Fate Has Handed You Another Chance. Speak Up, Sir.

 
UPDATE: Thank you, President Clinton, for putting a muzzle on the press. Fate handed you the ball and you not only ran with it, you scored a touchdown. Right now the score stands at Integrity 7, MSM 0.

As ever, you were eloquently persuasive. Best of all, you shut up a reporter. For that feat alone, a medal should be struck. Bush '41 has found himself a great guard dog in you.

Eventually, you'll have to go back to trying to get Hillary elected -- a promise is a promise, after all -- but right now in the thick of it, you took care of business. CNN will be more careful about its assumptions in the future.

Gracias plena, sir. You are some quarterback.

And thanks to Captain's Quarters, whose link it is above. The hat is gratefully tipped to The Anchoress for her heads-up.


With little further ado, here is the word regarding policies and handouts for the US Corps of Engineers in New Orleans during the Clinton administration. Straight from the horse’s mouth, in this case Sidney Blumenthal via The New Orleans Times-Picayune (hat tip: EU Rota):

	February 17, 1995
	An Army Corps of Engineers “hit list” of recommended budget cuts would eliminate new flood-control programs in some of the nation’s most flood-prone spots - where recent disasters have left thousands homeless and cost the federal government millions in emergency aid.
	Clinton administration officials argue that the flood-control efforts are local projects, not national, and should be paid for by local taxes.
	Nationwide, the administration proposes cutting 98 new projects in 35 states and Puerto Rico, for an estimated savings of $29 million in 1996.
	Corps officials freely conceded the cuts, which represent only a small portion of savings the corps ultimately must make, may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. But they said they were forced to eliminate some services the corps has historically provided to taxpayers to meet the administration’s budget-cutting goals.
	June 23, 1995
	A hurricane project, approved and financed since 1965, to protect more than 140,000 West Bank residents east of the Harvey Canal is in jeopardy.
	The Clinton administration is holding back a Corps of Engineers report recommending that the $120 million project proceed. Unless that report is forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress cannot authorize money for the project, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson’s office said Thursday.
	On June 9, John Zirschky, the acting assistant secretary of the Army and the official who refused to forward the report, sent a memo to the corps, saying the recommendation for the project “is not consistent with the policies and budget priorities reflected in the President’s Fiscal Year 1996 budget. Accordingly, I will not forward the report to the Office of Management and Budget for clearance.”
	July 26, 1996
	The House voted Thursday for a $19.4 billion energy and water bill that provides $246 million for Army Corps of Engineers projects in Louisiana.
	The bill, approved 391-23, is the last of the 13 annual spending measures for 1997 approved by the House.
	One area in which the House approved more financing than the president requested was for flood control and maintenance of harbors and shipping routes by the Army Corps of Engineers.
	Flood control projects along the Mississippi River and its tributaries were allotted $303 million, or $10 million more than the president wanted.
	June 19, 1996
	The Army Corps of Engineers, which builds most flood protection levees on a federal-local cost-sharing basis, uses a cost-benefit ratio to justify a project. If the cost of building a levee is considered less than the cost of restoring a flood-ravaged area, the project is more likely to be approved.
	For years, the Jean Lafitte-Lower Lafitte-Barataria-Crown Point areas couldn’t convince the corps they were worthy of levee protection. But the use of Section 205 and congressional pressure has given the corps a new perspective, Spohrer said.
	But even so, when the Clinton administration began to curtail spending on flood control and other projects a year ago, the corps stopped spending on Section 205 projects even after deciding to do a $70,000 preliminary Jean Lafitte study, Spohrer said.
	July 22, 1999
	In passing a $20.2 billion spending bill this week for water and energy projects, the House Appropriations Committee approved some significant increases in financing for several New Orleans area flood control and navigational projects.
	The spending bill is expected on the House floor within the next two weeks.
	For the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the panel allocated $106 million for construction projects, about $16 million more than proposed by President Clinton.
	The bill would provide $47 million for “southeast Louisiana flood control projects,” $16 million for “Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection,” $15.9 million for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock on the Industrial Canal in New Orleans and $2 million for “West Bank hurricane protection -- from New Orleans to Venice.”
	Most of the projects received significant increases over what the Clinton administration had proposed. The exception: general flood control projects for southeast Louisiana, which remained at the $47 million suggested by Clinton. Local officials had hoped for double that amount.
	February 8, 2000
	For the metropolitan New Orleans area, Clinton’s budget was seen as a mixed bag by local lawmakers and government officials. For instance, while Clinton called for $1.5 billion to be spent at Avondale Industries to continue building LPD-17 landing craft, his budget calls for significantly less than what Congress appropriated last year for Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection and for West Bank flood control projects.
	September 29, 2000
	The House approved Thursday a $23.6 billion measure for water and energy programs, with sizable increases for several New Orleans area flood-control projects. The Senate will vote Monday, but it may be a while before the bill is enacted.
	President Clinton is promising to veto the annual appropriation for the Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers, not because it is $890 million larger than he proposed, but because it does not include a plan to alter the levels of the Missouri River to protect endangered fish and birds.
	May 8, 2005 (extra)
	Ten years ago today, the Bonneaus and hundreds of thousands of New Orleans area residents rode out a rain unlike any they had ever experienced. The flood killed six people and generated more claims than any in the history of the National Flood Insurance Program. In its aftermath, Congress created a new role for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and federal and local governments spent more than a half-billion dollars to widen and line drainage canals, bury culverts bigger than cars and beef up pumping stations.
	But not even those improvements could prevent massive flooding if a storm of similar intensity were to strike today.

