AND THE LEFT WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO CONTROL EVERYTHING!

Government is the problem not the solution: "In all times and in all places there has been too much government. We now know what prosperity is: it is the gradual extension of the division of labour through the free exchange of goods and ideas, and the consequent introduction of efficiencies by the invention of new technologies. This is the process that has given us health, wealth and wisdom on a scale unimagined by our ancestors. It not only raises material standards of living, it also fuels social integration, fairness and charity. It has never failed yet. No society has grown poorer or more unequal through trade, exchange and invention. Think of pre-Ming as opposed to Ming China, seventeenth century Holland as opposed to imperial Spain, eighteenth century England as opposed to Louis XIV's France, twentieth century America as opposed to Stalin's Russia, or post-war Japan, Hong Kong and Korea as opposed to Ghana, Cuba and Argentina. Think of the Phoenicians as opposed to the Egyptians, Athens as opposed to Sparta, the Hanseatic League as opposed to the Roman Empire. In every case, weak or decentralised government, but strong free trade led to surges in prosperity for all, whereas strong, central government led to parasitic, tax-fed officialdom, a stifling of innovation, relative economic decline and usually war".

Your government will protect you (1): "A jumbo jet that had lost an engine and was losing power in the other three was diverted over Central London, putting hundreds of lives at risk on the ground, an investigation has found. The crew were "fortunate" that there was good visibility because in low cloud "the aircraft might have landed well short of the runway", according to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). It ordered the Civil Aviation Authority to carry out an urgent review of the guidance given to air traffic controllers on diverting aircraft in emergencies over densely populated areas".

Your government will protect you (2): "An e-mail that showed up in my inbox the other day contained a photograph of the modern floodgates that keep Venice from being inundated by the Adriatic Sea. Below it was a picture of Holland's high-tech dams, which rise as much as 40 feet above the waves that perpetually threaten the Dutch. A third photo showed London's futuristic-looking flood barriers, a series of semicircular silver gates along the Thames that can be raised or lowered as needed to regulate tidal heaves surging up from the North Sea. Following these images of impressive European flood control technology came a picture from New Orleans. It showed a section of a broken, low-tech, decidedly unimpressive concrete levee surrounded by water, presumably taken in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Sneered an accompanying message: "Way to go, Corps of Engineers!" Whether it is fair to compare New Orleans's flood-control system with Europe's, or whether those European barriers are as effective as they are photogenic, I don't have the expertise to judge. Nonetheless, that e-mail is a good reminder of a key truth about the Katrina disaster: It was mostly the result of government failure".

Government failure even in a rich and moralistic Islamic society: "Twenty years ago, Shobokshi told me, Jeddah had been provided with the money to build a modern sewage system that would accommodate the fast-growing city. The government official in charge of the project, however, took the money and built himself a mansion in San Francisco and a palace in Jeddah that is equipped with a discothSque and a bowling alley. As a result, Shobokshi said, the streets in Jeddah are constantly filled with tanker trucks to drain the city's cesspools. Worse, sewage has got mixed into Jeddah's groundwater, and this has contaminated drinking water in many parts of the city. "We have new diseases of the eye and skin that didn't exist here ten years ago," Shobokshi said. "Lung and breast cancers are forty per cent above the national rate. Hepatitis is so high that it has to be classified as an epidemic".

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ELSEWHERE

Why do I not feel bothered by this news? "At least 345 pilgrims were killed yesterday when one of the holiest rituals of haj in Saudi Arabia turned to tragedy. White-robed believers rushing to stone the Devil in a symbolic ceremony were caught up in a stampede and crushed. Many who escaped death were seriously hurt, with 289 people reported injured".

There is an interesting article by Bernard Chapin here about the unrealistically high expectations of a partner that single women in their 30s and over tend to have. The article mirrors to an extent observations that I too have made. The unrealism of many women in that age range is certainly puzzling. I remember once overhearing a discussion between two waitresses when one of the waitresses said: "Oh! I'm waiting for my millionaire". Since the lady concerned was fat and sloppy, with short bleached hair and a brassy manner, I can only hope she was joking. I cannot imagine a millionaire who would not be able to find a better option than her. One is tempted to say that it is only the foolishly picky women who are still single by age 30 but the unrealism is also no doubt to a substantial extent due to the constantly preached feminist myths that deny all the basic truths about males and females. I am aware that what both I and Chapin say would be dismissed by feminists as sour grapes but I gather that Bernard is happily married and as someone who twice married ladies in their 40s, I think that I too am rather proof against such ad hominem criticisms.

There is a good historical roundup here that asks us not to judge France by her current despicable political class. There is much truth in what he says but I think he overlooks the extent to which contempt for France is largely a reflection of the feverish French hatred of America and "the Anglo-Saxons" generally. There is also a more personal article here that speaks kindly of the French.

As a legally-qualified academic, Keith Burgess Jackson is taking a particular interest in the nomination of Alito to SCOTUS. Today he "deconstructs" the specious opposition of the NYT to the nomination.

There is an excellent and comprehensive memoir of the heroic life of Ariel Sharon here. In this time of great trial for him and for Israel, it is good to remind ourselves of the Herculean efforts Israel has had to make just to exist.

There is a new book out called Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII and the Catholic Church Saved Half a Million Jews from the Nazis. That should give the church-haters heartburn! They always accuse Pius of being a Nazi collaborator. There is part of an interview with the author here.

There is another roundup of the latest news on race and IQ by Chris Brand just up here.

For more postings, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. Mirror sites here, here, here, here and here. On Social Security see Dick McDonald and for purely Australian news see Australian Politics (mirrored here).

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Practically all policies advocated by the Left create poverty. Leftists get the government to waste vast slabs of the country's labour-force on bureaucracy and paperwork and so load the burden of providing most useful goods and services onto fewer and fewer people. So fewer useful goods and services are produced to go around. That is no accident. The Left love the poor. The Left need the poor so that they can feel good by patronizing and "helping" them. So they do their best to create as many poor people as possible.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

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