Muslim Anger at Sweden over Qur ’an Burning Is Misplaced
Mustafa Akyol andJohan NorbergThese days, there isanger across the Muslim world against Sweden. Large protests against the small Scandinavian nation have taken place in Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. In some places Swedish flags were burnt, and some even chanted, “Death to the Swedish government.”All this is a reaction against an act of one man: far ‐right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan, who also happens to be a Swedish citizen. On Jan 21,he publicly burnt a copy of the Qur ’an in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. Turkish authorities responded with st...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 1, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Mustafa Akyol, Johan Norberg Source Type: blogs
Appreciating U.S. Ground Force Contributions to Operation Inherent Resolve
Defeating ISIS hinged on a ground fight, requiring the grueling liberation of territory kilometer by kilometer. While Iraqi forces bore the brunt of frontline fighting, U.S. forces were also engaged in on-the-ground combat operations that hastened the defeat of ISIS. Appreciating such contributions will be necessary to distill the right lessons so that we might correctly apply them to future irregular warfare. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - January 25, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Jeffrey Martini; Sean M. Zeigler; Gian Gentile Source Type: blogs
Should We Worry That the 118th Congress Will Be Unproductive?
David BoazIn the Washington PostGillian Brockell explores how the House of Representatives has functioned in the past when it was very closely divided. The answer seems less encouraging than she suggests. In 1917, for instance, the Republicans had a plurality of seats, but not a majority, and third ‐party members joined the Democrats to elect a Democratic speaker. Did that divide cause gridlock? Not enough, in my view:The 65th Congress was remarkably productive — not only did it authorize a declaration of war by a 373 –50 vote, it also passed the 18th Amendment prohibiting alcohol, which r...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 7, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Progress Happens … Slowly
David BoazPresident Biden is taking some baby steps toward drug policy reform, a move I recommendedin the New York Times 34 years ago. As I wrote then:Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920 ’s failed because it proved impossible to stop people from drinking. Our 70‐year effort at prohibition of marijuana, cocaine, and heroin has also failed. Tens of millions of Americans, including senators, presidential candidates, a Supreme Court nominee and conservative journalists, have brok en the laws against such drugs. Preserving laws that are so widely flouted undermines respect for all laws....Our efforts to crack down on ille...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - October 8, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
The Illegality of Biden ’s Student Debt Cancellation Plan
ConclusionThe HEROES Act of 2003 is an implausible vehicle for a nationwide debt cancellation plan, and a careful examination of the act’s text reveals no clear congressional intent to authorize such a sweeping plan. The Biden administration’s student loan cancellation will be challenged in court by many plaintiffs, at least some of whom are likely to hav e standing. And when the action is challenged, it is likely to fall, just as several other dubious claims of statutory authority have fallen over the last two years. (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 26, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas A. Berry Source Type: blogs
A Better Approach to U.S.-Taiwan Economic Relations
Clark PackardThe United States Trade Representative (USTR) recentlyannounced it would begin formal trade negotiations with Taiwan. Thenegotiating mandate lays out 11 different areas for negotiation, ranging from trade facilitation to labor and the environment. Middlebury College professor Dr. Gary Winslett had a comprehensiveTwitter thread in response to the substance of the announcement, most of which I agree with. Like the Biden administration ’sIndo ‐Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), market access (i.e., tariff elimination/ reduction) is notably absent from the Taiwan announcement, which is regretta...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 14, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Clark Packard Source Type: blogs
Secrets
It should come as no surprise that I am not a big fan of the FBI or the U.S. " intelligence " services. Historically, the FBI has been an instrument of oppression of leftist and progressive organizations, movements and individuals. The FBI murdered Fred Hampton, a man I greatly admired. They tried to murder Martin Luther King Jr. and it ' s just possible that they actually did. They infiltrated progressive organizations with provocateurs and disrupted their operations. They blackmailed people and they even ratf.ed the Hillary Clinton campaign and helped make TFG president.As for the CIA, they repeatedly engineered military...
