Egoism
Individualism
Sovereignty
Splendor

(These ideas are explicated in this sloppy manifesto)

 
Praise by faint damnation promotes terrorism

Domestic enviroterrorists are blowing up SUVs on dealer's lots. That's news, but in America we don't get news, we just get jumping-off points for PR campaigns. This story at ABCNEWS.com uses SUV bombings as a pretext to give ink to Arianna Huffington's anti-SUV ads, to the illiterate manifesti of the Earth Liberation Front, and to college professors who claim that the House of Saud does not fund terrorism. The most amusing part of the whole exercise, though, was this:

Huffington said she had received 5,000 e-mails by the next morning from people offering to help pay for the campaign.

Oh, sure. Who could doubt that that's what the emails said?
posted by Greg Swann at 8:33 AM

 
Nick and Norm drive the point home

A Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie story by Greg Swann

Nick: So now driving an SUV funds terrorism...?

Norm: Yup.

Nick: An SUV?

Norm: Yup.

Nick: Just driving it. Not driving the getaway car for a bank robbery?

Norm: Just driving.

Nick: Not smuggling an SUV-load of the drugs you say fund terrorism?

Norm: Just driving. It's the gas.

Nick: The gas I put into my SUV?

Norm: That gas.

Nick: Not the gas I put into my sedan?

Norm: Nope.

Nick: Not the gas I put into my lawn mower?

Norm: Nope. Driving SUVs funds terrorism.

Nick: What about Honda SUVs? They're not even really SUVs, just fat, ugly cars.

Norm: Driving SUVs funds terrorism.

Nick: What about those little Suburu SUVs? I mean they're practically like station wagons.

Norm: Driving SUVs funds terrorism.

Nick: What about pick-up trucks? That's what a real SUV is, after all.

Norm: Driving SUVs funds terrorism. Two white guys in suits talking about terrorism. Who does that influence?

Nick: ...White guys in suits, I guess. Really dumb white guys in suits.

Norm: Exactly. Not pick-up drivers. SUV drivers.

Nick: So that's why driving SUVs funds terrorism...

Norm: And buying jewelry at the mall.

Nick: No way!

Norm: Buying jewelry at the mall funds terrorism.

Nick: Jewelry... At the mall...

Norm: And buying smuggled cigarettes.

Nick: I'm on the patch.

Norm: And sending your children to college.

Nick: Grace got the kids, you know that.

Norm: I'm not talking about kids. I'm talking about all the ways really dumb white guys in suits fund terrorism.

Nick: Really dumb guys?

Norm: The dumbest.

Nick: Dumber than those guys in the FedEx commercials.

Norm: Stealing ideas from FedEx commercials funds terrorism.

Nick: But I mean, guys so dumb they'll believe the stupidest arguments?

Norm: That dumb.

Nick: Guys who'll believe that drug buyers fund terrorism, but the laws that make selling drugs so profitable don't?

Norm: Guys that dumb.

Nick: Guys who'll believe that it's the cigarettes but not the cigarette taxes that make them worth smuggling?

Norm: Guys that dumb. Think about this one.

Nick: Okay.

Norm: See a penny?

Nick: Got it.

Norm: Pick it up?

Nick: Yeah. So?

Norm: Funds terrorism.

Nick: What if I just leave the penny where it is?

Norm: Even worse.
posted by Greg Swann at 8:40 AM

 
For organ transplant candidates, death by communist propaganda...

In the Jewish World Review Amitai Etzioni shows us how freedom's best enemies are her so-called friends:

That said, I see a danger in paying for doing things we ought to do out of moral commitment. Furthermore, when we turn organs into a commodity, we lose the sense of closeness people have when they act as family or friends rather than as traders.

Now carrots are sold cash-and-carry. There's a profound moral commitment involved--thousands of 'em--but none that Etzioni would approve of. The thing is, I have my choice of far more carrots than I could ever consume. No "sense of closeness," just more than enough carrots. In "The Price of 'free' organs" I said of transplantable organs:

At present, you are forbidden by law to do anything with them but trash them or give them away, and then only post mortem. And yet demand far exceeds supply, a clear indication that Socialism has failed. Again.

Etzioni knows that his pet flavor of communism does not work. But he wants that communism so desperately that he is perfectly happy to deliver innocent people to their deaths rather than to renounce it and accept that the economic system that delivers carrots in such abundance--Capitalism--will do the same for transplantable organs. Whether or not this is moral depends on how you feel about preventable death, I suppose. I say Etzioni is a ghoul.
posted by Greg Swann at 6:56 AM

 
You have the right to remain docile...

At Improved Clinch John Venlet relates a story of peaceful dispute resolution, which, all appearances to the contrary, is not illegal.

At this point Officer Smith is getting a touch exasperated. He informs me I am interfering with his duties. I tell Officer Smith that unless he has a runaway report with a warrant he may not enter my home. He concedes the point by calling for assistance. Sgt Buikema arrives in a second squad car. I explain the situation to him and he tells me the rest of the story in a very restrained, surly manner. He doesn?t appreciate my questioning of their authority.

A cliche of dysarchy is, "When reason fails, force prevails." This evidently has been shortened to, "Why wait?"
posted by Greg Swann at 6:18 AM

 
A different perspective on Arabia and Warrior cultures...

