A Wake Up Call

Major leaders in Europe have announced that multiculturalism doesn't work. Most recently it was British Prime Minister David Cameron, a few months ago it was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. We in the U.S. need to be paying attention.

We write to support the concept of the melting pot, the idea that immigrants need to adopt American values, speak English, and fit in. We write in opposition to the idea of the salad bowl, the idea that a society of distinct groups works in the long run - it doesn't.

Quote of the Day

Andrew Bacevich, a retired colonel who teaches government at Boston University, is quoted in this USA Today article. Bacevich says:

The Long War is establishing itself as the new normalcy.

COTTonLINE agrees. We become accustomed to it as the Brits were accustomed to IRA violence, which went on for decades.

Quote of the Day II

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, law professor and blogger extraordinaire as Instapundit.com, writing for The Washington Examiner about whether the U.S. has a lawyer problem:

A lot of people out there don't like lawyers, and think that the legal profession is harming the country. And I'm beginning to think that they might have a point.

Quote of the Day I

Daniel Pipes, writing for Canada's National Post, about the doubtful coexistence of Islam and representative government:

With enough effort and time, Muslims can be as democratic as Westerners. But at this time, they are the least democratic of peoples and the Islamist movement presents a huge obstacle to political participation.

As the article indicates, Pipes' notion of "enough time" is on the order of hundreds of years. In other words, don't hold your breath.

Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.

Defense

Most people think the extended magazines for semiautomatic pistols are serious offensive weapons. Here is a Washington Post article which argues they are mostly for home defense.

The reasoning is too complex to repeat here. Mostly it has to do with such clips making the weapon impractical to conceal. Attempts to ban such magazines will be made soon, see which side you're on.

Rearguard Action

Read a funny, sad article about how the French keep trying to stave off the infiltration of English terms into their language. You'll find it here in The Los Angeles Times.

I think it is great that we don't do this in English. We absorb words from other languages on a regular basis without any heartburn.

To the extent that nations can be said to have, or not have, self confidence, the Anglosphere has it and the Francosphere doesn't. The reasons for this are historical and geopolitical.

Chinese Racism

Check out this interesting little story in The Independent (U.K.) about China pulling, from a Pennsylvania exhibition, a 4000 year old mummy with Caucasian features. The well-preserved mummy from western China looks European.

The probable cause for this action is the conflict in Xinjiang province between China's dominant people, the Han, and Xinjiang's Uighurs. The Uighurs are more Turkic than east Asian, and in addition are Muslim. The Han make up roughly 90% of China's population and are in conflict with China's minority populations, including the Tibetans and Uighurs.

The existence of this mummy strengthens the claim of the Turkic Uighurs on their part of Western China, a claim the Han do not accept. Don't be surprised if this mummy gets "lost" in transit.

Reagan Remembered

Peggy Noonan writes about politics, and other things, for The Wall Street Journal. At her best she is very good indeed. Here she writes an appreciation of Ronald Reagan as we celebrate his 100th birthday.

This remembrance is very good; she worked for Reagan, which helps. Interestingly, she has Reagan being less a "great communicator" than being a good man with ambition.

Antarctic Adventures

Cruising from Ushuaia, Argentina, across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula is no picnic. Some 40 small expedition ships make the crossing during the summer season (December - March), each carrying less than 100 passengers.

The Drake Passage is some of the world's roughest ocean, and the ships are small by legal requirement. That combination of small ships and rough seas makes for exciting sailing. The other DrC and I made the crossing and, looking out our cabin portholes sometimes saw, not sky or foam, but green water on the other side of the thick glass - our portholes were temporarily underwater.

So far this season there have been two nautical mishaps, the most recent a hulling of the MV Polar Star four days ago, here is a link to CNN's story of the event. Two months ago another ship, the MV Clelia II, was damaged by the extremely rough seas of the Drake Passage; here is that CNN story.

Most cruises are just pleasant interludes, the crossing to Antarctica is an adventure.

Krauthammer: Optimism for Egypt

The Egyptian military is that institution in the country within which the U.S. has the most influence. Charles Krauthammer, who writes for The Washington Post, has an interesting take on the situation in Egypt.

Krauthammer is of the opinion that the Egyptian military will channel the post-Mubarak government in a non-Islamist direction, away from the Muslim Brotherhood. It would be nice if his prediction turns out to be correct.

The Not-So-Big Easy

According to this USA Today article, reporting Census Bureau data, New Orleans has lost nearly a third of its population in the years since Hurricane Katrina. The article wants you to think this is bad.

I think this is good. The United States is the third largest nation by area on the globe. Unlike The Netherlands, there is no reason to have a major U.S. city with substantial portions below sea level.

In the medium-to-long run it will be cheaper to buy out those living below sea level via eminent domain so we can stop spending money on levees, sea walls and pumps. New Orleans should zone all below-sea-level areas non-residential/non-developmental, and prevent rebuilding where it has not occurred.

Then convert the empty land into parks. Parks can flood occasionally without harm, as those in Sacramento demonstrate clearly. Most of the year they will be available.

Mujahideen = Crusaders

Radical Islam puzzles many today who wonder why, or perhaps how, people can be willing to fight, kill, and die for their religion. Looking at today's Christianity, they don't see any signs of that level of fervor.

