Going Broke Together
From the desk of George Handlery on Sat, 2010-05-22 07:39
1.There is a weekly German TV program dedicated to the background of the news. A recent segment introduced its public to the way Giuliani has made order in New York. The story described the city as having been a murder capital and its subways as a combat zone. Giuliani’s illustrated policy of “no tolerance” followed. Severe chastisement for even minor crimes, the extensive police presence and the neighborhood patrols made for good footage. Close to the finish, the Mayor’s success got the credit it deserves. The case reminds one of Uribe’s accomplishments in Colombia. His resolute actions against the Communist guerilla created security and an economic upswing. Between 2004 and 2008 the GNP doubled and the FDI tripled. Even in the globally recessionary 2009, Colombia’s growth continued.
Therefore, the concluding sentences of the report came as a surprise. Yes, the security the inhabitants now enjoy is outstanding. Many other locations have reasons to envy New York for what it has accomplished by going after even petty crime with rigorous enforcement and omnipresent cops. At that juncture, one would have expected a hint that the concept should be applied elsewhere. Instead of that, the commentary broke with the pattern of its tune and shifted to standard PC. A remark followed that went approximately this way: New York has, through policing and enforcement achieved security. “But would we really want to pay this price”?
The conclusion helps us to understand – once again – what is wrong with our political culture and why public security is going the way of the Dodo bird. Put our leaders, opinion makers and tainted-lens-wearers to a test. A choice is to be made. On the one hand, there is the safety within the confines of the law that productive citizens demand. On the other hand, we have the protection of the rights of impostors whose behavior provoked the issue raised here. Defying logic and all concepts of fairness, the choice of our elites is that the latter group’s rights, by referring to due process, are to be protected. The hard-to-execute and contradictory formula seems to be “content criminals, secure citizens”.
2. Oil discoveries have an odd feature. Especially new reserves are likely to be found in poor world neighborhoods. Generally, such occasions are universally celebrated. The consumers, representing mainly developed economies, rejoice because this means a postponement of “peak oil”. Additionally, textbook economics would make one expect a sense of relief due to the decline of the price in response to the expanding supply. However, oil is in every aspect of its discovery, exploitation, refinement and distribution a regulated commodity. By now, many are aware of the lack of a free market for oil derivates. It is also common knowledge that supply and price are, in the case of this resource, separated Siamese twins.
Significant national income derived from a lucky quirk of nature – oil and the like – will have a little discussed effect. It will give you more of what you already had. If you have good government and a just, that is merit based social order, then these features will firm and the system will improve. If you have an institutionalized tradition that includes the dictatorial abuse of power and a corruption that is pervasive because it is seen as normal, then there will be more of that. This is the reason why countries with “oil”, or some other resource that can make the humble well-off and the well-off richer, do not always make it out of poverty and oppression. The discovery of prerequisites that could make everybody comfortable make tyranny, economic abuse and corruption, into better paying propositions than they were before nature has opened up its purse. Succinctly put, the “rule” could be: “No oil, no Chavez”. Perhaps, before the sudden access to the revenue from a resource, the profit from what could be siphoned off society, amounted to one camel. With the new funds pouring in, the possibilities grow explosively. The one camel to be had at the outset multiplies into a herd that those with power are enabled to steal.
3. A ridiculous but telling case and a fitting theory. The writer would curl up laughing if only there would be no innocent victims embedded in the story. Bureaucracies, wherever they are, differ only in the extent they are inclined to abuse, unintentionally or knowingly, their power. In this endeavor, a country with a federal democratic tradition is handicapped and thus it is unlikely to set world records. Even so, good tries abound.
In the case of the USA the IRS, freed from some of the controls other institutions are subjected to, is busy not only to collect money but is also dedicated to produce “good stories”. Most of these are frightening but also funny as long as you are not directly affected by the man-made tragedy that might be caused. The other government agency that is apt to act like a berserk rodeo-bull is the INS. The incident that is re-told here briefly, seems to your correspondent as another news item that, under its surface, has more to tell than what the story amounts to by itself. It all begins with an American girl who gets involved in a correspondence with another Ph.D. candidate who happens to be a German-British double citizen. In time, they decide to meet. Years of travel follow. Ultimately, the two decide to marry. The groom enters the US on a 90-day visa. Thereafter, the couple follows “procedures” by applying for a residency permit for the man who holds two jobs. The complicated forms are filled out and filed. The rest seems to be a formality. It usually is. But not in this case.
The two Ph.D.s make a minor error as they fill out their papers. For a while, nothing happens. Then they are cited in and, as instructed, they put their material in order. Thereafter they are assured that there is no problem. The calm last until accidentally the file is sent over to an agency that evicts illegals. It is apparently an easy case, so the man gets arrested at work and is taken to jail. Before he could be deported and barred from entering the US for ten years, the wife and his employers succeed to have the error corrected and the prisoner is released.
