WUI (Writing under the influence)

Being against capitalism is being anti-American in my book.

The children were allegedly incorporating into Legotown "their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys." These assumptions "mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society -- a society that we teachers believe to be unjust and oppressive."

They claimed as their role shaping the children's "social and political understandings of ownership and economic equity ... from a perspective of social justice."

My favorite Polish politician, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, says:

"Social justice is to justice is what the electric chair is to a chair."

How very fitting.

This is also why, although I send my children to one, I'm very wary of Catholic Schools.

I don't know if my column was published today or not. The electronic version of FGNT doesn't have it but at 6pm today there is very little on the opinion pages so maybe more will be posted later.

In any case, in case somebody responds to it, as it happened the last time I had a guest column published, I've started collecting examples of people I talked about in my column. It's not very hard. For example, today one of the few professors I do like, published this piece on the Townhall website:

Pino began his morning of not going into his office at Kent State by penning a post under the title “Frightened British Crusaders Rush More Troops to Occupied Afghanistan.” Using terms like “occupation” and “Crusaders” it isn’t really necessary to read these posts in order to ascertain who this employee of the State of Ohio is rooting for in the War on Terror.

February 26th, 1987: after a week in Rome, in an empty hotel -- other one-way Poles like me had already left -- we registered in a refugee camp in Latina, 70 miles south-west from Rome.

The camp was a very interesting place. There may be more information on the Internet about the camp but I've found this PDF file with a short article about Latina and the camp. It's in Italian; I may translate it some other time.

I saw this letter to the editor of Forest Grove News Times two weeks ago:

The mid-term elections told the administration that Oregon’s people and the American public wanted a serious change of course in the Iraq war.

The war’s enormous cost in lives and taxpayer dollars hasn’t brought us victory in Iraq, it has merely continued to reduce the quality of life in our own country.

The recent news is that billions of taxpayer dollars for Iraq reconstruction have simply vanished down a black hole of corruption, while the President is requesting $240 billion more in supplemental funds for a war that only continues to get worse.

That money is being taken from our pockets, from our nation’s essential services and from our children’s futures.

Then the following week, this article:

More than 120 people packed a Pacific University auditorium Monday night to hear a series of speakers discuss the mounting cost – in dollars and lives – of the war in Iraq.

The gathering, promoted as a town hall meeting for Oregon’s 1st Congressional District, drew people from four counties, according to Walt Wentz, one of the organizers. Invitations were sent to Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) and Ron Wyden (D-Portland) and Rep. David Wu (D-Portland).

Only Wu, whose district stretches from Portland to the coast, sent a representative, Wentz said.

After listening to several speakers, including two veterans of the current war, the group unanimously voted to adopt three resolutions that will be forwarded to Smith, Wyden and Wu.

The resolutions call for:

• The members of Congress to oppose any new appropriations for the war and use existing funding to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq immediately.

• Rep. Wu to provide his constituents with a detailed report on the cost of the war.

• The members of Congress to stop any escalation of the conflict with Iran.

The forum was organized by the West County Council for Human Dignity and Pacific’s Department of Peace and Conflict Studies.

I know some of the people who organized this event. Not all of them whacked out, but many are.

I asked the editor if I could right a longer column to answer them. He agreed. The following will be published on 2/28 or 3/7:

Stopping Terrorism

Secular war critics live in a hate-filled state of denial

So why do they hate America? No, not the French. Who cares what a bunch of sclerotic Europeans think about us anyway? I'm talking about those on the fringe left here at home who blame America for all real and imaginary injustices anywhere in the world.

I'm talking about people who hate this country's Constitution by ignoring what's in it and by forcing onto the rest of us what's not. I'm talking about people who want to destroy this nation's predominant religion and other vital societal institutions, and replace them with secularism and moral relativity. I'm talking about people who, not being able to prevail in the marketplace of ideas, try to impose a monopoly of thought by silencing the opposing views. I'm talking about people who wave United Nation flags even though (or maybe because) the UN is anti-American, ineffectual, and corrupt.

