MojoNet

2002-07-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

New Look, Same Great Mojo Flavor

OK folks, I've now moved off of blogspot to my very own domain, running Movable Type! With a new Layout! And a new Logo! Life is good!

The new site is located @ http://www.captainmojo.com/blog/. Please update any bookmarks accordingly.

This'll be my last blogger entry. It's MT sweetness from here on out!

2002-07-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

Low Blogging Rate

I've been feeling a bit under the weather, and I need to set up my new domain, so blogging might be light for the next few days.

2002-07-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

What, You Read Satre or Something?

PejmanPundit links to Jonah Goldberg’s latest NRO column on the “Dangerous Ideas” of postmodernism fueling the modern lefty morons. I normally like Goldberg’s articles, but this one just pisses me off. I suppose I'm just not a conservative in my heart of hearts. A brief excerpt from his buildup that I found particularly unsound:

But beneath all the clichés, posturing and, breast-beating from "lovers of liberty" and civil libertarians of all parties, there's an inescapable fact. Some ideas are dangerous. If you are a reasonable person, you will concede this point — even if you disagree with me on which ideas were dangerous. My list includes those notions which constitute the cores of Nazism, Stalinism, communism, postmodernism, Maoism, relativism, scientific socialism, Hale-Boppism, running-with-scissorsism, et al. If you're on the left you might take a few of those off and add capitalism, conservatism, manifest destiny, whatever.

I am apparently not a reasonable person (this should come as no surprise to my small number of regular readers). I hate postmodernism as much as the next guy. Postmodernism and its descendents are irrational, hypocritical, and generally stupid, but saying that ideas are responsible for the worst death and destruction of the twentieth century is silly. To paraphrase the famous quote, ideas don’t kill people, people kill people. Ideas are excuses for evil actions done by people suffering from small penises or other hate inducing conditions.

There are big differences in ideology between Stalinists, Fascists, Nazis, and Maoists, but each of these creeds is remembered more for the vile acts committed in their names, than the actual ideas they espoused. Goldberg’s whole concept of “Dangerous Ideas” seems to imply that an ideas is simply waiting to hijack unsuspecting people’s brains and use them for its own nefarious purposes. It’s the same outlook as the liberal who sees the soldier trained to use a gun as nothing but a killer, even if the guy is a marine cook. Understanding an idea is not the same as accepting it. People in a free society choose their actions, and they choose what to believe.

Ideas would be dangerous if human minds were blank slates, and could be filled with whatever random memes got pumped in. This seems to be what Goldberg fears. The “Blank Slate” is an existentialist argument, and once you’ve gone existentialist, you might as well sign up for the postmodernist fan club, because you’ve bought into the whole cultural determinist mindset.

Ideas are like technology, in that they have no intrinsic morality, but actions do. Some actions are evil, according to god (if you’re religious), natural law (if you’re more of the agnostic / deist persuasion) or some kind of preprogrammed social instincts (for you strict Darwinists out there). People are not blank slates, and added to that, humans are supposedly rational creatures. Some people choose to do evil acts, regardless of ideology, and ideas are often used by these evil people to commit horrendous crimes.

Freedom involves choices, and choices involve consequences. When it comes down to it, are you hosting your memes, or are your memes hosting you?

If you’re really concerned about the dangers of postmodern memes, create reasonable alternatives that are more effective in enticing those juicy blank brains. Calling ideas dangerous is to be afraid of them, and fear leads to attempts at suppression. Running away from a faulty idea in fear or hiding it in shadows (which Goldberg doesn’t go quite so far as to advocate) will only give the idea a festering underground quality that the kids love. Only by bringing worthless ideologies into the open can you show their stupidity and evil for all to see, and completely discredit them.

Witness the suppression and censorship of anti-Semitism and Nazism in Europe, versus the open debunking and ridicule of those ideals in the United States. In the USA, we’ve got KKK meetings attended by 10 inbred racists harmlessly ranting to 100’s of self-important journalists. In Europe, we’ve got synagogue burnings quietly hushed up and neo-fascist candidates getting 20% of the vote. Oh, yeah, if ideas are dangerous, then censorship certainly works guys…

2002-07-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

Is The Sun Suddenly Shining a Little Brighter?

Carter is in Venezuala, Farrakhan is visiting Iraq, and Nader is chillin' with Uncle Fidel in Havana. Life is good.

Now if we could only send Noam to North Korea, we'd be batting 1.000.

2002-07-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Mwuhahaha

Via Asparagirl, via Scott Ganz, all the baddest villians of 80's saturday morning cartoons sing Tears for Fears' "Everyone wants to Save the World." It's a big download, but for us youngsters who can tell the difference between an Autobot and Decepticon, it's a worthwhile piece of pure nostalgic goodness.

2002-07-09T00:49:00.000-07:00

Trouble In Turkey?

From CNN, Turkey's coalition government is on the verge of collapse amid several ministerial resignations and worries about the Prime Minister's health. New elections will likely be called shortly. I'm fairly ignorant on this situation, but instability in Turkey, our closest ally in the Islamic world, is troubling with the invasion of Iraq imminent...

2002-07-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

Blair’s UK Government Backs GM Crops

This Telegraph Article informs us that Tony Blair’s UK government has decided to promote growing Genetically Modified crops in Britain. This is a completely reasonable decision. What’s unreasonable is what the EU’s reaction to it will be. GM foods have been around for years now, and science has shown they pose no threat to the environment or human health. Quite the contrary. GM crops provide larger yields per land area used, are cheaper to grow, and require far less in the way of environmentally damaging pesticides.

The Luddite Left claims it wants to feed the Third World and improve the environment, but when a biotechnology tool comes around to help achieve these goals, it is not only rejected, but irrationally attacked by those who should see its greatest value. Curious, no?

2002-07-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

Saddam, Meet Buck (Rodgers That Is)

A little item for all those who, like myself, drool over new high-tech weapons: a June 30th post on Strategypage notes that the Air Force is beginning to research lasers for Air-to-Air combat. I did some searching, and found a more indepth article on SpaceDaily. The goal is to arm the new F-22s and F-35s (and perhaps the older F-15s and F-16s) with high-energy lasers. Pretty cool, especially with all the advances made off of the airborne Anti-Ballistic Laser research project, currently being tested on a modified 747.

One of these days, directed energy weapons are going to revolutionize warfare, and maybe even spaceflight. One of these days...

2002-07-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

The Peanut Farmer And Simon Bolivar's Slow Stepchildren

So it looks like my good buddy Jimmy Carter has arrived in Hugo Chavez's fragmented Venezuela (link via El Sur). Well, ain't that just swell.

The trip is supported by Chavez, but seen as a delaying tactic by opposition groups, who have attempted one coup and are most likely formulating another one. So far, few in the opposition are willing to talk to him, and since Carter seems to be all friendly-like with Hugo, I don't see why the opposition should listen to him.

The article ends with a nice little jab at the ex-pres though, which I think sums up Carter's diplomacy career:

Carter visited Cuba in May and noted dissident efforts to call a referendum on whether Cuba should allow freedom of expression and other rights. Afterward, Cuba's National Assembly enshrined socialism in the constitution as "irrevocable." The Carter Center has declined comment.

Ouch, that must sting there Jimbo...

2002-07-08T02:31:00.000-07:00

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

Vodkapundit states his thoughts on the coming invasion of Iraq.

2002-07-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

If, By Witty, You Mean Boring and Inane...

Found the link to George Michael's "Shoot the Dog" video (link via Damian Penny, via Norwegian Blogger). What can I say? It's a really, really, dumb song. If you watch it, note where Michael enters the oval office... that little bit of self-referential humor almost redeems the video. Hehehe...

2002-07-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Does Powell Have Hurt Feelings? Poor Baby...

The Telegraph has this story on Colin Powell's supposed anger with the civilian leaders of the pentagon. According to the article, Powell has, despite unhappiness related to his lack of influence in the oval office, decided to stay on as Secretary of State:

Colin Powell, the beleaguered Secretary of State, has delivered an angry riposte to the Pentagon hardliners responsible for his recent string of policy defeats - insisting to allies that he "won't let those bastards drive me out".

Despite his frustration at President Bush's tendency to side with Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, on issues ranging from the Middle East to the International Criminal Court, Gen Powell is making it clear that he does not intend to quit before the next presidential election.

"He won't resign because to do so would be tantamount to admitting defeat," said a senior Washington official. "He would only go earlier if he thought he had lost the president's confidence and there is no sign of that. He thinks it is better to carry on and have some influence from inside the administration than to leave and have none."

Now, I've tried to give Powell the benefit of the doubt, and I thought after Dubya's anti-Yassir speech, Foggy Bottom might shut the hell up and get with the program. However, if Powell is bitching to foreign governments about other members of the administration, he has no business representing the United States as our voice to the world.

The administration has made up its mind on Kyoto, opposition to Yassir "more kiddie bombers please" Arafat, and the ICC. Powell is Secretary of State. His job is to provide the president with information, and then act as our chief diplomat. He's given his advice. It's been rejected. Now his job is to convince other governments to accept our position, or at least to accept the reality of the situation.

I've still got some hope for Powell. I think he is, at his core, a good man, and that he actually believes the State Department's bumbling multilateralism is the right course to follow. But he's wrong. We're at war. Firm stands need to be taken by the chief executive, and once those decisions are made, the cabinet needs to close ranks behind those stands. I think Stephen Green got it right a while ago:

"…Powell would be the perfect king for a mythical land where all is well and peaceful. The people could admire his sagacity and strength from afar, and there would be no messy international problems to soil his reputation. His background and bearing would bring peoples of all colors and creeds together in harmony."

