12:47 PM |

28 October 2002  

A Glorious Madhouse

Christie Blatchford captures some of the feeling I get every time I visit the States.

12:30 PM |

27 October 2002  

Be Engrossed by 'Wiener Roast'

If you've been following the Bellesiles controversy — which recently included Jon Wiener's Nation article blasting Bellesiles's critics — and even if you haven't, you'll want to grab a coffee and settle in to read this fascinating account from John Rosenberg of Wiener's history as a blind loyalist to leftist ideology.

11:23 AM |

25 October 2002  

Stopping Terrorism at the Source

With 9/11, the Bali bombing, Washington sniper, and Moscow theater situation all linked to Islamism, Casey Fahy ponders on what makes it possible and how to stop it:

Ideas like radical, violent Islam are funded by either nations or by fat-cat individuals who can afford to sit back and fritter money away on sociopathic nihilistic titillations...

How does one dry up these princely springs of financial support for the princely class of Islamic terrorism? Bin Laden himself is such a blue-blood.

Can we focus on literal inoculation against the biowarfare attacks sure to come, as Al Gore has recently suggested? Can we rely on airport strip-searches of Strom Thurmond's grandmother? Can we count on inspections after North Korea's failed guarantees of just that? Can we rest back on diplomacy?

It seems to me, with the possibilities recently presented, snipers, opera house commandeering, vacation resort bombing, that none of these literal band-aid solutions will work. It's like watching a body injured over and over again by the same weapon and saying we have to figure out better ways to staunch the blood and stitch the wounds. We have to stop the weapon, and those who are swinging it....The nations and the power structures that protect the benefactors and godfathers of the ideological jihad of radical Islam must be ended. Decisively.

09:58 AM |

Hello Goodbye, Part II

Arts & Letters Daily returns.

09:46 AM |

24 October 2002  

But How Do You Really Feel, Lawrence?

Lawrence Garvin has some words for our gay, Palestinian-loving Member of Parliament, who was outraged yesterday by remarks he took as homophobic:

Newsflash for Svend Robinson; You are a pointless but noisy waste of time and that has everything to do with your character and nothing to do with your sex life. Take your false outrage and your consistently wounded sensibilities and open a one man show on Broadway where that kind of narcissism is appreciated.

08:34 PM |

Face Value

This is fun.

01:40 PM |

To Whom It May Concern

(This post will make no sense to 99% of you. Please forgive the interruption. Regular, comprehensible programming will resume shortly.)

You know, I think if I wanted to know why a seemingly like-minded blogger had never linked to me, I would probably write him an email and ask. A route that would not enter my mind is the issuance of a public challenge inviting him to prove that the omission didn't stem from reasons I regard as unacceptable. Especially if I myself had never linked to said like-minded blogger. And most especially if, up until the time of the question arising, I'd had my own proscribed links for the very same reasons I suspected lay behind his conspicuous non-linkage. Alas, the situation is reversed and the disappointed non-linkee has different ideas of how to go about things.

I spent last night writing half of a long post outlining the issues involved. That was before I came to my senses. I may still post the material in some form, some day, but the more thought that went into the topic and the more I reflected upon how this issue was raised, the angrier I got. I have better things to do. There will be no defending my linking practices here today, or ever. Let me just say what I wrote in an email to the person in question: The lack of links to him is no oversight.

11:10 AM

22 October 2002  

Getting Them Early

Lileks: "Let me be quite clear on this: my daughter is not going to pledge allegiance to healthy dirt." Despite what I'd heard about environmentalist inculcation in schools, I admit to being a little shocked by this story.

08:08 AM |

21 October 2002  

Sullivan's Zola

A particularly ugly and growing strain of Andrew Sullivan bashing was exposed recently by Charles Murtaugh. An InstaPundit link later, the left-wing homophobia controversy was in full swing. I took a quick look at one of the anti-Sullivan sites involved and was taken aback by the intensity of the hatred and its repellant form. These people don't just disagree with Sullivan, they are out for blood.

