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5.25.2002 1:42 PM I may slap someone silly if I hear anyone cry out about the planet running out of room for people. Japan's worried that their population will begin decreasing by 2007. The U.N. says Japan would need to bring in millions of workers just to stabilize the workforce. If this happens (population predictions have bounced from one extreme to the other almost as much as global warming/ice age predications) immigration is one solution. Another is plain old entrepreneurship. Businesses and factories crying out for workers will have to redesign their business methods. Computers and robots may have to fill the worker gap. Maybe Japanese workers will have to push back retirement and work longer because of longer lifespans. What Japan shouldn't do is try to out guess the market and subsidized particular solutions. More than likely, the government would guess wrong and cause even more problems. "Population Trends Pose Major Risks For Stability In Japan, Elsewhere" Sean Hackbarth | 1:33 PM The EU says they don't want a trade war with the U.S. over steel tarrifs. The Reuters story mentioned talks that would lower tarrifs on other goods to make up for increased steel tarrifs. It would tick off U.S. farmers but don't be surprised if agricultural duties are lowered. Bush gave farmers a huge gift by signing the farm bill last week. He has political wiggle-room here. "EU's Lamy Says U.S. Steel Dispute No Trade War" Sean Hackbarth | 5.24.2002 10:00 AM The Culture of Death rears its ugly head. I'm apalled by Cynthia Fields' comment:
Ms. Fields thinks she has a right to a perfect child. No, she doesn't. No one can impose their will on Nature. Chance is always present. Good and bad happen. We must accept that fact. Life is a blessing, not the curse she thinks it is. Fortunately for Jade, her retardation prevents her from understanding the horrible words her mother said. We will only see more and more of these "wrongful-birth' lawsuits. With better control over human reproduction, people expect fewer "mistakes." Plus with the option of abortion, problems can just disappear. "Family of Disabled Child Settles for $1.65M" Sean Hackbarth | 1:17 AM Sen. Russ Feingold said, "People have to pay money to get their music played." Hey, Russ, people also pay money to get their stuff on grocery shelves, and few complain about the lack of diversity of products in supermarkets. I'll admit most music on radio stinks. What I won't accept is orders from Washington organizing the radio industry. People who don't like commercial radio have plenty of options: non-profit radio; the Internet; satellite radio; CDs; MP3s. Radio giants like Clear Channel will only change when they think it will help the bottom line. If you don't like what's playing, don't listen. It's as simple as that. "Critics Seek Limits on Radio 'Payola'" Sean Hackbarth | 12:57 AM Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland admitted to paying off a man accusing him of sexual assault. The Archbishop denies abusing Paul Marcoux when he was a student at Marquette University in the 1979. When you take the Journal Sentinel story and combine it with a 1980 letter from Weakland to Marcoux, the easiest conclusion to make is that Weakland is a gay Archbishop who succumbed to temptation. The letter shows that both these men were troubled. Marcoux was dealing with depression, thoughts of suicide, and a break up with another lover. Weakland was dealing with his feelings for Marcoux and his vow of celibacy. Weakland writes:
In the end, Weakland abandons the relationship calling it "the greatest renunciations the Lord has asked me to make for His Kingdom." There are two problems with Weakland. First, he is a gay Archbishop who kept his sexuality away from the eyes of his parishioners. Since I'm not Catholic, I don't know if this is a breach of trust. Catholic doctrine opposes homosexual acts, but I believe homosexual priests are acceptable as long as they are celibate. Second, Weakland used $450,000 in church money to keep Marcoux quiet. To use Andrew Sullivan's words "that money was stolen by the archbishop from his parishioners." "Weakland Accused, Denies Sexual Abuse" "Milwaukee Archbishop Admits Settlement with Accuser" Sean Hackbarth | 5.23.2002 11:56 PM I knew my readers wouldn't disappoint me. According to Lowell Ponte, the late Stephen Jay Gould had a picture of Lenin above his desk. He was also raised by a communist father. A New York magazine article called Gould's politics "socialist" and his view of human history "Marxist." I've discovered an interview for Skeptic magazine where Gould is quoted as saying "It's true, my father was a Marxist so I had that