But as the esteemed Vodkapundit notes, that's not the world we live in. Powell is a good diplomat, but he needs to remember whose diplomatic goals he's supposed to be promoting. The president listened to Powell's recommendations, and rejected them. That's done. He can still give his advice to the president, and can privately disagree with decisions the administration makes, but he must not whine to foreign dignitaries about how he won't let "those bastards" drive him out. He has a job to do, and if he's not willing to fulfill that job by towing the party line, he needs to step down.

I don't know, maybe this is just more Rope-A-Dope^TM designed to placate the Euroweenies.

2002-07-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

Marching Towards Victory

I’m starting to think about getting my own domain, and switching over to Movable Type. So I have a couple of quick questions for my fellow blogtroopers out there who are using MT: did you have any trouble setting it up? Was importing old blogger posts too tough? Is there anything important you've learned I should know before commiting?

2002-07-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

More Steyn

Mark Steyn’s latest column (link via Daily Pundit) is chock full of goodness. Everything from Independence Day, the silliness of the “Under God” decision, to the nature of limited government, he touches it all.

2002-07-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

If Middle Earth was run by Euroweenies

Mike over at Coldfury.com brings us the sequel to Lord Of The Rings, after all of middle earth gives up war and accepts the wonderful justice of an International Criminal Court…

Funny shit I tell you.

2002-07-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

Alive and Kicking

Ok, after a day of misery following the debauchery of the 4th, I feel much better. Blogging can now recommence…

2002-07-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Uggg

Too much Gin last night, left me a miserable wreck. No posting of any value can be made today....

2002-07-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Goddamn 4th!

I'm going to a friends houseboat on Lake Union to watch the Fireworks and get my boozie on. Blogging will be suspended until the hangover subsides.

Have a good one.

2002-07-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Quote Of The Day

"We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be detested in France."

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
1769-1852

2002-07-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

The BBC: Britain's Colonoscopy Without The General Anesthetic

Over the past few days, the BBC has been hyping American "Attacks" on Afghan civilians. This is annoying, but you come to expect it from a left-leaning organization. Hell, CNN has practically jumped to the same conclusions. And there is a sizable anti-American contingent on the island, so some Guardian-esque slander against the good 'ol USA is almost to be expected.

But why does the BBC hate Britain?

This year's Last Night of the Proms will not include the traditional singing of Rule Britannia. According to this article from the Independent (found via Tim Blair),

The BBC has decided to bring down the curtain on the annual rendition of "Rule, Britannia" at the Last Night of the Proms. The change means there will be no solo singer this year to lead the audience through the seven jingoistic verses and choruses of the raucous Malcolm Sargent version. Instead they will have to make do with the original, instrumental version, which is part of Henry Wood's "Fantasia on British Sea Songs". Leonard Slatkin, the American chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, said they were only reflecting the public's own ambivalence towards the popular anthem.

"We have had a lot of letters saying that it is time to get rid of "Rule, Britannia", and I must admit I am not completely comfortable with playing it," he told the Radio Times today. " 'Rule, Britannia' does seem a little militaristic, and though it's wonderful to celebrate who you are and have faith in your country, I don't think we should exclude others. The Last Night of the Proms is an important occasion; in Japan they get up at 4am to watch it. Anyway, I'm not certain the sentiments of the words resonate in the way some people think they should. It does seem a little outdated."

Outdated my ass. It's a cool song.

The lyrics are certainly jingoistic, if by jingoism you mean not rolling over Petain-esquely for a nice butt reaming. I mean, read 'em for chrissakes! The whole damn world could use a little reminder on how Nelson, Wellington, and the men like them and under them, saved the world from Napoleonic tyranny. Or how Churchill fought the dark Nazi regime in WW II, and how Maggie Thatcher stood against the inhuman Communist regimes of the cold war. But, no, "I don't think we should exclude others."

Sometimes I worry about our British cousins (and the American conductors they hire)....

2002-07-03T00:17:00.000-07:00

Friedman Makes Sense?

Vodkapundit links to a unnaturally sensible Thomas Friedman article, which reminds us all how backward the Arab world really is. One statistic of interest:

The U.N. Development Program, which published, along with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, a brutally honest Arab Human Development Report yesterday analyzing the three main reasons the Arab world is falling off the globe. (The G.D.P. of Spain is greater than that of all 22 Arab states combined.)

That’s Spain. The poor kid of the Europe Union. Arab nations have around 230 million people in them; Spain has around 40 million. According to these numbers, Spanish per capita wealth production is 115 times that of the combined Arab nations.

As an aside, the US GDP (per capita) is twice that of Spain, and our population is nearing 300 million…

Do things need to change for the Arabs? I think so.

2002-07-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

Animated Goodness

I just saw The Iron Giant for the first time, and I must say, it was a pretty damn good watch, even for a kids cartoon. Nice animation, an interesting story, all kinds of adult level politics and philosophy under the surface...

Another Mojo recommendation.

2002-07-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Riddle Me This Batman

While my subscription to Foreign Affairs magazine brings me a year's worth of excellent analysis and opinion on current world events, it also puts me on all kinds of other magazine mailing lists. I got an add for the New Yorker today, which is, in and of itself, not that interesting.

What is interesting however, is where the add came from. Where might the billing center for the New Yorker be located?
...
Anyone?
...
Anyone?
...

If you guessed Bonne Iowa, you win a prize!

2002-07-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

Also Sprache Den Beste

For drunken ranting and attempted smarty-pants humor regarding the International Criminal Court, you come see Mojo. For a well thought-out discussion of the United States government's refusal to work with the court, and our other "Unilateral" decisions as of late, go read Steven Den Beste.

Harness the power of his cold, hard, rational prose to vanquish all your enemies...

2002-07-02T01:32:00.000-07:00

Errrrrr....

Europe seethes as defiant US goes its own way (Link via Daily Pundit).

I'd just like to take this opportunity to give a big "Fuck You" to Tony Blair's government ministers, who see the US administration as "very unhelpful" and "bloody-minded" when it comes to giving up our citizens to politically appointed International Tribunals. If you guys can't see how worthless the ICC is, then you deserve to rot with your fellow EUro-Socialist fucktard friends on the continent while we start building the CoDominion with the Russians.

2002-07-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

Musician Lefty Death, and Other Lameness

George Michael, pop “musician,” has turned into a deep political thinker. An interview in the UK’s Mirror, a publication which bills itself as “Newspaper of the Year” and Michael as Britain’s “most gifted contemporary songwriter,” has an interview where Georgie where he explains his latest single, “Shoot the Dog.” The song is a satire on Tony Blair’s relationship with George Bush and the war on terrorism, with Blair portrayed as Bush’s Poodle. The song features such insightful lyrics as:

Nine nine nine gettin'' jiggy
People did you see that fire in the city?
It's like we''re fresh out of democratic,
Gotta get yourself a little
something semi-automatic yeah...

I did happen to see that fire actually, and I was a bit put off by it. However, what does the adjective democratic mean when used as a noun? As for arming yourself, Hurray!

The Ayatollah''s gettin'' bombed yeah,
See Sergeant Bilko having fun again,
Good puppy, good puppy
Rollin' on over for The Man....

When did we start bombing Iran, and why didn’t anybody tell me about it? I would’ve made popcorn…

I believe, I believe what the old man said
Though I know that there''s no lord above
I believe in me, I believe in you
And you know I believe in love
I believe in truth though I lie a lot
I feel the pain from the push and shove
No matter what you put me through
I''ll still believe in love
And I say

Now, I know that hot man-on-man action can be a little rough at times, but does it really leave you this incoherent. I mean, what the fuck are you singing about here Georgie? Sure, I’m taking chunks out of the lyrics, but read the whole thing. Even for insipid pop music, they’re awful. He’s just mad because America wouldn’t let him give handjobs to random men in a public restroom. Poor baby.

Michael’s hatred for the war on terrorism, however, brings me to my larger point: the seemingly inevitable turn of inconsequential has-been musicians and artists into rabid leftists. Why is it that musicians and artists, who so overwhelming espouse their beliefs in individualism, are such fervent Collectivists when it comes to politics? It’s been a general rule in my life that the higher number of body piercings a person has, the more they expect me to subsidize their dumb-asses.

Leftist activism is but the final step to irrelevancy for a performer. The more a person’s talent (or just their popularity) wanes, the less they produce, and the more it becomes solely of interest to their hardcore fans. Then the new music becomes a lowly trickle, and the only press the artist gets is when they espouse their loopy political beliefs for CNN. Eddie Veder of Pearl Jam was, with the ever-irritating Phil Donohue, Ralph Nader’s big media supporter. Krist Novoselic, Nirvana’s former bassist who hasn’t produced any music of worth since Kurt Kobain emptied a shotgun into his own face, is an avowed Lenninist (when the Washington State Libertarian Party had Novoselic giving a speech during their 2002 convention, I decided I would never, ever, become a big L libertarian).

These are just the examples I can think of off the top of my head. Aside from Ted Nugent, I’m hard-pressed to think of a name of a pop or rock star who wasn’t somewhere to the left of Che Guevara, and I’m not even talking about the greatest leftist wanker rock band of all time, Rage Against the Machine. What makes these brave soldiers against the oppresive fascist right-wingers attach themselves to an ideology which calls for the destruction of Individual freedoms they say they care so much about. Well, they are hypocrites, and, like our boy Georgie, seem to be historically illiterate.

But by stating their opposition to the government, or big business, they try to hold onto that youthful rebellion, and the accompanying hipness, that once propelled them to fame. They are destined to fail, as no one, and I mean no one, wants to hear a pudgy thirty eight year old multimillionaire sing about smoking pot and sticking it to the man.

**UPDATE**
Damian Penny has a similiar, if more concise and less drunken, article on Michael's "Political" song

2002-07-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fu... Oh, Sorry, I Get Confused Sometimes

The UK Telegraph has this article on the EU's decision to emulate Tony Blair's spin tactics to influence voters in upcoming Euro referendums in Britain and Sweden:

The document, written in French and entitled An Information and Communication Strategy for the European Union, calls for a pre-emptive use of public relations to promote "the legitimacy, image, and role of the union".

