The Scrutinator

R. J. Rummel, Professor Emeritus at the University of Hawaii, has compiled the most extensive, detailed statistics on mass-murder in the 20th century.

I recently saw two sources who came to very different conclusions than Rummel on the number of Chinese citizens murdered by the communist Chinese government.

• Rummel estimates over 35 million.
• The Black Book of Communism estimates 65 million murdered.
• A new book, MAO, The Unknown Story, estimates 70 million.

Sadly, when trying to count bodies by the tens of millions, from a considerable distance (space and time)--acts intentionally obscured by their own government--I see how one could be off by millions.

I e-mailed Dr. Rummel about this very large discrepancy, and here's what he said.

It all depends on how one treats the Great Famine during the late 50s and early 60s. My figure for it was 27,000,000. Some put it at 30-40 million, and treat it as the cost of Mao's communism. I did not treat it as democide, since from my information it was not an intended famine, although Chinese policies certainly were responsible for it. Without it, I get a democide or more than 35 million after 1949-1987. ... I've mentioned it here and there, but especially in my book China's Bloody Century.

Links:

• Rummel's site at hawaii.edu.
• Rummel's blog

By The Scrutinator @ 11:01 AM  ::  0 comments

What can I say? It's Mark Steyn. A must read, and worth the on-line registration.

HT: Roger L. Simon

By The Scrutinator @ 9:35 AM  ::  0 comments

Oriana Fallaci writes...

"The West reveals . . . a hatred of itself, which is strange and can only be considered pathological; the West . . . no longer loves itself; in its own history, it now sees only what is deplorable and destructive, while it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure."

Some call the new, revisionist history a long victim's march.

By The Scrutinator @ 5:23 PM  ::  0 comments

This hasn't received much more attention, but I wanted to add my two cents.

If a prosecution team dealt with its evidence like this reporter did, the case would be thrown out of court.

The reporter claims he was trying to protect his source, but would he really have to burn the entire document? I doubt it. These two pages describe how the US marks its secret documents. How about the Brits? Best I can tell, he would only have had to cut the corner off a document to protect his source. A detailed explanation is required, as the burden of proof of their authenticity is on his shoulders.

By The Scrutinator @ 10:49 AM  ::  0 comments

I came across this amazing, touching story from his comment on another blog. A must-read Father's Day story.

By The Scrutinator @ 10:04 PM  ::  0 comments

Mark Steyn makes the case.

There's some disagreement as to how many Soviets actually died in the gulags vs. Stalin's deliberate mass-starvation during his collectivization campaign. 3 million, as many have cited? Or 15 million to 30 million, as Steyn cites? Either one is a long way from zero: Gitmo's total.

Newt Gingrich's arguments are sound: "By voting for or against the censure, the rest of the members of the U.S. Senate can go on record and make clear how they judge Senator Durbin’s characterization of American soldiers. It will also send a clear message to terrorists who will use the words of a Senate leader against us that the Senate stands in support of America and our military and against those who seek to destroy the free people of the United States."

6/28/2005, Powerline: "Students of logical argument are familiar with the fallacy of assuming the conclusion to be proved. It is referred to as begging the question. At the Star Tribune, however, the beguiling repetition of an ignorant refrain apparently produces a soothing effect that obscures basic fallacies."

Hat-tip: Powerline

By The Scrutinator @ 12:11 PM  ::  1 comments

...you realize that “fascism” has ceased to mean anything at all, and exists now as an all-purpose slur, a tar-soaked brush to slap on anything you don’t like.

By The Scrutinator @ 10:19 PM  ::  0 comments

Unable to defend his [Gitmo] gulag analogy, Schulz instead observed that if his group hadn't asserted that analogy, he wouldn't "be on this station, on this program today." To which Chris Wallace responded, "So you're saying if you make irresponsible charges, that's good for your cause?"
...
The left's march through our institutions continues. The NAACP, the ACLU, the New York Times, and academia come to mind. But the perennial problem is this -- once captured, these institutions lose most of their value as outposts for the cause.

Update: Mudville's round-up.

By The Scrutinator @ 9:16 AM  ::  1 comments

Michelle Malkin gives us the other side of the Guananamo story. As usual, the first reports you hear are usually the least accurate.

HT: Powerline.

More: Mark Steyn's perspective shines, as usual. (And again, "...the average detainee puts on 13 pounds during his stay...")

And more, from Lileks. (And now even more.)

Powerline: "The mildness with which terrorist detainees have been treated stands as an imperishable monument to the greatness of the American spirit and the moderation of the Bush administration."

Eat like a king detainee with the Gitmo Cookbook.

Update, 7/13: An independent investigation ... only turned up three violations of Army regulations and the Geneva Conventions, the AP reports today. None of these involved torture of any kind, although one investigator found that the totality of techniques used on one prisoner qualified as "abusive" ...

By The Scrutinator @ 8:47 AM  ::  12 comments