Links and Minifeatures 08 31 Part II

This article on Duke Cunningham illustrates what I've been saying about federal spending as a tragedy of the commons.

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To Watchful Investor, I say there are already markets (Southern California, Washington DC) seeing notable deflation of housing prices. Realtors here keep writing articles about how it's not a bubble until it pops. They are only embarrassing themselves.



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Froggy Ruminations has a great point. I disagree slightly on the constitution, but he is correct in that without the military to defend us from external enemies, it would be just a piece of paper of some interest to historians. I also disagree with the paternalism and elitism of calling the troops "children." They are all legal adults who have chosen to serve, and most of them have actually re-enlisted after seeing what's going on. If that does not indicate a situation where it is impossible to "support the troops but oppose the war", then I don't know what is. Maybe we should start a list of those who have said "I support the troops but oppose the war." It does translate to english as "I'm claiming I support the troops to make me look like a good american to credulous idiots, but I have staked my political future and credibility upon them losing, which would mean that large numbers get killed or maimed and all of their aggregate services and sacrifices will mean less than nothing. And my words encourage our adversaries."



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The aftermath of Katrina is something I am intentionally writing as little as possible about. Instapundit has a great list of where to donate, and if you want Katrina blogging, Michelle Malkin is a great place to start. The Hurricane Katrina Help Wiki is here.



I especially do not want to hear anything about blame until the emergency is over. Even then, I am certain there's more than enough to go around to everyone. This problem has been obvious since at least 1927. Walter Jon Williams did a very well researched fictional dramatization based upon the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-2. Everybody had a chance, and Nobody did what was necessary to prevent this. Right now, let's focus on getting those people fed, watered, and sheltered. The best thing to do is donate money. Later on, we can decide how much we should rebuild based upon necessary protective measures.



The one thing I'm not finding that might be helpful is a list of requested help - non-obvious goods or services requested by the folks dealing with Katrina aftermath. I'm 2000 miles away, and other than sending money, there's not much that's obvious that I can do. I'd like to know if there's something non-obvious (and where to volunteer), and I'm sure Glenn and Michelle would appreciate the information, too.



Oh, and people looting anything but food and water should be shot. Just because you may be hungry doesn't give you the moral right to a TV. Especially with the power out until the emergency is over.



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There has been a mass de-linking of Instapundit, sponsored by Stop the ACLU. Now I'm a big non-fan of the modern ACLU, but they still do some good work. And let's keep a little perspective here. The Professor does the rest of us a lot of good. He's a real sport about linking to carnivals. He's not stingy with links, and he even links to the people and post advocating de-linking him. Furthermore, although I expect he's making a fair amount of money from Instapundit and it serves as an attention getter to get more, the bottom line is he's providing an important information nexus on the internet. None of the other big guns cover the territory in the fashion he does. At this point, he certainly doesn't have to continue and yet he does. Furthermore, I read and link all kinds of folks that I disagree with on many issues, because Groupthink is not my friend. I actually thought about linking the Instapundit once for every blog on the de-link list, just to make a point, but it wouldn't serve any useful purpose. The point is that the link to Instapundit will remain, and this is a figurative raspberry in your direction.



Restless Mania has more.



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Rhymes with Right has a post on voter fraud and asking who it benefits. Well, in this case, likely the Donkeys, but I don't care who it benefits. I want them Off. The. Rolls.



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Restless Mania has a great post on Darfur.



I don't know about everyone else. There's a sharp limit to what I can do as an individual, especially right now. But this really bothers me in how easy it would be to stop the vast majority of it while costing comparatively little in lives or treasure. The Janjaweed is nothing, militarily. Every person protesting the Iraq war, every person giving aid and comfort to our enemies with verbiage about how awful the Iraq situation is, every person accusing Bush of being a mass murderer and terrorist, makes intervention in Darfur that much more difficult. The Khartoum government is not going to stop this crap, any more than Saddam Hussein did. We can close our eyes and pretend we don't see and these suffering human beings will continue to suffer until they are driven out or extinct, or some country or alliance somewhere with a competent military is going to have to do something. The longer we take to take action the worse the total gets. If not now, when? If not US, who?



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Respectful Insolence has an excellent post on the importance of clinical trials.