Monthly Archives: June 2013

EU’s billion-euro influence to Egypt

The EU allows Europeans politicians to behave more like their US counterparts. From today’s Open Europe news summary:

The European Court of Auditors has concluded that the €1bn of EU aid to Egypt over the last seven years under the European Neighbourhood Policy has been “well-intentioned, but ineffective” in terms of improving human rights and democracy.
ECA press release Le Figaro FT

Defending Jordan Is a Pretext for Another US Intervention

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323734304578547424088624136.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories

Patrick Barron: open quoteNotice the so-called logic: Refugees from Syria “threaten” Jordan, so the US sends warplanes. What are the F-16s going to do, strafe the “threatening” refugees? Then the US “must” create a no-fly zone that extends up to twenty-five miles into Syria in order to protect our F-16s. Plus we’ll keep Patriot Missiles there, just in case the Syrians object to a foreign power controlling its airspace and decide to remove the threat. We are manufacturing another US war, probably not with the Syrians but with their Russian patrons. Are you ready for this?

Of course, there is no Congressional declaration of war, because that would force the government to confront the difficult issue of explaining how we are threatened and by whom. All Middle Eastern governments are threatened by their own people, and there is nothing that we can or should do about it.close quote

EU Free Trade hostage to French interests

From today’s Open Europe news summary:

France rejects last-minute offer to break deadlock over EU-US trade talks
EU trade ministers will today discuss the European Commission’s mandate to negotiate a free-trade deal with the US. France is threatening to veto the launch of EU-US trade talks unless the audio-visual industry is completely excluded. In a bid to break the deadlock, the European Commission and the Irish EU Presidency have proposed asking EU member states to give unanimous approval to any parts of the draft agreement affecting the audio-visual industry once the negotiations on that specific sector are concluded. However, Le Figaro quotes a source from the office of French Trade Minister Nicole Bricq as saying, “We already have a veto on the conclusion of the agreement, so [the offer] doesn’t change anything for us.”

Response to Salon’s “Grow up, Libertarians”

www.salon.com/2013/06/13/grow_up_libertarians/

I’m actually responding to a friend who cited the article and says that he’s visited “libertarian” countries in Africa and SW Asia. I think it may be beyond the ability of these people to understand, but I wrote back anyway:

Afghanistan and Congo are not libertarian. Look for private justice and private security. Medieval Iceland is an oft cited example, albeit an imperfect one – people voluntarily chose clans for their protection.

Another is the Not-so-wild West which had a lower murder rate than most modern American cities. Wagon trains had private constitution. The original meaning of the term “outlaw” was someone declared to be outside the protection of private law. Meaning, private security would not protect him. This seems like a much more sensible means of punishment then *Forcing* victims to pay for the food, lodging and entertainment of their aggressors.

In the not-so-wild west civilization grew faster than the state, but unfortunately, the state and its many psychopaths caught up. So if you want honest example looks there, or to Medieval Iceland, the clan structure of Ireland, the thousands of kingdoms of Germany prior to Bismark and unification.

If you just want to call libertarians childish, as the article does, I would say: fuck you. What’s childish is thinking that a man with a gun can solve all the world’s problems. Health? The government will do it. Education? The government will do it. Consumer protection? Government. Raising children? Restricting commerce? Delivering little pieces of paper back and forth? Deciding whether I can put raw milk in my own body? Government. Government. Government. Government. That’s a very mature and nuanced perspective.

Global Warming Alarmism In Twilight

Another sensational, fake problem which called for a massive governmental solution is about to enter the dustbin of intellectual history. It’s hard to believe how intensely this idea was promoted. Hard the believe the passion with which I was berated by acquaintances for my skepticism. Hard to believe that I pretty much broke up with a great girl because I wouldn’t join the church of the dying earth. Now, the idea is ending. I’m sure its zealots will not be afflicted by memory. For them there is another crisis on the horizon — inequality, perhaps. For them, there is no time to reflect on the past. The crisis is upon us! We must throw ourselves behind this cause with all our hearts and mind!

www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/06/global-warming-alarmism-in-twilight.php

an open letter to Lookout Names regarding “lostrepublic.com”

Dear Lookout Names,

Thanks for contacting me (multiple times). I had received an email some months ago regarding lostrepublic which invited me to make a bid.

I followed the link with the intention of making a low bid, but your website didn’t allow any bidding below $498 dollars.

Earlier, I was very interested in this domain and made offers of over $1,000, only to be told that the owner had rejected offers of $20,000. Was it you guys who told me this? Ridiculous. You shouldn’t have been so arrogant and greedy.

Lostrepublic is much less important to me now. I decided a few months ago to shut down .

If you want to sell me the lostrepublic for $100, I’ll buy it. I’m not even sure why, but I’ll do it. If you have offers higher than $100, please take them and leave me alone.