MEMO

To: Former President Clinton
From: US Citizens

Sir: It is past time for you to heal this wound on the Left. You must address those of your following who want to blame and demonize the Republicans for Acts of God and for the Folly of Man. The former was Hurricane Katrina. The latter was the arrogance that led us to build a city below sea level in Hurricane Alley, somewhere between a big river and a large lake. The Greeks called ithubris. Please, sir, call off the barking dogs. Your masterful handling of this situation could be the legacy you always wanted. It’s yours for the taking.

The Day Football Became Irrelevant

 
This message was forwarded to Gates of Vienna by the irrepressible Buddy Larsen, a frequent commenter at Belmont Club.

Subject: An article written by a man employed by LSU athletics ---utter chaos reigns. Little did I know what I would be doing following Hurricane Katrina's aftermath but as I type right now, there won't be a more gratifying or more surreal experience I went through tonight. We went up to the office today and held a press conference regarding the postponement of the game and it was the right decision. As the PMAC and Field House are being used as shelters we decided as an office to do everything we could to help the situation. At first, we were just supposed to make copies of this disaster relief form for all of the people. The copiers will never print a document more important than that. It's weird. Nearly 12 hours ago we were running off copies of game notes for a football game that is now meaningless. We printed the copies and carried them over to the Field House at 6:30 p.m. I wouldn't leave the area for another 8 hours. On the way back to the PMAC in a cart, it looked like the scene in the movie Outbreak. FEMA officials, U.S. Marshalls, National Guard, and of course the survivors. Black Hawks were carrying in victims who were stranded on roofs. Buses rolled in from N.O. with other survivors. As Michael and I rode back to the PMAC, a lady fell out of her wheelchair and we scrambled to help her up. We met Coach Miles and Coach Moffiit in the PMAC to see all the survivors and it was the view of a hospital. Stretchers rolled in constantly and for the first time in my life I saw someone die right in front of me. A man rolled in from New Orleans and was badly injured on his head. 5 minutes later he was dead. And that was the scene all night. What did we do, we started hauling in supplies. And thousands of boxes of supplies. The CDC from Atlanta arrived directing us what to do. One of the U.S. Marshalls was on hand so the supplies could not become loot. I asked him what his primary job was. He serves on the committee of counter terrorism, but once he saw of the disaster, he donated his forces to come help. He said the death toll could be nearing 10,000. It was sickening to hear that. After unloading supplies, I started putting together baby cribs and then IV poles. Several of our fball players and Big Baby and Tasmin Mitchell helped us. At the same time, families and people strolled in. Mothers were giving berth in the locker rooms. The auxiliary gym "Dungeon" was being used as a morgue. I couldn't take myself down there to see it. I worked from 8 pm until 2:45 am. Before I left three more buses rolled in and they were almost out of room. People were standing outside, the lowest of the low from NO. The smells, the sights were hard to take. A man lying down on a cot asked me to come see him. He said,"I just need someone to talk to, to tell my story because I have nobody and nothing left. He turned out to be a retired military veteran. His story was what everybody was saying. He thought he survived the worst, woke up this morning and the levees broke. Within minutes water rushed into his house. He climbed to the attic, smashed his way through the roof and sat there for hours. He was completely sunburned and exhausted. Nearly 12 hours later a chopper rescued him and here he was. We finished the night hauling boxes of body bags and more were on the way. As we left, a man was strolled in on a stretcher and scarily enough he suffered gunshots. The paramedic said he was shot several times because a looter or a convict needed his boat and he wouldn't give it to him. Another man with him said it was "an uncivilized society no better than Iraq down there right now." A few minutes later he was unconscious and later pronounced dead. I then left as they were strolling a 3 year old kid in on a stretcher. I couldn't take it anymore. That was the scene at the PMAC and it gives me a new perspective on things. For those of you who I haven't been able to get in touch with because of phone service, I pray you are safe. Send me an email to let me know. God bless. Bill Martin LSU Sports Information

