harmonicminer

General McChrystal’s request for more troops in Afghanistan originally came in a report he submitted on August 30, 2009.  Since then at least 97 American soldiers have died while President Obama tries to decide on a course of action in that war-torn country.  One cannot help but wonder if Obama considers this primarily a political decision.  In fact, it has even been suggested the president has been waiting to announce his decision until after next Tuesday’s elections. I hope that is not the case.

Mr President, two months you have now delayed making a decision.  Two months since your hand-picked general first gave you his frank assessment of the situation in Afghanistan. You obviously valued his opinion or you would not have placed him in that most difficult of command positions.  He has asked you for an increase of 40,00 more troops and he has explained why.  Yet you have still not made a decision.  Perhaps you have taken that time to reflect on the difference between skillful utterance of campaign rhetoric and actually being Commander in Chief.  Perhaps you are really struggling with this terribly difficult choice.  I hope so – it’s not supposed to be easy.

Mr. President, I suggest you look down at your hands, do you see the blood there?  It is the blood of brave soldiers who have died on your watch.  Don’t bother washing your hands, the stain will never go away – just ask any other President who has faced the extremely difficult choice of sending troops into harm’s way.  I’m sure they will tell you how many times they washed their hands… to no avail.  I’m not saying the deaths of those 97 soldiers could have been avoided had you decided on a course of action sooner – it is impossible to say,  But I am saying that you can no longer claim to be “mopping up someone else’s mess”.  It is now your mess.  It is now time for you to understand and embrace what is meant by the phrase, “The buck stops here”.

It is my most fervent prayer that you will make the best possible decision – not the most expedient or the most politically calculated, not the one that might endear you to the most people, or shine the best light on you – but the one that is best – best for our troops, best for their families, best for the people of Afghanistan, best for the people of The United Sates of America, best for the cause of those who hold freedom and liberty dear.  But I do know this – decide you must, and no matter what you decide that stain will still be there on your hands, long after you leave office.  It comes with the job.

The previous post in this series is here.

It would seem that a Shrimp’s eye points way to better DVDs.

The amazing eyes of a giant shrimp living on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could hold the key to developing a new type of super high-quality DVD player, British scientists said on Sunday.

Mantis shrimps, dubbed “thumb splitters” by divers because of their vicious claws, have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.

They can see in 12 primary colors, four times as many as humans, and can also detect different kinds of light polarization — the direction of oscillation in light waves.

Now a team at the University of Bristol have shown how the shrimps do it, using remarkable light-sensitive cells that rotate the plane of polarization in light as it travels through the eye.

Manmade devices do a similar thing in DVD and CD players but they only work well for one color, while the shrimp’s eye operates almost perfectly across the whole visible spectrum from near ultra-violet to infra-red.

Transferring the same multi-color ability into a DVD player would result in a machine capable of handling far more information than a conventional one.

“The mechanism we have found in this eye is unknown to human synthetic devices. It works much, much better than any attempts that we’ve made to construct a device,” researcher Nicholas Roberts told Reuters.

He believes the “beautifully simple” eye system, comprising cell membranes rolled into tubes, could be mimicked in the lab using liquid crystals.

Details of the mantis shrimp research were published in the journal Nature Photonics.

Just why the mantis shrimp needs such a rarefied level of vision is unclear, although researchers suspect it is to do with food and sex.

That could be said of every single feature of every single organism, or course.  Personally, I think maybe God just likes to make things.  Living things.  With really, really incredible designs that are lurking underwater for millions of years so that eventually His creatures with souls and intelligence will find them and marvel.

The non-explanation that such incredible design “has to do with food and sex” is risible, of course.  What’s that supposed to mean, that all the rest of the denizens of the sea are lonely and hungry?  Besides….  if you were a shrimp, you might just find that your libido was improved by not seeing all that well.

A few million years isn’t enough time for something like that particular eye design to happen by accident.

The next post in this series is here.

I’m not convinced there will be music in Hell, but if there is, it will presumably be ugly.

Which is what makes the following review of a piece by Rachmaninoff seem so unfair, since his music is usually quite beautiful….  but not everyone agreed.  From the music critic Cesar Cui, in the St. Petersburg News, March 16, 1897:  (from Slonimsky’s Lexicon of Music Invective)

If there were a conservatory in Hell, and if one of its talented students was to compose a symphony based on the story of the Seven Plagues of Egypt, and if he had written one similar to Rachmaninoff’s, he would have brilliantly accomplished his task and would have delighted the inhabitants of Hell.

