Inside the Asylum

Hey, those are his words.

Iran's Supreme Leader, spurning what he described as several personal overtures from US President Barack Obama, has warned that negotiating with the US was ''naive and perverted'' and said Iranian politicians should not be ''deceived'' into starting such talks.

I wonder what he thinks they would talk about? Really, it's quite hard to be both naive and perverted at the same time.

The website failed for about a day when Blogsome had some issues. Since then, reader statistics haven't been working properly. As a result, I have no idea how many people are actually reading this. I find myself surprisingly less motivated to write without the knowledge that someone is actually reading. Well, thanks for reading, if anyone is out there!

The Asylum was unavailable for about a day because of problems with Blogsome. I think a disk died or something, and it took them a while to get things up and running again off back-ups. At least we don't seem to have lost anything except the records of readership and the like. Anyway, we're back again, and hopefully it won't happen again, though that's in Blogsome's hands.

Capitalism works. It has brought more prosperity and well being to more people than any other system. It's therefore more than a little strange that it's so hard to find people in the media or in academia who will say so. Instead, they're in love with Marxism, because it's ... well, because ... damn, I don't know why. It's not as if there isn't plenty of empirical proof out there for which system works better. It's not even as if it's better to be an academic or a journalist in a non-capitalist system (in fact, it's quite the opposite). What got me thinking about this is an article I read Feeble Critiques: Capitalism's Petty Detractors by Jagdish Bhagwati.

I tell the story about how my radical Cambridge teacher, Joan Robinson, was once observed many years ago agreeing with the mainstream Yale developmental economist Gus Ranis on the subject of Korea’s phenomenal growth. The paradox was resolved when it turned out that she was talking about North Korea and he about South Korea. Now, more than three decades later, we know who was right.

Nevertheless, human beings have a remarkable capacity to deceive themselves, and to believe things contrary to all evidence.
(Via Transterrestial Musings)

The Obama administration is trying awfully hard to "define" its was out of its Afghanistan troubles. First, they've been trying to redefine the war, so they can say they aren't trying to fight the Taliban (presumably so they can give up without saying they've given up) and now, under pressure to send more troops to Afghanistan, and with the commanding general saying "we need 40,000 more troops" the Obama Regime is trying to wriggle and squirm its way out of this one too, by claiming that it's actually sent "13,000 additional troops". Of course, they are all "support troops" ... what actual fighting soldiers call REMFs. (Snake, please correct me if I'm wrong about this one!)
Yep ... all those cooks, medics, and logistics officers are sure going to scare the s**t out of the Taliban.

The North Koreans sure come out with some pretty weird stuff, but maybe on occasion, they're right? This comes from a KCNA report calling for heightened vigilance against imperialists:

To undermine socialism from within is one of the main methods employed by the imperialists for their moves against socialism at present.

It's as good an explanation as any for what the Obama Regime is up to. First, we must become socialist, then we can undermine socialism from within. However, personally I think it's the other way around ... Obama got into power by pretending to be something he's not, and now he is actively seeking to undermine a system he simply doesn't believe in.

I'm not wildly keen on the Republican Party. They seem entirely too ... well, stupid. The main things they've got going for them seem to be that a) they weren't quite so wasteful with tax payer money when they were in power as the Obama Regime, b) they weren't quite so corrupt as the current mob, and c) they tend to be somewhat better at remembering who are America's friends and who are her enemies. There might be more, but they're all along the lines of "not quite as bad as the current ship of fools". Still, they're lucky that Biden is on the other team, as he's just issued a resounding call to arms for people to vote Republican in the next election:

[Biden has been] predicting doom for Obama's agenda if Republicans win dozens of Democratic House seats in traditional GOP-leaning districts. Said Biden, "If they take them back, this is the end of the road for what Barack and I are trying to do."

In other strikingly honest news:

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said. "The vice president can go anywhere. His range is diverse."

Yep, Joe does the whole range of stupid. He's got a very diverse repertoire.

Instapundit links to a website purporting to show the greatest 100 live albums of all time... and Metallica S&M isn't on the list. Hah. A heavy metal band combined with the San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra produces something that is entirely greater than the original. It's the only live album I'd take with me to the proverbial desert island (which would have to have electricity and a CD player, but bear with me.) I have to say, contrary to normal perceptions of heavy metal music, this album got me out of a very dark place in my life. It's why I wasn't particularly surprised to learn that monkeys prefer Metallica to other music and even find it soothing.
Here is the whole live concert in two video clips. It's about 3 hours long altogether. It's quite incredible ... oh, and I forgot to mention that aside from this album, I'm not a Metallic fan.

Now it's the Indians warning Obama not be an idiot over trade protectionism.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned against the dangers of growing protectionism amid collapse of exports, an issue that has marred ties between U.S and China in the backdrop of the G-20 summit... "I recognize that when growth is low, and unemployment is high, it is inevitable that protectionist pressures will arise," Singh told the G-20 college. "It will be a test of the collective political leadership of this group whether we are able to resist these pressures in our countries."