We make the wrong analogy, comparing today's Islam with today's Christianity. Compare instead today's Islam with the Christianity of roughly 800 years ago and you find the comparisons you seek.

Today's mujaheedin or jihadists are very like the crusaders of the period of 1090 to 1290 and perhaps for 200 years more in Spain and eastern Europe. Crusaders fought against Islam to capture the "Holy Land" or Palestine for Christianity. They also recaptured Spain from the Islamic Moors.

Today's Al Qaeda and Taliban, Hamas and Hezbollah are rough analogs of the Knights of St. John, the Templars and Hospitallers, orders of religious fighters. Compare Osama ben Laden with Richard Lionheart, Balien or el Cid.

Muslims hate the memory of the Crusaders, with good reason. Oddly, they do not recognize as such the new crusaders in their midst.

Weird Science, Revisited

Here is another thought about the weight gain story below. Ranchers feed antibiotics to cattle to foster weight gain in meat animals.

We humans take antibiotics for a variety of illnesses, many of which are viral and therefore entirely inappropriately dosed. Plus we eat the beef which has been dosed with antibiotics.

If antibiotics are widely dispersed in the environment, and if they cause weight gain in cattle, might they not also be causing weight gain in other species including ours?

Weird Science

Is there some mysterious factor making most of us gain weight? Scientific American reports biostatisticians have found species other than humans have also been gaining weight over the last several decades - including rats, marmosets, cats, dogs, macaques, and mice.

I will propose a possible cause: we are healthier. My reasoning: our weight-gain biostat is set to compensate for weight loss caused by a variety of diseases. We are having fewer of those diseases, so our pre-civilization setting is "compensating" for presumed weight loss that no longer happens.

My reasoning comes from the outcome that followed when children stopped playing in bacteria-laden soil of barnyards; they began getting polio. Their environment was too clean. Maybe that is also our problem vis-a-vis weight gain.

Deficit Cutting

Here at COTTonLINE, we've talked about cutting federal spending and suggested some things the nation could do without. Now John Stossel of Fox News, formerly of ABC News, writes for RealClearPolitics on the same topic - cutting the federal deficit.

Stossel's list of cuts is somewhat different than mine, it's probably better. I have a feeling this idea of cutting the deficit by pruning the federal system could catch on.

A Somber Thought

Looking back, historians will view the crumbling of various U.S.-supported Arab autocracies and the rise of Islamist militant governments as a major development of The Long War. Misquoting Winston Churchill, we may be nearing the end of its beginning.

We do so with a President whose instincts are those of Neville Chamberlain. Opponent John McCain, with all his faults, would have been a much better war president.

No Kidding

Mobs in Egypt scream they hate the U.S. and ABC News' Christiane Amanpour seems surprised. Practically the oldest adage in the region is "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Its less quoted corollary is "the friend of my enemy is my enemy."

Who are the Egyptian protestors screaming they hate and want gone? President Mubarak. Who has been President Mubarak's biggest friend and supporter with aid and diplomatic politesse? The United States. Why? Because he opposed the Islamists and supported the hated Camp David accord with Israel.

We are the friend of those Egyptian protesters' enemy Mubarak, so we are also their enemy. That isn't rocket science. It is elementary political science.

A Mixed Blessing

The traditional dictatorships in the Arab world are beginning to crumble, think Tunisia and Egypt. It is possible they will be followed by governments that are more representative of their people's wishes, maybe even true elected governments.

That may sound like good news, and in fact may be good news, or it may not. If popular governments emerge in various Arab countries like Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, they may be virulently anti-Israel. If so, they may go to war with Israel. If that happens the U.S. may find itself defending Israel.

An outbreak of popular governments in the Arab world could lead to several governments being openly in opposition to the U.S. and its aims for the region. One hopes that would lead to the U.S. cutting foreign aid to these nations. In the case of Egypt, a current recipient of large amounts of our aid, cutting off aid would be tough for that poor nation to withstand.

We live in interesting times....

Army Seeks New Rifle

The U.S. military is in the market for a replacement for the M16/M4 weapons systems now in use. This Wall Street Journal article reports on the history of dissatisfaction with the current M16 and the search for a replacement.

Eleven Percent Vacant

Diana Olick covers real estate for CNBC, NBC's business network, and does a good job. On her Realty Check blog she reports that nearly 11% of U.S. housing units are standing vacant. In other words, one out of every ten. Wow, that is a lot.

What isn't clear to me is whether this represents overcapacity (more houses and apartments than we need) or underutilization (families doubling and tripling up to save money). Probably it is some of both.

During the housing boom firms built houses, condos, and apartments as fast as they could build, without much consideration for actual demand. Many families who couldn't afford to buy a house were nevertheless sold one. Now, during the Great Recession, those families, and others with little or no income, have moved in with relatives to save money.

When unemployed people eventually get jobs they will start to buy, rent, or otherwise occupy that "almost 11%." Until much of it is filled there won't be much demand for new construction.

No new construction means continuing high unemployment since construction is one of the main occupations that cannot be outsourced to China. Continuing high unemployment has political ramifications.