Morning thoughts

Good morning! When I woke up this morning the sun was just rising, painting the sky a gentle shade of pink. Now, I've seen winter sunrises before, but it never ceases to surprise me when I look outside and see a clear, blue, sky during the winter. I grew up in Michigan remember. Gray skies ALL THE TIME! Not here though. I love my adopted state.

Check this out. A VA state delegate (like a state representative) accidentally discharges a gun in his office. The bullet is stopped by the kevlar vest hanging on his door. The governor (Democrat) calls for review of the policy allowing guns to be carried IN THE STATE CAPITOL BUILDING. Everyone else seems to think the incident isn't such a big deal. Did I mention I love my adopted state?

So Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian election. Far more than anyone expected. Far more seats than exit polls indicated they would win. Now what? Well, the international consensus seems to be that no one really wants to deal with a terrorist organization as a government. But Hamas appears to be the legitimately elected majority government - and possesses something that is somewhat a rarity in parliamentary-style democracies, an individual, simple, majority of seats. They don't NEED any other party to align with them in order to form a government, but they are making overtures to Fatah, the primary (newly) minority party.

I know what I would do. From what I've read, Hamas seems to have won the victory it did because the PEOPLE (that cornerstone of any democracy) wanted a change from the perceived slow economic and political. Hamas has done a good job dealing with individual charity cases, supporting individuals - this plus their hardline stance vis a vis Israel has given them "street cred". Yet all main donor nations appear poised to cut off all aid to a Palestine governed by a terrorist organization. In essence, though Hamas is the majority party, the rest of the world may force them to form a coalition government. If I were in charge of Hamas, and from the limited amount of time I have put into this, I think I would attempt to form a government that consisted largely of Fatah in terms of foreign relations/policy. At the same time I would put my party, Hamas, in charge of domestic policy (what the people voted for). Don't know if this would work, don't know if other nations would buy it, but I would try it.

Do I think my idea will be tried? Ehh... not really. I mostly expect Hamas to say "get lost, we won and we'll run the government, to anti-paradise with the consequences".

That's enough for now, I really do have school work to be doing!

How is it done?

Quick - someone answer me this. How do you have an intelligent and reasonable (ie, not dissolving into insults, name calling, and shouting) discussion with someone who refuses to accept the same facts as you? Could they possibly be right? What if you are 100% sure your facts are correct... but so are they. How should they go about informing you that it may actually be your dearly held "facts" (assumptions) that are wrong? Is it possible to both try to persuade another and yet be open to persuasion yourself? If one party of a discussion is willing to examine facts with an open mind, and the other party isn't, doesn't that give an advantage to the one who resolves not to examine alternate facts? If one party is willing to compromise, and the other isn't, who wins? Therefore, is not the dominant strategy usually to steadfastly hold to your own "facts" or interpretation thereof, regardless of what arguments are presented? Seeing that each party in a discussion may have an incentive to refuse to look at alternate facts, of course, lands us right back where we started.

And what, oh what, does this mean for American politics?

General News

Wow. The more I hear/read from Judge Sam Alito the more impressed I am with his judicial knowledge, intelligence, and general presence of mind. This dude is smart! The left side of the aisle is still trying to taint him with something, anything, that will outrage the American people, but to this point nothing is sticking. On all the major Democrat "hit issues" Alito appears to have made well-reasoned decisions that have supported various sides of each issue.

I am sure you know this, but on Monday the ninth the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 11,000 for the first time since 9/11/01. Though all major news sources reported the milestone as more "phychological" than real, breaking 11,000 - and staying there as the Dow has done - is indicative of an economy that is not only doing well right now, but also an economy that people expect to continue doing well.

It has been in the 50s or even 60s every day this week here in DC. This Michigan boy just doesn't know quite what to make of it. Does make it a little hard to use my dogsled though....

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Published!! (on a webpage)

Today another article of mine appeared on the Mackinac Center for Public Policy website. This one is a basic explanation of and introduction to Overton Window theory. If anything you have heard about my work this past term interests you, this is a good article to read. You can read it HERE or by clicking on the link in the sidebar.

Palestinians

I don't know how much you know about Middle Eastern history from the end of WWII to present, but a common conception is that Palestinians hate Israel because Israelis threw them out of their homes and land. Forgotten in the depths of "uncomfortable history" are the instances when the leaders of the nations in which Palestinians have resided for the last sixty years refused to allow settlement among their own population, keeping the refugees in camps. Forgive any insolence, but answer me this. If Palestinians hate the Israelis and live in peace and harmony with all other residents of the Middle East, why did THIS occur?

Very interesting. Apparently some Palestinians decided that they 'deserve', are due, land from Egypt. And are willing to take it by force. Doesn't this show that Palestinians are a (effectually) leaderless rabble? How can they be considered a coherent nation that requires their own homeland (as we are so often 'reminded' of)? Doesn't this show that Palestinians do not, in fact, feel warm and fuzzy toward their Arab neighbors? Could their possibly be a reason for this anger and resentment?

Ok, I'm done with that thought.

Naples Economics

There will be more on this later, as right now I will be going to be to get up early for my flight, but it is very interesting to see the very recent spate of economic growth that this area has undergone. 73