Author: VD

The incompetence of the elite

Lest you think the people of the West are being governed by their betters. It’s gotten to the point that we need a new word to collectively describe the increasingly inept oligocracy. I suggest “an incompetence of politicians”:

Her rapid rise to become the youngest minister in government has taken some colleagues by surprise. Now extraordinary claims are circulating at Westminster that Chloe Smith was appointed because David Cameron was confused about her credentials. Miss Smith, who became the youngest MP in Parliament when she won the Norwich North by-election in 2009, was promoted last weekend to become Economic Secretary to the Treasury in the mini reshuffle that followed Liam Fox’s resignation….

After Mr Cameron told Miss Smith he would like to offer her the post, she is said to have replied: ‘Well, thank you Prime Minister. . .It would be an honour, but the Treasury…it’s a little daunting…’

The Prime Minister allegedly responded: ‘Not daunting surely for someone who was a chartered accountant?’

The confusion may have arisen because the MP, an English literature graduate, worked for accountancy firm Deloitte before entering politics, but as a consultant not an accountant. The confusion may have arisen because the MP, an English literature graduate, worked for accountancy firm Deloitte before entering politics, but as a consultant not an accountant The Norwich North MP is then said to have admitted: ‘Er, well, actually Prime Minister, I wasn’t an accountant. I was a management consultant in an accountancy firm.’

Mr Cameron apparently then said ‘never mind’ and welcomed Miss Smith aboard.

So chartered accountants are supermen? What? Anyhow, it can be little surprise that the economies of the West are sinking into a slough of debt and contraction when they are overseen by such a group of astonishingly corrupt and incompetent individuals. Now, I’m not a credentialist by any means, but even I would say it is going a just a bit too far in the other direction when, in a time of very dangerous economic and financial crisis, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury is a young woman with a degree in English Literature.

That being said, she’d be hard pressed to do worse than Gordon Brown did as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Or, for that matter, as Paul Krugman would if given half the chance.

Democracy in the UK

It doesn’t exist:

David Cameron suffered the biggest-ever Tory rebellion on Europe last night. Almost half of all his backbenchers voted in favour of a referendum on EU membership.

Up to 81 Tory MPs were believed to have defied a three-line whip, the strongest party instruction on how to vote. Thanks to Labour and Lib Dem MPs, the vote was defeated by 483 to 111, with around 50 abstentions. It was a worse mutiny on Europe than any suffered by Ted Heath, Margaret Thatcher or John Major, and came after Mr Cameron told his MPs that they could have to wait years before Britain claws back powers from Brussels….

A ComRes survey for ITV’s News at Ten found that more than two thirds of the public – 68 per cent – support the idea of a national vote on whether or not the UK should remain a member of the EU. Yet the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all ordered their troops to vote against a back-bench motion triggered by a public petition, even though the result could have had no impact on government policy.

The parliamentarians appear to have forgotten last week’s salient lesson of Qaddafi. If you refuse to submit to the will of the people on matters they consider to be of sufficient importance, they eventually have no choice but to shoot you in the head.

And David Cameron has revealed himself to be a eurowhore instead of the euroskeptic he previously, and unconvincingly, claimed to be.

So the Pope really is the Antichrist?

I’m not what you’d call a Left Behinder, but I am eschatonically aware and I have to admit, it would certainly be a little ironic if the more extreme Protestants actually turned out to be correct after all:

The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises. The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.

“Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions. “The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said…. It called for the establishment of “a supranational authority” with worldwide scope and “universal jurisdiction” to guide economic policies and decisions.

No offense, Catholics, but it does tend to look pretty, well, evil, for the Pope to be calling for world government and a one world bank. I’m not saying the case is settled yet, but if the Vatican next announces implanted debit cards with Benedict’s smiling face on them along with the excommunication of anyone who uses cash, well, that will pretty much tend to serve as all the confirmation needed. Especially if it throws in a big, splashy peace agreement with Israel.

Arab Spring in Libya

Once again, the neocons have supported the expansion of popular and democratic Islam:

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional Council and de fact president, had already declared that Libyan laws in future would have Sharia, the Islamic code, as its “basic source”….

Mr Abdul-Jalil went further, specifically lifting immediately, by decree, one law from Col. Gaddafi’s era that he said was in conflict with Sharia – that banning polygamy. In a blow to those who hoped to see Libya’s economy integrate further into the western world, he announced that in future bank regulations would ban the charging of interest, in line with Sharia. “Interest creates disease and hatred among people,” he said.

So, how is this in the American national interest, exactly? And actually, if you think about it, what is the real difference between formally banning interest, as Abdul-Jalil has directed, and reducing the interest rate to zero, as Bernanke, King and Trichet have done.

WND column

Herman Cain: Pro-Choice Republican

Herman Cain on abortion, Take 1: “It’s not the government’s role or anybody else’s role to make that decision. Secondly, if you look at the statistical incidents, you’re not talking about that big a number. So what I’m saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make. Not me as president. Not some politician, not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family, and whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn’t have to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive issue.”

Herman Cain on abortion, Take 2: “As to my political policy view on abortion, I am 100 percent pro-life. End of story.”

End of story? I think not.

VPFL Week 6

74 Moundsview Meerkats (4-2-0)
61 Green Reverends (3-2-1)

79 Bailout Banksters (3-2-1)
54 Greenfield Grizzlies (4-2-0)

60 Bane Sidhe (2-4-0)
40 RR Redbeards (2-3-1)

74 Macau Marauders (3-2-1)
58 MS Swamp Spartans (3-3-0)

58 Cranberry Rhyneauxs (2-4-0)
34 GroverBeach Quixotes (2-4-0)

This is your weekly open NFL thread. And yes, I laughed upon reading this at ProFootballTalk. I laughed helplessly.

clavinusps says: Oct 23, 2011 10:40 AM
Just reading that article about Tebow made me a better person.

