There are some seriously conflicting views here today, so pick
and choose. Some of this I agree with
entirely, and some of it I would put in the same category as tripe. Please enjoy!
An inconvenient truth: Does responsible consumption benefit corporations
more than society? - Anthony Watts
Are environmental and social problems such as global
warming and poverty the result of inadequate governmental regulations or does
the burden fall on our failure as consumers to make better consumption choices?
According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, responsible
consumption shifts the…
Africa
Smuggled Bushmeat: Ebola's Back Door to U.S.? - Flynn and Scutti, Newsweek
Bushmeat, which can range from bat to monkey to lion, including a number of endangered species, is beloved by many African-born Americans, despite the fact that it is illegal in the U.S. In the Bronx, the high price (up to 0 for six or seven pounds, Appiah tells us) attached to bushmeat (or viande de brousse, as it is known in the French-speaking world) indicates a luxury indulgence in the same way illegally imported caviar might for Russian émigrés in Brooklyn.
Bushmeat, which can range from bat to monkey to lion, including a number of endangered species, is beloved by many African-born Americans, despite the fact that it is illegal in the U.S. In the Bronx, the high price (up to 0 for six or seven pounds, Appiah tells us) attached to bushmeat (or viande de brousse, as it is known in the French-speaking world) indicates a luxury indulgence in the same way illegally imported caviar might for Russian émigrés in Brooklyn.
Treating Africa Like a Diseased, Dirty Place - Seay
and Dionne, Wash Post
This week’s Newsweek magazine cover features an image of a chimpanzee behind the words, “A Back Door for Ebola: Smuggled Bushmeat Could Spark a U.S. Epidemic.” This cover story is problematic for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that there is virtually no chance that“bushmeat” smuggling could bring Ebola to America. (The term is a catchall for non-domesticated animals consumed as a protein source; anyone who hunts deer and then consumes their catch as venison in the United States is eating bushmeat without calling it that.) While eating bushmeat …. more »
This week’s Newsweek magazine cover features an image of a chimpanzee behind the words, “A Back Door for Ebola: Smuggled Bushmeat Could Spark a U.S. Epidemic.” This cover story is problematic for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that there is virtually no chance that“bushmeat” smuggling could bring Ebola to America. (The term is a catchall for non-domesticated animals consumed as a protein source; anyone who hunts deer and then consumes their catch as venison in the United States is eating bushmeat without calling it that.) While eating bushmeat …. more »
JR at GREENIE WATCH
*We're running out of food!* *So says the gullible Justin Gillis of the NYT -- completely ignoring all the facts. Take for instance the current situation in icy Canada:“In Western Canada, we’re moving from a huge glut of wheat to still a pretty big carry-over, but by no means the kind of over-supply we had in the last year. And in 2013: “Canola - Nationally, canola production increased 29.5% from 2012 to a record 18.0 million tonnes; “Wheat: Farmers reported record wheat production of 37.5 million tonnes, a 38.0% increase from 2012.". The only crop not a record in 2013 was was Barley and Oats."... more »
*We're running out of food!* *So says the gullible Justin Gillis of the NYT -- completely ignoring all the facts. Take for instance the current situation in icy Canada:“In Western Canada, we’re moving from a huge glut of wheat to still a pretty big carry-over, but by no means the kind of over-supply we had in the last year. And in 2013: “Canola - Nationally, canola production increased 29.5% from 2012 to a record 18.0 million tonnes; “Wheat: Farmers reported record wheat production of 37.5 million tonnes, a 38.0% increase from 2012.". The only crop not a record in 2013 was was Barley and Oats."... more »
Asia
U.S. Must Acknowledge China's Ambition - Chris Layne, Boston Globe
One hundred years ago this month, Britain declared war on Germany. And though the issues of that era may seem irrelevant now, the pre-war tensions between those two nations can actually help us understand where today’s Sino-American relationship is headed. After all, though history never repeats itself exactly, as Mark Twain famously observed, it does rhyme. Or to put it another way, clear patterns recur when two rival nations are locked in a cycle of rise and decline.
