As suggested here before, regardless of the path chosen by the US, most of the rest of the world now understands basic principles of economics and will continue to enjoy the economic growth which comes from following the principles of Milton Friedman and Ronald Reagan.
McMaster is a big improvement over Flynn. As with other children, if we can surround Trump with responsible adults, he is much less likely to do major damage.
‘The Reagan Battalion’ on Twitter was largely responsible for Milo’s ouster as a CPAC speaker. Here it has some fun at the expense of the unwatchable O’Reilly
Even as most other Republicans and “conservatives” have been cowed into praising The Emperor’s New Clothes, Evan McMullin has stood strong against Trump and the vilest Trumpkins.
I see on Drudge that Alan Comes is dead. I was 20 years old when he was born.
I didn’t see the cause of death.
I didn’t agree with him much, but he was a “fair” liberal in that he didn’t attribute evil intentions to his adversaries.
(I say that as opposed to Hillary,etc.).)
Some 1,200 people considered to be among the most vulnerable refugees in the world are to be housed in Canada by the end of this year, the Trudeau government announced Tuesday — a move praised by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel as a message to the world that the persecuted Yazidi population needs to be a greater priority for safe-haven countries.
Nearly 400 Yazidi refugees and other survivors of Islamist extremists have already been accepted over the last four months, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said in announcing the initiative, which is expected to cost $28 million.
But unlike the thousands of refugees fleeing violence in Syria who were greeted by flashing cameras and intense public exposure, the Yazidis have been entering the country with no fanfare. That won’t change, say government officials who are protecting the identity of the asylum seekers because of just how vulnerable they are…
The Yazidi people are “an integral part” of Iraq’s society and it’s important to preserve that, Hussen argued, adding that’s why the government is focusing on “a small number of people for whom resettlement is the best option.”…
“As many have experienced unimaginable trauma, both physical and emotional, many will have unique psychological and social needs such as trauma counselling,” Hussen said.
The government said it sought support from authorities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and that it has the consent of the Iraqi government to operate in the region.
While the majority of the 1,200 refugees will come from Iraq, the government said some will also be accepted from Lebanon and Turkey.
Meanwhile, 2500 people drowned trying to make the crossing from Africa to Europe last year. That is one in every forty two people making the attempt. There has to be an easier way. We Americans (Canadian as well as US) need to stop complaining and wake up. Life is hard in a lot of places. Not so much, here. I can not imagine putting myself or my children on one of those craft or imagine the things that are driving my fellow humans to do exactly that.
Come the spring, thousands of migrants and refugees fleeing poverty and violence will die in Libya, but I doubt you’ll hear much about it. Compassion fatigue has set in. The numbers have become too big to comprehend. It’s an old story; we feel numbed by the now familiar news images of men huddled together on boats. Maybe it’s because they’re African and have been written off as “undeserving economic migrants”. These are the people some of our political leaders have in mind when they talk of swarms, plagues and marauders. The understandable focus on Syrian refugees has taken the spotlight away from the more dangerous route to Europe through Libya.
From Sweden:
Per Jimmie Akesson and Mattias Karlsson, both leaders of the Sweden Democrats, penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Wednesday supporting Trump’s characterization of a Muslim immigrant-led crime crisis in Sweden.
“Mr. Trump did not exaggerate Sweden’s current problems,” Akesson and Karlsson wrote. “If anything, he understated them.”
“Riots and social unrest have become a part of everyday life,” Akesson and Karlsson wrote. “Police officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel are regularly attacked. Serious riots in 2013, involving many suburbs with large immigrant populations, lasted for almost a week. Gang violence is booming. Despite very strict firearms laws, gun violence is five times as common in Sweden, in total, as in the capital cities of our three Nordic neighbors combined.”’
The heading of this on Drudge was “Black students demand “No Whites Allowed” area on campus:
“A student activist group at the University of Michigan is demanding campus officials provide them with “a permanent designated space on central campus for Black students and students of color to organize and do social justice work.”