Tonight, I made my daily stop at Agenda Bender and was blown away by this tour de force demolishing the Sullivan bashers. No comments or excerpts will do it justice, so please just go read it.

I'm also taking this opportunity to correct my omission of Agenda Bender from the Sites of Note list.

07:51 PM |

Presidents Shouldn't Condone US Bashing

Jeff Jacoby has a good point: Considering the circumstances under which it was awarded, accepting the Nobel Prize would be sanctioning a snub against the country President Carter pledged to serve.

A smug little group of Norwegian politicians chose Carter for the Nobel Peace Prize in order to take a slap at a superpower willing to go to war, if necessary, to depose a vicious tyrant. Carter should be livid at this attempt to use him to discredit his country and embarrass President Bush. To show that he cares more for the honor of the United States than for personal glory, he ought to turn the prize down.

12:35 PM |

18 October 2002  

If I Start Supporting Kyoto, You'll Know They Got to Me

I said goodbye to my car a few weeks ago. Living and working downtown, as I have been for over a year now, resulted in me driving it only a couple of times a month. It was hard letting go of my baby, but I couldn't justify the cost.

Not wanting to be without transportation for the occasional errand, I signed up with AutoShare, an intriguing little outfit that has 40 Internet-reservable cars parked all over downtown. The only hesitation I had with joining was due to the distinctly crunchy vibe I was getting from their materials. "The Communist Car Club" quickly became my nickname for them. This impression was further confirmed when I visited their office to sign all the papers. Who should be down the hall but the Sierra Club? To top it off, my first bill arrived in the mail yesterday with an insert advertising David Suzuki's Human Element Tour.

I've had to up my ARI contribution and join the Fraser Institute just to feel clean again.

(But do let me know if you're interested in joining AutoShare; they give referral bonuses — a refreshingly capitalistic touch.)

10:03 PM |

Universal Healthcare: The Canadian Religion

As I deal with the incredible frustration of learning that the recommendation of a multi-million-dollar government commission looking into how to improve Canada's healthcare system is likely going to be "more of the same," it's nice to see someone (albeit a visiting American) stating the truth (scroll down, quickly, past the idiotic Institute for Public Accuracy piece):

"The Canadian way," as they say here, is to have the government run health care. Part of the package is incessant propaganda, much of it through a complicit media, that Canadians are getting the best health care in the world. And as prime minister Jean Chretien recently noted, if there are problems, it's only because the state hasn't been spending enough. Under Canadian orthodoxy, this process avoids an unjust "two-tiered" system, in which those with more money can purchase what they need. But even in this dominion of the docile, people know better...

10:10 AM |

17 October 2002  

Den Beste Digeste

Ask and ye shall receive. I love it.

10:18 PM |

16 October 2002  

Let's Redeem Self-Esteem

Robert Fulford has written a silly column in which he disparages self-esteem. He apparently can't distinguish between an authentic, deserved respect for one's self and the exaggerated boastfulness of attempts to evade a low self-opinion. Andrew Sullivan also failed to make this distinction between real and ersatz self-esteem in a recent column. I suppose it's understandable given that the New York Times piece that started all this self-esteem slandering has professional psychologists conflating professed self-respect with actual self-respect. I'm sure these researchers believe self-reports of sexual prowess, too.

The kernel of truth in all these stories, of course, is that you can't reverse cause and effect. The self-esteem gurus that advise heaping praise upon children where none is deserved seem to have created a phenomenon that is worse than the one they set out to cure—people who have been told they're perfect and can do no wrong and who understandably want to preserve that image of themselves, yet who know deep down inside that they aren't worthy of it. By all means, expose this shortsighted and harmful approach to addressing problems of low self-worth, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Self-esteem—real self-esteem, earned with the effort of virtue and accomplishment—is something we could do with more of.

10:40 PM |

Vote Viewpoints

As Damian pointed out, Reuters had an incredible headline yesterday on the Iraqi leadership referendum: "Defiant Iraqis Vote Yes to Saddam in Festive Mood." Contrast that with today's National Post headline: "Iraqis vote early, often and bloodily for Saddam" (story not online, but similar to this one from the Telegraph). The Post also has an interesting article on the history of "plebiscitarian dictatorship."