I'm talking about people who on 9/11 said we deserved it but were still perplexed that al Qaeda would attack a part of the country that had not supported George W. Bush. I'm talking about people who live in denial thinking that once Bush and those Christofascists who voted for him are gone the world will love us again and terrorists will just disappear, we will all live in peace and no wars will ever be necessary.

I'm talking about people who for the past four years have been doing everything in their power to undermine our efforts to fight terrorism. I'm talking about people who have demoralized and slandered U.S. troops in Iraq and belittled the hard work they do to defend the frail Iraqi democracy. And now, when the situation is really dire, when additional effort is necessary to reverse the gains terrorist have made, when Iran is supporting so called insurgents, they want to surrender to the most evil, the most barbaric, the most inhuman of any enemy we have ever faced.

But people I'm talking about have a problem because the public is not on their side. By overwhelming majorities (notwithstanding the recent elections) patriotic Americans think that we should prevail in Iraq, one of the central fronts in the war on terror. In the latest IBO/TIPP poll of 925 adults, two-thirds said a U.S. victory in Iraq was important. A similar POS poll of 800 likely voters found that less than 1-in-5 wanted U.S. to withdraw immediately from Iraq and couldn't care less what would happen in Iraq if we did so. Do they really want to recreate the aftermath of the U.S. defeat in Vietnam: the killing fields of Cambodia, the boat people, the re-education camps? Do they really hate America so much that to see her again humiliated, just as it was after Vietnam, they are willing to see countless millions perish in a jihadist bloodbath?

Iraqis who take the brunt of terrorist attacks don't want us to leave. Most are glad Hussein and his sons are dead. Most know that life under Saddam was only to get worse and now it can only get better. And our brave troops, who stand behind their Commander in Chief, want to finish their job. And our country will be safer if they do.

But the people I'm talking about don't care. They don't want to listen. Their hatred is blinding. Is it because their secular views force them to reject the ideals of this wonderful country and anything we stand and fight for? Maybe so. But I don't really want to know. Just as I don't want to know why suicide bombers strap explosive belts to themselves and, in the name of some medieval ideology, blow themselves up, taking with them lives of Iraqi children whose little bodies' severed parts are strewn all over Baghdad. I don't want to know. I just want them stopped.

I don't subscribe to the dead-tree version of the paper so I may not see my column when it's published; the electronic version doesn't include everything that is published each week.

On February 19th, 1987, I and my best friend left Poland. As far as I was concerned, there was no going back. After 20 years, we are still here, in the US, and the last time I checked, we are not going back. We must be part of some right-wing conspiracy.

There are two choices: finish or quit. I want to finish because it was the right war to fight. Mistakes happen in every war but we just can't quit. Some want to surrender. They never supported the war in the first place and used every setback to point how bad this war was. Theirs is a respectable position albeit wrong one. Others wish this great country ill and will use any opportunity to humiliate it. They have inferiority comlex in my opinion. They want to be French. If I wanted to be French I would be leaving in Paris.

Democrats, cowards that they are want to slowly bleed. They don't want to take a stand. Many voted for the war even though they were against it because it was a popular stand at the time. Now, although most Americans are not satisfied with the way the war is waged -- which doesn't mean most Americans oppose the war; some of us would like to use more force, for example -- Democrats have again no guts to just cut and run because they know that's not what most Americans want. So they've decided that the best solution is to just place obstacels in President's path to force him to lose. It's Bush's war, they say. Of course, this will cause more troops to die for nothing, to waste more of their lives, as Obama says. Because the truth is they don't care about the troops as they never have. They don't care about the country. They hate it.

They are despicable huma beings, not worth any respect. I can respect somebody who is sincerely wrong but I can't respect anybody who puts power ahead of the good of the country.

This is our war. Vietnam was our war and we should have won it. You never start a war unless you are willing to take to the end and win. To give those blood-thirsty svages that blow up women and children every day the satisfaction to see the only super power leave Iraq would be catastrophic. These are not humans, they can't win. They mustn't win.

I take my older daughter to the acquatic center twice a week for her swim lessons. There are other 4 children in her class. There are other two classes in the same small pool at the same time. All parents are horded in a small visitor area. It's hot and humid inside. Maybe it's done on purpose so we can experience what global warming will feel like in a few decades. I stay outside, outdoors, breathing fresh air. I can still see my daughter throught the window and she can see me. I'm there by myself. I'm in minority. But somehow I don't want to follow the others; somehow I think I'm right and they are wrong.