When The Big Boys Play Footsie

 
Roger Simon has a heartening post today, linking to a story about Pakistan’s gestures towards Israel. The Foreign Minister for Pakistan stated that Israel’s removal from Gaza led to Pakistan’s decision to “engage” Israel.

What does “engage” mean? In French, I would think the connotation could be face-to-face meetings, but in any language it’s a fuzzy word. In this case, no doubt fuzzy-on-purpose. You know, that genetically tuned diplo-speak you hear whenever someone in a ministerial position opens his or her mouth. Obviously it is genetic because only people who possess those genetic codes show up in morning suits speaking diplomatese.

Mr. Simon quotes the article from the Associated Press, via the International Herald Tribune.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom hailed the meeting as “historic” and said that following the Gaza withdrawal it is “the time for all of the Muslim and Arab countries to reconsider their relations with Israel.”

Oh sure. Another Foreign minister “engaged” in diplo-speak. Hey, it’s loooong past time for Muslims to reconsider their relations with Israel but they won’t. They’d rather die first, drink pig’s blood, circumcise their boys instead of their girls. It will be a cold day in Paradise before any Muslim consents to peace with Israel. They’re carrying on a very, very old grudge from Mohammed, and he was mad because the Jews dissed him for his interpretation of their Torah. This grudge is so deep and so ancient there is no help for it.

So meanwhile, what’s really up? Well, there’s all the money that Pakistan got from the United States. That moolah has strings that reach thousands of miles. That moolah has little tags on it which say things like “make nice with the Jews,” or “how about you look a little harder for Osama?”

And then there’s India. If ever there was a case of the elephant in the room, it’s India, if you’re standing in Pakistan’s boudoir. Israel and India are way too chummy for Pakistan to sleep easy at night. So how about a little triangulation here, kind of like a toddy before bedtime? Here’s The Jerusalem Post’s take:

	Musharraf wants to develop some type of relationship with Israel. Not because he has suddenly discovered his Zionistic side, but as a way to throw a spoke in the wheels of the strong and growing Israeli-Indian ties, and also of course as a way to please America.
	…
	The close ties Israel and India have developed over the last decade specifically the close military relationship, with Israel a key arms supplier to New Delhi is obviously not to Pakistan s liking. Pakistan is interested in cooling down this relationship, and one possible way to do this would be by developing ties with Israel.

