Possibly. I still think we would have a Tea Party and all it entails. (just substitute "They wouldn't be doing this if the President weren't a woman" for "They wouldn't be doing this if the President weren't an African-American" in the various and assorted criticisms of the Tea Party)
The real interesting counter-factual is John Edwards getting the nomination then imploding in the general* when his marital infidelity is proven. Then you have in 2011 President McCain with huge possibly veto-proof Democratic majorities in both Houses.
*if Edwards implodes after, we probably have President Obama due to Section 1 of the 25th Amendment and we're back to where we are today.
H. Clinton ran to the right of Obama for most of the campaign (though she probably only did because that's where the open ground was and probably what Mark Penn (& her husband) were telling her to do). But Clinton basically lost because she was *not* all that distinguishable from Obama on just about every policy choice but *did* have the general baggage of being an insider and the specific baggage of her Iraq War vote.
This one though, probably won't get larger traction outside those who already give a darn about this issue. He's a Hispanic hippie musician, not a nice middle aged white lady (or even an Iraq war veteran whose nontheless Hispanic).
It’s less clear how this would work with medicine, which remains extremely capital and labor-intensive.
Actually, the problem with modern medicine (that is the problem with modern medicine costs) is that parts are labor intensive, other parts are capital intensive, but it's hard as hell to disaggregate the two.
"If asked to name a particularly notable gay war hero, I would point you to Alan Turing, but he was British."
There are allegations that von Steuben was a homosexual (for similar reasons as Buchannan - never marrying but having close personal relationships with men of the sort that would be considered odd today)
I’ll give Rowling credit for this plot twist; Harry is the chosen one not because of the circumstances of his birth, but because Voldemort chose him.
Because I haven't read any of the books and haven't seen either of the two parter finale, I could be wrong about the plot.
I was not talking about inheritted wealth, but rather genetic (and varying degrees ubermenchen) inheritance. Harry gets chosen by Voldermort, but is able to repel him due to some innate power* - something he *is*, not something he *does*
The whole series is about a bunch of people that are simply 'better' than other people. True, a prime conflict is that the good guys are basically about 'muggles are people too' and the bad guys are not, but the former group's views are still essentially based on noblesse oblige, and not drawn from any core Enlightment Liberal values (i.e. 'all [persons] are created equal').
*this is the part of the plot it looks like I'm wrong about based on your post, if the circumstances of Potter's parents' death are more fully revealed in these last two movies.
6. Inherited wealth can be corrupting. Clearly, the obnoxiousness of the Malfoys is crying out for a good, hard progressive taxing. On the other hand, can you imagine Voldemort at a Tea Party?
I am unimpressed by this lesson (though I personally loathe inherited wealth) as the entire premise of the books is "inheritence is destiny" (like that other series in the 70's about wizards a long time ago in a galaxy far far away).
The League..., shit, I'm still only in The League. Everytime I think I going to be posting back at RedState. After my first tour on the Warblogs it was worse. I'd hit refresh and there'd be nothing. I hardly said anything on Instapundit, until he said 'yes' to ending his comment section.
When I was here, I wanted to be there. When I was there, all I could think about was getting back to RedState. I'm here a week now, waiting for a thread, getting softer. Every minute I sit here on the Gift of Gab, I get weaker. Every minute Erik squats on the internet, he gets stronger. Every time I look around, the League contributor list gets a little longer.
His analogy with immigration is half-assed (at best), his postulated post-drug-war linkages with insurance, education, and other economic enterprises ignores the current linkage (or non-linkage) between those enterprises and (mostly) legal alcohol and tobacco, the rest everyone else above has covered and this
and in some ways the urban situation could be worse under the new policies than it is now.
is the stupidest thing I've read on the internet this week
Well, technically they could, if they're willing to throw away Minnesota's electoral votes. (and of the last 20 prez elections, Republicans have won the state only 3 times, and Nixon was on the ticket each time)
Which is correct, but different than the first sentence of the original post which (also correctly) argued against ceding the actual decision making authority to unelected generals (or other persons)
A good professional adviser in any endeavor gives multiple courses of actions, their costs and their benefits. They also give their own recommendation on which to take but also admits their own biases and premises and what the potential downsides would be. But ultimately, they are only an adviser, the real responsibility lies with the whomever is supposed to be making the decisions.
The carpenters and most other trades do something similar. I think unions can and should fill a valuable - and currently mostly unfilled - niche in training and first line leadership. The model would be similar to how the non-commissioned officer ranks function for military occupational specialties (which are similar to the trades in many ways, and in several cases, *are* trades)
I think you're right on about your 'conspiracy theory'.