This is surely hyperbole.  First off, one presumes that those in Hell do not enjoy their suffering, which means they would not actually LIKE ugly music.  And in any case, the really ugly music coming down the pike in the next century was much worse than whatever mild harmonies the great Russian pianist might have used.

I’m guessing that if Rachmaninoff was disturbing to Mr. Cui, then the music of Stravinsky (not the ugly music i was talking about) less than 20 years later must have caused him to spill his borscht and vodka.  And I’m willing to bet that Pierrot Lunaire made him choke on it.

My niece married a man from Lebanon. They lived in Lebanon for awhile after they were married, and his family taught her how to prepare Lebanese food, including hummus.  And I have to say it, the stuff is delicious.  But the evil Israelis, not content with stealing Palestine from the people who stole it from the people who stole it from them, have begun making hummus themselves, and worse, making money on it.  So, in a last ditch effort to assert their bragging rights to intellectual property, some Lebanese chefs prepare massive plate of hummus.

Lebanese chefs prepared a massive plate of hummus weighing over two tons Saturday that broke a world record organizers said was previously held by Israel – a bid to reaffirm proprietorship over the popular Middle Eastern dip.

“Come and fight for your bite, you know you’re right!” was the slogan for the event – part of a simmering war over regional cuisine between Lebanon and Israel, which have had tense political relations for decades.

Lebanese businessmen accuse Israel of stealing a host of traditional Middle Eastern dishes, particularly hummus, and marketing them worldwide as Israeli.

“Lebanon is trying to win a battle against Israel by registering this new Guinness World Record and telling the whole world that hummus is a Lebanese product, its part of our traditions,” said Fady Jreissati, vice president of operations at International Fairs and Promotions group, the event’s organizer.

Hummus – made from mashed chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic – has been eaten in the Middle East for centuries. Its exact origin is unknown, though it’s generally seen as an Arab dish.

But it is also immensely popular in Israel – served in everyday meals and at many restaurants – and its popularity is growing around the globe.

Of course, the declaration of recipe infringement hardly rises to the level of, say, the Soviet “invention” of the 57 Chevy, not to mention half the other cars invented in the West.

I think the entire discussion of who owns the rights to hummus is…. wait for it….. humorous.

Maybe if Hamas and Hizbullah were more interested in hummus, and less fascinated by homicide, we could hope for harmony in Haifa.

Perhaps Netanyahu could send them a nice copy of “The Joy of Cooking.”

Watch this, from Lord Christopher Monckton, chief policy advisor to the Science and Public Policy Institute.

I haven’t heard much about this from other sources…. I’m trying to get more information about it.  But if this fellow isn’t exaggerating, this is looking really ugly.

More info here and here and some especially scary nonsense from Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister.

Here’s the story of a New York Eagle Scout Suspended From School for 20 Days for Keeping Pocketknife in Car

A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in upstate New York has been barred from stepping foot on school grounds for 20 days — for keeping a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car.

Read the whole thing.

Then ask yourself what’s wrong with the public schools, the education system, the courts, and maybe America in general.  Some people have well and truly lost their minds, and unfortunately they are the ones with power over the rest of us, and our children.

It’s simply embarrassing.  What would the American founders say about this?  What would anyone even 50 years ago say about this?

I do know this.  If I am ever in a tight situation, an earthquake maybe, or tornado, or flood, or just in need of help, I won’t be getting any useful assistance from the nitwits who pass these kinds of laws and make these kinds of regulations, but I will be getting help from any Eagle Scouts who happen to be around.  They will be the ones who are prepared to help, which means having both knowledge and the proper tools.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Press freedom and the internet

THIS week a national newspaper ran a fascinating story about absolutely nothing. The Guardian reported on its front page on October 13th that a question had been tabled by an MP in Parliament, but that the newspaper could not reveal “who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question is to be found”. The reason, it explained no less cryptically, was that “legal obstacles, which cannot be identified, involve proceedings, which cannot be mentioned, on behalf of a client who must remain secret”.

In other words, you can’t talk about what you can’t talk about, and if you even mention that you are not going to discuss the existence of something you aren’t supposed to talk about, you’re in big trouble, buddy.

These guys would be right at home in the modern university.

