War: What Is It Good For?
Quite a lot, actually.

Writing recently in National Review Online, Jonah Goldberg asks, "War: What Is It Good For?" He answers his question, he closes his article by pointing out the morality of his position: "The biggest favor the United States ever did to militaristic Japan was to crush it militarily. Our victory ushered in prosperity, democracy, and a productive peace. The Iraqi people would be lucky if we did them the same favor."

Material progress is not the only boon of war. Society is often the beneficiary of battle as well. Democracy was born in Athens in the 6th century thanks to the Cleisthenean reforms, which were themselves the product of drastic military reforms. The rise of the infantry during the Middle Ages has been credited with sowing the seeds of democracy in the modern era. And even more recently, wars freed slaves here at home and abroad. Women's suffrage would not have been possible without war.

The idea that wars are never forces for good is the geopolitical equivalent of the old canard that violence never solves anything. The slaves freed by the force of arms certainly thought violence solved the problem of human bondage on American soil. The residents of Dachau no doubt saw some utility to war when American GIs opened the gates. War can be horrible and cruel, but it can also be just and morally necessary.

These examples, most of which come from Robert Nisbet's indispensable (though out-of-print) book Prejudices, are small illustrations of the fact that wars are not all bad. [More]

He makes a strong argument that is difficult to refute. looking at it from an historical perspective there is plenty of evidence to support these assertions.

World warns Iraq to obey U.N.

Reuters has this article

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia, Europe and key Arab states have piled pressure on Iraq to readmit U.N. weapons inspectors to avert possible U.S.-led military action.

Russia gave no comfort to its former ally Iraq on Friday, saying it must obey U.N. resolutions or face the consequences ...

Alin Turin on the Florida Primary

The article is here

You can imagine the call Governor Bush took from his brother,

"Jeb, it’s key this election down there be smooth. We’re getting all kind of flak for taking on Saddam. We don’t need issues about the election. Anything that makes us look badly in Florida will hurt us nationally. Jeb, I’ll need you again. Jeb? Jeb are you there?"

Two years ago the rest of these United States watched Florida struggle with a novel experience: holding an election.

Last year Florida’s legislature reformed the physical process of voting so as to avoid any repeat of the problems of 2000. Tuesday’s primary was the first test.

Early Humans, Smart but Forgetful

Stone tools from the oldest such site in India suggests early humans living one million years ago had the ability to plan ahead, work in groups and possibly even communicate.

But despite achieving these feats with a brain just half the size of modern humans, they appear to have been rather forgetful too.

Singing a different tune

Bill O'Reilly discusses the The uproar over rapper Ludacris getting fired as a spokesman for Pepsi Cola.This time comparing Ludacris and Britney Spears

The article is Here

I believe Ludacris is dangerous. Scores of grammar school teachers in the inner cities of America have written to me detailing horror stories spurred on, they say, by rap music. One fifth-grade teacher told me that it is common in her class for 10-year-old boys to call little girls "bitches." And those little boys can quote the lyrics of Ludacris with amazing accuracy.

Another teacher, who works in a Los Angeles ghetto, has a once-a-week "real talk" half hour in her classroom. She told me that some eighth-grade girls now say they want to become strippers and some boys pimps. When asked why, the kids say it looks like fun in the rap videos. Nobody in her class mentions Ms. Spears at all.

Now, I'm sure there are little girls who can sing Britney's songs about young love all day long as well. And some of these girls inevitably will want to dress in a manner inappropriate for their age because of the Spears influence. That is not good. But it is a million miles away from a handgun, a crack pipe and selling sex.

The Straits Times has this Article.

The Singaporean man who tried to gatecrash a Sept 11 memorial service at the United States Embassy has been sent for a psychiatric check- up.

The man, a part-time taxi driver, wanted to attend the event dressed in a khaki-coloured army uniform, with a mask of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein over his head.

Give this man a job on Saturday Night Live.

Do you love NY Ray?

I was thinking
How can Hussein be compared to Hitler when he has no navy or air force, and now has an army 1/5 the size of twelve years ago, which even then proved totally inept at defending the country?