Indian Trade Booming with ASEAN - Luke Hunt, The Diplomat
One hundred years ago this month, Britain declared war on Germany. And though the issues of that era may seem irrelevant now, the pre-war tensions between those two nations can actually help us understand where today’s Sino-American relationship is headed. After all, though history never repeats itself exactly, as Mark Twain famously observed, it does rhyme. Or to put it another way, clear patterns recur when two rival nations are locked in a cycle of rise and decline.
Indian Trade Booming with ASEAN - Luke Hunt, The Diplomat
Business ties extending west into India have never enjoyed the same cachet as trade with China to the north. That’s partly because access to India was blocked by Myanmar’s isolation and partly because a two-decade economic boom in China soaked-up as much capital as ASEAN investors could spare. But that equation is changing as China’s economy slows and growth buckles under debt while India reappraises its relationship with ASEAN amid the prospect that overland routes from Southeast Asia through Myanmar will improve east-west trade potential.
China's Silent War on Terror - Emily Rauhala, Time
A virtual media blackout makes it
hard to know what's happening as Beijing tackles unrest among its Uighur Muslim
minorities.
2014: A Year of Botched Elections in Asia - Andrew
Oplas, The Diplomat
It is commonly understood that genuine elections are among the most indispensable prerequisites for effective and sustained democratic governance. And yet as with democracy itself, elections are imperfect and malleable. Often associated with triumphant images – the purple-stained finger or zigzagging queues of hopeful voters risking everything in the face of threats – it is easy to overrate the ability of elections to set the stage for lasting democratic reforms in countries with little history of self-government.
Canada
Tough Times for Quebec's Mobsters - Jonathan Kay, National
Post
How fitting that Quebec’s Charbonneau Commission —
officially known as the Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of
Public Contracts in the Construction Industry — is nicely under-budget as it
cruises into its last few months of active existence. “Documents obtained
through an access to information request reveal that as of July 16, 2014, the
high-profile inquiry, which started in 2011, had spent a grand total of
.62-million,” Montreal’s Gazette newspaper reported over the weekend. “The
provincial government had initially set aside... more »
Energy
Bearings: The Achilles Heel of Wind Turbines - Story by Eric Worrall
A few years ago, I used to know a senior wind turbine
engineer. One evening, over a few beers, he told me the dirty secret of his
profession: “The problem is the bearings. If we make the bearings bigger, the
bearings last longer, but making the bearings larger increases friction,…
Analysis: energy storage cannot solve the problem of intermittency of wind
or solar power - Anthony Watts
Climate
Skeptics often cite the fact that renewables like wind and solar don’t have
constant power flow, and thus need either a nuclear, hyrdo, or coal/gas power
plant backup in order to deliver a reliable power supply to the electrical
grid. Proponents often retort with “all we need is better battery technology to
store power”.…
Is Coal winning the energy battle?- Anthony Watt
Guest essay by Mike Jonas In an absurd article “Full extent of global coal ‘binge’ is hidden, say researchers“, the BBC’s Matt McGrath argues that instead of modeling actual and expected CO2 emissions from coal and gas power plants, it should all be counted in the power station’s first year. [You couldn't make this stuff
Guest essay by Mike Jonas In an absurd article “Full extent of global coal ‘binge’ is hidden, say researchers“, the BBC’s Matt McGrath argues that instead of modeling actual and expected CO2 emissions from coal and gas power plants, it should all be counted in the power station’s first year. [You couldn't make this stuff
Environment
HEADS need to
start rolling at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The senior management
have tried to cover-up serious tampering that has occurred with the
temperatures at an experimental farm near Rutherglen in Victoria. Retired scientist
Dr Bill Johnston used to run experiments there. He, and many others, can vouch
for the fact that the [...]