No limits on self-defense

This McDonald’s cashier is a hero, not a criminal:

A McDonald’s cashier jailed for beating two irate customers with a metal rod says he was only trying to defend himself. Rayon McIntosh was arrested Oct. 13 after a wild fight inside a McDonald’s in the Greenwich Village neighborhood in Manhattan. Video recorded by a customer showed two furious women vaulting a counter to attack McIntosh after some sort of dispute.

McIntosh grabbed a metal bar and fought back with savage force, continuing to deliver crushing blows even after the women were incapacitated on the floor.

Good for him. I wouldn’t have any problem with his actions if he had killed both women after they were “incapacitated”. Police commit “justifiable homicide” in far less dangerous circumstances all the time and are infamous for firing dozens of shots after their target is already down. It’s simply not always possible to turn off the adrenaline-fueled aggression, particularly if you aren’t sufficiently accustomed to experiencing it.

And more importantly, once you attack someone unprovoked, all bets are off and you merit no protection from the law. The fact that the attackers were women is irrelevant, a two-on-one attack absolutely merited such a vigorous response. How on Earth could the cashier have known neither of the two hair-trigger lunatics didn’t have a weapon and wouldn’t use it once they were knocked down?

Rayon McIntosh shouldn’t be found innocent, he shouldn’t even be charged. And McDonald’s should be paying his legal fees.

Obama gets it done

Give credit where credit is due. Obama is pulling the troops out of Iraq and leaving no US bases there:

President Obama announced Friday that the United States will withdraw nearly all troops from Iraq by the end of the year, effectively bringing the long and polarizing war in Iraq to an end.

“After nearly 9 years, America’s war in Iraq will be over,” said Mr. Obama. He said the last American troops will depart the country by January 1 “with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops.”

It would seem there is a silver lining in every failed presidency. And notice how the “Tea Party” candidate, Michele Bachmann, actually opposes the pullout. Because foreign occupations are so eminently consistent with small and frugal government.

Admitting the obvious

Inside the NFL concludes that the Tebow hate is nothing more than anti-Christian bigotry:

”Inside the NFL” analyst and former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth concluded that much of the hatred against Tebow was based on his religious beliefs. Responding to a question from fellow host James ‘JB’ Brown, Collinsworth showed his disgust for Tebow’s treatment: ”It’s unbelievable, though, JB, that one of the best kids – just pure kids that’s ever come into the NFL – is hated because of his faith, because of his mission work, because of the fact that he wears it on his sleeve, because of the fact that he lives his life that he talks about….”

Brown and Collinsworth concluded that much of the hatred against Tebow was based on faith. Brown pointed out: ”There’s a number of guys who come into the league with a big marquee, fat paychecks, a lot of attention, and folks don’t seem to hate them with the same intensity that they hate Tim Tebow.” Collinsworth concurred with Brown: ”I couldn’t agree with you more. And it’s kind of a sad commentary, that, you know, if someone is out carousing every night, the Joe Namath thing, or whatever, they’re American heroes, and Tim Tebow, who’s working in missions in Asia somewhere, is a guy that we’re going to vilify.”

Now, I don’t think much of Tebow’s chances to be a star quarterback in the NFL. I wouldn’t completely count him out because I wouldn’t completely count any quarterback prospect out. I do think he was probably drafted too highly, the “mechanics” metric is overrated, and that if the coaches and analysts had the position down to a science as they would like to pretend, we wouldn’t see first round draft busts every single year.

Maybe he does have an odd throwing motion. So does Philip Rivers. Perhaps he’s not a proper pocket passer. Neither is Michael Vick. The thing is, it is readily apparent that Tebow is a better quarterback when leading his team on the field in an actual game than Kyle Orton. The fact that his head coach has serious reservations about him is almost entirely meaningless considering how long Fox kept starting Jake Delhomme once he had turned into an interception machine.

At 1-5, it would be absurd for Denver to refuse to accede to the Denver fans wishes, start Tebow, and see what he’s got. They are finally doing so two games later than the fans would like to see, but then, the same thing is happening in Minnesota with Christian Ponder. Most Vikings fans wanted McNabb benched at least two weeks ago; I wanted to sit the wormburner down in favor of Joe Webb after Week Two although I thought it was reasonable to give him one more shot in Week Three just to be certain he was done.

But it is absolutely bizarre how many people in the media are actively cheering against Tebow. This, of course, just strengthens his support, not only among those who have cheered the man since his days at Florida, but among people like me who otherwise couldn’t possibly care less about the Broncos or the fate of their second-string quarterback.

The week in alpha

This week’s round-up of posts at Alpha Game

Stalking the Virgin: Yohami’s amusing glossary of approaches plus the Sigma approach.

It’s not her fault. It’s not her fault: In which we are informed that 80% of women involved in car crashes are not responsible. At least, if you ask them.

The Orbital Leapfrog: A tactic to enable gamma orbiters to land on the planet. It will usually involve crashing and burning, of course, but even that’s better than remaining in perma-orbit.

Don’t talk to single women: An explanation of why volunteering conversation is usually counterproductive for the interested man and why a refusal to submit to qualification is intrinsically attractive to women.

Given that we increasingly appear to be living in interesting times, there is no shortage of topics that merit discussion here, so I’m intending to keep my Game-related posts over at Alpha Game. In unrelated news, I hope to wrap up my part of Round 4 and send it off to Dominic by the end of the weekend. We’ve both been traveling, hence the delay.