tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90678152011-12-27T03:37:02.272ZRandom thoughts on the world from my comfortable perch. I am socially libertarian, economically capitalist (in the Chicago Boys' vein) and neoconservative in international relations.A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.comBlogger4991100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-8752909404767120042009-11-25T09:59:00.003Z2009-11-25T11:01:03.413Z

...has this country gone mad?!This morning the BBC News website front page had two leading stories that provide a telling contrast. The first refers to the introduction of school lessons to tackle domestic violence:Every school pupil in England is to be taught that domestic violence is unacceptable, as part of a new government strategy.The second story tells us that a former royal aide, Jane

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-77595036561773139102009-07-02T11:51:00.007+01:002009-07-02T14:38:06.148+01:00

Despite my deep-seated skepticism and cynicism regarding the international law apparatus and its ability and willingness to protect human rights and improve the lot of the world's downtrodden, I am simply amazed at the double standard that the world's governments and international organisations are applying to two current crises: the uprising in Iran and the removal of Honduran president Mel

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-68076147658859217842008-12-03T10:21:00.003Z2008-12-03T10:38:31.176Z

In the morning, on my way to work, I am usually one of the nebechs who take the Hammersmith and City Line to work. This is a great time to catch up on some reading, and this morning I was hacking away at the October issue of Commentary magazine. In a review of a book about Benjamin Disraeli I came across a phrase that struck me:Plainly he could never have succeeded in translating his power

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-72407592280677177892008-09-19T09:36:00.005+01:002008-09-19T10:04:39.217+01:00

Guess which countries have the lowest level of anti-Muslim sentiment in the Western world? The UK and the US (in a tie). And guess which countries have the lowest level of anti-Jewish sentiment? The US, closely followed by the UK.So maybe all those Europeans who harp about how incredibly bigoted the US supposedly is, should take a closer look at their own back yard. And at the same time, maybe it

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-54538683568438348862008-09-03T19:47:00.008+01:002008-09-04T09:47:21.017+01:00

Yowzers! The mainstream media's meltdown over the Sarah Palin candidacy for the Vice Presidency is truly astounding to behold. Have these people no sense of how transparently biased, dishonest and petty they sound?Jim Lindgren quotes an exhaustive rebuttal of the charge that there was insufficient vetting (from National Review), and says:To say that the press is doing the Democrats’ work for them

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-78411868887355012982008-08-27T17:02:00.006+01:002008-08-27T23:14:28.716+01:00

The general consensus on the Georgian crisis seems to be that although Russia is behaving like a thug and is unjustified, the crisis could have been averted if only the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, had not attacked the separatist forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. However, Bernard-Henri Lévy writes in today's Wall Street Journal that this is not so:We know now that the Russian army

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-4481093990081604082008-08-21T15:55:00.006+01:002008-08-21T17:01:32.563+01:00

Instapundit has a discussion regarding Obama's laughable claim that Americans are selfish. The DC Examiner essay he links to quotes an interesting and cogently argued piece which should put this myth to rest once and for all (it appeared in The American, an excellent periodical published by the American Enterprise Institute).In the context of this discussion, Glenn also links to a story which has

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-42014558393211529072008-08-20T15:27:00.001+01:002008-08-21T15:56:50.587+01:00

I sometimes wonder whether Jimmy Carter (whose brand of utter incompetence boggles the mind) ever feels guilty about the incredible number of disasters his policies have caused or at least inflamed. One example is the violent misrule of Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe. James Kirchik goes over the history briefly in the Wall Street Journal to remind us of a litte known fact: the Rhodesian civil war

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-23010919089919745862008-07-17T18:38:00.010+01:002008-07-17T19:48:41.695+01:00

Naomi Klein, whose works I have never read, has always come across to me as a misguided, but ultimately well-intentioned individual. Yesterday, while flying home (to London) from visiting my parents in Milan, I had the occasion of reading a long but excellent review of Klein's latest book, The Shock Doctrine, which has changed my mind. This truly devastating review, by Cato Institute senior

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-89703416033429749122007-12-06T09:34:00.000Z2007-12-21T14:30:17.988Z

I have received a few replies to my post on Ron Paul which I would like to respond to. One person commented the following (on Facebook):Ron Paul is NOT an isolationist. He has been consistently non interventionist for decades. You can read it for yourself in his book, "A Foreign Policy of Freedom", a compilation of Ron Paul’s speeches on the floor of The House of Representatives which is a very

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-42649798678199699182007-12-03T11:22:00.000Z2007-12-03T12:37:35.586Z

As you may imagine, although I agree with some of his policy positions, I am not at all a fan of Ron Paul (mainly for his isolationist ideas, but also for his rather odd associations). However, I think his relative popularity may be a good sign, as Glenn Reynolds notes:Paul's doing better than anyone expected. It's abundantly clear that he's not doing it on charisma and rhetorical skill. Which

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-28999803064552877162007-11-12T18:43:00.000Z2007-11-12T18:41:57.288Z

I have been involved in a discussion on Facebook with a friend of mine over the War in Iraq. However, since my response is rather complex and formatting things on Facebook is a nightmare, I have decided to post it here.The whole thing started with Charlie (my friend) pointing to this video of Dick Cheney defending the decision of the Bush père administration (in which he served as Defense

