History is grinding forward if this news report is correct…..

But the food situation, which has mostly been felt in rural areas where rations have been suspended since November, has now spread to the city, according to the South Korean aid agency.

“Even ranking officials have run out of their (rationed) food supply, while a ban on (private) trade is strictly maintained,” said an unidentified city official quoted by Good Friends.

“It is nothing but a death sentence.”

The agency also said farm labourers were staying away from work because they were not getting any food. This was said to be affecting the planting of new crops.

Thats right. Don’t feed the people who are supposed to plant your crops.

It will be a struggle for most people to get through this week’s essay of the week. The essay entitled “The Israel defense forces in the Second Lebanon War: Why the poor performance?” is a seriously academic essay. In practice this means that it is poorly written and full of hard to understand jargon.

Nonetheless, it is worth reading. It is worth reading if you are an admirer of Israel and you think that their military is endlessly capable for it explains the difference between what Israel military is today and what it was in the past. It is worth reading if you have a sick fascination with the MBA culture and its conception of leadership because the essay explains how modern business theory has infected Israeli military thinking.

But most importantly, it is a reminder that technology alone is not enough to ensure the superiority of western cultures. Western cultures must also retain their culture superiority. Failing that, the barbarians will be knocking down the gates.

It is a sad fact of life that it is better to be feared then loved. It is hard to find anyone in the developed world who has a bad word to say about the Tibetans. From far left liberals to hard right conservatives, everyone feels sorry for the poor put upon Tibetans. But as EU Referendum points out, that does not stop anyone from selling them up the river to appease China.

From the Economist….

Your correspondent, the only foreign journalist with official permission to be in Lhasa when the violence erupted, saw crowds hurling chunks of concrete at the numerous small shops run by ethnic Chinese lining the streets of the city’s old Tibetan quarter. They threw them too at those Chinese caught on the streets—a boy on a bicycle, taxis (whose drivers are often Chinese) and even a bus. Most Chinese fled the area as quickly as they could, leaving their shops shuttered.

The mobs, ranging from small groups of youths (some armed with traditional Tibetan swords) to crowds of many dozens, including women and children, rampaged through the narrow alleys of the Tibetan quarter. They battered the shutters of shops, broke in and seized whatever they could, from hunks of meat to gas canisters and clothing. Some goods they carried away—little children could be seen looting a toyshop—but most they heaped in the streets and set alight.

Within a couple of hours, fires were blazing in the streets across much of the city. Some buildings caught fire too. A pall of smoke blanketed Lhasa, obscuring the ancient Potala—the city’s most famous monument, which covers a hillside overlooking the city. It is the traditional winter palace of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, who fled into exile in India after an abortive uprising in 1959. Some of the demonstrators shouted slogans like “long live Tibet” and “long live the Dalai Lama”. One group trampled on a Chinese flag in the middle of a main road.

For the curious, this is what a traditional Tibetan sword looks like.

I don’t think swords will do much against an AK-47 myself, but this story does remind us that there are lots of ethnic groups in China that are just waiting for the power of the central government to wain.

How would you like to deal with a rogue nuclear armed state in the Middle East? That may be coming to you a lot sooner than you think.
I am not speaking of the usual suspects like Iran or whatever other currently fashionable bogey man you want to name. Rather, I fear that Israel may Click Here to continue reading.

Regular reader know that this week’s rant of the week was about family being forced to move from a neighborhood in Great Britain because they had become a target of criminal gangs. One might think that Inspector Gadgets dark and gloomy out look might give you a skewed out look on the state of Great Britain. So we thought we would provided you some links to some news stories about Great Britain.

From the Telegraph we read…..

Record numbers of Britons are leaving – many of them doctors, teachers and engineers – in the biggest exodus for almost 50 years.

Skilled professionals, including doctors, are leaving the UK in record numbers
Over a quarter of qualified professionals who have moved abroad had health or education qualifications

There are now 3.247 million British-born people living abroad, of whom more than 1.1 million are highly-skilled university graduates, say the researchers.

More than three quarters of these professionals have settled abroad for more than 10 years, according to the study by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

No other nation is losing so many qualified people, it points out. Britain has now lost more than one in 10 of its most skilled citizens, while overall only Mexico has had more people emigrate.

Granted this is offset in raw numbers by the amount of immigrants coming into the Great Britain. But it makes you wonder why so many natives can’t wait to get out of their country.

Speaking of Moving….

A police chief has admitted he was forced to move house by youths lurking outside his home.

Superintendent Wayne Mawson, in his forties, said he left the property in Hackney because he did not want to confront teenagers sitting on his wall.

The head of operations for Haringey, north London, added that the youths had made him nervous about his work – and confessed he had given in to their loitering.

Blog posts on this story can be found here and here.

And for good measure, read this rant by Macro Man.

From Marginal Revolution…

Oakland’s recent gun buyback was especially ridiculous. The police offered up to $250 for a gun “no questions asked, no ID required.” The first people in line? Two gun dealers from Reno with 60 cheap handguns. Fortunately the buyback did manage to get some guns off the street, too bad they were turned in by a bunch of senior citizens from an assisted living facility. Whew, the streets are safe at last.

From the New York Times via Megan McArdle……

African nurses and pharmacists are also sought after by clinics and drug store chains offering better pay and legal assistance with immigration, said the experts, who include the heads of several pharmacy and medicine schools in Africa. “The resulting dilapidation of health infrastructure contributes to a measurable and foreseeable public health crisis,” the article said. “The practice should therefore be viewed as an international crime.”

Investigator Gadget tells a story that is set in modern day Britain, but could easily be set in the last days of Rome, or any other failing culture.

This story in the New York Times has been told many times over the history of the British and American empires. It will probably happen many times again for as long as there are Anglo Saxons around who want to rule and be loved at the same time.