The Left Coaster's Theory is very similar to my predictions here,
here, and here.
Thanx and a tip o' the hat to Lunaville for pointing me to this article.
That is all.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Mark Steyn is at it Again
Once again, Mark Steyn plays Pollyanna about Iraq.
His statements seem somewhat speculative and the facts he mentions ae somewhat cherry-picked.
But then again, we shall see.
His statements seem somewhat speculative and the facts he mentions ae somewhat cherry-picked.
But then again, we shall see.
Number Crunching
Well, hostile fatalities in Iraq are now at 73 for January.
Here's a breakdown so far:
Total coalition fatalities: 122
Hostile: 73
Non-hostile: 49
US: 102
UK: 10
Ukr: 8
Kazakh: 1
So far, there have been 1429 American soldiers killed in Iraq, 1100 of which were hostile deaths.
1292 since the end of major combat operations, 990 of which were hostile deaths.
Stats from Antiwar.com and Icasualties.
At this rate, we should have more than 2000 US fatalities by early September 2005, making my prediction that we will reach 2000 fatalities within a year of hitting 1000 fatalities come true.
A more in-depth analysis to come soon.
Here's a breakdown so far:
Total coalition fatalities: 122
Hostile: 73
Non-hostile: 49
US: 102
UK: 10
Ukr: 8
Kazakh: 1
So far, there have been 1429 American soldiers killed in Iraq, 1100 of which were hostile deaths.
1292 since the end of major combat operations, 990 of which were hostile deaths.
Stats from Antiwar.com and Icasualties.
At this rate, we should have more than 2000 US fatalities by early September 2005, making my prediction that we will reach 2000 fatalities within a year of hitting 1000 fatalities come true.
A more in-depth analysis to come soon.
The Whore-Makers
This article and this one show a disturbing trend in Germany.
Now that prostittuion is legal, will unemployed women (and presumably men) be forced into it by the government?
We shall see.
Now that prostittuion is legal, will unemployed women (and presumably men) be forced into it by the government?
We shall see.
Iraq Election Irregularities?
Concerns about the Iraq vote from that bastion of libertarian dissent, LewRockwell.com.
That is all.
That is all.
A Good Sign
Oklahoma, the fascist state which wouldn't allow write-ins and has insane ballot access requirements, is now considering a bill to restore true representative government.
All of my Oklahoma readers, contact your local representative and tell them to vote for this bill.
That is all.
All of my Oklahoma readers, contact your local representative and tell them to vote for this bill.
That is all.
Howie Carr was Right!
On the Howie Carr show the other day, Howie opined that he wondered what the immigration statuts of Juan Manuel Alvarez was. VDARE has found evidence that he is indeed an alien, and likely an illegal.
Unless, of course, he asked to be returned to Mexico, there is no reason to automatically assume that he will be sent home to Mexico after his trial unless he were here illegally (if he were found guilty of a crime, he might have his legal status revoked, but it wasn't said, "he will be prosecuted and IF FOUND GUILTY returned to Mexico," rather, the words I capitalized were left out.
That is all - or is it? More on this as it develops.
Unless, of course, he asked to be returned to Mexico, there is no reason to automatically assume that he will be sent home to Mexico after his trial unless he were here illegally (if he were found guilty of a crime, he might have his legal status revoked, but it wasn't said, "he will be prosecuted and IF FOUND GUILTY returned to Mexico," rather, the words I capitalized were left out.
That is all - or is it? More on this as it develops.
Don't Believe Everything You're Told
On the second page of this New York Times article (free registration required), we here this about the charges that Al Jazeera reporters appeared too soon after bombing attacks and were probably being tipped off:
"But the administration official said recently that there was no evidence for such a charge and that it was no longer repeated, though it had not been formally withdrawn."
Makes one wonder what else about the war we "know" that just isn't so.
This is probably not all.
"But the administration official said recently that there was no evidence for such a charge and that it was no longer repeated, though it had not been formally withdrawn."
