Racial Progress in Europe?

While the NAACP in the US is claiming that banks unfairly targeted black home-buyers with easy credit, a new study conducted in Germany and Eastern Europe has found that fully 5% of German 15 year olds is a neo-Nazi, with larger numbers in the far-right of German politics.

This is why I hate the detractors of America pointing to Europe as an example of racial equality: beneath the clean exterior of European statism, a huge amount of social tension still exists in the continent. In parts of Britain and France, huge numbers of Muslim immigrants live in huge ghettos that the police won't go into, where Islamic violence spreads -almost all Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe are carried out by Muslims who've lived there their whole lives in the countries they hate. In Germany and Eastern Europe, neo-Nazism is on the rise amongst teenagers and young adults, with the accompanying crimes*. In Russia, the situation in Chechnya is all the proof of racial tension in Putin's new USSR.

With racial tensions as bad as they are in Europe, perhaps race relations have in fact improved the most in that most racist of nations, the USA?

*from the article: "Government figures have shown anti-Semitic crimes rose at the end of last year."

Oops. Hillary Style.

The Democratic Candidates have really been falling over themselves recently, hurting their chances of becoming the new President of the US. The most recent cock-up belongs to Hillary Clinton.

At a recent campaign speech, Hillary talked about her visit to Bosnia in 1996, just after the war, but still a very dangerous place. All very well, but look at what she said:

'"I remember landing under sniper fire... There was supposed to be some sort of greeting ceremony at the airport, instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles.''

In her speech, Hillary Clinton uses this phrase to discuss her international experience on the world stage, with such skills being important in the upcoming 2008 election, considering the war in Iraq. The only problem is... it's not true.

Instead, the camera paints a very different story. Instead, Clinton is seen walking quite calmly off her plane, and being greeted by a young girl from the area. She was surrounded by a large group of entourage -most of them being media personnel. There was no threat to her life at all.

The whole charade is explained in detail in this YouTube video, by the American news channel CBS.

Tax News

Some good news from around the world recently, regarding tax rates. Poland is introducing a new flat tax rate of 17%, to be introduced in 2010-2011. Poland will be the latest member to join Eastern Europe's highly successful Flat Tax Club, with nations such as trail-blazing Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and the Czech Republic been responsible for most of Eastern Europe's growth recently.

Iceland and Taiwan are cutting their corporate tax rates. Iceland already has a flat tax of 36% (hardly ideal, admittedly), and is going to drop their corporate tax rate from 18% t0 15% (compare this with the corporate tax rate in the US, which is 39%+). Taiwan's corporate tax rate is going to be cut from 25% to 17.5%.

Although our politicians here in New Zealand, both on the Left and Right, are promising tax cuts for the 2008 election, why don't we follow this promising trend in the world and flatten our tax rates? Flat tax has been incredibly successful in all nations it has been implemented in. When/if we do, Kiwis will finally be deserving of the Tiger status that all our ingenuity, unfortunately, hasn't been able to achieve.

Nebraska Mall Shooting

Another day, another shooting. Or so it seems.

Hmmm - America is getting knee-deep in shootings and wars, Europe is going down the socialist road to oblivion, South America has a revolution every other month, and Russia is caught in the grips of a fascist government. Most of Asia is still dirt poor, the Middle East is trapped in the Middle Ages, and Africa...says enough. The only places which seems to be making progress towards a rational society and politics is Eastern Europe, and the richest societies of Asia. Here in NZ? It's obvious enough!

With regards to Chinese development: Most Chinese are still poor. The richest and most developed places in China are the Special Economic Zones, where almost complete Capitalism abounds under the eye of a watchful government. Apart from that, the areas that are the richest always have the most private industry, and foreign investment.

"The World is a Prettier Place Now"

This is a story many people would find truly remarkable. Just a few days ago, a Polish man named Jan Grzebska who'd been in a coma for nearly 2 decades, since before the breakup of the USSR and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, suddenly woke up (as you do). He's woken up to a better world.

...And it's not just me saying that. She herself said that "the world is a prettier place now", and she is particularly impressed by the range of food in Polish supermarkets.

More on this incredible story and its repercussions at American Daily.

Tax Cuts. Why the Big Squabbles?

All across the terrestrial globe, nations are cutting their tax rates. From Estonia to Australia to (soon-to-be-cutting) France, nations are feeling the positive effects of lower taxes. In Estonia, my favourite nation, the tax rate is at a flat 20%. The tax-cutting countries are enjoying higher growth, greater prosperity and more entrepreneurship than the small amount we have here. Yet we have a surplus of billions.

So why not, Michael? What's so evil about tax cuts? Or are you really against production and prosperity?

Boris Yeltsin, Russian Father of Democracy, dies

Boris Yeltsin, the man who heroically stood on a tank one day in 1991 and declared the USSR (and, subsequently, almost all Communism around the world) extinct, has finally passed away.

Yeltsin will be forever remembered for that. But he will be remembered for lots of over things as well-among them, his eccentric behaviour. He was the very first Russian leader to resign from office. And yesterday, his life finally came to an end.

So, what's going on in Russia today? Unfortunately, after Communism fell rather quickly, Russia has become a somewhat fascist state. Many Russians feel they are worse off now than under the USSR.

However, the situation of the Russian Federation is hardly a failure of Capitalism and Democracy. Russia ranked only a pitiful 131st on the Heritage Foundation's list of most Economically Free Nations. Compare that to what is easily the most well-off former USSR state, Estonia that came 12th. Russia lacks basic property-rights and doesn't have a properly organised bearaucracy, compared to Estonia, of which is also much more smaller. Russia is also plagued with corruption, which is anything but a Free-Market institution.

If Russia needs to get ahead, it needs to grant basic property rights, and gets it's government in order. Estonia, which was in fact built off Milton Friedman's ideas in his book Free to Choose as former PM Mart Laar says, would be an excellent example.

Skyscrapers-Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science

Built in 1955, the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science is a very special building. A "present" from Joseph Stalin to Poland, the skyscraper is 230 metres high (think slightly taller than the skydeck on the Skytower) and was built by 3500 men in three years. It looks similar to many other buildings built by the Soviets during that time.

There are 42 floors in the Palace of Culture and Science, which add up to a total area of 123,000 square metres. Although the state doesn't own the building anymore, many Poles originally hated the building because it represented Soviet domination over their people. A small group still does today.

The building has an observation deck 114 metres high, which is a popular local tourist destination. Locals used to make fun of the building with the joke that the tower had the best view of the city; it was the only place in the city that it could not be seen [in the cityscape].

Four six-metre high clock faces were added to the tower in 2000, making it the second tallest clock tower in the world.