Source: Stayin' Alive - September 1, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
September 01, 2022 Edition-----This week it is all about weather and climate change with floods, heatwaves and droughts in Parkistan, Europe and China. In the US drought is causing all sorts of food supply issues and price rises.In the EU was a seeing all sorts of energy supply problems.In Australia we have a feast of investigations into ScoMo, RoboDebt and so on. Lots to browse!-----Major Issues.-----https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/us-alliance-fear-that-dare-not-speak-its-name-20220818-p5bat8US alliance fear that dare not speak its nameUneasiness about divided, inward-looking America fulfilling its security gua...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - September 1, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
Federal Records Declassification Follies: Biden Administration Edition
Patrick G. EddingtonYesterday, POLITICO ’s Brian Benderreported on a new Biden administration effort to “pierce the veil” of excessive federal government secrecy. The mechanism: a new National Security Council ‐led initiative to reform America’s insanely broad and totally dysfunctional system of classifying and declassifying U.S. government records.The “both sides” tone of much of Bender’s piece–that declassification advocates have points in their favor, but government bureaucrats have legitimate concerns too–is emblematic of the kind of lazy reporting on this issue that makes it seem like ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - August 24, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Patrick G. Eddington Source Type: blogs
What they don't bother to tell you
Complaining about the corporate media is like talking about the weather. It doesn ' t ever seem to do any good. But at least my 4/12 readers deserve to know something very important about the Biden administration, which for some reason is a big secret. It also has to do with a big secret about the previous administration.This site keeps track of air strikes in Iraq and Syria by the U.S. led coalition.Bet you didn ' t know this. These are civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria by presidential term. Note that the chart includes allegations that the investigators don ' t consider confirmed, but they ' re very up-front about ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - August 16, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
August 11, 2022 Edition-----It is hard to go past just how bad the level strategic stability in the world seems to have gone backwards with the war hardly stopping, Nancy Pelosi poking Chinese bears. The UK imploding economically and Europe on the brink of collapse.I have never seen it this bas and many senior commentators agree. Really very worrying!-----Major Issues.-----https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/newspoll-record-electoral-satisfaction-rating-for-anthony-albanese/news-story/6ad1f681586961423e3eb75a05b99949Newspoll: Record electoral satisfaction rating for Anthony AlbaneseSimon BensonJuly 31, 2022Anthony Alba...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - August 11, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
July 28, 2022 Edition-----Sadly the war drags on, Biden seems to be pretty impotent on most policy fronts and the US seems to be heading into a recession. Not good,In the UK the choosing the next PM is off and running as the country and Europe are cooling down after a heatwave (for them) of biblical proportions!In OZ Parliament is meeting which is when the rubber will really hit the road as a new virus wave runs out of control still! We need to do more to control it as we realise just how bad long COVID is!-----Major Issues.-----https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/how-a-nobel-laureate-got-australian-economists-offside-...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - July 28, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
The Lessons the United States Learned, and That Russia Did Not
As dissimilar as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars may be to the war in Ukraine, those conflicts taught the United States a few important lessons, often the hard way. As a result, the U.S. military probably would have avoided the problems that beset the Russians in Ukraine—not in spite of the global war on terrorism, but because of it. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - July 25, 2022 Category: Health Management Authors: Raphael S. Cohen; Gian Gentile Source Type: blogs
On Free Speech, “Lady of Heaven,” and Sectarianism
Mustafa AkyolIn the past few weeks, some Britons had a sense of déjà vu, reminding them the censorship campaign against Salman Rushdie’s blasphemous novel “The Satanic Verses” some thirty‐five years ago. This time, the center of angst was a movie titled, “Lady of Heaven, ” which glorified the story of Lady Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. Yet, in an unmistakably sectarian tone, the movie also demonized some of the most revered figures of Sunni Islam.Hence came protests organized by some Sunni groups, fromBradford to London, in front of movie theaters. There was no violence, but the heated r...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 22, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Mustafa Akyol Source Type: blogs
The Reagan ‐Volcker Years in Retrospect
Alan ReynoldsRichard Vigilante, an old friend from the Reagan years, reminds us of another old friend John Rutledge who worked with Larry Kudlow, Dave Stockman and me onthe 1981 presidential transition team. I asked Stockman to invite Rutledge because I admired his writings about rational expectations and markets but also because he was a wizard with a rare DOS laptop (I did not buy a PC until 1982).Later that year, December 14, Rutledge wrote “Why Interest Rates Will Fall in 1982” forThe Wall Street Journal. That is the article Vigilante recalls as “the most prescient prediction by an economist that I have ev...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 17, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Alan Reynolds Source Type: blogs