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-27850000376905729612007-10-02T13:20:00.000+01:002007-10-02T13:22:21.170+01:00

Megan McArdle admires Alan Greenspan's forbearance in the face of Naomi Klein's aggressiveness:My favorite moment is when Naomi Klein accuses Greenspan of having pursued a crisis of faith in capitalism through his income-inequality producing policies of privatisation, deregulation, and free trade, which is a terrific twofer: not only have none of these things been convincingly linked to income

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-27107945138130679552007-10-02T09:34:00.000+01:002007-10-02T12:10:37.625+01:00

James Kirchik has an interesting essay in the Los Angeles Times revisiting what has become conventional wisdom about the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, namely that he "was a promising leader who became corrupted over time by power." This is clearly nonesense, and only serves to assuage the conscience of the "enlightened" elites who enthusiastically supported him at the time of his struggle

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-87117672328133349152007-10-01T09:59:00.000+01:002007-10-01T17:48:27.314+01:00

For those who haven't been following the Duke "rape" case, here is a good overview by Power Line:Yesterday, Stuart Taylor spoke to the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Federalist Society about the Duke lacrosse "rape" case. In my view, Taylor is probably the pre-eminent reporter of legal/political matters, an enterprise to which he brings to bear great intelligence, strong knowledge of the law,

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-70635320134182495862007-09-30T12:11:00.000+01:002007-10-02T13:36:42.352+01:00

I suspect there are still quite a few "blood for oil" conspiracists who are in whoops over a quote from Greenspan's recent autobiography:I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.I wasn't surprised when I discovered that there is more to his position than that (via Ed Morrissey):Greenspan clarified his remarks in an

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-31646041299011204742007-08-03T16:07:00.000+01:002007-08-03T16:35:36.308+01:00

A friend of mine sent me an unintentionally amusing article from the Guardian (emphases mine; she reads it so I don't have to!):Because China has no tradition of dairy farming, there is a shortage of home-produced milk. A third of all the milk produced worldwide is now being transported to China, much of it from the EU and a significant amount from Germany, which produces 27bn litres a year.EU

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-63828683092687531962007-08-03T11:21:00.000+01:002007-08-03T16:05:23.354+01:00

A few weeks ago the Financial Times had an interesting essay by Adrian Michaels about feminism (or lack thereof) in Italy, which even ruffled some feathers back home. In my experience the tone and content of the piece are accurate, and indeed there is a serious problem on this front, as I noted a few years ago. Michaels writes:If you are home before the 8pm news on Rai Uno, Italy's main

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-84172726617279729222007-07-29T13:39:00.000+01:002007-07-29T14:51:13.013+01:00

During a radio broadcast in 1939, Winston Churchill once famously said: "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." This statement seems to be as true today as it was then. What I find particularly puzzling about Russia is not so much its appalling leadership, but the popularity it enjoys. But that's not the only oddity, as Reuters

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-89906509838482556762007-07-01T15:58:00.000+01:002007-07-04T10:36:30.816+01:00

It would seem that cooler heads may be prevailing in the global warming debate. Even in the UK where the global warming orthodoxy is actively supported by many media outlets - for example, I bet you weren't aware that US carbon emissions fell in 2006 - according to a recent survey by Pocket Issue more than two-thirds of the respondents believe that climate change is a natural phenomenon which has

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-58676749593968546882007-06-29T15:53:00.000+01:002007-06-29T16:02:35.632+01:00

The other day Alan Dershowitz had an interesting and even-keeled comment in the Wall Street Journal (requires subs.) on the UCU-supported British academic boycott of Israel. I found this part heartening:It is for these reasons that so many American academics, of all religious, ideological and political backgrounds, reacted so strongly to the threat of an academic boycott against Israel. As soon

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-7972267814350624302007-06-20T15:04:00.000+01:002007-06-20T20:57:15.492+01:00

Although I have read my fair share of illustrations of Jimmy Carter's looniness, time and again I am surprised by his ability to surpass himself. The Associated Press reports:Former President Jimmy Carter accused the U.S., Israel and the European Union on Tuesday of seeking to divide the Palestinian people by reopening aid to President Mahmoud Abbas' new government in the West Bank while denying

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-24588498481937294972007-06-04T12:34:00.000+01:002007-06-04T12:58:22.424+01:00

When Tony Blair announced his intention to step down, I had mixed feelings, much along the lines of Glenn Reynolds' succint remarks:I was never a fan of Blair in general, and before 9/11 would have been delighted to see him go. I've never liked the soft totalitarianism that Labour has championed, and to a large degree implemented, in Britain: Cameras everywhere, political correctness, gun

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-9825433305025866892007-05-24T11:18:00.000+01:002007-05-24T11:48:12.972+01:00

It will not come as a surprise to those who know me that I supported Nicolas Sarkozy in the French presidential race: in addition to the appeal of several of his campaign themes (encouragement of hard work, toughness on crime, pro-Americanism, etc.), his rival, Mlle Royal's proposals on the economy were truly appalling, and she didn't strike confidence in foreign policy either). Nonetheless I

