Axis of Evil redux

Whatever else David Frum accomplishes in his charmed life, he will be forever remembered for coining the phrase "axis of evil."

The son of a Toronto dentist who gave up pulling teeth for a far more lucrative career developing strip malls, Frum has become a leading Republican NeverTrumper. Can't say I blame him. After all, there's a new Axis of Evil loose in the world today, and Donald Trump is its quarterback. His go-to receivers are MBS and Bibi.

This is a far more toxic axis of evil than the Iran-Iraq-North Korea combine Frum was talking about. Two out of three have nuclear weapons and the other one has more money than God, a fact both Trump and Netanyahu fully appreciate.

It's hard to believe that any serious person imagines any good could possibly come from such an alliance, yet I don't see a lot of calling-out in our mainstream media. No, MBS is cast as a "reformer,"and when IDF snipers pick off unarmed Palestinians at the Gaza containment fence, we are solemnly reminded that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. As such, we must never impair her ability to "defend" herself by shooting dead unarmed protesters.

Any criticism of Israel is of course antisemitism, and no right-thinking journo who values their career is gonna go there.

And for all the splashy protests the NeverTrump resistance has pulled off, there's been not the slightest sign of a course correction from the White House, nor has the anti-Trump crowd offered any genuine critique of the over-arching arc of US foreign policy, which by far pre-dates Trump.

Instead, we see all manner of hand-wringing over the fact that America, under Trump, can no longer be relied on to lead and protect Europe!

Well, it's about time!

Europeans are a remarkably stupid people. Except for a few voices on the fringes of polite society, they haven't figured out that their "refugee crisis" is the direct result of US foreign policy. Instead, they natter about Trump being twelve minutes late for his date with the Queen.

Seriously?

Get the f@ck outta here!

A few years ago I set up a petition on one of those petition websites to get Canada out of NATO. Unfortunately, I was somewhat into my cups at the time, and I could never recall the password I used, so I was unable to check on its progress.

But I think we're at another crossroads where the time may be ripe for a lot of NATO members to ask themselves who they're following and where they're headed.


By the way, all the big US military contractors (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Raytheon, etc) enjoyed a nice spike in their share prices last week after Mafia Don suggested NATO members aim for spending 4% of GDP on defence instead of 2%. If you want to know who Trump is really representing, look no further.

Falling Downs narrowly avoids mid-air collision

I was sitting in the yard, eyes on the heavens, when I noticed two vapour trails that seemed to be heading for the same space in the sky.

Oh my God, there's gonna be a mid-air collision!

Then I'd be duty-bound to assist in the search for the remains of the passengers. Not to mention the remains of their wallets...

I ran in the house and googled up Flightradar24.

Turns out the plane out of the southwest was a Delta Airbus heading from Detroit to Paris.

The vapour trail coming out of the north belonged to UAL808, a Boeing 777 on a direct flight from Beijing to Washington.

You'd have to agree that mid-air collision would make for some interesting wallets.

Alas, the Boeing was flying at 39,000 feet. The Airbus was at 35,000. They had nearly a mile of vertical clearance between them as they crossed paths overhead.

But it looked promising from the ground.

Tits and ass and the running of the bulls

Pamplona seems to have become just one more destination for yobs who want to take their assholery to the world stage.

That's the tourist market that all the big airplane manufacturers are aiming for. Build bigger more fuel-efficient airplanes so that more British pedophiles can go to Cambodia or Bangkok cheaper.

I've always believed tourism is bullshit.  And the more you focus on doing it on the cheap, which is the sole purpose of the last generation of jets from Airbus and Boeing and Bombardier, the more you make it possible for small-time shit-bags to spread their small-time shit all over the planet.

Let's be clear; not every passenger is heading to South East Asia for a sexual encounter that would see them jailed in England.

There are many passengers on these flights who are going on legit trips to present papers at academic conferences or visit family members they haven't seen for years.

But there's probably more traffic heading for Pamplona...

So, more efficient short-run airplanes will allow more yobs to visit Pamplona, there to drink and puke and molest the locals.

Guess it's all good then!

That's tourism in the 21st century!

Tourism is bullshit

Tourism.

Back in the hippy-dippy era I too criss-crossed Europe with a knapsack slung over my shoulder. I bought hashish in Amsterdam and checked out some of those store-fronts with the scantily clad ladies in the window.

I was a tourist.

At some level I suppose I contributed something to the economy. But overall I was an obnoxious know-nothing. All things considered, my hosts would have been better off without me.