"A true EU communication method cannot be limited to mere diffusion of information: it must give a sense to things and put the EU's actions and policies in perspective," it says.

"If factual, neutral information is necessary, it is not sufficient. Experience shows that information cannot remain neutral because of the constant distortion by the media, intermediaries and other multipliers of opinion."

That damn free media is always such a freakin' nuisance. Why can't people just vote the way we tell them. Boy, If we just had Castro's poll numbers, that'd be swell. Stupid Democracy...

But don't worry Britain, if Captain Euro is any indication, EU propaganda will be ineffective, and perhaps somewhat amusing.

2002-07-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

Gore, Gore, Gore

Ok, am I the only person who thinks Al Gore made a big mistake in shaving off the old beard? Now, I know some people think beards are anathema to political campaigns, but it seems a good break with the man's previous, untrustworthy profile. It gave him a pleasant, almost fatherly appearence.

I certainly bought it more than his recent blathering that, if he had it to do over again, he would let it rip, ignoring advisors and pollsters (link via Vodkapundit). Yeah right, Al, I can see you as the ol' truthgiver.

I tell ya, between Gore and Daschle, I can't imagine the Dems winning anything aside from laughs. Maybe if he would've kept that beard...

2002-06-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hell No, We Won't Go!

Praise Jeebus! The US has held its ground on the International Criminal Court (see previous post below), and vetoed the Bosnian Peacekeeping Force (AP story via CNN). The US government fears the tribunal will be used to attack Americans for political reasons. And Europeans just don't get it:

Supporters say there are many safeguards to prevent such abuse, including a democratic process to elect a prosecutor and 18 judges. Each member country has one vote.

So It'll be just like the UN, only we won't have veto power. Yeah, that makes me real confident...

Unlike the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, also based in The Hague, the 1998 Rome Statute creating the international court states that prosecutors may only indict individuals not tried by their own governments.

Nations will have first say over where suspects go on trial, not the permanent court.

"We don't understand why the United States doesn't have more faith in its own justice system to punish those who violate international law," Jochems said.

And If we don't agree to all points of International law? Then I guess the blue-helmets come in gunning and carry away Jesse Helms (Yeah, I know the court won't have police of its own, but the visual is just too good). No thanks Jean-luc. I don't want CINCPAC getting hauled away for using land mines as a deterrent in Korea.

On the plus side:

Fearing U.S. soldiers and leaders could be indicted on political grounds, the U.S. Senate adopted legislation authorizing the President to use "all means necessary" to free U.S. citizens held by the court. It also enables the United States to penalize countries for cooperating with the court.

Sweet.

2002-06-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

More Testing

Found via PejmanPundit: What Simpsons Character Are You?

Take the quiz here!

Hmm.... donuts, beer, hatred of that damn Flanders, sounds about right to me!

2002-06-30T03:43:00.000-07:00

I Hate the UN…

This article from the New York Times gives us a status report on UN Security Council debate on renewing the organization’s peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. The US is threatening to veto unless we get blanket immunity from prosecution in the vile International Criminal Court. The deadline for a vote is tonight at midnight.

The good news is that the administration looks like it’s gonna stand fast and refuse some kind of compromise, even if it means killing the Bosnian force. The bad news is that the British are siding with the French on this one…

2002-06-30T01:06:00.000-07:00

Still Rockin' In The Free World

Colorfinger was Art Alexakis’ band before he started Everclear. Their web site has their only major album, as well as demos and live performances, available for download in mp3 format.

Being a bit of an Everclear fan myself, I went a little download crazy. Classic Alexakis, it’s some good stuff I tell ya.

2002-06-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Hohoho

I just saw Scorpions plaing an acoustic version of Winds of Change on CNN. I didn't know if I should laugh or start headbanging. To be on the safe side, I made the metal sign while chuckling.

The best part, of course, was the lead guitarist playing an acoustic Flying V. RAWK!

2002-06-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

J Lo In a Quality Product. No, Seriously

I know I'm two years behind the curve on this one, but I just saw The Cell tonight, and I must say, it was a visually amazing movie. And not just because it gives us sweet, skintight, Jennifer Lopez cheesecake, without the terrible pop music. It's a fantastic looking movie, and the acting and story aren't horrible either.

It comes with the Mojo recommendation, as long as you can stomach some of the more disturbing stuff.

2002-06-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

Worst. Idea. Ever.

Ugh... (via Drudge)

2002-06-27T13:44:00.000-07:00

Howdy Folks

Mark Steyn's latest column for the UK’s Telegraph is up. Reporting from the G8 summit in Calgary, he makes fun of European Leaders, belittles the Anti-Globalists, and watches bare asses. Good stuff as usual.

2002-06-27T02:36:00.000-07:00

The Times, They Are A-Changing

Sometimes I forget it in the daily grind, but now that I've had some time to think about Bush's Monday speech, I'm reminded of a realization I came to immediately following September 11. I've come of age in the most pivotal era in at least 50 years, if not in human history. Not since World War II has the future of the world been so unclear.

I was a child of the 80's, and an adolescent of the 90's. I was 7 when Reagan attacked Libya. I was 11 when the Berlin wall came and bodies burned in Tiananmen Square. I was 13 when the first gulf war ended. Being an unusually curious kid, I paid close attention to these events when they were broadcast live on the TV. I saw a world changing around me, something none of the futurists, social scientists, pundits, and writers I'd been exposed to had foreseen. The Soviet Empire was dead, and a new world was coming.

After these initial events, though, the New World Order seemed to fizzle out and die. The 90's were a non-decade when it came to international affairs, at least it seemed to us. Domestic affairs ruled the day. George I lied about taxes. Bill played the sax on Arsenio. Hilary tried to nationalize Health care. Rush Limbaugh became a cultural icon, for no good reasons I could discern. The culture wars raged, and the Republicans ended the decade in control of congress. By the dawn of the new millenium, my hometown of Seattle was turned into a battlefield by the luddite anti-globalization movement.

The economic boomtimes of the 90s had treated America well. A new Isolationism seemed an increasingly appealing idea to a nation that wanted to steer clear of foreign entanglements like the Balkans, which seemed to be the only areas of conflict in an increasingly peaceful world. The little wars fought by little people in little countries didn't affect us. History was pretty much over, and America seemed content enough to stagnate. Things were looking grim.

However, there were no external threats to the United States' continued existence. All the problems of the cold war had seemed to vanish in thin air. Instead, a new 60s style radicalism seemed to be bubbling beneath the surface, ready to tear the nation down. Universities, where the best and brightest of a nation were supposed to be prepared for life, had become cauldrons of dogmatic national self-hatred. Little did we know that worries about these "threats" were insignificant and silly compared to what really lurked out in the dark.

I think my generation was hardest hit psychologically from the 9-11 attacks. We young twenty-somethings and below are the post-post-modern generation. The hippies had rebelled against everything. Generation X had rebelled against them. Us, we grew up in a bizarre culture of anti-corporate MTV. Our rebellion was packaged and marketed back at us. I knew honor student cheerleader who had more tattoos than your worst merchant marines, and could hold their liquor better. Teenage moms were so 80's to us. The collapse of western civilization had become passe by '95.

We believed in fuck all, but after 9-11 we were suddenly under attack from somebody who hated us even more than we hated ourselves. Things suddenly mattered. We were at war. There wasn't supposed to be any more wars. Our pacifist vegan ex-hippie teachers had told us so. I'm one of the few people my age who remember the cold war, who remembers what it was like to go to bed and wonder if the missiles would fly while I was sleeping, killing me and everyone I cared about. I knew horrible things like the WTC attacks could happen, but I don't think most young people my age did.

When the madness of September 11 arrived, everyone suddenly realized the world wasn't the happy place they thought it was. America had been attacked in a catastrophic manner, and despite everything we were told to expect from our education system, we had done nothing to provoke it. Flags flew in a manner that hadn't been seen in at least 30 years. Patriotism suddenly moved from the least hip thing possible, to being tolerated in almost all places. The world was a dangerous place, and foreign affairs mattered. There was a war on, and even most whacked-out Naderites realized this was a fight against vile, intolerant, religious extremists intent on killing us all.

Great forces are now at work, and future history is being decided. The political map of the Middle East will be permanently redrawn within the next two years. Every time Bush gives a major policy speech, history is being made. Dubya's no Churchill in the speech department, but what the president says in these strange times is important. The next time you think about the war, think about the big picture. What is the world really going to look like in 5 years? In 10?

I've got a kid sister who's 16. The Soviet Union is an obscure historical side note to her. By the time she finishes college, the world will be drastically altered. I've also got a 2 year old niece. To her, the current war is going to be ancient history. She'll live in a world I can't predict, with all kinds of new threats and opportunities. I guess that's what makes life interesting.

2002-06-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

Human Behavior, Explained Once and For All

I think Vodkapundit Stephen Green gets it perfectly right on his Rant Of Righteousness regarding the recent 9th Circuit Court decision about the pledge of allegiance. Everyone involved in this case should be dressed in nun outfits and dropped in the middle of Mormon country. That'll teach the sumbitches to take things so seriously…

Now, to celebrate Green's General Theory of Human Interaction, I have beer to drink.

2002-06-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

Radio Free Turkmenistan

Porphyrogenitus over at Ranting Screeds links to this STRATFOR article on the possibility of a non-violent regime change in Turkmenistan, Supported by the US and Europe. Turkmenistan's President, Saparmurad Niyazov created a tyrannical, Stalinist dictatorship after the collapse of the USSR, and has used brutal methods to remain in control. Before the war in Afghanistan, the US made deals with him to gain access to Turkmen Bases.

Working with such a man was a distastful, but necessary move. But now that we don't need him any more, it looks like we're gonna back the opposition to get rid of him. Good.

