Political Islam

The  Center for the Study of Political Islam provides information about the Islamic faith that is very difficult to come by anywhere else.  This interview of the head of that organization is as clear a recitation of the problems for the West inherent in this faith as exists anywhere.  Then bottom line of the interview:  Since there is no tolerance in Political Islam for any other faith or way of life, we in the West who have decided to deal with this faith through tolerance and "being nice" are in for a rough ride. 


ADDED:  The redoubtable Diana West, who has been sounding the alarm about the aggressive nature of Islam for years, comments here on a study done recently by independent scholars on the matter of the literature and teachings emanating from American mosques.  This study is alarming.  Over 50% of the mosques disseminate literature and teach violent jihadism and an additional 30% preach a milder form of jihadism.  Bottom line:  This is a dangerous religion to those who do not practice it, or put another way, to infidels and apostates.  

Fannie, Freddie and Barney.

Grechen Morgensen and a co writer have produced yet another book on the causes of the financial meltdown.  This story is well known by now but what's most interesting  most disgusting is the lack of interest in the subject on the part of the so-called MSM in this country.  Corruption, when practiced by democrats, is apparently just fine as long as it is in the good cause of,  a) ensuring their idea of fairness, b) sticking it to republicans, c) redistributing wealth, and d) growing the size of government.

IN THE WASHINGTON POST, JOHN TAYLOR REVIEWS Gretchen Morgenson & Joshua Rosner’s Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon. Excerpt:

While many economists — including this reviewer — have argued that government actions caused the crisis, Morgenson and Rosner use their investigative skills to dig down and explain why those actions were taken. To avoid reckless policies in the future, we need to understand their causes, and the authors’ identification of government-industry links deserves careful consideration by anyone interested in improving the economy. . . .

The book then gives examples where Fannie’s executives — Jim Johnson, CEO from 1991 to 1998, is singled out more than anyone else — used the excess profits to support government officials in a variety of ways with plenty left over for large bonuses: They got jobs for friends and relatives of elected officials, including Rep. Barney Frank, who is tagged as “a perpetual protector of Fannie,” and they set up partnership offices around the country which provided more jobs. They financed publications in which writers argued that Fannie’s role in promoting homeownership justified federal support. They commissioned work by famous economists, such as Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz, which argued that Fannie was not a serious risk to the taxpayer, countering “critics who argued that both Fannie and Freddie posed significant risks to the taxpayer.” They made campaign contributions and charitable donations to co-opt groups like the community action organization ACORN, which “had been agitating for tighter regulations on Fannie Mae.” They persuaded executive branch officials — such as then Deputy Treasury Secretary Larry Summers — to ask their staffs to rewrite reports critical of Fannie. In the meantime, Countrywide, the mortgage firm led by Angelo Mozilo, partnered with Fannie in originating many of the mortgages Fannie packaged (26 percent in 2004) and gave “sweetheart” loans to politicians with power to affect Fannie, such as Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. The authors write that “Countrywide and Fannie Mae were inextricably bound.”

It’s interesting to me that there has been so little law enforcement — or journalistic — interest in the rampant corruption relating to these institutions’ collapse.

Whoa! Enough's enough!

Nothing like a dirty old Frenchman.  Obama protects his own here.

Yale and free speech

Anyone who remembers the Duke rape case must by sympathetic to the letter Harvey Silverglate writes here on behalf of the president of Yale. Speech codes and restriction of free speech rights, conferred by the First Amendment, as practiced by schools all over the country are the subject of Silvergate's book on the subject as well as this letter.  It is hard to argue with Silverglate's basic argument that compromising free speech rights is a slippery slope leading to unfree speech rights and, by extension, totalitarianism. This argument makes sense.

Recovery a la democrats

This post from Powerline, with its accompanying charts, unmistakably demonstrates the failure of the Obama administration's economic recovery policies.  Keynsianism is truly dead.

Grant's Interest Rate Observer

For as long as memory serves Jim Grant has been a successful contrarian prognosticator of financial markets.  His bi-weekly newsletter costs $1,000 per year, out of the range of the ordinary investor. It's safe to say his following is largely among the professional money manager class.  The interview linked here, provides an opportunity for a "free" look at Grant's take on the future.  Consistent with his philosophy and belief that market forces in the end overwhelm all attempts to manipulate and control things by government, Grant's message now is to load up on cash and be ready for the inevitable run up in interest rates and collapse of stock prices.  This strikes this conservative as very good advice.