tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50363682011-07-15T02:46:09.883+02:00A coupla running-dog lackeys of the bourgeoisie sittin' round talkin'Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comBlogger701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-1071252446023215932003-12-12T19:07:00.000+01:002003-12-12T19:07:38.990+01:00

unelectable

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2004066982003-06-10T14:12:00.000+02:002003-06-10T14:12:17.883+02:00

We'll be out of the loop for a bit. We hope to be back soon, with a new and improved look.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2003414972003-05-26T18:23:00.000+02:002003-05-26T18:34:26.000+02:00

Even as we published the last post (see below), the Unlearned Hand was preparing to smite another blog -- this one, in fact. You'll understand if I can't fully enjoy the irony. The Hand has since spoken, over in Tom Runnacles's comments box: it seems that the Destroyer of Worlds is not without a certain wistful sense of the tragic. That said, the strange alternative universe in which I'm trapped

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2002659932003-05-09T12:54:00.000+02:002003-05-09T13:01:29.000+02:00

Harry's Place is now a collective, at least for a while. Comrade Hatchet has recruited guest-blogger Marcus, a corporate lawyer posting from -- and who could have imagined such a thing possible? -- a leftwing perspective. In another dramatic blogospheric development, Kevin Drum has used his awesome powers to free Ted Barlow from the thrall of the Unlearned Hand. The Poor Man's theory was only

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2002481492003-05-06T10:00:00.000+02:002003-05-06T13:02:59.000+02:00

Farrellblogger. is no more. It has been displaced by Gallowglass. In the best spirit of western phallocentric patriarchalism, Henry Farrell has modestly called the new domain henryfarrell.net; where this leaves Maria we don't know. Perhaps she is now a kern.

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2002434442003-05-05T14:56:00.000+02:002003-05-05T14:58:08.000+02:00

So, half the blogging world is enjoying a quiet chuckle over revelations that Virtue's Champion Bill Bennett has spent a net $8 million feeding his monkey. The other half is busy explaining how this is, y'know, different. Myself, I can't get terribly excited about it. Perhaps that's because I've always thought Bennett a pompous posing windbag, so he didn't have very far to fall. In the spirit

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2002314242003-05-02T12:43:00.000+02:002003-05-02T12:49:16.000+02:00

Now I know that, like me, most of you will have spent yesterday waving red banners on assorted barricades and grimly engaging in international proletarian solidarity. But apparently it was 'Loyalty Day' in the United States. I don't quite know how this would be celebrated; perhaps by anonymously denouncing to John Ashcroft non-churchgoers, Democrats and others manifestly undeserving of life in a

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2002221822003-04-30T17:41:00.000+02:002003-05-02T18:05:19.000+02:00

Iain Murray and Peter Cuthbertson label T6I a 'leftist' blog. (Well; Mr Murray seems to have modified this recently to 'leftish'.) So imagine our surprise and delight to discover that Ampersand & Bean have included us in the Alas, a blogroll's tiny cohort of rightwingers. It's a big responsibility but we'll certainly try to do our best. Here goes. Emmm... Man on dog... as we said to Ann Coulter

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2002158352003-04-29T16:10:00.000+02:002003-04-29T17:36:02.000+02:00

We've belatedly added the Virtual Stoa to the blogroll. If you're trying to keep your dead socialists sorted, Chris Brooke is your man. We'd love to help him with a dead socialist for today. The best we can offer is French publisher Claude Gallimard, who relinquished control over his physical means of production this day in 1991. No idea what his politics were, but surely we may regard him as a

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2002151522003-04-29T13:56:00.000+02:002003-04-30T16:59:55.000+02:00

Most homophobes, those in the lawmaking and opinionmongering trades anyway, aren't content simply to growl that they 'hate queers'. They struggle mightily to offer some plausible justification for their bigotry. Sometimes it's the slippery slope - 'It'll be man on dog next, just you wait!' - and sometimes it's scientific, or at least scientificoid. The latter sort of argument is useful, if for

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2001833432003-04-22T20:26:00.000+02:002003-05-06T12:55:40.000+02:00

There's a certain irony to the strapline quotation (see update to the post below) from Learned Hand. The irony's not lost on Kieran Healy, who notes that Hand was himself quoting Oliver Cromwell, who might at times have been better about following his own advice. It's as little lost on Mr Healy that some of the qualities for which the British have rightly been admired tended to disappear when

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2001661152003-04-18T16:04:00.000+02:002003-04-18T16:04:27.236+02:00

We at T6I are great fans of marxoid navel-gazing, and Harry Hatchet has presented an example of the very first water. Don't miss it, comrades!