A report from Russia that Karl Marx Predicted Collapse of US Dollar in 1857

The great October fall of the US dollar is turning into an avalanche. On Tuesday, the American currency lost nine kopeks in Russia and reached a new minimum mark this year – 29.5 rubles per dollar. Within six months (April through September) the dollar lost over 10 percent at the world foreign exchange trading, which marked the sharpest decline since 1991. Some experts believe that the American currency is close to collapse, which may lead to a new financial crisis.

The tendency of the US dollar devaluation has been observed for a few years, but the current rate of decline is unprecedented. Some jokesters even rushed to re-read the letters of Karl Marx to Friedrich Engels written during the US financial panic of 1857 discussing the collapse of America. It would have been funny if it wasn’t so serious.

The chief economist of HSBC Bank Stephen King believes that if the US officials fail to stop the fall of American currency, it may provoke another financial crisis. “A dollar collapse would be a disaster all round… It would leave the international monetary system short of stability and long of fear. It would unleash economic upheavals on a similar scale to those seen in the 1970,” King wrote for The Independent.

American officials don’t seem to be overly concerned since nothing is being done about it. The US hasn’t done anything to support the currency since 1955. But is a collapse inevitable? From the viewpoint of macroeconomic indicators, the US state of affairs is, indeed, scary: record budget deficit of $1.4 trillion, record state debt that now exceeds $11.9 trillion, high unemployment and weak currency. Huge inflows of capital into the economy that Obama is proud of haven’t yet shown results.

But on the other hand, weak currency may be good for the US.

“The economy is supported by industrial orders based on the current weak dollar and higher prices in the future. Key players in the market are ready to support their manufacturers by weakening the currency,” says Alexander Kuptsikevich, FxPro financial analyst.

If the state debt is growing, it means that the US continues to obtain loans.

“Market participants prefer to borrow money in dollars, and dollar loans are relatively affordable. They invest into more active instruments denominated in currencies of developing countries,’ explains Yevgeny Nadorshin, chief economist of Trust Investment Bank.

This causes growth of stock index. For example, Russian Trading System increased by 34 percent within two and a half months.

World center banks, who used to be trusted American partners, also turn their backs to dollar. They reduced investments into assets denominated in American currency. According to Barclays Capital , in April, May, and June, the banks invested 63% of their gains in euro or yen. If it continues, this may lead to further devaluation of dollar.

However, central banks of the countries that depend on export try not to let it happen. For example, last week a group of Asian central banks carried out unprecedented intervention in the financial markets by actively buying American currency. Bank of Russia was not a passive observer either. According to experts’ evaluations, the bank purchased over three billion dollars.

The good thing about it is that it helped Russian manufacturers to maintain competitiveness and bank reserves. The question is whether we would have to spend much more when investors change their minds and flee the Russian market changing their rubles into dollars. Last year we paid a high price for it.

“I’m not afraid that the events of the last year will repeat. The circumstances now are different. The world touched the bottom of the crisis and revival began, so there won’t be sharp moves,” says profile manager of Pilgrim Asset Management Olga Izyumova.

Yevgeniy Nadorshin agrees with her. He also thinks that dollar will continue weakening. But many experts think that as soon as the US announces the raise of interest rates, American currency will stop falling and even start growing. When is it going to happen?

Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve evades the answer. All he says is that this will happen when the US is sure of stable growth. On Tuesday investors discussed information obtained from the US official sources that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates no earlier than the second half of the next year.

The USA may soon literally be more socialistic than Russia… if it isn’t already.

Stunning photo: Earth and Jupiter in the same shot

Sometimes the planets line up in such a way that you can see Earth and Jupiter in the same wide-angle shot. That is, if you were aboard the Mars Global Surveyor on May 22, 2003. When the Mars Orbiter Camera snapped this unique view, Earth was 86 million miles away, and Jupiter was 600 million miles away.

How on earth is it even possible to take such a shot? Continue reading to see a larger version of this magnificent photo, and then you can see a diagram of how the planets were lined up to enable such a thing.

Click the link above for a really stunning photo.

In the Jerusalem post, The I’s have it

About one thing, at least, the world seems to be in agreement: Israel is the primary culprit in the Middle East conflict, the cause of relentless Palestinian suffering and the primary obstacle blocking the way to regional peace.

The international chorus of opprobrium is growing by the day. The Hollywood crowd lashes out at the Toronto International Film Festival for its (oh, so sinful) focus on Tel Aviv. The Swedish press breathes new life into the old blood libel.