Of interest to Chomskyites ass-lickers, Turkmenistan is important for any oil coming out of the Caspian, but Niyazov is all-for pipeline building. How long do you think it'll take for Noam to start defending ol' uncle Sap?

2002-06-26T01:51:00.000-07:00

The Decline and Impending Fall of MSNBC

I'm a news junkie. I spend countless hours flipping through the 10 or so news stations my cable service provides. I'm the only person I know who gets drunk and tunes into C-Span at two in the morning. For a man such as myself, cable news has been the only alternative to incoherent Dan Rather rambling or idiotic network "news magazines," in which "news" means the latest heartwarming sick-three-legged-dog-walks-cross-country-to-find-his-family story. There's a mess of these all-news stations, but the three biggies are FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Now, FOX is transparently biased to the right. Sometimes the newscasters admit this bias, other times, they stick to their "Fair and Balanced" line of crap. Memo to Rupert, you ain't fooling nobody. I used to watch FOX quite a bit, but I've mellowed from my more reactionary youth, so the constant bias usually just irritates me. Bill O'Reily, FOX's ratings baby, is a dirty populist demagogue, and I hate dirty populist demagogues. Plus he has a very punchable face. Picking up Geraldo didn't help the network in my opinion either. Neil Cavuto is the only FOX on-air personality I like.

CNN has been completely unwatchable since the end of the Gulf War, and is a wholly owned subsidary of the left. It tries to hide its bias, but it's obvious to anyone. Whether it's the constant verbal felatio given to Clinton throughout his tenure, or the never-ending, monotonous, Larry King interviews, CNN blows baboons. What can be expected from the creation of a man who married a Vietcong blowjob machine, and put his worthless fucking Braves on 50 channels? Havana Ted and Hanoi Jane are truly traitorous pieces of filth, and the network they gave birth to shows it. In the world of CNN, the US and Israel are always wrong, and anyone to the right of Teddy Kennedy is a jackbooted thug.

And any network that gives Paul Begala a full-time job deserves to be destroyed. I can see Carville, sure he's evil, but he's wiley. Begala is just a whiney little bitch. Jihadable offense if you ask me. Fucking infidels.

Now, when it comes to my personal viewing preferences, I've been watching MSNBC pretty consistently for a couple of years now. I like Tim Russert and Chris Matthews, even though they sometimes irritate me. Their normal news staff are far less irritating than the amateurish staffs of FOX and CNN. It always seemed to me that MSNBC's editorial bias was far less than either of the other two networks. Their guest choices always seemed more balanced: choosing opposing guests that are both smart, rather than one smart one and one dumb one to suit your political agenda.

After 9-11, MSNBC was great. They had all the best analysis, all the best discussions, all the best interviews. And they even got rid of Geraldo, and anyone who know me knows I just can't stand Geraldo. But things started going wrong. It started with Dr. Bob "video games cause violence" Arnot, on the scene in Afghanistan. Next came Christian-right blowhard Alan Keyes getting his own show, allowing him to lecture dumb college students he invites on for debates. And then they replaced the lovely Chris Jansing in the morning with a stupid and ugly team of New York radio talk show hosts.

However, I could have lived with all these changes, since MSNBC is still less maddening than the alternatives, but now they've gone too far. Yes, on July 15, one of America's great shit-for-brains returns to television. Yes, after backing Nader in 2000, the once mighty Phil Donohue is returning to television with his own show. The only good television Donohue ever produced was when Ayn Rand, not long before her death, would come on and take his ass to the cleaners. My mom was a big Phil fan in the mid 80's, so summer break between kindergarden and first grade, I watched a lot of the bastard (mom was stay-at-home). Rand came on several times, and although I wasn't sure who this crazy old lady was, I sure liked watching her embarrass Phil and his entire audience. It wasn't till I was almost done with college that I understood why.

But Ayn Rand is dead, and without her I don't know who will shut Donohue up. It's an intolerable situation, and I don't see any alternatives for my TV news fix. Right now I'm considering just saying screw it and watching China Central TV's channel that the cable service added. Sure it's propaganda, but its foreign propaganda, so maybe it won't be so domestically partisan in its news coverage. Whatever I do, I'm almost certainly going to watch a lot less MSNBC.

2002-06-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

More Brazilian Badness?

In connection with my previous post on South America, here's an Agence France-Presse article on an attack on Rio de Janeiro's City Hall yesterday. Here's the Associated Press version.

2002-06-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Powell Being a Team Player?

This article from the Times of India, and others I'm sure, has Colin Powell essentially restating what bush said, even if he doesn't sound happy about. I have hope that Powell will be a good soldier, and not undermine the administration's efforts, now that an anti-Yassir policy has finally been laid down.

2002-06-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

Is South America in Serious Trouble?

William Quick of Daily Pundit links to an Economist article about a looming financial crisis in Brazil, on the heels of Argentina's financial meltdown. Richard Jahnke's excellent El Sur links to a Financial Times article covering similar material. The gist of both articles is that Brazil faces a collapse of investor confidence, after a large devaluation of the Real, and a rapidly sinking stock market. The country's credit outlook has been downgraded and foreign investors seem to be getting the hell out of dodge. Both articles voice the fear that Brazil will default on its debts, following Argentina into economic turmoil.

More troubling than these economic problems, however, is the political fallout that accompanies it. The left will probably gain control of the Brazilian government in upcoming elections. Anti-capitalists thrive in chaotic situations like this, and one thing that won't help Brazil is massive taxes and even greater deficit spending to support social spending. They won't be able to solve the problem.

So what do we get when we look at the situation though my much beloved Yeatsian circular history method? Well, if things in Brazil follow Argentina's example, we'll have nations facing stifling foreign debt, extreamly high unemployment, hyperinflation (Brazil doesn't have this problem yet) a center-left political class unable to effectively service increasing unredeemable debt. I can only foresee this ending with a violent reactionary right vs. radical left struggle as the current mainstream becomes more and more discredited. Either way, Gulags or Goosesteps, such a scenario can only end badly.

I hope I'm overreacting to the situation, as there are several differences between the Argentine and Brazilian crises, most notable Brazil's floating exchange rate compared with Argentina's disastrous dollar-pegged currency. But, the danger is real (and the danger from instability in Argentina and Hugo Chavez's Venezuela is bad enough without Brazil joining them), and, unfortunately, our attention is focused on the war against Al Qaeda style terrorists. My fear is that five years from now, after Al Qaeda has been defanged, and the newly democratic Iraq and Iran join the free world, we'll wake up to find nasty things brewing down south.

2002-06-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

Bush's Speech

Summary: No Palestinian statehood without an end to terror and a democratically elected, Yassir-free government. Sounds about right to me.

Instapundit, USS Clueless, Daily Pundit, and Fierce Highway all have some initial thoughts on implications of the speech.

2002-06-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

More links from Strategypage

Fucktards...

2002-06-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

Showin 'em What For

Ian over at Fierce Highway gives a more detailed reponse to the Iraq Invasion article I linked to below. He says everything I should have, so go read it.

2002-06-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hulk, er, Smash? Or Something...

I just love Photoshop Phrydays!

2002-06-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Gaming Goodness

Also found on Strategypage, this article from Ha'aretz on an Israeli wargame simulation covering Israel's reaction to an American invasion of Iraq. Interesting stuff, and a happy ending, at least where Arafat and Saddam are concerned.

2002-06-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

The Cost of War

Via Strategypage, this article from Fortune magazine discusses the (mostly negative) consequences of the coming invasion of Iraq. It also nicely encapsulates most of the issues that have been covered in the past several months regarding operation foot-up-Saddam's-ass.

2002-06-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

On US Military Support to Southeast Asia

I'm again using the latest issue of Foreign Affairs as my springboard to a post. In this case I'm looking at Is Southeast Asia the Second Front? by John Gershman of the Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) think tank. The full article is available on FPIF's website.

Now FPIF seems to be a member of the left-wing / pacifism / pro-unilateralism / pro-UN school, with other articles (by other authors) lambasting the US for bailing on the International Criminal Court, planning to attack Iraq, support for Israel, and a number of other. Gersham, though, brings up several important points regarding the War on Terror in Southeast Asia.

First and foremost, he reminds us that Islam in the region, even political Islam, is incredibly diverse. What passes for Islamist rebellions in most of the area looks like Abu-Sayef: petty bandits with very few hard links to Al-Qaeda, raising funds through extortion, ransom, and piracy. He also points out the possible dangers of forming alliances of convenience, which could turn into longer-term alliances, with oppressive and tyrannical governments. And the failure of many southeast asian governments, and abuses by their militaries, only pushes more people into militant Islam.

Gersham's conclusions is that military help to these countries, aside from minor naval and border assistance, is futile in controlling Islamist terrorists, and possibly morally repugnant as it could strengthen oppressive regimes or stifle young developing democracies. Instead, we should invest in developing local democracy though non-military means, such as debt reduction and helping to prop-up local social safety nets ensuring human right and freedom for the people of Southeast Asia. As Grisham puts it in his conclusion:

…the Bush administration should support economic policies that promote broad-based growth, even if these policies diverge from the wholesale liberalization typically advocated foreign affairs. by Washington. Targeted foreign aid can also play a limited role in poverty reduction in the worst regions and help support social safety nets. An even more valuable step would be to reconsider U.S. policies that have been an obstacle to expanding growth, such as opposition to debt reduction.

Now, it's true we all want freedom, liberty, and economic stability for the people of Southeast Asia, but our current national priority is in preventing terrorists from destroying our cities, not in making sure impoverished third-world nations have a functioning welfare state. All I've ever seen "social safety nets" do is create permanent underclasses. As for debt reduction, how can we ensure the same leaders who screwed up their economies are going to do a better job next time? Even if these measures weren't destined for failure from the get-go (which they are), economic reform is one of those big giant socio-political thingamagigs that Marxists are so fond of, and that take years and years to show results.