09:33 AM |

15 October 2002  

Blair on the Bali Bombing

In the unlikely event that you haven't been reading Australian Tim Blair's blog over the past few days, do make a point of it. You don't want to miss things like this that bring home the real-life effects of terrorism — and the appeasement that encourages it.

01:41 PM |

13 October 2002  

USS Endless?

Here's an idea for a blog or sideblog for some enterprising Steven Den Beste fan: summaries of the clueful one's posts. Den Beste is obviously a very smart guy and I agree with his opinions and analysis much of the time, but holy cow, his typical post is 2500 words and posts over 5000 words are not at all uncommon. I find it hard to justify that kind of investment in return for the wisdom imparted. Based on his traffic stats, there are apparently lots of people who do have the time and perseverance for those essays, but I have to think there's a large contingent of people like me who don't. Hence, my proposal for the Reader's Digest version of USS Clueless. Any takers?

09:50 AM |

12 October 2002  

Norwegians Waging War on Privacy

In Norway, your personal tax return is available to anyone who wants to see it. No, really, it's true, as Fredrik Norman explains:

Our personal worth -- as reported to the tax authorities, of course -- is loudly announced to flocks of nosy neighbours, bitter old aunts, envious co-workers and burglars who rush to read them, mostly for less than admirable reasons.

09:28 PM |

The Nobel Appease Prize

Glenn Woiceshyn has a good letter (scroll down) in today's National Post criticizing Carter's Nobel Prize.

I'm appalled that Jimmy Carter won the Nobel "Peace" Prize. His policy of restraint and appeasement during the Iran hostage crisis launched the Islamic terrorist movement in two key respects: it portrayed America as a paper tiger, and Iran evolved into the primary sponsor of Islamic terrorism....

According to Nobel committee chairman Gunnar Berge, the reason Mr. Carter was picked was to criticize President Bush's policy of not appeasing Iraq's brutal dictator and mass murderer, Saddam Hussein. In other words, the Nobel Peace Prize is nothing more than a political instrument to promote the policy of appeasement.

Title for this post courtesy of Harald Waage.

09:30 AM |

8 October 2002  

Happy 1st, Movable Type

Congratulations to Ben and Mena for their deserved success and thanks for an incredible product. I can't imagine blogging without Movable Type.

11:10 PM |

Dept. of Meme Propagation

Noam Chomsky is a digital camera that hovers and follows a target of your choice. Alec Baldwin is like a normal lightbulb, but it folds out into a tent. God is a sock that's covered with realistic fur! It improves blood clotting. Modern art is a button-badge that blocks spam email, kills ants and can be assembled from common household parts. Phil Donahue is a fork that uses the Amazon API! It loves children and is made of rubber. Barbra Streisand is a screwdriver that works underwater, runs on a single AA battery and lasts for up to a week. Jean Chretien is a credit card that swears! Ted Kennedy is a stapler that emits a powerful searchlight beam! It is two inches tall and has room for a shower head inside. Immanuel Kant is a tricycle that dissolves dirt! It uses the Google API. Mark Wickens is an answering machine that talks!

10:52 PM |

7 October 2002  

Hello Goodbye

Arts & Letters Daily is gone. But here comes Philosophy & Literature.

09:47 PM |

Brook's Israel Lecture

The lecture last night at U of T was very good. A decent turnout, though a smaller crowd than I was expecting given the publicity Customs Canada gave it by seizing the handouts for the event as potential hate propaganda. Speaking of that, Dr. John Ridpath, who introduced Brook, relayed the story of how a customs bureaucrat was roused at 5 am Friday to do his expert analysis of whether the ARI literature was fit for our feeble Canadian minds to view. Apparently, an MP was all set to raise the issue in the House of Commons and they wanted to avoid that level of controversy if at all possible. It was, of course, immediately clear that the documents contained nothing but serious intellectual commentary. But what did the bureaucrat do at this point? Call the coordinator of Sunday's event to arrange pickup of the now-approved pamphlets? Courier them? Nope, like a good government employee he sent them via Canada Post, ensuring they wouldn't arrive in time for the event.