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-41356601537708842982007-05-23T10:56:00.000+01:002007-05-23T11:02:56.677+01:00

I was very glad to read that Joe Lieberman is willing to bring his clout to bear to keep the Democrats in line on Iraq (via Instapundit):Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, says his disagreement with the Democrats over the Iraq war won't prevent him from working with his former party. For now."I hope the moment doesn't come that I feel so separated from the caucus" that he decides

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-82731012449024858032007-04-02T13:09:00.000+01:002007-04-02T15:00:46.261+01:00

In recent months I have been remiss in kvetching about international affairs on this blog. This is partly due to work demands and partly due to the fact that I have a lot of other things on my mind. But, in case you were wondering, overall I'm doing great, and I hope to post a bit more often (save for the fact that Pesach starts tonight).While trying to hack away at my enormous reading list, I

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-75782160382376278202007-03-09T13:03:00.000Z2007-03-09T15:05:32.033Z

The other day the Italian Foreign Minister, Massimo D'Alema, made some comments on the Sgrena incident. Reuters reports:Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema openly challenged the United States at a weekend commemoration of Nicola Calipari, the agent killed on March 4, 2005 at a U.S. military checkpoint near Baghdad airport. His speech made headlines such as that in Sunday's La Repubblica newspaper

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-88632399650003458132007-02-19T15:14:00.000Z2007-02-19T15:34:30.659Z

Although the Economist is quite reliable on a host of issues, it has a characteristically blinkered editorial on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in this week's issue. The piece's concluding paragraphs highlight what is wrong with its recommendations:In the 1980s Israelis did not let their divisions over the occupied lands tear their nation apart. Why should they, so long as the Palestinians

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-66474718674260494302007-02-02T13:29:00.000Z2007-02-04T02:13:03.291Z

The other day there was a minor story in the Italian press involving Veronica Lario, Silvio Berlusconi's wife. What the episode highlighted for me is how appalling the Italian media is. The Washington Post notes:Italy's biggest mainstream newspaper, Milan's Corriere della Sera, dedicated five large-format pages to the story on Thursday -- including 21 articles, 21 photographs, one cartoon and

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-49978168914781792722007-01-30T12:48:00.000Z2007-01-31T19:08:55.252Z

As I read this New York Times article, I was reminded – as occasionally happens – of why, at the end of the day, I am proud to be Italian (emphasis mine):To chief executives, the threat of global warming seems very real in Asia, but not in the United States or Russia.A survey of chief executives around the world, released at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, found

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-9368368115809400862007-01-29T16:09:00.000Z2007-01-31T14:32:29.105Z

Tigerhawk spells out what should be obvious to all but the most blinkered leftists, namely that many (but not all) Democrats clearly want the "surge" and the war in Iraq in general to fail. And he explains why:New York Senator Chuck Schumer seemed to give away the game -- at least implicitly -- on "Meet the Press." He quite obviously does not want the next election cycle to be "about" Iraq. One

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-68630792311463680092007-01-21T13:38:00.000Z2007-01-21T14:18:22.565Z

Wretchard from The Belmont Club has some comments on Jimmy Carter (via Instapundit), and links to a hair-raising article by Alan Dershowitz, Ex-President for Sale, which goes some way to explaining Carter's peculiar world-view:It now turns out that Jimmy Carter--who is accusing the Jews of buying the silence of the media and politicians regarding criticism of Israel--has been bought and paid for

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-22523972700465649972007-01-18T13:19:00.000Z2007-01-21T15:06:05.108Z

One of my favourite publications, Commentary, has been undergoing some significant changes. It has overhauled its website - which until now had simply been a portal to access the current issue and the magazine's archives - and it has started a group blog called Contentions. The blog looks very promising, and the slate of authors includes some of my favourite commentators. The reasons behind

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-76777212856329513222007-01-16T13:41:00.000Z2007-01-21T16:05:41.373Z

Before the holidays, Christopher Monckton, a former policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher, was much in evidence in the debate over global warming. As far as I can tell, it all started with two essays by him in the Sunday Telegraph, which I first saw mentioned at Andrew Bolt Blog (here and here). The first essay, entitled Climate Chaos? Don't believe it appeared on November 5th, 2006. The

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-92009238890794919522007-01-14T10:24:00.000Z2007-01-14T12:38:34.274Z

In the course of my work I have to analyse the remuneration of corporate executives, mainly in the US. In these circles it is taken for granted that CEOs are massively overpaid, and that this is an outrage. Clearly there are many cases where the relation between a CEO's pay package and the company's performance seems to be totally unhinged. Nonetheless I am not totally sold on the idea that pay

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-39777446068707383432007-01-09T17:59:00.000Z2007-01-10T18:49:33.678Z

As I have noted before, the major human rights organisations are a disgrace. The New York Sun had an excellent editorial last week, which underlines just how low Human Rights Watch has stooped:Shortly before Christmas, the group released a 24-page report that attempts to rescue its earlier accusation that "On July 23, at 11:15 p.m., Israeli warplanes struck two clearly marked Red Cross

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-51611660726210768672007-01-08T10:52:00.000Z2007-01-08T12:36:17.868Z

