The Mid East conflict summarised

More on my earlier theme of the UN being supporters of Hezbollah. A story developed where back in 2000, Hezbollah guerillas crossed into Israel dressed as UN peacekeepers. They bribed 4 Indian peacekeepers for their uniforms. The IDF soldiers approached what they thought were peacekeepers, and Hezbollah managed to kidnap 3 Israeli soldiers. The real UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, sat idly by and watched as Hezbollah kidnapped the soldiers and retreated into Lebanon.

Full details here.

A letter to the Victorian ALP

To whom it may concern,
I heard the Mr Bailleu on talkback radio this morning announcing his plans to regulate gaming and poker machines heavily. I am appalled by this proposal and am writing to express my heavy disappointment at the current direction of the Victorian Liberal party.

I am not a gambler, I do not use poker machines. But I am absolutely certain that the party has abandoned its philosphical origins and is no different to the socialist and regulatory principles of the ALP.

According to your website, you describe your platform as "The platform is the statement of essential principles based upon the Liberal philosophy. The policies are detailed statements of specific programs of action derived from the platform." But many of the proposed 2006 election policies violate classical liberal principles. I would not have imagined that the Liberal party could ever stand to regulate industry even more than the ALP, and support nanny-state welfarist approaches.

How can the party justify regulating the gaming industry when one of your policies is a belief in "A free enterprise economy that has a responsive government and is free of undue union influence is the best framework for these hopes to be realised." ?

You also have a state platform of "We believe that free enterprise will maximise economic growth and national prosperity.". Another state platform described is "We believe in the decentralisation and distribution of power and believe that local decisions are best made at the local level." How are these consistent with the current batch of socialist and regulatory policies proposed by the Liberal party ?

There are many other policies which violate all of your principles and are no different to the ALP. Environmental regulation, regulation of the water supply are radical power-centralising policies that belong to the Greens. Why should government be responsible for funding tourism, when the private sector handles it in a far more efficient and productive manner ? Where are your parties economic credentials ?

The Victorian Liberlas are also becoming socially authoritarian, with its plan to combat anti-social behaviour by handing over yet even more power to local councils and police. And to continue supporting the current oppressive anti-smoking laws shows that your party is no friend of freedom.

Why isn't your party fighting for freedom and power-decentralisation ? Why doesn't it fight the ALP's authoritarian restrictions on freedom of speech, on it's burdensome regulation of industry, on its wasteful public funding of grand sports projects, tourism ? Why does it believe in the socialist ideal of central planning, with dozens of proposed "plans to deal with" issues ?

The only proposed policies I support are the easing of speed camera laws and the deregulation proposed in "A fair go for small business" and "Cutting waste on government advertising" and cutting red tape on business. But individuals deserve freedom, and instead of increasingly taxing and spending, government should reduce its spending and hence its demand for more and more taxes.

At the moment, government is a leviathan intruding into our lives more than ever before. Local councils are given extraordinary powers over roads and parking restrictions than ever before, which harm all individuals.I will be voting for the party that promotes freedom at the next election.

Yours sincerely,
Jono

The UN finds common cause with terrorists

"So we both agree on what should be done with

the pesky Jews

Israel"

For those that don't recognise the people above, its the head of the UN Kofi Annan and Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah. Before 9-11, Hezbollah was the terrorist group responsible for the largest number of American deaths. Its sole purpose, the reason it exists, is the destruction of the "zionist entity" - aka Israel.

Life imitates art.. or is it vice versa ?

How odd.. yesterday I watched an episode of the hit-TV show Lost, where a couple of guys uncover a hatch on the island, leading down into a long passage.

And yesterday, Israeli soldiers uncovered a similar structure in Southern Lebanon, created by Hezbollah to store weapons and rockets used to fire upon Israeli towns.

Johann Hari hates Israel

In his latest attempt to smear Israel, Johann Hari starts by quoting his role-model, Lenin, and then rubbishing the lives of the Israelis kidnapped by terrorist groups:

does anybody still believe this is about saving three Israeli soldiers – a piece of Hollywood schmaltz called ‘Saving Corporal Shalit’ and its two sequels?