I think that holds true for the vast majority of tourists today; the hosts would be better off without you. Mass tourism seems little more than a scheme to keep Boeing and Airbus and a handful of international resort developers in business.

There is certainly a niche for legitimate international tourism. The mountaineer who has already climbed all the most demanding peaks in Europe and America may be excused for wanting to take a crack at Everest. The religious pilgrim who wants to see Jerusalem or Mecca or Bethlehem or Amritsar... I think we can cut them some slack.

But for the folks who are just polluting the skies and the seas in search of an all-you-can-eat all-you-can-drink package vacation, what's the point?

Just stay home and stay drunk for a week!

War is a tonic

Have a gander at this chart:

Location	Population Under Age 15
World	26%
Afghanistan	46%
Albania	23%
Algeria	28%
American Samoa	N/A
Angola	48%
Anguilla	N/A
Antigua and Barbuda	28%
Argentina	25%
Armenia	17%
Aruba	N/A
Australia	19%
Austria	15%
Azerbaijan	22%
Bahamas	25%
Bahrain	20%
Bangladesh	31%
Barbados	19%
Belarus	15%
Belgium	17%
Belize	34%
Benin	44%
Bermuda	N/A
Bhutan	30%
Bolivia	36%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	15%
Botswana	34%
Bouvet Island	N/A
Brazil	24%
British Indian Ocean Territory	N/A
British Virgin Islands	N/A
Brunei Darussalam	26%
Bulgaria	13%
Burkina Faso	45%
Burundi	46%
Cambodia	33%
Cameroon	43%
Canada	16%
Cape Verde	32%
Cayman Islands	N/A
Central African Republic	40%
Chad	46%
Chile	23%
China	16%
Christmas Island	N/A
Cocos (Keeling Islands)	N/A
Colombia	29%
Comoros	43%
Congo	41%
Congo (Dem. Republic of)	46%
Cook Islands	N/A
Costa Rica	24%
Cote d'Ivoire	41%
Croatia	15%
Cuba	17%
Cyprus	17%
Czech Republic	14%
Denmark	18%
Djibouti	36%
Dominica	23%
Dominican Republic	31%
Ecuador	30%
Egypt	32%
El Salvador	32%
Equatorial Guinea	39%
Eritrea	42%
Estonia	16%
Ethiopia	41%
Faeroe Islands	N/A
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	N/A
Fiji	29%
Finland	16%
France	19%
French Guiana	35%
French Polynesia	25%
French Southern Territories and Antarctic Lands	N/A
Gabon	36%
Gambia	44%
Georgia	17%
Germany	13%
Ghana	39%
Gibraltar	N/A
Greece	14%
Greenland	N/A
Grenada	28%
Guadeloupe	22%
Guam	27%
Guatemala	41%
Guinea	43%
Guinea-Bissau	41%
Guyana	33%
Haiti	36%
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	N/A
Honduras	38%
Hungary	15%
Iceland	21%
India	31%
Indonesia	27%
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	24%
Iraq	43%
Ireland	21%
Israel	28%
Italy	14%
Jamaica	27%
Japan	13%
Johnston Atoll	N/A
Jordan	37%
Kazakhstan	25%
Kenya	42%
Kiribati	35%
Korea (Dem. Peo. Rep. of)	23%
Korea (Republic of)	16%
Kuwait	27%
Kyrgyzstan	30%
Lao People's Democratic Rep.	38%
Latvia	14%
Lebanon	25%
Lesotho	37%
Liberia	43%
Libya	31%
Liechtenstein	16%
Lithuania	15%
Luxembourg	18%
Macedonia (The former Yugoslav Republic of)	17%
Madagascar	43%
Malawi	46%
Malaysia	27%
Maldives	27%
Mali	47%
Malta	15%
Marshall Islands	42%
Martinique	20%
Mauritania	40%
Mauritius	22%
Mayotte	46%
Mexico	29%
Micronesia (Federated States of)	31%
Midway	N/A
Moldova (Republic of)	16%
Monaco	13%
Mongolia	27%
Montenegro	19%
Montserrat	N/A
Morocco	28%
Mozambique	45%
Myanmar	28%
Namibia	36%
Nauru	35%
Nepal	36%
Netherlands	17%
Netherlands Antilles	N/A
New Caledonia	26%
New Zealand	20%
Nicaragua	35%
Niger	52%
Nigeria	44%
Niue	N/A
Norfolk Island	N/A
Northern Mariana Islands	N/A
Norway	19%
Oman	32%
Pakistan	35%
Palau	20%
Panama	29%
Papua New Guinea	38%
Paraguay	34%
Peru	30%
Philippines	35%
Pitcairn Island	N/A
Poland	15%
Portugal	15%
Puerto Rico	20%
Qatar	14%
Reunion	25%
Romania	15%
Russian Federation	15%
Rwanda	42%
Saint Helena	N/A
Saint Kitts and Nevis	23%
Saint Lucia	24%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	31%
Samoa	40%
San Marino	15%
Sao Tome and Principe	43%
Saudi Arabia	30%
Senegal	44%
Serbia	15%
Seychelles	20%
Sierra Leone	43%
Singapore	17%
Slovakia	15%
Slovenia	14%
Solomon Islands	40%
Somalia	45%
South Africa	31%
Spain	15%
Sri Lanka	25%
Sudan	41%
Suriname	29%
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands	N/A
Swaziland	38%
Sweden	17%
Switzerland	15%
Syrian Arab Republic	36%
Tajikistan	37%
Tanzania (United Rep. of)	45%
Thailand	21%
Timor Leste	42%
Togo	41%
Tokelau	N/A
Tonga	38%
Trinidad and Tobago	25%
Tunisia	24%
Turkey	26%
Turkmenistan	29%
Turks and Caicos Island	N/A
Tuvalu	32%
Uganda	48%
Ukraine	14%
United Arab Emirates	17%
United Kingdom	18%
United States of America	20%
Uruguay	23%
Uzbekistan	29%
Vanuatu	37%
Venezuela	29%
Vietnam	24%
Virgin Islands (U.S.)	N/A
Wake Island	N/A
Wallis and Futuna Islands	N/A
West Bank and Gaza	42%
Western Sahara	29%
Yemen	44%
Zambia	46%
Zimbabwe	43%