According to the Jerusalem Post, though, India is not going to wait outside the door. The paper thinks India has probably already made its feelings known to Israel.

No footsie with the enemy.


Hat tip for the Post link: sbrst in Roger’s comments page.

Quote of the Day

From Bill Quick:

	Guess what, Arabs. You aren’t getting Jerusalem for a capital. It isn’t going to happen.
	What do you think that wall beginning to enclose you is all about? Now go back to deciding whether you’re going to be shooting at Hamas thugs, or PA thugs.

What FEMA Can Do

At The American Thinker, a reader has come up with an idea:

	Gary DeYoung of San Antonio writes with an excellent idea and a kind offer:
	With the thousands of displaced families spreading out from New Orleans looking for a place to live while their city is rebuilt, you might think that one of the larger relief organizations would have a means in place for people to volunteer to open their homes to Katrina victims. I have searched in vain - and frustratingly, nobody seems to be working to match displaced families up with people with spare bedrooms.
	A Red Cross volunteer told me on the phone that they have to use their own shelters for liability reasons.

Ah, yes. How could I have forgotten? The Lawyers. They wait, like Death, for such opportunistic moments. Can't you see the liability suit ads now? "Did FEMA fail to help you?" Trust the lawyers. They'll be making big bucks from Katrina.

Mr. De Young offers accomdations for two people, but he also has a brilliant idea: FEMA could set up a database online for those who are willing to do likewise.

Aren’t Americans amazing? Except for the liability lawyers.

Waking Up and Rolling Over

 
Who else out there has not been reading Pundita? How did I miss her? Would someone please remove this rock so I can crawl out and look around more often?[Note to Help Desk: blogroll at the first opportunity.]

Had it not been for a snip and a link to her thoughts on The Glittering Eye, that would still be the case here. The only thing to decide — rather like a chocolate fiend in a Lindt store — is which of her essays to read first. Since Katrina is on everyone’s mind, let’s start with Pundita’s summation. Go see: even the title is brilliant.

	…My question is whether you think the government and the public will see the Katrina disaster as an interruption or a wake-up call, once the immediate crisis has passed. Tom in Sioux City" Dear Tom: The "wakeup call" stage is long past; that stage came with Hurricane Andrew. At this moment the CEOs of US oil and refinery companies would prefer to face the entire remnants of al Qaeda rather than meet one insurance claims adjuster in a dark alley. CEOs at Lockheed and all other major corporations in the New Orleans area share the same preference.
	This is what's known as increasing the R&D budget at the point of a gun. This is America, not Bangladesh. So 25% of a major US industry shouldn't be shot to hell for weeks because of a storm. A key American city shouldn't be 80% flooded within 24 hours of a storm and with no immediate way to deal with rising waters.
	The only question now is whether to rebuild or move New Orleans. If they want to rebuild, Louisiana has to spend megabucks on existing technologies or ask for new ones, if they want to perch a key American city below sea level between a river and a lake in a hurricane alley.
	If they don't have the bucks -- either the federal government pulls a rabbit out of the hat or New Orleans is removed from the map.
	I think the American public understands that -- or they will, by the end of this week.

Having said all that, she then proceeded to go on vacation. Won’t be back until September 6th. Meanwhile, you can read her treasure trove of essays. Especially to be recommended is one on Genghis Khan.

Another meanwhile: there will be much discussion in the coming months as to why the government — the inept, incompetent and cruel Bush Administration, to be precise — let this disaster occur. Why there wasn’t more funding for the Army Corps of Engineers, why we didn’t sign the Kyoto Protocol, why…oh, well, you know the drill. When Republicans are in power, bad things are their responsibility. When Democrats are in power, Mommy will take care of you and make the boo boo better.

New Orleans is a boo boo. Built in a strategic location for disaster, it is amazing how corrupt the building codes are. It will be interesting to see what Pundita has to say about rebuilding. Or not rebuilding.

A third meanwhile: choose carefully where you give. Though I haven't seen it discussed elsewhere, I will put this thought out for your consideration: are you at all concerned that your donations will end up being less-than-optimized? I have images of supplies rotting somewhere because of bureaucratic ineptitude.

