Fair Trade v Free Trade

The new cafeteria was dedicated today at my daughter's school. The students presented skits and choir songs to celebrate and several important people gave long talks about how the dedication ceremony was to be by the students, for the students.
The students were collecting money for poor children in Bolivia and promoting "Fair Trade", a line of overpriced products imported from third world countries, supposedly priced to give the farmers in those countries a fairer price for their products.
I can't help but wonder how much of the money will actually get to the intended recipients.
The best thing that could be done for the farmers and workers in the third world would be not to promote fair trade but to allow free trade. The European farmers are so heavily subsidized that European sugar and milk is cheaper in Africa than the local products. Remove these subsidies, eliminate tariffs, and allow all producers to compete on a level playing field. That would be the way to help.
Something would also need to be done about corruption as well. Corruption is a major problem in many third world countries today. Aid often ends up lining the pockets of dictators, grain is sold on the open market instead of be delivered to the needy. The leaders live in luxury while the people starve.
After the markets are open, the people need to be encouraged to revolt and install a democratic republic in their countries, based upon the principles of liberty that America was built on, so that they can take advantage of the free markets.
European farmers and consumers may be hurt in the short run, with lower profits for the farmers and higher prices for the consumers (the higher prices for the consumers would only be at the cash register. The real prices would be lower, because less tax revenue would be going to pay for the products).
Eventully the situation would balance out, in favor of the third world and Europe. and America as well, I should think! Increased profit for the third world would increase the funds the people have available for consumer good, creating a demand for American and European industrial products. Greater technology would increase productivity on the third world farms, lowering prices for the European and American markets.
As a bonus, I believe that the increased prosperity would encourage peace in the world, as then the people would have more to lose, and would then be too dependent on the other countries for their prosperity. The people would be less likely to tolerate dictators, as a threat to the new-found prosperity as well.
The preceding is my opinion based on an incomplete knowledge of free market theory and supply side economics, as promoted by Adam Smith and Jean Baptiste Says.
Learn more at The Proceedings of the Friesian School,
Fourth Series

Chicken

I killed a chicken for the first time yesterday. I bought 4 meat chickens last spring and we've been feeding them all summer long. I've kind of dreaded killing them though. Up to now, any animal I've killed has been with a gun while hunting. It's a little more up close and personal when you chop the head off an animal you've been raising. But I got through, and I think the others will be a bit easier.
I personally feel that one must be able to kill an animal if one wants to eat meat. Anyone who eats meat is responsible for the death of the animal, and actually killing the animal one's self is to come closer to the reality of meat.
We ate the bird today for lunch. It was a bit tough, but good. I think I let it live too long before butchering it. It was much bigger than the chickens I buy already killed and cleaned here in Germany, where the normal sized bird is 1000 to 1200 grams, about 20 to 28 oz.

You Are a German Shepherd Puppy

Intelligent, quick witted, and a bit aggressive. You've got the jaw power to take a bite out of anyone you choose.

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

Tuesday

The sun is shining today. We got off light last night. I don't think it rained at all here. On the other side of the Spessarts, though, they had flash flooding, especially bad on the River Dill, in Hessen.
I got me a libary card today, and checked out a couple of films. The library in Bad Windsheim has a good, if small, collection of DVD and VHS videos. I checked out the Lord of the Rings for tonight. I've seen the first one, but I'll watch it again. The second one was out, or they don't have it, so I got the first one (Fellowship of the Rings/dt:Die Gefährten) and the third ( Return of the King /dt:Die Rückkehr des Königs)
I usually end up seeing films years after they are released in the theaters, because I'm too cheap to pay the ticket price in the cinema.

Benedikt XVI = Hitler?????

How can anyone compare the Pope, who quoted a few words against the prophet, who had more in common with Hitler than many a man alive today, with a man that plunged the world into war and murdered over 6 million innocents?
How can the Pope then apologize for his words?? Is he not the head of the Catholic Church, a christian denomination, Christian, as in people who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the only way to the Father is through the Son.

John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

1 John 2:18:Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

1 John 2:22: Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.

2 John 1:7: Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

The Koran, Mohammed's book, denies that Jesus is God's Son. Ergo, is Islam, the prophet, and allah antichrist.
Why should the head of the Christian church, then, apologize for any percieved insult to the enemy of all he stands for?
Read the Bible verses again, notice the word "deceiver":
Qur’an 8:30 “Remember how the unbelievers plotted against you (Muhammad). They plotted, and Allah too had arranged a plot; but Allah is the best schemer.” (implies deceit on the part of Allah to combat the deceit of the unbelievers)
Ishaq:323 “I am the best of plotters. I deceived them with My guile so that I delivered you from them.”
Ishaq:365
Tabari VII:94 “Muhammad bin Maslamah said, ‘O Messenger, we shall have to tell lies.’ ‘Say what you like,’ Muhammad replied. ‘You are absolved, free to say whatever you must.’”