Johann proceeds, as the left wing progressives do best, to give his analysis in tin-foil hat conspiracy mode.

Are Beirut, Haifa and Gaza City burning for them?

Only a dwindling band of people now believe this, the official pretext for the twin-set of wars Israel is fighting on its Northern and Southern fronts. If it had been true, there was an obvious solution short of war – swapping prisoners.

This analysis has already lost touch with reality. Firstly, he ignores the 1600 missiles fired at Israeli cities and villages, but hey, who cares about Israeli peace and security ?

Secondly, this is not a sinister conspiracy by the Israeli military, its a popular and widely supported mission. When Israel negotiates towards peace, and a 2 state solution, and withdraws from disputed lands and palestinian areas, it is overwhelmingly popular and supported by Israelis except for the hard-right. Now, Israel is engaged in a military offensive against Hezbollah and Hamas, and this is also overwhelmingly supported by at least 90% of the Israeli public. Its easy to see why since Israel has been the target of terror, missiles and kidnapping for several years despite its withdrawals from Gaza and Lebanon.


What does Johann suggest to avoid future conflict with the terrorists ? Why - surrender to the terrorists of course and give them what they want !

Israel is currently holding 8200 Palestinian fighters, as well as at least three Lebanese fighters who were seized in Lebanon itself during the long eighteen years when Israel was occupying its entire Southern region. Both Hamas and Hezbollah have said the Israeli soliders will head home as soon as there is a fair swap.

Tell me, if you reward the kidnappers by giving them what they want, how does that do anything but motivate them to continue in the future ? I have already read of the Palestinian's long history of airplane hijackings in the early 1970s. Every time a terrorist was captured by a European state, the Palestinians would hijack another plane and demand the release of their comrades, and European leaders complied. By 1973, after over 200 Palestinian hijackers had been caught, less than 5 remained in prison !

Even still, look at the fairness of that deal.. 3 Israelis in exchange for 8200 militants and terrorists.. you can see whose side Johann is fighting for. In an attempt to appear balanced, Johann devotes a couple of sentences to denouncing Hezbollah ideology as being repugnant... but is quick to return to Israel bashing mode, with the sickest piece of moral equivalence I have encountered for a long time, full of lies and distortions and Orwellian language.

Yet if being ideologically repugnant, snatching fighters and owning rockets were a reason for a war, then Lebanon would have an even greater right to invade Israel. After all, it holds their snatched fighters, owns far more than 13,000 rockets (some nuclear) and has a history of invading their territory and committing mass slaughter on dishonest pretexts. One Israeli general demanded this week, “How long can we live with a knife to our throats?” But in reality the far bigger knife belongs to Israel. Are they really saying the right to self-defence and a buffer-zone of security belongs to them alone?

Hezbollah is at its core a self-defence organisation, however ugly, and its recent operations have been limited largely to this function.

The rest of the article is a dishonest and lengthy attempt to legitimise Hezbollah as a resistance organisation formed to liberate land captured by Israel. (even though Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000). To give his analysis a look of intelligence, he quotes quasi-historical "facts", refers to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon as a reason why Lebanon still needs an aggressive terrorist militia armed with thousands of Iranian supplied rockets along it's southern border with Israel. And of course, he employs one of the left's favorite talking points - all Arab violence against Jews is justified so long as palestinians do not have a sovereign state.

Johann Hari believes its all Israel's fault, it should have already taken advantage of the opportunity to negotiate an accord with the terrorist Hamas government ( who also happen to be committed to the destruction of Israel ).
To remind us that Johann is a psychic mind-reader who knows the true evil motivations of the Israeli PM, he continues with more lies:

So here it is, the kernel of emotional truth behind this war. Its clearest expression can be found in the speeches of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, figure-head for the right-wing of Zionism, the man Olmert was raised to revere. Talking of the Arabs in 1923, Jabotinsky insisted, “A living people makes enormous concessions… only when there is no hope left.” That is the true purpose of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon – to ensure, at last, there is no hope left for the Arabs.