There is no question that the current situation in Iraq is dramatic, and that a lot of work will be needed to stop the country from going over the precipice. However, this is no time to loose our heads, as they say.Don Surber notes that despite all the talk of civil war etc., Iraq is still better off now than it was under the regime of Saddam Hussein, even when you look just at the number of

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-74312893550854628072007-01-07T11:59:00.000Z2007-01-07T14:57:27.406Z

As in years past, I spent the holidays skiing in Lech am Arlberg, in the Austrian Alps. There was a bit less snow than usual, but plenty for skiing, and I had a lot of fun. I hope everyone else had a nice time during their holidays.While I was there, I didn't have regular access to the internet, but I bought the Wall Street Journal Europe, which ran an interesting editorial (subs. required;

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-86605692812974234122006-12-19T09:37:00.000Z2006-12-19T11:05:30.903Z

What a surprise... The Telegraph reports (via Hot Air):Jewish people are four times more likely to be attacked because of their religion than Muslims, according to figures compiled by the police.One in 400 Jews compared to one in 1,700 Muslims are likely to be victims of "faith hate" attacks every year. The figure is based on data collected over three months in police areas accounting for half

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-73179781850070601282006-12-18T16:16:00.000Z2006-12-18T16:29:24.335Z

I guess I'm easily amused, but I almost choked on my apple when I read today's Lucy Kellaway column:Award for worst e-mail sign off. For some time now "Best" has been the preferred way to end a business e-mail, and very sloppy it is too. Best what, I always wonder. It's like saying Happy instead of Happy Christmas.A silver medal goes to an e-mail I was sent this year that ended:"Hope that was a

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-33807881943756402322006-12-15T11:17:00.000Z2006-12-15T12:46:46.814Z

After excoriating Pinochet for the brutality of his dictatorship, the Washington Post points out some uncomfortable facts (via Instapundit):It's hard not to notice, however, that the evil dictator leaves behind the most successful country in Latin America. In the past 15 years, Chile's economy has grown at twice the regional average, and its poverty rate has been halved. It's leaving behind the

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-81375635794225215652006-12-14T18:17:00.000Z2006-12-14T18:23:58.249Z

Megan McArdle has some thoughts on obesity, both compassionate and pragmatic, at her blog, Asymmetrical Information:It seems like they're taking a true statement--"society shouldn't assume that the overweight are simply lazy slobs with remarkably little willpower"--and extrapolating it to a ridiculous result: "which means that seriously overweight people shouldn't try to lose the extra weight".

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-80465844615144561492006-12-12T20:10:00.000Z2006-12-12T20:51:01.300Z

The Telegraph (via Tim Worstall):An unemployed Romanian miner who is flown across the globe to confront environmental activists is the unlikely star of a Michael Moore-style film, aimed at debunking the militant green movement.Gheorghe Lucian, 23, is a plain-speaking resident of an impoverished village where an opencast gold mine is planned. He is dismayed that the project, which would bring a

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-5856182325966177932006-12-12T19:04:00.000Z2006-12-12T19:57:11.996Z

There is a widespread - and totally false - idea (see below), particularly in Europe, that one of the main reasons why George Bush won the 2004 presidential election was because of "value voters" whose main issue was opposition to gay marriage. TigerHawk (via Instapundit) has a discussion about the recent uproar caused by the announcement of Mary Cheney's pregnancy. He approvingly quotes

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-43927354063048604472006-12-07T12:51:00.000Z2006-12-07T15:32:09.779Z

Surprise! The Israeli security fence actually works - preventing suicide attacks, according to the leader of one of the foremost Palestinian terrorist organisations (via Melanie Phillips):On November 11, Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Abdallah Ramadan Shalah granted a long interview to Al-Manar TV, Hezbollah's television channel. During the interview, for the first time he admitted that

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-6138053486325872292006-12-05T23:41:00.000Z2006-12-05T23:54:39.213Z

Forbes reports:Wal-Mart's low prices haven't helped it gain a high perch in the public's esteem. At least, that's the conventional wisdom. Critics accuse the retail giant of destroying neighborhoods, exploiting its workers and discriminating against female employees. But when American consumers were asked to name a U.S. company that was socially responsible, they named Wal-Mart above all

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-70926101796672248112006-12-05T21:23:00.000Z2006-12-05T23:32:23.577Z

A while back I listened to this podcast interview from the Glenn & Helen Show, about health care. They spoke to Dr. David Gratzer, who is the author of The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care. I thought it sounded interesting, so I bought the book and it just arrived in the mail. Some of the author's arguments are summarised in an editorial he wrote for the Washington Post:How

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-26140344168168263702006-12-05T13:48:00.000Z2006-12-05T14:11:21.760Z

Diane McWhorter has an appalling essay in Slate (really, it's goosebump inducing - if not worse) in which she complains that President Bush isn't compared to the Nazis often enough. I don't have the patience, time and energy to write a rebuttal, but the American Heritage blog has an excellent analysis:Ms. McWhorter handsomely acknowledges that the Bush people have avoided exterminating the Jews,

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-62863980781782742922006-12-05T10:04:00.000Z2006-12-05T13:47:55.765Z