Ishaq:397	“Then Allah said, ‘It is not for any prophet to deceive.”
Ishaq:442	“By Muhammad’s order we beguiled them.”

More quotes from muslim holy books here.

And this all from the Turks, of all people, who are still denying that the killing of all those Armenians back at the beginning of the 20th century was genocide.
And what do muslims mean, anyway, when the compare anyone to Hitler. I thought Hitler was one of their heros. "Mein Kampf" is a bestseller in that part of the world, so I've heard.

Agendas

A lot of talk lately on Townhall about the glbt agenda. It doesn't sound, to me, a whole lot different to the muslim agenda, or the communist agenda, or the liberal agenda, or the socialist agenda, or the .........
They all want the rest of us to conform to their vision of the world, with little or no tolerance for those who believe differantly.
Then you have these Christians saying that they believe what they believe and they do not care what others choose to do. The way I understand Jesus' commandments, loving your neighbor requires a Christian to point out the errors of his neighbor's ways, to inform him that if he does not change, repent and accept the Lord, he will not be saved. We do have to approach our neighbors in a way which will not drive them away from the faith, of course. A lot of lost souls are that way from over zealous witnesses driving them away rather than leading them into the fold.
The GLBT community wants to be accepted. I can understand that. But they want the rest of to change our beliefs and our moral code to match theirs, and that I cannot accept. I have enough trouble living up to the moral codes I have set for myself. I do believe in live and let live, so long as those who choose to follow an, as I see it, immoral lifestyle, know that it is in defiance of the Lord's commandment and they will have to pay the price. If they are clear on that point, then I see no reason why they should not continue down the path of damnation that they have chosen for themselves.
I expect the same in return. I do not want to know what my neighbor does in the privacy of his own bedroom. If he chooses, with full knowledge of the consequences, such a lifestyle, then that's his business, and he should leave me out of it. I do not want to see gay pride parades on my tv screen. I do not want to see love parades on my streets. Keep your private life to yourself.
The same goes for Islam. You can tell me about Mohammed and Allah, as long as your willing to hear about Jesus. But after you've told me about it and I've said that I'm not interested, than leave me alone. And after I've told you about Jesus' love and sacrifice for our salvation, if you are not interested, say so and I'll not say another word.
The leftist communist socialists: Go to Europe. There are plenty of countries there to choose from where you can live your dream of father government taking care of your every need. Have fun with the restrictions and taxes and high unemployment, and leave America to the true Americans. There ought to be at least one country on this, God's green earth, where man is free to live and worship as he chooses, where one is free to run his business and handle his affairs as he chooses.
I find my self agreeing with the libertarians in most areas, the ecceptions being mostly those areas that have to do with drug use and prostitution. The concept of everything being allowed that does not hurt someone else, the so called "victimless crimes", really shouldn't be crimes at all. The problem comes in the definition of a victimless crime.
Granted, when one takes an illegal drug, only he suffers, at least at first. But when he needs another fix, is unable to work to get it, then turns to crime to get what he needs (wants so badly it seems a need). The cost to families and society are in my opinion too high. It's the same with alcohol, tobacco, and seatbelt/helmet laws. I read a libertarian article on the subject, where the author claimed that when one chooses to drive without a seatbelt/ride without a helmet, and is injured, he cannot expect society to cover his medical bills resulting from the injuries made worse due to his foolishness. Sound good, if a bit cold, in theory, but the reality is, is that the victim of his own stupidity will be brought to hospital, treated, and billed. If he can then no longer work, the bill won't get paid. If he dies, the bill won't get paid. To expect an unconcious man to pay in advance would be negligence. And finally, the unpaid bills become a burden on the rest of society.
Banning does not work, I realize. That's been tried. You can't legislate sanity, but to allow insanity to go unpunished, to the detriment of society as a whole, is irresponsible.

Lousy Weather

I can not believe this summer. End of June and all through July it was beautiful, though a bit hot, and too dry for the garden. Then, in August, right when the kids left school for their summer vacation, the weather turned. Cold, cloudy, almost everyday rain. I think we had two sunny days in the entire month. Today, the first of September, it's not too bad. The sky is at least blue and the sun is shining. It's cold, though. The kids are gone overnight, spending the night at a friend's house, for a birthday party.
We got DSL last week. Nice. Unbelievably fast downloads.