The disproportional attempt at hard-nosed enforcement makes one think of the news from Arizona and the US-Mexican border. What strikes one as odd here is that it suggests that the law can be applied with petty rigor or that attempts can be undertaken to ignore it. Let it be inserted here that it is absurd that a state (AZ) needs to make a law to enforce the core of existing, but largely ignored, national/federal statutes. Equally astonishing is that doing so provokes Holocaust comparisons to add spice to the concoction. Voting power and party politics seem to count for more than the formal regulations that apply to the issue. The ease by which action can be taken also seems to play a role. What is ignored is the common sense review of cases. The out of proportion action ignored that the alien was an immigrant of great use to the host country. Furthermore, the marriage to a citizen has obviously been genuine and not a means entered into to circumvent the law.
4. Again that Greek crisis. Actually, this label is a misnomer. In reality, the Greeks are a minor dot in a big picture. Cheetah in Tarzan movies is a good comparison. Regardless of Brussels’ stiff upper lip, the crisis suggests that the EU and the € are in need of repair. The central theme is not the money that is now thrown at the wreckage. Nor is the issue the effect the succor will have if measured by what the Greeks will and can do in their own and Europe’s behalf. The core that is melting is the credibility of the EU and the IMF. The union’s management has transgressed. It ignored its own statutes and the common sense rules of precaution. After unwarranted admissions, out of courtesy for a member state, “Europe” ignored the signals that warned of the coming melt-down. The future might tell us that in overcoming the moment’s insolvency crisis, only the gap between fiction and reality was pasted over with a band-aid. Thereby, the foundations of the global economic order, including the sound finances of the rescuers were put into jeopardy.
5. Ultimately individuals and parties will be punished by their unprepared and under-informed electorates if Athens’ stumbling mutes into a general crisis. The ideology’s errors that moved nearly the parties that vied for power will be unmentioned. It is quite likely, that the main actors on the international scene, whether persons or institutions, will not receive the discredit for inspiring the failure either. This teaches us that it is natural to make mistakes. Correcting them by shouldering some sacrifice might also be possible. The case of angry Greek demonstrators that insist upon their right to spend, as they have become accustomed to, the money they do not have tell of the hindrances. The real challenge, however, is to assess mercilessly the causes of the reverse and to proceed from there to prevent the next tremor. This is the greatest challenge and failure at it is the norm.
Doped Up at/by USCIS
Submitted by Capodistrias on Thu, 2010-05-27 15:27.
No question that ethnicity was a factor in each selection, but there were other factors peculiar to each individual as to why they were chosen. The three Acting Directors over that period were not Hispanic. Votes, labor, drugs, human trafficing, massive fraud in government contracting and hiring practices, the immigration processing industry, and foreign intelligence activities are all channels which contribute to making the USCIS THE most corrupt and incompetent US government agency. An Hispanic factor can be found in all those channels, some more self-evident than others but Hispanics are not the driving force in the collapse of the US immigration system. Afterall, no one race or ethnic group has a monopoly on moral degeneracy, that's a condition we can all choose, embrace and champion. Right, Kappert?
RE: USCIS
Submitted by Kapitein Andre on Tue, 2010-05-25 08:12.
Isn't it curious that list of USCIS directors is as follows: Eduardo Aguirre, Emilio Gonzalez (appointed 2005) and Alejandro Mayorkas (appointed 2009)?
While maybe pleasing to Hispanic "voters", assuming they are even citizens, these appointments seem no less counter-intuitive as giving a heroin addict the keys to the safe...
INS aka USCIS
Submitted by Capodistrias on Sun, 2010-05-23 23:52.
Re:
3. The INS, now the USCIS, is the most corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy in America. It was the US government agency most directly and obviously responsible for letting the 9/11 terrorists into the country. Yet, instead of fixing the most obvious and simple government breakdown that led directly to 9/11, what did the Bush WH, the Congress, the 9/11 Commission, etc., do to fix the INS? Nothing. Why? Me no understand.
RE: Going Broke Together
Submitted by Kapitein Andre on Sun, 2010-05-23 18:12.
RE:
1. Germans are already beginning to pay “this price”, and it is rising as Germany fills up with Blacks and Muslims. However, law enforcement and security tend to deal with symptoms rather than cure diseases. Moreover, Giuliani’s tenure as mayor came during a national decline in crime rates throughout many American cities, and I urge caution when ascribing this trend to him.