Florida Cracker has some good links to helping those who rescue animals. Not only that, but she will match funds if you send her your receipt. That is, as Jinderella would have said, very kewl. To my knowledge no other individual blogger is making that offer.

The Glittering Eye has a link to Catholic Charities. I will admit a particular soft spot for Catholic Charities since they ran the orphanage where I lived from the age of five to ten.

Instapundit, as the Baron mentioned, has a long list of groups — lots of places to choose from.

Indus Valley Rising has a post on a small group in New Orleans that he knows personally. In addition, his post on Katrina vis-à-vis natural disasters in third world countries, is more than worth your time. His view resonates with Pundita's.

Right: All monies shouldn’t collect in one big pot; it encourages waste.

If other people have specific charitable organizations, please come and list them. Charity listings seem to have become a blog swarm.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
Baron's update: Your wish is my command, o exalted one. The Pundita is blogrolled.

Also: Mark Steyn is selling his books and turning the entire sale amount over to hurricane charities. Not just a “portion” of the proceeds, but the whole enchilada. That's a great deal, because you get to feel good about yourself and read the best political prose of our generation.

Yellow Jacket Jihad

 
Running over a yellow jacket nest with the lawnmower is an annual summer ritual at the Gates of Vienna baronial estate. Dymphna and the future Baron have been known to place wagers on the time and location of my next altercation with the yellow jackets. It happens at least once every summer, and sometimes twice.

But this has been the summer from Yellow Jacket Hell: I have had (so far) eight close encounters with yellow jacket nests, six of them involving stings. My legs have been stung so many times that I look like a junkie who has been skin-popping smack on his ankles.

The drill is always the same. The first hint of an Insect Explosive Device is a sudden sensation of a hot coal against the skin of my ankle. Long experience has taught me to let go of the mower and run as fast as possible (while screaming and howling, of course) to the front porch. Before going in the house I brush my legs and socks to try to make sure that none of the little bastards comes into the house with me. Once inside I sit around moaning and rubbing the affected areas while the Baroness administers salves and palliatives. Since attacking yellow jackets give off a pheromone telling their brother mujahideen to join the swarm, it is prudent to wait a while before venturing outside again.

Eventually, however, I must return to the scene and attempt to spot the entrance to the underground nest, so as to note its location for later action. Finally, in a quick sortie I retrieve the lawnmower and remove it from the battlefield.

After full dark, when the jihadis are quiescent, I will return with JDAMS targeted on their underground camp. The preferred munition is a good quantity of gasoline poured directly down the hole and then lit. The gas itself probably kills a lot of the little terrorists. Since the fire is only on the surface, not many are actually incinerated; however, it usually burns for up to an hour, and during that time it is sucking absolutely every molecule of oxygen out of the hive. Unless a yellow jacket happens to spend the night away from home, his doom is sealed.

This is no simple act of revenge: Dymphna is highly allergic to stings, and if she receives multiple yellow jacket stings, she will be at significant risk of anaphylactic shock, closed breathing passages, and possible death. So the yellow jackets must die. I am not allergic, but my legs, particularly if there is more than one sting, will be in agony for hours, and I will have flu-like symptoms such as a mild fever, chills, dizziness, and aching joints until at least the next morning. Then the bites will itch for weeks.

A nasty little piece of work, those yellow jackets. During the late summer one frequently encounters the “moderate” yellow jacket placidly going about his business and harming no one. When you’re working in the garden you might see him, flitting around looking for rotten fruit or the corpse of a small animal. He will be at pains to avoid your waving hands as you try to get him out of your face, and may even light briefly on your sleeve. But he mounts no jihad operations against you, unless you happen to sit on him or press your hand against him.