The hot questions for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) mount up. Rutherglen was one of the temperature recording stations that was subject to large somewhat mysterious adjustments which turned a slight cooling trend into a strongly warming one. Yet the official notes showed that the site did not move and was a continuous record. On paper, Rutherglen appeared to be ideal — a rare long rural temperature record where measurements had come from the same place since 1913. The original cooling trend of – 0.35C was transformed into a +1.73C warming after “homogenisation” by th... more »
A Lead Author of IPCC AR5 Downplays Importance of Climate Models - Richard Betts
......The first bullet point on his webpage under areas of expertise describes his work as a climate modeler. He was one of the lead authors of the IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report (WG2). On a recent thread at Andrew Montford’s BishopHill blog, Dr. Betts…
......The first bullet point on his webpage under areas of expertise describes his work as a climate modeler. He was one of the lead authors of the IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report (WG2). On a recent thread at Andrew Montford’s BishopHill blog, Dr. Betts…
EPA: Ignore our previous statements on Ocean Acidification - Anthony Watts
Hoisted with their own petard fighting a lawsuit Story submitted by Eric Worrall The EPA is fighting a desperate battle to sink a green lawsuit, a lawsuit which is substantially based on the EPA’s own climate narrative. The Lawsuit, launched by the Center for Biological Diversity, seeks to impose enhanced clean water act protection upon…
Hoisted with their own petard fighting a lawsuit Story submitted by Eric Worrall The EPA is fighting a desperate battle to sink a green lawsuit, a lawsuit which is substantially based on the EPA’s own climate narrative. The Lawsuit, launched by the Center for Biological Diversity, seeks to impose enhanced clean water act protection upon…
Global sea level rise a bit more than 1mm a year for last 50 years, no
acceleration - Joanne Nova
Here’s a novel approach. Beenstock et al wondered if tide gauges were placed in any old spot around the world or were biased toward area where sea-level did more rising. They compared the location of tide gauges in the year 2000 to sea level rises and falls as measured by satellite altimetry. It turns out the placement seems to be independent (meaning anywhere). This is pretty important because the infernally tough thing about measuring sea levels is whether the land is subsiding or rising at the same time, and how to correct for that. If tide gauges are spread evenly (or quasi-ra... more »
Here’s a novel approach. Beenstock et al wondered if tide gauges were placed in any old spot around the world or were biased toward area where sea-level did more rising. They compared the location of tide gauges in the year 2000 to sea level rises and falls as measured by satellite altimetry. It turns out the placement seems to be independent (meaning anywhere). This is pretty important because the infernally tough thing about measuring sea levels is whether the land is subsiding or rising at the same time, and how to correct for that. If tide gauges are spread evenly (or quasi-ra... more »
BOM finally explains! Cooling changed to warming trends because stations
“might” have moved! - JoNova
It’s the news you’ve been waiting years to hear! Finally we find out the exact details of why the BOM changed two of their best long term sites from cooling trends to warming trends. The massive inexplicable adjustments like these have been discussed on blogs for years. But it was only when Graham Lloyd advised the BOM he would be reporting on this that they finally found time to write three paragraphs on specific stations. Who knew it would be so hard to get answers. We put in a Senate request for an audit of the BOM datasets in 2011. Ken Stewart, Geoff Sherrington, Des Moore, Bi... more »
It’s the news you’ve been waiting years to hear! Finally we find out the exact details of why the BOM changed two of their best long term sites from cooling trends to warming trends. The massive inexplicable adjustments like these have been discussed on blogs for years. But it was only when Graham Lloyd advised the BOM he would be reporting on this that they finally found time to write three paragraphs on specific stations. Who knew it would be so hard to get answers. We put in a Senate request for an audit of the BOM datasets in 2011. Ken Stewart, Geoff Sherrington, Des Moore, Bi... more »
Letter: Cut the Costly Climate Chatter - Anthony Watts
Letter to the editor by Viv Forbes Twenty-two years ago a bunch of green activists calling themselves “The Earth Summit” met in Rio and invented a way to tour the world at tax-payers’ expense – never-ending conferences on environmental alarms. Like any good bureaucratic committee, they soon established sub-committees on sustainability, pollution, development, energy, forestry,…