For the short term, strengthening military and intelligence ties with Southeast Asian nations is the only way to put pressure on dangerous Islamist groups that currently exist, and to deter the formation of new ones. I'd hate to support oppressive regimes, but when it comes to a choice between backing the greedy general or letting Al-Qaeda upset already destabilized third world nations, all the while organizing attacks on Honolulu, I'll chose the generalisimo every time.

In his essay, Gersham makes a point of the criminal nature of Islamist groups in this area, but I'd like to remind everyone that before the Jihadists entered the scene, Chechnya's rebellion was headed by the same types of bandit groups. The borders in this region are porous, and controlling the flow of dangerous individuals depends on having well trained military and police forces. Afghanistan is increasingly inhospitable to these violent Islamists, the despotic regimes of the middle-east want nothing to do with them, so where do you think they'll head next? Training local forces is the best way to keep the pressure on these groups as they begin to infiltrate the Muslim nations of Southeast Asia.

Gersham does remind us, however, that we need to pay attention to who we choose as our allies in this, but his blanket dismissing of military aid is foolish.

2002-06-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

Mojo Welcomes Summer With a Hike From Hell

So I was gonna try to post a few thoughts I’ve had regarding America's recent assistance to the Philippines, especially in context of a “Second Phase” of the War on Terror. Unfortunately, that’ll have to wait till tomorrow, as I’m just too exhausted. Some friends and I decided to take a nice, leisurely hike in the Cascades, to welcome in summer. What I thought would be a brisk walk to a small lake turned into a death march up 3000 feet of rugged terrain. Me not being in the best of shape (well, perhaps that’s a tad understated), I had a bit of trouble.

At one point I thought I was going to die from exhaustion, especially after my legs started cramping up halfway through the ascent. Many fine expletives were muttered under my breath. Long story short, I’m exhausted, sore, and cranky.

On the plus side, I did just get a new laptop (well it’s used, but it beats the hell out of my old laptop, which is an antique) from one of the friends. So tomorrow’s blogging will come to y'all via my small, sun-soaked porch. Huzah!

2002-06-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

Even the New Outer Limits is Better Than This Crap

Eagerly anticipating my weekly Farscape dorkout, I happened to catch the Sci-Fi network's new Anthology show, Night Visions. And it sucks. Hard.

It seems like all these Neo-Twilight Zone shows keep getting worse and worse. Now the New Twilight Zone was OK, and Tales From The Crypt, although predictable, was still kinda cool, and it had the lovable Crypt Keeper on intros. And then came the new Outer Limits, which had the same ending every fucking episode: humanity is doomed because of its greed and maliciousness. I mean, if you made that point three or four times, you could hold my attention, but there's been like 200 episodes, and they all end the same goddamn way.

Sure, the Twilight Zone had its unhappy endings, caused by man's own weakness and folly, but there were just as many where there's a happy ending, or at the very least redemption. What made Rod Serling (bless his lefty heart) probably the best screen and stage writer of the mid 20th century was that he seemed like he wasn't sure if the future was full of hope, or full of terror. I think that's a healthy attitude and certainly the best mindset to produce the great stories Serling he did.

Now, along comes Night Visions. It's the Bud Light of anthology shows. Just like Bud Light has the alcoholic content of my piss, and yet it claims to be real beer, Night Visions has simple uninteresting little supernatural morality tales, and tries to sell them as thought provoking and scary Twilight Zoneesque stories. And, it's got a hip face, even better than Spuds McKenzie. Love him or hate him, however, Henry Rollins is not Rod Serling, no matter how serious he tries to sound.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I just realized I'm spending Friday night alone, watching the SciFi channel, and bitching about the poor quality of its programming on my website. As I'm suddenly only one step away from being Harry Fucking Knowles, I feel the need to drink very heavily.

2002-06-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

NATO's New Focus

Ian over at Fierce Highway has a post regarding NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson's speech yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute. In it he announces the NATO's new focus on the threat of Terrorism.

We're living in a time of new threats, and if NATO has a future, it needs to adapt. I just hope Robertson and the rest of the NATO bureaucracy can get the ship on course in time to be of use.

Also, if you haven't seen it, check out the rest of Ian's site. It's got ton's of good stuff, and he seems like a pretty smart guy.

2002-06-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

Turkey Controls Kabul

As of yesterday, Turkish forces are now in charge of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), responsible for security in Kabul.

I just wonder why this hasn’t happened earlier. It seems to me that we should be giving the Western-friendly Turks leadership opportunities as soon and as often as possible, to show that we really are at war with fundamentalist Islam, not the more general Islamic population.

I know the distinction between the radicals and the more passive general population in Islamic nations seems increasingly obsolete, especially after seeing the recent spate of happy-fun-Palestinian-suicide-bomber-parents celebrate their offspring killing Jewish women and children. However, as an honorable and decent people, we need to try our damnedest to separate the enemy from the innocent, as much as possible without sacrificing our own innocents.

The propaganda war for hearts and minds is an important part of our current war, and I think its something the government has so far neglected. A lot was made right after September 11 about using Madison Avenue as a weapon in the war on terror, but I haven’t seen much come from it, at least not on the international stage. Turkish control of Kabul, with the accompanying handover ceremony from the British, should be spun all over the damn world as an example of the West’s true positive intentions toward the Islamic world.

2002-06-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

No Problems so Far

The english language arm of Saudi idiocy, Arabnews, has this editorial about the Arab Boycott of America. Now, if it were a Taiwanese and Japanese boycott of Disneyland, I'd be worried....

2002-06-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

It's Not Porn You Gutter-Brains
(or The Value of Unilaterism)

As I wrote yesterday, my new issue of Foreign Affairs arrived in the mail yesterday. It's got a lot of interesting articles in it, but the headliner and most interesting piece so far is American Primacy in Perspective, by Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth. In it the authors discuss the nature and degree of American dominance over international affairs, and how that dominance is affecting America's long term and short term goals. I've long thought of the United States as a new Rome in terms of global power and dominance, but this essay describes a power differential completely unprecedented in all of human history. Even in relative terms, no nation or empire has ever had the unilateral power that the US now possesses.

Fortunately, the full-text version of the essay is on the Foreign Affairs website, however, I'll briefly summarize what I think are the most important parts:

It's 10 years after the Cold War, and during that decade no power, or group of powers, has been able to effectively oppose the present unipolar, American-dominated power structure.
The United States is a completely dominant military power, while only budgeting 3.5% of GDP on the military. No other nation comes close to the ground, air, naval, and unconventional forces the US military fields. And our R&D investment continues to far outstrip that of all other nations.
On the Economic front, the US economy is twice as large as that of the nearest other nation (Japan), and America is the center of the global economic system.
There are many reasons to think that this dominance in military and economic matters will continue into the foreseeable future. Any opposition alliance or power block that other nations attempted in the past ten years have fissled and died. The EU nations are still members of an American dominated NATO, and any Sino-Russian alliance died on September 11. Almost all countries with the potential to oppose American Hegemony have more to gain by being partners in the current order.

The essay's final conclusion is that the United States is easily powerful enough to act unilaterally, with little to no serious short-term damage to American dominance. However, to sustain this power over the long term, the wisest course is one of engagement of Russia and China, while keeping in mind the sensitivities of our long term allies by restraining our unilateralist urges.

Overall, this essay is a fine strategic scale description of the current geo-political landscape. A thousand years from now, this type of overview will probably be the introductory chapter of a Martian high-school history textbook covering 21st century history. It's a fine read, and covers a number of interesting details and supporting facts that I've completely ignored in my summary. Go check it out.

However, I did have some problems with the essay and its conclusion. First off, the authors focus solely on International Relations, almost ignoring the existence of non-state players, such as Al-Qaeda. Also not mentioned is the continuing proliferation of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) weapons. The combination of these two items is the great threat to the American nation. Our infrastructure is wide open to any number of attacks from NBC armed terrorists, and these terrorists are the great threat to 21st century America.

Defending against the Islamist threat brings me to my second big problem with the essay: the long-term value of multilateralism. I agree in general that having the support of traditional allies is nice. In calm times, working in international coalitions is preferable, and building trust and cooperation is worth the diplomatic and political cost. President Clinton's constant pandering to European interests in the mid nineties was probably for the best in such a seemingly placid time.

But what good is diplomatic capital if its not used in times of need? The United States is currently in a war with forces determined not simply to dethrone it from its seat of power, but to completely destroy it as the symbol of secular western civilization. Weapons of mass destruction and modern networked communication and organizational structures make that task entirely possible, even to a small band of sufficiently devoted fanatics.

The survival of the entire free world is at stake, and if the rest of our allies can't see the need for swift decisive action, we need to have the moral courage to act alone to defend our civilization. Multilateralism is dangerous if it leaves us no way to destroy the one threat that can throw the whole world back to the Stone Age. We need to be able to move freely against states like Iraq, which are developing these very weapons that, in the hands of insane groups like Al Qaeda, can destroy us.

2002-06-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sweet, Sweet Hubble Goodness!

Found on Ken Layne's site, check out this page with some sweet-ass Java applet that lets you zoom in on any part of several hubble telescope pictures. I don't know if they're using some sort of fractal compression or what, but it rawks. I'm serious, check it out yo!

2002-06-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

Comment Madness!

Guess who just enabled comments on his blog? That's right, your ol' pal Mojo's gotten a YACCS comment system set up. Now my two regular readers (well ok, one if you don't count me) can endlessly hound me on my poorly thought out ideas, insensitivity, bad grammar, drunkenness, and my slovenly, unattractive appearance.

Hit me with your best shot kids!

2002-06-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Happy, Joy Joy!

The new Foreign Affairs arrived in my mailbox today! I'm sure this will inspire tons of posts shortly...

2002-06-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

My Luck at Poker

In easy to swallow comic form.

2002-06-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

Pull the Plug

The Taliban's website "has been suspended."