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2001660482003-04-18T15:49:00.000+02:002003-04-22T19:39:51.000+02:00

Henry Farrell has been cruel enough to remind me of something I'd managed to banish from my mind: the Kelly Family. (And he links to Brett Marston, who goes on about them at even greater length.) Some years ago my hopes picked up when I saw written somewhere: 'Die Kelly Family!' Alas, the writer had simply used the German definite article (rather like Sideshow Bob's tattoo; 'It's German, it

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2001497162003-04-15T15:16:00.000+02:002003-04-16T19:44:34.000+02:00

Others have noted Glenn Reynolds's descent into gibbering manichaeanism, so I won't dwell on it at length here. (I do wonder, though, whether it's a case of war-induced Testosterone Gone Wild - a syndrome first described by famed endocrinologist Alice Donut - or whether Prof. Reynolds thinks abandoning the capacity for clear thought and fair comment is simply one of those wartime sacrifices we

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2001492442003-04-15T13:08:00.000+02:002003-05-02T18:23:43.000+02:00

Chris Brooke of the Virtual Stoa has sent an email admiring T6I's current strapline (from the wonderfully named American judge Learned Hand). [See update below.] As an inscription for churches, though, Mr Brooke prefers Alexander Kinglake's more lapidary suggestion: Important if true. Kinglake was a sceptic, but I agree with him. Indeed, I'd make that 'if and only if'. I have always disliked the

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2001447082003-04-14T17:12:00.000+02:002003-04-14T17:16:22.000+02:00

A few days ago, Blog*Spot finally caught and killed the bug making T6I's circuits sputter and spark. Unfortunately, they also made it impossible to publish.... That's fixed too now, and the two posts below appear (as far as I can tell) for the first time.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2001196002003-04-09T12:35:00.000+02:002003-04-15T16:58:44.000+02:00

[Note: a few days ago, I added to the comments following a Matthew Yglesias post about evolution and creationism. Another commenter had stated that, given what we know about evolution, belief in God is stupid. I responded that I believe in evolution and think otherwise; but had to admit that I am, by the commenter's standard, stupid. The commenter later clarified that he wasn't saying anybody who

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2001195662003-04-09T12:18:00.000+02:002003-04-09T12:18:34.840+02:00

Blog*Spot seem to have fixed T6I now. Apparently, they have created a new URL that redirects to the old T6I; the new one seems to have vanished. So, use the new URL, and you get the old blog. The Politburo hereby award BloggerControl's Joel Slovacek the Hero of Socialist Labour Medal 2d Class for his stakhanovite efforts on behalf of the struggling masses.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2000100042003-03-19T15:44:00.000+01:002003-03-19T15:44:03.843+01:00

As I will be underway tomorrow through (most likely) Sunday, with little chance of internet access (or the time to use it), I expect to be maintaining a discreet silence for a few days.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2000091542003-03-19T11:16:00.000+01:002003-03-19T11:20:23.000+01:00

On the off chance that you can see this post (see the previous one), do pop by Rick Bruner's blog for his argument why the impending war on Iraq is justified. Mr Bruner is deeply suspicious of George Bush. He's also plainly aware that there are many sound arguments against the war. And, unlike bog-standard jingoist warbloggers, he recognises that some of these anti-war arguments can't simply be

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-2000045492003-03-18T17:03:00.000+01:002003-03-18T17:03:41.250+01:00

Blogger and/or Blog*Spot have gone all buggy on me for some reason. I can't access the page you are now reading; if you are reading it, for you too are unable to get here for all I know. I do not know whether this post will publish; if not, you wouldn't see it anyway. In short, I cannot be perceived, and therefore do not exist. This is instant karma, surely; punishment for making a bad

