Must Read

If you are scratching your head wondering what all the fuss is about the current crisis in Greece, you must read Mark Steyn's article in Maclean's, the Canadian weekly.  He has a great way of putting complex issues into perspective, and he does so here. 

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My favorite news items of the day...

How refreshing. Newly elected Governor Christie of New Jersey has imposed a spending freeze on the state. The democrats reacted as expected decrying the negative impact the freeze will have on education and mass transportation. The typical cries of "tax the rich" can also be heard by those who have forgotten that the rich have moved out of the state in droves. The refugees from the Garden State can be found in states such as Florida and Texas.

Memo to politicians in Washington and Portugal, Ireland and Greece and Spain (also known as PIGS), emulate New Jersey.

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Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy has announced that he will not seek reelection next year. This will be the first time in 60 years that a Kennedy will not be in Washington. I for one, will not miss them.

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Meanwhile, in an interview with Bloomberg, Obama has announced that he is an agnostic when it comes to taxing those earning $200,000 and households earning more than $250,000.

Obama, in a Feb. 9 Oval Office interview, said that a presidential commission on the budget needs to consider all options for reducing the deficit, including tax increases and cuts in spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

Remember “Read my lips, no new taxes”?  It was a promise made by a one term president.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that Germany will not rescue Greece.

Despite a show of Franco-German unity on the crisis and the first statement from EU leaders pledging to safeguard the currency's stability, hopes on the markets of a German-led rescue plan to shore up Greece's critical public finances were dashed by Merkel, who repeatedly emphasized that Athens would need to put its own house in order and brushed aside all questions of financial support.

I am sure that in the coming days we will see Greeks overturning and burning cars. A better solution would be to eliminate the unions that have crippled the Greek economy and made Greece one of the less competitive nations in Europe.

Greece's Turn to Burn

And now it’s Greece’s turn.

Reading the reports about the riots currently taking place across Greece, I couldn’t help but feel that only a tiny part of the story is reported accurately. The mainstream press describes the riots as caused by the shooting of a youth at the volatile district of Exarchia, a known hangout for anarchists. The protests that ensued have extended throughout Greece and into some other European nations.

This again is an example of the insanity that has taken hold throughout “civilized” Europe and North America. Societies fall prey to so called “youth” who paralyze nations by rioting and burning, and engaging in an orgy of destruction. The events that trigger these riots are often irrelevant. A shooting, an international conference, global warming, communism, anarchism, or whatever excuses these urban vandals choose. The reporters immediately appear offering a sympathetic ear and a way for the rioters to promote their causes around the world.

Is allowance of rioting an integral part of a society’s desire to protect freedom of speech? The answer is no. What we have here is a basic case of “youth” having fun, and political activists fanning the fires and promoting these riots. Who these activists are is never mentioned. Again and again we see the same “anarchists” around the world smashing the windows of a McDonald’s, burning a bank, and in a feast of wealth redistribution, looting the businesses they despise. It’s fascinating to see how those who despise the West, thrive on Western technology and entertainment.

Organizing these riots requires much more than a trigger event. Traveling to Seattle, Rome, Berlin, Athens, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and other places that have suffered from this savage vandalism requires actual financing that can be afforded only by wealthy individuals, powerful organizations, and perhaps, in some cases, nations. And here is where reporters fail in their reporting. At no point are the rioters and their supporters identified by picture, name, age, residence, profession or wealth. To what extent are the rioters in Europe connected to foreign agitators? How do they manage to finance their traveling? Who pays for their lawyers? These are questions that must be answered for us to understand how the riots start and how to prevent them.

Finally, we have the politicians. Since when has it become a requirement for a politician to be an invertebrate? These spineless politicians, who consider reelection more important than fulfilling their jobs, seem terrified of giving the orders to deal with the rioters the way you deal with criminals, which is what they are.

Pirates in the seas, Islamo-Fascist terrorists across the globe, anarchists in the cities, fires in Greece. Where are the Spartans when you really need them?