The Swedish Democrats are not what Americans think of as Democrats; they are in fact nationalists, with white supremacist roots. It is something of a non-sequitor to link gang violence to immigration policies. Every country has gang violence and immigrants may or may not contribute to it – consider the history of New York City’s gangs, in which at varying times, the Irish, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants, to name a few, were blamed for causing the violence. Currently, there are some gangs operating in Toronto Ontario which have a large number of Somalians for members; in the past, I can remember complaints that Toronto gangs were being fed by immigrants from Jamaica; the mafia still operates in pockets, especially in Montreal Quebec; yet one of the biggest gangs in Canada, the Hell’s Angels, is primarily made up of those of European descent. The rural county where I grew up is called the drug capital of Canada – yes it beat out British Columbia for that designation – and we at one point had drug dealers living next to us, who housed other disreputable characters, like the man who was arrested one afternoon by a SWAT team on a Canada-wide warrant, and the guy who left his kidnapped baby (he had not been granted custody) there to be taken care of – every last one of them were white and spoke with a Canadian accent. When I worked at the vegetable stand, we had the interesting experience of receiving an order of corn for a barbecue from a group of men that were obviously some gang kingpin and his goons. They came to the stand riding on motorcycles that were flanking a fancy truck, and their tattoos were something to behold. All were white. The Hell’s Angel local chapters were so confident that when the local newspapers wrote articles on them, they would allow themselves to be photographed, and yes, they were white. So, whenever anyone tries to blame an increase in organized crime on the increased presence of outsiders, I roll my eyes. Immigrant populations are in some ways easier to recruit from, due to the economic challenges they face, but the organized crime itself is always homegrown.
My Hill in Sicily is involved with outreach to the refugees in Sicily–usually the first stop in dilapidated crafts if they can get that far, or are brought in by the Italian navy. It’s a crisis situation and many Christian groups are on hand to help, including her Caritas.
OK, but how bad is bad? How “good” do we have to be? Maybe ‘unrepentant’ would be a more theologically correct way to put it? The headline is misleading though (as it would seem — though this pope is sometimes hard to understand and clearly has his own particular hobby horses on which he prefers to expound — he’s speaking not of believers who fall short, which would be all of us, but of non-believers who only say they are Christians)
I think.
“Pope suggests it’s better to be an atheist than a bad Christian”
CNN)If you’re a Christian who exploits people, leads a double life or manages a “dirty” business, perhaps it’s better not to call yourself a believer, Pope Francis suggested in a homily on Thursday in Rome.
“So many Christians are like this, and these people scandalize others,” Francis said during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, according to Vatican Radio. “How many times have we heard — all of us, around the neighborhood and elsewhere — ‘But to be a Catholic like that, it’s better to be an atheist.’ It is that: scandal.”
“But what is scandal? Scandal is saying one thing and doing another.”
In the Catholic Church, causing scandal also a grave offense.
Examples of such sins abound, the Pope said, from money launderers to business owners who take beach vacations while stiffing their employees.
Francis’ sermon, as is customary, was an extended riff …
_______________________________________________
While many of this Pope’s pronouncements are often assumed to be novel interpretations of Christian doctrines, Francis was also touching on an ancient debate: Is salvation open to all believers, or only those who do good while on earth?
“The Vatican later issued a note clarifying that the Pope was simply saying that God’s grace is free to all, even atheists, and urging Christians and non-believers to work together.”
This pope is a talker and he seems to leave many confused about what he’s trying to say.
Maybe the pope suffers from the same thing that ails Trump at times: emotive speech doesn’t always track logically. So it makes emotional sense but is not logically coherent. :–)
Phil Gramm is an old hero of mine. I contributed $5 to his ill-fated 1976 Senate campaign. Later he came back and became the best US Senator from Texas of my lifetime.
Michelle, I think he means something different than we do, more along the lines of universalism than salvation through Christ alone. This pope is nowhere near aligned to us theologically.
Roscuro, when I was a little girl, maybe nine or ten, we were on vacation when a bunch of tough-looking motorcycle riders with Hell’s Angels jackets passed us and surrounded us. Dad was not known for his patience on the road. (More than once he followed someone laying on the horn for a long time.) Mom was visibly scared as she told him stay calm, stay calm. I think I had heard of them before, but I’m not sure. I just remember I was old enough to understand that Dad’s response could endanger us, if he chose to react, and it was rather scary and rather tense because Dad was angry (angry at them and perhaps angry at Mom too), but managed to stay in control, because I suppose he really did understand the danger, too.