If all coalition forces left tomorrow, the current government and its army would be able to maintain control of Kabul. The Taliban neither has the conventional force strength nor the ability to reconstitute it as they were able to in the 90's.
The Taliban taking over the South (and sustaining an insurgency in Pasthun pockets in the North) is a completely different matter and well within their ability. And the problem is nobody in the US government (except maybe Joe Biden) wants to risk this scenario, even though the drones and skeleton CT force should plausibly prevent a Taliban controlled Af-Pak border region from being a terrorist threat to the United States.
Plus, eventually, some political form of the Taliban is going to be part of the Afghan government (or the 'loyal opposition') a la Sinn Fein. So the we're going to have to learn to deal with them (or *completely* ignore them) one way or another
Just to note, since the entering argument of this comment nest was stagnation over the last ten years -- the secular trend of increased female labor force participation ended in the late 90's, http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2007/jan/wk2/art03.htm. It's been more or less tied to the cyclical employment picture since then
But seriously, in a way, the Tiananmen Square protestors can be seen as the equivalent of 'dirty frickin hippies' or spoiled brat college students (or both) which the PLA had little problem dispatching (and other Chinese middle-upper class people had little problem writing off.)
These 'Jeanstown' riots on the other are a fairly large mass of 'ordinary' people - at the very least, definitely working class people - and the type that, in the end, sided with Mao 70 years ago to overthrow the ruling cliques.
That said, the PLA still has a lot of tanks. Probably more and better ones than they did in 1989.
On “A Challenge to Law-Abiders”
Well, at least not recently http://www.tmz.com/2010/07/30/snooki-seaside-heights-new-jersey-mtv-arrest-police/
On “We wouldn’t be in this mess if John McCain had won in 2008”
Possibly. I still think we would have a Tea Party and all it entails. (just substitute "They wouldn't be doing this if the President weren't a woman" for "They wouldn't be doing this if the President weren't an African-American" in the various and assorted criticisms of the Tea Party)
The real interesting counter-factual is John Edwards getting the nomination then imploding in the general* when his marital infidelity is proven. Then you have in 2011 President McCain with huge possibly veto-proof Democratic majorities in both Houses.
*if Edwards implodes after, we probably have President Obama due to Section 1 of the 25th Amendment and we're back to where we are today.
"
H. Clinton ran to the right of Obama for most of the campaign (though she probably only did because that's where the open ground was and probably what Mark Penn (& her husband) were telling her to do). But Clinton basically lost because she was *not* all that distinguishable from Obama on just about every policy choice but *did* have the general baggage of being an insider and the specific baggage of her Iraq War vote.
On “Gangs”
"COPS is filmed on location with the men and women of law enforcement. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."
"
This one though, probably won't get larger traction outside those who already give a darn about this issue. He's a Hispanic hippie musician, not a nice middle aged white lady (or even an Iraq war veteran whose nontheless Hispanic).
On “Breaking: ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ Reboots Coming in 2012, 2013”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1kqqMXWEFs
On “Bad prices, public spending, and poverty”
It’s less clear how this would work with medicine, which remains extremely capital and labor-intensive.
Actually, the problem with modern medicine (that is the problem with modern medicine costs) is that parts are labor intensive, other parts are capital intensive, but it's hard as hell to disaggregate the two.
On “In Which I Return To Dangerous Territory About Which I Am Admittedly Ignorant”
"If asked to name a particularly notable gay war hero, I would point you to Alan Turing, but he was British."
There are allegations that von Steuben was a homosexual (for similar reasons as Buchannan - never marrying but having close personal relationships with men of the sort that would be considered odd today)
On “Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic”
I’ll give Rowling credit for this plot twist; Harry is the chosen one not because of the circumstances of his birth, but because Voldemort chose him.
Because I haven't read any of the books and haven't seen either of the two parter finale, I could be wrong about the plot.
I was not talking about inheritted wealth, but rather genetic (and varying degrees ubermenchen) inheritance. Harry gets chosen by Voldermort, but is able to repel him due to some innate power* - something he *is*, not something he *does*
The whole series is about a bunch of people that are simply 'better' than other people. True, a prime conflict is that the good guys are basically about 'muggles are people too' and the bad guys are not, but the former group's views are still essentially based on noblesse oblige, and not drawn from any core Enlightment Liberal values (i.e. 'all [persons] are created equal').
*this is the part of the plot it looks like I'm wrong about based on your post, if the circumstances of Potter's parents' death are more fully revealed in these last two movies.
"
6. Inherited wealth can be corrupting. Clearly, the obnoxiousness of the Malfoys is crying out for a good, hard progressive taxing. On the other hand, can you imagine Voldemort at a Tea Party?