The Norwegians divest from an Israeli firm because it supplies technology to the separation fence. The Turks refuse to participate in joint air exercises with Israel. The Americans peddle the notion that at its core, the Mideast conflict is really about the settlements.

It’s relentless, this ganging up, but it’s also not terribly new. The momentum has been building for years, and though we may not like it, we cannot honestly claim to be surprised.

What is surprising, however, is a recent – and possibly more ominous – addition to this chorus. A growing segment of the American Jewish community is abandoning Israel.

Here, too, examples abound: Two American Jewish sociologists, Steven Cohen and Ari Kelman, wrote that among American Jews aged 35 and younger, a full 50% said that the destruction of the State of Israel would not be a personal tragedy for them.

In San Francisco, Jewish communal funds were used to support the SF Jewish Film Festival’s screening of Rachel, an Israel-bashing “documentary” about Rachel Corrie of International Solidarity Movement fame.

Noting that the SFJFF was now effectively in partnership with Jewish Voices for Peace, a well known anti-Israel, pro-boycott organization, many prominent Jews vehemently protested. But the film was shown, anyway.

There’s Fast For Gaza, that group of rabbis encouraging us to fast in protest against the injustices in Gaza. But if you search their Web site (www.fastforgaza.net) for mention of Sderot or Gilad Schalit, your search will be in vain. Those issues, apparently, are irrelevant to justice for Gaza.

Finally, for now, there’s Jay Michaelson’s column in The Forward, entitled “How I’m Losing My Love for Israel” (September 25).

Michaelson, a spokesman for much of the generation that Cohen and Kelman described, wrote that “I understand why many Israelis feel fed up with the Palestinian problem…. But as an outsider, I no longer want to feel entangled by their decisions and implicated in their consequences. B’seder: It’s your choice to make… but count me out.”

“Count me out” is pretty strong stuff. But if Michaelson is different from most American Jews of his generation, it’s mostly because he’s more articulate. Which leads to the real issue: Why are American Jews abandoning Israel?

That question is the title of a recent column in Ha’aretz by Prof. Jonathan Sarna, perhaps the greatest living analyst of American Jewish life. The problem, suggests Sarna, is that American Jews have been raised on an idealized image of Israel, and that “in place of the utopia that we had hoped Israel might become, young Jews today often view Israel through the eyes of contemporary media: They fixate upon its unloveliest warts.”

But that, says Sarna, is actually good news, for the “fix” is clear.

“By focusing upon all that they nevertheless share in common, and all that they might yet accomplish together in the future, American Jews and Israelis can move past this crisis in their relationship and settle in, as partners, for the long haul ahead.”

I wish I were convinced, but I’m not. The loss of American Jewish love for Israel, I fear, is actually much more deeply rooted. The issue isn’t Israel, or utopia. It’s America, and the “I” at the core of American sensibilities.

Another profound observer of American Jewish life, Rabbi Morris Allen of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, recently wrote with sadness that for contemporary American Jews, life-cycle rituals have become infinitely more significant than the holiday cycle.

Both Sarna and Allen are actually pointing to a shared challenge.Most American Jews are first and foremost Americans. And today’s America is about the celebration of individuality and a future unfettered by ethnic loyalties.

In America, the narratives of immigrant groups are eroded, year by year, generation after generation. In America, we are oriented to the future, not to the past, and if we cling to some larger grouping, it is to a human collective whole rather than to some “narrow” ethnic clan.
That’s the cause for what Rabbi Allen has observed. Because Jewish holidays celebrate peoplehood, a collective embrace of a shared mythical past, they are less compelling for typical American Jews than are life-cycle ceremonies, which focus on the future, my family – and me.
Similarly, the recreation of the State of Israel is truly powerful only against a backdrop of centuries of Jewish experience, and is spine-tingling only if my sense of self is inseparable from my belonging to a nation with a past and a people with a purpose.

In today’s individualistic America, the drama of the rebirth of the Jewish people creates no goose bumps and evokes no sense of duty or obligation. Add the issue of Palestinian suffering, and Israel seems worse than irrelevant – it’s actually a source of shame.

We’re not terribly alarmed, but we should be. These young American Jews, after all, will soon control the coffers of the federations, and will sit on the boards of synagogues. Their generation will either strengthen or abandon AIPAC, the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and the American Jewish Committee (AJC). They will be the ones allocating funding to schools, setting curricula and communal priorities.