background," but he also said he's proud of his "conventional liberal political attitudes." In a Washington Post obituary, it states, "Critics sometimes called him a Marxist" (emphasis mine). Then there is an essay in Gould's The Panda's Thumb where he parallels his "punctuated equilibrium" with Marxist dialectics. This is a start, but it's not definitive. It appears Gould kept his politics rather private, but with the numerous essays he wrote there has to be something where his political worldview stands out. Please keep the e-mail coming. We'll get to the bottom of this. "Political Scientist" "Look Who's Stalking" [thanks Rick] "An Urchin In A Haystack" "The Scientist Who Wrote Rings Around The Earth" "Stephen Jay Gould, Punctuationalism, and Dialectics" Sean Hackbarth | 10:57 PM The Senate passed fast-track trade authority for President Bush. This better get Bush back onto the free trade train. "Senate Hands Bush Major Trade Victory" Sean Hackbarth | 5.22.2002 1:19 PM Peggy Noonan writes that Pres. Bush put tariffs on steel and signed the pork-laden farm bill because he is focusing on the war. He doesn't feel pressure from his base because we (including me) know the war is most important. Granted, Bush's number one priority as commander-in-chief must be fighting the war, but at what cost? When America achieves victory, we will still be stuck with with a new trade policy that disrupted the decades-long trend of trade barrier reductions. We'll also be stuck with a farm bill that reversed 1996's small movement toward a free market in agriculture. After laws are passed, there is tremendous inertia preventing them from being reversed. In his book, Crisis and Leviathan, Robert Higgs put forth the theory that government grew as a result of national crisis. Economic panic from the stock market crash of 1929 brought about the quasi-socialist New Deal. World Wars I & II gave us more expansions of government power. Those expansions of power didn't disappear after the crisises vanished. An expansion that affects almost all Americans, income tax withholding, was started in 1943 to fund the war. Now, no one seriously considers its abolishment. In the short term, Bush's tactics to win a Republican congressional majority may work, but the effects may last beyond any of our lifetimes. Noonan thinks Bush's base understands his political tactics, but a few more cave ins and conservatives might come to the conclusion that fighting for a conservative Republican Congressional majority isn't that important since the President won't fight for conservatism. "Dubya's New Deal" Sean Hackbarth | 1:24 AM Stephen Jay Gould was a mighty defender and innovator of Darwinism. Whether you accepted the idea that Man was derived from proteins in a mud puddle or the result of divine inspiration, he was well known intellectual who's ideas will long outlive him. I thought Gould had some link to Communism. I thought at one time he admitted to being a Communist/Marxist. I haven't had any luck finding any information via Google, so I'm doubting myself. If you know of any interviews, essays, books, or web pages that link Gould to Communism/Marxism, please e-mail me. If you're positive that a few of my neurons misfired, let me know too. Godspeed, Stephen. "Stephen Jay Gould, Biologist and Theorist on Evolution, Dies at 60" Sean Hackbarth | 5.21.2002 11:35 PM Why didn't Democrats complain that the farm bill was a sop to the rich? Because it increased government's power. Will Sam Donaldson do a story on the pork-laden bill? Probably not, since he got $29,106 in subsidies from 1996 to 2000. Steel tariffs and this awful farm bill--Bush sure isn't showing off his economic conservative credentials. "Wealthy to Reap Bounty of Farm Bill" Sean Hackbarth | 11:28 PM Rumsfeld says terrorists will get nukes; Director Mueller says Palestinian-style homicide bomb attacks in the U.S. are likely; Dick Cheney said another major attack is "inevitable;" and Tom Ridge warns about possible attacks on apartments. All this is CYT--Cover Your Tush. If and when something horrible happens, government officials can use these statements to say, "See, we were on watch, and told the public to be aware. There was no dereliction of duty here." America is a big, free land. People, both good and bad, come here to experience that freedom. Having such freedom from government eyes allows bad guys to run around planning evil things against us. Unless we want to sacrifice our freedom, another terrorist attack will happen. We could heed Fareed Zakaria's advice and set up a domestic intelligence agency, but do we want government to given easy access to our mail, telephone, and electronic communications? Or we could heed Patrick