This must be the funniest argument in favour of gay unions I have ever heard. GayandRight says:Another reason why gay marriage is important... and quotes the following story from the Washington Blade:Michael Kopper, 41, the gay former Enron Corp. executive who became the first to plead guilty to financial crimes among the company's top management, was sentenced Nov. 17 to three years and one

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-60186542568249152402006-12-04T23:19:00.000Z2006-12-04T23:43:18.115Z

RGE Monitor's Econmonitor blog has an interesting post about the vaunted Swedish "welfare" economy:So how does Sweden manage to have such remarkably low unemployment? Long term sick leave is paid for by the government at a generous percentage of the original wage, and thus large groups are not counted as unemployed, because they are still officially employed, though not actually working.In other

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-63500529078569518412006-12-04T19:39:00.000Z2006-12-04T19:54:28.453Z

BBC News has a report about passport controls:Serious questions have been raised over Britain's border security after a BBC journalist entered the UK twice on fake and stolen passports. Shahida Tulaganova obtained 20 illegal passports - each from an EU country, including the UK - within months. Those in the trade told her to travel via sea or bus, saying port security was less stringent than

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-55974556039732314582006-12-04T13:09:00.000Z2006-12-04T13:17:59.308Z

Lucy Kellaway, in a humorous discussion in the Financial Times on dumb questions:If a senior person asks a dumb question the drill is that everyone pretends not to notice. I once sat next to Prince Philip at a lunch and he asked lots of hair-raisingly dumb questions. One of the advantages of being married to the Queen (or even being the Queen) is that you can ask as many of those as you like.It

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-33900046831202799092006-12-03T22:10:00.000Z2006-12-04T23:55:27.877Z

BusinessWeek has an interesting report on Iran, which lends credence to what I mentioned recently about the way forward on that front:Yet Iran has a surprising weakness: Its oil and gas industry, the lifeblood of its economy, is showing serious signs of distress. As domestic energy consumption skyrockets, Iran is struggling to produce enough oil and gas for export. Unless Tehran overhauls its

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-20253484724393643162006-12-01T11:25:00.000Z2006-12-04T00:30:21.680Z

The New York Post reported the other day that Hank Greenberg has been buying up shares in the New York Times Company:Billionaire insurance titan Maurice "Hank" Greenberg has begun buying huge blocks of New York Times stock to break the Sulzberger family's stranglehold on the media empire, The Post has learned.Sources confirmed that the famously combative Greenberg has been buying hundreds of

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1164220588204868212006-11-22T16:42:00.000Z2006-12-01T13:22:00.381Z

Jules Crittenden has an interesting take on what should be done about Iran:An erroneous assumption has been made by the Iranians and by many in the west that because our ground forces are hyper-extended in Iraq, and Iranian nuke facilities are buried deep, there is nothing the United States can do about an Iranian nuclear program. This is not true. There is no need to invade or occupy Iran. We do

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1163681027747359732006-11-16T12:12:00.000Z2006-12-01T11:46:56.823Z

Even assuming that climate change is a serious problem I find it amazing how many companies and people go around glibly boasting that they have "offset" all or part of their carbon emissions. Austin Williams in Sp!ked explains the incredible hypocrisy and quasi-imperalistic thoghtlessness of this approach, which basically involves the idea that since our Western technologies currently emit

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1163674849943278212006-11-16T10:54:00.000Z2006-12-01T11:47:15.061Z

In the midst of the stock option backdating scandal (also see here and here; may require subs.), Fortune's Justin Fox makes some interesting points about stock-options (via the excellent RealClearPolitics Blog):Yermack figured that this wasn't just luck, and theorized that companies were timing their grants to precede good-news announcements and follow negative ones. His findings began making the

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1163693324988925412006-11-14T13:08:00.000Z2006-12-01T11:47:47.209Z

A few weeks ago the British government put out a report about climate change, entitled "The Stern Review" which made quite a splash. BBC News reported:Global warming could cut the world's annual economic output by as much as 20%, an influential report by Sir Nicholas Stern is expected to say.While that is a worst case scenario, the report claims that at the very best the cost of tackling global

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1162764652787428072006-11-05T21:57:00.000Z2006-12-01T13:43:38.738Z

A few days ago John Keegan wrote an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph (where he is defense correspondent) in which he argues as follows:There will soon be another war in the Middle East, this time a renewal of the conflict between the Israel Defence Force (IDF) and Hizbollah. The conflict is inevitable and unavoidable. It will come about because Israel cannot tolerate the rebuilding of

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1162295289066314192006-10-31T11:44:00.000Z2006-12-01T14:47:12.704Z

Megan McArdle of Asymmetrical Information takes a well-deserved swipe at Sky News, and the general level of laughably superficial and biased analysis common in much of the European media:Watching Sky News is weird, because half the news is about America, and half of that is wrong. I mean, not factually wrong, but with a take on things that seems very strange to an American. For example, there was

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1162291792122236672006-10-31T10:35:00.000Z2006-12-01T13:44:00.801Z