“Who is wise?” asks the Talmud. “He who can see what is about to happen.” Deep down, we know what’s about to happen. A gaping chasm threatens the American-Israeli relationship, and we’re basically doing nothing. Try to list the serious Jewish educational enterprises addressing this challenge, asking how American Jewish education can counter America’s unfettered individualism, or what Israel could do to help.

Can you name even one? Neither can I.

I believe I see some parallels to the problem of American “Christian” young adults abandoning the church and historic Christian teaching.

Investigators find flaws in Army body armor tests

The Army made critical mistakes in tests of a new body armor design, according to congressional investigators who recommend an independent review of the trials before the gear is issued to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But Defense Department officials says an outside look isn’t needed. In a lengthy response to the Government Accountability Office report, Pentagon officials acknowledge there were a few problems during testing of the armor’s bullet-blocking plates. But these were minor miscues, they said, that don’t shake their confidence in the overall results.

The GAO report says the Army deviated from established testing standards and concludes that several of the new armor designs that passed would have failed had the tests been done properly.

The report, requested last year by senior members of the House Armed Services Committee, is the latest study to call into question the Army’s ability to oversee the production of a key piece of battlefield equipment.

In January, the Pentagon’s inspector general faulted the Army for not properly overseeing a series of tests on the protective plates at a private ballistics laboratory.

The inspector general’s audit recommended that nearly 33,000 plates be pulled from the Army’s inventory of nearly 2 million because the inserts might not provide troops with adequate protection against armor-piercing bullets. The Army disputed the findings, but withdrew the plates as a precautionary step.

Stung by the inspector general’s conclusions, Army officials dismissed the private laboratories they’d long relied upon for the tests and said they would do the vital job themselves at a military testing facility in Aberdeen, Md.

That proved to be a contentious decision, however. The testing companies and manufacturers of the plates insisted the private sector could do the trials better, faster and for much less money.

With the GAO report, which is to be issued publicly on Friday, that argument is sure to get new traction.

Funny, when you think about it.

The only time a certain political element actually prefers to trust the private sector over a government agency is when they can use a private sector company to bash the military.

How soon do you think it will be that we hear of a private company’s word (say, a pharmaceutical company’s) being taken over a government agency’s about the safety of a particular medication?  After all, everyone knows that private companies are motivated by an evil desire for profit.

But if you can use a private company to attack the military leadership, suddenly that profit motive is off the radar, and they’re just public spirited citizens concerned about our soldiers.

I have no opinion about the truth of the matter in question here… but I do wish there wasn’t a double standard in how the opinions are weighted.

As a simple example, the recent spate of private organizations challenging the CBO analysis of the cost of nationalized health care is not handled by the media in any way similar the report above.  The dominant assumption by the media is that private organizations have something to gain from challenging nationalized health care, while government agencies are somehow disinterested observers and evaluators.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

There ARE no disinterested observers in these debates.  The rational thing is to compare expertise and assess incentives, when deciding how to weight the opinions of various agencies, groups, businesses, etc.  One way is to check the STARTING facts that a report uses.  How reliable is the information it began with?  And from what philosophical positions does it proceed, as it evaluates that data?

I do know that in the summer, when CBO was producing documents saying health care “reform” would bankrupt the nation, Democrats were bashing the reports, but now that CBO has produced a neutral document, suddenly CBO is the good guy again.

‘No Israelis want to fly to Turkey now’

With a new wave of anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey, and a furious response in Israel, the once-booming tourism trade between the countries is already feeling the effects.

“I can’t sell a Turkish Air ticket going via Istanbul,” Mark Feldman, CEO of Zion Tours, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. Istanbul is a common stop-over point on the way to many other destinations.

“Nobody, but nobody, wishes to fly there… packages are very cheap, the airline is a good airline… [but] people are voting with their feet,” Feldman said.

Relations with Turkey have recently been strained, due to Turkey’s withdrawal from an international military exercise involving Israel, a series of verbal assaults from Turkish leaders, and the premiere of a new television series portraying IDF soldiers as murderers. The first episode of the series aired in Turkey on Tuesday evening and depicted IDF soldiers in the West Bank killing a baby and a young girl, and lining up Palestinians to be shot before a firing squad.

According to Feldman, “This [tourism decline] is getting intensified, and the television series will accelerate it. I expect this [Israeli tourist] boycott and this anger to last throughout the fall and winter.”

