Barrel Strength

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/29/europe/politicus.php

From the International Herald Tribune

“But there was a difference. If judged on the standard scale of caution in dealing with cultural clashes and Muslims’ obligations to their new homes in Europe, the language of the Dutch position paper and Lilianne Ploumen, Labor’s chairperson, was  exceptional.

The paper said: “The mistake we can never repeat is stifling criticism of cultures and religions for reasons of tolerance.”

“Government and politicians had too long failed to acknowledge the feelings of “loss and estrangement” felt by Dutch society facing parallel communities that disregard its language, laws and customs.

“Newcomers, according to Ploumen, must avoid “self-designated victimization.”

About time! Mark Steyn was right. In America Alone he argued that there were many places in Europe that would not be there in 30 years; they would have disappeared into Islamdom. The Dutch are going to lead the way for other Europeans in resisting this; they have a great deal of error to recover from.

A particularly fatuous eco-message went out from the secretary of an association some of us belong to, from an institution not noted for contemporary enthusiasms.  The Dark Lord responded in kind to the offending sermon of Green religion.

The Dark Lord wrote-

Thank you for your message, Brother Secretary.

I don’t usually respond to each little piece of “Climate Change” propaganda, but this time I feel I must.

Firstly, saving energy and performing all tasks in the most efficient way possible is only common sense, and good engineering too.

Secondly, “the planet in peril” and “the IPCC knows what to do about it” and “threats to health and life” are all political bunk to extend the power of government over all our lives.  Nobody knows what the climate (actually, the weather) will be like in 100 years time: if you think that predictions made on the basis of computer models, poorly understood physical variables and algorithms dreamed up by computer whizz kids will tell you that, then examine the history of such predictions and see just how wrong they can be. Note that climate change models do not produce evidence of anything, they produce only conjecture.  Evidence is gained by scientific observation of the world around us.

Thirdly, if you examine the real scientific sites on the Web, you will find, contrary to the claims of the IPCC, that there is significant evidence to show that global cooling has in fact taken place over the past ten years, none of which was predicted by the climate change models so beloved of the IPCC.

Fourthly, the IPCC is not a scientific body, but a political one.  Its pronouncements are purely political and not scientific.

Fifthly, it is true that “all journeys start with a single step”.  I would recommend that the “single step” include looking at some real science rather than the bogus humbug that passes itself off as science.

Sixthly, the weather system is a vast non-linear mixture of variables, many of which we have no understanding of at all.  Accurate predictions of the  futures of non-linear systems, even when the variables are known, is
virtually impossible.  The presumption that a few fancy graphics, computer models, and hysterical pronouncements from the global warming religionists (a false god if ever there were one) can tell us the future, is pure fantasy.  

(As an aside, Margaret Mead is not a “world-renowned scientist”-she was a fraud.  ”Coming of Age in Samoa”, the work that brought fame to her, has been exposed years ago as an example of the shoddiest kind of pseudo-science.  She was “had” by the Somoans.  See several books by Derek Freedman exposing the whole sorry story.)

Lastly, (I could go on much longer) “scientists have concluded that most of the warming observed in that last fifty years is attributable to ‘human activities’.”  Actually, no.  When you see the word “scientists” without any qualification, who are they? How many? What are the caveats?  This is usually a cover-up for yet more political statements.

If you think that you are going to control the weather in one hundred years’ time, go ahead, carry on dreaming, but please don’t waste my taxpayers’ money on such foolish whims.

Happy New Year to Every One

Dark Lord

Some time ago I was walking through Vancouver’s West End a few streets east of Denman, in the heart of the village bounded by Burrard St. to the east, Stanley Park to the west, English Bay to the south, and Burrard Inlet to the north. As I walked by the playground of a public school, I heard the screams and cries of children playing. I thought it fine that so densely urban a place as the west end would still have a playground full of children. Then I noticed the flag flying over the school yard.

It was the rainbow flag of gay.

Read the rest…

William H. Prescott’s “History of the Conquest of Mexico” chronicles perhaps the most startling interchange between any two human civilizations, the cannibalistic Aztecs and the deeply chivalrous Roman Catholic gold-seekers of Spain. After recounting the almost incredible military exploits of the Spanish, who were almost wiped out once, and who terminated the war with a Stalingrad-style street by street slaughter though the streets of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, against fanatical and unyielding Aztec resistance, Prescott summarizes the history of the Aztecs thus:

“The Aztecs not only did not advance the condition of their vasals, but, morally speaking, they did much to degrade it. How can a nation, where human sacrifices prevail, and especially when combined with cannibalism, further the march of civilization? How can the interestes of humanity be consulted, where man is levelled to the rank of the brutes that perish? The influence of the Aztecs introduced their gloomy superstition into lands before unacquainted with it, or where, at least, it was not established in any great strength. The example of the capital was contagious. As the latter increased in opulence, the religious celebrations were conducted with still more terrible magnificence; in the same manner, as the gladiatorial shows of the Romans increased in pomp with the increasing splendor of the capital. Men became familiar with scenes of horror and the most loathsome abominations. Women and children – the whole nation – became familiar with, and assisted at them. The heart was hardened, the manners were made ferocious, the feeble light of civilization, transmitted from a milder race, was growing fainter and fainter, as thousands and thousands of miserable victims throughout the empire, were yearly fattened in its cages, sacrificed on its altars, dressed and served on its banquets!  The whole land was converted into a vast human shambles! The Aztec empire did not fall before its time.”

An empire built on cannibalism and live human sacrifice? How can that be? At the level of nutrition, the Indians of North America had no beasts of burden and no domestic animals larger than a turkey. Jared Diamond suggests that, however inefficient as a food source, human cannibalism might have supplied the conquering tribes with badly needed protein. Feeding the sun god  with human hearts, and the rest of the population with sacrificed human beings, might have been a solution to the problem, as well as a religiously sanctioned form of terrorism .

Now, if you have the time, I refer you to the documentary of Peter Tetteroo and Raymond Feddema on North Korea. It describes a society as attached to its leadership as the Aztecs were to theirs. The significant difference, of course, is that the North Koreans have not yet gone to live human heart sacrifices to feed their gods, Kim Il-Sung and his son, Kim Jong-Il, and to relieve their protein deficiency. But these people have been isolated for only 55 years. The Aztecs were isolated from the rest of the world for 15,000, after the end of the last ice age disconnected Asia from the Americas. At the rate at which they are drawing apart from the rest of the human race, we will not have long to wait for live human sacrifices, which will be a way they can clean out their concentration camps.

The demise of the Madoff Ponzi scheme will have wide repercussion because of the sheer size of the fund.  But there is a silver lining.  The Daily Kos, a well known leftist website, has declared Madoff as “Progressive Enemy #1“.   Anything that is sufficient to enrage the Kossacks must be good news indeed.

It turns out, that the JEHT Foundation was an investor in the Madoff fund, and the losses are such that it will be closing for good at the end of January.  NYT describes it in the first paragraph of their report as “a charity that supports reform of the criminal and juvenile justice systems” and conveniently ignores that the first page of the foundation web site lists four prominent charitable areas: criminal justice, juvenile justice, international justice and, fair and participatory elections .   All from a leftist perspective of course.  The foundation states that “The International Justice Program seeks to promote U.S. adherence to the international rule of law and the engagement of key stakeholders in and outside of government to this end.”  The previous grant recipients include: Amnesty International, the ACLU, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, American Society of International Law, Center for International Environmental Law, Center for Constitutional Rights, Coalition for International Justice, Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Center for Public Integrity, Center for Investigative Reporting etc.  JEHT as a source of funds will be coming to an abrupt and permanent halt in January. A gift that keeps on giving indeed.

Looking back, perhaps the maverick McCain was right when he said during the campaign that he wanted to fire the SEC chairman. The statement was widely met with derision by the MSM.  As we have learned, everything is stupid till Obama says it.  Recall the article in TPM which said that Krauthammer was insane because he proposed extending the US nuclear umbrella to Israel.  Now that Obama has proposed the same it is just brilliant.

Given that Markopolos provided SEC with a detailed description of the fraud starting in May 1999, was the real story that the SEC turned a blind eye because they were “told” to by folks who had an interest in seeing certain of Madoff’s clients lose their ability to fund various projects?

Pardon me, Arran Gold, if I rip off your latest email posting to the Barrelstrengthian email list. This is too delicious!
___________________________________________
Arran Gold writes:
Madoff news just keeps getting better! All sorts of leftist charity organisations lost money in that debacle.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/16/43232/543/693/673580

But, the real story, at least as far as the Progressive blogosphere’s concerned, is that Madoff’s crimes have resulted in the virtual evisceration of hundreds of the very best, privately-funded social programs in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Madoff, single-handedly, has done more harm to the Progressive cause than almost anyone yet realizes. And, that’s because The JEHT Foundation, one of the leading providers of grants for all things Progressive, has just abruptly announced they’re shutting their doors at the end of January as a result of having come to the realization that they’ve lost virtually all their money because it was all under Madoff’s management.