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-908459102003-03-17T12:31:00.000+01:002003-03-17T12:31:12.863+01:00

L� fh�ile P�draig shona to Irish people everywhere from Matt (who can't log in to the editing page today, Blogger Amateur being buggy and Matt too cheap to pay for Pro) and me. And, as Brendan O'Neill grumbles, pretty much everybody is Irish these days*, so off you go the lot of yiz for a pint or two (or, if you prefer, celebrate as I do, with a couple of Hubert Butler's fine essays; you'll find

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-907007642003-03-14T18:09:00.000+01:002003-03-14T18:09:55.766+01:00

More shots fired at the Den Bestian interpretation of German (and French, and Russian) opposition to war in Iraq, this time from a Mann ohne Eigenschaften. Mr Musil notes that 'wanting to keep their business dealings secret' is scarcely adequate to explain the sand these nations are throwing into the gears. It's also illogical. If that were all that keeps Chirac from falling into line, he'd have

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-906660412003-03-13T22:23:00.000+01:002003-03-13T22:23:09.130+01:00

Andrew Hagen has taken us to task for being excessively ironic. We're working on our abashed look.

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-905992202003-03-12T20:53:00.000+01:002003-03-12T20:57:50.000+01:00

Germany's opposition to war in Iraq is an attempt to keep German arms sales to Iraq secret, charged Ami. Papa Scott and I replied (he here, I just below), noting that publicly prosecuting the sellers is, emm, a counterintuitive way of keeping arms sales secret. Now Ami points out that, even granting the force of our arguments, the fact remains that Iraq's list disclosing suppliers of arms (or

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-905609092003-03-12T11:56:00.000+01:002003-03-12T13:45:18.000+01:00

Glenn Reynolds whoops in triumph as Amiland reveals that Germany Is Arming Iraq. Here, cries the professor, is vindication for Steven Den Beste's claim: Germany joins France in blocking the war so that the world will not know what they have been up to. Ami's post is a pr�cis of an article in Die Welt. Perhaps Prof. Reynolds is not familiar with this intelligence source; in technical terms it is

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-905138692003-03-11T12:38:00.000+01:002003-03-19T11:20:03.000+01:00

The Sixth International Politburo were proud to be named 'Enemies Within' a few weeks ago by Jackbooted Tory Reactionary Peter Cuthbertson. Now Decadent Capitalist Oppressor Iain Murray's new blogroll officially classes us as part of the International Left-Wing Conspiracy™. If our heads get any bigger, Andrew Sullivan won't be able to see the Mao cap we've put on just to annoy him. Just to be

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-904197222003-03-07T11:02:00.000+01:002003-03-07T11:12:13.000+01:00

The Irish government are backing unionist demands for sanctions against parties (read Sinn F�in) for ceasefire violations by the terrorist groups that control such parties into whose thinking such parties have a special insight (read Provisional IRA). (Article in the FT; thanks to Slugger O'Toole for the heads-up.) This is a welcome development. SF never tire of the mantra that they have no

Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11763989850827555824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-904153082003-03-06T16:28:00.000+01:002003-03-06T16:45:35.000+01:00

Some day in the far future, sociobiologists may conclude we have an innate tendency to argue about sociobiology because this generates heat to keep us warm during the long cold winters. Kevin Drum and Matthew Yglesias continue the discussion (Mr Drum is puzzled why conservatives like the theory so much; Mr Yglesias seems disappointed that it doesn't mean he should go out and drag a nubile maiden

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-904050412003-03-04T17:13:00.000+01:002003-03-05T11:20:56.000+01:00

Amiland, a blog no one can accuse of pandering to German pacifism, has a usefully nuanced take on Gerhard Schr�der's foreign policy (more specifically, his policy towards Bad Countries). It's a refreshing change from the usual 'death to the perfidious Hun' school of warbloggery (and from some of the things Donald Rumsfeld has said). This is purely my own subjective impression and I may be

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-904040902003-03-04T13:32:00.000+01:002003-03-04T17:52:13.000+01:00