Makes one wonder what else about the war we "know" that just isn't so.
This is probably not all.
Killing a Fugitive Slave
Lawrence M. Vance speaks out against an evil that governments do.
The problem with World War II is that people ternd to assume that because Hitler was so evil, any and all measures taken to win in WWII were justified, and anyone who fought Hitler must have been a good guy.
In reality, the allies, including even the freer allies, England and America (i.e. as opposed to the Soviet Union), did some pretty crappy things.
The point of this post isn't to bash the US, but to point out that we need to realize that we can do wrong, too.
Why is this important? Because if you refuse to ask questions about whether or not we committed atrocities in World War II, you will start justifying anything our government does by referenceing Worldd War II. Why is it bad to raze Fallujah? We did it to Dresden, Germany, and surely you don't object tothat, do you? I mean, if we hadn't incinerated a bunch of civilians, how could we have defeated Hitler?
And of course, there is the fact that we returned Soviet prisoners of war to the USSR, even when they didn't want to go.
In any case, we should never trust any government too much, not even our own.
The problem with World War II is that people ternd to assume that because Hitler was so evil, any and all measures taken to win in WWII were justified, and anyone who fought Hitler must have been a good guy.
In reality, the allies, including even the freer allies, England and America (i.e. as opposed to the Soviet Union), did some pretty crappy things.
The point of this post isn't to bash the US, but to point out that we need to realize that we can do wrong, too.
Why is this important? Because if you refuse to ask questions about whether or not we committed atrocities in World War II, you will start justifying anything our government does by referenceing Worldd War II. Why is it bad to raze Fallujah? We did it to Dresden, Germany, and surely you don't object tothat, do you? I mean, if we hadn't incinerated a bunch of civilians, how could we have defeated Hitler?
And of course, there is the fact that we returned Soviet prisoners of war to the USSR, even when they didn't want to go.
In any case, we should never trust any government too much, not even our own.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
The Elections Have Happened
Here are two opinions on them:
Iraq the Model says things went very, very well. Raed in the middle says that they went very poorly.
We'll see what happens in the ensuing weeks. Right now I don't want to speculate too much, because while I tend to be more pessimistic, if things did go really well I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, particularly the parade of the people living in Iraq. We shall see what we shall see.
That is all for now.
Iraq the Model says things went very, very well. Raed in the middle says that they went very poorly.
We'll see what happens in the ensuing weeks. Right now I don't want to speculate too much, because while I tend to be more pessimistic, if things did go really well I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, particularly the parade of the people living in Iraq. We shall see what we shall see.
That is all for now.
Another Crash
Less than a week since the greatest single loss of life of coalition troops in Iraq, another crash claims at least nine Brits.
Either the weather is really bad, this is a really unlucky month, or some of these accidents are not actually accidents, but attacks.
That is all for now.
Either the weather is really bad, this is a really unlucky month, or some of these accidents are not actually accidents, but attacks.
That is all for now.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Raimondo vs. Palmer
Justin Raimondo has some interesting thoughts about pro-warrior Tom G. Palmer.
As I recall, Palmer was the one who questioned Gary North's connection to Christian Reconstructionism, which is what led me to make this posting. (And the sequel).
(Although I did not link to Palmer's blog in my own posts).
In any case, on the war, I think that Mr. Palmer is all wet.
That is all.
As I recall, Palmer was the one who questioned Gary North's connection to Christian Reconstructionism, which is what led me to make this posting. (And the sequel).
(Although I did not link to Palmer's blog in my own posts).
In any case, on the war, I think that Mr. Palmer is all wet.
That is all.
In Hate Crimes News
If there was any doubt that the goal of labeling crimes "hate crimes" was to stigmatize certain classes of people rather than to punish more severely crimes that were motivated by hatred, this ought reduce it considerably.
Thanx and a Tip o' the Hat to Steve Sailer.
That is all.
