament and is always concerned with the lot of his friends. He’s also possessed of an excellent sense of humour. Stefano is one of my favourite people to be around, and I already miss his presence at the traditional Churchillian lunch.

Mattia Bartolini
Mattia is Stefano’s (fraternal) twin brother, and is equally a delight to call a friend. Mattia is a fine source of camaraderie or the latest reports of Berlusconi’s constant perfidy. When Mattia became a US citizen earlier this semester, the majority of the audience consisted of his friends, which is an able testament to his amicable nature. Mattia and Stefano are easily in the front rank of good friends.

Alain Merkova
Alain is another friendly fellow, so friendly in fact that he didn’t slap me upside the head even though I mispronounced his name for the first two years of our University experience. He’s another interesting source of conversation about a variety of topics, and I’ve learned much from him. Some of this knowledge will profit a great deal in the future.

Eric Mena
I’ve known Eric primarily through various other people since my freshman year. He’s quite a character, though I rarely see him. He has quite a work ethic, and travails in a full-time job in addition to attending school. He certainly leads an interesting life, and is good to know.

Bridget Harrison
I haven’t the foggiest recollection of when I first met Bridget. She’s been a good acquaintance for some time, despite her alignment with the dark forces of Political Science. Bridget is quite amiable (except on the subject of Oliver Cromwell, but that’s hardly surprising as most Englishmen aren’t either). Bridget is very fun.

Grace Burke
Grace is another interesting person. It can certainly never be said that she leads a dull life. She’s also very amicable, and knowledgeable about European affairs (Bolstered by her semester in Vienna, which is a fine city). She hatched the notion of the go-away shindig.

Eric Ferguson
Eric’s a bit of a trouble-maker, but at the same time he’s very kind, especially to me. He has quite an interest in community service. He’s also a kick to have in class. His various activities are now the stuff of legend around campus.

Virginia Shumate
The “friendly ghost,” Virginia was one of four original PEP majors (the others being Eric, Kristine, and myself). Though I don’t have much conversation with her outside of class, Virginia is certainly one of the kindest people on campus. She’s also one of the few liberal PEP majors, and she has remained so for the entire term of her education. That speaks much for her convictions.

Chris Fox
Chris was in my group in Dr. Pagan’s human person class. He created the revised chart of human evolution, culminating in the “Pagan-o-man” stage. Chris is another fellow who is fun to chat with on a variety of topics. I took the LSAT with him, and wish him well on his score.

John Bowman
Mr. Bowman is a Gonzaga-bred Washingtonian. He’s also a straight philosophy major, and has a very questioning mind. He is yet another example of the amicable type, and I’ve had many good conversations with him on a wide range of topics.

Curt Bolton and Lindsey Peters
Not that they’re related or linked in any way, but I’m running short on space. They’re relative newcomers to the PEP crew, but they’re both intelligent and interesting. I wish them well in their future endeavours, but that is hardly necessary given their capabilities.

Liz Meyers
Liz is one of the few people in my FYS class with whom I still speak on a semi-regular basis. I still remember the great mission of the UNSATRAPROFOR freshman year, when she turned a popcorn bowl into a UN helmet. She’s quite a character.

Levi Pelikan
I’ve known this fellow off and on since freshman year. A glutton for punishment, Levi is back after a brief hiatus and is making good headway in his college career. He is rather friendly, but also very unique. I wish him the best fortune as he continues his college life.

The ARC gang
To round it out, I’ll include the entirety of my co-workers at the Academic Resource Centre. This is a diverse lot, from the activist/intellectual such as Levi White to the well-travelled Lauren Leif, with characters such as Brian O’Donnell, Mary-Ann, and Jenn Larch in the middle. They made work interesting.

I’m certainly glad for the company provided by those listed above. If I didn’t list you, blame my faltering memory. I’m grateful for the good times and I hope I find an equally amicable group to speak to in future.