The other day Jeffrey Skilling, the former CEO of Enron was sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison. I certainly think the bastard had it coming, but at the same time I think Homocon makes a very valid point:Rapists, pedophiles and murderers get sentenced more lightly than this -- hell, even Lynn Stewart, who was convicted of aiding an imprisoned terrorist (Omar Abdul Rahman, who was the

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1162290910018013852006-10-31T10:29:00.000Z2006-12-01T13:44:28.628Z

The other day I was reading an essay, in the current issue of the New Criterion, by Karen Wilkin (an editor at the Hudson Review) in which she reviews the exhibition "Italia! Muse to American Artists, 1830–2005" which is currently showing at the National Academy Museum in New York. She writes:From the eighteenth century on, Italy was an obligatory part of the Grand Tour for artists and

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1161855704286469242006-10-26T10:12:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:44:48.122Z

This is hilarious! BBC News reports about Finland:It is the only country in the world which broadcasts the news in Latin. On its EU presidency website one can find descriptions of meetings in Latin.[...]There is also a man in the corner of the room singing Elvis Presley's songs in Latin, like Can't Help Falling In Love - or Non adamare non possum.[...]The news in Latin on national radio gets

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1161358413997627782006-10-20T11:33:00.000+01:002006-12-01T20:52:41.906Z

Is it any wonder that many Israelis - and those who sympathise with them - consider the UN anti-Israel? After repeatedly and shrilly insisting that the UNIFIL forces would never dare disarm Hezbollah, we've finally found a case in which they would be willing to use force: against Israel!Ha'aretz reports (via lgf):Commanders of the French contingent of the United Nations force in Lebanon have

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1160497038172157402006-10-10T16:57:00.000+01:002006-12-01T20:54:11.881Z

Christian Ortner in today's Wall Street Journal (requires subs.):Like most continental Europeans, Austrians now take for granted that, thanks to competition and liberalization, they can make cheap telephone calls. But they are indignant that jobs at the telephone company no longer come with a lifelong guarantee.Too true. The WSJ also has a lucid discussion (free link) on this subject by Edmund

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1160065171749073022006-10-05T17:13:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:45:51.925Z

I popped into EnviroSpin Watch today and Professor Philip Stott has updated the site for the first time in a while. And what an update it is:One especially eminent science writer has already declared: "The implications for climate physics, solar-terrestrial physics and terrestrial-galactic physics are pretty gob-smacking..."I say, watch this space. Slowly, but surely, this revelation could well

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1159967963378851462006-10-04T14:07:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:46:39.127Z

Anne Applebaum explains in the Washington Post (via Instapundit) what should be apparent to anyone here in the Old World:In fact, the fuss over the Deutsche Oper and its bloody heads demonstrates that Germany, like much of Europe, remains totally unprepared for the reality of modern terrorism.[...]As a Washingtonian who has always been skeptical about the need to examine every child's backpack at

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1159871487796046662006-10-03T11:00:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:47:34.094Z

Here we go again. In a Guardian column by Jonathan Freedland:Suddenly the applause died as the prime minister announced that terrorism is unconnected to foreign policy, and only enemy propaganda would say otherwise. Blair is one of the very few people left on the planet who still believes this: even the CIA now concedes that the invasion of Iraq has fuelled terrorism rather than curbed it. So

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1159287527906110072006-09-27T22:53:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:16:23.730Z

Whenever I think we've hit rock bottom, the Guardian always proves it can go lower still. In a column about Anna Nicole Smith, Alexander Chancellor writes:Anna Nicole was described as being "absolutely devastated" by the loss of her son, "her pride and joy and an amazing human being". Daniel can hardly have been as amazing as his mother. Such a woman is hard to imagine existing anywhere but

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1159354480468763472006-09-27T10:03:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:48:26.648Z

Following the furore over parts of the latest National Intelligence Estimate which were leaked to the MSM, a summary of the whole estimate has been made public (via Instapundit). The main part that regards the Iraq war reads:We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1158854286547373402006-09-26T16:57:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:49:49.166Z

Why do many Americans think the MSM is biased towards despots and terrorists?Because it is! Meryl Yourish notes one striking example:Can you find a news source for the rally against Ahmadinejad at the UN yesterday? Correction: Can you find a non-Jewish media source, or a non-blogger source, for the rally?I can't. Except for the New York Sun.I checked AP. Nothing. Reuters. Nada. I checked Google

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1158854244493456702006-09-26T14:56:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:51:29.740Z

Apparently, the Guardian is not only blatantly dishonest in its reporting, but it also misrepresents books in its reviews. Alan Dershowitz protests in Slate:I thrive on controversy and have developed a rather thick skin, having had my fair share of both negative and positive reviews.But in the quarter of a century that I have been writing books, I've never had the experience of a reviewer

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1158854193093870752006-09-25T12:16:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:52:10.906Z

I'm not a regular reader of the New York Review of Books (there is only so much lefty-establishment bile and rubbish one can take on a sustained basis, although - as far as I know - it's still more palatable than the truly appalling London Review of Books). However, every now and again one comes across something interesting there, and at the recommendation of a friend I read a review from the

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1158658524603610432006-09-19T10:07:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:53:30.846Z