Major Cuthbertson's batman, feeling a bit mischievous this morning, slipped the Major a freshly-ironed Guardian in place of the usual Telegraph. He does this quite often, and the rest of the regimental mess waited eagerly to see the Major's monocle pop out and his moustaches fly up at an alarming angle.* Here's what triggered the show today: a chatty piece by Zoe Williams attacking sociobiology.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-904036422003-03-04T09:22:00.000+01:002003-03-04T09:32:00.000+01:00

Props to my homey Ami for plugging T6I. Ami has obviously wrestled with the question of how I can watch Sabine Christiansen week after week. (Simple answer: it's rollickin' great entertainment!) Ami's conclusion, though, is that I am able to sit through Christiansen because I am British. As yer man Beckett replied to Pinget...

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903995142003-03-03T15:32:00.000+01:002003-03-04T17:46:22.000+01:00

As I've argued before, here and elsewhere, German opposition to a war in Iraq is broad-based, nonpartisan and genuine. And though I believe their opposition mistaken, I am persuaded that, in most Germans, it is an honest mistake. Germany does, however, have its share of idiots. There's the usual shower of it's-all-about-oil chanters, of course; but then, America has plenty of these too.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903992832003-03-03T14:38:00.000+01:002003-03-03T15:48:38.000+01:00

It's Sunday night in Germany - time for the Krise der Woche. I refer, of course, to Sabine Christiansen, the leading deadly-serious political talk show in a country that produces more of this genre per capita than any other place on earth. Christiansen is at the very pinnacle of her profession. She's often joined by ministers of state and leading members of the opposition, key figures from

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903886082003-02-28T15:51:00.000+01:002003-02-28T15:51:45.170+01:00

... mixed in among some choice (and correct) bad ones. Daniel Davies gives an interesting reading of the economics of Pound's Canto 45. Read it.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903883572003-02-28T14:59:00.000+01:002003-02-28T14:59:05.493+01:00

Slate has an amusing piece backing up moderate centrist Tom DeLay's characterisation of the Democrats as 'the party of appeasement', and shining a cold cruel light on some some truly appalling statements by Howard Dean. Except it doesn't, of course; go and see.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903844242003-02-27T18:50:00.000+01:002003-02-27T18:50:11.326+01:00

Ami reports on the bizarre (East) German phenomenon of Ostalgie. As far as I can tell, most Ossis (bar some of the PDS crowd) don't really wish they were still under the thrall of the Socialist Unity Party. They just think people were somehow nicer, life less a materialistic ratrace before the Vereinigung. Go see Sonnenallee - and check out the Mufuti on the film's website! There's a different

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903783802003-02-26T17:21:00.000+01:002003-02-26T17:23:52.000+01:00

Warblogger R. Robot has me dead to rights:The political perfidy of the criminals and their putrescent Left is internecine. Last week Mrs Tilton went so far as to leave the mainstream completely and enter a kind of bitter alternate universe of cheap viciousness.And Mr Robot has something to say about you as well! Just surf over to his user interface and enter your name. It's easy and fun!

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903738442003-02-25T19:30:00.000+01:002003-02-25T19:36:22.000+01:00

US expat Ami links to an article in Germany's Stern entitled 'End of a Friendship" (Ende einer Freundschaft). Ami hasn't read it yet (or at least hadn't when he posted the link). Always ready to shoulder some of Ami's heavy burden, I have. The allegedly ended friendship, in case you have just emerged from a Trappist monastery, is that between Germany and the USA. The dramatic title doesn't quite

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903714462003-02-25T08:58:00.000+01:002003-02-25T09:12:13.000+01:00

... and, at NeoComintern HQ in a secret cavern deep beneath London, Ken Livingstone rubs his hands and cackles with maniacal glee... The Observer reports (and thanks to Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics via CalPundit for the link) that British transport wallahs are weighing the notion of[a] national toll scheme, which would charge motorists from 3p a mile on quiet roads to �1.30 a mile in the centre

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903621522003-02-23T14:48:00.000+01:002003-02-23T15:26:31.000+01:00

Kevin Drum offers up a mea culpa for mocking the 'unwritten' British constitution. Such mockery is misplaced, of course. The British constitution does have unwritten elements, but very large portions of it are written. They're simply not all contained in a single document, easily reduced to booklet size to be carried in one's pocket. A more serious aspect of the British constitution is that it

