no third solution » Archive
The Nüremburg Standard
The Nüremburg Standard is a position that I like to take whenever the subject of war-crimes or torture are part of a discussion. Eventually, the warhawk will beg sympathy on account of the soldier who is “just doing his duty” or “just following orders,” or some variant on that theme. The fact of the matter is that this defense has been tried before, with little success. Admittedly, my understanding of the Nüremburg Trials comes from a filmstrip or something that I watched in a government indoctrination camp, so bear with me. My understanding of the situation, upon examination of recent (and not-so-recent) events lead me to ideate my Nüremburg Standard, which I most recently I applied to the case of some G.I. sniper who was found … Read entire article »
Filed under: American Politics, Government is Slavery, Warfare State, World Politics
Monday Quickies
With a tip o’ the hat to Andrew Sullivan, I came across a Wired article discussing new data suggesting the people of the United States are among the most surveilled by their government the world over, joining notable Big Brother States China, Russia: In terms of statutory protections and privacy enforcement, the US is the worst ranking country in the democratic world. In terms of overall privacy protection the United States has performed very poorly, being out-ranked by both India and the Philippines and falling into the “black” category, denoting endemic surveillance. What was that about trading liberty for security? +++ The Financial Times notes that it’s probably a bad idea to provide relief to mortgage borrowers because such relief efforts are (as I’ve previously noted) arbitrary, complicated, and of also not likely … Read entire article »
Filed under: American Politics, Fun Stuff, Pop Culture, Potpourri
$ < €
It is apparent that people know that the future value of dollar-denominated debt will be diluted by inflation, and accordingly the dollar is losing quite a bit of its prestige. In the past year, the value of euro notes in circulation exceeded the value of dollar bills. The euro has also overtaken the dollar as the main denomination of international debt issues. At present, the dollar’s declining value is jeopardizing its position as the world’s reserve currency and standard of value. For the American government, this creates a number of problems. Countries like Saudi Arabia are being urged to drop their peg to the greenback, and if they want to avoid importing U.S. inflation, they’d be wise to do so. Lack of financial clout also takes away one of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Economics Lessons, World Politics