I am unimpressed by this lesson (though I personally loathe inherited wealth) as the entire premise of the books is "inheritence is destiny" (like that other series in the 70's about wizards a long time ago in a galaxy far far away).
On “Mitch McConnell’s minor masterpiece”
The League..., shit, I'm still only in The League. Everytime I think I going to be posting back at RedState. After my first tour on the Warblogs it was worse. I'd hit refresh and there'd be nothing. I hardly said anything on Instapundit, until he said 'yes' to ending his comment section.
When I was here, I wanted to be there. When I was there, all I could think about was getting back to RedState. I'm here a week now, waiting for a thread, getting softer. Every minute I sit here on the Gift of Gab, I get weaker. Every minute Erik squats on the internet, he gets stronger. Every time I look around, the League contributor list gets a little longer.
On “The Post-Drug War World”
His analogy with immigration is half-assed (at best), his postulated post-drug-war linkages with insurance, education, and other economic enterprises ignores the current linkage (or non-linkage) between those enterprises and (mostly) legal alcohol and tobacco, the rest everyone else above has covered and this
and in some ways the urban situation could be worse under the new policies than it is now.
is the stupidest thing I've read on the internet this week
On “Libertarianism and Privilege”
Bush 1. And the environmental Left hated it
"
So how did the free market solve the problem of Acid Rain?
Cap and trade in SO2 emissions.
On “Clarification Given”
Related:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43692468/ns/health-health_care/
On “2011 Time Capsule”
Well, technically they could, if they're willing to throw away Minnesota's electoral votes. (and of the last 20 prez elections, Republicans have won the state only 3 times, and Nixon was on the ticket each time)
On “Strategy and politics in Afghanistan”
Which is correct, but different than the first sentence of the original post which (also correctly) argued against ceding the actual decision making authority to unelected generals (or other persons)
A good professional adviser in any endeavor gives multiple courses of actions, their costs and their benefits. They also give their own recommendation on which to take but also admits their own biases and premises and what the potential downsides would be. But ultimately, they are only an adviser, the real responsibility lies with the whomever is supposed to be making the decisions.
On “Competition and Inequality”
The carpenters and most other trades do something similar. I think unions can and should fill a valuable - and currently mostly unfilled - niche in training and first line leadership. The model would be similar to how the non-commissioned officer ranks function for military occupational specialties (which are similar to the trades in many ways, and in several cases, *are* trades)
On “Strategy and politics in Afghanistan”
I think you're right on about your 'conspiracy theory'.
If all coalition forces left tomorrow, the current government and its army would be able to maintain control of Kabul. The Taliban neither has the conventional force strength nor the ability to reconstitute it as they were able to in the 90's.
The Taliban taking over the South (and sustaining an insurgency in Pasthun pockets in the North) is a completely different matter and well within their ability. And the problem is nobody in the US government (except maybe Joe Biden) wants to risk this scenario, even though the drones and skeleton CT force should plausibly prevent a Taliban controlled Af-Pak border region from being a terrorist threat to the United States.
Plus, eventually, some political form of the Taliban is going to be part of the Afghan government (or the 'loyal opposition') a la Sinn Fein. So the we're going to have to learn to deal with them (or *completely* ignore them) one way or another
"
"They all found her so appealing"
On “Labour and the American Middle Class”
Just to note, since the entering argument of this comment nest was stagnation over the last ten years -- the secular trend of increased female labor force participation ended in the late 90's, http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2007/jan/wk2/art03.htm. It's been more or less tied to the cyclical employment picture since then
On “Weekend Jukebox and Open Thread”
But seriously, in a way, the Tiananmen Square protestors can be seen as the equivalent of 'dirty frickin hippies' or spoiled brat college students (or both) which the PLA had little problem dispatching (and other Chinese middle-upper class people had little problem writing off.)
These 'Jeanstown' riots on the other are a fairly large mass of 'ordinary' people - at the very least, definitely working class people - and the type that, in the end, sided with Mao 70 years ago to overthrow the ruling cliques.
That said, the PLA still has a lot of tanks. Probably more and better ones than they did in 1989.
"
Not correctly, I can't get yet a handle on tonal vowels. And even Englishfied, I almost always leave out the second 'n' (TEE-yen-ah-men)
"
The recent assuredly non-hockeyriots in China.
One-offs or a start of a trend?
On “At My Real Job: Targeted Killing and the Rule of Law”
"By using military intelligence to locate him on the battlefield, and using military assets to kill him, in battle."
In an operation codenamed "Vengence" just in case anyone doubted what it was all about.
A serious question: this is also exactly how Bin Laden met his end. Was that equally kosher?
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.