Now, did they break some terms of service, or has Mullah Omar's accounts payable guy been forgetting the bills since that Ranger shoved a grenade up his ass?

2002-06-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

How Conservative Am I?

Take this test to determine your political affiliation.

I scored 34, which puts me up with up there with Bob Dole (second only to Ronnie Reagan) on the ol' conserva-meter. I guess I'm more conservative than I thought, but they didn't count libertarianism as a possible outcome, so the results are pretty much meaningless, aren't they?

2002-06-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

Martyrdom Can Suck My Ass

19 more dead in Israel. There's very little to say, other than I just don't care at all about the Palestinians any more. Giving Arafat and his Hamas love-buddies a state is insane, and anyone who even contemplates such an action after yesterday is not to be trusted. A year ago I would have said a transitional state was a reasonable compromise, allowing Palestinians a degree of self-rule, while allowing Israel to pursue its own security needs. I still felt some amount of sympathy for the "Palestinian people," the innocent women and children who suffered needlessly because of a minority of extremists.

But now I say Fuck 'em. I can no longer distinguish "the people" from the whack-job terrorists. High-school age girls are sent, with mommy and daddy's loving approval, to kill a bunch of women, children, and elderly. This is a culture that worships the slaughtering of non-combatants, that teaches its youngest children that they should gladly spill their blood to kill as many Jews as possible. Little pictures of suicide bombers have replaced POGs as children's collectible of choice. Parents are proud that their sons have gone off to kill civilians.

There can be no Palestinian statehood now, or anytime in the foreseeable future. The culture of death the PA has created removed any chances of that at least six months ago. The Japanese were this insane in World War II, and the only terms of peace they finally understood came in the form of two mushroom clouds. There is no reasoning with people who are literally dying to kill you.

Fuck 'em.

Push 'em to the Dead Sea for all I care. If their brothers in the rest of the Arabic world are all that concerned they can give them sanctuary in their countries. Yeah, it'll leave "The Palestinian People" even more destitute and worthless than they already are, as difficult as that is to imagine. That's fucking tough. They made their little jihad bed, and now they can sleep in it. I'm not a Racist. I'm not a Zionist. I'm not even a Jew. I'm just someone who knows when I've seen one goddamn vile act too many. This is a dishonorable, barbaric force the Israelis are facing, and it's past time to get rid of it.

That's all I have to say on the matter. For a more thoughtful discussion on this topic, visit one of these fine writers:

Steven Den Beste
Jeff Goldstein
Tal G in Jerusalem

2002-06-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

I know this went around last week, but I'm kinda slow...

How Compatible are You with me?
I'm apparently 94% similar to Jim Treacher.... Which I assure you is just thrilling.

2002-06-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Warren Ellis Online Comic

Via Asparagirl, Warren Ellis has a short one-shot comic on Artbomb.net.

I don't read comics that much anymore, especially since Preacher finished its run, but I do pick up Transmet trade paperbacks when they come out. Ellis is smart, funny, and only mildly pinko (for a comic writer he's practically a conservative).

2002-06-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

U.S. prevented major Israeli attack on Syria
Found via Drudge. Headline says it all, really.

2002-06-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

Krauthammer Jerusalem Speech

Found via a link from Nick Denton's site, Krauthammer's Rennert Lecture at Jerusalem on June 10th. Interesting thoughts on Zionist Messianism, the Oslo Accords, Fukuyamaism, and how all this relates to the current Israel-Palestine War.

2002-06-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Why I Love the USA
…Part 2 of a continuing series…

Your 'ol pal Mojo's got himself a theme song.

Can you guess what it is? I'll give you a hint:

I'm just a regular Joe with a regular job
I'm your average white suburbanite slob
I like football and porno and books about war
I've got an average house with a nice hardwood floor
My wife and my job, my kids and my car
My feet on my table, and a cuban cigar

Give up? See the rest of the lyrics here.

It's a song that makes me so very happy to be an American. Get a copy for the 4th of July. Play it loud, play it proud...

2002-06-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

More Self-Test Crap

But I was also borderline Anger.

The dark side is strong in this one...

2002-06-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Naptime in Delhi

Time Asia has this article on Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee's frail health and his possible successors. But hey, the man likes his whiskey, so hey can't be all bad, can he?

2002-06-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Another Pointless Personality Test

Found via Pejman, another personality test with HTML code plugin, specifically designed for bloggers. Why do I find these so much fun?

take free enneagram test

Fives are basically on some level ambivalent about the world, consequently, their mind is usually their best friend. They like to analyze things and make sense of them (that is their anchor), perception and invention come naturally. The immense inner world of fives can cause them to lose touch or interest in reality.

I don't know what they're talking about. I have a perfect grasp of reality. And yes, aside from looking quite handsome, this tin-foil hat works wonders for stopping those Frankenstein Computer God mind control beams.

2002-06-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Now that's Some Good TV

Yesterday it was around 95^o here in Seattle, which is pretty goddamn hot for us Northwesterners. However, an ice-cold six-pack of beer, a pizza, and some fine television kept the heat bearable. AMC was playing two of my favorite movies, The Great Escape and Force 10 From Navarone. Now I don't know about you, dear reader, but I for one find few things as enjoyable as watching Harrison Ford killing Nazis.

On that subject, Indiana Jones 4 is starting to be talked about, and one can only hope it'll have as much Nazi-stomping as Raiders or Last Crusade. But with Kate Capshaw rumored to be reprising her role as Willie, it may turn out to be another [shudder] Temple of Doom.

That is all for now.

2002-06-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

Space Ass, or Why Humanity Will Go Extinct

Interesting stuff at StrategyPage's Space Operations page, which has brief discussions on how satellite launch insurance is becoming impossible to obtain, and how useless the ISS is without a bigger crew. What I found most interesting is the June 9 entry on the space shuttle, namely the fact that it's ancient:

The Space Shuttle is showing its age. To use the ancient equipment which checks the solid boosters before launch, engineers have to track down old Intel 8086 chips, made during 1981. The xenon floodlights used to light up the runway approaches are all but impossible to keep in service as the parts are no longer made. A new lighting system has been installed, but it produces a different kind of lighting, and astronauts are flying test approaches in business jets to get used to the new system.

Now, the space shuttle was neat in 1981, when it was brand spanking new, but even then it wasn't terribly useful. Sending cargo via one-shot rockets has always been as cheap or cheaper than the shuttle, and is a lot safer. The only cool part of the shuttle was that it was still manned space flight (if very low orbit can be called space). I was two and a half when the first shuttle lifted off. I'm almost 24 now. You'd think two decades would be enough time for NASA to make some improvements in the shuttle's electronics, and hopefully come up with a cheaper alternative. We should have a huge space station in orbit, and permanent bases on the moon preparing us for the terraforming and colonization of Mars.

But oh no, NASA spent the last ten years working on a worthless International Space Station that houses three people full time and can't even do the piddly little experiments it was supposed to. The shuttle fleet is slowly fossilizing, and the lazy N is looking through the technological ashheap of history for replacement parts. There's no new super-cheap space plane coming in the foreseeable future, and we're not even building any new shuttles to replace the existing dinosaurs.

A lot of discussion on ye old blogospheare lately has turned colonizing Mars, especially with news that massive amounts of Ice have been found on the red planet. The problem is that the United States can't currently send a single crew to the Moon, and Mars is sure as hell a lot harder than the Moon. What's worse is that colonizing Mars, a practical, if difficult, goal, isn't even in the mainstream political discussion. The Environmentalist religion, which at best says that we should learn to live in harmony with our environment before moving elsewhere, and at worst regards civilization as a cancer that must be kept from spreading at all cost, is given a legitimate seat at the policy making table.

Here's what it comes down to kiddies; the human race is one comet strike away from total extinction. If humanity doesn't have a backup plan on Mars or elsewhere, then fine, it'll die out. I'm a misanthrope at heart, so I think mankind's probably got it coming. I just hope the Raccoon-people who evolve in 30 million years are smarter than us. Of course we'll have left them with no fossil fuels, so they'll be screwed too.

2002-06-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

How to Safely View the Eclipse

I guess I should have read these Space.Com-approved instructions before viewing the eclipse yesterday. I betcha if I'd used one of them pinhole thingies, these black spots in my field of vision wouldn't be so bad. Or maybe it had something to do with the rubbing alcohol we were partying with. Who can really say?

2002-06-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

Katie Puckrik is Freaking Great

Drudge has a link to a Washington Post article about Oprah Winfrey’s upcoming show on Oxygen. Now, I think that the assy lifetime-esque content of the struggling Oxygen network isn’t going to be helped by another Oprah crapfest. Instead, they should focus on programs like Katie Puckrik’s Pajama Party. It was the only program on Oxygen that I, at the time a spirited (and drunken) college student, could watch and enjoy. It had 20-30 something women getting drunk in pajamas while interviewing celebrities. What could be better? I watched it, and my friends watched it. I think the big, fat O made a big mistake by canceling it….

2002-06-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Why I Love the USA
…Part 1 of a continuing series…

As I sit at my home computer, drinking down a six-pack of Anheuser-Busch’s finest, I’m reminded of the greatness of the civilization I live in. Never in the history of mankind has such sumptuous wealth been available to so many. I mean, 300 years ago, even the richest and most elite members of societies lived in filth compared to your average modern American. For crissakes, most people didn’t have Toilet Paper until sometime in the 20th century (many third-worlders still don't) -- what the hell did they do before then? I probably don’t want to know.

Another example of my nation’s greatness is the Corn Dog. This simple food item is unique in all the world. Sure, lots of people have sausages, and once you’ve figured out the sandwich the hot dog is a gimme. But take that sausage, impale it with a stick, dunk it in some cornmeal, and deep fry that sumbitch ‘till its golden brown, and you got yourself some tasty magic. Only an American (and a Texan to boot) could create such a food.

