Michael Walzer on Just War Theory
27 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics Tags: just war theory, Michael Walzer
Incriminations between detainees from the four largest national groups at Guantánamo
24 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Gitmo, war against terror
Islamic Suicide Bomber Trainer Accidentally Blows Up His Entire Class – Israel Video Network
18 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics Tags: Darwin awards
The enduring lie that George W Bush lied about Saddam’s WMD
08 Mar 2016 3 Comments
in defence economics, politics - USA
The renegade left so hates George W Bush that it could not bring itself to make the most obvious argument against invading Iraq. That argument was the one I made at the time.
It is the height of folly to attack a country with weapons of mass destruction with the intent of conquering it. That intent of conquest and regime change gives the other side every incentive to use their weapons of mass destruction if only in an act of desperation. The whole purpose of weapons of mass destruction is to deter invasions.
Rather than concede the other side’s argument and use it against them, the renegade left preferred every other argument, most of which bolstered the case for invasion.
The most obvious of these was more weapons inspections by the UN instead of invasion. If there is a need for more weapons inspections, there must be some WMD weapons to find. The UN had 12 years to find these and still cannot find them all.
What was the point of the UN inspections and the renegade left calling for the inspections to continue as an alternative to invading in 2003 unless they expected to find more evidence of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons?
The reality is Saddam played a fine game of bluff. He destroyed his WMD capability early after the first Iraq war. He could not be afforded be found with WMDs.
Saddam then tricked everybody into believing that he still had weapons of mass destruction as a way of projecting strength, especially to regional rivals.
It is also the case that if the UN inspections stopped, Saddam would have resumed his WMD armament program.
It is not possible to stop countries from developing WMDs. You can deter them from using them. Far more volatile characters in Russia and China in the 50s and 60s were deterred from using nuclear weapons.
The shifting alliances of the Syrian Civil War
14 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Middle-East politics, Syrian Civil War, war against terror
Partisans divides on foreign threats in the USA
12 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of media and culture, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election, climate alarmism, foreign policy, global warming, voter demographics
The only other fat man in North Korea
11 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, Marxist economics
I think he is the top party man in the military. The fat general 2nd from the right is still alive as far as I know.
The thin guy with the heightening hat just to his left has just been executed – he was Chief of the Army staff.
Who is who in Syria
09 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Syria, Syrian Civil War
Here’s where Republicans and Democrats differ on the role of government
08 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, income redistribution, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2016 presidential election Republican Party, Democratic Party, votor demographics
The great Palestinian lie
06 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Palestine
China controls dissidents abroad through relatives back home
06 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: China, dissent, Japan, tinpot dictatorships, totalitarian dictatorships
At graduate school in Japan, I was careful to rarely talk politics to Chinese students.
The reason was I assumed they were being spied on by fellow students at the behest of the Chinese security services.
@RusselNorman @JulieAnneGenter a hedge fund specialises in shorting renewable energy shares @Greenpeace
03 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of regulation, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, financial economics, global warming Tags: active investing, disinvestment, entrepreneurial alertness, ethical investing, Fossil Fuels, green rentseeking, hedge funds, passive investing, renewable energy, solar power, Vice Fund, wind power
Just as the Vice Fund specialises in investing in tobacco, alcohol, gaming and defence shares, Cool Futures Funds Management is starting-up to specialise in betting against global warming by shorting green stocks:
…instead of renewables being our energy future, they’re betting on the subsidies drying up and the whole industry collapsing; instead of fossil fuels being left in the ground as “stranded assets”.
An example of the nice little earners this hedge fund can come across is anticipating when particular investors will want to disinvest from fossil fuels.
When institutional investors ranging from universities to sovereign investment funds such as the New Zealand Superannuation Fund seek to disinvest from fossil fuels, that will be a good time to buy cheap shares.The
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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