That's a read on what countries have the highest populations under the age of 15 as of 2012. Anything stand out? Do you notice that the higher your percentage of young people, the greater the likelihood that the country is involved in some kind of violent turmoil?

That's because you can't have wars without able-bodied young men to fight them.

That's not a new insight of course. Neil Wiener made that observation a pillar of his career, and deep thinkers all the way back to Aristotle have noted the same phenomenon. 

Which raises a question; if we've known for three thousand years that a surplus of young males leads to violent conflict, why don't we find them something else to do?

The answer lies in the fact that too many older rich men have learned to profit from the endeavours of the young. Disputes between Liechtenstein(16% pop< 15 years of age) and Switzerland (15%) tend to be resolved by middle-aged men with brief-cases and law degrees. Disputes between Eritrea (42%) and Ethiopia (41%) tend to be resolved (or not) by young men with guns.

But both Switzerland and Liechtenstein are home to many investors who profit handsomely from the conflicts raging between Eritrea and Ethiopia. 

If you look at the two countries most ravaged by American wars of choice in the past 15 years, Afghanistan (46%) and Iraq (43%), you realize immediately that the trillions spent annihilating those societies could have easily been spent providing every young man in those countries with a mud shack and a couple of acres to grow a garden. While that might have kept them too busy to wage war, it wouldn't have done a damned thing for the plump white shareholders at Boeing and Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics and all the rest of them.

Wars also provide an opportunity for countries to ship their restive youth to neighbouring conflicts. For example, both Uganda (48%) and Rwanda (42%) have kept the home fires relatively peaceable by exporting their youthful hotheads to the DRC (46%) to keep the flames of war burning brightly there.

A similar phenomenon plays itself out in the North. America's "volunteer army" would be an impossibility were it not for the dearth of opportunity available to so many young Americans. All those dispossessed young inner-city blacks and trailer trash honkies could stir up a lot of hoo-ha on the home front. It's so much better for everybody (except them and their victims) if we ship them to Iraq and Afghanistan to "keep us safe."

Same with the hordes of young Muslims fleeing the Arab ghettoes of Europe to lose themselves in the hell that is Syria. That's an invaluable safety-valve for the great cities of the continent. This media-generated fear-wave about what they might get up to if they come "home" to Sweden and France and Britain is largely hypothetical. The vast majority are going to Syria to die, but before they do, they will fire off many made-in-the-USA rounds from many different Western armament suppliers, which will make those plump shareholders very happy and even more plump.

So do not despair, dear reader. War may be immoral, but it is never senseless. It makes perfect sense for the people profiting from it. And when, as in America, those are also the people making foreign policy, don't expect this bonanza to whither away any time soon.