Miscellaneous Wordsmith Miscellaneous Wordsmith

The defeat of Communism

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the-defeat-of-communism

On this day in 1991, leaders of the three most powerful ex-Soviet republics signed a communique agreeing that "the Soviet Union as a geopolitical reality [and] a subject of international law has ceased to exist".

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Miscellaneous Wordsmith Miscellaneous Wordsmith

Quote of the week

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quote-of-the-week
My political opinions lean more and more towards Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control, not whiskered men with bombs)... the most improper job of any man, even saints... is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1943), in a letter to his son.

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Miscellaneous admin Miscellaneous admin

The law of unintended consequences

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the-law-of-unintended-consequences

"Be sustainable – do not buy sex", the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen has told guests at the COP 15 climate change summit. The sex workers interest organisation (SIO) has reacted angrily, accusing the Lord Mayor of abusing her office in attempting to prevent prositutes from carrying out their work, which is entirely legal in Denmark. By way of retaliaition, conference delegates have been offered a 'free ride' during summit, so long as they can present a valid COP 15 ID card...

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Miscellaneous Wordsmith Miscellaneous Wordsmith

What the government will probably announce in the PBR

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what-the-government-will-probably-announce-in-the-pbr
There is some talk that it could hike inheritance tax on estates over £1.5m to 50 or even 60 per cent (from 40 per cent today)... hiking capital gains tax could be another way to play the class war card... Alistair Darling could lower the threshold at which the new income tax kicks in to just £100,000.

Allister Heath, 'High earners set to be hit by new taxes' CityAM.

 

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Miscellaneous Wordsmith Miscellaneous Wordsmith

What the government should announce in the PBR

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what-the-government-should-announce-in-the-pbr
I’d like to see that immediate action will be taken to reduce the budget deficit... I’m interested in the scope of tax reform... I want Alistair Darling to realise that this isn’t about New Labour. The fact that entrepreneurs are so keen to hear what policies will be announced indicates why we’re still in a recession. The U.S. economy only left the Great Depression once politicians stopped changing the rules of the game and investors got back to business.

Anthony J. Evans, 'Politicians should allow a business-led recovery' Reuters.

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Miscellaneous Dr Fred Hansen Miscellaneous Dr Fred Hansen

The PC wall

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Diversity has advanced quickly through many Western institutions creating dysfunctional bodies. This is the focus of an excellent article on the disastrous consequences of implementing diversity in a security sensitive environment entitled Diversity: An Ideology.

The ideology of diversity is simply social Darwinism - the term being a mindless transplant from the ‘biological diversity’ of life on our planet – as if humans were no different from other living creatures. Diversity: An Ideology gives an account of the security failure within the US army with regard to the terrorist psychiatrist Major Nidal Mali Hassan of the Fort Hood massacre. This very well documented narrative shows how diversity has conquered crucial US security institutions.

After Bill Clinton’s introduction in 1994 of the Gender Integration of Basic Training program to encourage female recruits, gender “discrimination" was implemented and complaints ensued. An independent commission was set up to investigate the cases. It concluded strict separation of genders in housing and basic training just as the Marines had been doing all along. However these recommendations were rejected. As a result quotas along the lines of diversity were even increased in face increased.

The English professor Bruce Fleming of the US Naval Academy found that

21 percent of the 2001 and 2002 classes were admitted on a “minority" basis, had SAT scores 200 to 300 points below the Academy’s average, and were evaluated “on a separate track" from non-minority students.

The joint policy of encouraging diversity and the ban on racial profiling have pretty much pervaded and nearly corrupted the American security system. For instance, in April 13 2004 the Attorney General testified before the 9/11 Commission that, “the single greatest structural cause of September 11th was the wall“ in the Justice Department that separated intelligence cases from criminal cases in order to prevent race, gender, and ethnicity from being used in national-security investigations".

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