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903553532003-02-21T18:14:00.000+01:002003-02-21T18:14:28.000+01:00

... and that wouldn't be good, would it? Giving away money, even to worthy causes, might not be quite so exalted as the 'charity' Paul was thinking of. Still, it's not a bad thing. One good destination for your surplus ducats is the Corrymeela Community. Corrymeela are, in their own wordspeople of all ages and Christian traditions, who, individually and together are committed to the healing of

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903548072003-02-21T16:44:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:45:31.000+01:00

US troops are headed for the Philippines, reports the NYT (registration required). They're off to make things difficult for the Abu Sayyaf Islamist terrorist group. One criticism advanced against the current US position on Iraq (by the French, among others; and here I think the French have a point) is that Iraq is a side-show compared with the war against Islamist terror. This engagement in the

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903542682003-02-21T14:54:00.000+01:002003-02-21T15:06:37.000+01:00

Kevin Drum muses in CalPundit on athletic ability, asking[D]o you think these underlying factors have any genetic component, or are they solely the result of coaching and training? And as a corollary, does that mean that the overall trait called "athletic ability" is also partly determined by genetics?Mr Drum warns us that there will be a test later. But why wait? The answers are, yes, these

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903522842003-02-21T02:02:00.000+01:002003-02-21T17:02:29.000+01:00

... and calves are born with two heads. Whatever can the world be coming to? Comrades Harry Steele and Stephen Pollard (well, 'comrade' might be a bit strong, but Pollard is still Labour) applaud Ken Livingstone for stealing a leaf from Milton Friedman; whilst the true-blue tories at the Edge of England's Sword are popping their gaskets at the notion. This suggests a promising new tactic for the

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903483692003-02-20T11:56:00.000+01:002003-02-21T11:54:48.000+01:00

Never let it be said that The Sixth International knows not humility. Some weeks ago, on a random walk through cyberspace, we stumbled upon Peter Cuthbertson's Conservative Commentary. The dedicated cadres of the 6thInt vanguard didn't spend more than a few moments with Mr Cuthbertson's conservative comments. Tell the truth and shame the Devil: they were probably put off by the mere name of the

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903385712003-02-18T15:19:00.000+01:002003-02-18T19:02:06.000+01:00

What looks to be shaping into a long debate on the new London congestion charge is on at Iain Murray's Edge of England's Sword. I'm afraid I've helped add to its length. Though I don't think much of the system's execution, I do like the basic idea behind it. I view it as a sort of environmental tax, shifting at least some of the costs generated by drivers back onto the drivers themselves. One of

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903347082003-02-17T18:17:00.000+01:002003-02-17T18:19:58.000+01:00

Last week I commented on Michael Kelly's use of points from a Paul Berman article on Joschka Fischer. My comments were to the effect that Kelly, in borrowing from Berman's piece, was (at best) incompetent or (worse) dishonest. Now Berman has weighed in to say, in Slate, that he's not too happy with Kelly himself.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903345202003-02-17T17:37:00.000+01:002003-02-17T17:38:47.000+01:00

I am not certain what to think about this story from the Observer. On the one hand, redeployment of US forces currently in Germany does make sense (and this has been happening anyway since the fall of the Wall). I'm not so sure, though, about all this [cue ominous Darth Vader breathing sounds] 'We shall damage the German economy' stuff. I hope this is all a matter of Donald Rumsfeld (revealing a

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903337072003-02-17T13:50:00.000+01:002003-02-17T16:01:39.000+01:00

On Friday I posed the question below to Iain Murray and, when I visited his Edge of England's Sword this morning, the shires were full-throatedly a-baying. A few commentators seemed simply unable to find anything positive in anything Red Ken thought up. More, though, thought the congestion charge fails to do what economists who like this sort of thing think this sort of thing should do. (And one

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903237472003-02-14T16:59:00.000+01:002003-02-14T18:56:33.000+01:00