Our Chinese Trading Partners

It seems that during my latest blogging intermission, the Chinese government has perpetrated a massacre of peasants whose land was being taken for a new power plant. There are thirty-three dead and many injured in the village of Dongzhou. There are some graphic pictures of the victims here, at Gateway Pundit, and a video from the Washington Post. The Chinese police and party thugs cooperated- the police fired guns and tear gas while party toughs beat some of the protesters to death with farm implements (as you can see on the video).
With the death toll at thirty-three (six according to official Chinese figures), this is the worst repression since the infamous Tianamen Square Massacre of 1989. In my view, this demonstrates exactly what the People's Republic of China is- a totalitarian state that is willing to murder its own people with the utmost savagery in order to keep power. This will happen again and again to those who stand up for their natural rights. The current regime in China is not capable of pro-democratic change.
The shocking part of all this isn't that China was so brazen in murdering its dissidents- that's par for the course. What is truly shocking is the utter failure of "human rights organisations" to condemn the massacre. Of several such "organisations" that I visited to-day, I found only Amnesty International even mentioned the massacre, and issued a bland press release and condemnation, asking Chinese authorities (the ones responsible) to develop "effective channels for dispute resolution." I don't think the Chinese authorities have a problem with dispute resolution. Bringing a heavy farm implement down on a dissident or poking 5.8mm holes in him with a QBZ-95 are very effective channels for dispute resolution. The problem is with their egregious violations of natural rights that occur over and over again, not their infamous efficiency in ending debate. To their shame, I could not find a single statement about the massacre (let alone a condemnation) on the sites of either the sanctimonious European Union or the so-called Human Rights Watch. What I did find was a great deal of consternation about possible abuses that may have taken place by the US.
This is very telling. Tranzi-types such as the EU and Human Rights Watch are more than willing to give China a free hand to squelch internal dissent so long as they play along with the Tranzi programme (sign Kyoto, join the ICC, &c). The trouble comes when a nation refuses to join either of those two entities. The US gets hit more in the press releases of these organisations than any other, China included. This demonstrates not only a double standard (the fact that the US might have tortured someone is worse than routine beatdowns and torture of Chinese dissidents) but also a willingness to abandon Chinese dissidents for political concessions and trade deals. The same goes with abandoning Cuban dissidents for ideological considerations.
Human rights organisations are more than worthless. Their insistence on ignoring major human rights problems in certain countries while relentlessly targeting not-so-major problems elsewhere degrades their reputation. Ultimately we need independent organisations dedicated to defending man's natural rights. If they cry "wolf" while ignoring the real danger, they spend their most precious resource- credibility. Without that, they cannot function properly as watch-dogs for human rights.

Euthanasia and Sarko

First, I must apologise for being remiss yester-day in two anniversaries. The first was, obviously, the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbour, and its courageous defence. The next day, which is to-day, Japanese forces began attacking the heroic USMC garrison on Wake Island.
Also yester-day in 1815, Marshal of France Michel Ney (who, incidentally, was actually of German origin) was shot by a firing squad on the orders of King Louis XVIII, who had be restored to the throne following Napoleon's second reign (the Hundred Days). Some rumors suggest that Marshal Ney escaped execution and ended up teaching school in the Carolinas as one Peter Stuart Ney.
Reading the Daily Torygraph was certainly profitable this morning. It seems that Mssr. Nicolas Sarkozy, last seen commenting on actor Matthieu Kassovitz' blog, is going to be the UMP (centre-right) candidate for President of the Republic during the next (2007) election. He will face off against current Prime Minister (and true little Napoleon) Dominique de Villepin for control of France's future. If Sarko wins this, France just might have a chance of solving its numerous problems. Villepin is too much of an ideologue to change any of France's disastrous policies. Then again, I said the same thing about Angie Merkel, and her "economic stimulus" plan is "raise taxes."
I also see that the Israelis have approved a method of Euthanasia. The difficulty that previously prevented this pernicious legislation was that the Torah forbade it. It seems the Israelis have now adapted "Sabbath clocks" to shut off ventilators. This is a disturbing development. It's also an example of man ignoring the spirit of the law for the sake of the letter. The horrific punishment of burning at the stake was invented because Church Doctrine forbade the shedding of blood. The prohibition on killing is there because euthanasia is bad. Creating a technological "loop-hole" does not exempt one from the spirit of the law.

Everybody's got to wear clothes...