Turkey is generally the second most popular destination for Israeli tourists, ranking only after the United States. More than half a million Israelis visited Turkey last year. Tourists from Israel ranked 10th in the number of entries to Turkey and made up 2.49 percent of all tourists to the country, Ynet reported in 2008.

Its proximity, luxury resorts, cultural and historical attractions, and the number of affordable trips available make Turkey an appealing destination for Israelis.

Until now, that is. 

Of course, this sort of thing doesn’t affect rich Hollywood types, for whom condemnations of the USA by the likes of Venezuela and Cuba makes those places MORE attractive as vacation spots…  along with photo-ops with heads of state, of course.

Unlike the Hollywood Left (now there’s a redundant phrase), Israelis actually react negatively when their nation is accused of murder.  Now doubt Turkish TV producers are influenced by watching Hollywood-produced, US-bashing films, and just wanted to get in on the action.

What a lovely thought for an Israeli family to take their kids to a Turkish resort, and on the TV in the hotel room they could watch a nice new Turkish TV series about sadistic IDF soldiers.

China to redress production overcapacity in six sectors

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will mainly redress production overcapacity in six sectors, said Chen Bin, director of the Department of Industry of the NDRC, Thursday.

The six sectors include steel, cement, plate glass, coal-chemical industry, polycrystalline silicon and windpower equipment.

The NDRC also warns of obvious production overcapacity in sectors like electrolytic aluminum, ship manufacturing and soybean oil extraction, said Chen during an on-line interview on www.gov.cn., the website of China’s central government.

He said China would fight serious overcapacity in sectors like steel industry and offer guidance for new-born industries like windpower equipment to avoid low level repetitive construction.

China has achieved preliminary progresses in fighting the global economic downturn, but the foundation for economic recovery is not stable yet and overcapacity might lead to bankruptcy, unemployment and bad bank loans if it was not checked in time, he said.

Ah, the joys of central planning.   And it seems to be coming to the USA next, despite the proof by Hayek and others that it is impossible to do correctly, for the very good reason that no one can ever have all the information they need to make such decisions.

Soon you can look forward to reading in the New York Times that government has determined that we have an oversupply of MRI machines, cardiologists, emergency rooms, and surgeons.  As you wait for your appointment with someone who will decide if you get to schedule an appointment with someone who will decide if you get to see a medical specialist, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that someone way up high in the government has determined that this is the very best way to do things.

A previous post pointed to big problems in Britain’s defense of itself.    And now, in the once proud cradle of democracy, if you attack people who are not part of a “protected group,” It’s Only Anti-Social, not as bad as a hate crime

A single case sometimes shines a lurid light on an entire country, and the case of Fiona Pilkington does just that for contemporary Britain—both its population and its officialdom. A coroner’s inquest was recently held in the case, two years after the events in question.

On October 23, 2007, Pilkington, a single mother of low intelligence, used gasoline to set fire to her car, with herself and her 18-year-old, severely handicapped daughter inside. They both died in the conflagration.

The reason that she killed herself and her daughter was that local youths had abused them for years. They taunted her and her daughter for hours on end, standing and shouting outside their home, pelting it with bottles and stones, and repeatedly intruding into the garden. Pilkington, who was inoffensive, shy, and retiring, called the police a total of 33 times, but they did absolutely nothing, though they knew what was going on. The local chief of police issued an apology at the inquiry into the affair. If he had meant it, of course, he would have immediately resigned his post.

The deep spiritual sickness of contemporary Britain is evident in the following comment on the inquiry in the liberal newspaper, The Guardian: “Although much of the abuse centred on the taunts about the children’s disabilities, police failed to recognise it as a hate crime rather than simple antisocial behaviour, which would have made it a far higher priority.”

In other words, the seriousness of an offense committed in Britain now depends upon who the victim is. If a person is not of an identifiably protected group, he or she is not entitled to police intervention against abusive stone- and bottle-throwing youths. He is not entitled to protection at all.

The Guardian’s article appears to accept that such behavior, so long as it targets a member of an unprotected group, is merely undesirable—“anti-social” rather than obviously criminal. The rule of law is fast evaporating in Britain; we are coming to live in a land of men, not of laws.

Why is it that the phrase “social justice” means practically anything except actual justice?  And why are victims of “hate crimes” deserving of more attention than other crime victims?

Of course, if she’d dared to defend herself with anything more effective than a hat pin, she would have found out the real meaning of justice in Britain.

The next post in this series is here.