In a matter of days, London's new congestion-charge system will be reality. Many have noted the irony of long-serving Bully-Boy of the Hard Left Ken Livingstone proposing a solution to road congestion that could have sprung from the brow of some market-worshipping wretch of a liberal economist. (Quant � moi, the system seems a bit crude, technically; but I like the basic approach). I'd be

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903235992003-02-14T16:43:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:58:22.000+01:00

Instapundit continues to follow the revelations about Joschka Fischer's early years. These might be revelations in the USA, by the way; but not in Germany, where everybody has always known all about this. In the infancy of the current coalition, the CDU/CSU tried to stir up outrage over Fischer's past; and the nation yawned. Unlike Michael Kelly and the NROids, they are able to distinguish

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903229702003-02-14T14:48:00.000+01:002003-02-14T19:27:44.000+01:00

One of the less edifying side-shows in the run-up to Gulf War II is the venomous transatlantic sniping between the pro-war Americans and the anti-war-at-least-for-the-moment faction in Europe. Assuming (and this may be assuming too much) there is a mutual will that some sort of broad US-European alliance (i) survive and (ii) reflect equal sovereigns consulting one another in their common interest

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05119508706444242021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903228862003-02-14T14:22:00.000+01:002003-02-14T17:13:03.000+01:00

The American government is clear in its belief that Iraq must be disarmed, and can be disarmed only by force. In arguing its position, it has made a number of assertions that fail to persuade even many of those who accept its basic premise. Considering the evidence in the light least favourable to the US, is there still a case for war? I think so. Let's assume the following: 1) Iraq is not an

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903225742003-02-14T12:31:00.000+01:002003-02-14T18:05:54.000+01:00

Michael Kelly's Washington Post profile of German foreign minister Joschka Fischer has been attracting some attention, first at Instapundit, then at Samizdata, now at the Volokh Conspiracy. Kelly's article is a piece of righteous huffery: how dare this terrorist preach morality to us, etc etc etc. In an update, Eugene Volokh notes that the Kelly piece is 'based on' an earlier, longer article in

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903178732003-02-13T15:46:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:57:13.000+01:00

What do I mean when I say I find some of the US government's arguments for war in Iraq insulting? Well, Colin Powell's comments on the al-Qaeda tape are a good example. Mark Kleiman writes well on this. Kleiman's metapoints (as it were) are his best: (1) Glenn Reynolds thinks the tape is a US-concocted fake, and he thinks that's okay. Kleiman wants to know why. (My own suspicion is that

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903171262003-02-13T12:07:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:56:46.000+01:00

Gerhard Schr�der is getting ragged for leaking, as some people claim he did, the French-German idea of beefed-up inspections in Iraq. Away off in a wee corner of Europe, another leader has a different leak problem. Ireland's taoiseach [note for non-Irish speakers: this is pronounced something like 'prime minister'] Bertie Ahern is trying to stamp out stories that he'll back a US/UK war in Iraq,

Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11763989850827555824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903135452003-02-12T18:28:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:55:50.000+01:00

J�rgen M�llemann continues to provide involuntary amusement. Yesterday, hoping to avoid formal expulsion from the FDP caucus in the Bundestag, he announced that he'd lay down his mandate. He hoped in vain; his party has now given him the heave-ho regardless. (His mistake may have been to refuse to give the president (i.e., speaker) of the Bundestag legally binding written notice of his intent to

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903132572003-02-12T17:26:00.000+01:002003-02-13T12:43:40.000+01:00

In his NYT column yesterday, Paul Krugman had (surprise!) some words of criticism for George Bush; but they were rather less shrill than his usual. It's quite clear that Bush is prepared to go to war in Iraq and unseat Hussein; Krugman questions whether Bush has the resolve to carry through with the harder tasks that begin the day Hussein falls. Krugman notes of France:French officials have made

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903124352003-02-12T14:33:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:55:00.000+01:00

Over at TNR, R.L. Greene is dissecting frogs. Unlike some other recent lab workers, Greene manages not to slice the organs into an indecipherable mess. His point: of course the French are looking out for their own interests. Every country does; the French are annoying because they are effective at it. And Greene sees where the French are headed:But given that France is a mid-ranking power lucky

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903119972003-02-12T12:04:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:54:03.000+01:00

