Everybody knows

Posted by Lex, on November 13, 2007

 

Everybody knows that rising income inequality causes social tensions which threaten our democratic, free market experiment.

As is all-too-often true though, everybody is wrong:

The “root cause” thing

Posted by Lex, on November 13, 2007

 

Princeton professor Alan Kreuger analyzes those factors contributing terrorism and reaches some interesting conclusions: The decision to murder other people – even oneself – in the name of an extremist vision does not come readily to the dispossessed, unemployed or illiterate. There are no “root causes” to terror in either personal or national poverty.  Relatively speaking, the roots of terror are rather found in  economic entitlement and education cross-referenced with stifled political expression in particular, and civil rights in general:

A Bumper Sticker that should appeal across the spectrum

Saw this today:

“If you elect clowns, expect the circus”

But what will they do if we colonize Saturn? Eh?

August 9th, 2007 by lex

 

One billion Muslims to turn into suicide bombers if Makkah, Madina are attacked

ISLAMABAD: The treasury and opposition members in National Assembly (NA) Wednesday have made it clear on (sic) US that one billion Muslims will turn into suicide bombers if the holiest places of Makkah and Madina are attacked and warned Vetican City will not remain secure if any such  threat is materialized.

Still, looking at the bright side, if those numbers are true, that still leaves 300 million or so that we can work with.

Back To The Index 

 

Knowing the enemy

Posted August 9th, 2007 by lex

 

“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.” – Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”

VDH on the O

By lex, on September 18th, 2009

The bloom is off the rose,** says the Fresno farmer-turned-historian:

(Nearly) half the country is not merely distrustful of him, but increasingly viscerally angry at him as well. Actually, “him” is a construct: At times there seems to be no “him.” Instead, the people don’t know whether the kindly Dr. Barack is their president, or his unpredictable double, Mr. Obama.

Stuck in the Past

By lex, on July 10th, 2009

House and Senate armed services committees have added hundreds of millions of dollars to sustain the production line of the USAF’s high tech F-22 Raptor, money that the Pentagon bureaucracy did not seek and against which SecDef Gates promises to fight since the air supremacy fighter adds little to the low tech struggle for hearts and minds in the Helmand province of Afghanistan.