Quickies

"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." —Barry Goldwater, accepting the Republican nomination for President, in 1964.

"In the cause of liberty there is no escape from the necessity for moderation." —Elliot Richardson, seeking the Republican nomination in 1980, in his book The Creative Balance.

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You might care to know that the total number of troops available to the NATO forces in Europe is 1.17 million men, while those of the Warsaw Pact number 1.20 million. That 30,000 man difference is why we speak of the "Red hordes," no doubt. Further; while the Communist nations have more tanks, the NATO forces have "the edge in anti-tank weapons, more lethal ammunition and better quality equipment." This makes for "an overall military balance that makes aggression an unattractive position for both sides." So says the renowned International Institute for Strategic Studies in its annual reference book The Military Balance, 1976-1977.

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Poor Mr. Stephen Jackson, who was valedictorian of the District of Columbia's Western High School last year, was refused admission to George Washington University. His Scholastic Aptitude Test scores were 320 in verbal ability, 280 in mathematics, placing him in the lowest 13 percent and 2 percent, respectively, of the nation's graduates. Said the GWU Dean of Admissions: "My feeling is that a kid like this has been conned. He's been deluded into thinking he's gotten an education."

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Voices of Moderation: "[Roger Mac Bride's] foreign policy (which amounts to having no foreign policy) wouldn't let America live long enough to enjoy an economic renaissance." —Conservative columnist John Chamberlain.

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In 1969 the NAACP organized a black boycott of the white-owned stores in Port Gibson, Mississippi. Twelve white merchants sued the organization for "wrongfully colluding" to create "a monopoly for black businesses," and were awarded $1,250,699 in damages. Under state law the NAACP must pay by September 29, or post a $1.5 million bond in order to appeal the decision. Since it doesn't have the money the suit "threatens to put [the NAACP] out of business" unless it can raise the money by the deadline. The NAACP, of course, was very much in favor of the Equal Housing Act and similar schemes to coerce non-discrimination. He that lives by statist economics shall perish by it.

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Eighteen European Ministers of Justice have drawn up a proposed treaty to control terrorism. Under this treaty, the signing nations would declare that no crime in which a bomb was used could be considered a "political act," and agree to try all bombers as common criminals or to extradite them to countries that would. Which would seem to mean that if the United States signs, we might get to see Nixon the Mad Bomber in a Hanoi dock, answering for his crimes. But let's not point that out until after the treaty gets ratified.

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Beware the dread smut trust! California's State Attorney General, Mr. Evelle Younger, warned that members of organized crime are acquiring "monopolistic control" of the production, distribution and sale of porn. He urged vigorous antitrust enforcement to preserve a competitive market in smut.

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Israel Koenig, northern regional director of the Israeli Interior Ministry, warns that the Arabs will outnumber the Jews in Galilee by 1978. In a report to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, he suggested that the government try to reduce the Arab birthrate. Other elements in Koenig's Final Solution to the Arab problem include stricter tax collection for Arabs and "reducing their control of farm production in fertile Galilee [what was all that jive about how the Jews 'made the desert bloom?']" And if that doesn't work, there's always smallpox-infected blankets.

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What Price "Free Enterprise?" Dept.: "Undercover narcotics investigations in such places as Barnesville, Ohio, are handled by the private firm of NET, Inc., which claims a 100 percent conviction rate in the 21 states in which it operates under contracts with small, local governments." —U.S. News & World Report, August 16.

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Newsweek (August 30) informs us that the administrative expenses of Federal regulations cost American colleges and universities almost two billion dollars a year, or an amount "roughly equal" to their total contributions from private sources. Give to the bureaucracy of your choice!

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You may have been surprised when Our Ford promised to double the amount of land in the 63 million-acre National Park and wildlife refuge system—for only $1.5 billion. Be advised that Ford's scheme calls for designating 64 million acres in Alaska that the Feds already "own" as park and wildlife refuge with no more expense than a stroke of the pen. The $1.5 billion will buy only 311,000 acres in the continental United States, or an area equal to one-half of one percent of the present system. Tricky Dick would be proud.

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As we go to press it is too early to know if S.I. Hayakawa managed to unseat California Senator John Tunney. Which is too bad, for Hayakawa deserved to win; if only for saying of the Panama canal "We should keep it. After all, we stole it fair and square." (From Rolling Stone, October 7, 1976.)