On Sunday a friend of mine and I went to the Day for Darfur protest in London. It started in front of the Sudanese embassy which is just off the end of Pall Mall; there was some chanting and several interesting (but occasionally unintelligible) speeches. After that we walked towards Downing Street, taking the long route along Piccadilly. Here are some pictures I took while walking down

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1158589514585704652006-09-18T15:09:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:54:21.887Z

In case you weren't aware of this, Chirac is an idiot:French President Jacques Chirac has said referring Iran to the UN Security Council is not the best way to resolve a crisis over its nuclear programme."I don't believe in a solution without dialogue," Mr Chirac told Europe-1 radio, urging countries to remove the threat of sanctions against Iran. The US is leading calls for sanctions to be

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1158331068437197262006-09-15T10:34:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:54:55.270Z

Last night Oriana Fallaci, one of the most famous and cotroversial Italian journalists, passed away. Wikipedia has a comprehensive and balanced biography of her. From the introduction:Oriana Fallaci (June 29, 1929 in Florence, Italy - September 15, 2006) was an Italian journalist, author, and political interviewer.(Photo source) A former antifascist partisan during World War II, she had a long

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1158147649344445662006-09-13T11:14:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:55:42.447Z

It is truly a pity to see how appallingly dishonest and shoddy the Guardian, considered by some Britain's foremost daily, has become in its reporting. William Sjostrom at AtlanticBlog illustrates a recent despicable example. The article begins:George Bush last night admitted that Saddam Hussein had no hand in the 9/11 terror attacks, but he asked Americans to support a war in Iraq that he said

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1157921711051542492006-09-10T20:34:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:56:58.337Z

There seems to be a tendency among people who are, for whatever reason, opposed to George W. Bush, to minimize any scourge he turns his attention to, be it the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Iranian nuclear armament, terrorism or fundamentalist Islam. Martin Amis has a long essay in the Observer (the Sunday edition of the Guardian; via Instapundit) in which he explores what should be self-evident:I

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1157912550262261532006-09-10T17:43:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:58:06.811Z

I have not seen the much talked about ABC 9/11 miniseries, however, whatever its flaws, I am appalled by some of the overwrought reactions I have seen from some of its critics.As Professor Bainbridge notes:Of course, in a way, I can understand the Democrats' outrage. They are so used to Hollywood being a reliable part of the Democratic propaganda machine that the very idea of a network movie

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1157304352682674802006-09-03T18:19:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:59:23.416Z

Yesterday Instapundit had a small but worrying roundup of recent developments in the increase in anti-Semitic attacks. In that context he repeats something he has pointed out before:If they [the Jews] had the habit of blowing things up, they wouldn't face this problem. The point is that Islamist terrorism wouldn't be so widespread if us Westerners didn't make it so effective by our limp and

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1157304134861549052006-09-03T17:40:00.001+01:002006-12-01T13:59:50.029Z

I have finally moved into the real world: for the first time I have listened to a podcast, and I really enjoyed it! The podcast in question was the last installment of the Glenn & Helen Show, in which they interview Richard Posner (who has his own blog here), about terrorism, the constitution and his latest book Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency. Posner and his

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1157300748500155122006-09-03T17:20:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:00:42.173Z

I don't really follow sports, but this is the funniest video I have seen in a long time (via Harry's Place):Enjoy!

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1157123500009035732006-09-01T12:33:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:01:38.825Z

I have mentioned before that I am somewhat skeptical of international law and international organisations. I have recently seen two cases which underline one of my concerns. Many of the most ardent supporters of international law and its apparatuses, often seem to be more interested in using the principles involved to further what can only be termed nakedly political ends, while completely

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1156688175874951572006-08-27T12:19:00.000+01:002006-12-05T23:55:40.721Z

A lot of Europeans often go on and on about how much better healthcare systems are around here: they are so much more equitable as they are free and universal, while in the US, which is barbaric and inhumane, people die on the street and are turned away from emergency rooms if they do not have a credit card.That's clearly a load of tosh. European healthcare systems are obviously not free, and as

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1156343668480473032006-08-23T14:30:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:02:43.724Z

Despite my profound indifference towards cars (and racing cars in particular), based on what I have read about it, I am quite excited about the prospected Tesla Roadster. Wired magazine enthusiastically reports:The trick? The Tesla Roadster is powered by 6,831 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries -- the same cells that run a laptop computer. Range: 250 miles. Fuel efficiency: 1 to 2 cents per mile

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1156334390593760542006-08-23T11:16:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:04:06.017Z

It is truly a pity that Amnesty Interantional and Human Rights Watch have come to represent the positions of the international far Left, often abandoning any objectivity and therefore significantly damaging their effectiveness (and usefulness).According to the Financial Times:Amnesty International says attacks on civilian targets by Israeli military forces during the recently ended fighting in

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1156255785317062882006-08-22T14:09:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:04:25.746Z

Despite appearances I have not dropped off the face of the planet: I have just gotten back from a rather long vacation (which was preceded by some busy times at work).I had quite a lot of fun, by the way. First I visited my grandmother at her vacation home on the Adriatic coast, between Ancona and Pescara. A few friends of mine came along and we had a relaxing time. Her front yard opens

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1153397703042774802006-07-20T12:40:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:04:59.017Z