2. Duly noted.
3. Recently Obama slithered up to the Mexican president and joined him in condemning Arizona’s law. Prostating himself, Obama even blamed American consumer demand for narcotics and American firearms for creating the near-civil war in Mexico. Even Bush was prepared to amnesty millions of illegal Mexicans in order to secure the Hispanic vote. Nor are Mexico and the United States “partners” in the war on crime, drugs or illegal immigration. On the contrary, Mexico sees the porous United States border as a safety valve for unemployment, crime and illegal immigration from Central America.
4. Milton Friedman predicted the collapse of the EEC should it progress to adopting a single currency.
5. Perhaps this crisis will prompt the Greek people to revolt against the five families that have dominated Greek politics since the war.
@Marcfrans
Submitted by Capodistrias on Sun, 2010-05-23 17:18.
That's myst you're mistaking for smoke. It's impossible to make a mistake when responding to Kappert. Kappert is a mistake. Is that clear? I told you there is no escape from Kappert Isle.
Reference?
Visit the local bibliotek on Kappert Isle. Reference section. Dictionary lecturn. No dictionary. Simply large portrait of Noam Chomsky smiling.
Smokescreen
Submitted by marcfrans on Sun, 2010-05-23 14:42.
@ Capo
You made a mistake. Never follow parrots to their next 'station'. The context of "empirical evidence" was the state of "civil liberties" in respectively Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. On that subject, kappert got his head firmly stuck in the sand, and you can be sure that he will keep it there. Did you notice how he ignored my factual observations about the differential economic trends, Uribe's decision to respect the constitution (and the Supreme Court's judgement) and to step aside, and the Bolivarian new Caudillo-for-life's latest depredations?
The subject was NOT prison populations. That is the latest smokescreen. In any case, what's wrong with high numbers of incarcerations, IF the incarcerated are criminals (who benefited from 'habeas corpus' and from a free democratic environment)? Don't criminals belong in jail, rather than on the streets? Much more relevant is the number of 'political prisoners' in the various leftist polities that K in zombielike fashion tends to admire. (By contrast, I don't harbor any illusions about the imperfections about so-called rightist' regimes in the Third World). I ask you what is worse: (a) many common criminals in jail but everybody else free, or (b) most common criminals on the streets but political opponents in jail? And do not shirk from the truth: there are German citizens as 'political' prisoners in German jails today, there are no US citizens as such in US jails. As to Venezuela, the question itself would be superfluous...(given the total dismantlement of democratic institutions and independent media that has occurred there over the past decade).
P.S. By the way, the notion that K actually believes that anybody could even know the number of prisoners in the world (since he uses a percentage number) illustrates how naive the latest crop of leftist Western 'useful idiots' are about the 'state' of the political systems in which the bulk of humanity resides.
Kappert Escapes from Alcatraz reference
Submitted by Capodistrias on Sat, 2010-05-22 20:45.
Kappert quote of the day:
" I used 'Alcatraz' as a synonym, unable to list the uncounted 'correction centers' raised in the last decades."
Only on Kappert Isle does one demand empirical evidence and then counters with the "uncounted" i.e. lack of empirical evidence.
Marcfrans be careful, though no records have been kept, no one has ever reported a successful escape from Kappert Isle.
uncounted jails
Submitted by kappert on Sun, 2010-05-23 10:21.
Indeed it is difficult to pronounce the correct number of jails in the U.S.A. However, numbers of inmates are quite clear: 2,3 million U.S. citizens, that is 23% world prison population, 5 times more than UK, 11 times more than Norway.
Citizens # 3
Submitted by marcfrans on Sat, 2010-05-22 18:43.
Indeed, empirical evidence is essential, and should never be confused with parroting falsehoods.
- Not even the American leftist media will deny that NYC was much more livable post-Giuliani than pre-Giuliani. His predecessor was a 'socialist' (among other unmentionable things).
- No one is denying the importance of "habeas corpus". It is an essential component of the US Constitution, which has survived over two centuries. There are those countries who actually have meaningful habeas corpus (because government power is constrained) like the US, and those who claim to have it (while not having it), like for instance Germany and Venezuela. "Habeas Corpus" becomes pretty meaningless and formalistic if one can be jailed for expressing an opinion that is unwelcome to the authorities. I am an "immigrant" and have never had my "habeas corpus" violated in the US, nor do I know of anyone else who has.
- As to "Detroit", that city has nothing to do with the issue raised or pertaining to the Kandahar example. That issue was: 'security as a pre-requisite for freedom'. Failure to address the issue at hand, while running to the next subject in order to hide one's incapacity to respond with an argument, is an age-old tactic of ideological scoundrels. Atlanticist has wide experience with Kappert's head-in-the-sand attitudes.