12:49 PM |

Flintstones With AK-47s

Tim Blair fisks sociology professor John Carroll's romantic idealization of... Osama bin Laden.

12:30 PM |

6 October 2002  

The Suzuki Method

Now that the Star's "16,000 lives would be saved by implementing Kyoto" misrepresentation has been corrected, we're still left with the actual statement made by the David Suzuki Foundation petition signers that "up to 16,000 Canadians die prematurely each year from air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels."

Last week, in a Globe letter responding to Rex Murphy's column that called it an "advocacy number," Suzuki defended his group's use of the "16,000 deaths" statistic and its accuracy. I'll leave aside the accuracy part except to observe that Suzuki seems to think the number's origin in a government department is a point in its favor. Even if true, it's the number's relevance to the Kyoto debate that I really question. Suzuki says it demonstrates that "burning fossil fuels contributes to... air pollution that kills directly." OK, most people will buy that. Polluted air is bad; clean air is good. Thanks, but I don't think the Canadian public needed a coalition of health professionals to tell them that. And it still doesn't tell us anything about Kyoto.

But Suzuki goes further in his letter: the doctors signing the petition "advocate ratification of Kyoto because air pollution will be lessened and lives saved," he says. Ah ha! Yes, that was the obvious implication, wasn't it? Lives will be saved. Thanks for spelling it out, Dr. Suzuki. Alas, the statement doesn't say any lives will be saved. Perhaps Suzuki knew it would be harder to get doctors to sign on by making such a claim. Perhaps he knew it couldn't be proved. Whatever the reason, the supposed life-saving benefits of Kyoto were merely strongly implied. Implied by the big, scary "16,000 deaths" statistic. And by the way the Star jumped on the bandwagon and ran with the number, I'd say the number served its purpose admirably. Lots of pro-Kyoto publicity, and no need to go out on a limb by making any actual claims about its benefits.

And there are other problems with the Suzuki Foundation's number and its intended ominous implications.

The government claims 16,000 "premature" deaths. Of course it's not like those 16,000 people were going to live forever without the pernicious effects of air pollution, bringing up an obvious question: How premature? Twenty years? A few days? The answer to this question has the power to dramatically affect the statistic's real significance. But with no answer from Suzuki's coalition, the public is free to imagine the worst.

Suzuki and his followers also make an error common among environmentalists (or at least they're counting on the public making it): assuming that their meddling will have only the effect they desire. But the billions of dollars to be spent on reducing pollution won't come out of thin air; they are the same billions that would otherwise be spent on creating better, cheaper products, doing research into the next life-extending or life-enhancing invention, or any of a thousand other things that statist-minded people can't begin to imagine. That the greatest increase ever in life expectancy was simultaneous with the rise of industrial society (complete with increased air pollution) is no mere coincidence.*

I think it's clear that Rex Murphy was right: the "16,000 deaths" number is a PR number. Its use was meant to give effect, rather than substance, to the Physicians' Statement. And I think a clue to the motivation behind this style of debate can be found in this quote from Dr. Suzuki:

I want to remind you that before the civil war in the U.S., the southern states said, 'We can't afford to abolish slavery. It'll ruin our economy.' Some things have to be done just because they're right.

Note that he  isn't making the (true) point that the anti-abolitionists were wrong in their belief that eliminating slavery would ruin the economy. No, Suzuki's statement dismisses the complaints about Kyoto's negative effects by arguing that irrespective of these effects, it's the Right Thing To Do. He views Kyoto as intrinsically right. Arguments, from this perspective, must seem almost superfluous. When the real-world effects of what you're arguing for are irrelevant, in your mind, to its  validity, it becomes understandable that arguments would be chosen not for their truth or ability to rationally bolster your argument but for the more elastic property of their likelihood to win converts. Something worth keeping  in mind when considering the next report issued by Dr. Suzuki's foundation.