...and if you don't, you'll get arrested.
-Mr. T
This rule even applies to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon "Tax 'n Waste" Brown, though he apparently didn't think so until recently. He imagined himself as clad in the most exquisite "third-way" garments. Sadly, when he went on display, he turned out to be as naked as the proverbial emperor. It seems that the land of my ancestors is posting growth below 2%, and is expected to do so for the next year. This comes a quite a surprise to Mr. Brown, who figured this year's growth would be twice as high as it turned out back in the optimistic month of January.
This is not an unexpected development for anyone who has even a cursory understanding of economic systems- higher taxes and increasing government hegemony over the economy tends to slow things down. It happened in the Euro-zone in a big way, and now it's hitting Great Britain.
I also see that the Tories have selected Bizarro-Blair as their leader. He says that the Tories must "accept modern Britain," or (less prosaically) change nothing substantive. Britain is doomed.

Now on to a new feature. I've noticed that people on campus tend to know little about me. This is a new section where I speak informally about my (eccentric) personal habits. This is my personal Glasnost.
One habit that provokes a great deal of criticism is my teetotaling habit. People are often put off by the fact that I refuse to drink alcohol. It's seen as unsocial.
My family has a history of alcoholism. Neither of my parents drink alcohol, and they've been able to provide a good living. Sadly, family history is not so promising. There's a great likelihood that I've a predisposition for it. As a result, I prefer not to take chances.
In addition, the style of drinking in college is extremely off-putting. People drink in order to get drunk. This sort of behaviour I must confess is revolting. Human beings are the only creatures gifted with reason, and yet university students see fit to toss it out the window and to return to the "terrible twos" through the use of intoxicants. I've been around drunk people far too often in my life, and the descent into an alternately self-pitying or aggressive stupor is mind-boggling. The entire point of being an adult is being able to take care of yourself. The drunk imposes a great burden on all of his friends through his lack of virtue. This burden is entirely preventable, but the drunk is too involved in his own problems to see outside his horizon.
There are many aspects of human behaviour that I'll never get. Heavy drinking is certainly one of them.

The EU and Capital Punishment

It seems there's to be a debate on capital punishment, brought on by Singapore's recent execution of an Australian citizen (or is that "subject", since they're in the Commonwealth?). In addition, we've reached the "grim milestone" of 1,000 executions in the United States since the re-introduction of the death penalty. So, the capital punishment issue is once again making the rounds
Most of this criticism comes from the EU. Specifically, the Italian Government has criticised the US over this event. Demonstrating further that the EU does not understand "federalism," the Government of the Commonwealth of Virginia was responsible for the execution, not the United States government. There have been precisely three federal executions since the re-introduction of the death penalty. Perhaps the EU refrained from criticism because the governor of that Commonwealth is a Democrat. In any case, the US Embassy warned US citizens in Italy to be on the lookout for revenge attacks (?!?).
Aside from the obvious hypocrisy of attacking people because one of their states executed a murderer who was plainly guilty, the Euros have a few skeletons in their own closet. Specifically, the European Union's relations with the world's number one death penalty user, the People's Republic of China. While the US has, in the nearly thirty years since its re-introduction in 1976, executed 1,000 people, China puts 5,000 to 10,000 people to death every year, more than the rest of the world combined several times over! No one is certain of the exact number, since the Chinese authorities won't say. In addition, the Chinese authorities routinely practice torture on prisoners and violent cultural suppression in Tibet. No country on earth is more renowned for its repeated violations of natural rights or the "human rights" listed by the EU.
What is the EU's relation to China? Why they're trying to lift their collective ban on selling modern weapons to the Chinese government! Does this strike anyone else as the least bit strange? That's not the limit of their hypocrisy, either. It seems that the Italians are helping the Chinese develop mobile execution vans. Were I a gambling man, I would wager each one of these execution vans would see more people put to death than the entire United States would in a year. Yet, the only members of its bloc facing censure are those rumored to have operated secret CIA prisons that haven't been proven to exist.
The endless criticism of the world's foremost democratic power, contrasted with the kid-gloves treatment given to the brutal and authoritarian People's Republic leads us to one conclusion- the European Union and its member states are no "humanitarian power" as they like to style themselves, but rather an opportunistic group of amoral businessmen, embracing the most ruthless elements of capitalism that they claim is the exclusive inheritance of the American system. Provide them with a suitably-sized defence market, and they will turn a blind eye to anything.