Ron Paul has 50 more similar questions

Help Anima


I've been following this story about a 30 yr old Nigerian woman sentenced to death for having a child out of wedlock.

Incredibly stupid , sticking to a law inherited from the seventh century. Seems to me that her real crime here is that she's a woman. Where's the baby's father, he should be charged at least for being an accessory to the crime.

Endless War

Susan Sontag of the NY times makes a powerful argument in this article

Since last Sept. 11, the Bush administration has told the American people that America is at war. But this war is of a peculiar nature. It seems to be, given the nature of the enemy, a war with no foreseeable end. What kind of war is that?

There are precedents. Wars on such enemies as cancer, poverty and drugs are understood to be endless wars. There will always be cancer, poverty and drugs. And there will always be despicable terrorists, mass murderers like those who perpetrated the attack a year ago tomorrow — as well as freedom fighters (like the French Resistance and the African National Congress) who were once called terrorists by those they opposed but were relabeled by history.

When a president of the United States declares war on cancer or poverty or drugs, we know that "war" is a metaphor. Does anyone think that this war — the war that America has declared on terrorism — is a metaphor? But it is, and one with powerful consequences. War has been disclosed, not actually declared, since the threat is deemed to be self-evident.

Real wars are not metaphors. And real wars have a beginning and an end. Even the horrendous, intractable conflict between Israel and Palestine will end one day. But this antiterror war can never end. That is one sign that it is not a war but, rather, a mandate for expanding the use of American power.

fingering foreigners?

Whoa, Hey now! ... It all depends on what you mean by that.

Today, I reflect.

After 8:46 AM on 9/11/01, the day no longer felt like a regular 24 hour day. Time had lost its steady forward motion, I was all consumed with emotion, unprepared, my future expectations were chattered in the moment.

Being a New Yorker, most of my experiences were real in the sense that the shared emotions hit home really hard. My next door neighbor lost his nephew (a fire fighter), and everyone in my social circle knew someone or of someone that was affected by the horrific event. A few days after 9/11, I did some volunteer work with the red cross at ground zero and, to see the sight in person was nothing like looking at it on TV, it was truly hell on earth.

Today I pay my respect to the souls who lost their lives on that fateful day. I pray for the families and all those who were affected, I honor all the men and women who unselfishly gave of themselves to make a difference in the rescue and salvage efforts.

The spirit New York, the spirit of America is alive and well.

Click Here to find out what events are planned in your state today.

Newsday Special Report: Are We Safe?

ON A CRYSTAL CLEAR morning nearly a year ago, America learned it wasn't as safe as it thought it was. A year later, despite progress, it's not nearly as safe as it wants to be.

Unfortunately, around here, the fear lingers on

Pop Goes the Pop ups
Only about sixty advertisers are responsible for a large percentage of all of the pop up ads you see on the web. And they are an active bunch. Between January and July of this year, there were more than 11 billion pop up and unders.

...and, they are driving me up the wall.

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Don't look Now
Seems that looking away when you get a shot really can reduce the amount of pain you feel. A new study has concluded that vision enhances the perception of touch.

Art Buchwald. "You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it." [Quotes of the Day]

Invasion Plans Trading Cards

"Yes now you too can be a part of the action, collect the whole set ... Make foreign policy, your policy."

Hilarious animation by Mark Fiore.

10 choices that were critical to the Net's success

How did technologists, government officials and a host of other early players turn something with no obvious business model into a system that has become so intrinsic to the new century? A series of decisions proved critical -- choices that helped turn data transport into a commodity business and put the power in users' hands, not in the centralized telecommunications companies' controlling grasp.

Mark Berstein's Ten Tips for Writing the Living Web, I highly recommend this piece, I only wish I had found this sooner.

Below is a summary of the 10 tips but the full text needs to be read in order to get the full impact.

1. Write for a reason
   
2. Write often
   
3. Write tight
   
4. Make good friends
   
5. Find good enemies
   
6. Let the story unfold
   
7. Stand up, speak out
   
8. Be sexy
   
9. Use your archives
   
10. Relax!