The CHRC’s decision to deny the “L’Islam ou l’Intégrisme?” complaint may be based simply on physical fear. Is the Canadian Human Rights Commission afraid to defend the human rights of women, homosexuals, Christians and Jews because the complaint could not have been accepted without a decision to, in effect, subject the Koran to a human rights investigation?

Amidst the pretzel-like efforts of the Eyebrowed One and his familiars to extract themselves from the wreckage of the Railway Committee Hall Putsch, we come across this cropper from the Litigious Geezer™:

In sum, there’s a point I wanted to make: an Opposition coalition does, indeed, exist. Principally, it’s the coalition calling itself the Liberal Party of Canada.

Whom the gods would destroy, they first allow the warm respite of wallowing in the oozing muck of tautologies.

Obama declares that his staff have been cleared of wrong-doing in the Blagojevich Senate seat sale… thanks to an internal review:

Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama spokesman, said an internal review found “the president-elect’s staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the Governor or his staff over the selection of his successor as U.S. senator.”

After all, what power could tapes and other damning testimony have in the face of the unquestioned simon-purity of Diogenes Illinoiensis?

UPDATE

Make that twenty-one instances of Rahm Emmanuel caught on tape by the feds discussing the the seat sale.

Who conducted that internal review, Lionel Hutz?!?

The $50-billion Ponzi scheme by Madoff has, as expected, a very long list of victims given the amount involved but what is astonishing is the blue-chip banking names that were victimized.

RBS – $600m
Man Group – $360m
Banco Santander $3.1bn
HSBC – $1bn
BNP Paribas – $470m
Natixis – $600m
Unicredit – $100m
Nomura – $303m
Bénédict Hentsch – $48m
Fairfield Greenwich – $7.5 billion
Kingate – $2.5bn
Tremont Capital Management- $1bn (reportedly)
Bramdean – (9.5% of assets under management)
Reichmuth Matterhorn – $327m
Access International Advisers – $1.8bn (Bloomberg)
Ascot Partners – $1.8bn (Bloomberg)
Union Bancaire Privee – $850m (Reuters)
Maxam Capital Mangaement $280m (reportedly)
Pioneer Investments – $280m (reportedly)
EIM Group – $230m (Wall Street Journal)
Benbassat & Cie – $935m (Reuters)

GRAND TOTAL SO FAR – $24.1bn

h/t  The Madoff-o-Meter

This is something to consider when taking advice from your friendly and sophisticated banker.  One does have to ask why these so called “sophisticated investors” were unable to fathom that there might be something wrong, given the high serial correlation of returns.  The word is that investors knew something was wrong, but they thought that Madoff was illegally using information culled from the market-making subsidiary, which could explain the returns, i.e. he was using the information illegally to front-run trades.   Nobody thought he had the audacity to run an old-fashioned Ponzi scheme.

Last word on the liberal do-gooder who ran the fund: Bernard and Ruth Madoff bought their home on North Lake Way in 1967, and are among the most long standing members of the club. The Palm Beach Country Club is the ultimate symbol of the Jewish ascendency. Unlike the WASP clubs, to join you have to have made major charitable contributions. You also have to have made your fortune in clean ways. There are no garbage magnates, no slum lords. You have to be a person of character. And there was no one more revered and honored than Bernard Madoff.

Update

And it looks like the frugal Scots were also undone in this financial mania.  Timing is everything.

One year ago Royal Bank of Scotland paid $100 billion for ABN Amro.

For this amount, one could now buy:

Citibank $22.5 billion
Morgan Stanley $10.5 billion
Goldman Sachs $21 billion
Merrill Lynch $12.3 billion
Deutsche Bank $13 billion
Barclays $12.7 billion

And still have $8 billion in change……for which one would be able to pick up GM, Ford, Chrysler and the Honda F1 Team.

The mere mention of Gitmo, is sufficient to drive liberals into an emotional frenzy around the world.  Americans are repeatedly urged to consider the opinions of “enlightened” Europe and that is much more likely happen under the BHO administration.  Your correspondent agrees wholeheartedly with this approach given the following facts.

On Oct 1, 2002 in Frankfurt, Germany Deputy Police Chief Wolfgang Daschner contemplated the fate of  Magnus Gäfgen, a 27-year-old law student who was suspected of having kidnapped 11-year-old Jakob von Metzler, son of the banker Friedrich von Metzler.  In a memorandum, Daschner wrote: “We need to ascertain without delay where the boy is being held. While respecting the principle of proportionality, the police have an obligation to take all measures in their power to save the child’s life.”  He dispatched police inspector Ortwin Ennigkeit with the assignment to make Gäfgen talk — if necessary by threat of torture and to carry out the threat if Gäfgen was not otherwise forthcoming.  After shaking Gäfgen so violently that his head banged against the wall and hitting him in the chest hard enough to leave a bruise over his collarbone the information was obtained.  The article goes on to describe the subsequent course of events.