Wandering Views 
As suggested here before, regardless of the path chosen by the US, most of the rest of the world now understands basic principles of economics and will continue to enjoy the economic growth which comes from following the principles of Milton Friedman and Ronald Reagan.
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/02/trade-grows-without-us-000321
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The steps Trump’s staff have taken to keep him off of Twitter are pathetic but humorous.
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McMaster is a big improvement over Flynn. As with other children, if we can surround Trump with responsible adults, he is much less likely to do major damage.
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‘The Reagan Battalion’ on Twitter was largely responsible for Milo’s ouster as a CPAC speaker. Here it has some fun at the expense of the unwatchable O’Reilly
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Even as most other Republicans and “conservatives” have been cowed into praising The Emperor’s New Clothes, Evan McMullin has stood strong against Trump and the vilest Trumpkins.
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I see on Drudge that Alan Comes is dead. I was 20 years old when he was born.
I didn’t see the cause of death.
I didn’t agree with him much, but he was a “fair” liberal in that he didn’t attribute evil intentions to his adversaries.
(I say that as opposed to Hillary,etc.).)
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Near the top of the list of stuff I don’t plan on reading are columns by this guy
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Good: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canada-to-give-asylum-to-1200-primarily-yazidi-refugees-by-end-of-2017/article34099645/
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Meanwhile, 2500 people drowned trying to make the crossing from Africa to Europe last year. That is one in every forty two people making the attempt. There has to be an easier way. We Americans (Canadian as well as US) need to stop complaining and wake up. Life is hard in a lot of places. Not so much, here. I can not imagine putting myself or my children on one of those craft or imagine the things that are driving my fellow humans to do exactly that.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Mumsee, I recently read this article on just what those trying to cross from Libya, which is the more dangerous and deadly crossing point, are facing: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/20/migrant-slave-trade-libya-europe
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/23/sweden-democrats-trump-was-right.html
From Sweden:
Per Jimmie Akesson and Mattias Karlsson, both leaders of the Sweden Democrats, penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Wednesday supporting Trump’s characterization of a Muslim immigrant-led crime crisis in Sweden.
“Mr. Trump did not exaggerate Sweden’s current problems,” Akesson and Karlsson wrote. “If anything, he understated them.”
“Riots and social unrest have become a part of everyday life,” Akesson and Karlsson wrote. “Police officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel are regularly attacked. Serious riots in 2013, involving many suburbs with large immigrant populations, lasted for almost a week. Gang violence is booming. Despite very strict firearms laws, gun violence is five times as common in Sweden, in total, as in the capital cities of our three Nordic neighbors combined.”’
LikeLiked by 1 person
The heading of this on Drudge was “Black students demand “No Whites Allowed” area on campus:
“A student activist group at the University of Michigan is demanding campus officials provide them with “a permanent designated space on central campus for Black students and students of color to organize and do social justice work.”
There’s no hypocrisy here, absolutely none.
LikeLiked by 3 people
The Swedish Democrats are not what Americans think of as Democrats; they are in fact nationalists, with white supremacist roots. It is something of a non-sequitor to link gang violence to immigration policies. Every country has gang violence and immigrants may or may not contribute to it – consider the history of New York City’s gangs, in which at varying times, the Irish, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants, to name a few, were blamed for causing the violence. Currently, there are some gangs operating in Toronto Ontario which have a large number of Somalians for members; in the past, I can remember complaints that Toronto gangs were being fed by immigrants from Jamaica; the mafia still operates in pockets, especially in Montreal Quebec; yet one of the biggest gangs in Canada, the Hell’s Angels, is primarily made up of those of European descent. The rural county where I grew up is called the drug capital of Canada – yes it beat out British Columbia for that designation – and we at one point had drug dealers living next to us, who housed other disreputable characters, like the man who was arrested one afternoon by a SWAT team on a Canada-wide warrant, and the guy who left his kidnapped baby (he had not been granted custody) there to be taken care of – every last one of them were white and spoke with a Canadian accent. When I worked at the vegetable stand, we had the interesting experience of receiving an order of corn for a barbecue from a group of men that were obviously some gang kingpin and his goons. They came to the stand riding on motorcycles that were flanking a fancy truck, and their tattoos were something to behold. All were white. The Hell’s Angel local chapters were so confident that when the local newspapers wrote articles on them, they would allow themselves to be photographed, and yes, they were white. So, whenever anyone tries to blame an increase in organized crime on the increased presence of outsiders, I roll my eyes. Immigrant populations are in some ways easier to recruit from, due to the economic challenges they face, but the organized crime itself is always homegrown.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My Hill in Sicily is involved with outreach to the refugees in Sicily–usually the first stop in dilapidated crafts if they can get that far, or are brought in by the Italian navy. It’s a crisis situation and many Christian groups are on hand to help, including her Caritas.
