Nov 4, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Since being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, some small part of Yasir Arafat must have known how ridiculous it was for the world to extol such a notorious thug for his "contributions" to peace. And now, 48 years after founding the terrorist group Al Fatah and decades after organizing the execution of American and Belgian diplomats, the Achilles Lauro hijacking, the Munich Olympics massacre, and countless other bombings and murders, the infamous PLO leader is finally trying to set things right the only way he can: by dying.
Although not yet technically dead, sources say that Arafat has slipped into a vegetative state requiring ventilation machines to remain alive. His greatest contribution to peace is expected to follow shortly, when his heart weakens beyond repair and his lifeless flesh begins to rot away.
From Cox and Forkum:
Nov 4, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Yahoo News:
"In an election where voters said moral values were the primary issue, Bush cautioned against suggestions that the United States was becoming politically divided by religion. 'I will be your president regardless of your faith, and I don't expect you to agree with me necessarily on religion,' Bush said. 'As a matter of fact, no president should ever try to impose religion on our society. ...The great thing that unites is the fact you can worship freely if you choose, and if you -- you don't have to worship.'" [Yahoo News]
Comments CM reader Steve Mason:
These do not sound like the words of someone seeking to establish a theocracy in the US. Whatever Bush's faults and mixed premises --and he has many -- statements like the following increase my confidence that voting for him was the right choice and that, philosophically, he is not planning pogroms against non-believers.
We certainly hope so. Let's wait and see.Nov 4, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
IRVINE, CA--Veterans Day is meant to honor America's servicemen of yesteryear. But it should also be a day to pledge to our future vets in the War on Terrorism that they will not be asked to sacrifice their lives for a "selfless cause," said Dr. Edwin A. Locke, a senior writer at the Ayn Rand Institute.
"It is often said that our soldiers must selflessly sacrifice themselves for their country," noted Dr. Locke. "But this is precisely what we in the United States must not ask them to do. We should ask them to go to war only when America's self-defense requires it. If a serviceman risks his life, thinking ‘I would rather die than live in constant fear of being killed by a terrorist,' his death would be a tragic loss--but it is not a sacrifice. Such a hero acts in his own self-interest to protect his most precious values--his home, his loved ones, his freedom, his life. But if a soldier is ordered to give aid and succor to an enemy trying to kill him, that would be a true sacrifice--and morally obscene."
"The best way we can honor our veterans and give real meaning to Veterans Day--aside from ceremonies honoring their bravery and dedication to their values--is to pledge that we will fight this war with all the means at our disposal because our individual rights and America's interests as a free nation are under attack," said Dr. Locke. "Then, instead of saying ‘My country right or wrong,' every American could proudly declare, ‘My country--because it stands for what is right.'"Nov 3, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
IRVINE, CA--It will be a terrible injustice if Yasser Arafat dies of natural causes, rather than being brought to justice and executed for his crimes, said Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute.
"Among the uncountable atrocities perpetrated by this ‘grandfather of Islamic terrorism' and his minions are: the cold-blooded killing of U.S. diplomats in Sudan in 1973; the murder of crippled American citizen, Leon Klinghoffer, aboard the cruise ship, Achille Lauro, in 1985; and countless acts of murder against Israeli civilians."
"The U.S. government, whose proper moral role is to protect the lives and property of American citizens and to preserve and dispense justice, cannot let such crimes as Arafat's go unpunished. If international terrorists are not available to the U.S. justice system, justice should be brought to them.
"Decades of appeasing Arafat and his heirs have delivered a single unmistakable message to Islamic tyrants and the terrorists they support: Americans can be murdered with impunity. Arafat's execution would help to dispel that lethal message, deliver justice and save American lives."
Recommended Reading: Arafat's Despotism: Innocent Palestinians are Better Under Israeli Rule and Killing ArafatNov 3, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From FoxNews:
By the time most of the polls closed in precincts across the country Tuesday night, real numbers began to suggest that the early estimations that had been so upbeat for Sen. John Kerry were over-inflated -- so much so, that FOX News Channel decided to quit using the exit poll results Tuesday evening, calling them inaccurate and unreliable. ["Egg On Face of Exit Pollsters"]
Comments Robert Tracinski in TIA Daily:
The vote also took much longer to announce than was necessary. The election actually ended at 10:30. No, not 10:30 this morning, nor even at 11:00 am, when it was announced that John Kerry had finally conceded. It ended at 10:30 last night, when Fox News Channel made the only rational calculation and called the state of Ohio for President Bush. (The first, unofficial call of the election actually came from TIA Daily's own Shrikant Rangnekar, who was following the county-by-county vote counts in Florida and Ohio and called me to announce President Bush's victory at 9:45 pm.) Tom Brokaw and NBC followed soon after Fox, making those two organizations the only major news outlets to remain in contact with reality for the remainder of the evening. The rest of the major networks stampeded off a cliff into the thin air of the Democratic fantasy that Ohio would be a repeat of Florida in 2000.
Congratulations Mr. Rangnekar!Nov 3, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
With regard to religion, I think the threat posed by Bush has not been fully recognized. Bush can entrench the religionists more and more in the federal bureaucracy, just by the appointments he makes.
In the 1980's, the conservatives spoke of "defunding the left," pointing to federal agencies like the Legal Services Corporation and the National Endowment for the Arts that had become fronts for left-wing causes. Bush has already started funding "faith-based initiatives," and to name one where support for religion has been made explicit and clear. Under Bush, government funding of and support for religious causes will only get worse; once such practices begin, they are extremely difficult to get rid of.
Furthermore, Bush's outreach to believers has granted religious groups unprecedented access to the halls of power. This is serving to organize and coordinate them, and will ultimately help turn them into a political "identity group" with a single collective voice.
Christians will be the next Blacks/Women/Gays whose "civil rights" will need protecting in ways incompatible with individual rights. If you think the pressure group warfare over Affirmative Action is bad, just wait until you see what this turns into. And that's even before the Supreme Court gets involved.