I am somewhat conflicted by what is happening in Israel and Lebanon, as I feel terrible about the civilian casualties on both sides, while at the same time I see the necessity and justification for the Israeli response. At any rate I think this Washington Post column by Charles Krauthammer describes why this is a unique opportunity:Hence the golden, unprecedented opportunity. Hezbollah makes a

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1153395367397519762006-07-20T12:16:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:06:34.488Z

I usually try to avoid reading certain kinds of things during down time at work (like P. G. Wodehouse novels) because I don't want to attract attention by laughing out loud or being emotional, but I was taken off guard by this article in today's Wall Street Journal, which brought tears to my eyes. I think it's behind a subscriber wall so I am reproducing the whole text:A Friend's Illness Can

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1152542471305493112006-07-10T15:28:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:07:27.062Z

This story is truly incredible (and note that Die Welt isn't some wacky - or even neocon - paper; via Instapundit, also see here):The Nobel Peace Prize-winning chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency effectively fired his lead Iran investigator this spring at the request of the Iranians, according to a new report in the German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag.The lead inspector of the 15-man

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1152525647584896322006-07-10T10:42:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:08:02.741Z

Good news:Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed Monday to continue his plan for unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank, saying that the current round of violence would not stop the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel."I haven't changed my basic commitment to the realignment plan," Olmert told foreign reporters in Jerusalem. "I am absolutely determined to carry out the

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1151494930044453872006-06-28T12:29:00.000+01:002006-06-28T12:42:10.070+01:00

As guilty as this makes me feel, I cannot suppress the feeling of schadenfreude at the news that Harvard will be suffering consequences for the indecorous defenestration of Larry Summers. Truly a victory against tyrants. Here's the story as reported by the Financial Times:Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle, the business software group, has decided against a promised $115m donation to

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1150992826704429722006-06-22T16:59:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:09:08.167Z

David T. (Tate) of Harry's Place has a post up in Comment is Free in which he notes an interesting double standard:Kate Hudson, the chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is implacably opposed to the retention of a modern nuclear deterrent for Britain.[...]When it comes to Iran's nuclear programme, however, CND have a rather more, erm, nuanced position. In October 2005, CND invited a very

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1150991681584862302006-06-22T16:44:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:09:45.962Z

Ann Althouse (via Instapundit) makes an interesting point:You know, what the Democrats need is a presidential candidate who was critical of the war early on, but who now firmly supports the successful completion of the mission. Gore?Well, I don't know about that (I mean the Gore part)... Simon (of I Respectfully Dissent) posts an interesting analysis in one of the comments there:I know I'm

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1150807241277897322006-06-20T13:07:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:10:01.201Z

In the great cat-dog debate, I am certainly a cat person. My sister has an adorably snobbish and indifferent cat (which I had to take care of regularly when I lived at home), and I generally think they are superior in many ways: cleaner, quieter and more independent (you can leave them alone for a weekend and they will pace themselves with the food even if you leave lots of it out, they won't

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1150800697086316732006-06-20T11:35:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:10:41.647Z

The Jerusalem Post reports:While sticking to its demand for the establishment of an independent inquiry into a blast on a Gaza beach 10 days ago that killed seven Palestinian civilians, the Human Rights Watch conceded Monday night for the first time since the incident that it could not contradict the IDF's exonerating findings.On Monday, Maj.-Gen. Meir Klifi - head of the IDF inquiry commission

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1150799253221050132006-06-20T09:57:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:10:59.963Z

Something to chew on: the sea-level in the Arctic has been... falling! Madsen Pirie at the ASI Blog notes:Scientists know that the world's oceans are not of uniform height, and it is possible, thinks Dr Proshutinsky, that the results might fit the so-called Arctic Oscillation, "a seesaw pattern of change in atmospheric pressure over the polar region and mid latitudes." The problem with fitting

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1150736555643175912006-06-19T17:42:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:11:48.332Z

Here is a story about someone I mentioned some time ago:Sabine Hérold, who sprang to fame when she led a protest movement against French workers' readiness to go on strike, now hopes to exploit growing disillusionment with her country's political elite by winning a seat in parliament.Miss Hérold, 25, who regards her French media nickname - Mlle Thatcher - as a compliment, also refuses to rule out

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1150735145401584602006-06-19T10:31:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:12:53.254Z

Here's a rather amusing look at how the same events can be presented in a different light. The BBC News website informs us:Japan gains key whaling victoryPro-whaling nations have won their first vote towards the resumption of commercial whaling for 20 years. The meeting of the International Whaling Commission backed the declaration by a majority of just one.Anti-whaling countries say they will

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067815.post-1149501946355882172006-06-05T10:33:00.000+01:002006-12-01T14:23:33.573Z

Gateway Pundit (via MP) makes some interesting points on Iraq, and how things are going there:The recorded Iraqi civilian fatalities (including insurgents, military, morgue counts, police, etc.) were down 16% (16% maximum) in 2005... 38% (48% maximum) less than 2003 (via Leftist anti-war site Iraq Body Count). If you take out the numbers from that horrible day in August 2005 when nearly one

A. Kvetchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09328287704516866381noreply@blogger.com0