LikeLiked by 2 people
OK, but how bad is bad? How “good” do we have to be? Maybe ‘unrepentant’ would be a more theologically correct way to put it? The headline is misleading though (as it would seem — though this pope is sometimes hard to understand and clearly has his own particular hobby horses on which he prefers to expound — he’s speaking not of believers who fall short, which would be all of us, but of non-believers who only say they are Christians)
I think.
“Pope suggests it’s better to be an atheist than a bad Christian”
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/world/pope-atheists-again/index.html
________________________________________________
CNN)If you’re a Christian who exploits people, leads a double life or manages a “dirty” business, perhaps it’s better not to call yourself a believer, Pope Francis suggested in a homily on Thursday in Rome.
“So many Christians are like this, and these people scandalize others,” Francis said during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, according to Vatican Radio. “How many times have we heard — all of us, around the neighborhood and elsewhere — ‘But to be a Catholic like that, it’s better to be an atheist.’ It is that: scandal.”
“But what is scandal? Scandal is saying one thing and doing another.”
In the Catholic Church, causing scandal also a grave offense.
Examples of such sins abound, the Pope said, from money launderers to business owners who take beach vacations while stiffing their employees.
Francis’ sermon, as is customary, was an extended riff …
_______________________________________________
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And further on in the story:
Fake Christians
While many of this Pope’s pronouncements are often assumed to be novel interpretations of Christian doctrines, Francis was also touching on an ancient debate: Is salvation open to all believers, or only those who do good while on earth?
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From a Catholic standpoint then, I suppose it makes sense — your works affect your core standing with God.
To which we’d respond, if one has true faith, works (though never perfect and always mixed with our sin) will follow.
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“The Vatican later issued a note clarifying that the Pope was simply saying that God’s grace is free to all, even atheists, and urging Christians and non-believers to work together.”
This pope is a talker and he seems to leave many confused about what he’s trying to say.
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Maybe the pope suffers from the same thing that ails Trump at times: emotive speech doesn’t always track logically. So it makes emotional sense but is not logically coherent. :–)
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I’m encouraged the Vatican is explaining God’s grace is free to all . . . that’s helpful!
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Help me, Debra. Is “emotive speech” a euphemism for lies?
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By far the best article I have read on the Border Adjustment Tax. A brilliant economist can spot most of the unintended consequences.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-border-adjustment-poisons-tax-reform-1487807100?mod=e2two
Phil Gramm is an old hero of mine. I contributed $5 to his ill-fated 1976 Senate campaign. Later he came back and became the best US Senator from Texas of my lifetime.
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Michelle, I think he means something different than we do, more along the lines of universalism than salvation through Christ alone. This pope is nowhere near aligned to us theologically.
Roscuro, when I was a little girl, maybe nine or ten, we were on vacation when a bunch of tough-looking motorcycle riders with Hell’s Angels jackets passed us and surrounded us. Dad was not known for his patience on the road. (More than once he followed someone laying on the horn for a long time.) Mom was visibly scared as she told him stay calm, stay calm. I think I had heard of them before, but I’m not sure. I just remember I was old enough to understand that Dad’s response could endanger us, if he chose to react, and it was rather scary and rather tense because Dad was angry (angry at them and perhaps angry at Mom too), but managed to stay in control, because I suppose he really did understand the danger, too.
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Cheryl, there was a movie scene just like that in the 1960s
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