I also like warm beer and never add ice to my drinks. I don't drink soda. Somehow though I think I'm right. I don't have cable, satellite, a cell phone. I only have 768kbs broadband and only because it was less expensive than voice mail or a second line. I'm in minority, I guess, but somehow I think I'm right.

I may be here but my family is still there. And thanks to him they are better off now. And they know it. In another 20 years Iraqis will be building monuments for Bush, if not sooner.

Opponents of Poland's former communist regime reportedly want to pay a posthumous homage to US President Ronald Reagan by erecting his statue in the place of a Soviet-era monument.

In an open letter to the mayor of the southwestern city of Katowice, the former anti-regime activists said that the staunchly anti-communist Reagan had been a "symbol of liberty," the Polish news agency PAP reported.

As a result, they said, he deserved to become the centrepiece of the city's Freedom Square, replacing a monument to the Soviet troops who drove out the occupying Nazis in 1945.
They also said that they wanted the site to be rebaptised "Ronald Reagan Freedom Square."
City hall spokesman Waldemar Bojarun said that Katowice's councillors would consider the issue.
Bojarun said that he had "enormous respect" for Reagan.
However, he said, the proposal could cost an estimated 500,000 zlotys (128,000 euros, 168,000 dollars) and the city had "other pressing needs."
There are already separate plans to erect a statue in memory of Reagan in the centre of the Polish capital, Warsaw, which would be paid-for from private funds.
Reagan, who dubbed the Soviet Union an "evil empire," is widely credited by Poles with having driven communism to the wall.
The conservative Republican made fighting communism the cornerstone of his 1980-1988 presidency, and backed Poland's Solidarity trade union after it went underground when the regime declared martial law in 1981.
Reagan died in June 2004 at the age of 93.

He didn't have to but hid did.

The battle started before all units were fully deployed. Early in the morning at 4:00, Turkish forces opened hostilities to interfere with the Holy League's troop deployment. A move forward was made by Charles, the Austrian army on the left, and the German forces in the center.

Mustafa Pasha launched a counter-attack, with most of his force, but holding back parts of the elite Janissary and Spahi for the invasion of the city. The Turkish commanders had intended to take Vienna before Sobieski arrived, but time ran out. Their sappers had prepared another large and final detonation under the Löbelbastei,[4] to provide access to the city. While the Turks hastily finished their work and sealed the tunnel to make the explosion more effective, the Austrian "moles" detected the cavern in the afternoon. One of them entered and defused the load just in time.

At that time, above the "subterranean battlefield", a large battle was going on, as the Polish infantry had launched a massive assault upon the Turkish right flank. Instead of focusing on the battle with the relief army, the Turks tried to force their way into the city, carrying their crescent flag.

After 12 hours of fighting, Sobieski's Polish force held the high ground on the right. At about five o'clock in the afternoon, after watching the ongoing infantry battle from the hills for the whole day, four cavalry groups, one of them Austrian-German, and the other three Polish, totaling 20,000 men, charged down the hills. The attack was led by the Polish king in front of a spearhead of 3000 heavily armed winged Polish lancer hussars. This charge broke the lines of the Ottomans, who were tired from the long fight on two sides. In the confusion, the cavalry headed straight for the Ottoman camps, while the remaining Vienna garrison sallied out of its defenses and joined in the assault.

The Ottoman army were tired and dispirited following the failure of both the sapping attempt and the brute force assault of the city, and the arrival of the cavalry turned the tide of battle against them, sending them into retreat to the south and east. In less than three hours after the cavalry attack, the Christian forces had won the battle and saved Vienna from capture.

After the battle, Sobieski paraphrased Julius Caesar's famous quote by saying "veni, vidi, Deus vicit" - "I came, I saw, God conquered"

[...]

Although no one realized it at the time, the battle shaped the outcome of the entire war as well. The Ottomans fought on for another 16 years, losing control of Hungary and Transylvania in the process, before finally giving up. The end of the conflict was finalized by the Treaty of Karlowitz.