- Unlike NYC, Detroit unfortunately never had a 'Giuliani'. Moreover, Detroit has been 'governed' (if that is the correct word) by the same racist (in the sense of race-obsessed) socialist wing of the Michigan Democratic Party since...many decades. It is a perfect example of the results of a power monopoly and of a disfunctional (pathological really) 'black' sub-culture.
- Alcatraz is a tourist attraction. It has been closed for many many decades. There are very few black faces to be found there, but many Asian ones and a few 'white' ones as well, all of them tourists. I knew that the absurd "fascist" label/slogan would be followed by the predictable "racism" one.
- As to the state of "civil liberties" in repectively Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, it is imperative that those who want to comment on them be cognisant of the facts. If they do not bother to learn the facts, through empirical observation, then they cannot be taken seriously. Obviously this is a normative statement, and it is bound to be ignored by ignorant parrots.
nice reply
Submitted by kappert on Sat, 2010-05-22 19:13.
Eight years after leaving City Hall, Giuliani remains immensely popular in some white ethnic and Jewish communities, but scorned in some black neighborhoods (NYP). That's the current situation, I maintain to ask you checking the criminal statistics. I used 'Alcatraz' as a synonym, unable to list the uncounted 'correction centers' raised in the last decades. As for 'civil liberties' you don't contribute a clarification what could be meant in the case of Colombia. Parroting from the right is your business, not mine.
Citizens # 2
Submitted by marcfrans on Sat, 2010-05-22 14:25.
1) Giuliani, indeed, did succeed in reducing crime dramatically and in making NYC livable again for law-abiding citizens and visitors alike. He did NOT criminalise "homelesness", but rather forced a choice on irresponsible people: accept government 'housing' or behave responsibly and take care of yourself. What he did "criminalise" was: abuse of the public space. One would think that socially-minded people would appreciate that, but in the current 'confusion' of the mainstream media and culture one would be wrong.
2) The notion that "immmigrants" have been stripped of "habeas corpus" is laughable on its face. Is that why millions are desperately trying to get in? To get "stripped of habeas corpus"? My God, the silliness of leftist parrots knows no bounds.
3) Civil liberties have nothing to do with the "middle class". Civil liberties apply to all citizens, irrespective of class. "Class" is a very un-American concept. Also, "freedom" is impossible or unthinkable without security. If any libertarians and/or nuty lefties doubt that, they should go to Kandahar (and other places) where the Taliban (or other totalitarians) systematically murder anyone who 'collaborates' with the forces of 'law and order'. Freedom is inconceivable without the prior establishment of civic order, and will be lost if that order cannot be maintained. The 'Founding Fathers' knew that, many Obamamaniacs do no longer.
4) The "war on drugs" is a war...on drugs! No "young black man" with drugs...no "criminalization of young black man". It is as simple as that. However, trust that that is too simple for the nutty left. If they see pathological behavior (or sub-culture) they will find a way to 'justify' it. It's the naive-left dogma of 'victimhood'.
5) As to Colombia? The contrast with next door neighbour Venezuela is quite remarkable. In less than a decade, the one-without-oil has gone from poverty to economic growth and to growing "civil liberties". Uribe is relinquishing power after having performed a very difficult, but great, job. The other-with-oil is descending into chaos, loss of civil liberties, and is now stuck with a demagogue as 'president-for-life'. Where did we see this before? In real fascism and communism? What's the difference, anyway?. Trust that media-parroting lefties can not make real-life observations. They are too busy parroting...empty slogans like "fascism". Surprise, the racism slogan was missing...
missing
Submitted by kappert on Sat, 2010-05-22 17:21.
I'm missing your beloved empirical evidence. Please, check the numbers of inmates coming from NYC and the number of 'government housing'. Habeas corpus is the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action, stripping immigrants of habeas corpus is a dubious tool and should not be accepted. Go to Kandahar? Well, go to Detroit! The war on drugs has indeed a racial component, rich guys buy'em out, poor guys go to Alcatraz, by chance they are black, of course. It's amusing to state that under Urribe Colombia grew 'civil liberties', that happened in their neighbour countries, Venezuela and Ecuador.
what citizens
Submitted by kappert on Sat, 2010-05-22 12:25.
On 1: Giuliani succeeded in criminalizing homelessness in New York. The Bush government and Congress have succeeded in stripping immigrants of the right to habeas corpus. The middle class is increasingly willing to give up its civil liberties in the 'war on terrorism', and the intelligentsia eager to give elaborate legal and philosophical arguments justifying the end of freedom. The war on drugs has led to the gutting of the Fourth Amendment protection against illegal searches and seizures and the criminalization of young Black men. Colombia under Urribe has descended into Fascism. Can its sponsor be far behind?
On 3: Confirms point 1.