Now, while you can’t eat corn dogs every day, you never know when the urge for delicious corn-meal coated goodness will pop-up. This leads me to an even bigger reason why I love this great land of ours.

Where else on the planet could a lowly guy like me, after finishing off a half-rack of Budweiser in the wee hours of the morning, walk a few blocks to my local all-night grocery store to obtain sustenance? Perhaps a few other countries might have all-night stores, but where else could I be presented with a wide selection of my desired corn and sausage snack? Where else would I have to spend precious, drunken minutes, choosing between beef or chicken franks, normal or cheese stuffed, regular or extra crispy?

Mere feet away from this bounty lie endless rows of pretzel bags, beef jerky, and even fresh produce all there to satisfy my nocturnal dietary cravings. Truly, we live the greatest civilization in the history of Humanity, and the greatest part is that I’m not some elite enjoying myself while the peasant masses go starving. Far from it, worthless social scientists now concern themselves with the growing link between poverty and obesity. Even my drug-addled poor-white-trash extended family can enjoy the benefits of modern agriculture, all within walking distance of their crack houses.

So the next time some smelly dread-locked protesto starts lecturing you about the evils of materialism, don’t tell them to take their dumb-ass, Chomsky felating, Nader auto-masturbating-selves and get a job. No, no, take a few moments to remind them that without the materialist-driven industrial, agricultural, and commercial revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries, they’d be starving in the streets like dogs, or dying of the plague. Remind them that they’re living comfortably off of mommy and daddy’s money, student grants, or welfare, that hard-working people like myself have to fucking pay for.

Then tell them to take their dumb-ass, Chomsky felating, Nader auto-masturbating-selves and get a job.

2002-06-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

Less Scary than Previously Reported

Iain Murray's The Edge of England's Sword has a link to an op-ed piece by Physicist Fred Singer. In it, Singer quiets a number of my fears regarding radiological bombs, most important, I think, is the difficulty in manufacturing a large weapon:

To produce significant radioactivity over an area of, say, one square mile, the concentration within a small bomb would have to be roughly 10 million times greater and would quickly kill the terrorists trying to assemble the material. The radioactivity also creates large amounts of heat energy, sufficient to melt most containers. What's more, any such bomb would be easy to detect at long distance if it emits gamma rays. We therefore conclude that a dirty bomb is mostly hype.

Still a nasty weapon, even in smaller forms, but not the nightmare weapon I first imagined...

2002-06-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

The Summer Fun of My Discontent

OK, I went to the beach today (yes, we do have them in Seattle). This is not the most natural thing for me, as I'm a flab-monger and my skin is pasty white. However, I felt a need to get out of my dank, cavernous apartment for a change. So I hiked through about 3 miles of hot residential streets to get to the sand.

I relearned an old lesson today; ogling 16-17 year old girls for extended periods of time makes me feel dirty (I’m still only 23, I keep telling myself, trying to minimize the shame). Hey, my grandpa was like 30 when he married an 18-year-old. Of course that was in 1928. And he was from West Virginia. OK, bad example…

Aside from dealing with neurosis regarding young women, I was able to get a little reading in. I was carrying an old 1930’s anthology of classic British literature. The translations of several Old English poems were pretty crummy, and they didn’t include the original for comparison. That was balanced by a good collection of Elizabethan and English Civil War era stuff.

I also did a wee bit of writing, and produced two ideas I think I’m gonna pursue:

A song titled “Bull-Dyke Beach Bunnies”
A short play about the Battle of Agincourt

The Beach Bunny song (a rockabilly sound, perhaps, definitely a strong baseline) is obviously a product of the sights and sounds of a Seattle beach, and I think will prove quite humorous.

The Agincourt idea was inspired by Michael Drayton's Ballad of Agincourt (in the book I was reading) and a chapter from Churchill’s History of the English Speaking People. Why a play? I don’t know, I’ve never written a play before, and I don’t really know much about the theater. For some reason it seemed like a good Idea, and now I’m committed in my head. I know Agincourt is covered in Shakespeare’s Henry V, but old Willy was a no talent fuck, and I just don’t trust his histories (although I am a bit fond of Richard III).

2002-06-08T02:30:00.000-07:00

Rugby is Great

Now, while I've often spoken against the wussiness of soccer, I've no complaint when it comes to that other British sport, Rugby. A more manly endeavor I can't imagine. It's a fantastic game, and I'm glad the local cable system has Fox Sports World. If it wasn't for the American football (which, don't get me wrong, is the second best sport after baseball), the USA would be a major Rugby nation....

2002-06-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

Captian Euro is Evil...

As many around the old Blogosphere have noted, the Captain Euro website, created by the EU, is amazingly stupid. Super-hero by comittee, what a concept. But how is he super? Sure the guy can speak 12 languages, but I knew some professors who could do that, and they certainly weren't in the superman category.

So what we've got, at it's core, is a diplomat in a really stupid looking hat. That's European Superherodom.

Has the state of Euro-propaganda become this poor? Ultra-lame Canadian superhero group Alpha Flight are downright cool in comparison. I'll still take Jingo Pete over these lame-asses any day of the week.

Plus they're trying to steal Isaac Asimov from us. See the bio for Cap'n Euro's, um, companion, Erik:

Erik enjoys fantastic stories, especially those by Jules Verne and the whole school of European writers (including H G Wells, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke) who combine science and imagination to dream the impossible and point the way to the future.

Italics mine. Now what the hell is Asimov doing on a list of European-school writers. Asimov: a) was born in Russia, not a member of the EU, b) moved to the US when he was three, c) Was fully educated in the USA. How does any of this make him a part of some "European-school"?

I can handle the hypocrisy, pacifism, and outright pinkoism of the Euros, but in trying to co-opt Asimov for their own nefarious purposes, they’ve gone too far!

Destroy Paris!

2002-06-07T00:34:00.000-07:00

Message of the week.

A quick pep talk^*, from no less than Queen Elizabeth I in the darkest days of 1588. May our leaders here in the USA and our English speaking allies remember these fine words, that bravely spoke for the small island against the terrible power of 16th century Spain:

My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety to take heed how we commit ourself to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safe guard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects, and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all, to lay down my life for my God and for my kingdom and for my people, my honour, and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm; the which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know, already for your forwardness, you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, in the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the meantime my lieutenant-general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject, not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.

She was pretty damn kick-ass ...

^* Text stolen from tudorhistory.org

2002-06-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, one day, she will be mine. She will be mine!

Host of the E and Style network's Nigella Bites, Nigella Lawson is the supreme height of womanhood. Chef, author, role model, Nigella is all these things. Plus she's really, really hot!

What can I say... I'm in love!

2002-06-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

And just when things were looking up...

The UK's Telegraph brings word that the Indian military is planning to attack Pakistani controlled Kashmir within two weeks. I'm not sure whether its a bluff calling Musharraf's bluff, or if there actually gonna go through with it...

However, notice the picture at the Indian pro-war rally. See the man with the rifle, the silly moustache, and the "we want war" banner behind him?

He is now my official mascot. I shall call him Jingo Pete.

2002-06-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

More on soccer...

See, no matter how much the rest of the world wants us to, we Americans just don't give a flying fuck about your stupid little kickball game. Even when we win.

2002-06-06T00:50:00.000-07:00

If only soccer was really this cool...

Via the Ausie juggernaut, Tim Blair, Asian World Cup Porn (it would almost be work safe if it wasn’t for the hardcore adds…)! Now if the global soccer conspiracy could only produce more of this material, I might stop calling football (pronounced with a lisp) “that sissy little European game played by all those shit-ass poor Brazilians with nothing better to do.”

Instead, the reality is a bunch of swarthy guys in short shorts randomly kicking around a ball for an hour or two. Then the game ends in a draw. Not my Idea of fun.

2002-06-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

... And I'm a Weirdo Too...

OK, I'm over at Steven Den Beste's USS Clueless reading his brief post on how, in some ways, everybody's mind works the same. Well aparently, mine doesn't. Now the first link he has is to a simple number choosing exercise, in which I chose the number everyone is supposed to get. But when it comes to the South Knox IQ Test, I’m apparently one of the 2% that didn’t get the right answer. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice. What the hell does a blue wrench mean anyways?

*Update* I don't know about that 2% figure. either it's wrong, or the blogosphere is populated by a bunch of real whack-jobs.... I don't doubt either possibility...

2002-06-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm a big ol' dork. But at least I'm the kick ass bad mofo loving kind of dork.

:: how jedi are you? ::

2002-06-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

Fixed Template

OK, I still can't get access to my archive template through Blogger, but thanks to a tip found on the discussion boards I've learned that you can bypass blogger and access the template using w.blogger.

Much better....

2002-05-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

Will Indo-Pak Nukes Even Work?

StrategyPage has a post that discusses the likelihood the Indian and Pakistani A-Bombs may be very unreliable, judging by both nations? history of crappy weapon reliability.

I like this. Shitty engineering may save millions of lives.

2002-05-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Observation of the Day

A crowded city bus is no place for a paranoid schizophrenic.

2002-05-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

US Intervention in the Sub-Continent Inevitable?

I just stumbled onto a debate on the Alan Keyes show, on the Indo-Pak situation, and, for once, it wasn’t just Keyes telling some president of the local young democrats how wrong she is. I missed the names of the panel, but former representative Bob Dornan was one of them. I only mention the debate because it mentions some ideas on the crises that I’d only heard so far in the blogosphere. But maybe that’s just because I’ve been reading too many blogs.

Most Important among these was the possibility of American military intervention. The most mild of options discussed was running a joint US-Pakistan operation in Kashmir to wipe out the militants there. The more forceful position, presented by Keyes, advocated dumping Pakistan altogether and letting India go buck-wild with American support.