(Thanks to Lawrence Garvin for the pointer to Suzuki's quote. His site has some good analysis of the Physicians' Statement and the coverage of it. And thanks to David Janes for alerting me to Suzuki's response to Murphy.)

* As Ayn Rand wrote in 1971:

If it were true that a heavy concentration of industry is destructive to human life, one would find life expectancy declining in the more advanced countries. But it has been rising steadily. Here are the figures on life expectancy in the United States:

1900 - 47.3 years
1920 - 53 years
1940 - 60 years
1968 - 70.2 years

Anyone over 30 years of age today, give a silent 'Thank you' to the nearest, grimiest, sootiest smokestacks you can find.

12:13 PM |

5 October 2002  

Way to Go, NaPo

The National Post deserves praise for their coverage of the ARI censorship story. To my knowledege, not one other major newspaper has deigned to mention it. (I wonder what the Star might have done if it were pro-Palestinian literature that had been held for the bureaucrats' perusal?) The Post, on the other hand, had a lengthy front-page story on the seizure. And today they cover the release of the materials with another detailed article, complete with a photo of Ayn Rand herself. A snippet from today's story:

Collette Gentes-Hawn, spokeswoman for Canada Customs, said customs officers have the authority to set aside any material that arouses concerns and refer it to specialists in determining what should be prohibited. "We try to do this as quickly as we can to minimize the inconvenience."

11:41 AM |

4 October 2002  

Provenzo Pens Protest

Earlier today, Nick Provenzo weighed in on the censorship fiasco, sending a letter to our ambassador to the US.

10:07 PM |

Government Gives Us Permission to Read Pamphlet

Customs has now deemed the Ayn Rand Institute's materials safe for our impressionable Canadian minds.

09:23 PM |

Post covers ARI Confiscation

Today's National Post has a front-page story on the Canada Customs confiscation of ARI literature.

06:31 AM |

3 October 2002  

ARI Speaks Out on Seizure

The Ayn Rand Institute just issued a press release on the pamphlet seizure by Canadian customs. It's not on their site yet, so I'll paste it in here.

Press Release from the Ayn Rand Institute

Oct. 4, 2002

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT SAYS “A MORAL DEFENSE OF ISRAEL” MAY BE HATE PROPAGANDA

IRVINE, CA--Canadian Customs may ultimately refuse to allow into Canada a brochure produced by the Ayn Rand Institute titled “In Moral Defense of Israel.”

Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, called the detainment by the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) “censorship at the border,” and said, “should the CCRA bar entry of this brochure into Canada, it will be an outrageous intrusion on free speech that should not be tolerated by Canadians or Americans.”

The detained brochures were being sent to the University of Toronto in advance of Dr. Brook’s Oct. 6 talk there in defense of Israel. CCRA’s Notice of Detention informed us that our property was “detained for a determination of tariff classification as [it] may constitute . . . hate propaganda.”

“The brochure,” explained Dr. Brook, “is a collection of reasoned essays arguing for support of Israel against our common enemy, militant Islamic terrorism. Nowhere in the brochure do we incite hatred or urge any illegal private violent action. We call only for a proper response by government to give Israel the support it deserves.

“It makes no sense for Canadian Customs to detain our words in defense of Israel while the world is flooded by anti-Israel ‘hate propaganda’ sponsored by Arab/Islamic governments. We trust CCRA will do the right thing and release these materials immediately. One of the foundations of Western Civilization, freedom of speech, is at stake.”

