Suitably Alarmed

I am sometimes shocked by the lengths people will go to spread fear, hatred and suspicion. No, check that, I am frequently shocked. This time was no exception.
Does anyone really belive that besides those who orchestrated the hit, that anyone else saw this coming?

Dawn Summers is now blogging here.

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Food for Thought

While we're still sort of on the subject of controversial but practical positions (see Bobby's post on sterilization below), I direct you to this article on AIDS medication in Africa from today's New York Times.

Semi-hidden as it was, the article highlights some significant facts -- namely, that despite what the Times calls "racial prejudice" (but is probably rooted more in practical fears common to all types of investment in very poor, unstable regions than in an abstract prejudice) about the consistency with which Africans are taking their pills, they're actually more responsible than Americans in that respect.

The main question is why, and the fascinating answer, according to this article, is as follows:

Though poor, more than 80 percent of the Ugandans had jobs, though most earned less than $50 a month. Most were women in their 30's, and paying $27 a month for their twice-a-day, three-drugs-in-one pill called Triomune, made by Cipla Ltd. of Bombay.

In many such cases, explained Dr. Merle A. Sande, a University of Utah medical school professor who also works in Uganda, the whole extended family, possibly with several infected members, will chip in so that one member will be saved to care for the children.

"If the whole family is pooling its resources to pay for you," he said, "you damn well better take your drugs.

"That's a whole different scenario from the U.S., where patients get free medicine, and if they change therapy, will let a month's worth go to waste."

The harsh economic truth speaks loud and clear: when people don't have to work for something, they take it for granted, with all the useless waste that goes along with it. I'm not saying we shouldn't help people in need. I am saying that it's still better, in both the short and the long run, economically and idealistically, to teach a man to fish. And it's high time we incorporated those thoughts into this country's public health policies.

[PS I believe there was an article in last week's Economist along the same lines, but addressing the issue of homelessness. I'll try to dig it out for a later update if anyone is interested.]

Hey, why hash it out in comments, when we have all this space to work with.

Being flown to an aircraft carrier and saying "mission accomplished" doesn't end a war.
I challenge anyone to quote Bush saying that a war was over. Firstly, and rightly, he referred to Iraq as a battle, as in Iraq is only one battle in a much bigger war. Just as Midway, Okinawa, all those pesky little islands in the Pacific, were battles (and much bloodier than Afghanistan and Iraq combined) in a much larger war. As Kashei points out in the comments below, the primary mission of removing Hussein from power was accomplished by that point.

And the swagger of a President saying "bring em on" will never bring peace.
Need I drag out the fly-paper analogy again? I have no problem with "bring 'em on." And "bring 'em on" decidedly wasn't intended to bring peace. It was meant to attract all the looneys and death-worshippers to a theater where they can be dealt with by professional soldiers, rather than dealt with by firemen, police and EMT crews mopping up human remains from the floor of a cafe or shopping mall.

That speech by Kerry was a long-winded serving of yesterday's leftovers. Hurts my eyes to read it and makes me thankful my ears didn't have to suffer through it.

No! No! No!
Some want to give the U.N. greater control in Iraq. Absolutely not. As Mark Steyn says:

The Canal Hotel turned out to be a perfect microcosm of the UN: a group of naive internationalists refusing to take the murkier characters prowling the corridors at face value and concerned only to keep the US at arm’s length. Yet for Kofi Annan, the French, the Democratic party and the world’s media, the self-inflicted insanity of what happened to the UN in Baghdad apparently demonstrates the need for Washington to hand over more control of Iraq to the blue helmets because ‘they’ve got far more experience in these kinds of situations’.

Yeah, it's like hiring someone because he's got lots of experience listed on his resume, ignoring the fact that he's been fired from every one of those jobs for gross incompetence.

'Baby Bush' Born in Baghdad

Full name: George Bush Abdul Kader Faris Abed El-Hussein. And I'm told my future son D'Artagnan (yes, really) is going to get beat up on the playground.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

From AP: "North Korea told a six-nation conference that it has nuclear weapons and has plans to test one, a U.S. official said Thursday."

So what's the logical response?

"However, other participants said delegates agreed on the need for a second round of talks."

Yes. Talk, talk, talk. Yakkety-yak-yak-yak. Because that sure has solved all those other problems with North Korea up to now.

Ahem. RE: Religion and Government.

In case you've missed out on Instapundit's links recently.

Here's a quote from little Tommy Jefferson: "We may safely affirm (though contradicted by all the judges and writers on earth) that Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of, the common law."

Here's an article with more.

Socks up all the way!

I figure why waste time in the comment section when I have the ability to post. Besides, we seem to be slacking a bit in the posting anyway.

Now, Bobby, first things first. According to the secret U.S./U.K. contract, aka the Lapdog Manifesto, you shouldn't be shouting at us like that without permission. Tony Blair will be calling you shortly to demand an apology.

That said, I don't much mind if my President alienates huge swaths of the world. I don't care if the Italian "street" is angry. I don't care if the Belgians have given up making waffles to prosecute any Western government official that dares defy the E.U. I don't care if Canadians--well, the ones that are left in Canada--shake their head disapprovingly because of the stupid Kyoto treaty, which was Dead on Arrival during the LAST president's term. I know I sound like the insensitive American buffoon (and in many ways I am), but I think the "streets" in some of these countries might want to spend less time waving their fists angrily at America and turn around and recognize their own stagnating economies and woefully misguided immigration policies before those issues sneak up and bite them in the ass.

And we only turn interventionist when threatened. If we were really THAT interventionist, we would have stomped the hell out of Hussein the first time around AND taken his oil.

And it's not like we go around FORCING our culture on people. If some guy in China is stupid enough to actually DESIRE a Big Mac, well, more power to him, but he's going to need some Charmin to go with that. And it's not like we WANTED France to like Jerry Lewis or Germany to think David Hasselhoff was cool. Those people, much like Michael Jackson, embarrass even US!

All I care about is that the president has strapped on his big-ol' ass-stomping boots and he's out stomping some ass, while I'm sitting here drinking my beer in peace.

I think the record is speaking for itself. Yes, 9/11 was awful, but we haven't seen a repeat performance. And I don't see how the chuckleheads who ran this story could possibly put the U.S. above Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq and India.

Well, I guess it doesn't count as terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq until the U.N. building get blown up.

I

Wrapping up part one of the vacation (I'll write all about it over on Spot On sometime tomorrow before departing for part two) and watching CNN before checking out of our room. Wow. Could CNN be more convinced that the entire Iraq war was a huge mistake, that Bush is a cowboy, that there is no chance of our time in Iraq ending well? The news rotation every hour makes sure to note how badly everything is going and how there is , basically, no hope. I know now why Fox News has become the phenomenon it has- its anchors are so much more upbeat. These CNN anchors are so downtrodden and their bias is so obvious. The news is bad enough without the presenters adding their own sad twist, I too would tune into the station that wasn't full of doom.