ARCUS Sea-Ice predictions are in, includes WUWT’s contribution -
Anthony Watts
ARCUS Sea Ice Prediction Network writes in their executive summary: Thank you to the groups that contributed to the August 2014 Outlook. We received 23 pan-Arctic contributions. Of the 23 contributions, some are unchanged from July. The median Outlook value for September extent is 5.0 million square kilometers with a quartile range from 4.58 to…
ARCUS Sea Ice Prediction Network writes in their executive summary: Thank you to the groups that contributed to the August 2014 Outlook. We received 23 pan-Arctic contributions. Of the 23 contributions, some are unchanged from July. The median Outlook value for September extent is 5.0 million square kilometers with a quartile range from 4.58 to…
The Atlantic is leaking methane – but researchers say there’s no cause for
alarm - Anthony Watts
We’ve seen all this before, but there is a twist this time, the authors of the paper are dialing back the alarm a bit. “…authigenic carbonates observed imply that emissions have continued for more than 1,000 years at some seeps.” From the BBC – 24 August 2014 ‘Widespread methane leakage’ from ocean floor off US…
We’ve seen all this before, but there is a twist this time, the authors of the paper are dialing back the alarm a bit. “…authigenic carbonates observed imply that emissions have continued for more than 1,000 years at some seeps.” From the BBC – 24 August 2014 ‘Widespread methane leakage’ from ocean floor off US…
Choking the Oceans with Plastic - Charles J. Moore, New York Times
The world is awash in plastic. It’s in our cars and our carpets, we wrap it around the food we eat and virtually every other product we consume; it has become a key lubricant of globalization — but it’s choking our future in ways that most of us are barely aware.
Europe
Europe's Slow Surrender to Intolerance - Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic
On the one hand, it is completely unsurprising that
Europe has become a swamp of anti-Jewish hostility. It is, after all, Europe.
Anti-Jewish hostility has been its metier for centuries. (Yes, the locus of
much anti-Jewish activity today is within Europe’s large Muslim-immigrant population; but the young men who
threaten their Jewish neighbors draw on the language and traditions of European
anti-Semitism as much as they do on Muslim modes of anti-Semitic thought.) On
the other hand, the intensity, and velocity, of anti-Jewish invective—and actual anti...
France's Fake Crisis Boosts the Far Right - Leonid
Bershidsky, Bloomberg
Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg France is reshuffling its
government for the second time in 147 days because at least two leftist
ministers rebelled against Prime Minister Manuel Valls's pro-business,
anti-spending inclinations, such as they are. As traditional center-left and
center-right politicians bicker about inefficient, half-baked fixes for real
economic problems, public trust for them is at rock bottom, and the extreme
right stands to gain the most.
A Belated Day of Reckoning for France - Jonathan Fenby, Financial Times
After two years of compromise, France’s President Normal
has met his moment of truth. The stand-off between Franois Hollande, the
Socialist head of state, and the leftwing of his own party that erupted at the
weekend, resulting in the purging of anti-austerity leftwingers from the
government, has ramifications stretching far beyond the immediate
confrontation. These will have significant implications both for the way France
is run and for Europe. There is a distinct possibility of a period of chaos,
reflecting the deep concerns at the root of the moros... more »
Why Ireland Has an Abortion Ban -Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times
The most successful single issue movement in the history
of the State, the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign (PLAC), was established in
January 1981 by 13 organisations: the Congress of Catholic Secondary School
Parents’ Associations; the Irish Catholic Doctors’ Guild; the Guild of Catholic
Nurses; the Guild of Catholic Pharmacists; the Catholic Young Men’s Society;
the St Thomas More Society; the Irish Pro-Life Movement; the National
Association of the Ovulation Method (“natural” contraception endorsed by the
Catholic church); the Council of Social Concern (COS... more »
It's Scoundrel Time in Scotland - Tom Gallagher, The Commentator
Monday's second debate between Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister and Alistair Darling, former Labour Chancellor and head of Better Together, was nasty and shaming at a national level. It laid bare the divisions which are likely to make Scottish politics turbulent irrespective of the outcome of next month’s referendum on its future relations with the rest of the United Kingdom (known in Scotland as, rUK).