Thanx and a Tip o' the Hat to Steve Sailer.
That is all.
Some Thoughts on Jersey
An interesting thought by Lawrence Auster on some evidence that suggests that the murders of the Coptic Christians* in New Jersey was religiously motivated.
Here's some of his previous writing on the same issue.
My feeling is that it probably was a religiously motivated murder of Christians by Muslims, but I haven't had time to examine the circumstances enough to form a definite opinion.
That is all.
* I should point out here that I am referring to them as Christians because they are societally considered to be Christians. I don't know enough about Coptic belief systems (let alone this particular families beliefs) to be able to say for certain whether or not I would consider them Christians. (As an evangelical, my standards for what I consider authentically Christian are a little more strict than others' standards may be).
Here's some of his previous writing on the same issue.
My feeling is that it probably was a religiously motivated murder of Christians by Muslims, but I haven't had time to examine the circumstances enough to form a definite opinion.
That is all.
* I should point out here that I am referring to them as Christians because they are societally considered to be Christians. I don't know enough about Coptic belief systems (let alone this particular families beliefs) to be able to say for certain whether or not I would consider them Christians. (As an evangelical, my standards for what I consider authentically Christian are a little more strict than others' standards may be).
A Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day
For once, Michael Rubin is right about something. Namely, the idea that we ought to be more solicitous of the will ofthe Iraqis in Iraq.
However, his last paragraph or so on de-Baathification sounds to me like he is once again projecting his views onto the Iraqis. I think that part of the goal of de-Baathification is to open up spots for Ahmed Chalabi's buddies, whom Mr. Rubin insists is the man most Iraqi Shiites see as representing their interests.
Oh, well, the article was nice for the first half, anyway.
That is all.
However, his last paragraph or so on de-Baathification sounds to me like he is once again projecting his views onto the Iraqis. I think that part of the goal of de-Baathification is to open up spots for Ahmed Chalabi's buddies, whom Mr. Rubin insists is the man most Iraqi Shiites see as representing their interests.
Oh, well, the article was nice for the first half, anyway.
That is all.
War Nerd on Iran
The War Nerd predicts an attack on Iran, and predicts it will be a disaster.
He also throws cold water on the idea that Iranians will rise up to help us overthrow their government.
Sometimes I think this guy has more common sense in his pinky than the entire Bush administration has in their collective bodies.
That is all.
He also throws cold water on the idea that Iranians will rise up to help us overthrow their government.
Sometimes I think this guy has more common sense in his pinky than the entire Bush administration has in their collective bodies.
That is all.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Coptic Christians Killed in Jersey
Despite my disagreements with Joseph Farah on the issues of the war in Iraq and voting for Bush, I think he has a point here. Not that I am certain that the murder of this family was religiously motivated, to be honest, I haven't studied it very carefully. But it seems quite likely, and I think that the media should show more interest in this murder case and its potential implications.
That is all.
That is all.
No Escalation?
Arthur Chrenkoff has noticed that the predicted rise in violence prior to the elections has not occurred (at least not so far).
What does not occur to him is that this might not be just because security in Iraq is so good. Perhaps derailing the elections is not a central objective for the insurgents.
Of course, we always have Abu Masab Al-Zarqawi to remind us of how much the insurgents hate democracy and how much democracy vs. anti-democracy are the only two sides in this war and being for or against democracy is the only issue anyone is fighting about.
Of course, I have my doubts about the authenticity of Zarqawi's announcements, but we shall see.
That is all.
What does not occur to him is that this might not be just because security in Iraq is so good. Perhaps derailing the elections is not a central objective for the insurgents.
Of course, we always have Abu Masab Al-Zarqawi to remind us of how much the insurgents hate democracy and how much democracy vs. anti-democracy are the only two sides in this war and being for or against democracy is the only issue anyone is fighting about.
Of course, I have my doubts about the authenticity of Zarqawi's announcements, but we shall see.
That is all.
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