Ruffini's argument for preemptive strikes at possible national threats? What these warnings do is reinforce the notion that post-9.11 is a different world. The days of watching reports of overseas terrorist attacks and feeling relieved that it can't happen here are over. We all still have that sense of unease, but it will pass. People living in Jerusalem, Belfast, and London have experience many more terrorist attacks than either New York City or Washington, and they've managed to continue functioning. Americans will do the same. "Rumsfeld: Terrorists Will Get Nukes" Sean Hackbarth | 11:02 PM Transportation Undersecretary John Magaw, Secretary Norman Mineta, and Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge don't want pilots to defend their planes from hijackers. Instead, they place their faith in air marshalls who can't be on every flight. Hijackers, knowing air marshalls could be on the plane is somewhat of a deterrent, but knowing that every pilot could be armed would be better. The best would be to allow passengers to bring their own weapons on board. Since many states already have concealed carry laws that have reduced violent crime, this doesn't seem ridiculous. I'm pretty sure a terrorist would avoid any flights originating from Texas or Georgia. Pilots are our first and last lines of defense up in the sky. They deserve a fighting chance. "DOT Says No Guns in the Cockpit" Sean Hackbarth | 10:24 PM Nearly expired Coca-Cola was repackaged from white neighborhoods and sold in minority neighborhoods. My initial reaction is to say, "So what?" Notice that it wasn't expired Coke; it was "nearly expired" soda. Also notice that the local bottler didn't charge the stores in the minority communities full price. What this looks like is just plain good logistic strategy. The bottler found where the soda could be sold quickly before it expired. They got revenue for nearly wasted product, and minority consumers got a deal on Coke. Maybe that's why the local NAACP chapter isn't immediately screaming racism. "Coke Resold Nearly Expired Soda in Minority Neighborhoods, Workers Say" Sean Hackbarth | 3:22 AM Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! The planned additon to the Royal Ontario Museum looks like an alien civlization planted itself like a parasite onto the original building. There is no respect for the surroundings. It's designed to showcase the designer, not add to the building. The end result is a design made to stroke the ego of the architect. This is a building for Earth: Final Conflict, which is fitting since it's filmed in Canada. Sean Hackbarth | 2:31 AM While the media claimed mailbox bomber, Luke Helder played in a punk band, OC Weekly sets the record straight:
Of course grunge--a horrible label put on a decent genre of music--is derived from punk. Mix in some Black Sabbath-style heavy metal with a pinch of 80s hair metal and you've got the Seattle music scene a la 1991. "Poseur Explosion" Sean Hackbarth | 1:43 AM Companies, like Stanley Works, moving their addresses (but not physical entities) to overseas may be the effect of a U.S. legal system gone wacko. At least that's what Paul Craig Roberts suggests. Here's how Roberts views the American legal landscape:
Both Walter Olsen and Philip Howard have documented the law run amuck. A stable rule of law that everyone understands is crucial to economic development. Individuals need to know what the rules are, who enforces them, and what the consequences of violated them are in order to enter them into their economic calculations. A runaway legal system abused by officials as well as scheming lawbreakers adds uncertainty to peoples' calculations. That can force some to give up their enterprises or to move them to places with more stable legal regimes. "Fourth in a Series on America's Imperiled Future" Sean Hackbarth | 5.19.2002 5:51 PM Jim Lehrer sees the future of news, and it doesn't include the major networks. Matt Drudge quotes PBS' top news man, "They go about the business of entertaining and leave informing to others." I haven't watched Dan, Peter, or Tom in years, and much of America is ignoring them too. With all-news cable channels and the Internet, losing the nightly news would be a real loss. Sean Hackbarth | 5:43 PM How perceptive of Mike to notice that "a Sith Lord controls the Senate," and he's not talking about Darth Sidious. Sean Hackbarth | |
ABOUT When I'm not pondering the fate of the universe, I'm reading, writing, or selling books. Here you'll find comments on politics, culture, books, and music. Not necessarily in that order. MAILBOX sean--at--theamericanmind.com  Support democracy and human rights in Iraq! 
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