Monday's second debate between Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister and Alistair Darling, former Labour Chancellor and head of Better Together, was nasty and shaming at a national level. It laid bare the divisions which are likely to make Scottish politics turbulent irrespective of the outcome of next month’s referendum on its future relations with the rest of the United Kingdom (known in Scotland as, rUK).
Immigration
Will 'El-Qaida' Swarm Us from Mexico? - Joshua Keating, Slate
The Mexican government is expressing some irritation with
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who suggested last week that there’s a “very real
possibility” that members of ISIS or other terrorist groups are entering the
U.S. illegally via Mexico. As Perry acknowledged in his own remarks—and as the
Pentagon confirmed—there’s “no clear evidence” that this is happening. But as
is generally the case when fears of “El Qaida” periodically emerge, a lack of
evidence is no barrier to bold sweeping claims.
Mideast Madness
Destroy the 'Islamic State' - John Bolton, National Review
Approving U.S. military force against the Islamic State
on August 7, Obama stressed two limited goals: protecting U.S. civilian and
military personnel in Irbil, the Kurdish capital, which the Islamic State was
rapidly nearing; and aiding refugees who had fled as the group advanced into
Iraq from Syria. These are legitimate objectives, but they are far too
constrained even in humanitarian terms, let alone against the serious regional
and global strategic threats the Islamic State poses.
Don't Give ISIS the Wider War It Wants - Emile Simpson, The Guardian
Last week’s murder of US journalist James
Foley was shocking – as Islamic State (Isis) no doubt intended it to be. The
risk is that UK policy, while right in its instinct to act against Isis, is
drawn into precisely the wider confrontation that Isis desires.
Obama Is Just 'Tickling' ISIS, Rebels Say - Josh
Rogin, The Daily Beast
U.S. airstrikes against ISIS, even if they extend into
Syria as several Obama administration officials are signaling, don’t have a
chance of destroying the terror group, moderate political and rebel leaders
inside the country are cautioning. They have told The Daily Beast that air
strikes will only make things worse unless there’s a coordinated plan to defeat
ISIS.
Nusra’s
more pragmatic approach, a few days after an ISIS video that seemed
deliberately evocative of Zarqawi-era beheadings, shows that the old
disagreement over tactics still persists, and has only gotten more public since
al-Qaida and ISIS formally severed ties earlier this year.
I cancelled my trip to Libya and went to Lebanon instead. Knowing I had a colleague and a friend-to-be waiting in Benghazi wasnÂ’t enough. There is safety in numbers, sure, but we journalists can only do so much to protect each other. He seemed disappointed, but he too ended up leaving Libya and went to, of all places, Syria. His name is Steven Sotloff. And he was kidnapped last August by ISIS. Last weekend ISIS executed our colleague James Foley on camera and said Sotloff is next. Sotloff appears in the video too and personally witnessed FoleyÂ’s behead... more »
Despite his obvious and understandable hesitations to return U.S. military forces to Iraq, the president's humanitarian concerns combined with the United States' strategic interests and added heft to his decisions to use force in Iraq. In other words, the president has articulated the best possible argument for remaining engaged in Afghanistan beyond the 2016 deadline he established for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops there.
Hillary’s Hand
in Hamas’ Terror Tunnels - Moshe Phillips and Benyamin Korn
The Mideast
Through the Eyes of a Lebanese Expat - Joseph Puder
Libya Under
Siege - Joseph Klein
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates respond to a jihadist
takeover -- while the U.S. stands in their way.
The Islamic
Terror Orchestra - Nonie Darwish
Singing to the tune of "Allahu Akbar." How Islam spawned Foley's fate -- and our culture's inability to accept it.
Iraq and Syria Follow Lebanon's Precedent - George Friedman, Stratfor
Lebanon was created out of the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
This agreement between Britain and France reshaped the collapsed Ottoman Empire
south of Turkey into the states we know today -- Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and
to some extent the Arabian Peninsula as well. For nearly 100 years, Sykes-Picot
defined the region. A strong case can be made that the nation-states
Sykes-Picot created are now defunct, and that what is occurring in Syria and
Iraq represents the emergence of those post-British/French maps that the United
States has been trying to maintain since the ... more »
Why al-Qaeda Released a U.S. Hostage Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly
Standard
This difference in tactics can also be seen in how al
Qaeda is handling the case of Warren Weinstein, an American who was kidnapped
by al Qaeda and its allies in Pakistan in 2011.