But put a toe near the Ummah, and everything changes. As soon as your foot disturbs the entrance to the nest, the little yellow devils dart out, circling and probing until they find a kaffir. Unlike bees, they can sting multiple times, and they make every effort to do so. Still, they are heedless of their own safety, apparently eager for the 72 virgin queens and ready to become shaheeds. If you stand around swatting at them you will soon find yourself covered with a swarm of stinging demons, caught up in your hair and buzzing in your ears. Immediate rapid flight is the prudent option, to be followed later by carefully-planned counterinsurgency operations.

There is no point in trying to understand the collective mind of the yellow jackets, or determine the root causes of their behavior. They are a simply a danger to Western civilization — at least the part of it enclosed by our yard — that must be eradicated.

Back during the first Gulf War the future Baron was a little guy, and I tried to explain to him what was happening. “There are evil people in the world who do evil things, and we have to stop them. We don’t have to hate them or have any particular feeling about them, but we do have to kill them. They’re like the yellow jackets — regardless of what I feel about them, I have to blow them up, because they can send Mom to the hospital.”

Needless to say, the future Baron always enjoyed embedding with his dad in counterinsurgency operations against the yellow jackets. And now he is old enough to pour the gasoline and light the match himself.

Civilizational Suicide

 
Fjordman has an excellent post this morning: Can Europe Survive Another World War?

Europe reached the height of its global power and influence about the time of WW1, when it suddenly decided to attempt suicide. It almost succeeded with this in WW2, and it was mainly the intervention of its offspring, the USA, that enabled it to linger on ever since. Will we finally succeed in committing civilizational suicide this time, after a century of trying? Or will the Americans, the bastards, hinder us again?

Read the whole thing.

Swarming the Borders

 
Bill Quick, inspired by LaShawn Barber, is fulminating about our leaders’ catastrophic failure to control our borders:

	Is that so hard for for the vote-drunk fools who are charged with protecting our borders and our nation to understand?
	Do I “expect the government to round up each illegal alien and kick him out?”
	Why, yes. Yes, I do. And a heck of a lot more Americans expect the same thing. I suggest we get together in 2006 and start kicking out the politicians who won’t kick out the outlaws. Is anybody with me? Remember: every single member of the House of Representatives, as well as a third of the Senate, is up for election next year. Now is not too soon to start researching your representatives and their records on immigration. If they are unsatisfactory, let’s spread it across the blogosphere. Immigration can be a huge issue, but not if the liberal MSM has anything to say about it. This issue can be the first great issue of the blogosphere.
	I am represented by Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and Representative Nancy Pelosi. I’ll take a look at their records on immigration and post the results here. If they aren’t satisfactory, I’ll be pushing hard to knock off Pelosi, who is the only one of the three running next year.

Michelle Malkin also weighs in:

And here, as elsewhere, while politicians pay lip service to protecting the public, they look the other way as illegal alien gang members get driver’s licenses, go to school (where they freely recruit new members), and congregate at taxpayer-subsidized illegal alien day labor centers were local police are discouraged from inquiring about immigration status or reporting suspected illegal aliens to the Department of Homeland Security.

This issue is worth a swarm. Bloggers of like mind: climb aboard!

Our senators are John Warner and George Allen. Warner is past hope, but Sen. Allen wants to be president, and thus may be malleable. Our representative is the Hon. Virgil Goode, a true fiscal conservative. We will soon be finding out where he stands on this issue.

I’ll even mint a new slogan:

The nation which fails to control its borders will fail to control its future.

Stay tuned.

At the Green Place, It's All About Blue, White and Red

 

Over at Little Green Footballs, on Mr. Johnson’s open thread for Katrina conversation, the lizardoids are discussing which corporations, the red or the blue, are giving more to the rescue operations in the aftermath of the hurricane. Red? Blue? Is this like halal and haram? Kosher foods?

We lead a sheltered life at Gates. Living in the Middle of Beyond, sans media except for the internet and a few magazines (books don’t count as media. They are stacked everywhere. The Baron, who claims he can do anything that requires brains and no skill, has suggested we call someone with both attributes — i.e., a carpenter — to add more bookcases to our collection). Thus, we were not aware of the depth of the political polarization in our good country. The breadth is obvious, but the depth is disturbing. Corporations, it seems, are either Red or Blue.

