Saturday, December 08, 2012

Stuff below the fold

Another day, another same old typhoon...


Pablo, which hit the southern Islands, has turned NE and may skim off the coast of Luzon.

sigh, and they are still digging out in Mindanao...

ah, but 26 lawmakers have the time and money to attend the Pacquiao/Marquez fight this Sunday.
Priorities you know... most of them claim personal business or business meetings as the reason for going to Las Vegas...

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Instapundit on the gender gap for pot legalization:
SO YESTERDAY I ASKED WHY MEN FAVOR POT LEGALIZATION BY BIG MARGINS, WHILE WOMEN OPPOSE IT: Reader Jane Vawter responded: “Women don’t like pot for the most part. It’s a man drug. What they really don’t like is a useless, stoned man…pot makes you stupid, poor company and a poor provider.”
Yes, that sounds about right.
It's the idea of responsibility vs having fun. And if the "julia" types all voted for Obama, it might not be the free birth control, but because the gov't is a better provider for your needs than a pothead.

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StrategyPage has more about the Chinese takeover of the west Philippine sea:

December 7, 2012: The Chinese announcement that it would begin enforcing new rules, starting January 1st, that will have Chinese naval patrols escorting, or expelling, foreign ships from most of the South China Sea has mobilized a lot of resistance. This should not be surprising as the new rules include offshore areas of the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei and Vietnam that international law does not recognize as Chinese. India and the United States have both announced that they will not obey and that Indian and American warships expect to move unmolested through the South China Sea in 2013....

No, despite all the talk of an "American tilt toward Asia", it's a paper tiger, which is why China's open aggression waited until after Obama was reelected, since Obama recognizes the nuances of the dispute: i.e.offend the Chinese who could sink the US economy or throw the Philippines under the bus? that's a no brainer. Can you spell "neville chamberlain" children?

 I mean, if Obama's minions were afraid to back up the SEALS in Benghazi for fear of being accused of ignoring Libya's sovereignty, do you really think they are planning to stop China? As for the Philippines, well, our Navy usually is there to stop smuggling or rescue folks. Somehow I don't think that two frigates will stop the Chinese Navy...

what's at stake is more than the oil fields under the Spratlys:

About half the world’s shipping traffic passes through the South China Sea, and US vessels make up a large portion of that traffic.... says Bonnie Glaser, a senior fellow with the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies. “If tankers could not safely pass through those waters, supply of oil to Japan, a key US ally, would be threatened.”
Did I mention that Japan is also being pushed around by China?

as for that little note about the Indian Navy, well, China is pushing them around too...

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Dr. E at PersianParadox often writes about the environmental movement in her country, and now the LATimes has an article about another environmental activist there, trying to save the lakes from destruction/diversion, and the problems of pollution including the local debate if "clean" but dangerous nuclear electrical plants should be built.

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I often point out that the corruption is behind a lot of the mess in the Philippines, but it's worse in oil rich Nigeria. Al Jazeerah report on the sanitation problem here.

and as you know, the English news on AlJazeerah is full of lefties who follow the party line, but this report does bring up one item that may fuel the HIV epidemic in Africa: Migrant labor in mines and factories.
Not mentioned: since there is no retirement funding, even if there is housing for their wives, the men will leave the woman at home so he doesn't lose the rights to his fields, which are owned by the tribe and portioned out only to those who can plow and plant..... Property rights to individuals might help this problem.

also not mentioned: that the South African health minister denied HIV caused Aids so wouldn't allow modern treatment.
As for the evil "drug companies"meme in the article: well, when 700 000  die from counterfeit/fake  medicines every year, maybe there is a reason not to use generics from the lowest bidder.

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