This is a disgusting analysis, even by Johann's standards. If he were more honest about his intentions, he would have headlined the article "I really hate Israel, this is why". Instead, he uses all sorts of Orwellian language where you twist the meaning of words to make it look like you are debating on principled grounds and applying sane principles to the analysis. Let's go through the checklist:

• Conspiracy theory - check
• Evil motives behind Israeli actions - check
• Supporting terrorists demands - check
• Distorting Israeli history - check
• Refusing to approve fighting terrorism with violence - check
• Describing Hezbollah as a self-defence organisation - check
• Putting the onus of responsibility on Israel to negotiate with Hamas - check
  

Nothing but shameful.

Joke of the day

Via samizdata:

Three white collar prisoners are hanging around the yard comparing notes:

Former Exxon executive: They say I charged too much for oil. I'm in for price gouging.

Former Microsoft executive: They say I charged too little for software. I'm in for unfair competition.

Former Samsung executive: They say I charged the same price as everyone else for computer chips. I'm in for price fixing.

Heh. Its funny coz its true. If public officials don't like you and your succesful big business, you can be dragged down and prosecuted for any random crime, in just about every western economy now.

The danger of central planning

All readers out there will agree that the value of "freedom" is of the highest order. But then, many people don't appreciate how freedom gives us our high standards of living, and gives the greatest number of people happiness. The free market is a dynamic concept, of millions of individuals making many complex decisions every day. People look at every decision they are faced, and decide based on the information available. People have to deal with the limited amount of resources that they have - i.e time, energy, money. A rational person takes these things into account when making a decision.

And as thousands of people make their decisions, they encounter each other. Under the free market, they trade and barter voluntarily. These voluntary transactions are mutually beneficial. Both parties profit when no coercion or violence is used. Profit is a word often demonised by anti-capitalists and progressives. But it doesn't always involve money. If I am allergic to peanut butter, and I swap my peanut butter sandwich for a tuna sandwich with a willing partner, then we have both profited from the exchange.

This is not to say that people make mistakes. People often decide to go gambling with their savings, expecting a return but losing it all.

Anyhow, stop for a minute and think about how many billions if not trillions of decisions there are each day. Imagine all the people deciding what to eat, what to wear, where to go shopping, which route to drive, when to get petrol. You are starting to see the complexity of the economy. But the full measure is incomprehensible.

Here is a concept:
I could not, for a minute, make all the decisions for another person that would give them the same level of happiness as they would acheive making it for themselves. And similarly, nobody else can decide whats best for me and make decision of my behalf that would give me the same level of happiness.

Do any politicians realise this ? Most of them seek to regulate my life. They change the law due to popular public sentiment, so that certain actions I would take are penalised or outlawed. This is known as central planning. A central authority sets in place rigid laws and regulations that cannot be violated by the market. They make a decision for all others. In China alone, central planning of the farming industry killed over 50 million people through famine.

The free market has evolved and now most economies have money as a medium of exchange. Prices, denominated in the local currency, are used to indicate information. A seller sets a price at which he is willing to sell his goods. And a buyer can only accept or reject that. Prices indicate all kinds of input factors, like scarcity and cost. A toothbrush made of solid gold would cost hundreds because gold is rare. Consumers only want a simple device to clean their teeth and are not willing to give up so many resources for such an item, hence you don't see many gold toothbrushes on the market. The important point in all of this is that prices are an important indicator and signal to help the market function. The Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises realised this and correctly foresaw the failure of communism in the early 20th century, because of its removal of prices and its centrally planned economy.

At the moment, Victoria is hardly a free economy.

