http://www.davejustus.com None Sine Causa Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:25:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My brother sent me this article:  The End of Excess: Is This Crisis Good for America? - TIME. It is worth reading. The first page or so I didn't like, the author seemed indecently glad that fat, stupid America had got its due, and I expected a pretty radical, out there set ... http://www.davejustus.com/2009/03/30/the-end-of-excess/ The Associated Press Two months into an international anti-piracy campaign off the Somalia coast, the number of attacks against cargo ships is down sharply, senior military and diplomatic officials said Thursday. Good.  I happen to believe that maintaining order on the high seas is critical for our civilization.  Progress in this area ... http://www.davejustus.com/2009/03/05/piracy-attacks-drop/ CNN.com Iranian scientists have reached "nuclear weapons breakout capability," according to a new report based on findings of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. The Institute for Science and International Security report concludes Iran does not yet have a nuclear weapon but does have enough low-enriched uranium for a single nuclear weapon. If we ... http://www.davejustus.com/2009/02/20/iranian-nukes-5/ International Herald Tribune Under former leader Saddam Hussein, printing presses needed government permission for anything they put out, said Abdul Mahdi al-Aamiri, manager of Basras Alghadeer printing company. "The huge difference democracy has made to our business - you cant even compare to how we were before," he said. This makes me smile. (via ... http://www.davejustus.com/2009/01/30/freedom-of-the-press/ National Journal Magazine In normal times, Congress might never enlarge so many programs at once. But, as with Reagans tax cut, the crisis-induced demand for action may suspend the normal laws of political gravity -- and allow Democrats to redirect federal priorities as boldly as Reagan did. "This is a once-in-a-25-year ... http://www.davejustus.com/2009/01/30/stimulus-package/ FT.com / Europe France’s defence minister on Wednesday appeared to rule out any immediate reinforcement of French troops in Afghanistan if requested by Barack Obama, the new US president. Hervé Morin said deploying additional French forces to the war-torn country was “not a question for now” I'm  not surprised by this.  While ... http://www.davejustus.com/2009/01/22/frances-love-for-obama/ Barack Obama is now President of the Unitied States.  I ernestly wish him well and hope that he will meet the coming tests well. It will be interesting. http://www.davejustus.com/2009/01/20/happy-obama-day/ NYTimes.com “It’s dirty, hot and smelly here,” she said wistfully. “A factory is better.” Take a minute and read the whole thing. http://www.davejustus.com/2009/01/15/the-virtues-of-sweatshops/ DailyTech Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago. Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close. 1979 was the first year they began collecting this data, so ... http://www.davejustus.com/2009/01/12/sea-ice-ends-year-at-same-level-as-1979/ The Skeptical Optimist has for a while now been my go to site to understand economy, particularly as it relates to the national debt, the fed, and fiat currency.  This post:The Skeptical Optimist: Deflation, Inflation, and Money from Thin Air, is a wonderful explanation of why we need to 'borrow' ... http://www.davejustus.com/2009/01/09/deflation-inflation-and-money-from-thin-air/