At BuyBlue.org, there is an alphabetical listing that lists the colors various companies fly. Some are deep blue, some lighter. Some are blood red, some a bit pink. And still others are white; these evidently are neutral. BuyBlue has a motto: In today’s America there is a more powerful act than voting blue and that’s BUYING BLUE (their emphasis).

This is a fascinating balkanization. Do you remember when Christian groups were ridiculed by liberals for suggesting that Christians should support Christian stores and businesses? Now it seems the Politically Correct thing to do. Imitation remains the sincerest form of flattery, doesn’t it?

Things I noticed: my car insurance is deep blue. Geico is blood red. Google, upon whom these words are written, is deep blue — something one can see in their screening of news stories sometimes. If a rival to Goog rose up, would the Vast Right Wing fly off in their direction? Does it make you uneasy that Google is so very friendly with the Chinese government?

There was no need to check Walmart’s color. Just from the invective flecks of foam spuming from the mouths of the progressives (love that new term) one can surmise that Walmart is too, too red for words. Or at least that appears to be the reason for their irrational reactivity regarding Walmart’s very existence. While I don’t shop at Walmart — it’s depressingly large somehow — I do go there online, especially to compare prices. And they deliver by mail.

What do you think? Is the color of a company’s politics a good reason to buy there or to boycott those who support programs you don’t like? Or should you simply continue to go to those places which provide value and service?

What a strange divide. What a strange website. What a wild and wooly country. To BuyBlue I say, bring it on, Blueseys!

Hmmm…I wonder what color my shoe store is? And how did Amazon turn red? Jeff Bezoz, why did I suppose you'd turn up blue and cyanotic like Google?

Spend Florida Cracker’s Money

UP to now, there's not been any reason to put up the whole of another blogger’s post on a subject. However, in this case, Florida Cracker is making an offer that only the hard-hearted can refuse.

In the interests of objectivity, Dymphna will admit that animals are not her favorite thing. She is subject to the will of two cats — both strays. Their various ailments have proved pricey, especially the neutered male. And then there is the (mostly) Lab puppy that the Baron’s Boy found in our woods one Christmas Eve; never content with us she has lived for many years at a neighbor’s house while we supply vet care and upkeep. It always seemed that she was a dog who knew where she belonged, and it wasn't here, much to the Baron's Boy's heartbreak. As he said at the time, "How can you expect me to be normal if I grow up without a dog?" How, indeed?

The fact that the neighbor has three other dogs for company might have something to do with Sandy's decision to absent herself. The Baron’s Boy used to pick her up and take her swimming at the river but he’s off to college now so that era has passed.

Meanwhile, Florida Cracker has made this appeal. In the interests of all those poor animals left alive after Katrina's destruction, please consider F.C.'s offer:

	As I've written before, whenever there's a disaster, the Humane Society of the United States sends out emergency response teams. The HSUS holds a formal agreement with FEMA and the Red Cross to provide disaster relief for animals, and works side-by-side with them.
	If any of my readers send in a donation HSUS Disaster Fund, the Louisiana SPCA, the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, or the Humane Society of South Mississippi; I'll match it. Just e-mail me the receipt they provide. When it gets to $1000, I'll holler.
	The Humane Society of South Mississippi doesn't have a way to donate online, but clearly they couldn't be left out.

Go to her site for the links you’ll need to make your contribution.

Let your conscience be your guide.

All Right, Everyone, Out of the Boat: Start Walking

 
They must be holier than we.

The Brussels Journal calls the tax revolution that began in Estonia “walking on water,” but it’s really just doing what your Grandma told you as she thwacked your noggin: “use your common sense, child.”