In June 2005, the child-murderer and law student Magnus Gäfgen lodged a complaint against Germany with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In his complaint, Gäfgen accused Germany of having violated his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and, more specifically, of having violated the prohibition on torture contained in Article 3 of the Convention.

On June 30, 2008, the European Court of Human Rights rejected Gäfgen’s complaint and cleared Germany of the charge of tolerating torture.  The Court found that the treatment to which Daschner and Ennigkeit subjected Gäfgen did not reach the threshold required to be considered as torture (§69). On the Court’s assessment, it did, however, constitute “inhuman treatment” (§70), which is likewise prohibited by Article 3. Nonetheless, the Court found that German judicial institutions had acted in such a way as to provide Gäfgen sufficient “redress” for the offense suffered and thereby, in effect, to nullify any violation of the Convention. According to the somewhat surreal reasoning of the Court, Gäfgen had been, but was no longer, a victim of “inhuman treatment” (§82). He had “lost” his “victim status.”….

ECHR explicitly found that one of the techniques Rumsfeld and Haynes rejected as too severe does not meet the threshold for being regarded as torture. Citing the Army’s “tradition of restraint,” Rumsfeld and Haynes refused to authorize threats of physical violence, as well as two other “Category III” techniques, “exposure to cold weather or water” and what has come to be known as “waterboarding.” (The only “Category III” technique that was approved was the “use of mild, non-injurious physical contact such as grabbing, poking in the chest with the finger, and light pushing.”) The Court, however, found that mere threats of violence, if they are not carried out, do not as such constitute torture. It came to this conclusion even while recognizing that Ennigkeit’s threats must have caused Gäfgen “considerable mental suffering” (§69). By the standards of the European Court of Human Rights, then, all less harsh measures should not be regarded as torture either.

Therefore your correspondent recommends immediate adoption of this European policy.

It is fascinating to watch the gradual meltdown of unquestioning adherence to the global warming scam – namely that global warming is principally our fault.

The Senate Minority Committee on Public Works keeps up the fight. See their report of December 11, 2008.

Afternoon – Dec 9, 2008

Axelrod: I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject.

Morning – Dec 9, 2008

Asked what contact he’d had with the governor’s office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening.”

Nov 23, 2008

While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a “kingmaker,” Axelrod said, “I know he’s talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.”

Nov 5, 2008

Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.

That’s one of Obama’s first priorities today.

He’s meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it.

Oops!  The above story has disappeared from the KHQA website.

Stay tuned for more tap dancing!

Update

h/t Gateway Pundit

Nov 5, 2008

Governor Blagojevich Congratulates President-elect Obama and Discusses U.S. Senate Seat To fill President-Elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat, Governor will use deliberate process to select suitable replacement

STACLU comments.

Democratic Senators say ¡No más!

President-elect Barack Obama called for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign on Wednesday, hours after the embattled governor reported for work amid charges he plotted to sell Obama’s vacant Senate seat. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are warning Blagojevich not to name a replacement for Obama, hinting they may refuse to allow his choice to take the Senate seat.

Once again a White Russian Ignatieff fails to apprehend a Red socialist grab for power:

Fife also said senior Liberals have told him that they may not need a coalition to form a new government.

“If they do defeat the Conservative government… Ignatieff will go to the Governor General and say ‘We think we can form the government but we don’t have to do it with a coalition,’” Fife said.

“In other words we don’t have to give the NDP any seats in a Liberal government.”

He said the NDP and Block would have to support the Liberals because they already have expressed their hatred towards the Conservative government.

So, it’s logical to presume that once a government of 143 Conservatives is defeated, a caucus of 77 Liberals can expect the confidence of its former allies renouncing a signed declaration? And after they have telegraphed that possibility up front?

One can only conclude that an addiction to power eventually affects the brain much like syphilis, especially if one is not discriminating in choosing bedmates.

The debt instruments of the US government are considered risk-free return because of the credit rating of the US government.  The risk-free return changed today to return-free risk given that the returns for four-week US Treasury bills are now zero and that the risk is never zero.

The Treasury sold $27 billion of three-month bills yesterday at a discount rate of 0.005 percent, the lowest since it starting auctioning the securities in 1929. The U.S. also sold $30 billion of four-week bills today at zero percent for the first time since it began selling the debt in 2001.

These are historic times indeed.  In UK the rates have hit the lowest since the Bank of England was established in 1694.