I cannot exercise my free speech in Victoria if it is even slightly critical of religion, race or sexuality, or else I risk prosecution. I cannot ride a bicycle without a helmet or else I risk a hefty fine. I cannot park in certain areas, or for certain durations or else I risk another hefty fine. I must drive my vehicle below a certain limit or else I risk losing my license - even though I have excellent reflexes and may wish to travel slightly above the limit when I judge it is safe, I am persecuted if I do so. My dog must be on a lead, even if it is a friendly and well trained pet.

But theres more. Besides regulating individuals, the Bracks government has done more than any other to regulate commerce and industry. Australia is already a rigidly bureaucratic workplace, with set work hours, minimum wages, work conditions, mandatory 9% superannuation, sick leave, public holidays, workplace safety laws etc. But Steve Bracks plans to regulate the energy and water industries in the near future. Energy retailers will have to purchase 10 percent of their energy from renewable sources, which are much more costly, less reliable and efficient. And there will be a ban on any new construction of dams, which would help boost our supply of water. Large retailers will no longer be allowed to offer free plastic bags to customers.

All 3 measures will hurt consumers. The cost of electricity and water will rise, and the cost of groceries and shopping will rise as businesses are forced to charge a fee for plastic bags. And how does the economically illiterate Bracks government describe these measures ?

The Government predicts the move will result in $2 billion in investment in clean energy production and create hundreds of new jobs.

Nonsense ! Talk about trying to put a positive spin. This is dishonesty at its peak.
Imagine trying to describe a ban on, lets say the sale of all breads and toast, as the following:

The Government predicts the move will result in $2 billion in investment in cereal and create hundreds of new jobs.

Well thats what we are faced with. Millions of people will be worse off because their will be less choice and less freedom. Of course, every single person will be faced with a new set of (smaller) opportunities after the regulation comes in. They will have to make decisions based on whats available, and if you ban the consumption of bread, more of the alternative foods will be consumed. But thousands of jobs would be destroyed, bakeries closed, consumers and families worse off with no breads at all, restaurants would lose patronage. etc etc.

Victoria - we are moving backwards.

Socialism is driving us back in time

Steve Bracks plans to usher in a new era in Victoria where stores will no longer be allowed to offer free plastic bags to customers.
Brookesnews summarises my thoughts exactly:

Here is an issue that the state Liberal Party should get stuck into. Environment Minister John Thwaites is calling for a ban on plastic bags if retailers do not reduce their use. This is another example of ALP stupidity and ignorance. Retailers do not use plastic bags — their customers do. So what kommissar Thwaites is really attacking is consumer preferences. If those pesky consumers do not behave the way they should, so much for them!

That consumers might be right about the use of plastic bags is too painful a thought for the self-righteous Thwaites to consider. In his mindset only lefty politicians and their apparatchiks really know what is good for consumers. (And I bet you thought Soviet-style thinking died with the Soviet Union).

In other totalitarian moves, Bracks plans to make electricity and water even more scarce for Victorians with his moves to regulate the energy sector, and ban the construction of all new dams. We are heading for some dark times in Victoria. Ever since Bracks took power, he changed our slogan (which appears on license plates) from "On the Move" to "The Place to Be". Well we are no longer on the move, we are moving back in time and our standards of living will take a big hit.

Central planning has murdered scores of millions in the last century. It has impoverished the masses. But hey, it makes our central planners feel good about themselves and show the people they are "doing something".

The Age demonise Israel yet again

As Israel takes the necessary steps to punish the Hezbollah terrorists behind the acts of war, kidnappings and rockets, the left wing rag known as The Age is actually begging all civilians who might be in Lebanon to send pictures with camera phones or email.

Are you in Lebanon, or do you have family or friends there? SMS your photos and video to 0416 905 403 or email community@theage.com.au

This is a sickening breach of journalistic standards. Don't they have their own photographers in the region ? Clearly they are hungry for some images to make Israel look bad. I have never heard of The Age asking Jewish Australians to send in images from an Israeli town under terrorist attacks. Why ? Because that would evoke reader sympathy with Israel, and the socialist editors at The Age couldn't have that.