More Religious Self-Criticism, Iraqi War Small Arms, and Bonaparte's Greatest Victory

I took another, more detailed religious questionnaire at Beliefnet. Here are the results

1. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (100%)
2. Orthodox Quaker (94%)
3. Eastern Orthodox (91%)
4. Roman Catholic (91%)
5. Seventh Day Adventist (87%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (78%)
7. Hinduism (60%)
8. Liberal Quakers (56%)
9. Orthodox Judaism (53%)
10. Islam (50%)
11. Sikhism (49%)
12. Unitarian Universalism (48%)
13. Theravada Buddhism (46%)
14. Reform Judaism (45%)
15. Mahayana Buddhism (44%)
16. Bah�'� Faith (44%)
17. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (43%)
18. New Thought (41%)
19. Jainism (40%)
20. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (38%)
21. Scientology (37%)
22. Jehovah's Witness (35%)
23. Neo-Pagan (32%)
24. Nontheist (32%)
25. Taoism (31%)
26. New Age (30%)
27. Secular Humanism (20%)

100% Protestant. I'm surprised I got 91% Popish, but c'est la vie. As expected, Secular Humanism scored really low (below Scientology!). This isn't terribly big news, as I've never liked secular humanism, even back in my liberal days. The Quaker-ism was another start, as I'm certainly no pacifist.
Speaking of Pacifism, or (more appropriately) the lack thereof, I've found another (more credible) small arms review about the Iraq conflict. This one comes from Strategy Page, and is entitled "Little Bullets Lose Respect". It seems that there is general dis-satisfaction with the current-issue 5.56mm round. There is also a great deal of noise favouring the older 7.62x51mm ammunition, which has better close-in penetrating ability. The "one shot, one kill" model is the preferred tactic, even in urban combat. There has also been some complaint about the sensitivity of the M16 to dust. The old M14 has come out of this the overall winner- not bad for the shortest-lived service rifle in US history.
I would like to remind my reader(s) that any time is a good time to contribute to the FAL fund.
To end on military affairs, two hundred years ago to-day Bonaparte triumphed over a combined Russian and Austrian army at Austerlitz, presently near Brno in the Czech Republic. Bonaparte yielded the high ground to his opponents, an unusual move for the time. He also began maneuvering under cover of fog, a "duh!" idea to-day, but revolutionary at the time (beaten only by Wellington's idea of the "reverse-slope" technique, i.e. "hiding your men behind hills"). Bonaparte thoroughly thrashed his opponents and won his greatest victory. This secured his position as the leader of Europe until 1812.
It occurred, interestingly enough, on the anniversary of Bonaparte's coronation as L'empereur des Francais, which was two hundred and one years ago to-day.
It's on to the LSAT to-morrow.

Islam is not a race

Whenever one condemns Islamist ideas, one is often labeled as a "racist." This is irksome, as Islamism is a political and religious ideology that transcends racial barriers. This assertion was demonstrated last month when Mireille, a Belgian woman blew herself up in a suicide attack against a US convoy in Iraq. From what I've been able to gather, Mireille was a Walloon (a Belgian of more-or-less French extraction), and was born into a well-off middle-class Christian family. Her town, Charleroi, is very close to the French border- Napoleon crossed into Belgium there during his hundred days campaign in 1815.
How did she end up as a suicide bomber? She married a radical Moroccan and converted to Islam. She was radicalised through his influence, and they departed for Iraq. He was killed by American troops in the theatre. She ended her life near a US Military Checkpoint on November 9, attempting to kill fellow westerners.
She was not born into a condition of want. She lived in the very shadow of the European Union, in the presence of (so Europeans think) the ultimate culmination of western thought. Yet she embraced radical Islam, and attempted to murder soldiers of another NATO country on the field of battle.
This demonstrates the falsity of leftist ideas concerning Islamism. They reduce everything to mere material want. They cannot see anyone challenging their philosophy, so they use its tenets to describe a situation even if said tenets do not fit. This is a great weakness, as their "progressive" ideas hold that some "tide" of history sweeps away any opposition to their ideas. This doesn't happen, but they can't deny their ideas, so they try to adapt an unchangeable thing to fit into their schema. As we see from this incident, Islamism is a serious threat both in the sense of its violence and its ideas. Whether European "third-way" thinkers would like to admit it or not, there is serious competition going on. Of course, competition gets easier when you do this to your ideological opponents (warning: disturbing).