In his (her?) invaluable Guide to Occupied Germany, Ami has found space amidst the detailed expos� of German media representations and misrepresentations of the Iraq issue and of German/US relations more generally for an equally vital (if subtly different) topic: dog poop. This is a far more important indicator of German culture than you might think. Get you hence, and be enlightened. (Ami is,

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903119302003-02-12T11:37:00.000+01:002003-02-13T12:42:42.000+01:00

The European Convention has released a draft of the first 16 articles of an EU constitution, and Iain Murray - perhaps you should be sitting down for this - doesn't like it. (You can find the draft here. Iain gives a link to the English text; I've linked to the German version, so that when you have done reading it you may say, 'Ha, das const. sonstwo stecken!', and your German friends will think

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903080912003-02-11T18:27:00.000+01:002003-02-13T12:42:24.000+01:00

Interesting discussion re: genetic screening and insurance on Daniel Davies's site (and I'd love to know where one can find that paper, once it becomes available). I'll only say (i) I'm not quite sure we're there yet; (ii) I'm not quite sure his solution works; (iii) 'social Darwinism' isn't Darwinism (and the invisible hand is not an analogue to natural selection!).

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903077972003-02-11T17:34:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:53:10.000+01:00

Thanks to Oliver Willis's site I came upon a US left-wing message board that seems to specialise in screaming about US right-wing maniacs. The left-wingers' general tone was rather, emm, maniacal. But that isn't what interests me for the moment. One poster quoted the Fox network's Bill O'Reilly describing the ACLU asa fascist organization. Because what they're doing is using terror to further

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903072112003-02-11T15:36:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:52:14.000+01:00

Some happy news from Germany, for once: J�rgen M�llemann has announced that he will soon lay down his Bundestag mandate, thereby depriving his party, the liberal FDP, the pleasure of tossing him out. (The sly dog won't put it in writing, though.) M�llemann is no stranger to scandal. Most recently, he was alleged to have used illegal funds to pay for a campaign brochure. The brochure beat the

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903070962003-02-11T15:12:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:51:42.000+01:00

Reason's Jesse Walker points with some alarm to John Ashcroft's proposed Patriot Act II. Leaving aside for the moment Walker's well-considered objections to PAII, it seems to me that Ashcroft is getting much too complicated. Suggested alternative text:We can do whatever we like to people whom we don't like.That should save a lot of time wasted in litigation.

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903068132003-02-11T13:59:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:51:06.000+01:00

Iain Murray quotes with approval several commentators who explain the Jacques & Gerd Show as 'simple anti-americanism'. Up to a point, minister: it's not entirely anti-americanism, and it's not entirely simple. Iain goes on to describe Vladimir Putin as 'playing the role of a clever ally here, examining the harebrained plan enough to satisfy domestic demands for independence, before finally

Mrs T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903065862003-02-11T12:34:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:49:45.000+01:00

Survey says rural older men lonely is the mindshattering surprise the Irish Times (warning: costs money) reveals to us today. The summary report on The Needs of Single Men Living on the Dingle Peninsula: Singular Responses is the result of a year's collaboration between members of local community groups Comhar Dhuibhne, Dochas Dingle Men's Action Group and Nexus Research personnel, who provided

Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11763989850827555824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903065562003-02-11T12:18:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:49:18.000+01:00

In the most recent Fortnight, repentant republican Sean Kearney reviews the bio of an old murderer. Whatever about his past, Kearney (unlike the biography's subject) has found his way back into the the human race: [P]athological hatred of England or any other country is no excuse for attacking its citizens, and it is the reason why I became disillusioned with republicanism. Most of the time it

Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11763989850827555824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5036368.post-903065172003-02-11T11:57:00.000+01:002003-02-21T16:48:50.000+01:00

... and welcome to the Sixth International. Why an International? Because we are rootless cosmopolitans, of course. Why a Sixth International? Because the others all ended so badly. Even within the past decade, some comrades off in a corner someplace have tried to launch a 5th international. These comrades strive to achieve a synthesis between the Stalinism of the 3rd and the Trotskyism of the

the Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673730002411768325noreply@blogger.com