### ### ###

If you would like to read the Ayn Rand Institute’s brochure “In Moral Defense of Israel” and judge it for yourself, visit the Ayn Rand Institute’s website at: http://www.aynrand.org/israel/israel_sept_2002.pdf

09:25 PM |

Canada Customs and Censorship

Canada Customs has stopped at the border 350 copies of an Ayn Rand Institute pamphlet entitled "In Moral Defense of Israel." The pamphlets were intercepted on their way to the University of Toronto where they were to be handed out at the lecture I mentioned yesterday. But Canada Customs says they "may constitute obscenity or hate propaganda." Here's the pamphlet, which contains such obscenities and hate propaganda as this:

We hold that the state of Israel has a moral right to exist and to defend itself against attack—and that the United States should unequivocally support Israel.... We stand for individual rights and freedom. In the name of justice, of defending the good, we support Israel. In a region dominated by despotism and totalitarian dictatorships, Israel alone upholds rights. Defending Israel—our only true ally in the Mideast—is in America’s own self-interest.

Boy, I really hope this turns out to be a temporary bureaucratic screw-up. Following is a letter from U of T Objectivist club president Ray Girn explaining the situtation.

The University of Toronto Objectivist Club is having an event this Sunday entitled "The Moral Case for Supporting Israel". The club ordered from the Ayn Rand Institute 350 complimentary copies of a pamphlet entitled "In Moral Defense of Israel". (A PDF version of the pamphlet is available from the Institute's website, www.aynrand.org).

Yesterday morning, I received a Notice of Detention from the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency regarding the pamphlet delivery. The letter stated that "The following goods [the pamphlets] have been detained for a determination of tariff classification as they may constitute obscenity or hate propaganda. You will be notified in writing of the decision." The letter acknowledges that the material was properly declared in accordance with government regulations. The letter did not give a date as to when we can expect to hear back about the status of the material. The only phone number given was the Prohibited Importation Unit's number, which is (905) 625-7942.

The government has confiscated material that we were expecting for our upcoming event. It is virtually impossible that we will be able to get it in time. In addition, it is possible (although not yet confirmed) that they actually opened the sealed box without permission to look at the pamphlets.

Should we not receive our material, this is an aggregious example of censorship, and it should not be tolerated passively. Even if we do receive it ultimately, the damage will be done in that we will not be able to hand it out to hundreds of people who would have been enlightened by its content.

The pamphlet's content makes important arguments, arguments required to defend the state of Israel and ultimately, the Western world itself. If this is "hate speech", then we might as well surrender ourselves to the terrorists immediately.

I encourage you to review the pamphlet on the Ayn Rand Institute's website, to send letters to as many newspaper editors and writers as possible, to attend our event this Sunday (info. is available at www.uoftobjectivistclub.com) and to inform anyone that may find this situation relevant. Feel free to forward this letter.

Sincerely,
Ray Girn
President, University of Toronto Objectivist Club

05:11 PM |

2 October 2002  

Dr. Suzuki's Cure-All Elixir

Now David Suzuki's environmental organization is saying that implementing Kyoto will save us $200 billion. Longer lives, more money — what's next? A report on how Kyoto improves your sex life?

10:36 PM |

ARI Director Speaking on Israel at U of T

GTA readers take note: Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute is speaking on "The Moral Case for Supporting Israel" at the University of Toronto on Sunday. All the details are here.

03:00 PM |

The Evidence of the Senses

Via The Spoons Experience

Proof, if you needed it, that what the senses provide is merely the beginning of the process of arriving at the truth.

Update: More on this phenomenon.

08:27 AM |

1 October 2002  

For Your Linking and Reading Pleasure

Now you can now get all of our wickens.ca Star Kyoto misinformation posts in one convenient, chronologically-ordered package!

Thanks to Aaron for the idea. Thanks to Movable Type for making it so easy to do.

10:31 PM |

Star's Breakfast Today: Its Own Words

My little crusade's results are in this morning's Star (hard copy scan from page A2 here):

Correction: 16,000 figure was misstated

Ottawa estimates up to 16,000 Canadians die prematurely each year from air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. But contrary to suggestions in a news story on Thursday, a Canadian health coalition promoting the Kyoto Protocol made no direct claim that all 16,000 lives could be saved if Canada ratifies the agreement requiring a one-third cut in gas emissions.

The Star regrets the error.

08:25 AM |