I’m not a big fan of Keyes, but on this issue I agree with him. Pakistan, like the PLO, is letting terrorists fight a proxy war that the army can’t possibly win. Worse, the Pakistanis don’t even have the lame-ass “I’ve been stopped by the damage the evil Israelis left” excuse that Arafat uses. The western half of Kashmir is fully under Pakistan’s control, and their security service could permanently put their local terrorists out of commission in a matter of days if they want to. But they don’t.

India isn’t blameless in the latest rounds of violence, but Indian nuclear scientists haven’t been having tea and biscuits with Mullah Omar. If we have to come down on one side in this war, I’d much rather have us backing secular, democratic India.

2002-05-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

I'll Rainbow Six Your Ass!

Kevin McGehee has posts over at blogoSFERICS and Flyover Blogdom Today (link via Instapundit) in part discussing his hypothesis that US threats to wipe out Pakistani nukes was the key contributer to Pakistani support in Afghanistan. He may be right, and, related to my earlier suggestion below, similar US threats or actions may help prevent a nuclear exchange. I hope so, but I am unsure that we have the assets in place to make good on any threats.

2002-05-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

Fresh, Clean, and Minty

New template. I thinks it's a little cleaner. And more fantastical.

Unfortunately Blogger is being a little bitch, so I can't get access to the archive template... argh!

2002-05-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

Oil shortage may hinder Indo-Pak war

Statfor has a brief article on how the Indian goverment's relatively small 15 day strategic oil reserve will limit any the duration of any military operation.

Not really sure if that's a good or bad thing if things escalate.

2002-05-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Afghanistan is, like, so gay!

On a lighter note, another link from StrategyPage to a Scotsman article on the, uh, friendly reception a group of British marines recieved in the Afghan countryside. A brief excerpt:

An Arbroath marine, James Fletcher, said: "They were more terrifying than the al-Qaeda. One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincing around the village."

While the marines failed to find any al-Qaeda during the seven-day Operation Condor, they were propositioned by dozens of men in villages the troops were ordered to search.

Ho-ho! I can almost see this as a Monty Python skit gone horribly, horribly wrong. Picture the look on those hardened marines' faces. Pure hilarity, who says war isn't funny!

2002-05-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

More India Fun

Continuing the Indo-Pak speculation, StrategyPage reckons that Pakistan won't go nuclear over Kashmir alone, but that once India conquers the whole of the province, they'll face the same militant problems coming from the Pakistani border. When India retaliates there, Pakistan will go nuclear.

2002-05-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

Indo-Pak Cold War

Anne Applebaum's (She’s the only foreign affairs writer at Slate that I actually like) latest Foreigners column discussing the similarities between the current Indo-Pakistani tension with the Cold War. She makes a number of good points on why there’s reason to hope this Balance of Terror will force stability in the relationship.

I hope she’s right, but I fear that the Balance may not yet be terrible enough for deterrence to work effectively. I don’t think even my casualty estimates of around 100 million (and many are far more optimistic than me) is enough to convince both sides that “victory” through nuclear means is impossible.

Irony is everywhere in history’s lessons. The massive arms buildup of the Cold War produced absurdly lethal weapons, weapons that guaranteed the destruction of both sides if used. However, the very lethality of these weapons ensured that they would never kill anyone. The threat of Mutually Assured Destruction meant that even when the opposing governments were a little flaky, the fear of escalation and war kept everyone from making any huge moves.

I don’t think that the problem in India and Pakistan is that they don’t know the true nature of these weapons, it’s that they do, and some of them think that any outcome of a war is worth the cost. India and Pakistan aren’t ever getting rid of their nukes. Perhaps the only way to increase stability in the region is to increase the deadliness of their weapons.

Would India seriously be contemplating an invasion of Kashmir if both sides were armed with H-bombs? Somehow I doubt it.

2002-05-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

Warheads of pure Ass.

Ok, so I've made a few posts around ye old blogosphere on the topic of a possible nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, and I wanted to get the jist of them down here for my own future reference. My thoughts can be broken down into three major parts:

The likelihood of war.

I'm clearly of the pessimistic opinion on this one. Although there are encouraging signs that both sides may be backing down from the precipice, I don't see any stability here. The militants in Kashmir are still there, ready to pop over to the Indian side of the line of control to leave their ever so thoughtful little gifts.

The terrorist bombing of an Indian Army base is what started this latest brew-ha-ha, and the security setting hasn't really changed. Pakistan isn't going to crack down on these "freedom fighters", and even if it did, all it'll take is one splinter group to re-ignite the whole thing. This is a situation very similar to Israel's, and I think India (rightly) feels the only way to secure their part of Kashmir is to wipe out the terrorists on the Pakistan side.

Of course, if they do this Pakistan will retaliate. This is nothing new, but tensions haven't been higher in years. Plus the risks are much more serious.

Hindu Nationalists ala the BJP have been stoking the flames of sectarianism ever since Ayodha in the early 90's, with Pakistan as the great enemy. And we all know how charming the Islamic Fundies can be. There's a seething hatred that simmers across the border and its gonna go off sooner I fear, rather than later.

Casualties

Again pessimism flows through my thoughts like a bad hot dog through my mom's old Shih Tzu. Steven Green linked to this story at the Guardian. It claims the CIA estimates around 12 million dead from the nuclear explosions alone. This number sounds completely reasonable to me.

However, counting firestorms, fallout, breakdown in order and infrastructure, civil war, and resulting famine, this number will multiply many times. We're looking at 100 million dead folks, and the site of one of mankind's oldest civilizations is soon going to produce hundreds of million more in cancer victims over the next century. Even if my estimates are to high by a magnitude of 10, we're still looking at one of the single largest mass-slaughters in human history.

This is bad, bad juju man.

Intervention

So, I've thought about how bad it could get, and past a certain point of horror, it's really just mental masturbation. At this point we can only ask, is there anything the USA can actually do about all this?

Short answer: probably not (pessimism rules supreme again!).

For the long answer, I have seen promising signs from the diplomatic areas. I usually hold the word diplomacy in low regard, but with the USA, the Euro-Wankers and even the Russians telling both sides to cool it, things do seem to be calming over these last few days. But this just isn't a long term solution unless Kashmir gets resolved.

Now as far as military intervention, I've had some radical thoughts on the matter. One of the things I've been reading in all the news reports is how both sides feel they have no alternative to a massive offensive nuclear force because they can't quickly take out their opponent's nukes. The USA is the the only power on the planet that does.

Do we have the intelligence and attack capability to wipe out one side's (or both's) arsenal. I know it sounds far fetched, but could we maybe make some secret deal with the Indians (I assume they would have intelligence on where the weapons are) to take out Pakistan's weapons before they can be launched? Pakistan's defeat would certainly make our war on terror more difficult, but not as much as the chaos that would result from even a limited exchange. I don't think the administration would do it, and it's doubtful that they could even if they wanted to.

It's Interventionist, Imperialistic, and dangerous. In any other situation, I would be completely opposed to such an act, but this could be a big, world-changing (for the worse) event, and we need to do something. Aside from the nightmarish death toll involved, a nuclear war on the sub-continent will destabilize the entire world. The war on terror could easily be lost in the background of global chaos. Taking out one side's arsenal is the only sane solution.

So, to recap: This is bad, I'm scared, and I don't think anything will be done until it's far too late… Sweet dreams world.

2002-05-27T04:50:00.000-07:00

Insomnia

OK, it’s 4:00 AM, and I’ve got Fox news running in the background. Bush and Jacque Chirac are meeting in Paris and giving speech. Chirac is mentioning all the common bonds our two countries share, such as our historical bonds of “sister revolutions”. Now as repellent as this comparison seems to my instinctual Francophobe tendencies (hey, if millennia old ancestral hatred is good enough for people in the Balkans, it’s good enough for my 300 year distant English blood), there is some logic to the metaphor.

The American Revolution is the sister who emerged from mildly dysfunctional parents and went on to graduate college, have kids and live in a nice neighborhood. The older sister, America is a type A over-achiever.

France is the younger, seemingly prettier sister. And, although brilliant in her youth, was always treated a little rougher by the parents.

Once they threw off their parent’s dominance (which the two sisters helped each other through), both had a tough time of it. America sloughed through these growing pains and eventually got her shit together. France, however, immediately went on a 25-year bender.

Now, as France was recovering from this turbulent period of her life, America was going through a painful divorce, in which both France and America’s Mother mildly sided with her husband. However, that soon ended, and all three began to reconcile.

France was unfortunately still drinking heavily, abusing various other substances, and turning to a life of ill repute. This led to a number of unsavory encounters with Germany. After several assaults, Germany repeatedly raped France in the bunghole, and attacked America’s young step-sister, Israel.

Like a good sister, America came to her sibling’s defense, and after several ugly incidents, stopped Germany and castrated him. America got France into rehab, but it never worked out.

Fast-forward a few years. America is getting on in age, but is still looking pretty good despite a few wrinkles. France, however, is left with the sunken eyes and wrinkled face that befall a used-up woman. She’s even gotten engaged to her now pacified ex-client, Germany. Mother is for some reason halfway supporting the marriage, and all of them seem to have it out for the troubled Israel.

America’s relations with the rest of the family are strained. France now seems to blame her sister for everything that’s going wrong with her life, ignoring her own lack of responsibility. And America’s getting pretty damn tired of having her credit cards go missing every time she lets poor France crash at her pad.

Well, OK, it’s a silly metaphor. But I think it has some truth to it. Give me a break, it’s late.

2002-05-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

Instapundit Addiction

Now there hasn’t been much posted to Mojonet in quite some time. I blame Glenn Reynolds and his Instapundit site. It isn’t bad enough that the man is posting constantly, making me constantly check his sight during working hours, but he makes me check when I get home. I used to be content growing fat in front of the boob toob, watching my history channel and major news outlets…. Now I must grow fat checking my sweet, sweet linkage. Disturbing how the blogosphere takes over your brain.