It's a test Obama is failing. Perhaps he could take this a teaching moment, or a learning opportunity?

I posted recently on Pakistan's election to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Today, this story emerges:

An angry, humiliated, and wounded A.Q.Khan has finally made public and official what has long been suspected: his nuclear proliferation activities that included exchanging and passing blue-prints and equipment to China, Iran, North Korea, and Libya was done at the behest of the Pakistani government and military, and he was forced to take the rap for it.

Remember that the next time you hear the IAEA pronouncing on something.

District 9 shows Nigerians in a bad light, so the Nigerian government is trying to ban it. Come on people ... Nigerian scam artists show Nigeria in a bad light ... how about a little effort to ban them? Anyway, that's not the part I found interesting ... here's a selection of comments taken from Nairaland, a Nigerian forum:

Lmao. . .Govt.officials.sat.down.and.watched.District.9. . .then.agreed.to.ban.it.Huh??
This movie has a lot to do with the curruption of african leaders and their role in the destruction of africa. When the people need their leaders, theyre always too busy loading their pockets to attend to real issues. Them making Obesandjo a canibal is hitting the nail on the head, cos he sold us out big time and was only ever intersted in his pocket. That was the significance of him being a canibal. One who eats his own.
Anyone who thinks Nigerians are cannibals because they are eating aliens in a movie is retarded
I laugh so much reading the above. The CIA fact book listed Nigeria #3 in the world for con artists. why don't Akunyili go after the CIA.
so nigerian artists can make songs like yahooze, maga done pay and i go chop your dollar with the intention of dissing foreigners but foreigners cant do the same??? naija people wise up

There's a Nigerian song called "I go chop your dollar"? What do you know ... here it is!:

A selection from the Lyrics

Poverty no good at all, no, Na im make I join this business...
Everybody dey play em...
I go take your money and disappear
419 is just a game, you are the loser I am the winner...
That Oyinbo people greedy, I say them greedy
I don't see them tire
That's why when they fall into my trap o!

[Further Update] I've found out the meaning of the reference to 419. Here it is:

Advance Fee Fraud (AFF) is known internationally as "4-1-9" fraud after the section of the Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes

Sentences from real Craig's List ads.
"It's been brought to my attention that I probably won't "catch a man" ... with 300 penguins and a bunch of purple furniture around."
"This kitty has a very soft and furry belly, like a teddy bear - however he will bite your face if you try to touch it."
"Do you have a small, incontinent dog? ... I have a package of small doggy diapers. Please don't try to put them on a cat. It won't work."
"I am willing to rent out my bathroom ... My bathroom is large. You can easily put a twin air mattress in there. I only ask that when I need to use the bathroom, you or your air mattress are not in it."
(Via Tim Blair)

I'm going to be very very busy over the next month (at least) and my blog posting is going to be intermittent. The blog hasn't been abandoned or gone inactive, and hopefully Dr Strangelove and Prof X will find time to post something.

In the meantime, please explore the archives. There's lots of stuff there about solar activity, North Korean weirdness, American politics and that lying liar who 52% of voters were stupid enough to elect into the White House, stuff about the Muslim World (a term which I actually think is inappropriate as you'll see if you look in that category on the right), and some very pithy quotes from two wise men, Robert Heinlein and Confucius, and more ... Enjoy!

What sort of media play do you suppose this will get in US news?

SAUDI ARABIA’S Foreign Minister rejected a fundamental premise of the Obama Administration’s Arab-Israeli peace efforts, saying Arab states could not start normalising relations with Israel until Israel agreed to withdraw from Arab territories occupied since 1967.

Ooops. Wrong question. Do you suppose this will get any coverage in US news? Now that's the right question.

The Rhetorician has turned one year old. As far as the blog-o-sphere is concerned, that counts as maturity. (I think two years is middle-aged, three is senility, and four is either death or sainthood.)

KCNA North Korean News states:

The Japanese and U.S. officials concerned with foreign affairs and defense recently held a working consultation in Tokyo for the purpose of adopting a new "Japan-U.S. security joint declaration"... The adoption of such declaration would only bring Japan a horrible disaster and consequently, the Japanese reactionaries would not be able to escape the lot of a tiger moth.

What the heck is it with the North Koreans and tiger moths? (See earlier post on the topic here.)

Well, we've already seen pretty ambassadors in short skirts. Now it's time to bring out the big guns.

A group of seven ''maid cafe'' waitresses wearing miniskirts and aprons left Osaka for Taiwan on Friday in a bid to attract tourists to the largest business area in western Japan. ''We'll sing and dance our best to promote Japanese pop culture,'' said Manae Miura, 18... Kansai International Airport Co., operator of the airport, spearheaded the project to send the young women to Taiwan to promote tourism against the backdrop of a decrease in passengers during the protracted economic downturn.

Make love not war! Or something.

The Asylum once again went "unavailable" last night. We've not gone anywhere ... it's some fault with the blog host. If you try once and it doesn't work, try another time. Sorry about that.