The Grotesque Alliance Carving Up Syria - David Blair, Daily
Telegraph
As recently as 2012, after all, Baghdadi’s extremists
were a weakened force confined to a small area of Iraq. Then Assad released a
cohort of Syria’s most dangerous jihadists from Sednaya jail near Damascus.
Some of these men – along with others freed in later amnesties – are believed
to have become Isil commanders.
How the U.S., Its Allies; Its Enemies All Made ISIS - Zack
Beauchamp, Vox
Who is to blame for the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria (ISIS)? The group's stunning military advances in Iraq and Syria have,
together, built the most important safe haven for Islamic extremists since
Taliban-held Afghanistan, and possibly ever. So it is important to understand
where ISIS came from — and how it got so strong.
U.S. and Iran Hit ISIS, Ignore Each Other - Eli
Lake, The Daily Beast
With ISIS over-running Syrian bases, the time might seem
right for a grand alliance against the Islamic State. But so far, the U.S.
isn’t talking to Iran or Syria’s armies.
The Islamic State's Home-Field Advantage - Aaron David Miller
5 reasons why an
expanded mission to strike James Foley's killers in Syria won't work. And why
it's going to happen anyway.
Dempsey's Clarity and Obama's Confusion - Tom Rogan, National Review
Military strategy demands the disruption of an enemy’s
“center of gravity.” The Islamic State’s center of gravity is in Syria, and
General Dempsey’s comments last Thursday reflected that truth.
Gaza's Rubble Bucket Challenge - Miriam Berger
After the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS went viral, Palestinian journalist Ayman Aloul decided to take the Gaza version, the Rubble Bucket Challenge, a campaign launched to spread awareness of life in Gaza in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes.
No One on the Ground Can Beat ISIS - Jamie Dettmer
In Iraq today the administration has committed to doing
something against the forces of the so-called Islamic State, but the limited
military intervention we’ve seen to date lags far behind the bellicose rhetoric
of Obama officials since the murder of American journalist James Foley. Once
again, we see the same reluctance that was on display about retaliation against
Syrian President Bashar al Assad for spreading toxins. Fear of mission creep,
fear of putting American boots on the ground, and excessive faith in the
wonders of American military technology... more » After the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS went viral, Palestinian journalist Ayman Aloul decided to take the Gaza version, the Rubble Bucket Challenge, a campaign launched to spread awareness of life in Gaza in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes.
No One on the Ground Can Beat ISIS - Jamie Dettmer
Barack Obama Is Not a Realist - Paul Saunders, The National Interest
The principal
reason that Obama’s critics and defenders considered him a realist for so long
has been his administration’s generally pragmatic policies. But realism is much
more than pragmatism; confusing the two is one of the most fundamental and
enduring errors in America’s foreign-policy debates. Realism is pragmatism
rooted in awareness of international anarchy, infused with a deep understanding
of American power and in service of a strategy based on American national
interests. Obama is not a realist because his policies typically start and s...
more »
Don't Cooperate with Assad - Michael Totten, World Affairs
The US is
considering air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria as well as Iraq and
the Syrian government says any unilateral action that isnÂ’t coordinated with Damascus will be seen
as an act of aggression. President Bashar al-Assad would be perfectly content,
however, to have the United States fighting on its side.
Libya the Sign of a Newly Proactive Gulf - Jane Kinninmont, The Guardian
Whatever has happened in Libya in the past few days –
with the US claiming that the United Arab Emirates and Egypt were behind
several airstrikes on Islamist militias – it is clear that America’s
traditional allies in the region are looking for new ways to protect themselves
against a spectrum of threats that they think the US is not taking seriously
enough.What’s behind the rush to separate the religion from its most notorious exponents.
Getting moral clarity.
Frontpage Editor unveils the sinister roles of CAIR and
ISNA in the "Tri-Faith Initiative."
d the media's silence.
