Thursday, June 14, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
America the Indespensable Nation? to liberate the masses????
The Moor Next Door: No More Iraqs: "When the United States became the only superpower and was no longer restrained by calculations of Soviet reactions to U.S. actions, quite a few in the American foreign policy elite could not withstand the temptation of triumphalism and a sense of unlimited possibilities."
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist
Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Gri
how to answer skeptics
how to answer skeptics
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Yet another weird SF fan
Yet another weird SF fan
On the other hand, if a leak is fixed but the water isn't conducted away, it will recur. According to to former blog Trolling in Shallow Water (quoted here):Immigration is basically a plumbing problem - our border leaks. When you have plumbing that leaks, you fix the leak before you start cleaning up your house. Build a fence and stop the leak, then decide how to clean up.
Note that the leak is cause by a pressure differential across the souther border - lots of people want to come here. (Compare to northern border). Economic opportunity here far exceeds that in their own country, and there is little risk of associated with coming here illegally. So pressure builds to our south. Once the leak is stopped, we can look at ways to equalize the pressure. Strict enforcement and deportation would do it. Getting Mexico to reform would help as well. I'm also fine with increasing legal immigration through carefully regulated valves on our southern border.
Ironically, amnesty will only increase the pressure.
Yes, I am an engineer.
One phrase the inspector seemed to like was "water will win." Apparently this is an aphorism he picked up in the Army Corps of Engineers. What it means is that, unless you give water an easy route to somewhere harmless, it will make its own route by wearing through whatever is in the way. A roof is not kept in good condition by waterproofing alone; that will fail unless there are appropriate gutters and flashings to let the water run off the roof. Likewise, the rain gutters must give water a clear path to a point far from the foundation, or the crawl space will flood no matter how solid the foundation is. Water will win.Also see here:
If you build in the path of moving water, sooner or later, water will win.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Econbrowser: Peak oil in America
Econbrowser: Peak oil in America: "I do think that the war would not have happened if Iraq was a country with no resources. The risks from having someone like Saddam Hussein in control of such a vast sum of wealth, and fear of the damage he could cause with it, was in my opinion a key reason that the U.S. initiated that ongoing profound bloodshed."
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Francis W. Porretto - Great tome on Islam and America
Francis W. Porretto - Eternity Road
America, the supreme expression of Enlightenment civilization, must not allow its political and philosophical basis to be compromised by an influx of persons whose avowed creed is antithetical to all our assumptions, practices, and public norms, and who've capitalized on every opportunity to impose themselves on excessively "tolerant" others. Europe and Britain have allowed it, and the results are before us. This is not a subject upon which we can afford to refuse to learn from the mistakes of others.
America, the supreme expression of Enlightenment civilization, must not allow its political and philosophical basis to be compromised by an influx of persons whose avowed creed is antithetical to all our assumptions, practices, and public norms, and who've capitalized on every opportunity to impose themselves on excessively "tolerant" others. Europe and Britain have allowed it, and the results are before us. This is not a subject upon which we can afford to refuse to learn from the mistakes of others.
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