The Battle of Vienna is seen by many historians as marking the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire.[citation needed] The battle also marked the historic end of Turkish expansion into southeastern Europe.

It might just work.

WASHINGTON - Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fled Iraq for Iran ahead of a security crackdown in Baghdad and the arrival of 21,500 U.S. troops sent by President Bush to quell sectarian violence, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

How ironic that the proponents of the man-made global warming theory behave like fascists or Stalinists when they argue that nobody should disagree with them and whoever does is like a Holocaust denier.

I wonder how stupid Ellen Goodman will feel after calling me a Holocaust denier when she discovers that people who actually had to study something useful to do their work have come up with very interesting theory that would explain global warming without implicating humans.

This is as close as it gets to describe my positions on certain things.

...had Reagan invaded Poland?

Just a few weeks before assuming the presidency in January 1981, Ronald Reagan seriously considered the idea of using military force to prevent a Soviet invasion of Poland, according to a political scientist.

Reagan discussed the possibility of deploying U.S. forces in Poland with his incoming defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, says Paul Kengor, a political science professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania.

Maybe Poland would have looked like Iraq today. Poland today looks much, much better than Iraq right now but I wonder what will happen in 25 years. If nothing changes Poland will look like another western-European social-democracy. Reading the latest news from Poland is simply depressing. Actually, it would have been depressing had I still lived there; right now, I just simply feel sorry for the people who stayed.

Just in the past couple of days, the following were the headlines:

Most Poles do not want missile shield

According to the Pentor poll, 53% of respondents answered "oppose" to the question "Do you support or oppose the installation of a U.S. missile shield base on Polish soil?" Only 34% said they support the missile shield and 12% were not sure. The poll was conducted on January 23-25 on a representative sample of 800 adults. Margin of error is +/- 3.5%.

EC gives Poland deadline to propose how to limit budget deficit
Poland has to prove by August 27 to the European Commission that it is taking efficient steps to limit the public finance deficit to 3% of GDP set by Maastricht criteria by the end of 2007, says a document which the EC will adopt next Wednesday.

Compare this to the follwoing headline:

"Mexico gives the US deadline to propose how to limit budget deficit"

Brzezinski issues strong statement regarding Sikorski's resignation

Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor of U.S. president Jimmy Carter, delivered a statment regarding the resignation of Polish Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

Why would anybody care what either Brzezinski or Carter have to say after 30 years since those two put the US and the rest of the world in the periouslius situation we are in now?

Let's hope Iraq does somewhat better in 25 years from now.

Q: What will happen when more people will realize that teachers do make decent wages but the government schools don't perform well because politicians value teachers' unions over children?

Who, on average, is better paid--public school teachers or architects? How about teachers or economists? You might be surprised to learn that public school teachers are better paid than these and many other professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public school teachers earned $34.06 per hour in 2005, 36% more than the hourly wage of the average white-collar worker and 11% more than the average professional specialty or technical worker.

A: In 10 years Utah will be in majority of states that will pay for education parents chose for their children. Something most politicians already do.

The late Milton Friedman, who was the nation's foremost advocate for school choice, would be more than pleased with the news coming out of Utah. By a vote of 38-37, the Utah House last Thursday approved the first-ever statewide universal school choice plan.

Despite the close vote, the program now faces relatively smooth sailing. The bill now goes to the state Senate, which twice before has voted for a similar program. Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Republican, won election in 2004 in part by campaigning for school choice, and he has said he will likely sign the final bill.

Until now, school choice has been an idea that works but has only been spottily implemented, in part due to the fierce opposition of teacher unions and the rest of the educational-industrial complex. Maine and Vermont have allowed students in rural districts without their own high school to attend private schools for over a century. Struggling inner-city school districts in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Washington allow low-income parents to obtain vouchers. My colleague Jason Riley has noted the extensive academic research finding that where choice is allowed, parents are much more satisfied with their children's education, and local public schools have improved their performance.

Colts over Bears

Bears drive with 10 seconds left and Rex is intercepted. That's my prediction and I'm sticking to it. This happened to Favre against Broncos in 1998 and I loved it.