Here’s what happened: The Estonian Prime Minister in 1992 (who governed for three years and then came back in 1999 until 2002) was Mart Laar. Mr. Laar was not a poliltician. His area of study was Europe’s 19th century national movements. Not being an economist, and figuring he’d better learn something quick, he sat down and read Free to Choose by Milton Friedman. Seeing all these ideas about the benefits of privitization, the abolition of tariffs, the economic advantages of a flat tax was a real eye-opener for Mr. Laar. He also thought that these were reforms already in place in the West.

It seemed common sense to me and, as I thought it had already been done everywhere, I simply introduced it in Estonia, despite warnings from Estonian economists that it could not be done. They said it was as impossible as walking on water. We did it: we just walked on the water because we did not know that it was impossible.”

So in 1994, Estonia introduced the flat tax with a rate of 26%. What did they have to lose, after all? When Laar took over, Estonia’s inflation rate was over a thousand per cent. The economic growth rate was neagative thirty per cent, and the employment rate was thirty per cent and rising. The government owned just about everything, and virtually all Estonian trade was with Russia.

So how do things look now? We should be so lucky:

Today, inflation is 2.5%, economic growth is between 6 and 7%, unemployment is low, the government budget is balanced and there is a high level of investment. Moreover, Estonia is leading the world in the field of e-government.

And Estonia is not the only country with a flat tax and a thriving economy. The Brussels Journal lists Lithuania and Latvia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Georgia and Romania as having implemented versions of the flat tax. They say Iraq is consdering such a move.

Meanwhile, Mart Laar has returned to writing history, this time about the anti-communist partisan fighters in the forests of Estonia. “They saved the soul of my country.” That may well be true, but Mr. Laar saved its bacon. And all it took was common sense.

Okay, everybody — out of the boat, start walking.

Starbucks Slips in the Socialist Shuffle

If you want a latte in Moscow, you’ll have to resort to what we do here in the Middle of Beyond: get your own espresso machine. Meanwhile, Starbucks was less-than-vigilant when it came to guarding its name and got caught with its capitalist knickers down:

The U.S. coffee giant has been eyeing the Russian market since 1997, when it registered the Starbucks trademark with patent agency Rospatent.

Maybe Starbucks’ attention wandered? An entity calling itself OOO Starbucks has taken over the name and now the case is in court.

Rights to the trademark first became an issue in 2002, when a Russian company called Press appealed to Rospatent for the rights to the Starbucks name, as it had not been used for more than three years, and later that year sold the rights to OOO Starbucks, which is unrelated to the U.S. company.

Needless to say, what OOO wants is a whole bunch of money and they’ll go away. A “whole bunch” in this case is $600,000.00 — surely not much more than the average New York City daily take at a local Starbucks’ café?

The U.S. company's position is looking stronger, as it has secured the support of a number of influential figures in Russia, the report says, including Arkady Volsky, the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Volsky is also co-chairman of the Russian-American Commercial Energy Dialog.

Maybe it’s the principle of the thing? Whatever. For the moment, things are up in the air:

U.S. Embassy spokesman David Foley declined to say whether the embassy was in talks with Starbucks. He added, "If a Starbucks were to open here, it would be in the embassy cafeteria."

Well, there you are. Another luxury posting for the people from Foggy Bottom.

Hey, Canada, Listen UP!

 
The Australians have such style, such finesse:

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law should get out of Australia, a senior government minister has said, hinting that some radical clerics might be asked to leave.

Peter Costello is Australia’s treasurer and hopes to replace John Howard when he retires. Looks like he might make it, based on these statements:

	"If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you…”
	“I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that that is false.
	"There's only one law in Australia -- it's the law that's made by the parliament of Australia and enforced by our courts. There is no second law.
	"If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option,"

In addition to all this plain speaking, Prime Minister Howard called a meeting of mainstream Muslims, all of whom disowned Osama and pledged to fight Islamic terrorism.

It doesn’t look like there will be any Ottawa-style Sharia courts in Sydney real soon. And don’t hold your breath for the Law schools to start hiring Sharia professors.

Sounds like Australia has made a firm commitment to reality. How refreshing.


Hat tip: American Digest. Look in the Side Notes.