Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

Mel Sells Jesus Flick to French.

Was there ever really any doubt once the movie showed some strength?

Kim du Toit’s Weekly Rant is in regards to people comparing Bush to Hitler.

There are 7.5 million people in Haiti, and their GDP is (per capita) $1400. The per capita income is about $400 (depending on which resource referenced) which is 28% of GDP. The US per capita GDP is $37,600 and our per capita income is $32,000, or 85% of GDP.

Government revenues in Haiti are $273 million. Government expenditures are $361 million. They receive $120 million in foreign assistance, and have a national debt of $1.2 billion. I don’t think it requires a lot of analysis to understand what has happened in Haiti under Aristide.

Bush 41 helped put Aristide and a “democratic” government in power. At the time it made sense. Aristide was a priest who preached peace and democracy, and he had a loyal following. When Aristide was forced out of power by military coup, Clinton helped put him back. He is now gone once more. And the country is probably worse off now than before. He’ll go off to exile and live in luxury, a priest who obviously renounced his vow of poverty.

This is a mixed bag of supporters. There are those, like the Baathists in Iraq, who want to continue the government and its institutions as they now stand for personal reasons. There are democratic supporters, sincere in their support of the only representative government they’ve known. The opposition is a mixed group as well. As always, there are the hard-core leftists (communist, socialist, Leninist, Marxist, whatever you want to call them), drug cartels, anarchists, and people simply fed up with Aristide, but who want to keep a democracy in place.

Clinton sent soldiers in to restore calm once before. I think we will end up doing the same once more. The environment there is more like Somalia than Iraq, but far more compact with friendlier surroundings. But if we want to really help, it will cost. The infrastructure needs to be refurbished, and the environment established to be conducive to industry and trade.

Tonight we have the Academy Awards. I won’t watch. But it would be a wonderful gesture if all those millionaires involved would make a commitment tonight to donate $1 million each to the reconstruction of a truly representative government in Haiti and the social services they insist our government should provide.

I won’t hold my breath.

Harry and his mates get together at Harry’s Place for some exceptional conversation and debate. Today, Marcus has a post on Karl Marx.As always, the post is well-written, and the comments honor it with insightful reaction.

Iraq is the point of interest, and what form the economy will eventually take. As with every country moving from autocratic, state-run society to a liberal environment, the momentum is always toward an economy run by the government. Both Iraq and Haiti face this issue. I think it would be a mistake to let either fall into this hole, but we may have insufficient influence to prevent it.

…and chicks for free?

Mark at Amaravati: Abode of Amritas talks about federal funds going for “research” at universities. Since he is a linguist, he takes aim at Chomsky.

I believe it is time for the government to put money where it will do the most good: translation.

Think of the benefits that would come from Arabic, Pashtun, and Farsi translations of such things as The Federalist Papers or John Locke, or even the old man himself, Sam Clemens. On my way to Kuwait last spring I spoke with several Iraqi American citizens who had volunteered to go to Iraq as interpreters. I wanted badly to give them some reading material and ask them to translate it in their spare time and pass it around.

Education is a wonderful thing. But the books you read in getting some of that education mean everything. And the people in Iraq have had nothing but Saddam for three decades. How many have grown up without any concept of what is in just twenty or thirty books we all take for granted?

I’d love to see Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations translated and distributed. Even something like les Miserables (are French books a bad choice just because they’re, well…, French?). I’d say anything that offers ideas to ponder and discuss would be of value.

The Bush Doctrine is to spread democratic ideals and practical implementation throughout the world. I believe it is the simplest, yet most profound goal in decades. What other people have ever tried to bring true freedom to those in the world who’ve never experienced it? Asking nothing in return.

I’m going to send this along to my senators and the President. Maybe something good will come of it.

Update: Dr. Cole at Michigan apparently has a project in the works to so something similar to what I’ve proposed. His web site is here with the opportunity to donate.

Zeyad has a post regarding women in Iraq campaigning for equal rights. I’ve not seen anything on US television about it, or on any news organization web sites.

It isn’t news here because the women’s intent wasn’t for it to be news here. Take a look at the photos and you will see something very different from what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. Yes, there are the standard march and chanting. No difference there. But look at the banners they’re carrying. All in Arabic. No English.

Obviously these are either very stupid women, none of whom could find anyone to put slogans in English on their banners, or they are very smart women, trying to make a real difference in their contry. In their language. I know what I believe.

Zeyad also has a link I visited for the first time today, Internet Infidels. I’ve read much regarding Islam, and view it in much the same way as I view Mormanism. Both believe the Bible is the basic historical core of their religion, and both believe the story of their faith continues through another phase, either the Book of Morman or Quran. Both were written by someone claiming divine inspiration. That inspiration is the core of their beliefs. That’s is a very simplistic explanation, but sets the tone.

I do not believe any of Mohammed’s writings are divine. In fact, most suras were written to rationalize some act or desire of his, or to establish his precedence as leader of all the desert tribes. Of course, there are millions around the world who disagree with my assessment. And they would claim my ignorance causes me to have this opinion. No, my ignorance would cause me to possibly believe in Islam. The fact I have read the Quran and several “official” explanations of its meaning is what gives me pause.

If you have an interest, Secular Islam will be a good starting point for you to learn more.

Instapundit.com:, Bob Arnot is leaving NBC disgustedly.

Dr. Bob is one of those journalists I’ve grown to respect. I guess he’s leaving for the very reasons I respect him.

UPDATE: More on the issue here.