Our anonymous Department of Defense Mid-East Analyst offers this rebuttal to the argument about Warrior cultures:

As regards your most recent argument:

The case about the Arabs as a warrior culture is not new, but that really isn't accurate anymore (IMO). I suppose you could say that their pedigree was once that of a warrior culture, but they haven't been too successful as warriors lately. Changes in world attitudes towards wholesale invasion, plunder, rape, etc., the establishment of nation-states, alliances, and especially the development of technology has put an end to the warrior cultures and really left them (Arabs) behind. That is part of the reason (IMO) that they are so angry and hostile - because they are humiliated at their numerous failures over the past several hundred years. At one time, Muslims were renowned as great doctors, scientists, philosophers, astronomists, writers, and warriors, now they are not really known for much except oil. I mean really, how many items (tourist trinkets excluded) do you have in your home that say "made in Syria" or Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.?

There has been no large-scale successful Muslim military campaign since the early days of the Ottomans, and this is quite humiliating to a would-be "warrior culture". As you probably know, there's not much worse to an Arab than humiliation. It fuels their rage and anger. But since they are never able to admit they've been defeated (e.g. "The setback"), and are never able to admit that they have been going about things wrong lest that bring - you guessed it - yet more humiliation, they continue to make the same mistakes and try the same strategies repeatedly - with the same dismal results. They continue to believe that the next time they try (e.g. to conquer Israel), it will be successful, they only need to try a bit harder. But shouting Allahuakbar all the louder whilst charging the enemy won't stop laser guided smart missiles.

I apologize if this is not as thought out as the other entry, but I am hurriedly putting something down so as not to be rude and ignore your argument. Clearly I have no monopoly on the truth, and for all I know, you might be correct. But from what I've read and the work I've done over the years, I think the days of the Arab warrior culture are long over. They need to accept that, and find other (less hostile) ways to make inroads to the rest of the world.

posted by Greg Swann at 6:55 PM

 
Islam versus Islamism

From Pakistan Today. The article is kind of tough to read in places, but it repays the effort:

Islamism, if allowed to go unchecked, will be the undoing of Islam. In order to eradicated terror in all its forms we will have to attack all of its component parts from within.

I am waiting for the day when true Muslims will come out and reject that Wahhabi Islamist terrorist who have hijacked our mosques and Islamic centers. We will have to accept that Islamist terror is a reality. And its target is Islam.

What makes this interesting is that it is written by a Muslim.
posted by Greg Swann at 9:07 AM

 
Cain's World...

This morning's New York Times has this: U.S. Is Completing Plan to Promote a Democratic Iraq.

President Bush's national security team is assembling final plans for administering and democratizing Iraq after the expected ouster of Saddam Hussein. Those plans call for a heavy American military presence in the country for at least 18 months, military trials of only the most senior Iraqi leaders and quick takeover of the country's oil fields to pay for reconstruction.

No word on extended Rotarian Kleptocracy, but the Kurds are screwed. Again.
posted by Greg Swann at 6:41 AM

 
The Cain Doctrine: A short summary of the battle plan for an even shorter war with Iraq

Over the past few days I have been outlining what I predict will be the strategy to be deployed in the forthcoming war with Iraq. I had called this 'the Bush Doctrine,' but to distinguish it from any other Bush Doctrines--and because I have related Islamic culture to the Biblical and Koranic story of Cain and Abel--I am calling this strategy 'The Cain Doctrine.'

In short statement, The Cain Doctrine is simply this: The objective the United States seeks in making war with Iraq is not any of those that have been imputed, whether by supporters or opponents of the war. The objective is to scare the hell out of the world, generally, and Islam in particular. By means of a minimal effort at wreaking maximum havoc upon Iraq in a very short span of time, the United States will demonstrate to her enemies and allies alike that she is not only the pre-eminent world power, she is in fact an inconquerable power. The anticipated benefits in the Islamic world will be either an immediate rounding-up of terrorists, or swift regime-changes followed by an immediate rounding-up of terrorists. In the Far East, the United States will disarm North Korea, with or without a regime-change, and neither North Korea nor--much more importanly--Red China will do anything to stop it. If all goes as planned--as I surmise it to be planned--Wahabi/Qutbist Islam will be discredited and Islam will return to a self-satisfied navel-contemplation. Red China will apprehend the lesson of the Soviet Union--that no Communist state can compete with the United States in the creation of capital-intensive weapons systems--and will devote its attentions to economic rather than miliatry power.

In the short run, The Cain Doctrine will bring about a very rapid and fairly stable world peace. In the long run--if, as I surmise, the United States exports not genuine liberty but rather the Rotarian Kleptocracy that has come to dominate domestic politics--the 'root causes' of terrorism will remain, ready to sprout forth again when conditions are right.

These are the essays in which I defend these points, presented in the order they were written:

• Getting a grip on the war with Iraq: The 'wrest' of the story...
  
• The war with Iraq: Taking a better grip...
  
• War with Iraq: Why the Bush Doctrine will prevail--and fail...

posted by Greg Swann at 1:12 PM

 
SplendorQuest: Jonathan's delight...



This is my nephew Jonathan with my sister Gretchen, but I'm not just showing off my relations. I am enthralled by Jonathan's ineffable delight at being alive, and I wish you to understand that this is what I mean by Splendor. Jonathan is just shy of being two years old, and his joy is of the same kind we relish in kittens and puppies--and in Labrador and Golden Retrievers of all ages. Splendor for a homo sapien who has crossed over to conceptual fluency--which Jonathan has yet to do and which dogs and cats can never do--will look different. But from the inside it feels the same. My war is against every contrary to human Splendor. Living is what you're doing when you're too enthralled to notice. Dying is what you're doing when all you can do is notice. To Life! To the life that is a doing, a being, a becoming...
posted by Greg Swann at 10:14 AM

SplendorQuests