theDrahos

“We want a diplomatic solution but we cannot close our eyes to tanks that are crossing the border from Russia and coming into Ukraine. We cannot close our eyes to Russian fighters in unmarked uniforms crossing the border, and leading individual companies of so-called separatists in battle.” ~ Secretary of State John Kerry Yes we can. We can close our eyes. It is called a foreign policy of neutrality, minding our own business. We should close our eyes. It is called a foreign policy of nonintervention, staying out of European wars. This is not isolationism; it is Jeffersonianism: I have … Continue reading →

For the third time in a week, my attempts at a vaguely peaceful coffee out are being thwarted by small children running around noisily, irritating everyone else. Everyone except their parents, who seem oblivious to anything beyond their lattes and chat. Watching, listening to and indeed being elbowed in the thigh by these little tornado-like beings highlights to me again how very far we’ve come from the days of children being “seen and not heard”. I’m no “youth of today” whinger, nor do I sport rose-tinted spectacles about the strictures of childhoods past, but what happened to there being a … Continue reading →

As an NHS weight loss surgeon, every single single person who comes to discuss weight management with me is totally perplexed by the advice out there. And who can blame them? Every time we switch on the TV or open the paper, there is another ‘sure-fire’ diet, a new health recommendation or an advert for the latest miracle weight-loss pill. Despite this national obsession with dieting, we have seen our weight increase, waistlines expand and our health deteriorate. Two thirds of us are overweight and rates of type 2 diabetes, which is strongly associated with obesity, are sky-rocketing. So, what’s … Continue reading →

Manasquan, NJ –(Ammoland.com)-  No matter where you live in the USA in 2013 you have seen home invasions on the rise. For this reason and since the President’s push for disarmament of the U. S. gun owner, I have had student after student ask me what is the best shot gun for home defense or self defense? Shotguns make excellent guns for at home protection as they are easy to maneuver and simple to operate. Pump and auto loading shotguns with a barrel length of 18 to 22 inches is the optimum choice for home defense. They are completely reliable and stupid … Continue reading →

Union members for decades called non-union strike-breakers “scabs.” They used violence against them. That was because they were thugs. In the contest between the scabs and the thugs, the consumers’ best interests were always upheld by the scabs. Soon, consumers will be facing the negative effects of a closing of the ports of California. A strike is looming. The longshoremen will walk off the job. They could be replaced by robots. Sometime over the next 20 years, this will happen. Why are there no robots working as longshoremen? Because the National Labor Relations Board won’t let them replace the International … Continue reading →

“You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”—George Orwell, 1984 None of us are perfect. All of us bend the rules occasionally. Even before the age of overcriminalization, when the most upstanding citizen could be counted on to break at least three laws a day without knowing it, most of us have knowingly flouted the law from time to time. Indeed, there was a time when most Americans thought nothing of driving a few miles over the speed limit, pausing (rather than coming … Continue reading →

Gstaad—Once upon a time, clergymen saw mountain peaks as natural steeples leading them ever closer to God. Doctors considered the mountains the best medicine for tuberculosis, while explorers saw them as rocks never before touched by humans. I thought of those good people while T-barring up the Eggli, in way below freezing conditions but in bright sunshine. For some strange reason, whenever I’m really cold, I try to think of the German 6th Army trapped in Stalingrad, numbed in body and mind by the cold, while Hitler sits toasty warm back home and orders them to fight to the death. … Continue reading →

Today’s liberals are not racists, but they often behave that way. They would benefit immensely from considering some of the arguments in award-winning scholar Dr. Shelby Steele’s forthcoming book, “Shame: How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country.” Steele, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, explains that in matters of race, there is an ideological vision that completely ignores truth — a vision he calls “poetic truth.” In literature, poetic license takes liberties with grammatical rules, as well as realities, in order to create a more beautiful or powerful effect than would be otherwise possible. Liberals have a poetic … Continue reading →

For as long as political and ideological movements have sought to engage large followings, they have embraced slogans and catch phrases that give pithy expression to their views, aversions, and objectives. Slogans are dangerous in that they substitute rote declarations for serious thought, yet they may sometimes serve a purpose even for thoughtful people as rhetorical hammers with which one hits potential listeners in the head to get their attention. In any event, it seems that slogans and politicking are inseparable under both democratic and revolutionary conditions. So, one must pick and choose. The following are two short lists of … Continue reading →

Today’s Daily Bell interview is of James Jaeger.  I have posted the following comment at the site – posting there has become a very rare occurrence for me; it is only my second comment in the last year or two (the first was a comment to Wendy McElroy as an encouragement). ————————————— JJ: To shed some light on these questions I have been reading some books by Lew Rockwell, Murray Rothbard, Larken Rose and Hans-Hermann Hoppe. I’m not ready to become a card-carrying anarcho-capitalist, but if the Rights we are all supposed to have pursuant to the Bill don’t soon … Continue reading →

In today’s New York Times magazine (2.8.15), there was an interview with Kid Rock. My wife, Allison, was reading the paper and yelled from the other room, “David, you have to see this.” She read to me part of the interview where Kid Rock was asked, “Do you ever have trouble from night to night, losing your voice?” He replied, “In your 40’s, you can’t go out and hit it hard when you’ve got to do a show. This morning, I ate a tablespoon of Himalayan sea salt and drank a tablespoon of coconut oil.” Be still my beating heart. … Continue reading →