The Left's rush to judgment, division and hate -- without
the facts.
U.S. Can't Retreat and Still Call the Shots - Max Boot
Want to know what happens when the U.S. retreats from a
leadership role in the Middle East? This is what happens–Egypt and the United
Arab Emirates together collaborate to stage air strikes against Islamist
militias in Libya. And meanwhile Qatar, which is at odds with its fellow
Persian Gulf sheikhdom, the UAE, has been funneling arms to the very Islamist
militias that UAE’s air force is bombing.
The Rand Paul Doctrine: Don't Get Involved - David
Francis, Fiscal Times
At the height of the Iraq crisis, as the Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria (ISIS) surrounded a mountain where Iraqi Christians and other
minorities had taken refuge, one loud voice on the American public policy scene
was silent. As President Obama launched air strikes that eventually allowed the
Yazidis to leave Mount Sinjar, Rand Paul had nothing to say. Paul’s silence was understandable; he is as
close to an isolationist as the Republican Party has seen in decades.
The Overstretched West - Joschka Fischer, Project Syndicate
The chaotic consequences of the gradual
disintegration of Pax Americana are becoming increasingly clear. For seven
decades, the United States safeguarded a global framework, which – however
imperfect, and regardless of how many mistakes the superpower made – generally
guaranteed a minimum level of stability. At the very least, Pax Americana was
an essential component of Western security. But the US is no longer willing or
able to be the world’s policeman.
Libertarians Need to Man Up on Foreign Policy - Roger Simon, PJ Media
Libertarianism, if we are to believe none other than The New York Times, has become quite chic. But paradoxically, during this same time frame, it has become perhaps even more evident that one of the apparent tenets of libertarianism — a kind of neo-isolationism —is, well, to put it bluntly, insane. In the era of the Islamic State (not to mention a dozen other similar murderous, increasingly global organizations we could name or are being invented as I write), anyone who believes we can roll up the gangplanks to create the perfect libertarian state and everyt... more »
Libertarianism, if we are to believe none other than The New York Times, has become quite chic. But paradoxically, during this same time frame, it has become perhaps even more evident that one of the apparent tenets of libertarianism — a kind of neo-isolationism —is, well, to put it bluntly, insane. In the era of the Islamic State (not to mention a dozen other similar murderous, increasingly global organizations we could name or are being invented as I write), anyone who believes we can roll up the gangplanks to create the perfect libertarian state and everyt... more »
A reaction from Pat Michaels follows. From the NYT article: Obama Pursuing Climate Accord in Lieu of Treaty WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress. In preparation for this agreement, to be…
Race
Michael Brown
Funeral: Cop-Lynching Pep Rally - Matthew Vadum
Michael Brown
Funeral: Prelude to a Cop-Lynching - Matthew Vadum
The Lie Behind
the Lynch Mob - John Perazzo
The remarkable statistics on police shootings and race.
Russia
All eyes will focus this week
on Minsk where Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Ukrainian
counterpart, Petro Poroshenko. After coming close to armed confrontation over
the aid-laden convoy Russia sent into Ukraine’s eastern region last week, the
encounter in the Belarus capital Tuesday suddenly and unexpectedly presents the
two sides with the their best chance yet to reach a diplomatic and political
agreement settling the nine-month crisis over Ukraine’s future status and
direction.
Russia Is Already Invading Ukraine - David Frum, The Atlantic
On the same day as the convoy’s theatrical but seemingly
pointless mission, NATO officials publicly charged that “Russian artillery
support—both cross-border and from within Ukraine—is being employed against the
Ukrainian armed forces.” Russian military units are now firing at Ukrainian
forces from positions on Ukrainian territory. If that’s not an invasion, it’s
hard to know what else to call it.
Putin Is Key to Avoiding a New Cold War - David Owen, The Guardian
The presidential summit in Minsk offers hope of a deal over Ukraine. But the Russian leader will not accept humiliation.
The presidential summit in Minsk offers hope of a deal over Ukraine. But the Russian leader will not accept humiliation.
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