David Warren:
My rule of thumb, on wars, is to fight them with your enemies, when absolutely necessary; but never with your friends, and in particular, never in order to create new enemies.
It is worth thinking carefully about the Clinton-Bush policy in the Balkans, which so far has led to the alienation of Russia, the creation [...]
Archive for February, 2008
War by Other Means
Posted in Europe, Politics, national security, war, tagged Europe, immigration, Kosovo, self-determination, war on February 25, 2008 | 2 Comments »
University Endowments
Posted in Education, tagged Education on February 25, 2008 | No Comments »
Gary Becker and Richard Posner discuss the use of university endowments, and, in particular, the question whether universities should be required to spend a certain proportion of their endowments each year. Posner especially interests me when he writes,
Given the competitive structure of higher education, it is hard to see why government should step in [...]
Happy Birthday, Molly!
Posted in Children, tagged birthday on February 24, 2008 | No Comments »
My daughter is twenty today. It stuns me to think that twenty years have gone by since she was born at 5:41am. We barely got to the hospital in time; she was almost born in our 1979 Buick, and then, at the hospital, was almost delivered by a very confused-looking podiatrist.
Homeschooling: Nein!
Posted in Education, Europe, tagged Germany, Homeschooling on February 24, 2008 | No Comments »
It’s illegal to homeschool children in Germany. Parents who attempt it risk having their assets seized and their children taken away and placed in foster care. Hitler sponsored this law in 1938 to see to it that no one could escape Nazi indoctrination. Now, German and EU bureaucrats defend it to see [...]
When the Rats Start Fleeing
Posted in foreign policy, tagged foreign policy, Kosovo, Serbia on February 24, 2008 | No Comments »
The European Union is pulling out of northern Kosovo, an area that is mostly ethnically Serbian.
The problem is that the Serbs are taking the cue from the Kosovars. If Kosovo can split from Serbia why can’t Serbian regions split from Kosovo?
It’s a good question.
Obamagic
Posted in Politics, foreign policy, tagged Obama, Politics, trade on February 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Paul Mirengoff:
Nor does Obama’s magic end at our borders. Last night, he said he would solve our immigration problem in part by improving the economy of Mexico to the point that illegal immigrants will have no need or desire to enter the paradise Obama will create here.
Most magically of all, Obama will fix Mexico’s economy [...]
Reactions to Kosovo’s Independence
Posted in Uncategorized on February 22, 2008 | 1 Comment »
A variety of reactions here. Some highlights:
Julia Gorin: …yesterday’s 200,000-person protest in Belgrade (whose members are separate from the fire starters) is the first time in two decades that Serbs are showing a glimmer of rational behavior – amid 20 years of the “free world” foisting terrorist neighbors upon them.
Paul Williams: America’s war on [...]
Iranian Bombs
Posted in war, tagged atomic weapons, Iran on February 22, 2008 | No Comments »
The European Commission Joint Research Centre has run simulations indicating that Iran may have enough fissile material to construct an atomic bomb by year end. This contrasts sharply with the vaunted National Intelligence Estimate, which concluded that Iran was unlikely to have enough nuclear material until sometime between 2010 and 2015.
Feline Friday: Jackie
Posted in Cats, tagged Cats on February 22, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Back in 1995, a graduate student found a thin, scraggly cat wondering around her apartment complex. She already had a cat, and her lease wouldn’t let her have two, so she called a colleague of mine. He already had two cats, and his wife wouldn’t let him have three, so he called me. [...]
Anti-Serbian Bigotry
Posted in foreign policy, liberty, tagged freedom of speech, Serbia on February 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Anti-Serbian hate speech from Stephen Schwartz. I defend his right to say it, as well as my right to denounce it as an exemplar of vile bigotry. Consider:
Serbs …. revel in their bravery when it comes to murdering children and old people….
Serbs do not change.
Serbs hate Muslims because Muslims wash before praying.
Serbs are [...]
